When the XBox One was revealed a few weeks ago, there was quite a bit of online outrage from the gaming community. The complaint, among other things, was that Microsoft seemed to have shoved the gaming capabilities of the console as a minor footnote. Instead, they spent most of almost two hours on how TV and online connectivity works together with the hardware to provide a great living room experience.
To say the more vocal of the gaming community was pissed is an understatement. Why isn't this XBox focused on gaming? The 360 was great because Microsoft had a commitment on making a great gaming experience, why didn't they do the same here? Where is my dedicated gaming console?
To this, I bring the argument that the gaming capabilities are right there. But gamers were not the target of the announcement.
Let's face it, gamers are not as prolific as we would like to think. Sure, a lot of people play games, but a good number of those use games just to pass the time. Not every gamer would be into the Call of Duty(s) or Skyrims or World of Warcrafts. Arguably, more would just play the Angry Birds or Bejeweleds or Sodukus during the commute to/from work or waiting for a friend to show up.
We should also not be surprised about this. Just looking at what XBox Live has been offering over the past few years gives us a hint at Microsoft's direction with the platform.
Microsoft has the unenviable position of having such a diverse portfolio that they are fighting aggressive competetion on multiple fronts. Apple, Google, Sony, and Nintendo (*snicker*) are just the big players that are fighting on different markets.
To this end, Microsoft has taken the huge risk of most of their proverbial eggs into one basket. The XBox One and XBox Live is their answer to Apple TV, iTunes, Google play, the PS4, the Wii U, and television DVRs. I can't really say they are competing with Smart TVs. I have tried a Smart TV, and I find my XBox 360 works a whole lot better. Heck, I'd rather use my PS3 than struggle with the Smart TV controls.
It is the fact that the XBox One has such diverse features that they needed their announcement to hit the right notes with as many people as possible. To be rather honest, I was really impressed by it. Sure, the gaming demos were pretty generic (ooooh...better wrinkles), but the capabilities are there. They have a chance to focus on gaming at E3 in a few days and I do hope they capitalize on that opportunity to win gamers over.
Am I being apologetic for Microsoft? Not really. They do not need my help in defending themselves nor will any of my words really matter. I am not in agreement with some of their policies (always online for example). But this does not mean I should be outraged. As a consumer of other services the XBox One offers, I find the device, as a whole, very interesting.
But will I actually buy one on release? As it is, not likely. My 360 is fairly new and, frankly, does everything I need at the moment. I also have a PS3 which is older and that won't be replaced either. The only thing i'd watch out for is if it will be worth buying a Kinect.
As for us gamers and gamers at heart, lets all just calm down and see what Microsoft has in store for us at E3. While I still expect a lot of TV and XBox Live talk, they should have ample opportunity to reel us in with what we want to hear.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Saturday, June 8, 2013
DRM - Does Remove Me from games
I miss the days when all you needed to do was insert a cartridge in a console or disk in a PC and just play a video game. At worst, I had to enter a code that was somewhere in the oversized box. Consoles never had that issue.
Just to be clear, piracy is indeed a problem, but how big of a problem is something to debate about. Thing is, as soon as money was paid for software, there were already pirates. The interesting thing is that, despite all this, game developers during the time were still able to grow and make a profit. There was enough profit in the gaming industry that they have become this large bloated mess we see today - and that was when there was rampant pirating.
The different DRM (Digital Rights Management) technologies over the years have pretty much failed to curb piracy, but has succeeded in making gamer's lives more inconvenient. So ... hurray? The main problem with almost every DRM tech available is that, if it fails, it only affects gamers who buy the game, not the pirates. While we fiddle around entering codes of ungodly legnths, those with pirated games are enjoying the game as soon as they insert the disk.
The latest DRM trend is "always online". The game basically sends an occassional "all is well" signal to the developer that I am not a pirate. However, if the game is unable to send the signal, then I would be unable to play the game - even if it is a single person title.
Probably the most famous of examples is Diablo 3. Yes, there are some online aspects that requires an internet connection, but the core of the game is for single player. And yet, the game requires that you are logged in to the BattleNet servers to even get a chance to play.
What if I lose internet connection because of my ISP and no fault of my own? I can't play the game. Even as something to pass the time, there is no mode to allow me to destroy my pixelated enemies.
SIM City also had this problem, and, as it appears companies love the idea, the XBOX One will have this "feature" as well.
So if I buy a game on disk and, for some reason lose internet connection, I won't be able to play the game. Or any game for that matter.
Something there just ... does not sound right.
I can understand being unable to access online offerings, fine. But I should not be prevented from playing a single player game I had bought a disk for or have a legal copy on hard disk. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of buying the disk in the first place?
Yes, it is reasonable to think many people who play video games have a stable internet connection, but it is naive to think that MOST do. Even those with stable internet relies on their ISP to be 100% reliable, which they are not. From experience, multi-day outages can happen. Sure, there are other things to do, but if I paid $60 for a game, I better be damned able to play it when I want.
I was raised in a generation where buying a console meant I could play anytime and network connectivity is just an added plus. This kind of limitation to a hobby I enjoy just does not make sense. No, I will not go out of my way to get a workaround to play a pirated game. This will just make me stop buying games completely.
