So we had this earthquake here on the U.S. east coast. That's pretty newsworthy.
Apparently, it was very shallow (thus felt further away than usual), was 5.9, and was in central Virginia. I felt it here at the office -- my computer monitors shook and the floor was vibrating a little bit. I probably wouldn't have even considered it an earthquake if other people didn't start asking me, "Hey, did you just feel that?"
So there you have it -- the most powerful earthquake we've had in over 100 years. Fortunately, it seems it only caused minor amounts of damage, and no injuries to speak of. That's a good thing.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Help Me Understand
There was a big snafu earlier in the week regarding the game From Dust. It was published by Ubisoft, and during pre-release they had made a forum post stating that players would not be required to have an internet connection in order to play the game. (So in other words, the game would not have DRM.)
The day after the game was released, that forum post was edited several times, and I think eventually deleted all together. And lo and behold, the game had DRM and required you to be constantly connected to the internet in order to play.
As you can imagine, this started a huge flame fest. Players who concern themselves with such things, or players who feel the need to act as the RIGHTEOUS DEFENDERS OF THE CONSUMER AGAINST THE EVIL CONSPIRING GAME CORPORATIONS pounded their chests and gnashed their teeth together in rage.
Meanwhile, I played the game. It was all right.
Today, Ubisoft announced that they would be patching From Dust to completely remove the DRM from the game. You would think this would cause those RIGHTEOUS DEFENDERS OF THE CONSUMER AGAINST THE EVIL CONSPIRING GAME CORPORATIONS to actually be happy for once.
Well, you'd be an idiot if you think that, actually. Everyone knows gamers are never happy.
So what's the word on the forums now? "TOO LITTLE TOO LATE UBISOFT I'VE ALREADY LOST ALL FAITH IN YOU! WAAAAAAH!"
And I've lost faith in humanity. I guess we're even!
(As a side note, I have never used "I've lost faith in..." seriously. And I want to backhand anyone who does.)
The day after the game was released, that forum post was edited several times, and I think eventually deleted all together. And lo and behold, the game had DRM and required you to be constantly connected to the internet in order to play.
As you can imagine, this started a huge flame fest. Players who concern themselves with such things, or players who feel the need to act as the RIGHTEOUS DEFENDERS OF THE CONSUMER AGAINST THE EVIL CONSPIRING GAME CORPORATIONS pounded their chests and gnashed their teeth together in rage.
Meanwhile, I played the game. It was all right.
Today, Ubisoft announced that they would be patching From Dust to completely remove the DRM from the game. You would think this would cause those RIGHTEOUS DEFENDERS OF THE CONSUMER AGAINST THE EVIL CONSPIRING GAME CORPORATIONS to actually be happy for once.
Well, you'd be an idiot if you think that, actually. Everyone knows gamers are never happy.
So what's the word on the forums now? "TOO LITTLE TOO LATE UBISOFT I'VE ALREADY LOST ALL FAITH IN YOU! WAAAAAAH!"
And I've lost faith in humanity. I guess we're even!
(As a side note, I have never used "I've lost faith in..." seriously. And I want to backhand anyone who does.)
Monday, August 22, 2011
YDCBITYA: Bastion
It seems like most websites that specialize in reviewing computer games have some type of fancy name for the title of their review posts. PC Gamer uses a simple "Game Review", where "game" is replaced by the title of the game. Rock, Paper, Shotgun used "Wot I Think" as theirs.
I'm not a computer game review website by any means, but nonetheless I've decided I need a moniker for when I review a game. Therefore, I have decided I will be using "YDCBITYA". You Don't Care But I'm Telling You Anyway. I was going to go with "YEASRPTG". (You Elitist Assholes Should Really Play This Game) But, I figured the elitist assholes are too elitist to read my blog anyway, so that's a bit of a moot point.
And so, I will christen YDCBITYA with a Bastion review.
The first exposure I had to Bastion was the sale ad for it on Steam about a week before the game's PC release date. My initial thought was, "Oh, it looks like an anime. Ew." If ever there was an example of never judging a book by its cover, there you have it right there.
I didn't buy the game right away, and I didn't really know anything about it. I heard a couple of mumblings from game critics that it was rather good. But lately, I've been ignoring most game critics and reviewers. Mostly because I don't like them. But that's another story in itself.
Anyway, the day before the game was set to release, I was in the mood to play something new. Not necessarily different -- just new. Bastion was still there on my Steam sales page, so I decided to just get it and try it out.
