This is a new type of post that I will start writing intermittently. Its sole purpose is to expose and chronicle some of the shady, underhanded, or dishonest types that have begun to make headway in the industry.
The first member of our roundup is developer ImminentUprising. A part of Digital Homicide Studios (they're the same people from what I can tell), I've heard that they are a two person team, possibly brothers. Their release in October of this year, The Slaughtering Grounds, was not well received. It was universally panned by Steam user reviews, and Jim Sterling gave it a less than stellar review of his own. Overall, it is seen by the community as a lazy attempt to cash in on the zombie/wave survival genres of which everyone is so fond.
How did ImminentUprising respond? They took Jim Sterling's initial review video and put snarky, sarcastic text comments throughout the video. Very classy. As I understand it, the video feud continued on for weeks, with Jim Sterling and ImminentUprising making response videos to their response videos. In addition, ImminentUprising began removing any negative feedback on the Steam forums. The game's forums are a ghost town even now, because they burn down any threads that aren't complimentary. They also proposed a giveaway on their official forums in which they would give a free copy of the game to anyone that gave The Slaughtering Grounds a negative review. Instead of receiving a copy of the game, anyone that participated got banned. On top of all of that, several people noticed that The Slaughtering Grounds consisted mostly of premade assets that had been purchased, or in the case of the game's blood effects and concept art, stolen from a Google image search and an artist they do not know, respectively. In a moment of panic, ImminentUprising leveled a case of some form of copyright infringement at Sterling, which was utter bullshit. It predictably failed.
Wow. Just wow. This kind of behavior is that of a spoiled, ten year old brat. The "developer's" at ImminentUprising don't deserve to have access to development tools of any kind after a legacy of douche-baggery such as this. But wait, what's that? Its not over yet?
They are now working on a new game called Forsaken Uprising. It is basically a Rust clone, and from what I've seen, its faring a little better than The Slaughtering Grounds, but not by much. They seem to have an active presence on the game's Steam forums, and are at least trying a little bit harder with this one. The reviews are still mostly negative, but that's not what is bothering me. What is bothering me is the fact that they have lazily tried to distance themselves from The Slaughtering Grounds by creating a new Steam developer profile with a slightly different formatting of their Developer/Publisher name.
The Slaughtering Grounds format:
ImminentUprising
Digital Homicide Studios LLC
Forsaken Uprising format:
imminentuprising
Digital Homicide Studios LLC.
There you have it. Switching from uppercase to lowercase and adding a period. If you're going to try and improve your image, don't hide from your past mistakes. Don't try to continue to cover them up. Embrace them, apologize for them, learn something from them, and move on.
This was just the warmup round. Check back in the near future. I'll be doing another edition of The Facepalm Roundup.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Happy Birthday Doom
For Doom's 21st birthday, I played through its entire first episode, Knee Deep in The Dead. Enjoy.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
The Verdict...Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
I was in the shower today when I realized my ambivalence towards Call of Duty can be neatly categorized into either optimism or realism. These two sides often duke it out, and much like Call of Duty's own multiplayer matches, the victories only last for a split second. Here is how the internal discussion often takes place...
Optimistic Tony: "A brand new studio, a longer development cycle, and new gameplay mechanics that make sense! Advanced Warfare is going to be the breath of fresh air the series so desperately needs. Its in the future, it includes new movement abilities, and even has a loot drop system. Sounds good to me."
Realistic Tony: "Yeah, but its still Activision publishing the damn thing, which means issues from previous iterations will still exist, and the total amount of paid content will be enough to make Bobby Kotick's money-stuffed mattress even more full than it already is. Its a cash cow for the publisher at this point, pure and simple."
Optimistic Tony: "Well hopefully they'll adjust some of their methods before they run the franchise into the ground, close all three development studios, and cause a lot of people to become jobless."
Realistic Tony: "Are we really up to three development studios for a single franchise? Is that what gaming is becoming? And if you think Activision cares about what happens to the franchise, or its associated developers, you're sorely mistaken. The only thing they understand is a revenue stream."
Optimistic Tony: "Don't think that way! They might do the right thing!"
Realistic Tony: "Good luck with that buddy..."
Advanced Warfare really is a fun game. It contains a large amount of content straight out of the box, it introduces some spectacular new gameplay mechanics, and the PC version (the version I purchased) is not a lazy port. However, lingering under all of this, are the same freaking issues Call of Duty has had for several years. The potential Advanced Warfare has to truly be great, makes the presence of those issues all the more enraging.
The campaign is primarily about Atlas, a private military corporation that rivals many countries in military might. As Mitchell (voiced by Troy Baker), I join Atlas after losing my arm during my brief time in the Marine Corps. Jonathan Irons (voiced by Kevin Spacey), the CEO of Atlas takes Mitchell under his wing, outfitting him with a high-tech prosthetic arm and putting him to work for the PMC. That's about all I know so far. I'll be honest, I haven't beaten the campaign yet, as multiplayer has been my primary focus. Its safe to say that it's standard Call of Duty. Corridors filled with bad guys, and scripted use of awesome gadgets that would really shine in more open environments. There is an upgrade system that allows you to improve your Exo-Suit Battery or Reload Speed between missions, but its nothing that will knock off any socks. The cut-scenes in between missions also stutter to the point where they are unwatchable, but I haven't fiddled with the settings enough to see if this can be fixed.
Exo-Suit Survival is a pretty cool diversion from the other game modes. Wave based survival with limited time in between rounds to upgrade weapons and your Exo. There are objectives to complete, such as finding and disarming bombs, or collecting intel from fallen enemies, so it isn't just killing all the enemies to move onto the next round. There is also a brief zombie level if you complete certain challenges within this mode, hinting at what is to come with DLC packs. Now, a lot of people have gotten really worked up about the fact that zombies was not included with the base game, but I feel that Exo-Suit Survival provides a comparable amount of content, even if zombies is the more beloved mode. It makes sense that Sledgehammer would want to introduce their new gameplay elements into as much of the base game content as possible.
Now, onto the big one. Multiplayer. The movement system involving the Exo-Suits, along with their abilities, does make things fresh as long as everyone isn't hopping around like a bunch of jackasses. I've found that maintaining forward movement in conjunction with my vertical boosts and horizontal dodges has been pretty effective. Still, the overall increased game speed due to the new movement system can make things hectic. Its sometimes hard to see where the enemy is located. I simply die and have to watch the kill-cam to understand what happened. I've noticed that this increased speed has also made it more difficult to utilize certain gameplay styles. There are light machine-guns, but it takes so long to aim down the sights with them, that I am dead before I can get a shot off. SMG's and assault rifles are king right now. EM weapons, the new category of energy-based guns, are pretty fun to play with. They don't use ammo, but they can overheat.
Optimistic Tony: "A brand new studio, a longer development cycle, and new gameplay mechanics that make sense! Advanced Warfare is going to be the breath of fresh air the series so desperately needs. Its in the future, it includes new movement abilities, and even has a loot drop system. Sounds good to me."
Realistic Tony: "Yeah, but its still Activision publishing the damn thing, which means issues from previous iterations will still exist, and the total amount of paid content will be enough to make Bobby Kotick's money-stuffed mattress even more full than it already is. Its a cash cow for the publisher at this point, pure and simple."
Optimistic Tony: "Well hopefully they'll adjust some of their methods before they run the franchise into the ground, close all three development studios, and cause a lot of people to become jobless."
Realistic Tony: "Are we really up to three development studios for a single franchise? Is that what gaming is becoming? And if you think Activision cares about what happens to the franchise, or its associated developers, you're sorely mistaken. The only thing they understand is a revenue stream."
Optimistic Tony: "Don't think that way! They might do the right thing!"
Realistic Tony: "Good luck with that buddy..."
Advanced Warfare really is a fun game. It contains a large amount of content straight out of the box, it introduces some spectacular new gameplay mechanics, and the PC version (the version I purchased) is not a lazy port. However, lingering under all of this, are the same freaking issues Call of Duty has had for several years. The potential Advanced Warfare has to truly be great, makes the presence of those issues all the more enraging.
The campaign is primarily about Atlas, a private military corporation that rivals many countries in military might. As Mitchell (voiced by Troy Baker), I join Atlas after losing my arm during my brief time in the Marine Corps. Jonathan Irons (voiced by Kevin Spacey), the CEO of Atlas takes Mitchell under his wing, outfitting him with a high-tech prosthetic arm and putting him to work for the PMC. That's about all I know so far. I'll be honest, I haven't beaten the campaign yet, as multiplayer has been my primary focus. Its safe to say that it's standard Call of Duty. Corridors filled with bad guys, and scripted use of awesome gadgets that would really shine in more open environments. There is an upgrade system that allows you to improve your Exo-Suit Battery or Reload Speed between missions, but its nothing that will knock off any socks. The cut-scenes in between missions also stutter to the point where they are unwatchable, but I haven't fiddled with the settings enough to see if this can be fixed.
