Bioshock, in pieces, was a fantastic game. It included a simple but interesting skill tree, classic FPS mechanics, and creative weapons. It featured a sectoral but open level design. It had interesting and intriguing characters and back story. It’s narrative was well presented. But for all these nice touches, they didn’t mesh. Maybe I’m over thinking it, but I believe being critical of anything exposes why it was so good in the first place. Bioshock does not come together as a single whole or as one work. First of all, it was a lackluster RPG. Some people argue it was never an RPG to begin with, They say it was a Shooter. So why were the guns so arduous to shoot? Why was the game 25 hours? The reason a Shooter lasts at most 13 hours is because shooting for another ten is boring. If it was a Shooter, it was poorly paced. Another problem would be, why did we have free form character building, considering the ‘twist’ at the end? If I was a slave, I would be more concerned with kindly doing what I was asked, not wandering around for ADAM. And if I really was a slave all along, why did I do so much wandering? Now, I don’t know how you played the game, but me, I got into an area and the first thing I did was loot and kill everything I could. I even waited for respawns so I could get more. The only reason I ever progressed in the game was because the loading screen was the last door I hadn’t checked. For a slave, I do a piss poor job.

This was my biggest qualm with the game. They throw this dumb plot twist at you completely out of nowhere, like they were arguing with you, got you to swear and shouted “ha I made you swear!”. You walk through the last door in the area, which get’s blocked off once you do, and Fontaine comes on your comm shouting (in a very bad accent) “You were a slave”. Seriously? I couldn’t tell, I’ve been farming ADAM, I wanted to shoot bees, when did I become your slave? Maybe the RPG/Character Building stuff was too add a bit of irony to the situation. Hey, check out our customizable game experience, but wait! You were a slave all along! Maybe that was the case, but I don’t think so. I think Bioshock was trying to hard to be what people wanted it to be, instead of what IT wanted to be. They wanted to be like System Shock, because people loved System Shock. But they wanted it to be like Halo, because people love Halo. How do we combine the two? Keep the open-ish world and RPG elements, introduce the straightforward gunplay and level progression from Halo, 9.0s here I come! Obviously, and this is true with all products, there were compromises. They needed to sell the game, after all. But the game betrayed it’s own ideas. It’s own design. The game was not that intriguing to me. The only reason I made progress was because I was looking for more ADAM. I wanted to make Big Daddies kick other Big Daddy ass… Eventually I made it to the end, but not because I was being compelled by Fontaine’s nasty voice. Because I was trying to do something for me. Max out my stats.

The ability to choose to kill or let live the Little Sisters also betrayed the concept of the game. Just because Fontaine never said “would you kindly kill her” that doesn’t mean it fits right in. Fact is, giving me a dilemma like that (and so many times) contrasts the fact that I’m supposed to be going forward, following orders. I shouldn’t be stopping to choose to help or unhelp anyone. Why am I given a choice if I am a slave? The irony? On top of all this, the ADAM and plasmid system makes it most obvious. Why is my person being turned into whatever I’d like, at whatever points I’d like if I was just told to go to ______ or to collect ______? Why am I not following orders if I really am a slave? I think all this was poorly delivered. You could argue, “well the type of game they wanted to make wouldn’t guarantee the player followed the tracks we set so you have to take it with a grain of salt. Make a huge bottle, but ultimately come out at one narrow end”. Or you could design the game to play the way the story and characters develop. Linear. Tied to a goal without the choice to do other wise. Narrow paths, blocked exits, obvious directions and markings showing where you need to be. Then, you could unlock everything at the end, make it completely open when you stop taking Fontaine’s orders. That way the gameplay would mirror the design of the narrative.

