Street Fighter 5... Another Example of Casual Gaming Killing Franchises

The moment has finally come, Street Fighter V is out (well almost a week now) and the question is-

"Is it worth purchasing?"

After all the "controversial" reviews, the question of is it worth purchasing is even more common than before. Fear not, I have your fast and true honest answer to that question right here, right now.

Metal Gear Rising - PC - So much Addictive Self Violation Never Existed Till Now.

Metal Gear Rising: ReVengeance. So many mind numbing decisions on this game that make it a pain to even think about or properly try to place into categories... My gripes with it are instant, constant, and they are frustrating indeed. So I will jump right into the bashing as I have rarely ever played a title that I waited for patiently for so many years that was as crap as this pile of junk! (Talking about the PC version here as always)

Buttons on the mouse that cannot be mapped, a variety of control options that cannot be controlled or changed, clumsy user interface, console port controls that make blade mode from being the strongest aspect of the game into the most annoying part of it, a grind fest that simply has you doing the same thing again and again... cinematic, voicecom interruption, get to point, kill enemies, rince and repeat with plenty more voicecomes along the way and changing the "get to point" objectives to "press the button" objectives.

Constant checkpoint interruptions, not just the score alone which gives a cool arcade feel to it, but stage limitations as well containing you into certain areas every few steps. The amount of these things is ridiculous, the score screen is so unrewarding as it is annoying, getting in your way to even moving properly disabling half of your controls, and instead of being an arcade like element reminiscent of the 90's, that feels like it pops up each time you achieve something, it becomes practically an overused annoying UI layout as if all the ridiculous voicecoms all over the place weren't enough.

The concept behind the game is so damn awesome, it still has hope for a
sequel to fix all things done wrong... So much gone wrong with such an
awesome concept in hand. They managed the impossible.

Combat itself? Combos work ok and pretty cool, auto aim ruins half of them, as does the still console like movement to it all the likes of "direction input attacking" instead of "mouse look" (even though this is among the most minor of things) yet my biggest gripe is that it all ends up being specific predefined repeatable combat mechanics as opposed to a fluent combat system.

A camera that has gone completely bonkers, the design of it so damn clumsy I felt frustrated the more I played the game. Poor execution of the best parts about the game (Blade Mode), making it ridiculously fun when it works right, ridiculously annoying since it barely ever works and barely ever controlled fluently as it ends up being an entire pile of messy mechanics and controls (fun factor being proof that the game could have been so much more).

DOOM 2014 - QuakeCon Reveals New Classic Mechanics.

DOOM 2014 (previously named DOOM 4 and of late simply known as DOOM alone) is finally here...

Well not exactly, it's some corners away at least. Nonetheless sooner than we had hoped, since Doom 4 seemed for a long time a dead project that was sluggishly finding its way to late 2015 if that. When the teaser came out, I was excited to say the least but didn't heed much to expectations with regards to seeing it any time soon.

The teaser surely took me by surprise, news on development on the new Doom were till now elusive and covered in a haze of mystery and smoke. With the project scrapped and rebooted at least once that we know of, and id software making statements of the likes "we will reveal information on the game when we have something to reveal..." all hope of getting it any time soon seemed futile. Of course we also had the occasional "it is going to be great" comments and the tease of what it "might" include or be like. But all we could do is push back release dates in our minds and make empty speculations of what it might be like or when it would arrive.

Until now.

Doom is indeed closer than we think, and from the sounds of it, is shaping up into a great experience created around fun and plenty fan service unless I am mistaken. Fingers crossed, but the horizons look good with the latest reveals and sooner that we had hoped.

Graphics in Video Games, Will Always Be Important!

-"Someone that believes graphics are important should go and watch an anime or something, they are not real gamers"

-"I don't care about the graphics if the gameplay sucks"

-"Graphics are not important, it's the gameplay that counts"

-"Wish they would cut back on paying so much attention to graphics and make better gameplay"

-"Who cares about the lack in graphics? It has great gameplay."

Those few quotes, among many others, are some of the common phrases the "real" gamers of our time use to the extent that now people even write articles to defend such a notion... Being, that graphics are not important.

Funny story, I was going over this whole concept again not more than one day ago, and today I wake up to read a related article including opinions and comments enforcing the idea that graphics are indeed not important and further more, stating that they actually are not important "any more" in the industry in general and not just for their liking. I wonder at such perspectives from such gamers and turn to question what wonderful book or insight of facts gave away this notion for articles and comments of the like to exist?

X REBIRTH - 1st Impressions Game Review

X-Universe fans have been patiently waiting a long time now for the release to the next chapter of Egosofts' sandbox space simulator. X-Rebirth has been in development for 7 years, and it is now finally here.

The most obvious questions are: Does it deliver? Is it worthy of the X-Universe franchise? And does the new addition cater to the fans as well?

