Hello again, everybody. So for the past couple of weeks I have been spending some quality time with a free-to-play game from Steam. Fortress Forever is a mod of Half-Life 2 which was very popular upon its release. The mod had a thriving community and lasted well beyond its expected lifespan. What is Fortress Forever? Well, calling it a Source engine remake of Team Fortress Classic would be a great disservice. This is no remake. This is the game Team Fortress 2 should have been. That's a bold statement, I know, but for anyone who played the original back in the day, you'll know exactly what I mean.
On the surface, the game appears to be TFC with improved graphics. That's true to a certain extent. You get the same classes, same weapons, even the same maps all in the glorious beauty *cough cough* of the Source engine! OK, so maybe upgrading to the Source engine isn't cutting edge, but it does look and feel much more polished than its 1998 counterpart. The graphics are an interesting point, and even a bit tricky. You see, realism is not what this game is going for. Characters are dressed in ridiculously vibrant reds, blues, yellows, and greens, models are cartoonish, and the animations are almost comical. However, all these things that would normally be considered problems actually contribute to the game's style.
You see, Fortress Forever is a very fast-paced game. If you thought Team Fortress 2 was fast, then think again. If you took the TFC formula and combined it with elements from Quake 3, then you've pretty much got an idea of what Fortress Forever feels like. You'll be running at very high speeds with most of your classes, and even the Heavy Weapons Guy is faster than his TF2 iteration. The game has streamlined some of the clunky elements from TFC such as controlling your engineer's buildings and requesting backup via hotkeys. Everything is much more smooth. The game also has an auto-reload that gives even more speed to the gunplay. If you don't like reloading automatically between shots, don't worry; this can be disabled. However, I think it blends in well with the pace of the game. But don't go into this game expecting an easy string of frags. The players currently online are very adept and weapons like shotguns and nailguns don't do a whole lot of damage, even with headshots. But don't think the community is hostile to newcomers. In fact, this game has one of the friendliest communities I've ever seen. Tell the guys it's your first time and you get a lot of cheerful welcomes. Every match generally ends with people congratulating each other. Occasionally you'll even hear someone say "good shot" after getting sniped. I ran into no screaming 11 year-olds and very few vulgar mic spammers. I did get one guy who blasted "Snake Eater" over his mic, which ticked some people off, but I loved. Then he started playing the song "I'm 100% Nigga" and some other racist song I'd never heard before. Things got a little heated after that.
The game is welcoming to new players in other ways. Do you remember having trouble learning to rocket jump in Team Fortress Classic? Remember how frustrating it got? Well new players are now graced with a tutorial mission that teaches them all the tricks of the game. It's well made and informative. I learned a couple new things, myself, and I'm a veteran. Since the game is a bit older, the community is full of empty servers, which is a real shame. If you have a PC, then get this game off of Steam. It's 100% free with no pay-to-win, no microtransactions, and (praise be the name of the Lord) no hats! Get this game for yourself, tell your friends to do the same, and build up that community again. You won't find fun like this in any other title. Except the original, but that will cost you 5 bucks. Worth it, but there's a free version with better graphics, gameplay, and overall design. So what are you waiting for? Leave a like, comment, or both and go get this game! You'll be stealing the enemy flag like a pro in no time. Happy fragging!
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
Review: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex
The Call of Duty series has received a ton of flak lately with people accusing Infinity Ward of being nothing more than a money-grabbing corporation that flips the bird at its fans when they ask for new and inspired content. But things weren't always that way. Once upon a time, Call of Duty could do no wrong. The over-the-top action and addicting shooting made the series stand out from the competition. What other series put you on the front lines of Stalingrad, Point du Hoc, Omaha Beach, and Bastogne? Medal of Honor? That series seemed hard pressed to give a decent shooter. Call of Duty offered a cinematic experience that rivaled some of the most famous films such as Saving Private Ryan. Call of Duty was a World War II powerhouse that seemed unstoppable. Until Treyarch got hold of the license and released Call of Duty 3. The game was fine, but not overly stunning like its predecessors. So Infinity Ward took another stab at the franchise. But what they did took everyone by surprise. Rather than release yet another WWII game, they decided to turn the series on its head and release a game set in the present day, with modern weapons, vehicles, tactics, gadgets, and locations. It was Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The game released in 2007 for PC, PS3, and Xbox360 and was an instant hit. However, Wii owners were forced to sit back and watch in envy as their friends got to enjoy the action. It didn't seem fair that everyone else should get to have all the fun, so in 2009 Infinity Ward released Modern Warfare Reflex.
