When the weather is warm I don’t want to play video games. My desire to sit glued to the TV wanes during the summer months. Life has more whimsy, more spontaneity and more nuance - not only does it seem a shame to lock myself inside during this time, but video games hardly seem like the right outlet for a sense of whimsy: doing something I do every other day of the year.

I once wrote an article about how video games are on a collision course with irrelevancy. I genuinely believe in everything I said in that article but its deficit was that it lacked specifics. I intentionally avoided citing many examples of what I found to be both vapid and worthwhile in video gaming because I have a difficult time touching on a topic and not digging down full steam.

I want to spend some time sharing video games I think are more than what we typically expect; titles that can be deep, expressive, exploratory, and even beautiful. It’s during these upcoming months when I’m most willing to expand my tastes; it’s summer, so let’s be more carefree, more expressive, more lustful, more sexy, more fun and more empathetic. Let’s be more everything.

Small Worlds

Open world games have lost their novelty for me since Super Mario 64. In their inception, they promised exploration, implying ostensibly limitless discovery. It was less a descriptor of how much freedom the game afforded you and more a promise of a world worth investigating every inch, not blowing everything up.

Nowadays, the term “open-world game” carries with it that very connotation of wanton destruction. Games like Just Cause and Red Faction unleash players into high-octane explosive playgrounds where environment and exploration are secondary to unrestricted fun. Destructive fun. The danger in that approach is that it abandons one of the core pleasures of being loosed into an imagined space - the simple joy of exploration.

Small Worlds exemplifies that core exploratory pleasure of open-world games. It’s a flash-based indie game about a series of 2D pixelated areas with no goal other than to discover what is around you. You play as a small anthropomorphic bunch of pixels that initially finds himself (or herself) encased in a glass bubble. The only visible way out is a tunnel through the floor. You can see nothing else. Your character is mostly surrounded by darkness, and soon finds that his or her only real option is to escape out of that opening. As you leave your hatch, you uncover more from the darkness as it gives away to a network of tunnels. The more you uncover, the more the camera pans away from your avatar, revealing the extent of the environment you’ve discovered. And there’s a lot to discover.

Small Worlds impresses because it’s a small indie game that executes the ideas behind open-worlds as well as, if not better than, any proper big-budget title. This should be a learning experience: whether you’re scaling buildings, driving stolen cars, or just running around, one of the biggest joys of an open-world environment should be the opportunity to simply exist there. There should always be a persistent sense of discovery.

There are blockbuster games that touch on this sentiment today. Red Dead Redemption crafted a western landscape that wasn’t necessarily always interesting to look at, but felt so legitimate that it was a pleasure to inhabit when the game required you traverse it, and was always good to allow appreciation for a sunset or a slow, winding basin trail. Likewise, Fallout 3’s environment was depressing, but its atmosphere was distinct, complete with its own self-deprecating tone and mid 20th century motif. Even Just Cause 2, with its emphasis on explosions and naive destruction, brandished an island with hidden pockets of peace where the ability to destroy suddenly halted in favour of a few fleeting moments of serenity.

Sometimes, it takes a bare-bones approach to distill the essence of what makes something valuable. Small Worlds takes this approach and encapsulates our basic ideas of exploration in a way that presents them equal to any element, quietly pleading game developers to take note.

Everyday Shooter

I generally loathe twin-stick shooters. Geometry Wars and the like just make me sick - I can’t deal with the amount of challenge those games ruthlessly pile on, and I don’t like feeling like the game is trying as hard as it can to make me fail, as though it were making fun of me. I don’t play games to be pummeled with challenge just for challenge’s sake.

The exception to this distaste is Everyday Shooter. Though it plays like most other twin-stick shooters, it’s in the area of presentation that Everyday Shooter becomes more than a trawl through bullet hell.

While it is definitely a video game, Everyday Shooter occasionally errs towards being a creative tool. One of the core concepts in Everyday Shooter is dynamic response: enemies are abstract geometric shapes that weave and swerve, not necessarily to destroy you (though they will), but also in rhythm to the beat and tone of the soundtrack, which is entirely guitar-based. When enemies are destroyed, guitar riffs and twangs plunk to signal victory; when combos are initiated, the riffs compound and complement each other as the combo increases. In a sense, enemies in Everyday Shooter function more as notes than hard obstacles. It’s synesthesia.

The design of Everyday Shooter a fairly simple system to interact with, but it’s built with some meaning behind it, adding a genuine sense of discovery to an otherwise tired game. It’s not a game I zone out while playing - it’s a game I can't help but think about.

Everyday Shooter differs from other abstract music games because it is less predicated on expression and more about the exploration of mechanics. While games like Electroplankton center around creating music, Everyday Shooter focuses on discovering music. Every level is different in its presentation of graphics, sound, and chaining system; level 4, for instance, has enemies that are more erratic, and they hide behind clouds of murk until you’re close. I kept dying on this level until I learned to be more patient in my movement and carefully hit smaller enemies, triggering smaller, quicker notes before advancing to the bigger baddies, which trigger large payoff riffs. This took a long time to figure out.

What does it mean in the context of creating music that I have to rub up against the enemies before I can even see them? What does it mean when the music itself is practically eluding me?

Everyday Shooter is a game that reorients your motivation to play while you’re engaged in it. It gives you a taste of what it’s like to contribute to something beautiful, and then it makes you fight for that right to contribute. There’s a struggle for creation here, a gem of euphony buried in the game’s mechanics.

When you finally unearth it, it’s nothing short of precious.

Mirror’s Edge

I first played Mirror's Edge during a stage when I was utterly bored and unimpressed by video games. I had bought a 360 in an effort to fertilize my interest in gaming, and Mirror’s Edge was just what I just happened to pluck off the bargain bin. It may very well have been one of the best quickfire purchases of my life. Mirror’s Edge is a game of simplicity, serenity, and most of all, beauty.

