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Post by Muramasa on Apr 14, 2008 2:32:58 GMT -8
He's a clone.
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Post by Muramasa on Apr 14, 2008 3:17:47 GMT -8
-Company of Heroes-
Whenever I talk about Company of Heroes, I'm actually talking about two games. First, there's Company of Heroes, a real-time strategy made by Relic, based on World War 2. Then theres Company of Heroes: Ubermensch Ist Gut, a real-time strategy game made by Relic set in an alternate universe where Nazis win the second world war. One of these games I'm rather fond of. The other doesn't not get as much admiration.
For me, the dream RTS for me would have more emphasis on unit preservation and unit manuvuers. I suppose this ideal was realized in Ground Control. Still, something was sorta missing in Ground Control that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Perhaps I simply haven't played it enough, but it seems like the balance was a little iffy, or perhaps I just wasn't trained enough in the game to truly enjoy it, whatever the case may have been, Ground Control was fun enough for me to finish, but never really go farther than that (the lack of comp stomp didn't help much either). And for a while, I felt doomed to the doldrums of the point-and-click-faster-to-build-up-your-economy-and-get-a-tank/zerg/ion cannon/Kbot/Centurion/minotaur/Cyborg-blitz RTS gaming, but then on a whim, I decide to just go out and buy a game. And because I'm a useless lout with no opinion of my own, I decided to play a game that a bunch of people said was superawesome. And guess what? It turned out to be just that.
Company of Heroes is an excellent game in terms of balance, depth, strategy, and just good ol' making you feel awesome. Every unit has a distinct purpose. Infantry kick ass. Tanks kick ass. The abilities are useful, but not overpowered. Buildings get destroyed in a realistic manner, and practically EVERYTHING can be used as cover for your troops. The game relies heavily on this cover system in fact, putting your guys in the right cover will determine the difference between a useful squad and a dead squad. Machine gun emplacement causing headaches? Take some cover, move around them and flank them. Tank in the way? A sticky bomb will do the trick, if not, try a panserfaust. Go around behind them and show Krauts/Yanks whose boss. See an enemy squad cowering behind some hay? Toss a grenade and see them scatter. Every unit's got a good purpose and almost any strategy, when well implemented, will yield satisfying results that'll make you feel like Eisenhower. It's really a game that need to be more experienced really. Screenshots and words don't do the game justice, as there a lot of little details that make the game cool and authentic.
Now, for the down side. For a while, I felt that Relic could do no wrong. Hell, they even released a stand-alone expansion which adds two addition forces for you to play with. And this is where the problem begins. Relic figured it was a great idea to allow players who didn't have the expansion or the original game to play with each other. Sounds great right? But how do they accomplish this? First, they force everyone to be connected to Relic online. Kinda like what steam does, but not. Then, they force everyone to download the corresponding game. But it can only be used in multiplayer. What does this mean? This means that Kuat and I have the content for Opposing Fronts, but we have no goddamn access to any of it unless we play with another person online who happens to want to be British.
The 4 gig "patch" changed the balance as well. Neither Kuat nor I could put our fingers on the situation. We usually play the Allies. But for some godawful reason, it seems like anything that's German made instantly equates to better quality. German soldiers seem to survive longer, aim better, have access to better equipment, and by the way, veterancy benefits are across the board. Yep, once you get the proper "upgrade", everyone becomes a veteran for some reason. Plus, flak cannons are the cheapest frikken things every invented. Sure, try to use a tank destroyer, only to have it destroyed by a German anti-tank gun which can fire from a million feet away. My lord...
When all things are said and done, it probably comes down to Kuat and I doing things all wrong. People on the boards seem to universally say that Allies are actually better in the end game. It's just surviving that long seems to be a problem for us. Not only that, but I can see what the patch was trying to achieve, making things accessible for the sake of competition. And let's face it, RTS and Fighting games are almost alike in a certain regard. Reflexes help in both situations, memorization of certain units/moves and tactics are a must, being able to react in a certain way given the circumstances, and a sort-of steep learning curve that isn't apparent in some game genres like FPSs or platformers. Real-time strategy games have been (I suppose rather recently) optimized for competition, it certainly makes sense to do so with this game. I just feel neutered by the changes that's all. The AI's ability to god-multitask makes them real, real annoying to deal with. Ah, but what can one do right?
In terms of coop by the way, a human partner is highly recommended for comp stomps. Unlike opponent AIs, which can be insane sometimes, partner AIs are more content with having picknicks by the side of the river instead of reinforcing front lines.
If you're a fan of real-time strategies, I'd still urge you to get this game, even after patching. And don't roll your eyes because this is "just another WW2" game. The game design works well in spite, nay, I'd argue because of the World War 2 setting.
