Well I will be away from for GS for the next few days. A bunch of mates are coming down to mine for the weekend and I have a serious 3 day party planned, taking in St Patricks Day and the Ireland v England rugby match.

So I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy Paddy's day.

Lads if you like my review you you recommend it here : http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/starwarsrts/player_review.html?id=265253

Anyhoo..

Star Wars : Empire at War

While not the greatest RTS ever made SW : EAW has more than enough going for it to be part of every RTS collection. While not the greatest RTS ever made SW : EAW has more than enough going for it to be part of every RTS collection especially if you are a SW fan.

Before i started to play this I was genuinely worried that I would be disappointed again by a SW rts title that would not even come close to living up to the hype. Luckily my worries were unfounded.

This game is truly epic in scale from the huge space battles between the empire and the rebellion featuring a satisifyingly diverse ranges of craft from x-wings and tie -fighters right up to the mighty Imperial Star Destroyers all of which seem very well scaled. In fact the space battles are so good that they undermine the land battles somewhat.

My first impression of the land battles was a little muted but as I have playeed a few of land skirmish modes I have found that they are a lot more nuanced than I origonally thought. I would strongly recommend that you dont walk away from this game with watching Obi-wan battle Darth Vader or taking down an AT-AT with a snowspeeder. The only criticism I would level at the game is that the A.I. isnt the sharpest on land maps.

Graphically SW:EAW blew me away so much so that there were times that I wished someone could take over for me so I could just sit back and watch the action unfold.

The sound is as we have come to expect from a SW game, perfect. I am fortunate to own a 5.1 surround sound system and this is one of the few RTS games to use this facility to its full cinematic potential.

In Summary this is a must buy game for any RTS gamer or SW fan. Like all the great games it improves with repeat playing.

I am off to Austria skiing for the next week so obviously I will not be on GS for the next 10 days so If anyone is wondering where I am, can any of you that read my Blog pass the word.

It's been a few years since I was last skiing and I cant wait to get back on the piste.

Wow, these levels and posts are just flying by, It helps that I am now heavily involved in a few great unions, Notably the Jedi Council, Masters of Literature and All About Anything unions.

Its amazing that once you get a few dedicated and interesting posters together a union thrives, I hope these unions can continue to prosper.

I have just finished one of the greatest FPS games in recent years, not for a very very long time have I been so totally absorbed into a shooter.

The gameplay is so fast and frenitic and filled with so many moments of raw tension. The AI (friend and foe alike) was a lot smarter than I have come to expect from these games regularly using suppressive fire and flanking movements, not to mention extremely effective use of grenades.

The level design was superb, from the bombed streets and squares of Stalingrad to the vast desert of North Africa to the war torn landscape of Northern France and Germany. I was particularly pleased with the fact that the obligitary D-Day level was not the usual Omaha beach rush but the scaling of the cliff at Point du Hoc.

The graphics and sound really compliment what is already an amazing experience. You are really made to feel that you only a very small part in a much bigger conflict, be it fighters dogfighting overhead or a Tiger decimating a tank column while you desperatly try to clear buildings of resistance to the fact that your squadmates and the germans are constantly communicating in the heat of a firefight.

The only issue I have is the inaccuracy of the weapons. While I am sure this is to make the game more authentic, it is frustrating when you unload a clip on a soldier and he gets up and owns you while you are reloading. It doesent havent often but is very frustrating when it does.

Overall in my opinion you can keep your Half-lifes,your Dooms and your Quakes, this was the FPS of the year!

Well I have reached my first big GS milestone...it only took me 6 months. Still though i reckon I will be at 2000 by the end of the month. I have found a few good active unions, the Jedi council union derserves a special mention here.

Now if only GS can sort out the sigs,avators and my badges. I want my good taste badge back dammit!

Well I can trace my love of computer games to two titles that truly captured my imagination, Civ and C&C Red Alert, so a new title in either series is always something I look forward to, and this time I was not disappointed.

Civ 4 was everything I hoped Civ 2 & 3 would be and more. Everything I loved about the old titles are there, the power of a fledgling nation feels very much in your hands, every decision is yours to make and those decisions have direct and far reaching consquences.
More importantly the frustrating aspects of previous games have been done away with while keeping the core values of this series. Namely while you still have to deal with unhappy citizens and war weariness, they cannot cripple your economy with instant revolts. Also city growth has been improved substantly as well as a lot of other welcome changes.

Graphically Civ4 looks amazing, with the world map now in 3D and is very imersive. The little touches really bring the world to life (check out the improvments when they are being worked on by a city). Also the cities feel part of the world expanding into adjacent tiles as they grow.

Soundwise it is the best of any turn based strategy thus far, to the point of me stopping play to listen to a particularly rousing piece of classical music.
However as in all these games you will all its sounds too many times, considering the length of time put into playing it that is only to be expected.

Overall I would strongly recommend this game to experienced TBS gamers and Newbies alike. It is a joy to play, although as a word of warning, the need to play 'one more turn' will leech away the hours.

Well I think I have played this game enough to give it a review.

Its the bag of crisps of computer games. It provides instant gratifacition, is always enjoyable and hard to resist however it will never have the lasting effect of a gourmet meal and perhaps too much would be bad for you.

In short beside a few issues with the A.I. (its crap) and the wish for some of the BF features to return this is a game I would strongly recommend for those lazy Sundays.  

 

Whats the story with Gamespots new levelling system, its ridiculiously slow now. I reckon I am now on level 7 as long as all the other levels combined and I still am only at 50%

Anyone got suggestions on how I speed things up a little?

It would seem that the ads were telling the truth, alcohol really does slow your reaction time! Played an hour or two of SW BF2 while hammered the other night and could definitly have been arrested for reckless driving.

For what its worth I will offer some nuggets of advice:

1/ Dont play chicken with a Star Destroyer!

2/Dont try to fly into a hanger upside down

3/If you do fly into a hanger upside down, dont try to land!

4/Slamming a snowspeeder into the roof of the hanger might look hilarious but your co-pilot will not be amused

5/Kamikizing into the side of an AT-AT isnt as effective as you would think (see note 1)