You probably know, but Mirror's Edge is a first-person parkour/free-running game for PS3/360 that mainly takes place on the rooftops of an urban-paradise. It's essentially a platformer with a focus on speed and fluidity of motion; the goal is to get from point A to point B as fast as possible.

Every time I play Mirror’s Edge I’m impressed. Not necessarily by the tightness of the mechanics or how much fun I have when I play (it’s often very frustrating), but by the way I feel when I play the game.

The caveat is that I’m one to be inspired by aesthetics, how nicely things look and feel, and that may not be the case for everyone. But I find Mirror’s Edge striking. It’s a game highly focused on environment and your interaction with it. You navigate a minimalist world muted in white, accentuated with drips of only the most vibrant colors that come to define particular areas: a soft swatch of green fills a massive cargo boat, hard yellows tense an ascent through a treacherous atrium, and a deep blue coats a skyscraper in the ultimate moments of the game. It’s a world that uses extreme simplicity to focus your attention.

In high school I was reading some venerated classics. The Great Gatsby, Our Town, The Grapes of Wrath, Kafka’s work, etc. And amongst those, I was playing Mirror’s Edge. All these works swirled in my mind and became a well of inspiration for me as I started to write my own fiction. I drew heavily from the feelings and images Mirror’s Edge swelled in me. There was suddenly beauty in walls and ceilings, vibrant color could bring me to tears and make me wistful. I wrote stories about lovers in elevators and swooned over the crunch of death that follows leaping off buildings.

It was like a virus. The serene minimalism and the way you interact with it infected my sense of beauty and mixed with my previous notions of what was aesthetically pleasing. I could hardly focus on tasks because I missed the simplicity of that world. It was the one time in my life when I genuinely yearned to relinquish myself to an imagined universe that seemed so much more profound, so much more a pleasure to inhabit than our own.

To me there is an ineffable quality to Mirror’s Edge. Something about its design is special in a way I can’t clearly express, partly because it’s personal and partly because the game itself is adequate explanation. That's something that makes me want to hang on to a copy long past its release, long into the future.

Labels: 2011, Everyday Shooter, Fallout 3, Indie, Just Cause 2, Mirrors Edge, Open World, Parker Scott Mortensen, Red Dead Redemption, Small Worlds

Oh, Grand Theft Auto, I do love you so. I love your dry wit, sharp humour, cutting satire and brilliant societal critiques. I love the fact you're so well realised, with no detail overlooked or flaw jutting out. I love your atmosphere, your dialogue, your gameplay, and - though I hate to be so shallow - your looks. You're damn near perfect.

So you can imagine that I was overjoyed when news broke of Rockstar registering new domains, possibly in connection with the next iteration of the best sandbox around. With such titles as getamexican.com, pregnantandalone.com and justcanoe.com, there was no reason to doubt their legitimacy. They just sound so perfectly in-keeping with the Rockstar style that it seems second nature to walk into an internet café, bash this into the address bar, then log off and start a rampage.

See? Video games haven't affected me one bit!

All seemed to be going swimmingly. I would soon be reunited by my darling, and off we would venture. Where to this time? London would be a favourite of mine, as it's been a while since I mounted the kerb for half a mile in Clapham. Just get me out of America, which has grown stale thanks to endless faceless virtual copycats. Then I'd be happy.

It was with an air of disbelief that I read about GTA V being codenamed Rush, to be set in Los Angeles. There was even a character list to boot, though I just couldn't believe it. How could Rockstar, creators of possible the sharpest, funniest and most playable games out there, create something so... uninspired? While I'm sure 'Rush' has something to do with Take Two, I very much doubt that it is connected with the Grand Theft Auto franchise. And here's why.

Thanks to some very clever sleuthing work by the talented Superannuation, a casting call by Rockstar’s regular agency Telsey & Company was found, which listed various characters for a Take Two project known only as 'Rush'. These resumés seemed to confirm a GTA vibe (one woman listed the part of 'inner city female'). At this point, it's a very believable setup; games are accidentally revealed on a surprisingly common basis thanks to CVs or casting calls, and thanks to Telsey & Co.'s regular acquaintance with Rockstar, everything pointed towards 'Rush' being code for a new Grand Theft Auto. Except for one small issue...

John Marston is a stunning character. Not just for video games, which often substitute story for gameplay, but in terms of any piece of fiction, he's a beautifully rounded character. Niko Bellic may have been a bit whingy, but he showed layers of complex emotion that one wouldn't find out of place in a novel, albeit one with a lot of carjacking. Rockstar is known for creating incredibly detailed, intricate characters who can evoke sympathy, loathing, pity, or any number of alternative responses.

With that in mind, have you seen the characters for 'Rush'?!

Mitch Hayes:
38 – Annoying, wise cracking, highly successful FBI agent. In great shape. Does triathlons, drinks low cal beer, but still has a sense of humor.

Eddie:
47 – Weed evangelist, guy who started smoking at 30, and is now a leading proponent of marijuana’s fantastic properties. White, awkward.

Kevin De Silva:
18 – Albert’s fat, FPS-playing gamer son. Smokes a lot of weed, has anxiety issues and a card for a bad back, very soft, very opinionated. Into making racist comments while playing online.

'Annoying, wise-cracking'. That's probably the most basic stereotype for anyone inhabiting a Grand Theft Auto world. Does 'Weed evangelist' or 'annoying wise-cracker' sound familiar? Again, this is an incredibly boring, uninspired and underwhelming description of 'Default 18+ Video Game Characer #1'. And the self-referential 'Kevin De Silva'; would Rockstar really stoop as low as to parody their very players in such a simple, overtly cliché manner?

Oh, and he smokes a lot of weed, too.

