Last weekend I was spending some quality time with my Buffy and Angel DVDs^[1]. As usual, my lovely PS3, Polly, was in charge of the DVD playing duties. All was well, vamps were being dusted and Buffy was being as kickass as usual. But it seems Polly had had enough of those silly DVDs, and decided a strike was in order. She proceeded to shut down. Polly hasn’t turned back on since.

Yeah, my weekend pretty much sucked.

Polly’s fate is still unclear, but if you’re wondering how I’m holding up, the answer is surprisingly well. Complete and utter chaos has not erupted, and work has kept me busy enough, so I haven’t had much time to fret. Still... even though it has only been a few days, the absence of my PS3 is already painfully noticeable. Polly is, without a doubt, the pièce de résistance of my bedroom, and in her absence it took me all of about two hours to dust off my PS2 and start revisiting some of my old favourites. The whole ordeal has revealed to me that a couple of days without gaming is a couple days too many.

As I bemoaned the painful, hopefully not permanent, loss of Polly to some friends, I found myself once again having to defend my hobby. I can’t deny that as I have grown older I have taken a hard look at my hobby of choice. Not too long ago the consensus was that I was getting “too old for those kid games”; but as the next generation consoles (and also the Wii. See what I did there?) have made gaming much more mainstream, that opinion has died down considerably. But the naysayers aren’t all gone.

For what seemed like the fifth hundred and thirty second time I had to illustrate to non-gamers on the glories and values of the video game. The result was somewhere between a rave and a rant, but by the time the dust settled I once again felt validated, the intrinsic value of my past time proven, and walked away with the certainty that my hobby kicks every other hobby’s ass.

Since a) you guys will probably find yourself in a similar “Defense of Gaming” situation someday; and b) you crazy kids just love lists, I’ve summarized my ranting and raving on the awesomeness of gaming into the four points below.

So, without further ado, this is why I game:

1: Fun things are fun

First things first: video games are fun. Can most of you remember the first time you put your hands around a video game controller, or set your fingers down on a keyboard? Back when we were all gaming virgins, and had no idea the relationship we were getting ourselves into, or what that guy on the screen was supposed to be doing, there was only one thing we could do: wing it. You jumped and ran around with no other goal but to jump and run. There were no trophies or achievements to hunt down, no urgent need to complete a level, no “noobs” to be “owned”. You were gaming to enjoy yourself, and nothing more. The important thing about playing a video game was having fun.

Games have become more complex, and gamers seem to take their hobby more and more seriously each day, but we should never forget, in the end, gaming should always be about enjoyment. Today your average gamer is tech-savvy enough to ask about frame rates, textures and level design, but even they have to admit, there is one key requirement that any good game just has to meet: one way or another, it must be fun. Good games are fun to play, period. What better way to spend a couple of free hours in a day than having fun?

2: Gaming is a social experience. No, seriously.

Sometimes it’s planned, and sometimes it happens spontaneously, but more often than not when Sunday comes around my significant other, my friends and I find ourselves huddled around Polly, controllers in hand. We mess around in the user-created levels in Little Big Planet 2, bash each other’s heads in for a while in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, or take some guided tours of Renaissance Italy in Assassin's Creed 2. No money is spent, no gas is used, but fun with friends is had none the less.

Contrary to what some people would like to think, we gamers are perfectly capable of having normal social interactions, and video games can prove to be an extremely useful tool to that effect. When you’ve got yourself a nifty gaming console and some good games at home there’s no need to cook up some lame viewing party or movie night to have your friends come over - all you need to do is obtain enough controllers to let everyone hang out and play.

I’m pretty sure that if every world leader had a PS3 in their office, diplomacy would be a much simpler affair. Who needs war when you’ve got co-op and death matches?

3: An easy way to go through the looking glass.

Forrest Gump had it right: life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get. We have all had less than stellar days, weeks, or months, when nothing seems to be going quite right. It is during times like those that you would give anything to be able to step out of your life, if only for just a second, and forget about everything that’s going wrong. It has been my experience that gaming is just the right way to do that.

