Oh. Oh god. Oh my god. Oh my god AWESOME.
Mechwarrior 5, maybe? I don't know if it's just an awesome CGI movie someone pumped out, or if it's an actual teaser as the title says, but this is AWESOME.
If you're not aware that I'm a major mech-and-giant-robot fan, you're obviously not a long time reader.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Having seen Transformers 2:
I'll put a few first-impressions up about the new Transformers movie, rather then an actual review or anything like that. Before I start I'll just say this: Michael Bay, I am disappoint. I say this as a fan of the original Transformers movie you made, I am genuinely disappoint (tense mistake done deliberately). There was so much potential in this movie, and it has been actively squandered. WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. FURTHER WARNING: This was written in bits and pieces, some things may be poorly written.
1. The Underworld/Matrix problem: When you're making a fictional story of any kind in any media format you're asking the audience to suspend their disbelief about the story itself, and accept the presented story as a potential event.
This is rendered impossible when you're openly changing things. You may not think we'll notice, but we do. The NEST General? Yeah, he was in the first movie in the attack on the US base which was declared to have NO SURVIVORS. Maybe this was dealt with in a comic or something, but that does not help us movie goers. All I saw when he came on screen was "Wait, he's meant to be DEAD."
This is only one of a number of things. The whole "Last of the Primes" thing, "Only a Prime can kill me"? If you're going to throw that stuff in, at least EXPLAIN what a Prime is in the movie. In the original movie it was presented that Megatron and Prime were on equal footing, now apparently Megatron is the servant of a more powerful one of Prime's predecessors? You might want to try and clarify things, because the background you added in this movie just didn't mesh with what I could glean from the original movie. It just broke the immersion.
2. In the first movie there was no problem with the humans being the primary characters, it was expected. Excessive Transformer presence would just cost WAY too much to film, plus you needed to make the main character someone we could empathize with easily and understand, I.E. A human.
However, we now KNOW who the Transformers are, and your budget is way bigger so you can have more special effects shots. To me that just screamed "More personality to the Transformers", but instead you went the opposite way. You added more Transformers, the vast majority with absolutely NO personality, and filled even more screen time with humans or - at best - human-scale transformers. Yes, I get that it's good to have enemies it's possible for the humans to defeat, but they weren't interesting.
When we shouted "We want more Transformers in our Transformers!", we weren't talking about quantity, we were talking about Quality. Even those Transformers with previously established personalities (Ironhide and Rachet) were pretty much ignored for the vast majority of the movie outside of scenes where they're shooting stuff. Then the new Autobots introduced (there were new Decepticons introduced, but since they were just dragged in to Numbers-Up the final fight, it's kinda forgivable they're not characterised) were just used to show off new cars you had access to. Who was the dude with wheeled feet and blade hands? He looked awesome, he killed a Decepticon, and he only had ONE line in the entire movie. I didn't even get his name. Ar-Cee was apparently three motorbikes, but we never saw a scrap of personality on her (P.S. Having a human sized Transformer then NOT using her for human-sized interaction? Lost opportunity, just like point 3 mentioned below).
That University guy alongside Sam and Mikhala? Drop him. I have no interest in him having panic attacks. YES, I understand that he's meant to show how most people would react in that situation so Sam is made to look all the braver, but he was annoying, in the story he was pointless. The ONLY thing he did was fail at an attempt to ground how unbelievable the events of the movie are, and point them at the ex- Sector Seven guy. If you removed him, there would be no change. In fact, the movie could potentially be improved by there being more time to add character to more Transformers.
While on this topic, I would be remiss if I did not thank you for adding Jetfire. While his role was reasonably small and his character wasn't INCREDIBLY deep, he is a good example of what the movie needed. He was a newly added Transformer with CHARACTER. It didn't take much, just a couple of scenes showing what he could do, a chance to actually talk, and a return to the screen later on to remind us of him. That's all it took, and you could have made us WANT the Transformers to win.
Final point in this... well... point. The excess of humans is felt nowhere more then in the final fight scene. It didn't feel like Transformers, it felt like US Millitary Vs Decepticons (with the Autobots making an appearance).
3. The Twins. I wouldn't harp on about the 'hilarious' antics they engaged in or the negative stereotypes, I'll summarize my dislike with this: They are a wasted opportunity.
Here we have two relatively small Transformers who have an extended sequence in the company of humans, and yet they have NO personality beyond offensive racial stereotypes. Here was a chance for some actual personality, for some actual character and historical development. Make them smart-ass characters (preferably actually AMUSING ones), but keep in mind these people have been through a civilization-destroying CIVIL WAR. They're going to be hiding scars. This was a perfect opportunity, during their traveling sequences or while they're camping out, for Sam to talk with the twins about Cybertron or the war and learn more about them. HUMANISE them, make us want the Autobots to win for reasons other then self interest. We need to want the good guys to win for more reason then simple "The bad guys will kill us if they emerge victorious."
They could have had genuine personality, so their scene opposite Devestator would be actually be interesting rather then just making me think "just get on to the proper fight". Yes, comic relief is important, but this movie went overboard with reasonably poor attempts at it. Did we need to have scenes of one dog humping another? No. It had no purpose. Did we need to have scenes of Sam getting attacked by transmogrified cutlery and his mother having a breakdown at the house? No. They could have shaved five minutes and tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars off the budget by removing those scenes, and possibly used that money/time to add to actually purposeful events in the movie.
