Friday, June 04, 2004
Revenge of the Iron Giant
Despite my uncanny ability to detect unearned hype from the fecal mouths of dimwitted reviewers before their words ever hit the page, I broke down and picked up a copy of Chronicles of Riddick at my neighborhood video rental service station anyway. I normally wouldn’t rent a game based exclusively on hype from people I’ve never even met, but popular opinion actually swayed me. First G4 did a half hour piece on how much work went into the development of the game. Then Gamespot said it was worth purchasing an Xbox for. Since G4 and GS combine to suck, I was prepared to rent this just to make fun of their colossal wrongness. But then the almost always reliable Penny Arcade reported it to be quite good… well, I had to play this game for myself.
Before I talk about the actual gameplay and graphics and all that extraneous stuff, I have to talk about something very important. First of all, it has been a few years since I’ve seen Pitch Black so I may be wrong, but doesn’t Riddick have this super power where he can see in the dark? In this game, when you are confronted with areas void of light, you are forced to either grope around like Al “Hoo Ha” Pacino or use the light attached to your rifle. Kind of defeats the purpose of having pupils ten times larger than that of normal man, eh Riddick?
Also, this game steals a page out of The Watcher school of human sight. I know I’m the only one in America who saw this movie so I’ll explain what I’m talking about. In the movie there are numerous instances where we are privealaged enough to see the world through Keanu Reeves' eyes. For some reason, though he is a normal man, he is able to zoom in on objects throughout the room. So he'll be sitting in an office and be like "Hey, there's a file cabinet over there." Then the camera, which is supposedly simulating his vision, will zoom to an extreme close up of said file cabinet so Keanu can read what is stored inside. A pretty cool feat for a normal human, but I'd still rather have the ability to see in the bloody dark like my hero Riddick does in the movies.
Moving on…
What this game does right is drip atmosphere. The setting of the game is a drab and dreary place - a futuristic prison. Don’t get your hopes up; it’s not a cool one with naked chicks fighting in the showers. I don’t even think there are woman at all in this prison. The game places you in this sterile environment with cement wall and dirty toilets (which you can flush if you so desire - talk about realism), that actually creates the perfect mood for the game. Most first person shooters simply place you in a world and expect you to care just enough to want to kill everything in sight. Riddick does things a little different. By helping various characters in jail with you, you can earn their respect and get them to help you. It’s a pretty cool idea.
Your first task, after the very cool prologue, is to kill a man with your bare hands. This is the strength of the game. I’ve never played Breakdown so I have nothing to compare it to, but the first person fist fights in Riddick are very satisfying. Your controller shakes with each blow, and when you’re hit you slump to the side like in a real fight. It feels very intuitive, and you learn very early on that block is your best friend.
After beating some people with your fists you finally earn a shiv. And then an even better shiv. Then you slowly move up to weapons you’d actually find in other FPSs – knives and guns. The game always seems to throw you back to the fists, though, since that is clearly the most fun way to fight.
It’s already been said in every review, but the voice acting in this game is really great. The game is built around making you really think you’re in a prison and need to escape. The setting and voice acting combine to create this effect. Everything in the game seems logical and important once you are drawn into this dark setting.
CoR is so well put together that I don’t even mind the fact I have to use stealth to get around. Shocking, isn’t it? I haven’t enjoyed a stealth game of any kind in years. It just isn’t fun usually. But in this I actually have a blast with it. I think it’s because the stealth is slightly more forgiving than in most games. Unlike in Splinter Cell, you are encouraged to actually kill your enemies. And if you mess up and are spotted, it’s not even that big of a deal – you just have to beat them down somehow. The fact that the game let’s you make mistakes and you can still move on is a welcome addition.
What isn’t welcome is the sometimes unforgiving gameplay. There are some parts of the game where a specific action is called for and you have no idea what it is. For instance, at one part in the beginning you are expecting to sneak past guards without being seen. Like in Splinter Cell, if you are seen at this point, you die. No way past it. Considering that most of the game is quite lenient in what you can and cannot do, these few parts are quite annoying.
