Game A Day-Ish

Darkness Rises: Arkham Knight (ps4)

2015-07-31T09:46:00.002-07:00

A man about a horse: Witcher 3 (PS4)

2015-07-31T09:44:00.002-07:00

Red-Headed Step Child: Assassins Creed Rogue

2015-04-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

Released to little fanfare on last generation consoles this past holiday season, Assassin's Creed Rogue was dwarfed by its bigger louder and broken brother AC:Unity, While Unity was in many ways a step back for the franchise Rogue tread new ground, introducing mechanics borrowed from Far Cry, and melded them seamlessly into the already stellar Black Flag model.

A direct sequel to Black Flag, Rogue spans the period between that title, Unity and Assassin's Creed III. It fills in bits of back story for Connor's supporting cast and ties directly into the setup for the events of Unity. Unlike Unity, which reveals itself to be a literal waste of time, Rogue embraces both the modern day and the past lore of the series and runs with it.

Excessive Force: Battlefield Hardline

2015-03-30T09:17:00.001-07:00

Good thing it's pretty: The Order 1886

2015-03-30T09:16:00.001-07:00

The only good bug: Helldivers

2015-03-30T09:15:00.006-07:00

A road not taken: Evolve

2015-03-30T09:15:00.004-07:00

The same but more: Far Cry 4

2015-03-30T09:15:00.001-07:00

Outstaying your welcome: Alien Isolation

2015-01-14T18:54:00.002-08:00

I hated playing The Evil Within. I quit after two or three passes with the first encounter and its unfriendly checkpoints. It felt tired and forced, and held back vital mechanics from the player in favor of cheap scares. It annoyed me and did not value my time.

I reminded myself of this the 10^th time I tried to make it through the medical section in Alien:Isolation.

2014 "Of The Year" Awards Part II

2014-12-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

2014 Worst Entry to a Franchise

Assassin's Creed: Unity

Assassin's Creed is my favorite franchise and it has completely gone off the rails with Unity. Telling a smaller in scope story than previous entries, it follows a young man (Arno) who is orphaned as child and taken in by a powerful man and his family during the French Revolution. Creating a literal interpretation of Romeo and Juliet that skirts the outside of the French Revolution rather than embedding in historical fact a la Assassin's Creed III, the narrative is thin but has some emotional connection. Broken in every, Unity continues to be buggy months after release and multiple patches. Unfortunately the common issues that have affected the franchise, ie jumping off a roof to your death and other mechanics are still present, diminishing the series further. Hopefully Ubisoft takes the horrible launch and fiscal ramifications of this game to heart and rethinks their current design by committee methodology.
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2014 "Of The Year" Awards Part 1

2014-12-15T14:38:00.003-08:00

2014's 2013 Game finished in 2014

XCOM: The Bureau/Enemy Within

XCOM: The Bureau is slow slow burn but once the AI teammates have leveled up enough to stay alive it becomes a Mass Effect-esque romp through XCOM's past. If you can stave off the frustration of micromanaging the survival of your team The Bureau is a perfectly entertaining game.

XCOM: Enemy Within presents as a glorified expansion pack to Enemy Unknown but is so much more. Layering on new mechanics and new enemies over the original EU campaign improves on excellence and makes one wonder if this is the game they originally wanted to make.

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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare: Too Little Too Late

2014-11-24T13:05:00.003-08:00

COD:AW is ostensibly set in the near-ish future of 2050, where Metal Gear Solid style PMC’s are fighting wars on behalf of countries until a single PMC, ATLAS, becomes the big dog. Led by a scenery chewing House of Cards style Kevin Spacey doing as easy day’s work, ATLAS is the macguffin on which the plot revolves.

Still Playing: The games of 2014

2014-11-20T13:40:00.001-08:00

New to 2014, the following are games I have begun but not completed.

Assassin's Creed 4: This nut will crack sometime in January. It's a great game and far superior to the mess that was Assassin's Creed 3.

