Camelot - A lesson in Realm vs Realm Gaming

Last night, after piddling around in Hibernia with Saulf and Halen, under the guidance of Nym and Telmorial we tasted our first (my second) bit of RvR spanking. It was very tense, and strangely exciting, creeping around the Milefort and flitting about with worried expressions on our faces.

We headed out to find ourselves some action. We stumbled across a small collection of enemies and we proceeded to puff out or chests and stare each other out. One was a massive troll with the taste of human blood on his mind. I foolishly thought, hide in the trees, within healing range. So I crept over to my hideout. Although in a full RvR battle this plan might have worked, in a small group battle it wasn't the best option. I was alone. Away from my protectors, and a stealthed little kobold had obviously watched me slunk off. So he come round my behind, and promptly slit my throat. I didn't die straight away, and even popped a repel evil on him, but alas I was doomed, my insta heal and sprint could not save me. Before anyone else knew it I was down.

This act of barbaric savagery without thought for honour or combat-manship could only have come from these fat dark simpletons from the other realm. Anyway, it lead to a frontal attack from the troll, he charged our party, the uncloaked kobold had already met his end to them and they netted some well earned realm points. The troll was now beating down on our party, Nym threw me a rez, and in my rage I decided it was time for a mez and another repel evil.. erm with my health less that nought, and my power about the same. My gourd had risen and my instincts told me to attack. How foolish your instincts can be at times. I should have ran to the hills, rested a little, healed and maybe pop off a smite. Instead I chose to stand there and get my bonker out. One swift cast from the trollie and I was down again. What a pillock I am! Our party started falling, although they gave him a good run for his money, and he was almost done - when Saulf breathed his last breath and the Troll found some luck that day. Damnit. One smite from a half eaten cleric could have swung the outcome. What a pillock I am!

Well, all was not lost I suppose. We'd had our first real encounter, and some of us had gained realm points, and it was a welcome intermission from our levelling treadmill.

After being blooded we decided to do some forest sausage mobs, however on our way back to castle sausage, there was a gathering. About 40 Albion players, organising themselves into groups and practising group movement and co-ordination. What a sight! I decided to lurk about and listen in on the yells. A couple of guilds were getting together a sizable RvR force, and they moving in staggered phased groups anticipating enemies and assigning tasks to each phase. They even had some members (dressed in black) acting out enemy attacks. Very organised, or at least trying to be very organised. Anyway, I decided to tag along with them and see what transpired.

We spent about half an hour practising phased movements at the keep over in Hibernia. It was good to see so many Albion folk move as a co-ordinated whole. After a while, we moved over to the Milefort. There was word of an approaching Midguard offensive. I spent my time, buffing the tanks I could, moving in a confusing manner around near the gate (acting my role of disruption officer) and generally taking in the battle atmosphere. An attack started, plenty of fireworks from our caster teams, and the phased attack system seemed to be working quite well. I nipped in and out of healing range and healed who I could. The enemy starting sending runners forward into our backlines and several of our frontline pulled back to take care of them. I rezzed as many fallen comrades as I could. We had about four runners that made it to the Milefort gates but who were viciously pounded down. The main Midguard attack group were still engaged at our frontline, and a number of them were dispatched and the remainder fled. I felt pretty good healing the wounded from the frontline as they stumbled back to the gates. Obviously the Middies will be back with larger numbers and after this initial battle our numbers seemed to dwindle a bit. The next objective was to take Milefort and hold it. So we mobilised what we had and in staggered phased fashion we moved onto Milefort2. When we got there, there was already a number of big trolls waiting for us. Spread out and exhausted we waited for the remainder of our lot to assemble up, ready for battle. There seemed to be a very long time between getting there and any action starting. Some mentioned that this pause in the attack, affords the enemy time to assemble troops from further afield to join in later. The attack began, I was well behind our main force and again as the tanks engaged volleys of firecrackers were being slung in to the mix. I could see the Midguard Mez holding our boys at the front. I think the yellow sparkle of death rousted some of our troops to move forward onto the caster. It was to lead to our deaths. The guards from the keep ran out to meet our boys, currently either mezzed or engaged in combat. Our front lines were falling. I ran in closer to get within healing range and healed a couple of folks who were still moving around but were hurt bad, and on my way out caught the infectious lemon sparkle myself. I tried all I could to break it with insta heals and group heals - but alas, nothing fired off. I was pinned waiting my turn for slaughter. I was kept waiting for what seemed like an eternity - held against my will, forced to watch others being slain, without any means of helping out. Suddenly, a purple jet of smoke surrounded me and shot up in the sky, I felt my body racked with pain and along come a troll and flattened me with one blow. All I could do was gasp at the carnage and watch as the stragglers where taken down systematically by a combination of the enemy troops and their marauding guards. Not sure how many of our troops escaped with their lives, but it was very few. There seems to be some really pretty but effective group casts that wipeout several people at once. It was a nasty place to be caught that night.

Anyway, top fun! Really enjoyed feeling a part of the "big thing" - even though I was just a hanger on.

I can't wait to get much higher - so that I can feel a more effective part of the battle group, rather than just a cursory low level who can heal and rez a bit if he stays alive long enough.

Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance

Well, I got it, I played it - I'm spent. Simply a beautiful game, well put together, is a Diablo freaks wet dream. If it had online play they'd be leaving D2 in droves.

9 hours later and I have completed it with a Dwarven fighter clad in full plate with an ice burst double edged axe. I did bluster through it - mainly because the weapon acquisition/gold collecting and character levelling and development spurs you on. There was always another skill on my agenda, another piece of armour, a couple more damage points to the weapon. There are side quests, I did a few of these early on, but I found the drive of the main storyline quest enough to want to make progress.

The graphics are beautiful. The different areas have a nice characteristic feel to them, the ice lands are barren and icy, the swamp lands are swampy, some of the castle-type dungeons really are nicely engineered. The water effects are the icing on the cake for me. It is a joy just to go jumping in the puddles and watching the ripples. At one point the effect is essential in taking care of whipping dogs that cloak with invisibility. You quickly cotton on that the water is your best friend. As you see through their invisible veil using their water trails to aim your axe.

There are some simple jumping puzzles, some lever puzzles, but all in all its pretty straight forward - and you are more or less led to the conclusion of each dungeon - simply by strolling around adventuring. The bosses are nice, some of the mobs are MASSIVE and scarey. From rhino type dinoasaurs emerging from the swamp mud to fecking HUGE mechanised warriors. There is even an ice dragon in there for us PSO ver2 dragon lovers who never managed to catch a glimpse of the ice dragon in Sega's tawdry update.

You get three class/race combinations to choose from, dwarven fighter, elven sorcerer and human archer. My nipper wanted the dwarf first. But I started a sorcerer just to get a feel for the magicks. The dwarf is pretty much a diablo slasher. You can block, or twirl around and slash. Many of the mobs can be dispatched with jumping and twirling taking them from behind. Although if you get surrounded by 6 mobs all pounding down you cannot jump out over them, you have to break the circle to get out. Later on there are two specific disciplines that allow you to impart damage on multiple mobs (one with an axe - a spin, and one with a warhammer - a bash to the ground that affects all nearby mobs). At least one of these disciplines was essential for the later stages - I found I could kill 5 or 6 minotaurs easier with my axe spin, than I could taking them carefully one at a time.

Alot of the loot dropped off mobs isn't as good as you can buy from the shops until very much later on in the game. So you tend to scoop up the trash and sell and save for the good stuff. Theres something lovely about a dwarf in full shiny plate armour. It took me to the last level of the game to get him fully kitted out.

It may seem a little short, 9 hours, but given that there are three character types to play and they seem to handle quite differently (although I found archery with the dwarf a bit tricky and the damage dealt was piss poor compared to my axe) - I think nearly 30 hours of play is pretty good. Plus the two player co-op game will add to this nicely if you can find someone to team up with for 9 hours. It's a shame they all go through the same story though. So you will know the route through the game the second time round, I'm using this as an advantage because the sorcerer (steamy sexy temptress that she is) is way below par at getting going - the initial magicks don't seem to help her much and she hasn't got the hit points to take the blows. She can however use her cunning knowledge of whats up ahead to plan round-the-corner toastings.

BTW the tits on the barmaid at the Tavarn are unbelievable and put DOA to shame. The beauty of independant movement brought about by arm gestures is mesmerising. I had to run through it at least another couple of times - just to get it out of my system. Did I mention every bit of kit affects the characters look? So in theory, you can de-armour the sorcerer and have her running around almost naked in a very skimpy leather thong and bra. If her magicks could hold the mob off thats how I would take her through the whole game :)

I'm off to spray fire from my fingertips..

Devil May Cry

I grabbed this yesterday. Mainly because I had an £8 GAME voucher burning a hole in my pocket and the terrible realisation that Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance doesn't look like its going to hit the shelves over here till after christmas. Now I like the idea of a red velvet glad goth boy slaughtering the undead with a God of a sword and twin
rapid fire pistols. The graphics look nice and crisp something Crapimusha couldn't boast). I can live with the "alone in the dark" camera tracking - only just - it seems to handle it better than aforementioned "musha" product - although there is still a lot of "distance play" - I guess to give the game a bit of scale this has to
happen. At least no climbing stairs/opening doors loading cut scenes.

But you can't get away from the fact that its got RE breeding. You can't shake that feeling that you are playing a cool idea trapped in the body of a dire genre (my thoughts on the RE series being well known). I'm hoping theres less of the shite puzzles and more of the kill em action, with progression, rather than just endlessly spawning monsters in the same couple of areas. Theres some cool moves, shooting whilst jumping backwards, reminiscent of max payne a bit as you hang in the air - matrix style. I wanted to like this game so much. I wanted to block out the capcom RE influences. But as I began to get stuck - traversing the same corridor - over and over again - meeting
the same monsters over and over again - endlessly spawning - getting more and more frustrated I am starting to get that Onimusha feeling. I'm feeling cheated again...

