Do you remember the good old days of video gaming? The time when every boy was inseparable from his Playstation 1 or NES.Platformers like Crash Bandicoot, Rayman, Pandemonium and Banjo Kazooie reigned supreme in those days. Whether you love the nostalgia factor or the challenging gameplay, these games were massively addictive. If you long for the sweet taste of the golden age of platforming, why not give A Hat In Time a go.
Kickstarter Launch Trailer
A Hat in Time is described as a Nintendo 64-esque platformer. In the game, you play as a petite girl donning a top hat aptly named Hat Girl. Hat Girl has a large array of actions she can perform in addition to the traditional jump and run mechanics, these includes wall jumping, sliding, ground pounding, double jumping and pogo abilities.
The story is divided into 5 story arcs, which is pretty similar to the Mario titles, with the first chapter taking place on an island infested with Mafia of Cooks (crazy story, I know) with following chapter utilizing the gloomy forest setting. The other 3 arcs are not set in stone as of yet, as the backers of the project get to decide what happens next in the aforementioned acts.
The best bit of news for me personally, is the multiplayer feature. You get to play the game with a friend, which is freaking sweet. The game will be featured both on PC and Mac. Gears for Breakfast (the developing team of the game) have stated their intent to publish the game on Steam, so if you have a Steam account, feel free to vote for them on Greenlight here.
Alternatively, check out their kickstarter here , where they explain the game in better detail.
Also please check out Jesse Cox for more interesting and wonderful game commentary. He has been very nice to us at The Ops Centre by allowing us permission to use his videos. Please go and show him some love.
Till then, this has been your Indie Video Game Feature.
Having been quite late to the Game of Thrones party, I'm well aware of all the major twists which have been spoiled for me by the internet and people I know in real life. Luckily, I'm not one who cares about spoilers and have been relatively unaffected. Anyway, having watched one of the best television shows of all-time, I thought I'd honour it by writing a short and rather hilarious blogpost setting out the rules for successfully watching an episode of Game of Thrones without being shocked and falling into a catatonic state because George R. R. Martin does his thing again.
1) Never have a favourite character.
Chances are, they'll die at some point. George R. R. Martin really threw out the rulebook on fiction-writing with A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones. As the man himself said, if you expect a happy ending, then you haven't paid attention. If you do want to have a favourite character, always pick an immoral or amoral character, they tend to live longer than the honorable men of Westeros.
2) Don't hate the player, hate the game.
Linked to the last section of the previous advice given, realise that the immoral and amoral characters that survive in Game of Thrones do so because they are able to play "the game" well. They are able to outmanoeuvre and outwit their enemies and place themselves in excellent positions. Some of them might be terrible human beings and right bastards but always remember, they are a consequence of their environment and upbringing. All the terrible things that happen in Westeros don't just happen in a vacuum. I'm not saying don't hate them, just realise that they are extremely complex characters with a lot of depth to their personalities and should be recognised as such rather than just hated.
3) Expect the unexpected.
Every episode you watch of Game of Thrones probably has a very high probability of something completely unexpected happening. Unless you've read the books. Then you're just a smug bastard waiting for people to be surprised so you can leap in and say "I READ THE BOOKS!" or "I KNEW THAT WAS COMING! YOU NEVER EXPECTED IT, DID YOU?" So, always assume the worst. Assume everyone is going to die or magically get resurrected. Or it was all in Bran Stark's dreams.
4) Prepare for nudity.
Game of Thrones has often come under flak for using sexposition whereby they use nudity and sex to push the plot forward. Particularly in the first season, there are quite a few shots of nude females particularly in the chest region, for no apparent reason. Be prepared for that. As a result, best avoid watching this with your parents, might get awkward.
5) OPTIONAL: Read the books.
That way, George R. R. Martin will never catch you off-guard! Until the next chapter and/or book of course. But, if you read the books, then you'll be prepared for anything on the show. At the price of having unspeakable horrors communicated to you via words instead.
Anyway, Game of Thrones, good stuff. We'll be talking more about Game of Thrones in the near future. In the mean time, drop a few comments on what you think of Game of Thrones. Also, don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss out on our exciting content!
Greetings internet, I'm preparing a piece on electronic surveillance and the like and stumbled across this gem of a website recently. If you haven't yet, check it out. Watch_Dogs WeareData.
This piece of marketing, I think, is a stroke of genius on Ubisoft's part. It is equal parts awesome and creepy. The fact that Ubisoft was able to develop such a comprehensive map of public communications data, social media and the public transport systems in London, Berlin and Paris is both extremely cool and extremely terrifying at the same time. The fact that so much information is available to the public is just mind-boggling to say the least.
