Game Summary
Morrowind, produced by Bethesda Softworks in 2003, was the Third installment in Bethesda’s long running RPG series The Elder scrolls and I’m tempted to say the best. But as that would be extremely bias of me lets judge it by its merits instead.
Game analysis
Morrowind was a game of many strengths in particular its story. As we all know the most important element is the story, the main quest that drives the player through the game. Whilst Morrowind, with its pseudo-biblical tile of an unknown savior born to certain stars destined to deliver the world from evil is by no means a new idea, it is executed in such a ways as to be both enthralling, original and believable. As opposed to just plonking you down, saying YOU ARE THE CHOSEEN ONE! With no further explanation and buggering off.
A populace ravaged by plague and pestilence, a prophecy of the re-incarnated savior to come and the question of whether you really are the savior incarnate or just an extremely competent normal guy set up by the empire constantly hanging over your head, provide a refreshingly look at the classic hero myth.
Its not just the main story where Morrowind excels, there are hundreds of side quests some intriguing, others disturbing. Interesting characters with equally interesting back stories, stunning and inventive scenery And whilst the combat may seem dated now. At the time it was gripping and action packed enough to consume hours of my spare time from grade 8-9.
Conclusion
I know that looking back morrowind doesn’t have the same edge it did 7 years ago and comparing it to oblivion is like comparing a bran cracker to a chocolate cake. But despite its age, it holds a charm and a level of story telling that made it more fun than Oblivion’s flashy graphics and lighting engine ever could.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
INB280 Game Analysis: Fire warrior (PC)
Game Summary
Fire warrior is a game produced by THQ in 2003 in conjunction with games workshop in order to promote a new line of models for their highly successful warhammer 40’000 franchise, the Tau. However I’m not sure if this was the best way to go about it, considering that the final game is riddled with bugs and looks as though it was thrown together over night following a red bull binge.
Game analysis
Full of bugs and with a difficulty curve that fluctuates more than the needle of a richter-scale during and earthquake, fire-warrior is one of the few games I’ve actually regretted buying. The game play is unbalanced, the enemies are over powered and the game its self is riddles with flaws.
For example, There was one level in which I had to escape a prison ship whilst at the same time assisting some fellow comrades to do the same. I suspect this section was supposed to be about adrenaline pumping stealth and quick dispatching of enemies. Or at least it would have been, had the textures for all the walls not failed Leaving me walking around a bunch of wire-frame corridors, lining my sights on an enemy’s head, before stepping into view and blowing their brains out like ducks at a shooting range.
In fact skinning and clipping issues are rampant in Fire warrior despite my attempts to patch them. At first it was funny but after dying because I couldn’t figure out which gap in the wire frame wall was the door, for the 15th time I promptly gave up on the game.
Conclusion
The game play speaks for its self, full of bugs, flaws and inadequate patches, fire warrior does more to denigrate Warhammer 40’000 than promote it. Badly designed and built the game is broken to the point where I found it impossible to finish. Conclusion A thorough waste of time and money.
Fire warrior is a game produced by THQ in 2003 in conjunction with games workshop in order to promote a new line of models for their highly successful warhammer 40’000 franchise, the Tau. However I’m not sure if this was the best way to go about it, considering that the final game is riddled with bugs and looks as though it was thrown together over night following a red bull binge.
Game analysis
Full of bugs and with a difficulty curve that fluctuates more than the needle of a richter-scale during and earthquake, fire-warrior is one of the few games I’ve actually regretted buying. The game play is unbalanced, the enemies are over powered and the game its self is riddles with flaws.
For example, There was one level in which I had to escape a prison ship whilst at the same time assisting some fellow comrades to do the same. I suspect this section was supposed to be about adrenaline pumping stealth and quick dispatching of enemies. Or at least it would have been, had the textures for all the walls not failed Leaving me walking around a bunch of wire-frame corridors, lining my sights on an enemy’s head, before stepping into view and blowing their brains out like ducks at a shooting range.
In fact skinning and clipping issues are rampant in Fire warrior despite my attempts to patch them. At first it was funny but after dying because I couldn’t figure out which gap in the wire frame wall was the door, for the 15th time I promptly gave up on the game.
Conclusion
The game play speaks for its self, full of bugs, flaws and inadequate patches, fire warrior does more to denigrate Warhammer 40’000 than promote it. Badly designed and built the game is broken to the point where I found it impossible to finish. Conclusion A thorough waste of time and money.