At first, nearly everyone, myself included, was skeptical of this port. Wii ports of Xbox and PS3 games were notorious for being poor in quality and often were completely different games. Fortunately, Reflex was not a half-thought-out port, but rather a realization of what the games could be on Nintendo's famous waggle machine. The game is a 100% faithful port of the other versions. You get the same game, from the mission layout to the dialogue to the story. It stays consistent with its big brothers. This came as a huge relief to someone who was sick and tired of seeing his favorite console relegated to being a receptacle for "Wii-makes" and shovelware. Upon playing this game, I was blown away by how much fun I was having with this version of one of my favorite game. However, it seems not everyone would share my opinion. Critics called the game a "cash-in" and refused to say anything positive about it.
Well here I am, yet again defending a game that no one else seems to appreciate. I would make this a case file if it was a little more notorious, but many people don't even know the Wii Call of Duty games even exist. So here's a simple review. Let's start it just like any other review. Graphics. Well, it is a Wii game so you know it won't look as good as its Xbox and Playstation counterparts. That said, the game looks very good on the Wii. Animations are smooth, characters are believable, textures are passable, and the lighting is very good. Smoke, dirt, and debris all fly like you'd expect them too, and the game even keeps the mechanic that allows you to shoot through thin cover. The graphics aren't perfect. There are several moments that left much to be desired. The blackhawk charge in Charlie Don't Surf, the tank patrol in All Ghillied Up, and yes, even the infamous nuke all look very stale compared to the other versions. These famous scenes lose much of their oomph without flashy visuals. However, there are just as many moments that gain much more due to the controls.
Controls are the next point. Love it or hate it, the Wii remote lends itself extremely well to the first-person shooter genre. Controlling your movement may not feel as intuitive at first, but the game offers a ton of customization options to make the game feel like a technical masterpiece. Tweaking the controls to your style of play is a huge boost to the game's quality, and helps out a ton in multiplayer, but more on that later. When you use your iron sights, the aim automatically snaps to the nearest enemy, which makes taking accurate shots with the Wii remote easier and more satisfying. It gives the illusion of killer reflexes and makes you feel like even more of a boss than the game would usually make you feel. However, the controls and visuals don't always align. The framerate, while generally solid, does tend to drop when things get hectic. This can lead to some difficulty with aiming, especially at moving targets. The controls make the harder modes all the more difficult. But the difficulty in CoD: MWR seems artificial. The enemies do more damage and are harder to kill. You compensate for this by making better and quicker shots and movements. It makes beating a game on a high setting that much more satisfying.
The gameplay comes next. The game plays like any other Call of Duty game. Go here, shoot that, go there, blow up that, make this tough shot, get to the extraction point. Simple but effective, just as always. However, there are some very annoying issues. My biggest gripe is the grenades. Enemies in this game have the uncanny ability to throw grenades right between your feet regardless of where they are in relation to you. And they will throw grenades. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of grenades. There were so many times I would find a good spot to fight from only to have a grenade land in front of me. I would back off and wait for it to cook off, then go back only to have two more land in front of me. You can throw them back, but you're better off running for cover. Also the game sees fit to remind you that the grenade indicator indicates a grenade every time one kills you.Whether you stood on top of it, or already had taken damage and the edge of the blast finished you off, the game assumes you were too stupid to notice the grenade and arrow on your screen. It's insulting. Of course, this applies to all Call of Duty games, not just the Wii port. I had this same exact issue with CoD 2 for the PC. Another problem is the abundance of RPG wielding soldiers. I got pretty sick of taking damage from yet another RPG. It gets particularly irksome when you are forced to defend something from waves of them. I had to restart The Bog at least 20 times my first go around. I found it nearly impossible to stay alive and defend War Pig at the same time. However, the gameplay is still really fun. You get to use some of the coolest military hardware on the planet, my personal favorite being the M4 Sopmod. Your missions will take you to several areas and even a separate time period where you'll get to play as Captain Price in his earlier years. You'll shoot hordes of enemies in open combat, sneak past large groups, and even shoot down helicopters with sniper rifles. The whole thing is very epic and filled with more adrenaline than you can shake a stick at.
Next is the sound. The music is top notch and sets the mood perfectly for what you're doing. The voice acting is believable, though occasionally cheesy. The guns all sound real and the ambient sounds are all immersive. The enemies chatter back and forth in a realistic manner, and your squadmates will talk to each other with context sensitive chatter, just like in CoD 2. Another thing from CoD 2 is recycled enemy voices. Every now and then I did hear a bit of dialogue or a scream torn straight from the mouth of a Nazi, but unless you look for it, you probably won't notice. Or care.