For more on how they created the website, check this 'The Making Of' video.
Having taken philosophy for two whole years, I figured that it would be interesting to apply things I barely learned and understood to things that I enjoy talking utter nonsense about. This is the first of many articles to come (hopefully). Basically, I'll talk about philosophical things in relation to anything within the realm of popular culture or I'll talk about things in popular culture that are attempting to express philosophical ideas. As I mentioned earlier, I have only done two years of philosophy, so, don't expect an expert analysis, just some rambling about things I thought were interesting and might not be is definitely not philosophically rigorous.
Basically, Assassin's Creed can be seen as the competing doctrines of free will and determinism with the Assassins representing the extremity of free will while determinism is represented by their rivals, the Templars. In the case of Assassin's Creed, the free will advocated by the Assassins contends that people should be free to make their own choices without being hindered by any form of restrains while the deterministic worldview held by the Templars is that humanity should be guided towards perfection, with the Templars controlling them and determining the course of history towards what they considered a utopia. The main game I will be focussing on in the series is Assassin's Creed III as I believe Connor Kenway and Haytham Kenway are the most representative of their respective doctrines.
Connor tends to the libertarian side of things, believing in free will and denying that determinism is compatible with free will. Taken to the logical extreme, Connor advocates an almost anarchic conception of freedom where people should be free from any form of control and is basically able to do anything they want, perhaps within the boundaries of the social contract (this part is not clear). The allure of this particular conception of free will is that it provides an almost unlimited sense of freedom, maybe even the truest form of freedom. Obviously the problem with this sort of philosophical doctrine is, as previously mentioned, the logical extreme means an anarchic sense of freedom since government can be seen as a constraint on free will, perhaps even going so far as to void the social contract as it prevents people from truly having the ability to make choices without restrictions. Due to his initial youth when inducted into the Assassins, Connor takes a naive conception of freedom and free will, basically believing in freedom without considering the circumstances of the time, such as his discussion of slavery with John Quincy Adams in Boston, where he argues for the freedom of slaves without realising the implications of attempting to end slavery in a slave-driven economy. That is not to say that it is a bad thing, merely a little unwise and very headstrong and idealistic. Of course there is merit in Connor's way of thinking. He merely wishes to help people be free and break down the shackles of tyranny and oppression, a worthy pursuit, one typically associated with the revolutionaries of 1776 and 1789 although the truth (another discussion of historiography entirely) is somewhat less noble than it seems.
His father on the other hand, is more of an authoritative figure who believes that controlling humanity will help them ultimately progress to perfection. Don't confuse determinism with predeterminism though. Predeterminism basically argues that all things have been decided in advance, which means that whatever occurs has been decided in some grand scheme of things that will play out in an exact manner. Determinism argues different, it merely states that choices are influenced by prior events, basically, a cause-and-effect scenario. In this particular scenario, Haytham Kenway and his Templar allies wish to influence the future by manipulating their present, gaining control over humanity in order to drive them towards a better society. On paper, this seems like a noble pursuit, one that seeks to drive humanity to the best and brightest version of itself albeit under the control of a few influential men (not unlike how the world works today). However, if one takes it further and considers the consequences of such a system, we arrive at the conclusion that this is basically a form of absolutism as the Templars are basically demanding the power to run society unbridled, to achieve their conception of a perfect future. If this sounds familiar, then the name Lenin should also ring a bell. His particular form of social change used the term "vanguard of the revolution" to define the cadre that would lead the masses to their utopia. This is of course but one example and a very particular constitution (to go further, a perversion of Marxist principles) of an authoritarian conception of society.
In my experience of the game, I felt that the third entry in the series (not strictly the third, but the third in the numerical title order) had the strongest philosophical underpinnings in its plot and characterisation. Unlike the previous two games, there was a fairly robust and overt discussion of the philosophy of the warring factions (I of course refer to the Assassins and Templars but same can be said of the Americans and British). From my understanding of things, which is of course not always right, the writers seemed to be pushing the game towards a less idealistic conception of the battle between Assassins and Templars in that they stopped painting it as a battle between good and evil but rather taking a more subtle and complex view that contends both sides see themselves as attempting to achieve the greater good and seeing the other as not so much evil but rather misguided in their pursuits.
