Gaming Critique

Battlefield 3

2011-09-11T21:56:00.011-05:00

He hurries upstairs, adrenaline still rushing from the ambush, the door is kicked open as he reaches the roof. The crack of enemy sniper fire sends chills down his spine every shot, hopping the next one won't make contact, he's ready for payback. He crawls to the other side of the building, suspense increasing, every deafening shot chipping away at the precious concrete wall between him and the enemy. "Give it to Black" he is given an AT4 84mm rocket, he readies the weapon, knowing what happens in the next few moments could determine the lives of his friends - SUPPRESSING FIRE! - he stands, time seems to slow as he sends the rocket soaring across the street into the side of the hotel... direct hit.

This is Battlefield 3.

Stunning visuals, amazing realism, and 64 player online war, Battlefield 3 is packing heat and bringing everything to the table. With the surprise success of the previous spin-off title, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, EA and DICE plan to make Battlefield the next who's who of first-person shooters. With the release just over a month away, it's time for my 2 cents on this game and if it's going to stand up to its name. The short answer, YES, the slightly longer answer, HELL YES, and I'm going to tell you why.

First off, I just want to explain that for the most part, this will be mainly about the PC version of the game, and while I'm personally not an avid PC gamer, I've got some friends in the gaming world who very much are; so let us begin. If I had to explain Battlefield 3 in one word, it would be scale, two words, large scale. Players of the most recent Battlefield game, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, or BF:BC2 for short, know that the most impressive part of the game was the sheer scale of encounters, with several single and multiplayer maps and levels spanning over the course of miles. These huge set pieces allowed for intense land, air, and sea skirmishes, and created some of the most memorable moments in online shooter history. Not to mention destruction, BF:BC2 was, and still is, one of the most fun and exciting games out there, and this time around, DICE has raised the bar again.

More than just visually, Battlefield 3 comes equipped with a whole new engine, weapons, vehicles, maps, and more countless upgrades from the previous installment. Outside of the game, Battlefield 3 is setting the stage for potentially the largest shift of industry power in 4 years. Since the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activison has been the most successful company in the first-person shooter industry and hasn't budged, that may very well change. While we won't know for sure until the release, BF3 may be the game that revamps the FPS genre and sets the wheels in motion for a shift towards larger, tactical teamwork based shooters, rather than the prevalent arcade style shooter that is Call of Duty.

For those who were unfortunate enough to not be able to participate in the BF3 alpha beta, the biggest change is fluidity, it's much more fast paced and streamlined, while still retaining that realistic handheld feel to the whole thing. You'll feel right in the action, and there's less running a mile on foot to get in the fight. If the Battlefield series was a car, BF3 replaced the engine, (No pun intended) got some fresh tires, a set of wings, and gave it a shiny new coat of paint. Will BF3 live up to the hype? Yes.

Thank you for reading, I hope to post more previews and reviews soon.

Modern Warfare 3: Survival Mode

2011-08-11T11:57:00.002-05:00

The Call of Duty series has been praised these last few years as the worlds best selling video game franchise. Which is true to an extent, yet in recent times, people have claimed that the series has lost it's bite and is slowly degrading in quality. While personally, I don't expect Call of Duty to last much longer, I certainly do not believe that the quality is degrading. Every game in the series has improved upon that which made the previous great; some more than others. Well it's that time of year again, and even after a huge legal battle that that almost destroyed the series, lets see if Infinity Ward has still got it and can finish with a bang.

(While this article focuses mainly on the new Survival mode, there will be future articles regarding the Story mode and Multi-player features of the game.) In 2008, Treyarch's "Nazi Zombie" game mode unlocked by beating the single player campaign, made a big splash as one of the most addicting game modes of the series. The mode became so popular that more maps, and eventually a story were added. In 2009, Infinity Ward's response to "Nazi Zombies" was something called Spec Ops, a small list of mini-missions that you could complete by yourself or with a friend; it never caught on. In 2010 Treyarch hit a a grand slam with the shortened "Zombies" mode once again, adding more maps and weapons than before, people logged hundreds of thousands of hours into "Zombies" alone. So once again, Infinity Ward is trying to make an even better experience, and this time, they just might have done it; introducing, Survival.

Similar at first glance, "In Survival you will fight off waves of increasingly difficult enemies as you earn XP and unlock several types of armories to expand your arsenal and Load-out customization along the way." Only this time it's not zombies. Starting out as simple infantrymen, the "increasingly difficult enemies" slowly go up eventually leading to enemy helicopters and the ever-feared Juggernaut.

