http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php This is a discussion forum for fans of Apogee / 3D Realms to talk about various game related topics. en Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:02:22 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/images/misc/rss.jpg http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=314 Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:00:23 GMT I've been thinking about this lately(aside from Duke Nukem Forever :p). Fallout 1 is one of the best games I have ever played, but FO2 is not a good successor. It is a lot bigger, has twice as much content at the very least, but...

The humor. It is one of the most praised elements of FO2, which I cannot understand. The humor is overdone, juvenile, contrived. Way too many easter eggs, to the point that finding yet another one stops making it special. A lot of it nonsensical "lol tis iz funnay!" kind of crap. How many Monty Python references are there? I love MP just as the other nerd, but this is just way too much for one game.

FO2 seems like parody of FO1. It has a huge backlash on the overall atmosphere of the game. A talking man eating plant? An intelligent radscorpion that plays chess? A dumb parody of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman advertising scientology? Oh, for f*cks sake...

Longetivity. A long RPG is a good RPG... unless a lot of the places and quests feel like filler and are overstretched. Vault City, New Reno, San Francisco... Feels either completely out of place(kind of like "hey guys! we need more content! think of something and put it in there!") or rushed(San Fran is especially guilty of this).

The origin of the Chosen One. He/she's a tribal. How the f*ck does a tribal have experience in skills such as Energy Weapons/Big Guns/Lockpicking etc.? Not counting the fact that the whole tribal thing is boring and dull as hell.

Aliens... sorry, Wanamingos... Screw that, I put my cursor over them it says Aliens! Aliens?! Seriously? WTF? The flying saucer was a great easter egg and that's it. Having actual alien enemies is retarded. And yes, as much as I love Fallout 3, Mothership Zeta should have never been even conceived, let alone made.


Yet, the game is still fun to play from time to time. I think the multitude of possibilities(like becoming a pro boxer, a porn star, a slaver etc.) make it so much fun. Sure, it doesn't have even a half of the atmosphere of the first game(due to the "humor"), it's dull and dumb in a lot of moments, but still, it's fun.

Wonder if No Mutants Allowed respond to this, since they don't seem to have anything better to do than responding to every single person on the planet who dislikes something in FO1 or 2 and voice their opinion on the net. ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=314 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=313 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:17:14 GMT Moved to http://thedukenator.blogspot.com/2011/07/gameconsole-list.html Moved to http://thedukenator.blogspot.com/201...sole-list.html ]]> The Dukenator http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=313 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=312 Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:00:42 GMT Boring combat, linear map design, lack of freedom in choosing a hero, preset artifacts, useless shops, no need to hire other heroes, stupid opponent AI, mostly crappy character redesign, poor voice acting, probably the worst narrator ever, bugs,... Boring combat, linear map design, lack of freedom in choosing a hero, preset artifacts, useless shops, no need to hire other heroes, stupid opponent AI, mostly crappy character redesign, poor voice acting, probably the worst narrator ever, bugs, bugs, bugs.

Add the fact, that 90% of the missions are ridiculously easy and the rest is only a tad hard and you've got yourself a disappointment of the year, assuming you loved the second installment like me.

And why add critical hits?! I hate them so much! I think they have no place in any strategy game whatsoever! RPGs - ok, strategy games are about tactics not about lucky crits!

Ahh, I feel much better.

Not really.

The only element not worthy of scolding is the music... which gets very repetitive very fast, since they're only a few tracks.


Bah.



This is unforgivable. Worst part is that not only did the developers copy a lot of elements from HoMM, they also did it poorly.


Again, bah!


The original development team ceased to exist a few years ago and some new dimwits decided to take on the franchise themselves. The result is pathetic, as you may have noticed already.

Most of the reviewers destroyed the game, and rightfully so. However, I doubt anyone will decide to revive the series again in a few years looking back at the failure of this game.

