So I blog about PC games, but I bet you’re wondering what it is that I actually play. What do I do in between blog posts? That question will be answered every other week in the A Gamers’ Log feature. Think of it as a quick overview of the games I played and perhaps a small prelude to some of the entries to come.

Regular readers of the old Game Drone might recognize this as a return of the Game of the Week feature, in biweekly format. Unfortunately the last such entry on the old blog dates back to early August, so I’ll just take the last two weeks as my guideline instead. Comments and suggestions are of course welcome, it’d also be nice to see what you played during the last two weeks.

Last week I was entranced with Guild Wars: Eye of the North, playing every night alongside my guilds’ co-leader, Sagi. I had already pushed my warrior through most of the Norn content during the early sneak peek weekend, but he had not. So we decided to venture into Asura lands instead, hoping for some new experiences for both of us. As we helped the Asura we came across many wonders, ranging from a Tyrian version of Jurassic Park to the hideout for the Wintersday snowmen. Unfortunately I stopped playing towards the end of the week, as I started preparing the move of my blog to it’s new domain, and haven’t really touched the game since.

Fortunately the story doesn’t end there, because I have played several other games - mostly demos actually - over the past two weeks. Amongst them is the Settlers VI: Rise of an Empire demo, which was completely unlike I had expected. Definitely not a standard Settlers game, but somehow still highly enjoyable. Although they could lower the difficulty level a bit, because I’ve yet to win a map. It’s frustrating to see the town you spent 2 hours to build be smashed in a matter of minutes when the enemy suddenly notices you exist. Get the demo here (1.4 GB).

Settlers VI: Rise of an Empire

It’s frustrating to see the town you spent 2 hours to build be smashed in a matter of minutes.

Another demo experience as that of Medal of Honor: Airborne, which was surprisingly good. It might be just another world war 2 game, but the new airdrop system made even the demo level surprisingly replayable. Unfortunately the level of difficulty was on par with Call of Duty: non-existant. Speaking about Call of Duty, most of the demo reminded me of that game, with the more cinematic feel and very motion picture-esque visual effects. The only thing that really reminded me of Medal of Honor was the pitiful amount of ammo you could find in Expert mode. I played nearly half the map with just my friggin pistol! (which somehow has unlimited ammo). Get the demo here (1.3 GB).

The final demo I tried was that of BioShock. It was 1 AM and I booted it up just to see what all the fuss was about. Now before you head off to do the same: you do not want to play this game at 1 AM with your 8 channel surround headset pumped to max volume. Unless you like to wet your pants that is. Still, the game was great, albeit very short for a 1.8 GB download. That said - I ordered the game online immediately following that (yes, at 1:30 AM), so that should say plenty for it’s quality. If you want to try the demo yourself you can get it here.

Star Wolves 2

Absolutely horrid voice work and cinematics, but fantastic gameplay!

After finally getting around to watching Serenity (great movie by the way), I was all pumped up and ready for a good space game. And low and behold, there was the space RPG Star Wolves 2, which I had recently purchased at an insanely low price. After the, horrible, intro movie most of my excitement had already waned, but fortunately I was already expecting that and pushed on. It turns out the game is mostly like it’s predecessor: featuring a setting with potential, decent combat music, tactical combat, great gameplay, but horrible voice overs and writing. The intro was so bad that it seemed like two Russian teenagers talking with one another over TeamSpeak, in English. In fact, all of the - English - voice work seems like it’s been done by Russians, sometimes even trying on - and failing - an English accent. Absolutely horrid voice work and cinematics, but fantastic gameplay! I can see myself playing this game for some time to come, but it’s unfortunate that 1C Company still hasn’t learned a thing from the last Star Wolves game. You can get a demo here (280 MB).

During the next two week I might finally be playing the full version of BioShock, as well as Supreme Commander. Meanwhile I intend to pick up where I left off with Guild Wars: Eye of the North and Star Wolves 2. And if I have some time to spare I’ll also give Company of Heroes or Neverwinter Nights 2 another hurl. And perhaps a few more demos might work their way into that list as well.

Anyway, see you in two weeks with another Gamers’ Log!

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