Video Game Fanatik

Left 4 Dead

2008-08-21T22:26:00.001-07:00

So one of the games that I am most excited for is Left 4 Dead from Valve, who of course is known for excellent titles. You can check out the new trailer here from G4TV.

It will be pure awesomeness when it arrives, so prepare your wallet and your schedules for much co-op zombie-blasting mayhem.

Space Seige

2008-08-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been a while since I last posted on the blog. Let's get over that quickly and move on to more important news:

Space Siege is a decent average game. And not worth $50. Let it be said that while the game runs relatively smoothly and is low on bugs, the gameplay itself is essentially average, the environments are simple and uninteresting, and the controls are at best mediocre. I would have been better off purchasing Trackmania Forever for half price last weekend from Steam. Boooooooooo!

Space Seige vs. Too Human

2008-07-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

Following up on my post a few weeks back about narrative in game design, I think perhaps it is a good idea to discuss something I have noticed: there are two games coming out that seem to have very similar themes and story lines. These games are Space Seige from Gas Powered Games and Sega versus Too Human from Silicon Knights. Both of these games follow a storyline in which, over the course of the game, the player must choose whether to augment his/her character with cybernetic upgrades or not in order to better battle the enemies in the respective universe. Granted, there are drastic differences such as Too Human being based loosely on Norse mythology versus Space Seige having a more contemporary story. However, the thematic underpinnings of both of these titles remains extraordinarily similar: is it better to remain completely human or to give in to temptation and 'upgrade' ourselves with technology?

While the thematic repetition between the titles may irritate some of you, I think if handled well that these titles will benefit the industry as a whole. My belief is that games are on the verge of becoming accepted by our society as an 'acceptable' entertainment medium on which people of many different backgrounds, communities, and ages can find enjoyment. Stories like this in games, structured around very solid and innovative gameplay, can lead the industry to new dramatic heights and accomplish what many of us have been hoping and/or working towards for many years: mainstream acceptance of video gaming.

Some of you may argue that this has already occurred. However, I will believe it when I stop seeing ridiculous stories on the news blaming certain games for the violent acts of those individuals looking for any excuse to partake in criminal and violent activities.

My hopes remain high for both of these games. I plan to at least demo them both and hopefully find one or the other intriguing enough to purchase for long-term enjoyment. I also hope that the narrative structures and themes presented in these titles help to progress the state of our industry to new entertainment heights.

Game Narrative

2008-06-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

On a more serious note, here is an article on Gamasutra.com that discusses the use of narrative as an element in video games. It tackles the oft-considered but rarely tackled subject of narrative application in game. Justin Marks is right on a lot of issues here, essentially saying that there is no reason that as the primary character in the games has no real effects on the game world itself. Mentioning the narrative limitations of GTAIV, Marks states, "It's no longer acceptable that we can take our girlfriend on a date and never once have her mention the fact that we're carrying a missile launcher by our side" (a similar topic is well-mocked by Penny Arcade). I agree wholeheartedly. There is no reason with today's hardware sophistication that we cannot have our girlfriend notice the rocket launcher in the game.

I do disagree a bit with Marks when he states that "Even better story is not the answer. That's been a symptom recently too - bringing on high end screenwriters to punch up dialogue, as if that had anything to do with the game's playability. An "Oscar-caliber" plot is still going to be skipped over if it doesn't augment gameplay". It's not a matter of well-done plot-based narratives in games just cultivating the belief that games are a subset of Hollywood. For some games, an interactive story fits well into the design of the game (e.g. Bioshock or Oblivion)This is a misinterpretation of that medium that is unjust and if not fixed could lead to the downfall of the industry. The issue here is the integration of the narrative elements into the game's design. Story is often secondary to the design of a game, which makes sense from a certain standpoint. Get the game's elements down, then move forward with creating a story and a script.

For true growth, high-quality stories and scripts must be better combined with the artificial world's interactive nature, allowing the game's world to change with the player's actions through his/her avatar. I understand that this will add a lot of work on the developer's side for storyline integration, but I know that it is possible. However, it requires a different approach to the game's design from the get-go. Perhaps designers will take this concept to heart in the near future. The hardware capabilities are there, it's just a matter of time and ingenuity.

