Dead Space: Dismembering Gimmickry!

Well, I've finally awoken from my turkey coma just in time to play the Dead Space: Dismemberment Demo. While the environment was wonderfully foreboding and eerie, the demo itself seemed to suffer from a case of the "Gimmicks".

I acknowledge that a demo show be short and leave the player wanting more, persuading them to buy it. But in doing so a demo should show off key features to give the player an idea of what their experience will be like during the late hours they deny themselves showers, food, and sex (intentionally or not). Although if this definition holds true and the demo is a true representation of the whole, then it's a dark, sci-fi thriller which features kick-ass weapons which rely heavily on combat dismemberment. And this is where the problem lies: dismemberment is such a gimmick.

The difference between an innovation and a gimmick is that an innovation is something original, creative, and best used sparingly. A gimmick is something that's marketed as new, heavily relied upon during gameplay, and doesn't particularly advance the genre. Target-sensitive attacks are very cool but have been around since "House of the Dead" circa 1997 (if not sooner). When this system is forced upon the player in every combat situation, inevitably being required to advance, the immersion shifts. It changes from a lone survivor murdering the armies of darkness to staring at a blue reticule, lining up limbs and shapes. Once the player has mastered this challenge, they no longer see disgusting mutants and flailing body parts. They see "Monster A" which is dispatched with "Solution 1". In the end, all the effort and time put into making the enemy's limbs fly off realistically could have enriched the stereotypical storyline (*cough*Master Chief in Space*cough*) or been used to create an original combat system of player-created traps.

I digress. I have to admit though the health, skill, and inventory systems are quite innovative. When I first opened up the holographic interface my heart sang. It's about time we take a step away from the static-screen menu systems of old. I firmly believe these holograms retain immersion while being easily accessible to the player. In short: Holograms are the future!

Preliminary Verdict: Beautiful visuals, interesting weapons, gimmicky combat, great atmospheric setting and suspense. One step forward and one step back. I wonder if we'll ever get it right?

What they should have done:

1. Original Combat System (I mean come on! You're a fucking scientist!!)
2. Original Main Character (I mean come on! You're a fucking scientist!!)
3. A Longer Demo. One with perhaps a shred of plot and more than one battle. It took me 2 replays just to figure out all my weapons.
   

The Holy Grail of Games will come, and immersion will be it's name.

Purity and Faith

If we lived in a bizarre universe where reviewers measured the "value" of a game by its immersiveness, Fallout 3 would slay armies of lesser games and crunch the backs of most FPS's in 'twain.

Upon completing the game, I found a sort of warm comfort when the credits rolled and my quest was complete, freeing me of my virtual imprisonment. Shortly there after the warmth of success chilled to a void of loneliness. No game lasts forever, but Fallout really felt like it could. The main campaign inevitably felt shallow and short, an epic ultimately unfulfilled. Last night I picked it up again, determined to harvest the remnants of hope from the other 50% of the Wasteland I left unexplored. Surprisingly this was not disappointing. With the main quest put aside the gameplay was still very enjoyable. I believe this is because at its heart Fallout is about the Wasteland and not a single quest. The true experience is this crossroads of destruction and insanity and the inhabitants who hold on by a few crooked fingers. Good deeds to be done and bad ones to execute were still abound and Three Dog even sings of them (if you choose to listen). I believe this game will not go quietly into the night and with DLC promised, that can almost be guaranteed.

I will now compare playing the Mirror's Edge demo to eating a powdered, vanilla-creme donut. Your first bite is stale bread and powder up your nose when the unimaginative tutorial starts. Limited paths and move execution to continue? Tsk, tsk, tsk. In a game aiming to break new ground, this was incredibly rudimentary and boring. Then you bite into a small nip of creme after doing your first jump. The realistic vaults and rolls tease your tingling taste buds as you are still forced upon a rigid path. THEN CHOMP! You complete the tutorial to find the soft sugary payload of creme filling called the first free-running mission. This was incredibly fun and thrilling with the only exception being a limited environment in which to run. Although you quickly find yourself crunching on your fingers as the demo concludes with an invigorating chase. Like every good donut.. err.. game demo, you can only imagine what the rest is like. Until then.... Portal 1.5: Mirror's Edge!

And if you didn't shoot Celeste, you aren't a real gamer =P

Fallout 3 = 25% Mutants, 25% Humans, 50% Prostitutes

Thanks to the annual merriment of my birth, a new post-apocalyptic venture has begun. After "birthing" a new character, fighting a couple greasers, and beating a GOAT, you are thrust into the ruins of Washington DC. Without going into the history of the series, there's been a nuclear attack and there's super mutants and militant types abound. I won't lie, I didn't play the previous installments but this episode tugged at my dystopian FPS heart-strings.

You find a dog... his name is Puddles... ok, not really.