Finally is the multiplayer. It's the same multiplayer as the others in terms of online modes. However, the local multiplayer is very lame. Two players can cooperatively complete missions, but not as different people. Instead, they share control of the protagonist. One player controls the movement, the other controls the shooting. It's a poor setup that leads to pain, frustration, death, and the occasional burst of hilarity. The fact that this mode even exists is in itself hilarious. It's a joke, really. Luckily, the online mode is just as solid as the other versions, only this time, there are fewer players and more skill. Killing players in online matches with motion controls is ridiculously satisfying. That perfect headshot feels so much better when you actually did the aiming with your hands and not your thumbs. The upgrade, unlock, and perk systems are all intact and are just as excellent as you'll remember.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex is not perfect, but definitely does not deserve the criticism it receives. Just because a game gets ported to the Wii does not mean it is bad. Just look at Dead Space: Extraction. This game shows off how a first-person shooter on the Wii feels when it is done well, similarly to how Goldeneye showed off. Everything about the other games that you loved is here, minus flashy graphics and local multiplayer. It takes the already excellent Modern Warfare, turns down the settings for lighter hardware, then melds it with well done and fully customizable motion controls that make the game an absolute gas to play. If you have a Wii, you owe it to yourself to get this game. And while you're at it, look for the other Wii CoD games. Once you've played a shooter with Wii controls, you won't want to go back to dual analog sticks. This game makes the Xbox controller feel archaic by comparison, and a game that can do that is doing something right.
At first, nearly everyone, myself included, was skeptical of this port. Wii ports of Xbox and PS3 games were notorious for being poor in quality and often were completely different games. Fortunately, Reflex was not a half-thought-out port, but rather a realization of what the games could be on Nintendo's famous waggle machine. The game is a 100% faithful port of the other versions. You get the same game, from the mission layout to the dialogue to the story. It stays consistent with its big brothers. This came as a huge relief to someone who was sick and tired of seeing his favorite console relegated to being a receptacle for "Wii-makes" and shovelware. Upon playing this game, I was blown away by how much fun I was having with this version of one of my favorite game. However, it seems not everyone would share my opinion. Critics called the game a "cash-in" and refused to say anything positive about it.
Well here I am, yet again defending a game that no one else seems to appreciate. I would make this a case file if it was a little more notorious, but many people don't even know the Wii Call of Duty games even exist. So here's a simple review. Let's start it just like any other review. Graphics. Well, it is a Wii game so you know it won't look as good as its Xbox and Playstation counterparts. That said, the game looks very good on the Wii. Animations are smooth, characters are believable, textures are passable, and the lighting is very good. Smoke, dirt, and debris all fly like you'd expect them too, and the game even keeps the mechanic that allows you to shoot through thin cover. The graphics aren't perfect. There are several moments that left much to be desired. The blackhawk charge in Charlie Don't Surf, the tank patrol in All Ghillied Up, and yes, even the infamous nuke all look very stale compared to the other versions. These famous scenes lose much of their oomph without flashy visuals. However, there are just as many moments that gain much more due to the controls.
Controls are the next point. Love it or hate it, the Wii remote lends itself extremely well to the first-person shooter genre. Controlling your movement may not feel as intuitive at first, but the game offers a ton of customization options to make the game feel like a technical masterpiece. Tweaking the controls to your style of play is a huge boost to the game's quality, and helps out a ton in multiplayer, but more on that later. When you use your iron sights, the aim automatically snaps to the nearest enemy, which makes taking accurate shots with the Wii remote easier and more satisfying. It gives the illusion of killer reflexes and makes you feel like even more of a boss than the game would usually make you feel. However, the controls and visuals don't always align. The framerate, while generally solid, does tend to drop when things get hectic. This can lead to some difficulty with aiming, especially at moving targets. The controls make the harder modes all the more difficult. But the difficulty in CoD: MWR seems artificial. The enemies do more damage and are harder to kill. You compensate for this by making better and quicker shots and movements. It makes beating a game on a high setting that much more satisfying.
The gameplay comes next. The game plays like any other Call of Duty game. Go here, shoot that, go there, blow up that, make this tough shot, get to the extraction point. Simple but effective, just as always. However, there are some very annoying issues. My biggest gripe is the grenades. Enemies in this game have the uncanny ability to throw grenades right between your feet regardless of where they are in relation to you. And they will throw grenades. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of grenades. There were so many times I would find a good spot to fight from only to have a grenade land in front of me. I would back off and wait for it to cook off, then go back only to have two more land in front of me. You can throw them back, but you're better off running for cover. Also the game sees fit to remind you that the grenade indicator indicates a grenade every time one kills you.Whether you stood on top of it, or already had taken damage and the edge of the blast finished you off, the game assumes you were too stupid to notice the grenade and arrow on your screen. It's insulting. Of course, this applies to all Call of Duty games, not just the Wii port. I had this same exact issue with CoD 2 for the PC. Another problem is the abundance of RPG wielding soldiers. I got pretty sick of taking damage from yet another RPG. It gets particularly irksome when you are forced to defend something from waves of them. I had to restart The Bog at least 20 times my first go around. I found it nearly impossible to stay alive and defend War Pig at the same time. However, the gameplay is still really fun. You get to use some of the coolest military hardware on the planet, my personal favorite being the M4 Sopmod. Your missions will take you to several areas and even a separate time period where you'll get to play as Captain Price in his earlier years. You'll shoot hordes of enemies in open combat, sneak past large groups, and even shoot down helicopters with sniper rifles. The whole thing is very epic and filled with more adrenaline than you can shake a stick at.
