“Good Games You Haven’t Played – And Why” provides gamers with insight to games that are rarely played gems among the many. This article’s game is Ghost Master, a PC strategy game. These games are chosen from personal experience, and feedback would be much appreciated.

Ghost Master

Most games require a gamer to be good or bad. Either you kill someone because they looked at you funny ten years ago, or you go through the Temple of the Black Death God of Doom to rescue some little girl’s stuffed bear from Cthulhu. This game says “Bugger all that noise.” and proceeds to go around trolling everyone out if it’s mansion.

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Ah, the Fallout series. An iconic post-apocalyptic RPG set after a nuclear war that forces humanity to live in underground Vaults for years as radiation dies down. The series was originally developed by Black Isle, before Bethesda took the reigns for the game. Bethesda, as you may know, developed the popular Elder Scrolls series of games, the latest of which being Oblivion.

Although Oblivion is a great game, as are the other Elder Scrolls games, their gameplay mechanics are completely different compared to Fallout 1 and 2’s, so this aroused much concern from fans as to whether Bethesda could faithfully reconstruct the much loved series or if they would just make Oblivion with guns. Well, judging on face value alone, it’s easy to say they went with the “Oblivion with guns” option, but how true is this? Read the review to find out.

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PC Gamers don’t often take lightly to the idea of any kind of closed platform, naturally, this is what Microsoft appear to be proposing. Games for Windows LIVE, something like STEAM but with a hell of a lot more money behind it.

The idea was first brought to the public’s attention at the same time as the hyped, but ultimately disappointing, DirectX 10. Messenger in and out of game with voice chat, a platform to buy games and downloadable content, topped off with the ability to play cross-platform with Xbox 360 users. We could even keep our fantastic mods if we wanted!

Wait, where have I heard this before?

Oh right, Steam. Been there, done that, and still doing it very well. Perhaps Microsoft saw the success that Valve had accomplished and wanted a piece of the pie, with the stealth update (read: much needed) to the UI of LIVE on the PC and the promise of a standalone client supporting all games coming in weeks time, MS seem to have kicked their idea into overdrive after a long period of stasis. The question now is: will PC Gamers bite?

The main issue is downloadable content. What can be gotten for points (read: money) on the Xbox is usually issued in a patch on PC for free. When it isn’t, it divides the community as most aren’t willing to pay simply for downloadable content, expansion packs are how the PC platform has learned to operate; micro-transactions may be wildly successful in the Asian MMO market, but Western gamers tend to like a more solid approach, and just the mere mention of a micro-transaction will often have gamers spinning their heads in anger.

At the same time, this could bring even more new gamers into the fold; the cost of a gaming PC is rapidly approaching that of a console leaving fewer and fewer reasons not to get a PC, especially for those who want a more complex but more rewarding experience. Perhaps applications like Games for Windows LIVE and Steam are the halfway house between a console and a PC.

The PC crowd is definitely the hardest to please, likely because we’ve been scorned so many times in the past by god-awful ports of such potentially good games. It’s not all gloom and doom however, some companies have begun to redeem themselves.

Resident Evil 4 is a model example of how to do it wrong. A shooter with no mouse support? This is akin to using to being forced to use the D-Pad in a driving game when you have a steering wheel, gearbox and pedals set up. Devil May Cry 4 however, is a shining example of how to get it right. Graphically it looks great, runs smooth on all computers within the requirements barrier, a feat ever-more PC developers cannot seem to get right. A harder difficulty was included, and more enemies show on screen at once. Capcom have changed their ways, and yet companies like Koei seem to be content with failure. Dynasty Warriors 6 was a step in the right direction, graphical improvements across the board and more enemies on screen. But those both are givens with ports of the Dynasty Warriors\Samurai Warriors series now, a new mode here and there wouldn’t go amiss or at the very least include the expansion packs for replayability. Despite the slow progress Koei is making can you really forgive no resolution supported above 1280×1024?

Some may argue that the PC receives consistently bad ports because it’s becoming widely percieved by the mainstream as a dead platform, but companies like Valve, Relic and Blizzard are proof of exactly the opposite. It might be diminished in the eyes of the mainstream, but it is evident that with things like the PC Gaming Alliance gaining momentum and working with developers to raise the quality standard of games on the platform. Within a few years we could see less release-day complaints about the game not running when it should be running, or useless bloatware that seems to install itself with your games (I’m looking at you Rockstar and EA). Although the platform had hit a lull period, it appears to be coming back full force with its two flagship genres, FPS and RTS, being adapted for the new generation of gamers. However, I’m focusing a little too much on the present, we still have to grapple with ports today and the only hopes for fixing buggy, broken ones seems to be the mod communities. Should we even have to rely on those who have no obligation to patch a game.. to patch our games? Obviously not.

