Skip to Navigation Skip to Content

No Halo For Me

0 comments
When I tell people I’m majoring in video game design, they often ask me about Halo. The Halo series has penetrated mainstream culture in a way that most games never will. I think it is great that this franchise has made the entertainment industry take notice of the purchasing power of gamers, but I am not a fan of Halo. FPS games aren’t my favorite, since they usually lack the story, characterization, and lovely graphics that keep me glued to RPGs and adventure games.

When Halo 3 came out, I heard the co-op mode was decent. Hoping that this would mean better chances of survival for me, I grabbed a friend who hadn’t played much Halo and sat down with him to play Halo 3.

The opening sequence was decent but not terribly impressive by my standards. I soon found myself controlling an alien who had grudgingly become an ally of Master Chief. I found this somewhat amusing, as I was a taller than the human but much shorter than my co-op partner in real life. It was fun to tower above him and watch him running ahead of me.

The console FPS controls were somewhat confusing compared to the PC mouse and keyboard. This is a common issue for those used to PCs, and those used to consoles will often have the opposite problem. It seems that it’s merely a matter of preference for most people. However, I often found myself running into the ground or swinging the camera wildly in my attempts to determine whether or not the camera was inverted compared to my intuitive idea of controls.

Due to my difficulties in controlling my character, my partner would often run ahead. We established a nice system where he would jump into melee combat and I would stay behind, sniping off some enemies and providing a re-spawn point. This worked well for a while, but soon became somewhat boring.

The enemies were mostly mindless. A certain group of aliens had ridiculous voices that made me laugh at the game…because it was so stupid. I didn’t like the idea of the enemy being completely idiotic. I prefer games where war is about fighting for what you think is right, but you still realize the consequences due to the humanization of the enemy.

The biggest problem I had with this game in general was the fact that I just didn’t care. There was little cover, sporadically placed, but it didn’t seem to matter much if I died. Ammo was in good supply, so I never had to consider conserving my resources. I could just shoot everywhere if I wanted. Also, there was an A.I. controlled team that we first rescued and then joined. They provided little help; I didn’t really notice if they were around or not.

Compared to games like Half-Life, this game was incredibly dull and lacked a decent story. The story was sprinkled in small doses after completing certain objectives, but it wasn’t very interesting. Since I didn’t care about my team and those around me, I found myself lacking motivation.

Finally, I was frustrated with Halo 3 due to its unrefined design. There were enormous enemies with huge shock sticks that were ridiculously powerful. If these enemies ran at you, you would die, even if your partner was shooting them in the back. This type of imbalance is something I aim to avoid in my games. Then there was little guidance in the form of maps, making it hard to figure out where to go. Unlike the refined level design of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the level design in Halo often left me lost.

For such a popular game, I was very disappointed in my co-op Halo 3 experience. I hope that the appeal in this game comes from the multiplayer aspect, because I was sincerely disappointed in the story mode. Halo 3 seems like an unrefined, mediocre experience.  

One Wild Party

0 comments
It is rare to find a demo that leaves you satisfied at the end. Many end with cliffhangers, hoping you’ll buy the game. With Viva Piñata: Party Animals, the mini-games created a satisfying experience in just a short demo.

I wasn’t sure whether or not I would like Party Animals. I have never played Viva Piñata, but it was one of my sister’s obsessions. I have been hesitant to start the game because we have similar taste and I don’t want to get distracted from my schoolwork. When I heard that there was a party game using these characters, I thought it would be worth checking out the demo.

In the first few minutes, I was impressed by the amount of character packed into the game. Each piñata animal had its own personality, through exaggerated body language and careful character design. The mini-games were summarized and scored after each round with voice-overs imitating sports commentators. It was cute and clever.

After playing two other party games for quite some time (Rayman’s Raving Rabbids and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz), I have to admit that this game won me over with its charm. While the games themselves hardly seem innovative (from a Mario Kart race clone to sailboats powered by burps), they are certainly fun covered in the Viva Piñata theme. The humor is not quite as gross as Rabbids, yet it still seems to have a good balance of humor to appeal to younger boys and girls.

However, I would not limit the audience of this game to children. My coworkers were playing through the demo one day and had a blast. While neither grown man would likely admit to enjoying a kids game that much, I saw first-hand how much they became immersed. The game became a way for them to compete and tease each other to a greater degree than they do in real life. Also, the stakes were quite low, keeping the fun level high.

I really enjoyed the limited demo experience I had with Viva Piñata: Party Animals. I plan to rent this game later. I was glad that I was able to gain an understanding of the strengths of the game from the demo. I would recommend this game for children and encourage curious older gamers to consider trying the demo.  

HD Katamari

0 comments
I have always been intrigued by the Katamari series. I found Katamari Damacy to be one of the most original ideas of its time. The quirky, flippant king was amusing and the music was fantastic. I listen to the soundtrack often, but I never finished the first game. I had gotten stuck on one of the levels and was soon distracted by other games. When Beautiful Katamari was released, I had recently purchased an Xbox 360. It was time to give the series another chance.

