“This is why I bought this game.”
That LBP2 commenter’s review is one of the quick bits of description you see as today’s level loads. I have a lot of things I’d like to say about this level, but I think I’ll just let that little review do the talking for me when it comes to Essence of platform – still alive.
This afternoon I completed my Army Training. I’ve hit upon a number of military-themed community levels, including one that seems to be a target-shooting sim with a Vietnam theme. Not sure what to make of that one. This one works just fine. I’m a little confused as to why this LBP2 army training takes place exclusively at night, but I’m not going to make a fuss about that. Maybe it’s because we own the night. I don’t know. I do know that the memory of playing this simple little obstacle course is keeping my mind off of the fact that my PS3 is again refusing to connect to the Internet. It’s a sweet level. Not the one I really wanted to post–that’s coming tomorrow–but nice enough. I can’t remember the last time I got the instruction to “Drive the Hummer”. Also, I’m a sucker for ziplines.
Since I can’t resist, I’m gonna post one more shot from this level. Check out the reflection here. It’s a simple thing, but I like how it adds depth. I’m constantly struck by the sense of depth in this simple little world.
After the jump, sackpatriot Continue reading →
If you’ve got a kid, go quick and get him to help you with today’s level, Sackeratinator 3000. I’ll confess I haven’t yet gotten my own kid to help me puzzle this one out, but I fully intend to do so. Not because I can’t figure it out myself. Well…a little bit of that. I have only played seven or eight rat test cages, and one of those I’m just not getting. I need a new perspective.
But let me step back a second. Yes you read that right. Rat test cages. Basically in this level you allow yourself to be transformed from sack to rat by a lab scientist. He promises to turn you back to sack once you work through his lab tests. The only real problem with the level is the extensive prologue section about the lab doctor and riding an elevator and blah blah blah. I’m sure I’ll be able to skip it next time I play the level, but I hate skipping this type of stuff first time through, so I end up resenting it if it’s tedious. It is here, but I can forgive that because the little rat test cage puzzles pleased me so. In spite of the fact that there’s one I can’t crack. I’m sure my kid will help me figure it out. In the meantime there’s plenty more to try.
What’s more, the game really does pay you the compliment of treating you like a rat. Because as far as I know, rats don’t get any pop-up tips in their little lab experiments. I like the fact that as a sack rat, neither do you.
I cannot wait to get back to this one.
To counter yesterday’s annoyance at spelling sloppiness (which seems to have since been remedied), I just want to say that I find some of the level descriptions designers use to be absolutely charming. Especially when the interesting word usements they structure are obviously the cause of language barriers, and not laziness. Today’s example:
There is no reason. Crush a lot of Sackboys of favorite mischief with the weight. Crush! Crush!
I not only find that endearing, I’m a bit touched that the level designer has bothered to translate the level description into English. Not all designers do this, and that’s fine, but I like it when they try. It’s a nice touch. Does this say something about who is playing the game? Or is it merely a comment on the fact that most of us who speak English in the U.S.A. can’t be bothered to learn other languages. I don’t know, I just like it.
Crushes Sack!! is the level in question today. I felt a little guilty about what I was doing at first, dropping huge weights on the little sack creatures below me. The fact was, however, they were shooting at me, so I had to crush them. Why were they shooting at me? There is no reason.
I’m getting to be a real sucker for these homage levels. With two exceptions. First, I don’t care for any of these community “levels” that are films. I’ve got precious little time to game, so I’d rather not spend it with your sackmartymcfly version of Back to The Future. It’s cute, but I came here to play. Second, I have yet to find a Star Wars level that is useful in any way. Furthermore, if you title your level “Dule of the Fates” I’m probably going to avoid it. Unless I’m supposed to be fighting as Charlie from The West Wing. I don’t get it. A designer puts all this time into creating a level, then spells the title of the level wrong. Come on people.
Today’s homage was pretty good, in spite of the title apostrophe weirdness (you’ll have to click the link to see what I mean). Sack of War doesn’t really play like a God of War game, but that’s okay with me. I’ve already beaten one of those games. Have I not told you that story? I beat God of War 2. On my own. Totally kicked its ass. I’m not saying that to brag or anything. Just establishing my bona fides. At any rate, aside from the overwhelming music and general harshness to Persians, this was a nice play. And a value play as well, since when you get to the end you transport over to the sequel automatically. Also, you get to ride a cyclops (pictured).
Although I did get a little nervous when I got the instruction to “Grab the cyclops and smash through the fire walls”. I haven’t heard that since my wedding night.
Thanks folks. I’m here all week.
