I've been monitoring some of the upcoming games for this year, and here's what I've got my eye on:

Half-Life 2: Episode 2

Apparently Episode 2 has been delayed again. As frustrated as I'd like to be about that, I think I would rather Valve take their time and do things right than to rush it out the door (like so many games today). Episode 1 was phenomenal; just as good as Half-Life 2 itself (though it was surprisingly short). If they can keep the gaming quality bar set this high, I'll patiently wait for it.

The Elder Scrolls IV: The Shivering Isles

This expansion to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion looks incredibly awesome. I simply cannot wait for this to be released.

Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacific

I haven't played a submarine sim since the days of Aces of the Deep, but I heard great things about Silent Hunter 3, and installment number 4 looks good enough to draw me back into the genre.

Crysis

This next-generation shooter from the folks that gave us Far Cry (a really great game, by the way) is truly a sight to behold (large image warning). I'm not certain that this game is scheduled for this year, but I can certainly hope. If it can bring back those oh-so-cool moments from Far Cry, I'm sold.

A few other things are on my radar, specifically for my Nintendo DS Lite. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 has been getting good reviews and looks like a truly unique adventure game. Some other similar games are in the pipeline, all of which I can't remember at the moment. Anyone else looking forward to anything particular this year? If I can ever get my hands on a Nintendo Wii, I'll have that much more to look forward to.

An expansion pack for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has been announced, which means bad things for my productivity later this year. After having not played the game for some time, I've gotten hooked again, thanks to the Knights of the Nine expansion that I recently picked up. A few screenshots are available over at 3D Gamers, and though there are only a few of them, they look awfully interesting. The environments appear to be quite different from the game's current locales, which should be refreshing. I can't wait!

I just recently picked up the Knights of the Nine downloadable content collection for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. In fact, it has sucked me back into the Oblivion world, so most of my free time is now spent questing with a brand new character (a Breton I named Tristram). Included in the collection is the brand new Knights of the Nine quest line, which supposedly adds an additional 9 to 10 hours of game play. Also included are a number of add-ons that were previously only available for purchase online: the Wizard's Tower, Vile Lair, Thieves Den, Mehrunes' Razor, Horse Armor pack, The Orrery, and a collection of spell tomes (my favorite add-on so far). I was lucky enough to pick it up for only $9.95 at Circuit City (the same day I wrecked my car), but it normally retails at $19.95. If you're a fan of Oblivion (and who's not?), I highly recommend the collection. So far, it's been a blast.

In a recent interview, Scott Miller of 3D Realms stated his apparent dislikes over the Steam content delivery system (owned by rival company Valve). And within 24 hours, the 3D Realms game Prey was announced as going on sale over the Steam network. How's that for a hypocritical statement? Interestingly enough, the game is being sold for a whopping $49.95; a full $30 more than it's being offered for over at Amazon.com.

It seems to me that Scott's main problem with Steam is that he simply isn't the one making money. Valve clearly had a good idea in Steam, and now they are the ones profiting off of it. Some of his points are valid (having a competitor know your revenue totals does seem a tad creepy), but I think he's mostly whining. 3D Realms hasn't had a truly successful release in quite some time, last I checked. Could that fact, coupled with Valve's success, be what's making Scott so fussy?

The Concerned web comic, which is based on and set in the Half-Life 2 game world, recently ended for good. It's a shame that it had to end so soon, but the goal all along has been stated in the comic's description ("The Life and Death of Gordon Frohman"). If you haven't read the comic, I highly recommend it (note that you should start reading from the beginning to best appreciate it). The writing was top notch, the visuals were great, and I will sorely miss the updates that I used to look forward to.

Some readers may be surprised to learn that I was once heavily involved in the Duke Nukem 3D gaming scene. During that time, I had the good fortune of taking over and maintaining the map editing FAQ, which eventually made it on to the official game CD (which was quite an honor). At the time, the game was revolutionary and incredibly fun. How excited, then, must we all have been when Duke Nukem Forever was announced?

That announcement date was almost 10 years ago (April 27, 1997), and we still have no game to play. DNF has single-handedly become the laughing stock of the gaming community, having been torn down and reconstructed multiple times. I can't help but think that the game will fail miserably when (or if) it launches. The fan base from the original game has grown up. I fondly recall my days with the Duke, but I have a hard time envisioning myself getting as interested in that gaming line today as I would have years ago. What went wrong? Here's my theory:

DNF is announced with much fanfare, and development work begins. The Unreal gaming engine shows promise, so the development team switches, adding delay. New, innovative games begin appearing using this and other engines (Half-Life, for example), and the DNF developers think "wow, our game isn't near that good ... let's start all over." Development begins anew, adding more delay. As work nears completion, more innovative games are released, and the weaknesses in DNF become apparent all over again. Rinse. Repeat. It's an unfortunate snowball effect. Just as soon as the developers are ready to release, another product beats them to the punch, outshining their efforts. This is a battle that is very difficult to win.