I am all for protecting the rights of developers and their right to make money. But going this far in an attempt to broaden profits just makes little sense. How about this? Make quality games at accessible prices and just let people enjoy it. Provide additional fun services for those able to go online and not make it a requirement. I'm pretty sure catering to the cost conscious will help raise those profit margins than spending exhorbitant amounts to fight piracy.
Let me play the games I paid good money for and don't punish me when things happen that I have no control over - like your online servers failing. *cough*diablo*cough*simcity*cough*
Just to be clear, piracy is indeed a problem, but how big of a problem is something to debate about. Thing is, as soon as money was paid for software, there were already pirates. The interesting thing is that, despite all this, game developers during the time were still able to grow and make a profit. There was enough profit in the gaming industry that they have become this large bloated mess we see today - and that was when there was rampant pirating.
The different DRM (Digital Rights Management) technologies over the years have pretty much failed to curb piracy, but has succeeded in making gamer's lives more inconvenient. So ... hurray? The main problem with almost every DRM tech available is that, if it fails, it only affects gamers who buy the game, not the pirates. While we fiddle around entering codes of ungodly legnths, those with pirated games are enjoying the game as soon as they insert the disk.
The latest DRM trend is "always online". The game basically sends an occassional "all is well" signal to the developer that I am not a pirate. However, if the game is unable to send the signal, then I would be unable to play the game - even if it is a single person title.
Probably the most famous of examples is Diablo 3. Yes, there are some online aspects that requires an internet connection, but the core of the game is for single player. And yet, the game requires that you are logged in to the BattleNet servers to even get a chance to play.
What if I lose internet connection because of my ISP and no fault of my own? I can't play the game. Even as something to pass the time, there is no mode to allow me to destroy my pixelated enemies.
SIM City also had this problem, and, as it appears companies love the idea, the XBOX One will have this "feature" as well.
So if I buy a game on disk and, for some reason lose internet connection, I won't be able to play the game. Or any game for that matter.
Something there just ... does not sound right.
I can understand being unable to access online offerings, fine. But I should not be prevented from playing a single player game I had bought a disk for or have a legal copy on hard disk. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of buying the disk in the first place?
Yes, it is reasonable to think many people who play video games have a stable internet connection, but it is naive to think that MOST do. Even those with stable internet relies on their ISP to be 100% reliable, which they are not. From experience, multi-day outages can happen. Sure, there are other things to do, but if I paid $60 for a game, I better be damned able to play it when I want.
I was raised in a generation where buying a console meant I could play anytime and network connectivity is just an added plus. This kind of limitation to a hobby I enjoy just does not make sense. No, I will not go out of my way to get a workaround to play a pirated game. This will just make me stop buying games completely.
I am all for protecting the rights of developers and their right to make money. But going this far in an attempt to broaden profits just makes little sense. How about this? Make quality games at accessible prices and just let people enjoy it. Provide additional fun services for those able to go online and not make it a requirement. I'm pretty sure catering to the cost conscious will help raise those profit margins than spending exhorbitant amounts to fight piracy.
Let me play the games I paid good money for and don't punish me when things happen that I have no control over - like your online servers failing. *cough*diablo*cough*simcity*cough*
Friday, June 7, 2013
Bravo Trion, Bravo.
No, I am not being sarcastic with the header. I am truly, truly giving Trion a nice, standing ovation.
Just to be clear, I do not believe that Trion is the Luke Skywalker to Blizzard or EA's Darth Vader as fans make them out to be. Trion themselves try to enchance the impression that they are what everyone else wants bigger developers to be.
Truth of the matter is that, while. as a relatively small company that automatically garners empathy from their customers almost as if they are an independent (or "indie") developer, they are still a big company with big goals. Not EA or Activision levels naturally, but large nonetheless. They are not immune to bad press or bad decisions, but are small enough to be able to disappear through the cracks of larger news (i.e. next gen consoles, EA gaffes, etc.).
No, if nothing else shows that Trion is just your average corporation, there is always Defiance.
So why am I applauding Trion despite them being a cold, heartless company? It is because they seem to have such an uncanny sense of timing, marketing, and making things accessible.
Flash back to late 2010. World of Warcraft's playerbase was only getting larger but big companies were getting ready to attempt to take a piece of that consumer pie. In particular, Guild Wars and Star Wars: The Old Republic were getting their big guns ready to come out of the gate blazing. But they were at least one or two years away. There was just a huge gap of practically nothing noteworthy being released for the MMO genre.
Then a few months later comes lesser known Trion Worlds that suprised a lot of people with their MMO offering beta weekends. There is no shaking the fact that this was a huge marketing ploy for pre-ordering the game, but it was quite an excellent game. It was pretty much like World of Warcraft but with enough differences and improvements to be a fresh experience to experienced gamers.
Needless to say, Rift was a huge hit on release. Not only was it a great game in it's own right, it was lauched early 2011 when there were no other major competitors other than World of Warcraft. They even had monthly updates to the game, which, even now, is rather unprecidented.
It didn't take long for subscriber levels to shrink and larger competitors started showing up. Still, Trion was able to use this time to gear up and, just as they did during release, brought out their first expansion when there were no other major announcements from competitors.
