Star Wars The Force Unleashedby LucasArts
What I paid: $8.21 (Steam)
http://www.lucasarts.com/games/theforceunleashed/

My score: 8.0/10

-Things that make me smile: Many different force powers that require practice to perfect. You are markedly more powerful than everyone around you (most of the time). Fun game play and physics engine. Great story set in the Star Wars universe. Challenging game that is satisfying to win. Great graphics. You have a light saber- enough said.

-Things that put a frown on my face: The boss battle against a star destroyer. It's a port of a console game. The knock down cycle. Inaccurate force push. Crappy menus. *Spoiler* No one should be able to take Darth Vader and the Emporer.

I had low expectations going into this game, mostly because I knew that it had received mediocre reviews from gaming websites (5.0 Gamespot). I was pleasantly surprised. This game was fun- real fun. Here's a quick summary of the game before I go into why I liked it so much.
This game is not junk.
You are Galen Marek, otherwise known as Starkiller. You were discovered as a child by none other than Lord Vader and raised as his Sith apprentice. When you come of age, Vader tasks you to hunt down and assassinate the remaining Jedi knights scattered throughout the universe. Half way through the game your circumstances drastically change and the remaining story revolves around your inner struggle to do what is right and do what you're told.

You are powerful as a Sith lord and you become much more powerful as the game progresses. The force powers that you unlock as you level up are varied and add to your overall power. It's difficult to learn all of the key combinations used to perform all of the powers and it is wise to use the in-game practice arena to hone your force skills. That's one thing that I liked about this game, it actually took skill to use all of your powers and the better you become at using the force, the easier it is to dispatch all of those pesky storm troopers.



An impressive part of this game is the physics engine. Most everything is destructible and if it's not the floor or the ceiling, then it's most likely able to be used as a projectile with your force grab or push powers. This let's you get really creative on how you deal with enemies, especially when they're in groups. Oh yeah, the enemies themselves can be projectiles too.


Since LucasArts developed the game, they had free reign to add to the Star Wars lore and they did just that. I'm not going to give anything away about the story, I'll just say that The Force Unleashed fills in some gaps between episodes III and IV of the Star Wars saga. It fills in some major gaps, some gaps that I didn't even know were there, and I liked it.
Starkiller pays a little visit to Cloud City.
Yes, I did just punt a Jawa.
Not all is well in the universe though. There are some truly annoying things about the game. For one, it is a PC port of a game developed to be on consoles so all of the menus are navigated with the arrow keys and "enter" and not the mouse. This is annoying to a PC gamer. The game menus themselves are poorly done too.

Another annoying thing about the game is what I call the knockdown cycle. You get knocked down when taking a lot of damage and there's an animation involved when standing back up. If the damage is timed right(/wrong), you can get knocked back down just as you stand back up and this cycle can repeat itself until you die. Needless to say, this is very annoying. I nearly broke my "W A S D" keys trying to break out of the cycle.

Finally, my biggest annoyance of the game-- the star destroyer boss fight. At the end of a particular level, you want to make a point to the empire by bringing down a star destroyer-- with your bare hands (through the force). The battle involves taking out a bunch of tie fighters, then SLOWLY pulling down the ship before a bunch of new tie fighters re attack. This cycle repeats itself several times. Because the game is a console port the controls in this battle aren't well done and this "fight" is very frustrating. I had to go to Gamefaqs.com to figure out if I was doing something wrong because this fight just kept going on and when you died you had to start all over. Very frustrating and boring.
I would have rather fought an actual boss in this boss fight.
Don't let these last few paragraphs steer you away from the game though, these are mere annoyances. The Force Unleashed was the funnest game that I have played in a long time. I looked forward to playing it whenever I could. There are several side-objectives that you can do on each level and I've since gone back to try to accomplish more. Fun stuff. Star Wars the Force Unleashed 2 just came out and guess what, it got low scores too. I can't wait to play it.
I give Star Wars the Force Unleashed an 8 out of 10.

Valve out of the blue announced a free game that can be downloaded on Steam. It's called Alien Swarm and is a top-down 4 player co-op shoot-em-up game. I'm downloading it right now and am excited to give it a try. Here's the link:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/630/

The gameplay video of it looks fun. I hope that there are strong tactical components to the game and not just another right index finger exercise game. We'll just have to see.

