As an outlet to resolve some pretty shitty things happening in my life, I'm going to write out a review to Brink. It's a Multiplayer focussed FPS by Splash damage who previously created Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Quake Wars.
I jumped on the hype train mainly because of the art style and the small tight battles it promised. Like a new Team Fortress 2. I managed to get a preorder on the cheap too, so it seemed like the perfect storm. Then the reviews rolled in, with 6s and 7s out of 10s. People told me they were wrong, there were patches coming out, the problems would be gone before it hit shelves.
Well, I've been playing for the past couple of days and I really want to like it. But there are things just getting in the way. It's laggy for no good reason. 150+ pings when I get 60+ pings in Battlefield Bad Company 2. BC2 has twice as many players, bigger maps with much more happening in them, why the high pings Brink?
The gunplay is off. Construced Machine Gun nests are weaker than pistols and there are other balance issues that constantly irk me. It caters to the arcadey over the top style of
The parkour elements are great. The character design and environments are great.
The level of customization is great. The ease of unlocking is good, but there was a real chance to add a heap of depth to unlocking items. I think Brink needs a heap of work in balancing and getting the gunplay right. It seems a bit half-baked.
Get only if on special.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
New Season, New Drama, New Opportunity
So I've been trying to get the Internationals at work onto the local game, this was a post I sprayed around the place
_______________
I write this with some trepidation, being an Australian recently introduced to some of the intricacies of American football. I'm a member of the Australian Army and I've worked in a number of Allied agencies in the past couple of years. At the moment I'm posted to Canberra, SE Australia and a few friends of mine are in Afghanistan. There is some great cultural exchange going on in these spots between allied nations, especially in regards to sports. My boss at the moment returned from the Ghan with some NY Giants gear that he traded for some Rugby League (Broncos) kit he had from home. Good stuff.
We have a few US and Canadian integrees just get posted in, about 3 months ago one of them sat me down and watched through a game of NFL with me as payback for sitting him down through a 5-day [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OYVk4ryR5M"]Cricket[/URL] test match at work. :lol:
So, in the months since then, with a solid foundation of understanding, I've become conversant in the rules, terms and general 'culture' of American football. Where shotgun and play action meant diddly squat to me before, I now at least have a clue what is going on and no longer ask dumb questions like "Why not run it on the 4th?". Sure I've got a heap more to learn, but the bridge is being crossed and I'm happy to feed off anything anyone wants to throw my way.
The missus is heading to Canada for an exchange position at University this year (Brock University if anyone cares) and I'll be heading over as well for a few weeks. I'm especially keen to go see a Bills game (even though any Yank I talk to routinely laughs at me at their mention) and get immersed into the NFL culture as much as possible.
I know how interminable offseason can be for any sport anywhere, so I'm here to be a total whore for my culture, like I have been to my American mates at work, in order to help make offseason pass that little bit quicker. Now is the perfect chance to be immersed in the sporting culture of Australia, a pretty intense and rich one that goes all year. The cricket season has ended in Australia (with the World Cup in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka being played as we speak) and is shifting into the biggest part of the sporting year, Football Season. No I don't mean soccer and no I don't mean Rugby (League or Union). I mean [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football"]Australian Rules Football.[/URL]
I know it's [URL="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AustralianRulesFootball"]probably an oddity[/URL] to the great number of people who have seen it casually, as NFL was to me when I'd wake up Saturday morning, hungover as fuck and sick of the game stopping every 4 seconds for another play to line up, but it's worth watching, like I've learnt the NFL is.
So why should you watch Australian Rules during the offseason? Well, it's a high tempo, [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PotXGpd_owg"]free flowing[/URL] game. No offsides, no scrimmage and minimal stoppages. It's pretty [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iFXaRh_4fM"]full on[/URL] with no padding, full body contact and the guys [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUcnjGKOw80"]run all day[/URL], around 10-20 miles a game. It's full of [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyOD3XJny6w"]big kicks[/URL] and [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF-_HszEC9s"]big catches[/URL] (called marks) and is pretty [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVRZGdzxBsw"]exciting[/URL] to watch. I guess all you need to know is [URL="http://www.usafl.com/intro"]what the shit[/URL] is going on?
So sorry for the long rant and for being a bit off-track but I'm happy to answer any questions, or be kicked out and return only to ask NFL noob questions. Cheers.
_______________
I write this with some trepidation, being an Australian recently introduced to some of the intricacies of American football. I'm a member of the Australian Army and I've worked in a number of Allied agencies in the past couple of years. At the moment I'm posted to Canberra, SE Australia and a few friends of mine are in Afghanistan. There is some great cultural exchange going on in these spots between allied nations, especially in regards to sports. My boss at the moment returned from the Ghan with some NY Giants gear that he traded for some Rugby League (Broncos) kit he had from home. Good stuff.