Exo-Suit Survival is a pretty cool diversion from the other game modes. Wave based survival with limited time in between rounds to upgrade weapons and your Exo. There are objectives to complete, such as finding and disarming bombs, or collecting intel from fallen enemies, so it isn't just killing all the enemies to move onto the next round. There is also a brief zombie level if you complete certain challenges within this mode, hinting at what is to come with DLC packs. Now, a lot of people have gotten really worked up about the fact that zombies was not included with the base game, but I feel that Exo-Suit Survival provides a comparable amount of content, even if zombies is the more beloved mode. It makes sense that Sledgehammer would want to introduce their new gameplay elements into as much of the base game content as possible.
 |
| As usual, multiplayer is the focus of most players. |
The pick thirteen system, an extension of Black Ops 2's pick ten, was a great idea. It allows you to tailor your loadouts to your liking without becoming awesome at everything simultaneously. Scorestreaks have also made a return from Black Ops 2, and are now customizable. The customization options for the scorestreaks are both numerous and interesting, but all of them make their associated streak more expensive. Still, for a better than average (barely) player like myself, its good to add the support upgrade to several of my streaks so that my earned points carry over even when I die. You can also click on locked slots with the spade emblem to automatically equip the proper wildcard and open that slot up.
 |
| The pick thirteen was a solid move. |
The single greatest addition to Advanced Warfare, in my opinion, is the supply drop system. Every hour of game time (give or take) rewards me with a supply drop. When I open it, it gives me weapons, cosmetic equipment (hats, gloves, knee guards, etc.), experience boosters, and boosters that lead to more frequent supply drops for a time. The variants for each base weapon are cool, and allow you to fine-tune your loadouts even more. They contain slightly different stats and sometimes have attachments permanently affixed to them. Any attachments and camouflages that are unlocked for a weapon are available for every variant as well.
 |
| Loadouts are just one category of customization. You can also choose your gender, your face, and many other options. |
 |
| Most equipment earned from loot drops can be sold for XP. |
All of this would work together to create a phenomenal multiplayer package, if lingering issues with Call of Duty as a whole weren't glaringly present. Quick-scoping with sniper rifles is still a big issue. There have been several instances when I've watched the kill-cam and should not have died unless the sniper rifle projectiles are three feet wide. The spawns are often atrocious. It becomes one giant game of leapfrog as I kill someone and then am killed by a recently spawned enemy ten feet behind me, who is killed by someone that spawned ten feet from him, and so on. I have literally died, and come back facing my killer, who lit me up again since he had the advantage and I was attempting to take a few milliseconds to get my bearings. I'm fairly certain in a few of these instances, I respawned and saw my body still collapsing to the ground, just a few feet away. That does not create tense and hectic firefights. It builds a clusterfuck with advantages often being the luck of the draw.
But the worst thing, is that Activision is still trying to shove their proprietary matchmaking down our throats because apparently they're too cheap or stubborn to spring for real dedicated servers. This has resulted in massive amounts of unfair deaths, ping spikes, disconnects, and generally a bad time for a lot of people. I've had it pretty easy so far, but it isn't uncommon for me to open up the scoreboard mid-match and to see red bars on my ping indicator. There have been several instances where I seem to only take a few bullets before I die, when in fact the enemy player had started shooting much sooner, as indicated by the kill-cam. Michael Condrey stated about a month before release that we would receive dedicated servers, and that we should expect an announcement "soon." We have been given no information since then. In the past day or so, when asked again about their status, he merely shared this statement from Activision...
" Advanced Warfare employs game servers hosted at data centers
globally on all platforms and listen servers as part of our proprietary
matchmaking system. Our goal is to ensure the best possible connection
and greatest gameplay experience regardless of location and time of day."
This has indicated to many people (myself included) that perhaps we may have been misled. I'm getting the vibe that Activision simply won't allow dedicated servers, even if Sledgehammer tells them that its for the good of the game and its what the players want. If that is the case, then that's a bunch of crap and several people somewhere need to pull their heads out of their collective asses. The conspiracy theorist in me also wouldn't put it past Activision to deny superior post-launch support in the form of dedicated servers, because they only care about the initial influx of sales and it herds everyone towards next year's release.
Until they straighten out the inherent issues present in the Call of Duty franchise, it will continue to piss a lot of people off. People that put their faith, and their money, into each yearly release hoping that it will be better than the last. Unless Sledgehammer and Activision turn some of these issues around, Advanced Warfare will frustratingly solidify the fact that Call of Duty is the Justin Bieber of video games. It sells to the uninformed consumer and the young, but the number of frustrated people that don't want it to be around anymore, is growing exponentially. The only way we'll ever make any headway, is to speak with our wallets. Unfortunately though, we spoke with our wallets when it came to Guitar Hero, and Activision is still a giant in the industry while Guitar Hero's developer, Neversoft, is no longer in existence.
Something needs to change, and unfortunately, Advanced Warfare is the poster child for that fact. I truly think Sledgehammer wants to give us the best game they can, but it seems like their money-hungry overlords are standing in the way of that. This is the last year I'm buying a Call of Duty title on release. I've
skipped entries in the series entirely, but I've always given others
my money on day one, because I wanted to believe the fundamental issues
would be cleaned up at some point in addition to new mechanics.
Verdict: Some amazing improvements to the tired Call of Duty formula are painfully marred by Activisions' inability to treat their customers as more than walking bank accounts. Until we receive dedicated servers and fixed spawn points, let this ship sail.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
I'm Excited for Advanced Warfare, and That's OK
I'm starting to get excited for the new Call of Duty. I tried to avoid it, I tried to prevent it, but its happening all the same. As I've said before, my COD love affair is one I would like to rekindle, but it has become very difficult these past few years. Still, I feel like I can maybe break out my little black book this year, and give the old girl a call.
Sledgehammer Games seems to really be putting forth their best effort to make this a fresh experience. For those that don't know, this is their first full COD title. They assisted on Modern Warfare 3, but spent the following three years working on Advanced Warfare. I think a new studio and a longer development cycle is just what the doctor ordered, but I am still concerned about having three studios producing titles for the same franchise. Even with this new blood, I'm wondering how long it will take for the fatigue to set back in. On the other hand, its not like anyone has to either buy all COD titles or none at all. I've picked the titles I wanted to purchase on a yearly basis. I skipped Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, and Ghosts. The Black Ops franchise is more my speed. I understand people not liking the setting as much, but for me, it was always about the gameplay mechanics. Things like Black Ops 2's pick ten system and score streaks were large steps forward in my opinion, and I think many of the gameplay mechanics becoming a part of Advanced Warfare are great ideas.
First of all, they've added a whole new movement system to the game. They've added exosuits, which will be a standard part of your loadouts. They allow the player to move faster, jump higher, and enable abilities like cloaking for a short period of time. These core mechanics will help the franchise move away from "whoever shoots first, wins." In addition, score streaks have made a return. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Score streaks can now be modified by upgrades. For instance, you may equip a standard auto-turret as one of your score streaks in your loadout. You can then modify that turret by adding a rocket pod to it. However, this will also make the turret more expensive. This will hopefully prevent score streaks from becoming overpowered. Advanced Warfare also brought the pick ten system back, only they have expanded it to a pick thirteen. I would imagine this was done to make room for the exosuits and their abilities.
The biggest and most exciting thing for me, is the addition of supply drops. These act as random loot drops. They provide thousands of different cosmetic customization options, weapon variants, and reinforcements. The player will still unlock Advanced Warfare's 35 base weapons as they level up, but each weapon also has nine variants that are earned through supply drops, for a total of 350 weapons. All of the weapons are still customizable as well. Reinforcements, on the other hand, act as single-use boosters to help you out of a jam. Think of them as Titanfall's burn cards. I'm a bit of a loot fiend, and as long as Sledgehammer keeps their promise of not charging for any supply drops, I will be a happy camper. I'm still a little wary, though, as I know how Activision likes to monetize their products aggressively.
I read that Advanced Warfare's campaign is going to be longer than the past few in the series. Hopefully that means it will be at least ten hours. Recently a co-op mode called exosuit survival was announced as well, so it seems like there will be a huge amount of content available when the game launches. All of this is sounding really good. Hopefully its not too good to be true, but we won't know for sure until November 4th. Here's to hoping I can reconnect with my old flame, and begin our relationship once more.
Sledgehammer Games seems to really be putting forth their best effort to make this a fresh experience. For those that don't know, this is their first full COD title. They assisted on Modern Warfare 3, but spent the following three years working on Advanced Warfare. I think a new studio and a longer development cycle is just what the doctor ordered, but I am still concerned about having three studios producing titles for the same franchise. Even with this new blood, I'm wondering how long it will take for the fatigue to set back in. On the other hand, its not like anyone has to either buy all COD titles or none at all. I've picked the titles I wanted to purchase on a yearly basis. I skipped Modern Warfare 2, Modern Warfare 3, and Ghosts. The Black Ops franchise is more my speed. I understand people not liking the setting as much, but for me, it was always about the gameplay mechanics. Things like Black Ops 2's pick ten system and score streaks were large steps forward in my opinion, and I think many of the gameplay mechanics becoming a part of Advanced Warfare are great ideas.
First of all, they've added a whole new movement system to the game. They've added exosuits, which will be a standard part of your loadouts. They allow the player to move faster, jump higher, and enable abilities like cloaking for a short period of time. These core mechanics will help the franchise move away from "whoever shoots first, wins." In addition, score streaks have made a return. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Score streaks can now be modified by upgrades. For instance, you may equip a standard auto-turret as one of your score streaks in your loadout. You can then modify that turret by adding a rocket pod to it. However, this will also make the turret more expensive. This will hopefully prevent score streaks from becoming overpowered. Advanced Warfare also brought the pick ten system back, only they have expanded it to a pick thirteen. I would imagine this was done to make room for the exosuits and their abilities.