I think that it's really cool that Valve puts our free stuff like this once in awhile. They are by far the greatest supporters of PC gaming. Thanks Valve

I checked my email tonight and there waiting for me was an email from Onlive saying that they were live and ready to roll. This made me happy, very happy. I couldn't install it fast enough. I was able to play for about an hour tonight and here are my first experiences and impressions.This is the opening screen (with some small differences).Here's an older version of the Onlive main menu. There are some differences in the release version as discussed below.
The Arena is a spectator mode. It's pretty cool to watch others play their games. Profile, Last Played and Friends are self explanatory I believe. Games (this actually is Marketplace in the released version) is where you can buy or demo the games that they have for sale. At release, Onlive offers 23 games(see list below). The games are a good representation of the genres. Brag Clips is where you can show off video clips that you've recorded while playing. Instead of Showcase, the real version has a Coming Soon button that shows trailers of upcoming titles that they will be offered on Onlive.The service works really well. There is no perceivable lag for me when I play. I put this to the test by joining a multiplayer round of Unreal Tournament. These kind of games require split second reflexes and it felt just as if I was playing at a LAN party. No lag at all. Very impressive. The resolution is good, not great for this game, the same can be said for the sound quality. You kind of don't think about these things as you get playing though.Here's a view of the Arena. Each frame is an actual playing video and you can click on any of them to watch that player'sgamein progressin a full screen.One thing that I really like is that you can demo any game that they have for sale. You simply get 30 minutes of normal game play. I played the first 30 minutes of Assassin's Creed 2 which was just long enough to get past all of the intro and talking and get to the first fight. I would have liked to get more time in this game, but it may be the title that I buy with my Founding Members Program free game anyway. There is no installing or loading of the demos or games. You just click on Demo, and the game starts. I really like that.I was curious to try Borderlands as this is a game that I own and play on my low-end PC. The game runs better on Onlive than it does on my native PC. This was impressive to me and is pretty much the whole point of Onlive- play all games no matter how high-end they are on most any machine (including Macs). I hosted a multiplayer game of Borderlands, curious to see if multiplayer worked, and it wasn't long before someone joined my game and played along with me for awhile. The graphics in Onlive Borderlands look better than my native PC Borderlands, mostly because I have to crank mine down to get a tolerable frame rate to play. Not so with Onlive.Another great thing about Onlive is it allows you to try out games that you wouldn't be able to otherwise. I've wanted to play Trine for awhile now but never had the chance. Now I can play the demo for 30 minutes and get a pretty good feel for the game.Onlive still has some bugs to work out. For instance, the sound in Trine didn't work for me and the first time I loaded Assassin's Creed 2, I got stuck at the end of a cut-scene and had to restart the game. Considering the technological feat that they are pulling off though, I'm amazed at how well it runs.Another thing that I noticed after looking at the launch titles list below is that many of the games are missing. Dragon Ages Origins and Mass Effect 2 are both games that I considered getting as my free game but they are not available today. I'll have to see what the explanation is.So far I am very impressed with Onlive and I'm sure that it will only get better as more games are added and as the Onlive gaming community gets established. The biggest question that I had before actually getting to try Onlive was "will it work?" Based on the limited time I've had to play the service so far, it seems that the answer is most definitely yes. Great job Onlive, I'm glad to be a founding member. I'll write more after I put some more hours into it.
OnLive launch titles:aaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! -- A Reckless Disregard for Gravity,Assassin's Creed II, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Borderlands, Brain Challenge, Defense Grid: Gold, Dirt 2, Dragon Age: Origins, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, Just Cause 2, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 Demo (Full version available 6/29), Madballs in Babo: Invasion, Mass Effect 2, MLB 2K10, NBA 2K10, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, Puzzle Chronicles, Red Faction Guerrilla, Shatter, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction, Trine, Unreal Tournament III, World of Goo

Portal is free on Steam until May 24th. Everyone should get this game. Here's the link:

http://store.steampowered.com/freeportal/

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

by Infinity Ward

What I paid: $15 (Steam)

Gamespot's COD 4 website

My Score 9.5/10

-Things that make me smile: Amazing campaign. Intense action. Diverse gameplay. Good control. Good acting/voice acting. Total game immersion.

-Things that put a frown on my face: Guns sound weak. Short campaign (+/-). Multiplayer grenade spamming.

I know that I don't need to say too much about how great this game is since everyone knows that it is indeed great and it's sequel is thesecondgreatest selling game of all time (1st is Wii Play). After seeing it on Steam for only $15, I knew it was my time to find out what all the hype was about, and I discovered, not surprisingly, that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is worth all the praise that it received.

There are a lot of first person shooters out there. This one stands apart from them in many ways. First off, the story is entirely involving, something that not many FPS's can pull off. You feel like you're taking part in something great and something that could be secretly happening right now. You alternate between two main characters,Sergeant John "SOAP" McTavishfrom the British S.A.S., andSergeant Paul Jacksonof the Marines 1st Force Recon. You also take part in other aspects of the action like being the gunner of aC-130 Spectre Gunshipor the second man in a sniper duo on a mission that occurred 15 years ago. You truly feel like you are in the action.