Perhaps more companies will follow in the steps of Capcom and change their ways for the better, and logically they will eventually have to. Consistently low sales are perhaps the only way to motivate some companies into doing the right thing and releasing a clean port, but I don’t hold out much hope yet. Perhaps in a few years when every bad port earns one or two sales they’ll wise up and we’ll be singing praises to more companies than just Capcom..

Warsow (Or War§ow) is a deathmatch FPS which first began development in late 2004 with competitive 1v1 and TDM play in mind. The game is based off an updated Quake2 engine called Qfusion which is capable of rendering graphics greater then that of Quake2’s own sequel, QuakeIIIArena. The game is also noted for, at least in some parts of the world, bridging the gap in the competitive gaming scene that was left by the poorly performing Quake4; for many the current standard for competitive 1v1 play is Warsow. However while I will say it’s better than quite a few fast paced FPS games being played today, it is by no means the most popular… The fact that it’s free does mean it has a fairly big player base though! It’s also notable for it’s interesting graphics style, a mix of bright neon glow cartoon like cel-shading.

Get air sickness? Maybe this game isn’t for you…

For starters, there’s one thing that is easy to say about this game… It’s your standard deathmatch FPS; every weapon that has been considered many stay in a DM game since Quake2 is here and generally speaking most of your maps are tight knit labyrinths with multiple rooms, floors, halls and routs. On that note the actual game play is also the same in a sense depending on your preferred game mode of course; CTF for capture the flag, TDM for team games, FFA for killing whatever moves and… 1v1 for killing whatever moves, . So it is easy to take a look at this game, but pass it off as being just another mindless FPS; well they would be wrong…

Whats special about Warsow is it’s unique movement system which is often referred to as a mixture of Quake and Unreal Tournament. On one side of the spectrum you have Quake’s strafe jumping, the technique used to carry momentum through jumps to constantly increase speed and on the other Unreal Tournaments double jump/wall jump which can be used to get to high, usually unreachable places. These combined can make for some interesting trick jumping and methods of escaping attacks from opponents. As of the newest version, there is also the addition of the style of movement from Painkiller which is referred to as +forward; it’s a good addition for newer players as it means you can jump at a decent speed without having to learn strafe jumping.

Rave kids rejoice!

Let’s face it, the game is not and will never look like Crysis, but that doesn’t mean the team have done a damn good job of taking an engine built in 1997 and made it look damn pretty! The graphics are a blend of cel-shaded (THEY DID IT BEFORE TF2!) cartoon style animation with funkadelic neon lighting and glow effects. The models all suit the games cyberpunk feel, both player and weapon wise which blends well with most if not all of the maps. The only thing I don’t really like about it all is that at times it can feel a little repetitive, as a lot of the maps look the same and do use the same textures. For a new game on an old engine though; it does look pretty sweet!

One could argue that sound isn’t the games strong point, but like most if not all competitive FPS games players aren’t looking for an epic OST to go with there game. So music, for the most part, is a big no; besides the menu the game contains no music at all. The real thing to look for in this case is the in game sound, player jumping, footsteps, directional sound for gunfire… There all spot on to the point were in my opinion there better then Quake3. There’s also your usual line up of DM sounds; explosions for rocket launchers and grenade launchers, odd plasma blippy sounds and a whole array of other weapons.

As a free FPS Warsow stands out above the rest, I would even go as far to say the game is better then Wolf:ET… Which most people will argue is one of the best free games ever made. Were I do draw the line though, is when comparing it to other retail Deathmatch releases such as Quake3 and UT2k4; it’s good, but it just might not be big developer company good. However with that said I think anyone who has never played a good DM FPS or even veterans of the genre who have just never played this before will get a good kick out of it. Fast, fun, free and defiantly addictive.

Let’s face it. PC gaming is a dying culture. The days of Quake, DOOM, and Duke Nukem are over and the scene will never be the same again. MMORPGs have taken over PC gaming as the major genre and revenue puller. So what really happened? Here’s what I think:

1. DRM and Piracy - DRM has always been a huge taboo in gaming and it’s becoming more and more common in PC games these days. This is mainly due to the rising of piracy among PC games and now even consoles are suffering from it. X-Box 360 games are out sometimes even a month in advance of it’s street date. PC games have their copy protection cracked within days of its release, sometimes hours. But while DRM will help save their games the companies are taking it to an extreme, an example and probably the most recent case is EA’s blunder that is Spore. Even Steam games these days are not safe from piracy.

2. Consoles – From the moment consoles started to become a household thing was when PC gaming began it’s decline. What do kids ask for their birthday and Christmas? The newest console or the newest handheld so they can play it with their friends. Now a days people don’t build PCs, they buy a desktop or laptop pre-built and go with it not even worrying about gaming on it. Consoles these days have started to have more of a community feel to them than ever before. X-Box Live has become a huge success with the Playstation Network not far behind. The Wii’s online support is trash but since when has Nintendo ever been good at online gaming.

