Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 - Review

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 – Review

Magic Casts Quite the Spell

Let's start off with some full disclosure: I'm not a Magic: the Gathering player. I had never played Magic before playing Duels of the Planeswalkers, and, in fact, I've still never touched a single one of its colorful and beautiful cards. Taking all of this into consideration, however, I come to the game with an open mind and a complete lack of understanding with the fleeting hope that I might discover (as millions of others already have) a deep and intriguing strategy card game experience. Let's just say that I was not disappointed.

For those out there who are as in the dark now as I was then, Magic: the Gathering is a collectable card game, one of the first, released in 1993 and competitively played in the nearly 20 years since. Notable not only for its longevity, Magic is known for its level of complex strategy and for its innovations in the then new market of collectible trading card games. I vaguely remember a dim awareness of Magic when I was dabbling with derivative and inferior games, years ago, but I had no formal introduction to the game until a day or two ago, when I discovered Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. Magic has been adapted into a number of video games in the past, Duels 2012 is a follow up to a similarly named 2009 game.

Cards in Magic: the Gathering are divided into 5 colors: White, Black, Red, Blue, and Green. These distinctions are vitally important because blue spells may only be cast if you have played blue land cards. Land cards limit the number of other cards you can play, so it's very important to have the right amount and right type of land cards in your deck. Starting off, with no knowledge of these mechanics, I was grateful that building a deck wasn't required to start off with. The game provides you with a variety of different sets of cards, mostly based off of one or two types of land. When you become more familiar with the game, though, you can tweak certain elements of each deck, adding and removing cards, including the 16 unlockable cards that every deck has to offer. This isn't an amazing level of customization, granted, but it at least gives you some control over how your deck will play.

The game's interface is smooth, and the card designs are, without exception, beautiful. It would be a bit of a stretch to call the game a graphical wonder: the animations are limited and there's certainly nothing here to stress out your graphics card, but the game is nonetheless appealing. I'm a bit of a sucker for high fantasy, and if that's your thing too, the game's artwork certainly won't disappoint. While the motifs may tred the well-worn and familiar grounds of dragons, knights, and mages, it's all high quality and there's nothing appreciably out of place in the nicely drawn menus and loading screens.

The game provides several gameplay modes with just about any combination of team sizes you could reasonably hope for. The campaign mode features a host of opponents and battles, and even if you've beaten every battle with each deck, there are countless hours to be had in the fully featured online multiplayer. There's certainly enough here, if you enjoy playing the game, there's a lot here to keep you busy. After working your way up through the three levels of AI difficulty, there's a world full of challengers out there on the internet, and while it's impossible to tell how many people are going to continue to play the game for long periods after its release, there are currently thousands of players online.

If I were to make one serious complaint against Duels 2012, it would have to be the game's difficulty. Granted, once you learn how to play, you're probably safe against most of the challengers, but whether you win or lose often seems to be determined mainly by chance. All the powerful cards in the world aren't going to help you if you can't get the land cards out to power them. Most decks have a handful of really powerful cards that whose attack and defense values are increased exponentially, but you're pretty much sunk if you can't get those cards into play while an opponent can. Additionally, the 3 vs 1 “Archenemy Mode” introduces scheme cards that drastically change the way the game is played. A scheme may allow a player to destroy cards, steal cards, and perform a litany of other moves that completely imbalance the game.

All things considered, though, Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 is a solid virtual card game, and can easily support hours and hours of repeated play. If you're a fan of Magic, it's an obvious choice, but even if you're not familiar with the game, Duels can still be enjoyed. The game is available on Xbox Live, Playstation Network, and PC (via Steam). A demo is also available for download on Steam, and if you're not quite sure about whether you should purchase or not, the demo is very nicely featured. I heartily recommend that you take a look.

--Tom

Images courtesy of Valve.

Beamed Into Your Home By The Onlive Overlords!

 Beamed into Your Home By The Onlive Overlords!

It's Out There, But Does it Matter?

Granted, the cloud-based game streaming service Onlive never really set the gaming world on fire when it was announced almost a year ago, but I expected a little more press and interest when the possibly revolutionary system finally launched. For those not familiar with Onlive, imagine Steam mixed with Youtube. The service allows you to download and play games a variety of triple- A titles through the power of cloud computing. When you make a controller input, the signal is sent to some distant Onlive HQ via the power of the internet (a series of tubes, remember). Onlive then streams the game's visuals back to your computer. The game itself runs, not on your system, but on the powerful computers supplied by Onlive, and this means that even a standard non-gaming laptop like mine can run resource intensive games without breaking a sweat.

