Sunday, December 27, 2009
Moving
This blog is moving to Wordpress due to that site's better interface and options. Check it out here
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Avatar review
So, I saw Avatar last night.
Now, this is a movie that people have apparently been looking forward to for a long time, one that's been hyped to the heavens as an experience that's going to "change the way we watch movies" or some other nonsense. I didn't even know it existed until last year and it wasn't on my radar as anything worth watching until I saw the trailer. And I have to admit, part of the reason I even bothered to see it is because I really liked watching Up in 3D and was anxious to go back for more. So keep in mind that this review is the opinion of a guy whose anticipation level going in was somehwere along the lines of "this looks pretty neat" as opposed to someone who's been waiting for this for 15 years.
(Spoiler free)
Now, this is a movie that people have apparently been looking forward to for a long time, one that's been hyped to the heavens as an experience that's going to "change the way we watch movies" or some other nonsense. I didn't even know it existed until last year and it wasn't on my radar as anything worth watching until I saw the trailer. And I have to admit, part of the reason I even bothered to see it is because I really liked watching Up in 3D and was anxious to go back for more. So keep in mind that this review is the opinion of a guy whose anticipation level going in was somehwere along the lines of "this looks pretty neat" as opposed to someone who's been waiting for this for 15 years.
(Spoiler free)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Upcoming anime comments
Hey, a post about anime! Fancy that.
I'm not going to do one of those winter anime season previews, mostly because nearly all of the shows coming out these days are totally indistinguishable moe/harem comedies, but there are a few upcoming series that stand out from the pack, some for better reasons than others.
I'm not going to do one of those winter anime season previews, mostly because nearly all of the shows coming out these days are totally indistinguishable moe/harem comedies, but there are a few upcoming series that stand out from the pack, some for better reasons than others.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Spike VGA awards part 02
There were two announcements at the Spike VGA event I forgot to comment on last time:
Spec Ops: The Line
Now here's something interesting- a military shooter set in what appears to be a deserted, sand-covered Dubai. According to the developers, the game "challenges players' morality by putting them in the middle of unspeakable situations where unimaginative choices affecting human life must be made."
I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be "unimaginable choices" but whatever. Hopefully it won't fall into the usual gimmicks associated with morality choices in video games, and at least they're doing something interesting, as opposed to the likes of Medal of Honour.
Halo: Reach
I didn't think it was possible for me to be any more apathetic about the Halo series, but Bungie achieved the impossible by focusing on a squad for their prequel and predictably stocking it with the usual walking cliches we've come to expect from FPS games- there's the player-insertion main character, the gruff commander, the black guy (here doubling for the crazy guy), the woman and the hispanic guy. So basically it's Crysis.... IN SPACE.
Is it really that hard to mix things up a little? How about a female commander, or no black guys, or two hispanic guys? Or maybe the main character could be specifically identified as not white. I don't know why developers feel the need to be politically correct with these games- do they actually think people are going to be offended if the team doesn't contain a character of their ethincity?- but that would be one way to do it that would be fresh and original.
Spec Ops: The Line
Now here's something interesting- a military shooter set in what appears to be a deserted, sand-covered Dubai. According to the developers, the game "challenges players' morality by putting them in the middle of unspeakable situations where unimaginative choices affecting human life must be made."
I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be "unimaginable choices" but whatever. Hopefully it won't fall into the usual gimmicks associated with morality choices in video games, and at least they're doing something interesting, as opposed to the likes of Medal of Honour.
Halo: Reach
I didn't think it was possible for me to be any more apathetic about the Halo series, but Bungie achieved the impossible by focusing on a squad for their prequel and predictably stocking it with the usual walking cliches we've come to expect from FPS games- there's the player-insertion main character, the gruff commander, the black guy (here doubling for the crazy guy), the woman and the hispanic guy. So basically it's Crysis.... IN SPACE.
Is it really that hard to mix things up a little? How about a female commander, or no black guys, or two hispanic guys? Or maybe the main character could be specifically identified as not white. I don't know why developers feel the need to be politically correct with these games- do they actually think people are going to be offended if the team doesn't contain a character of their ethincity?- but that would be one way to do it that would be fresh and original.
Spike VGA announcements
There's been a flurry of game announcements coming from the Spike Video Game Awards, an event I was only barely aware of this time last year. Maybe developers don't want to wait until E3 any more. Here are my thoughts on some of the more interesting stuff:
Prince of Persia: The Lost Sands
Yay, a new Prince of Persia game! And it's..... not a sequel to the last one. Huh.
While Ubisoft's latest PoP game may have had some serious flaws, I still enjoyed it, so this is a bit dissapointing. A lot of people are speculating that a return to the original franchise is being driven by the upcoming movie, a theory that gains some credence when you consider that they're coming out around the same time. The trailer even feels like an attempt at copying a movie teaser, with the gravelly-voiced narrator going on about the stregnth of stonn (he actually says it like that).
A lot of people are making predictions about movie tie-ins, but given how good the Prince of Persia games are I'm going to give Ubisoft the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
The first Force Unleashed was one of those mystifying cases where I seem to have been playing a different game from the majority of fans and critics. The general consensus seems to be that it was a good idea that fell short- an "ok" game that could have been great. A lot of people just straight up hated it.
I thoroughly enjoyed Force Unleashed and thought it surpassed it's potential, which is saying something since hack and slash games usually bore me to tears after the first five minutes. I really don't see why everyone was so dissapointed with it. (See also: Superman Returns (the movie), Silent Hill Homecoming and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Halo and all of the Grand Theft Auto games except the fourth one are examples of this in reverse).
I'm happy that they're making a sequel that can hopefully iron out the first game's few flaws (no more goddamn quick time events), but how can this work story-wise? As everyone who played the original knows, it ended pretty conclusively.
Medal of Honour
This game looks stupid.
In an effort to revitalize the franchise, EA have moved it from the tired, over-used setting of World War 2 to the tired, over-used setting of the Middle East. It's essentially a more gung-ho Modern Warfare rip-off (did you catch that aerial bombardment scene?) with a stupid looking main character. And no, the fact that he's apparently based on a real person doesn't excuse that.
Nice graphics, though. It's cool that they went for a slightly less realistic style.
Batman Sequel
An Arkham Asylum sequel? Yes please!
After playing the original I really wanted a free-roaming Batman game set in Gotham, following Batman as he goes about his day to day crime fighting duties. That doesn't seem to have happened, but the action is moving to the streets of Gotham at least. I'll be keeping an eye on this.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Sands
Yay, a new Prince of Persia game! And it's..... not a sequel to the last one. Huh.
While Ubisoft's latest PoP game may have had some serious flaws, I still enjoyed it, so this is a bit dissapointing. A lot of people are speculating that a return to the original franchise is being driven by the upcoming movie, a theory that gains some credence when you consider that they're coming out around the same time. The trailer even feels like an attempt at copying a movie teaser, with the gravelly-voiced narrator going on about the stregnth of stonn (he actually says it like that).
A lot of people are making predictions about movie tie-ins, but given how good the Prince of Persia games are I'm going to give Ubisoft the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
The first Force Unleashed was one of those mystifying cases where I seem to have been playing a different game from the majority of fans and critics. The general consensus seems to be that it was a good idea that fell short- an "ok" game that could have been great. A lot of people just straight up hated it.
I thoroughly enjoyed Force Unleashed and thought it surpassed it's potential, which is saying something since hack and slash games usually bore me to tears after the first five minutes. I really don't see why everyone was so dissapointed with it. (See also: Superman Returns (the movie), Silent Hill Homecoming and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Halo and all of the Grand Theft Auto games except the fourth one are examples of this in reverse).
I'm happy that they're making a sequel that can hopefully iron out the first game's few flaws (no more goddamn quick time events), but how can this work story-wise? As everyone who played the original knows, it ended pretty conclusively.
Medal of Honour
This game looks stupid.
In an effort to revitalize the franchise, EA have moved it from the tired, over-used setting of World War 2 to the tired, over-used setting of the Middle East. It's essentially a more gung-ho Modern Warfare rip-off (did you catch that aerial bombardment scene?) with a stupid looking main character. And no, the fact that he's apparently based on a real person doesn't excuse that.
Nice graphics, though. It's cool that they went for a slightly less realistic style.
Batman Sequel
An Arkham Asylum sequel? Yes please!
After playing the original I really wanted a free-roaming Batman game set in Gotham, following Batman as he goes about his day to day crime fighting duties. That doesn't seem to have happened, but the action is moving to the streets of Gotham at least. I'll be keeping an eye on this.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Silent Hill Shattered Memories review (spoiler-free)
And it's done.
I've been eagerly- no, desperately- waiting to play Climax's reimagining of Silent Hill ever since it was announced, pouring over every screenshot and video, discussing (and often defending) the game endlessly with fellow fans on forums. I modded my Wii and payed outrageous import costs to play the game early. Two days ago I recieved and finished it. Did it live up to the hype?
Let me put it this way: as far as I'm concerned, Climax is the new Team Silent.
I've been eagerly- no, desperately- waiting to play Climax's reimagining of Silent Hill ever since it was announced, pouring over every screenshot and video, discussing (and often defending) the game endlessly with fellow fans on forums. I modded my Wii and payed outrageous import costs to play the game early. Two days ago I recieved and finished it. Did it live up to the hype?
Let me put it this way: as far as I'm concerned, Climax is the new Team Silent.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
World of Minecraft
I was wandering around the interwebs bored earlier today, waiting for the glorious hour when my copy of Silent Hill Shattered Memories arrives (and if you're enjoying this blog in any capacity get your fill now, because you won't be seeing me for awhile when that happens) when I stumbled across Minecraft, an intruiging little indie MMO.
Minecraft is as far as I can tell somewhat similar to Love, only less stylish- you build things in tandem with other players and, when the survival mode is finished, you'll be able to fend off hoards of enemies together.
At the moment I'm sticking to the single player game and basically treating it like virtual lego. Upon seeing that there were wood and bookcase blocks (which I will insist in referring to as "build grist") in the menu I set about constructing a little log cabin. I think it was around the time I glanced at the clock and realised I had spent the last 15 minutes working out how to make a sloping roof that I realised this concept might be a good one.
I'm currently raising a Dread Tower of obsidian build grist with which to survey the domain I plan on building. I'll let you know how it goes.
Minecraft is as far as I can tell somewhat similar to Love, only less stylish- you build things in tandem with other players and, when the survival mode is finished, you'll be able to fend off hoards of enemies together.
At the moment I'm sticking to the single player game and basically treating it like virtual lego. Upon seeing that there were wood and bookcase blocks (which I will insist in referring to as "build grist") in the menu I set about constructing a little log cabin. I think it was around the time I glanced at the clock and realised I had spent the last 15 minutes working out how to make a sloping roof that I realised this concept might be a good one.
I'm currently raising a Dread Tower of obsidian build grist with which to survey the domain I plan on building. I'll let you know how it goes.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Modern Warfare- Reflex thoughts
I recently got to play around with the inanely titled Modern Warfare- Reflex for the Wii.
Modern Warfare was a huge blockbuster of a game designed to push the envelope in terms of graphics and presentation, so the decision to port it the Wii was a tad odd. On the face of it, it seems as if quite a lot of effort went into this- everything that was in the original PC/PS3/360 release is here, including all of the multiplayer. How, then did Infinity Ward botch the controls so badly?
