John C Flett

Just had to walk in from work in Edinburgh's Princes St. At about 5.45 the centre of Edinburgh was locked down after a suspicious package was found on a bus. Probably a false alarm but given our proximity to the G8 summit the police aren't taking any chances. This of course on the first day we've had no marches or anarchist riots.

True but if it delivers on all the gameplay elements who cares about its looks. Besides Pacific Fighters is hardly a fair comparison. Compared with games like C+C it looks pretty good. I just wish we had more background on the guys behind it to know if this is going to live up to the promise or if its going to be another buggy let down.

Thanks to everybody. I've now made two upgrades, memory and graphics and now have 1GB ram and a 6600GT.And all this for well within my budget. I've not had time to test it on everything but then it won't benefit everything. My two main benchmarks though are "Doom 3" and "Boiling point" and what a change. D3 has gone from playable low detail at 800x600 to a silky smooth 1024x768 high detail and it looks fanastic. BP might not be pretty yet but its looking a lot better and running much more smoothly. With F.E.A.R. out in a few weeks it should be another tasty graphics treat for my money. Thanks again.

I used Sandra Lite. http://www.download.com/3000-2086-10018691.html Not saying its the best but it helped me. I've just upgraded the memory to 1GB so I'm off to do a few tests, especially on the very sluggish Boiling Point. If all works well I'll probably replace the PSU tomorrow. Not a difficult job but the 5,000 assorted wires out of it will take some sorting.

1.5v is the power but it is an indicator (3.3V for older slots ), along with the plastic bridge as to the slot type. Sadly this was the only clue I had because none of the documentation that came with the machine or online actually identified the type. It could have still been 4X or 8X. In the end I downloaded some diagnostic software that tested the slot at 8X so I'm satisfied on that count. However from what Heatseeker said I don't have the power, only 300W on my PSU. Not that thats a big problem, a new PSU is about as cheap a part as I could need.

Just been going through the paperwork that came with my machine and I'm beginning to think this may be academic. I'm beginning to think the motherboard only has a standard AGP slot, not a 4X or 8X. If so than I'm not going to be able to do much anyway. Â A memory upgrade starts to look like a better idea. Actually, its a 1.5v AGP slot, doesn't that indicate 4X?

Sadly I think it is just not good enough. Reading forums for games like Pariah and Brothers in Arms there are specific post processing effects that cause problems for lots of people with this family of cards. Seems that some of the ATI cards just can't do certain things well. Can't complain too much though as it shipped with the machine over a year ago. Its had a good run. I may wait, but its a never ending cycle, there will always be something else just down the road. Mayby for the present I should spend my money on a memory upgrade.

I've presently got a Radeon 9200 in my machine and while its served me well I'm finding its increasingly prone to glitches with new games. Doom 3 has unsightly lines run down models, Silent Hunter has black objects flashing on the horizon and Pariah just blacks out the screen when things explode. So, come pay day I want to upgrade. I'm looking mayby at something in the 6800GT series as a good balance of cost and power, I've got up to 250GBP to spend. But despite reading up a lot of hardware reviews and benchmarks don't really tell me how a card realy works in the real world so just wondered if any of you guys would care to share suggestions or experiences, especially with the latest games. Thanks in advance.

Officially friday but Play.com shipped early. Mine came in the post monday.

Probably Boiling Point will be too slow also then. It is kind of a GTA style game but slower from what I've seen so far. And it is REALLY rough around the edges, sound dropping out, objects floating in the air, primative graphics. Nothing fatal but it really feels like it should have come out a few years ago. Not decided about the gameplay yet. I've done a couple of jobs for the army, had a few fights with the mob who now seriously dislike me, and gained a few leads on whats going on. All fair enough but I can't see this one winning any awards or huge sales. It may get deeper and I've barely started to explore. Seen one town, a few bases and a few jungle and mountain tracks. Did find a wrecked truck with some RPGs in the back but got driven off by stinging insects. Now, if I can find some repelent somewhere...

Boiling point is a bit of a dark horse. It is not going to win any awards for graphics but given its coming from a new team without the big money backing thats no surprise. Word on AI is also pretty poor but, and its a big but, if it delivers on the scale and freedom then it could be a lot of fun. Have you played Morrowind because it seems to be the closest in style? Lots to do with plenty of choices about how to do it hopefully drawing you in and making you forget about the short comings. If your of a paranoid nature though Play.com posted my copy at the weekend but I have yet to see a single review or demo. I'm always suspicious when the game comes out first.

Great game. Not exactly groundbreaking but so much style and character. I still love its over the top antics and corny dialogue. I was so sorry when Nathan Zachary and co moved to the X box. Hope that patch helps you out.

Not a clue. Is her writing vague enough that you could have misread it? I'm pretty sure "rasvrar" and "pron" aren't words and heart is of course english. Some form of spanglish perhaps? Hello, I RASVAR pickpocket PRON they take my heart. And where is she actually from since different forms of spanish can vary quite a bit?

Yup. And of course SWAT 4 was a PC only title. There can be no question in my mind that the PC only titles like SWAT, OFP and H+D are far superior to the multi format games. How many other games ( Invisible War and Deadly shadows spring to mind ) are we going to get which fall short of their potential because they have to be simplified and scaled down for the dedicated games machines? Funny for all the hype about the various wonder boxes that the PC can still beat them hands down in terms of depth, scale and gameplay.

Sounds good. Will check it out.