Space Trader is a throwback to the days of yore when we spent all our time on BBS games that involved trading and strategy. That was the first impression I had and it was confirmed when Cameron Tofer from HermitWorks Entertainment said, "I'm glad you were reminded of the old BBS trading games, that's what we were trying to bring back to life."

But this game is so much more than just trading or shooting.

In SpaceForce Rogue Universe you can start off by choosing to either follow the Story mode or Free mode. In Free mode you can choose any of the races and any of the classes and go and play as you wish, hence the name Free mode. Which I did; and before I knew it I had 15 hours into the game and was happily wandering about space mining asteroids for useful substances to create ship upgrades. Along the way I picked up a wingman who covers my back when we get into trouble as I'm a scientist and not so much into the fighting aspect, but as always violence is sometimes necessary in the game.

In the Story Mode you play as Jim Anderson a recent graduate of pilot training for the EMD - Earth Military Directorate - who sort of act like they own the galaxy. Well that's what happens when the peoples of Earth choose to have a military-based government. As Jim you can only pilot your EMD Interceptor, a small, fairly maneuverable ship that can, with upgrades, take on a variety of duties and be quite deadly. Eventually, with enough upgrades and money you can even take on a capital ship or a massive structure.

This was supposed to be a Duelling Review since we haven't had one in ages, but CigDangle is apparently far too busy to play the game with me in multiplayer for an hour. Or else he trembles at the mere thought of attempting to best me in a strategy game. So, here's the skinny on what will undoubtedly win a newly created (by me while writing the review) Generation: Gamerz 2007 Editor's Choice Award, Mayhem Intergalactic from Inventive Dingo.

Simply put, this game RULES! Chris Pelling has successfully taken turn-based strategy back to the sweetly simplistic beginning and made it so much fun I can't stop playing the damned thing. I keep trying to make bigger and bigger challenges for myself, Milky Way map - large with 5 computer players and myself and growing. Time to get it on! It's like a galactic battle royale with cheese. Am I exaggerating? Hell no! If you buy one downloadable strategy game this year it had better damned well be this one. Hell, if you just buy one downloadable PC game this year it had better be this one.

This game, Robert D. Anderson & The Legacy of Cthulhu, is a fan-made product and as such I was informed that it should be considered differently when under review. But no matter how you cut it the pieces just don't add up to a full gaming experience which really was a let down as I was looking forward to this game.

The game looks to have been made with the commercially available FPS Creator engine which was made to allow games just like this to be created. The storyline has promise but it seems like the gameplay episodes just get in the way of telling it. I do not want to discourage the creation of fan-made products, but they need to be worth the purchase price.

The gameplay is standard FPS fare in that you must run around and shoot things to survive as well as pick up keys to open doors and sometimes even move an object to get to some otherwise inaccessible location. But more on that later in the Gameplay section.

 

 This is not a full review but merely my thoughts on the game from what I saw in the demo.

It was a slow morning and so I took the opportunity to play through the Overlord demo (about 20-30 minutes), which I downloaded last week (1.1GB). Right from the beginning I knew my gaming experience would be lacking when it told me that my computer did not meet the minimum requirements for the game. I have an AMD 64 3200, 1GB RAM and an ATI Mobility Radeon 9700, and the game was unplayable at medium graphics. But the intro films were nice and smooth at 1024x768 so I suggest everyone watch the intro in the highest resolution possible but play in whatever works best.

In The Sopranos: Road to Respect, you play Joey LaRocca, the bastard son of Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero. This third-person action game for the PlayStaion 2 begins with a chance meeting between you (as Joey) and boss Tony Soprano. Feeling anger and compassion toward you (as he catches you stealing a purse), "Uncle" Tony offers you a "job"...a way in, to "this thing of ours".

As you progress, you will attempt to prove yourself, all the while "paying up" to Paulie "Walnuts". Slip up, you'll lose respect, and end up like your old man. But do it right, and you may just get "made".