Now that Rift is going free to play, they appear to be capitalizing on the one thing competitors like Neverwinter doesn't have - previous gamers. In advance of their free to play release, Rift has now become playable to anyone who has bought their game, even if you only played the free month that came with the original game 2 years ago.
Granted, the Storm Legion expansion has to be bought in order to play that content, Trion's partnership with media and the Raptr service (raptr.com) has provided a lot of free copies. In fact, Raptr still has some codes to give out should you meet their requirements. This is how I got my copy, but I certainly was willing to shell out the $40 to get the expansion when free to play started.
I know it is just circumstantial evidence, and my own experiences cannot be read as fact, but logging in to Rift duing prime gaming hours saw a bustle of activity from people coming back to the game and trying it out again. In many dungeon groups, 3 out of 5 would state that they have come back after months of hiatus. Sometimes, everyone in the group was trying to relearn the game, which proved very interesting.
In order for people to be willing to pay for virtual items in a game, they have to be able to play the game and Trion seems to understand this. Having free players access to all content is just a great decision which also been good for games like Guild Wars.
I have no doubt there will be a spike of players once the free to play update goes live. The question will be how much of that player base they can retain and, among those, how many would regularly buy from the store. Only time will tell, but for now I can say that it's good to be back to Telara.
Just to be clear, I do not believe that Trion is the Luke Skywalker to Blizzard or EA's Darth Vader as fans make them out to be. Trion themselves try to enchance the impression that they are what everyone else wants bigger developers to be.
Truth of the matter is that, while. as a relatively small company that automatically garners empathy from their customers almost as if they are an independent (or "indie") developer, they are still a big company with big goals. Not EA or Activision levels naturally, but large nonetheless. They are not immune to bad press or bad decisions, but are small enough to be able to disappear through the cracks of larger news (i.e. next gen consoles, EA gaffes, etc.).
No, if nothing else shows that Trion is just your average corporation, there is always Defiance.
So why am I applauding Trion despite them being a cold, heartless company? It is because they seem to have such an uncanny sense of timing, marketing, and making things accessible.
Flash back to late 2010. World of Warcraft's playerbase was only getting larger but big companies were getting ready to attempt to take a piece of that consumer pie. In particular, Guild Wars and Star Wars: The Old Republic were getting their big guns ready to come out of the gate blazing. But they were at least one or two years away. There was just a huge gap of practically nothing noteworthy being released for the MMO genre.
Then a few months later comes lesser known Trion Worlds that suprised a lot of people with their MMO offering beta weekends. There is no shaking the fact that this was a huge marketing ploy for pre-ordering the game, but it was quite an excellent game. It was pretty much like World of Warcraft but with enough differences and improvements to be a fresh experience to experienced gamers.
Needless to say, Rift was a huge hit on release. Not only was it a great game in it's own right, it was lauched early 2011 when there were no other major competitors other than World of Warcraft. They even had monthly updates to the game, which, even now, is rather unprecidented.
It didn't take long for subscriber levels to shrink and larger competitors started showing up. Still, Trion was able to use this time to gear up and, just as they did during release, brought out their first expansion when there were no other major announcements from competitors.
Now that Rift is going free to play, they appear to be capitalizing on the one thing competitors like Neverwinter doesn't have - previous gamers. In advance of their free to play release, Rift has now become playable to anyone who has bought their game, even if you only played the free month that came with the original game 2 years ago.
Granted, the Storm Legion expansion has to be bought in order to play that content, Trion's partnership with media and the Raptr service (raptr.com) has provided a lot of free copies. In fact, Raptr still has some codes to give out should you meet their requirements. This is how I got my copy, but I certainly was willing to shell out the $40 to get the expansion when free to play started.
I know it is just circumstantial evidence, and my own experiences cannot be read as fact, but logging in to Rift duing prime gaming hours saw a bustle of activity from people coming back to the game and trying it out again. In many dungeon groups, 3 out of 5 would state that they have come back after months of hiatus. Sometimes, everyone in the group was trying to relearn the game, which proved very interesting.
In order for people to be willing to pay for virtual items in a game, they have to be able to play the game and Trion seems to understand this. Having free players access to all content is just a great decision which also been good for games like Guild Wars.
I have no doubt there will be a spike of players once the free to play update goes live. The question will be how much of that player base they can retain and, among those, how many would regularly buy from the store. Only time will tell, but for now I can say that it's good to be back to Telara.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Quick Peek: Rise of the Hutt Cartel
This has not been a good week for me when it comes to gaming. Two game releases I was watching out for and not enough time to properly review either. Ah well, at least there are these first impressions.
So Star Wars: The Old Republic finally released it's first expansion, Rise of the Hutt Cartel. Other than the level cap increase from 50 to 55, there are quite a few nice changes. Class talents and abilities have been tuned for the additional levels, but I cannot honestly say if any balance issues were fixed or if any new ones arose. There were some interesting playstyle changes due to some change, like adding yet another ability to the Jedi Shadow tank rotation for additional threat. I also did like making the Mercenary's Kolto Missile baseline rather than a talent.
