I know I’ve not been posting lately, distracted and all that, but I saw this in FeedDemon & I just had to post it. gog.com has added Cannon Fodder to its catalogue. This is a classic strategy/shooter game, I spent hours playing this as a kid and it’s definitely going on my to-get list.
Cannon Fodder is an isometric point-and-click shooter with a touch of strategy. Each mission you’re given a handful of freshly drafted soldiers, a list of objectives from kill all enemies to kidnap the enemy leader and need to fight your way through impossible odds. Your troops gain ranks as you progress through the game (if they survive the mission, which is a big if) and each has a unique name and is given his own gravestone if he runs out of luck on the battlefield. Cannon Fodder is all about fun, quick wits, sharp reflexes and pure blind luck. So get your copy today, make sure the boys do their duty and get back home in as few pieces as possible!
It’s only a 20MB download and at US$5.99 (~ AUD$8.50) it’s well worth it for the crazy fun that this game is.
Good Old Games is giving away 2 games for free to all registered members. If you’re not a member you can sign up now.
The games are Beneath a Steel Sky & Lure of the Temptress, both point-and-click adventure games from the early 90’s. Beneath a steel sky is particularly awesome, both because it’s set in a dystopian steampunk Australia and because the art direction for the game was by Dave Gibbons. Plus you get a comic book by Dave, inspired by the game, as a downloadable bonus.
The Classification Review Board has determined, in a unanimous decision, that F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin warrants an MA 15+ (Mature Accompanied) classification with the consumer advice ‘Strong violence, blood and gore. Moderate coarse language’.
“After considering extensive submissions and demonstrations of game play across all levels, the Review Board concluded that the level of violence in the computer game, whilst strong, could be accommodated within the MA 15+ classification”, acting Classification Review Board Convenor, Trevor Griffin said.
What this means is that the game hasn’t had to be modified, the board has just changed it’s mind after lobbying from the publisher. While I’m glad that yet another game hasn’t been banned, from the video I’ve seen of the game, it really is very violent and probably shouldn’t be sold to anyone under 18. But because of our lack of an 18+ rating for games, these sort of games either can’t be sold, or get rated at 15+. Neither of those options are really good.
We need an 18+ rating for games in this country, won’t someone think of the children?!?
Two weeks ago my wife gave birth to our fourth child Sabrina. She & mum are healthy & well, but this has been seriously cutting into my game playing time!
On the upside, a friend has given me his old Playstation (the first one) with a bunch of games including Oddworld & Gran Turismo, so when I do get some time I’m going to be having a great old time!
I’m back at work now too after two weeks off, so everything is getting back to normal. There’s an enormous amount of feeds in FeedDemon for me to catch up on, so lot’s of news to read.
Microsoft has announced that the Australian price for the standard Xbox 360 is now $399, matching the price of the Wii. The non-harddrive Arcade version is now $299, making it now the cheapest current generation console on the market.
So what does this mean? It means that many people who were thinking of getting a Wii may get an Xbox instead. It’s a much more powerful machine with a greater variety of games. It also has the marketing power of games like Fallout 3 and Gears of War 2 behind it. For gamers with limited budgets this is a god-send. Australian retailers have been quick to jump on this for their Christmas promotions:
The Lego Indiana Jones & Kung Fu Panda games are part of the standard bundle, but it’s the extra game you want to look for. I think Game has the advantage here with Gears of War 2 or Fable 2.
Hopefully this means more people start playing games this year, which will mean more people to lobby against South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson stand against the R18+ rating for games in Australia.
A numberofpeople are complaining that Fallout 3 ends after you’ve completed the final quest. Also it seems that if you just do the main quest you’re looking at about 12 – 20 hours of game play (YMMV obviously).
I’m not sure this is a major problem, but if you don’t know about it & you don’t have a save game just before you complete the final quest I recon you’d be a bit annoyed. Especially when this didn’t happen in the previous Fallouts or in Bethesda’s recent previous RPGs Oblivion & Morrowind.
I’m also hearing & reading that people aren’t fans of the level 20 cap. I’m wondering if Bethesda will do what Blizzard did for World of Warcraft and release an update that provides a cap increase. I get the feeling though that the game designers are wanting you to replay the game rather than just keep going doing all the quests in a single game like you could with the other games. I’m not sure why or whether it’s the right decision (I can’t play the game due to lack of Xbox360, PS3 or decent PC) but it doesn’t seem to be hurting people’s love of the game. The forums where people have complained about these issues are full of other people defending the design and saying it’s great.
Like I said, I can’t play the game, but if you like extended gameplay rather than just getting is finished, then you might want to avoid the main quest to begin with. But if you’re short on time & just like the cathartic experience of completing the game, you’ve got the option of doing that too.
The games are The Suffering, Area 51 and Rise & Fall Civilisations at War. The US Air Force has in the past demonstrated its willingness to laugh at itself with its continued extensive support of the Stargate series, and including Area 51 as one of the titles here just continues that theme.
The download site links to the Air Force’s DoSomthingAmazing.com and the games themselves contain ads. Definitely worth downloading if your connection can cope with the 6GB it will take to get them. Update: note: because they’re ad supported they won’t let you play without an internet connection to load the ads. So much for my on the train gaming.
Full Spectrum Warrioris also available. It’s not listed on the promo page but it is mentioned on this 1UP article. You can grab it here (it’s another 1.6GB). That was a great game on the XBox, I’ve never played the PC version, I’ll have to see if it’s any different.
I downloaded the demo of World of Goo from Greenhouse. This is the fist game from independent game developer 2D Boy. The basic idea is that you have these goo ‘globs’ that can connect to each other to reach a suction hose that collects them up. The un-used globs will be sucked up into the hose and each level has a minimum number that you need to collect. The game is based on realistic physics, so if you’re building a structure it’s going to bend and sway depending on how you build it.
If it sounds weird, it’s because it is. This is a game that is definitely high on the bizarre humour ratings. It’s essentially a puzzle game, and it gets progressively harder as the levels go on. You also get new types of goo, such as ones that you can re-use.
Also, each level has an OCD award. You get this for either collecting the maximum number of globs or finishing in a set number of moves. I’ve only managed to get a couple of these, it’s pretty hard.
I know I’ve not been posting lately, distracted and all that, but I saw this in FeedDemon & I just had to post it. gog.com has added Cannon Fodder to its catalogue. This is a classic strategy/shooter game, I spent hours playing this as a kid and it’s definitely going on my to-get list. 
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