Gamer Blast

Minecraft – What It Is, And Why You Need It

Connor — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 01:40:35 +0000

Minecraft has been growing in popularity a lot lately. I decided to check it out just recently, after a month or two of disinterest, and let me tell you… I don’t know why I didn’t try it out earlier. I’m hooked, and I’m loving it.

It can be a bit intimidating at first… The mining, the crafting system, the zombies. But when you get the hang of it, Minecraft is an absolute gem that nobody in their right mind should miss out on.

I recommend trying out the web-based version before buying it… But don’t take that version too seriously. It’s dumbed-down incredibly. The biggest thing is that you don’t have to put any effort into anything — destroying blocks is just one click away, and you’ve got all of the items at your disposal from the get-go. It’s fun to build a few little practice buildings, but you’re missing out on almost everything.

When you start a new game in Minecraft, you have nothing. No tools to use, no roof above your head, and no armour to defend against the creepers. You have to work your way up the tech tree, starting with your bare hands. This crafting guide on the Minecraft wiki is a huge help, especially when you’re just starting. Get yourself a pickaxe, a shovel, and an axe, and get to work.

You’re automatically started in “Normal” mode. This includes scary zombies and spiders and other such things when it’s nighttime, or in a dark, creepy cave. If you’d rather just adventure and build up your buildings without having to worry about, go into your options and turn on “Peaceful” mode. Now open this music and have fun. (Thanks for the tip, Mr. Tibsmar of Reddit.)

A lot of the fun in this game is the fact that it’s pretty much the definition of a sandbox game. Build your own world. Collect materials, make tools, use those tools to collect other materials at a faster rate, and put all you find together like a bunch of Legos. I currently have two games saved — one peaceful game, where I always have Peaceful mode on, and I just build, mine, and explore. This is a great way to explore your own ingenuity with the materials you’re given and what you’re able to put together.
And then I have another map, in which I’m always on “Normal” mode. This means that each time the sun starts to set, I have to either retreat to one of my many conveniently placed safehouses, or suit up and battle throughout the night. (I’ve yet to be successful with the latter.) This is my “Survival” map, and it’s a load of fun to play this way, as it gives you some opposition — build during the day, make sure creepers don’t blow up near your stuff at night.
Of course, there are other mobs, such as the Skeletons (which will pick you off from a distance with their bow & arrows), regular Zombies (who distinguish themselves from the naked Creepers with a t-shirt and some pants), and spiders (which are… Well, they’re just giant spiders.

You can heal yourself with food… Find some ham after killing a pig? Well, toss it into your furnace with some coal underneath it to cook it up. Of course, you can eat it raw, but that won’t heal you as much. You can also make soups and breads, as well as other foodstuffs, I’m sure.

You can build underground fortresses, and connect them with tunnels. Build a skyscraper up until you’re hanging out above the clouds. Hell, build anything that comes to mind. There are limitless possibilities to what you can do with the tools and materials given by The Provider, also known as Swedish developer Notch.

The online play opens up a whole new world of its own, exploring expanse worlds with other players, and contributing your own creations to make it that much better.
This is undoubtedly the best Indie game I have ever played, and almost surely in my top 10 favourite games ever. I feel like a child building a fort out of blankets when I make a temporary glass house before getting swarmed by zombies.
I’ve gotten more enjoyment out of Minecraft than just about anything else, ever. And having an awesome developer who actually listens to user input improves it about tenfold. During the Alpha phase, it’s only €9.95 (which, as of right now, converts to $12.63), and will be going up to $25.38 once it’s in Beta. I’d recommend you pick it up now, while it’s still 50% off.

What Steam’s Hardware & Software Survey Tells Us

Connor — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:14:39 +0000

Steam just recently released a Hardware & Software Survey for July. The survey is the first to list what they’ve found lurking on their user’s computers, software-wise. I’m going to take a look at both the hardware and the software findings of this survey, and see what it says about the people who use Steam.

First off, Windows XP 32bit is still the most popular OS. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see Windows 7 64bit take over that #1 spot within the next couple of months; in July, Windows 7 had a positive change of 1.59%, while Windows XP dropped ever so slightly, 0.26%. Even if the changes are gradual, they’re there, and if it keeps up at this rate, Windows 7 will take over in no time.
Mac OS X is holding about a 5% share of the OS’ being used, and almost half of those users have Macbook Pros.

The most popular video card is the ATI Radeon HD 4800 (7.21%), which is really not that bad. I’ve got an ATI Radeon HD 2600, and I’m capable of running all Valve games. Turns out a lot of users have pretty decent systems. (Only 0.69% of us have the Radeon HD 2600.)

