GameRx: Hunter Hunted

When "platformers" come up in discussion, we often assume a certain degree of levity in atmosphere. While this isn't entirely fair, it's a reasonable assumption judging by the biggest, most successful early titles -- Mario, Kirby, Sonic, Megaman, et al. With the runaway success of these franchises, many console developers followed suit with their own light-hearted platformers to reach the same demographic. However, there was no such limitation on the generally older audience of PC gaming, resulting in some dark takes on the platformer format. If you're looking for something to break free from the cheery grind of mainstream platforming, Hunter Hunted may be just the game you're looking for. Released on Halloween of 1996 by the tragically defunct Sierra, this platformer for Win95 is incidentally the prequel to the Starsiege: Tribes franchise.

In the then-distant year of 2015, Earth has been attacked by a race of aliens, known only as "the Masters." Humanity has been largely destroyed in the ensuing war, and surviving humans are enslaved, enduring life-or-death challenges for the amusement of their new overlords. The human protagonist, Jake Hunter, is attempting to make a getaway while repairing the remains of an old car with post-apocalyptic scrap as he struggles to survive the Masters' gauntlet. Simultaneously, a similar fate befalls the tauren inhabitants planet Kullrathe as the masters herd the survivors into concentration camps. Put into similarly dire straits, the opposing Kullrathian protagonist, Garethe Den, has similar plans of escape. Who will you be -- the hunter, or the hunted?


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Prometheus: Connecting the Dots (Part 1)

After a personally mandatory re-watching of the first two Alien movies a few days back, I finally got around to seeing Prometheus with high expectations. The film delivered in exactly the way that I hoped. We get a glimpse into the events before the previous movies, finally revealing several missing pieces of the franchise, especially the original Alien. Each revelation kept me on the edge of my seat, and I left quite satisfied.

Of course, all the information present gave me the urge to figure out how all the movies connect together. A few flowcharts later, and I think I've connected most of it. A lot of these will be kind of obvious to Alien fans, but I figure I should leave a detailed list for the sake of completeness.

Of couse, there are many spoilers below. Continue at your own peril.

GameRx: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded."

  - Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang

A while back, I wrote up a review for Sid Meier's Colonization in a sort of celebration of the new Civilization V downloadable content coming out in the following weeks. Taking a brief hiatus with HyperBlade to change things up, it's time to continue with revisitations of Civ-likes with an old /vg/ favorite, Alpha Centauri. The game in the curious position of being the most praised game of a franchise as well as having fewest copies sold. This really is a shame; this game is that rare brand science fiction gold that I feel cements game-writing as legitimate literature. In complete seriousness, I'd put right up there with the likes of Heinlein, Aasimov, and Herbert. It's that good.

In the 22nd century, the United Nations assembles an effort to colonize on Alpha Centauri, called the Unity program. Things go horribly awry when a generator malfunctions, rousing the passengers and crew from their travel-stasis and severing all communications with Earth. The captain is assassinated by the panicking passengers, leaving a power vacuum on board the ship. Seven colonists stand out from the others as leadership figures, each with very specific principles that they feel should be priorities in the colonization effort. Unable to reconcile their differences, the seven leaders and their followers take seven escape pods to the surface of the planet Chiron, commonly called "Planet", in the Alpha Centauri system. I'd go on with a story summary, but I'd hate to spoil such a great game for anyone who wants to give it a try. Besides, we have much bigger and tastier fish to fry in this game.

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The Niche of E3: an outsider's look into E3 from afar

After some discussions with friends and new acquaintances on my Twitter feed and beyond, I've noticed that there's a bit of a debate surrounding what E3 is supposed to actually do. I decided this would be a great opportunity to explore exactly what E3 is from the view of someone who has never been. This will lead to some biases, but I'm just going to call it like I see it as I think of it. If anyone wants to provide some critique or counter-points, I'm more than open to discussion!

After some perusing, it seems that we need to remember that E3 is not a gaming convention, regardless of what past conventions have hosted. E3 is the "Electronic Entertainment Expo," a selection that includes much more than games. I understand that some big games have been released at E3 in the past, and that's all well and good. However, this does not necessarily make E3 a gaming convention -- rather, it is a convention where games are announced.

