Recently the cover art for F.E.A.R. 3 was revealed to the public and just from the graphic it is apparent that the series will be sticking to their tired and true formula of just ripping off the first game.
"F.E.A.R." (First Encounter Assault Recon) was a game about a the evil government entrapping an all powerful psychic little girl and her subsequent quest for revenge or something to that effect. It was an FPS/survival-horror crossbreed that played heavily on the ever-popular Japanese horror styling. Sadly it coupled genuinely eerie environments and solid game play with a trite story and flat, two-dimensional characters, much like "Dead Space."
"F.E.A.R. 2" was basically the same game. Gamers and critics gave it pretty favorable reviews, but whether or not you like it depends entirely upon your like of the first game. For those of us who are "games are art" types, the same flimsy plot and characters did little to endear the game.
"F.E.A.R. 3's" cover is already ripping off the first two covers, so the potential for an entirely new, unique game seems unlikely. But time will tell.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Risen's transition to Xbox 360 not so graceful.
"Risen" is, for all intents and purposes, a fun, enjoyable RPG. It's not going to win any awards for originality (think "Fable" meets "Morrowind") nor will you be particularly bowled over by the voice acting (half the world is voiced by a Ringo impersonator), but the graphics are pretty solid and the game mechanics are straight-forward and easy to grasp.
Which is why it's such a shame that it did not transition well from the PC to the Xbox 360. From all accounts the PC version was a solid "B" game, where as the 360 version seems to garish anywhere from an "F" to a "C" at best. The reason for the discrepancy is what feels like a thrown-together, hashed-out conversion to the 360.
On the opening screen the menu bars are partially cut off by the bottom of the screen. As are any captions like, say, your location. On one map transition the words were almost completely cut off, save the first letter which I guess was "T." The key bindings are, at times, counter intuitive and feel as though they were mapped by a person who has seen a 360 controller but never actually played a 360 game.
The worst transition is the engine, which feels sluggish at times. When in crowded areas everyone suddenly slows to a crawl. This isn't such a bad thing when in cities or camps, but in combat it makes some encounters nigh-unplayable.
Even with some hiccups and bugs the game is still a solid role-playing experience and worthy of any RPGer's time. But add it to your GameFly queue, or pick up a used copy; while the issues do not completely diminish your game play, they do make the $59.99 price tag look quite steep.
Which is why it's such a shame that it did not transition well from the PC to the Xbox 360. From all accounts the PC version was a solid "B" game, where as the 360 version seems to garish anywhere from an "F" to a "C" at best. The reason for the discrepancy is what feels like a thrown-together, hashed-out conversion to the 360.
On the opening screen the menu bars are partially cut off by the bottom of the screen. As are any captions like, say, your location. On one map transition the words were almost completely cut off, save the first letter which I guess was "T." The key bindings are, at times, counter intuitive and feel as though they were mapped by a person who has seen a 360 controller but never actually played a 360 game.
The worst transition is the engine, which feels sluggish at times. When in crowded areas everyone suddenly slows to a crawl. This isn't such a bad thing when in cities or camps, but in combat it makes some encounters nigh-unplayable.
Even with some hiccups and bugs the game is still a solid role-playing experience and worthy of any RPGer's time. But add it to your GameFly queue, or pick up a used copy; while the issues do not completely diminish your game play, they do make the $59.99 price tag look quite steep.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Feelin' Guilty...
So I have to admit I'm feeling a little guilty as of late. I still have not touched "Awakening" since my initial few nights of playing it. I feel like it's that guy/girl you really wanted to go on a date with because they were totally hot and interesting, and then the date didn't go so great but you told them you'd call anyway, and you never have. "Awakening" is just sitting on top of my 360 looking at me... forlornly.
