PC Games of 1997: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight

Greetings gaming nerds and welcome back for another helping of PC Games of 1997 and I think I found a title that we can all have memories about.   Good or bad, we have all had some interaction with this next particular game.  In 1995, Lucasarts put out a FPS with a bit of puzzle solving called Dark Forces.  Following the story arc of one Kyle Katarn, a former Imperial turned mercenary.  This man is responsible for laying hands on the Death Star blueprints as well as dispatching the prototype Dark Trooper bots.   So what could be more impressive than that record…well let’s just say the force is strong in this one.  So grab your lightsaber, hone your force powers and feel free to use a thermal detonator in the crowd.  This is Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight.

Kyle undergoes "intense negotiations".

Jan Orr: What would you do without me, Kyle?

Kyle: I’d be a content old spoiler.

Continuing from its predecessor Dark Forces, we look into a larger scope of the galaxy and what is to be come of it if Kyle does not get to the main page.  5 years prior Kyle’s father was dispatched off this mortal coil by a dark Jedi or Sith over the location of a lost planet concealing the greatest concentration of the living force known only as the Valley of the Jedi.  Legend has it that over a thousand years ago an army of Jedi (lightside force users) and Sith (darkside force users) battled themselves near to extinction leaving this embodiment of force presence.     Force speed is of course one of the more fun force powers to have. Light your saber and do run by slayings. 

Worst Craigslist threesome offer...ever.

Inter spliced with the 3D graphics of the time is some cut scenes of the voice actors of the characters in blue screen acting.   The handing via keyboard is a standard WAS and Mouse button 1 and 2.    With the single player story is where the fun began. Back in the day MSN Gaming Zone has an exorbitant amount of puzzle, strategy games and FPS to be online and Dark Forces 2 was beloved by many for the Multi-player fights had just begun to get ugly with atrocious spelling, obscene comments and the odd force blinding.

The game’s storyline is set a year after the events of Return of the Jedi and the controlling forces of most of the Star Destroyers is a darksider name Jerec; an inspiring Sith Master that wants to claim the Valley as a source of power and corrupt the galaxies to his every whim.  Kyle, a now self-taught Jedi must battle Jerec and his darkside warriors, stormtroopers, AT-STs and about every other Imperial to stop Jerec’s mad plan.  His choices will determine what path of the force he will follow.

I have just a few comments about the game and its play.  This is primarily a FPS game with some puzzle work and impliementing the force for Kyle gives you more options to fight with along with a barrage for weapons like Dark Forces, now even a lightsaber to hack your opponents with.  The expansion pack for the further adventures Mysteries of the Sith continued more levels but the story five years after Jedi Knight and follows Mara Jade, a mercenary and former darksider.

My butt look blocky in this shot?

N64 Week: GoldenEye

Hello first person shooters and welcome to Day 5 of N64 Week.  I apologize for the delay but unforeseen weather dictated I did not have my computer on so we are playing catch up and hey isn’t that the same thing a double O deals with too?  With the clock ticking, trained soldiers or even organized crime a double O has to be ready to improvise, get the intel, confirm and execute.   So grab your tux or cocktail dress, prep your silencer for your Walther PP7 and get ready to do a myriad of things for Queen and country.   This is GoldenEye N64.

Self-explanatory..

Alec Trevelyan: Why can’t you be a good spoiler and die?

Based on the 1995 James Bond movie of same title; GoldenEye is a single-player game in with players assume the identity of 007 James Bond himself as he takes down a Russian crime syndicate before they can use a satellite weapon against London and time is running out fast.  With each passing moment, Bond is required to get through 20 levels of men attacking him, obstacles and main level bosses.

It is you who is outgunned!!

The game also has a 4 person multiplayer option with a split screen and radar allowing two, three or even four players to a few death match rounds or even a capture the flag game.  Personally I prefer the License to Kill option meaning your target is hit once he or she dies instantly.   Makes things more challenging. 

Among the collection of weapons to this game are assault rifles, submachine guns, pistols, shotguns, silenced weapons, sniper rifles, rocket launchers, grenades, grenade launchers and Moonraker laser pistols.    

I got a rocket for your sprocket..Hey hey...Ho ho.

Okay now that we got over the boring humdrum part, let’s get to a few tips and tricks.

