Review of games-
Unreal Tournament
Unreal Tournament is a computer game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. It was published in 1999 but playing it for the first time in 2012 is close enough.
Unreal was released on Dreamcast, Linux, Mac OS, Mac OS X, PlayStation 2, and Windows. It covers multiplayer and allows players to play against bots, with a difficulty level for the AI, which is a refreshing feature to see. However, as all games, there are some things dragging it down.
Unreal has six game types, customisable player and bots, balanced weapons and good level design. Controls and gameplay is fun, and I didn't even play the single player!
In today's world the graphics might not be up to par with the upcoming games, however it's clear that the characters and level design are still original and interesting to this day.
Unfortunately, the settings are almost toned down, and a little bland to look at. The AI is excellent, even reaching into multiplayer as fair opponents, but slow frame rate speeds and less-than-colourful textures fail to live up to the rest.
Zoo Tycoon 2
A game for players who are excited at the prospect of design and being a control freak.
This game was released on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Nintendo DS, and made by Blue Fang Games. Zoo Tycoon 2 is a sequel which largely inproves from the first, adding better graphics, more micro-management and a more in-depth experience.
The game is set in a 3D zoo, this time giving the player options to zoom in up close to the animals and visitors. There are a wide range of tools and animals to create different kinds of exhibits and a large amount of buildings for the people. This huge list of creations is wonderful, and makes the player feel like they can control anything and everything. Having an ability to design a dream zoo does not happen right away however, as the player can play a campaign mode where they must complete goals and challenges. There are some educational segments slipped in amongst gameplay as well, as food and places of habitat are explained as you create exhibits.
Firstly, the graphics are okay, but not great. Secondly, there is not much ambient music to win over the player. Without any upbeat tunes or a noise of a bustling crowd, every zoo sounds strangely quiet and lonelier than it should be.
Barbie Riding Club
Gorilla Systems Corporation produced the wonder what is Barbie Riding Club. A game for a young age group, particularly one which likes pink and riding horses. The gameplay, however suited to its intended audience, is near impossible to play. The controls are more difficult than QWOP and trying to comprehend where or what the objectives are, would take more time than it's worth. Apparently it also doesn't work for Windows Vista.
A good feature of this game is that Barbie's calming voice tells you what to do with each step. So if you are stupid like me and opt not to have sound or to be as patient as a young child might be, it is a harder experience. Another good feature is the ability to feed and groom your horse- which, if for some reason you cannot work out how to race or do anything else- is easy. Everyone loves to look after animals, and you can't go wrong. Apparently there is a mystery going on through the game, which would involve a plot of some sort, but I cannot elaborate on how good this storyline is, having not played into the game very long.
Counter-strike
A game by valve, released on Xbox and Microsoft Windows. This is a game mostly around multiplayer, where you play terrorists against counter-terrorists and complete various missions.
Teamwork and tactics aid gameplay favourably for the player. Being forced to do things such as wait before respawning, buy weapons over time, and think about the attack on the enemy, are all features which enhance gameplay by a mile. It becomes a smarter shooter experience, and at least when it was first available was extremely impressive. It has had lasting appeal and stands the test of time, even with non-perfect graphics and slightly weak sound effects.
There are again many options to edit the game mechanics, there are a few different game types, and there are a few different achievements. All in all Counter-Strike is a popular franchise for a good reason.
Red Dead Redemption
A game set in the Wild West, a Rockstar game that ranked in high above 90% with many critics; it would be hard to pick flaws in a classic like this. RDR's graphics are astounding, the story runs really well, and the multiplayer lives up to high expectations.
Many players praised the open world in the game. There are missions but the main draw is to just ride across the land and admire the view, experiencing the feeling of vastness (which carries over to multiplayer also). The action is balanced, when playing against friends online, if you master the timing between rolling away, reloading, and changing weapon you can dominate quite easily- however, if you mess up once with this tactic it can have a deadly outcome. Unfortunately this balancing (and keeping the player from being overpowered) can get quite annoying and may make the controls feel too clunky or slow.
Although it seems hard, the game could still improve on the manoeuvring when on horses and when sprinting on foot. The cover feature can feel sticky and apart from these small features, the game hits on every other target. Although the atmosphere and immersion of RDR is wonderful, it can get broken after five minutes of sprinting frantically around a doorway.
