MadCat
Reviews
One Must Fall 2097 (DOS)
One Must Play This Game
The Good
This game simply rocks!!! alhtough it's published six years ago, this game is still much better than a lot of the other games that are out there...
Each robot has its own special moves, and each has its own extremely different aptitudes. Adding ot that is the pilots, who vary in speed, stamina, and strength...This gives a huge combination of playing styles...You can play it over and over again, and still there will be enough variety for you to come back for more...
The tournament mode is innovative...you can win matches to earn money, and with the money, you can upgrade your robots or your pilots...this way, you can customize your robot to your own playing style...
It runs great on any system!!! Unlike many old games that don't support the computers of today, OMF runs smoothly, with no tinkering needed...
The graphics and music are all pretty good...the animations of the moves and scraps are well done...
The Bad
Some bugs in the AI...ie you can do some combos over and over again, and the computer never seems to be able to block them...but these are so few, so it has basically no effect on the gameplay...
The Bottom Line
Defnitely better than most of the fighting games out there...download it now, and you'll be sucked into this awesome game...
By MadCat on August 31, 2000
Star Wars: Episode I - Racer (Windows)
High Speed and Action Packed
The Good
Going +700MPH really gets your blood pumping...Its really fun to see the scenery just rush by you in a blur...does a great job in conveying the speed and excitment in pod racing...
Multiplayer is quite fun...Going head to head against a buddy while travelling at such high speeds is a real thrill
Accurate to the movie, as many of the famous pods are present ie Sebulba, Anakin...Also the tracks are varied, and takes place on many of the familiar star wars worlds...
It runs great even on slower systems...A P300, 16X CD and a nvidia 128x is all it takes to get the game to run as smooth as silk
The Bad
The graphics aren't so hot...but that's okay considering you'll be traveling way too fast to see it anyways...
The contorls seem counterintuitive...and it takes a while to get used to the controls
The Bottom Line
A great racer to attract fans of all genres...I'm not much of a reacing fan, but the action in this game really sucked me in. Hardcore racing fans might cringe at the lack or realism, but I think its a great game even for non-racing or non-Star Wars fans...
By MadCat on August 8, 2000
Dungeon Keeper 2 (Windows)
More Chicken Slappin' Goodness
The Good
The Missions are extremely well varied...No more wipe off every single enemy on the map every level anymore...now there are infiltrations, blockades, assaults you name it...
The first person mode has been very much improved in this game...the controls are good. From the fly's multi-faceted eyes, to the slit in the helmet in a black knight, DKIII never lets off any detail. You can have groups!!!, although grouping is kinda tedious...
The new units are more balanced than the old ones...no more flooding your opponents w/ hell hounds and demon spawns...There is also much more unit variety...and each of them are required to maintain the dungeon (w/ the exception of the goblin...)...and the bile demon is back!!!
The cutscenes are hilarious...
Chicken slapping!!!...call the animal rights foundation if you want...but chicken slapping is an essential part to good DK gaming...
Dark mistress...mmmm...Scantily dressed women w/ whips...mmmm...slurp...
The Bad
The multiplayer aspect of the game leaves much to be desired...but its the single player game + my pet dungeon should last you quite a long time...
Maybe the dark mistress should wear even less...hehehe :-)
The Bottom Line
DKII stands out as one of the best RTS every made...much better than the sea of C&C clones out there...remember, its good to be evil...
By MadCat on August 4, 2000
Final Fantasy VIII (Windows)
Good, but doesn't live up to the level of SquareSoft Excellence
The Good
The story is very engaging, and each of the characters are very well developed...
Although many people didn't like this, I though the draw system (basically what it is is you can't learn magic, but you have to draw it from enemies) was good as it added a whole new layer of strategy...so did the GF junctioning system (Junctioning GF's to characers to make them stronger)...
The triple triad card game was pretty cool too...
Excellent sound track...
The Bad
There is no quit option and the saved game worked in slots?!? You can tell by the way the menu is set up that it is ported directly from the console w/o any modifications...no mouse support...any developer who creates a game without a quit option or mouse support should be severely smacked upside the head...
The game speed was slooooooooooow...even with text speed turned up high, sometimes it gets so boring you feel like falling asleep...
Did they ever think about giving you an option to turn the GF intros off??? after watching Shiva break out of an icicle for the millionth time, I felt like smashing the computer screen...
The Bottom Line
Real good storyline, except you can't help but feel that it is spoiled because of the crappy, cheap console like presentation...I mean come on, slots for saved games??? As a Final Fantasy fan, I wanted to gut myself...But if you can overlook its faults, this game is definitely worth buying...