Almost 4% of Steam users still have under 1GB of RAM. 2GB is the amount with the most users attached to it, with 27.23%. 3GBs is creeping up on it with 26.17%, and 4GBs is a bit behind with 22.19GBs. (Which surprises me. Most of the time, when I talk to people about it, they either have 2GBs or 4GBs of RAM. I hardly ever find anybody with 3GBs. Turns out they exist in higher numbers than I thought.)

Surprisingly, 2% of Steam users are still using dial-up. (Or some other form of 56k connection. What’s satellite speed, anyway?) But the most common connection speed is 2,048 Kbps. (That’s kilobits, not bytes. One byte = 8 bits.)

Let’s move onto software. (Well, the OS is technically software, but it’s not listed under the software section.)
The software results show us that the majority of Steam users are actually pretty computer capable. We don’t have a whole bunch of people who just play Steam and check their email on their computer… A surprising 29.41% of Steam users have uTorrent installed on their computer. And 30.73% have iTunes. A torrent client has almost as many users as iTunes.
Another testament to the fact that Steam users know what’s going on is the fact that Norton Antivirus holds but a 1.78% user share. (Unfortunately, AVG isn’t on the list, or I’d make some sort of comparison here.)
In another surprising turn of events, 100% of users have Steam. Turns out all gamers on Steam do use Steam after all.

I was a bit surprised to find that only 10.54% of Steam users used Xfire. I mean, I don’t use it anymore (haven’t in years), but I thought it was more popular than that.

The software for August will be much more telling, as we’ll have percentages for changes in software usage. Unfortunately, since this is the first month that data was collected, we’re only seeing one month’s data with nothing to compare it to.
I’m looking forward to the coming months of data collection, complete with graphs and other visual representations. I love this stuff.

Indie Games To Check Out

Connor — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 22:03:02 +0000

The indie gaming scene is constantly improving. More and more devs keep coming into the field with easy distribution networks such as Steam available for even the smallest of developers (and even with a section dedicated to indie games). I’m personally a big fan of indie games… They may not be as flashy as big-name games, but they have a careful attention to detail that’s hard to beat, and some of them are incredibly cheap and fun.

There’s a whole slew of indie games available, but sometimes you’ll pull your hand back out of the bucket covered in crap. But there are some great games in-between that shouldn’t be missed. One such game is Machinarium, which we wrote about last week due to a “Pirate Amnesty Sale” they had going on, with the game going for just five bucks. That sale was set to end on the 12th, but they seem to have extended it to the 16th. If you don’t have it, buy it now, while it’s 75% off. You won’t be sorry, and it’s really not that much of a gamble at the price. After the 16th, it’ll go back up to its normal price of $20.

Another great indie game is Merry Gear Solid: Secret Santa. Merry Gear Solid is a Metal Gear Solid parody. You’re Santa Claus, and you have to bring presents to a christmas tree in a house filled with children. Keep yourself from getting spotted to keep going. There’s a lot of good humour in there, and an ending that Metal Gear Solid fans will enjoy. There’s also a second one that’s free as well, and a third that’s in development. Definitely worth a look, plus it’s free!

One of my favourites, if you somehow haven’t heard of it, is World of Goo. You build structures made out of goo balls to get from point A to point B. With awesome cartooney graphics, fun audio, and amazing gameplay, it’s well worth the asking price of $20, but sometimes it goes on sale. I’ve seen it for $5, and I’ve also seen them hold a “set your own price” sale, so if you don’t have $20 to spare, just wait. It might be even cheaper sometime soon. It’s also completely capable of running on just about any platform… Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. I love it. If you’re at all into indie gaming, you’ve probably already played it, but if not, it’s well worth the money. It’s also available on WiiWare, if that’s your thing.

Altitude is another great one, plus it’s on Steam! (As are Machinarium and World of Goo, but that’s not where I heard of those two.) It’s a 2d dogfighting game. You control an airplane flying around like mad shooting other airplanes down. It’s not the kind of game that I can sit down and play for an extended period of time, but it’s a lot of fun in short bursts, and it’s only $10.

I hope I’ve pointed out a game or two that you haven’t heard of. Post some of your favourites in the comments.

The Next Year in Gaming

Connor — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 05:54:36 +0000

Now, I know most websites do a post like this in the beginning of the year, but this post on Reddit made me think about it a bit today.

I’ll give you a list here of some of the more notable games coming out in the next year that I’m really looking forward to. It’s shaping up to be a great 365 days. (Note: Some of these might just have a “2011″ release date, but I’ll count them in anyway.)

