The Cult of Sun Tzu

Halo Wars - First Look

So you probably want to ask me what is so great about Halo Wars as a realtime strategy game. You especially want to do so if you're not a console gamer - you know, one of those guys who has the conceit that PCs are the best gaming platform for all those reasons you see in Alienware marketing. The answer will not satisfy you because you are a bigot and because you probably know a game that did something like this before. But I still have to say it...

Halo Wars is the best RTS ever, and not just because it has a fabulous backstory.

The simple reason Halo Wars rocks is because unlike any other RTS I've ever played, it is a campaign. Which is to say instead of getting one big world in which the technologies are fixed, you get multiple battles in multiple worlds and the technology is varied as are the foes. Now it's true that End War put you in multiple battlefields with different objectives, but the enemies were generally predictable, and you would still race to enable pretty much the same variety of technologies and weapons.

Here's an example. In episode four, HW throws a curveball. Instead of massing troops and hording technologies and other large strategies, you are tasked to escort civilians from a city as the transports, which are in three different locations come under increasing attacks. I've played the scenario three times, and I've never been able to save all three evacuation transports, and you don't even get a chance to build a base until you lose one of the three. This is a completely different scenario than anything I've ever seen.

I don't take a lot of direct guff from being a gamer, but I imagine that there are people who find the very idea of video games trifling. I have only one thing to say to them. Buy the Prima Guide. It's only 208 pages and full of pretty pictures, but once you start reading into the rules, tactics and strategies, you'll realize that this is the most sophisticated kind of game imaginable. It's a war game. 

Once upon a time, not long ago, humans could beat computers & human programmers playing chess. In terms of computer and programming evolution, that was a very very long time ago. The games we play are a lot more unleashed than chess, so much so that we need artificial intelligences to direct against other artificial intelligences. One of the most interesting sorts of challenges HW provides in general is the ability for you as a single human to play with your AIs against a pure computer AI, or against another human and their AIs. With Halo Wars, you can go 1v1 2v2 or 3v3 in any number of different maps as you collaborate with other humans and their troops. The complexities are mind-boggling, but the drama is compelling.

Halo Wars is difficult.

It is not much like playing Halo at all. You simply cannot blast your way to victory. Having finished the game on normal difficulty after three days, I can attest to the fact that some online players, notably the younger ones resign before they're truly beaten. It simply requires a completely different set of skills. I'm now working on doing skirmishes to get deeper into tactics based on my brief experiences and the RPS of RTS. 

Now. I base a lot of this smack talk on my experience with Rise of Nations and Rise of Legend, which were both a great deal of fun. But I have to say, even online with real opponents it felt very linear. There's also the fact that I simply hate gaming on PCs which I see as good for just about everything *but* gaming. Keyboard and mouse just does not engage any fast twitch parts of my brain, unfortunately. There is probably somebody who should smack me up from the StarCraft view of the world, and there are things to concede. However, like with Second Life, I think it's really stupid to have any game where you are likely to meet opponents several orders of magnitude more powerful than you - in which the investment of time and money runs into months. I could conceivably do so in an MMO Fallout or Oblivion universe, and quite frankly I gave Spore a shot at that. I thought Spore was a miserable failure, but that's a long story itself. 

So yeah a case can be made that I love Halo Wars because I loved Halo and I have no idea what the state of the art is for PC based MMO RTS where you pay 15 bucks a month and clan up with solar system sized economies. Yeah you're right. I want something between that and chess, that I can play for a couple hours a night and be fully satisfied. And I am.

Race Pro - First Look

This weekend I spent a little time with Race Pro, the new driver from Atari. While most of the guys in the Cult of Sun Tzu (my clan) have begun to rave about it, especially our Lethal friend, I'm a bit more reserved in my judgment. Still, it's a very good game.

Now the Lethal One keeps telling us that this is the perfect driver if you have the Microsoft Wheel. I do, and I don't ever use it because i have no good rig for the thing. So it's somewhere in the garage. Nevertheless, I'm good enough on the controller, or at least I think that I am, to place after i get the gist of the game. The problem is, I haven't unlocked enough of the autos to tell you. But now that I just got my hands on the racing Viper, I'm starting to be convinced that this is more excellent than it seems.