From what I've seen, though, Onlive has been met by little more than sniff from those all-important gaming journalistic cabals with three letter acronyms or names ending in “spot.” I suppose that we've all been complicit in this collective neglect, though, and I'm among the offenders. I downloaded the Onlive client over a month ago, but never bothered to open it or look at it until just this afternoon. The shortcut icon blended into my desktop, and it was only by coincidence that I remembered it was even there. Before I'm too hard on myself, though, I should say that it wasn't for lack of trying that I've left Onlive alone. Honestly, it's just a little hard to deal with: I can't connect to the service from my home internet. Despite being fast enough for nearly every other online activity, my connection was found wanting by Onlinve and rejected. The only place where I can get the thing to work is at my school, and that clearly makes bringing a gamepad and finding the extra time a little harder.

When everything is going well, however, Onlive is a joy to work with. Not only can you purchase some of the latest games for prices that compare well to Steam, you can also play a 30 minute demo of any game before you decide to purchase. Onlive also allows you to post short videos of you playing a game to their “Brag Clip” section where other players can view your “leet skills” and whatnot. In compliment to this feature, there is an “Arena” section where you can spectate other players live. All around, I like the atmosphere of the application: it feels sleek and streamlined, perhaps even more so than the somewhat awkward Steam.

What Steam does have, though, is selection. While Steam is the established digital distribution service for PC games, Onlive is just a startup, and they're going to have to put in a lot of work if they plan to mount a successful challenge to Valve's brainchild. In the seven months since its release, Onlive has added just over 60 games to its library, while, in the same amount of time, Steam has added over 100 games to its already sizable library. What Onlive has that Steam doesn't is a ten-dollar-per-month deal that gives you access to a group of some of the most recent games added to the service. Right now, though, the “PlayPack” includes such gems as F.E.A.R. 2, Prince of Persia, and Unreal Tournament 3, but those aren't exactly the most recent titles. Most of the other options in the Playpack are games you've probably never heard of, so the value of the deal will really depend on how willing you are to play games just because they're there.

Admittedly, the usefulness of this platform is somewhat limited by the necessity to be connected to the web at all times. If you're got problems with multiplayer lagging, now you'll be getting the exact same problems in all portions of the game. I probably won't be using Onlive just because of the inconvenience, but if you don't mind the drawbacks, Onlive could very well be a glimpse of gaming future.

--Tom

Minecraft Makes a Million

Minecraft Makes a Million

Indie Beta Bags a Bunch of Builders

Seldom do independently developed games sell over a million copies, less frequently still, do pre-release versions of any game sell copies as profusely as did Minecraft, a game about construction, creativity, and world building. Minecraft, which entered its beta stage of development in late December, is, in my opinion, a fantastic achievement for the video game industry. While I have no problem with first person shooters, it's refreshing to see a first person perspective game whose focus is not on destruction, but on creation. Minecraft crossed the million-sold mark this past week.

Minecraft offers an open world for you to make your own by building whatever happens to strike your fancy. Like a simulated version of an unlimited supply of Lego blocks, its charm and versatility are both comfortable and daunting. Undertaking your castle, villa, or island can be quite the feat, but the rewards for bringing your creations into life can be one of the most satisfying in gaming today. You've got to be a self starter to really get into Minecraft, and while it may at first seem like this game might not be for everyone, there seem to be over a million people for whom Minecraft is a perfect fit.

The current version of Minecraft is available for purchase on the developer's official website: Minecraft.net. The Beta will cost you €20, which comes out to about $20 or £12, but if you're just interested in looking into the matter, you can play the classic version of the game for free. Classic Minecraft can be downloaded on the Minecraft website, and will allow you to build, but does not include many of the features of the paid version. The full game is, though, is under constant improvement and development, and is, dare I say, falling into place block by block. I look forward to seeing where the game will take us next, and it can do you no harm to take a look for yourself.

Visit the Minecraft Website

--Tom

Image courtesy of ZFGoku SSJ1

Why Mirror's Edge is in fact, the best thing since sliced bread.

Just take a deep breath...

