FPS Games - PC Top 3

The Short and Sweet

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Best overall game for Single player and Multiplayer

Plus Side
Infinity Ward pulled out all the stops in creating this COD title. The developer returns to offering great game play and non player character AI. The single player offering is short but the action is some of the best played on the PC or console to date.

Bad Side
The only real detraction is the use of enemy spawning. Enemy spawns detract from some strategic maneuvering such as flanking. You must clear out enemies in succession or you'll never clear a point. This is a minor point given that the game overall offers great overall story and game play.

Unreal Tournament 3

Plus Side
The game at its core is reminiscent of the original UT title. Very frenetic game play with plenty of visual visceral carnage unleashed from explosive weapons. Weapons feel right and the player motion and speed just feel right.

Vehicles also feel right. This could have gone horribly wrong, but Epic has engineered a level of balance in game play that makes using vehicles effective without being overpowering. The use of hover boards for those choosing to be foot soldiers is ideal for larger maps and culminates into some very intense CTF and VCTF matches.

Bad Side
Epic/Midway released the game too early to meet the holiday sales. It's clear and evident that the enemy AI is not always doing what one would expect. Excellent AI is one of Epics hallmarks, but in UT3, they dropped a few points.

No single player game worth noting. Single play can best be described as a group of training levels with silly war/battle explanations for CTF. C'mon its capture the flag.

Epic also has reduced the User Interface to a sub standard level that limits customization. It is definitely "consolized". Epic has said they will rework it but it is unknown when.

Sadly UT3, is in need of some patches. Even though the core is solid, the game falls short in content and a polished delivery.

Crysis

Plus Side
Crytek the developer of Crysis has upped the ante once again. If you have a PC that can play Crysis, you will be treated to some exception visuals and physics not see in PC gaming before. Crysis is big step above what Far Cry showcased years ago. Single play in the jungle environment is top notch as most every element in the game has physics applied to it.

There are some huge levels of action, where combat is stellar and I found myself reloading these levels just to see how they would play differently.

Bad Side
In the end, Crysis plays more like a visual upgrade than anything else. It fails along the same lines that Far Cry did. Once you enter a closed environment, the appeal is somewhat lost and the story starts to unravel losing any potential to keep the player riveted.

Multiplayer not unlike Far Cry is more a less a visual appendage to the single player campaign. Much of the physics and destroyable elements are locked into DX10 servers and players. Needless to say, few people have bought into Vista as a gaming system so we are treated to basic multiplayer gaming with nothing to write home about. Considering the hardware needed to run Crysis, its no wonder the sales haven't broke the 100.000 mark.

Jeff Gerstmann - Vindicated?

Eidos Rewrites Reviews for Kane and Lynch

Ok it's a given. The video game industry is too big and the stakes too high to be honest.

Still on the warm heels of Jeff Gerstmann's firing, word comes out that Eidos has been caught "rewording" or simply making up reviews to save their game.

"It's not like the relationship between Kane & Lynch and review scores wasn't messy enough. But now this? Visitors to the game's official site will notice, once the page's flash intro is done, that two review scores for the game are flashed for your perusal. One from GameSpy, one from Game Informer. Both look positively glowing!"

Read more here at kotaku.com

Unreal Tournament 3 (High Detail)

All Things Considered...

Having read through my share of forums regarding the apparent low resolution models being utilized in UT3, I though I would give it a go with some of the more bristly creatures in the game.

UT3 utilizes an impressive light and detailed shadow scheme at full detail. I'll note that the characters are self shadowing which surprised me after I made the screen grabs. Theres allot going on in different parts of every map and having a variety of characters running about has not impacted my frame rates.

With that said, I will note that the game is a pretty faced paced game which in the end does not lend itself to gawking at the details less one doesn't want to lose their head.

Click on the images below

Unreal Tournament 3

High Resolution Hijinx

The long anticipated Unreal Tournament 3 (UT3) has finally made its debut and much of the reviews of the game (PC) have been positive. (It's also released on the PS3).

Before I get into the game, I'll write about the much hyped detailed levels and characters that Epic released during UT3 development over the past few years. The demo released a few weeks back was met with equal praise and dismay. Something was amiss as the level of detail vs. the steep hardware performance requirements.

As many have noted there is deep connection with console development this time around which is very evident in the dumbed down user interface. Epic has since noted the anemic design and plans to update it to more PC centric arrangement of old.

Beyond that, game world wise - it's arguable just where the load on performance is. Any way you look at it, the game is either poorly optimized for the PC, or there are ini tweaks for performance that need to be delved into.

