The backlash over the recently released Deus Ex 2 demo was pretty deafening after the annoucement the game had gone gold. Along with the other throes of disappointed PC gamers, I sounded off on the weekend after I played through the disappointing demo with mixed results.

Some claim that the demo’s many ailments can be fixed by doing a number of .ini tweaks, but I don’t buy it. It seems like an awful lot of effort for a demo. Adjusting that incredibly bulky and hamhanded HUD and fixing the mouse responsiveness was fairly easy to do, but if you’re looking to enhance the graphical performance you can forget it. And somehow a demo patch being released before the game goes retail on December 3rd seems like a pretty tall order. Naturally the gaming community was pretty vocal about their opinions, and prompted a response from Warren Spector himself on Ion Storm’s forums. Some especially feisty gamers have even started a petition to delay the release of the game for some additional QC, despite the fact that it’s already gold.

While I never really got to play the full version of the game until I got my new video card last year (it came free along with some other great games), I enjoyed it a LOT, and it was plastered with more “Game of the Year” awards than I’ve ever seen lavished on one title. I think for some people it was a little hard to step beyond the hype and accept a sequel that may have been “streamlined” for multiple platforms. I hate to sound like I’m aping these DX fans that are thirsty for Ion Storm’s blood, but some of the design decisions that were made over the game are just plain outlandish: A unified ammo system, ridiculous and unresponsive AI, the complete gutting of the skills system and the linearity of the missions are the ones that stick out in my mind. Deus Ex played like a futuristic RPG, and allowed a lot of creativity in completing mission objectives. I’m not entirely sold on this new “Biomod” system, as it seems like a watered-down version of character advancement from the original.

The reviews for Invisible War have already started rolling in, including Gamespy’s peculiar 4 star rating for both XBox and PC despite the complaints sprinkled throughout and the game’s obvious technical shortcomings.

As a PC game designer, Warren Spector’s name resonates with many people. Before Deus Ex, he was the man responsible for bringing us the Ultima Underworld series, the original System Shock and one of my personal all-time favorites, Thief: The Dark Project. Like Larry Holland did with Secret Weapons Over Normandy, Ion Storm Austin is trying to break into the console market with an established brand. However they both forgot that the complex and unique designs of the originals were what made them so appealing.

unknown quotients

It’s hard to collect my thoughts about this game. On one hand, I’m a devout PC gamer who believes that a FPS should be played with a keyboard and mouse. But as I’ve noted before I was proven very wrong in the case of Metroid Prime. And when I say wrong, I mean I had the fucking scales lifted from my eyes by Retro Studios.

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Last week saw the boys at Penny Arcade celebrate their 5th anniversary. I probably speak for gamers everywhere when I say that these guys have our dream job: playing the latest games all day long, with the only worry being the idea for the next strip and typing up a post to go alongside it. And relative the gaming community at large, their opinions and their readership are a force to be reckoned with. In the words of Gabe, “Not bad for a couple of guys that don’t know Frank Cho.” Indeed. I wish them all the best and five more years of hilarious game related commentary.

Gamespy flexed its “industry muscle” again late last week and made the demo for Deus Ex 2: Invisible War a 24-hour subscriber exclusive. I got it along with 99% of the Internet yesterday, sans subscription. If anything Gamespy’s shenanigans are merely an annoyance; if publishers had any business sense we would be swimming in bit torrents supplied by our favorite community websites where they can all share a piece of the adspace pie. I planned on saying a few words regarding the demo of one of the most anticipated titles of 2003, but for some reason the assholes at Ion Storm forgot to optimize it for a normal person’s computer. Although I built my current system in October 2002, it’s pretty beefy even by today’s standards. There’s no way I should have to watch a slide show at 1024×768. It’s just not right. So rather than get all upset at what could have been a decent game, I’m just going to say download it at your own peril and enjoy the new cumbersome interface and linear style of gameplay. I wonder if the press will excuse Mr. Spector this time.

toase.net has kind of taken a Gamecube-centric slant as of late. The Wife and I picked up a copy of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! this weekend, so this not likely to change in the short term. We’ve played it quite a bit, winning all three 50cc championships in the amazing co-op mode. There have been some naysayers about this new approach to Maio Kart, but in my opinion adding a co-pilot to each kart is a welcome change. The game looks as good as ever and I intend to write about it very soon. I have not forgotten about my Game Machine, though – my Jedi Training is almost complete. Let it be said that the review is en route. Did I ever mention how fucking cool it is to decimate your enemies wielding dual lightsabers?

Happily, I learned that the Sword of Mana official site is now online. The game will be released just in time for the holidays, which makes me wonder how long this Xmas list of mine is going to be. I thought it was a wholly-original addition to the Mana universe that takes place before the SNES game, but it’s actually a remake of Final Fantasy Adventure that was available for the Gameboy way back when. After Golden Sun, I’m hoping that this will fill the RPG void on my clamshell companion. Something interesting I came across related to our pals Square-Enix are their growing talks with MSFT for some sort of XBox exclusive. It’s quite obvious that they are in need RPGs on their system (kind of like my precious Gamecube) and what better way to do it than with the most widely popular series in existence? I wish them luck, Squenix had to get a new development studio out of Nintendo before they’d supply them with Crystal Chronicles.