Other than my few minor gripes, the game is actually very enjoyable. Not good enough to buy an Xbox to play it. And certainly not one of the best games this generation. But it is very fun nonetheless. This game relies mostly on atmosphere to distinguish itself from the crowd. This is one of the few games that, despite having relatively standard gameplay, is able to still be very fun because of high production values and a cool setting.
I do kind of want to see the movie now... it can't be worse than that Potter fiasco.
UPDATE - Apparantly you gain the ability to see in the dark later in the game. Since this game takes place after Pitch Black (right?) this doesn't really make sense, but at least it is in the game.
Before I talk about the actual gameplay and graphics and all that extraneous stuff, I have to talk about something very important. First of all, it has been a few years since I’ve seen Pitch Black so I may be wrong, but doesn’t Riddick have this super power where he can see in the dark? In this game, when you are confronted with areas void of light, you are forced to either grope around like Al “Hoo Ha” Pacino or use the light attached to your rifle. Kind of defeats the purpose of having pupils ten times larger than that of normal man, eh Riddick?
Also, this game steals a page out of The Watcher school of human sight. I know I’m the only one in America who saw this movie so I’ll explain what I’m talking about. In the movie there are numerous instances where we are privealaged enough to see the world through Keanu Reeves' eyes. For some reason, though he is a normal man, he is able to zoom in on objects throughout the room. So he'll be sitting in an office and be like "Hey, there's a file cabinet over there." Then the camera, which is supposedly simulating his vision, will zoom to an extreme close up of said file cabinet so Keanu can read what is stored inside. A pretty cool feat for a normal human, but I'd still rather have the ability to see in the bloody dark like my hero Riddick does in the movies.
Moving on…
What this game does right is drip atmosphere. The setting of the game is a drab and dreary place - a futuristic prison. Don’t get your hopes up; it’s not a cool one with naked chicks fighting in the showers. I don’t even think there are woman at all in this prison. The game places you in this sterile environment with cement wall and dirty toilets (which you can flush if you so desire - talk about realism), that actually creates the perfect mood for the game. Most first person shooters simply place you in a world and expect you to care just enough to want to kill everything in sight. Riddick does things a little different. By helping various characters in jail with you, you can earn their respect and get them to help you. It’s a pretty cool idea.
Your first task, after the very cool prologue, is to kill a man with your bare hands. This is the strength of the game. I’ve never played Breakdown so I have nothing to compare it to, but the first person fist fights in Riddick are very satisfying. Your controller shakes with each blow, and when you’re hit you slump to the side like in a real fight. It feels very intuitive, and you learn very early on that block is your best friend.
After beating some people with your fists you finally earn a shiv. And then an even better shiv. Then you slowly move up to weapons you’d actually find in other FPSs – knives and guns. The game always seems to throw you back to the fists, though, since that is clearly the most fun way to fight.
It’s already been said in every review, but the voice acting in this game is really great. The game is built around making you really think you’re in a prison and need to escape. The setting and voice acting combine to create this effect. Everything in the game seems logical and important once you are drawn into this dark setting.
CoR is so well put together that I don’t even mind the fact I have to use stealth to get around. Shocking, isn’t it? I haven’t enjoyed a stealth game of any kind in years. It just isn’t fun usually. But in this I actually have a blast with it. I think it’s because the stealth is slightly more forgiving than in most games. Unlike in Splinter Cell, you are encouraged to actually kill your enemies. And if you mess up and are spotted, it’s not even that big of a deal – you just have to beat them down somehow. The fact that the game let’s you make mistakes and you can still move on is a welcome addition.