Back on the philosophical side of things, I'm not going to weigh in on one side or the other even though I was taught that I should have a stance in philosophy because I don't really want to imply that one particular stream of philosophical thought is better than the other. That's up to you to decide. If you have any thoughts, questions or just want to call me an idiot, feel free to do so in the comments. Also, if anyone reads this, would you be kind enough to let me know if you're interested in this sort of thing? I have a few ideas for more philosophical discussions in regards to various forms of popular culture and would like to hear what people think of this becoming a sort of semi-regular series.
Personally, I've never been exposed to Microsoft's Xbox console as much as I would have liked. I think for me the biggest regret of not investing into it was not being able to experience the exclusive Halo franchise. While I haven't had to time to meet the Xbox's incredible online services and interface, it never occurred to me that I was "missing out."
This year introduced the long awaited next generation of consoles and content, and at the beginning I wasn't sure if I'd remain with Sony's PlayStation line of consoles. After watching both companies reveal their respective next-gen consoles, content and Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) conferences, it was absolutely clear I would be staying with Sony.
While the Xbox One was ambitious in its forthcomingness,I believed it was a little ahead of its time. It dreamed of a connected and persistent digital future. Unfortunately, in the present we are surrounded by tons of people without internet connections and while many are connected, these connections aren't full-proof. Asking consumers to connect every 24 hours to be able to access the content they paid for had its benefits, but ultimately denied them access to their money's worth should any interruptions in connectivity occur. Furthermore, the ability to trade-in, lend, resell, gift and rent games are huge part of gaming culture. While they had not outright eliminated this facet, the online and digital system they were going to use would bring many difficulties. Another point I'd like to bring up is that majority of the great features at launch won't be available to me because I don't reside in the United States.
These features only pushed me further away from the Xbox One, and I can only imagine how alienated Xbox fans feel.
A few days ago Microsoft came around and changed its policy on used game restrictions and online check-ins to refresh licenses. No longer will consumers be required to be connected to play offline Xbox One games (excluding a one-time system set-up after console purchase). Microsoft has abolished its 24 hour connection requirements as well. There will also be no limitations to using and sharing games, much like today. Digital games can be played offline without internet connections, and games will have no regional restrictions -- being able to be played on any Xbox One console. However digital titles cannot be shared or resold.
These changes are refreshing and I'm glad that they're listening to their vocal community to produce a top-notch next-gen console. While this also impacts some of the scenarios they've previously announced, I'm certain they'll figure it out before launch.
Will I remain a PlayStation fan boy? Maybe. There's still time before the Xbox One launches in November later this year.
Bernt Toast is a writer at The Ops Centre. He is currently creeping around Infected and hoodlums in The Last of Us.
Destiny, a brave new “shared-world shooter” from acclaimed studio Bungie, is easily my most anticipated next-gen title. While not very much has been revealed before the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the idea of a persistent online world where you play a personalised story seamlessly impacted by other players pulls all the right strings. I wasn’t at E3 this year, but I’ve been scouring the Internet searching for all things Destiny. What I’m about to describe to you is the gameplay demo that you’ve already seen with all the minute details I managed to scavenge up.
The World of Destiny
The beginning of the demo Bungie brought to E3 illustrates the immense size and scope of the world they hope to create. Destiny is set many years into the future, after a golden age where humanity spread across the stars. A mysterious force decimated the population, with a few being saved by the Traveller, a great sphere that hangs low above the surface of the Earth. Humanity rebuilt a city beneath the Traveller, and in the years that follow they have begun to venture back out into the wild to reclaim what remains of their old civilization.
The demo takes place in Russia, and while the setting is post-apocalyptic it is a sight to behold. Wind blows through the tall grass, the sun draws golden linings around the clouds it hid behind, rivers branch out through the valleys, and tall mountains loom in the distance. “All of this is playable space,” says Lars Bakken, a one of the many developers at Bungie. “This is all real geometry, you could go there.” Bungie is hinting at a huge gameplay space, but what’s staggering is the fact that this only represents a tiny morsel of what you’ll be able to visit.
For this demo, we follow the brief exploit of one of the classes of Guardians in Destiny, the Warlock. Guardians represent a group of specialized soldiers who protect the last safe city, and are able to wield some of the Traveller’s incredible power. He jumps from his personal spaceship in front of the expansive walls of Old Russia. He carries the the Viper P3, a burst-fire pulse rifle, and the Duke MK. 44, a powerful hand cannon revolver. He walks through the wreckage of a few hundred cars, some still carrying the bones of their ancient passengers. Then suddenly, the roar of a spaceship echoes through the space. A Hunter, the second Guardian class, beams closeby. He’s a friend and greets the Warlock with a wave emote; one of many to be in the final game. He seamlessly joins your Fireteam (Destiny lingo for party) and takes point, as they enter one point into the walls of Old Russia.
