OK so it's not as bleak a thought as "Winter is coming" perhaps, but it does herald a new round of struggle and frustration and a battle against pale and dead eyed hordes- I speak of course of my fellow Christmas shoppers.
Most years I can barely summon up the kindness to pity them as they bob and weave, getting in the way and generally clogging up the place, acting as if collecting vital sacrifices of paper and faff for an unreasonable festive god.
This year is a bit different, however. I'm feeling a certain sort of sympathy for them as they worry their way from one toyshop to the next, hoping that the item they set their hearts on will be in stock, that they won't have to compromise and get something slightly sad and rubbish... A last-moment gift that screams "lack of forward planning" and whispers "You care about this person slightly less than you make out, don't you, you bastard". All of that is now my own little festive nightmare.
I've reached this point though the simple fact that I'm an uncle. I have a wonderful niece and nephew who I don't see nearly enough of and that puts me squarely in the middle of the "must not fail" present buying camp. Every uncle worth his eccentricities feels the same way around Christmas and birthdays I reckon (Aunties seem to have the festive gifts sewn up in August- how I envy them) ; He feels he must buy gifts that strike a balance between being fun and being formative and this creates a bit of a mountain to climb; how do we get that balance spot on to avoid that split second of Christmas day disappointment in the eyes of a small child?
I've decided to jettison a little of my pride and go for the figurative jugular. I have deployed a secret weapon- my mum. My mum, being the one who knows is a reliable source of inside information for those of us who are stuck where we are for most of the year. Hopefully by combining her insider knowledge and my maverick gift sourcing skills we'll make this a PGP to remember, at least until the kids lose the tags from their gifts and forget who bought them.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Phnglui mglw nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah nagl fhtagn, my dear Watson...
Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened is an odd hybrid of point-and click and first person engines which powers this adventure, as Holmes is called upon to investigate the seeming decampment of an aborigine manservant. His initial findings draw him and his long suffering whipping gentleman Dr Watson into a web of intrigue that appears to involve... well, the Elder Gods themselves.
From the notionally foggy but angular streets of London to a Swiss Asylum with a surprise inmate to the waterfronts of New Orleans the darkness is closing in. Can Holmes and Watson put a stop to the dark machinations of the old ones, or are they destined to join the ranks of Lovecraft's failed and broken heroes? Only your trusty lens, pocketknife and razor-sharp wits can keep you one step ahead of tentacled doom!
The game is a simple -perhaps too much so in places-but engaging PaC with puzzles that should challenge without frustrating (they reward lateral thinking rather than absurd logic) while the A.C. Doyle meets H.P. Lovecraft setting is certainly intriguing, if only as an exercise in trying to spot inconsistencies between this and the written subject matter.
It's clear a lot of love has gone into this title. The clue finding asides are always brief and satisfying, leaving you with a sense that you really are upon the trail of some Victorian do-badder and each footprint, scrap of cloth and bloodstain is bringing you closer to the denouement and Holmes' customary dose of boredom slaying marching powder.
As I mentioned briefly before, if this game has one weakness aside from the painfully dated visuals (which, lets be honest, count for very little if the game itself is good) it is that the puzzles are too easy. Holmes (or indeed Watson as you play as both at various stages) will always give you verbal queues as to what needs doing where, although they aren't actually giving you the solution on a plate and a little light head scratching is still on the cards.
All in all a decent game and one I strongly recommend to anyone who was able to enjoy Dark Corners of the Earth despite it's age.
From the notionally foggy but angular streets of London to a Swiss Asylum with a surprise inmate to the waterfronts of New Orleans the darkness is closing in. Can Holmes and Watson put a stop to the dark machinations of the old ones, or are they destined to join the ranks of Lovecraft's failed and broken heroes? Only your trusty lens, pocketknife and razor-sharp wits can keep you one step ahead of tentacled doom!
The game is a simple -perhaps too much so in places-but engaging PaC with puzzles that should challenge without frustrating (they reward lateral thinking rather than absurd logic) while the A.C. Doyle meets H.P. Lovecraft setting is certainly intriguing, if only as an exercise in trying to spot inconsistencies between this and the written subject matter.
It's clear a lot of love has gone into this title. The clue finding asides are always brief and satisfying, leaving you with a sense that you really are upon the trail of some Victorian do-badder and each footprint, scrap of cloth and bloodstain is bringing you closer to the denouement and Holmes' customary dose of boredom slaying marching powder.
As I mentioned briefly before, if this game has one weakness aside from the painfully dated visuals (which, lets be honest, count for very little if the game itself is good) it is that the puzzles are too easy. Holmes (or indeed Watson as you play as both at various stages) will always give you verbal queues as to what needs doing where, although they aren't actually giving you the solution on a plate and a little light head scratching is still on the cards.
All in all a decent game and one I strongly recommend to anyone who was able to enjoy Dark Corners of the Earth despite it's age.
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Sadly not quite free of taint.
A little while ago I took a slap at the demo for WH40K: Space Marine on PC. It's fair to say I predicted another weak product licence akin to Fire Warrior with little to recommend it over any other game of it's type.
Oddly enough, it turned out that I was right and wrong all at once. Right in the sense that the demo was poorly put together and that it showed off perhaps the weakest of Space Marine's features, wrong in that I fully expected all of these weaknesses to be present in the finished game.
The plot of the game is your standard Relic fare- the Ultramarines (bio-engineered troops of the Emperor of mankind) have turned up to evict some dirty, green, mockney aliens from an important forge world that just happens to also make Titans. The Space Marines don't like the idea of these greasy xeno yobs getting hold of any of these walking death contraptions, so they drop by to kick the invaders' collective teeth in.
Of course it's never that simple for the boys in blue as they push back the Orks and seemingly achieve their objective some gentlemen from the Eye of Terror show up fashionably late and throw a daemonic spanner in the works. Cue a massive battle for the soul of a world with your small squad of marines caught in the middle; will you emerge victorious or will you be just another victim of the ruinous powers?
In terms of gameplay Space Marine has borrowed much from Gears of War, the third person perspective, the aiming, the regenerating shield, the combat system; in fact the only thing it hasn't taken as inspiration is the cover system. It doesn't exist.
I mentioned this in my overview of the demo and thought it might become a real issue in large battles, but I'm happy to say I was a bit premature there. You'll still miss the ability to take cover like a frostbite victim does their toes, but you'll also come to realise that the game compensates for this lack in other ways.
For instance leaping out of danger then capitalising on the enemy's missed swing is a lot more exciting and in keeping with the Space Marine do-or-die idiom (I'm aware of the tabletop game and the PC RTS game's reliance on cover yes, but roll with it a bit). I do still wish the option to block had been included though as here melee combat without blocking feels a little like two children sloshing at each other with nerf bats until one falls over crying.
Other problems have made it over into the finished article as well. The QTE finisher system, while fun for the first twenty or so kills soon becomes a boring hindrance, being the only way you can restore your core health bar which does not share the regenerative abilities of your power armour. The fact that you can't move while executing remains a consideration and will get you killed unless you unleash it at just the right moment. Sadly the right moment is usually when you don't need the health boost.
Although some have argued that it adds a thin layer of tactical thought to the otherwise hack and slash nature of the game I have to stand by my initial thoughts here. The system needed to be thought through a bit better, perhaps having killing blows generate 360 degree knock-back?
Cover isn't the only apparent inspiration Space Marine has taken from Gears. When your squad voxes in to report or give updates you'll slow to a gentle strolling pace a la Marcus Phoenix; even the "hands free" pose is the same. It was almost enough to make me think I'd mistakenly paid money for a fan-made total conversion.
The action is brutal, albeit a bit disjointed; there are some points in the game where you'll be wondering where the millions strong green skin horde have managed to hide themselves; other times you'll be fighting through seas of the damn things. It blends melee and ranged combat well, making chopping up a small horde of enemies (using the limited but effective set of combos) while occasionally taking time out to pot-shot snipers who hang back a joy to experience.
Regarding the hardware you get to play with, it's pretty much a full house. You'll get your hands on all the signature kit like Melta Guns, Plasma Cannon, chain swords and even a skull-mashing daemon hammer. These toys are what made the game for me, as each different melee/ranged weapon combo alters the flow of battle by expanding or restricting your tactical options. It still boils down to simple two-button combos, but the effects are drastically different. For example, choosing to take along the two-handed daemon hammer will rob you of almost all your ranged power, restricting to the puny bolt pistol.
Visually the game is rugged and pleasing, faithfully reproducing the grim industrial mega-structures, post-dystopian habitations and scorched battlefields of the far future. Fans of the Dawn of War RTS series will recognise the art style used also, as familiar structures and units get a nice 3-D makeover. The player characters feel authentically chunky and macho as you stomp along dealing out the Emperor's justice from the muzzle of your chosen murder tool as befits controlling a seven foot tall ubermensch bred for war.
Enough with the gripes I think. Behind all of the niggly problems Space Marine is still a lot of fun to play. It successfully captures the atmosphere of the WH:40K universe as well as we have come to expect from Relic who really do have a lot of love for the licence. Space Marine loses ground for seeming to ape so very much of the Gears of War franchise, for having spotty combat and for being too damn empty in places, but manages to rally a bit with it's solid if predictable gameplay and decent (in form if not in implementation) multi player modes to keep you in the fight.