3. Exclusive Titles – Games don’t come out on one platform these days. It’s almost unheard of and usually considered a bad move depending on the company. Companies like Valve, who have been primarily a PC developer, has started putting it’s games on the 360 (without the same sort of support it’s PC counterpart gets) and now companies are even developing MMORPGs for consoles.

4. Competition – One thing PC games still have going for it is the tournament scene. People still play Counterstrike: Source or Unreal Tournament for cash every year, but how long is that going to last? Major League Gaming just recently closed shop and who knows how soon the rest of the scene will fold. Cons will always be a place for gaming tournaments but Cons don’t have a unlimited life-span and it all rests on the founder’s shoulders to keep it running.

5. MMORPGs – World of Warcraft, Warhammer, Guild Wars, Age of Conan, EVE Online. The list goes on and on and on but why does it? Because developing an MMORPG is like asking for free cash. Everyone is doing it, but because of that we have to wade through tons and tons of crap to get to even one shining gem of a game that probably won’t take off due to it being developed by some no-name company from Korea.

Like the arcades of the past, PC gaming is slowly becoming less and less what people what to do. Why pay a couple thousand dollars on a decent gaming PC when you could go to the store, buy a console for 200~300 dollars, a couple games, and start playing as soon as you unpackage the thing? Why pay 15 dollars a month for an MMORPG when you could pay about 10 for X-Box Live and have almost every title on the console supported somehow? Personally, PC gaming will always have that special place in my heart and seeing it die off makes a part of me just feel sad.

As most of the people who follow the RTS-genre know, and maybe some who don’t, Blizzard’s long-awaited Starcraft 2 has appeared on several events. For example, at the annual blizzcon, Starcraft 2 was playable for the general public, and even some games were played on stage. Furthermore, the developers of the game have elaborated on changed game concepts. But will these changes affect the game in a positive way?

The original StarCraft was released 10 years ago, and its expansion, Brood War, soon followed. Compared to a game like Age of Empires II, which was released a year later, StarCraft was quite basic. While Age of Empires II used 4 different kinds of resources, StarCraft only used 2: Minerals and Vespene gas. And while Age of Empires II had over 10, players could only choose one of three races or factions in StarCraft.

One of the biggest difference between StarCraft and other Real Time Strategy games, is that the game engine hardly helps the player: There is very limited automatic resource gathering, the path finding is simply atrocious, there is no way to automatically form formations, it’s impossible to queue the building of structures for Terrans, and that is only the tip of the iceberg.

But StarCraft was blessed with one thing: Almost complete control over your units. While in other games the AI might work against you while you’re manually handling your units, StarCraft just lets you do as you please. So while there is no way to automatically form formations, you can do it manually. While the AI is terrible at targeting, you can do it manually. While the AI is terrible at path finding, you can do it manually.

And this also had big influences on the skill gap between new and skill players. While the new player has his hands full with ordering his army around, the skilled player will micro his units to perfect his control over his army. This way, unless the new player gains a huge advantage by controlling the game with his economy (or rushes the skilled player), the skilled player will always win. The bareness of the game is one of its defining factors.

But of course, no developer likes to have a game with terrible path finding or AI. So naturally, Blizzard has fixed this in StarCraft 2. However, this means adjustments have to be made. For example, workers gather minerals so fast with the increased path finding, Blizzard was forced to adjust their mineral capacity from 8 to 5. But the big question is: Will these improvements actually improve the game or not?

Of course, at this point, we can do nothing but speculate. And of course, we can expect changes in the game play (otherwise it couldn’t be called a new game). My guess is that it will have a negative effect on the game.

We can draw parallels with other games. For example, let us take the Super smash bros. games. Super Smash bros Melee (SSBM) was a popular game for tournament players. It was heavily based on so-called ‘advanced techniques’, that abused bugs in the game engine to give the user an edge. Then came Super smash bros Brawl (SSBB), its sequel on Nintendo Wii. While SSBB was certainly an improvement over SSBM, with a big roster upgrade and an improved game engine, there was something lacking. The depth these ‘advanced techniques’ created, lacked in SSBB. Therefore the game felt shallow.

The situation StarCraft is in is very similar. The importance of micro defines parts of the game, just like in SSBM. StarCraft is also played a lot in tournaments. And StarCraft 2 is, just like SSBB, very pretty compared to its predecessor. Can we accurately predict the future? No, we can’t. But we can hope for Blizzard to make sure the game does not lose its depth.

For those of us who managed to score a Collector’s Edition of Treyarch’s Call of Duty: World at War, then you might want to know that you’re one of the privileged few who will be able to score a double XP rate come December 5, all the way to the 12th. That’s one whole week of double experience, and applies to both the Xbox 360 version and the PC version. PC players can simply play in any server available to take advantage of the modified XP rate, while Xbox 360 players must register their game first and then play in the Officer’s Club playlists.

While we can certainly appreciate the good gesture, it’s a bit off-putting that only those who bought the Collector’s Edition can avail of the promo. One can only hope that a similar event where those who purchased the normal retail edition of the game can participate. After all, they paid for the game too.