Category Archives: Reviews

Around the Universe in 20 Minutes

I have a pile of lesser known sci-fi books collected from the dusty desks of co-workers when they moved on to new jobs, from library sales where everything was just a quarter, and several that friends have lent me with no intention of ever recollecting. A lot of these books, especially the short stories, contain some real gems. Sure, you have probably never heard of either the authors or the story title, but just because something is not embraced by the mainstream does not mean it’s bad. I love many of these books, and some of the stories they contain … Continue reading Around the Universe in 20 Minutes

Siege the Day

There are times when a game is released and everyone in the industry has to take a step back and say, "Wow, how did they do that?" Dungeon Siege is one of those games. Billed as a role-playing game, Dungeon Siege is better described as an action-packed Dungeon romp along the lines of Diablo II, Darkstone and even perhaps the Myth series. But that is about where any type of comparison ends. Dungeon Siege has the same type of elements found in other games, but they are put together so well here, you will swear that you’ve never seen anything … Continue reading Siege the Day

High Heat 2003 Is Still MVP

Hey folks, it’s baseball season again. And means it’s time to look at the latest and greatest baseball simulations on both the PC and console platforms. Once again, I must ask the same question that I asked last year, when I reviewed High Heat 2002, and gave that game 5 Gems (actually 4 + on the PS2). Why is it that there are still a select few morons out there (yeah, I am talking to YOU, Game Informer) that still love to trash this series as opposed to weaker titles such as All Star Baseball? Deep down inside, I have … Continue reading High Heat 2003 Is Still MVP

Stunt GP Misses the Ramp

Remote control cars are very cool things. When it’s a nice sunny day, you can go outside with them and do everything that you, as an observer, would never do in a real car. It’s this type of fun that publisher Titus, along with developer Team 17, hope to revive in Stunt GP. Unfortunately this is not the case as the game has a list of problems as long as Fat Albert’s grocery list. Stunt GP features seven game modes: Five single player (Arcade, Exhibition, Time Trial, Stunt Challenge, and Championship) and two 2 player (Quick Race, and Tournament.) The … Continue reading Stunt GP Misses the Ramp

Sid Meier Hits Another Hole in One

Tired of just golfing on your PC? Ever wish that you had the ability to design, and golf on your own links? Then, Sid Meier’s Sim Golf is right up your fairway. In Sim Golf, game players design, manage, and compete on their own golf courses. All of these elements are paramount to your success as a golf course entrepreneur. As you build your golf course from the ground up, you will need money to do so. Customers and competitions bring money in. By creating challenging and entertaining holes you can be sure that your customers will be coming back … Continue reading Sid Meier Hits Another Hole in One

Patrician II is a Rich Game

Patrician II takes you back to Europe in the 1300’s, where sea trading was really starting to take off, and a veritable fortune could be made if a trader was clever enough. The most resourceful sorts of fellows could even reach positions of power in a town or even a seat on the fabled Hanseatic League. As with any economic strategy game, the concept of "buy low, sell high" is a must to master. However, it’s not exactly simple to determine what is in low demand in one town, and more difficult to predict what will be in high demand … Continue reading Patrician II is a Rich Game

Burnout is One Wild Ride

I don’t know about State side, but on UK shores Burnout was supported by a massive marketing campaign and fortunately for you, I’m here to see if it lives up to the hype. Heralded as the driving game to rival all driving games, Burnout promised to bring us state-of-the-art physics and simply the best crashes in the world ever, infinity, turn around, touch the ground" Er"anyway, Burnout allows the player to race along highways and through city streets. And here’s the best part, you get to race through traffic. As you can imagine this leads to high crash potential. There … Continue reading Burnout is One Wild Ride

Once You Pop, You Just Can’t Stop

It’s weird being the ‘puzzle guy’ around the office. Everyone automatically assumes that I’ll want to get the latest puzzle game to review, and – plop – there it is on my desk. But do they know me? Do they know my secret desires? No, let the ‘puzzle guy’ have his puzzles. Maybe I wanted a shooter or something instead, huh? There are two very good reasons why I don’t get the shooters. One, I suck at them, and two, I don’t enjoy them very much. So maybe they have me pegged, and ‘puzzle guy’ I remain. This is fortunate, … Continue reading Once You Pop, You Just Can’t Stop

They Mostly Come at Night

Mostly. Sure PC gamers have been treated to this fun franchise since 1999, but that does not make it any less enjoyable now that Mac-based colonial marines are joining the fight. Aliens vs. Predator is actually three games; each with its own first person shooter protagonist. The first is the Alien, who is defending his temple against shadowy humans. The second is a Colonial Marine, trying to escape an outpost overrun by the omnipresent Aliens. The third is a Predator infiltrating a scientific facility where the humans may be conducting experiments on fellow Predators! The second adventure most follows the … Continue reading They Mostly Come at Night

Conquest is Fun in the Suns

I can here it now "Ah, jeesh, yet another Starcraft clone." Wrong! Conquest: Frontier Wars by Fever Pitch Studios is not another planet based real time strategy game. It does involve starting with a single ship and managing the collection of resources and completion of structures that will allow you to build huge fleets to battle the baddies (in this case the bug type Mantis or the energy based Celareons), but any similarity to Starcraft ends there. In Conquest you are dealing with planetary systems of one or more planets and wormholes to get from one to the other. The … Continue reading Conquest is Fun in the Suns