In a way, you can look at E3 (or really any convention) as if it were a football game. The players are the industry representatives that put on the show. The stadium staff are the people who make sure that the event possible, keeping the events together and providing service to the attendees. The press box is...well, the press box. This leaves the fans, ranging from the largely apathetic to the rabidly supportive. The part that seems to be lost in translation to the attendee is that the game exists for the players and coaches down on the field. The game down on the field is not yours in any way past the fact that you bought a ticket. You just happen to be watching the game.

GameRx: HyperBlade

"I went to a fight the other night and a hockey game broke out."

       - Rodney Dangerfield

Tronicus also seems to be an apt name.

Sitting at my desk writing this review, it's hard to figure out where to start describing this game. Made by Whizbang! Software Productions in 1996, HyperBlade fills a space in the under-appreciated niche genre of sci-fi sports games. It really defies explanation, but if I had to describe it in terms of today's games, I'd call it some sort of bizarre combination of Gears of War, ice hockey, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater.


The best part? It's so old that it's available here for free in a non-torrent format. You don't have an excuse this time, readers!


If you've enjoyed games like Monday Night Combat  and Blood Bowl, you should definitely hit the download above and give this game a look. It's small, fun, easy to learn, and is packed with plenty of high-speed action, and runs on almost any PC or Windows emulator. I got this little gem to play on my Win95 Toughbook, a behemoth of a laptop with absolutely minimal specs, where it still worked like a charm. Trust me on this one; if it works on that thing, you should be able to handle it. The only foreseeable complication is that the game might just be too old to run on your fancy-pants computer. If this is the case, just do a simple follow-up on Google to figure out what you need to do.

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GameRx: Colonization

GameRx: Colonization

With the new Gods & Kings expansion being released for Civilization V, it seems like as good of a time as ever to look back at the history of Sid Meier’s most popular franchise. Looking back at the older iterations of the game can give us a new-found appreciation for just how much this series has changed over time and the massive impact it’s had on the desktop gaming community. Today, we’ll be looking atColonization, a Civ-like game where you discover the New World, establish colonies, and revolt against your mother country.

This game comes in three basic flavors: ‘94, ‘03, and ‘08. More of you may be familiar with this title in its most recent form, released as a part of Civ IV in their new 3D game engine. The original came out in 1994, way back during the beginning of NAFTA and the end of Commodore International, and an open source clone of the game was initiated in 2003, piquing enough general interest to justify the Civ IV version of the game in 2008. The original 1994 version is really only viable if your current rig has DOSbox installed or if you happen to have an old beast of a computer gathering dust in the attic, like an Amiga or Commodore. If you have a copy of Civ IV, you should have your hands on the most recent version pretty easily. If you have neither DOS nor Civ IV, go ahead and download FreeCol before you spend money on it and see if you like what you find. Your mileage may vary on any of the three.

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GameRx: Sid Meier's Gettysburg!

One thing that has always really bothered me about modern RTS is that games are no longer based on tactical skill, but rather knowledge of the game engine and mechanics. In such games, knowledge of the game always comes before knowledge of tactics, where even a wonderfully planned assault can completely backfire if you haven’t bought the right upgrades or powerups for your troops. To me, this is pretty apparent in games like Starcraft -- any game where you measure prowess with “clicks per minute” seems like an exercise in tedium to me rather than a demonstration of strategic genius.

Where modern RTS’s largely fail to meet standard big-picture criteria, Sid Meier’s Gettysburg more than delivers. Based on the engine used in the game Sid Meier’s Waterloo, gameplay is reminiscent of games from the likes of Creative Assembly. One controls regiments rather than individual soldiers and moves them in formation across the battlefield, making an understanding of fronts, flanking, and the other essential parts of pre-twentieth-century strategy key elements in formulating your plans. Time passes more slowly, giving both players time to observe the field and react to each other’s movements, much like many battles of that era. Granted, this style of gameplay isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but this is definitely a refreshing take on RTS for anyone with background in wargaming.

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