C&C Generals - Re-Lighting the Fire Inside

I've been playing C&C Generals: Zero Hour with a friend lately. A lot. And my experiences have brought back feelings of nostalgia worthy of more than a few words. I would like to share them with you, so here goes nothing:

I first purchased the original Command & Conquer: Generals back in 2003 when I saw it on the store shelves at Wal-Mart and knew nothing about it other than the fact that it was a different C&C title and that it had awesome box art. My copy featured the GLA (Global Liberation Army, aka terrorists) themed box, with the U.S.A. and Chinese-themed boxes also available (and equally awesome). I can remember flipping open the box flap and seeing colorful pictures of tanks, rivers, propaganda-filled cities, nuclear bombs exploding, and planes dogfighting above skyscrapers. It was at that time that I knew I was in for a treat.

Fast-forward six years later and here I am still coming back to it, still playing the same maps with the same units and same strategies, but having just as much fun now as I did then!

When I first popped the game into my computer back in 2003 after returning from the store, my pathetic PCI Geforce 4 MX 440 video card couldn't handle the game. My frame rate chugged in the teens and single digits, units moved at a snail's pace (even humvees), and the incredibly fugly, low-res DirectX 7 water was in place of the smoothly animated, flowing and pulsating DX8 version. At the time, however, I could have cared less! The factions were very interesting to me and the music and unit voice-overs worked to enhance the otherwise slow gameplay experience.

It wasn't until I paid visit to a local LAN Center and saw the game running silky smooth on their Geforce Ti-4200-equipped computers that I realized the true glory of the game. GLA workers, now running at the speed of cheetahs, quickly scattered around the battlefield, building structures and moaning about doing so much work (but it then made perfect sense - I wouldn't want to work at that pace, either!), tanks flew across the battlefield, infantry ran as if they were participating in track meets, and smoke quickly billowed out of buildings, each casting its own dynamic shadow. I don't think I will ever forget the first moments I had seeing C&C Generals as it was meant to be. God, what a beautiful game at the time! And oh, how fun it was to play. Whether against the A.I. or whipping up on my old man, I had a blast each and every time. Although I got my butt kicked often in online play and took a good while to improve, I loved every moment of every battle because it all made perfect sense balance-wise and looked beautiful in the process.

One of the first big battles I ever played was at the same LAN Center I mentioned previously. Two of its owners - Brian and Jodie - were also fans of the game and had been playing it a fair bit. As a result, they came in one day and boastfully challenged us to a match against them. My father and I took teams, as did Brian and Jodie, and we were also accompanied by a couple other teams with two players each. As the game began, I sloppily played with the Chinese and almost immediately began making dumb mistakes. I put up a gatlin cannon base defense on just one side of my resource trucks - a big no-no when your opponent can just attack the opposite side. Sure enough, Brian, playing as the GLA, brought down a technical truck and started shooting at my trucks from the undefended side of the resource pile. Before I knew it, he had overwhelmed me, stopped my resource gathering, and taken down all of my units. I can remember getting an airfield before a war factory and thinking that a few MiGs would somehow protect me from any attacks. Ha! Suffice to say, we ended up having our asses handed to us; but I learned a very valuable lesson that day: The best defense is a strong offense!

Then quickly came the year 2004 and the release of the one and only expansion pack: Zero Hour. To this day, I could argue that there has never been a better real-time strategy game expansion pack, ever. Most expansion packs - Blizzard's included - throw in a few new units and maps, but do little in the way of completely changing the scope of the game. Zero Hour added in nine completely new "sub-factions," three for each regular faction, containing completely new units, abilities, and ways to play. Some of my personal favorites, for example, are the U.S.A. Air Force General, the GLA Stealth General, and the China Infantry General. The Air Force General has stronger planes that come equipped with missile-defense lasers that can shoot down almost literally every missile being fired, completely making them obsolete for the opponent. The Stealth General can make all of his structures invisible on the map and also features many cloaked units, his hijacker being one of my personal favorites and a great way to annoy opponents. The Infantry General features "minigunners" rather than Chinese Red Guard troops, meaning they carry anti-infantry and air machine guns rather than bolt-action rifles; and he also features pre-veteran-status (aka stronger) infantry spanning all spectrums, meaning his infantry are immediately better than any other faction's upon being trained.

The other main component of Zero Hour that I found incredibly intriguing was its brand new "General Challenge" mode, a fresh alternative to the typical skirmish mode found in the original Generals and most other strategy games. In this new mode, opposing generals representing each of the sub-factions taunted you in-game and featured their own portraits and voice-overs, giving each general a unique personality both in terms of how he/she played and his/her attitude towards the player and war in general.

Since the C&C Generals series, there have only been two other continuations in the Command & Conquer universe: C&C 3: Tiberium Wars and C&C 3: Red Alert 3. The former was one of the worst C&C games I think I've ever had the (dis)pleasure of playing, and the latter, though well-crafted and polished, still didn't draw me in or impress me as much as Generals did when I first played it. Regardless, I would definitely recommend giving Red Alert 3 a try simply because the developers did a much better job not only visually but balance-wise as well.

With the historical stuff out of the way, I would like to share a bonus "battle report" with you guys that highlights a battle I played just a few minutes ago online on Zero Hour. There's nothing special about it, but I did find it to be an interesting match-up and saw my strategy executed flawlessly! It went a little something like this:

I randomly joined a 1v1 game, not with the intentions of winning or even playing competitively, but rather to test my connection and see if I could even connect to my opponent. I'd been having some connection problems before-hand, as you probably could have guessed by now. Sure enough, it did properly connect, but when I got into the game I thought to myself, "Hey, what the heck? I made it in here, so why not give it my best shot?"

