'Budget price' review: Star Wolves (PC)

I've been doing a lot of bargain bin scavenging lately, and have been purchasing games that look interesting, but have not heard of before. Purchasing games developed by independent small studios has taught me that sometimes you can find awesome games that rival even the latest of popular releases in depth or innovation. Star Wolves is one such title. I had not heard of it before, but picked it up from a bargain bin, and managed to have a good time with it for a good couple of weeks.

If I'm not mistaken, the developer is from Russia, which wouldn't be surprising, since some other good Russian sci-fi titles have been released in recent times as well. Space Rangers 2, to name one. Star Wolves is not a perfect game, but for its price it's excellent. Now to the actual review.

Star Wolves
The game itself can be classified as a real-time strategy game (or RTS), but it has much bigger emphasis on tactics than your average title. However, it's hard to put the game under just one genre, because it also has elements of roleplaying games and adventure in it.

If you haven't guessed from the name of the game, everything takes place in space. The player commands a large mercenary spaceship called Star Wolf, and up to six fighters that can be deployed or docked at the Star Wolf (usually referred to as 'Mothership').

"War in space. Are you ready to pay its real price?"
Star Wolves takes place somewhere couple of centuries in feature (I forgot the actual year, but I think it was 23rd century). Mankind has colonized many star systems, and everything is governed by an Emperor. In turn, everything in space belongs to three corporations, each with their own agenda. For example, one of the corporations (The Triad) is basically mafia. The whole concept of mankind separated in such simple factions is a bit silly, but it provides a good base for conspiracies and alliances. At the beginning of the game, there are two additional hostile factions that are mostly at war with the corporations. Pirates, and Berserks. Berserk's are basically the same as Cylons in Battlestar Galactica. Artificial Intelligence, created by humans, gone rogue. The latter parts of the story introduce additional enemies, but I don't want to spoil anything.

The player's story starts at the newly-established mercenary unit Star Wolves. There's no deep history preceding the beginning. All you really need to know is that the main character (referred to as 'Hero'), and his good friend Ace are the founders of the Star Wolves, and currently looking for jobs to take on. The game progresses mission by mission, so there's no free flying from system to system. It feels restrictive at first, but most missions provide alternate paths and bonus objectives, so you'll always feel like you're playing at a brand new sandbox. There's normally 1-3 missions to choose from. Sometimes you can only choose to accept one, and it has a slight impact on the progress of the story. For example, you may choose to assist the mafia or to defend another corporation from the mafia's attacks. Everyone wants to hire the Star Wolves at some point though.

Along the journey you'll meet several characters that you can choose to recruit in your team. Some join automatically. Up to six characters can join, so opting to not recruit a character can allow another character to join later on, that you otherwise wouldn't be able to recruit. This provides a little replayability, as you can form a slightly different team each time.

Birds
While on a mission, every character can pilot a fighter. Each fighter has a certain amount of armor and shield capacity. Naturally, when taking damage, shields are depleted first, then armor. Once armor hits zero, the fighter is destroyed. If a fighter from the player's team is downed by enemy fire, the character doesn't die. Instead they float in the space in an escape pod, and can be picked up by the Mothership and be deployed with another fighter (provided that you have spare ones). Losing a fighter is not a big deal in the early stages of the game, but later on ships become special, and it's extremely hard to get good ships sometimes, because of their price and availability on the market. The Mothership on the other hand is vital. Its destruction means 'Game Over', and can happen fairly easily too. Even with additional equipment, the shields and armor are limited, so it's a good idea to keep the Mothership away from large battles, and only bring it in to assist in decisive attacks.

Weapons are divided in four types. Small guns (basically rapid-firing), Large Guns (Lasers, Plasma, Heavy cannons, etc), Missiles (guided) and Rockets (dumbfire). Each fighter can house a number of weapons, but only either small guns or large guns. Each character has a weapon speciality, which often dictates the choice of ship and weaponry, but with good tactics it is possible to neglect the speciality in favor of having more of a certain weapon type.