MARK OF THE NINJA: A taut stealth side scroll-er with beautiful art and great mechanics, this XBL Arcade game is always beckoning to me.

RED FACTION:ARMAGEDDON: I had heard how terrible and linear this game is compared to its predecessor, and while it is linear, it is a perfectly fine third person shooter. It is gorgeous on PC and just the thing for a lazy afternoon of "working" from home. Hit the same long checkpoint enough times to finally give up towards the end. Endlessly repetitive and far too long. Feels compromised.

F.E.A.R 3: I ignored this game when it was released, but having finished and enjoyed F.E.A.R. 2 and love the original, I wanted to give it a shot. Graphically impressive on PC, the mechanics are as expected with the new addition of co-op. The story is nonsense but as a satisfying mouse and keyboard shooter, I am digging it. Enjoyed this until my save disappeared.

Dead Rising 3: A sluggish poor PC port, this bad ass needs a reasonably beefy rig to run well. Slowdowns happen in the same parts of the map like clockwork. Sticks to the Dead Rising formula but seems confused about what it wants to be. Story is as dumb as ever.

Alien: Isolation - I barely touched this before it went back to the library by accident. Playing it fills me with actual dread as the atmosphere and suspense are amazing. Can't wait to get back into it.

Thief (2014) - Played for about 2 hour before I decided I hated the controls and look of the game on console, so I bought it on sale on PC. Curious to see if that makes it more palatable.

Here I discussed a bunch of games I had not yet finished at the end of 2013, few of which are now in the can, unfortunately.

STATE OF DECAY: This surprise hit downloadable game is a great if janky open world zombie exporation game that incorporates day/night cycles and mission timers like Dead Rising. I keep restarting it, hopefully I will find time to finish it.

DEAD ISLAND:RIPTIDE: A disappointing cut and paste of Dead Island with some of the more interesting quirks patched out, DI:R still has that combination of broken jank and open world combat that made the original compelling. However the linear nature and extreme familiarity to the first game make it a bottom rung choice.

SKYRIM: This game is like my white whale. I keep finding reasons not to play it.

FAR CRY 2: Like any other open world game, I get lost in wandering and lose interest in the main thread of quests. Rightfully lauded for emergent gameplay and player agency, I hope to give this game it's due. I have attempted to stick to the main quests, especially after finishing Far Cry 3, just so I can stop wandering.

JUST CAUSE 2: The campaign story is pointless and best ignored in favor of exploring the massive game map, wreaking havoc. The lack of compelling direction makes this and Skyrim both hard games to stick with.*NOW WITH INSANE MULTIPLAYER*
With much determination I finally waded through this batshit inane story to its deserved conclusion and just in time for Just Cause 3.

Time is never a friend

2014-11-12T14:25:00.001-08:00

It's not that I haven't played games this year, not in the least. It's that I haven't had anything to say about them. This year has been a continuation of The Worst Year of My Life. It has been filled with change, very little of which has been good.

But here we are rolling into the end of 2014 so I have pulled together some thoughts on what I have been playing, including Still Playing and Game of the Year stuff.

I can only hope that 2015 is a better year for games, for movies, and for me and my family.

2013 "Of the Year" awards Part 2

2013-12-27T08:55:00.003-08:00

2013 Worst Ending to a Trilogy

Dead Space 3 grinds the thrills of its predecessor into a microtransactioned mess that abandons the entire horror aspect of the franchise to become a straight third person action game. The first half is strong, as Isaac finds himself stranded in orbit amongst a ruined fleet of ships, recreating the isolated feel of the first two games. Once the second half forces the player to the planet surface the story spirals down a toilet of repetition and insanity resulting in a hilarious ending that only has meaning if one is familiar with Scientology.

2013 "Of the Year" awards Part 1

2013-12-27T08:46:00.000-08:00

2013's 2011 Game finished in 2013

Far less tactical but more dynamic and fluid, Dragon Age II was rightly criticised for it's tiny scope and asset reuse. More of an expansion than a full game, if you burn through only the story quests, the narrative is rewarding with fun familiar mechanics. A far more attractive and well animated game than the original I am glad I finished it.