Oddly enough, it turned out that I was right and wrong all at once. Right in the sense that the demo was poorly put together and that it showed off perhaps the weakest of Space Marine's features, wrong in that I fully expected all of these weaknesses to be present in the finished game.
The plot of the game is your standard Relic fare- the Ultramarines (bio-engineered troops of the Emperor of mankind) have turned up to evict some dirty, green, mockney aliens from an important forge world that just happens to also make Titans. The Space Marines don't like the idea of these greasy xeno yobs getting hold of any of these walking death contraptions, so they drop by to kick the invaders' collective teeth in.
Of course it's never that simple for the boys in blue as they push back the Orks and seemingly achieve their objective some gentlemen from the Eye of Terror show up fashionably late and throw a daemonic spanner in the works. Cue a massive battle for the soul of a world with your small squad of marines caught in the middle; will you emerge victorious or will you be just another victim of the ruinous powers?
In terms of gameplay Space Marine has borrowed much from Gears of War, the third person perspective, the aiming, the regenerating shield, the combat system; in fact the only thing it hasn't taken as inspiration is the cover system. It doesn't exist.
I mentioned this in my overview of the demo and thought it might become a real issue in large battles, but I'm happy to say I was a bit premature there. You'll still miss the ability to take cover like a frostbite victim does their toes, but you'll also come to realise that the game compensates for this lack in other ways.
For instance leaping out of danger then capitalising on the enemy's missed swing is a lot more exciting and in keeping with the Space Marine do-or-die idiom (I'm aware of the tabletop game and the PC RTS game's reliance on cover yes, but roll with it a bit). I do still wish the option to block had been included though as here melee combat without blocking feels a little like two children sloshing at each other with nerf bats until one falls over crying.
Other problems have made it over into the finished article as well. The QTE finisher system, while fun for the first twenty or so kills soon becomes a boring hindrance, being the only way you can restore your core health bar which does not share the regenerative abilities of your power armour. The fact that you can't move while executing remains a consideration and will get you killed unless you unleash it at just the right moment. Sadly the right moment is usually when you don't need the health boost.
Although some have argued that it adds a thin layer of tactical thought to the otherwise hack and slash nature of the game I have to stand by my initial thoughts here. The system needed to be thought through a bit better, perhaps having killing blows generate 360 degree knock-back?
Cover isn't the only apparent inspiration Space Marine has taken from Gears. When your squad voxes in to report or give updates you'll slow to a gentle strolling pace a la Marcus Phoenix; even the "hands free" pose is the same. It was almost enough to make me think I'd mistakenly paid money for a fan-made total conversion.
The action is brutal, albeit a bit disjointed; there are some points in the game where you'll be wondering where the millions strong green skin horde have managed to hide themselves; other times you'll be fighting through seas of the damn things. It blends melee and ranged combat well, making chopping up a small horde of enemies (using the limited but effective set of combos) while occasionally taking time out to pot-shot snipers who hang back a joy to experience.
Regarding the hardware you get to play with, it's pretty much a full house. You'll get your hands on all the signature kit like Melta Guns, Plasma Cannon, chain swords and even a skull-mashing daemon hammer. These toys are what made the game for me, as each different melee/ranged weapon combo alters the flow of battle by expanding or restricting your tactical options. It still boils down to simple two-button combos, but the effects are drastically different. For example, choosing to take along the two-handed daemon hammer will rob you of almost all your ranged power, restricting to the puny bolt pistol.
Visually the game is rugged and pleasing, faithfully reproducing the grim industrial mega-structures, post-dystopian habitations and scorched battlefields of the far future. Fans of the Dawn of War RTS series will recognise the art style used also, as familiar structures and units get a nice 3-D makeover. The player characters feel authentically chunky and macho as you stomp along dealing out the Emperor's justice from the muzzle of your chosen murder tool as befits controlling a seven foot tall ubermensch bred for war.
Enough with the gripes I think. Behind all of the niggly problems Space Marine is still a lot of fun to play. It successfully captures the atmosphere of the WH:40K universe as well as we have come to expect from Relic who really do have a lot of love for the licence. Space Marine loses ground for seeming to ape so very much of the Gears of War franchise, for having spotty combat and for being too damn empty in places, but manages to rally a bit with it's solid if predictable gameplay and decent (in form if not in implementation) multi player modes to keep you in the fight.
Sunday, 18 September 2011
East Misses West.
This has been a weekend for unexpected film treats- next up Bunraku. Before I go on, take a look at the reviews on IMDB- yeah, its split between people who love it and have a set of well explained reasons and people who've decided to hate it and can't tell anyone why. What does that tell you?
Anyhow, the film's plot, such as it is, is largely dispensed with in a stylised (its done almost like a child's pop-up book) animated introduction where it is explained that humanity has had a sort of epiphany; if they carry on inventing new ways to kill eventually there wont be anyone left to press the big red buttons. All weapons above and including firearms are banned outright and sealed away, leaving mankind to revert to a weird, neo-feudal, mildly steam punk vision of the world where martial arts meet pre-gunpowder arms like bows, sword and, well, bits of wood. Official government collapses as territory is carved out by the most vicious and powerful. Perversely, changes in leadership are not decided by gang warfare, but rather by prearranged gang combat- the winner gets to take control of the territory, the loser gets to have a long dirt nap.
The area the film focuses on is under the rule of a hulking enigma known as Nicola The Woodcutter (Ron Perlman); so named for his official costume with which he hides his identity and for his predilection for murder by axe. He has never lost a battle and such is his arrogance that he occasionally delegates the chore to one of his nine ranked henchmen or "Killers".
Into this paper and pugilism nightmare step our first two protagonists; a cowboy in a world where guns are non-existent and a youthful, swordless Bushido master (Yoshi, played by Gackt Camui) whose obsession with honour despite the degeneration of the world leaves him at almost as much of a disadvantage as his western counterpart. The Drifter (A living Man With No Name cliche played by Josh Hartnett) has learned to brawl with punches as fast as gunshots and Yoshi doesn't necessarily need a sword to hold his own.
Each of them are looking for information that will lead them to the city's arch bastard ruler Nicola, whereupon they find their way to a seedy rundown bar full of generic punks, who they proceed to batter individually. Once they meet up and realise their paths are similar, they goad each other into combat, ostensibly unwilling to let a weaker person slow them down, but in reality because they each want Nicola's head themselves.
At this point we meet another protagonist- The Bartender (Woody Harrelson). This gentleman serves as a tempering force for the two youngsters, having tangled with Nicola in the past and paid heavily for it. He now secretly foments rebellion and aids the pair, all the while nursing a secret hatred of Nicola and thirsting for his downfall and the return of what was taken from him...
Stylistically this is a very difficult film to pin down- a blizzard of influences, homages and formatting tricks are thrown at you, its almost a mercy (possibly by design as the title refers to a Japanese form of puppetry that deals often with tragic story cycles- the tale isn't as important as the delivery, I feel) that the actual plot is such a cliche. I'm convinced I've spotted homages to 8-bit era video games such as Kung Fu Master and Spy Hunter among others, with the soundtrack providing familiar blips and blops. Film references include shades of Clockwork Orange (the outlandish gang costumes, society reverting to atavistic tribal values), Dark City (The setting, characterisation of Killer #2) and maybe even a few slight touches of noir for good measure.
You may be tempted to cry "pretension!" at all of this, but in today's film landscape it's nice to come across something so fresh. Take it for what it is and let yourself have fun, why don't you?
Anyhow, the film's plot, such as it is, is largely dispensed with in a stylised (its done almost like a child's pop-up book) animated introduction where it is explained that humanity has had a sort of epiphany; if they carry on inventing new ways to kill eventually there wont be anyone left to press the big red buttons. All weapons above and including firearms are banned outright and sealed away, leaving mankind to revert to a weird, neo-feudal, mildly steam punk vision of the world where martial arts meet pre-gunpowder arms like bows, sword and, well, bits of wood. Official government collapses as territory is carved out by the most vicious and powerful. Perversely, changes in leadership are not decided by gang warfare, but rather by prearranged gang combat- the winner gets to take control of the territory, the loser gets to have a long dirt nap.
The area the film focuses on is under the rule of a hulking enigma known as Nicola The Woodcutter (Ron Perlman); so named for his official costume with which he hides his identity and for his predilection for murder by axe. He has never lost a battle and such is his arrogance that he occasionally delegates the chore to one of his nine ranked henchmen or "Killers".
Into this paper and pugilism nightmare step our first two protagonists; a cowboy in a world where guns are non-existent and a youthful, swordless Bushido master (Yoshi, played by Gackt Camui) whose obsession with honour despite the degeneration of the world leaves him at almost as much of a disadvantage as his western counterpart. The Drifter (A living Man With No Name cliche played by Josh Hartnett) has learned to brawl with punches as fast as gunshots and Yoshi doesn't necessarily need a sword to hold his own.