Admittedly, I haven't played it much at all. Give it about an hour. I will take it by the horns and see if it develops much more - I want to be an action packed red gothchild of hate. But I'm not prepared to put up with tat game mechanics for a few bursts of action.

Camelot: Arthurian Excitement

DAoC, has the levelling treadmill in there, but it isn't as painful as EQ. The quests system is very clever and keeps you busy. You can get "kill tasks" of any guards for experience and cash. Also, there is a bonus if you don't camp a mob. Rare items drop less and less the more you have been camping. It promotes moving on to kill rather than sitting in one spot and raping it.

You get to level 5 and then specialise. After that you are free to specialise in your trained disciplines. The game is geared towards making levelling a nice and fairly fast experience - they want you in the Realm vs Realm game. So you level up to 20+ in player vs environment (a la EQ) then you take an army of you into another realms frontier lands and try to kill them and/or take over their forts and keeps. You earn realm points for kills and victories. You can spend these later of special realm items. It takes what EQ started and makes it more enjoyable, nicer to look at, and adds the spice of not only gearing up to level up, but specialising your character to be successful in battle.

I play a cleric. Now in EQ clerics heal. Mainly. In Camelot, you specialise and you can be a healing cleric, or a smiting cleric (mainly direct damage spells and area mezmerise). You can balance your skills between the two, or go with one or the other. The classes are much more flexible and you can tweak them as you want. The Realm vs Realm stuff bristles with elements from Team Fortress Classic and other combat based games, advancing over EQ's player vs Player stuff. You are battling for land and territories and ancient artifacts that bestow statistical bonuses on all players in your realm. Top stuff. Very exciting. Lovely to look at. I can see me playing Camelot a lot longer than EQ or PSO ever held me, and thats saying something!!!

Dark Age of Camelot: Excalibur

Well, my life has been taken over by this game. I knew it would be big, but not this big. An obsession that equals my PSO one.

It's basically a much nicer to look at, well rounded online role playing game. It caters for people who can't afford massive time committments. Levelling isn't as arduous as in EverQuest. The questing mechanism relaly is entertaining and enjoyable. The characters are based in Arthurian legend (on the realm I play) and there is good scope for taking each class and specialising them in different ways (eg. a cleric could be a smiting force, or more healing and enhancements).

Watch this space for some of my antics within the game. Since I imported Camelot from the US, I haven't really touched any other game.

Zax: Suck my Heavy Barrel

I have to say that Zax online is everything I imagined it to be. And as long as you can get a decent connection (ping <250ms) then you should have a riot with the multiplayer games.

Having just finished a gaming session with JoWood's Plex (thanks again) - if you are a modem user, then hosting the session will be advantageous. Your ping will effectively be zero. When another player (ctx?) was hosting the game, I was getting a ping of around 250+ and the game was bearable, but when an extra player joined my ping zipped up to 300+ and the game quickly became unplayable. Presumably because the server is communicating with more people and the connection degrades because of more traffic. Anyway, the key is keep the ping down and Zax will be a pleasure to play.

Although the game seems like a straight forward blaster (that some people would call mindless) - the multiplayer game has got some tactical play that is necessary to use to become a winner. Certain parts of the map can hide a player, ready for an ambush. The lightning weapon is very good for hunting out and locating hidden players (mainly due to is long range and large arc of electricity). Grenades and proximity mines are always handy for a retreat making the hunter think twice about following. And I had a glimpse of a weapon the "Heavy Barrel" that is devastating in its use. Even more powerful than rocket launcher. One shot, one kill. Switchable electricity pylons and floor traps can provide valuable protection and also act as enemy detectors (because you can hear them go off). I really enjoyed the session. With a bit better netcode (allowing a number of modem players connect without too much lag) and a map editor, Zax could well become a large online community.

It certainly has a step beyond Diablo in that you can pitch player vs player using weapons and strategy to battle online in a fragfest, gem collecting, flag capturing way. It's pure action and pure fun. Time for me to find that Heavy Barrel gun again and sit in wait for Plex to run by. If I don't kill myself with the damn thing first.

Zax: Love or Hate

I guess Zax polarises people into the love or hate categories. People who love it, love the simplicity of the fundamental need to mow things down with an array of guns - they usually appreciate the quake style control mechanism. People who hate it, want something more involved, with 3d graphics, and plenty of micromanagement, or they just can't get the hang of the quake style control. As a person who appreciates 2d isometric games and what they can offer, Zax gives me an unrestrained ability to go wild with the killing, where most other 2d isometrics play heavy on the roleplay. The storyline is captivating if a little formulaic. The voice acting is second to none - with plenty of it. The only gripe is that Zax is could have had a more elaborate RPG background and this could have enhanced the killing so much more. As it stands its a quality action puzzler, with a killer multiplayer game thrown in. It's a shame that the polarity will mean plenty of people will dismiss it, and due to lack of net popularity, plenty more net gamers will overlook it.

Zax The Alien Hunter

Imagine Diablo with guns. Imagine a multiplayer Diablo with Deathmatch and capture the flag. Imagine the bastard son of Diablo and Quake. Meet Zax the Alien Hunter.

The single player game is a Diablo clone, with gun toting action. Fast and furious. Isometric arcade action. Reminds me of Alien Breed a bit. You are a space hunter, who crashed on a planet, having to help your ships computer rebuild the ship. Meanwhile you take part in a natives vs robots conflict, salvaging what crystals and ore you can - so that your computer can help you manufacture better weapons and shields and equipment.

There are simple puzzles, lever switching, laser light bending and key collecting along with plenty of mowing down robotic cannon fodder and having a bash at some bosses. The levels are nicely rendered, colourful and lead you through the story. Zax himself can run in all directions whilst shooting his guns in any direction the mouse is aimed. He has laser pistols, beam spray weapons, grenade launchers, and rocket lauhchers along with proximity mines and triple dart guns. Its simple, its arcade carnage, its fun. The storyline unfolds gently, but soon has you dispatching many wild creatures and robot guards. They spawn from generator pads which have consoles that need taking out to prevent the metallic horde from descending. The currency is crystals and ore, collected from the planet surface. You return to your ship and craft bigger and better weapons as your ships computer researches them. I don't think there is any way to influence what your computer researches in the form of a tree - she just gathers more and more information as the game progresses and you are then able to buy/craft the new weapons.

Its the multiplayer game where the real fun begins. Arcade blast em action all the way. Three multiplayer modes are supported: Deathmatch, Salvage King and Capture the Flag. Only Salvage King requires any explanation - you collect as much crystals and ore as possible - the one with the highest amount wins. These are strewn across the levels floor, sometimes easy to reach, sometimes strewn around controllable electricity beacons that zap anyone who tries to get them. Players can turn these electric traps on and off. If you take a bullet too many and become a pile of gibs, then you drop all your stash in a pile for the next salvage queen to come along and steal your crown. The multiplayer levels are well thought out, and have weapons and power ups spread around to keep everyone topped up with killing hardware. Doors and traps serve as interesting mechanics to be used against your enemies, coupled with well placed proximity mines or a couple of correctly bounced grenades gives you a lethal but effective blast chamber to dismember your opponents.

It's not too deep, it's not even that clever, but what is does, it does good. Fast paced action shoot em up, for the Diablo generation. It's refreshing to play a fragfest game in an isometric view, instead of the predictable first person.

Worth it for some therapeutic zapping and killing.

Dark Cloud: A Silver Lining

Dark Cloud was acquired on the back of a trade-in for an abysmal game - I foolishly purchased purely on the basis of anime cover art. The offending game was Ephemeral Fantasia, a half baked RPG with anime characters and way too many "Loading" screens. The graphics were sub standard, the battles only climbing above tedious, the town was characterless and repetitive with painfully dull navigation. Did I mention the overuse of the "Loading screens"? Why? There was nothing stunning at the other side? Anyway, this rather drab and dreary cloud, had a dark but silvery lining. A week later, Dark Cloud, one of most anticipated RPG's on the Playstation2 arrived and Ephemeral Fantasia was promptly swapped using Electronic Boutiques 10 day “no quibbles” return policy.

Dark Cloud comes across as infinitely more polished. The startup FMV, pleasures the eye, and hints at an epic storyline revolving around the summoning of a particularly evil dark genie. Dancing tribeswomen abound. The game unfolds gently, with tuition from a wise and stereotypical Fairy Wizard. The premise for your adventure is based on the fact that the dark genie has run amok through the villages of the land. Eating and destroying all he can. The Fairy wizard managed to save a number of villages and villagers, by trapping them in protective spheres called Atla. These spheres were strewn amongst the monsters in a dungeon. The wizard equips you, and only you, with a wrist band called Atlamillia – this can break open the Atla and release the contents within. You collect the pieces of the village and assemble them according the the citizens requests. Restoring the village and making it even better than before (paying mind to each villagers request thus making everyone happy). This makes for some very interesting twiddling. Not only do you get to romp through dungeons and hack and slash quite outrageous monsters, but you take part in a kind of collecting game that lets you build a village and re-arrange it endlessly, and then run around said village in glorious 3d. Several buildings in the village you create open up sub-games or “things to distract you even further” such as fishing – you also need some of the buildings to advance in the dungeon, or to be able to restock your supplies from. Once you have built the whole village – you get to fight a boss and then move on to another village/dungeon combination.

The battling has been likened to PSO, in as much as you are traipsing around a dungeon, locking onto monsters and then slashing at them with a weapon. The dungeons are fairly monotonous, and there isn’t really a lot of character to them. Although they are randomly generated and can provide a level of replayability – when you need to trawl through and collect gold. The “lock on” mechanism is directly ripped from Zelda 64 – there isn’t a great deal complexity to the battle – you have a button for slash and a shoulder button for block. Having said this, each mob usually has its own attack pattern, and different mobs sometimes need quite different tactics to dispatch them easily without lots of loss of health points. There’s a huge bloated frog-like creature in the first dungeon, that throws a wall of shimmering (and painful) light at you, this is easily dodged, however to get at swipe at him, you have to go in close, and he has a habit of flopping forward and doing a good chunk of damage when he lands on you. It’s best to attack him from afar. There are allies to be found in the game, who will join your fighting group. You can switch between these allies and battle the horde with a different character- with different skills. One of the first allies you encounter is a girl who has a penchant for ranged catapult skills. She is quite adept at dispatching the flopping frogs from a distance. There are barriers in the dungeons where only a particular character with appropriate skills can get you through to the other side. Only the main character (Toan) can collect the Atla though.

