GameSlice: Behind the Scenes of the Computer and Video Game Industry

GameSlice Daily Editorial

Week Ending September 27, 1999

Editorial
on trends in the gaming
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THE BIG 8: HOT FALL GAMES
CONTINUED...

7. Half-Life: Opposing Force

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Although it might seem surprising I'd pick an expansion pack as one of the Big Eight, you've got to admit the idea behind Sierra's Half-Life: Opposing Force is utterly brilliant. (If you haven't heard, the expansion pack puts you in the boots of a marine soldier going up against Gordon Freeman, the protagonist in the original game. In other words, this tells the Half-Life story from the opposing perspective). Of course the Half-Life aura no doubt lends a lot of credibility to this game, and if Sierra can manage to get it out during the fall, I think it's going to do exceptionally well, especially considering the dearth of good single-player action games due for release.   Bottom line: There's no question that anyone who played Half-Life can't wait to see how Sierra will intertwine this expansion pack's plot with the original game's story. Based on what I've seen, the developers, Gearbox, are well on their way to building an exciting expansion pack that should re-define what we expect from a game add-on.
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Read my interview with the designers of Half-Life: Opposing Force

8. Age of Empires II

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Due out in just a few short weeks, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings from Ensemble and Microsoft recently went gold. Easily the most anticipated RTS game this fall (post-Tiberian Sun), Emsemble's classic strategy game rooted in history has 13 different civilizations this time around and a myriad of exciting campaigns with leaders such as Genghis Khan and Joan of Arc.   I had a chance to sit down with a beta of the game a few weeks back and was quite impressed with the visual panache, not to mention an impressive tutorial structure that really gets you up to speed on the game in no time.   But clearly the largest draw here is the multiplayer mode, which arguably is what made Age of Empires the success it was. You'll be able to judge for yourself in just a few short weeks when it arrives on store shelves.

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Later This Week
Stay tuned to GameSlice and GameSpot for a very special announcement about the next Behind the Games feature story, which will launch on Wednesday, September 22nd.

Comments?
Do you have a comment on the Big 8 Games? E-mail me: geoff@gameslice.com

Next Week
Next week's Gist List takes a look at six trends in the gaming industry. See you then.