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Tomb Raider: The first hour

The first hour of Tomb Raider may be one of the best hours I've spent gaming. Seriously.

We're reintroduced to Lara Croft, a version of her prior to her previous exploits, and seemingly a different character. This Lara is a young archaeologist out to find ruins of a lost civilization. Immediately, chaos erupts, and Lara is thrown into danger with only the clothes on her back.

This Lara isn't the over-sexualized Lara we have been playing for years. Even though as each game went on they seemed to tone down the focus on T&A, it was still ever-present and in need of a reboot like this. Lara 2.0 is far more real. Yeah, she's quite attractive, but she's wearing... Read All The first hour of Tomb Raider may be one of the best hours I've spent gaming. Seriously.

We're reintroduced to Lara Croft, a version of her prior to her previous exploits, and seemingly a different character. This Lara is a young archaeologist out to find ruins of a lost civilization. Immediately, chaos erupts, and Lara is thrown into danger with only the clothes on her back.

This Lara isn't the over-sexualized Lara we have been playing for years. Even though as each game went on they seemed to tone down the focus on T&A, it was still ever-present and in need of a reboot like this. Lara 2.0 is far more real. Yeah, she's quite attractive, but she's wearing reasonable clothing for an archaeologist-- a camisole shirt (I think, I'm terrible at what different shirts are called) and cargo pants. This is someone you might meet in real life, and her motivations are academic.

As soon as you get control, it plays like a survival horror game. You're injured, you have no weapons, and there are crazy people after you. And you're in for quite a ride.

The graphics are splendid. This is the first title in a while to really push my PC, and the payoff is great. I've read that this is optimized for AMD cards (and even has an option to render each hair individually if you're rocking AMD) but my GTX 550 ti handled it on normal settings, and pushed a few higher settings before the sputtering started. The lighting really controls the mood early on. You need a torch to get around, and you're functionally blind past a certain point. The shadows are fantastic, and add to the horror feel.

The real star is the voice acting. Every little action seems to be scripted. Hearing Lara gasp "Oh god!" when she's slipping or timidly say "OK, I can do this" when there's a big jump enhances the mood. When you find an abandoned camp to escape a storm, the fear, cold, and hunger are entirely believable thanks to the animations and voice acting.

Once you find a bow after a good night's sleep, the game changes. You can hunt for food, you can defend yourself. You see Lara's confidence growing little by little. The action and adventure quickly replace the horror, and the Indiana Jones feeling you're used to in these kinds of games is ever-present. And it's fun, the mechanics are all there, the puzzles are satisfying if a bit easy (though I'm still in the early game). It's still quite a good game.

But in that first hour, I experienced that rare anomaly of complete immersion, where the line where I ended and the game began was blurred to the point of non-existence, and it was *me* who was fighting for my life. I won't soon forget that, and I hope the rest of the game upholds the expectations the intro set.

Lord British's: Shroud of the Avatar

Back this on Kickstarter!

A Torment Kickstarter? Now Lord British is doing a Kickstarter? Pretty good day for RPG's indeed. If you loved Ultima, this looks to be the next installment in rad. A bit from the Kickstarter page:

"Richard Garriott, the award winning designer and creator of the Ultima franchise, makes his triumphant return to the genre that earned him a place in the Hall of Fame and a Lifetime Achievement Award. Shroud of the Avatar is the first installment of Richard’s new vision and represents the reinvention of the classic, fantasy role-playing which he pioneered. A fantasy role-playing game that will focus more on player choices and discovery than on level grinding."

They have some... Read All

Starcrafts: Heart of the Swarm Trailer Parody

Starcrafts created a Heart of the Swarm parody trailer I found very cool. Pair it up with the actual trailer and I think you will find it is much less dark. Fun to see this kind of thing get made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCsGTP3-Jlw

Tank-tacular!

http://veryexistence.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/origin_world-of-tanks-1.jpg

Hey guys, I've been recently been busy playing World of Tanks, A free online game in which two teams of tanks from the WW2 era face off against each other. This game is pretty damn awesome. Probably one of my favorite games right now.