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Still Playing:The games of 2013

2013-12-24T12:55:00.000-08:00

From my Still Playing 2009 post I was playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. I have abandoned that game as I got stuck in a level, completely under leveled and under equipped with only a revert to a previous save from hours earlier as an escape. Yeah so no. I have not started either of the sequels.

New to 2013, the following are games I have begun but not completed.

Assassin's Creed 4: This nut will crack sometime in January. It's a great game and far superior to the mess that was Assassin's Creed 3.

MARK OF THE NINJA: A taut stealth side scroll-er with beautiful art and great mechanics, this XBL Arcade game is always beckoning to me.

Here I discussed a bunch of games I had not yet finished at the end of 2012, few of which are now in the can, unfortunately.

SKYRIM: This game is like my white whale. I keep finding reasons not to play it.

FAR CRY 2: Like any other open world game, I get lost in wandering and lose interest in the main thread of quests. Rightfully lauded for emergent gameplay and player agency, I hope to give this game it's due. I have attempted to stick to the main quests, especially after finishing Far Cry 3, just so I can stop wandering.

RAYMAN ORIGINS: ~~Equally beautiful and punishing, I will push through until my skill runs out, which may be sooner than later.~~ Abandoned.

JERICHO: A dark and ugly curiousity, ~~I will give it a go~~ I gave it a go. Poor squad mechanics and relentlessly ugly. Abandoned.

DRAGON AGE II: ~~"Streamlined" and repetitive I should be have been able to tear through this in short time, especially in comparison to the enormous time I put into Dragon Age:Origins, but nope.~~ I enjoyed Dragon Age II a lot. The animations are beautiful and the combat is fantastic. By skipping virtually all side quests I was able to finally finish it in due time.

HYDROPHOBIA: R~~eleased, tweaked and released again in a perpetual feedback loop, the graphics and mechanics make the janky parts bearable, but just.~~ The broken just couldn't be patched out. I finally abandoned.

ODDWORLD: STRANGER'S WRAITH (~~Maybe~~ HD): ~~Be super if~~ remake developer JAW finally released the promised patch so I can play it on PC with an ATI card and a stable framerate. ~~When and if it comes,~~ I can't wait to beat this game again as I loved it on OG Xbox. It finally required upgrading to quad-core to get the game to hit 60 fps at 1080p so it is clearly under optimized for PC.

JUST CAUSE 2: The campaign story is pointless and best ignored in favor of exploring the massive game map, wreaking havoc. The lack of compelling direction makes this and Skyrim both hard games to stick with.*NOW WITH INSANE MULTIPLAYER*

OLDER CONSOLE GAMES:

~~I have a bunch of older 360 and PS3 games to attach as well~~ Abandoned

Bully (360)
Metal Gear 4 (PS3)
Resistance 1 & 2 (PS3)
Psychonaughts (PC)

The Short and The Terrible: Games I didn’t care enough to finish 2013

2013-12-24T09:29:00.005-08:00

Killzone: ShadowFall: Momentarily beautiful but deeply devoid of substance, Killzone:SF was so unmemorable I entirely forgot I had played it until I made this list. It's unfortunate because the basis of the narrative had the potential to be extremely compelling as a metaphor for the Isreal/Palestine conflict but the game is bland and toothless.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter

This game is as horrible and boring as rumored. I liked the previous MOH and respected it as a tribute to the lives of soldiers. Warfighter takes that good will and shits on it with a pained grimace.

Spider-Man Web of Shadows:

Web of Shadows is well remembered as the Spider-man game to beat, mostly due to its open world nature and free movement. While WoS does both better than any other Spider-Man game, I found the controls to clunky and the mechanics repetitive.

X-com: The Bureau

What a tragic waste of talent. Too long in development, and originally a first person shooter, it has all the ingredients of a great game. Using design inspiration from X:Com Enemy Unknown in both art and mechanics combined with a squad based third person shooter perspective, The Bureau slows time to allow a Mass Effect style radial wheel to assign tactics.

