Mann Vs Machine

Gentlemen, it’s time to Mann up! Team Fortress 2 has expanded again with even more free content. With surprisingly little fanfare, Valve have added a new horde mode; Mann Vs Machine. The gravel pits RED and BLU have tirelessly battled over and now being invaded by machines. And a new Mann brother is revealed in the latest of the fantastically silly comics that document the crazy backstory of TF2.

The new game mode plays as a cross between a standard horde mode, and a tower defence game. Your robot opponents have a bomb to carry along set paths to your base. The closer they get, the more powerful they become. But if you stop the bomb advancing for long enough, it will reset and have to be carried through your onslaught once again.

It’s easy to jump into a game. Just follow the new menu options and you’ll join the queue. However it can be confusing the first time as there are separate set of premium servers. If you’re willing to spend a little, you get access to the Mann servers where you earn themed aesthetic rewards to show off your wealth. With the current queues, it’s quicker to find a server manually.  

So what devious creations are you and up to five teammates pitted against? Robotic versions of yourselves of course! Each of the nine TF2 characters is represented in the enemy hordes with different equipment set-ups. To mix things up, Tanks and giant robots can be unleashed with devastating results on an uncoordinated team.

Tanks are exactly what the name suggests. Lumbering vehicles with an immense health bar. If they reach you base, their armour retracts to reveal a hidden bomb which is promptly detonated on your front door. Giant robots are equipped with extra powerful weaponry such as Soldier’s multi-shot rocket launchers and Demoknight’s swords that have giant cleavage.

And just to keep you on your toes, they have ways of dealing with your engineer’s turret. If the AI detects a turret doing particularly well, it deploys a Sentry Buster. A bomb that can run, and run fast! As soon as it gets in range, it arms itself and detonates in large blast, wiping out everything in range. If you have a Pyro, you can keep them at bay with airblasts. Alternatively, a clever Engineer can pick up his prized turret at the last second and make an escape.

To counter the robotic horde you can upgrade your equipment with the cash dropped from defeated enemies. The upgrades range from standard damage increases to providing whole new mechanics. The Engineer can create portals that teleport in both directions. The Spy can upgrade his sapper to destroy groups of bots. There’s also a whole set of upgrades just for your character to improve personal defences. However you’ll need to choose wisely as you only get enough cash to max out a few bonuses, so it’s important to pick up everything dropped. This often requires heroic dives into groups of Pyros to rescue the money from the previous wave. A smart design choice by Valve is that all cash pick-ups are shared evenly amongst the team.

To help balance the poor Scout who is about as strong as the milk he drinks. A few extra buffs were added. He’s the only character that heals when picking up cash and has no respawn time. Everyone else has to wait a few agonizing second before they can get back into the fight unless they sacrifice earned cashed.

The quality of the content is excellent as expected. Although I did have some UI bugs which meant I had no idea what to expect in the next wave. There’s a whole new range of voice clips for the characters and the announcer and the robot models are simply fantastic. Sadly I can’t say the same for the three levels available so far. They are simpler in layout than a standard map to accommodate the hordes of enemies running on a set path. But the designs are bland in comparison to the standard multiplayer maps. The biggest criticism I have is that it’s clearly balanced around six players. Any less makes the game a lot harder as there appears to be no scaling of the enemies.

All things considered, it is an excellent piece of free content. It’s good to see a modern classic such as TF2 get another breath of new life. Maybe Valve might bring new mechanics and games modes in future? Who knows, this was unexpected delight.

Panda Pander

It’s incredible that WoW has achieved the success that it has over such a long time. On the eve of its 8^th birthday Mists of Pandaria will be hitting the shelves. But will the party be crashed by the new contender Guild Wars 2?

WoW has simply battered all competition that has challenged it for the fantasy MMO top spot.  And rightfully so, which is sad to say in a way. Many MMOs have come and gone with new ideas, leaving Blizzard picking over the corpses like a vulture.  It seems cruel, but such is the nature of the games industry. The strongest survive.

Mists of Pandaria takes the strategy a step further by rather blatantly copying from Pokémon with the new pet battle system. Companion pets that are collected in game can now battle each other, level up and gain new skills. Although lacking in originality, it will no doubt be a fun aside to dip into. What many MMO makers forget is that players need something to do outside the main PvP and PvE content.

