News from around the Net Part 1

Welcome to News from around the Net Part 1. Most of you will probably feel this is a lame excuse for me not writing my own articles. Well it is, but also you might not have the brainpower to point and click to some of the more interesting pieces of news on the web. This is where I come in. After all is there any point me regurgitating articles other people have already written?
1. Microsoft attempts to compete with Google. Microsoft has just released its new rebranded search engine. So far it looks alright, when you search for Nizmox my site is at the top. Try it out anyway and tell me what you think. The domain must have cost them a fortune. Click here
2. World of Warcraft has announced the priest Burning Crusade talents. Not all that exciting but one or two unexpected talents/spells. Click here
3. As you already knew, thanks to my great demo review… Company of Heroes is gonna rock! It scored 9.4/10 according to IGN. The video review is worth a watch too if you cant read like myself. Click here
4. Last but not least if you were confused as to whether to buy HD-DVD or Bluray, well you’ll be pleased to know the choice just got more confusing. Apparantly the movie industry is demanding even higher definition. Despite the fact that you don’t have the TV or the player capable of displaying it. Oh and the best part is it’ll only use 50 mb per frame (YES that is per frame not per second). Who ever said Hollywood were stupid. Click here

Saints Row vs Grand Theft Auto

As you have probably already read numerous reviews of Saints Row by now I thought I’d lay it out for you. While each game is very similar (except for Saints Row being newer of course) I thought you might be interested to know what’s different.
Saints Row Pro’s:
1. The physics rock! Sadly they are pretty much limited to car explosions and rag doll bodies, but its still cool! Especially derailing a train with an RPG.
2. Non linear game play! While the missions are the same, what you do in between is up to you, play only the parts that are fun!
3. Create your own character! Tonnes of options to customize your character, if you feel like it, you can be a skinny white guy with a green afro. You can pimp your ride too, with more options than GTA. Best of all, when it blows up, you can get it back.
4. The graphics! At least until the next GTA instalment the graphics trounce GTA. By the time San Andreas came out the graphics looked really really dated.
5. Your crew. While GTA had fellow gang members, compared to Saints Row they sucked. In Saints Row its easy to recruit gang members and they actually do what you want them to. There is nothing quite like cruising down the road in your car, with 3 of your crew inside shooting up ‘tha police’.
6. The combat is more visceral. Less blood but better controls, weapon sounds and gang combat make Saints row more fun.
7. It’s easier! Not that I found GTA to be hard, but it was frustrating to have to repeat certain missions multiple times to complete them. In Saints Row I have rarely had to repeat a mission yet they are still fun and the game is still lengthy enough for me.
Grand Theft Auto Series Pro’s:
1. More weapon variety. GTA has a larger selection of weapons than Saints Row.
2. Motorbikes, planes and helicopters oh my! Think its self explanatory, but saints row doesn’t have these.
3. The city is bigger. Well in San Andreas anyway, but Saints Row has a more realistic feel to the way its designed.
4. The frame rates better, not sure I can say this as I only really played GTA on PC, which will obviously run better. Unfortunately Saints Row’s frame rate drops at some points. Not really badly but definitely noticeable. Then again it has better graphics than GTA and its on a console so its not a fair point.
Conclusion:
Still playin’ through the game and so far only 25% through, while you can see not every aspect of Saints Row is better than GTA it is still a damn fine game. It is definitely a better game than San Andreas was. As for Vice City? Well I loved the setting too much to put Saints Row above it, but if you buy the game, you wont be disappointed. That said, I still expect the next installment of GTA to top Saints Row, fortunately the Xbox 360 release and PS3 release will be simultaneous. That does however presume the PS3 is ever actually released.

