Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight
International Distributor: Microsoft Game Studio
Local Distributor: Microsoft Taiwan
Platform: English for PC
Taiwan Release: Late August
To celebrate 100 years of aviation, the Microsoft Flight Simulation series has produced a special release. The set includes nine historical aircraft and 15 of the very latest in aviation technology. The game includes an improved weather simulation system, auto-gen environments, realistic backgrounds and fantastic graphics.
Of the historical planes, gamers can experience the thrill of Charles Lindbergh's flight on the Spirit of St Louis and even have a go at getting the Wright brother's first plane off the ground. The Microsoft Flight Simulation series has always been known for its accurate historical detail, and this celebratory set contains quantities of notes to give gamers an even greater sense of the advances made in aviation over the last century.
Modern planes include the Cessna 172 Skyhawk SP, the massive Boeing 747-400 and the R22 helicopter. The physical responses of the aircraft in different conditions are lovingly replicated. Using links through the Microsoft Network, gamers also have access to updates on flight information.
Counter Strike: Condition Zero
International distributor: Sierra Studio
Local distributor: Unalis Technology
Platforms: English for PC
Taiwan Release: Late September
Counter Strike had a major impact on the computer games environment in Taiwan. By bringing hundreds of thousands of young people under its spell, in helped create a new environment of Internet Cafes, led many people to greatly improve their computer hardware and brought Taiwanese gamers into international gaming circles. Its popularity also led to agreements between the government, academia and industry that saw gaming cast off the stigma of being socially harmful to being encouraged by government grants to expert players.
After three years, a second edition is scheduled for release. Unalis, which achieved enormous success with the first edition, so much so that it expanded into a financial group on the back of CS profits, is planning massive publicity for CS2, hoping that the second edition will help pull the recently sluggish computer-game market out of the doldrums.
For beginners, CS2 has incorporated extensive single player scenarios, with three single player modes, six storylines, and 25 missions. This is a major departure from the original game, which made its reputation on its team play model. This introduction will give novices a chance to hone their skills before entering the online arena.
What veteran players will notice more than anything else is the improvement in the quality of "the enemy." In this instance, artificial intelligence has given computer-generated characters much more human reactions, making them more unpredictable and much harder to deal with.
There are plenty of scenarios that require technical methods of concealment, such as wading through channels while monitoring enemy movement through a periscope or difficult situations in which soldiers must coordinate with allies in poor visibility conditions. Online team play has not been neglected, with the game offering 10 online maps.
Medal of Honor Allied Assault: Breakthrough
International distributor: EALA
Local Distributor: EA Taiwan
Platform: English or Chinese for PC
Taiwan release: Already available
An extension pack for the award-winning Medal of Honor, the historical background for Breakthrough is the period 1943-1944. There are 11 individual missions, including breaking through from Kasserine Pass to Monte Battaglia. There are also nine multiplayer scenarios including Monte Casino, Messina and Anzio.
Playing a US army sergeant, players are involved in various major actions, but the difference from CS is that Medal of Honor allows players to work individually, or to bring in a small team or even call down air support or artillery to get him out of a tight spot. Although Medal of Honor has already released a number of extension packs, its team play model has never been strong and Breakthrough goes some way to remedying this problem.
In order to retain the spirit embodied in the game's name, EA has worked closely with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, to respect the courage of those who actually took part in these actions. Lieutenant Daly Dye, a military consultant to such major motion pictures as Saving Private Ryan has also been closely involved in the development of all the Medal of Honor games.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angle of Darkness
International distributor: Edios
Local distributor: Atari Taiwan
Platforms: English for PC
Taiwan release: Already available
The Lara Croft series has just released a new product in time for the release of the second film. After all, the formula is infinitely repeatable, with Lara wandering the world seeking adventure, fighting evil, and generally showing off a splendid physique and some good moves.
On this occasion, Lara is on the run, framed for the murder of her one-time mentor Werner Von Croy. In order to save herself, she finds herself having the save the world first. So what's new?
In game terms, the incorporation of role-playing game (RPG) techniques into the first person shooter (FPS) is a new move for this series. This allows Lara to improve her abilities by gaining experience and in many instances it is her ability to act and react to her environment, which includes various non-player characters, that is the key to success, rather than deft movements and good aim with a gun. If certain non-player characters are not dealt with in the right way, they may not provide key information to get past certain obstacles, and then you won't have any option but to reload.
The obstacles that Lara faces in this new version are more difficult than in the past games. Many of the traps provide very few clues, and require considerable patience and many tries before getting through.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
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It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
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