I cared so much… doing violence properly in games

The only thing I cared about this entire game was the welfare of this little girl.

The guys who put together Spec Ops: The Line may think that violence is easy to pull off in video games but what I think they were trying to say that violence is oftentimes meaningless in video games.  While the physical action of pulling a real gun’s trigger to shoot another human being in the face is pretty much the same as pulling the right-side trigger on a game controller to shoot a manifestation of another human being, the psychological, moral, and ethical repercussions are world’s apart.  Most conventional shooters eschew the real world emotions that pulling the trigger against a living thing entails (animals included).  Even if The Line was about violence, you never felt like the psychopath they wanted you to be.  I’m supposed to feel some guilt when I kill all the refugees, I’m definitely supposed to think about my moral dilemma at the end of game.  NOPE.

But you know who does violence correctly?  It’s fucking Telltale Games in The Walking Dead.

More after the jump…

read more »

Spec Ops: The Line was just terrible…

TERRIBLE.

TERRIBLE.

The game was probably was hyped to death by the time I got to it.  However, I found no redeeming qualities to it.  I felt so bad about the reaction I had that I scoured the internet and read a lot of critical opinions and analyses of the game.  While the game may portray some interesting situations and commentary about war, as a game it did a poor job of presenting them in a way that was appropriate to games and was just a terrible game to play in general.  If you take all the game out and all the specific acting or topics, made it into a movie, maybe you would have something with enough content to just miss the summer blockbuster phase.  Barely.  At that point, it’s so far removed from the original source material that it probably will have a better chance to do well.

Otherwise, Spec Ops: The Line is a terrible example of story-telling in games.

More after the jump…

read more »

Sony’s Biggest Troll Evar

I'm calling it.

I’m calling it.

Everyone is complaining that Sony’s PS4 reveal earlier this week was stupid because they didn’t show the console.  Instead they focused a lot on the new games and the DualShock 4 controller.  Maybe a few loose specs were thrown around for good measure.  I think a lot of people are missing the point here because the console and home computer are reaching a converging point.

More after the jump…

read more »

Modern Games and Reigniting the American Dream

This is where we're at, folks.

This is where we’re at, folks.

 

When I was a kid, not all too long ago, I played a lot of online competitive games like Counter-StrikeQuake, and Team Fortress. They were some of the best games I’ve ever played and I had an extremely fond time with them. In fact, they were so damn fun that I don’t think I’ll ever relive those moments ever again. What I remember from my formative years will stay just that… memories, while games will continue to evolve into new forms and create new experiences.

I had hoped that the core of games would remain the same but I’ve (with the help of my coworkers) realized that the reason why I played games then and why children now play games is completely different. It’s no longer about just doing what’s fun, exploring a complete system of rules and seeing the outcomes of your actions. It’s more complicated than that now. A lot of people just aren’t satisfied with playing with their Legos without an instruction manual anymore (save for those who play Minecraft, which I think is still a minority). They want, and expect, a voice in their head telling them that they’re doing a good job when they attach one Lego piece to another.

More after the jump…

read more »

Games = Choices, Playing = Going Through Each One

Capcom’s new property, Remember Me (formerly called Adrift), sparked some interesting thoughts as I watched the above trailer.  First off, I really enjoy future relevant themes like those found in Mass Effect (questioning what is AI, can it be human?), Deus Ex: Human Revolution (transhumanism and what it is to be human), and others.  Remember Me deals with the idea of the ability to hack someone’s memories sort of like the idea found in Phillip K. Dick’s stories (Johnny Menemonic comes to mind).  Humanity is approaching that cusp where we need to start thinking about all these things.  However, really caught my interest was the execution of how memory hacking works.

