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Feb 9th, 2008 at 01:11:12 - Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (PC) |
GAMEPLAY
I made it out of the citadel eventually but, to my dismay, the escape route was through pitch black, underground, zombie infested, parking garages. This provided a complete shift in gameplay from the soldiers I was fighting in the high tech environment I was in previously. These underground areas were so dark, it was completely impossible to see anything without using the flashlight, and even that did not reveal much of my surroundings and would turn off every so often to recharge. I would often find myself turning off my flashlight and then finding a zombie right in front of me once I turned it on again. When I said earlier that the collapsing environment made me edgy, that was nothing compared to how I was in this area. It was even worse when my flashlight turned off while I had to fight off a whole army of zombies while I was waiting for an elevator.
While I mentioned before how Gordon Freeman's experience also becomes the player's experience, The reverse also seems to happen. That is, the player gives their own specific experiences and reactions as well. This is done, in part, by Valve making Freeman completely mute. The mute main character with no personality is the perfect blank canvas for players to relay their own personality into the game. This was very apparent in the zombie part. Had someone with more nerve than I been playing, they probably would have kept their cool and taken out the zombies like they would any other enemy. I, on the other hand, was completely freaked out and I found myself running around like a scared little girl and nervously fumbling around with my weapons. Had Freeman actually stated in the game what he thinks of zombies, the player would probably take that as what they were supposed feel about zombies as well, and their reactions would no longer be their own.
DESIGN
Despite having the same weapon and setting (and not to mention nearly the exact same game engine) as the end of Half-Life 2, the citadel part of Half-Life 2: Episode One manages to mix things up considerably by designing new scenarios in which the repeated elements are interacted with in very different ways. The citadel, which was spacious and sleek before, now has falling rubble and electrical fires everywhere and looks very run down in general. The gravity gun which was previously used to tear the citadel apart, is now used to solve puzzles and, ironically, to put bits of the citadel back together.
Another very clever design element that made me feel like I was in Freeman's shoes was that there were no discernible levels. That's not to say there weren't different areas with different gameplay elements to them, but no matter where I was in the game, I could always trace a direct route to where I was from the very beginning of the game. There was a loading screen every now and again, but once it stopped loading, I'd be in the exact same spot as before with the exact same items and people in their exact same spots also. By doing this and using techniques I previously mentioned, Valve did an excellent job in making Freeman and the player feel like the same person.
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Feb 8th, 2008 at 23:48:26 - Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (PC) |
SUMMARY
Half-Life 2: Episode One is a continuation of Valve's extremely successful first person shooter Half-Life 2, and is the company's first stab at episodic games. The player takes control of Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who for some reason knows how to operate military grade weapons. After blowing up a good sized chunk of an evil Orwellian government's over sized monolithic death headquarters at the end of Half-Life 2, Freeman (and his "We're just friends" buddy Alyx Vance)now have to get as far away from the building as they can since it is due to go nuclear very soon.
GamePlay
The game started me off at the citadel (the building whose top I just blew off at the end of HL2). Even before I was told that the building would explode very soon, I was given an immediate sense that something very bad was going on. The top of the building that I had blown up looked like a swirling vortex of fiery death, ashes were raining from the sky, and there were ruins everywhere. Not long into the game, I was told I had to enter the citadel and try to slow the reaction or else it would explode very soon. Although the game does not actually have a time limit and I could have hung out in the citadel for as long as I wanted, I felt a very clear sense of urgency. This was achieved since the environment I was in was essentially falling apart around me. Although this destruction was mostly harmless to me, it made me edgy watching the area where I just was fall into an abyss and watching enemies getting crushed by debris.
A key thing that Valve does to manipulate the feelings of the player is the complete omission of cut-scenes. Instead of cut-scenes, the NPCs and environments act out the story around the player, without the player losing control of Freeman. The player essentially has complete control of Freeman from start to finish. Since this was coupled with a first person view, it really made me feel like I was Freeman. Like the story was happening to me, rather than me watching it happen to some lovable cuddly plumber who I clearly am not. So I was not just watching the environment fall apart around Freeman, I felt like I was in a collapsing building and that I had to make things better pronto!
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 22:55:48 - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) |
GAMEPLAY
A little more time and effort into Mario Galaxy opens up a story book which gives you a little more plot besides the reoccurring kidnapping scenario that everyone has come to know and love. These little tidbits are apparently one of the supporting character's back story and seems to have been written for 6 year olds. In a game where nearly everything is perfect, this weird backstory sticks out like a robot at the renaissance fair. The only thing I could make out from this backstory is that the shiny items I had been stockpiling and feeding to by the bucketload to gluttonous star things were apparently the tears of orphans. Even then I'm not sure though. Fortunately reading the storybook is completely optional and I wouldn't recommend it unless you have a pressing desire to know why some girl is living with a bunch of tiny cuddly star people.
I actually beat the game and the ending is as bizarre as the storybook if not more. Usually in these games, the ending is something like "hurray! You saved the Princess!" but this time around is a bit different. I'm not going to spoil anything, I haven't actually figured out what exactly happened myself, but the ending this time around tries to be really deep. They say something about how everything is all a big cycle or something and it's all really confusing.
DESIGN
While the plot is needlessly complicated, there is so little of it, it hardly detracts from the amazingness of the game itself. The level design is some of the most innovative I have ever seen. Each level is usually a series of planetoids, each with it's own variety of gravity. The player has to hop from one planetoid to the other to get to where they are supposed to be going. Not only is this an extremely original idea, it is also very intuitive and fun for the player.
While the general concept of planet hopping is very original, the planets themselves are almost more so. There is an incredible variety of individual planetoids. Every one is masterfully designed despite being implemented on very nonstandard shapes like spheres and other 3D shapes. There are so many excellent designs for just small planets in small parts of the game, it's a wonder the development team weren't exhausted of creative energy a fifth of the way through the game.
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 17:13:35 - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) |
SUMMARY
Super Mario Galaxy is Nintendo's latest incarnation of their famous platformer. Along with the usual running and jumping all over things, they've added a spinning move as well and an extremely interesting gravity set up. As usual, the goal of the game is to rescue Princess Peach by collecting a bunch of stars and defeating Bowser the turtle/dog thing.
GAMEPLAY
This game is fun. You can easily tell that the developers did not want to tell a story or make any sort of point with this game. They just wanted to go out and make the most fun game that was ever made. They more or less succeeded. I had more fun playing Mario Galaxy than I've had in a long time from a video game.
Even the characters in the game seem to having fun. Each one is incredibly enthusiastic, almost to the point of ridiculousness. Not only that, they are all huggable and lovable. Not only THAT, but a large percentage of them are adorable penguins. Need I say more? Even the practically mute Mario radiates fun out of himself. Every jump and spin is accompanied by a "Woohoo!" or a "Weeee!". Along with the characters, the music is also fun. It sounds like the music that they play as you walk around Disneyland. The track for one level was so happy that it nearly drove my roommate to the point of madness. That made the game even more fun for me.
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wolfmanbsam has been with GameLog for 16 years, 3 months, and 7 days |
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