4. The Robo-human. Yes, I know it's a "tribute" to the Pretender Transformers, but did it have ANY purpose other then trying to add a quickly forgetable "Is Sam going to cheat" subplot? (SPOILER: It turns out Sam ISN'T going to cheat on his girlfriend. There's a shocking surprise). There were a large number of things like this. Really it was just an excuse to add another hot chick to the movie, and to be honest I found her quite unappealing. If you removed that character from the movie and replaced her with, oh, I don't know, an actual FULL sized transformer, it would seem more interesting and threatening. Her presence didn't add anything to the movie, if anything it detracted. Surely if the Decepticons were capable of making their alternative forms passable as humans, they'd do it for more then Infiltrating a university they have no interest in.
Yes, I know Sam's there so they MUST have interest in it, but if you listen to the dialogue you see she's already at the University for a day or two before Sam arrives, or Sam even knows he has the McGuffin.
5. Optimus Prime power up? Really? Bay, you're moving a bit towards the side of Transformers that's complete crap. I realise the idea of silicon based life having defined 'rules' we can understand is a bit of a cop-out to reference, especially when it's shown they can alter their structure so radically, but the idea of Prime WEARING THE WEAPONS of another Transformer and suddenly becoming more powerful just seems like crap to me.
Just to add insult to injury, that final fight sequence was incredibly badly paced. Optimus comes back, the big bad evil guy teleports in, steals McGuffin, starts end of World, Optimus 'powers up', handles it in a matter of half a minute, relaxes and has a smoke. There was nothing to establish just how fearsome the Fallen WAS aside from people going on about it, and a few fuzzy smack-downs. If you MUST have Prime power up, have Prime try to handle him unaugmented first, to show just how powerful this bastard is. Having Prime suddenly come back with weapons from another robot attached and easily handle
On the topic of Prime, sometime more I want to say. His dramatic sacrifice fight scene was quite impressive to watch, but the end of it was quite poor in my view.
Prime has fought like a Demon against three or four Decepticons for a good couple of minutes to allow Sam the chance to escape. Good! Awesome! That's the Prime we know. Then he dies to a sneak attack from behind by Megatron. No, sorry but it lacks drama. Yes, it establishes that Megatron is a sneaky prick, we know that already though, so it doesn't need establishing. What would be more impressive is Prime fighting like a Demon against the Decepticons present (except Megatron) and emerging victorious but damaged, then an undamaged Megatron kicking the crap out of him. Keep in mind, in the first movie we watched a Megatron recovering from centuries of freezing kick the crap out of Prime, after tearing an Autobot in two. Megatron is meant to be TERRIFYING, the moment the Autobots saw him hanging around in the first one they started shouting about falling back
6. The Fallen is the weakest main villain I've seen in a long time. Despite Megatron seeming all subservient (friggin' MEGATRON being subservient! Actually, to get more personality out of it I would have liked to have seen more push and pull in that relationship, Megatron sees it as a partnership, Fallen disagrees, that sort of thing) the Fallen never seems like a genuine Villain. It's obvious they were going for a Darth Vader/Emperor thing, with Megatron being the Darth Vader fought so often through the series, and the Fallen being the Emperor who's so dangerous at the end. But they missed, it just felt like he wasn't DOING anything. He shows up at the end to be essentially a video-game boss fight and to show how badass Prime is. We've spent all this time supposed to be fearing Megatron, and now this rather unfearsomely designed Robot swans in with his stupid beard and we're supposed to be afraid of him?
When he was beaten (SPOILER: THE BAD GUY DIES) I feel no elation, no joy that the threat is passed. I really feel nothing like that, all I feel is disappointment.
Disappointment. I suppose that's where I'm going with ALL of these points. I was just disappointed by the movie. I had high hopes, and I was let down.
Wow, this ended up alot longer then I imagined.
1. The Underworld/Matrix problem: When you're making a fictional story of any kind in any media format you're asking the audience to suspend their disbelief about the story itself, and accept the presented story as a potential event.
This is rendered impossible when you're openly changing things. You may not think we'll notice, but we do. The NEST General? Yeah, he was in the first movie in the attack on the US base which was declared to have NO SURVIVORS. Maybe this was dealt with in a comic or something, but that does not help us movie goers. All I saw when he came on screen was "Wait, he's meant to be DEAD."
This is only one of a number of things. The whole "Last of the Primes" thing, "Only a Prime can kill me"? If you're going to throw that stuff in, at least EXPLAIN what a Prime is in the movie. In the original movie it was presented that Megatron and Prime were on equal footing, now apparently Megatron is the servant of a more powerful one of Prime's predecessors? You might want to try and clarify things, because the background you added in this movie just didn't mesh with what I could glean from the original movie. It just broke the immersion.
2. In the first movie there was no problem with the humans being the primary characters, it was expected. Excessive Transformer presence would just cost WAY too much to film, plus you needed to make the main character someone we could empathize with easily and understand, I.E. A human.
However, we now KNOW who the Transformers are, and your budget is way bigger so you can have more special effects shots. To me that just screamed "More personality to the Transformers", but instead you went the opposite way. You added more Transformers, the vast majority with absolutely NO personality, and filled even more screen time with humans or - at best - human-scale transformers. Yes, I get that it's good to have enemies it's possible for the humans to defeat, but they weren't interesting.
