• 21Aug 08

  Thoughts Inspired by the Too Human Review

  I noticed that there has been a lot of wrangling from Gamespotters about the Too Human review that appeared a few days ago. A lot of users have (spuriously) connected the low score with an alleged drop in quality in Gamespot. Comments along the lines of "You've lost all credibility," and "We can't trust you anymore" have been slapped under Kevin VanOrd's review and I think this is a little unfair because I think that the review is great. The reason why is that I completely agree with it.
  
  Although I have only played the demo, I found it distinctly annoying. Let's be honest, the story and character setup made no sense whatsoever. In fact, it was bewildering. I have since discovered that it is a retelling of Norse mythology and I am still none the wiser. Comments under the review stated that of course, those interested in the game have a good knowledge of Norse mythology. That's nonsense, I think there are a few 'Google Experts' overstating the case here. I enjoyed Return of the King (game and film) but I will concede that the storytelling in the game was sketchy at best and if that knocked a few points off the review, so what. I knew the story and it enhanced the game experience but as a stand-alone game it was confusing and I'm not offended by that fact.
  
  The gameplay for Too Human was fun, scooting around with melee attacks and using the right stick to target enemies was exciting and the demo had a good compromise between the two. However the cracks showed when Baldur continued to target fallen enemies and after suffering at the hands of the odd inescapable and subsequently fatal petrification in Jade Empire I can totally understand the frustration with those status effects.
  
  These design choices could be a hangover from when the game was initially conceived (over 10 years ago) but as the game industry matures we demand more from it. I loved Resident Evil 2 but on playing Resident Evil 0 five years later I won't let any nostalgic haze convince me that the control system was anything but cumbersome. Similarly RE4 seemed like complete freedom in comparison at the time, but now I will admit that Leon's tank-like controls demanded a lot of compromises. I won't get snooty because something I loved has flaws because I have grown up with the technology.
  
  Ultimately, a lot of people have been waiting for Too Human for a very long time and in their minds it's already good. It has to be or what were they waiting for? This is a bit silly, isn't it? Just because your long awaited game isn't what you had hoped don't lash out in an effort to soothe your disappointment, just buy the game and enjoy it. I loved the Ghost in the Shell PS2 game but if someone were to point that in fact it's derivative, repetitive and bland I would agree. The faults are glaringly obvious but so what? I had a good time with it.
  
  When a game isn't as well received as we had hoped there are two choices, acceptance or denial.
  
  Acceptance: Give the game a go and if you still like it, stick at it and who cares what Gamespot thinks. If not, shrug your shoulders, walk away and don't take it personally.
  
  Denial: Give the game a go and just like it whatever the case and if you fancy, use the faceless anonymity of the internet to irrationally slate all dissenters. Lock the door to truth and cosy up to ignorance.
  
  The choice is yours
  • Posted Aug 21, 2008 8:03 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
  • 7 Comments
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• 25Jul 08

  Gears of Whhaaaaat, not again!

  I finally clocked Gears of War last night and in all honesty it was a struggle as the final boss was an absolute nightmare. I must have failed about 20 times before I finally managed to nail the bastard and then I had to employ game-bending tactics to do it. The 2 foot square concrete block between us didn't stop me blind-firing two clipfuls into his chin but thankfully (and miraculously) it did stop him from looking down to shoot! It was like in Goldeneye where you could run right up to Jaws and he couldn't shoot you because his arms were too long.
  
  I have been putting a few hours into Rainbow 6: Vegas online recently and it has been fun. I have been tentatively putting the word out on Gamespot to see if anyone else still plays it but seeing as it has a sequel I think it's one of those games that is gradually dropping out of sight. I had a few games of Survival last night with some American guys and it was hilarious. As players are knocked out they appear on the mic to help, hinder or otherwise the surviving players. The only problem was that I couldn't concentrate as they were so funny.
  
