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What Darkness Conceals, Terror Reveals

Is this a review? A retrospective? Idunno, I just really like Shivers.

Review - Rocket Knight

To anyone familiar with the Rocket Knight games on the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo, get ready, because after 16 and a half years, another game in the Rocket Knight series is out, simply titled Rocket Kinght. That said, it's obvious that this isn't a sequel anybody in particular was waiting for, but it certainly is a blast from the past.

180 Team Fortress 2 Screenshots now uploaded

I added a new page for my large collection of Team Fortress 2 screenshots. There's 180 of them there, and believe it or not, I narrowed them down from over 1500 screenshots. ...Although probably 150-200 are scoreboards in case I want to prove how awesome I am... at 24-hour 2fort. Or Lumberyard. I should probably play more maps.

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Posted on 04 Mar 2010 by Bryan Skinner

What's so special about Heavy Rain?

No, this isn't a hypothetical question where I give you the answer and tell you why I like this game - in fact, I don't even like it. This is an actual question I'm asking, because I really want to know, why is Heavy Rain so special?

Now, I haven't played the game at all, and in no way am I saying the game is bad, in fact, it's probably a pretty good game, but I wouldn't in any way say it's ground-breaking. The story seems like it's exciting, and the graphics are pretty good (although the characters themselves look like they're made of stale Play-Doh). But in all reality, it's nothing new, and it's hardly even a game at all.

Saying this game is bad would make me a hypocrite, since it's essentially a point-and-click adventure - a genre I enjoy playing - where you don't point and click, but instead your decisions are made by button controls. That said, aside from conversations with NPCs, the actions occur entirely in quick-time events (QTEs). It also plays like a make-your-own-adventure book in the sense that some actions might affect others in the future, or if you reach a point where most games would say "Game Over", the game continues as if nothing happens.

The reason this annoys me is very simple: Heavy Rain is a game with an experience you can already attain through books or movies. Some would tell me, "well, those Telltale Games could be experienced in the same ways," which is true. But the thing is, and I say it again, Heavy Rain's gameplay is almost entirely QTEs. What's the point, since all it seems to do is complicate actions that could easily be performed with the press of a single button? It's not engaging, it's annoying, especially to someone like myself who prefers action games, yet still enjoys a good point-and-click every once in a while.

Imagine it this way: Let's say you're playing a first-person shooter with the same QTE elements Heavy Rain adds to point-and-clicks. Instead pressing X to reload, you have to press X to activate the reload QTE, hold the right stick to rotate the gun, use the left stick to move your hand to the magazine, pull the left trigger to take out the magazine, move the left stick back to reach to your ammo pouch, press the left bumper to exchange magazines, use the left stick to move the new magazine into the gun, then release the right stick ending the QTE. Or... you know... you could just press X.

I'm not saying the QTEs in Heavy Rain are that complicated, but that's what it feels like to me. When most adventure games let you do everything with one click, Heavy Rain uses the whole controller. Take a look at the first 2 mintues or so of this demo and see what I mean:

PS3 Games - E3 2010 - Heavy Rain

Some would also argue that the game is original, using ideas that no-one's thought of before, but every aspect of Heavy Rain has been thought of before: The point-and-click aspects have been seen many times before, and the QTEs have been seen since Dragon's Lair in 1983. Heavy Rain's just doing them both at the same time.

You know what? It's just not my type of game. I prefer games that give you an experience exclusive to playing videogames; Stuff you can't do in movies, or books, or even music. A game can be a good story-telling media like the rest of them, but just because you want to make an adventure game, you don't need to make the actions complex so that it "feels" like a game.

tl;dr - All I'm saying is Heavy Rain's gameplay feels arbitrary compared to games released decades ago.

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Posted on 16 Feb 2010 by Bryan Skinner

My 10 Favorite Games of the 00s

Okay, this is a long blog, so let's skip the intro and cut to the chase:

#10
Sam & Max / Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People / Tales Of Monkey Island

A three-way tie for a good majority of Telltale Games' Catalog. I love adventure games that are both funny and well-designed, and you have 'em right here. With Telltale, you get a 2 hour episode of a series every month or so, so instead of waiting 5 months for a full game to come out, you're waiting 5 weeks for a filling portion. Telltale is probably the only company doing episodic content right (I'm looking at YOU, Valve), so I praise them for that as well. However, I didn't include Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures in the #10 spot, mostly because I didn't find them all that funny. They had their moments, yes, but I don't know, maybe I just don't get British comedy. If I had to pick one high point in particular out of all of Telltale's Episodes, I'd have to pick Dangeresque 3, the fourth episode of SBCG4AP. It's by far the funniest episode they've made, the puzzles are well-done (especially compared to the previous episode), and it's probably the best of Telltale's episodes to buy if you just want one as opposed to a whole season.

#9
Diablo II

That's right, the quintessential dungeon-crawler RPG. I don't know what else I need to say about it. It's a very well-designed dungeon-crawler, and it's still being sold to this day. It's probably got the best assortment of classes of dungeon-crawlers to date, and the multiplayer is still second to none. Now, while there are dungeon-crawlers that do a few things better than Diablo II - Torchlight for example - but they either don't have multiplayer of any kind or they're bugged out the ass. But without Diablo II, I wouldn't have any interest in games like Torchlight or Titan Quest.