Today’s level is called The Burning Wheel. You bounce on bounce pads in a wheel as the wheel gets faster and the pads turn to hot flaming coals and it’s really fun and–
Oh poop. I’m totally annoyed. Nothing against The Burning Wheel. It’s fine. Neat. Nifty. Bouncy. Fine. Thing is, I didn’t want to feature it today. I wanted to feature this sweet little twin-stick shooter I discovered today. It is so cool. I played it over and over again because it’s got this great mix of Asteroids and something that reminds me of Boom Blox. What’s more, I had a slightly obscure quote from a certain space opera I was going to use as the headline. I was so excited to share it with all of you. The level, not the quote. Okay, both.
But something nagged at me. These visuals…they looked familiar. So, I went looking through previous dailies and found that Tom had already posted about this level weeks ago. Crap monkeys. I’m such a dork. Oh well. I learned two things.
1. Pay attention to your friend when he recommends something.
2. All those times Tom made me play Geometry Wars really paid off.
Sigh. You’re okay Burning Wheel, but you’re no Blast Radius.
I’m not gonna lie to you. My reasons for posting this level for today are wholly superficial. First off, I love the title, which is Animal Kingdom. I love this title for reasons which have nothing to do with LPB2, but I couldn’t help jumping in just for title recognition. So I’m confessing that. Next, I got to ride Tyrannosaurus rex (pictured) and shoot a paint gun at Spinosaurus. Having a little boy has reacquainted me with dinosaurs to the point that I know far more about them than I ever knew when I was growing up, so getting to ride one in this game was pretty special. Add to that the fact that a platypus makes an appearance, and you have to avoid crocodiles and feed elephants…well, there’s a lot here.
Unfortunately the “a lot here” is in the service of basically nonexistent gameplay. The level designer tries to bribe you with a mess of community keys at the end–like I know what the hell to do with those–but by then it’s too late.
Still, I like the concept and that the designer is reaching for this epic theme park idea. Like a safari across time. Because one of the coolest things about LPB2 is that it creates a place for designers to swing for the fences. I really appreciate that.
Next time, please just give me more to do. You’ve given me the opportunity to ride my beloved Triceratops. Now…let me rock.
No. Wait! Let me just–
I can see those bubbles up there. Every time I play this level I see them up there. Every time I play this level I miss them because I choose my downward route too soon and there’s no way to get back up to them. They know this of course, as they sit up there on that ledge remaining intact. I’ll get them eventually. They task me, and I shall have them.
There’s so much to collect in this world. I don’t even know why I care. I don’t decorate anything. Not my world. Or my moon. Or whatever. I haven’t even explored what there is to decorate other than my sackboy. And now that I’ve got him suited up with a nifty warm cap and a smart hula skirt and sensible hiking boots, I’m not really interested in redecorating him either. Other than decorating, I’m not really sure what the point of all this collecting is. Nor do I care. I love collecting these stupid little bubbles and objects. What’s cool about the best of these levels is that you can see the objects you’re missing, and you get the sense that with just one more try you’ll get those bubbles you missed in that drop this time. In this way the levels echo some of what’s nifty about the story levels. So much replayability.
Today’s level, For Vanished Heights, had a fair amount of this going on and that kept me coming back. I found this one in the Highest Rated section for the month. The writing in the level’s messages was weird, as indicated by the level details:
Shrill on the wind, a maiden’s voice calls… The ephemeral world twists and shatters. The voyage begins…
That’s okay. A little clunky writing can’t hurt a level like this.
I just wish I could figure out why collecting these little bubbles–which remind me of recently uncovered ancient piranha eggs–is so addicting.
I went away from Mm Picks today after a Pac Man clone tried to lull me to sleep. You know you’re in trouble while playing a level when the little ding that indicates you earned an extra life causes you to go, “Crap!” As an alternative today, I jumped into the Highest Rated category of the community levels for the first time. This immediately paid off with Shadow of the Colossus.
What can I say, really? It’s an exciting, beautiful level. You start out riding a horse and shooting bubbles. Seems rather tame. Then…a colossus. I think I just like typing the word colossus. Colossus. See? I did it again.
Oh, you also use your grappling hook to hitch a ride with a bird. This worked very nicely. It’s a pity the hobbits didn’t have one of these things.
Reach rhymes with?
In the PBS documentary, Digital Media–New Learners Of The 21st Century, ASU professor Dr. James Paul Gee discusses how much more beneficial playing video games is for the development of the brains of our kids than is the current educational system that forces teachers to teach to the test.
Speaking of the theory of learning behind video games, Dr. Gee has this to say about the RTS:
Take Real Time Strategy games, which are the most complex video games. A game like Rise of Nations has over 350 commands. Essentially hundreds of variables interacting…you play it for hours, you run civilizations…I mean it’s more complex than what any kid would see in school. We have evolved an almost perfect way to teach these incredibly complex games.