Let’s look at Half Life 1 and 2. People say the plot of these games are not nearly as good as other people have made them out to be. What people do not realize is that Half Life is not just another shooter with a line stolen from every 1970s sci-fi book. It’s a First Person game. Not just a First Person Shooter, but a First Person game. Want to know why the story is so confusing? Because you don’t know what Breen and the slugs have been talking about, what Alyx and Eli and Kleiner have been up to for the last 10 or so years, what Judith does in secret, or what the Vortigaunts can see. You don’t know because you only have a pair of eyes. No ability to travel outside of your body and magically see what everyone else is talking about. The gameplay mirrored the narrative. It was a first person narrative. You got from the story exactly what Gordon had experienced. The gameplay was linear and the story farfetched because there were holes. You weren’t around to see or find out what happened, because you were in a vent instead of floating behind some Commanding Officer in a plane telling his men to kill everyone in Black Mesa. That’s why you don’t understand why the military is out to kill you. The game was designed superbly, and because Bioshock couldn’t take a hint, Half Life not only remains as one of the only games to do this, but probably the best game that’s done this, and to this day, is groundbreaking.

Now take a look at Shadow Of The Colossus. Everything about SotC was designed to push certain feelings and ellicit certain reactions. Why was the world so big? So you would feel small. Why were the Colossi so colossal? So you would feel helpless. Why was their no music outside of the fights? So you would feel lonely. Why was the colour so monotonous? So you would feel sad. Despite having an open world, there was next to nothing to do besides go to the next colossus. Why was there a never a direct route to getting to them (besides the first)? So you could see how much landscape there was, so you could see how insignificant you are. This game featured 3 story cinematics. The starting, the middle, and the end. Somehow, this game pushed more story, more consistently and more powerfully than any game I can think of before it and after it. Players who weren’t paying attention and who didn’t finish it passed it off as being empty and lacking any story at all. How does that explain the wikipages? The discussion that go on every night on some forum about it’s plot and it’s meaning? The game had a very healthy amount of plot considering dialogue was at a minimum and the only two conversations are between the main character and Dormin, and the shaman and his gaurds. The world and the experience and visuals told the story. Wanders deteriorating through out the game, the doves appearing by Mono, the statues counting down, the ruins strewn about the world, all of it told a story, thousands and thousands of years in the making. SotC is the perfect example of design and focus. Made with a purpose and it achieved so much more then people give it credit.

But for whatever reason, the broken Bioshock is selling millions and topping the rankings. I had fun turning the Big Daddies on eachother, I won’t lie. Hacking sentries was cool. The propaganda was funny. But, like I said earlier, seen in pieces the game is fantastic, but as a whole, it failed. Bioshock looked nice. It was well dressed in it’s novelty world. But deep inside it, where it all began on paper, it’s design failed.

Watch over the trailer, it doesn’t take that long. If you’ve played the first Mass Effect you may be a bit concerned about the “Status: Killed in Action” that flashes on the screen. Does this suggest that Shepard (the main character from Mass Effect), is dead? I hope not. Shepard is one bad ass dude, at least the Shepard I created is. Still, Well we can see a Geth creature in his suit, which could mean perhaps he’s been captured by the Geth and has been reconstructed as one. That’s just wishful thinking though. One this is for sure though,  if Mass Effect 2 is anything like the first, I’ll be a happy customer.

On a side note, what the hell is up with the whole trend of adding boxes to your logos, I mean first Mirror’s Edge and now Mass Effect 2? Boxes are pretty trendy.

Etrian Odyssey 1 & 2

I’m not gonna lie to you. If you want a challenge, if you want a serious RPG, then this is the game for you. There aren’t flashy graphics, there are only stats, items, monsters and a very cool map-making system. You and your party of adventurers goes down into a dungeon few go into to find the treasure. You can pick classes, have as many members as you want. but can only carry a few around. The monsters get viciously difficult to kill very quickly. The battle system is your standard turns based on speed/surprise factor. Lots of fun, but I’m warning you now: Almost as addictive as an MMO(but so much cheaper!). I thoroughly enjoyed them, even if the god damn F.O.E.s obliterated me for days.

Persona 3 (FES), 4

If you like jRPGs at all, I’m sure you’ve heard about these. I honestly haven’t played the first two, but I do know that they were changed pretty drastically to appeal to Western audiences. These weren’t.