Interestingly, gear levels didn't quite jump as high as I would have thought. A gear level of 126 is recommended for level 50 hard mode flashpoints and 146 for level 55 ones. That means that anyone already in Black Hole/Campaign gear will be able to just jump right into the group finder once they hit 55. This also means that they already outgear much of the new leveling content.
Case in point, my own Jedi Guardian is mostly in Black Hole/Rakata gear and the first set of quests really did not pose much of a problem. I was even ambushed by a level 51 champion droid while AFK (lesson: never afk in hostile territory) and still beat it with my companion dead and was down to 64% health when I got back to my keyboard. The first Heroic 2+ quest did not pose any challenge at all to solo. I am pretty sure newer players or those who has new 50s would find things challenging and may want to run some level 50 flashpoints to help gear up.
As far as new content goes, Makeb has a pretty interesting story. Granted, I've only finished one set of missions, so I cannot give much of an opinion on it overall. Same with the new operation and additional hard mode flashpoints.
From what I have seen, Rise of the Hutt Cartel is pretty much just more SWTOR. Whether that is a good or bad thing remains to be seen. I will be playing more once my time frees up, but I have yet to get really excited about it. Time will tell if Bioware manages to bring the game back up into prominence or simply maintained the status quo.
Highlights
So Star Wars: The Old Republic finally released it's first expansion, Rise of the Hutt Cartel. Other than the level cap increase from 50 to 55, there are quite a few nice changes. Class talents and abilities have been tuned for the additional levels, but I cannot honestly say if any balance issues were fixed or if any new ones arose. There were some interesting playstyle changes due to some change, like adding yet another ability to the Jedi Shadow tank rotation for additional threat. I also did like making the Mercenary's Kolto Missile baseline rather than a talent.
Interestingly, gear levels didn't quite jump as high as I would have thought. A gear level of 126 is recommended for level 50 hard mode flashpoints and 146 for level 55 ones. That means that anyone already in Black Hole/Campaign gear will be able to just jump right into the group finder once they hit 55. This also means that they already outgear much of the new leveling content.
Case in point, my own Jedi Guardian is mostly in Black Hole/Rakata gear and the first set of quests really did not pose much of a problem. I was even ambushed by a level 51 champion droid while AFK (lesson: never afk in hostile territory) and still beat it with my companion dead and was down to 64% health when I got back to my keyboard. The first Heroic 2+ quest did not pose any challenge at all to solo. I am pretty sure newer players or those who has new 50s would find things challenging and may want to run some level 50 flashpoints to help gear up.
As far as new content goes, Makeb has a pretty interesting story. Granted, I've only finished one set of missions, so I cannot give much of an opinion on it overall. Same with the new operation and additional hard mode flashpoints.
From what I have seen, Rise of the Hutt Cartel is pretty much just more SWTOR. Whether that is a good or bad thing remains to be seen. I will be playing more once my time frees up, but I have yet to get really excited about it. Time will tell if Bioware manages to bring the game back up into prominence or simply maintained the status quo.
Highlights
- Finally! Transferrable set bonuses on old set gear! That has been on the want list for like...over a year. Better late then never I suppose. Now my Shadow and Assassin can look like less of an idiot. This also means adaptive gear is way, way more valuable. Well, the good looking ones anyway.
- Following up with the first point is that new gear looks absolutely awful. I really, really need to know what goes on when they design the gear.
- Consolidated planetary currency. Thank goodness for that. A definite plus for those leveling characters and they can allow currency earned to be carried over to the next planet.
- Bioware made sure to get more voice acting done for new content which is always very much appreciated. Nothing irks me more than content where my character does not say anything; likely due to not being able to get the original voice actors.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Quick Peek: Defiance
So some friends convinced me to give Defiance a try last weekend, so I gave it a try. I gotta say that I hope my first impressions don't last.
The game took a very long time to download - almost 30 minutes and was later plagued by a number of connection issues. While such issues are not new in online game launches, most end up stable enough by the first weekend. This was certainly not so and the most play i've gotten in the weekend was just past the first major story mission; maybe 1-2 hours in.
Over the past week though, I was able to get a few hours of gaming in and I am happy to say that it is a fun game. Not a great game by any stretch, but fun nonetheless. Still not enough to really give a full review, but it's impressions give me enough to talk about.
One thing to note first though, is that Defiance is not a redefinition of an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game), though it certainly fits the MMO category quite well. It is basically a third person shooter with a Massive Multiplayer map (seewutIdidthur?). It definitely does not fit well as an RPG. Other than a decent character creation screen, there are hardly any roleplaying aspects in the game. You play as a silent character that really just tags along with whatever the main characters are doing. So yeah, it's a typical shooter.
Speaking of the story, it is pretty lackluster. Considering that this game has a tie-in with an upcoming TV show with the same name, one would think that they will want to get people hyped up about the show through the game. I've seen the trailers for the show, and it came off as pretty bland, but I still definitely check it out. The game itself does not add anything to build anticipation nor does it even provide any good backstory for the world.
All I can gather is that aliens immigrated to earth which ended up devastated by....something. Mutants (mutated by what, I have no clue) and raiders (various factions, but all the same), form the token organized group of antagonists in addition to "hellbugs", insect-like aliens that are really rather generic non-human enemies. Some even remind me of Half-Life headcrabs.
