Rog's world online
Fri
31
Jul '09

Lego Battles

Rog posted in Games

I should have mentioned this previously, because they’re great guys over at Hellbent Games.

If you like a good solid RTS (as in Warcraft 3, Command & Conquer, that part of the genre) and you’ve got a DS, give Lego Battles a try.

I think it could have been marketed a lot better, prior to release it was presented as if it were some sort of Lego block building game instead of a classic RTS. The DS needed one good RTS and this is it.

Sat
11
Jul '09

Supreme Commander time distortion field

Rog posted in Games

Whoa, I’ve been playing Supreme Commander for longer than I thought today. I forgot how much an RTS can suck away the hours while you’re busy building and coordinating attacks. This is what took me so long to grab the game, I figured it’d be consuming.

Even though it’s about a year and a half old, I’m going to include my newb early impressions.

Pros:

  • It’s totally Total Annihilation in a lot of ways, with an updated engine and UI.
  • I love the scope of the camera controls, with the insane zoom all the way out to a tactical display. Kinda reminds me of Homeworld, but less confusing, more natural and very intuitive.
  • AI on the computer side is decent, it’s giving me a serious run. Doesn’t act like a player would, but that’s a good thing.
  • Keyboard shortcuts for almost everything. Just like Total Annihilation. There’s a depth to the controls that enables complex strategy.
  • Tons of units. This is the other half of the complexity. It’s not as balanced as a Blizzard or C&C style RTS, but that’s the point: It gets insane and that’s glorious.

Cons:

  • Campaign missions feel too long.
  • Tons of units means a fast PC is necessary. Fortunately I have one, but I do expect that (again, just like Total Annihilation) some multiplayer games may bring the slower PCs to their knees, making an uneven playing field.
  • I wish the first handful of missions were slower, simpler, and more tutorial-like (the actual “tutorial” is a series of mind-numbing videos). It needs better pacing. The starter mission for instance, should have me building a couple units and destroying a small number of enemy units. Instead, I’m rescuing an outpost from an entrenched enemy, with objectives to capture tech, take out anti-aircraft guns and finally flank the enemy to get to his Commander. That sort of mission should have been about 5 deep into the story.
  • Controls & Actions are similar to Total Annihilation, but again, they need a tutorial or better explanations. Anyone not already familiar with this style of RTS may have a steep learning curve. Even for me to refresh, I found a bit of a disconnect from wanting to do something and being able to do it.
  • The surround sound system is very odd, with voice pushed to the center speaker. Most everything is too quiet. I had to switch from my 5.1 settings to 2 speakers just to hear things clearly. Lots of other people online bitching about this too.

This is definitely one of those games where my complaints are almost stronger because I like the game so damn much.

Wed
1
Jul '09

Without LAN, I won’t buy Starcraft 2

Rog posted in Games

I’m not a huge fan, although that’s part of the point, because I’ve purchased most of Blizzard’s games anyway. I appreciated the Warcraft RTS games more, but the idea of Starcraft 2 has been growing on me. I love a good RTS and the genre has certainly slowed down.

This is exactly the style of game that I like playing on a LAN or directly with friends. For an RTS I’m not interested in some match-making service, competition ladders or ego-driven stats comparisons (oh god, the clicks-per-minute tracking I’m assuming they’re gonna do). In this case, a centralized stats service is actually a turn-off, the e-peen waggling of Blizzard fans is already hella annoying.

I’d also prefer the immediacy and quality of service of my own PC, my own network, or peer-to-peer directly to my friends in near-local networks with great ping (meaning same city, without bouncing thru a server somewhere south of the border). This is not a click-and-wait RPG, immediacy matters or the game style is changed.

I’d be interested in buying the game, not a game service. This isn’t an MMO.

The paradox is that Blizzard is doing this to avoid piracy, but it’ll give a compelling boost to LAN cracks and bnetd. Update: PvPGN is probably the better solution.

If Starcraft 2 ships without ways to opt out of the “community service” and play directly (LAN or peer-to-peer), then I’m just not interested. It wasn’t super high on my radar, but this just shoved it under it.

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