Beamed Into Your Home By The Onlive Overlords!

 Beamed into Your Home By The Onlive Overlords!

It's Out There, But Does it Matter?

Granted, the cloud-based game streaming service Onlive never really set the gaming world on fire when it was announced almost a year ago, but I expected a little more press and interest when the possibly revolutionary system finally launched. For those not familiar with Onlive, imagine Steam mixed with Youtube. The service allows you to download and play games a variety of triple- A titles through the power of cloud computing. When you make a controller input, the signal is sent to some distant Onlive HQ via the power of the internet (a series of tubes, remember). Onlive then streams the game's visuals back to your computer. The game itself runs, not on your system, but on the powerful computers supplied by Onlive, and this means that even a standard non-gaming laptop like mine can run resource intensive games without breaking a sweat.

From what I've seen, though, Onlive has been met by little more than sniff from those all-important gaming journalistic cabals with three letter acronyms or names ending in “spot.” I suppose that we've all been complicit in this collective neglect, though, and I'm among the offenders. I downloaded the Onlive client over a month ago, but never bothered to open it or look at it until just this afternoon. The shortcut icon blended into my desktop, and it was only by coincidence that I remembered it was even there. Before I'm too hard on myself, though, I should say that it wasn't for lack of trying that I've left Onlive alone. Honestly, it's just a little hard to deal with: I can't connect to the service from my home internet. Despite being fast enough for nearly every other online activity, my connection was found wanting by Onlinve and rejected. The only place where I can get the thing to work is at my school, and that clearly makes bringing a gamepad and finding the extra time a little harder.

When everything is going well, however, Onlive is a joy to work with. Not only can you purchase some of the latest games for prices that compare well to Steam, you can also play a 30 minute demo of any game before you decide to purchase. Onlive also allows you to post short videos of you playing a game to their “Brag Clip” section where other players can view your “leet skills” and whatnot. In compliment to this feature, there is an “Arena” section where you can spectate other players live. All around, I like the atmosphere of the application: it feels sleek and streamlined, perhaps even more so than the somewhat awkward Steam.

What Steam does have, though, is selection. While Steam is the established digital distribution service for PC games, Onlive is just a startup, and they're going to have to put in a lot of work if they plan to mount a successful challenge to Valve's brainchild. In the seven months since its release, Onlive has added just over 60 games to its library, while, in the same amount of time, Steam has added over 100 games to its already sizable library. What Onlive has that Steam doesn't is a ten-dollar-per-month deal that gives you access to a group of some of the most recent games added to the service. Right now, though, the “PlayPack” includes such gems as F.E.A.R. 2, Prince of Persia, and Unreal Tournament 3, but those aren't exactly the most recent titles. Most of the other options in the Playpack are games you've probably never heard of, so the value of the deal will really depend on how willing you are to play games just because they're there.

Admittedly, the usefulness of this platform is somewhat limited by the necessity to be connected to the web at all times. If you're got problems with multiplayer lagging, now you'll be getting the exact same problems in all portions of the game. I probably won't be using Onlive just because of the inconvenience, but if you don't mind the drawbacks, Onlive could very well be a glimpse of gaming future.

--Tom

NCFC 2010 - Game of the Show - Mega Man

The Nintendo Community Fan Convention

Mega Man - Game of the Show

The Mega Man category of fan games isn't very large this year, but there there are a few different promising entries. Mega Man: Day in the Limelight is an 8-bit title that allows you to play as robot masters from the original NES Mega Man title. Mega Man: Citrus Cult is an interesting game, also made in an 8-bit style, where you play as Mega Man in a battle against all-new robot masters made specifically for the game. A third title has been entered in the convention, Mega Man Rock, but the only information available are a couple of screenshots.

