BPGE #37 – Falcon 4.0
One of my concerns with this video series was that certain games would be quite a hassle to get working. Things where looking good as most games moving forward should not have too many issues running under Windows 7 or XP. Falcon 4.0 is the first title that no matter what I tried, I could not get it working at a reasonable performance due to compatibility issues. From the brief time spent on the game, I can see that it is a pretty solid combat flight sim. However without being able to play it at reasonable performance I cannot give it a final judgement.
BPGE #36 – Battlezone
This week ends with a first-person shooter and real-time strategy hybrid called Battlezone. This game developed by Activision takes the best parts of both genres and combines them into one great overall package. I don’t have a whole lot more to talk about beyond this either. The game is pretty solid and it’s quite fun too, the only complaint is that we do not have a modern title that resembles this.
BPGE #26 – MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat
Today on BPGE we get to engage in some mech combat in MechWarrior 2. For starters unless you truly enjoy mech games this is not likely your game. Especially due to it’s age, unless you have a joystick or controller configured you will be in for a surprise with all the controls available to you. Unfortunately time was not kind to the gameplay either, the game feels dated and it doesn’t bring out the fun like it used to. Fortunately for us there is a new MechWarrior in development and if that wasn’t enough, Armored Core V is also in the works.
BPGE #19 – Star Wars: TIE Fighter
We start another week with three more games on the list. To kick things off we start with a space combat simulator call Star Wars: TIE Fighter. Unlike recent games with licensed movie content, titles like this where usually a good sign back in the day. As with most of these older games, I had to spend the first five minutes stumbling around and learning the controls before being able to do anything. Once I had those stored in memory, the rest of the game was surprisingly easy to pickup and play for the first time. I quite enjoyed playing the game and found it surprisingly easy to get into. If you can look past the primitive visuals, we do have a good title in need of a remake here.
BPGE #14 – Frontier: Elite II
Frontier: Elite II is a space trading game set in a completely open universe. When I say completely open, the game has no missions, story or ending for that matter. Being a space trading game, you should ideally start trading resources for profit but how you proceed with this is entirely up to you. Do note that in our video I only did a quick trip from Mars to Earth which is a pretty short trip considering the massive scale of the game. There are many other planetary systems accessible in the game via hyperspace jumps which is important as you can start developing trade routes this way. If you wish to try out the game please read on for some instructions on how to do so. Read more
BPGE #11 – Ultima VII: The Black Gate
Our second game this week happens to be the second Ultima title on the list. Unlike the spinoff we played yesterday, Ultima VII keeps the traditional isometric view from the previous games. Marking the beginning of a third age in the series, Ultima VII is regarded as the best title in the series. Unfortunately due to the games size and story driven nature, I only spent a few minutes at the beginning to showcase what this game is all about. If this game interests you, read on to see how we got the game running.
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BPGE #10 – Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
This week we kick things off with a very important RPG game called Ultima Underworld. I will never be able to do this game justice as I never played it back in the day, however I can appreciate how technologically advanced this game was for it’s time. Not only was the 3D engine massively ambitious in it’s day, the entire gameplay side was also pretty neat for it’s time. You could choose many different skills, spells and a large array of equipment that would help you complete the game. Ultima Underworld was a truly open dungeon based RPG which has since influenced many new games after its release, even fifteen years later. Read on for install instructions. Read more
BPGE #3 – Red Baron
Game number three on the list is a WWI combat flight simulator called Red Baron. This was the first time I had played the game and despite its age, I came away quite surprised with all what it had to offer. There is a wide range of simulation options such as carburettor icing, damage and even bleeding if the pilot gets hit by shrapnel. There is also a good variety of missions and even a campaign mode that I showed off in the video. However the best part of the game was the balance between having fun while remaining challenging. Even after all these years, there are plenty of newer games that still struggle with that aspect which greatly dampens the overall gameplay. If this game interests you, read on for instructions on how to find and play the game. Read more
F1 2011 – Race Gameplay
As promised in the previous quick look video, today I bring you a pure racing video. In this video, I’m at my first race of this season in Melbourne, Australia. This first race is a pretty good example of pushing much too hard and overdriving the car. That resulted in multiple mistakes and much heavier tire wear making the overall much more challenging then it should be. That being said, I will be adjusting to the changes over the next few races which should result in much cleaner racing.