2011 was a fantastic game for gamers, several AAA releases (mostly sequels) and incredible Indie games. I'll just highlight 2 of my favourite here today.
Bastion and Orcs Must Die at their core are wildly different games, but despite that fact, they are still both great games.
Some facts here for those who have not tried these games yet.
Bastion is a 3rd person hack and slash from an isometric perspective. It sounds pretty typical, but features some of the most beautiful and unique art style for a long time, an incredible sound track and unforgettable voice acting and storytelling.
Orcs Must Die on the other hand, is just plain fun. Calling it a tower defense game would be doing it a disservice, but it takes a 3rd person action hack and slash, combines it effectively with "traps" and creates a deceivingly simple gameplay experience. With a ridiculous sense of humour, just the right amount of traps and a high scoring system. Orcs Must Die takes tower defense games to a next level.
Personally, as a designer, I would have loved to have made Bastion, but would be that kind of person to make Orcs Must Die. Creating a singular narrative thread and artistic vision for Bastion takes a lot of guts and is highly risky, given that it has fairly typical gameplay. But the emotions brought forth by the excellent story, audio and visuals creates a gaming experience that needed all the years of history that games have been around.
The narrative in Bastion is not unlike the ones used most recently in Bioshock, where the creator constantly questions the action of the player as an entity. Why is the player doing the things they do? Are they the character or are they projecting onto the character? Bastion turns Bioshock's idea that the player is being controlled by quests and just simply puts the player into the shoes of the character, giving them very persuasive reasons to stay in the role. The Narrator then describes what is on the screen and adds background and flavour to it.
Gameplay wise, Bastion executes a solid addition to top down hack and slash genre. With several weapons, powers and collectibles, the "Game" part of the Bastion does well enough. Without too much innovation though, the emphasis of the game seems to lie heavily on the art and music that transforms it from a decent game to a great one.
The art resembles a water colour painting and makes Bastion stand out immediately, it seems that every colour in the spectrum was used, unlike the 'gritty' games of the day. 3D textured levels lie above scrolling vistas, each proceeding level looks uniquely different and the amount of detail makes it like every single item individually crafted instead of copy pasted.
The audio design for Bastion really stands out in terms of voice acting and music, for a indie game, it does a lot with the little resources they have, original songs create a old western ambience mixed with oriental sensibilities. A simple voice, guitar, synthesizers can evoke the same emotions as triple-A studios and their full fledged orchestras. The Narrator is undoubtedly the star of the show, with you all of the way, a fully fledge character that reveals more about himself and the world as the story progresses. You often feel like you are lulled into listening to the story inside that world instead of being the main character.
Orcs Must Die, gameplay wise feels fantastically mechanically complete to me. The premise is simple, have a tower defence mechanic, introduce traps at varying intervals, give the player the choices of how to play the game
Off the top of my head, here’s a list of things you can do in OMD.
1) Use weapons
2) Use spells
3) Use Traps
4) Use Guardians
5) Upgrade your Weapon/Spells
6) Upgrade your Traps/Guardians
7) Upgrade a little of everything
8) Aim to survive the level
9) Aim to get a perfect run
10) Aim to get the highest score.
11) Complete the level as quickly as possible
12) See Orcs die many different ways.
While many of the traps/spells and weapons seem similar, they actually belay a depth to the game that won’t survive shallow scrutiny. Let me give you an example. Through the course of the game, the player gets 3 spells, Fire, Ice and Lightning. The simplest use would be to use each against the enemy weak against it. The second use would be for their effects, Fire creates burning which lasts for a few seconds, good for combos. Ice freezes the enemies in place, good for surviving a round. And lightning is effective against spread out groups. On top of that, each spell has a alternate mode, Fire creates a burning line on the floor, Ice stops all enemies in that location, an Lightning creates a thunderstorm, randomly hitting enemies. Each of these can favour players who simply like the effects, find it easy to use, but for more experienced players, can be used in very specific situations.