I hate them so much :( ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=312 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=311 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:16:49 GMT Kuon is a curious case. It is very little known outside of the survival horror fans' circle, and even among them it is considered mediocre at best. Which is strange, since I found it to be a brilliant piece of entertainment, albeit severely flawed in few major aspects.

It was designed by From Software, a developer which had been largely unknown until the release of their most popular game to date, Demon's Souls.

The game is set during the Heian Period of ancient Japan. Players can choose between two characters; the Yin phase revolves around a girl named Utsuki. She and her sister Kureha, go to a haunted manor in search of their father, a once renowned, now renegade exorcist named Doman. The Yang phase centers on Sakuya, one of Doman's disciples and one of the rare female exorcists. She and her fellow apprentices(including her brother) are sent to the manor to investigate the strange occurrences there.

A third scenario with an another character can be unlocked by completing the former two ones. It is also the proper ending of the game with the final boss fight.

The game features a very thick dark atmosphere, as good as the Fatal Frame games, which is a feat to be proud of. The ambient music also adds a lot to the overall feel. Although it relies on jump scares a bit too often, the uneasiness it creates rivals the best in the genre.

The plot is very good. It isn't the class of the best Silent Hill and Fatal Frame games, but it does hold out very well on its own. I especially loved the way the story was unveiled and the fact it's set in feudal Japan(like no other game).

The combat is worth mentioning. Since it's set around the 10th century Japan, there are no firearms, only daggers fans and spears. The characters can cast spells such as fire arrows, or summon spiders, puppet women or wolves. It is kind of clunky, but every survival horror game has the same problem.

So why is the game considered mediocre? Both scenarios available from the beginning are almost EXACTLY the same in their first 1/3rd. I'm not kidding - except from very minor differences, these parts are both identical.

Both scenarios take around 3-4 hours to complete and the final one is only a 30 min. adventure.

The game has very few puzzles, might be boring for some at times.

All these are the major flaws of the game I mentioned above, yet I think it's an underrated gem. The atmosphere is among the best of the best, the story is complex, yet understandable and is a treat to follow. The combat is enjoyable, although the game is a bit on the easy side. There are harder difficulties though, so no problem.

If you enjoy survival horror games, give this one a try. It's definitely worth a shot. ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=311 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=309 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:43:06 GMT Haunting Ground a.k.a Demento(in Japan), produced by Capcom, is the lesser known horror game of the Japanese giant, the better known being Resident Evil. Why HG wasn't widely advertised by Capcom? What happened?

It was the year 2005. Resident Evil 4 happened. 'Nuff said.

It's actually surprising, considering the game has high production values, therefore a considerable budget must've been assigned to this project. Why Capcom didn't advertise it as much as RE4 is beyond me.

Not that the game is any good though. Let's start with a short plot summary.

Fiona Belli has somehow found herself in a strange castle, which appears to be somewhere in Italy. She has just been involved in a car accident with her parents, but her memories of this accident are vague. She quickly begins searching for some answers and a way out of the castle. Along the way, she befriends a white German Shepherd named Hewie who turns out to be a valuable ally. As Fiona's predicament gets more and more disturbing, she learns that she is the carrier of the Azoth, which is what the castle's residents are after.

As I mentioned, the production values suggest a decent budget. The graphics are very high quality(for a PS2 game),the animations(especially Hewies') are marvellous, the CGI cutscenes are brilliantly done and the voice acting and audio overall is good.

Aside from technicalities this game is one of the more frustrating and irritating ones. It also gets repetitive fast.

Not counting showing off the body of the heroine. Poor girl has the BBB syndrome(Big Bouncing Boobs) ever so present in e.g. Dead or Alive series. The game does everything to show off her legs, breasts etc. to the best of its ability. Any intelligent person can not take a game seriously at this point.

As for the irritating parts. The game expands on the idea of the Clock Tower series(hiding from a single powerful enemy, no weapons etc.). Unfortunately, it doesn't fix one of the major problems the series had - the enemies' appear more often as the game progresses, to the point that instead of being scared, you're going
"Aww FFS! Not this again! I just want to push the plot forward, solve puzzles, not run away!!".

