Game Diary

Dragon Age: Origins The Darkspawn Chronicles DLC: PC/XBOX360 Game Review

I have already detailed my feelings about the epic role-playing game Dragon Age: Origins, stating in my review that “not only do I love nearly every aspect of the game, I also love how after finishing it a couple of times I am thoroughly enjoying a new play-through as I contemplate my actions and consequences from the prior runs.” After such praise, it is a pretty easy guess that I am a lock to get any and all new content for the game. There have already been several add-ons released, from the initial Return to Ostagar DLC to the much…


Half-Life 2 (FPS, 2010): Mac Game Review

If you ask any long-time Mac Gamer about the ‘ones that got away’, there are two games they will instantly cite: Marathon developer Bungie’s ‘Halo’, and Valve’s Half Life. Halo got a mediocre release for Mac & PC ages ago (and the even MORE mediocre Halo 2 came along later as an attempted Vista Trojan Horse), but the Half-Life franchise has eluded a Mac release … until now! We still await the release of the original, but for now Mac gamers can rejoice and enjoy the classic Half-Life 2! The Hype: By taking the suspense, challenge and visceral charge of…


Avernum VI (2009 RPG): The Netbook Gamer

Something interesting about the games from Spiderweb Software: I have been fortunate enough to be on the beta-test teams for the last few iterations of both the Mac and PC releases of the Geneforge and Avernum games. This means having access to the code early, getting loads of play time in before release … and yet in all cases I find myself writing reviews months later. I attribute that to the difference between playing to test for issues, and playing as a gamer figuring out what I do or don’t like about the overall experience. So here I am in…


Portal (FPP, 2010) Mac Game Review

[GlaDOS voice] Hello and again welcome to the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center. We hope your brief detention in the relaxation vault has been a pleasant one. Your specimen has been processed and we are now ready to begin the test proper. Before we start, however, keep in mind that although fun and learning are the primary goals of the enrichment center activities, serious injuries may occur. For your own safety, and the safety of others, please refrain from … [/GlaDOS voice] The Hype: Portal is a new single player game from Valve. Set in the mysterious Aperture Science Laboratories,…


Glass Tower 2 for iPhone/Touch App Review

Many puzzle games involve items or shapes falling from the top of the screen that must be eliminated in some way.  Basically they are a take on Tetris which I loved to play back in my early high school days.  Every now and then one of these games is actually unique and fun.  I came across Glass Tower 2 on a random search of the app store and it turned out to be a great game. The game is free, but very limited with only 10 levels that may not be repeated.  Extra level packs are available for $.99 and…


Bloons TD Lite for iPhone/Touch App Review

Working at a school allows me to see many different fads and phenomena.  Sometimes it is a certain clothing style, a catch phrase, a certain style of purse or shoes etc…  This year the craze seems to be a certain flash game.  The game is available on an educational website that is actually not blocked by the filter at our school.  There is a huge number of games to play but one has become the default for almost everyone.  Bloons Tower Defense is not only played by the students in spare moments in the computer lab, but the coaching staff…


Borderlands: PC/XBOX360/PS3 Game Review

Late last October Gearbox software launched a game called Borderlands. I played it quite a bit at launch, and since then there have been a few DLC add-ons and other attempts by the developers to keep the game fresh in the minds of the typically short-attention-span target audience for this sort of game. As I was revisiting the games of 2009 I thought it would be worthwhile to give this one another go. The Hype: A sci-fi/action RPG from acclaimed developer Gearbox, Borderlands combines the best in first-person action gaming with elements of a traditional role-playing game (RPG). The excitement…


Drakensang the Dark Eye PC Game Review

Games from European PC developers and publishers often have an uphill struggle to begin with: they lack the entrenched network of marketing and promotion, often struggle to get a community base built up of native speakers on popular game forums, and of course are strapped with an image of lacking polish and suffering from poor language translations. As a result they often fail to gain shelf-space at major retailers, making it even harder for them to gain new fans. So you are forgiven if you have never heard of this game, let alone knew that it has been out for…


Eschalon Book 2 RPG First Impressions

A few weeks ago I noted the upcoming release of the sequel to the indie game Eschalon Book 2. As noted, the release was May 12th – same as Steam for Mac … so I’ve been quite busy with all of these new gaming opportunities! I’ve only had a couple of hours to get started, but wanted to give some early thoughts. If you played Eschalon Book 1, the new game will immediately feel familiar. Which is a wonderful thing for me. As background, I thoroughly enjoyed Basilisk Games Eschalon Book I (in fact, if you look on the link…


Steam on Mac First Impressions (also Portal and Torchlight)

At long last Steam has officially arrived for the Mac – and rather than just announce it, I figured I’d give you some quick impressions after using it to download and play a few games. For those who are not aware, Steam is a digital download, automated patch management, and multiplayer matchmaking service … and more. From Valve’s ‘About Steam’: Steam, the world’s largest online gaming platform. Steam turns any PC (and soon any Mac) into a gaming powerhouse by providing instant access to a huge library of titles, and by automatically keeping a user’s games completely up to date….


Does the iPad FINALLY Give Apple a Viable Gaming Platform?

