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Reviews (3)
04 November 2008
Stick with Quake 2 or Doom 3
1 of 2 found this helpful If you're a die hard first-person-shooter fan, you might be a TAD disappointed with the latest in the Quake series. If you have a beefy enough system, it's really pretty- don't get me wrong. But pretty does not a good game make.
I actually bought this so I could try it out, but also to get the Quake 2 and associated expansion packs that come with it, which I played through most of before starting Quake 4. Going into Quake 4, I was annoyed that it didn't support the native resolution of my monitor (1280x720) and although you can make it work, there's no user-friendly way (you have to manually edit a configuration file)
The intro sequence is graphically stunning, although if you played through Quake 1 (which had almost no story whatsoever) and Quake 2 (which actually had a somewhat decent story) you start thinking that Quake 4 is actually a remake of Quake 2.
Once you're given control and start walking around, you immediately notice that you walk very slowly. This isn't actually true. You RUN very slowly. If you hold down SHIFT, which in most games means "run", you actually "walk". The running speed is ridiculous. Which makes it hard to dodge and escape- or just want to explore and see the pretty scenery. This unfortunately means I am not really interested in playing it much more. What's the fun of a game that feels slow?
But the graphics are good- so I appreciate that, and there's lots of cool stuff to look at, and poke, or blow up, and the detail on the level design is astounding. The enemies look great too, although they're so damn fast you barely get to see them before you shoot them and they dissolve into green mist.
Now, maybe I should go and explore the other DVD content (I assume there's some kind of "making of" video) but I just don't care enough. I had more fun with Doom 3, even though it wasn't quite as pretty.
The Quake 2 original game and expansions are the best part of this 2-disc set, in my opinion. If you're dead set on buying it, buy it used, because in all honesty, $10 is a fair price, but $40 would have me calling up for a refund. Okay okay, it's not THAT bad, but I was really disappointed it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.. as good as it SHOULD have been.
06 October 2007
Best Printer Ever Made?
1 of 1 found this helpful I bought this printer years ago not because I needed a new printer but because Canon had a great rebate offer if you bought a Pixma printer and a Digital Elph camera. Needless to say, I love both of them and have gotten lots of use from them. The camera deserves its own review, but I will point out that the Pixma has a USB port for connecting your camera directly to it and printing pictures without going through the computer. I haven't actually used that feature, but it might be useful for folks that just want to print photos immediately without editing/cropping/etc.
The printer is fairly wide and takes up a moderate amount of desk space, but I think this helps give it a stable base, so it doesn't shake much while printing (and ensures higher quality prints). The photos are beautiful, and looked better than ones I had printed at a local print shop on one of those dedicated print-your-own-photos machines. They also print fairly quickly. I use it every day for eBay and printing shipping labels, which it does very well. The only times the paper jams is when it was folded or incorrectly inserted by me. There are two paper trays which work well and have easy indicators for how to insert different sizes of paper. Even with it's width, it doesn't take up a lot of forward or behind space, you can fold up the trays when not in use and regain a lot of desk space if you need to. Printer cartridge maintenance is incredibly easy. Just open the top, wait for the printer to move the cartridges into position, lift a flap, and remove/install whichever cartridges need replacing. I like that the colors are separate tanks, so you don't need to replace a whole color cartridge if you're only out of red.
The included software is very good as well. It works well, is easy to use, and includes lots of useful features for maintenance, cleaning print heads, printing test patterns, re-aligning print heads, print quality, photo effects, and printing on different types and sizes of paper. It also does very good and fast full duplex printing, meaning it will actually print both sides of a page for you, making printing reports and long documents a snap ( as well as saving paper! )
Now my favorite feature: With a bit of tinkering and modification, this printer can print directly on printable CDs and DVDs. I can't explain here, but if you search google you'll find how to do it. You need to buy another part, download some software, and do some technical tricks, but it can be done. The output from this is very sharp and accurate, although not glossy or as dark as I'd like it. Compared to my last CD printer, it's great though.
One last recommendation. Do not use generic ink tanks on this printer. It's not worth it. Trust me.
04 November 2008
Great nostalgic retro pixelly fun!
I actually played Darwinia the first time as a Steam downloadable demo, but never got around to buying it- I prefer getting a physical copy and having it for all time, as opposed to until Steam or whatever online service falls apart (like they always do eventually) and you suddenly have nothing but receipts.
Tangent aside, I loved it and played the demo over and over. Eventually I wanted to buy it and thought I'd buy it on eBay- turns out it's much much cheaper, even with shipping, than the downloadable version. Score!
The first thing that strikes you about Darwinia is the cool intros- every time you start the game you get a different intro, that spoofs the Matrix, an old-school computer startup/load screen, or various other in-jokes that geeks or anyone around 30 that used a computer would get.
There's no movies really, just really smooth realtime 3D animation that sets the scene. Inside a computer-generated virtual world, simulated people (darwinians) are having some problems, and you (the player) somehow hack into this virtual world. The creator (Dr. Sepulveda) begs you for help, and your job is to clean the world of the viral infection (the red nasties).
It calls to mind a game from the 90s called Cannon fodder, which never made it REALLY big, but was tons of fun. A point-and-click real time action/strategy game where you clicked where you wanted your 4 "squaddies" to run, and right-clicked where you wanted them to shoot.
But wait, there's more! It's got a bit of Civilization or Age of Empires thrown in, because every so often you have to research upgrades so you're better able to fight the virusy threat. Some come free with time, others you have to go find.
Very good control, very satisfying gameplay, easy to play for 3 hours straight or 15 minutes at a time, overall a great game for almost anyone. The graphics seem primitive at first, but they're actually quite nice and remind you VERY much of Tron and early computer-generated movies, lots of polygons and shading but no smoothing or textures.
Without giving too much away, the one complaint I have is that it's somewhat short, and you're disappointed when it's all over. Although- you can download free extra-level packs from the internet, or if you feel ambitious, create your own (it doesn't look easy at all). Or just play it over again, or consider a $10 purchase that you actually enjoyed better than the last two Taco Bell or McDonalds meals you had and be happy :)