When we shouted "We want more Transformers in our Transformers!", we weren't talking about quantity, we were talking about Quality. Even those Transformers with previously established personalities (Ironhide and Rachet) were pretty much ignored for the vast majority of the movie outside of scenes where they're shooting stuff. Then the new Autobots introduced (there were new Decepticons introduced, but since they were just dragged in to Numbers-Up the final fight, it's kinda forgivable they're not characterised) were just used to show off new cars you had access to. Who was the dude with wheeled feet and blade hands? He looked awesome, he killed a Decepticon, and he only had ONE line in the entire movie. I didn't even get his name. Ar-Cee was apparently three motorbikes, but we never saw a scrap of personality on her (P.S. Having a human sized Transformer then NOT using her for human-sized interaction? Lost opportunity, just like point 3 mentioned below).
That University guy alongside Sam and Mikhala? Drop him. I have no interest in him having panic attacks. YES, I understand that he's meant to show how most people would react in that situation so Sam is made to look all the braver, but he was annoying, in the story he was pointless. The ONLY thing he did was fail at an attempt to ground how unbelievable the events of the movie are, and point them at the ex- Sector Seven guy. If you removed him, there would be no change. In fact, the movie could potentially be improved by there being more time to add character to more Transformers.
While on this topic, I would be remiss if I did not thank you for adding Jetfire. While his role was reasonably small and his character wasn't INCREDIBLY deep, he is a good example of what the movie needed. He was a newly added Transformer with CHARACTER. It didn't take much, just a couple of scenes showing what he could do, a chance to actually talk, and a return to the screen later on to remind us of him. That's all it took, and you could have made us WANT the Transformers to win.
Final point in this... well... point. The excess of humans is felt nowhere more then in the final fight scene. It didn't feel like Transformers, it felt like US Millitary Vs Decepticons (with the Autobots making an appearance).
3. The Twins. I wouldn't harp on about the 'hilarious' antics they engaged in or the negative stereotypes, I'll summarize my dislike with this: They are a wasted opportunity.
Here we have two relatively small Transformers who have an extended sequence in the company of humans, and yet they have NO personality beyond offensive racial stereotypes. Here was a chance for some actual personality, for some actual character and historical development. Make them smart-ass characters (preferably actually AMUSING ones), but keep in mind these people have been through a civilization-destroying CIVIL WAR. They're going to be hiding scars. This was a perfect opportunity, during their traveling sequences or while they're camping out, for Sam to talk with the twins about Cybertron or the war and learn more about them. HUMANISE them, make us want the Autobots to win for reasons other then self interest. We need to want the good guys to win for more reason then simple "The bad guys will kill us if they emerge victorious."
They could have had genuine personality, so their scene opposite Devestator would be actually be interesting rather then just making me think "just get on to the proper fight". Yes, comic relief is important, but this movie went overboard with reasonably poor attempts at it. Did we need to have scenes of one dog humping another? No. It had no purpose. Did we need to have scenes of Sam getting attacked by transmogrified cutlery and his mother having a breakdown at the house? No. They could have shaved five minutes and tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of dollars off the budget by removing those scenes, and possibly used that money/time to add to actually purposeful events in the movie.
4. The Robo-human. Yes, I know it's a "tribute" to the Pretender Transformers, but did it have ANY purpose other then trying to add a quickly forgetable "Is Sam going to cheat" subplot? (SPOILER: It turns out Sam ISN'T going to cheat on his girlfriend. There's a shocking surprise). There were a large number of things like this. Really it was just an excuse to add another hot chick to the movie, and to be honest I found her quite unappealing. If you removed that character from the movie and replaced her with, oh, I don't know, an actual FULL sized transformer, it would seem more interesting and threatening. Her presence didn't add anything to the movie, if anything it detracted. Surely if the Decepticons were capable of making their alternative forms passable as humans, they'd do it for more then Infiltrating a university they have no interest in.
Yes, I know Sam's there so they MUST have interest in it, but if you listen to the dialogue you see she's already at the University for a day or two before Sam arrives, or Sam even knows he has the McGuffin.
5. Optimus Prime power up? Really? Bay, you're moving a bit towards the side of Transformers that's complete crap. I realise the idea of silicon based life having defined 'rules' we can understand is a bit of a cop-out to reference, especially when it's shown they can alter their structure so radically, but the idea of Prime WEARING THE WEAPONS of another Transformer and suddenly becoming more powerful just seems like crap to me.
Just to add insult to injury, that final fight sequence was incredibly badly paced. Optimus comes back, the big bad evil guy teleports in, steals McGuffin, starts end of World, Optimus 'powers up', handles it in a matter of half a minute, relaxes and has a smoke. There was nothing to establish just how fearsome the Fallen WAS aside from people going on about it, and a few fuzzy smack-downs. If you MUST have Prime power up, have Prime try to handle him unaugmented first, to show just how powerful this bastard is. Having Prime suddenly come back with weapons from another robot attached and easily handle
On the topic of Prime, sometime more I want to say. His dramatic sacrifice fight scene was quite impressive to watch, but the end of it was quite poor in my view.
