Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=524https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3126Gamelog #5 Entry #2 GAMEPLAY For my second round of play, I played the campaign using the other new race, the Dark Eldar. It was much easier for me to handle the Dark Eldar than the Sisters of Battle, mostly because I had already played the demo which restricted me to playing only Dark Eldar. My first level of choice happened to be one where the win condition was not destroy all my enemies but capturing and holding over half of the critical points in the map for about seven minutes. This was fairly simple, I just had to keep two to three squads nearby two points and constantly reinforce them. My second map proved slightly more challenging. Right off the bat, two squads of Chaos Space Marines attacked my base, leaving my hero unit the task of keeping them back while I built my building that requisitions soldiers. This map was very large in scope; it could probably have held eight or more armies. This made it difficult to spread out to search and capture points, because I didn’t want to spread my army too thin. Also it took awhile to find where the enemy base was. They often attacked from the south, making me think that that was where they were coming from. After searching around the southern area of the map only to find absolutely nothing, I started realizing that they were coming more from the northwest. I wasn’t aware that the wind conditions in this game were to completely destroy all enemy buildings that produced soldiers. In the previous game, the HQ was all that had to be destroyed. Since I focused all my attention on just destroying their main base, they were able to spread out and build a few other buildings in opposite directions, making it harder for me to track them down. It only delayed the inevitable for them. I eventually got them. DESIGN This game of course has all the great features from previous Dawn of War series, such as point capturing and that all units were in the most part uniquely different than other races. The big thing with this game was the two new races, Dark Eldar and Sisters of Battle. With the two new races are new resources special to each race. Also the game now features vehicles that are not restricted by mountains and other obstacles. The Dark Eldar have a unique feature in that once a building starts being constructed, it will automatically finish without having a builder stay and build it. This allows for a rapid base build up for the Dark Eldar. Their specific resource, souls of fallen soldiers, give them special bonuses that can be called upon in battle, such as demoralizing enemy units or weakening their armor. The Sisters of Battle’s resource did not seem nearly as innovative, although I didn’t get a chance to really try it. The campaign has been improved significantly from the previous game, Dark Crusade. The campaign has a better narrator, who doesn’t over emphasize words like “indeed” and the campaign has a better story. The story explains more why certain races are involved in the first place and how the other races got involved. Dark Crusade’s campaign was more about that enemies exist and they must be killed. One of the problems I had with the game was the voices for the Sisters of Battle. Either because their voices were louder or higher pitched, it was more annoying to constantly hear their battle cries repeated over and over. While other races do this too, it isn’t as obvious for them. Also, the Sisters are very similar to Space Marines and the Imperial Guard. Their builder unit and some of their buildings look similar to Imperial Guard buildings and how they are extremely zealous resembles the Space Marines. They are however more religious or ritual sounding then the Space Marines. While Space Marines are extremely religious zealous, the Sisters at times seem more ceremonial, for example, after capturing a point, they chant like they are at church. This game however is extremely awesome and I can’t wait to play more of it. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:38:56.)Thu, 06 Mar 2008 02:38:27 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3126&iddiary=5936https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3126Gamelog #5 Entry #1 SUMMARY Dawn of War – Soulstorm is an expansion to the RTS game, Dawn of War, set in the Warhammer 40K universe. The expansion adds two new playable races, the Sisters of Battle and the Dark Eldar. GAMEPLAY The Dawn of War series is my favorite RTS. So I couldn’t resist waiting till the last minute to do my gamelog on this expansion which was released today. I jumped right in and started playing as the new race, Sisters of Battle. I decided to see how well they would face up against their enemies from the 40K universe, basically every other race that are not human or possessed. I did not get to test that thoroughly as I’d hoped. The Necrons, a race that was significantly more powerful in the previous installment, quickly took out half of the map. Five squads of the standard soldier type were able to take down three Necron Warrior squads, the Necron Lord, and a Tomb Spider, which is usually enough to take out an entire army. I also didn’t get a chance to tryout the Sisters unique resource, Faith. I was having a difficult time collecting enough requisition resource to reinforce my squads. It took me awhile to figure out how to even collect Faith. What I thought was just an upgrade that increases the maximum amount of Faith possible turned out to be the upgrade that gave Faith resource. By the time I figured that out, I was already destroying the Necron base, the only opposing force left.Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:18:17 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=3126&iddiary=5816https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2777Gamelog #4 Entry #2 GAMEPLAY As I advanced further, bosses and mini-bosses became more difficult while the levels became easier. Each new world had one more level than the previous, but the levels individually were getting shorter and shorter. Some of the shorter ones didn’t even have any difficult puzzles or mini-bosses, making them more of a chore. The bosses however became more of a challenge. Bugzy, a bug that would grab Kirby if he came to close, and a rock creature that had a similar grabbing mechanism to Bugzy, were hard to beat because abilities that would hurl Kirby straight at them would simply leave him in their clutches to body slam. The boss for world 3, Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright (the Sun and Moon), also proved more difficult then the previous two bosses because you had to face off against one while being wary not to hit the other. All the bosses getting harder isn’t completely true. World 4 boss, Cracko, proved to be very simple to beat once I figured out how the level was set up (not just a boss, I had to jump several platforms to reach the specific area to face him). I also tried some of the mini-games. My favorite was the quick draw game. There is a similar mini-game in Kirby Superstar that my friends and I used to play. I’ve definitely gotten rusty. I’m amazed at how many quick draws I won. The first three opponents are really easy to beat, where as the last two are more of a serious challenge. GAMEDESIGN Like all Kirby games, this game uses the innovative idea of instead of firing projectiles like missiles and fireballs at your opponent; you can use most of your opponents as projectiles against other opponents. What sets this game apart from its predecessor is Kirby’s ability to copy most of his opponents’ abilities and use them as his own. For an NES game, I’m amazed at how many different abilities there are. There’s almost as much to compete with Kirby 64, which had the ability to combine abilities. Some abilities however were too similar to each other, such as the ice and freeze abilities. One created a field around Kirby that would freeze any enemy and the other shot out a very short distance, maybe small three steps, in one direction that could freeze enemies. Games like Kirby Superstar would combine similar abilities into one, like the fireball and fire breath abilities into one fire ability, to make the gameplay more simple and easy to understand. Some abilities are also more useful then others. While the gameplay makes it so that no one ability is useful throughout the entire game or level, some I thought were pointless. I never found use for the ball power. I was never able to hurt an opponent or crush a block with the ball power. Some abilities were also hard to handle, like the laser. I always wondered why it wasn’t a power in Kirby Superstar (the exact same enemy that gives the laser power in this game is also in Kirby Superstar but doesn’t give a power, if I remember correctly). The laser proved to be very difficult to use. I was very glad to see that some of the limited use powers, such as the microphone and crash powers originated from this game. I wish that some of the easier powers to handle, like bombs, would have been in this game. I was glad to see that many of Kirby’s classic characters made it into this game, such as the Sun and Moon, Wispy Woods, King Dedede, and most of the mini-bosses. While many of them were probably new at the time, it is great to see all these characters in one game. This game expressed more of the two-faced nature of Sir Meta Knight. While Kirby Superstar had him solely as a nemesis, this game features him attacking Kirby by sending his minions against him, and aiding Kirby by giving him invincibility lollipops. My biggest complaint is level design. The levels are too short. Until I got to a mini-boss or normal boss, most of the levels were simply getting past enemies and going in doors. Some levels I barely started and I was already at the end. I think what would have improved this is if some levels could be combined into larger levels. Also there should be more challenges that require certain abilities, like Kirby Superstar.Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:18:03 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2777&iddiary=5256https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2777Gamelog #4 Entry #1 SUMMARY Kirby’s Adventure is a platformer where Kirby must retrieve the seven pieces of the star rod from King Dedede and his cohorts. Kirby has the ability to inhale most of his enemies and can temporarily ‘copy’ their abilities for his own use. GAMEPLAY I’ve played nearly every Kirby game released up to Kirby 64 with the exception of Kirby’s Dreamland 3 and this game. It didn’t take long for me to get back into the rhythm of using Kirby to inhale enemies and either spit them back at others or copy their abilities. There wasn’t much conflict in my gameplay. After playing several other Kirby games, it isn’t really hard to be surprised. All the enemies behave in similar fashion to the enemies from Kirby’s Dreamland 1 & 2 and Kirby Superstar. The biggest difficulty I had so far was fighting against world 2 boss, Paint Roller. His pattern was difficult for me to predict and he often bounced on my head. Aside from this, the gameplay so far has been relatively easy. After playing Dreamland 2 and Superstar, there wasn’t anything new and surprising for me with the exception of a few abilities that weren’t in those two games. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:17:30.)Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:53:57 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2777&iddiary=5197https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2502Gamelog #3 Entry #2 GAMEPLAY For my second hour, I played a single player skirmish as the Americans and with difficulty set to normal. A significant difference in gameplay, it did not take long for my opponent to sail over from his island and quickly destroy everything, forcing me to restart. After I restarted I played smarter, building a sizeable army at the very beginning. This round was more evenly matched, which more or less resulted in the two of us racing to achieve more technology than the other. Because we were both confined to our own small island, it was difficult for both of us to attack, since we had well place turrets and giant forts and armies, I crushed him whenever he attacked me and he crushed me whenever I attacked him, although I did manage to raze some of his buildings. Eventually my eyes started to hurt, so I had to stop. Again I learned more about the mechanics of the game. This time I learned how to acquire technology resource (by garrisoning citizens in universities and priests in temples) and what they are used for (resource upgrades and advancing through epochs or civilizations). I also partially learned how to advance through the different epochs, although I am still not sure what allows you to advance in the first place. DESIGN This game is very similar to Age of Empires. It has civilians gathering resources and building structures, separate buildings that produce different unit (barracks for soldiers, stables for cavalry, etc) and various different resources to collect such as food and gold (unlike requisition by holding command posts in games like Dawn of War and Company of Heroes). One of the unique characteristics I liked about this game is the technology resource and technology upgrade system. Unlike other RTS games like Dawn of War and Age of Empires where you shovel out food or requisition for an upgrade, you put citizens in a university and it is equivocally the same as them studying up on how to manage resources better. Also another aspect I liked was how territory was organized and how control of it was maintained by building certain buildings, like the city center. It is similar to how in Age of Mythology, there are certain number of settlements where one could build a town center on. In Empire Earth, however, each territory limits the number of certain buildings that can be built (i.e. only one university and a maximum of six houses can be built). One of the things that frustrated me was that there were too many resources to manage. While I do prefer RTS games that require more than just two resources, it was very hard to keep track of which resources were low. Also the tin, iron, and stone resource look very similar to each other, which made me think at times I was getting all I needed or could on the map when really I was completely missing out on a certain type of resource. Also, most RTS games have the ability to give consecutive commands to a unit by holding down the shift key (such as left clicking on part of a map and then another part of the map, making the selected unit go to the first left click first, then go to the second click instead of immediately going to the second click). This made it harder for me to explore the map. While there is an option to have a unit explore, it usually goes about it in a random order. Also, ctrl doesn’t allow the user to deselect certain units when a big group of units are highlighted. This makes it difficult when troops are near civilians. I have to first move the civilian out of the way if I want to select only troops. One of the things I noticed is that unlike most other RTS games where you have to manage a balance between workers and military units, you didn’t really have to in this game. The squad cap was extremely large. I never came close to maxing it out. I’m not sure if I would consider this a good thing or a bad thing. In general I like the challenge of having to be wary of not creating too many workers; I think it helped balance out the need to more effectively manage resources. This game has a lot of the RTS elements I would like to implement in my own game, the technology resource being a big one. I’m not sure about the territory concept; it’d be a little hard to do. I’d definitely pull back on the number of different resources, especially since mine would already limit the amount of freedom on the user. Also, instead of using individual units like this game uses, I’d ideally use squads like Dawn of War and Company of Heroes. This is still a great game and I’ll probably be constantly coming back to it.Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:17:33 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2502&iddiary=4786https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2502Gamelog #3 SUMMARY Empire Earth II is a real-time strategy game with 14 different civilizations to choose from. It also contains a campaign mode for Americans, Germans, and Koreans, each set at different periods in history. GAMEPLAY Due to the negative reviews I heard about for Empire Earth III, I decided to play its predecessor. I choose to play the German campaign because that is the time period I am most familiar with when it comes to RTSs, like Age of Empires II. I spent most of the first scenario of the campaign learning the mechanics of the game. Because I set the difficulty to easy, it wasn’t hard to pass the scenario without too much knowledge of the game. Some of the things I learned were how to find out what my objectives were, what certain units did (like priests being able to convert enemy units), and how to claim other territories by destroying their city centers and creating my own within their borders. The second scenario was more exciting because I needed to establish trade routes with the Holy Roman Empire while at the same time fend off the Polish and keep my own people from rioting. While being simple enough on easy mode, it did require a lot more multitasking then the previous scenario. I used my simple strategy that I use for most RTS games by simply annihilating all my enemies, making it easy to set up and protect my trade routes. A struggle I had was securing a decent gold supply. None of my territories had any gold mines, and the one water trade route I had stopped working for a period of time. This made it initially difficult to create enough units to attack enemy strongholds.