INB280 Game Analysis: Grand Theft Auto IV (PC)
Game Summary
The GTA series has always held a special place in my heart, more specifically the place I reserve for bitter loathing and contempt. And it’s nice to see GTA: IV is no exception.
Game analysis
It hard to explain, but of all the GTA games I’ve played, I’ve never actually felt myself enjoying them. Part of it is the story i.e. they all the same. Ok so sometimes you’re a betrayed U.S marine and sometimes you’re the banished son of a mobster family and sometimes you’re an obscure eastern European immigrant, but look at the Plot of any GTA game and it will always have you, starting on the bottom rung of the crime world, working your way towards revenge whilst forming your gang, selling drugs and running down as many pedestrians s you can get away with.
Which brings me to my next point game play. As a sandbox game GTA: IV’s game play is unstructured and relies heavily on the player to explore the world and create their own fun, however running down grannies on hijacked motorcycles quickly looses its appeal, after which your left with the story missions. And they’re all just variations of go her and kill every one, go here and steal shit or go here, steal shit and kill everyone.
And of course I couldn’t go through a GTA review without mentioning Auto aspect. Ok I admit the driving sections in GTA: IV are fun. Especially when the pigs are all over your ass and driving becomes a high-speed chase through backs streets. Unfortunately the fun of high-speed police chases isn’t enough to forgive the games other faults.
Conclusion
GTA remains a mystery to me, how a game that is so simplistic and samey could possibly be so popular is beyond me. come on Rock-star the least you could do is try and mix up the setting and plot. Although I hear their upcoming L.A. noire is going to be just that. So instead of cops and gangsters in liberty city it’s the detectives and mobsters in 1950's L.A., however I wouldn’t blame you if you end up holding out for mafia II instead.
The GTA series has always held a special place in my heart, more specifically the place I reserve for bitter loathing and contempt. And it’s nice to see GTA: IV is no exception.
Game analysis
It hard to explain, but of all the GTA games I’ve played, I’ve never actually felt myself enjoying them. Part of it is the story i.e. they all the same. Ok so sometimes you’re a betrayed U.S marine and sometimes you’re the banished son of a mobster family and sometimes you’re an obscure eastern European immigrant, but look at the Plot of any GTA game and it will always have you, starting on the bottom rung of the crime world, working your way towards revenge whilst forming your gang, selling drugs and running down as many pedestrians s you can get away with.
Which brings me to my next point game play. As a sandbox game GTA: IV’s game play is unstructured and relies heavily on the player to explore the world and create their own fun, however running down grannies on hijacked motorcycles quickly looses its appeal, after which your left with the story missions. And they’re all just variations of go her and kill every one, go here and steal shit or go here, steal shit and kill everyone.
And of course I couldn’t go through a GTA review without mentioning Auto aspect. Ok I admit the driving sections in GTA: IV are fun. Especially when the pigs are all over your ass and driving becomes a high-speed chase through backs streets. Unfortunately the fun of high-speed police chases isn’t enough to forgive the games other faults.
Conclusion
GTA remains a mystery to me, how a game that is so simplistic and samey could possibly be so popular is beyond me. come on Rock-star the least you could do is try and mix up the setting and plot. Although I hear their upcoming L.A. noire is going to be just that. So instead of cops and gangsters in liberty city it’s the detectives and mobsters in 1950's L.A., however I wouldn’t blame you if you end up holding out for mafia II instead.
Monday, September 21, 2009
INB280 Game Analysis: Tiberium wars (PC)
Game Summary
Tiberum Wars is the third installment in the Command and Conquer, tiberum saga, this time Developed by EA since the torch was passed to them by Westwood.
Game analysis
Command and Conquer was a Game that made RTS gaming what it is today and its interesting to see that despite being Handed to a new developer (EA instead of the original Westwood) C&C 3: Tiberium wars remains true to its roots in terms of story and game play.
Tiberium wars merges the combination of fast paced game play, complex micro-management, epic story telling that made C&C great, with new innovations such as support powers, new units and most obviously the change from 2D to 3D.
The Tiberium series has always been a favorite of mine because of its depth of strategy, varied game-play modes, the quality of the overall game, depth of story, live action cut scenes but most importantly NO population cap.