I caught a rumour about the price for Sony’s PSP, which shows an estimate of $550 US. The specs are impressive – there’s no question. But if Sony wants to compete, well that’s another story. The fact that the first developer attached to the PSP claims they want to “distance” themselves from the “child-oriented” GBA is pure nonsense. What, you’re going to make games that suddenly compel executives to trade in their 256-color cell phones with Centipede for one of these things? It’s time to dislodge that head from your ass.

This weekend we also found some time to view Ang Lee’s take on The Hulk. Eric Bana was pretty good as the Green Goliath, and Ms. Connelly as hot as ever, but what the hell happened to the plot? Maybe that gamma-irradiated french poodle got to it, I’ve no idea. The movie went from riveting to absurd in the space of a few scenes (see climax). I wonder, how is it that you can get guys like Nick Nolte – who supplied a brilliant performance – and have it mean absolutely nothing? Way too long and probably the weakest of the recent Marvel adaptations. Watch me as I step in line for Spider Man 2.

i’m willing to find out what impossible means

According to industry analysts, console sales have peaked and it will all be downhill from here. I’m sure we will see many attempts by Sony, MSFT and Nintendo to get our Holiday dollar, so now is definitely a good time to buy. With announcements for the next generation of consoles to be flying around in 2004 you’ll probably have at least a year’s worth of play in it. In my opinion it was a very smart move for Nintendo to lower their prices in the Fall as kind of a “last gasp” attempt to move units before heading into the holiday season. I’m also willing to bet that the people that bought a ‘cube on the sole basis of it being accessibly priced are quite happy with their purchase, myself included. Nintendo sent out a very glowing press release regarding their successes with the lowered Gamecube price: they managed to sell 254,000 units in October. That’s quite a hefty number, but looking at it realistically these are most likely purchases made by people who already own a PS2, Xbox or PC and are just getting a second console. Still, it’s good for Nintendo and any developers that were shying away from the platform. Some other figures were released this week regarding console software sales, adding support to my arguments about the success of the GBA. The #1 and 2 spots for the GBA were held by Super Mario Bros. 3 – a remake of a thirteen year old game! – and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. I should also note that Soul Calibur II continues to be a big seller for the Gamecube, which I plan on discussing today.

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Larry Holland should not be a new name to PC gamers. This is the guy responsible for bringing X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and of course Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe to our respective hard disks. All of them classics as far as I’m concerned. So my natural reaction to hearing about Secret Weapons Over Normandy was to get ready to join the fucking RAF. This weekend the official demo was released, and once again those ass goblins at Gamespy have played the “exclusive” card and made the fans bend over backwards.

Gamespy’s obsession with exclusivity must be an attempt to remain relevant to the community, because one could care less about the reviews they’ve been crapping out lately. Once you unpack the demo, it doesn’t install. Instead it contacts a remote server and spits out a registration code. That’s right, you need a registration code to play a god damned demo. The concept makes my spleen sizzle with anger. What the fuck are they thinking? I want to try Lucasarts’ latest game and they make me do all this bullshit first? As if waiting in a download queue wasn’t bad enough.

Notice I haven’t even mentioned the quality of the game yet. Like the headaches associated with getting Call of Duty to run, I sucked it down Daikatana style and installed the demo. When the game starts it asks for your “unique identification code so this demo can only be played on this computer”. Imagine my eyes rolling back into my head at this point, if you can.

The game plays fine in 1600×1200, but for reasons only known to multi-platform developers the menus and hangar interface are stuck at a god awful 800×600. The graphics are incredibly disappointing in-game. Maybe all this recent Gamecube playing has spoiled me, but the model textures are so low-res it’s almost laughable. The engine itself is adequate and gets the job done, but I’m very reluctant to lavish any praise. My ability to fly through the paper thin trees or buildings during bombing missions didn’t help.

As with any game I rarely take a look at the controls until I start fumbling my way through actually playing. I quickly realized I had to use my Gravis Xterminator if I wanted to control my Hurricane and dispatch meine Feinde with ease. The game’s playing style is a little too arcade for my tastes, but I was willing to overlook it while playing the demo’s campaign. After a while though I realized that the plane handled like a supercharged tank with wings, as I could hardly pull off any tight maneuvers. Tweaking the controls (the ones you were able to tweak) didn’t do much and proved to be more frustrating if anything else. Furthermore, the camera views never really worked to my advantage, and after becoming somewhat skilled as a Tankbuster in BF1942, it was a little frustrating to watch myself miss ground targets repeatedly on bomb ing runs.

I can understand what Totally Games and Lucasarts were trying to do. I mean what game developer doesn’t want to capitalize on the Industry’s current obsession with WW II, and for the PC gamers, the Secret Weapons heritage? This game is nothing more than a distant relative to Luftwaffe, simplified and distilled for console gamers everywhere. Crimson Skies this is not – the PC version doesn’t even have multiplayer.

If you’re looking for a WW II Air Combat sim, you’d be hard pressed to find one in this game. However if all you need is an arcade-styled shooter based on the European Air War in WWII, I’m sure Secret Weapons Over Normandy will suit just fine. To be honest though all it made me want to do is re-install IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles. It at least provided me with a more in depth – and highly playable – experience.

Update: It looks like the demo has escaped the clutches of Gamespy. You can get it at 3D Gamers or even Worthplaying if you feel like it.