No amazingly coherent topic today, so the following is a bunch of potentially speakworthy thoughts I've had in the last few days.
Today, the 3rd Humble Indie Bundle was released. I haven't played any f the games in the pack, but I bought it anyway - I've heard very good things about VVVVVV (well, heard its difficult at least), and have seen "And Yet It Moves" in action, which was kind of interesting. Besides, supporting Indie devs and charities simultaneously is awesome. Buy it. Now.
Why did Amy Winehouse's death bump the Norwegian slaughter off the front page of the news? One (admittedly) talented, trainwreck of a woman dies (likely due to a Charlie Sheen-like dosage of some illicit material), and due to her fame, appears to get more exposure than a freakin terror attack. I realise this is an old complaint, and not particularly fair to Amy or her family, but surely there was a fubar there somewhere?
This morning I got off the train at Central Station (as I tend to do on my way to work), to find that there was a large group of people waiting at the door to get on the train. Said group of people refused to move to let me off the train, and wondered why I pushed them out of the way. (I'm fairly sure I made a rage comic about this and posted it somewhere...) Maybe next time, I'll just stay on the train and block their path on -.-
Also, this morning, I was walking up the hill from the station, to work (again, as I have a tendency to do). Unfortunately, I got caught behind three people walking together, who blocked the entire footpath. This isn't such a problem really, except for the fact that they were all smokers. Who were continuing to smoke as they walked slowly up the hill. When they exhaled their smoke, it stayed where it was (as it tends to do if there's no wind), which forced me and the other poor souls behind them to walk through a massive cloud of cigarette smoke.
Smokers - I don't mind if you decide to slowly poison yourself with those contraptions. Really, its none of my business. What IS my business is that your stupidity forces me to endure massive stinky clouds of death in my face. If you're gonna light up, at least do it somewhere where other people won't be forced to inhale your second-hand smoke. Have a little common sense, geez!
I've been fairly steadily playing through Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection. It's quite good, though it does feel excessively long. This is likely due to the fact that I am essentially playing three games in one - the third one being episodic in nature. Not to mention that they're all RPGs! Other things I have been playing are listed on my Backloggery page. I urge you all to make an account there, that way we can compare games :P Feel free to add me to your multitap!
I apologise for the lack of posts in recent times, but I've been fairly busy at work (been moved onto a different, short project with a tight deadline. Also, the project itself is boring) which has been utterly wiping me out, making it difficult to come up with a coherent, semi-interesting topic, let alone put words into that topic. I will try to do better in future.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Trippin' on Bits
BIT.TRIP Beat is a very simple game to describe. It is a game of pong, where you, as the left side paddle, are bombarded with blocks to deflect. These blocks come at you at varying speeds, arcs, and even return after being deflected (a bit of a curveball).
Of course, there has to be ore to it than just pong, right? There is, but not very much.
The blocks you reflect play a different sound per note type, speed and where you happen to be when you hit them. This has the effect of playing a song when you play skilfully.
Yes, Pong has been turned into a music game.
As the levels get more difficult, the songs become much more intricate. Of course, you have a health bar and a bonus bar – filling up the bonus bar makes you go up a power level – also altering the sounds you make (seemingly, although I couldn't see the purpose of it really). Lose enough health, and you drop a level. Run out of health on the lowest level (which, incidentally, has a black and white screen, and sound consisting purely of 2-bit Pong beeps) and its game over.
Simple, right? Damn right!
Also note that I played the PC version, available on Steam.
What I liked
- Art Style
I'm a fan of retro games, so when a game comes along with an 8-bit style (of which there are surprisingly many) its easy to ignore, but I do enjoy the graphics in this game. Though with a premise like “Pong, but musical!” it's kind of difficult to justify making it anything but 8-bit! The graphics are functional – really, its just blocks flying around. It's harsh to expect anything more.
- Music Style
This is where things get a bit more interesting. The game maintains its retro feel mainly via the music consisting of chiptunes. While above I stated that it is a music game, the entirety of the music is also 8-bit. Although it does gain some synth properties once you reach the higher level, it keeps a retro feel to it.