Each of them are looking for information that will lead them to the city's arch bastard ruler Nicola, whereupon they find their way to a seedy rundown bar full of generic punks, who they proceed to batter individually. Once they meet up and realise their paths are similar, they goad each other into combat, ostensibly unwilling to let a weaker person slow them down, but in reality because they each want Nicola's head themselves.
At this point we meet another protagonist- The Bartender (Woody Harrelson). This gentleman serves as a tempering force for the two youngsters, having tangled with Nicola in the past and paid heavily for it. He now secretly foments rebellion and aids the pair, all the while nursing a secret hatred of Nicola and thirsting for his downfall and the return of what was taken from him...
Stylistically this is a very difficult film to pin down- a blizzard of influences, homages and formatting tricks are thrown at you, its almost a mercy (possibly by design as the title refers to a Japanese form of puppetry that deals often with tragic story cycles- the tale isn't as important as the delivery, I feel) that the actual plot is such a cliche. I'm convinced I've spotted homages to 8-bit era video games such as Kung Fu Master and Spy Hunter among others, with the soundtrack providing familiar blips and blops. Film references include shades of Clockwork Orange (the outlandish gang costumes, society reverting to atavistic tribal values), Dark City (The setting, characterisation of Killer #2) and maybe even a few slight touches of noir for good measure.
You may be tempted to cry "pretension!" at all of this, but in today's film landscape it's nice to come across something so fresh. Take it for what it is and let yourself have fun, why don't you?
Saturday, 17 September 2011
It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite... and anything long united will surely divide
Four and a half hours of pure, unfiltered awesome. That's pretty much my conclusion after watching Redcliff, a John Woo film unlike any I've seen before.
The film is set during the ever popular and ever licensed Romance of the Three Kingdoms saga (for those who haven't come across this yet, its the hugely involved story of how the warring provinces of China were eventually brought together after much intriguing, deception, legendary battles and heartache).
As you might expect, the film (OK, films plural, the extended balls-out edition is actually separated into two films) only deals with a single set of events within the saga, namely the pivotal battle at Redcliff, where a vastly outnumbered force relies on a blend of tactical acumen, deception, the courage of the assembled heroic generals (for "heroic" read "lethal at twenty paces and regard dying as something that only happens to sissies") and one very adept spy...
Beautifully, impossibly, you see it all- everything. Nothing is cut out (unlike the theatrical release, which I suppose is understandable, especially in the US market), leaving the audience with a fuller understanding of the plot developments; this gives a greater sense of scope and in turn a better all over experience, especially if you are new to the RTK saga.
It's impossible to distil a single cohesive reason why this is so very good. It might be the huge set piece battles, it might be the characterisation, the fact that non-verbal acting is so strong here or perhaps just because it oozes so much style. I just don't know. Just grab a fistful of snacks and some like minded friends and invest the time to find out for yourselves!
The film is set during the ever popular and ever licensed Romance of the Three Kingdoms saga (for those who haven't come across this yet, its the hugely involved story of how the warring provinces of China were eventually brought together after much intriguing, deception, legendary battles and heartache).
As you might expect, the film (OK, films plural, the extended balls-out edition is actually separated into two films) only deals with a single set of events within the saga, namely the pivotal battle at Redcliff, where a vastly outnumbered force relies on a blend of tactical acumen, deception, the courage of the assembled heroic generals (for "heroic" read "lethal at twenty paces and regard dying as something that only happens to sissies") and one very adept spy...
Beautifully, impossibly, you see it all- everything. Nothing is cut out (unlike the theatrical release, which I suppose is understandable, especially in the US market), leaving the audience with a fuller understanding of the plot developments; this gives a greater sense of scope and in turn a better all over experience, especially if you are new to the RTK saga.
It's impossible to distil a single cohesive reason why this is so very good. It might be the huge set piece battles, it might be the characterisation, the fact that non-verbal acting is so strong here or perhaps just because it oozes so much style. I just don't know. Just grab a fistful of snacks and some like minded friends and invest the time to find out for yourselves!
Friday, 16 September 2011
Not for the Emperor.
I've had a play through of the demo for Space Marine today and I can't say I'm inspired to part with actual money for it. At least at full price.
It could be that the demo was poorly structured, showing some fairly pedestrian levels that failed to impress; it could be that the game play appears to be a competent but commonplace Gears of War clone without the tactical aspects (there's no way to take cover) or it could be that the game is heavy on melee combat and yet gives you no way to block enemy strikes other than rolling out of the way. Any of those things are a potential turn off to me.
I understand that Relic are not really the go-to guys for action adventure games -Fire Warrior taught me that- but I had hoped that lessons had been learned since their last riff on the genre. It's a pity because their fondness and respect for the WH40K licenced material is as obvious as in their RTS titles, but the player experience fails to match it.
That said, there is fun to be had here, mostly in the form of the CQC execution moves (your main method of healing damage; a nice nod to the Space Marine idiom of ignoring wounds in order to kill some more xenos while the Larriman's organ deals with the injury, but it reveals another of the game's weaknesses- you cannot move while executing and enemies can still harm you!) and the ability to use an assault squad jump pack. These moments are hilarious as you take to the air and come stomping down on the poor hapless orcs with both boots, pasting them across the floor.
Of course, I can't really critique the product as a whole without having played it to the bitter end (a maxim too many net dwelling fans-with-keyboards choose to ignore), so I'll most likely be scouring the bargain bins for it soon.
It could be that the demo was poorly structured, showing some fairly pedestrian levels that failed to impress; it could be that the game play appears to be a competent but commonplace Gears of War clone without the tactical aspects (there's no way to take cover) or it could be that the game is heavy on melee combat and yet gives you no way to block enemy strikes other than rolling out of the way. Any of those things are a potential turn off to me.
I understand that Relic are not really the go-to guys for action adventure games -Fire Warrior taught me that- but I had hoped that lessons had been learned since their last riff on the genre. It's a pity because their fondness and respect for the WH40K licenced material is as obvious as in their RTS titles, but the player experience fails to match it.
That said, there is fun to be had here, mostly in the form of the CQC execution moves (your main method of healing damage; a nice nod to the Space Marine idiom of ignoring wounds in order to kill some more xenos while the Larriman's organ deals with the injury, but it reveals another of the game's weaknesses- you cannot move while executing and enemies can still harm you!) and the ability to use an assault squad jump pack. These moments are hilarious as you take to the air and come stomping down on the poor hapless orcs with both boots, pasting them across the floor.
Of course, I can't really critique the product as a whole without having played it to the bitter end (a maxim too many net dwelling fans-with-keyboards choose to ignore), so I'll most likely be scouring the bargain bins for it soon.
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
This Cat Must Learn To Fight...
Was the tagline attached to Varjak Paw, a book I picked up at random this week.
Ostensibly a children's book (It brought author S F Said a Smartie Award in 2003) it charts the first adventures of Varjak, a kitten belonging to a family of Mesopotamian Blue cats who live in the once grand house on the hill, under the care of a woman known to them as The Contessa. The feline family members have never left the house or entered the garden beyond, have never wanted to, believing that monsters and danger lurk there. All the family members that is, except Varjak.
Varjak is a dreamer and outsider, absorbing the tales of noble ancestry his grandfather The Elder Paw spins for the kittens in front of the fireplace. Varjak believes them all, sometimes venturing even into the dreaded garden in search of adventures, like his ancestor Jalal Paw, inviting mockery from his siblings and anger from his parents.
This is where the book becomes part coming of age independence tale, part martial arts adventure. No, really. Disaster strikes as a man known only as The Gentleman enters the tale along with two identical black cats of indeterminate breed, who don't act quite as cats should...
Sensing danger, the Elder Paw attempts to teach Varjak "The Way", a secret martial art passed through the family bloodline that he feels only someone with Varjak's open mind can master. Before the training is properly begun however, tragedy overtakes them and Varjak is cast into a hostile world beyond the garden wall, a world about which he has no knowledge other than the stories of monsters and terror. Will his scant knowledge of The Way protect and guide him, or is he and his helpless, pampered family doomed?
This book charmed me immediately, it has all the hallmarks of a classic kung-fu spiritual journey; the loss of home and family, the re-evaluation of self, the great journey to discover oneself and improve one's abilities, the gathering of friends and the making of powerful enemies, acquaintance with victory and defeat and finally an epic showdown between man and cat.
Best of all this is written mostly from a kitten's imagined point of view- the martial arts Varjak comes to know are all modelled on actual cat behaviour. Ever wondered why your cat occasionally runs in rapid circles for no reason? Or perhaps how they manage to catch birds and mice so easily? Perhaps the answer lies with The Way.
This one goes on the list along with Owly as "something I'd be happy to find my kids reading". It deals intelligently with emotions such as loss and betrayal and is never caught being patronising. Recommended for readers of any age
Ostensibly a children's book (It brought author S F Said a Smartie Award in 2003) it charts the first adventures of Varjak, a kitten belonging to a family of Mesopotamian Blue cats who live in the once grand house on the hill, under the care of a woman known to them as The Contessa. The feline family members have never left the house or entered the garden beyond, have never wanted to, believing that monsters and danger lurk there. All the family members that is, except Varjak.
