Cyber-Monday Super Sale!! 

Save 5%-20% Off Your Order!*

Take 5% off $25.00-$49.99, 10% off $50.00-$74.99, 15% off $75.00-$99.99 and 20% off $100.00 or more!* Monday, November 30th ONLY.

* $25.00/$50.00/$75.00/$100.00 minimum order is before shipping and/or taxes. Order must contain $25.00-$100.00 or more of product. Discount does not apply to trades. Discount will be automatically applied to your order once minimum amount has been reached. No coupon code required.

Sale is one day only – Monday, November 30th, 2009.

Christmas is nearly upon us so we here at the G4A fun house thought that before we get too drunk we would try to help you all out with  lists of 5  games on each format that we consider to be essential purchases.

So lets start with Microsoft’s beige box of wonderment the Xbox 360. If you are lucky enough to be unwrapping one of these Christmas morning these are some of the games you should hunt down in bargain bins or on Ebay as soon as you can afford to, or else RIGHT!!!

1. Bioshock

Ken Levine’s Art Deco underwater FPS masterpiece is a gaming tour de force. Everything in this game is a cut above from the art direction to script it is a ‘how to’ list of gaming goodness. After your plane crashes into the Atlantic sea you happen upon what looks to be a simple lighthouse which in fact is the gateway to Rapture, an  underwater city. Rapture was the ideological dream of Andrew Ryan a place where all the worlds leading luminaries could live together in a kind of intellectual utopia free from war and other such troubles. When you happen across it though it has completely gone to rack and ruin with dead bodies and flooded corridors at every turn. Crazed genetically mutated splicers roam the corridors looking for their next fix of ‘Adam’ the source genetic substance that allows you to alter your abilities. With a fantastically adult story (by this I mean it never once insults your intelligence),wonderful gameplay mechanics and beautiful Art Deco graphics this is a title that every gamer worth their salt should play. You will never forget defeating you first Big Daddy or the decision you make regarding his Little Sister, complete and utter genius. Lets just hope that Bioshock 2 lives up its predecessor but we here at G4A do have our doubts (but fingers crossed eh?).

2. Mass Effect

Bioware’s  Xbox exclusive, epic space soap opera RPG is a game with few peers. It is a Sci-fi epic on the scale of both Star Trek and Star Wars. Placing you in the shoes of Commander Shepherd, the first human to become a Spectre agent and charged with saving the galaxy. It boasts an incredibly well scripted and acted story with adult themes and explosive gameplay this game is up their with the very best to be found. Also as part of trilogy you really need to have played this before the sequel hits early next year.

3. The Orange Box

This compilation of Valve goodies is far too good to be ignored. Containing 5 games this was incredible value when it launched at £39.99, so it is damn near essential now that it can be picked in bargain bins for sub £15. To be truthfully honest it would be worth that much just for Portal on its own. The first person gravity defying puzzle game redefined what a first person game could be. Add on top that Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2 and Team Fortress 2 and this is a proper bumper gaming package. Go get it now, I tells ya.

4. Gears Of War 1 & 2

Ignoring the fact this game series brought supposed games designer “Cliffy Blah Blah Blazinsky” to the fore at Epic you would have to be a fool not to count these games as titles you need to have if you own an Xbox. These games are straight up, good old-fashioned dumb Hollywood blockbuster action with incredible graphics. Forget about the dumb ass sub B-Movie plot and immerse yourself in well designed gored up shooting. With the aforementioned stunning graphics, rock solid gaming mechanics and enjoyable online modes you need to experience both of these exceptional titles. Roll on Gears 3 which I reckon is a shoe in for Xmas 2010 but until then get these in as soon as you can.

5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Hitting the streets just a few short months after the Xbox 360’s launch Bethesda’s massive fantasy role player remains a must buy. With an absolutely huge open world to explore and all manner of side quests to do this is still regarded by many to be the best role player on the Xbox. You can literally go anywhere or do anything it is entirely up to you whether you follow the storyline or just get on with leading another life. Speaking of storyline just before he is assassinated, Emperor Septim passes you the “Amulet Of Kings” and tasks you with finding his son, The illegitimate heir to the throne of Tamiril. What follows is your usual stock fantasy fiction story but with compelling gameplay, beautiful graphics and top voice acting, including Patrick Stewart it is a stunning game. For fans of fantasy fiction and or role players this game is essential. With the game of the year edition (which includes all the downloadable content) costing £15 or less you really have no excuses not to give this a go. Bethesda have remained largely quiet on the follow-up but rest assured as soon as we know anything we will let you peeps know ASAP.

The above list is just a few games that we here at the G4A fun house think that any new owners of an Xbox 360 should try.  If any of you out there want to suggest any other must try games for the Xbox 360 please add them in the comments section below. I’m now off for a beer so piss off and have a Merry Christmas.

Moonhead

Los juegos de Xbox 360 que nunca llegaron al mercado. Comentar los juegos i decir qual es el mejor de todos. 

CRACKDOWN:

CALL OF DUTY:

GUITAR HERO:

MASS EFFECT:

GEARS OF WAR :

QUAKE 4:

FINAL FANTASY:

FINAL FANTASY:

FALLOUT:

F.E.A.R:

DEADRISING:

As many are saying nowadays and as I have said in a recent post, Video Games are becoming more and more cinematic. The scale is epic, with massive new worlds being created as stages for brilliant stories, sweeping tales that truly immerse the player. More and more video games are being made into movies (such as Brad Pitt’s recent purchase of Dark Void) for a mainstream audience who might want to get in on the tales without devoting hours to playing. And manufacturers are beginning to see that, beyond the games themselves, there’s a huge market for merchandise, from soundtracks to figures. And in the latter category, we can help fans out by offering a wide selection of toys from Bioshock to Super Mario, Street fighter to Call of Duty, Super Metroid to Halo and much, much more. Check it out!

But of course, there’s another side to that coin. Though video games are definitely improving in quality and becoming closer and closer to films, there’s still one area in which many are…shall we say…lacking: acting. Now, don’t get me wrong: there are a ton of really talented voice actors out there and they deserve all the work they get, if not more. But this youtube video captures a lot of moments where things just didn’t come together. Enjoy!

