Wow, it has been quite awhile since our last post! All our contributors have been quite busy over the past few months, and unfortunately writing for pleasure has taken a bit of a backseat for all. I’m sure the others are with me in saying that we love to write about games, but we also want time to play games, a battle which the latter has been winning over the past year. That said, I’ve always wanted this site to serve as an outlet for us to write- whether its a review, an op-ed, or a rambling. A few folks have been asking me recently when we will begin contributing regularly to the site again. While I can’t speak for the other guys, I’ve been wanting to start writing again, if only on occasion. So in the spirit of beginning anew, here is a quick recap on what I’ve been up to recently in my gaming endeavors. Read the full story

Part of the reason why Minecraft has drawn so much acclaim is the addictive simplicity of it all. The game’s concept of risk and reward is so unassumingly basic. Without shelter, you will die. But without venturing forth, expending some risk in exploration and expansion, the player can take no forward step in colonizing the land or building their empire.

To some creation (classic) mode will be the big draw. In it, entire teams of players are creating large scale, complex projects. In the same mode, another play style has evolved on the other end of the spectrum, focused not on creation, but on destruction. While wearing the engineering hat from time to time can be enjoyable, It was the main Survival Mode (Alpha, as its currently referred to), that hooked me in to Minecraft. Construction of enormous structures and tunnel networks is certainly a part of this experience, but when the player must balance their creations with resource management and survival, well, that’s when things get interesting. Your first full day and night spent in Minecraft will teach you this balancing act very quickly. As soon as the sun begins to set, you had better have your shelter built if you hope to survive the night- whether it be a simple hole in the ground, a free standing cabin, or a Helm’s Deep. Similarly, as you begin to tunnel underground in search of better, and rarer resources, so grows the risk of zombie infested caverns, lava flows, and underground flooding. Each day, though, you grow to become a more capable adversary against the abominations of the night, and your colony continues to grow in size and scope.

Its an addictive yet simple formula. The whole experience though is made strange by the game’s spartan visuals and gameplay mechanics. These will improve, surely, but one cannot deny that even in this early version,  Minecraft is already an utterly engrossing experience. Check it out.

I downloaded League of Legends by Riot Games, thinking that I would be bored out of my mind. About 30 hours of gameplay later and 10 levels earned, I need a support group to get me off of this damn game.

The best worst part about this game is the fact that it’s totally FREE.  The production value of the game is amazing for that price.  Of course, they offer plenty of incentives to spend money on it, but it’s not a requirement.

Reviewed after the jump. Read the full story

Sometimes a game can come out of nowhere and completely take you by surprise. These games tend to be the ones that you remember years in the future, because the experience they gave you was unprecedented and unexpected. Metro 2033 was heralded as such a game. Many reviewers cited its “incredible atmosphere” and its “solid single-player campaign.” Others, if you can believe it, dared to compare this game to Bioshock and Half-Life 2, arguably the two best first-person story-driven games ever. I hear you asking if Metro 2033 should be lifted to such great heights. I know I was yearning for a new, great first-person story. Does Metro 2033 deliver?

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Anybody heard of Entropia Universe? It’s a competitor to Second Life, except with a real life currency exchange rate.

A few years back, an enterprising cyber-freak named Jon Jacobs mortgaged his house and bought an asteroid in Entropia for about $100k. Crazy right? Not so much. He has since made his money back 10 times over (at about 250k per year) with a marketplace, virtual manufacturing, and trade tax.

Now, in honor of the name he gave his virtual property (Club Neverdie), he’s started Neverdie Studios in Los Angeles, and created a new world in Entropia for us all to enjoy. Read the full story

A lot has changed since the days of Everquest, Asheron’s Call,  and Ultima Online. The MMORPG market today is far larger, and yet, I would argue, far more homogenous than ever. World of Warcraft has certainly expanded the appeal for MMO’s,  however its stranglehold on the MMO userbase has been unhealthy for the market, with almost every new IP struggling to survive. For most players, a large player population is the first sign of a healthy MMO. Some players are certainly satisfied with their niche titles, which appeal to player numbering in thousands, not millions. World of Warcraft, however, has proved that mainstream appeal for MMOs is possible.

Even if you don’t want to play WoW, the decision of which online timesink to play these days is largely dependent on which game is least likely to be on life support a year after launch. Many of the other MMOs have been released as “WoW killers”, featuring new IPs, new gameplay modes, etc, some of which have found great niche success, but never to the levels that WoW has enjoyed these past 5 years. I am referring of course to games like Guild Wars (no subscription), Warhammer: Age of Reckoning (PVP centric), and others. I tried several of these titles,  yet most lacked much of a competitive advantage to WoW…simply no one can compete with the established userbase and widely recognizeable IP that Blizzard has….no one, except Star Wars: The Old Republic. Read the full story

I had never heard of Borderlands until the day I purchased it from Target. A great friend of mine called me up and said, “Zack, if you don’t go buy Borderlands right this minute, I will not be your friend anymore.” So I went out and bought it. Of course, the friend told me loads more about the game before he swayed me away from my money-consciousness. The conversation was indeed quite lengthy, but I will not bore you with all the gory details. I’ll merely try to sum up everything that my friend told me that made me interested in the game, and everything that I have experienced as I have played through the game.

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The Blizzard booth at PAX 09 was crowded, with gameplay demos of the new World of Warcraft Cataclysm expansion, Starcraft II, and, of course, Diablo III. Despite already showing a high level of polish, Diablo III still lacks any definitive release date, and much of the game, namely classes, remains under wraps. The demo stations at PAX allowed around 10-15 minutes of free exploration with one of the four announced classes, including the recently revealed Monk class. I was actually a little surprised at how long the demo lasted; the lines for the game were among the worst at the convention. Read the full story

I stumbled across the Hi-Rez studios booth this weekend at PAX, showcasing their flagship game “Global Agenda”, a third person shooter MMORPG for the PC. The game bears a striking resemblance to Tribes, not simply because of a jetpack as a key gameplay mechanic, but the classes and visual style are similar enough to Tribes to be more than a simple coincidence; clearly the developers had some inspiration there. I was able to play a few rounds of the PVP element of Global Agenda, and while I had little exposure to the RPG elements of the game, the fluid gameplay and strategic combat mechanics really shine through. Read the full story