Previously I had been playing Serious Sam 3 and noticed that I was suffering some motion sickness. Normally this hardly ever happens, but for some reason it was kicking my ass…and it was only this title. Why?
These videos (2 parts) gave a rather eloquent explanation:
Thankfully, Serious Sam 3 was kind enough to provide a setting to change the FOV. Now I no longer feel like I’m going to paint my walls a different colour.
I'm...so...ronery
LIMBO‘s appeal is not to draw gamers in with fancy graphics, classy voice acting, or even a complex storyline. LIMBO strengths lie in its atmosphere and simplicity.
LIMBO‘s colour palette matches its mood. Silhouettes and shades of grey belie a hint of the character’s surroundings – the spindly legs of a giant spider, the barest hint of a pit of spikes, the outline of a child hanging from a rope. The shadows and lack of visibility serve as the game’s natural hazards – traps and ambushes are not apparent until the very last minute, such as when you slide down a hill only to land in a pit of water obscured by black shadows.
It’s also surprisingly violent. For a no man’s land between the land of the living and the realm of the dead, there’s a lot of maiming and impaling going on. Traps can skewer and decapitate, and enemies can impale and toss corpses aside. Limbs are torn off. One insect in particular can latch onto your character’s head and act as a parasite, controlling your body to move in one direction or the other.
The game’s simplicity is reflected in its controls: left, right, jump, and interact. There is none of Braid‘s time-warping elements, nor any of Shadow Complex‘s gunplay or ability juggling. Your only weapons are your ability to solve puzzles and turn traps against those that wish to see you dead. In a sense, it underscores the vulnerability of your character – he is a little boy that wakes up in a world inhabited by sadistic children and killer insects. He isn’t fortunate enough to have any special powers or weapons that he can use. He can’t even swim. He’s simply avoiding death as best he can.
Perhaps that is one of the game’s shortcomings – the game’s simplicity limits the game to pure puzzle solving, all set in a macabre setting. At full RRP, it strains to sustain its appeal. Obscuring hazards in the game world feels overused and acts only as an uninspired means to add an edge to puzzles or to frustrate players thereby breaking up the monotony of puzzle-solving. Death doesn’t bring any lasting negative effects; respawns are close to the point of death and it turns into an exercise where the player must memorise the details of the current hazard, rather than learn from the experiences and applying the knowledge to future traps. Demon’s Souls this is not.
Regardless, there’s no denying that the game is full of character and atmosphere, and that it is a tightly executed piece of work. A good purchase for gamers looking for something minimalistic and moody.
Absorb ALL the souls.
Normally I’d dedicate more time to a game of this scope and depth, but I’m spending too much time actually playing the damned thing. There are also more than enough reviews out there that go into the nitty gritty details of it all, so I’ll be as concise as I can. This is, after all, a 5 Minute Review.
Skyrim has depth. It’s astounding exactly how much there is to see, let alone do. I’ve read accounts by elderly gamers who spend days simply wandering the hills and woods, encountering hamlets, towns and cities, surmounting alps during the day and following the streams at night. Quests soon heap up as you speak to more characters and further involve yourself in the affairs of Skyrim. Some may simply feel like fetch quests, but they run in tandem with other major quest lines, so if you happen to be in the area, you can fulfil commitments as you go. The game very rarely feels like a grind because your progression is consistent with your actions in game.
The combat system is progressive – for every successful action that occurs, you will gain experience. The more you use Heavy Armour, the more proficient you will be at using it. The more you Sneak and Pickpocket, the more those abilities will progress. Dual wielding abilities is also efficient – want to cast Flames in one hand and block melee attacks with the other? Wield a Stamina-sapping war axe in one hand and a life-leeching mace in the other? Go ahead.
The depth of Skyrim can get to the point where it becomes intimidating – where does one begin in a world where you are allowed free reign? For those gamers that need direction and clear cut instructions on what to do or where to go, they may find the whole affair frustrating.
The number of NPCs is impressive, but the voice acting may sound familiar after a while. I guess a Jarl can sound the same as a blacksmith. What truly stands out is the range of personalities you’ll come across. Maybe you’ll run into the aging orc warrior, lamenting for a glorious death. Perhaps you’ll see a farm owner, terrified to enter a fort occupied by bandits to save his captured wife. Maybe you’ll bump into a dispute between miners and brigands over a matter of unpaid taxes. Or perhaps you’ll encounter a Daedric lord, eager to end the lives of mortals on a whim. Characters have their own agendas, and will either reach out to you or twist you to their advantage (if you let them).
