Haven & Hearth

Goodness. After dedicating three solid years of my life to Lineage 2, I felt I was done with the MMO genre. I was burned out pretty badly. I became far too involved in the server I played on, and got mixed up in some very nasty political battles that went too far. During the past two years, I have tried a few other MMOs, but they all pale in comparison to what Lineage offered. So, you can imagine my surprise that a tiny little alpha MMO, Haven & Hearth, has completely hooked me once again.

The game itself it nothing fancy. It is a small 2D game where players literally have to learn to survive. Players must gather food, resources, build structures, and learn various trade skills. That alone sounds very mundane, and one of the reasons I ignored the game when it was first mentioned by a friend. However, I learned that there is more to it than that. The world has absolutely no restrictions. You can openly pvp, raid villages, track players, hunt, and get involved in politics. Most of all, it has a permadeath system, so choices need to be made wisely.

It is that last part that has my attention. The reason I loved Lineage 2, and Shadowbane for that matter, is they both contained fairly open worlds with few restrictions on player interaction. It is up to the players to decide what happens next, and the choices they make can deeply affect others. I find dynamic worlds such as these incredibly entertaining, because each day offers something new.

Thus, I am hooked on Haven & Hearth. The first two days were fairly dull as I gathered resources and worked towards a community village my friends had started. Things are starting to pick up though, as very advanced players with big weapons are starting to investigate our village and visit regularly to check our progress. I have no idea if they want to help us, or if they are waiting for us to establish a settlement and kill us all. That is what keeps it exciting though.

It is a very grind oriented game, but so far I do not mind it. It is fun to see the village coming together with newly built log cabins, boats, and carts. It is also fun to see each person doing their own task, but for the good of the whole group and still working together to survive.

One very interesting aspect of the game that I previously mentioned is it contains a permadeath system. I have long wondered how well this would work in an MMO, because personally I find it a very exciting concept. Permadeath completely changes how players interact with each other and the environment. I have already lost one character to wildlife, and I now find myself fearful of most creatures and keeping my distance. When players arrived bearing swords in our village, the rest of us kept our distance in fear.

That is simply something you do not get in the standard MMO. Instead, it is players acting like complete asses because they can, and there are no consequences or ability to defend oneself outside of an arena. Seriously, where is the fun in that?

The game is still in alpha stage and very rough around the edges, but I feel it has a great deal of potential with further development. I am excited to see where it goes, and I hope to write more about it as I continue to figure things out.

Dead Space Interface

A few days ago I received Dead Space (PC) in the mail as a gift from a friend.  I know I am a bit late to the party, but I must admit I had very little interest in this game when it first came out. Generally speaking, I dislike overly creepy games or ones containing excessive amounts of graphic gore. However, I have been slowly branching out and trying games I once considered creepy, and this one came highly recommended, so I decided to give it a go.

I am approximately halfway through the game, and so far my impressions of it are pretty good. The first thing that caught my attention was the visuals.  I was surprised how good it looked and ran on my aging PC.  The textures and details are top notch and very well done, and I have not had a single hitch running the game.  The controls are also very fluid and handle well.  It somewhat reminds me of Resident Evil 4 and 5 with the camera and handling of weapons, although I must admit the Dead Space system seems a bit more polished and improved. Overall, I am impressed.

One thing contributing to this, and by far the part I love most, is the interface. There is no constant HUD on the screen with character information.  Instead, all information is displayed visually within the world itself.  Player health and stasis status are visually represented on two areas of the character’s suit.  Weapon ammunition is displayed on the weapon itself when it is readied by the user.  Everything feels like part of the world around you, and it works very well.

*Video:dead space interface

If the player needs to access more complex features like the inventory or map, it is all displayed in virtual panels in front of the character, never visually removing you from the world you are in.  You can still pan the camera while these displays are up, and to put it simply, it just looks cool.

Despite being halfway through the game, I still find myself impressed with the interface the most. It is great to look at, and works so well with keeping the player involved in the world and not feeling like it is a video game. It is far from perfect though, as the inventory system feels slightly inefficient with the key setup on the PC, but otherwise it is fairly enjoyable.

I guess it seems weird to write a post just about the interface of Dead Space, but it is extremely rare to come across a game that implements this type of system this well.  Other games that try often end up with clunky results, or just remove elements entirely and replace them with regenerating aspects (health, ammo, etc) that do not require any real visual implementation.