Set in the vast city and outskirts of Washington DC, the environment is anything but small and boring. Although empty at times, this plays to the overwhelming feeling of desolation and destruction. 1950's furniture and food (like Blamco Mac 'n Cheese!) characterizes the era well with a "Bioshock meets Mad Max" kind of nostalgia. It's astonishing the amount of buildings you can explore as well when most games tend to be populated with paranoid, deadbolt enthusiasts. And thank you Bethesda! Thank you for teaching the world that people need bathrooms, beds, and kitchens! It's high time we develop a game that real people could actually live in! I admit I was disappointed after searching that first restroom and coming out empty handed, but I was so very proud! For once I didn't find 53 dollars and a pristine shotgun sitting on a toilet seat. *tear*

At times this world might seem similar to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but I'll give you 3 reasons it isn't the same. First, Fallout's landscape is more geographically chaotic with higher resolution textures. Second, the Capital Wasteland is full of broken down cars (which can explode), decimated houses (full of loot), and a cornucopia of creatures and random encounters. The world of Cyrodiil, however, is full of grass, trees, and rocks but devoid of any true atmosphere and depth. Third, and most resoundingly, is the combat.

V.A.T.S. = Lots of Exploding Heads

The combat system is solid and I have yet to grow tired of the VATS targeting system. More than a simple slow-motion kill, this allows you to be quite strategic. Say you're pinned down by a sniper, assault gun-wielding mutant and a wolf. You could theoretically disarm the mutant, shoot the wolf in the foot, stunning it, and then focus 2 body shots on the sniper. Dependency on this system was something I feared; But honestly it's just convenient and limiting enough that you will almost always have to shoot manually when fighting more than 2 or 3 enemies (sans drug use). The AI of said enemies though is questionable at times. When they do take cover, they kind of clumsily slide behind a column then immediately shamble back out without any perceivable strategy. Although occasionally they will run away when their life is low (which makes me laugh). Besides that, a cast of wonderfully inventive weapons makes every battle unique and gore fans won't be disappointed when the "bloody mess" feat is activated.

The voice acting in this game is superb. Not only is it voiced by some well-known actors (Liam Neilson anyone?), general dialogue is just as engaging. From bratty kids dropping the "f bomb" to hilarious Canadian shopkeeps, this game does not disappoint when it comes to voice talent. The only blemish here is the inclusion of some old Oblivion voice talent. Don't get me wrong, using the same people is fine. But using the exact same voice, tone, attitude, and dialect is NOT. Last thing I want to think when I'm talking to a cursing raider about to kill me is "Huh, that sounds a lot like Gawain the Imperial Guard from Oblivion...". But all is forgiven when you try hiding from the enemy: "Stop hiding like a bitch!"

Home Sweet Home

And while the story isn't too complicated or twisty (so far), it's nice not to have to bolt everywhere to save the world from eminent doom which will strike in exactly 10 real-life hours. That being said there is a noticeable lack of emotion here. One could blame this on the GameBryo Engine's lack of realistic facial animations which seriously needs a lesson from Paul Ekman and the Source Engine. But really I blame the minuscule characterization in the beginning. I really wanted to live in the Vault for a while and understand the monotony of a closed-in life. I found the "aging" events very clever and effective in this regard and wished there were many more. But all in all this was a small tarnish on the diamond that is Fallout 3.

Final Verdict: Great wasteland exploring with Fat-Man-sized explosions of pure happiness. Deep, immersive gameplay with a pinch of recycled fantasy adventure.

What they should have done:

1. Better face textures & animations
2. More time in Vault 101 with daddy
3. Online Multiplayer to take advantage of great weapon variety
   
   

...and why isn't Purified Water and Rad-Away 1000 caps each? And why bottle caps???

GTA IV. Now with endless daytime minutes!

So it would seem I've lost 2 1/2 weeks somehow... As if something so consuming and historic tore me away from game and website. You know there's something wrong if you keep hitting "refresh" on http://www.cnn.com/ every 3 seconds. Now everyone can return to their previous addictions. Mine is pointed criticisms of popular games.

GTA IV is a thing of beauty. And while it mesmerizes you with colorful lights and shiny cars it's stealing your wallet and groping your girlfriend. This hurts to say, the words can barely crawl out of my mouth but, I was very disappointed by GTA IV. Because in the end GTA IV is GTA: San Andreas with less player customization, less good music, and less replay value. What's wrong with going to the gym to buff up and eating burger every once and a while? If this really annoyed people the developers should have just played this down a bit. What's that? The goal of this game was to play Niko (who say "asshole" in just the best way) and embody his story & skills? Ok. This is an interesting angle but let me ask you this: Would you rather a static character with a name and background or create a character from the ground up, adding exponential replay value?

After three weeks of oogling at the graphics, I began to search for new inspiration and awe. Alas there is little. While the voice acting is stellar, all other aspects just seemed minimal. Missions? Kill guy(s), steal car(s), save person(s). Rinse and repeat. Oh and take out your annoying friends whose sole purpose in life is to call you when you're in the middle of a felony. And what the hell happened to flying vehicles!?! Two helicopters!?! THAT'S IT? Look. I know we're in faux New York but people are always going to do stupid things whether it's explicitly built into the game or not (Hot Coffee anyone?).