The game is set up to where you start with a beginner tank from each of the countries in the game. These countries include Germany, USA, China, Russia, France, and Great Britain.Each country has its own unique tanks in which you can play as. To get these tanks you must advance through a tech tree by earning experience in battles. Each country really has its own advantages and disadvantages. Some countrys have better heavy tanks and some... Read All

Install, Playthrough and Thoughts About HoTS pt. 1

Cut to the chase, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm is a worthy successor to Wings of Liberty. Is it perfect? Nope. But it's really damn good.

Install/Collectors Edition

Ok so I bought the Collectors Edition and made the video above to show it off a bit. I nabbed the ol' Blizzard battle chests back in the day and then the collectors editions for Starcraft II, Diablo III and now Heart of the Swarm. I have never felt like any Blizzard collectors edition wasn't worth it and this is no exception. It is very similar to the Wings of Liberty Collectors except Heart of the Swarm contains a few more digital goodies and the Zerg Rush mouse pad. Looking forward to tearing through... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2013 at 01:08pm

In terms of character arcs, I kinda felt that the main characters of Diablo 3's story were Leah and Tyrael. You were just playing the powerful friend. The two of them had stronger arcs.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2013 at 01:52pm

Hmmm Tyrial I could see. But Leah? I don't know. Was thinking about this last night. Blizzard often has a character change into something evil without their consent. I don't know if that's an arc.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2013 at 02:24pm

The more I think about character arc's and games the more I think I realize that most video games don't do that. Its hardly a Blizzard thing really.

And you are right about Tyrael, he really does have one and its actually a cool one too. After playing a few more missions, Kerrigan is changing, but its more like she is going from Angry => More Angry. That's an arc, but its pretty one note. They have some in game conversations that seem to give her some humanity but it was pretty clear she would move the direction they wanted and I saw it a few missions in. Id talk more about it but spoilers and all that.

Anyways, so I want to backout on my Character arc thing a bit as with more reflection it seems most games I play with a story don't really use them either. And after playing the game more, yeah there is one here its just not amazing. BUT you know, by the end it might have changed.

PS this doesn't mean the game isn't fun to play or the story isn't good, it is.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2013 at 04:07pm

Nah, Leah went through an arc, from being incredibly skeptical and dismissive about her uncle (somehow), to losing him, and then becoming steadfast in helping along her uncle's work. I mean, it wasn't an amazing arc or anything, very little about D3's story was, but I'd call it an arc. I don't even count being a vessel for Diablo as part of her arc, really.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/13/2013 at 04:09pm

Combine with that her lack of faith in her own abilities, finding her mother who trains her, and then betrays her as she's getting confident. So I guess in that way being the vessel for Diablo *could* be part of the arc.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2013 at 04:13pm

I don't count that Diablo III spoiler you mention as being an arc because she didn't choose it. And yeah, you are right she did have an arc.

I think I am confusing a few points in my mind about Blizzard games. I guess you have a few kinds of characters in the Blizzard verse. Good people and then everyone else that murders babies and wipes out entire continents and civilizations. Again, its a broad stroke but its fairly prominent in HoTS and D3. Maybe its just a over reaction or something, I don't know.

But again, the game is good I am just taking a stab at a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. But then again, if I want fuzzies and rainbow happiness I shouldn't go to Blizzard. :D

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/13/2013 at 07:53pm

Well, Tauren, Worgen and Pandaren are fuzzy.

I know, that added nothing to the discussion. You're welcome :P

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2013 at 08:19pm

They are fuzzy and warm. But so much murder.

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Interview with StarDrive Creator Daniel DiCicco

After hearing great things about StarDrive from its recent Steam beta launch I decided to check it out. I pre-ordered the game and as such was able to try out the Beta. If you are looking for a deep space warfare game, StarDrive is the game to get. I was very impressed with StarDrive and when I reached out to Daniel DiCicco for an interview realized that we both hail from the always amazing Portland Oregon area.

jdodson: You just posted the StarDrive beta to Steam for people that pre-order the game. What is your reaction to how people have been playing the StarDrive beta?

Daniel DiCicco: I am absolutely thrilled with the response that we've gotten. People seem to be... Read All

Heart of The Swarm Drops

I love opening collectors editions. Listening to the soundtrack right now. More as it develops.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/12/2013 at 06:01pm

You'll have to tell us how it is! I'll probably wait for a big sale like I did with WoL. Starcraft isn't a game I dive into and play obsessively, I kinda go back and forth on it.