If DNF ever does see the light of day, I'll probably at least give it a look. But my feelings for that brand just aren't the same. Time has moved on, and I've grown to appreciate more mature material. But here's hoping that the Duke will shine again. Those days of old were certainly fun.

Out of what could only be described as sheer boredom, I recently reinstalled the strategy game Rise of Nations. My dad picked this up for free at a conference he attended years ago, and I remember playing through it quite a bit at the time. But I now see why I uninstalled the game: I really suck at it. I've never been a fan of strategy games, mostly because I can never figure out how to win. Oh sure, I know the winning conditions, but getting there is another story. On the easiest difficulty setting, I have no problem beating the computer. But ramp up the difficulty just one notch (to the "Easy" setting) and I immediately enter a deadlock. The computer's army gets too large, and no matter how large I try to make mine, I can't turn the tide. Out of frustration, I end up cheating and dropping nuclear bombs on the enemy, wiping out their entire population (an act which is surprisingly enjoyable).

I'm certain that the word "strategy" has some part to play in beating the computer, but I apparently don't have that ability. Give me fast and furious action please. This strategy stuff is for the birds.

I've played through the Prey demo a couple of times now, and I must say that I am truly impressed. Unlike any game before it, Prey actually exploits the third dimension. Wall and ceiling walking are commonplace throughout the demo (for both you and your enemies), and the effect is somewhat disorienting at first. But the result is nothing short of incredible. You literally have to keep your eyes open in all directions at once, upping the tension level considerably. And the gravity shifts make for some interesting puzzles.

The other neat piece of tech featured in this game is the portal concept. Sprinkled throughout the various levels are portals to other areas of the map. In most cases, you can walk entirely around a portal, proving that it is indeed flat. But enter through it and you are seamlessly transported to another area. The effect is well done and also offers up some intriguing puzzles to solve.

Apparently, Prey will be released on July 10. If I can get my system to stop crashing when I play games (I've ordered a nice Zalman VGA Cooler for my graphics card) I'll definitely pick this title up. If you haven't played the demo, I highly recommend it.

This week, Circuit City is selling Half-Life 2: Episode 1 for $8. You read that right: eight dollars. I paid $17.95, thinking I was getting a "pre-order discount." Although I am aware that I recently said I'd gladly pay $19.95 again for another episode, I'm afraid that this revelation has changed my mind. Never again will I pre-order a game from Valve. It's highway robbery, plain and simple.

Another thing that I'm mildly annoyed with is that episodes 1 through 3 are Half-Life 3, according to Gabe Newell. What? So why aren't they being called Half-Life 3: Episode X? Well, it seems that the folks at Valve screwed up. Things seem to be getting a little sloppy over there. Could this be the beginning of the end? I certainly hope not.

I've now played through Episode One a total of three times, having just wrapped up the final run with the commentary system turned on. All I can say is wow! Having commentary really adds to the game, and provides some interesting insight into what challenges the developers at Valve faced when making certain decisions. Make sure to enable this at least once if you own this expansion (and if you don't own it yet, what are you waiting for?). My main goal for this post, however, is to focus on the "what-ifs" coming up in Episode Two (and possibly Episode Three). If you have yet to play Episode One, or if you haven't watched the Episode Two trailer yet, you may wish to avert your eyes from the rest of this article. A few spoilers lie ahead, so consider yourself warned.

The trailer for Episode Two makes it appear that Alyx meets a rather early demise. Is this true? Here's a quote from a recent Episode One review:

Half-Life boss Gabe Newell has revealed that "primary characters" will die over the trilogy of new Half-Life 2 episodes. "People need to feel that characters are genuinely at risk," he says. "Otherwise they lose investment and the significance of their actions is diminished."