Enemy AI is ... well, decent I suppose. There are some that dodge out of the way during combat, but I can't really tell if they dodge in response to an attack or just to move into position. There is also little variety with the AI among same types to the point that they become incredibly predictable. Much of the challenge in the game is really due to suddenly becoming overwhelmed by enemies. Many, many times, I carefully snipe 5 raiders and then find 6 others spawned right next to me.
But questions like, who these aliens are, where did they come from, what the hell happened to devastate the earth? Those things are just plan lacking in the game. Considering that it is an absolutely new franchise, backstory does allow more immersion in the world and would make us care about the TV show. Rift was a new franchise that did well to establish the world to it's players. Yes, it was rather simplistic, but it was enough to at least know what was going on and who we are fighting and why. In Defiance, we are just living to get by, with no real way to relate to it's world other than it's yet another post-apocalyptic Earth.
As for gameplay, it is a shooter. I am not exactly the best person to say whether it is a good or bad shooter, but it works out nicely. Coming from playing MMORPGs for years though, the controls were a bit odd. Not being able to mouse-move threw me for a loop at the start, but thats just me not being a shooter person to begin with.
Other shooter type gameplay elements include different weapon loadouts (although only 2 weapons per loadout can be equiped), regenerating health/shields (although healing weapons are available later in the game), and headshots...oh I love headshots. Controls are minimal compared to an RPG and really works better with a console gamepad. Still, the PC setup allows me to make some nice headshots. Did I mention that I like headshots?
The options interface was definitely harder to get used to and shows evidence that the game is a console port. It took me quite a while to figure out how to even exit from the game. Normally, the ESC button brings up the main menu, but this time it only shows the loadout screen. Hitting the spacebar for a radial menu is really not intuitive.
All in all, Defiance is a pretty decent game and, despite several gripes, is genuinely fun. Hopefully the story picks up later on and I actually do want to see the TV show become popular so we get to see how the tie-in works.
Highlights
The game took a very long time to download - almost 30 minutes and was later plagued by a number of connection issues. While such issues are not new in online game launches, most end up stable enough by the first weekend. This was certainly not so and the most play i've gotten in the weekend was just past the first major story mission; maybe 1-2 hours in.
Over the past week though, I was able to get a few hours of gaming in and I am happy to say that it is a fun game. Not a great game by any stretch, but fun nonetheless. Still not enough to really give a full review, but it's impressions give me enough to talk about.
One thing to note first though, is that Defiance is not a redefinition of an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game), though it certainly fits the MMO category quite well. It is basically a third person shooter with a Massive Multiplayer map (seewutIdidthur?). It definitely does not fit well as an RPG. Other than a decent character creation screen, there are hardly any roleplaying aspects in the game. You play as a silent character that really just tags along with whatever the main characters are doing. So yeah, it's a typical shooter.
Speaking of the story, it is pretty lackluster. Considering that this game has a tie-in with an upcoming TV show with the same name, one would think that they will want to get people hyped up about the show through the game. I've seen the trailers for the show, and it came off as pretty bland, but I still definitely check it out. The game itself does not add anything to build anticipation nor does it even provide any good backstory for the world.
All I can gather is that aliens immigrated to earth which ended up devastated by....something. Mutants (mutated by what, I have no clue) and raiders (various factions, but all the same), form the token organized group of antagonists in addition to "hellbugs", insect-like aliens that are really rather generic non-human enemies. Some even remind me of Half-Life headcrabs.
Enemy AI is ... well, decent I suppose. There are some that dodge out of the way during combat, but I can't really tell if they dodge in response to an attack or just to move into position. There is also little variety with the AI among same types to the point that they become incredibly predictable. Much of the challenge in the game is really due to suddenly becoming overwhelmed by enemies. Many, many times, I carefully snipe 5 raiders and then find 6 others spawned right next to me.
But questions like, who these aliens are, where did they come from, what the hell happened to devastate the earth? Those things are just plan lacking in the game. Considering that it is an absolutely new franchise, backstory does allow more immersion in the world and would make us care about the TV show. Rift was a new franchise that did well to establish the world to it's players. Yes, it was rather simplistic, but it was enough to at least know what was going on and who we are fighting and why. In Defiance, we are just living to get by, with no real way to relate to it's world other than it's yet another post-apocalyptic Earth.
As for gameplay, it is a shooter. I am not exactly the best person to say whether it is a good or bad shooter, but it works out nicely. Coming from playing MMORPGs for years though, the controls were a bit odd. Not being able to mouse-move threw me for a loop at the start, but thats just me not being a shooter person to begin with.
Other shooter type gameplay elements include different weapon loadouts (although only 2 weapons per loadout can be equiped), regenerating health/shields (although healing weapons are available later in the game), and headshots...oh I love headshots. Controls are minimal compared to an RPG and really works better with a console gamepad. Still, the PC setup allows me to make some nice headshots. Did I mention that I like headshots?