Varjak is a dreamer and outsider, absorbing the tales of noble ancestry his grandfather The Elder Paw spins for the kittens in front of the fireplace. Varjak believes them all, sometimes venturing even into the dreaded garden in search of adventures, like his ancestor Jalal Paw, inviting mockery from his siblings and anger from his parents.
This is where the book becomes part coming of age independence tale, part martial arts adventure. No, really. Disaster strikes as a man known only as The Gentleman enters the tale along with two identical black cats of indeterminate breed, who don't act quite as cats should...
Sensing danger, the Elder Paw attempts to teach Varjak "The Way", a secret martial art passed through the family bloodline that he feels only someone with Varjak's open mind can master. Before the training is properly begun however, tragedy overtakes them and Varjak is cast into a hostile world beyond the garden wall, a world about which he has no knowledge other than the stories of monsters and terror. Will his scant knowledge of The Way protect and guide him, or is he and his helpless, pampered family doomed?
This book charmed me immediately, it has all the hallmarks of a classic kung-fu spiritual journey; the loss of home and family, the re-evaluation of self, the great journey to discover oneself and improve one's abilities, the gathering of friends and the making of powerful enemies, acquaintance with victory and defeat and finally an epic showdown between man and cat.
Best of all this is written mostly from a kitten's imagined point of view- the martial arts Varjak comes to know are all modelled on actual cat behaviour. Ever wondered why your cat occasionally runs in rapid circles for no reason? Or perhaps how they manage to catch birds and mice so easily? Perhaps the answer lies with The Way.
This one goes on the list along with Owly as "something I'd be happy to find my kids reading". It deals intelligently with emotions such as loss and betrayal and is never caught being patronising. Recommended for readers of any age
Friday, 9 September 2011
Desert Island Deaths.
Finally it's arrived- Dead Island is here, waiting on my HDD courtesy of online love/hate delivery system Steam. I've been waiting for this for a good long time, dodging the hype and keeping my brain pristine clean for my own close encounter with the sun-drenched getaway hordes.
Ok, that's a lie- I watched the heartbreaking trailer for the game on Steam when it surfaced and was gripped by the grim and unrelenting tone it took. No punches pulled here.
Right from the off the game will have you in familiar territory, with influences from a whole slew of popular games in evidence. We have the scavenging ethic from STALKER, the general setting and player -created weapons from Dead Rising, a few enemies that look a bit Left 4 Dead around the chops and most obvious of all a shedload of mechanics from Borderlands. All of this makes Dead Island sound like an exercise in derivative toss. Dig deeper into the DI chest cavity and sniff the innards however and you'll see how mistaken that assumption is.
You start the game in typical zombie survival form- utterly screwed. One of four separate survivors with their own troubled past and their own reasons for being on Banoi Island, you party hard, get good and drunk and wander off to bed. When you wake up the hotel you are staying in on this holiday is overrun by undead killers and you realise you have got to get out-now. During your frenzied escape you realise you have an advantage over the other "lucky" survivors in that you are immune to whatever is causing people to lose their minds and start eating each other.
From there you are largely free to wander the island, gathering cash, weapons and assorted junk items like wristwatches and mobile phones to name but two, while beating off the infected with whatever weaponry comes to hand. You can sell these items to the various shady types and holdout shopkeepers you'll meet, but that would be a real waste; this junk comes into its own when you use it to soup up your run-of-the-mill weapons into zombie-reaping objects of carnage. Electric katanas, poisoned shivs and incendiary shotguns are just some of what is available for the intrepid survivor who can find the plans to construct them.
A word on the itemisation- apart from borrowing Borderlands' loot colour coding and prefix system, the game has you rely heavily on melee weapons in the first three quarters of the game and the firearms you do run across don't have enough ammunition to reduce DI to another tedious "shoot the horde from miles away" experience. Most fights carry a element of real risk, because you will have to close with the infected to dispose of them, saving your ammo for more serious encounters. This was a stroke of sub genius on the part of Deep Silver, as it keeps the game tense and involved. More close quarter's fun is to be had with the damage modelling on the zombies themselves. You can break limbs so they flap uselessly, sever body parts, gouge streamers of flesh from bodies with a glancing blow; all good unclean fun. All of this has a practical use beyond being satisfyingly unpleasant; enemies with broken legs cannot run and those with broken arms are left only able to bite at you pathetically. As for those you set on fire...
One way that Dead Island wins points is for it's atmosphere, including references, homages and nods to many zombie films and games. Unlike L4D where the action was largely relentless and a bit arcadey, DI goes for the creeping dread and social decay that an extinction-level event like this would cause. It also deals in passing with mature themes such as PTSD and loss of innocence, murder and rape, albeit through a fairly Hollywood-tinted lens.
Levelling is handled in a familiar (*Cough* Borderlands*Cough*) way, with XP being awarded for completing assignments and challenges. Once a level has been earned you can spend a skillpoint in one of three talent trees, unique to each player character. Again the focus on multiplayer is obvious, with complementary skills no solo player would ever choose to waste points on sometimes getting in the way of the useful stuff you want lower down the tree.
In essence a great survival horror experience, perhaps a little too easy once you reach a certain level, but you are never invulnerable and the game will punish you for being cocky. It has definite weak points in its plotting and the intent that it be played as a multiplayer game is often underlined to the point of being logic-breaking (NPCs will always refer to the player as if they are in a group, even when playing solo for instance). Some might dislike the absence of a third person view, I know I did, expecting one after exploring the environments in Risen had proven so interesting.
Be warned also, the game has a sewer level you'll need to visit more than once. In fact, it has something more horrifying than any zombie assault- a sewer level within a sewer level. That's right. A dull, low-visibility, dungeon crawl without the payoff. This is the weakest section of the game in my view and it really should have been replaced with some one kicking your chosen character in the face for twenty minutes while chuckling and playing with themselves.
So, Dead Island isn't without obvious tanlines and it's had it's greasy little paws in the creative till a little too often, but it's still a satisfying and exciting game with loads to recommend it to those of us whose idea of a holiday involves sun, sea, sawnoffs and simulated blood spatter.
Ok, that's a lie- I watched the heartbreaking trailer for the game on Steam when it surfaced and was gripped by the grim and unrelenting tone it took. No punches pulled here.
Right from the off the game will have you in familiar territory, with influences from a whole slew of popular games in evidence. We have the scavenging ethic from STALKER, the general setting and player -created weapons from Dead Rising, a few enemies that look a bit Left 4 Dead around the chops and most obvious of all a shedload of mechanics from Borderlands. All of this makes Dead Island sound like an exercise in derivative toss. Dig deeper into the DI chest cavity and sniff the innards however and you'll see how mistaken that assumption is.
You start the game in typical zombie survival form- utterly screwed. One of four separate survivors with their own troubled past and their own reasons for being on Banoi Island, you party hard, get good and drunk and wander off to bed. When you wake up the hotel you are staying in on this holiday is overrun by undead killers and you realise you have got to get out-now. During your frenzied escape you realise you have an advantage over the other "lucky" survivors in that you are immune to whatever is causing people to lose their minds and start eating each other.
From there you are largely free to wander the island, gathering cash, weapons and assorted junk items like wristwatches and mobile phones to name but two, while beating off the infected with whatever weaponry comes to hand. You can sell these items to the various shady types and holdout shopkeepers you'll meet, but that would be a real waste; this junk comes into its own when you use it to soup up your run-of-the-mill weapons into zombie-reaping objects of carnage. Electric katanas, poisoned shivs and incendiary shotguns are just some of what is available for the intrepid survivor who can find the plans to construct them.
A word on the itemisation- apart from borrowing Borderlands' loot colour coding and prefix system, the game has you rely heavily on melee weapons in the first three quarters of the game and the firearms you do run across don't have enough ammunition to reduce DI to another tedious "shoot the horde from miles away" experience. Most fights carry a element of real risk, because you will have to close with the infected to dispose of them, saving your ammo for more serious encounters. This was a stroke of sub genius on the part of Deep Silver, as it keeps the game tense and involved. More close quarter's fun is to be had with the damage modelling on the zombies themselves. You can break limbs so they flap uselessly, sever body parts, gouge streamers of flesh from bodies with a glancing blow; all good unclean fun. All of this has a practical use beyond being satisfyingly unpleasant; enemies with broken legs cannot run and those with broken arms are left only able to bite at you pathetically. As for those you set on fire...
One way that Dead Island wins points is for it's atmosphere, including references, homages and nods to many zombie films and games. Unlike L4D where the action was largely relentless and a bit arcadey, DI goes for the creeping dread and social decay that an extinction-level event like this would cause. It also deals in passing with mature themes such as PTSD and loss of innocence, murder and rape, albeit through a fairly Hollywood-tinted lens.
Levelling is handled in a familiar (*Cough* Borderlands*Cough*) way, with XP being awarded for completing assignments and challenges. Once a level has been earned you can spend a skillpoint in one of three talent trees, unique to each player character. Again the focus on multiplayer is obvious, with complementary skills no solo player would ever choose to waste points on sometimes getting in the way of the useful stuff you want lower down the tree.
