DooM3 Graphics Mod

This looks pretty cool: It's a mod for Doom3 that adds motion parallax to the bump-mapping. It's kind of similar to the tech used in the Unreal 3 engine which I discussed in a previous post. It simulates geometric protrusions.

Top=with, bottom=without.



If you have a pretty beefy system, you should download it.

Thanks DNA-drivers.nl.

Soon to be released games

Below is a list of some great games that will be seeing release over the next few months.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - November 15

Jak 3 - November 23

Call of Duty: United Offensive - Fall 2004 (most likely late October)

Rome: Total War - September

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault - September

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - November

Brothers in Arms - October

Ratchet & Clank: Up your Arsenal - November 9

Ace combat 5: The Unsung War - October 25

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - October 19

Prince of Persia 2 - November

There is a lot more than this coming out, but this just a small taste.

Doom3 Sound Mod

GameSpot is hosting a Doom3 Trent Reznor sound pack. These sounds were taken from the E3 alpha version of Doom3 and can be used with the commercial version. This is copyrighted material and is kinda illegal. Alas, what isn't illegal on the internet anymore?! Anyway, GameSpot claims they got the material from Trent but he denies it and is pleased with what Christian Antkow and Ed Lima did with the sound.

I watched a clip from the presentation of Doom III and it's quite a funny sound when you die. You can tell it is Trent Reznor and it's kinda goofy. Neat, though.

Finally!

I finally got Doom 3 and, after playing it for a short while, am in amazement. I am very pleased to see a game that actually lives up to all the hype.

Every aspect of it has been well thought out and designed. The monsters are genuinely creepy and disturbing, the level design is great and, as Bec has stated, the textures and lighting are outstanding.

Other than that I don't have much else to add, pretty much everything else to say about the game has already been said by the others here, except that Doom 3 is a definite must-have game.

Front Mission 4

I really love this game. It's strategy RPG at its finest. However, not everyone will share my enthusiasm for the game. The level of difficulty in some of the later battles is extreme. Customizing your Wanzer (battle mech) before every battle is vital to survivial. This game doesn't spare those who skimp on the details.

Throughout the game, you switch between Darril and Elsa, two Wanzer pilots from different factions, but their storylines eventually converge. The story is good, but it takes a backseat to the high level of customization and battle preparation.

This game requires a lot of patience and dedication, but the rewards are well worth it.

Somebody give me $1499

A new 3D LCD is available from Sharp. My birthday is soon, someone get me one.

Drop!

Drop! is an arcade game along the lines of Gem Drop. It's very simple, but very fun. Not much here for gamers who like a lot of action, but casual games will find a lot to like.

Not much skill is involved: match 3 or more of the same color is all you have to do for the main game mode. There is a challenge mode available that really tests your problem solving skills and is more exciting than the normal mode.

The game also comes with a bonus game called Penguin Puzzle, which is mostly like Drop! only with animals trapped inside blocks of ice. Penguin Puzzle calls for a little more thinking, but is still quite easy.

There is some good easy fun to be had here and, at only 10 bucks, is well worth the purchase for casual gamers and fans of puzzle games.

ShellShock: Nam '67 release date

That's right. This highly anticipated action game based on the Vietnam war is set to be released September 14 for PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC.

ShellShock: Nam '67, developed by Guerrilla, depicts the reality of the Vietnam war for the first time in a video game. You take on the role of a new recruit on his first tour of duty as he experiences all the fear and chaos of the most controversial war of modern times.

From napalm, booby traps and ambushes, ShellShock delivers a realistic portrayal of the terror of combat. This is a must have for fans of war action games.

Free Games

I'm mirroring a list of free games originally at the AnandTech Forums.