Mirror's Edge is DICE's 2008 foray into the unkown. Mirror's Edge is a First Person Shooter, but it breaks the mould, it extends beyond the constraints that the genre has created. In your everyday FPS, you are "soldier" trying to get from point "A" to point "B" to win a war. You'll be shooting some enemies along the way, and testing out various weapons throughout. Thats fine, i mean, if it ain't broken, don't fix it, right? So the easiest way to explain Mirror's Edge is... They broke it.

You are Faith, a "runner" in this game. A "runner" is a profession in which someone will deliver something to another person discretely. Why does this need to be done? Is Faith just a glorified drug runner? No, this is a PC gone mad world where the book "1984" really caught on. Big Brother will in fact, be watching you in Mirror's Edge land. The aim of the game is to save Faith's sister, who has apparently killed a man. But Faith, having spent 2 seconds at the crime scene, decides that her sister is innocent, and off we go! Okay, the story isn't the best story ever told, it's not even close. But i don't remember sliced bread having a story, nor do i remember pac man having a complex story, so let's just say this story is there only to set the scene. It's a light tale with which the gameplay can move around freely in.

Which brings me to the gameplay of Mirror's Edge... Contained within 10 levels, Mirror's Edge has Faith run, jump, wall run, balance on beams and use various other degree's of movement to naviagte the world, all in first person. On a console, rb, or r1 are your devices for jumping, and lb or l1 are your devices for ducking, it's as simple as that. If you jump towards a wall head on, Faith will run up the wall. If you jump towards a wall sideways, Faith will run along the wall. It's all in getting the correct execution of these moves that make the game what it is. If you don't jump at a fair angle, Faith won't do the move, so there is a learning curve here. The platforming mechanics carry over to the "trials" mode of the game where you must run Faith from one location to another, flagging down various checkpoints on the way, to beat a time. These are extremely addictive, and ultimately make the game infinitely playable because there will always be a time to beat. This mode of the game is where the men are seperated from the boys, as you'll have to know each run like the back of your hand to stand a chance of getting a good time, it's a never ending battle with the clock. Within the game's story mode you'll also encounter cops who want nothing more than for you to die, quite painfully. Thus Faith is kitted out with some combat capabilities, punches, kicks, flying kicks etc... These are all easy to pull off, again with use of triggers on the consoles, and there are just enough moves to provide a diverse fight each and every time. Faith can also disarm cops if need be, and then you have the power of a gun in your hands. The great thing about having this within the game is that you don't want the gun. The gun slows Faith down to a snails pace and takes away all your free running abilities, so whilst you may be able to take a guy down in two shots rather promptly, it's going to take a while to find him. No, it's much more satisfying to play like some sort of cargo pants wearing ninja. Pouncing out from the shadows at each unsuspecting cop and beating them down with your karate fists!

The graphics in Mirror's Edge i think to this day are superb. Each character you come into contact with in first person looks amazing, their face rendered with time and care. This really shows off the lighting engine which works wonders in this game too. The environment of this city Faith explore's is just so sleek. All the buildings will be white and possibly have one other colour to accentuate themselves, this gives each level a colour scheme, somehow also making an urban scene quite beautiful to look at. Another important thing to mention within the graphics is that there is a setting called "runner vision" which will be on by default that makes anything Faith can clamber up, or any door's she can smash through red to give the player some direction.

Mirror's Edge has no real soundtrack, the two things that define it are the Lisa Miskovsky song: Still Alive, constructed for the game, everyone should give it a listen. Then there is the sound of Faith breathing constantly surrounding you. It really is amazing that something so obvious could be so effective in immersing you within the game, but you really feel like faith is just a human within this game because of it. An easily broken person. Essentially the sound is brilliant.

Mirror's Edge breaks the mould of the FPS and creates the First Person Platformer genre, executing it brilliantly too. There is no excuse for not buying this game as it's been out for two years and is so cheap you could probably buy it instead of a coffee, and who needs an excuse anyway? This is a pinnace of innovative game design that should be admired and commended. The only thing we need to ask DICE is: "Are you going to make a Mirror's Edge 2?"

I sure as hell hope they do.

image credit: Kotaku and Zombie gamer respectively

Top Five British Video Game Innovations

For Queen, Country, and Cartridge.
What have the Brits done for video gaming?