This is something that always annoys me about RTS games. You build a big army and plan an epic battle only to find that production shuts down once you reach 90-120 units. Tibrium by comparison allows you to build an army as big as you like and manages to run at an acceptable rate. A feature that has always set it apart from other RTS’s
Conclusion
Numerous strategic options, interesting units/powers and challenging game modes make Tiberium wars challenging without being overly frustrating.
I hear C&C 4 Tiberium twilight is going to strip out base building and Tiberium harvesting in order to be more like Dawn of War, so id highly recommend Playing Tiberium wars as it may be the last true Tiberium game ever released.
Tiberum Wars is the third installment in the Command and Conquer, tiberum saga, this time Developed by EA since the torch was passed to them by Westwood.
Game analysis
Command and Conquer was a Game that made RTS gaming what it is today and its interesting to see that despite being Handed to a new developer (EA instead of the original Westwood) C&C 3: Tiberium wars remains true to its roots in terms of story and game play.
Tiberium wars merges the combination of fast paced game play, complex micro-management, epic story telling that made C&C great, with new innovations such as support powers, new units and most obviously the change from 2D to 3D.
The Tiberium series has always been a favorite of mine because of its depth of strategy, varied game-play modes, the quality of the overall game, depth of story, live action cut scenes but most importantly NO population cap.
This is something that always annoys me about RTS games. You build a big army and plan an epic battle only to find that production shuts down once you reach 90-120 units. Tibrium by comparison allows you to build an army as big as you like and manages to run at an acceptable rate. A feature that has always set it apart from other RTS’s
Conclusion
Numerous strategic options, interesting units/powers and challenging game modes make Tiberium wars challenging without being overly frustrating.
I hear C&C 4 Tiberium twilight is going to strip out base building and Tiberium harvesting in order to be more like Dawn of War, so id highly recommend Playing Tiberium wars as it may be the last true Tiberium game ever released.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
INB280 Game Analysis: Legendary (PC)
Game Summary
Developed by spark and published by Atari in 2008. Legendary is an FPS following the adventures of Charles Deckard a British art thief who is hired by a shady organization to steal Pandora’s box. And we all know what happens when you fool with a dangerous do-dad like Pandora’s box. Needless to say hoards of mythical creatures are unleashed into the world, ranging from werewolves, to minotaurs and even a kraken, and its up to you to save the world and put them all back.
Game analysis
Okay so the story’s terribly cliched what with 2 ancient organizations one good, one bad fighting over a magical mguffin and you caught in the middle but at least it beats space marines and super soldiers.
combat wise, legendary realized that just pumping everything around you full of lead might get a bit borings, so each monster can be dispatched in a certain way. Werewolves must be decapitated or the spring back to life, nari can be forced into the tangible realm and blown to bits and the kraken… well you just shove enough rockets down his throat. At first its fun and interesting but it quickly gets frustrating when you have multiple types of enemies spawning in at once.
The story is okay, the combat is fun, varied and sometimes incredibly frustrating. like when there’s clouds of health littering the ground, but you can’t collect it by just walking over and instead have to press the collect button which lowers your weapon and gets you killed
Conclusion
Overall legendary has a decent story, solid combat, and moderately difficult puzzles. Its not going to set the world on fire but if your looking for a good 10 hours of fun and enjoy smashing werewolves heads in with and axe you'll have some fun, but overall i found the experience lacking
Developed by spark and published by Atari in 2008. Legendary is an FPS following the adventures of Charles Deckard a British art thief who is hired by a shady organization to steal Pandora’s box. And we all know what happens when you fool with a dangerous do-dad like Pandora’s box. Needless to say hoards of mythical creatures are unleashed into the world, ranging from werewolves, to minotaurs and even a kraken, and its up to you to save the world and put them all back.
Game analysis
Okay so the story’s terribly cliched what with 2 ancient organizations one good, one bad fighting over a magical mguffin and you caught in the middle but at least it beats space marines and super soldiers.
combat wise, legendary realized that just pumping everything around you full of lead might get a bit borings, so each monster can be dispatched in a certain way. Werewolves must be decapitated or the spring back to life, nari can be forced into the tangible realm and blown to bits and the kraken… well you just shove enough rockets down his throat. At first its fun and interesting but it quickly gets frustrating when you have multiple types of enemies spawning in at once.