The Walls of Old Russia
The path ahead is dark, potentially hiding many adversaries. The Warlock pulls out his companion, Ghost. “We always visit such cheerful places.” Instantly, I knew the Ghost was going to be a clever and snarky companion throughout the journey across Destiny. Voiced by Peter Dinklage, of Game of Thrones fame, it’s a perfect match. Beyond company, Ghost is prepared to interact with old technology from the golden age; useful in your quest to reclaim your lost civilisation. Ghost expands its body revealing a bright light source, and leads the way ahead. “Oh, it looks even better up here!” he quips as he enters a large space within the wall. It’s dark, with maybe only 10 meters of visibility. “We need more light to find a way across. Hang tight. I’ll find some sticks to rub together. And by sticks, I mean highly complex circuits of which I am fully equipped...” he says, as he trails off deeper into the wall. Large lights in the ceiling boom on. The wall is even bigger than what I expected to see. “I may have over-done it. We’ve got trouble!”
The Fallen
The sudden brightness instantly attracts an enemy that was teased at the beginning of the demo, the Fallen; from the House of Devils to be exact. One of the three announced distinct enemies (the Vex and Cabal, unfortunately do not appear in this demo) fighting against humanity but not necessarily fighting together, the Fallen are four-eyed, generally four-armed, insect-like humanoids. They release Fallen Shanks to engage the player, these flying drones if you will.
Here we are introduced to several classes within the Fallen hierarchy, the Dreg (two-armed thieves) and the Vandal (long-range shooters). While not much has been revealed about the Fallen lore, Bungie has teased that their heritage results in one of the most interesting deaths in the game. Whenever a headshot or melee kill has been accomplished, a white soul-like entity erupts from their bodies.
We also see a little of what separates the Hunter and the Warlock as player classes. Each class is seemingly equipped with two sets of abilities, which when used initiates a cooldown. Warlocks have studied the Traveller, mastering some of its arcane energies. Primarily your “magic” class, the Warlock in the demo was able to release Solar Flares -- grenades with the power of the sun -- and launch Nova Bombs, a large area of effect attack. Warlocks can also glide, increasing and sustaining the elevation of their jumps. The Hunter is a combination of speed and strength, comprising of outlaws who once roamed the wilderness combining daring and ingenuity. While their class-based abilities weren’t named, one involved launching several target-seeking missiles and another imbued a gun with the magic of the Traveller, shooting one-hit blasts upon the Fallen.
Shortly after eliminating the Fallen within the wall, in a larger room, Rixis, an Archon Slayer (clearly a Fallen miniboss of sorts) engages our heroes. The Hunter goes down early on, requiring a timely revive from another player. Revives on solo-play are still being worked out at Bungie, but they assure us that any way you play will be fun and accessible. As the Warlock takes out Rixis, he explodes in a shower of blue Glimmer and leaves behind a yellow orb. Reviving the other player first, he then picks up the yellow orb.
Loot
Similar to dungeon crawl video-games, Destiny provides a plethora of ways to customize your character, from skill tress to weapons and gear. Bungie has stated that every loot drop is attached to a private stream, so your drop is yours. This is excellent news as I loved this system in Diablo 3, and hated the “race of clicks” without private streams in Borderlands 2.
This is where we’re introduced to a (probably work-in-progress) inventory screen. Your character stands in the middle, equipped with all the gear you’ve got on him or her. The column to the right of your character represents your gear, with feet, body, arm, head and one more uncertain slots. The left column represents your firearms, and a “pattern” slot (which carries an unknown use for now).
Within that loot drop from Rixis, was a new Exotic Machine Gun called Thunderlord. Expanding the Thunderlord slot reveals a skill tree with impressive upgrades, ending with Rolling Thunder, which causes your rounds to become explosive. Each upgrade seems to be powered by Glimmer, which currently could be the new currency or simply an upgrade currency, Weapon Kits and Talent Points.The Hunter receives a new sniper rilfe, which has carried names like “Shut Up and Get Behind Me” and “Better Than Yours” in multiple playthroughs. Bungie’s definitely had a fun time naming these weapons.
