Sorry, the No Index, No Follow tags are (you'll need to add the opening and closing html operators): META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX, FOLLOW"/ META NAME="GOOGLEBOT" CONTENT="NOINDEX, FOLLOW"/ Salut! […]
OK Damian, I have it working now. I also use Go Daddy, and Justin's "all in one" code also caused my server to crash, so it looks like a Go Daddy thing. I love Go Daddy though, the service is great, and this is no reason to switch (believe it or not, I also host over at Network Solutions) As for the fix: First, I did not put the rewrite code i […]
Man, thanks for the great review and info. I love that it could be argued that this movie is targeted at social workers and teachers who practice LaME. On a side-note: I hope to have that indexing turned around in 36 hours at the latest. Lots going on tomorrow. Moving furniture for wood floor dude Grandma hired for us (Christmas gift). […]
Thanks..I always wanted that comment follow-up plugin but always forget about it when I'm online. You'd think WordPress would have put that in their default code by now...How are you checking to see if it really redirects? Check Justin again and try to follow his steps. I think you may have got in too deep with the move and created a unique situati […]
Continuing my favorite video game song articles, as great as I thought Nintendo was, when my mom bought my the Sega Genesis in the early 1990’s I was on Cloud Nine. Sega was “cool”. Sega was accepted by my black classmates in NY which also made it THE video game system to own, although I had to wait until I moved to Florida to get it (it was pretty expensive when it first came out).
Anyway, the Genesis actually came with stereo headphones, which made me believe they were serious about the music soundtracks. Sure enough, Altered Beast was awesome, but Sonic the Hedgehog took side scrolling platform games to the next level. Sonic made move to my ears. Later on when Sonic 2, Sonic 3, and Sonic and Knuckles came out, as a lonely teenager I recall locking my bedroom door and blasting the Sonic the Hedgehog soundtracks thanks to the soundtests when other kids were blasting Rage Against the Machine or Nirvana.
I was into Yuko Koshiro’s Shinobi, so when I saw his name as composer of Streets of Rage, I had high expectations. Little did I know how my heart raced when SoR’s background stages were some of the best video game songs of all time.
But my world was never the same when I heard the soundtrack from Streets of Rage 2. To this day, it can be heard in Damian Hospital’s household thanks to MP3’s. Talk about songs that can be played at dance clubs- Yuko Koshiro’s Street of Rage series was the bomb.
Although the Super Nintendo was superior to the Sega Genesis from the technical standpoint, Sega had better background music themes- they were electronic bass and techno. Sega Genesis music represents the good things about the 1990’s to me. I will always hold those songs in my heart and think of the great games that I played. My mom started a new job and her first paycheck was the Genesis.
Here are other Sega Genesis soundtracks that rocked:
Aladdin
Phantasy Star series
Bubsy series
CastleVania Bloodlines
Fatal Fury series
Mega Man: Wily Wars
Thunderforce
Hardball III
Batman and Robin
Combat Cars (2 Unlimited!!)
Contra Hard Corps
Ecco the Dolphin (especially the last boss- “Welcome to the Machine”)
VectorMan
Earthworm Jim series
Ghouls n Ghosts
Cool Spot
Castle of Illusion: Mickey Mouse
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PopCap Games Zuma’s Revenge is awesome. My friend Diane has been addicted to the original Zuma since it first came out, so she called me yesterday and said “Damian, have you played Zuma’s Revenge online yet?” Since I am a PopCap Games expert, of course I had already downloaded Zuma’s Revenge and played the trial.
Not only are the graphics and sound better than Zuma 1, but the gameplay and special marbles make this a superior game to one of the best casual games of all time. It may be time for a new Top 10 Casual Games list. Diane’s sister is madly in love with Zuma’s Revenge and called it one of the most addictive casual games by PopCap or any casual game publisher. I suprised my wife last night at 10:00PM with Zuma’s Revenge and the next thing I know I went to sleep before her, and she was very tired to drive to work.
Zuma’s Revenge is a marble game, with more features than the beloved original. This is a must buy, especially since would make a super cheap Christmas gift.
