Sunday, February 28, 2010

Stuff That I Think: God of War 2


So, I was going to do a post that wasn't video game related, but I just beat God of War 2 (My second time actually, but the last time I played through it was about 3 years ago when the game originally came out) and I wanted to sort out some of my own thoughts about it. Not in terms of the game itself, mind you (which is stupendous), but about the character of Kratos and whether his spree of revenge is actually validated. This post will most definitely contain SPOILERS for the first God of War game, and probably will for the second game as well.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

Kratos works extremely well as the protagonist to God of War because he's a pretty simple dude. Essentially, he's a little bit psychotic and basically angry all the time, which makes him an extremely fun character to play as. This is because of how totally unhinged and brutal the violence of the God of War games are; if you're ever in a pissed-off mood, this is the game for you:


Yipes.

Kratos's design itself perfectly encapsulates his character and personality; the general lack of clothes reflects a raw, animalistic brutality; his albino white skin and weapon of choice (well, not really "choice" per se) serve story purposes; And the tattoos? Well, they make him look more badass, and they're red, a colour often symbolizing violence, fury, and aggression. For more on this, check out Yahtzee's excellent article about character design:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/7071-Extra-Punctuation-Darksiders

Of course, a protagonist such as Kratos needs a motive that still makes the player want him to prevail; otherwise, he's just a super-violent villain. Kratos was a great general for the Spartan army who conquers like no other. That is, until he fights a barbarian that is able to overpower him. Instead of accepting his fate, Kratos sells his soul to Ares, the God of War, who chains a bunch of blades to Kratos and makes him his servant. This goes pretty well until Ares decides to be a dick and fools Kratos into killing his family. Whoops. Then, adding insult to injury, he covers Kratos's skin in his dead family's ashes. What an asshole!

Most people would probably say that Kratos's quest for revenge against Ares is valid, but I'm not so sure. We don't know what Kratos's life was like before becoming the servant of Ares, but it's safe to say that there was much killing and conquering. We don't even know how his life with his family was; how strong of a bond could he have with his family when he's constantly going around and brutally murdering people? For that matter, while Kratos never really smiles, he is so vicious towards his enemies even before losing his family that you can tell he clearly enjoys his job. It certainly doesn't help that all of these problems are probably increased after he becomes a servant of Ares. While serving the God of War himself, Kratos probably had even less time to go back home to his family, and those blades grafted to his forearms must have made intimacy with his wife and/or child quite difficult. Granted, this is all conjecture, and I guess it's possible that Kratos did have a good relationship with his wife and daughter, but I think that's rather unlikely.

In the second game, I would argue that Kratos's new target, Zeus, is more deserving of the wrath of Kratos. Newly-crowned the God of War, Kratos is tricked by Zeus into having all of his power sucked away and is then promptly killed. Luckily for him, the Titans, imprisoned since the Great War between them and and the gods, see that they have a use for Kratos and help him come back to life, go back in time, and hopefully kill Zeus.

One thing that I never understood about the second game is why exactly Zeus decides to do this to Kratos. We find out later in the game that it's to stop the cycle of sons killing their fathers (Kratos is Zeus's son! Gasp!), but Zeus's reasoning, at least in the beginning of the game, makes no sense. Why is Kratos penalized for conquering civilizations with aplomb? Isn't that his job? What else does a God of War do if not assist with wars? It made sense to stop Ares because he was taking over Athena, but as far as I know Kratos wasn't stepping on any other god's toes. I could be wrong though. If so, comment!

That being said, Kratos is actually MORE brutal in the second game, killing several mythological figures (Prometheus, Icarus, Perseus, and the list goes on) and innocents to further his own tasks. I think it's at this point that he becomes a little bit less sympathetic and a little bit more unsettling. Kratos leaves a disgusting trail of death and destruction behind him; he's rather selfish but also unable to accept any responsibility for his own actions. In fact, he blames the gods for almost every sour fate that he comes across, even though his killings are very much his own decisions and actions. Kratos was obviously brutal in the first game, but the second game brings him to new levels of psychosis. Seriously, look at this shit (MASSIVE GAMEPLAY AND PLOT SPOILERS): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5YBl0QJERQ

In conclusion, Kratos is one crazy motherfucker.