"What are some nice, free computer games? I've compiled an extensive list of what I know below. "

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory - World War 2 shooter

America's Army - Army shooter

GunBound - Worms clone

Freeciv - Civilization clone

Vega Strike - Space trader RPG

Frozen Bubble - Arcade game

Cube - Simple shooter

Legends - Tribes clone

Scorched Earth 3D - 3D Scorched Earth clone

Cannon Smash - Ping pong game

LGeneral - Panzer General clone

Armagetron - 3D Tron Clone

FooBillard - Pool

TEG - Risk clone

Hidden and Dangerous Deluxe 2 - World War 2 shooter

Grand Theft Auto - Original Grand Theft Auto

Cosmic Rift - Space ship fighter game

GeneRally - top down arcade racer

Stair Dismount & Truck Dismount - a couple cool games

Warblade - Galaga type game, the beta version is still free

Abuse 2 - Shooter based on 1995 original

Ancient Domains of Mystery - Huge RPG

Beneath A Steel Sky - Sci-fi adventure

Blip and Bop: Balls of Steel - Side scroller action

Colossus - Avalon Hill's Titan board game clone

Falcon's Eye - Graphical Nethack clone

Little Fighter 2 - Mortal Kombat style deathmatch

Notrium - Single player survival game

Steel Panthers: World at War - World War 2 RTS

Orbiter - Space flight simulation

Pekka Kana 2 - Side scroller action

Stick Soldiers 2 - Stick fighting game

The Ardennes Offensive - Action game based on the Battle of the Bulge

Vantage Master Online - Simulation RPG

Wazzal - Space privateering game

Subspace/Continuum - Space ship fighter game

Warbirds III - WWII flight sim

Dawn of Aces III - WWI flight sim

Armored Assault - Tank sim

Dink Smallwood - Zelda-like isometric RPG

Final Fallacy for RPGMaker 2000 - Huge RPG

Tetrinet - Puzzle game

Nethack - Rogue-like game

Super Bubble Blob - Platformer/Puzzle. Very challenging and fun.

Tetrinet 2 - Good tetris game

Flight of the Amazon Queen - Adventure game for ScummVM

Angband - This is a "graphical" random dungeon, turn based game. Objects are represented by characters like @.

Jardinains - A great pong/breakout game.

Betrayal at Krondor - The CLASSIC rpg from Sierra in 1993 is available for free.

Icy Towers - This game is so basic, but I am stuck playing it! I love the theme music too.

Elastomania! - This is only a demo, but this is by far one of the most addicting and frustrating games I've ever seen.

Clickomania! - A good puzzle game, has many configuration options.

One Must Fall 2097 - The old PC Fighting Game Classic.

King's Quest 1 - The Old King's Quest Classics remade by the Anonymous Game Developers.

King's Quest 2 - The Old King's Quest Classics remade by the Anonymous Game Developers.

Ultima IV - Arguably the best ultima game of all. If you have not played it and you like RPGs, you MUST play this game. It runs in DOS, but I think it works ok in a DOS box on modern versions of windows.

Think Tanks - This is a pretty fun game/demo to play

Neocron MMORPG - Has a 10 day free-trial for those interested

Unreal UFO-Alien Invasion - Is similar to the original X-COM UFO Defense game. Uses modded Q2 engine with resolution up to 1600x1200,so any turn based or X-com fans check it out.

Allegiance - Allegiance was dev by Microsoft. It's a decent space shooter game.

Tibia - MMORPG. Free, with the option to upgrade to a premium account for $$

Soldat - Sweet 'Worms' style shooter with ragdoll physics, well worth the price

Zork I, Zork II, and Zork III - Classic text adventure games

Knight Online - Another free MMORPG

Pathological - Nice game written in Python!

Highway Pursuit - Really cool racing game with a bit of shooting

Elder Scrolls: Arena - Great RPG

Tribes and Tribes 2 - free in anticipation of the release of Tribes: Vengeance.

worst feeling in the world....

realizing you didn't save your game.

especially after playing it for two hours and unexpectedly dying.

Short G.A.S

That's right, G.A.S, also known as Gaming Attention Span. Mine is very short. I've been a gamer for a very long time and I've noticed a disturbing trend in most games these days: They fail to hold my interest for very long. Maybe it's just me, but most games don't really make me want to keep on playing all night. There are, of course, a few exceptions; certain RPGs, for example, but not as many as I would like. Sure they're fun, but I don't get that "I have to keep playing to see what happens next" kind of feeling.