The best casual games for the PC are debatable, although there is no denying that casual game publisher PopCap Games, GameHouse, and Big Fish games lead the pack. Why are casual games popular? Ease of play, bug-free games, and the addiction are major reasons. The fact that you can play casual games online for free to test them out before downloading is a plus as well.
The Top 10 casual games have something for everyone: Bookworm Adventures Vol 1 and BWA2 is a word game but also a RPG. Peggle and Peggle Nights combin pinball and billiards. Zuma and Zuma’s Revenge is probably the most mainstream of all popular casual games. The Mystery PI games (designed by SpinTop Games) are find hidden object games. Plants vs Zombies is a weird column defense game.
So what is the Top 10 Casual Games List? Truth is every list can be random because they are all great and are for all ages.
Mystery P.I. – Lost in Los Angeles is a find hidden object game published by PopCap Games, but developed by SpinTop Games. I wouldn’t put Mystery PI in the Top 10 Casual Games List, but it was still enjoyable enough for me to play the whole game out- my first for hidden object games.
You search excellently rendered backgrounds in L.A. to search for a missing reel of film. There are over 2,100 hidden objects in 25 locations like Malibu Beach, Rodeo Drive, movie studios, and other.
In addition to finding carefully hidden objects, there are 5 mini-game puzzles (including a Bejeweled homage), and bonus games.
It may not be original, but it’s a pretty relaxing casual game. If you enjoyed other Mystery PI games, you would enjoy this one. In many ways, it’s exactly the same except the locations and objects are different. The action is linear, and the focus is on finding the objects as opposed to decifiering puzzles or riddles.
Well, I finally beat Bookworm Adventures 2 last week. BWA2 is arguably the best casual game, and is definitely ranked in the Top 10 Casual Games list. I must tip my hat to PopCap Games programmers and design team- the enemies and levels were so fantastic again, as was Bookworm Adventure’s soundtrack.
Anyway, the final stage for Lex the Bookworm is set in a dark future, where George Orwell’s 1984 came true, and the boss is named BIGGER BROTHER. After I defeated Bigger Brother, I had to face the ultimate machine of the multiverse- Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3.
I was actually undefeated until the final stage in Bookworm Adventures Vol 2. The machine beat me five straight times, before I wised up.
How To Beat The Last Boss in Bookworm Adventures 2:
1) Make sure you have a lot of healing potions, power up potions, and medicine. 2) If you do not have a lot of potions, the best thing to do is let Phase 1 kill you a few times. Make sure you choose Mother Goose as your companion so she will lay eggs every 4 turns to give you a health potion. After you die, you also have a chance to win more potions via the word scramble mini games and word puzzles. 3) One you have a nice supply of potions, select the Cheshire Cat as your companion. He will remove unhealthy status conditions on your letter tiles; this is a MUST since Phase 2 and Phase 3 turn your letters against you. 4) As for special items, I chose “Just Right Porridge” (Resists Stun), which helps you with Phase 1, and I chose the Book of the Dead, which boosts Lex’s health when healing via potion and green gems. 5) If you survive to Phase 3, do not click on any letters that turn red, because they will damage Lex. Make sure you use all of your potions, and be sure to power-up for Lex’s last three words.
Check out the Plants vs Zombies trailer. Excited yet? So I was looking for Plants vs Zombies online because the Plants vs Zombies reviews have been great. I admit I didn’t see the appeal of a Plants vs Zombies adventure as a casual game at first, but after playing the first board…I was hooked by PopCap games…again.
I have to say, there are PC games or video games that can hold your interest and are good, and then there are addictive video games that require you to have IV injected into your arms to give you nutrition because you can’t leave your computer to get food in the refridgertator. This game is that addictive that your eyes will become bloodshot. This game is for kids and adults. You control an army of plants to stop zombies from entering your house and eating your brains.
Plants vs Zombies soundtrack: The music is a parody of old horror movies.
Graphics: Excellent flash animation.
Sound: As good as it gets.
Game modes: You can earn money in every game mode and buy better weapons and secrets. The Zen Garden mode is cool, and the Mini-Games are like MODs. You can even do take control of the bad guys and do Zombies vs Plants! This game has a TON of replay value; this was not slapped together and rushed out by any means. This was truly an excellent effort by the programmers and design team. Wow.