Next is the sound. The music is top notch and sets the mood perfectly for what you're doing. The voice acting is believable, though occasionally cheesy. The guns all sound real and the ambient sounds are all immersive. The enemies chatter back and forth in a realistic manner, and your squadmates will talk to each other with context sensitive chatter, just like in CoD 2. Another thing from CoD 2 is recycled enemy voices. Every now and then I did hear a bit of dialogue or a scream torn straight from the mouth of a Nazi, but unless you look for it, you probably won't notice. Or care.
Finally is the multiplayer. It's the same multiplayer as the others in terms of online modes. However, the local multiplayer is very lame. Two players can cooperatively complete missions, but not as different people. Instead, they share control of the protagonist. One player controls the movement, the other controls the shooting. It's a poor setup that leads to pain, frustration, death, and the occasional burst of hilarity. The fact that this mode even exists is in itself hilarious. It's a joke, really. Luckily, the online mode is just as solid as the other versions, only this time, there are fewer players and more skill. Killing players in online matches with motion controls is ridiculously satisfying. That perfect headshot feels so much better when you actually did the aiming with your hands and not your thumbs. The upgrade, unlock, and perk systems are all intact and are just as excellent as you'll remember.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex is not perfect, but definitely does not deserve the criticism it receives. Just because a game gets ported to the Wii does not mean it is bad. Just look at Dead Space: Extraction. This game shows off how a first-person shooter on the Wii feels when it is done well, similarly to how Goldeneye showed off. Everything about the other games that you loved is here, minus flashy graphics and local multiplayer. It takes the already excellent Modern Warfare, turns down the settings for lighter hardware, then melds it with well done and fully customizable motion controls that make the game an absolute gas to play. If you have a Wii, you owe it to yourself to get this game. And while you're at it, look for the other Wii CoD games. Once you've played a shooter with Wii controls, you won't want to go back to dual analog sticks. This game makes the Xbox controller feel archaic by comparison, and a game that can do that is doing something right.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Case 1: The Gaming Community vs Metroid: Other M
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the reason I became a video game lawyer was because of this very case. When I heard of all the false accusations against this game, I determined that I would be the one to vindicate it. From my early childhood, I have been a devout Nintendo fan, so no one can correctly accuse me of not being loyal enough to the original source material. Fans say that this Metroid game ruined one of Nintendo's most beloved franchises, but this claim is not justified. I seek to prove that by undermining the very foundation of the prosecution's arguments. The case against this game has been made and made often by people all across the internet. Gamers both small time and big time have rallied behind a banner to complain about a game that does not deserve the hatred. Whether an unknown gamer in the living room, or a member of the famous Screwattack team, no one seems willing to give this game a break. There are countless complaints made about this game, but I intend to debunk the three most popular assertions.
First, the prosecution claims that the game has awkward controls. They claim that moving around in a 3D space using a D-pad is awkward and uncomfortable. While it is true that moving with a
D-pad is less fluid than moving with analog sticks, the D-pad has been used often in the past. Did you know that when the Playstation was first launched it only had a D-pad for movement? Did you know that gamers had to play 3D games without analog controls for years and were fine with it? No. You only think about yourself. If you did a little bit of research, you would find that the developers chose that control style so that the game would feel similar to the original Metroid. It worked; the game controls in an almost identical fashion. While using overblast by jumping on an enemy's head is not as precise as I would like, overblast is not required. Every other control aspect and game mechanic works the way it should and the whole experience feels like a classic Metroid game with some new features and graphics. The D-pad moves Samus around just as effectively as it did in Super Metroid, and I don't hear anyone complaining about that game's controls.
The second assertion made by the prosecution is that the game is too linear. Exploration is not as extensive as in previous games, but it is not altogether absent. Taking in your surroundings and searching for alternate paths will most often lead to a powerup or upgrade. There are plenty of opportunities to step off the beaten path and look for a missile upgrade or energy container. The game is more linear, yes, but the mechanics and story are built around it. As a result, I never felt the need to explore. My objectives, as well as the next piece of the engaging story, is down the path ahead of me. I don't have time to go exploring; people's lives are depending on me!
