One of the modern FPS mechanics Section 8: Prejudice uses is unlocks through advancement. Don’t get too worked up about it though, since all of the weapons and almost all of the equipment and armor mods are available at level one. You start out with the basic tools to get the job done but as you advance up you get more tools in the toolbox to specialize, surprise, and more closely match your style of play.
After the jump, unlock-o-rama by the numbers Continue reading →
World of Tanks is a hard game to categorize. It’s certainly not an FPS, since the vehicles that are your “character” evolve over the course of thousands of battles in a process that owes much to RPG’s. On the other hand, it’s not really an MMORPG, since there are never more than 29 other players on the battlefield with you. I suppose “FPS/MMORPG hybrid” is the best way to describe it, aside from the horrendous acronym that results. Whatever label you prefer, the fact is that balance is crucial in such a game. With no PvE content and a player base that’s paying close attention, World of Tanks needs to get the balance right. As of today, I’d say they’re doing a mediocre job at best.
After the jump: matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match Continue reading →
The Ice Palace is easily my favorite dungeon. Flocks of man-eating penguins line the walls. When Link enters a room, they run and toboggan toward him, their beaks yawning. At the same time, ice spirits come flailing out of the other walls like stunt men afire. The iced-over floors makes dodging a slippery giddy panic, and at times it looks a little like an episode of Benny Hill.
I’ve been playing long enough that all my instincts for solving Zelda puzzles have reactivated. Show me a configuration of blocks on the floor, a statue, two switches, and four torches, and the whole solution flashes in my mind like the crime footage in CSI. I pass effortlessly through locked doors, and descend to the depths of the Ice Palace where I pincushion the boss — a trio of floating eyes named Kholdstare — with arrows.
After the jump, I can’t stop now. Continue reading →
Back on April 21st I saw a little $0.99 game emerge on the App Store called Bunny the Zombie Slayer. Upon first inspection, it seemed like a trifecta of “cynical iPhone cash-in game” syndrome: a cute name (a riff on Buffy the Vampire Slayer), obvious similarities to other major hits (Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies), and a timed release with a major holiday theme (Easter). The klaxons went off. There was no way I was going to give these guys my dollar. These…Hothead Games…guys? Wait, the same Hothead that made the enjoyable-despite-its-flaws Deathspank and Penny Aracade games? The ones with that neat looking Horde? Ron Gilbert* Hothead? Shit. Here’s my dollar.
After the jump: Do not give these guys your dollar. Continue reading →
“Citronella Armor” is the name for the achievement you get when you complete a Swarm mission in Section 8: Prejudice without dying on Medium or Hard difficulty. You don’t actually get new armor, it unlocks some ammo type or something. I’m not too sure because I haven’t gotten it yet. Mainly because I’m trying to win missions and unlike some horde modes of recent games you can die an respawn as many times as you like.
After the jump, I don’t recommend dying repeatedly Continue reading →
The above screenshot depicts the southern deployment zone of a battle map that is so reviled that many players either suicide rush the enemy the moment the match begins or destroy themselves in a fit of pique. Its official name is Malinovka, but its legion of detractors refuses to call it anything but Campinovka. Malinovka wins every “most hated map” poll on the official forums by an order of magnitude and is the subject of endless threads calling for its deletion. I don’t agree. While it’s not my favorite battle map, I appreciate its challenges and enjoy fighting there.
After the jump: why I like going to camp Continue reading →
HUDs used to be essential. Without them, you couldn’t know how much ammo or health you had, or what the score was. Now they’re unfashionable. In the name of immersion, interface engineers do away with as much HUD as possible, or they find ways to integrate it with the game world. Now you read your ammo count off the gun’s built-in display. In Dead Space, your health gauge runs up the spine of your character’s suit.
After the jump, HUD is where the heart is Continue reading →
Just how many cat scares can an American director work into the adaptation of a Bronte novel? Find out on this week’s pocast. Then join us at the 48-minute mark for this week’s 3×3, which is a discussion of movies that take place in a single location. There is surprisingly little fighting about just what that means.
