Plundering the Internet so you don't have to
Posts tagged Xbox Live
The Iron Mic vs. Mass Effect 2
0742 days
Now that I have somewhere to post, I can record the thoughts that usually swirl about my brain and trickle out in the form of self-directed mumbles while I’m in crowded, public places. I noticed this happening while I was playing through Dragon Age, and so, hammered out the last rant, hoping to relieve myself of the hushed voices. The fact that I was actually looking forward to Mass Effect has, I think, intensified the whole process to the point where I’m not going to be able to keep track of all the shit that irks me about this game. As such, I’m going to post my (hopefully spoiler-free) thoughts here. Feel free to join in.
– I don’t know what exactly caused it, but I was completely taken in by the first ME. Perhaps it’s because I very much enjoy sci-fi. I like it as a setting for most any story, far more than fantasy, as it has the eventual possibility of coming true. Humans discover vast technological stores and go on adventures spanning billions of miles? Sign me up. I read every planetary description, noting the color of the different gas giants and which chemicals on the barren desert planets were responsible for killing me if the red death-meter got too full. This time around, the game has managed to completely cut me off from the universe within. Oh, I’m not allowed to travel wherever I want anymore? I can’t land on planets and drive around, looking for things to kill/collect unless I pay you an extra $15? Fantastic. Sign up someone else this time.
– So, they went to the trouble of describing, in detail, why there was no such thing as ammunition scarcity in the first game. Mass drivers, and scrap metal slugs, and whatever. That was fine, I bought in; plausible explanation. Now: oh we’re sorry, we meant there IS ammo, but it’s not called ammo it’s called “thermal clips.” Great, now you’re just like every other game. Way to be.
– Where the hell is my inventory screen? Why is ammunition considered a “power” that not everyone can use? It’s ammunition: a physical object that fits into a gun. If it fits into one pistol, shouldn’t it fit into another identical pistol, regardless of who is holding onto it? While we’re on that, why can’t I carry whatever weapon I want to? Last time, you simply took into account that certain characters were trained in the use of, and therefor better with, certain weapons. Now my character is physically unable to find the “ON” switch to a rifle? And why can he carry two more weapons than anyone else? And why does my squad insist on entering combat wearing nothing more than bondage gear or a swimsuit?
– The sniper-time and hit locater are right up my alley. Anything that adds squishy headshots is OK in my book.
– At least the hack/bypass minigame isn’t a Simon-clone anymore.
– Man-faced broad is man-faced. (eww, man-faye)
– I really, REALLY hate what they did to the inventory system.
– Apparently a 7-year-old could hack the average Defense Robot.
– The Galaxy Map is tilted wrong and I can’t see what I’d like to. The listing of what quests are in which systems is nice, but perhaps wait until I highlight them to tell me rather than cluttering up the map.
– The Citadel got smaller. That’s exactly the wrong direction to head in; more exploration, not less.
– Fuel/Probes: an in-game currency drain necessary to continue playing. This isn’t an MMO (yet), let’s not try and make it more like one.
– This might fold into my dislike of the inventory system, but where are the stores? Am I to believe that, in the future, retail outlets will only carry two random items each and specialize in nothing?
– It takes me twenty minutes to scan a planet for resources, and I don’t even get to drive around while doing it.
– I’ll bet the PC version looks awesome, but it probably still has this same generic redhead I see repeated every 3 humans. Every game, Bioware; every fucking game with you the same thing.
– To steal a bit from Yahtzee: there sure are a lot of chest-high walls in this galaxy.
– I can assign a power to the d-pad OR use it to direct traffic, not both. What gives?
– The AI is better at telling my squad what to do than I am.
– This game has more unnecessary recurring characters than Episode I.
– Bioware must think they’ve found the recipe for the next smack, and they’re only willing to cut it but so much with parts of fantasy, sci-fi, or seaquest. It’s as if they expect people to buy the same product over and over, and then thank them for the privilege. Well, think again; I’m only willing to RENT the same thing over and over.
