You know what the coolest thing is about Half Life 2 (and by extension other Source powered games)? It’s physics system. As fun as it is throwing glass bottles at combine soldiers, how cool would it be if we could just play around with it without having to worry about some goal or plot? That’s what Garry’s Mod is. It’s a standalone title that requires at least one Source game (Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, etc) to play. You basically have two guns: The Physics Gun, which allows you to pick up and move objects, and the Tool gun, which is used for various tasks, such as combining objects. Players can import objects from other source games, and can even download community made props from the web. Multiplayer play is also possible, as players can team up to build contraptions. A recent update allows players to download community-created objects in game via the Toybox. Players can even modify game scripts using the LUA programming language. Garry’s mod is a cool way to show off the capabilities of the Source engine, and it’s a fun distraction for gamers. If you have HL2, Portal, Team Fortress 2, or Left 4 Dead, check it out.

Before Unreal, Gears of War, and Bulletsotrm (and after Jazz Jackrabbit, ZZT, and Jill of the Jungle) Epic Megagames released this vertical scrolling shooter. While it contains classic shooter action in the vein of Raiden and Xevious, it contains a few tricks of its own that make it unique. The game was originally conceived as a tech demo by two friends Alexander Brandon and Jason Emery. It didn’t even have sound, although it was shopped out to both Epic and Apogee Software. Epic eventually considered the game a perfect fit for thier company, and hooked the team up with sound composers and graphic designers, and thus Tyrian was born. You play as Trent, a terraformation expert. After being sent to the planet Tyrian to do some terraforming work, your friend is assassinated by Microsol (not Microsoft), the corporation controlling the terraforming effort due to his knowledge of a rare mineral being mined on the planet. Realizing that you’re next on Microsol’s hit-list, you set out to make your escape.
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Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

It’s happened to all of us. You’re playing your favorite game, and you’ve thought of ways you could make it better. Maybe you were playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance and you were wondering what the game would be like if you could bring DC or Capcom characters to battle alongside the X-men and Avengers. Maybe you had an idea for a kick-ass new track for Forza or Gran Turismo. Maybe you wondered what would happen if you put Starcraft’s Zerg against Warcraft’s Scourge. Or maybe you wondered what your favorite WWII shooter would be like with Zombie Nazis (oh wait a sec, Treyarch already thought of that one). Ever since the beginnings of PC gaming, it’s been increasingly easier to turn games on their heads. Thanks to the success of games such as LittleBigPlanet, the console gaming market is able to get in too (well, without the need for warranty-voiding console hacking at least). These past several years have seen an increase in games which utilize user-created content, almost to the point where the entire game is driven by it.
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Hope you guys had a good laugh for April Fools day. As you guessed by now, those aren’t this week’s real $20 GOTW and Lost Classics. So, for being a good sport, here you go. To make sure there is no hard feelings, I threw in an extra $20GOTW. All three of this week’s features allow players to flex their creative muscles, so click below and read the rest.
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Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

Duke Nukem. Halo. Call Of Duty. Resistance. Killzone. Goldeneye. Bioshock. Deus Ex. Quake. Timesplitters.

The list of great first person shooters goes on and on, and each game has left its own unique stamp on the genre, weather it’s the RPG-like stat progression of Bioshock and Deus Ex, the cinematic realism of Modern Warfare and Rainbow Six Vegas, the zaniness of Timesplitters and Duke Nukem, or the multiplayer action of Halo and Goldeneye. However, all of these games owe their existence and popularity to one name: Doom. While ID Software’s classic didn’t create the FPS genre (that honor many would say belongs to ID’s previous effort Wolfenstein 3D), it helped shape the face of the genre for years to come. This article will take a look at the classic and its impact on gaming.
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