1
Jul
2009
TPR Podcasts: Rants – Episode 2 : The Problem With MetaCritic
Here’s the second installment of the series of TPR micro-podcasts: Rants. Hope you guys enjoy. Please leave your feedback in the comments section to let me know what you think!
PSN – UNCyrus
Skype – UNCyrus
17
Jun
2009
Sucker Punch Delivers a Knock-Out: inFAMOUS Review
Sucker Punch 2009 for the PS3
Overview
Sony has found their new posterboy in this new multi-faceted main character, Cole. inFAMOUS is altogether a really well thought through, great game from beginning to end. This is the kind of title that you play for hours, and when you finally turn it off, you can’t help but keep thinking about it. Not that there’s anything extraordinary about the storyline that sucks you in more than any other game, but there is just so much freedom to manipulate the world however you choose, that the game becoming strangely addictive.
Controls
I have to congratulate the team that developed the controls for this game. Being able to control a super-hero’s every move with a small-handheld controller, yet still have all of the inputs be intuitive is no small feat. They somehow managed to pull it off though. With everything from being able to scale any building on the map, to using your powers to “fly”, the player actually feels really in-tune with the character, because of how easily they can manipulate him to perform the most complicated moves. My only critique is that that radius around objects that you essentially “snap to” as if you were going to climb them when you fly by is entirely too large. Just because I may be flying near an object doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m going to want to cling onto it and climb it instead of continuing on my current flightpath. But, since everything else is done so well, this minor detail is negligible.
Graphics
Sucker Punch did a great job of creating a nextgen game without losing the stylistic flare they were trying to achieve this game. The graphic novel cutscenes are a nice change of pace compared to graphics heavy cinematics of say: MGS4. Not to say that anything is wrong with having movie quality graphics incorporated between gameplay, however the graphic novel approach seemed to work well with the feeling of this particular game. One thing that was done particularly well was the distance that was rendered in the open world map. You could take your character to the top of the highest building, then use the zoom-in ability, and you could still see details for nearly as far as the eye could see. However, the character models felt slightly unfinished as a whole. Specifically towards the very beginning of the game when there is a lot of dialogue, it’s really evident that the production was rushed to meet a deadline, and they simply didn’t get around to polishing off all of the edges of the character models and talking animations. The good part about this though, it that is has absolutely no effect on the gameplay whatsoever!
Gameplay and Story
I cannot brag enough about how much fun this game was to play. I was looking forward to this title for multiple reasons, but once I got my hands on the controls, I forgot all of them and just got sucked into how much plain fun it was to run through Empire City as a “walking sparkplug”. What makes this game stand out is the engine it is running on. There is ZERO lag for the game no matter how many explosions are onscreen at the same time, or how many dozens of enemies you are fending off. That’s the beauty of an engine that is specifically made for a game, rather than a game that is designed to work around the capabilities of a specific engine. All in all, the storyline and gameplay were captivating and addictive, what more can you ask for from a new IP?
The Bottom Line
9.4/10
Despite the fact that I’ve already beaten the game completely through twice, and gotten the platinum trophy, I don’t see this game collecting dust on my shelf for long. Even after you beat the game, there is so much fun to be had simply rampaging through the streets and abusing your superpowers against “exploding pedestrians”. This is one of the best titles yet to be released on the PlayStation 3 platform, and I would go far enough to say that no self-respecting PS3 owner’s game collection would be complete without this game among the others on the shelf! If you haven’t bought this game already, I don’t know what you’re waiting for, if you have then you’re probably going to do the same thing I am after writing this, go back to playing more inFAMOUS!
14
May
2009
Rebirth of the Single Player Narrative
In the age of a growing trend of digital distribution and online-only games, it seems almost antiquated to find any upcoming game to claim that they offer a single-player only experience. If nothing else, there is usually at least some sort of cooperative feature if not an online one. You would think this would be the case, however it seems that there has been a recent surge contrary to the trend that are developing and releasing titles with incredibly detailed and in depth single player only experiences. What sets these titles apart from their counterparts from years past is their cinematic, almost movie-like nature.
Although these are simply videogames, they seem to be blurring the line between games and movies more and more. As graphics improve, and more money is pumped into storyboarding and creating believable plots for games, certain games have been hailed as “interactive movies” rather than games. This improvement is also evident when you look at Hollywood, and the number of videogame based movies that are slated to be made: Bioshock, possibly God of War, Halo, Gears of War, etc.
Here are a couple of examples new, old, and upcoming that fit the criteria of “enhanced” single player experiences.
- Metal Gear Solid 4: I know… I know… It’s not single player only. Well, in Japan they were released as two standalone games, so it is meeting the criteria for all intents and purposes. People complained about the length of the cutscenes in this game, and that they felt like there wasn’t enough interaction during them. The cutscenes seemed the exact opposite to me. I enjoyed playing the action and surviving through the game, but it was the story that makes all the rest of the gameplay meaningful. Kojima actually did a great job incorporating optional button pushing during cutscenes to encourage players to pay attention and to allow added interest to those who were watching intently.
- Bioshock/Bioshock 2: Yes, there are rumors about there being multiplayer features in the sequel. However until they are confirmed by 2k, then I’ll continue under the impression that it is a single player only experience like the first iteration. The narrative in this game is what set it apart from the countless other FPSs that came out around the same time and have come out since. The gameplay was quite good, nothing astonishing or mindblowingly innovative. It was simply the story that took this title to the next level. There was something very relatable about the main character and the twist and turns of the plot and the unique environment that kept drawing players in begging for more.
- God of War 3: Similarly, there are rumors of cooperative play being introduced into the God of War series in this third iteration of the title. But more likely than not, this will be another single player only experience. The incredible graphics and ruthlessness of Kratos are the pillars that the GoW series stands on. Without these established characteristics of the main character and the player’s understanding of his motivation for causing the massive amount of destruction that he does, then this would just be another slightly better than average hack/slash title. It is this sentimental attachment to the character that allows gamers to become engulfed in the story. When you have a single player like this, then you don’t need to worry about just adding a multiplayer system for replayability, the singleplayer never gets old.
- inFamous: This new game from Sucker Punch has created a unique approach to this generation of single player narratives. They seem to be intigrating the comic book style cutscenes with an intensely addictive sandbox game. This is very important to have a relatable character in a new IP, because this will allow players to gain some bond that will support further addition to be developed to the franchise.
- Heavy Rain: This is probably the most intriguing of all of the titles on the list. It has been described as an iteractive movie that allows the player to create their own storyline. This is a great concept that apparently won’t limit you to a linear progression through the game, or even limit you to playing with one character. The developers commented how the main character could be killed off, but yet the story would be able to continue on without her. Because of the amount of unique situations this concept would potentially create within the game, there is seemingly limitless replayability for a title like this. If it sells well, look for more developers to look into creating similar games in the future.
(I would have also listed Alan Wake, but there is still not enough information out about it.)
The main point is simply that developers are proving that multiplayer functionality is not necessary in a game as long as there is a deep and rich single player experience. I would rather there be a well developed single player mode, rather than a half-finished multiplayer mode just for the sake of having it available.
Please leave your comments and questions below!