I have three copies running on Intel Quad and two Dual Cores. 3.2 and 3.4 GHz respectively. All are running 8800 Series cards GT and two GTS. 2 Gig Ram in XP Pro. With minor GameEngine.ini optimizations I am getting 1280x768 with High settings with appreciable frame rates.

Be Forewarned

People with AMD dual cores are experiencing apparent issues with peak performance. This may be a vocal minority but it's better to view the hardware conflicts and solutions on Epics forums before laying down your money for this title. There are a number of issues with this release and its better to see how and what Epic is working on to resolve them. UT3 Troubleshooting Forum

Forcing ini tweaks can lead to instability and crashing. As with all previous Unreal games, overclocked systems are suspect unless they have been rigorously tested for memory stability. This game is no different. Just because you can run other games OC'd, does not ensure that UT3 will run problem free.

Classic Game Play Wins Out

Given the steep hardware requirements, if you have what it takes to run UT3, you are in for some great game play. Even though the visual dynamics are hit and miss, the balance in the maps and vehicles is about as good as it can be on this release.

Epics much lauded bots are back but not without some issues this time around. As good as the bots can be, there are times they uncharacteristically lose it. Shooting at walls, piloting vehicles into obstacles, or going in odd directions. Hopefully Epic tweaks these errors and brings this much appreciated consideration into working order.

I can't say enough about the vehicle arrangements. These are fairly well balanced given the difference between the two side. A high note goes to the Dark Walker which is straight out of War of the Worlds. Quite a site to see even when its the enemy. They cast a bright death ray that is instant death equaled only by its counterpart the tank (Axon Goliath).

Vehicle Capture the Flag is definitely a new favorite. Getting to use the hover board to maneuver through troops on foot and firing vehicles will get your blood racing. No more trudging on foot across lengthy maps with little hope of making it. Using a link gun on a hover board to link with a fast vehicle adds to the tactics of team play.

Game Modes and Maps

Game modes are reduced and maybe for realistic reasons. As much as I liked Assault, I know I didn't play it as much as much as other types. Warfare is a combination of sorts with a new way way to win control points. Again, the wise use of Hover Boards with accompanying vehicles can really help organized teams better lone wolf tactics. That's not to say that lone wolf methodology isn't warranted or useful; it is. As individuals acting as scouts can snipe out defenses. UT3 is hardly a class tactic game, but played in roles its easy to see how individuals can be as beneficial as team players.

Immediate Tips for Stability

I initially had OpenAL audio enabled for my Creative X-Fi systems. After disabling that, I have had zero crashes or glitches.

Don't force settings in the ini files if you don't have to. Unfortunately the sliders appear locked to setting variables in the UTEngine.ini. If your system is high spec and you have the GPU with 512MB or more memory - set the detail sliders to their max. Test run a map from each game type to check stability. Some maps are more system heavy than others. If you want to push your luck and tweak the ini file further, make sure to back up your file. For right now at least, the game appears to want to adhere to a tight group of settings.

If you have an overclocked system, do a Prime95 (single core) or Orthos (Dual Core) to stress test your rig. As mentioned earlier, the UT series is very particular with hardware overclocks. Memory errors are the first sign of OC issues.

Career Suicide and Biting the Hand that Writes Checks

Telling it Like it is Will Get You Fired

As the paragraph title suggests; for every honest flame, you can expect to get soundly singed.

It's interesting that in the two cases below one man rails against game reviews and the next writes a game review - both men end up severely singed.

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Career Suicide?

In the case of of Harvey Smith, Creative Director of Midway (Austin), he had allot of real bad things to say about his development experience with Blacksite: Area 51. May a hard way to make a case against bad reviews Harvey.

Just some of the more notable quotes - "This project was so fucked up" and "I wasn't excited about this Area 51 game". You can read more on his views here.

Of course Harvey goes on in more detail about how this published debacle ended up being what it is but why stop at a potential reprimand when you can go for a sure sacking . Unfortunately for Harvey, it looks like a sacking - with a lead weight, concrete shoes and deep river.
No surprise Harvey Smith is no longer working for Midway. Read more here

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Biting the Hand that Writes Checks

Now on a more scandalous note - A Game Reviewer Canned after giving a low score for a game.

It looks like Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot may have weighed in rather honest but critical review of Kane and Lynch. It turns out that this delivery had spurned Eidos who publishes the title to seek his ouster. Eidos has paid allot of money in ad space for Kane and Lynch on the site and the immediate if not obvious conclusion was made about the firing.

