Category Archives: Game Review

At its core, Septerra Core rocks–leisurely

Septerra Core arrived at GiN headquarters with a special request: Let Michael Cheek review it. I don’t think this was an example of "Let Mikey review it; he’ll review anything." You see, I’m not the role-playing game reviewer. I look at DVDs and puzzle games for the most part, and Septerra Core is neither. In fact, I’m not that fond of RPGs since many tend to be complex and unforgiving for a methodical player like myself. Moreover, when building characters, I can never get the balance just right between character’s attributes. But I launched into Septerra Core and found I … Continue reading At its core, Septerra Core rocks–leisurely

Touring Car Challenge doesn’t lose horsepower in translation

When I was first given Touring Car Challenge, one of the first products released in the United States from European-based Codemasters, I figured it had a few strikes against it right off the cricket bat. For one, the product was a simulation of British racing. And like Dr. Who and boiled beef, its not often that British games take off in the fickle U.S. market. But forget all that. Touring Car Challenge is more like The Beatles than Dr. Who. It’s an amazingly beautiful and highly detailed game that has the potential to climb the ranks of racing simulations and … Continue reading Touring Car Challenge doesn’t lose horsepower in translation

Wild, Wild West: The Steel Assassin is on target

Anyone who has seen the movie Wild Wild West, or been a fan of the television series, can appreciate the wonderful action-packed nature of this game, and how it couples both humor and puzzle solving to make an excellent package. Those of you who are unfamiliar with either the movie or the show can still enjoy this delightful title, but it may take a few scenes – what the game calls chapters – to get a feel for the game world. The setting for Wild, Wild West: The Steel Assassin takes place a few years after the Civil War and … Continue reading Wild, Wild West: The Steel Assassin is on target

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a ruler

My first experience with Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings went like this. I left work and went home and installed the game then I went to Greg Crowe’s (GiN Features Editor) house warming party. I got home about 10 or so and sat down to play. There I was playing away and really having a great time, next thing I know my alarm is going off. I would have sworn it was at the latest 2 in the morning and it’s 7:30. I admit I did not stop playing at that point, I continued playing until about … Continue reading Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings is a ruler

Fly! is extremely realistic, highly complex fun

Okay, so ya want to fly a plane without really getting in one? Well Fly! is for you, maybe. Let me first start off by saying that after you install Fly! on a Mac please go back to the CD. Here you will find folders that are very important if you want this game to run on your Mac. I want you to open the QuickDraw and Sprockets folders, and dump all those items into your extensions folder. Now, go to the Fly! folder and grab the three items called TRIRAVE.dll, TRIGlide.dll, and ATI RAVE.dll. Dump these into your extensions … Continue reading Fly! is extremely realistic, highly complex fun

Nocturne is so good, it’s scary

Being a fan of the horror side of computer games, it was easy to get into the concept of Nocturne, which features a monster hunter named The Stranger who goes around killing werewolves, zombies, vampires and other creatures of the night. One of my favorite games of all time is called Realms of the Haunting, and playing Nocturne reminded me of it a lot. Even though Realms did not enjoy widespread commercial success, it none the less earned mine. Another type of game in the same vein as Nocturne is the entire Alone in the Dark series. All of these … Continue reading Nocturne is so good, it’s scary

Unreal Tournament blows away the competition

I’ll admit to everyone right now, I wasn’t really a big fan of the original Unreal. Though I liked many of Epic Games’ previous shareware titles (Jazz Jackrabbit, One Must Fall 2097, and Zone 66 to name a few), the long awaited Unreal just didn’t cut it for me. It did feature a gorgeous 3-D engine, and some really impressive music, but I just couldn’t really get into the game mechanics. Even worse, the multiplayer over the Internet was unplayable. Patch after patch came out, but still there was no help, and the original claimed dust in my CD carrying … Continue reading Unreal Tournament blows away the competition

Medal of Honor is the Saving Private Ryan” of PlayStation”

War, uhh, good God y’all. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Say it again. Well, I can’t say it again because without war, I would not have had the privilege of playing Medal of Honor (MOH), which by the way is about as close as I ever want to get to real warfare. MOH is DreamWorks’ (you know the guys who brought us Saving Private Ryan) first foray into the world of gaming. The same level of realism they brought to that movie is clearly evident throughout MOH. While, not a straight shoot-em-all-up ammo-fest and not a stealth dominated … Continue reading Medal of Honor is the Saving Private Ryan” of PlayStation”

Quake 3: Arena is multiplayer mayhem

Let me start this review of Quake 3: Arena by saying that comparing this game with Unreal Tournament is inevitable. They are both superior in their own ways. Both involve hard-core deathmatches set on a grand scale, but where UT specializes in both single play and multiplay with all new tweaks, Quake 3: Arena (Q3A) sticks with the classic deathmatch engine, and in essence, this is not a bad idea. Now we know that the Quake series has never been well known for plot, and Q3A is no exception. The manual does explain about an alien race called the Vadrigar … Continue reading Quake 3: Arena is multiplayer mayhem

Hoyle Board Games will leave users anything but bored

Nothing can bring a family together like a board game. Especially the really well made ones like Yahtzee, Parchesi and checkers. But although the computer has a world of multimedia to tap into, games originally built for group fun never really successfully made the transition. The computer until very recently was a stationary object, and only so many people could crowd around the screen at a time. Plus, people who are fantastic board game players are not necessarily computer gamers. So they have been slow to catch on. On final reason for the lull in popularity could be much more … Continue reading Hoyle Board Games will leave users anything but bored