We have a few US and Canadian integrees just get posted in, about 3 months ago one of them sat me down and watched through a game of NFL with me as payback for sitting him down through a 5-day [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OYVk4ryR5M"]Cricket[/URL] test match at work. :lol:
So, in the months since then, with a solid foundation of understanding, I've become conversant in the rules, terms and general 'culture' of American football. Where shotgun and play action meant diddly squat to me before, I now at least have a clue what is going on and no longer ask dumb questions like "Why not run it on the 4th?". Sure I've got a heap more to learn, but the bridge is being crossed and I'm happy to feed off anything anyone wants to throw my way.
The missus is heading to Canada for an exchange position at University this year (Brock University if anyone cares) and I'll be heading over as well for a few weeks. I'm especially keen to go see a Bills game (even though any Yank I talk to routinely laughs at me at their mention) and get immersed into the NFL culture as much as possible.
I know how interminable offseason can be for any sport anywhere, so I'm here to be a total whore for my culture, like I have been to my American mates at work, in order to help make offseason pass that little bit quicker. Now is the perfect chance to be immersed in the sporting culture of Australia, a pretty intense and rich one that goes all year. The cricket season has ended in Australia (with the World Cup in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka being played as we speak) and is shifting into the biggest part of the sporting year, Football Season. No I don't mean soccer and no I don't mean Rugby (League or Union). I mean [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football"]Australian Rules Football.[/URL]
I know it's [URL="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AustralianRulesFootball"]probably an oddity[/URL] to the great number of people who have seen it casually, as NFL was to me when I'd wake up Saturday morning, hungover as fuck and sick of the game stopping every 4 seconds for another play to line up, but it's worth watching, like I've learnt the NFL is.
So why should you watch Australian Rules during the offseason? Well, it's a high tempo, [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PotXGpd_owg"]free flowing[/URL] game. No offsides, no scrimmage and minimal stoppages. It's pretty [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iFXaRh_4fM"]full on[/URL] with no padding, full body contact and the guys [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUcnjGKOw80"]run all day[/URL], around 10-20 miles a game. It's full of [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyOD3XJny6w"]big kicks[/URL] and [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF-_HszEC9s"]big catches[/URL] (called marks) and is pretty [URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVRZGdzxBsw"]exciting[/URL] to watch. I guess all you need to know is [URL="http://www.usafl.com/intro"]what the shit[/URL] is going on?
So sorry for the long rant and for being a bit off-track but I'm happy to answer any questions, or be kicked out and return only to ask NFL noob questions. Cheers.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Gaming Review - 2010
It took me a while just to frame the last year into some kind of digestible sense that I could then crap on about for as long as I can endure. This is like shucking the part of my brain that isn't involved with communication, just sheer absorption, onto a page and moving it about a bit, hoping that eventually the smears form some kind of legible missive. I had help from the Penny Arcade community to actually remember what games came out this year and they also helped remind me just how awesome 2010 was for gaming. Now I hope nostalgia isn't so recent as to have warped my memory already, but I'm pretty happy with my list.
So in reverse order, ending with my most enjoyable, favourite game of the year...
13. Limbo
A simple premise executed really well and absolutely smothered in atmosphere. Challenging to play but never infuriating, nice length and did I mention that the atmosphere was great?
12. Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
Only grabbed this recently with Steam offering it at a pittance and boy am I glad I did. Classic JRPG dungeoneering mixed with a awesomely original item shop mechanic. Irreverent and self deprecating with a scarcastic eye on RPGs in general, I really enjoyed firing this up for a quick bit of trading and monster smashing.
11. Just Cause 2
This is how open world games should be. Stupidly huge, stupidly detailed and not self serious. Lots of fun doing anything from driving into a town, chaining up a petrol station and blowing everything to heck from hijacking a jet and flying it into airport.
10. Metro 2033
Atmosphere plus, awesome visuals, great design and some terrifying moments. Really creative and immersive, being topside and running out of air filters while some thing chases you is a sure fire way of ensuring your pants can retain fluids.
9. Minecraft
Does anything need to be said? Absolute open and free game, get lost for a few hours under the Earth make anything you want and it's only a goddamned Beta. Really keen to see what 2011 brings for Notch and his crew.
8. Darksiders
Zelda-esque romp with other influences thrown in melted together and fused in way that really works. Never feels really clunky, always looks and sounds awesome, a radical setting and story.
7. Bayonetta
Totally over the top, totally slick and never dull action with some of the best bosses seen since cartridge days. Everything just oozes style and almost ADD levels of character.