Of interest is the video review that Jeff made of Kane and Lynch which is no longer available on GameSpot. See it here on YouTube.
No doubt that Jeff doesn't pull any punches in that review, but the fallout from this sacking has just started.

ID's John Carmack on PC Games

PC Gaming Legend Calls it

In an interview for Gamasutra Carmack weighs in on the reasons the PC remains a viable gaming platform, if for one game genre at least.

On the PC becoming a Console port option

If you make a cross-platform game, the PC is not going to look that much different there. There is a little bit better graphics fidelity, and it’s lot more powerful than a high-end console. You certainly only have about half efficiency, but still, you get some influence. But it’s not really drastic.

The exception being...

But on the other hand, if you look at what’s really successful on the PC -- like World Of Warcraft, that’s an insanely successful product. It’s like a train driving all the PC sales numbers altogether on gaming.

Read interview here Gamasutra

The Death of PC Gaming? (R.I.P. 1994)

The PC as a gaming platform has been on the ropes since well before the PS2 and XBox made their debuts. Cost of development and sales took many developers under. Like then as now, only the ones with hot properties or well financing publishers would last.

The reality is that the PC is largely an enthusiast market. People buying off the shelf PCs may buy a new game with the PCs, but they aren't generally buying a PC with gaming as a priority. Kick in the steep hardware/software curve and many game experiences are less than stellar.

PC game developers can't go on the installed base of PCs when designing their games because they are generally targeting for the top 5% - 10%. And because PCs are not primarily used for gaming, the games sales associated with that 5%-10% is lower.

For small developers, this is a nice target as long as they can keep costs down while hoping to drive graphics and game innovation to sell the final product. For more established game developers, this sale base is increasingly smaller and less likely to sustain a return on their investments. Once a game studio achieves a certain critical mass - the PC as a platform is less viable and is more risk than its worth.

The PC and the MMPORG

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. So long as games like World of Warcraft and Everquest allow multitudes of people to play interactive quests online, the PC will reign supreme in this game area. The numbers of people playing these PC games are in the millions. A far cry from most any console based game.

Console gaming has come a very long way in both game play and graphics. A dedicated gaming machine has never made more sense. Fortunately (for now) there is an equal balance between PC and Console. You can play a title on either one and get a similar experience (providing you're the PC enthusiast with uber hardware.)

PC gaming will be around when and if the next generation of consoles hit the market and again we will revisit the Death of PC Gaming.

Crysis - How To Benchmark

Latest (maybe last) Uber Spec PC Game

Crysis releases this week and it is probably one of the last uber PC games to be released for a long time. That's right, the game will not be seen on any console as it's spec requirements are greater than the current generation can handle.

That is not a glowing endorsement for anyone with aging PC hardware. As anyone who has played a next gen console port on their PC knows; those ports can drag performance down on anything but the fastest PCs.

The game has been in development for a few years but Crytek has stated that the game will scale across a wide range of PC hardware. Scale is a rather ambiguous word here. It really is dependent on what you are willing to settle for. What visuals and resolution you are willing to play in.

Built in Benchmark

If running your games at anything under 1600x1200 with 4xAA and 4xAf is an abomination, stop right here. It doens't matter if you're using the latest DX9 or DX10 hardware in XP or Vista. The Crysis game engine is going to stress hardware that hasn't hit the market yet.

If you're still on the fence on buying Crysis because of concerns these uber hardware requirements. You owe it to yourself to download the single player demo just to benchmark it against your current hardware.

In your game directory there are two batch files to benchmark your CPU and GPU.
Both of these are in the BIN32 directory. One is the Benchmark_CPU.BAT and Benchmark_GPU.BAT.

What you may want to do before running these is go into the games option screen and adjust the settings to your liking. Otherwise the game defaults to a low settings and 1024x768. Once you get the settings that you would like - exit the game and then run the benchmarks tests.

Both benchmarks run 4x each. You will see your FPS statistics on screen throughout the benchmark. At the end it will give you a final score in avg FPS and Max FPS.

Sample Benchmarks

Game options settings
1280x1024, No AA, No AF. All Settings on High

Core 2 Duo (Dual) E6400 2.13GHz (OC 3.4Ghz) 2 Gig System Ram, 8800 GTS 640MB
CPU Bench - 26.28 Avg FPS
36.58 Max FPS

GPU Bench - 27.86 Avg FPS
32.90 Max FPS

Core 2 Duo(Quad) E6600 2.4GHz (OC 3.2GHz) 2 Gig System Ram, 8800 GT 512 MB
CPU Bench - 39.23 Avg FPS
55.64 Max FPS

GPU Bench - 41.59 Avg FPS
49.88 Max FPS

The first thing to note is that the Crysis engine does utilize the more CPUs you throw at it. It's arguable that the additional CPUs are making a significant difference as they are being under utilized. They aren't even close to doubling performance but in gaming, 10 FPS can make or break the immersion experience.

