Combat Mission (CMBB and CMAK)

I never played the original Combat Mission Beyond Overlord, but it's successors "Barbarossa to Berlin" and "Afrika Corps" have been my primary source of gaming entertainment for about 2 years now. These games use a "we go" model for turn based combat, complex ballistics, armour and physics models, a huge database of OOB (Order of Battle) data and a respectable 3D graphics engine (that has managed to date reasonably well, despite the huge improvements in 3D graphics of late) to create an incredibly realistic simulation of small to medium sized tactical engagements during the second world war. Since playing these games I have read a number of books on combined arms, armoured vehicle and infantry tactics and found that many of the lessons learned in histories battlefields can be applied to the Combat Mission environment. A game that can capture atmosphere, urgency and tactical challenges in a turn based environment has five stars in my book, I will be playing this game for many years to come and am looking forward to seeing what Battlefront will do in the sequel.

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Dark Age of Camelot

I was hoping for a next generation game when I read the hype before this game's release. Unfortunately, this was not to be. DAOC is an incredibly good game, it solves many of the problems that players had encounted in EQ and it offers a lot of new features that add to the MMOG (massively multiplayer online game) genre. It is not, in my opinion, a next generation game, it doesn't offer something groundbreaking to the genre. Perhaps I have become a little cynical about the driving premise behind all of the currently existing MMOGs, but I can't wait for a MMOG that I can't judge or analyze based on previous games, a game that is truely unique. Check out the parody of games like EQ,AC and DAOC at progress quest, there are definately comparisons that can be drawn. All that said I still played this game casually for about 6 months before it lost it's appeal and not for lack of effort by it's developers Mythic. While I played Mythic did a fantastic job of keeping the game running and developing new content and I understand that they are continuing to do so.

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Amber

If you havn't read the first five books in the Roger Zelazny Amber series, I really recommend it. The books set up a universe that was made for roleplayers. Cosmic powers, forces of order and chaos, a complex and interesting history with powerful characters and infinite worlds in shadow (read the books).

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Asheron's Call

Asheron's call was at one time the only answer to Everquest's domination of the 3D persistant world. I bought it and played the free month as my interest in Everquest had gradually waned. This game has a very cool architecture for the outside world. No zones as you move across the island of Derreth, just a dynamically loading bubble that loads content iteratively based on where the players are actually spending their time. I ran my little archer from one end of the island to the other, moving seamlessly through a diverse range of landscapes and creatures (who were spawned before I arrived and released after I had left). Apparently this game also had the capability to modify terrain geometry while the game was live, a feature that was used during the many gm run events in the world. The frequency of gm events is part of the commitment Turbine have to an ongoing storyline that will actually affect the world that the players interact with. The one failing for the game was the quality of the player and monster models, the art was simply not up to scratch when you compared it to the stunning models in a game like Everquest. Still an awesome premise and a storyline that kept the faithful coming back made Asheron's Call an immersive experience.

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Everquest

At last the graphical mud has arrived. The MMORPG (massively multiplayer online rolepaying game) is taking over the world. I was totally addicted to this game for almost a year. A bit scary, but a hell of a lot of fun to play. All the people I worked with at the time played this game obsessively. We talked EQ, we dreamt EQ and we made friends in EQ. The first of many to come I think.

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