Katamari looked fantastic in HD. I have an Xbox Elite with the HDMI cord connected an HDTV. The vibrancy and clarity of the game environments were simply stunning. I was excited to get into the game. I played through the first few levels, but soon found myself feeling disappointed.

I had some major issues with Beautiful Katamari. First, the controls in this game made my hands sore. The 360 controller is much bigger than the PS2 controller, and the placement of the analog sticks is awkward for me, as I have small hands. I found that one hand had to be sideways while the other was in a normal position, making it more difficult to move the sticks in sync.

My second complaint regarding Katamari is something inherent to the theme of the series: the character of the king. I tried very hard to do my best and make the biggest star possible. However, even when I reached the goal, I would get snide comments from him. This type of negative feedback makes me want to quit a game when I’m frustrated. Why should I try hard if it won’t even satisfy the king? The carrot at the end of the stick had to be created by me, the player. I prefer games with more positive feedback, so I will want to try again and again.

After experiencing physical pain in my hands after each of the 5-10 minute levels and continually receiving negative feedback, I returned the game. It seemed to mostly be more of the same type of gameplay from the first games, aside from the pretty HD graphics and the online play (which I had no intention of testing). If the king was already so mean to me, why would I want to face the scorn of other players?

Games like this make me wonder if I should build up a thicker skin. The snide remarks of a video game character should not affect my self-esteem. However, it does seem that, for a gameplay experience intended to be fun, a highly critical character will inevitably drive some players away when the levels get more difficult.  

Growing Frustrated

0 comments
After reading a post on Kotaku about Grow Games, I was intrigued by the cute animation and simplicity. If a game had only six or eight items, and the game was in finding the correct order, how hard could it be?

I love puzzles and quickly found myself immersed in a Grow Game. The simple animations were a fun reward for trying new combinations, and they conveyed information in a simple, accessible way. However, these animations could also become lengthy, and soon two hours of my day had gone by. My untouched homework loomed in the back of my mind, and I began to get upset.

I brought in a friend to help me discover the solution to my Grow Game. After writing down several previously attempted combinations, I was getting closer, but not close enough. My friend gave me a few suggestions, but we were still stumped.

Half an hour later, I decided that I had had enough. The cute little animations seemed to mock me and I had no time left to waste on this seemingly simple puzzle. My friend looked up the answer online and then gave me some hints. I soon found the answer, but I can’t say whether I truly felt satisfied.

I had spent nearly three hours puzzling away, since the clues could be misleading. In puzzles, I prefer to use logic or skill, but after an hour or so, my grow game turned into a game of chance. The animation at the end wasn’t even that interesting, and I felt that I had learned little. However, the intense focus I had on my game was a fun escape. Two weeks later, I found myself tackling a grow game again, but after an hour, I gave up. Perhaps my mind is not suited to these types of puzzles, or it could be that I just don’t have three hours of my day to devote to a chance-based puzzle game.  
Posted under: ,

Rocking Out

0 comments
I often see enormous tents and displays on campus. I usually pay little attention, as they often involve free energy drinks or activists. Fortunately, the semi parked on campus last Friday was promoting the game Rock Band. I made an exception and decided to check out the tour bus.

I spent about two hours on the Rock Band tour bus, which had been opened up to form a little stage. The time passed much more quickly when I ran into some friends. I had been playing drums, and I was happy to do so. I have spent some time with Guitar Hero, and the guitar on Rock Band seemed like the same thing. I wanted to try out the “new” instruments. I was surprised to find that there was little demand for the drums, but they were quite fun to play.

Virtual drums are rather interesting. I had thought that it would be like a practice pad, with one or two round circles to hit. Instead, the controller is structured more like a drum set, with four small circles in an arc and a foot pedal. The easy drum difficulty rarely use the foot petal, but the later difficulties become increasingly complicated (as expected). Hitting the different color-coded circles isn’t too difficult, but many people (including myself) seemed to have a lot more trouble when the foot pedal was involved. As a former flutist in high school band and orchestra, I got used to tapping my foot to the beat. I had to switch feet to tap my left foot, as the right foot controlled the pedal. When one foot is tapping and the other has to push a pedal down at certain timed cues, it becomes rather complicated. Fortunately, I played mostly on easy and medium difficulties, so it was manageable.

One of the most fun components of the Rock Band tour was the recording portion. It wasn't a part of the normal game, but was meant as a promotion on the tour. In order to get a free t-shirt, you had to play for a camera. This video is then posted online and eventually feeds into a contest. I ended up with random people, so I never expected to be any good. However, the fact that you get to see yourself on the internet in a silly little video is quite a novelty. I had a lot of fun playing on stage and rocking out in that geeky gamer way. My video is posted below.

After visiting the Rock Band tour bus, I am no closer to buying the game than I was before. I did learn that it is a lot of fun with a group of people that you know, and it can make you feel like a rock star with a little imagination.


