Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I’ve talked about Ben Abraham’s Far Cry 2 permadeath play through before. The point, of course, isn’t about playing in Iron Man mode. It’s about playing in Iron Man mode and then writing about it. And Ben’s gone far further into this terrain than anyone else. His twenty-hour playthrough is immortalised in a 400-page, lavishly illustrated PDF complete with an intro from Far Cry 2′s head-chap Clint Hocking. I’ve yet to read it, but this is clearly the product of true obsession as well as a monumental monograph in games journalism. Between this and Alice & Kev, it’s proving quite the year for large-scale experience-orientated games writing.

Scientist, soldier, security guard and now silent cat: these are the tales of Half-Life the first. The mod known as Cat-Life was announced some time back, with its concept hitting twin notes of absurdity and “that makes a lot of sense, somehow.” It’s Half-Life with a cat. I’m pretty sure you weren’t able to work that out for yourself from the name, so I thought I’d better explain it for you. It’s the first-person-shooting videogame Half-Life, but starring a domestic feline instead of an improbably athletic physics dork. Do you understand? With a cat. Oh, you still don’t get it, do you? Well, a demo of the mod’s just sprung up. Perhaps that’ll explain all.
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Friday, and the end of our first week of door-opening. More of the best is yet to come, of course, including today’s offering, which we count as one of the most fascinating accomplishments of 2009. But what could it be? Only a journey through the electronic portal of our incredible seasonal advent calendar will tell you. Follow the hand of the one true leader of the Autobots as we discover…
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It’s probable that younger readers won’t be particularly familiar with Alien Breed, as the last iteration in the series was a 3D version of the 2D corridor shooter, which appeared in 1996. It has taken until now for Team 17 to figure out how to make a sequel, with two projects cancelled along the way. Having eyed-up the current digital distribution book, and decided there’s a niche for them, the company has announced a self-published isometric 3D version of the game, titled Alien Breed Evolution. John Dennis, Team 17′s design manager, spoke to us about the project.
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Take-Two did their financial business all out in the open last night, and there’s a few snippets of gaming news from it all. Here’s the headlines: Bong! Max Payne 3 delayed until this time next year. Bong! Unlikely to be a new GTA until 2011. Bong! Mafia II still on schedule for Spring 2010. Bong! BioShock 2 for 9th February 2010. Bong! Borderlands considered “a key franchise”. Bong! A “AAA game” is delayed, but they won’t say which one. More details in the coming forever, but first a look at the weather.

Ten years. Ten piggin’ years. And still no-one’s topped Quake III: Arena in terms of raw, pure deathmatch FPS solidity and grace. Id’s last great game turned a full decade old yesterday – even though it was born into an era of Voodoo 2s and 15″ CRT monitors, it’s fearsomely alive to this day. Frankly, it’s not going anywhere any time soon – it lives on both in its original form and as the free-to-play, browser-based Quake Live. And also in an endless legion of mods, modders, maps and lifelong gamers, all inspired by the precise majesty of its high-speed bloodshed. Gentlethings and ladycreatures, yesterday was our Thanksgiving.
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Another peek at Cryptic’s upcoming Star Trek Online, this time focusing on the Klingons and their motives for wanting to smack the Federation’s ships up. They sound angry. Was it because they were left out of the new movie? I’d be sad about that, if I was a Klingon. Doesn’t seem fair, really.

Not quite sure why the guy in this trailer sounds like a disgruntled Yoda, however. And I’m presuming it’s CGI rather than in-game, but I can’t tell anymore. I’ve been tricked so many times before! I can’t trust anyone!
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After the phenomenal runaway success of Hellgate: London it was only a matter of time before there’d be an expansion… Justhangonaminute. Astonishingly this is not a mad lie. There really is to be a Hellgate: Tokyo. There’s even a debut teaser to prove it, below. However, it’s looking likely that the Korean owners, HanbitSoft, will be keeping the game and this new expansion inside Asia. Still, with the announcement of a new version of Mythos last week, it’s interesting to see what happened next to the disastrous MMO.

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Three days of advent calendarism leave us feeling like it’s time for a change of pace. Could that change lie behind the third door of our incredible seasonal advent calendar? All signs points point to yes, so ready your mouse, and prepare the click-drag selection-box of victory as we ride upon the hand of the one true leader of the Autobots, to discover…
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Old housemate Griddleoctopus pointed this at me. It’s My Pet Protector, and he’s brought it to my attention because he spent many an hour watching my oddball Princess Maker obsession circa 2003. This is basically a clone, and – exactly like Princess Maker – yet more testament to the sometimes-a-number-getting-bigger-is-enough school of game design. The main difference is instead of training a girl, you’re training a boy, so the frankly enormo-dodgy starving your daughter so she can wear the best dresses elements are gone. And there’s no option to feed them breast-expansion pills. At least, not so far, though I’d imagine it’d teach any son some valuable life lessons. Go play here or watch Be Your Own Pet play Adventure below…
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Empires of Steel, previously offering a beta demo back in September, now offers a final demo. The turn-based world-conqueror from Battlefront now available, too. Lock up your fathers. And get the demo from here.