Our heroes press forward and finally reach Old Russia beyond the wall. Ancient colony ships tower and spot the ruined landscape. Here, another spaceship roars and a Titan, the final announced Guardian class, beams down. The Titan executes another emote, before rearing up and smashing the floor beneath him (one of his Traveller abilities). He also takes out an ornate rocket launcher that apparently shoots “wolf missiles.” Show off. Suddenly, the sky darkens. Out in the distance, a huge black ship warps into the environment, the resulting shockwave toppling surrounding colony ships and blasting the player; definitely screaming for your attention. A public event, Fallen Assault, begins.
Fallen Assault
Public events in Destiny are incredible, but highly optional. These instances seamlessly bring players together to tackle foes one would normally not be able to overcome. Imagine playing Destiny solo, you’re exploring the environment when suddenly one of the huge ships come in. You travel towards it to investigate and find out other players in area have seen the same thing and are doing as you are. This gives Destiny an staggering scope and scale, that I’ve only seen so far in Guild Wars 2. Our current Fireteam witnesses another travelled through on Sparrows, these speeder bike vehicles (which Bungie has stated are personal craft). They team up and tackle a large group of Fallen in a nearby space when suddenly a transport carrier drops a spider tank, called the Fallen Devil Walker. Instantly all players drive their attention towards the tank. The tank is damage soaker and draws in a level 20 Fireteam from the distance. Eventually they take it down with a few well-placed hits and we’re treated with an extended E3 trailer.
The Trailer
We catch a quick glimpse of the Tower, where players will meet up and gear up for their journeys across space. A potentially non-playable character is introduced, and while unconfirmed I’m speculating that he’s voiced by Bill Nighy (Total Recall, Love Actually). We also see our Warlock character unmasked and voiced! Also seen are brief clips of the other enemy species, the robotic Vex, the space zombie Hive and the large armored Cabal. We see another potential non-playable character, an Awoken Hunter, in the wild. The exotic, beautiful, and mysterious Awoken represent one of the three playable character species alongside recognisable Humans and the sinister, powerful, and tireless robotic Exo. Player species will only bring aesthetic changes to the game, as Bungie doesn’t want to force you into your character species and lets you choose your species on a “gut feeling.” We get a lot of environmental clips from the number of planets you’ll be able to visit from Destiny, including Venus, Mars, and Saturn. Bungie clearly has put a lot of time and effort into developing these environment spaces. We get a look at the hanger at the Tower, where you’ll store your personal craft. The personal craft shown seems to be a part of the Dead Orbit faction.
Destiny launches in 2014 for the XBOX One, PS4, XBOX 360, and PS3.
The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 for short, only starts tomorrow, but the hype -- which has already begun -- is palpable.
This year's show is definitely one to watch with the next generation of consoles and the announcement of their highly anticipated titles. Personally, Murdered: Soul Suspect has already started pinging on my sonar but I can't wait to see what is in store this E3. I'm expecting a lot from E3 this year, but I have a feeling the unexpected will resonate with the biggest impact. It's a busy time for university students in Australia, with examinations and assignments, but even that can't kill the enthusiasm we have here on the blog. We'll be updating this post with all the developments we see buzzing on the Internet.
We're not reporters, we're not even at E3 2013. We'll be biased, we probably won't see everything there is to see at E3. But we hope you'll join us in the excitement of the biggest video-game and tech show the world has to offer.
*note: our thoughts may differ from yours, so share your thoughts in the comment box below beginning with the day followed by the subject. LAST UPDATE: 11 June 2013 11.00am
Call of Duty: Ghosts 10 June 2013
-bernt_toast
This morning, two gameplay videos were revealed from an Activision pre-E3 special. A few details came through, especially of Riley your canine companion. The footage took place in two levels were seen snippets of before, the underwater mission and the mission in a cataclysm-ravaged America. During the latter mission, it seems as though the player was controlling Riley (via an attached canine camera) but I'd like to think that he's merely guiding Riley rather than directly inputting commands.
The footage, while nothing compared to the beautiful graphics we've seen on next-gen, looked great. I mean, they have to balance it out considering they're developing for current and next-gen. It implies epic set-piece moments, and fine pacing. Can't wait to see and hear more!
- Renegade Sandwich
I'm going to disagree with you, buddy. It's Call of Duty through and through. The graphics are a nice update from Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops II but it still doesn't look as good as Crysis, which is a current-gen game (arguable) and the benchmark for all good graphics. With something as powerful as the Xbox One or the PS4, you'd think they'd at least try to make a bigger graphical leap instead of trying to retain that awe-inspiring 60 frames per second. Gameplay wise, nothing new. Only thing interesting to me was the use of the APS underwater assault rifle, that's a Russian-made bolt gun created specifically to work underwater, it's nice that they actually used that instead of some random weapon that shoots underwater even though really, it can't. I'll wait until the game is actually released to make a definite judgement but it's not on my sonar at the moment. On the Riley front, it's explained as them giving him instructions like a real-life SEAL canine unit but it's pretty much you controlling Riley like a drone.