It is true that movies and books also provide escapism to a certain degree, but I don’t think they come close to what video games have to offer. Sure, you could watch Frodo and the gang bring it to Sauron in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I’m sure that will provide some distraction; but better yet, why not jump into a world which is just as detailed as Middle Earth and be the characters on their epic quest for just a little while, making the tough decisions and guiding the heroes in their journey by your own hand? If that sounds good to you, then Final FantasY VI through X are highly recommended.

As a kid I used to be mesmerized by the Indiana Jones films. I always wondered what it would be like to go on one of those dangerous adventures and discover the mysteries of an ancient tomb. As a teenager the Lady Lara Croft gave me a taste of that anthropological brand of adventure. I led Ms. Croft through perilous traps and labyrinthine halls, and with her I discovered prehistoric treasures and forgotten civilizations I'd never dreamed of. When I was playing Tomb Raider I didn’t have to dwell on the fact that my parents were getting divorced - not when I had an ancient temple to explore.

With the technology available to game developers today, even complete historical cities can be recreated for us to explore (Assassins Creed anyone?). Essentially, through technology, the entire world becomes our playground, and when created properly video games are nice little vacations from our lives. Let’s face it, we can all use a vacation now and then.

4: Gold stars, blue ribbons and shiny trophies.

A few days ago Greg Mengel talked to you guys about the wonders of Mega Man X. I, like Greg, am also a huge Mega Man fan, and as I read his article the other day I started reminiscing and pinpointed just what was so great about the Mega Man games: the extraordinary sense of achievement that seems to overwhelm you when you churn through one of those levels and crush its boss. It’s no secret that Mega Man titles can sometimes seem impossible to conquer, which is exactly why you feel so empowered when you eventually see those end credits roll. The experience of starting up a game, mastering its intricacies, and eventually plowing through its challenges is something every gamer loves.

Before Polly decided it was time for a break I was able to, after hours of practice, complete every single combo challenge for Phoenix in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I felt like a freaking god (and yes, a lame victory dance was involved). Does that make me a complete and total nerd? Well, yeah, I guess it does, but hell, I felt great doing my victory dance. I'd earned it.

So there you have it, a rock solid defense for gaming, feel free to pull out this list, or some variation of it, when you find yourself having to prove you’re not an antisocial hermit just because you like to play video games to your family or friends.

In any case, chances are if you’re reading this now you don’t need convincing, you know gaming is awesome. So tell us below, why do you game?

Footnotes

[1] That’s right, in addition to being a gamer I’m a card-carrying, browncoated Joss Whedon fan. I’m awesome, deal with it.

Labels: 2011, Assassin's Creed, Final Fantasy, Joey Núñez, LittleBigPlanet 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Megaman X, Polly, PS2, PS3, RePlay, The Gaming Experience

Classic fighting game fans are in the midst of a joyous occasion: the new Mortal Kombat release is imminent. However, before we explode with nostalgic glee at the re-emergence of the legendary fighter, let us take some time to remember an experiment, a venture into the implausible. Does Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks mean anything to you?

More than likely, that answer is probably "no". Released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, Shaolin Monks was a spin-off to the conventional Mortal Kombat recipe. Instead of purely focussing on versus combat, Midway threw you into a co-operative brawler riddled with everything you love about the MK universe. Unlike previous brawling attempts, such as Mortal Kombat Mythologies and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, Shaolin Monks surprised by being... well, by being pretty damn good.

Speaking candidly, Shaolin Monks didn’t have the greatest visuals, the story was pretty stupid and the voice acting was exceptionally terrible. Typically, these caveats serve as one enormous admonition to stay far, far away from this title, especially since it was released during the time that some of the worst Mortal Kombat games were made. Uniquely, though, Shaolin Monks didn’t need any of those things to prove its worth as an accessible and fun title to throw into your system. After all, who wouldn’t want to throw useless foot-soldiers into the air, beat them to a bloody pulp, and then pass them to your teammate to repeat said gestures, with a nice decapitation at the end?


