Brain Hood

There had been a lot of anticipation in video gaming circles regarding Doom 3, which recently turned into uncertainty regarding whether it’s even going to happen.

After revelations of there being a patent issue with the Doom 3 source code last week, there were concerns that it’s imminent source code release might not be so imminent anymore. However apparently there was a minor workaround for the offending code, which John Carmack himself implemented. According to him it required adding only four lines of code and changing two. And now of course, Doom 3 is finally open source!

This code release has been triggered by the release of their next-generation id Tech 5 engine in Rage, which was released just last month. The id Tech 5 engine too will eventually become open source when id Software creates its replacement and releases it in a commercial game.

The open source nature does not extend to the game data as well of course, and to play Doom 3 you will still need to purchase a license for the game. People can, however, now create their own games based on the engine, or modify the Doom 3 engine itself and use it to play the game.

The open source gaming community has benefited greatly from the source code opened by id Software, and there are now numerous open source games that use the quake3 engine and its derivatives.

The Doom 3 engine, or the id Tech 4 engine first appeared in Doom 3 back in 2004, and was also used in Quake 4 soon after. While the engine might seem rather old now, it is still a huge advancement over the id Tech 3 engine and the Enemy Territory engines that were available till now. Also, the id Tech 4 engine has been used in recent commercial games; Brink, an id Tech 4 based games was released just this year, and Prey 2 an as yet unreleased game coming in 2012 also features the id Tech 4 engine.

The source code for Doom 3 is hosted at the popular GitHub code hosting site and is available under the GPL3 license, which permits anyone to create derivatives of the code and distribute them as long as the modified code is distributed as well. While it has only been a few hours since it was made available, already they are hundreds of people watching the project, dozens of forks, and one commit for XCode 4 support.

Video gaming news and review sites once had a cynosure in the form of id Software and justifiably so. These were the guys who’d literally given the world of video gaming a new perspective by pioneering the first person shooter; those of us born before the 90s have fond memories of Wolfenstein 3D. id didn’t stop there, going on to further define the genre they’d created. The highly successful Doom and Quake franchises shaped the FPS genre and symbolized an entire era in video gaming. Simply put, they pretty much established themselves as the elder statesmen of video gaming, and were now looking for an ‘unretirement’ of sorts.

The intense combat experience, weapons that were innovative as much as they were fun, and a dark, twisted sense of humor were the stand-out traits of these games and that is the formula that id is looking to revive with Rage.

Rage Review: Redefining Video Gaming Graphics

Enemies come in all varieties in Rage. Some are harder to kill than others

And what makes it really stand out is that, as they’ve done before, id have somehow managed to revisit the art of redefining standards for graphical brilliance. Of course, you’ve heard that before, what with every new game that come out aiming to mediocrity with sheer eye-candy. Rage is among the exceptions where the graphics aren’t just there for the thrills, but serve to bring alive a truly beautiful, true-to-life animated, near photo-realistic world. Yes, this world does get into your face every now and then and tries to rip your throat out, but we’re not talking about gameplay right now, are we?

Gameplay

Speaking of which, Rage scores well here too. The combat is intense, immersive and unbelievably satisfying (okay, not quite in the I-need-a-shrink way) and not just because there’s a generous dose of good old video gaming blood-&-guts. The weapons are innovative, and with multiple ammo-types, the shooting never really gets old as you keep finding new ways to wreak havoc upon all who stand in your way. Suffice it to say that Rage will make you a veritable video gaming angel of death. Some weapons are pretty much standard FPS fare, and then there are others, like the bladed boomerang, that make you feel like a kid holding a brand new flavor of (virtual, of course) candy.  The races that also allow you to shoot your opponents into oblivion make us want to dig up our old Death RaceVHS tapes and weep tears of joy.

Enemy AI

Traveling on foot, encounters with the enemy are likely to leave you shaken; make no mistake, they’re not going to roll over and die just to make you feel good about yourself. Melee enemies will try take you down with the sheer weight of numbers, while the ones with ranged weapons know how to use them to deadly effect. Not only is the AI good, different kinds of enemies have their characteristic strengths, and use those strengths as well as the video gaming environment frighteningly well. Enemies tend to utilize cover effectively, so you’re always on your toes trying to deal with different enemies and it isn’t quite Serious Sam. Every encounter, especially when you encounter a new kind of enemy, turns into a dash to safety whichever way you can manage it, trying to kill the enemy at the same time. All in all, the adrenaline pumping gameplay keeps punching you in the guts to remind you that id Software is back.