-Daniel







Monday, February 22, 2010

Stuff That I Played: Mass Effect 2 (Part 2)

Note: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THROUGH THE GAME OR CARE ABOUT IT BEING SPOILED FOR YOU. Seriously. Don't read this. If you want a non-spoiler look at the game, go read the first Mass Effect 2 post, and come back here when you inevitably go buy the game on my recommendation and feverishly play through it.

Here's a picture so that you don't see the first couple sentences:







Now we get into the fun stuff. This isn't really a review, just some random thoughts on the game.

-Holy crap, that opening scene is amazing. It really makes you prepared to shoulder the responsibility of the suicide mission. Dying and being put back together? Crazy shit. It's also a really good reasoning for how Shepard is able to change his appearance and class from the first game (if you choose for him to do so). Makes me wonder what they'll do with the next game though; how could they live up to such an epic opening scene? And how will they validate the change in looks? It's not like they can make him die and come back to life again.

-Shame on Bioware's marketing department for ruining one of the best parts of the game in the commercials for it: Mordin singing a Salarian version of Gilbert & Sullivan's Major-General's Song. It is definitely the funniest scene in the game and a great reward for getting to know the character. Too bad the surprise of it was taken away. Sigh.

-Romances work a little bit strangely in this game. In the first one it was easy; you choose between two people. But in this one there's three love interests, which complicates things. I spent the whole game trying to bang Miranda, so I rejected both Jack and Tali. And then I didn't get to screw Miranda. I don't know why it happened; I think it might be because in the Jack and Miranda argument I sided with Jack. But then I smoothed everything over with Miranda using my mad Charm skillz, so I don't know what happened. It wasn't my fault Miranda was being a twat! So what do we learn from Mass Effect 2? If you want to have a relationship with someone, always agree with them, even if you're morally opposed to their actions.

-Relating to that, why go I get evil points for rejecting somebody I have no interest in? Especially when those people are either A) psychotic or B) an alien who has to wear a suit at all times or risk dying. Video games still have a long way to go to portray a realistic romance.

-Speaking of portraying realistic things, while I really like the morality system and the way dialogue works (and the interruption system which is added in just enough so that it's not annoying but keeps you on your toes during scenes), I found it too....easy in a way. By that I mean that as long as you're cool with gaining a lot of points for either Paragon or Renegade, the Charm or Intimidate options are always the "right" option; they almost always end up with the best overall result. This is especially problematic when you're importing a character because you start off with extra points, so from the get-go you can already solve most problems pretty easily when presented with them. I still love the system, but a bit more depth would be nice.

-Just to support what I said about characters in yesterday's post, I found myself liking and being interested in Tali a lot more in this game than in the first one, even though her personality is largely the same. Again, it comes down to making the character useful to the player.

-Seeing Wrex again was awesome. Totally worth the re-load I had to do for the first game to save him.

-My personal favourite character (not counting Garrus who is even more badass in this game than he is in the first) was Mordin. I love how his way of speaking matches his personality; very analytical and direct-to-the-point, never bothering to use pronouns. I also liked the moral dilemma which comes with him having created the second Krogan genophage, and the way that throughout the game he becomes kinder and even seems to regret his actions a bit more. He seems to grow the most as a character throughout the game.

-That being said, shout outs to Grunt, Thane, and especially Legion. Legion is not a great character, and he's the last crewmate you meet so you don't have as much time to get to know him, but what he does is really expand the Mass Effect world and the inner workings of the Geth. Through him, you find out that the Geth that you fought in the first game was only a small fraction of the Geth that actually exist; probably around 5 percent. This means a few things: 1) that there's a serious SHITLOAD of Geth out there, 2) that as a society, they're probably not as evil as originally assumed, 3) that with so many Geth existing, the Reapers must be a pretty serious threat for them to want to ally with you, and most interestingly, 4) that the Geth are actually capable of individual thought and will. Really neat stuff.