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on Apr 14, 2008 14:06:55 GMT -8
I'm confused, at this point is Kane still a hologram? Or did he get 'surrected? Kane lives. This is all that is of importance. |
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Post by Captain Galaxy on Apr 14, 2008 18:09:15 GMT -8
I'm confused, at this point is Kane still a hologram? Or did he get 'surrected? Kane lives. This is all that is of importance. Peace through power! |
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Post by Muramasa on Apr 14, 2008 22:58:01 GMT -8
Kane lives. This is all that is of importance. I am so getting tired of that man. |
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on Apr 15, 2008 14:37:12 GMT -8
I didn't play Firestorm so I still dig the theatrics.
And lol when Kane "dies" again mid way through Tiberium Wars. The whole franchise feels like it wants to revise itself with every game but refused for geeky continuity lovers. Fuck that shit, I'd rather have the first Command and Conquer having Kane fake his death (the only time), then the end of Tiberian Sun having Kane arrested by GDI to face international trial, then Kane is broken out in some awesome way (of course being arrested was a part of his plan), etc.
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Post by Muramasa on Apr 15, 2008 20:34:15 GMT -8
In my opinion, they should have pulled a Equilibrium-esque thing where Kane becomes a fictional legend kept alive by lots and lots of well planned propaganda.
On the bright side of things, the core gameplay is pretty good. That is to say, it might still rely on the classic C&C tank rush, it's still pretty workable and feels like a new game without doing what they did in that abomination of an EA Command & Conquer game.
I think not making their terrorist force non-hindi helped.
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Post by Kuat on Apr 16, 2008 9:26:37 GMT -8
In my opinion, they should have pulled a Equilibrium-esque thing where Kane becomes a fictional legend kept alive by lots and lots of well planned propaganda. Not to be an ass, but '1984' did that way before. |
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Post by Captain Galaxy on Apr 16, 2008 10:47:41 GMT -8
In my opinion, they should have pulled a Equilibrium-esque thing where Kane becomes a fictional legend kept alive by lots and lots of well planned propaganda. Not to be an ass, but '1984' did that way before. Well, to begin with, Father was not fictional. He just died, and then Tetragrammaton had someone else pretend to be him. Also, quite frankly, I like the way Kane is already presented, you know, almost like a messiah. |
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on Apr 16, 2008 17:47:35 GMT -8
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Post by Muramasa on Apr 17, 2008 16:02:35 GMT -8
Man, I'm trying to imagine Pauly Shore as Kane. It just doesn't work. |
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on Apr 17, 2008 16:34:22 GMT -8
Heyyyyy buuuddy, we got some naaarly GDI presence up in the house of Jahor-dan. They're all wheezin' our juice, compadre. Wantchu to max out some ultimate shreddage on them fools, bra.
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Post by The Dankness on Apr 17, 2008 17:18:25 GMT -8
I'd so get into the C&C series if Pauly Shore played Kane.
He's the megalomaniac wee-zuuuuuuullllll.
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on Apr 17, 2008 18:41:44 GMT -8
Peace through power, broski.
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on Apr 17, 2008 18:45:35 GMT -8
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Post by Muramasa on Apr 18, 2008 0:41:23 GMT -8
"From God, to Kane, to Seth"
I'll always remember him for those lines. You know, that's why I always liked Command & Conquer. The FMVs always made you feel important somehow.
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Post by You probably can't touch this. on Apr 19, 2008 3:02:34 GMT -8
And then he got popped in the head by Kane!
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Post by Muramasa on Apr 19, 2008 16:30:29 GMT -8
He ignored Kane's orders then told "You, Commander" he had a better plan. Not a smart idea.
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Post by Muramasa on Apr 29, 2008 23:50:24 GMT -8
- Battlezone 2 -
The idea having a hybrid RTS/FPS game has always been a concept that fascinated me. While I did play Urban Assault a while back, my interest probably started with Infantry, because it seemed like an environment that was just perfect for the situation. It's a top down shooter, so the transition from top-down shooting to commanding seemed more obvious I guess. Then again, perhaps what intrigued me was not harmony of two genres, but the idea of playing a first person version of Starcraft. At least Command and Conquer has given a bit of a taste of how it's universe would work in the first person format, with fairly fun results (as hideous looking as it may be).
That being said, let's focus on tonights game: Battlezone 2. Honestly, I've never heard anything about the series till just recently, and a friendly thread on 4chan (coupled with a convenient rapidshare), gave me a chance to try this game. It kinda plays like Urban Assault really. A player has an option to command his units (though unfortunately after building a Relay Station) via RTS style, or he can hop into a vehicle that he has built while still commanding his troops.
