Publisher: Paolo Cosentino
Developer: Paolo Cosentino
System: PC
Minimum requirements: Intel Celeron 2.0 GHz, 256 MB RAM, Windows 98, 3D Graphics (developer has not tested the game under Windows Vista)
Genre: First-person shooter/Adventure
Release date: Available now
Review by: Bob Mandel

Sometimes in the midst of highly touted blockbusters, a surprise game emerges that stands out from the crowd. Such is the case for TECNO, an obscure release from Montevideo, Uruguay that was largely developed by a single individual across several years. This title has a high ambition: to provide a hybrid science-fiction first-person shooter/adventure/puzzle play experience in a manner that is quite distinct from most of what is out there. TECNO takes a big risk by refusing to mimic current fads in its design.

The plot is not one of TECNO’s strong points, as sadly there is very little story development. Despite a fascinating introductory video, you don’t find out much about whom or where you are, and as you progress you never really learn much more. Your mission is to escape from an advanced technology-filled base where robots have malfunctioned. The ending of this game, while nicely done, will leave you wanting more. Although the first-person shooter crowd does not always demand a plot, adventure fans do, and they will be disappointed.

( read more… )

Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: Frictional Games
System: PC
Minimum requirements: 1.5 GHz processor; 512 MB RAM; 3D graphics acceleration; Windows 2000/XP/Vista
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available now
Review by: Bob Mandel

In 2007, an obscure Swedish company called Frictional Games developed a title (published through Got Games Entertainment) called Penumbra: Overture, originally scheduled to be the first of three episodes. I reviewed that game, and was so amazed at its quality that I gave it the Adrenaline Vault Seal of Excellence award. Recently, without much fanfare the sequel and final installment — Penumbra: Black Plague — has been released (this time published through Paradox Interactive). Like its predecessor, this new first-person horror adventure-puzzle title defies easy categorization, as it combines elements of the point-and-click adventure genre with the more action-oriented first-person shooter genre.

( read more… )

Publisher: Meridian4
Developer: Frozenbyte
System: PC
Minimum requirements: 1.5 GHz processor; 512 MB RAM; 128 MB graphics card; 1 GB hard drive space; DirectX 9.0c; Windows XP/Vista
Genre: Action shooter
Release date: Available now
Review by: Bob Mandel

When the Finnish developer Frozenbyte released Shadowgrounds in 2006, I was thrilled to find a near-perfect implementation of old-school third-person arcade shooting action. The gunplay was fast, providing immediate gratification, and the creative implementation of the eerie environments and evil monstrosities was just right for a sustained session of escapist thrills. Recently, Frozenbyte released a sequel, Shadowgrounds Survivor, raising the question of whether the new offering is just a rehash of what came before or a fresh and original experience.

( read more… )

Publisher: Midway Home Entertainment
Developer: Midway Home Entertainment
System: PC
Minimum requirements: Pentium IV 3 GHz; 2 GB RAM; Pixel Shader 3.0 capable video card with 256 MB RAM; Windows XP or Vista
Genre: First-person action
Release date: Available now
Review by: Bob Mandel

In 2005, Midway released the PC game, Area 51, which, while not groundbreaking, offered a fun experience encountering and battling weird otherworldly predicaments at the legendary and mysterious locale in the Nevada desert. Considerable buzz and high expectations developed when word leaked out that a sequel was being prepared for release. So excitement surrounded the recent development by a different team of Blacksite: Area 51, which was supposed to be not at all like the original. Does this highly anticipated release live up to its hype?

( read more… )

Publisher: Sierra Entertainment
Developer: Saber Interactive
System: PC
Minimum requirements: Pentium 4 2 GHz or equivalent; 1 GB RAM; Windows XP or Vista
Genre: First-person shooter
Release date: Available now
Review by: Bob Mandel

This holiday season is chock full of first-person shooters for the PC. How many times do you see games the quality of Bioshock, Painkiller Overdose, Orange Box, Call of Duty 4, Crysis and Blacksite: Area 51 all being released in such close proximity to each other? Of course, that’s not even considering non-PC blockbuster releases such as Halo 3. In the midst of this embarrassment of riches, Sierra Entertainment has published Saber Interactive’s TIMESHIFT (released on the PS3 and Xbox 360 as well as on the PC). Can TIMESHIFT stand up to its competition?

