Zombie Apocalypse: Zombie Games, The Future of Humanity, and Me

Something strange is going on in the world of video game entertainment. Something we haven't seen in a long time. A return of the traditional Zombie Games. Traditional in the fact that if you watch a movie like 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, Quarantine, or even Planet Terror, there is probably a game that mimics those story lines or at the very least the zombies behavior. Now this is nothing new, back in the old days zombie games like Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Resident Evil(1,2,Code Veronica), or Zombi were giving us all the brain eating carnage we could ask for.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors

Resident Evil

Zombi

But then something terrible happened, like a human being bit by a zombie, the games slowly changed. I think it all started with Resident Evil 3 where you had to face Nemesis. Sure we had boss battles in the past but for some reason this just didn't work for me. I think it was the weakest link in the series and turned me off to where the future of the Resident Evil was going. At the beginning of the current console cycle things were looking pretty bleak for our zombie huntin' genre with nothing good on the horizon.

Then in August of 2006 Capcom released Dead Rising for the Xbox 360 and changed the outlook for traditional zombie games by employing the stereotypes and locations most associated with old school zombie movies. But that didn't make it a good game. In fact I would say that Dead Rising is probably the most enjoyable BAD game I have ever played. All you need for proof is to try facing a human boss encounter. That is where the game sucks, also the save system is a joke. Next, forget about the boss encounters and just kill zombies. That is where the game rocks, and there is nothing better than running over zombies with a lawn mower. This game was successful enough to warrant a sequel. Video Below.

After Dead Rising came an even greater game, Left 4 Dead. This is what future zombie games will have to measure up to. Valve has created in its 4 movie experiences and its survivor mode a game that will simply scare the shit out of you. Playing as team has never been so much fun and the odds are against you from the get go. I don't know how many times I've heard grown men scream like little girls when they turn a corner and see a Tank running at them. This is the game that shows us whats waiting for us in the zombie apocalypse. Apocalypse, in the terminology of early Jewish and Christan literature, is a revelation of hidden things revealed by God to a chosen prophet or apostle. So basically what we're saying is, "And God said onto the 4 survivors who pushed the elevator button that they were royally FUCKED." This is what makes the game so much fun and worth your hard earned money. Don't let other people tell you that Left 4 Dead has to be played online. You can have just as much fun playing alone as you would online but when your offline the only person you'll hear scream like a little girl will be you.


This has left me with one conclusion as to why there is a resurgence of zombie themed games. The game companies know that the zombie apocalypse is coming and they are trying to prepare the population for whats in store. So I am doing my part by turning my home into a safe house. Stocking up canned food and bottled water. sharpening up my knifes, swords, saw blades. Stocking up on ammo and gasoline. yep I'm ready. Because if Left 4 Dead taught me anything it taught me that if you and your buddy are running to a rescue chopper, a well placed bullet to your buddy's knee could be the difference between YOUR life and death.

WWI Flight Sim, Over Flanders Fields: Between Heaven & Hell

After my last post I decided to give Over Flanders Fields: Between Heaven & Hell a try. Mainly because it's the only WWI flight sim on the market right now that looks good. I was planning to write about my experiences and tell you why its worth your hard earned money, but alas it has not arrived yet. So now I'm in a bind. I have to write about something this weekend but I don't know what. Console games have gotten so boring lately and new original PC titles have become few and far between. You know what? Screw it, I'm gonna talk about Over Flanders Fields. Because it is the essence of what our hobby was and is.

Over Flanders Fields: Between Heaven & Hell is a WW1 flight simulator designed by ODB Software. Whats special about this game is that it is really a total conversion of Combat Flight Simulator 3 by Microsoft. This means you need a copy of Combat Flight Simulator 3 in order to play this game. Now back in the day that may have seemed like a steep price of entry but I found a copy of CFS3 at a local Staples for $10.00. That coupled with the $50.00 for OFF: BH&H might also seem like much, but what you get is something truly special and is worth the 60+ your gonna have to spend to enjoy this fine game. Before I talk features, lets look at some pictures.

