Shooters and Cliches: Are Mech(a) Games Shooters?

After watching the trailer for the new Steel Battalion, I couldn't help but notice the strange use of pseudo-WWII clothing for the tankers in control of the mechs. This strange mix prompted me to write this article that people have already predetermined their opinion on, are Mech games shooters?

Or come to think of it, are Mech games even considered real games to most sites? It's people like Gametrailers and IGN that almost every single japanese or western made mech game, that in their reviews are tossed aside as either trashy or just not fun. Me and some of my friends beg to differ that mech games (even the cheesy generic gundam ones) can be plenty fun if you like blowing stuff up with cool-looking vehicles. Is it just me or do people at IGN and Gametrailers just don't understand the general authestic that mech games bring?

How does making mech games cool any different from people wanting to play Darth Vader in a Star Wars game? I also think I went on a side-rant here....

Getting back to the topic at hand, I can see why people don't tend to call mech games straight out shooters, even though most of the games are about shooting and blowing up enemies. I know that you could kind of call Mech games a "popular niche" due to their widespread yet generic treatment. Gundam, Macross, Evangelion, and other Japanese titles show that people love a good mech story, and while most of these plots are psycho-pilot driven with horrendously driven counter-and-co cliches, getting into a mech and feeling like God is nowhere close to being overrated to the people who enjoy a good nuke-down.

And that's probably why determining the real genre for Mech games, besides just calling them mech games is somewhat of a draw. Mech games are technically a type of shooter called shoot-em-ups, due to the fact that unlike shooters that you only kill dozens of people, Mech games are all-out slay-fests that by the end of the game...you've probably depopulated a good chunk of the world (lol). That's the thing though, even though you're "the good guy", you're pretty much have created all-out and gun-ho genocide against the waves of almost endless enemies. That and while the stories set you up as being "a tactical asset", there's nothing really tactical of desolating a whole vicinity of cities or otherwise.

Probably the only real difference between mech games is how fast your mechs go, and how god-like your weapons are. Take it from me that games that feature Wing Zero from Gundam Wing, that using a special weapon from that thing could end a good string of bad guys (or in the show a whole freaking space colony). While the games talk about morals, there's nothing really moral about using a super-vehicle to blow up entire regions of the world. You can't really feel sorry for the good guys or bad guys if the only thing you both do is kill everything and anything you see lol. That and mostly all the characters are crazy or psychopathic. If the term for it is PTSD, then these guys have it "over 9000"!

I mean, the only real games known to be "typical shooters" and a bit over-the-top are Call of Duty, Id games, and Bioshock...but are they really comparable to the insanity and downright surreality of Mech games....No. And that's probably another reason why people might find appealing, is the insanity of the characters, dialogue, and situations that are a type of cheese you can't get anywhere else. Probably why IGN and GT hate the games, it's not their favorite kind of cheese.

Well, I think that's about it to be done, unless you want endless drivel.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned!

Shooters and Cliches: An Update

Now, It's been awhile since I've done a passionate post on my favorite gaming genre (or has it?), and I think it's time for a good update since quite a bit has changed in the realm of the shooter.

Now, I have played two of the Halo games, but I find it just kind of jarring that after Bungie left Microsoft to make something that isn't Halo...That the supposedly only planned "trilogy" has somehow warranted 3 more games, and a lame remake of the original.

Is Microsoft so bored and so greedy that they have to milk their own best-selling franchise? I hope these two reboots sell horribly.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3...even my clanmates who loved the original MW aren't planning on getting this since the last 3 games were nowhere close to being fun as MW1. That and with stuff like Battlefield 3, why would you want this piece of milking?

Activision in my eyes has shown me that they're more greedy than Microsoft, and from what I played of any of the the Call of Duty games...I'm amazed that even one copy was sold.

Gears of War 3; why did it take this long for Epic Games to make the game actually look good? The other two games looked like a garbage can, and had the textures overall of a garbage can...It shouldn't take the third and maybe FINAL game to actually stop being lazy with the modeling and textures!