Fighters and Mothership can also have additional modules on them, with various effects, such as shield boosters, anti-missile systems, emergency and active repair systems, etc. Some roles in battle require certain systems to be fitted on a fighter in order to be performed.

Wings
Battles in Star Wolves can be extremely hard at times. How well your characters perform in battle largely depends on their fighter configuration and the correct usage of special skills. Each character has a set of special skills that can be enabled for a set amount of time, for certain number of times during each mission. It is extremely important to not waste skills when not necessary, because they often win battles. Most skills either temporarily boost the fighter's capabilities (ie. higher accuracy, faster fire rate, more damage..) or mess with the systems of either friendly or enemy fighters (shield restoration or depletion, for example). Some skills almost completely nullify damage for a period of time, or completely disable an enemy fighter for a short moment.

In addition to skills, the characters can form teams, also referred to as wings. Being a leader of a wing, or a wingman can increase the wing's performance if the characters have learned proper skills. For instance, it is a good idea to have an anti-missile specialist in a wing. Some tasks, like anti-missile defense and repair on-the-fly prevent a fighter from firing weapons at the same time though, but are necessary to survive under special conditions.

All characters have a traditional skill tree, from which they can learn skills after they've gained enough experience in battles. Some characters have multiple roles available, so specializing can be most effective.

The loot
After a succesful mission, the team receives a reward, and can sell or keep the leftovers from enemy ships. Selling the loot is usually much more profitable than the mission reward itself. You can also purchase new fighters and equipment between missions. It is a good idea to keep the fighters up-to-date, but it's just as important to still rely on the old ones if needed. Sometimes a battle goes horribly wrong, and the only thing you have left is that old fighter you used early in the game, and that fighter can be your ticket to completing the mission.

The space
Graphics in Star Wolves are quite nice for its price range and age. You can zoom in on the action, pause the game at any point and gaze at the battles from different angles. You won't probably find yourself doing this much though, since every second can count in a battle, and activating a skill or changing the battle plan at just the right time can make a huge difference in the outcome. Background look really pretty though. The space feels deep enough, even though the maps are fairly small in size, and moving from a location to another takes often less than a minute in average game speed.

The quality of the music is debatable. It's a combination of rock and light trance/techno. Gets a little repetitive at times, but if you like this type of music, then you'll feel at home. I rather enjoyed some of the tracks.

Sounds are pretty subtle, and you don't hear them much when you're zoomed out on the map, viewing the battle from a manageable distance.

Voice acting is... quite horrible, to tell the truth. There isn't much of it though, so it's not a big issue. And the grammar can be silly sometimes. The translations were not paid much attention to, but it didn't ruin the experience. Just sounds a bit silly sometimes.

The good and the bad
Now that I have explained the game in fair detail, it's time to evaluate it as a whole. Star Wolves is first and foremost a fairly slowpaced game, and can be extremely difficult at times. For a casual gamer this can be a huge problem in the beginning of the game, but as soon as you learn the correct pacing and usage of skills and equipment, the game can become a real treat. Missions are often full of surprises, and it can be tons of fun to react to changes and observe the outcome. Game can be saved at any point, allowing safe step-by-step progression through missions, if you don't like being under constant pressure. It is not necessary to keep all fighters intact through missions though, so I recommend accepting the losses if you manage to complete a mission. It can make things harder for the next mission, but it also adds a level of challenge that can still be overcome, which I haven't seen in any other game in quite a while.

The game is also relatively stable. During the entire two weeks I played, the game crashed only twice, and I came across only one bug (broken saved game file).

Scoring
Visuals: 8/10
For the game's price, the graphics are very nice, especially backgrounds. Ships at close range can look a bit blocky and weird.

Audio: 7/10
Horrible voice acting for the most part, rather subtle sound effects at normal viewing distance, decent music.