A few games have already applied some of this into their design successfully. The RPG genre tends to show the most promise in this arena. Star Wars: KOTOR II, for example.

Dark Void video

2008-06-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of www.gametrailers.com, here is a video preview of Dark Void from Capcom. The video gives a great inside look into the gameplay elements of this upcoming third-person action game. One of the things that really stick out here compared to a lot of modern 3D titles is the fluid animation. While you will always find that the main character in any third-person perspective game has more animations of higher quality than the NPCs, this game really seems to focus a lot on the fluid nature of the avatar.

I am very excited to play this game once it comes out.

Sony's HOME coming to PS3 users in 08!

2008-06-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

Great news, all of you PS3 owners! Wired Magazine is reporting that Sony's public beta of their Home service is coming in 2008! This is great news for PS3 owners who have been looking for a coherent online experience more akin to XBL.

In related news, Sony has teamed up with Future US to bring a new series to the PSN, the Qore series. It will contain news, previews, reviews, etc. Up side is that a lot of it will be interactive via the SixAxis DualShock3 controllers, with a variety of options for interaction. Down side, though, is the episodes will not be free and will cost either $2.99 per episode or $24.99 for a year's subscription. Could this be the future of magazine delivery? I have a feeling that if this series is successful, we will start to see a variety of other periodical publishers moving to this type of content delivery. A lot of it depends on the success of this series, though. If viewers pick it up, then the advertisers will come, and so then more content will become available soon thereafter.

Prince of Persia Classic Review

2008-05-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Instead of recapping the same old news that probably bombards all of you gamers out there as it is, today I will be reviewing a game that I recently had the time to complete. That game is Prince of Persia Classic from XBOX Live Arcade, by Gameloft. When comparing the XBLA version of the game against the classic PC version, there has been some obvious improvements in terms of graphics, sound, animation, and even the physics of the gameplay.

The top image is from POP the original PC version, and the screenshot below is from POP Classic on XBLA.

Graphically, the new version of the game is intense. The backgrounds are well-designed and balanced throughout the game. The color palette chosen for the game varies just enough to keep the scenery interesting throughout the whole game.

The animations throughout the game are smooth and consistently accurate to the physics of the game's world. The Prince transitions well from walking to running to jumping to rolling. Swordplay is varied as the Prince attacks with a variety of different moves despite being a single attack button.

Speaking of the controls, the control design for this game is redundant but efficient. After playing a couple of levels in the game, I began entrusting my jumping and rolling to the same left analog stick that I was using to move the Prince left and right across the levels. This provided much better control and transitions than using the A button for jumping and the B button for diving rolls or descending platforms. While platforming, I tended to use R as a brake for the Prince, as it works well to stop him almost immediately from a full run to a dead stop. Holding R will allow him to creep along, offering more control for those right-next-to-the-deadly-drop moments common in this game. During combat, the L- and R-triggers gave me finer control over the Prince's blocks and attacks, respectively, than the X- and A-buttons. I could react faster with the triggers than with the buttons.

The sound, while not of Hollywood blockbuster quality, suffices and even excels for an XBLA title. The surround sound provides subtle and ominous undertones throughout the game. Details are there, including the sound of the waterfalls on certain levels and the subtle tapping of the Prince's footsteps as you race through the levels.

The addition of the Time Attack and Survival modes add replayability to a game that seems so one-off-ish. POP Classic sets a time goal of one hour to save the princess. It is possible to do so beyond the hour time limit, as I have yet to beat the game in one hour, although I foresee it in the near future.

Overall, I suggest this game to any fan of action/adventure games. The production quality is excellent, especially for a $10 game (excuse me, 800 MS-point game) off of XBLA. It is on par with the quality of Assault Heroes, of which I have yet to play the sequel. It is far beyond many of the other rehashes of classic games available on XBLA.