What isn’t welcome is the sometimes unforgiving gameplay. There are some parts of the game where a specific action is called for and you have no idea what it is. For instance, at one part in the beginning you are expecting to sneak past guards without being seen. Like in Splinter Cell, if you are seen at this point, you die. No way past it. Considering that most of the game is quite lenient in what you can and cannot do, these few parts are quite annoying.
Other than my few minor gripes, the game is actually very enjoyable. Not good enough to buy an Xbox to play it. And certainly not one of the best games this generation. But it is very fun nonetheless. This game relies mostly on atmosphere to distinguish itself from the crowd. This is one of the few games that, despite having relatively standard gameplay, is able to still be very fun because of high production values and a cool setting.
I do kind of want to see the movie now... it can't be worse than that Potter fiasco.
UPDATE - Apparantly you gain the ability to see in the dark later in the game. Since this game takes place after Pitch Black (right?) this doesn't really make sense, but at least it is in the game.
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Rockin' the suburbs, just like Jon Bon Jovi did
I watched two long-ass preview videos of Fable and Jade Empire tonight, both narrated by a developer, showing various bits and pieces of how the game works. I know that we've talked about them several times before, but they both are looking good enough to warrant all the attention being showered on them. The games are actually shockingly similar in a lot of ways, even though they're from completely unrelated developers and are coming out over six months apart.
I know Tom is a Jade Empire man after playing through KOTOR, and though I'm still looking forward to Fable more, I'll definitely be playing through JE when Tom is done with it. Both games are action rpg's of sorts, grand in scope and gorgeous in presentation. Both games also have a strong theme of good/evil character development that was demonstrated in KOTOR, though Fable has been in development long enough that it's safe to say it was a completely new idea when Peter Molyneux came up with it (remember when it was called Project Ego? Of course you don't, you're probably Dan or Scott or that weird Benny guy). Anyhow, to start, both games look rediculously gorgeous, mostly thanks to some soft lighting techniques that are now all the rage thanks to PoP. I think they can really only be compared to each other at this stage, because I have yet to see another game with such alive, beautiful natural landscapes. As far as combat, Jade Empire certainly has a lot more to choose from, with about three billion fighting styles and transformations and spells and such. On the other hand, the combat in Fable looks to have the basics down a lot more, like solid, rewardingly brutal sword and arrow attacks. The action in JE looks a bit too floaty for my tastes. Although you can't argue with petrifying someone and then smashing them into bits. So, again, both get their respective props.
As far as their strongest aspects right now go, I'd say that Jade Empire looks a bit more varied (that old-school shooter mini-game looks fucking tizzity tight as hell), whereas Fable seems to have all the basics down a bit better, especially the effects that your good/evil behavior have on the world around you (having children run from you when you enter a town must be very pedophilically gratifying). Basically, both videos are a must-watch if you have bandwidth, and both games make me feel a lot more justified in buying an X-Box. That's all.
I know Tom is a Jade Empire man after playing through KOTOR, and though I'm still looking forward to Fable more, I'll definitely be playing through JE when Tom is done with it. Both games are action rpg's of sorts, grand in scope and gorgeous in presentation. Both games also have a strong theme of good/evil character development that was demonstrated in KOTOR, though Fable has been in development long enough that it's safe to say it was a completely new idea when Peter Molyneux came up with it (remember when it was called Project Ego? Of course you don't, you're probably Dan or Scott or that weird Benny guy). Anyhow, to start, both games look rediculously gorgeous, mostly thanks to some soft lighting techniques that are now all the rage thanks to PoP. I think they can really only be compared to each other at this stage, because I have yet to see another game with such alive, beautiful natural landscapes. As far as combat, Jade Empire certainly has a lot more to choose from, with about three billion fighting styles and transformations and spells and such. On the other hand, the combat in Fable looks to have the basics down a lot more, like solid, rewardingly brutal sword and arrow attacks. The action in JE looks a bit too floaty for my tastes. Although you can't argue with petrifying someone and then smashing them into bits. So, again, both get their respective props.
