Eurogamer 2010

Managed to not get around to posting about this for almost a week. Shameful.

The event was probably bigger than last year’s, though not as much as I expected when I heard it was in Earl’s Court. Still, the event’s grown a lot in the last two years, long may it continue.

I was lucky enough to be able to attend RockPaperShotgun’s Brink session rather than be part of the highly-publicised queue for it. Their write-up, including my thoughts (that I really had no business offering on so little sleep) is here. Even though I was rubbish at it in the short time I had with it,the core SMART system traversal mechanic is really easy to understand, it seems to tick all the boxes, it’s fast-moving, accessible and balanced with objective-based gameplay that keeps things interesting. Really well presented and detailed, the product of much care and attention as revealed by Splash Damage’s Ed Stern later, when one character uses his radio the others will hear the sounds going on around him, and guns sound much louder in iron-sight mode as they are closer to the ear. Coupled with the interesting setting of the game, I think we can expect quite an immersive experience at the end. I came away wanting more, and unfortunately it will still be quite some time before I can get it.

Obviously I sampled a number of titles on the show floor. Enslaved was already sold to me for it’s presentation, though I was able to see that it also has really satisfying combat. Slow-motion kills may be overused nowadays, but the shots in this game look really good, showing the exertion on Monkey’s face peering through the hole he’s tearing through a robot. Also caught a presentation by Ninja Theory’s Tameem Antoniades with some very interesting insight into the games conception. It’s sometimes sad to know what cool and impressive things are made in the industry that can never be released for copyright reasons.

Got to try some Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood multiplayer, which I had not been paying much attention to in spite of how much I enjoyed the first two games. It is unlike any other multiplayer I can think of, and it’s very satisfying to get one over your target by walking by them and shanking them, or with a long-range pistol shot from a roof, and kills are well presented enough with a short enough downtime that you don’t find them frustrating (the victim sees them self being killed in slow motion whilst the killer remains in normal gameplay, a neat touch, I thought) I’m not sure there is much more to it than what I saw, but it is still simple but distinctive fun. I think some random variance should be applied to characters appearances though. There are eight recognisable character types with one model each, as best I can tell, each also colour-coded and of fairly distinct profile. I think with this they could in this way tell a player that their target is of the “Noble” class or some such, and have a good enough idea of what they were looking for, without needing to populate the city with just eight character models. Small thing that probably only really bothers me, an AC expansion is a sale to me, and this is a bonus.

Seemed little point in playing Fable III or Fallout New Vegas as 1) I don’t think you can get a feel for these sorts of games in the time I could reasonably take and 2) I’m buying them no matter what. Was still good to see them running though, Fallout looks like it deals with a lot of the issues its predecessor had, and is just a more interesting setting than the fairly generic post-apocalypse of Fallout 3. I don’t have much to say about Fable III right now, expect that to change once I get it on release day.

Vanquish may have just been the XBox Live demo that I haven’t had a chance to download yet, but it’s great fun to play. It’s a cover-based shooter for people who don’t necessarily play cover-based shooters, I think, enabling either conservative defensive play using cover, or a fast-moving attacking style, shooting on the move using the “bullet-time” effect brought when shooting whilst dashing. Didn’t catch much of the plot, if there really is one, but it seems like pretty, undemanding fun and excitement.

Rage is still I think over a year away yet but deserves a mention for the free t-shirt I got from them. Id Tech 5 is certainly impressive, and for now seems to be the focus of their presentations, don’t know much about the game itself besides being a shooter with RPG elements. Looks to me like the reverse of Fallout 3, a shooter first and and RPG very much second, maybe even third after being a driving game as well.

There was plenty more to see (in particular Crysis 2, which I’m kicking myself for not giving a closer look) but those were the main things I wanted to share. Plenty to look forward to this next year, I think.

DC Universe Online – Resuming shit-giving

This post from Darius Kazemis has spurred me to finish this post. It has existed in my head for a few days and in my defence, I have had some rather more important things to deal with, so it got that I felt the moment had passed, though I agree with Darius that I should “just write it” and get some life back into this blog.