Portal 2 (X360 / PS3 / PC / OS X)

Portal is my favourite game of all time. (Actually tied with Diablo II for that title.) The clever puzzle mechanics, hilarious omnipotent narrator, and surprisingly in-depth story (if you choose to look far enough into it) all make it a fantastic game that anybody who hasn’t played should be ashamed. Portal 2 is a sequel (previously rumoured to be a prequel) that’s up for release in 2011. (Hopefully early 2011. Or hyper-early 2011, in that it’ll be released in 2010.) There will be behind-the-scenes areas of the game, as well as GLaDOS making a return with co-operative mode.
I can’t wait to see how the co-op shapes up. The puzzles will likely require massive amounts of teamwork, which will be satisfying. I just don’t want to share the cake.

Star Wars: The Old Republic PC

Being a huge Star Wars fan, any Star Wars videogame tickles my fancy quite easily. But a Star Wars MMORPG? Hell. Yes.

The Old Republic looks pretty awesome, from what little gameplay footage has surfaced. All of the classes that will be available just make me giddy, not to mention the fact that any class will be fully customizable. So, if you choose a Smuggler, you can still train your fighting skills as well as anything else you’d like. You’re not locked into a specific skillset, which I like. It’s already won a couple of awards from GameTrailers for its E3 appearance, and shows a lot of potential as not only a Star Wars videogame, but a game changer in the MMO industry.

It’s release date is set as “2011,” but I’ve also read “Autumn 2011.” Hopefully it comes earlier in the year, but we’ll see.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (X360 / PS3 / PC / Wii / DS / iOS)

(Sorry about the logo for the first Force Unleashed — I couldn’t find one for the second that fit the format.)

As I mentioned above, I’m a huge Star Wars fan. As such, I greatly enjoyed The Force Unleashed through-and-through — The story was fantastic (and the main character’s name being “Starkiller” was also awesome, as that was Luke’s last name in the first draft of the A New Hope script), the gameplay was awesome, the force upgrades were useful, and it all tied together perfectly. My brother, also a big Star Wars fan, says that he’ll have to buy a PS3 just to get this game. (He played the first on his Playstation 2.)

The story in the second title will focus more on Starkiller, which I think is awesome. He’s a very good character, but he wasn’t developed quite as much as I would have liked in the first game. The plot will focus on deception, betrayal, and revenge, much as part of the first game. Seeing as this takes place just a year before A New Hope, I’m hoping that most of the loose ends in the story will be tied up, otherwise that we’ll be left open for yet another sequel. (Maybe some of that’s already been done in the novel / comic books, I don’t know. I haven’t gotten around to reading them yet.)

Torchlight 2 (PC / OS X)

Torchlight was a fantastic game — it’s created by many of the same men and women that worked on Diablo and Diablo II, so it clones the series incredibly well down to town portals and identifying items the exact same way. I loved the graphical style as well as the pets system… It served as a great distraction while I wait for Diablo III to never come out. (I’m not even going to bother posting about Diablo III here, that seems too hopeful…)

Well, a sequel was recently announced. I think my favourite part of this announcement is the inclusion of co-op gameplay. (Finally!) While I love lone dungeon-crawlers, it’s always more fun to play through with a friend, and it’s been a rumoured upcoming feature of Torchlight for a while now. Well, it’s coming in the next game.

There will also be added mod support, which will blow the possibilities of this game open wide. The modding community on the PC has always been huge and incredibly crafty, so I naturally can’t wait to see what they come up with to make this game even better. We’re set to see all of this come Spring 2011. (Let’s just hope its release doesn’t interfere too much with that of Diablo III, or the developers may find themselves poor.)

That pretty much sums up the games I’m most looking forward to within the next year. There are a few that I’m also excited to see, such as Black Mesa and L.A. Noire, but the above titles are the ones that I’m phenomenally excited about… The ones that will make my friends and family wonder if I’m dead, not seeing the light of day for weeks.

Get Machinarium on the cheap ($5) in their Pirate Amnesty Sale

Connor — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 01:47:05 +0000

Machinarium is an inventive indie click-and-point adventure game that’s gathered a good bit of hype due to its stylish art, fantastic atmosphere, and clever puzzle elements. It’s won several awards, including being Kotaku’s runner-up for “PC Game of the Year” in 2009.
Unfortunately, it’s also suffered severe piracy, due to it’s DRM-less nature.

