Hot Game 2009

Let’s review: The original StarCraft, released in March of 1998, was one of the deepest, best balanced, most addictive real-time strategy games ever made. It had three richly varied races, an actual story and near-limitless potential for strategic variations. Now, Blizzard Entertainment — a developer that has never released a bad game — is finishing up a sequel with gorgeous graphics, new unit types and abilities, and improved online matchmaking.

What’s not to anticipate about StarCraft II? I mean, except for the fact that I’ll be losing my job and my friends and getting scurvy because the game will end up devouring every waking moment of my life. Some people are griping because Blizzard has already announced plans to hold back some content for expansion packs. But come on, do you really think you won’t get your money’s worth? People are still playing the original, 11 years later.

For more than two decades, the tabletop game Warhammer 40,000 has captivated countless fans with relentless miniature figurine battles waged between hyper-religious superhuman space fascists, space Orks, space Elves and savage, genetically engineered insect-things that are also from space.

The transition to the real-time strategy genre on the PC went fairly well, but the onset of sequel-itis has left the original Dawn of War looking a bit tired. Fortunately, Relic Entertainment is bringing players back to the basics with Dawn of War II — namely, control of small, elite squads embroiled in close-quarters combat, with a number of traditional RPG mechanics rolled in. Dawn of War’s gleefully excessive brutality and visual flair have been revamped, adding tantalizing levels of detail to the act of vigorously throttling enemy units before hurling them through the air like a large, wet sack. There will also be bits of traditional base-building and resource gathering on the multiplayer side of things, but confess: We’re all really in it for jetpacks and chainsaw-swords.

We don’t know what it’ll look like, how it’ll play or even what it’ll be called. But Harmonix’s collaboration with The Beatles is the odds-on favorite to be the biggest thing to happen to videogames, and maybe even music, in 2009.

The creators of Guitar Hero and Rock Band have turned millions of gamers into faux rockers with plastic instruments, letting non-musicians experience the joy of jamming. And what better way to put on a show in your living room than with the legendary music of the greatest band of all time? Harmonix is forgoing Rock Band 3 this year to concentrate its efforts on re-creating the Fab Four’s music in interactive form. Even if this were just downloadable content for Rock Band, it would be one of the best things to happen this year. As a standalone game, it’ll be unstoppable. (As long as Harmonix includes an option to sing the entire B side of Abbey Road without stopping, I’ll be happy.)

FEATURES

* Design Entire Worlds – Players can choose terrain patterns, vegetation and neighborhood accents like water towers and lighthouses, then place lots and roads to create something totally unique.

* Players Choice – Players can start with a blank canvas, or modify the terrains that formed the basis of Sunset Valley or Riverview.

* For Advanced Designers – Those with design skills can bring creativity to life by creating and importing designs from Photoshop and other programs into their world.

* Trees Galore! – Combine objects and items from The Sims 3 World Adventures expansion pack or items from The Sims 3 Store to create a one of a kind landscape.

* Share with the World – Created worlds can be shared and downloaded through The Sims 3 Exchange. Sims players will now have additional worlds to choose from beyond the extra town of Riverview, which has been downloaded 2MM times.

The Sims 3 Create a World Tool – BETA is a robust tool for avid Sims players that want to expand their gameplay experience and create an entire world. Players can build anything from mesas, mountains, and waterfalls to their favorite The Sims 2 neighborhood, their own home town, or even the Moon! even you can create a place like Myrtle Beach Resorts and ceate your own Myrtle Beach Accommodations to your consoles.

Myrtle Beach Resort is the good place for relaxing after a day with great activity , you can waste your time wih playing game or walking around at the beach with Myrtle Beach Accomodations.

The G4 award for most controversial video game of the month goes to Six Days in Fallujah. This documentary-style combat game for the PS3, 360 and PC is being developed by Atomic Games and released by Konami. It’s set in the Iraq war, and aims to give players as realistic a view of 2004′s Battle of Fallujah as possible. Atomic says it will not editorialize. But despite the game’s just-the-truth attitude (and the fact that all that’s been released so far is a concept, a title and some screenshots) just theidea of a realistic Iraq war game has angered a number of peace activists and military veterans

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Tim Collins, a former colonel of the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, told Britain’s Daily Mail, “It’s much too soon to start making video games about a war that’s still going on, and an extremely flippant response to one of the most important events in modern history. It’s particularly insensitive given what happened in Fallujah, and I will certainly oppose the release of this game.”

On the other side of the idealogical coin, Tansy Hoskins of Stop The War Coalition, had this to say about Six Days:

“To make a game out of a war crime and to capitalize on the death and injury of thousands is sick… The massacre in Fallujah should be remembered with shame and horror not glamorized and glossed over for entertainment.”

These are some strong opinions, but I doubt that the people who are most outraged by Six Days are gamers. To get the true scoop of the rank and file of the U.S. military, I contacted some gamers in the armed forces and asked them what they thought about Six Days.

Sgt. Casey J. McGeorge served three tours (36 months) in Iraq, and told me, “As a combat veteran and as a gamer, I have no problem whatsoever with the game…As long as it’s made as realistically as possibly, I believe that this could be a good thing for both combat veterans and for the war in general.”

While former Army Sgt. Kevin Smith worries that the game could be used by anti-war activists to further their agenda, he said, “Let it be made, and hopefully it will bolster support for military veterans by giving civilians insight into what this war was actually like for them.”

Marine Corps. Gunnery Sergeant John Mundy thinks the game might actually help Marines train. “I know Marines would use this as a tool to not only give each other knowledge on the battle itself, but also have another tool to get the Marines thinking about Rules of Engagement and such so that they can play the game together and maybe learn a thing or two.”

As for how civilian gamers will like a realistic depiction of war, Smith points out that real combat is not a game of Call of Duty 4. “You can’t just lob a frag down the street or launch a RPG at a couple of guys if you have to reload,” Smith said. “There are restrictions on what types of weapons you can use and when. Depending on what the Rules of Engagement were for the Marines in Fallujah, and if Atomic Games has consequences for violating them, I think some gamers might find it a little frustrating.”

Gunnery Sgt Mundy sees potential problems with the “humanity factor” that multiplayer would bring toSix Days if the feature ends up in the game.  ”You will have your group of idiots that try to be the terrorists and kill Americans and shout obscenities through the TV, damning American military personnel,” Mundy said. ”But hey, those individuals can make fools of themselves all because of the protection that we military people give them each day.”

Both McGeorge and Smith brought up a point that both the makers of the game and its detractors failed to mention: Perhaps playing a game that depicts war realistically will lead civilians toward a greater understanding of what military people go through during battle.

“It can be extremely difficult for the average person to understand why a person who returns from a combat zone may seem so jumpy and alert all the time,” McGeorge said. “The first time in the game they get too close to a car and are blown up; the first time they are killed in the game without knowing what is really going on, they might be able to get a small understanding of what we have had to go through on a regular basis.”

“A lot of soldiers have had a hard time readjusting when they return from war, and this has caused an extremely high suicide rate,” Smith said. ”I really hope that this title receives positive press and encourages more empathy towards veterans after gamers have ‘experienced’ what they have gone through. On a side note, I really hope this game includes co-op!”

Gunnery Sergeant Mundy summed up the feelings of the three military men we spoke to with this simple statement: “If someone doesn’t agree with the game, they can spend their money elsewhere.”