DC Universe has been off my radar for a while, what with my having played my fill of both City of Heroes/Villains and Champions Online, I didn’t really see what a game under licence could really deliver over Cryptic’s efforts. Then again, there have been two Superhero MMOs and both are fairly widely regarded as being on the right side of decent, compare that to the ratios on the fantasy and sci-fi genres in the field.

So with Marvel’s MMO being cancelled and remade into Champions, DC Universe Online gets to be the first comicbook MMO backed by a widely recognised brand. I’ve been Making Mine Marvel for the most part these last few years, so I didn’t really pay much attention until I saw the impressive but uninformative intro video, which regardless had me looking the game up on Wikipedia and YouTube. Combat and traversal is alleged to be inspired by possibly the best superhero game of recent years, Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, and some of the video I’ve seen would seem to bear that out:

I myself find it hard to get too excited about turn and timer based combat as most MMOs use, for this is really appealing to me. I won’t know until it’s in my hand, but the actual act of playing the game looks fun and involving. The main concern for me will be if this might make the game too exclusive if it requires too much skill (or too little to stimulate better players) or it could be more difficult to play on lower internet connections, but this is just conjecture at this point. And I like that the high-tier gear shown in the second video, which I think looks great, will not be “forced” on players at a certain point and make everyone look identical in the end game like WOW. When you earn an item, you earn it’s appearance and benefit, and can use either or both. This affords players the freedom to create their own look, but also show off the fancy stuff they’ve earned, showing where they’ve been even if there is another item they would rather actually be using.

I fear there were points I’ve forgotten to make since I’ve waited so long to put this up, maybe it will come back to me, but the main ones: I want this game, and it sounds like these guys “get it”.

Some supplementary videos from DCUO Source

More idle E3 posting – Metal Gear: Solid: Rising

Looks like it might be fun. Not too much to be said from what’s there besides that there is something I find appealing about the cutting mechanic and physics. Maybe being so interested in bisecting people exactly how I want says something bad about me? Ultimately, it’s not the Metal Gear connection that’s interesting me, the gameplay seems to have little in common with it. I’m sure there will be similarities in story telling but it’s clearly to be it’s own thing now Kojima is in a producer role. One to keep an eye on, hopefully I can afford a PS3 to play MGS4 on before it’s out. I’m glad they’ve taken it cross-platform but want to enjoy the unspoiled story sometime. And Move-integration on that platform might be icing on the cake.

Force Unleashed 2 trailers

Weee! Really nothing to suggest this will be anything other than more of the same, which is really all I expected or desired. For a Star Wars game (or indeed, a Star Wars anything) the first game’s story was quite strong and the plot implications from this trailer are quite interesting.

“I Still Function!” – War For Cyberton demo

Had been meaning to renew my Xbox Live Gold subscription for RDR mulitplayer, which I should really get on with, but was finally spurred into action by the release of the Transformers: War For Cybertron demo.

The extent of the demo is fairly limited, with only two of the four classes playable to level 3 (which can be reached in a single match) limited customisation and one map with two game modes (team deathmatch and control point)

One concern is that one of the absent classes is the Scientist/Jet class, probably the most distinct vehicle mode. It’s a shame since it is the class I most wanted to play, and I wanted to see how well flighted characters played within the confines of the arena, which doesn’t appear to have much open space for it.

Got used to the controls very quickly, and action is very fast when the game is well-populated. Might be down to inexperience but the Warror’s tank mode seems very vulnerable to the nippy Scout car, and can expect to be punished if they miss their first shot with their main cannon, though perhaps things will even out with the other two classes involved. It’s still very cool to quickly turn into a tank to fire a quick shot at an unprepared target. Had trouble using the melee weapons effectively since it calls for a press on the thumbstick, which I think I have some kind of mental block over, but clearly isn’t a problem for many given how many times I’ve been shanked in the back and clobbered with spinning mallets. I think the tumbstick-activated transformation command resulted in a few accidental mode-changes for me as well.

The demo is effective at making you want more, letting you advance a little to make you understand the reward system but withholding them for now. After a little over an hour’s play I have little desire to play the demo any further, having seen it all, but I can’t wait for the full game’s release. It also exploded my perception of the game as principally a single-player/co-op affair. Depending of the learning/reward curve of multiplayer advancement, the game may offer a lot of long-term appeal there.