-If you played through the game and got the "Shepard dies" ending, then why the hell did you even play through the game at all? You obviously didn't like the game very much because you didn't do any of the loyalty missions or upgraded your ship. For Shepard to die at the end, you need to have all TEN (or 11 with Zaeed) of your squadmates die first. This means that three people died on the Normandy, one character got a rocket to the face, one character got shot in the gut, one character got eaten by the Collector swarm, your two squadmates died after destroying the human Reaper, and the rest of them were killed as the second ground team. If this happened to you, you are a failure.

-Speaking of people dying during the final mission, that mission was wicked. I was curious how they would use all of your crew, and they did not disappoint. Assigning different jobs to your crewmates was fun, and really made the suicide mission seem a lot bigger while actually retaining the same gameplay of the rest of the game. Very well done smoke-and-mirrors act, Bioware.

-I wonder exactly what they'll do with the next game. It is the end of this trilogy, but I don't know how they'll make it anymore epic than this game. How will your team work? Will they make it bigger than the 10 or 11 person team in this game? I can't see that working very well, unless the game is a lot longer and there are way more powers, which in my opinion wouldn't really be a positive. Furthermore, who will return from the past games? By destroying the Normandy and skipping 2 years at the beginning of this game, they give you a reason for having a different crew than the original Mass Effect. Without that luxury (as by the ominous sight of the Reaper fleet at the end of the game, it would make sense for them to pick up Mass Effect 3 where this one left off), where will the crew from this game go? You're telling me that after surviving the suicide mission, they're just going to up and leave? I'll cry blasphemy if Garrus isn't in Mass Effect 3, by the way.

-I'd like to see vehicles back in the next game. Not if they're as terrible as in the first game, but if Bioware can find a way to make it work, it'd be cool. Space dogfights?

-The upgrade system is great but the planet scanning has to go. The problem is making the universe seem really big and encouraging exploration without resorting to searching barren levels (Mass Effect) or having a point-and-click minigame (Mass Effect 2). Another reason why I think vehicles should be back if used properly.

-Totally thought of one other thing! Mass Effect 3 is going to need a shitload of work in terms of writing. Allow me to explain. See, in the last game there were only a few major things that could happen in regards to your crew: Ashley or Kaidan died and Wrex either died or didn't. The solution to this is simple; none of the people who could have died are in your crew in Mass Effect 2. A couple dialog tweaks and you're good. But by having such a large squad, and by having the possibility that some, or all of them could die, Bioware now has a ton of variables to worry about for Mass Effect 3; it's not a cut-and-dry "they all died or they all lived" situation. You've got a squad of 10 or so people; some may have died, others may have lived. Considering this, how will Bioware be able to work the characters in Mass Effect 2 into the inevitable third game? Are they just going to ignore the entire team completely? That would be a real waste of great characters. The script for the first Mass Effect game was reportedly about 4-5 novels long. Mass Effect 2 is longer, so it's pretty fair to say it's bumped up to about 6-7 novels worth. With all these character variables, plus the fact that it's got to tie up small events and decisions made in the first game as well, they're going to need a VERY long game and a VERY long script. Needless to say, I can't wait for the first Mass Effect 3 announcement (and make no mistake, it is happening; the loading screens even tell you so).

Well, that's all for today, folks. The next post will either be a music feature I was cooking up or a look at the Marvel Ultimate Universe which I am currently in the process of reading through.

Feel free to comment!
-Daniel

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Stuff That I Played: Mass Effect 2 (Part 1)

Note: I realize that the plot is a really big deal for Mass Effect so because I'm such a nice guy (and because this post ended up a lot longer than I thought it would) today's post is going to be spoiler-free, and there will be a second post (probably tomorrow) that will contain some other thoughts and things that will probably include spoilers. In short, if you haven't played through the game, don't read Part 2.

Review is of the 360 version.