In the globalized world of video game industry, it's increasingly difficult to say that a game is from any given country, considering the decentralized and open marketplace that currently makes up the video game business. With developers working from studios in all corners of the globe, the days of “English” games or “American” games are over. Looking back on the history of gaming, though, our friends across the pond have provided us with quite a few innovations and great games. In honor of their advances, today, we count down the top five video game developments to come out of Britain.

5. Isometric 3D
   
   
   It may seem hard to believe, but there was a time when rendering in full 3D was a amazing thing. Yes, back in the stone age, in the year 1983, Ant Attack for the ZX Spectrum computer was the very first game to feature a fully rendered 3D game in an isometric perspective. While that might not seem like a big deal, if you think of the games that have followed in Ant Attack's footsteps, the game's import starts to come into perspective. Everything from Age of Empires to Diablo owes a debt of gratitude to Sandy White, the programmer behind this gem. It may not have lined his pockets, but Ant Attack certainly cemented his place in video game history.
   
   

4. Starfox on the SNES

“Wait,” you may be saying, “Starfox is a Nintendo game, right?” You would be correct; Starfox was developed by Nintendo, but it never would have been possible without a little British company called Argonaut. The SNES by itself would never have had the processing power to deliver the polygonal goodness of Starfox, it was only through the power of the Super FX processor chip created by Argonaut that Nintendo was able to release Starfox in 1993. Other games featuring incarnations of the Super FX chip include Doom on the SNES and Yoshi's Island. A number of games began development on using the Super FX chip and were then moved to the Nintendo 64, most notably, Starfox 2, which was nearly finished before it was scrapped with some of the ideas being transferred to Starfox 64. The Super FX chip was also nearly the host of what went on to become Super Mario 64. While the development was switched to the N64 early on, the idea is tantalizing enough as it is.

3. Rareware

Rare ltd., formerly known as Ultimate Play the Game and Rareware has developed and published some of the best games of the 1990's. Killer Instinct, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye 007, Donkey Kong Country, Banjo Kazooie, and Battletoads are all the from the minds of Rare, and if those games don't convince you of Rare's importance, I just don't know what to say. Though Rare may not have have done much in recent years, they were the kings of the Nintendo 64, and for that, they will never be forgotten.

2. Grand Theft Auto

DMA Design was a little Scottish developer until they released Lemmings in 1990, and while it was a big success at the time, Lemmings hasn't had the same amount of legacy as the game they released just a few years later: Grand Theft Auto. A top down shooter/RPG for DOS, PC, and Playstation that evolved into one of the biggest franchises of all time. Now known as Rockstar North, DMA (which stood for Doesn't Mean Anything) has gone on to develop the Manhunt games, every iteration of the Grand Theft Auto series, and Red Dead Redemption. Alternately brilliant and tasteless, Rockstar North continues to wow as one of the foremost developers
from the British Isles.

1. First-Person Shooters

What's this? Surely first-person shooters were the doing of Id Software, right? Wrong. While Id was behind the most famous of the early first-person-shooters, Wolfenstien 3D, Doom, etc., It was UK developer Core design that brought us one of the first games of that genre. Corporation is a game that predates the release of Id's shooters, and while it's hard to pin down exactly which game is the first in this billion-dollar style, Corporation is really the first to feature a recognizable first-person shooter gameplay experience. Without the efforts of Core design (which also developed the Tomb Raider series), the video game industry would certainly be very different today.

And that really goes for all games and all developers. The greatest of artists are the best of thieves, and as with other areas of art, each new game stands on the shoulders of the games that have come before it. As Americans, we might be apt to overlook the achievements of European game companies in favor of a focus on US and Japanese games. These are just a few of the thank you's we owe to other countries, if we weren't already too busy playing their games.

--Tom

Civilization V - Demo Impressions

Civilization V - Demo Impressions
One more turn

I didn't know what I was getting into when I downloaded the demo version of Civilization V: I had heard many things about the Civilization series, but I had never played any of the games. I wasn't even sure whether or not I would enjoy playing it, although, looking back, that seems rather amazing. From my brief Rise of Nations phase to my love of tactical strategy RPGs, it almost seems like I was destined to enjoy Civilization. Many other gamers have felt the same way over the years , propelling the Civilization series to the pinnacle of the computer gaming pantheon. The demo gives a great feel for the game, and, unlike many other demos, does an effective job of convincing the consumer of the quality of the product.

