mini-review: Metal Slug

This is the first article in (what I hope will be) a series of short reviews of video games I have played extensively. Unlike big magazines, I will not be going in depth or have any fanboy attitude, but unlike some online reviewers (like Angry Videogame Nerd) I am not simply going to shred every game I come into contact with.

Today's review: Metal Slug for the Neo Geo

First, before I begin I must say that Metal Slug was the first arcade game which really grabbed my attention, and subsequently a large amount of my quarters. It's really the game that changed the way I looked at games, and forged my subsequent interest in video games. So this review might be a little bit biased.

Alright, first to begin with the stuff I don't like about this game. First, it has a complete and utter lack of story line. Yeah, there are some fan websites that try to tack a story on, but the game itself has no story, except that an evil guy named General Morden is evil, and therefore you must kill him and all his minions. Typical video game plot, really. Oh, and General Morden really looks alot like Saddam Hussein. Really.

Secondly, some of the sound effects can get a bit repedetive. Many of the enemies have one and only one sound they make when they die, depending on how you kill them. So sometimes you can mow down a large crowd of enemy soldiers and hear the same death screams being played about 10 times a second. I don't mind this too much, but some people really dislike it, especially if they are only listening to the game and not playing it.

Alright, enough already. This game rocks. The lack of story isn't a problem at all, and the sound effects are negligible compared to all the rest this game has to offer. I will enumerate the best points of this game in no particular order:

1. You spend the entire game killing anything and everything that moves.
2. You accomplish #1 with an arsenal of the most destructive weapons you have ever seen.
3. You can drive a tank, which not only has huge guns but can also crush nearly anything.
4. You singlehandedly destroy hundreds of enemy soldiers, toast dozens of armored vehicles, demolish giant war engines, and rescue loads of hostages- on every single level.
5. There are six of said levels- not too long, not too short.
6. Even if you are a bad player it's still a ton of fun. If you are a good player it's even more fun.
7. Unlike your average RTS or RPG, you do not have to spend hours playing in order to have fun at this game. But you could play for hours if you wanted to...
8. The graphics rock, the music rocks, the level design rocks, and it even has sequels that rock!

And last but not least, this game has nearly infinite replay value. Yes, you can see it all in 30 minutes or less. Or can you?? I dare you to find every secret by yourself, even on the 5th play through. And once you know where everything is, can you beat the game without dieing even once? I eventually managed to accomplish this feat, and have yet to repeat it. Because the game is only designed to be played in 10-30 minute intervals you can just pick it up again and again, whenever the need for some non-stop wanton destruction strikes your fancy.

Finally, the #1 reason why I like this game: it's a heck of a lot of fun with friends. After all, if killing an evil dictator and his army of henchmen is so much fun, think how much fun it is to bring a friend along for the ride! So what are you waiting for? Find this game, and get your daily recommended dose of destruction and insanity today!

Games I have loved: Quake

Today is the first in a series of entries about games, especially retro ones, that I have been addicted to.

And for the first entry, one probably everyone has seen and played at some time, Quake. My first PC was pretty slow, only a 486DX at 166 Mhz, but when you put Quake on it it didn't matter anymore that it was an ancient dinosaur. No more shame at using an old PC when my buddies had shiny new PIIIs, Quake was just that cool. I got my copy of Quake from a friend who didn't play it anymore. I was immediately impressed by the 3d models, nice textures, lighting which put DOOM to shame, and... what an atmosphere! Quake was gloomy, eerie, and sometimes downright terrifying. The sound of a shambler suddenly roaring in your ear right behind your head as he ambushes you from behind still puts a skip in my heart to this day. A nothing quite gets your adrenaline pumping like having to wade through a battalion of angry chainsaw-wielding ogres just to escape from a room with a ceiling that's about to fall and crush you.

I still admire and frequently play this game, not just for nostalgia but because it's probably the most fun I have ever had in a videogame. The game was fast on two levels- even on a 486 you could get a very payable game even if your FPS meter said only 15 FPS. The game was that responsive. Secondly, the game was just fast paced in general. Most monsters weren't that smart, but they were usually fast, well armed, and strong. The premise of the game was perfectly executed for this- you're in enemy territory, they know you're coming, and they have prepared. So naturally, you get ambushed, trapped, tricked, and overwhelmed on a regular basis, and the only thing that can save you is tricky footwork, quick thinking, and good aim. Some people would call the game design "cheap." But it's more real that way- if you were a one man army in enemy territory, do you think you'd be given a fair chance? No way!

I have never played a single player game which has quite the same feel as Quake. Quake is known for two things- linearity and speed. The levels are straightforward, so you won't get lost or waste time trying to figure out what to do next- usually. You also have to be quick to survive, and if you're good enough you'll be able to finish the level in a satisfying short time. In Quake it can be very satisfying to romp through a level of armored psychos and monsters in just shy of a minute, and know you earned it too, because you pegged every one of the buggers and came through without getting your head blown off. Playing modern games like Medal of Honor was painful to me after playing Quake- I just wanted to rush in, dodge about with grenades going off and bullets flying just past my head, and finish the enemy like a winged bringer of death. No, you need to sneak carefully to the door without making noise, tip it open with a tap of your toe, and gently lob a grenade inside, like a complete pansy. Sure, I'd do it that way in real life- but I'm playing a game, for crying out loud!

Of course, the models are all really low polygon counts, the textures are small, and, as any all-knowing modern gamer will tell you, how can you take a game seriously when the default resolution is 320x280? I mean, you don't even need a GPU! I just ignore them. Here's why: the game will run on nearly anything. I mean, with a little tweaking you could run Quake on your cellphone. In fact, I've seen it done. This means that at the LAN party you don't need to bring a $3000 computer- you can just dig up the beast(s) in you basement and set 'em all up. Most geeks have enough hardware in their cellars to put together a 4 player lan party setup for Quake, and nobody would have to bring hardware.

One last thing about graphics, I kinda like the pixel look. Sure, photorealism is OK, but I just like some silky smooth pixel graphics sometimes. On a older PC I can run Quake at 60-100 FPS without breaking a sweat, and the pixel graphics fire the imagination. The low poly models seem to be given life through the pixelated medium. A shambler- blocky looking in high-res, bristles to life in low-res; straight sided and bland looking anti-aliased shoulders become hulking, rippling, furry, blood stained bringers of pain when you drop the resolution back down. The blurred non-aliased forms really add a feel of grunge to the game, which of course works perfectly.

All in all, Quake is one of my favorite games of all time, a true classic which has stood the test of time, and which, in my opinion, is still a shining example of all that a great FPS should be.