Unfortunately the extended development cycle has stripped this game of any inspiration. I made it past the first major set piece with little or no effort on my part and quit playing the game. I might give it another shot.

Meh of Duty:Mehs vs BattleMeh 4

2013-12-11T12:27:00.001-08:00

Call of Duty:Ghosts is a mechanical retread of previous COD entries, but it has a dog. Launched simultaneously on current and next gen platforms the aged engine is showing it's seams especially in comparison to Battlefield 4 on next gen.

COD is COD once again, with slight tweaks to the perks and rewards system. Mechanically it is still a functional divider of those who run and die and those who run and shoot. I was most successfully using only a knife during my time online on PS4. MP graphics are startlingly poor on next gen and extremely disappointing. Perhaps this is the rose that loses the bloom.

Battlefield 4 is a broken mess across all systems. I played the campaign until my save was destroyed by the game itself and then realized I didn't care enough to start over. The graphics are gorgeous on PS4 and as close to PC as consoles will get.

Specular lighting, ambient occlusions and massive particle effects make BF4 a treat for the eyes,even in multiplayer.

When I was able to find a game, it was a functional divider of those who run and die and those who run and find cover and die. I found the most success using a sniper rifle and camping.

I have fundamentally lost interest in this type of FPS.

Still Playing: Games of 2012

2013-01-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

Here I discussed a bunch of games I had not yet finished at the end of 2011, ~~all~~ about half of which are now in the can.

From my Still Playing 2009 post I ~~thankfully~~ still only have one game lingering, and that is the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R, despite now having Clear Sky as well, which mean I will never ever finish this game. I will just keep adding mods to it.

SKYRIM: Spoiled by the emergent riches and pandemonium of Far Cry 3, returning to Skyrim may be a challenge.

FAR CRY 2: Like any other open world game, I get lost in wandering and lose interest in the main thread of quests. Rightfully lauded for emergent gameplay and player agency, I hope to give this game it's due. I have attempted to stick to the main quests, especially after finishing Far Cry 3, just so I can stop wandering.

RAYMAN ORIGINS: Equally beautiful and punishing, I will push through until my skill runs out, which may be sooner than later.

JERICHO: A dark and ugly curiousity, I will give it a go.

DRAGON AGE II: "Streamlined" and repetitive I should be have been able to tear through this in short time, especially in comparison to the enormous time I put into Dragon Age:Origins, but nope.

HYDROPHOBIA: Released, tweaked and released again in a perpetual feedback loop, the graphics and mechanics make the janky parts bearable, but just.

ODDWORLD: STRANGER'S WRAITH (~~Maybe~~ HD): Be super if remake developer JAW finally released the promised patch so I can play it on PC with an ATI card and a stable framerate. When and if it comes, I can't wait to beat this game again as I loved it on OG Xbox.

JUST CAUSE 2: A sequel to the Robert Rodriguez inspired original again find our hero with an inexhaustible supply of parachutes and grappling hooks. Hampered by atrocious voice-acting and writing the campaign story is pointless and best ignored in favor of exploring the massive game map, wreaking havoc. Just Cause 2 is a silly time killer that like any good popcorn, is forgotten as soon as you are finished with it.

OLDER CONSOLE GAMES:

I have a bunch of older 360 and PS3 games to attach as well
Bully (360)
Metal Gear 4 (PS3)
Resistance 1 & 2 (PS3)
Psychonaughts (PC)

2012 "of the year" awards Part II

2012-12-20T13:59:00.003-08:00

2012 Worst Ending to a Trilogy

2012 "Of the Year" awards Part 1

2012-12-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

2012's 2009 Game finished in 2012

The Short Pier: Call of Duty Elite (Elite Harder)

2012-11-30T12:32:00.002-08:00

Abandoning the paid subscription model of Elite Ver. 1.0, Elite 2.0 is free to COD: Black Ops 2 players with MW3 player’s subscriptions extended into 2013 at no charge, but also with no carry over of data or persistence. Everyone starts fresh in Elite 2.0 with the intent to clearly draw players away from last year’s release.