The third, and most ridiculous complaint, is that the game's story is silly and ruins Samus' character. I'm sorry. What? This game has a dead serious story worthy of a film iteration, and for the first time I found Samus to be a likable person. In this game, Samus is finally given her own voice. The voice acting isn't the best, but it gets the job done just fine. Finally I know what Samus sounds like, and what she thinks when she's on a mission. People have loved the stoic, no-nonsense and silent butt-kicker from previous games, as have I, but giving Samus a more human personality as well as regrets and a bad case of PTSD was one of the smartest moves Nintendo ever made. If any of you did your research, you would know that Shigeru Miyamoto (aka the man who invented Metroid) wanted this game to emphasize her humanity. He was tired of people seeing her the way they see the T-X from Terminator 3; an attractive female devoid of personality traits other than killing. The fans all complain about the scene where Samus encounters Ridley again. (I'd say spoiler alert but really, did anyone not see that coming?) Samus sees the alien dragon appear from the flames and has a flashback to her childhood, freezing up in fear and feeling like the helpless little girl who just saw her parents die in front of her. Adam shouts in her ear to use her plasma beam, but she can't be reached. Now remember, Ridley is the bounty hunter who murdered Samus' parents. Since then, she has fought him time and time again, only to have him return. Then finally, in the events of the previous game, she killed him for good and blew up the planet his corpse was on. He was dead permanently. Then on this nightmarish space station he returns from the dead yet again. Such a shock would definitely take a toll on her psyche. Have you ever watched as your parents were slaughtered by an alien and then have him haunt you for the rest of your life? No. You only think about yourself. Even the stoic Samus of the old games would be halted in shock for a minute. Besides, it's not as though this is the first time she's frozen up. Remember the Prime games? Every time Samus loses her weapons? Why should Samus have to be a mindless killer? Why can't she be given a soul without the fans rising up in protest? There is a moment in the game where she cries. This moment didn't make me groan at her newfound emotion. Rather it brought me to tears as well. Samus is still hard-as-nails, but in this moment she is so saddened by what is happening that she cries. If it's sad enough to make the legendary Samus Aran shed a tear, then it's more than enough to make me cry my eyes out on the floor. This new emotional side of Samus makes her easier to relate to and helps ram home important moments in the story.
I need to start a whole other section for another story aspect. The fans complain that the story's excuse for unlocking weapons is ridiculous. Samus is working in tandem with Galactic Federation soldiers. As a result, she follows the commands of her former superior officer, Adam. Adam gives her objectives, like the Aurora Units from Metroid Prime 3. He also is responsible for authorizing use of her various weapons. First he has to make sure that the situation warrants their use. Samus follows these orders for the safety of the other soldiers. Using a plasma beam before it is deemed safe could harm the others. After all, it does shoot through walls. This system makes much more sense than Samus somehow losing her weapons before the mission begins. But should this system really apply to her heat-protecting varia feature? Yes. Sure it seems silly that she lets herself take damage from the superheated areas before Adam tells her to use her heat shield, but how does the varia feature work? Maybe it works by emitting counter-radiation of some sort that could be harmful to other soldiers or the survivors they are trying to find. Without this knowledge, it is simply unethical to criticize the decision to wait for authorization. Samus must have a good reason for not using it until Adam says so, or else she would just use it. She knows her equipment and the effects it could have. Adam does not. If she just went around using all her equipment as she saw fit, she would not be a dependable ally for Adam or his troops. It makes sense and does not make Samus an idiot.
Metriod: Other M is one of the most mature and serious entries in the Metroid series. It sports great gameplay, fantastic graphics, a phenomenal soundtrack, and a brilliantly written story that will have you on the edge of your seat. Not to mention a simple trip to Gamestop will allow you to pick up a brand new copy for 5 dollars. No game is perfect, but Metroid: Other M is about as close as it gets for a Nintendo gamer. It keeps the same tried-and-true formula of the originals, spices it up a bit with a great first-person mechanic, and then launches it into the stratosphere on the back of a great storyline that will grab you and not let go until the end credits stop scrolling. Calling this game bad should be a crime on its own. Of course, in America we have free speech, but we also have a rule that a subject remain innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the ball is now in your court. It is up to you to decide whether this game is innocent or guilty based on criticism, my defense, and your personal experience with the game. Look objectively at the evidence, and give your verdict in the comments section. The defense rests its case.
First, the prosecution claims that the game has awkward controls. They claim that moving around in a 3D space using a D-pad is awkward and uncomfortable. While it is true that moving with a
D-pad is less fluid than moving with analog sticks, the D-pad has been used often in the past. Did you know that when the Playstation was first launched it only had a D-pad for movement? Did you know that gamers had to play 3D games without analog controls for years and were fine with it? No. You only think about yourself. If you did a little bit of research, you would find that the developers chose that control style so that the game would feel similar to the original Metroid. It worked; the game controls in an almost identical fashion. While using overblast by jumping on an enemy's head is not as precise as I would like, overblast is not required. Every other control aspect and game mechanic works the way it should and the whole experience feels like a classic Metroid game with some new features and graphics. The D-pad moves Samus around just as effectively as it did in Super Metroid, and I don't hear anyone complaining about that game's controls.