I find it hard to believe, with the writing talent on Rockstar and the smorgasbord of superb figures standing proudly in Grand Theft Auto IV, that they would revert to such petty, childish stereotyping. If you asked a random man on the street to come up a list of with character traits they think the archetypal GTA oddball exhibits, these are the kind of quirks you would expect. But not from Houser & Co.

And then things take a turn for the ridiculous with Gilbert Gottfried reportedly tweeting that he had been cast to play the main character in GTA V.

“just found out I’m voicing the lead in grand theft auto 5! also I hate japan lol.”
- Gilbert Gottfried (@RealGilbert)

I want you to listen to this. And I want you to imagine that blasting out of your speakers for 25 hours of a video game. Rockstar's leading men have always been incredibly likable, from John's strong family values and dry humour, to Niko's sly remarks and desire for a better life. Could you really ever like the parrot from Aladdin? He's comic relief, a one-trick pony, just background noise. The voice is unique, but in a fingers-on-chalkboard way, not a warm, involving lead character way.

Which brings us back to the kicker; apparently, the game is set in Los Angeles. Now, I'm not sure about this, but according to some industry insiders, Rockstar are publishing a game already set in Los Angeles. Something called 'L.A. Noire'? Despite more than half a century between the two timeframes, could you imagine Rockstar visiting the City of Angels twice, in such a short space of time? It seems nearly impossible.

I'm sure Grand Theft Auto V is coming. I'm sure, very soon, the internet will be broken all over again thanks to everyone trying to see a debut trailer. But will that debut trailer focus on 'Eddie', the drug abuser? Will the Griffith Observatory stand proud in the opening shot? Will Gilbert Gottfried provide the voiceover?

I very much doubt it.

Labels: 2011, Chris Hawke, Grand Theft Auto, GT5, GTA4, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar, Take Two

Let's imagine for a minute that Red Dead Redemption is a delicious German Chocolate cake, baked long, long ago in a quaint small town bakery, Uncle Hans' Loafin' Buns.

When it was released, Uncle Hans' German Chocolate recipe became an instant sensation. It was tremendous! Cake critics from the far side of town raved about it, exclaiming between bites that it was, quite possibly, the most delicious cake in the history of baking. Cake connoisseurs demanded that Hans don his apron again and improve on his masterpiece.

Ecstatic at the positive reception to his recipe, Hans turned back to the drawing board, twirling his moustache in deep, sugary thought for months. Finally he rose from his thinking chair, snatched his finest chef's hat and marched to his bakery. After a few months he emerged from his dessert lair, hair standing on end and face covered with a film of powdered sugar, to announce that he would indeed be re-releasing his German Chocolate recipe, this time with a Hallowe'en twist - pistachio ice-cream filling!

It would be dubbed 'Zombie Chocolate'.

The response was mixed. Some cake critics were enraged, decrying the inclusion of pistachio ice-cream as an abominable insult to the pure, historical goodness of Hans' original German Chocolate. Others lauded Hans. His baking skills were so great, they declared, that he would make German Chocolate and pistachio ice-cream seem as naturally compatible as cookies and milk. Still others remained neutral, stating quietly that nobody could predict the future, and the town would all have to just wait and taste for themselves whether or not Uncle Hans had gone mad.

The verdict?


Uncle Hans' Zombie Chocolate, otherwise known as Rockstar Games' Undead Nightmare, may be the most delicious downloadable expansion ever baked.

Music.

The game starts in symbolic grindhouse fashion, with a cutscene of a dark and quiet night in the Old West. An eerie, disembodied voice (that you wouldn't be surprised to hear reciting the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe) narrates, as a relieved John Marston returns home after a day of chores, the trials presented to him in the last few months practically forgotten. He's tired, and happy enough just to share in his wife's lacklustre supper or listen as his son describes the plot of the latest book he's reading.

Unfortunately, the rabid, cannibalistic corpse of Uncle spoils the familial tranquility, infecting John's wife and son with the plague of undeath. Unwilling to let his loved ones wander the world as mindless cadavers, John grabs his revolver (and shotgun, and rifle, and repeater...), mounts his horse, and rides to nearby Blackwater to find a cure.

John's journey across the original map of Red Dead Redemption is a strange exercise in nostalgia. When you find yourself saving the McFarlane Ranch from cadavers under a green-tinted moon, or hunting down and escorting survivors to their family members in a government-run Fort Mercer, you may sense a strange mixture of déjà vu and surrealism. Things are the same... except that they're different. Rockstar picked a perfect name for this expansion, as this zombified, mystical West could easily be one of its residents' nightmares.

Don't get lost in the woods.

To match its nightmarish environment, Rockstar once again produced an incredible musical score - subtle, poignant, and perfectly timed. Here is one of the user comments found on the YouTube page for Blackwater, U.S.A.:


"Desolate, yet you know something happened there. Fires and damage surround you, yet strangely... where are the corpses? There are definite signs of fighting: Overturned carts, bullet holes in the wall, painting on the walls "The end is nigh!" "The dead have risen!" Risen? That can't be right, you know that's impossible. An old legend to keep people inside at night... But... where are the bodies? Where is everyone.....  what was that? Something's coming. You are not alone here. Run... RUN!"
- wkunzelman1


I couldn't have put it better myself. Or how about Dead Sled, by The Kreeps? As you play this song, imagine yourself on an American Army cargo train headed full-speed for Mexico, pinning your hat against the wind as you pick off a horde of ambling zombies under the moonlight. The image will stick.

What Undead Nightmare does, it does well. My only complaint regarding the game would be that I wasn't ready for its story to end when it did. I wanted more than a mere seven hours of nightmare. I'm not sure I would have been content with seventy-seven. Good zombie westerns make me greedy.

Zombies, this is Death, Felhorse of the Apocalypse. Death, zombies. What do you mean you've met?