The interesting thing about Dark Cloud is that the weapon levelling mechanism is much more advanced and complex when compared to character levelling. Subsequently, the weapons are much more fragile than the characters. You often find a weapon nearing breaking point, mid-battle, so a constant supply of repair powders is essential. The amount of tweaking and twiddling that can be done with the weapons is almost obscene – you can level (upgrade) each weapon dagger+1, dagger+2 etc with use – you can enhance the weapon by inserting gems and powerups into the weapons slots. When you upgrade a weapon – those elements in the slots are taken in to the weapons new level, and the slots are empty again, ready for more enhancements. You can turn the whole weapon into a sphere which can be inserted into another weapon, yielding its special abilities – allowing you to craft fine weapons and carry them on when you find newer more powerful weapons in later levels. The statistics and modifiers for the weapon system belittle the simplistic dungeon battling mechanism.

Weapon wear and tear is both novel, interesting and annoying. You really need to build endurance into your weapon or you’ll be plagued with carrying a sackful of repair powders with you wherever you go. Another novel, interesting and annoying aspect is the constant necessity for the character to be hydrated. If your character hasn’t had water in a long time their health will suffer, and they will indeed lose health points. Treasure chests dotted around the dungeons can yield valuable trinkets, food and water bottles – but on most levels there are one or two waterfalls where you can replenish your level of hydration and also your health.

Some large treasure chests can be found, that are usually booby trapped, if you have a treasure chest key you can avoid any nastiness – or if you guess the type of trap (poison, explosion, curse) – you can diffuse it successfully. If you spring the trap, you take the damage and then can defuse it by selecting the damage type. These larger chests usually yield weapons and other rarer items. The exit from a dungeon level is usually gained by killing a monster with an appropriate item, in the first dungeon it is a crest, in the next one an apple etc. You can leave a dungeon by “mind connecting“ with the Fairy wizard, if there are no monsters mentally blocking the transportation, or you can use an escape powder from your inventory. You should collect all the atla in a dungeon, to give you a fighting chance at rebuilding the village properly.
Dungeons have several levels to them, and often these levels hold a mini-boss or special levels such as the “limited” level or the “back door” level. The mini-boss fights tend to be keypress timing events, where several key strokes will pass at the bottom of the screen and you have to press the right combination at the appropriate time to succeed. These can get trickier later on, but add another layer of sub-game to the dungeon crawl. The “limited“ levels are tricky, because they limit you in some specific way, disable an ability, force you to use a specific ally etc. These levels are compulsory and mean that you must level all you and your allies evenly. If you neglect an ally and then find you have to complete a limited level with them, it will be a very tough level indeed. It’s also wise to have two or three weapons on the go for each character. The “back door” levels are optional, needing a specific item to unlock them. They are much harder than normal levels, although they yield much better items and equipment. My advice would be to avoid taking on a back door level off a limited level. Very tricky. Again, these bonus levels add another layer onto the dungeon gameplay. At the end of a dungeon there is a boss level, that require specific tactics and is quite an achievement to overcome. Much like PSO.

Overall, this game is very polished, has a gentle but noticeable progression and gives you so many things to play around with that it will keep you busy, even if the fighting is basic and isn’t as stimulating as it could be. The storyline is standard fare, the characters are not as well rounded as some other RPG’s – but they do the job, and the villagers have specific requests which adds a modicum of personality to them. Some folk may gag at the fact that the game doesn’t seem to go into any depth in any of its game modes (apart from weapon customisation) – however, I think it does a very good job of melding all the modes into a pleasureable gaming experience where there is always something to be thinking about, always something to be aiming for, and always something to be doing. The game infrastructure allows you wander off and explore one aspect or the other, and with the random dungeons and rescued villagers different requests this Dark Cloud will give you a smokey hideaway where you can tinker with your swords, village layout or fishing for many an hour.

PSO: When Four Battle as One

When I first played PSO on my Dreamcast I was convinced the world had moved on. Gaming had advanced one more step into the online world. Now the consoles were getting in on the action. The wave of euphoria as I teamed up with a couple of others and raided a Hildebear enclosure was unsurpassed. For months afterwards I classed PSO as an EQ beater. Better than EQ was the highest accolade I could give it. PSO is based on action. It is a team based role playing game, with lots of arcade style action. Admittedly the team can only ever number four. And the action is limited in as much as the game world has 4 areas, and a set number of monster types, culminating in battles with four bosses. However, the buzz remained for around 3 months. Solid playing. Every night. I never once logged onto Norrath in all that time.



Imagine, landing on a planet, with a hunter who is learning the art of the light sabre, with a brightly coloured force character, resembling a circus magician, who can summon a mean fire ball or two, with an enormous mechanised robot ready to dish out some punishment and me, a ranger with a laser pistol. Imagine, finding a world inhabited with strange bear/dog like creatures who take a swipe at you and you land on your backside. Imagine, said creatures ganging up on you and pounding you into the ground. But, finally imagine, the four of you, each slotting into a niche and covering each other backs. Working together to eradicate the planet of these menacing hordes. Pumping laser rounds into the back of a Gobooma, enough to knock him away from the magician he is currently pounding - giving the magician the breathing space necessary to let a fireball from hell toast the furball.



Although set in a "phantasy" world, the combat is pure action. Sci Fi action. With guns and light sabres.

The first boss you meet after a lot of carnage is The Dragon. In my opinion, he is the best of all the bosses available. He is beautifully rendered, his attack patterns are just stunning to watch, and of course, he IS a dragon! Each boss has a different attack pattern and often requires quite careful planning to avoid party wipeout.

The ability to quest offline and then go online with the same character - gives PSO one the most flexible approaches to character development. However, this does not come without a price. The Gameshark kiddies have found that you can use codes to tool up your character with all sorts of items and powers. Sega tried to stomp on this heavily. With character banning and other measures. The Gamesharkers also found ways to kill other players (yet PSO is strictly co-op), to use jumping tricks to get past locked doorways amongst a number of other cheats and scams.

All in all, PSO is one of the brightest online games I've played in a long time. And although the content is limited, it still draws me back to it - searching for that teamplay buzz once again.

Onimusha: Chop Shlocky

The hype surrounding this title, really pumped it up for me. Although I shy away from Resident Evil clones - never really like them - the lure of the magical samurai sword and the smell of freshly cleaved zombies drew me in.

To sum it up, Capcom have basically given you a Resident Evil with a sword instead of a gun. That's it! The cut scene graphics are quite nice, with plenty of focus on the handsome face of Samanosuke, the demon warrior. There is the usual storyline of good versus evil, with the "Soul Reaver" slant being that you are bestowed with a gauntlet that allows you to capture the souls of the demons you kill. These souls allow you heal, or replenish your magical ability, or enhance your equipment. Each soul type has a different colour and the demons relinquish a cocktail of soul energy when they die, often in different quantities. In general, big demons leave behind large amounts of soul energy. The energy adds a level of strategy to the generally mundane task of chopping and slashing these gnarled minions of evil. You have to take a break from the endless culling, once in a while to harvest some energy to heal up a bit. Then back into the melee.

The slashing action is fun for a while. There are however a couple of things that let this title down badly. Firstly there is no use of the analogue sticks for movement. So all your clever manoeuvres have to be done with just the d-pad. Secondly, the camera angles will often leave you in the position where all the action is taking place in the distance, making it difficult to see exactly what is going on. As a different camera angle kicks in, you often find yourself having to re-adjust your spatial reasoning to the new viewpoint. Sometimes this is confusing, when you are trying to navigate a twisty winding corridor, and it often leaves you visiting the same locations over and over again, simply because you are disorientated. For all its beauty up close, the game is played at quite a distance.

The monotony of bashing the square button to slash, slash and slash is broken up by an L1 guard and then quickly back onto slash, slash, slash. You can execute an impressive magical attack pressing the triangle button, if you have magic enough. It seems as though magic is always in short supply, so use these special attacks sparingly. Save them for the big bosses. You collect a variety of sword types each with an elemental power of its own. Lightning swords, fire swords etc. And it has to be said that the special attacks are suitably impressive and satisfying.

There are small puzzles, usually to unlock a chest with a power up or plot item in it. The game is saved at some sort of Shinto shrine called a "magic mirror". Here you can save your progress, and use the red energy collected to enhance your weapons or items. Much like an RPG (Role Playing Game), each weapon has a level and it can be made more effective by levelling it up. As they gains levels they change form, and their attacks become more powerful. There are sealed doors that can only be opened by collectible orbs. These orbs also have a level, and in order to progress you must invest some energy in levelling them up to open higher levelled seals. You can also level up some of your items, such as healing herbs into medicine, increasing their healing powers considerably. The RPG-like qualities of the game do add some depth to play. However, it is often necessary to collect more energy than the current flock of demons possess. This means you have to back track into previous areas, and the enemies seem to spawn endlessly to allow you this privilege. While useful in places - this can become tedious. Having defeated a room full of nasties only to become disorientated and foolishly enter the room again, to be attacked by the beasts you have just slain.

It seems if you have to load your save game quite a number of times, the game opens up the Easy mode. However, you cannot continue through the current game in Easy, you have to re-start the game again. Some have reported finishing the game in around 4 hours. Reducing the games value-for-money status considerably. Zone of the Enders clocking in at 8 hours was considered a poor show.