Other than not exploding on arrival as the service did at launch last (and leaving the team to battle fires for months) Ver. 2.0 is iteration on the service with a vital exception: No DLC included.

Number-crunchers in the bowels of Activision seem to have realized the only value proposition in Elite, i.e. what consumers are willing to pay for, is map packs, and they have once again reverted to an a la carte model with a twist. Like so many other games, a “season’s pass” can be purchase at a slight discount. The 360 exclusive release window is still in place though, so 360 players will have access to maps in advance of other platforms. However, Elite subscribers will not get the head start at the content they had last year and once again all map buyers are created equal.

With early reports (or lack thereof) of Blops 2 underperforming overall MW3 which overall underperformed Blops, the bloom may finally be off the COD rose. If that is the case, Elite may vanish as a service altogether by next year, leaving only the opportunity to make all DLC subscription based, rather than a la carte, as the COD franchise sinks into over-exploited diminishing returns.

Honorable Discharge: Dishonored (360)

2012-10-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

I didn’t know if I liked Dishonored until the last third of the game. Leveraging the Unreal Engine, and set to the default brightness settings as directed in the initial startup, Dishonored is a washed-out low resolution mess. Individual pixels can be discerned within groups of shaded art making up a wall in a mess of greys and browns. I dropped the brightness down a few notches to create deep black shadows, hiding the transitional colors.

The art style is distinctive and inspired, but initial off-pointing. Thick angular extremities taper towards the body, with odd features over-emphasized as they jut from a character’s head. Turn of the century architecture of brick and glass reaches for the gloomy sky as steampunk technology inspired by a world run on whale oil provides energy weapons and barriers. A terrible plague burdens the city/state of Dunwall, leaving the poor to be dumped into quarantine zones as they transform into walking shuddering wretches that vomit black clouds on the unwary.

Playing as Corvo, the titular bodyguard framed for the death of the body he was guarding, Dishonored initially guides the player through a linear path of escape. Only as Corvo mutely joins a merry band of insurgents within a hub level of sorts does the game open up. Environments are reused to good effect though the scale of the game seems small until the final map, a sprawling island fortress. Until that point, four or five of the base levels are visited at least twice, allowing Corvo to stretch any newly acquired abilities gather along the way.

Blink is a fundamental necessity in Dishonored and as a mechanism fixes the single largest issue facing first-person platforming, traversal. Functioning as a nearly instantaneous teleport, Blink allows Corvo to zoom from perch to perch, ascending or descending the environment at will. Only the highest heights are unreachable, though the indicator of what is scalable can often be confusing. Other abilities include stopping time and possessing animals and people, and all of them can be leveled by gather charms and runes within the environments. More a scavenger hunt than the chore many games make of collectibles, it offers opportunity for multiple play-throughs, as does upgradable equipment. Upgrade paths taken can determine possible strategies, but this concept is not communicated well by the game. Only by finishing it does one fully realize the depth of the paths not taken.

What is unfortunate about Dishonored is the empty shell of a narrative that is offered. Borrowing from Bioshock 2, a surrogate daughter learns from how Corvo conducts himself in the world. Play as a violent murderer, killing everything in sight and the girl becomes ruthless in her world view. Practice mercy and stealth, she become benevolent. An excellent mechanic is robbed entirely of meaning as there is no emotional connection to the girl or to any character in the game. Drowning in bad writing delivered in a vacuum by bored or confused celebrity voices, Dishonored is done a disservice, rendering the game an exercise in strategy rather than an experience to become immersed in.

Heady with upgraded powers I raced through the final moments of the game, skipping an environment entirely and accidentally triggering a scripted event. I chased the event and when presented with an ultimatum I simply executed a multi-power combo that resulted in the enemy killing himself literally in a blink. By this point the game I was so highly leveled the final encounter was a trifle, and that is a shame.

