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Almost Adventure
Matthew is Just Adventure's youngest staff member and probably, in terms of gaming taste, our most eclectic. We have imposed on him to provide his expertise and recommend a few games to our readers that are not adventure but feature some related element that would interest the adventure gamer. To suggest that he took this assignment seriously is an understatement--he soon submitted over 20 mini-reviews, out of which we selected the following.
Code
Blue
Publisher/Developer: Legacy Interactive
Almost everyone has seen the television show ER, and almost everyone has, at one point in his or her life, thought about being a doctor. After trying Legacy Interactive's latest game, Code Blue, you might change your mind. Code Blue is an interactive movie/medical game that could be compared to Sierra's Police Quest: SWAT in terms of how you interact with the game and how the game interacts with you, but this has just a little twist. You see, with Code Blue, instead of being the new guy on the SWAT team, you are the latest intern/resident at Legacy Memorial Hospital's emergency room.
It's your first day on the job in the ER, you are feeling great about yourself, then the resident who is your supervisor (played by Stephen Collins of 7th Heaven, and a good choice for this role) welcomes you aboard but tells you that a lot is riding on you. The residency program at Legacy Memorial is in danger of being shut down, and it is up to you to make a good impression for the State Medical Board. This is no easy task. If you've ever seen the show Trauma: Life in the ER, you'll understand what I'm talking about later on in the review.
The first case you will get in Code Blue is very simple to treat. A woman comes into the ER saying she was bitten by a dog. The attending physician and your supervisor, Doctor Matthew Clark, tells you how to diagnose and treat the patient and then leaves you to your own devices. Throughout the game, you can get hints on diagnosis and treatment through your PDA, and you can also download treatment plans to the PDA, which makes your life easier. Nothing worse than having to run to the to the nurses' station to look up a treatment when you have a patient dying on the table.
The first few cases you get will be pretty simple, but after five or so cases, you'll have to be able to stay on your toes. The first multiple trauma case you receive is a humdinger. A college student fights off an attacker, and they both plunge three stories; the college kid gets electrocuted and the attacker (why is it that the attacker is always less critical than the person attacked?) suffers a compound leg fracture. You'll have to stabilize one patient and then run to the next one to save both lives. To successfully do this, you as the player have your work cut out for you. If you screw up just one iota, one of your patients will die on the table, no questions asked, no warnings given. Oh, wait a second, that happens in real life as well.
In other cases, you will be asked to make some moral decisions that could affect your career at the hospital. A little girl is brought in by her frantic mother. Apparently the girl swallowed some pills and the mother doesn't know exactly what her little girl swallowed. Throughout the exam, the mother keeps asking you "I can't get in trouble for this ... right?" After the exam, do you let the mother go, or do you turn her in?
A little boy is brought in by his parents; apparently he "fell down the stairs." Upon examination, you determine this boy has been abused, there are old bruises all over his body, his arm has been broken--do you turn the abusive parents in, or do you determine it is none of your business and discharge the child?
The graphics are passable, just some still images of rooms (at some times) and then video of a patient on the examination table. The game consists of a lot of FMV and pointing and clicking on an exam tool and then a part of a person's body. When it comes to examining patients, you will see some close-up areas of different parts of the body. Unfortunately, the wounds look very real, so real that on several occasions I had to stop and put my head between my knees. Pretty gruesome stuff. Now I know why I don't want to be a doctor--I couldn't handle the pressure.
If you are looking for something fun to play and need a little break from the "real world," then give Code Blue a try.
Emergency
Room: Disaster Strikes
Publisher/Developer: Legacy Interactive
Emergency Room: Disaster Strikes is pretty much the same as Code Blue. Made with a Quick Time engine, it's very fun and entertaining. The whole premise is that you are an ER doctor during the time of not one, not two, but three natural disasters: earthquake, fire, and mudslide/flood. You'll handle all sorts of cases from broken arms to drowning cases. It's very entertaining and fast-paced and, of course, only for those who are not faint of heart. You may also want to try Emergency Room 3, the next Legacy Interactive title. It's pretty much like Code Blue, except that you get to pick and choose the cases you handle. It's pretty cool. Check it out.
America
Publisher/Developer: Data Becker
Okay, I'll admit it, this game is just FUBAR. [I have no idea what this acronym means and I'm afraid to even ask. --Randy] Its premise is to retell the history of America's Wild West era through the storytelling technique used in the Age of Empires games. In other words, some old geezer (hey, I know a lot of older people read my stuff and no offense to them either) is going to tell you about the way things used ta be when ol' Bill the Kid used ta ride in ta town on his high ol' hoss and cause trouble.