That, and we need more anime shooters! I love realistic graphics but, After seeing gameplay of the PS2/PSP versions of Ghost in the Shell...A cel-shaded, vibrant-oozing, third or first person shooter would rock! This and while Valkyria isn't a straight-TPS, it shows that there is a market for more colorful and interesting characters in the shooter-space.

It's time we evolved and expanded the shooter genre...not going back to old trends and make my most favorite genre go sour.

That's about it for me, thanks for reading.

Theatres at War: Asian Conflicts

I was brainstorming last night about World War 3 and Vietnam/1943 Battlefields, and came to the conclusion this afternoon that these three entities could mesh well given proper development. World War 3 has always been the idea behind my flagship series if or when I become the head of my own game studio. World War 3's scale and prowless would be best defined on my "Real-G" engine ideals of promoting realistic graphics that key-movie-like.

Given this thought, most of the best gaming engines have always been pre-development using prototypes, or best yet...Premiere Titles. The frostbite engine used in Battlefield is a beast, but the "shock and awe" known as BC2 and BF3 weren't awesome looking 'til EA-DICE churned out the bugs and optimizations in the previous titles of BC1 and 1943.

This, and knowing full well that with MW3 and BF3, that the pre-modern warfare ideologies have resurfaced, now would be a good time to re-open a can of worms on building the "alpha test" of Real-G on a premire title that spans all the Asian Theatres of War; properly titled after WW3:MC-Theatres at War: Asian Conflicts.

This game is not to be as "big" as WW3, but have enough content based on the historics that the game would feel like "a real game". Numerous maps based on Japan, Korea, and Vietnam...with the idea to make the game play and look realistic enough to be a successful step in Real-G technology.

If AMD is correct that the Xbox 720 will support "Avatar-like graphics", there's nothing more useful than using such tech to bring the wonders of Asia and its environment to life. It's clear that with games like 1943 and BC2 Vietnam, that Asia is a visually-stunning place.

Now, given that this game would try to avoid stiff competition seeing how it's meant to "beta the technology", that I would prefer this premiere title not be on systems/consoles that have already been given the courtesy of having both 1943 and BC2 Vietnam.

This would include Vita, 3DS, Wii U, PC(if 1943 never comes to PC), and the successor to the PS3.

Real-G would "build" all the versions on a single scaler, but after the basic development is done each system will be optimized to use Real-G Alpha to its current potential individually.

If anything, when it comes time to develop WW3:MC, that at least TaW:AC should be a successful title technology-wise.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more ideas/articles!

Why Gameplay Matters (In Video Games Part 2)

Now, after making a post about why graphics matter, it would be foolery not to make a "part 2" post about why gameplay matters. Now, as I said before in the last rendition, I don't tend to see myself as a graphics whore, but I do love a game with awesome, fluid, and downright addicting gameplay.

Now, the only issue with having good gameplay, is that it's an opinionated term. While most people can agree more commonly what makes a game have beautiful and/or realistic graphics...Gameplay is a much more thorny area.

That is why we have an almost inexhaustable amount of "genres", similar to books, movies, and other forms of entertainment. Some people love RPGs, some people love FPSs, some people like Action/Adventure, but some people don't like all three, if not liking only one of these examples.

My brother and one of my best friends understand why I like shooters and why I find enjoyment in them, but they're not really "big" into them. Kind of like why I understand why they look RPGs, even though I don't play them much since I stink at them.

Also the fact we kind all agree on one thing, RTS games can be kind of boring since one "match" can take several hours, if not days even (it's happened to me I assure you). That and these battles of "brain and chilvary" can exhaust your mind, to the point that those countless moments can end in a very gruesome and aggravating defeat.

Now, while RTS games are the "Niche of the Niche" when it comes to video games, Fighting games are usually seen as "The popular of the popular". It's almost an elementary knowledge that most gamers (if not all) have played and/or enjoyed a good slug-fest on the countless franchises of Fighting games.

