A little magic

Forge and Magarena are two free java based games that allow you to play Magic the Gathering.

Forge features a range of game modes, including draft, constructed, sealed and it even has it's own quest mode. You can also build your own decks using thousands of cards that have been programmed in. Magarena on the other hand only allows you to choose from selected patterns of which colours to use and features only 450 cards. It does however have very strong AI, something that is lacking in Forge.

Forge

I can't really do a review of the two as they are both projects that are constantly under construction but I can give you an insight into which one you may wish to play. If you wish to create your own deck, play a limited game or even try out the quest mode, Forge has got you covered. Forge's AI can be strong with the right deck but in general is a pushover. It features a huge number of cards but some of these are buggy and some the AI cannot use at all.

Magarena allows you to choose the level of AI opponent you play with and the hardest difficulty is quite skilled. It really doesn't give you a lot of choice other than this though. You can give yourself and opponent more or less life and reject the set of cards you are given but you never get to choose the cards outright. The Magarena interface looks a lot more professional, however I find it harder to view the important details on the cards compared to Forge. For my money at least Magarena has an annoying way of telling you what you can do by colouring the cards green or red which obscures the detail even more.

Magarena

Both games only allow matches against AI and are a great way to play an expensive card game for free.

One Sentence Reviews

[iPhone] Oregon Trail - An interesting historical game with absolutely no replay value whatsoever. 5/10

[Mac/PC] Bloons TD 4 - Monkeys, balloons, tower defence and it's free, what's not to like? 7/10
Check it out here.

Company of Heroes, one of the greatest games of all time...

Company of Heroes is definitely high up on the list of greatest games. Here are a few reasons why:

1. You only need one disc to set it up on as many computers as you like. In the 21st century sharing is seen as a bad thing and playing a game with your friends is more or less banned. Company of Heroes is one game that bucks this trend and lets you play with all your friends, unless your playing the expansion pack, in which case it gets complicated...

2. It had a remarkably high level of detail for a game of it's day, with explosions going off left, right and centre, bodies flying about the battlefield and tank ruins littering the streets; the 2006 release game still holds up in terms of on-screen detail and action.

3. This detail actually meant something. Craters left on the battlefield form defensive positions for infantry to use, wrecks are salvageable and the injured can be recovered from battle. All of these little touches come together to make this a truly great game.

4. It's based on WWII. So much of the technology  was experimental and some of the more unique and interesting designs show up in the game. Things like the crab flails which saw use in the deserts as well as on D-Day to clear mines. The Wurfrahmen mounted on the SdKfz 251 Halftrack and flamethrowers, which are notionally banned under the Geneva convention these days.

5. It has a good manual. This is getting rarer and rarer and is a good reason to actually buy the game!

6. It's based off Warhammer 40k. Although I have no direct evidence of this and I certainly do not want to say that anyone infringed on anyone's copyright here as the ideas should be open to all. A lot of the things such as rear armour hit and the fact that this game translated to the Dawn of War series makes me think of the game's wargaming background.

Baseball Superstars 2011 - iPhone

Baseball Superstars 2011 (BS 2011) by Gamevil is the third in a series of great baseball games. BS 2011 is as much an rpg as it is sports sim and fans of quirky rpg’s like me will love this game.

It has your typical modes such as exhibition, a season mode where you take over the whole team, play and manage it and My League. My League is where some of the most addictive gameplay lies. In this mode you play as either a batter or pitcher and you must level up your character whilst meeting goals. You are given targets to meet each season meeting these will reward you with cash and fame. The coach or a player may ask you to do a certain thing, such as hit a home run or strike out a batter, during a match to get a reward. You will also earn new nicknames and skills depending on your performance. For example I earned the title “bunting king” for performing a lot of bunts which came with a skill that added 10% to my bunting success rate. It is things like this that really give a narrative to the game and make it fun to play. You will also see super characters from time to time and they will challenge you. If you can beat them you will be rewarded with money and fame. During My League you can also go on outings, which is where the “story” is told. You can meet girls and chase them, or just go out to dinner to boost your morale. Morale is a very important aspect in the game and when it gets low you can get injuries and illness. Another feature I quite liked is that each team has a rival team. Beating them means your morale will increase greatly, losing however will lower your morale substantially.

G Points are an integral part of the game. They allow you to upgrade your characters and team. To earn G Points you can play missions which are like minigames where you have to complete a set task to earn points, or you can earn them by doing cool things in game. You can also play the Home Run Race, or buy more G Points from the iTunes store. This is a bit of a sore point for me as the game costs $5.99 AU and one shouldn’t have to pay anymore to play. Of course the points aren’t that hard to come by and you won’t need to pay but they could have been a bit more generous with them. Another feature that shouldn’t be in a premium game is the constant nagging to write a review. It will do this until you write one for the iTunes store. A minor niggle but something that shouldn’t be in a game of this price.

I didn’t play a lot of the multiplayer but when I did it ran smoothly and it is quick and easy to find an opponent. It can be a bit of a nuisance if you get a phone call though, but this is handled by it automatically pausing the game. However when my internet connection went down I was constantly harassed by the game centre saying it could not log on and there was no pause feature when these messages appeared.

The sound effects are quite good with fat explosions when you hit a zinger and a nice meaty bat sound. The music is nice and cheerful too but it will all get a bit repetitive as you play through. The graphics are also bright and cheerful, though nothing special, they give the game the quirky atmosphere it aims for. There is the odd graphical glitch such as when the ball reaches the top of the park it leaves marks as if it were falling apart. There is also the odd bit of engrish and misspelling but this can easily be forgiven.

There are a multitude of control options for the game, so you can be a part of every little action or just focus on hitting and pitching. You can also move and resize the on-screen buttons which is a feature I found very useful.

All in all it is a great game that could have been a 10 out of 10 if not for a few minor issues. I am going to lower the score a little from my initial one sentence review and give it an 8.5/10.

One Sentence Reviews

[Board game] Agricola- A ridiculously hard to learn board game, yet really quite fun. 8/10

[Wii-5] Midget Racing- Torture or tickle your midget to keep it in line, another "moral choices" game from Peter Molyneux. 1.89/17

[PC/Mac/Linux] The Battle for Wesnoth- The greatest free rpg/turn-based strategy of all time. 9/10

There is a good video guide available here for Agricola and it's done by an Aussie guy.

xkcd is one of my favourite webcomics (except when he's paying out ppl with arts degrees) and I completely agree with the sentiments in this comic.

One Sentence Reviews

[Wii] Goldeneye 007- Goldeneye is pretty good... for the wii. 8/10

[iPhone] Baseball Superstars 2011- An addictive rpg baseball game with a great acronym. 9/10