Console Crysis? (Page 8 of 8)
- December 15, 2006 15:45 PM PST
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Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Not only will the latest installment of one of the most popular PC games of all time include the expansion episode of the Half-Life 2 story, but will also include two incredible extras: Portal, a unique multi-dimensional puzzle game centered around the use of a portal gun, and Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood in Arms, the long, long, long-awaited multiplayer sequel to the original team-based online shooter Team Fortress.
Your aging PC won't even run half of Half-Life 2: Episode Two
The premise of Portal is simple, but its challenges will bend your brain in a hurry. You're equipped with a handy-dandy "portal gun" that allows you warp the space-time continuum on a whim. The ultimate goal? Use your portal-creating abilities to set strategic portal locations to bypass enemies and obstacles. Your way is blocked by a flaming pit? Fear not. The trusty portal gun will lead the way.
Team Fortress 2 came as a particular surprise: the game was first announced in 1999 but quickly vanished from the radar following repeated development troubles. Valve has not spoken publicly of the game since the early 2000s, but the teaser videos we've seen are nothing short of wondrous. The game now boasts a much more cartoon-y, over-the-top visual style that is almost reminiscent of Pixar's The Incredibles. And incredible it looks to be. Keep this one on your short list for 2007.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
If Half-Life and Killzone had a baby, the hideous, mewing offspring of that infernal coupling would be S.T.A.L.K.E.R.. Only one other PC game has become as notorious as S.T.A.L.K.E.R for its numerous delays and near-media blackout, and that's perennial punchline Duke Nukem Forever. But the ambitious development team at GSC Game World in the Ukraine promises that any delays will be forgiven once the game finally makes it into the hands of first-person shooting fanatics next year. "We are not afraid of being compared to Duke Nukem Forever," says lead designer Anton Bolshakov. "They should be afraid of us."
Well put, Mr. Bolshakov. But we're not sold yet. On second thought...
"This extremely explosive barrel should make for some good cover!"
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. strives to do something no first-person shooter has done before: combine standard FPS game mechanics with traditional role-playing fundamentals such as the trading items, interacting with characters, and playing through dozens of side missions.
According to the developers, the game is based on the real-life tragedy of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explosion of 1986, where hundreds of scientists and plant workers perished in a devastating blast of flesh-melting nuclear radiation and fire, which also claimed the lives of thousands more later on, plaguing them with cancer and other illnesses. A tragedy, to be sure, but one that lives on in the public consciousness.
The game's setting reflects the Chernobyl catastrophe, from the rad-blasted environments to the "Stalker" occupation of your lead character. Almost every single crumbling structure from the game is something that existed at one time. Some might say it's educational, but we think it's just creepy. In a good way.