All in all, Onimusha gives you a short-lived hack and slash buzz. In places, it’s too much like Resident Evil. The RPG/Soul Reaver aspect adds some depth to the game. It's not a game I could rave about - but I've only done about an hour in total. Maybe it will flourish in the remaining 3 hours?

Diablo II: Lord of Destruction

Well, the new Lord of Destruction expansion is upon us.

I bought it on Sunday, and installed it on top of my D2 v1.07 - the offline characters seemed unaffected. One thing to note converting your current D2 chars to be expansion chars, means you can't join any vanilla D2 games. Which obviously has implications for Pinwig and me, and our D2 love-ins.

Anyway, I fired up a new character, theres two classes added, Assassin and Druid. I chose the Druid, cos he gets to summon creatures and transform into creatures.

The ability to shift the graphics up a notch (800x600) is nice, you lose a lot of the pixilated edges. The only downside I noticed was a veritable chug, with the automap displayed whilst running. The larger inventory stash is very welcome, along with the two weapon loads configuration and the ability to shift between them with a single keypress during combat.

Not sure whether I was just summon happy or not, but I levelled up my druid pretty swiftly, with my team of 3 summoned ravens - dive-bombing the enemy, pecking at their eyes, whilst I floored them with an arrow or two. If things got too tough for me, and my birds were down, I'd shift into werewolf form and claw the living shit out of everything that moved. Not a bad expansion. Just for the interface enhancements and the new classes.

I did try the assassin but much prefer the druid and his summonings. I didn't feel right playing a charlies angel. Did I mention I can shapeshift into werewolf form..? Oooooh man, now that gets me excited. Basically, my Druid is well hard. Much easier to take on the quests "solo", when you have a pack of wolves and a hired archer, along for the ride. I barely need to hit anything. My whirlwind team, maul and masacre the horde before I get there. I sometimes like to play target practice with my flaming arrows, or perhaps freeze a wandering brute with my cold attack mace. The life of a Druid is a good one.

Anyway, I guess now the servers will be teaming with Druids and Assassins.

Ring of Red

Well, I snapped this baby up the other day and thought I would give you my thoughts on the game.

Once again, its a mech combat game. It has stomping big mechs in it. It is set in the 1960's, and the introduction includes some WWII footage with these industrialised mechs hulking around in the background. They call them AFW's. Armoured Fighting Walkers.

The initial couple of training missions, highlight the pretty simplistic battle mechanism. Two mechs, face-off. Each mech has a loading time for its main weapon. Whoever gets loaded first, enters the sighting screen, depending on your distance from the target, you get an initial % accuracy, if you wait, this increases, the longer you aim, the higher your accuracy. Although the rate of accuracy increase starts to level at around 90%+. Once you figure you have high enough accuracy for the shot, you press [X] and fire. Thats all there is to it.

The game opens up, once you get to select crew and ground troops to support your AFW. The stats can be quite bewildering to begin with. And the manual is a bit poor. Each AFW in your team can have three support units. One to help pilot it, the Crew, and two ground troops, the Forward and Rear Vanguard. Each company has its own special abilities and stats (loading times, troop recovery, special attacks etc.) The companies are also split by their primary function, such as infantry, shooters, medics, minelayers.. etc. And you can swap troops in and out of your AFW's slots. With a team of four AFW's choosing the right troop combination takes some time. But it allows you to design specific battling combinations. Not only is the AFW and primary pilot levelling up and gaining new abilities, but you can further tweak your force using troop combinations. On the battle field, there are towns where you can capture and then win-over new troops, with new abilities.

The AFW combat is initiated from a mission map, where like Front Mission III you move representative counters around a grid. There are different attacking distances, and some of the AFW's specialise in close combat, some short, some medium and long distance. The long distance AFW's are basically a large cannon mounted on a spidery 4 legged mech. All the AFW's are nicely modelled and really do look like a WWII tank has mated with a Japanese robot. Whirring cogs, puffs of smoke and jittering engine parts make these hulks come alive. The map movement and attack is turn based. You can move and then attack, just move, wait on standby or recover. Standby and recovery have different time costs and affect the units turn, recovery being the most costly.

Once an attack has been initiated - you enter the 3d battle arena, which is usually nicely animated. Most of the work going on the AFW's themselves - but the landscape is usually representative of the landscape presented on the mission map. The troop models are ok, but tend to look a little blocky. Combat with the troops is a real joy. Not only are you co-ordinating the firing of the main weapon and maybe slotting in a special attack/move whilst loading.. you are readying your troops and maybe sending the one of the flanks in to start picking away at the enemy AFW or laying surpressing fire on the enemy troops. Your crew can have special shells, such as White Phosphor shells, which temporarily disables the enemy's troops, or incendiaries, or armour piercing shells for that extra damage. Your troops can also perform specials such as getting up close and personal and lobbing grenades at the enemy AFW, or firing a wire wrap around the enemy AFW's legs preventing movement and escape (good for holding them steady whilst finishing them off, or preventing them from advancing into a position where they can initiate close combat melee). They can also, try to repair the AFW and heal the other troops. So despite the relatively simple loading/firing mechanism for the AFW, actually co-ordinating the battle on several different fronts is quite exciting. Theres always something to be checking and reacting to during the battle. Your battle tactics have to adapt to what the enemy throws at you. If they start laying into your troops (and the AFW's can attack troops with their main weapon too) - until you have lost them all - then you are open to troop attack - and getting your weapon to fire with sufficient accuracy will be difficult. If you take hits whilst aiming, you lose some accuracy. So if you are taking many hits you will have a job on getting your weapon to fire and hit.

The chaos of the battle is where this game shines. And the troops running around your AFW's legs, advancing and retreating on your command, realy does give you a sense of battlefield combat.

There are a couple of niggles with the game:

On the mission map, if an enemy base is occupied by an enemy AFW, you move up to them and attack, and if you win, you have to wait for the next turn to move one square into the base.

On the battlefield there is an operational timeout - which means you have to destroy the enemy within a time limit. This prevents overly long wars-of-attrition between AFW's - but it invariably closes the battle - just before you land the winning blow. This is a bad thing if there are two or more enemy near by, who now have a chance to have a go at your battle weary AFW. Leaving the near dead enemy AFW to recover/escape and have another pop later.

When issuing a AFW move order (forward/backward only) in the
battlefield the AFW will only move when you are NOT issuing troop movements or aiming your weapon. This can be a pain when you want to assault a 4 legged AFW using close combat, and you have to keep your troops well out of it until you get up close. I would prefer the mech to keep moving forward, alongside my advancing troops.

Overall, I would recommend RoR to anyone who enjoyed Front Mission III and want similar sort of action, but with a ground troop element thrown in. The storyline is interesting, introducing an alternative history, where the Japanese, Germans and US are battling against the Soviets. The characterisations are pretty dismal. The translation
doesn't always work, and a lot of the dialogue is cheesey japanese boy/girl stuff. But on a whole the game stands up as giving you a mech-based battle arena with some lovely chaotic and desperate moments. And theres nothing more satisfying than getting that APC Shell off just seconds before the battle is about to timeout, watching the enemy AFW tumble and burn.

Dragons Blood

Dragon’s Blood was a game that caught my eye before I’d bought a Dreamcast. It was one of those that went on the slowly growing list of titles that eventually tipped the balance and forced me to part with the cash to become a Sega fanboy for the first time. Odd I know, but that’s me, just getting into the whole Sega ethos as the company starts to die out. I curse myself daily that I didn’t years ago.

In any case, I’m now sat at the start of the penultimate level of this beastie and I can say hand on heart that Ian is right in his assessment of the game’s merits. You need to like that particular genre to get on with a game like this – but if hacknslash epics do float your boat then you’ll find a surprising depth in this. It’s not without one downfall though. The aforementioned swoop and sway will eventually I’m sure send you blind. I find after an hour plus in this (the time needed to explore a level fully and knock it on the head) each turn of the wide angle perspective camera sends not inconsiderable stabbing pains to the eyes. Infact a glance in the mirror after a two hour stint recently showed them up to be noticeably bloodshot.

Funny how games can get you like that. FPS’s are prone to give people motion sickness, that is well known. This is the first time though that a game has reddened my eyes and made them sting. Perhaps the Draconus’s abilities extend beyond those just on the screen…

Regardless, this is a stomping slasher. Each episode like level is enough to fulfil one sitting at a time but the drive to go back always returns. The worlds are large, they are atmospheric and although the dialog is awful and voiced by a genuine B movie star wannabe it somehow only adds to the overwhelming feel of an eighties fantasy movie. Marc Singer in Beastmaster? This is what this game gives you. Peter MacNicol in Dragonslayer? Oh yes. Ken Marshall in Krull? Absolutely. If only there were fair maidens to rescue.

As it is there’s undead skeletons, creatures, minotaurs, goblins, trolls, giant insects, dwarves, the Draconus and ultimately the mighty Dragon to take on. Each level brings harder and more tactically aware adversaries. As your skills with the excellently weighted controls improve, those of your opponents do too. The dwarves imparticular are very adept for figures so stout. With the option to use an effective block though combat never degrades to a simple hack, hack, hack process. Hang back, observe, block attacks, take a stab when you can see an opening. Its not a beatem up, and nor does it want to be, but the swordplay here maintains a strong and enjoyable tactical balance that sets Dragon’s Blood above most slashers. Throw in a few button presses, sidequests and simple puzzles and the games rounds itself nicely into a well presented, solid and enduring use of your gaming time.

As Ian says, quite a surprise from a game that has been very quickly relegated to the bargain bin. This hidden gem is considerably better than a lot of titles sitting proud above it on the full price shelves.

Dragons Blood: Slash the Price

A game which caught my eye in the bargain bin of Toys R'Us the other week was Dragons Blood. I had considered buying this game many times, at full price, but I was always led astray by classics such as Crazy Taxi etc. In fact, I remember juggling Dragons Blood and Sword of the Beserker one time, finally deciding on the gory anime slasher. However at £4.99, I could not resist, and the game finally had a home.