Now that I've tasted the forbidden fruit, and inevitably find myself periodically succumbing to the siren's call of zombies in the Old West, I sate that appetite by either:

a) Replaying the story. One of the benefits of a storyline under ten hours is that you can churn through it in a weekend.

b) Wandering the endgame, finishing challenges, and unlocking the Undead Hunter (a much-deserved Army of Darkness reference) and Legend of the Apocalypse outfits. Also, there be mythical creatures to find ...and slay.

C) Multiplayer modes: Undead Overrun (basic but fun survive-as-long-as-your-ammo-holds-out-then-pray game) and Land Grab (a free roam game in which any player on the map claims a piece of land, then defends it from the neighbours). Both add enough spin on traditional Red Dead Redemption multiplayer to keep you entertained. Undead multiplayer skins are a nice touch.

With its terrific grindhouse style, nostalgic twist on Red Dead Redemption's characters and world, and new challenges, outfits, and multiplayer game modes to explore, Undead Nightmare is a must-buy for anyone who enjoyed the original game. Taken as a whole, Undead Nightmare is more complete - more feasible as a standalone product - than any other DLC I've played. Simply put, it's as much a masterpiece as its predecessor.

I, for one, am glad that when there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Old West.



Next Hallowe'en, Rockstar? I expect an L.A. Noire expansion in which flying saucers land in Los Angeles.

10/10 [?]

Labels: 2011, DLC, Greg Mengel, Red Dead Redemption, Review, Rockstar, Undead Nightmare

If you look around the industry, you’ll notice that regenerative health remains a favourite mechanic amongst developers, and why shouldn’t it? Continuing your onslaught of chainsawing, bullet-hosing manliness after absorbing sustained amounts of firepower to your sternum is always a win. But haven’t you wondered how our favorite protagonists come out of these predicaments alive? Perhaps you’ve questioned exactly what is preventing those bullets from perpetually penetrating their adventures? The answers lie within.

Many think that Halo was the pioneer of regenerative health. And, in a way, they're right; Bungie did bring the critically-acclaimed mechanic to the forefront of mainstream gaming. The birthing of it, though, is located in another castle completely. Nonetheless, regaining lost health after avoiding damage for a period of time is a smooth, insanely popular feature in contemporary games. It provides players with a reason to utilise cover while still being able to bounce back from mistakes in the midst of battle. How else were you supposed to recover from the prismatic dragon-ninja’s shuriken of dark lightning? It makes sense gameplay-wise, but as far as the games that utilise it - that’s a whole different ball game.

Now this list isn’t just about games that use regenerating health; no siree. That list would be far too lengthy and lacks the focus we’re going for here. Instead, this list is fixing its unending gaze on the games that contain unexplained reasons why your character regenerates. If a dinosaur clawed my spleen from the confines of my body, I probably wouldn't recover very well. In videogames, however, they can do so with no real issue. How is this justice?

Each game in the following list will receive a score based on how believable its form of regeneration is. A score of ten marks the most believable regeneration, whilst one indicates ghastliness. Here we go.

Killzone

The Killzone franchise has been through quite a lot during its lifetime. First it was a muddy, messy, overhyped PS2 game; then it transformed into a visually appealing, constantly-delayed PS3 title. And who could forget that glowing PSP game? Regardless of where you stand with the series, Killzone has done one thing consistently from the very beginning: regeneration.

I don’t get it though. You’re the standard space marine who - like the rest of the flock, apparently - is capable of absorbing countless numbers of bullets. Okay, okay: you’re wearing weird space military gear and all that, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that it doesn’t come equipped with quantum-regenerative mind-gear.

Verdict: These guys aren’t Warhammer 40,000 genetically-altered Space Marines of doom. Bullets hurt badly, and I’m not convinced you can bounce back from a Helghast shooting a rocket down your throat. Still, they’ve got some pretty fancy technology, so maybe its possible. Just maybe... [5/10]

Assassin’s Creed

Altaïr, Ezio; whoever your assassin of choice is, it doesn’t matter. Both of these badass dudes regenerate anything, from minor cuts to arrows in their ass. I think my biggest issue with Ubisoft’s star child is that when you’re fighting someone, another comes up and wants a piece. That’s cool, but things escalate rather quickly, and before you know it you’ve got armoured guards wanting to shove their six-foot pike in unwieldy places. The combat makes it a bit touchy to counter blows every single time, so it’s inevitable that you’re going to be hit with some form of weapon.

Let's paint a picture: your screen is flashing red, you’re screaming, you're running, and you suddenly heal back to full. How does this even happen? Do assassins in the Crusades or Renaissance Italy possess the ability to mend wounds with a snap of the fingers? Yes, you’re technically controlling a memory brought forth by the Animus, but the machine doesn’t give you Final Fantasy powers.

Verdict: Sorry: these highly trained, highly skilled assassins may be the cream of the crop when it comes to silent murder, but they’re no mutant. They’re wearing cloth and light armour so as to be weightless enough to run from any pursuer. However, if hit by tangible force, fall like tangible assassin. There’s no Curaga in this time period. I'd say that you should at least have to be hidden to regain health. [3/10]

Mirror’s Edge

You can shoot people in this game, but it sucks. It sucks because you can’t run whilst firing, and running is what this game is all about. And the running isn't short of its own problems, either.

Running! How the hell can you run when you’ve just been roundhouse kicked by a rhinoceros? It’s a fair question: you’re usually being chased by beefy officers or kung-fu masters who, against your delicate feminine frame, could cause some noticeable damage.

Sometimes you actually have to stop and initiate combat manoeuvres, which is fine, but you take the risk of getting injured. I guess the risk isn't too large though, because in the future everyone seems to have regenerative implants.

Verdict: I don’t know about you, but after I get shot I can totally do a double wall jump. [1/10]

Red Dead Redemption

Great as Rockstar’s wild west adventure may have been, did they explain their regeneration system? In short: no. You’d think that, in an environment where greats were born and slain, you’d receive a little more realism when it comes to pain.