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:01:29 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2502&iddiary=4700https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2164Gamelog #2 GAMEPLAY The second time playing this game is nowhere near as fun as the first time. Extended play of this game gets very tiring. There is not very many ways to play and beat this game. The first three levels I kind of just go through the moves of where I should fly and who I should kill. Once I get past level three, it gets better again. I have to constantly keep my upgrade meter highlighted over the shield option because it later becomes very easy for me to lose it. It becomes a real challenge not to collect power-ups because collecting one would reset my upgrade meter to the beginning, and I do not always have enough time to collect enough to cycle through the list again. The final level is the true test because the amount of space available to move around in is reduced to less than half of what is normally available. It is very easy for enemies to run into your ship and there is very little room to evade the barrage of fire power that your enemies deploy. I often scream out in a torrent of curse words whenever I’m about to restore my shield but instead I don’t and die. DESIGN I really enjoy the color scheme for this game. It uses a lot of bright colors against a dark, starry background. I think this is what enthralled my as a baby. Also the music seems to really set the mood and goes well for each level. For example, I thought the music in the first level was very bouncy and thought it was interesting how some of the enemies are bouncing around on the ground like they were dancing. I can understand why people get so easily discouraged with this game. It is near impossible to survive after losing a life and therefore losing all of your power-ups. Unless you are an extremely skilled player or know the cheat code (up up down down left right left right B A) it is impossible to continue on after losing a life. However, that is what I love about this game. I normally would rather play a game that took me several tries to beat it then simply having to go from room to room to advance. I would however make the AI take a little more time to go back up to their hardest level. The game does that a little bit but not enough. As long as I do not die, I can get through the game without cheating (but not often). The bosses were poorly designed. Level 1 and 4’s bosses were exactly the same except reverse (volcanoes on the ground, volcanoes on the ceiling). Level 5’s was exactly the same as the level itself except that the screen was not scrolling. Level 6’s shot randomly similarly to the volcanoes and the final boss put up no fight whatsoever. Level 2 and 3’s bosses were a little more interesting. Level 2 required you to evade a bunch of green squares instead of allowing the player to sit in one place and level 3’s boss were sphere that came directly at you and required you to destroy them. They often shot out littler spheres that could not be destroyed so you had to evade them while trying to destroy the larger spheres. I think at some point the creators ran out of ideas for level design. Level 4 was near identical to level 1 except upside down and level 6 was very similar to level 2 in that you could shoot certain objects out of the way to make more paths for yourself. Level 5 was a very plain level. Nothing but rocks with tentacles on them came after you. There was no background for this level. I think the reason why it was made like that was because the tentacles graphically took too much power (whenever there was more than one, the game lagged). They could as used a simpler design for them or just dropped the level entirely. And finally there is the upgrade system. It makes it more of a challenge to get certain upgrades, like the shield, because it cycles through the list instead of accumulating power-ups that could be traded off or specific power-ups that instantly change the current weapon system. Some power-ups require the user to use a little bit of strategy. You cannot choose both the double and the laser upgrade so it is a matter at figuring out when which one is more suitable. Also there seems to be no limit to the amount of speed-up boosts you can get. I once got so many that just tapping on the D-pad sent me from one side of the screen to the other. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:34:02.)Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:32:13 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2164&iddiary=4126https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2164Gamelog #2 SUMMARY Gradius is a 2-D side scrolling space shooter where the user has to save Gradius from invading forces using the Vic Viper (the game does not explain the storyline; I had to look it up). The player can destroy certain colored enemies or destroy a sequence of enemies to gain power-ups, which can be used to add a shield, speed, or other weapon upgrades. GAMEPLAY As a baby, the only way my dad could get me to stop crying was to play video games for hours at a time until my mom got home. Gradius was one of the games he played. I think this is one of the major reasons I do not get so easily discouraged playing this game. I love this game. It is one of the most exhilarating games for me to play because it keeps my hands busy the entire time. I do not have to sit back and listen or read some story to play the game. While the controls are very simple (up, down, left, right, A to fire and B to upgrade) I’m using almost every button at all times (the upgrade not so much). The gameplay gets extremely difficult starting at level three. At this point enemies will shoot a barrage of fire power at you. The eastern island heads in level three also make the gameplay insanely hard because it takes several shots in the mouth to destroy them. I consider this level the hardest next to the final (7th) level because it is so easy to crash here. Even though I consider it harder than subsequent levels, it is easy enough to beat without too many upgrades (I can get through it with two speed-up bonuses alone). After this level, is near impossible to survive without a shield. I am very disappointed with the bosses however. Most of the bosses are simply objects that fire rocks or something constantly and randomly and all I really had to do was tap A over and over to destroy them before they hit me. The final boss however is the worse. The boss is nothing more than a giant brain that sits there and lets you shoot it. Maybe a real pilot fighting to save his planet would enjoy that, but not me. After all the insane intensity I