We’re Gonna Die as Hard as We Can

Possibly only men could understand how awesome this is. (Sorry, Live-D!)

Apologies for yet another post by me only containing a youtube video. I’m not sure whether it’s because I’m lazy or that I subconsciously want to turn this into one of those awful blogs that only posts Youtube videos. Possibly both, or maybe the first leading to the second, in some kind of sick downwards mental slide of depravity. Again, my apologies, but I can no more resist it as I can resist an avalanche, or a free issue of playboy.

Who else is looking forward to “Die Hard 4.0″? Or, as I call it – by its much better American title – “Live Free or Die Hard”.

WoW Arena

Originally posted on Nobody Reads This.

Well the European leg of the Arena Tournament has just recently started and I think its about time I reflected on exactly what I think of the new wave of PvP.

I remember when I first joined WoW it was all about AV and getting that Unstoppable Force but it was rife with problems. To this day the Alliance have a Terrain Advantage over the Horde in AV, but PvP was just all about Class Balance.

With TBC came Arenas, small 2v2, 3v3 or 5v5 Skirmishes. Short and to the point.

However, it comes with its own inherent problems. Terrain whores leave you feeling cheated … Mass Dispell can wipe out all your Cooldowns … Teams without healers are at a massive disadvantage … But the biggest problem of all – CC.

More specifically Fear is the biggest problem, the single most lethal class in the Arena is the Warlock. Let me tell you how it goes;

> Battle Starts
> You close in on the Warlock
> He Dots you
> He Fears you
> You Trinket out of it
> He Fears you
> He Fears you
> He Re-Dots you
> He uses Deathcoil
> He Fears you
> You Die.

Fear is renewable, has a low cast time and they even have two kinds of it. Oh and did I mention that a few patches ago they made it extremely resistant to breaking via Dots? Yep.

The second most imba Character class is the Holy Pally, they have the effeciency to heal constantly, the ability to make themselves completely immune to your Attacks, they have 100% Resistance to Spell Interrupt and they have CC.

Sadly this is very much all the Arena is, a CC battle, which is disappointing for me (a Shaman with -Zero- CC) and thus you have lots of Gladiator Equipped Warlocks and Paladins running around … and virtually no Shaman.

I can only hope in the future Blizzard do something to remedy the CC problem, making them all weaker in PvP … They took out the “Heartbeat” thing a few patches ago and replaced it with something which reduces how long CC lasts with every use … But this doesn’t apply to Fear.

In Summary; I wish I rolled Warlock.

James.

Live-D wrote his last article for us and we Thank him for his time

In his place we Welcome Dachande! Woo! We look forward to his first article.

Ghost in the Shell

Website

Ghost in the Shell is one of those long running manga series that everyone in the loop knows all about, and anyone who hasn’t been interested in manga probably hasn’t even heard of. I myself do like GitS, but I don’t consider myself to be a proper fan. Here is my list of GitS productions that I know about.

Films:
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

The GitS films are very different, both from eachother and from anything else you’ve ever seen. I recommend seeing the first one, although the secong one is a bit trying, I don’t think you should watch it if you don’t really like GitS. I don’t want to give any of the plot away, so I won’t discuss that here. The shortcomings for both is that they have very complicated stories, and first time watchers might find the concepts intoduced a little hard to digest. The voice acting is quite good, but sometimes the characters (especially Batou, Aramaki and The Major) sound like they are reading, although this might be intended because they have electronic bodies and thus eletronic voice-boxes.

TV Series:
Ghost in the shell: Stand Alone Complex
Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG

I have only seen the fist half of the first series, but I consider the S.A.C. episodes to be better than the films. They have more action, attractive and vibrant art, and good characterisation. The Major and Batou both seem more interesting, funny and happy in the series than they do in the flims, which is refreshing, and there are other additional characters like Saito which further liven things up. The series just seem to have more character than the films, and are not bogged down with so much philosophy. I hate the Tachikomas.