Don’t get me wrong, you can kill people in a shot or two (which is just like real life, apparently), but some of the punishment you can take is downright ridiculous. With the amount of shootouts you encounter, you’ll be tucking yourself away to regenerate constantly. After the eightieth bullet, that leg of yours should be the most decrepit thing on the planet.

Verdict: How about that deer you shot? Do you see it running over to the nearest form of cover? That’s right, you didn't. It isn't coming back, because it can’t regenerate. Instead, it died, like in real life. Are you even listening or are you just skinning that deer? [4/10]

Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2 wasn’t the best game. Questionable AI, dodgy respawning points and horrible stealth mechanics made this gamer cry in dirty corners, but at least the health system was unique.

And gross.

As this video indicates, you can heal manually if you’re at critical health. This form of manual regeneration entails some of the most grotesque animations I’ve ever witnessed. Pulling glass from your wrist, prising bullets free from your kneecaps, wriggling wire out from between your fingers; Far Cry 2 tries its best to make you vomit.

While this mechanic is unquestionably awesome, it makes no friggin’ sense whatsoever. How the hell does pushing a bullet through your arm give health? I’m no medical expert but I’m pretty sure that after you pull a large piece of shrapnel from your arm, it's going to bleed and you probably aren’t going to be using it for a while.

Verdict: Points for disposing of the junk in your body, but deductions for the nonsensical health giving. Also, since the animations are random you could be shot at, and then all-of-a-sudden be pulling a shard of glass from your wrist. Unless the enemy is armed with wine-bottle launchers, that shouldn't happen. [6/10]

GoldenEye 007 (2010 Wii version)

This re-imagining of the famed N64 shooter was high on many gamers’ lists of unbridled anticipation. Then it came out. All I can say here is that Daniel Cr... - er, I mean, James Bond - now regenerates health rather than having to use med kits. Thanks go to Activision, for shattering my nostalgia into lots of tiny unsalvageable pieces with the most contrived game mechanic possible. Why not add laser cannons and giant mechs next time?

Verdict: James Bond is not a space marine. At least, not yet. As good a spy as he is, he's still only a man, and a well-placed bullet ought to puncture his anatomy like a nail through a slab of soft butter. [2/10]

Gears of War

Only the manliest of men can say that this game doesn’t feature enough gore. Gears of War is responsible for doing a lot right, and a whole lot wrong - see Gears of War 2's multiplayer mode, for instance. Regardless, Marcus Fenix and his COG brethren are fighting a war that they must win. And what equipment do they have in order to ensure this victory against a heavily-armed, ruthless enemy? Chainsaws and standard-issue armour.

Just to remind you, these people are fighting against a horde of mutant angries called the Locust, who have a whole arsenal of hurt just waiting to be unleashed. How does a unit that are struggling for any type of technology fight against beasts the size of small buildings with rockets strapped to their back?

They regenerate, of course.

Verdict: There are no shields, no special infusions to make you a God, nothing. That obviously means that when a colossal space laser descends onto the surface of the world, hitting you square in the forehead, so long as you get out of the blast radius within a few seconds everything's good. Where is the sense? [2/10]

Uncharted

This blows my mind. Nathan Drake and company are wearing what appear to be clearance items from JC Penney, and they have no fear of taking on waves of enemies. What happens when Drake gets shot? The obvious of course: he regenerates. But how?! How can you heal gaping shrapnel and bullet wounds, with your half-tucked shirt as your only form of protection?

Verdict: I guess half-tucked shirts are the new Kevlar. [1/10]

Call of Duty

There is nobody in the entire galaxy that would be able to survive a .50 cal straight to the chest at point-blank range. No manner of Void Armor, magical forces or hostage children used as shields could save you from your dire fate. In Call of Duty, however, apparently they can.

I still remember the day I stopped playing Modern Warfare. I was patiently waiting for some camping hobo to return to the window he’d shot me from several times before. When he appeared, I focused and fired a very accurate shot, dead centre in the middle of the poorly-hidden gentleman's chest. And he didn't die. Even despite the fact that my reticle registered the hit, the bastard lived and shot me again.

Verdict: No. [1/10]

Red Faction Guerrilla

Red Faction is known for its ridiculously enticing destruction. The GeoMod is something that hasn’t been embraced throughout the industry, and it’s ridiculous that it hasn’t been utilised more. However, the very mod I was just praising shows why Guerrilla’s regeneration system makes no sense.

First off, Alex Mason is wearing some kind of industrial rain coat that frightens me. Second, you can be decimating a building and have a two-by-four block of solid concrete fall straight on your face, and yet can still get up after the ragdoll physics have stopped, and be good for another round. Is Mason made of rubber or something? Last time I checked, he was still human, and concrete still really, really hurts when thrown on top of you.

Verdict: Even on Mars, a building collapsing on you is still a building collapsing on you. You’re not coming back out. Ever. [1/10]

Labels: 2011, Andrew Whipple III, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Gears of War, Goldeneye, Killzone, Mirrors Edge, Red Dead Redemption, Red Faction Guerrilla, Uncharted

2010: you were a jackass. Let's go over what the last year of days brought to the table:

- A papier-mâché worldwide economy
- The BP oil spill
- Bluetooth popularity
- The Last Airbender, Sex and the City 2, Jonah Hex
- More terrorism
- Justin Bieber's autobiography
- Final Fantasy XIV
- The Denver Broncos record
- Your peacock...cock..........cock
- No 'first contact'
- No zombies
- No fun

Yep, 2010 took in all our hopes and dreams, absorbed their precious nutrients, and laid an egg of sadness. I thought 2009 was bad, but then the next year burst in like a tornado of suck, demolishing all hopes of a better and brighter year. Thanks, buddy. Thanks a lot.

