ContraBandJazz's Rendition of "Jungle"

This is awesome:



After the jump it still is! >:)

>>>Click here to read more...

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Demo Review

[A few days ago, what with the impending release of Lost Planet 2, I downloaded the demo of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. Graphics-wise, the game is so good that I decided to write a review about it.]

Playing Lost Planet is like watching a King Kong movie but with the following deviations: instead of being set in a tropical jungle, the game is set in a snowy world; instead of featuring a titanic ape, it features massive and implacable carapace-armored leviathans called the Akrids. Think Cliffhanger and Starship Troopers combined.




The full review of the demo of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition after the jump.

Better late than never.

Lost Planet shares more in common with the Sylvester Stallone movie than frigid tundras and deadly avalanches --- the game employs the staple of movies set in snowstorms and mountains - a grappling hook. Though it's just a mundane addition to Lost Planet's gameplay, it does add to the game’s list of features. The grappling hook enables the player to save himself from a fall, climb ledges that are otherwise unreachable, and really immerse the player in the role of a rifle-wielding, ice climber. Really, every dude who wants to climb mountains should get both.

Lost Planet’s bag of tricks is small but what gimmicks it has are impressive. Far from being a one-trick pony, the game pits players not just against slavering, squealing aliens but human opponents as well. Known as Snow Pirates, these mercenaries pack energy guns, grenades, sniper rifles, rocket launchers --- and mechs.

This is where the game really shines. Anyone who has fantasies of being an Ellen Ridley, controlling an exoskeleton while mowing down alien spawn and gigantic alien bosses will be in for an adrenaline-laced treat with Lost Planet. And it doesn’t stop there. The mechs have modular loadouts. You can attach gatling guns and rocket launchers to your walker --- or remove and walk away with them.



That’s right. You can slog through the snowy wastes carrying the mother of all chain guns.

Fancy lugging a mech-sized sidearm and blazing away at advancing alien hordes? I thought so.

Stage 5. Snow Field.

Lost Planet is easily one of the most gorgeous graphical powerhouses I have come across. Combining the almost monochromatic whiteness of its snow-covered levels with saturated hues of its in-game objects, Lost Planet presents a solid color scheme that’s surprisingly impressive for a game that mostly takes place in bleak, arctic environments.

The engine powering Lost Planet is very impressive; never has a game presented me with such volume of particles. Imagine this: you’re trudging through a blizzard, sheets of snow swirling around you, and suddenly, from the incline above you, an Akrid the size of a large SUV bursts bellowing from the drifts. As the 1000-pound leviathan comes thundering toward you, you let loose with a rocket, which explodes against its hide, causing ichor to shower every which way. This move however, causes an avalanche, and you scurry for a promontory to hide behind while the alien rolls into a disc and whirs furiously towards you through the blinding blizzard and cascading boulders. Think about that. Most of the time, there’s so much going around that you’ll begin to think your video card will melt under this heavy a load.



Bugged.

Indeed, Lost Planet deserves a “9” in the graphics department. However, its gameplay leaves something to be desired. The fault lies in its anemic AI and its difficulty level. While the Akrids’ lack of tactics can be attributed to an alien mindset, the game’s insipid AI shows glaringly in the behavior of the Snow Pirates --- these guys just occasionally dive for cover but that’s it. They don’t flank, rarely scatter when you throw a grenade at them, and they don’t provide as much suppressing fire to aid their teammates than in other games like, say, Far Cry. For a game released in 2007---years after F.E.A.R., Metal Gear, and the No One Lives Forever series got released---this quality in artificial intelligence is unforgivable. This AI deficiency---and the resulting mark down in difficulty---is what ultimately shatters Lost Planet’s bid for total gaming immersion. Players will be awed by Lost Planet’s graphical prowess but it will be a detached awe.

While Lost Planet: Extreme Condition paints a realistic picture of a corporate entity's endeavors to tame a colony in the outer reaches of space, its technical shortcomings effectively render the game as just a window players can gaze through. It’s a bit sad because if the developers had polished the AI aspect of the game, Lost Planet would have been a portal that would have absorbed players into a story of humanity’s struggle to terra-form an alien world crawling with massive insectoids that put King Kong to shame.

>>>Click here to read more...

Lost Planet Demo Playthrough

What with Lost Planet 2 coming this May 11, I decided to give the demo the prequel a shot.



Part 2 after the jump.

>>>Click here to read more...