On another note the 8800 GT vs the 8800 GTS. Considering that the GT is priced to be lower than its GTS counterpart, the GPU Bench proves it is the card to buy. It's liited to 512 MB DDR3 memory compared to the GTS's 640, but thats largely a resolution advantage that this game won't allow anyway. 8800 GT are the cards to go with if you can get one without paying an outrageous price because of short supply.

Whether or not Crysis is a commercial success for Crytek remains to be seen. It's tough for PC game developers these days. Whatever the outcome, you can bet that the game engine will be a cornerstone benchmark for PC hardware sites for a few years.

Intels Quad Core Q6600 (Revisted)

Real Performance

Maybe it was a little greed coupled with ease of speed to 3.2GHz.
The Q6600 is a bedeviling processor. It's tempting when you see speed increases with little voltage adjustment. What would it take to throttle up higher?

3.3, 3.4, maybe More?

I was eagerly setting up scenes to render in Lightwave and Vue 6.5 and the awe I had anticipated shut smack down in my face. Occasional completed renders would be followed by immediate system shutdown/reboots.

NOOOOoooooooo!!! But Yes, the little proc that could was unable to perform stable in prolonged practical use in 3D applications. I tried everything I could imagine to get stability. BIOS updates, New ratios, voltage changes, ... the works. In the end the baseline was the only rock solid numbers I could get stability. 3.2Ghz

Something I hadn't Mentioned (SECRET)

I was actually playing the Crysis Demo @ 3.6Ghz and my jaw dropped at Max settings (using the 8800 640mb GTS). I was playing Team Fortress and Half-Life 2 2nd Episode at blazing speeds. (The HL2 Source engine known for its sensitivities to over clocking.) All games help up and gave great frames per second.

Sadly, it was the odd reboot when the PC was idle that forced the speed down.

Temps @ 60 C

After my last system analysis I found that temps that hovered/breached and held at 60C would cause an immediate shut down.

The interesting thing about the Q6600 is that higher FSB speeds did not necessarily mean more heat. In fact the span of 3.2 to 3.6 was nominal. At best there was a 2-5 C increase. In other words, the voltage increase required was nominal.

When all four cores were running in Lightwave and Vue6 benchmark tests, the rendering worked until the four cores pegged 60+C for for 6-10 seconds. As soon as that was breached - an immediate shut down reboot would occur. Interesting for a chip set to max temp capped at 70C.

The only feasible way to break the 3.2 barrier all around reliability is with more aggressive/expensive cooling.

It's 3.2 not 3.4 GHz - Still the Best Buy for the Money

It may not be 3.4GHz but @ 3.2GHz, the Q6600 is still a champ.
Since the Q6700 is $250.00 more and only offers a .220 MHz difference, it's hard to overlook this CPU.

There are plenty of Core 2 Duos that will run higher than 3.2, but its hard to beat 4 processors in one box.

I Want to be a CG Artist!

Make Models, Animate, Effects - Make Games and Movies .....

I've been into computers, graphics, and gaming for many years now and the pace at which computers and software have progressed has been nothing short of amazing. It's easy to see the association of gaming, movies, video and other productions as being a mutual learned process.

In many ways they are. Fortunately many software use close to the same commands for some features, which makes the learning curve of different programs less steep.

Ten years ago, as able as programs were; there was always the need to get an angle on a technique to achieve the right look or function in a model, composition or animation. Rarely did anything do as it was designed, right out of the box.

Not much has changed now. Many programs still offer features that work under the best of setups, but require a significant amount of tweaking and investigation to get the look you are after. Unlike what many clients may believe, the computer does not do all the work.


Curiosity vs. Drive and Investment of Time

I know plenty of young people that see CG everywhere they look and that is for sure, it is. CG has penetrated many forms of advertising and is less a luxury as it is a necessity for a variety of businesses beyond entertainment.

So of course, you hear about budgets of big movies and read about the cost of effects which must translate into a big pay day for the artists working on them. Not only do you like what you see but you would like to start a career creating and getting paid to do so.

The best advice I can give anyone is that if you don't have in inherent interest in art. Whether it be hand drawing, painting, or other creative outlet, the technical side of cg may run you down. I put up with the math elements and odd words and terms to get my artistic vision modeled, edited, and animated.