This is even worse when you take into account the fact how few hiding places there are and that enemies learn really fast to check the places where you hide often.

But there's the dog, right? Wrong! You have to constantly either praise him or scold him for him to actually get useful, and even then the little SOB won't help you for some arbitrary reason, and will stand there watching you get stabbed with a huge piece of broken glass. I blame the AI.

The items you get only temporarily stun the enemies for a few seconds, and I barely used them because of that.

As for the rest of the game... The locales get old really fast, since you will see them all the time by running around from enemies.

The story... There isn't much to say. It's a Capcom game, therefore it's average at best.

But the game is at least scary, right? Wrong again! It does have its creepy moments, however it isn't scary in the slightest bit.

All this makes me wonder, how in the hell did this game become a cult classic? It has a fairly large following with people creating fan art of Fiona and Hewie, fanfics etc. I blame the BBB. And the dog is kind of cutesy when he doesn't piss you off, I guess.

You might check it out, but if you don't, you won't miss much. ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=309 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=307 Sun, 30 May 2010 15:42:32 GMT In case you've never heard of Rule of Rose and the controversies surrounding it; there were on the grounds of game's erotic undertones involving a cast of female minors and animal cruelty. These themes ARE present mind you. However, there were also many false accusations, such as the supposed burying people alive, explicit sexual scenes etc. For more detailed information see the wikipedia page. I can summarize that it all involved the EU justice minister Franco Frattini, a group of MEPs, several other EU officials and... the Polish Minister of Education.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_rose#Controversy


Aside from that, the gamers had other type of problems. Such as the supposedly awful gameplay and boring story. But before I present my take on the subject, a short summary of said story in case you don't know what the game is about.

Set in 1930s England, the plot revolves around a nineteen-year-old girl named Jennifer, who becomes trapped in a world ruled by young girls who have established a class hierarchy called the Red Crayon Aristocrats.

You don't need to know more, except that this is a recipe for a brilliant and original game, since no other has had such a storyline.

Except that the gameplay sucks. Hard. You run around, to and froing like a headless chicken, through lifeless, boring, gray and brownish areas. The combat is broken, and thus frustrating, unless you tap the attack button with 0.5s intervals, then it magically works(point is that in the 3 hit combo, the subsequent two hits very rarely register hits on enemies for some reason, so best is to avoid doing it). The puzzles are very simple and the only problems non-combat wise you might encounter is the lack of ideas as to where to go next.

As for the scariness factor. It seems to be directed at a certain audience. It didn't scare me at all, but some people may find it very frightening.

A short note on the music. It is clearly a love-hate relationship. Short, looped orchestral pieces. Great, but way too short in my opinion.

But the story... ah, the story! The game is told like a twisted fairy tale. It's divided into chapters put into a non-chronological timeline. You have to piece it all together. As much as it might seem confusing and convoluted, a lot of it gets explained in the interactive ending(but only if you got the good conclusion with the final boss prior). It is the only video game story I know of that doesn't have surprising and shocking twists, and it explains some problems thoroughly AND instead of ruining it by doing so, it helps appreciating how incredible and thought provoking it is.

The plot is uncommonly compelling and unfolded so impeccably that it can carry you through the horrible gameplay separating the extremely frequent, and beautifully done, cut-scenes.

At its heart, it is a story of childhood bullying, friendship lost, and a deep, overpowering feeling of helplessness and loneliness.

A more cruel female version of Lord of the Flies.

Be warned though, if you dislike very weak protagonists, you ARE going to be annoyed.

In summary, if you are patient enough to suffer through the poor gameplay, you are going to thank yourself for it.

Because it truly is 'A story too cruel-too beautiful-to ever go untold'... ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=307 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=306 Mon, 17 May 2010 18:02:05 GMT I admit, I have to get it out of my system. As much as I like the game, it's a lot worse than the first one. It's not a bad game by any means, but it could've been much better. Everything, from the plot structure to gameplay elements, is flawed in a major way.