As for the game itself, I am curious to see where it ends up. The level of creepiness has dipped down quite a bit and I hardly notice it anymore, although the gore seems a bit excessive at times. The gameplay is fun though, and I am enjoying the weapons quite a bit. I absolutely love the line gun when multiple enemies are close together in front of me. <3

Paying For Demos?

While I wait for Serious Sam HD to download so I can try the new deathmatch mode, I felt I needed to take a moment to comment on the latest announcement by Electronic Arts (EA).  According to Michael Pachter, the publisher is planning on selling “premium downloadable content,” which amounts to essentially a very long demo of an upcoming game.  EA will then gauge the popularity of the title, and adjust development accordingly.

At first, this sounds like it could have some excellent benefits.  The consumer gets an early sneak peak of the game, as well as the ability to provide feedback to developers.  This also benefits the publisher by allowing them to gauge popularity and how to go about developing the title.  However, I feel there are quite a few drawbacks that people are not realizing.

First and foremost, from my understanding, money applied to the “premium demo” will not be discounted from the final release. Really? Instead, if I hope to see a game I am interested in be fully developed, I should pay $10-$15 for the pre-release in addition to the full retail cost post-release.  This borders on extortion.  The company is essentially trying to wrestle more money out of me, or I risk getting a low quality game, or nothing at all.

Secondly, there is some concern with player fatigue.  While many will obviously buy the full product, other gamers can and likely will get their fill from the demo.  This has happened to me a few times, where I found the demo entertaining, but played it so much I had my fun and did not care to purchase the full game.  If Electronic Arts is looking to sell lengthy demos, this could result in the same reaction, leaving the company with slightly less overall sales than if they had followed a normal business model.

In my opinion, you cannot judge the popularity of a game by selling a small portion of it for $10-$15. I am a gamer on a budget, and not one who carelessly spends on whatever developers are shoving at me at the time. By EA’s logic, my reluctance to purchase a $10-$15 demo means I am not interested, and they should scale the game back accordingly. In reality, it is quite the opposite.  There are titles I am extremely interested in, but I would rather wait and pay for the full game than pay extra for a demo.

There are some more points I would like to touch on, but I believe this gives a good idea of the problems associated with this system and how I feel about it.  I wonder how many amazing games will be scaled down or dropped completely, because Electronic Arts based their decisions on a terrible marketing scheme.

Trine & Shadowgrounds Survivor

This post is a bit overdue as I completed these games a few weeks ago, but I felt it was better late than never. In an ongoing effort to catch up on my backlog of games, I decided I would jump start the process by knocking out a few smaller games first. As I browsed my collection, Trine and Shadowgrounds Survivor jumped out at me. Both of these games I had started at one point, but never got around to completing.

I am not sure where to even begin with Trine. The first thing that grabs me about the game is the visuals. The characters are very well designed, and the backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous. I often found myself pausing my progress in the game, simply to absorb some of the background scenes I would pass. The art direction for this game, not to mention the music of Ari Pulkkenin, is excellent.

Even more impressive are the characters within the game, and the unique play style each one brings. The wizard can create objects to assist other characters, the rogue can kill enemies at range and ninja her way into secret places, and the knight is all about bashing the crap out of anything in his way. I often found myself gravitating towards the knight character, as the shield system was very well done. The player can hold the shield up in any direction to block incoming attacks, or shield the character from falling debris. This made for some great battles, as there were quite a few standoffs with other shield wielding skeletons and having to time my attacks correctly. It felt like a real, mini sword fight.

I have little in the complaint department about this game. Only two things really stand out to me. First, this game would have been better with online multiplayer. Living in a small country town, a majority of my gaming friends are based online. Alas, I did not get to experience the fun people often talk about while playing this game coop. Secondly, the last level was just terrible. I was expecting a great boss fight, or something that would require me to really put my character skills I have developed to use. Instead, it was platform jumping race to escape the rising lava. Once the top was reached, it was game over. It really felt lackluster, and the level was incredibly frustrating. All in all though, an excellent game.

Then there is Shadowgrounds Survivor. I am a huge fan of these type of games. The last one I played was Alien Shooter Vengeance, which while rough around the edges, was a blast to play. How can you not have enjoy trying to survive against hordes of aliens rushing at you? Thus, I had high hopes for Shadowgrounds Survivor, and it did not disappoint.