What I hated
- Very few levels
There are only three levels in the game. Four if you count the bonus Portal themed level (which the developers certainly don't – you get an achievement for beating the game without playing the Portal level). This seems at odds with a game which seems to long for the days of old, with 8-bit everything! These older games were either infinite (due to the design simply allowing repeats of the same screen), or having a large amount of content.
- Levels are overly long
Each level can get quite long – every time you think you're done, another volley of blocks is sent your way! While this attempts to make up for the lack of numbers in the level, I find that for a game like this, its better to have more levels, and have them be shorter, rather than fewer levels but each one ridiculously long.
Even with the long levels, the amount of content still seems short. If you are good at pong, you can finish all the levels within an hour or so.
All in all, BIT.TRIP Beat is an entertaining diversion from other titles, but its short length pretty much strands it. While it allows for a lot of replayability (music games always feel replayable), its not something I find myself returning to often, mainly due to the dated gameplay. If you feel like playing something old school, you could do worse.
Monday, July 18, 2011
SMASH!
For those who didn't know, SMASH! (Sydney Manga and Anime SHow) was held in the Sydney Convention Center in Darling Harbour last Saturday. This convention, unlike Supanova, is based entirely off anime, manga, and the occasional video game. Of course, I attended the con. Dressed as Suzaku again, no less (you expect me to not reuse the outfit after spending months worth of weekends working on it?).
The convention itself was quite well organised, with a couple of exceptions. These examples were, however, quite annoying. For example, Spritza and myself arrived quite early at the venue, and were in the queue to enter (we pre-purchased our tickets as usual). We were fairly close to the front of the third queue, which was good, since the queue got ridiculously large later on.
The powers that be decided to start scanning people's tickets and handing out the laniards that attendees were to wear before the show opened, therefore saving time for the people who had gone to the effort to pay before the day of the con.
Except that they neglected to do the same for the third line. Leaving this line to get in after the others had - regardless of arrival time. Of course, Murphy's Law dictates that this was the line that we were in. We still got in at a decent time (around 9.20 or so), but we were robbed of a good 20 minutes of time that the peons who didn't pre-purchase had no access to (and so actually having space to walk around the con unhindered).
On the other hand, the venue was set up well. All of the stalls and gaming was downstairs, while the activity rooms, the cosplay contest and chess, the workshops, panels etc were upstairs. This split meant that people weren't getting constantly clogged together trying to reach their desired events. The only criticism I'd ave of the venue itself was that the lights in the shopping area were quite dim, making any photos taken in there much more difficult to do right, as well as putting some minor strain on the eyes after a while.
Of course, a large portion of the day was taken up by posing for photos, taking part in the cosplay chess (we lost, although the game was entertaining and went a fair while thereby making up for it all). Part of the fun of the chess was that my cosplay group had booked a large chunk of the team for our spots - our Code Geass group (consisting of myself as Suzaku, Spritza as Euphemia, Mark as Gino, Juanita as Anya - although she didn't play chess, Lyndall as Nunnally, Brendon as Lloyd and Jamie as C.C) as well as two other random Code Geass cosplayers we managed to poach (Zero and another Suzaku) took up the entire back row of the black team. To make matters more entertaining, our entire front row consisted of Hetalia cosplayers.
All the countries of the world are as pawns to Britannia, clearly.
After the chess, we dashed off for lunch, and some random photo taking around Darling Harbour, which was fun due to freaking out the "normal people" who were around. Only a small group of us went photoing, since some people were taking breaks and others had simply disappeared from view.
Eventually, the convention had to end, so we changed into regular clothes, headed off for dinner, then returned for the Eminence concert. Eminence are an orchestral group that play predominantly video game and anime music - even being contracted to perform some songs for the shows and games themselves (they recently finished recording music for Diablo 3).
The concert was brilliant, even though I only recognised three songs (Aerith's Theme from FF7, the My Neighbour Totoro medley, and the Mario medley) it was entertaining nonetheless. They also had in attendance two video game composers, whose music they spent the majority of the time playing. These composers were Kenji Ito (Romancing Saga 1-3, Saga Frontier) and Hiroku Kikuta (Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3). They were both interviewed on stage, with entertaining results.
After the concert, I spent some time in line to buy a couple of CDs, and get some autographs. We then headed home for some rest. Great day, all in all.