6. Dead Rising 2
Probably not as technically proficient as some of the other games in this list but goddamned it, this is fun to the max, taking all sorts of wacky things, taping them together and then painting the walls with zombie bits never gets old and if you think it does, then I won't see you at the end of the apocalypse.
5. Starcraft 2
Yes I bought the hype. How could I not? Being an old man has afforded me some kind of perspective and this game was worthy of the hype. Probably the most enjoyable single player campaign in an RTS has largely been looked over for the multiplayer but I'm not huge into that otherwise I dare say it'd be number one.
4. Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout 3 was enjoyable, but it was an obvious Bethesda game. Really pretty but kind of hollow. I like Obsidian, really I do, but god damned if they don't make it hard for you to like them. New Vegas was instantly engaging and always interesting. It didn't draw out storylines more than it had to, the characters were worth talking to, I had real trouble making decisions because they were not good/evil arrangements but much more philosophical in nature. The mechanics and gunplay were still great to play with with plenty of options.
3. Red Dead Redemption
I waxed lyrical on these very pages about the nature of the Red Dead Experience. Experiencing John Marsten's story is definitely one of the highlights of the year for me. The world was enjoyable to explore and looked stunning, the praise this game has received is well deserved.
2. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
The single player portion of this game is serviceable. It cannot compare to the blockbuster titles in this department. But in multiplayer it blows away all comers who are approaching similarity in nature. Sure it doesn't have the customisation that other recent titles can boast, but that in itself isn't a core mechanic, more of a vortex within the core that spits out odd perturbations at request. The very fabric of Bad Company 2 is a thing to behold. Collapsing buildings, vehicles spitting death, medics multiplying like roaches. The engine and the gameplay are fused into a waltz of a stupefying level. This has surpassed Team Fortress 2 as my multiplayer game of choice and Team Fortress 2 is easily on my top 10 games of all time.
1. Mass Effect 2
Could it truly be any other? A story more engaging than most other mediums could cough up, characters more memorable than anything else this year, gameplay that is electrifying and never feels repetitive. Mass Effect is a true achievement in gaming and in media in general. The followup of a heap of DLC was also staggering in it's quality and made an already engaging world just that bit moreso.
If Mass Effect 3 is half as good as this, it'll still be better than anything else released.
As an aside games that I hadn't played in 2010 but will rectify to do so as soon as able;
Vanquish
STALKER: Call of Pripyat
And disappointment of the year? Civilization 5. The more I think about it, the sadder I get.
So here's to an awesome year of gaming and here's to another. Bring on 2011!
So in reverse order, ending with my most enjoyable, favourite game of the year...
13. Limbo
A simple premise executed really well and absolutely smothered in atmosphere. Challenging to play but never infuriating, nice length and did I mention that the atmosphere was great?
12. Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
Only grabbed this recently with Steam offering it at a pittance and boy am I glad I did. Classic JRPG dungeoneering mixed with a awesomely original item shop mechanic. Irreverent and self deprecating with a scarcastic eye on RPGs in general, I really enjoyed firing this up for a quick bit of trading and monster smashing.
11. Just Cause 2
This is how open world games should be. Stupidly huge, stupidly detailed and not self serious. Lots of fun doing anything from driving into a town, chaining up a petrol station and blowing everything to heck from hijacking a jet and flying it into airport.
10. Metro 2033
Atmosphere plus, awesome visuals, great design and some terrifying moments. Really creative and immersive, being topside and running out of air filters while some thing chases you is a sure fire way of ensuring your pants can retain fluids.
9. Minecraft
Does anything need to be said? Absolute open and free game, get lost for a few hours under the Earth make anything you want and it's only a goddamned Beta. Really keen to see what 2011 brings for Notch and his crew.
8. Darksiders
Zelda-esque romp with other influences thrown in melted together and fused in way that really works. Never feels really clunky, always looks and sounds awesome, a radical setting and story.
7. Bayonetta
Totally over the top, totally slick and never dull action with some of the best bosses seen since cartridge days. Everything just oozes style and almost ADD levels of character.
6. Dead Rising 2
Probably not as technically proficient as some of the other games in this list but goddamned it, this is fun to the max, taking all sorts of wacky things, taping them together and then painting the walls with zombie bits never gets old and if you think it does, then I won't see you at the end of the apocalypse.
5. Starcraft 2
Yes I bought the hype. How could I not? Being an old man has afforded me some kind of perspective and this game was worthy of the hype. Probably the most enjoyable single player campaign in an RTS has largely been looked over for the multiplayer but I'm not huge into that otherwise I dare say it'd be number one.
4. Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout 3 was enjoyable, but it was an obvious Bethesda game. Really pretty but kind of hollow. I like Obsidian, really I do, but god damned if they don't make it hard for you to like them. New Vegas was instantly engaging and always interesting. It didn't draw out storylines more than it had to, the characters were worth talking to, I had real trouble making decisions because they were not good/evil arrangements but much more philosophical in nature. The mechanics and gunplay were still great to play with with plenty of options.
3. Red Dead Redemption
I waxed lyrical on these very pages about the nature of the Red Dead Experience. Experiencing John Marsten's story is definitely one of the highlights of the year for me. The world was enjoyable to explore and looked stunning, the praise this game has received is well deserved.
2. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
The single player portion of this game is serviceable. It cannot compare to the blockbuster titles in this department. But in multiplayer it blows away all comers who are approaching similarity in nature. Sure it doesn't have the customisation that other recent titles can boast, but that in itself isn't a core mechanic, more of a vortex within the core that spits out odd perturbations at request. The very fabric of Bad Company 2 is a thing to behold. Collapsing buildings, vehicles spitting death, medics multiplying like roaches. The engine and the gameplay are fused into a waltz of a stupefying level. This has surpassed Team Fortress 2 as my multiplayer game of choice and Team Fortress 2 is easily on my top 10 games of all time.
1. Mass Effect 2
Could it truly be any other? A story more engaging than most other mediums could cough up, characters more memorable than anything else this year, gameplay that is electrifying and never feels repetitive. Mass Effect is a true achievement in gaming and in media in general. The followup of a heap of DLC was also staggering in it's quality and made an already engaging world just that bit moreso.
If Mass Effect 3 is half as good as this, it'll still be better than anything else released.
As an aside games that I hadn't played in 2010 but will rectify to do so as soon as able;
Vanquish
STALKER: Call of Pripyat
And disappointment of the year? Civilization 5. The more I think about it, the sadder I get.
So here's to an awesome year of gaming and here's to another. Bring on 2011!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Ur-revisionism
End of 2010 eh? What a year. A fair bit happened but then it's blurred like so much of the past has. I'll focus on what I liked about this year and what I didn;t.
Music of 2010
I spent a fair bit of the year finding out about music from previous years that I should've known about earlier. I picked up probably fewer recent releases but still managed to stumble across a couple of gooduns'. Namely;
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Such a solid album all over, awesome pacing, awesome flow. Was totally taken by surprise with this. Really keen to see them next year live (if I can) because these songs have the potential to go explosive live.
My Disco - Little Joy
Being from Melbourne I'd heard the trendster undervibe about this band a fair few years ago. I really got into Language of Numbers which was an angular art-rock piece. It was really interesting, but the band seemed so withdrawn (probably not a fair assessment) almost that it was hard to access anything else they had done.
Stumbling through my local JB uncovered this new work. "Holy shit is this a new album by the My Disco?!" I had heard nothing about it but was shocked enough to buy it on the spot.
While it is different from previous releases in being more minimalistic and pared back than anything I've heard by them before, it's still markedly them and a real joy to listen to.
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
I get a lot of crap from my 'hard as nails' mates who don't listen to anything without a chug or a wail about liking this band. this album repaid my faith and mental scarring tenfold. What a ripper. Going along the same path but spreading out the range and pace so that as an album, it might not be as tight but the subsequent exploration is definitely worth sitting through.
Other albums worth noting but which I will not espouse upon greatly;
Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
Miles Away - Endless Roads
Coheed & Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow
I Exist - I: A Turn for the Worse
The Sword - Warp Riders
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Fuck, I'm sure I listened to more music, but trying to place it within the space-time restraint of a year is pretty hard when you've had half a case in a morning. So I'll have to append this with epiphanies of awesome music if need be.
And onto the albums that made my need to listen to list;
There's a few albums from 2010 that I've ordered, got on my to order list, or just been plain neglectful of.
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
The National - High Violet
Drake - Thank Me Later
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
Kvelertak - Kvelertak
Film
Not really talking about to be honest. I have drastically reduced the number of times I've been to the cinema. I guess i'm losing interest? I will say that I loved Inception. I guess some might say I'm just some impressionistic wannabe brainheaded whatever but fuck me if I didn't find it interesting, DiCaprio's performance awesome and the effects worthy of the budget. Felt like it's fundamental's were more interesting than anything barfed up that I saw this year.
I'll add gaming in at another time because really, I'm inebriated as hell and this is most definitely the one that requires the most thought for me to express upon clearly.
Music of 2010
I spent a fair bit of the year finding out about music from previous years that I should've known about earlier. I picked up probably fewer recent releases but still managed to stumble across a couple of gooduns'. Namely;
Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Such a solid album all over, awesome pacing, awesome flow. Was totally taken by surprise with this. Really keen to see them next year live (if I can) because these songs have the potential to go explosive live.