I'd chosen Random by accident, whereas my opponent had gone with the U.S.A. Air Force General - a favorite among many, I've learned. When the game began, I saw that I'd ended up with vanilla GLA - not exactly my best faction to go with, but still good as ever if played well. Because he was going with his air force, I immediately thought of a plan: Use rocket troops to attempt and hold off humvee rushes and construct quad cannons to shoot down his planes with bullets rather than missiles (remember: the Air Force General's planes are practically immune to missiles due to their laser defense systems).

As soon as the game started, I popped up the supply pile, an arms dealer (aka war factory), and a barracks to the left. The map was fit for two, with a bridge in the middle and in the lower-left corner. I knew he'd hit the middle with units, so my plan was to sneak around the lower-left using tunnel networks and hit his backdoor. As soon as my first quad cannon came out from the arms dealer, I sent it scouting up towards the middle of the map. Sure enough, there on the bridge in the middle were a couple patriot missile defenses, each cooperating to make short work of my nearly defenseless quad cannon (I wasn't quick enough to escape!) I was pissed off because I'd already lost a unit and wasn't sure exactly what sort of defenses he had back at his actual base. I was a small step behind, but I was determined to change that quickly.

I erected two tunnel networks: One near my supply pile and arms dealer (to serve as both a sentry for any overhead drones and a mobile transporation point for outgoing vehicles) and one over top of the bridge located in the lower-left corner of the map. Two additional quads had been created, so I sent those two into the tunnel next to the arms dealer and immediately made them exit the other tunnel to the left. As soon as they came out, I sent them directly up to my opponent's "back door." I was determined to gun down his chinooks, any planes parked as his airfield, and also any spare dozers sitting around. I hit the jackpot, apparently: I accomplished all three goals and met zero opposition. The guy literally had not constructed so much as a single patriot missile defense or ground-based vehicle! His lone chinook fell quickly (he was obviously not experienced, as all U.S.A. players need at least two) and I quickly commanded one of my quad cannons to gun down a Raptor fighter plane just as it was attempting to leave the airfield, leaving him out of options and also cash. Keep in mind that every plane in the game is quite expensive, especially considering this schmuck was harvesting resources with a single chinook helicopter.

By the time he had a chance to react, it was all over. Because he'd left his base undefended, I crushed his economy, destroyed his only plane, and destroyed two helplessly slow dozers parked near the back of his base, next to the supply pile and in perfect position for me to gun down following the destruction of his two air-based units. In the meantime, I had constructed two or three other quad cannons and was sending them close to the bridge in the middle as well as near the upper portion of the screen just above my base in case any "escapee" dozers were attempting sneaky re-building maneuvers. Such was not the case, and as I destroyed his second dozer with my quads, he left the game. There was nothing the guy could do, and he played incredibly poorly. With just one rocket troop-filled humvee, he could have easily circled around my quad cannons and destroyed them before they even had a chance to dish out equal amounts of damage.

In conclusion, every time I play C&C Generals and its Zero Hour expansion, the fire inside me is re-lit. I am reminded of just how fun it is to play the game and that the art style and faction designs intrigue me even to this day. In my sleep, I am haunted with statements such as "We are de red guard!" and war cries of "I will die for our cause!", but these nightmares are the best I could possibly have. I just wish EA Games could create another real-time strategy series as engrossing as this, and that critics and players alike could for once see these titles as the legends they are. As much criticism as both titles have received for being "nothing like the other C&C titles," I can't help but think to myself: Was this the way Command & Conquer was meant to be all along?

OnLive - The End of PC Gaming Expenses?

CLICK HERE for an image of the concept of the service.
CLICK HERE to see a video of the press conference mentioned below.
CLICK HERE for a hardware hands-on from Gamespot.

This is, without a doubt, one of the more intriguing concepts I've seen up to this point in terms of both console and PC gaming. OnLive is, essentially, a cloud-computing service that allows users to play console and PC games that stream from extremely powerful servers located elsewhere.

What this means for gamers all over is that folks can play these games regardless of their hardware, with only a monthly fee and Internet connection required. If you're playing off a TV, you use a special little box that comes attached with video and audio cables, an ethernet port, and USB cables for mouse and keyboard or gamepads. If you're playing on a PC (as in my case), all you'll need is a plugin, supposedly only a megabyte or two large, that allows the service to operate directly inside your browser.

Last night, during a press conference, some of the main guys behind the service specifically noted that because of the way in which the video is transmitted from the servers to your home, the games would not show any signs of "control" lag or video break-up, as is the case with streaming video and other forms of streaming media. The required Internet connections to use the service without lag are 1.5Mbps for standard-definition and 5Mbps for high-definition (HD).

With the service, you can also rent games (bye-bye Gamefly?), play demos, create "brag clips" for others to see, watch trailers of games almost instantly before playing, watch others playing the games live (aka spectator mode), and much, much more.

Pricing for the monthly fees, etc. has not been set as of now.

Some of the publishers on-board are:

• Electronic Arts
• Ubisoft
• Take-Two
• THQ
• Epic Games
• Eidos
• Atari
• Codemasters

And some of the games mentioned included:

• Crysis Wars*
• Prince of Persia*
• Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
• F.E.A.R. 2
• and several more...

*Demoed at the press conference held last night and ran smooth as butter.

So if this service "catches on" and works as advertised, could this mean the death for consoles and companies such as Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo? And could this form of service possibly take over the entire gaming industry, PC gaming included? If so, will we see other companies begin to compete, offering similar services?

Crysis Defeated

You know it's true.

Upon enjoying hours of Far Cry 2's open-world, brush-fire-setting goodness (Smokey hates me now, I know), I'm prepared to make an alarming, controversial statement: Crysis has been dethroned. In fact, it doesn't even compare. Graphically, I will admit that Crysis has an edge; but albeit its advanced engine features, it absolutely dumps on computers and looks less impressive than Far Cry 2 when its settings are lowered to playable levels. Graphics discussion aside, Far Cry 2 steals the show with flying colors.