Somehow, unlike shooters and RPGs...and especially RTS games that can exhaust you after numerous battles and/or matches, somehow getting "K'Oed" just makes you more motivated to where you have to either win once, or even the amount of winnings so you still feel satisfied.

Well, that's about it for this topic. Thanks for reading.

Why Graphics Matter (In Video Games)

Now, some people might take me as to being a graphics whore, but I don't really see it that way. Usually I never try to "promote awesome graphics" in bad taste, and I usually know that some games try to rely too much on graphics and have poor gameplay.

That said, this editorial(rant) is gonna be using examples of why I think graphics do matter in a more general sense, and why sometimes when people focus too much on graphics...I rather just have good gameplay.

So why do graphics matter? Well, why not? Since the dawn of video games, some of the best video games had both good gameplay AND graphics. It's hard not to feel addicted,immersed, and downright wired to something that has the best of both worlds.

Some of these franchises include Final Fantasy, Deus Ex, Battlefield, Star Wars, Uncharted, Killzone, and other titles that have a good mesh of both important gaming aspects. That said, there are some games that look pretty, but don't play pretty. I must admit that Call of Duty, The medal of honors pre-airborne, and titles like Halo just rub me the wrong way. Even though people find delight in them (somehow), their sporatic and downright clunky moments kill most of the fun in their respective moments.

That, and even if Final Fantasy XIII is a good game all around, I can't help but feel that the battle system was one of the last things added to the overall design.

There's also the matter that having more graphics support and graphics options can lengthen the replayability of a game (at least PC-side). It's hard to really go back to an old PC game that doesn't support widescreen or any resolution that is 720p or above. Not that the gameplay stinks after a few years, but a game that can't take advantage of post-launch hardware is hard to play if it doesn't look fresh anymore (or able to take up your monitor fully).

Also, it seems technology is behind the actual resolution of video games. If anyone knows of my recent rediscovery, is that while consumer TVs have yet to hit the 4k or super-hi vision mark. That it's almost common knowledge that a single character itself in a game has a 4k texture, and here we are stuck at 1080p (while still amazing), and sadly in some areas just 720p.

720p and 1080p are still awesome to look at, but for all you know by the time we reach 4k products, that games will have been using 8k textures per model.

Now there's not really a problem with this if you think backwards, as it's always better in my opinion for games to be downscaled by tvs instead of upscaled by them. It seems a common demographic that unless your tv has a good scaler of recent (2010+) tv model, that 720p games on a 1080p model look pixelated and just...not smooth. It was not only 'til recently that my family bought a newer plasma 1080p that had a scaler that made 720p (and even 480p) look pretty awesome, and that well...made the 1080p content look realistic.

If you have seen my Deus Ex and Vietnam 1080p footage and looked at what I posted before then, there's a considerable difference, definitely when I upscaled both games to 4k (aka Original-Original in good taste).

Now, at the start of this gaming generation, people overused and abused the term "uncanny valley". A term that basically means; the closer we get to more realistic graphics, the uglier they will seem before we "get there".

Now, even my non-graphics whores will agree that, given the right techniques (like actually making better graphics), that in some ways game nowadays almost look better than reality itself. Games oozing with texture-detail and polygon counts that given at TV 720p or above...reality just looks dull.

Sure, there are games this generation that look downright ugly, but that's usually because while the graphics processing has so much potential, that the shortcuts the developers use look like everyone's face is a mugshot.

One example I would use is GTA series, while the cars and buildings are pretty nice, everyone looks like they got their face rear-ended one time or another.

Now, with all this said and done. Graphics are not the end all and be all of games, which people use this phrase to hound me about. Which I actually agree with most people. That said, graphics do help (a lot) and helps with keeping you immersed. Gameplay is more important that is true, but I'd rather play a game that has good gameplay and the people look real, than a game that has good gameplay but characters that look under-modeled.