Unfinished Business
0791 days
One day... it shall be mine!
As I sit here writing this article about unfinished business; I find it ironic that I am listening to the soundtrack of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, simply because it is a game that I thought I would never finish. I played that game across two xboxes, and even two different discs (one stopped working). I did, however, finally finish it. After 100+ hours of play, I closed the last oblivion gate and thwarted the daedric invasion. It was a very satisfying feeling. Maybe not so much looking from the game out, but rather the fact that I had accomplished something that I never thought I would do. That game is MASSIVE, as I think we all as gamers know. As far as RPGs go it was just a giant time sink, with thousands of things to do, see, and well… kill.
Which brings me to the meat of this little piece: I have way too many games left, just from this year, to finish. As any gamer worth his weight in plastic peripherals knows, the couple months before Christmas is THE time to get big games. Last year the bigger titles were: L4D, Little Big Planet, Resistance 2, and the biggie Gears of War2. This year the list is probably twice as long and much more spread out over different genres. Games like Dragon Age:Origins, Assassin’s Creed 2, L4D2, and Modern Warfare 2 will satisfy the hardest of the hardcore. There are also games for people that are more casual with their games (not necessarily “casual games” however), games like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Forza 3, Borderlands, and even the New Super Mario Brothers Wii game. Needless to say, the shelves have been stocked for a while with quality games for pretty much any kind of player.
Anyway… I now have sitting on my shelf in the gaming lair: AC2, NSMB Wii, Borderlands, Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and Left 4 Dead 2. Of those 6 titles, I have finished a grand total of ONE, and that would be MW2, because the single player is like 5 hours. Although, I have started to go back and play through it on Veteran, which is taking up even more of my time. Point being, I have a LOT of unfinished business with my games. I have played quite a bit of each title (save DA:O) and thought I would at least write up my impressions of these games so far. We’ll start with the oldest first…
"Boom! Head shot!"
Borderlands is one of those games that you can just jump right into and have mindless fun with for hours. I am sure to catch a lot of flack for this (should anyone actually read this) but THIS is the game that I wanted Fallout 3 to be, so very badly. Not that Fallout was a bad game, I don’t think that, but it just never felt right to me. If you put a gun in a persons hand, set the camera behind the gun, and give me lots of targets to shoot at, I NEED the game to be more responsive and the controls to be tighter. Sorry. Fallout was way too slow and methodical, as a regular RPG should be, but not one with guns and a first person perspective. I enjoyed the game; it just didn’t satisfy enough of either genre to keep me interested. Borderlands, however, is a very satisfying game for me. Having four classes to choose from (Sniper, Tank, Soldier, and overpowered Chick) makes it a game that could possibly be played through several times with different effect.
Speaking of multiples… there are thousands and thousands of guns for you to find or buy in this game; literally. Granted, a VERY large chunk of them are pieces of junk that you will never use except for padding your wallet, but the few that are rare finds are well worth the search. Searching is something you will do a LOT of. Chests, lockers, safes, piles of garbage, sometimes even animal carcasses will have weapons or ammo in them. This game makes the loot factor in Diablo seem tiny and insignificant. Seriously, it’s just that overwhelming.
The controls are easy enough to manage if you have EVER played a FPS before. Everything functions as you would expect it to. The visuals are done in an almost “cell-shaded” way that makes them look almost cartoon like. It definitely adds to the visual style of the game, and sets it apart from just about all the first person shooters out there.
The biggest and probably most fun draw for this game is the Multiplayer. You can grab three of your friends and jump into a game. The person that hosts the game is the one that you will follow the story line and quests for. So say, if you have already finished a certain amount of quests, but your buddy hasn’t, you may still have to go back and play them again if you are playing in his game. Also the game scales to that person as well. So be careful getting into games with higher level characters because you may get your ass handed to you.
