runeScape, First Impressions

RuneScape is a free Massively Multi-player RPG that I started to play off of the AddictingGames home page today. This British produced, Java based game plays very well on my New iMac. Considered to be the most popular MMORPG in the world, this title has been around a LONG time, but I just have now begun to try it out. I don't have much time for non-stop gaming, so I am unsure how much I will be able to get into the game, but it has been interesting so far.

After creating my free account, and dressing my character as an Abel Xavier clone, I set off to learn the basic tutorial skills that are necessary to survive in the RuneScape world. These included chopping trees, lighting fires, collecting shrimp and cooking up a lovely meal. After about 15 minutes of doing that and watching others, I graduated to the next tutorial level, Making Bread! Anyway, I usually want my games to be filled with quick action, but this is more of a Sims in the old world rather than a hack and slash Phanstsie fest.  Once you progress in the game, there are battles and quests and all that cool zarjaz, but at the beginning, you have to learn the necessary skills to survive...

pro Evolution Soccer 2008 for the Wii offers the type of innovative controls and game play that I expected from the Wii in 2006, but slogged through 2007 without finding. I'm happy to see that in 2008 developers are finally finding ways to move Wii's unique control scheme away from hand flipping mini-game gimmicks, and towards new and innovative methods to control and immerse the player into games that I once (mistakenly) thought had reached their apex.

a week or so back I wrote a pissed-off blog entry about how it was to find Pinball Hall Of Fame Williams Collection for the Wii out in the wild. That has not changed, and I still have not heard or found any real explanation for it. I ordered my copy from Amazon.com, and it arrived in 2 days, which seemed reasonable, and I've been playing the game ever since. If I was bewildered about the lack of availability, promotion, etc. for Pinball Hall Of Fame Williams Collection before I played it, I'm simply astonished over it now that I own it. This game is by far, the best simulation of pinball ever created for a home console or computer.

in the past few weeks after our Mid-Core Gamer ideas filtered out on to the interbaun, I have seen a question pop-up many times: What about retro games? There are many "retro gamers" out there that fit the mold of Mid-Core, but but might not identify with the idea because they simply don't play many new games. Some of them want to know if they might fit into this new idea of the Mid-Core Gamer. The short answer is. "yes", in most cases playing "retro games" is a definitely a Mid-Core activity.

bookworm Adventures

 

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Platforms:
PC

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Links:

Official Site

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Game Play:
A serious update to the Pop Cap classic Bookworm Deluxe. Fight monsters by creating words from a grid of 16 letter tiles. Play through three separate books and several mini-games. Collect experience to gain levels and increase your health and attack power. Use crystal tiles to increase your attacks. After you finish each quest, you receive a special item that can be used to gain bonuses in your attack or defense. Unlike the original Bookworm game, letters do not have to be touching to be used to form a word. A seemingly simple concept that is, in reality, insanely addictive.

alien Shooter Vengeance

 

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Platforms:
PC

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Links:

Official Site

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Gameplay:
Blast scores of aliens in this 2.5D isometric shooter. The game has the feel of the "Fallout" series put into an action game.

"Carnival Games" from Global Star software for the Nintendo Wii is the best game ever made about, umm, Carnival Games. This is certainly a game that would have been a minor failure on any other platform, but on the Wii is an entertaining success. You enter the carnival where you can decide to play a single player game (collect tickets, trade-up prizes, unlock contests) or a multi-player game (use 1 or more Wii-Motes to play any of your currently unlocked games). The multi-player mode will probably attract many people first, as it seems that this is where mini-game collection like this should really shine. In some places, it really does. There are about 25 games, and most of them are very accurate recreations of their real-life carnival counterparts. There are about 8 games that can be played in multi-player mode (2 or more people at once) the rest make you take turns. This is fun for a while, but it also shows just how shallow some of the games can be. You don't collect tickets or prizes in multi-player mode, and this makes success seem a bit hallow. Single player is much better way to play, even with a group. Taking turns to earn enough tickets to open new games, unlock character modifications, and trade-up prizes is surprisingly fun. This little bit of challenge adds weight to contests that seemed somewhat trivial in multi-player mode.

do all the fancy controls of the Fifa series confuse, frustrate or annoy you? Do you value playability over fancy rendered realistic images of Ronaldo's bald head? If you have any interest in Soccer, or role playing games, or sports game for that matter, New Star Soccer 3 might be just for you.

I used to play some great footie games on my Atari ST in the early 90's - Anco Kick Off II (by the legendary Dino Dini), Anco Player Manager and the Sensible Soccer series of games. Once the ST was put into the closet, I purchased quite a few soccer titles for the modern machines - FIFA, Winning Eleven, etc. While they have all made great advances in technology, the games were just not as fun to play as the masterpieces of the 16-bit age. I thought I would have to remain satisfied with playing Player Manager in emulation, but then I happened upon what is quite possibly the best footie game ever published, New Star Soccer 3!