Although I am not a certifiable Mega Man fan, I was excited to try out these games, but, unfortunately was immediately disappointed by the fact that only one of the games had a playable demo. While it can be informative to look at sprites and listen to music, you can only really tell how good a game will be when you sit down and actually play it. Therefore, despite an interesting story, Mega Man: Citrus Cult will not be considered for the award of Best Mega Man Game.



Mega Man: Day in the Limelight doesn't only win the award by process of elimination. Rather, the game deserves the award because of its achievements in excellence. Day in the Limelight not only replicates the style of the original games, it creates a completely new and interesting experience. The typical protagonist has been replaced by the evil robots that we destroyed in the first Mega Man game, and the whole adventure is carried off without a hitch. The quality of workmanship shown by this game is remarkable, from the tight controls to the challenging level design, I can find no serious flaw. With this in mind, I have no doubts when I say that Mega Man: Day in the Limelight is the best Mega Man game at NCFC 2010.

Click here to download Mega Man: Day in the Limelight.

Be sure to check The Arcade of Awesome where we'll be bringing you more NCFC coverage every day this week leading up the final announcement of AoA's Game of the Show award! There are a lot of games being shown at NCFC this year, and you we'll tell you which ones are worth your time. More great show coverage awaits.

--Tom

Civilization V - Demo Impressions

Civilization V - Demo Impressions
One more turn

I didn't know what I was getting into when I downloaded the demo version of Civilization V: I had heard many things about the Civilization series, but I had never played any of the games. I wasn't even sure whether or not I would enjoy playing it, although, looking back, that seems rather amazing. From my brief Rise of Nations phase to my love of tactical strategy RPGs, it almost seems like I was destined to enjoy Civilization. Many other gamers have felt the same way over the years , propelling the Civilization series to the pinnacle of the computer gaming pantheon. The demo gives a great feel for the game, and, unlike many other demos, does an effective job of convincing the consumer of the quality of the product.

As someone who hadn't played any turn-based strategy games of this sort, it took a little time to get used to the lack of abundance of units. In real-time strategy, you produce units fairly quickly and sending them out to die isn't much of a deal. In Civilization V, however, units will take a long time to come into being and once they're there, you won't want to take them lightly. Suicide missions are an enormous waste of time and energy, and I found my slash-and-burn RTS tactics being challenged at every turn. In this game, you'll want to shepherd units through as many conflicts as possible, and an experience-based leveling system that gives veteran units statistical bonuses helps to further incentive the process.

The game isn't a graphical wonder, per-se, but it's still very pretty. All of the units and environments are nicely detailed, and the cut scene shown while the game is starting up, looks fairly realistic. My one complaint with the graphics on the demo version, specifically, is that the other rulers have no animation on the negotiation screens. The full game does feature these animations, though, so this really only applies to the demo. The music in the game isn't anything special: it fits into the experience but doesn't do anything to make the game any better.

There are several goals to shoot for when playing Civilization V: you can try to take over the world with warfare or with your nation's sheer civic might. The demo with allow you to play the first one-hundred turns of a match, which is about a third of the length of a full match. You'll have the choice of three different nations to control: Egypt, Persia, and Greece. Each nation has exclusive units and statistical bonuses, but they all play in a similar way. The demo only includes one map, but the area consists of two separate land masses, and there are several different spawn points on each, so there's a bit of variety to be had in that department. All told, the demo provides enough content to warrant several play-throughs.

I highly recommend at least trying the demo. There's really no reason not to give it at least a go, and if the full game is as proportionately good as what I've seen of this demo, it's more than worth the asking price.

Download the Civilization V demo on Steam.
Download the Civilization V demo on Fileplanet.

Freeware Friday: Gang Garrison 2

Ah Team Fortress 2. Valve's little sequel to the smash hit Team Fortress Classic. It has a distinct style to it, having cartooney graphics and interesting characters. With 9 distinct classes, it's easy to jump right in and play. But, in 2008, mrfredman and MedO created a 2D, 8bit demake of the game. This game, was Gang Garrison 2.