MMOs are large social games and having asides to main content creates a fun chat room. Wrath of the Lich King was the real start of this extra content, bringing over a thousand achievements. It was fun to just play casually earning silly titles and pets. Having more to do than farming crafting materials and raiding added to the longevity of the game for me.

So what else does the new expansion bring to the table? Well the main attraction is of course the Pandaren. Fans have been requesting their inclusion since release, but have had to wait patiently while four other races were added before them in previous expansions. The Monk becomes the eleventh class available in the game. New classes are the most satisfying extra content for me, as they provide a new way to experience all of the content. It’s a shame that the Monk is only the second to be added since the original release.

Scenarios and Challenge Mode brings new PvE content, which has historically been dominated by raiding. As to whether they are just fun digressions or meaningful new content can only be determined by the reaction of the player base on release. The talent system is receiving a much needed overhaul. Previous expansions had simply added to it, but changed little. The statistically best builds were always obvious, leaving almost no room for personal choice. Blizzard planned the new system to shake things up, but since it’s a game based on numbers, you have to wonder if that’s even possible.

Of course fans are once again expected to pay full price for an expansion on top of the subscription fee. Some things never change. But does this provide an opening for Guild Wars 2 to finally change the market? No subscription fee for a title with equal quality, that’s a very attractive prospect. I have long since stopped playing WoW as I became frustrated with the lack of content for the price I was paying. Blizzard revealed recently that subscriptions had been falling. This could be the push for more to follow.

The exact opposite happening is also possible. Pandaria brings a lot of content the fan base have been asking for. Enough to entice old players back. And why not play both games? This will be an interesting battle for control of the market. And WoW still has the free to play model as an ace up its sleeve. So who will win? Is it even a competition? Only one thing is a certainty. Time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell.

Sourcey! GoldenEye Source v4.2

I’m invincible! My Hawaiian shirt is a blur to the AI opponents as I zip around Facility; hunting the dots on the radar. Cougar Magnum in hand, the slaughter begins as I get one head shot after another.  Then out of the blue, a hail of incredibly accurate shots from a KF7 Soviet takes me down. I have brought shame to Boris players everywhere. The new version of GoldenEye Source has been released and bots are ready for battle!

It’s fair to say the AI introduced in version 4.2 is inconsistent. But I wasn’t looking for the high standard you would expect from a AAA title, it’s a mod project after all. And they do put up a reasonable fight. If you’re a veteran of FPS multiplayer you won’t find them very challenging, especially when they get stuck. However they are useful for filling out server spots, as sadly the mod still doesn’t have a large community.

This is the first version of the mod that I’ve really spent a lot of time playing. It was quite nostalgic to be running around the hallways of Complex and scaling the heights of Cradle. The map layouts vary between faithful recreations to updated versions with additional areas, Facility Backzone is great example of this. The extra rooms and corridors help balance the map by removing dead ends and providing enough space for more than four players. However the idea was taken too far with some levels. Runway looks great, but with all the additional content that has been added, it takes several minutes get around.

The biggest change to gameplay is the controls. The N64 pad was great and Rare’s control scheme for FPS with a single stick was clever. But with the extra controls available on a keyboard, the game dynamic takes an interesting shift. In the original, it was odd for someone to use the R button to aim. Almost all fights were circle strafes to the death! But in this remake, aim is easily accessible on shift. You’re also allowed to move slowly whilst aiming, resulting in everyone aiming for headshots.

I don’t often discuss soundtracks to games as few are truly memorable. But as anyone who played the original knows, GoldeneEye 64 has an excellent soundtrack. So full credit to everyone who has worked on the fantastic remixes for the mod. The new soundtrack strikes a good balance between using the source material and mixing it subtle dance themes.

Multiplayer FPS has gained the reputation of being an endless grind for unlocks since the first Modern Warfare. This makes GoldenEye Source really refreshing to play. All the content is available so you can get on with having fun on a level playing field.  The modders have created an incredible amount of content. There’s a lot of game modes, guns, characters and maps crammed into the 1.4GB download.  Of course achievements were included as well, but most of them are themed and give you an actual challenge.

