Okay, I call myself a true FPS gamer, and a follower of RPG games, but recently the current games who attempt to mix these two genres are as I quote my friend "Read: The Boring as all get-out genre".
Seriously, games like Borderlands and RAGE seem to have their redeemable qualities by emphasizing co-op and other tried and true methods...but once the title "Fallout" appears the only thing I can do is cry...or laugh...or both(?)
Seriously, the series is nothing but as I quote my friend again "A FPS on training wheels(training wheels as in the RPG-luster method of overused and abused quest-system)". The abhorent amount of glitches and bugs serves to make the game as "Shovelware cloacked as a AAA title" to the point of gamebreaking and frustration. It's amazing how Bethesda gets ANY profit or enormous sales but to the irony of the games' major selling point being a plethora of game mods(plenty of them being copyrighted material such as STAR FOX). That said the game in it's nature is nothing but a bore-fest as watching videos of players gaming it(see what I did there?) either Live or recorded....the game seems boring as if there was no tomorrow.
That said the quest system is more derivative of MMOs, and thus quoting a term coined by Will Wright, the famous creator of Spore by saying "Massively Single-player Online" with a huge world....but only yourself to play with. That said who would of thunk that by TAKING AWAY the emphasis of such of quest system out of the hands of friends who might want to share those quests together, and giving them to a single person and almost ridding them of all potential "fun value" is almost a sin within itself. Thus it seems the urgent need to "reboot" this shovelware content with such as stated "game mods" that only help to refresh gameplay and the glitchy RPG-like system that only seems to "newbify" the potential gameplay.
If anything I hope games like RAGE are a wake up call to titles like Fallout that there are and will be better interpretations of such an "FPSRPG" genre.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
MULAN: Chinese Tactical Strategy Game
After many months of pondering how to turn the famous Mulan legend into a fitting video game formot, and recently picked up interest in the Shogun 2: Total War game...I think I can finally put down some basic ideas on how the Mulan game would function.
Now first and foremost, the game doesn't HAVE to be a full-blown RTS game, but seeing how in the legend she was known to become a "general-like" figure during the war with the Huns/Mongols it would be fitting to have some kind of "super-tactical form" that was like a "tactical view" but "strategy-like control", which probably the closest game I have played to this was Bladestorm (but not as clunky/rigid). That said the size of her "unit" it's difficult to say since all modern interpretations of her legend seem to vary how many allies she had(The Disney version was basically a "large-squad-size" unit). That said how I envision it she would have at most 100 soldiers per battle to keep that "super-tactical-form" while still feeling like you have a personal feel for the battle.
That said since she "becomes" a general figure, like most strategy and tactical games it would make sense to only allow her modest amounts of troops at first, while allowing more and more as you progress and make your way up to the "100" soldier limit. Now we all know that in the stories of Mulan that she had a group of friends along the way, so it would be in my best interest to try to mimic the "Valkyria" way of fighting that you can control her friends but once they are wounded or inured they become unavailable but still participate in the story. Also like Valkryia they can serve as you will "Hero" units that provide more power to your "unit" during the expanse of the campaign.
Going back to earning more and more larger units, of course the battles will get more and more difficult since you will also be facing more and more larger ENEMY units and eventually face Shan Yu's(for lack of an original name) henchmen and himself. Now with this in mind there will be no source gathering since well...China's citizens can take care of themselves for all I care, and the legends always just "focus" on the battles similar to Shogun 2. That said there will have to be some sort of story/campaign reward/penalty system for how well you performed in battle, but not to the point of being "forced out" of being motivated to continue on. Also it would be nice to have a sort of KOTOR/Mass Effect system for the story/campaign that can "influence" your bonds with your friends and as well as ties to the Chinese/Mongol people(Basically in the way of influencing your friendships or "close up" diplomacy options).
That's pretty much what I have for now, but thanks for reading.
Brian
Now first and foremost, the game doesn't HAVE to be a full-blown RTS game, but seeing how in the legend she was known to become a "general-like" figure during the war with the Huns/Mongols it would be fitting to have some kind of "super-tactical form" that was like a "tactical view" but "strategy-like control", which probably the closest game I have played to this was Bladestorm (but not as clunky/rigid). That said the size of her "unit" it's difficult to say since all modern interpretations of her legend seem to vary how many allies she had(The Disney version was basically a "large-squad-size" unit). That said how I envision it she would have at most 100 soldiers per battle to keep that "super-tactical-form" while still feeling like you have a personal feel for the battle.
That said since she "becomes" a general figure, like most strategy and tactical games it would make sense to only allow her modest amounts of troops at first, while allowing more and more as you progress and make your way up to the "100" soldier limit. Now we all know that in the stories of Mulan that she had a group of friends along the way, so it would be in my best interest to try to mimic the "Valkyria" way of fighting that you can control her friends but once they are wounded or inured they become unavailable but still participate in the story. Also like Valkryia they can serve as you will "Hero" units that provide more power to your "unit" during the expanse of the campaign.