GRAPHICS
The graphics are just as stylized as TF2, but this time, they're 8bit and 2D. Characters are detailed as high as 8bit graphics allow, but it seems that certain objects are 16bit.

CONTROLS

Nothing special here, mouse aims, WAD controls, and left and right click fire.


GAMEPLAY

Pretty simple, 10 classes (One of them's hidden), each with different attributes. The only difference is that there's no alternate weapons. The Runner, which can run the fastest and double jump, the Rocket Man, who can use his rocket launcher to jump high, the Firebug, who has a flamethrower, the Inventor, who can build sentry guns autoguns, the Healer, who can heal his teammates and make them invincible, the Overweight, who has the most health and a minigun, the Rifleman, with his sniper rifle and scope ability, and the Infiltrator, who can turn invisible and backstab enemies. All these classes are supposed to counter each other. This makes gameplay frantic and quite fun actually.

FUN

If you like 2D, and you like Team Fortress 2, get this game. It's fun, and a good way to kill a few minutes. Regular TF2 is more fun though.

Click here to visit the Gang Garrison 2 website where you can download the game.


Image credit: GangGarrison.com

Eufloria - Review

Cross Pollination
A deceptively engaging strategy game goes to seed.

Eufloria is the sort of game that might be overlooked by a lot of gamers. It's a game about flowers, yes. It's an independent game, yes. It's also the sort of game that is labeled “casual” by the sorts of people who might take a look at a few screenshots and dismiss the game as too easy or too simple, but dismissing it would be the wrong thing to do. Eufloria is a surprisingly deep real-time strategy game, a space colonization adventure cleverly hiding behind the facade of flowers.

In Eufloria, you'll be using flower petals (known as seedlings) to take control of asteroids. Once in possession of a planetoid, you can use your little lemmings to create trees that will either create more seedlings or help to defend your planet. Different planets have different attribute levels that will lead to creating seedlings with differing levels of power, strength, and speed. The mechanics all work very well, but things can get strung out as your empire expands. Often, you'll be fighting on a front that's at least three or four planets away from your home. Selecting and directing your minions to where the fighting is fierce can be a bit of a pain, and there are times when your actions don't seem to matter because of the snail's pace that some of the units take to cross the battlefield.

The graphics have their own sense of style, which is not to say that similar styles haven't been tried before, but everything in the game is consistently good looking and I never experience slow-down or glitches. The HUD and interfaces are stripped down, but stylish in a simple way. The game's sound track includes over two hours of ambient music, and it does a of a good job of setting the mood without being obtrusive. The game's sound effects are minimal but effective in this context, and, of course, you can adjust the volume levels to your liking if you'd rather listen to some other music while retaining the sound effects and audio alerts.


The game sports a story mode with twenty-five focused, goal-oriented levels, and, while you may be moving faster than the learning curve on the first few levels, the difficulty ramps up as time goes on, with later levels requiring a bit of time to clear. The game also includes a battle mode with six different arenas where you can fight with several other flower colors, trying to take over a cluster of asteroids. While these battles might be lengthy, they aren't really that hard. I never really lost planets to invading forces, the whole game is just one inescapable march from the start to when the last enemy planet falls to your control. Eventually, you do unlock a harder mode, and you'll probably want to use that mode if you want to spend a bit more time with the game.

However, you might get a little tired of the game. Maybe it was just me, but after a few hours, the whole thing starts to become formulaic. The game tries to make up for this fact by randomizing the planet attributes and placement, but you might not even notice these changes. The fields will still look pretty similar and the way you play the game will hardly change at all. Maybe I'll come back to Eufloria in a few days and get excited about it again, but I feel like I may have already seen most of what the game has to offer.

