Yup, that's an actual screenshot above (and below). Gears of War 2 is officially the best-looking game ever.
And though I'm only part of the way through the game right now, it's obvious to me that Epic went out of its way this time around to deliver gamers from the dull grayish browns that so many have complained about as the cliche of "next-gen" gaming. Color has been infused into the war-torn atmosphere of Gears and coupled with the incredible detail has helped make Gears 2 the best-looking game of all time.
I should mention that it's also fun. The few new guns that have been added, a flamethrower, minigun, and mortar, along with the new poison grenade and mobile cover system are welcome additions to the game. There are new enemies to blast, huge levels to explore, and more story and cut-scene elements as well. Many parts of the game that remain from the original game have been re-tooled, and the game has a much more grand ("Epic?") feeling to it than the first.
The only thing I've been disappointed with so far (aside from a small plot point which would be a slight spoiler, so I won't mention here), has been the game's music. It sounds great, and I love that Epic stuck with the orchestral tunes, but it doesn't have the character the music from the first game had - it seems more like background music, rather than part of the action. To me, that kind of sucks. To others, they may not even notice it, or they might appreciate the change of pace. It's a small irk to be sure, so I wouldn't worry about it if you're planning on buying the game and you still haven't gotten it yet (for shame!).
Anyway, I'm going to get back to playing... as well as to a few other domestic tasks. A pile of dishes in the kitchen is calling my name, and I've got a few things I want to box up tonight - I'm moving to a new apartment soon!
If you have the game and you're on my Xbox friends list, drop me an invite sometime - I've been ignoring them up to this point, but I think I'm ready to play online now. Thanks for reading, and maybe I'll see you in-game!
Taking the new demo for a test drive. Pun intended.
After a long evening of dishwashing, laundry-doing, and paperwork-filling-outing, I finally got a chance to fire up my Xbox 360 yesterday to try out a demo for a game I've had my eye on for a few months now: Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.
I have to say that so far, that this game looks like it will be completely awesome.
For the uninitiated, Nuts & Bolts is a sequel of sorts to the original duo of 3D platform games for the N64. The first game in the series introduced the oddly-paired Banjo (the bear) and Kazooie (the bird in Banjo's backpack) and had players exploring a large non-linear 3D world collecting jigsaw pieces. The game played very similarly to other games of the period, like Mario 64, only with an added emphasis on story and humor. Banjo-Kazooie was a fun, ground-breaking experience, and won two awards at the 1999 Interactive Achievement Awards, for Console Action/Adventure and Art Direction. The original Banjo-Kazooie was released in 1998.
The second game, Banjo-Tooie (see what they did there?), followed two years later in 2000. And though the gameplay mechanic was not dramatically different from the first game, Tooie was met with great acclaim.
Ten years later, Nuts & Bolts has finally landed as a demo on Xbox Live, and the full game looms in the distance, only a week and a half away. I've been anxious to try this game out, as I've always enjoyed N64 era 3D platformers, and I've been wanting to check out the vehicle creation system Rare crafted.
Nuts & Bolts takes the classic platforming play of old and throws vehicles into the mix - vehicles that you design yourself. As you explore the world and complete tasks, you're given an ever-expanding arsenal of parts from which you can construct vehicles of all shapes, sizes, and utility. At any point in the game, you can enter the garage to edit your vehicle. You can save and load different designs you've already created and edit all to your hearts content. With the release of the final game, you'll also be able to send plans to friends, so they can cruise around their game in vehicles of your design.
I played Nuts & Bolts demo for about 45 minutes, and I had a very good time with it. Lots is included in the 1Gb+ sampling, and I'll probably spend some more time with it this weekend.
The graphics in this game are excellent. Rare never ceases to amaze me in their ability to create rich, living environments, and Nuts & Bolts is just another example of their mastery over this skill. The character animation is nice and smooth, and you really get the sense of a real world that the old N64 games just couldn't do. My only complaint about the graphics so far, and this is really more of a design issue overall, is that the informational cut-scenes that explain the story and how the game works are all done in the same way as the old games - with lots of text, and squawking heads next to them - and no spoken dialogue. This may change in the final version of the game, but I really would have liked to see Rare put their obvious talents in animation to use and give us fully animated cut-scenes with actual dialogue. Other than this single caveat though, the game is visually incredible, from the anthropomorphic characters roaming around town to vast rolling hills with roads and ramps, it's all very beautiful.