The options interface was definitely harder to get used to and shows evidence that the game is a console port. It took me quite a while to figure out how to even exit from the game. Normally, the ESC button brings up the main menu, but this time it only shows the loadout screen. Hitting the spacebar for a radial menu is really not intuitive.
All in all, Defiance is a pretty decent game and, despite several gripes, is genuinely fun. Hopefully the story picks up later on and I actually do want to see the TV show become popular so we get to see how the tie-in works.
Highlights
- Have I mentioned Defiance is free to play? Well sorta. Updates are paid for, but the cost is still unknown. Season pass for all updates in the year is $39.95 but how many updates we will see is also unknown.
- Headshots! Most human enemies die with one well placed shot. Although I would have liked to see effects on different parts - like disarming armshots or slowing legshots.
- The EGO system is Defiance's talent system. Interesting but rather complex so I don't have much of an opinion if it yet. All I know is that I am probably doing something wrong.
- Vehicle driving is fun and has a bit of a learning curve. Being able to run over bugs was a pleasant surprise.
- I like that different weapons have different feel to them. A machine gun fire feels more weighty than a sub-machine gun. Goes the same with different weapons of the same class (i.e. different types of shotguns)
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Injustice Demo Impressions (XBOX)
Even for someone who is only mildly into fighting games or DC comics, I find Injustice to be an oddly compelling package. Fighting games have always fascinated me with pretty fancy attack moves. I am not ashamed to admit that my attention to this genre completely depends on how awesome an ultramegasuperduperfinaldashpicnhmeinthecheek attack is. Challenge is low on the totem pole when choosing fighting games and my lack of skill with them only shames me ever so slightly. Granted, setting the bar very low for myself does allow me to enjoy the game even when another player is handing me my ass on a platter.
Since comics these days are all about being as flashy as possible, Injustice did make a lot of sense. I have to say that I did find the game rather fun.
The demo itself was pretty light with only 3 playable characters and one battle mode, but it should be sufficient to preview the most important aspect of the game - the fighting. I liked how playstyles differed with each character; Lex Luthor did feel like someone in a giant mech suit would be and is not as agile as Batman. Even without a change of difficulty, Doomsday felt like a more powerful and sturdy opponent than those before him. Controls were responsive and, thankfully, not too punishing to my clumsy fingers. I manage to pull off moves I wanted more so than most other fighting games.
Speaking of moves, I have to just prostrate myself in praise of this game in the fact that you can pin move lists in the fighting screen. One of the biggest difficultiesI have with this genre is the fact that I cannot memorize the more complex or more powerful moves. Being able to see specific moves without having to pause and go through multiple screens every time is something that ALL fighting games should do. No more excuses.
The superduperspecial attacks are also pretty nice and flashy as expected and easy enough to execute once the special bar is full (just press both trigger buttons on the XBOX). These attacks can be blocked however and, really, can end up being a disadvantage, even if it does succeed.
One thing I did notice was that the special power bar has more uses than charging the megabeatdown attack. Parts of it can be consumed to make character specific attacks more powerful like adding an explosion to Batman's batarang attack, and it can be used to even regenerate health via the wager system.
True to many, MANY, mainstream comics, the game allows for a head on head attack by both players trough a wager. Each player wagers parts of his/her power bar and they go charge each other. The one who wagers more power ends up the winner and can regain a certain amount of health. Not sure what happens when there's a tie as I've never actually won a wager yet. All this does introduce a level of strategy with, sadly, is way beyond me but is welcome all the same.
All in all, I had fun with the demo and I do want to see more of it. It won't be a priority purchase though and my getting it will depend on whether I am enthralled by another game or not.
Since comics these days are all about being as flashy as possible, Injustice did make a lot of sense. I have to say that I did find the game rather fun.
The demo itself was pretty light with only 3 playable characters and one battle mode, but it should be sufficient to preview the most important aspect of the game - the fighting. I liked how playstyles differed with each character; Lex Luthor did feel like someone in a giant mech suit would be and is not as agile as Batman. Even without a change of difficulty, Doomsday felt like a more powerful and sturdy opponent than those before him. Controls were responsive and, thankfully, not too punishing to my clumsy fingers. I manage to pull off moves I wanted more so than most other fighting games.
Speaking of moves, I have to just prostrate myself in praise of this game in the fact that you can pin move lists in the fighting screen. One of the biggest difficultiesI have with this genre is the fact that I cannot memorize the more complex or more powerful moves. Being able to see specific moves without having to pause and go through multiple screens every time is something that ALL fighting games should do. No more excuses.
The superduperspecial attacks are also pretty nice and flashy as expected and easy enough to execute once the special bar is full (just press both trigger buttons on the XBOX). These attacks can be blocked however and, really, can end up being a disadvantage, even if it does succeed.
One thing I did notice was that the special power bar has more uses than charging the megabeatdown attack. Parts of it can be consumed to make character specific attacks more powerful like adding an explosion to Batman's batarang attack, and it can be used to even regenerate health via the wager system.
True to many, MANY, mainstream comics, the game allows for a head on head attack by both players trough a wager. Each player wagers parts of his/her power bar and they go charge each other. The one who wagers more power ends up the winner and can regain a certain amount of health. Not sure what happens when there's a tie as I've never actually won a wager yet. All this does introduce a level of strategy with, sadly, is way beyond me but is welcome all the same.