At most, it does. Although a little early on its release, with having an array of bugs experienced in the game from many users, X Rebirth should not disappoint neither the fans of the franchise nor the newcomers. It caters to both depth and functionality, keeps true to the franchise in almost every way, and adds changes that make it easier to pick up as well as easier to enjoy in the long run without ditching that depth of the past. Egosoft have gone into delivering these elements for their new X title in one of the most well-balanced and complete approaches that a single player sandbox space simulator has ever seen till now. (minus the bugs)

From Crysis to Crysis 3

Trilogy/Quadroligy Review and Comparisson

Just finished Crysis 3 a small while back and have been meaning to get to a review for it...
So we're doing that now. Talking about, reviewing and comparing all the titles in the Crysis trilogy. Four titles actually for those that include Warhead as a separate title rather than an expansion-ish stand alone addition. Crysis has been after all as a franchise giving us top end experiences and pushing technology along with first person shooter standards for almost 6 years now (end of 2007 - 2013) and deserves it's own thorough look. And as we do it here, we get as thorough as it gets before it becomes a quantum theory molecular level kind of thorough.

Crysis has not gone unnoticed one bit in the gaming industry. Either by haters, or fans, and from both ends of the gaming spectrum including PC's and Consoles, at least one of the Crysis titles has been subject for a lot of back and forth debating for most gamers if not all gamers of our time.

I being no different and having now completed the trilogy, am ready to dig deep inside the Crysis titles and meet the heart that beats beneath it all face to face.

An MMO Evaluation - Part 2

An MMO (mostly mmorpg) Evaluation, that is- "My 2 Bits on MMO's thus far." - part 2

I know that the article itself might seem very long, but the truth of the matter is that I am after all not talking about one game alone, but an entire game genre, it's history, my likes and dislikes on it, comparisons to other gaming genres during this time, as well as a small review on titles as well. Taking head on such a large topic cannot be done in just few words, unless the idea is to point out to only some things and keep posting new articles to cover different areas each time. To make one complete reference to it all in one go is indeed a lengthy journey.

Seems there might be hope after all.  Art from ESO (Elder Scrolls Online)

For Part 1 to the article click here.

Now, where to begin, or shall I say continue...

SWG: Star Wars Galaxies

My first introduction to mmo's was Star Wars Galaxies (SWG).
What followed after that first experience was a close reflection of the same thing. Low end graphics, cooldown crowded gameplay, target lock type combat and interface that although was not exactly turn-based, it was certainly closer to a turn-based form rather than real-time. My personal taste on all the above? Is disgust.

My stay in SWG was small, but long enough for me to see the basics. After 15 years of gaming I am a veteran and do not need more than few hours (much less) to understand where a game is going. Now my gaming years have ranked up to 25. The comment "later on the game gets better" is so overrated and overused. No, the game will never get better later, and it is about time people started to realise this. The content will get better, but not the game. It will have the same graphics, the same mechanics, the same animations, and the same gameplay.

The skill trees and the things you unlock are not the reward for playing an rpg for hours, they are reasons you like to play the rpg (meaning that having them from early on in the game is a good start to help you enjoy the game, waiting for 30 dings of leveling up to get to some skill or ability that will make the game fun does not suffice). You should enjoy building up a character, not building towards a character, hence constant rewards are the way to go and also the means to make you move up into the world which you are experiencing, making it more fun as well as more versatile. These extras are there to keep you going instead of boring you out, they are there to be enjoyed and not to be waited on. Content advancement apart from maps, story, enemies and loot, includes skills, traits, abilities etc, and if indeed the gameplay of a game is stale to begin with, making up for it after 20 hours of play with a cool skill or adventurous map is not an excuse and doesn't save the game. I can see screenshots if the most an MMO can give is better maps later on.

If a game is not fun for you within the first 15 mins, most chances are it will never be fun. "It gets better later" is not a phrase that convinces me, and I have put it to the test. Of course I always give the benefit of the doubt, and never try a new title for less than 30-60 mins. That is more than enough to know everything you need to know about a game, where it is headed, and what you can expect. Above all it is more than enough to know if you like it. I have forced myself to keep to those 30-60 mins for titles that I disliked within 15 mins. The result was the same after spending the extra time. Some titles I hit hours of play to try and get into them when I had more time and it still simply didn't work.

My introduction to the mmo genre, SWG, a game I actually enjoyed but only due to my Star Wars fandom.
Seeing Tatooine and the Binary Sunset, as well as laser pistols and lightsabers, was enough to give me smiles.

An MMO Evaluation - Part 1

An MMO (mostly mmorpg) Evalutation, that is- "My 2 Bits on MMO's thus far." - part 1

It's no surprise that someone that loves rpg's would turn in time to also like mmo's. Notice I used the word "like" instead of love, since to be honest with ourselves we all know that mmo's are not really doing a good job to encapsulate the true essence of rpg's, and they never have thus far.