You don't need drawing skills to do any CG work, but you need that creative drive already in you. CG is best an extension of your existing creativity. Getting a grasp of the complexities and nuances that exist in programs and channeling those to produce whats in your minds eye can be a task. What gets you through it is your creative drive/ability.

As amazing as programs and processing powers exist now, I often wonder how I would fair if I just started today. I'm pretty sure I would be overwhelmed with my options. Considering the costs and the time I know that would be required, I would have to question this as a career.

Being young helps. I started when I was 30 which I think is a very tight borderline age today.
Expectations are very high now whereas when I started, the hobbiest market is what fed the early business markets with employees.

The job market has completely changed and the competition for the same jobs has quadrupled.

It's All in the Details - Investment of Time

Even though speed, accessibility, and program interoperability has increased, so has the overall complexity of programs. To be a Jack of All Trades or a Generalist of which I consider myself; is a product of multiple years of long nights and weekends training.

This career is not something honed in intermittent idle hours on an irregular schedule. Like any other job skill, it requires a commitment and effort to stick with it outside of a class.

The problem I see with commercials offering courses in CG studies is that they play to the obvious. People playing games and watching a finished animation. This gives no insight to the personal investment (which is long) to get there.

Intels Quad Core (Q6600) Overclocked Gaming

Untapped Power

There are allot of sites that have piled praise on the Core 2 Duo dual processors available in the market but there are fewer around pitching the praise of the quad core class.

This has allot to do with the fact that dual processors can generate a fair amount of heat. More often than not this heat issue is easily remedied with 3rd party air cooling. No doubt this gives Core 2 Duos a significant advantage and solid bang for the buck. I have four rigs using the E6400 rated @ 2.13 GHz running flawlessly @ 3.2GHz.

With that as an example of the possibilities, what could be done with the Quad Core Q6600.
Well aside from the concern of increased heat, the first batches from Intel were too hot to do much with. But with the introduction of the G0 class, we have the Holy Grail of quad processors.
The new class has a lower Thermal Design Power rating of 90 Watts compared to its earlier cousins that chewed through 105Watts. All the power coupled with over clocking really limited the speed range.

Identifying a Winner

Knowing if you have the winning class is as simple as checking the Product Code on the boxed unit. PROD CODE BX80562Q6600SLACR. That is the marking of a winner and one that gives you a range of possibilities depending on the hardware you couple with it.

What Kinds of Speeds Can I Get?

Not unlike the Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13 GHz, the Q6600 has ample room to speed up.
Whats important is which motherboard and memory you choose to go with. Ultimately the motherboard bios, cooling unit, and memory speed will cap your overall speed/stability.

With that said, with a few simple bios settings you can get to the 3.2Ghz base line. Not a bad speed at all when you consider that gaming is making the shift to multi core processors. In 5 minutes I was getting the same speed out of a quad that I was getting from my duals. More importantly is the thermals are almost equal. 38-42 Idle and 54-60 at Load.

Currently Newegg has the C2D E6400 @ 204.00 and the Q6600 @ $279.00.
Not a bad price for equal Ghz performance. If you're doing rendering (video or 3D) on top of gaming, going with the two extra processors is a no brainer.

Rather than doing a search use this link to get the essential settings using some of the most common motherboards for the Q6600 Bit-tech Net.
The article isn't the most recent on the subject, but it is the easiest to follow and gives the starting steps to tapping into your quads potential.

Aren't Quad Processors Overkill for Gaming?

Yes and No.
When you take into consideration that current and upcoming PC titles Valves The Orange Box (Half-Life 2 Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2) and Crytek's Crysis and Remedy's Alan Wake to name few, the position of single CPU games is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Also keep in mind that if you're a media developer like myself, the applications I use are all multiprocessor aware. So you can cover your business and pleasure...or better business and play/leisure needs with multiprocessor solutions.

Cryteks Crysis on Quads

Having played the Crysis single player demo on the quad I can say there is significant performance increase over its dual core counterpart. Playing on two identical systems with the exception of the processors, the demo does take advantage of the two extra processors. This is not a complete day a and night difference, but there is enough frame rate increase that allows smoother game play in dense areas.

Since the game has gone gold, it should be nice to see what further optimizations have been made to the engine.

Technology is always about the early adopters buying into future prospects but (practical) multiprocessors aren't the future anymore; they are here now.

Crytek Crysis Single Player Demo Review

Graphically: Solid A Step Above

Well it's out and barely a few hours old and I put some time into this long awaited FPS game for the PC.

Having enjoyed Far Cry on a number of levels visual, level design and game play) I was trying to minimize my expectations for Crysis. Partly because of the developers focus on the game engine for the past two years.