America's main problem is that the game makes no sense, and there is no way these units can be considered even remotely balanced. For example, in one level, I was playing as the settlers (you can choose one of four campaigns, Indians, Outlaws, Settlers, and Mexicans), and the trappers (ya know, Davy Crockett-types) were just standing around as a group of Indians came into my settlement and leveled it. To make matters worse, the pathfinding is horrid and units get stuck and lost. Graphics are good but, as stated earlier, everything is completely unbalanced. Don't waste your time and money with this game. Honestly. [Anyone over the ripe old age of 30 who wishes to beat Matt over the head with a cane may contact him at matthew@justadventure.com.]
Project
IGI: I'm Going In
Developer: Innerloop
Publisher: Eidos
Interactive
Here's a decent game from the folks over at Eidos Studios. The whole premise is that you play an ex-SAS (Special Air Services) commando who is now working freelance. There happen to be a few nuclear missiles missing from a stockpile in Russia, and your job is to find them.
Loaded with fun spy-genre clichés, Project IGI is a enjoyable romp across the Eastern Bloc to find a deranged Russian colonel with a small nuclear arsenal. One of the coolest things about Project IGI is the graphics. Impressive and incredible, they look like something you would find in a flight sim (as a matter of fact, I believe a flight simulator engine was used to create this game). The weapons are vast and equally impressive. AK-47s, MP5SDs (silenced), 9 mm pistols, revolvers, magnums, M16s and M4s, and my personal favorite (a Tommy gun!), the sniper rifle. Healing yourself up is as simple as finding a medipack syringe and medical supplies and jamming a needle into your wrist. Looks awfully painful, but it works.
With Project IGI, you are going to spend upwards of 50 hours (maybe even more) trying to beat this game. A bullet to the skull can easily kill you (just like in real life, boys and girls), and you will endlessly plan strategies and think, "What the hell happened here?" as your body falls from the top of a water tower down toward the ground. You can be sneaky, or you can go in with guns blazing and land yourself into a world of hurt if the alarm is activated. One of the most clever things about the game is that you can break into a security control computer and deactivate its cameras for anywhere from one minute to four minutes. That'll give you plenty of time to sneak by. And if you want, you can even destroy the security cameras to put them out permanently and give you a "free pass" through the base.
With some levels, if the alarm is activated, tanks come after you. Yes, tanks. So, you better make sure you have a LAW (Light Antitank Weapon) handy; otherwise, you're dead. And just like in real life, with these LAWs, if you happen to aim for the front of the tank, don't surprised if it isn't destroyed. You see, today's tanks have the bulk of their armor on their fronts and backs. That's why you must aim for the side of the tank. One shot, one kill. The strategy involved in this game is immense. You can't just run headfirst into a building because you'll run out even quicker. That's why I prefer the "toss in the hand grenade, run away, wait for it to explode, charge into building" method. Unless you do this, you're screwed. But, hey, it could be worse, right? You could end up getting yourself killed when you accidentally toss a grenade at your feet and don't realize it ...
Hitman:
Codename 47
Developer: IO Interactive
Publisher: Eidos
Interactive
As you sit at a bar in downtown Hong Kong, the Chief of Police walks in and says to you, "I'm sorry, but you have to leave. There is an important meeting to be held here." Without much thought, you stand up and go outside the bar to wait for the meeting to end, not really paying attention to what happened to the man who went into the bathroom ten minutes earlier. As you mill around in front of the bar, you see a man in loose-fitting black shirt and pants walk up the front steps of the bar. On the back of his suit is a dragon. A few moments later, you hear several screams and you see the same man burst out of a broken window, running at full speed down the street, then you see him dart into an alley with several cops chasing after him. A few moments later, they come back, having no clue where the man went. You are walking near a park in Hong Kong when a man in a black three-piece suit and a red tie accidentally hits you with his briefcase. "Excuse me," you say to him as you continue on your merry way. You don't pay too much attention to the man, other than the fact that the briefcase was a little larger than is normal. "Must be an accountant," you say to yourself. As you try to enter the park, a man in blue robes says to you, "Nobody is allowed in the park, I'm sorry." You shrug and walk over to a building.
You lean up against a wall and casually look into the park. You see two men near one of a statue, one man is in blue robes, the other man in black robes with a dragon on the back. They seem to be arguing back and forth about something; a few seconds later, you hear what sounds like someone stepping on a twig and then you see the black-robed man go down on the ground, blood oozing out of his body. There is much confusion as everyone in the park is running around, while the blue-robed men are hustling the older man near the statue towards a waiting limo. A few seconds later, the limo speeds away and you can hear a helicopter coming in from a distance. If you look up, you can see a man fire off several shots at something on the roof, but a few seconds later, the same crack is heard and the man in the helicopter goes falling to the ground.
This is the world of Hitman. Nobody is safe in this world. It is a world of lies and treachery and the ability to blend in with people, and a piano wire will get you further than the ability to blend in. While it is a very decent game, it is difficult for a first-timer. You really need to understand how to be sneaky; otherwise, you just won't get it. The game's missions are broken into "chapters," with each one containing a specific goal. I'm sure everyone would enjoy it if they gave it a try!