Going back to earning more and more larger units, of course the battles will get more and more difficult since you will also be facing more and more larger ENEMY units and eventually face Shan Yu's(for lack of an original name) henchmen and himself. Now with this in mind there will be no source gathering since well...China's citizens can take care of themselves for all I care, and the legends always just "focus" on the battles similar to Shogun 2. That said there will have to be some sort of story/campaign reward/penalty system for how well you performed in battle, but not to the point of being "forced out" of being motivated to continue on. Also it would be nice to have a sort of KOTOR/Mass Effect system for the story/campaign that can "influence" your bonds with your friends and as well as ties to the Chinese/Mongol people(Basically in the way of influencing your friendships or "close up" diplomacy options).
That's pretty much what I have for now, but thanks for reading.
Brian
Friday, January 28, 2011
What is it like to be Brian McCain?
For those who don't know me completely(I doubt even my family does) I hope I can clarify my feelings and thoughts on how I see the world. You might have seen my making long random jokes or discussing my theories, reviews, or excitement about gaming, but I feel like at this time I should pour out my whole soul to those who can bare with me.
First off, everyone who has known me at this point knows me as some sort of gamer. You may also know that I am quite picky on how high a quality I like my games...it's gotten to the point where 7 out of the 10 is the lowest I will usually ever go(exceptions being Lost Planet series). You may also know my ears are only for those composers who you can feel the instruments, emotion, and "game" through the music. People such as Hitoshi Sakimoto, Keiki Kobayashi, and few others have gotten my total respect as true composers.
For those who think I am biased and that I only enjoy FPS or Action games. I stink at RPGs, even with dedicated runthroughs I haven't even been able to finish all of my favorite RPGs. I would gladly enjoy them even more, but usually I am quite content when I am able to watch them being played. That said if I didn't find my safe haven of being able to actually acquire skill in action or FPS games I wouldn't be much of a gamer, but thanks to my first entries such as Joint Operations and BF2(still the best shooter IMO) I not only found my most "friendly" genre, but living in a military family I can flex some of my real world knowledge and interest through them.
Onward to about 2006 my addictive gaming qualities had pretty much diminished to where there are few and far between games that hold or gain my interest, and I am never one to (usually) buy into overrated or overhyped products (I am talking to you Call of Dullness). That was also the year where after watching the independent Robotech sequel film that I gained some interest in joining the animation industry, and the beautiful artwork that anime presented has made me negatively biased against 3D animations, though Toy Story is pheniminal in my opinion still.
Either or I would like a career in the entertainment industry, though I still prefer to become my dream producer job and create my old but still unused idea called WW3: MC, and others. People might be surprised(at least a little) how much feeling and thought goes through my heart and mind almost endlessly, and even though I might disagree with people on things I hope I will continue to find agreeable subjects so I can keep my friends and gain new ones.
Now and Forever....
First off, everyone who has known me at this point knows me as some sort of gamer. You may also know that I am quite picky on how high a quality I like my games...it's gotten to the point where 7 out of the 10 is the lowest I will usually ever go(exceptions being Lost Planet series). You may also know my ears are only for those composers who you can feel the instruments, emotion, and "game" through the music. People such as Hitoshi Sakimoto, Keiki Kobayashi, and few others have gotten my total respect as true composers.
For those who think I am biased and that I only enjoy FPS or Action games. I stink at RPGs, even with dedicated runthroughs I haven't even been able to finish all of my favorite RPGs. I would gladly enjoy them even more, but usually I am quite content when I am able to watch them being played. That said if I didn't find my safe haven of being able to actually acquire skill in action or FPS games I wouldn't be much of a gamer, but thanks to my first entries such as Joint Operations and BF2(still the best shooter IMO) I not only found my most "friendly" genre, but living in a military family I can flex some of my real world knowledge and interest through them.
Onward to about 2006 my addictive gaming qualities had pretty much diminished to where there are few and far between games that hold or gain my interest, and I am never one to (usually) buy into overrated or overhyped products (I am talking to you Call of Dullness). That was also the year where after watching the independent Robotech sequel film that I gained some interest in joining the animation industry, and the beautiful artwork that anime presented has made me negatively biased against 3D animations, though Toy Story is pheniminal in my opinion still.
Either or I would like a career in the entertainment industry, though I still prefer to become my dream producer job and create my old but still unused idea called WW3: MC, and others. People might be surprised(at least a little) how much feeling and thought goes through my heart and mind almost endlessly, and even though I might disagree with people on things I hope I will continue to find agreeable subjects so I can keep my friends and gain new ones.