Race Pro is, quite frankly a combination of PGR, TOCA and Forza. So far it's a pretty decent mix for the kinds of things I like. The TOCA part is that you have a real season and you have to earn money to get into races. It's kinda realistic, but nowhere near as fun and interactive as Grid. And it should be said that this is a $40 game, not a $60 one, so it's a decent budget game. Like Forza you can hack you ride and tune the handling. But it's all about handling which is better and more realistics for tight class-based racing. Sure it's cool to put a 800hp blown hemi into a Mini Cooper, but... Like PGR the driving can be nicely forgiving and the online competition is handled nicely. 

Race Pro is unique in several ways, some good. My first gripe is that there is no E-brake. WTF. I get realism but jeez. On the plus side, the tuning of the suspension and all that makes a significant difference, and I actually get it. I changed my differential settings and I noticed the difference right away. I changed my spring softness and got 5 seconds off my lap time. So I can make all of the different cars handle the way I like them to handle. I think I'm going to learn a lot more about tire camber setups and all that and use them in Race Pro more than I ever bothered in Forza. 

I don't like the fact that so far I can't change the look of my hoop. All of them are pretty ugly and realistic. I also think that they should have had multiple grains of heads up. It's either extremely busy and distracting or not there at all. I like the grains of the assistance and driver aids better than in Forza. The track line is not interactive and therefore not helpful as Forza's is, but the shift indicator for what gear you should be in is very nice. The in-car view has fairly readable dash, so on certain open wheel cars, it makes up for the lack of heads up. 

The tracks of Race Pro are very good. There are a few that are familiar, Road America, Valencia, Laguna Seca and Macau and several new ones that are nice challenges. There's not much detail paid to graphic niceties - spectators are few and wooden; trees and landscaping might as well be from the PGR 1 days. I wouldn't be surprised to see jaggies. But the tracks themselves are first rate, technical and well realized. So far my favorite is Brands Hatch, and Pau is giving me conniptions. 

The AIs in this game are brutal. If you hookup to Pro mode, as opposed to Semi-Pro or Rookie, be prepared to get your car flipped. There are some vicious algorithms underneath some of these guys. Also, if you cut the track, you get DQ'd. That's right. I haven't played many online sessions in open rooms, but there is no turning off collisions and other goodies for button mashers. 

This is a serious driver's game and it shows. Still, the balance is that it's as technical as any drving game needs to be but forgiving enough on Rookie settings to be a lot of fun. The tracks are interesting enough to provide a good variety of racing conditions. Right now, however, qualifying and unlocking vehicles is likely to try the patience of most workaday gamers. This is a drivers game, not with bells and whistles but with cranks, knobs and switches.

Gears of War 2

Gears of War 2 is such an excellent game that I find myself surprised at how much fun it is. It is by far one of the grisliest and bloodiest shooters out there but it works so much better than its predecessor.

I have spent a lot of time working towards a rank of 30 in Halo 3 for the past month, and I have significantly improved my game. I was a 19 when I started to take the game more seriously back in September. Now I'm a 28. So I cannot really tell whether that exercise in improving my reaction time and thinking on the fly has helped my control in Gears2 but by every measure, Gears 2 feels much more controlled and precise than the first installment. On the other hand, maybe it's my new HD bigscreen.

Be all that as it may, there are several enhancements to the franchise that like with Halo2 and Halo3 embrace, extend and enhance the Gears experience. More weapons, more vehicles, more stunning and varied venues, more subtle music, more creepy uses of darkness, more character revelations, more well thought out battle spaces, more dialog and more moves. Did I mention more enemies? And how.

The biggest change in gameplay in Gears2 is that there are a larger number of battle situations in which you are shooting from a moving platform. The original was walk and shoot, run and shoot, shoot from cover and flank the enemy. Good enough. But shooting from huge moving vehicles over rough terrain, or barges or dirigibles or trams - that's different. As well, Gears2 has avoided over reliance on boss battles. Instead, it's all about trying not to be overrun by hordes of foes of all shapes, sizes, speeds and strengths. A great battle in Gears2 will have you in an area where the cover moves, and you have some one-shot-kill enemies running up quickly to you and exploding nearby like suicide bombers, some enemies moving very slowly with large weapons that require two direct headshots to kill. All the while the standard grunts are changing positions and laying down suppressing fire and then a mounted enemy is zig-zagging his way to you and you have to decide to kill him or his mount first then deal with the other. Sometimes you have one assistant, sometimes you have three.  All very varied.