MASS: WE PRAY THE VIDEO GAME es un juego que no te debes perder . . . y es que es claro que si juegas Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Saw, God of War, Gears of War, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, entre otros eres un ente violento y sacrilego . . . mejor dedicate a este juego. Lo disfrutaras . . .

ESTE VIDEO ES PARTE DE LA CAMPAÑA DE PUBLICIDAD DE EA Y Visceral Games para DANTE´S INFERNO.

Immersion is one of the greatest goals every game tries to achieve. It is more obvious in what I call character based games. When you play Gears of War, you feel you are in Marcus Fenix’s shoes. When you play MGS4 you feel the drama of the dying hero as if it were your own. In Modern Warfare 2, every drop of blood on the screen makes you worry and get cover.

But it is also true for impersonal games; that is, the ones whose focus is not on characters. It is easier to notice it when I replace the word immersion for involvement. When playing Lumines or Tower Bloxx for example, you feel involved in the game: frustrated after a mistake, excited when a new level is reached, defiant when the score of a friend is beaten. Note impersonal and casual games are not the same thing at all. Chess is impersonal as are, heroes aside, most RTSs: replace one Zealot for another, there’s no difference at all. All sports games are like that too, with the exception of modes like EA’s Be A Pro.

Now, there’s a multitude of factors that contribute to how immersive a game is. I recently mentioned one talking about Demon’s Souls: challenge. A challenged player is an involved player. There’s also the connection between player and game at the fundamental design level: some people like puzzles, some like shooters. I will not get in the merits of each one, but if you like a type of game, you will be more into it. Style also plays a big role: when graphics and sound suit the game and your mood, they also improve immersion. In fact, I would say immersion is the reason behind most graphical updates in the games industry. From polygon count and texture size to shaders, in the search for immersion graphics chips are always evolving to provide better and more artistic or realistic visuals.

From here we get to the other facet of immersion I want to talk about: controls. No matter what game you are playing, connecting to it requires controlling it without trouble. You only get into Tetris when you learn how to move and rotate the pieces the way you want, you only appreciate Geometry Wars after getting used to moving the ship with the analog stick, you only feel like Sam Fisher when pulling all his moves gets easy, you only enjoy Fifa 10 when passing, dribbling and shooting becomes second nature.

Over the years, games became more and more complex. And with game complexity came complex controls. The Atari had 1 button. The NES had 2. The Genesis had 3. In the current generation, both PS3 and 360 have 4 face buttons, 2 shoulder buttons, 2 shoulder triggers and 2 clickable analog sticks. And I am not counting dpads, select and start buttons.

Most gamers are used to it. Hell, controllers could have more buttons and that wouldn’t be a problem, not to me. But with the last generation of consoles, we saw a big move in the opposite direction coming from Nintendo. The Wii has less buttons and makes up for it trying to detect something everybody knows how to do: move and point. When I first heard about it, I was very interested, both as a gamer and as a robotic perception researcher. To me, that meant games would become even more immersive, shooters would feel even more realistic.

It is curious that while it is true the Wii controllers increased immersion, that change did not affect most hardcore games. Nintendo correctly (from a business perspective) focused on using the more approachable controls to bring a new crowd to the video games era. And it worked very well for them.

Nintendo’s approach was so right that others have been following it ever since. After the success of the Wii, many game platforms started exploring new and more natural input methods. Touch screens and accelerometers became very popular.

But we will soon reach a new apex. Something I personally have been waiting for since I started studying computer vision. And Microsoft is the one about to pull it off: no controls. No buttons at all. If you haven’t heard of Project Natal before, go check it out. It is awesome.

The idea of a vision system in games is not new, the PS2 had the EyeToy. But there were many technical limitations: from sensor capability (one still eye won’t give proper perception of depth for example) to processing power, as robust computer vision algorithms require a whole lot of processing. Project Natal solves these problems in a very interesting way: a single camera is used for “texture” detection. And instead of stereo vision, they achieve 3D perception with a depth sensor. As for the processing power, Project Natal’s device features a custom processor, which is certainly there to reduce the load on the 360 hardware.

Like Nintendo did, Project Natal’s first efforts will probably aim the casual market and bring more gamers to the table. But that does not change the fact that immersion in video games will take a big leap. Imagine playing Lumines by grabbing the blocks and rotating them with your hands. Or simply using your empty hands to select your playlist. Wouldn’t it be cool? Heck, in Minority Report Tom Cruise needed cool glowing gloves to do what we are about to get with our bare hands. The future is here, my friends.

Anyway, as the number of buttons get close to the limit, after all we only have 10 fingers, new input methods are here to stay. I don’t have a Wii. But I will need a bigger living room when Project Natal becomes available.

See you space cowboys…

Czas na kolejny felieton. Tym razem o przemocy w grach, a raczej moja refleksja, czy nie powinniśmy czasem spojrzeć na gry z dystansu. Bo, jak by nie patrzeć, w grach przemocy jest naprawdę dużo. Felieton jest tylko niewielkim muśnięciem naprawdę skomplikowanej i niejednoznacznej problematyki związanej właśnie z przemocą w grach.

Felieton ukazał się pierwotnie na łamach serwisu GryOnLine.pl / tvgry.pl

During my family leave, I’ve gotten some time during 2.0’s sporadic sleep schedule to play a ton of games. The majority of those games features a common, popular gameplay element – set collection.  You know what I’m talking about, right?  It’s that optional gameplay element in which you’re invited (usually unsuccessfully) to “collect them all” or “find them all”.  A few examples:  Okami’s stray beads, Gears of War’s COG tags, Fallout 3’s bobbleheads, Ratchet & Clank’s golden bolts, Super Smash Bros.’s trophies, Pokemon’s… pokemon.  There are also other, more subtle forms of set collection that you may not have thought about: multiplayer titles, skill sets, armor sets, crafting recipes, beastiaries, codexes (I’m looking at you, Bioware) – even Xbox/PS3 achievements/trophies can fall into this category.  Since I’m a bit OCD and somewhat of a collection nut, I spot these collection opportunities rather quickly.  I also tend to determine rather quickly that the vast majority of such opportunites are not worth my time investment.  And I’m sure many of you have done the same thing – shelved a game without even giving a second thought to those things you left uncollected in that bygone world.  There’s a reason for that – it’s because most games implement set collection badly.  In this series of articles, I’d like to use personal experience from playing various games to examine how other games could improve the quality of these collection mechanics and give players more incentive to participate in these peripheral activities.