As previously stated, Shaolin Monks had nothing going for it in the way a standard triple-A title would. Its glory came from the fact that you could play with a friend, perform series-staple fatalities, and utilise a workable 3D combat system with two of the most famous Mortal Kombat characters, Liu Kang and Kung Lao. If it’s tough to envisage how it'd work, think of Devil May Cry’s over-the-top and completely exaggerated combat, but slower and more manageable. At points there are large numbers of enemies on screen, but there’s no demon chaos beams or exploding light vestibules to wreak havoc on your eyes. There are also platforming sections that require you to skillfully navigate distinguished Mortal Kombat zones, like the Pit.

Shaolin Monks will never beat a game like God of War on pure scale, because each of its attributes simply cannot compete with the angry Spartan and his showcase. I say shove it, though, because the simplicity and enjoyment you get from tossing your buddy an enemy several times, trading off roundhouse kicks to their cranium, is a beautiful thing. This gives scope to worry though, because with Mortal Kombat basically relaunching itself with a new (read: old) foundation, I’m afraid that Shaolin Monks' formula will be lost in transition. There’s also that whole Midway catastrophe, and who owns what licences, but there are always other ways around that.

Shaolin Ninjas, anyone?

Shaolin Monks wasn’t good at anything required to sell on the scale of, for example, Call of Duty, but it excelled in co-operative fare and was a worthy addition to the MK name. A note to NetherRealm, the developers: the new Mortal Kombat is looking amazing. but you can't forget a gem like Shaolin Monks. It would be a severe disappointment.

What do you all think? Should NetherRealm bother with Shaolin Monks? Should they make a series akin to it or perhaps negate the whole game altogether? Give your opinions in the comments section or, as ever, by tweeting us @ggtl.

Labels: 2011, Andrew Whipple III, Midway, Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, NetherRealm Studios, PS2, Xbox

Few can muster the innovation and sheer role-playing force that Final Fantasy has brought to the game industry’s table. Solely responsible for the resuscitation of its parent long, long ago, Square Enix’s intellectual property contains the very recipe for success. Along with legions of rabid, die-hard fans willing to throw themselves in front of a speeding rickshaw to get their hands on another game, Final Fantasy will never truly be 'final'.

Ahem. Unless, of course, Square Enix continues to mould each successive game using Final Fantasy XII as a template.

That’s right: Final Fantasy XII, otherwise known in smaller circles as the harbinger of doom, has created an anomaly in the otherwise pristine Final Fantasy formula (F3), but we’ll get to that later. Back in 2006, the PS2 exclusive rang in impressive scores from around the industry, garnering a superb 92 from Metacritic and even Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu’s perfect '40' score. Though being vastly different to previous installments, it seemed XII could do no wrong.

My friends, what happened in the past is a crime. Final Fantasy XII didn’t deserve the praise it received. This monster is responsible for the degraded, unruly husk of gaming that the Final Fantasy series has become; a travesty that needs to be explained in full.

Could you take this guy seriously?

We at Gamer's Guide to Life have covered some reasons why the Final Fantasy series is going in the direction it’s headed, but what we haven’t yet addressed is the catalyst to the problem. Coming fresh off the heels of a successful MMO, Square Enix decided to borrow much from FFXI and infuse its next console game with MMO elements. On paper it didn’t sound bad; actually it was sort of enticing. A console, single-player Final Fantasy that plays like an MMO? Could Square-Enix actually meld great storytelling with exceptional gameplay, effectively MMO-ifying Final Fantasy for the solo player? I’d be damned if I didn’t admit I was excited about the idea.

At first, FFXII’s execution is pretty solid. The visuals look grand, the cut-scenes are their requisite year length, and the voice-overs are extremely well done. Soon after its serious and comically exaggerated opening though, you’ll be exposed to the controversial combat. Being the MMO wannabe it is, in FFXII you can see every single hostile in your immediate surroundings. That means you’ll no longer have to worry about being ambushed by the Giga Behemoth inside of a bar. It’s a great feature for the series and gives you the freedom whether you engage or not. Once a fight is picked, the game seamlessly transitions into the scuffle and its MMO-ification is brought to the forefront.

Would you believe me if I told you that little tyke is a dude?