The story is okay, the combat is fun, varied and sometimes incredibly frustrating. like when there’s clouds of health littering the ground, but you can’t collect it by just walking over and instead have to press the collect button which lowers your weapon and gets you killed
Conclusion
Overall legendary has a decent story, solid combat, and moderately difficult puzzles. Its not going to set the world on fire but if your looking for a good 10 hours of fun and enjoy smashing werewolves heads in with and axe you'll have some fun, but overall i found the experience lacking
INB280 Game Analysis: Audiosurf (PC)
Game Summary
Audio surf is a hybrid, puzzle/ rhythm game produced by Invisible handlebar. Audio surf is in the same vein as guitar hero in terms of game play mechanics, players race along a track to a piece of music and hit colored squares in sequence to score points. The key feature of Audio surf is that unlike guitar hero, players can choose music from their own audio library
Game analysis
The game play in Audio surf is immensely fun and yet exceedingly simple. For each song the game generates a new track, and this isn’t your standard flat boring race track, the track curves and twists with the rhythm, rises and falls to the beat, its like riding along the music.
Because each track is unique to the music its based on, audio surf gives the player control over different types of game play through the in game characters. Certain characters have different styles, stealth characters introduce Grey ‘Stealth blocks” which the player must avoid hitting whilst continuing to hit colored blocks. The longer they go without hitting a Grey, the bigger their bonus
Conclusion
Audio surf is bright colourful and most of all fun. The auto-generated tracks ensure that anyone with a sufficiently large music collection will never be bored. The ability to customize how you play based on your musical tastes makes Audio surf available to a wide audience, if you like fast paced game play, play some rock music and away you go. Want something smoother? Try something classical. From jerky schizophrenic techno to 80’s rockabilly, no matter what your musical tastes Audio surf delivers fun addictive game play for only $9.99. GO GET IT NOW!!!!
Audio surf is a hybrid, puzzle/ rhythm game produced by Invisible handlebar. Audio surf is in the same vein as guitar hero in terms of game play mechanics, players race along a track to a piece of music and hit colored squares in sequence to score points. The key feature of Audio surf is that unlike guitar hero, players can choose music from their own audio library
Game analysis
The game play in Audio surf is immensely fun and yet exceedingly simple. For each song the game generates a new track, and this isn’t your standard flat boring race track, the track curves and twists with the rhythm, rises and falls to the beat, its like riding along the music.
Because each track is unique to the music its based on, audio surf gives the player control over different types of game play through the in game characters. Certain characters have different styles, stealth characters introduce Grey ‘Stealth blocks” which the player must avoid hitting whilst continuing to hit colored blocks. The longer they go without hitting a Grey, the bigger their bonus
Conclusion
Audio surf is bright colourful and most of all fun. The auto-generated tracks ensure that anyone with a sufficiently large music collection will never be bored. The ability to customize how you play based on your musical tastes makes Audio surf available to a wide audience, if you like fast paced game play, play some rock music and away you go. Want something smoother? Try something classical. From jerky schizophrenic techno to 80’s rockabilly, no matter what your musical tastes Audio surf delivers fun addictive game play for only $9.99. GO GET IT NOW!!!!
INB280 Game Analysis: Fallout 3 (PC)
Game Summary
The third installment in the post-apocalyptic fallout series, fallout 3 was picked up by Bethesda after fallout’s original studio black isles was disbanded. Following the success of their highly acclaimed Elder scrolls games, Bethseda sought to revamp the series whilst retaining fallout’s classic look, feel and game play.
Game analysis
The game play consists of the usual assortment of fetch quests, kill-a-thons and scavenger hunts for various NPCs in exchange for cash, info and fame. Fallout 3 does mix things up however like giving you the choice of whether or not to detonate and atomic bomb that a town has be subsequently built around. Enslave people with a mesmerizing ray gun and bring them back to a man in a pimp suit. Or my personal favorite, run around hitting giant mole rats with a stick that makes their heads explode.
The game play is fun, inventive and original and the design of the game-world, presenting a 2277 America as seen by "the world of tomorrow" in 1950, provides a solid atmosphere.
For me the only disappointment is the games ending, which jumps out of nowhere and ends the game in its tracks. I hear that the DLC Broken Steel will rectify this problem and allow people to play past the games ending, but frankly your supposed to be able to do that in the first place.