Now and Forever....
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
CRYSIS 2 MULTIPLAYER DEMO REVIEW
After a few hours of going at the demo, I will go through with my promise of people who requested a review of the demo.
First off, 1080p or 720p...the game is gorgeous! Rendering is sharp and the only model issues present seem to be the stiff death animations(lack of Ragdoll?).
Also unlike some people who found the controls unresponsive most of the time the controls were just as fluid as they needed to be, there was only a few times where I was a bit confused why I couldn't airstomp or slide when other times the commands were functional. Though I wouldn't say this is any worse than the remaining unpatched BF 1943 game. Like any skill game USUALLY being the quickest gun in the west will give you the kill, but due to classes or if you have power mode on you could be eating some lead from a MG and somebody who's "Buffed" themselves. Though I'm not too disappointed as these features were advertised before the demo, so any frustration should not be blamed on the functional mechanics.
That said the game seems like a sped-up UE3 game where the greatest fun comes from the kill streaks, which I had the honor of Smashing and popping a group of enemy players before I was dethroned in almost an instant, which is very common in nowaday games such as Goldeneye for the Wii. This is definitely a shooter where being "in the zone" is the ultimate redeeming quality.
I would like to close that though disappointed that the demo did not reach PC or PS3 services, the extremely large download size of 1.8 GB might have to do with it since Xbox Live is one of the few gaming services that can provide a steady rate of download...I was overwhelmed at first but impressed that the 1.8 GBs only took about 10-15 minutes before I was launch-worthy.
All in all I'm still curious on the single-player content of the game and just how much "beef" this game has.
In My Opinion?
9 OUT OF 10
First off, 1080p or 720p...the game is gorgeous! Rendering is sharp and the only model issues present seem to be the stiff death animations(lack of Ragdoll?).
Also unlike some people who found the controls unresponsive most of the time the controls were just as fluid as they needed to be, there was only a few times where I was a bit confused why I couldn't airstomp or slide when other times the commands were functional. Though I wouldn't say this is any worse than the remaining unpatched BF 1943 game. Like any skill game USUALLY being the quickest gun in the west will give you the kill, but due to classes or if you have power mode on you could be eating some lead from a MG and somebody who's "Buffed" themselves. Though I'm not too disappointed as these features were advertised before the demo, so any frustration should not be blamed on the functional mechanics.
That said the game seems like a sped-up UE3 game where the greatest fun comes from the kill streaks, which I had the honor of Smashing and popping a group of enemy players before I was dethroned in almost an instant, which is very common in nowaday games such as Goldeneye for the Wii. This is definitely a shooter where being "in the zone" is the ultimate redeeming quality.
I would like to close that though disappointed that the demo did not reach PC or PS3 services, the extremely large download size of 1.8 GB might have to do with it since Xbox Live is one of the few gaming services that can provide a steady rate of download...I was overwhelmed at first but impressed that the 1.8 GBs only took about 10-15 minutes before I was launch-worthy.
All in all I'm still curious on the single-player content of the game and just how much "beef" this game has.
In My Opinion?
9 OUT OF 10
Saturday, January 22, 2011
MEDAL OF HONOR: AIRBORNE REVIEW
After purchasing this game for 12 bucks I decided to buy this game because of the advertised feature of 4-player co-op and the impressive game demo that I was able to download that was pretty fun. Though not was all it seemed.
First off, the game lacked LAN or Co-op once I put it in(also had the strange issue of getting a UK version, though luckily the game was region free) which ticked me off alot since I was really hoping to play with my family and kill some Naxis with each other. That said the next day I delved into the single-player campaign and was able to clear through the first mission(since I was kind of practicing in the demo). The next two missions were a bit more challenging, but I didn't feel too frustrating til I met with the Panzershrecks who were quite difficult to take down. Also by the time I hit the "D-Day" mission the end of it as well as the missions after that my GPU took some heavy lag due to some DX10 effects.
Things didn't go really downhill 'til I was inserted in a tank factory that even the green "Safe zones" were vulnerable from being sniped from the sky, practically forcing me to heal once I hit the ground. Also the tank factory was practically void of healing packs so dying was as easy as pie, and by the time I ran into the Nazi Stormtroopers I was practically forced to take a breather since these bad guys were a heck of a pain(I was so angry that a headache was appearin). After the breather I found the best strategy was to avoid the storm troopers and just bolt around the cannon train and ended up in victory...though I was diminished to a measly 2 out of 5 stars when the game only awards you a ribbon with 4 stars on each mission.
The last mission seemed easier until when I had to escape this super tower and curve around the sewers, little did I know the entrance to the sewer was jam-packed with stormtroopers which ended up in a deathfest...I was able to finally complete the final mission but with almost the same amount of anger and the same amount of stars.