Plants vs Zombies gameplay: Left click mouse…and that’s it!
When it comes to the best casual games, or the Top 10 Casual Games of all time, Plants vs Zombies is going to be climbing to the top!
If you want to buy Plants vs Zombies, just click on my links, and you may get a nice discount for various PopCap games!
IN THE BEGINNING, my exposure to music in general was through my mother who listened to Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and other 1960’s icons that had survived into the 1980’s. She also had classical music records which she would blast, which I thought was very powerful. Other influences were TV theme songs, commercial jingles, pro wrestling music, cartoons, and movie scores. I was always behind contemporary music, although I listened to the radio (and enjoyed oldies and pop music) and early music videos on U-68 in New York.
One thing I noticed: Generally speaking, I enjoyed the actual music more than the lyrics. Case in point:
Compare~
Sweet dreams are made of this Who am I to disagree? I travel the world And the seven seas Every body’s looking for something.
~versus the actual music. I mean WTF? The video has a cow in it, too. I’ll take instrumentals only anytime (see Midnight Express). Some people are tone deaf; I’m kinda lyrics death.
Anyway, when I first got my ATARI 2600, I wasn’t expecting music and I really didn’t get any. I felt honored to get some beeping sounds, and the occasional 3-second burst of “music”. But there was something about those beeping sounds that sparked my imagination.
I recall a trip to a pizza parlor arcade and I played a car game called Spy Hunter, and was blown away by the music, which can be heard right here (open a new tab) spyhunter.wav. I’m pretty sure this was an innovation at the time.
Before 1985, I had heard some great Apple II, Commodore, and ColecoVision themes, and even heard some nifty grooves on hand-held (pre-Gameboy) stand alone travel games. I didn’t realize it yet, but my perception of the quality of these songs was totally different than “regular people”. Adults thought the music was totally crap, and wouldn’t even define it as “music”. Most of my classmates and friends would rather listen to Michael Jackson. Teens would listen to that cool Satan music genre: heavy metal. Of course, considering that the computer programmers and game makers were just manipulating beeps, I don’t blame them. But to me…it was beautiful.
And then came the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and a new generation was born. Not only did my dream come true, but I could come out of hiding and not feel embarrassed anymore- my friends really dug the NES songs, and thanks to sharing games and Captain Video rentals (Blockbuster who?) all of my little buds in school, day camp, and neighborhood knew all of the titles, and noticed how levels had different background music (BGM). It was “mainstream” in the schoolyard sense, which was good enough for me. Little did I know decades in the future, it would have influenced dance and techno music, and video game music would actually evolve into a genre. And I sure couldn’t have predicted that every video game theme that ever existed could could be heard INSTANTLY by ANYONE ANYWHERE. That’s what happens when kids become the future workers of the world.
As a kid, I kept rankings of video game songs, based on Game and Level, and gave out yearly awards based on Video Game Soundtrack- I was copying the Billboard. I had also used my tape recorder to compile the best NES video game music. NES games were generally challenging, so when you experienced a level there was no telling how long it would take to experience it again. Without the Internet, I couldn’t go to Youtube or some site and listen or download the themes, either. Everything was a personal subjective experience that was shared only through word of mouth. Although I don’t have my scribbles anymore, here’s a list of some memorable NES BGM:
Mega Man 2: Although by 1989, I had been exposed to the Sega Master System (OutRun, Phantasy Star) and Turbo Grafix 16- systems with better technology than the 8-bit NES, the MM2 soundtrack was my drug of choice. I had rented it for 6 days in 1989, and fell in love with Quickman’s theme. Other great Mega Man BGM stages included Bubble Man and Flash Man, with some great Boss Stage themes. I wound up getting MM2 for Christmas right when my grandfather died, so it has some emotional attachments, too.
Mega Man 3-6: Continued the tradition, with A+ Boss Music and even the stage select themes were top-notch. Had some remixes in there, too. Mega Man 5: Thought I was in heaven with Star Man’s theme. Mega Man games were JAM-PACKED with great tunes.