I just can't get into it. For one thing, I had *such* a thing for Sten. Loved him to pieces, wish he was a love interest. He's not in this expansion and that makes me sad. But more to the point, NO love interests are in the expansion and that makes the game feel a little empty. Lemme 'splain:
It's not just that I really have a secret desire to RP it up with NPCs. I mean, I do, but that's not what's at issue here. The romance (and indeed the like/dislike) system of DA:O was what added a nice flavor to the game. It gave it depth and a bit of mystery. From your conversations you learned things about people which led to quests or just made the NPCs feel a little more human. The romance was especially nice because then you really, really had something to work for and interact with your party members for more than just "Hey, how's it going?"
Which is what "Awakening" offers you. First off, the dialog options are stilted at best, and second, and most important, there is no real challenge to it. On my first (admittedly weakest) playthrough, I totally missed Oghren's side quest. Completely! I also missed Liliana's because I didn't care to talk to her (I have an alpha female thing goin' on). If you miss "Awakening"'s equivalent of a side quest, you must be drinkin' while playing. Four conversations with the mage and I hear that he misses his kitten. Guess what? There's a kitten playing outside. Ugh. Two with the whiney Howe kid and you figure out what he wants. And then ALL conversation with them is DONE. Done! Finished!
What's the point?! And as much as I love BioWare, so much of their games depends upon the interaction and human element. The stories are always decent, but nothing truly revolutionary or ground-breaking. And "Awakening's" story is ... well ... same shit different villain.
*sigh* I'll pick it up some day, I promise, I will. But in the meantime ... it's just waiting for me to call. And yes, I feel guilty about it.
I just can't get into it. For one thing, I had *such* a thing for Sten. Loved him to pieces, wish he was a love interest. He's not in this expansion and that makes me sad. But more to the point, NO love interests are in the expansion and that makes the game feel a little empty. Lemme 'splain:
It's not just that I really have a secret desire to RP it up with NPCs. I mean, I do, but that's not what's at issue here. The romance (and indeed the like/dislike) system of DA:O was what added a nice flavor to the game. It gave it depth and a bit of mystery. From your conversations you learned things about people which led to quests or just made the NPCs feel a little more human. The romance was especially nice because then you really, really had something to work for and interact with your party members for more than just "Hey, how's it going?"
Which is what "Awakening" offers you. First off, the dialog options are stilted at best, and second, and most important, there is no real challenge to it. On my first (admittedly weakest) playthrough, I totally missed Oghren's side quest. Completely! I also missed Liliana's because I didn't care to talk to her (I have an alpha female thing goin' on). If you miss "Awakening"'s equivalent of a side quest, you must be drinkin' while playing. Four conversations with the mage and I hear that he misses his kitten. Guess what? There's a kitten playing outside. Ugh. Two with the whiney Howe kid and you figure out what he wants. And then ALL conversation with them is DONE. Done! Finished!
What's the point?! And as much as I love BioWare, so much of their games depends upon the interaction and human element. The stories are always decent, but nothing truly revolutionary or ground-breaking. And "Awakening's" story is ... well ... same shit different villain.
*sigh* I'll pick it up some day, I promise, I will. But in the meantime ... it's just waiting for me to call. And yes, I feel guilty about it.
FanGirl's Guide to the Cliche
FanGirl’s Guide to the Cliché, You Idiot Developers...
When does a good idea become a cliché? When I’m freakin’ expecting it and not the least bit surprised by it. Seriously, I would have thought this was fairly obvious by now, but game developers keep throwin’ ‘em at us in the vain attempt to be edgy and dramatic. Here are a few of the clichés I’d like to see die in a FOCA:
The Betrayal: Dun-duh-duh! That person who has been helping you for half of the game, or your best friend of 20+ years? Yeah, they’ve been working for the bad guy or ARE the bad guy the whooooooole time. (Insert maniacal laughter here.) This has, on occasion, been done well. Bioshock being the most recent incident where the betrayal was handled so subtly and deftly, you had to sit back and think “that bastard!” A recent example of this not working? Well, gee, how about “ “Dead Space?” I can remember a point, about ½-way through “Dead Space” when DH and I looked at each other and said “She’s gonna screw us over.” And sure enough, she’s working for the bad guys. Wow, what a twist! It’s gotten so bad that now, when playing a game, I find myself instantly distrusting whomever happens to be helping me because I’m now conditioned to expect betrayal. This isn’t edgy, this is CLICHÉ!