Eufloria had my heart from the very beginning: from the interesting art style and cool music to the slick and relatively intuitive gameplay, the experience was a nice one. It wasn't long, though, before the game was wearing a little thin. It doesn't help that the game costs a hefty twenty dollars. When most of the crowd of indie games cost half as much or less, it's hard to justify purchasing the game. If you're considering getting a game like this, you might want to think twice: the game has a certain elegance, but it faces issues with replayability and longevity. You should probably want to give the demo a few hours before you make a purchase.

Governor of Poker 2 - Review

All-in on a bluff
One more way to lose your hard-earned cash.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Governor of Poker 2. Is it a simulation or a straight card game with some graphical flair? Is it a tycoon game or an RPG? Well, as is so often the case, the game is a mixture of quite a few things. In Governor of Poker 2, you'll take control of an upstart poker player fighting his way up through the ranks of Texas card sharks, all the while, you're goal will be to convince the Governor of the state that poker isn't a game of chance. The Gov is seriously thinking about banning the game, but if you can win enough matches, he might be satisfied with the conclusion that poker is less about the game on the table and more about the game in your head.

Governor of poker 2 will be forcing you to play that mental game, too. The only type of poker that you can play is Texas Hold 'em, a variant that, though wildly popular, is not the most engaging version of the game. There are so many variations on the game of poker, and you might think that someone who hopes to be labeled “Governor of Poker” would take the time to become proficient in several different varieties, but this isn't the case. The only decisions to be made in Texas Hold 'em are what to bet and when to fold, and this lack of actual game-related strategy is sorely absent in this downloadable title. The game tries to make up for it with a mood-betting system that tries to let you play with the emotions of the computer controlled characters, but this aspect of the game goes underutilized for a reason I'll talk about next.

Having played a more than a few friendly rounds of poker in my life, I have a pretty good idea of how often you can expect to get a good hand. Obviously, this number will fluctuate with the number of players taking part in the game, but, with three or four guys around the table, you can expect to get a three-of-a-kind or a straight every five or six hands. In Governor of Poker, however, you'll go for ten to twenty rounds with nothing better than a high-card or a pair, even when you're only up against one other player. I don't know if the game truly randomly generates the cards, but it often seems like you're cards are being picked by your opponent. The mood-betting system doesn't work because all you can do is make the other players angry. When they're angry, your foes will play more aggressively, and that's the last thing you want when you don't have the cards to back up your bluff.



The game isn't really a feast for the senses either. The graphics are alternately clunky and ugly, with questionable animation and a somewhat unnerving juxtaposition of the various visual elements. The audio is also lacking in a few ways: the background noise in the card-table sections is obviously on a very short loop and the narrator’s voice-over quickly becomes annoying. What you're really here for is the poker, so your best option is probably to turn off the volume and put on some good music. The graphics can eventually be ignored as long as you focus just on what's going on with the cards. The game can be played in a windowed mode to allow you to play a few hands while you're doing something else.

You know what else can be played in windowed mode? Flash games. While preparing to review this game, I had a hunch and googled up “Governor of Poker.” I wasn't remarkably surprised when I discovered that the first game in the series is a flash game. Playing the first game, it's hard to see where the designers changed anything in the transition to the second game. Sure, the graphics might be a little different and it might be slightly less polished than its newer counterpart, but you know what else it is? It's free. Why would I spend ten dollars on a game that can still be played for free from any computer at any time? Don't waste your money: if you need some Texas Hold 'em on your computer, turn to the free version of Governor Of Poker, not the paid version.

--Tom

The Polynomial: Space of the Music - Review

The Polynomial: Space of the Music for the PC
A lukewarm kaleidoscope of sound and color.

The Polynomial: Space of the Music is an intriguingly named game developed by an independent Russian game designer. Distributed through Steam, Polynomial is a mesmerizing spaceship shooter for PC and Mac. In an independent spirit, you can download a demo version of Polynomial that includes all of the features of the full game minus a few of the arenas. The arenas seem to be entirely cosmetic, however, so if you're interested in the game, the demo will probably give you a pretty good idea of what the game will be like.