Conclusion
Fallout 3 is an interesting new take on the RPG, which is mostly dominated by fantasy or sci-fi titles and provides a unique and highly enjoyable experience. The game play is fun, the game world immersive, the story and quests are funny and well written and most importantly, fallout 3 manages to blend fist paced FPS combat with slower more methodical RPG game play, something the MMORPG Tabula Rasa tried and failed at.
The third installment in the post-apocalyptic fallout series, fallout 3 was picked up by Bethesda after fallout’s original studio black isles was disbanded. Following the success of their highly acclaimed Elder scrolls games, Bethseda sought to revamp the series whilst retaining fallout’s classic look, feel and game play.
Game analysis
The game play consists of the usual assortment of fetch quests, kill-a-thons and scavenger hunts for various NPCs in exchange for cash, info and fame. Fallout 3 does mix things up however like giving you the choice of whether or not to detonate and atomic bomb that a town has be subsequently built around. Enslave people with a mesmerizing ray gun and bring them back to a man in a pimp suit. Or my personal favorite, run around hitting giant mole rats with a stick that makes their heads explode.
The game play is fun, inventive and original and the design of the game-world, presenting a 2277 America as seen by "the world of tomorrow" in 1950, provides a solid atmosphere.
For me the only disappointment is the games ending, which jumps out of nowhere and ends the game in its tracks. I hear that the DLC Broken Steel will rectify this problem and allow people to play past the games ending, but frankly your supposed to be able to do that in the first place.
Conclusion
Fallout 3 is an interesting new take on the RPG, which is mostly dominated by fantasy or sci-fi titles and provides a unique and highly enjoyable experience. The game play is fun, the game world immersive, the story and quests are funny and well written and most importantly, fallout 3 manages to blend fist paced FPS combat with slower more methodical RPG game play, something the MMORPG Tabula Rasa tried and failed at.
Friday, September 18, 2009
INB280 Game Analysis: Bioshock (PC)
Game Summary
At first Bioshock may look like a generic FPS, what with its linear enclosed environments, abundance of guns, explosives and legions of cannon fodder enemies to use them on. But after five minuets you soon realize Bioshock is far more than your average shooting rampage, with some magic thrown in.
Game analysis
Bioshock is one of the deepest games I’ve ever played in terms of story and artistic direction. The games varied environments are filled with atmosphere so thick you could eat it with a spoon and the horror, though often dependant on shock tactics (as the games title suggests) is well paced and used effectively
The game’s story. A dark tale of a decaying city destroyed by rampant capitalism, corruption and moral abandonment was another high point reminiscent of works such as 1984 or Atlas shrugged. For me the most interesting part of bioshocks story was all the sub plots and audio logs, detailing Raptures decent from underwater utopia to leaky decrepit war zone
For me the big disappointment was the combat. The game states out with a survival horror approach to combat, hiding on corners, zapping and unsuspecting enemy and bashing his lights out, and it’s fun. But later on, once you’ve accumulated a few dozen plastids and are walking around setting fire to everything in sight, whilst lugging around an arsenal of weapons that can take down Big Daddies in 3 hits, the combat looses its appeal somewhat.
Conclusion
Wrapping up. Bioshock is one of the best games I’ve played in a long time. The story and atmosphere are dark, and enthralling, the enemies and environments are well designed, the characters have realistic depth and personality and once you get over the repetitive combat Bioshock is a solid action/shock horror experience.
At first Bioshock may look like a generic FPS, what with its linear enclosed environments, abundance of guns, explosives and legions of cannon fodder enemies to use them on. But after five minuets you soon realize Bioshock is far more than your average shooting rampage, with some magic thrown in.
Game analysis
Bioshock is one of the deepest games I’ve ever played in terms of story and artistic direction. The games varied environments are filled with atmosphere so thick you could eat it with a spoon and the horror, though often dependant on shock tactics (as the games title suggests) is well paced and used effectively
The game’s story. A dark tale of a decaying city destroyed by rampant capitalism, corruption and moral abandonment was another high point reminiscent of works such as 1984 or Atlas shrugged. For me the most interesting part of bioshocks story was all the sub plots and audio logs, detailing Raptures decent from underwater utopia to leaky decrepit war zone
For me the big disappointment was the combat. The game states out with a survival horror approach to combat, hiding on corners, zapping and unsuspecting enemy and bashing his lights out, and it’s fun. But later on, once you’ve accumulated a few dozen plastids and are walking around setting fire to everything in sight, whilst lugging around an arsenal of weapons that can take down Big Daddies in 3 hits, the combat looses its appeal somewhat.