Prime has fought like a Demon against three or four Decepticons for a good couple of minutes to allow Sam the chance to escape. Good! Awesome! That's the Prime we know. Then he dies to a sneak attack from behind by Megatron. No, sorry but it lacks drama. Yes, it establishes that Megatron is a sneaky prick, we know that already though, so it doesn't need establishing. What would be more impressive is Prime fighting like a Demon against the Decepticons present (except Megatron) and emerging victorious but damaged, then an undamaged Megatron kicking the crap out of him. Keep in mind, in the first movie we watched a Megatron recovering from centuries of freezing kick the crap out of Prime, after tearing an Autobot in two. Megatron is meant to be TERRIFYING, the moment the Autobots saw him hanging around in the first one they started shouting about falling back
6. The Fallen is the weakest main villain I've seen in a long time. Despite Megatron seeming all subservient (friggin' MEGATRON being subservient! Actually, to get more personality out of it I would have liked to have seen more push and pull in that relationship, Megatron sees it as a partnership, Fallen disagrees, that sort of thing) the Fallen never seems like a genuine Villain. It's obvious they were going for a Darth Vader/Emperor thing, with Megatron being the Darth Vader fought so often through the series, and the Fallen being the Emperor who's so dangerous at the end. But they missed, it just felt like he wasn't DOING anything. He shows up at the end to be essentially a video-game boss fight and to show how badass Prime is. We've spent all this time supposed to be fearing Megatron, and now this rather unfearsomely designed Robot swans in with his stupid beard and we're supposed to be afraid of him?
When he was beaten (SPOILER: THE BAD GUY DIES) I feel no elation, no joy that the threat is passed. I really feel nothing like that, all I feel is disappointment.
Disappointment. I suppose that's where I'm going with ALL of these points. I was just disappointed by the movie. I had high hopes, and I was let down.
Wow, this ended up alot longer then I imagined.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
This blog is dying
Not really, it's just looking a bit emaciated after I haven't been feeding it the required number of weekly posts. I'm going to continue starving it on account that I'm a lazy prick, but for now have a short post.
JADE EMPIRE
One of the games Bioware have pumped out after I jumped heavily on their bandwagon post-Neverwinter Nights 1, and with the dubious honour of being the one I haven't played. Until NOW, that is.
Let's get one thing out of the way. The character advancement system seems... dull. Like, really, REALLY dull. There's NO meat to it, differentiating between characters isn't easy, since there are only three stats (the all-inclusive 'Body', and the rather baffling 'Mind' and 'Spirit') and the only other customisation is for martial arts styles which is more like generic upgrades. The lack of equippable weaponry and armor is sort of mind-scratchingly bewildering as well.
However, for a game with such dating graphics it's aged well. Like, REALLY well. There's a unifying artistic theme that just strikes the right note. A sort of 'Magi-punk china' feel that just draws you in and immerses you quite well. When one of the Big Bad Evil Guys (The 'Black Hand') violates the aesthetic (he looks like a black clad samurai) he stands out and seems otherworldly, but he still looks like he BELONGS. It's not like dumping a medieval Knight in the middle of a street, as anachronistic artistic styles in a game can sometimes look like.
Although I would like to see ONE RPG where your village doesn't get destroyed. Seriously, if I'm ever in a quiet harmless town and I see a protagonist walking past, I am getting the fuck out of dodge.
JADE EMPIRE
One of the games Bioware have pumped out after I jumped heavily on their bandwagon post-Neverwinter Nights 1, and with the dubious honour of being the one I haven't played. Until NOW, that is.
Let's get one thing out of the way. The character advancement system seems... dull. Like, really, REALLY dull. There's NO meat to it, differentiating between characters isn't easy, since there are only three stats (the all-inclusive 'Body', and the rather baffling 'Mind' and 'Spirit') and the only other customisation is for martial arts styles which is more like generic upgrades. The lack of equippable weaponry and armor is sort of mind-scratchingly bewildering as well.
However, for a game with such dating graphics it's aged well. Like, REALLY well. There's a unifying artistic theme that just strikes the right note. A sort of 'Magi-punk china' feel that just draws you in and immerses you quite well. When one of the Big Bad Evil Guys (The 'Black Hand') violates the aesthetic (he looks like a black clad samurai) he stands out and seems otherworldly, but he still looks like he BELONGS. It's not like dumping a medieval Knight in the middle of a street, as anachronistic artistic styles in a game can sometimes look like.
Although I would like to see ONE RPG where your village doesn't get destroyed. Seriously, if I'm ever in a quiet harmless town and I see a protagonist walking past, I am getting the fuck out of dodge.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Assassin's Creed
Well, I have been neglecting this lately, haven't I? Don't worry, this isn't all I've been neglecting. E.G. My Honours work.
As I was playing Assassin's Creed, I came to two conclusions
1. I REALLY enjoyed the 'meaningless tasks' in between Assassination missions that everyone else seemed to hate. I might just be weird, though, but I really liked having to pick-pocket information from people, punish guards taking advantage of civilians, etc. Even more fun was when I buggered it up and had to escape.
2. The more important conclusion for this blog: Assassin's Creed could be made into an AWESOME movie.
Sure, the game takes X many hours, and the movie could take up, at best, a fraction of that, but look at what the game is at it's basic level, and you'll see how much of the game would be removed from a movie. Ignoring the boring traveling scenes (they'd be montaged down, at best), for obvious reasons, let's look at what would actually BE in a movie. You'd probably end up with a movie that consists of maybe four sequences of Desmond outside the Animus, along with a couple of quick scenes inside the memories where he is getting confused as to his own identity (along with some soft science reason as to why he is 'controlling' the memories, probably using the explanation of the 'size of the fish that got away changes').