Games:
Ghost in the Shell (Playstation)
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (PS2)

I only had the demo of the PS1 game, so I can’t really talk about that. It seemed pretty good, but I do remember it being quite tricky to come to terms with. I do on the other hand own the PS2 game, so I can talk about that one. Although it’s called S.A.C., it doesn’t really have anything to do with the TV series other than the characters. I would go into the plot but I really have no idea what the game is about; which is my only real complaint: the story is way too difficult to follow and the player has almost no idea why they are doing what they are beign told to do. It has something to do with terrorists and micro-machine rice (?) but it’s just too complicated and weird.
The game itself though is fine. Graphically it’s pretty good and looks quite like the cartoon series (it’s not cell-shaded), I think it has voices from the series too. The levels are varied and fun, and there are 2 playable characters to choose from (plus more once you’ve completed the game). The melee system is basic but fun, and the multiplayer is pretty average.

So that’s Ghost in the Shell. Overall, I reccomend watching the first film and the TV series. If you like what you see, play the game and watch the second movie, it’s up to you what you think about those.

Live-D

You might enjoy the GitS game, but here’s a REAL computer game.

Transformers: The Videogame

Transformers

I’m talking about the video game here, the one for PS2. Since there’s a new game coming out next month for the film (and it looks pretty good to me), I thought I better get this self-titled game out of the way before all the hype kills the old, good looking Trannys.

One million years ago (when browser based games were still good), the Minicons escape Cybertron. I don’t know why they were fleeing. The game then goes to present day, where Megatron is taking over Cybertron, and kicking Optimus Prime’s arse. Suddenly, when Prime looks like he’s about to lose, a hologram appears, telling both Megatron and Optimus that the Minicons have landed on Earth. They both cease fighting immediately to watch the short film, and straight after Optimus escapes, and taking Red Alert and Hot Shot, the three flee to Earth. They arrive on Earth instantly, even though it took the Minicons a million years to get there. And that’s basically the storyline: collect all the Minicons before the Decepticons do, so that Megatron cannot use their power to become even stronger.

Now, the story does seem a bit crap, and it soon degenerates to: Get to the end of the level and kill the Decepticon there. However, despite this it’s still a really fun game.

You soon find out, if you didn’t already know, that Minicons are actually tiny Transformers who will work loyally for whoever finds them first. As you move through the (pretty well rendered) levels, you will come across Minicons and Datacons (After the first level you also have a Minicon partner depending on your character, which will fight with you and can allow you to go into a kind of Max Payne ‘focus mode’). The Minicons you find can be used to upgrade your transformer, my favourite ones being the stealth, the wings, the sniper rifle and the grenade launcher, while the Datacons will unlock special features, such as comics to read or music to listen to. You can pick from Red Alert, Optimus Prime or Hot Shot to play as, each with their own attributes. Only three Autobots might seem crap, but I think it’s good that you even have the option to choose different characters.

Gameplay wise, it’s pretty fun all round. Different Minicon combinations allow totally different play styles, and the ability to transform at will is always fun. Melee is also supported by the combat system (and there are Minicons for it), so there really is something for everyone. The boss fights are varied and fun, my favourite being Tidal Wave, a huge Decepticon whose only weak point is his head (and he transforms into a full sized aircraft carrier, which serves as the level before the boss fight). The regular enemies are also quite varied, and even the standard Decepticlone foot soldiers receive upgrades throughout the game to make them tougher, including hand grenades and Halo-like energy shields.

The graphics are quite good, and sometimes a motion blur has to be used to hide the fact that the PS2 can’t keep up. When you get near an enemy, the vivid colourings and the style of rendering still manage to make them look like they did in the cartoon, yet the levels have a very serious and broody feel to them. The game also has Rag Doll, which it makes full use of (it’s funny shooting a heat-seeker at Starscream and then watch him plummet towards the ground, arms flailing). The landscapes are very varied, and the game has you visiting the jungle, a blizzard-covered arctic circle, and even a tropical island. There are always areas in the levels that are unnecessary, but have Mini/Datacons, just so those of us who like to explore don’t feel so trapped.