It's not that they're really bad or anything. You get a large number of preset options (why do developers insist on labelling the Red Steel control method "beginner" when it makes games almost impossible to play?) and The Conduit's ability to tweak everything to you heart's content. But it still feels off. Your aim frequently spazzes out and swings wildly when looking down the scope, and circle strafing feels stiff. The game gives you the option to lean around corners by tilting the nunchuck, which works quite well, but your movement speed slows to a crawl while leaning and it's easy to do by accident in the middle of a firefight.
Again, the controls aren't bad, they're just not as good as what's come before. When your game doesn't match the fluidity and ease of play of a game that came out almost three years ago, you've got a problem.
Also, a word must be said about the graphics, which also aren't as good as Metroid Prime 3's. Environments are frequently muddy and the whole thing has the squinty feel of playing a HD game on an SD TV. Enemies also have a distracting tendency to suffer from jerky animations and delayed reactions.
And of course, there's the writing and voice acting, with the British troops coming across as vaguely evil and sinister and the Americans being portrayed as grunting meat-headed frat boys. Since the game is supposedly gritty and realistic and all that Infinity Ward was probably trying to make some sort of point, but it's diluted somewhat bu the fact that every other military FPS ever made in the history of the Universe does the exact same thing.
Despite all this, Modern Warfare- Reflex isn't a bad game. I'm going to go play it again after finishing this post, in fact. I'm just glad I rented it instead of buying it at full price.
Modern Warfare was a huge blockbuster of a game designed to push the envelope in terms of graphics and presentation, so the decision to port it the Wii was a tad odd. On the face of it, it seems as if quite a lot of effort went into this- everything that was in the original PC/PS3/360 release is here, including all of the multiplayer. How, then did Infinity Ward botch the controls so badly?
It's not that they're really bad or anything. You get a large number of preset options (why do developers insist on labelling the Red Steel control method "beginner" when it makes games almost impossible to play?) and The Conduit's ability to tweak everything to you heart's content. But it still feels off. Your aim frequently spazzes out and swings wildly when looking down the scope, and circle strafing feels stiff. The game gives you the option to lean around corners by tilting the nunchuck, which works quite well, but your movement speed slows to a crawl while leaning and it's easy to do by accident in the middle of a firefight.
Again, the controls aren't bad, they're just not as good as what's come before. When your game doesn't match the fluidity and ease of play of a game that came out almost three years ago, you've got a problem.
Also, a word must be said about the graphics, which also aren't as good as Metroid Prime 3's. Environments are frequently muddy and the whole thing has the squinty feel of playing a HD game on an SD TV. Enemies also have a distracting tendency to suffer from jerky animations and delayed reactions.
And of course, there's the writing and voice acting, with the British troops coming across as vaguely evil and sinister and the Americans being portrayed as grunting meat-headed frat boys. Since the game is supposedly gritty and realistic and all that Infinity Ward was probably trying to make some sort of point, but it's diluted somewhat bu the fact that every other military FPS ever made in the history of the Universe does the exact same thing.
Despite all this, Modern Warfare- Reflex isn't a bad game. I'm going to go play it again after finishing this post, in fact. I'm just glad I rented it instead of buying it at full price.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Shattered Memories soundtrack
I've mentioned before that I'm really looking forward to Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. One of the things I anticipate most about a new Silent Hill release is listening to the soundtrack, and particularly the songs. The musical duo of Akira Yamaoka and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn have consistently produced some really awesome songs to go along with the series, a lot of which are never actually used in the games.
Some intrepid soul has uploaded what appears to be the full soundtrack to the game, so here's a mini-review of each of the four songs featured:
Hell Frozen Rain
I'm assuming this is the "main" theme of the game, as the rockier, fast paced pieces like One More Soul to The Call from Homecoming and You're Not Here from Silent Hill 3 usually are (Room of Angel is a major exception). Hell Frozen Rain doesn't quite reach the same heights as those two, but it's a great song nonetheless. The sound is recognizably Yamaoka, but with a more pop-music tone and less of a rock feel. "Lighter" is the only word I can use to describe it. One segment starting at around 3:50 in particular sounds like something from a catchy pop ballad from the 90's, which I guess goes to show how versatile Yamaoka is.
The guitar solo right before that is a remix of a solo from Theme of Laura, interestingly enough, probably my favourite non-vocal Yamaoka piece. I'm guessing it's in there to reinforce the game's theme of memories and familiar things being twisted and changes.
Acceptance
I swear to God I've heard this somewhere before, but I can't quite think where. The opening segment in particular feels like something I listened to years ago and have forgotten.
This is another case of keeping in familiar elements while trying something new- the synth piano tones in the background are classic Silent Hill, but the tinkly notes definitely aren't. It's like seeing something familiar under a layer of ice.... which, I guess, is entirely appropriate. Well done, Mr. Yamaoka.
The slower Silent Hill songs have always been a bit hit and miss for me, and that goes for this one. Like I said, it's very evocative with a definite "wintery" feel, and I can imagine it being used very effectively in the game, but I don't think I'll have it on my iPod to listen to regularly.
Interestingly, the lyrics to this and Hell Frozen Rain seem in a lot of ways to be about Cheryl even though they also have obvious applications to Harry's situation. It's not a bad song- in fact it's quite beautiful- just not very enjoyable to listen to.
When You're Gone
Like the previous two songs, this is classic Yamaoka, in this case his harder rock songs like You're Not Here, with some unfamiliar sounds mixed in. There's a bit of a country feel to it, with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's vocal delivery differing quite a bit from what we usually here from her.
I'm always impressed with how Yamaoka manages to make a soundtrack that fits together to give a unified impression, and even though When You're Gone is very different to Hell Frozen Rain and Acceptance, it still seems to fit in with them perfectly.
The song is a bit shallower and more forgettable than what we're used to in Silent Hill, but it's very fun to listen to. And while inserting the name of the game/movie/series into the lyrics usually comes across as cheesy, here it's done well and seems to fit the lyrics well.
Always on My Mind
One of the most interesting tracks here, this is a cover of an Elvis Presly song that's apparently been done by a lot of country singers in the past. Listening to the original, this is definitely very different and it's really interesting to hear such an unfamiliar sound being put through the Silent Hill filter. Since the lyrics of the other songs reflect the game so strongly, I'm interested to see if this was chosen because it has some sort of thematic relevance to the game.
I said that Hell Frozen Rain is probably the game's theme song, but after listening to this song I have to change my evaluation. There's a real feeling of power and emotion here and while it's not my favourite song in the soundtrack, I think it would serve as the main theme better than any of the other three.Similarly to Hell Frozen Rain using part of Theme of Laura, there's a recurring background track here that I'm fairly certain is liften directly from one of the songs from Origins.
I think Yamaoka went a little overboard with the snythesized sounds here- I would love to have a remix of this with guitars and more natural sounding instruments.
Overall, this isn't the best soundtracks Yamaoka has ever done, but as a Silent Hill music fan I'm fully satisifed with it. None of the songs blew me away as at least one from each game usually does, but at the same time there are none I don't care for at all, which wasn't the case with all of Yamaoka's other soundtracks.
It's interesting to hear such a different sound coming from Yamaoka, and while he doesn't always pull it off- like I said, the synthesized sounds are a bit overdone- I can appreciate the attempt to do something new.
I must add the caveat that Yamaoka's music is tied strongly to the game it's produced for. Even songs that aren't used in the game really only come into their own once you've played it, so I'll have to revaluate my opinion once I've beaten Shattered Memories.
Some intrepid soul has uploaded what appears to be the full soundtrack to the game, so here's a mini-review of each of the four songs featured:
Hell Frozen Rain
I'm assuming this is the "main" theme of the game, as the rockier, fast paced pieces like One More Soul to The Call from Homecoming and You're Not Here from Silent Hill 3 usually are (Room of Angel is a major exception). Hell Frozen Rain doesn't quite reach the same heights as those two, but it's a great song nonetheless. The sound is recognizably Yamaoka, but with a more pop-music tone and less of a rock feel. "Lighter" is the only word I can use to describe it. One segment starting at around 3:50 in particular sounds like something from a catchy pop ballad from the 90's, which I guess goes to show how versatile Yamaoka is.
The guitar solo right before that is a remix of a solo from Theme of Laura, interestingly enough, probably my favourite non-vocal Yamaoka piece. I'm guessing it's in there to reinforce the game's theme of memories and familiar things being twisted and changes.
Acceptance
I swear to God I've heard this somewhere before, but I can't quite think where. The opening segment in particular feels like something I listened to years ago and have forgotten.
This is another case of keeping in familiar elements while trying something new- the synth piano tones in the background are classic Silent Hill, but the tinkly notes definitely aren't. It's like seeing something familiar under a layer of ice.... which, I guess, is entirely appropriate. Well done, Mr. Yamaoka.
The slower Silent Hill songs have always been a bit hit and miss for me, and that goes for this one. Like I said, it's very evocative with a definite "wintery" feel, and I can imagine it being used very effectively in the game, but I don't think I'll have it on my iPod to listen to regularly.
Interestingly, the lyrics to this and Hell Frozen Rain seem in a lot of ways to be about Cheryl even though they also have obvious applications to Harry's situation. It's not a bad song- in fact it's quite beautiful- just not very enjoyable to listen to.
When You're Gone
Like the previous two songs, this is classic Yamaoka, in this case his harder rock songs like You're Not Here, with some unfamiliar sounds mixed in. There's a bit of a country feel to it, with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's vocal delivery differing quite a bit from what we usually here from her.
I'm always impressed with how Yamaoka manages to make a soundtrack that fits together to give a unified impression, and even though When You're Gone is very different to Hell Frozen Rain and Acceptance, it still seems to fit in with them perfectly.
The song is a bit shallower and more forgettable than what we're used to in Silent Hill, but it's very fun to listen to. And while inserting the name of the game/movie/series into the lyrics usually comes across as cheesy, here it's done well and seems to fit the lyrics well.
Always on My Mind
One of the most interesting tracks here, this is a cover of an Elvis Presly song that's apparently been done by a lot of country singers in the past. Listening to the original, this is definitely very different and it's really interesting to hear such an unfamiliar sound being put through the Silent Hill filter. Since the lyrics of the other songs reflect the game so strongly, I'm interested to see if this was chosen because it has some sort of thematic relevance to the game.
I said that Hell Frozen Rain is probably the game's theme song, but after listening to this song I have to change my evaluation. There's a real feeling of power and emotion here and while it's not my favourite song in the soundtrack, I think it would serve as the main theme better than any of the other three.Similarly to Hell Frozen Rain using part of Theme of Laura, there's a recurring background track here that I'm fairly certain is liften directly from one of the songs from Origins.
I think Yamaoka went a little overboard with the snythesized sounds here- I would love to have a remix of this with guitars and more natural sounding instruments.
Overall, this isn't the best soundtracks Yamaoka has ever done, but as a Silent Hill music fan I'm fully satisifed with it. None of the songs blew me away as at least one from each game usually does, but at the same time there are none I don't care for at all, which wasn't the case with all of Yamaoka's other soundtracks.
It's interesting to hear such a different sound coming from Yamaoka, and while he doesn't always pull it off- like I said, the synthesized sounds are a bit overdone- I can appreciate the attempt to do something new.
