Consolation Prize

Going back a few years I used to be a fan of Sid Meier, from the early flight simulators like F15 Strike Eagle and F-19 Stealth Fighter to his more strategic games like Railroad Tycoon, Colonization and of course the renowned Civilization. Eventually I just stopped following what Meier was developing but I’ve always remembered his name and his legacy.

I’ve been keeping an eye on how this console centric version of Civilization was progressing with keen interest, and over the last couple of days I’ve been playing the demo, trying to decide if I actually like the game or not and if it’s worth purchasing.

Well, after a shaky start I’ve warmed to the game. To begin with I wasn’t that enthralled; the cartoon-like art design didn’t immediately appeal and the random gibberish spouted by your advisors in place of a verbal language is very irksome. Maybe I was comparing it to the Civilization from old which I remember as being quite a hardcore resource management strategy game where cartoon characterisation and comedic advisors certainly didn’t have a place.

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Although I’ve never read any of Robert Ludlum’s original Bourne novels I have enjoyed all the Hollywood movies starring Matt Damon as the ex-secret agent Jason Bourne. The books and movies have been successful but is the video game adaptation going to continue the run? Well, you can decide how the game is going to fare by trying out the demo of The Bourne Conspiracy that’s available on both Xbox Live Marketplace (1.2GB) and PlayStation Network (1.65GB).

The demo provides the player with three levels to play through, two of which “Escape from the Embassy” and the “Paris Chase” I remember from the movies, but I’m assuming the level “Eliminate Divandelen” may have been taken from one of the novels. Firstly players will immediately notice that Matt Damon hasn’t authorised the use of his likeness for the main character. Those of us whom are more familiar with the movies will feel a little disappointed that a new “face” has had to be used to represent Jason Bourne, but on the whole this shouldn’t really matter as long as the game plays well.

The three levels on offer act to showcase the different gameplay styles available in the game, after all this is Jason Bourne we’re talking about so we expect close hand-to-hand combat, thrilling gun fights, and unbelievable car chases. The demo does it’s best to serve up a slice of each but is only partly successful in delivering an exhilarating experience.

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Due to be released this Friday (23rd May, UK) a demo of the eagerly anticipated PS3 exclusive game Haze can be downloaded from the Playstation Network, weighing in at a mighty 1.57GB.

For its huge download size the actual demo is really quite short. You play a soldier from the Mantle Corporation and along with your fellow squad members are dropped into the jungle and tasked with locating a downed transport craft and securing its valuable cargo of Nectar. All in all you can blast through the level in about 15 minutes and even quicker on successive runs and this level merely acts as a tutorial for the controls and the effects of Nectar on your combat skills.

As a Mantle trooper you have access to the performance enhancing drug Nectar. When coursing through your blood Nectar enhances your vision allowing you to easily pick out enemies, increases your strength, and improves the body’s ability to recover from wounds.

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A demo of the forthcoming racing game Racedriver: GRID, the next game from Codemasters, the developers behind the really rather good off-road racing game DiRT, is now available to download from both Xbox Live Marketplace (795mb) and Sony Playstation Network (962mb).

The demo offers up a few juicy morsels of racing action. “Grid World” looks like the main single player experience as you pick and choose from driver offers which will reward the player with both money and a number of reputation points. Each offer also has a bonus condition (team objective), for example finish no lower than third to get an extra £1000. The three driver offers available provide a good example of the diverse racing that may be available in GRID and the game mixes things up nicely with some touring car racing at the Jarama Grand Prix circuit in Spain, drift racing around the docks in Yokohama, Japan, and finally partaking in a pro muscle car series event on the streets of San Francisco.

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Although Universe at War: Earth Assault, a science fiction RTS game, wasn’t given an overly impressive reception when it was released I thought it was worth at least playing the demo so I could create my own impressions about the game.

The demo is quite extensive and allows you to try out a few different options from the game. Firstly it’s worth playing through the “Tutorial” mission which will guide you through the controls and the basic principles of unit selection and grouping as-well as some rudimentary building and unit production.

After playing the tutorial you can either jump into a single player game via the “Skirmish Battle Setup” or jump online using the “Conquer the World” option. Both offline and online modes allow you to pick from two maps, Kamchatka or Turkestan and play as either the Novus, a sentient machine race, or the distinctly alien Hierarchy. Each faction has there own inherent strengths and weaknesses and felt comparably different to play.

Universe at War uses what now seems to be an RTS “standard”; An isometric view of the battlefield which can be panned, rotated, and zoomed as the player sees fit and familiar game mechanics (that haven’t changed much in over a decade) which start the player off with a command centre and a construction unit with which to establish a base. The player divides their time managing building and unit production as-well as scouting the battlefield not only for the enemy but also to secure more resources to be converted into credits (when harvested), which are required to purchase everything from new buildings and units to technological advancements.

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Whilst agonisingly waiting to get hold of my copy of GTA IV earlier this week I thought I’d check out what the PSN store had to offer. There were a couple of PSP demo’s which I wanted to try out, namely Patapon and God of War: Chains Of Olympus but I thought I’d give the Everybody’s Golf: World Tour demo a whirl.

Before getting into the nitty-gritty it’s worth mentioning that this title is also known under a couple of different names. In Japan it’s known as Everybody’s Golf 5 and if you’re reading this on the other side of the pond from the UK it’s Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds.

Although initial impressions suggest this is going to be a lightweight golf game with its large headed cartoon-esque characters once you’re actually in the game it becomes apparent that there’s a serious golf engine running behind the scenes.

The demo allows you to pick from a couple of characters, either “Jasmine” or “Felipe”, each with their own set of stats such as power, control, and spin and once chosen the character can be customised using the limited number of outfits and club types available. It’s apparent that more outfits, clubs and ball types will be selectable in the full retail game but the few on offer here provide an adequate taster of things to come.

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A demo of Sega Superstar Tennis is now available to download from Xbox Live Marketplace, sized at a reasonable 677MB.

The demo allows you to try out a single player match choosing from either AiAi of Super Monkey Ball fame or Shadow the Hedgehog. Characters play slightly differently to oneanother due to a specialist skill and a signature “superstar” move. For example AiAi can curve shots more easily and can transform the tennis ball into a bunch of distracting bananas which boomerang back to the opponent with a bend “Beckham” would be proud of.

The game controls quite well and on first impressions felt very similar to the Virtua Tennis series of games I’ve played in the past. There are however a few differences to note when it comes to shot selection. The “A” and “X” buttons produce either a fast or slow shot respectively, but if you want to perform a lob or a drop shot then a simple combo has to be pressed, “A” followed by “X” gives you a lob whilst reversing the action will produce a drop shot.

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Turning Point: Fall of Liberty is yet another FPS to be set in that highly plundered period of World War II but promises to offer a new perspective on events. The whole premise of Turning Point is based upon the idea of an alternate timeline. A reality where the then diplomat Winston Churchill hadn’t survived a collision with a New York taxi cab on December 13th 1931, and thus didn’t become the hugely influential prime minister of the United Kingdom. In this timeline the tide of Nazi Germany domination couldn’t be stopped and the United States is about to be invaded.

At the start of the demo you find yourself in New York atop the semi completed structure of a skyscraper during the initial air invasion. Your task is to navigate your way down from this precarious position to street level far below. Unfortunately the first segment of this demo as you immediately get control is flawed, requiring the player to negotiate a series of narrow girders. Although as long as you don’t jump off you can’t really fall to your death, merely grabbing the girder and hauling yourself back up, as an introduction to unfamiliar controls this design leaves a lot to be desired.

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