If I take off my rose-tinted glasses, take a step back and really examine it. I genuinely think I’ve had a lot more fun with GoldenEye Source, than most other multiplayer FPS’ that have been released in the past few years.  The quick, frantic and fun pace of classic multiplayer FPS’ like GoldenEye and Unreal Tournament seems to have been lost in recent years. So Kudos to GoldenEye Source, here’s hoping the a single-player remake is not far away.

Endlessly Enthralling: Endless Space

Endless Space is the recently released 4X title developed by Amplitude Studios. Their first game since the company was founded in April 2011. They set themselves the challenge of developing the best strategy games, and Endless Space is an excellent start.

The format is very traditional. Pick one of eight races to conquer the galaxy through military power, scientific discovery, diplomacy or economic dominance. Each race has a unique design for its ships, but the real differences come from the traits. The Amobea can see the entire galaxy map and are master diplomats. The Sophons are great scientists and the Cravers build large navies, stripping the worlds they own for bonus resources. If none of the default choices take your fancy, there’s an excellent customisation option allowing you to tailor a faction to your liking.

What really sets the game apart from its peers is the focus on simplicity. The genre is defined by complex titles, allowing players to micromanage empires down to the minute details. But here, everything is kept at a high level. There are only four resources in the game: food, industry, dust (money) and science. The UI provides clear information on the production of your systems, allowing you to easily shape worlds to needs of your empire. The happiness of your citizens acts as a fifth resource. High taxes and barely inhabitable worlds will lead to strikes and shrinking populations. So remember to research technologies like Infinite Supermarkets to keep your peons happy and industrious.

Fleet battles also take a minimalistic approach. For the most part, the player sits back and watches as the ships close, unleashing their broadsides. Clashes take part in three phases. Each phase allows you to pick from a number of tactic cards to determine your strategy. Do you unleash a full broadside, repair damage or flee from the fight? Every tactic can counter another. Predicting your opponent’s moves correctly gives a powerful bonus. This can be enough to overcome a slightly more powerful fleet.

The weapon systems and ship classes you have researched have the biggest impact. Ballistics, lasers and missiles all have different mechanics and each is countered by a different defence. Clashes can often be as one sided as rock- paper- scissors if you focus too heavily in a single weapons technology. This leads to some great tactical situations, battles can swing back and forth based on your choices.

Heroes can also be the difference between victory and defeat. Each has two specialities which can be developed to improve a systems’ production, or bring clever tactics and bonuses to battle as an admiral of a fleet. You’re limited to three to begin with, but research allows for more as long as you can pay the bills.

The camera does a great job of following the action, as colourful laser exchanges and ship explosions contrast against the darkness of space. It does sometimes focus on the wrong areas, but a free camera mode is provided. Simply hit the button to enable the feature, and then manoeuvre using the arrow keys to follow the fighting.

Simplicity is also the game’s one weakness. The tech-tree has four branches, each representing different fields: science, warfare, colonisation and diplomacy/economics.  But since it’s all unlocked by science, it dominates the game. The other resources should help contribute to particular research fields, counter-balancing the problem that if you ignore science, you fall behind in production and have inferior ships when war breaks out.

And war is inevitable. Holding out for economic or scientific victory can only be done with military supremacy. So why not take the rest of the galaxy if you have that advantage? Diplomacy and co-operation between human players is the only counter, working together to overhaul another’s lead.

But of course, finding several people with the spare time for a game isn’t always a possibility. The AI is capable of putting up a good fight on norm al difficulty. The diplomacy of the AI isn’t particularly nuanced. But they are smart enough to make deals to their benefit, and try to appease warmongers. They do have an odd liking to lots of small strike fleets, which would give them a lot of tactical flexibility. But instead they like to throw all their might against your navies in waves, allowing you to swat away their advances like pesky flies. You'll get tired of pressing the auto-resolve button very quickly.

Overall Endless Space is an incredibly accessible game for the genre. Its simplicity is a real strength and its sole flaw. The aesthetic design is fantastic; all the races look distinct in battle. The use of colour in the UI is well done, giving consistency to the multitude of icons. And the music perfectly captures the optimism of space exploration. It leaves me looking forward to Amplitude Studious’ next title.