More screenshots HERE

The effort that went into making is conversion is stunning and it show when you look at the features.

• HIGH RES FULLY SEASONAL and AUTHENTIC REGIONAL RENDERED SCENERY
• AUTHENTIC, FULLY DYNAMIC CHANGEABLE WEATHER
• HISTORICAL MOVING FRONT LINES and TERRAIN / TOWN DAMAGE
• TOTALLY NEW FULL CAMPAIGN ENGINE and MANAGER
• 100's OF AUTHENTIC SQUADRONS TO JOIN AND FLY, FROM AUTHENTIC FIELDS
• 39 FLYABLE AIRCRAFT
• HISTORICALLY ASSIGNED SQUADRON CRAFT
• 3200+ HISTORICALLY RESEARCHED AIRCRAFT PAINT WORKS
• FLY ALONGSIDE ACES, WITH AUTHENTIC AIRCRAFT PAINTED AS THEY WERE IN 1915-18.
• INTENSE DETAIL: SEE FLIGHTS FROM REAL BASES ON THEIR OWN MISSIONS.
• UP TO 226 AIRCRAFT (SCALABLE AND FURTHER EXPANDABLE!) IN THE AIR AT A TIME
• REAL BATTLES OCCUR AT THE CORRECT TIME AT THE FRONT
• MISSION REPLAY (REPLAY THE TIME LINE OF EVENTS IN YOUR LAST MISSION)
• NEW ESCORT MISSIONS AND TWO SEATERS
• NEW and IMPROVED AIRCRAFT
• NEW MUSIC & ARTWORK : ORIGINAL SCORE by MATT MILNE

What these features don't show is the living, breathing battlefield. Words can't describe the beauty that is witnessed by watching it in motion.

Over Flanders Fields is something special. You wont see a game like this on the consoles. It just cant be done. Don't believe me? Just look at Red Baron Arcade. No, its games like this that seperates the men from the boys when it comes to our hobby. You need a powerful rig, flight stick, rudder pedals, trackIR, and patience lots of patience to enjoy. I wouldn't have it any other way.

ODB Software should be very proud of what they have here. To take the CFS3 Engine (released in 2002), polish it up, Mod the hell out of it and turn it into an experience that you will be hard pressed to ever forget. This is nothing short of EPIC in its completeness and has made me forget about that other game I talked about on my last post. The fact of the matter is I can get OFF: BH&H now, and I know I can run it. I just can't wait to get Between Heaven & Hell, should be here any day now. Albert & I* have a lot of work to do.


* Albert Ball, WW1 Ace supposedly or at least according to my family tree was a distant relative of mine.

The Red Baron: The Past and Future of WWI Flight Sims

Rise of Flight

On April 21, 1918 a red Fokker Dr. 1 triplane was shot down over Somme Region of Northern France. The pilot who died, Manfred Von Richthofen, held the record for total number of enemy aircraft downed in World War 1. His 80 victory's in the skies over France guaranteed that he would forever be remembered as the Red Baron.

This April marks the 91 anniversary of the Red Barons death, so to honor him and the other pilots of WWI, I reinstalled my old copy of Red Baron II and started playing. It still plays just as good as I remember, and once I installed all the patches to make it Red Baron 3D I was back in my old stomping grounds. Flying over France in my Newport 17 with my wingmen I spotted a patrol of Albatros D.II's flying below us. So with the sun at my back, I dove in to attack. A swirling dogfight ensued and 3 of the 4 German scouts went down in flames. My group lost one plane. Unfortunately, he was shot down while passing through the wide circles my enemies and I were engaged in. And I'm pretty sure he was shot with my guns. I got my patrol back to base and sure enough the debriefing stated I shot down my own aircraft. We wont talk about what happened next because it really dosen't matter. What I will talk about is what's next for the WWI Flight sim genre, and why we should be excited.

