Category: Adventure

Wrapping Up Desmond’s Tale in Assassin’s Creed 3

desmond assassins creed 3

Oh Desmond Miles, the modern-day wrapper for our sweet historical filling, will you ever get a game of your own? While early signs in Assassin’s Creed 3 hype pointed to this, a recent interview with Assassin’s Creed 3 lead designer Steve Masters on OXM hinted that Desmond’s story might be wrapping up in the next game.

After being saddled with Desmond the last four games, Ubisoft is looking to bring a bit of finality to his story, and in the words of Masters, “To actually wrap up what you’ve opened and experienced with him”. Traditionally the Desmond segments of the Assassin’s Creed games have always been poorly received, right up from the moment in the first game when we realized that we weren’t technically going to be playing an assassin in the Middle Ages, but were experiencing the genetic memories of some poor kidnapped sod. It’s actually kind of interesting to see the lead designer of AC3 admit that the series did rotate around Desmond for a bit too long, as this part of the interview shows:

“And we wanted you to feel a good sense of progress in what’s going on in the story. A lot of the misdirection and the way we’ve been meandering a little bit has been kind of frustrating as a player and for the audience, so we wanted to make sure there was going to be more substance to get your teeth into.”

While I don’t hate Desmond as much as some, the cliffhanger at the end of Revelations did feel like the modern-day storyline was starting to wear out its welcome. I’m interested to see where the Assassin’s Creed story will go after three, and whether or not we’ll be saddled with another Desmond-type character to keep the sci-fi conceit going.

What do you guys think about this? Will we actually see Desmond’s story wrap up or is this just a developer telling us what we want to hear? Are we saying goodbye to Desmond for good, or will he be back?

Source – OXM

GamerSushi Asks: What Are You Playing?

pokemon white version 2

Man, there has been a binder full of games coming out the past week, and it just isn’t going to stop until December. I’m still finding things to do in Borderlands 2 (like the recently release DLC) and I’m neck-deep in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. I’ve also been playing Pokemon White: Version 2 and Sonic Adventure 2, and Sleeping Dogs sits on my shelf, waiting to be unwrapped.

Truth be told, I don’t know if I’m going to have time for anything other than XCOM. It’s just so good, and really, really difficult. You’re constantly spinning plates when it comes to managing the metagame, and I’ve got at least four countries sitting on Level 4 Panic while I hurry up and wait for my satellites to build. If I play that game through again, I’m going to start building power generators and satellite facilities from the get-go just so I can have a stable of the damn things ready to launch if things start to go off the rails.

I’ve also been quite tempted to pick up Dishonored, but I’ve heard mixed things about it despite the overwhelmingly positive reviews. While the game is being praised for a lot of things, I hear that it really can be quite short, and the stealth mechanics are a little fuzzy when it comes to determining whether or a not a guard can actually see you. After Mark of the Ninja (apples and oranges I know) managed to pull off communicating this so well, and games like Chronicles of Riddick have done it too, I feel like Dishonored could have been more tuned up in this area. That said, I haven’t actually played it, so feel free to tell me if I’m talking out of my butt.

So what have y’all been playing? Oh, Mark of the Ninja is out on Steam, so go pick that up quick-like.

FTL is a Spaceship Management Roguelike. Buy It

Sometimes a little indie game manages to grab your attention and hold it much better than a big old triple-A title. Take FTL (Faster Than Light) for example. It’s a spaceship management roguelike game with hints of Firefly where you take your craft through encounters and become bigger and better. I’ve been waiting for this kind of spaceship-tweaking which I haven’t had since the old X-Wing games back in the day (ELS, what’s up?).

If you’re curious about what exactly you do in FTL, here’s a gameplay video by NerdÂł, who I find much more digestible than Total Biscuit. It’s pretty lengthy, but it should give you an idea about what to expect from FTL.

I’m going to be sinking some time into this over the weekend so I hope to have some thoughts on this by next week. By all accounts this game is a fantastic experience, so I’m anticipating my time with it. Is anyone else going to try FTL?

Source- FTL Game

GamerSushi Asks: The End of AAA?

Assassin's Creed 3

In my eyes, Assassin’s Creed is one of the more notable examples of why publishers shouldn’t be afraid to take great risks on a new franchise. It was an IP that nobody had ever experienced, and now it’s one of the powerhouse releases each year, right alongside Call of Duty and Halo. Anybody that has concerns about whether or not new franchises can enter the scene with the other AAA giants need look no further than Altair, Ezio and their ilk.

