3rd Person Shooter

We’re not talking terrorism, but cancer. Can playing a game provide a cure? Maybe not, but Hope Lab developed Re-Mission in an effort to improve the quality of life for teenage and young adult cancer patients, and they have the clinical data to prove the game works.

Devastro is, at its core, a level-based top-down shooter in which you control a squad of soldiers destroying ETs and blowing up their UFOs. Your soldiers level-up during play (in RPG fashion, and you may find yourself replaying a level in order to avoid the death of a character you've worked to upgrade); main weapons are guns and grenades, though you get to control some cool vehicles in later levels.

The combat is rarely as intense as in frenetic overhead shooters like Crimsonland or RIP, but Devastro has something those games lack: actual humor. It seems the Army isn't too keen on acknowledging the existence of UFOs, though it understands the importance of wiping out the alien invaders. The story is carried through a series of comic-book-like cut scenes at various points in the game, and is amusing enough to keep you engaged and eager to wipe out those evil enemy saucers Sir! That don't exist. Yes Sir! Ready for deniable action Sir!

All the RIP games are fast, intense overhead-view third-person shooters with hordes of enemies to destroy and pretty nice sound and graphics--a lot like Crimsonland, in other words, which is by no means a bad thing.

Each iteration has improved on the gameplay of the previous game. The original RIP has you confined to a turret on each map--with the geography of the map and the paths taken by by attackers used in the levels' designs to create interesting dynamics. RIP Strikes Back added the ability to leave your turret, with additional refinements to the character levelling system to provide temporary power-ups, as well as boss battles. RIP 3 adds a huge number of new weapons, vehicles, and destructible terrain.

Starting Urban Legend is a bit like firing up an old friend, at least for those of us who doted on turn-based strategy games like Jagged Alliance. I'm back in the old paradigm, taking advantage of cover, waiting testily while the enemy moves, and wincing when one of my expensive mercs dies. Can't think of a better way to kill an evening, really; UL certainly hits the right notes, and it's nice, too, that the story is somewhat humorous in nature (if appropriately bloodthirsty).

The Last Sorceror combines frenetic Robotron-esque combat with frequent pauses after battles, and a series of RPG quests--making for a nice change of pace from both Diablo-esque click-fests and the turn-based combat of Final Fantasy-style RPGs. (By Robotron-esque, we mean that one set of keys controls movement in cardinal directions, while another controls the direction in which you shoot--so that movement and fire can occur at the same time in different directions.)

In each level of Stealth Combat, you control a vehicle, ranging from an armed jeep to a Star Wars-like walker. Often (but not always) you have a variety of subordinate vehicles you can issue orders to. Each mission has a series of objectives--and generally, the other side has enough firepower to wipe out your entire force if you just charge in firing blindly. Which is where the "stealth" aspect comes in; this isn't quite Thief for vehicles--combat is often necessary--but succeeding typically requires a degree of finesse as well as mastery of the combat UI.

Why aren't there more games like Diablo? A soupcon of story, fast frenetic combat alleviated by a breathing space when you get back to your base, a wide variety of opponents with terrifying bosses, and ever-improving skills and equipment--it's a recipe for unalloyed pleasure, at least for many gamers.

Classroom Doodles Come Alive in a Top-Down Shooter

Like everyone else, no doubt you've doodled little things on lined paper during boring classes. Maybe you doodled hearts and ponies, but more likely spaceships or airplanes. Matt Lucas apparently doodled soldiers and guns, at least by the evidence of this game: the graphics are pencil sketches, the background lined notebook paper.

Just a few years ago, you would not have been surprised to see a game like this getting cover treatment from the major PC game magazines. It's a nicely polished oblique-overhead third-person shooter set in a mining colony on Ganymede (one of Jupiter's moons) that is under attack by alien critters. The story line is nicely done too, with good voice acting and a real sense of tension and a colony under siege; naturally, weapons get more powerful over time, and NPCs work with you in later levels.

Robotopia is a cheerful sidescrolling shooter with a color palette remniscent of the arcade, in which you control a robot who can fly, zapping a huge variety of opponents and bosses. The single-player game has scads of challenging levels (ten in the demo); you level up over time and can purchase new weapons and equipment, for an RPG-like experience. And once you've gotten good at the controls (see below), you can go online* and battle others in deathmatch, "capture-the-flag" or "bounty-hunting" play.