.FLYINGHEAD WE GOT GAME!
.TITLE Retro gaming to go
.AUTHOR James Booth
.SUMMARY When it comes to games, laptops don’t really come to mind do they? So I guess you’re at a loss when taking your gaming on the road. Or are you? Senior Editor James Booth thinks there are a lot of really great older games that can be played on laptops, so read on for a dose of retro gaming to go.
.DEPT
When it comes to games, laptops don’t really come to mind do they? After all, that’s not really what they were designed for. Most of them don’t have the kind of video hardware required to support the newest, latest and greatest games, so you’re at a loss when taking your gaming on the road. Or are you? What about older games?
There are a lot of really great older games that can be played on laptops. Laptop technology has reached the point that desktops were at only two years ago, and some are even comparable to last year’s desktops. And those are not even the top of the line laptops. This makes them ideal for taking the best of the best from a few years ago on the road with you today.
The games I’ll be profiling in this article were once at the top of the heap, but now thought of as outdated. Sure, the graphics aren’t on par with the games of today, but laptops aren’t on par with today’s desktops either. I won’t be rating any of these games because they’re all long-time favorites of mine, and I wouldn’t be presenting them if I didn’t already like them. The purpose here is to show you some of the great games of yesterday you can play on the laptops of today, so read on for a dose of retro gaming to go.
One other benefit: these are likely to be insanely cheap, found on the bargain table of your local games retailer. Where current games are generally fifty bucks or so each, we’ve seen some of these games, new and sealed, for as little as a buck.
.H1 A trip to Mars
In Figure A you’ll find the cover of Red Faction, the Mars-based shooter game that Doom 3 should have been.
.FIGPAIR A Red Faction, still the best Mars-based shooter.
This game has more story, environments, vehicles, and overall playability than all three of the Doom games and their various add-ons combined. Sure, the graphics aren’t in the same league as Far Cry, but when this game came out, the graphics and engine were trendsetters.
Red Faction featured the Geo-Mod engine, creating an entirely interactive environment. Basically, what this means is that you can blow up virtually any part of the game environment. Shoot a rocket at a wall, and it will blow a hole in that wall. You can even create tunnels by continuing to fire at the same spot, which actually becomes useful during the game.
.BREAK_EMAIL You’ll have to click here to complete your blast to past.
Red Faction puts you in the place of Parker, a contract miner working for Ultor Corporation on Mars. In reality you’re not much better than a slave though. Soon, the miners rebel as shown in Figure B, and things really get moving.
.FIGPAIR B Led by the mysterious Eos, the miners (in red suits) rise up and rebel against their tormentors.
.PAGE
You’re not trapped in the mines during the entire game though, like Doom 3 strands you in the UAC facility. You’ll explore barracks and offices like in Figure C, research facilities, underground lakes, gigantic sub-Martian caverns, the Martian surface, spaceships, and even a ride to an orbital platform.
.FIGPAIR C Red Faction takes you through a wide range of environments on, under, and above the Martian surface.
In addition to all these different environments, you’ll get your chance to actually operate a wide range of vehicles. Figure D shows a drilling machine, just one of the many vehicles you get to drive in Red Faction.
.FIGPAIR D This drilling machine is just the first of many drivable vehicles in Red Faction.
In addition to the drilling machine, you’ll get to drive submarines, and both air and ground assault craft. You’ll also ride different trams and trains, get to take the gunner’s position in different assault craft, and operate a number of turret-style guns.
Red Faction has plenty of play to it. I don’t recall specifically how many actual missions there are, but I do know it’s about twice as many as most other games in this genre. It has a story that unfolds over the course of the game, with plenty of action, puzzles, and even stealth missions to keep you occupied for quite some time. And yes, there are cheats aplenty for Red Faction.
I still love this game, and count it as one of my all-time favorites. Not only is it playable on my laptop, but playable at the highest detail level. And I don’t have a top of the line laptop either. In fact, it’s Dell’s value-line laptop, the Inspiron 1000.
There was a sequel to Red Faction, Red Faction II, but it was a rather pathetic offering. Much like Men of Valor, it was a PC port of a console game, with no save feature and extremely limited cheat features. Overall, a big disappointment. So disappointing in fact that I didn’t even finish it.
.H1 Shagadelic baby!
The next game up on the retro list is The Operative: No One Lives Forever, also known as NOLF, shown in Figure E.
.FIGPAIR E No One Lives Forever, a spy-based first person shooter.
In NOLF, from Monolith and Fox, you play the part of Cate Archer, shown in Figure F, former cat burglar turned journeyman superspy for UNITY.
.FIGPAIR F Cate Archer, novice superspy in No One Lives Forever.