My Disco - Little Joy
Being from Melbourne I'd heard the trendster undervibe about this band a fair few years ago. I really got into Language of Numbers which was an angular art-rock piece. It was really interesting, but the band seemed so withdrawn (probably not a fair assessment) almost that it was hard to access anything else they had done.
Stumbling through my local JB uncovered this new work. "Holy shit is this a new album by the My Disco?!" I had heard nothing about it but was shocked enough to buy it on the spot.
While it is different from previous releases in being more minimalistic and pared back than anything I've heard by them before, it's still markedly them and a real joy to listen to.
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
I get a lot of crap from my 'hard as nails' mates who don't listen to anything without a chug or a wail about liking this band. this album repaid my faith and mental scarring tenfold. What a ripper. Going along the same path but spreading out the range and pace so that as an album, it might not be as tight but the subsequent exploration is definitely worth sitting through.
Other albums worth noting but which I will not espouse upon greatly;
Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
Miles Away - Endless Roads
Coheed & Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow
I Exist - I: A Turn for the Worse
The Sword - Warp Riders
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Fuck, I'm sure I listened to more music, but trying to place it within the space-time restraint of a year is pretty hard when you've had half a case in a morning. So I'll have to append this with epiphanies of awesome music if need be.
And onto the albums that made my need to listen to list;
There's a few albums from 2010 that I've ordered, got on my to order list, or just been plain neglectful of.
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
The National - High Violet
Drake - Thank Me Later
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
Kvelertak - Kvelertak
Film
Not really talking about to be honest. I have drastically reduced the number of times I've been to the cinema. I guess i'm losing interest? I will say that I loved Inception. I guess some might say I'm just some impressionistic wannabe brainheaded whatever but fuck me if I didn't find it interesting, DiCaprio's performance awesome and the effects worthy of the budget. Felt like it's fundamental's were more interesting than anything barfed up that I saw this year.
I'll add gaming in at another time because really, I'm inebriated as hell and this is most definitely the one that requires the most thought for me to express upon clearly.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Pre Christmas Blues and 'Goaties'
It has been a fair while since I bothered adding to this thing. I've not been particularly busy, just not of a mind to write anything.
I jumped on the WoW bandwagon, I don't think it'll last, still no story, even the launch of Cataclysm has a greater reverberation in the internets than anything I truly perceive as worth a squeak or squeal at all. But maybe I haven't been one to see the changes within WoW, the shaping it has endured directly from external sources. It has taken elements from other MMOs to increase it's success but this isn't something to maligned or derided, it simply is. It's almost like watching the evolution of a creature that mimics it's predators to then predate upon them in a more efficient method of it's own hunting style. Or something...
But in doing so I feel that it has become pretty good at most things but not great a any. Well maybe apart from Dungeons, which are a blast. But I hate it's PvP. This is enough to know in and of itself, it's not something that they could tweak to get me on board, it is simply flawed in it's concept not to mention it's execution.
Along with WoW, I've been playing a bit (read 100+ hours) of Bad Company 2. After going through the start of the year with this gem (which anointed my new computer as a gaming beast) I tried my hand at other vices. Starcraft, Medal of Honor and so on. But I've come back because I realise that it is truly worth time invested, as long as you aren't on a crappy Public server with no clue on what the Q button does. (Here's a tip; IT SPOTS ENEMIES!)
The Christmas sales are on and inevitably my Pile of Shame will increase. I've already added Metro2033 to it thanks to Steam and also GTA4 + Liberty City Stories for very cheap thanks to an EB Pre Christmas sale.
But there is nothing upcoming in the next month that I'm really hanging for so hopefully these coming weeks will be a chance to go over the stuff that eluded my sight during the year.
Talking about the year I'm going to talk about the games that I felt were best this year. I'm not going to numerate them, trying to cheapen one, or laud one especially. Each of these games were great, great enough to play repeatedly and get them right now, for bullion if needed. And that is all you need to know.
Mass Effect 2
Red Dead Redemption
Limbo
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
These are the games that I felt I had the most fun with, found the most interesting and did the most for gaming in general (what a crap nebulous statement).
Anyhoo, back to Laguna Presa!
I jumped on the WoW bandwagon, I don't think it'll last, still no story, even the launch of Cataclysm has a greater reverberation in the internets than anything I truly perceive as worth a squeak or squeal at all. But maybe I haven't been one to see the changes within WoW, the shaping it has endured directly from external sources. It has taken elements from other MMOs to increase it's success but this isn't something to maligned or derided, it simply is. It's almost like watching the evolution of a creature that mimics it's predators to then predate upon them in a more efficient method of it's own hunting style. Or something...