Also, thanks to Oni-5 and Martzy for meeting up with us, and joining us in the photo frenzy. I'm a terrible photographer, so they wouldn't have been taken at all if it weren't for you guys :P
~~~
On a semi-related note, today marks the release of the "Play for Japan" album - this album was a project headed up by Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill's composer, among other things) as a charity album. This album features original tracks by a large selection of video game music composers - and after a single playthrough of the album today, I love it. There are only two of the eighteen tracks I can say I honestly did not enjoy, although that may change.
As an added bonus, people who buy it from iTunes get a Mario medley as a bonus track.
Also note that all proceeds from this album goes to the Japan recovery fund. Although it is no longer reported in the news, Japan hasn't exactly recovered fully yet (that'll take a LONG time), so spend some money people!
The convention itself was quite well organised, with a couple of exceptions. These examples were, however, quite annoying. For example, Spritza and myself arrived quite early at the venue, and were in the queue to enter (we pre-purchased our tickets as usual). We were fairly close to the front of the third queue, which was good, since the queue got ridiculously large later on.
The powers that be decided to start scanning people's tickets and handing out the laniards that attendees were to wear before the show opened, therefore saving time for the people who had gone to the effort to pay before the day of the con.
Except that they neglected to do the same for the third line. Leaving this line to get in after the others had - regardless of arrival time. Of course, Murphy's Law dictates that this was the line that we were in. We still got in at a decent time (around 9.20 or so), but we were robbed of a good 20 minutes of time that the peons who didn't pre-purchase had no access to (and so actually having space to walk around the con unhindered).
On the other hand, the venue was set up well. All of the stalls and gaming was downstairs, while the activity rooms, the cosplay contest and chess, the workshops, panels etc were upstairs. This split meant that people weren't getting constantly clogged together trying to reach their desired events. The only criticism I'd ave of the venue itself was that the lights in the shopping area were quite dim, making any photos taken in there much more difficult to do right, as well as putting some minor strain on the eyes after a while.
Of course, a large portion of the day was taken up by posing for photos, taking part in the cosplay chess (we lost, although the game was entertaining and went a fair while thereby making up for it all). Part of the fun of the chess was that my cosplay group had booked a large chunk of the team for our spots - our Code Geass group (consisting of myself as Suzaku, Spritza as Euphemia, Mark as Gino, Juanita as Anya - although she didn't play chess, Lyndall as Nunnally, Brendon as Lloyd and Jamie as C.C) as well as two other random Code Geass cosplayers we managed to poach (Zero and another Suzaku) took up the entire back row of the black team. To make matters more entertaining, our entire front row consisted of Hetalia cosplayers.
All the countries of the world are as pawns to Britannia, clearly.
 |
| I was killed by a woman who threw CDs at me |
After the chess, we dashed off for lunch, and some random photo taking around Darling Harbour, which was fun due to freaking out the "normal people" who were around. Only a small group of us went photoing, since some people were taking breaks and others had simply disappeared from view.
 |
| One of the many outside photos |
The concert was brilliant, even though I only recognised three songs (Aerith's Theme from FF7, the My Neighbour Totoro medley, and the Mario medley) it was entertaining nonetheless. They also had in attendance two video game composers, whose music they spent the majority of the time playing. These composers were Kenji Ito (Romancing Saga 1-3, Saga Frontier) and Hiroku Kikuta (Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3). They were both interviewed on stage, with entertaining results.
After the concert, I spent some time in line to buy a couple of CDs, and get some autographs. We then headed home for some rest. Great day, all in all.
Also, thanks to Oni-5 and Martzy for meeting up with us, and joining us in the photo frenzy. I'm a terrible photographer, so they wouldn't have been taken at all if it weren't for you guys :P
~~~
On a semi-related note, today marks the release of the "Play for Japan" album - this album was a project headed up by Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill's composer, among other things) as a charity album. This album features original tracks by a large selection of video game music composers - and after a single playthrough of the album today, I love it. There are only two of the eighteen tracks I can say I honestly did not enjoy, although that may change.
As an added bonus, people who buy it from iTunes get a Mario medley as a bonus track.