The Twist: Technically the blame for this goes to M. Night (What a twist!), but the video game industry has been more than willing to beat this dead horse. Again, sometimes a twist can be good and I’d hate to ban or outlaw the twist entirely, but it’d be worth it to save the groan-inducing incidents of, say, “Infamous.” ***Spoiler Warning *** The bad guy is you from the future? Really?? Are you freaking kidding me? *** End *** Insert Lilli Von Shtupp saying “How ordinary.” Again I find myself playing games and waiting for the twist. What’s it going to be? Is he really dead? Is she really dead? Is this all a dream? Is Soylent Green people?? A twist is not a twist if I saw it coming a mile away. (I'm not even going to discuss the horror that was "Metal Gear Solid" and the 50-billion twists within that garbage)
The “Bad Guy” hero: Okay, first off, as an English major, I feel the need to point out that a bad-guy as the hero does not make him an anti-hero. It makes him some douchebag I gotta follow around. 50 Cent (“50 Cent: Blood in the Sand”) definitely falls under this category, as does Kratos. Okay, we get it, the big, tough, tattooed killing machine has a heart. Or a soft-spot. Or has been wronged in some way that should make me feel sorry for him. Move on and find someone else, please, for the love of the Throne.
The Non-timed Dire Situation: Inevitably, usually in the beginning of a game, I am going to be in a spot where I have to get out of the building/room/ship, or get away from some evil monster chasing me. Let's use the initial scene in "Mass Effect 2" for example: someone is taking over the ship and trying to kill me. I need to get to the hangar to find an escape ship ASAP. However there is no time limit, so I can explore every square inch of the building, go back and do a dance, sit on my ass to go to the bathroom ... I have all the time in the world. The danger won't be triggered until I get to the hangar bay itself, at which point, the danger is already over. I realize that exploring is a huge part of the game, but why not add a challenge to it? Trust me: I have RPG vision from years of playing Resident Evil. I can both run AND look for shiny objects. I can even click on those shiny objects while running for my life. Funny how that works. But I'm willing to lose those three ammo clips for the sake of feeling like my life is really in danger. Knowing that I have all the time in the world to escape rips me out of the mood of the game quicker than, well, the betrayal cliche listed above.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
I am Jack's Complete Lack of Surprise.
Well, FFXIII finally got here from GameFly and wow am I totally not surprised at how much I dislike it. This game could give Hideo Kojima a run for his money on the cut scenes of DOOM. The cut scene to game play ratio is so out of whack it was more like watching a movie, but every 30 or 40 minutes it kicks you back to the main menu so you gotta smash some buttons to get back to the movie.
And my predictions for the game were pretty spot-on. Once again we are in medias res (starting after the story began) and we have to wait for any semblance of back story. Of course seeing as we're playing an FF game, we can pretty much assume there is an evil overlord/corporation ruining Happy McHappysville, and our main character is trying to stop them. Oh, did I mention the main character's name is Lightening? *head desk*
Lightening is joined by Hope, Snow & Vanille. Oh my god I wish I was kidding. Snow is, of course, our main male love interest and can summon a motorcycle. Vanille is -- you guessed it -- the quirky, hyper, kawaii girl who spouts off random bits of cutesy dialog that, at times, make zero sense with what is going on around her.
Which brings me back to my point about the Final Fantasy Archetypes: they are being worn to death. Carl Jung said that once an archetype is named as an archetype, it ceases to be an archetype and devolves into a cliche (that's not the exact word he uses but I'm not going to dig out my Jung book right now, thank you very much). Ever since FFVII, the standard FF characters are becoming more and more obvious. FFX was, I think, the pinnacle of "I see what you did there," with Tidus being so similar to Cloud, I was humming the Patty Duke theme song in my head.