I was also impressed by the audible quality of the demo. The sound effects are varied and appropriate, and the goofy little sounds Banjo and Kazooie make as they traverse the world put a big smile on my face. The music in the game is especially good, and I was glad to see that Grant Kirkhope and Robin Beanland (responsible for Viva Piñata and Conker's Bad Fur Day respectively) were behind it, since I have enjoyed a lot of their past works.
Control in Nuts & Bolts was solid, and felt very familiar to the way the older games did while I was running around on foot. Vehicular controls are similar to most other 360 games you've played, using the analog should buttons for gas and brake, and the left and right sticks for direction and camera control. The vehicle I played around with felt a little slow, but since I was only playing the beginning stages of the game, and thus had the lowest power engine on my car, this seemed appropriate. Building cars was also a snap, and within only a few minutes I was jumping in and out of the garage, experimenting with all sorts of configurations. Anyone who's ever used built something with Legos before will feel right at home.
All in all, I came away from my initial run-through of the Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts demo very impressed. I was intrigued by the handful of screens and video that were released a few months ago but wasn't sure if the game would be very much fun or not. After having played the demo, I feel silly for having worried about this at all - Nuts & Bolts is looking to be a lot of fun, and I can only imagine how crazy the later part of the game will get as you gather more and more diverse parts for your vehicle crafting.
Jump on Xbox Live and try out the demo for yourself - if you go into it with an open mind, and looking for some genuine fun, you won't be disappointed. Let me know what you think if you do!
A new trailer for Gears of War 2, this one to be the official commercial for the game, was released yesterday. "Last Day" features the musical talents of DeVotchKa, and shows the various members of the Cog army as they prepare for and embark on the next war against their subterranean opponents.
I liked the "Mad World" commercial better I think, but this one seems to highlight the actual game just a smidgen more. I like that it shows most of the main characters, and again appears to be rendered completely inside the game engine, a credit to the beauty of Unreal Engine 3 and Epic's graphical abilities alike. It's hard not to be excited about Gears 2; this game is going to be awesome!
I've included the Mad World trailer, in case anyone hasn't seen it. Truly a great piece of marketing.
So we've got a lot of good games on deck, and even a few that were just released. Over the last few months, I've been getting progressively more excited about a great number of these games. The problem is, I don't know when I'll have time to play through all these games, and I really don't want to rack up a huge bill by buying all of them at once, either. Christmas is right around the corner, however, and so is my birthday, so I've decided I'm going to separate my hotlist of games into a few groups: must buy, gift request, buy later, and undecided.
Following is the list of all the games I'm looking forward to, and how I've split them up (and if you're reading this, Mom, this might be a good place to start for my Christmas list).
Gears of War 2
Must Buy - Though I've been careful not to spoil any of the surprises of the Gears sequel for myself, each time I get a glance at any new information on the game it seems better than before. This game is going to be awesome, and I'm really looking forward to playing through the campaign with my buddies, as well as jumping back into Gears multiplayer. Grenade sticking FTW!
Fable 2
Undecided - This is another game which I've been anxiously awaiting for some time now, and in only a few days it'll be on store shelves. It's garnering good reviews so far, and like Gears 2, each time I do some research on the title, it seems that much better, and I get more excited about it. Albion never looked better, and it's going to be hard to wait until Christmas or my birthday for this game, if I can go that long.
Left 4 Dead
Must Buy - The co-op multiplayer for L4D looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, and come on, it's a great-looking new Valve game. The only trouble I'm going to have with this decision is which platform to buy it for: PC or Xbox 360.