That's it for me for now, hope you enjoyed this little rant/editorial of mine.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Preview Build) Review

So as stated before, I decided to go on a limb here and download/play the Deus Ex Preview Build. If you looked at my previous article you could get some info on a little bit of what I thought of it. Now after beating the Preview Build I would feel ultimately guilty not to review the preview build.

First off, this game is purely awesome, and it has every right to be so. The storytelling is pretty much perfect with subtle similarities to other RPGs. Pretty much this section is gonna be me comparing it to other RPGs, so don't say I didn't warned you if this part might sound like I am bashing other RPGs.

This game is almost the nemesis to it's Squenix counterpart Final Fantasy XIII. Both have amazing graphics, and awesomely rendered cutscenes, but in my opinion Deus Ex is more of a real RPG than FFXIII. Deus Ex has a better storytelling set-up, where most of the meaningful storytelling is done in-game and not in cutscenes. While this is typical for a normal RPG, I felt that Squenix for XIII packed most of the "cool scenes" of that game into cutscenes, so that you were pretty much motivated to get to the next one. In this sense Deus Ex is more comparable to all the Final Fantasies pre-XII, giving it in my opinion the justified use of Action/RPG. Kingdom Hearts didn't use turn-based, and neither did XIII, and I think it's fair that while Deus Ex uses a shooter system for combat, that the rest of the game is what you would find in other typical RPGs.

Deus Ex runs on a "moral/player" based system similar to KOTOR/Mass Effect, but is much more robust and fleshed out that you have to talk you way out of situations instead of just have the "good/bad choice" going on. I was impressed that my social skills were immensely effective, to where I was able to resolve situations without going to more illegal means.

People who fancies themselves of stealth games will find some enjoyment (albeit stressful) gameplay in Deus Ex. Like MGS, the game uses an "alarm rate" system to where there's a timer for when the baddies aren't looking for you anymore. That and the enemies have quirky was of figuring out or not figuring out if you're in the vicinity. That and you get more points for using non-lethal means such as just using CQC to takedown enemies.

That and people who finds themselves nerdy enough to consider themselves cyberpunk fans, will find similarities to the likes of Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, and maybe even the Matrix. Who honestly as a geek wouldn't be attracted to a savvy-hacking, robo-augmented, sunglasses-toting protagonist? This game while in the bowels of a niche, has plenty of appeal to people who might fancies themselves of franchises like Tron. That and the music is quite appealing for those who love "techno-orchestra" in a sense.

That and, there are always ways to complete your objectives, and in a sense this game is almost a "Stealth game on wheels". Sure, encountering the enemy might still be almost-instant death, but at least unlike MGS and some areas of Splinter Cell...you have plenty of room to work with usually to find a safe haven from enemies that have spotted you.

I have to say, the voice acting is excellent for the most part, unlike what people said about the previous two games. Adam Jensen's VA fits perfectly with the character in my opinion and brings the character almost perfectly to life.

Now, this game is completely about plot-twists, shady-characters, and conspiracy theories that are only rivaled by other cyberpunk or stealth-based games. This game takes itself pretty seriously, and unlike the more anime-renditions that get pretty cheesy, this game is able to set itself up with a pretty "Mature" tone. None of the characters really over-emphasis themselves, and you most of the time feel like you're talking to real people. This game has pretty much perfected the immersion factor in my opinion.

Also, not sure if this was doing of either Squenix or Eidos, but I find it a bit funny that the black ops character that has a "machine gun arm" is named Barrett, similar to that of Barret in FF7.

That being said, you don't really get the sense that any of the characters are "dumb". In one way or another, all the characters have some sort of intellect, which in some cases make the game just that much more interesting. Everyone is involved with something, which makes even your closest friends feel like suspects. It's hard not to feel that even your boss might be the "final bad guy", in which way the conspiracy set up of this game is pretty much successful in that respect.