Taking on the enemy in the brush does elicit the shrub, branch and tree cutting we've seen in all the demos. Although I was able to take note, I was spending time scrambling to stay alive in the process.

Gameplay: Fun but Predictable

Unlike Far Cry you start out as part of a team. This doesn't really play into an NPC group as you soon find yourself going solo with the occasional team rendezvous.

Your "super powers" enabled by your suit never feel over empowering so there's a balance of tactical planning involved in knowing when and when not to use them. The tone is set by your squad leader at the start. Much as in Far Cry your stealth is key in staying alive which isn't a bad thing as you can flank enemies and decide to whether raise raise some hell. Getting the upper hand on the enemy and dispatching in creative ways is what Crysis looks to bring to the table.

In this way game play in this demo is in the tried and true mode of stealth or Guns- O -Blazin that has existed in previous FPS titles. Getting too aggressive with the enemy will get you pretty messed up and as your squad leader is ever so careful to remind you - the enemy will call in those reinforcements.

The game (DEMO) has its quirks. Being that you're a super soldier, the enemy at times can spot you at great distance. Getting peppered from off the coast by a gunboat I could barely see was one instance. Meanwhile the enemy at 5 paces didn't alert to fire in the brush where I was in a prone position. This is a demo and not the full game, but this is syndrome that happens in many FPS games and it happens in Crysis.

Some Welcome Addition and Some Omisions

OK I know this is not a sequel to Far Cry, but many of the ideas and objectives remain the same. Some ideas are new and another returns sans full implementation.

The quick key to alter your suit attributes is ideal in this game and is very easy to trigger. It has just the right amount of options without getting overwhelming in a tight situation. It's clear in this demo and how you decide to ultimately play the game that you will be jumping between modes often to accomplish your objectives.

Although it doesn't get contrived in the demo, I'm hoping it doesn't turn into a puzzle affair in the final release. Cloak - 20 steps - Super jump next 2 steps - Max Armor next yard - Cloak next yard etc. There's a difference in knowing when to use and being forced to use. Why this concern? Where Far Cry started out as an open ended adventure with multiple ways to approach or evade the enemy, the last levels ultimately turned into an on rails shooter

On the omision's side its a little more subtle. The zoomed binocular view in Far Cry to enable an audio feed of enemies at great distances. The things enemies were saying was often worth a good laugh and added a level of humor and even tactical advantage when enemies were aware of your presence. This is all gone and the binoculars are more straight forward. Your HUD now gives colored symbols to ascertain enemy awareness of your presence.

System Specs: 3 GHz Core 2Duo - 3 Gigs RAM ATI x1950

The game defaults to Medium settings at 1024x768 on my rig. The visuals aren't stellar by screen shot standards but hold their own against other fps titles out there. That being said I did experiment with increasing the resolution, and various settings above med only to get noticeably slower frame rates. So noticeable, its clear that the demos Crytek ran with were most likely run on Quad Cores like those mentioned in the Intel ad at the start of the demo. This is a bit of a let down as I know few people who game at 1280x1024 let alone 1024x768 which is where single core users may well be relegated to.

It's worth noting that STALKER held some promise with its real time effects and was able to maintain smother frame rates at higher resolutions than Crysis, but it's not entirely fair to compare the two engines. Crysis does offer vast levels of details in close areas where as STALKER was more open spaces.

Where is High End PC Gaming Heading?

It remains to be see how well Crysis does in sales. Crysis has a steep system requirement for PC gaming and PC gaming isn't what it used to be. Although Crytek is firm in their belief (now) in the high end PC market I'm sure they will be anxious to watch their financial returns.

Far Cry ended up becoming a PC benchmark favorite and a year after its release was bundles with hardware to showcase video competence. It's not hard to imagine that one or two years out that Crysis will be a benchmark favorite, but that isn't really what a game is meant to be.

Just like Epic, Id, and now Valve, the console market is exceedingly hard to ignore. High end PC gaming has always been niche and is suspect in supporting the financial requirements for next gen developers. PC gamings future for now is a majority of console game ports.

Demo Showcases a Good Game not the Greatest

The Crysis demo is a good solid game but not the best FPS game I've played. Visuals and hardware requirements aside there is not allot more that hasn't been brought to the table in other FPS games.

It should be interesting to see what the full game brings to the table.

First Person Nirvana

There is No Better Time to Enjoy First Person Shooters (FPS)

The last two months have seen a steady supply of FPS style games enter the market.

PC gaming was once the dominant domain for this game design type...no longer. The consoles have come of age and are now featuring the same level of detail in HD LCD or Plasma screens.