Fallout 3
Gift Request - Don't get me wrong here; I'm really looking forward to Fallout 3. I like the whole idea of a more modern Oblivion-ish RPG, and all the tweaks Bethesda has made to the game engine in order to create Fallout look both interesting and well done. But since, to my knowledge, the game doesn't feature any multiplayer action, I can shelve it for a few weeks while I play the rest of the games, since the world will be just the same when I decide I'm ready to enter it. And that's why I like single player games.
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Must Buy - Only 3 weeks are left until the long-awaited second expansion to the World of Warcraft universe is released, and after spending two days at BlizzCon and experiencing all the big changes to the game introduced in last week's 3.0.2 patch, I'm more than ready to start working my way up to level 80, and maybe even turning my main character into a Death Knight. I won't be one of the people who gets in line a few days before the release, and I probably won't even pre-order. But I'll definitely be picking this one up within a day or two of it's release.
Dead Space
Buy Later - Initially I wasn't too excited about Dead Space, as it looked very generic and Doom 3-ish to me. Since I've read a few reviews however, I've changed my mind on the game, and I might just pick it up at some point. I'm not sure if I want to buy it or ask for it as a gift - it probably depends on how long I can hold out on buying all the other titles in the list. This game looks pretty fun though, and I am sure that at some point it will become part of my games library.
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Undecided - The vehicle-crafting platformer gameplay in the new BK game looks like it could be a lot of fun, and pre-orders for the game nab you the original game (updated with a better display resolution and higher resolution textures) on Xbox Live Arcade as well, all for only $40. I'm going to have a hard time passing this game up if it gets good reviews on release.
Chrono Trigger DS
Gift Request - It's Chrono Trigger, but on the DS. I shouldn't even have to explain how awesome that is. It'll take a good gift request though, because it's cheap, and like Fallout, is single player only.
Saint's Row 2
Buy Later - I wasn't too hot on the original game until a few years had gone by and I gave it a second chance. Much to my surprise, the original Saints turned out to be a lot of fun, and was a great deal at only $20. Saints Row 2 looks pretty similar, only with more mayhem. The good reviews have convinced me that I will have to pick the game up sometime, but we'll see if that happens before this one hits $20 as well.
Call of Duty: World at War
Undecided - I came to COD4 a little late in the game, but still had a blast with its multiplayer and a good time working my way through the campaign. I'm hoping COD:WaW will be similar, but I want to see how the game turns out before I make any final decisions on it.
Other games I'm interested in, but weren't worth mentioning in the list yet: Tom Clancy's Endwar, Spore, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, Need for Speed: Undercover, Far Cry 2
I'll be back later in the week with more to say about some of this stuff, I'm sure. Thanks for reading!
Perhaps it's a bit too early in the year to start worrying about what game might actually win GOTY for 2008, seeing as almost all outlets for gaming have a strong holiday lineup on deck. But I read an article over on DLB-Network, a website run by a buddy of mine, and it got me to thinking - just what games this year are likely to be GOTY? Which one do I think will nab the title on other websites/magazines?
I decided I'd list all the contenders, give my thoughts and my reasoning, and see what other people think. Many of these games came from the list proposed at DLB-Network, and some are from my own line of thought.
Grand Theft Auto 4
I believe GTA4 is a strong contender for GOTY 2008. Some may balk at this, saying that the game wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, but I beg to differ; the game was solid, fun, and even though it didn't always live up to the hype, it was unarguably one of the better games released in '08. The game was epic in size, it sold amazingly well, was a multi-platform release, and became a cultural phenomenon in the weeks building up to and following its release. It pushed the GTA franchise outward in all the right directions and had an interesting message, and it would not surprise me at all if GTA4 piles on the GOTY awards for 2008.
Metal Gear Solid 4
I've not played MGS4, but I've heard a lot of mixed things about it. The game upped the bar for graphics in PS3 titles, as well as for (non-)interactive story-telling, possibly to detriment. Though the game garnered strong ratings across the board, many now complain (much like GTA4) that the game was over-hyped and over-rated. Another common complaint was that the game bogged down players with too many cut-scenes and not enough actual gameplay. The final strike against it however, in my opinion, is the PS3 platform exclusivity. MGS4 had impressive sales numbers, but too few people have played this game for it to be dubbed GOTY 2008, in large part due to its release on a single platform. In an age where reviewers are too afraid to give the same game on different platforms different scores, I just can't see a single-platform title earning GOTY, good as the game may be.