Ah, Bioware, the masters of morality-based games. Since Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic, Bioware has really pushed the idea of choice into their specific brand of Role-Playing Game, allowing a character to become a true vessel of the player's personality. This is an interesting approach to games and one that has caused a sort of video game Renaissance. For better or for worse, even the simplest action games now typically offer some sort of moral choice (usually affecting the ending of the game). The problem with Bioware games, however, is that they've always struggled with giving the player a great plot and characters, while also keeping strong gameplay intact. In contrast, most Bioware games, such as the aforementioned Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon's Age: Origins, are boring as hell when it comes to the action sequences, basing battles on invisible "dice rolls" of sorts and being almost non-interactive. Luckily for us, Mass Effect 2 changes this. A Bioware game with a wicked story AND great gameplay? Seems impossible, I know, but read on and find out why Mass Effect 2 is the quintessential Bioware game.

Let me just put this out there: I didn't LOVE the first Mass Effect game. I liked it well enough, thought it had some good ideas, and respected the shift to shooter-based action, but that game had a lot of problems. Side missions were frequently boring shoot-'em-up fetch quests; the inventory system was piss-poor, making organization a struggle and lacking a clean interface; Squad controls were half-baked and seemed like an afterthought; and the Mako vehicle sections were a cool idea for breaking up the gameplay, but the vehicle itself controlled pretty poorly and suffered from some pretty lackluster level design. Most importantly, the battle system meant well but was unable to truly make you feel in control of your skills. You didn't feel like a badass warrior who could pop out of cover, disrupt everyone's shields, fling a dude in the air with your powers and then pop a shotgun shell into his face. Most battles, especially when you were surrounded, just turned into giant cluster-fucks of bullets and particle effects.

Mass Effect 2 changes everything by totally streamlining the experience. I can imagine some people may feel a tad distressed about this, but I assure you, every change is for the better. The fact of the matter is that the original game's inventory micromanagement simply wasn't all that deep - it sure looked like it, but most weapons were pretty similar to each other, and there were less high-level upgrades once you got near the end anyways. It was the illusion of choice. That's all been taken away for the sequel; instead, weapon types are much more expansive. You've still got Assault Rifles, Pistols, Snipers and Shotguns, but now you've also Combat Shotguns, Assault Shotguns, Submachine Guns, Machine Pistols and Heavy Weapons (of which there are several), just to name a few. All of these can be upgraded by finding items as you explore, and depending on your class will be able to use several different ammo types. Not to mention your tech and/or biotic powers.

What this does is allow for a much better, more strategic system when it comes to the actual action. The battles have been given an upgrade and now play a lot more like they should have played in the first one i.e. like an actual third-person shooter (think Gears of War). Furthermore, your powers play into it a lot better. In the first game, I didn't even know what tech powers were for. In Mass Effect 2, it's pretty simple; tech powers are a bit more defensive, destroying shields, armor, and robotic enemies, while biotic powers can only be used once the enemy has had their defenses destroyed. This means that your powers matter a lot more than in the first game, and you really do need a balanced squad to prevail.

Another change that some people may be skeptical about is that you and your teammates have fewer powers than in the first game. I'm not quite sure how it is for every class; I was a Vanguard, so I had two ammo types, three biotic abilities and a general stat upgrade. All of your teammates have two powers (plus a third unlockable one) and a stat upgrade, all of which can be leveled up to Rank 4, where you then get to pick between one of two variations of the ability (usually the choice is between a really powerful version or a version that affects multiple enemies). That's it. Again though, this works marvelously; it makes your squadmates more individually unique in battle, and makes managing them a much easier task. Also, you get attached to the characters because they are all useful to you; each character has a different but equally useful skill set, and it makes deciding which two characters to bring with you on missions fun and involving. This is quite an accomplishment; I didn't care for half my team in the first game, but this game's team is almost twice as large and I cared about every single character. The squad controls are much more refined now as well; using the d-pad, you can command your squad to take cover, use specific skills and focus their attacks on one enemy, giving the action a much tighter, faster pace. It also helps that the side missions are much more exciting and fun than in the first game, with many of them being character-specific "loyalty" missions that flesh out the characters, as well as unlock new abilities, dialogue options and costumes.