Aside from that, OMD does not focus much on storytelling, the story is simple, juvenile but easy to understand. There does not need to be much of a reason to see Orcs dismembered, frozen or burnt. Yet, the game is fun. There doesn’t seem to be much room for a sequel though, but for a debut release, Robot Entertainment seems to have a firm grasp of what it takes to make a solid game.
So that's a wrap for the indie game highlight, get both games now.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Monday, May 3, 2010
Why I want to be a game designer
There are several ways of answering this question, depending on your view of the universe. Determinists will say that I want to become a Game Designer because of the various events that have happened in my life that led me down this path. The Pragmatist in me knows I need to find a way to make ends meet some how. The Idealists rejects that and calls me to walk down the path less traveled to seek my dreams. The Existentialist in me says “Why not do both?”.
Let’s start from the beginning.
When I was a young boy, I was much like many other young people my age, sick of school, sick of being told what to do, to fulfill expectations and toe the line. Enjoyment, happiness, the ‘childhood’ aspect came from the small things, hanging out with friends, ice cream, cycling on a sunny day and of course videogames.
My father was a techie, though not a trend setter, he nonetheless traveled over much of the world and often when he returned home, it would be with a shiny new gadget, the first LaserDisc player, a LCD tv and once a videogame console. I don’t remember or perhaps even know what that console was. All I knew that it was white and had purple buttons and my brother and I could play Contra on it. We would be allowed to play for a limited period of time a day, so we made most of it. Eventually we learnt the Konami Code from one of the neighbours and finally completed the entire game in a single sitting. We weren’t very good and seldom reached the later levels. I still vividly remember the earlier bosses, the power ups and the crazy Rambo science fiction videogame experience.
I played the first Castle Wolfenstein on a Windows 3.1, it said “WOLF3D” on the floppy disc. I remember asking my dad what the word ‘strafe’ meant, since neither of us knew, I managed point myself towards a new door each time by slowly pushing the character in a diagonal manner towards it. I remember the green metal maze and even though no one ever believed me, the fireball shooting ghost-like enemy near the end.
New consoles came later, a Super Nintendo, a Playstation and the later iterations. I played all the classics without knowing why. It was like my experience with books all over again, I had no particular preference for either, I just read or played whatever came my way. I never owned a handheld, but often would borrow the clunky Gameboys or Sega handhelds of the day from my classmates.
That was my life until I entered adulthood or more precisely University. There came a point of time in my life where social norms dictated that you pick something you are good at or want to do (preferably something that will pay well in the future). I put off the decision as long as I could, not because I didn’t want to think or that I was lazy. I simply did not know what I wanted to do. But unlike many others I found it hard to convince myself that the first thing I chose would be the perfect fit. I enjoyed Literature and Philosophy, but Pragmatic me won over, I studied engineering instead, it was still a delaying tactic, I knew that if I could understand what brilliant minds took centuries to invent in a few years, I could eventually do anything I wanted.
Still I took interesting classes like Asian film history and Magic Realism. I still played games, but as graduation approached I had to decide what I wanted to do. I was what normal people would call ‘confused’. I liked reading, writing, I found history interesting and thought philosophy could possibly hold and answer to the usual question of the meaning of life the universe and everything. I watched all the classic films. I listen to indie rock and classical music. I sailed, canoed, trained in Aikido, played guitar and took photos. I read about pop psychology as well as money management strategies. I minored in Business.
I took care of bombs and ammunition in the army. I worked as a factory assembly worker, I waited at tables at a German restaurant, I sold powered mash potatoes, I sold internet access, I sold insurance, I sold household goods to housewives and Olympic medalists. I’ve traveled to Cambodia, London, Tokyo, Mauritius and Australia. I’ve backpacked through Turkey and Iran. I have a list places waiting to be checked off.
I was trying to find out who the ‘real’ me was.