First, let’s define what comprises a “set collection mechanic” to restrict the scope of this article:

• Players must be able to complete the set: this rules out procedurally generated things (eg. Diablo/Torchlight loot) or a continually growing set of user-generated content (eg. Spore creatures or Second Life sets).
• Completion of the set should be a peripheral activity and NOT be required to progress through the game: otherwise, our examination of the player’s motivation to complete a set overlaps with other motivating factors; so this restriction prevents applying our study to things like the various mandatory devices in Zelda games – technically, it’s a set of devices that can be collected in its entirety, but (excepting upgrades to bag sizes, etc.) it MUST be completed to progress through the game; heart pieces, however, qualify as a valid set.
• The set must have some easily accessible, manifested representation in the game: in other words, the set must be an intentional collection placed by the designer; this rules out user-defined meta-sets.  Such sets are contrived by individual players who have clearly already conjured up the necessary motivation to attempt collecting the set.  For instance, in Animal Crossing: Wild World, I attempted to find and purchase all of the instruments in the game to make a music room – nothing in the game actually lists the set of instruments; neither are they denoted by some special icon.  It’s an arbitrary set I made up for which I had already mustered the necessary motivation to collect.

Now that we’ve defined the bounding conditions, I’d like to start this series with an examination of a game I only recently had the opportunity to play: the original Assassin’s Creed (and just in time for part II!).  As much as I enjoyed playing the game, I ran into a rather irksome collection mechanic – the city flags.  Of all the collect-them-all mechanics I’ve experienced in games thus far, the city flags are probably the worst of the bunch (at least as far as I can remember).  It didn’t take long after leaving the confines of Masyaf for me to swear off the entire collection altogether.  Here’s why:

• There don’t appear to be any gameplay or narrative rewards for procuring flags except for meta-rewards (i.e. Achievements and 100% completion with the filled “Additional Memories” DNA bar).  Even if such a tangible reward existed at the end of the tunnel, it’s so elusive that it doesn’t really factor into the typical player’s drive to collect the flags.
• Aside from their location, flags are indistinguishable from one another, making the experience of finding one identical each time.  This was exacerbated by the fact that there are 420 of those indistinguishable things!  So finding one was an altogether insignificant and homogenous (read: boring) experience.
• Flags are not particularly challenging to acquire.  Reaching them is simply a matter of hidden knowledge rather than a test of skill or logic.

I’m going to take a look at each of these three points and examine how other games have remedied the problems with Assassin’s Creed’s flag-collection gameplay.

Collection Rewards

One could argue that completing an in-game collection is reward enough.  That may very well be true.  I think that such collections generally fall into the category in which each individual item in the set is distinct enough to provide sufficient player motivation (see the Collection Distinction section below).  But in any case, it doesn’t hurt to provide some extra incentive to the player to collect a set of things.  These extra incentives can typically be categorized as either a gameplay reward or a narrative reward.

Gameplay rewards consist of additional skills or abilities (or some currency toward the purchase of skills or abilities) that expand and augment the player’s gameplay experience.  The most recent example that comes to mind is Brutal Legend’s bound serpents, which, when found, each provide a small amount of fire tributes that can be used to purchase upgrades at the motor forge.  Furthermore, for every ten bound serpents that are freed, the player character Eddie Riggs gets an upgrade to some element of his stats.

Alternatively, collections can grant narrative rewards in several different forms. Again, Brutal Legend provides a convenient example of such a collection: the “legends” scattered across the landscape.  For each one the player finds, another cutscene detailing the Brutal Legend mythos is revealed.  Coincidentally, I also discovered that Halo 3: ODST contains an identical mechanic in the form of the audio logs that follow a story indirectly related to the main plotline.  Yet another example of a narrative collection reward is BioShock’s audio diaries, narrated by multiple characters related to the main story.  However, ODST and Brutal Legend’s narrative collections differ in that each piece of the collection is not associated with a specific piece of the narrative reward.  In other words, whether you find piece A before or after piece B, you’re always going to get story reward A before story reward B.  This is not true for BioShock’s narrative collection, in which specific audio logs are found in specific locations.  This is an important distinction that we’ll revisit in the next section.

There is, of course, no reason why a particular collection can’t give both narrative and gameplay rewards, as is evident in Brutal Legend’s “legend” collection (which I neglected to mention also gives fire tributes for each legend discovered).  Another game I’ve played recently (after putting it off long enough) is Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, in which every five pieces of treasure nets the player medal points that are used to unlock various metagame rewards (tweakable game modifiers like infinite ammo, faster run, and weapon select) and bonus content such as concept art and development videos.  I’ve lumped extra-game content into the category of “narrative rewards” in that they don’t actually augment the game experience.  In all of these examples, I think it’s safe to say that these various rewards can often be an effective incentive to the player to collect the entire set.

Collection Distinction

There is an important element of set collection that seems to be a no-show in many of its incarnations: distinction.  Each element of a set should be easy distinguishable from each other, via its textual, iconic, or geometric representation and/or some titular or numeric label.  As I’ve already observed, all of the flags in a particular area in Assassin’s Creed are identical except for where they are located.  This makes collecting each and every one the exact same experience.  There’s no sense of novelty in finding another one.

As I mentioned earlier, collecting a set of objects can be reward in itself – but this is generally a strong enough motivation to the player only when a distinction is made between the elements of the set.  The word “collecting” carries the connotation of collecting distinct elements.  How often do stamp collectors attempt to find every copy of only one type of stamp?  Or how often do card collectors try to acquire every copy of one particularly rare card?  While these real-world examples present collection goals that are obviously marred by real-world obstacles and impossibilities that don’t exist in the virtual space, art reflects life.  And in life, the appeal of set collection is in the diversity of the set’s various elements and in how those elements complement each other.  The set is a puzzle whose pieces, as they come together, become a clearer and more magnificent picture (even if that picture’s got a few missing spots).