Spore
Will Wright's wet dream, Spore, had always shown promise of being a game-to-end-all-other-games, even from its early unveiling at E3 several years ago. Even a year before its release, I recall talking with people about how great the game would be and being quite excited about it myself. Upon its eventual release, the world found that, while it was a decent and fun game, Spore wasn't exactly all it was cracked up to be. The game also fell prey to the same DRM woes that have haunted other recent PC releases. And though many are playing the game now and will be playing it into the distant future, I think that the possibility for achieving any sort of GOTY commendations were dashed long ago when the game became a shallow amalgam of different game genres, and a rich simulator of none.
Gears of War 2
Though the screens and videos of the new Gears game look promising, and I am sure the game will be a fun title, I don't think we'll see the sequel grabbing at GOTY, both for it's platform exclusivity and because it will be too similar to Gears 1 to show any real innovation.The original Gears of War, though not entirely original in most respects, did everything it set out to do so right that it was hard to say much bad about it. I feel that the sequel will be much the same, but since we've already broken the ground (a Gears pun?) with Gears 1, Gears 2 won't be a contender for GOTY. Of course, I've read that Epic has tried to fix many of the original Gears' shortcomings in the sequel, but unless they really pull off something spectacularly better than the already-great Gears of War, I don't see it. I'll definitely be in line to buy this title, though.
Resistance 2
I feel the same way about Resistance 2 as Gears of War 2. See above.
Little Big Planet
What can I say about LBP without inciting riots among its throng of fans? I think I'll just come right out and say it: LBP will be one of the most over-hyped games of 2008. Developed by Media Molecule, a company whose first game (Rag Doll Kung Fu) was met with a lukewarm response, Little Big Planet puts the developer's tools in the players' hands and asks them to create levels for others to play.
The game has a nice look to it, and the tools look easy enough to use - but I question how interesting most gamers, who don't typically delve into the development side of things, will find it. I also think that people who are truly interested in being creative will be disappointed, as there is only so much you can do easily and comfortably with a dual shock controller (as opposed to a keyboard, mouse, and with real creative tools like Photoshop, 3DSMax, etc.)... and that's ignoring the obvious limitations of the single hard drive and paltry amount of RAM. LBP will be an interesting diversion for sure, but not a system-seller, and for that reason, I don't see it as a serious contender for any GOTY awards.
Fallout 3
I'll admit that I haven't done much research about Fallout 3 yet, despite my plans to buy the game. If the experience is a little more polished than Oblivion, but with the same open-endedness and emphasis on exploration and discovery, I think it could be a latecomer to the GOTY arena. From everything I've seen so far, it looks much more crisp and refined than Oblivion. It'll be interesting (and hopefully fun) to see how well Bethesda's role-playing recipe holds up with the company shifting gears into the more modern setting of Fallout. Fallout is also being released for multiple platforms.
Rock Band 2
Like Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, etc. I think Rock Band 2 won't be viewed as particularly innovative purely for the fact that it's a sequel. Also, I don't see a rhythm game as a real contender for GOTY in any capacity.
Fable 2
Lionhead has promised a much longer, more rich experience than the original title with Fable 2, so I'm not sure if I can write this game off as just another sequel quite yet. I really enjoyed the first game, and though I liked the good/evil dynamic, and felt that the game as a whole was a very unique experience, I never really felt like any of the individual elements of Fable were particularly ground-breaking. Fable 2 may change that, but until the game is released, I will withhold judgment. The hype machine hasn't turned its evil eye towards Fable 2 yet, and I'm not sure if that's a good sign or not. At the very least, I hope Fable 2 is a fun and unique experience like the original, even if not GOTY fodder.