He casts the way kids learn–and master–video games like RoN and Civilization against the way current assessment-driven education teaches kids. The latter comes up wanting. He goes on to ask why we don’t give kids a Halo test, but do insist on algebra tests.
Tina Barseghian writes about this in a recent column:
The current assessment system forces teachers to teach to the test. Video games hold out a different way of thinking about assessments: namely, that we don’t need it. Compare a student who’s taken 12 weeks of algebra classes to one who’s played the video game Halo on the most challenging setting. The algebra student must take a test to assess what he knows on the day of the test. The Halo player has mastered the skills needed to get to the final level–and that’s his ultimate goal. No need for a test in that context.
Both the video interview and the column above are worth a look. And not just because it’s cool to see Tom Noonan acting in a PBS video.
The daily levels this week, selected mainly using the Mm Picks–the picks that the Media Molecule folks find stimulating–have been interesting in how they call to mind other games. The first level made me want to buy Plants vs. Zombies. Yesterday’s level made me nostalgic for moon landing simulators, which are among the first PC games I remember playing. Today’s level made me consider my PS3 controller, drowsily, and then look over at my Xbox, which has been quiet for the last couple of weeks and is clearly in need of some attention. And deserving of it too.
It’s not that the level is bad. Not at all. Monster Pinball 2 looks great and a lot of people love it. It’s fine. I guess. If no other pinball games existed, I might keep tinkering with it. But it’s just…so…lagggggggggg–I can’t even finish that. For me it runs incredibly slow. As do the other couple of LBP2 community pinball games I tried. At some point, as I was playing them, I suddenly snapped out of it. Why mess around with substitutes, when you’ve got the real thing?
As much as I’m loving these community levels, you’ll have to excuse me for a bit. Secrets of the Deep is calling my name.
Not really much to say here. I just got addicted to Moon Lander 2, today’s level. Another level suggested by choosing the Mm Picks option. It’s so simple, yet so freaking frustrating…in just the right way. If you ever loved Lunar Lander, you’ll probably get what I mean by that. There’s a nifty gambling sensibility to the scoring here that I grew to love in a goofy giggling way, but mostly I just loved the navigating. And the utterly addictive music. I’ve heard this piece before in these levels, so I imagine it’s one of the stock pieces they make available to level designers. A bit of digging reveals it’s called “Rock Your Body Rock” by Ferry Corsten. I wish more of an effort was made to credit and highlight the music makers here. I don’t know, maybe I’m just looking in the wrong place. Whatever, I’m addicted to this level and this music is a big reason why.
Also, I just want to tell you that many Moon Landers died to bring you that screenshot.
Something is happening to me to more I play this game. Well, a couple of things. One is, I want to play this game more. When I started posting these dailies I was just popping in to try the community levels as a curiosity. I would jump on and try a few levels, take some pictures, and leave it at that. Increasingly I find that I load up LBP2 and decide to warm up with some story levels first. I tell myself I’m doing this in the name of research and background, but I’m lying to myself. I just like playing this. How else to explain why I spent half an hour this afternoon roasting (blowing up) marshmallows?
The other thing that’s happening is that playing these community levels is piquing my interest in other games. Games completely unrelated to LBP2. I really did not expect that. I like it.
I found today’s level by using Mm Picks in the community section. These are picks the folks at Media Molecule have played and “deemed awesome”. My mileage varied. I’ll talk about that later in the week. For now I want to talk about how playing today’s level, Plants vs Zombots, made me want to go shopping. It’s a simple story. I’ve seen friends play the game. I’ve read reviews. I’ve heard gushing. I’ve shied away from it because I think I suck at strategy. Then I landed in this little user generated homage to the game…and I got it. Now I want to buy it. This LBP community is so rich. It’s not just variations on a sackboy theme. It’s so much more than that. I’m finally understanding why Tom gently recommended introducing my first-grader, who isn’t into gaming yet, to this game. Creativity abounds in this place.
I’d say more, but I’ve got some shopping to do.
Simon Pegg will not be amused. Meh. Eff that guy. I’m fine with fast zombies. Speed is not the problem with the zombies in today’s level, Zombie land! Part: 2, and its sister levels. I died a lot because of their speed (pictured), but that’s to be expected. At least I wasn’t infected. No, the problem with these zombies is that they are spawn campers. Jerks. If you’re not careful you can lead them right to your little spawn portal and if you die, there they congregate and kill you over and over and over again as you spawn. Which I have to admit, is pretty funny.
After the jump, the cool and the not cool Continue reading →
As Tom suggested, we’re leaving behind the random Lucky Dip levels for these dailies. At least for awhile. We’re playing the story in LBP2 a bit more, and dabbling in a bit of co-op. These things–along with the helpful direction of our friends–are guiding us as we choose community levels going forward.
Except for this one, where I’m cheating just a little bit.
After the jump, a loophole too far Continue reading →
