• 21Dec 08

  Reappraising the game Star Wars Episode I: A Phantom Menace

  I remember way back in the days of The Phantom Menace, there was an oft delayed game that came out of the film. Whilst it was generally appraised as "terrible."there was some charm to it. Indeed, it wasn't a great game.

  There were faults. There were the largely terrible graphics and slightly clunky lightsabre gameplay. But my god, if it wasn't one of the most in-depth games of the star wars universe at the time. In fact, far more than most film-to-game adaps now, it stretched as far as offering a fair few RPG ****elements. No game since has really offered the same real sense of mooching around Tatooine, being able to chat with residents. Indeed, after a couple of action packed levels (the opening level on the federation ship and then the Naboo swamps), the atmosphere of levels such as Tatooine- waiting at the podracing track- is incredible. The distant roar of crowds and the bustle as you amble through bars and chat with drunks... It does feel very much like being in the universe- even if the graphics are shocking by today's standards.

  Nevertheless, the aforementioned Naboo swamps level has some of the most shocking platforming gameplay I've ever played. It re-appears a few times in the game and every time feels like the biggest chore. It kills the atmosphere when you have to pillock around pushing crates and whatnot whilst the atmospheric sounds begin to sound a bit silly- its hard to believe in a world when you're pushing a great big cube around to enable you to jump to a higher platform.

  Its a pretty pants, to be honest. But nothing since has really touched that star wars depth and atmosphere on a console... The Force Unleashed was cruely maligned, despite offering gameplay that every star wars fan has wanted for decades (i.e. that feeling of being a badass jedi/sith with the force at your disposal). Indeed there was a strong atmosphere there too. But just NOTHING to compare to that feeling of being Qui-Gon Jinn and having a chat with Watto, bargaining for parts in my favourite game that no one loves.

  • Posted Dec 21, 2008 6:09 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 12Oct 07

  Gimicky FPSs are killing the genre!

  So you boot up your latest purchased First Person Shooter, excited by the prospect of something familiar but fun and possibly with one of the greatest multiplayers around. You get into the story mode, you go through the usual on-screen tutorial stuff of the beginning telling you the almost identical-to-the-last-FPS-you-played controls.. and then it hits. It might come about in the second level if the developers want to ease you in, but mostly it pops up in this tutorial opening level. After a cutscene illustrating it usually.

  The FPS genre is overrun by games boasting gimicks to try and make themselves original. In recent years, with the genre being perfected (or at least defined) by top notch shooters such as the Halo series and arguably the more RPG-esque first person games such as Oblivion (not technically a FPS, but you get my point), there's been a real drain on originality. The quality has often been good, especially compared with really old FPSs, but its generally been clones of whats worked before. The problem is, as developers strive for something original, and the marketing teams search for little features to plunge into their marketing schemes, gimicks are being implemented in the vain hope they're somehow going to make the gameplay more varied and interesting.

  Take, for example, Haze. On its way out soon it boasts the haze toxin thing.. or whatever it is, that means you can send enemies delirious and watch them kill their comrades before taking their own life. I'm sure it'll be great fun... the first few times. But seriously, watching the gameplay videos back, I already know that more often than not I won't bother. Why? Because its just a gimick. Its nothing thats making the gameplay particularly inventive or different or interesting, its just something pretty cool to do as you blast threw slew upon slew of bad guys.

  Taking it back to the old days, with Red Faction (remember that?!), we had the oppertunity to destroy the scenery and make our own way through. Except it didn't work for 99% of the game. It coulda been truely non-linear, really interesting. Or maybe even just really cool to watch and use as you blasted your way into battles. But no, only a select few walls could be destroyed. It was especially frustrating finding a locked door and not being able to just blow through it, yet other walls could be destroyed. This was the first gimick I really noticed as annoying, because it really did serve no purpouse other than to market the game.

  Gimicks don't always lie in the gameplay side of things, sometimes its just annoying to hear the age old '(insert latest popular FPS) UNDERWATER!' or 'In SPACE!' or 'Ina supernatural world where nothing is as it seems' or.. wellyou catch my drift. Bioshock reeked of this sorta feeling, it didn't look particularly inventive other than being underwater and the gimick of the little girls and the big protector things.. it escapes me, because I'm sure I've played that same gimick at least twice before. Y'see for all the innovation going on (and don't get me wrong Bioshock is a fantastic game, and it IS fun to play, gimicks or not), they're generally the same sort of gimicks wrapped up in some different setting or context. Gears of War has gimicks, but its not really noticable as its the same sort of extensions to the usual FPS violence just wrapped up in some amazing gameplay.

  The thing is, you can't even rant about gimicks without making it a gimick. How many times have I said gimick in this blog then? a stupid amount, its a gimick. Just like what I'm attacking. And that, my friends, is telling enough that a good solid FPS without stupid gimicks is good enough. Halo doesn't really have any gimicks. Resistance: Fall of Man didn't. the Call of Duty games don't. hell, even Killzone didn't- and you'd really think it would!

  So long live First Person Shooters.. just drop the gimicks. Innovation's cool, but so is old fashioned running and gunning.

  • Posted Oct 12, 2007 7:48 am PT
  • Category: Opinion
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