These game is broken up into two different parts: Dungeons and Towns.  In dungeons, you fight. Turn-based battles involving your party members and you either attacking with your weapon or summoning your Persona, a representation of your soul, to preform magic that uses HP(Physical magic) or SP(Special magic). In towns, you can socialize and make social links, one of the big parts of making strong Personas, buy stuff and increase your social attributes, allowing you to make more social links.

There is a really really really big difference between these two games, however.

In P3, you only directly control the Main Character in battle, and in P4, you can, if you choose, to control your entire party manually.  This was a big step for me, and a bit of a sad one. If you choose to play these games, play Persona 3 before you play Persona 4, because you will NEVER be able to play 3 again.

Despite Aegis being the most fuckable robot ever.

The World Ends With You

I’m pretty sure I’ve said I don’t like SquareEnix. If I didn’t, then here it is.

I really hate SquareEnix.

But they still make some good games sometimes. This one proves that.

TWEWY is a very interesting DS game. You play as Neku, as well as Shiki, Joshua and Beat. The three characters that change change with the scenario in game, but Neku is playable the entire time. The battle system is very VERY interesting. Neku is on the bottom screen, and one of the other three is on the top screen. Neku is controlled with the stylus by tapping, slashing and making circles. The top screen is controlled with the control pad or face buttons. The enemies on either screen are the same and share HP. When you kill something on the top or bottom screen, it dies on the other. Thankfully, you don’t HAVE to control both of the screens at once, the top screen goes to auto play(or not) after 6 – .5 seconds. Pick this game up, or you’ll be so Zetta sorry!

Fallout 3

I’m sure if you’ve head my first “Play These Games” you’d have seen I pissed a good week away on this game… and I’m still putting time into it.  In this game, you play as a custom young man/woman from Vault 101. The setting for this game is bleak at best: 2277 is post apocalyptic Washington D.C. Everything has been destroyed and new stuff has popped up.

First thing you come across is giant mutated mole things that, while not difficult to subdue, look rather scary. Your part in this game is simple: Be good, be bad, or be someone no one cares about. The game is so damn open-ended it isn’t even funny. You get awesome weapons, from the plasma pistol to the Fatman, a mini-nuke slingshot and you can even make your own weapons with schematics you find. The big thing in this game, though, is the main story.

It’s compelling, depressing, hilarious and infuriating. The one thing I found angry about the game is the ending does not allow you to continue after you finish the main quest. Now, this is a very open ended game, a damn good one… Now why is there an ending with no continuation? Why is there no alternative because you can bring a character to the ending that could complete the task as easy as you and live!

Sometimes, I wonder if developers do shit like that to games just to get reactions like mine from the players.

Last one for today:

Pokemon (Series)

Like you didn’t see that one coming eventually.

That’s right. A whole damn series. You need to play ALL of them. You’re a kid starting off in a little backwoods town and you wanna be the very best like no one ever was. You can start with any one of three Pokemon, and go on your journey. It’s hard, it’s long, it’s fun, and it never ever ends. There are nearly 500 Pokemon to catch today, and more to come soon. There are tournaments, the newest versions support wifi battles and trades, and there’s a new version coming out in mid-March to screw over everyone who bought one of the other two versions released last year.

Oh, Nintendo… I love giving you my money.

Alright, I think I gave you enough to chew on this time. Think about it!

Don’t forget my good ‘ol radio up there under “Live Streams”!

Till next time!

Jumpluff~

Written for GIANT ENEMY BLOG

Gears of War 2, "breaking news: skulls look awesome"

So you powered through Gears of War in a day or two with your friends on co-op (or by yourself, you poor lonely soul) on an energy drink rave with spare time on your hands. What next, an old question with an old answer, the sequel.