There are two things that really seems worth mentioning with this game. First, the controls in this game are excellent. They follow the standard FPS setup (WASD movement, etc), and feel very fluid and responsive. This may not sound like much now, but after playing similar games (Space Siege), this is a welcomed change. To put it simply, it just felt right.

Secondly, the lighting in the game is excellent. Flashlights were especially entertaining as they cast proper shadows around the room, and the light beam would correctly break up when pointed at certain objects. This may sound like such a silly things to be impressed with, after all, we have seen flashlights in games before. That is very true, but rarely are objects like flashlights implemented well. So on that note, I was pretty impressed, especially for such a small game and studio.

Overall, the game was very fun, and well worth the time. The weapons were entertaining to use, and I especially enjoyed the railgun which could pierce through multiple enemies and bounce around the room. This made for quite a few entertaining scenarios, and I often found myself kiting aliens until they were grouped up just right for some devastating railgun shots. The music in the game was also very well done, adding to the sense of action when defending against large alien rushes.

The only thing I did not appreciate was constantly switching between three different characters, as I would often forget and try to use a weapon that was no longer available to me. Otherwise, this is an excellent little alien shooter game, and well worth the investment. I imagine I will be playing this one quite a few times down the road.

Level 20 Vanquisher Down

A few days ago I decided to reinstall Torchlight.  I was searching for a game that would allow me to multitask, something I could play while chatting with friends or while watching a movie.  However, I underestimated this game.  I found myself hooked once again, and unable to stop playing.

I still refuse to play anything but hardcore mode on the very hard setting.  This has nothing to do with trying to prove something, or bragging rights.  I simply love the pressure and intensity this difficulty brings at times, and every close call I survive feels like a triumph.

So on that note, I started a Vanquisher, and she was simply amazing.  Maybe I got lucky with gear, but she could rip through anything at incredible speed when buffed.  That life was short lived though.  Nearing level 21, the furthest I have made it with a hardcore character, greed destroyed her.

*Video:20 vanquisher death

Mass Effect 2 Modifications

Despite my recent change of heart towards the PC platform, and my new desire to obtain a PS3, I am still reminded at times of the advantages to PC gaming.  After completing my first play through of Mass Effect 2, I scoured forums and websites for information about various parts of the game.  I quickly discovered there were quite a few modifications that could be done to  further customize the main character.  While this may be informative to some, this is also a reference to myself in case I forget in the future.

First off, there are four different hairstyles that are found on NPCs throughout the game.  Some clever people have discovered how to replace Shepard’s current hairstyle with one of the NPC ones, allowing gamers to further customize their character and make it more unique.  To view how to do this, Mass Effect 2 Faces has a wonderful tutorial. Trying for a new mixed alignment character, I felt the following hairstyle suited the assignment well.

Secondly, there are a variety of additional armor and casual outfits the main character can wear.  The casual outfits work great, and allow players to not look like a Cerberus sellout if they are against the corporation.  The armor also has some great looking pieces, but also seem to be glitchy at times.  It is definitely worth checking out though here.  I recommend downloading and replacing the Coalesced.ini file than modifying it yourself, as it is far more easy to do.

Lastly, why do developers continually impose mouse acceleration in PC games today? This is not welcomed in any shooter, and can thoroughly ruin the feel of a game in most cases.  So as always, make sure to edit your Coalesced.ini file to remove it, with instructions to be found here. It is pretty quick, and only takes a matter of seconds to do.

So as much as I want a PS3, this is a nice reminder to thoroughly investigate games before deciding which platform to play on.  It is great having some extra outfits and customization options that console owners are not able to access.  This still does restore my faith in the PC market though, as I still feel developers are destroying what has made PC gaming great to start with.  However, that is another topic for another day.

Saving The Galaxy Once Again

One of my favorite games of all time has to be the original Mass Effect.  While it was still a little rough around the edges, it was an excellent hybrid of the shooter and role playing genres.  I found myself completely absorbed into the world, and it is one of the few games I actually found myself paying attention to the dialogue and story.  After waiting to see how the DLC issue played out, I finally grabbed a copy of Mass Effect 2, and it did not disappoint.  Please be warned, spoilers ahead.