As someone who hadn't played any turn-based strategy games of this sort, it took a little time to get used to the lack of abundance of units. In real-time strategy, you produce units fairly quickly and sending them out to die isn't much of a deal. In Civilization V, however, units will take a long time to come into being and once they're there, you won't want to take them lightly. Suicide missions are an enormous waste of time and energy, and I found my slash-and-burn RTS tactics being challenged at every turn. In this game, you'll want to shepherd units through as many conflicts as possible, and an experience-based leveling system that gives veteran units statistical bonuses helps to further incentive the process.

The game isn't a graphical wonder, per-se, but it's still very pretty. All of the units and environments are nicely detailed, and the cut scene shown while the game is starting up, looks fairly realistic. My one complaint with the graphics on the demo version, specifically, is that the other rulers have no animation on the negotiation screens. The full game does feature these animations, though, so this really only applies to the demo. The music in the game isn't anything special: it fits into the experience but doesn't do anything to make the game any better.

There are several goals to shoot for when playing Civilization V: you can try to take over the world with warfare or with your nation's sheer civic might. The demo with allow you to play the first one-hundred turns of a match, which is about a third of the length of a full match. You'll have the choice of three different nations to control: Egypt, Persia, and Greece. Each nation has exclusive units and statistical bonuses, but they all play in a similar way. The demo only includes one map, but the area consists of two separate land masses, and there are several different spawn points on each, so there's a bit of variety to be had in that department. All told, the demo provides enough content to warrant several play-throughs.

I highly recommend at least trying the demo. There's really no reason not to give it at least a go, and if the full game is as proportionately good as what I've seen of this demo, it's more than worth the asking price.

Download the Civilization V demo on Steam.
Download the Civilization V demo on Fileplanet.

Freeware Friday: Gang Garrison 2

Ah Team Fortress 2. Valve's little sequel to the smash hit Team Fortress Classic. It has a distinct style to it, having cartooney graphics and interesting characters. With 9 distinct classes, it's easy to jump right in and play. But, in 2008, mrfredman and MedO created a 2D, 8bit demake of the game. This game, was Gang Garrison 2.



GRAPHICS
The graphics are just as stylized as TF2, but this time, they're 8bit and 2D. Characters are detailed as high as 8bit graphics allow, but it seems that certain objects are 16bit.

CONTROLS

Nothing special here, mouse aims, WAD controls, and left and right click fire.


GAMEPLAY

Pretty simple, 10 classes (One of them's hidden), each with different attributes. The only difference is that there's no alternate weapons. The Runner, which can run the fastest and double jump, the Rocket Man, who can use his rocket launcher to jump high, the Firebug, who has a flamethrower, the Inventor, who can build sentry guns autoguns, the Healer, who can heal his teammates and make them invincible, the Overweight, who has the most health and a minigun, the Rifleman, with his sniper rifle and scope ability, and the Infiltrator, who can turn invisible and backstab enemies. All these classes are supposed to counter each other. This makes gameplay frantic and quite fun actually.

FUN

If you like 2D, and you like Team Fortress 2, get this game. It's fun, and a good way to kill a few minutes. Regular TF2 is more fun though.

Click here to visit the Gang Garrison 2 website where you can download the game.


Image credit: GangGarrison.com

Eufloria - Review

Cross Pollination
A deceptively engaging strategy game goes to seed.

Eufloria is the sort of game that might be overlooked by a lot of gamers. It's a game about flowers, yes. It's an independent game, yes. It's also the sort of game that is labeled “casual” by the sorts of people who might take a look at a few screenshots and dismiss the game as too easy or too simple, but dismissing it would be the wrong thing to do. Eufloria is a surprisingly deep real-time strategy game, a space colonization adventure cleverly hiding behind the facade of flowers.

In Eufloria, you'll be using flower petals (known as seedlings) to take control of asteroids. Once in possession of a planetoid, you can use your little lemmings to create trees that will either create more seedlings or help to defend your planet. Different planets have different attribute levels that will lead to creating seedlings with differing levels of power, strength, and speed. The mechanics all work very well, but things can get strung out as your empire expands. Often, you'll be fighting on a front that's at least three or four planets away from your home. Selecting and directing your minions to where the fighting is fierce can be a bit of a pain, and there are times when your actions don't seem to matter because of the snail's pace that some of the units take to cross the battlefield.