I respect the hell out of the Machinarium developers for going DRM-free. No hassle for genuine paying users… No serial number checks, no internet connection necessary to check authenticity… None of the annoyances that most modern PC games have. Unfortunately, this also means it’s incredibly easy for pirates to get ahold of it. All a genuine customer has to do is upload the file itself and anybody can download and run without anything to stop them.

Well, to try and help Machinarium pirates go straight, the developers (Amanita Design) have decided to hold a “Pirate Amnesty” sale. In essence, they’re selling the game mad cheap to attract illegitimate users to get a legal copy, as well as entice new customers to give it a shot. This is going on until the 12th of August, so if you’ve got five dollars, you’ve got five days to give it a purchase.

I personally haven’t played the full game yet, but I played the demo way back when it was released, and I really enjoyed it. Not quite sure why I haven’t purchased it to this point, but now I will.

It’s cross-platform. Not just Mac OS X and Windows, either, Linux users can get in on this Indie gaming action, so you’ve got no excuse not to check it out. If you’re wary about spending the five bucks, pick up the demo… It gives you a pretty great look at how the game goes.

Starcraft 2 Released To Mac User Animosity

Connor — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:01:35 +0000

Starcraft 2 is one of the most anticipated videogames that I’ve ever seen. Undoubtedly the most widely-anticipated RTS release in years, if not ever. It’s been twelve years since the original Starcraft, and even that game is still kicking in online communities all over the world.

Today, Blizzard released Starcraft 2 to the public. A beta had been going on for some months beforehand, and now it has been officially released for all to purchase and download.

If you paid any attention to the story of the first Starcraft game + expansion, then you’ll be able to keep up pretty well with the happenings in the sequel. Starcraft 2 is set four years after Brood War, and you’ll revisit many of the same planets you battled on in the first game. However, if you never played the first game (or just didn’t pay any attention to the story whatsoever), you’ll still find it pretty easy to keep up. I’ve only played a couple of missions, but there hasn’t been too much referencing to past events or characters. It seems to be a fairly separate story in the sense that there are connections, but you mustn’t know them to enjoy the story here.

There’s a standard edition that includes just the game itself available for $60 (currently available for $55 on Amazon), and a collector’s edition box set that runs for $40 more, totaling out at $100, with which die-hard fans of the series will receive an art booklet, a flash drive containing the first game + expansion pack, a comic book, soundtrack, and more. Pretty sweet deal, and a lot of people are incredibly excited about this release. This game will undoubtedly be popular online for many years to come, if the first is any indication. Unfortunately, however, some users are experiencing problems. Specifically Mac OS X users with Nvidia graphics cards.

Apparently, the issue takes root in the latest Apple update for their Mac OS X operating system, 10.6.4, which causes problems for Nvidia users running high-end games, along with some other graphical issues, which are being looked at and fixed for the upcoming update to the operating system. There’s also an issue wherein Mac users playing with a USB headset have drastically worse game performance. The cause of this issue is thus far unconfirmed, and I’ve yet to even see speculation regarding a source of the slowdown.

However, the issue with crashing is much easier to pinpoint, and even a Valve representative agrees, saying

“The recent 10.6.4 update from Apple has noticeable performance issues for NVidia graphic chip owners running high performance games. If you wish to avoid this, you should consider waiting to install the 10.6.4 update until Apple has had the opportunity to address this issue.”

I’ve played Starcraft 2 on my Mac today, but it’s been in Boot Camp on Windows 7, so I haven’t experienced any of these issues. However, a friend of mine has reported crashing in the middle of any online matches (which then causes these matches to count as losses, affecting his online record).

As far as I’ve seen, there has not yet been a statement issued from a Blizzard employee or representative. They seem to be leaving us in the dark a bit about when exactly a fix will be released, but players are hopeful for a speedy recovery.

Puzzle Dimension Review

Connor — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:19:48 +0000

Puzzle Dimension is a puzzle game (no way!) that has you rolling around 3D levels as a metallic ball on a grid, looking to collect all the sunflowers in the area. Simple enough, right?
Well, there’s a bunch of stuff in your way, of course!

The traps in this game are what make it interesting. There are many different kinds of trap squares; from squares that just crumble after you roll off of them to squares that catch fire after you’ve touched and left them. You have to strategize when you’ll activate which traps (because most of the time you WILL have to activate them) to allow yourself access to certain squares in certain sequences, in order to safely complete the level. Sometimes it can get hectic, confusing, and downright frustrating.

The visuals in Puzzle Dimension are fantastic. Squares and things on them are stylishly pixelated until you come within reach of them, at which point the pixels all come together and form an HD texture. It’s pretty sweet.
The music is also deliciously retro and has some great variation to keep things interesting.