More after the jump…

read more »

Same Mechanic, A Vastly Different Effect

I just watched the above trailer for The Last of Us, Naughty Dog’s next game for the PS3, and I was again shocked by the way Naughty Dog is able to convey an incredibly different theme while still using basically the same mechanics as the Unhcarted series.  The main reason I hated Uncharted was because the gunfights were boring.  I was just mowing down a bunch of dudes.  Understandably, all action movies are like this (including Indiana Jones, the movies that Uncharted is basically riffing off of) but the fact that I personally had to kill each one of these goons in monotony was unappealing by the 3rd time it happened.

More after the jump…

read more »

Catherine: Japanese vs. Western Mentality

Trying to keep this shot pg-13

My coworker lent me his copy of Catherinethe sexual psycho puzzle thriller.  I’ve got to say, ever since I read up about this game way back when I was itching to play it.  Not because it’s a puzzle game (not my favorite genre) but because of its interesting subject material.  Let’s just get comments on the puzzle game out of the way.  The puzzle game is fun and addictive.  Even after an hour or two of play, there seems to be enough going on with it to keep me interested.  There’s even a memorization flow going on due to the strict time constraints with bosses (this would imply that each puzzle has an optimal solution).  Anyway, that’s fine and great.  It plays well and is an interesting metaphor for the most interesting part of the game, its story.

More after the jump…

read more »

Splice, A Puzzle Game I Can Get Into

Strangely organic and intuitive

I just spent a fat stack of cash on some new games where one of which was Splice.  Splice looked really attractive already due to its simple and clean art direction.  It just looks beautiful.  I already wanted to buy it regardless of what kind of game it was.  I’m not the biggest fan of puzzle games but I’m glad I bought this one.  I read a few things about the game already and they didn’t shine a particularly good light on the game.  Mainly, they complained about how the mechanic wasn’t very clear.

I finished up two ‘worlds’ already, about 10 puzzles in each.  All I can say is that I’ve been having a blast so far.  What I’ve encountered is a simple level design to escalate and introduce new mechanics.  What I enjoyed most was that the steps you would take would be switched up.  For example, this one kind of power or attribute was used as the very last move to solve the puzzle.  Suddenly you had to do it in the middle of the puzzle.  I was definitely stuck on that for a few minutes.

What I enjoy most is that the feeling of discovery is extremely organic, even though some may say that it’s too organic for a puzzle game (we need discrete rules NOW!), and that fits in with the whole design aesthetic of the game.  You’re splicing genes, cells, or something organic.  It feels right.  I’m doing a lot of experimenting and their undo/redo system is pretty neat.  It’s similar to scrubbing video.  A nice touch.

Will definitely play this during my breaks at work.

E3 Quick Impressions

I would so play an Adventure Time game... so mathematical.

I don’t really care for E3 but since I work in the business, it’s always keen to check up on things.  Here are some things that caught my eye the past few days.

Last of Us
I’ll be honest, the Uncharted series fell flat on its face with its repetitive combat mechanics.  I may be biased since I don’t like first-person shooters on consoles (KB + mouse any day) but not only was it hard for me but the interaction was meaningless.  Its reward cycles non-existant.  Oh, here come a wave of a billion dudes.  Woohoo.  Yay.  Uhuh.  Yawn.

With that said, Last of Us looks like it uses the same engine as Uncharted 3.  Looks beautiful, as is expected with a game from Naughty Dog, and the acting and animations were also top-notch.  Surprisingly, it also seemed like it had the same mechanics too.  Shooting, platforming.  However, I was on the edge of my seat for the end part of the trailer.  Why?  Was it the narrative skinning that is now giving meaning to shooting people?  Is it because there’s a little girl with you (the violence she witnesses, does she take damage)?  Maybe it’s the fact there are fewer enemies?  It’s hard to tell but I think a lot of the AI reactions—animation, voice, and actions—were more in-depth.  It could be a really good version of Uncharted’s hand-to-hand system.

If they can carve this story out, it may just save a tired mechanic.
 
PS Vita
I already wanted to get this thing when it launched, but never got around to it.  It’s also just expensive.  With the need for a new phone and tablet in the coming months, will I ever get the Vita?  Is handheld even alive to matter?  It just might happen with all the new game announcements for the system.  I’m already waiting for Gravity Rush but the fact that there are so many that I can’t even remember them all is a good sign.  I really want to see those controls put to good use.
 
