Month: June 2015

[UPDATE] Good News/Bad News for Fallout 4: 1080p/30fps on everything (not really)

UPDATE: Gamespot got a clarification from Bethesda that states "resolution and FPS are not limited in any way on the PC." Whoever wrote that story without giving it some doubt looks pretty stupid now. It was only half of the internet though (d'oh!)If you are an Xbox One gamer, we have some good news for you! If you play on anything else, it’s bad though.

Todd Howard, director of Fallout 4, confirmed that the game will run in 1080p at 30fps “on everything.”
Yes, everything. Interesting choice of words. I don’t want to believe that the PC version is also getting a cap, so I asked them. No answer yet, but I guess we’ll find out soon.

Source: Digital Spy

We Happy Few – A new perspective

I'm excited for this title. I'm excited for the artwork, the creativity, the scripts even the music the list just continues. So I want to apologize in the beginning because I'm currently drooling over my keyboard.

We Happy Few - Welcome to Wellington Wells, you Saucy Minx  has but 12 days left on Kickstarter, and I'm going to be sad if this one doesn't make it.  Now normally I don't pimp out random titles I find while searching through pages of Kickstarter, but this one had me wrapped up in it's story-line the moment I clicked on the trailer.

Take a moment and watch the announcement trailer with your old friend, Uncle Jack.
A simple survival game with a twist. You have to stay 'happy' by taking 'joy' or the entire town will turn on you and bash your head in. The people of Wellington Wells are suspicious and have a ton of secrets that you as the main character have to find out. You have to survive, by any means necessary and uncover the dark history surround the townsfolk.This game has a completely different art style that I can't put my finger on. The game-play reminds me of BioShock, but instead of powers you get a melee weapon and a stamina based combat system.  Not only do you have to worry about stamina but also have to control your thirst and hunger. This can add to the challenge of fitting in when you're constantly breaking and entering to collect food and drinks from unsuspecting homes. To make it more entertaining, while searching you also stumble upon crafting materials for different weapons, lock-picks and other craft-able items.

The game was introduced earlier this year at PAX with a showcase and is currently in the pre-alpha. Joshua Mills, one of the game designers at Complusion games has a 15 minute play-through video posted to Youtube to give fans who have already donated to the Kickstarter an idea of what to expect.

Each encounter is different, but you are only given one life, and one life alone. If you die or even beat the game you go on to start it all over again with different loot, encounters, everything! You'll never play the same game twice basically.

I hope you guys take the time to actually check this one out!

Kickstarter: We Happy Few

Is the Vita dead? Spoiler: Not exactly, it’s still on life support.

Were you expecting a bunch of new Vita announcements during Sony’s press conference and are now disappointed? Well, that’s on you. What even made you think that?
At this point, the Vita is mostly a glorified second PS4 controller with a built in monitor, while also acting as a masturbation material provider for people who are into overly sexualized fanservice.
Ok, that’s only half true, there are also indies and Sony released a trailer showcasing some of the upcoming ones (with the occasional Japanese non-indie in the mix).
There aren’t many Vita exclusives, but just look at those names: Severed, Mighty No. 9, Volume, Drifter, Day of the Tentacle, Telltale’s Game of Thrones, Samurai Warriors 4, Blazblue, Skullgirls, the Oddworld HD remake, and the one I’m most excited about …Darkest Dungeon!

But whats up with that Persona 4 dancing game? Really have to look into that now.

Opinion:  To Review Or Not To Review:  That Is The Question

Words by Greywolfe

This isn’t directly part of my series on why people who comment on reviews have me so baffled, [you can read part one here and part two here] but it does kind of directly follow along from that set of articles.  There’s a point in part one where I say the following:

“I am sort of atypical in reviewer-land in that I tend to write reviews based on the games I actually own.  In other words, I sit down, look through my library of stuff and decide “hey, I think I’d like to review the following, this week” but not every reviewer works this way and not every publication does things in this manner at all.”

