I guess I’m better off now that the North American release of Beyond Divinity has been delayed by a couple of weeks, and won’t actually arrive in stores until the end of April. I find this a bit odd, if only because Larian is crowing about how they’re making some final adjustments based on reactions to the demo, while the German version will be out in stores as soon as this week. I don’t pretend to understand their motives; I’m still entranced by the elegant and simple beauty of its predecessor. I can say with certainty that my gaming time over the past week has been spent half-heartedly in the jungles of Vietnam, but this isn’t anything against it. I just can’t remember feeling so enmeshed in the fibre of a game since my weekend of adventures accross Northern Europe.

I did, however, find time to acquire the Multiplayer demo for Pandora Tomorrow. The final product mind you, not that bug infested version that was released prematurely. I am mostly pleased with the results, but there are some issues that I feel need addressing.

Let me get right to the point: the interface is shit. Anyone who has grown accustomed to the brand-intrusive, but easy to use Gamespy search engine in something like MOHAA or BF1942 will feel like they’ve had their hands chopped off and replaced with large anvils. It’s extremely unwieldy, and does not make the usage of Ubi.com transparent like it was with Raven Shield. Trying to join a game was even more of a chore – the pings of active games were all over the place, and the browser wouldn’t update inactive servers that I was furiously trying to connect to. Still, I’m not about to hold it against the entire experience, because the demo is still relatively fresh and prone to a number of faults and frailties from user demand. Up front these annoyances were a little more than I was expecting, but getting to experience this newly fashioned Spy vs. Mercenary gameplay mechanic is something that I’d much rather be talking about.

The graphics and level layout in the included “Mount Hospital” are good, but nothing especially eye popping. I found that the Mercenary view seemed more of a taped-on addition to the game; something about it just didn’t feel right. The mouse felt unresponsive and I felt crowded by useless details on screen. Instead, I was much more at home playing a SHADOWNET Spy. With a nonlethal tazer as your only weapon, relying on your surroundings is paramount. The tasks seem simple enough – deactivate some Cryogenic control panels or somesuch – but when you throw a couple of player-controlled Mercs into the building with motion sensors and laser sights on fully-automatic rifles things tend to get a bit nerve wracking. I was fortunate enough to find a nice enough group of people to play with: a simple 2 on 2 battle where we took turns playing each side. These tense bursts of action divided up by terrifying moments anticipating your opponent’s next move are something that the typical FPS will never see. You actually have a reason to wander about cautiously as the Mercenary; as the Spy you’d do well to stay out of sight free of worry that you’ll be labeled a camper. I still think at least eight players would have made this an even better game, but then a sequel to address this is probably already on UbiSoft’s “To Do” list given the reviews.

The class-balancing and pacing of the multiplayer component is well designed, and I have to give UbiSoft credit once again for establishing the model that I’m sure future games in the genre will no doubt try to imitate. I’ll be picking up my copy post haste; but to be honest I’m more fascinated by the thought of another engrossing single-player campaign.

miles above the sea

Aside from a truckload of broken images at first, the move of toase.net to its new home went pretty well. I have to commend the developers of Movable Type for making the harrowing experience of transferring a weblog (mostly) painless. Apologies in advance for people who have linked to archived pages in the past – the numbering system has been thoroughly fucked, so the occasional 404 will slap you around a bit. All the scripts have been tested and are operational, so feel free to browse as usual.

Now to get to the matter at hand: the imminent release of Pandora Tomorrow and playing Battlefield: Vietnam almost the entire weekend. I figure I owe at least something that resembles an opinion, because after this week’s release of SC:PT I’m not sure how much time can be put aside for Vietnam’s lag-tastic network code and unoptimized graphics .

Ignore what everyone is saying about it being a mod. If you’re expecting a worthy sequel to BF1942, this game will disappoint you guaranteed. However it most definitely feels like a new game, and the new weapons, vehicles and textures show a kind of polish that you would only get from professionals. The Vietnam war is one of the most shameful engagements of the US Military, but somehow DICE has made it fun to play. No more lone rangers running for each control point: you must operate as a unit or you will die. I found that just looking the wrong way would land me in a bodybag. The lush, rolling jungle landscape provides many more hiding spots for campers, and using your surroundings wisely can easily make the difference in a successful assault. I appreciated the addition of music from the era – it certainly added a kind of movie-like quality to the action – but the doppler effects that the game uses to carry the sounds outside the vehicles is a bit jarring. Yet when you look up and see a group of Hueys lazily hovering over the jungle canopy, or a patrol boat zooming down a waterway blasting the shoreline while its loudspeakers blare “Born to be Wild”, for a second you feel like you have stepped into one of those movies. And then enemy gunfire breaks the trance, you hit the deck, and the game continues. Battlefield Vietnam is not a mod, it is undeniably a well crafted game.

Tony has an interesting social examination of the game – I would recommend reading it – but I’ve experienced none of the more lowly comments or behaviors from fellow players so far. There are some team and weapon balancing issues, but I found for the most part the game was extremely playable aside from the minor technical issues. This whole experience has prompted me to put a finger on something that has been prodding the back of my mind about the industry’s fixation on ultra-realistic war simulators, that I eventually plan on putting into words. For now, though, I walk through the jungle with eyes on the back of my head, a full clip, and always, always clean socks.