Inside the Animus there would be the initial failure scene that inspires the whole quest, of course. This would be followed by, I'd say, two assassinations, one where he lets arrogance get the best of him and he's wounded in the escape, the other where he is appropriately patient and successfully manages the assassination. In preparation for both of which he learns more about the McGuffin. This is an optimistic guess, in all likelihood the middle of the movie would be one assassination, at best, possibly even none.
The finale of the movie would have the attempted assassination of the big bad guy, that fails because he's smarter then the others involved, but eventually he's killed after a dramatic sword fight. Afterwards he finds out about the traitor using the McGuffin for his own ends inside the Assassin's group, gets the forgiveness of the dude injured in his failure and expertly assassinates the traitor after the revelation of the McGuffin's power. He probably uses the newly forgiving friend to help out (E.G. Gets the friend to wear his costume and approach the guy from the front, getting his attention, while he sneaks round back and knifes him in the bollocks).
... Man, I really want to see that movie now.
As I was playing Assassin's Creed, I came to two conclusions
1. I REALLY enjoyed the 'meaningless tasks' in between Assassination missions that everyone else seemed to hate. I might just be weird, though, but I really liked having to pick-pocket information from people, punish guards taking advantage of civilians, etc. Even more fun was when I buggered it up and had to escape.
2. The more important conclusion for this blog: Assassin's Creed could be made into an AWESOME movie.
Sure, the game takes X many hours, and the movie could take up, at best, a fraction of that, but look at what the game is at it's basic level, and you'll see how much of the game would be removed from a movie. Ignoring the boring traveling scenes (they'd be montaged down, at best), for obvious reasons, let's look at what would actually BE in a movie. You'd probably end up with a movie that consists of maybe four sequences of Desmond outside the Animus, along with a couple of quick scenes inside the memories where he is getting confused as to his own identity (along with some soft science reason as to why he is 'controlling' the memories, probably using the explanation of the 'size of the fish that got away changes').
Inside the Animus there would be the initial failure scene that inspires the whole quest, of course. This would be followed by, I'd say, two assassinations, one where he lets arrogance get the best of him and he's wounded in the escape, the other where he is appropriately patient and successfully manages the assassination. In preparation for both of which he learns more about the McGuffin. This is an optimistic guess, in all likelihood the middle of the movie would be one assassination, at best, possibly even none.
The finale of the movie would have the attempted assassination of the big bad guy, that fails because he's smarter then the others involved, but eventually he's killed after a dramatic sword fight. Afterwards he finds out about the traitor using the McGuffin for his own ends inside the Assassin's group, gets the forgiveness of the dude injured in his failure and expertly assassinates the traitor after the revelation of the McGuffin's power. He probably uses the newly forgiving friend to help out (E.G. Gets the friend to wear his costume and approach the guy from the front, getting his attention, while he sneaks round back and knifes him in the bollocks).
... Man, I really want to see that movie now.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Games free-running
Recently I've had the good fortune of playing three different games that all feature, as a... feature, really, the act of Free-running. This is basically going over and around an Urban environment at great speed by use of acrobatic activities and general agility. For all of them, this free running was a quite important selling point as it allowed rapid transit from point A to point B in an open-world sandbox. When done right, it can alternate between feeling quite relaxing and cathartic, and being a breakneck, fast paced, enjoyable gameplay addition. When done wrong it feels like the game is stretching out the little amount of gameplay present with making you run across the map to do it.
Let's discuss these games on a scale of "semi realistic free-running" to "completely bananas free-running."
Assassin's Creed: Yes. I know I'm about a bajillion miles behind the band wagon. This often happens to me, and it is yet to bother me. Alot of people criticise the repetition of the gameplay, but I'm loving it. Still, I digress from the free-running.
Assassin's Creed is the most realistic (and I believe I stretch the term in saying that) example of Free Running of the three games. Fall far enough and you will get hurt (which gets magically healed over time), you need to find genuine handholds to use to climb (albeit there are LOTS of these handholds all around the place), and it is relatively easy to misjudge a jump when pressed for time (E.G. being followed by three legions of city guard with the intent of face-stabbing you. Whether that's stabbing you in the face, or stabbing you with a face, I haven't decided)
Despite these 'restrictions', it's good fun. Leaping from one side of a street to the other, misjuding slightly and being left dangling by your fingertips from a window, clambering up and continuing on your way adds an element of risk to it all. It feels like a gameplay element rather then just another method of walking from point A to point B. Without considering it you find yourself thinking about the most efficient ways to get to your location, factoring in the speed of climbing up the side of that building versus using the handy ladder on the building across the street, which happens to lead to a hostile archer posted on the roof. It adds another factor to consider that makes the game genuinely more interesting for me.
Infamous: I admit I have only briefly played the game fully, most of my experience is linked with playing the demo (which I believe I got an impressive feel of the free-running from. It's most of what I did in the demo). This is a step along the scale from Assassin's Creed. While in Assassin's Creed you were incredibly fit and agile, none of it seemed genuinely impossible for a sufficiently athletic and trained person to do. Infamous though, has the character step across the threshhold into superhuman territory. It's appropriate, considering the subject matter IS superhuman, but it adds a certain flair to the movement.
However this does sort of work against it a little. The movement is much easier, so in my view it steps it slightly away from gameplay mechanic and moves it towards 'bothersome timeconsuming movement". However, this step is tiny at best and the movement is still incredible. You still need to think a bit (not as much as AC, however) about how you will get from point A to point B, and the game is deliberately designed to make the movement as easy and enjoyable as possible. Try jumping on a very narrow ledge and in the air nudge the movement stick slightly to one side. You'll see the game autocorrect so you land on the ledge rather then plummet. Very handy little device.