I’ve always liked Nintendo’s first-party approach to collections.  I’m specifically referring to the trophies of the Super Smash Bros. series.  Each trophy is fan-service at its best – each with a unique, nostalgic 3D model of some Nintendo character, object, or setting and a short description of the subject.  All of the player’s trophies are displayed together in one place, literally becoming that magnificent picture I described.  It’s like looking at that Edge Magazine cover with all of the video game shoutouts.  I also played The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker recently (picked it up on the cheap a long time ago and only got around to playing it a few weeks ago).  In that game is a similar collection that the player can complete by using a camera to take pictures of the game’s enemies and NPC’s and showing them to a particular sculptor, who crafts figurines of the photographs’ subjects that are put on display throughout various trophy rooms.  Each figurine can be viewed in three dimensions and contains a short description of the subject’s place in the game universe.

And then, of course, we come back to Pokemon.  While each captured Pokemon simultaneously serves as a gameplay reward (with the new pokemon’s abilities at the player’s disposal), I would argue that the vast majority of pokemon are caught for the sake of completing a player’s Pokedex.  After all, the catchphrase (at least in America… not sure if it’s translated from Japanese) is “Gotta catch ‘em all!”, right?  And since the distinction between each pokemon is both visual and interactive, the drive to collect each one is that much more powerful.

Which reminds me of Endless Ocean (which I’m not ashamed to admit is one of my favorite games on the Wii).  At some point in the game, the player is allowed to populate a personal aquarium with creatures that he or she had already discovered.  It’s yet another fantastic Nintendo example of an interactive collection.

In fact, it appears that the common factor between these Nintendo games’ collections is the extent to which the player is allowed to appreciate his or her collection.  3D models that can be viewed from all angles, textual info and categorization, and in some cases, interactivity all contribute to the player’s connection to the collection and his or her drive to complete it.  It sure beats a little check mark or a line in a book or even a little icon.  And that is why, when Sony announced Playstation Home, something inside me grew giddy at the thought of 3D trophy displays.  Too bad it didn’t turn out that way…

There’s also one oft overlooked property that distinction imparts to a collectible set – it allows each element in the set to be described individually.  The reason this is so important is this: FAQ’s – of the GameFAQs type.  Not everyone can be expected to find every single element of the set on their own.  For those collectors that don’t wish to invest the required time, they should at least be able to look up the locations of the missing pieces.  This is impossible to do when the individual pieces are indistinguishable from one another.  This is especially problematic in Assassin’s Creed because in order to use a guide, you must use it for every single flag.  Otherwise, unless you have picture-perfect memory or you’re using a video guide (which I imagine would be ridiculously lengthy), you cannot possibly know whether you’ve already found a particular flag or you’re just looking at a slightly incorrect location on a flag map because there’s no way of knowing whether you already found “flag 53″ on the map – you only know that you’ve found 178 total flags, one of which may be the anonymous “flag 53″ in question.  I know this isn’t a purely ludological reason for set element distinction, but it’s a valid one nonetheless.  I’m rather confident that all but the most hardcore purists fall back on external sources (strategy guides, FAQ’s) to complete a collection.  I do it all the time.  So even if the “distinction” in a collectible set is just a numeric label or a dull identifier (like Okami’s stray beads), it’s still an important thing to have for the sake of simplifying the collection process itself.

Collection Gameplay

It’s important to ensure that the gameplay surrounding the collecting of objects is as solid as the elements of the collection itself.  I can group collection gameplay into at least three broad categories: steady-stream, challenge, and exploratory.

• Steady-stream collection: these are the sets of the type where the player gets a relatively steady stream of random elements of the set, and completing the collection becomes all about either trading for the missing elements or just investing enough into the game.  Examples: Smash Bros. trophies, Culdcept Saga’s cards (or any CCG’s cards, for that matter), Treasure World’s treasures, Animal Crossing’s fossils, a good number of Free Realms’ collection components.
• Challenge collection: these are the sets whose elements take actual gameplay skill to acquire.  Examples: Street Fighter IV’s multiplayer titles, Modern Warfare 2’s Spec-Ops mode stars, Braid’s stars (yeah, you might not have known about them; I sure as heck didn’t), Xbox 360 achievements and PS3 trophies.
• Exploratory collection: these are the types of sets whose elements are found by exploring the game space.  Typically, you’ll find these kinds of collections in shooters and action games.  Examples (there are tons of them but I’ll just name a few): Gears of War’s COG tags, Modern Warfare’s intel, ODST and Bioshock’s audio logs/diaries, Fallout 3’s bobbleheads, just about everything in Brutal Legend.

Assassin’s Creed’s flag collection can basically be classified as an exploratory collection.  It is this class of collection that I believe is most often (and most disappointingly) implemented.  The big problem that I’ve experienced with these collections is this: they break immersion by forcing the player to think not as the protagonist or the player character but rather as a designer.

For most of these exploratory collections, the elements are often placed with little to no narrative sense.  They’re usually either strewn about randomly or hidden in obscure corners of the map that oftentimes don’t even seem accessible.  As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, completing such a collection is an excercise in hidden knowledge more than anything else.

When searching for elements of such collections, I almost always find myself thinking things like, This corridor doesn’t lead to anywhere meaningful – there must be something there, or, This ledge is out-of-the-way, but it’s accessible – there must be something there.  The only logic behind these thought processes comes from putting myself in the designers’ shoes rather than doing what makes sense in the context of the game and the narrative.  My wife can even attest to this fact as she watched me play Uncharted, exclaiming, “I smell treashuz!” whenever my designer sense started tingling.  And it netted me 50 out of 60 treasures on my first run-through.  I had similar moments in ODST.  When a path led indoors and to some seemingly irrelevant balcony, I could usually count on finding an audio log.  And there’s no reason to think this Sophie character was actually at any of those audio log locations.

