Tech & U: ViewSonic VA2226w (VX2226w)

Original:

Nowadays, PC owners are looking to smaller is better. Smaller power consumption, smaller form factor but really still reigns king is viewing size. Nothing beats watching your anime on a 22” screen as compared to a 17” screen.

As you would expect such large desktop real estate comes at a hefty price. Not everyone has RM1100 stored away to get a 22” LCD. Luckily, for Penangites, Skygate is offering the Viewsonic Value Seriess VA2226w for RM870.

What you get for that price is an extremely spartan in terms of look and extra features, wide screen 21.6” LCD. Now you can say that extra features like iPod dock, webcam and speakers are nice to have but in reality you would be listening to tunes on your own PC speaker setup and will be relieved that you don't have to worry about whether the webcam is on or not.

The VA2226w performance is really outstanding for the price you pay. I have tested it with HD content and my favourite games so here is the scoreboard. First up the gaming experience, although Call Of Duty 4 is not Unreal Tournament 3 it does have very fast gameplay and demanding graphics. The VA2226w performed admirably, the colours were crisp and vibrant compared to my 17” Dell LCD, of course this is due to the 1000:1 contrast. While gaming in COD4 there was no ghosting or 'tearing' which helped a lot when trying to pin knifers with a shotgun.

There are two other features that are worth mentioning, one is the anti-glare coating on the VA2226w. Since, my PC is situated with the window behind it I get all sorts of wonderful glare with my old LCD. This makes it hard to view from a distance of 5 feet or more. But with the VA2226w this has been reduced to a tolerable experience.

The last note worthy feature is the VA2226w ability to act as display for 2 PCs. You can switch between the two inputs (DVI and VGA) by a push of a button on the VA2226w. This allows you to run two PCs at one time off the VA2226w. Naturally, you'll still need a KM switch or a mouse and keyboard for each PC but since you saved real estate on your desk that shouldn't be a problem.

I highly recommend the VA2226w to anyone that is looking for a good performing 22” LCD on the cheap. The only problem I have with it that you may have to wait for your order since there is a high demand for it.


Product: VA2226w
Manufacturer: Viewsonic
Enquiries: Skygate, 04 262 8257
Price: RM870

Specs

Display Area: 18.3" horizontal x 11.4" vertical; 21.6" diagonal
Pixel Pitch: 0.276 mm
View Angle: 170° horizontal, 160° vertical
Resolution: 1680x1050
Contrast: 1000:1 static, 2000:1 dynamic
Brightness: 300 cd/m2
Response time: 5ms
Colour: 16.7 million
OSD language: All major languages
Speakers: None
Power Input: AC 100 - 240V, 50/60Hz
Power Consumption: 38W
Weight: 5.1

Check it out!!

Tech & U: Rainbox Six: Vegas 2

Original:

Ok, having not played Rainbow Six: Vegas at all or even seeing the game, I come into the Vegas 2 experience with fresh eyes. Tales of how totally awesome the original Vegas is left me with an anticipation of what should be a very well made tactical shooter.

So I started the game with a little back story, apparently a flashback of the lead hero/heroine in which is basically the tutorial mission for the player. I have to infiltrate, eliminate and rescue hostages. So I creep around with silenced MP5, crouching and popping guards from around the corner. Even using once in a while the Breach Room tactic.

After saving the hostages, without further ado I am thrust into present day timeline of Vegas 2. No explanations, none what-so-ever just that I am needed in the field instead of the academy because they detected chemical weapons on the ground of Las Vegas and needed a pro to handle the problem.

Basically, the story of the story mode of the game is like that. Almost, little to nothing. But let's talk about the other features of Vegas 2.

The first feature you will see is the customise menu for your character. You can choose you character's gender then facial appearance which for ladies apparently are all butch girls with the exact facial bone structure, eye, mouth and nose sizes with just different skin tones and hairstyles.

Then you can customise you character's outfit and equipment which there is a lot but has to be unlocked as you earn more Advanced Combat Enhancement and Specialisation (ACES) points. But after quick a look you will notice that your character is already outfit with the best weapons and armour at the beginning of the game.

After that the other notable features are co-op modes for both Terrorist Hunt and Story mode. In Terrorist Hunt you and three other players try to cap as many terrorists as you can in the given time. In Story mode you and another player plus 2 AI characters relive the single player Story mode. But take note the player that hosted the Co-Op Story mode will be the only player able to issue commands to the AI characters.