Overall, I am very happy with the Transformers game, and I’ve done it on all three difficulty settings just because I enjoy it so much. The only disadvantage is that it is sometimes very hard indeed, and if I could make a change I would give the player the ability to duck and roll, since they need to make use of cover so often (It’s also frustrating to see Decepticlones rolling out of the way of your grenades, knowing full well that you can’t). I recommend that anyone who doesn’t hate transformers at least gives this game a try; you can enjoy it even if you have no idea what a Tranny is.

Live-D

Half-Post

Originally Posted on Nobody Reads This.

Was going to write a Big Article about how I enjoy Indie Games more than the Pro-release ones these days.

But fuck it. I’m not feeling well. Heres some fun links instead:

Battleships Forever -
Classically Inspired Spaceship Combat Game. Get the Editor to for tons of fun!

Dward Fortress -
So complicated it’ll make your eyes water … but there is so much satisfaction to be had.

Ant Attack 3D -
Inspired by the Classic, see if you can save the Damsel and defeat those pesky Ants!

Google Fight -
The one place in the Universe where Chuck Norris can actually lose.

Nihilum vs Illidan Stormrage -
In case you wanted to know what End-game WoW looked like for yourself. (Warning, long)

Chewin’ the Cud -
A Blog by one of my favourite WoW Animators Oxhorn. Check out his YouTube Profile for his stuff.

If you know of any good Indie Games or Entertaining websites or funny videos, let me know! ^_^

Also Thanks to Icefox & Live-D for their Contributions, remember, if you’re interested in submitting content then get in touch! All work considered!

James.

Ps. The Video is also by OxHorn, great stuff. Real Cow <3.

On the running of shadows

Originally posted on Diary of a pr0 gamer

A futuristic fantasy FPS? It’s certainly a fresh concept. The intro sequence to Shadowrun explains it perfectly and concisely: The rules of combat just changed. We see a guy picked off by a sniper, only for his teammate to glide in on wings and ressurect him before they run off together. (See it here)
This pretty much sums up Shadowrun. With a wide range of futuristic tecnology combined with various ancient magics, nothing is ever a certainty. Think you’ve got that elf finished off? Watch him turn to smoke and run off to regenerate. It really throws a spanner into the works of normal tactics.
Instead we see a whole new host of tactics best suited to this new gameplay. The four races each have their own strengths and weaknesses, making them better suited to certain types of gameplay. The most popular seems to be elves, which is understandable given their regenerative capabilities. They’re fastest of all the races, but also have least health making them better suited to hit-and-run tactics. Dwarves are pretty much your magic users. They have most essence (mana) of all of the races, and while it regenerates slower than other races, they can also drain it from other players/spells. You’ve just got to be careful not to accidentally drain your own tree of life you just cast to heal yourself. Humans are, naturally, the most well balanced of the races with a couple of small bonuses, but no real downsides. Humans start each match with $500 extra to spend, so you could get a spell and a gun in the first round, where other races are pretty much restricted to one or the other. They also get a reduced essence penalty from using tech. The final race, Trolls, I haven’t yet seen used in online multiplayer, which I find strange as it’s my preferred race. They’re much bigger and slower than other races, but their skin hardens upon taking damage, meaning they can take a lot more punishment than any other race. They’re also a lot stronger, meaning they can heft the biggest weapons without taking any speed penalty. Their biggest downside is that they have least essence to use.

Obviously, the biggest tactical combat comes from the magic. The most basic spell is teleport, intantly leaping you 8 feet in the direction you’re moving, allowing you to escape danger quickly or just get where you’re going without taking the long route. The healing spells Resurrect and Tree of Life are sure to make you popular. Although Resurrect comes with a catch. If you rez someone and then get killed, anyone you rezzed will begin to bleed out and quickly die if they do not get within range of a tree of life or get another rez soon. There are a number of other spells, too, each with their own tactical considerations. Smoke makes you almost invulnerable, but the spell gust will then damage you where it wouldn’t have beforehand. Gust also comes with a multitude of other uses, such as beaking a high fall or downing an enemy glider.

