Source: Games for Windows – Issue Number 2 – January 2007
Games for Windows resulted when Microsoft purchased Computer Gaming World. It was sad to see CGW go but Games for Windows seemed to keep up the same high standards. Sadly, it didn’t last very long. The January 2007 issue includes:
Cover Story
- Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars – A detailed look at both the single-player and multi-player aspects of the latest iteration in this RTS classic series.
Departments
- Editorial – A look at console gaming vs. computer gaming as both the PS3 and Wii near their launch dates.
- Letters – Letters about politics in gaming, Unreal Tournament 2007, freeware, criticism of game critics, Eve Online, and more.
- Start – Eco-Disaster Tourism in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.; a look at The Act, a sort of a cross between Dragon’s Lair and a dating sim; Keeping it Real, mods to games like Battlefield 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004 to make them more realistic from a military point of view; an interview with Valve cofounder Gabe Newell; Freeloader – a look at some free to play games including War Rock, America’s Army: Special Forces, and S.W.I.N.E.; Brand-Aid – product placement in video games; a look at Quake Wars; a preview of Tomb Raider: Anniversary; a preview of Infernal – a spy/survival horror game; a preview of Two Worlds, described here as a competitor to Oblivion and Gothic 3; and much more.
- Reviews
- Neverwinter Nights 2 – A sequel to BioWare’s original but this one is done by Atari and Obsidian Entertainment. Minimum requirements include a 2 GHz CPU, 1 GB RAM and a 256 MB videocard.
- Medieval II: Total War – An excellent strategy game in the Total War series, this one set in Medieval Europe. Minimum requirements include a 1.8GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, and a 128MB videocard.
- Stronghold Legends – A real-time strategy game that gets and awful review here. Minimum requirements include a 1.6GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, and 64MB videocard.
- The Guilde 2 – A cross between real-time strategy, RPG and The Sims. It gets a mediocre review here due to there being too much to manage. Minimum requirements include a 1.6GHz CPU, 512MB RAM and 128MB videocard.
- Dark Messiah of Might and Magic – An action game with some RPG elements but a far cry from the original Might and Magic series. Minimum requirement include a 2.4GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, and 128MB videocard.
- Guild Wars Nightfall – An expansion to an action MMORPG that was immensely popular. Minimum requirements include a 1.6GHz CPU and 512MB RAM.
- Warhammer: Mark of Chaos – A pretty good RTS game set in the Warhammer universe. Minimum requirements include a 2.4GHz CPU, 512MB RAM and 128MB videocard.
- Star Wars: Empire At War – Forces of Corruption – An expansion to the Star Wars RTS game that is decent or if you are a Star Wars fan, excellent. Minimum requirements include a 1GHz CPU and 256MB RAM.
- Distant Guns: The Russo-Japanese War at Sea, 1904-05 – A pretty good naval sim/wargame. Minimum requirements include a 1.5GHz CPU and 512MB RAM.
- F.E.A.R.: Extraction Point – A decent if resource hungry extension to the original F.E.A.R. shooter. Minimum requirements include a 1.7GHz CPU 512MB RAM but you will need higher specs to max this one out.
- Roboblitz – A decent quirky action game based on the Unreal 3 engine. Minimum requirements include a 2GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, and 256MB videocard.
- Battlefield 2142 – EA takes their shooter into the future with mixed results. Minimum requirements include a 1.7Ghz CPU, 1GB RAM, and 128MB videocard.
- Scarface: The World Is Yours – An extremely violent action game that is otherwise just ok. Minimum requirements include a 1.8GHz CPU, 256MB RAM and 128MB videocard.
- Reservoir Dogs – An average action game based on the movie of the same name. Minimum requirements include an 800MHz CPU and 256MB RAM.
- Jaws Unleashed – Certainly unique in that it is a shark simulator. It scores a whopping 1/10 here. Sounds like it would be good in an MST3K sort of way. Minimum requirements include a 1.6GHz CPU and 256MB RAM.
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 – An ok golf game but not necessarily better than the previous one in the series. Minimum requirements include an 800MHz CPU and 256MB RAM.
- FIFA 07 – An excellent soccer game. Minimum requirements include a 1.3GHz CPU and 256MB RAM.
- NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007 – A decent hockey sim with tons of real data. Minimum requirements include a 500MHz CPU and 128MB RAM.
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance – A fun action game featuring Marvel superheroes. Minimum requirements include a 2GHz CPU, 512MB RAM and a 128MB videocard.
- The Sims 2: Pets – Now your sims can play with sim pets. Minimum requirements include a 1GHZ CPU and 256MB RAM.
- Sid Meier’s Railroads! – A strategy game with Sid Meier’s name on it is usually pretty good and this one is no exception. The economies of railroads might have a relatively limited audience though. Minimum requirements include a 1.4GHz CPU and 512MB RAM.
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- Extend – Defcon, one-on-one in Introversion Software’s real-time strategy game; Updates – the latest mods and patches for Half-Life 2: Iris, Company of Heroes, Battlefield 1942: Eve of Destruction, and more; Line of Attack – a remake of Carriers at War is on the way; Falling Pieces – Trivial Pursuit: Silver Screen Edition; Crisis on Infinite Servers – a look at how EverQuest is doing; On Filefront – demos, patches and shareware available for download.
- Tech – A contest for the best gaming machine around. Contenders included the Alienware Area-51 SLX featuring a Core 2 Extreme dual-core CPU clocked at 3.46GHz and a pair of GeForce 8800 GTX cards, a CyberPower SLI KO with basically the same specs, a Falcon Northwest Mach V with a quad-core Core 2 QX6700 @ 3.51GHz and again a pair of GeForce 8800 GTX cards, a VoodooPC Omen with a Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor @ 3.8GHz and again two 8800GTX cards, a Gateway FX530XT with Core 2 QX6700 @ 3.2GHz and pair of ATI X1950 XTX cards, and a Dell XPS 710 with a QX6700 CPU @ 2.66 GHz and a pair of ATI X1950 XTX cards.
- Greenspeak – A rant against PC gamers being treated as beta testers with the release of half-finished and buggy games.
…and more!
