I'm melting.
22 Aug 05

The blistering heat of August in Houston is starting to turn my mind to mush. Please forgive any mindlessness occupying this space in the near future.

I've been playing some console first person shooters recently. It's probably a bad idea. I'm starting to get worried about the new Tom Clancy games, Rainbow Six Lockdown and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. Even getting past the floaty controls, there's a certain shallowness to console shooters. It seems odd given the depths in some console strategy games (or even fighting games).

Maybe it's the lack of tension. Maybe it's the lack of immersion. I'm not sure I understand. The Splinter Cell series feels great on the Xbox. Halo 2 has some great online features. The SOCOM series has some nice teamwork features. None of them seem to bring it together for me in a solid package. Maybe I'll change my mind with the next generation of consoles and the higher resolutions. I don't know. Are the mechanics really different or is it just in my mind?

Oh well, let's move on to the game of the week. Once again, we're supporting the little guy. This week's game is War World (official site) from Third Wave Games. It's a tactical mech combat game played in the first or third person. I guess they got tired of waiting for Mechwarrior V. You start with one of three base models (fast and stealthy, balanced, or heavily armed and armored) then customize your weapons load out. War World boasts multiplayer modes, 100 single player levels, over 50 weapons and the ability for your input to direct development of future features. War World (and its demo) are available now.

Jason