As far as their strongest aspects right now go, I'd say that Jade Empire looks a bit more varied (that old-school shooter mini-game looks fucking tizzity tight as hell), whereas Fable seems to have all the basics down a bit better, especially the effects that your good/evil behavior have on the world around you (having children run from you when you enter a town must be very pedophilically gratifying). Basically, both videos are a must-watch if you have bandwidth, and both games make me feel a lot more justified in buying an X-Box. That's all.
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Full Spectrum Cowboy
So I return from one of the largest Scrabble tournaments in the country, brain mostly intact. I finished 12-8 in my division, 16th out of 42 people. Beh. Not great, but it was fun. Anyhow, on to the games.
I just got to play some Red Dead Revolver over at Dan's Place, and, well.....hmm.....it's not very good. The art design, filmic scratches on the cutscenes, classic western music and such is all very immersive, but the gameplay, from the couple of levels that I played, feels very unbalanced and broken. And it's a damn shame too, because we haven't had a good cowboy game since Sunset Riders. RDR got a lot of very mediocre reviews, and it's easy to see why after playing it. The controls are ill-mapped and often feel unresponsive in tight situations. Delivering a final, bloody headshot to some crumb-bum redneck feels gratifying enough, but the gunfight leading up to it is sloppy, not nearly visceral enough (the controller doesn't even rumble), and often glitchy. I guess it should come as no surprise, as Capcom cancelled it after a long, laborious development process, only to have Rockstar pick it up, finish it, and put it out. Rockstar has been mostly synonymous with quality games these last couple of years, so I figured they would have touched up the game more than they did before release. The biggest problem at all, which most reviews I've read seem to agree with, is the lack of balance in the gunfighting. Five rifle shots to the face from three feet away is just as likely to take down a bad guy as a single pistol from thirty yards away. The location damage, weapon strength and aiming accuracy are all woefully inconsistent, and make the combat (the bulk combat) a chore. Not to sell the game completely short - there is a fair amount of innovation, especially for the genre. From the quick-draw showdowns to the card-game/shootout multiplayer battles, there are a lot of cool ideas flying around in every facet of RDR; it's just a letdown that most of them are as sloppy and unrefined as everything else.
On the non-crappy cowboy game front, Full Spectrum Warrior is finally starting to intrigue me. Despite getting rave previews from pretty much everyone who witnesses it, the idea has seemed pretty lame to me thus far. You control a group of soldiers in a fictional Middle Eastern Country (Zekistan - very creative) dealing with various terrorist situations. The twist is that you don't directly control them, ala Socom, you just give them orders. That's pretty much all it's been summed up as so far; doesn't sound very fun, does it? However, it's now being described more, and sold more, on being more of a real-time strategy game, ala Warcraft, only up-close and personal, and has brought with it a good bit of interest, for me. The game seems to focus heavily on different combat formations (flanking and the like), and using the right setup and execution for each scenario. You can also easily jump between your various unit types during the game (grenadier, sniper, etc.), while the rest of your team does it's best to help you out and stay the path of the mission/your orders. I'm not describing it very well, but check out IGN's review, it got me fairly hyped. It also has co-operative online play, which seems like a great addition for a game such as this. And on top of everything, it's developed by Pandemic, who is also releasing two of the most entertaining-looking games this year. Word.
