Botherer

Reviews

Review: Dungeon Runners

by John Walker on Jul.31, 2007, under Reviews

At first glance, and perhaps second, third and fourth, it’s impossible to see Dungeon Runners as anything other than a derivative of World of Warcraft. The completely free (well, we’ll come to that in a bit) MMO seems to be going out of its way to ape the 9 million selling behemoth. Everything – from the fonts used to the colour-coding of the drops to the quest window design – appears to be designed to be familiar. However, with comparatively shoddy graphics, jagged controls, and an immediately obvious miniscule scale, this all seems to be shooting itself in the level 23 boot.

That’s until you play it for a bit. At the fifth glance, Dungeon Runners is, against all likelihood, a spoof of the MMO genre. NC Soft, one of the big players in the online world with City of Heroes, Lineage and the forthcoming Tabula Rasa, are taking a cheeky dig at the trend that’s brought them riches. And oddly, it works.

Hooray for free! I really rather like this game, and not despite, but because of how derivative it is. Also because it’s taking the piss.

1 Comment more...

Interview: Fallout 3

by John Walker on Jul.04, 2007, under Reviews

When invited to Bethesda for an exclusive little demonstration of Fallout 3 (you know, only about 100 different magazines and websites), we thought we’d make it a bit more personal. Tricking all the others into getting onto a bus (“There’s free booze on the bus!”) and then having them driven off into some ditch somewhere, we got to spend some alone-time with lead designer, Emil Pagliarulo, and lead producer, Gavin Carter.

1 Comment more...

Review: Lost Planet

by John Walker on Jul.02, 2007, under Reviews

Lost Planet is a game designed for the Xbox 360. And in its PC incarnation, it’s going to let you know this just about as often as possible. And by any means possible. This might be having a game mechanic entirely designed for a console, or it could be a screen-sized image of a 360 controller splashed intermittently throughout the game. Just don’t you forget its origins, okay?

You will remember Kristan’s review of the original version back in January, in which he was one of the few not to be all confused by the pretty graphics, and recognise quite how hollow the experience really was. So today we’re here to find out how Capcom have managed to shed marks in the last six months.

Like it says.

Comments Off more...

Preview: Fallout 3

by John Walker on Jul.01, 2007, under Reviews

It’s first-person. There, that’s what you came here to find out. But I implore you, stick around for a bit longer. I’ve interesting things to tell you. (Not least, that it can be played in third-person, even pulling the camera back and up).

Like so very many people, Bethesda – the team behind the Elder Scrolls series, most recently Oblivion – fell in love with Fallout in 1997. A turn-based RPG, it is often heralded as Interplay’s finest moment, crafting an elaborate post-nuclear world, and a story of intricate depth. It was so fantastically iconic. And not in that awful way people so lazily use that word now, but truly creating gaming icons. Vault-Boy, with his thumb pointing up and his ridiculously cheery grin, a bitter lie in a devastated world. The PIPBoy 2000 and its all-in-one justification for maps, objectives and character info. The SPECIAL System (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck).

But most of all, there was a sense of professionalism missing from so many games. The opening sequences for both Fallout 1 and 2, the beautiful ’40s music, the astonishingly crafted retro-future, the shocking and revelatory endings, and the sense of extraordinary freedom. That’s an awful lot to live up to.

Super-world exclusive! Except for everyone else going live with it at the same time. And some US mag already running it a couple of weeks back. But apart from that! Fallout 3 preview!

2 Comments more...

Review: Hospital Tycoon

by John Walker on Jun.21, 2007, under Reviews

Bullfrog’s Theme Hospital is ten. Ten years old and still selling astonishingly well. More than half a million copies have been bought in the UK and, bogglingly, it still outsells many brand new big-budget PC releases. It’s probably going to outsell Hospital Tycoon too.

Despite nicking almost every aspect of Theme Hospital, Hospital Tycoon doesn’t feel half as comfortable to play. You begin with semi-established hospitals, playing as the manager who must hire staff, build rooms, buy equipment and respond to the needs of your patients and employees – standard management stuff. This is delivered episodically, with three different hospitals split into chapters of story, each with specific tasks. But it takes ‘episodic’ literally, presented as a hospital soap opera, with key cast members and strange events.

One of my Gamer reviews has found its way onto their website. So posty-a-go-go.

3 Comments more...

Review: Mad Tracks

by John Walker on Jun.02, 2007, under Reviews

Let me tell you the story about the time I did the final race of Adventure mode in Mad Tracks. It was a single lap race, taking place on an “Oh God I so desperately want to be Micro Machines, why can’t I be Micro Machines?” track in a bedroom, littered with dominos and toy soldiers.

New review hidden away in the weekend embarrassments on EG.

2 Comments more...

Preview: Hour of Victory

by John Walker on Apr.19, 2007, under Reviews

I’m concerned that we need a new world war. The WW2 fatigue in gaming is unavoidable. So much so that even at Midway’s hands-on event for Hour of Victory, the presentation began with a defence for why another Second World War shooter was necessary, before we were even told what this one was about. And while they argue effectively that there’s still room in the market, surely this can only be for a limited amount of time. What are they going to make all the videogames about in fifty years time? For the sake of the industry, we have to start nuking each other.

Comments Off more...

Review: Tamagotchi Corner Shop Connection 2

by John Walker on Apr.13, 2007, under Reviews

Possibly the best example of what is so wrong with Corner Shop 2 would be the bowling alley. Available in the second clutch of buildings to buy, your task is not to enjoy a sweet bowling mini-game, but rather to stand the pins back up and roll the balls back toward the customer after their goes. It’s from this menial angle that potential fun is approached throughout. It’s a bit like an FPS where you have to clean up the dead bodies and mop the floors after the NPC hero has blasted his way through the corridor. You watch the mad-faced cartoon blobs excitedly throwing the ball at the pins, probably with a speech bubble saying something utterly bonkers like, “If I hit this, I’ll ask out Mai!” and then tidy up afterward. I sure hope he was having fun.

Comments Off more...

Review: Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam – Wii

by John Walker on Dec.15, 2006, under Reviews

The potential of the Wiimote, as I will forever insist on calling it, is enormous, and for many excited developer puppies it will be overwhelming. While the new Monkey Ball wasted some opportunities with the crappy party games, the natural and instinctive use of a motion sensitive controller for the regular levels feels like this is how the series was always designed to be played. A skateboarding sim, however, does not.

This should be interesting. First Wii review, and I think lowest score in the world for the game.

/Hides from comments

1 Comment more...

Review: Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam

by John Walker on Nov.28, 2006, under Reviews

Vicarious Visions have invariably done a stellar job of recreating Tony Hawk games for the Nintendo consoles. The GBA games were surprisingly effective, and last year’s American Sk8land for the DS managed the enviable feat of being better than its console big brother. Their versions have always stuck to the purer Hawk game of the early Pro Skater series, while the NeverSoft versions deviated further and further. Until now, that is.

New EG review up.

3 Comments more...