The story in Borderlands is, hmm… we’ll just say, thin. Actually, to be quite honest, I have almost no idea what it is about AT ALL. I know that I am some sort of mercenary or something, and I am looking for pieces to the “Vault”. There is some chick in my head that keeps telling me I am on the right path and doing the right thing, but I couldn’t tell you who she is or why she is talking to me. What I do know, is that this game does a great job of give you a fuck-ton of quests to accomplish, as well as giving you a rather large world to accomplish them in. If you are looking for a decent FPS that blends in simple RPG elements then this game is probably going to be a good match for you.
Also, this game just came out with what looks to be a rather fun DLC. It’s an entirely new island full of new monsters (ZOMBIES) and a few new weapons.
Seeing as how this article is a bit longer than I first expected it to be, I will post it in parts. You have just read (obviously) Part One. Part Two will be coming up soon, on one of the other games that I listed above. Probably with less exposition and filler.
Friends Vs. Friends List
0908 days
Show of hands: people who like to play video games with their friends? Now, put your hands down if those “friends” are only online… This article is more for those still holding their hands up. This is for the people, like me, that are being overlooked as video games “progress” further into the future.
Lets start things off with a little personal history lesson. When I had an Atari 2600 I used to play games like “Boxing” and “Combat” against my friends and family. We would play for hours trying to get in the final win; memories I wouldn’t trade for the world. Then things progressed to the Nintendo Entertainment System and we would play games like “Double Dragon” and “Cabal” and of course “Contra.” The games were even better looking and it was even more fun. Next there was the Super Nintendo, with its games like “Mortal Kombat” and the grand-daddy of competitive gaming for me, “Super Mario Kart.” Same friends, same style of fun, and so the trend would continue, up until the late PS2/Xbox era. Things took a major “leap forward” and my real life friends were left in the wake.
"Can I still get online with my Game Cube?"
More and more games (on the Xbox especially) were going online. Meet up with people all over the world and play games with, or against them. That was the big hook, right? Well, what about your buddies that you had played four player Goldeneye with for four years? Sure there was Halo, and that was great, but not much else out there, at least not for people that want to play in the same damn room. Have we not progressed past the days of Super Mario Brothers on the NES? Remember when you had to take turns playing a game? Mario would have to make it through his world, then Luigi got to play. Same-screen, multi-player games then weren’t really all that great because of the limitations of the technology, but that was, what, 25 years ago now. Fighting games existed too, but they just weren’t as fun. Playing tournaments of Soul Blade on the PSOne, or getting all four controllers going in a good game of Twisted Metal: that’s where it’s at. You can’t replace game memories like that with online games of Mortal Kombat Armageddon or Auto Modellista.
When I stepped up my system to the 360 I was totally down for some more gaming with my REAL friends. Things started off well: we got to play “Perfect Dark Zero” together. That was a lot of fun. Shortly thereafter though, games decided to just forget about your buddies and concentrate on your “new” virtual friends. Games that used to be marketed as “Co-Op” were all now being sold as “On-Line Co-Op.” I guess I really hadn’t noticed until I wanted to play some Co-Op with a friend of mine in Crackdown. It seemed like it would be a lot of fun to be two super powered cops running around the city, beating the snot out of criminals. Much to my dismay, however, the game ONLY offers “On-line” Co-Op. From there the trend only spirals out of control.
Games that DID offer the ability to play in the same room with a friend usually involved making mock rooms on Xbox Live. The problem there is that you ONLY have you and a friend trying to play deathmatch or CTF games, one man, one team. The worst part about it is that developers have taken out probably the easiest fix or at least patch to this issue: Bots. My friend Bill and I played literally countless hours of Perfect Dark on the N64. The game wasn’t all that great, the graphics now look absolutely horrendous, but never the less it was a hell of a lot of fun. Why? Simply because he and I could play deathmatch for hours and hours and it would never be the same game twice because of those little bots. I am no programmer, but I would imagine that something that fit on only PART of a N64 cart could be programmed into a multi-million dollar DVD game. Seriously… The only full size game (that I am aware of) that has Bots in it since has been Killzone 2 on the PS3. Even with bots in that game you could only play it single player. What the hell?