The second assertion made by the prosecution is that the game is too linear. Exploration is not as extensive as in previous games, but it is not altogether absent. Taking in your surroundings and searching for alternate paths will most often lead to a powerup or upgrade. There are plenty of opportunities to step off the beaten path and look for a missile upgrade or energy container. The game is more linear, yes, but the mechanics and story are built around it. As a result, I never felt the need to explore. My objectives, as well as the next piece of the engaging story, is down the path ahead of me. I don't have time to go exploring; people's lives are depending on me!
The third, and most ridiculous complaint, is that the game's story is silly and ruins Samus' character. I'm sorry. What? This game has a dead serious story worthy of a film iteration, and for the first time I found Samus to be a likable person. In this game, Samus is finally given her own voice. The voice acting isn't the best, but it gets the job done just fine. Finally I know what Samus sounds like, and what she thinks when she's on a mission. People have loved the stoic, no-nonsense and silent butt-kicker from previous games, as have I, but giving Samus a more human personality as well as regrets and a bad case of PTSD was one of the smartest moves Nintendo ever made. If any of you did your research, you would know that Shigeru Miyamoto (aka the man who invented Metroid) wanted this game to emphasize her humanity. He was tired of people seeing her the way they see the T-X from Terminator 3; an attractive female devoid of personality traits other than killing. The fans all complain about the scene where Samus encounters Ridley again. (I'd say spoiler alert but really, did anyone not see that coming?) Samus sees the alien dragon appear from the flames and has a flashback to her childhood, freezing up in fear and feeling like the helpless little girl who just saw her parents die in front of her. Adam shouts in her ear to use her plasma beam, but she can't be reached. Now remember, Ridley is the bounty hunter who murdered Samus' parents. Since then, she has fought him time and time again, only to have him return. Then finally, in the events of the previous game, she killed him for good and blew up the planet his corpse was on. He was dead permanently. Then on this nightmarish space station he returns from the dead yet again. Such a shock would definitely take a toll on her psyche. Have you ever watched as your parents were slaughtered by an alien and then have him haunt you for the rest of your life? No. You only think about yourself. Even the stoic Samus of the old games would be halted in shock for a minute. Besides, it's not as though this is the first time she's frozen up. Remember the Prime games? Every time Samus loses her weapons? Why should Samus have to be a mindless killer? Why can't she be given a soul without the fans rising up in protest? There is a moment in the game where she cries. This moment didn't make me groan at her newfound emotion. Rather it brought me to tears as well. Samus is still hard-as-nails, but in this moment she is so saddened by what is happening that she cries. If it's sad enough to make the legendary Samus Aran shed a tear, then it's more than enough to make me cry my eyes out on the floor. This new emotional side of Samus makes her easier to relate to and helps ram home important moments in the story.
I need to start a whole other section for another story aspect. The fans complain that the story's excuse for unlocking weapons is ridiculous. Samus is working in tandem with Galactic Federation soldiers. As a result, she follows the commands of her former superior officer, Adam. Adam gives her objectives, like the Aurora Units from Metroid Prime 3. He also is responsible for authorizing use of her various weapons. First he has to make sure that the situation warrants their use. Samus follows these orders for the safety of the other soldiers. Using a plasma beam before it is deemed safe could harm the others. After all, it does shoot through walls. This system makes much more sense than Samus somehow losing her weapons before the mission begins. But should this system really apply to her heat-protecting varia feature? Yes. Sure it seems silly that she lets herself take damage from the superheated areas before Adam tells her to use her heat shield, but how does the varia feature work? Maybe it works by emitting counter-radiation of some sort that could be harmful to other soldiers or the survivors they are trying to find. Without this knowledge, it is simply unethical to criticize the decision to wait for authorization. Samus must have a good reason for not using it until Adam says so, or else she would just use it. She knows her equipment and the effects it could have. Adam does not. If she just went around using all her equipment as she saw fit, she would not be a dependable ally for Adam or his troops. It makes sense and does not make Samus an idiot.
Metriod: Other M is one of the most mature and serious entries in the Metroid series. It sports great gameplay, fantastic graphics, a phenomenal soundtrack, and a brilliantly written story that will have you on the edge of your seat. Not to mention a simple trip to Gamestop will allow you to pick up a brand new copy for 5 dollars. No game is perfect, but Metroid: Other M is about as close as it gets for a Nintendo gamer. It keeps the same tried-and-true formula of the originals, spices it up a bit with a great first-person mechanic, and then launches it into the stratosphere on the back of a great storyline that will grab you and not let go until the end credits stop scrolling. Calling this game bad should be a crime on its own. Of course, in America we have free speech, but we also have a rule that a subject remain innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the ball is now in your court. It is up to you to decide whether this game is innocent or guilty based on criticism, my defense, and your personal experience with the game. Look objectively at the evidence, and give your verdict in the comments section. The defense rests its case.