Dishonored is a fine successor to Thief and Deus Ex, offering player agency, and open environmental puzzles but is ultimately hollow.

You say you want a revolution: Darksiders & Darksiders 2 (360)

2012-10-11T13:05:00.001-07:00

When I last spoke of Darksiders, I was preparing myself to re-engage with this enormous game, starting anew on the 360 after abandoning the PS3 to a horrible spider-boss. A horrible, horrible spider-boss.

I had forgotten how far I had made it into the game when I rounded to that point again a full 20 hours into a 35 hour game. With a lowered difficulty and a deeper understanding of the game’s mechanics (and a youtube video or two) as well as some minor experience with Dark Souls, recognizing and avoiding the boss patterns was easier this time around, but still frustrating.

Darksiders is very much a collage of gaming’s greatest hits, wrapped in comic book inspired art and story. War, one of the four Horsemen, is tricked into a battle that devastates Earth and destroys humanity, despite the Seventh Seal remaining unbroken. Heaven and Hell use the ruined planet as a battleground as War is resurrected and sent, much-diminished, to set things right. A ghastly specter is chained to his wrist functioning as a guide through the game and a narrative driver, pushing War through the story.

Essentially nothing more than a series of fetch quests, Darksiders embraces whole-heartedly it’s homage of Zelda/Castlevania style RPG’s stitched to God of War style combat. As abilities unlock, previous areas become more accessible, allowing for more abilities to unlock. Homage becomes flat-out theft when blue-orange portals appear in the late game, allowing War to traverse increasing complex puzzles without incorporating Portal’s more sophisticated mechanics. Like most of the lifts in the game, the idea is sound, the implementation is unpolished.

Despite its Frankenstein nature, Darksiders results in far more than the sum of its parts. The combat is endlessly entertaining, as are the increasing abilities including a hookshot. The story is compelling enough to recommend finishing the game and while some of the boss fights are brutally pointless the final battle is extremely satisfying, especially as it leads to an epic ending promising so much more to come…

…a promise Darksiders II fails to address much less keep.

Told concurrently with Darksiders, DII feels like do-over, an attempt to make the game originally planned but not built. The narrative is empty as little is done to tie the two games together other than the story’s initial spark: Death seeks to clear War of blame in the destruction as earth.

Playing the games back to back was a revelatory and unsettling experience. Without the separation of time between them, the differences are stark. Darksiders had an overly complex and plodding menu system, while the menus in D II are direct and functional, without any style. This clarity is much needed, as D II is literally an RPG, combining the GoW combat with Prince of Persia traversal and Diablo style damage and loot.

Unlike the first game, weapons are named and given stats, and leveling occurs both at the character and the weapon level. Cursed weapons are rare, and can be fed other weapons to level them further. In an embarrassment of riches, the economy of the game is insanely generous, and I finished with nearly $500,000 unused. Leveling weapons becomes unnecessary as there is always a better weapon not far away.

Floating hit points flare off everything, muddling the screen as abilities animations pop off filling the world with sparkly effects. There were moments where literally nothing was visible but smears of color and numbers in group or boss battles.

Fetch quests dominate the game, and Death is virtually impotent against the forces of these worlds, to the point that the character himself voices his annoyance with being lead around by the nose.

Graphically denser, D II improves on the art style with far more impressive and expressive animations and a far more vibrant color palette. Each world is massive and MMO like, but eventually funnels down into dark dungeons and linear paths. Abilities are unlocked, but back-tracking is far less encouraged than in Darksiders, including a throw-back level on a destroyed earth. Improvements are far more apparent in this familiar backdrop as this earth is far denser with detail, as a back-drop to a Gears of War third person shooter inspired section.

Darksiders II is iteration not evolution of the series, essentially a retelling or addendum to the original game. With an ending that is entirely meaningless to the larger story and in fact negates itself instantly, it feels like a side-step in preparation for a much larger experience. Unfortunately with low sales to date, that experience may never come.