The biggest and most exciting thing for me, is the addition of supply drops. These act as random loot drops. They provide thousands of different cosmetic customization options, weapon variants, and reinforcements. The player will still unlock Advanced Warfare's 35 base weapons as they level up, but each weapon also has nine variants that are earned through supply drops, for a total of 350 weapons. All of the weapons are still customizable as well. Reinforcements, on the other hand, act as single-use boosters to help you out of a jam. Think of them as Titanfall's burn cards. I'm a bit of a loot fiend, and as long as Sledgehammer keeps their promise of not charging for any supply drops, I will be a happy camper. I'm still a little wary, though, as I know how Activision likes to monetize their products aggressively.
I read that Advanced Warfare's campaign is going to be longer than the past few in the series. Hopefully that means it will be at least ten hours. Recently a co-op mode called exosuit survival was announced as well, so it seems like there will be a huge amount of content available when the game launches. All of this is sounding really good. Hopefully its not too good to be true, but we won't know for sure until November 4th. Here's to hoping I can reconnect with my old flame, and begin our relationship once more.
Friday, August 29, 2014
You Need to Give Me Something, Just Because I Want It...
This seemed like a logical follow-up to my previous post. There is a horrific disease that runs rampant through the industry. That disease causes people to act like ass-hats and prevents any sort of meaningful progress to be made. That disease, is an overgrown and misplaced sense of entitlement.
First, let's look at the primary carriers of this disease; the players. For some reason, a specific group of gamers have begun emerging in droves over the past couple years. This group, for some reason, believes that games are made easily, made cheaply, and are supposed to be made to meet their individual specifications. Of course, developers are going to try and make a game that appeals to as many people as possible. But there's never enough time, enough manpower, or enough money to give everyone everything they want. Even if they could, they shouldn't really need to appease everyone, especially since these requests are often baseless and lacking any sort of real thought. I once saw someone ask if Gearbox was going to implement a Gears of War type cover system in Borderlands. At which point, I quietly shut down my computer, stood up from my desk, and immediately went upstairs and went to bed. My day needed to end after reading something like that.
The problem with situations like the one I just described, is that the people that are making the suggestions (and often speaking the loudest) are the people that have not researched the game they are trying to "improve", know nothing of actual game design, and more often than not, cannot form a whole sentence that is grammatically stable. Social media has done wonders for game developers as both an advertising tool and a method of communicating with their player base. Unfortunately, it also allows far too many people to post things like "add dis gun fur free or elz I stahp playin." Its too much effort for people to make a clear and well written argument as to why a feature should be added, yet they are the first ones to complain about how long something is taking, or how lazy the developers are because their desired feature has not yet been added. These are the same people that go to indie development pages/sites and say "how can I make a game?" That's it? No more information? Are you trying to make a particular type of game? Any specific features you had in mind? It speaks to how accessible this industry has become (in both a good and a bad way) that people think they can just sit down and make a game. It doesn't work that way. Games take months of planning, mounds of technical knowledge, a cohesive team environment, and more often than not, a lot of money. The sooner more people begin to understand this, the better off the gaming community will be. That's not to try and dissuade people from becoming indie developers. I'm trying to get there myself. But I've spent many many hours watching tutorials, studying workflows and asset pipelines, and have written tons of documentation. Guess what? From a technical knowledge standpoint, I am sub-par when compared to most professional developers.
Now, to be fair, I'd like to examine the other side of this disease. Unfortunately, developers themselves seem to become afflicted from time to time. A development team is bringing their vision to life, and they are not obligated to appease anyone with their creation really. However, since creating a product that people enjoy is how they feed their families and stay in business, it is important for them to listen to solid feedback. There are far too many developers out there that have gotten too big for their britches and ignore overwhelming feedback from long time customers (we buy a product, we ARE customers), who state that a gameplay mechanic is either broken just not fun. I feel like the publishers that loom over developers and push release dates and ramble on about share holders are partially to blame for these situations. However, developers still need to be in tune with the wants of their communities. It is virtually impossible to make a game that will please everyone. But, if swarms of your fans are saying that a new concept doesn't work, or are telling you to bring some new concepts to life because you have gotten stale, you should probably listen. There have been several situations lately where this has occurred, and to their credit, the developers have eventually gotten the message and changed things for the better, but the mark has been left and a reliable group of customers have suddenly become wary of any future products you release.
Let's make this simple. Gamers; unless you buy a game based on the promise of certain included features, and those features are missing, developers don't really owe it to you to implement everything you want, just because you want it. Developers are people with families and goals and passions, and they do not exist just to make you happy. Developers; if the people that regularly buy your products stop buying your products because you didn't listen to clear and concise feedback, you have no one to blame but yourselves. Your customers are the ones that make sure you get paycheck, so always keep your ear to the ground, even if you have to listen to absolute nonsense some of the time.
First, let's look at the primary carriers of this disease; the players. For some reason, a specific group of gamers have begun emerging in droves over the past couple years. This group, for some reason, believes that games are made easily, made cheaply, and are supposed to be made to meet their individual specifications. Of course, developers are going to try and make a game that appeals to as many people as possible. But there's never enough time, enough manpower, or enough money to give everyone everything they want. Even if they could, they shouldn't really need to appease everyone, especially since these requests are often baseless and lacking any sort of real thought. I once saw someone ask if Gearbox was going to implement a Gears of War type cover system in Borderlands. At which point, I quietly shut down my computer, stood up from my desk, and immediately went upstairs and went to bed. My day needed to end after reading something like that.
The problem with situations like the one I just described, is that the people that are making the suggestions (and often speaking the loudest) are the people that have not researched the game they are trying to "improve", know nothing of actual game design, and more often than not, cannot form a whole sentence that is grammatically stable. Social media has done wonders for game developers as both an advertising tool and a method of communicating with their player base. Unfortunately, it also allows far too many people to post things like "add dis gun fur free or elz I stahp playin." Its too much effort for people to make a clear and well written argument as to why a feature should be added, yet they are the first ones to complain about how long something is taking, or how lazy the developers are because their desired feature has not yet been added. These are the same people that go to indie development pages/sites and say "how can I make a game?" That's it? No more information? Are you trying to make a particular type of game? Any specific features you had in mind? It speaks to how accessible this industry has become (in both a good and a bad way) that people think they can just sit down and make a game. It doesn't work that way. Games take months of planning, mounds of technical knowledge, a cohesive team environment, and more often than not, a lot of money. The sooner more people begin to understand this, the better off the gaming community will be. That's not to try and dissuade people from becoming indie developers. I'm trying to get there myself. But I've spent many many hours watching tutorials, studying workflows and asset pipelines, and have written tons of documentation. Guess what? From a technical knowledge standpoint, I am sub-par when compared to most professional developers.
Now, to be fair, I'd like to examine the other side of this disease. Unfortunately, developers themselves seem to become afflicted from time to time. A development team is bringing their vision to life, and they are not obligated to appease anyone with their creation really. However, since creating a product that people enjoy is how they feed their families and stay in business, it is important for them to listen to solid feedback. There are far too many developers out there that have gotten too big for their britches and ignore overwhelming feedback from long time customers (we buy a product, we ARE customers), who state that a gameplay mechanic is either broken just not fun. I feel like the publishers that loom over developers and push release dates and ramble on about share holders are partially to blame for these situations. However, developers still need to be in tune with the wants of their communities. It is virtually impossible to make a game that will please everyone. But, if swarms of your fans are saying that a new concept doesn't work, or are telling you to bring some new concepts to life because you have gotten stale, you should probably listen. There have been several situations lately where this has occurred, and to their credit, the developers have eventually gotten the message and changed things for the better, but the mark has been left and a reliable group of customers have suddenly become wary of any future products you release.
Let's make this simple. Gamers; unless you buy a game based on the promise of certain included features, and those features are missing, developers don't really owe it to you to implement everything you want, just because you want it. Developers are people with families and goals and passions, and they do not exist just to make you happy. Developers; if the people that regularly buy your products stop buying your products because you didn't listen to clear and concise feedback, you have no one to blame but yourselves. Your customers are the ones that make sure you get paycheck, so always keep your ear to the ground, even if you have to listen to absolute nonsense some of the time.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
The Hellgate Fiasco and the Importance of Being an Informed Consumer
Hellgate: London was originally released on Halloween in 2007. I was pumped. I had a collector's edition waiting for me at my local game store, and my parents had offered to buy me the lifetime subscription as a late birthday present. It was pretty much the amalgamation of everything I had ever wanted in a video game. It was also the first game I ever played during its beta phase. There had been a lot of issues during the beta, but I was sure Flagship had cleaned them up in time for launch. I took it home, installed it, and twenty minutes into the game, it crashed. I fired it up a second time, and I only made it another ten minutes before it gave me a memory error of some sort, crashing again. Patches were released at least once a week, but only for the multiplayer component. The single-player component was always two or three patches behind. Such is the story of Hellgate. A game that had enormous potential, but also seems to have been cursed from the onset.
