What I’ve Been Playing
The news articles didn’t really work as all I was doing was rephrasing news I had read somewhere else which as I doubt anyone reads this site for news didn’t really enthuse me to doing it every week. In an attempt to post something at least vaguely regular I am writing an article called what I’ve been playing were I write about what I’ve been playing where I write about what I’ve been playing where I write about … you get the point.
Mirrors Edge
I have been writing a review of this for about a month and I’m finding it very hard as while I love it I don’t feel I could recommend it to anyone, the story’s uninspiring and the gameplay is a mix of fantastic fast paced free running, tedious puzzles and shitty combat. Its still one of my favourite games of the year but its fairly understandable why people think it sucks. If you want to try it its under £10 for all consoles and Amazon seems to have the best prices
Machinarium Demo
I’ve been watching this indie adventure game for a while as it’s very very pretty the hand drawings give it far more character than bumpmapped pores and phong shading on a moustache will ever achieve. Adventure games have never been the height of gameplay fun making up for it with compelling stories though whether this, as it relies on stylised speech bubbles will work is another matter. Still the demo was interesting and I will likely buy the game just to see the rest of the lovely art. The demo is available from here and the game can be pre-purchased on the developers website for $17 or Steam £11.24 which is probably the best deal you will find.
Strange Adventure in Infinite Space/ Weird Worlds Return to Infinite Space
Some more indie games, one free one dumbly overpriced which is the only reason I can’t recommend both. Strange Adventures can be downloaded here for free and you can buy/get the demo for Weird Worlds here. Basically you just Kirk it up in a top down view visiting star systems and collecting goodies as well as switching to a reasonable space combat sim to fight aliens along the way, all done in a time limit, it’s hopelessly addictive and thanks to it procedurally generated galaxies each time you play is different. The only real difference between the two is Weird Worlds is a later version with better graphics, more stuff, larger areas and not really worth the $25 price even if it improves on the original.
Batman Arkham Asylum
Yes its good but is it really as good as everyone has been saying well maybe, I liked it but I don’t feel its game of the year material not that I think anything else so far this year is. The boss fights feel a little dated with the dodge attack repeat of the dare of yore but this is offset against a beautifully fluid brawler broken up with some implausible yet wondrously fun stealth sections that really make you feel like Adam West (joke). The graphics suffer a bit from Unreal Tournament engine syndrome a where everything looks like Gears of War all shiny textures and browny grey lighting though this is counteracted by fantastic character models and interesting level design. The story’s not that great even if it is above average for a game but this is compensated by great voice acting and interesting voice tapes, character bios and the big secret mystery. So in short it has its flaws which make it fall short of perfect but if you love Batman you won’t care and you’re gay.
I also bought a Playstation 3 which isn’t really relevant but I wanted to make the imaginary readers jealous, I got Infamous, Drakes Fortune and Fifa 10 not that I’m going to play Fifa 10 its for a friend (I hate sports in reality so why would I want to play virtual sport), so I might post some pics or something like normal people do about their girlfriends.
Fortnightly News?
There is an “awesome event horizon” a point at which something can no longer get any better, few things reach it but one game is getting close it is Borderlands which I’m far more excited about than Modern Dead Assassin 2. Its latest awesome comes in the form of an ESRB description written in such a dry manner about the ludicrousosity of the game it seems like they are taking the piss.
“Rating summary: This is a sci-fi first-person shooter in which players assume the roles of mercenary treasure hunters on a mission to the fictional planet of Pandora. Players undertake missions/quests that increase characters’ skills, eliminate an assortment of mutant creatures, and drive and collide with advanced alien vehicles. Players kill hundreds of enemies (e.g., human bandits and mercenary soldiers) over the course of the game by using a wide variety of guns (shotguns, sniper rifles), explosives, and special ammo types (fire, acid and electricity, etc.). The combat is frenetic, and enemies moan or scream when they are hit. Damage from weapons also results in large spurts of blood, dismemberment, and decapitation. When a human or creature is decapitated, an effect resembling a fountain of blood will shoot from the neck for a few seconds and stop. Some weapons cause enemies to split in half, the top being separated from the waist. During the course of the game, characters make jokes about streaking, body parts, rape, and mothers (e.g., “…more busted than my momma’s girly parts”). Strong profanity (e.g., “f*cking,” “sh*t,” “p*ssy,” and “d*ckbag”) can be heard in the dialogue.”
I could say more about the new Borderlands video but that would hardly be fair to all the other poor games out there.
Rock Band Beatles has been released and people seem to be pretty happy with it which is hardly surprising considering it has some of the best music ever combined with the existing popular gameplay of Rock Band.
Darkest of Days has also been released, a game that’s similar to Painkiller in spirit where you go to bunch of varied locations and rack up a huge body count. The twist is the locations are famous one throughout history such as Pompeii and the thing with Colonel Custer so here hoping there’s a bit where you go back and stop Piers Morgan from being born, look below for some of the other locations you will be visiting to kick some caveman arse.