Gameplay: 8/10
Challenging game. Maybe even too much at times, as correct usage of tactics, skills and equipment can make a huge difference. If you're up to it though, the game offers lots of interesting scenarios.

Lasting value: 8/10
It is possible to get frustrated with the game at times, and the mission-by-mission progression of the game can feel repetitive at times, but overall the game is worthy of being played to the very end at least once. Alternate story paths and team member selection also provide some replayability.

Overall: 8/10
A solid strategy-RPG title. Provides a unique take on tactical space battles.

First Impressions: Unreal Tournament 3 demo

I've been a fan of the Unreal Tournament games ever since the first game that came out in '99 or something. Before that one, I hardly never played first-person shooters. A friend introduced the game to me and some friends. I hadn't heard of the game before that, so I was delightfully shocked to notice I liked the weapons and music, and later on even the maps of the game. Soon we started playing it at evenings, later on in clans. The interest faded a bit over time and Unreal Tournament 2003 didn't really revive the old classic. I did keep on playing the games though. But my history with the games aside, I've played the demo of the latest installment, Unreal Tournament 3, and have some opinions to share.

Back to the roots
UT2003 and UT2004 started taking the game away from its original style, and everything became a bit more mainstream. However, UT3 seems to be taking a tiny step backwards with some things.

The weapons seem more precise again, and while they feel slower, they also seem to be more deadly. The Enforcer pistol from the original UT also makes a comeback, though the secondary fire now shoots bursts of three shots, rather than being less accurate but faster firing mode. Rocket Launcher seems to pack a bunch again, though still fires only maximum of three rockets or grenades. Lightning gun seems to also be gone, with sniper rifle replacing it, like it was back in '99. Power-ups on maps are pretty much the same as before.

Movement is also slightly more restricted, although noticeably faster than before. You can no longer do a dodge plus jump for instance, though double jump, dodge and dodge from a wall is still possible. All in all though, it's still much closer to '03 and '04, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Game modes
As usual to the series, there's going to be a new game mode in the retail version, called Warfare, which is a combination of the Assault and Onslaught modes. Unfortunately, the demo doesn't show this mode in action, so I can't comment on it yet.

Assault mode will be gone. It never seemed to be a popular mode, even though it's much fun for a casual gamer. Onslaught will be there, along with Deathmatching and Capture the Flag, which by the way now comes with vehicles too. The same ones as in Onslaught mode. The demo features one map for this Vehicle CTF mode. The map is rather small, a suspension bridge crossing a river, so not all units have much use, such as the Hellfire artillery, which rarely can shoot in the places you'd need it to be able to shoot at. New in this mode is also the hoverboard, which seems to replace the translocator device from previous games. It's basically a floating board that you can move around with, with almost twice the normal speed. It's also the fastest way of carrying a flag alone. You can't shoot while being on the board though, and if you get hit while using it, you fall down, unable to perform actions for about 2-3 seconds. You can use it to grab onto friendly vehicles though, for even faster transportation.

Deathmatch seems pretty standard fare, though the maps also seem more open now. One of the maps in the demo also sports a bonus vehicle from the Warfare mode, a walking tripod, definitely inspired by War of the Worlds. If you get to ride this thing, it's got some neat powerful guns. Takes a good beating to destroy too, but definitely not too much to be overly powerful.

The things you see and hear
Graphics have been updated again. I personally like the change, though it could go to the direction of original UT even more. Aside from maybe a wee bit too much rounded items and general details, I'd say it looks really good, and runs very nicely even on a computer that doesn't have quite the latest hardware. Chances are that if you can play UT2004, you can probably enjoy UT3 as well, though probably with slightly reduced detail levels.

Music seems pretty standard fare, though I have to say, the theme music seems like a remixed version of the original, and I had these nostalgic chills running through my spine on a couple of occasions. The original UT just happened to be that special to me. It was the game that made me enjoy first-person shooters.

Final scoring
I like to score the initial impressions I have on games, and then review the final product later on. Although I'm a bit biased here, being a UT fan. The retail review could be total opposite, who knows.