At the most recent E3, Microsoft said they were going to release Perfect Dark (from the N64) as an XBL Arcade game. Being such a huge fan of the original I already have very high hopes for this game, most of which I expect to be disappointed on. Sure it will look better, play faster, and sound great in 5.1 surround, but all that doesn’t mean dick to me if I can’t play it with my friends in the same room. Talking smack to my friends as they sit beside me and see me drop their in-game character over and over again is much more satisfying than doing it online. I like to see my opponent’s face as they realize that I have been following them, just waiting to capitalize on the first mistake they make.
Where are my split screen games that AREN’T racing games? In order for my friend Brian and I to play COD4 together he had to have his own 360, an account on XBL, and his own copy of the game. Damn! I mean seriously, why have this super powered machine, with the ability to have multiple controllers “hooked up” at once if you don’t have anything to play? Thank goodness for games like Army of Two and most of the Tom Clancy games; they are trying to keep hope alive. Army of Two probably does one of the best jobs of recreating the fun of those old games like Bad Dudes and Double Dragon. However, games like this are few and far between. This is, of course, excluding all manner of Wii games and “Rhythm Games.” Rock Band and Guitar Hero are in a category all their own, and since most Wii games DO have some sort of Co-Op or multi-player ability, but are mostly crap anyway. I mean you have your Wii Sports games and certain Kart racers, but as a whole the Wii isn’t known for it’s stellar games. Just being honest here. I own all three systems so I am NO fanboy.
The "Frag Dolls" always game with friends, and Avril Lavigne apparently.
For the most part, games that do allow you to play simultaneously with a friend are games of trivia or puzzle games, and most of them exist only on the PSN or XBLA. The exception to the rule is sports games. All your major sports games (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB) have the ability to play with your friends on the same couch. Honestly, if they take those games and make them solely online multi-player, I’m done. If I can’t give my friend sitting beside me a verbal thrashing following me scoring a game winning basket/TD/goal/home run, count me out.
I’ve said it many times before: I don’t like relying on other people (especially that I don’t know) to have fun with a game. Also, think about the online gaming community as a whole. Take the good experiences you have had in a group of strangers versus the bad. Which one happens more often? Don’t get me wrong… I have been playing online with a great group of guys over the past year or so, but I have never met them. I don’t have the same history with my “online” friends that I do with my “real” friends. There won’t, and can’t be, any stories of “Oh, remember when we were at your apartment playing this?” or the occasional “Remember when we got back from the bar and were totally drunk playing this?”
Like I said, it’s as if games are progressing forward everyday, as far as graphical prowess, sound design, acting, and even story telling are concerned, and that’s great. However, if games progress too far without at least trying to keep some semblance of the offline or same-household Co-Op involved, really, where have we gone? At the price of human interaction we now have friends that we probably will never meet in person, and will have no connection to in the future. Yes, I know that people have met offline, and I know that others have gone so far as even getting married to their online counterparts, but these are definitely the exception, NOT the rule.
All I am getting at is this: Developers of games that actually have some need for Co-Op, be that online or off, at least consider doing something so that I can include my friends sitting beside me. That doesn’t mean that I need some half-assed multiplayer shoe-horned into my game totally ruining the experience, though. Also, don’t forget to consider your friends (speaking directly to the gaming public, I mean). If your buddies are sitting around watching you play a game solo, it probably isn’t the most fun experience they can have. Even the most craptacular old-school offline Co-Op can be made fun with the right people. My friends and I have played many a crappy game for hours, just because we can find ways of making it fun.
So when your Friends list tops out at 250, don’t forget your real friends. Take some time and play a game that involves them, too. At the end of the day, your real friends will literally be there for you. Like it or not, 90% of the people that you meet online and game with don’t give two shits about you on a personal level. They won’t pick you up if your car breaks down, bail you out of jail if you get caught with that “escort” in Vegas, or keep the secret on why you can’t use ice tongs without cringing.
