A few months ago we’ve had reports of a Chinese Government commissioned game which was supposed to help kids fight corruption within the country. In a similar way the US Army released a game to raise interest for joining their ranks, with a target audience for recruits slightly below 18. All is fair in love and war? We can add faith to this principle because now we have churches steering youth their direction through Halo 3. Via a New York Times article we find out more about the latest trend in the US Protestant Church, as priests all over the country endorsed gaming within the sacred grounds.

In the past fifty years the establishment had to confront the growing problem of getting people into church, especially the morally lax and ever curious teens, to keep them on the right track of spiritual fulfillment. A particularly simple yet effective argumentation comes from Pastor Ken Kenerly. He says, “There aren’t as many kids outdoors as indoors. With gamers, how else can you get into their lives?” When traditional methods of getting people into church fail, you can resort to more inventive ones. It kind of reminds me of the huge arrangements that benefit gospel shows and how were they first received by the purists. Maybe this is the next level too.

Halo 3 is a commercial hit and will only grow bigger since we’re talking about $300 million in sales within two weeks since release. But here comes to play the moral debate of introducing pure blood entertainment into The Church and its spiritual activities. Halo 3 is set in a post apocalyptic world, it uses extreme virtual violence, features mature themes and was rated as such by the ESRB. On the issue of “Thou shall not kill,” the answer varies depending on which side you are taking. The priesthood tends to acknowledge the virtual dimension of the game and said we’re actually killing pixels, not human beings. On the other hand one must think about the basic Christian percept that thought is as powerful as any action. Even so, several clerics agreed to what can only be described as a new movement in the Protestant US Church: the effectiveness of Halo 3 is undeniable. It’s not about knowing your enemy as much as keeping children away from the greater evils of drugs, alcohol and premarital sex. You’ll be amazed to know that such Halo 3 nights at the local church proved to be the social attraction of the week in most cases, and ministers are actually talking about increasing the number of consoles and TV screens to match their new found audience. Team work binds teens together, boosting self esteem by providing a sense of accomplishment. Once the gaming session is over, everyone attends mass and prayer.

The stupid box, as some refer to the computer, is exceptionally easy to acquire by the middle class, effectively making it the foremost multimedia entertainment device. Since we’re not all techs, consoles come to a close second place. The big name gaming companies have taken great lengths into moving away from the computer scene and into the next generation console market. Four years ago having a game released on multiple platforms was a luxury, but nowadays every AAA title ships in PC, Xbox, PS3 and Wii format. It was only a matter of time since gaming would pour into the mainstream media like a tidal wave.

Puzzle Quest is an original game which combines three genres: puzzle, strategy and role-playing; and is to conquer all audiences on Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Xbox Live Arcade, Wii, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Mac.



The game designed by Steve Fawkner has three developers - Infinite Interactive, 1st Playable Productions and Vicious Cycle Software, and D3 Publisher as the publisher.



The challenging storyline involves you in saving the land of Etheria from the evil Lord Bane, in three game modes: Single-player, Instant Action or Multiplayer.
You’ll have to engage in match-three style puzzle games and if you win you’ll be advanced, and if you lose you won’t suffer penalties, being awarded experience points instead.



The Continuous Reward System will give you powerful magic spells, weapons, armor and money to advance at every turn, each battle ranging from 3 to 10 minutes.
Start by choosing your own hero from two male and two female avatars in four character groups: Druid, Knight, Warrior and Wizard.
After customizing your hero, beginn to build your own empire.
Capture cities, build castles and gain a party of companions that will help you in battles.

Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is announced ship to retail stores in PC version, on October 22.

The Doom videogame series is very well known in the gamer societies. The first thing I'd like to mention is that the game still has high system requirements even if it was launched some time ago: Windows XP/Vista, Intel 2 GHz or Athlon 2 GHZ processor (or better or newer), 1GB RAM, CD-DVD drive, 630MB (or more) of uncompressed free hard disk space (plus 400MB for Windows swap file), 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible 16-bit sound card and latest drivers, 3D hardware Accelerator Card Required - 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible Hardware Accelerated video card and the latest drivers. I consider that a game like Doom 3 is not worthwhile playing is you don't get to see all the cool details.