Visuals: 9/10
I'd so love to give this a 10, but a few things could look better, mostly in the style department, but that's really a matter of taste. It's not perfect, though I like it a lot.

Audio: 8/10
Nothing special. Nice sounds, some nice music, sounds like UT alright.

Gameplay: 8/10
Movement seems good, except for vehicle handling, which ranges from overly free to almost inresponsive. It's not bad... but for maximum enjoyment, it could be much better. Game modes in the demo are nothing spectacular either, really.

Lasting Value: 9/10
I still like playing the demo. So if the retail has enough good maps on it, then we can expect a long life for this game.

Overall: 8/10
The game seems very promising, but that's also how I felt about UT2004. The initial fun rate was 10/10, but in mere couple of weeks, it fell down to about 7/10, and soon became more and more forgettable. I would like to give this one a 9/10 just because it's UT3, but wise from the previous title, I need to be prepared for a slight disappointment. the way I see it though, the game won't be a total failure if it runs stable and without major bugs, and if the game keeps evolving and growing, not just by hardcore gamers' needs, but casual gamers' as well.

The release date is set at the end of November at the moment, and it'll probably hold. Even with some bugs, they most likely want the game available by the time christmas sales begin.

First Impressions: Hellgate: London beta

About Hellgate: London
Those of you who haven't heard of Hellgate: London yet, it's basically a new Diablo-like hack'n slash game, originating from some of the creators of the original Diablo game(s). It's got a single player story, as well as multiplayer mode, both working in a rather standard MMO fashion. The location of the story seems to be in London, England, in a futuristic fantasy-type setting. You have machines and guns, but also spells and swords.

Hellgate: London beta
Having played mostly older games lately, I decided to place a pre-order for Hellgate: London, because the theme and genre interest me. Pre-ordering from certain retailers grants you an access key to the beta multiplayer game. The release date of the game is set at less than two weeks from now, and I can pretty much wager that it'll be postponed by at least a few weeks minimum. The multiplayer is technically up'n running, but buggy as hell. I'm not sure how much the testers are allowed to reveal things to the public (since I'm just like everyone else and don't read the agreement stuff upon installation of a game.), so I'll keep things brief, just to give a general idea of what I've witnessed in the short time I've played.

Hack'n Slash
I wasn't really quite sure what to expect from the game when I finally was able to login at the beta server. It's hack'n slash, and supposed to be Diablo-like, so that's what I was expecting. The game is hack'n slash indeed, but because of the rather World of Warcraft -like controls, it feels more like an MMORPG, than traditional hack'n slash games, which consist more of 'click-click' than movement key tapping.

I've only played worth about 6 levels with two characters, amounting to about 4-5 hours of gametime, probably. So far, the enemies have been easy. Too easy even. I've heard that the combat is more hectic in a party, as the amount of enemies and stuff increases too. I'm yet to try that out, but hopefully soon enough.

I started with an Engineer character, whose abilities include constructing/summoning bots and drones to support in the battle, while the player mostly uses guns to shoot from a distance. This seems to work rather nicely, and an upgraded bot can take a good beating while keeping most of the enemies away from the player(s).

As a second option, I chose a Guardian, similar to Paladin class in most fantasy games. Well armored, wields a sword and has protective and self-healing abilities. Since there's much more close combat battle than with the summoning classes, the character also takes more damage, though even so, I hardly ever had to manually heal the character.

London
The game seems to be set around underground tunnels of the city, basically meaning metro/subway stations, with various tunnels and even some famous locations as questing zones. The stations are kind of sanctuary locations, where players can do shopping, accept quests and gather a party. Once you enter an area with enemies, a random instance is created, and only you (and your other party members) can access it. So, you won't have random high-level people killing all the enemies or looting all the stuff ahead like in some other hack'n slash games, which is kind of a good thing, but also very lonely setting for online gaming. I like playing mostly alone, sometimes with a friend, so the requirement to have a party to experience intense action is a big minus, I think.

