Thrilling new approach to real-time strategy. Addictive, intense multiplayer gameplay. Strong story with terrific voice acting. Visually stunning with plenty of spectacular moments.

 

World in Conflict is an RTS that is based off of a concept of “what if” the Cold War didn’t end soo well? The result is a massive scale war across continents and you play as America in the campaign mode (online you can choose to be the Americans, N.A.T.O. or the Soviets). Anyways the brilliance of how this game was put together and the amount of fun playing it will impress you.

Gameplay - You start off with commands points and can order units across “drop zone areas” of the battlefield. These command points automatically recharge throughout your gameplay. It’s the same concept as any other RTS, units have weaknesses, certain units kill others better and are more vulnerable to other units. You can also order in airstrikes, artillery, chemical gases and ect. This makes the game much more fun and it’s fun to watch things blow up (it feels great when you hit another unit using the artillery or airstrikes).

Graphics - Let me start off by saying, these graphics are incredibly realistic. From the cutscenes to the gameplay everything looks great. My computer isn’t a very good one, I have an older graphics card (6200 Geforce) and my game still looks great.

Sound - I honestly have never heard a game sound this realistic. From the radio chatter of your units to the sounds of explosions it sounds real. Everything works great. In campaign the voice acting is excellent and it creates a tone of seriousness and a level of maturity.

All together this game is worth buying. The special edition comes with a fake piece of the Berlin Wall which has a detailed card in German behind the rock and also a DVD about the Berlin Wall. I honestly thought that was pretty nice to have that in there. It suits the mood of the game but sends out a message which will leave you questioning war. If you do buy this game listen to the song played at the credits after you beat campaign.

Open-ended profession system lets you choose your class as you play. Shooter-like combat keeps you engaged. Exciting random attacks on control points and in explorable areas.

 

 

For Tabula Rasa,The combat system and skill system is what partly makes Tabula Rasa unique. For the RPG and Shooter man, the battle system is for you. That combination is very rare, almost unseen today. The skills are able to be used in battle withOUT slowing the user down. One of the best ablities that don’t slow the user down is Rushing Blow, wich makes you just plow into the user like the Great Khali into Hornswogle. (Sorry, wrestling quote there.) Now, time for the downside. The biggest part of this are the glitches. When you step into a glitch, they will be huge, and could stop the game altogether. An example of a glitch is when the game just crashes randomly. Another thing isn’t big, but falling down a cliff that could be as big as 50 feet….. Doesn’t kill you. That’s just godly. Except for that, its not a bad game. So, without further ado, I give Tabula Rasa a 8.0 out of 10.0 points. It’s another good unique game.
The graphics aren’t at all something to gawk at, but for someone like me who played UO for X number of years, the biggest concern I have is gameplay and replayability. If you are big on graphics then you are going to find this game more or less an eyesore, although there are varying levels of detail you can allow, or disallow, in the video options menu. However it is my opinion that the graphics are very acceptable. I am very pleased to have purchased a game from a developer that knows not to waste DVD space on voice-overs and eye-candy that will not add to the value of the game in any way shape or form. Even though these are not the best graphics, in my opinion, they are all very well placed. He did a good job with what he had to work with. The experience of Garriott and his team shines brightly all around you proved in all you see and do.

SimCity Societies is not a terrible game, it’s simply different. SimCity Societies gives players the chance to build a capitalist democracy, an authoritarian dictatorship, a rural farming community, or a fantasy society, which is a nice change to the series. Although it may not allow you to build cities to the same scale as in SimCity 4, the general gameplay is still the same. You still build your Sims homes, jobsites, and industries. You still set up transportation networks, and you still get to create natural disasters. I’ve heard a number of people say SimCity Societies it too easy, which I tend to disagree with. If you set the game difficulty high enough, the game becomes quite challenging.

 

 

Each building will use or produce a certain amount of prosperity, authority, creativity, and more. if you fail to balance your use and production of these values, your society will collapse. I do, however have a few issues with SimCity Societies. The game’s framerate is terrible, which can ruin the experience. There is also not enough variety in buildings. I think EA had a great idea, however some of those ideas were poorly executed.

Sid Meier on Civilization Revolution and his next plans on Special GamersGlobal is a Q&A with veteran designer, reflecting on his career and what the future holds for the Civilization series and more. Along the way he says he still would like to create more new IPS and also create an MMOG somewhere along the way.

What we heard: What we know: Blizzard is working on a new massively multiplayer online game that doesn’t involve the words “world” or “Warcraft.” The problem, then, lies in which of the exceedingly popular properties the soon-to-be merged developer will be giving the MMOG treatment–or whether the game will even be a supersized version of an established IP at all. With Starcraft II definitely in the works, and Blizzard brass saying neither the Starcraft nor the Diablo franchises have been forgotten, speculation abounds that one–or both–IPs will be the basis for their next effort.