I just got to play some Red Dead Revolver over at Dan's Place, and, well.....hmm.....it's not very good. The art design, filmic scratches on the cutscenes, classic western music and such is all very immersive, but the gameplay, from the couple of levels that I played, feels very unbalanced and broken. And it's a damn shame too, because we haven't had a good cowboy game since Sunset Riders. RDR got a lot of very mediocre reviews, and it's easy to see why after playing it. The controls are ill-mapped and often feel unresponsive in tight situations. Delivering a final, bloody headshot to some crumb-bum redneck feels gratifying enough, but the gunfight leading up to it is sloppy, not nearly visceral enough (the controller doesn't even rumble), and often glitchy. I guess it should come as no surprise, as Capcom cancelled it after a long, laborious development process, only to have Rockstar pick it up, finish it, and put it out. Rockstar has been mostly synonymous with quality games these last couple of years, so I figured they would have touched up the game more than they did before release. The biggest problem at all, which most reviews I've read seem to agree with, is the lack of balance in the gunfighting. Five rifle shots to the face from three feet away is just as likely to take down a bad guy as a single pistol from thirty yards away. The location damage, weapon strength and aiming accuracy are all woefully inconsistent, and make the combat (the bulk combat) a chore. Not to sell the game completely short - there is a fair amount of innovation, especially for the genre. From the quick-draw showdowns to the card-game/shootout multiplayer battles, there are a lot of cool ideas flying around in every facet of RDR; it's just a letdown that most of them are as sloppy and unrefined as everything else.
On the non-crappy cowboy game front, Full Spectrum Warrior is finally starting to intrigue me. Despite getting rave previews from pretty much everyone who witnesses it, the idea has seemed pretty lame to me thus far. You control a group of soldiers in a fictional Middle Eastern Country (Zekistan - very creative) dealing with various terrorist situations. The twist is that you don't directly control them, ala Socom, you just give them orders. That's pretty much all it's been summed up as so far; doesn't sound very fun, does it? However, it's now being described more, and sold more, on being more of a real-time strategy game, ala Warcraft, only up-close and personal, and has brought with it a good bit of interest, for me. The game seems to focus heavily on different combat formations (flanking and the like), and using the right setup and execution for each scenario. You can also easily jump between your various unit types during the game (grenadier, sniper, etc.), while the rest of your team does it's best to help you out and stay the path of the mission/your orders. I'm not describing it very well, but check out IGN's review, it got me fairly hyped. It also has co-operative online play, which seems like a great addition for a game such as this. And on top of everything, it's developed by Pandemic, who is also releasing two of the most entertaining-looking games this year. Word.
Monday, May 31, 2004
So close to perfection
Viewtiful Joe is a gift from the gods of gaming. For those of us who suffered unfairly through these last few years with game after game that stresses hyper realism over an actual fun game experience, VJ arrives to remind us why we actually got into gaming in the first place. It wasn't because we had a deep seeded hatred for hookers or wanted to watch an 80 hour movie. No, it was because we wanted to travel to a fantasy world where Earth rules do not apply and we are the kings.
Viewtiful Joe is a classic video game story: bad guy takes your girlfriend so you have to jump into a movie and become a super hero to get her back. You travel through movie themed worlds using time as the ultimate weapon of kick ass. You can slow it down to carefully avoid your enemies attacks and then speed it up to catch fire and crack their heads. You can even zoom in to deliver massive damage on all sides. The game is pure, butt kicking entertainment.
The game is also extremely focused. You move from one fight to another, barely having time to stop and breath. There are occasional puzzles thrown in, most of which require you to speed up or slow down time to complete. But, there is no exploring. There is no collecting. There is no failing because you do not go through the mission exactly how the developer imagined. You are constantly going forward in the game, looking for the next fight. This focus makes the game ridiculously fun, with barely a moment to breath.
You know what doesn't make this game fun? I just got to a part in the game where I have to fight 5 bosses I thought I had destroyed. You know how this works. Fight a slightly improved version of the very first boss and destroy him with relatively ease. Then, with the 80% health you still have left, you fight the second boss. This is getting tough now. You barely defeat him and then, without being able to save or refill your depleted energy, here comes the shark man, your third boss.
This is probably the cheapest thing ever thrown in a game. I remember cursing Mega Man 2 for this very same structure. I already beat these guys! I proved they were no match for me. Why do I have to fight them all again, this time without even having a chance to get health back? Who thought it was a good idea to string the five hardest portions of the game back to back? Who thought I would look forward to having to fight the ultra cheap shark man - who has a biting attack that he sometimes springs on you with no warning and no way to avoid it, and a lovely "get all his health back while you think he is still in biting mode" move so you never even made a dent in his armor - without even having the luxury of 100% health.