Gears of War Two, oh boy! Who doesn’t love the great Marcus Fenix, war hero or Augustus Cole the loveable and muscular ebony soldier of brute force….and Dominic Santiago their Hispanic friend. Oh yeah and Baird that really smart white guy, that almost every FPS has, like half-life and Gordon Freeman, or Call of Duty 4 and the entire British army SAS (Special Air Service) team. For all you Halo fans thinking about Master Chief, remember, he MAY be a black guy under that Spartan helmet.

So Gears of War leaves off after the lightmass (bomb) offensive from Gears 1 that apparently failed. The lightmass bomb didn’t pack quite the punch that the COGS had in mind. Yea a ton of Locust died but who cares about a few Locust casualties? Those guys were sent on suicide missions anyway. The unfortunate and dangerous thing is that a big piece of the Locust army is still intact, big enough to destroy the last human bastion of Jacinto anyway. Jacinto…sounds like a city that belongs in Final Fantasy 7.

So the storyline in Gears 2 is noticeably improved due to Epic Games hiring professional writers to spruce it up. However although a nice storyline is important, the Gears one is within acceptable bounds, not too awful, although it did leave a lot of questions unanswered and a giant cliffhanger at the end, it is part of a trilogy so no loss of points for the game there.

The graphics for the game are one of the best. It is a compliment to people who don’t have good amazing graphic video engine PC’s. Epic really took advantage of the 360’s hardware. The sound is pretty good, yet nothing amazing, the melancholy moments have the appropriate music and so do the blood-pumping action sequences. The voice acting is good, as expected, and most of what comes out of the characters mouths are not only tolerable, but funny. I would like to cite that when Ben Carmine says “Eh, stand up like a man!” when he revives an ally, it is for some odd reason incredibly hilarious. Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s a rookie and he’s speaking in a condescending manner to veteran fighters.

The controls are pretty much what you would expect to have in Gears of War 2, its standard to Gears 1. It’s easy to take cover, roadie run, fire, and aim (from behind cover as well as blind shoot). The button layout is easy to memorize especially if you’ve played Gears 1, it’s the same really. The game play is also very similar, and slightly repetitive. The driving segments are torturous if your hand isn’t steady and you will be finding yourself cursing the Gears vehicles. Basically you have your guys, fighting the enemy guys in usually open spaces with covers such as boxes and railings and you can take aim by sticking your head out of cover or blind shoot from behind cover if you want to be cautious. The wall glitch in the cover system has been fixed and now you can bunny hop from cover to cover and move forward while pushing back enemies. However there is one small issue with the cover system, when you roadie run and you touch a cover spot even slightly, most likely your character will jump into that cover spot as if he was magnetized to that spot. You can lob a grenade pretty easily and with good aim, however in multiplayer mode it is very obvious to the enemy players that your about to throw a grenade with the aiming system on it that makes you spin it around before throwing (so for that surprise smoke grenade you want to wreak havoc with you should probably blind lob it). More on the multiplayer will be written later on. One more thing I would like to add about the game play is the co-op, like in the first one, makes you restart the chapter segment if either player dies. Personally I think that the living player should be able to play through the segment and have the dead player revive at the successful finish of that segment.

The weapons and items have been expanded on in Gears of War 2. The Mulcher machine gun is a handheld machine gun that deals out massive waves of bullets that will mow down your enemies, considering you don’t overheat the blasted thing. The addition of a flamethrower is definitely nice, now I can serve up my locust extra crispy! Yum! New Locust types were of course added to the game, with new little abilities that you will find out about soon enough.

The AI in the game is pretty fair. The level setting doesn’t really affect the AI method of fighting much, but it really controls the amount of fire you can take before being downed or dying. Anybody who has played an FPS and can beat it on normal with no problem can play Gears on Hardcore without breaking much of a sweat. However on Horde mode (which is where you and your friends face 50 waves of oncoming and increasingly more difficult locust) when you break through wave 30 even if your settings are on casual, you may get a little jolted.