In essence a great survival horror experience, perhaps a little too easy once you reach a certain level, but you are never invulnerable and the game will punish you for being cocky. It has definite weak points in its plotting and the intent that it be played as a multiplayer game is often underlined to the point of being logic-breaking (NPCs will always refer to the player as if they are in a group, even when playing solo for instance). Some might dislike the absence of a third person view, I know I did, expecting one after exploring the environments in Risen had proven so interesting.
Be warned also, the game has a sewer level you'll need to visit more than once. In fact, it has something more horrifying than any zombie assault- a sewer level within a sewer level. That's right. A dull, low-visibility, dungeon crawl without the payoff. This is the weakest section of the game in my view and it really should have been replaced with some one kicking your chosen character in the face for twenty minutes while chuckling and playing with themselves.
So, Dead Island isn't without obvious tanlines and it's had it's greasy little paws in the creative till a little too often, but it's still a satisfying and exciting game with loads to recommend it to those of us whose idea of a holiday involves sun, sea, sawnoffs and simulated blood spatter.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Capitalism: A Love Story.
I've just finished watching this one and it's not half bad. Yes, its Michael Moore and I realise some people have baggage with the guy since the half-hearted smears and scented bootlace backlash a few years ago, but try to suppress your knee jerk reaction and give the film a chance.
The film wins points immediately by taking the trouble to explore the original meaning and motivation of capitalism, setting it against the modern strain that has caused so much FUD in recent decades; Moore demonstrates that happy, free market optimism has been hijacked; it appears that Horatio Alger got mugged on his way to find the American Dream and some cold hearted bastards stole his kidney, wallet and identity.
I particularly liked how he revisited certain scenes from “Roger and Me” in order to underline how much has changed for the worse (the urban decay of Flint Michigan is now a familiar scenario in many low and middle income states) and in some ways for the better (The willingness of the public to stand up and lend help to their fellow man during sit down strikes and in resistance to insane bailout provisions in the senate). Also it explains that capitalism as a concept is not evil, just the people who have made it an exclusive club to the detriment of all under a certain income threshold.
Despite the overtly negative framing of the economic system I feel there’s also wistfulness here; a sense that if capitalism had worked as advertised by the late lamented and kidney-less Alger and less like an Ayn Rand fever dream it could all have been be ok.
One of Moore’s strengths as a filmmaker is his ability to discuss and explain lofty issues then introduce viewers to the real world consequences via the people who experienced them first hand, all the while avoiding the conspiratorial tone or sense that we are powerless and doomed. He sets out the information, lets the viewer know how the corporate and political magicians managed their sleight of hand and then reassures us that something can indeed be done and proceeds to make suggestions.
The final scene is a cheering one; Moore wanders Wall Street putting up a single line of crime scene tape around the buildings of particularly egregious offenders and undeserving beneficiaries of taxpayer money. In essence then this informative piece is another of Moore’s calls to action. Please vote, he says. Get involved. Help out struggling communities. Don’t just accept the horseshit that’s peddled to you; question, challenge and preserve your rights.
Monday, 4 April 2011
J W Stewart's Globe of Odd Forces
While sifting through the rubble that comprises my room I was delighted to come across two books that had a big impact on me as a child- Arthur C Clarke's Mysterious World and the sequel volume ACC's World of Strange Powers.
Unlike many sources of information on supposedly supernatural or extraterrestrial events, these books treated the subject matter with great good sense, approaching each phenomenon with scientific rigour, reexamining the past evidence and poking holes in anecdote and hyperbole.
Each chapter ended with a few paragraphs from the man Clarke giving his level-headed opinions on the preceding chapter and helping to ground the reader still further in the sense that here was an unusual subject being given serious treatment by serious people. The detailed examination of the Tunguska incident and the subsequent expeditions to the site are of particular note.
It's worth mentioning for clarity that a lot of the things discussed in these books have been since consigned to the bin of quaint superstition or fact-litewishful thinking. In the three decades since these books first saw light many advances in thought and technique have demonstrated logical means by which things can go bump in night or appear to defy rational analysis. None of that makes these volumes, or indeed the TV show that spawned them, any less entertaining or important.
At the very least its a good nostalgia hit.
Unlike many sources of information on supposedly supernatural or extraterrestrial events, these books treated the subject matter with great good sense, approaching each phenomenon with scientific rigour, reexamining the past evidence and poking holes in anecdote and hyperbole.
Each chapter ended with a few paragraphs from the man Clarke giving his level-headed opinions on the preceding chapter and helping to ground the reader still further in the sense that here was an unusual subject being given serious treatment by serious people. The detailed examination of the Tunguska incident and the subsequent expeditions to the site are of particular note.
It's worth mentioning for clarity that a lot of the things discussed in these books have been since consigned to the bin of quaint superstition or fact-litewishful thinking. In the three decades since these books first saw light many advances in thought and technique have demonstrated logical means by which things can go bump in night or appear to defy rational analysis. None of that makes these volumes, or indeed the TV show that spawned them, any less entertaining or important.
At the very least its a good nostalgia hit.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Tripping the Rifts- Why World of Warcraft and I are no longer speaking,
I ignored all the Internet kerfuffle about Rift. I ignored it in a hardcore fashion, like I do with most video game buildups. I do this mainly to inoculate myself against the armour-piercing hype that can beguile even the most ancient and hard hearted of gamers if its applied frequently enough. The first I really knew of it is when people I played World of Warcraft with started to disappear. One after another, stoic six year veterans would reduce their presence on Azeroth to nil with only one word of hurried explanation; Rift. I was skeptical in the extreme; these sudden migrations always end in crestfallen players slinking back to WOW which welcomes the prodigal subscribers back with open servers.
Then my real life friends started talking about it. Then they started urging me to get it. They began to close their WoW subscriptions. Finally one of them pressed a crisp twenty on me to allow me to get a copy. Holy Moses in a minefield thought I, this must be something seriously awesome. Then I remembered Age of Conan: Hyborean Adventures and the scepticism returned all at once.
Once installed, the account sign up website and update tool/launcher did little to quiet this anxiety- they frankly look cheap and poorly cobbled together (that said so did LOTRO's front end and that turned out to be fine).
Bish bash bosh I went through the character creation process, which admittedly had just the right level of detail; not so much that you get obstructed choosing details no one will ever see, just enough so you feel your avatar can be made to stand out and not be just another clone.
I entered the game proper, absorbed some of the history of the new world, Telara, and came across the first surprise- the class system isn't a class system as such, its a "soul tree" system. You have base classes such as Warrior, Cleric, Mage and Rogue, but these are just very general descriptions rather than set-in-stone class boundaries. For example, Clerics and Mages can be effective tanks with the right souls equipped and invested in; Warriors can be a hunter-style ranged class complete with pet and Rogues can be ranged DPS or tanks. It's all about how you set up the relevant souls. Despite this, each base class retains a real sense of its core idiom and they don't feel like a clumsy mish-mash trying to cover all bases.
Plot wise you undertake simple quests to steal these souls back from the servitude of Regulos, god of the plane of death (dun dun duuurrrrrr) and the Game's current Great Satan. Each soul represents a fallen hero from the history of Telara and reclaiming their essence via a death rift gifts you with their knowledge and experience. So, reclaiming a hunter type soul will unlock the hunter abilities for use and so on. In total (as far in as I've played) you can get seven different souls per base class and have three of these on your soul tree at any one time, giving you incredible diversity and scope for experimentation. Later character advancement sees you able to switch these souls about for a fee and also to set up several "roles" (read as specs) to be called on at will allowing you to potentially fill any need in a group or quest. Bloody marvellous.
I mentioned a death rift earlier- these titular anomalies are one of the game's central conceits. Boiled down, Telara is under constant siege from the elemental planes; Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Life and Death. Each plane wants to convert Telara to its own element, but unknowingly they serve the ends of Regulos who wants everything, everywhere to be dead. The dastard!
In game play terms, this means elemental themed tears in reality appear at certain locations in the game world. Left unattended these tears form full on Rifts and spill similarly themed monsters into the world. Further neglect sees these monsters begin to form war bands, charge towards NPC settlements, kill everyone and take them over. Telara has no UN; if this is allowed to happen it's up to the players to liberate these outposts before they can be used for questing, shopping or crafting again. Worse, new sub invasions can spawn from these occupied areas, spreading the incursion exponentially.
Stopping the rifts is simple in theory, tough in practise. The approved method is to roll up to a rift and kill everything you see. This will work well for minor, low level rifts, but the larger ones require more firepower to seal as the waves of defending enemies become harder all the time, often peaking with a tough miniboss.
Luckily this is where one of Rift's* best features kicks in; if a number of players turn up at a rift, they will be offered the chance to join a "public group". Accepting groups you with these other players, increasing your ability to co-ordinate to close the tougher Rifts faster (Closing the rifts quickly earns you the right to attempt bonus waves, increasing the loot payoff ).