Watch_Dogs 10 June 2013
- Renegade Sandwich
This is my pick for the game to watch for this year's E3. Ubisoft Montreal working on an open-world game set in the future and basically allowing you to hack an entire city? Yes please! I think my favourite thing about Watch_Dogs so far is that it looks like a playable version of Person of Interest, one of my favourite TV shows on at the moment. The gameplay looks superb, allowing you to be both the bad-ass John Reese while wielding technology like the eccentric Harold Finch. The co-op element which hasn't really been shown but has been mentioned is also intriguing as it allows two players to run around Chicago wreaking havoc on the CtOS. Looks and sounds very much like my kind of game.
Kingdom Hearts 1.5 ReMIX 11 June 2013
-Brancake
Alright. As the only Kingdom Hearts fan in the entire blogosphere of awesome blogs, I've got to say that I've been waiting for this remake ever since I got my hands on a PS3. In fact, I was sold on the PS3 ever since I played the first 2 KH games. I'm still waiting on the next release. Yes, I've played the PSP and DS continuations of the story but damn it I will not watch my beloved franchise die. This HD remake of Kingdom Hearts 1 & Re:Chain of Memories will satiate my fan hunger. For now.
If its anything like the Zone of Enders 1 & 2 HD remake, I know that it will satisfy fans everywhere too. This is a game that makes you invest in the characters, like emotionally. It's got half of Disney in it for goodness sake. It's the only opportunity I have to relive my childhood while feeding my desire to mash buttons and kill demons. No, it is not a 'new' game. But it is a big game, with a lot of post game and replay value, and an original game, almost a classic in its own right. The remastered cinematic scenes (you know you're getting quality stuff from Square Enix) can be played in theatre mode and up to 66 tracks have been remade with REAL instruments.
It's just a game you say. Obsession is not a good thing Brancake you say. NO MOM This is a franchise that has been under so much uncertainty and taken so much risk in its conception that it deserves to be valued. Decades into the future, Kingdom Hearts will be our Mona Lisa, our Picasso, our Van Gogh, unappreciated in its time but nonetheless a work of magnificent beauty.
It looks like this game...(puts on sunglasses)...has unlocked the Kingdom to my heart. YEAAAAHHHHHH!
No but seriously I want to play the shit out of this game.
Battlefield 4 June 11, 2013
- Renegade Sandwich
DICE has once again demonstrated why they are one of the all-time greats in the business. Wow, just wow. That gameplay demo for the mission, Angry Seas, and the live multiplayer demo sold Battlefield 4 again to me. I was going to pick it up anyway because I love the series and DICE but man, that makes me want to buy the game twice. For now, it seems that the Swedes have taken it up a notch with the return of Commander Mode integrated with a tablet, no less, and destructible environments on a massive scale. Brilliant, just brilliant. The single-player is shaping up to be a lot stronger than the disappointing Battlefield 3 campaign but only time will tell, really. Also, Michael K. Williams (of The Wire fame) as one of your squadmates? Count me in!
Kingdom Hearts 3 & Final Fantasy XV June 12, 2013
- Brancake
As you can see from my posts above, I am now officially one happy camper. KH 3 is announced in development. This is not a drill. My long awaited beloved is back in the developer's loving embrace, for a potential 2014 (but realistic 2015 IMHO) release. That said, I've still got a long way to wait seeing how they kept moving FF Versus XIII (which is now FF XV, proving the rumours right) back from 'this is an early PS3 game' to 'this is an early PS4 game'.
From what I can see in the trailer, its everything you would expect for a revamped continuation of a classic - newer, finer detailing, familiar art direction and a similar battle mechanic. However, Square Enix has acquired a flair for improving sequels while keeping the things that make the game so enjoyable in tact, so this game is in good hands.
There is still uncertainty. But for a moment crystallised in time the fans will have received a new hope. A new beginning. If there ever was a time where KH fans everywhere had to take action, that time is now. Or yesterday. Or potentially in three days time. Basically, we need to start a riot demanding Square Enix to finish what it started or so help me I will burn every copy of every Final Fantasy to the ground. I will not raise my hopes and dreams into the palms of your hands just to see you crush them.
