A multiplayer institution well before the strange and wonderful world of warcraft, Quake III always made for some brilliant fun, either with your mates or online. After the reasonable success of Quake Live, a browser-based version of the game, gamers still seem to want more. In a recent video, Youtube channel Androidandme have just released footage of an excellent-looking Quake III port… and it plays amazingly. The game runs at an average 30 frames per second, which is quite fast, seeing as my computer manages Crysis at the same speed. If you have a Motorola Droid and are interested in grabbing a copy, the video and guide can be found here:
Xbox Live is getting ruder… and stupider.
With the release of a heavily edited video of an Xbox mod apparently threatening to ban pretty much everyone on youtube being roundly lol’d at for being totally fake, and another video of a player with the gamertag of “xXXGayBoyXXx” being abused pretty much non-stop by Halo 3 players, can we deduce that the various 8-year old kids, annoying trolls, unintelligent flamers and mic spammers found on Xbox Live are getting worse?
Yeah, they are.
Microsoft’s online gaming service is becoming increasingly difficult to enter without connecting to a game where a gruff northerner is having a pointless argument with a whiny 10 year old London rich kid… but why? Maybe it’s down to Microsoft’s slightly random “Report Abusers and We’ll Get Right On It™” approach, coupled with the annoying lack of any sort of features which let you, the player put some evidence behind your report.
If you take a look at the server-based PC gaming industry on the other hand, the difference is staggering. In a decent server, there will be a neutral administrator who will respond to all the various annoying racist and homophobic comments with Terminator-esque efficiency. Some servers even censor text-based chat features, eliminating dirty words from the chat box, and others let you duck into spectator mode and record cheaters or abusive players as they commit breaches of the code of conduct.
If this sort of system was implemented on Xbox, there might be some change, letting the players dip out of the game for a bit to make a video record of these people, then sending it to Microsoft. This would help all us legit players just wanting to have some fun give these blatant abusers what they deserve; a banning followed by some heavy crying.
Notable new releases
It’s a bit of a slow gaming week this week but there are a few notable releases to speak of. Firstly and taking up the serious gaming mantle is “Heavy Rain” for the PS3 , a third person murder mystery with real time decisions and the outcome based on the choices you make, Heavy Maaaan. On the other side of serious is “Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing” which is released on all formats (and we mean all, DS included!) which is a “Mad Cap” racing game which, of the likes we have seen many, many, many times before…..
And finally PC users get the another RTS fix with the release of “Napoleon: Total War”, a Real Time Strategy game that focuses on Napoleon’s battles, glory and look!
Top 5… Games you should play if you already haven’t
On this week’s top 5, Games you should play if you already haven’t… let’s get it on.
5. Halo: Combat Evolved: A frenetic FPS outing and a fast paced romp through well-designed levels without the burden of the epic storyline the later games shoulder you with. The game sets you in the boots of good old Master chief on his adventures on the original Halo, spanning many diverse levels and with a pretty interesting plot. The rich expansiveness of the game is augmented with lush sounds, visuals and physics for its time, and a pistol which pretty much allows you to ditch all the other guns. A really chilled out game to play on the normal setting, and downright devious on the hardest difficulty.
4. Conker’s Bad Fur Day: An old N64 title, bad fur day is packed with tongue in cheek humor, insane situations and some pretty wacky graphics. The game tells the story of Conker, a wise cracking red squirrel who goes on a great adventure after waking up outside the pub after a night out… and this is just the beginning. Conker sets out on an epic journey which includes a giant opera singing turd… and others. Then there’s the deathmatch style multiplayer, which to be honest is laugh out loud hilarious and there are many other multiplayer game modes too. What a game.
3. Zelda, Ocarina of Time: You really haven’t played this? REALLY? Lauded by most as the best game of all time, OOT is the quintessential Zelda game. Found only on the N64, or the emulator world if you’re some kind of pirate, OOT lets you take control of Link, a young boy who must save the world from the evil sorcerer Ganondorf. With 10 epic dungeons, oh-so-many items to play with and more than a few sub quests, OOT delivers an experience to remember… and that’s without counting finding all the hidden treasure around the game’s overworld.
2. Monster Hunter Freedom: Unite: A bestseller in Japan, this PSP title took the country by storm and just hasn’t let go. With 9/10 PSP owners in Japan owning one or more Monster Hunter Titles, this game made its UK debut during the middle of Monster Hunter fever in Japan. The basic aim of the game is to slay gigantic prehistoric and mythical monsters, from velociraptor like britturs to fully fledged dragons the size of a castle. Using materials gathered on quests, taken from slain foes and given as rewards, the player can craft increasingly effective equipment to deal with ever more difficult challenges. The best part is the ad-hoc multiplayer, which allows you and four friends to set out on truly epic monster safaris, hunting up to four or more large monsters instead of the usual one for riches and glory. The graphics aren’t too shabby and for a PSP game, the sound is truly epic. Monster roars are realistic, the sound of an unsheathing sword sounds genuine and the sound of nature around the player is perfectly executed. Overall, this game is worth at least 200 hours of your time.
1. Spyro the Dragon (Trilogy): I know, I know, this IS three games… but for good reason. Way back before developers Insomniac created the now legendary adventures of Ratchet and Clank, their ambitions were a little smaller, colored purple, horned and winged. The first three adventures of the plucky dragon Spyro for the Playstation made platforming history; with colorful, some say trippy, levels; music by Stewart Copeland, drummer of popular band The Police; amusing gags which appeal to most and generally an awesome platformer experience. The first game uses quite a tired plot device to start off, with the evil Gnasty Gnorc encasing Spyros’ dragon buddies in crystal shells and leaving behind Spyro for some reason, with the player going out of his way to save them… this aside, the game is superb, blending superior platforming with a generally addictive experience. The second and third games become a little more developed, with new characters. The style and form stays the same, but the games manage to stay fresh by adding new features and minigames for the player to enjoy. Definitely something to buy and enjoy if you still own a Playstation 1 or 2.
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Tags: Gaming, heavy rain, Live, napoleon, new relases, quake, sega, sonic, total war, weekly, xbox