The story. It is not a part of the overarching plot - the Reapers as a threat to the galaxy. Instead we get a new villain, who was not even mentioned in the previous installment. It's established and finished with in this one single game. The story did not progress at all - it ends EXACTLY the same way like the first one; the immediate threat has been defeated, but the Reapers are still out there, waiting to strike. What's more, the Collectors are poorly fleshed out villains. The Geth in ME1 were being encountered literally everywhere, and felt a genuine threat. Not so much with the Collectors. You meet with them on three occasions, outside the suicide mission. That's it.

Besides that, the plot is primarily about the companions. The developers admitted that, which makes it fail even more spectacularly. Out of 10 companions you get out of the box(not counting Zaeed and Kasumi), I actually cared a tad about 4. Thane, Jack, Grunt, Legion, Miranda and Jacob might have as well not been in this game. I couldn't care less what happens to them which, in a game centered around them, is really really bad. And even those I cared for - Samara, Tali, Garrus and Mordin, are nothing compared to ANYONE in Dragon Age. A game made by the very same company.

Now onto gameplay elements. The inventory in ME1 was a clusterf*ck to manage, true, but completely removing it is NOT a way to solve the problem. Same with the Mako. Tweak it's handling and physics and voila. Instead they remove it and add planet scanning - a minigame so boring and tedious, it wouldn't work even as a free cell phone game.

The character skill trees are poor compared to... well, any decent RPG. Overly simplistic. The armor pieces give little bonuses that barely affect the player. Hell, I know people who finished the game on Insanity(the highest difficulty level) without using any of them. What's the point then? Don't get me started on companions having no customizable armor whatsoever. Weapons have no statistics - you only need to know that pistol X9 is better than pistol X7. Big f*cking whoop.

The N7 missions are generally extremely short\boring\not fun. Only a couple are a nice distraction from the main storyline.


Those are my major gripes about the game. After finishing it three times, I don't think I'll ever return to it. Even the DLC won't make me reinstall it. Really poor job Bioware. Though I know very well this will get a crapload of GOTY awards... ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=306 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=305 Wed, 05 May 2010 14:43:07 GMT Another long overdue blog post. I have to admit that I was pretty hyped up for this one, since the changes, which I thought were needed after SH4, are plentiful in the game. Unfortunately, as good as some people claim it to be, it did not live up... Another long overdue blog post.

I have to admit that I was pretty hyped up for this one, since the changes, which I thought were needed after SH4, are plentiful in the game. Unfortunately, as good as some people claim it to be, it did not live up to my(not so high, truth be told) expectations.

Let's start with the story, an element, which I think, is the most important in a Silent Hill game.

It could've been better. The beginning and, especially, the ending, are excellent. Everything in between is poor; the story is very thin, barely anything happens. However, the twist at the end is so good, unpredictable, and sheds a whole different light on the plot, it saves it from my wrath :p I like to analyze such plot twists; whether it is possible to predict them earlier on. I found that it is virtually impossible to do so here, unless one is a professional psychiatrist IMO.

Atmosphere and scariness. First one rather good, second one not so much. Actually, the game was not scary at all to me. The game is clearly divided into two parts: the calm, foggy, "monsterless" and the chase sequences, thus you know when you "should" be scared and when not. Even during the chase scenes though, the game fails at scaring you. It is adrenaline pumping, but every good action game does that. Furthermore, these scenes can be frustrating and irritating, due to labyrinth like nature of some of the sections - one can pull out the map, but then you can't run, which means you're screwed.

The riddles are very simple and straightforward, a downgrade compared to previous SH titles. Embarrassing when you remember the riddle in SH3, which on hard difficulty required one to have deep knowledge of Shakespeare's masterpieces.