But is AAA going to be as big of a factor in the next generation as it has been for the current one? Assassin’s Creed 3 Creative Director Alex Hutchinson doesn’t think so. Because of free to play, the rising costs of AAA development and more, Alex joins the ranks of other people that feel that at some point, there will be a change. Only Alex thinks this is coming rather soon. A quote, from the latest issue of Edge.

We’re the last of the dinosaurs. We’re still the monster triple-A game with very large teams [and] multiple studios helping out on different bits. There are fewer and fewer of these games being made, especially as the middle has fallen out.

So, Alex thinks that AAA games are going the way of the buffalo so quickly that Assassin’s Creed 3 will be one of the last? While I agree that at some point the industry is going to have to change to get in line with the expectations of the consumer, I think this is reaching just a bit. If anything, AAA games are bigger now than ever, and only seem to be ramping up at the moment.

I think sometime in the next gen, we’ll see that fizzle out some, but definitely not on the timetable that Hutchison predicts. What do you guys think? Are we looking down the barrel at the end of AAA games? Do you think the industry will change at all? When? Go!

Source – CVG

The Varied Reviews of Papo & Yo

papo & yo reviews

One game I’ve had my eye on for a while is Papo & Yo, Minority Media’s tale about a young boy and his adventure with a gigantic, poisonous frog-addicted monster. The premise behind the game is that it’s an analogy for Vander Caballero’s (the lead designer) experience growing up with an alchoholic father, something that appeals to me greatly.

Given the praise heaped on the game before release, I was a little surprised that the the reviews for Papo & Yo are coming in all over the map. While the game’s story is being praised, the mechanics are being lambasted as “simple” and there are a lot of reviews complaining about the poor technical state of the game, with glitches and crashes abound. Here’s a round up of some of those reviews:

I think that sort of gives you a glimpse at just how varied people are in their thoughts about Papo & Yo. Even if the scores are all over the map, I’m still going to give this game a try. You might even go as far to say that the lower scores are prompting me more than the high ones.

What about you guys? Surprised about Papo & Yo’s reception? Did you think it would get a higher aggregate score because of the pre-release praise? Will you play it?

Review: Journey

Journey Review

Thatgamecompany has a history of making games that bend the rules of what we traditionally associate with games, and their last PlayStation exclusive, Journey is no exception.

For the uninitiated, Journey is a two-ish hour adventure that features a unique twist on co-op: you can see you partner, and he can see you, but you can’t talk to each other, or even send PSN messages. All you can do is do little chirps at one another. Sounds strange right? It might sound even stranger that this foundation makes for one of the most emotionally resonant experiences in modern gaming. Let’s get to it. Continue reading Review: Journey

The Momentum of New Games

Tribes Ascend

For the last week, I’ve had the pleasure of a very rare thing in my life — lots of time to play video games. With the house to myself for several days, I’ve been able to play some CS:GO, Tribes: Ascend, Walking Dead Episodes 1 and 2, Dear Esther, Stacking and Diablo 3. These games represent just a small dent in the overall backlog, but it’s nice to have completed a few of them.

I’ve run into an interesting problem, though. I’m not quite playing the games I’m most excited about. For some reason, I’ve been choosing to stay away from them. At first, I thought it was maybe because I was not wanting to rush through those experienced, and instead savor them as much as possible. But then I realized that the bigger the game was, the harder it was for me to want to start it.

Now that I look back on it, I often dawdle instead of starting a big new game, even though I really want to play it. I think this is because big games require a lot of momentum to get through. Just like trying to push a heavy object, it takes a lot of force to get rolling, but once it does, it’s hard to stop. When I’m sucked into a huge game, it works just the same way. I need a few hours with it just to see what it’s like, and then after that, I’m completely sucked in. At that point, trying to get me to stop and do other responsible things is like trying to stop a boulder that’s rolling downhill.

Do you guys experience this kind of gaming momentum? If so, how do you deal with it? Do you find that it takes you a while to get started on new games, or do you just dive right in? Curious to hear how your guys approach it. Go!

Ron Gilbert Says Fans Don’t Always Know Best

Ron Gilbert

In an age where anybody with a keyboard feels that they have a megaphone full of gold the world is just dying to hear, the fan seems to play a different role than before. With social media, forum feedback, community manager and whatever else is available, people just want to be heard more than ever. And what’s more, they feel like their opinions should carry just as much weight as any creative director’s.