But in doing so I feel that it has become pretty good at most things but not great a any. Well maybe apart from Dungeons, which are a blast. But I hate it's PvP. This is enough to know in and of itself, it's not something that they could tweak to get me on board, it is simply flawed in it's concept not to mention it's execution.
Along with WoW, I've been playing a bit (read 100+ hours) of Bad Company 2. After going through the start of the year with this gem (which anointed my new computer as a gaming beast) I tried my hand at other vices. Starcraft, Medal of Honor and so on. But I've come back because I realise that it is truly worth time invested, as long as you aren't on a crappy Public server with no clue on what the Q button does. (Here's a tip; IT SPOTS ENEMIES!)
The Christmas sales are on and inevitably my Pile of Shame will increase. I've already added Metro2033 to it thanks to Steam and also GTA4 + Liberty City Stories for very cheap thanks to an EB Pre Christmas sale.
But there is nothing upcoming in the next month that I'm really hanging for so hopefully these coming weeks will be a chance to go over the stuff that eluded my sight during the year.
Talking about the year I'm going to talk about the games that I felt were best this year. I'm not going to numerate them, trying to cheapen one, or laud one especially. Each of these games were great, great enough to play repeatedly and get them right now, for bullion if needed. And that is all you need to know.
Mass Effect 2
Red Dead Redemption
Limbo
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
These are the games that I felt I had the most fun with, found the most interesting and did the most for gaming in general (what a crap nebulous statement).
Anyhoo, back to Laguna Presa!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Upcoming Twitch Releases
There are two games vying for the title of Twitch Game of 2010 at the moment. Call of Duty: Black Ops is a Cold War era title by Treyarch which looks to take the systems of Modern Warfare 2 and expand upon it greatly. Medal of Honor is a reboot of an old series and is set to be a romp through Afghanistan. The Multiplayer is being done by DICE who are the old hands behind the Battlefield franchise.
I've pretty torn as to which one I'll purchase because I don't have the time, nor the money to play both.
Looking at Black Ops first;
The strong points of Modern Warfare 2 were the customisability you could employ in making your classes. I had a heap of fun unlocking weapons and skins and completing challenges. Added a real action-RPG feel to some of the underlying gameplay. Black Ops seems to evolve this system slightly by not putting you on a step ladder of unlocks, but allowing you to choose what you unlock by putting an XP value on most (if not all) unlocks. Seems like a really great idea.
The terrible IWNet system from MW2 has seemingly been partially scrapped in favour of controlled dedicated servers hopefully addressing a lot of the issues I had with MW2. The addition of zombie mode should be great as well.
But here are the things that don't sit easy with me.
The gameplay of MW2 lent itself to running and gunning, jump proning all over the place wielding dual shotguns. It didn't sit right in my belly and ultimately, fighting through the lag and such didn't seem worth it because I wasn't really enjoying it after a couple of months.
I do not have high expectations for the single player either as it is being done by Treyarch and none of the games Treyarch have made, I've not really enjoyed as much as those done by Infinity Ward.
Now onto Medal of Honor;
Putting aside Civilization 5 in quick order has left me some time to try out the new Medal of Honor Beta. I've put in 5 hours now and to be honest I'm surprised by the level of diatribe being slung its way by the online community.
The graphics are good, but then they are probably on par with Bad Company 2. The sounds are great, nice deep rolling sounds, great effects. There is a real visceral feel to the environments and the combat. Choppers fly over head, radio chatter adds a nice atmosphere and it feels great overall.
My problems lie with weapon balance and accuracy. Many a time has a carbine out aimed a sniper across a large distance. I've been both on the giving and receiving end of this and I think weapon spread needs to be dramatically increased at both hip firing and long burst firing while only tweaked slightly for short bursts of the main class weapons.
I hope that the options for each class and for the customisation of your character is increased. Dramatically.
Server lag and stability has not really been an issue for me, and assumingly that was the point of the Beta, to test system and network functionality.
All in all I'm enjoying the Beta, can see that it needs improvements but trusts in DICE to deliver them.
The single player videos are interesting and seem to carry the visceral feel that is captured well in the multiplayer Beta.
So to decide;
Black Ops multi seems like an upgrade of the current MW2 system. For me, I don't think better server support and more customising options are going to make up for the fact that this will be a run and gun spam-fest. For some people that's ok, and power to them. I think that it seems to be more style over substance than anything. And I think that a single player campaign may have taken a back seat to improving multi.
Medal of Honor on the other hand, seems different enough than Bad Company or Modern Warfare. It is quicker paced than Bad Company 2 but none of the games I've been a part of have turned into uber spam fests.