What have we learned here? Pt2
0992 days
I know I am doing this kinda out of order, but eff it. Microsoft was actually the first Press Conference for E3, they were allowed to kick things off, and boy howdy did they ever do so.
You would think that the opening of the show they would kinda take it easy and hold off on showing their hand, but you would be wrong. Right out of the gate Microsoft comes out swinging with Rock Band: Beatles. Showing of some in game stuff, talking about songs and such. They have Giles Martin, the son of Beatles producer George Martin, on stage to talk about all the remastered tracks for the game. Then, why the hell not… Bring out Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, letting us know that Xbox will get the exclusive track “All You Need Is Love” and the proceeds from the sale will go directly to Doctors without Boarders. Oh and while we’re at it here is Paul and Ringo and have them talk about the game. So they do. Naturally they like it, like they would say anything else. “The game is good. We look great!” Very subtle guys.
Next up after a little more fluff from Xbox suits, Tony Hawk. Tony is here to try and convenience you not only that you should buy his new game, BUT also pay an as oh yet unnamed price for his faux skateboard controller. Tony Hawk Ride is the newest addition to the Tony Hawk branded games. I will admit that I have owned pretty much all of the TH games recently, but most were bought at a huge discount and I never really did much but fuck around in them. The “board controller” for Ride does look sweet, however I have an issue with a couple things. One being its durability. This thing better be sturdy as hell to absorb all the jumps, falls, and sheer amount of weight applied to it over the course of the game. Second, if this is going to be more “sim” than the rest of the games, how scaled huge is the learning curve going to be. If you suck as a real skater because of some balance issue or lack of dexterity, where will that leave you as a player in this game? I guess this will remain to be seen.
Never backing down, Microsoft’s next reveal is a live demo of Modern Warfare 2. We are treated to an in-game story sequence of climbing a icy mountain with none other than Soap Mctavish. Once you reach the your destination the action starts. It’s almost white out conditions so you are forced to use some sort of radar enabled silenced weapon to take out your foes before they even see you (or you see them). Needless to say it is action packed, loud, detailed and pretty awesome looking. November 10th can’t get here fast enough.
Steadily building on the momentum set by MW2, who should come out next but Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama from Square Enix, to talk about Final Fantasy XIII. Then they drop the live demo of FFXIII running apparently on an actual 360. It is a translated version of the video shown before, only it’s being played live. They tell of the innovations that FF has made over the years and what you can expect from the latest installment. The demo is beautiful complete with a summon of Odin. It looks totally amazing and I for one cannot wait for this to come out. Surprisingly enough they announce that FFXIII will targeted for release in Spring of 2010. Here’s hoping.
Next up on the stage is Donald Mustard from Chair Entertainment and Cliff Bleszinski from Epic. They announce that they have been working on a new title called “Shadow Complex” for XBLA. Dropping names like Castlevania, and Super Metroid and being a game that is not only about explosions and action but also about exploration. I looks very slick and could be very cool. Slated to come out over XBLA summer sales push we may find out very soon how much fun this game really is.
In rapid fire several game trailers and quick demos are given. I will run through them quickly as they will probably be covered later anyway. First was a game that is near and dear to me that is getting a sequel, Crackdown 2! The city is sick and you are the cure, or something like that. Who cares the first was fun as hell and the second promises to be just as good. After that was something that probably NO ONE expected. A man speaks about talking to his grandma about praying for the world… Zombies are shown… then the satisfing engine rev of a chainsaw, and the hilarity of a frying pan kill. What could bring all these together? Only Left 4 Dead 2!! That’s right the sequel to probably one of the funnest multi player games on the 360 in years, and its coming out THIS November. More of everything is promised in the second installment. Gabe says this one will last longer as a “platform” with more updates and a better version of the “AI Director”. Sold! Next is the reveal of the recently totally revamped Splinter Cell: Conviction. I have never been a big fan of the games they always seemed to tedious to me (strange considering my love affair with MGS games). However this one has sold me and I will be looking forward to its release. Finally Dan Greenawalt comes out from Turn 10 Studios introduces us to Forza 3. Described as ”The definitive racing game of this generation.” Not being a big fan of racing games, this one is low on my interest meter but never the less it looks great.