  The only game time I will be having this weekend is a few blurry games of Wii Tennis as I am off to my mates in Brackley to attend their village beer festival. Hopefully this time tomorrow I will be sitting outside the town hall with a lovely pint of Skullsplitter talking absolute nonsense with all my mates. As Frankie Howerd would say, Salutay.
  • Posted Jul 25, 2008 6:41 am GMT
  • Category: General
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• 17Jul 08

  I'm Sooo Over...

  RAGDOLL PHYSICS
  
  This used to the buzz word that we couldn't get enough. According to pedants friend Wikipedia, it was first used in Jurassic Park: Trespasser and now giants like GTA, Halo and Gears of War are flinging limp corpses around with abandon. When bodies were flailing all over the place in Psi-Ops, I couldn't believe my eyes. "Wow, that dead guy looks so real!" Well, I don't know about you but even though i have never seen a dead body I am pretty sure it wouldn't collapse like a tea towel. It's hard to see why we fixated on something as morbid as cadaver physics, I am sure that there is some macabre psychology behind it and on a purely technical level it is impressive. However, in a quest for realistic body physics we have got a more unrealistic looking result.
  Limp: Halo, Rainbow Six: Vegas
  Limber: Perfect Dark, Mortal Kombat
  
  
  GOOD VS EVIL
  
  Peter Molyneux has a lot to answer for. In Black & White a subtle change of appearance indicated your familiars personality, no scale and no good or bad-ometer. Then came Fable and we got the sliding scale that made measuring morals a cinch. I must be one of the few players out there that does actually spend a few minutes over the moral choices that some games pose. The last decision in GTAIV had me tied up in knots and I even approached my girlfriend with a 'What would you do?' Introducing a quantifiable scale encourages a lot of my gaming peers to see how far they can push the indicator into the black because we all want to be the cool bad boy, it just doesn't work. Let's have some shades of grey.
  Sinner: Fable, KOTOR
  Saint: GTAIV, Mass Effect
  
  
  LEVELLING UP AND GRINDING DOWN
  
  A controversial one but to my mind, completely redundant. To clarify, I am not talking about the unlocking of abilities or items here but the gradual and tedious grind to get that magic number up by a point or two. In an extreme case you could argue that a level boils down to difficulty setting that can only be adjusted by hours of tedious repetition. Any concept of skill is stripped away and the game becomes work for works sake. Having trouble with a boss? Just run around fighting grubs for a couple of hours and you'll have no problem. There are so many more sophisticated ways of giving games a balanced difficulty curve like new enemies, more enemies, newer weapons, increased AI, more complex locations and so on. Personally, I think the grind has had it's day.
  Grinds my gears: FFXII, Pokemon
  Grinds my booty: Ninja Gaiden, Psi-Ops
  
  
  THE (SO-CALLED) DEATH OF THE SINGLE PLAYER GAME
  
  Playing online is excellent and as a recent subscriber to XBox Live I have enjoyed some great moments playing Sharpshooter on Rainbow Six: Vegas. Hopefully I will overcome my reservations about communicating with scary strangers and have a go at the various team modes on offer as well. However, for me gaming is mostly about the single player as being a part of a story arc adds to the whole experience. Those that claim that the single player experience is a thing of the past have obviously missed out on the delights of Mass Effect and Half Life 2. In fact, the whole tone of games like Silent Hill or Bioshock totally lend themselves to the solitary experience. I believe that for the most part, a strong emotional connection to a game (or character within it) can only be achieved in it's story element - primarily a one-person pursuit. In the past, games would have a lacklustre multiplayer mode crammed in as an afterthought to the main adventure, I hope that things don't go too far the other way.
  Tonto: Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, Halo 2
  Lone Ranger: Portal, Resident Evil
  
  
  Anybody else got any tired old gaming traditions that should be consigned to the archives of gaming history? I am sure there are plenty out there. Just don't say exploding barrels, I still love the exploding barrels......

  • Posted Jul 17, 2008 6:05 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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