With so much to not be thankful for, it's good that we were offered such a wide array of quality games into which we could escape when things outside were ugly. Here are my five best digital alternatives to heroin presented in 2010.

5: Starcraft II

I'm torn here. On one hand, this game was terrific. The gameplay was great, the graphics made my computer wheeze with happy asthma, and Battle.net's sexy new makeover made it the prettiest girl at the prom. Everything was great in Starcraft town.

...except that its story was shorter than Daniel Radcliffe's post-Harry Potter career.

When I play a Starcraft, I want three chapters - one for each race - so that I can have a full dose of story. With more than just a Terran chapter, Starcraft II would be better ranked on this list.

4: Civilization V

Anyone who doubts that absolute power is addicting should watch a non-gamer sit down at a computer and play Civilization V for twelve hours straight. This game has a way with people... and that way involves gluing people to a computer screen for unhealthy hours without end despite the desperate pleas of their forgotten families.

Lost friends and loved ones aside, Civilization V was a perfect upgrade to the classic series. Less military units, a historically understandable social upgrade system, and shiny new graphics improved everything smoothly and effectively (except for maybe the AI). There are hundreds of strategies you can use to win, from combining a race with a certain social upgrade, to obsessively courting lesser city states or mixing science and diplomacy in order to keep large, militaristic opponents at bay.

Keep doing what you do, Sid.

3: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

What to say about Warcraft that hasn't been said a thousand thousand times... In every possible way, shape, and form, this game has been done to death. So why was Cataclysm better than Civilization or Starcraft II? Because after sporadically returning to Warcraft for over five years, I'm still not bored. Cataclysm's new low-level zones and dedication to story have kept it sexy through a long and often arduous marriage, causing me to come back to it despite numerous shallow affairs (City of Heroes, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, et cetera). Cataclysm is the latest outfit in a series of spicy, exciting costumes which WoW has donned in order to hold the attention of millions.

2: Heavy Rain

The best parenting game since Octodad.

Anyone who has skim-read two sentences of any of my articles knows that the value I place on a game's story is paramount. You can make the best damn game design in the history of time, but if it doesn't make me laugh, cry, or have an asthma attack in anticipation, then I couldn't care less. Games need to make me feel, or they're not worth my time.

Heavy Rain had more feelings than a pregnant woman watching Fried Green Tomatoes in a Ben and Jerry's factory. It takes modern game design, mates it with Choose Your Own Adventure novels, and makes something great.

If you fundamentally don't want to play a game that doesn't involve killing twelve-thousand Space Nazis with a spoon before ripping off your shirt and yelling your own name (in my own special way, I just attempted to describe Call of Duty), then avoid playing Heavy Rain tonight. You probably have a Klan meeting to attend anyway.

Otherwise, though, you have no excuse.

1: Red Dead Redemption

Without question the greatest game released in the last three or four years. You may disagree, saying that Red Dead is boring, overly violent; a juvenile portrayal of the American West. That's fine. Though I disagree with what you say, I'll fight to the death for your right to say it. But as I lay my head on the block for your inherent natural rights, my last words will follow thusly:

"You. Are. Wrong."

Red Dead Redemption brings all the ingredients of an amazing, memorable game to the table: great gameplay, a powerful emotive soundtrack, badass, well-developed characters, terrific voice acting, competitive online play, a treasure chest of endgame secrets, downloadable content, and endless replayability. But what does Red Dead Redemption do best? What is the aspect of it that makes it one of the greatest games of all time?

It creates a world.

Hundreds of game journalists have done reviews on Red Dead Redemption, and they all cite the feeling they experience while playing: the exhilaration that only comes when a person immerses themselves fully in a setting that is not their own.

"With Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar succeeds in creating one of the most impressive open worlds I've ever seen in a game, and it's telling that — even after playing for over 30 hours — all I want to do is get back on my horse and gallop back into the wilderness."
- Will Tuttle, GameSpy

"Red Dead Redemption is a must-play game. Rockstar has taken the Western to new heights and created one of the deepest, most fun, and most gorgeous games around. You can expect the occasional bug or visual hiccup, but you can also expect a fantastic game that offers the Western experience we've all been waiting for."
- Erik Brudvig, IGN

"The leading edge of interactive media has a new face. [...] In the more than 1,100 articles I have written for this newspaper since 1996, I have never before called anything a tour de force. Yet there is no more succinct and appropriate way to describe Red Dead Redemption."
- Seth Schiesel, New York Times

My critic colleagues and I agree: Red Dead Redemption is one of the best games ever made.

Labels: 2011, Cataclysm, Civilization, Civilization 5, Games of 2010, Greg Mengel, Heavy Rain, Red Dead Redemption, Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

2010 has, for the most part, been a fantastic year for games. Whilst there may not have been as many truly outstanding titles as in previous years, the quality of the top-tier games in 2010 was perhaps greater than any year in memory.

We've been treated to improved and refined sequels, gawped at some great new IPs, used up download quotas on some truly wonderful downloadable games and played to death plenty of great expansions for older games that have kept the likes of Borderlands and Uncharted 2 relevant one year on.

It's been a challenge narrowing down my favourite games of the year, but I've managed it. These are the games I've enjoyed the most and spent the most time playing - these are my Games of 2010.

5: FIFA 11

I'm a huge football fan, so I can definitely appreciate a great football game and EA Sports delivered one of those with FIFA 11. Managing to improve and refine the already brilliant FIFA 10 is no easy feat, but that's just what the folk at EA Sports managed to do. The gameplay is as realistic as any football game to date, there are plenty of modes to play through, and the improvements to the graphics are most welcome. It's one of those rare sports titles that can be enjoyed even if you aren't a huge football fan, which is a fantastic achievement. In terms of hours played, FIFA 11 is probably at the top of list.