Next you have the standard Multiplayer Mode where you can play Item Extraction, Hostage Rescue, Demolition, Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, Total Conquest (take and hold locations for time period) and Team Leader (like Hostage Rescue but the hostage is armed).

Overall, I find Vegas 2 to be a repetitive game. You play basically set pieces to win the game. Go to cover A, peek around, snipe/shoot baddie, go to cover B repeat. The AI for the enemy is dumb. I mean really dumb. If they rush you, you do not in anyway feel threatened. Only time you should feel threaten is when your men who have the same dumb AI coding are not giving you cover fire when run in the open to the next cover (which is rarely). Another annoyance is when you Breach and Enter a closed room you can apparently take out almost all if not all the enemies in that room with the explosive used to breach the door.

In terms of being a tactical shooter I feel Vegas 2 really fails me. I know some people really love the Rainbow Six franchise and will tell me that is how you play all the Rainbox Six games. But give me Call Of Duty 4 any day at least I don't feel that I am a dog jumping through hoops of fire in the circus.


Title: Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Availability: New Era Interactive Software Sdn Bhd
Suite 27-02B, 27th Floor Menara Keck Seng
203 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 2143 1332 Fax: (603) 2143 1330
Email: junking.my@neweraint.com
Website: http://www.neweraonline.com
RM159.90

Package: 1 Manual, 1 Game DVD.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

CPU: 3 GHz Pentium 4 Hyper Threading or AMD Athlon 3000
Operating System: Windows Vista/Windows XP SP2 (only)
Memory: 1024MB for Windows XP / 2048MB for Windows Vista
Drive Space: 7 GB
Graphics Card: 128 MB DirectX –compliant, Shader 3.0–enabled video card
Sound Card: DirectX–compliant sound card
DirectX version: DirectX 9.0c (included on disc)

Graphics Cards Supported:
ATI Radeon X1000 series - Radeon X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
ATI Radeon HD 2000 Series - HD 2400, HD 2600, HD 2900, GT/XT
ATI Radeon™ HD 3000 Series - HD 3850, HD 3870, HD 3870 X2
NVIDIA GeForce 6 Series - GeForce 6800 Ultra, 6800 GT, 6800, and GeForce 6600 GT
NVIDIA GeForce 7 Series - GeForce 7950 Series, 7900 Series, 7800 Series, 7600 Series, GeForce 7300
NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series - GeForce 8800 Ultra , GeForce 8800 GTX , GeForce 8800 GTS, GeForce 8800 GT , GeForce 8800 GS , GeForce 8600 GTS , GeForce 8600GT, GeForce 8500 GT
NVIDIA GeForce 9 Series - GeForce 9600 GT

Graphics Cards Not Supported: All AGP Cards

Our Verdict: 3
Documentation: 3
Graphics: 3 1/2
Sound: 3
Replay Value: 3


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Tech & U: Assassin's Creed

Original:

“Stay your blade from the blood of an innocent. Hide in plain sight. Do not compromise the brotherhood.” That's the Assassin's Creed.

Something not taken likely in the days of the Hashshashin. Which brings us to you. You are Altaïr, well actually you're Desmond, a bartender that left the life of an assassin because it just cramped his style. Taken hostage by Abstergo Industries, they want Desmond to access and organise his genetic memories of his long lost relative Altaïr so that they can glem important information that is locked in there.

As you access these memories, you relive events in Altaïr's life as an assassin, successfully living out his memories unlocks new memories which he has to live through. Thus, opening the doors to secret history of the Hashshashin and at the same time unlocking genetic skills that Desmond will find useful in the last stages of the game.

The game starts you out as Altaïr, in the prime of you career. As such, you become prideful as you accomplishments and feel that you can do no wrong. After bungling your mission, you return to the order's base to face Al Mualim about your failure. To insult to injury, one of the lower ranked assassins that was with you survived the encounter as has completed the mission. He even tells Al Mualim about your miserable performance.

Al Mualim, enraged at your disregard for the Creed and failure of the mission and leading the Templars to the order's base, has you executed. You awaken after being 'killed' with all your skills and weapons gone to begin 'life' again as a lowly assassin.

This is where the game really starts as you wonder throughout the kingdom to kill 9 men of the Templar order that are accused of propagating hostilities between the Christians and Muslims. As you wonder around, gathering information to their whereabouts, you are presented with side quests which some have totally no relation to the main quest.