Rise of Flight

As of late, the flight sim genre, in general, has been getting a little light. Microsoft canned the developers of their flight / combat flight simulator series. Ubisoft's IL series saw its last commercial release in 2006 with nothing new except a console re-release on the horizon. And Sierra, the once proud publisher of great flight simulators (Red Baron, Aces of the Pacific, Aces Over Europe) has been reduced to making truly awful games as of late. With Red Baron Arcade, Sierra's parent company, Activision/Blizzard is trying to cash in on a good franchise by dropping this poop bomb onto the public. This game is by far the worst game I have ever played. Some poor bastard will download this game thinking about their childhood memories and how fun the original was. What they will get to play is about as pleasant as being sodomized by a Vickers Machine Gun. Now I know that is not a lovely picture but, I want anyone who thinks they want to download Red Baron Arcade to think about that last quote.

World War I flight simulators are are few and far between these days. I long for the days when we get a umm...modern WWI flight sim. There have been add-ons for Microsofts Combat Flight Simulator. Over Flanders Fields, Is a wonderful mod that is truly something to behold. It is a wonderful addition that should tide anyone over till the next game comes out.

That next game is Rise of Flight by developer Neoqb. This WWI flight sim seems to have the substance to make it the spiritual successor to Sierras Red Baron. Rise of Flight is set during 1917-1918 Europe and features all the major players of the WWI conflict. The games single player campaign has a Red Baron 2 feel with its deep dynamic mission structure. The whole western front, 125,000 square kilometers are there to patrol. The following missions will be available at launch: Correction of artillery fire, battle reconnaissance, bombers convoy or interception, dogfights with WWI top aces. In this game the war is a living thing. While your flying you'll see artillery fire, the worlds first tanks moving across the front line, trains going to and from cities. In the skies, large formations come to life as you swoop in and out of danger firing at the enemy watching his plane break apart all shown off with remarkable graphics and even better physics that makes Rise of Flight a feast for your eyes.

Rise of Flight

All these bells and whistles come at a price. The system requirements alone push this game to the niche area of software. Here is what the Rise of Flight web site states as recommended system specs.

Platform: PC
Operating system: Windows® XP (SP2)/Vista (SP1)
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Quad 2.6 GHz
RAM: 3 Gb
Hard disk: 8 Gb
Videocard: 768 Mb, compatible with DirectX 9.0c, with support of Pixel Shaders v3
Audio: compatible with DirectX 9.0c
Access to the Internet: 256 Kb/s

Joystick: compatible with Direct X 9.0

A beast of a system is going to be required to show off what this baby can do. Here's hoping that work picks back up again so I can afford an upgrade to a new computer. Another point of contention that got some fans fired up is the fact that the game requires you to be online even if your playing single player. I think its just to upload your kills to the website or it could be a form of DRM but some people who only have dial-up or cant get service is S.O.L..

I really haven't seen much on the multiplayer but I'm sure as the beta,which just started, gets further along we'll get some answers on that. Its all coming together nicely. So much so that I'm sure Manfred would be proud.

Rise of Flight Trailer

The Dark Spire: A History Lesson For Modern Roleplayers

I have experienced something truly amazing over the past couple of days. I've been transported back in time to the 1988. To the time of my first computer, and more importantly, my first games. Ultima IV, Zork, and Wizardry were some of the first titles my father picked up that Christmas. I would say today that they were simple to play, but hard to master. And in Wizardry's case, I gave up before I truly understood what I was supposed to do in the game. I thought Ultima was a better, more enjoyable RPG. To this day I have felt bad for not giving Wizardry a second chance.

Wizardry

Now to the present day, Atlus has just released The Dark Spire. A classically designed RPG that brings back the days of Wizardry, wrapped in beautiful art and sound. Everything about this game is geared for the hardcore gamers of old. You have 4 races, (Halfling, Dwarf, Elf, Human) and 4 classes (Warrior, Thief, Mage, Priest) at your disposal. You have to choose an alignment, (Lawful, Chaotic, or Neutral) then roll for stats. Once you have your characters in order, you're off on a quest to enter the dark spire and defeat a evil wizard who has stolen a royal treasure from the Queen. The theme and story sounds like generic RPG trappings but the story is well written and very funny at times. I will take this games story to Final (young kids playing grown-ups to defeat some evil man,demon,corporation) Fantasy's any day. The fact is this game is easy to get into. You will sink alot of time into The Dark Spire, but you can enjoy it in small chunks.