I must add the caveat that Yamaoka's music is tied strongly to the game it's produced for. Even songs that aren't used in the game really only come into their own once you've played it, so I'll have to revaluate my opinion once I've beaten Shattered Memories.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Morality in Video Games Part 2
I just found this neat little flash game in the latest PC Gamer that you should all play right now. Here's a link.
I'm going to put some long-winded thoughts on this after the jump. I really recommend you play it first, though. Don't even look at the screenshots or the plot description- just go in blind.
I'm going to put some long-winded thoughts on this after the jump. I really recommend you play it first, though. Don't even look at the screenshots or the plot description- just go in blind.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Dragon Age impressions
I've been playing Dragon Age: Origins (henceforth referred to as Dragon Age because "Origins" is the most cliched video game title ever) a whole lot lately.
I'm not a big fantasy fan, mainly due to just how cliched and derivitave the whole genre is. This goes double for video games, where your usual Tolkien/ Dungeons and Dragons archetypes seem to rule the day (the big exception being the two World of Warcraft expansions). At first glance Dragon Age seems to follow the same template- elves, check, underground dwarves, check, medieval human kingdoms, check. But the more I play the more the game seems to be using these worn out cliches in new and interesting ways. The elves are former slaves who live in run down "alienages" in cities and in no way resemble the usual glowy immortal ethereal beings. There are Dalish elves who live in forests and stick more closely to the old ways, but even they're way more down to earth than usual. The dwarves really get a unique angle, in that they're portrayed as a pile of scheming political backstabbers. Which, when you think about it, makes sense for an insular, enclosed community.
This attention to detail extends throughout the game. The world feels fully fleshed out and real- characters from Orlais, the nation that ruled Ferelden for centuries, have distinct accents, a unique culture and even distinct styles of clothes. The religion of Ferelden seems like something that could actually exist in real life. As I play the game I keep noticing little details, like the way Chantry priest's robes have more sun-like details with increasing rank, or the way most commoner women don'ty cover their shoulders. None of this is explicitly pointed out and explained (although most things are, by way of an extensive automatically updating codex), they just sink into your subconscious as you play. It feels as if every detail was included because it makes sense for it to be there, not because the developers just thought it would be cool.
I'm playing as an elf, and the game provides one of the best examples of "fantastic racism" I've ever seen in fiction. The way this usually goes is that the story will be peppered with straw-man parodies of racism, almost always on the evil side. Everyone is either a bleeding-heart progressive or totally and irredeemably consumed with irrational hatred. There is no in between*. In Dragon Age the whole situation is almost startilingly more realistic and nuanced. You very rarely meet people who are out and out hostile, but you do frequently encounter completely freindly and helpful characters who are extremely prejudiced, and don't realise they are. In one particularly hilarious moment, one of my party members- probably the kindest and most friendly in the group- started telling me about elven servants in Orlais and came out with a stream of unknowingly racist comments. As she obliviously dug herself in deeper my character's choice of non-hostile responses dwindled until there was no diplomatic way to end the conversation.
That's another thing I love about Dragin Age: it has a sense of humour. Far too often fantasy writers seem to think the invention of humour coincided with the discovery of electricity.
I've still got a ways to go- I'm not even halfway through the game and I've been playing for over 30 hours- so I'll leave off any comments about the combat and gameplay until I've finished the game.
* this is one of my only really big gripes with Harry Potter series, although to be fair Rowling was a bit more subtle when it came to non-human species like house elves and werewolves.
I'm not a big fantasy fan, mainly due to just how cliched and derivitave the whole genre is. This goes double for video games, where your usual Tolkien/ Dungeons and Dragons archetypes seem to rule the day (the big exception being the two World of Warcraft expansions). At first glance Dragon Age seems to follow the same template- elves, check, underground dwarves, check, medieval human kingdoms, check. But the more I play the more the game seems to be using these worn out cliches in new and interesting ways. The elves are former slaves who live in run down "alienages" in cities and in no way resemble the usual glowy immortal ethereal beings. There are Dalish elves who live in forests and stick more closely to the old ways, but even they're way more down to earth than usual. The dwarves really get a unique angle, in that they're portrayed as a pile of scheming political backstabbers. Which, when you think about it, makes sense for an insular, enclosed community.
This attention to detail extends throughout the game. The world feels fully fleshed out and real- characters from Orlais, the nation that ruled Ferelden for centuries, have distinct accents, a unique culture and even distinct styles of clothes. The religion of Ferelden seems like something that could actually exist in real life. As I play the game I keep noticing little details, like the way Chantry priest's robes have more sun-like details with increasing rank, or the way most commoner women don'ty cover their shoulders. None of this is explicitly pointed out and explained (although most things are, by way of an extensive automatically updating codex), they just sink into your subconscious as you play. It feels as if every detail was included because it makes sense for it to be there, not because the developers just thought it would be cool.
I'm playing as an elf, and the game provides one of the best examples of "fantastic racism" I've ever seen in fiction. The way this usually goes is that the story will be peppered with straw-man parodies of racism, almost always on the evil side. Everyone is either a bleeding-heart progressive or totally and irredeemably consumed with irrational hatred. There is no in between*. In Dragon Age the whole situation is almost startilingly more realistic and nuanced. You very rarely meet people who are out and out hostile, but you do frequently encounter completely freindly and helpful characters who are extremely prejudiced, and don't realise they are. In one particularly hilarious moment, one of my party members- probably the kindest and most friendly in the group- started telling me about elven servants in Orlais and came out with a stream of unknowingly racist comments. As she obliviously dug herself in deeper my character's choice of non-hostile responses dwindled until there was no diplomatic way to end the conversation.
That's another thing I love about Dragin Age: it has a sense of humour. Far too often fantasy writers seem to think the invention of humour coincided with the discovery of electricity.
I've still got a ways to go- I'm not even halfway through the game and I've been playing for over 30 hours- so I'll leave off any comments about the combat and gameplay until I've finished the game.
* this is one of my only really big gripes with Harry Potter series, although to be fair Rowling was a bit more subtle when it came to non-human species like house elves and werewolves.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and the SH fandom
I'm a huge Silent Hill fan, in the sense that I love the Silent Hill games to bits. However, I also love Silent Hill Homecoming to bits, and that statement probably disqualifies me from being a True Fan in the eyes of many.
A little background information may be needed here for those of you not versed in the lore of survival horror fandom: Silent Hill fans are totally batshit insane.
Okay, that's not fair. Allow me to explain. Silent Hill is a long running series of games with a relatively small but extremely devoted fan following. I'm sure everyone has encountered this sort of insular community before- most people will be part of one- and you'll know that it tends to be a breeding ground for nit-picking and snobbery. Case in point: way back when, it was announced that Silent Hill Homecoming, the fifth entry in the series, would be developed by an American company, Double Helix, rather than Konami (or more specifically "Team Silent", a largely notional group of developers within Konami).
Immediately there was a massive fan backlash predicting that the series was Ruined Forever. Some people decried the fact that the game was in the hands of a relatively unknown studio, some resented the fact that an American company was making it, and pretty much everyone hated the idea of a Silent Hill game being made by anyone other than Team Silent (Origins, being a prequel and initially handheld-only, was seen at the time as a side project and didn't really count as the true "next" Silent Hill game after The Room).
As more details about the project came to light the fans picked over and complained about every little detail, from the over the shoulder camera to the fact that the game had an energy bar. As it turned out the consenus on Homecoming from the media and the fans was that the game was mediocre at best. Personally I loved it, but I can see why, after playing it, most people didn't. But most people also didn't wait to play it before deciding they didn't like it.
I'm trying to make the point here that a large portion of Silent Hill fans are extremely clingy and resistant to change, with the result that the series has stagnated over the years, with sequels that were pretty much the same as their predecessors. Homecoming was an attempt to breathe some much needed life back into the series and met with fierce fan backlash for doing so.
Seeing all of this Climax, the developers of Silent Hill Origins and apparent possesors of balls of steel, decided that Homecoming didn't go nearly far enough. Which is why in a few scant weeks we're getting a remake of the first game that's totally and completely different in almost every way from any of the previous Silent Hill titles, and I for one can't wait.
I don't quite agree with Yahtzee that sequels should be made by people who didn't like the original game, but I support the idea that simply churning out the same thing over and over again is never a good thing. Let's take Mario games as an example. Now the Mario series has spun off into a multitude of different franchises, most of which are composed of lazy cookie-cutter sequels (I'm looking at you, Mario Kart Wii), but the "main" franchise of platformers has always shown an admirable willingness to try new things. After Mario 64 came out and promptly became one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, Nintendo could have just made an identical sequel and watched the cash come rolling in. God knows the fans wanted them to, and still do to this day. Instead they made Mario Sunshine, which..... was quite good, but not nearly as good as it's predecessor. After that the temptation to go back to what worked must have been matched only by the number of people urging them to do so.
Instead they produced Super Mario Galaxy, which came out in 2007 to universal critical acclaim and which I personally consider to be the best game ever made. Trust me when I say that there were a lot people who held Mario 64 on a pedestal and resented every facet of Galaxy that was different from their 64-bit idol. The Mario franchise is one case where the developers in charge of a series have refused to bow to this sort of video game ancestor worship, and it resulted in a modern masterpiece (and never mind that there's a sequel coming out next year that's pretty much identical to the first one- I'll let that one slide since Mario Galaxy was so good and New Super Mario Bros is coming out as well. Just don't make a habit of it, Nintendo).
The Silent Hill series is one case where the opposite holds true, and it's resulted in Silent Hill going from being the undisputed king of the horror genre to a largely sidelined and margianlized franchise only appreciated by die-hard fans. Sticking to what worked before doesn't always run a series into the ground- the Zelda games started to get stale years ago, but they're still as good as they've always been. However, it's never done what fans want it to do- create the sort of beloved masterpiece that represents the series at it's percieved peak, whether it's Mario 64 or Silent Hill 2.
To get back to the supposed point of this post: Shattered Memories. Climax is really going out on a limb by throwing out almost all of the traditional Silent Hill tropes and replacing them with something that most fans wouldn't even recognize as a Silent Hill game if you didn't tell them it was one beforehand. Will Shattered Memories be the Mario Galaxy of the Silent Hill series? It's too early to tell, but I do know that we'll never reach that point if no one has the balls to try, fans be damned.
A little background information may be needed here for those of you not versed in the lore of survival horror fandom: Silent Hill fans are totally batshit insane.
Okay, that's not fair. Allow me to explain. Silent Hill is a long running series of games with a relatively small but extremely devoted fan following. I'm sure everyone has encountered this sort of insular community before- most people will be part of one- and you'll know that it tends to be a breeding ground for nit-picking and snobbery. Case in point: way back when, it was announced that Silent Hill Homecoming, the fifth entry in the series, would be developed by an American company, Double Helix, rather than Konami (or more specifically "Team Silent", a largely notional group of developers within Konami).
Immediately there was a massive fan backlash predicting that the series was Ruined Forever. Some people decried the fact that the game was in the hands of a relatively unknown studio, some resented the fact that an American company was making it, and pretty much everyone hated the idea of a Silent Hill game being made by anyone other than Team Silent (Origins, being a prequel and initially handheld-only, was seen at the time as a side project and didn't really count as the true "next" Silent Hill game after The Room).