Wait … WHAT?!?! I know what you’re saying: what about the 150 trillion games in the App Store? What about the massive growth in the sales of games for the iPod Touch that I talked about here? I know about all of that, but I still believe this: the iPod Touch business model as it exists today is not one that is sustainable for the game industry, and therefore the iPod Touch will NEVER be a viable ‘major tent-post platform’ based on that business model. OK, you have probably noticed I’m already starting to nuance my phrases in the first…


50 PC RPGs That Defined a Decade

As we enter a new decade in 2010, it is worth taking a look back at the last decade and what has been happening in the PC role playing game genre (and no, we won’t debate whether or not 2010 actually starts the new decade). Certainly the 2000’s have been a decade of change for PC gaming in general, as the decade started with the PC as the only real place for shooters and large open-area games, went through a perceived crisis in the middle of the decade based on a large impact from piracy and DRM and the advent…


Greed – Black Border PC Game Review

Game reviewers play so many games across various platforms and genres that it is often easy to forget one important detail – we all got started with a love of games and a passion stoked by games we loved playing to the point that we began sharing our thoughts with others in written form. So when the sci-fi shooter action-RPG Greed – Black Border came along, it was right up my alley as a PC shooter and RPG fan … so I had already pre-ordered it even before the review version came along. That adds some benefits as you’ll see…


Dragon Age: Origins Mac Game Review

Not too long ago I did a review of Dragon Age: Origins, looking at the PC and console versions. Back when I was first playing the PC version the Mac version was announced and released, and I started playing – knowing that I would come back to provide a review on the port at a later time. The Hype: From BioWare, the makers of Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Baldur’s Gate comes Dragon Age: Origins. An epic tale of violence, lust, and betrayal, Dragon Age: Origins is a single player role-playing game (RPG) set in…


FastCrawl (2006, RPG): The Netbook Gamer

Got any plans for lunch hour? Let me show you one of the best dungeon crawlers you can start and finish before going back to work! It seemed that 2006 was the ‘year of the casual game’ … everyone was attributing the success of the DS and the allure of the Wii to the desire for quick, simple and fun gaming experiences. That isn’t a new thing, really – just ask anyone who has missed lunch playing Bejeweled or Zuma or Minesweeper. Now you can add FastCrawl to that list. FastCrawl is a simple concept – quick ‘dungeon crawling’. A…


Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess Review

The Hype: Take control of the aristocratic demon known only as The Duke in an upwards-scrolling platformer and chase down fleeing monsters. The Reality: Let’s face it – if the title of the game “Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess” doesn’t immediately intrigue you … you need to inject more whimsy into your life. And once you jump into the game you will find that same sense of style and whimsy pervades the entire game. You see a castle, a sleeping monster known only as The Duke who dreams only of his captive princess … and then he awakes to find…


I Don’t Know If It’s Art, but I Like It!

Image courtesy of WebMuseum I love Jackson Pollock … but there are many who despise his work and would argue that his technique, described as “”all-over” painting, pouring paint rather than using brushes and a palette, and abandoning all conventions of a central motif”, isn’t art at all. I also love Derek Bailey … but again many would argue that his approach to music, which eschews structure of any kind, isn’t art, perhaps not even music. And I love video games – I love role-playing, solving puzzles, shooting stuff, building civilizations, exploring mysteries, shooting peas at zombies, having in-depth discussions…


Serious Sam Gold (1st & 2nd Encounter) (2001/2002, FPS): The Netbook Gamer

I was amazed in early 2002 when I came across a jewel-case FPS game at my local EBGames for $19.99 called ‘Serious Sam: The Second Encounter’. The images on the back looked quite nice and the description of a fast-paced action romp sounded like a complete blast – and somewhat of an anachronism. The funny thing is that when I first saw the Serious Sam games, I passed on buying them that day because they were on the ‘junk rack’. There was a four-sided rack of jewel-case games in that store, and they were pretty much universally either low budget…


Don’t Trust That Label!: The Netbook Gamer

Image courtesy of GameSpot There are two paths I take when working on games to review for the Netbook Gamer: on the one hand I love to dig up classic PC games from the late 90’s that will still run on WIndows XP. On the other hand – particularly recently – I have been pushing the boundaries of what a standard netbook is capable of doing. Sometimes – like in the recent Tron review – things go very well. Sometimes – like in the Thief Deadly Shadows review – they work at a level that is barely acceptable. Sometimes I…


Dragon Age Origins: PC/XBOX360/PS3 Game Review

The other night I was watching VH1’s ‘100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80’s’, and was thinking about Bioware and the whole ’spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate 2? thing surrounding Dragon Age: Origins. Baldur’s Gate 2 is the 2000 classic PC RPG that is not just one of the best RPGs ever but one of the greatest games in video game history. Not only that, it is one of those rare sequels that is better than the original – and the original itself is always on the ‘best video games ever’ lists! Put into that context, it is hard…


Where the HECK Did All of Those PSP Games Come From?

A couple of weeks ago when Apple introduced iPhone OS 4 something struck me, but I had forgotten it until someone on a forum was asking me about the amount of games on the PSP … then it came back to me. Do you remember when Apple announced the new iPod lineup in September of 2009? At the time I wrote about the iPod Touch questioning the quantity to quality ratio, and led with this image: Image Source: Engadget Back then I thought that the PSP number was perhaps a bit low, given that I had reviewed more than 200…