CIVILIZATION IV

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Firaxis Games

Publisher : 2K Games & Aspyr

Engine : Gamebryo

Genre : Historic Turn-Based Strategy

Release Date : October 25 , 2005

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 2000 / Windows XP

CPU : AMD Athlon 2500+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 256 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 64 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 4 Ti Series
ATI : Radeon 8500 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 1.7 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The series gives you plenty of ways to do this, such as conquering your neighbors, researching advanced technology, or, in Civilization III (and IV), creating the most cultured society on the planet. It's this great variety that helps give Civilization IV the same alarmingly addictive quality its predecessors carried. And thanks to its many improvements, major and minor, and its greater emphasis on strategy over bean-counting, Civilization IV isn't just as good as Civilization has ever been...it's better. Your political leader has two special traits that will influence his or her reign, though all the game's traits are new, such as "organized," which cuts down on maintenance costs, or "expansive," which generates bonus health in cities and helps hasten growth and expansion. And Civilization IV fundamentally offers the same goals, but in a much more evolved, more strategic, and ultimately more rewarding manner. And each of these goals comes with many more options, which should open the game up to players with busy schedules...even if it may still seem overwhelming to beginners. You can attempt to influence your neighbors to make war or peace with other neighbors, and you can even fence everyone out of your backyard using the game's new "open borders" system. In previous games, neighboring nations could send their city-building settlers and their soldiers wandering across your nation, free to declare war on your vulnerable home cities and worker civilians unless you complained strenuously. In Civilization IV, the new border system means that no units from any other country can enter yours unless you have agreed to open borders with that particular country...or unless you're at war with that particular country. This is a godsend for defensive players who prefer to hang back to develop an economic, scientific, or cultural infrastructure without fear of ambush. The new great people system is an interesting and useful addition that will probably be especially appreciated by experts. Great people can be expended in exchange for a number of powerful abilities. In response to fan requests to adjust the pace of the game, developer Firaxis has added three speeds: the surprisingly fast normal speed, the even-faster quick speed, and the slower-paced epic speed. While epic speed seems better suited to purists who prefer to take their time, the quick and the normal speed are conducive to much faster play. In fact, in quick speed it can actually take as little as an hour or two to take over the world. And even normal speed moves at a brisk pace.

Multiplayer also seems to work quite well, and thanks to the game's faster pace, it seems much, much more realistic to actually finish multiplayer games, especially on the "quick" speed setting. And as you might expect from any good turn-based game, Civilization IV also supports play-by-e-mail and hotseat multiplayer, along with LAN and Internet play. The game even ships with additional custom scenarios and three fan-made modifications that offer new play modes. The game ships with a playable tutorial narrated by Sid Meier himself, but the tutorial only covers about half the game's key concepts. In addition, the late game can still end up being rather messy, as you have dozens of worker units across your sprawling empire working on various improvements, even though you'll only want to focus on a few different major developments. The most intriguing aspect of Civilization IV's audio is the narration you'll hear at the beginning of every new game and each time you research a new technology--narration that's provided by none other than Leonard Nimoy of Star Trek fame. Nimoy's scholarly delivery of his lines adds a touch of class to the game, though you may grow too familiar with them over time, since the same lines are repeated for the same techs. And despite the lengthy rendered animation that introduces the game the first time it's loaded, Mr. Nimoy's dulcet voice is unfortunately squandered at the beginning of each new game session, as his profound "In the beginning..." speech accompanies a disappointing series of concept art sketches. This intro is an homage to the first Civilization, but considering the animated opening sequence, an equally impressive animated sequence, or at least a cleaner-looking presentation of those images seems like it should've been used here. Beginners will find Civilization IV to be a complex strategy game with something of a learning curve, but with worthwhile rewards waiting for them once they start figuring things out. Experts will find Civilization IV to be the proverbial better mousetrap: adjusted, tweaked, and sometimes completely changed. But it's still a Civilization game, and with Civilization IV, the series is even more engaging and addictive than ever.