The first two things I noticed about the game were the art and the sound. After reading about the game, I learned that all the levels were hand drawn, and it provides the game with this unique and charming design to it. Add in the style of the levels forming themselves as you walk through them, and you're left with an experience unlike any other. The soundtrack amplifies this even further. It is one of the greatest computer game soundtracks I have ever heard. To go along with the soundtrack, the voice acting is excellent as well. The narrator adds so much to the game while you play.
The gameplay itself is rather basic. Anyone who has played Diablo, Torchlight, or any other hack-and-slash style games will feel quite at home. There's nothing new here, and nothing new is needed. If you're playing this game solely for the combat, you're doing it wrong. All of the things mentioned above -- the soundtrack, the narrator, the art -- it all enhances the game as you play. Groundbreaking gameplay simply isn't necessary in a game like this. The combat is NOT boring -- it's just basic. In any other game, that would be a detriment. Not so in this one.
The story is top notch as well, and there's little I can find to complain about here. One thing I will mention is that there could have been more story-defining moments of choice. To avoid giving any major plot points away, there are basically two occasions near the end of the game where you, the player, must make a choice. I think it would have added a lot to the game if there were more cases like that throughout the whole story. For example: During the battle on the Bastion, all the little creatures you saved help you fight. Well, I think it would have been interesting if you were given a choice when it came to saving each creature. Or, alternatively, each had its own mini-challenge, and if you failed then the creature didn't come back with you to the Bastion. The results of those would determine how many creatures you had during that fight, making it easier or harder depending on what you did. That's just ONE simple way they could have added depth, just off the top of my head. I'm sure someone a lot more clever than me could come up with many other ways this could have been accomplished as well.
To round things off, the upgrade system added much needed depth to the basic combat, making it fully tolerable. The constant supply of new toys to play with coupled with the aforementioned details above, and you have this lovely little game that keeps you interested all the way to the end. And with the addition of a New Game+ mode to add a bit of replayability, and you have quite the solid game.
All that being said, it begs me to mention this is an Indie game. If it doesn't win Game of the Year, I hope it is runner-up to only Portal 2. I say this because big name game developers need this kind of wake-up call, when you really get down to it. This game is only $15, and it's a hell of a lot more enjoyable then many mainstream games that have come out this year for $50 or even $60. Perhaps if we continuously put games like these up on top, where they deserve to be, then maybe the big companies will take notice and be much more willing to stray away from their guaranteed successes and money-makers, and we'll see more gems such as Bastion. Maybe.
I'm not a computer game review website by any means, but nonetheless I've decided I need a moniker for when I review a game. Therefore, I have decided I will be using "YDCBITYA". You Don't Care But I'm Telling You Anyway. I was going to go with "YEASRPTG". (You Elitist Assholes Should Really Play This Game) But, I figured the elitist assholes are too elitist to read my blog anyway, so that's a bit of a moot point.
And so, I will christen YDCBITYA with a Bastion review.
The first exposure I had to Bastion was the sale ad for it on Steam about a week before the game's PC release date. My initial thought was, "Oh, it looks like an anime. Ew." If ever there was an example of never judging a book by its cover, there you have it right there.
I didn't buy the game right away, and I didn't really know anything about it. I heard a couple of mumblings from game critics that it was rather good. But lately, I've been ignoring most game critics and reviewers. Mostly because I don't like them. But that's another story in itself.
Anyway, the day before the game was set to release, I was in the mood to play something new. Not necessarily different -- just new. Bastion was still there on my Steam sales page, so I decided to just get it and try it out.
The first two things I noticed about the game were the art and the sound. After reading about the game, I learned that all the levels were hand drawn, and it provides the game with this unique and charming design to it. Add in the style of the levels forming themselves as you walk through them, and you're left with an experience unlike any other. The soundtrack amplifies this even further. It is one of the greatest computer game soundtracks I have ever heard. To go along with the soundtrack, the voice acting is excellent as well. The narrator adds so much to the game while you play.
The gameplay itself is rather basic. Anyone who has played Diablo, Torchlight, or any other hack-and-slash style games will feel quite at home. There's nothing new here, and nothing new is needed. If you're playing this game solely for the combat, you're doing it wrong. All of the things mentioned above -- the soundtrack, the narrator, the art -- it all enhances the game as you play. Groundbreaking gameplay simply isn't necessary in a game like this. The combat is NOT boring -- it's just basic. In any other game, that would be a detriment. Not so in this one.
