Tough shell

It seems I had, or even still have, an affinity towards wearing armor. At least that's what I guess after discovering another of my alltime favourite games: Looking Glass' Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (1996)

Sadly, it wasn't a success back then, even though it was critically approved, had great gameplay and for that time stunning 3D graphics that boasted a never before seen viewing distance. Every hill on screen could actually be reached in game.

It also had many features that are now standard in tactical games, like open maps that allow multiple tactical approaches and freeaim.

The setting has also quite a twist to it: you're Nikola Ap Io, Squadleader of the newly formed Strike Force Centauri, and it's your job to defend the colonies of the Centauri System against pirates and against the dystopian Earth Hegemony.

The story is beautiflly detailed and told in personal e-mails, news and videos with real actors. It also features a vast library of in-game lore. In fact, there is more background story than in most modern triple A RPG titles.

I find it actually quite sad that nowadays game universes are all pretty limited to the actual game's story. Even last time's Crusader came with extensive background literature. Not only do these things make a good reading while you can't actually play, for example because you use the lavatories, but they add to the immersion into the game world.

In other news: It's my birthday today, so if you have loads of spare cash, you might gift me some games on Steam, as I'm quite low on cash to get them for myself at the moment... Here's my Steam Community Page. Just add me to your friendslist anyway.

My whishlist:

Dragon Age: Origins

Borderlands

Left 4 Dead 2

Torchlight

Killing Floor

And there's still the weekend sale for Mass Effect

Retro Bliss!

Recently, I found my old copies of one of my alltime favourite game franchise: Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret by Origin.

Released back in 95/96 both are DOS games which are a bit of a hassle to run properly on Windows XP or Vista (and I guess on Win7 too), but thanks to DosBox, at least No Remorse runs flawlessly. I haven't tried No Regret yet, as I want to finish the first part first.

As for the game: It's as awesome as it was back in it's days: It's a top down "run&gun" type game where you are a Ex Silencer turncoat aiding the resistance aigainst the World Economic Consortium, a quasi fascist one world governement. The gameplay is deeper though than just running and gunning, you have to advance tactically to succeed, let alone survive on the higher difficulties, and you have numerous gadgets and weapons to help you with your goals. My all time favourite would be the spider-bomb which you guide to your target via remote from a safe position.

But there are other things that made it stand out back then: the crisp graphics, smooth animations and the superb industrial/techno soundtrack. And it being 2D, it's graphics aged very well. It might not impress you like it did back in 95, but at least you don't want to rip your eyes out while looking at it.

Also, the storytelling is superb, despite it's 90ies Sci-Fi cheesyness.

So conclusively, it's a game that I can recommend to anyone, either to dive in the warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia, or to witness the zenith of 2D gaming.

In other nostalgic news: Remedy of Max Payne fame released a Windows compatible version of their debut title from 1996: Death Rally. Check it out, it's a great game.