Quarterlies 2006
TomChick - Features - Comments - 12/26/06
10. Oblivion
 It might sound slightly ridiculous, but anyone who’s played Oblivion for any length of time will understand this comment: You like a game you like until you don’t like it any more. Once I hit that point with Oblivion, it was almost impossible to go back. But before that, man, did I have a great time.
From my review of Oblivion: The most satisfying parts of the game are progressing along quest lines, most of them for guilds. As you play, you'll uncover different political and even religious vignettes. It's not always well written, but much of it is memorable, with its vampires, madmen, heretical wilderness shrines, pirates, ghosts, and lovers. The world is carefully dotted with ruins, dungeons, and landmarks, all hand-built by the tenets of intelligent design instead of any mere tiling or randomization. What makes Oblivion work so well is that there's always something behind that door, over that hill, or down that road. It's a game about letting you go places and making sure there's something there for you.
9. Rise of Legends
 There should be an annual slot reserved for the real time strategy game with the best design that gets upstaged by something sexier, but not as well designed. Rise of Legends is Big Huge Games’ almost immaculate example of how to design a game that no one will play. It’s the Kohan of 2006, living in the shadow of louder prettier -- and ultimately lesser -- games.
From my review on Yahoo, which seems to have vanished for some reason: Unlike the games from the Westwood school of design -- the Battles for Middle Earth, the Dragonshards, the Commands & Conquers, the Empires at War -- this is not an immediately gratifying RTS. It doesn't have particularly immersive battles or an action movie tone or a recognizable license. It's often tinny (the sound design is pathetic) and the engine is missing a lot of polish. It won't run well on mid-range computers that are well above the system requirements. The artwork is detailed and funky, but instead of epic, it sometimes looks like a sprawl of dime store toys. But what counts most is how it all plays…Rise of Legends has a hundred and one things in it, all fitting together in a hundred and one different ways. It’s generous, detailed, and brainy. If you want cheap thrills, there are some great real time strategy games out there. This isn’t one of them. But if you want something from the other end of the spectrum that plays unlike anything else, this is the game for you.
8. Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror
 Syphon Filter was firing from behind cover back when Rainbow Six was still standing around in the open. It’s not just a game that’s “good for a handheld”. It’s a good shooter that’s all the better for being on a handheld.
From my review in the May issue of Computer Games Magazine: In many ways, Syphon Filter out-Splinter Cells Splinter Cell, a series whose single player content has gotten lazier as it’s gotten more gorgeous. But here, you've got a limber set of combat sandboxes and a toy box brimming with goodies…There are lots of distinct guns that handle differently, a set of vision modes with balanced gameplay effects, and some fancy toys like a sniper rifle that also shoots tranquilizers, sticky bombs, and shock darts. If you take time to set up kills by hand, you'll be treated to some luridly animated stabbing and neck snapping. There's also frying people to death with a taser, pushing them in front of trains, and the 'F' word…There's even a storyline, but it soon loses focus and fumbles around a bit trying to find it again. Something about an orchid in the arctic, a break-up in the rain, and then finally a guy too clueless to understand the implications of a shoe too big for a 10-year-old.
| | Previous | Next | | More Features by TomChick |
|
|