I thought I understood why SquareEnix does this: because it creates a sense of familiarity. We instantly like certain characters and dislike others because we recognize them as who they are like. "Oh that guy? He's cool, he's like Sephiroth." But now the standards are wearing themselves so thin, they're not like a character, they are that character, only somehow more annoying. Vanille is Rikku on meth. And Rikku wasn't even Rikku, but a character who was like Yuffie, only somehow more annoying. See the pattern here? I imagine if you truly hated yourself, you could devote 48 hours to playing every FF game from FFVII - FFXIII and watch the slow, hateful devolution of the character types. I thought it was courtesy to the players, but now I understand it's just plain laziness. FF is milking their own brand faster and harder than Lucas with Star Wars.
And once a-fucking-gain with the ridiculous clothing. I like to think the designers of the game are failed fashion students who spend too much time at Harajuku Koen, and target their angst towards the players by finding the most garish color combination and draw lines of fabric that defy so many laws of physics, I'm worried they're going to disrupt the space-time-continuum, and call it a day.
I got about 7 hours into the game before I realized I don't hate myself this much. I story and dialog are mundane, the characters are trite, recycled garbage, and the game play is a joke. When the game does decide to let me play, the combat is ridiculously juvenile and simplistic, and somehow feels completely at odds with the most complex, convoluted upgrade system I've ever seen in my life.
No. Just no.
And my predictions for the game were pretty spot-on. Once again we are in medias res (starting after the story began) and we have to wait for any semblance of back story. Of course seeing as we're playing an FF game, we can pretty much assume there is an evil overlord/corporation ruining Happy McHappysville, and our main character is trying to stop them. Oh, did I mention the main character's name is Lightening? *head desk*
Lightening is joined by Hope, Snow & Vanille. Oh my god I wish I was kidding. Snow is, of course, our main male love interest and can summon a motorcycle. Vanille is -- you guessed it -- the quirky, hyper, kawaii girl who spouts off random bits of cutesy dialog that, at times, make zero sense with what is going on around her.
Which brings me back to my point about the Final Fantasy Archetypes: they are being worn to death. Carl Jung said that once an archetype is named as an archetype, it ceases to be an archetype and devolves into a cliche (that's not the exact word he uses but I'm not going to dig out my Jung book right now, thank you very much). Ever since FFVII, the standard FF characters are becoming more and more obvious. FFX was, I think, the pinnacle of "I see what you did there," with Tidus being so similar to Cloud, I was humming the Patty Duke theme song in my head.
I thought I understood why SquareEnix does this: because it creates a sense of familiarity. We instantly like certain characters and dislike others because we recognize them as who they are like. "Oh that guy? He's cool, he's like Sephiroth." But now the standards are wearing themselves so thin, they're not like a character, they are that character, only somehow more annoying. Vanille is Rikku on meth. And Rikku wasn't even Rikku, but a character who was like Yuffie, only somehow more annoying. See the pattern here? I imagine if you truly hated yourself, you could devote 48 hours to playing every FF game from FFVII - FFXIII and watch the slow, hateful devolution of the character types. I thought it was courtesy to the players, but now I understand it's just plain laziness. FF is milking their own brand faster and harder than Lucas with Star Wars.
And once a-fucking-gain with the ridiculous clothing. I like to think the designers of the game are failed fashion students who spend too much time at Harajuku Koen, and target their angst towards the players by finding the most garish color combination and draw lines of fabric that defy so many laws of physics, I'm worried they're going to disrupt the space-time-continuum, and call it a day.
I got about 7 hours into the game before I realized I don't hate myself this much. I story and dialog are mundane, the characters are trite, recycled garbage, and the game play is a joke. When the game does decide to let me play, the combat is ridiculously juvenile and simplistic, and somehow feels completely at odds with the most complex, convoluted upgrade system I've ever seen in my life.
No. Just no.
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