The graphics have their own sense of style, which is not to say that similar styles haven't been tried before, but everything in the game is consistently good looking and I never experience slow-down or glitches. The HUD and interfaces are stripped down, but stylish in a simple way. The game's sound track includes over two hours of ambient music, and it does a of a good job of setting the mood without being obtrusive. The game's sound effects are minimal but effective in this context, and, of course, you can adjust the volume levels to your liking if you'd rather listen to some other music while retaining the sound effects and audio alerts.


The game sports a story mode with twenty-five focused, goal-oriented levels, and, while you may be moving faster than the learning curve on the first few levels, the difficulty ramps up as time goes on, with later levels requiring a bit of time to clear. The game also includes a battle mode with six different arenas where you can fight with several other flower colors, trying to take over a cluster of asteroids. While these battles might be lengthy, they aren't really that hard. I never really lost planets to invading forces, the whole game is just one inescapable march from the start to when the last enemy planet falls to your control. Eventually, you do unlock a harder mode, and you'll probably want to use that mode if you want to spend a bit more time with the game.

However, you might get a little tired of the game. Maybe it was just me, but after a few hours, the whole thing starts to become formulaic. The game tries to make up for this fact by randomizing the planet attributes and placement, but you might not even notice these changes. The fields will still look pretty similar and the way you play the game will hardly change at all. Maybe I'll come back to Eufloria in a few days and get excited about it again, but I feel like I may have already seen most of what the game has to offer.

Eufloria had my heart from the very beginning: from the interesting art style and cool music to the slick and relatively intuitive gameplay, the experience was a nice one. It wasn't long, though, before the game was wearing a little thin. It doesn't help that the game costs a hefty twenty dollars. When most of the crowd of indie games cost half as much or less, it's hard to justify purchasing the game. If you're considering getting a game like this, you might want to think twice: the game has a certain elegance, but it faces issues with replayability and longevity. You should probably want to give the demo a few hours before you make a purchase.

Governor of Poker 2 - Review

All-in on a bluff
One more way to lose your hard-earned cash.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Governor of Poker 2. Is it a simulation or a straight card game with some graphical flair? Is it a tycoon game or an RPG? Well, as is so often the case, the game is a mixture of quite a few things. In Governor of Poker 2, you'll take control of an upstart poker player fighting his way up through the ranks of Texas card sharks, all the while, you're goal will be to convince the Governor of the state that poker isn't a game of chance. The Gov is seriously thinking about banning the game, but if you can win enough matches, he might be satisfied with the conclusion that poker is less about the game on the table and more about the game in your head.

Governor of poker 2 will be forcing you to play that mental game, too. The only type of poker that you can play is Texas Hold 'em, a variant that, though wildly popular, is not the most engaging version of the game. There are so many variations on the game of poker, and you might think that someone who hopes to be labeled “Governor of Poker” would take the time to become proficient in several different varieties, but this isn't the case. The only decisions to be made in Texas Hold 'em are what to bet and when to fold, and this lack of actual game-related strategy is sorely absent in this downloadable title. The game tries to make up for it with a mood-betting system that tries to let you play with the emotions of the computer controlled characters, but this aspect of the game goes underutilized for a reason I'll talk about next.

Having played a more than a few friendly rounds of poker in my life, I have a pretty good idea of how often you can expect to get a good hand. Obviously, this number will fluctuate with the number of players taking part in the game, but, with three or four guys around the table, you can expect to get a three-of-a-kind or a straight every five or six hands. In Governor of Poker, however, you'll go for ten to twenty rounds with nothing better than a high-card or a pair, even when you're only up against one other player. I don't know if the game truly randomly generates the cards, but it often seems like you're cards are being picked by your opponent. The mood-betting system doesn't work because all you can do is make the other players angry. When they're angry, your foes will play more aggressively, and that's the last thing you want when you don't have the cards to back up your bluff.



The game isn't really a feast for the senses either. The graphics are alternately clunky and ugly, with questionable animation and a somewhat unnerving juxtaposition of the various visual elements. The audio is also lacking in a few ways: the background noise in the card-table sections is obviously on a very short loop and the narrator’s voice-over quickly becomes annoying. What you're really here for is the poker, so your best option is probably to turn off the volume and put on some good music. The graphics can eventually be ignored as long as you focus just on what's going on with the cards. The game can be played in a windowed mode to allow you to play a few hands while you're doing something else.