If Alyx truly is the character who dies in the upcoming saga, I might literally break down and cry. After investing so much in character development over the past two installments, would Valve really snuff her out of the picture? She is the one realistic female lead in computer games today; hopefully that fact alone will prevent such a travesty. Or perhaps the developers have something else up their sleeves. Could Episode Two be to the Half-Life 2 episodic trilogy as The Empire Strikes Back was to the Star Wars trilogy? The dark note before the final, brighter conclusion? At this point, only the developers have that answer. I'm hoping that Alyx lives on for another day, at least so that we might have further opportunities to enjoy her flirtatious personality.

Other questions have also arisen in my mind. The alien beings which talked with Dr. Breen at the end of Half-Life 2 are clearly on Earth (residing in those pods you run across while in the Citadel during Episode One). What are they doing there, and what will they do now that the Citadel has been destroyed? Where is Judith Mossman, and what "Project" has she uncovered? And what does the G-Man have to do with all of this? According to Gabe Newell, he might be behind the demise of whatever primary character gets killed off.

Hopefully Episode Two will shed some light on all of this. Unfortunately, we have to wait another six months or so to find out. I haven't been this riveted in a long, long time...

After about roughly four hours of game play, I've finished Half-Life 2: Episode One. I fully intend to go back through the game at least twice: once on a harder difficulty, and once with the commentary system turned on. The following points are those I think most worth talking about.

The Good

• Incredible Atmosphere: Throughout the entire game, you literally feel like a refugee fleeing City 17. You never have enough supplies, the Combine are always on your tail, and it's literally one narrow escape after another. I was literally on the edge of my seat the entire game.
• HDR: High dynamic range lighting in Half-Life 2 is simply awesome. This is the best use of the technology of any game I've seen, and it adds so much to the overall presentation.
• Excellent Level Design: This goes hand in hand with the atmospheric presentation. Each level, although shorter than the ones in Half-Life 2, is incredibly well designed. The locales feel quite realistic, and the attention to detail is astounding.
• Alyx: Nearly all of Episode One takes place alongside Alyx, and that simple fact adds so much to the action. Not only does she cover your butt a number of times, but you must look out for hers as well. And who could resist fighting to save a girl as sexy as her? Her AI is incredible; she never gets in the way during a firefight and she's a damn good marksman. Did I mention that she's really sexy?
• The G-Man: I won't spoil it, but the G-Man gets some much deserved comeuppance.
• Voice Acting: The voice acting is top notch. No other game that I've played in recent times comes close to the quality presented here; every actor is convincing to the last.
• Story Line Advancement: This goes without saying. Episode One answers a number of questions, asks a number of new ones (so exciting!), and advances the storyline considerably.
• Episode Two Trailer: A sneak peek at what's coming in Episode Two is included with the game (and it looks wickedly cool).

The Bad

• Incredibly Short: I want more Half-Life! Four hours just isn't enough (although I do still have the commentary system to check out, and I'll definitely play it through again).
• Too Expensive?: This is a sore point with a number of gamers on various forums that I peruse every once in a while. $19.95 just seems a tad too expensive for this amount of gaming. Make it $14.95 and you've got yourself a deal. (Will I continue to pay $19.95 for future episodes? Absolutely. Half-Life is just that good.)
• Stuttering: Maybe it's just my system (I wouldn't be surprised), but the game seemed to stutter more than I would have liked. Most of the time it seemed to be related to loading sound effects.

The Ugly

• Episode Two Trailer: Once you beat the game, the trailer for episode two is launched. At first, I thought my game had crashed. I tried to exit Steam and got a warning that a Steam application was still in use. A little notice on what they were doing would have been helpful.
• Character Appearance: How is it that Barney looks like crap but Alyx is still as hot as ever? Doesn't everyone get a little dirty in this deal?

If you enjoyed Half-Life 2, I think you would really enjoy Episode One. If you thought Half-Life 2 was just a mediocre game, I would recommend avoiding this next chapter. Plenty of people will no doubt complain about the length, but I don't think anyone can argue about the level of execution. The action is tight, the levels are well designed, and the story gets pushed along nicely, leaving the player with a number of new questions. If you're looking for a fun little action romp, I highly recommend Half-Life 2: Episode One. I for one am eagerly awaiting Episode Two.

In preparation of this Thursday's launch of Half-Life 2: Episode 1, I fired up a little Lost Coast this weekend to reacquaint myself with the Half-Life world. Unfortunately, all those nights of playing Oblivion have taken their toll. I found myself repeatedly trying to use the Oblivion key mappings in Half-Life 2: pressing 'E' to jump, 'F' to sheathe my weapon, etc. It took quite a while for me to adjust keyboard schemes, but I finally got back into the groove.