The Dark Spire

Also going for this game is the soundtrack. The music in The Dark Spire is very well done and has a cool techno vibe to it. Atlus must have thought it was really good too, because every copy of the game comes with a CD soundtrack. That's a nice bonus for the early adopters.

Atlus has a reputation of catering to the hardcore gamers, and this game is a tribute to the hardcore breed. Now I say this because Success, the game developer, has included an alternate mode of play. If you are a player who wishes for the old days of wire-framed graphics like Wizardry, you will be happy to know that The Dark Spire has a classic mode that features old vector graphics and 8-bit sounds. The game is truly transportation device for going back to the 1980s style of gaming. It might not hold a lot for a younger audience, but for a old war horse like me, this is one of the greatest, most enjoyable, and worthy games in my collection. This is, as of right now, the RPG you MUST own. Thank god it's on the Nintendo DS so I can take it everywhere I go.

The Dark Spire

I have two things I need to say that are kind off the point of this game. First is the review Nintendo Power gave this game. I believe the score was a 5 and I really had a hard time with that because they gave Pokemon: Platinum a 9 in the same issue. Now I am not saying Pokemon didn't deserve a 9, It really is a good game. But faulting The Dark Spire for repetitive music loops and stale game design choices seems a little hypocritical. I mean, Pokemon as a series has not evolved gameplay wise since its inception.

The second thing has to do with a post I did a couple of weeks ago about Legends of Zork. The developers of that game needs to take a long hard look at The Dark Spire to see how to tell/write a story. I can't believe that The Dark Spire is more of a Zork game than the one that has Zork in its title. Congratulations Atlus and Success, you have a fan for life.

Game trailer below.

Fallen Earth: Welcome to the Apocalypse

The year is 2054, a deadly plague that will become known as the Shiva virus manifests in the region between India and Pakistan. Seeing the potential threat the United States begins converting the Hoover dam into a massive fortress, capable of self-supporting itself with no help from the outside world. One year later the situation deteriorates, years of volatile tempers and tense political differences between India and Pakistan ignite a horrific nuclear war. Each country blames the other for using biological warfare and the release of the Shiva plague. The resulting nuclear fallout throws dust, debris, radiation, and the Shiva virus itself into earth's atmosphere. There the virus mutates and descends onto the world again. Chaos and panic infect humankind along with the new plague. More nuclear attacks are launched all around the planet, in a matter of weeks civilization has collapsed and only a sparse number of secluded areas are capable of sustaining life. Over 90% of the earth's population are wiped out. The Shiva virus continues to mutate, but is now non-lethal and dormant in its hosts.

Years later, most of those still living have "Shiva's Touch" and are infected with some form of the plague. It is discovered that the new virus actually alters the human genome and can cause mutations to manifest in those with the sickness. These people gain abilities such as telekinesis and pyrokinesis.



It is One hundred years later, you awaken in a chamber inside the Hoover Dam Garrison. You are disoriented you don't know who you are....or where you are for that matter. You hear the faint sounds of gunshots from somewhere within the facility. A female voice crackles out of the intercom system and beckons you to the computer terminal not far from you. "Hurry we don't have much time!" urgency evident in the static voice.



Welcome to the world of Fallen Earth.



Fallen Earth is a new post-apocalyptic MMO from North Carolina based Icarus Studios. The game play mixes traditional role playing game elements with First Person Shooter style combat. Players will have 1,000 square kilometers of seamless landscape, now known as the Grand Canyon Province, to explore, fight, and scavenge in. In order to survive you will need to hunt scrap metal and recycled parts from the buildings, rubble, and rusty vehicles left behind by an era now past. You will use the spoils of your hunts to trade with others for sustenance, protection, and technology, as well as crafting over 95% of the games items. The path you choose will determine which of the games six factions become your trusted allies and which become your mortal enemies. This is Fallen Earth. I'm excited about it...Are you?