Whereas Crysis has fun pretending to be an open-style game, covering flanks with mountains and seas with sharks, Far Cry 2 actually allows you to go anywhere, do anything, and tackle missions in any order. Who do you kill, where do you go, and with whom do you form an alliance? Don't ask me, because only you can answer those questions as you play the game!

Freedom of choice is just one gameplay element that pushes Far Cry 2 ahead of Crysis and most of the rest of the competition. Other elements, such as wear and tear on weaponry, safe houses allowing save and respawn points, weapon shops, and even faction wars and alliances give the game an amount of depth not often seen in action-packed shooters. The world also feels more "alive" than in Crysis, as the time of day is constantly changing in real-time and a broad assortment of wildlife can be seen roaming the environments in packs. When taking into consideration Crysis' lame scripted day-to-night cycles and animal collection consisting of seagulls, frogs, and chickens, it's difficult for me to say that it even competes with Far Cry 2 in terms of making you feel as if you're in a living, breathing world.

In conclusion, Crysis may feature a more advanced game engine than Far Cry 2, but it is most certainly not the superior game overall. When taking off the hype glasses and using the fire extinguisher to blow out the flames caused by Crysis' NASA-computer system requirements, it is made painfully obvious that Far Cry 2 is simply the deeper, more enjoyable, larger, and longer-lasting game. There can be no arguments held against this, as it is fact. Sorry, fellow PC gamers. I know that it hurts, but our flagship title has just been sunk.

Red Alert 3 - The Game Nobody Appreciated

The words of angry fanboys.

Red Alert 3 is beautiful, polished, and fun to play. But nobody loves it. Blame it on the abysmal C&C 3, or the lack of ore fields, or even global warming or piracy. (Those never fail.) In my eyes, there's no excuse for avoiding and overlooking this well-crafted strategy game that was never given a chance to begin with.

In a way, the lost love is ironic. For years, Red Alert 2 fanboys had been crying for a sequel that would bring back cheesy cutscenes, bundles of humor, naval warfare, and so forth. Now that it's back, they suddenly want no part of it. Oh, the irony! The unit balance is even better than ever before and almost every structure can now be built at sea, quadrupling the number of possible strategies each faction can utilize. Oh, but it's still not a "worthy" successor to the now painfully simplistic, ADD-friendly Red Alert 2.

I'm beginning to wonder if Red Alert fans even know what they want anymore. It's apparently asinine when the developers over at EA Games change some of the gameplay mechanics for the better, modernizing the game for this generation (was it seriously enjoyable babysitting those fucking harvesters the entire length of a game?); so perhaps as an antidote, we should give them the same damned game, Red Alert 2 all over again, in shiny new packaging.

The plan for the "real" Red Alert 2 sequel is ingenious, actually. Copy the original box art, replacing the "2" with a "3" and changing the Westwood logo into a green-ish EA logo. Then, change the copyright dates on the back of the box to reflect the current year. Finally, make the same changes on the main menu of the game. Ta-da! We've got ourselves a sequel! Now, package the game and mail copies to Red Alert 2 fanboys worldwide so that they may finally rest in peace and put away their tissues. They'll never notice a difference. Not a damned thing.

Wii Uprising

For Wii owners who happen to be hardcore gamers, the software lineup hasn’t exactly been thrilling in the past year or so. For every Mario Galaxy or Zelda: Twilight Princess, there seems to be a Happy Feet or Anubis. The year 2009, however, already appears to have many great things in store for owners of Nintendo’s fascinating yet disappointing machine. Below are some of the best upcoming and already-released titles as well as some others that you might want to keep an eye on.

Deadly Creatures

How many games give you control over spiders and scorpions? Exactly! And that’s why you should give Deadly Creatures a chance, even with its cheesy name. In Deadly Creatures (“DC” as I will refer to it from now on), you are given the opportunity to play as both a spider and scorpion via a third-person view. Both creatures feature strengths and weaknesses which force players to utilize different strategies depending on which one is being controlled. The scorpion, for example, is slow but powerful; whereas the spider is the quicker of the two and can also use its web to subdue foes and access out-of-reach locations. The animations of the creatures are also very fluid and impressive. DC even features some impressive talent behind the scenes such as Billy Bob Thornton who provides the voice for one of the human characters in the storyline. Overall, DC should not be overlooked. It certainly won’t win any “Game of the Year” awards for 2009, but in my opinion it’s one of the Wii’s first sleeper hits of 2009 because it focuses on a concept not often targeted in video games and does its well.

MadWorld

Without a doubt one of the Wii’s goriest games yet, MadWorld is like a modern-day, heavily stylized version of “Smash T.V.” The concept is simple but intriguing: You’re a participant in a violent television show and are tasked with killing as many “enemies” as possible. The visual style is coated in black and white except for blood, which shows up in bright red amidst the otherwise colorless world, and there are lots of bad guys and ways to dispose of them so you can expect to see plenty of the red stuff being splattered everywhere. The main character is also armed with a chainsaw that is practically attached to his arm (a throwback to Evil Dead?), so I’m sure you can imagine just how gruesome it can become. Keeping the game fresh will be numerous creative ways to kill opponents, such as sawing them in half and even shoving street signs through their heads. What I’ve explained above is pretty much MadWorld in a nutshell. If it sounds simplistic that’s because, for the most part, it is. But when the game plays well, adds in some dark humor, and offers a boatload of violent entertainment, what’s not to like about it? Prepare to hear from enraged parents this March when the game is released.