In the end the gameplay was just adequate. It's just sad though that a game with so much eye-candy is so depressing and drab when no missions are left. Are you really going to hunt down all 200 hidden pigeons? I think not. Although the multiplayer is very compelling. Ever since the creation of GTA someone has wanted to carjack another player. In reality this is very difficult (who would have thought?). I have to admit though, landing an RPG into a Corvette as it makes an badly-timed turn is extremely satisfying. The GTA style races are also great, but a bit unbalanced. Having to run a half a mile to get a pistol while bobbing in and out of traffic is not easy and then what is that pistol going to do for you???

The "killed by" messages are useless since they're completely random ("shot","murdered","pwn'd") and too small to read quickly. And I swear to GOD they better patch the damn game to show who's talking. Not only does it take 5 ambiguous steps to mute a player, IT DOESN'T SHOW WHO'S TALKING. Thus you rather spend 30 minutes listening to someone playing Duke Nukem sound effects in rapid succession, or you spend 30 minutes muting every player leaving you 1 minute to race.

Verdict: Good story, bad replay, basic online experience

What they should have done:

1. More vehicles (Planes, Motorcycles, Air boats, Bicycles)
2. More mini-games (Arcade classics, stunt challenges, triathlon run)
3. More rewards for achievements (Rare cars, weapons, funny outfits)
4. More dynamic weather (Snow, Sleet, Hurricane)
5. 2 player co-op/split screen
6. Vehicle Customization - So that you actually care about your sweet ride
7. Icon in Multiplayer to show who's talking
8. More things to buy with your money (Houses, Stores, Vehicles)

Anger Rising!

"Walking into the darkened tunnel you can see nothing. But as your eyes adjust, you see figures in the darkness, squirming and writhing. Taking three steps forward you learn the truth, the entire tunnel is full of hundreds of zombies slowly limping toward you..."

This was the moment I fell in love with Dead Rising. While every other store and hallway has packs of zombies, a tunnel literally packed wall-to-wall with zombies blew me away. Because not only is this a fantastic feat of processing power, it was the 1st time I stopped and asked myself, "What the fuck am I going to do about THIS!?!" I tend to brute-force any situation I find in a game and I'll tell you, there are not enough bullets to make this particular situation work.

But you know what they did with my mouth-agapery? They wrenched it from my tight clasp and slapped me with the broad side of it! The indignity!! When 1st presented with the concept of timed events, I was excited. If you don't rescue a person in time, their survival would be in jeopardy. BUT what I experienced was not so! When a potential survivor dies it boldly states in red text, "SALLY JOHNSON HAS DIED". So would this definitive declaration be used in for the main survivors? 3 times I failed to complete a main quest in time and each and every time I was left with the same question: "Uh... did I fail?" This is because there is no indication you failed until you complete said quest and it "expires" every future quest. This is done with no explanation besides the flimsy, infered defense that you didn't beat the clock. No one dies. No one escapes. You simply cannot continue the next main quest. And how do you remedy this? How does the game retectify this poor excuse of design. IT OFFERS YOU THE OPTION TO RESTART THE GAME. I'm sorry, I cannot think of one masterpiece that has that option and for good reason.

What's that? Why didn't I just load a previous save? Oh, you silly banana, there's only 1 save slot, 8 save points, and zero quick saves. If you don't save every 10 minutes you are guaranteed to repeat missions endlessly. While I love (I mean absolutely love) drop kicking zombies, I abhor bland survivor text dialogues some of which continue for at least 3 minutes.

Pros: Zombie Ass-Kickery, Armies of Undead, Genuine Pychopaths
Cons: Save System, Timed Events, Immortal Convict Clones
Final Verdict: Awesome gameplay, terrible gameplay mechanics

Ketchup

Ok... so... off to a slow start as you can see! Well, I made the grandiose undertaking of drawing a comic. I thought this would be entertaining when coupled with my thoughts on a said game. And although I have many funny ideas for comics, it seems my talent is lacking. So a half a comic and a month later, I'm where I started. No more excuses!

I recently completed God of War II and it was a mixed bag for me. While the sweet morsels of eye candy kept me mashing buttons, the bitter plot nuggets made me question why I played this game at all. But just when I was about to give it up, I found a rare honey-coated peanut of satifaction. Because in the end, after listening to all the twisted plot holes it's the core element of kicking ass that keeps you playing.

Is this Evolution or Divine Providence?

Well, I fell off my high horse and landed here in the endless array of digital prose. Perhaps my words will ignite the minds of millions, doubtful. Although this therapeutic intro/extro-spection couldn't hurt.

Introspection: As a recent graduate of Computer Science and a lover of games, I want to make them. Will I be good at it? Who knows! But I know the best way to get there will be to jump in and just do it. Thus this dialogue will serve as a means of chronicling my progress and thoughts.

Extrospection: The Game Industry is one of the fastest growing markets which now eclipses the Movie Industry in sales. This route is one of cutting edge technology and limitless creative input/output.

With this post I begin my quest, I make no promises of length, as this is my 1st blog, 1st post, and 1st online commitment besides checking my email every 10 minutes.

Ambigrams are swell.