Booting it up, you are treated to a chunk of crimson FMV. You get to play a butch warrior type, or a svelte but magical lass. Both characters possess magical abilities as they level, but the lassy can use it more readily. The graphics are really special. They portray a detailed world and the characters are realistically medieval. The movement mechanism is simple enough, although it does take some getting used to. You character seems to sway and swoop around alot. I was expecting the "fixed perspective" of Tomb Raider, however, Dragons Blood uses a much more realistic perspective, where the landscape and character alter according to your position in the world.

The battling mechanism tries for realism too. As the swipe of your trusty sword connects with mob, they recoil and are often thrown quite a distance. Perform a series of slashes, chops, and thrusts in succession and you will pull off a combo strike which can be very satisfying indeed. Theres nothing quite like a flying chop from above. Different mobs require different fighting techniques and strategies. You will often require a well timed block using your shield, following it up swiftly with a counter-lunge. You can circle strafe around slow mobs and slash at their back. The beauty of the fighting is that it takes real skill and co-ordination to battle three fairly cunning enemies each try to get around behind you to deliver that fatal backstab. You'll have to use the landscape to corner yourself in and protect your rear, whilst blocking all attacks and getting a counter in. A side swipe can often lift the mob off the ground and hurl them away long enough for you to skewer the one left. The sword and shield play are varied enough to make a battle strategic enough and not degenerate into a mindless hack and slash.

After each kill, you can steal a small amount of health back from the deceased's heart. Not all mobs drop a heart - but since your health bar is incredibly important, you cherish each mobs lifeforce. In order to progress and level up the game adopts a mechanism by which you collect wisp blessings and trade them in at the end of the level for skill improvement. Offense affects the weapons you carry, Defense affects the armour you wear, while you can learn new magical abilities by spending points on the elemental skills. You can also invest in rank which is effectively levelling you up. There is a predefined tree which you will climb, as you are blessed and go through the levels. Although it seems to allow for some specialising, particularly in magic. One of the offensive power ups I gained was a morphing blade. It can morph between broadsword, axe and spiked club. Each having different rates of attack and damage abilities.

The one area the game falls down, is its lack of ability to save mid-level. This particular niggle is a problem that affects many games out on the market and some game designers argue against mid-level saves - because they use it as a tool to set game difficulty. For an aging gamer who sometimes only has a spare half hour, there are times when I cannot sit down and plough through a level for 2 hours just so I can save my progress. Anyway, Dragons Blood goes some way to alleviate the frustration - because it allows you to set a mark anywhere on the level, where you will restart if you die. This mark however, isn't written to the memory card, and if you turn the console off - you will have to start the level again next time you play. This mark has helped me get through the really long levels, because I just set it, pause the game, leave the console on and then return when I have some spare time to finish it. Obviously this is only going to work if you can keep the console on, and the poor little box got rather hot, awaiting my attentions again.

I am starting the sixth level I think, so still a way to go, but for a budget game - this really is worth it. In fact it is such a shame it has hit the bargain bin, and will no doubt be passed up as mere tat. This game deserves much better. Then again, perhaps the cheap price will give it more exposure than it would have got. If I'd have paid full price for this, I'd have been happy. Since I got it at a steal, I'm very happy.

Right, I'm off to kill something, I wonder what I should kill it with, sword, axe or club?

Diablo 2: A buxom Lady

I got wind that playing a Paladin in Diablo II is great for the early Act's but later on, it becomes increasingly difficult to progress - now this in itself won't deter me from rolling out my stainless steel clergyman, but coupled with the fact that I really fancied playing with a buxom lady archer - I conjured up an Amazonian ranger.

This blonde haired big boned beauty is fast. Swifter than a kitten with kattitude. Early on she couldn't take the smacks and blows - but as she progressed she found the perfect weapon to have did cold damage. The ability to freeze and slow down enemies was invaluable. At first she found a spear with slight cold damage, which was ok, but in close combat she was bitch-slapped to the ground before she could get enough of them iced up. So she saved up and bought a socketed hunters bow. Two blue gems later and the thing did a fair amount of cold damage with the arrows it hurled. Suddenly she turned from a very poor warrior, into a speedy ranged attacker, who could outrun the evil horde, slow them down even further and pick most of them off before they got a single swipe in. I decided I'd prefer her to be a master archer than a spear women. Although I did put a few skill points into spear abilities - just for those caught-in-the-melee moments. One of her bow skills that proved most effective was the multi-shot - enabling her to unleash an array of arrows at the same time. If she is surrounded, when clicking close to her, they splay out in a circle - slowing the menace and maybe even killing one or two of them, opening a path for her to escape. If they are charging from a particular direction in a vicious group, when clicking a medium distance away from her, they will scatter in an arc - hopefully stopping all in frozen torment. If they are at the end of a corridor, when clicking a long distance away from her, they will group together and travel in a linear direction passing through the column of victims. Beefing this skill up adds more and more arrows to the shot. Last count she had 9 arrows in one shot. The mana used to perform this trick shot also increases with every arrow. So a fine balance is needed between arrows, mana, and usage of this skill. She was draining mana too quickly at one point, and her regeneration rate was too slow to keep using this skill effectively. So, she scoured the land high and low for some chipped skulls and I managed to buy a socketed helmet, and a couple of mana rings. By fusing the skulls in the helmet it now bestows a +20% mana regeneration ability on her. I can now use the multi-shot and I gain mana quickly enough not to worry about it. She is a demon.

Lodoss Revisited

I'd just like to mention that several of the bosses in the game are DRAGONS! Although I'm not beefy enough to fight em yet AND there is a Shrimp equivalent - although there's fooking millions of em in the desert - sandworms - dune revisited. I went in at level 15 started to have a go - only to be beaten down in the blink of an eye. Later I
find out you have to be about level 70+ to take down a sand-worm. Theres ghosts, zombies, goblins, skeletons, lizards, dark elven swordsmen, preists and preistess, winged demons, Ogres, Golems, Medusas and many more characters. A veritable fantasy feast!

Theres quests/mini-quests galore! After taking about 3 hours
to level up and prepare myself for one of the boss fights that had been crippling me - I eventually beat the bastard - I mean he was torching the forests and the elves didn't like that! I get to carry his severed head around with me now - just to prove how hard I am.

Some of the spells are quite nice to use tactically - heres a tower of stone one that allows you to block mobs advances, a bonfire whichyou can land a mob on and circle around them whilst they are being burned, chopping them as they try to free themselves from the flames. The animate the dead is always useful to use a fallen mob as a tank.
Theres a one called mirror that I've used a lot against big golems who hit hard. It throws two mirror images of you so the mobs attack that and you sneak behind them at let them have it. More effective with your critical stats boosted on your oriental sword. Mainly does 150+ dmg but every now and then hits for a sweet 800+ - mobs can do this also. But there are runes and potions to nullify their critical hits.

For a hack and slash - its actually quite deep and involved and I like the way quite different tactics present themselves after you've died a couple of times..

Icewind Dale: Freezing Hard

I got Icewind Dale (IWD) bundled with Baldurs Gate II, my instinct was to install the later game first. I wanted to check out the flashier improved game. Well, the other day, in a particularly fickle mood, I installed IWD. I thought I'd give it a look-see. I'd previously been informed that IWD was more of a Dungeon Hack than the Baldur's games. More action, less plot.

The first thing to suprise me, was the fact that you have to create a whole party of six before you start the game. Performing the character generation routine six times, is a bit daunting for someone who wants to dive in. I think you can create as many characters as you like, so you could go in battling with just two or three. But to err on the side of caution I spent some time coming up with a plausible combination of adventurers. In the end, I took the characters from the anime Record of Lodoss War and created a party of six adventurers, mapping the IWD attributes to the anime as best I could. So, I have, Ghim a dwarf fighter, Parn a human Paladin, Deedlit an elven druid, Etoh a human cleric, Slayn an elven mage and Woodchuck a human theif. I don't have to spend hours coming up with the best balanced group, the anime has forced my hand.

After a bit of plot, I get to prance around a village with my Lodoss troupe and begin some of the simple quests. The graphics are not stunning. The quivering pixelated sprites really are offputting. However, the fixed backgrounds are nicely rendered and it has a rustic feel to it. I get to the shop, kit my adventurers out with slings and bows, helmets and leather armour, and off I go. The first real battle. Some naughty Goblins have become a pest just over the bridge. My team stride into battle. A single Goblin walks up to them, and promptly slays them all. This cocky fellow only takes a couple of scratches damage. Hmmmmm. Ok. Tactical rethink. I jiggle character positions, make sure the ranged attackers are protected by my two fighters. The mage right at the back. Lets try again... two men down and the Goblin is giggling at us. Finally an arrow from somewhere at the back hits him in the eye and he's down. Hmmmmmm. Am I missing something here? Two of my main group are decaying in front of me. I can see no way of resurrecting them. Do I continue with a party of 4, mainly ranged attackers and a mage in a dress? Or do I start again? Obviously, I went back to the drawing board. Either this game is way too hard for the fickle gamer, or I am missing out on something quite fundemental. Surely, the game should ease the player gently into the mechanics? Surely, your first encounter shouldn't be a complete massacre? I found that there were no scripted AI for my players. So I went through them all and selected the most appropriate AI. I saved. We tried again. This time things went well. The first Goblin was dispatched without much suffering. Although several of his mates turned up and I lost a man. They seemed determined to attack the mage in a dress. I guess because his HP was very low - unless they have a problem with cross-dressing in their Goblin world?.

Now, this is were I get confused. I have six adventurers. I laboured over their creation. I spent a good long while kitting them out, choosing the right colours (for hair, skin and clothes). Only to find the first conflict, one of them drops and I can't get him back! IS this right? In order to go into battle, I have to save the game, before, during and after a battle. Only saving if all members of my party make it! This takes a good while, and means you progress VERY VERY carefully. Maybe, later on in the game, when your party are much tougher, you can wade in and command a battle without fear of loss, but at the moment this game forces me to be way too cautious. It almost puts a dampner on the whole exploration/adventuring side to the game. I cannot venture too far without a save, or if one dies, I'll have to do it all again.