How to Download Mechwarrior 4: A Workaround of MTX, the Download Client of Mektek

How to Download Mechwarrior 4: A Workaround of MTX, the Download Client of Mektek


Mektek crumpled again so I think it's high time I discuss this workaround of Mektek's flawed download client. (While Mektek has said that MTX can still download Mechwarrior 4 even if their server goes down, I stopped using it when I discovered there was no Pause button anywhere in the client. I could be wrong though but I'm going to try the thing again only after I get some answers from their support forums.)

Tateru Nino of Dwellonit.com has devised a way to get the game and get it working without using MTX. The link after the jump.

NOTE: The link below takes you outside of Imbacore. I have never tested the procedure myself and have posted this for friends who are desperate to get a copy of Mechwarrior 4. It's not also a guarantee that you can get Mektek's future patches if you use this procedure. It also involves a registry tweak, something that's potentially dangerous if you don't follow it directly. Use the procedure AT YOUR OWN RISK.

>>> See Tateru Nino's article on how to download Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries for free without using MTX HERE.
>>>More free PC FPS HERE
>>>Free PC RPG games HERE
>>>Freeware strategy games HERE

>>>Click here to read more...

Gamespot on id Software's Latest Game Project, Rage

I'm quite excited about this. Not about the game itself, but the ramifications that will come with its release. About five years ago, I got introduced to Doom 3, my first glimpse into game engines that utilized bump mapping and specular effects. For me it was a milestone; it eradicated the bygone era wherein surfaces were mostly flat and textures were just images pasted on flat sides of video game objects. Doom 3 brought a whole new dimension in video game immersion.

And then John Carmack announced that the game's engine (id Tech 4) will eventually be released as open source. This news is just mind blowing. I've been playing freeware games for years now and mostly all are powered by Quake 2 graphics or even engines that are more ancient. For id Tech 4 to be released as freeware, well just imagine the slew of free games that will flood the Internet.

It is my hope that the release of Rage---id Software's current project that is powered by id Tech 5---will hasten the release of Doom 3's engine.

I mean what's not to like about this news? Freeware games with this level of graphics:

Woot! (Credit: id Software )

Rage video:



The link to the Gamespot article after the jump.




>>>Gamespot's updated impressions on id Software's Rage

>>>Click here to read more...

MechWarrior 4 Update: Mektek Takes More Than 100,000 Hits, Crumples but is now Live Again

Right after their announcement of Mechwarrior 4 being released as freeware, the Mektek site took more than 100,000 hits from eager fans --- and promptly collapsed under the torrent.

News from Battletech.com and Mektek after the jump.


I've noticed just this afternoon that Mektek is live once again. Aside from apologizing to the public about the buggy state of MTX, the site's download client, the people at Mektek have released news that they will soon be releasing a separate downloadable Mechwarrior 4 client that can be downloaded without using MTX.

The details from Battletech.com on what happened several minutes after the Mechwarrior 4 release.

Want more downloadable free full version PC games? Check out the links below:

>>>More free PC FPS HERE
>>>Free PC RPG games HERE
>>>Freeware strategy games HERE

>>>Click here to read more...

gPotato's Final Verdict on the Aika Online IP Ban Issue

Nearly a month ago, I wrote an article about gPotato's reply to my query about the IP ban that restricted the free MMORPG game to North American players. The issue incited an uproar as they made the announcment a day before their planned IP ban, restricting the game to North American players only.

Is this warlock doomed?

The final update regarding the Aika Online IP ban issue after the jump.

>>>gPotato's final update on the Aika service restriction HERE
>>>More free PC FPS HERE
>>>Free PC RPG games HERE
>>>Freeware strategy games HERE

>>>Click here to read more...

The Full Version of Mechwarrior 4 is now Downloadable: Microsoft Gives the Green Light to Mektek

Can you believe it? Mechwarrior 4 is now freeware!



Details of the launch after the jump.

Nearly a year ago, I wrote an article about the impending release of Mechwarrior 4 as freeware. I was then oblivious---as were the people of Mektek, who were dubbed as the distributors of Mechwarrior 4 by no other than the founder of FASA himself, Jordan Weisman---that the launch would hit a legal snag with the people at Microsoft, the Mechwarrior franchise's last publisher.

Now nearly a year later (and a gazillion queries posted on the comment section of my "MechWarrior 4 Downloadable Free FPS Game Gameplay (Demo Version)" Youtube video), Microsoft finally gives the green light for the people at Mektek to release the game as a downloadable FREE PC FPS simulator game.

Let loose the juggernauts of war!

>>>The official site of Mektetk HERE (as of May 1, 2010 the site seems to be down)
>>>More free PC FPS HERE
>>>Free PC RPG games HERE
>>>Freeware strategy games HERE

>>>Having problems installing the game? Here's a guide on how to install Mechwarrior 4 using Mektek's MTX software

>>>Click here to read more...