A 1st/3rd person Diablo type title that takes place in a futuristic and post-apocalyptic London, Hellgate had no real reason to fail. It was developed by former Blizzard employees, contained plenty of loot, skill points, and hellish monsters, and was published by the gaming giant EA. What could go wrong? Well, for one, the game was released in what I would call a late alpha/early beta condition. Bugs ran rampant, content was clearly unfinished (they used the same three tilesets for most of the game), and the game was not feature-complete. A faction ranking system was in place, but did nothing. In other words, it was a mess. Some people blamed Flagship studios for dropping the ball. I know that at one point they utilized the time and resources necessary to get a playable build onto the Xbox 360, despite having no plans to port it over. Some people said that EA forced Flagship to release it, despite its unfinished state. I don't know what really happened, but I would imagine it was a combination of mismanagement and lofty goals. Flagship had even built their own engine, "Prime," to be used as Hellgate's foundation. Admirable, but I wouldn't recommend writing a new engine when you have a brand new, untested IP on the line. The game, and Flagship studios, crumbled in a matter of months.
Fast forward to 2011. T3Fun, a Korean developer, had the rights to Hellgate. They re-released it as Hellgate Global, changing the game to a (mostly) free to play format, adding an item shop, and updating the game with the content that Flagship had actively been working on when they went under. Things had seemed to take a turn towards good fortune. But then, after releasing the Tokyo expansion (which was, once again, developed by Flagship and merely implemented by T3Fun), T3Fun ceased all real support of Hellgate: Global, outside of the occasional server maintenance. According to what I've read, T3Fun did not acquire the rights to access the Prime engine's source code, or something along those lines. Therefore, they were able to implement the completed content that Flagship couldn't, but couldn't add any new content, bug fixes, and general updates of their own.
It has been almost three years since Global was updated. The Hellgate forums on T3Fun's website do not function. The servers are ghost towns. The supposed sequel that was in development was shut down in July because the team was unfamiliar with the Unreal engine (which is a joke, right?). Then, a few days ago, there was a halfhearted update on Hellgate's Facebook stating that Hellgate was on Steam Greenlight. This has caused absolute chaos a midst what is left of the Hellgate community.
Misinformation is running rampant. People think its a new game. People think its an indie game. People think its a sequel. And, worst of all, there are some people that think this means new content/updates for Hellgate: Global. Unfortunately, if any of these people had followed this fiasco as long as I have, they would know this is a last ditch effort to make some money off of the in-game cash shop before the game dies entirely. If I'm wrong, then great. But there haven't been any updates in three years. I'm not wrong. T3Fun did the same thing with Mythos, the other Flagship IP. They bought it, implemented the finished content, and then let it run its course until the servers were shut off.
Now, to the crux of the matter. These types of situations are exactly why we need to educate ourselves as consumers. Research the company developing a game. Research the game's history, if it has any. Read comments, articles, and other bits of information so that you know what's going on. T3Fun conveniently left many of these details off of their Greenlight page, but posted the original Hellgate trailers, and are using the Tokyo expansion as the main image for the Greenlight page, making some people think it is a new Hellgate title. The bottom line, is that knowing what you are buying before you buy it is incredibly important. And, I have to say, most games and their development history are not nearly as complicated or as much of a cluster-fuck as this has been, so we have no excuse for not doing our research on titles before spending our often hard-earned money on them. If a developer states multiple times that a game will not contain a particular feature, we have no reason to bitch when the game does not contain that feature. The buyer beware.
I would like to make a special mention of the folks over at Hellgateaus.net. I was one of the first members over there, and it has been the best place to go for Hellgate: London mods and information for several years now. When it comes down to it, Hellgate was the game we always wanted. We wanted to see it succeed with all of our hearts. But sometimes, things don't work out the way you want. The majority of the Hellgate community is a good group of people, who all happen to be extremely passionate about the same thing.
Hellgate gave me my first real insight into the gaming industry. Up until that point, I had just kind of played games. It was the first time I had seen a studio struggle first hand with completing something into which they had poured every fiber of their beings, and it was painful to watch. Members of Flagship would post replies to our questions and concerns, and I would say "a developer, talking to me?" But then they would say how they had been up for over 48 hours straight trying desperately to crush a few more bugs. Towards the end, there were stories of some of the employees sleeping on the floors of the office so they could take round the clock business calls to try and save the company. My seeing this side of the industry taught me a lot, but it also destroyed part of my childhood; part of the wide-eyed wonder I had always felt when playing games was gone.So, with these latest developments, I think its time to let go. There will some day be a sequel or a spiritual successor that will hopefully live up to the potential of the Hellgate IP, but until then, let's take a break. I've been riding this particular roller coaster from the beginning. I think I'm ready to get off now.
A 1st/3rd person Diablo type title that takes place in a futuristic and post-apocalyptic London, Hellgate had no real reason to fail. It was developed by former Blizzard employees, contained plenty of loot, skill points, and hellish monsters, and was published by the gaming giant EA. What could go wrong? Well, for one, the game was released in what I would call a late alpha/early beta condition. Bugs ran rampant, content was clearly unfinished (they used the same three tilesets for most of the game), and the game was not feature-complete. A faction ranking system was in place, but did nothing. In other words, it was a mess. Some people blamed Flagship studios for dropping the ball. I know that at one point they utilized the time and resources necessary to get a playable build onto the Xbox 360, despite having no plans to port it over. Some people said that EA forced Flagship to release it, despite its unfinished state. I don't know what really happened, but I would imagine it was a combination of mismanagement and lofty goals. Flagship had even built their own engine, "Prime," to be used as Hellgate's foundation. Admirable, but I wouldn't recommend writing a new engine when you have a brand new, untested IP on the line. The game, and Flagship studios, crumbled in a matter of months.
Fast forward to 2011. T3Fun, a Korean developer, had the rights to Hellgate. They re-released it as Hellgate Global, changing the game to a (mostly) free to play format, adding an item shop, and updating the game with the content that Flagship had actively been working on when they went under. Things had seemed to take a turn towards good fortune. But then, after releasing the Tokyo expansion (which was, once again, developed by Flagship and merely implemented by T3Fun), T3Fun ceased all real support of Hellgate: Global, outside of the occasional server maintenance. According to what I've read, T3Fun did not acquire the rights to access the Prime engine's source code, or something along those lines. Therefore, they were able to implement the completed content that Flagship couldn't, but couldn't add any new content, bug fixes, and general updates of their own.
It has been almost three years since Global was updated. The Hellgate forums on T3Fun's website do not function. The servers are ghost towns. The supposed sequel that was in development was shut down in July because the team was unfamiliar with the Unreal engine (which is a joke, right?). Then, a few days ago, there was a halfhearted update on Hellgate's Facebook stating that Hellgate was on Steam Greenlight. This has caused absolute chaos a midst what is left of the Hellgate community.
Misinformation is running rampant. People think its a new game. People think its an indie game. People think its a sequel. And, worst of all, there are some people that think this means new content/updates for Hellgate: Global. Unfortunately, if any of these people had followed this fiasco as long as I have, they would know this is a last ditch effort to make some money off of the in-game cash shop before the game dies entirely. If I'm wrong, then great. But there haven't been any updates in three years. I'm not wrong. T3Fun did the same thing with Mythos, the other Flagship IP. They bought it, implemented the finished content, and then let it run its course until the servers were shut off.
Now, to the crux of the matter. These types of situations are exactly why we need to educate ourselves as consumers. Research the company developing a game. Research the game's history, if it has any. Read comments, articles, and other bits of information so that you know what's going on. T3Fun conveniently left many of these details off of their Greenlight page, but posted the original Hellgate trailers, and are using the Tokyo expansion as the main image for the Greenlight page, making some people think it is a new Hellgate title. The bottom line, is that knowing what you are buying before you buy it is incredibly important. And, I have to say, most games and their development history are not nearly as complicated or as much of a cluster-fuck as this has been, so we have no excuse for not doing our research on titles before spending our often hard-earned money on them. If a developer states multiple times that a game will not contain a particular feature, we have no reason to bitch when the game does not contain that feature. The buyer beware.
I would like to make a special mention of the folks over at Hellgateaus.net. I was one of the first members over there, and it has been the best place to go for Hellgate: London mods and information for several years now. When it comes down to it, Hellgate was the game we always wanted. We wanted to see it succeed with all of our hearts. But sometimes, things don't work out the way you want. The majority of the Hellgate community is a good group of people, who all happen to be extremely passionate about the same thing.
Hellgate gave me my first real insight into the gaming industry. Up until that point, I had just kind of played games. It was the first time I had seen a studio struggle first hand with completing something into which they had poured every fiber of their beings, and it was painful to watch. Members of Flagship would post replies to our questions and concerns, and I would say "a developer, talking to me?" But then they would say how they had been up for over 48 hours straight trying desperately to crush a few more bugs. Towards the end, there were stories of some of the employees sleeping on the floors of the office so they could take round the clock business calls to try and save the company. My seeing this side of the industry taught me a lot, but it also destroyed part of my childhood; part of the wide-eyed wonder I had always felt when playing games was gone.So, with these latest developments, I think its time to let go. There will some day be a sequel or a spiritual successor that will hopefully live up to the potential of the Hellgate IP, but until then, let's take a break. I've been riding this particular roller coaster from the beginning. I think I'm ready to get off now.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Company of Heroes Multiplayer: Part 1
I am really enjoying the multiplayer for Company of Heroes 2, despite the fact that I am a sub-par player. I purchased the Western Front Armies the day they were released, and have spent the past couple weeks trying to figure out the best strategies for the American army. I will be uploading several of these replays over the next couple weeks. Some will be victories. Some will not. Either way, I hope you enjoy them.