The game certainly has a lot going for it. The AD&D stuff makes it suitably complex. But the fact that each step forward has to be so cautiously made with correct use of the save game. I just can't see me sticking with it, the adventuring is not fun. I keep thinking its something I'm missing. Like there is a resurrect spell or potion that allows you to progress, take casualties, but recover the party. If there isn't then its a game where the icewind doth blow through the fun.

Neverwinter Days

With E3 just a vague memory, I am still in a state of school-girl anticipation about Bioware's Neverwinter Nights. This game is set to take the world of fantasy gaming and flip it onto a higher level.

The game boasts a true 3d environment, beautiful light and spell effects, mulitplayer connectivity, but most importantly - the toolset to build your very own adventures! You become the Dungeon Master. You design the levels. You create the quests, the NPC's, the dialogue, the mob behaviour, everything! The game comes with server software, allowing your friends to connect up and play through your adventure. The DM can even jump into a current game and take over mobs and affect the flow of the game.

Bioware guru Trent Oster promises a fulfilling single player game. However, the real power will be in the homebrew adventures and scenarios developed by the gaming public and made available for download. The game will have the same developers toolset bundled with it - that the original Bioware team used to create the single player game. Models, maps, textures, scripts, everything! They will even include a wizard application that will code up 90% of a game from the choices made. They claim a newbie could get up and running with their own world in about an hour.

There are already teams of like minded gamers, collecting together, preparing to develop online persistant worlds. Imagine a luxurious version of Diablo that is truely customisable and can develop into a full blown massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). Admittedly the 'massiveness' would depend on the power of the server running it. But the game gives you several experiences in one bundle. Single player, additional scenarios for download, multiplayer (with additional scenarios), plus the ability to run persistant multiplayer worlds.

I just hope the dream comes true. Mark my words, Neverwinter Nights will be BIG! I'm just off to wipe the expectant drool off my chin. It should be with us by November 2001 - although Bioware have stated that it will only be released if it is ready. Please make it soon.

Nox Rox

After a week of torture at work. It was time to take the Saturday morning trip into town and ferret through the gaming bargain bins of Game, EB, HMV, Virgin etc. Most of the time I come away with tat that I'd wish not splashed even a little coinage on. But every now and then, up pops a real gem. And it's this 'panning for gold' excitement that keeps me coming back for more.

If you don't know by now, I am currently in the throws of an RPG fetish. Not the japanese kind - which is kinda odd for me. More the top-down isometric kind. Diablo. And it's variants. Well, the shining jewel that fell into my lap this weekend is Westwood Studios Nox. A game I'd mulled over many moons ago when it first hit the shelves. In fact I remember making the decision to buy Bioware's Planescape Torment over Nox at the time. From the tiny screenshots on the box - it could be Diablo, it could be Balders Gate - but the price belittles its value. I picked it up for £9.99 at Game. There were about 6 copies on the shelf. They obviously couldn't give the thing away! In fact the game has become so 'budget' that the online retailers are flogging it for £7.99, £6.99 and one even has it at £5.99! They are all out of stock though.

I didn't expect much from the game. I thought I'd give it an hour or so, see how it compares with DiabloII and Balders and if it is utter rubbish, I wouldn't waste any more effort on it. At that price though, you don't mind backing a 'maybe'.

I was really surprised to see how polished a game it was. In fact on presentation alone, I'd have said it stands well above Diablo II - the market standard. The controls seem much more intuitive. Making a clear distinction between clicking to attack and clicking to move somewhere. Something Diablo II likes to blur. There are three classes, warrior, conjurer, or wizard. For me the choice was simple. I need to be able to charm creatures. I have an affinity for RPG pets. Perhaps its my mothering instinct? I was pleased to find you can charm up to 4 nasties and have them stomp around as your minions. There is also a cool level of control over these guys - you can tell them en masse to escort you, to guard a particluar place or you can banish them from the game altogether. However, you can also exert this level of control individually. The number of charmed creatures varies depending on the size of the beasts. Some of the big Trolls takes up two charm slots, whereas spiders and urchins only take one slot each. It does mean a conjurer can have a party following him around that include ranged attacking spiders and fire spitting imps alongside beefy bashing trolls or poision stinging scorpions. So a party can be tweaked for next mob you need to take out. The spells are plenty and there are spell banks which are hot-keyed for your pleasure. Making spell casting and management very easy indeed. Another nice touch is that new equipment make your character look totally different, not just the token gesture of a change.

The dungeon layouts are nicely designed, not too sprawling, not too easy. They have multiple floors, and your minions use the lifts - which is nice. Although some are as daft as a brush when it comes to using the lifts. On the whole the learning curve is gentle, the quests reveal the plot slowly, and they give you something to follow - they may be classed as too linear - but often I like a game to direct me the first time I play it. Once I'm in full swing - then I don't mind if it gives me free reign to pick and choose quests. Saving regularly is always a good thing. There are some subtleties in play with the conjurer and his party that you may not get if you are a lone axe weilding warrior. One quests has you seeking out prisoners held in the Mana mines. The last of which are held by six very gruesome and poisonous scorpions. The entrance to the room where the prisoners are kept is covered in barrels of 'XXX' stuff that seems highly flammable. With my party of fire breathing imps - it was apparent that I get them to guard the entrance to this room. I run in, attract the scorpions out, leg it over to where my imps are waiting - using them as an impish sheild - and when the scorpions populate the room with the 'XXX' barrels, I let fly one of my flaming arrows into the barrels and cause an almighty flame burst which toasts the scorpions to a crisp crunch. If the scorpions had've made it to the imps then their volley of flame balls should've ignited the barrels anyway (my belts and braces approach to that problem). Well, it all went smoothly, and the stingers scorched (although that was my fourth attempt at the plan). These minor tactical twists really do enhance the game for me. Ploughing through the charm and slash of most battles - there is a sweet moment - every now and then - when it all comes together.

As I plough deeper and deeper into the game, I will reveal more about the ups and downs. But clearly, Nox is a winner at that price. So if you're stuck for a game to try - don't forget there may be a small nugget of gold hidden in that muck at the bottom of the bargain bin.

http://westwood.ea.com/games/nox/main_f.html

http://wecometoplay.com/nox/

Slow and Rhythmic

You could easily romp through Diablo II and slice, shoot and zap your way through the dungeons, faster than a stamina pumped gladiator on roller skates. To complete most of the quests there is no need to explore too deeply or battle with every mob you come across. This certainly holds true for the single player offline game. However, if you intend to battle online, co-operatively, then it is essential for you keep the pace steady and constant. The game mechanics seem to be geared towards like-levelled adventurers, who complete the quests one-by-one, side-by-side. If there is a quest mis-match between players, then the player who has completed more will not be able to take an involved part in the earlier ones. He can accompany the other player and kill the mobs, but none of the story or questing items will be available to him. He will either become bored of treading old quests, or will try and hurry the other players along by killing mobs before them, thus reducing the enjoyment of the other players. Group experience points are also shared out unequally depending upon level, a higher level character will always suck more experience from a battle than the lower ones. So it makes sense to play online, with similarly levelled characters, who have acheived the same level of questing.

In fact, this is what myself and Pinwig are doing. We play Diablo II as a password protected online game logged onto Open Battle.net - we can take our time with each quest, enjoy the delights of scenery and mood, really indulge ourselves in the story line, yet remain at the same level so neither of us become tired or impatient. It does take some discipline, because the Open Battle.net game allows you to play that character online AND offline. We must abstain from offline play to retain our similar status. Another benefit is that the quests seem to take around 2 to 3 hours to complete. Bitesize time chunks that fit into our hectic real-life schedules. So we'll still be plodding through the original Diablo II, when the new expansion is released. At least this assures the games longevity and adds to our online gaming. Us old timers like it slow and rhythmic.

Kuri Kuri

Kuri Kuri Mix - It's okay. Nothing stunning.
Puzzle/Platformer. With two mad jap bunnies. As a single player it is tricky, you control the left hand bunny with the left analogue stick & L1/L2 buttons. And the right bunny with the right analogue stick and R1/R2 buttons. In order to progress through the forward scrolling level, the left and right bunnies have to interact, pushing buttons on the right to drop gangways on the left, pulling chains or levers on left to hold a snapping gator or drain a pool on the right... and so on.

The game shines in the two player co-op mode, but it will have you shouting at your partner for leaving you in the lurch. Theres a time limit and you keep this at bay by collecting clocks, there are also time penalties for bumping into dangerous things or falling down a hole/into water. So it all has to be fast furious and well timed by
both partners. My Missus likes it, but the level of frustration gets so high we can end up in a slanging match, each blaming the other.

So its a pissed up party game, I'd have said, rather than a long play winner.

Not sure its worth the cash even now. We have only played it for a couple of hours. And the Missus isn't screaming for more punishment.

American Beauty

This film can change your life.

This film is so much more than just another Hollywood Blockbuster.

Forget the Speilberg involvement.

Forget the cheesey American sitcom trailers.

This film explores the fundamental psyche of modern man.

Nothing is left untouched. Love, Death, Hate, Sex, Gay, Drugs, Murder, Masturbation, Success, Power, Life and quality of life.

The most memorable moment for me is not the comic relief. It's not even the death scene, or the suggested Gay scenes. The most memorable moment is the plastic bag scene. Yep. Plastic Bag. A plastic bag is whirlwinding around on screen. Following the currents of air in a late August blustery street. To-ing and fro-ing, dancing amongst the windswept leaves. And the movie suggests that all is pre-ordaned. That there is a more powerful force controlling the seasons, making the bag move. Making beauty out of the bags movement. It was like watching Swan Lake.

There is SO much beauty in the world, but we don't appreciate it. We don't give the simple things credit, we tend to focus on the negative, and labour over the hardship no matter how trivial or major that may be.