In other news, FF XV was also announced to be in development (again), but it looks like they are one step closer to climbing out of development hell. Not much has changed from the first announcement in 2006, besides a new trailer and a new title. Still, the idea of an FF in the realistic modern present day (-ish) is an invigorating one and one I am still anxious to see.
E3 2013 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 11.06.2013 - 14.06.2013
Sony just checkmated Microsoft in the console chess match. They just decimated Microsoft in the war. It's all over, everyone. It's over.
- No used game fees.
- No DRM.
- No Move or EyeToy as mandatory.
- PS4 costs $399 USD
- $100 USD cheaper than Xbox One.
- Still a games console that can double as an entertainment console not vice versa.
- Equally as good, if not better, line-up of games.
- Cloud gaming.
- It doesn't look like a giant DVD player.
- No region locking.
In all seriousness though, the PS4 is shaping up to be the better console this generation. Not just because of the publicity but because it's actually doing right by gamers. Maybe they learned from Microsoft and scrapped all the nonsense that people didn't want. Maybe they planned it from the start. All I know is, Sony's got my vote.
To elaborate though, this is from the perspective of a hardcore gamer. I should clarify that Xbox One is nowhere near done. I suspect it will sell extremely well as an entertainment console since it was sold extremely well in that reveal as one. For the average gamer though, it shouldn't be a tough choice. For the average consumer and more casual gamers, it might be a tougher choice but I suspect they'll go with the Xbox since it's a name that has become synonymous with good gaming. At the end of the day though, this is all speculation and only time will really tell who will win the war on this generation.
Hello internet, I've decided to do a rehaul of the blog recently because I thought Born to Rant sounded a little childish and immature. We are now known as "The Ops Centre" but we might rename again depending on how it goes with my new contributors. Don't worry though, I'm still here and writing, unfortunately for you lot, and we're keeping the URL and content, just the name has changed.
There are some exciting developments on the way but we're still working things out, so stay tuned if you enjoy our content. I'd like to thank the two people (probably) that visit the blog regularly and also thank you, bots who are probably out to spam us for return clicks.
“With his far reaching right hand Sauron might have done great evil in the North. Yet all that has been averted because a handful of heroes stood in his path…” - Gandalf the White, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.
Lord of the Rings: War in the North (2011) is a third-person RPG developed by Snowblind Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., who owns the rights to, you guessed it, the Lord of the Rings franchise. This is mostly unrelated to the game itself but, it is rather hilarious, to me at least, that the only blurb on the cover is from Zoo Magazine, a lad's mag. Maybe it's just me but that doesn't inspire much confidence in the quality of the game. Nevertheless, we shall press on!
The best word I can come up with to describe this game is "adequate". The story is adequate to keep you entertained on your journey but doesn't quite grab you like the movies or books. The gameplay is adequate in terms of variety and combat. The music is adequate in stirring some semblance of emotions without getting you too invested into the adventure. The voice-acting is adequately entertaining with no real stand-out performances from its cast. The threadbare RPG elements are barely adequate to classify this game as a RPG. The AI though, is atrocious, we'll get into that later.
Let's start off discussing the story. Basically, War in the North's entire premise can be summed up by that short quote from Return of the King. In fact, those words opening this review are the very first thing you see in the opening sequence for the game. Sauron's "far reaching right hand" refers to his lieutenant, Agandaûr, a man who has fallen under the sway of the Dark Lord of Mordor and seeks to spread his master's influence in the Northern lands of Middle-Earth. Standing in his way are "a handful of heroes"; namely, Andriel, the Loremaster of Rivendell, Eradan, the Dúnedain Ranger, and Farin, Champion of Erebor. The story thus follows our intrepid heroes on their quest to bring down Agandaûr in order to prevent Sauron from establishing a foothold in the North. Along the way, they travel to far-flung places all over the Northern lands, make new friends, murder thousands of enemies and have a rocking good time chasing down the Dark Lord's right hand.
In my opinion, the most unfortunate part about War in the North is that it had so much potential, seeing as it draws on one of the most brilliant and detailed stories in the history of fantasy novels and movies. Unfortunately, the story ends up being a boring pastiche of various locales throughout the North of Middle-Earth and barely-tied together missions where the main narrative thrust exists only in cutscenes between levels and mostly between missions. The side-quests are barely fleshed-out and mostly involve collecting items for various NPCs throughout the game with little to no explanation as to how things turn out after you successfully complete them. Outside of the campaign, there are two challenge maps where stanzas of poems are provided at each round until you finish but there's no real explanation or tie-in with the rest of the game.