Conclusion
Wrapping up. Bioshock is one of the best games I’ve played in a long time. The story and atmosphere are dark, and enthralling, the enemies and environments are well designed, the characters have realistic depth and personality and once you get over the repetitive combat Bioshock is a solid action/shock horror experience.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
INB280 Game Analysis: Prince of Persia Warrior Within (PC)
Game Summary
The second installment in Ubisofts revamp of the PoP franchise, Warrior within follows a now desperate and much more ferocious prince as he seeks to escape the Da’haka, a creature sent to kill anyone who interferes with the timeline. Many fans criticized Warrior within for its dark tonal shift, I however feel it was necessary and complimented the games story and mood.
Game analysis
As usual the Prince returns with his array of ancient Persian Parkour skills. And as usual you’ll use them to jump around vast open levels, flip switches, solve puzzles and to vacate the area as quickly as possible when the big swirly black Da’haka shows up.
But the thing warrior within does best as its name implies, is combat. Sands of times combat whilst adequate, felt jerky and unrefined. Warrior within on the other hand seamlessly blends wall-running acrobatics with ferocious dual wielding combat, what’s more it gives you large groups of enemies to use them on, something its successor two thrones was severely lacking.
In warrior within you can run up a wall and spin down towards you enemies like the ceiling fan of doom. Get them in a headlock and either cut their stomach open and spill the Cornflakes they had for breakfast or steel their sword stab them in the back with it and slice their head off. The multitude of combat options in warrior within makes it near impossible to kill an enemy the same way twice.
Conclusion
Warrior Within is by far one of the best combat action games I’ve ever played, its blend of wall-running parkour, puzzle solving and balls to the wall action combat make it one of my favorite games of all time. But why did they have to make a fourth, why?
The second installment in Ubisofts revamp of the PoP franchise, Warrior within follows a now desperate and much more ferocious prince as he seeks to escape the Da’haka, a creature sent to kill anyone who interferes with the timeline. Many fans criticized Warrior within for its dark tonal shift, I however feel it was necessary and complimented the games story and mood.
Game analysis
As usual the Prince returns with his array of ancient Persian Parkour skills. And as usual you’ll use them to jump around vast open levels, flip switches, solve puzzles and to vacate the area as quickly as possible when the big swirly black Da’haka shows up.
But the thing warrior within does best as its name implies, is combat. Sands of times combat whilst adequate, felt jerky and unrefined. Warrior within on the other hand seamlessly blends wall-running acrobatics with ferocious dual wielding combat, what’s more it gives you large groups of enemies to use them on, something its successor two thrones was severely lacking.
In warrior within you can run up a wall and spin down towards you enemies like the ceiling fan of doom. Get them in a headlock and either cut their stomach open and spill the Cornflakes they had for breakfast or steel their sword stab them in the back with it and slice their head off. The multitude of combat options in warrior within makes it near impossible to kill an enemy the same way twice.
Conclusion
Warrior Within is by far one of the best combat action games I’ve ever played, its blend of wall-running parkour, puzzle solving and balls to the wall action combat make it one of my favorite games of all time. But why did they have to make a fourth, why?
Friday, September 11, 2009
INB280 Game Analysis: Spore (PC)
Game Summary
Spore is a sim game produced by EA in 2008. Will Wright who is best known for the Sims series designed spore and his past work comes through in this title because that’s what spore is. Instead of simulating a dull suburban lifestyle where you control a bunch of drones to make them eat work and cheat on their wives, you instead take control of a single celled organism and guide its evolution and later on socio-technological development until it becomes a galactic superpower.
Game analysis
Spore is essentially 5 games mashed into 1. There’s the packmanesque cell stage, creature, tribe, civilization and finally space stage. Each represents a different stage of evolutionary development, actually the evolution part finishes at the end of the creature stage and everything after is more like costume design.
Spores biggest flaw is that each stage has its own set of unit and camera controls and switching between all these different styles of play and their respective controls becomes confusing especially if you’re working from cell to space in one continuous game.
The game its self doesn’t really open up until you reach the space stage. But even then you’ll find your progress hindered by empires who what to kill you for no reason, the fact your ship is so piss weak it may as well be built out of crackers. Also the sheer amount of upgrades you’ll have to buy in order to make your ship useful is staggering and their cost is so high that you’ll spend most of the game whizzing around different empires to make money to by upgrades because all trading and money making is done by YOU alone.