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The puzzles are mostly as good as they ever were and the co-op is a minor revelation, but the really outstanding part of Portal 2 is Wheatley. As I wrote in the review:
If there is better voice acting in a game, I haven’t heard it. [Stephen] Merchant and Portal 2 are every bit as ideal a fit of actor with writing as Jack Black in Brutal Legend, Nolan North and Emily Rose in Uncharted, and Ellen McLain in the original Portal.
Thumbs up.
Friday night we all held our collective breath as our beloved Qt3 moved servers. Hahaha ok well we probably looked at more porn or were true degenerates and browsed SA or GAF. I did hold my breath but that was because I ate 5 Guys for dinner (what do they put in those burgers). Anyway it was a small hiccup really and now we’re back and faster than ever! Front page game diaries will bury my column in mere minutes! Tieman’s posts will be ignored at lightning speeds! Qt3 knows a thing or two about this whole internet thing, fella.
Speaking of internet jokes: Sony. Am I right or what?
More on gaming’s special needs child after the jump. Continue reading →
One of the graphically impressive features of Section 8: Prejudice is the way that you spawn in multiplayer. Instead of magically materializing at a location you drop from a ship 5,000 meters (~16,000 feet, ~3 miles) onto the map. This is done in third person (pictured) so you can see all the cool streaking effects and how your battle-hardened avatar casually sways side to side as you plummet.
But it not only looks good, there’s some gameplay in this mechanic beyond a respawn timer.
After the jump, it’s not just for show Continue reading →
My new IS, a Tier 7 Soviet heavy tank, just got deployed to the southwest side of the Murovanka battle map. Murovanka is one of several maps ideally suited for defense. The northeastern deployment zone is dominated by a dense forest that provides fantastic camouflage for stationary tanks, while the southwestern zone boasts a somewhat covered ridge with a commanding view of the battlefield. Both areas also have several indestructible buildings that can shelter tanks from incoming fire.
While the countdown timer is ticking away, I advise my team not to attack the forest until the enemy herd has been somewhat thinned. Long and painful experience has conclusively demonstrated that an early attack into the teeth of their defense is certain to fail. Patience, however, is a winning strategy. Many players can’t stand to sit still for more than a few seconds, no matter how good their cover is or how much sense a defensive strategy makes. Perhaps it’s their FPS background, where “camping is for noobs” seems to be the eternal mantra, or maybe they’re just ritalin-popping adrenaline junkies. On Murovanka, the team with the largest number of impatient players is in serious trouble.
After the jump, my teammates get me killed Continue reading →
I’m in the Skull Dungeon, a warren of chambers spread throughout the bizarro world version of the Lost Woods. I’m getting frustrated. It is at this point that, had I not promised myself to complete the game, that I would quit again. It had been awhile since I played Link to the Past, so at the outset, my reasons for abandoning it in the first place seemed vague and unconvincing. We’re talking about Zelda here! My favorite games! But absence, fondness, etc. Proofing your nostalgia may always be a doomed enterprise.
After the jump, can you go home again? Continue reading →
You know it’s a slow week when the only cause for excitement is a downloadable game from the folks who made Super Stardust and Dead Nation. Outland seems like a mostly typical side-scrolling platformer, but with trippy graphics that recall Out of this World*. It’ll be available from Xbox Live on Tuesday and from the Playstation Network whenever Sony gets their act together.
Also out this week are add-ons for Operation Flashpoint and IL-2. And whatever Dark Spore is.
* If you have to ask, you’re too young to know.
For no particularly good reason, several of us will be jumping into an ancient Sony MMO called Vanguard, a relic from the ancient days of yore known as “2007”. Sign up for a free 14-day trial and post your character name here to join us. Furthermore, it’s a bonus experience point weekend, so what better time to get started than now? And stay tuned to this space for a game diary in the coming weeks.
When it was released, I reviewed Vanguard for Computer Games Magazine. It was a collaborative review written with Kelly Wand and editor Steve Bauman. They made fun of me for liking it as much as I did. Well, who’s laughing now? Okay, they are. But who’s playing again Vanguard four years later? That’s right. Me.
And lest you think Vanguard is just another MMO, well…you’re only partly right. It has a hearty combat system, varied character classes, a cool collectible card game to model diplomacy, some of the most interesting crafting you will ever do, and a pretty well realized and expansive world. And with only a single server for the US, it’s not nearly successful enough that you won’t be able to find the other people who happen to be playing.
