December 1939

The bleak position the Axis powers and the Shah in particular faced at the outset of December could only mean for a total strategic rethink, and despite their successes, the Allied war machine too appeared to need to take stock of the situation, offering a month of respite and reorganization. Read the full story

With October’s successes hinting at a subtly precarious situation, can the Axis forces and Iran keep up the pace? Read the full story

Here’s part 2 of my Hearts of Iron 3 Campaign Diary, detailing October 1939. We see an Italian blitzkrieg dominating Western affairs, while the forces of Carton de Wiart; a low ranking, but obstinate British division commander prove every bit as wily and stubborn as his grizzled reputation suggests. Read the full story

With Hearts of Iron 3 proving to be such a leviathan game, I decided to accompany our verdict of it with a long term campaign diary to demonstrate how a full play of the campaign could turn out, and have a laugh a long the way. Read the full story

Open world games are ‘in’ right now and they are becoming ever more popular in the racing game genre. I am talking about Fuel and Burnout Paradise, two open world racers that take very different approaches to the concept.

Fuel places you in a truly massive world based on the west coast of America, one which has been destroyed by the effects of global warming, Burnout puts you in Paradise City a much smaller but altogether more lively environment than what you get with Fuel. It is extremely interesting to jump from one game to the other, to go from the isolation of Fuel to the hustle and bustle of Paradise City really does make you stop and think about the games.

In Fuel your only companions are the big lumbering trucks that traverse the many roads of the game while Paradise City is packed with vehicles of all kinds. It is not just the traffic you come across which is different, Fuel gives you a desolate landscape with abandoned buildings dotted around the landscape, take a trip around Paradise City and you are blasted with a gluttony of buildings both large and small. It is also place where every little thing seems to be trying to catch your attention, you are constantly being pulled this way and that at the whim of the game. Fuel is much more minimalist and empowering, there isn’t that sense that you -have- to go here or there, you are just presented with this massive slice of America to drive around.

For all the criticisms that have been laid at the exhaust pipes of Fuel it overcomes them and makes Paradise City seem a bit immature in comparison. In the Burnout game you never get a moments rest, there is a super jump here, billboard there a race to do here. The speed you drive at plays a factor in this too, as does the size, or lack thereof, of Paradise City. You can travel around the whole city in just a few minutes as you drive around in cars that just fly through traffic on perfect roads.

If you tried to drive all the way around the world of Fuel you would be there for hours, I spent twenty minutes travelling from the first base camp to the second, and that was without stopping here and there to take in the sights. You are able to go everywhere with even a hint of ground, this doesn’t happen in Paradise City. Yes you can find the hundreds of shortcuts in the game and drive around all the train tracks, but you will often come up against a flimsy fence which stops you dead in your tracks.

Fuel lets you explore and that is what the game is all about, the racing is a bit of a let down to be honest (especially compared to Burnout) but the world is a joy to just drive around. I mentioned being able to take in the sights and you are encouraged to, Vista Points are hard to find but are worth it for the amazing view you find. This is totally lacking in Paradise, it is such a frentic non-stop game that you don’t feel like you are able to take a moment for yourself just to observe what is happening.

If these two games were to get combined into one then it would be an amazing experience, as it is they both have some very praiseworthy attributes. I love them both, Burnout for the amount of crazy shit that can be done, Fuel for the world that I can explore. Both games are geat.

With certain new games set for release at ever higher prices, while others (such as Men of War) have a distinctly lower price point and regular sales, it seems time (as ever, I suppose though) to think about what games should cost. Rather than blathering on in an opinionated fashion, I did a little survey, firing off a short list of questions to a section of The Reticule’s eminent friends in development to see what they thought about it. Read the full story

I died. I had just reached the shingle on Omaha beach when a bullet from an MG42 took away the last 4 bits of health I had. I was devastated, after clawing my way through the sea, past the obstacles and up the beach I saw safety, just to have it taken away at the last moment. What was even more galling was the fact that I had completed my objective of getting to the shingle, though it wasn’t enough to save me.

I tried again, this time I made it to the shingle and met up with the Captain, I was not impressed with what he had to say. He was sending me back down to beach to grab some explosives to be used to blow a path through the shingle. I glanced at my health, I was down to 4, again. I knew that it was suicide to try and get the Bangalore’s in my current state; I crawled further along the shingle to find a medic, my saviour. I was patched up to 54 little points of health and felt ready to run madly down the beach to get those much needed explosives.

Once I had returned safely with the bangers the Captain blew a whole in the shingle, after a mad dash across a mine field covered by two machine gun nests I found myself leaning against the base of the concrete fortifications with just 10 health. The mad Captain ordered me to get across the rest of the mine field in order to reach some trenches. I died, I tried again and I died. I gave up.

This is the Omaha beach level from Medal of Honour: Allied Assault. Perhaps the finest, most realistic gaming moment there is, and certainly the best landing assault level there is, much better than Stalingrad in Call of Duty. This pretty much is the opening of Saving Private Ryan in video game form, which should come as no surprise as the director of that amazing war film, Steven Spielberg was involved in the creation of Allied Assault.

This one level is the defining moment of the whole game, it is telling that you receive an in-game medal just for completing the mission; you don’t have to do any other special tasks, simply just survive what seems to be the unsurvivable.

When I first played Allied Assault I romped my way through the opening two missions of the game, it was only when I got to Omaha that I found my match. It is a totally uncompromising level, that medic I mentioned earlier will only heal you once, there is no respite from the constant noise of artillery shells landing and bullets pining off the obstacle you are hiding behind. It is one of, if not the most intense level of any game. The corresponding console version of the game, Frontline also features a level on Omaha, that was the first version I played and I found it pretty easy. For that simple reason I was shocked by the challenge posted in Allied Assault, I was not ready for the levels of grit and determination needed to complete the opening sequence of the beach landing.

I think it is a shame that when any game features a similar styled beach landing or ground assault that the Stalingrad level from Call of Duty is always the level of comparison. Yes, that is awe inspiring in its own right, but it is no Omaha. The Hell of Omaha.

Facebook is one of the most popular websites on the web, it brings together a diverse group of people, young and old, male and female, it is an ideal site for companies that want to get their name out to a massive audience. It should come as no surprise then that game developers are starting to move onto Facebook with Ubisoft being the latest company to do so. It is not just Ubisoft who are moving onto Facebook, PopCap have long had a presence on the social networking site with Bejeweled Blitz becoming a firm favourite amongst my friends. You can also find the EA/Positech mashup, SimSocial on the site.

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