The plot is based around a spoof of the ’60s spy movies, complete with mod decor, cheesy dialog, and appropriate era-inspired music. As a result of a mole, most of the active field agents in UNITY have been killed by HARM, forcing agent Archer into her very first field mission. Playing No One Lives Forever is like being in an Austin Powers movie, complete with the fat, obnoxious, Scottish bad guy shown in Figure G.
.FIGPAIR G Magnus Armstrong, Scottish bad-guy extraordinaire.
.PAGE
Not only is the environment and feel complete, so are the nifty little spy gadgets, like Cate’s combination lock pick and barrette shown in Figure H.
.FIGPAIR H NOLF comes complete with nifty spy gadgets like this barrette lock pick.
Between missions, Cate receives further training on various spy techniques, gadgets, and a wide range of weapons both real and fictional by going through training courses. And to get agent Archer around the environments of those missions, which range from Morocco, to Europe, the US, underwater, and even into space, she’ll have the use of motorcycles, snowmobiles, cable cars and other vehicles.
One of my favorite missions takes place on an airliner that Cate is forced to bail out of without a parachute. During her freefall from 24,000 feet she has to fend off the thugs shooting at her, while desperately trying to acquire a parachute before smacking into the ground. Let’s just say, if she gets the chute, one of the thugs doesn’t.
No One Lives Forever was one of the longest shooter games I’ve ever played, and is pretty much my favorite of all the games I’ve ever played. As I recall, there are in the neighborhood of twenty-five missions in NOLF, which is about twice what most shooters have. No One Lives Forever isn’t one of those games you can race through blowing the crap out of everything. This is a spy game, and while blowing the crap out of everything will be appropriate in some places, stealth is a big factor in this game. In Figure I, you see Cate on her first field assignment, a sniper mission to protect a US diplomat.
.FIGPAIR I In her first field mission, Cate gets to play sniper.
Monolith followed up The Operative: No One Lives Forever with No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy In HARM’s Way, and Contract JACK (Just Another Contract Killer), shown in Figure J.
.FIGPAIR J A Spy In HARM’s Way, the equally successful follow-up, and Contract JACK.
In NOLF 2, Cate Archer, UNITY’s top agent, is back to do battle with HARM once again. In missions every bit as challenging and entertaining as the original, agent Archers deal another blow to HARM with a whole new purse-full of nifty spy gadgets and much more interactive gameplay.
Monolith’s LithTech game engine was updated for NOLF 2, and although I couldn’t get NOLF 2 to run on my laptop, you may get it to run on yours if you have a better video card than mine. Strangely enough, I had no problem whatsoever running Contract JACK, which is odd since it came out after NOLF 2 and uses the same engine.
In Contract JACK you play the role of John Jack, a freelance assassin hired by HARM. Contract JACK is actually a prequel to A Spy In HARM’s Way, setting up some of the background information that’s slowly revealed during NOLF 2. Although JACK is a standalone, not requiring either of the NOLF games, it’s rather short. Short but fun.
And because JACK is a freelance hit man rather than a UNITY operative, in essence a bad guy, you’re free to blow the snot out of pretty much everything and everyone. There’s even a spot or two where Cate Archer makes a cameo appearance. And in case you’re wondering, the meaning of HARM is never revealed in any of the games.
.H1 Packing it up
I had originally intended to profile a few more games in this piece, but it seems I’ve grown a bit long-winded here. I guess those other games will have to wait for another installment.
The point is, even though you may not be able to take Doom 3 or Half-Life 2 on the road, that doesn’t mean you still can’t have some great games on your laptop. The trendsetters of a few years ago may be considered outdated for desktops, but they’re perfect for today’s laptops. Now instead of reading that efficiency report or compiling your presentation on that cross country flight or that long layover, you can wax a few bad guys. Just make sure you bring along a mouse, it makes it much easier.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on Red Faction, visit http://www.redfaction.com/.
For more information on the No One Lives Forever series and Contract JACK, visit http://nolf.sierra.com/.
For more information on Half-Life 2, visit http://www.half-life.com/.
For more information on Doom 3, visit http://www.doom3.com/.
For more information on Men of Valor, visit http://www.menofvalorgame.com/us/agegate.jsp?url=http%3A//www.menofvalorgame.com/us/.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO James Booth is the Senior Editor for ZATZ Publishing. In addition to writing for Computing Unplugged and Connected Photographer, he’s the author of Do-It-Yourself Wedding Photography. A self-taught photographer, James also dabbles in digital graphics and has learned to be a PC and Palm specialist through personal trial and error. James can be reached at jbooth@zatz.com.