I supposed this game is a bit rough in all manners. Being in a vehicle is certainly fun to drive. But combat is a bit clumsy. One part of my woes in game was that like any good RTS, a unit alone against a mass usually get's killed. The AI's aiming is pretty godly. They're especially accurate with mortars, which really are the best weapons in the game if they hit anything. And evasive maneuvers are difficult with some vehicles because they are just to slow or cumbersome to use. Enemy units also have a bit of a habit of jumping around on the screen as well, in a lag like fashion. On the command side, the AI is only barely functional. Glitches seem to be the bane of the commander, as AI glitches and random glitches tend to plague this game. For example, there is this odd glitch where if a unit is being produced, it has a chance of just disappearing. None of the credits are refunded, you basically get a unit that vanishes into thin air. Units would sometimes seem to get caught in their own moving animations, sometimes rendering them useless. In addition to that, the interface wasn't exactly efficient and user friendly. Trying to give a simple repair order become a 20 step process.
As a coop experience though, it was pretty fun. Though, I suppose that any game can be fun in the correct company. My partner in crime for this particular jaunt was Kuat, who I allowed to be commander for most of the games. Most of our games were spent testing the in's and out's of the game. And spent most of the time eating dirt as a result. Even on the easiest setting, the CPU was fairly brutual, though most of the problem was caused by the bombers. Despite their size and power, they are fairly fast, and the small draw distance on the game makes them really hard to detect until they are practically in your base. About 20 of our games ended in failure, as the CPU constantly bombed us into submission. We did finally achieve victory in our most recent game though. Kuat gave me command, and with a strange twist of fate, a glitch actually prevented the AI from making any units. Then game then becomes strangely fun when you're not getting bombed every three seconds. On the flipside, bombing the crap out of a base is pretty satisfying.
Overall, it's not a game I'd recommend. It's not very easy to pickup and play, and it's age kinda shows it's rough edges. And even for it's time, there seem to have been some major programming issues that would have prevented from being that popular anyways. Certainly not a hidden gem like Starseige, but more like an ok game that maybe one person has heard of, but never really played. Kuat and I pride ourselves in playing these kinds of games so you guys don't have to. We're kinda like a public service in a sense. And we'd both be happy to take donations. Though, if you do want on the action, we could certainly use more people. The more the merrier right?
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Post by Muramasa on Apr 21, 2009 1:06:46 GMT -8
- Fistful of Frags: Coop mode(quick look) -
It's been a while since I've done this one. It's kinda a shame too, I have indulged in many coop game since the last post. In fact, the last post seems to have been a year ago. Yikes!
Maybe if I do feel so inclined, I might come back to those games and give them a more thorough review. For the moment, I'll just have to be content with quick overviews. In a certain sense, it's akin to not running for a few years, then starting it up again. You gotta start slow. Because you're fat. And useless. And no one wants you. And you could never be that good, even in your prime. So, you just gotta ease up, ya know? Take baby steps. Go on walks. And then, just when you finally built up that wonder strength that you've built from your youth, you get hit by a bus. That is what they call life, my friends.
So, given the situation, I'll try to do some quick posts, hopefully with some relevancy to the topic at hand. In this particular case, it is a good friend of ours, Fistful of Frags. For those who aren't familiar with the game, it is basically a team-play based Half-Life 2 mod revolving around cowboys. It was a fairly simple mod, the gist is that one team is attempting to control a particular objective (in this case, loot) for a set period of time. After that time, this loot gets added to a counter, and whoever reaches the goal limit wins. To put simply: guys get gold, gold is good, get lots of gold, win game, winning is good.
It worked fairly well on its own. Let me tell you, one thing that I never said whilst playing this game is "gee, this game is fun, but I really wish there was a coop aspect". It's not that it's unwelcomed by all means. It didn't seem like it would be an immediate goal for the developers. Hell, bots would have had me pretty stoked.
Now let's be realistic here. The coop in this mod is, more or less, basically a map filled with bots. The objective has changed a bit however. Now, there is a spot to defend, and the bots are trying to reach that spot. The job of you and your mates is to defend this spot. It's pretty easy. From what I've seen so far, the bots are not that intelligent. They don't try alternate paths, or any other common squad tactics. That being said, they can be almost wickedly clever sometimes. The random partner I was with decided to try barricading the entrance, knowing that they usually come through one spot. The bots seemed pretty dense, and didn't try to go around to the big, open back, nor did they try to rush through with their superior numbers. But when the barricade was built, they did toss a stick of dynamite. This cleared the barricade rather effectively.
From this initial look, I'd say that it has a long way to go. But, hey, now that it's already they, the guys developing it can work on refining it. Boy, do they have a lot of work to do.
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