You know what else can be played in windowed mode? Flash games. While preparing to review this game, I had a hunch and googled up “Governor of Poker.” I wasn't remarkably surprised when I discovered that the first game in the series is a flash game. Playing the first game, it's hard to see where the designers changed anything in the transition to the second game. Sure, the graphics might be a little different and it might be slightly less polished than its newer counterpart, but you know what else it is? It's free. Why would I spend ten dollars on a game that can still be played for free from any computer at any time? Don't waste your money: if you need some Texas Hold 'em on your computer, turn to the free version of Governor Of Poker, not the paid version.

--Tom

The Polynomial: Space of the Music - Review

The Polynomial: Space of the Music for the PC
A lukewarm kaleidoscope of sound and color.

The Polynomial: Space of the Music is an intriguingly named game developed by an independent Russian game designer. Distributed through Steam, Polynomial is a mesmerizing spaceship shooter for PC and Mac. In an independent spirit, you can download a demo version of Polynomial that includes all of the features of the full game minus a few of the arenas. The arenas seem to be entirely cosmetic, however, so if you're interested in the game, the demo will probably give you a pretty good idea of what the game will be like.

That look may not be pretty, though. Don't get me wrong, the visuals look beautiful: the game is full of psychedelic explosions and cosmic scenery. The problem comes when all the lovely looking sparkles and flashy nebula are crawling by at five frames a second. The game has a painfully slow frame-rate, and even when I lowered the settings down to less than ten percent of the default, the game chugged at an unacceptably slow speed. It's not like I'm trying to run this on a ten-year-old computer either, if the game won't run on my fairly computer that exceeds both the necessary and recommended system requirements in every regard, I doubt that it will work very well for most other mid-range PCs.

(NOTE: After additional research into the framerate issues, I discovered that the problem lay in the fact that the game does not apparently fully support Intel GMA or HD graphics cards.  So, be forewarned that if you're trying to run Polynomial on a system with one of those models, you will not be able to play a functional game.)

When the game catches up to itself, the gameplay isn't anything to write home about either. Polynomial plays like any other in-cockpit perspective flight combat game. Granted, the market isn't that large, but the game doesn't offer any innovation of the format, sticking to an arcade style format. The collision detection for projectiles is a little off and it can be hard to target the stylistic enemies when the screen is full of particle effects and explosions, but these don't significantly detract from the experience. Fundamentally, the game is fun, but the gameplay does nothing to separate itself from other titles.



One area in which the game does stand out, however, is its excellent soundtrack. Unlike a lot of soundtracks that are only there because the game needs one, the music in Polynomial is one of the best parts of the game, and I believe would be strong enough to stand on its own. Taking cues from the colorful visuals, the music is electronic and trippy with suitable aspects of the avant-garde. The music does occasionally lag with the gameplay, but can manage to keep up to speed even when the game is moving at a snail's pace. The music has good variety too, meaning that you probably won't be quickly worn out on the songs. If you do get tired of the music, however, the game sounds great alongside a Flaming Lips record. What you may not enjoy is the annoying female announcer who will be constantly reminding you to switch to the hardest difficulty and of the simplest parts of the control scheme. Really, after thirty minutes, I haven't already forgotten how to turn the ship.

Polynomial is a very mixed bag, and your opinion of it is going to depend on what sort of computer you're using, what kind of technical issues you're willing to put up with, and what level of realism you prefer. Despite the issues that I experienced, I had a pretty good time with the game, and I'll probably pick it up again when I've got a little time to spare. There's something hypnotically wonderful about this game, and I probably want to enjoy this game more than I actually do. Still, you should certainly download the demo before you buy, but I would definitely recommend that you try it out if you like arcade-style games. It's hard to argue with free.

Click here to download the demo of The Polynomial: Space of the Music from Steam.

--Tom

Mafia II Review

Game: Mafia 2
Reviewed Platfom: Xbox 360
Other Platforms: Playstation 3, PC

It's 1945, world war 2 is raging on seemingly infinitely, thousands of men are dying in dank pits and... What are you doing? Drinking fine wine, wearing the latest fashion and driving the best cars money can buy. For this is the life of the Mafia, as the game sets out to present through the protagonist Vito Scaletta, an Italian American who scrubs up nice and his best buddy Joe's, an Italian American who's a bit chubbier, optimism of the lifestyle. To them the mafia is money, cars, women and most importantly, power. This leads onto one of the best and most involving storylines i've partaken in within a game.