After all of this rattling along you have to ask, “How is the gameplay?” It's great. Altaïr has a host of moves which he can execute with several key commands. Altaïr can run up sides of walls, scale almost any surface, take flying leaps off buildings, pickpockets, eavesdrop, sit on benches and so on. In addition to his amazing display of acrobatics, Altaïr has an impressive list of moves for combat too.

That being said, the gameplay is still a bit arcadish. Fans of Thief will not like moves in the game like how to evade capture. Which, for me reminds me of a bit like Disney's Aladin movie where Altaïr has to run like mad to lose line of sigh of his pursuers. Which, you usually end up running across roof tops, then jumping into hay stack or a curtained garden.

Overall, the game has decent graphics, an intriguing storyline, well delivered dialogue by the voice actors and extremely easy to learn and use controls system. Everything to make it a truly enjoyable game to waste the summer away.

Title: Assassin's Creed
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Availability: New Era Interactive Software Sdn Bhd
Suite 27-02B, 27th Floor Menara Keck Seng
203 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 2143 1332 Fax: (603) 2143 1330
Email: junking.my@neweraint.com
Website: http://www.neweraonline.com
RM159.90

Package: 1 Manual, 2 Game DVD.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Operating System: Windows XP (with Service Pack 2) or Windows Vista
Processor: Dual core 2.6 GHz Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
RAM: 1 GB Windows XP / 2 GB Windows Vista
Video Card: 256 MB DirectX 10.0–compliant video card or DirectX 9.0–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (see supported list)
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0 or 10.0–compliant sound card
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0 or 10.0 libraries (included on disc)
DVD-ROM: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive
Hard Drive Space: 8 GB
Peripherals Supported: Keyboard, mouse, optional controller
* This product does not support Windows 98/ME/2000/NT/XP x64/Vista x64


Our Verdict: 4 1/2
Documentation: 4
Graphics: 5
Sound: 5
Replay Value: 4

Tech & U: Dawn Of War 40,000: SoulStorm

Orignal:
I got to playing SoulStorm for over a week now and I must the say the expansion is more exciting than the last one: Dark Crusades. As you have read from my demo review of the game things are pretty much the same. You have two factions that have a third resource that they must harvest, I say 'must' because it is vital to their abilities. These two factions are the 'meaner' and 'badder' sibling of the main factions which is in this case the Space Marines and the Elder. Just a quick note, Dark Eldar are not Chaos worshippers. They are Elder that like to enjoy the extreme pleasures of life on both spectrum of the moral compass.

So let me recap briefly the Dark Eldar, the Dark Eldar are mostly pirates and can basically be said they are a faction that can't sit still. Their high mobility infantry and vehicle units can reach any point on even the largest maps in short time. Even their Relic Unit, the Dais of Destruction is amazingly fast. Dark Eldar's third resource, Soul Essence, powers their global abilities. That means that the Dark Eldar can support their units or ally units anywhere in their field of vision of. Add that to the fact they can race to re-enforce any areas on the map and that they can have fairly large number of squads on the ground makes them a force to be reckoned with. The only problem with the Dark Eldar is that they may have the most fragile infantry units in the game.

The Sisters Of Battle on the other hand follow the motto 'a few good women' and such are actually pretty bad on large maps since their infantry units are quite pricey in terms of unit cap requirements and the fact that their squads benefit a lot when adding a Missionary to them. Sisters Of Battle players will find themselves using spear thrust tactics because of this. Although, the Sisters Of Battle will find it hard to surround or out flank the other factions they do have huge advantages since their abilities are gears to enhance their survival and at the same punish any units that come within their range of fire. Sisters Of Battle rely a lot on their Faith abilities which they generate as their third resource from their Listening Posts after the Holy Icon upgrade. Much like the Dark Eldar with their Slave Chambers. To help combat the Sisters' lack of coverage in large maps they get Inferno Turrets that are effective against infantry units or can be upgraded to take out vehicles.

Air units have been improved since the demo, their no longer seem to get stuck on certain high terrain in some maps. Although, air units main function it seems is to just take out buildings which is a shame as I would have like to see different races use them differently. Like for instance, being able to build structures or carrying vehicles. Or air units designed specifically to fight only infantry or other air units.

The single player campaign in SoulStorm is just a large version of the one you find in Dark Crusades but just larger.