Monday, June 16, 2014
My Body Is Ready For...Homefront: The Revolution
I intentionally left the new Homefront off of my E3 roundup. It deserves its own post. I know what you're thinking. The original Homefront had a few problems. It is the only game I've ever played that literally gave me headaches from the low texture resolutions and draw distances. I didn't think an Unreal Engine 3 could have poor visuals. Still, the premise of America being occupied by Korean armed forces in a very near future and average Americans having to become resistance fighters is a pretty solid concept. So, after THQ was broken up, Crytek purchased the rights to the Homefront franchise. After reading the previews and watching footage from E3, I am confident that Crytek is doing all that they can to make the most of this renewed opportunity.
Homefront is about an everyman becoming a resistance fighter, but to be honest, I couldn't care less. That's not to say I won't come to enjoy the story down the line. Its just that my focus so far has been on the details of the gameplay. The Revolution is about Guerrilla warfare in an open world environment, so the idea is not for the player to destroy the enemy all by themselves, but to employ more subtle tactics. The footage I've seen involved raiding explosives and an RC car from a hidden resistance stash. The player then assembled a mobile bomb from the components, and used their in-game cell phone to drive it up to the entrance of the local police station. Apparently, the KPA are holding prisoners there. The player pressed the "call" button on their phone, and the bomb exploded, setting all of the Korean forces into motion. Gunfire erupted from the defensive positions in front of the station, and the player utilized the game's cover system to hide behind a concrete barrier, and then pop up to fire bursts from their assault rifle. Later on, the player swapped the entire upper receiver of their rifle for one that functioned like a light machinegun. Interestingly enough, this is an actual feature of the AR-15 platform, and only requires that two pins be pushed out, although the thought of carrying around multiple upper receivers is a tad unrealistic.
At its core, the new Homefront doesn't seem to do anything that other first person shooters don't do already, but the context and the smaller details, combined with the open world playground inject quite a bit of potential into this. Being the underdog, crafting my own equipment, and tackling objectives in a manner I see fit all sound like a good deal to me.
Homefront is about an everyman becoming a resistance fighter, but to be honest, I couldn't care less. That's not to say I won't come to enjoy the story down the line. Its just that my focus so far has been on the details of the gameplay. The Revolution is about Guerrilla warfare in an open world environment, so the idea is not for the player to destroy the enemy all by themselves, but to employ more subtle tactics. The footage I've seen involved raiding explosives and an RC car from a hidden resistance stash. The player then assembled a mobile bomb from the components, and used their in-game cell phone to drive it up to the entrance of the local police station. Apparently, the KPA are holding prisoners there. The player pressed the "call" button on their phone, and the bomb exploded, setting all of the Korean forces into motion. Gunfire erupted from the defensive positions in front of the station, and the player utilized the game's cover system to hide behind a concrete barrier, and then pop up to fire bursts from their assault rifle. Later on, the player swapped the entire upper receiver of their rifle for one that functioned like a light machinegun. Interestingly enough, this is an actual feature of the AR-15 platform, and only requires that two pins be pushed out, although the thought of carrying around multiple upper receivers is a tad unrealistic.
At its core, the new Homefront doesn't seem to do anything that other first person shooters don't do already, but the context and the smaller details, combined with the open world playground inject quite a bit of potential into this. Being the underdog, crafting my own equipment, and tackling objectives in a manner I see fit all sound like a good deal to me.
Monday, June 2, 2014
The Verdict....Wolfenstein: The New Order
Warning: This review may contain minor spoilers.
Wolfenstein: The New Order truly surprised me. Not because it is an amazing game. I fully expected to get a polished shooter filled with buckets of blood, and plenty of Nazi killing. It delivered those things. It also delivered a thoughtful narrative, and true, raw emotion.
Just fifteen minutes into the game, I was vertically scaling the wall of a large Nazi fortress as a giant three legged machine stalked the trenches behind me, killing other allied troops as they attempted to join the assault. Wolfenstein starts in 1946, and "The world has gone to shit." It is clear within the first five minutes that the war did not go the way it should have. In the first level alone, I saw armored attack dogs, the aforementioned machine (called a "Monitor"), advanced Nazi fighter planes, and hulking monstrosities comprised of both metal and flesh. It created an unbelievable, yet familiar aesthetic for me. My submachine gun was clearly a Thompson that was given a few extra years to be modified and improved, just as the Nazi assault rifles I was happily dual-wielding were some derivation of the MP-44.
The assault on the compound fails, leaving the protagonist, B.J. Blazkowicz in a sort of coma, and the antagonist, Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse very much alive. B.J. spends 14 years in an asylum, watching helplessly as the Nazis come and take the "sub-human" patients away in small groups to become test subjects for Strasse's experiments. He also is very much aware of the young woman that cares for him, Anya. When the Nazi's come to shut the asylum down and begin executing everyone, it shakes B.J. out of his catatonic state, and after watching a Nazi execute several helpless people, I gleefully pressed the appropriate button to execute him with the knife I had grabbed from my nearby dining cart a few seconds earlier. I grabbed the fallen Nazi's gun, some form of futuristic Luger, and set off to escape from the Asylum and rescue Anya, who had been dragged away by the troopers. They escape to the home of Anya's grandparents, where they explain that the Nazi's won the war, and rebuilt the world in their image.
And that was just the first hour and a half.
First, let's examine the gameplay. Every weapon feels great, and dual wielding weapons feels suitably heavier and more powerful. I played much of the game with an assault rifle in each hand. Bullets tear into enemies, leaving them broken and bloody on the ground, and the LaserKraftWerk (my new favorite word to say) causes most enemies to simply explode. Something that all of the Wolfenstein games has contained is plenty of Nazi cannon fodder that don't require an entire magazine of ammo to dispatch, which makes it all the more difficult when the big guys show up. Stealth combat is also present, and is not some half baked gameplay mechanic thrown in for the sake of variety. In most situations, and stealth and the balls to the wall approaches are equally viable, especially with the game's perk system. The player unlocks perks as they complete certain tasks tying into their play style. So, after getting five knife kills, I unlocked the ability to throw knives, making me a more efficient stealth killer. There are three full perk branches. Health is regained through pickups, which include medical kits, meals on tables, and yes, dog food. Armor is present as well. Health can be overcharged for a limited time. All of the weapons can be carried simultaneously. In other words, Wolfenstein utilizes many of the old school gameplay mechanics that I grew up with in first person shooters, while modernizing it simultaneously with the perk system, the presence of viable stealth combat, and weapon upgrades. The levels are varied and well designed, providing multiple paths with which to approach most situations. This, once again ties into the varied combat options, and provides quite a bit of variety in the gameplay, and has thus far prevented fatigue from setting in, even as I was replaying levels to find collectables I had missed.
The visuals are, for the most part, gorgeous. Id Tech 5 is still a new engine, and has some room to grow, but it is definitely powerful. I had some minor performance issues until I downloaded updated drivers for my GTX 660, and there was visible texture pop-in whenever I turned too quickly. Beyond that, the characters, weapons, and environments are all varied, and extremely detailed. After the prologue, the war-torn European aesthetic is left behind, replacing it with the monitored, almost sterile look that a Nazi world in the 1960's would possess. Huge buildings draped with swastikas, security cameras on every street corner, checkpoints with armed troops (and mechanical guard dogs), and a massive prison right in the middle of downtown Berlin, all help to establish that the Nazi's are indeed in control.
The characters are quite a rogue's gallery. Each character has a real presence, and the dialogue is extremely well written. B.J. is still the stoic Nazi killing maniac, but there's much more to him in this game. His inner monologue especially paints a much larger portrait of who this man really is. I felt a supreme sense of loss, hatred, and pain in everything he said.
"Such raw sorrow. Can't partake. Mine would flood oceans. I would drown...if I let it out," he thinks during one particularly emotional scene. The other characters are all just as extreme, and feel right at home. Anya, B.J.'s savior and love interest seems fragile at first, but ends up being stronger than I could have imagined. Caroline Becker, who somehow survived being shot by Hans Grosse in 2009's Wolfenstein, is wheelchair bound, but still an excellent resistance fighter in her own right. Fergus, the sarcastic Scot with a foul mouth. Wyatt, the young soldier that looks up to B.J. Frau Engle, the Nazi officer that loves to play games, especially when other people's lives are at stake. Deathshead, the sick man that likes to dissect still-living humans and is responsible for crafting the war machines that stomped the world into submission. They all come together to paint a story that, if you pay attention, is more emotional and thought-provoking than anything I've seen in an FPS since Half-Life 2. Yup, I said it.
I beat my first playthrough of Wolfenstein in about 15 hours. I played on the second to hardest difficulty (I Am Death Incarnate), and did not manage to find all of the collectables. I have just started my second playthrough in order to find the rest of the collectables. There is also a fairly large decision to be made in the prologue that affects the rest of the game in several ways, and I am enjoying seeing the other side of that. I was not bothered at all by Wolfenstein's lack of multiplayer, as I'm up to almost 18 hours of game time, and I feel as though I am getting my money's worth, and then some. Some of the collectables I still need to find include Health/Armor upgrades, records of 1960's German music (which often imitate real tunes from that time period), enigma code pieces that unlock extra game modes, and of course, pieces of gold that serve no real purpose whatsoever. In other words, there's plenty to do if you take the time to look for it. One of the extra game modes I've unlocked is 999 mode, which starts the player with 999 health, gives them unlimited ammo, and sets the game's difficulty to Uber, which is the most difficult.
