I downloaded and watched the UT2004 Vehicle Trailer last evening with very little expectations,since I had become somewhat disenchanted with the entire UT brand after a very disappointing effort in UT2003.

While the idea of running down 6 or 7 people while the announcer says "Hit and Run!" followed by the infamous UT "Monster Kill!" does bring a smile to my face,the UT2003 bugs and poor map making still have me considerably leery.

Over the past few weeks I've tried several new games,fully expecting one of them to dethrone ET as the most legitimate waster of my now precious gaming time,to no avail.

Enemy Territory remains the single most enjoyable FPS experience I've had since the early months of the year 2000 when everyone and thier brother was playing Unreal Tournament.

Clan Casualty sits at #1 on the TWL Stopwatch Ladder,and #2 on the Campaign Ladder boasting a combined TWL Record of 25-3 and recently exited in the quarter-finals of the TWL season 1 playoffs to the mighty smf.My personal favorite to win the whole thing.

58 teams played in the TWL League Competition and Casualty made it to the Final 8.Nice work guys,it was fun getting there,unfortunately a repeat of the RunByGamers tourney win was not in the cards,this time.

Casualtys CAL record is 5-2 with this weeks match being against the juggernaut Preeminence,a clan comprised of ex-smf and cK-members widely believed to be the single best team in ET,should be fun.

While,as previously stated,no game has captured my attention,Halo,Call Of Duty,and Savage have stirred up enough hype to at least give them a shot.

Halo was a "Play for 1 day ,pound my clenched fists into my desk,and uninstall" venture.After having to do a reformat and new OS Install just to get it to run.What I found once it was running was a travesty.

The game is just plain bad, stating "It's a different planet and the gravity isn't the same" to disguise bad coding is laughable.Most of the ground weapons are useless vs vehicles,and the everyone runs way too slow,especially considering they are trying to outrun,and outgun vehicles.

Two years ago I fell asleep nightly dreaming of the day when one player could drive a vehicle while another manned the gun,now Halo has done it..about 18 months too late to be relevant.Thanks for selling us out Bungie.

Call Of Duty was fun for about a week,until the stark reality that I was just playing a prettier Counter-Strike hit me like a ton of bricks.Maybe if Team DeathMatch was ever to take off,and the sniper rifles were nerfed a bit I'd consider giving it another shot.Until then screw CoD,and,Oh yeah,screw CS too.

Savage,on the other hand,despite it's flaws,and desperate need of a patch or two or three ,is alot of fun and shows alot of promise.The biggest thing that Savage seems to have against it is lack of interest by the competative gaming communities.If some of the talented modders and coders that have kept the Halflife,Unreal Tournament,Quake and RTCW franchises thriving were to take an interest in Savage it could be the next big thing.

Yes,it really is that much fun,but a SavagePRO mod is needed,and fast.I know,I know,"Development companies shouldn't release games that aren't ready"..What would you rather S2 do..wait till after Halflife 2 is released and then try to get someones attention amongst the media blitz that Valve will be enjoying?

I don't blame small companies for releasing games they know need a patch or two just to get a chunk of the market at the optimal time as opposed to waiting and being crushed by a Sony or a Valve release.

Links

Casualty:ET
Skullface:UT
Teamwarfare.com