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Requests
Just in case any of you were wondering, I will take requests. However, I have limits. I am currently on a tight budget and don't have tons of funds for games. I also only have a Wii, PS2, and PC for gaming systems at the present. If you would like to friend me on Steam my username is Yggdrasil1313. If you have a request, I do mostly PC and Nintendo games but if I can I will purchase a game if it is requested by enough people. Thanks for being a reader! My next post will be a case defending Metroid: Other M for the Nintendo Wii.
Review: Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat
Let's start things off easily. A simple review of a mod should help me get my video game reviewer feet wet. This week I've tangled around a bit with a free mod called Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat. The game is available on Steam and runs on the Source engine, so make sure you own a Source game like Half-Life 2 before you try to play. The game was released as a mod in 2007 and was extremely popular upon its release. The game is set in Iraq during the Second Gulf War aka the War on Terror. You play as either Iraqi insurgents or US Marines in an intense series of firefights where a single shot to the chest can be your undoing.
The first thing you'll notice when you start the game is the graphics. This game runs on an older version of the Source engine so I'll be brutally honest; the game is hideous by today's standards. Even for 2007 it looks pretty ugly. But hey, it is a mod so I can't knock the graphics too hard, right? Well, yes and no. It's true that a game can be ugly and still be fun, but the game needs to have graphics that function properly in order to be playable. Now don't get me wrong, Insurgency is playable, but there are some nagging issues that stem from the graphics. One is the framerate. I do not have the luxury of a fast connection but I have no trouble running games like Planetside 2 so the performance is not just because of my internet. The animations are choppy with players appearing to teleport, making aiming difficult at times. Also whenever I get close to a team mate, the camera goes haywire and suddenly I'm the one teleporting. It can get very disorienting.
But the graphics are just a minor gripe. How does the game play? Surprisingly well, actually. The weapons all handle realistically, enemies die with one or two well placed shots, and teamwork becomes almost mandatory to survive. However, it is far from perfect. While it's fun to run up to someone and shoot them in the face, more often than not you'll be shooting at someone from a distance the length of a football field. It still works, but it's harder with the weapons you'll most likely end up with. As a result, snipers dominate most maps. Quite frequently I found myself going through an area tactically and by the books, when a single sniper shot me and my team mates down. This is made even more frustrating since the game doesn't show you where the guy who killed you was. This has two consequences. First, it allows for camping, and second, it makes learning from your mistakes next to impossible. You'll just be walking along and then BAM! you're dead and have no idea why. It gets old pretty quickly and it happens a lot, since most of the maps are large open areas with lots of hiding places for snipers. The game seems to encourage sniping, which would be fine except that only two people per team are allowed to carry sniper rifles.
The game works on a class system. You have a leader, riflemen, a machine gunner, and a sniper. The class types and weapons vary depending on which side you are on. Each special slot can only be filled once. There always seems to be room for another rifleman, but there can only be one leader and support character per squad. This leads to a couple people having a huge advantage and leaves the majority of players with little defense. On a good day, this leads to tense action and firefights. On a bad day, this leads to spawn camping and frustration. The game suffers from balancing issues. A game with such an obvious sniper advantage should not keep some players from being snipers while giving that ability to others. It is a seemingly small issue that gets a lot bigger once you've been sniped coming out of your spawn point for the 500th time and you've depleted your respawns.
That leads me to another issue. Some game modes limit the number of times you can respawn. If you die a certain number of times, you're out until your team captures an objective. It works for the most part, but when your team is too afraid of getting shot instantly to go out the door, let alone capture a point, the mechanic ends up being a liability. The timer runs down, and the sniper's team wins. The game's scoring system is also an issue. It works on the frag system, which gives your total score based on your kill/death ratio. Kills are positive, deaths are negative. But in a game where you can die this easily, the frag system ends up feeling archaic. Getting a positive kill/death score is hard enough in regular shooters with regenerating health. In this game, a new player will find it impossible.
Speaking of new players, I come to the final issue; the community. Not only is it sparse, (I literally can only find one server.) but it is also filled with experienced players. New people will have a rough time getting to know the maps when they are killed the second their heads become visible. The experienced players are the ones spawn camping and otherwise abusing the sniper class.
In conclusion, Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat is a very good game that has been ruined by its player base. The scores of people who once played this game have left it for its sequel, leaving behind the people who love it the best. The players who are left scare away newcomers by mercilessly slaughtering them not by being better players, but by abusing the system. No game is perfect. The issues listed above would be minor inconveniences, if not for the fact that they are constantly exploited by the players. The little issues become big issues when they are constantly brought to light. It's almost tragic, because in the first hour of gameplay I was having a blast. The game has so much potential to be the best tactical FPS game available, but it falls short not because of design flaws, but because of the players. I give massive credit to the developers. The game could still be saved, because it is a fantastic game. However, that could only happen if a ton of new players downloaded the mod and started playing it the way it was meant to be played.