The Conduit

You’d figure that on paper the Wii, with its point-and-shoot control scheme, would be perhaps the greatest console out there for shooters. Unfortunately, this hasn’t exactly been the case. It all went downhill from the time Red Steel launched alongside the Wii itself and flopped harder than a catfish jumping out of an airplane, as it not only played poorly but also looked outdated and was not near as immersive as it was made out to be. Thanks to some solid efforts from games such as Metroid Prime and even Medal of Honor Heroes, the Wii’s first-person shooter scene has actually had its successes; but it still hasn’t quite scored the killer app it needs in order to “raise the bar.” At least until now, it seems. The Conduit is one of the most impressive upcoming shooters the Wii has to offer. Not only does the game look fantastic thanks to the fresh game engine that utilizes bump-mapping, depth of field, and other effects, but it also offers tons of customization for controls and even online multiplayer. The customizable controls – right down to being able to tweak the size of the screen’s bounding box and even the location of HUD elements – mean that anyone should be able to tweak the game for maximum efficiency. The impressive visuals and awesome looking alien-ish enemies and weapons are also a breath of fresh air. Finally, the multiplayer component will feature both online play and the capability to use the Wii Speak device in order to chat with other players in-game. There’s far too much to say about this game in a tiny summary such as this, but you should come to expect big things from The Conduit when it releases this year. (As an added note: The game received several first place Wii awards at E3 2008!)

Punch-Out!!

(Box art from the NES version)
It has been a long, long time since we’ve seen a Punch-Out!! game. In fact, since the SNES there have literally been no other continuations in the series up to this point. Later this year, however, this will all change when Punch-Out!! bobs and weaves its way back onto the scene. Just like the NES and SNES versions were played, the Wii version will utilize the same behind-the-back camera angle and even many of the same gameplay elements and foes, only this time the cel-shaded graphical style will make things even more attractive and give the opponents that much more personality. Of course, seeing as how this is on the Wii, the Wii Remote and nunchuck combination will be used to control “Little Mac” as he again takes on Glass Joe, King Hippo, and several other oldschool characters. There isn’t a whole lot to say about Punch-Out!! that isn’t known or hasn’t been stated already. Even with its simplistic gameplay which revolves around figuring out the pattern of opponents and capitalizing on them, I look forward to this as being one of the Wii’s first truly great sports titles and recapturing some great memories from the original game itself. Now where the hell is Glass Joe? I’m ready to dish out another ass-whipping.

The four games above are my most anticipated for 2009, but they’re certainly not the only ones to keep an eye out for. Below is a list of some other titles you should consider checking out and that could possibly become as big or bigger than the ones I’ve listed above. Please allow the following titles to reinforce the fact that 2009 is going to be one of the Wii’s best years yet:

The House of the Dead: Overkill – As of now, this game should be on store shelves. A recipient of many great reviews already, House of the Dead: Overkill is supposedly grittier and more intense than many of the previous titles in the series. Although the light-shooter genre isn’t exactly the hottest around, Overkill appears to be an exception to the norm and should provide any arcade fan with hours of rail-shooting bliss.

Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop – Dead Rising was a big hit on PC and XBOX 360, so having it arrive on the Wii is a pretty big deal. This version of the game will be running on a modified Resident Evil 4 engine; but many of the same gameplay elements will be present even with the graphical limitations and the environments are ported from the previous versions and will still be the same size. Lots of zombies will still be on-screen and the impressive number of weapons will allow players to get their hands on just about everything they can think of in order to blast away, hammer at, and even slice and dice through any zombies that get in the way.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade – A highly stylized Japanese-set 2D platformer that looks to be a sleeper hit. Don’t let the not-so-memorable name fool you, as this game looks incredibly beautiful and engaging. I wish I had more to say about it, but all one needs is to view some screenshots to understand why this one is worth looking out for. Take Viewtiful Joe and mix it with Okami and this is essentially what you would end up with.

Endless Ocean 2: Beautiful Ocean – The first Endless Ocean was one of the most unique and relaxing titles the Wii had ever seen. The simple concept, diving and exploring the ocean to learn more about what lay beneath, provided more hours of awe and wonder than I could have ever imagined. When the sequel is released later this year, my only hope is that more folks will start paying attention to this series.

Sonic and the Black Knight – Sonic’s recent outings haven’t been the most impressive, but I did find Sonic and the Secret Rings a fairly enjoyable game and hope that Sonic and the Black Knight will also be fun to play. Seeing Sonic running around with a sword doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but does bring back some retro memories of Rocket Knight Adventures from the Sega Genesis era and could potentially add some extra flair to Sonic’s combat. We’ll just have to wait and see what the developers do with this strange new take on the series.

Let's Tap – The name of the game isn’t the only strange thing about this one. Let’s Tap is slated to be packaged with a cardboard box on which the Wii Remote is to be placed so that, when it is tapped, the vibrations give the input required to play the game. The visual style is also quite odd, with a bunch of tiny men who resemble Mr. Game and Watch competing in Olympics-style races with outer space backdrops and virtual-reality grid-like track surfaces. Without a doubt, we’ve never seen anything quite like this before. If the gameplay is addicting, expect lots of tap, tap, rat-a-tat-tapping going on later this year when Let’s Tap lands on store shelves.

Battlefield 1943 - Franchise Destruction 101

This is pure speculation, but I don't like what I'm seeing from Battlefield 1943. In fact, I don't like it one bit. Revealed just a few days ago, "Battlefield 1943" is one of several upcoming "Battlefield" titles and is on the path to being an absolute disgrace to the series. I won't discuss the other titles in this entry as I'm sure BF 1943 will leave me with my hands full by the time I'm finished ranting.

