Review by: M. Junaid Alam
Published: December 5, 2003

In the past few years, numerous first-person shooters have embraced the theme of World War II combat, most notably the Medal of Honor series and the multiplayer-oriented Battlefield 1942. Developer Infinity Ward continues the trend of taking on the Nazis up close and personal with Call of Duty. As some of the development team for this title was behind Medal of Honor, the question is whether or not this W.W.II-themed shooter distinguishes itself with enough style to make it worthwhile. ( read more… )

Review by: Michael Rack
Published: November 26, 2003

Ever wonder what it would be like to live as an air pirate in an alternate 1930′s universe where the United States has splintered into a number of self-governing cells? Well, now you can experience all the high-flying hijinks of just such a scenario with the Xbox exclusive, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge. In this world, the sky is clouded with hulking zeppelins and fighter pilots seeking fame, fortune, and adventure. While the single-player campaign offers a storyline amidst a variety of missions, you can also go head-to-head with your friends in split-screen or system link mode. If they can’t give you the competition you’re looking for, you can take the fight online via Xbox Live against other thrill seeking aces. ( read more… )

Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: November 21, 2003

I remember watching the old “Twilight Zone” episode where the guy found the stopwatch that froze time and I recall thinking that would be really cool. Until he wrecked the watch at the end that is, and everybody in the world was left frozen. Then it wasn’t as cool anymore. Max Payne rekindled my power-over-time lust with its Bullet Time effect, which was not only unique but also very slick on the senses. The best part was that there seemed to be no downside; no stopwatch to break. I played through the original Max Payne three times just soaking it all in. When developer Remedy Entertainment announced a sequel and I couldn’t have it right now, it was like somebody hit the Bullet Time button and everything seemed to slow until I got my copy. ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: September 16, 2003

To begin with, I should admit that the groundbreaking 1982 movie Tron is still pretty much my favorite of all time. Way before most advances occurred pertaining to the personal computer, the flick contained such original ingenuity and such an exciting adventure within the computer that, to me, it never loses its luster. More than anything else, the movie solidified my love of both computers and computer games. So, I do not come into this review devoid of bias. However, having this reverence for the 20-year-old inspiration for Disney’s new title, Tron 2.0, makes me even more demanding about the quality of the interactive release. ( read more… )

Review by: Jonathan Hynes
Published: July 31, 2003

PC and console role-playing games have long been two very different entities within the same genre. Part of this is due to cultural discrepancy; the vast majority of console RPGs come from Japan and focus on strong presentations (visually and aurally), compelling plots and linear gameplay experiences. However, most of their computer counterparts originate in the west, and emphasize user-controlled exploration over clear-cut storytelling. It took Canadian developer BioWare to finally combine the best of both worlds, creating an open-ended game with a strong story and high production values. ( read more… )

Review by: Keith Durocher
Published: July 19, 2003

Has deathmatch met its match? The every-man-for-himself model is growing long in the tooth, and even the small-scale squad battle format is showing limitations. Never a company to shy away from embracing the potential of massively multiplayer titles, Sony Online Entertainment has delivered a gleaming new paradigm of first-person science fiction combat. Behold, PlanetSide, and team-based war on a level unseen before in the ever-expanding 3D games industry. ( read more… )

Review by: Rob Beschizza
Published: May 23, 2003

After years of waiting, Rise of Nations hits store shelves this week. It’s as A-list as games get, the creation of Civilization II designer Brian Reynolds, who formed Big Huge Games to create this conceptual behemoth. At its heart, it’s an RTS of the time-tested Age of Kings mold. With a 6,000 year tech tree spread over nine epochs, 18 factions to control and a Medieval: Total War-esque strategy map, it’s much more besides. That Rise of Nations allows quick, lunch hour battles to erupt anywhere amid this sweep through the years is testament to an ambitious plan, which seems to be to stuff every conceivable RTS possibility into a single title. However, the taller they stand, the harder they fall – will this Microsoft-published game stay on its feet all the way from Mesopotamia to the Manhattan Project? ( read more… )

Review by: Michael Rack
Published: May 1, 2003

Very few titles in the console industry have survived lengthy tests of time, giving way to new generations of games as technology advances. However, there are a few that seem to have strong enough core values to consistently draw a crowd, such as Final Fantasy, Mario, and Sonic. Great care must be taken to ensure that each following release lives up to the legacy it upholds. These sequels must provide a wide variety of gamers with something enjoyable they recognize, yet something innovative that lends itself to the series, lest they become shunned as the weak link in a otherwise solid chain. ( read more… )