CastleVania 1-3: Featured some dark Gothic tunes, and Simon’s CV2 theme gets covered by rock bands a lot. CastleVania 3 had a SOUND TEST which allowed to you play all of the songs. ’nuff said.
Dragon Warrior 1-3: Each version got better, and DW3 was a total mind orgasm.
Ninja Gaiden 1-3: NG1 had some great themes, especially Ninja Gaiden Stage 2-2. NG2 and Ng3 really took it to the next hardcore level.
Double Dragon 1-3: Although DD lost its fan base with DD3, the music was…whooooo!! Japan stage was better than lines of coke.
Final Fantasy: Very addictive tunes that get stuck in your head. The start of something very special.
Shadowgate: Haunting 8-bit music- very scary!
Zelda 2- The Adventure of Link: The palaces and final palace are some of the best ever.
Faxanadu: Underrated game score, with a great Overworld theme.
Super Mario Bros. 3: Arguably the best side-scrolling game ever, the songs here are better than SM1 and SM2.
Mike Tyson’s Punch Out: Not really mentioned in video game music discussions, but each boxer’s theme song rocked, especially Piston Honda’s.
Wizards and Warriors: Super theme and some great BGM levels.
Ghosts N Goblins: Pretty much one theme over and over again, but, boy was it a great one!
Silver Surfer: So good that it became a real live techno remix in 2003!
Life Force: Underrated Konami soundtrack, similar to Contra and others from that era.
I was on the fence on Bookworm Adventures Volume 2- not because I doubted the programmers at PopCap Games,(Lex the Worm is my favorite PopCap character) but I was trying to justify the $20 cost, and Bookworm Adventures 1 still has replay value (although Arena mode isn’t as addictive as Adventure Mode).
So I downloaded the free Bookworm 2 demo trial, and I was totally blown away once again by PopCap Games.
Improvements (Or…how could the perfect word game even be improved?)
Graphics- Sharper animations
Music- one theme song sounds like it’s from a Jet Li drama
Additional strategy with gems and the addition of a tag team partner
Different weapons
Original monsters
Cool new mini-word puzzles
More addictive than cocaine
Storyline: omniverse and Evil Lex!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can finally replay Adventure mode after you beat it and earn badges
Nitpicks
Price: $20 is kinda tough right now
Story mode cut-scene animations are weak, even though I know they were going for a certain style
Difficulty level: Due to my experience with Bookworm Adventures 1 (and its predecessor Bookworm) I averaged over 5 words a hit, and never died in the trial. I am able to horde gems and heal pretty easily. I recall getting my butt WHUMPED in BWA1 when fighting the bosses. I don’t know when BWA2 gets hard yet, or if I’m just good.
Conclusion: Meet the new king of casual games- Bookworm Adventures Volume 2 (BWA2 for all you newbies out there). BWA2 doesn’t reinvent itself, but is FULLY LOADED with humor, fun, style, and is for all ages. Freakin’ genius programming, presentation, and marketing. RATING: 10/10 Save 25% on the the extremely popular Bookworm games.
XBox Live is still very popular (12 million subscribers) and offers lots of online content. Microsoft Xbox 360 has a large online community with Live, and allows an easy set-up for head-to-head online gaming, patches, and add-on downloads. There is no denying that XBox has a huge library of games, and when you add Live Games for Windows- which allows PC games to join the multiplayer fray, you can see how popular Xbox still is.
PopCap Games and Big Fish’s Peggle Nights Deluxe is more of an expansion pack of Peggle Deluxe as opposed to a true sequel, but it delivers regardless of how one wants to label it. In this case, we have more levels, challenges, additional characters, and some new scoring opportunities, but the game itself has not changed (thankfully- anyone remember Pac-Man 3-D? No? Good.)
The 2-D backgrounds are even more varied, since this game’s theme features the dreams and desires of the characters. In fact, characterization of the characters is expanded greatly. If you liked the different cartoon characters before, you will really dig them now.