The multiplayer and menu system which was very bare bones in the first go round has gained a lot of sophistication in the new version. It makes for a more convivial lobby experience.

The Cult Convenes

Hey this is Sixoseven. I have known you guys for years but I really don't know you, but I'm not sure if I really want to know you. Whatever to that. Bottom line is we can do better in coordinating when we'll all get together and settle on a game. So I set up this blog for my game reviews and whatnot, now I'm putting a calendar together with it as well.

I'm going to nominate Lethal as the secretary because he's in everybody's business anyway, plus he has probably seen more of us face to face than anybody. So I'm going to give him access to write here on the blog and on the calendar. Anybody who wants to volunteer is cool too. Redundancy is good. Just use a real email address on the comments here and I'll get back to you with further instructions.

Here's the calendar.

I understand that some Google things are blocked for some of you in Redmond, but then again I'm sure you have worked out clever hacks to get around that. So it shouldn't be too much trouble to see the calendar. BTW, if you have any suggestions for days and dates and other stuff, just put it in the comments here and I'll transcribe it to the Calendar.

I'll be shooting today mostly. So now that I've got Shadowrun I'm going to get back into that a bit.

Also, that cable place that Lethal was talking about last night is here. Great prices for Cat5.

And finally, here's my Facebook. Join up.

Dark Sector

I've been playing Dark Sector for a couple days now and I must give it a fairly high rating.  The official blurb sets the stage:

What lurks inside Dark Sector? A frightening Cold War secret and 3D-shooter action. Covert-ops agent Hayden Tenno is sent on a mission to Eastern Europe. During an attack by an unknown enemy, Hayden is infected with the Technocyte Virus, which turns its victims into mindless killing machines. Hayden begins to develop superhuman powers as his abilities gradually evolve. As the virus takes over, it works magic on his body, and wreaks havoc on his mind. Harness Hayden's new powers, which grow as the game progresses. You'll need them to survive Dark Sector's gritty, shadowy world that sits on the edge of ruin.

It looks pretty good. What you are forced to say is that the environment is reminiscent of Gears of War, as is the cover system. But beyond that it is very much its own game. Now generally I cannot stand zombie games, and there is one scene in the third or fourth chapter when it's nothing but zombies ad infinitum until you can find a trick to stop them from coming. But I have to say that I do enjoy sending zombies into the great beyond in Dark Sector.

The play is very good and the control is fairly well thought out. It's not very complicated but gives your fingers a different twist. The super cool thing is the glavie, your three bladed boomerang which you hurl using the right bumper instead of the right trigger. As is relatively standard, you zoom your aim with the left trigger and then either shoot lefty with your pistol, or hurl the glavie righty with the right bumper. Holding the right bumper and timing your letgo based on the color of your reticle gives you extra power. And, as you might expect a super boomerang to do, you can fetch remote objects, like the very guns the enemies were shooting you with.  Regular weapons, shottys, assault rifles, etc are only good for a certain time, then they auto-destruct generally before you can reload them. So you are mostly dependent on the glavie.

Environments are mostly tight to medium, and in dark places enemies can creep up on you. There are a few puzzles that you must solve to move from level to level, though nothing as complicated as those in Prey. But other than that it is a straightforward over the shoulder first person shooter, very much like Gears with sprinting and diving for cover.

I've gotten through a couple boss battles which are tedious but generally solvable with rockets. I've endured a lot of rain noises on a perfectly sunny day, and I've endured the ridiculously tight lock you have to have on weapon pickups. These mar an otherwise nice semi-tactical shooter.

Interestingly, the more games like this I play, the more I appreciate Black. This whole game would be an order of magnitude better if the environment were destructible.

Cub3d: Best Minigame Ever

I know it's geeky for me to say so, but so far one of my favorite things to do in GTA4 is play a minigame called CUB3D. It's like a three-D Tetris, but actually more interesting than it seems. I hope that somehow it becomes available for the 360 in the Marketplace. I'd pay for it.

