Savage: The Battle for Newerth
Organize or terrorize—you get to choose
I
s it even possible for a developer to create a new game genre at this
point in PC gaming history? The people at S2 games have claimed to do
just that, boldly declaring Savage to be an RTSS—a “real-time strategy
shooter.” It sounds hokey, we know, but Savage does a great job of divid-
ing standard team-based battle play into FPS and RTS elements, and let-
ting you choose which way to fight.
The game is online-only, and takes place in a fantasy world that looks like
a set piece for any of the Lord of the Rings movies. In these magical environs,
humans battle beasts to gain control of large tracts of land—you know, sort
of like modern-day Canada. The maps are huge and hold up to 64 people (32
players per team). Teams consist of foot soldiers on the ground playing from
an FPS perspective, and a single commander controlling the action from
a top-down, RTS perspective. Got it? Your team’s goal is to build your own
defenses and bases while destroying the other team’s stronghold.
Overall, the combination of elements works quite well. Gameplay is
intense, with large pitched battles taking place in several areas of the
map while the commander issues easy-to-follow orders. The inclusion of
humans and beasts adds a nice twist too, because the two species use
completely different weapons and tactics.
Our only major complaint with Savage is the lack of an offline, bot-
populated training mode. The manual contains a decent “how to get
started” write-up, but we’d much prefer some type of offline, in-engine
boot camp rather than having to go online and run around like a headless
chicken until we figure out how the game works. It’s also difficult to beCommander, as there are just two per map. In other words, if you join up
and the Commander spot is taken (which it almost always is), you’re out
of luck unless he resigns or is
voted out.
These issues are small
though, and don’t detract too
much from the fun. Savage is
also free of monthly charges!
Whether you’re an FPS or
RTS fan, Savage is a unique
game that should appeal to
both crowds.
—JOSH NOREM114 MAXIMUMPC DECEMBER 2003
SimCity 4: Rush Hour
Getting around just got easier
W
hen we first saw SimCity 4 , we were thrilled about the game’s
transition from 2D sprites to a mostly 3D environment, and we
loved being able to create an entire region of interconnected
goodness by linking our cities to neighboring municipalities. The SimCity 4:
Rush Hour expansion pack only adds to our delight by granting us total con-
trol over how our sims get around town.
To the standard assortment of roads and freeways, Rush Hour adds
one-way streets, four-lane boulevards, and a bevy of new highway options.
A creative mayor can use one-way streets to alleviate congestion in a busy
downtown area, while Bostonians can create a Dante-esque hell of byways
from which no sim could ever escape. Thankfully, the nightmarishly convo-
luted, automatically generated freeway intersections have been done away
with; you can now choose from a wide array of intersections and other thor-
oughfare accoutrements.
Rail and sea enthusiasts get loads of lovin’ too. With Rush Hour , we were
able to outfit our city with a subway system, an elevated train, a Simpsons -
style monorail, and even ferry terminals. Any mayor worth his salt will take
advantage of all the transportation options to custom-tailor a mass transit
system that balances budget needs and minimizes commute times.
The best feature in this SimCity 4 add-on, however, is a new option that
allows you to drive just about any vehicle in the game. Planes, trains, auto-
mobiles, and even boats can be operated via the top-down interface. This
opens up loads of new challenges and missions, ranging from simple catch-
the-crook police operations to more trying timed-challenges which have
you racing from one location to another. The inclusion of operable vehicles
adds a more traditional, and welcome, gameplay element to SimCity 4. Even
cooler, driving around your city gives you a sim-level perspective of yourtown’s traffic problems.
The expanded transportation options—and a set of enhanced diagnostic
tools—give you new ways to
troubleshoot broken cities and
add even more depth to an
already excellent city simulator.
That said, Rush Hour doesn’t
offer much to anyone who’s
not into hardcore transporta-
tion tweaking.
—WILL SMITHNice blend of FPS and RTS, huge battles, lots of
action.ORCSDORKS
No official training, and near-impossible to be
a commander.
$50, http://www.s2games.comMAXIMUMPC VERDICT 8
Monorail! Monorail! MONORAIL! Just like Ogdenville,
North Haverbrook, and Brockway, your city can have its
own monorail.A staggering number of transportation options are
available to the SimCity veteran.MONORAILTHE EL
This expansion is narrow, but deep. If adjusting
traffic patterns doesn’t sound like fun, skip this one.
.
$20 (with $10 rebate), http://www.simcity.comMAXIMUMPC VERDICT 8
Savage’s graphical detail is lowered for netcode
smoothness, but it looks decent nonetheless.Reviews