While talking about Blizzard's Diablo III, Lead Designer Jay Wilson made this really interesting comment on the state of designers in games:
I don't know anybody who isn't trying to hire background people. Part of it is that there's so much background to create, and part of it is that most people would rather create a big, giant monster than a tree. But boy, what we wouldn't give for some good tree creators! People who love to create trees are worth their weight in gold!
A very intersting observation, and quite true too. Heck, who'd pass up the opportunity to create a race of six-legged blue-skinned aliens or six-headed fire-breathing demons in favour or a deciduous forest or a flower shrubbery? I know I wouldn't...
Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
F.E.A.R. of the dark...
I completed F.E.A.R. yesterday.
Things I liked.
Enemy AI: This was a bunch of smart fuckers. They'd often turn over couches or crates for cover, and fire with just a hand sticking over. Sneaky bastards. Plus they had good aim too.
Atmosphere: Quite creepy. Lotsa silent stretches where you keep expecting something to attack you or a creepy vision to appear. Plus those sighting of little Alma n Fettel walking around and suddenly disappearing were disorienting.
Music and Sound fx: Great sound effects all around. Engaging bg music when it came around, and at a few places some really good music kicked it. Stuff that I wouldn't mind listening to as stand-alone songs.
Weapons: The weapons were 30 different shades of fun. I love the HV Penetrator and the Particle Weapon. Too bad there weren't enough enemies in all to use them on.
No Crate Smashing: Good thing I didn't have to spend all my time breaking open crates to hunt for supplies n hidden items.
No Cheap Attacks or Triggers: In a lotta games, if you pick up a particular item or perform a task, it triggers off an enemy attack. None of that crap here.
Things I didn't like.
No sense of immersion: I didn't have a name, and was constantly referred to as "F.E.A.R. Pointman." Pretty stupid. Even during the pre-level mission displays, none of them read "You need to.." or "Your mission is.." but rather, the alienating "F.E.A.R. Pointman needs to.."
Enemy variety: Seemed like I spent the entire game basically fighting the same enemy, with a few helmet varities. The interesting, challenging enemies like the Power Armor n the Stealh Assasin were in way too much of a short supply.
Not enough action: For a first person shooter, I was doing remarkable less shooting than expected. I spent a lotta time just running around and getting from place to place. So less in fact, I didn't really get much of a chance to adequately use some of the better weapons found later in the game.
Storyline Reveal: I had to read a buncha online post to understand the plot completely. While I like the story, It unfolds in a very convulated manner, and isn't very clear within the game.
Drab, recycled Environments: Everything was gray, and I felt like I was basically spending all my time in a warehouse or office building. Could have used a whole lot more variety.
Sad-ass boss fight: One shot to kill Fettel n eleven shots to kill Alma. A major let-down.
A couple of random observations:
Linear Level Progression: The levels were ridiculously linear. I dunno if I like that or not, beacuse I don't really like dead ends, but even the few places which served as "puzzles" were embarassingly easy to figure out.
All in all, I'm more than a little surprised this game was so highly rated and won so many awards. I suppose that's more of a commentary on the state of the other games out there.
Things I liked.
Enemy AI: This was a bunch of smart fuckers. They'd often turn over couches or crates for cover, and fire with just a hand sticking over. Sneaky bastards. Plus they had good aim too.
Atmosphere: Quite creepy. Lotsa silent stretches where you keep expecting something to attack you or a creepy vision to appear. Plus those sighting of little Alma n Fettel walking around and suddenly disappearing were disorienting.
Music and Sound fx: Great sound effects all around. Engaging bg music when it came around, and at a few places some really good music kicked it. Stuff that I wouldn't mind listening to as stand-alone songs.
Weapons: The weapons were 30 different shades of fun. I love the HV Penetrator and the Particle Weapon. Too bad there weren't enough enemies in all to use them on.
No Crate Smashing: Good thing I didn't have to spend all my time breaking open crates to hunt for supplies n hidden items.
No Cheap Attacks or Triggers: In a lotta games, if you pick up a particular item or perform a task, it triggers off an enemy attack. None of that crap here.
Things I didn't like.
No sense of immersion: I didn't have a name, and was constantly referred to as "F.E.A.R. Pointman." Pretty stupid. Even during the pre-level mission displays, none of them read "You need to.." or "Your mission is.." but rather, the alienating "F.E.A.R. Pointman needs to.."