Dawn of War – Dark Crusade Demo Impressions

Have just finished playing the 2 demo levels for DoW – Dark Crusade.
What I knew before the demo/Demo Impressions
First off, its interesting to note that the Dark Crusade is a standalone expansion pack. Meaning you can buy it and still play the game without buying either the original game or the first expansion (Winter Assault). Obviously though this will limit what you can access. While i’m not entirely sure of the details, I imagine you wont be able to play the campaigns from the full game or winter assault and quite possibly cannot play the 5 other sides in skirmish or multiplayer.
My first impressions are that I don’t feel the expansion changes DoW hugely, but that is by no means a bad thing. The graphics are still the same and the gameplay is still as you remember it. I cannot however, comment on the new campaign mode (as it is not available in the demo). The new campaign looks a lot more fleshed out than previous installments and appears to combine turn based map movement, with skirmishes in between, as well as some sort of persistent armies. The other addition on the gameplay side is wargear (again not available in the demo). This will allow you to customise both your commanders look and abilities, should be a nice feature.
What I can tell you about is the Tau. The Tau are definitely the ‘Firepower’ race and have extraordinarily high damage ranged troops, but the downside is they get chewed in close combat. This is where the kroot come in, Tau’s close combat troops are strange looking alien creatures, built from their own barracks and are able to leap into combat (with an upgrade) and tie up your opponents troops while you shoot them to pieces. I won’t go into a lot of detail but they are great fun to play, sadly a heap of units were unavailable in the demo. However you still get to try Kroot (close combat troops), Fire Warriors (ranged troops), Pathfinders (allow you to mark enemy troops causing your ranged weapons against that target to do more damage) Crisis Battle Suit (dreadnought equivalent but much more ranged focused and have jetpacks), Stealth Team (stealthed scouts that can remain stealthed while shooting and capturing points) and the Skyray (A hover long range hover vehicle). My only concern with the Tau is they are perhaps overpowered, I found the Skyray in particular to be a little whorey, especially its cooldown ability. The missile barrage from this will obliterate almost anything, but I am willing to reserve judgement for the full game. I do realise that Relic are great at acknowledging problems and patching the game long after its released.
Conclusion
Am I excited about the Dark Crusade? Hell yeah! I only do writeups on worthy games afterall and this is definitely one of them. Will it radically change the game? Probably not, but what it will do is add a great deal more depth to an already incredibly deep RTS game. Hopefully the Necrons will be just as cool as the Tau and Relic should have a winner on their hands. 7 sides total, is just insanely good and I’m sure there will be many great multiplayer games to be had!
The demo is available from the Relic Bittorrent Tracker right now, so what are you waiting for! Try it out!

Other Stuff
Well for better or worse I have started playing WoW again, and yet again its destroying my life, but oh well, its an enjoyable way to do so! Pre-expansion I have pretty much decided it’s a big waste of time spending hours doing instances as all the gear will be obsolete once you hit 70 anyway. So I have decided to focus on levelling other characters. From reading the talent review I feel that the Shaman and the Mage look most appealing, but the talents will no doubt change during blizzards testing. So at the moment im working on levelling a lock (currently lvl 30), and if I get time, maybe my Shaman also. Well had best be off, but if you play on Frostmourne give Nizmox or Dethecor a whisper.

Company of Heroes Demo Impressions

In case you haven’t heard of the game, Company of Heroes is a new RTS due for release next month. It has a WWII theme and is being developed by Relic Entertainment (the Dawn of War people).
First off these ARE the best graphics yet seen in an RTS. You need to see it for yourself, but according to the developers almost all graphical technology being used in modern FPS games has been poured into this game (HDR lighting etc…)
The gameplay… from what I have played, The 2 demo levels + the tutorials, is very impressive. I think the thing that appeals to me most about the game however is the tactical depth. Troops need to be in a position of cover to avoid getting cut to ribbons, tanks are weaker when their rear armour is attacked, mine fields can immobilize or destroy enemy tanks, artillery strikes can destroy buildings the enemy has fortified. Speaking of which one of the most impressive aspects of the game is that nearly everything is destructible. Satchel charges will send pieces of rubble flying, mortars will destroy enemy fortifications, tanks can drive through walls and yes all of it does look amazing.
The game definitely has an emphasis on the action, as the resource system involves capturing points around the map, to earn munitions and fuel. This is then used to purchase units. Manpower which is the other resource is constantly generated and cannot be increased. This is a good thing, as even if you control no points you can still purchase some troops. Unlike Dawn of War however, all resource points captured need a direct chain of other resource points to your HQ in order for you to receive the resources. I imagine this will present interesting tactical opportunities, such as dropping paratroopers into enemy territory to cut off their resource gathering. While you can build fortifications to protect your base/resource points, such as MG nests, mines, sandbags (to provide your troops with cover), barbed wire fences. These seem to be more to assist your defence than complete it. I feel the majority of the game will be fought with your units as both offence and defence, but who likes turtlers anyway?
The last thing I can mention (while not fully featured in the demo) is that much like Battle for Middle Earth, you receive points for killing enemy troops/vehicles which can then be spent on upgrades. By placing your first point, you can choose between being an infantry/tank/airbourne general and then have access to their various special bonuses or abilities. This should make team multiplayer matches more interesting as you utilise each others abilities.
Well that’s about all I can write about the game as yet. I can say I am really looking forward to this one! A few questions remain unanswered though, the most important one for me is, how good is the AI ? (It is difficult to judge in the demo). But from what I have seen so far CoH is shaping up to be a strong contender for best RTS this year, that said Relic’s 2nd expansion for Dawn of War looks mighty fun also.

If you want to have a crack at the demo you will need to buy this months PC Gamer, as its an exclusive… OR if you dont tell anyone, go here and get your bit torrent client crankin!