GAME REVIEW :-

9.5/10

Civilization IV Trailer :-

HEARTS OF IRON III

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Paradox Interactive

Publisher : Paradox Interactive

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Historic Real-Time Strategy

Release Date : August 11 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon 3500+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 2 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 128 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 6800 Series
ATI : Radeon X850 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 2 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

Hearts of Iron III remains a serious real-time strategy game that is as intricate as the design of a Persian rug. Like its cousins Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron III isn't a game that you will figure out, let alone master, in a couple of hours. The basic structure of the game is stock standard when it comes to Paradox's grand strategy lineup. The design blends the first two releases in the Hearts of Iron series with the 3D map and revamped interface of 2007's Europa Universalis III. So even though you get to look at a newfangled world map with 3D soldiers, tanks, ships, and planes moving about, the core of the game is still centered on taking control of a nation during the WWII era. Matches can be played solo or multiplayer over a LAN or the Net if you've got a lot of patience for the time it can take to finish such an undertaking. There are seven default starting dates that stretch from the nervous peace of 1936 to the beginning of the end in 1944. This lets you run through the whole 12-plus years of global insanity or pick your spot and replay history from such key moments as the German invasion of Poland or the aftermath of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Success is achieved by outlasting foes and accumulating the most victory points by the time the clock runs out and the war era comes to a close. Nations are fully stocked with leaders, including cabinet ministers and generals, all with their own skills and personalities. Laws are passed and national priorities are set that can mirror history or send things off on wild tangents. Some 15,000 provinces are ready for you to micromanage, with their traits being modeled right down to such natural resources as food and oil, as well as economic builders, such as factories, that contribute to industrial capacity. Armies, navies, and air forces are built from the ground up, then sent into battle at your command. Technology is researched to build better military hardware and improve economic production at home. Spies steal information from rivals and indulge in sabotage. Even weather fronts now roll across the continents, affecting military moves and economic production. Going into battle has been streamlined the most. Military matters are now sensibly structured via layers of headquarters. This enables you to take control of field-level HQs and direct battles manually or move up steps and give orders for specific battle theaters that direct all troops under this command to do your bidding. For example, in the early stages of the war in 1939 and early 1940, you can order Rommel's HQ to take Paris. This essentially mobilizes the entire Western front into action because all of the units under his command will then start pushing forward. No muss, no fuss.

You can take direct control of army groups when necessary, of course, although the artificial intelligence seems to do a superb job of smartly carrying out your directives. The only oddity here has to do with battle casualties; they sometimes seem impossibly low, with two people dying in a showdown among 20,000 infantry. There is also more back-and-forth with your underlings. When you issue an order, the HQ in question immediately kicks back a request for units it thinks are needed to accomplish the task, allowing you to tailor production accordingly. Tech research and production are similar, providing feedback to your efforts via bonuses that accrue the more you specialize. If you research and then crank out a lot of armor, you soon find that everything speeds up as your men gain greater experience and expertise. Only tech and production remain daunting because the menu screens for each are so loaded with numbers that you soon feel like a junior accountant at tax time. Yet even with this problem, you get the feeling that this is what Hearts of Iron was supposed to be all along. Now, you're actually in control of the game, not a slave to it. As a result, it's tough to stop playing because it's so easy to experiment with different approaches and muck up history. It's a blast to run through campaigns simply to see the many fascinating ways that they diverge from what happened in real life. One game might stick to the script with the single exception of the Netherlands signing on with the UK in 1938 to present a more united front against Hitler. Yet, the next might see something wacky, like Argentina battling the US in Central America, the French holding along the Maginot Line, or Switzerland joining the Allies and going on the offensive. Because Hearts of Iron III isn't a twitch arcade game, this generally means that you just wind up scrolling the map too far and end up in Canada instead of the UK. But it's still frustrating. Slowdowns are accentuated when playing with 3D troop models, forcing you to switch to wargame counters for a smoother experience. Again, this isn't a big deal because the game has a strong wargame vibe anyways, though it still underlines the need for a patch. Another niggling issue is front and center when you start up the game. The tuition text is strewn with typos and translation errors, which makes it hard to sit through the otherwise amusing walk-through of the game's features by Hitler. Reduced micromanagement and streamlined automation make Hearts of Iron III an absorbing game of grand strategy.