Coupled with this is the participation meter- if you hang around rifts, not grouping, tagging mobs and letting others kill them you'll get squat but the lint in the beast's pockets. The guys in the group will top the participation meter and when the rift closes, they'll get the goodies rained down on them- literally. I love this on a personal level as I despise the culture of infantile selfishness that survives in most MMOs, often to the point where being a relentless asshat is considered normal behaviour. Someone will probably find a way to break this in the future to make Telara safe for preteen morons, but right now its working well. Incidentally, everyone gets a share of the proceeds anyway, only things like BOE items are rolled for in traditional N/G/P style. (Update: This system has since been altered and the P.M.removed, or at least made invisible to players)
As well as rifts and minor invasions from enemy faction NPCs (I'll talk about them at a later date) there are Critical invasions, led by a boss creature. These are zone wide events that see large groups of players (20 or so) banding together under the public group system to fend off a general assault from a particular elemental plane. These are perfectly telegraphed to the players giving them to option to join in or go about their business as they like. There's great fun to be had charging about the zones in a massive group smiting the Outsiders and throwing them back, then picking a fight with their leader and beating a deluge of loot out of him.
I'm only a little way into the game at this point and there's still a lot to see and do. What I've seen so far has pleased me so much that I cant see myself returning to the comfortingly familiar but frankly limited model of WoW- In fact I've canceled my sub. Here's a twenty. Try Rift. What's the worst that could happen?
*I know, I know, Rift has taken "inspiration" from the best features of previous MMOs like WAR and WoW and even LOTRO, but those were small pluses in games crammed with meh.
Then my real life friends started talking about it. Then they started urging me to get it. They began to close their WoW subscriptions. Finally one of them pressed a crisp twenty on me to allow me to get a copy. Holy Moses in a minefield thought I, this must be something seriously awesome. Then I remembered Age of Conan: Hyborean Adventures and the scepticism returned all at once.
Once installed, the account sign up website and update tool/launcher did little to quiet this anxiety- they frankly look cheap and poorly cobbled together (that said so did LOTRO's front end and that turned out to be fine).
Bish bash bosh I went through the character creation process, which admittedly had just the right level of detail; not so much that you get obstructed choosing details no one will ever see, just enough so you feel your avatar can be made to stand out and not be just another clone.
I entered the game proper, absorbed some of the history of the new world, Telara, and came across the first surprise- the class system isn't a class system as such, its a "soul tree" system. You have base classes such as Warrior, Cleric, Mage and Rogue, but these are just very general descriptions rather than set-in-stone class boundaries. For example, Clerics and Mages can be effective tanks with the right souls equipped and invested in; Warriors can be a hunter-style ranged class complete with pet and Rogues can be ranged DPS or tanks. It's all about how you set up the relevant souls. Despite this, each base class retains a real sense of its core idiom and they don't feel like a clumsy mish-mash trying to cover all bases.
Plot wise you undertake simple quests to steal these souls back from the servitude of Regulos, god of the plane of death (dun dun duuurrrrrr) and the Game's current Great Satan. Each soul represents a fallen hero from the history of Telara and reclaiming their essence via a death rift gifts you with their knowledge and experience. So, reclaiming a hunter type soul will unlock the hunter abilities for use and so on. In total (as far in as I've played) you can get seven different souls per base class and have three of these on your soul tree at any one time, giving you incredible diversity and scope for experimentation. Later character advancement sees you able to switch these souls about for a fee and also to set up several "roles" (read as specs) to be called on at will allowing you to potentially fill any need in a group or quest. Bloody marvellous.
I mentioned a death rift earlier- these titular anomalies are one of the game's central conceits. Boiled down, Telara is under constant siege from the elemental planes; Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Life and Death. Each plane wants to convert Telara to its own element, but unknowingly they serve the ends of Regulos who wants everything, everywhere to be dead. The dastard!
In game play terms, this means elemental themed tears in reality appear at certain locations in the game world. Left unattended these tears form full on Rifts and spill similarly themed monsters into the world. Further neglect sees these monsters begin to form war bands, charge towards NPC settlements, kill everyone and take them over. Telara has no UN; if this is allowed to happen it's up to the players to liberate these outposts before they can be used for questing, shopping or crafting again. Worse, new sub invasions can spawn from these occupied areas, spreading the incursion exponentially.
Stopping the rifts is simple in theory, tough in practise. The approved method is to roll up to a rift and kill everything you see. This will work well for minor, low level rifts, but the larger ones require more firepower to seal as the waves of defending enemies become harder all the time, often peaking with a tough miniboss.
Luckily this is where one of Rift's* best features kicks in; if a number of players turn up at a rift, they will be offered the chance to join a "public group". Accepting groups you with these other players, increasing your ability to co-ordinate to close the tougher Rifts faster (Closing the rifts quickly earns you the right to attempt bonus waves, increasing the loot payoff ).
Coupled with this is the participation meter- if you hang around rifts, not grouping, tagging mobs and letting others kill them you'll get squat but the lint in the beast's pockets. The guys in the group will top the participation meter and when the rift closes, they'll get the goodies rained down on them- literally. I love this on a personal level as I despise the culture of infantile selfishness that survives in most MMOs, often to the point where being a relentless asshat is considered normal behaviour. Someone will probably find a way to break this in the future to make Telara safe for preteen morons, but right now its working well. Incidentally, everyone gets a share of the proceeds anyway, only things like BOE items are rolled for in traditional N/G/P style. (Update: This system has since been altered and the P.M.removed, or at least made invisible to players)
As well as rifts and minor invasions from enemy faction NPCs (I'll talk about them at a later date) there are Critical invasions, led by a boss creature. These are zone wide events that see large groups of players (20 or so) banding together under the public group system to fend off a general assault from a particular elemental plane. These are perfectly telegraphed to the players giving them to option to join in or go about their business as they like. There's great fun to be had charging about the zones in a massive group smiting the Outsiders and throwing them back, then picking a fight with their leader and beating a deluge of loot out of him.
I'm only a little way into the game at this point and there's still a lot to see and do. What I've seen so far has pleased me so much that I cant see myself returning to the comfortingly familiar but frankly limited model of WoW- In fact I've canceled my sub. Here's a twenty. Try Rift. What's the worst that could happen?
*I know, I know, Rift has taken "inspiration" from the best features of previous MMOs like WAR and WoW and even LOTRO, but those were small pluses in games crammed with meh.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Lions spring event 19/03/2011 Part 2
Ow ow ow... I failed to realise how much work Monstering is. The frequent deployments from the monster room coupled with my own enthusiastic efforts to be helpful and approachable are wearing me out. One thing you'll learn about while LARPing is your general level of fitness- its a damn good idea to limber up a little before battle is joined (Or you are called on to become a halfling shopkeeper with atrocious dress sense).
Today we got the opportunity to fight in clear daylight, which believe me is to be preferred. A thought strikes me that, despite the safety rules, the foam weapons and the ever-vigilant referees, last night gave me a little taste of how chaotic and scary a night engagement can be.
In any case, this time I was prepared- I ditched the two hander in favour of a shield and war hammer combo, much easier to use and it'll help me survive that much longer before doing the invisible arms-raised stroll back to the monster area for respawn. It works too, I'm better able to get a handle on how the calls (things like abilities, spells, scrolls, chants etc) work and how not to get surrounded and beaten to an imaginary pulp. I'm still no great shakes at this, though.
However, it is immense fun, especially when you improvise, I managed to crate a little bit of drama when I had my fellow TEs surround a downed player and prevent a rescue for half their downed timer. Of course I allowed them to rescue the fallen eventually, because I'm not a dick. I feel I played it right however, because the look in the rescuing player's eyes was a gift. I played the mindless minion card to the hilt, only relenting when I received an order to redeploy from a Greater TE.
I also managed to twist an ankle. Karma is a bitch.
Today we got the opportunity to fight in clear daylight, which believe me is to be preferred. A thought strikes me that, despite the safety rules, the foam weapons and the ever-vigilant referees, last night gave me a little taste of how chaotic and scary a night engagement can be.
In any case, this time I was prepared- I ditched the two hander in favour of a shield and war hammer combo, much easier to use and it'll help me survive that much longer before doing the invisible arms-raised stroll back to the monster area for respawn. It works too, I'm better able to get a handle on how the calls (things like abilities, spells, scrolls, chants etc) work and how not to get surrounded and beaten to an imaginary pulp. I'm still no great shakes at this, though.
However, it is immense fun, especially when you improvise, I managed to crate a little bit of drama when I had my fellow TEs surround a downed player and prevent a rescue for half their downed timer. Of course I allowed them to rescue the fallen eventually, because I'm not a dick. I feel I played it right however, because the look in the rescuing player's eyes was a gift. I played the mindless minion card to the hilt, only relenting when I received an order to redeploy from a Greater TE.
I also managed to twist an ankle. Karma is a bitch.
Lions spring event 19/03/2011 Part 1.5
Reflecting on the previous day's round of hectic activity, I'm sat outside the shower block (this place is used as a scout hut I think) in the early morning sunshine. After a little bit of head scratching I've decided to record some more thoughts that may help people new to LARP.
Potentially the most intimidating aspect of this gathering is the social factor. Don't mistake me, everyone is super-friendly and helpful but still there remains a definite disconnect for the new joiner without an existing LARP background.