That look may not be pretty, though. Don't get me wrong, the visuals look beautiful: the game is full of psychedelic explosions and cosmic scenery. The problem comes when all the lovely looking sparkles and flashy nebula are crawling by at five frames a second. The game has a painfully slow frame-rate, and even when I lowered the settings down to less than ten percent of the default, the game chugged at an unacceptably slow speed. It's not like I'm trying to run this on a ten-year-old computer either, if the game won't run on my fairly computer that exceeds both the necessary and recommended system requirements in every regard, I doubt that it will work very well for most other mid-range PCs.

(NOTE: After additional research into the framerate issues, I discovered that the problem lay in the fact that the game does not apparently fully support Intel GMA or HD graphics cards.  So, be forewarned that if you're trying to run Polynomial on a system with one of those models, you will not be able to play a functional game.)

When the game catches up to itself, the gameplay isn't anything to write home about either. Polynomial plays like any other in-cockpit perspective flight combat game. Granted, the market isn't that large, but the game doesn't offer any innovation of the format, sticking to an arcade style format. The collision detection for projectiles is a little off and it can be hard to target the stylistic enemies when the screen is full of particle effects and explosions, but these don't significantly detract from the experience. Fundamentally, the game is fun, but the gameplay does nothing to separate itself from other titles.



One area in which the game does stand out, however, is its excellent soundtrack. Unlike a lot of soundtracks that are only there because the game needs one, the music in Polynomial is one of the best parts of the game, and I believe would be strong enough to stand on its own. Taking cues from the colorful visuals, the music is electronic and trippy with suitable aspects of the avant-garde. The music does occasionally lag with the gameplay, but can manage to keep up to speed even when the game is moving at a snail's pace. The music has good variety too, meaning that you probably won't be quickly worn out on the songs. If you do get tired of the music, however, the game sounds great alongside a Flaming Lips record. What you may not enjoy is the annoying female announcer who will be constantly reminding you to switch to the hardest difficulty and of the simplest parts of the control scheme. Really, after thirty minutes, I haven't already forgotten how to turn the ship.

Polynomial is a very mixed bag, and your opinion of it is going to depend on what sort of computer you're using, what kind of technical issues you're willing to put up with, and what level of realism you prefer. Despite the issues that I experienced, I had a pretty good time with the game, and I'll probably pick it up again when I've got a little time to spare. There's something hypnotically wonderful about this game, and I probably want to enjoy this game more than I actually do. Still, you should certainly download the demo before you buy, but I would definitely recommend that you try it out if you like arcade-style games. It's hard to argue with free.

Click here to download the demo of The Polynomial: Space of the Music from Steam.

--Tom

Sonic 4 Episode 1 review (iOS)

Sonic, has been suffering lately. With a slew of bad titles coming out lately, it's no wonder fans are starting to doubt the ability of the blue blur. But then, Sonic 4 was announced, as a sequel to Sonic and Knuckles. People were skeptical, but now, I think the fastest thing alive has made a comeback.


GAMEPLAY

This is where recent Sonic games have failed, lackluster gameplay. Well, Sonic 4 isn't perfect, but it's damn near close. Like most iOS games, you have a digital joystick and one button. The button makes Sonic jump, and if facing an enemy, item, or spring, he'll use his homing attack from the 3D games. It's quick, easy, and responsive. Occasionally in the air, I've had Sonic stop in midleap and fall to his death, but that rarely happens and is usually no big deal. Of course, there's the regular lineup of badniks from the classic games, and items. No real new items or anything. My biggest issue with the gameplay is that all the levels are unlocked from the start, and that you have to manually select each stage, as apposed to it switching automatically.


Score 8.5/10

STORY

Nothing special, Eggman takes all the emeralds, captures woodland creatures, Sonic goes to stop him, yadda yadda yadda.

NA/10

GRAPHICS

The graphics are crisp and sharp, all the environments are beautifully rendered. Sonic can look a bit blocky sometimes though. But usually, they're beautiful.