I'm not going to talk about plot specifics here, but the tale in Mass Effect 2 is a pretty standard "space marine must stop evil from destroying the galaxy"-type deal. Quite frankly, the plot's not that great; it's the little details and the characters that really make the game interesting. I should note here, however, that you really should play through the first game before you play this one, as while the general plot is pretty simple, the details, specifically pertaining to the Mass Effect world and alien races, will be hard to follow for newcomers to the series. Furthermore, certain plot points and character interactions will mean a lot more if you've already played through the first game. Anyways, as Commander Shepard, you need to seek out a crew of specialists to assist you, and it is this crew that is the real fun of the game. I don't want to ruin anything - part of the fun is seeing what crew member the game will throw at you next - but every single crewmate you meet is interesting and deep in their own way (except for maybe one, Zaeed, but he's a downloaded character so it's excusable). The writing and voice acting, as per Bioware's usual standard, are excellent.

I realize I haven't talked about the technical aspects of the game too much. The graphics are just a little bit better than the first game, but very similar. Most importantly, the horrendous texture pop-in from the first game is mostly gone; you'll still see some pop-in but it's much improved and really just effects little details like planet textures and whatnot. The sound is basically the same as the first game. The music is suitably epic and the weapon sound effects are appropriate. Not much else to say in that respect.

In terms of problems, there really aren't that many. There's an armor upgrade system in place for you to customize parts of your armor for stat upgrades (as well as colours and designs for you to tailor to your liking). The system is actually really cool, but could use a bit of expanding in the next game. The scanning minigame, which has essentially replaced the barren wasteland exploring side missions, is pretty boring, requiring you to basically point-and-click certain points of a planet to gain minerals. You don't have to do it, but you need the minerals for upgrades, so it's kind of a necessary evil. Something a bit less obnoxious would be nice for the next game.

I think using numbers to denote the quality of a game is stupid so:

Play this game if:
-You liked the first Mass Effect (in fact, even if you didn't like the first one I'd recommend you give this game a try)
-You like really epic RPGs
-You're interested in a unique combination of shooter and RPG
-You like games where you're faced with moral choices
-You have 30 hours or so to kill

Don't play this game if:
-You hate third-person shooters in general
-You don't like a lot of talking in your games
-Your favourite part of the first game was the equipment micromanagement (so are you the most boring person in the world or what? I'll never understand you people)
-You have work to do. Seriously. Bad idea.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 (but only if you've already beaten the game or don't really care about having it ruined for you)!

-Daniel

Holy ass-balls this turned out to be long.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Ahoy-hoy.



Hi kids! I'm Daniel, I'll be running this blog. Now, I'm sure you have many questions, including (but not limited to):

-What is this blog about?
-Aren't there enough blogs out there?
-Why are you doing this to us?
-What makes you think you're so damn special?

This blog is going to be exactly what the title is - stuff that I like. You're gonna get a bit of everything here; some music stuff, some video game stuff, some comics stuff, and maybe some movies and TV eventually

I have several reasons for starting this blog, but the main reason needs a bit of background. I'm currently in the process of getting my Music major in school; as I'm sure you've heard, living off of Music is basically a fool's errand. Essentially there are two ways to do so: 1. You're in a band that hits it big or 2. You do various music-related things and get enough money to live decently.

Realizing that it's very difficult to both be in a quality band AND have it become mainstream, I've been trying to go with the latter. I consider myself a fairly decent writer and have always been somewhat interested in Journalism, specifically of the music, comics, and video game variety. While I don't intend for any sort of writing to be my main job, there are worse things you can do for a bit of pocket change. The beauty of Journalism is that so long as you have something to show for your work, you don't really need a degree to freelance. So, essentially what I'm doing here is beefing up my "portfolio". I've also flirted with the idea of starting a blog because I like writing and haven't been able to write for my personal enjoyment for quite a while. It's also a better outlet for my opinions than talking to myself in the shower....uuhhh.....yeah.

Anyways, I was going to write a really long post about Mass Effect 2 (just beat it last night), but this turned out being longer than I expected. Perhaps I'll do it later today; otherwise, tomorrow, I promise.

Peace y'all
-Daniel