But I just can’t seem to enjoy the gameplay.
I’ve really tried to enjoy this game. I was very excited to try it out, after being excited by the screenshots I’d seen. But I guess you can’t judge a book solely based on the contents of the information easily visible. Err… The cover. Or in this case, the screenshots.

Whenever I played Puzzle Dimension, I normally spent half the time frustrated. And it wasn’t due to the game itself being confusing, it was just the gameplay. The controls are pretty simple. WASD controls the camera, while arrow keys control your movement, and the space bar is jump. But, since this game is set in a grid, your freedom in movement is slim. And once you start moving in a direction, if you suddenly realize it was a mistake (be it a slip of the finger or a misunderstood situation), you’re screwed. You can’t hit the opposite arrow to go back, and you die. And you restart the entire level.
This happened to me far too many times while I was quite far into the level. It’s incredibly frustrating, and it was a huge factor in me not enjoying this game.

I can definitely tell that a lot of effort went into this game. As I previously mentioned, the graphics are freakin’ beautiful and the music is fantastic. Not to mention the fact that the traps are incredibly inventive. Unfortunately, that’s about the only thing that kept me playing — learning what traps there were. It sure wasn’t the gameplay, which I can’t seem to get by to enjoy the content of this game.

It’s unfortunate, but I have to advise you against purchasing this game. I would definitely try the demo if you have any interest at all, and if that doesn’t completely shatter your hopes for this title, I’d go for it. Maybe even wait for a sale in that case, however, because this game’s appeal, while interesting to me for a bit, died out pretty quickly as I just was unable to enjoy myself.

4/10

Team Fortress 2 Scout Guide

Connor — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:06:28 +0000

The Scout can be a hard class in Team Fortress 2 to get used to, but it’s incredibly rewarding when you do. The Scout is my favourite class, by far, and as such, I’ve decided to write a little guide to help out anyone looking to get a jump-start with the class. I’ll go through things with as much detail as I feel necessary to give you a general idea of how things work.

General Tips

Before I get into anything too deep, I feel it’s necessary to start you off with a few basic tips.

First off, embrace the double-jump. Double-jumping is a special skill that only Scouts can use. It allows you to jump higher and gain further distance with your leaps. Simply jump, and then jump again at the height of your ascension. It’s as easy as double-jumping in anything else. Also take notice that you can change direction mid-jump. For instance, jump to the left at first, and then as you reach the top of your jump, perform a double-jump, but shift your direction to the right. This will become incredibly useful in confusing enemies, among other things.

Another general tip is to make good use of your pistol. Don’t underestimate it. It’s great for harassing enemies from a distance or destroying sentries. If your target is immobile enough, or your aim is good enough, you can even take them out with the pistol from fairly great distances no problem.
It’s also a huge help when it comes to sentries. Try and peek around a corner just enough to see the enemy’s sentry without it seeing you. Using your pistol, take as many quick shots at it as you can. If its father engineer is around, take him out first, otherwise he can just repair the damage as you deal it. This is enormously helpful in clearing areas from annoyances.

Another quick tip… Stay on the move. Your major advantage with the Scout is that you’re the fastest class in the game. Make use of this as much as you can. Swerve, jump, zig-zag, do whatever it takes, but always stay on the move. You will have to improve your aim to be able to take out enemies while moving so haphazardly, but it’s a very useful technique that will keep you away from their bullets, as well as those from other enemies (especially snipers).

Facing Enemies

Figuring out the different kinds of interactions you’ll have between different classes is essential. Learning what to avoid, and how to prosper when you dive right in.

Let’s start with the offensive classes.

Offensive Classes

There are three Offensive classes… The Scout himself, the Soldier, and the Pyro.

Dealing with other Scouts

Duking it out head-to-head with another Scout can sometimes be tricky. Good aim here is absolutely essential, as is staying on your feet. When it boils down to it, this battle is decided by nothing but which player better understands the ins-and-outs of the class.
Make good use of the double-jump to confuse your enemy Scout. A few meatshots (shots to the body) with your Scattergun should send them to the floor, but if you find yourself having to reload, you have two choices.
1) Find a temporary safe area and reload your scattergun.
Or,
2) Quickly take out your pistol and hope to god that one clip finishes the job.
If number 2 fails, see number 1.

If you get a jump-start on this faceoff with the element of surprise by sneaking up behind your opponent, you can likely get in a good meatshot or maybe even two before they’re aware of your presence. This will give you a huge advantage.

Play the field here. Remember that in this faceoff, you lose your biggest advantage — your speed. They’re just as fast as you are. Circle around them, and try your best to get any health kits before they can.