First we have the in character/out of character barrier; this is vital for maintaining the immersion of the player base of course but it can result in some difficulties, especially if someone isn't used to it. This is mainly because, as a monster, you'll be sat in a relatively small area waiting to be called up for service while players are constantly role playing their characters, wandering about and essentially being entirely other people for the duration. This more or less precludes mutual introductions, at least until time out at the end of the day. This shouldn't be a huge problem however- I got around it by involving myself voluntarily in anything I could (including helping the kitchen volunteers peeling one metric Kilimanjaro of apples for the evening menu; ironically I was so tapped out I fell asleep early and didn't get any!); from asking around it seems that most new players start out their LARP life monstering this way, getting stuck in is the key.
Another thing to remember is that these gatherings are fairly infrequent so long-term friends naturally want to spend more face time with their fellow veteran LARPers. Again, don't be unduly discouraged if you end the event without a parcel of new friends (this is unlikely to be totally honest). Like everything, this takes time and effort.
OK, that isn't as helpful-sounding as I thought at first.
Potentially the most intimidating aspect of this gathering is the social factor. Don't mistake me, everyone is super-friendly and helpful but still there remains a definite disconnect for the new joiner without an existing LARP background.
First we have the in character/out of character barrier; this is vital for maintaining the immersion of the player base of course but it can result in some difficulties, especially if someone isn't used to it. This is mainly because, as a monster, you'll be sat in a relatively small area waiting to be called up for service while players are constantly role playing their characters, wandering about and essentially being entirely other people for the duration. This more or less precludes mutual introductions, at least until time out at the end of the day. This shouldn't be a huge problem however- I got around it by involving myself voluntarily in anything I could (including helping the kitchen volunteers peeling one metric Kilimanjaro of apples for the evening menu; ironically I was so tapped out I fell asleep early and didn't get any!); from asking around it seems that most new players start out their LARP life monstering this way, getting stuck in is the key.
Another thing to remember is that these gatherings are fairly infrequent so long-term friends naturally want to spend more face time with their fellow veteran LARPers. Again, don't be unduly discouraged if you end the event without a parcel of new friends (this is unlikely to be totally honest). Like everything, this takes time and effort.
OK, that isn't as helpful-sounding as I thought at first.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Lions spring event 18/03/2011
Day 1:
Well I'm as prepared as I can be, I think. I have a sleeping bag from the future and enough changes of clothes to offset a minor downpour. I also have my notebook, a pen, duster coat and sense of creeping dread.
I've never done anything like this before; there are so many unknown quantities here that my paranoia and cynicism have found themselves in a surprise coalition with my social cowardice. Despite this, I'm going to press on, for the sake of meeting interesting new people and pretending to stab them up.
This little bit of emotional turbulence is suggestive; has my love of gaming blunted my urge to explore the real world for myself? Has dipping into other people's imaginary constructs so frequently stifled mine, in the same way that over-regularly taking painkillers can compromise the human body's ability to suppress pain naturally? Hmm.
Once arrived and set up, my friends and I go our separate ways, myself to the monster room and they to get kitted up for their characters. I should mention, for those unfamiliar with the terms, "monster" in this sense refers to general NPCs, enemies, shopkeepers, marmosets, sentient tableware- anything the plot guys need, that's what I'll be doing this weekend. The room is currently full of people, slightly more confident looking people, bustle and what looks like a dwarven jumble sale on several tables. Axes, swords and spears are stacked on one table, various scraps of clothing on another. Introductions are made, basics explained and then, to my secret surprise, the game is on. Confusion reigns for a few seconds as I strain to hear the battle setup, what I'm supposed to be and grab a passable costume from the fabric debris and a decent looking weapon. I'm further surprised to realise I'm smiling.
The first battle takes place in the near-dark with me not being sure of the rules, my given NPC's abilities (I'm some flavour of time elemental) or what I can expect to be facing from the players. For this fight, I've picked a two-handed sword and I'm quickly realising that this was a mistake, even if the thing isn't genuine, trying to bring it to bear effectively is still like trying to hit a wasp with a barn on a stick. Next time I'll try something less cumbersome!
This has given me a basic idea of what monstering is all about; you are in essence grist for the mill- you aren't expected to match players on the battlefield, but you are expected to put up as good a fight as your NPC limitations will allow you to. I was brutally splattered about twelve times following this idea, but I'm still grinning. In between battles myself and the monster squad were called upon to do some non combat taster bits also. I'm utterly knackered after all that; time to test out that space-age sleeping bag.
Well I'm as prepared as I can be, I think. I have a sleeping bag from the future and enough changes of clothes to offset a minor downpour. I also have my notebook, a pen, duster coat and sense of creeping dread.
I've never done anything like this before; there are so many unknown quantities here that my paranoia and cynicism have found themselves in a surprise coalition with my social cowardice. Despite this, I'm going to press on, for the sake of meeting interesting new people and pretending to stab them up.
This little bit of emotional turbulence is suggestive; has my love of gaming blunted my urge to explore the real world for myself? Has dipping into other people's imaginary constructs so frequently stifled mine, in the same way that over-regularly taking painkillers can compromise the human body's ability to suppress pain naturally? Hmm.
Once arrived and set up, my friends and I go our separate ways, myself to the monster room and they to get kitted up for their characters. I should mention, for those unfamiliar with the terms, "monster" in this sense refers to general NPCs, enemies, shopkeepers, marmosets, sentient tableware- anything the plot guys need, that's what I'll be doing this weekend. The room is currently full of people, slightly more confident looking people, bustle and what looks like a dwarven jumble sale on several tables. Axes, swords and spears are stacked on one table, various scraps of clothing on another. Introductions are made, basics explained and then, to my secret surprise, the game is on. Confusion reigns for a few seconds as I strain to hear the battle setup, what I'm supposed to be and grab a passable costume from the fabric debris and a decent looking weapon. I'm further surprised to realise I'm smiling.
The first battle takes place in the near-dark with me not being sure of the rules, my given NPC's abilities (I'm some flavour of time elemental) or what I can expect to be facing from the players. For this fight, I've picked a two-handed sword and I'm quickly realising that this was a mistake, even if the thing isn't genuine, trying to bring it to bear effectively is still like trying to hit a wasp with a barn on a stick. Next time I'll try something less cumbersome!
This has given me a basic idea of what monstering is all about; you are in essence grist for the mill- you aren't expected to match players on the battlefield, but you are expected to put up as good a fight as your NPC limitations will allow you to. I was brutally splattered about twelve times following this idea, but I'm still grinning. In between battles myself and the monster squad were called upon to do some non combat taster bits also. I'm utterly knackered after all that; time to test out that space-age sleeping bag.
Thursday, 24 February 2011
The opposite of Waaaaggggghhhhhhh!!!
Today the sudden fad for actual democracy has pushed Qaddafi into calling in mercs to quell his own people; still they gather in defiance of him.
It's also led to roly-poly slayer of his people Bobbie Mugabe to jail almost fifty people who were watching the footage of the unrest in Egypt as part of a discussion group. He says they were using it as a blueprint to plan a similar uprising against his rule. Their ultimate fate looks bleak, but may serve as a catalyst for the very unrest Big Bob seeks to crush.
Closer to home Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin is learning a similar lesson in miniature-push the people too far, exploit and insult them too many times from behind your carefully rehearsed rationalisations and they'll come and camp on your lawn. Genuine democracy is back on the menu all over the place despite the usual methods of repressing it. Ignore it at your peril.
It's also led to roly-poly slayer of his people Bobbie Mugabe to jail almost fifty people who were watching the footage of the unrest in Egypt as part of a discussion group. He says they were using it as a blueprint to plan a similar uprising against his rule. Their ultimate fate looks bleak, but may serve as a catalyst for the very unrest Big Bob seeks to crush.
Closer to home Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin is learning a similar lesson in miniature-push the people too far, exploit and insult them too many times from behind your carefully rehearsed rationalisations and they'll come and camp on your lawn. Genuine democracy is back on the menu all over the place despite the usual methods of repressing it. Ignore it at your peril.
Monday, 21 February 2011
Half-term halfwits and other rage enhancers.
Half-term giveth and half-term taketh away. While it allows me to travel around on a bus that isn't crammed to the ceiling with miniature idiots having an all-comers "look at me" contest it conversely guarantees I'll meet those self same teeny-bop cretins while about my lawful business, filling the local supermarkets and game stores, like noise addicted, unreasonable lawn ornaments.
They need a mall to sucker them all in and contain them until they get old enough to switch places with the guy working the till at the fast food dungeon they feed at. That way they wont add to the usual collection of drunks, dishabille ramblers, ambush conversationalists and teak-faced pram jockeys I'm forced to negotiate just to pick up a block of cheese on any given day. A word on that last; I realise that many of these women aren't mothers by direct choice but really, why do they look like they traded their sense of humour in against the trendy buggy that carries their tiny little white noise generator about?
This has been Jimmy reporting on how half-term sucks when you have to work- and this is why this blog is known as The Little Book of Grudges.
They need a mall to sucker them all in and contain them until they get old enough to switch places with the guy working the till at the fast food dungeon they feed at. That way they wont add to the usual collection of drunks, dishabille ramblers, ambush conversationalists and teak-faced pram jockeys I'm forced to negotiate just to pick up a block of cheese on any given day. A word on that last; I realise that many of these women aren't mothers by direct choice but really, why do they look like they traded their sense of humour in against the trendy buggy that carries their tiny little white noise generator about?