Well, Ron Gilbert, one of the creators of the PC adventure genre and one of the geniuses at Double Fine behind the upcoming The Cave, has some words for that person. In a recent interview with Gameological in which he discussed humor in games, writing and the industry, Gilbert talks about meeting fan expectations, with great insight.

The answer that anybody creating anything will give is that you should have no responsibility to them. You have to do what you want to do, and you have to do what you think is the right thing to do and what you think is the best thing to do…

Creative things, no matter what they are—books, video games, whatever—if they’re really good, they have lots of pointy little edges, and that’s what makes them interesting. It’s all these pointy little spikes and all these little things you can cut yourself and prick yourself on, that’s what makes creative work interesting. If you get into self-censorship mode, you start to pound all those pointy edges away because you’re very afraid of offending somebody or worried what somebody will think of it. And then what you’re left with is kind of blah, just not interesting. I think you just need to do what you think is the right thing to do, and hopefully people like it.

Personally, I’m really glad that Gilbert said these things. As I said before, we live in a time where everyone wants to blast their voice at everything, all the time, and I’m not sure we’re all better off for it in creative instances. From my very limited experience with this, the best thing you can do is make what you want to make, and if people like it, they’ll come along and follow you for the ride. Obviously, games are a business, so many people are afraid to trust that notion. But I think we see better creative work as a result.

What about you? What do you think? Is Gilbert off his rocker? Should fans have more say about what goes on in video games or creative endeavors in general? Go!

Source – Gameological

Two Ways to Play Dishonored

One of the most anticipated games of the fall just happens to be one we had no idea about until just a few months ago. Bethesda and Arkane Studios’ newest property, Dishonored, promises to bring stealth and action gameplay in the vein of Deus Ex while adding an atmosphere and magic system more akin to Bioshock. The mash-up of all these things is something that is certainly exciting, and something that I’m looking forward to like crazy.

Lucky for us, then, that Bethesda has just released a couple of videos detailing how a player can tackle the same section of the game through various means. The stealth video features choke-outs, body possession, teleporting to sneak around your targets and all kinds of other goodies. Meanwhile, the action video features time-stopping, brutal knife kills and whirlwind-attacking targets straight through windows. So yeah, they’re kind of cool. Check them out.

Stealth:

Action video is after the jump! Continue reading Two Ways to Play Dishonored

Final Fantasy: 25 Years of RPG Greatness

Black Mage

A couple of days ago, one of gaming’s greatest franchises hit a very special milestone — Final Fantasy turned 25 years old. It’s hard to believe that a quarter of a century ago, series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi released what he believed to be his swan song, the game that would end his career as a game developer. Much to the delight of millions of RPG fans, that turned out not to be the case.

Even though the series sometimes gets a bad rap because of its current direction and its sometimes head-scratching missteps, it’s hard to argue that Final Fantasy as a whole hasn’t changed gaming for the better. Because of this series, developers dared to bring sweeping, epic stories of magic and empires, rogues and princesses to gamers everywhere. I know that in my own life, Final Fantasy is responsible for some of the more profound moments of my adolescence, from seeing the crumbling urban setting of Midgar to the rolling plains of Ivalice.

Say what you will about where RPGs stand today, its longstanding themes of camerederie, friendship and redemption were uplifting then and still are today, in a way that most modern games fail to tap into. Those kinds of experiences rank among what I miss the most about the games I played a decade ago, and I’m still waiting for the Final Fantasy experience in today’s generation.

So here’s a salute to Final Fantasy — happy birthday, you old devil. Feel free to share some of your favorite memories and moments in the series. Go!

Update: In addition, OC Remix has released a metal tribute to Final Fantasy I, with dozens of tracks dedicated to the first game’s soundtrack. Check it out.

Today’s WTF: Assassin’s Creed 10?

Assassin's Creed 3

Franchise fatigue? Ubisoft’s never heard of that, apparently. With Assassin’s Creed 3 on the way, Gamasutra sat down for an interview with Ubisoft North America executive director Laurent Detoc, in which he insisted that the idea that there can be too many sequels simply isn’t true. So does that mean we’ll see Assassin’s Creed 8, 9 and 10?

“I hope we will,” says Detoc. He goes on:

“I also hope we’ll be able to branch out from within the franchise. It’s very simple to me: There’s no such thing as not being able to annualize a franchise. If it’s good, people will come.”

I get that this guy is talking from a business standpoint. Obviously, a game studio head wants to crank out yearly sequels for a profit – but surely, everyone remembers what happened to some of Activision’s franchises recently, yes? People do get fatigued and move on from franchises. We’ve seen it time and time again.

