Spoiled for Choice

Every time I sit down at my console I'm faced with a choice. African dystopia, prismatic fantasy realm or post-apocalyptic wasteland. Not an easy choice by any means. Rarely have I been presented with such a vast wealth of awesome games to occupy what little free time I have left these days. As difficult a choice it may be, I'm certainly glad for it.

Obviously, there are a lot of really worthwhile games out there right now. Between Fable, Fallout and Far Cry I hardly have time for any other letters of the alphabet. With Mirrors Edge, End War and Left 4 Dead coming soon, I don't think I'll need another game until maybe this time next year.

We've certainly had quite the year so far. It's been said that 2007 was the greatest year for gaming but 2008 seems a more likely choice for the top of any arbitrary list. But are having so many good games so soon really that great?

Sure, on the surface, it's great. Then you realize that you bought the three largest games released in recent years. Each one capable of delivering at least 12 hours of gameplay, at least two of them capable of more than twenty. This is the conundrum I found myself in.

Having bought Fable 2 and been given Far Cry 2, I decided that because of my long history with the series and my unbridled passion for apocalyptic chaos, Fallout 3 would be the natural choice. Now I have three games here at the office that demand my attention for far longer periods than most other games I've played recently. I am doomed to spend long hours switching from game to game, never getting really comfortable in one world before I'm running around like an idiot in the next.

Do yourself a favor. If you plan on getting more than one game at a time, get at least one that has a finite play time. Don't do what I did and go straight for the open worlds. As great as they are, it'd be nice to know about how long it will take me to complete at least one of them. As it stands, I'm lost in all three of the games I have right now. There is so much for me to do, I feel overwhelmed. I guess you really can have too much of a good thing.

Far Cry 2

On Wednesday, October 22 we received a package from Gamestop. Contained within was a copy of Far Cry 2, complete with the pre-order bonus missions and spiffy bubble wrap. Jigs were danced bubbles were popped and the sounds of an African dystopia were heard long into the night. Far Cry 2 is a game I will play for a long time, but for reasons I didn't expect.

When I first heard about Far Cry 2 I was, shall we say, a little underwhelmed by the idea of a Far Cry game set in Africa. The first game had been a solid enough shooter but left few lasting impressions. In the name of fairness, I did look into the game a little more as more material was made available. It was this trailer that first caught my eye. I wasn't sold on it yet, but I was interested.

When Ubidays hit a few months later, I watched the tech demo on Gametrailers more times than I know. I showed my wife, I showed my friends, I was hooked. Propogating fire, day and night cycles, an open world approach to missions, large array of weapons, and more than twenty hours of gameplay was more than enough to sell me on it.

Now the game is here and I have yet to feel shortchanged by any of the features. Everything I was promised, I have been given. So far, I've tried to play it quietly, sneaking into camps and past guard stations. I completed one assassination mission without alerting a single guard to my presence (not even the three I killed on the way). It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.

You'll remember I said I'll be playing Far Cry for a while for unexpected reasons. What I mean by that is that besides being enormous and nigh unrepeatable, the game makes me think about what I'm doing. It's dark stuff, and I'm finding more and more that there really is no moral high ground to speak of. I can't come out of this feeling like a hero, I can only hope to come out alive. If Joseph Conrad had made a video game, this would be it. Forget Brando and Apocalypse Now, the Jackal is a modern day Kurtz.

The game does borrow heavily from the themes and plot of Heart of Darkness, there's even a reference to it in one of the achievements. That said, the tone can be pretty weighty at times, so much so that you may -like me- stop to think things through before you complete a mission. I was tasked with killing a man said to be largely responsible for the condition of the country. Before I could bring myself to complete the mission, I researched what little I could about the man. I had to be certain I wasn't making things worse by eliminating him.

Succesion is something to worry about in Far Cry 2. Every faction has a chain of command. Kill the leader and the guy behind him steps in as the new warlord and so on down the totem pole. It's just one more thing to think about before you go shooting everything in sight.

I didn't expect to feel so lost and worried about the game's environment. That I do feel as such is a testament to how realistic and immersive the game really is. I feel the weight of each step, flinch at each hit and panic when a buddy goes down. I wish I was speaking metaphorically. I am truly grateful to in game characters that save my life from a slow painful death. I owe these people something. I begin to identify with them and even like some of them. (So you know, Josip is a very good friend to have)

If you're able to, give Far Cry 2 a shot. If you let it, the game will suck you into its volatile world and you too may feel as I do. The choices you make will stay with you, the faces of those you betray will haunt you. The scars are permanent. Trust me on this one, it's a game you won't soon forget. There's more to be said about this game, but it will have to wait.

So much to say, so little time.

Fable 2 had a lot of expectations to live up to for me and I can't say it met them all. Don't get me wrong, it's still a wonderful game but it falls short in a few crucial areas. Namely, when you join another person's game. The camera become locked in this brawler game thing that makes it nigh impossible to navigate some parts of the world. The animation is lacking here and there, and some of the basic play directions are barely there before they disappear for good.

