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Super Meat Boy (PC)
by JasonReview
I spent quite some time looking for a game that kept the classic, unforgiving system, ensuring that the player's hand was not held for the entire game when I stumbled upon this. It left me very sceptical of what to expect as a game this unique was extremely rare and not without its impending flaws. I took a gamble and purchased it within ... 10 minutes of viewing it, thinking that it may provide me with at least a few hours of reasonable entertainment for long trips on the train and for bus journeys.
When I returned to my desktop computer and began to install it, I was overcome with nervousness, hoping that it would be everything it stated on the box but in the majority of cases this was not true. The installation process was quick and easy as the game is only 238 Megabytes. I ran in to a few problems where the game did not launch after a few play sessions unless I repeatedly spammed my left mouse button on the launcher but this problem ironed itself out over a short period time.
When launching the game, it was apparent that the development team (Team Meat) had quite the sense of humour, presenting me with a variety of slogans, stating that the gameplay experience would greatly benefit from the use of a controller. To my relief, the keyboard controls were equally excellent to control Meatboy and no corners had been cut in the PC release. You wouldn't expect much of a story from a Retro 2D plat former but on launch; it shows you a little monotone backstory without a variety of humorous elements. In the style of old black and white cinema, it explains how Meatboy loves his girlfriend Bandage girl, why Dr Foetus is depressed and how Bandage girl is then kidnapped. With some very interesting but quite beautiful background music, this little story comes together perfectly.
Once you arrive on the main menu, you will have your first taste of the legendary soundtrack produced by Danny Baronowsky. The soundtrack alone is worth the £15 price tag, not even getting in to the gameplay. Once you start a new game, you will see your happy little Meatboy standing on a slightly ticked off forest (you'll understand when you see it) with a few innocent looking saw blades in the background. Upon starting the level, you will be eased in to the world of Super Meatboy but things do soon escalate. Before long you will be dodging saw blades while racing against the clock, bandage girl always in arms reach before being grabbed away by the despicable Dr Foetus. You will travel in pursuit over five separate chapters in very unique settings, including; a psychotic hospital, a factory, the depths of hell and the rapture. Each one getting tougher and tougher, forcing you to push your little Meatboy to the limits.
You will die many times during your stay on Meatworld and a very handy replay feature will combine every effort in to one when you finally complete a level. This will force you to watch every mistake you made over the course of the level, ending with either a disappointing sign or a triumphant cheer, depending on your performance.
Overall, Super Meatboy is definitely in my top 5 games of the century due to the perfect engine in place for platforming, ensuring that every death is entirely your fault and can be avoided with fast enough reactions and additional practise, the fantastic soundtrack specifically designed for the different paces of each level, the wonderful unique art style and finally the length. Depending on your skill level, it could be anywhere between a very short game to an endless pit of frustration, testing you at every turn. Due to the nature of the game and the shear mass of collectables, it has more replay value than any game I could possibly think of.
I only have one problem which is not related to the quality of gameplay, music or anything for that matter. It is just the fact that the system requirements are extremely high for a game created and developed in Flash. On a mid-tier laptop, you may encounter extreme key lag and the possibility of Meatboy clipping through walls but apart from that, I cannot think of any possible flaws apart from the keyboard I broke in the process of playing at four in the morning. Remember to Stock up on extra keyboards!
I would recommend this game to anyone even slightly interested in computer gaming, even if just to see their faces light up red after the impending frustration. At the very least, the soundtrack will draw in quite a few music lovers and maybe even convert a few in to gamers.
Super Meatboy is a unique and exciting platformer, leaving you on the edge of your seat due to the tension built up over the first few minutes of gameplay.
I would rate this game a perfect 5/5. If only ratings could go higher...
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Lord of the Rings: War in the North (PC)
by Tosk
Ever remember the classic Golden Axe? Enemies ran at you, and you had to beat them away with a sword? Or if there were lots of them use a magic potion. And at the end of the level there was a big boss baddie you had to defeat.
Well Lord of the Rings: War in the North is basically a modern Golden Axe with A-Levels.
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The story is simple. While Sauron is stirring up a hornets nest down south of Middle-Earth, his minion Agendaur is causing trouble up north. And its up to three brand new characters, Eradan, Farin and Andriel (Ranger, Dwarf and Elf respectively), to track him down and stop his evil takeover.
First thing I have to mention about this game are the graphics, which are absolutely beautiful. They really do follow true to the Lord of the Rings movie atmosphere, and every time I play this my wife feels the need to watch the movies again.
Each character has their own strengths. While the magic-wielding elf is the most powerful, my personal favourite was the dwarf. Characters can be swapped between mid-game which not only means you can pick the right character for a certain scenario, but you can also let them level-up at an equal rate.
The game starts at The Prancing Pony, where you have a brief word with Aragorn who gives you your mission, then after a brief stop to have a chat with some people and buy weapons if you need to, its off to your first mission.
And from then on, the formula doesn't change much.