Also note that all proceeds from this album goes to the Japan recovery fund. Although it is no longer reported in the news, Japan hasn't exactly recovered fully yet (that'll take a LONG time), so spend some money people!
 |
| Also, cover art by Yoshitaka Amano |
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Madboards Pathfinder: A Postmortem
This evening marks the official end of the Madboards Pathfinder game I have been running. Technically, the game has ended for 4/6 of the players (and really, if I were to be pedantic about it, it ended for one player a couple of weeks ago when he stopped posting altogether), and the final two have their last chance today. As a result, I figured I would devote a post to my thoughts on the entire game, and share what I have learned.
Lesson #1: Pathfinder on a Forum is a Terrible Idea
This was the first mistake. Pathfinder (or any other RP system that relies heavily on the use of maps) is way too complex for a forum based RPG. When playing in person with a physical map set it is trivial to move pieces, I found myself dreading the inevitable combat sequences in the game (which are, to me, some of the most fun I can have as a GM when I'm on a mean streak since there is a chance for me to kill off PCs in hilarious manner) due to the drudgery of opening my iPhone app for mapping, moving the pieces, doing all the die rolls, uploading a screenshot of the map, writing a description of said map for the people who can't read the pieces (and to make up for the shortcomings of the app - mainly a lack of required art assets), as well as writing the actual mod itself - a lot of work for 6 seconds of game world time!
Add to this the fact that the game is heavily based on number crunching, as well as player cooperation and discussion and you get a game that is a pain in the arse to run well on a forum. I found that the players, outside of a select few, rarely cooperated. The party didn't really form as a party, causing massive plotholes to form, which leads me to...
Lesson #2: On a Forum RP, Write Your Own Damn Plot!
I was using a pre-written module for the story. This worked perfectly well in my long-running face-to-face PF campaign, which hasn't yet ended (and really needs a session to get us going again). This worked in the online one for approximately 12 seconds, when the players immediately made moves that were breaking anything the future plot had in store for them.
For example, the party reached the inn, where the real adventure was to begin, by having a mercenary character claim that the dagger they had found during a combat sequence immediately before arriving at the inn actually belonged to him. This was to trigger a pub brawl which escalates to encompass all of the people in the pub, and destroy some valuable property, thereby giving the Sheriff (who was in the pub at the time) a reason to confiscate the blade, and to send them on a quest to pay off their debt.
This didn't go quite according to plan, since the party immediately split up upon entering the bar, and the character with the dagger tried to leave the pub. This forced the Sheriff to only see a few characters as being involved in the argument over the dagger, immediately splitting the party into those who were in trouble with the Sheriff (and therefore on track for the story), and everyone else. Considering that the majority of the game hinged on this, this was quite a problem!
If I had written the story myself, I would have been better equipped to add extra characters, items and events to force the party to stick with the plot (or even better - not force them into a single party, allow them to split, and by "coincidence" bring them back together). Time constraints lead me to only be able to read a little bit of the book ahead of playing, which made me much more hesitant to add these kinds of things, due to the very real possibility that I ruin what the book had in store.
Not to mention that when players irritated me I could throw in a random encounter with something, and alter the plot to accomodate it. I try not to railroad players, but this seems to only work for me with a group that works together to a degree, or with a plot I write myself.
On the other hand, I'm a fairly terrible plot writer, as anyone who played in my shambles of a first RP on that forum can attest to!
Lesson #3: Make Everyone Feel Part of the Game
Due to issues mentioned in the previous point, I believe that some players felt a bit left out of the game. Again, the source material is part of the problem here (a fairly specific set of knowledge checks were needed, and while we had the skills required in the party, since they were so specific, others were kind of left out). Add to this that I didn't really add any material to give these players interesting and useful things to do, and they kind of just stood around a lot.
This was compounded by a large percentage of the group creating "Lone Wolf" characters, which rarely work in a group RP game, since they simply want to do everything themselves, and segregate themselves. I have seen this happen in other RPs, and the players in question wondered why their character was being ignored and left out!
All in all, I think it will be quite a while before I try to run another RP on a forum anywhere (if I indeed ever try it again) since it seems to me that my GM skills aren't up to scratch. Players lost interest quickly, and frankly, so did I.