Set to be a download-only title marked at a price range from $15-to-$20, BF 1943 will be seeing releases on PS3, XBOX 360, and - wait for it - PC. Initially this was music to my ears. I've been a Battlefield fan for as long as the series has been alive, starting with the beta for Battlefield 1942 way back in 2002 and moving all the way up to the last-released PC title, Battlefield 2142. When I first saw "1943" coming to PC, I soiled my pants. "So this is going to be like 1942, only even better?" If only that were true. I was in for a shocker.

Okay. Enough beating around the bush to ease the pain. I'm going to let it all out, point-by-point. Let's examine some of Battlefield 1943's features:

• Three player kits
• Unlimited ammo & health
  
• Three maps
• Twenty-four players max
• Frostbite engine (Battlefield: Bad Company)
  
  

Three player kits
It's a great idea to narrow down the classes in the series because, in my opinion, there were simply too many in previous Battlefield titles. What I don't like, however, is the fact that all three classes will come equipped with weaponry to defeat vehicles and there will be no medics or special assist classes like in previous titles. What this means is even less emphasis on teamwork, period. For the record, the three classes are infantry, rifleman, and scout. The first specializes in automatic weaponry, the second in rifles, and the last in sniper rifles.

Unlimited ammo & health
Of all the features that eat me up the most, these easily take the crown. In fact, I was hoping this was some sort of sick joke when I was first made aware of it. Every player kit has unlimited ammo, meaning that "ammo cabinets" and ammo-giving player kits are completely out of question. When you need ammo, you simply reload and the job is done. As if this weren't maddening enough, every player will also feature regenerating health. At this point, I was flipping out and seriously seeking a psychiatrist. What exactly is this? Halo? With these features, it's almost impossible to avoid conversing about the negative effects it will have on teamwork. When everyone is essentially Rambo, why care about anyone but yourself?

Three maps
As a value-priced game, I would normally have no beef with 1943's lack of content. The only problem is that this game is titled as if it's a sequel to BF 1942, therefore I expect it to be bigger and better than its predecessor. Instead, we'll be playing a grand total of three maps - all set in the Pacific theater. Even worse is that they're maps we've already played a thousand times before. Wake Island, Guadalcanal, and Iwo Jima. I've played Wake Island so many times before that, at this point, I could really care fucking less to see it again regardless of the changes made. I liked it in 1942, hated it when it was released as a special add-on in Vietnam, and flat out avoided it when it again reared its ugly head in BF 2. I also wouldn't be so upset about the lack of maps if I didn't know that EA and DICE more than likely have something up their sleeves in the form of priced download content for both consoles and PC. I can already see "map packs" easing their way onto the scene (as well as unlockable weapons, uniforms, and so forth.)

Twenty-four players max
Remember back in 1942 when we could play on huge maps featuring jam-packed servers with thirty-two combatants on each side, sixty-four in all? Why is it that a game released in 2002 (seven years ago; I've done the math for you) features not even half that number of players? I'll answer the question for you: It is because of the networking restrictions found on consoles, according to the developers themselves. You can CLICK HERE to read what they have to say about it, but be sure and prepare a barf bag because you're going to need one by the time it's all said and done. After viewing several gameplay videos, it's painfully obvious that the maps have been scaled down to fit the new twenty-four player limit. What I'm getting at is that modders with aspirations of "upping" the limit are going to be stopped dead in their tracks by the sizes of the maps alone. If twenty-four is the default limit, a modded sixty-four player server would be like watching live, canned sardines having a brawl. It simply would not work.

Frostbite engine (Battlefield: Bad Company)
The fact that BF 1943 will be powered by the Frostbite engine has its ups and downs. As mentioned earlier, thanks to the limitations on consoles, allowing for more than twenty-four players at a time simply isn't a current possibility for 1943. The fact that the Frostbite engine was used for BF Bad Company only aids the problem, as Bad Company was a console exclusive. The destructible environments, I'm sure, are part of the reason for this. At the same time, however, such destruction will allow for neat strategies to unfold in a landscape that was once mostly static back when we were playing 1942. This time, trees can be shot down (ala Crysis), buildings can be destroyed piece-by-piece, and even the terrain can be molded and deformed by bombs and other explosive weaponry. If there's a single feature in 1943 that I'll be looking forward to, it's seeing how this game engine will change the way I look at some of the maps I played on so long ago. I'm sure that new strategies will unfold because, for example, at one point in the video below, the presenter notes that bridges can be destroyed in order to force players to take alternate routes.

The following is a recent developer walkthrough video showing the XBOX 360 version in action. Note how the weapon takes up half the screen, a complaint not even mentioned or hinted at above. I could go on-and-on about the things this game is already doing wrong, as I've only touched the surface in this blog:


If you're as angry as I am right now about the current situation of the Battlefield series, I don't blame you. In summary, even at an incredibly low price, this latest WW2-era reincarnation of Battlefield simply isn't acceptable. What we've been needing is a vastly improved version of BF 1942. Just imagine even more players (up to 128, perhaps) storming Omaha beach or taking part in massive bombing runs across larger cities than we'd ever had in previous titles. Just thinking about it sends chills up my spine. But now, thanks to the desire to appeal to a casual player base and console gaming in general, we're getting a watered down, pissed on "sequel" delivered to us by the caring folks at EA and DICE.

Battlefield Heroes - Free war? I'll have a piece!

As many of you know, Battlefield Heroes will be entering the online space of free-to-play games later this year. What some of you may not know is what the game will do differently from other Battlefield games and why it's worth looking forward to. Let me begin by pointing out some of the game's best features, then giving a more thorough rundown on each of them:

• Match-making
• Customizable soldiers
• Character stat-tracking
• Metagame
• Great performance

Match-making
In the Battlefield games prior to Heroes, players were forced to find servers based on ping times and number of players rather than skill level. This will be changed by the new match-making system found in Heroes, which allows players to be tossed into games being played by folks who match closely with his/her skill level. This is great for a number of reasons: 1) The game will be made more accessible by newbies. 2) There will be no terrible teammates (for the most part) or lopsided matches 3) Opponents will remain challenging, regardless of the server the player connects to.