Multiplayer is the same as always, any game with a 600 ping and below you should be able to play with ease. And there always seems to be at least 100 players online playing or waiting to play.

Game graphics for SoulStorm is still the same high established since the franchise started. You got squads engaging in individual melee combat, units in squads flying high as some take hits from explosive damage and so on. And should you wish to see you guys close up you won't be disappointed in the detail has gone into each unit.

Sound effects are unique for each weapon, vehicle, building and unit. Dialogue for Sisters and Dark Eldar are as lively as ever which you would after a while like most veteran catch youself screaming "Thou shalt not! I shall!" or "They cower! We carve..."

Overall, SoulStorm never fails to deliver. Even though there is currently an exploit for the Sisters Of Battle and the Dark Eldar which will be fixed in the next patch, SoulStorm delivers a balanced and thoroughly enjoyable game to both the old and new fans.

Title: Dawn Of War: Soulstorm
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Relic
Availability: New Era Interactive Software Sdn Bhd
Suite 27-02B, 27th Floor Menara Keck Seng
203 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 2143 1332 Fax: (603) 2143 1330
Email: junking.my@neweraint.com
Website: http://www.neweraonline.com
RM149.90

Package: 1 Manual, Game DVD, Bonus DVD (contains 2 demos and behind the scenes video).

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Windows® 2000/XP
DirectX® 9.0c
2.0 GHz Intel® Pentium 4 or equivalent AMD® Athlon XP processor
512 MB RAM (required for 8-player multiplayer games)
5.1 GB free hard drive space for installation
4x CD-ROM
64 MB DirectX® 9.0c compatible AGP video card with Hardware Transform and Lighting
DirectX® 9.0c compatible 16-bit sound card


Our Verdict: 5
Documentation: 4
Graphics: 5
Sound: 5
Replay Value: 5

Tehc & U: Frontlines: Fuel Of War

Original:

Its 2024, the world governments have screwed up. The research and utilisation of alternative energy sources was a lie fed to the people as the big industries consumed and sold oil at huge profit levels. Laughed at the average Joe, assuring him that they are working on the solution about the energy crisis. They assured him that there is enough oil for another 50 years while they work on more energy efficient alternative. While he waited, they bleed him dry with insane prices just to pump a gallon of gas in his tank.

Now, what has happened? There is almost no gas for the cars, electricity is no longer a luxury but a rare necessity. Food, that easily came wrapped and packaged with colourful brand names out of the factories are now running out. Water dribbles from the tap.

And they wonder why the world has gone to hell in a hand basket?

Frontlines: Fuel Of War is basically Unreal Tournament 2004 on a grander scale with a political statement. You start off as a grant in the Western Coalition assigned to the Stray Dogs squad where you battle the Red Star Alliance (Chinese and Russians) for the last few oil wells in the world.

The campaign is basically very simple. You can pick any number of weapons, drive any vacant vehicle you see, complete any objection using whatever route and tactic you wish. You teammates will support you to the best of their AI. They will not take objectives for you though.

Which sums up what the campaign is all really about: training. Yes, training. It is one massive training mission to teach you all the weapons' uses (including drones), how look at the map and device alternative routes to the objectives and finally, shows you that if you want to win go take the control point not wait for others to do it.

In multiplayer mode, you do not get all the weapons in the game, instead the weapon choices are broken up into classes so that they serve a particular role in the overall tactics of your teamplay. In addition to those class you have abilities to choose from too that are called roles that further lets you be more productive on the field instead of hiding in a corner with a sniper rifle.

Vehicles in multiplayer are plentiful. If you want choppers there are tons of choppers available to you if you have captured that control point that produces them. You don't have to wait for a chopper to spawn after some n00b runs and hops into one and flies it into a wall because he thinks that chopper is reserved for him. Same goes with tanks and other vehicles. Multiplayer combat in Frontlines is like watching a fairly large combat movement of a platoon supported by several tanks, choppers and jets.

Then we got the graphics and sound both which are excellent too since they use the Unreal 3 engine to its fullest. You got destructible and repairable objects, 3D environmental and positioning sound, lighting, shadowing, fog, glare, you name they got it.

And if that is not enough the story, cut scenes and voice acting is good to exciting. If you needed to compare it a movie genre, it would be close to a well produced war drama documentary.

