Half-Life 2: Episode One (PS3)

Half-Life 2: Episode One is the best Half-Life 2 episode I've ever played.

It's also the only Half-Life 2 episode I've ever played. Once again, this is a total lie, but at the time of writing I hadn't played the second one (for obvious reasons), so let's pretend for a moment that I'm writing this just after finished the game.

Half-Life 2 had a very ambiguous ending, explaining very little and leaving many questions as to the future of its characters. This picks up exactly where the game left off, and starts giving us an idea about what happens next.

Pacing and gameplay wise, it is pretty much spot on. To me the episode seemed less focused on shooting tactics and more on intellectual obstacles - one could almost accuse the game of having puzzles. There's still plenty of action though, and it remains most satisfying to charge through sections of the enemy base. Unlike Half-Life 2, there isn't much focus on large, expansive outdoor areas, so I feel that the epic scope of the previous game is lost a little, but the game certainly makes up for this with its strengths.

One of the biggest strengths is probably that the lovable Alyx Vance stays by your side a lot more. Although there were a number of characters to interact with and fight alongside before, much of the game was a lonely affair broken by short moments in the company of others. I feel that the story is much more interesting with another character joining us in the journey - especially one that is written as believably as Alyx.

Half-Life 2: Episode One feels like a natural extension of the previous game, and no doubt it was intended to be this way. I played it almost immediately after playing Half-Life 2 and it really does feel like the next chapter in the story. It seems as though Valve turned to the episodic release format to allow more regular additions to the storyline, focusing on quality over than quantity, and it definitely works well here.

One thing is for sure - for any player that enjoyed Half-Life 2, Episode One is a must buy. For anybody who hasn't tried Half-Life 2, what are you waiting for?

if (Games != Art) {

Perhaps as gamers and as developers we take games too seriously. I played Flower the other day, as well as some indie "art games" and it got me thinking more about the whole games as art issue.

And made me think "Who cares?"

Does it really matter if people file our preferred form of entertainment under the category we desire? Does it change the nature of games if suddenly people consider them to be art? Roger Ebert stated something similar in his denial of a game's ability to be art (which he later amended).

I guess my main concern with something being considered "art" is that it loses its original form and begins to resemble something else entirely. I've played quite a number of "art games" (and have even been accused of producing them myself) and the trend seems to be stripping away gameplay in favour of presenting a message.

I don't see why this is necessary. I believe games can be just as poignant, just as evocative and just as inspiring when made in the traditional manner - if not even more so. Instead of looking at titles like Flower - which strips away a sense of narrative and elements such as characters and things like emotional impact except on a metaphorical level - why don't we look to games such as Beyond Good and Evil or Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn or, yes, Planescape: Torment?

Why don't we study Grim Fandango or Dreamfall: The Longest Journey and focus on how the writing of the characters is fused with the gameplay rather than pushing our experiments in design towards post-game interactive experiences? I know I took away a lot more from any of the games listed above than I did from Flower because of the fact that they had characters that I could relate to, characters that I disliked that I grew to love, all with personal issues and challenges; something I can directly relate to as a player rather than trying to interpret metaphors and oblique, esoteric references to emotions.

I'm not saying I don't enjoy games like Flower. But on the same note, I think there are more efficient, effective and accessible ways to express emotion or a point of view than abstract expressionism. For me, art truly succeeds when I as a participant (on the receiving end as well as the creating end) walk away from it contemplating new ideas. And I know when I visit an art gallery, the post-painterly abstraction pieces rarely influence me in a way even nearly as effective as those creations more accurately representative of elements in the real world.

Are games art? I don't really think it matters anymore. But when I finish a game like Planescape: Torment - or even a small section of the game - I walk away from the experience with a head full of ideas, things to be inspired by and contemplate.

A good game can change the nature of a man. That doesn't necessarily mean games are art.

But it does mean they matter.

}

Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)

Animal Crossing: Wild World is the best Animal Crossing game I've ever played.

It's also the only Animal Crossing game I've ever played - thankfully, or else I'd probably have never gotten anything else done.

Usually I only review a game here once I actually finish it, but this is a game that doesn't really have an end to it. Like The Sims, Animal Crossing just keeps on going.

Unlike The Sims, however, the focus is less on building your own houses and more about running around doing small tasks to make friends and money. It's not so much "gameplay" as it is a series of activities, but there's something quite addictive about it all. Whenever you think you've seen all that Animal Crossing has to offer, something new and totally unexpected pops up, or one of the residents moves town, leading to someone else moving in.