Assassin’s Creed 3
Just the fact that it’s not in Italy interests me.  I have the 2nd lying around somewhere but never played it.  Again, will skinning really help?  Also the Vita version has a female protagonist too.  Native American male, African American female.  Interesting.
 
Zombi U
I’m very skeptical of the WiiU gamepad thing.  It’s seems very gimmicky.  While watching the ZombiU gameplay trailer, I was surprised because some of the interactions were kind of interesting.  Maybe there’s some potential.  Although most of it I still felt they were trying really hard and it still looked a little gimmicky.  Nintendo, I won’t be tricked again like I was with the Wii.  I’m watching you.
 
Beyond
I’ll admit it, I enjoyed Heavy Rain despite all of its flaws.  How many times did I hard reset my machine (probably the reason why my HDD crashed lol)?  And even though David Cage seriously pissed me off with this talk at GDC 2010, I can’t help but be interested in whatever Quantic Dream is up to.  They have interesting ideas with stories and set them up decently.  Will it be full of inconsistencies like Heavy Rain?  We’ll have to wait and see.
 
Watch Dogs
I guess this is a trend nowadays with the hacking and big brother kind of stuff.  While the interaction and mechanics may not be new ideas, they way that Watch Dogs seems to pull all these things together is really slick.  The story seems to be compelling too.
 
Papa y Yo
I’d play this for the architecture but the puzzling and the story seem to be interesting as well.  I hope the gameplay lives up to my standards otherwise it’ll just be another pretty looking thing.
 
Sleeping Dogs
Not exactly new but I did play the demo they had at E3 during PAX East (at least I think it was the same).  The voice acting is sharp and extremely humorous for me since I grew up in Hong Kong.  The locale and the research that went into the game is also impressive.  HK underworld is a different kind of hard-boiled than it is in the US, let alone anywhere else in the world.  The old John Woo movies like A Better Tomorrow with Chow Yun Fat and the Young and Dangerous series are  great examples of how this stuff should feel.

I hope the combat gets tightened up a bit more.  Even if it’s really similar to the Batman Arkham series, I don’t care.
 
Ubisoft Porting WiiU Games Elsewhere
Ubisoft is betting big with developing WiiU launch titles.  However, they mentioned they want to port these games to other devices like tablets and whatnot in order to recoup revenue.  What’s really going on here?  Did Nintendo give them a lumpsum to make hardcore launch titles or something?  Does Ubisoft really believe in the console?
 
Xbox SmartGlass
While the WiiU has its dedicated piece of hardware, the idea that Microsoft can and will expand the console experience to a mulitude of devices is very interesting.  I wonder how well this will play into using SmartGlass devices in games.  It can’t be tightly integrated because not everyone will have the right kind of device to support the features necesssary like the WiiU.  We get into the fragmentation problem.  Still, interested with the idea.  The PS Vita is basically Sony’s answer to the WiiU.

Journey: First Impressions

A unique sensation, even without words.

In general, I’m quite skeptical of games like Journey.  In fact, I’m skeptical about all the games that come out of thatgamecompany.  Not because their products are bad, it’s sometimes the way they talk about their work that, I feel, belittles the idea and replaces is it pretentiousness.  So when I first heard about Journey, a year or two ago, I took cautious steps.  The best idea I thought they had was the communication (or lack of communication) between players.  Details were rough back then but the idea of not being able to communicate via voice or chat in an MMO like setting was mind-boggling.  Encounter another human player in a huge and sparsely populated landscape!!!  That was exciting to me.  It sounded like it would be hard to find people and if you did it was valuable but because you couldn’t communicate efficiently, it somehow strengthened that bond.  Loneliness really does push us out of our shells.  When I played briefly a few nights ago, that was the last thing I was thinking though.

More after the jump…

read more »