Can an Xbox gamer handle a PC game?

Ernie’s not your typical gamer. He doesn’t sit at his computer for 15 hours a day playing games at their hardest setting. He’s married, works a 9-5 job and gaming is far from his highest priority in life.

He’s only ever really played first-person-shooter games or racing simulations in the past, and isn’t exactly up-todate with what’s new. He normally plays games on his Xbox 360, and Doom 3 is the last serious game he played on the PC.

But Ernie’s keen to mature his gaming credentials, so we’ve given him four of the latest and best games out at the moment to see if we can re-invigorate his appetite.

He’s got four gaming categories to choose from: first-person shooter (FPS), sports, real-time strategy (RTS) and a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG).

Bioshock

When Ernie started Bioshock for the first time, his jaw dropped to the floor. “This is amazing,” he said. “The water is just so perfect; I can’t believe this is a game I’m looking at!”

After staring at the screen in disbelief for the first 10 minutes, Ernie started to make his way through the game, cautious of every shadow in which one of the city’s genetically mutated inhabitants could be lurking. “This is a bit scary,” he said. “But I can tell I’m going to like it.”

Before Ernie went any further, he decided to quick save in case he got killed. “This is weird – it’s called quick save, but it takes ages!” he laughs. “In other games I’ve played, when you quick save it does so immediately without interrupting the flow of your game.”

On the medium difficulty setting, Ernie had no problems dispatching any of the game’s combatants: the Splicers. Using an electricity Plasmid in his left hand, he would first electrocute them and then kill them with a single shot from his gun or a smack around the head with a wrench.

For each of the tests conducted we had the Logitech GigaWorks Pro Gamer G500 5.1 speakers hooked up, which produce an immense amount of sound. “This is incredible!” Ernie shouted. “There’s so much bass when things blow up, and when something is behind you, it really sounds like it – which is scary.”

“The advert on TV really didn’t do anything for me,” Ernie explains. “The Art-Deco look isn’t my thing, but everything in Bioshock just works perfectly. Nothing is out of place here. I love this game.”

Verdict: “A spectacular first-person shooter – the best there is right now.”

NHL 08

“I’m not looking forward to this, Ernie said. “I’m not a fan of sports games.” Things weren’t looking good for ice hockey game NHL 08.

Ernie was handed a Microsoft Xbox Controller for Windows joypad – the only game in this test to be played with one – and after a little persuasion, loaded up his first match which consisted of four games, each lasting five minutes.

Even on the easiest difficulty setting, it was a bit of a catastrophe. When Ernie wasn’t hacking the puck into his own goal, he was busy figuring out where his players were on screen. “This is way too fast for me,” he explained.

The eye candy didn’t help his concentration, either. “The reflection on the ice is stunning, you can see all the scratches in it from the players’ skates,” Ernie told us. “It really feels like the spectators are there, too, rather than the same faces repeated over and over.”

He was similarly impressed with the commentary, which can sometimes be a little rubbish in sports games. “The material is original each time, so it makes you feel as if they’re talking about the particular game you’re playing,” Ernie said. NHL 08 goes one step further than other sports games by constantly feeding you with information about each player in the hockey league as and when they get booked or score a goal.

Ernie admitted that he wasn’t having much fun, so to spice things up a little we joined in the game. “The difference with two people playing co-operatively is unbelievable,” he smiled. “It makes a lot more sense now. I can imagine having some mates round for a game with a few beers would be a good laugh.”

Verdict: “An absolute riot, but needs mates to really make the most of it.”

Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars

Ernie’s experience of realtime strategy games in the past hasn’t been a positive one. “They seem like a good idea, but having to spend a couple of hours building stuff before I’ve even fought anyone always puts me to sleep,” he explains.

Ernie chose to play Command & Conquer 3 in Campaign mode on the side of the GDI (the good guys, supposedly) and his first mission was to capture the enemy’s base, build his own, and then wipe out the remainder of the NOD forces.

The mission proved to be a slow process as Ernie tried to work out the controls. “Even though the game explains what my objectives are, it’s not really obvious what I need to do to complete them.”

After a lot of head scratching and some random clicking of icons on-screen, Ernie manages to find the tab to start building and slowly but surely he fi gures out where everything is. “You see, if it hadn’t been for luck, I could have been sat here all day trying to figure out what to do,” Ernie says.

Once he gets over this stumbling block, Ernie gets stuck in. Building the base up and create a strong force of troops doesn’t take much time, but when he sends them into battle and has to attack and defend at the same time, he struggles.

“Men aren’t good at multitasking – it’s a fact,” Ernie grins. “I can just about cope with what’s going on now, but when the game gets bigger and more complex later on, I can tell I’m going to struggle.”

Verdict: “Great for people with lots of spare time on their hands!”

Guild Wars Platinum Edition

Of all the games here, this is the one Ernie was least enthusiastic about. Roleplaying games aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so Guild Wars would have to pull something special out of the hat to convince him.

To begin with, Ernie had to select the character he wanted to play from six different professions. After some deliberation, he decided that the Monk would be the best option since you get good healing skills; handy if he’s getting hurt a lot.

Once Ernie’s finished with his character, he launches the game. “I didn’t realise that you play this on the internet with other people,” he says. “Look, there’s a guy running about on fire – this is crazy!”

The first 30 minutes of play are slow and somewhat painful to watch and Ernie looks fed up already. “There’s not enough guidance to get you through the basics,” he frowns. Once Ernie figures out that he has to talk to people to get quests, he starts to get into the game and you can see he’s enjoying himself.

“I think I may have prejudged this game.” Ernie laughs. “I really like the way you can just walk around and explore stuff. I could see myself playing this quite a lot, but I’d need to be locked in a room away from the outside world.”

Verdict: “Geeky and complex, but with depth.”

And our reader’s final verdict is...

“As you can probably tell from my reaction to all four games, I’m a little stuck in my ways,” Ernie told us. “I love first-person shooters and nothing’s changed – I still love them more than any other game and the first thing I’m going to do tomorrow is buy myself a copy of Bioshock. It’s got everything I look for in a good game – it’s got the most amazing graphics I’ve ever seen, the sound gives me goosebumps and it’s not just a regular firstperson shooter; there’s a lot of depth to it in terms of the body and weapon modifications you can make.”

“But I have learnt something new by playing the other three games here. I’m now more likely to try out new games that I would never have previously touched with a bargepole.”

“Although I’m normally a bit impatient, I’ll be giving the slow-burning games more of a chance in future. Command & Conquer 3 or Guild Wars, for example, will be great for when I’m out of the office, because I can put them on my laptop and dip in and out of a game when I get bored. If I’m stuck in a hotel, I can stay in my room and play games instead of going to the hotel bar to get drunk!”

“If I’ve had a hard day at work and need to unleash some aggression, NHL would definitely be the best game for the job because you can smash into other players and shout at your screen when you lose. I’d need to learn what all the crazy rules meant first, though!”