Fallen Earth Official Website

An Old Wargame That Still Plays Well Today

When you were a kid, did you play with army men? Did you set up green and grey troops in your backyard or sandbox? Did you blow your army men up with fire-crackers? For me the answer was YES. I have always had a love of WWII history and games based on the subject. My obsession with WWII games started with titles like War in Russia and Steel Panthers. Both games, designed by Gary Grigsby, and published by SSi had many thing going for it. War in Russia had the operational level where you had control at a division, corp, army level. Mainly you were moving boxes around on a map of Russia. This game was what table top wargames were like. Games could take weeks to play and there was no sound effects, unless you count the sounds I made when my boxes killed the computers boxes.

War in Russia

Steel Panthers on the other hand, was more of a actual game. Here you controlled individual tanks and platoons of men. Amazing sound effects, colorful maps and units, and a attention to detail this was the most fun I have ever had with my computer since I got it. In fact, I am pretty sure that game contributed to me losing my girlfriend at that time. I'm pretty sure it also contributed to my snow white tan. Both these games are still available at Matrix Games web site. War in Russia is free, while Steel Panthers is $70.00.

Steel Panthers

This is just a set up to what I really wanted to tell you about. Battlefront Software released a game awhile back called Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord. Now this is what brought wargaming into the modern age. It is still a turn based game. You select your troops, give them your orders then hit go. Your opponent, whether human or computer does his move and hits go. When that happens you get to watch 60 seconds of real-time combat. After that's done you have control of where you want to move next. In Combat Mission you play the role of general. You give the basic order, your troops respond to your orders but you don't have direct control. The action takes place on a fully rendered 3D battlefield. Cover, line of site, armor thickness all are taken into account. Also, the morale of troops are calculated to the point that this could be considered a simulation.

Combat Mission: Afrika Korps

This series has spawned two sequels set in WWII and really is flag bearer of what games like Steel Panthers started. These games are easily modifiable. You can go online and find many graphics, sounds, and total conversion mods. The Combat Mission games work well under Windows Vista and you really don't have to have a very modern computer to play them.

If your someone who likes Company of Heroes, but suck at the fast paced nature of RTS games, Combat Mission is for you. Check out the battlefront site and try the demo. I know you will not be disappointed. Here, just check this out.

Age of Chivalry: Mod of the Month

This month's mod comes from a collaboration of people from all over the world, from here in the states, to Canada and Sweden. The lead designer of the mod currently works on a little game you may have heard of called Lord of the Rings Online. It reminds me of Dark Messiah's multiplayer mode, only I find Age of Chivalry much more enjoyable, and I paid $50 for Dark Messiah.

I tried this game in the past and I could tell it had potential, but poor hit boxes and other bugs turned me off from it, so I began playing other things. A few weeks ago I noticed Steam now officially supported it for download through their client, so I figured what the heck, and installed it again.

The folks at Team Chivalry recently introduced a massive update to the mod titled Heroes and Legends. This update includes improvements to the hit detection system which was my main gripe with the mod originally. Other updates include : Achievements, a new HUD, directional blood splatter and improved gore effects, and blunt-force head explosions... OK, if you aren't already downloading after reading that last one let me sweeten the deal. It's Free!!! that's right folks if you already own a source engine game (HL2, TF2, DOD:S, CSS, L4D etc.) then just download and you're ready to go. If you don't own one of these, what the hell is wrong with you? Go buy Orange Box you cheap bastard. Then Download the mod of the month here.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/17510

Legends of Zork: The Misadventures of Slapyfitsgood

West of House
You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.
There is a small mailbox here.
>

This was the opening to one of the first and quite possibly greatest computer adventure games of all time. No sound, no pictures, nothing but words and a blinking cursor. With this simple description, a world of adventure and treasure awaited those brave enough to enter. Danger followed your every footstep and death was the penalty for those silly enough to enter the dark. This was the world of Zork as I remembered it.