BR Supporter wrote on 03/12/2013 at 06:59pm

I still need to get the base game. I'm a little behind.

krcDeuce Supporter wrote on 03/12/2013 at 07:04pm

Jon always was a huge StarCraft fan. I haven't played since the original myself. If there was anything I did appreciate about it, I liked that the different factions had units that weren't exactly equal to each other. With games like Age of Empires, each civilization generally had the same types of units, and they all were generally good against the same things (e.g. use pikemen against cavalry). From what I remember about StarCraft back in the day, there wasn't exactly an equivalent of the Zerg ability to burrow. You really had to understand the nuances of your faction.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/12/2013 at 11:57pm

Holy loot-drop, that looks amazing!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2013 at 02:46am

Yeah its a great package. Very similar to SC2: Wings of Liberty Collectors.

Ill post more of my thoughts later this evening, so far enjoying the Swarm and yeah... lots of Zerg swarming in the single player missions.

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Monsters Invade: Oz

Monsters Invade: Oz is a upcoming game that brings the Wub, Wub to all the monster loving people in the world. The video showcases a few concepts and hints and what could be a very interesting game. Boasting such features as monster breeding, fully explorable world and hand drawn art this touch game looks really neat.

Hopefully they will let us know if you can befriend these monsters and become one of them thereby allowing yourself the ability to sink underneath your bed and enter the monster world where the place is trashed but you can do whatever you want while being befriended by a blue horned Howie Mendell. Or I might be thinking of some other monster thing.... Read All

Solar 2: Because You Want To Advance The Universe

I heard about Solar 2 from the recent Humble with Android Bundle 5. I picked up the bundle and decided to give Solar 2 a spin from Linux. First off the game plays perfectly from Linux with the keyboard and my USB controller. Valve has really done a good job getting the Linux client working and I also give mad props to the developers that make cross platform games. Its a cool trend I hope keeps trending upward.

Solar 2 is a hard game to describe but essentially its a game about the lifecycle of planetary bodies... I know that sounds strange but the above video can show you a bit more of it in detail. Basically you start the game out as an asteroid and you need to slam... Read All I heard about Solar 2 from the recent Humble with Android Bundle 5. I picked up the bundle and decided to give Solar 2 a spin from Linux. First off the game plays perfectly from Linux with the keyboard and my USB controller. Valve has really done a good job getting the Linux client working and I also give mad props to the developers that make cross platform games. Its a cool trend I hope keeps trending upward.

Solar 2 is a hard game to describe but essentially its a game about the lifecycle of planetary bodies... I know that sounds strange but the above video can show you a bit more of it in detail. Basically you start the game out as an asteroid and you need to slam into other asteroids to gain enough mass to become a dead planet. As you evolve to a dead planet you must suck up more asteroids to evolve life on your planet. From that point the life forms put a shield on you and launch little fighters to protect you and attack other planets. The life forms fighters are totally uncontrollable by you so you need to know how they operate and work with them. From the life bearing planet stage you suck up further asteroids as you evolve into a Star.

From the Star stage you can suck up other planets to orbit you and evolve them to have shields and attack other stars with planets. Essentially you do this until your star evolves into a Black Hole and then you finally finish the game by sucking up all the matter you can and then the Black Hole explodes and you start over again as an asteroid.

The game also features a few quests you can do to break up the pace of celestial advancement. I really enjoyed the quests where you had to steal other Stars planets because they contained a "key card" someone needed. The game works within its game mechanics yet adds fun quests that keep the game fresh.

At the end of the day I am really impressed with Solar 2's simple mechanics and beauty. The score entirely captures the games mood and is one of the best accompaniments of music to this kind of game I've heard in a while.

If you get the latest Humble Bundle, and you totally should the first game you should play is Solar 2, its a beautifully stunning game that deserves your attention.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/12/2013 at 07:25am

Awesome that you reviewed this! Glad you like it :)

Have you attempted a multiple star system yet? I think the most I ever got up to was 4 stars.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/12/2013 at 03:58pm

I got up to 2 and that was fun. How easy is it to handle 4?

