『 Doom: Skulltag 』

I got inspired by this weekend's Quake II multiplayer session so I've decided to take on a game even older, but by no means forgotten. I've previously mentioned Doom: Legacy, so you might guess that Doom is the game I mean. This time no LAN, but proper online deathmatch. How do we achieve that? Simple. We install Skulltag.


Skulltag is a yet another Doom source port that improves the original game angine in a number of ways. Just as in Legacy, you're able to look around freely [in online multiplayer mode this must be allowed by the server], graphics are improved and so on. As you can see, I found a rather impressive number of active servers. Nevermind the latency, it got screwed up.


One important thing before you start killing off other players - you need to get yourself a proper map pack. Here I would strongly recommend "Crucified Dreams". Many servers use these maps, so you'll be all set to go. After that, it's ownage time. Beware, noobs.

『 Doom: Legacy 』

It's monday again. Another week of boredom has just begun, you don't feel like working, you don't feel like getting up in the first place and there's not much to do. Being a good employee that I am, I tried running Doom II at work today. The Legacy port with network support to be exact. We couldn't get Warsow running on one of the computers, so my idea of playing a couple of quick deathmatches went to hell.


Fortunately, there's Legacy. If a custom modification of the Quake II engine is too much for your computer at work, try Legacy. It's hard to find a better deathmatch option with equally low system requirements. It's stable, it works, and it has it all. Jumping, freelook, teamplay ... What more could you ask for?


Oh, and since you can choose to run it through OpenGL, the pixels are gone. If you're a fan of the retro feel, you can run it in software mode though. Don't forget that Legacy, while being a source port of Doom, still requires the original WAD files.

『 Quake II Still Going Strong + Warsow BattleEye 』

It looks like Quake II is still going strong. After a long break from the multiplayer mode I've decided to give it a go once again. No matter what continent you're from, there are plenty of servers for everyone. It's not that hard to find opponents either. It's great to see that after ten long years there's still a moderate amount of interest in this title.


The screenshot above comes from the BOSS2 map. This scene can be found in a secret chamber that can only be reached either using the noclip command or "spectate" mode. In another section of this chamber photos of ID team can be found. The screenshot was taken while in Quake II - EGL. As usual, click to enlarge.


There's nothing like too much security to spoil your day. Aside from Quake II, I also tried to play some Warsow today and I've noticed that many servers use the BattleEye client to protect themselves from cheaters. That's fine, cheaters is the last ting we want, except that Warsow 0.32 no longer supports BattleEye, or to be exact, doesn't integrate it, which basically means that all new users can go fuck tehmselves if they encounter a BattleEye secured server.


To add some insult to the injury, BattleEye website has no info nor downloads concerning the issue. That's nice. While playing Q2 I was also required to instal the Anti Cheat AprQ2 by Maniac. The solution is not integrated into game code, so it works fine as far as I could tell. At least I haven't encountered any cheaters during my few hours of deathmatching.


Valve also provides their customers with server security called V.A.C. and everything would be nice and dandy, except every time I try to play Half-Life: Deathmatch, some assholes pop in, sniping your left eyeball while doing backflips and if you manage to somehow kill them, they respawn with a full array of weapons. V.A.C. secured my ass.

『 Sam & Max + Steam News 』

"Sam & Max Episode 4: Abe Lincoln Must Die is now available for 100% off the retail price. As in free. Complimentary. Gratis. For just the price of a few mouse clicks, you'll play one of the best-reviewed episodes from the first season of Telltale Games' flagship series."

That's right. Valve released the fourth Sam & Max episode on Steam for free. To download and install it, click HERE. Steam account [also free of charge] is required.



In other news, just recently Valve treated us to a sneak peek at their plush version of the Weighted Companion Cube. Perfect for hanging up in your car and distracting you while you drive.


With the newly added classics and some other titles, my list of games on Steam has reached a whopping 54 entries. Nice. A big plus for Steam [which does not compensate for all other flaws] is that I don't have to keep the titles in my start menu. Click the image to enlarge.

『 Crysis 』

The pre release demo of Crysis has finally arrived so I took the opportunity and tried it out right after I got home from work today. So how does it look like, how does it play and is the CryENGINE2 properly utilizing your computer's resources?


Graphics wise, the game can be described as a fine blend of Far Cry [the 360 version] and Splinter Cell: Double Agent. If you set everything to "high" in your config menu, you'll see the jungle moving, lights playing, particle effects all over the place, depth of field stuff, HDR processing and all that. To make a long story short, the game has it all.


How does it play, you ask? It plays just as you'd expect it to play. Like a decent FPS game should. You have your weapons, flashlight, silencers, you can pick up objects and throw them [and you don't even need a gravity gun], you can swim, you can jump and you can withstand against a rain of bullets thanks to your suit. It plays like a fine tuned and slightly upgraded Far Cry.


Being a new game and all, what do you need to run this one? If you want all of the effects and fireworks, you'll need a DX10 graphics card and of course Windows Vista. If you're perfectly fine with DX9 and XP, I'm afraid a single core CPU and a half ass graphics card aren't going to cut it.


The hardware requirements for Vista / DX10 setup are slightly higher than a normal XP / DX9, but if you want it all while the game pushes some decent frames, you should own a dual core processor and a 512 meg graphics card [GeForce 8XXX series for example]. 1 gigabyte of RAM is a must have if you want to boot the game in the first place. 2 gigabytes of fast memory on dual channel should do the trick though.


So we got that out of the way. You need a rather powerful PC, the game looks really nice, plays decent, but what about the story? I didn't play much, but from what I could tell it's your standard "mission gone wrong" scenario.


This game is what a "Predator" game should be like. Jungle, weird stuff going down, gutted soldiers hanging from the trees upside down ... If anyone dares to make another "Predator" branded title, it should be the Crytek guys who do the job.