4: Call of Duty: Black Ops

Following up on Modern Warfare 2 was never going to be easy, but Treyarch stepped up to the mark and in my opinion crafted the best Call of Duty game yet with Black Ops. The campaign was well-designed with a genuinely intriguing story, and the usual smattering of competitive online modes have seen me sink dozens of hours into the game. The return of Zombies provides us with some great and unpredictable co-op, and it's all wrapped up in one of the best audio and visual presentations this year. If you like shooters, you won't find a better one in 2010.

3: Red Dead Redemption

I wasn't a huge fan of Grand Theft Auto IV, so for Rockstar to suck me in to Red Dead Redemption and for me to enjoy it was something I didn't expect. For a start, the game looks and sounds stunning, with a beautifully realised world that really does feel alive and different every time you pop the disc in. The story is of the highest order, with memorable characters and incredible set pieces. Add to that some inspired and well designed gameplay mechanics, which are far more intuitive and fun than GTA, and you've got the base of a truly great game. What stood out for me though was the multiplayer: the free roaming, the team modes, the co-op and all that came with it were so addicting and so damn fun that it should be experienced by everyone. Oh, and there's that Zombie DLC... brilliant.

2: Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit

This might seem like a crazy choice, but goodness me: this game is just flat out fun. The feeling of playing cops and robbers in the world's most desirable cars, over the roads of a beautiful landscape with a rocking soundtrack blasting in your ears is the stuff of childhood dreams. This core mode is supplemented by standard racing and time trials, but it all works because of the fast paced and action packed gameplay which is a joy to play. The multiplayer will keep you coming back, the innovative Autolog feature makes everything competitive and worth trying, and the game looks stunning. This is like the Top Gear of racing games: crazy, explosive fun... with cars.

1. Mass Effect 2

You only have to read my review to know why I think this game is so damn good, and why I love it so much. I've completed the game three times, each time doing all the missions and side-quests and I've played through all the DLC. This game is huge, with an incredible story in which your decisions do really matter. The way in which your choices from the first game are carried into this one is an incredibly innovative and well done element of the story, and it makes your adventure feel totally personal and unique. The characters are so well written, the set pieces are stunning and there's still plenty of mystery left to answer in the third act of this incredible trilogy. Not only that, the gameplay itself is phenomenal. The shooting can easily stand up against industry juggernauts like Gears of War and Uncharted, whilst the other elements like the conversation system and the vehicle segments are also far enhanced over the first game. It's got incredible voice acting and music, with stunning visuals both technically and artistically to match. Games don't come any better than this; simply stunning, and certainly my game of the year by a long way. PS3 gamers: don't you dare miss out on this when it releases later in the month.

Labels: 2011, Black Ops, Call of Duty, Feature, FIFA 11, Games of 2010, Mass Effect 2, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, Red Dead Redemption, Tom Acres

WARNING: This post contains massive spoilers for both the ending of all versions of Red Dead Redemption, and the final levels of the game. If you do not want to find out what happens, please do not read on.

Red Dead Redemption is an epic game. No doubt about it. From sprawling vistas of dust and dirt, to the starry sky on an endless night's hunting, and all the firefights and horsebreaking inbetween. Rockstar's epic is laden with atmosphere, and you might just get swept away from the main story with the many challenges or the exhaustive multiplayer modes. 'Course, when you return, you're treated to one of the best game endings we've ever encountered. Chris Hawke and Greg Mengel outline what makes the ending so spectacular.

Chris Hawke

Yes, it's sad. Let's get that over and done with first - John's departure from the video game world is tragic. Man tears were shed. Cut down in his prime, he had a good life ahead of him, but instead of growing old with a wife and child, he is cruelly pumped with lead. This upset and angered a lot of people, but it sets up for one of the best endings I've ever experienced.

So, you killed Dutch. Or rather, he jumped off a cliff - it doesn't matter. What's done is done, and now you get to go home to your loving family, all hugs and kisses, as the sunset falls over Beecher's Hope. Fin. Except Rockstar don't do cliche. Instead, John comes home to the truth - a broken family tearing itself apart, held together only by the desire of a better life for the child. This really shocked me - instead of the cinematic tearjerker followed by credits, you actually get missions. On a farm. As a dad. Woah. Literally hold your horses. That's a pretty daring choice by the developers, and luckily for them, it works brilliantly.

You see, while you've been shootin' and lootin', you haven't really known much about John. He could be replaced with Eastwood's 'Man With No Name', and it would still tie in with the player's trigger-happy escapades. Here, in the farm, you get to see John Marston the man. He shoots crows out of the corn silo because he wife wants him to. He worries his son reads to much and ignores the world, and then takes him out to hunt. He tends to the cattle and looks after the farm. Hell, they could have thrown in a 'Set The Table' minigame and it wouldn't have looked out of place. Far from being dull, it's the cinematics that make this part of the game so important.

You find that John and Abigail are going through hell just for a better future for their son. John wants Jack to be happy, and to live his live to the full, whilst the farm's income plummets and it's getting harder to get food on their plates. Here, you as the player really connect with John. You see his kinder, warmer, more gentle side, in direct comparison to the mowing down of Dutch's Gang in the previous mission. John Marston is trying to makes ends meet for his family by any means possible, and if that means swallowing his pride and hunting former friends, then so be it.

And then the real kick in the balls. Or rather, in John's case, bullet to the face. His death is sudden and unexpected, brutal and over in a flash. And having just started to build up a picture of the man John Marston really is, all at once he's no longer there. It really shows off Rockstar's incredible storytelling ability. All this time, you've played as John, but actually, your narrative viewpoint has been that of Jack, his son. Jack never really got to know his dad, and that fits in with the player's perspective - yes, you knew who he was, a little bit about his past, but there was so much more to discover - only sly hints of his mother, and what he did in his gang, paint a picture of his past. So, that switching of playable characters from John to Jack isn't just a cheap way of giving some length to the game, but a really stroke of genius - in many ways, you become what John never wanted you to become. You roam the wastelands, in search of revenge. You have no purpose other than to kill Edgar Ross. And when you finally do, you feel empty.