So ultimately....I still don't know for sure but I'm leaning toward Medal of Honor. The factor that might push me over the line is that Black Ops is the bastard spawn of Activision whom I have no love for. EA aren't a heap better but I know DICE are so bullshit brand loyalty might come through on this one.
I've pretty torn as to which one I'll purchase because I don't have the time, nor the money to play both.
Looking at Black Ops first;
The strong points of Modern Warfare 2 were the customisability you could employ in making your classes. I had a heap of fun unlocking weapons and skins and completing challenges. Added a real action-RPG feel to some of the underlying gameplay. Black Ops seems to evolve this system slightly by not putting you on a step ladder of unlocks, but allowing you to choose what you unlock by putting an XP value on most (if not all) unlocks. Seems like a really great idea.
The terrible IWNet system from MW2 has seemingly been partially scrapped in favour of controlled dedicated servers hopefully addressing a lot of the issues I had with MW2. The addition of zombie mode should be great as well.
But here are the things that don't sit easy with me.
The gameplay of MW2 lent itself to running and gunning, jump proning all over the place wielding dual shotguns. It didn't sit right in my belly and ultimately, fighting through the lag and such didn't seem worth it because I wasn't really enjoying it after a couple of months.
I do not have high expectations for the single player either as it is being done by Treyarch and none of the games Treyarch have made, I've not really enjoyed as much as those done by Infinity Ward.
Now onto Medal of Honor;
Putting aside Civilization 5 in quick order has left me some time to try out the new Medal of Honor Beta. I've put in 5 hours now and to be honest I'm surprised by the level of diatribe being slung its way by the online community.
The graphics are good, but then they are probably on par with Bad Company 2. The sounds are great, nice deep rolling sounds, great effects. There is a real visceral feel to the environments and the combat. Choppers fly over head, radio chatter adds a nice atmosphere and it feels great overall.
My problems lie with weapon balance and accuracy. Many a time has a carbine out aimed a sniper across a large distance. I've been both on the giving and receiving end of this and I think weapon spread needs to be dramatically increased at both hip firing and long burst firing while only tweaked slightly for short bursts of the main class weapons.
I hope that the options for each class and for the customisation of your character is increased. Dramatically.
Server lag and stability has not really been an issue for me, and assumingly that was the point of the Beta, to test system and network functionality.
All in all I'm enjoying the Beta, can see that it needs improvements but trusts in DICE to deliver them.
The single player videos are interesting and seem to carry the visceral feel that is captured well in the multiplayer Beta.
So to decide;
Black Ops multi seems like an upgrade of the current MW2 system. For me, I don't think better server support and more customising options are going to make up for the fact that this will be a run and gun spam-fest. For some people that's ok, and power to them. I think that it seems to be more style over substance than anything. And I think that a single player campaign may have taken a back seat to improving multi.
Medal of Honor on the other hand, seems different enough than Bad Company or Modern Warfare. It is quicker paced than Bad Company 2 but none of the games I've been a part of have turned into uber spam fests.
So ultimately....I still don't know for sure but I'm leaning toward Medal of Honor. The factor that might push me over the line is that Black Ops is the bastard spawn of Activision whom I have no love for. EA aren't a heap better but I know DICE are so bullshit brand loyalty might come through on this one.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Barbarians at the Gates; The Fall of Civilization?
The past week has been a fevered one, where my mood has followed an astronomical parabola. All because of Civilization V (5) being released and played until my computer, and mind become a withered husk.
I haven't played Civ 4 for a while. I put hundreds of hours into it, but I'm not a hardcore 'Civver' and eventually something shinier distracted me. But for me Civ has always been a well polished game with maybe a few tweaks needed. Yet always a plethora of options are available to succeed and there has been a flexibility within it's systems that allows you to shift your paradigm without too much hassle.
I dove into a session of Civ 5. Absorbed and delighted in the changes made to the foundation game. Hexes, great. One unit per tile. Awesome. Animations and graphics. Superb. But after a few hours I felt unsatiated, that the feast in front of me was made of paper, or clay, or some other item of undeliciousness. It was a strange feeling. It was like being invited to a heaven where I'd have 100 virgins, but all of them had herpes.
So I tried again. And again. Aaaand again (about 30 hours worth of again). Each time it has felt somewhat hollow and overall, unpolished. I even made a list of the things that really irked me but I'll focus on what I see as most important here;
Multiplayer implementation is terrible. For a series famous for 'tacking on' multiplayer, this iteration seems to be held together by old chewing gum and older prayers. No saving in game, lag to the hilt and animations turned off by default and unable to be tweaked. Not to mention lack of matchmaking or hotseat options. Needs severe reworking
Information and choices were meant to have been streamlined but seem to have been omitted in some cases and severely pared back in others. Why does another Civ not like me? No way to know. Why does this tile cost 70gp to buy and the one right next to it 250? No way to know.