9/10

FUN

If you love the classic Sonic games, then you're right at home. If you're not, you may still get a kick out of it.


SCORE 8.5/10

Image credit: www.Talkphone.com

Sonic Adventure review

Game: Sonic Adventure
Reviewed Platform: Xbox 360
Other Platforms: Playstation 3, Dreamcast

I just want to open with two words here: "Oh dear." These come from my mouth not only as a showing of my disappointment for a game that i paid 800 Microsoft points for, but for a game that's been firmly placed in my mind for 11 years as the pinnacle of Sega's gaming talent to be such a disappointment. This is one journey down nostalgia lane i won't be finishing.

Now, i know people won't listen to what i, or anyone else say about this game. Simply because i didn't either, i saw the game there on the marketplace and just bought it, no questions asked. I was going to LOVE it. Then i booted it up, and saw Sonic Adventure in all it's glory... All it's horrible smelly glory. I got a HDTV not a month ago to sample the best things in gaming life, like buying a fine wine you don't want to drink because it cost so much. So imagine my disdain when this game booted up in 4:3 resolution, that's near half of my TV showing me blue, and slightly darker blue lines. Brilliant.

The opening cutscene as always, doesn't fail to look epic, and i felt a warmth of nostalgia roll in, settling the 4:3 woe's. Saying that however, the graphics in the cutscene aren't sharp enough to sharpen a pencil. People look like dolls, and Sonic only looks cool because he's the good old "chubby" version. "But Serde! This is a Dreamcast re-release!" you might say. Yes, it is. But it isn't at the same time. They've taken the graphics from the "DX" re-release on Gamecube and PC, so it isn't exactly authentic, in fact, the whole game is the DX re-release, just with every added gameplay feature (save for the chao black market) being removed. But i haven't even got to the in game graphics yet. Jesus are they bad. Not making matters any better is that anti-aliasing seems to have taken a day off in Sonic land. Colours are almost segregated across characters features, making them look like a mess. Perhaps this is the HD doing this, but if it is, there shouldn't be a problem there. Things like this should have been ironed out before they released it. If they weren't going to work on it, why did it take 6 months to come out?!



The gameplay. Oooh, the gameplay. How i loved it back then, speeding around seemingly epic environments on an epic quest... There was this level back then in Sonic's "campaign" (yeah, the campaigns for each character are still there, all with their shitty extra components) where you're on eggman's... Egg carrier, it's called Sky Deck, and had the most frustrating platforming in the game. You'd be falling through walls, railings, off ledges... Mostly because of the camera, but a lot of the time it was just because the game glitched on your face. This time through, it felt like every level was this level. In Emerald coast i was shoved off loops into the sea, in windy valley i flew through the fence in the second section of the level to my death, to which Sonic still, wanting to be non-shall-ant casually says "no" to. Overall the game play is frustrating because of the camera and glitches. That or so tedious you want to switch off (big the cats fishing stages).

But you know what the worst thing was? The absolute worst thing was, that this could have been SO good. They could have re-enthused Sonic fans, maybe even get new ones. This was the last good 3d sonic game (bar adventure 2) before 3d Sonic became absolutely awful, with Sonic 06 trying to draw off Sonic Adventures narrative with a "fire" beast instead of a water beast. Creativity up the wah-zoo. All they needed to do to this re-release was give it a hd lick of paint, change the camera up a bit and get the platforming down to a t. A simple thing that wouldn't have taken too long. Unfortunately for Sonic fans, Sega just doesn't give a shit about him. Whats coming up? Sonic riders natal, Sonic colours and... Sonic 4? Maybe that will be good, i doubt it, but anyhow.

"This rendition of Sonic was good back in the day to our childish eyes. However, by today's standards it's a shambles, don't buy it unless you're the most dedicated Sonic fan."

image credits: ign.com and gamerevolution.com respectively