The much advertised psychological test is very good overall, but there are some hitches now and then. For example, the one where Kaufmann determines whether you have enough sex. You only have enough when you put all cards in the sexual category. Leave one in the non-sexual and you apparently need more snoo-snoo. This doesn't make much sense, when you look at the cards. I want to know the person who associates skulls with sex. Or, on second thought, maybe not.

The only part I can't argue with is the massive replayability based on the choices in the test.

Overall, I'm a bit disappointed. It's not a bad game by any means, but it had so much more potential. Any Silent Hill or just a survival horror fan, should try it out, though. I think it's worth at least a rent. ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=305 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=304 Tue, 04 May 2010 13:18:22 GMT I think I promised this comparison almost a year ago. Better late than never, I guess :p

I divided the comparison into 6 elements. Each series is judged in story, setting, atmosphere, combat, riddles and originality. I'll explain each category first.

Story - the maturity of the themes present in the plot, its direction, twists and turns, and overall quality.

Setting - the location(s) where the games take place, timeline etc.

Atmosphere - self explanatory. Whether it's light as a feather or heavy and so thick you could cut it with a knife, all have importance here.

Combat - whether it's fun or a chore, clunky or fluid.

Riddles - overall quality, variety, difficulty and originality.

Originality - I have to admit, this category is a bit biased towards Fatal Frame and against Resident Evil, but I thought it's necessary to include it.

The grades are as follows:

1 - very poor
2 - poor
3 - mediocre
4 - good
5 - excellent


||||St|Set|Atm|Com|Rid|Orig
----------------------------------
SH | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3
----------------------------------
FF | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5
----------------------------------
RE | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2
----------------------------------

Totals:

SH = 24
FF = 24
RE = 17


For detailed information, please refer to previous blogposts.


That sounded official :p ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=304 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=293 Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:50:06 GMT Long overdue, I know.

3. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.

The best western game I have ever played with great well written characters, good(although cliche) storyline and amazing gameplay. Plus it's Polish, so it makes me proud :p

2. Resident Evil 5.

A lot more intense and satisfying than RE4 and has Jill and Chris. Can't go wrong with that.

1. Dragon Age: Origins.

Incredible game, mindblowingly well written characters(especially companions), good storyline, old school gameplay(what I like). I had enough only after finishing the game 3 times(around 150 hours). And the expansion is on the way. Marvelous.


No top 5 since I didn't play more than 3 games that were good enough(and I don't have a PS3/XBOX360, so no Uncharted 2, Assassin's Creed 2 etc.). ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=293 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=292 Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:51:01 GMT Let's cut to the chase.

The most used means of scaring in today's horror movies are jumpscares and gore.

Jumpscares is what I don't call fear. It is not fear at all. It's like a surprise kick in the balls. It's surprising, it's painful, but it isn't scary. Awaiting a seemingly inevitable kick in the balls which never comes is fear - fear through tension and suspense. The anticipation of a powerful kick in the nuts can wreck havoc in one's psyche significantly more than the kick itself.

:edit:
Good rare swift and rare kicks in the nuts are nice for relieving tension. However they must be... yes, rare.

As for the gore. 99% of all horror movies which were, are and will be, are either gore or slashers.
Gore(or torture porn as some like to call it) is repulsive. Repulsion is a different feeling than fear. Seeing someone's eyeballs gouged out may make you feel sick, but not scared.
Slasher movies don't do even that. All of them have annoying arrogant repulsive(oh, the irony) teens who get slaughtered by a (sometimes of supernatural origins) killer. You actually cheer for the antagonist, because he brutally ends the miserable existence of those pissworthy brats. It's the complete opposite of what a horror movie should arise - instead of caring for the protagonists, you want them to die a horrible death.

In my opinion horror video games are(and have been for a while now) superior to horror movies in what they are supposed to arise - fear. ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=292 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=289 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:22:17 GMT I promised to comment on Resident Evil 5 as soon as it gets released on the PC. Well here I am, just finished it an hour ago. I have to say that, knowing the annoyances on the consoles, the PC version is the best one making it a very enjoyable... I promised to comment on Resident Evil 5 as soon as it gets released on the PC. Well here I am, just finished it an hour ago. I have to say that, knowing the annoyances on the consoles, the PC version is the best one making it a very enjoyable experience.