And this is what I’d like to talk about – why I – specifically – only review games I own.

"Free" Copies Of Games Make Me Feel Obligated

Review copies - to me - come across as gifts.  And sometimes, gifts end up having strings.

Review copies can sometimes be a dark gift.
First, let’s talk about how I view “review copies.”  Again, this is sort of atypical.  While most of the industry views these as necessary to get their job done, I view it as a kind of gift/bribe.  I can’t stress this enough:  This is not the typical view most reviewers/sites have of review copies.

As a result of my particular perspective, there’s a whole raft of stuff that happens when someone gifts me a game and says, “I’d like you to review this, please.”  The first problem – for me, anyway, is an internal one.  Here they are, giving me a gift and they’re asking me to critique the gift.  What if I don’t like the gift?

One very important thing I got taught when growing up is:  “If someone gives you a gift and you don’t have anything nice to say about the gift then DON’T SAY ANYTHING.”  And this – of course – plays into my mindset when people pass on review copies.

So, I feel kind of obligated to say nice things about those games.  I expect that I’m not exactly alone, here.

There are all kinds of other weird obligations going on in the background, of course.  You have to review the game – usually – before a specific date.  And that just makes me feel pressured.  As in:  now it’s a race to get to some point in the game where I can legitimately talk about it.  And that’s not how I want to play games.  I want to take my time and see the sights.  I want to experiment a little, [if the game allows that] most importantly, though, I want to do the game justice.  And – personally – rushing a game experience doesn’t do it justice.

I don’t really want to get mixed up in all that.  It just leads to sometimes-terrible things.  For example:  the publisher of the game loses its mind completely and you get a situation like you did in 2007 with GameSpot where Jeff Gerstmann gave Kane and Lynch:  Dead Men a “Fair” rating and the publisher got him fired.

Typically, I want to be able to say what I want to say without fear of reprisal.  After all, a review is meant to be honest.  If I can’t be honest, what’s the point?

Sometimes, you get given a game you're uncomfortable with and then /everything/ works against you.

"You must review faster! I don't care if it's not a game genre you like!"

Bias Can Help You, But Not If Something Is Foisted Upon You

There’s one other big problem with being “gifted” a game in this manner.  And it’s an important problem.

But before we talk about that, let’s talk about the kinds of game I really like:  I did a lot of game-playing in the 80’s and 90’s.  Back then, there weren’t really “shooters” – particularly not on PC.  On PC you generally had three broad channels for games.  The first big channel was adventure games.  Adventure games are typically cerebral challenges where you solve puzzles to get to a specific point.  The second big genre was strategy and RPG games [I’m going to lump them together here, briefly, because they were both very mathsy in that era] – generally, here, you took a party/army of people and destroyed some evil.  Finally, there were simulation games.  Games where you could fly a plane, or a chopper or the like.  These had HUGE manuals, because there was a lot going on under the hood.  There was no such thing as a “casual simulation game” in the 80’s and 90’s.

My point is:  these are all slow games.  And I ended up liking those the best.  That is:  My bias is against twitch gaming.  If – for example – Nintendo came along and said – “hey, we’d like you to review the latest Mario game” – I would either have to turn it down or – if I were at a publication where they told you “you must” I would then become obligated to review the game.

And guess what?  My bias would lead me to thinking “this is a terrible game” all the time I was playing it.  In fact, my bias would do several other things to warp the review:  I would be resentful.  I would not appreciate my employer foisting the game on me; I would probably get the logo of the publisher up on a dart board and throw darts at it every time I died in the game.  In short, I wouldn’t be a happy camper.  And you can bet that this will be reflected in my review.  Again.  It wouldn’t be honest.

So, bias can be helpful, but it can only be helpful if you’re not forced to review something that you don’t like.

What Do I Do?