One of my favourite things about the game is the totally oddball nature of it all. The characters are charmingly well written, and conversations are blissfully free of any concern for keeping it sensible. Considering other life-sim games (such as The Sims) don't even really allow characters to have much of a personality or individuality, it's endearing to be walking around town and have the local fitness/coffee fanatic tell you how he swam laps in a pool full of java all morning, or find amusing messages washed up on the beach.

This brings the game to life, it makes what would otherwise be a series of various collection tasks interesting and fun. Animal Crossing without the quirky sense of humour and random events would be one of the dullest games I can imagine. And yet, the characters are very simply written - they have their basic personality traits and they stick to them. It almost feels like procedurally generated dialogue flavoured with a few embellishments to spice things up. All the conversations you have will be based on a standard format, and you'll notice them repeat eventually, but the little characterizations throughout are what keep them from getting too stale.

I like this a lot for the simple reason that I can see the potential this simple tactic has. It allows even minor characters to be given actual character with very little effort - and while I am certainly not saying this is how characters should be written in general, it is a potentially useful way to write interactive dialogs for even the most unimportant characters in a game and still make them a unique character.

Animal Crossing: Wild World is the sort of game that I played even though I wasn't really quite sure why I kept coming back to it. It compelled me to find out more about it's inhabitants, to work until I had the best house and paid it all off, to get all the varieties of fruit tree growing in my village and collect all the different fossils. And yet, there's no end game, no point at which you can put the game down and say "I accomplished the main goal in this game".

Perhaps the main goal is simply to have fun, and spend some of your day inhabiting this little town full of unique characters, even if you don't really know why. That is something I can certainly feel that I accomplished.

Exploring

See that screen there? It may be rough and unfinished, sketched out hastily, but what that represents is a small part of an entire world. I painted that screen, I named the characters, put graffiti on the wall and decided what that graffiti stands for and why it was done. I littered the ground with a newspaper, and I wrote a news story about a company in that world. I named the shop, gave it a reason to exist and a personality. This is my world. Sometimes people are allowed to visit it, and I have had plenty of help in creating it, but the fact remains that at some point I decided I wanted to create a world, and this is what I created.

For me, this is the most rewarding part of making games.

Deus Ex remains one of my favourite games to this day, and one of the reasons is because the world is very well characterised. It may be set in the real world in the future, but it is littered with news articles, emails, companies and non player characters, all with personalities and opinions. Enemies in Deus Ex aren't just there to stop you from collecting cherries - they stand for something, they've joined a side and they give the world character. You can pick up a book in the game and read it - often this will have nothing to do with the game's story at all but it builds the world, fills it up with life and detail.

Planescape: Torment is another one of my most favourite games, and this does a similar thing. When you walk around the street, talking to various civilians, you will find they stand for something, they have ideals and personality quirks and they are interesting. When you fight someone in Torment, you aren't just fighting faceless enemies. You're fighting creatures who belong to something, who play a role in the greater scheme of things.

For me, one of the greatest things about an adventure game is the ability to explore a world. I want to learn about the secrets a designer has hidden, I want to know more about the main character by hearing what they have to say when I ask them to look at things or try using two things together. For me, adventure games represent the opportunity to really discover worlds; a backdrop is no longer simply a scene to shed blood against or build a base on, it is a living, interesting location that I can walk through and experience.

This is something I've been trying to keep in mind more and more as I work on games. Build a location, breathe life into it and make it mine. I want people to feel the same excitement that I feel when I walk through a new world, taking in the sights and talking to it's inhabitants. I want to give players the chance to really explore an environment, not just build rooms simply to house a few more puzzles.

Perhaps, some day, I'll figure out how to do it well.

Heavy Rain (PS3)

Heavy Rain is the best game I've ever bought that comes with origami paper and directions to keep you occupied while the game installs.

It's also the only game I've ever bought that comes with origami paper and directions to keep you occupied while the game installs and, let's face it, that's a darn shame. More developers should give us something interesting to do while the game installs! Why didn't my copy of LEGO Batman come with a LEGO Batman figurine to put together and pose on top of my television?

Being an owner and fan of Quantic Dream's two previous efforts, Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy and Omikron: The Nomad Soul (though I'm yet to complete the latter), buying Heavy Rain was something I had planned to do since I first heard about its development. Heavy Rain, unlike the previous two games, places the emphasis away from surreal science fiction and more emphasis on a psychological thriller style tale of murder, but is still the story based puzzler that I've come to expect from the developer.