Starting out with what appears to be a simple Five-seveN handgun, as you earn XP and level up, you will be able to purchase new weapons and attachments. During the Survival reveal trailer, it seems that there are three kiosks spread throughout the map represented by an ever-present handgun, frag grenade, and fighter jet symbol respectively. The first kiosk, the handgun, allows the player to purchase new weapons, including but not limited to: Model 1887, USAS 12, M16A4, AK-47, ACR 6.8, and M60E4. It also seems, once a weapon is purchased, the option to upgrade it becomes available. Other weapons shown in the trailer: MP5k, UMP, G36c, Riot Shield, and two other unidentified guns.

The second kiosk, the hand grenade, allows the player to resupply and purchase equipment, including but not limited to: Frag Grenade Refill, Flash Bang Refill, Claymore (x5), C4 (x5), Auto Turret, Auto Grenade Launcher, and Last Stand (Perk). The "Auto Turret" is the former Sentry Gun, and the "Auto Grenade Launcher" is a new Sentry Grenade Launcher. Coming from speculation, it seems only "Green" tier perks are present in Survival. Other perks shown: Sit Rep, Extreme Conditioning, and Steady Aim; strangely, when unlocked, these perks display the fighter jet symbol next to them.

The third kiosk, the fighter jet, allows the player to purchase air support, including but not limited to: Predator missile, Delta Squad, and Riot Shield Squad. Purchasing Delta or Riot Shield Squads allow the player to call in infantry support via helicopter. Coming from speculation, squads seem to consist of 5 men, judging from the number of friendly arrows present on the mini map. Also shown, AC-130 strikes via smoke.

Shown in the trailer, enemies consist of mainly infantry, with support from helicopters; however it may vary on a map to map basis. Special enemies do appear sometimes, whether it is wave specific, or random is unknown. Unique enemies shown include but are not necessarily limited to: Attack dogs w/ explosives, Hazmat infantry, Little Bird helicopters, Pave Low helicopters, and Juggernauts.

Also present throughout the trailer, are at all times two white bars at the bottom left of the screen. These appear to be mini challenges, that once completed, give instant bonuses of money; when completed a "Gold" version of the same challenge is unlocked and is worth double the reward. It's unknown if they appear in a random or specific order. Mini Challenges shown: Kill Streak, Flash Kills, Assists, Headshots, Quad kill, Knife streak, and Rampage. White challenges are worth 500$, while Gold are worth 1000$.

This new game seems promising, but we'll have to wait and see come this November. Thank you for reading, I hope to post more previews and reviews very soon.

Bioshock Infinite

2011-08-09T20:05:00.000-05:00

Bioshock Infinite came into the spotlight as Irrational Games' spiritual successor to the original Bioshock. Less of a sequel, and more like the difference between Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops. While at face value it still is Bioshock, this time around we have a whole new city, conflict, characters, weapons, and powers. A lot of information was directly revealed, and some things more quietly hinted at.

So first off, the biggest difference is the location. Gone are the dark and damp underwater tunnels and buildings of Rapture, welcome to Columbia, a "floating statue of liberty." Built as a way for America to show the world what the country is capable of, Columbia is an enormous floating city in the sky. However, after discovering the city had military capabilities, and created an incident by firing on Chinese civilians, the United States disowned the city, and it's location was lost. Seemingly forgotten about, and in complete isolation, the people of Columbia have erupted into civil war.

While the original Bioshock had the player come in after the fall of Rapture, this time, the player is fighting in the middle of the war, with both sides openly fighting. Along side that, the city is still populated with normal citizens, unlike the straggling Splicers of Rapture. Also a significant change is the fact that you're no longer alone this time through...

Introducing, Elizabeth. She is a woman trapped in the city, that you are trying to save, but there is something not quite right about her. She possesses impossible power, most prominent is her ability to teleport objects and herself through "tears." She also appears to have some form of healing power, but there is a catch, she can't always control her powers. This often presents problems, ranging from being stuck in an alternate world, to having trouble making items appear at will. While she is a separate character, gameplay wise, she is more an extension of the players powers. She is capable of making everything from cover, to ammo, to special weapons appear at the players command, doing this too much however can harm her. It appears however, that she wont always be in the players company. That's not a problem though because you have enough powers and weapons to hold out on your own, which brings the next topic: combat.

