Hello everyone. The last time I wrote about a First-person shooter, it was something at the more recent end of what we’d call an “old game” on this site. So for my next item I’ve taken the opposite approach, and investigated a series from the earliest days of the genre, way back in 1991. So if you like, have a read about Catacomb 3D and its sequels.

Also if you’re not been here in a while, scroll down to see links to a bunch of reviews from Rik!

Hello there.

Surprise, surprise, we have another review for you tonight. Yes, I know, this is unprecedented (and unlikely to be repeated). If FFG was a big rock band from the 90s with significant chart appeal (which it isn’t) then this would be like us releasing a sixth single from the album that came out a couple of years ago.

Now, we’re going to have a rest, and then head back to the studio with some fresh ideas for a new sound. Except we won’t have any fresh ideas, we’ll just be working on some more of the usual nonsense.

Erh…anyway, tonight’s review is of yet another CSI game, CSI: Hard Evidence.

[Disclaimer: I woke up in the middle of the night thinking that this would make a great piece and excitedly jotted down some notes. At some point between then and now, perhaps following an ill-advised browse of some comments sections, I lost the will to try and write anything decent, or to try and generate, or participate in, any kind of discussion on the subject.

I’m adding it now because I still think it’s relevant to our area of interest, and I sort of want to get it off my chest, but if I were you I’d just scroll down to the links at the end.

Oh, and in case it doesn’t go without saying, the views expressed below are my own and do not represent those of the FFG board.]

A frankly poor piece on an interesting topic continued »

Hello there.

Completing an unprecedented burst of activity on the site (by our standards) during February, we have a review of the adventure game Guilty.

Barring any more long holidays, extended periods of sickness, or unexpectedly becoming unemployed, we’ll be back to our usual rate from this point on.

Hello!

Tonight we have part two of Rik’s holiday review bonanza (well, perhaps that’s overselling it slightly). Anyway, here are a few words about Tyrian.

There’s some more to come, at a future date to be determined by management and shareholders.

Hi all.

I’ve been on holiday. I had a good rest, thank you – thanks for asking.

Due to the wonders of modern technology I was able to indulge in some retro gaming (and writing) while I was away. So there are a few bits and pieces waiting to be tidied up and finished and – hopefully – added to the site over the coming days and weeks.

Anyway, for tonight, we have a holiday-themed game. Well, it starts off as a holiday anyway. Somebody’s done a murder, and only you can find the killer, in Delphine’s Cruise for a Corpse.

So a while back I had my first introduction to the world of Fremium gaming, with EA’s Theme-Park for iOS and android.

Here’s how it works: you buy rides and shops, which periodically generate either game money or experience points. Pathways are all already in place, and the park is divided into sections that can be themed (western, fururistic etc) Most of the time the only maintenance you need to do is clean up puke. Actually, you do a lot of puke-cleaning. Rides can be manually worked (wave your finger around the screen) to make them churn out experience faster but may break in the process

Initially you only have crappy rides available. New ones become available as you gain level, but progress is slow and your income to pay for them is meagre anyway. Which of course is where the Fremium bit comes in – pay real money for tokens that let you put down superior rides right away. Some rides, if I recall right, are *only* available for real money.

Some of these rides can easily set you back $5 a shot. And remember, a park needs many rides. Amongst the the most expensive, you could spend like $60!! Of course you don’t *have* to fork out cash, but the game is painfully tedious otherwise, waiting for your few meagre rides to churn out game-money and cleaning up yet more puke in the interim. I can easily see impatient kids ringing up bills for their parents here.

Except, even if you do spend real money it’s still probably goddamn tedious because all you do is plonk stuff down, occasionally click it, and clean up puke. That’s it, the pretty much the sum total of gameplay on offer. The game is only briefly addictive in the most mindless sense of, it’s been half an hour and you want to push buttons to hear reward noises and see some numbers go up. It’s an awful, soulless, cash grabbing automaton of a game, cynically dressed in the clothes of a beloved early-90s classic.

The only reason I ended up playing was because my GF enjoyed Theme Park as a kid, and this seemed like the easiest way to revisit it given that she’s not enough of a nerd to go faffing around with dosbox. Since then gog.com have added the original to their selection, as usual all wrapped up a user-friendly installer, so I might just buy her that instead.

Anyway, I was inspired to post this when I saw that another former Bullfrog title,  Dungeon Keeper has a fremium tablet\smartphone incarnation now too. It looks like it might hang on to more features of the original, but still throws lots of paywalls in your way.

I wonder what will be next – Syndicate? (only 300 Credits to give your guy a minigun! Credits cost $20 for 500.)

Hello everyone. I don’t do reviews so much these days, but have been feeling steadily more ashamed as Rik continues to churn out articles like a pro. So here’s one humble effort – mid 2000s shooter Quake IV.

I have something else in the works, of a much earlier generation, for you grizzled early-90s veterans out there. See you next time!

Pointed out to me by a friend on facebook:

TIE Fighter soundtrack updated by Laserschwert

The game originally used midi music, played through the dinky little synth chip on your adlib or soundblaster card. This chap however has instead used some professional-grade orchestral sample libraries. As much as I have a soft spot for the old fm synthesis days, I have to admit this sounds a lot more impressive.

Of course, TIE fighter had a great soundtrack in the first place. The original composer came up with pieces that feel mysterious or grandiose, without being permanently parked in the realm of Obviously Villainous. After all, despite you working for the Empire all this isn’t just a game about blowing up transports full of refugees or somesuch. It does try giving you a sense of how, an Imperial Pilot could feel he’s on the right side, bringing order to the galaxy. So the themes and fanfares need to be inspiring in their own way, stirring you to go forth and do your duty to the Empire.

What you’ll find here is basically is all the music from between missions – cutscenes, menu screens and so on. I especially love the “Tech Specs room” theme. Sadly he’s not done the in-mission music but that’s understandable. It consisted of a multitude of little snippets that were assembled on the fly (using Lucasarts iMuse system), reacting to events as they happened. I imagine it would be quite a lot of work to assemble all that into a satisfying few-minutes-long standalone piece.

(ps if you’re looking for Actual Content, Rik did a great roundup on Ea Sports Cricket 97 a couple of days ago)

Hi there!

Wow, two updates in a week. Well, if our discussion of hack and slash RPGs wasn’t for you, how does this review of a really old cricket game grab you? *chorus of boos*

It would have arrived sooner, if the recent Ashes series hadn’t been such an unmitigated tale of woe – but it has, so that sort of put me off a little bit. Sporting disappointment is always compounded when you’ve made the rather foolish decision to stay up until 3am to listen to your team get hammered.

Usually, cricket games are about as much fun as doing just that, although this one isn’t too bad actually – here’s Cricket 97 for you.