It seems like some of these studios should worry more about how to offer something new and less about how to crank out the same thing every year. The reason some are excited about Assassin’s Creed 3 isn’t because they’re dying to see what happens to Desmond — it’s because the game finally represents a shot in the arm for the franchise, after several years of re-hashing some of the same ground.

What do you guys think? Is this WTF worthy? Or am I just overreacting? Call me crazy. Do it. Go!

Source – Gamasutra

Star Wars 1313 Hits E3 with Gameplay Footage

So dang, guys. Even if the big dogs have shown up to E3 without a single announcement for next gen plans (phew), that hasn’t stopped developers from hitting us with games that could be running on next generation hardware. See yesterday’s Watch Dogs, if you’re uncertain. Or just take a gander at Star Wars 1313.

In the clip, we get a sneak peek at some in-engine cinematics, featuring a couple of bounty hunters in what’s being billed as a grittier, more mature Star Wars universe. Sure, those are some awful big buzzwords, but combine them with Star Wars and you’ve got a pretty nice hook. In addition, we also see shots of gameplay. The best way to describe this game so far looks to be Uncharted in spcae, and I mean that in a good way. And yeah, it’s kind of gorgeous, to boot.

What are your thoughts on Star Wars 1313? Do you think this is running on next gen tech? Go!

Sony’s E3 2012 Conference Highlights

PS3

Just like last year’s E3 press conference, Microsoft had a bit of a lackluster showing with nothing but sequels, media boasting and Kinect showings. Did Sony do a better job in 2012 than 2011 of capitalizing where the competition falter?

The short answer is yes. Continue reading Sony’s E3 2012 Conference Highlights

Justifying the Violence in The Last of Us

the last of us combat

One of the biggest problems that critics had with the Uncharted series is that wisecracking every-man protagonist, Nathan Drake, becomes a mass murderer on a war-crimes scale over the course of a game. Naturally, it’s a video game, so you can expect to be shooting dudes, but this aspect of the Uncharted games always rubbed people the wrong way.

For Naughty Dog’s next title, The Last of Us, they’re seeking to address this concern by making the combat tense and building up a good contextual reason for killing other people. In a post-apocalyptic world, the survivors you’ll run across aren’t afraid to use violence to achieve their goals, so you’ll well justified in defending yourself. Combat is also changed to be a grueling affair; instead of jumping from one firefight with dozens of guys to the next, The Last of Us aims to make encounters with just a few other survivors as tough an challenging as fighting through a whole level was in Uncharted.

Even Naughty Dog acknowledged the disconnect between the character-building cutscenes in Uncharted and the action sequences so it will be interesting to see if they can pull this off when The Last of Us finally hits. What do you guys think? Were you bothered by this particular problem in Uncharted? Do you think Naughty Dog will actually address it?

Source – The Penny-Arcade Report

Blizzard Refunds Diablo 3 Purchases for GAME Australia Customers

diablo 3 game Australia refund

In a situation where many publishers would have left their customers twisting in the wind, Blizzard has once again proven why they’re one of the most respected studios in the business.

Bad news struck potential Australian Diablo III players yesterday when GAME announced that they were going into administration and wouldn’t be handling any copies of the long awaited hack-and-slash RPG because of payment issues with their shipping companies. This left a lot of angry people with pre-orders than were good for nothing.

For a while it seemed that nothing would be done about the pre-orders that were now lost, but Blizzard stepped in and announced that they would be honoring all Diablo III pre-orders from GAME dated before May 15. Yes, eager to help their fans stare at a menu screen along with everyone else, Blizzard posted on their forums that if people affected by GAME’s closure bought Diablo III off Battle.Net before May 21 and sent Blizzard their pre-order receipt before June 20 they will be refunded the whole amount for the game.

Pretty decent of Blizzard to step up and offer a solution instead of just letting all those unsold copies of Diablo III sit around. At the end of the day they’ve got their money and people have their Diablo, so it’s a fair trade, I have to say.

What do you guys think about this turn of events? Pretty impressed with Blizzard? Anyone on here affected by the GAME situation? Go!

Source – Battle.Net

GamerSushi Asks: Diablo 3 Roll Call?

Diablo 3

The long-awaited day is here, Sushi-ans! After 12 long years, the wait for Blizzard’s epic hack-n-slash dungeon crawler is here, and Diablo fans all over the world can slay the minions of hell together. Diablo 3 is upon us, which means that some of us are sitting at work itching to play.