While most of the music is very good, there are a few spots where the music is straight out of the original game, no re-recording, no remixing, just the exact same tune. Any game supposing to take place 500 years after it's predecessor loses a lot of that feel when I can remember buying plate armor to the same score.

What Fable has always had going for it was stunning art design and Fable 2 doesn't disappoint. The towns and countryside are lovingly crafted. The world may not look all that realistic, but Fable has never been about ultra realism. It's about choice and consequences.

Fable has always put a lot of thought into how your actions effect the world, unfortunately it seems being evil is the only way to really see any significant change in the world around you. If you're good, everything just becomes more idyllic than it already is. Be evil however and watch the world crumble and darken.

Fable 2 makes it much harder to be evil than I think it intended. The ever present dog is always faithful, but knowing that someone always sees the terrible things you do makes them much less fun to do. I don't know if I'll even be able to finish a game as an evil character, the guilt is so heavy.

I'm absolutely amazed with how well the game sucks you in, even with as limited a story as it has. Top notch voice acting and the before mentioned art design hold the game together very well. It's rare to see a gaslight era game, and the mix of old world tech and new is refreshing next to the glut of energy weapons and real world guns seen in most games these days.

I'm not here to write a review however, I want to talk briefly about something Fable does better than most games I know. Fable 2 is a game I can watch other people play. Most games don't allow me that kind of leeway. If I'm not playing, I'm keeping myself from telling the poor player what to do or ridiculing the poor design. Fable allows me to simply not care. What's best for that person's character is up to them and unless my advice is actively sought after, I need not interfere with their story.

What's more, watching someone play through Fable 2 can tell you a lot about someone. For instance, I learned that my wife is a far more patient person than I am when she went straight to five stars in blacksmithing before she even completed the first main quest.

If you get a chance to watch your friends, significant others, whatever play Fable 2, take it. Think of it as a social experiment. Hell, take notes and go over them after the game. I plan on quizzing my wife about her decisions when I get the chance.

What is Next-Gen? Part 2: Narrative

There is, I believe, a very specific element of gaming today that differentiates "next-gen" from, well...not. That element is narrative.

Now, that's sort of a beefy thing to say--narrative is an awfully big element and to talk about it without narrowing it down would be a huge waste of time. Thus, I'm going to touch on the two distinct types of narrative (although there are more) that I think have the greatest impact on whether of not a game is "Next-Gen" or not.


Just to recap: I think the term Next-Gen is a loaded marketing statement. However, there is a marked difference between this generation's games and the last, as has been true of every leap in technology since the inception of gaming. Up until now, the "next gen" has always been looked at comparatively in terms of graphics, for the most part.

That's no longer the case. Now, proliferation of advanced engines makes good graphics relatively easy to accomplish, compared to past generation. Thus, setting a game apart form its contemporaries requires all aspects of it to go above and beyond the call of graphical prowess. The most important of these is in-game narrative.

1. In-Game Narrative

Contrary to what you may initially think, this doesn't translate directly into "story", (although obviously it includes it--games like Metal Gear Solid 4 come immediately to mind). What I mean by in-game narrative is how well the game works as a self-contained world. Because of this, even otherwise tired ideas found in fighting games, shooters, or even sports--such as defending (insert planet, race or object) from an alien invasion, a la Space Invaders, Halo 3 or Resistance: Fall of Man--can have a compelling, self-contained narrative that drives the game and sets it above other, similar games.

This is accomplished by creating a tight mythology, using a unique visual STYLE (as well as narrative style, (meaning any in-game narration/dialogue 'fits' within the universe of the game. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, although canned, accomplishes this and sets it above many other adventure games) and connecting with the player on *some* level beyond the cause and effect of using the controller--whether through epic music, story, compelling character, or extremely satisfying gameplay, (e.g., remember the first time you did a fatality in Mortal Kombat? Crap story, okay mechanics, but HOLY FUCK DUDE I JUST PULLED YOUR SPINE OUT!!)

Thus, creating a compelling game narrative is what sets apart similar games with what has, today, become common graphical power. This is why similar games such as GTAIV, Virtua Fighter 5, and Halo (franchise) succeed where other, similar games such as Saint's Row, Dead or Alive or Haze fall short(er).



2. Player Narrative

The second narrative is even more important than the first, and it is one that gamers once knew, then lost, and are now finding again in the age of online play. That is, of course, player narrative. This means the anecdotes we tell and the memories we share from actually playing the games. For example, Malech and I spent a couple days last week exploring the Little Big Planet beta. While the game is fantastic, what I'll remember for even longer is the *time* we spent connecting through it, along with other players via the PSN. Player narrative encompasses the social aspect of gaming, the memory of playing a game--that is, making a game fun enough to play, talk about, remember, and share with others. Little Big Planet is a perfect game for this, but things like Far Cry 2's epic map creator, Warhawk's intense online battles in which rivals are eternally made and friendships forged, Halo 3's fantastic video capture / share system, and even single-player games best shared with a friend, like Silent Hill 5, fall into the realm of creating excellent player narrative.