Barrels 'n Boxes
The instances are filled with barrels, boxes and chests, just like in Diablo, though this time around barrels are steel, boxes cardboard and chests metal cases, at least in the first parts of the game. You'll find lots of items during the game, many of them are equippable, but only a fraction for your class. The useless items can be sold, or broken into pieces, which you can use to upgrade or construct new items at stations. Cash is rarely a problem, as you find lots of it in the instances if you just bother to crack open everything.

Braaaaiinnnnnsss...
Enemies are mostly demonic stuff. Zombies, skeletons, demons, lizards, stuff like that. Some boss creatures show up every now and then, but so far I haven't found them very challenging myself. Hopefully the default difficulty is upped a bit for the final game. Otherwise lasting value is going to be rather low. I'm trying to stay optimistic though.

First Impressions Scoring:
So, what's the verdict for first impressions?
I'd say something along these lines:

Visuals: 9/10
Looks great for an MMO game. For a single player game, it's all pretty average.

Audio: 8/10
The little music there is works well with the theme. Sounds are pretty ordinary, guns could could make more noise.

Gameplay: 6/10
Buggy as what, but it's a beta, so this is expected. Controls seem pretty standard.

Lasting Value: 5/10
The game has potential, but if there won't be much changes, especially to the difficulty factor, then this is looking to be a game with rather short age.

Overall: 7/10
I'm not canceling my pre-order, but I'm not too ecstatic about the game either. Still looking forward to the final version though.

Last words... for now
In case I'll keep the pre-order, then expect to see a preview of the retail product later. ;) Hardcore MMO and hack'n slash fans should find this an interesting game, though time will tell how good the final build will be...

The birth of a new blog

Introduction
'ello everyone. I'm HitmanN. I made this blog to be a place where I can let out some of my thoughts and rant about things. I reside in Finland, Europe, and my views will probably occasionally reflect that.

If someone knows me by my nickname from before, then that's most likely because of one of two things. First, I used to run a web page called Unlimited Units, which was a place where I (and couple of other people) uploaded custom content for the PC game Total Annihilation. More probably you might know me from my galleries at both my website http://www.hitmann.net or my DeviantART acount. I mainly draw anime (japanese cartoon/comic style) girls, with the intent of making 'em look cute and sexy. It's not a thing for everyone, but it's what I enjoy doing, and I dare say I've progressed plenty in the 4-5 years I've been doing it. ;)

About this blog
Well, needless to say, since I have a website, and a DA account, I don't need a blog for talking about art. Instead, I want to dedicate this blog mainly to my secondary hobby, which is computer and console gaming. I might occasionally talk about totally unrelated stuff too though.

My current set of gaming platforms include a PC (recently upgraded), Playstation and Playstation 2. If I go and get a new console in the next year or so, it'll most likely be a Playstation 3. Or if there isn't enough good games for it by then, then possibly Xbox360. Time and budget will tell. ;) Nintendo hasn't been on my purchase list since SNES though, that I can say right away, though I'm still considering picking up a used GameCube to get to play a few games on it.

My favorite genres are as follows:
PC: Strategy, RPG, Shooters, Arcade
PSX: RPG, Arcade
PS2: RPG, Arcade, Racing

However, I do like trying games from genres too, though sports games are something I've never really caught on. Real-life simulations in general tend to not interest me much. A little imagination does good for a game, I think. ;)

Currently I'm playing the following:
PSX: Arc the Lad 3
PC: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Unreal Tournament 3 demo

I also got a key for playing the beta of Hellgate: London, but haven't had a chance to experience it yet, with the servers being down.

Plans for future
So, what kind of stuff do I intend to talk about here then? Most likely my first impressions on games, opinions/reviews after finishing (or having played enough) a game, and possible random news I found interesting and want to share. As next article, I'll most likely type about something related to the games I listed a few lines above.