The storyline itself is easily forgettable with the only real memorable part, for me at least, being the one time you meet the Fellowship of the Ring and Bilbo at Rivendell. Only because it's the Fellowship and Bilbo. Other than the very special cameo from the Fellowship, most of the characters in the game are mostly one-dimensional with no real stand-outs or character development for that matter. The three characters you can choose from (with the other two being AI characters that follow you around or two friends if you have any willing to play with you) occasionally spout out a funny one-liner in combat but other than that, they come across as completely boring and perhaps a little too steadfast in their mission. Their resolve to defeat Agandaûr and distract Sauron's forces from the Fellowship is admirable but doesn't make for great character development, especially since we learn nothing of their pasts either. In fact, other than their voices, gender and races, they are pretty much interchangeable.
Speaking of voices, the voice-acting in this game isn't bad but it isn't good either. The usually spectacular Nolan North is the only recognisable name in the main cast and does a fair job but is not as awe-inspiring like in his other meatier roles. The rest of the cast barely have personalities and come across as fairly one-dimensional, although I suspect it has more to do with the script than the quality of the actors. Again, this detracts from the experience as it makes it difficult to connect with characters on a deeper level as they come across as superficial. The dialogue between characters is also extremely dry as the options given have no moral consequences and merely results in additional information gleaned, some of the time. Most of the time, it's just two sides of the same coin, you end up talking about the same things albeit worded slightly differently.
While the story and characterisation comes across poorly, what War in the North does do well, and very well indeed, is combat. Fighting is visceral and often involves brutally killing enemies, decapitating them, severing their limbs and more often than not, sending their guts flying everywhere. Combat primarily involves melee with the option of ranged combat if one prefers keeping their distance from enemies. When you first start off fighting orcs and other vile creatures, the gory and bloody combat is extremely entertaining, demonstrating the finer details of melee combat on a humanoid body. As the game goes on though, even this fresh take on fighting gets a little stale as you repetitively chop through thousands of enemies without much consideration.
On the RPG front, there are special abilities you can execute but they cost you Power, which is represented by a blue bar that drains as you use special abilities. When you kill enough baddies and level up, you can invest points in Will (increasing the amount of Power you have and allowing you to wear higher-level amulets and rings), Stamina (increasing the amount of health you have, speeding up health regeneration and allowing you to wear better armour), Strength (increases your melee damage) and Dexterity (increases your ranged damage). The equipment you use tends to only have minor aesthetic and statistical differences, forcing you to visit a blacksmith every so often after too many uses.
The skill trees are interesting to an extent but there's not much to keep you entertained after getting your core skills and improving them to a ridiculous level. Class-wise, there's Eradan the Ranger who is probably supposed to serve as the team's sniper but really can be used as a melee class as well. Farin the Champion is definitely designed for close-quarters combat and is basically a tank who absorbs as much damage as he dishes. Andriel the Loremaster is the healer, with spells to heal and shield her comrades from enemy projectiles. While each class seems to have a specialty they should stick to, players can easily throw those notions away by investing in a way that makes the character a better fighter when they should be focussing on ranged attacks or vice versa. I suppose that provides a sense of freedom but it sort of detracts from having established characters with different specialities.
Speaking of the characters, the AI is utterly, utterly atrocious. This game is brilliantly designed for co-op but alone, it can be a nightmare since the AI you get saddled with fail to be of any use whatsoever since they charge into hordes of enemies regardless of what commands you give them. The sad part is, there are only two commands, Attack or Defend. Regardless of which you choose, they run headlong into battle and do little to actually help you when you're in trouble. If you want to enjoy this game, I suggest getting your friends to tag along. With two buddies, this game can be serious fun. Sure, it's a little boring and it gets a little repetitive but friends make everything better. Plus, it is satisfying when you have three players working together in a team and slaying enemies left, right and centre like a trio of badasses.
Not the glitches though. They can't fix those for you. In fact, they might actually exacerbate the various glitches this game suffers from. Glitches include falling off the map randomly, save files being corrupted and preventing you from continuing the storyline, magically dying and being resurrected and some issues with the animation such as enemies being stuck in rocks and terrain or standing frozen after being slain in combat.
Conclusion:
Lord of the Rings: War in the North is one of those decidedly average games that are fun and should be experienced but perhaps as a rent or bought from a bargain bin. It could have been a great game but unfortunately, it is not.