The answer is probably all of it, all the little parts and no big parts. I remember a interview with Jackie Chan, he was asked the same question “What did you want to be when you grow up?”. He said that when he was younger, he wanted to be everything, an astronaut, a policeman or a superhero. He decided to be an actor so he could be all of those things at once.
I want to be all those things at once. I want to enjoy what I do for a living. I want to make a living, I want new generations to enjoy playing video games just like I had. I want to make use of my diverse experiences, wide ranging skillsets to create something that evokes emotion. I want what I do to have a positive effect on people.
So that is why I want to be a game designer.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Things I've learned from Street Fighter
I can't claim to be a fan of the fighting genre, my first experience was back in the 90s with Street Fighter 2 on the Nintendo. My brother and I would mess around as kids, randomly shooting fireballs, neither of us even knew how to pull off a shoryuken. In the end the match usually dissolves into a using crouching heavy kicks, you are a smaller target, deal quite a bit of damage and is really simple to pull off.
I saw SF4 out in the arcades when it first came out and the thing that caught my eye was the graphics of course. There have been Street Fighter games in between, but none in such fluid animation in 3d before. I of course watched as old vets and new players put in their coins, entering the a world of as dedicated gamers as they come. Soon enough, I joined the fray, hardly lasting 30 seconds against any player. Eventually I caved in and spent the full amount on a brand new PS3 Street Fighter 4. Here my journey begun.
Here's what I've learned from Street Fighter,
1) Players are among the most hardcore in the world, along side RTS players, Fighters requires the most technical expertise, discipline, mind games and practice for solo players. There are literally thousands of variations on combos, the risk/return ratio on 5% of the health bar. Technical moves put into muscle memory after continuous repetition ensures that it comes out
under high pressure tournaments. Mind games, nerves of steel are also required.
2) It' is not a casual game by any means although it may appear to be. Dave Sirlin has posted quite a comprehensive list of why. But as a new player into the genre, it marks a fresh start as others too throng to the game.
3) Basics 101, range, power and speed. Light moves are faster, less powerful and have less range, Heavy moves are the opposite.
4) Hit boxes, your character is a giant box, not too glamorous, but it helps when you realise that performing uneccesary moves causes your 'hittable' area to move closer to a counter-attack.
5) Frames, startup and recovery, you take time to perform moves and to recover from moves, do it at the wrong instant and you'll be left vulnerable.
6) Layers, there are 3 basic layers, crouching, standing and jumping. Each attack affects the layer adjacent to it, it's like rock paper and scissors here.
7) Mix ups the art of confusing your enemy, turtling opponent? Attack from the air, from below, bait them by throwing an empty punch just out of reach, throw them when they block. Offensive opponent? Wait for your moment and counter attack or simply bait for a barrage of your own. Mixing up your strategies throws people off and any confusion gained at the start ensures a victory for later rounds.
8) The game is people, most of the time, moves have to be executed before the opponent has even made a move, guess correctly and you win and people are predictable some times. So you don't have to be a technical expert to win matches, using bread and butter moves can win matches most of the time. On the other hand, expect weird stuff to happen, moves that you haven't figured out how to escape yet. Moves scrubs never learn to counter and call cheap.
9) Not to mention stuff too advanced for my feeble mind, like frame counting (memorising the entire list of frames required for each move, using simple addition and subtraction when ever a move is performed). Piano method (knowing how the game accepts commands and rolling your fingers across the buttons). Negative edge (holding a button and letting go to perform a move rather than tapping it) and memorizing 10 hit comobs.
Like I said, SF4 is not a casual game, people have played for a decade of this will beat you, but each generation has their own heroes, are you ready to start your journey to mastery?