Limitataion of choice. I like the idea behind the civics tree but it ends up being an immutable upgrade tree. The beauty of past games was being able to switch your focus onto a certain field where you may be lacking. Want to wage war? Tailor your civics to suit that period of the game. The options available are great but not allowing people to change them (hell make it cost culture!) removes a lot of the depth that the system could bring.
Overall focus on military aspects. I feel that every game I get into I'm being shoehorned into becoming a military superpower, it feels less like a Civilization Sim game and more like a Turn based Wargame. The mechanics of combat are great, but the AI is way too stupid to use the more tactical combat over previous iterations where it could stack 10-15 units and take you on because tactics were minimal, stack and rush isn't hard for the AI.
Diplomacy is terrible, once again bad AI shines through. There is no transparency to the relationships between Civilizations. I want to know if Montezuma hates Nobunaga so I can get them to go to war. As it stands I've got to go to every other civ and just ask them, might make them angry at me if I do but hell I wouldn't even know if it does because of the lack of information. Also, being unable to access key information (such as relative military strengths, technologies etc.) when someone asks to declare war or go into a defensive pact is annoying as hell.
Finally, the lack of options and information at start up. Things like allowing the razing of City States and Capitals would be a welcome option. Knowing just how changing the age of the earth in relation to map generation and so on.
Overall I feel this game was not sufficiently tested. It feels like a lot of good ideas and a few bad ones patched together without thinking how the game as a whole would work. I'm pretty disappointed overall with this game and it requires a heap of patching to get it up to speed.
If there has ever been a case of style over substance this is it. 6/10
I haven't played Civ 4 for a while. I put hundreds of hours into it, but I'm not a hardcore 'Civver' and eventually something shinier distracted me. But for me Civ has always been a well polished game with maybe a few tweaks needed. Yet always a plethora of options are available to succeed and there has been a flexibility within it's systems that allows you to shift your paradigm without too much hassle.
I dove into a session of Civ 5. Absorbed and delighted in the changes made to the foundation game. Hexes, great. One unit per tile. Awesome. Animations and graphics. Superb. But after a few hours I felt unsatiated, that the feast in front of me was made of paper, or clay, or some other item of undeliciousness. It was a strange feeling. It was like being invited to a heaven where I'd have 100 virgins, but all of them had herpes.
So I tried again. And again. Aaaand again (about 30 hours worth of again). Each time it has felt somewhat hollow and overall, unpolished. I even made a list of the things that really irked me but I'll focus on what I see as most important here;
Multiplayer implementation is terrible. For a series famous for 'tacking on' multiplayer, this iteration seems to be held together by old chewing gum and older prayers. No saving in game, lag to the hilt and animations turned off by default and unable to be tweaked. Not to mention lack of matchmaking or hotseat options. Needs severe reworking
Information and choices were meant to have been streamlined but seem to have been omitted in some cases and severely pared back in others. Why does another Civ not like me? No way to know. Why does this tile cost 70gp to buy and the one right next to it 250? No way to know.
Limitataion of choice. I like the idea behind the civics tree but it ends up being an immutable upgrade tree. The beauty of past games was being able to switch your focus onto a certain field where you may be lacking. Want to wage war? Tailor your civics to suit that period of the game. The options available are great but not allowing people to change them (hell make it cost culture!) removes a lot of the depth that the system could bring.
Overall focus on military aspects. I feel that every game I get into I'm being shoehorned into becoming a military superpower, it feels less like a Civilization Sim game and more like a Turn based Wargame. The mechanics of combat are great, but the AI is way too stupid to use the more tactical combat over previous iterations where it could stack 10-15 units and take you on because tactics were minimal, stack and rush isn't hard for the AI.
Diplomacy is terrible, once again bad AI shines through. There is no transparency to the relationships between Civilizations. I want to know if Montezuma hates Nobunaga so I can get them to go to war. As it stands I've got to go to every other civ and just ask them, might make them angry at me if I do but hell I wouldn't even know if it does because of the lack of information. Also, being unable to access key information (such as relative military strengths, technologies etc.) when someone asks to declare war or go into a defensive pact is annoying as hell.
Finally, the lack of options and information at start up. Things like allowing the razing of City States and Capitals would be a welcome option. Knowing just how changing the age of the earth in relation to map generation and so on.
Overall I feel this game was not sufficiently tested. It feels like a lot of good ideas and a few bad ones patched together without thinking how the game as a whole would work. I'm pretty disappointed overall with this game and it requires a heap of patching to get it up to speed.
If there has ever been a case of style over substance this is it. 6/10
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