Bank shot:  Okay you have followed your quarry and he or she is just around the corner but you know the moment you pop your head out you are taking more lead than a paint factory.  With the grenade launcher you can bounce a round off the wall in a diagonal shot the fire and blast can provide cover or even with the blast radius can take out your opponent.  Don’t get too cocky and get close to the blast or it will take you out just as easily.

Targeting crosshairs: Whether it is a pistol, SMG or rocket launcher the crosshairs provided by your R button is your friend.  Trying to hit a target from a distance can be tricky but this cuts your problem down by half.  Don’t wait too long to line up a shot because your friends can do the same just as well or even better.  Bottom line if you have a great hiding spot and vantage point this is ideal.  Off the cuff and running from a hail of bullets this will just get you killed quicker than stepping on a land mine.

Proximity mine placement: My two best friends are the ones to lay this ground work in my experience.  Don’t bother dropping a mine at the floor; chuck it at the ceiling, a narrow passageway or in a deep shadow.  The bomb is set and primed.  The downside to proximity mines this is a need to REMEMBER where you put them.  The other problem is if you die in one location there is a better than average chance you wind up in the area you just mined.

Hand grenades:  Pull the pin and toss?  Yeah that doesn’t always guarantee you a kill.  Cook off at least two seconds then chuck or lightly toss depending how close your enemies are.    An easy use of the grenade is dropping it from a height and running like your butt is on fire. 

Aha! Now to hide under the cover of...air.

While the graphics are not as stellar now this game sold more than 8 million units making it the third highest selling N64 game behind Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 and has spawn a series of spin-off PC and well as other console successors giving it 1998 Console Game of the Year; fans of the Bond films and game franchise still hold it in high regards and in their hearts.  Truly the first FPS that got it right!

Zombie Hunter: the name says it all.

Well folks it has been a while since I have done a video game review so I am starting one off with a plug 'n play game based on the Walking Dead TV series. JAKK'S TV series game titles strikes gold with Zombie Hunter is a plug 'n play FPS with a shotgun controller and a zombie head and hands peering over the wireless unit.

Spoilers ain't people, man. Not any more.

 This simplistic game is ideal for any Big Buck Hunter fanatics and gives the zombie haters something to do.  The story line is basic in that you are in the woods as a standard character on the move to get ahead of the walkers.  You find that your base camp has a level of infestation and of course you can only dispatch the walkers with a shot to the head.  As you progress through the game you encounter Glenn and go on a few missions with him.  Defending him when needed.

Now let us discuss game mechanics.  You need to be about 8 to 10 feet from the screen in order to properly take out the walking dead.  The plastic sight on the gun is pointless to look down so do NOT even bother.  A target reticle will digitally appear and for the most part works pretty spot on but you need to caliberate for your shooting stance.  Downside to this game is we (My Dad and I) could not figure if you could do this one from the couch or not so I would just recommend this a standing pose.   Unlike a real rifle or shotgun there of course is no recoil so the main worry is keeping the gun steady and level.   The game does have a set speed for destroying crates that contain different ammo and health so be quick about it or you miss out.   You also have unlimited ammo for the shotgun and even the option of an automatic or in this case a semi-automatic shotgun or the standard pump action shotgun.  You will pick up weapon options such as: rifle, assault rifle, crossbow bolts and even a 40 mm grenade launcher.  There are only 3 levels, each with 3 scenes attached to it with variant degrees of difficulty.   One thing to be aware of is the lag between each new screen of zombie fighting and your character walking along.  You discharge an accidental round too early or throw off your concentration.   There are survivors you can save from the shambling dead and gain massive points for, or you can waste them and get a negative 120 points.  Dad was a bit trigger happy so oops.

The other two staples of the game are called free play game (meaning no story arc just shooting the dead and advancing) and horde game (this portion just means wave of death ranging from 2 to 6 zombies per screen)

Bottom line is this would be a fun game from anything of blowing off steam or just a party game of passing the gun around to the next person to play.  I am going to have to say I had a blast playing this.

Life in Fallout 3

Hey folks sorry for last week's lack of blog.  I was quite ill. I hope this will make up for it.

