Excerpts

As some of you may be aware, I play many video games. These are selected excerpts of recent experiences. I do hope you will find them of interest.

Supreme Commander, Gas Powered Games.

...dueling artillery pieces have created a no-mans-land, wherein any visitors are swiftly destroyed. The guns themselves are safe behind glowing energy shields, impervious to the others' firepower, but they wreak swift vengeance against those lacking similar protection. For some time now, my opponent has mustered his forces just out of range of my guns, drawing up an army of powerful, blue-shielded 'mechs'. Unfortunately for him, I have a similar force within the protection of my own shields; and what's more, I have a gigantic, six-legged superweapon that my engineers have completed with great expenditure of time and resources. Marching forward with surprising speed, it outpaces my lesser troops and destroys my foe's entire army with two sweeps of its hundred-meter-long microwave laser. His attacks damage my robot, but don't come close to destroying it. Undaunted by enemies of land or air, it marches across the battleground - wrecking minor fortifications as it passes - and annihilates my opponent's commander, who explodes blindingly. His own superweapon lies sadly unfinished.


Oblivion, Bethesda Games.

In the land of the mad, I enter a village as twilight descends; rows of strange plants extend through the swamp as far as the eye can see. A villager beckons to me; furtively, he complains that the woman who lives in the nearby house 'controls his mind' and generally tyrannizes the villagers. After winning his trust by retrieving a wooden spoon, he gives me a mission: neutralize this petty tyrant, either through murder or the uttermost wrecking of her perfectly-organized house. Either way, her journal must be retrieved, as it supposedly contains observations of the villagers, which she uses to control them. I enter the house cautiously; after finding no trace of the journal, I begin throwing the house into disorder, casting a spell of my own invention which, while causing little physical damage, knocks about items in a large area. The inhabitant, enraged by my attacks, draws a sword and charges! I finish the disorganization and flee out the door; when she pursues, I draw a cloak of shadows about myself and withdraw, to finish my task another day.

Sins of a Solar Empire, Ironclad Games.

...my ally's homeworld is protected by layers of powerful gauss turrets and ranks of fighter-craft; all of which sit passively as my war-fleet moves past them to his homeworld itself. He and I have worked together to rid the star system of all opposition; and now that he is my only foe left around this yellow star, it should not surprise him when I break our peace treaty and begin shelling his most critical world. Waves of fighter craft spew forth from the bellies of my carriers as my bombardment craft begin their grim work, wreaking havoc from beyond the reach of his fixed defenses. His flagship charges insystem to attack; then, belatedly, his lesser warships. My bombers rip them to shreds as they trickle in. My other worlds repel his petty attacks with ease, gauss guns pounding the light warships that attempt raids. At last, my fleet is forced to withdraw from his homeworld, one of my capitol ships significantly damaged by repeated attacks; but it is too late for my opponent. His homeworld has been rendered uninhabitable; his cause is lost.


That's all for the moment; I may have more of these later, if they met your taste. (In any case, Awakening X will likely be posted tomorrow; a most momentous occasion, to be certain!)