GTA IV: First Look

GTA4 is the most immersive game I've played since Oblivion, and I've only put in 3 hours.

Being Niko is a whole lot more easy, mature and realistic so far, than being CJ back in San Andreas. GTA4 has an organic quality to it, unlike the paranoid frenetic pace of San Andreas. In Niko, you get to see the bottom of the pile of Liberty City, but it is not preternaturally dangerous. You ease into the dark life. My Niko is not there. I've just started. I got about 150 bucks in my pocket, I walk the streets a bit. I bought a pair of boots from the Russian market. I met this girl named Michelle and we went bowling. I sat down in my filthy apartment and watched Katt Williams on TV. I got into a fight to save my cousin from some Albanian loan sharks, but I got my ass kicked by a guy with a knife four times before I actually got through it. It feels like the pace of a real life, day turns to night and sometimes it rains.

Carjacking is stupidly easy in this world - easier that hotwiring a vehicle, but that's part of the fun. The driving engine in GTA4 is an order of magnitude more refined and subtle than any urban shoot 'em up game before, and the hand to hand combat engine defies button mashing of the sort that powers Bully. It makes a world of difference.  I figured I could just knock over these fat thugs with some cool moves. No such luck. My Niko was basically spent after 50 punches. If you have to fight three men, you had better have a weapon.

As before, the music is crackling. The audio talent and variety in GTA4 is the benchmark against which all ghetto ambiance in the gaming world must now be judged. That too shows some mastery on the part of the Rockstar crew. I can't tell you how quickly stupid and repetitive comments just destroyed True Crime despite the ripping sound track. Once again, Rockstar has put together some excellent radio parodies and now added television parody as well.

The art direction is spot on. I am transported to Brooklyn and Queens in Liberty City. The light, noise and shadows under the tracks, the wooden clunk of my shoes on the boardwalk, the weeds and garbage cans under the light in the alley at night. GTA4's Liberty City is a completely intelligent and sophisticated riff off the American urban underclass. It is both exploitive and serious. This is to gangster gaming what the Sopranos was to gangster stories on TV. It has been more than evolved, but revolutionized and humanized with a deft touch. I really truly expect academics to take a close look at this representation of urban life. So far, it is utterly convincing.

But none of that prepared me for being drunk. Yes drunk. My Niko took his cousin out to a bar and then I get drunk. The experience is extraordinary. Niko stumbles trying to walk straight, the entire view is fuzzed and wobbly. I can't even get in a car to drive because I nearly get run over in the middle of the street. Before I can get to the curb I can hear cops coming, and then my head starts spinning harder. I had to laugh out loud it was so uncanny.

I approached GTA4 with more than a bit of trepidation. I have a difficult time being the criminal, but I'm emotionally sympathetic to Niko. It's more than just the date with Michelle and the relationship with cousin Roman, it's the whole world.

GTA4 is the most immersive game I've played since Oblivion, and I've only put in 3 hours.

Being Niko is a whole lot more easy, mature and realistic so far, than being CJ back in San Andreas. GTA4 has an organic quality to it, unlike the paranoid frenetic pace of San Andreas. In Niko, you get to see the bottom of the pile of Liberty City, but it is not preternaturally dangerous. You ease into the dark life. My Niko is not there. I've just started. I got about 150 bucks in my pocket, I walk the streets a bit. I bought a pair of boots from the Russian market. I met this girl named Michelle and we went bowling. I sat down in my filthy apartment and watched Katt Williams on TV. I got into a fight to save my cousin from some Albanian loan sharks, but I got my ass kicked by a guy with a knife four times before I actually got through it. It feels like the pace of a real life, day turns to night and sometimes it rains.

Carjacking is stupidly easy in this world - easier that hotwiring a vehicle, but that's part of the fun. The driving engine in GTA4 is an order of magnitude more refined and subtle than any urban shoot 'em up game before, and the hand to hand combat engine defies button mashing of the sort that powers Bully. It makes a world of difference.  I figured I could just knock over these fat thugs with some cool moves. No such luck. My Niko was basically spent after 50 punches. If you have to fight three men, you had better have a weapon.