Thus, player narrative is created when a game is forced to stand out by becoming memorable not for its visuals--if this were true, we'd all gush over Lair--but for the *experience* we had playing it. While this has always been true of gaming, it's never been as important as it is today when graphics are, largely, inconsequential in terms of overall game quality.


It is these two narratives that, today, set a "next gen" game apart from something of days past. While we experienced these narratives in fantastic classic games like Final Fantasy VII (can you believe it's been eleven years?), StarFox, and Super Mario Bros. 3, graphics were all much more important as memory anchors--that is, something that creates a lasting impression--than today. Today, gamers demand solid gold for their time, and the gold isn't found in the gloss on the screen, but in the reactions and memories of the players themselves.

Here's some sweet Street Fighter 2 HD Remix screens

Thanks to our new friends a Capcom, We've got some new screenshots of Street Fighter 2 ultra long name HD re-re-re-remix. Here we go.

What's so bad about Being a Gamer?

Come on, we've got better things to talk about than this right? Who wants to listen to some pathetic philosophic talk about the deeper meaning of "gamer" or to hear again that we aren't alone out there, we run shit, blah blah blah. Well little child ,the day of reckoning has come, this isn't about any of that. This is a philosophic talk of the more militant variety. Metaphorically speaking of course.

Let's be honest. Most of us still feel a little ashamed by our hobby. We were told or are told that video games are a waste of time. Frivolous things that, lest we anger the Gods, we ought to cast away. We still feel a little twinge of shame and or guilt when relaying tales of our gaming exploits, even to other gamers. Well, sons and daughters of the polygon, it's time we stopped feeling so damn ashamed of how we spend our time.

I play D&D every other weekend and when I come home my wife often wants to hear about the game. I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong. My wife is a gamer just like me. No hilarity has ever ensued due to a lack of understanding in our house. Anyway, I realized that I felt a little hesitant to tell her about the game even if it had gone well. I was in some kind of geek denial.

It struck me as very odd that I would feel this way. I know I feel a little strange relating stories of virtual high adventure to people that don't play games but to have this pit of guilt well up when I'm talking to my Halo playing, die rolling, DS slinging wife is the height of absurdity. I should feel no more guilty about that than getting my ass kicked by her. On a side note, if you see my wife in a ghost, run like hell, she's a nightmare.

So why did I feel ashamed? Despite what the numbers say, many people still look down on us gamers for what they perceive to be a waste of time, or even a dangerous addiction. In some cases they're absolutely right. There are plenty of people that play far too often, to the point that they bury themselves in debt, completely isolate themselves and so on. The thing is, those people don't represent gamers on a whole.

There are good and bad uses of time. It doesn't matter what the substance or medium of entertainment, someone will always take it to far. It's not a problem with the games, it's a fact of the human condition. We all take things a little too far sometimes. For some it's drug use, others it's sports, others it's video games. The reason video games get so much of the spotlight is that they're still relatively new on the scene and people are still trying to figure out how they fit into their daily lives.

Every new media is met with fear and anxiety. Rock music in the 50s, film in the early 1900s, video games today. It's a symptom of a society getting used to the idea of a new medium of entertainment. A crucial facet of the human race has always been that new ideas are met with fear, even outright rage. This is how we test the waters, how we begin to understand the issues surrounding us. The world will always fear change, but change will always come.

Those people that still believe video games ruin lives need to be shown that they cause no more harm than film, music or TV. One way to do that is to show them how passionate we are about games. Talk to them about games, especially those close to you. Find out their concerns, address them, maybe even get them to sit down and play a few. My mother-in-law is a perfect example.

Before I exposed her to games first hand, she didn't see them as works of art or beautifully constructed stories. They were, say it with me now, a waste of time. All I did was talk to her about what games meant to me, what they had done for me and what they can do for other people. Now, she sees things much differently, actively asks me about games I play, or things she's heard about the industry. It's a wonderful thing to see. In case she's reading this right now, Hi!

The biggest thing we can do as a community is probably the easiest thing to do. Stop feeling ashamed by your level 70 warrior, your kiltacular, your five star rating, your pen & paper wizard. It's time we showed the rest of the world that we have nothing to be ashamed of, that this isn't a waste of time. We are all gamers here, the only difference is what we play.

Somnambulant Gamer will have Far Cry 2!

Special thanks to Gamestop for supplying our copy. No, we didn't get it early, but it should be arriving in the mail Tuesday or Wednesday. I guess someone actually reads those e-mails after all. I never expected to be indebted to Gamestop after all the trouble I've had with them in the past. Does this make us even?