I'm the type of gamer who constantly needs something exciting to be happening, a certain "if I don't keep playing the world could end" kind of feeling. My G.A.S is getting worse with each passing year too. Why? Lack of innovation in games. Most games are "been there, done that. Rehashes of stuff I've seen a million times. There are way too many copy-cat games on the market.

A lot of games just aren't fun enough to warrant long periods of play. The gameplay gets repetitive, the story starts to drag, too much CG.... you get the idea. They are only fun for a few hours, then I just play it for something to do. I figure "I bought it, so I might as well finish it." Not "This fucking rocks! I can't wait to see what's next."

Maybe I'm just picky? Maybe I expect too much from a game? Not every game can be a Madden, Grand Theft Auto or Final Fantasy, right? Still, would it be too much to ask that they at least try something different?

There is, however, hope for sufferers of short G.A.S. Though rare, some companies are taking a risk and making games that might not appeal to many people. To those companies I say thank you. Your risks are the only thing keeping me interested in gaming during the wait for such games as Final Fantasy XII, Madden 2005 and GTA:SA.

My pick for Most Entertaining? Katamari Damacy, due out this fall exclusively for the PS2. Just what is it? Well, in Katamari Damacy, "players take on the role of Prince of the Cosmos, whose father – the great King – managed to inadvertently knock the stars out of the sky. As the prince, a player’s duty is to clean up the King’s mess and re-create the starry skies by rolling around the cleverly designed locations to collect objects and build up their “katamari” -- a Japanese word for clump or large mass". You can thank Namco for this one. A sequel is also planned.

View some screenshots here.

DooM3==Old & Busted

Unreal3==New Hotness. I'd say only one generation past this till photo-realism is a reality. Two, tops.


Shot 2
Shot 3
Shot 4
Shot 5
Shot 6
Shot 7
Shot 8
Shot 9

Credit for the scans goes to MelvinB on the Gamer.nl forum.

Hi-Resolution Video Demo.
Engine information.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Advent Children is the sequel to Final Fantasy VII, only it's a CG movie instead of an actual playable game. That, however, has not stopped fans from drooling in anticipation for it's release on DVD and UMD (for the PSP) in 2005.

The movie takes place a couple years after the end of Final Fantasy VII and will feature 20 characters, including Cloud and Sephiroth.

You can find some screenshots here.

Spoiler Code

EDIT: I've simplified it a bit.

Here is the spoiler code:

<span class="spoiler" onmouseover="this.style.color='white';" onmouseout="this.style.color='#404040';">SPOILERS HERE</span>

Copy and paste it and put the spoilers where it says "SPOILERS HERE" In the "Edit HTML" mode.

This is what it looks like:

SPOILERS HERE

Hopefully I will find an easier way to do it. I would like to allow people to just use [spoiler][/spoiler] but I'm not sure how to do that given that the posting form is part of blogger and not GD.


EDIT : TEST BY BECCA

Mark sucks. Plus he's got depression.

Final Fantasy XII screenshots

This game is looking great, I can't wait to play it.

You can find the screenshots here.

Or watch some videos of the game here.

NFL Street sequel announced

On July 28th Electronic Arts announced plans to release NFL Street 2, the sequel to the surprise hit NFL Street, by early 2005 for Xbox, GameCube and PS2.

Not much information has been released; only that it is in development at the company's Tiburon studio, a bunch of new game modes are planned and new style catches and interactive wall moves. It will also support online play for both the PS2 and Xbox.

Here is a trailer for the game. A video preview of the game is also included on the Madden 2005 disc in the extras section.

DooM3 Co-op Already

Now there's truly no reason to get the xBox version: there's already a video of people using a co-op mod. I wouldn't watch the video, though; apparently it contains megaspoilers.

Speaking of spoilers, I'm working on spoiler tags similar to the ones on the Shack.