DJ Demon J
Banned
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/08/technology/circuits/08game.html?pagewanted=print&position
July 8, 2004
GAME THEORY
Invent Your Own Superhero, or Enlist a Star
By CHARLES HEROLD
IF you ask me whether I want to be an orc or an elf I'll just shrug, but give me the choice between being a mutant with the ability to control minds or a scientist who can shoot lightning balls and I'll have to give it some serious thought.
An alternative to the glut of sword-and-sorcery online role-playing games like EverQuest or Ultima Online, City of Heroes is a game for those who would rather be Superman than Merlin.
*snip*
After learning the ropes, you'll want to team up with your fellow superheroes to clear out a factory of killer robots or a sewer system inhabited by the undead. Team battles are wonderfully chaotic: as hordes of villains attack, one hero may engulf them in ice while another hovers above them shooting energy beams. It's so much fun that one feels sorry for heroes like the samurai Samanosuke, who has to battle through most of Capcom's action-adventure game Onimusha 3: Demon Siege all by himself.
Demon Siege begins with an elaborate, violent scene in which a time portal opens up in modern-day Paris. Horrible monsters flood into the city along with the monster killer Samanosuke, a 16th-century Japanese warrior.
While Samanosuke battles his way through Notre Dame, the Parisian soldier Jacques finds himself suddenly transported to ancient Japan. With the help of an annoyingly giggly time-traveling fairy, Pierre battles Japanese monsters as he searches for a way home.
*snip*
Those who prefer antiheroes over heroes will like Richard B. Riddick, the protagonist of the action game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. Played by Vin Diesel in the movies "Pitch Black" and the new "Chronicles of Riddick" as a tough guy whose cold exterior masks a tender heart, the Riddick of Butcher Bay, also voiced by Mr. Diesel, doesn't help or save anyone. Riddick's only goal is to escape a maximum-security prison, occasionally taking side jobs killing people for money or tools.
As Riddick explains it, "I play the hand I was dealt, and then I cheat."
With gorgeously dark and gritty graphics, an intelligent mix of stealth play and violent action, well-designed controls and first-rate level design, Riddick is a great game, although it shouldn't be. Movie-license games are notoriously awful; Charlie's Angels and Terminator 3 are ranked among the worst games in memory.
July 8, 2004
GAME THEORY
Invent Your Own Superhero, or Enlist a Star
By CHARLES HEROLD
IF you ask me whether I want to be an orc or an elf I'll just shrug, but give me the choice between being a mutant with the ability to control minds or a scientist who can shoot lightning balls and I'll have to give it some serious thought.
An alternative to the glut of sword-and-sorcery online role-playing games like EverQuest or Ultima Online, City of Heroes is a game for those who would rather be Superman than Merlin.
*snip*
After learning the ropes, you'll want to team up with your fellow superheroes to clear out a factory of killer robots or a sewer system inhabited by the undead. Team battles are wonderfully chaotic: as hordes of villains attack, one hero may engulf them in ice while another hovers above them shooting energy beams. It's so much fun that one feels sorry for heroes like the samurai Samanosuke, who has to battle through most of Capcom's action-adventure game Onimusha 3: Demon Siege all by himself.
Demon Siege begins with an elaborate, violent scene in which a time portal opens up in modern-day Paris. Horrible monsters flood into the city along with the monster killer Samanosuke, a 16th-century Japanese warrior.
While Samanosuke battles his way through Notre Dame, the Parisian soldier Jacques finds himself suddenly transported to ancient Japan. With the help of an annoyingly giggly time-traveling fairy, Pierre battles Japanese monsters as he searches for a way home.
*snip*
Those who prefer antiheroes over heroes will like Richard B. Riddick, the protagonist of the action game The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. Played by Vin Diesel in the movies "Pitch Black" and the new "Chronicles of Riddick" as a tough guy whose cold exterior masks a tender heart, the Riddick of Butcher Bay, also voiced by Mr. Diesel, doesn't help or save anyone. Riddick's only goal is to escape a maximum-security prison, occasionally taking side jobs killing people for money or tools.
As Riddick explains it, "I play the hand I was dealt, and then I cheat."
With gorgeously dark and gritty graphics, an intelligent mix of stealth play and violent action, well-designed controls and first-rate level design, Riddick is a great game, although it shouldn't be. Movie-license games are notoriously awful; Charlie's Angels and Terminator 3 are ranked among the worst games in memory.
