Third Mission in Smokescreen takes me back to Shane, the weird programmer from the first mission, and has me perform the weirdest thing I’ve ever done in a game: serve as wingman for a stalker. The game is actually has a really neat mechanic, and it’s one that I think could be used to interesting effect in other games. But this goes into one of the creepier-things-I’ve-played-in-a-while box. Spoilers within.
Stochastic Thoughts: The Trials of Hardcore PC Gaming
So remember how I said that Steam wasn’t letting me play my latest hardcore game? Well, three days of tech support later, I found out why. My computer wasn’t up to snuff. Oh, this got me pissed. And the result of this anger is the following rant on hardcore PC games and why I think they’re fallen so far in market share. Nothing to spoil here, but it’s a rant — be warned.
– October 1, 2009
Smokescreen Day#2: Wayda minute, am I supposta be learnin’ somethin’?
The second mission of Smokescreen gets me into the head of a new character, and begins to lay out a deeper narrative. There’s a lot more voice acting and a different set of puzzles. There’s good and bad, but the most interesting thing is that Smokescreen has a secret. It’s supposed to be good for you and all (shh…) serious, and is doing it is a subtle and I think effective way. Spoilers within.
Posted in Core.
– October 1, 2009
Smokescreen Day#1: Peeking in the Rabbithole
My first real stab at an ARG by checking another jayisgames reference: Smokescreen. It’s by SixtoStart, which means it was designed by Adrian Hon — one of the great living game designers IMHO and an all-around nice guy. Anyway, don’t have a hardcore game right now (curse you, Steam, for not letting me play what I bought), so here’s a take on a very light ARG. Overall, it’s an interesting narrative piece, a little confusing, but worth checking out because it is actually trying to make an ARG casual, and working to a decent degree. Spoilers within.
Posted in Core.
– September 29, 2009
Scribblenauts Early Play — Can One Line Make a Poem?
Scribblenauts has gotten a lot of hype for its word entry mechanic, and I wouldn’t be a card-carrying game-artist without checking it out. What’s interesting is that the word entry mechanic is all it’s got. Everything else about the game is pretty weak. So the question is: can one element of a game be good enough to overcome all of the weak parts? No real spoilers below.
– September 23, 2009
Casual Smack — Dead Frontier: Outbreak
This is one of the first Jayisgames referred games I have for you. It’s the choose-your-own-adventure style text game Dead Frontier: Outbreak. It’s a better version of one of those books you read as a kid, which is not saying a whole lot. It’s worth a look if you’re interested in the form and it does improve on the total lack of causality that the old books had, but it doesn’t escape from all the weakness of the model. Spoilers within.
– September 23, 2009
Batman Arkham Asylum: Epilogue
Remember how I said there was no way I would go back through Batman in order to pick up all of those “stupid” Riddler achievements? Well, this post is me eating my hat. I DID go back and complete ALL of the Riddler challenges, including some quite difficult ones. Spoilers and shame within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– September 21, 2009
Batman Arkham Asylum: Final Smack
Overall, this game reminds me of Thief. It’s a game with awesome parts that would be truly OSSIM if they didn’t keep deviating from the formula with crappy cliches from other games. The core mechanics of brawling and stealth are really, really good, and if Rocksteady would just trust the game to those scenes, it would be absolutely incredible. As it is though, it’s the best superhero game to date.
– September 18, 2009
Batman AA Day#9: Justice is Served
Short session to the end of the game. It’s not the game’s highest point. The boss fight is too formulaic, and then end cutscene is solid but not great. The tip structure spoils the fight a bit, but at least I get to do one last good brawl (unfortunately no more predation). Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– September 18, 2009
Batman AA Day#8: Good Narrative Touches and Bad Gamery Bosses
By and large, this session reminds me I’m playing a console action game in 2009. There’s some typical game boss stuff that is well crafted, but has no place in a Batman game. This is countered by some very nice narrative touches. They are nothing big, but they show craftsmanship and care, and I adore every one of them. Spoilers within.
Posted in Hardcore.
– September 17, 2009