Brutal Legend, however, contains a great example of an exploratory collection with at least some measure of contextual sense – the landmark viewers.  They’re around landmarks!  If I saw something in the world that looked like a landmark, I knew there was a landmark viewer nearby.  I didn’t have to go probing the mind of some sadistic designer.  Another simple way of limiting the breaking of immersion would be to give the player character some in-game way of “sensing” nearby elements of a collection – some blinking UI element or controller rumble feedback to indicate the proximity of the element.  I can’t immediately think of any games that have really done this, although I’m absolutely sure someone must have.  The closest example I can think of is Ocarina of Time’s use of the rumble pak to signal to the player that something was hidden nearby.

Application

So how could Assassin’s Creed have improved its flag collection gameplay?  Personally, I think the most unintrusive way would have been to tie flags to labeled chunks or chapters of historical info (fictional or otherwise) about the city.  Such a change wouldn’t involve adding abilities or tweaking/rebalancing character progression to accommodate gameplay rewards – and the change would fit well with the game’s prominent narrative delivery and historical setting.  Of course, this would probably involve cutting the number of flags down significantly – a most welcome change.  In fact, why not change the flags altogether and instead make them distinctly crafted relics in the vein of Uncharted’s treasures?  They would probably fit into the world a little better that way.   (Really – why are there random flags all over the place, anyway?)  Along those lines, the seeding of these “relics” could be in more logical locations: at the top of notable landmarks or inside obvious places of importance rather than in the shadows of some inconspicuous alley or atop a nondescript rooftop.  Furthermore, the designers can spread clues regarding the locations of those relics throughout lesser “eavesdropping” opportunities in the game.  I found the eavesdropping mechanic to be rather contrived, as the player can only eavesdrop for an investigative mission.  It would have been much more interesting if there were other groups of conversations on which the player could eavesdrop to get clues – much in the same way that pickpocketing is used for both investigations and for acquiring throwing knives.  And, being the valuable relics that they are, some of them can be guarded by hostile templars who must be circumvented or defeated, while others can be locked away in trap-laden rooms requiring a touch of finesse and dexterity to traverse.

And for the record, I have not yet touched the second title in the series.  So now someone who’s finished playing Assassin’s Creed II can tell me whether Ubisoft did, in fact, add a more compelling collection mechanic.

So that covers the shortfalls I noticed in Assassin’s Creed’s flag collection and how one might possibly improve that segment of gameplay. In my next post, I’ll be exploring the importance of community and recognition and how those things have strengthened the player’s drive to collect – especially with the most recent console generation’s emphasis on online play.

Lá venho eu trazendo mais um nome desconhecido pra vocês, né? Pois é, a figurinha da vez é Patrick Brown, um designer gráfico australiano de apenas 24 anos. Tem-se pouquíssima informação sobre ele na internet, o que é uma pena porque esse cara já devia estar com o trabalho dele bombando por aí.

Artista bastante conhecido no Deviant Art (popular comunidade virtual artística), Patrick é simples e direto descrevendo seus interesses em seu perfil no site: “estou aqui para me tornar um artista melhor, apreciar arte e mostrar o meu trabalho ao mundo. Então o Ogro faz a boa ação do dia e ajuda o digníssimo rapaz em sua empreitada, postando auqi na Caverna alguns de seus trabalhos.

Seu traço é inconfundível, moderno e ousado. As cores também são sempre muito bem trabalhadas. Toda a obra de Patrick Brown tem um caráter impactante e dinâmico. E o aspecto mais interessante de tudo é que os temas de suas ilustrações são sempre ícones da cultura pop, sejam de filmes, games ou quadrinhos. Entre os retratados temos Wolverine, o Exterminador, os personagens do game GTA, Coringa, Dexter, entre muitos outros.

A feature article of mine can be found over at Games Abyss. It details my thoughts on the direction video game narratives are headed and how they can become more effective of their immersion of the player.

Old Games: Should Downloadable Content Be Free?

by dkpatriarch

© 2009 David Hilton

I would love to see sales figures for downloadable content for games that were released 1-3 years ago.  Some of this content hasn’t ever changed in price and competes with new release games’ downloadable maps and features.

Old Game Content Should Be Free

In a world where everything, including the retail games themselves, depreciates does this make any sense?

No it doesn’t.

But of course those in charge are certainly not obligated to lower prices or, even better, make the added content for older games free.  But it would be both logical and, well, nice.

This is the point raised recently on the Xbox.com.au forums by user mchiefvs360. The comment was:

It’d be nice if older games like GRAW1, COD2 or PGR3 made their content free as I don’t know many people who would want to pay full original price for maps for a game that is five years old, Perfect Dark Zero did it right.

And he (or she) has a good point.

Games like Gears of War, The Outfit, Lost Planet, Perfect Dark Zero, Fable 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and GRAW 2 have some or all of their content free and are praised for it.

Of course the latest trend has been to re-release the bundled retail game and downloadable content some time later as a “Game Of The Year” edition at full or near full retail prices, as with Lost Planet, Oblivion, and Fable 2.

Should Oblivion content be free now?

I’m not sure of the sales figures for those editions either, but I believe it would be good PR and even prolong the use of many of these old games if all the content was made free after a certain length of time instead (which Lost Planet has since done).

Let’s face it: these days gamers move on pretty quickly.  If your game isn’t Halo 3 or COD:4, and fewer people are playing your game online (or offline in the case of added missions, cars and tracks) what is the purpose of keeping a high price on it?

If a gamer has a lot of downloaded content on their HDD that they got for free for your game, they may just keep it instead of throwing it away for a few bucks trade-in at EB Games.

When the game’s content is announced as being free it may very well revive interest in the game and propel a few sales (used or new).  Yes the game-maker makes nothing off a used copy sold, but any creator wants their creation used as long as possible, and this may keep up interest for an upcoming sequel.  It’s not as if they are making anything if nobody is paying to download the content anyway.

So what would be the drawbacks?

Well not everybody goes on N4G, Gamegrep, or the forums to find out about new initiatives like a game’s content being made free, so how would the good publicity reach the public at no cost?  Sure, the Microsoft (or Sony) Dashboard could advertise it, but otherwise word of mouth will be the only way people would even see the goodwill gesture and take advantage of it.

Then there is the worry that some gamers would just wait for the content to become free and therefore it would cost in download sales, though I doubt most gamers who really want the content would wait that long.