In short, the combat in this game is nothing short of astral vomit. It’s a rather complicated explanation, but I’ll do my best to tackle the beast. Like an MMO, your party of three will attack in real-time and use the abilities you designate. You can also revert to the old-school turn-based approach, but it’s pretty clear that FFXII was built to destroy that notion. If you opt to take the old-school road, you’ll pull your brain from your heart before you can enjoy any aspect of the fighting. You see, it’s your turn to attack again every second since, you know, it’s real time - so if you have the action paused every nanosecond, you’re effectively playing in bullet-time. Slow-mo combat is not cool, it’s not fun, rewarding, or anything else nice sounding.

Controlling your party members is pretty weird in this game. In previous Final Fantasy titles you could control every action your characters take. You can still do that, but like I said above, it’s very unrealistic since the game would need to be paused every 2.459 seconds. I’ll remind you that FFXII is built on MMO principle which means that combat against monotonous enemies, like jack rabbits, should be dealt with exceedingly fast and without thought. Enter the new Gambit system. These little babies allow you to give AI to your digital followers so you don’t have to constantly tell them to attack the dudes in front of their face. Gambits suck.

There's a Viera named Krjn in the main city. How the hell do you even say that?

Allow me to explain. Gambits are great for this game since it allows you to push through the garbage to get to the nicer smelling garbage. They also allow you to control a single character without having to micromanage your party members. The problem I have with Gambits is that they take too much away from the game. Sometimes I’d seriously walk away from my TV when I was in a lengthy fight. I didn’t need to be there; think about that. My other issue was how FFXII dealt with mana or magic power. The only way you could get mana back effectively was by running – just moving around. One boss fight entailed me running around an antagonist dubbed 'the Judge' in a large circle, healing the people who needed it and attacking when he didn’t do enough damage. I didn’t have to press a single button to win the fight. To make matters worse, your companions do not move around like you do, so they’ll never gain that mana back in the heat of battle. Maybe it’s just me, but running back and forth or running circles around enemies while I attack just doesn’t seem to be as rad as it sounds.

You aren't moving! Get that mana back! No, I don't care if you're bored!

Much like in FFX, characters achieve new abilities by moving around a welfare version of the Sphere Grid called the License Board. After every fight you’ll gain XP and some License Points (LP). You can move around the board by expending your points but here’s the kicker, everyone starts in the same place. That’s right, unlike FFX which started you on a HUGE different edge of the grid, this damn game just gives you all the same starters. I think the worst part about Licenses is that you can’t even use certain armor or equipment unless you unlock it on the board. So you can be wearing Plate Mail Assless Chaps, but if you happen upon a Cloth Toga? You can’t wear it unless you have it on the board.

Limit Breaks, Trances, Desperation Attacks - whatever game they’re from, Final Fantasy veterans know that these finishers help define the series. FFXII instills a new name to Limit Breaks they dub the Quickening system. Quickenings are probably the worst Limit Breaks of all time but are perhaps the most effective in a game like this. Each character can find three Quickenings of varying power and they can all be strung together in one lengthy, repetitive movement. To shoot one off, you have to have full MP and then you’ll be taken to a cut-scene where you’ll be prompted to press a button. As long as you press it before the timer runs out, so-and-so will do a move and the screen will fade to another cut-scene where you’ll be prompted to do the same thing. This string can last forever as long, even though doing just one Quickening will reduce your MP to zero. How it works after I’ve done 12 Quickenings I couldn’t care less about, but I hit one boss for over 10,000 damage at level 10 and won. Awesome.

Looks dynamic, right?

On another hand though, Square Enix brought back the Espers. For those of you who don’t know, Espers were the magical forms from FFVI (the best in the series) that rock total house. Unfortunately, even the good name of the Espers can’t save the new ones in FFXII. Once summoned, your party is teleported away from the area except for the caster itself. The Esper cannot be controlled and wanders around for a certain time period doing whatever. Funnily, the caster him/herself is usually getting hammered on by the creatures you were hoping to kill with the Esper. If you die, the Esper is unsummoned. If you think that stinks check this; usually Espers have several attacks, but they all contain at least one super. Upon completing the super attack they leave the area and your party is teleported back in. Sometimes they come in and use that attack, leave, and effectively did nothing. I want my old summons back.

