Over the top Gore!,  Wednesday, 26 September 2007 Decapitations! Showers of blood! Spilled entrails! Squashed bodyparts! If zany, over-the-top gore is your kind of thing, then look no further than Moonstone: A Hard Day's Knight. This game is best described as a mixture of a little bit of beat'em up, a snippet of RPG and a tiny lick of turn-based strategy on top. The result is a wonderfully atmospheric title that can be played by up to four human players (or, in case your mates aren't around, the unused player spots will be taken up by CPU controlled toons), who, in their quest for dominance, must traverse the world looking for better weapons, artefacts, and of course, enemies to slay.

Played on a sizeable world map that is roughly divided up into four sections, each with their distinct terrain (hilly wasteland, swamp, forest and plains), the players (taking on the roles of knights) must search the many dark caves and foul-smelling dwellings for the keys that will give access to the fabled Moonstone. He who manages to find all four keys first, gains immortality. Immortality! I mean, c'mon ... who doesn't want to live forever?

It isn't as simple as that, however. Other than having to compete with each other, there are the many dangers of the world to consider, as well. Entering any cave will take you to the battlefield, where the valorous knight must combat some of the most gruesome creatures, each one more grotesque than the last. The battles are always fast and furious, and never fair. For example, it isn't uncommon to find the lone knight being assaulted by 6-7 foes at the same time, and it would be a vast understatement to call these foes simply 'ferocious': they're fierce, they're ultra-aggressive, and they're out for blood. Your blood. The fights themselves flow beautifully, with thrusts and swings following one another like a dance. Before long, metal will find flesh, limbs start to fly, blood sprays everywhere and guts are spilled like there's no tomorrow - all of it accompanied by fantastically sampled grunts, gurgling and squealing that is sure to chill you to the bone the first time you hear it. Slicing through hordes of rat men is addictive and hugely satisfying, but beware: one moment of weakness and you'll find yourself impaled upon a spear. The enemies won't just stand there - they're smart, and they never let up. Regardless of the outcome of a battle, however, the battlefield will likely be unrecognisable at the end of such an orgy of violence - doubly so because monster corpses don't vanish - they just continue to pile up one after another. It's simply crazy - sickening, yet compelling to watch.

Speaking of foes, props must go to the developers for their wonderful monster designs. Ranging from hideous rat men to frightening mud monsters, from dragons the size of buildings to ferocious baloks, none of the creatures fail to impress nor instil a genuine sense of dread in the player when seeing them on screen, screaming out as they charge at you with their cruel weapons. The animation is extremely well done, the landscapes are painted beautifully, everything just oozes atmosphere. Add to that bone-chilling sound effects and a creepy soundtrack, and you have a package that is sure to leave a lasting impression on you.

Inbetween sessions of bloody butchery, players can take part in a plethora of other activities, such as shopping for meatier equipment, expanding one's stats, doing some dicing in the city, visiting the healer, or, if one prefers, stealing another player's equipment by assaulting them and fighting them one-on-one! There's always something to do in the world of Moonstone, another foul corner of the wastelands to explore, another monster's head to cut off. Just remember not to dawdle TOO long, however: the other knights are always on the move, always on the lookout for the moonstone, and should they be lucky enough to find it first, it's game over. This constant sense of urgency is what makes Moonstone so thrilling - if you want to succeed, you have to be aggressive, and be prepared to do anything. Yes, even confronting other players so as to reduce their chances of victory, for every time you manage to beat them in battle, you can steal their money and equipment, and more importantly, any key they might've found so far. Just beware of fights breaking out between you and your pals should such a robbery occur one time too often! Even so, it's doubtful such a fight would ever be as bloody as the ones in the game ... quite fortunately so.

For all the positive things that can be mentioned about this fantastic little game, there is one major issue that ought to be pointed out, however - and that is the frequent crashing. There are some people who've never even been able to finish the game properly. It's a shame that Mindscape couldn't fix this bug in the Amiga version before official release, especially considering the fact that there is no Save Game feature present.