Still, these concerns aside, it certainly could be something besides the “deal of the week” idea to give added value to being part of the online service.  Some gamers still aren’t online with their consoles because they don’t play online games, but if they could get free content for their retail game they may connect more readily for the added missions or race tracks and be tempted to try online gaming.

The future of gaming.

Then there are the implications for the future of console gaming.

If future consoles, as is sometimes surmised, focus on digital distribution, as with the PSP GO!, then you may have a situation where prices do not reduce very far as there is no competition between retailers.

PSP GO: expensive digital distribution the future?

With the PSP GO! we have the situation where the retail versions of PSP games with full packaging and discs are more often actually cheaper than the downloadable version.  Digital distribution with consoles remains very fixed in pricing with only the “deal of the week” lowering the price of only a few items.  Will this trend continue in future consoles?

Yet the PC crowd can revel in digital distribution thanks to Steam, where prices drop often on a large variety of games.  This model is in stark contrast to the one with the PSP GO!.

If Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo and all the game-makers start winning the gamers over to digital content by adopting the ‘depreciation’ model and by giving all older content for free, they will be a lot more successful in winning converts (especially skeptics like me) to the concept of digital distribution-only consoles in the future.

They really should start by giving older content away now.

So what games offer “some” free content on Xbox Live Marketplace?

Well here they are:

• GRAW 2
• FORZA 3
• Gears of War
  
• Call Of Duty: World At War
• Halo 3
• Fable 2
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Call of Duty 2
• Call of Duty 3
• Left4Dead
• Midnight Club: LA
• FEAR 2
• Project Gotham Racing 4
• The Last Remnant
• Rainbow 6: Vegas
• Rainbow 6: Vegas 2
• Endwar
• Infinite Undiscovery
• LOTR: Conquest
• Timeshift
• Frontlines: Fuel At War
• Kameo
• Crackdown
• Civilization: Revolution
• The Darkness
• The Outfit
• Lost Planet

© 2009 David Hilton

It takes a certain kind of person to take time out of their lives to dress as their favorite character.  May it be anime, manga, tv/film or gaming characters, the people who dedicate themselves to building their own representations of these characters should be commended.  They allow everyday people to be a part of their world at conventions, parties or even every day living.

Cosplay, costume play, is nothing new.  I have been to anime, sci fi, and comic cons, and the anticipation of this elite class is always something to look forward too.  Cosplay does not just end at the actual costume, but mannerisms, signature poses and attitude are all integrated to pull off the perfect representation.  There are often contests and games designed specifically for Cosplayers such as: Cosplay Game Shows, Trivia, Masquerades and a platform to produce and act out your own skits for fellow con-goers.

Even if Naruto is already somewhat played, seeing a group of kids who have banned together to create the whole cast is always great to see.  Which brings me to another point, COSPLAYERS are AWESOME people.  They are more than willing to pose for photos and have a chat, they dont show up dressed like that to hide in a corner!

If its your first time or the 11th time at a con, they can inspire you to dress up for the next one!  They are a creative and dedicated people and “ooh can i take a picture of you??”

Want to show off your cosplay skills but dont know where?

• Comic Con (San Diego, CA; New York, NY -Comics, Sci Fi, Anime, Manga, Gaming, TV, Film)
• Otakon (Baltimore, MD – Anime, Manga)
• Dragon Con (Atlanta, GA – Sci Fi, Gaming, Comics, Literature, Art, Music, Film)
• The Official Star Trek Con (Las Vegas, NV/Nationwide)
• The Official Twilight Con (Nationwide, formerly known as TwiTour)
• AnimeNext (Somerset, NJ – Anime, Manga, Art)
• Creation Entertainment (Nationwide, Coordinates various conventions: Star Trek, Twilight, Fangoria, Supernatural, Xena, Firefly, Stargate, BSG, Farscape, LOTR)

Sailor Moon (Manga/Anime [Toei])

Naruto (Magna/Anime [Shonen Jump])

Bleach (Manga/Anime [Shonen Jump])

Metroid/Samus Aran (Video Game [Nintendo])

Star Wars (Movies/Books/Cartoons/everything possible, they do that too)

Gears of War: costumes by Nightmare Armor Studios (Video Game [Epic])

Twilight: depicted by The Hillywood Show (Book/Movies)

Το Unreal Dev Kit ξεπέρασε τους 50.000 χρήστες – Gameover.gr

Η Epic Games ανακοίνωσε ότι το δωρεάν Unreal Development Kit ξεπέρασε τους 50.000 χρήστες, μόλις μία εβδομάδα από την κυκλοφορία του. Το Unreal Development Kit παρέχει πρόσβαση στα ίδια tools της Unreal Engine 3 και στην ίδια τεχνολογία που χρησιμοποιούν διάφορα παιχνίδια, όπως τα Gears of War 2 και Unreal Tournament 3.[next]

 

Microsoft XP ve Vista’da yapmadığı güzelliği Windows 7′de yapmış ve Windows 7 için bir kişiselleştirme sayfası hazırlamış. Buradan yeni temalar, duvar kağıtları ve gadgetler indirilebiliyor. Temaların çoğu yine kendi reklamı olsa da güzel(Gears of War, Zune falan).

Tema kurulumu gayet basit. İndirilen dosya zaten çift tıklayınca direk Tema yöneticisi tarafından açılıyor.Yeni şeyler denemek isteyenler için:

Windows 7 Personalization Gallery

Gears 2 is offering a limited time multiplayer event: Triple XP in Horde and multiplayer modes.  Until Nov 16th, all XP is tripled, and there are a slew of other features and playlists.

LINK, Thanks CoOp

I’ve delayed in picking up the latest Gears 2 DLC map pack, but I’d definitely pick it up for this if some people are interested in playing.

Epic firar Gears of War 2s födelsedag med att anordna deras första “Triple EXP Event”, detta kommer vara igång i 9 dagar så passa på och fixa lite exp nu.