This film is dangerous. It is a true tap into the human condition. It shrouds itself in comedy and sex, but it is at the deepest core of the human psyche. I watch it only as often as my spirit can take.

Perhaps the film relies on sympathy for the main character Lester? If so, then I guess it is banking on a whole gaggle of thirty somethings finding solstice in Lesters plight. So, it may not have the younger generation appeal. But, they have certainly tapped direct into the middle-aged, stuck in a rut, feverishly addicted to youth, folk like me.
If ever I sympathised with a character then Lester is it. The drug dealing, life capturing, neighbour acts as a disciple for God. We are shown how beautiful the world is in every frame that he captures. We are shown how fragile and shallow everyday life can be. Everything we value tends to be linked to some act of defiance, or unconventional act. Yet, in our middle-aged years we strive for conformity.

Again, I will stress that this film is dangerous. If you have any remote sense of appreciation for the beautiful things in life, then your materialistic, capitalistic world will be under threat.

I once remember saying to my Dad that I didn't want to join the 'rat-race' - Instead I wanted to appreciate the beauties of life and living and loving and then die under a pile of leaves in a beautiful green forest. My naive cravings have not subsided alongside my desire for wealth and comfort in my later years. I still believe in what I proclaimed to my father, but my family committements render my "childish notions" obsolete. However, this film will re-kindle any desires you once had to fight back, and throw away the shackles of modern life. Reveal what shallow story it tells.

This film is life changing. Only watch it when balanced and ready for it.

If you want to watch something approaching biblical proportions then buy this film. If you want a shallow Hollywood sit-com then think again.

Shuffle My World Again

I must admit, I have been captured by the action & adventure of Diablo II. Even with its blocky character graphics (compared to the silky smooth DC Lodoss graphics), there is something nice about the way the landscape scrolls by as you run to your next killing assignment.

The quests are nicely done, presented to you by an NPC in the starting village. The "open-space" battling zones seem to have their contents shuffled randomly each time you enter the game. Which keeps the travelling fresh. It does mean you have to explore each zone again, to find the exact location of particular landmarks. This can only add to the replayability. There are portals that can be found in each zone, where you can teleport to and from your encampment. Once you have discovered and activated a portal, it is available for all subsequent games - which saves on boot leather. The dungeon zones are set in stone, and don't jiggle about. Most of the dungeons are where the big bosses live - which is only right and proper. There a mini-bosses dotted around the landscape, these named mobs are often tougher than their minions, with particular strengths that need to be overcome. I like these. However, they never seem to deliver much in the way of special items, once you've craved them up.

One quest sees you battle a huge pink minotaur called 'The Smithy' in order to steal back the magical hammer. On returning the hammer to the camp blacksmith, she will imbue one of your standard weapons with 1 to 5 magical powers. Making your plain old long sword into a demon of a blade. This sort of thing excites me the most. Transforming something tatty into something you cannot battle without. The single imbue is only offered once in the whole game, which is a shame. Building this into some more quests would spice up the game no end.

The limited inventory slots forces you into making bug decisions about which weapons to use. Specialising in one or two is preferred. It does mean that sometimes a weapon you've trusted and repaired many times - may have to be sold in the cold light of day - just to afford you the luxury of trying out a different form of attack.

Back to the Grindstone

Everquest has been described as an "Endurance Test". This is true. Levelling up can be very hard work, and extremely time consuming. In fact, it is for this reason, that I have abstained from EQ for a number of months. My EQ gaming was also put on hold due to the arrival of Phantasy Star Online for the Dreamcast.

Well, I am desperately trying to find reasons for me to continue with Everquest. The characters I have are all level 20 or lower. I would like to get them higher - but this involves vast amounts of playing time - and without new places to go and explore or new mobs to kill - it just becomes tedious.

The worst of it is that you have to battle for the mobs that do spawn. Most of them are camped, particularly when playing at peak times. This is not fun. Not only is it painfully slow to make progress with a character, but now your progress is made even slower due to the sheer numbers of people online.

I enjoyed Everquest because it gave you a 3d environment in a fantasy setting to explore worlds and battle creatures in a team. The pioneer spirit that once spurred me to put in 3 and 4 hours at a time, has dwindled. In fact the game is so slow in making progress that 3 to 4 hours are just not enough! The higher your character the more difficult the progression becomes. Now verant might argue that this is to make the game suitably challenging and gives a dedicated player something to aim for. The truth is probably to keep your monthly paying userbase from completing the game and moving on. Apart from the *real* die-hards, most people just haven't got the time necessary to invest in their characters to gain high levels.

Perhaps I will go back and find the servers have quitened down enough for my character to progress. Perhaps the new expansions planned will draw characters away to new lands whilst those long-sufferers of camped mobs can get a sword or arrow in edge-ways. Perhaps I'll deliberate about playing the game again for another month and Verant can have some more of my money, for free, just to keep my characters alive.

Quest for Questing

I am on a roll at the moment. A swords and sorcery kick. I've become totally fixated with a particular genre of gaming and I am wantonly sucking up all alternatives until I am spent.

I think the main cause for this wanderlust is Phantasy Star Online. The game combines both action and roleplay in a very addictive format. I must've clocked well over 200 hours on that game, by far the most I've spent on any game EVER!

Lodoss kicked me into a beserker frenzy, which forced a Baldurs Gate II and Icewind Dale purchase, this then lead me to Diablo II on the cheap, which seems to be directing me towards Ultima Online. I know I should take a deep breath and play games currently purchased, through to their logical conclusion - but my lust for new thrills is just too strong. The only thing stopping me from sweeping up all vaguely related D&D products is the fact that I simply can't afford to.

I can't seem to focus on the traditional Japanese RPG's like I normally do. I want action based isometric's and I want them now! Keep your Grandia II and your Skies of Arcadia - give me action and give me roleplay - but make sure theres plenty of action.

So as I twitch here in my chair and wonder what road shall be next, the elven path to Ultima Online? or the dwarven cave back to Everquest? please spare a heal for a very sick man. A tortured addict. An aging gamer.

Dazed and Confused

Online gaming sux0rs! The trouble with online gaming is that the game mechanics rely on the gamers being mature adults and wanting a good gaming experience out of it. The truth is, the online gaming world is populated largely by insecure over-confident and over-explicit teenagers. For someone who takes his gaming very seriously, I enjoy being immersed in a world where fantasy becomes reality. It's the ultimate escapism and it really does give a higher buzz than most other toxic substances. However, the best buzz, is often found when playing alongside "real people", in these fantasy worlds. Mainly because their actions are not dictated by a particular algorithm or routine. The most unfortunate thing is that along with "real people" come the disruptive/corrupt element of society and online gaming seems to afford them anonymity and the courage to be complete assholes! They will actively ruin a particular games mechanics - if they think it boosts their ego - or if they can brag about it online to other players. They will hinder and spoil any game in progress, and actively try to scupper other players for the sadistic pleasure gained.

Most of the disruptive gamers tend to be adolescent schoolboys. Where games cross continental boundaries - racism oftens plays a big part in the disruption. These teenagers should be stopped! Maybe the only way to do so is to apply a pay-per-play system so that you have to have enough money to play - to invest time and effort reaping the rewards from a game? I dunno?

Phantasy Star Online has been scuppered with Gameshark cheaters, dupers and theives. Other games such as Tribes and Diablo/Diablo II are plagued with scriptkiddies, character hackers and just plain childish behaviour!

What can we do about this?

Online gaming is where the ultimate thrill is at - it is also where most of the socially inadequate toss-pots hang out.

I want to achieve the "Nirvana" that can be online gaming, I wish there was some way to filter out the spoilers, cheaters and hacks and just allow in the serious, polite, and non-cheating adults.

Perhaps, the only way is to establish an online community of people you can trust and then set up each game you play as password protected. What a sad reflection on the gaming community. But, I suppose gaming IS associated with adolescence and therefore the majority of gamers are maybe not mature enough to handle online communication. I hope to see more online games with closed mechanisms to keep the disruptive rabble out. Long live the password protected game!

Swords and Sorcery

Although I have played Diablo before on both PC and Playstation format. It has taken me a while to get round to trying out the second installement in this hack n slash extravaganza. I was directed to Diablo II by my current passion for Record of Lodoss War. It seems once a game really impresses me I have to seek out other games in a similar genre to fully appreciate the scope of variety on offer. This quest often goes cross platform. And Lodoss, led to Baldurs Gate II and now Diablo II.

I must say, this product is extremely polished. I suppose I should expect that coming from Blizzard. But stepping across the puddle blood from Biowares Baldurs Gate II to Diablo II the difference is quite noticeable. The game installed without a hitch. The FMV was of much better quality, sharper, clearer - quite stunning actually. The in-game graphics are larger and much more pleasing to the eye. The player-control mechanism, battling and spellcasting mechanism fits comfortably and is almost transparent - without reading the manual or having a led-by-the-hand tutorial. You can basically get on with the questing minutes after the game is installed without havig to wrestle with the interface to your avatar.

I'm not trying to take anything away from Baldurs Gate II as it is undoubtedly much more complex in nature (following AD&D rules and taking party based combat) but Diablo II is RPG killing for the masses. Baldurs Gate II is RPG killing for the hardcore stats and dice folk.

Shenmue: I am Japanese!

Shenmue is a game that you will either love or hate - there'll be no middle ground. You are submerged in an *almost* real-time japanese town. You have to chat with the folk living there to try and find out who murdered your father and seek your revenge. The game progresses in daily cycles. In the morning, its bright and chirpy. At lunchtime everyone goes and gets some grub. Evening time settles in and the you can be dazzled by the neon twinkling through the dusk. Weather changes too! People open shop and close shop at the appropriate times indicated on the front of their shop! If you ever wanted to go to a small japanese town and mull around for a while then this game is for you. You can spend all your time and your savings on the toys dispensed from a street corner vending machine, you gotta collect 'em all! Or you can spend all your time and savings in the games arcade playing button-bashing boxing or other retro favourites. Or you can follow the story plot through and investigate the murder. The plotline information is served up by various characters giving you snippets of information. Invariably the key character to further the plot will be found at a certain place, at a certain time. You can idle until then. In the games arcade. As all gamers probably would in real life.