I'd like to make a special mention of the song "I Believe" which can be heard during the end credits and is sung by Melissa Hollick. I won't give anything way, but it really helps to convey the emotion found in Wolfenstein: The New Order and was an excellent addition to the game.
In closing, Wolfenstein: The New Order is an excellent shooter with a heart and a soul. It also provides plenty of ham-fisted Nazi slaughtering that we've come to expect from the Wolfenstein franchise. In many ways, it is a return to the roots of first person shooters. At the same, it takes a step forward to the future, adding depth and emotion to a genre that is often seen as stale and lifeless.
Verdict: Play it. Now. Just do it.
Wolfenstein: The New Order truly surprised me. Not because it is an amazing game. I fully expected to get a polished shooter filled with buckets of blood, and plenty of Nazi killing. It delivered those things. It also delivered a thoughtful narrative, and true, raw emotion.
Just fifteen minutes into the game, I was vertically scaling the wall of a large Nazi fortress as a giant three legged machine stalked the trenches behind me, killing other allied troops as they attempted to join the assault. Wolfenstein starts in 1946, and "The world has gone to shit." It is clear within the first five minutes that the war did not go the way it should have. In the first level alone, I saw armored attack dogs, the aforementioned machine (called a "Monitor"), advanced Nazi fighter planes, and hulking monstrosities comprised of both metal and flesh. It created an unbelievable, yet familiar aesthetic for me. My submachine gun was clearly a Thompson that was given a few extra years to be modified and improved, just as the Nazi assault rifles I was happily dual-wielding were some derivation of the MP-44.
The assault on the compound fails, leaving the protagonist, B.J. Blazkowicz in a sort of coma, and the antagonist, Wilhelm "Deathshead" Strasse very much alive. B.J. spends 14 years in an asylum, watching helplessly as the Nazis come and take the "sub-human" patients away in small groups to become test subjects for Strasse's experiments. He also is very much aware of the young woman that cares for him, Anya. When the Nazi's come to shut the asylum down and begin executing everyone, it shakes B.J. out of his catatonic state, and after watching a Nazi execute several helpless people, I gleefully pressed the appropriate button to execute him with the knife I had grabbed from my nearby dining cart a few seconds earlier. I grabbed the fallen Nazi's gun, some form of futuristic Luger, and set off to escape from the Asylum and rescue Anya, who had been dragged away by the troopers. They escape to the home of Anya's grandparents, where they explain that the Nazi's won the war, and rebuilt the world in their image.
And that was just the first hour and a half.
First, let's examine the gameplay. Every weapon feels great, and dual wielding weapons feels suitably heavier and more powerful. I played much of the game with an assault rifle in each hand. Bullets tear into enemies, leaving them broken and bloody on the ground, and the LaserKraftWerk (my new favorite word to say) causes most enemies to simply explode. Something that all of the Wolfenstein games has contained is plenty of Nazi cannon fodder that don't require an entire magazine of ammo to dispatch, which makes it all the more difficult when the big guys show up. Stealth combat is also present, and is not some half baked gameplay mechanic thrown in for the sake of variety. In most situations, and stealth and the balls to the wall approaches are equally viable, especially with the game's perk system. The player unlocks perks as they complete certain tasks tying into their play style. So, after getting five knife kills, I unlocked the ability to throw knives, making me a more efficient stealth killer. There are three full perk branches. Health is regained through pickups, which include medical kits, meals on tables, and yes, dog food. Armor is present as well. Health can be overcharged for a limited time. All of the weapons can be carried simultaneously. In other words, Wolfenstein utilizes many of the old school gameplay mechanics that I grew up with in first person shooters, while modernizing it simultaneously with the perk system, the presence of viable stealth combat, and weapon upgrades. The levels are varied and well designed, providing multiple paths with which to approach most situations. This, once again ties into the varied combat options, and provides quite a bit of variety in the gameplay, and has thus far prevented fatigue from setting in, even as I was replaying levels to find collectables I had missed.
Killing Officers Quietly Prevents Them From Calling Reinforcements.
The visuals are, for the most part, gorgeous. Id Tech 5 is still a new engine, and has some room to grow, but it is definitely powerful. I had some minor performance issues until I downloaded updated drivers for my GTX 660, and there was visible texture pop-in whenever I turned too quickly. Beyond that, the characters, weapons, and environments are all varied, and extremely detailed. After the prologue, the war-torn European aesthetic is left behind, replacing it with the monitored, almost sterile look that a Nazi world in the 1960's would possess. Huge buildings draped with swastikas, security cameras on every street corner, checkpoints with armed troops (and mechanical guard dogs), and a massive prison right in the middle of downtown Berlin, all help to establish that the Nazi's are indeed in control.
The characters are quite a rogue's gallery. Each character has a real presence, and the dialogue is extremely well written. B.J. is still the stoic Nazi killing maniac, but there's much more to him in this game. His inner monologue especially paints a much larger portrait of who this man really is. I felt a supreme sense of loss, hatred, and pain in everything he said.
"Such raw sorrow. Can't partake. Mine would flood oceans. I would drown...if I let it out," he thinks during one particularly emotional scene. The other characters are all just as extreme, and feel right at home. Anya, B.J.'s savior and love interest seems fragile at first, but ends up being stronger than I could have imagined. Caroline Becker, who somehow survived being shot by Hans Grosse in 2009's Wolfenstein, is wheelchair bound, but still an excellent resistance fighter in her own right. Fergus, the sarcastic Scot with a foul mouth. Wyatt, the young soldier that looks up to B.J. Frau Engle, the Nazi officer that loves to play games, especially when other people's lives are at stake. Deathshead, the sick man that likes to dissect still-living humans and is responsible for crafting the war machines that stomped the world into submission. They all come together to paint a story that, if you pay attention, is more emotional and thought-provoking than anything I've seen in an FPS since Half-Life 2. Yup, I said it.
I beat my first playthrough of Wolfenstein in about 15 hours. I played on the second to hardest difficulty (I Am Death Incarnate), and did not manage to find all of the collectables. I have just started my second playthrough in order to find the rest of the collectables. There is also a fairly large decision to be made in the prologue that affects the rest of the game in several ways, and I am enjoying seeing the other side of that. I was not bothered at all by Wolfenstein's lack of multiplayer, as I'm up to almost 18 hours of game time, and I feel as though I am getting my money's worth, and then some. Some of the collectables I still need to find include Health/Armor upgrades, records of 1960's German music (which often imitate real tunes from that time period), enigma code pieces that unlock extra game modes, and of course, pieces of gold that serve no real purpose whatsoever. In other words, there's plenty to do if you take the time to look for it. One of the extra game modes I've unlocked is 999 mode, which starts the player with 999 health, gives them unlimited ammo, and sets the game's difficulty to Uber, which is the most difficult.
I'd like to make a special mention of the song "I Believe" which can be heard during the end credits and is sung by Melissa Hollick. I won't give anything way, but it really helps to convey the emotion found in Wolfenstein: The New Order and was an excellent addition to the game.
In closing, Wolfenstein: The New Order is an excellent shooter with a heart and a soul. It also provides plenty of ham-fisted Nazi slaughtering that we've come to expect from the Wolfenstein franchise. In many ways, it is a return to the roots of first person shooters. At the same, it takes a step forward to the future, adding depth and emotion to a genre that is often seen as stale and lifeless.
Verdict: Play it. Now. Just do it.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Assessing...Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Camper: Someone that continuously picks up the only good weapon/item in a map. This can obviously only occur in games that start every player off with the same basic, awful weapon every match.
Well, I know I'm a little late to the party, but I've watched the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare a couple times now, and I'd like to share my thoughts on the matter.
Anyone that knows me, knows that I am the ultimate COD cynic. The original Call of Duty was one of the best games I ever played on the PC. It had an exciting (and sizable) campaign, and focused on some of the most important battles during World War 2. The campaign was longer than four hours. The weapons were authentic and there was a certain level of realism to the whole thing. Now, COD seems to have strayed so far from its foundation that I barely recognize it these days. I feel like its the rich uncle of shooters. The uncle that brings a somewhat hastily bought gift to each of his nephews every year, and doesn't seem to care about their reactions because, well, he's rich either way.
With the Call of Duty franchise, its not even the perceived lack of innovation that bothers me, although I've seen the "each sequel is a glorified map pack" statement more times than I can count. Its the flagrant disregard for anything resembling balance or what I consider to be solid gameplay design choices. I consider a game-ending nuke to be one of the worst "features" ever to be added to a game. The multiplayer design is centered on ridiculous weapon balance and killstreaks that allow someone to essentially bitch slap an entire team. And I know that it is designed that way intentionally, and I know that there are some really good COD players out there. But the multiplayer of the last several installments are designed to, quite frankly, appeal to the fast-food, instant gratification, least common denominator members of the gaming community. Are you a terrible player? That's OK. Just spray bullets (or fire off rockets like an ass-hat) and you'll get kills. Even if you're incapable of that, just dive through a window five times or run a specified distance and you'll get experience points. Maps are often so small that players begin a match by chucking a random grenade, and will frequently earn kills this way. Anyone attempting to utilize tactics of any sort are berated and accused of "camping." To put it succinctly, COD doesn't sell because it is a good game, it sells because it is easy to be good at the game.