Now on to some recommendations while playing this game:

SAVE OFTEN, while the autosave is pretty good...I suggest saving if you feel like the next area will be your death. SAVE DURING BATTLES AND BOSS FIGHTS...just so you don't have to repeat if you feel like you're inching closer to winning. FOCUS YOU'RE LEVELING ON HACKING, ENERGY BARS, AND STRENGTH AUGMENTATIONS...as these will affect how far you can get in the basic gameplay. DO ALL THE SIDEQUESTS...as these will give you tremendous XP which will always come in handy when getting your "augment points". If there are better ways to use you're leveling, take these recommendatoins as a grain of salt then.

Content:

This game is pretty much the essence of a purely fun game, that has plenty of motivations to keep going. It's epic-storytelling and movie-quality production values give the feeling that you're "a movie character". The Preview Build had about 6-9 hours of gameplay, and that was only the first area of the game. This game has open areas for which you can move around in, but the whole world isn't available, thus I would probably use the term "open-map" and not open world. That and the game supports DX11 on the PC-side of things, and the graphics never grow dull...in fact I think the graphics get better as the game progresses. That and I can't help but feel that Jensen's "augmented look" is what you would get if you crossed Snake with a Metal Gear.

Closing comments: This game is pretty much video game perfection, and I can see why people loved the original two games. Video Games of this austhetic don't get much better than this, if at all. It's pretty relieving that even Preview Builds of games can be uber-awesome, showcasing that developers are getting closer to making the perfect games.

In my Opinion?

Perfect 10 out of 10.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution First Impressions

I have been following this game almost since it was announced last year, and now the release month is finally upon us, I wanted to know if there was ever going to be a demo. After learning that somebody had leaked the preview build used at conventions such as E3, I decided to take on the task of the painful process of downloading about 9 parts and figuring out how to use "the crack".

I've never done something like this before, but it was one exciting ride to get my hands on the game. Now to get to the actual game...

First off, this game is definitely gruesome when Adam Jensen is forced to be augmented, as the robo-mercs who storm into Sarif HQ leave his body mutilated, even though there's no Gore...there's definitely a big hefty deposit of blood where he laid.

The game then does an also somewhat gruesome movie-quality cinematic of him being rebuilt. Even though his body was mostly intact after the lethal beating, the cinematic pretty much stated that his body was useless unless they replace his limbs with cybernetic parts.

After the cinematic, you're given your first chances at the branching dialogs. I pretty much kept my conversations to the point without trying to tick off anyone, and after a few minutes I was sent to one of Sarif's plants to attempt to save hostages from purists.

I decided to go in non-lethal, but by the end of the level I had ran out of tranquilizers, and ended up having to use lethal means besides using K.O.s.

I was able to talk the leader of the terrorists out of killing the main hostage, pretty much stating that he been duped and he should rather relocate his anger to the man who set up him up. This came after one of his "anti-cyber" members was actually very cybernetic, trying to steal info on an augmentation known as "Typhoon".

I came back with the CEO of Sarif being pretty grumpy about letting the guy go, but my branch was pretty much "The guy is no threat and probably will pay off later". Before I was sent to study the corpse of the "not so purist" hacker, I found out that one of my "doctor buddies" had been smuggling some sort of chemical out of Sarif's Labs, and thus I took it upon myself to find security tapes that could help him be "relieved" of having to stay a part of the smuggling, and so I opened up my first side quest.

I didn't get much farther than that, but the story was very intriguing and definitely makes me want to play more of the leaked build.

Now onto combat:

If anyone fancies themselves of Splinter Cell or Metal Gear, the stealth mechanics are pretty much the same. Taking down targets without being noticed is the best way to go, and enemies will alert surrounding squads if you are noticed. Also like those games, if you've been spotted it's not endorsed but it's best just to get rid of the enemies ASAP, non-lethal means first then lethal afterwards.

Also, augmentation points don't come easily, as I am still trying to figure out what kind of system the Augmentation levels use. I just know that with the preview build augmentation leveling is very spaced out and it seems trying to "max out" your character will take several hours, maybe.

That is of course expected in an RPG-style game, but I am still trying to figure it out so I can get a better idea what I'm supposed to be doing.