Overall, the game is excellent, single player although simple in terms of mission goals is fun as you are allowed total freedom on how you want to go about completing each objective. Multiplayer is fun because controlling certain control points gives you access to certain vehicles and the quantities of which are ample. The only problem I had with the game is that there are no servers with a ping of 200 or below which made my experience for multiplayer a be tainted as I was left with the role of anti-vehicle since I couldn't hit small targets like the other players at long range.

Title: Frontlines: Fuel Of War
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Kaos Studios
Availability: New Era Interactive Software Sdn Bhd
Suite 27-02B, 27th Floor Menara Keck Seng
203 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 2143 1332 Fax: (603) 2143 1330
Email: junking.my@neweraint.com
Website: http://www.neweraonline.com
RM159.90

Package: 1 Manual, 2 Game DVD.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Intel Pentium 2.8HT or AMD Athlon 2800+
768MB Windows XP / 1GB RAM for Windows Vista
nVidia 6800GT (SM3) or ATI X800XT (SM2) w/ latest applicable video drivers
15GB HDD Space
Broadband connection w/ min. upload 768K (for hosting games, not playing)
AC ’97 or equivalent DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
DVD-ROM
Windows XP (32/64) or Windows Vista (32/64)
The latest version of DirectX 9.0
NET Framework 2.0


Our Verdict: 4 1/2
Documentation: 4
Graphics: 5
Sound: 5
Replay Value: 4

Tech & U: Silverfall: Earth Awakening

Original:

There are several reasons why I hate MMORPGs but I'll rant about that in another article. So to say I was not too happy when I realised that my latest game review was one of those instead of a trational RPG was an understatement.

So the Silverfall: Earth Awakening follows on from the original one in terms of story. The side which you chose to fight on you have become ruler of. In my case the character I created was with the technology faction and not the nature one so I started the game at level 45 and the ruler of the city.

That's it, no back more back story. So you have to wonder around the your city until you reach the centre of it to get your first mission. Which is 'some bunch of people are killing another bunch of people' over god knows what issues.

Which you meet your first interesting character for the first mission and the possibility of hope that the rest of the game might get interesting.

Then your off chopping, frying and ventilating enemies as you push forward to stop the great Goblin threat which happens to be an exoskeleton with flamers on it.

So the game features a lot of customisations for your character in terms of items and skills but not really that much for your character's appearance. Which is sad but I guess the logic behind that is since you gonna cover them in all sorts of armour, earrings, etc you really can't see their faces that much.

Items for the game, which there are tons of, has many variables to them that actually lets you cover up certain weakness of your character or in some cases if you keep a bunch of them help exploit certain enemy strengths. For instance the Goblin threat mission you will encounter a lot of enemies that seem to love to use flamers. So donning on armour, boots, gloves and what-nots with fire resistance improves you chances of surviving.

Ok, that being said, there are too many items dropped by the enemies in the game which should not be problem but I have yet found a container or place that I can store my stuff should I want to save it for something. Instead, it's either drop or sell excess items.

And thing about items is that you can create armour and weapons. But you can't combine them with each other or the items that you find.

The game graphics vary very good to average. You got level designs that are plain average and boring, great texture and model designs for objects and character. The saving grace for the graphics has to be really the great character designs. Zoom in and be awed at the details. Although, the black out does give it a be cartoony feel.

The voice acting thankfully is professionally done. And you notice some actors give better more in character performances than others that gives you the feeling that things could get better game-wise.

But overall, I am not impressed with this game. The combat encounters are many and long and have no meaning other than to pick up magical items or cash. There is little back story so you feel connected to any of the characters or the world. All, I can say it is a MMORPG game and if you like those things which I don't you may like Silverfall. Another thing, I tried to play online but only found 4 to 5 servers. Of those servers usually all are locked except for 1 or 2 and then even with those I couldn't seem to connect even though my ping was 155. Not to mention that was only a grand total of no more than 10 players online at any one time.