I saw SF4 out in the arcades when it first came out and the thing that caught my eye was the graphics of course. There have been Street Fighter games in between, but none in such fluid animation in 3d before. I of course watched as old vets and new players put in their coins, entering the a world of as dedicated gamers as they come. Soon enough, I joined the fray, hardly lasting 30 seconds against any player. Eventually I caved in and spent the full amount on a brand new PS3 Street Fighter 4. Here my journey begun.
Here's what I've learned from Street Fighter,
1) Players are among the most hardcore in the world, along side RTS players, Fighters requires the most technical expertise, discipline, mind games and practice for solo players. There are literally thousands of variations on combos, the risk/return ratio on 5% of the health bar. Technical moves put into muscle memory after continuous repetition ensures that it comes out
under high pressure tournaments. Mind games, nerves of steel are also required.
2) It' is not a casual game by any means although it may appear to be. Dave Sirlin has posted quite a comprehensive list of why. But as a new player into the genre, it marks a fresh start as others too throng to the game.
3) Basics 101, range, power and speed. Light moves are faster, less powerful and have less range, Heavy moves are the opposite.
4) Hit boxes, your character is a giant box, not too glamorous, but it helps when you realise that performing uneccesary moves causes your 'hittable' area to move closer to a counter-attack.
5) Frames, startup and recovery, you take time to perform moves and to recover from moves, do it at the wrong instant and you'll be left vulnerable.
6) Layers, there are 3 basic layers, crouching, standing and jumping. Each attack affects the layer adjacent to it, it's like rock paper and scissors here.
7) Mix ups the art of confusing your enemy, turtling opponent? Attack from the air, from below, bait them by throwing an empty punch just out of reach, throw them when they block. Offensive opponent? Wait for your moment and counter attack or simply bait for a barrage of your own. Mixing up your strategies throws people off and any confusion gained at the start ensures a victory for later rounds.
8) The game is people, most of the time, moves have to be executed before the opponent has even made a move, guess correctly and you win and people are predictable some times. So you don't have to be a technical expert to win matches, using bread and butter moves can win matches most of the time. On the other hand, expect weird stuff to happen, moves that you haven't figured out how to escape yet. Moves scrubs never learn to counter and call cheap.
9) Not to mention stuff too advanced for my feeble mind, like frame counting (memorising the entire list of frames required for each move, using simple addition and subtraction when ever a move is performed). Piano method (knowing how the game accepts commands and rolling your fingers across the buttons). Negative edge (holding a button and letting go to perform a move rather than tapping it) and memorizing 10 hit comobs.
Like I said, SF4 is not a casual game, people have played for a decade of this will beat you, but each generation has their own heroes, are you ready to start your journey to mastery?
Monday, November 23, 2009
Talks on video game from TED
Here we have Shiny Entertainment's David Perry giving the usual spiel about the amount of money videogames are making and the changes since Pong. What's interesting would be how he focuses on the emotional and creative part of videogames that I feel will become an important and vital part of all future games.
-Watch for the "Evolution of" series in videogame genres
- Also presenting a student's take on how videogames impact our lives
-Watch for the "Evolution of" series in videogame genres
- Also presenting a student's take on how videogames impact our lives
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Uncharted 2: Thoughts
Ok this one is up a bit late. But basically the things I liked about Uncharted 2.
First thing is the amount of inventiveness when it comes to level design.
1) For example, there is a stage near the end of the game where you have to fight a tank.
Unlike Solid Snake though, Drake can't carry 40 grenades, a RPG and 16 other weapons on him at all times. What he has though are enemies who do carry them. Why they need a tank or RPG to kill a single man is never explained (but that's another story).
In this stage, the player has to keep moving and killing enemies around the map, specifically looking out for RPG enemies. Once you have neutralised the enemies, you get their RPG and one or two rockets. Even players with bad aim will eventually reach an Ammo stash at the end of the level. This stage combines the climbing, shooting and weapon mechanics throughout the game into a cohesive, immersive and visceral single player experience.