Before the REALLY big guns come out, they let us see some of the new features of the 360 coming soon. Like Felicia Day talking about the FaceBook and Twitter integration into the 360 menu. Do pretty much anything you can do on your PC with them now on your 360. The big feature with this I could get behind is the ingame screen captures, however it only works with certain games at the moment. Netflix also announces that they will have streaming video in 1080p as well as allowing you to add movies to your instant queue through the xbox. Finally “Last.FM” will also be made a part of the 360 menu system. Giving you the ability to listen to their music library and make recommendations to friends and such.
Next came some of the bigger games of the show but I will come back to them. Real quick (because I will cover more on this later) Don Mattrick talks about making games work with out using controller AT ALL. Sizzle reel is shown of people doing just that. Then Kudo Tsunoda comes out and talks more about the latest innovation in camera tracking and gameplay dubbed “Project Natal.” Aside from the slight snafu with Kudo’s on screen avatar from 360, it tracks him quite nicely. A demo is shown exactly how it can track movements and distance and all sorts of things. Then Peter Molyneux steps on stage and begins to tell us about his new project called “Milo.” Which for all intents and purposes is a self aware AI locked in your 360 that you interact with through Natal. A demo is shown where a girl interact with Milo, and he knows who she is, how she feels and her mood based on her voice. She “walks with Milo, plays in the water with him, and even draws a picture for him which after “scanning” it in front of the camera he then interacts with in his virtual world. It really is remarkable, and truly amazing if and that’s a BIG IF, they can deliver on something like this. The up side is that it is said to work with all existing 360′s on the market right now. The possible downside is exactly how much of the HDD Milo will take up should he try to become a “Real Boy.”
Finally on the the BIG GUNS of the Microsoft press release. First of which was a live demo of the much anticipated ever delayed “Alan Wake.” My first reaction to this game brought back horrible memories of the recent Alone in the Dark debacle. It’s a dark setting, creepy things are happening all around the main character, Alan himself, and he has to apparently “use the light” to do battle with foes. However this game looks (even in early stages) more polished than AitD ever did. After literally years of hype and wait it is still nice to see it working on screen, and if it delivers the full experience that the demo leads us on, I can see myself getting it.
Next on the stage was Joe Staten from Bungie, to do a live demo for Halo: ODST. (Here is were I start a flame war.) I really don’t care much for the recent Halo games, yeah I just typed that. Don’t get me wrong I was totally into the first one. It really did start the story driven FPS. However since then it really hasn’t innovated that much. Sure the multi-player experience is great, but the story and the mechanics that go along with it haven’t changed much since the first installment. So needless to say the demo kind of underwhelmed me. Great now I get to use two silenced weapons, and the “single pistol” is back. If that is all you are coming with, count me out. Then the big reveal of Halo: Reach. The game that took place before the first Halo. Absolutely NOTHING is shown of this one. Just a 2 min clip of a burning planet and some talk over the radio… no chills, no nothing from me.
Then probably the absolute biggest announcement to come in the keynote. Dan Mattrick is on stage and says something to the effect of the “console being complete.” When from off stage a shadowy figure approaches and a giant exclamation mark pops up on screen. Signaling only one thing. Hideo Kojima is in the house. Also meaning only one thing. Metal Gear Solid is coming to the Xbox 360. That is great news to kids that have wanted to play as Snake on their console of choice the 360, but wait what’s this? Metal Gear Solid: Rising won’t star Snake, it stars none other than Raiden. Awww sorry kiddies. The tag line for the game is “Lightning Bolt Action” which to me means that it will be focused more on just that, “action” and not the sneak sneak of the previous installments. All in all it is still good news for 360 owners that they can play a MGS title again. Still given the speed of the 360 and the fact that I already own one, I will be playing the new game on my PS3 anyway. Oooh yeah that’s right, it’s not exclusive the the 360. Sorry.