Dealing With Soldiers

This encounter can be a tough one. Soldiers specialize in mid-range warfare, while you, as a Scout, excel when close enough to pulverize the opponent with your Scattergun.
The element of surprise is your biggest friend here. Try to find a Soldier who’s not looking and deal as much damage as you can, as quickly as you can. If you’re unable to do enough damage to conceivably kill them with one more shot by the time they’re looking at you, retreat. Even at close-range, Soldiers are dangerous. Most will not hesitate to damage themselves while killing you, and that means a close-range rocket for all parties involved.

If they’re further away, you can harass them with your pistol. But this won’t get you much of anywhere. Your pistol may do a bit of damage from a distance, but it won’t hold up against their rocket launcher, and the splash damage from a rocket is dangerous enough to avoid any kind of encounters from afar, even if you think you’ll be able to get in cover.
Approach with caution.

Dealing With Pyros

One word: AVOID. A Pyro is one of the Scout’s worst enemies. You both excel at close-range battle, but he can do damage to you long after the tussle is over with afterburn. In other words, you can get a few good shots in, but at the end of the day, he can set you on fire. This will deal a good bit of damage to you over time, and will likely result in your death.
Your only way to stop the burning is to get more health or jump in a lake. If you know you’re going to die anyway, you can stick around to try and get in as many shots as you can, but this just means you’ll die sooner from the direct damage of his flamethrower.
All-in-all, this is an encounter to avoid nine times out of ten.

Defensive Classes

There are three defensive classes… The Demoman, the Heavy, and the Engineer.

Dealing With Demomen

Demomen can be a somewhat dangerous encounter, due to their specialty in explosives. Just as with Soldiers, most Demomen will not hesitate to damage themselves if it means finishing you off. This recklessness spells danger for any close-encounters opponents, which you, of course, are. However, their explosives have a delay if they’re not already set. This could give you enough time to jump around them, avoid explosions, and land enough shots to severely hurt or even kill your opponent, while keeping minimum damage to yourself.
This is not an encounter for beginners, but if you’re experienced enough and know how to handle the double-jump well enough to avoid bombs, I say go for it. Just be careful.

Dealing With Heavies

Heavies are about the most dangerous class in the game. Their high tolerance for pain, coupled with their Medic buddies who heal them constantly and their amazingly powerful gatling gun, make them a tough nut to crack. You are most useful here in taking out their Medics.

To do this, you have to be unseen until the attack. Medics will quickly alert their Heavy patients if they fear either of their lives are in danger, so you have a small window of opportunity in which to take them out.
Your best bet is getting behind them. Landing a few meatshots should take care of them, just be sure to be quick. And once they’re dead, don’t get full of yourself and go after the Heavy. Even without the Medic, he’s a very dangerous foe. Seeing as your health is much lower than he is, you will likely die before him in a one-on-one brawl. By taking out his medic, however, you open an opportunity for other teammates to more easily take out the Heavy and clear the area of their annoyance for as long as possible.

Dealing With Engineers

A Scout facing an Engineer should have no problem whatsoever. Your Scattergun is far superior to their shotgun, so you should easily be able to take them out.
That is unless, and this is far more likely, they have a sentry guarding them.

An Engineer’s best friend is his sentry. A sentry is an automated turret that shoots at enemies as soon as it sees them, and it can take you out fairly quickly. It’s hard to avoid them, but if you happen to find yourself behind one, a few shots from your Scattergun should bring it down, no problem.
But that’s highly unlikely. Your best bet to take out a Sentry is with your pistol, from just around a corner where it cannot see you. This is a hard situation to put yourself in. But once there, you can just pound a few clips from your pistol in to the Sentry to take it down.
But if the Engineer is guarding their Sentry, they’ll be repairing the damage as you deal it. So take them out first if you can.

All in all, Engineers are tough to face if they’re hiding behind a Sentry (which a lot of them happen to do). You’ll save yourself a few deaths and much frustration if you avoid Sentries until somebody better suited (such as a Spy, Demoman, or Soldier) takes it out, leaving the Engineer himself to suffer your wrath.

Support Classes

The final type of class, Support, consists of the Medic, the Sniper, and the Spy.

Dealing With Medics

Medics aren’t too difficult to take out if they’re not attached to a Heavy or another formidable foe. They have slightly more health than you, but you have a stronger weapon. Use your speed to your advantage, running literal circles around them as you blast them with your Scattergun. They shouldn’t last too long without a buddy to help out.