 

 
However, with Blizzard remaining mum on the issue, the studio’s devout followers have been keen to latch onto even the slightest tidbit that may confirm which universe the new MMOG will take place. The latest kick to the hive comes from an online report out of Beijing found on financial news service Trading Markets. Citing Caijing Magazine, the report states that online game operators NetEase.com is on track to gaining a license to operate overseas-developed games, and that “industry insiders” say Blizzard’s “Starcraft Online” may be the first of its offerings.

So what is Starcraft Online, and what does NetEase have to do with it? The second part of the question is easy. As it does with World of Warcraft, Blizzard often outsources localization and server hosting duties to companies already established in the region it is expanding into. For instance, in 2004, Blizzard awarded Chinese ISP The 9 the license to distribute and localize World of Warcraft in China.

The Trading Markets report notes that no official contract has been signed between Blizzard and NetEase, so neither company is in a position to be forthcoming with specifics of the deal. Even still, it seems far more likely that Starcraft Online is a translation-garbled reference to distribution of the online component of the original Starcraft or its upcoming sequel, Starcraft II. Though the original Starcraft was released 10 years ago, its popularity remains widespread in many Asian nations, so much so that Blizzard unveiled Starcraft II in Seoul, South Korea last year.

The official story: These sentiments are bolstered by Blizzard’s official word on the matter. “Our focus right now is on continuing development of Starcraft II and working our way toward beta,” a Blizzard rep told GameSpot. “We haven’t announced plans for anything called Starcraft Online, and we prefer not to address rumors or speculate on business operations that haven’t been determined yet.”

Bogus or not bogus?: GameSpot has learned that it is bogus that this report has anything to do with an unannounced Starcraft MMOG.

Source: Gamespot

Three unique, distinct, and neat factions to play as. Hierarchy walkers are fun to control or take down. Online modes are a blast. Universe at War has three engaging factions and some interesting ideas, but it’s also saddled with some annoying issues.

 

     
I’m happy to say that Universe at War wasn’t at all the boring, limited game I expected it to be. The three sides are very unique. It makes for some intresting gameplay, to say the least. 

Novus favors a fast, slightly swarming kind of tactic, and if you have a good flow network set up, you can be all over your opponent. The flow conduits can even double as a camera of sorts, letting you see if any enemy units go near your conduits. They are also best at dealing with Heirachy walkers, because of their amplifiers. Patches are also a very good way of changing your tactics on the ball.

The Heirachy are the typical big bad overlords of the universe. They invade Earth, wanna blow it up, use the people for resources. Sound familiar ? Probably. Their walkers are without a doubt the most powerful units in the game. They crush most stuff in their way. I say most, because a lot of times my Novus and Massari units could just hang around under its legs. The walkers can be configured to be gay weapons of destruction, but they’re also your factories. So its really a choice of being powerful, or being a factory.

Finally are the Massari. They’re some sort of human looking alien race who’ve been guiding us all along. They can switch between Light and Dark modes, pretty nifty, with Dark modes giving something called DMA, which is a glorious name for shield, over time. Light mode makes your weapons burn, and let your air units fly. The two modes also affect your superweapon, with a different one in a different mode. The weapon recharges when you switch mode, which can be irritating. As it stands, I spent most of my time in Dark Mode, because one research allows your structures to get DMA too.

Audio is pretty well done. There’s some rock music that plays when you enter battle. The different teams’ voices fit the general scheme of their respective sides, though the Massari put me in mind of the Necrons for some weird reason. Dialogue between missions is also intresting and draws you into the game. You don’t want to skip the briefings, but want to stay and listen. The cutscenes are good too, pushing the story along without really being obvious about it. Lastly. The Novus amplifier at full charge has a very piercing sound. Its really realistic. While its not bad, it tends to hurt my ears.

The bad points. Firstly, and most obviously, the camera. You can’t scroll out. You can scroll in, but can’t scroll out of the standard view. Which is fustrating because a walker pretty much takes up the screen. The control scheme is pretty clumsy too. Creating control groups is a bit irritating. After pressing ctrl+1, you have to hold it there till you see the number appear under their hp bars, or it won’t stick. Finally, there seems to be problems with the AI pathfinding. My units kept getting stuck on corners. They were also way too battle hungry. And for some reason, when ordered to attack walkers, units tend to charge forward, instead of staying back and hammering from afar.

Overall, the game is pretty nifty. Good concept, nice story overall. Especially the Massari campaign. I didn’t expect it to turn into the strategic warfare. If you’re looking for a RTS to tide you over until something else more intresting comes along, this will do nicely.