As more details about the project came to light the fans picked over and complained about every little detail, from the over the shoulder camera to the fact that the game had an energy bar. As it turned out the consenus on Homecoming from the media and the fans was that the game was mediocre at best. Personally I loved it, but I can see why, after playing it, most people didn't. But most people also didn't wait to play it before deciding they didn't like it.
I'm trying to make the point here that a large portion of Silent Hill fans are extremely clingy and resistant to change, with the result that the series has stagnated over the years, with sequels that were pretty much the same as their predecessors. Homecoming was an attempt to breathe some much needed life back into the series and met with fierce fan backlash for doing so.
Seeing all of this Climax, the developers of Silent Hill Origins and apparent possesors of balls of steel, decided that Homecoming didn't go nearly far enough. Which is why in a few scant weeks we're getting a remake of the first game that's totally and completely different in almost every way from any of the previous Silent Hill titles, and I for one can't wait.
I don't quite agree with Yahtzee that sequels should be made by people who didn't like the original game, but I support the idea that simply churning out the same thing over and over again is never a good thing. Let's take Mario games as an example. Now the Mario series has spun off into a multitude of different franchises, most of which are composed of lazy cookie-cutter sequels (I'm looking at you, Mario Kart Wii), but the "main" franchise of platformers has always shown an admirable willingness to try new things. After Mario 64 came out and promptly became one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, Nintendo could have just made an identical sequel and watched the cash come rolling in. God knows the fans wanted them to, and still do to this day. Instead they made Mario Sunshine, which..... was quite good, but not nearly as good as it's predecessor. After that the temptation to go back to what worked must have been matched only by the number of people urging them to do so.
Instead they produced Super Mario Galaxy, which came out in 2007 to universal critical acclaim and which I personally consider to be the best game ever made. Trust me when I say that there were a lot people who held Mario 64 on a pedestal and resented every facet of Galaxy that was different from their 64-bit idol. The Mario franchise is one case where the developers in charge of a series have refused to bow to this sort of video game ancestor worship, and it resulted in a modern masterpiece (and never mind that there's a sequel coming out next year that's pretty much identical to the first one- I'll let that one slide since Mario Galaxy was so good and New Super Mario Bros is coming out as well. Just don't make a habit of it, Nintendo).
The Silent Hill series is one case where the opposite holds true, and it's resulted in Silent Hill going from being the undisputed king of the horror genre to a largely sidelined and margianlized franchise only appreciated by die-hard fans. Sticking to what worked before doesn't always run a series into the ground- the Zelda games started to get stale years ago, but they're still as good as they've always been. However, it's never done what fans want it to do- create the sort of beloved masterpiece that represents the series at it's percieved peak, whether it's Mario 64 or Silent Hill 2.
To get back to the supposed point of this post: Shattered Memories. Climax is really going out on a limb by throwing out almost all of the traditional Silent Hill tropes and replacing them with something that most fans wouldn't even recognize as a Silent Hill game if you didn't tell them it was one beforehand. Will Shattered Memories be the Mario Galaxy of the Silent Hill series? It's too early to tell, but I do know that we'll never reach that point if no one has the balls to try, fans be damned.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
V remake episodes 1 and 2
Hollywood's obsession with creating nostalgia-fuelled movies around things people watched/played with during their childhood and teenage years has spread to TV. Be afraid.
Or not. While the craze for movies based on old properties has produced such drivel as the Transformers and GI Joe movies, and seems to have reached it's psychotic apex in the form of the planned Viewmaster movie (no, really), in TV land people are producing remakes that actually make sense, such as an upcoming miniseries based on British mindscrew classic The Prisoner and a modernisation of V, the quality of which will be judged below the jump.
Or not. While the craze for movies based on old properties has produced such drivel as the Transformers and GI Joe movies, and seems to have reached it's psychotic apex in the form of the planned Viewmaster movie (no, really), in TV land people are producing remakes that actually make sense, such as an upcoming miniseries based on British mindscrew classic The Prisoner and a modernisation of V, the quality of which will be judged below the jump.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Paranormal Activity review
It bothers me a lot that most modern horror films don't pass my Horror Movie Quality Criteria (patent pending). The criteria are as follows:
1) The movie must contain less than one explosion
2) The movie must contain at least five seconds of frightening footage
You'd think more horror films would be able to manage that, but apparently not. Thankfully paranormal activity, the original 2007 cut of which I got a chance to see yesterday, is both explosion free and features far more than five seconds of the good stuff.
[spoilers below! Don't read if you haven't seen it]
1) The movie must contain less than one explosion
2) The movie must contain at least five seconds of frightening footage
You'd think more horror films would be able to manage that, but apparently not. Thankfully paranormal activity, the original 2007 cut of which I got a chance to see yesterday, is both explosion free and features far more than five seconds of the good stuff.
[spoilers below! Don't read if you haven't seen it]
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Runaways Volume 09 review
I'm not a big fan of superhero comics. The sprawling contuity and back story is one problem, as is the constant shift of writer and artist, but mostly it's because they're just silly. I like Batman in the movies, where he fights criminals and super villains who seem as if they could actually exist. I like the X-Men films because they introduce one fantastic element- a genetic mutation that grants super powers- and build the entire plot, villains and all, on that concept. I liked Superman Returns because Superman was fighting a human opponent and himself and kryptonite were the only sci-fi elements present, both of which came from a single source.
But contrast that to the comics, where Batman is suddenly running around in a garish purple suit he got in another universe or something, the X-Men fight freaking aliens and Superman stumbles into five alternate dimensions every time he trips over the mantle and all of this is crossed over with five hundred other stories, all of which are just as wierd and ouch my brain hurts.
More so than the inability of super hero stories to focus on one damn story at a time, it's just impossible to take the characters seriously. I cannot feel any empathy with someone who calls themselves [insert animal/concept]man and who runs around all day in a skintight latex outfit. Now you might say that the movies I just claimed to like suffer the same problem, but they also go to great lengths to make their characters seem more human. Movie Wolverine feels like a real person, whereas comic Wolverine feels like, well, Wolverine.
Which is why I love Runaways. There's all sorts of crazy shit going on here- aliens, time travel, robots, mutants, you name it, this series has it, but it's established right from the beginning that the story is going to be a melting pot of different concepts. You don't start off with a comic about, say, a super hero with the ability to control electricity fighting gangs (why yes I have been playing inFamous) and then suddenly there are aliens invading for no apparent reason. The aliens were always there, as were the time travellers and the evil geniuses and what have you, so it's no great surprise when the biblical giants come along.
But the big reason I like Runaways is because the characters are real people, not super heroes. They refer to each other by their real names and wear ordinary clothes. They're teenagers with super powers, not super powers awkwardly shoved into a human frame.
With that rather long winded introduction over, lets look at the latest volume of Runaways!
But contrast that to the comics, where Batman is suddenly running around in a garish purple suit he got in another universe or something, the X-Men fight freaking aliens and Superman stumbles into five alternate dimensions every time he trips over the mantle and all of this is crossed over with five hundred other stories, all of which are just as wierd and ouch my brain hurts.
More so than the inability of super hero stories to focus on one damn story at a time, it's just impossible to take the characters seriously. I cannot feel any empathy with someone who calls themselves [insert animal/concept]man and who runs around all day in a skintight latex outfit. Now you might say that the movies I just claimed to like suffer the same problem, but they also go to great lengths to make their characters seem more human. Movie Wolverine feels like a real person, whereas comic Wolverine feels like, well, Wolverine.
Which is why I love Runaways. There's all sorts of crazy shit going on here- aliens, time travel, robots, mutants, you name it, this series has it, but it's established right from the beginning that the story is going to be a melting pot of different concepts. You don't start off with a comic about, say, a super hero with the ability to control electricity fighting gangs (why yes I have been playing inFamous) and then suddenly there are aliens invading for no apparent reason. The aliens were always there, as were the time travellers and the evil geniuses and what have you, so it's no great surprise when the biblical giants come along.
But the big reason I like Runaways is because the characters are real people, not super heroes. They refer to each other by their real names and wear ordinary clothes. They're teenagers with super powers, not super powers awkwardly shoved into a human frame.
With that rather long winded introduction over, lets look at the latest volume of Runaways!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Shattered Horizon looks pretty cool
I recommend you watch the following video.
I don't know how well it will actually play, but in concept this is probably the most intruging first-person game I've seen since Mirror's Edge. Come to think of it, the graphical style is actually pretty similar.
Also, is that a totally awesome logo or what?
Friday, October 30, 2009
Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor ep.02-03
Why do character designers think -_- is a good facial expression to represent evil and/ or insanity?
Darker then Black: Gemini of the Meteor (originally sub-titled "Sagitarius of the Quasar" and then "Capricorn of the Cepheid Variable") continues to intrigue with these two episodes.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Modern Warfare 2 makes you shoot people, the world freaks out
You may be familiar with the kerfuffle over a leaked video depicting an optional section of Modern Warfare 2 that lets you play as a terrorist. I don't know the full context, but you and some allies wade into a crowded airport with automatic weapons and start unloading said weapons into civilians.The controversy has gotten to the point that the Australian government is threatening to refuse the game a 15A classification (not that that really means anything any more).
I watched the footage. It's violent and disgusting ans shocking.
So what?
You could put a scene like this in a film and no one would bat an eye-lid. Schindler's List has far worse material and no one is trying to ban it. The very idea would be ludicrous, offensive even. Yet for some reason having violence against innocents in a video game is not acceptable.
Maybe people think it's more shocking when you're actually acting out the violence yourself. If so, I have news for you: video games have been doing this for years. Hitman 2, released seven years ago, featured a level set in an office building lobby crowded with civilians. If you so wished, you could equip an assault rifle and go on a bloody rampage. Blood Money had at least three levels with a similar set up. You weren't supposed to run around shooting people randomly, but the game didn't penalize you for it. And of course the GTA games have been letting players depopulate entire cities since 1997. It's true that GTA atracted a lot of controversy, but most of it wasn't about the fact that you could kill civilians if you wanted to. And as far as I can tell no one even noticed that Hitman let you gun down hundreds of innocent people whenever the fancy struck you.
But wait, maybe that's not the point. Maybe it's the fact that you're supposed to shoot innocent people that's getting everyone so up in arms. If so, it would be an odd complaint. Like I said, the whole scene is skippable and while I can understand someone being umcomfortable with the idea of being told to shoot unarmed people, I don't see how that makes the section in question inherently more repulsive.
I think there are three main reasons for this controversy. Number one, people are panicky, reactionary, small-minded morons who care deeply about the content of fictional stories even if they never intend to see them. Okay, that wasn't really the first reason. I was just venting.
Numer one: The "T" word. Terrorists are bad and having them in things is therefore bad, for reasons no one seems willing to explain.
Linked to this is the second reason, the odd and irrational idea that putting something in a game is automatically glorifying it. Video games, the reasoning seems to go, are more about entertainment than other visual mediums and so anything in them is suppoed to be fun. Therefore, Infinity Ward is trying to make terrorist activities seem like fun. To return to my Schindler's List point- ultimately, people watch that movie and others like it for entertainment as well, yet no one has ever suggested that Spielberg was trying to glorify the actions of the Nazis. Just the opposite, a fact that everyone seems to automatically grasp. So why can't they see Modern Warfare 2 in the same light? The entire sequence is obviously meant to be horrifying. Why does that stop being true once you put people in control of the action instead of making them watch it?