So, the final verdict of Infamous movement? Good value, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the full game.
Prototype: Aaaand collapse. To be honest I was, at times, having trouble distinguishing between Prototype and Infamous during development. Both of them had me excited, being third person action-with-RPG-elements games featuring super-powered main characters locked in a quarantined city surrounded by hostiles, both of the main characters using free-running/'Parkour' (as they specify for Prototype, a French art of moving) to get around the city scape. Prototype is on the Banana's side of the scale, exact opposite of Assassin's Creed.
Unfortunately playing Prototype so far has not excited me. It just hasn't been fun. Avoiding most of the gameplay issues and focusing specifically on the free-running, it can be boiled down to one, single issue.
It. Is. Not. Fun. It doesn't feel like a gameplay mechanic about making decisions that help you, it feels like "Hold down shoulder trigger to move". I find myself holding the shoulder trigger which puts you in 'parkour' mode constantly, never releasing the poor abused little thing. Here's an idea of how ridiculously easy the free-running is.
Hold down Parkour button, run at building, run up side of building indefinately. Seriously, that's what happens. It doesn't feel like Free-Running, it just feels... cheap. It's like I'm cheating, or something. Sure, it looks super-powered (which is the point, I know), but it doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel like an enjoyable side of the gameplay, it feels like a game mechanic you use to avoid having to think about travel.
Currently Assassin's Creed and Infamous are tying for awesome free-running. When I get Infamous I'll be able to decide which works better.
Let's discuss these games on a scale of "semi realistic free-running" to "completely bananas free-running."
Assassin's Creed: Yes. I know I'm about a bajillion miles behind the band wagon. This often happens to me, and it is yet to bother me. Alot of people criticise the repetition of the gameplay, but I'm loving it. Still, I digress from the free-running.
Assassin's Creed is the most realistic (and I believe I stretch the term in saying that) example of Free Running of the three games. Fall far enough and you will get hurt (which gets magically healed over time), you need to find genuine handholds to use to climb (albeit there are LOTS of these handholds all around the place), and it is relatively easy to misjudge a jump when pressed for time (E.G. being followed by three legions of city guard with the intent of face-stabbing you. Whether that's stabbing you in the face, or stabbing you with a face, I haven't decided)
Despite these 'restrictions', it's good fun. Leaping from one side of a street to the other, misjuding slightly and being left dangling by your fingertips from a window, clambering up and continuing on your way adds an element of risk to it all. It feels like a gameplay element rather then just another method of walking from point A to point B. Without considering it you find yourself thinking about the most efficient ways to get to your location, factoring in the speed of climbing up the side of that building versus using the handy ladder on the building across the street, which happens to lead to a hostile archer posted on the roof. It adds another factor to consider that makes the game genuinely more interesting for me.
Infamous: I admit I have only briefly played the game fully, most of my experience is linked with playing the demo (which I believe I got an impressive feel of the free-running from. It's most of what I did in the demo). This is a step along the scale from Assassin's Creed. While in Assassin's Creed you were incredibly fit and agile, none of it seemed genuinely impossible for a sufficiently athletic and trained person to do. Infamous though, has the character step across the threshhold into superhuman territory. It's appropriate, considering the subject matter IS superhuman, but it adds a certain flair to the movement.
However this does sort of work against it a little. The movement is much easier, so in my view it steps it slightly away from gameplay mechanic and moves it towards 'bothersome timeconsuming movement". However, this step is tiny at best and the movement is still incredible. You still need to think a bit (not as much as AC, however) about how you will get from point A to point B, and the game is deliberately designed to make the movement as easy and enjoyable as possible. Try jumping on a very narrow ledge and in the air nudge the movement stick slightly to one side. You'll see the game autocorrect so you land on the ledge rather then plummet. Very handy little device.
So, the final verdict of Infamous movement? Good value, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the full game.
Prototype: Aaaand collapse. To be honest I was, at times, having trouble distinguishing between Prototype and Infamous during development. Both of them had me excited, being third person action-with-RPG-elements games featuring super-powered main characters locked in a quarantined city surrounded by hostiles, both of the main characters using free-running/'Parkour' (as they specify for Prototype, a French art of moving) to get around the city scape. Prototype is on the Banana's side of the scale, exact opposite of Assassin's Creed.
Unfortunately playing Prototype so far has not excited me. It just hasn't been fun. Avoiding most of the gameplay issues and focusing specifically on the free-running, it can be boiled down to one, single issue.
It. Is. Not. Fun. It doesn't feel like a gameplay mechanic about making decisions that help you, it feels like "Hold down shoulder trigger to move". I find myself holding the shoulder trigger which puts you in 'parkour' mode constantly, never releasing the poor abused little thing. Here's an idea of how ridiculously easy the free-running is.
Hold down Parkour button, run at building, run up side of building indefinately. Seriously, that's what happens. It doesn't feel like Free-Running, it just feels... cheap. It's like I'm cheating, or something. Sure, it looks super-powered (which is the point, I know), but it doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel like an enjoyable side of the gameplay, it feels like a game mechanic you use to avoid having to think about travel.
Currently Assassin's Creed and Infamous are tying for awesome free-running. When I get Infamous I'll be able to decide which works better.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Misread excitement
God damnit I hate reading things incorrectly.
I read this as "EA combines Mythic and BioWare into making a giant robot RPG"
God. Damn. It.