PopCap has extra themed levels to be downloaded as well. But if there is one flaw with Peggle Nights (and Peggle), it’s that the background music does not vary, but I understand how each game is produced under a strict budget. That being said, the music is cool, and of course the Peggle Nights classical music intro song is a mind orgasm.
This game is for all ages, and is just as addictive as Peggle Deluxe, if not more so (is that even possible?) Although Peggle Nights loses theoretical points in originality, they did give us more Peggle, so you can’t complain about that. Like most PopCap Games, there are no bugs or crashes. I hope those programmers are making money. Peggle Nights is a game that you would enjoy instantly, and the fun factor is extreme.
Perhaps the hardcore video game and PC publishers should take note how far simplicity of graphics and user input goes in making a game enjoyable. By the way, PopCap fans: Bookworm Adventures 2 is coming next month. We all know the original Bookworm Adventures is one of the best word games of all time. Can’t wait for this one.
Peggle is a highly popular game by the makers of the casual game genre. It has been voted one of the Top 5 Addictive Games of All-Time, 2007 Game of the Year, and was on the Top 100 Game of All-Time list at #47. A psychology study actually showed that players reported feeling less depressed after playing it.
Peggle is a combination of pool, pinball, and the Japanese slot machine game pachinko. You use your left mouse button, launch your ball by aiming, and your goal is to clear the board of orange pegs. The gravity, angles, gravity, and boucing are simulated perfectly. There are some nuances to jack up your score, but all of that can be experienced by playing, so I won’t go into detail. This game is for all ages, and anyone can pick it up and play in a few minutes, if not seconds.
There are zany characters to unlock and choose, and each cartoon character has their own special skill that is activated if you hit a green peg.
There are 55 boards in Adventure Mode, each with excellent backgrounds and carefully placed pegs. After you beat that mode, there are 75 Challenges. You can also play Duel Mode to compete against the computer or a friend sitting next to you. This makes relay value super-high. High scores are saved.
Many gamers who passed on Peggle can’t get passed the cartoon unicorn, smiling sun, or talking flowers. In other words, the sights and sounds aren’t macho. If you have a problem with this…well…I don’t know what to say. Like most casual games, it looks like it was made for kids only, but it was made for all ages.
The game backgrounds are 2-D with some optical illusions. The level of creativity is mind-blowing. Advanced levels look like Zen Buddhist realms of the higher planes of existence. Others reminded me of Alan Moore’s Omniverse of Symbols from Supreme and Promethea.
Peggle has been ported over to XBox360, iPod, and other systems.
RPG Maker VX is a powerful game creator that enables you to create role-playing games from scratch. They can be as simple or complex as you need them to be. The final result is usually role playing games that look and feel like SNES RPGs like Final Fantasy III, although if you have training in graphic design you can push the graphics to Chrono Trigger.
You don’t need programming experience, and many common commands have been simplified from previous versions, such as transferring to one map to another, shop keeper processing, and treasure chests.
Even with some simplified commands, you still are in effect programming (even though it’s called video game design). It is 100% necessary to check out the RPG Maker VX tutorials on rpgmakervx.net and rpgrevolution.com, and to practice-practice-practice making events, conditions, and maps.
Once you create your game, you can share it with others and get it critiqued, and/or sell it. Since you design the game balance, you can also have fun playing your own RPG or give it to your kids or friends.
There are no limits to your creativity. If you feel the existing battle system is limiting, community members have written scripts that import into the program (this is by design).
This is a program that truly requires sleepless nights or at least to work on it for an hour a day, and maybe you’d make a good game in a year. It does hit the creative section of your brain.
One thing that dampers the experience is that 1) you have to worry about copyright laws if you use other artists background music, graphics, or characters (but you are safe if you just use the default or create your own music and graphics); and 2) even the highest rated custom-made game in the community has some issues when compared to the Nintendo RPGs of the SNES era. Many completed games are cookie cut.
The hardest part is learning how to create “switches”, “conditional branches”, and “control variables”. Creating maps is a lot simpler than one would expect. Creating original, breath-taking maps, however, probably requires custom-made tilesets.
It could be argued that RPG Maker VX is a step-backwards to RPG Maker XP when it comes to default battle system, graphics, and map tile sets, but is much more user friendly and has more features.