The last reason is tied in with the usual attitude people have to controversial issues in video games- they're just not allowed to depict things that movies and books are. I remember a few years ago a semi-educational DS game about the Holocaust was announced. It took place in the imagination of a young boy in a concentration camp. Instantly a huge furor arose over the game, with one guy (I think he was actually a survivor of the holocaust himself) outright stating that he would have had no problem with the idea if it was a movie, but a video game? That's not on. Why not? No reason was given. Similar complaints have been aimed at any game attempting to portray the events of 9/11, even, in one case, a mod that was historically accurate and intended to be purely educational. Again, this was after two movies about the attacks were already well into production, neither of which got much attention. But a video game showing the same thing? God Forbid. In one case an actual video game magazine called one of the 9/11 games "the most sickening thing they had ever seen" despite the fact that it didn't seem to include any violence or explixit gore at all.
Ultimately the root of all of this is the still-pervasive idea that video games are for children, or at the very least are more similar to toys and to story-telling media. So when people see them depicting terrorist attacks it's as if someone came along and made a lego set about the same thing.
This is a ridiculous and out-dated view. Video games should be free to depict anything movies and books can (ie anything) without instigating moral panics. If Infinity Ward's terrorist gameplay section helps wake people up to this fact, I say fair play to them.
I watched the footage. It's violent and disgusting ans shocking.
So what?
You could put a scene like this in a film and no one would bat an eye-lid. Schindler's List has far worse material and no one is trying to ban it. The very idea would be ludicrous, offensive even. Yet for some reason having violence against innocents in a video game is not acceptable.
Maybe people think it's more shocking when you're actually acting out the violence yourself. If so, I have news for you: video games have been doing this for years. Hitman 2, released seven years ago, featured a level set in an office building lobby crowded with civilians. If you so wished, you could equip an assault rifle and go on a bloody rampage. Blood Money had at least three levels with a similar set up. You weren't supposed to run around shooting people randomly, but the game didn't penalize you for it. And of course the GTA games have been letting players depopulate entire cities since 1997. It's true that GTA atracted a lot of controversy, but most of it wasn't about the fact that you could kill civilians if you wanted to. And as far as I can tell no one even noticed that Hitman let you gun down hundreds of innocent people whenever the fancy struck you.
But wait, maybe that's not the point. Maybe it's the fact that you're supposed to shoot innocent people that's getting everyone so up in arms. If so, it would be an odd complaint. Like I said, the whole scene is skippable and while I can understand someone being umcomfortable with the idea of being told to shoot unarmed people, I don't see how that makes the section in question inherently more repulsive.
I think there are three main reasons for this controversy. Number one, people are panicky, reactionary, small-minded morons who care deeply about the content of fictional stories even if they never intend to see them. Okay, that wasn't really the first reason. I was just venting.
Numer one: The "T" word. Terrorists are bad and having them in things is therefore bad, for reasons no one seems willing to explain.
Linked to this is the second reason, the odd and irrational idea that putting something in a game is automatically glorifying it. Video games, the reasoning seems to go, are more about entertainment than other visual mediums and so anything in them is suppoed to be fun. Therefore, Infinity Ward is trying to make terrorist activities seem like fun. To return to my Schindler's List point- ultimately, people watch that movie and others like it for entertainment as well, yet no one has ever suggested that Spielberg was trying to glorify the actions of the Nazis. Just the opposite, a fact that everyone seems to automatically grasp. So why can't they see Modern Warfare 2 in the same light? The entire sequence is obviously meant to be horrifying. Why does that stop being true once you put people in control of the action instead of making them watch it?
The last reason is tied in with the usual attitude people have to controversial issues in video games- they're just not allowed to depict things that movies and books are. I remember a few years ago a semi-educational DS game about the Holocaust was announced. It took place in the imagination of a young boy in a concentration camp. Instantly a huge furor arose over the game, with one guy (I think he was actually a survivor of the holocaust himself) outright stating that he would have had no problem with the idea if it was a movie, but a video game? That's not on. Why not? No reason was given. Similar complaints have been aimed at any game attempting to portray the events of 9/11, even, in one case, a mod that was historically accurate and intended to be purely educational. Again, this was after two movies about the attacks were already well into production, neither of which got much attention. But a video game showing the same thing? God Forbid. In one case an actual video game magazine called one of the 9/11 games "the most sickening thing they had ever seen" despite the fact that it didn't seem to include any violence or explixit gore at all.
Ultimately the root of all of this is the still-pervasive idea that video games are for children, or at the very least are more similar to toys and to story-telling media. So when people see them depicting terrorist attacks it's as if someone came along and made a lego set about the same thing.
This is a ridiculous and out-dated view. Video games should be free to depict anything movies and books can (ie anything) without instigating moral panics. If Infinity Ward's terrorist gameplay section helps wake people up to this fact, I say fair play to them.
Big DS announced
Another version of the DS?
While the DS's screens are quite small, I can't say I've ever had a problem with them. Apparently Nintendo is aiming this at people who use their DSi to watch videos and listen to music, neither of which I would do even if I had one.
Since it will be more expensive than any current model and has the same screen resolution, I think I'll hold out for the DS 2.
While the DS's screens are quite small, I can't say I've ever had a problem with them. Apparently Nintendo is aiming this at people who use their DSi to watch videos and listen to music, neither of which I would do even if I had one.
Since it will be more expensive than any current model and has the same screen resolution, I think I'll hold out for the DS 2.
Get your grains of salt ready- WiiHD rumours
Some speculation on the successor to the Wii has supposedly been leaked, according to this site.
For the most part this is the kind of thing anyone could guess. That Nintendo's next console will support HD is pretty much a given. The claim that it will have a Blu-Ray drive is a bit more iffy- I can imagine Nintendo being contrary and deciding not to include one- particularly as the stated aim of adding the functionality is to stop piracy. I'm not aware of that being a particularly big problem for Nintendo.
However, I'm extremely skeptical of this claim:
For the most part this is the kind of thing anyone could guess. That Nintendo's next console will support HD is pretty much a given. The claim that it will have a Blu-Ray drive is a bit more iffy- I can imagine Nintendo being contrary and deciding not to include one- particularly as the stated aim of adding the functionality is to stop piracy. I'm not aware of that being a particularly big problem for Nintendo.
However, I'm extremely skeptical of this claim:
"- The release date is scheduled for third quarter of 2010.
[...]
Moreover, Nintendo wants to make a worlwide annoucement, only one month before release date. Huge publicity and Viral Marketing will be utilized to create the Buzz."
The plausability of this really hinges on whether it's is supposed to be a completely new console or just an updated version of the current Wii. I can just about imagine Nintendo pulling an Apple and announcing an incremental upgrade shortly before the console launches- Sony did it with the new PS3, after all- but doing the same for a brand new console would be insane. When the Wii 2 is announced it will be at E3 or another large press event, with all the fanfare and hype that usually goes along with a new console reveal.
As for the idea of the console coming out next year.... well, I'm undecided about that. Assuming this is a true successor, getting in early on the next generation certainly seemed to help Microsoft along. Even still, the first half of 2010 is probably more likely.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Bioshock 2 trailer
I managed (just barely) to avoid watching Gametrailer's apparently spoilerific expose on Bioshock 2, so I was pleased to see a short trailer showcasing some of the new locations and weapons that were featured there, but wthout all the plot revelations. Instead we just get a cool voice over from an evil woman with a vaguely English accent (English people in video games are always evil). I don't know who she is, but she certainly seems like a cooler villain than Andrew Ryan, that's for sure.
Some other interesting parts of the trailer was a glimpse of the Little Sister Orphanage, which I can easily imagine being this game's Fort Frolic, and some really creepy clips of what appears to be a cult built around the Little Sisters.
I just realised that if the game hadn't been delayed I'd be playing it right about now. I'm sad.
Some other interesting parts of the trailer was a glimpse of the Little Sister Orphanage, which I can easily imagine being this game's Fort Frolic, and some really creepy clips of what appears to be a cult built around the Little Sisters.
I just realised that if the game hadn't been delayed I'd be playing it right about now. I'm sad.
"Epic Mickey" gets less epic
I'm just going to get this out of the way right now- they really need to change the name of this game, because over here "Mickey" is a fairly outdated but still widely recognizable slang term for penis, and so "epic mickey" puts one in mind of.... well, you know.
So anyway, Epic Mickey, Warren Spector's intruiging "dark mickey mouse" game that's been kicking around for awhile in concept art form, has been revealed with proper screenshots and everything, and.... I'm dissapointed.
The artwork for this game got me interested with it's portrayal of a wonderfully dark and twisted rendition of familiar Disney icons, whereas the actual game looks far closer to a generic cartoon platformer. It has none of the apocalyptic feel of the original drawings and paintings. I can only assume that artwork was just a proof of concept, which was later flitered through another artist for use in the actual game.
Before:
After:
I should also point out that all of this is totally seperate from my thoughts on the actual game as a whole. The actual graphics are pretty good for a Wii game, and to be fair that first screenshot with the stained glass window is actually pretty cool. The gameplay seems to have some really interesting twists and the story is very much in the spirit of those first pieces of artwork, with Mickey transported into a Wasteland created by Yensid (apparently a sorcerer from Fantasia and yes, his name is "Disney" backwards) inhabited by minor and forgotten Disney characters and ruled over by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. There will be a branching morality system and Specter has stated that he's taking inspiration from the His Dark Materials books by Phillip Pullman (!).
In short, I actually think Epic Mickey looks like a really interesting game, standing head and shoulders above most of the over-hyped upcoming releases in terms of imagination. It's just a shame someone has decided not to give it a visual style to match it's story and gameplay.
(Incidentally, Spector apparently harbours a desire to make a game based on Northern Lights/The Golden Compass. My only response to this is yes please. And get the guy who did that awesome concept art for this game on board.)
Saturday, October 24, 2009
My Thoughts on Up
I went to see Up yesterday in that new fangled 3D I've been hearig so much about. Here are my long-winded, rambling thoughts on the movie.
(spoilers- I'm assuming you've seent the film already, if you haven't don't read this)
(spoilers- I'm assuming you've seent the film already, if you haven't don't read this)
Friday, October 23, 2009
Play this flash game now
I like flash games. They're free, don't take up too much time and frequently more imaginative then commercial video games. Such is the case with Gretel and Hansel, a point and click adventure based on.... well, you know. This version seems to have a slight feminist bent to it, as you control a slingshot-wielding Gretel while your brother is a bit of a twat. (I sure hope Gretel is actually the girl, or that's not going to make any sense).
As you can see, the graphics are rendered in moody watercolours. That combined with the music gives the whole thing a wonderfully dark old-school feel, like Banjo Kazooie crossed with Braid. Check out episode 01 on Newgrounds.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Let's Watch Toward the Terra: Episode 13
Here's the 13th episode of Toward the Terra, retroactively posted because I was too lazy to do it before the 14th one. Apologies for the image quality, I hadn't really gotten a handle on this whole screen-capping thing when I took them.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor episode 01
I watched about five or six episodes of Darker than Black before being stopping. It had a seemingly engaging overall plot, but the two-episode arcs really didn't hold my interest. So I'm glad to see that this sequel series seems (*three word alliteration combo*) to be a very different kind of anime altogether.