Let me list the major complaints about the console versions:

1. Sheva's AI is dreadful. She wastes health items on you even when you're only very lightly wounded. Also, she wastes ammo like there's no tomorrow.

2. Item management in the inventory screen is a pain in the ass.

3. Game is not scary, creepy and it's short.

4. Storyline is poor compared to the previous titles.

My take on it:

1. In the PC version Sheva's AI has been significantly improved - when speaking about item management. She uses health items only when necessary to the point where you WANT her to keep the items and heal you when you do your thing and kill some zombies - the complete opposite to what was in the console versions. As to ammo. She's still pretty wasteful, but giving her a shotty and/or sniper rifle makes her a very efficient fighter.

2. On the PC each slot in your inventory has a corresponding hotkey on the number pad which allows you to quick switch weapons and healing items mid combat easily. Also you can combine and move items through drag and drop(dunno if that was on the console version, correct me if I'm wrong).

3. No, the PC version is not scary, nor is it longer. However, even though it lacks even the slight creepiness RE4 had, it's still an awesome game. As to the length; if it was any longer, it would've started to get dull.

4. Seriously? All of the games have a simplistic and straightforward story. RE5 is no different. I also find it ironic RE4 fans speak like that. RE4 has the most stereotypical low-budget 80's action movie plot I have ever seen. All it needs is Chuck Norris.

A government agent is sent to rescue the daughter of the president of United States, who was kidnapped by diabolical Spaniards who plan to inject her with a virus and send her home, so that they will be able to control the presidential family through her, thus the country and in the end, the world.

...

Even Matrix Wesker isn't as silly as this.


Back to RE5.

My overall impressions: the best RE game. As I said in my previous blog post, RE games were never really scary and going more into action is what the series needed. RE5 could've used a bit more creepiness now and then, I admit, but that doesn't change the fact you can curb stomp zombies' heads :p

:edit:

OK, after trying out the Mercenary mode and reading on the net about the Versus mode, I have to say both are broken. In what way? Character balance.

In both modes in all versions of the game, both Weskers wipe the floor with all the other characters. Check the leaderboards - the top 10's on all levels are nearly all Weskers. In the PC version Tribal Sheva has a crosshair to her already pretty overpowered bow making her totally ridiculous. On Public Assembly, on my first try with her, I got an SS rank(104k points) just standing 80% of the time killing anything that gets close.

On the other side we have BSAA Chris, Safari Chris, BSAA Jill and Clubbin' Sheva, all underpowered. Either the guns suck, or they have very low ammo to start with, or they lack the weapon to take down the bosses. Only Battle Suit Jill, STARS Chris and BSAA Sheva are balanced.

In Versus it's all about Wesker again. Especially the STARS version. His magnum and triple barrelled shotgun are just "wtf were they thinking?".

In RE4 there was a similar situation. Leon sucked due to his weak weapons and Krauser was a frigging beast.

What's the point of having so many characters if only half of them are capable of achieving high scores, and some of those are doing it with abysmally bad design-wise ease?

More about Versus. It's basically deathmatch, but having to stand to shoot results in unintentional hilarity. Two people are sometimes standing in front of each other, 3 inches between them, shooting mindlessly until someone dies. Yes, it's that bad. It may have worked in the campaign, but not in a PvP situation.

That's all for now :p ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=289 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=288 Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:26:27 GMT The PE series are a unique breed of horror games – they mix the typical gameplay elements of survival horror(cinematic camera angles, item finding, puzzles) and RPG(experience gathering through fighting, levelling up etc.). There is absolutely no other game series, or any game for that matter, mixing those supposedly unmixible genres, AND doing this surprisingly well all at the same time. For that alone they are worth checking out.