I highly recommend it for aspiring video game designers or hobbyists. Unlike other game maker games, this is actually FUN, believe it or not. As long as you have patience to deal with the learning curve and play-testing (and have writing ability) you will really enjoy creating an RPG, even if it’s for your own personal use.
Although GameHouse’s Scrabble blew me away, Monopoly comes up kinda short only because of the nature of the game and game AI. Once you realize that you or the computer can’t buy property to make monopolies to build houses, it’s kinda lame and all subject to the dice roll.
At least humans can make irrational and fun trades, but the computer AI won’t.
The Good:
Fun at beginner and medium at first.
Looks and acts just like the board, with selectable house rules.
The Bad:
Same as real life, games last too long, and once all properties are bought, that’s it- it’s all about wearing your opponent out for an hour.
The Tycoon difficulty level clearly gives the computer better dice rolls (they will always land on the ONE property they own on a row instead of yours) and better Chance cards. Lame.
Trade AI is from 1993.
Conclusion: Only good for a addictive few spins for solo play. Play the board game with your family instead.
GameHouse’s Scrabble video game gets high marks from me; it’s a flawless rendition of the popular table-top game. This is not a fancy alternate version, and is made for all ages. The interface was surprisingly simple and easy to use, with no learning curve; just drag your tiles with your mouse.
Solitaire Scrabble is kinda boring so GH came up with computer opponents. After one day, I managed to somehow squeak by the Smart Robot, and scored around 300 points, but it was extremely tough. The scary part is that there are much harder opponents.
In many ways the AI is similar to the chess games I’ve played, where beginner is a synch, but the advanced modes will humble you.
For those of you with limited vocabularies, there are optional ways to help you: dictionaries, hints, best possible moves, and my personal favorite- black letters if you spelled a word; red letters if you’re making a fake word.
The game keeps track of high scores and win-loss record vs the computer opponents. Also, there is tournament play and rank. These features make GH Scrabble a replayable and fun game.
I gotta tip my hat to the programmers and designers- this is a bug-free, easy on the eyes, simple yet mentally challenging as well. This is an all-ages, ready to play, easy menu high quality game.
The only negative- just like in real life Scrabble- it’s kinda lame when your opponent uses “words” such as “Aa” (basaltic lava having a rough surface).
The game is dirt cheap and there’s a free trial. I think I saw it at Wal*Mart real cheap but always passed it up. I didn’t know it was downloable, but it is- it’s a small file but packs a big punch.
Colonization was a 1994 cult game, where you compete with other settlers during the New World period and eventually fight for independence. The game was begging for a remake, and it finally came- using Civilization IV’s engine.
Don’t let the name fool you though: this is not an expansion pack or add-on for Civ. The time period is during colonial times, and you are managing your economy in your settlement as opposed to growing a civilization or world domination.
Using Civ’s engine, you build your settlement, fight off or trade with Native Americans, “negotiate” with your king when he raises taxes, get specialists from the Old World, trade and manage your natural resources, and erect buildings or units.
Unlike Civ, there is only one victory condition: rebel against your mother country before your opposition settlers, defeat the king’s navy and army, and form a new union. So this is a very structured (and relatively simpler game), while in Civ you have a buffet of victory conditions and side storylines.
As someone who enjoys that epoch, playing a revolution as a simulation is very addicting. The New World was a tough place to start from scratch.
It takes a few games to get the hang of it, even with the tutorials, help menus, and hints. There are many forums to get good strategies going, though.
The online community was initially disappointed with Colonization due to the bugs, but the latest patch makes everything fine. Colonization will never have the fan base as Civilization, so the number of user generated content is a lot less. Ultimately, the playability isn’t as infinite as the Civ series.
Some elitists online have already exploited the AI and don’t even bother with trading or fighting the other colonies.
Many players are turned off with one goal and narrow focus, and the lack of “charm” or thousands of variables that are present in Civ. This game never caught fire as much as Firaxis wanted for this generation of players.
In the end, though, this game is probably underrated, especially since the price isn’t a deal breaker.