First off, although obviously destined to focus on Japan, this episode at least is set in Russia, which is a welcome change of location for an anime series. The main character this time round is an ordinary person rather than a super-powered bad-ass, and she's surprisingly likeable. It's very hard to find female anime characters who are more than otaku bait these days outside of shojou series, so I'll take anything I can get.
Even more intrugingly, the super-powered bad ass from the previous series is a villain. Like I said, I didn't watch Darker Than Black to the end so I don't know whether I should be surprised that Hei is a bad guy this time round (or is he? Maybe he's working for the good guys and the people he kills here are evil, or this is one of them Moral Ambiguity shows. I'm really not sure). At the moment I have enough background information to tell what's going on vis a vis the contractors and their super-power OCD, but my ability to enjoy this series will depend on whether that's enough to get me through.
One thing I remember about the original Darker than Black was the fight scenes. This episode ends on a short but sweet one featuring some really smooth animation and camera tricks. Plus two characters get mercilessly bumped off, both of whom I had already grown to like. Always a plus.
Friday, October 9, 2009
A Certain Scientific Railgun episode 01 review
I should say up front here that I didn't watch the series this is based off (A Certain Magical Index) and know next to nothing about the setting or plot. In fact I'm really just watching it because the show's title is hilarious.
With that out of the way, lets see what this thing is all about.
With that out of the way, lets see what this thing is all about.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Let the Right One In- Movie Review
The news of a remake/ readaptation of Let The Right One In intersected neatly with my local video place getting the movie to rent on Blu Ray, so I decided to give it a whirl. There are few times when I see an adaptation of a novel and come out of it thinking the movie was better, but this might be one of them.
The script was written by the author of the original novel. When I first heard this I thought it could lead to a bloated movie that tries to include absolutely everything from the book, but thankfully that's not the case at all. Lindqvist went through his story with an critical and un-biased eye and took out the side stories that sometimes dragged the book down, making more room for the central relationship between Eli and Oskar. What we get is a streamlined, faster version of the original with a lot of the waffle cut out.
I do have some complaints I'd like to get out of the way here. Unfortunately some quality material got cut out as well, such as nearly all of Hakan's characterization and backstory. The book's Hakan was a complex character who we got to see battling against his darker impulses and struggling to keep his action rooted in good intentions, no matter how delusional the attempt was, whereas I can imagine people seeing the movie version and coming away with the impression that he's quite a fatherly figure towards Eli, in which case they're in for quite a shock if they read the book.
Eli and Oskar also lose some complexity. The actors portraying them do a fine job, but we just don't get into their heads as much as in the book. Subsequently Oskar isn't nearly as creepy at the start as he was originally, and some of the more humerous scenes between him and Eli unfortunately aren't included.
The cinematography of the film is amazing from the outset and just keeps getting better, producing some real "holy crap" moments using plain old lighting techniques and camera angles rather than specia effects (the one exception being an extremely cool sequence involving Eli's eyes)
My overall impression of the movie is that everybody involved did not set out to make a vampire movie, but a romance film that just happens to feature a vampire. This is most noticable in the (extremely good) soundtrack, which could just as easily be used in a "normal" coming-of-age drama.
The script was written by the author of the original novel. When I first heard this I thought it could lead to a bloated movie that tries to include absolutely everything from the book, but thankfully that's not the case at all. Lindqvist went through his story with an critical and un-biased eye and took out the side stories that sometimes dragged the book down, making more room for the central relationship between Eli and Oskar. What we get is a streamlined, faster version of the original with a lot of the waffle cut out.
I do have some complaints I'd like to get out of the way here. Unfortunately some quality material got cut out as well, such as nearly all of Hakan's characterization and backstory. The book's Hakan was a complex character who we got to see battling against his darker impulses and struggling to keep his action rooted in good intentions, no matter how delusional the attempt was, whereas I can imagine people seeing the movie version and coming away with the impression that he's quite a fatherly figure towards Eli, in which case they're in for quite a shock if they read the book.
Eli and Oskar also lose some complexity. The actors portraying them do a fine job, but we just don't get into their heads as much as in the book. Subsequently Oskar isn't nearly as creepy at the start as he was originally, and some of the more humerous scenes between him and Eli unfortunately aren't included.
The cinematography of the film is amazing from the outset and just keeps getting better, producing some real "holy crap" moments using plain old lighting techniques and camera angles rather than specia effects (the one exception being an extremely cool sequence involving Eli's eyes)
My overall impression of the movie is that everybody involved did not set out to make a vampire movie, but a romance film that just happens to feature a vampire. This is most noticable in the (extremely good) soundtrack, which could just as easily be used in a "normal" coming-of-age drama.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Thoughts on the Let the Right One In remake
So IGN has an article up about the cast for the remake of Let The Right One In, which is surprising because I didn't even know they were doing a remake. Although I haven't seen the movie yet, I've read (and loved) the book it's based on.
The rampant pessmism and gnashing of teeth that accompanies any announcement of a big-budget remake/adaption of anything always annoys me, as there are multiple major exceptions to the attitude that Hollywood ruins everything with it's vile attempts to make money (The Ring is, in my opinion, far to superior the original Japanese Ring). So I'm going to try and treat this fairly and not jump to conclusions.
I'm not familiar with either of the actors they've chosen to portray the movie's versions of Oskar and Eli, so I can't really comment on that. What I can comment on is the names chosen for the characters: Owen and Abby. I really thought they'd just change Oskar to Oscar. Maybe it sounds too old fashioned or something?
Abby for Eli is a bit.... iffy. I always thought the name Eli has a kind of timeless quality to it- you could just as easily imagine it applied to a 12 year old girl as you could to an immortal vampire. Abby on the other hand comes across as kind of childish. I don't really get why this one needs changing anyway- Eli obviously isn't a very common girl's name in America, but it wouldn't seem that wierd or out of place, and could enhance the character's mystique.
The location for casting- New Mexico- also causes me a bit of alarm since it's a far cry from the frigid location of the book and original movie. I'm not one of these fans who insist nothing can ever be changed so I won't boycott the movie if they decide to ditch the snowy locales, but I always liked the setting of the book.
The only detail about the movie that I'm completely not liking is the title- the producers have for some reason decided to go with "Let Me In", the ininspired moniker that the book was laboured with in America. Okay, let's face it, Let The Right One In doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, but it sounds bad-ass. Let Me In sounds like the title to a cheesy slasher flick.
EDIT: Okay, I've done some digging around and some new details have come to light.
According to this page this movie isn't actually a remake the of the Swedish film- it's another adaptation of the book. I'm prepared to view it as such as long as it differs in some signficant way from the first movie. I'm guessing most people aren't going to realise this, however.
Also:
This isn't actually a theatrical poster, but rather a mock-up used to sell the film to studios. I guess I was way off-base about there being no snow in the movie, apparently New Mexico is just one filming location among many.
It's a pretty cool poster. I can't help but notice that "Abby" looks extremely similar to how Eli did in the Swedish version. Even her clothes are similar, which makes me somewhat suspicious of the claim that this is a readaptation, since Eli's initial clothes in the movie were different from what she was wearing in the book.
The rampant pessmism and gnashing of teeth that accompanies any announcement of a big-budget remake/adaption of anything always annoys me, as there are multiple major exceptions to the attitude that Hollywood ruins everything with it's vile attempts to make money (The Ring is, in my opinion, far to superior the original Japanese Ring). So I'm going to try and treat this fairly and not jump to conclusions.
I'm not familiar with either of the actors they've chosen to portray the movie's versions of Oskar and Eli, so I can't really comment on that. What I can comment on is the names chosen for the characters: Owen and Abby. I really thought they'd just change Oskar to Oscar. Maybe it sounds too old fashioned or something?
Abby for Eli is a bit.... iffy. I always thought the name Eli has a kind of timeless quality to it- you could just as easily imagine it applied to a 12 year old girl as you could to an immortal vampire. Abby on the other hand comes across as kind of childish. I don't really get why this one needs changing anyway- Eli obviously isn't a very common girl's name in America, but it wouldn't seem that wierd or out of place, and could enhance the character's mystique.
The location for casting- New Mexico- also causes me a bit of alarm since it's a far cry from the frigid location of the book and original movie. I'm not one of these fans who insist nothing can ever be changed so I won't boycott the movie if they decide to ditch the snowy locales, but I always liked the setting of the book.
The only detail about the movie that I'm completely not liking is the title- the producers have for some reason decided to go with "Let Me In", the ininspired moniker that the book was laboured with in America. Okay, let's face it, Let The Right One In doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, but it sounds bad-ass. Let Me In sounds like the title to a cheesy slasher flick.
EDIT: Okay, I've done some digging around and some new details have come to light.
According to this page this movie isn't actually a remake the of the Swedish film- it's another adaptation of the book. I'm prepared to view it as such as long as it differs in some signficant way from the first movie. I'm guessing most people aren't going to realise this, however.
Also:
This isn't actually a theatrical poster, but rather a mock-up used to sell the film to studios. I guess I was way off-base about there being no snow in the movie, apparently New Mexico is just one filming location among many.
It's a pretty cool poster. I can't help but notice that "Abby" looks extremely similar to how Eli did in the Swedish version. Even her clothes are similar, which makes me somewhat suspicious of the claim that this is a readaptation, since Eli's initial clothes in the movie were different from what she was wearing in the book.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy was the first RPG I ever played, and I was a major fan of the series for the next three games. However, after that my interest started to wane in a serious way. I'm not entirely sure why, although I found the linearity of Final Fantasy X dissapointing and the story of XII, while not bad, didn't grip me in the way the previous games had. The combat system was also a little too close to the sort of thing you'd see in an MMO, which I do not generally play for their thrilling battles.
So I haven't really been anticipating Final Fantasy XIII all that much. This trailer, however, may have changed my mind.
One reason is that it seems to bear quite a large similarity to Toward the Terra, which as you can probably tell from the fact that I'm doing a Let's Watch of it, I enjoyed quite a lot. More than that though, the story just seems interesting. Square have kind of gone off the deep-end lately with overblown nonsense like Advent Children (I don't care how cool the fight scenes were, the damn thing made no sense), and even though XIII is obviously replicating it in some aspects of it's combat system, the story looks a lot more mature. Plus: a protagonist who isn't annoying or boring. And a woman.
So I haven't really been anticipating Final Fantasy XIII all that much. This trailer, however, may have changed my mind.
One reason is that it seems to bear quite a large similarity to Toward the Terra, which as you can probably tell from the fact that I'm doing a Let's Watch of it, I enjoyed quite a lot. More than that though, the story just seems interesting. Square have kind of gone off the deep-end lately with overblown nonsense like Advent Children (I don't care how cool the fight scenes were, the damn thing made no sense), and even though XIII is obviously replicating it in some aspects of it's combat system, the story looks a lot more mature. Plus: a protagonist who isn't annoying or boring. And a woman.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Let's Read Gunnerkrigg Court
(This review will evaluate Gunnerkrigg Court based on chapters 1-23, plus chapter 24 up to page 23)
I've always been fascinated by the idea of webcomics. A medium where creativity can be free to roam, unconstrained by issues of profit, sounds like a great concept.
And then I tried reading some webcomics and found out they're all cross-gender furry porn.