I find it interesting that game developers have accepted a 'standard' WASD control scheme for player movement, but don't agree on any other controls. Quick-save and quick-load always seem to vary (although they are almost always between F5 and F12), jumping is always different (some games use the space bar, some use shift, others use something else entirely), and the ubiquitous 'Use' functionality is never what you expect (I prefer using my middle mouse button for that particular action, but Oblivion makes use of the space bar). Switching among games becomes a bit of a challenge in and of itself, much like switching between programming languages can be (the old 'else if' statement comes to mind: variations include else if, elseif, elsif, and elif).

Anyways, I'm glad to be spending time with Half-Life 2 again. Unfortunately, my video card conked out while I was playing through Lost Coast. Hopefully, this won't be the case throughout Episode 1. It's high time that I built a new machine...

Half-Life 2: Episode One has gone gold! I finally pre-ordered the other day, and I'm looking forward to playing it on June 1. But enough about my excitement...

Will the episodic content model work in the long run? While no one really knows for sure, I'm remaining fairly skeptical. Gamers are used to paying their $40, $50, or even $60 for a complete game (although the term complete is fairly ambiguous, especially since game lengths differ so drastically). Forking over $20 for a game snippet is something new. Something that, to some people, is fairly frightening. Whether sales are strong enough to warrant doing it again remains to be seen. Valve has apparently announced that there will be three episodes, the last of which should be available around Christmas of 2007. That means that they are at least willing to take the risk. And I salute that boldness.

It's my hope that the quality of this episode will match that of the original game. But can a 4 to 6 hour game hold up against its 40 to 50 hour parent? I don't think we'll really know until after June 1. The strength of the Half-Life world lies in the powerful story telling. With any luck, it will be just as strong as it always has been.

Half-Life 2: Episode 1 began preloading today yesterday and I'm seriously considering pre-ordering it over the Steam network. There's something rather appealing to purchasing software online: no traveling to a store and no waiting for a package in the mail. It's instant gratification, pure and simple. Lots of people seem to dislike the fact that the game is "locked" until June 1 (the official release date), but that doesn't bother me too much.

One thing that I dislike is the fact that I don't get a game box. I know that may sound silly, but I have quite a collection of boxes (I have nearly as many as I have computer games). Having a game box provides a tangible token of ownership for something that is intangible. My collection is unfortunately still packed away in boxes from our move; otherwise, I would post some pictures.

I know I've mentioned this a number of times already, and I'll do my best to make this the final post on the topic, but Oblivion is so incredibly fun. After 73.5 hours of gameplay, my level 34 Wanderer (a character class I created) has finally completed the main quest line. I've rid the world of Tamriel of those pesky Oblivion gates, and generally saved the entire populace from annihilation. Fortunately, the game doesn't end there. I've completed 81 quests so far, and still have a total of 15 active quests under my belt. There's no telling how many I have yet to start. My character has risen to the top of the Thieves guild, is nearly to the top of the Mages guild, and is on the way up in the Fighters guild (I haven't even started the Dark Brotherhood line of quests). To say that this game is packed with stuff to do is an understatement.

Unfortunately, I've run into a number of crashes recently. I occasionally get dumped to the desktop when performing a quick-load, and my graphics card has conked out a time or two (I've got to build a new machine). But thankfully, the sheer joy I get from playing this game overshadows these annoying problems. And the upcoming game patch that Bethesda announced will hopefully solve these issues. If you still haven't purchased this game, I highly recommend it. Oblivion is a purchase you won't regret.

Posting may be slow over the upcoming days. I’m very busy with something that I’ll talk more about soon.

Thus ended my last post which, to be quite honest, wasn't that long ago. Regardless, I have to admit that I've been 'busy' with Oblivion. I purchased the game from Amazon last week, got it on Thursday, and have been enjoying it ever since. Here's my quickie review of what I've seen so far.

Visually, this game is stunning; one of the best to date. The lip-synch seems poorly done, but I know that's a hard thing to get right, so I'll cut the developers some slack. But everything else is truly magnificent to behold. My personal rig seems to be able to handle the game, albeit at 1024 x 768 (with all the eye candy, mind you). The forest areas are a real treat to behold, as are the caves and dungeons one gets to explore.

Content-wise, this game is gigantic. I've played for several hours, and have only scratched the surface of what is available. I've restarted the game 3 times so far, for a variety of reasons. The first two times, I was unhappy with the way I had set up my character. The third time, I unwittingly turned into a vampire and died, with no cure in sight (and I didn't have a save game from before my sickness). My current character, Rolande, is a "Wanderer" (a custom class I created; part Thief, part Mage), and he's doing very well so far. I have yet to start the main quest; I've simply been too busy getting sidetracked. Joining the Mage's guild is quite an involved task!