The graphics:

The graphics are just as good, if not better than what the trailers show, probably the funniest thing I find is some of the cutscenes are better quality than the in-game graphics, and some of them are worse than the in-game graphics due to the low-quality of some of them, but that's expected with software like Bink.

Feeling:

The game is quite immersive and quite intuitive for what it is presenting, you almost feel like you're in a movie and the overall feel of the graphics and gameplay make the experience quite addicting. That and I can't but feel a bit of fun when each takedown is shown in a "mini-cutscene".

Closing: I can definitely see why this game might be a 10/10 for some sites, as there is just not really many games like it. Unless you've come from the projects of KOTOR, Mass Effect, or some other player-based RPG, this game will seem like a needle in a haystack when it comes to finding originality among other titles.

(YAKUZA) Ryu ga Gotoku The Best Original Sound Track

After scowering the Sonixgvn site and looking through potential good OSTs, I decided to to try this one seeing how the cover and amount of composers interested me. I knew the franchise must be big if it had around 10+ composers, but I didn't know HOW big.

Let's just say my mind was already blown on the first three tracks, and continued to be blown when a composer I wasn't familiar with called Hidenori Shoji took center stage on the OST. This man's composing and multi-genre prowless could rival that of the great Keiki. I say this because he uses little to none of the "Keiki effect", he uses his own effects with masterful power.

Though some of the songs are weaker yet still good, his tracks gave me the impression that even SEGA knows how to pick some really magnificent composers and keep them "internal".

I have to say beyond those names of Nobuo, Joris, Junichi, Hitoshi, and Masashi...Shoji definitely has the skill and genius to become another instant "God of Gaming".

His tracks are powerful, easy to listen to, and just awesome stuff to rock out to. Also, seeing how the rest of the songs are usually almost as good if not still pretty good, I recommend this soundtrack to anyone who consider themselves a "rocker".

In my opinion?

9.5 out of 10.

Resistance 3 Beta: Impressions

Now I've been pretty harsh on the Resistance franchise, but I've been given ample kindness to be allowed in the Resistance 3 beta. Since I haven't turned down a beta yet, I decided to download and install said beta.

At first glance, the graphics have been vastly improved over the original demo I've played. The pallete is more vibrant (unlike IGN's statements), and the modeling is more robust and the pixelation is almost a thing of the past. If it weren't for the chimera, you wouldn't even think it was the same franchise.

That said, some of the issues still remain, and someways worse and someways better.

First off, the Half-life oozing is still there, and even more so in the beta map. If I were to be harsh on this series again, the whole beta map is filled with rocky textures, lush plants, and a whole setting that just speaks of Half-life 2 scenery. It was just as if the devs just copy and pasted and added some nice rendering effects.

On the note of rendering effects, it's hard NOT to notice the motion-blur, as running and shooting is almost nauseating if you're not too careful, I know Capcom is a fan of motion blur, but these devs take it to more extremes.

Also, just like Killzone, these devs like to toy with the players minds of being able to make heads or tails of WHO you are ACTUALLY shooting. I could have sworn that some of my deaths were teamkills, until the killcam stated otherwise. The chimera are almost purposely human-colored, with brown torsos, gloves, and a "blue jeans" that make me rage a bit. This doesnt help when you play as Chimera, since having the humans shoot at you feel very wrong since at your first person angle your model doesn't even give any indication that your the aliens.

That said, Killzone was also quite notorious with making the Helghast somewhat Identical to the ISA, to where in that beta I felt like everybody was shooting me.

It's almost as if With Sony shooters, including Uncharted 3, that the devs want to make the enemies not too similar, but similar enough to play head games with your eyes to where you throw a fit in rage.

Going on with the impressions, I have to say the weapons and controls feel much more enjoyable and too clunky. I have to actually say I actually felt like I was using a gun instead of the original Resistance where the guns felt like pop-cap replicas when it came to actually killing bad guys.

That and the graphics look pretty good, without  really noticing any aliasing at 720p.

That's about if for me, stay tuned for more impressions.