The Xbox 360 platform exclusivity may also come into play here, especially since Fable 2 will lack a lot of the universal appeal that propels other titles like GTA4.
Conclusion
Regardless of who actually winds up winning GOTY 2008, I think gamers are the real winner this year. Each system has received a good stack of quality games, and more is on the way soon. Couple that with the Xbox 360's soon-to-come fall dashboard update (the Xbox Experience), which completely redesigns the look and functionality of the system, and I might just have some trouble getting my work done this winter!
That's not to say that I'm done playing around with the game necessarily, but I finally made my way through the final mission of the game today. I'm writing this as I listen the music during the credits (which have been going on for at least ten minutes now, with no end to the stream of names in sight).
The last mission was, appropriately, one of the missions I had to play more than a few times to get right, and had enough good cinematics and explosions in it to make it a worthy final mission for the game.
Overall, I've enjoyed Grand Theft Auto 4, and I think that many of the complaints people have had after the initial flurry of praise, about the game being a disappointment, were mostly unfounded. Grand Theft Auto 4 was the next logical step for the series, and I think that it was a great success in taking the franchise into the next generation of cpu/gpu power.
My biggest complaint was that the final mission, and the jobs leading up to it, just never had as "epic" a feeling as some of those from the other games, like GTA: Vice City or even the first itteration of the game to go 3D, GTA 3. When Rockstar went to such great lengths to make the city alive and full of detail, I would have liked to have seen the story get so out of control that at the end the entire city sees the destruction and carnage as it happens between Niko and his enemies. Something like the end of the Matrix, where Neo and Smith virtually destroy the world (pun intended).
Still, the ending was good, I enjoyed the game from start to finish, and I liked just about everything that Rockstar has done with the game. There aren't too many games I've played that represent the real world so well that, when you see little things happening in the game that reflect life so perfectly, you can't help but smile. I'm sure I'll continue to do that as I play through it some more and uncover the secrets I missed while playing through the main story.
For now though, I'm set to finally beat Phoenix Wright as well (I put it off for a long time, huh?), and I'm also considering picking up a used Game Cube to scratch a Mario Sunshine itch I've been having lately. For about the same price as an Xbox 360 game I can buy a Game Cube, Mario Sunshine, and a memory card, so I'm totally tempted.
I've got to work on my competition entry some more too, probably... so we'll see. In any case, I've finally scratched at least one of the games off my backlog now. So the summer wasn't a total bust, I suppose.
On Wednesday I wasn't feeling very good, and took a sick day from work. Don't worry - I'm better now. A little rest and relaxation can go a long way!
In the midst of my brief recovery, I fired up my Xbox and had some time to try out (and eventually purchase) a fun little game called Castle Crashers, by The Behemoth, the same team behind Alien Hominid HD.
I'd seen some trailers for Crashers before, and thought the game looked like fun, so you can imagine my excitement after playing it for a few minutes and finding out that the game was indeed fun, and even more so than the trailers made it look.
In Castle Crashers, you (initially) take on the role of one of four animated heroes ready to take on legions of baddies and bigger baddies. The game plays like your standard beat-em-up game, where players advance slowly through levels by killing each wave of enemies, and usually take on a boss somewhere in between start and finish. Levels can be re-played via the world map, and players can accumulate new weapons and pet orbs to use as they punish hordes of minions and level up each playable character. Up to four players can play at a time, either on the same console or via Xbox Live, in any combination of locals and players abroad.
The world is presented from an isometric side-scrolling view a la Streets of Rage, and Flash/Newgrounds style animation is applied liberally. In fact, the entire game has a sort of Flash-like hand-drawn look to it, and is incredibly attractive to view. Animations in players, enemies, and backgrounds are slick and smartly crafted. Color is utilized expertly. And the game's catchy soundtrack and effects compliment the visual style impossibly well.
I dove into the game not knowing much about what to do, and found myself playing as the orange knight, wielding a long sword and magical fire. I battled through the first area, cleaning up my home castle, picking up a sweet bow and arrow, and eventually thwarting the leader of the opposing castle crashers amidst a crowd of his fellow (and smaller) baddies. The demo ended as the leader approached death by my sword, and I promptly bought the game and continued playing. The boss was destroyed, I rescued my princess, and proceeded on through the next few areas.