So that is the show in a rather large nut shell. Microsoft definitely brought out the big boys and swung for the fences. It took shots at both the Wii (motion control) and at the PS3 (stealing part of MGS). In my opinion it had the better showing of the three. They set the standard that the other two would have to live up to. Again, 2010 and beyond looks to be a great albeit expensive future for gamers everywhere.
Doom
11034 days
Let’s all be honest with each other here. Wolfenstein 3-D is the first FSP that you can remember. In all honesty though, Doom is the first one that mattered. Where would all other FPS’s be with out the tracks that this game laid down first? Think of all the little things that Doom did, that just about every other first person shooter has copied since. Granted not the one that started it all, but definitely the one that everyone cares the most about.
I can remember the first time I played Doom. It was on a really crappy PC way back in the day. Though only a shareware version of the game a friend had given to me, it was enough to get me hooked, even back then. Once I got my hands on the full version, I realized that this game would become an obsession. I would play it for hours and hours and each time I played it, I got a little farther, or discovered a new section. This was the drug for my fix.
Later another friend would go on to get Doom for his SEGA 32X. Though it wasn’t a huge step forward for graphics or power, it introduced me to a much easier way (for me) to play Doom. Just as a little aside here, there has always been debate between PC and Console players over which is better, mouse and keyboard, or controller. I will just go ahead and reveal my allegiance to controllers. For me, it is the only way to play a game. Moving on… After I played Doom for countless hours yet again on a different format with a new control scheme, I couldn’t wait to get my own version at my house to play again. I wouldn’t have to wait very long because soon after that the PSX would release the first Doom that I could purchase for a home system other than PC. I played that version almost non-stop until the game disc literally wouldn’t work anymore in my system (probably from the shitty boxes they used to keep PSX games in).
At this point I knew I was hooked. I knew that if a new game were to come out that had the Doom name on it, I would purchase it, no questions asked. Yes, at that age, I was one of “those people”. The ones that buy every iteration of a game simply because it had a certain name on it. Sorry. I was an addict and had a lot of disposable income at the time. Anyway, again, the PSX wouldn’t make me wait long. They released “Final Doom” for the PSX around ’96, which i quickly snatched up. This game however was not you run of the mill Doom. It was much, much harder than the original Doom and Doom 2. In fact, I am pretty sure that I never actually finished “Final Doom”.
Rosie O'Donnell attacks... oh wait
Doom could probably be credited with creating more than a few of the staples in FPSs that still are used today. I would be willing to say that Doom is probably the first game to allow you to use a chainsaw to kill the minions from hell, or anywhere for that matter. Doom II created the phenomenon of the double barrel shotgun in games. Also the character that you play is the personification of “Me against the world”. You were a nameless “super marine” that could carry twelve different weapons, eleventy billion round of ammunition and literally, single handedly take down the population of hell, AND live to tell the story. It was what every kid wishes they could do, be an almost Totally Unstoppable Badass.
Years would pass before Doom 2 would have a proper sequel. That’s not to say that the time in between wasn’t filled with at least SOME sort of Doom game. I can remember purchasing Doom 2 for my Game Boy Advance. Who could pass up Doom on the go? I feel like there is another version in there somewhere that I owned… but I can’t recall at the moment. Oh well.
Doom 3 would be announced from Id software in 2000, sort of, when John Carmack posted internally about remaking Doom with “next generation” technology. There was some opposition to the idea, being that Id kept going back to the well for it’s ideas and some wanted to get away from that. This was eventually put to rest and they went ahead and started development on the game. It was shown first at Macworld in 2001 and later demoed at E3 in 2002. To say that the game was well received would be an understatement. Computer owners everywhere immediately started beefing up their existing PCs and Macs in order to handle the HUGE processing power needed to handle Doom3.