Being set in the future, there’s also a lot of technological gear at your disposal. Simple stuff like smartlink and wired reflexes simply improves accuracy or speed. Enhanced vision allows you to scan your surroundings to see players through walls. The AntiMagic generator destroys all magical constructs and the glider allows you to.. well.. glide. These extra abilities come with a penalty, though. Equipping them will lock a certain amount of your essence, so you won’t be able to cast as many spells.

The final consideration is that you can only equip 3 pieces of tech or magic spells at a time, so you have to decide how you want to play. You could dedicate yourself to healing or equip all the combat enhancing tech and become a minigun-wielding troll tank.

One of the disappointing factors of the game for me is the lack of a single-player mission sequence. They spend a great deal of time setting up a back story to it all, with the revival of magic and the war between the RNA Corp and The Lineage terrorist group, and then there’s no more to the game other than a series of 6 tutorials, to make sure you know what everything does, and the multiplayer. there could have so easily been a single player mission. Even if if had been no more complex than “Lineage has stolen our valuable magic artifact, go get it back”.

Overall, it’s pretty enjoyable, though. It’s different enough to make it stand out amongst a host of other FPSes. I’ve heard a number of complaints about the Games for Windows LIVE system, but it’s nothing that bothers me. If it can match me up with some guys for a game, I’m happy. I don’t honestly care about being able to distinguish between 360 and PC players. It’s a testament to the design that both formats are indistinguishable in a match.

I you wanna track me down for a match, this is one I probably will be playing for a while yet, ’cause I’m enjoying it a lot.

Icefox out.

X3: Reunion

X3 website

Morrowind in space = X3

I was in Woolworths the other day and I saw a game called X3. Now normally, I don’t buy games from Woolworths; I was only passing through at the time. However, I picked it up and had a look at the back, and it looked pretty cool to me. “At last”, I thought, “a game where I get to roam around space as much as I want. And a bargain at £6”. Having never heard of the X universe series before, I was somewhat suspicious that a game could be marked “2007 game of the year” and was being sold for just £6.

Since then I’ve had 3 hours of game experience. Not much for a game that is supposed to last about half a year, but I still think doing something for 3 hours is long enough to tell if you like it or not. And I’m pretty sure it’s going to have to be a not, since 3 hours is all I can bear to manage.

You start the game with a beyond dodgy video clip in which the main character is introduced, and you hear a little bit about his background. I say you hear a little bit because the music drowns out the news report’s voice. You are then given your first mission: Proceed to a jump gate, pick up some rookies, make one patrol of the sector and then return them to a battleship which they can dock with. Sounds pretty easy, except you are given no in game tutorial – it took me about 5 minutes just to figure out how to move, and then I was supposed to pick the correct jump gate. After that, you have the mammoth task of finding the people you’re supposed to be escorting, lead them in the right direction, have a fight in which you have to protect them, and then lead them to their mothership. All this happens while you’re just getting started and figuring out how the hell to do anything (it took me 2 hours to figure out how to read messages that people send me. Why they would send me a text message when they can just talk to me, I don’t know). At the end of the mission, you aren’t given so much as a hint on where to get your next one. So apart from the horrendous learning curve and zero in-game tutorial, what’s X3 really like?

The graphics are quite good. You can tell that the planets aren’t spheres, but you they revolve and you can see the cloud systems on them moving around the atmosphere. Space dust and nebulas are often present, giving the game a nice feel to it, and the amount of light and dust in the space around you changes from system to system, so you know that you are actually moving about the universe. Other ships and space stations and rendered quite well, and have nice lights on them. Having said that, there is actually very little to look at, and traveling can get pretty lonely.