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/12/2013 at 04:17pm

I don't remember it being very easy. I seem to recall getting overpowered by larger systems, and losing all of my planets. As you get bigger, other systems get more powerful.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/12/2013 at 05:25pm

This sounds really cool. And isn't something I'd find without CG! Thanks for the review!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/12/2013 at 05:29pm

Nab the bundle, you can add all the games to Steam and they run on Mac, Windows and Linux.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2013 at 04:25am

If anyone has any questions for Jay Watts, the developer of Solar 2, let me know. He has agreed to do an interview with the site about the game.

Very excited about this one!

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Another angle on sexism in video games

This seems to be separate from Anita Sarkeesian's videos, she's not even mentioned in the article, but another take on sexism in the industry has been posted at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/lifestyle/video-game-sexism-under-attack-678689/

This one looks at the people in the industry themselves, the reasons women are excluded (or self-exclude) from the gaming industry, and takes a look at the redesign of Lara Croft and what that means for women.

Some of the experiences mentioned in the article are just unthinkable. We should be better than this.

As an aside, this whole thing started, further proving Anita's point: ... Read All

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/12/2013 at 09:13am

The attempt to bring awareness to this topic, to whatever extent we still need, is honorable. This article, unfortunately, is very poorly written, almost incoherent, riddled with vague ideologies and incomplete statistics.

The image you post of the game created to beat up Anita is certainly a shame. A few bad apples grabbing attention at someone's expense. I'd like to offer this in it's place:

http://www.destructoid.com/a-response-to-some-arguments-in-anita-sarkeesian-s-interview-230570.phtml

.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/12/2013 at 05:24pm

Thanks for sharing this Travis, interesting article.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/14/2013 at 02:49am

I've been struggling with this, and now I feel I should apologize. When it comes to social issues, I'm usually a step behind, and so I tend to blitzkrieg my research, without much sleep. I may or may not have a slight addiction to information (I manage an insurance office, and there is nothing but constant information overload on a daily basis, which is one of the few things I like about it), so I think I might overdo it sometimes. In this case, I've been following the rabbit hole of the subject of feminism through real life conversations, YouTube, and various interweb corners, and through sleep deprivation I may have posted my earlier comment on this thread from somewhat of a cranky disposition :).

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry for coming off harsh, and maybe unnecessarily judgmental.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2013 at 02:57am

Hey, it happens! I do the same at times. But really, kudos to you for researching. Seriously. Not enough people strive to be informed about any issue.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/14/2013 at 03:40am

Awesome, thanks for that scrypt!

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 03/16/2013 at 07:20pm

@scrypt no need to apologize. Being judgmental is a vital part of living. It's how we differentiate the people we come in to contact with. As for your earlier response to the sexism post, I must be one of the few who felt like you do. That bringing awareness to the topic for the sake of itself does nothing to prevent it from continuing.

In all of your research, did the culture and popular mindset of the period in which these games were written come up? I ask because there were a glut of T&A films produced for the mainstream during the early 80s to early 90s. Since the media of that time was filled with the same kind of sexism, I don't think it's unrealistic to have seen it seep in to other forms of media.

That being said, however, I do agree that there is little place for it now. OTOH, if it didn't sell, football teams would have co-ed cheerleaders and the Lingerie Football League wouldn't exist, for starters.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 03/17/2013 at 06:06pm

The other half of my earlier thought about sexism in video games was this: It is probably not as prevalent as it once was. In fact, browsing the Playstation Store this morning, a large number of the new releases have not fallen prey to the pervasive sexism that has reportedly seeped in to every video game.

I am not going to defend sexism in video games or pretend it doesn't exist, but I think the issue is not as dramatic as the current discussions would lead us to believe. By cherry-picking games that promote a sexist agenda, it's easy to paint a picture of an industry chock full of misogynists and testosterone-fueled adolescent males.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/17/2013 at 07:17pm

Cherry picking. Perhaps. But when one looks at a systematic problem going over historic examples of ones point is a good strategy. It doesn't prove a point entirely, but social arguments are not a math proof, its just a way to convey concepts and ideas.

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