Story

The storyline is where Rage flatters to deceive. That is not to say that it is bad. It’s also not just that the overall awesomeness warrants a better story, but more than that, it’s the story itself that’s promising and yet feels underdeveloped. You meet quite a few quirky and memorable characters on your quests, and while they feel nicely fleshed out, their storylines aren’t quite. Most of them are characters that send you, the player, on various quests. However, they have a tendency to simply vanish once their quests are completed. All the same, the story keeps you involved for the duration of the campaign—which can take anything between 10 and 20 hours—and is quite interesting but again, it just ends abruptly. Also, with all the stupendous arsenal you have on you by the time the final level rolls along, one does wish—classic corridor FPS action though it does showcase—that the final fight could have made you use your death dealing contraptions a little more and offered a challenging fight, instead of ending it as it does (see, no spoilers!)

Multiplayer Video Gaming

The multiplayer was clearly not the focal point for the developers who decided to go for a superlative single-player campaign instead. That said, it gets the job done by providing a more than decent multiplayer FPS experience. So our final verdict is that Rage is a must play game for the simple fact that it’s a fun game. It seamless blends a hardcore FPS video gaming experience with some basic and interesting features of an action RPG without letting that go so far as to detract from the chief fun  element, the sheer delight of carnage-filled fighting. That it’s easy on eyes at the same time only goes on to check another box with players still looking for more reasons to buy this game. Seriously folks, buy this fine specimen of video gaming multimedia already!

It’s not every day that your friendly neighborhood video gaming news blog gets up in the middle of a great game and decides to dash out a preliminary review of sorts, just to holler out to all you video gaming crazies just what a great time we’re having with this game. This is one of those times, when we meet a game that makes us send up a prayer of thanks (not always silent) to the patron saint of video gaming, if there’s one. So let us give you a look-in on Rage, the latest FPS offering from id Software, the people who brought us the Doom and Quake video gaming franchises. Rage continues in the same vein as the last Doom and Quake iterations to come out of the id Software Stable, particularly the dark humor and the visceral combat.

Attention Video Gaming Fans: Introducing Rage

At its most basic, Rage tries to bridge two popular video gaming genres: there’s the FPS fun we mentioned, but there’s also generous sprinklings of all the hallmark features of a role-playing-game. With a game world that’s larger than your average FPS, and the stark landscape lending credence to the setting being in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, you’ll find yourself driving from one centre of civilization to another and yet the video gaming experience hardly wanes. You’ll meet strangers who give you quests to complete in return for unique items and weapon/ armor upgrades.

A Sight for Sore Eyes

One could be forgiven for thinking that the large and beautifully done game-world could have also accommodated some good sandbox action. Agreed, that is one popular subgenre of the action gaming world that might have fit quite well into this already interesting blend, but the omission would seem rather deliberate on part of the developers. The open-world gameplay pioneered by the GTA franchise has been done to death, and yet, few games have managed to pull it off with any degree of success in what has become a veritable deathtrap for otherwise decent games, now that there’s also Red Dead Redemption setting a standard in the sandbox video gaming sub-genre. What we have instead is a fairly linear, corridor action first person shooter with the character and arsenal development afforded by the RPG-esque features lending the game a degree of video gaming immersion as well as a faux-sandbox aura of freedom. To add to that the game world is, quite simply, gorgeous. The skies change hue as per the time of the day, with colors of heartbreaking beauty  and with clouds so beautifully rendered you’d think it’s the real deal.

An All New Approach Down a Familiar Path

The game world’s sprawling dimensions notwithstanding, you mostly travel down a narrow valley, and the combat action is predominantly close-quarters (wouldn’t be much of a “rage” otherwise, would it?).