The Pandora Tomorrow Single-Player demo was released this week, with the multiplayer demo closing in fast. The single-player demo – although familiar at first – certainly feels different from the original game. The graphics have been tweaked and look a lot cleaner on the PC, although I don’t remember night vision being so jaggy. Taking a break from clickfest RPGs and a replay of Call of Duty it was tough to get back into the gameplay. All the high-tech gadgets are back, and Mr. Fisher is sporting a few new maneuvers. I don’t think we’re going to be disappointed with the final product. The “Train” mission is like something out of a modern spy thriller film; I would agree that it skillfully sets the tone for the entire game.

Hearing Tycho’s colourful description of how much of a departure the multiplayer mode is from the standard merely bolstered my anticipation of the game. Playing Raven Shield in co-operative or adversarial will heighten your sensitivity to the controls and even the slightest movements on-screen, so if Pandora Tomorrow captures even a fraction of this style of play I will be happy. Though multiplayer is limited to four players, this is still UbiSoft thinking ahead and laying the groundwork for the future in stealth gaming. I’m still looking forward to Thief: Deadly Shadows, but they are missing an opportunity by not including some sort of multiplayer functionality while proudly listing “Warren Spector” as one of the game’s features.

After reading this week’s announcement by Flagship studios about their partnership with Namco, my first reaction was one of shock. It’s not that often a console developer/publisher picks up a studio that is made up of some of the most brilliant and original PC game designers of the last decade. Many PC gamers weren’t very subtle about showing their distaste of the entire situation, either – there were rumblings about how Flagship’s current project will end up as some impetuous console port of which there will be no escape. Although I secretly share the same fears, a publisher of Namco’s prowess can only be a good thing for a new development house. Almost the entire crew of people that brought you the Warcraft and Diablo series are working on this new RPG, and at least sound dedicated to their PC fans. Whether this is just a ploy for Namco to expand its North American market remains to be seen.

I just felt like writing about that new Forgotten Realms game for the PS2 on Wenesday. I had no idea the new title and a Gamespot preview would be released the next day, but I’m happy to chalk it up to gamer’s premonition. There aren’t any new details about this “Demon Stone” that you haven’t read already either in GMR’s preview or gamespy’s from last summer. Even the screens were already at Worthplaying. The game takes more of a KOTOR-style approach to party based combat, allowing to switch between each member during battles – except it’s missing everything that made the former game great. I’m sure that it will make a fine distraction for those looking for an action RPG on their PS2, but this is probably the last you’ll hear of it from me. Good luck with that, Stormfront.

Interestingly enough, both Larian Studios and RPGDot picked up my “preview” of Beyond Divinity. After having a lot of time to consider the demo, and realizing just how much game time I’ve devoted to Divine Divinity, I’ve decided that I’ll be picking up my copy in April. It also appears that my webserver is on its last legs, as this recent referral and a surge in comment spam/ping spam activity has given it a real pounding. In other words, I’ve decided to sign up with a proper host so I can give this place a little more breathing room. As a result the site may be inaccessible over the next couple of days.

you chewing your tail is joy

The Wife purchased Super Mario Bros. 3 for the GBA a couple weekends ago, and I keep meaning to talk about it. It got a lot of good reviews – and deservedly so – because it perfectly recreates the Super Mario 3 experience as seen in Super Mario All-Stars with a few minor improvements. The most notable being the remixing and addition of a few new sounds, like Mario’s voice, which we all most definitely could do without. Another thing I noticed is that all the Mario Advance titles – even Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga – contain a separately playable update to the original Mario Brothers, which can be enjoyed by two players if you have the means to link up. It’s a small thing, but a nice gesture nonetheless. As Super Mario 3 is hailed by many as being the greatest Mario game ever made (looking back at the hype it’s hard to believe anything else) and the best selling video game of all time, I would call this latest manifestation a grand accomplishment. If we’re comparing remakes though, Zero Mission still has it beat.

Being released in the same week, it almost seems unfair. I felt as if I was being forced to choose between two very solid titles and well-loved franchises. But I’m going to be walking away with my pre-ordered copy of Battlefield:Vietnam. I’ve already seen what Unreal Tournament 2004 has to offer in the amazing demo, so it essentially came down to me being more interested in BF:V’s subject matter. Strangely enough, if you look back two years Battlefield 1942 was released a month before UT2003. And UT2003 was largely forgotten; I think many gamers felt that it was just an attempt to cash in with fans of the 1999 original, with a game that had no recognizable reason for buying into it aside from the massively updated engine. I got it anyway and haven’t regretted it since. The gameplay was even more fast-paced and Bombing Run quickly replaced CTF as my game mode of choice. For UT2004, a number of new features have been introduced – like the amazing Onslaught, which is taking the online circuit by storm. Don’t get me wrong, though, as I am definitely planning to partake in what the gaming media are calling the best FPS and multiplayer game of the year so far.

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