#8
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Let me set something straight here: You will not see Banjo-Tooie appear on this list. And it's not because I find Nuts & Bolts to be better than Tooie - it is - but I never really had any experience with Banjo-Tooie until probably 2004, and that was just on a ROM. It doesn't hold the same sentimental value that Banjo-Kazooie had, and that's why it's not on my list. So why is Nuts & Bolts here? It's right up my alley. I love the gameplay, I love the visuals, I love the music, and I just loved this game. It felt more like I had a choice in how I complete missions than other games like, say, Portal (which, by the way, also doesn't appear on this list). I think people underestimate this game and just blow it off because "AH-DUH IT NOT JUMPING" or "BANJO'S SQUARE", but in all reality, if you set aside Banjo games of the past, and try to imagine N&B not having Banjo characters in it, it's still the same game underneath all of that, unchanged at its core.

#7
Conker's Bad Fur Day

What do I even need to say about this one? It's vulgar, disgusting, and low-brow, but at the same time it's hilarious, well-written and fun to play. It has its frustrating moments (like the end of the "It's War" chapter), but unlike so many other games, it's satisfying once you get past them, and it may be because of the entertaining cutscenes. Its multiplayer is primarily responsible for why I play console FPSs southpaw when I can. On the subject, while Live and Reloaded's multiplayer got a lot of crap from critics, I actually had fun with it. Even though Conker's Bad Fur Day has a linear story-line, it's still fun to play from start to finish every now and then.

#6
Unreal Tournament 2004

Forget Halo. Screw Modern Warfare. Fuck Gears Of War. Unreal Tournament 2004 is the last multiplayer game you will ever need. If you haven't heard of it, you're a console gamer. This game makes me proud to primarily be a PC gamer. You guys can have your Halo and Call of Duty, but they're certainly no UT2004. It's fast paced multiplayer FPS action at its finest. It has a ton of modes straight out of the box, and there's a mod community adding more modes, and some of them are actually fun (I highly recommend Jailbreak). And at [url=http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/unreal_tournament_2004_ece]$10 DRM-free[/url], it's a steal. (Disclaimer: I don't really have any right to talk smack about Halo or Gears of War and I actually like Modern Warfare's multiplayer. I just like UT better.)

#5
The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker

That's right. Wind Waker. Why? Well, why the fuck not? It's got the best story out of probably any Zelda game, save prossibly A Link To The Past, and the cell shaded graphics will easily stand the test of time better than Twilight Princess. What I don't get is the fans complained about the visuals, then Nintendo gave into demand and made a game like Ocarina Of Time, but then they complain that it's too much like Ocarina Of Time! You want something different? They gave you something different, it's called fucking Wind Waker! Anyway, some people also didn't like the sailing, but I enjoyed it for the fact that it gives the game an element of exploration. Even if the only reward was a Heart Piece, there's a bunch of side-quest islands to travel to with puzzles to solve at every one.

#4
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion & Fallout 3

Yeah, you can say I'm cheating with this one, but both of these games share the same reasons I like both of them equally. The sheer amount of things you can do in both games is astounding, whether it's character class customization or the amount of quests to complete, or the vast landscapes that you can explore open-endedly. Speaking of open-endedness, these games are the best around. From the get-go, you can go just about anywhere and play the games as you please. Oblivion's combat system is the best an FPP RPG can offer, and Fallout 3's perks and skills from previous installments mixed with Oblivion's open-ended gameplay make it an enjoyable and entertaining experience just as well.

#3
Psychonauts

There was no better platformer released this decade than Psychonauts. If you liked Banjo-Kazooie or Banjo-Tooie, I can almost guarantee you'll enjoy Psychonauts as well. The platforming is tight, and the level design is the craziest and coolest I've seen in a long time. And the puzzle solving element blended into Psychonauts makes it a one-of-a-kind experience. Not only is it a great game to play, but the characters, story, plot, and comedic writing add a lot to replay value for me.

KazBananjo recently got Psychonauts, so I asked him his opinion on it in one sentence:
"It's colorful, charming, hilarious, clever, and at points, frustrating..."

#2
Team Fortress 2

I was going back and forth over whether Psychonauts should take this spot and TF2 should have been number 3, but I took into account how often I keep coming back to Team Fortress 2. It's a multiplayer game that manages to consistently keep me addicted years after its release, and that's saying something. I love the balance in the classes and all the new items and weapons they get in the updates (well... except the Bonk Atomic Punch, they should work on that). I think the reason I get particular enjoyment out of it is I consider myself a Jack of all Trades in TF2, and I can play each class well enough to have fun. It also has some unique elements for an FPS, like random critical hits and achievements that reward you once you unlock a certain amount. With free updates every so often, it sucked me in, and I can't get out.

#1
Half-Life 2

What can I say that I haven't already said about Half-Life 2? It's a masterpiece in game design, from the levels, to the weapons, to the AI. It's the best example of how to make a good game. After just the right amount of exposition in the beginning of the game, it kicks into gear... and never stops moving till the end of the final battle. Vehicular sections that are actually fun to play along with nicely spaced out puzzles break up the action just enough to keep the game consistently fresh. At the time, the graphics were unparalleled, and I was impressed with how well it performed on my old POS machine with a GeForce FX 5200 and half a gig of RAM. It's also the game that introduced me to the Half-Life series in general, which I'm now a big fan of. Bottom line, I just love the shit out of Half-Life 2.

Okay, I should probably explain the absence of one game in particular: Portal. Portal was a good game, but it had its faults. First of all, it's short. Too short. On your first go, it'll probably take 3 hours, and I've gotten to the point where I can beat it in under a half-hour. Second, for a game fully composed of puzzles, it doesn't have much replay value other than going through for achievements or beating the advanced levels. I also couldn't consider it part of The Orange Box and just put that in the number one spot because I played Half-Life 2 before The Orange Box came out and it deserves to be alone at number 1, and I enjoy Team Fortress 2 enough that I felt it needed to be recognized as a stand-alone game rather than part of an overall package.

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Posted on 11 Jan 2010 by Bryan Skinner

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