Okay, that was mean of me. Obviously that's not true, but there's no denying it: most webcomics suck, whether it's a case of an author ripping off every other story in sight instead of coming up with their own idea, or an artist who's trying to ride a jet-powered unicycle while juggling chainsaws before they can walk, or just someone who wants to saddle their story with some kind of cancerous fetish tumour. There are some great comedy webcomics out there, but I've always wanted to read a story driven comic, something with a proper overarching plot and well-developed characters. In spite of all the crap I've spent a long time searching, convinced that somehwere out there is a genuine diamond in the rough.
And then I found Tom Siddell's Gunnerkrigg Court, and while I won't be ready to call off the search until it's finished, let's just say I know where I'm placing my bets. Gunnerkrigg Court is, to me, far and away the best story-driven comic on the internet (and since it's in print now it also gives most "normal" comics a run for their money). So that's why, inspired by the Let's Watch I did of Toward the Terra and this annotated Re-Read of The Wheel of Time (which I am incidentally enjoying far more than trying to read the actual books themselves), I've decided to do my own little commentary project for Gunnerkrigg. The sensible way to do this would be to handle it by chapter, but since I'm an uber-fan I'm going to pull out all the stops and do it by page. All 300+ of them. This is clearly going to take a while.
Anyway, the first page will probably be up tomorrow some time. Enjoy.
I've always been fascinated by the idea of webcomics. A medium where creativity can be free to roam, unconstrained by issues of profit, sounds like a great concept.
And then I tried reading some webcomics and found out they're all cross-gender furry porn.
Okay, that was mean of me. Obviously that's not true, but there's no denying it: most webcomics suck, whether it's a case of an author ripping off every other story in sight instead of coming up with their own idea, or an artist who's trying to ride a jet-powered unicycle while juggling chainsaws before they can walk, or just someone who wants to saddle their story with some kind of cancerous fetish tumour. There are some great comedy webcomics out there, but I've always wanted to read a story driven comic, something with a proper overarching plot and well-developed characters. In spite of all the crap I've spent a long time searching, convinced that somehwere out there is a genuine diamond in the rough.
And then I found Tom Siddell's Gunnerkrigg Court, and while I won't be ready to call off the search until it's finished, let's just say I know where I'm placing my bets. Gunnerkrigg Court is, to me, far and away the best story-driven comic on the internet (and since it's in print now it also gives most "normal" comics a run for their money). So that's why, inspired by the Let's Watch I did of Toward the Terra and this annotated Re-Read of The Wheel of Time (which I am incidentally enjoying far more than trying to read the actual books themselves), I've decided to do my own little commentary project for Gunnerkrigg. The sensible way to do this would be to handle it by chapter, but since I'm an uber-fan I'm going to pull out all the stops and do it by page. All 300+ of them. This is clearly going to take a while.
Anyway, the first page will probably be up tomorrow some time. Enjoy.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Let's watch Toward the Terra: 14
Episode 14: Identical Memories
Toward the Terra is a sci-fi space opera series that went under a lot of people's radar for whatever reason, possibly because the first three episodes suck, but many who gave it a chance found it to be an overlooked gem. And by many I mean "me" of course.
So here's a Let's Watch, in which I make fun of low-resolution screenshots of the series and then review the episode in question, starting with episode 14 because that's when I got the idea. Grab some popcorn and get ready:
Toward the Terra is a sci-fi space opera series that went under a lot of people's radar for whatever reason, possibly because the first three episodes suck, but many who gave it a chance found it to be an overlooked gem. And by many I mean "me" of course.
So here's a Let's Watch, in which I make fun of low-resolution screenshots of the series and then review the episode in question, starting with episode 14 because that's when I got the idea. Grab some popcorn and get ready:
Morality in video games, part 1
I've been watching my brother play inFamous for the PS3. It seems like a pretty great game- good story, interesting combat, excellent use of free-roaming ablities.
The one thing it doesn't really excel at is probably the most hyped feature of the game- the morality choices. Giving the player the choice to be good or evil has been around for awhile, but mostly in the medium of western RPGs like Knights of the Old Republic. Lately it's entered the mainstream in a big way, but almost none of the games usng the idea seem to be doing anything interesting with it. Here are some ways I think the concept could be improved:
There are more than two sides to every story
inFamous isn't exactly subtle about it's choices. In fact you get a big preamble spelling out what exactly what it is you can do, and in each case there are two and only two choices- for example, kill some starving civilians to get more food for yourself, or only take as much as you need.
Really? Is that seriously the only way that situation could have resolved itself? Why can't I not kill anyone but take the food anyway? Or threaten to kill some people instead of actually doing it?
GTA IV had an interesting scenario where you were put in the situation of having to choose to kill one of two characters at the request of the other, both of whom were quite sympathetic. Even here though, why do I have to kill either of them? Why can't I just tell them both to resolve their dispute themselves? If writers made an effort to depict situations where the main character was realistically and believably forced into only having two options that would be one thing (and I'll give an example of such a situation later), but that almost never seems to happen.
Don't tell the player which choice is right and which is wrong
inFamous does another annoying thing in relation to it's choices- you are explicitly told which decision is the right one and which is wrong, in the most obvious and ham-fisted way possible. And of course, there's a little morality meter to quantify exactly how much of an asshole/saviour you are.
Why is this needed? Why not let the player choose for themselves which course of action is the right one? Why not get rid of the morality bar and let the consequences speak for themselves?
Of course, even if this was done it wouldn't matter much because....
Shades of grey do not exist, apparently
Ignore everything else I've just written- this is the crux of the problem. In video games your actions are either the vilest, most depraved evil or you're a selfless paragon of virtue. Where a third alternative does exist it's usually to simply do nothing.
News flash: this is not how the world works. In real life people find themselves having to choose between the lesser of two evils far more often than they choose between two totally polar opposites. Realistic situations in which you're forced to make an agonizing decision between two undesirable outcomes have been done (see Fable 2's infamous final decision), and have been widely praised for it. Why don't more games have this?
Although that said, there's still the matter of....
Consequences
This is the last stumbling block, and probably the one that frustrates me more than anything else, even if it's not the worst thing a game can do in regards to morality, so I'm giving it special attention here.
So you've been faced with this big epic choice between good and evil, and you make your choice, and then.... what? In most situations, a little bar in your status screen goes up or down a notch, or you get a different amount of items then if you had made a different choice.
Well, that was harrowing.
I think the main problem here is that in video games you're usually acting as a free agent- if the consequences of your actions affect anyone at all, it's some faceless NPCs you just met. Decisions that affect major characters, like that bit in Mass Effect with the bomb (if you've played the game you know what I'm talking about) are good, but you can't do that too much unless you want to run out of characters too quickly.
I've been playing Sins of A Solar Empire lately, and whether or not my ships get blown up illicits way more of an emotional response than any moral choice in a game ever has. So how about this: a game where you play as the leader of a group of refugees fleeing a much more powerful enemy, lets say in a spaceship in a sci-fi setting. You're presented with the following scenario: you and your people are cornered and the only way to break out of the situation is to take action that will result in a large number of enemy civilians being killed. On the other hand, if you do nothing a small number of your own people will die. Ideally the game would have a large number of fully fleshed out characters who are incidental to the plot, and you know if you choose not to kill the civilians some of them will die. Situations like this would crop up often, with the choice being between acting ruthlessly or losing characters. You could decide to be an idealistic paragon of virtue, there would be nothing stopping you, but by the time you got to the end of the game you'd have no characters left.
I really think taking away autonomy and having the burden of other people's safety on the player's shoulders is the way forward here. There's an excellent flash game called Last Stand 2 where you barricade yourself in against zombies. You can pick up survivor allies and use them to search for weapons and supplies, which are vital to winning. But the more you do, the greater the chance of one of them dying. You don't get to see it happening or anything, but I always felt a moment of trepidation when the report on the day's activities came in in case there was anything greater than a zero in the "survivors killed" box.
(I'll have nore to say about this soon)
The one thing it doesn't really excel at is probably the most hyped feature of the game- the morality choices. Giving the player the choice to be good or evil has been around for awhile, but mostly in the medium of western RPGs like Knights of the Old Republic. Lately it's entered the mainstream in a big way, but almost none of the games usng the idea seem to be doing anything interesting with it. Here are some ways I think the concept could be improved:
There are more than two sides to every story
inFamous isn't exactly subtle about it's choices. In fact you get a big preamble spelling out what exactly what it is you can do, and in each case there are two and only two choices- for example, kill some starving civilians to get more food for yourself, or only take as much as you need.
Really? Is that seriously the only way that situation could have resolved itself? Why can't I not kill anyone but take the food anyway? Or threaten to kill some people instead of actually doing it?
GTA IV had an interesting scenario where you were put in the situation of having to choose to kill one of two characters at the request of the other, both of whom were quite sympathetic. Even here though, why do I have to kill either of them? Why can't I just tell them both to resolve their dispute themselves? If writers made an effort to depict situations where the main character was realistically and believably forced into only having two options that would be one thing (and I'll give an example of such a situation later), but that almost never seems to happen.
Don't tell the player which choice is right and which is wrong
inFamous does another annoying thing in relation to it's choices- you are explicitly told which decision is the right one and which is wrong, in the most obvious and ham-fisted way possible. And of course, there's a little morality meter to quantify exactly how much of an asshole/saviour you are.
Why is this needed? Why not let the player choose for themselves which course of action is the right one? Why not get rid of the morality bar and let the consequences speak for themselves?
Of course, even if this was done it wouldn't matter much because....
Shades of grey do not exist, apparently
Ignore everything else I've just written- this is the crux of the problem. In video games your actions are either the vilest, most depraved evil or you're a selfless paragon of virtue. Where a third alternative does exist it's usually to simply do nothing.
News flash: this is not how the world works. In real life people find themselves having to choose between the lesser of two evils far more often than they choose between two totally polar opposites. Realistic situations in which you're forced to make an agonizing decision between two undesirable outcomes have been done (see Fable 2's infamous final decision), and have been widely praised for it. Why don't more games have this?
Although that said, there's still the matter of....
Consequences
This is the last stumbling block, and probably the one that frustrates me more than anything else, even if it's not the worst thing a game can do in regards to morality, so I'm giving it special attention here.
So you've been faced with this big epic choice between good and evil, and you make your choice, and then.... what? In most situations, a little bar in your status screen goes up or down a notch, or you get a different amount of items then if you had made a different choice.
Well, that was harrowing.
I think the main problem here is that in video games you're usually acting as a free agent- if the consequences of your actions affect anyone at all, it's some faceless NPCs you just met. Decisions that affect major characters, like that bit in Mass Effect with the bomb (if you've played the game you know what I'm talking about) are good, but you can't do that too much unless you want to run out of characters too quickly.
I've been playing Sins of A Solar Empire lately, and whether or not my ships get blown up illicits way more of an emotional response than any moral choice in a game ever has. So how about this: a game where you play as the leader of a group of refugees fleeing a much more powerful enemy, lets say in a spaceship in a sci-fi setting. You're presented with the following scenario: you and your people are cornered and the only way to break out of the situation is to take action that will result in a large number of enemy civilians being killed. On the other hand, if you do nothing a small number of your own people will die. Ideally the game would have a large number of fully fleshed out characters who are incidental to the plot, and you know if you choose not to kill the civilians some of them will die. Situations like this would crop up often, with the choice being between acting ruthlessly or losing characters. You could decide to be an idealistic paragon of virtue, there would be nothing stopping you, but by the time you got to the end of the game you'd have no characters left.