This game isn't without its problems. Game installation was flaky, and I got the game into a state where it wouldn't start and couldn't be uninstalled. After wrestling with that, I'm now facing a problem where the game crashes every time I exit. Granted, it's not a major problem (I am leaving the game, after all), but it's an annoyance. There are other minor quibbles: the AI system has its flaws (although it works surprisingly well on the whole), the enemies are (and remain) incredibly difficult, and it stinks that you are only given 8 hotkey slots.

But I am very pleased so far. This game is awesome. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Morrowind.

This looks so freaking awesome. And it seems to be getting really good reviews so far. I thoroughly enjoyed Morrowind (although the game had some annoying bugs), but I unfortunately never finished it. I lost my save games when I bought some new hard drives, and I didn't feel like replaying 60 hours worth again (save early and often).

As I recently mentioned, I've been hungering for a new game to play. I don't even recall what I bought last, and I've been replaying through Half-Life 2 recently; for what must be the seventh or eighth time (and it's still a blast). Something like Oblivion will keep me hooked for hours (nearly 200 hours according to some reports), which has me very excited. Hopefully my machine can handle it. This game is apparently quite the resource hog.

I recently purchased a copy of Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar from my favorite online retail outlet, Amazon. The book takes a behind-the-scenes look at the artistic development of the game, including a number of things that were cut from the final product. At 288 pages, it provides a great glimpse of the game-making process, especially as far as art direction is concerned. I've only read a tiny fraction of the book, but so far it's been enjoyable ... a highly recommended read.

In the online world, Garry's Mod for Half-Life 2 has resulted in some great online comics. My favorite is without a doubt Concerned, a strip that follows the "Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman." The writing is excellent, the visuals are top-notch, and the entire strip is hilarious. You have to start from the beginning to fully appreciate the strip. Anyone who has played the game will certainly get a kick out of it. New comics are posted every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. As such, I've added it to my weekly online funnies list (which includes the likes of Ctrl+Alt+Del, Penny Arcade!, and The Joy of Tech). Some other good Half-Life related strips can be found at PHW Online. It's great to see such clever use of gaming technology.

In September of 2005, I let my subscription to Computer Gaming World run out. What had once been one of the finest computer gaming magazines published had degraded into sloppy writing, low-brow humor, and increasingly questionable ratings. Although it had its problems, CGW at least helped me stay on top of the gaming landscape: what games were being released, what genres they fell into, and what offerings I should expect in the near future. Now, I feel lost. I rarely know what games are on the horizon (although I do read Blue's News daily), and I even more rarely know what's recommended.

I don't surf the multi-review sites like MetaCritic and Game Rankings near as often as I should, but I really feel like I've lost touch with the gaming world. Now that I'm working full time, I have way less time (and energy) to devote to gaming, something I dislike greatly. Part of the problem is that fewer and fewer decent games are being released for the PC. I've never been a fan of the "modern" gaming systems (XBox, PS2, etc), so that doesn't help matters.

I'm yearning for more Half-Life 2. Not since the original Doom have I been so enamored with a game. Unfortunately, the Aftermath (now Episode 1?) expansion pack seems like a long ways off (in fact, I don't even know when it's planned for release). And there isn't much else on my radar at the moment. If you have a suggestion, please leave a comment. I'd love to know what games folks are playing and recommending these days. I'm open to most any genre.

I checked out a couple of single player modifications for Half-Life 2 this morning. I highly recommend both.

MINERVA Although there's only one level at the moment, MINERVA's episodic content concept is interesting. The story is intruiging, the level is very well designed, and the action feels very much like the original game. As you progress, you receive cryptic messages from an unknown contact. Is it the G-Man? Or someone else? I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

Eclipse This might be considered to be a "total conversion" more than anything else. Eclipse is unlike Half-Life 2 in every regard. Although it's a little short, the gameplay is fun, the effects are well executed, and the artwork is incredible. The levels ran a tad slowly on my machine, but it was a fun diversion. The single weakest point in my mind is the story line; it's as thin as any I've played in a long time. But this mod has to be played to be fully appreciated. There are a few puzzles that will make you scratch your head at first, and the game makes excellent use of the Source engine's physics capabilities.

Are there any other recommended single player mods out there? If so, please let me know!