GAME REVIEW :-

8.5/10

Hearts Of Iron III Trailer :-

WOLFENSTEIN

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Raven Software, id Software, Pi Studios And Endrant Studios

Publisher : Activision

Engine : id Tech 4 ( Heavily Modified )

Genre : Historic First-Person Shooter

Release Date : August 18 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon64 3400+ / Intel Pentium 4 Processor

Memory (RAM) : 1 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 256 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 6800 Series
ATI : Radeon X850 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 8 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

It is the year 1943 in the fictional town of Isenstadt. The Second World War is at its height. While Allied forces have stalled the expansion of Hitler's Third Reich, the Nazi war machine still has its boot on the throat of mainland Europe. Enter Heinrich Himmler's feared SS and its plan to master an occult force known as the Black Sun. With this mysterious power source at its disposal, no army on Earth could stand in the Reich's path. No army but the man who had single-handedly shut down Colonel Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse's Übersoldat program and thwarted the resurrection of ancient superhuman King Heinrich I, that is. Once again, the world requires the particular talents of special agent B.J. Blazkowicz. During an operation on Nazi battleship, B.J. obtains a powerful medallion that allows him to "shift" to another subdimension, that dimension is called the "Veil", or Black Sun dimnesion. This dimension has no shadows, and is bathed in an eerie greenish-blue glow. Some objects like special magic doors that are present in the Veil are absent in the normal world, and using the medallion enables B.J. to walk through these doors. Later the medallion gets more power, like slowing time, shield that stops all incoming bullets, and megadamage that multiplies the offensive capabilities of B.J.'s weapons. This medallion is the only key to win the fight with Nazi's Black Sun creations. With the help of local resistance and soviet scientists, B.J. fights through Isenstadt, hunting for General Zetta, the SS paranormal devision member who is in charge of the operation. Upon killing him, however, B.J. is forced to fight his old nemesis, Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse in order to put an end to Nazi Black Sun operation. The game culminates with B.J. defeating Hans Grosse, Strasse's second-in-command, who uses Veil powers similar to B.J.'s and a heavy armor complete with two chainguns. Even though the Black Sun operation is aborted, Wilhelm Strasse manages to escape.

You will quickly grow fond of the Tesla gun, which fires electric streams in various directions at once, and the Leichenfaust 44, which is a heavy weapon that instantly vaporizes standard enemies. As you explore Isenstadt and complete missions, you'll earn money and find bags of coins. You can then spend these spoils on upgrades for your weapons, such as diminished recoil or greater damage. While some weapons are better in certain circumstances than others, there's really no weak banana in this bunch. These long, noisy battles make a big impression, yet a number of small flaws eventually add up to make impressions of their own. Wolfenstein displays a noticeable lack of refinement that manifests itself in a number of ways. The levels are highly varied; you'll trudge through sewers and battle aboard a colossal zeppelin, but the color palette and general artistic vision remain consistent throughout. The visual effect upon entering The Veil is slick; it's as if the real world is being peeled away to reveal the hidden dimension beneath. Wolfenstein's class-based online multiplayer was wholly inspired by its predecessor's terrific multiplayer modes. There are three modes total: Team Deathmatch, Objective, and Stopwatch. Objective and Stopwatch modes provide the core online entertainment, assigning the resistance team to a series of objectives that the Axis team must thwart. The main difference between these two modes is that in Stopwatch, players take turns on each team to see which can earn the fastest completion times. Regardless of which mode you choose, you'll play as a soldier, a medic, or an ever-helpful engineer. Each class also gets a Veil power of its own, though these don't mirror the campaign's Veil powers. Soldiers perform an explosive Veil strike, medics possess an area-of-effect heal, and engineers can run really fast. Wolfenstein proves that even as first-person shooters progress, there is still plenty of room for traditional shooting unhindered by modern frills. Big bosses, crazy weapons, and exciting scripted firefights are the focal point of this nutty tale. It's also an ample one if you take on all the side missions and scour environments for intelligence, hidden tomes, and secret money stashes. Yet while it's pleasingly old-fashioned, the unimpressive AI, aging technology, and general lack of refinement make this sequel feel like a missed opportunity.

GAME REVIEW :-

7.5/10

Wolfenstein Trailer :-

BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Rocksteady Studios

Publisher : Eidos Interactive, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Engine : Unreal Engine 3.5 with PhysX

Genre : Fantasy Action Adventure

Release Date : September 15 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ / Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor

Memory (RAM) : 2 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 512 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 7900 Series
ATI : Radeon X1300 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 9 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The Joker attacks Gotham City's Mayor's office, but is foiled by Batman, who escorts him for incarceration at Arkham Asylum. The same night, a mysterious fire at Gotham City's Blackgate Prison has caused several hundred prisoners to be temporarily relocated to Arkham, many of whom were among the Joker's most recent crew. As Batman escorts the guards taking the Joker inside, the asylum's security is overridden by Harley Quinn and the Joker is able to escape and take control of the facility, enlisting the Blackgate prisoners in addition to other rogue characters imprisoned at the asylum. Batman quickly realizes that this has been part of Joker's plan including the Blackgate fire, having double-crossed a security guard to help him escape. The Joker threatens to blow up bombs scattered around Gotham City should anyone attempt to enter Arkham, forcing Batman to work alone; however, Batman is able to rely on Commissioner Gordon and other loyal guards, after Batman is able to free them, to help secure prisoners he has defeated, and Oracle is able to guide him through the Asylum over the radio. Batman is able to gain access to an adjunct of the Batcave he had set up years ago on the island, and is able to use his sleuthing skills to learn of Joker's plan. It is eventually revealed that the Joker is seeking a chemical called Titan that is produced in the asylum, which is based on the same chemical that Bane uses to become super-powerful, though the Titan formula is much more potent. Not only does the Joker plan to use it on the various Blackgate inmates to create an unstoppable army, he plans to dump the waste product into Gotham's water supply, which could have disastrous effects on the city. This also has the side effect of causing Poison Ivy's plants to mutate and take over the island. Batman, after defeating several of his archenemies, is able to return to the Batcave to create an antidote to Titan, and uses it to destroy the mutated plant life and put a stop to Joker's army. With all of his henchmen defeated, the Joker invites Batman to his "party", where Batman sees Joker holding and manipulating Scarface and sitting upon a throne of mannequins. Joker then reveals that he has recaptured Gordon and attempts to shoot Gordon with a Titan-filled dart. Batman jumps in front of it, taking the injection himself. With Batman attempting to resist the change, Joker feels defeated. He shoots himself with the Titan gun and becomes a massive monster. Joker proudly displays himself to news choppers before Batman defeats him in a final battle. As he transforms back to normal and is taken back to his cell, the staff regains control of the asylum. Batman then hears that Two-Face is robbing the Second National Bank of Gotham. Batman summons the Batwing, and flies away towards Gotham. Following the credits a box stamped with the word Titan is seen floating in the water, upon which a hand rises from the water and grabs the box.

The combat in Arkham Asylum never gets overly complicated, though the number of moves and attacks at your disposal increases quite dramatically as you progress through the Story mode, earn experience points, and subsequently spend those points on acquiring new combo moves and gadgets. Throws, takedowns, and even batarang attacks can be incorporated into your combos this way, but you never need to press more than two buttons simultaneously, and the timing of your moves doesn't have to be particularly precise. Fighting against mobs of up to a dozen enemies or so is a blast, and while they're not smart enough to all just jump on you at once, they're not stupid either. Given half a chance, thugs will pull pipes from walls to attack you with, pick up boxes to throw at you, and recover weapons from fallen colleagues. One character that you definitely want to listen to carefully is Edward Nigma, also known as Riddler. That's because there are no fewer than 240 "riddles" for you to solve on Arkham Island, and doing so not only earns you a good number of experience points but is also the only way to unlock character bios, character trophies, and Challenge mode maps. The riddles come in a number of different flavors, many of which don't involve riddles at all, and the one thing that they all have in common is that they're rewarding to solve. The best of the proper riddles are those that lead you to photograph question marks painted around the island, which doesn't sound very interesting until you realize that these question marks can only be seen using detective vision from very specific locations. That's because these elusive punctuation marks are painted in two parts at different locations that are often quite far apart, so the solution requires you to find both parts and then figure out where to take the photo from so that they line up perfectly. It's clever and compelling stuff, though it does encourage you to spend more time than you'd probably like in detective vision mode.

More significant unlockable content comes in the form of eight challenge maps, which come in regular and extreme difficulties for a total of 16. The maps are based on areas that you visit in the Story mode, and the challenges are split 50/50 between purely combat-oriented sequences and stealth-based "Predator" gameplay. In the former, you're pitted against four increasingly tough waves of enemies and score points for performing combos, avoiding taking damage, executing ring outs, and using a variety of different moves. In the latter, you're dropped into a level where every enemy has a gun and your goal is to take them all down as quickly as possible. The twist is that to earn a respectable position on the online leaderboards in the Challenge mode, you also have to earn medals, and in order to do that, you have to deal with some of your enemies in very specific ways. Regardless of whether you're getting sucked into the Story mode or competing for high scores in the Challenge mode, Batman: Arkham Asylum does an outstanding job of letting you be Batman. Everything about this game--the impressive visuals, stirring soundtrack, superb voice acting, fiendish puzzles, hard-hitting combat--feels like it has been lovingly crafted by a development team that's both knowledgeable and passionate about the source material. Miss out on this one and the joke's on you and you don't need to be a fan of Batman to enjoy this excellent third-person action game.