Quite similar to Gearbox Software’s 2009 hit Borderlands, the over-world, which you’ll need a vehicle to navigate, has little by way of resources or missions but simply connects you to the different combat spots or quest sources you need to reach.

Rage is in no way the first game to be set in a post-apocalyptic scenario; as a matter of fact it borrows freely from similar titles such as Fallout: New Vegas and Borderlands. What makes it absolutely rollicking fun, however, is the freakishly innovative and absurdly gory combat that is complemented by the insanely good graphics, thus making for an insanely good video gaming experience.

Our Final Word (for now) on Rage

It is a thoroughly enjoyable game that you’ll learn to love warts and all. That holds especially true if, like us, you swore undying loyalty to any game coming from id when you were an impressionable teenager fragging anything that moves to gory bits of virtual blood, flesh and bone with that railgun.

It will be a while before we can really get into the game and dissect it with all the surgical precision we can muster and give you a comprehensive video game review, analyzing the various aspects in greater depth. For that, wait for the next post on this video game blog, while we return to what has so far been a great video gaming experience.

Those of you who’ve been following the Counter-Strike tips on this video game blog would be pleased to note that we’ve finally come up with the long-promised advanced tips and tricks for Counter-Strike, a video game that very few people belonging to the post-80s generation can claim to not playing. So now that you have mastered the basics, we bring you the real-deal tips that you expect from any respectable video game blog.

Video Game Blog: Compensate for Recoil

Assault rifles can be deadly accurate or mere spray-and-pray weapons, depending on your trigger discipline

One of the major attractions of Counter-Strike has always been the realism of its weapon physics opposed to a video game such as, say Unreal Tournament. Weapon recoil makes your aiming reticule/weapon sight jumps rather quickly. If you’re not compensating for it, your aim will be badly thrown off. Once again, it’s hard to compensate on full auto, so use this with the burst fire technique already described. Any video game blog will tell you this.

Keep Secondary Weapon Ready

Counter-Strike is one video game that gives you a specific control to switch between any two weapons and that makes it much easier to switch to your pistol when you’re under fire than it is to reload your primary weapon. It might not always be a case of ammo either; a handgun is often more suitable for close-quarters combat if your aim is top-notch.

Video Game Blog: Use the Good Old Tap-Double Tap

For those who like to lean on the left-mouse button and just sweep through enemies ala Serious Sam, however, it also has two unfortunate side-effects: the realistic recoil of the weapons would mean that you end up hitting very little that’s worth hitting and secondly, you run out of ammo very quickly, exposing yourself to certain ‘death’. Unless you’re at point-blank range, in which case you may by all means let loose the full-auto, you must fire in short bursts of three-four rounds; this is particularly effective when using the SMG. With an assault rifle like the M-4, you could also use a technique that real-life military operatives call the tap-double tap. As the name suggests, you tap the trigger once, followed by two quick squeezes. Result: three precisely aimed shots.

Use Grenades to Good Effect

Any video game blog would tell you that grenades, in the right hands, are effective for softening up large groups of enemies. There are three types of grenades: frag grenades can injure or kill a number of enemies, depending on how many are in proximity to the blast (and how close) while a flash grenade temporarily blinds and disorients those caught in the blast radius, rendering them open to attack. Flash grenades have to be used with particular care, as one can end up blinding their own team: this happens even if friendly fire is off. Smoke grenades are used to form a smoke screen; this may come in handy to block the vision of enemy snipers so they have to move in closer, as a cover for retreat or even as a distraction.

Video Game Blog: Try to Work as a Team

Lone action heroes do not last long in CS. If you decide to go Rambo on your teammates and your enemies, you’re likely to run into a hail of gunfire (and snickers) without any backup at all. Also, team members would do well to carry a variety of weapons to give the team evenly balanced firepower. On a personal level, try to master one weapon, but only after you’ve had a go at most of them. The machine-gun, for instance, is heavy but can be used to deadly effect.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practice makes perfect. Need we say more?

These are all the individual gameplay tactics that you can use to triumph in CS. Naturally, there are a number of class-specific, weapon-specific and map-specific strategies and tips that are best discussed with somewhat advanced Counter-Strike gamers.

So do you have any gaming tips and tricks to share with the readers of our video game blog?