I've now fought my way (all solo, so far) through a forest, a lumber mill, and a swamp, and though each progressive level is considerably harder than the last, I'm still having a great time with it. The humor in Castle Crashers is in tune with a lot of the goofy stuff you see on the internet these days (particularly NewGrounds, for obvious reasons), and I'm looking forward to crashing some castles with some friends on Xbox Live as soon as I've got enough time set aside to do so.
The game also features an eating mini game, and an arena mode. Player versus player combat is also an option.
If you've got an Xbox 360 and you're looking for a fun beat-em-up game that's a joy to watch and listen to, and which doesn't feature a steep learning curve (but still offers plenty of more complex fun), I recommend trying out Castle Crashers. The demo's free on Xbox Live Arcade, and from the looks of my friends list over the last few days, you shouldn't have any trouble finding other players to fight with online.
As a gamer, I'm not normally the type to look down upon the gaming habits of others. Sure, I'll make the odd quip about "freestyle" DDR players now and then, but generally I don't give my fellow gamers too much grief for doing whatever it is they choose to do.
This stance has led me to defend Guitar Hero/Rock Band, games which I have played very minimally, whenever someone brings up the "you should just learn a real instrument" argument. I've even argued this point with my dad, who is an actual musician (he plays bass guitar). I had an epiphany at a GameStop which changed my views on this slightly, and which makes me wonder about how far the rhythm games can go before they've gone too far. It also makes me wonder if I'm the only person who's ever had an epiphany at GameStop.
While I was at GameStop, they had a Guitar Hero III display set up. Instead of the usual speakers, the display was outfitted with headphones so interested players could try the game out without disturbing other shoppers too much. I was waiting in line to order a game. A kid who was obviously familiar with Guitar Hero walked up to it and - headphones on, guitar in hand - got set to play. The people in line in front of me were going back and forth with an employee about trading in games, so I curiously looked on as the kid began to run through a jam session.
I heard the game in a way I'd never heard it before. Without the music to accompany the rhythmic input, the mechanical monotony of the whole thing was instantly exposed. And while I know that many games, some of my favorites probably, could be broken down into a series of infinitely repeatable hand motions, the illusion of Guitar Hero, nay all rhythm games, had been broken from this moment forth.
Enter Rock Band.
Guitar Hero got me used to seeing people rocking out holding small, plastic guitars with buttons instead of strings, but I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to accept the ridiculous menagerie that is the full band ensemble of Rock Band. Not only does this setup look completely ridiculous standing before the TV in anyone's living room, but it costs a small fortune, and so starts to encroach on the grounds of "you might as well just learn to play a real instrument." Feast your eyes on this piece of work:
All this for a video game? Really? Do I even need to say anything else...?
If you're going to put all the effort into buying, building, and learning to play these ridiculous game controllers, why not just put in a little extra effort and learn the real thing? It'll likely be more personally satisfying, and could even land you a career you'd always dreamed about, but never really considered.
Don't get me wrong though - I still don't wholly agree with the naysayers; I don't really think anyone is trying to substitute real musical talent with a game of Guitar Hero or Rock Band. There is definitely a place in the world for our beloved rhythm games. I personally think it's awesome that an entire family can rock out to tunes in Rock Band, with each member on a different instrument. I like that Guitar Hero is doing its part to revive interest in classic rock. And hey, even those DDR freaks dancers have impressed me from time to time. I just feel like these things have gone a bit too far (the drum kit above being a prime example), and if there's a possibility for some non-electronic achievements now and then, why not take them? I think that with the advent of more advanced (and expensive) "instruments" that argument is becoming more valid.
Alright, I'm done preaching. Public service time is over. Pick up the plastic guitar, and rock on.