See Video Below:





Or click the link here: My Rock Band Video  
Posted under: ,

Style for the Stars

0 comments
After enjoying Moonpod’s Mr. Robot, I downloaded Starscape, their other acclaimed independent game. Starscape is in an entirely different genre. Unlike the puzzle adventure Mr. Robot, Starscape is about space mining and ship building. The shipbuilding element is reminiscent of Homeworld, but is presented in a highly stylized way. The entire game is simple in design but never to a fault; it captures the essence of a casual game, where it is easy to play, but hard to master.

The game is presented in a unique style. The cutscenes and characters are styled in a hybrid of 90’s cartoons and anime. The colors are bright but not garish and the people are attractive without looking impossibly beautiful. The non-people elements (mainly outside the ship) are mostly ships in space. The ships look great, as does space. The game takes place on a 2D plane, but the backdrop looked so great that it fooled me at first – I thought that I was on a 3D plane.

The gameplay feels polished like Mr. Robot, but I had a few issues with the controls. The initial ship you control to mine resources was a slightly difficult to steer. Pressing left or right on the directional keys would cause it to make a wide turn. I missed the subtlety of a mouse for movement, as I prefer to follow more refined paths, even in space. The controls didn’t become much of a problem until I had to shoot other ships. Then it became a little bit challenging to aim. Also, I found myself constantly mixing up the keys. Instead of a default return key or spacebar to fire, the keys Q and W were used to fire, while E was a tractor beam. I found myself shooting the resources that I wanted to mine, as I would get the keys mixed up. While the key controls are customizable in the menus, I always try to follow the designers’ original plan, as it is often done for a reason. However, I would have to disagree with the designers in this case, as I felt the controls were often counterintuitive.

Outside of the controls, the game was fairly straightforward. Mining was simple and fun. Like Mr. Robot, the amount of text was perfect – just enough to get you the important information without being overwhelming. There is also a fantastic ship customization component, where you work to build elements for ships, such as a bridge, engines, and cannons. There is a large resource management element here, where you distribute the resources you mine according to your goals. This type of customization has never been my favorite part of games, but there is certainly a large audience of gamers who thrive on it.

Starscape is an interesting independent game. I would recommend Mr. Robot before Starscape, but they are both polished experiences. They both have low system requirements and a free demo, making them highly accessible to a variety of gamers. The unique style of Starscape makes it fun and it is certainly an engaging game.  

Independent Inspiration

1 comments
Independent games have received a lot of attention lately, especially since the wildly popular Portal was developed from student project Narbacular Drop. However, the term “independent game” is no more than a label and it reveals little about the quality of a game. Some games have been hastily created in two weeks for a school project, while others have been in development with a small team of professionals for over a year.

As a student of game design, I’m always looking for new and interesting games to play. While console experiences can be fantastic, independent and casual games often have more creative freedom. With the exception of a few titles, such as Half Life 2: The Orange Box, most publishers are more conservative. Xbox Live and the upcoming Wii Ware are beginning to change the field, but indie games can serve as a valuable inspiration for breaking out of established gameplay patterns.

Recently, I heard that Moonpod Games had been getting many positive reviews for their indie games, so I downloaded Mr. Robot. I didn’t know what to expect, but I found a polished, satisfying experience.

From the beginning, Mr. Robot is a charming game. The characters are simple in design but convey personality through clever dialogue. The main character, Asimov (or 1138), shows his eagerness to achieve his dream of becoming an important robot. His lady friend, Zelda, leaves no doubts as to her relation to Asimov when she uses terms such as “cutie” and “honey.” Before the tutorial is over, many of the main characters are revealed and their relations to your character are painlessly established. The story is well written and never wastes your time with needless dialogue.

The gameplay is solid and polished. Much of the game involves moving around in an isometric environment on board the main ship. Controls include clicking the left mouse button and dragging (so Asimov follows) or using the arrow keys. The isometric perspective can make jumping a little more complicated in some cases but it is fairly simple after getting used to it. Machines elements, such as lifts, respond quickly and feel like an organic part of the ship. There is also a decent map, which, although small, reveals important information at a glance. My only complaint regarding design is that Asimov is sometimes hard to pick out when left idle on a screen, as he blends in with many of the other robots.

There are many puzzle elements, such as moving boxes around to create a certain type of formation. At first, the puzzles can seem slightly simplistic, but the game is more fun since you can move ahead quickly. In one simple puzzle, I did get stuck (by blocking myself in) but there was a reset option readily available. This type of feature reflects the thought the developers put into the game; they kept the player in mind, since players are bound to make mistakes.

Mr. Robot is an excellent independent game experience. While it does have a few flaws, the game feels incredibly polished and is full of character. It has many references to sci-fi pop culture, from Asimov’s name and number (1138) to the supercomputer HEL-9000 (like HAL). While it may seem simple at first, elements such as the combat system allow for more complex game experiences. Mr. Robot excels most in its character and charm, distinguishing it from other games and making it a uniquely satisfying game.