Me – Weekend Gaming

I’ve had a grand time this weekend. With the arrival of my new computer, I’ve gone game crazy. Previously my little 450 was a good machine, but as of late it has been falling behind the curve, even for my occasional gaming needs.

Now, with two big 1.8 Ghz processors, a gig of memory and a good video card, I’m back in the zone. I’ve installed Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Freedom Force, Max Payne, No One Lives Forever and Warcraft 3 with Diablo 2 to follow once I can find my CD keys for it.

Not only that, but I’ve started grabbing loads of demos to hunt out future game purchases. Two in particular are on my buy list. First is Ghostmaster, which is a cute little sim where you guide a diverse cadre of spooks, spirits and apparitions to scare the pants off of the poor little mortals across several levels. The tutorial level is the only part included int eh demo but it was interesting to toy with.

The second, which hasn’t come out yet for Mac, is Unreal Tournament 2004. I’m glad Is killed 2003, as 2004 has so much more in it. I’ve fallen in love with Onslaught, one of the game types. The basic premise is, of course, team against team. Each team has a base and several nodes are scattered across the level. The teams each have to try and take over those nodes, opening a path to the other team’s base. Once a path is opened, the power core of the opposing team’s base opens and it can be directly attacked. The winner is the one who knocks out the other team’s core.

What made the level included with the demo so cool? Vehicles! From a speedy, lightly armed hovercraft to a body crunching, main gun wielding tank the hardware is pretty sweet. Land and air vehicles were included in this and both were fun to play with. Many of them are multi person vehicles as well, where one person can drive(and sometimes wield one of the weapons on the vehicle) while teammates can hop in to man alternate weapons systems. Added are big, energy cannon wielding defensive turrets stationed at each base and many of the nodes, ready for a gunner to hop in and start blasting away at the opposition.

Added to the occasional outcry of ‘head shot’ is the new, much enjoyed announcement of ‘vehicular manslaughter’ when you crunch an opposing teammate with one of those engines of destruction. And that’s not even all of them, as there are also space oriented vehicles. With only one level that has the big hardware, I’m left eagerly awaiting my chance to buy the full game so I can test drive the whole fleet of souped up mayhem that the game packs.

Added to that is a very impressive Assault level, which takes place on a cluster of big, lumbering cargo craft that are roaring along some desert landscape. Spectating a furious botmatch, tracking them as they race to meet objectives, was an amusing exercise. I’m curious at what other inventive assault levels might exist for the game.

And all of these games run marvelously on my new compy. Even UT 2004, with 32 bots clogging a 16 bot onslaught map as I spectate, taking my camera high into the air to see most of the map, little an-like figures racing back and forth with a furious flurry of colored energy lancing back and forth between the sides.

I love my G5. I plan to take full advantage of it in the coming months.