Retro Game Friday: Burnout

Hey all I’m back with a pretty classic game for this week’s Retro Game Friday. It’s Burnout!

Gameplay: The game plays unlike most racing games in that it features traffic. It also has a pretty sweet crash camera system, although that can get old pretty quickly. However driving recklessly, i.e. in ways NO ONE should ever try to replicate in reality, allows one to build up a Burn meter to speed up and pass their competition. But seriously DO NOT drive like this game encourages. Please.

Art: The art has aged pretty badly since the game was first released in 2001, but it was pretty freaking epic at the time. And the crash camera was pretty fun if you could pull off a particularly spectacular crash.

Music: The music is okay, but really not worth mentioning.

Overall: A fun racing game, though it can’t compete with games like Diddy Kong Racing or Mario Kart.

For those who like: Racing, Crash Cameras, Reckless Driving.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

 

Retro Game Friday: Splinter Cell

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with a game that really took the Stealth genre and made it popular. It’s Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell!

Plot Synopsis: In April 2004, the President of Georgia is assassinated, allowing Georgian billionaire Kombayn Nikoladze to seize power with a bloodless coup d’état. In August 2004, former U.S. Navy SEAL officer and Gulf War veteran Sam Fisher is recruited by the National Security Agency to work within its newly formed division, “Third Echelon.” Working with his old friend Irving Lambert, Fisher is introduced to technical expert Anna “Grim” Grimsdóttír, and field runner Vernon Wilkes Jr. In October 2004, Fisher is dispatched to Tbilisi, Georgia to investigate the disappearance of two CIA officers.

Plot: The plot is pretty standard Military Thriller which should come as no surprise as this is part of the Tom Clancy franchise.

Gameplay: This game took the stealth genre and made it mainstream paving the way for future games like Assassin’s Creed. The main draw of the gameplay was the use of the light and shadows. You were encouraged to take your time and carefully move from shadow to shadow to get around. You couldn’t really go in with guns blazing and just shoot your way through the game. You had limited ammo, and even than your armaments were usually more non-lethal than anything else.

Artwork: Sadly the art has aged incredibly poorly, but at the time they were pretty damn good.

Music: I don’t remember any of the music sadly.

Overall: A fun game, but with a very aged art and gameplay compared to modern day games, it’s probably best left in the bargain bin.

For those who like: Military-Thrillers, Tom Clancy, Stealth.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Video Game Tuesday: Next Gen Consoles Already?

This week for Video Game Tuesday I’m discussing a recent rumor that’s cropped up. Is it time for Next Gen Consoles Already?

What?!?: So apparently according to the rumor mill, and while there has been no proof offered yet the person making the claim is purportedly fairly reliable, Sony has sent out PlayStation 5 Dev Kits out to third party publishers.

What does this mean?: Well honestly, if it’s true that points to a possible release of a new console in the next couple of years. Honestly I don’t know how I feel about it. Frankly I feel like a ton of games aren’t taking full advantage of the processing power of the consoles available, and I’m not just talking about the XBOX or PS4 Pro. The switch is a special case due to it’s dual nature as both a home console and portable unit. However this might just be me being influenced by the last generation of consoles which lasted much longer than prior ones.

What are the specs?: We don’t know them, and honestly it’s way too early to tell anything concrete about such things. But I’d expect at least upgrades to everything the PS4 Pro has.

What else could it be?: Well it could be a PS4 Pro Slim version that has slightly upgraded components in a smaller frame. Honestly I’d not be surprised to see such a thing happen, and I’d personally be pretty stoked about that, as while I love my PS4 having a PS4 Pro would be nice if I could fit it in the same space as my PS4.

That’s it for this week’s Video Game Tuesday, what do you think about a new generation of consoles being released in a year or two? Leave a comment below.

Retro Game Friday: RollerCoaster Tycoon

Hey all I’m back with a game that I only remembered due to some stray conversation a while back for this week’s Retro Game Friday. It’s RollerCoaster Tycoon!

Gameplay: The premise of the game is to complete a series of preset scenarios by successfully building and maintaining amusement parks through business ownership as a theme park entrepreneur. The key to any park is building a large amount and diverse range of rides for the visitors. Players can choose from dozens of roller coaster types and can also build log flumes, carousels, bumper cars, haunted houses, go-karts, Ferris wheels, and swinging ships, among other rides. The intensity and type of rides must be balanced, as visitors’ preferences vary significantly from person to person. For example, some guests prefer exciting rides and have high nausea tolerance levels, while other guests are just the opposite.

In other terms it’s a basic Sim game. It was pretty interesting and I remember scheming to get ways to keep park goers kept in the park indefinitely. At least I think I remember that correctly it’s been a long time, it might be a different game. If I had been feeling irritated that day I might design my coasters to cause severe nausea.  More sadistic minded players could design rides that caused fatalities though that was more often not a good idea if you wanted to do the scenarios successfully.

Art: The art is pretty simple, and while it’s not aged terribly, it hasn’t aged well either. That being said for being done by one person by themselves that’s pretty damn impressive.

Music: I don’t remember it at all, though it’s probably fairly campy.

Overall: A game that can be fun for a little bit for more mature audiences, but younger ones might find it much more entertaining.

For those who like: Sim Games, Construction and Management Simulation, Roller Coasters.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Retro Game Friday: Fable

This week for Retro Game Friday I’m back with another game from the now defunct Lionhead Studios. It’s Fable!

Plot Synopsis: On his sister’s birthday, a young boy’s village of Oakvale is raided by bandits; killing the boy’s entire family. An old Hero, Maze, rescues the boy, seeing great potential in him; Maze trains the boy to become a Hero at the Heroes’ Guild. Years pass; after honing his skills, Maze informs the Hero of a blind seeress living among a bandit camp near Oakvale, and advises the Hero to infiltrate the bandit camp.

Plot: The plot is decent, but so filled with stereotypical things that it’s also not that amazing. This is probably due to Molyneux over reaching again, but that’s more a fault of the actual game developers rather than the story writers.

Gameplay: The gameplay is okay, but honestly compared to the promises of what Molyneux wanted to include in the game, it makes this look like trash. Fable is often used as an example of never making claims of features before you’re sure of them being doable in the game, unless you specify that. Overall Fable plays like any other Action RPG , with a morality system that affects appearance and seemingly choices, but really doesn’t.

Art: The art has aged incredibly poorly, although I’ve heard it’s since been remastered in HD, so that remake might be worth checking out. Maybe.

Music: Standard Fantasy fare, it’s not all that amazing.

Overall: Skip this game, it’s one among many that tried to be amazing, but failed miserably.

For those who like: Action-RPGs, Adventure, Fantasy, Drama.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, or tons of missing features.