If you're looking for a good tactical multiplayer FPS, but don't have $15 for the sequel, then I suggest you and all your friends get this game and play private matches. There is fun to be had here, but you won't find it on the one open server available. If you play the game that way, then I would score it at an 8/10. Otherwise, the game sits at a respectable but slightly disappointing 6/10. Thank you for reading.
Stay tuned for more game reviews. I plan to post my first case soon. Should this page earn enough support, I plan to start a series on Youtube once I can obtain the equipment needed for high quality videos.
The first thing you'll notice when you start the game is the graphics. This game runs on an older version of the Source engine so I'll be brutally honest; the game is hideous by today's standards. Even for 2007 it looks pretty ugly. But hey, it is a mod so I can't knock the graphics too hard, right? Well, yes and no. It's true that a game can be ugly and still be fun, but the game needs to have graphics that function properly in order to be playable. Now don't get me wrong, Insurgency is playable, but there are some nagging issues that stem from the graphics. One is the framerate. I do not have the luxury of a fast connection but I have no trouble running games like Planetside 2 so the performance is not just because of my internet. The animations are choppy with players appearing to teleport, making aiming difficult at times. Also whenever I get close to a team mate, the camera goes haywire and suddenly I'm the one teleporting. It can get very disorienting.
But the graphics are just a minor gripe. How does the game play? Surprisingly well, actually. The weapons all handle realistically, enemies die with one or two well placed shots, and teamwork becomes almost mandatory to survive. However, it is far from perfect. While it's fun to run up to someone and shoot them in the face, more often than not you'll be shooting at someone from a distance the length of a football field. It still works, but it's harder with the weapons you'll most likely end up with. As a result, snipers dominate most maps. Quite frequently I found myself going through an area tactically and by the books, when a single sniper shot me and my team mates down. This is made even more frustrating since the game doesn't show you where the guy who killed you was. This has two consequences. First, it allows for camping, and second, it makes learning from your mistakes next to impossible. You'll just be walking along and then BAM! you're dead and have no idea why. It gets old pretty quickly and it happens a lot, since most of the maps are large open areas with lots of hiding places for snipers. The game seems to encourage sniping, which would be fine except that only two people per team are allowed to carry sniper rifles.
The game works on a class system. You have a leader, riflemen, a machine gunner, and a sniper. The class types and weapons vary depending on which side you are on. Each special slot can only be filled once. There always seems to be room for another rifleman, but there can only be one leader and support character per squad. This leads to a couple people having a huge advantage and leaves the majority of players with little defense. On a good day, this leads to tense action and firefights. On a bad day, this leads to spawn camping and frustration. The game suffers from balancing issues. A game with such an obvious sniper advantage should not keep some players from being snipers while giving that ability to others. It is a seemingly small issue that gets a lot bigger once you've been sniped coming out of your spawn point for the 500th time and you've depleted your respawns.
That leads me to another issue. Some game modes limit the number of times you can respawn. If you die a certain number of times, you're out until your team captures an objective. It works for the most part, but when your team is too afraid of getting shot instantly to go out the door, let alone capture a point, the mechanic ends up being a liability. The timer runs down, and the sniper's team wins. The game's scoring system is also an issue. It works on the frag system, which gives your total score based on your kill/death ratio. Kills are positive, deaths are negative. But in a game where you can die this easily, the frag system ends up feeling archaic. Getting a positive kill/death score is hard enough in regular shooters with regenerating health. In this game, a new player will find it impossible.
Speaking of new players, I come to the final issue; the community. Not only is it sparse, (I literally can only find one server.) but it is also filled with experienced players. New people will have a rough time getting to know the maps when they are killed the second their heads become visible. The experienced players are the ones spawn camping and otherwise abusing the sniper class.
In conclusion, Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat is a very good game that has been ruined by its player base. The scores of people who once played this game have left it for its sequel, leaving behind the people who love it the best. The players who are left scare away newcomers by mercilessly slaughtering them not by being better players, but by abusing the system. No game is perfect. The issues listed above would be minor inconveniences, if not for the fact that they are constantly exploited by the players. The little issues become big issues when they are constantly brought to light. It's almost tragic, because in the first hour of gameplay I was having a blast. The game has so much potential to be the best tactical FPS game available, but it falls short not because of design flaws, but because of the players. I give massive credit to the developers. The game could still be saved, because it is a fantastic game. However, that could only happen if a ton of new players downloaded the mod and started playing it the way it was meant to be played.
If you're looking for a good tactical multiplayer FPS, but don't have $15 for the sequel, then I suggest you and all your friends get this game and play private matches. There is fun to be had here, but you won't find it on the one open server available. If you play the game that way, then I would score it at an 8/10. Otherwise, the game sits at a respectable but slightly disappointing 6/10. Thank you for reading.
Stay tuned for more game reviews. I plan to post my first case soon. Should this page earn enough support, I plan to start a series on Youtube once I can obtain the equipment needed for high quality videos.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)