ZOE: Eva Substitute

From the moment I booted this game up, I just knew I would fall in love with it. From the haunting music that greets you to the visual feast that is served up as anime-rendered FMV. The two things that tugged at my gaming heart strings were, you get the opportunity to pilot a mechanised frame and you can swoop gracefully around urban landscapes unleashing your destructive cargo - in the most elegant way. It almost seems as if each battle was a carefully choreographed ballet.

The similarities between ZOE and the anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion, are evident throughout. Both are stories are about a tormented unwilling pilot with an unfortunate gift from mechanised combat. For a long term fan of the anime, this game is a wet dream.

The game is only let down by the fact that it is quite short. Even with my sloth-paced gaming approach I only clocked 9 hours or so to complete it.

http://www.zoneofenders.com/

Opening the Baldurs Book a little Wider

This game comes and goes, it hooks me in, the storyline is suitably complex and interesting, there are plenty of skill/ability tweaks to play with, however I'm turned cold by a party control mechanism that is fiddly in combat and a click-heavy inventory system. The whole world does capture your imagination, and you do get a sense of how big and complex the story can get. The sheer number of townsfolk who want your help to begin can be overwhelming. I'm used to one quest at a time, not a request for three different ones from people in the same inn! As I play through some of the refinements to the game shine through, the ability to assign and script up different AI for each of your party members still leaves me impressed. Sometimes it takes a couple of party wipeouts to fix in your mind the correct AI needed for you raggle-taggle group to gel together as a mean fighting machine. The wealth of different spells can amaze and bewilder at the same time. Hard study is required if you are to master the spellcasting in Baldurs Gate II. I wish the character graphics were a little more defined and solid. The backgrounds are superb, obviously labors of love. But the characters are too sketchy when that small. There is also no fluidity to their movement - like wooden dolls clip-clopping around awkwardly. I guess I have been spoilt by the beauty that is Record of Lodoss War for the DC - but I just expected more from the PC title. They give you workable representations of your party, the spells and other effects are not all that spectacular - but as long as get the general idea of fantasy combat and spell casting then they serve their purpose too. There is a lot of dialogue. Maybe too much. I find (when I'm getting tired) that I skim over the several options you have in reply to a lengthy question. And I just try to pick one that seems most appropriate. There is some humour wrapped up in the dialogue that will catch you unawares. Although I'm not so sure about the 'trick' questions that are sometimes used to make sure you are still awake when answering. I suppose, given the epic nature of the game, you should immerse yourself as fully as you can, reading absolutely everything so that you can capture the atmosphere of the game, the way Bioware intended.

The more I play the game, the more I'm pleasantly surprised by further revelations in both story and interface. The ability to save often is very much welcomed. Especially for a gamer like me who likes to try several approaches - just to see if I can get away with it.

Baldurdash

"My first venture into Biowares epic. I was undecided as to where to start - do I go for the original Baldurs and begi my quest at the start? or do I jump in with the latest version and see if it floats my boat? There also is the niggling doubt that I have previously dabbled with Planescape Torment, having shrugged it aside when I found the going too tough, will Baldurs be any different?

I opted for Baldurs Gate II. Mainly because the collectors edition included a T-shirt. Also, I thought I may as well appreciate the latest and greatest, rather than my view be tainted with an older less sophisticated product. So, I uninstalled Black & White to make room for the extremely large install. At first I could not believe the full install wanted nearly 2.5Gb!!! I bit the bullet, and cleared up some vidcap stuff from my overburdened hard disk. After the install, a lengthy operation involving four CD's, I darkened the room and started it up. I thought I would pay my respects and run through the tutorial, since I hadn't the patience to read the manual. My initial reaction was one of disappointment. Mainly because I was expecting cleaner, crisper graphics with much more detail and definition. Still, I soldiered on, blaming my high expectations on a gluttony of super slick Dreamcast console graphics. I was just getting the hang of various simple tasks, when I noticed something odd. I could not successfully cast a spell, without taking too long. Moving the character became a chore in itself. One of the action buttons, usually turning the undead, or guarding another started to rapidly flick on and off! There was nothing I could do to control or stop it. The constant activation prevented access to the spell list sub-menu, and movement required at least three or four clicks for the command to take hold. I checked all the settings. I tried saving and loading the game. I even tried several different characters. All had the same problem, after a few seconds with a single character selected, this insane button twinkling began! I presumed it was a mouse problem. My Microsoft Optical Intellimouse had served me well over the past year or so.. but it was USB - so I thought I'd try a bog standard serial one. No change. I unhooked the USB hub altogether. No change. Ok, manual time. The message was loud and clear. INSTALL THE LATEST GRAPHICS DRIVERS!!

Before I chanced my arm, I'd bought Icewind Dale (another Bioware RPG romp) at the same time - so I thought I'd give that a look-see. Since Icewind and Baldurs use the same Infinity Engine, not surprisingly, Icewind was struck with the same ""flickery affliction"".

I downloaded the new ATi drivers, spent an eternity going through the complex ritual of exorcising my machine of its previous graphics drivers and installing the new ones. It was recommended that you re-install Baldurs. A man could grow old whilst waiting to play this game.

Started her up. New character, no tutorial. Same old flicker. I've spent 50 quid on two Bioware games, a whole night installing, configuring and re-installing - with about 15 minutes play on the tutorial. My first real quest began. To try and get this game to work.

I scoured the 'net for anything and everything I could find about the problem. I stumbled upon a posting on the Black Isle ""official"" Icewind Dale messageboards, it had the topic ""Annoying Problem"". Basically several folk had exactly the same problem, all the Bioware games suffer from it, except Planescape Torment. But no-one including the Black Isle Studios moderators could offer any advice other than... INSTALL THE LATEST GRAPHICS DRIVERS or TRY A LOWER GRAPHICS SETTING (disable OpenGL/3d acceleration). It was obvious several folk were frustrated by this problem, the game almost works... but this small nagging gripe renders the whole game (all 2.5Gb of it) unplayable. I was convinced the problem must be my USB mouse. I was blinkered. I began removing the drivers for some of my other USB peripherals. Luckily, the first one I uninstalled was my Cardport Swift Smartmedia card reader, for my digital camera. Removed the card reader from the USB hub, rebooted and tried Baldurs. It was fixed! No flicker! My mouse was free of blame.

Now in total it took me a good three nights to get to this point. My love of gaming was the only thing preventing me from marching back to GAME with Baldurs and Icewind and getting a DC/PS2 replacement. This episode just re-inforced my decision to play console games. Anyway, the problem and solution is logged on their message boards. The majority of people who posted to that thread had similar card reading devices and can now play the game. I feel I did my bit, and it was something of an acheivement. My first quest over, my reward, to take on my next quest in-game…"

Addicted to Lodoss

"Did I mention Lodoss was brilliant?

Good session today, took on the Giant Zombie King. Rooms full of headless walkers swarming around me, my two-handed Falks blade not making much progress into their hp. Chugged down half of my green fluid keeping me alive whilst downing a medium ogre guard with a combination of slashing at entrance of door and setting bonfires in corridor. Anyway, a swift re-animate to bring his lifeless corpse back under my persuasion. And I'm using him as an ogre-shield whilst he pounds the headless fodder with his pike. I still need to slash at their tails because there smackdown attack makes even this ogre fall flat on his arse at times. Using this heal and shield technique I clear the two main headless rooms.

We head off (pun intended) into the main Zombie King room. Now this is where my ogre friend meets his fellow ogres. He has a tough time. I cannot get deep enough into the room to help with slashing - without losing most of my hp and landing on my arse. We put up a brave fight, but I simply haven't got enough juice to keep him healed. Out pops three large ogres with mallets as big as me. Slamming them onto the ground causes visible shock waves that renders anyone close by useless (and on their arse!). My ogre bud is history. And I am followed into the corridor mallets smashing at my heels. I last only a moment longer to hear to whistle of the air expire from my lungs as the mallet crushes my chest. I tried varying tactics, my main goal was to get one of these mallet wielding maniacs under my spell. But my juice was loose. And the pounding was too much for any mob I could animate. Four attempts. Four crushings.

I went back to my smithy, to discuss the problem. He reminded me of a rune I'd got early on, that I'd not taken much notice in. Holy Photon I believe it is called. Seems its got a range attack, one that is good on undead and demons. So I spend a little mithril and my oriental gets a new engraving. This is my pride and joy very expensive oriental sword that has high chance of a critical hit! The range attack allows me to charge the sword, and direct a beam of light-based missile shards towards an enemy. So pulsing these things down the corridors is ideal. Flash a few, animate an ogre. Now he pounds em at the door, I'm at the back firing light-beams - and they are doing considerable damage, not only that but they also heal any animated mobs that they pass through! And I'm not using any magic points for this! It was precarious at first to get the aiming right, but this proved a valuable tactic for taking those ogres and zombies in the final room. In fact, it worked so good that I managed to re-animate a mallet pounding ogre! He was still taking a hell of a beating. My juice was still in short supply - but by carefully positioning myself behind the pounders, my mallet ogre took all the flak, and in fact was doing NO damage himself (he was on his arse all the time). I could burst my light through them doing about 600 dmg at a time, whilst healing my ogre with 200 hp. It took what seemed like an eternity to dispatch them this way - but the tactic paid off in the end.

After all this needless banter, it was to just highlight how involved and surprising some of the tactics can be. With the weapon/armour tweaks and the various attack and defence spells, not to mention the clever use of a re-animated patsy, this seemingly tedious diablo-hack-and-slash-clone hasn't ceased to amaze me. I'm level 20 with 12 hours on the clock. I've seen my first dragon, although I'm in no shape to take any on.

Did I mention Lodoss is a cracking game?"