Lesson #1: Pathfinder on a Forum is a Terrible Idea
This was the first mistake. Pathfinder (or any other RP system that relies heavily on the use of maps) is way too complex for a forum based RPG. When playing in person with a physical map set it is trivial to move pieces, I found myself dreading the inevitable combat sequences in the game (which are, to me, some of the most fun I can have as a GM when I'm on a mean streak since there is a chance for me to kill off PCs in hilarious manner) due to the drudgery of opening my iPhone app for mapping, moving the pieces, doing all the die rolls, uploading a screenshot of the map, writing a description of said map for the people who can't read the pieces (and to make up for the shortcomings of the app - mainly a lack of required art assets), as well as writing the actual mod itself - a lot of work for 6 seconds of game world time!
Add to this the fact that the game is heavily based on number crunching, as well as player cooperation and discussion and you get a game that is a pain in the arse to run well on a forum. I found that the players, outside of a select few, rarely cooperated. The party didn't really form as a party, causing massive plotholes to form, which leads me to...
Lesson #2: On a Forum RP, Write Your Own Damn Plot!
I was using a pre-written module for the story. This worked perfectly well in my long-running face-to-face PF campaign, which hasn't yet ended (and really needs a session to get us going again). This worked in the online one for approximately 12 seconds, when the players immediately made moves that were breaking anything the future plot had in store for them.
For example, the party reached the inn, where the real adventure was to begin, by having a mercenary character claim that the dagger they had found during a combat sequence immediately before arriving at the inn actually belonged to him. This was to trigger a pub brawl which escalates to encompass all of the people in the pub, and destroy some valuable property, thereby giving the Sheriff (who was in the pub at the time) a reason to confiscate the blade, and to send them on a quest to pay off their debt.
This didn't go quite according to plan, since the party immediately split up upon entering the bar, and the character with the dagger tried to leave the pub. This forced the Sheriff to only see a few characters as being involved in the argument over the dagger, immediately splitting the party into those who were in trouble with the Sheriff (and therefore on track for the story), and everyone else. Considering that the majority of the game hinged on this, this was quite a problem!
If I had written the story myself, I would have been better equipped to add extra characters, items and events to force the party to stick with the plot (or even better - not force them into a single party, allow them to split, and by "coincidence" bring them back together). Time constraints lead me to only be able to read a little bit of the book ahead of playing, which made me much more hesitant to add these kinds of things, due to the very real possibility that I ruin what the book had in store.
Not to mention that when players irritated me I could throw in a random encounter with something, and alter the plot to accomodate it. I try not to railroad players, but this seems to only work for me with a group that works together to a degree, or with a plot I write myself.
On the other hand, I'm a fairly terrible plot writer, as anyone who played in my shambles of a first RP on that forum can attest to!
Lesson #3: Make Everyone Feel Part of the Game
Due to issues mentioned in the previous point, I believe that some players felt a bit left out of the game. Again, the source material is part of the problem here (a fairly specific set of knowledge checks were needed, and while we had the skills required in the party, since they were so specific, others were kind of left out). Add to this that I didn't really add any material to give these players interesting and useful things to do, and they kind of just stood around a lot.
This was compounded by a large percentage of the group creating "Lone Wolf" characters, which rarely work in a group RP game, since they simply want to do everything themselves, and segregate themselves. I have seen this happen in other RPs, and the players in question wondered why their character was being ignored and left out!
All in all, I think it will be quite a while before I try to run another RP on a forum anywhere (if I indeed ever try it again) since it seems to me that my GM skills aren't up to scratch. Players lost interest quickly, and frankly, so did I.
Monday, July 11, 2011
F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin
 |
| Shooting bullets at things |
The sequel to First Encounter Assault Recon seems like it is quite an old game to be released, and that I'm behind on the times. However, I feel that now is the perfect time to review it, due to the imminent release of F.E.A.R 3, and the fact that until now I hadn't played it. Those who read my reviews of the expansions to the original F.E.A.R game know that my opinion of those is particularly low – and I needed quite a long break after playing those train wrecks to be able to bring myself to play F.E.A.R 2!
What I Liked
- More than 2 weapons at once!