Enemies attack you, you beat them away with a hammer/sword/staff etc. This sounds boring, and no doubt to many hardcore gamers this is dull, but I love it! There are various attacks, and finishing blows are often slowed and zoomed in, so you get the full movie effect of a slow motion kill (which is a lovely touch). You can use magic. Eradan has a spell which gives him stealth and basically makes him invisible to enemies, the dwarf has a cry of rage which strengthens nearby characters and can weaken enemies, and Andriel (being the most magical) can create a huge blast of energy that knocks nearby enemies for six! There are other spells, but these are an example of the best.
The story (such as it is) unfolds beautifully and I never got bored. Those gamers expecting a complex RPG should look elsewhere. But if you just want to experience all the orc-killing moments from Lord of the Rings then get this, you wont be dissapointed.
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Medal of Honor: War Chest (PC)
by bettyboop2002
Having played and enjoyed other 'Medal of Honour' games on both Playstation and Xbox I thought I'd give the PC version a go. Some technical information from the box is at the bottom of this review.
This game was released in 2004 and is suitable for players over 12. I think this age guide is appropriate, there is violence as ... it is a war game, but nothing too gory or graphic.
I bought this game for £5 new in a game shop, considering the box contains a manual and 4 discs I think this is very good value. The game Medal of Honour - Allied assault has 2 discs, as well as these you also get 2 expansion packs in the box (Spearhead and Breakthrough).
It can be bought online for around £8 including delivery.
Installation is quick and the install screen pops up automatically when you insert the disc. Once installed, each time you insert the disc you just have to press play on the screen which pops up.
When you start the game your screen will show an office which is your home screen, here you can load games and start new games. You can save more than one game so more than one player can save their progress. You can also select to go online and to play multiplayer on this screen and visit the briefing room, in the briefing room you can replay missions and do training.
This was the first war game I've ever played on the PC, most of my PC games are controlled by the mouse, or the arrow keys and space bar. Without the training available in the game I would've given up on the first day. I found it really difficult to use the keyboard to control the movements and there seems like there are far too many keys to use to remember what each is for, once you get into the game though, you realise that there aren't really that many and you soon learn them. You can change some of the keys you use to make it easier for yourself if you with in the options menu.
You can also select your difficulty, I played it on easy at first while I got used to the controls, I tried a few levels on medium which is the same but with less life available to pick up and the enemies are harder to kill. I tried one level on hard but decided it was going to be a disaster as you can't get hit at all or you will be killed. I'm still trying to finish the medium level.
You also have the option to change the quality and volume of the music and sound effects in the game along with options for lots of visual aspects of the game such as the depth of colour, lighting even down to the detail of terrain and weather effects. I left all of these settings as they started but I would imagine for someone who's really into graphics these options would be good to have. The graphics throughout the game are excellent.
When you've set up your profile and changed your options you can start training which will teach you how to use each weapon and give you some target practice which I definitely need, one of these training missions is to throw grenades into holes in boxes which are different distances away, this took me a long time to get past but really did help as grenades are a big weapon in any war game that I usually avoid because I'm not good at throwing them. After all the practise on this game I had no problems.
On the screen when you start the missions which shows you directions and an arrow to show you which direction you are to go toward, you life and ammo will also be on the screen.
You can pick up life along the way in three sizes, each giving you a different amount of health. Ammunition and weapons can be collected along the way and there are lots of cool weapons to choose from.
I find the levels progress nicely, starting off quite simple and giving you a chance to navigate and get used to moving around and climbing and using extra items such as binoculars. It also teaches you how to take cover and you get plenty of chance to use what you have learned in the training room in the early levels.
The game is based in World War 2, some levels are based on scenes from 'Saving Private Ryan' the film and most missions consist of clearing areas by taking out the enemy, their vehicles and their buildings using the various weapons available. You will also have to travel around and save prisoners. You have a team of soldiers with your team, you have several objectives in each campaign and if you manage to do some secret objective you may get medals. You also get a medal at the end of the game depending on how well you've done. There are lots of objectives and over 50 levels so this game took me weeks to complete. I think even for people who play the game for hours at a time it would last a long time, especially if you play the team game, multiplayer and online features.
If you're considering getting the original game without the expansions, I really think the extras are worth buying the war chest. You get new game types, new maps and new levels. Each expansion adds around 12 new maps as well as new maps and levels. For the price of the expansions and delivery it seems to cost almost as much as this whole collection so it's well worth getting.
Overall
I have to admit that although I really did find everything about the game fantastic, I don't think I'll be in a rush to play another war game on PC without some kind of controller. The keyboard controls were just difficult for me who is used to a gamepad for consoles. For someone who likes war games and has no problem using the keyboard to control their player this game is a must have! The missions and graphics are fantastic and the game alone is worth the price it is available for, the addition of the expansion packs makes it excellent value and it is a game I really enjoyed, so much so that I am playing it again on a harder level.
Info (from the box)
OS - Windows 98/2000/ME/XP (also works on Vista)
PROCESSOR - 733 MHz
MEMORY - 128 MB RAM
HARD DRIVE - 3.2 GB
CD - DVD - 8 Speed
VIDEO CARD - 16MB OpenGL
DIRECTX - Version 8.0
SOUND CARD - DirectX 8.0
MULTIPLAYER - 1 CD per PC
NETWORK - TCP/IP Compliant (2-64 players)
INTERNET - 56.6 Kbps (2-32 players)
INPUT - Keyboard / Mouse
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