Valve Software finally released the Lost Coast add-on level for Half-Life 2 today. It’s not terribly long, but at least it’s some new Half-Life 2 content! It’s really intended as a tech demo for their new HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting technology, so the level (yes, just one level) is only about 15 minutes or … [Read more…]
How good the first few ZZ Top records were, back before they turned into A Flock Of Seagulls in the eighties. Thomas Brinkmann makes some of the coolest minimal techno around. I listened to his stuff for the first time in many, many months today, and it just blows my mind how creative the guy … [Read more…]
I just finished up the single player portion of Halo, and it disappointed me even more as I went on. Mostly because it fell into an old trap: rather than come up with clever or interesting ways to make the game difficult or challenging as things went on, they just went for an old standby: … [Read more…]
I'm playing through the PC version of Halo right now, and it makes me want to ask: Why is this game such the blockbuster hit for the X-Box? Are there really that few good titles for the X-Box that this is considered a standout? Now, I wouldn't say Halo is bad necessarily, it's just unremarkable. … [Read more…]
I knew it would happen, but I still gleefully ran to the local video game outlet last Tuesday and purchased the PC version of Grand Theft Auto:San Andreas the day it came out anyway. The GTA series is such potent video game crack that I didn't even hesitate to buy a DVD-ROM drive for my … [Read more…]
Valve released a patch for the game today which addressed several of the bugs in the game, mentioned in my review a couple days ago. The stuttering when auto-saving (or any other time) is gone, the garbled screenshots are fixed and quick saving is actually pretty quick now. Load times are a bit longer, but … [Read more…]
Having recently completed Half-Life 2, I guess this is as good a time as any to offer up my assessment. First, the good stuff: It looks amazing. Even with an engine that's not as advanced as Doom 3's, it still looks better than Doom 3 does. It almost looks as good as FarCry, lacking only … [Read more…]
So, I finally finished Doom 3. Am I still as impressed with it now as when I started? Yes, mostly. Admittedly, the environments got a little repetetive towards the end, and the boss battles (with the exception of the Guardian of Hell) could have been a bit more challenging, but it was, all in all, … [Read more…]
Doom 3 is out! Doom 3 is out! Ignore the haters, it’s amazing. Turn the lights off, crank the speakers up, slap the Depends on and prepare to fill ’em up! This game is scary, like the bastard child of a FPS and a haunted house. It doesn’t do anything new or groundbreaking, it falls … [Read more…]
Far Cry was almost the best First Person Shooter I’ve ever played. Almost. The early levels of this game were absolutely amazing, a welcome departure from so many of the usual FPS cliches. Stunningly beautiful and lush tropical environments instead of dark corridors and futuristic machinery. Fighting actual human opponents (that behave reasonably human-like) rather … [Read more…]