This absolutely shocked me – this would be the first modern shooter I have played in quite a long time that aims for realism (to a degree) and yet allows a player to hold more than two weapons at once! Admittedly, it is still restricted (4 guns, 4 types of grenade), but it allows much more choice than, for example, Call of Duty, or Duke Nukem Forever (the latter being very disappointing in this regard, due to its roots).
In addition to this, a fair few of the guns are quite satisfying to use. My jaw dropped when I got hold of the Napalm Launcher. While its not particularly powerful, I always enjoy being able to set things on fire in a game – and a fire launching gun is something I never see often enough in shooters! The sniper rifle would immediately gib an enemy soldier if you get a good shot on them. In fact, the only disappointing weapon was the Hammerhead – the successor to the first game's “Penetrator”. It is essentially a nailgun, and is quite powerful. However it doesn't feel as powerful as it should be.
The plasma weapon you get late in the game is particularly awesome.
 |
| Alma just loves to ruin your day |
- Plot
The plot for this game is utterly insane. To be honest, I found it quite difficult to follow, but it was entertaining nonetheless. It began to fall into place by the end, and made a semblance of sense by the end, leading up to one of the strangest game endings I have ever seen. I won't spoil it for anyone (obviously), except to say that it leaves a sequel a foregone conclusion (and really... the sequel's out at time of writing, so meh). It's also kind of disturbing, but that's the aim of the game really.
- Mechs
The first game had a bunch of mech-like power armours to battle against. These battles were frustrating, and forced the player to rely on explosives due to their increased damage (they could be taken down purely with bullets, but it would take a lot of them). Of course, you destroy them all and continue on your merry way.
Why do I mention this? Well in F.E.A.R 2, you have two sequences where you are lucky enough to pilot these. These sections are fairly easy in comparison to the on-foot sequences, but I found it quite fun to run around blasting these guys in a mech. Variety is always a blessing in an FPS, and these sections were much needed short bursts of destruction.
What I Hated
- The Fear is a Lie
For a game titled FEAR, there was a surprising lack of it. This may be the jaded gamer in me talking, but I found that the game didn't creep me out in the slightest until quite late. The sections that did creep me out were creepy due to random ghosts attacking (and dealing damage) out of nowhere than to the actual game. They get a lot of atmospheric things right – there a lots of corridors of corpses and blood, and the occasional dive into the mind of the psychic (and psycho) girl who is chasing you. However, it occasionally feels like they're just going through the motions.
I find it quite difficult to describe why it didn't scare me – since such a thing is quite subjective. I have spoken to other people about this game, and some have been scared, and others were very not scared. I was scared the first time I played the original game, but since then it seems to have become simply run and gun to me.
Admittedly, a FPS where you are allowed weapons (some of these weapons being extremely powerful – not to mention the aforementioned mech piloting segments) makes a horror game feel much less horror oriented, since you are able to fight back against the bad guys. The game attempts to wrench this from you when you have the sequences where Alma exerts her influence over you, but before long you realise that these are all scripted, and you will be returned full control of yourself before long.
If you want a game that will scare the pants off you, this is not it. Play Amnesia: Dark Descent instead.
- Mostly Generic Enemies
This is a complaint I had with the first game – with the exception of the ninjas and the mechs, every fightable enemy is a generic soldier. Some have small arms, some have bigger guns, some have sniper rifles, some are wearing helmets, and some are not. This is about as much as the enemies vary.
In addition to this, there is only one type of ninja (fair enough), and one fightable monster/mutant type. It begins to feel very samey after a while, after you have gunned down generic replica soldier #8445674. Admittedly, the replica soldiers are supposed to be replicas of each other – that's part of the plot. However they are not the only enemies you have in the game, and the sameness of the other enemies seems unjustified, and simply not fun, to me.
- Certain Environments are Boring
A lot of the early game environments are much like they were in the first game – empty warehouses, underground laboratories, and deserted hospitals. These places are all well and good, but they feel too over-utilsed in horror games nowadays (particularly since Silent Hill made hospitals scarier than they have ever been before). Compound this with the fairly bland enemies, and the early game feels like a chore. It wasn't until about halfway through the game (where I reached the streets of the city) that I began to really enjoy the game at all. Unfortunately, first impressions matter – people will stop playing if they get bored unless they're pedantic and want to finish the game.