Customizable soldiers
Most of us have already watched the trailers showing soldiers running around with eye-patches and peg legs, but the customization goes further than that. Weapons and abilities may also be purchased and added to the arsenal of soldiers, making each one unique from the next. Gestures can even be added, meaning one player will likely have different types of in-game gestures (playful/communication animations) than the next.

Character stat-tracking
When you create your own soldier (or "hero") and send him out to battle, each kill will add to your experience points and allow you to earn new abilities and better assist your team. As players level up, expect to see impressive team strategies unfold as some will be healing whereas others will be attacking and others may even be defending through their unique special powers. Adding to this strategical depth is the fact that each player class (Commando, Soldier, and Gunner) features its own abilities.

Metagame
As if the stat-tracking and in-game strategical depth wasn't enough, Battlefield Heroes will also feature a points-based "metagame" which pits the two opposing factions - the National and Royal armies - against one another for supremacy on a world map. As each army has success and wins battles, it will give out bonuses to its players based on the progress made. Although the metagame is set to be an optional component, I think that even casual players will enjoy the added depth gives to the fictional war they'll be waging on their computers.

Great performance
Last but certainly not least: Battlefield Heroes will be a great performer on a wide range of computers. Because it is powered by the same engine behind Battlefield 2142, Battlefield Heroes' will not cause older computers to be over-burdened with any of its engine features. Whereas some of Team Fortress 2's special visual features are tough on PC's of the past, Battlefield Heroes is being specifically designed to appeal to gamers who may be on tight budgets or own not-so-great "gaming" computers. In short: As long as you can run Battlefield 2142 - a several-year old game that most can easily play today - you should have no problem running Heroes and enjoying its sleek, cartoonish visual style.



As an added note, at the time of this article, the kind folks behind the development of Battlefield Heroes are hosting signups for the upcoming Open Beta. Go HERE to register for your chance to play this neat little game before everybody else does!

Team Fortress 2 - Tips and Tricks

I realize that I just completed an entry recently showing off a 2D version of Team Fortress 2 but, as much as I like to keep things varied, my recent playing time with Team Fortress 2 has shown me that many "n00bs" just still haven't caught on to how the game works and/or what each class is capable of doing and how they should be played.

Without further ado, here is my own Team Fortress 2 Tips & Tricks guide:

GENERAL TIPS

• In the options menu, click KEYBOARD, go to ADVANCED, and ensure that "Fast Weapon Switching" is enabled (you can scroll through weapons using the mouse wheel rather than having to click the chosen weapon afterwards to equip it)
  
  
• In the options menu, click MULTIPLAYER and find the "Autoheal after single click" (not word-for-word) option for Medics; this helps greatly
  
  
• Use a Mic. If you do not, you are sorely missing out
  
  
• If you need a Medic, call for one by hitting the E key. DO NOT forget this.
  
  
• If you are playing the CP game mode, keep an eye on the bottom of the screen and watch for which points are being captured and by how many players (remember that each Scout counts as two people on a point)
  
  
• If you are playing the PL game mode, keep an eye on whether or not the cart is moving and also if it is moving backwards or is about to move backwards; adjust your play-style accordingly and help to either push the cart or keep the enemy away from it
  
  
• In the PL game mode, the cart heals you; if you can dance around it - versus crazy Pyros, for example - it will keep you healed, remove any burns, re-supply your ammo, and give you an edge over your opponents
  
  
• When on the "class choosing" screen, look below to see how many of each class your team has; if you don't mind, try picking a class that has a low-abundance of players to "flesh out" the options and make your team even more diverse; too much of one class (unless you're doing a Scout rush, har har!) is rarely a good thing
  
  
• If your team is being killed by Spies, always turn around every now and then to make sure one isn't sneaking up on you; suspicious teammates, teammates who you can't walk through, or teammates with their health down about halfway (Their health will almost always show this if it's a spy) indicates that a Spy is likely present
  
  
• When you see an incoming uber charge, unless you're playing as a class or have the weaponry to disrupt it/knock away the medic/player being ubered, move out of the way and don't risk being killed; wait until the charge is finished then go in for the kill

MEDIC

• "Buff"/overheal everyone except spies on your team if possible, as it will give them a health bonus and may give an edge over the enemy
  
  
• Heal burning teammates first to remove burns
  
  
• Unlock the Medic gun that heals you as your needles hit enemies and use it often when not healing teammates; especially when retreating from enemies or even in need of health such as when on fire - sometimes it saves your life!
  
  
• Uber teammates only at the right moments such as when you/him are about dead or when you're deep into enemy territory and need to take out sentries or large forces (Also, DO NOT uber spies in a serious match!)
  
  
• Use your bonesaw/ubersaw to kill spies; with the ubersaw, you'll get an uber boost from doing so - equivalent to healing a teammate!
  
  
• Watch your back; spies love taking down medics, as it means one less possible uber charge their team will have to worry about
  
  
• If the person you're healing moves into a danger area and you have a corner to hide behind, do so and let your healing beam stretch; don't risk being sniped or blown up and losing an uber charge just because your teammate is being wreckless; if he dies, he can always respawn and later be uber-charged by you
  
  
• When finishing up an uber, if the odds are obviously against you and you haven't made any progress, don't be afraid to retreat and charge up again; an uber doesn't necessarily mean a kamikaze, so you don't always have to go deep into enemy territory then die in the process - plus, the medic is a fairly quick guy!