Review by: Richard Leader
Published: November 15, 2002

Though I’m a veteran of the many titles that are often hailed as the originators of real-time strategy, Herzog Zwei and Dune 2 among them, it wasn’t until Ensemble Studios and Microsoft teamed up for Age of Empires that I truly understood the potential the genre had. This wasn’t necessarily because it was the best game of its time, though it can certainly stand proudly among them, but because of the historic familiarity and warmth it brought to the table – both of which were largely missing from previous offerings. The public agreed, and casual gamers who had never even heard the name Warcraft before were playing their first RTS. ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel

Published: October 28, 2002

For many gamers, the original No One Lives Forever was a breath of fresh air in the first-person shooter genre. What with an interesting female heroine, lighthearted whimsy, gadgets galore and espionage thrills, it was unlike anything preceding it. Following the glow of this success, the anticipation has been steadily mounting for a sequel. It came as a great relief, therefore, when Monolith recently releasedNo One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.’s Way. Can the magic of the initial effort be sustained? ( read more… )

Review by: Samuel Knowlton
Published: September 25, 2002

Games rooted in historical events have certain advantages, as well as challenges, that products based on original themes can avoid. The additional audience of history enthusiasts comes at the price of fierce scrutiny of the developer’s interpretation of past events, but the immersive qualities of an offering that depicts events that actually happened usually outweigh the drawbacks. Several years ago, Red Lemon Studios attempted to combine the strategic elements of an empire builder, the tactical elements of a real-time strategy game and a dose of actual history in Braveheart. ( read more… )

Review by: Bob Mandel
Published: September 17, 2002

Every once in a while a computer game comes along that knocks the socks off even the most seasoned reviewer. Perhaps the last source from which one would expect such a blockbuster would be a comic book writer. Yet Benoat Sokal, the graphic novelist who gave us Amerzone back in 1999, has accomplished just that feat under the guidance of Microads with the recently issued title Syberia. While the location Amerzone is referenced several times in Syberia, this new release utilizes a third-person rather than a first-person perspective, has more character interaction, and is a much more polished effort. ( read more… )

Review by: Ryan McCaffrey
Published: August 2, 2002

A number of analogies come to mind when discussing Blizzard Entertainment: They have the Midas touch, whereby every product they lay their hands on turns to gold. They are the New York Yankees of PC gaming, winning every time they take to the proverbial field with a new title. In taking an average of three years to complete a product, they represent the tortoise against the hare, proving that slow and steady wins the race. Blizzard’s latest offering is the real-time strategy sequel WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos. With it, the California developer finally enters the era of 3D graphics and maintains all of the aforementioned comparisons – the company’s latest release took over 36 months to reach the finish line and has already sold over a million copies in less than one month on store shelves. As top-selling budgetware titles have proven, however, seven figure sales do not necessarily equal a five star game. Is WarCraft III good enough to keep Blizzard’s winning streak alive? ( read more… )

Review by: Gavin Carter
Published: July 12, 2002

The PC role-playing genre owes everything to its pen-and-paper brethren. Even before Richard Garriot first dreamed up the world of Brittania, groups of players regularly gathered together to become wizards and warriors, scribbling crude maps onto graph paper and rolling oddly shaped dice late into the night. The experience of taking on mythical personas together with ones’ friends is what drew players to games like D&D and Shadowrun then, and why those games continue to be popular. Despite the years of technological advancement in the gaming industry, there has yet to be an RPG that truly recreates the pen-and-paper experience on the PC. All that is set to change with the release of Bioware’s Neverwinter Nights. From the title’s announcement over three years ago, the famed developer of the Baldur’s Gate series made it clear that their goal was to recreate as much nuance of tabletop D&D gaming as possible. ( read more… )

Review by: Mike Laidlaw
Published: July 1, 2002

A certain degree of cross-pollination has always occurred between the console and PC world, and the Xbox certainly seems posed to make this even more of a reality. Unlike Final Fantasy or Ultima, however, the Elder Scrolls series has, until now, remained firmly on the PC; and some PC gamers may even have considered it obscure up until the release of Morrowind. When word slipped out that Bethesda was hard at work on a new Elder Scrolls, everything changed. Partly, the developer’s firm commitment to squash almost every bug before release bolstered the spirits of the loyalists who’d struggled through Daggerfall. More impressive was the equally strong commitment to make a world just as expansive, but even more focused and alive than the previous games. Having launched shortly after the PC version, the Xbox release of Morrowind has hit store shelves and is every bit as ambitious as its computer cousin. ( read more… )