I want a giant robot RPG now.
P.S. Additional: Russians are crazy.
I read this as "EA combines Mythic and BioWare into making a giant robot RPG"
God. Damn. It.
I want a giant robot RPG now.
P.S. Additional: Russians are crazy.
Monday, June 22, 2009
More SCPs
Well, I got bored. Here's another one of those SCP things I came up with while I was supposed to be working. Enjoy.
Item #: SCP-829
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedure: SCP-829 is to be kept in a 15 foot by 15 foot contained room at site █. During the regular termination cycle of local class D personnel, one individual is to be placed in 829's containment room for feeding. Two guards are to be stationed in the linked security room at all times to monitor SCP-829 for unusual activity. In the event that one of the three security cameras cease to operate, a single class D subject is to be sent into the room as a distraction while technicians replace the camera. Haste is advised in this endeavour. In the event that SCP-829 escapes, personnel are advised to find suitable hiding locations and make as little noise as possible until the danger has passed.
Description: SCP-829 appears to be a six foot tall male of approximately young-adult age. More precise figures are deemed impossible to determine due to the highly advanced degree of necrosis in SCP-829's body. It is unknown how SCP-829 maintains structural integrity or it's substantial strength, since through the many decaying holes in the subjects skin it is clear the internal organs and structures are experiencing similar decay. Every inch of SCP-829's skin looks like it is in an advanced state of rot, although no leftover skin particles have been recovered from the floor of the containment chamber, implying that the SCP is disintegrating at a molecular, or possibly even atomic level.
SCP-829 appears to be indestructable to common assaults, with its only damage coming from the above mentioned necrosis. Despite repeated attempts during the original containment process SCP-829 appears to be unaffected by fire, and even when doused in petrolium and set alight, the flames only remained present long enough for the fuel to burn away, then dissipated with no obvious damage to the SCP. Large calibre bullets fired at SCP-829 do not seem to impact it. Slow motion cameras showing the bullets ceasing to exist moments before they hit the target. Tests have currently been proposed utilising a melee bladed weapon to see if it can pierce SCP-829's skin, or if it will vanish as the bullets do.
SCP-829 possessed advanced strength, more then capable of applying blunt force powerful enough to break through its containment cell. Of greater interest is what research staff are calling its "decaying touch". If any part of it comes into contact with a human being with a functioning heartbeat, the infected area will begin to decay rapidly. This decay will not stretch beyond the location touched, but touching SCP-829 usually involves it attempting to grapple its intended food, and as such is usually fatal anyway. The use of hazmat and other protective gear either has no effect (for 'thin' protective gear) or very little, as it rips the protection off its target in order to feed. Anything thicker then three milimeters is forcibly removed.
There is no evidence of intelligence beyond that of a very basic animal. When SCP-829 is not feeding, it sits or stands quietly in it's cell, apparently dormant. If an individual enters its cell and it is not already busy feeding it will advance at a moderate walking pace on the victim and restrain them for feeding. If it has not been fed at least once in the previous 43 days (the number was established through unfortunate experimentation) it will attempt to escape from its cell by employing blunt force on the nearest wall until containment is compromised and wandering around in an apparently random pattern until a suitable target has been found. If more targets present themselves after initially feeding it will continue this pattern until no more targets are visible, at which point it will once more fall dormant. If SCP-829 is attacked by an unseen assailant it will attempt to search the area for any sign of targets.
SCP-829's senses are below average for a human being. Tests have determined it can only see things at a maximum of fifty feet away (I would attribute this to the state of decay its eyes are in, but to be honest nothing should be able to see through those eyes - Dr █████), and its sense of smell is about average for a human being. SCP-829's hearing is above average, and apparently it is capable of tracking people to a reasonable degree by sound. This is not supernatural to any extent, as it is about as proficient at this as a reasonable modern day sports-hunter. Unusually, mechanical noises do not bother SCP-829 and it has no reaction to them. For example, the sound of a stick being broken inside SCP-829's cell will attract its attention, but the same sound played through a audio-recorder will provoke no reaction at all. Despite its apparently limited intelligence, current theory is that it is working off learnt behaviour, as is the past few months it has learnt to pay attention when the door of its cell opens (this sound always occurs before feeding).
The feeding process is quite visceral. First, the target is physically restrained by SCP-829's - escape before this point is possible due to the relatively slow speed of 829's pursuit, but after being seized it is considered impossible to escape. Areas where SCP-829's skin touches the skin of its target begin to necrosize immediately, rotting at a highly advanced rate. The second stage involves 829 clamping its jaws down upon the target's neck. It is unknown if this must be done upon the neck, but that seems to be its preference. Once this occurs all systems of the target except the circulatory system and enough of the brain to keep the heart pumping seem to shut down and decay at the same advanced rate. This continues for approximately 20 minutes until the body has decayed to the point it can no longer support the circulatory system, at which point SCP-829 appears to lose interest and discard the remains, which continue their rapid decay. Any attempt to interrupt its feeding process will be ignored. Attacks upon it will be ignored, and attempts to forcibly remove from its target will either be ignored, or result in the hands of the remover suffering advanced decay.
For approximately 40 days after feeding, SCP's rate of necrosis halts, and if it has been fed more then a single human adult in those 40 days it appears to reverse very slightly. Experiments to determine how far this reversal would go were discontinued after forty class-D personnel were used with no results in sight.