Friday, November 6, 9 AM EST, through Monday, November 16, 9 AM EST, Gears of War 2 gamers get a nine-day multiplayer extravaganza. In addition to triple experience throughout the event, players will be able to play in an all-new tactical mode across all multiplayer game types (including Horde). Players can expect two big changes in tactical mode, increased weapon damage and reduced ammo counts, along with a few subtle tweaks such as increasing down-but-not-out health so revives are still possible. Also during the event, Public Horde’s difficulty will be bumped to hardcore, and playlists can include individual game types—meaning you can play exactly what you want, when you want. Prepare for the challenge, and more than ever, remember to take cover!

Källa: Gearsofwar.com

Happy Friday!

After what’s been a pretty stressful week, I’m thoroughly looking forward to chilling out and not doing anything more strenuous than going shopping (on the Sunday, not the Saturday- it’ll be hell), and watching TV in bed. Though I am considering going into the Big Smoke on the Sunday and watching the Remembrance Day parade – for once I can actually go and pay my respects in person, rather than watching it on the TV!

So, in the spirit of Friday (and of relaxing at lunchtime), here’s my review of Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, online at GameSlave. It was such a shame that this game was released early, with a couple of extra months of work it could have been something special.

Here’s the trailer, which paints the game in a much better light than it deserves:

Mad World è uno dei successi dei Tears for Fears. Pubblicata nel 1982 come terzo singolo estratto dall’album di debutto del gruppo, The Hurting, raggiunse la terza posizione nella classifica inglese. Ma è vent’anni dopo che la canzone ha raggiunto la sua vera consacrazione con la cover di Michael Andrews e Gary Jules per la colonna sonora del film Donnie Darko. Diventato il singolo natalizio numero uno nel 2003, la canzone da allora è stata utilizzata in molte colonne sonore fra cui Csi, E.R. – Medici in prima linea – Cold Case, Nip/Tuck, Smallville e anche per la pubblicità cinematografica del videogioco Gears of War per XBox 360. Quando Mad World venne trasmessa per la prima volta, lo stile vocale di Jules fu spesso confrontato con quello di Michael Stipe, voce dei R.E.M. Nel video originale della cover dei bambini all’uscita da scuola, ripresi dall’alto, compongono delle figure come un albero, un viso sorridente, una stella, una casa mentre Jules suona il suo piano sul tetto del palazzo sopra di loro. Al di là dell’arrangiamento, melodioso, leggero, dolce ma ripetitivo quasi fino all’ossessione, c’è un passaggio fondamentale nel testo di Mad World che ne chiarisce il titolo e rende la canzone fondamentale per qualsiasi playlist malinconico/romantica/evocativa: And I find it kind of funny/I find it kind of sad/The dreams in which I’m dying/Are the best I’ve ever had/I find it hard to tell you/I find it hard to take/When people run in circles/It’s a very very/Mad world/Mad world. La traduzione: E trovo un pò buffo/e trovo un pò triste/che i sogni nei quali sto morendo/ siano i migliori che abbia mai fatto/E trovo difficile da dirti/E trovo difficile da sopportare/Quando la gente corre in circolo/E’ davvero/Un mondo folle/Un mondo folle. Una strofa che fotografa quell’ironia un po’ cinica della vita che realizza i nostri pensieri peggiori e ci lascia a desiderare quelli migliori, quelli più veri, quelli più sinceri. Quelli che non realizzerà mai. Continuando a illuderci che parole, sentimenti e idee possono cambiare le cose. Il Conte direbbe: «Aprite il libro dei ricordi e versatevi un bicchiere di rum: questa è Mad World, lui è Gary Jules e vi farà male, molto male. Ma questa è la vita ragazzi e non esiste avventura più bella che viverla. E una volta che l’avrete capito il mondo sarà vostro».

From/De: Epic Games

Epic Games Announces Unreal Development Kit, Powered by Unreal Engine 3

Industry Leading 3D Game Engine Toolset Now Available for Free

CARY, N.C. (November 5, 2009) – Epic Games, Inc. announces the launch of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides community access to the award-winning toolset like never before. This software release is available to anyone interested in using 3D game engine technology, including game developers, students, hobbyists, researchers, creators of 3D visualizations and simulations, and digital filmmakers. Anyone can start working with the industry-leading Unreal Engine 3 toolset by downloading UDK at www.udk.com, where detailed product features, technical documentation, commercial licensing terms, support resources and more are also available.

An unprecedented milestone in game development, the release of UDK awards free access to the same world-class tools and technology used by many of the world’s best video game developers and publishers. Unreal Engine 3 is a constantly evolving game engine, and UDK contains all the most recently added features and technological enhancements, including many that have yet to be seen in an Unreal Engine game. Furthermore, Epic Games will release ongoing, upgraded builds of UDK for free.

There is no charge for noncommercial or educational use of UDK. Over 100 academic campuses currently use Unreal Technology as part of teaching game development-related courses, and colleges with plans to incorporate UDK into their curricula include the University of Pennsylvania, North Carolina State University, The Art Institute system of schools, Drexel University, Westwood College, DeVry University and Atlantic College, with many others to be announced.

Individuals and companies wishing to develop software for commercial purposes should refer to licensing terms at www.udk.com/licensing. Commercial terms have been structured to make it easy for independent developers, start-up firms and seasoned professionals to use UDK with minimal financial barrier from concept to deployment. UDK is currently for PC use only, although console support is under consideration. Developers approved to make games for Xbox 360® and PLAYSTATION®3 may inquire for more information by emailing udklicensing@epicgames.com.

Benefits of UDK include the following:

• Immediate access to Unreal Engine 3, the critically acclaimed 3D game engine technology for cross-platform game development.
• Easy content creation with the Unreal Editor, a fully integrated suite of top-tier development tools, which comes complete with:
o Unreal Content Browser, a revolutionary tool for browsing, searching and organizing game assets with collaborative metadata tagging system.
o UnrealScript object-oriented programming language and Unreal Kismet, a visual scripting system that enables rapid prototyping on the fly.
o Unreal Matinee, a powerful tool with movie director-class controls for building in-game cinematics and gorgeous cut scenes.
o Unreal Cascade, an advanced particle physics and environmental effects editor that aids the creation of fire, fog, explosions and other visuals.
o NVIDIA® PhysX®-powered physics system with Unreal PhAT visual modeling tool for creating character and object physics rigs.
o Unreal Lightmass, a global illumination system that dramatically lights and shadows with minimal effort required by artists and designers.
o AnimSet Viewer and AnimTree Editor, which give animators precise control over every muscle and bone movement.
• Time saved thanks to technology integrations with leading game development middleware tools including SpeedTree®, Bink Video®, and FaceFX®.
• Output of standalone applications: Games created with UDK run entirely on their own with no additional software required. This means anyone can make UDK content and distribute it for free.