Title: Silverfall: Earth Awakening
Publisher: MonteCristo
Developer: MonteCristo
Availability: New Era Interactive Software Sdn Bhd
Suite 27-02B, 27th Floor Menara Keck Seng
203 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 2143 1332 Fax: (603) 2143 1330
Email: junking.my@neweraint.com
Website: http://www.neweraonline.com
RM109.90

Package: 1 Manual, Game DVD.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or better or Vista 32bit
Athlon XP / 64 3000+ or Pentium IV 2 GHz or better
512 MB RAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible video card with at least 128 MB
DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
11 GB free hard drive space
2x DVD ROM

Our Verdict: 2 1/2
Documentation: 4
Graphics: 4
Sound: 3
Replay Value: 1

Tech & U: The Club

Original:

As you warm up The Club you get a distinct feeling that it's not going to be smooth sailing from now on. The Club, a game where participants are 'invited' to play the greatest survivalist game ever, is a port from the Xbox 360.

That being said, when you start the game you get some wonder screen instructions like press 'Start' to Start, press 'A' to go back or 'B' to go next. Now, we know they can't be talking to us, since us PC users don't have any Start keys and pressing the A or B key seems to do nothing.

The Club has several different types all of gameplay which are exactly the same as the Xbox 360 version. These are: Tournament, Multiplayer, Gunplay and Single Event. Tournament is bascially campaign more where you have to finish several levels in a map to unlock the next map and move on.

You are given 5 retries for each level. Failing completely will result in the end of the Tournament and you will have to start back at square one. Each level has a game type too, some levels you have to complete with the highest score possible, others are 'ironman' levels where you have to hold out until the timer runs out and others are time based.

Completing a level unlocks weapons, Gunplay and other niffty stuff. Completing the level with the largest last combo, cool kills and hidden Skullshots to earn mucho points.

Graphic wise the game is fairly slick, there is a lot of motion blur so even with the pretty graphics you won't be able to admire the landscape as you blaze through map like a hare with its butt on fire.

Sound effects sound a bit weird, like you are firing toy guns but then again since Hollywood more or less embellish almost all the gun fire effects in their movies you tend to wonder if this is what it sounds like in real life. The voice acting is very decent, well for The Secretary at least.

Overall, it is a decent game. Just think of it as a third person Burnout shooter. You basically race through the level killing everything you see. The only time you don't do this is on Siege levels. The only thing that really spoils the game is that for online Multiplayer you have to activate your Windows Live account so you can play. Which I did but apparently I can't seem to join severs even when I have extremely low pings to them (three green bars) because they seem to offline! And as to add a cherry on top of that there are very few servers to begin with! The Club really makes a nice time waster for single player play and probably if you can wing it, a good time on LAN play too which you should not need a Windows Live account to use.

Title: The Club
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: Bizarre Creations
Availability: New Era Interactive Software Sdn Bhd
Suite 27-02B, 27th Floor Menara Keck Seng
203 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 2143 1332 Fax: (603) 2143 1330
Email: junking.my@neweraint.com
Website: http://www.neweraonline.com
RM159.90

Package: 1 Manual, Game DVD, Bonus DVD (contains 2 demos and behind the scenes video).

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

CPU Speed: Intel Pentium 4 2.0Ghz / AMD
Athlon XP 2000+ processor
RAM: 512MB system RAM
Video Card: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible
64MB video card with latest manufacturer
drivers (see supported chipsets below)
Hard Drive: 2.2GB of uncompressed free hard
drive space
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000 or
XP with latest service pack installed
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (included on disc)


Our Verdict: 3 1/2
Documentation: 4
Graphics: 4
Sound: 4
Replay Value: 3

Tech & U: Garden Defense

I really love this game :)

Original:

Fancy a easy game that you can get into but is really addictive? Here is a kicker that you're never expect that will keep you glued to your PC for hours on end. Garden Defense, is a simple game, it's basically a shooter where you have defend your flower patch (garden) against invaders (pests) with strategically place turret defences.

So I started out the game with a path which the pests will take to my Darling's flower patch. To defend them at all cost I have to place turrets to kill these pests. Your turrets can either be modified garden decorations built by 'Dad' or specially trained plants by 'Mom'. There are several types of turrets available, all purpose shooters that can target air and ground units, anti-air and delayers. The first two are easy to understand but delayers may need a little explaining. Delayers slow down and can even damage attacking pests. And there both air and ground varieties so spend your money wisely early in the round not that you have enough shooters to gun flying pests.

Killing this pests gives you cash for purchasing and upgrading your defences and completely defeating a wave of pests gives you skill points which you can use to upgrade your defences past level 4.

The game itself is very simple but the units are all nicely animated in the game. The music sounds like the cheesy stuff you hear on game like Monster Rancher (PS1). There's even cutscenes with voice overs!

