The War of Resistance Against Japan (八年抗戰)
Publisher: Nieo Technology
Platform: PC
Taiwan Release: Already available
Developed by Nieo Technology, the company that brought us the wonderfully inane Go! Go! Taipei MRT (GO! GO!
As one of the only commercially available war games to deal with the Japanese invasion of China, the possibilities for creating a cutting-edge and graphically pleasing game are -- in theory at any rate -- endless. Sadly, however, Nieo appears to have opted to do it on the cheap.
Instead of creating a fluid and engrossing game, the company has produced a real dud. And while the concept is certainly worthy of applause, the actual game is worthy of very little.
The game is easy to master and game play is loosely based on that of the Steel Panthers series. The interface, though ugly, is straightforward and the scenarios don't take long to complete. The downside is that The War of Resistance Against Japan lacks the attractiveness and playability of many of its popular international counterparts.
It might prove entertaining for those with a whim for reliving pseudo-historical battles, but for more experienced war gamers there is absolutely nothing smart about The War of Resistance Against Japan.
The battles are not based on genuine ones, but are instead a series of random melees, and the actual environments in which the battles take place are far from inviting. The graphics are clumsy and lack detail and authenticity, and movement is awkward.
Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
Publisher: Midway
Platform: X-Box
Taiwan Release: Mid-June
Midway's Unreal series has long been one of the most absorbing PC-based sci-fi first-person shooters on the market. It might not have created the same buzz as Halo and Counter Strike, but its stunning graphics and engrossing game play have always been on par with its big-name rivals.
The Liandri Conflict is the first saga in the Unreal series to have been designed specially for console play and, while PC purists will, no doubt, balk at the more arcade-like graphics, the long overdue X-Box version of the game is a real winner.
Game play is fluid, players don't have to fumble around with keyboard controls, the game doesn't slow down or crash and, more importantly, gamers don't have to install five disks and employ a whopping 5.5GB of hard-drive space to compete in the Unreal world.
The format may have changed, but the crux of the game remains the same -- well almost. Unlike previous Unreal adventures The Liandri Conflict shies away from the run-and-gun action and instead focuses more on close-quarters combat. Fist, sword, spear and staff fights all play a bigger part than ever before.
Sure, players can still choose to blast their opponents into tiny pieces with an oversized grenade launcher or take a more subtle approach and employ a sniper rifle, but for the most part The Liandri Conflict is an up-close-and-personal fighting game.
Sound and graphics-wise the game is superb. There are no glitches, at least none that this reviewer stumbled across, and game play is smooth and is made even more enjoyable by the fact that there are over 50 maps and environments and a dozen characters to choose from.
RSS