Red Dead Reactions

Had a glorious weekend these last few days, though not for the reasons I had planned. Clear skies and sunshine drove me out of the house and away from the superb-so-far Red Dead Redemption, and instead onto a bus to Ely for a day of looking at old things and buying frivolous rubbish. It was a day that things just seemed to fall into place, as I chanced on the quite sought-after Transformer figure Skystalker (excellent toy for the small Scout size) and a hobby store (hidden in a bike shop hidden above a toy shot) selling absolutely all the supplies I needed. Got a lot of Gunpla prepwork, cleaning frames ready for assembly, though didn’t exploit the sunshine fully by spraying and airbrushing just yet.

I did still find time for Red Dead though, and I was glad for it. Not revolutionary after GTA4 but the western setting is very compelling and leads to some good use of the engine, as shot horse-riders get stuck in the stirrups and smash into cacti (I think that is the correct pluralization in this case). I would like them to make the plot progression a little less linear to match the open world, but that is understandably much more complicated and could lead the storytelling to suffer. On thing I like in particular is the “feel” of the gunplay. A gunshot really seems like bad news in this game, compared to most where people can shrug of several before even wobbling. Partly this is just down to balance and not needing to offset the ease of hitting someone with a semi-auto, guns fire slower and carry less ammo, so each shot should be made to count, but I like how it make a big difference between people with and without guns. Enemy reaction to being shot, done dynamically through Euthoria, helps too, as they stagger, fall and react to each shot convincingly, even taking a parting shot as they fall dying, a neat “just like the movies” detail. I sort of hope the weather deteriorates a little so I don’t mind spending time inside playing. I’m sure I’ll have more to say soon.

Marvel vs Capcom 3

Thanks to Forth Letter for bringing this to me.

Nothing to be gained from the trailer besides this is actually happening somehow (doesn’t Activision have it’s talons in the Marvel properties? Or did that end when Disney bought Marvel?) and some characters that appear in the trailer or in silhouette. Consensus seems to be that one outline belongs to Deadpool, result! Hoping for Rocket-sheep and Meat-armor.

Not played SF4 yet, but I think I would like to have the gameplay carry over, probably makes sense for them to use the engine anyway, but I hope the tag mechanic of MvC2 is retained.

Mass Effect 2

Made myself finish Mass Effect the other night, I actually reached a big plot twist that made me really appreciate the story shortly after the point I was at. I think it’s a highly enjoyable story in a well-crafted setting, let down only by how unpleasant it can be to actually play the game sometimes. I don’t feel quite so embarrassingly angry at it now.

So this brings us to Mass Effect 2, the main reason I played Mass Effect 1 to begin with, and thankfully, Bioware seem to have addressed every major issue anyone had with the previous game. Less fortunately, they seem more inclined to remove a feature than repair it, and so the planet surface vehicle sections are entirely gone (though optional ones will be added via DLC). I think this was a mistake, the Mako sections, whilst annoying to play, did at least make the Mass Effect universe feel big by letting you grasp the scale of a single planet within it.

Likewise, inventory, character advancement, weapons and armour have gone from the cluttered, disorganised and overcomplicated affairs of the original game into something much more limited and less interesting. A joke is made about previously having had to buy equipment in spite of being both a high-ranking Alliance operative and a Spectre, whilst here that would actually make sense but all weapons are found and can be replicated for the whole squad (mostly). There’s only a handful of weapons of each type, as opposed to the many series of many models of the last time, and no armour options at all outside of an unlockable cosmetic pallet swap for each character. On balance, the experience system is better and each character and class has something that makes them distinct, though doesn’t allow for much specialisation. I don’t want the nutty inventory of ME1, but more variation than 2 would be nice, as would some distinct upgrades to find for each character, just to feel that I’m managing the squad rather than equipping each new item that renders the last obsolete. With only one Krogan available it’s easy to have it that you can find a few sets of armour for him, and maybe fiddle around with some custom upgrades. A few more unique items for some squad members would be a nice touch.

One area the original actually outstrips the sequel is the PC port. Previously it was handled by Demiurge after the 360 release, rather than by Bioware themselves, and the interface is often very strange for someone with a mouse. Double clicking an option seems to never confirm it, and a separate confirmation button must be hit, and the mouse-based Universe map navigation is very odd indeed. Much mouse aerobics needed in this game, I think I would have appreciated it being handed to Demiurge again.

