Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: March 29, 2001

Revenge is a normally a wonderful thing — being the topic of choice in many of our society’s greatest epics. Seeking justice when God or the cosmos refuses to grant it has been the motive behind many of the great heroes and villains. As this classic principle is presented in Mission: Humanity, EON Digital’s newest entry into the world of real-time strategy, it sets the background for an epic conflict spanning the length of many solar systems. ( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: March 21, 2001

Every country has periods in its culture that have been elevated to near-legendary status amongst citizens by way of historical analysis or media focus in the form of books and movies. While the popularity of these periods changes from generation to generation, most are undeniably ingrained into the cultural psyche of each country. One of the most recent, and yet least remembered, is the Age of Sail. This time period, which lasted from the early part of the 1700′s to the middle of the 1800′s included some of the most amazing naval battles ever fought, especially when one considers the lack of modern advances such as air-support and torpedoes. From the deadly fire of ship mounted cannons, a new set of heroes and villains were forged, as brave Admirals fought to the painful fulfillment of their duties, and scurrilous pirates pillaged small port towns, seeking glory and wealth.

( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: March 17, 2001

For some strange reason, when the average gamer ponders the words “Independent Developer,” there is a decidedly negative connotation that tags along. The mass proliferation of video games into the average home started with the extreme popularity of Sony’s PlayStation console. From the inevitable sales explosions that accompanied the migration of gaming into the eyes of the general public, there was a buildup in the number of third-party software developers on a similar scale. At the Adrenaline Vault we take pride in recognizing titles created by dedicated gamers who haven’t had the large marketing budgets or overall funding of the famous development studios. More often than not, the finished product ends up reflecting a lack of monetary input, but every so often you’ll find a title like Far Gate.

( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: March 7, 2001

Every nation involved in the great conflict that was World War II has their own set of collective memories as to the times of greatest trials and the moments of most powerful anxiety. For the part of the United States, it was perhaps, our finest hour. Equally well-known to our culture is the treachery that we experienced from the Japanese government during the bombing of Pearl Harbor; December 7th, 1941 is certainly a day that the entire world will remember. Despite the fact that some U.S. citizens believe our great country to be the center of the universe, it can be said with absolute certainty that other nations have played great parts in the events of the last two World Wars.

( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: February 28, 2001

When one thinks of hunting games, very specific images are conjured in the mind. We normally think of some good ‘ol boys out in a light patch of forest with trophy bucks being felled between the crosshairs of a powerful scope. The slightly more adventurous might even have a vision of wild safari’s, where the overly wealthy hunt now-endangered animals in the savannahs of Africa or the depths of South American rain forest. Possibly the last image that would come to mind for the average hunter is a picture of several scantily equipped men chasing down a group of dinosaurs for sport. WizardWorks, best known for their budget hunting titles, including the rabidly popular Deer Hunter series, released a new twist into this genre several years ago with the original Carnivores, which brought the premise of dinosaur hunting to vivid life on computer screens everywhere. Two titles and an impressive set of positive reviews later, WizardWorks has sent Carnivores: Ice Age into the eager hands of hunting enthusiasts.

( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: February 24, 2001

Many genres in computer entertainment have gone through a process of evolution from their roots in the mid- to late 80′s. Adventure games were conceived many moons ago with the first Zork, and now the genre has advanced to give us such masterpieces as Escape From Monkey Island and The Longest Journey. Other genres have had similar success in the years that they have been gracing our screens. Real-time strategy is a genre that has advanced a great deal, despite early indications that it would be filled with nothing but clones of early groundbreakers such as Warcraft 2 and Starcraft. Developers gradually showed us that definite improvements could be made on the original formula, many times to such a radical degree that only the most basic concepts would tie the games together in the same genre. Regardless of the seeming innovation-without-end, there are still companies who come up with games that tend to closely follow the roots of a genre without really doing anything new. German developer Planet4 has released just such an entry into the strategy realm with Thandor: The Invasion. ( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: February 17, 2001

About a year ago, Talonsoft released its latest foray into the world of historical strategy with Rising Sun, a follow-up to its highly successful European Campaign series. This title was everything that a strategic purist could want — hours upon hours of contemplative tactical action, where every move you made would count against you in the end — if there wasn’t a great deal of purpose behind each marching and firing order. ( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: February 10, 2001

When walking into the room of an average young male, one tends to notice that certain predictable items may be found, either due to the interest of the parents or the desires of the child. How many of us have heard the stereotypical story of a father buying baseball bats and catching gloves in the hopes that exposure to these “masculine” items will develop a love of sports in his young son? Conventional sports aside, many males who have grown up in a status quo household had some of the same toys as kids. ( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: February 8, 2001

The long history of computer flight has its roots in the earliest days of the PC, when machines like the Commodore 64 were running extremely primitive Cessna simulations. Military simulators have been around for almost as long, using data far more precise than that available to civilian producers. In the last ten years, however, civilian developers have been making costly flight sims based on realistic physics. These high-end products usually come with expensive hardware and never break into the entertainment sector, instead remaining solely in the domain of hardcore desktop pilots who subscribe to magazines like “Aviation” or “Pilot.” While some mainstream products such as Microsoft Flight Sim 2000 and Flight Unlimited III do possess a degree of realism, there is certainly a marked difference between titles designed for an entertainment audience and those tailored to professionals, who use simulations as actual test flights to improve piloting skills. Recently, publisher Xicat Interactive struck a deal with Laminar Research, a creator of expensive desktop titles, to bring the professional simulator called X-Plane to the entertainment community. Programmed by a single person, X-Plane is one of the most realistic flight sims ever to hit the PC.

( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: February 3, 2001

Throughout the history of PC games, there have been two primary types of advancements that take place within a genre or series of titles. The first is best described as evolution, where one system is completely scrapped to make way for another. Usually, the only thing that remains constant is the basic concept, with graphics, interface and other elements undergoing dramatic improvement. The other advancement comes in the form of expansions, where, for the most part, the visual and audio technologies remain the same, but the gameplay is expanded with a new storyline, more characters and other minor updates. Sirtech, a long-time developer of entertainment products for the PC, has just released the latest addition to its Jagged Alliance series of turn-based strategy titles. Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business falls somewhere in the area of expansions where content is concerned.

( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: January 23, 2001

The art of war makes a great subject for a game. From the dawn of recorded history, mankind has been engaged in brutal struggles that involve nothing more than one man killing another. When you boil away all of the external motives, this concept remains. Some people seem destined to end others’ lives. At certain points in our past, watching people slaughter each other has even been considered a form of upper class entertainment. This tradition continues into the new millennium with titles like Quake III: Arena and Soldier of Fortune being snatched up by eager players.

( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: January 19, 2001

Ever since the introduction of Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” universe to the interactive entertainment industry more than ten years ago, game companies have produced a myriad of titles that explore the lives of heroes such as James T. Kirk and Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Although we have seen a great many adventures based on Starfleet’s exploits, one genre has yet to come into its own — the starship simulation. Many fans would give their spandex uniforms and shiny brass communicator pins to be placed in the captain’s chair of a Sovereign Class vessel, armed to the teeth with quantum torpedoes and modulating phaser banks. And indeed, several titles have tried to capture the essence of starship combat, the most notable of which are Starfleet Academy and the original Starfleet Command. Continuing their longstanding tradition of boldly going where no other licensed “Star Trek” developers have gone before, Taldren Entertainment, in association with Interplay, has released a sequel of sorts to Starfleet Command.

( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: January 16, 2001

Something that becomes obvious after a great deal of time watching the gaming industry is that some genres never translate well to certain platforms. For example, survival horror titles are almost always more fun on a PlayStation or Dreamcast than on a PC. One genre that has provided console players with some of the greatest titles in interactive entertainment is the 3D platform adventure category. However, memorable titles such as Mario 64 are fewer and farther between on the PC. A third-person perspective, cartoony graphics and a heavy emphasis on jumping and puzzle solving rather than shooting everything in sight characterize these games. One of the few products in this style to be released for the PC was UBI Soft’s obscure Hype: The Time Quest. In an effort to capitalize on this underdeveloped portion of the PC gaming market, Bizarre Creations has released Fur Fighters, a 3D platform adventure starring a militant team of cute stuffed animals. ( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: January 11, 2001

When the average gamer thinks about flight sims, two primary styles readily come to mind. First is cruising over mountains and oceans at blazing speeds in an F-16 while dodging missiles and releasing chaff packets. The second is a far more technical branch of simulators. These products take great pains to reproduce every last physical force on the aircraft bodies, right down to vectored thrust and the effect of directional windspeed on flight times. While the first style is geared toward action lovers, the second has far more appeal to would-be pilots and people who have actual licenses. Each of these styles also has its own representative series which defines its genre based on the crucial differences. Action has the venerable Jetfighter series while realists might prefer something along the lines of Combat Flight Sim 2 or Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000. Past realistic flight combat games have had one crucial historic element missing.

( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Houghton
Published: January 8, 2001

When Robert Heinlein wrote his epic science-fiction war novel back in the 1950′s, many people assumed that he was writing a libertarian political satire about a near fascist community where citizenship had to be earned though civil service. Several years ago, Paul Verhoeven brought his vision of Heinlein’s masterpiece to the silver screen. Depicting actions of the utmost brutality, the first thing passing through my mind when I watched the movie was that Verhoeven tried to send a message about war and its place in society: sometimes it’s necessary, but most often, it is merely a waste of human lives. Regardless of the values portrayed in the film, the adventures of Johnny Rico brought magically to life by computer generated imagery revived interest in the Heinlein classic. As a result, we have recently seen an animated television show based on Starship Troopers and more recently a PC game. Microprose and Blue Tongue Software have conspired with Hasbro Interactive to bring the universe of the vile bugs and heroic Terrans into a glamorous real-time strategy format.

( read more… )