From beginning to end, the game is nonstop fun.  One of the first things that caught my attention is the change in combat.  Having started my first play through on veteran difficulty, I found the battles to be fairly action packed and fluid.  They required some planning, as well as some care and coordination with my squad.  In the original game, I often would ignore my team and consider them an inconvenience.  This time around, I found myself reliant on them and the excellent biotic powers they bring to the front lines.  Adding to the fun, biotic powers can be combined to create some devastating damage.  All in all, battles were great, and it appears they got the third person shooter formula down well.  Character movement was fluid, and weapons felt punchy.

The dialogue in the game also seems improved.  Unlike its predecessor, many of the dialogue choices seem more direct and to the point.  One of my primary complaints with the older game is the often obscure options that were made available to the player, or too much filler dialogue that I doubt would actually take place in some situations.  Conversations now seem to flow better and are often quite interesting.  The developers also created more “grey” issues, often making me stop and think which action I want to take. To me this adds more depth to the game, and makes me question my choices.  Additionally, some of the dialogue left me wanting to know even more.  For example, why was Legion avoiding my questions regarding my N7 armor he wore?

I also enjoyed some of the humorous dialogue bits they added in this time as well.  While the game carried a generally serious tone, it was nice to break it up with a few laughs.  Although, sometimes the humor was unintentional, as dialogue began to border on cheesy during a few specific interactions.  I know while trying to get Morinth to take me back to her apartment, I laughed a few times at where things were going.  This is of course just being nitpicky though, as overall, the writing in this game is excellent.

Characters were also well developed.  I found myself forming opinions about each one quickly, and treating them accordingly.  I was highly suspicious of Miranda throughout the entire game, but found myself taking a liking to others and talking a bit nicer to them.  However, the characters surprised me in the end.  Despite my attitude with Miranda, she sided with me against the Illusive Man, and cut him off during the middle of a rant when commanding her to stop me.  I honestly had been waiting for her to betray me the entire game.

Samara is also an excellent character, being a strong willed, determined female character who stays true to her beliefs.  Grunt was awesome and slightly humorous, and Garrus is always a good guy to have around.  I really hope to see more of these characters.  As for romance, I avoided that subject once again in this game.  I have yet to see any real point to it other than personal enjoyment, and watching video game characters awkwardly make out is not my thing.  It will be interesting to see though if any of these choices make a big difference in Mass Effect 3.

Another major change is how the game handles equipment.  At first, I was fairly bummed out by not having the ability to loot and sort items.  While the original Mass Effect game was fairly tedious in this department, I generally enjoy scanning for items and customizing specific loadouts for certain situations.  This time around, the player is limited to the same weapons and can upgrade them through research or stores.  The changes began to grow on me though, and as time went on, I appreciated it more and more.  By swapping to this method, it allowed me as a player to focus more on the game itself and not having to bother constantly looting, buying, and selling gear.  It helped the game feel more streamlined overall and made for a pleasant experience.

Not all is perfect though, but a majority of it is smaller issues that can be overlooked.  I found the mission with controlling Joker to be a bit awkward, although the dialogue with EDI made it worthwhile.  The ending “human reaper” seemed a little bit out there, and out of place in the world of Mass Effect.  By then, we were bordering on silly.  It at least would have been interesting if it was a more abstract form of a human, or something else entirely.  Additionally, as I imported my previous character, there were quite a few clipping issues with my uniform.  While it really did not impact the game itself, it did distract me quite a few times during some cutscenes. Mining I feel does not even need to be addressed.  Who enjoyed that?

Overall though, this game is amazing.  It had some wonderful epic moments, and kept me hooked for nearly a week solid.  I am already working out how I want my next character to play out, but now I am at a cross roads.  It feels cheap to start a new ME2 character with no past.  I am now tempted to reinstall the first Mass Effect and fully develop another character.  To me though, that is a true testament to the series and how involving it can be.

As for the outcome, my entire crew and I survived the ordeal.  The only casualties were that of the normal ship crew, aside from the doctor who was rescued.  I also went against Cerberus and destroyed the Collector’s station.  To me this will make for an interesting sequel, as I currently have no allegiance to any group, having already told off the council at the start of the game.  I cannot wait to see where my Shepard will end up, and what choices I made may come back to bite me in the ass later.