If you’re really bored, you can always communicate with the thousands of other space ships out there patrolling, pirating or using trade routes to ship their cargo. The Artificial Life engine that X3 bangs on about is actually pretty good, and you’ll see dozens of alien spacecraft going about their daily business with or without you.

If you do try to communicate with one however, you’ll be in for a disappointment. For a starters, even the 100% human looking and sounding ‘Argon’ race look ridiculous; they all seem somehow disproportioned and their voices just plain suck (which goes down well with the non existent lip sink; while a character is talking they play a single default talking animation over and over again and the speech is just played at the same time). I’ve heard Argons with English, Russian, American and Vulcan accents. (On a side note, I looked up Argon on Wikipedia and found that they are actually the descendents of humans after a small colony got lost in space. Obviously a hell of a lot of incest broke out on that colony for a race to now populate so many planets, but the fact that they are human is never explained to the player) The other alien races just look stupid, and their voices are nearly impossible to understand. One totally stupid screw up I’ve noticed with the talking is that when the crappy 3 second “I’m talking apparently” animation restarts its loop, a single frame of a totally different character is played by accident. So if you’re talking to an Argon, every 3 seconds a picture of (for example) a pirate will appear. This doesn’t seem to happen with the main characters, but it’s still a real put off. Conversation is especially lacking because you can only say 3 things to people: “surrender”, or two questions asking for directions. There’s also only a very small number of images to represent the other pilots you can talk to, so don’t be surprised if the faces of the people you’re doing a mission with also represent the crew of ships that you talk to while you’re doing that mission.

On to sound, and that too is a disappointment. The lasers sound pretty good, but the explosions sound like they were thieved off the internet. Your ship has a voice that reads out to you the name of whatever you lock on to, but it’s pretty crummy and sometimes gets the names wrong. The space stations you can dock in have an annoying female voice as an announcer, but her randomly generated sentences have stupidly long gaps in them and she’ll stop talking immediately if you click anything that makes a sound effect.

Gameplay wise, X3 is pretty boring. The idea is either to complete the un-engaging storyline (something that if you try to do one mission after the next without exploring and making money to buy ship components, will soon become impossible), or you can just go freelance, which revolves around making ‘credits’ on the artificial X3 economy. Making credits, however, is even more boring than grinding in RPGs, because the main way to do it is to fly from station to station buying goods and then selling them at higher prices. Maybe they should have called X3 “Virtual Stock Market IN SPACE OMG” instead. This is, of course, horribly boring, especially as it can sometimes take half an hour in your crappy slow ship to get to the station you’re heading for, just to make a couple of thousand credits (you need about a million to build your own factory – that’s when the money slightly increases). An alternative to that is to go and hunt down pirates, aliens, or peace loving traders, although they patrol in packs or else have good defense equipment, so you’d need to upgrade or replace your ship – something that you need money to do in the first place.

So there you have it. Boring, slow, not enough combat, lonely, difficult from the word go, and a general disappointment. I give X3 1 muff out of 5, and my own personal thumbs down.

Plot Brief: Surviors

Originally Posted on Nobody Reads This.

I always enjoy writing a good Plot-brief, long time readers might remember my “Novel Proposal“, well I have been moaning alot recently that there aren’t enough good Zombie Games.

So here is a Plot-line for a Project i’m going to write a design brief for, next installment will feature several ideas for possible game functionality. Enjoy.

The year is 2009.

After 27 long years of research, American scientists unveil a specially created viral agent; the sole-purpose of which is to elongate Human life significantly. When a living host is infected, the virus spreads throughout the body and maintains a healthy level of cell renewal meaning key-parts of the body can remain at the peak level of fitness.

The end result; a Human being that remains completely healthy; the nature of the virus acts as a Superior immune system warding off infection by other viruses and diseases. Man can now live to be hundreds of years old – If not more.

During further tests; a deceased host was infected – scientists were horrified. The virus spread easily throughout the body and started forcing the regeneration of the organs and muscle tissues; even the cortex of the brain regenerated – but prolonged brain-stem death meant the host was no longer capable of higher thought.

The Zombie was born.

Due to unknown circumstances an epidemic broke out, the recently deceased were rising up and responding to only their most basic instincts, largely crippled by muscular decay – they were slow – but their numbers grew to engulf many parts of the world; the worst affected areas being the developing nations of Africa and South America.

You have escaped with your life; it is imperative you seek out shelter and food – Perhaps there are other survivors?

Tune in next time for more about the Survivor’s Zombie Game.
James.

Supreme Commander: Review

Supreme Commander Website

Supreme Commander, by Gas Powered Games, is a reasonably recent RTS for PC. Gas Powered Games, previously known as Cavedog, were the producers of the old classic Total Annihilation, and while Supreme Commander does not follow the storyline set by TA, it is described by Chris Taylor as “a spiritual successor” to their original RTS. So what’s it all about?

Set in the future, the recently colonised (by earth) galaxy has fallen into chaos. Humans have split into 3 factions: The UEF (United Earth Federation) who represent what is left of those still loyal to Earth, the Aeon, who worship a species of aliens called ‘The Seraphim’ who were wiped out by the UEF, and the Cybran, a race of cyborgs who the UEF also declared war on simply because they wanted to be independent. The player can control any one of these factions, and apart from looking totally different, they all have some unique strategic options available to them. Players start each game with an ACU (Armoured Command Unit), from which they will build their factories and other structures, and get their war going. Your ACU represents you, and if it dies, you lose the game; every unit in the game (apart from support ACUs) is a robot and depends on the ACU to be controlled. Now you know the basics, let’s talk about the 3 factions.

UEF
The UEF represent what is left after Earth went to war with both the Aeon and the Cybran at the same time. Their units use convention ballistics for weaponry, and in appearance resemble the military machines of today. Their vehicles generally have pretty decent armour but their weapons are generally slightly less effective compared to the other factions (the main reason for this is that they use slow moving ballistics instead of energy weapons). Their only exception to this is their mobile rocket launcher, which has the least health but does the most damage compared to the other factions’ versions. Their most useful experimental unit is the ‘Fatboy’ mobile factory, which has the most powerful shield in the game, long range and powerful artillery, and air repair pads.

Cybran Nation
The Cybran race is the most balanced in the game, tending to have units which have pretty average damage and health. They use laser weaponry in general, which means that they have the least problem with hitting moving targets. The Cybran also have some tricks up their sleeves, for example they are the only race that has a mobile Stealth Field generator, and their cruisers can unfold legs and walk on land should the need arise. They do however have the weakest shields in the game, and do not have any access to mobile shield generators or shielded units; unlike the other 2 factions. They also have the best point-defence towers in the game. Their most notable experimental unit is the ‘Monkeylord’, a huge spider-bot with a microwave laser and the ability to use stealth. They also have access to mobile, a rapid fire artillery vehicle.

Aeon Illuminate
The Aeon race tends to forgo armour for high damage weaponry and hover technology. They use energy weapons, meaning that they are quite accurate, though they have a lower rate of fire than the Cybran lasers. They are the most unusual looking army in the game, since all their buildings are based on Seraphim technology. Their experimental units are unrivalled, having access to the CZAR flying fortress and the highly feared Galactic Colossus, both of which make use of a super-powerful beam weapon.
Maps and Graphics

