KEVIN LAIRD
TOP 10 PC Games
The annual Christmas rush has breathed new life into the PC gaming community this fall. Most of the anticipated titles to be released are of the immensely popular first person genre. This genre, started by the immortal Wolfenstein 3D, has delivered some of the most immersive single player gaming to date, as well as the birth of the multiplayer gaming community which in the future will dominate the gaming industry. This month the latest developers are standing on the shoulders of champions to release the newest wares which will push the first person genre to new heights. Two of these newest creations stand out above the rest, both of them unique in thier own ways and both of them bringing new creativity to life. These two games are: Sin from Ritual Entertainment (www.ritual.com), and the long awaited Halflife from Sierra.
Sin
I have been playing the demo version of Sin for the past few months. The interactivity of the single player game is excellent. Sin is very reminiscent of one of the greatest PC games ever released "Duke Nukem 3D". I could not help thinking of Duke whenever Blade gave a one-liner after finishing off a bad guy.
Sin is one of the very few first-person games to feature realistic environments and textures such as towns, streets, and buildings instead of futuristic ones. I have a lot more fun busting into a nudie bar and shooting up the bar than walking into some futuristic alien spaceship.
Not only is the single-player game fun but I have spent hours upon hours playing the multiplayer deathmatches online. This is where Sin definitely excels. Sin uses the Quake II game engine which delivers fast and furious internet gameplay. So far four "official" multiplayer levels have been released for the demo version. One of these levels scales all of the objects in a realistic environment up in size so that you appear to be miniature. This level is one of the most creative and flawlessly executed works of genius I have ever encountered in a game. The enjoyment that I got out of the four levels that have been released for the demo is enough to make me restless for the release of the full version.
The full version will include:
- Two new characters to play as in multiplayer levels (people have started making their own skins already)
- A full compliment of single player missions
- All new multiplayer levels added to the favorites that were in the demo.
Frag ya online sometime!
Half Life
I recently was lucky enough to receive something that many gamers would kill for right now. I was able to get my hands on the OEM version of the long awaited and anticipated game Half Life by Sierra.
Half Life achieves nothing short of greatness. The game begins with an "interactive introduction", which is a unique idea in itself. In Half Life you play as a research scientist in a top secret underground research facility. The beginning introduction is actually of 'you' taking the tram to work in the morning. In the background you here the business of the day broadcast over the loudspeaker in your train car. As your surroundings pass by you can actually move around the train and look around. Finally your car arrives at its destination and you are told to wait for the security guard to open the doors.
This was the shocker for me. When the security guard greeted me as he opened the doors his mouth moved as he talked and he gestured as well! Although this may not seem like much to most people, that one small feature of realism draws the player into the game more than any other first-person shooter has done thus far.
One of Half Life's most interesting new features is the interaction that you can have with computer controlled neutral characters in the game (mostly security guards and scientists). You can be walking down a corridor and encounter a security guard who is trying to fight off a creature with his pistol, you can choose to help him or ignore him (monster usually kills him). If you choose to help him you can ask him to follow you around and help you out. If he sees a monster he will take shots at it, helping you out very much.
Half Life is definitely a game to play with the lights turned off and the sound turned up. Creatures jump from around corners and even crash through walls and doors to reach you. It looks like the first person genre has reached another stage in its evolution with this game, preorder this one as soon as you can because this one looks like a game of the year!
KEVIN
LAIRD is from Pawtucket, RI. He
is a staff writer for Renaissance Online Magazine.
Email:
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