My plans is to get home tonight, purchase Diablo 3 and start all the pre-loading business as soon as possible. And who knows, maybe I’ll have a chance to hop in for some co-op with my brothers before bed. In terms of characters, I fully intend to roll a Monk. After my time with the beta, that class seems to be what I prefer over the others, and gave me the most satisfying skills/gameplay combination.

What about you guys? Who out there plans to pick up Diablo 3? What character are you going to roll? Go!

Double Fine Adventure: Episode One Released for Free

By now, we all know about Double Fine’s landmark Kickstarter campaign, which netted them millions of dollars from gamers seeking a classic adventure game. Even though this has spawned a number of copy cat attempts and some obnoxious reporting from other video game websites (do we seriously count Kickstarters running short of their goal as news, now?), I’ve been on the edge of my seat waiting for an update from Tim Schafer about the progress of the project.

Well, here it is. If you’ll recall, part of the funding for the project was going towards a documentary of the game-making process, as filmed and created by 2 Player Productions. Funding the Kickstarter gives access to these documentary pieces, giving an in-depth look at every stage of development. But if you didn’t fund the project, fear not — Double Fine was gracious enough to release Double Fine: Adventure: Episode One for free.

While we don’t see a whole lot of the game in development at this point, it’s certainly a well made introduction to the entire series, giving a run down on Tim Schafer’s background in the adventure genre, as well as the reactions at the studio upon seeing the success of the Kickstarter campaign.

What do you guys think of Episode One? Who else backed the Double Fine Adventure? Go!

Beyond Good and Evil 2: What Do You Expect from Next Gen?

Beyond Good and Evil 2

For years, fans have been clamoring for a sequel to Michel Ancel’s cult classic, Beyond Good and Evil. Even though the game didn’t enjoy huge commercial success, it’s developed quite a following from those that experienced this sci-fi adventure set in a truly engrossing world. A couple of years back, Ubisoft teased those of us that have been dying for a follow-up with a short CGI trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2, but since then, rumors of the game’s cancellation and subsequent re-start have been in wild circulation.

Where does this game actually stand? Last week, some new details popped up in a video interview with Michel Ancel, which was then translated at NeoGAF. Apparently, Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still in active development — for next generation consoles. Since then, even more news has come to light, first in the form of leaked screenshots, but then in the form of a leaked environment video, showcasing some of the game’s settings. Continue reading Beyond Good and Evil 2: What Do You Expect from Next Gen?

Minecraft for Xbox LIVE Breaks All Sales Records

minecraft xbox 360 sales

Just a few weeks after Trials Evolution shattered the sales records on Xbox LIVE, the Arcade version of indie PC darling Minecraft came and dumped a bucket full of Creepers on RedLynx’s success.

Just under a day after its official release, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition became the highest selling title on Xbox LIVE, with the leaderboards tracking some 400,000 players according to Major Nelson’s blog. While there are no exact sales figures available, a tweet from Notch, the owner of the company behind Minecraft, revealed that this version of the game was profitable in an hour.

It’s not all sunshine and roses though, as the makers of FortressCraft are a little bitter about Minecraft’s success on the platform that their game previously dominated. The website for FortressCraft suffered a pretty serious DDoS (Dedicated Denial of Service) attack on the same day that Minecraft hit Xbox LIVE. The man behind FortressCraft, Adam Sawkins, then went on a Twitter rant, saying some disparaging things about Notch, the Minecraft community and the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Any thoughts on all this craziness? How many copies do you think they sold to be profitable in under an hour? What do you think of the FortressCraft backlash? Go!

Source – Major Nelson, Notch and Eurogamer

Assassin’s Creed III Gets First Gameplay Trailer

I can’t help it. I love a solid, good old-fashioned look at some gameplay. While these kinds of trailers are few and far between for the gaming industry these days, every now and then we’re given a treat of several minutes of footage that actually gives us a glimpse of what a particular title is going to look like.

Enter the world premiere of the Assassin’s Creed III trailer, which does just that. Here, we have small snippets of everything Ubisoft has been declaring about the game for the last month. Shots of epic battles, tree climbing, seasonal effects and combat against numerous firearm wielding opponents all abound in this new video, designed to get our taste buds ready for yet another entry into the Assassin’s Creed franchise. And dare I say, I’m excited about it.

What say the fine folks at GamerSushi? Yay or meh? Go!