As before, the music is crackling. The audio talent and variety in GTA4 is the benchmark against which all ghetto ambiance in the gaming world must now be judged. That too shows some mastery on the part of the Rockstar crew. I can't tell you how quickly stupid and repetitive comments just destroyed True Crime despite the ripping sound track. Once again, Rockstar has put together some excellent radio parodies and now added television parody as well.

The art direction is spot on. I am transported to Brooklyn and Queens in Liberty City. The light, noise and shadows under the tracks, the wooden clunk of my shoes on the boardwalk, the weeds and garbage cans under the light in the alley at night. GTA4's Liberty City is a completely intelligent and sophisticated riff off the American urban underclass. It is both exploitive and serious. This is to gangster gaming what the Sopranos was to gangster stories on TV. It has been more than evolved, but revolutionized and humanized with a deft touch. I really truly expect academics to take a close look at this representation of urban life. So far, it is utterly convincing.

But none of that prepared me for being drunk. Yes drunk. My Niko took his cousin out to a bar and then I get drunk. The experience is extraordinary. Niko stumbles trying to walk straight, the entire view is fuzzed and wobbly. I can't even get in a car to drive because I nearly get run over in the middle of the street. Before I can get to the curb I can hear cops coming, and then my head starts spinning harder. I had to laugh out loud it was so uncanny.

I approached GTA4 with more than a bit of trepidation. I have a difficult time being the criminal, but I'm emotionally sympathetic to Niko. It's more than just the date with Michelle and the relationship with cousin Roman, it's the whole world.

R6V2: First Look

I have been playing Rainbow Six Vegas for a week in anticipation of ganging up with my old buddies for the new release. Who knows, we might even become a devastating clan. So last night was the first time I played the game and it looks new and interesting.

The four biggest differences are all important.

1. Tight Maps
Everybody will tell you immediately that these maps force you to think. Open areas where you might have just dashed across in Ghost Recon or Call of Duty - don't even think about it. The enemy is deadly and they don't miss. You simply must use your tactics. I've been on just a few co-op terrorist hunts and everybody right now is calling out positions and thinking about their load outs. That's because when the AIs are lurking twelve feet from you behind cover, they're ready to pop you quickly.

The maps are claustrophobic and you get the feeling that there is an enemy around every corner, it's not as tight as Splinter Cell, but this is definitely and indoorsy game. Sure there is lots of outdoor action but busting down doors and hiding in cover is really part of this game because there are few wide open spaces.

2. Sprinting.
I can't tell you how annoying it has become to play R6V after playing Gears of War or Call of Duty or Frontlines. It just seems way too slow by comparison. But part of that pace was its appeal because you had to think your way around, not just run and gun. Well now you can run and guess what. You still have to think. In fact you have to think more, because the accellerated pace of this game, which was already way more deadly.

The great new aspect of gameplay makes this game really cool and it took about a dozen online 7 on 7 matches for me to see the magic. Running short distances and slamming into cover in R6V2 now approaches the excitement of doing the same in Gears of War. It's more difficult to accomplish in Rainbow, but the tactic is immediately familiar and the way that the new tight close combat maps work, this is how you can inch your way to the enemy stronghold. That's excitement. I was practically spawn killing using this technique.

3. Armor
Armor makes a much bigger difference in this game. I can remember the frustration of the old R6 when spawn killing was a problem and you could dance around and pump people full of lead and people would dance on their left joystick and not die. Now, there can still be a little bit of dancing, way more than R6V, but only when they are wearing armor. In combination with sprinting, it makes for a more dynamic part of gameplay because you can change up armor on each respawn. The less armor you wear, the longer you can sprint. Adjusting your armor for different maps adds a real dimension I really appreciate right away.

4. ACES
In Project Gotham Racing 4, the Kudos system finally reached perfection. I think that can now be said about the ranking system in R6V2. I love it. The fact that you accumulate your points in co-op whether you win or lose is very cool and the three categories of achievements are stellar. I''ve never been one to accumulate internal rankings for more than just the big guns, but these are actually fun in a non-fanboy way.

A few other things I've noticed. The interiors of some of these maps are very sweet looking. Almost to the quality of Splinter Cell. Putting the ROE on the Back button is a little bit annoying - it's one of the things I use a lot, especially when I want them to flash & clear and then engage weapons free.

