Rapid Release

The stated benefit of releasing the follow-up to Half-Life 2 in episodic installments was so the developer could push more content to the consumer, quicker. That only held through Episode 2, but that's not what I want to discuss here. Valve's point was they could release short episodes, perhaps 1/3 length of a "real" game, every few months to keep gamers involved in and excited about Half-Life. Not to mention selling three episodes for $20 yields $60 revenue versus (at the time) a standard retail title selling for $50.

The biggest value to Valve, however, was unstated at the time: they were not developing true sequels; the game engine and, indeed, the vast majority of gameplay code was not changing. Graphics slowly improved via minor rendering upgrades (note these are ongoing for the Source engine from many related titles, e.g. Left 4 Dead 2 and Team Fortress) but aside from that, developers were creating new maps, story events, voice acting, and other content. The Episodes are not true sequels, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. We don't need a new engine with every new game, right?

With Dead Island: Riptide due out April 23 from developer Techland and producer Deep Silver, this discussion has arisen once again. It's a bit soon for a sequel; many gamers were expecting a new game either this fall or early in 2014. Early 2013 is a real surprise to me. It shouldn't be surprising, then, that I recently discovered Riptide is not a full sequel. In fact, the developers are referring to it internally as Dead Island 1.5 rather than 2.

Is that necessarily a bad thing? I don't think so - not for a newer developer like Techland. They needed a release within two or three years of the original Dead Island launch. By keeping the same game engine they have been able to produce such a release in time. According to the available gameplay footage and screenshots, the graphics are largely unchanged. My hope is that they at least devoted enough effort to the engine and gameplay mechanics in order to clean up some of the quirks that plagued Dead Island. The loose movement and abhorrent menu interfaces, at least, deserve some attention.

Weekly Report - 03/22/2013

No report last week? I was busy beating Bayonetta. It's a surprisingly good game overall; I generally grow bored with beat 'em' up titles really quickly. Bayonetta, though, has plenty of depth to it. The combo and move list is enormous and it's tons of fun to learn which combos work best in certain situations.

I've mentioned many aspects of Bayonetta in the previous weekly report, so I'll stick to what I discovered during the latter half of the game this time.

The story is tenuous, at best. I'm still not really sure who some of the characters are or why they are present. Perhaps further playthroughs will help.

Speaking of playthroughs, I unlocked Hard upon finishing the game on Normal. Naturally, I have to play through on Hard now. I'm led to understand there is an even higher difficulty level after Hard, but I'm not sure if I'll be up for a third playthrough. I just got Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, after all, and I'm itching to take it for a spin.

Weekly Report - 03/08/2013

I've been enjoying Bayonetta for the past week. After picking up a copy at my favorite video game store for $14, I installed the title to my 360 hard drive and fired it up. What strikes me first is the style and attitude of the game. The heroine is ridiculously hyper-sexualized, yet once you look beyond her mile-long legs and weird suit apparently made of hair, there's an honest (in a literary sense) character!

The story is told through a bizarre mishmash of cutscenes and stylized film reel scenes; in the latter characters' lips do not move with dialog, which seems odd at first but can be attributed to the style rather than outright laziness or low budget.

The gameplay is oddly satisfying. This is not just a button-masher. The combat consists of numerous useful and gratifying combos, but they aren't activated randomly by mashing buttons like a noob playing Soul Blade. Combat operates almost - but not quite as silky-smooth point-and-click - like Batman: Arkham City; it's just a little faster. Jamming on the controller doesn't really help you here; strategic timing and placement of various attack types is critical. The dodge mechanic is awesome as it triggers a brief slow-motion Witch Time effect, allowing you to rack up some excellent damage without taking any yourself.

I'm looking forward to the second half of the game; I plan multiple playthroughs to hit the harder difficulty levels as well.

Weekly Report - 03/01/2013

Hard to believe it's been another week already - this one has gone by way too quickly.

I finished Dishonored not just once, but twice. In my plan to collect every achievement, I started with a Ghost/Mostly Flesh and Steel/Clean Hands playthrough. During this playthrough you have to kill no one, never be detected by any enemy, and upgrade none of your mystical powers. The best part of this is figuring out a way to not assassinate your primary mission targets. Every one has some alternative takedown method and you have to search the map for clues on how to accomplish it. Overall this playthrough was fun, but far too easy. Even on Very Hard difficulty there are only a few slightly tricky parts in this game; even those few moments are can be obviated by the use of sleep darts. It's also a really, really, ridiculously short game.

After my no-kills playthrough I started a High Chaos game. This time around, I was able to upgrade my equipment and magic. I could also go weapons hot and instigate some ultra-violence. Let's be honest: after five hours of sneaking through the game I was ready to open up the proverbial can. This playthrough was still fun, but even shorter. I think it took me three hours from start to finish.