It really feels like the natural evolution of the Quantic Dream formula. Indigo Prophecy moved away from Omikron's open world and more adventure gamey style into a post adventure format where half of the puzzles were keeping character's emotions stable and the fight scenes and shooting scenes (which weren't particularly brilliant in Omikron) were replaced by copying screen prompts in a simon-says style manner. Heavy Rain sees this formula developed into a very strange hybrid creature which plays something like The Sims mixed with a standard adventure game. You have to do all the actions the character does by holding down buttons, wiggling thumbsticks, all to open drawers, have a shower, prepare food or investigate crime scenes. I understand this is to build immersion but at times it does feel a bit annoying.

This gameplay, however, takes second stage to the story of the game; it's clear that David Cage is trying to push games towards interactive movies, and Heavy Rain has a script that has some definite high points. There's intense drama and some very sweet moments as well - and it's a very adult game; drugs, violence, nudity and swearing - Heavy Rain doesn't hold back on any of these. The graphics are some of the most realistic I've seen in a game yet - a playthrough of this game would look like a rather drawn out CG animated movie, and this helps convey the atmosphere very well. At one point in the game I was quite disturbed by one of the actions the game had tasked me to complete (of course, it was optional, but I wasn't going to give up that easily).

The fact that the game lets you make choices without actually failing is a positive in my opinion. You can have a major character die and still not lose the game - here success isn't measured, you merely affect the outcome of things in the story. I like this as a concept, and I will be interested to see if/whether it gets explored more and more often in games in the future.

However, despite all of these points which seem to illustrate how wondrous Heavy Rain is, there's definitely some weak points. As I mentioned, as interesting as the control system is, I can't help but feel it's a bit offputting and annoying. I much prefer the post adventure gameplay employed in Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (minus the action and stealth sections). Also the story, while almost consistently well told, takes a turn at one point that I couldn't help feeling disappointed at, and there were elements told beforehand to setup this twist that simply weren't rationalized in a way that satisfied me. At that point in the game (quite near the end) I felt that the narrative - which until then I had considered to be very well delivered - was ruined and I found myself much happier accepting the outlandish science fiction stew that was the second half of Indigo Prophecy than the disappointingly cheap twist employed here.

Overall though, the game does what it sets out to do well, and for those looking to create immersive interactive stories, this shines as a beacon of ideas that are generally well executed and delivered. The success of the game speaks volumes about the appeal of this style of game if done well, which is a very encouraging thing indeed for adventure game fans like myself.

A wordy review, but Heavy Rain is one of those games that demands discussion simply because of what it is trying to be and the success it has received despite it's unconventional style. It is by no means what I considered a perfect gaming experience, but I enjoyed the game and like many of the ideas has showcased to the gaming world. Quantic Dream will be people to watch.

Portal (PS3)

Portal is the best game that lies about cake that I've ever played.

It's also the only game that lies about cake that I've ever played. And it's lies about cake, and the overall personality this game brings to the table, that sets it apart from most other similar games.

Puzzle games are everywhere - from the classics like Myst and Riven that (when my brother got it, anyway) came with a notebook for keeping notes in - something almost essential to solving puzzles in the games - to modern, everygamer style affairs such as the Professor Layton games that keep you playing even if you get stuck by giving out hint coins during the game.

Portal isn't really a puzzle game, per se, but it's hard to label it as anything else. You are given a setting, you are taught the rules, and then you must work with these rules to overcome obstacles. The puzzle design is devious and just right, but I think what really makes the game shine is that charm that it brings to the table. It's funny; darkly funny in a sinister way. Where Monkey Island or Sam and Max games might have you laughing about one liners, Portal has a very innocent and yet oh-so-twisted sense of humour at the same time. It reminds me of the Milkman Conspiracy in Psychonauts (surely that game's finest hour) with the way it presents "characters".

For me, this is what makes a puzzle game worth playing, beyond simply puzzle design. Even the best puzzles are boring if experienced constantly without any character to back them up. Portal keeps one smiling as it keeps one thinking, and this seems to be it's greatest triumph. You're bound to remember the humour for far longer than you'll remember the puzzles.

Tie it all up with stylish graphics and, yes, an endearing song to finish with, and it's no wonder Portal took the gaming world by storm.

Recommended? Yes. If only to see what all the fuss is about.

