Jonathan Fingas wrote in a message to Patrick McCullough:
 PM>  Garsh, man, 3dRealms has only made four games!  One out of four is
 PM>  not so bad, is it?
JF>   True, but don't forget that their next two games are also
JF> 1st-person shooters. id has an excuse for making nothing but
JF> 1st-person games; they're a technology company, and the best place
JF> to showcase new technology is a 1st-person shooter. 
 Depends on the technology involved.  First-person shooters are probably
 not a great place to demo a really great auto racing sim engine, or
 a puzzle-maker, or whatever.
 They are getting better at making it seem real, though, which is probably
 part of the goal, hopefully not at the expense of gameplay.
 And as far as technology goes, it's not so bad that 3dR has made other
 sorts of games.  Sometimes doing other games can help a developer see
 the forrest for the trees, so to speak.  Or just learn how to do things
 in other and perhaps innovative ways.
 To use a cooking analogy, if a first-person shooter is oatmeal, then
 id is working on perfecting oatmeal, oatmeal with raisins, oatmeal
 with sugar and milk, etc.
 3dR did oatmeal, and oatmeal with raisins, and now they're working on
 barbeque spare ribs and lobster.  Next time they make oatmeal, it
 might end up having barbeque sauce on the side.  And who knows what
 that will do to the gameplay.  It will be fun finding out.  :)
 PM>  Colony Wars has got the be the biggest joke I've seen in years.
JF>   But what about the branching missions and the more story-driven
JF> material, not to mention a more convienient cockpit.  Actually,
 You got that right: far less things to keep track of, which makes
 it somewhat harder to control.  A PC keyboard does have advantages
 over a gamepad, no matter how good that pad might be.
JF> though, I have to ask you this: is it FUN?  From what I've heard,
JF> it's a resounding yes.  Most of it may have been done before, but
JF> not quite like this. 
 It's a lot better than X-wing, that's for sure.  And the graphics
 are very nice.  I'd rank it as a must-see at least, and a must-buy
 when it comes to the used game bins.
 The only real flaw is that it just feels like I've done this before.
 Oatmeal, but with sparkly raisins this time.
 Enough of this before Joe gets mad.  :)
 Patrick
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