After taking the time to experience them, begining the journey with first tastes from SWG (Star Wars Galaxies) a small while before WoW came out, I find myself putting together a collection of ideas and thoughts, likes and dislikes, on the mmo industry. Mostly dislikes so far but thankfully the last year has seen a small change in this bringing finally a taste of bliss in liking as well. Not nearly enough to justify such a long wait (of almost 10 years) of looking into mmo's to find the recipe that works, or perhaps simply the recipe I liked.

I am in many ways now wasted on the thought of mmo's for they have not delivered to the genre in the way that they should have all this time. Of course this is just my opinion, but isn't everything on gaming based on personal taste and opinion? Having that said, I am now at the point that even if I see something I like, it is dwindled down into a small flicker rather than a flare or flame the way it would have been had I not been involved with the mmo genre for so long.

I had much greater expectations back in the day and indeed I find no reason to hide the fact that I also had many ideas for how the genre should and could have been developed, as well as the directions it should have worked towards achieving. Almost 10 years later and FINALLY these ideas are coming to life! Some I admit came to being during these years, but they where the smaller and at times less important changes I felt should always be a part of mmo's. Even so, some of those ideas have still to be developed or made even today. Not to mention that today, personally, my expectations and ideas on the direction of mmorpg's... correction, my expectations and ideas on the state they should already be IN, are much larger and even more in number.

Subscription based games are a scam!

My "article reply" to an article on F2P games and Subscriptions...

I wrote what seemed or started out as a reply to PCGAMERS article with the title:

Star Wars: The Old Republic’s free-to-play restrictions tweaked, Bioware stress “an ongoing dialogue"

and it quickly escalated to an actual article length piece that I thought I hold on to.

It was mostly in response to those supporting the idea that "if people want the full game they should subscribe" and that they shouldn't complain about the f2p model in SWTOR.

I myself having looked at it (the f2p model) see how flawed it is and, well, it reminds nothing of a proper free 2 play model. I support the idea of subscription games simply not existing at all (take a look at my older article posted here called "Free For All - Challenging Life Itself" to get an idea of my thoughts on this matter generally and how I believe it should work) and so I had my two cents to add to it all.

The amount of tolerance we have as gamers, or even human beings, allows for such things as these (e.g subscription based games) to keep gong on when clearly they should be stopped.

I thought it would be a shame to leave the reply there alone (I would end up forgetting about it myself) and so here it is:

(readers beware, the content is less formal than my usual posts, but I think still worth posting as a cry to gamers to simply STOP with their ignorance on companies taking advantage on them)

....

Hawken - Closed Beta Event Videos

The 2nd video for the HAWKEN closed beta event is up.

Although I seldom tend to make reviews or commentary videos, I took the chance to look into this new free-to-play mech themed first person shooter once having attained a closed beta key for the event during the weekend of 28/10/2012.

In the video I showcase all the maps available in the beta event, the three mech classes, and the four game modes.

I take a thorough look with extensive commentary on most if not all aspects of the game, leading into the last hour of gameplay only (no commentary) with the remaining items, game modes and maps, profile menu coverage, and showcase of the Andromeda map with no other players online (an even more thorough view of the map designs and the graphics without anyone around to fire at me or to aim at whilst I take my time to look at the environments).

I also uploaded a week before this video the first part, made a day before the event began, dwelling into a detailed coverage of the mech customization menu.

Links to the two videos are bellow.

HAWKEN CLOSED BETA Part 02 - Full Gameplay (HD) (Review)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6bBBFdUQaI

HAWKEN CLOSED BETA Part 01 - A Thorough Look at Customisation (HD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaPXtkAPDfE

Enjoy.

FREE FOR ALL - Challenging Life Itself!

 “How does free gaming and free filming help reach a change in the world?” The answer is simple.

We have been confined in a world created to suit a system that perhaps we have not all agreed on all the time, struggled with, sometimes perhaps came to question, and even come to confront.

We have been conditioned to see things in certain ways and come to deal with them or believe in them in either the form that “they are like that because they are” or “they are like that because that is how things work.” This conditioning has made us trust and have faith in a model not because we ourselves have dealt to question with it and design it, but because it is the standard, the mean, the prototype and the example that we are just used to and seldom challenge because so far it works. Or at least, it seems to work or has us believing it works.

The majority of the sources that support this model are also those that contribute the greatest in our conception that it works, and they are also at the same time the ones to profit most from it, and coincidentally enough for us, are also the biggest forms of influence in our life. Media!

Whether they be the cinema, television, radio or advertisements (outside those three major medias, from billboards to flyers to posters) that are used by companies, shops, products, and all forms of consumerism. Whatever has a gain in profit has a say in media, whatever isn’t free, needs to be advertised, whatever isn’t free needs to be bought, whatever need to be bought needs a job and jobs need again advertisement or any form of reaching the masses to sell a product. From a service to any other material convenience, it all helps to structure this model and soon enough before we know it we all live to either believe or encourage the notion that “nothing is free”.

Is this entirely true however? In some cases it might be, in some others it might not.