Browsing all articles from March, 2012.

An Interview with Hitbox Team

Fans of platforming games got a treat in January with the release of Dustforce, unleashing gamers’ inner compulsion to clean. Or, at least, race through ball-breakingly hard levels with the accuracy of a ninja master. But why exactly are we playing as janitors? And what toxic messes were deemed more worthy of the garbage heap than our push brooms?

We recently got the chance to slide a few questions past Woodley Nye and Terrence Lee at Hitbox Team to gain insight  into just what went into making these dirt assassins come to life.

Winning: Sports and Videogames

The stereotyped images couldn’t have been further apart: the meatheaded jock, the four eyed nerd, never cross-pollinating except in the form of wedgies and pranks.  But things have changed: now, the gamer has more interest in blowing their friends apart at Call of Duty, while the sports fan might be prefer the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference to beer pong and hazings.  If nerdiness is defined by degree of obsession, and degree of obsession is defined by dwelling on statistical minutiae, then sports’ spreadsheets and nitpicky one of victory, a deep-rooted appreciation for the narrative of a champion.

Pirate’s Life For Us: A Preview of Risen 2: Dark Waters

On the 23rd of February, 2012, I was invited to a sneak peek at Risen 2: Dark Waters, an upcoming RPG which aims to take the fantasy IP into a new direction. I’ll give you three clues: it involves sailing the seven seas, searching for gold and fortune, and use of the most hilarious insults imaginable.

Pirates.

This new theme  is one that has  gone unexplored by recent games. So as I was sat down in a cool, classy underground restaurant with a bottle of Captain Morgan’s, I was excited to see how well the rum-swigging and swashbuckling atmosphere has been pulled off – and the results are good.

Poetry in Motion: A Review of Dear Esther

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both”
- The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost

I stand on a concrete jetty and stare out into the spray and mist. The salt stings my eyes and the cold chills my fingers as I turn around and head towards the dilapidated lighthouse. My mind wanders to the tale of a hermit that lived on the island as I walk down the deserted beach, past broken crab nets and other detritus that litter the shoreline. I skirt a fibonacci spiral that has been etched into the sand by persons unknown and muse on the history of this Hebridean island, on the shepherds who built the weather beaten buildings, on the aborted plans for a wind farm before the island was abandoned, on Esther.

Soapbox #11: The Mass Effect 3 Multiplayer Is Making Me Queasy

It’s different for everyone. A collection of experiences as countless and varied as we are. And yet, were you to ask anybody, they would almost undoubtedly be able to tell you in great detail exactly how they felt when they first stepped off the Normandy into the Presidium. It is a sublime moment for many of us, at least as far as modern games go. At that moment, we are no longer on our couches putting off term papers. We are on the Citadel.

This moment truly exemplifies what exactly Mass Effect is. More than a game that we sit down to play for an hour (or four), it is a world that we visit. In a game like Halo, the world exists merely as a backdrop for our empowerment. Our Master Chiefs are the central figures of that universe, and as we move through its corridors shooting Covenant, the world of Halo passes around us, phasing into existence long enough for the action beat and then phasing out again once we move on.

It is this feeling of transience and impermanance that Mass Effect is able to overcome. Sure, Shepard and crew may be the central figure, but the galaxy is as vast as it is ancient; these humans and non-humans have been there, doing their thing, long before you were begrudgingly inducted into the Spectres, and they’ll be there long after you’re gone. Old grudges, old dialects, old customs – they all exist whether you care about them or not (or indeed, whether you even notice them or not). Standing there on the Presidium, you come to understand that beyond the shadow of a doubt.

A Case For Intimacy: The Darkness

We first see Jackie Estacado, protagonist of The Darkness, within an endless black space. A light shines from above, illuminating smoke and silhouetting the young, leather-clad mobster. “My boss,” he says, “Uncle Paulie, sent me here to whack the foreman.”

Starbreeze Studios, the developer of the game, roots the game in the first-person perspective but uses these moments of temporal displacement to allow Jackie conversation with the player. These scenes, ostensibly occurring within Jackie’s mind, also function as loading screens throughout the game.

Jackie shares humorous anecdotes, gives brooding monologues and occasionally spouts necessary exposition. Whether relevant to the core story or derivative, Jackie’s disclosures breakdown the fourth wall between players and the character. We gain privilege to intimate knowledge and Jackie reveals his thoughts and musings. It’s this confessional that initially endears Jackie to players. Luckily, Starbreeze carries the theme of “getting personal” – and these intimate interludes – across the entire game.

Terraria creator pulls plug on future updates

Earlier today, Terraria creator and Lead Programmer Andrew “Redigit” Spinks made a forum post announcing his decision to cease all work on the popular side-scrolling sandbox title. This news comes as a devastating shock to fans who followed the hype over Re-Logic’s extensive content update plans. Early in his career, Andrew Spinks taught himself Visual Basic and C++ with the hopes of one day creating the game of his dreams. Terraria more than exceeded his expectations and became an indie blockbuster almost overnight.

With it’s simple graphics and mechanics, Terraria boasts a robust content-focused experience that allowed developers to pump sizable updates into game on a fairly frequent basis. As with Minecraft, players create magnificent buildings, models, contraptions and even art pieces, sharing and collaborating with each other all the while. Spinks’ decision is sending shock waves through this particularly tight-knit community, and fans are already asking after the source code.

Read More for the full story.

Kingdoms and Ends: a Review of Crusader Kings II

The time for chicken sandwiches and salads has passed. In its place, an era of righteous Catholics, pagan Mohammedans, and angry peasants is cresting, like some cresting thickness that crests thickly and interminably, thickly cresting until the end of time. No more chicken sandwiches. No more chicken salads. Just peasants and religious zealotry until God himself comes and wipes out the Mohammedans.

In Defense of Modern Warfare 3

I’m not sure when exactly it happened, but gradually over the last two years or so, the tables have truly turned on the Call of Duty franchise. Back around the time of Call of Duty 4, World at War and Modern Warfare 2, it was the bee’s knees – a must-have game that had everyone addicted and everyone talking. It elevated online console gaming from the standard that Halo 2 had set to unforeseen levels, to the point of tens of millions playing the same game on all three platforms, and enjoying it was a near-unanimous decision, while ‘haters’ like me were sidelined and had our voices drowned out by the rabble.

I’m not going to preach about the ‘injustice’ of this. In retrospect, I can hardly understand what my problem was. I still hate Modern Warfare 2 and have distaste for World at War, but to be constantly shouting at people to stop enjoying a game that you don’t like is pointless and juvenile.

Not to mention that, well, the latest entry in the series has changed my opinion a little.

Soapbox #10: The Racket of Pre-Order Exclusives

On Monday morning I was greeted by some amazing news that had  slipped under the radar for not only me, but almost every person I’ve spoken to since then. According to staff within both of the UK’s largest Game retail chains, the British  aren’t just buying games anymore. They’re spending their hard earned money on pre-ordering games in mass.

But of course they are! With all that pre-order exclusive content and Day 1 DLC, why wouldn’t they be? If there’s one thing that we’re all pretty sure of it’s that DLC released hours after the launch of the full game really isn’t doing the industry any favours, nor are exclusive DLC packs for pre-ordering with specific retailers (I’m looking at you, Dragon Age II). On top of this, being forced to pre-order copies of games not due to their popularity, but due to a retailer/publisher only giving a store ten to twenty copies of the game to be sold on the shop floor is sort of pushing all of my buttons in the wrong direction, at the wrong time, in the most wrong way possible.

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