Graphically, the game is pretty good. The water, props and textures are not only very good for an RTS, but the general graphics are better than some other genre games I’ve seen earlier this year. There is a good use of polygons on the units too, so everything looks quite smooth and round. Obviously all these graphical wonders make Supreme Commander quite laggy on anything but the latest technology computers, especially on the larger maps (some of the maps are literally huge, the biggest I’ve ever seen on an RTS). The only beef I have with the maps is that there are only 3 1v1 maps, but there are loads of team based scenarios, which is a bit of a shame for one such as I who largely prefers 1v1 battles. Going back to the units, they all have plenty of polygons and good quality textures to make them look good. The only downside is that, since they are all machines, one might find them looking a little boring after a while. They do tend to lack character a little, although they all do at least look distinct from each other. The explosions are very realistic, opting for bright white lighting effects and realistic generated smoke as opposed to animated explosion sprites. The shading is also pretty good, and it’s nice to see the shadow of a tree gently sway over your huge army of tanks hidden in the forest. Of course, once those tanks start moving, most of those trees will get knocked down under their grinding (and visibly turning) caterpillar tracks. On a side note, the physics are also quite realistic. Very large units will crush smaller ones to death if they drive over them. Planes fall out of the sky and crash into the landscape with realistic plummeting. Projectiles fired will hit an enemy unit or some terrain that is blocked their expected path, and missiles that miss will curve back round to try for another go until they run out of petrol. The processing power required is immense, but every bullet, laser and missile fired is not a guaranteed hit or miss the second it leaves the barrel or it’s gun, it all depends on what happens in the time that it is flying through the air towards its intended victim.

Gameplay

The game tries its best to be very strategic. Giving you a full compliment of land, sea and air units, as well as plenty of defensive and offensive structures, you often have the option to change your ways, or counter enemy attack. There are plenty of little tactical additions for you to explore, like radar jamming or stealth, cloaking your units, using shields, having your Cybran cruisers walk on land, air transports, tactical and strategic missiles, artillery, EMP, teleport, or just a good old fashioned peon rush. Many of the units in the game have special abilities that give them an advantage in certain situations, such as the UEF tech 2 gunship has the ability to transport a single bot or tank into battle, making it even more useful at attacking groups of enemy units, or the Cybran tech 3 assault bot’s EMP-on-death ability, just to even the odds if one of your little beasties does go offline. Something else that is good is that although the experimental units are by far the most powerful in the game, they are not unbeatable. A base well defended with artillery, point defense and missiles and using an omni sensor will usually defeat a Galactic Colossus or a Monkeylord before they get their beam guns in range to annihilate you. The old ‘race to get the first hero’ isn’t so applicable here as it is to make a properly defended base.
But I won’t get carried away; this game does have its downsides. Managing resources is the hardest skill to master in this game, and is also the most important. Someone who does not know when to upgrade their mass extractors is almost certainly likely to lose if they do not secure an early victory, because the first person to get artillery in range of the enemy or to get an experimental online has a very good (but counterable – just) advantage. Also, the factions’ units do not always obey the general rules set down by that factions’ theme, for example the UEF usually have the best armour, yet their mobile rocket launcher has the least health and does the most damage compared to the other factions’ versions. Their Fatboy also has the least health out of all of the land based experimentals, and it has the best shield in the game, yet the Aeon are supposed to have the best shielding. Likewise, the Cybran are supposed to be masters of stealth and radar trickery, yet they, unlike the Aeon, do not have access to any mobile units fitted with omni sensors. They also have the weakest shields, and their missile launchers hold the least warheads, yet having the best point defense suggests that they are supposed to be played defensively. The Aeon on the other hand usually have the weakest units but the best firepower, although their Galactic Colossus is the unit with the most health in the game (and still retains immense weapon strength).

Overall, I give SupCom 9/10. It’s a game that I can play every day and not get bored of, and I will probably do just that for a long time to come. I haven’t yet tried to play online, but I hear that it makes the game even better. The only downside is that with lack of blood and voices*, some players may feel the game boring. The game also requires an exquisite PC to run on, so many people won’t be able to enjoy it to the full for years to come. I won’t say that legions of robots duking it out across the desert is rubbish, because if you’d prefer to be killing men or aliens instead then you’re playing the wrong game anyway.

*in campaign mode the pilot of the enemy commander, as well as your allied commanders and/or operations HQ will video talk to/insult you.

Live-D