had to go through, I was expecting for some ultra, near impossible mission, where if I somehow managed to defy all logic and win I could be declared the all time greatest gamer ever, but no. (This entry has been edited2 times. It was last edited on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:33:37.)Fri, 25 Jan 2008 21:30:47 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2164&iddiary=4123https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1752GAMEPLAY The gameplay gets far more exciting with the addition on new enemies and more difficult puzzles. Newer creatures now put up more of a fight and it is a real struggle to hold on to your ammo. Also the obstacles are becoming more of a challenge, with the addition of automated turrets, security lasers that set off explosions if you trip them and wide empty elevator shafts where you have to jump from ladder to ladder. I notice I feel like there is a stronger sense of security when I meet other surviving characters. When I have other characters follow me, I more easily head into uncharted territory where I would normally be more cautious. They can get in the way sometimes, I’ve died quite a few times when one particular scientist obstructed my jumps. The dialogue has become slightly more useful this far in the game. While they don’t add too much to the current situation, it does allude to what will happen. Many scientists exclaim that soldiers are on their way to help. This of course means that soldiers will come to destroy everything and that I will have a new enemy not far on the horizon. DESIGN I think one of the best elements of the game is its use of the environment. Instead of walking safely on the ground and opening doors to advance, you have to be aware of broken equipment that is hazardous, not all doors work and so you need to find a work around (like a shaft or cutting the power). The game also makes good use of shadows. Many of those headcrabs hide in shadows, especially in shafts and it forces you to be more aware of where you’re going. Also there are dark shafts that have nothing in them, making the game more edgy and suspense building. Also what is good about the game is that it does not necessarily have levels. It’s more like one giant level that progressively gets harder and saves at fairly convenient points. This helps bring a more realistic touch to the game since it does not drastically change after each level. The game gets a little difficult when it comes to holding on to ammunition. This is not a game where you can be gun happy with your opponents. There were many times when I was facing down with vortiguants, aliens that shoot electricity at you, and ran out of bullets, leaving me to get killed or using my grenades, which I’m horrible at using, which usually end up with me dying anyways. There is a certain appeal to this because it does require you to be more resourceful, but at times it can be really frustrating.Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:10:47 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1752&iddiary=3512https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1752SUMMARY Half-Life is a first person shooter that focuses on the character Gordon Freeman. While testing some sort of specimen, an “accident” happens that destroys most of the research facility and releasing a bunch of dangerous creatures. Gordon must fight his way through these creatures and escape the Black Mesa Federal Research Facility. GAMEPLAY Due to the overwhelming popularity of Half-Life 2, I thought I would give the series a try starting at the very beginning. The game controls were very easy for me to get the hang of. I usually try to avoid pc games because I am used to using a gamepad. What’s great about the game is how you have to learn what the plot is about as you play. I literally had no idea what my character was testing at the beginning and after the “accident” occurs, I wasn’t sure if I should stay put and see what the scientists would say or go ahead and figure everything myself. I figured that a game where you sat back and listened to people talk would be pretty boring, so I went ahead, which was a good idea because the scientists had died. Progressing through the facility reveals several things as to what happened or is happening. Many of these creatures, called headcrabs, seemingly appear out of nowhere and begin possessing or zombifying other scientists or guards. I was confused at first at how fast these things appeared and possessed people because I do not remember seeing them in any sort of captivity before. It was later revealed that they, along with several other kinds of creatures, spawned out of portals that appear at random times. Another great aspect of the game is how your character cannot do everything and is given limited access to certain areas. This makes the game slightly more interesting because you need the assistance of some of the remaining living scientist or manipulating the environment to advance in the game. The gameplay itself is extremely fun. The main gist of the game is running around and killing monsters by either bashing them with a crowbar or shooting and blowing them up (which are the building blocks to most great games). Aside from that, however, are also various puzzles and obstacles to get through. While they are not that challenging, they do add to the characters struggle to escape. You cannot simply run down a hallway and enter a door, you have to be aware of your surroundings and see what alternatives can be used, such as air ducts or switches. One of the things I disliked was the very long and boring intro. I had to stand in a railcar for nearly five minutes listening to a voice read safety warnings that my character could not really commit. Also there is an excessive amount of dialogue. While some of it builds anticipation as to what’s about to happen, such as conversations about recent mechanical failure, it rarely is very helpful and there is not much your character can do about it being that he is stoically silent.Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:37:41 CDThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1752&iddiary=3474