Civilization IV Beyond the Sword (BTS) is the second expansion pack for the Civ IV and is the ultimate version of the Civ IV engine. BTS has the following additions (besides the new civs, units, buildings): corporations, espionage, U.N. Resolutions, and better A.I.
BTS has much more strategy and has the optional ability for advanced starts, so you can buy technologies, soldiers, and cities without starting from scratch.
The game comes packed with some of the best Civ mods ever: Rhye’s and Fall of Civilization, a true historical replay; a future space mod; a fantasy world, and more.
Stalin made his official return to the Civ series in Warlords.
Civilization IV: Warlords, released in 2006, is the first add-on expansion pack to Civ IV. This was a controversial move by Firaxis since Civ IV was so complete; what exactly needed to be added?
In this case, they added new civilizations, leaders, personality traits, buildings, military units, generals, and scenarios. So using the same game engine, Firaxis slanted the game toward war and experience points.
Many players of Civ IV love the bloodlust of destroying other players, and Warlords gives them the opportunity to do just that, as opposed to focusing on the other nuances of the game. This game is about building a well-oiled war machine.
Don’t let my anti-war tone fool you, this is a well-polished game, and a worthy addition to the Civ mythos. Perhaps the best part of the game are the scenarios, where you can choose to partake in some of the following historical simulations:
Peloponnesian War, Chinese Unification (I like that one a lot), Alexander the Great vs the world, Rise of Rome, Viking Conquest, Genghis Khan’s takeover, and alternate earth where George Washington (British) fights France in the U.S., and my personal favorite: you can finally control the raging barbarian horde that has plagued us since Civ I. The barbarians have one goal: destroy humanity.
The “flaws” of the game are the same as Civ IV Vanilla- you need decent RAM and graphics card, in addition to keeping the disc in your computer’s drive. Since this is an expansion pack, you must own Civ IV to load up, and then insert your Warlords disc. The big question when the game was released was, “Is an expansion pack worth $30?” Technically…no. But this the price drop (you can get it for much less than that on the Net now), it’s worth it.
With the new additions, and with some great mod makers over at CivFanatics.com, the gameplay is endless.
Sid Meier’s Civilization IV, released in 2005, is a turn-based historical simulation in which your take control of an empire from the ground up. Fully customizable, with various difficulty settings, starting eras, maps, scenarios, and mods, this game is not only light years ahead of Civ III, but is just as fun as Civ and Civ II (the best PC games of all time).
No experience is necessary from previous Civ games, as this game was pretty much a total rewrite, as the AI, interface, help menus, combat, diplomacy, religion, culture, and graphics were all redone. However, the flavor of the game remains the same.
Basically, a standard game starts in 4000BC and- based on your endgame settings- ends with the first country to reach Alpha Centuri, wiping out or taking over every other country, being recognized as a the leader of the world by your peers, dominating the world with your culture, etc. For those who want specific eras, you can choose any. There are also scenarios you can play, which have specific end game goals, such as WWII.
As an immortal leader of your country, you have to deal with foreign affairs, budgeting the economy, building up your troops, building infrastructure, researching technology, choosing a government and civics to deal with a crisis or peacetime, founding a state religion, dealing with the environment, citizen unhappiness and revolts, trade agreements, and much more.
Each leader has different personality traits. For example, if you so happen to start the game next to Shaka Zulu, Genghis Khan, or Montezuma…good luck! The only question is *when* will they attack you, so you’d better plan a preemptive strike. You have to balance cashflow with science research and culture, in addition to focusing on building an army while being production with markets, building roads and farms, cutting down trees, and having luxuries for your people, like temples.
You still have to deal with barbarians, pirates, natural disasters, pollution, and diseases in addition to your opponents.
Great People is another addition in the game. Historical artists, prophets, scientists, etc. can boost your cities, culture, or science.
For those of you who never played a simulation like this, the options, interface, and “what do I do next” issue may feel daunting. But with in-game tutorials, help menus, instant hints, suggestions, and tons of online forums and guides at CivFanatics, it’s actually easy to build an empire. There is less city management in this game than previous ones, so you can focus on your victory path.