Conclusion
As some one whos never been able to play the Sims for more than half an hour before getting bored, i will say that Spore is a vast improovement that at least mixes things up rather than you guide a bunch of boring drones through their day to day life. But Spores variety is also its biggest flaw, the constant switiching of controlls from stage to stage makes the game play feel jerky, and even once you get to the space stage and become a galactic superpower things get very tedious, very quickly.
Spore is a sim game produced by EA in 2008. Will Wright who is best known for the Sims series designed spore and his past work comes through in this title because that’s what spore is. Instead of simulating a dull suburban lifestyle where you control a bunch of drones to make them eat work and cheat on their wives, you instead take control of a single celled organism and guide its evolution and later on socio-technological development until it becomes a galactic superpower.
Game analysis
Spore is essentially 5 games mashed into 1. There’s the packmanesque cell stage, creature, tribe, civilization and finally space stage. Each represents a different stage of evolutionary development, actually the evolution part finishes at the end of the creature stage and everything after is more like costume design.
Spores biggest flaw is that each stage has its own set of unit and camera controls and switching between all these different styles of play and their respective controls becomes confusing especially if you’re working from cell to space in one continuous game.
The game its self doesn’t really open up until you reach the space stage. But even then you’ll find your progress hindered by empires who what to kill you for no reason, the fact your ship is so piss weak it may as well be built out of crackers. Also the sheer amount of upgrades you’ll have to buy in order to make your ship useful is staggering and their cost is so high that you’ll spend most of the game whizzing around different empires to make money to by upgrades because all trading and money making is done by YOU alone.
Conclusion
As some one whos never been able to play the Sims for more than half an hour before getting bored, i will say that Spore is a vast improovement that at least mixes things up rather than you guide a bunch of boring drones through their day to day life. But Spores variety is also its biggest flaw, the constant switiching of controlls from stage to stage makes the game play feel jerky, and even once you get to the space stage and become a galactic superpower things get very tedious, very quickly.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
INB280 Game Analysis: The Witcher (PC)
Game Summary
Produced by polish developer Cdprojekt in 2007, in which players control and amnesic monster hunter Geralt and he journeys across the landscape of Temeria, to regain his memories, slit up some monsters and get laid. So basically it’s a standard RPG adventure with nudity thrown in (if, like me you bought a copy in the UK)
Game analysis
As anyone knows, the most important aspect of any RPG is the story and as someone who has read the book The Last Wish, which the game is based on, I was disappointed. The story is fractured and disjointed to start with, and the player’s ability to influence events through their choices in game only serves to make things more confusing.
Not to mention the fact that most of the "choices" are presented in so many shades of gray that its impossible to tell if you made the right choice until a few chapters later when the consequences come along and unexpectedly bite you in the ass.
The story and game play aren’t the only things that are cluttered. First of all the menus. There's your inventory, map, alchemy, quests and potions,etc and whilst this is standard for most RPG’s, most RPGs like fallout or Oblivion have them in easy to use quick tabs. The witcher by contrast has the habit of throwing it all at you at once, kind of like in dudgeon siege, another game the witcher has a lot in common with, endless running, confusing, menus and ONE CLICK COMBAT. Come on, in the 7 years since Dungeon siege I thought we’d got to the point where one click combat was reserved for MMOs and low budget titles.
And finally to the topic of the saucy nudity, ok the books had sex and granted if your retelling the story as a game its necessary to include such events, what I found unnecessary was giving the player what amounts to a nude playing card after each encounter. This is obviously the producers pandering to all the lonely male gamers out there and whilst I could go on about objectification of women, the point I’m trying to make is that if the Witcher was a good game it wouldn’t need such blatant gimmicks to draw people in
Conclusion
The Witcher looks like a game of today what with all its sparkling aesthetics, but with the mechanics of a game from 6-7 years ago or alternatively an MMORPG. The story is fractured, the menu is confusing, blending magic and combat is the games sole redeeming factor however even this positive ray of hope is quickly buried by the witchers major crashing issues and LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG loading times
Produced by polish developer Cdprojekt in 2007, in which players control and amnesic monster hunter Geralt and he journeys across the landscape of Temeria, to regain his memories, slit up some monsters and get laid. So basically it’s a standard RPG adventure with nudity thrown in (if, like me you bought a copy in the UK)
Game analysis
As anyone knows, the most important aspect of any RPG is the story and as someone who has read the book The Last Wish, which the game is based on, I was disappointed. The story is fractured and disjointed to start with, and the player’s ability to influence events through their choices in game only serves to make things more confusing.
