Combining genres is something that is very difficult to do in any entertainment medium, especially the video games industry. While the very process of combining gameplay styles is a difficult process, it’s hard to predict what is going to and not going to work. With this knowledge I would like to give my respect to Black Ops for trying to combine fighting games with first person shooters in their new game Fugitive Hunter. I would also like to smack whoever directed this game as well, for killing a potentially promising idea with terrible execution, and for making me waste around … Continue reading Bagging Bad Guys→
I reviewed Halo: Combat Evolved for the Xbox, so naturally it has fallen to me to review the PC release of Halo. I still play halo for the Xbox occasionally, and I still think it is one of the top five, if not the best game to come out for the Xbox. First off, I want to say that it has made the transition to PC very well. My only gripe with the original was that it was way too short, and as this is the same game, it is still way too short on the PC. The big addition … Continue reading HALO Evolves→
Prepare to fall in love. She’s sassy, can strut her stuff on the dance floor and doesn’t look too bad in a skin-tight outfit either – always handy when fighting enemy security droids. Her name is Vanessa Schneider and she just happens to be a freelance mercenary and robot killer rolled into one. That’s a very good thing when you’ve just been hired to tackle an out of control security system on a distant planet. PNO3, which stands for Product Number 3 is one of Capcom’s latest offerings for GameCube. This is a third person shooter without much of a … Continue reading Dancing Them Into Submission→
In the year 2018 a new breed of officer is needed to battle crisis on a global scale. As officer Kincaid, players will be put in charge of a team for the new SWAT Global strike Team. Starting in basic training, players will learn that this is not all fun and games and the job you are preparing for is a very serious one with deadly repercussions should you or any of your team fail. With 21 Solo Play missions and 10 Multiplay missions, the need for team cohesion is vital. SWAT has a dynamic voice system that allows players … Continue reading SWAT Hits the Spot→
The shooter genre has been a staple in the video game industry ever since technology allowed them to be made. Like the platforming genre before it, titles that go under the "shooter" moniker usually follow the same basic formula, but since the formula is so fun to begin with many people don’t care to change it. When people do change things up a bit (Max Payne) the results can be stunning critically and commercially. Hoping for such results, Namco has released Kill.Switch, a pretty standard shooter with more emphasis than ever before on finding cover for your soldier. Namco pulls … Continue reading Kill.Switch Nudges New Ground→
The Nintendo Gamecube has worked up a bad reputation as being a system for the kids. Compared to the Xbox and Playstation 2, Gamecube has very little mature games that appeal to older gamers. Nintendo has tried several times to get third party developers to make mature games for the Gamecube, and has been relatively successful. However, most third party developers have been scared away because they don’t want to compete with Nintendo’s excellent first party games. Eidos released Hitman 2 on all platforms, but it was released on the Gamecube a few months after the other systems. By releasing … Continue reading GameCube Gets Hit→
A four year development time is usually a kiss of death for a heavily hyped title. (remember Daikatana? And where the heck is Duke Nukem Forever?) Fortunately when Max Payne came out in 2001, the wait was well worth it, as the game was well praised by the masses with its unique Bullet Time gameplay, immersive story, and non-stop action (except maybe for those stupid nightmare sequences). In fact, we gave it our award for Most Innovative title for 2001 for good reason. I wasn’t able to play the PC version until earlier this year, but I took pride in … Continue reading Return of the Payne→
The game industry has several defined buying seasons, the most powerful of which is obviously over the December holidays. But game companies are starting to branch out somewhat as well, giving holidays like Halloween their own genre-specific titles to help people get into the season. This is evident in humorous titles like Ghost Master, which GiN will have a review of in a few days. Nosferatu: Wrath of Malachi is more of a traditional Halloween game. It is very much like a haunted house in that things are always very dark, and monsters are jumping out and trying to scare … Continue reading Bloody Holiday Fun→
When technology fights sorcery, which side will you choose? The plot of Purge, as written in the online manual is: "Science is in a golden age: decades passed since the first android and genetically modified humans were developed. These beings of scientific perfection are several magnitudes stronger and smarter than normal man. They are collectively known as the Order. Eventually, the Order creates a one world government, and world peace. This "worldwide order" comes at a high cost. A great social divide develops between the Order and ordinary humans. Rejected from the utopian society of the Order, some turn to … Continue reading Purge Aims High, Misses→
With the pending release of Star Wars Episode III, Star Wars fans the world over have been whipped into a veritable frenzy with the promise of further adventures and merchandise based on that famous Galaxy far, far away. With great anticipation, I like many other gamers awaited the release of the new game Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy from the creative minds at Raven Software and Lucasarts. The game is a 3D shooter that is set ten years after "Return of the Jedi" when the New Republic is being menaced by the evil remnant of the Empire that seeks to reclaim … Continue reading The Force Strikes Back→
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