There’s a demo available which I’ve played and it was pretty fun though I’m unwilling to pay the £26.99 asking price on Steam until there’s a few reviews for it.
Chris removed this from the site thinking it wasn’t good enough to warrant an individual post, which is fair enough as it isn’t, so I’ll just bung it here instead.
I’m not really big on video game merchandise having no desire to advertise how much of a geek I am, the only bits I own are the Mass Effect novels I bought out of a mix of boredom and the epic feeling I got from completing that game (though I’m not sure Chris will agree). Now we’ve established I don’t just go off and buy everything to do with the games I like I will come to the main point being that I’ve just seen some video game merchandise I want to buy, it being a Plants Vs Zombies T-Shirt and it looks proper cool. It’s available from the Popcap Store though sadly it doesn’t ship to the UK so I may just have to go cry or something. There are actually 2 shirts available but only one of them is good so that’s the one that’s pictured.
Weekly News
Hopefully I wont be lazy and this will be an article I publish every Wednesday however as I am already a day late it’s not looking too promising. In it I aim to round up some of the past weeks more interesting stories including a mix of releases, announcements, trailers and other general game related stories pilfered from more reputable sites. So let’s go kids.
Batman Arkham Asylum has been released to unanimous critical praise, currently having a metascore of 91 is no small feat. It is due to be released on the 28th August for Xbox 360 and PS3 and 18th of September for PC, which is when I’ll finally get my hands on it apart from the fact I’m in the Alps then, bloody holidays.
Some awesome new gameplay videos of Borderlands have been put up on Gametrailers, the first is a just a montage the second is an interview with Randy Picthford the Gearbox president showing a load more extended gameplay including a revolver magazined pump action sniper rifle. Nothing can stop me being excited about this game, even the buggy driving straight though some rocks (watch out for it).
Some DLC for Mass Effect titled Pinnacle Station was released supposedly its rubbish and as it seems to be combat orientated, which as it was never Mass Effect’s strong point I’m not surprised, still I may still get it and just feel stupid later.
Development of Beyond Good and Evil 2 is on hold which is a shame as the first one was pretty good, this was announced on twitter and I really don’t want to ever use twitter as a news source so hopefully this will be the first and last time.
Supposedly it is now legal to sell games and other adult media to those under 18 in the UK due to a big fuck up in the law I doubt this will impact any shops policies on actually selling games to minors but it’s still a fairly interesting issue.
That concludes this weeks news, byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Review - Ben There, Dan That! (PC)
The point and click adventure game is a genre that has been somewhat abandoned by the mainstream game developers, which leaves a decent niche for independent developers to fill. This is exactly what Zombie Cow have done with Their olde fashioned adventure games; Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen Please, the former of which we’ll be taking a look at.
The game follows the adventures of the titular Ben and Dan, starting out at the end of one adventure in Peru before returning back home to a broken TV which they must fix or face missing ‘Magnum PI’. To say much else would be a spoiler; needless to say they go on a journey across time and space, all while learning about themselves and each other (yes, I meant that to sound like a crap film for kiddiewinks).
Anyone familiar with a point and click adventure game will have no trouble controlling this. You have an inventory, and the left click function can be switched between hand for (interacting), feet (for moving) and Dan (for interacting with things you don’t want to) with a right click. This can sometimes be a little clunky as you have cycle though the options to open a door rather than just walk through. Puzzles are nowhere near as obtuse as those found in some classic adventure games. The one time I really got stuck on was due to not realising part of the background was supposed to be in the foreground, but that can easily just be put down to my idiocy.
It’s full of adventure game in-jokes and the chemistry, if you can call stylised speech bubbles that, between the leads is great. It’s not just discourse the between the Ben and Dan that’s amusing. Practically every encounter leads to entertaining dialogue, poor attempts to solve the puzzles also also lead to witty comments about the players attempted actions. The writing is the undeniable highlight of the game and the fact that it is frequently funny when displayed, rather than spoken demonstrates it’s quality.
The MS paint-esque art style isn’t going to win any prizes but the unique look is memorable, and the environments visited are varied and colourful enough to keep things interesting. The characters also mock the style at several points I found it nice to see developers aware of the visual oddities in their creation.
As already mentioned there’s no spoken dialogue and the only sound is background ambience with the odd environmental noise when performing certain actions. This generally works well but the few places with no background sound made me think I had accidently turned the volume down. The menu music is catchy and fits the game, there’s not really anything else to say about the sound apart from it’s pretty good.
There are some technical issues that can be a little annoying sometimes. Dan flickers when following you, and to play the game full screen you have to open the config file and to change the value but in the overall scheme of things, these detract little from the game experience.