Dealing With Snipers

Snipers are a long-range enemy, which makes them a bit difficult. You don’t stand a chance from a distance.
But if you find yourself next to an enemy Sniper, you have a much better chance of staying alive. Just a few blasts should do it. A lot of the time, they’ll be zoomed in on their scope, so they won’t even see you coming. This makes it especially easy.

If they notice you, however, look out for their Kukri knife. It can do a fair amount of damage, especially if they’re swinging like wild in your general direction. In this situation, double-jump like crazy and keep moving around them, shooting them as you go. It really shouldn’t be too tough.

Dealing With Spies

As a Scout, you have the biggest advantage against a Spy. This is because you can check for them more efficiently than any other class (save for Pyros).

When running into a teammate, you’ll go right through them. If you happen to be stopped dead in your tracks, start shooting — they’re a spy, disguised as one of your own. Your speed allows you to Spy check very quickly.

However, if a spy comes up behind you and stabs you in the back, you’re just as screwed as anyone else.

Conclusion

In conclusion, being a Scout isn’t easy by any means. It’s a very difficult class to get used to, and in a lot of situations, without the right finesse, you lose. But you also have many advantages over other classes, mainly being your speed, double-jump, and your effectiveness at close-range.

Keep everything here in mind when you go out Scouting. Developing a strategy and sticking to it is essential, and will save you a lot of rage.
It’s a very effective class, but only if you use it right.

Runescape developer announces new MMORPG

Kraven — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 22:26:49 +0000

Mark Gerhard CEO of Cambridge based Jagex, responsible for bringing us the immensely popular Runescape MMORPG, recently announced that the company is developing a brand new MMORPG game called Stellar Dawn.

The new MMORPG, as the name already suggests, will be a Sci-fi MMORPG and according to Gerhard, will become the Sci-Fi sibling of Runescape.

With the new MMORPG entering the final stages of development, a closed beta testing period is coming in sight. Gerhard further stated that he expects the game to be released somewhere in 2011.

Even with successes like Runescape to their name, the company is not making the money it could, due to their vision that free really should mean free. Therefore Jagex has always relied on their hardcore fan base in terms of generating revenue. According to Gerhard the hardcore game fan will always be willing to pay for added value content.

With the new title coming up it will be no different. Gerhard stated, that free should mean free and remain so, and further that the games Jagex develops are geared towards the long term in terms of profitability.

Gerhard also mentioned the fact that Jagex is also developing games designed for mobile phones, like the Iphone and devices like the Ipad.

While Jagex may be branching in several directions, one thing will always remain the same: Free games will always be free when coming from Jagex.

Review: Red Dead Redemption

Connor — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:21:54 +0000

Red Dead Redemption was a widely-anticipated Rockstar game that hit shelves May 18th this year. Rockstar are the same guys that brought us the hugely popular Grand Theft Auto series, as well as Max Payne, the Midnight Club series, and others. Although it is a spiritual successor to 2004′s Red Dead Revolver, not much relates back to it, other than the western setting.

You play as John Marston, an ex-gangster in the early 1900′s who is being forced by government officials to hunt down and kill the surviving leading members of his former gang if he ever wants to see his wife and son again. As such, your overall mission as John Marston is to save your family and kill your once-friends.

I’ll start off on gameplay… Red Dead Redemption is, overall, a fantastic game, and a lot of its successes and high points boil down to the gameplay elements that hold everything together. I feel that this game is the first that has gotten down the formula of open-world gameplay down to a T. In-between missions, you can do just about anything… Ride around on your horse, start trouble in towns, and even play minigames (such as Texas Hold ‘Em, Five Finger Filet, and Liar’s Dice). It all holds the gameplay together perfectly and keeps things going, even if you’re not currently interested in the story.

But I think the thing that makes this one of the best open-world games available is the random events that occur. Indicated by a blue blip on your minimap, random events occur pretty often in the Red Dead world. These include men asking you to help them catch a thief to stealing a wagon for them, and sometimes to just duel in the middle of town. This really helps the game feel more alive than anything, and gives you something to do (or even just to ride around and look for) when you’re not playing a mission.

These random events, as well as other things in-game, will affect your honour. Red Dead Redemption has a morality system that’s based on how you act toward other people. This changes how people act around you. If you’re a generally good person, you’ll be treated with respect. If you go around shooting old ladies and robbing card dealers, your presence will be met with fear.

