PC Gaming Reviews

Welcome to Terraform Video Game Reviews

This lens will review the latest and greatest pc games of our time. I'm a big fan of real time strategy (rts), role-playing game (rpgs) and first-person shooters (fps). This lens will also deal with that special time when you need to upgrade your computer with the best graphics cards, processors, and other hardware to get the most out of your game. Be sure to bookmark this page as I will attempt to review as many games as possible!

If you enjoy my reviews and it inspires you to check out some of the best games for the pc gimme a rating =)

*UPDATE*
I've just built a new computer and damn is it fast. I've been playing a lot of the Witcher and Call of Duty 4. Expect reviews of those two titles soon.

Company of Heroes (PC)

company of heroes, relic, thq, rts, coh, wwii, pc, ww2

I can't stop playing Company of Heroes. It's quite different than your typical run of the mill WWII games. The graphics are freakin incredible, the physics engine is hyper-realistic and the sound and music are excellent. Character voiceovers are quite impressive and on par with voice acting in Baldur's Gate among others. The soundtrack works well and changes depending on what's happening. I.e. you're preparing for a battle and suspenseful music will play... Or say you're in the middle of a crazy firefight? Kickass epic music plays while you blast Nazis to smithereens.

The campaign only consists of 15 missions, but once you start playing them you realise that 15 missions is a lot, as each mission can take up to two hours, and can all be replayed using different tactics. The storyline is impressive, and the cinematic cut-scenes in the game are extremely realistic (if you have your PC set on the high detail mode).

According to gamespot, the two main flaws in this game are long loading times, and the fact that there are only two factions. However, loading times aren't that long at all (20 seconds max), which don't bother me because they do not occur frequently. I would rather one pretty long loading time before each mission/skirmish than frequent loading times in between cut-scenes. And also, Company of Heroes: Opposing fronts, which is coming out in late 2007, will add 2 new factions to the game, so that should help make the game more interesting.

As for the multiplayer mode, you can play online with up to 7 other players around the world, which is pretty incredible when you play it. However, as with most multiplayer games, lagging is very annoying, especially when its another player letting you down, but CoH deals with this well by offering lag grace of 20 seconds, before the other players have an option to kick the lagger...Harsh, I know...

In conclusion, I highly recommend this game, even if you don't like WWII games, because this RTS is easily one of the best and most worth-while games ever created.

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Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

I loved the original Command and Conquer series but hadn't picked up any of the recent titles in a long time. Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars drew me in immediately and unfortunately takes up a lot of my gaming time as it just kicks plan arse! In C and C 3 you play as one of two opposing forces (GDI or NOD) and fight over a substance called Tiberium, a highly valuable mineral from meteors. When humans are exposed to it in large doses, it has a tendency to kill and the earth is split into "zones": red (uninhabitable), yellow (barely inhabitable) and blue (which is completely safe and protected by the GDI).

This game introduces a new faction called the Scrin which is an alien race with a completely different playstyle than that of GDI or NOD. GDI relies mainly on tanks and base defense, while NOD relies more on cheap and effective infantry and mechanized units. The Scrin? Well you'll just have to play yourself.

The multiplayer gameplay is pretty much the same as the single player game, but...well, funner. Going online is a blast, and the Automatch option does an actually decent job at matching player rankings for pretty fair matches. With the recent 1.05 patch released, the added maps can now allow 8 player battles, which can get huge and enjoyable. The Comrade messaging feature streamlined in the game is well put, and is a nice addition to an already pretty good gaming lobby. Obviously a downfall could be the occasional lag, but with the eight connections and game types, matches can be a blast to go through. Definitely the staple of the game, and compliments the game well.

Now with all the gameplay out of the way, the graphics in the game are great. Attention to detail is worth noting, with trails of dust following vehicles, and explosions looking bright, vibrant and hot. The shimmer of Scrin shields and the warn look of worn out buildings shows how well the graphics compliment the game. Did I mentions explosions? Yeah...they're awesome.

Also, the sounds of the game are very true to futuristic war form. What with lasers firing and buzzing, guns cracking and mechs lumbering thunderously towards an enemy, the sound is clear and nice. Add in an epic soundtrack with a full blown orchestra and choir, and you've got a pretty good test for a new sound system. With the gameplay at top notch, the graphics glimmering, and the sound thundering, this game is definitely a replay game and a must purchase.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War

Dawn of War is a game I haven't been able to stop playing for about a week now. Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop wargame in which you use painted miniatures and battle between friends. Dawn of War takes the awesomeness of the tabletop game but takes away the tediousness of calculating distances and rolling dice, which equals pure awesome.

Dawn of War's best feature is the hectic pace of the battles. Certain mech type units grab infantry and tear them to pieces. Flamethrowers destroy terrain as well as the soldiers in its path. Artillery changes the surface of the planet you're battling on and makes some pretty cool explosion effects. In this game, mass producing one type of unit will get you killed pretty fast. Dawn of War is all about balanced forces (a healthy mix of melee and ranged units along with vehicles). Once units are built you can outfit them with new types of weapons as well as add sergeants (more powerful versions of the infantry that also give a bonus to combat ability). It comes in handy as you can create a time of flamethrowing crazies, an anti-armor squad, or a mix of lasers, rocket launchers, and machine guns. Infantry squads usually start out with 4-5 troops when they're trained and can be increased to about 10 each squad. If a soldier in a squad dies you can click the reinforce button (costs some of your resource), but the infantry will respawn with his squad shortly.

Most units have special abilities attached to them such as grenades or beneficial warcrys etc. Each infantry squad has a morale bar along with their health bar. If your infantry squad takes enough damage or is hit by artillery the morale bar is destroyed and your troops flee. However, squad leaders typically have a "rally" feature that will keep the soldiers from fleeing.

Resources in this game are gathered through capturing supply points which generate a certain amount of "requisiton" required to build units. Since there are only a handful on a map they cause fierce battles almost five to ten minutes into a multi-player game. The other source is power plants which can be built inside the players base.

If you want an accessible yet involved real time strategy game that is pretty to look at, then look no further than Dawn of War. Rarely can a game simplify so many aspects of its gameplay and interface without sacrificing depth.

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SimeyC SimeyC Aug 7, 2008 @ 8:11 am

Some nice reviews here thanks! My personal fave at the moment is The Witcher. See my review here.

Haven't had much chance to play RTS for a while - I've been looking at the warhammer ones - wish they'd do one based on the original fantasy warhammer!

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