Now being a Fallout RPG turn based fan I was skeptical but Fallout 3 turned out to follow Fallout 2 (1997 and 1998 sequel to the original) in the same standing of being open ended with no time limit to speak of.  10 years had passed since Fallout 2 and we were promised by Interplay then Black Isle that we would see a Fallout 3.  Finally after buying the rights Bethesda Softworks brought us our FPS/skill-based/post-apocalyptic dream come true.   Rather than be in California as the two predecessors were, this takes place in the heart of democracy Washington D.C.  After 2077 it is now referred as the Capital Wasteland.  Our great monuments have collapsed, roads and freeways are devastated and no government or police are in control.  Might makes right. 

We start off the game with a series of cut scenes from your character’s birth and growing up in Vault 101.  An underground fallout shelter that is capable of housing 1,000 people.    I should note no matter your sex or skin color your father James is still white and voiced by none other than (Liam Neeson of Darkman, Love Actually, The Phantom Menace and Schindler’s List)  James is a scientist who believes in helping his fellow humanity as best as he can.   As you age you learn more about your relationship with your father and life in Vault 101.   Your mother dies delivering you in childbirth so you are raised solely by your father.  You grow up in spurts through cut scenes, little whispers throughout each aging process hints to events of the past and the present day.   James tells you as an infant a bible passage that reflects his life’s work in trying to better humanity.   At age ten you receive your own Pip-boy 3000.  This arm band computer interfaces with radio signals, tells you your health, points out radiation in your area and inventories your supplies you pick up during the game.   At age 16 you take your Generalized Occupation Aptitude Test or G.O.A.T. to help sum up what career you are best suited for in Vault life. You of course try to weasel your way out of it by faking a cold.  Best of luck with that when your father is the Vault’s chief physician.

 After breaking up a squabble or joining in on it, you take your test and proceed on to Age 19, to be awaken by your friend Amata to discover your father somehow left the Vault and the Overseer is furious.  The chief of the guards beat your father’s assistant Jonas to death.  A man you have known and respected your whole life.  You must choose to escape or be dealt the same.  Fending off radiation enlarged cockroaches and some of the vault security.   Save the ammo folks.  The ball bat does a pretty good job of defending yourself and it is, kill or be killed scenario. You make your way to and out of confides of the home you have known since you were a boy/girl and out into the unknown with nothing more than what you took with you.  Vault 101 is up the hill from a shambled town known as Springvale.  One lone resident silver is hiding out from a neighboring town called Megaton.   You will have to probe her for answers if you care to know.  Or be a brute, kill her and take everything she owns.   An elementary school is not far from Silver’s place is crawling with raiders.  If you are lacking in firepower or armor, my advice is get stocked before waging a fight with these lot.

Wandering out into the wasteland you will encounter raiders that prey on the helpless, Ghouls and Super Mutants, creatures that were once human now mindless monsters that terrorize the surrounding towns.     Meeting pockets of humanity and their plights it is up to you what sort of a person you are going to be.  Will you be a decent compassionate man/woman?   Will you turn into a heartless monster with no cares except your own interests?   Will you be passive to some and help to others that can pay you a wage?   The choice is yours.  Are you to be the savior the Capitol Wasteland or its destructor?   Will you be a hero or villain?  Only you can answer that.     The graphics engine that Bethesda Software developed is phenomenal.   The background, the colors from rusted metal to the rising and setting sun this game was awarded Game of the Year in 2008 and people are still raving about it and recommending it to friends.   Its Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System or V.A.T.S. for short allows characters to train their weapons melee or firearms alike at points of vulnerability.  Ideal for the sniper character or if you just simply think it will take out your target faster.   An amazing voice cast with Liam Neeson and Malcom McDowell to name a few.  Sound captures the imagination so well.  Different outfits and armor can change the pitch of what shoes or boots you are wearing.  Guns and rifles are not a universal lumped effect GOTY allows modifications on everything from characters and armor to the quests and weapons.  I have also been able to play the PS3 console based game and the controls are a bit sensitive but you soon develop a rhythm.  

  A word of warning for those photophobic or seizure prone:  This is a real-time fasted paced game.  There will be a quick pitch in combat especially in V.A.T.S. as you see your character shoot, slash or bash your targets and it could very well be jaunting so my advice is to skip it if you suffer from either affliction.  That being said from the rest of you who are Fallout fans, DO NOT let this one slip through your fingers and enjoys the in-depth story arc and game.