Balthier is the coolest character in the game. Fran is the rabbit woman with high heels and no clothes.

Perhaps the worst part about FFXII is its headache of a story and the bland characters. Story for the Final Fantasy games is its most important foundation so it’s confounding as to how they looked at this and thought it was all good. I don’t think I’ve ever played a Final Fantasy game where I haven’t cared about the protagonist or the group he’s gathered. Actually, FFXII doesn’t even have a clear enemy since it’s too busy trying to make civil war and unrest the most complicated political thing of all-time. There’s no clear-cut good dude either, just an androgynous guy named Vaan who I immediately swapped out of my party when given the opportunity. 30 hours in and I still have no idea what’s going on or what people are trying to accomplish.

I’ll finish up here by stating how atrocious boss fights are. As I’ve described the combat to be a pancake drenched in the sweat of a 400lb male equestrian, the battles with the bosses aren’t nearly as exciting. Once a boss fight is locked in, they begin bashing you with their physical attacks just like every other game out there. The issue is that they really don’t do much else. Occasionally they’ll throw out a magic spell or some flagrant taunt but once they hit the 50% HP mark, the fight changes. Something drastic happens where the boss utilises some extreme area of effect ability that takes you for a ride; they will continuously do it until the fight is over. It’s almost like a time check saying, “You got me this low, I’ll keep spamming this until I’m dead. Haha!” Every boss follows a similar pattern or at least something close to it.

There's the boss! If you win you get nothing! Hurrah!

Oh and once it’s all over? You don’t even get items or ANY type of reward for winning. No I’m not kidding – Boss fights with no cool rewards. I’m sorry, you actually are rewarded – you get a huge “Congratulations” text message across the screen as it spins for about a minute around your party, who is posing for the non-existent camera man.

...just like this.

FFXII is an insult to the RPG world and an embarrassment to the Final Fantasy name. This console MMO-ification is pure evidence that what we’ve seen from FFXIII and the coming games can only lead to unrivaled terror. Do yourselves a favor Square Enix, revisit your older games and see how a real title plays.

Labels: 2011, Andrew Whipple III, Feature, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XII, PS2, Square Enix

Long before Second World War games were considered tedious and cliché, they could be compared to an Italian suit. Stylish, sophisticated, and with just a tad of modest reserve which gained respect from anyone beholding it. Of course, times change. But it doesn't hurt to take a look back on what was considered great back then.

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun was the second PlayStation2 game in EA's Medal of Honor series, and the fifth installment in total. Set during the Pacific War (the conflict between the Japanese and the Americans during WWII), the player assumes the role of Corporal (later Sergeant) Joseph Griffin of the United States Marine Corps.

In terms of gameplay, Rising Sun does not make for an unmissable gameplay experience. Quite the opposite, in fact; controls are clunky (I only found a control scheme I liked when I manually programmed it in), character movement is slow and can lag badly, the aiming system is absolutely miserable - on-target shots seem to almost always miss their targets - and the lack of any form of decent AI prevents Rising Sun from being even a half-decent game. However, the inclusion of a form of ADS zoom is a good inclusion, and the immersive environments are true to their historical counterparts.

Graphics in Rising Sun are probably the game's best feature. Considering when the game was released, they're realistic and 'special' effects such as water and fire textures are very impressive. However, character rendering needed more work, as did tanks - they all have very sharp edges; the badly rendered features make the actual objects seem like afterthoughts, rather than meaningful parts of the game.

The so-called 'additional features' feel exactly that - additional. As though they've been forgotten about until the very end and then clumsily sellotaped on with five minutes to spare until launch. Online, when it was still active, was difficult to understand for the non-technical and when you finally got into a game, it was lumbering and sparsely populated. EA were making a good move when they shut the servers down.

I don't enjoy giving bad reviews to games. When I play a game, I really want to enjoy it, whatever it is. But there just isn't a way around it - Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is a disappointment in almost every sense of the word. If you are collecting retro WWII games, doing research or have nothing better to spend your money on, then Rising Sun might be of at least a little use. However, if a normal person buys this out of choice, then they ought to be shot.

Linford

Labels: PS2, Retro review, Review