Despite this, Moonstone is a game not to be missed. Whether you're an RPG fan, a hack & flash lover, or simply in for a bit of harmless violence, this game has it all: fantastic graphics, exquisite music, thrilling, fast-paced gameplay and blood by the boatloads... it's a rare phenomenon to see something as outlandish, even by today's standards. What's left to say, then? Go and give it a try, now! You won't be disappointed.

 War has never been so much fun,  Thursday, 19 July 2007 Growing up as a kid, I was obsessed with strategy wargames. I remember playing the single-level demo of Supremacy 'til the game disk wore out. When I got hold of a copy of Centurion, I played THAT to death. Leading massive amounts of soldiers into battle against foul-smelling barbarian hordes, wresting their lands and possessions from them, then forcing ridiculous taxes on them just to piss them off - the mega-lo-maniac in me had a blast, and I remember myself thinking: "War has never been so much fun!"

Of course, in real life, there's nothing 'fun' about war. When you think about it, how dumb is it to kill each other off with sticks, stones, guns, bombs and laser beams? It's the epitome of dumb, I can tell you, especially since most conflicts can easily be solved through dialogue. Luckily, playing wargames on the Amiga, I never had to worry about the senseless loss of life. All I had to do after slaughtering a level full of virtual men, women and sheep, was to press the 'retry' button, and the level would be instantly refilled with fresh virtual men, women and sheep.

In Powermonger, Bullfrog Software's classic strategy wargame, it's all about slaughtering little virtual men, women and sheep. In essence, the objective of the game is really simple. After an atmospheric introduction sequence, where an army (presumably, yours) is seen marching off to war, the player is presented with a rather massive world map. The map is divided into hundreds of rectangular sections, each of which represents a level. Selecting one takes you to the 'meat' of the game: the real time strategy part, which is presented in isometric 3D. The graphics engine used to draw the terrain is quite impressive. The viewing area can be scrolled in all directions, zoomed in or out or rotated at will. Despite the excellent detail of the visuals, the game runs very smoothly.

The starting conditions of each level can vary, but most of the time, you begin with the command of a single officer who has a number of soldiers serving under him. The goal, then, is simple: figure out a way to conquer the map, and thus add it to your territory. The most straightforward way of doing this would be to defeat all the enemy officers roaming the land. This is easier said than done, however: the opponents' armies are more often than not larger (and better armed) than yours, so jumping right in would be the quickest road to failure. Luckily, there are ways to turn the tide of battle in your favour, and this can be achieved through careful tactics. By first conquering smaller settlements and convincing the villagers to join your cause, you can bolster your ranks, as well as maintaining a level of food production that is required to keep your forces fed. Then, with the additional troops and resources, you can start raiding the larger settlements. With larger towns in your possession, you can begin manufacturing weapons - swords, pikes, bows and sometimes even catapults - which will then hopefully give you enough of a boost to confront the enemy troops in direct combat.

A novelty in Powermonger is the ability to have multiple officers under your command. Some towns have a commanding officer, and if you choose to let him live (rather than slaughtering him and his villagers mercilessly, which is also an option), he can be persuaded to join you. Additional officers (up to a maximum of 7-8) can basically do the same things that your starting officer can. He can be instructed to manufacture weapons and tools. He can conquer settlements on the other side of the map while you're fighting a hostile troop elsewhere. Having multiple officers, each leading a contingent of armed men, marching around the map wreaking havoc is really a sight to behold, and of course, they can be used to carry out some neat strategies, such as performing a fake raid to lure an enemy army out, then crushing it with your main force.

There are also other ways to play the game: instead of focusing on conquest solely, you can actually try to develop your towns by, for instance, making ploughs for them to improve their food production, or building boats so they can go out to sea to fish. You can go around the map slaughtering stray sheep for food, donating it to settlements that need it. You can make alliances with opposing forces and watch them weaken each other, jumping ship when the opportune moment arrives. No map is ever the same, and there's multiple ways to play them, so there's basically never a dull moment. And because there are so many maps - there's even a random map generator - you can expect the game to last you a long, long time.