If you like these type of turret shooters you'll love Garden Defense. You can buy it to play more, which will set you back USD19.99 or play it for free from http://www.iwin.com/download/1735447108562346727/garden-defense-game but that install program is questionable. Best is to try the demo from http://www.ausgamers.com/files/details/html/34032 where you get 60 minutes of play. The demo gets a 4/5.

Game
Garden Defense

Genre
Shooter

Publisher
iWin

Requirements
Windows 2000/XP/Vista
80MB Hard Drive Space
256MB System RAM
DirectX 8.1 or higher
Accelerated 3D Graphics Card

Size
54.3MB

Download
http://www.ausgamers.com/files/details/html/34032

Tech & U: Crash Time

Original:

Imagine this, while sitting in a smoke filled room with 29 other game designers you suddenly hear someone shout, “I got it! What about a Burnout game but you're the cop instead?!”

Brilliant. And that what Crash Time sums up to. A Burnout copycat but you're a cop chasing baddies so it's all good. All damage to private and public property, put it on the gov's tab.

The missions in the game start of with little to no information on what you really need to do to finish the mission just what the mission is. Which in this game is basically one of the following, go fast, go fast and trail that car, go fast and nail that car against anything in the area, go fast around the city or the Autobahn to beat the clock and lastly which you a lot on the game's box is jumping over stuff.

An example of this is the first mission, which I couldn't figure out how to finish until I read how one reviewer did it. You are suppose to race this guy, catch him and stop him. Since, I am not a Cop I didn't know the correct procedures to actually stopping a suspect's car in a high speed chase. So after bumping his rear end a few times I stopped the game, hopped on the net, read the review and finally managed to sandwiched him. I am sure there are other ways to win this mission type but I kind of lost patience after a while.

So while trying to apprehend this law breaker I was treated to the game's graphics and physics. And I must say the graphics in the game are highly detailed. There is a lot texturing for buildings, trees and what not. Which really helps bring the feel of being in Germany to the player.

The cars are 'rips' off real cars and since the game doesn't have the licence to show the logos of any actual big names they all have the same logo on them, C11. But even being 'rips' you can easily identify a few names like Mercedes and BMW. The cars are rendered lovingly in the game, there is a lot a lighting and shadow effects as well a reflections giving the cars a really good realistic feel. And to top it off you yourself can render these works of art to pieces as you race through the mission.

But there are a few annoyances in the graphic of the game, you get odd clipping effects like when driving through grass and of course a major concern is the lack of bystanders in the game. There is absolutely not a single person in the game. The only way you know there are people in the game are the moving vehicles but other than that, not a soul around. Of course, being that this is a German made game I know there are laws in Germany about violent content and having a game that deals with high speed chases putting pedestrians in may cause some problems for the game developers especially when the player hits them (or even if they auto dodge your car it will be still deemed too violent).

The voice acting is bad. It is really very typical of the type of voice acting you'll see in english dubbed german tv shows. The sound effects are up to par with all racing games and the background music pretty much goes unnoticed when I play.

Overall, it's not a bad game. There are quite a few things about the game really makes it stand out as really good 'racing' game once you get past figuring out what you have to do. If you are a Burnout fan or someone that is looking for a racing game that lets you take action from the point of view of a cop you'll probably like this game a lot. Oh, if it didn't come through earlier, the game's graphics is really brilliant, if you want eye candy above anything else Crash Time has it.

Title: Crash Time (Alarm for Cobra 11: Crash Time)

Publisher: RTL Playtainment

Developer: Synetic

Availability: New Era Interactive Software Sdn Bhd

Suite 27-02B, 27th Floor Menara Keck Seng
203 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: (603) 2143 1332 Fax: (603) 2143 1330

Email: junking.my@neweraint.com
Website: http://www.neweraonline.com

RM129.90

Package: 1 Manual, Game DVD.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or better or Vista 32bit

DirectX 9.0c (June 2007)

Athlon XP / 64 3000+ or Pentium IV 2.4 GHz or better

512 MB RAM

DirectX 9.0c compatible video card with at least 256 MB

DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

4.2 GB free hard drive space

2x DVD ROM

Our Verdict: 3 1/2

Documentation: 2

Graphics: 5

Sound: 3

Replay Value: 4

Yes, I am an asshole.

I know I haven't updated the site but I wanted to do quite a few things. None the less here are some updates.