The game is fairly short, only taking me just over three and a half hours to complete but as it’s free that’s hardly a complaint. Ben There, Dan That! can be downloaded here or if you are feeling generous you can by it along with its sequel ‘Time Gentlemen, Please’ for £2.99 off Steam which I strongly recommend you do as the creators deserve your money, so give it to them.
the good: Brilliantly written, Quirky drawings, Funny, Clever, Free
the bad: Interface can be a little clunky, Short, Some visual glitches
Ben There, Dan That! gets 4/5 goblins
Thoughts On Some Games…
When I started this article initially I was under the impression that most of the big title names that were supposed to be released this “Holiday Season” were delayed, though after just an initial look it seems that at least in terms of games I have an interest in that is not quite true.
Let’s have a look at what I think might be good.
Delayed till Q1 2010:
Bioshock 2
The first game was great, at least in terms of story, though with a different writer and team behind it I’m dubious as to whether this game can live up to its predecessor’s standards. Still, it could potentially be great … or not.
Dark Void
You play a character resembling Boba Fett fighting inter-dimensional aliens in the Bermuda Triangle in a cross of cover based third person fighting and jetpack flying (see where the Boba Fett bit comes from, a fucking jetpack wooo) action. It looks good but we all know that how it plays is what’s important.
Max Payne 3
So Max Payne is bald and has a beard; it happens to he best of us. The preceding two games played great and the first had a compelling story, is this a good revival or a dirty capitalist cash in on a respected old brand name? I guess we will have to wait and see.
Singularity
Looks a bit like Bioshock, a bit like Half Life 2, a bit like Wolfenstein, a bit like Timeshift, this game doesn’t have too much on the originality side but if the game gets the basics it could still be worth a look in. Steering bullets adds a feather to its metaphorical hat too.
Splinter Cell
I wasn’t at all interested in this game in the slightest until I saw the E3 demo where it instantly jumped to something to watch. Lazily described Assassins Creed crossed with Hitman but potentially better than both. Seriously, go watch the gameplay videos.
On time(ish) late 2009:
Assassins Creed 2
The first game had a fantastic looking world to explore full of realistically annoying peasants to murder but with only an average game on top, you were more Rambo of the Middle Ages than a stealthy assassin and the game certainly got repetitive. A lack of closure in the storyline also annoyed me. Whether I think this game is worth purchasing will depend on these issues being cleared up, being a human kite and having two wrist blades isn’t enough for me.
Batman Arkham Asylum
I have no doubt this will be a commercial success anything with the name Batman on now seems to sell better than porn mags on an oil rig. Critically it may be another matter the game certainly looks and sounds the part thanks to some good voice talent and initial previews have been promising fortunately we only have to wait till the end of this month to find out. (it is now the end of the month and it has very good reviews).
Borderlands
I am excited about this game; a fantastic art style, an obscenely large amount of loot (think 3 million+ unique weapons), and a big open world, enemies that are on fire. all this really doesn’t sum up what makes this game seem so good to me, I guess you have to watch it in action to really get the full impact. Serious this game is not as it seems to be, going back to a time when the crazier the better and its certainly working for me.
Brutal Legend
While I won’t be playing this game, lacking in either of the consoles needed, I thought it deserved to be here as while the gameplay may not be as good as some of the other titles out there but you are unlikely to find a game that’s funnier, cleverer has characters half as likeable as those written by Tim Schafer.
Dragons Age: Origins
I’m more interested in the supposed depth in consequences of your decisions this game is supposed to have rather than any more traditional aspect. It may make a broken mess or meld together into a masterpiece still if any company can do it I would put my money on Bioware.
Left for Dead 2
New characters, new locations, new weapons, new infected, this game seems to be more of Left for Dead, and that is in no way a bad thing. The first game was great and I have faith in Valve to not let me down.
Modern Warfare 2
Guess this could almost be described the same I did Left for Dead minus the zombies. Of course still I’m sure this won’t disappoint with more of what made the first game great, though its going to have to wait for a price drop for my purchase. £55rrp can fuck right off (though maybe it would matter less to me if I not just getting it for the single player).
So my initial impression was wrong and the delayed\on schedule games split seems to be about 50:50, though there is certainly a more interesting selection of games in the first quarter of 2010 compared to say this year which had just FEAR 2 and the Chronicles of Riddick that while not bad both failed to really live up to their potential and my hopes, also Burnout Paradise was released for PC which doesn’t really count having been released for Xbox and PS3 a year earlier.
There are also several non delayed titles I’m excited about being released in the same period of next year including Alan Wake (now no longer on the pc), Mass Effect 2 (now rated 18, for which I expect full on alien boobies) which add to a list of potentially great games to play when I should be working.
Interestingly I read somewhere (that I couldn’t find again for reference) that claimed a bunch of the delayed games would be the first to use DX11 how true this is I don’t know seeing how little DX10 has made an impact on anything except on my Microsoft bullshit detector I can’t be excited but I wont complain any extra polish a game receives.
So it’s not like anyone will have any problems finding something to keep themselves occupied during the inevitable family arguments about how to cook a turkey this Christmas if you are lucky to get one of these lovely electrical entertainment items in your stocking, unless you’re a starving African child. In which case you might get malaria or death.