<-250x250 Square - left->The game story goes like this: in the main game (as the “resurrection” is just an add-on), the story is a re-make of the original Doom video game and it presents to the gamers a somewhat sleek looking version of the surroundings and the monsters. The main character comes into the spotlight as a very tough and trained marine soldier. The Union Aerospace Corporation with its interplanetary bases uses the support of marine soldiers to secure their facilities and to protect its scientific discoveries. The gamer (you) will take up the role of the marine, so things are going to very interesting as you will move through the levels and discover a massive demonic invasion in the base. Heavy and rapidly heating weapons of great damage will have to be used in order to discover the source of evil and you will have the impression that you are constantly watched. In the Resurrection of Evil you are about to find out that you still have an enemy to destroy.



Doom 3 Trailer

Set in time 2 years after the events from Doom3 (namely in 2147), in the add-on story the UAC Corporation discovers a distress signal from one of the Martian satellites and sends a team of marines to investigate. They find a Hellstone (a special device that looks like a heart and has bullet-speed abilities) and the forces of evil try to take it away from the player. Dr. Elizabeth McNeil is the one who helps out the marine through indications given in burst radio transmissions. She tells him also that the only way to destroy the Hellstone is to bring it back to Hell. Oh yes, this is where the SF-action kicks in and the player becomes involved in powering up various teleporting devices that take him closer and closer to the Delta Labs, where the teleporter to Hell is located. Once in hell, the marine will have to battle his way through the demon minions in order to reach Dr. Betruger (since I know German as well, this name makes me think of the word ‘betrug’ that means cheat, scam, opposite of trustworthy – so, it is fitting). It is his demonic voice you will hear throughout the game in some areas and he is the final boss that you will need to defeat.



Resurrection of Evil Intro

The levels (12 in number) are pretty much linear and the only thing that will change is the surroundings, and some types of enemies. There are however the bosses in some stages that might require a little bit of attention to the details – actually you will be presented with some options or clear hints about their weak spots and how to defeat them. Most of the times you will have to use your grabber gun in order to throw back at them some fireballs or laser balls. The most annoying enemies I encountered were the vulgars, a very creepy type of monster, with 2 fireballs instead of eyes and they have the nasty habit of coming in pairs or threesomes. They are dangerous alone mind you, let alone in a pack! I had to use the flashlight mod installed for the game – the problem was that there was no reason for me o make any screenshots without it because it was so dark that you could cut the darkness with a knife!

“Give the Caesar, what is Caesar’s!” – giving credits where they are well deserved – I have to admit – even if this wasn’t the first time I played the game there was at least one instance when an Imp (those ugly beasts with many eyes) almost surprised me and made my mouse shake: the atmosphere is quite scary, or at least it is supposed to be like that – it has been referred to as one of the scariest games ever, so it has to live up to its reputation. But then again, this is not a game you will play in broad daylight, on the road – in order to experience and enjoy the realistic effects from this game I would recommend you to play it with your lights turned off, “home-alone” (like in the movie with the same title), and if you do not own a very cool amplified powerful sound system, I trust you have at least some decent head-phones. Thrilling is guaranteed! Unlike other shooter games, this is not fast paced in all levels – there are areas that can be explored at a normal speed and you can enjoy the view of the wonderfully shaped 3D rendered objects.

I think you can get through the game easily as you can save as often as you wish and you can re-load the game and go on, even if because of some silly Imp or Vulgar, your marine got scratched to death at some corner – reload, rev-up and point the weapons at them – it is just a matter of time of how fast you can advance in the game.



Resurrection of Evil Video

The last boss-fight is a bit special though (is it ever just plain and simple in such games?) in the sense that the battle has two parts: in the first one you will have to use the grabber gun to redirect the fire-shots at Maledict (Dr. Betruger) a few times with the help of the artifact, and then use the plasma-gun repeatedly. The second part of the fight begins when the ugly beast bursts out of the volcano and sits on it – at this time a rain of fireballs is coming at you, but make sure you use your heaviest weapons as the Maledict stays in one spot and it just flies around very little. From the cutscene-video, we might gather that the ending was good and the marine returned home.



The Final Fight

The sound in game was absolutely fantastic – the gun-fire sounds are so realistic that your neighbors will think there is s SWAT team in your room! The music is not very much present, but I really liked the theme song from the game menu – it’s a “must have”.



Resurrection of Evil Trailer

Digitainment Mark: 9.5 out of 10 (it’s pretty good for a scary game)

Producer/Developer: ID Software, Nerve Software

Publisher: Activision

Official website: www.doom3.com

Buy: Doom 3: $19.74 and the Resurrection of Evil Expansion pack: $9.99