Enemy variety: Seemed like I spent the entire game basically fighting the same enemy, with a few helmet varities. The interesting, challenging enemies like the Power Armor n the Stealh Assasin were in way too much of a short supply.
Not enough action: For a first person shooter, I was doing remarkable less shooting than expected. I spent a lotta time just running around and getting from place to place. So less in fact, I didn't really get much of a chance to adequately use some of the better weapons found later in the game.
Storyline Reveal: I had to read a buncha online post to understand the plot completely. While I like the story, It unfolds in a very convulated manner, and isn't very clear within the game.
Drab, recycled Environments: Everything was gray, and I felt like I was basically spending all my time in a warehouse or office building. Could have used a whole lot more variety.
Sad-ass boss fight: One shot to kill Fettel n eleven shots to kill Alma. A major let-down.
A couple of random observations:
Linear Level Progression: The levels were ridiculously linear. I dunno if I like that or not, beacuse I don't really like dead ends, but even the few places which served as "puzzles" were embarassingly easy to figure out.
All in all, I'm more than a little surprised this game was so highly rated and won so many awards. I suppose that's more of a commentary on the state of the other games out there.
Monday, May 19, 2008
...they Believe in Halo 3!
I just read this in Impact mag yesterday. I wasn't even aware the One Shows were on, but the Halo 3 "Believe" campaign won a Best Of Show at this year's One Show.
“The ‘Believe’ campaign catapulted Halo 3 from an ordinary video game into a worldwide cultural phenomenon due to its ability to build an emotional rapport with the audience,” said Mary Warlick, CEO of The One Club. “The innovative stream of interactive TV, Web and cinema advertisements was an inspired approach that successfully attracted an audience beyond the typical gamer.”
View the "Believe" videos here - http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/halo3/believe/default.htm or do a YouTube search.
“The ‘Believe’ campaign catapulted Halo 3 from an ordinary video game into a worldwide cultural phenomenon due to its ability to build an emotional rapport with the audience,” said Mary Warlick, CEO of The One Club. “The innovative stream of interactive TV, Web and cinema advertisements was an inspired approach that successfully attracted an audience beyond the typical gamer.”
View the "Believe" videos here - http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/halo3/believe/default.htm or do a YouTube search.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Web-Swingin' Wierdness
I couldn't sleep yesterday night. I kept having visions of the wallcrawler swinging through the city. What a rollercoaster rush!
Saw the movie, and played the game. Well, playing actually. I'm hooked on 'ol WebHead.
Saw the movie, and played the game. Well, playing actually. I'm hooked on 'ol WebHead.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Lapping it up
Well, my brother did what i could not. He installed Manhunt, and got it to run smoothly on the laptop. The new laptop. MY new laptop. Hehe. I feel like a 5 year old who's just discovered chocolates.
The 'top's pretty darn powerful, a whole lot better than my desktop pc. It's a PIV 1.7, with 512 ram and a 40 gig hdd. It also has a NVidia 4 graphix card, and a dvr rom/cd writer combo. Cool beans!!
It's my uncle's. He got himself a new one, and gave this to me, along with a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse along with it. It doesnt have a very long battery life, about an hour and a half, but at home i usually run it on direct power.
The 'top's pretty darn powerful, a whole lot better than my desktop pc. It's a PIV 1.7, with 512 ram and a 40 gig hdd. It also has a NVidia 4 graphix card, and a dvr rom/cd writer combo. Cool beans!!
It's my uncle's. He got himself a new one, and gave this to me, along with a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse along with it. It doesnt have a very long battery life, about an hour and a half, but at home i usually run it on direct power.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
Sunday, March 28, 2004
The good Shepard hath save us
Got through with Half Life - Opposing Forces today, and wow, i freakin' tripped on it!! It was such a lot of fun, except for the half assed ending, but still, you gotta love the guys at Valve and Gearbox. Wondering if i should play the original Half Life again, but damn, it'll take a lot of time, and i already got Warcraft III on my hands. I thing i'll skip if for now.
Man i cannot wait for Half Life 2, and i hope i get an upgrade before that.
Man i cannot wait for Half Life 2, and i hope i get an upgrade before that.
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Killing Spree!!!
Xan Kreiger ate dust today. Yes, i ran though him without giving him even a chance to fight back. Ofcourse, i used god mode for the last four challenge rounds, but that was because i'd gotten pretty bored by then. No really, it wasnt because i was getting my ass kicked, no sir, it wasnt so.
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