Not to mention the fact that most of the "choices" are presented in so many shades of gray that its impossible to tell if you made the right choice until a few chapters later when the consequences come along and unexpectedly bite you in the ass.
The story and game play aren’t the only things that are cluttered. First of all the menus. There's your inventory, map, alchemy, quests and potions,etc and whilst this is standard for most RPG’s, most RPGs like fallout or Oblivion have them in easy to use quick tabs. The witcher by contrast has the habit of throwing it all at you at once, kind of like in dudgeon siege, another game the witcher has a lot in common with, endless running, confusing, menus and ONE CLICK COMBAT. Come on, in the 7 years since Dungeon siege I thought we’d got to the point where one click combat was reserved for MMOs and low budget titles.
And finally to the topic of the saucy nudity, ok the books had sex and granted if your retelling the story as a game its necessary to include such events, what I found unnecessary was giving the player what amounts to a nude playing card after each encounter. This is obviously the producers pandering to all the lonely male gamers out there and whilst I could go on about objectification of women, the point I’m trying to make is that if the Witcher was a good game it wouldn’t need such blatant gimmicks to draw people in
Conclusion
The Witcher looks like a game of today what with all its sparkling aesthetics, but with the mechanics of a game from 6-7 years ago or alternatively an MMORPG. The story is fractured, the menu is confusing, blending magic and combat is the games sole redeeming factor however even this positive ray of hope is quickly buried by the witchers major crashing issues and LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG loading times
INB280 Game Analysis: Cogs (PC)
Game Summary
Cogs, produced by lazy 8 studios is a refreshingly new take on the slider puzzle. Rather than moving tiles to make a picture, the player instead rearranges various cogs, pipes and gears in order to complete over 50 steampunk contraptions ranging from a jack in the box to a rocket ship.
Game analysis
Going into Cogs I was amazed by just how immersive the experience was, the levels are rendered in full 3D and packed with enough brass, wood, copper and of course cogs to please any steampunk fan. The games simplistic audio track is filled with various clicks, clunks and whirs that help to further immerse you in the games mechanical feel. As with all puzzles games the most important aspect is the Puzzles and the puzzles in Cogs are fantastic, not just challenging but imaginative and more importantly fun. Most of the time you won’t realize what you’re building until the end.
As with all puzzle games there are points where the game gets frustrating, for example when double sided puzzles are introduced, requiring you to think about how moves on one side of the board effect the other. Cogs can at times be insanely difficult however when you see the contraption you’ve been tinkering with for the fifteen minuets sprout wings, belch fire or rocket off screen, any negative feelings toward the game are quickly replaced by supreme smugness and awe.
Conclusion
On the whole Cogs is an extremely enjoyable game, fun and imaginative enough to keep you plowing through it, even if only to see what cool things that each invention can do.
Cogs, produced by lazy 8 studios is a refreshingly new take on the slider puzzle. Rather than moving tiles to make a picture, the player instead rearranges various cogs, pipes and gears in order to complete over 50 steampunk contraptions ranging from a jack in the box to a rocket ship.
Game analysis
Going into Cogs I was amazed by just how immersive the experience was, the levels are rendered in full 3D and packed with enough brass, wood, copper and of course cogs to please any steampunk fan. The games simplistic audio track is filled with various clicks, clunks and whirs that help to further immerse you in the games mechanical feel. As with all puzzles games the most important aspect is the Puzzles and the puzzles in Cogs are fantastic, not just challenging but imaginative and more importantly fun. Most of the time you won’t realize what you’re building until the end.
As with all puzzle games there are points where the game gets frustrating, for example when double sided puzzles are introduced, requiring you to think about how moves on one side of the board effect the other. Cogs can at times be insanely difficult however when you see the contraption you’ve been tinkering with for the fifteen minuets sprout wings, belch fire or rocket off screen, any negative feelings toward the game are quickly replaced by supreme smugness and awe.
Conclusion
On the whole Cogs is an extremely enjoyable game, fun and imaginative enough to keep you plowing through it, even if only to see what cool things that each invention can do.
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