The story is top notch as well, and there's little I can find to complain about here. One thing I will mention is that there could have been more story-defining moments of choice. To avoid giving any major plot points away, there are basically two occasions near the end of the game where you, the player, must make a choice. I think it would have added a lot to the game if there were more cases like that throughout the whole story. For example: During the battle on the Bastion, all the little creatures you saved help you fight. Well, I think it would have been interesting if you were given a choice when it came to saving each creature. Or, alternatively, each had its own mini-challenge, and if you failed then the creature didn't come back with you to the Bastion. The results of those would determine how many creatures you had during that fight, making it easier or harder depending on what you did. That's just ONE simple way they could have added depth, just off the top of my head. I'm sure someone a lot more clever than me could come up with many other ways this could have been accomplished as well.
To round things off, the upgrade system added much needed depth to the basic combat, making it fully tolerable. The constant supply of new toys to play with coupled with the aforementioned details above, and you have this lovely little game that keeps you interested all the way to the end. And with the addition of a New Game+ mode to add a bit of replayability, and you have quite the solid game.
All that being said, it begs me to mention this is an Indie game. If it doesn't win Game of the Year, I hope it is runner-up to only Portal 2. I say this because big name game developers need this kind of wake-up call, when you really get down to it. This game is only $15, and it's a hell of a lot more enjoyable then many mainstream games that have come out this year for $50 or even $60. Perhaps if we continuously put games like these up on top, where they deserve to be, then maybe the big companies will take notice and be much more willing to stray away from their guaranteed successes and money-makers, and we'll see more gems such as Bastion. Maybe.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Anticipation
There are a lot of new games on the horizon. I really don't remember ever having so many different titles to think about, to the point where I'm actually forgetting about some of them. I'll see a news article or snippet and go, "OMG that's right, someone is making THAT!"
Before I get into that a bit more, I have two observations to share with you first. These are things that I've found quite amusing.
First, I always find it amusing when people get SO INCREDIBLY excited about a sequel to a game where they felt the first installment was mediocre. Sure, the developers have a chance to improve upon what they did the first time -- but chances are if you didn't like the game the first time around, you're not going to like the sequel!
Second, I've learned that it is inevitable that every game will "fall from grace". Every. Single. One. I personally do not believe it's because game developers make bad decisions. (Sometimes they do.) I think it's because the gaming community, and perhaps human beings in general, just want to be miserable and will thus latch onto any little negative thing they can find about a game.
And now, let's explore all these new games coming out, shall we?
Let's start with the ones coming out very soon.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
The original Deus Ex was brilliant because of how much freedom of choice it offered the player. The new game looks set to repeat that brilliance.
Dead Island
I'm not sure about this one. It looks like "Left 4 Dead on an Island". Though, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The appeal of this game to me will depend on how well the multi-player is executed.
Space Marine
I've never been a huge fan of the Warhammer series. But, I will try this.
A bit further out, now. These games are more than a couple of months away.
Rage
id Software has never disappointed me. They know how I like my shooters.
Mass Effect 3
Sheperd's conclusion will be an epic event, there's no doubt in my mind.
Borderlands 2
I played the HELL out of the first one (and sometimes I think I'm the only person in the world who did). But apparently I wasn't, because a sequel is on the way!
DOTA 2
I will play it, but the whole denying thing bothers me.
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
I have never finished an Assassin's Creed game. Maybe this one will be the first!
Prey 2
I liked the first one. Solid game with some cool mechanics. The sequel looks like an utter departure, but in a really, really good way.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
This is probably the game I am most excited about.
Far Cry 3
I enjoyed the first, and I sort of enjoyed the second. We'll see which way this one goes.
Bioshock Infinite
An interesting departure from Rapture, this has some great potential.
Batman: Arkham City
Oh god yes. Open world Batman!
Skyrim
I don't think there's any possible way this game won't rock my world.
Aliens: Colonial Marines
This needs to be better than AvP.
Guild Wars 2
I just want to roll a Charr.
There's a bunch more -- Torchlight 2, The Secret World, Wildstar, Scrolls, and more. But you get the idea. There's a LOT of game incoming!
Before I get into that a bit more, I have two observations to share with you first. These are things that I've found quite amusing.
First, I always find it amusing when people get SO INCREDIBLY excited about a sequel to a game where they felt the first installment was mediocre. Sure, the developers have a chance to improve upon what they did the first time -- but chances are if you didn't like the game the first time around, you're not going to like the sequel!