Now, to a younger audience, the Zork games, published by Infocom in the 1980s don't seem to age well. I mean, the only control the player had was words. (Look around. Go east. Open mailbox. Take lantern. Attack troll.) Kids these days just cannot understand how we older generations found this entertaining. The fact is, when this game came out, computers were mainly used for work and not much else. Then some guys at M.I.T. started fooling around and came up with some nonsense about an Underground Empire filled with traps, mazes, some ass-hole thief. yeah I hated that guy. I'm gonna be 30 years old in October, and I'm pretty sure the game is as old as I am. It has aged better than I have. Because it was one of the first, and best examples of interactive fiction, many older people cherish this series as a true classic. I would also go on to say that many of today's game designers owe a small bit of gratitude to Zork for opening up the public to what games can become when it comes to story. Lets face it, BioShock is a great game, but if you took away the story elements and themes, 2k Bostons powerhouse loses a lot of its bite.

I am a huge Zork fan. So when I heard that a new game was coming out, I got very excited. Then I heard it was a free browser game and I started to worry. Who were the guys designing it? what kind of a game would it be? Would it be a MMO or another text adventure? These were the questions on my mind leading up to Legends of Zork release date this past Wednesday. After playing it for a while, I'm going to share my experience with you and tell you how I feel about this new entry to the series.
The first thing you do after you login to the site is to create your character. You are given a choice of what kind of person you want to be, (fighters, magic users, and some other classes),what your characters look like, and type your bio. Then you are magically transported to the white house with the boarded up front door, which now acts as your base. Here you can go to the arena to fight other players, join a group to do a multi-day quest, shop for armor, weapons, or magic. or you can head out to fight creatures in the areas surrounding the house. Sounds exciting right?

Its' not.

Now before I tear this one down, understand that I think this game has a promising future. The website and frontend to this game is really well done. The artwork is amazing, colorful, and well designed. All the information you need is right at your fingertips. The dice rolls don't seem broken. This is a good start. No my problem is with the way the game plays, or the way it plays itself. the only interaction I do is click a button that says explore. Click button, get random encounter. If I win I get some loot, some experience, and the option to click the explore button again or click the button to go back to base. When you go back to base you can upgrade your skills, buy new weapons and armor that up your attack and defense to help with random battles or PVP. Anytime you move from your base to another area you spend action points. You only get 30 a day so you have to use them wisely. I wouldn't mind the automatic nature of the game if this game had a good story to get behind. Sadly it is lacking. Any time you explore a area you get the same text with your random encounter doing the same thing. The text is lacking and breaks my heart because this was the very essence of what Zork was, a text adventure. Now granted I'm still playing so maybe it gets better.

Multiplayer is another thing that bothered me. I wanted to start a quest so I clicked on that button and was taken to a screen where you enter how many AP you want to use for the quest. I said 9. Then you are given an message showing you other members of the group and a statement that reads check back tomorrow to see how well your group is doing on that quest. WTF! I did't even get to click a button. The next day I was 41% completed and I still didn't have to click a button. Completely automatic. Where is the game in THAT. Now the arena is a better place to spend your time and AP. This is where all your stats and skills really come to make a this seem more like a game. Again, you just click on a character you want to fight, click go and it crunches the numbers automaticaly. No other interaction is required. Its very simple but for some reason I find this compelling. I can't explain it.

All this is leading up to the conclusion I've been wrestling with all week. This game is NOT Zork. The story of Zork was simple and effective, the interaction was precise and brutal, and at the end of the game you felt like you accomplished something great. When I play Legends of Zork I feel none of that. Maybe I'm asking to much out of a free browser-based game. But this game has Zork in its title, and there are people who remember what it was. I don't know if these people will like Legends of Zork. My opinions are just that, opinions. I could be wrong so go to www.legendsofzork.com and try it for yourself.

After you spend your 30 points go here and try the first 3 Zorks. See if I'm crazy.