2) Next up, we have trademark flourishes, Insomniac and Naughty Dog have had years to perfect their platformer franchises Ratchet and Clank, Spyro, Jak and Daxter and Crash Bandicoot. Each iteration brings about improvements to core gameplay ideas less explored in the previous. In Uncharted 2, the reverse Crash Bandicoot camera comes into play. A couple of times, Drake has to run towards the camera, ala Dr Jones in sequences that are short, not too frustrating and provide an interesting mix to the gameplay.
3) Moving stages are not really new, we have had them since early FPS', but this is the first time that a level like this has had me so impressed. Drake can climb in and out of a moving train, the enemies will follow him around and even try to flank him. All these combined with external obstacles like signal lamps and an attack helicopter make it a truly exceptional experience.
Even more, the level changes gradually from lush vegetation to a full blown blizzard within minutes as the train travels up the mountain. As the train gets higher, Drake starts getting colder and commenting on it. All these without a single load screen or install.
4) On top of that, Uncharted 2 features an extensive range of reward based unlockables. Play well and unlock anything you want, from Skins, to bonus features. This caters to casual players who are interested in the behind the scenes as well as players who will replay the game over and over again to get everything.
A Truly spectacular release.
First thing is the amount of inventiveness when it comes to level design.
1) For example, there is a stage near the end of the game where you have to fight a tank.
Unlike Solid Snake though, Drake can't carry 40 grenades, a RPG and 16 other weapons on him at all times. What he has though are enemies who do carry them. Why they need a tank or RPG to kill a single man is never explained (but that's another story).
In this stage, the player has to keep moving and killing enemies around the map, specifically looking out for RPG enemies. Once you have neutralised the enemies, you get their RPG and one or two rockets. Even players with bad aim will eventually reach an Ammo stash at the end of the level. This stage combines the climbing, shooting and weapon mechanics throughout the game into a cohesive, immersive and visceral single player experience.
2) Next up, we have trademark flourishes, Insomniac and Naughty Dog have had years to perfect their platformer franchises Ratchet and Clank, Spyro, Jak and Daxter and Crash Bandicoot. Each iteration brings about improvements to core gameplay ideas less explored in the previous. In Uncharted 2, the reverse Crash Bandicoot camera comes into play. A couple of times, Drake has to run towards the camera, ala Dr Jones in sequences that are short, not too frustrating and provide an interesting mix to the gameplay.
3) Moving stages are not really new, we have had them since early FPS', but this is the first time that a level like this has had me so impressed. Drake can climb in and out of a moving train, the enemies will follow him around and even try to flank him. All these combined with external obstacles like signal lamps and an attack helicopter make it a truly exceptional experience.
Even more, the level changes gradually from lush vegetation to a full blown blizzard within minutes as the train travels up the mountain. As the train gets higher, Drake starts getting colder and commenting on it. All these without a single load screen or install.
4) On top of that, Uncharted 2 features an extensive range of reward based unlockables. Play well and unlock anything you want, from Skins, to bonus features. This caters to casual players who are interested in the behind the scenes as well as players who will replay the game over and over again to get everything.
A Truly spectacular release.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Zuma's Revenge
Yet another addictive release from Popcap games.
Zuma's Revenge is a sequel to the immensely popular Zuma.
Nothing much has changed here, the gameplay is still the same, a player must shoot colored balls at a moving line of other colored balls, like-colored balls attract each other and 3 or more balls in a row will cause them to explode and give the player points.
What's New
Zuma's revenge now comes in higher resolution, interestingly enough, this makes it harder to play the game, as the player has to take a longer time to move the mouse and to observe the position of the balls.
Also added are different kinds of bonus balls, one gives you the power to destroy balls by shooting cannon balls, a lightning ball allows all balls of the same color to be destroyed.
There are also a couple more modes, including Iron Frog, a gauntlet of increasingly difficult stages with only one life.
Boss fights are also new here, while not particularly difficult or different, they provide a way to end off a chapter as well as introduce a storyline.