B-17: The Mighty 8th!
Developer: Wayward Entertainment
Publisher: Microprose
World War II was a hectic time period. There were battles being fought on not one, not two, not three, not four, but five fronts: the war in Western Europe, in Russia, in North Africa, in the Pacific, and in the air. The wars that get the least recognition in my opinion are the North African and the air campaigns. Thank God that someone finally developed a bomber sim to give recognition to those that fought in the air war.
B-17 takes place in the middle to late years of the war. And you, as the player, are in command of a bomber crew. Yes, that's right, an entire ten-man crew. It wouldn't be an easy task to manage one crew; imagine flying the squadron campaign and managing 10 or 12 other crews? Good luck! You are going to need it.
Each crewman has certain skill levels in different categories: piloting, technical, gunnery, first aid, and bomb-aiming. They also have age, rank, and marital status (the latter three are not important to completing your mission). It helps to write down on a piece of paper before each mission a man's status with these skills. It wouldn't make any sense to throw the radioman into the pilot's seat if the pilot is wounded and the radioman has no flying abilities. It also makes no sense to give a wounded man first aid using a man who has no first-aid skills!
The game is very complex, so complex that even if you read through the manual entirely, you are still going to have a hard time with bomb-aiming and flying. The entire complexity of the Norden Bomb Aiming scope has been worked into the game. And let's just say the plane handles like a real bomber should, slow and sluggish.
But if you just want to play as a gunner or navigator, or even a radioman, you can. Just want to mess around with the fuel control valves? Well, you can do that too. About the only thing that you as the player can't do is jump into someone's body and walk around the plane in first-person mode, which would be cool if you think about it.
The graphics are astounding: The trail of fire streaming from a heavily damaged B-17 that is going down with both wings clipped off is stunning. Unfortunately, though, you are going to need a hefty system--my Pentium II 350 with 96 MB of RAM and a Diamond Viper II video card sometimes ran slowly and at other times ran normally. I'm assuming this was because of the time it took to generate the pretty game graphics.
Rainbow
Six Collection
Developer/Publisher: Red Storm Entertainment
Tom Clancy is an author who can spin a decent adventure yarn. Better than half the crap novels out on the market now anyway. And the good folks over at Red Storm Entertainment have taken the flavor of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six novel and crammed them into five action-packed games (with a rumor that one more is on the way). The basic premise of the game is that you, the gamer, are in control of a team of elite specialists from all over the world. The missions run from the easy (run in and kill everyone) to the downright hard (sneak into a heavily guarded facility, shut down a bunch of systems, steal top-secret information, then get out of there without being seen).
The first game, Rainbow Six, follows (and I use the term loosely) the plot of the Clancy novel of the same name. The missions take place all over the world, from England to Australia to North and South America. And like I said, they range from the hard to the easy. There is even a mission where you get to visit the Athlete's Village at the 2000 Olympics because of a bomb scare. The graphics are merely okay in this game. The expansion pack for Rainbow Six, Eagle Watch, contains five missions and adds on several new multiplayer scenarios.
The sequel, Rogue Spear, is pretty much the same mission-wise; some are easy, some are harder. The plot is a classic Clancy one; trust me on this one. The graphics have improved, which is a good thing, and everything just has a nice feel to it. Even the atmosphere. The expansion pack, Urban Operations, has five new missions, new multiplayer modes, and, here's a plus, it's all CQC (closed-quarters combat), with battlefields range from a London subway terminal to the Venice canals.
And finally, we have the complete counterterrorism encyclopedia entitled Covert Ops Essentials. It consists of reading material and taking a test. Graphics are much improved from Rogue Spear. I have to give the Red Storm developers credit--it's as if they learned how to improve the graphics as they went along. Honest!
Star
Trek Away Team
Developer: Reflexive Entertainment
Publisher:
Activision
This is a nice little game from Activision and is similar to Eidos's Commandos series. It's a Starfleet commando team that pretty much goes around the universe and breaks the Prime Directive when ordered so that Starfleet can wash the maple syrup off its hands and be rid of someone or something. The team is what I like to refer to as the Dirty Dozen plus five (there are 17 team members you can choose from), and every team member has his or her own specialized skills. Each mission has a special requirement; for example, in one mission you might need someone who has a good "security and doors" skill, while on another mission a requirement might be to have someone with a hypospray so he can heal the wounded or inject a medicine into someone so that she will feel a little bit better and not as groggy as she was when she got captured.
The missions are interesting--they occur throughout the Star Trek universe, on ships, at the Academy, Starfleet Command Headquarters, and even a Borg Cube! The entire premise of the game is to break up a group of conspirators known only as the Wardens. I think the plot has actually been in a Trek movie before ... oh, yes, that's right ... can we say Insurrection? Not that hard of a game, but for some reason, after each mission, my computer locked up and I had to reboot. It's not that big of a deal, but it's frustrating.