One way that you feel like you are there is with the great visuals and sound. When a bomb goes off nearby, you "feel" it through the sound and the camera shake. It is convincing. Something that was not so convincing to me was the weak sounding shots from your weapons. More than once I checked to make sure I had my sound options correct after being underwhelmed by the blast of my weapon. I wanted the guns to be louder. This is a minor complaint though. By and large, I haven't played a game where I have felt more drawn into.

Another way that the game draws you in is through your interaction with the NPC's. The voice acting was great. The character's animations were smooth and realistic. The NPC AI was well done. Your squad mates always seem to be in the action, but are never doing all the fighting. You must shoot things or you will die.

You do more than just pull the trigger in COD 4 (don't get me wrong though, there isa lotof trigger pulling). The diversity in the game is one thing that really keeps things compelling and interesting. For example, there is a mission where you are the second man on a 2 man sniper team on an assassination mission. The majority of the mission is entirely stealth (and the stealth was well done). There were times on this mission when I literally started to sweat because I was so tense. Another example of diversity in the game comes from this same mission. Your lead sniper ends up getting injured and you have to carry him to the extraction point. Whenever enemies come around, you have to put him on the ground in order to shoot. This different game play dynamic, and many others throughout the game, add a lot to the diversity and maintain your interest.

The single player campaign is short. This is both a plus and a minus to me. I was surprised when the credits started to roll that I had actually finished the game. I could have kept playing. But, there is something to be said about being able to finish a game in a timely manner. I have played some games that are simply too long to finish on my personal timeline, and I feel unfulfilled with them. I appreciate that this game is finish-able for casual gamers like me.

This review is for the single player campaign, but I have to whine a bit about the multiplayer. The grenade spamming is insane and definitely lessens the gameplay experience. There are a couple of maps with a few choke points that are constantly grenade spammed. You can't do any fighting without getting through these choke points, but you can't get through them because of the grenades. Very annoying. I'll hopefully get used to it though as the multiplayer is fun overall and I want to like it.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a great game. It's been awhile since I've played a single player FPS campaign as involving and intense as this one. I'm glad that I saw the game on sale on Steam and that I decided to buy it. I'll have to see if I have enough patience to wait 2 years or so for Modern Warfare 2 to go on sale on Steam. I may not be able to.

I bought COD 4 Modern Warfare on Steam last weekend ($15) and I can finally see what all the hype was surrounding this game. It's great. I've played the Single player campaign for awhile. The warfare diversity is compelling. From running through the streets of a mid-East city to manning the guns of a C-130 Spectre gunship, the game keeps mixing things up. I've played a little while in Multiplayer and I'm not as sold on it as I thought I would be. I think that I'm just too used to the Battlefield series and the squad based play. I might get used to it.

Wednesday Game NightsI have a great wife. I'm a busy guy with work, kids, church service and whatever else comes along in life, but my wife always lets me take one night a week to play with my brother(s) and friend(s). Wednesday nights are game nights at our house.My game night group hasn't changed much over the years. It mostly consists of my older brother, who is a network administrator at a software company, and a friend (who married my brother's wife's sister-- I know, just move on) who is also a radiologist. Once in awhile my younger brother will take a World of Warcrack hiatus and join in on the Wednesday night festivities with us.We've played several games throughout the years. Here's a run down of those games.

The first game that we all played together wasWorld of Warcraft. Few games (if any) are funner to play together with a group of friends. As you may have heard, WoW has addictive potential and it may have occupied more than just a Wednesday night for us. We tried to enter Azeroth whenever we could. It was only a matter of time before the wives stepped in and likeHigh Inquisitor Whitemaneherself wiped our little group. Even great wives have limits. Some of us only made it to level 40 or so. I kept playing solo for awhile and made it to level 70 before I called it quits. It's just not fun playing alone. Still, I think WoW will always hold a special little place in our hearts *sniff *sniff.

Next we all picked upBattlefield 2142. This is a great coop game. It is extremely well designed and balanced to be played as a squad. We started Helix_C clan and it wasn't long before we had a full team of Helix_C soldiers all in the same squad battling it out together. Battling it out is an apt way to put it because this game is all about the battle. It is intense. There is no better way to put it. My heart literally raced during some of the firefights. 64 players is a lot to have on the same battlefield. We learned our roles well and became a tight squad. There were many nights when Helix_C turned the tide of a tough battle. We played 2142 for a long time and really never got tired of it. We went on to the next game just to try a new genre out for awhile. To this day we'll play a few rounds of 2142 while waiting for all of us to get online.