First off, player weapon count seems to be restricted to two weapons at a time, having to pick up guns off of fallen enemies on the fly. Shown in a 15 minute demo, certain encounters seem to be entirely avoidable. Approaching a public execution, a prompt pops up to stop the atrocity, doing so saves the mail man, but a huge conflict ensues ending with a Zeplin bossfight. Also apparent, vigors (the replacement for plasmids), seem to have taken on more of a support role along side standard firearms, than being used on their own. One vigor shown suspends enemies and objects in the air for easier targeting. Also, the EVE system of the original Bioshock is gone, with vigors simply having a limited number of uses before the player needs to find more of the same vigor. Also, Gene Banks from Bioshock are no longer present, passive tonics are now permanent once applied.

Making a comeback from Bioshock, is the level design. It would seem once again, individual levels are open world sections of the city. This time around though, they are much bigger. With the implication of the skyline (Columbia's rail transport system) the player can cover great distances, both horizontally and vertically quickly and with ease. These railways will be invaluable when confronting "him."

With the central plot revolving around getting Elizabeth out of Columbia, inevitably there are going to be forces trying to falter your progress. The Songbird, sometimes referred to simply as "him," and the Handymen are out to stop you and retrieve Elizabeth from your possession. The Handymen seems to be Infinite's version of the iconic Big Daddy from the previous game, most likely appearing as intermediate mini boss fights to keep the action unpredictable.

Thank you for reading, I hope to post more previews and reviews very soon.

Far Cry 3

2011-08-08T23:26:00.000-05:00

This year at E3, many games were announced that I am very excited for. One that caught my eye more than most was Far Cry 3. After seeing the demo at Ubisoft's conference, I was amazed by some aspects, but also a little worried about others.

Right off the bat what caught my attention was the apparent addition of an inventory system. Being able to search bodies for weapons, ammo, money, and other items is a significant difference from FC3's predecessor. Items that caught my attention were an SD card, and some kind of statue. The SD card, most likely connected to the camera used at the start of the demo, may indicate the camera can be used at any time, with SD cards being the "ammo." This could mean a Bioshock like leveling system; taking pictures of enemies, vehicles, and weapons, may reward players with upgrades or benefits for said target. The other item, the statue, seems a bit vague to me. Anything from an in-game economy, to completing treasure sets, to side quests, the window is pretty open on the use of it.

Which brings me to my next topic, which has me worried. I have heard rumors, but strictly from the demo shown, I am not sure as to if this addition to the Far Cry series will be open-world. It is my understanding that Far Cry 2 is the only free roaming Far Cry game yet. While it is likely, due to the success of the second game, it is not for sure, definitely a make or break mechanic for some.

One complaint many players had about Far Cry 2 was the enemy AI's unnatural ability to sometime spot you under impossible conditions. Making sneaking very hard for a game that had such a large focus on surprise/guerrilla tactics. This seems to have been addressed to an extent, while the AI's ability to spot you doesn't seem changed that much, what is changed is the players awareness. It appears that whenever you do something that may attract the attention of guards, a transparent arrow appears pointing in the direction of the guard. the arrow fills with the color red as the guard becomes more aware of your position, and when it is full, the enemy knows your location and is alerted. Shown in the alternate demo, when he begins to snipe the guards from distance, many of these arrows appear, and as he takes more shots, the arrows fill up faster, indicating just taking one or two shots may not be enough for the enemies to get a fix on your position.

Combat wise, the game seems very different too. It's unknown to me as of now how the health system works, but I do know FC2 was often praised for the attention to detail when taking damage, often having to preform context sensitive first aid on your avatar. A cover system of sorts also appears to have been enabled, allowing the player to blind fire and expose less of his body. Weapon customization also seems present in the demo, as the handgun procured off the dead body has a silencer, but a weapon of the same model is used in the helicopter without a silencer equipped. Melee combat has also been improved, allowing the player to preform complex, multi-stage, take downs, allowing the player to sometimes take out more than one enemy at a time.

The final addition I noticed is the apparent inclusion of an XP leveling system, similar to that of the Fallout series. Kills seem to award different amounts of XP from standard kills awarding 10, while more complex take downs, or environment kills awarding 15. Also shown near the end of the alternate demo, the player is awarded a skill point, if it is similar to the Fallout games, these skill points could be used to upgrade the players abilities, or give them special perks or powers.

Thank you for reading, I hope to post more previews and reviews very soon.