PYRO

• Don't run in the open or you'll be taken down quickly as most of the other classes will outgun you
  
  
• Circle-strafe your foes up-close, especially heavies, and you may be able to frustrate them and get the best of them as the flamethrower will do MASSIVE damage until they lock onto you (you may even get a kill AFTER they kill you due to the burn damage alone)
  
  
• If you're on a map such as 2Fort and you're being chased by an opponent, avoid the water as much as possible as it completely disables flames
  
  
• When flaming an enemy, if they retreat, quickly pull out the shotgun and blast them; the burning plus shotgun blast will usually either severely hurt or kill them
  
  
• If there is a spy in the nearby area of you're being harassed by them, use your flame on nearby teammates; friendly fire is off 99% of the time and any disguised spies will immediately burst into flames and be revealed to the team
  
  
• Use the newly added "compression blast" (right-click; works only with the standard flamethrower) to deflect Soldiers' rockets and Demomens' grenades and to also knock back engineers repairing sentries or even disrupt ubers by separating the enemy medic and the person he's uber-charging
  
  
• If possible, learn the layout of maps so that you can ambush enemies from behind or even from above so that you: A. Strike first, and B. Confuse the heck out of them
  
  
• When the flare gun is unlocked, use it to target snipers and medics; snipers will be burning and their aim will be affected (as it will continuously make them jerk around) and medics, unlock the folks they're healing, will have to seek out other medics or other forms of health to stop the burning

SPY

• Use the Q key (quick weapon switch) to quickly switch from your sapper back to your knife for taking down enemy engies before they can react
  
  
• Sap sentries, THEN knife engineers; if you do it the other way around and the sentry is upgraded, chances are, it will likely blast you to pieces before you can sap it
  
  
• Use cloak sparingly, and find "safe spots" to allow it to recharge; also, just added, is the ability to refill it by collecting ammo (even off fallen enemies' weapons) and dispensers or medical cabinets
  
  
• If you're being attacked and they know it's a spy for sure, don't be afraid to pull out your revolver and let the bullets fly; it does a good amount of damage and hurts enemies at long range

SNIPER

• Remember that your shots will charge up when you scope in; use highly-charged shots to take down classes with a lot of health such as Heavies being healed by Medics
  
  
• Don't give away your position by keeping the dot sight on a wall enemies can see; instead, move it to a place on the wall in which they can't see and, when an enemy appears, quickly react and move the scope to their position to catch them by surprise
  
  
• Aim for the head! Headshots are ALWAYS critical hits and do TONS of damage
  
  
• If you see Medics, aim for them first
  
  
• Don't stay scoped in the entire time or you'll be caught by spies; every now and then scope out and check around you for any enemies
  
  
• If you're caught up close or even need to make an escape, pull out your submachine gun and use it to deter enemies; it does a fair amount of damage and even works good against spies because of its rapid rate of fire

SOLDIER

• Remember: rockets are slow; don't fight snipers with them or you'll lose almost every time; harassing snipers with them (popping out, firing a rocket, then popping back in) is a fun little tactic, though
  
  
• When rocket-jumping, do a normal jump first, THEN shoot a rocket at your feet; this makes you go higher and doesn't hurt you as badly
  
  
• Be careful about your rocket supply and learn when to reload and when not to; the reloading process is lengthy and will often get you killed if you choose to reload (or not to reload) at the wrong time
  
  
• Aim for the feet of enemies; not only does this hit them more often, but it also knocks them up into the air, angers them, and gives you a chance to strike back with a mid-air shotgun blast!

DEMOMAN

• Plant sticky grenades in places that allow you to ambush your foes (around corners or on low ceilings), then detonate them when they come through
  
  
• Use normal grenades to suppress enemy forces and even, if you're accurate enough, to badly hurt them up close
  
  
• Sticky grenades can be charged up and shot long distances; this is a good way to attack foes by surprise because you can right-click and actually detonate them in the air
  
  
• Don't be afraid to get frisky, if you're being chased by an enemy, launch grenades at your feet (even stickies) and allow them to detonate, either killing the chaser or blasting/scaring him into going back where he came from
  
  
• If you need to reach high places or travel across the map at the expense of losing a chunk of health, plant sticky grenades at your feet (any more than 2 means death most of the time), jump, then detonate them to go flying. Weeeee!!!!

SCOUT

• Scouts obviously have low health, so keep this in mind and don't think you're going to charge into a battle, take on the entire team, and get out alive
  
  
• Use fast, unpredictable movements and double-jump around foes to get the best of them with your powerful double-barreled shotty
  
  
• When making hasty retreats or firing at enemies from afar, forget the shotgun: Pull out the pistol for ultra annoyance mode!
  
  
• Avoid sentries at all costs unless you can find an under-construction sentry or a level 1 sentry just around the corner; otherwise, it's instant death 9 times out of 10
  
  
• Don't be afraid to rush to undefended points; your speed will allow you to retreat if too many enemies arrive, and the fact that you count as 2 players on the point means that you'll capture it faster than any other single teammate

ENGINEER

• As a building is going up, whack it with your wrench; this makes it build slightly quicker and uses no metal
  
  
• Right-click to rotate buildings before you place them; use the arrows on the blueprints to ensure you're facing them in the proper direction
  
  
• Remember that dispensers, especially after they've been given time to charge up the metal supply after construction, are an excellent source of metal; you can also get metal from fallen enemies or weapon boxes/ammo cabinets such as those at spawn for insta-fast refills!
  