Now for the multiplayer mode review section, oh good. Let’s start off by saying that it may take you a bit longer than you are usually accustomed to, to find a match. The pairing system for the Gears multiplayer will take a while to find suitable teammates and enemy players for you. Also the Gears system, although it looks for “an opposing team of similar skill” you will find yourself paired up with players that could kill you in a minute. The maps are pretty nice if not repetitive in feel. There is a nice little flashback map pack that is sold with Gears 2 which takes maps from the first game and incorporates them into Gears 2. this should appeal to anybody who enjoyed those old maps. There are standard modes of play in Gears 2 multiplayer: Territories, Elimination, Horde, and Wingman. Each of these modes has a subsection. Territories mode has submission, annex, and king of the hill. Submission is a capture the flag mode, where you must take an NPC character back to your team’s base (yes the NPC will struggle against you). Annex and king of the hill are well, territory capture modes, the team that controls the areas for the most amounts of time wins. Elimination mode has Guardian, Execution, and Warzone. In Guardian there is one team leader on each team and the players of that team will infinitely respawn until the team leader is killed, after that it’s a slaughterhouse. Warzone is a standard team death match game, and Execution only lets you kill enemy team players with one shot kills and execution moves. Horde as explained earlier is when AI locusts spawn in waves (that total to 50) and your team must stand its ground through each wave of ever increasing difficulty. Wingman is basically a game for those who have close friends or like two-man teams. In Wingman there are five teams of two that compete in a classic death match style.

Take a long hard look at this thing, Itll be responsible for 80% of your deaths in Gears of War 2 Multiplayer

The main comment I have about Gears 2 multiplayer is the amazing overpowering of the Lancer. The game should be called Chainsaw of War. The constant chainsaw spamming makes it hard to have a smile on part of the time in most multiplayer death match games. The chainsaw doesn’t even stop being revved if you shoot the wielder (without downing him).

If you didn’t get chain sawed by that huge guy behind you, his friend with the shotgun will finish you off with a shot to the face, which is a nice nostalgic kick back to Gears 1 multiplayer where shotguns ruled with iron fists. Planted grenades, they can be very helpful and very annoying. They are hard to spot if well hid so be careful when raging into the enemies base, you never know from what angle you could explode at any given moment. Also do not plant YOUR grenades in obviously seen places. Although you cannot set them off yourself by walking by them, your enemy can certainly shoot them, and blow them up in your face if you’re near them and the grenades are sticking out where they can be shot. Another big tip, watch out for torque bows, these are commonly used in Wingman. The torque bow when fully charged is a one hit kill if you get directly hit by it. If you see a torque bow user, do not attempt to sniper him unless you are sure you can make the shot. Stay under cover and make your way around to the bow handler, and take him out with a good chainsaw or fist melee. These are basically the ground rules for multiplayer to keep in mind, especially when against seasoned hardcore players.

All in all Gears of War 2 is a solid FPS that will keep you entertained for a long time. Playing the solo campaign on different difficulties and playing co-op mode will ensure a high replay value. Multiplayer mode is very fun to play with friends, and Horde mode is just a blast! Beat all 50 waves and get a swanky achievement too! This is a definite buy in my opinion but if you don’t care about multiplayer, or are new to shooters, rent it and see what you think. I give Gears of War 2 (the wife hunt) ((lol couldn’t resist cracking a joke about Dom)) a bloody 8 out of 10

The game is based around timing.

That’s why the game is so popular amongst everyone, the hardcore and casual crowd alike: the gameplay is unique. It fused the standard run and gun affair with a brand new take: timing, not skill. It requires analysis, practice and endless trial and error before you have a masterful understanding of it. It’s a brilliant game in this sense, and it gets my love for it. I think it deserve more attention payed to its multiplayer aspect, where gameplay reigns supreme, instead of its joke of a story and singlepayer. This is the reason that the game is still the best over-the-shoulder shooting game to date. It knew what it was doing, and its entire gameplay styling was focused and pushed to this angle, whether they knew it or not. Balance issues aside, the mechanics of this game are unique and absolutely spectacular in comparison to the generic rehashing and reusing of die hard, trusted mechanics, that FPS games have suffered from for so long. That’s why people love it, they just don’t realise it yet.