It is impossible not to at least reference grand theft auto within the review. The mechanics are essentially the same for most of the game. It's a third person game in the same vein, You run to cover before the enemies shoot you and pop out to get them whenever you can. The difficulty is definitely alot higher however, i found myself turning around corners to be killed in one shot. However, this is usually because i'm moving too fast, and will only occur later in the game when alot of enemies have magnums, and the enemies with shotguns throughout the game. This brings me to the checkpointing system, checkpoints in missions are a very important ingredient in a game where you have to traverse a large environment to get to and from the mission, Mafia 2's checkpoint spacing was very good throughout. There was one moment very late in the game where it seemed as though they had missed a checkpoint in the middle of a fight. You start on some docks, fighting your way up to a warehouse. This bit is hard within itself, but after this you enter a warehouse. This is where the bullshittery of the game is, the only defining, stand out, bull shit momment. You are trapped in an enclosed enviroment with about 10 guys with guns that'll kill you in 2-3 shots, and a man chucking molotov cocktails which have some sort of ultimate area affect damage because they drain your life so fast it isn't funny, and to make matters worse, you go back to the start of the docks if you die. The only way i could find to do this was to, as soon as i entered the warehouse, sprint to the other side, under the balcony the guy with molotovs on and camp the stairs. It felt cheap, but on hard difficulty anything else was suicide.

Not to say the gun segments aren't fun, the last little segment especially. In which you have to drive to the planetarium, it's raining and the building looks ominous from the car lot. The situation and setting were so epic i decided to change from my summer shirt to proper Mafia garb and buy a tommy gun to suit the situation. Because the story had become so involving i knew i'd regret it if i didn't dress for the occasion. However, this gun segment made me feel like Tony Montana in Scarface, walking down the hall with my machine gun, gunning fools down. I was powerful because i was angry at the people i was shooting, and it was fun as hell.


As anyone who has played GTA will know, the missions become monotonus, drive somewhere, shoot some fools, drive back, Piss. Get's boring fast though, and whilst GTA breaks this up with things like darts, arcade games and some side missions. Mafia does something i think GTA could learn from. Every mission you do advances the narrative, you have one mission at a time, and the variety is brilliant. At the start of the game you'll be having fist fights with people, a simplified mechanic, but one that keeps the combat intense. Hold a to dodge, b for a light hit, and y for a hard hit. Timing is everything, and when you learn to counter punch later, things become even tenser. There are also a few segments to break up the shooting where you have to sneak around metal gear style, usually with a no kill bonus. Typical Mafia tasks are also at hand like extorting money from people, which, whilst not at the height of entertainment, really helps to show how things are run. The variety of the game kept me playing through in one sitting. I couldn't say this for GTA IV, which i still have not finished, Mafia 2 is helped in this department as the campaign in around 8 hours long, which is fine, as this is NOT a free form, free roam game. It is an action adventure title in a GTA vein. This is the only xbox 360 game i have played through twice, and i think there is replayablility to be had from the game-play alone.

The collectibles. Yes, they're playboy magazines, no, it's not tasteful, but theres nobody complaining. In no other game can i try to open a door by pressing x and instead pick up a picture of a topless woman. There are 50 "playmates" to collect, along with 159 wanted posters. You also unlock more artwork by playing through on different difficulties. So if collecting things is your thing, or you want to see some topless 60's chicks, Mafia 2 has some more stuff for you to do!

The best aspect of the game is probably the setting. The game has...4 setting changes within it. One chapter you're in world war 2, another you're in snowy 1945 and halfway through the game you're in 1951, theres even another setting which is very unexpected. But one of the best settings in the game. The music and colours in these periods really represent the time. In 1945 everything is snowy, and theres a sort of depressive feeling overhanging the world. Whilst 1951 has you driving around listening to "rock and roll" with bright colours everywhere. You just need to play it to feel the vibe.

Overall, this game is not the greatest, however, the narrative is movie worthy. More specifically a great movie. The game is fun, and it actually includes things that gta could learn from, it's not as good as red dead redemption gameplay wise, whilst better in a narrative sense.

"If you have the money to spare for a game, get Mafia 2, it's got some of the best atmosphere out there, and an ending that'll stay with you for a while."

Image credit: 2nd image: Coventry-telegraph.co.uk