On the topic of controls, the combat areas mostly play well, taking advantage of the Unreal engine, but the cover system could use just a little more work. If I am on one side of a small barrier, and want to be taking cover on the other, I need to take cover on the near side, presumably where enemies can see me, vault over, which I can’t just do from standing, do a quick 180 turn to face the barrier again and then take cover. Probably doesn’t annoy me as much as the Mako but it’s got me killed a few times. At least this game has a decent number of well-placed checkpoints.

I would also have liked the level design to be more subtle when a fire-fight is coming up, I see a bunch of barriers in a corridor and I know I need to get behind one even before a hostile shows. And I had a bit of a problem with the heat-sink “ammo” system of the new game. For one, it’s still a bit of an RPG and it seems like a bit of an inconsistency that pulls you out of the world a little(MY IMMERSION!), given that in the previous game heat-sinks lasted forever and just stopped the gun working for a bit to cool down, which was a more accurate representation of how heat-sinks work. I just didn’t see the point of making me scrabble around for ammo, especially when it respawns wherever I might run out.

Finally, the plot just lacks the big twists and surprises of the first game. It’s still well written and cast, and it’s good to be a part of the Mass Effect setting, just not as compelling as last time. I think the main thing I have to say is that a very, very good game lies between the two we got, a lot of the good parts of ME1 have been lost, but the sequel’s refinements have made a much more enjoyable game to actually play outside of a dialogue tree.

Thought for the day – Guns

“I don’t need to be careful anymore! I have a gun!”
– Homer Simpson

I’m going to try and post more, just short things about ideas and criticisms. I owe it to mankind to publish the output of my Mighty Brain.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is the first game in a long while that has made me treat guns with caution. One-on-one against a normal, unarmed opponent Batman will pummel them with impunity, but even a run-of-the-mill goon with a rifle can cause problem if he is allowed to get a good shot. Bats can’t just charge through the hail of bullets and deliver four knuckles-worth of justice, as a salvo will not only take about 1/3 of your health but leave you staggering, making escape more difficult as you hurriedly try to grapple to one of the Asylum’s ubiquitous gargoyles. If you get hit once, it’s going to get harder to avoid being hit again, it really underlines how guns are things that make killing much, much easier, very appropriate for a game where the protagonist has a near pathological hatred of them.

Champions Online: Divided they Stand- PVP vs RP

There seems to be a great deal of hoo-hah around Champions online regarding the lack of segregation between Roleplayers and PVPers.

For those who don’t know, in the past when you start playing an MMO, you select a single server and make a character on it, who, under most circumstances, remains there and only there. This means devs have been able to set aside servers both for roleplayers, where non-RP dialog can even be punishable in some cases, or for hardcore PVP, often lifting some of the restrictions places on it in the normal servers, where enemies can be engaged on site without a dueling system to keep it consentual, so weak characters are not steamrolled by players of much higher levels.

Champions online works differently. Rather than picking a server, every time a player enters an area he can pick an “instance” of that area. This is good for eliminating the possibility people will find them unable to play with friends because they are on another server. It also fixes that recurring MMO issue of how many heroic adventurers/superheroes you find in a single place, diminishing how “special” being one seems.

But the resulting issue seems to be that RPers want to claim areas of the game as their own for roleplaying purposes, citing supposed cases of griefing by players engaging in PVP fights in locations such as the nightclub. PVPers, meanwhile, argue that this is a RPer landgrab, and that they have a right to dual as they wish and want to use these locals for their interesting layouts and such.

It seems to me the solution should be simple, have players flag themselves as being a PVPer or RPer and have the game sort them into instances together, so you have a PVP instance of heroes brawling around the bars and clubs of Millenium City, whilst in another instance you have anthropomorphic woodland creatures flirting with each other.

Further, an ignore list could go beyond hiding offenders text and let you ensure you never find yourself in the same servers as them. Only problem I see is the possibility that the list gets so long that you can’t get into any instance at all. But surely by that point you should be considering that maybe it’s you that has the problem?