Aside from random events, another great gameplay element in Red Dead Redemption is the gunfighting. Gunfights can escalate to huge numbers and are always a blast. There’s a quick-aim system in place, which helps a lot in the midst of battle. You can also choose to take out specific body parts to reach a desired outcome. For instance, if you’re looking to hogtie a hostile, you can temporarily take him out by shooting him in the kneecap. This will put a damper on his short-term fire as well as give you an opportunity to get up close and throw the lasso. You can also just shoot their guns out of their hands if you want to avoid any bloodshed and have enough time to get away. There are so many variables in each showdown, which keeps the gunfights incredibly fresh throughout the entire game.

A feature that will help you achieve these accurate shots with time to spare is Dead Eye. The Dead Eye targeting system allows you to slow down time (think max Payne) to take out enemies with ease, or to make your aiming more precise to fit certain situations. There are three levels of Dead Eye — In level 1, time simply slows and allows you to get a shot off with a huge upper hand. Level 2 of Dead Eye has an auto-target system, in which targets are placed on your foes as your cursor runs over their body, and you can execute the shots with a button press. In Level 3, you are able to manually seek out and place targets on your enemy’s body, and again execute the shots with the press of a button. Level 2 is a bit of a pain, as it feels like you lose a lot of control in the transition (which, of course, you do), but once you get to level 3, you’ll feel like the best marksman ever born.

One of my favourite parts in this game is also one of the most often encountered. Horse riding. It’s an incredibly refreshing break from driving a car to get from Point A to Point B. The mechanics are fantastic and it feels incredibly authentic, at least with a controller. The running animations are also incredibly well done. All-in-all, it’s a whole lot more fun than driving a car around. It’s something different, and Rockstar pulled it off incredibly well.

Taking a trip with a companion is also a lot of fun. Just like in GTA4, the mission dialogue as you make your journey differs from time to time, meaning that each play-through of each mission may contain a slightly different conversation, and it makes me want to not throw the controller at the TV when I fail a mission that had a long transmit.

When it comes to multiplayer, Red Dead Redemption delivers very strongly. You start off online in a “Free Roam” mode, which allows you to hook up with other players and cause general mayhem with formed possies battling it out or just going around shooting NPC’s and avoiding the law with a character completely separate from your campaign.

From here, you can take the battle to one of several different kinds of play, one of which is a gang shootout. This particular gametype begins with both teams in a faceoff in the center of a town. You draw your weapons simultaneously and quickly try to take out the other team. The last man/men standing represent their teams in victory, all of whom get an XP bonus. After this, you begin a typical team deathmatch kind of gameplay, but with certain elements that still help to differ it from the competition. For instance, you can still use Dead Eye in multiplayer, although it’s a bit dumbed down. There’s no slow motion, but the auto-target system is in place, allowing you to quickly acquire several targets on an enemy’s body before they’re able to aim down their sights. This is incredibly useful.

Through getting kills you get experience points. With experience, you’ll level up. Your higher level will unlock you things, such as new horses. A faster ride can give you a huge advantage in the midst of battle (especially if you intend to flee).

Overall, the online play in this game is one of many elements that will force me to play it for a long time to come.

Now, if you haven’t been able to understand this yet, Red Dead Redemption is absolutely gorgeous. The immense attention to detail that the designers paid is astounding, down to the fibers in clothing and individual strands of hair. All of the animations are also excellent, and it has a very life-like feel to it.

There’s also an immense amount of variety from location to location, which always keeps things interesting throughout your multinational journey across the lands. Each town has a distinctive layout to it, with recognizable NPCs and unique buildings that really allow you to easily memorize each location. I love that.

But good graphics and gameplay can easily be torn apart by poor audio design decisions or recording issues. Fortunately, there’s none of that here. All of the audio in Red Dead Redemption is top-notch, down to the piano tunes that boom through the saloons as you drink yourself unconscious.

As far as voice acting goes, I’ve heard almost nothing as good as Red Dead Redemption in the past. Rockstar has always been known for having great voice acting, and Red Dead takes it a step further, I feel. All of the characters are incredibly believable, and I’ve actually been quite sad to part with a few of them due to the personalities they develop as you spend time by their sides.

But one of my favourite bits of audio gold in this game is the ambience as you sit in the wild at night. It has a very immersive feel to it. It’s all very realistic and well-done. If you have a surround-sound system, this is a game you’ll quickly be able to appreciate.

Overall, I have to give this game the highest possible score. It blew me away around every corner and I don’t find myself tiring of any of it. The replayability is through the roof, with the online play and the morality system to make sure this one stays in your collection.

If you enjoy third-person shooters at all, this is a game to pick up. A video game that has distractions in and of itself (comprised here of many hours of texas hold ‘em) is more than worth it’s salt.

Keep an eye out for a video review soon.

10/10