TwiddleGeek

While I’m not a huge RTS fan, I do enjoy the occasional game, and this one caught my eye. So, I played the first couple of missions last night. The visuals are really pretty amazing for an RTS, although too often they try to stretch their engine too far in the cut-scenes with rather silly looking results. In game from a suitable sky high distance, things look great. Explosions are wonderful, bodies and debris fly, buildings collapse, and bullets rip across the screen. Everything from buildings to scenery can be used to intelligently provide your troops cover, meaning you’re not just standing in the open taking shots until someone falls down.

One of my big RTS turnoffs is the amount of work one must put into resource management. Thankfully Company of Heroes simplifies resources drastically and focuses mainly on the combat side of things. Resources are just a matter of controlling points, smartly laid out on a handy territory mini-map. Once you control a point, a constant stream a resources will come your way. Manpower is constantly coming in, and the more territory you’ve got, the more you get. In these early levels at least, this means that even if your front line squad gets wiped out, you’ll soon have the resources regenerated to train new troops.

So far I’m digging it. I’m not sure if it’ll hold my interest across the entire single player campaign, but it seems varied enough to do so. The tactical map laying out points of interest and such really makes this feel more like an action-strategy game and less like a resource management, base building game. Despite being in the same genre, it’s pretty much the opposite of games like Age of Empires. It simply would have been nice if it wasn’t yet another WWII game.

Few people probably remember this little gem, but the classic 1998 Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers still gets regular play from me. Unlike the recent MTG Online which charges you for cards, this classic gave you a huge collection and had an AI system to boot! While it’s not the smartest opponent around, it plays a pretty competent game considering it’s age and the amount of possible plays it has to consider.

The game features a single player deck building quest, but I must admit I’ve never really tried it. The majority of my time with the game is usually spent in network play using ManaLink. While newer solutions such as Apprentice or Magic Workstation may give you more cards, Planeswalkers has the advantage of full card art and enforcing rules. Rule enforcement may not mean much to veteran card players, but it can be a godsend for casual play.

If you find this one in a garage sale or laying in a bargain bin, grab it. If you like it, you may also like Pokemon Trading Card, the game, for the Game Boy Color.

At first glance, it would be easy to mistake Saint’s Row for a cheap GTA clone. In fact, I almost did. After some positive word of mouth however, I decided to give it a shot. I’m about 22% in so far, and I have to say I’m very impressed all around. The story is great, the characters are all likable, and best of all your back to being the silent thug. Customization abound in both the character creation, and the in game attire. We’re talking Oblivion levels here.

Things blow up, real good. Cars, people, different types of cars with people in them… the explosions and the ragdoll physics simply do not grow old. There’s just something satisfying deep down about getting into a high speed head on collision, flying through the front window of the car, bouncing around a bit, and landing on the pavement. Thankfully however, although there’s tons of traffic to dodge and destory, it doesn’t feel like it spawned 3 inches away as you were heading into the intersection.

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GunBound is much like an online anime take on Scorched Earth. The basic gameplay is that of the classic tank game, using angle and power to launch attacks at your opponents. However, Gunbound features a few key improvements.

First off, GunBound is playable only online and only with real people. No CPU players here, just good team play. Play can range from 1vs1 up to 4v4, and all of the above are quite common. When you start GunBound, you create your avatar character of either a boy or a girl. This character literally becomes you in the game. As you win matches and get gold, you get to upgrade your character’s outfit and stats in several unique ways.

While the core gameplay is much like Scorched Earth, several improvements have been made. First off, you can select between a dozen or so tanks, or bots. Each one has it’s own unique method of fighting, and 3 separate weapon modes. You may also hold three one time use items to modify your attack, such as a dual strike or lightning damage.

The goal of the game is simply to wipe out the enemy team. You can move a bit each turn, but you can’t jump. You can destroy the enemy’s machine through damage, or you can “bunge” them by digging them down into the map off the screen. You can’t, however, knock them around like in Worms… they only fall.

Gameplay wise, Gunbound is simple but highly, highly addictive. It’s simple rules, unique balance, and addictive avatar and rank reward system screams fun. This is the type of game I can easily pass three or four hours without notice, and have just as much fun the next day. It’s easy to pick up and play, and rewarding to master.

The GunBound graphics are absolutely stunning. A wonderful mix of unique Anime style character avatars and fun cartoon-ish landscapes. The backgrounds and terrains are stunning, and you can easily wow a crowded room with the game’s various attacks. GunBound is absolutely top notch and jaw dropping in the visuals department, with a style all it’s own and silky smooth performance to boot.

If GunBound has one major flaw, it’s the human factor. Online games are known for being off the wall, fun, random, and hilarious… but such games are only as fun as the people you’re playing with. If you’re stuck in a game with a bunch of losers, a lagging player, a bad team, etc… it’s dull as heck. Thankfully, things will generally go smoothly.