Though it still feels like I got the required amount of relaxation this weekend, I look back on all the stuff I did (or played and watched, to be more specific) and almost feel like I couldn't have. Throughout the weekend I've watched two movies, beaten one game, played through a good amount of another, spent a good portion of time with my girlfriend, and even got some work done on some web/game stuff I've been meaning to do.
Tropic Thunder
The first thing my girlfriend and I did on Sunday was head on over to the local theater to catch the matinee of Tropic Thunder. I'd read glowing reviews, a little bit of controversy, and I'm a fan of both Ben Stiller and Jack Black, so I had a feeling the movie would be good. And it was. From the opening trailers (go see it, you'll see) to the end credits, the movie was intensely funny. If you're into comedy flicks and you don't mind humor that is occasionally offensive humor, you'll enjoy Tropic Thunder.
Before the movie began, we sat through all the silly trailers. I think that out of the seven to eight trailers shown before Thunder started, only one looked decent. Most of them just left me, my girlfriend, and the rest of the audience making jokes and shaking our heads in shame and disgust. One trailer in particular comes to mind now, for "Disaster Movie," but not because it was particularly good, and surely not because the movie looks like it will be anything but another steaming pile of crap in the line of "_____ Movie" parody films.
I find it funny that the trailer for Disaster Movie was shown though, because after watching Topic Thunder, you can't help but feel bad for anyone who actually believes that that movie, or any of its ilk, is in any way "real" comedy. I guess every now and then Hollywood manages to produce something above and beyond the norm, and it serves to put all the other trash back in its place. That's not to say that Tropic Thunder is a perfect movie (it's certainly not), but it's entertaining, it's damn funny, and it makes you wish more movies could be like it.
Overlord
About a week ago, while I was waiting for my girlfriend to get done picking out some clothes at the local mall, I wandered into the nearby GameStop and found a game I'd been meaning to pick up for some time but hadn't yet seen it available for $20: Overlord.
It's not the best game ever made; the controls are a little hard to get used to, and the camera bugs me sometimes. But I really like the concept of Overlord, and the way the game actually works is just really amusing to me, so I enjoy playing it. Overall, there's a lot more good stuff here than bad.
In Overlord, you play as the newly resurrected, evil "Overlord," and you lead an ever-growing horde of minions (little gremlin-ish creatures) to do your bidding. At your command, the throng of minions will destroy everything in sight, gang up on baddies, and clear the way for you to continue forth. As you play, you gain the ability to control different types of minions, each with a unique ability. You also learn magical spells and forge new items at your tower. The core game works a lot like Fable, where you pick up new quests as you move along, and have the option to complete them when you want, albeit instead of having to choose between acting good or evil, in Overlord, you usually have to choose between acting evil or acting more evil.
As I mentioned above, I really like the idea behind Overlord - that some nameless, evil guy runs around with his crowd of minions, and together they conquer the land. It's a clever idea, and it runs against the grain of all the traditional "hero" games in a really fine way. The voice acting for the minions and their leader is excellent and brings the game to life in a way that could not have been achieved otherwise. The ability to customize your evil tower and imbue your arsenal with the powers of your minions were also great additions and serve to round out the game in a satisfying way. Codemasters put a lot of effort into making Overlord fun to play, and in my opinion, they succeeded.
Hopefully that opinion doesn't change as I much through the rest of the game!
The Simpsons Movie
I finally had the opportunity to watch <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/simpsons_movie/" target="_blank">The Simpsons Movie</a>, and I enjoyed it a lot. The movie was consistently funny throughout, and not one opportunity was lost to use one of the show's hundreds of characters. I've always liked how the Simpsons works so many levels of subtle (and often not-so-subtle) social commentary into the plots of each show, and the movie followed suit with this trait in spades.
Truthfully, the whole thing seemed a bit like a really long episode of the normal show, only with better animation, but I think this was one of the movie's strengths. It gave the writers time to do jokes that simply aren't possible within the constraints of a thirty minute show, and there's hardly a moment where you feel like the film has lost its momentum.
There are plenty of awesomely funny moments in The Simpsons Movie, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes the show.