All in all, Powermonger is a hugely enjoyable wargame that is sure to delight fans of the genre. Sporting superb graphics, good sound effects, a VERY long single-player campaign (plus the option to play against a friend by network connection), and supremely compelling gameplay, it's a game you can sink your teeth into for obscene amounts of time. Even if you normally don't dig strategy games, Powermonger is easy enough to pick up and just play for an hour or two. Bullfrog gets two thumbs up from me for making this fantastic game; rarely have I seen a game that is so well-rounded in almost every area.

 One of the finest cinematic experiences,  Wednesday, 18 July 2007 Most people will say that Prince of Persia is the game that inspired blockbuster action-adventure franchises such as Tomb Raider. That statement wouldn't be far off the truth - however, just like Rome wasn't built in one day, it took many, many years for the game concept to be developed and refined to the standards that we are used to today. And in my opinion, games like Another World were the titles that took the concept one step further, paving the way for future gems such as ICO and Shadow of the Colossus to be made.

Eric Chahi's Another World tells the story of a young scientist who, after an accident during a scientific experiment, ends up being teleported to a barren, alien world. Dazed, confused, and armed only with his wits, the young man must begin a journey to figure out how to get home, and most importantly, to survive in a highly hostile environment, where man-eating creatures, flesh-eating plants and an aggressive alien race are only some of the dangers that lie in wait.

Another World distinguished itself from contemporary games by featuring polygonal graphics and motion-captured characters - unprecedented at the time. This has resulted in very natural-looking, realistic movement of the humanoid characters, which would've been nearly impossible with a sprite-based graphics engine. Combined with excellent sound effects and cinematography, there really isn't anything to dislike about the audiovisual side of this product. But, graphics and sound alone don't make a good game, so how does it actually play?

Let me just say that once I picked up the joystick to play this game, it was hard to stop. The controls were intuitive, the scenes masterfully woven together - the events flowed into each other seamlessly. In essence, the gameplay is very much similar to the aforementioned Prince of Persia. The hero can jump, duck, roll, jump up to and cling to ledges. From the get-go, however, it becomes clear that the game is much more dynamic. You solve a puzzle in one location, proceed to the next, fight a few aliens, jump some chasms, solve some more puzzles - you're constantly moving forward, going from one scene to the next ... there hardly is any backtracking involved. It was clear that the developers put a lot of effort into making the game as cinematic an experience as can be, with little time wasted on doing repetitive stuff.

Imagine this. At the starting stages, the protagonist finds himself locked up with an alien prisoner, in a cage suspended over a pit by a chain. By pulling the joystick left and right, the two will start rocking the cage back and forth. The guards will start to grow alarmed, shout at you to stop the nonsense, and fire a warning shot. Before long, the weight of the prisoners causes the chain to break, the cage falls onto a guard - killing him - and the cage door breaks open, spilling its prisoners onto the ground. 'Freedom!', you think! But one of the guards has managed to run off, and you don't have to guess twice what he's gone off to do. From then on, it's one frantic situation after the other, being chased by the aliens through the prison complex, through underground caves and so on. The action never lets up.

The compelling nature of the game has a price though: it's over before you even realise it. Whereas some games can last the average player upward of 50-60 hours, Another World could likely be completed in as little as 3 hours, depending on how quickly one can figure out the puzzles and situations. And because the game is so linear - there's only one path to follow from start to finish, and one way to solve problems - there really isn't much reason to play a second time beyond wanting to see the story again, or witnessing the awesome visuals. In other words: what's there is awesome, there just isn't enough of it.

Still, despite being so short-lived, Another World is one heck of a ride. It's one of those rare games that just oozes quality - and leaves you wanting more. Much more.