AMD Game! Initiative

2008-05-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

AMD has partnered up with some other major players (Logitech, Microsoft, Alienware, Dell, HP, and others) in the PC gaming hardware arena to simplify the consumers' search for gaming-compatible PCs. Essentially, they're arguing that 2/3rds of all PCs that were sold last year were not capable of running current-generation games and that this travesty has to stop. I blame their choices of video cards. Yes, it keeps the pricing of computers down, but when you go to Best Buy a lot of gamers want to buy a PC capable of running current and upcoming games at least decently well. A choice would be nice, as well. Meaning, the stores and brands have to offer AT LEAST two models capable of playing games. I applaud this initiative and I hope it builds upon the PC gaming experiences in the near and far future. See this article for more information.

New ZeroPunctuation Review: GTAIV

2008-05-15T12:10:00.001-07:00

Watch the new Zero Punctuation review of GTA IV!

GRID demo online

2008-05-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

For those of you that don't know, the GRID demo is now available for download via Playstation Network and XBL. I got my hands on the PS3 version of the demo, and I must say, for someone that loves racing games and plays them quite a bit, this demo is difficult on the regular difficulty. Despite the steep learning curve, the game shows a ton of promise. The physics constantly keep the player in check. On the BMW touring level, damage plays a huge role in how your car handles. Also, once your car slides off the track into the dirt, it is likely you will completely lose control and spin out in a plethora of unintended directions, with beautiful clouds of dirt swirling around your vehicle. Yes, the screenshots that we have all seen from this game (some below) really show some beautiful images. And yes, the game looks even better in motion! If you haven't yet, download the demo now and play it a couple of times. It's worth it!

Gears of War 2!!!

2008-05-15T10:31:00.001-07:00

For all you game fanatics, I'm sure you are aware that Epic is planning to release GOW2 for this holiday season, chock full of fantastic new technology that allows all sorts of cool gameplay. Check out some gameplay footage below:

Metal Gear Solid 4

2008-05-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of weeks, but I'm back and ready to keep you all up to date on all of the gaming goodness that interests me. Right now, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is looking better than any other MGS to date. According to Kojima, the camera issues have been eliminated for this installment. My major gripe with the series is the unrelenting stress that the camera angles would induce upon the player. Instead of having a free-flowing third-person camera behind the avatar, the previous MGS games had a much less user-friendly camera setup. If that issue is fixed, I bet this game is the best out on the PS3 this year (with some stiff competition from SOCOM and Resistance 2).

Check out the video, courtesy of Gamespot:

Sierra's on a roll!

2008-05-01T17:44:00.001-07:00

Sierra appears to be on a roll with the new games! Prototype looks fantastic, and hopefully it will provide hours of open-world fun and superhuman abilities that I enjoyed with Crackdown on the 360. Here's a couple of links to previews: at Gamespot, at 1up, and at IGN.

Bad news is that Prototype is scheduled to release on June 15th, which is three days after Metal Gear Solid 4.

Who YOU gonna call?

2008-05-01T17:40:00.001-07:00

Despite all of the GTAIV mayhem that's occurring nationwide this week, I'm still looking at other games that interest me and I've found a great video of an interview with the president of Terminal Reality, Mark Randall. Terminal Reality, as it turns out, is developing the new Ghostbusters game for Sierra.

2008-04-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

NOA President Reggie Fils-Aime is still frustrated about the lack of Wii supplies to the US. "A number of analysts have suggested that Nintendo is deliberately allocating more Wii units to other territories because of the weak American dollar. Wiis being sold in Europe or Japan make more money for Nintendo" (quote). What a shame our country is so lowly regarded in the international community. More importantly, however, is that Nintendo has yet to truly embrace their third-party developers (and likely never will). And for those truly hardcore gamers out there, you will find that even Super Smash Bros Brawl is a lackluster mush of indistinguishable characters and attacks most of the time (see this review on The Escapist). It's true, I've played it. And while the concept is neat, and it's easy for casual gamers to play, it still ends up being a button-mashing contest.

GCycle!

2008-04-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to gcycle your old electronics crap!

Welcome to Video Game Fanatik!

2008-04-23T14:36:00.000-07:00

I will be posting as much video-game-related material here as possible, starting now! If you are interested at all in gaming, even casual gaming, you should use this page as a hub for video game news, previews, and reviews! My first post is a recommendation to join the Video Game Voters Network, as it is free. Nothing's as good as free! Check it out on the sidebar! Also, check out the Entertainment Consumers Association, another advocacy group in support of games and gaming!