Second, I've learned that it is inevitable that every game will "fall from grace". Every. Single. One. I personally do not believe it's because game developers make bad decisions. (Sometimes they do.) I think it's because the gaming community, and perhaps human beings in general, just want to be miserable and will thus latch onto any little negative thing they can find about a game.
And now, let's explore all these new games coming out, shall we?
Let's start with the ones coming out very soon.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
The original Deus Ex was brilliant because of how much freedom of choice it offered the player. The new game looks set to repeat that brilliance.
Dead Island
I'm not sure about this one. It looks like "Left 4 Dead on an Island". Though, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The appeal of this game to me will depend on how well the multi-player is executed.
Space Marine
I've never been a huge fan of the Warhammer series. But, I will try this.
A bit further out, now. These games are more than a couple of months away.
Rage
id Software has never disappointed me. They know how I like my shooters.
Mass Effect 3
Sheperd's conclusion will be an epic event, there's no doubt in my mind.
Borderlands 2
I played the HELL out of the first one (and sometimes I think I'm the only person in the world who did). But apparently I wasn't, because a sequel is on the way!
DOTA 2
I will play it, but the whole denying thing bothers me.
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
I have never finished an Assassin's Creed game. Maybe this one will be the first!
Prey 2
I liked the first one. Solid game with some cool mechanics. The sequel looks like an utter departure, but in a really, really good way.
Star Wars: The Old Republic
This is probably the game I am most excited about.
Far Cry 3
I enjoyed the first, and I sort of enjoyed the second. We'll see which way this one goes.
Bioshock Infinite
An interesting departure from Rapture, this has some great potential.
Batman: Arkham City
Oh god yes. Open world Batman!
Skyrim
I don't think there's any possible way this game won't rock my world.
Aliens: Colonial Marines
This needs to be better than AvP.
Guild Wars 2
I just want to roll a Charr.
There's a bunch more -- Torchlight 2, The Secret World, Wildstar, Scrolls, and more. But you get the idea. There's a LOT of game incoming!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Bastion
If any one out there ever doubted that games can be art, I offer you Bastion.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Extra Content Rocks
A lot of people don't like downloadable content. You'll get complaints ranging from, "That should have been in the game in the first place!" all the way up to "Gaming companies are greedy fuckheads who nickel and dime their customers to death!"
I disagree. Mainly, you're still paying a certain amount of money for a certain amount of content in the original game. And these games released today aren't any shorter and don't contain any less content than games released 5-10 years ago. I could understand your argument if you weren't getting full games from the start.
I had spent over 50 hours in Fallout: New Vegas before I even touched the first DLC. That's more than I spent in all of Fallout 3 after I had played all of the DLC packs! So, to me, that argument is invalid and it seems to me that anyone who tries to make this argument is just being cheap and wants something for nothing.
For me, if I'm offered a few more hours of enjoyment out of a game I love for around $10, you bet your ass I'm going to go for it.
That brings me around to some DLC that I've been playing recently.
To start with, I played through the Arrival DLC for Mass Effect 2. While I missed having my team with me, the entire experience was very enjoyable and a nice tie-in to Mass Effect 3. I highly recommend playing it before the third and final installment of Bioware's epic space RPG is released.
I've also played through two of the three (soon to be four) DLCs for Fallout: New Vegas.
I played through the most recent one first: Old World Blues. I enjoyed it the most out of the two. The story was interesting, the dialogue was funny, there were some incredible moments, some great new weapons, and I have a lovely place to now call home. That's one thing I really missed from Fallout 3 -- having your own house with a British accent butler. And now I finally have that again!
Dead Money was the other, and I didn't quite like it as much. The exploration in this one was much better than OWB, admittedly. There was a LOT of area to explore and a LOT of new items (and old items!) to find and collect. Also, the ending of Dead Money was more satisfying in it's conclusion. However, there were a few annoyances that really had me frustrated. The main one was that blasted exploding collar. So. Fucking. Annoying. Never do that again, Obsidian. EVER. The other annoyances were quite minor, and if it weren't for the collar I would probably rate this DLC just as high as OWB. The areas were sometimes very confusing, and I ended up getting lost quite a bit. Specifically, the Villa outside the Sierra Madre and the Suites inside were the worst. The monsters that could only be killed by dismemberment, which basically forces you to use melee weapons, just seemed like a silly gimmick and took the fun out of killing. Lastly, the holograms were very annoying. Creating something that can't be killed that does more damage to you than anything else in the game is plain stupid. However, aside from the collar, these annoyances only make up a very small part of the DLC, and therefore don't have a significant impact on the enjoyment.