Storywise the games are fan-fiction sequels to a book of the same name by Hideaki Sena. The story is full of biological and genetic plot devices, coherent and all seems plausible as much as sci-fi realism can, all involving a young woman called Aya Brea(of Japanese descent). It's understandable, although complex, and engaging.

Gameplay wise what stands out are the RPG elements and combat which are different, quite drastically, in both games. In PE1 the heroine has action points which regenerate in real time. You use them all at a time to attack, cast Parasite powers and items. While waiting for your next opportunity to attack, you have to dodge enemy attacks, also in real time. It's a lot of fun, but near the end constant respawns in every single room of a museum you run around, make the combat very tiring. You level up and gain more HP, Parasite points(used for powers) and unlock additional Parasite powers.

In PE2 the combat is pretty much a lot like in any other survival horror game. No action points, no levelling up. You still get XP, but instead use it to unlock and level up the Parasite powers. You can increase max HP and Parasite points by wearing different types of armor. Unlike in the first game, Parasite powers are not essential here and some fans claim they actually finished it without using them.

The massive change in combat and marginalizing the RPG elements in PE2 divided the community into haters and lovers. In my opinion you just need to approach PE2 differently and all will be well.

There are some flaws in PE2 though, concerning the conditions you need to meet to get different endings. I ranted about that in Silent Hill(the first one). The factors are unclear the first time around. In PE2, it is IMPOSSIBLE to get anything besides the bad ending on your first time through unless you're using a walkthrough. Hell, the conditions are so arbitrary, unclear and absolutely no clue is given whatsoever to achieve them, it's hardly possible even in many subsequent replays. Only when a player decides to do something „I haven't tried before”, probably around the 10th replay, will he be able to get any kind of idea as to what to do. I read that some players weren't able to get a different ending even after the 18th(!!) time through. This is just blatantly bad design.

To add insult to injury. In Silent Hill 1 the character you had to save to get the good ending later had a visible and understandable influence on the final boss fight which led to said conclusion of the game. In PE2 you also have to save a person; unfortunately the guy is irrelevant to the story. He does not influence any boss fight at all, nor the story in any noticeable way, so why saving him has so much importance in the endings is totally beyond any comprehension. As previously mentioned: bad design.

As to the scare factor. Both games are not scary at all. However, the gameplay in both is so original and satisfying, it all makes up for it.

To sum it up – even though they won't scare the living hell out of you, the unique experience present in both a complex and intelligent story and rewarding gameplay is enough to check it out. ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=288 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=286 Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:58:18 GMT Note: Wow, this blog shifted from "Gaming and Rants" to "Survival Horror - Read All About It!".


I have utmost respect towards the first Suffering game. Why, you might ask. Thanks to it, I became fascinated with all things horror. Yes, it was The Suffering that introduced me not only to horror video games, but also movies and books.

Even though it seems to be a pretty standard gory action horror, the story and setting is what make it a very intelligent game.

The most basic, and most important at the same time, aspect the game touches, is capital punishment. The monstrosities you encounter throughout the game each represent a different death penalty all through horrific imagery. The two boss characters, who haunt you through the game, each has been killed by the most commonly known way - an electric chair - Horace, and the gas chamber - Hermes (somehow lethal injection, even though it's the most used execution nowadays, hasn't left an imprint on the society such as the aforementioned ones). Both of them are astonishingly well fleshed out characters and the addition of the mad(or not?) dr Killjoy(probably one of the best video game villains of all time) is an icing on the cake.

The setting is unique, a prison on an island. The main character, a quiet tough guy, yet his story is compelling through flashbacks, hallucinations and NPCs. The gameplay is rather easy, especially if you're experienced with shooters, but they're still higher difficulty levels to compensate for that.


What went wrong with the sequel?