Skyrim‘s attention to detail is excellent. Townships and cities have their own unique feel – the cold hardened setting of Winterhall is a stark contrast to the temperate, sunny disposition of Whiterun. Dungeons range from Nord catacombs to underground Dwarven manufactorums. The land is peppered with wild bears and wolves, mages attempting to perform rituals in clearings, and the occassional dragon circling overhead. The presentation as a whole is amazing, and also scales rather well on mid-range hardware.
However, the game is not without its faults and shortcomings – bugs and glitches will create immovable NPCs, broken animations, bizarre physics and unfinishable quests. The good news is that these are either fixable or able to be ignored, but it does kill the immersion somewhat when a dragon you’re attacking suddenly starts floating through the air, and then you’re unable to absorb its soul after killing it.
The first few steps for an early level character can be tedious, too – it’s not quite at the same level as hacking at a dungeon rat with a bone for 5 minutes in a tutorial, but it can be intimidating to be sent flying into the air by a Giant’s club or attempting to perform a quest against a legion of Redguard warriors. In a way, it makes sense – scaling enemies with a player’s level offers no sense of advancement, and there is satisfaction in building up a character that can take on a pack of bears with a few swings of a warhammer.
I have barely scratched the surface in this review, because that would be a disservice to you, dear reader. It’s one thing to go on about Skyrim‘s world, and another to become a part of it. If you’re interested in getting lost in a world for a good 50 hours or so, you will find that $1.20 an hour is a pretty good investment.
I hate admitting stuff like this, but it’s true. I’m not a great Battlefield player. There are shining moments where I’m like a harbinger of death, raining hot lead on the oppressors, but most of the time I’m doing more harm than good. I feel like my ammo boxes are filled with scorpions and my guns are firing blanks.
I guess the best way to get better is to take a step back, examine one’s mistakes and really analyse what’s going wrong. So why, exactly, do I suck at this shit?
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I'm 41 years old.
Bastion is an interesting product. Its price point is highly competitive for what is on offer – strong narration; simple, effective gameplay; and some truly beautiful art direction. It’s a great little distraction that will make waiting for the next AAA release that much shorter.
The story of Bastion is as much unknown to the protagonist as it is to the player – a boy soldier wakes up to a destroyed world caused by an apocalyptic event known as the Calamity. After finding a sanctuary known as the Bastion, the boy aims to find as many survivors as he can and complete the construction of the Bastion using items in the game’s world.
One thing that is immediately apparent about Bastion is its presentation. Bright, vibrant colour palettes and interesting character design are prevalent; both are a little reminiscent of Braid and a welcome change from the brown and beige sand dunes of modern day shooters. The quasi-Japanese style of big eyes and androgynous-looking characters gives the impression of a Japanese artist’s hand at work, and it adds a sense of other-worldliness that few other games can match.
The world of Bastion is brief, yet it belies a sense of depth that drips snippets of insight and information into the world. A velvet-voiced narrator with a subtle Southern drawl tells of various factions and groups, of conflicts and wars between different races. Settings are nicely varied and are literally constructed on the fly – paths are not immediately apparent until one walks in its general direction. Levels are short and brief, which can dull the experience, but it’s an alternative to constant quicksaves or slogging to the next checkpoint.
Steampunk technology and sorcery combine to offer to variety of items and weapons. Simple weapons such as sledgehammers and pikes complement more intricate tools such as the Fang Repeater and the Galleon Mortar, which are all upgradeable and have their own special abilities. Ales and wines offer persistent buffs to boost combat effectiveness. Certain idols can be activated to provide more challenging combat (and subsequently a higher XP and currency payback). The customisation and variation is not endlessly deep – this is not Skyrim – but there is enough variation to address most playing styles, and possibly even encourage replay.
The only real drawback I found with the game was the controls – using ranged weapons such as the Fang Repeater required me to aim slightly off-target when using the mouse, as opposed to auto-aiming with a controller. Contrarily, attempting to aim a weapon with precision using an analogue stick is far less accurate than pinpointing a target with the mouse and leading as necessary.
Bastion is excellent value for money if you need to kill some time between releases. It’s visually appealing and fun to play if you’re not looking for anything too deep or engaging. Well worth the asking price, especially if it’s on sale.
(Also, I’m pretty sure the game’s narrator can impregnate women with his voice.)
Honey, I'm home.
Yeah, yeah. It’s been out for a while, but better late than never, I figure.
Click the image or click here to check it out.
One thing I liked about Metal Gear Solid 4 was the PMC conflicts. Rather than maintain free standing armies, countries would simply employ the services of these companies and have them wage war on their behalf. Konami decided to take this one step further and make it into what I think is a pretty badass game.
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