All in all, I had fun with the demo and I do want to see more of it. It won't be a priority purchase though and my getting it will depend on whether I am enthralled by another game or not.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
XCOM: Welcome Back Commander
Two assault soldiers slowly creeped their way towards a crashed alien scout ship. Not an hour earlier, their interceptor took this ship down with three well placed missile hits, but not without being almost destroyed in the process. The alien ship itself was still mostly intact, but holes in it's hull showed where it had been punctured and damaged structures inside can be made out from their position. As the soldiers approached one of the breaches, they saw it - a being of pure energy coalescing into a solid, humanoid body. It spotted the approaching troops and hid next to the opening in the hull. With a clear view of the breach and the main door, the alien was in perfect position to ambush any who come in sight. Needing this fight to be over as swift as possible, one of the soldiers took a run towards the enemy, deftly outmaneuvering it's weapon fire, and dropped the alien with a shotgun shell to the chest. However, three more aliens appeared from nearby wreckage, one of which moved behind the soldier, ready to make the fatal shot, but was promptly taken out by the sniper that was laying in wait from afar.
That terrible bit of prose is one of many examples of why the turn-based strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and most of it's predecesors, great. As with the original games, the new XCOM is far from perfect, but what defines the franchise is atmosphere. There is a sense of urgency in the game and a final confrontation that you know is coming, and coming really soon. The combination of combat strategy, base and resource management, and troop deployment all adds to the immersion of running an organization that is the first and only defense against the alien invaders. The fact that you can also customize each of your soldiers' names and abilities tacks on an RPG element to the game as well. Renaming troops with your own name and those of good friends makes for great conversation in get-togethers.
XCOM is not a game for twitchy or impatient gamers. It is also not a game for those looking to just pop in for a bit and exit; unless "a bit" means "at least an hour". Rushing into a mission with poorly geared troops mid-game will likely lead to a disaster and that goes the same with rushing into a blind spot like our gung-ho soldier in the story above.
The learning curve is also a bit steep, especially if you skip the tutorial missions. The tutorial itself is quite lengthy and it is really designed to be played through once just to get the basics down (i.e. never leave your soldier outside cover). For those newer to strategy games, the many layers of gameplay can be a bit daunting, and can take a few playthroughs to get used to the important mechanics. Being a total noob myself, my first playthrough had me pitted against armoured shock troops while still using starter assault rifles. Fortunately, there are lower difficulty modes for those of us who needs the extra confidence that we are not total losers so that we can try at a more difficult setting.
Speaking of difficulty, there is also an ironman setting where you cannot save the game at all. Making every decision you make count, and every loss more painful.
The tactical mission is pretty straightforward, and much more intuitive than the original game. With only 2 actions you can take (move + shoot/item/move), and limited soldiers (4-6), you will need to make sure you don't do anything foolish. Cover is incredibly important as an unprotected soldier will almost certainly be lost if she ends her turn flanked by a newly revealed alien. At no point will your troops be invincible, and even weak aliens can pose a threat. What I miss from the old games are collapsable buildings. While the environment is mostly destructable in the new game, you can't bring down a building on the enemy; then again, they can't do it to you either.
There is a heavy reliance on randomness in the game. As frustrating as it can be, like missing a 100% chance shot, it is also what makes the game so exciting. It also adds to the game's replayability. Not every new game will play out as you expect and not every mission will turn out the way it was before, even when the map is the same or if it is the same mission from a previous saved game. Terror missions, UFO sightings, abduction missions are also randomly generated and it keeps you on your toes. Sure, you can plan out your progress as best you can, but chances are also just as good that only difficult missions appear but your best soldiers are recovering from being wounded.
The new game's graphical upgrade over the original from almost 20 years ago is very much welcome, but introduces a lot of odd glitches that range from laughable (shooting something behind a wall) to frustrating (the top of an enemy ship hinders sight for movement). Fortunately, the glitches do not occur often enough to detract from the game itself and I have yet to encounter graphical problems anywhere else in the game.
The game also forces you to make tough decisions. Do you blow all your money and resources to build the alien containment this month or use the money to make more laser rifles and armour for the troops? Do you send troops to a high panic location or one that will give you more engineers to allow you to make upgrades? Even troop deployment can be a challenge. Having 6-8 highly trained and experienced soldiers can be great, but unless they have decent replacements, any of them being lost will make later missions all that much harder.
Story cutscenes are well done and do add to the immersion of the game. As generic as characters are, they are well characterized generic characters. I do enjoy some of the dialogue they offer that looks into your support cast's personality. While praising the effectiveness of the head of the research team, I would keep a good distance from her as she has been labeled to be an "effective" interrogator. I'd probably make sure I keep my sidearm handy as well.
The story goes at your pace, but the difficulty ramp up is not dependent on that. Neither is it dependent on how advanced your XCOM team is. It is refreshing to know that aliens will not wait for you to develop laser weapons before deploying troops that will take 3 of your soldiers to take down.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is very much a worthy successor to the classic games from two decades ago. It is certainly a huge feat for a game to bring back the immersiveness and atmostphere of the original games without actually WANTING those games to be back. It is also a great statement to make - who'd have thought turn based strategy still had a place in gaming for this generation?