Some if not most of the games are using the tried and true formulas, but there are one or two with a unique approach. Next is a short list of games or demos out now that are worth looking into.

Team Fortress 2 (Console and PC)

Team Fortress 2 is an instant classic. This much delayed game has almost joined Duke Nukem Forever on most vaporware lists.

What's amazing about this title is that fact that Valve has included this game as well as other key titles in one box. The Orange Box (PC) has TF2, Half-Life 2, Half-Life2 Episode 1 and 2 as well as Portal. Half of these are more than worth the price of admission. Consoles get less (Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal) but its a still a solid deal.

Now TF2 is an online multi-player title. This is not a story driven title like the other titles mentioned. What's important to note is that TF2 takes game play and visual concepts to a whole new level. The game is the first PC FPS that looks and plays like a Warner Brothers cartoon on roids. The individual taunts are a must see. It's clear the development team did their animation homework.

The character classes are artistically rendered and animated. What's more important is that Valve took the time to balance each character with a unique group of weapons. One thing that gets old in online FPS games is that a certain class ends up dominating online play. Valve has taken the time to not only balance characters but to score each for what they do best. Of course kills are there, but assists are there as well. Medics are no longer the sacrificial lamb. Matched with the Heavy, the two are a very potent force. A very welcome change.

There is no Team Death Match or Death Match here, but TF2 is the first FPS that is above that formula. Interesting enough - it is about TEAM. In most if not all matches I've played online, the team that works together, gets the most wins.

If you're in the market for one, two, or three games for the price of one, it's hard if not impossible to pass up on the Orange Box.


Bioshock (Console and PC)

Bioshock is more original than most as its not cut from the same formula that most FPS titles are produced from. This is one title that actually tells a deeper story that unfolds as the player journeys through the ornate detailed levels.

The writing and voice acting in Bioshock are top notch. Coupled with the open ended combat in which weapons are customized, it doesn't take long before you are taken deep by the plot line. An added benefit is the fact that modifications and their effects will not be the same for two different players. Everyone will make different choices here, and be sure to experience and dispatch enemies differently.

There is also the twist in which you are faced with a moral dilemma. The story branches according to your decisions in how you deal with the Little Sisters. The game is not heavy handed here as it does not judge one way or the other. It simply allows the player to justify and
pursue the path that suits them.

So if you are looking for atmosphere and deep story line this title is one you should look into as it's heads above the rest from many other FPS titles.

Medal of Honor: Airborne (Console and PC )

This is a game that helps bring back the MOH franchise to some form of respectability.
Since the half baked MOH Pacific Assault was unleashed on unsuspecting gamers, no one expected to see the MOH franchise recover. Not so.

With MOH:A, EA manages to actually reinvent the fun of the original series while adding a creative open ended combat style.

Unlike other FPS titles, MOH:A actually lets you decide where you'll take the fight. Each level starts you dropping in chutes with your comrades and you guide yourself to a number of zones behind or withing enemy lines. This feature definitely is a huge step away from the "fighting on rails" detraction most often associated with FPS games.

While the rest of the game is more or less formula, the ability to fight on your terms adds a strategic value that makes this title one to look into.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii )

Of all the games, this is one that needs to be played to appreciate what Nintendo has done with interactivity. This game is a key example of what the Wii controllers can do to reinvent the FPS genre.

As you can imagine, the reticle on screen is controlled by your hand movement. You are hold the weapon in your hand as opposed to pulling on a joystick. It is a seamless experience of hand motion and on screen action.

There are a number of uses of hand motions that mimic real world actions and the game never feels contrived in its use of these motions. Inserting key (push forward), Turn key (rotate wrist). It's amazing how intuitive and straight forward these actions become.

The only thing that I was lost on was the games use of jumping puzzles. This is something not in line with the interactive controllers. Right or wrong, the franchise and the platform (Nintendo) has a long history of gaming in which jumping is key. Being a FPS player since Wolfenstein 3D, the idea of jumping like a Mario Brother felt way out of place.

Beyond that detraction, the game delivers in interaction and visuals that do not disappoint. If Jumping solutions are an essential part in your gaming experience, then Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is a game you should look into.


Unreal Tournament 3 (Console and PC Demo)

One of the most hotly anticipated FPS games for 2007 is the long awaited Unreal Tournament 3.
This is one of a few titles that can trace its follow up success based on solid game releases in the past. This does not even cover the fact that the UT3 engine has been licensed by numerous game developers because of its solid pedigree.