All in all the story is phenominal as well as the graphics, but the AI and troop balancing took a big shot on the final two missions and made the the ending of the game less redeemable. That and there being practically no online players anymore the game is more of a short-term graphics fest than a long-term gameplay fest. That said I would recommend a DX11 card if you don't want your game taking a dip when it's most crucial, I was getting plenty of lag during the cannon train that made dodging Nazis stormtroopers almost impossible.
My opinion?
7.5 OUT OF 10
First off, the game lacked LAN or Co-op once I put it in(also had the strange issue of getting a UK version, though luckily the game was region free) which ticked me off alot since I was really hoping to play with my family and kill some Naxis with each other. That said the next day I delved into the single-player campaign and was able to clear through the first mission(since I was kind of practicing in the demo). The next two missions were a bit more challenging, but I didn't feel too frustrating til I met with the Panzershrecks who were quite difficult to take down. Also by the time I hit the "D-Day" mission the end of it as well as the missions after that my GPU took some heavy lag due to some DX10 effects.
Things didn't go really downhill 'til I was inserted in a tank factory that even the green "Safe zones" were vulnerable from being sniped from the sky, practically forcing me to heal once I hit the ground. Also the tank factory was practically void of healing packs so dying was as easy as pie, and by the time I ran into the Nazi Stormtroopers I was practically forced to take a breather since these bad guys were a heck of a pain(I was so angry that a headache was appearin). After the breather I found the best strategy was to avoid the storm troopers and just bolt around the cannon train and ended up in victory...though I was diminished to a measly 2 out of 5 stars when the game only awards you a ribbon with 4 stars on each mission.
The last mission seemed easier until when I had to escape this super tower and curve around the sewers, little did I know the entrance to the sewer was jam-packed with stormtroopers which ended up in a deathfest...I was able to finally complete the final mission but with almost the same amount of anger and the same amount of stars.
All in all the story is phenominal as well as the graphics, but the AI and troop balancing took a big shot on the final two missions and made the the ending of the game less redeemable. That and there being practically no online players anymore the game is more of a short-term graphics fest than a long-term gameplay fest. That said I would recommend a DX11 card if you don't want your game taking a dip when it's most crucial, I was getting plenty of lag during the cannon train that made dodging Nazis stormtroopers almost impossible.
My opinion?
7.5 OUT OF 10
Monday, January 17, 2011
Procedural Combat: The ultimate FPS game?
I have been pondering on tessellation ever since DX11 came out. The thought of making models more smooth and curved than the original model seemed interesting, but ever since I wanted to see a technology that goes beyond that.
A procedural-based rendering system that if done correctly can make the game that uses it run on practically any PC build. Spore is what introduced me to procedual rendering on making varied worlds and ecosystems that never usually got replicated after that. I was thinking more of the lines of having a basic mesh/model that sets the "standard" of what that character, building, or environment looks like at a simple level. The engine would then analyze the full performance capability of the system such as polygon, texture, compute, and other performance factors such as RAM to create the ideal "game build" your PC individually can muster using "Procedural Tessellation". That and wouldn't be nice to also have a "Procedural Server" system? I know there are some games that have a "recommendation server" system, but it would be nice that using tool such as speed or ping test sites to come up with the ideal amount of players your system or server can support.
That said, I think the first test of this technology would work best in an FPS, given how there are plenty of references to base the basic mesh/model standard on. I think it could be quite a cool tech if done correctly.
A procedural-based rendering system that if done correctly can make the game that uses it run on practically any PC build. Spore is what introduced me to procedual rendering on making varied worlds and ecosystems that never usually got replicated after that. I was thinking more of the lines of having a basic mesh/model that sets the "standard" of what that character, building, or environment looks like at a simple level. The engine would then analyze the full performance capability of the system such as polygon, texture, compute, and other performance factors such as RAM to create the ideal "game build" your PC individually can muster using "Procedural Tessellation". That and wouldn't be nice to also have a "Procedural Server" system? I know there are some games that have a "recommendation server" system, but it would be nice that using tool such as speed or ping test sites to come up with the ideal amount of players your system or server can support.
That said, I think the first test of this technology would work best in an FPS, given how there are plenty of references to base the basic mesh/model standard on. I think it could be quite a cool tech if done correctly.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Top 10 Game Engines(IMO)
1 CryEngine 3
2 MT Framework
3 Frostbite 2
4 Id Tech 5
5 UDK/UE3
6 Vicious Engine 2
7 Offset
8 Refractor
9 Source
10 C4
2 MT Framework
3 Frostbite 2
4 Id Tech 5
5 UDK/UE3
6 Vicious Engine 2
7 Offset
8 Refractor
9 Source
10 C4
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