I really think taking away autonomy and having the burden of other people's safety on the player's shoulders is the way forward here. There's an excellent flash game called Last Stand 2 where you barricade yourself in against zombies. You can pick up survivor allies and use them to search for weapons and supplies, which are vital to winning. But the more you do, the greater the chance of one of them dying. You don't get to see it happening or anything, but I always felt a moment of trepidation when the report on the day's activities came in in case there was anything greater than a zero in the "survivors killed" box.
(I'll have nore to say about this soon)
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sony jumps on the Motion Control bandwagon
This is old news, obviously, but now that I'm a proud owner of Sony's obelisk I'm starting to pay a bit more attention to their new motion controller (apparently still called "the Sony motion controller").
Just to get it out of the way: yes, Sony ripped of Nintendo. However, Nintendo really wasted the Wiimote's potential so I think it's about time someone else had a shot with it.
From what I can tell the controller is definitely more sensitive than the traditional wiimote, and seems to be about on the same level as the Wiimotion+. One big worry for me is the apparent lack of any nunchuck-style analog attachement- in fact it doesn't even have a D-pad. I can't think of a single Wii game except Wii Sports Resort and on-rails shooters like House of the Dead that doesn't use the nunchuck that's worth playing. Not including such an option would seem to invite the sort of simplistic shovelware that's been choking the Wii since luanch. On the other hand though a director's cut of Resident Evil 5 is apparently being released that will use the controller, so presumably there must be some sort of equivalent to the nunchuck, even if you just use the SIXAXIS's analog stick with one hand. I'm hoping it's something better than that, though.
As you can see here it even looks quite nice..... apart from the stupid light-bulb at the end of it. The idea of having it flash to simulate a gunshot is kind of neat, but does it have to look like you've got a balloon taped to the end of the controller? Even making it smaller would be better than what it looks like now.
(Natal still looks more exciting, for what it's worth, but as my Xbox 360 will be broken for the forseeable future it's hard to get excited about it).
Just to get it out of the way: yes, Sony ripped of Nintendo. However, Nintendo really wasted the Wiimote's potential so I think it's about time someone else had a shot with it.
From what I can tell the controller is definitely more sensitive than the traditional wiimote, and seems to be about on the same level as the Wiimotion+. One big worry for me is the apparent lack of any nunchuck-style analog attachement- in fact it doesn't even have a D-pad. I can't think of a single Wii game except Wii Sports Resort and on-rails shooters like House of the Dead that doesn't use the nunchuck that's worth playing. Not including such an option would seem to invite the sort of simplistic shovelware that's been choking the Wii since luanch. On the other hand though a director's cut of Resident Evil 5 is apparently being released that will use the controller, so presumably there must be some sort of equivalent to the nunchuck, even if you just use the SIXAXIS's analog stick with one hand. I'm hoping it's something better than that, though.
As you can see here it even looks quite nice..... apart from the stupid light-bulb at the end of it. The idea of having it flash to simulate a gunshot is kind of neat, but does it have to look like you've got a balloon taped to the end of the controller? Even making it smaller would be better than what it looks like now.
(Natal still looks more exciting, for what it's worth, but as my Xbox 360 will be broken for the forseeable future it's hard to get excited about it).
Monday, September 21, 2009
On Religion
I'm not really religious myself- in fact I'm an atheist, so I guess calling myself "not really religious" is like Luxembourg referring to itself as "not really fond of the ocean". If it could talk, which it can't.
Man that was a terrible analogy.
Anyway, I'm not religous but I do have some opinions on religion. For example, earlier to day I saw this article:
Man that was a terrible analogy.
Anyway, I'm not religous but I do have some opinions on religion. For example, earlier to day I saw this article:
A Christian couple have been charged with a criminal offence after taking part in what they regarded as a reasonable discussion about religion with guests at their hotel. Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang were arrested after a Muslim woman complained to police that she had been offended by their comments.
They have been charged under public order laws with using ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words’ that were ‘religiously aggravated’.
The couple, whose trial has been set for December, face a fine of up to £5,000 and a criminal record if they are convicted. Although the facts are disputed, it is thought that during the conversation the couple were challenged over their Christian beliefs.
Incidents like this often make me want to go to the nearest rooftop with a megaphone and politely ask everyone to stop what they're doing, take a deep breath and calm the fuck down.
There's this pervasive belief in society at large, one that seems to be growing, that religion is a topic that you need to treat with kid-gloves lest you offend someone. Not only that, but there's an assumption that people have some sort of inherrant right to not be offended, ever, and that if you are offended you can sue the people responsible, or maybe even get them sent to jail. It doesn't just happen in relation to religion, but that seems to be where the attitude finds its most dramatic outlet.
And it's no use pointing the finger at Muslims- every religious group does it. I can guarentee you someone, somewhere, was offended by the very fact that I jut said I'm an atheist, and is even now fuming at this blog as if their human rights have been violated. Hell, while we're on the topic, even atheists do this.
Let me just spell it out for you: you do not have a right not to be offended. People can express whatever opinion they want, and if you don't like it, too fucking bad.
Right then, that's my rant over.
Friday, September 18, 2009
So I got a PS3
As you all know, Sony recently announced/released a slim version of their towering ebony behemoth (is it out yet?). What this means for stingy folk such as myself is obvious: obsolete hardware selling for cheap! I took a trip into town today to find that this is indeed the case, and came home (somewhat slowly) with 500 tonnes or so of gaming hardware in tow, carried by several donkeys, along with Stephen Fry's Voice LittleBigPlanet and InFamous.
After lugging it up the stairs with the help of a hastily constructed elevator (in case I'm being too subtle here: the PS3 is really, really heavy) and playing LBP for a few hours, here are my initial impression:
Stuff I like:
+ It comes with a HDMI port
+ Wireless internet access out of the box
+ Controller is rechargeable
+ Attractive, user-friendly OS
+ Online services are free and easy to use/set-up
+ Boots up and runs quickly
Stuff I don't like
+ It's really heavy
+ Generates more heat than a flamethrower
+ Game updates download very slowly
+ Games seem to load more slowly than on the 360
Overall, I'm very happy with my PS3. I was resistant to buying one for a long time due to the price and Sony's attitude at the start of this generation, but a string of current and future exclusives, a massive reduction in price and the fact that four of my Xbox's have now broken have curried a lot of favour with me.
After lugging it up the stairs with the help of a hastily constructed elevator (in case I'm being too subtle here: the PS3 is really, really heavy) and playing LBP for a few hours, here are my initial impression:
Stuff I like:
+ It comes with a HDMI port
+ Wireless internet access out of the box
+ Controller is rechargeable
+ Attractive, user-friendly OS
+ Online services are free and easy to use/set-up
+ Boots up and runs quickly
Stuff I don't like
+ It's really heavy
+ Generates more heat than a flamethrower
+ Game updates download very slowly
+ Games seem to load more slowly than on the 360
Overall, I'm very happy with my PS3. I was resistant to buying one for a long time due to the price and Sony's attitude at the start of this generation, but a string of current and future exclusives, a massive reduction in price and the fact that four of my Xbox's have now broken have curried a lot of favour with me.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Silent Hill sequel confirmed?
IGN is reporting that a second Silent Hill movie is going to start filming next year.
As a huge Silent Hill fan, I have mixed feelings about this. The first movie was..... conflicting. The story was garbage, while the visual style was excellent, but it wasn't the same excellent visual style that the games had. I wouldn't say I'm optimistic about a sequel, particularly as Roger Avery is back on board to write the script, but I want to see a good Silent Hill movie so I'm happy they're trying again. That said, here are a few ways they could help this movie suck less (warning: spoilers for the first two games and the movie below):
As a huge Silent Hill fan, I have mixed feelings about this. The first movie was..... conflicting. The story was garbage, while the visual style was excellent, but it wasn't the same excellent visual style that the games had. I wouldn't say I'm optimistic about a sequel, particularly as Roger Avery is back on board to write the script, but I want to see a good Silent Hill movie so I'm happy they're trying again. That said, here are a few ways they could help this movie suck less (warning: spoilers for the first two games and the movie below):
Monday, September 14, 2009
King of Thorn
There's this manga I've been seeing on store shelves all over the place called King of Thorn. Every time I see it I think "hey that looks interesting, maybe I should buy it" but for some reason I never do. I think it's because while the opening scenario sounds great, I'm half convinced the actual execution wil spoil it.
And so it seems to have. Witness this trailer for the upcoming King of Thorn movie: intruiging sci-fi concept! Artsy shot of a petrified woman falling out of a building! It's not set in Japan!
And then they wake up and there are badly rendered monsters everywhere. The trailer also loses browny points for ripping off Evangelion: Death and Rebirth* and for the engrish ("What happened on Earth?" What indeed).
* Or Weevilgelion: Death^2X+3/ True Rebirth Super God Edition or whatever the hell version is the "definitive" one
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Gabe Newell brainwashed by monolithic modders
In a sort of sequel event to those Left 4 Dead boycotters who got flown to Valve HQ to see the object of their scorn first-hand (see here), a modder jokingly offered to fly Valve head honcho Gabe Newell to Australia to play his mod.
That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is the amount of money he's managed to raise to do this: $3000. All from donations given over the internet. In the space of two days.
Who do I need to pretend to fly over to Ireland to get that kind of money?
That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is the amount of money he's managed to raise to do this: $3000. All from donations given over the internet. In the space of two days.
Who do I need to pretend to fly over to Ireland to get that kind of money?
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Lucidity
So Lucasarts is making a new game. I don't have that same nostalgia for the good old days of point and click adventures most people do, so this isn't as earth shattering for me as it might be for others, but there's no denying their game looks nice. It's another quirky puzzle platformer with a unique art style riding the wave of such games initiated by Braid, this time with Lemmings-like mechanics where you drop elements of the level in front of a main character who moves on her own.
Granted, going by the trailer the actual gameplay doesn't seem very exciting- something about the collision detection of the objects looks off- but then again maybe it's one of those games you have to play to appreciate.Check out the trailer and decide for yourself:
Friday, September 11, 2009
Weekly Videogame News Roundup
When it comes to video games I trawl the internets daily in search of news. I think it's about time to do something with all that information: give it to you. Free of charge, too.
Helloes
Hi. Welcome to the party. You're late. Did you remember to bring the Doritos?
This is roughly the five billionth time I've attempted to start up a blog (warning: numbers on this blog may be slightly exaggerated). My problem is that I have the attention span of a gnat and have at various times wanted to review anime, make fun of anime, review webcomics, talk about video games and discuss Serious Business. So then it hit me- why not do all of those things? Or just jot down whatever whim enters my head at the time?
Every guide to blogging I've ever read (all one of them) suggest that this is a Bad Idea, but what the hell, I'm feeling adventurous.
Tune in next interval of time for something!
This is roughly the five billionth time I've attempted to start up a blog (warning: numbers on this blog may be slightly exaggerated). My problem is that I have the attention span of a gnat and have at various times wanted to review anime, make fun of anime, review webcomics, talk about video games and discuss Serious Business. So then it hit me- why not do all of those things? Or just jot down whatever whim enters my head at the time?
Every guide to blogging I've ever read (all one of them) suggest that this is a Bad Idea, but what the hell, I'm feeling adventurous.
Tune in next interval of time for something!
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