The aspects it touches are not as interesting, compelling or controversial as capital punishment. Yes, many people died building big cities... accidents do happen; gang violence and robberies are a sign of bestiality of humans. Yet death penalty is a fully conscious decision made by a man upon a man having full awareness about its cruelty and inhumanity and, to top it off, backing it up with law and supposed righteousness of the execution. What is more sick in its irony?

Some of the monster designs are rehashes of the older ones. I'd prefer totally new ones. As for the ghostly chorus, this time we have a slave hunter Copperfield and a murderer/rapist/Jack-the-Ripper-like-guy the Creeper. I have to admit, Copperfield is a very poorly fleshed out character, especially when compared to the likes of Hermes or Horace from the first game. Creeper is a lot better, but still inferior.

The setting, being a city in chaos, is not as original - it's been already done in Resident Evil 2 and 3 for instance. As for the gameplay, it's a lot harder, just for the sake of making it seem longer, while it's actually shorter than the first one. Sometimes it's a borderline frustrating experience.


There you have it. Now, I'm not saying Ties That Bind is a bad game. No, it's still a very good piece of horror worth playing, unfortunately it's just inferior to the first one. My advice is get both and enjoy them for what they are and they are excellent, and intelligent, piece of entertainment. ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=286 http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=285 Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:35:44 GMT I was thinking about different horror game subgenres that started appearing after 2004. Previously, there were only survival horrors and other games with horror themes. Nowadays there are three ways of presenting horror to players. 1. Action... I was thinking about different horror game subgenres that started appearing after 2004. Previously, there were only survival horrors and other games with horror themes.

Nowadays there are three ways of presenting horror to players.

1. Action horror. Prime examples: The Suffering series, Clive Barker's Undying(probably the only game of this subgenre prior to 2004; correct me if I'm wrong).

The game is focused on action more than anything else; lacks(a bit more complex than "pull a lever") puzzles, backtracking and an inventory altogether, but still the horror themes are very strong. Personally I think The Suffering popularized this subgenre.

2. Action game with survival horror elements(action survival horror?). Prime example: Resident Evil 4.

The game is focused primarily on combat, although SH aspects are still present - puzzles(easy and in scarce quantity), (little)backtracking, inventory(most likely expandable and used to hold weapons than puzzle items), key searching.

3. Survival horror all the way. Prime examples: Silent Hill series, Fatal Frame series, Resident Evil series up until 4.

The game is focused on escaping from monsters, puzzle solving and exploration rather than combat. Large quantity of puzzles with varying difficulty(easy to quite hard), (un)healthy dose of backtracking, inventory full of puzzle items and keys aside small amounts of weapons and ammo.


There are some games that mix these aspects I listed and it seems they create even more subgenres(subsubgenres?).

Dead Space for example. It lacks puzzles, backtracking, it's primarily focused on combat, yet still retains an expandable inventory and key searching. Fortunately, I think I'm going a bit too deep with this and Dead Space is just incorporating very slight survival horror elements to a clear action horror.

As you can see, the horror genre expanded its influence onto more action oriented games and created something entirely new. Unfortunately, even though this pushed the genre towards mainstream, it made the pure survival horror games even more niche than they were. I sincerely hope SH "survives" the ordeal and we will see more of this type of game in the near future.


Useful horror links time:


http://www.dreamdawn.com/sh/

It's a great source of horror game information. It has listed almost all of the horror games ever created, has interesting articles on the subject(like Japanese horror, character types in the games etc.) and a forum with, unfortunately, few people registered. It's being updated from time to time with new blog posts by the author, who not only decided to play ALL horror games(except the ones for PC), but also attends horror games conferences. So, if you're interested in this type of games, this site is a must.


http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIn...883&affil=kabc

ABC News report on scary video games.


http://www.cameraslens.com

Fatal Frame series site, which also contains the FF wikia.


http://residentevil.wikia.com/wiki/Resident_Evil_Wiki

Resident Evil wikia.


http://www.silenthillforum.com/

One of the major Silent Hill forums.


http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Silent Hill wikia. ]]> December Man http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/blog.php?b=285