I buy games.  If the game seems interesting, I put the time and effort in to finishing the game off.  Once the game is all done, I spend twenty four hours away from it, reflecting on what I’ve just experienced.  And THEN I write the review.  I do this because I believe it gives me the freedom to do the game justice.  It also removes the bias problem.  Finally, there’s no obligation to anyone.  In this scenario, I am a consumer, just like you are a consumer and I am either enjoying the fruits of the developers labour or I am simply not impressed.

Do I think everyone should do this?  No.  But!  I do think it is important to disclose that they have a review copy from a given source and that this is what they’re commenting on.  [Which – I’m glad to see – some publications are doing.]

As for me?  I will continue doing things my way because it makes the “most sense.”


Images courtesy of Pixabay
PixabayRead more about the Jeff Gerstmann fiasco at Wikipedia

The Witcher 3: Past Due Review

Its Been A Long Time..

... since I've played anything with this much heart. Without saying much more it should be clear to most everyone at this point that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is more than worth your money, and more importantly your time. The game has been a remarkable achievement for developer CD Projekt RED, selling 4 Million Copies in just two weeks.  The game is remarkably different from previous titles in the series, both in scale and form. It's main story less linear, it's combat carefully refined, all while staying concise and accessible for newcomers to the series. With it's success has come great review after great review. And instead of repeating what others have said before me, I've decided to take my time and enjoy all that CDPR's first open world has to offer, than carefully examine certain elements on their own merit. This non scored review will explore animation quality, character and environmental modeling, lighting, particle effects, audio, game mechanics, level/world design, story mechanics, leveling systems, and more. All will be given at least a paragraph to discuss what they do well, and where some areas could improve.

Animations

 

I’m going to start off with this section not just because I myself love to animate, but because out of all the reviews I’ve read I have yet to see anyone talk about just how well detailed they are. They all feel, well, animated! What I mean is that so many games these days put realism over just about everything else. And motion capture animation has taken away what Richard Williams said was so important about animation while he was making Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He believed that animation is supposed to show us something we have never seen before, and can’t see everyday, to push the boundaries of what we perceive as normal, and create something that exaggerates and celebrates the world around around us. For me, Motion Capture is the opposite of this, and watching 3D models of people move just like us makes them seem forced and strange, while actually animating the models, moving the hands, arms, legs, and facial features to slightly exaggerate movement can really bring something to life. CD Projekt RED’s animators clearly know this, and even if some mo-cap was used, I would be surprised if it wasn’t used mostly as reference. The way Geralt swings his swords, the lunging movements made by Drowners, or the graceful Sirens flying above, all animate brilliantly within the world, keeping its energy full of life. Tiny little details are even put into motion, such as Geralt pushing the tip of his sheath to make his swords easier to put away.

 

But what really helps sell these animations are the key poses within them. While the fluidity of the keys that tie these poses together might be a bit too quick for taste, the poses themselves look amazing and are paused upon in just the right amount of time.

Character Modeling

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Characters Tend To All Look Quite Different
The 3D character models who inhabit the world in which you will journey through leave little to be desired. While some human faces seem to have been textured better than others, I’ve found it fairly impressive that everyone seems to look fairly different. Sure I’ll run into the occasional duplicate guard, but look closely enough at them and suddenly you start to notice subtle differences in skin tone, nose shapes, all with flawless topology and normal mapping.
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Just Little Hints of Stylization
Characters also exhibit slight exaggerations in their posture and proportions, keeping the games art style consistent with the animations. While kept in a grounded realistic tone, character models' features are exaggerated just shy enough to not quite be called cartoony. Just check out Geralt's model on the left, looks a bit feline doesn’t it? Not quite enough for you to call it out, but just enough to make you see him as something other than human, as if the cat eyes weren't a good enough hint. Couple all of the above with incredible texture work for character modeling and in my opinion you have the best looking 3D characters in an open world game.
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Texture Work on Clothing is Consistently Impressive