- Conflicting Goals
This is partially covered above, but the game doesn't seem to be able to decide whether it wants to be a balls to the wall shooter, a realistic simulation, or a horror game. As a result, it has a tendency to flip between the three. Whilst not necessarily a bad thing, some of the transitions feel kind of clumsy.
The AI is fairy strong on some points, forcing you to think tactically (to a degree) about what you're doing. When to reload, when to hide, when to shoot. However, this is blown by giving you an activate-at-will slow-mo ability which gives you a limited amount of time where you can essentially charge at the enemies without regard to sense.
You are repeatedly shown scenes of random soldiers being dragged away by an invisible force, and ripped apart in an attempt to scare you (or at least creep you out). Moments later, this tension is broken with an all out gunfight, or a terribly placed line of dialogue. An actual line from the game: “You're like free pizza at an anime convention. She smells you, and she will consume you.”
Uh... what?
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| The protagonist of F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin |
- Retarded Default Controls
This is a minor gripe, but the default controls reek of console port. Right click is the melee button by default, while I cannot remember the initial setting for scoped sighting (which you will want to use a lot, since, you know, aiming when shooting is a good thing). The middle mouse click opens a very consoleriffic gun selection "quick menu", which felt very wrong to use early on, and didn't get much easier as the game continued. I found myself simply ducking behind a corner and scrolling to find the gun I wanted!
All in all, F.E.A.R 2 is a huge improvement over the first game, particularly the terrible expansions it had. While completely disregarding those expansions plotwise makes me all the more bitter about suffering through them, it was for the best. However, don't come to this party expecting to be sent home crying to your Mummy.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Damn it, Steam!
For those who even remotely know or care about gaming, you would know that Steam is currently having their Summer Sale (lol, America) - and as a result selling games ridiculously cheap. This is both a boon and a curse.
For starters, it is obviously a good thing due to cheap games! Never complain about cheap games (unless they're terrible, anyway)! I've managed to buy a fair few games off Steam in the last few days, and likely will continue to for the next few days until the sale is over. Magicka with all the DLC for $8! Monkey Island remakes for $8 (both together in a pack!) Dwarfs?! for $5! (don't buy it, its a trap) I believe The Witcher 2 was up for $50 at one stage... not bad for a brand new game.
Don't ask me to recall my purchase list - I've forgotten big chunks of it because there are so many. I recall picking up Frozen Synapse though (and it comes with two copies... anyone want a copy?).
And this is where part of the curse lies. I already had a ridiculous backlog of games I'd never finished. What better way to make this pile larger than for Steam to have a sale!
On the other hand, Steam has also put up a competition where each day there are specific achievements for specific games. Each achievement earnt gives you a ticket in the major draw - the prize being the top ten games o your wishlist. Once I saw this, I started working on the achievements they specified (at least, the ones I could do for the games I already owned), and have so far earnt 16 tickets. As an added bonus these tickets can be redeemed for extra free DLC for certain games (and they don't destroy your entries into the draw).
While I'm not typically an "achievement whore", if they are usable for something tangible then I'm all over it. I've averaged 3-4 tickets a day so far, though this will likely drop over the weekend when I stay at Spritza's place. Well, that's assuming I get over this cold (I'm still sick, to a degree >_<).
It's also quite nice having Steam tell me what to play - even if it is for a short period of time. It's reminding me that I have some great games that I've been neglecting (and not necessarily long ones either). For example, last night, I was working on achievements for Trine, Zombie Driver and Serious Sam HD. I had already finished Serious Sam, but I had completely forgotten how good the other two games were (particularly Trine)!
On the other hand...
For starters, it is obviously a good thing due to cheap games! Never complain about cheap games (unless they're terrible, anyway)! I've managed to buy a fair few games off Steam in the last few days, and likely will continue to for the next few days until the sale is over. Magicka with all the DLC for $8! Monkey Island remakes for $8 (both together in a pack!) Dwarfs?! for $5! (don't buy it, its a trap) I believe The Witcher 2 was up for $50 at one stage... not bad for a brand new game.