Braid
After spending over three hours working out the last two puzzles I had left (one of which I solved on accident after giving up completely), I've finally beaten Braid. I won't spoil things for anyone who's playing (or planning on playing) the game, but I will say that the ending is appropriate to the rest of the game, and I can say with confidence that if you enjoyed the game up to the end, you will enjoy the ending a lot.
3D Animated Texture Water
Like that picture above? That's a screenshot of a new 3D water example I've got ready for release - but I really want to write up a tutorial so people can learn how I made the textures included in the example. It looks great in motion!
Anyway, that's my weekend in a nutshell. Thanks for reading, and sorry for the delays between posts, I'll try to be more prompt with future posts.
Every now and then a game comes along and takes you by surprise. I had the pleasure of experiencing this a few days ago, and I feel that my horizons as both a gamer and a developer have expanded because of it.
The harbinger of my elation goes by but a single name: Braid.
By now you've probably heard a little bit about Braid here or there - it seems impossible not to. After only a few days on the XBL Marketplace, Braid became the highest rated game on XBL Arcade, and entered the exclusive list of top 10 all-time highest rated games for the Xbox 360, which includes titles like Grand Theft Auto 4, Gears of War, and Bioshock.
While notable in itself, this is quite an accomplishment considering the game was made by only a small team of indie game designers and artists, on an infinitesimally smaller budget than any of the other AAA titles it's contending with.
So what's all the hoopla about? At the outset, it's simple enough - Braid is a 2D platform game where you traverse an assortment of levels to find and collect jigsaw pieces. Delve a bit deeper though, and the game quickly sets itself far apart from most other platformers you've played. Time, and the manipulation of it, plays an important role in the narrative of the story, and more importantly, how puzzles in the game are solved. Braid's development team went to great lengths to craft smart, unique levels that take advantage of this element of the game. Each chapter of levels offers a different take on the way time affects you and the environment, with each puzzle more devious than the last. And even though most of the puzzles seem to have only one or two possible solutions, each one will leave you with a feeling of deep satisfaction for solving it.
At this point, I could stop writing and you'd have a pretty good idea of why Braid is a good game, but I really feel that merely describing the game for its amazing technical presentation isn't fully doing it justice. There's a lot more to Braid than that. The entire presentation is mentally stimulating.
Braid's narrative, told through a handful of dialog boxes and books placed on a series of podiums before each level, tell the emotional story of the game's main character, Tim, and his troubles. The text in the game is well-written, and is in some ways, very touching.
Braid opens with what looks like a painted title screen. After a few moments, you realize that what you're looking at isn't really just a title screen - it's the actual game, and you can actually play it right from the start. I really liked the way the game opens without an interface, and I think it says a lot about how great the game's design is that you don't even need to access any menus until you're ready to leave.
The game's graphics (courtesy of David Hellman) are incredible though; I think I spent the first 20 minutes of the game just looking at the backdrops. Scenes that would look amazing as flattened artwork scroll with depth unimaginable, and everything in the foreground is gorgeous to boot. So much effort was put into making Braid a visual feast, it's almost impossible to imagine that time was spent to ensure the game was enjoyable as well. The soundtrack, licensed from some very talented people at Magnatune, is equally as good as the graphics, and wraps the game in an enchanting veil that lends credibility to the story and completes the presentation in a satisfying way.
I've been playing Braid over the last few days, taking small bites at a time, and trying to complete each puzzle I come across. Everything about the game is incredible, and though I've gotten to the point where some of the puzzles seem a bit on the hard side (or maybe I'm just not trying to do things the right way), I'm having a blast. The $15 price tag sounded steep before I tried the demo, but after only a few minutes of playing, I made the choice to buy.
Braid is the collective work of many people who obviously care about their craft, and this shows at every turn. I hope that the Braid team goes on to do create more unique games. This should serve as a lesson to the nay-sayers who cry that indie games don't have a place in the highly commercial world of video games. They do, and Braid proves it without missing a step.
If you've got an Xbox 360 (or if you can hold out for the PC version), buy Braid. It's an amazing game that deserves to be experienced by everyone.