Environmental Modeling

For those of you who read this and think, “Why two sections for modeling? Are these two things really that different?” I will respond with this image:
Anywho, the building/environment models that are within the game are for the most part incredibly well constructed. One thing that you will notice in all areas of the Witcher 3 is its attention to detail. And the environments you’ll explore are no different. Cobwebs and other common household annoyances can be found in the furthest corners of even the most popular taverns within Novigrad. The swamps of Velen crawl around your ankles as bugs wiz past your head and the grass that pokes through the muck glisten with dirt stains. Forests you run through feel unkempt by the touch of man, not fabricated by someone at a computer desk. The composition alone of the vast and awe inspiring cities seem dense and populated. But unlike a lot of cities in open world games they don't stick out like sore thumbs, vegetation that creeps up the city walls makes it feel like the walls have started to mold, instead of just looking like another wall with a bump map.
The world's textures however, don’t help hold this illusion 100% of the time. Occasionally you will run into a texture with a far lower resolution than it’s surrounding models. Just check out the hexagonal log textures on the left side of the image below, see how low resolution they are compared to something like the toxicity effect on Geralt's face? These changes in texture resolution, while not quite abundant, can be a tad distracting at times.
Thankfully none of the issues are as bad as the ones below:
But in the Witcher 3 textures that look great from a far don’t always continue to look amazing up close.
(As we can see above in the log image)And while I would criticize the re-use of many textures, such tactics help keep the games loading times down to the impressive 10~15 seconds that they currently are. But it almost feels cheap to nit pick at smaller texture sizes when I haven’t seen a single N-Gon, inverted normal, or even flicking faces. And to see most graphical errors come down to the technical side of things must mean that the modeling teams did an amazing job at creating a beautiful world.

Lighting

An aspect of 3D design that many seem to forget about, lighting can make or break a games aesthetic. Two Worlds for example had a few issues aesthetically, but its largest crutch visually was its poor lighting. In the Witcher 3, lighting is not only far from an issue, it’s some of the best I’ve seen in gaming. it’s the kind of lighting that would make Gordon Willis proud and I truly hope that the lighting team on this game is shown more appreciation for the work they have done here. From the light shaft effects that shine through the forests as you gallop through them, to the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the taverns, the lighting and casted shadows greatly reflect the area you find yourself in. I will say the lighting can be a bit too bright around noon on a clear day though, and it can get so bright during this time that it can even wash out the fantastic colors all around you. But this again is a minor complaint about one of the games strongest visual tools.
The sun-rays in particular are done very well, so much so that I have even found myself squinting as I ride Roach towards the sunset. Yes, squinting, I don't know of any games that have made me do that just because of good lighting.  CDPR once again reminds us that they know how to make the most out of good lighting, and what it's respected shadows can provide in contrast to really make characters and objects pop right out of the screen.
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Go ahead, lie and tell me you're not squinting.

Particle Effects

The most common particle effects you’ll see will come from the signs you cast as Geralt. These effects do a great job at reflecting the mentioned descriptions of each ability. The particle effects within the environment are also very well animated, continuing to sell the concept of a living world, that would be doing its own thing with or without you there. Blood effects during combat aren’t overly violent, unless you get a dismemberment, but they are a great indicator of a successful attack. The sparks that fly when you  clash swords with an opponent is so visually different for different kinds of enemies. They can stop your attack with swords, rock armor, hardened scales, and then some. Wraiths in particular are a fantastic achievement for the particle effect team, as the lower half of their bodies could have made them extremely disinteresting if a particle effect that looked worse was in its place.