This has been Jimmy reporting on how half-term sucks when you have to work- and this is why this blog is known as The Little Book of Grudges.
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Why the HELL would I want to do that?
I'm a man of varied interests; I collect Forteana and have a small personal library of sci-fi and fiction as well as a lot of stuff from the great American fiction writers and self-styled life poets. I play video games and read comics. I like forest walking. I follow politics like a bloodhound with a grudge and my musical tastes can genuinely be described as eclectic.
But recently, as I've taken stock of my life in the light of my coming redundancy, I've noticed a lot more "used to's" and a lot less actual activity. I've become closed-minded, sour, embittered and grouchy. I mean for this to change.
To that end I have decided to conduct an experiment. I have thought of several things to see and do to which my initial reaction was "And why the hell would I want to do that?". My experiment will be to seek for the answer to that question, by going and doing these things with no thought of my own personal dignity.
Most of them will be harmless, geeky things that nevertheless may strike fear and unease into stout but uninitiated folk. Some of them may be totally ill-advised; all of them will be fun. Lets go out and discover them together. Don't worry, you'll be perfectly fine. For a given value of fine.
Shall we begin?
N.B. I'd like to mention that I'm not setting out to poke fun at anyone's treasured pastimes here; I'm not about to go thrusting a spoke in the wheel for cheap laughs and even cheaper column inches. I'm arriving with nothing but flimsy prejudice and hopefully leaving with nothing but experience, bruises and some photos I'm sure to regret.
Today in Gaming Part II
As promised I have been undertaking strenuous research in order to discuss the new features of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. I have left no stone unturned and left no feature unprodded.
First and foremost in many casual player's minds are the new races; are they just tired re-skins of existing races with a few naff racial abilities? No. Not even close. Each race gets its own brand new and unique starter quest chain, a little like the Death Knight area in Wrath of the Lich King, but a whole lot better thought out. These serve as training areas for new players to test out their classes as well as tying the newcomer races into the existing Lore.
On top of that each race has some truly unique abilities that go beyond the new character models. The Worgen do not require ground mounts, they simply hunker down on all fours and belt around the place, something akin to the Druid travel form. They also have a distinct advantage in melee combat due to a slight critical hit bonus and an ability that lets them skin animals in a split second using their bare paws. Goblins have numerous tricks that compliment their racial background, like rocket boots, rocket barrages and a Hobgoblin they can summon to access their bank anywhere they choose!
Blizzard have also lifted some of the race to class restrictions now; if you ever fancied being a Gnomish Priest (who wouldn't?), a Human Hunter or a Dwarfish Shaman, now is your chance, although this is largely a matter of personal taste, maxmin freaks will like having more options for racial traits.
The shattering has brought on many changes, building on the popular overhaul seen in WOTLK. Firstly, as you might expect after a giant dragon nuts its way out of the planet's crust, some familiar areas have been changed. Many places have been swallowed by the tidal waves unleashed by Deathwing's reappearance, drowning some starter areas almost entirely. Others are scarred by magma and deep fissures while some of the more barren areas have been strangely renewed and sport new wildlife and plant growth.
Along with these cosmetic changes come renovations in game play- quest chains are much less bitty and rambling on Azeroth, there are fewer frustrating drop quest slogathons to find and one zone tapers more naturally into the next. Essentially this means a lot less aimless wandering and a lot more action. Some people see this as a loss of depth, but I'd argue that the "depth" consisted of largely empty and redundant space, so its better off this way. Exploring is still very possible though- and some of the new zones will repay your curiosity in spades with Vash'yr being probably the best example of this.
Classic instances have also been overhauled; some of the least popular have been hugely truncated, making for a smoother and less stressful clear. Quest givers now helpfully live at the entrance to dungeons (Not Outland ones though for some unknown reason), making reaping XP for your character that much easier.
Others have been completely lore-rolled- new story lines run through The Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep for instance; both of these also have heroic modes for intrepid level 85 types to take on. Other new dungeons are a mixed bag, some harking back to the bad old days of TBC as being dull uni-themed corridors, packs and bosses, little more than loot bags waiting to be plundered. Heroic modes are a little different and will present an actual challenge to most, at least until they out gear the encounters.
The new PVP area, Tol Barad, is worth a brief mention, if only for it's infamy. Upon Cataclysm's release Tol Barad was horribly unbalanced in favour of the first faction who won. Once the faction was in control, the mechanics of the battle meant that it was child's play for them to retain control in each successive battle, essentially denying the the other side the chance to access new content through no lack of skill or tactics.
In any case, TB is also the new destination for daily quests; a little bit like a blend of Quel' Danas, Wintergrasp and Alterac Valley. Victory in the PVP aspect allows a raid boss to be attempted and bonus dailies to be unlocked, but as you might imagine its often a frustrating campfest despite Blizzard kindly allowing anyone who causes damage to a quest target to gain credit once it is dead or loot the requisite item. This only works on named quest NPCs however, you'll still need to queue to kill X number of X for X reason.
The stand out addition has to be the new guild system- a guild now levels up like a character, with each member's victories counting towards a daily maximum. Once certain levels are achieved, useful guild-wide rewards are unlocked along with extra special items for those members who prove their loyalty by earning guild rep- those lucky souls can win the right to purchase roaming bank chests and mounts like the Dark Phoenix!
One thing that doesn’t really add much to the game is the new “profession” namely Archaeology. Ill call it how I see it; its a very well thought out time sink within a time sink. To get anything out of it you must move from dig site to dig site accumulating fragments of McGuffin according to the directions of a magical traffic light theodolite. Once you have enough pieces of eight or shards of Gnome tooth or whatever you can “complete” an item. You may then randomly get something nice, or a hunk of garbage worth a few coins. You just have to keep on endlessly grinding the same areas until your luck turns. Honestly, I wouldn’t have cared if this idea was lost at sea during whatever brainstorms Blizzard had to generate ideas for Cataclysm.
All in all it's an expansion that was worth waiting for. Many terrible mistakes that haunted the game since The Burning Crusade have been excised and many excellent features (and one or two stand-out duffers) have made it in. Blizzard have worked hard to retain a balance between the casual players who help pay for their platinum toilet paper and the increasingly irrelevant raiding hardcore. If TBC or WOTLK drove you away, give Cataclysm a chance to make it up to you.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
WTHWIWTDT? Part One- Playing the Role.
If I mentioned pen and paper role playing to you, what would your reaction be? Would you stare at me like a Budgerigar asked to write a Haiku? Would you find yourself grinning wistfully and recalling evenings spend uncovering conspiracy, slaying monsters and acting out wild extensions of your personality? Or would you quietly get up and head for the nearest exit, shaking your head? If your answered Budgerigar or Exit, stop, cease and desist- its you I particularly want to talk to. You others, take *Rolls*... five and I'll be back soon.
For those of you not cringing at that joke, here are the basics: A role playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting, for instance a derelict space station, 1930's New York or the front lines of an epic battle. Players act out these roles within a persistent storyline, through a process of structured decision-making or character development.
Actions taken within the game succeed or fail according to an agreed system of rules and guidelines. An arranger called a game master (GM) usually decides on the rules and setting to be used and acts as referee, while each of the other players plays the role of a single character.
With me so far? Right, well I used to (grrr!) play a few of these in my ancient college days (Vampire the Masquerade and Werewolf, with a tiny bit of Call of Cthulhu as well) and I thought it would be a nice starting point on my quest to reclaim my interests and broaden my horizons.
With this in mind I joined up with known lexical contrabandistor and semi-professional beard wearer Evis T and joined a game of Vampire: World of Darkness he was running.
So far, it's been a blast. I've accidentally eaten a hobo to death, had my face peeled off by sewer zombies and met the country's most powerful Rastafarian Cheshire cat. God alone knows what goes on in Evis' head when he's coming up with these plots, but I'm glad it does. I've also gotten to know some top people from my player group. Despite my earlier reservations, I'm glad I started this now.
Also his characters have potential beyond the game.
For those of you not cringing at that joke, here are the basics: A role playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting, for instance a derelict space station, 1930's New York or the front lines of an epic battle. Players act out these roles within a persistent storyline, through a process of structured decision-making or character development.
Actions taken within the game succeed or fail according to an agreed system of rules and guidelines. An arranger called a game master (GM) usually decides on the rules and setting to be used and acts as referee, while each of the other players plays the role of a single character.
With me so far? Right, well I used to (grrr!) play a few of these in my ancient college days (Vampire the Masquerade and Werewolf, with a tiny bit of Call of Cthulhu as well) and I thought it would be a nice starting point on my quest to reclaim my interests and broaden my horizons.
With this in mind I joined up with known lexical contrabandistor and semi-professional beard wearer Evis T and joined a game of Vampire: World of Darkness he was running.
So far, it's been a blast. I've accidentally eaten a hobo to death, had my face peeled off by sewer zombies and met the country's most powerful Rastafarian Cheshire cat. God alone knows what goes on in Evis' head when he's coming up with these plots, but I'm glad it does. I've also gotten to know some top people from my player group. Despite my earlier reservations, I'm glad I started this now.
Also his characters have potential beyond the game.
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