Don't ask me to recall my purchase list - I've forgotten big chunks of it because there are so many. I recall picking up Frozen Synapse though (and it comes with two copies... anyone want a copy?).
And this is where part of the curse lies. I already had a ridiculous backlog of games I'd never finished. What better way to make this pile larger than for Steam to have a sale!
On the other hand, Steam has also put up a competition where each day there are specific achievements for specific games. Each achievement earnt gives you a ticket in the major draw - the prize being the top ten games o your wishlist. Once I saw this, I started working on the achievements they specified (at least, the ones I could do for the games I already owned), and have so far earnt 16 tickets. As an added bonus these tickets can be redeemed for extra free DLC for certain games (and they don't destroy your entries into the draw).
While I'm not typically an "achievement whore", if they are usable for something tangible then I'm all over it. I've averaged 3-4 tickets a day so far, though this will likely drop over the weekend when I stay at Spritza's place. Well, that's assuming I get over this cold (I'm still sick, to a degree >_<).
It's also quite nice having Steam tell me what to play - even if it is for a short period of time. It's reminding me that I have some great games that I've been neglecting (and not necessarily long ones either). For example, last night, I was working on achievements for Trine, Zombie Driver and Serious Sam HD. I had already finished Serious Sam, but I had completely forgotten how good the other two games were (particularly Trine)!
On the other hand...
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| Creddit where its due: MrGestore of Reddit |
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Absence: Obligatory Excuses Post
You may have noticed that, for a week or so, I had completely disappeared off the map, universe, and this blog. Now that I have returned, its excuse time. So, what was it that caused me to not post for over a week?
A terrible chest infection that kept me out of the office, out of Japanese class, and in bed for the last week and a half. Well, in the strictest sense I wasn't in bed that whole time, but around half of that. Whatever.
As a result, I didn't post, and I apologise for that. On the other hand, I also didn't really do anything interesting during that time either, other than fork out copious amounts of cash for (legal, prescription) drugs and seeing multiple doctors (the first one was an emergency doc I saw due to my one not working on SUndays. He looked at me for about 12 seconds before prescribing me something random which didn't work in the slightest).
On the other hand, I did spend a few of my brief conscious and mentally competent periods playing around with some random tech on my PC, setting configurations and all. It all seems to be working, and as a result I will likely experiment with it for my next game review - instead of text and pictures, it will be video and voiceover.
As for what game it is, I will let you, dear readers, guess until the video arrives on the intertubes, to grace your screens and likely annoy the crap out of you.
On another note, I took a brief look at Google Plus last week. To be honest, it didn't really hold my attention. It seems fairly clean, but its just another Facebook. I'll be more likely to mess with it once I have more than 2 people I know on it, I suppose. As for completely moving across to it... not likely anytime soon. Again, a lack of people is a major issue. Add to that that I haven't seen it do much different to Facebook (with the notable exception of seemingly properly implemented share restriction).
*shrug*
A terrible chest infection that kept me out of the office, out of Japanese class, and in bed for the last week and a half. Well, in the strictest sense I wasn't in bed that whole time, but around half of that. Whatever.
As a result, I didn't post, and I apologise for that. On the other hand, I also didn't really do anything interesting during that time either, other than fork out copious amounts of cash for (legal, prescription) drugs and seeing multiple doctors (the first one was an emergency doc I saw due to my one not working on SUndays. He looked at me for about 12 seconds before prescribing me something random which didn't work in the slightest).
On the other hand, I did spend a few of my brief conscious and mentally competent periods playing around with some random tech on my PC, setting configurations and all. It all seems to be working, and as a result I will likely experiment with it for my next game review - instead of text and pictures, it will be video and voiceover.
As for what game it is, I will let you, dear readers, guess until the video arrives on the intertubes, to grace your screens and likely annoy the crap out of you.
On another note, I took a brief look at Google Plus last week. To be honest, it didn't really hold my attention. It seems fairly clean, but its just another Facebook. I'll be more likely to mess with it once I have more than 2 people I know on it, I suppose. As for completely moving across to it... not likely anytime soon. Again, a lack of people is a major issue. Add to that that I haven't seen it do much different to Facebook (with the notable exception of seemingly properly implemented share restriction).
*shrug*
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