Audio Effects/Soundtrack

Part of what makes the gameplay feels so impactful is it’s incredible use of player feedback. A swing of your sword hitting an enemy has many layers to it. The Animations reacting to the attack, the blood effect indicating a hit, and most importantly, the audio cue in the form of a lovely slash sound. The sound effects that are made by your signs also come to mind as something very well crafted, maybe one or two sound similar to another but not enough to make a huge deal about it. Sounds of the rain and other environmental sounds are another great piece of the Witcher 3's confident puzzle. One of the best things to do in the Witcher is to just take a walk out into the forests, you’ll hear rustling trees and even creatures off in the distance. Maybe you’ll hear some birds chirping occasionally or the ocean off in the distance. The sign great audio design is being able to close your eyes and still know exactly what kind of environment you’re in. Witcher 3 passes that test, with flying colors.
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The soundtrack that plays to your movements on your journey fits every moment very well. And honestly each song is so good on its own that the soundtrack probably needs to be reviewed separately. There is a particular song early on in the game where everything slows down and you get to just listen to a bard's wonderful tune. It is easily one of my favorite moments in the story, and I’ll be humming that song along with many others for quite a while after playing.

Gwent Review

We all know that The Witcher 3 is great, as covered in our Review, but CD Projekt RED took ambition to a new level with it's "Mini" Game Gwent, a Full scale in game collectible Card Game that may end up taking up as much of your time in the world of the Witcher as hunting monsters. 

This unique CCG seems to have a lot of players split down the middle in terms of a level of interest in the game. Either you love Gwent, or you want nothing to do with it. Those of you who love it, you already know why the game is so fun to play. Those of you not quite sold yet, let me tell you a bit more about this surprisingly large mini game as someone who started out hating it.
"Why on earth would you possibly decide the players only draw one hand for the whole match?" 

"I didn’t build a deck to only use 1/3 of it! Wow I can only play one card a turn huh?"

"What a boring piece of crap, wait. What do you mean I lose?" 

"Whatever f*** it, I’m a god damn Witcher for pete’s sake and there's monsters out there to kill!"

Realizing What The Game Really Is

I’ve heard a few similar testimonies like the ones above of  players early encounters with Gwent, and I would be lying if I said they didn’t mirror my own. Which as an aspiring game designer was a very silly and petty thing to do. I should know that simple doesn't always mean bad, and that a game’s surface might not be all there is to it.
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Two Jet Fighters Playing Chicken

It wasn’t until I needed to beat an NPC at a game of Gwent that  truly learned how to play the game. Which at its core really isn’t a CCG. It’s core mechanic is that of a game of chicken, where each player does not wish to yield to the other, but horrid occurrences can happen when neither do.
This basic game design model of conflict is what makes the core of Gwent so different from any other CCG, and why each player only gets to draw ten cards. So unless you have cards that let you draw more, you will need to find a way to win 2 out of 3 rounds against your opponent. This can be done in many ways. Such as fishing out the enemies more powerful cards, creating a card advantage by passing early, or countering a pass of your opponent by playing a spy on their board after they yield. It also makes card draw and hand advantage far more important than any other card game. Same goes for board advantage, since you can only play one card a turn, special cards that let you play extra, draw cards, or complement each other are not just an optional gimmick, they are necessary.
Having a deck filled with nothing but high power cards that do nothing mentioned above will not net you wins. You need to find a balance between what kind of deck you’re building, how you will approach the game of chicken because of this, and when the best time to go all in is. Sure you could try to save as many cards as possible for the final round, but you may end up wanted to spend a few cards to take a round from an enemy who passed with only 10 points above you. It's a very interesting way to trade between, board presence, tempo, and card advantage. 

An Example Match

If you'd like take a look at the example match below. It is a turn by turn slideshow of an entire match of Gwent. 
One fairly subjective criticism I could give Gwent is that I personally feel it is a bit of stretch in terms of world lore. Meaning I can't really see a lot of these characters being the "Card Collecting" type. Especially with all the wars and other fairly important matters within the world. Yet I forgive it for not really feeling that cemented since these people do need a way to break out from all of the depressing glum in the story. And this game is just lighthearted and stress free enough to fill my relief gap. That is also its place within the game's mechanics, allowing the player to set their own pace by taking a break from all the killing and enjoy a simple game with great theme music (found below) and its own different sense of wonder. I suppose that may be why they wanted Gwent to feel so out of place from the world, to really let the player experience something completely different from the core game for a few minutes, just before they have to continue their search for the latest monster who's killed another innocent villager. 

