Once again the Oregon Trail is open for business, or at least for a virtual trip into pioneer times. The Learning Company is allowing gamers to blaze the trail once again through the game The Oregon Trail Pioneer Adventures 3rd Edition. This game in its various editions has been a popular program in schools for years, and for good reason. It remarkably involves the player in using their knowledge and also learning and applying new information in the areas of history, social studies, geography, geology and various other sciences, all wrapped up in a fun interface. The game opens with … Continue reading Oregon Trail 3rd Edition blazes new educational ground→
Listen up, this is the Mayor speaking! What you haven’t heard of me before? Why, I’ve been the mayor (read "dictator") of several successful towns, some with populations of almost two million people. My least whim can topple enterprises, my slightest fancy can cause a freeway to be built next to your house. This is the fantasy that Maxis has been offering control freaks like myself for years. You get put in as mayor of your own town. No election, no campaign, you merely appoint yourself for life. Of course, it does help that you are also the town founder. … Continue reading SimCity 3000 builds on a familiar favorite→
It is so true; you never see the one that gets you. I died so many times playing this game, I know that by heart. There are two flavors to this game, single and multiplayer. In the single player game you go on missions by yourself or as part of a computer controlled team. In the multiplayer game, you and up to 32 other people get to find out just how lethal war really is, except that in this case you get to come back and get the guy that got you. That’s not to say that the single player … Continue reading One Shot IS One Kill→
When I first started college, I was exposed to a game that was unlike any other; a game that took the concept of playing a world leader and enhanced it deeply. It was also a game that was responsible for me spending many sleepless hours just trying to conquer one more city. That game was Sid Meier’s Civilization, considered by many as the greatest game of all time. That was, until Civilization 2 came out in 1995. With an easier to operate interface and a multimedia facelift, Civ 2 resurrected all those factors that I loved about the original Civilization. … Continue reading Alpha Centauri is A+ all the way→
It has been a long time since I’ve journeyed to the Sword Coast via the magic of a Dungeons and Dragons game. Computer RPGs have never really been able to capture the flavor of a pen-and-paper role-playing, with several friends sitting around a table drinking sodas, eating chips, solving problems and slaying dragons. (well, only occasionally slaying a dragon) But that all changed with the release of Baldur’s Gate. Black Isle studios, a development arm of Interplay, has a great deal of experience with computer RPGs, and for the first time, someone has gotten it right. Most computer RPGs, especially … Continue reading Baldur’s Gate→
I had the opportunity to be a beta tester in the final phase of beta testing for EverQuest, which was released by Sony last week. Being in on the ground floor of this one, I can say that I think it will challenge Origin System’s Ultima Online for the title of the most popular online role-playing game. The first time I logged on, I was thrilled to see all of the options for creating a character. Everything from the usual gender, and class to race and religion was included as a changeable option. As a long time Ultima Online player, … Continue reading An insiders report from Norrath→
It is rare indeed to see the sequel to anything — movies, television shows or games — actually turn out better than the original. Sequels usually fall into either the category of either a hastily made game that relies too heavily on its predecessor for plot, or a simple add-on pack that is not really a new game at all. I was relieved and pleased to find that this was not the case with Myth II: Soulblighter. The folks at Bungie were smart enough to keep basically the same interface as the original Myth, and pack the game with enough … Continue reading Myth II: Soulblighter will conquer strategy gamers→
Valve Software’s Half-Life has been hyped for the past three years, claiming that it has the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) found on any first person shooter. It was supposed to be the AI that would surpass Half-Life form its competition. Fortunately, I am able to say that as far as the main game goes, that hype is proven to be true, as the final release provides the most challenging, involving single player action there is to offer. Half-Life, published by Sierra, centers on Gordon Freeman, doctor of Nanotechnology and Charlie Sheen look-a-like. What appears to start off as a … Continue reading Half-life aims to kill other first person shooters→
Humongous Entertainment has developed a game that will surely give young soccer enthusiasts a kick. Backyard Soccer takes players into realistic neighborhood soccer competitions with a variety of great features that any sports fanatic (young or old) will enjoy. This game is marketed for kids from ages five to ten years old. This game has a number of clever player-controlled, customized features. The game allows players to choose from a group of thirty neighborhood children to build their teams. The designers of this game made sure to give the neighborhood children a touch of realism by making the children each … Continue reading Backyard Soccer scores with young gamers→
Lucas Arts’ Grim Fandango already earned some lauds from other gaming publications and I hate to be the one to tarnish what may become another Myst. Grim Fandango does contain a captivating atmosphere with a certain film noir meets Antonio Banderas quality. My primary complaint stems not from the remarkable interface or the ambiance or even the general plot. Believe me, the music, a jazz soundtrack, is nearly enough to warrant buying this title. It’s just that someone forgot the basics of an adventure game. You may consider me a purist, but adventure and strategy games contain a kind of … Continue reading Don’t Fear the Reaper→
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