That's it - you've killed the man who murdered your father in cold blood. But was it really worth it? Does that right your wrongs? The fact that the credits roll straight after this encounter also makes this even harder to bear, as you start to realise that all your efforts as John - all you journeys and quests just to reunite your family - has blown it apart. To quote John himself: "[Jack] ain't gonna be no frontier gunslinger, killing and running in no gang". And what did you just do? You crossed half to map to kill a single old man. What would John say? What would your father think, knowing you've become the very thing he struggled to save you from? Far from, say, Uncharted 2's 'sunset and banter', Red Dead is bittersweet and heartbreaking.

Red Dead Redemption may just seem like a catchy title, but it's a clear condensation of the game's main question - can you redeem yourself through bloodshed? Does the death of Edgar Ross really make up for the death of John Marston? Was John a hero, dying for his family, or did he get what was coming for his wicked ways? If there were ever a game to write a thesis on (and I'm not saying there is), Red Dead Redemption is it. It's a beautifully crafted, perfectly put together and thought-provoking experience that betters most Hollywood movies.

Greg Mengel

Before you read on, be warned - before you click on any links, know that most of them lead to movie endings which all contain major spoilers because, well... they're endings. Every movie linked is worth seeing without having its climax ruined, so jump carefully.

Good story endings, like Narwhal sightings, are rare occurrences that most humans find themselves wanting to witness multiple times after experiencing once. It doesn't matter whether they're found in literature, games, film, song, family legends passed drunkenly over the kitchen table amidst mashed potatoes and Grandpa's racist slurs... a great ending to an equally engaging story will bind itself to a person, periodically waltzing across the forefront of their memory years after it was first seen, read, or heard. There are some that kick ass. Others, that delve into philosophy and the deep meaning of life, will make you think. Still more make you weep like a freshly-chicken-poxed, toothing infant. Every now and then, when the cosmos aligns just so, a story ending will come along that manages to inspire all (and more) of these emotional happenings at once. Red Dead Redemption is one of those cosmos-aligning tales that wraps itself up in a way that will stay with you years after you've put the game disk away and moved on to bigger and newer - though not necessarily better - titles.

Chris did a great job explaining the meat of what happened at the end of RDR - I'm not going to lengthen this article by repeating an already-sound recap and analysis. What I'll do instead is add some zest to the steak that was his segment by sprinkling it with a healthy dash of the thoughts I had as I shot Edgar Ross to avenge my dead father. Eight times, in the face.

As an American, the "redemption" theme of Red Dead Redemption holds a special meaning for me, as it reflects one of the historical philosophies of the good old US of A - the ability to improve your lot by putting hard, honest, innovative work into the frontier. For the first century of American history, this was possible, and people from the east (and the entire globe) migrated to the North American west in hopes of manifesting their own destiny. The poor could make themselves rich, the degraded could build communities where they had influence, and (heeere's Johnny) criminals could leave their lives of sin and violence behind in favor of living a peaceful life. Around 1900, the west was nearly filled up. Cowboys outnumbered Indians. The buffalo was nearly extinct. Fenced ranches and farms, not open prairie, dominated the frontier. Scenic landscapes of purple mountain majesties and big skies, barely touched for centuries, were now lined with railroads, and sometimes even paved streets and telephone lines. More than a few American thinkers saw that a huge change was coming to the west that would be hard for old westerners, who saw the freedom and lifestyle of Old West as pure, and modernization as corrupt, to adapt to. Cue John Marston.

John Marston is very clearly a symbol of the Old West. The man was born of a frontier prostitute and raised by a train-robbing, hard-drinking traveling posse. The man can barely read, and if confronted about that fact, he'd be the first to admit it. He's seen nothing but hard times, and wants nothing more than to live a better life. His method? Building a home the way people used to when they went west - by straightening out, settling down in a little corner of the American landscape, and carving out a niche for himself with dedication and hard work. For awhile, things go according to plan, and the "way" of the Old West works. John leaves his old posse, falls in love and gets married (to the former posse whore, who also wants a better life), builds himself a ranch, has a son (Jack), and tries to forget the way he used to live. Unfortunately, agents of the encroaching federal government (and cheerleaders of modernization) don't forget, nor do they forgive, John's past life. Just as the Old American West couldn't help being swept away by the "forces of modernity" that transformed the frontier, John couldn't free or absolve himself of past sins through dedication and hard work. The forces of modernization changed the futures of both.

Through the entire plot, this theme is explored in amazing detail by way of conversations between Jack and just about every character he comes across, from the ranch princess Bonnie MacFarlane to the Mexican revolutionary Abraham Reyes (a Zorro in his own mind). Nowhere is the frontier thesis explored in more detail than during conversations between John and the signer of his eventual death warrant, the government official Edgar Ross. When John discovers Ross has betrayed him, sending US troops to apprehend him at his ranch, he accepts his fate in perhaps the most frontier way possible - going out in a gun blaze of defiance and glory. John was the glue that held his family together - with him gone, they are almost guaranteed to dissolve as a unit, and the player knows it. It's a sad moment, a badass moment, and a moment that leaves you alone with your thoughts. Then you get to play as Jack, and Chris already covered all of my thoughts on why that's so awesome in it's own right.

So there's my take. Simply summarised, Red Dead Redemption's mixture of great plot and believable character psychology (discussed by Chris)and true-to-the-era historical theme and setting (described by me) all combines to create an ending that is exciting, intense, introspective, moving, and unbelievably badass - one of the best endings ever to grace a game.


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Labels: Analysis, Chris Hawke, Feature, Greg Mengel, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar