Quake 4

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…

Why do I do this to myself? I’ve decided that in order upgrade myself from gaming outcast to sociable gamer I’m going to learn to play FPS’. Why you ask? I just told you damnit!

Anyways, moving on… I bought Quake 4. No, I did not realise it would be as gruesome as it is. No, I did not think that it would toss you head first into the game without a nice walkthrough to help you going with it. No, I did not realise that if your num-lock is on, you can’t use your keypad. So of course, I ended up dead… fast.

I’m going to give the game another try before I comment on it.

In the meantime though, here are some wise words that I found for those of you, who like me, are very new to FPS games.

Keep moving.
Do not stand still during a fire fight, it's suicidal.
Move all the time, find a safe place, and reload.

Reload.
(Key "R" default)
Keep an eye on your ammo level. When low move away to a safe area and reload. If exposed when reloading... you die. Click and weep.

Know your Strogg.
Bigger the Strogg, more powerful the weapon needed to kill. No, surprisingly a comparatively light weapon can do more damage.
If you’re having problems change weapons. Your armoury always has a weapon for the Stroggs you will meet.

This game (Quake 4) is visually spectacular, second to none. You will also have to listen; sound will help you especially in later levels.

Enjoy the game; it will take a good few hours to complete. There is absolutely no point in trying to complete the game as fast as you can. Take some time to look around and enjoy the environment. Good luck!

SPORE

To be honest, I don’t really have much to say about Spore.

I think the downward spiral of the game, for me, began right in the beginning when the game wouldn’t see my internet connection. After much frustration I eventually clicked cancel, and the game launched. No, I have no idea what happened either.

The game, visually, is very entry-level (on my pc, of course). Although, I do think that the EA took the whole ‘minimum spec requirements’ to the extreme. My pc just meets the specification requirements, except for my graphics card, which is slightly better. The graphics quality, although adequate, leaves much to be desired.

The concept of the game is good. Create a creature and evolve it. The execution of that concept is not good. Yes, you create a creature and evolve it, but I find myself asking where the finesse is? Where is the part where I can turn my creature from a ghastly looking alien into a cool human (or at the very least, humanoid type creature)? Why can’t I get the eyes to look the way I want, and what the heck is up with the mouth?

Once I’d gotten through the cell stage and was onto the creature stage the game became repetitive quickly. Initially I started out creating an herbivore. This lasted all of 2 hours. I then scrapped my creature and started again as a carnivore. It would seem that survival of the fittest is the way to go. Perhaps it’s my personality, or perhaps it’s just the way the Spore universe works, but my anti-social, kill everything in my path attitude seemed to be effective and after repeatedly performing the same actions (charm, spit, attack, bite, etc…) I got to the tribal phase.

Defending my meat was the end of the game for me. I switched it off and went back to playing Bratz. Although, I have to say, watching paint dry would also have topped the excitement factor of the game.

I keep asking myself, were my expectations of the game too high? Was I expecting it to be on the same level as The Sims2, of which I am an ultimate fan? I don’t know the answers to those questions. What I do know is that Spore did not ‘wow’ me in a way that I thought it would.




My Spore Creatures:

Visit the Spore.co.za website

Bratz the Movie

Ok, I admit it! I bought the ultimate in girly-girl games. I just couldn’t help myself. It’s… so cute… and well… when cute calls, I tend to go galloping off after it.

Bratz is based on the live-action movie of the same name. The story follows the 4 Bratz girls; Cloe (Angel), Yasmin (Pretty Princess), Sasha (Bunny Boo) and Jade (Kool Kat); as they try to put out a magazine, manage school and their new teacher Burdine Maxwell (Editor-in-chief of the rival magazine ‘Your Thing’) and deal with the ‘Tweevils’ Kaycee and Kirstee; twin sisters and Burdine’s interns.

The game is a collection of mini-games, some are required to move through the story and some are there to help you earn “blingz” to spend and other rewards. The required mini-games help you fill your magazine, which you can view at any point in the game by returning to the Bratz office.

As you move through the game you get to buy or create your own fashions, pick up a pet that you can enter into competitions, take photographs, pick up tasks from your mobile phone, hold a fashion show, and a whole whack of other little things that all help you in your quest to put out the best fashion magazine on the market.

The controls are simple. Using only the remote (no Nunchuk required) you point your character in the direction that you want her to move in, and hold down ‘B’. I found the camera controls to be a tad iffy though, and when your character is on her inline skates, the remote isn’t as intuitive as it should be. Meaning, you end up getting stuck in corners and heading off in the wrong direction.

The graphics, although not terrible, are not as good as they could have been. However, this is all forgiven thanks to the bright, rich colours and cuteness of both the towns and the characters.

This is definitely a game for your girly-girl up to the age of 12, although, this girly-girl is enjoying it so far.

Jade on her way up to the design table to create those awesome Bratz fashions:
Cloe with her pet at The Mall:
Visit the Bratz website!