  
• ALWAYS build a teleporter entrance just outside of the spawn point
  
  
• Just added: You can now upgrade teleports as well as dispensers; don't be afraid to do so, as level 3 teleports, for example, recharge much faster and will help your team greatly
  
  
• On offense, try to move your buildings up as much as possible; you don't want to have sentries, dispensers, or even teleporter exits back at previous points on the other side of the map when a crucial push is occurring elsewhere
  
  
• On defense, make sure that you're constantly spy-checking your stuff and "wrenching" any strangely-acting teammates
  
  
• For effective sentry upgrading/repairing, construct a dispenser next to or behind a sentry and use it to constantly refill your supplies without forcing you to leave the sentry to gather them
  
  
• If you're in good shape and you see a fellow engineer building (or re-building), lend him a hand - your wrench-hits help construct/upgrade his buildings, too, and will get his equipment up much quicker

HEAVY

• Don't stand out in wide-open areas too often, because your melon head will attract snipers from all across the country
  
  
• Unless you've unlocked the sandwich and are confident in your solo skills, try to always pair up with a medic; medic+heavy combos are some of the best the game has to offer
  
  
• Know when to hold down right-click (spin up the barrel) and prepare yourself to fight and when to move quickly (fleeing or pursuing enemies who've turned the corner, for example)
  
  
• Don't waste too much of your ammo on far-away enemies; the minigun does very little damage in such situations
  
  
• If you're caught up close by surprise and may be overwhelmed (such as versus classes other than sniper), quickly whip out the shotgun so that you can fire back immediately rather than having to spin-up the minigun

I know that I've left out a few things here and there because I've had other tips on my mind that sort of slipped away, but I think the ones I've included above are some of the most important for each of the classes. As others have said, however, no guide or tip list can be better than pure experience. As you learn the layout of the maps and how each of the classes works and which classes it is good/bad against, you'll quickly become a much better, more effective team player overall.

Team Fortress 2 in 2D!

Hello everyone, and Happy New Year! Yes, I am back and this time I have something special I'd like to share with all of you. This isn't one of my own games, but it is one I've been playing a lot in the past few days and that will please any Team Fortress 2 fan out there who is seeking similar gameplay but in a different realm - the 2-dimensional realm, that is!

Now enters Gang Garrison 2, a freeware computer game that takes Team Fortress 2's "Capture the Intel" game mode and downsizes it into a game that looks and sounds like a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) title but retains TF2's key gameplay components. And yes, all the classes are there! Scouts, Soldiers, Demomen, Heavies, Medics, Engineers, Snipers, Spies, and Pyros are all included and function similarly to how they do in Team Fortress 2.

Here is more information on each of the classes and what I personally think about them in Gang Garrison 2:

• Scout - Can double-jump like in TF2; has a scatter gun that has poor range but does good damage if all of your bullets strike opponents up close; is obviously the quickest class; great for capturing flags and also quickly reaching high platforms that may be out-of-reach for other classes

• Soldier - Fires slow rockets that take a second to boost out when fired; can actually "rocket jump" like in TF2; is tougher to hit opponent's feet and get the high ground because of the 2D perspective, but is still a tough class
  
  
• Demoman - Fires up to eight sticky grenades which are then all detonated by right-clicking; excellent for setting up traps and protecting the Intel; can detonate grenades in mid-air just like in TF2 and can "sticky jump," too!
  
  
• Heavy - Has a minigun that has decent range and great damage up close; is the slowest class in the game, but works great paired with a Medic; can often take down Sentries all by himself
  
  
• Medic - Can heal teammates with his Medic Gun and can also fire needles at the same time; does not have an uber ability like in TF2, but is still crucial for assaulting heavily-fortified bases to grab the Intel
  
  
• Engineer - Can place a single sentry which automatically fires upon enemies that are in-range but can't be upgraded and isn't very powerful versus large groups of enemies; also comes equipped with a shotgun that is good for spy-checking and base defending, but not quite as good as the Scout's scatter gun
  
  
• Sniper - Can use the mouse to move the screen to the left and right so as to see far ahead; when firing, the shots hit instantly and do good amounts of damage; is defenseless up close, however, as he has no secondary weapons
  
  
• Spy - Can cloak for unlimited periods of time; is more easily discovered, however, because of the game's 2D perspective and unlimited ammo for all classes; is equipped with a powerful revolver that does good amounts of damage; can uncloak behind enemies and stab them for one-hit kills and can also do the same to Sentries to destroy them
  
  
• Pyro - Has a flamethrower which is surprisingly lengthy in terms of its range; can use his "compression blast" from TF2 to reflect rockets; is excellent for catching enemies up close and burning them to a crisp

As you can tell by this list alone, each of the classes is very different and fun to experiment with. My personal favorite so far has been Pyro because his flamethrower is excellent for taking down incoming Scouts and killing Medics who are hiding behind the folks they're healing. You can run right through enemies, after all, so it's a little easier to quickly sprint past the guy he's healing and toast him before he has a chance to run away or be saved by his teammate.

The communication in-game is restricted to chat bubbles that appear over your character's head, but this does a great job of preventing chat spammers, bad language, griefing, etc. You can still press 'E' to make a red-cross bubble appear and alert near-by Medics, and you can also press C to bring up the rest of the bubble icons such as a thumbs-up, a finger pointing to the left or right, an alert for a nearby Spy or Sentry, and more. You would think that players would not pay much attention to these options, but I've been surprised at just how much they're used - especially the thumbs-up icon which is often used when successfully defending or capturing the Intel or even saving the asses of your teammates!

As with my other posts, I've recorded a special gameplay video showing Gang Garrison 2 in action. This shows me playing as a variety of classes and combating the enemy. I never really get close to the Intel, but I do kill some Intel carriers and show the diversity of the classes that makes the game so fun to play! Enjoy:


Well, what are you waiting for? It's free and it kicks ass!

Grab Gang Garrison 2 at http://www.ganggarrison.com/