This kind of thing angers me like no other. Unlike Scott, who posted his hatred for bosses in games a few days ago, I generally have no problem with them. In boring realist games like Splinter Cell I can understand how having a giant baby with goatse tattooed to his chest might draw people out of the experience, but in fantasy games like Viewtiful Joe it makes sense after I've been fighting ballerinas and airplanes for a level I would conclude my journey with a fight against a rhino.
There is nothing more frustrating for me than to get fully immersed in a great title only to have your progress halted by something very cheap. A game like Viewtiful Joe is just a pure gaming experience that shouldn't be messed with by unfair tactics. Yes, the game is supposed to be hard and I welcome a good challenge, but give me something I can work with at least.
Aside from the ridiculously hard multi boss battle, this game is easily one of the best games I have played this generation. Once you get the hang of racking up huge combos, VJ is one of the most fun action games I have ever played. Though I still have this huge backlog of titles I have to play, I'm going to try and actually play through the various super hard difficulty modes in this anyway because it's just that much fun.
Viewtiful Joe is a classic video game story: bad guy takes your girlfriend so you have to jump into a movie and become a super hero to get her back. You travel through movie themed worlds using time as the ultimate weapon of kick ass. You can slow it down to carefully avoid your enemies attacks and then speed it up to catch fire and crack their heads. You can even zoom in to deliver massive damage on all sides. The game is pure, butt kicking entertainment.
The game is also extremely focused. You move from one fight to another, barely having time to stop and breath. There are occasional puzzles thrown in, most of which require you to speed up or slow down time to complete. But, there is no exploring. There is no collecting. There is no failing because you do not go through the mission exactly how the developer imagined. You are constantly going forward in the game, looking for the next fight. This focus makes the game ridiculously fun, with barely a moment to breath.
You know what doesn't make this game fun? I just got to a part in the game where I have to fight 5 bosses I thought I had destroyed. You know how this works. Fight a slightly improved version of the very first boss and destroy him with relatively ease. Then, with the 80% health you still have left, you fight the second boss. This is getting tough now. You barely defeat him and then, without being able to save or refill your depleted energy, here comes the shark man, your third boss.
This is probably the cheapest thing ever thrown in a game. I remember cursing Mega Man 2 for this very same structure. I already beat these guys! I proved they were no match for me. Why do I have to fight them all again, this time without even having a chance to get health back? Who thought it was a good idea to string the five hardest portions of the game back to back? Who thought I would look forward to having to fight the ultra cheap shark man - who has a biting attack that he sometimes springs on you with no warning and no way to avoid it, and a lovely "get all his health back while you think he is still in biting mode" move so you never even made a dent in his armor - without even having the luxury of 100% health.
This kind of thing angers me like no other. Unlike Scott, who posted his hatred for bosses in games a few days ago, I generally have no problem with them. In boring realist games like Splinter Cell I can understand how having a giant baby with goatse tattooed to his chest might draw people out of the experience, but in fantasy games like Viewtiful Joe it makes sense after I've been fighting ballerinas and airplanes for a level I would conclude my journey with a fight against a rhino.
There is nothing more frustrating for me than to get fully immersed in a great title only to have your progress halted by something very cheap. A game like Viewtiful Joe is just a pure gaming experience that shouldn't be messed with by unfair tactics. Yes, the game is supposed to be hard and I welcome a good challenge, but give me something I can work with at least.
Aside from the ridiculously hard multi boss battle, this game is easily one of the best games I have played this generation. Once you get the hang of racking up huge combos, VJ is one of the most fun action games I have ever played. Though I still have this huge backlog of titles I have to play, I'm going to try and actually play through the various super hard difficulty modes in this anyway because it's just that much fun.
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