The rest of the team has fanned out and covered the area around the store. Two of the alien "mutons" - heavy assault units - lay dead behind the cash counter but they know there are more. An eye up top is needed to provide cover for the rest of the block. The sniper deploys the grappling hook to the roof and lands deftly up on top; only to find 3 more mutons waiting. They fan out with two dropping to ground level while the remaining muton takes aim and fires. The squad takes defensive positions as the signal from the sniper turns to static after a brief yell of pain.
That terrible bit of prose is one of many examples of why the turn-based strategy game XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and most of it's predecesors, great. As with the original games, the new XCOM is far from perfect, but what defines the franchise is atmosphere. There is a sense of urgency in the game and a final confrontation that you know is coming, and coming really soon. The combination of combat strategy, base and resource management, and troop deployment all adds to the immersion of running an organization that is the first and only defense against the alien invaders. The fact that you can also customize each of your soldiers' names and abilities tacks on an RPG element to the game as well. Renaming troops with your own name and those of good friends makes for great conversation in get-togethers.
XCOM is not a game for twitchy or impatient gamers. It is also not a game for those looking to just pop in for a bit and exit; unless "a bit" means "at least an hour". Rushing into a mission with poorly geared troops mid-game will likely lead to a disaster and that goes the same with rushing into a blind spot like our gung-ho soldier in the story above.
The learning curve is also a bit steep, especially if you skip the tutorial missions. The tutorial itself is quite lengthy and it is really designed to be played through once just to get the basics down (i.e. never leave your soldier outside cover). For those newer to strategy games, the many layers of gameplay can be a bit daunting, and can take a few playthroughs to get used to the important mechanics. Being a total noob myself, my first playthrough had me pitted against armoured shock troops while still using starter assault rifles. Fortunately, there are lower difficulty modes for those of us who needs the extra confidence that we are not total losers so that we can try at a more difficult setting.
Speaking of difficulty, there is also an ironman setting where you cannot save the game at all. Making every decision you make count, and every loss more painful.
The tactical mission is pretty straightforward, and much more intuitive than the original game. With only 2 actions you can take (move + shoot/item/move), and limited soldiers (4-6), you will need to make sure you don't do anything foolish. Cover is incredibly important as an unprotected soldier will almost certainly be lost if she ends her turn flanked by a newly revealed alien. At no point will your troops be invincible, and even weak aliens can pose a threat. What I miss from the old games are collapsable buildings. While the environment is mostly destructable in the new game, you can't bring down a building on the enemy; then again, they can't do it to you either.
There is a heavy reliance on randomness in the game. As frustrating as it can be, like missing a 100% chance shot, it is also what makes the game so exciting. It also adds to the game's replayability. Not every new game will play out as you expect and not every mission will turn out the way it was before, even when the map is the same or if it is the same mission from a previous saved game. Terror missions, UFO sightings, abduction missions are also randomly generated and it keeps you on your toes. Sure, you can plan out your progress as best you can, but chances are also just as good that only difficult missions appear but your best soldiers are recovering from being wounded.
The new game's graphical upgrade over the original from almost 20 years ago is very much welcome, but introduces a lot of odd glitches that range from laughable (shooting something behind a wall) to frustrating (the top of an enemy ship hinders sight for movement). Fortunately, the glitches do not occur often enough to detract from the game itself and I have yet to encounter graphical problems anywhere else in the game.
The game also forces you to make tough decisions. Do you blow all your money and resources to build the alien containment this month or use the money to make more laser rifles and armour for the troops? Do you send troops to a high panic location or one that will give you more engineers to allow you to make upgrades? Even troop deployment can be a challenge. Having 6-8 highly trained and experienced soldiers can be great, but unless they have decent replacements, any of them being lost will make later missions all that much harder.
Story cutscenes are well done and do add to the immersion of the game. As generic as characters are, they are well characterized generic characters. I do enjoy some of the dialogue they offer that looks into your support cast's personality. While praising the effectiveness of the head of the research team, I would keep a good distance from her as she has been labeled to be an "effective" interrogator. I'd probably make sure I keep my sidearm handy as well.
The story goes at your pace, but the difficulty ramp up is not dependent on that. Neither is it dependent on how advanced your XCOM team is. It is refreshing to know that aliens will not wait for you to develop laser weapons before deploying troops that will take 3 of your soldiers to take down.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown is very much a worthy successor to the classic games from two decades ago. It is certainly a huge feat for a game to bring back the immersiveness and atmostphere of the original games without actually WANTING those games to be back. It is also a great statement to make - who'd have thought turn based strategy still had a place in gaming for this generation?
The rest of the team has fanned out and covered the area around the store. Two of the alien "mutons" - heavy assault units - lay dead behind the cash counter but they know there are more. An eye up top is needed to provide cover for the rest of the block. The sniper deploys the grappling hook to the roof and lands deftly up on top; only to find 3 more mutons waiting. They fan out with two dropping to ground level while the remaining muton takes aim and fires. The squad takes defensive positions as the signal from the sniper turns to static after a brief yell of pain.
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