I still have Honest Hearts to play through. We'll see how that one compares to these two!
I disagree. Mainly, you're still paying a certain amount of money for a certain amount of content in the original game. And these games released today aren't any shorter and don't contain any less content than games released 5-10 years ago. I could understand your argument if you weren't getting full games from the start.
I had spent over 50 hours in Fallout: New Vegas before I even touched the first DLC. That's more than I spent in all of Fallout 3 after I had played all of the DLC packs! So, to me, that argument is invalid and it seems to me that anyone who tries to make this argument is just being cheap and wants something for nothing.
For me, if I'm offered a few more hours of enjoyment out of a game I love for around $10, you bet your ass I'm going to go for it.
That brings me around to some DLC that I've been playing recently.
To start with, I played through the Arrival DLC for Mass Effect 2. While I missed having my team with me, the entire experience was very enjoyable and a nice tie-in to Mass Effect 3. I highly recommend playing it before the third and final installment of Bioware's epic space RPG is released.
I've also played through two of the three (soon to be four) DLCs for Fallout: New Vegas.
I played through the most recent one first: Old World Blues. I enjoyed it the most out of the two. The story was interesting, the dialogue was funny, there were some incredible moments, some great new weapons, and I have a lovely place to now call home. That's one thing I really missed from Fallout 3 -- having your own house with a British accent butler. And now I finally have that again!
Dead Money was the other, and I didn't quite like it as much. The exploration in this one was much better than OWB, admittedly. There was a LOT of area to explore and a LOT of new items (and old items!) to find and collect. Also, the ending of Dead Money was more satisfying in it's conclusion. However, there were a few annoyances that really had me frustrated. The main one was that blasted exploding collar. So. Fucking. Annoying. Never do that again, Obsidian. EVER. The other annoyances were quite minor, and if it weren't for the collar I would probably rate this DLC just as high as OWB. The areas were sometimes very confusing, and I ended up getting lost quite a bit. Specifically, the Villa outside the Sierra Madre and the Suites inside were the worst. The monsters that could only be killed by dismemberment, which basically forces you to use melee weapons, just seemed like a silly gimmick and took the fun out of killing. Lastly, the holograms were very annoying. Creating something that can't be killed that does more damage to you than anything else in the game is plain stupid. However, aside from the collar, these annoyances only make up a very small part of the DLC, and therefore don't have a significant impact on the enjoyment.
I still have Honest Hearts to play through. We'll see how that one compares to these two!
Monday, August 01, 2011
Duck and Cover!
It's going to be incredibly difficult for me to speak about Blizzard's recent Diable 3 announcements with an unbiased tongue. Actually, it's probably impossible for me to do so, and therefore I'm not even going to try to play the part of the good reporter. Fuck that. Let's make people angry!
My thoughts on the topic: So?
Oh my, can you hear it? So many nerds are gnashing their teeth at me right now!
All right, so I suppose I should actually go into a bit more detail, hm? Okay, so PC Gamer visited Blizzard over the weekend, and got a bunch of details on three very volatile decisions that Blizzard has made regarding Diablo 3. Those three things are, with proper links:
1. Diablo 3 will be an "always-online" game.
2. Blizzard prohibits the use of mods.
3. There will be a "real money" auction house.
I really don't want to even get into the topic of all the nerdrage. Most of it is ill-informed blather, anyway. So I'll only ask one question: Will any of this effect my main reason for playing the game? The answer is no. Therefore, my original response, which is a response that seems to make the majority of the gaming community want to inflict violence upon me, still stands. And that is, "So?".
By the way, in case you're out of touch with reality, the main reason for playing a game is to have fun.
My thoughts on the topic: So?
Oh my, can you hear it? So many nerds are gnashing their teeth at me right now!
All right, so I suppose I should actually go into a bit more detail, hm? Okay, so PC Gamer visited Blizzard over the weekend, and got a bunch of details on three very volatile decisions that Blizzard has made regarding Diablo 3. Those three things are, with proper links:
1. Diablo 3 will be an "always-online" game.
2. Blizzard prohibits the use of mods.
3. There will be a "real money" auction house.
I really don't want to even get into the topic of all the nerdrage. Most of it is ill-informed blather, anyway. So I'll only ask one question: Will any of this effect my main reason for playing the game? The answer is no. Therefore, my original response, which is a response that seems to make the majority of the gaming community want to inflict violence upon me, still stands. And that is, "So?".
By the way, in case you're out of touch with reality, the main reason for playing a game is to have fun.
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