Because the game has only recently been released in a limited demo, it's still a little early to call it, but what can be seen so far is solid game play reminiscent of the original UT title from 1999. Epic has really done justice to the franchise by bringing back the play style that launched the title to success.

Visually the demo is too early to call. Although it is clear that there is a graphics and geometry increase, the demo's download size contributes to the lower resolution textures. So game play is the call on this one. This is a demo that is more than worth the download to get a glimpse as to what to expect when the full game is released.

Windows Vista: Microsoft What Happened?

Real Late and Real Bloated

1st I'll note I am not a Microsoft basher.
I have a strong belief that MS has progressed PC use through ease of use and accessibility. Something which when you consider the amount of PC's in the world is no small feat. Taking into consideration the thousands of different hardware and software combinations that exist, most iterations of Windows have had something to offer and worked effectively.

Now we have Vista which is several years late and has had key features removed. This Windows release without a doubt is very hard sell. Sure it is prettier but its requirements are absurd. If arguments in the past that MS was in league with PC manufacturers to exult users into upgrading their working systems for eye candy - this is it. There is little in the way of functionality that should compel individuals let alone businesses to upgrade.

XP Was Pretty Too

Yes XP was released with what many considered a visual makeover for Windows 2000.
Thats a good argument but XP also made networking and other user needed services easier to use than Win 2000. More importantly was stability. There were still many individuals and businesses using Windows 98SE. Windows XP served as a solid upgrade for many.

Driver Headaches

There was also the issues with driver support for XP when it was released. Something that is proving to be a problem with Vista. The difference here is that drivers are dealt with on a more critical level than any version of Windows before. This is in part of it is due to security, stability, and Digital Right Management concerns or DRM. Search Digital Rights Management for more details).

If you are a graphics or 3D professional, you should probably hold off as nVidia and ATI are still working out beta drivers for Vista. Vista no longer supports OpenGL natively, so its up to the hardware manufacturers to build capable OpenGL support. Any graphics or 3D program that benefits from acceleration or OpenGL will under perform with Vista..

Just Wait

If you really feel that Vista is in your future, the best thing to do right now is wait for Service Pack 1 or 2 to be released. It's by that time that Vista will most likely have matured.

Vista : Worth the Upgrade?

Vista on Approach

If you do any form of graphics, animation or video, you know how precious your memory and graphics resources are. You've probably optimized your WinXP Pro system(s) to maximize your resources to deal with hungry applications you need to run in concert to get most any job done.

Now we have Vista coming right around the corner. It goes on sale next week on January 30 (2007). An OS that is some 5 years behind schedule. I'm not going to go into the delays or even features of Vista but more into its practical memory requirements.

As I write this I have 35 processes running and a total of 313MBs of 2 Gigabytes of memory in use. 35 processes is allot but with a Avast (virus protection),Creative X-Fi Platinum and an nVidia graphics card utilities running and two Firefox windows. These add up. I'll stop and pause right here to let it be known I am no MS basher. I have been a supporter of MS since the DOS 3.0 days. The company has definitely made operational and competitive mistakes over the years.

With Vista I feel that MS is headed to a new low point in the companies history. Vista for me as a media developer is looking like the Windows ME in the new OS age. All looks and little functionality appear to be the cornerstone of Vista. Remember the 313MBs I mentioned earlier. Well going from the varied reports of various tech and blog sites, Vista will consume around 600 MBs or more on its own sitting idle. Thats before installation of any hardware utilities or applications.

I run the Adobe Creative Suite version 2 on two Core Duos with 2 MB ram and can tell you that Photoshop CS2 is not the smoothest/fastest version of Photoshop Adobe has ever made. Running Photoshop and Image Ready can easily take my systems up to 1.6 GB of my 2 GB limit before cutting to my scratch drives for assistance. Doing simple math the 600 MB needed to run Vista would hurdle my 2 GB ram usage with the first few high resolution images I loaded.

Looking Back

Before I jumped my systems to Windows XP Pro I was suspect of the gloss that XP held over Win2K. It also looked like a glamor version of Win2K without the merit or substance. Of course when I switched over I ran into the various operating quirks that were slowly ironed out in the subsequent SP1 and SP2 updates. Now Windows XP Pro is a solid OS. I have never seen a "Blue Screen of Death" in 5 years. This is across a wide variety of systems.

I do have a free copy of Windows Vista for Business headed my way. Courtesy of buying a recent copy of XP Pro from Newegg.com. When I get the copy I plan on sitting on it. I can wait for SP1 and maybe even SP2 before installing it. For now XP Pro offers enough of what I need and the stability to handle my newest bloated applications.