Mirror's Edge (PS3)

Mirror's Edge is the best game I've played that led to EA taking down Dr Tim Langdell in court and maybe losing all his 'EDGE' trademarks.

It's also the only game I've played that led to EA taking down Dr Tim Langdell in court and maybe losing all his 'EDGE' trademarks, shockingly enough. But, Langdell's nonsense aside, there's a game here that I bought and played and finished and now I will use words to tell you about it.

Something interesting happens whenever I mention Mirror's Edge to people; they either go "Oh, I really didn't like that!" or "Yeah, that was fun and interesting!". It seems to be one of those titles that really polarizes opinions. But I didn't really love it or hate it - I enjoyed it, and thought it ended in a satisfactory way, but it certainly didn't seem as awful as half the people I talk to make it out to be or as amazingly splendid as the other half do.

I think the whole concept - free running mixed with combat - is a very nice idea. The game feels very satisfying when you figure out a neat line and pull it off flawlessly. When you sprint up to an opponent and disarm them, it's similarly rewarding; Mirror's Edge puts a far bigger focus on speed and control than it does on normal combat. However, it takes quite some time to get used to, and the control doesn't always feel as responsive as I would have liked. There were moments when simple maneuvers took me multiple tries, and that feels frustrating.

Visually, the style is superb. Lack of realism aside, the art direction is bold, brave and simple yet stunning. It's impressive to see a game craft a style that feels so unique that it is instantly recognizable, particularly in the FPS genre where things often looks very same-y.

As for the story? It's there. It's not breathtaking or particularly inspiring, but it does a good job of keeping the main character motivated and introducing characters as it goes. Yes, there's a twist and a betrayal but I've played so many games with a twist and a betrayal now that it almost seems the standard way to write a game plot.

I think, though, there's something stopping Mirror's Edge from being quite as iconic as it could have been. Somehow I feel that more could have been done with the style - perhaps bigger, more breathtaking outdoors setpieces, or setting the game up to feel more action intense. Aside from a few intense moments, most of the game feels just like running around on roofs, looking for doors and dodging bad guys. I would have preferred to see a little bit more variety in the outdoors settings, as I am sure that far more could have been done with them.

So. Mirror's Edge. It's challenging, pretty, quite unique in style both visually and in terms of gameplay. The fact that so many people dislike it suggests that it's a hard one to get into, but the fact that it can be picked up for really rather cheap these days means that it's none too risky an investment if you don't mind sticking with games through the challenging bits.

Half Life 2 (PS3)

Half Life 2 is the best PlayStation 3 game I've ever played.

It is also the only PlayStation 3 game I've ever played. Actually... that's entirely untrue, but at the time of playing, it WAS the only one, so let's pretend we've stepped back in time a little.

I never managed to get into the original Half Life - something about the graphics perhaps threw me off, plus I was never really into FPS games back then. However since then I've found a fondness of the genre, and upon buying myself a PlayStation 3 I spotted The Orange Box for it for a very reasonable price considering the content. Thus the purchase was made, and I entered an exciting new world of City 17 that was only, y'know, 6 years old.

Half Life 2 is the best pure action FPS game in my collection. I say that with plenty of conviction - the introduction establishes the setting of City 17 in an incredibly subtle, detailed and clever way - and once you get a gun there's rarely time to pause for breath.

Yes, I know, you all know this by now, but the game is 6 years old and still manages to feel so current - beyond current, even. It's clear why the game has managed to capture so many imaginations. The game keeps throwing new things at you whenever you get used to it, and it really does feel like a never ending learning experience. This is game design at it's finest; Valve does not let you relax or the action to stagnate at any point. Right up to the very last part of the game you will be figuring out how to proceed in the game.

The NPCs are also quite lovable - funny, expressive and memorable. They add flavour and colour to an already full game and make the few quiet moments as memorable as the heart-poundingly frantic firefights that never lose their intensity.

I never could get into the first Half Life, but playing this makes me say that I should go back and try again. If it's anything like this, I'm definitely missing out.

Bunnies!

Hello.

I haven't blogged on here for a while.

But I have been busy drawing and making games and things still.

Some of the things I have been drawing have been for Dave Gilbert, along with another AGS person called InCreator.

Also, STOVE!

Also I have been making a small one room game for fun and excitement.

The screenshot above is a screenshot from that game that I just mentioned in the sentence before this one.

Hopefully it will be ready for you to play with your personal computer at some not too distant future time (although I am coding it so it is taking way longer than it ought to).