Verdict
While not as fun or fresh as Plants vs Zombies, Zuma does allow hours of casual or hardcore gameplay for people of all ages. The simplistic one button gameplay allows anyone to pick it up, while the level design and modes allow deeper strategies for those who wish to get more value out of their game
Zuma's Revenge is a sequel to the immensely popular Zuma.
Nothing much has changed here, the gameplay is still the same, a player must shoot colored balls at a moving line of other colored balls, like-colored balls attract each other and 3 or more balls in a row will cause them to explode and give the player points.
What's New
Zuma's revenge now comes in higher resolution, interestingly enough, this makes it harder to play the game, as the player has to take a longer time to move the mouse and to observe the position of the balls.
Also added are different kinds of bonus balls, one gives you the power to destroy balls by shooting cannon balls, a lightning ball allows all balls of the same color to be destroyed.
There are also a couple more modes, including Iron Frog, a gauntlet of increasingly difficult stages with only one life.
Boss fights are also new here, while not particularly difficult or different, they provide a way to end off a chapter as well as introduce a storyline.
Verdict
While not as fun or fresh as Plants vs Zombies, Zuma does allow hours of casual or hardcore gameplay for people of all ages. The simplistic one button gameplay allows anyone to pick it up, while the level design and modes allow deeper strategies for those who wish to get more value out of their game
Trine
Trine is a puzzle platformer in the vein of Braid or Paper Mario.
The premise is good, 3 different people/classes, a wizard, a knight and a thief get melded into a single entity, they must then use their different skills to find a way to escape their situation.
Gameplay is simple left to right 2D scrolling with a mix of platforming and combat, the Knight can fight off monsters easily, the Thief can shoot arrows and use a grappling hook to swing across chasms, while the Wizard can create boxes and bridges out of thin air.
While the idea itself is good, the execution of Trine is a bit unpolished, levels begin to become repetitive half way through.
The Good
The graphics are good, whether inside a castle or in a forest, the art style reminds you instantly of a fantasy world in the twilight. The characters themselves are well animated.
The Bad
The levels get a little frustrating at times, not because it is difficult, but because the physics based engine makes it hard to maneuver tricky jumps and the Wizard's objects. These basic moves become a source of frustration instead of fun.
The voice acting while good is ruined by the one dimensional writing, the Knight is a slow witted lumbering hunk of meat, while the Thief is greedy for treasure, the Wizard, slightly subverted here is not only young, but a womanizer. The opportunities for chemistry or banter between the three of them are here, but never appear, instead you spend most of the levels in silence.
Verdict
Trine had a lot of potential, but fails to come up with anything interesting or engaging.
The premise is good, 3 different people/classes, a wizard, a knight and a thief get melded into a single entity, they must then use their different skills to find a way to escape their situation.
Gameplay is simple left to right 2D scrolling with a mix of platforming and combat, the Knight can fight off monsters easily, the Thief can shoot arrows and use a grappling hook to swing across chasms, while the Wizard can create boxes and bridges out of thin air.
While the idea itself is good, the execution of Trine is a bit unpolished, levels begin to become repetitive half way through.
The Good
The graphics are good, whether inside a castle or in a forest, the art style reminds you instantly of a fantasy world in the twilight. The characters themselves are well animated.
The Bad
The levels get a little frustrating at times, not because it is difficult, but because the physics based engine makes it hard to maneuver tricky jumps and the Wizard's objects. These basic moves become a source of frustration instead of fun.
The voice acting while good is ruined by the one dimensional writing, the Knight is a slow witted lumbering hunk of meat, while the Thief is greedy for treasure, the Wizard, slightly subverted here is not only young, but a womanizer. The opportunities for chemistry or banter between the three of them are here, but never appear, instead you spend most of the levels in silence.
Verdict
Trine had a lot of potential, but fails to come up with anything interesting or engaging.
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