GAME REVIEW :-

9/10

Batman: Arkham Asylum Trailer :-

SECTION 8

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : TimeGate Studios

Publisher : SouthPeak Interactive

Engine : Unreal Engine 3

Genre : Sci-Fi First-Person Shooter

Release Date : September 4 , 2009

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows XP / Windows Vista

CPU : AMD Athlon64 X2 4000+ / Intel Core 2 Duo Processor

Memory (RAM) : 2 GB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0c Compliant Card with 512 MB Ram

[NVIDIA : GeForce 8600 Series
ATI : Radeon HD 2900 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 6 GB

GAME FEATURES :-

The name "Section 8" derives from an old United States military discharge regulation for reason of being mentally unfit for service, and also refers to the 8th Armored Infantry in the game. Section 8 takes place in the future after the human race has discovered interstellar travel and has colonized across the galaxy. At the time of the game, a group called the ARM of Orion, has begun to 'disconnect' the outermost frontier planets from the main governing body, taking them over while keeping their presence hidden from the government. As space travel is slow, it often takes weeks to communicate with or travel to a frontier world, affording the ARM with enough time to seize worlds and build their base of power, ultimately preparing an ambush for the government forces that will eventually respond. The government then discovers the ARM of Orion, and sends in the 8th Armored Infantry, including Alex Corde (the player), on a mission to investigate, and presumably fight, the ARM invasion. The story surrounding your feats is entirely forgettable, but the levels themselves are generally well designed, offering a fun alternative to the online warfare. The maps in the campaign are the same as in the online mode, but they're structured differently, and their vast size mimics a real-life siege as you slowly gain ground, complete objectives, and push the enemy further and further back. Whereas the multiplayer versions of these maps are completely open as soon as matches begin, the single-player offerings have walled-off areas that open only once you reach certain checkpoints. The only match type in Section 8 is called Conquest. Here, two teams strive to earn victory points by killing other players, capturing control points, and completing dynamic combat missions (DCM). There is no way to choose just team deathmatch or a capture-the-flag variant, but the different objective types are all rolled into this mode, making for an ever-changing, unpredictable experience. To capture a control point, you have to find either a neutral or enemy-owned computer and hack it by tapping a button. Once it's in your possession, you earn the accompanying turrets and other defensive structures, making it difficult for the other team to steal them back. Every few minutes, teams earn points for the number of control stations they possess, and victory is awarded to the team that reaches the designated number of victory points first.

There are six different mission types that can be initiated, and these diverse objectives add a lot of excitement to the matches. You have only a limited amount of time to complete these, so it makes for frantic action as you try to beat the clock while your opponents attempt to halt your progress. Not only do you get more victory points for successfully passing these missions, but you earn other bonuses that make victory easier to achieve. There are six guns and seven gadgets to choose from, though you can carry only two of each at a time. It's not easy to switch your gear midbattle, so you'll have to choose your loadout wisely depending on which objectives you want to go after during your life. The guns are entirely standard, and include the requisite fast-shooting automatics, a slow but powerful shotgun, and an ultraprecise sniper rifle. They each excel in specific circumstances, so you can't rely on just one gun throughout. The missile launcher, for instance, has such unpredictable splash damage that it's virtually worthless against another human, but it can destroy a turret with just a few blasts. The gadgets are just as diverse, including a wrench that can repair structures and heal fellow soldiers, remote-controlled mines, and a knife that gives you a melee attack. As you complete objectives, you earn money, with which you can purchase turrets and vehicles. The turrets are especially helpful, letting you set up minigun-wielding or rocket-spewing units to defend your control points while you go off to complete a dynamic combat mission. The vehicles, on the other hand, are quite lame. You can summon either a mech or a tank, but both are extremely disappointing. The tank is just as ineffective, getting stuck on every divot and pebble along these rocky roads. It's a shame the vehicles are so utterly pointless because the battles could have used a dose of variety. With only six different weapon types, battles can unfold in only so many ways, and the worthless vehicles don't add any much-needed spice. With a few more weapon types and vehicles that actually worked, Section 8 could have been a lot more exciting. As it is, this is a satisfying take on the genre that makes up in fun what it lacks in innovation.

GAME REVIEW :-

7/10

Section 8 Trailer :-