If you haven’t found yourself becoming a Gwent enthusiast in the Witcher 3 yet and you like the idea of what I described I implore you to take a chance on it one more time and force yourself to learn all you can as I did. Suddenly your Geralt may just become quite the card collector.
Reviewer: Cody Hall
Game: Gwent
Developer: CD Projekt RED
Source: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Image Source: Macro Business
Gwent Song Video: Arthellinus

Perception Kickstarter has just 4 days to go and I almost missed it!

This is what happens when I stop paying attention to video games (and get salty about Nintendo), I almost miss Kickstarter projects that just look amazing deserve attention from horror fans like myself.  Full disclosure: I like this game and I'm posting about it because I want you to like it too.
I could go be all proper and completely rewrite all the information found on the project's Kickstarter page but I'll be brief and to the point: in Perception you play as a blind woman exploring a haunted house. She can only "see" by tapping her cane and the house's otherworldly elements can hear that tapping. There's the trade-off: you open yourself to risk just to navigate the environment. If you get spotted, you must run for your life because there's no combat. You navigate by echolocation and survive by wit and evasion.
Perception  is sporting a cool visual presentation and those production values really shine (check out the video on the Kickstarter page and look at the wind during Cassie's approach to the house). I'll be blunt: I'll always prefer combat in my horror games but this one has my attention and my support (another disclosure: I backed the project).

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Source:  Kickstarter

Better Late Than Never: Last Two Days of the Steam Monster Summer Sale

The Steam Monster Summer Sale is nearly over, so if you haven't taken advantage of the slew of scary deals yet, you'd better get on that quick. There are deals that change daily, as well as flash sales that change every 12 hours. If, for some reason, you don't see anything you want right now (which is pretty unlikely), just keep checking back and you will be sure to find something good. As of the time of writing this, there are huge discounts available on several titles from the Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed, Fallout, and Batman Arkham series, just to name a few.One last thing before you go, make sure you bring lots of money with you. With this many great deals going on, it's way too easy to burn a hole in your wallet. Happy shopping!

[Image: Valve]

Andrew J Amideo

New Zelda: Triforce Heroes co-op requires Power, Wisdom, Courage, and Friends. 

I hope you weren't planning on playing the newly announced Zelda: Triforce Heroes co-op locally with just one other person because you can't!
While bumbling through Kotaku, I discovered more promising news from the house that Mario built. The new co-op focused Zelda game can't be played with just two people (unless PVP Zelda is your thing). The journey must be taken solo (with two straw dummies in tow) or with two human dummies in tow. The Four Swords games didn't have this issue.. I guess I should try to force someone I know to buy a 3DS and this game or bet our success on a random.

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Source: Kotaku

State of the Stiq turned WRUP

You might wonder why there is so little news. Well, I (Dr. S) need a little break (E3 reminded me that the best part about gaming is …playing games yourself!) and everyone else on the team is either busy, sick, or too cynical for E3.

This E3 was great on paper, but if you look a bit deeper, it really wasn’t worth the hassle. I could report on all the little news-bits and get crazy in the process, but that would be just doing free PR for the industry. Remember all those previous E3 promises that never really materialized in the way they were presented? Yeah, it will be the same this year.

I will probably be back on Monday, and then we’ll try to uncover some of this year’s E3 lies, give spotlight to some under-promoted news and have a jolly good time overall. In the meantime, I’m sure those of you who are interested in promotional material have some other news sources. (If not, you can visit our friends over at GamesRadar), but I would personally urge you to just relax and play some games. Life is too short for listening to PR speeches ;)

George Weidman from Super Bunnyhop actually released a pretty good video on this topic:

With that out of the way and since it is Friday: What’s everyone playing?