By MadCat on August 4, 2000
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear (Windows)
A Must for Every Armchair Counter-Terrorism Operative
The Good
The game is a much better improved version of the original Rainbow 6. Rogue Spear brings in more and better counterterrorism aspects into the game.
The enemy AI is much better, no more will they stand on top of a grenade and look aimlessly around...nor will they stare off dreamily while their partners are getting sniped. The enemies now patrol the area, run from grenades, fire from cover, and notice when their buddies get shot...
New weapons!!! You can now use sniper rifles!!! With the inclusion of the riflemen, you can now deploy different strategies, such as having your riflement pick off guards, instead of having to storm them on foot...the riflemen are extremely obedient as well, and won't fire until you tell them to...
The level design is totally amazing...try the airplane highjacking, or the bombed out Kosovo level, and you'll see what I mean...The Kosovo level is especially fun in Multiplayer, as it offers many places to hide...
Ding Chavez is back!!!, along with some more other good people who have high levels, so that you don't have to restart everytime you lose Ding (which is what I did in the first Rainbow 6)...
Multiplayer is extremely fun...since you die from one shot, you have to expect your teammates to cover you...This adds the tremendous amounts of teamplay strategy that there is already...
No more getting stuck in doorways, as the Friendly AI will move away and let you get out the door...this was a frustrating aspect in the first game and is very well improved in the second game...
New features such as the peek-around-the-corner move, and the smoke that is left by grenades is extremely cool...
The Bad
Although the enemy AI has been darastically improved, the friendly AI hasn't. The operatives has way too long of a reaction time...Sometimes, you could be down on the groundwith a chest wound and the rest of the team would still be staring off into space while the enemy is shooting at them...
The death sequence is totally overboard. Shoot someone in the shoulder and they'll grab it, scream, turn in circles, scream some more, turn more circles, and let out a final scream before falling down to the ground...dead...This is not an exaggeration...Maybe they should just lie down and die...its really distracting when some guy you shot three seconds ago is still going through his death squence, arms flailing...
The Bottom Line
Apart from the friendly AI, which is buggy only sometimes, I can't really find anything that is really wrong...It's a really enjoyable game both single and multiplayerwise...If you want a break from all out deathmatching, then try the strategy filled Rogue Spear, and you won't be disappointed
By MadCat on August 4, 2000
Quake III: Arena (Windows)
Fragfest galore
The Good
Sure Quake 3 doesn't have the huge variety of UT or TFC multiplayer, but it offers the best Deathmatching that you are ever going to get...no matter what people tell me about UT and TFC, I end up starting up Quake 3 a lot more often then those games...
The atmosphere in Quake 3 is much easier to get wrapped up in...the beautiful graphics and the sound effects are immersive...the lighting effects are awesome...fire a few rounds from the plasma rifle and you'll see what I mean...
The player models!!! all of the skins are extremely high quality...from giant eyeballs to aliens to the good old Doom guy...they've got it all...and they are extremely carefully rendered, down to the smallest detail...
The difficulty setting is highly adjustable...everyone from a FPS newbie to a deathmatch veteran can find a suitable difficulty level...I dare say that the enemy AI in Quake 3 is probably the hardest at the most difficult setting than any other FPS out there
All of the levels are designed for extremely fast-paced action gameplay...unlike some of the maps in other FPS games that are only eyecandy...every map in Quake 3 rocks...
Although it does not have the variety that UT has, the many excellent mods, like Urban Warfare, and WFArena are coming out and they add many more options than Deathmatching
The Bad
If deathmatch is not your thing(in my case, this does not apply)...then you probably don't like the action in Quake 3...basically its:
1. see enemy
2. click
3. BOOM!!!
4. repeat
Also, it doesn't have the nifty mutators for UT, like rocket arena or instagib or fatboy...etc...nor does it have as many playing modes...only Deathmatch, CTF, Teamplay
Some of the weapons really suck...but I guess that is inevitable in every game (Bio Rifle, anyone?)...the machine gun has got to be the worst balanced weapon in FPS history...you can empty your entire clip at someone and they'll just stare back at you, barely hurt...and the Railgun takes an insane amount of time to reload...I guess this is to cut down on the number of campers...but it's still really annoying having to wait so long...
The Bottom Line
If you're looking for an assualt, teambased strategy shooter, leave Quake 3 alone, but if you're the kind of person that finds fragging everyone you see on the screen extremely appealing, Quake 3 is the fragfest for you...
By MadCat on August 1, 2000
Half-Life (Windows)
An FPS that doesn't insult your intelligence
The Good
When you start the game, you find yourself on a little trolley/gondolay and that there is no opening cutscene? what? no opening cutscene? What kind of game is that? After a few seconds you find that you're actually playing the opeing cutscene. Cool huh? This is how the game plays for the entire duration. Not only do you play the game, but you also get to see the event unfold before you...awesome...the story of the game has got to be the best in FPS history. It's not the stale old "Aliens have come to conquer the earth and you're the only badass that can stop them." As you play that game you find twists in the plot that can totally suprise you. While all other FPS seem to abandon plot development about three seconds into the game, Half-Life seems to dish up something new everytime you turn the corner.