SCP-829 was located in the middle of ██████ National Park. Agents were dispatched after reports filtered through of ██ unexplained disappearances in the park over the course of ██ years. SCP-829 was secured with acceptable casualties and transported to site █, where it has remained under the study of Dr █████.
Item #: SCP-829
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedure: SCP-829 is to be kept in a 15 foot by 15 foot contained room at site █. During the regular termination cycle of local class D personnel, one individual is to be placed in 829's containment room for feeding. Two guards are to be stationed in the linked security room at all times to monitor SCP-829 for unusual activity. In the event that one of the three security cameras cease to operate, a single class D subject is to be sent into the room as a distraction while technicians replace the camera. Haste is advised in this endeavour. In the event that SCP-829 escapes, personnel are advised to find suitable hiding locations and make as little noise as possible until the danger has passed.
Description: SCP-829 appears to be a six foot tall male of approximately young-adult age. More precise figures are deemed impossible to determine due to the highly advanced degree of necrosis in SCP-829's body. It is unknown how SCP-829 maintains structural integrity or it's substantial strength, since through the many decaying holes in the subjects skin it is clear the internal organs and structures are experiencing similar decay. Every inch of SCP-829's skin looks like it is in an advanced state of rot, although no leftover skin particles have been recovered from the floor of the containment chamber, implying that the SCP is disintegrating at a molecular, or possibly even atomic level.
SCP-829 appears to be indestructable to common assaults, with its only damage coming from the above mentioned necrosis. Despite repeated attempts during the original containment process SCP-829 appears to be unaffected by fire, and even when doused in petrolium and set alight, the flames only remained present long enough for the fuel to burn away, then dissipated with no obvious damage to the SCP. Large calibre bullets fired at SCP-829 do not seem to impact it. Slow motion cameras showing the bullets ceasing to exist moments before they hit the target. Tests have currently been proposed utilising a melee bladed weapon to see if it can pierce SCP-829's skin, or if it will vanish as the bullets do.
SCP-829 possessed advanced strength, more then capable of applying blunt force powerful enough to break through its containment cell. Of greater interest is what research staff are calling its "decaying touch". If any part of it comes into contact with a human being with a functioning heartbeat, the infected area will begin to decay rapidly. This decay will not stretch beyond the location touched, but touching SCP-829 usually involves it attempting to grapple its intended food, and as such is usually fatal anyway. The use of hazmat and other protective gear either has no effect (for 'thin' protective gear) or very little, as it rips the protection off its target in order to feed. Anything thicker then three milimeters is forcibly removed.
There is no evidence of intelligence beyond that of a very basic animal. When SCP-829 is not feeding, it sits or stands quietly in it's cell, apparently dormant. If an individual enters its cell and it is not already busy feeding it will advance at a moderate walking pace on the victim and restrain them for feeding. If it has not been fed at least once in the previous 43 days (the number was established through unfortunate experimentation) it will attempt to escape from its cell by employing blunt force on the nearest wall until containment is compromised and wandering around in an apparently random pattern until a suitable target has been found. If more targets present themselves after initially feeding it will continue this pattern until no more targets are visible, at which point it will once more fall dormant. If SCP-829 is attacked by an unseen assailant it will attempt to search the area for any sign of targets.
SCP-829's senses are below average for a human being. Tests have determined it can only see things at a maximum of fifty feet away (I would attribute this to the state of decay its eyes are in, but to be honest nothing should be able to see through those eyes - Dr █████), and its sense of smell is about average for a human being. SCP-829's hearing is above average, and apparently it is capable of tracking people to a reasonable degree by sound. This is not supernatural to any extent, as it is about as proficient at this as a reasonable modern day sports-hunter. Unusually, mechanical noises do not bother SCP-829 and it has no reaction to them. For example, the sound of a stick being broken inside SCP-829's cell will attract its attention, but the same sound played through a audio-recorder will provoke no reaction at all. Despite its apparently limited intelligence, current theory is that it is working off learnt behaviour, as is the past few months it has learnt to pay attention when the door of its cell opens (this sound always occurs before feeding).
The feeding process is quite visceral. First, the target is physically restrained by SCP-829's - escape before this point is possible due to the relatively slow speed of 829's pursuit, but after being seized it is considered impossible to escape. Areas where SCP-829's skin touches the skin of its target begin to necrosize immediately, rotting at a highly advanced rate. The second stage involves 829 clamping its jaws down upon the target's neck. It is unknown if this must be done upon the neck, but that seems to be its preference. Once this occurs all systems of the target except the circulatory system and enough of the brain to keep the heart pumping seem to shut down and decay at the same advanced rate. This continues for approximately 20 minutes until the body has decayed to the point it can no longer support the circulatory system, at which point SCP-829 appears to lose interest and discard the remains, which continue their rapid decay. Any attempt to interrupt its feeding process will be ignored. Attacks upon it will be ignored, and attempts to forcibly remove from its target will either be ignored, or result in the hands of the remover suffering advanced decay.
For approximately 40 days after feeding, SCP's rate of necrosis halts, and if it has been fed more then a single human adult in those 40 days it appears to reverse very slightly. Experiments to determine how far this reversal would go were discontinued after forty class-D personnel were used with no results in sight.
SCP-829 was located in the middle of ██████ National Park. Agents were dispatched after reports filtered through of ██ unexplained disappearances in the park over the course of ██ years. SCP-829 was secured with acceptable casualties and transported to site █, where it has remained under the study of Dr █████.
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