When it was released the game caught a LOT of flack for the fact that you had to make the choice between using your flashlight or using your gun. However eventually PC users managed to “mod” the game so that you could use both the light and the gun at the same time (even a “Hello Kitty” flashlight if you wanted!). During all this I was forced to sit on the sidelines and just watch others play. I didn’t have as much money as I used to, and I couldn’t get a PC rig together in order to play it. Once again though, time was on my side. Microsoft would release a version of Doom3 for their first Xbox in 2005. Day one, I once again had Doom in my hot little hands, and was ready to take on the hordes of hell again.
Doom3, A very slight improvement over Doom II
Doom3 wasn’t so much of a sequal to the others before it, but more of a retelling of the original story. Done with amazing graphical technology, it was well above and beyond what other FPSers were doing at the time. I didn’t care so much that I couldn’t use my light with my gun, in fact, I saw it from the perspective of the developers. It really did create a more tangible feeling of fear. Walking around claustraphobic corridors waiting for the next “Monster Closet” to pop open. Making the choice between walking in the dark with you gun out ready to shoot anything that moves, or walking around seeing everything and knowing you would have to be quick to switch to get a shot off in time.
After finishing Doom3 I knew it would be years before I would be able to get back into the fight against hell’s minions. Xbox Live would help to fill the void slightly by releasing their version of Doom for the XBL Arcade. Just another format for me to purchase the same game from back in then day again. Doom also became a motion picture starring(?) The Rock in October of 2005. Now i am kinda biased when it comes to video game based movies. I think they are all good (barring Uwe Boll’s) in their own special way. No I don’t think they are “Oscar worthy” nor do I think they deserve really ANY award. I just enjoy seeing the games that I have liked for years turned into full fledged movies. It’s a sickness.
Is Doom over and done with… HA! Not likely. Doom 4 was announced to be in production in May of ’08. Not very much information exists about the new version. Id software is developing the game, it will have the Doom name attached, and will be powered by Id Tech5, that is also powering Rage for Id. Nothing has been told weather it will be a sequel, prequel or simply a retelling of Doom II (much like Doom3 was for Doom I). Rest assured though, however this game is released, I will own at the very least one version of the game.
Doom, like I said, stands to this day as one of the most recognizable games ever created. Much like Tetris, or Mario Brothers, you could probably ask just about anyone out there if they have heard of it, and they will say yes for one reason or another. Doom started a LOT of controversy back in the day for being to violent, and portraying evil and demonic images. True gamers know it was just the icing on the cake, fluff and sparkles, on an already great game. I for one am sure that this game sits firmly as part of the foundation of my video game history. With out Doom, I probably would have been more into RTSs or Point and Click adventure games most of my life, and then where would I be? If you have never played all the way through at least ONE of these games, you owe it to yourself to find one of the many formats and try. It may just change your perception of FPSs and become your favorite way to kill demons.
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origins
01121 days
by WiFi Pirate
in Previews
I downloaded the demo for F.E.A.R. 2 : Project origins from Xbox Live the other night. I played through the shot little bit of the story they allowed me to be a part of, and I have to say, kinda nice.
I didn’t play much of the first (2) game(s), aside from the demo, but after playing this one, I think I might want to go back and play them now. Basically so that I know how the story goes once the (3rd) second one drops. You don’t play as the main character from the first game, but I don’t think that is going to really have any bearing on how the story progresses, after all it IS a first person shooter. A genre not really known for it’s stellar plot and story progression.
The visuals are very nice, and the controls are pretty tight. I have absolutely no idea of what is going on, but I do know that Alma is one scary chick. You can feel the similarities between the FEAR series and the Condemned series. The Monolith guys really know how to tell a creepy scary story just in visuals alone.
The game drops the second week of February, so I probably won’t have time to play FEAR and FEAR Files before then, but i will do my best to hurry through them so I don’t fall to far behind.