Hey, don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed Black Ops 2. It tried new things. I think the ten slot kit system and the score streaks were large steps in the right direction. But COD has become TOO accessible, if that's possible. I don't want to sound like an elitist, but I feel like I have to be to a certain degree, because every shooter stands in COD's shadow these days, and that shouldn't be happening. People should NOT be dismissing other shooters as garbage simply because they don't allow the players to have a kill-death of 33-4 every match.
As negative as all of that was, there are still elements of COD that I really enjoy. I think the perk/killstreak system is awesome, when its properly balanced. I like the fast paced gunplay and the objective based game modes. With a new studio and a seemingly new approach, I'm hoping Advanced Warfare will really shake things up.
From what I've gathered from the trailer, the game will focus on PMC's (Private Military Corporations) in the future. It will contain thermal mapping technology, exo-skeletal suits, deployable cover, remote drones, and gloves that allow for wall climbing. And, it will contain the not insubstantial acting prowess of Kevin Spacey. Sounds good to me, as long as Sledgehammer Games takes advantage of the full potential of all of these features. I want to be able to use the exoskeletons in multiplayer. I want them to be tied directly to my abilities, and I want to be able to use those abilities dynamically instead of only being able to use them for brief scripted moments in the campaign. That wall climbing tech should be fully functional in multiplayer, to give snipers and scouts a better vantage point. However, they would theoretically be easily countered by someone wearing an exoskeleton that is leaping from rooftop to rooftop. And the deployable cover, if implemented properly, could modify how each multiplayer match plays out to no small degree. The campaign will hopefully be an intense examination of both the advantages and the dangers of privatizing the military. However, none of these things will address the core issues with the COD experience. Here's a list...
*Host advantages in multiplayer matches
*Absurdly short campaigns
*Killstreaks that allow someone to control the outcome of a battle by themself
*Shoebox sized maps
*An unhealthy focus on k/d ratios that destroys objective/team play
If Sledgehammer can address the issues above, I will come back to the COD franchise with open arms, because in my heart of hearts, I really want to. In a few months we'll find out if I'll be reigniting my spark of passion, or if I'll be losing this one's phone number for good.
Well, I know I'm a little late to the party, but I've watched the Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare a couple times now, and I'd like to share my thoughts on the matter.
Anyone that knows me, knows that I am the ultimate COD cynic. The original Call of Duty was one of the best games I ever played on the PC. It had an exciting (and sizable) campaign, and focused on some of the most important battles during World War 2. The campaign was longer than four hours. The weapons were authentic and there was a certain level of realism to the whole thing. Now, COD seems to have strayed so far from its foundation that I barely recognize it these days. I feel like its the rich uncle of shooters. The uncle that brings a somewhat hastily bought gift to each of his nephews every year, and doesn't seem to care about their reactions because, well, he's rich either way.
With the Call of Duty franchise, its not even the perceived lack of innovation that bothers me, although I've seen the "each sequel is a glorified map pack" statement more times than I can count. Its the flagrant disregard for anything resembling balance or what I consider to be solid gameplay design choices. I consider a game-ending nuke to be one of the worst "features" ever to be added to a game. The multiplayer design is centered on ridiculous weapon balance and killstreaks that allow someone to essentially bitch slap an entire team. And I know that it is designed that way intentionally, and I know that there are some really good COD players out there. But the multiplayer of the last several installments are designed to, quite frankly, appeal to the fast-food, instant gratification, least common denominator members of the gaming community. Are you a terrible player? That's OK. Just spray bullets (or fire off rockets like an ass-hat) and you'll get kills. Even if you're incapable of that, just dive through a window five times or run a specified distance and you'll get experience points. Maps are often so small that players begin a match by chucking a random grenade, and will frequently earn kills this way. Anyone attempting to utilize tactics of any sort are berated and accused of "camping." To put it succinctly, COD doesn't sell because it is a good game, it sells because it is easy to be good at the game.
Hey, don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed Black Ops 2. It tried new things. I think the ten slot kit system and the score streaks were large steps in the right direction. But COD has become TOO accessible, if that's possible. I don't want to sound like an elitist, but I feel like I have to be to a certain degree, because every shooter stands in COD's shadow these days, and that shouldn't be happening. People should NOT be dismissing other shooters as garbage simply because they don't allow the players to have a kill-death of 33-4 every match.
As negative as all of that was, there are still elements of COD that I really enjoy. I think the perk/killstreak system is awesome, when its properly balanced. I like the fast paced gunplay and the objective based game modes. With a new studio and a seemingly new approach, I'm hoping Advanced Warfare will really shake things up.
From what I've gathered from the trailer, the game will focus on PMC's (Private Military Corporations) in the future. It will contain thermal mapping technology, exo-skeletal suits, deployable cover, remote drones, and gloves that allow for wall climbing. And, it will contain the not insubstantial acting prowess of Kevin Spacey. Sounds good to me, as long as Sledgehammer Games takes advantage of the full potential of all of these features. I want to be able to use the exoskeletons in multiplayer. I want them to be tied directly to my abilities, and I want to be able to use those abilities dynamically instead of only being able to use them for brief scripted moments in the campaign. That wall climbing tech should be fully functional in multiplayer, to give snipers and scouts a better vantage point. However, they would theoretically be easily countered by someone wearing an exoskeleton that is leaping from rooftop to rooftop. And the deployable cover, if implemented properly, could modify how each multiplayer match plays out to no small degree. The campaign will hopefully be an intense examination of both the advantages and the dangers of privatizing the military. However, none of these things will address the core issues with the COD experience. Here's a list...
*Host advantages in multiplayer matches
*Absurdly short campaigns
*Killstreaks that allow someone to control the outcome of a battle by themself
*Shoebox sized maps
*An unhealthy focus on k/d ratios that destroys objective/team play
If Sledgehammer can address the issues above, I will come back to the COD franchise with open arms, because in my heart of hearts, I really want to. In a few months we'll find out if I'll be reigniting my spark of passion, or if I'll be losing this one's phone number for good.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Titanfall Beta Gameplay
Here are a couple of videos I recorded while I was playing the Titanfall beta. I will be posting more footage and a full review in the near future.
Path of Exile Gameplay: Volume 1
Here are a pair of videos I recorded a while back of Path of Exile. It is an excellent Diablo style game, and in many ways, the Diablo 3 we were all hoping for. It is important to mention that Path of Exile is also 100% totally free. The only thing you can pay for are aesthetic character modifications and stash tabs.
Try Path of Exile Here!
Try Path of Exile Here!
My Body Is Ready for...Wolfenstein: The New Order
The History
Despite what many people think, Wolfenstein 3D was not the first Wolfenstein game. It was actually a title released in 1991 called Castle Wolfenstein. It was a stealth adventure game about stealing secret plans from the Nazis. Having said all of that, Wolfenstein 3D was the game that really put Wolfenstein (and first person shooters) on the map. It revolved around slaughtering Nazis by the hundreds, stopping their nefarious projects, and stealing their gold from them while you did it. Killing a mechanized version of Hitler occurred at the end of Episode 3, only halfway through the game. You shot Nazi mutants, ate dog food to survive, and if you were a committed player, pressed the "use" key against every wall tile in sight, just hoping for a secret room filled with ammo and gold.
The New Order
There have been several Wolfenstein sequels over the years, some more successful than others. I personally have enjoyed every entry in the series, even the ill fated "Wolfenstein" that was released in 2009. However, I can say with no hesitation that Wolfenstein: The New Order has me more excited for a first person shooter than I have been in a long time. It appears as though it is going to be a glorious amalgamation of old school and new. The New Order is being developed by MachineGames, a Swedish developer comprised largely of ex Starbreeze Studios employees. The New Order starts off in 1946, and from the footage I have seen, it is clear that the war is not swinging in favor of the Allies. Then, through an unfortunate turn of events, B.J. Blazkowicz (the protagonist of this and all other Wolfenstein titles) suffers brain damage and spends the next 14 years sitting in a mental hospital, in a sort of catatonic state. In that time, the Nazis win the war, and rebuild the world in their image. B.J. is helpless as all of this happens, but when the Nazis come to slaughter everyone in the hospital, it shakes something loose, bringing B.J. out of his condition, and putting him back in the fight. So, what's so special about that? Why is this different any number of modern day shooters with an underdog hero taking on a massive war machine? Its all in the details folks.
Old School is Making Love to New Age
What I am loving about the new Wolfenstein, is how it perfectly melds things that used to be prevalent in old shooters, with things that we now expect to be in new shooters. B.J.'s health only regenerates up to the nearest multiple of 20. Beyond that, the player must find health packs. That's right kids, you can't put the character behind a crate and wait for him to breathe a few times in order to get his health back. The player needs to scavenge the environments for supplies. Health can be overcharged past 100, but it immediately begins counting down back to the normal maximum. Armor is also back in play in a retro fashion. Enemies drop their helmets or other small armored pieces that can be picked up to give the player a few points of protection here and there. Ammo and weapons are taken primarily from defeated enemies. Dog food can be eaten for health once more, although I haven't seen any footage of B.J. slurping up blood puddles, which was another desperate way of gaining health in Wolf 3D. The player can also carry all of the weapons simultaneously, and can dual wield many of them. Oh, and there's one more thing I'd like to mention. Wolfenstein: The New Order will not have multiplayer.