Enemy AI seems improved slightly and now there are two weapons they have and you don't that are to be feared and respected. The SPAS 12 is back, and deadly as ever, but now they have the AUG Para. That bad boy is nasty.

The four biggest differences are all important.

1. Tight Maps
Everybody will tell you immediately that these maps force you to think. Open areas where you might have just dashed across in Ghost Recon or Call of Duty - don't even think about it. The enemy is deadly and they don't miss. You simply must use your tactics. I've been on just a few co-op terrorist hunts and everybody right now is calling out positions and thinking about their load outs. That's because when the AIs are lurking twelve feet from you behind cover, they're ready to pop you quickly.

The maps are claustrophobic and you get the feeling that there is an enemy around every corner, it's not as tight as Splinter Cell, but this is definitely and indoorsy game. Sure there is lots of outdoor action but busting down doors and hiding in cover is really part of this game because there are few wide open spaces.

2. Sprinting.
I can't tell you how annoying it has become to play R6V after playing Gears of War or Call of Duty or Frontlines. It just seems way too slow by comparison. But part of that pace was its appeal because you had to think your way around, not just run and gun. Well now you can run and guess what. You still have to think. In fact you have to think more, because the accellerated pace of this game, which was already way more deadly.

The great new aspect of gameplay makes this game really cool and it took about a dozen online 7 on 7 matches for me to see the magic. Running short distances and slamming into cover in R6V2 now approaches the excitement of doing the same in Gears of War. It's more difficult to accomplish in Rainbow, but the tactic is immediately familiar and the way that the new tight close combat maps work, this is how you can inch your way to the enemy stronghold. That's excitement. I was practically spawn killing using this technique.

3. Armor
Armor makes a much bigger difference in this game. I can remember the frustration of the old R6 when spawn killing was a problem and you could dance around and pump people full of lead and people would dance on their left joystick and not die. Now, there can still be a little bit of dancing, way more than R6V, but only when they are wearing armor. In combination with sprinting, it makes for a more dynamic part of gameplay because you can change up armor on each respawn. The less armor you wear, the longer you can sprint. Adjusting your armor for different maps adds a real dimension I really appreciate right away.

4. ACES
In Project Gotham Racing 4, the Kudos system finally reached perfection. I think that can now be said about the ranking system in R6V2. I love it. The fact that you accumulate your points in co-op whether you win or lose is very cool and the three categories of achievements are stellar. I''ve never been one to accumulate internal rankings for more than just the big guns, but these are actually fun in a non-fanboy way.

A few other things I've noticed. The interiors of some of these maps are very sweet looking. Almost to the quality of Splinter Cell. Putting the ROE on the Back button is a little bit annoying - it's one of the things I use a lot, especially when I want them to flash & clear and then engage weapons free.

Enemy AI seems improved slightly and now there are two weapons they have and you don't that are to be feared and respected. The SPAS 12 is back, and deadly as ever, but now they have the AUG Para. That bad boy is nasty.

Frontlines: Fuel of War

It's really funny to play the game that Nulan sees in our future, an international conflict over the last oil on earth. The peak oil crisis is the premise for the new large scale multiplayer battle sim on XBox 360. It's an excellent game. It just came out last week, but the weekend before I had been playing the free demo. It took about 30 minutes to get it, which was a bit long for me in a first person shooter. But as soon as I did, the veils were lifted from my eyes which allowed me to see that this is a landmark game for the 360.

First of all, it's got more weapons and more vehicles than Halo3. You start with one of six basic loadouts (Sniper, Rockets, Assault, Heavy Gun, Silenced Sub, Shotty) and you carry a pistol and grenades or mines or C4. Then there are four addional weapon sets you can get as you score kills or objectives in the game. They are {Ground Support, EMP Tech, Air Strikes, Drone Tech). Each of the weapon sets has three levels and you can switch your loadout and/or weapon sets during the game. You have to die or respawn yourself, but the option is always there. So that's 24 sets of stuff to begin with. But wait, there are two versions of each of those, you can use NATO style or Sino-Russian tech. After all you're either with us or with them.