The story in TIMESHIFT rings very familiar. You play as a mysterious physicist doing research on a special suit — originally developed for time jumping — under a former physics professor named Aiden Krone. After an explosion in the lab, the unscrupulous Krone steals a prototype of the suit and flees to a different spot in the time-space continuum; you grab the other prototype and race after him. You find yourself in an era reminiscent of the 1930s, characterized by violent turmoil between the dictator Krone, who’s commanding a large army, and a valiant resistance movement called the Occupants. As you progress, cutscenes move the story forward. In retrospect, the plot is both disjointed and peripheral, and could’ve been more novel and fleshed out.

( read more… )

Publisher: Got Game Entertainment
Developer: Frictional Games
System: PC
System requirements: Pentium 1 GHz; 256 MB RAM; Windows 2000/XP/Vista; 3D graphics acceleration.
Genre: Survival horror
Release date: Available now
Review by: Bob Mandel

Many games have emerged in recent years in the survival-horror genre, including Clive Barker’s Undying, Scratches and the Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil series. But none of them combined the action of first-person shooters with the puzzle solving and exploration of adventure titles. Now Frictional Games, a small Swedish development team, has released Penumbra: Overture — Episode One, which attempts to combine elements of horror, first-person combat and adventure.

Penumbra started out as a very scary tech demo which didn’t do well in the game contest for which it was made. While it gained popularity when it was released to the public, it had little in the way of story or cohesiveness. In this ultra-competitive world of gaming, is it possible for a limited group to make a successful game? And could the unique blending of adventure and FPS gameplay work? These were the questions on my mind when I began to play Penumbra.

( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: May 8, 2006

With all the sophistication and complexity of modern computer games, sometimes I yearn for the pure arcade simplicity of the past. So when I heard that the Finnish company Frozenbyte was developing an old-school action shooter, my ears really perked up. ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: April 24, 2006

I must admit that I have not played a really high quality and immersive point-and-click adventure-puzzle title for quite a while on the personal computer. After enjoying Aura and Syberia 2 in 2004, there has not been that much in this genre during the past year to attract and hold my attention. ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel

Published: March 9, 2006

I am an unabashed lover of virtual pinball, despite the general disappearance of pinball in video arcades, and have been eagerly waiting for its arrival on the PSP. With quality experiences on the computer playing such titles as Balls of Steel, Pro Pinball: Timeshock!, and 3-D Ultra Pinball Thrillride, I have enthusiastically turned to my first handheld pinball experience playing Crave Entertainment’s Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection (developed by Farsight Studios). Based on the expertly crafted Gottlieb arcade pinball machines from several decades, there is a rich tradition of tried-and-true physical pinball experience behind this new offering.

( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: January 23, 2006

From Planet Moon Studios, the wacky and creative developers of the classic third-person shooter MDK (when the company was still called Shiny), we now have a release provocatively entitled Infected. Featuring nonstop shooting action in a race to rid the Big Apple of swarms of diseased mutants, this is new third-person shooter is a real throwback to earlier times. This promising offering is one of the first exclusive titles developed for the PSP, which up to this point has largely been the beneficiary of derivative material. But is Infected successful enough to attract contagiously other developers to focus on exclusive PSP releases? ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: January 10, 2006

There has been a ton of ballyhoo surrounding Ubisoft’s recent release of Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, a combination of first-person shooter, third-person brawler, and action-advanture. ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: November 28, 2005

First-person shooters generally emphasize intense combat action, but they often neglect other play elements, including the sense of atmosphere. Only a few try to foster a real sense of terror, including Doom 3 and Clive Barker’s Undying. Now Monolith has released through Vivendi Universal Games F.E.A.R. ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: November 17, 2005

Back in 2001, a small East European company named Croteam shocked the computer gaming world by releasing the original Serious Sam, an irreverent and whimsical first-person shooter that broke all the existing rules. Worrying little about story and never taking itself too seriously, this old school title involved hordes of over-the-top enemies attacking you in a nonstop fashion. ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: October 10, 2005

If there is one genre that has been a success during the roughly half a year that the Sony PSP has been on the market, it has been arcade racing. What with Ridge Racer for conventional driving and Wipeout Pure for futuristic combat racing, and many other titles available for other different preferences, it would seem like the full range of tastes would be satisfied. However, Criterion Studio’s fabulously successful Burnout series on the game console is really something special, so why not add this option to the spectrum of choice for handheld fans? ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: September 6, 2005

Creativity in game releases is both a rare and cherished commodity. Often attempts to blend genres or to implement new wrinkles end up falling flat, with consumers not willing to change their expectations from established types of offerings. Now Backbone Entertainment has just released through Konami Digital Entertainment Death Jr., an action title for the PSP combining platform and shooting action in an unusual setting. Can this novel combination succeed? ( read more… )