This is one of games that really scared the crap out of me...even after playing through it once...Try playing the game in the middle of the night with the lights out on the most difficult setting and you'll know what I'm talking about. Half the time you will be wandering around with only three shells left in your shot gun, your flash light batteries on low, and wondering if there are aliens around that corner that you can't handle. Roof tiles suddenly drop down bringin down pouncing aliens, walls suddenly crumble, and more aliens can come tumbling out at you.
The weapons are much more realistic, and well balanced. No more can rockets be fired continuously from your rocket launcher, you have to reload after you finish up a clip, and you can no longer carry more ammunition than a tank, as in other FPS games. Granted, you can still carry a lot of weapons, but its much more realistic than carrying the 99 rockets the way you can in Quake.
The multiplayer in this game simply rocks...you can download mods off the internet and activate them with the click of a mouse...and best of all, they are all FREE...kick ass mods like Counterstrike, and Teamfortress Classic can be downloaded for absolutely free of charge...
Level design is absolute genius, as platform jumps and puzzles are just challenging enough to keep you on your toes, but not so difficult as to make you want to tear your hair out everytime you fall off a crate...The placement of dead bodies and aliens are just in the right place to really give you a scare...
The Bad
I thought as hard as I could but I couldn't think of one bad point in Half-Life...well except the ending was not as rewarding as it should...but in this case, getting there was all the fun, and what FUN it was...so not much to complain about here...
The Bottom Line
WOW...If you are tired of the mindless FPS shooters, then Half-Life is the game for you...in fact even if you're not tired of mindless FPS gaming, get Half-Life...this game is a sure classic, and will influence games to come for a long time...
By MadCat on July 24, 2000
Shogo: Mobile Armor Division (Windows)
MechWarrior meets Quake
The Good
Being a hardcore FPS fan, and a BattleMech game enthusiast, I was excited when I got my hands on Shogo...Although the game delivers everything that it promises, I couldn't help but be a little bit disappointed with the game...
But the good things first (don't get me wrong, there's plenty of them)...
The storyline is one of the best there is in a Mech game...actually, its probably the only Mech game with a story, (MechWarrior, Earth/Star Siege? all game, no story) ...The in game cutscenes, and triggers really work to advance the storyline...
The weapons effects and the weapons themselves are pretty cool...especially the energy weapons, and the bullgut missile launcher...
Some of the level designs are extremely cool...there's one level where there is a lot of wind, and any ballistic weapons will be thrown off course...I didn't notice it at first...the game is full of these little subtlties...the levels in the city was extremely cool too...stomping around a city in a huge mech squishing cars really makes my day...
The constant switching between mech and person mode was kinda interesting, though there is really no difference except for the fact that you cannot double jump as a human...
The controls to move a mech around is much more intuitive thanother mech games...It uses FPS controls...easy for everyone to get into, but sometimes it doesn't relay the feeling to being inside a huge mech...
There is some puzzle solving, some action, some good old fashioned mech duels...Shogo gives you everything in a neatly wrapped package...
The Multiplayer is pretty fun, the most fast paced mech deathmatch ever to hit the PC...
The Bad
Some of the dialogue was cheesy, and some borders the annoying territory...
The number of different mechs you can choose: 3...WOW!!! you mean I get to choose between THREE WHOLE MECHS?...compared to the huge number of mechs you can choose from in MechWarrior and Earth/Star Siege, three mechs in a mech game really seems like a microscopic amount...
The melee weapons is totally useless, as is the vehicle mode...you can hardly ever run out of ammo in the game, especially when many enemies can be put down with a few shots...by the time you finished the game, you will have left behind enough ammo to outfit the entire US army, I'm exaggerating of course, but there seem to be an unlimited amount of ammo in the game...This takes away much of the regular FPS challenge of being careful and conserving ammunition...and whats the point of turning yourself into a vehicle, especially an unarmed one???
Monolith seems to think that a game with huge amounts of blood is good...if you snipe a human when you are in mech mode, gallons of blood seems to spurt everywhere...it seems like the entire content of the human you just killed was blood¡KAlso, the total lack of fear of people when looking at the business end of a laser cannon on a huge mech is quite unrealistic...they stand there and try to blast you with their pea shooters while you loom in front of them more than fifty times their height...Aren't they supposed to run away??? The puny little rooftop snipers are one of the most annoying aspects of the game...
