I recently got Supreme Commander and have proven, several times, that despite meeting the minimum requires, my computer really can't play the game. (Among other things, it's crashed half the time I've tried to play it, and one of the only games that didn't crash fell to below 1 FPS when I was attacking the enemies main base.)
So, since I can't actually play the game, I can't exactly create a review for it. Instead, I'm going to compare it to Total Annihilation, since Supreme Commander is TA's "spiritual successor."
First off, unit types. TA had four unit types: KBots, vehicles (tanks), airplanes, and ships. (This was later expanded to include hovercraft.) SC simplifies this to three: land, air, and water. While there are no units called kbots, all three factions have large walking robots (excluding the Commander, of course). So there's a smaller collection of units to contend with, and most units take on roles similar to TA: anti-air, anti-land, anti-water, anti-base, and others.
Anyone else see the new Pepsi pinball ad and think "Katamari Peh-eppp-siii, ii, iiI, ba ba, baaa ba baba ba baaa ba, ba ba ba ba, baa ba, bum ba baba ba, bum baba ba!..."
I'm not going to review it quite yet, since I'm only a good two hours into it, but I will say this:
New translation. Gil is gil again, and many items/spell names have been retranslated.
Sound seems to be a little off. I'm blaming that on the DS speakers, though - it seems closer to what I remember with headphones. Given that the GBA SP I had seemed to drop channels when used without headphones, I bet it sounds REALLY off using that.
Characters now have job names listed. Terra is "Magitek Elite" (blech), Locke is an "Adventurer" (to be fair, Treasure Hunter just wouldn't fit in the space available), and so on. Meh. Useless, but, whatever.
LEGO Star Wars II is, simply, a very fun game that can be enjoyed by a wide age range. I have the PC version, so this review is specifically based on my experiences playing the PC version (using a PS2 controller), but I expect that the game plays similarly on its console ports (GameCube, PS2, and X-Box).
The game plays through the plot of the Star Wars original trilogy - Episodes IV through VI - using LEGO pieces. The characters are all built out of LEGO pieces. Every piece is a real LEGO piece, although quite a few come from the Star Wars LEGO sets. (For example, the lightsabers, C3PO's head and Darth Vader's helmet.) You could imagine the game playing out in reality out of LEGO parts, although a little imagination would be required to make the blasters work and ships fly.
Most video game RPGs have essentially given up on what pencil-and-paper RPG players would consider the roleplaying aspect of the genre and have instead decided to focus solely on being combat simulators. With the majority of gameplay focused on the combat system, the combat system becomes one of the central points of the game. The story, if there is one, serves only as an explanation for why the baddies keep on getting stronger.
Usually. Some stories don't even explain that. Why are the guards in the Great City far weaker than the lowliest grunt stationed at Some Guy's Farm? Who knows.
Here's how to create an RPG combat system that truly sucks.
This is one of those things that needs more introduction. Essentially Vladimir Cole posted a blog entry on Joystiq saying that rational gamers should prefer subsidized consoles. There’s a problem with his logic, though.
Essentially, his argument starts with “let’s assume 1 = 2.†It may make for an interesting argument, but it’s - well, not true. He attempts a simple misdirection by using the term ceteris paribus. “All other things being equal†would have worked just as well, except it makes it obvious the argument is stupid. By using Latin he attempts to lend authority to his argument. After all, quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
Play Tetris in Mozilla! MozTris is an implementation of Tetris using Javascript, HTML 4.0, CSS, and the Mozilla DOM. It also makes use of the PNG format for various images. If you use Opera, you can also play MozTris!
4 (Good)