The Warlords name has always meant a solid turn-based strategy experience. So it was with some expectation that I delved into the world of Warlords Battlecry, which is the newest real-time addition to this wonderful series. The move from turn-based to real-time is a tricky one. Some game series do it well, while others end up mere shadows of their former greatness. Battlecry sort of comes up between the two extremes. The real-time game is slightly better than the average RTS, but it does not even approach the top of the genre heap, something the other Warlords games did for … Continue reading Warlords Battlecry is predictable mayhem→
I don’t often do reviews. John says it’s like pulling teeth to get me to give him copy. I tell him that running a small publishing house is more like pulling teeth and that he should try it sometime. He then tells me that if I think I’m so smart I should review this new game, ‘Start Up 2000.’ Exit John, looking pleased with himself. Start Up 2000 is a simulation of the business world and the insanity that surrounds the world of high tech start ups. From the demands that your investors can place upon you, to the marketing, … Continue reading Start Up 2000 is tycoon training→
"Stay alone, stay alive." As a member of a rescue team to Mars, you have just crashed landed on the Red Planet and as you head for your assigned airlock, these last words from the previous mission ring in your head! TalonSoft’s recent release of Martian Gothic: Unification puts the gamer into a world full of horror and suspense. Set in the year 2019, you are one of three members of a team sent to Mars to find out the fate of the previous mission that had set up Vita Base to see if life really did exist on our … Continue reading Stay Alone – Stay Alive with Martian Gothic: Unification→
Been looking for something more challenging than Space Combat against a predictable artificial intelligence? Enjoy the thrill of mining for resources and then using those resources to fuel your war efforts? Like the thought of team play against up to six other teams at once? Then perhaps Microsoft’s new multiplayer online space extravaganza – Allegiance deserves a look! Microsoft’s new entry into the multiplayer Internet gaming community, Allegiance has elements of Starcraft and Civilization (the finding and mining of minerals and a technology tree for technology advancement), Tribes (with multiplayer only team situations) and any of a host of 3 … Continue reading Allegiance is super space combat→
Ring…Ring…Hi! This is Jonathan Ablebody the LegoLand Duty Manager. Congratulations, you have just bean hired as the new LegoLand Trainee Park Manager. Lets meet the rest of your staff. There’s Professor Voltage the park scientist and inventor of new rides, JP the parks chief mechanic, Bob Longtree the parks chief landscaper, and who can forget Rosie Brickolini a cousin to Mama Brickolini from Lego Island and the master Chef of LegoLand. The objective of LegoLand is to build a working theme park using rides, attractions, restaurants and landscapes from four different themes including LegoLand, castle, wild west, and adventure themes. … Continue reading LegoLand Reality meets Lego Game→
When Daydream (the makers of Safecracker, one of my all-time favorite puzzle games) and Dreamcatcher (the publishers of Cydonia, one of my all-time favorite puzzle games (notice the pattern?)) got together to bring us a new puzzle game, I thought I’d be in heaven. And mostly, I was. Traitors Gate is a totally brilliant game with beautiful art, a fabulous interface, engaging sound, and best of all – ingenious puzzles. It is marred only by some loading and startup problems that I will get into later. In the game, you are Raven, an agent with the CIA. The head of … Continue reading Traitors Gate is crown jewel of two companies→
Is it too early in my GiN career to give a game a perfect score? Yes, but I’ll do it anyway for Diablo II. Just be careful when you play this game, it has a powerful nicotine-like addiction. It’s the crack cocaine of computer games. You just can’t stop playing it. It’s easy to get into, but darn hard to walk away from. Case in point: a friend of mine played straight for about 20 hours. But it gets worse"at four in the morning during his binge, he returned from the bathroom and realized that he had locked himself out … Continue reading Diablo II is devilishly good!→
From the time you hear the beginning swinging tidings of the Super Scattergories’ theme song, you know that you are in for quite a fun and intense ride. Hasbro Interactive has brought the word category board game Scattergories to the CD-ROM platform. Super Scattergories can be played in a variety of ways. Gaming options include playing solo, Network mode, head to head with another player, or in teams of players. A hints option is given if players would like some help along the way with the game. Don’t worry if you aren’t an expert typist with this game. It only … Continue reading Super Scattergories is scatter-brained fun→
Have you ever imagined yourself in a VW Golf sliding at 90 miles per hour down a muddy slope in New Zealand"sideways!? Well, that is exactly what you will experience in Colin McRae Rally. This game shows you how rough racing really can get. We’re talking off-road racing in cars that you can find cruising around downtown! The idea behind Colin McRae Rally is that it will accurately recreate for you the excitement and feeling of actual rally racing. Rally racing is different from NASCAR racing or Formula One racing. It is much more off-road than a typical race track. … Continue reading Colin McRae Rally: How The Rest Of The World Races Cars→
Well, it finally happened. After over a year of reviewing games for GiN, I found a game worthy of a perfect score – 5 GiN Gems. Playing like a medieval Metal Gear Solid, Vagrant Story delivers a perfect combination of adventure, RPG gameplay and one hell of an awesome story (get it, story — oh, never mind). With graphics rivaling anything seen on a Playstation and a plot nearly equaling Xenogears, Vagrant Story sucks you in from moment numero uno and never lets go. Everything about this game is top-notch and Square couldn’t have picked a better leadoff hitter for … Continue reading Vagrant Story is perfection in motion→