Having enjoyed and completed both Rage and Dishonored, I'm ready for something new already - much to my dismay. Dishonored is just far too short and its replay value is slim since you can collect all achievements in less than 15 hours with little challenge.

What's next? I still want to check out Dead Space. I've also become interested in DMC or perhaps Bayonetta.

You Touch Me, I Cut You

Yesterday I tried out the demo for Hideo Kojima's latest title, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It's a hefty download at 1.9GB but you'll soon see why.

The graphics are outrageous. The texture work is massive and deep. Animations are flawless, lighting is realistic and attention to detail is quite impressive. In general, the art direction is very much Metal Gear and extremely high quality. I can't help but wonder if we've reached the capability peak of this generation of consoles.

The gameplay is something else entirely. It doesn't play like any other Metal Gear game. It's more of a slash-happy action beat-em-up game. That said, Metal Gear holdovers remain: you can be stealthy up to a point and the game is challenging enough to force you to think and plan ahead before attacking a group of enemies.

In Revengeance you play as Raiden, who, four years following the events of Guns of the Patriots, has become an even dangerous-er cybernetic ninja. Yes, you get to ninja-bunny hop around the environment, slicing and dicing enemies to smithereens just like Raiden did during all those cutscenes in Guns of the Patriots. It's incredibly satisfying even while it lacks in depth.

Speaking of depth, there may be more to it than the demo lets on. I'm led to understand that Raiden's abilities are upgradable, though the game's campaign is a decidedly brief affair, so I don't know the true extent of the combat system.

Suffice it to say I'm really impressed by this (brief) demo. I'll definitely be purchasing this title.

So, the PS4

Hardware: Along with Sony's recent Playstation 4 announcement came a wave of speculation: Sony didn't show the PS4 because they don't really have it yet. Or they haven't designed the chassis yet. Or they don't want to show all of their cards so early.

I personally don't care that Sony chose not to show off the hardware. The timing of this PS4 announcement seems odd to me, so I believe they are simply making the industry aware of the impending PS4 to drum up some excitement. I think Sony will really reveal the PS4 at E3.

First up: the controller. It looks like a slightly evolved DualShock. Is that a miniature touchpad on the controller? What use could that possibly have? I'm skeptical, and I smell a gimmick. Where's the Playstation Move, by the way?

Sony stated that the PS4 supports 3-D technology but they are not focused on it in any way. This makes a whole lot of sense when you consider the consumer electronics branch of Sony is also turning away from 3-D TVs and the like. I applaud this in every way possible. They did not remove the PS3's existing 3-D capabilities, nor are they wasting any further effort on the 3-D folly.

Software: What do we get in terms of games?

Diablo III. You must be kidding me. I already passed on this game once, even though I'm a long-time fan of both the genre and franchise. Who cares that a year-old game (not very popular, either) is finally going to show up on a console another year from now?

Killzone: Shadow Fall and a new Infamous title. Both are decent franchises, but I really don't think it's enough to move new, expensive hardware.

A new Final Fantasy. I always look forward to these releases, but FFXIII really burned me so I'm cautiously optimistic. I wonder if the new title will be multiplatform, anyway?

I'm not impressed by the launch titles, but it's still very early. What bothers me the most about the PS4, ultimately, is the utter lack of backward compatibility. I recognize the system architecture is changing dramatically, but it really bugs me. I don't really want to keep a last-gen console around if I don't have to. I have also heard that PSN titles and game saves won't transfer over to your PS4. If true, that is downright outrageous.

I'm hopeful the PS4 is a success. I look forward to the next generation of physics, graphics, and audio engines, but I fear these things are taking more and more priority over gameplay and story. Let's hope Microsoft responds with an announcement of their own in the near future. After all, competition is what brings out the best in us.

Weekly Report - 02/22/2013

I completed Rage on nightmare with all collectibles, side quests, races, and all that jazz last weekend. I found myself really enjoying the game and didn't want it to end. Ultimately, however, it ended. And boy, that is one atrocious ending. No final boss or interesting cutscene. No difficult final challenge. In fact, I didn't even use the pulse cannon they gave me for the final mission. Wingsticks and fat mamma rounds in my pistol did just fine. The ending consists of a pair of Arks rising up out of the ground... then the credits roll. That's it.

Then I moved on to Dishonored, which I've heard great things about. I'm really looking forward to the change of pace offered by a stealth game.

So I load it up and boy, having just stepped out of Rage, the graphics in Dishonored appear flat, boring, dull; just abysmal. Whatever, I can play through that. Graphics aren't everything.

Nor is sound design, apparently. Everywhere I go, the characters sound as if they are talking in a tiny bathroom with reflective tile walls. What's with the echo effect? It's obnoxious, not to mention overdone and totally unnecessary.

The gameplay, however, is why I'm here. Here's to hoping for some!