I have to say that the greatest part of this game are the vehicles, and most especially the attack helo. But even the six man helo is extra cool. You can pickup five teammates and parachute them behind enemy lines to mount a surprise attack, but watch out for anit-aircraft flack and rockets that lock on. Still you have flare countermeasures and you can always bail if you're taking too much damage. The first time I realized that I could jump out of a helicopter and then pull the ripcord, I freaked out. Ultra cool. There are tanks with three kinds of guns, Stryker-like APCs, 8 wheeled AA + SAM vehicles and super quick Humvees with the 50 cal. All can be used to move your team around.

But there are also drones. You can hide behind a rock and send a UAV up and over into enemy territory. Some fire rockets, some you just get close to the bad guy and explode. There are six different types and they really add a new dimension in battle.

Airstrikes in COD4 are just weak compared to the way they are handled in Frontlines. Frontlines is, by the way, nothing but team warfare online. No capture the flag, no oddball or any of that. This is really the most realistic war gaming for multiplayer, period. Battlefield 2 comes close when it comes to big team battles, but Frontlines is far superior. You can call in three types of airstrikes. A precision JDAM, a cluster bomb attack, or an awesome 105mm gunship barrage.

The EMP weapons are also formidable. You can setup a pulse beacon that renders all vehicles and drones ineffective for a good radius, or you can launch an EMP rocket that will drop a helo or stop a tank in its tracks.

Online play with 32+ players on a battlefield is really awesome. It brings back memories of COD3, which was previously the best big team battles. COD4 is very good, but it doesn't have the frenzied action - something about the new maps just doesn't quite do it for me. I can't explain why. Still, you can get up to 50 people playing. The rounds are timed for one hour, and you just rip through it.

Maps on Frontlines are huge, and you always need to be on the lookout for UAVs. You can shoot choppers out of the sky, but you cannot survive helo attacks. You had better see him first and hope he doesn't evade your missile.

There are certain things about Frontlines that I find more realistic. Close explosions don't always kill you. I think the idea that you're going to throw a grenade back to the enemy preposterous. There's none of that in Frontlines. Airstrikes are time delayed and targeting is non-trivial. So you can effect some friendly fire, or just miss the enemy altogether. Sniper fire does not work well unless you pop the head. It feels like a more realistic version of sniper fire. Tanks feel very safe. All that small arms fire that's deadly becomes a mere annoyance when you've got armor.

The single player game in FFOW is unremarkable save two or three unique elements. I find the tank battles to be fairly tedious and just a real pain. The AI for driving is very weak, unlike in Halo where you can just jump in the backseat and let your driver take you to the right place. However, there are multiple nukes and one or two defending battles that are well worth it. Controls are very good although close combat is klugey. The long distance combat is unbeatable.

Right now an underused option is the squad based system. You can command a squad and set objectives and communicate, but everybody is a noob now and few people are using that option, even helo pilots don't communicate with the people in their aircraft. I suspect that's different in the ranked games and will become more prevalent as time goes on, but for now most people are just mostly mewling that they've been jacked.

I suspect that this is the big competition to Endwar. For massive online battles, it is the new benchmark. The only reason Halo is better is because more people play it and are used to it, but these maps, weapons, vehicles and tech give new dimensions to battle that every new game is going to have to try to match.

Welcome Shooters & Drivers

This is me, Sixoseven, alias Cobb and a bunch of other stuff that's above your paygrade. I'm putting this website together for a number of reasons, not least of which is to get my head straight about who some of you are. We've been gaming for years now and to tell you the truth, I don't know who half of you are, really. I could leave that as it is and that's cool - I'm not going to stalk you, although I might want to be around when Spook is shooting models, or when Lethal is lighting up...

Also I can setup calendars and whatnot so that we can coordinate gaming schedules. Plus face time. I really hate that I missed going to the Long Beach Grand Prix with the gang, and that of all the times I was in Seattle over the past six months that I missed Banderson.

I have to admit I got all weepy when I got on one of those throwback GRAW2 maps, and I thought to myself how long we've been at it. So I figured that I should resurrect the clan, for what it's worth. All in favor just nod your head. Good. See you online.

By the way, my name is Michael, but don't call me that, it would creep me out. 'Six' is just fine. I'm going to reserve a domain so this will be easier to get to - you know maybe cultofsuntzu.com. I can also set this up so if you like, you can be an author on the blog and write what you feel, gaming related or otherwise. If you like that idea, leave a comment and I'll hook you up.