The AI in Shogo has a lot of problems...For example, you can empty your entire gun at an enemy from far away, and the guy standing next to him would continue to stand there, looking into space...sometimes, even the guy you're shooting give no reaction of just having been sniped at all...Last but not least, your mech seems to be able to handle much more punishment than the other mechs...the enemies can snipe at you all day long, before you die, but a sniper bullet or two to any enemy mech can get you a kill, or sometimes even one critical hit...
Some game developers place insane amounts of enemies on the map to make the game more difficult, while others make platform jumping puzzles that would make tarzan tremble...Shogo doesn't do either, and I praise Monolith for it...but it is too easy...to many hardcore FPS fans, the game shouldn't take more than a few hours...you can try beating the game using three different mechs, but other than that, the replayablility isn't much...
The Bottom Line
Good for two or three weeks of fun, even the novelty from the multiplayer aspect wears off...after that, Shogo sort of just finds its way back on the shelf...a good game for short spurts of gaming...but don't expect it to last as long as Diablo, Quake or Starcraft...
By MadCat on July 21, 2000
Homeworld (Windows)
3-D Gaming that breaks new ground
The Good
The tutorial makes learning the interface a snap...When I heard of the game, the first thing I thought was that they couldn't pull it off becuase it would be difficult managing in 3-D...but they did it, and just spending the few short minutes in the tutorial can familiaize you with the interface fast...
The unit balance of the game is good...even in the late game process, you still have to build basic units and each ship class has its disadvantages and its strong points...
The single player campaigns are extremely well scripted...the ingame scripts makes the game very interesting, but doesn't interefere with the game play...
The idea is fresh...In a desert of no end of C&C clones, this is one hell of an oasis...
The graphics is detailed to the point that you can see the engine trails of a scout, or the tractor beams of a salvage corvett...zoom in to see every little detail on the ship, or zoom out to control your whole fleet...the camera control is extremely easy to master...
Brilliant control scheme...you can basically play the whole game with a mouse...Homeworld allows you to command an armada with a mouse wheel and two buttons...
Everything from formations, to rules of engagement, Homeworld provides a large amount of tactics for RTS fans
The Bad
I tried as hard as I could but could only find two bad things about this game...
The two sides are almost the same, with the exception of two units...As different as they may look, they are still all do the same thing...This doesn't take away anything from the game, but just lacks the depth in that area that Starcraft revolutionized
With wonderfully scripted missions in single player, it would have been nice if a editor was included in the game, so that more missions and maps can be created, as the single player campaigns were a little too short...
The Bottom Line
Tired of C&C clones? Homeworld is leading a revolution in RTS gaming, space combat has never been so entertaining...
By MadCat on July 20, 2000
Mech Commander (Windows)
A new way of mech gaming
The Good
The game is a fresh new way of gaming in the BattleTech universe. Instead of piloting a single mech, you are now commanding a lance (sometimes more) of mechs...
Mech Commander works like any RTS game out there, select some units, tell it to explore under the fog of war, or tell it to attack...However, there is no building in the game, nor is there mineral harvesting...You get resources from completing set objectives, and receive reinforcements from salvaging them, picking them up mid-mission and buying them...
The game has a huge variety of things to customize from, from choosing what mechs and vehicles to buy, to choosing the weapons to fit the mech with, to deciding which MechWarrior should pilot which mech...
The effects of each mission carry over to the next and your mech warriors can gain exprience and improve in rank and skill...Ranks are required to pilot mechs, and if a mechwarrior doesn't have a high enough rank, then the mech suffers a penalty...
The visual effects of the game are stunning...explosions look so beautiful that you might find yourself drooling, and the effects of weapons are realistic...your mechs limp when they are shot in the leg, and they leave foot prints when travelling...
The detail of this game is amazing...almost everything can be blown up...when your mechs lose an arm, it flies off, and you can see it lying on the ground...each mechwarrior has its own voice, and it makes the game more alive, as you feel like the warriors have a personality...
The commands that you give to you units are also very detailed...From the range to the attack to the location (ie head, leg, cockpit), you can specify it all...
The Bad
The linearness of the game is one huge flaw...even the missions themselves are extremely linear...You have to finish a mission before you go on to the next. The missions are very restrictive...there is one mission where if you do not use a mine layer, there is no way you can beat it...this saps the creativity out of being able to plan your mech battle tactics...
Also, your mechwarriors level up way too slowly...there are only so many missions in the game, and sometimes if the warrior is injured, you can't put him/her in...at the rate of them leveling up their skills, you become very hard pressed to find an ace pilot for that Atlas assualt mech that you have, but have a swarm of new green recruits that can pilot the only light mech in your inventory...
The Bottom Line
Very fun, but sometime you can't help but get frustrated at the linearness of the game
By MadCat on July 18, 2000