I don't think we ever really got over our WoW loss. In an attempt to enter into another fantasy world that has groups and loot and leveling up and skill points and many other standard WoW/RPG elements, we started playingDungeon Siege II. While this game had some fun elements, it definitely was not a WoW replacement. I personally got bored with it, mostly because the combat was so simple. You just hold the right button down on an enemy and your character attacks it. Every once in a while you can use a special power. This is all there is to combat. It was nice to level up and continually get better loot though, this almost reminded us of the good old WoW days... almost. It was close enough that my younger brother left WoW once a week and joined us on Wednesdays.

I hardly ever buy a just released game, mostly because I'm so cheap and I am patient enough for the prices to drop. I just couldn't wait to buyBorderlandsthough. I started reading about this game more than a year before its release and knew that I was going to like it. I love FPS and RPG games, and Borderlands is a nice fusion of these genres. I also was really excited because Borderlands is meant to be a coop game. It was a perfect fit for our Wednesday night game nights. I convinced my brother and friend to purchase it and it wasn't long before we were zipping around planet Pandora shooting up anything that moved and running over everything else. I still couldn't convince my younger WoW-head brother to join us though, which is unfortunate because Borderlands is at its best with 4 players. It is still an absolute riot with 3 of us though. So much loot! The game is genuinely funny. The NPC characters are hilarious. This is the game that we're currently playing Wednesdays and I can't wait to play every week.So there's a brief history of our game nights. We've played some good games and I'm already thinking of some more for the future, maybe Left 4 Dead or League of Legends. We'll see. All I know is that I'm always excited for Wednesday nights to roll around.

Gaming PodcastsOne of the ways that I stay in touch with the gaming world is through podcasts. It takes about 20 minutes one way for me to get to work everyday so I use this time to listen to podcasts. I used to listen to the crappy local radio, but that sucked. I then started to listen to NPR, but I just couldn't stay interested in their stories. It was about that time that I got a Blackberry and installed a podcast program on it calledpodtrapper. It automatically downloads podcasts overnight so the next day I have new things to listen to. Now I listen to a few gaming podcasts throughout the week and that keeps me more informed than the average gamer.Here are the podcasts that I listen to and what I think about them.

The best one by far isGamespot Presents the Hotspot. (clickhereor the logo on the left to go to their homepage) The host, Brendan Sinclair, (a dry-humored Canadian) keeps things moving along well. You can tell that he puts in a lot of work each week to stay on top of the gaming world and in turn churn out a good podcast. He actually works at making an interesting podcast- this is where the other podcasts come up short I think. There are usually at least 3-5 other people with him each week. One thing that I've learned from listening to podcasts is that the more the merrier. Some regulars on the show that are always hilarious are Tom Mc Shea and Kevin VanOrd. This podcast discusses all gaming platforms, not just PC gaming. There are weekly features that keep it interesting like "MSRB Rating Description Theater" and the weekly homework assignment. I always laugh out loud several times while listening to this podcast.PC Gamer magazine puts out a weekly podcast as well. (Here'sthe link) This one is hit or miss depending on who the host is. These guys take turns hosting so it all depends on who's turn it is. Evan Lahti and Josh Augustine do the best job I believe. Logan Decker and Dan Stapleton are just plain annoying and I have a hard time listening to the entire podcast when they are the hosts. This podcast is PC gaming specific so they provide the most pertinent news and information to me. This is a well produced podcast and the commentators are well informed. They just aren't that funny. They don't have any special features like the Gamespot one does either. I rarely laugh out loud when listening to the podcast. That said, I almost always listen to the entire thing.

IGN puts out several podcasts including a PC gaming specific one entitled "Command Prompt". This is the poorest of the three that I'm mentioning. Whereas the audio in the above two podcasts are great, as it should be, these guys just can't seem to get it right. The panel of guests is spread out across the country and it sounds like a bad conference call when you listen to it. The podcast just does a poor job of maintaining my interest. I only listen to this podcast when I've listened to the other two, and it's not fantasy football season (I listen toESPN's Fantasy Focusa lot during the NFL season). In fact, I haven't listened to Command Prompt for several weeks and who knows, it may have significantly improved between then and now.

Finally, I have to mentionCNET's Buzz Out Loud. Though not a gaming podcast per se, it still gets included here because, well, it's so awesome. I'm a tech junky and this daily program discusses the days top tech news. They all really know their stuff and are interesting. They occasionally talk about the big gaming news, so I guess it does fit in here.Give some of these podcasts a try to get into the gaming world more. I know that I'll never get to play all of the games that they talk about on these podcasts so it's a way for me to get to know the games vicariously through the hosts. It sure beats local radio and NPR, that's for sure.