I have seen a lot of disappointment and anger from the gaming community due to The New Order's lack of multiplayer. In my opinion, a lack of multiplayer is a good thing, at least for this game. Too long have we dealt with shooters focused on multiplayer that have a wimpy 4-6 hour campaign tacked on to keep us "old timers" happy. I've seen several people say that a game isn't worth $60 if it doesn't have multiplayer. I guess they forgot about Half-Life, Far Cry, Bioshock, and other shooter franchises that either did not possess multiplayer game modes, or had multiplayer that felt so unnecessary they were barely touched. I don't know about anyone else, but Far Cry 3 was totally worth the money, and I played two matches of the multiplayer before calling it quits. I would rather have a lengthy, polished single player campaign (kind of like the original Wolfenstein and Doom games) than an imitation Call of Duty with a Wolfenstein coat of paint.
I believe I mentioned The New Order possessing elements from new shooters, and I did not forget about that. Apparently, neither did MachineGames. The New Order runs on ID Tech 5, which will make it a very attractive game in my opinion. I thought Rage, the first game to make use of ID Tech 5, had excellent visuals. Of course, PS3 and XBOX 360 visuals will suffer some, but that is to be expected when running new game engines on hardware that is almost a decade old. In addition, The New Order includes things like unlock-able perks that reward your preferred play style, weapon upgrades, stealth kills, and other mechanics that reassure the player that they are playing something that was made in the past couple years. Speaking of stealth kills, the knife assassinations look excellent, with different animations playing depending on the enemy type and their current position in relation to B.J. All of this speaks to me as someone that loves the classics, but is always looking forward at the same time. Its going to pay homage to the humble beginnings of the franchise. A franchise, I might add, that in many ways is the reason why modern shooters exist. At the same time, its going to give us the level of depth and visual fidelity we have come to expect from modern games. At least I hope that's what it will do. We won't know for sure until May 20th, but rest assured, I will be picking up Wolfenstein: The New Order on the day of its release.
Despite what many people think, Wolfenstein 3D was not the first Wolfenstein game. It was actually a title released in 1991 called Castle Wolfenstein. It was a stealth adventure game about stealing secret plans from the Nazis. Having said all of that, Wolfenstein 3D was the game that really put Wolfenstein (and first person shooters) on the map. It revolved around slaughtering Nazis by the hundreds, stopping their nefarious projects, and stealing their gold from them while you did it. Killing a mechanized version of Hitler occurred at the end of Episode 3, only halfway through the game. You shot Nazi mutants, ate dog food to survive, and if you were a committed player, pressed the "use" key against every wall tile in sight, just hoping for a secret room filled with ammo and gold.
The New Order
There have been several Wolfenstein sequels over the years, some more successful than others. I personally have enjoyed every entry in the series, even the ill fated "Wolfenstein" that was released in 2009. However, I can say with no hesitation that Wolfenstein: The New Order has me more excited for a first person shooter than I have been in a long time. It appears as though it is going to be a glorious amalgamation of old school and new. The New Order is being developed by MachineGames, a Swedish developer comprised largely of ex Starbreeze Studios employees. The New Order starts off in 1946, and from the footage I have seen, it is clear that the war is not swinging in favor of the Allies. Then, through an unfortunate turn of events, B.J. Blazkowicz (the protagonist of this and all other Wolfenstein titles) suffers brain damage and spends the next 14 years sitting in a mental hospital, in a sort of catatonic state. In that time, the Nazis win the war, and rebuild the world in their image. B.J. is helpless as all of this happens, but when the Nazis come to slaughter everyone in the hospital, it shakes something loose, bringing B.J. out of his condition, and putting him back in the fight. So, what's so special about that? Why is this different any number of modern day shooters with an underdog hero taking on a massive war machine? Its all in the details folks.
Old School is Making Love to New Age
What I am loving about the new Wolfenstein, is how it perfectly melds things that used to be prevalent in old shooters, with things that we now expect to be in new shooters. B.J.'s health only regenerates up to the nearest multiple of 20. Beyond that, the player must find health packs. That's right kids, you can't put the character behind a crate and wait for him to breathe a few times in order to get his health back. The player needs to scavenge the environments for supplies. Health can be overcharged past 100, but it immediately begins counting down back to the normal maximum. Armor is also back in play in a retro fashion. Enemies drop their helmets or other small armored pieces that can be picked up to give the player a few points of protection here and there. Ammo and weapons are taken primarily from defeated enemies. Dog food can be eaten for health once more, although I haven't seen any footage of B.J. slurping up blood puddles, which was another desperate way of gaining health in Wolf 3D. The player can also carry all of the weapons simultaneously, and can dual wield many of them. Oh, and there's one more thing I'd like to mention. Wolfenstein: The New Order will not have multiplayer.
I have seen a lot of disappointment and anger from the gaming community due to The New Order's lack of multiplayer. In my opinion, a lack of multiplayer is a good thing, at least for this game. Too long have we dealt with shooters focused on multiplayer that have a wimpy 4-6 hour campaign tacked on to keep us "old timers" happy. I've seen several people say that a game isn't worth $60 if it doesn't have multiplayer. I guess they forgot about Half-Life, Far Cry, Bioshock, and other shooter franchises that either did not possess multiplayer game modes, or had multiplayer that felt so unnecessary they were barely touched. I don't know about anyone else, but Far Cry 3 was totally worth the money, and I played two matches of the multiplayer before calling it quits. I would rather have a lengthy, polished single player campaign (kind of like the original Wolfenstein and Doom games) than an imitation Call of Duty with a Wolfenstein coat of paint.
I believe I mentioned The New Order possessing elements from new shooters, and I did not forget about that. Apparently, neither did MachineGames. The New Order runs on ID Tech 5, which will make it a very attractive game in my opinion. I thought Rage, the first game to make use of ID Tech 5, had excellent visuals. Of course, PS3 and XBOX 360 visuals will suffer some, but that is to be expected when running new game engines on hardware that is almost a decade old. In addition, The New Order includes things like unlock-able perks that reward your preferred play style, weapon upgrades, stealth kills, and other mechanics that reassure the player that they are playing something that was made in the past couple years. Speaking of stealth kills, the knife assassinations look excellent, with different animations playing depending on the enemy type and their current position in relation to B.J. All of this speaks to me as someone that loves the classics, but is always looking forward at the same time. Its going to pay homage to the humble beginnings of the franchise. A franchise, I might add, that in many ways is the reason why modern shooters exist. At the same time, its going to give us the level of depth and visual fidelity we have come to expect from modern games. At least I hope that's what it will do. We won't know for sure until May 20th, but rest assured, I will be picking up Wolfenstein: The New Order on the day of its release.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
The Greatest Doom Mod Ever Made
So Brutal Doom, by Sergeant Mark, is something I have been following for a while now. Today I recorded some footage of the mod in action. Check it out.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
What The Hell Am I Doing Here?!
Hopefully, you've arrived at this page because, like me, you have a deep seated love for the gaming industry, and want to vacuum as much information and as many opinions about it as possible. I live for games. I have been playing them since I was five years old. With that in mind, let's lay the groundwork for this blog...
On this blog, I will be writing previews, reviews, analytical pieces, and posting gameplay videos. Pretty standard fare. I do not expect everyone to agree with me. As a matter of fact, I hope to start some lively discussions amongst portions of the gaming community.
This blog will sometimes contain language that may not be suitable for children. I am not a babysitter.
I also write the blog for Fledgling Studios, my indie development team. I am aware that, since I am the founder/CEO/big cheese of Fledgling Studios, I am always speaking as a member of the studio. However, my personal opinions are not necessarily shared by the other members of Fledgling Studios, and anyone that reads this blog should endeavor to keep that in mind. Oh, and keep an eye out for our game, Flesh Asunder. It should be arriving sometime this decade, if all goes to plan.
Did I mention that my sense of humor is pretty dry?
At some point, I will be adding a donation button. That button will exist for those that enjoy the content this blog has to offer and want to reward me. All of the proceeds will go towards keeping my lights on and my fridge full. Unless this thing really takes off, in which case, I will be buying a summer home.
Thus ends the orientation phase. Welcome to my new blog.
-Tony
On this blog, I will be writing previews, reviews, analytical pieces, and posting gameplay videos. Pretty standard fare. I do not expect everyone to agree with me. As a matter of fact, I hope to start some lively discussions amongst portions of the gaming community.
This blog will sometimes contain language that may not be suitable for children. I am not a babysitter.
I also write the blog for Fledgling Studios, my indie development team. I am aware that, since I am the founder/CEO/big cheese of Fledgling Studios, I am always speaking as a member of the studio. However, my personal opinions are not necessarily shared by the other members of Fledgling Studios, and anyone that reads this blog should endeavor to keep that in mind. Oh, and keep an eye out for our game, Flesh Asunder. It should be arriving sometime this decade, if all goes to plan.
Did I mention that my sense of humor is pretty dry?
At some point, I will be adding a donation button. That button will exist for those that enjoy the content this blog has to offer and want to reward me. All of the proceeds will go towards keeping my lights on and my fridge full. Unless this thing really takes off, in which case, I will be buying a summer home.
Thus ends the orientation phase. Welcome to my new blog.
-Tony
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