View the 'Bratz the Movie' game trailer

CSI: Hard Evidence

It’s been a fair while since I last updated this thing, due to work, weddings and of course, gaming. And although Sims 2 has been dominating my time I did manage to squeeze in CSI: Hard Evidence for the Wii.

This game is right up my alley. The game features characters from the series, and even has a side quest in the form of collecting bugs for Grisham. As the lead character you play in a first person view, collecting and analysing evidence from 5 separate crime scenes. The overall game play is simple, and the entire game can be completed within 8 hours if you sit and play one crime scene after the next, however it still seems to be able to hold your interest.

I played the 5 crime scenes through in two days and have started again to see if I can achieve Master status on all of my scenes. Oh, that’s something I forgot to mention. After each case has been solved Grisham will evaluate your performance and rank you.

This is a great game if you want to kill an afternoon, without too much effort. And although the age restriction is 16+ I think I’d let my 14 year old play the game.

Sample comparisons. As you collect evidence in the game, you can compare with either the CSI database, or with other collected samples:

Picking up a suspect... And this guy really was 'suspect':

Asking questions... determining whether or not you need to bring someone in for questioning:
The first crime scene:
The second crime scene:
The science lab. The equipment is actually pretty cool: The morgue... it was a tad grim:

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Shoot ‘em, shoot ‘em shoot ‘em! Who would have thought that a first person shooter (FPS) for the Wii could be so gripping, so exciting, so invigorating! Come to think of it, who’d have thought ANY FPS could be like that.

As I mentioned in my previous post, my PC gaming is limited to playing the Sims 2 and on the odd occasion, Neverwinter Nights, and so FPS games are virtually non-existent in my life. This weekend I bought my first ever FPS. I am not good with the whole mouse and keyboard navigating thing, but the Wii offers a new type of mechanics in terms of game play and I was keen to try it out, and so on a quick visit to CNA in the Pav I picked up Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Oh my WORD! The graphics are good, better than I expected actually. The concept of using the Wii remote as your weapon arm is fantastic, making the canon attached to your Varia suit an extension of your own arm. You use both the Wii Nunchuk and the remote as you navigate through the various sections of the space station you start out on, and later different planets, etc…

You play as Samus, a female soldier of sorts, who along with a few other characters is tasked with finding and removing a computer virus that has been uploaded to the main system. (Yeah, I’m not 100% sure of the details… need to go through that section again). The remote is your “action” arm… you use it to open doors, fire your canon at certain items, change the settings on your visor, etc whilst the nunchuck is your movement and directional (with the use of the remote) controller.

I initially had my reservations as to whether or not I would enjoy the game, however after my very first boss battle in the game I was actually shaking from the adrenalin rush that was screaming through my body. It’s bloody fantastic! Gamespot gave it a rating of 8.5 and I certainly agree with that.

Nice story, good game play, beautiful graphics and (in places) nail-biting tension all make for a superb game.

Gaming Guide from IGN.com

Wii Game Intro Screen...

Big bad meany aliens...
Killing bad bugs...
Samus in her Varia suit... pretty hot...
Adrenalin inducing bad boss of note! UUUUUUUUUUH!

You're a What-What?

Oh dear... the first post. I always worry about the first post of a blog... if it's good then it can set the tone for the rest of the blog, if it's bad... well then, is your blog doomed to failure? I always think I should be saying something profound, something that will set the tone for the rest of the posts that are yet to come, something that will rock the socks of anyone who reads it and keeps them coming back for more. I, sadly, am not a writer and so the first post of this blog is going to be a simple introduction.

Hi.

No, that’s not it, there is more and it goes something like this…

I’m a gamer; mostly. I am the typical non-elite (non-l337) gamer that you find lurking in the back of Incredible Corruption, sifting through the latest titles, avoiding eye contact with the true blue-blooded Elite Gamer. I wouldn’t call myself a PC gamer, although I do spend a fair amount of time on my PC playing The Sims 2. I’m a console gamer, owning a Playstation 2 (PS 2), Nintendo Wii and more recently a PSP (Sony Playstation Portable).

So why do I call myself a non-l337 gamer? Well, that's an easy one to answer... Gaming is a pass-time for me, not an obsession. Being a relatively exclusive console gamer also means that I am not the type of person to buy the lastest PC hardware to support the latest and greatest PC game. I also tend to stick to a certain genre of game; that being either RPG (normally Japanese-based... Final Fantasy and the like) or action-adventure (Tomb Raider, Ratchet and Clank, etc...) I am, by no means, an expert on gaming, nor am I a game reviewer. I play games because I enjoy playing games. Does that make me a gamer? Perhaps... Does that make me a l337 gamer? Most definitely not.

So the posts that follow will be my non-expert opinion / commentary on what I’m playing at the moment, and generally what’s out there that interests me.