Thor Is Here!

Better late than never... (logo created by Blizzard Entertainment)

I am a fan of Real-Time Strategy games, mainly due to the fun of ordering armies to destroy stuff just for the heck of it. One of the series of games in this genre that I have had interest in is the Starcraft series, though I had never had the chance to play the first game nor its expansion; Brood Wars. Recently however, I was able acquire the sequel; Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty, and I will admit that it rocks.The singleplayer storyline takes place a few years after the events of Brood Wars, where Jim Raynor and his band of raiders do everything they can to deal damage to the oppressive Terran Dominion, led by the ruthless and cunning Arcturus Mengsk. Mengsk is countering this rebellion by using the media to paint Jim as a 'terrorist' who would harm the innocent. As if that weren't enough, the rebels themselves are particularly low on money and technology from the start of the story. The story is much deeper than I have described, but if I go further, I would start to spoil key plot points!

The gameplay mechanics, however, I can talk about more easily. As you progress through the levels, you will earn money for completing objectives, which you can use to upgrade your arsenal in many unique ways. For example, you can upgrade your Medics' healing ability so that they can heal faster than normal, allowing your attacking units to survive much longer in heated firefights. You will also gain new units to order around as you go through the story, such as the deadly Siege Tank, thus giving you an increasing number of tactical options as you go. Not only that, but you can also gain research points via secondary objectives in each mission, which you can use to further pimp out your army. For example, you can acquire flame throwing turrets that burrow underground and pop out when an enemy is present. To add icing to the cake, you are able to communicate with some of the main characters between missions, such as Jim Raynor himself. I strongly encourage you to talk to as many of them as you can before starting a new level, as their dialogue adds a layer of depth into the story that would not be noticeable otherwise.

The multiplayer aspect of Starcraft 2, on the other hand, is a entirely different beast. It is both online and offline based, where you can play against other people on the internet or AI bots. You can play as one of the three main races in the series; the tough as nails Terrans, the ultra high tech Protoss, and the monstrous Zerg. When playing a typical game, the objective is to destroy your opponent's base before he/she destroys yours. During the match, you will have to deal with two separate resources; minerals and vespene gas. I say this because everything you purchase will require a certain amount of at least one of those resources, so it is important that you make use of both of them quickly. Each race is completely unique from the others in more ways than one, from the way they are played to the units that you can utilize. The Terrans build their structures literally from the ground up, as you can see the actual construction of the buildings. The Protoss, rather than build their structures, warp them into the map via probes, and are powered by special buildings called Pylons. The Zerg are a different story, as everything about them, including the buildings, are born from either drones or larvae. I could go in depth about the unit composition of each race, but that would make this post the blog equivalent of a short story. Thankfully though, the game comes fully loaded with tutorials, videos, and a plethora of hints and tips to get newcomers up to speed on how Starcraft 2 is played. Matches start off slow, to be honest, but when the action picks up, the fight quickly becomes intense, especially when playing against highly skilled players.

I could go and on like a broken record about this game, but I think the best way to learn more about Starcraft 2 is to play it and see if it is to your liking. If you want more information, please visit the following links:

The Game's Main Site - http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/
My Favorite Starcraft Fan-site - http://sclegacy.com/

I've Got A Present For Ya!

Hmmmm, what does the 'X' stand for?

C&C Renegade: the name alone brings me back to my earlier years, when I had just started to truly get into the realm of PC gaming. I will always remember Renegade as one of the first PC games that I had ever played religiously for much longer than a couple of months, and for good reason too, as it provided me with years worth of fun and enjoyment. The game, much like Red Alert: A Path Beyond, pitted two unique armies against one another in all out warfare, with each one sending tanks, helicopters, and the like to bring in the pain. The main difference between the two games (besides the completely different armies), however, was the faster pace of Renegade that made players on both sides react to situations much quick than they would in APB, since the maps were much smaller in comparison. Once a match in the game began, it would not take very long for the action to pick up.  Five minutes into the fight, and both armies would already be sending their vehicles of destruction to deal all kinds of mayhem to each other. That was the greatest thing about Renegade: there was almost always a battle taking place during a match, right until the last building is demolished.

With that being said, I suppose you are wondering about the significance of the "Renegade X" picture shown on this post, well then allow me to make sense of my madness through the use of appealing visual aid. To that end, I will now show two videos; the first one depicting an attack performed during a match in Renegade, with the second depicting a rather different take on a similar performance.





There is quite a difference between the two videos, is there not? As shown in the second one's title, the game being featured is none other than Renegade X, a professionally made recreation of the original C&C Renegade, produced as a large-scale modification for Unreal Tournament 3.

The game itself takes everything that made Renegade so enjoyable and brings them into the modern era in every possible aspect, all the while keeping the fast paced warfare-styled gameplay that got me hooked so many years ago largely intact. As one could tell from the videos, the graphical appearance of Renegade X makes its predecessor look old and feeble in comparison. Everything from the maps to the characters you play as look absolutely stunning, thus it is easy to tell that the people behind the graphics took their sweet time in getting their work done just right. The sound is also heavily improved, with a combination of classic sound-bytes from the original game along with brand new bits of audio that give Renegade X an epic yet nostalgic sound that is pleasing to the ear. Last but most importantly, we now turn to the gameplay at last. As mentioned earlier, C&C Renegade's gameplay was left practically unchanged when brought into its remake. For those of you who have read my APB post, the premise is very similar: two teams blow each other with weapons of war until one's base is completely destroyed. Thankfully though, this has proven to be an interesting blessing, as the people who have played the original game will feel right at home in Renegade X, while those who have never played either game before will not miss out on the fun so easily. All in all, I have found this game to be a rather enjoyable experience, and a worthy successor to C&C Renegade.

Before I give out links (for those of you who are actually interested) though, a warning should be given to the readers who may own old computers. This game is can be quite intensive on computers with lower end graphics cards, so if your system has a graphics card with Intel in its name for example, expect slow downs as those cards were not made with high-end gaming in mind! It should also be noted once again that currently, Renegade X is a modification of Unreal Tournament 3, therefore you will need to have said game installed and fully patched up before installing the mod in question.

With that being said here are the all important links:

Renegade X's Download/Forum Location
(click on "Download The Latest Build" to obtain the mod)

Unreal Tournament 3's Latest Patch