By Vermouth , 19th February 9:05 pm
The year was 1999 and we, PC gamers, were widely choosing sides on the great debate that raged on the internet. Quake 3 or Unreal Tournament; and while both sides had their partisans it certainly appeared that UT was more highly thought of than Quake 3. Combine that with the Counter-Strike craze and I now have a name to my pain - and it is complex multiplayer. By 2004 I was just about to leave multiplayer for dead on the PC when at the end of the year Blizzard rode in on an Epic Mount and got me playing with human beings again. And it didn’t do it by being the most complicated; or as they like to wrap it up as the “deepest”, but by getting rid of the fat and reducing everyone to a relatively basic set of classes cooperating towards simple goals. So I come to the game industry with this plea; while I certainly don’t expect that you stop making complex multiplayer games please make some simple ones. Really it won’t hurt, there are people out there who are into this stuff - throw us a bone.
» Read all of “Keep it Simple Stupid“…
By Vermouth , 24th January 12:31 pm
Dungeons and Dragons is probably still along with Lord of the Rings, the real 500 pound gorilla in the room of Fantasy Worlds. Their Greyhawk setting really established fantasy role-playing and Forgotten realms, Dragon Lance, Planescape and others have all added a whole lot to the table. It would seem there are very few properties that would be more suited to a massively multiplayer role-playing game than D&D. Sadly however, Dungeons and Dragons Online doesn’t really live up to the legacy of D&D on the PC; and if the game remains as it has been in the latest beta I can’t recommend it. As it is, this is a game that can’t compete with the great D&D based games of yore, nor can it really make a move on the reigning kings of online roleplaying - WoW & Guild Wars. I know this is an unfinished game so I won’t nitpick but at the same time it’s ship date is very near, so I know they won’t have too many major design changes left if they make their dates.
» Read all of “Dungeons and Dragons Online: An Early Look“…
By Vermouth , 4th January 5:54 pm
Build a better mouse trap, and the world will beat a path to your door, or so the saying goes. At Intel however, having failed to build a better mouse trap, these days they’re changing their image in hopes of fooling people. So this is where we’re at. Intel has stalled, and they really don’t seem to have any magic right now. Making things worse, the company is less and less in the hands of it’s engineers, and to right the ship they’re turning to marketing. Ditching the Intel Inside logo, to me, is a blatant act of unwarranted desperation. They’re actually facing the same problem another tech-giant is battling right now; just like Sony the inmates are running the asylum.
» Read all of “The Inmates are Running the Asylum“…
By Vermouth , 26th December 3:33 pm
Okay before I get to the games of 2005 first a little bit of a preamble. I’m speaking for me personally, I don’t claim to speak for all of Aelon staff so no sense telling me I’m wrong, (but I certainly welcome hearing about it if you disagree). Further I obviously haven’t played every single game that came out this year. Indigo Prophecy stands out as probably the most notable omission. So what follows is a brief recap of the year that was and what i feel were the best games that came out this year.
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By Vermouth , 14th December 2:52 pm
Normally when we talk about mods we’re talking about expansion to multiplayer content. Well this year I came across the Pocket Plane Group, and discovered that Baldur’s Gate 2 is one of the most modded games in the world. Since I’ve been talking about these I’ve often been asked what the best are, so I thought I’d put together a good long look on the topic. If you like any of the mod ideas here or just want to browse what’s out there, take a gander at this definitive list courtesy of Pocket Plane Group.
» Read all of “The Mod-Squad: Baldur’s Gate 2“…
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