Reception for this game was met with A’s and 90+ ratings, with some websites, magazines, and newspapers giving it 5/5 or 10/10 perfect scores.
When you add the sheer number of Civ mods that gamers have created to the already varied gameplay (each time you start a new game, it’s literally a different world), the replay game value is endless (literally).
Flaws
In the early 1990’s the Civ series was unique and owned gamer’s playing time. Things are different now, and Civ IV is just another game on the shelves, albeit a superior one, not to mention platform video game systems. With all the hype CivIII had, the first release was too buggy, and was not as fun as Civ II, so the franchise lost some momentum. The Civ franchise had many spin-offs and company changes after Civ II and those forgetabble games ruined the reputation of the name long before Civ III anyway. That being said, Civ III still added great new features into the franchise that Civ IV picked up and took to greater heights.
Early Windows Vista, patches, Direct X, and some minor bugs really killed the intitial installation and playablity early on. There was a lot of complaining at first; we expected to play right out of the box, but couldn’t.
You need a decent graphics card and good processor to experience all the animations and 3-D graphics. Otherwise, you can try and play with low graphics, but it may have to change your monitor’s screen resolution to play.
A (temporarily former) co-worker of mine- Diane- suggested I tried PopCap’s Bookworm Adventuresfor the PC. For those of you who don’t know PopCap makes casual and easy to use computer games for adults, teens, and children. They basically have a small programing team, cut a deal with Best Buy and Wal*Mart, and are heavily promoted on AOL, Yahoo, Amazon, and tons of other websites, so costs are low. They have free trials and scaled down versions of the deluxe retail games all over the place.
One thing which holds true for all of PopCap’s games is that they are simple, don’t require super graphics cards or memory, yet are amazingly addictive. So when Diane demonstrated Bookwork Adventures I was surprised at the detail and animations, not to mention that it is a role playing game/puzzle word adventure.
PopCap rolled the dice ($750,000 to make this game) and scored a winner. The game itself is flawless- there are no bugs, crashes, or slowdowns; you just need a decent monitor resolution- which is adjustable in your settings anyway.
The interface, playability, and re-playability are astonishing. Never has spelling words been more fun. The writers have a great sense of humor as well- it’s loaded with jokes, even when loading the game up. There are many monsters, all with different powers and personalities. You defeat them by damaging them with a better vocabulary. The reason why it is an “RPG” is because your character Lex the Bookworm powers up, levels, up, and can choose different items to get bonuses and thwart attacks.
There are a few modes, side games, and a Hall of Fame ranking. Everything is balanced out, so the player is never confused or bogged down with a complicated RPG: at its heart this is a spelling and vocabulary puzzle game. I really have to tip my hat to the creators of this wonderful software. I can’t tell you how enthusiastic I’ve felt playing the game. This is a 10/10 game. Don’t let the childish aspect fool you. RATING: 10/10 Save 25% on the the extremely popular Bookworm games.
Let’s give a round of applause to ALFREDO ACEVES, who is now leading the pack (as of Monday @ 1:47PM) for the 2010 New York Yankees 5th starting pitching slot (ERA of 0.90 in 10 innings). Based on ERA and innings pitching, Aceves is 1st, Sergio Mitre is 2nd, Phil Hughes is 3rd, Chad Gaudin [...] […]
NPR: - Blockbuster is about to go bust OPINION ALERT – we’ll be covering the end of Blockbuster here, with lots of apocalyptic-style photos; Blockbuster has been behind the curve for years — what. They couldn’t negotiate to get rights for streaming movies like Netflix did? They didn’t see the idea of a DVD rental machine like [...] […]
This time around I realized that the raccoon was free from suffering now. It's a shame its life had to end like that- it was blameless; humans built roads in the middle of his ancestor's forest. Progress and technology broke that raccoon's legs and took his life tonight. But now the suffering has ended for it. I mourned the raccoon and the way […]
ust a quick observation before I run: I jumped from watching 1980's pro wrestling to the 1991 Survivor Series because WWE put up the whole PPV online for a limited time. It never fails to amaze me how much things change. It was like I was in a time machine from 1987 to 1991... […]