“I’m excited about the possibilities the Unreal Development Kit opens to those who are looking to get into the game business but don’t otherwise have the means to acquire world-class technology and tools like ours,” said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. “UDK is Unreal Engine 3, which has been used to create games in a wide range of genres, as well as military simulations, 3D architectural walkthroughs, animated movies and more. Users are only limited by their imaginations. Go ahead make something Unreal!”

Psyonix Studios (www.psyonix.com), a game studio based in San Diego, Calif., created the first proof-of-concept game using UDK in less than two months using a two-man team of one artist and one programmer. “Whizzle” is a downloadable vertical scroller in which players swim through underwater levels as an adorable sea creature that collects items and frees allies from captivity. To read more about “Whizzle,” view the developer diary video, or download technical documentation, visit www.udk.com/showcase-whizzle.html.

Until now, noncommercial access to the Unreal Engine 3 toolset has been available only through the PC versions of games such as Epic’s “Unreal Tournament 3” and “Gears of War” games. Users made new game experiences, called modifications or “mods,” by changing existing game assets or creating original content through the Unreal Editor tools that ship with every game copy. Many of these mods have been showcased through the $1 Million Intel Make Something Unreal Contest (www.makesomethingunreal.com), which awards over $1 million in cash and prizes to aspiring game developers. While mods require running the original game for interaction with user-created content, UDK provides a standalone experience every time, meaning a smaller digital footprint and no additional software requirements.

“The Ball,” an award-winning “Unreal Tournament 3” mod by Toltec Studios (www.toltecstudios.com), is available now as a free UDK-powered download at www.udk.com/showcase-the-ball.html. Anyone authoring mods for Epic’s PC games can port their original content over to UDK.

Support for UDK includes over 200 pages of newly unlocked documentation at the Unreal Developer Network (udn.epicgames.com), dedicated forums (www.udk.com/forums), as well as other resources available through the UDK web site, www.udk.com. 3D Buzz also hosts hundreds of free video tutorials for using Unreal Engine 3 technology at www.3dbuzz.com.

Furthermore, Sams Publishing and 3D Buzz recently published two definitive guides for learning the Unreal Engine toolset, “Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3” and “Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume II: Advanced Level Design Concepts with Unreal Engine 3.” Both books are bundled with a free, downloadable copy of “Unreal Tournament 3” for PC.

About Unreal Engine 3
The award-winning Unreal Engine is known for cutting-edge graphics and its best-of-breed toolset. Unreal Engine 3 maintains those features in addition to multi-core processor support, Xbox 360® and PLAYSTATION®3 optimizations, massive world support, and a highly mature tool pipeline. Unreal Engine 3’s consistently evolving toolset is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for PC and console games, visualization applications, training simulations, and linear animated content. Additional information on Unreal Engine can be obtained through the Unreal Technology Web site at www.unrealtechnology.com.

About Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its “Unreal” series, including “Unreal Tournament 3” for PC, PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360®. Epic’s “Gears of War” won over 30 Game of the Year awards, and the sales of “Gears of War” and “Gears of War 2” have eclipsed 11 million units. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 is the three-time consecutive winner of Game Developer magazine’s Best Engine Front Line Award and is this year’s Hall of Fame inductee. Unreal Engine 3 has also been recognized as the number one game engine by Develop magazine. Additional information about Epic can be obtained through the Epic Games Web site at www.epicgames.com.

© 2009, Epic Games, Inc. Epic, Epic Games, Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Unreal, AnimSet Viewer, AnimTree Editor, Unreal Cascade, Unreal Content Browser, Unreal Development Kit, Unreal Editor, Unreal Engine, Unreal Kismet, Unreal Lightmass, Unreal Matinee, Unreal PhAT, UnrealScript and Unreal Tournament are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States of America and elsewhere. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

###

Download mirrors for the Unreal Development Kit include:
NVIDIA, FilePlanet, BeyondUnreal, FileFront, GamersHell, FileShack, AOL Big Download

<– Har provat textiltryck idag på skolan, med schabloner och ram. Men det kändes väldigt begränsat. Jag föredrar nog att måla direkt på tyget med en pensel istället. Däremot är det här ett bra sätt att trycka om man känner att man inte vill måla något själv, för man kan helt enkelt rita av ett motiv, klippa ut det och trycka direkt sen. Fast man behöver en del grejer då, så som ram, tygfärger etc.

Yeah, I know the Insider Tour is kind of awesome. Believe me, it’s what we’re focusing on here as well. But you know what else is deserving of attention? Games! Specifically, the games you guys play. And without further ado, here are the retail games you all played the most last week while connected to Xbox LIVE.

1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty 4
3. Call of Duty: World at War
4. Forza Motorsport 3
5. Halo 3: ODST
6. Grand Theft Auto IV
7. Borderlands
8. FIFA 10
9. Gears of War 2
10. Fallout 3

I have to be honest, it warms my heart that Fallout 3 continues to hold onto a spot in the top 10. The guys at Bethesda really made a gem with that one and it’s good to see so many people playing it still.

- jinx

“Uncharted 2’s” introductory moments are an absolute marvel. Most importantly, they represent a clear break from traditional game design logic, showing off exciting new possibilities in terms what a video game can (should?) be. Interested? Read on. The game starts, as you may already know, with Drake, half-bleeding to death inside a cliff-hanging train (the game opens with a cliff hanger, one can only enjoy the irony). Drake soon realizes, verbalizing it in his signature “oh God…”,  that the train isn’t about to hold on much longer, and will soon plunge deep into the gorge. Debris suddenly fall over, plummeting Drake nearer to the precipice, as he desperately clings to a rusty bent hand-rail that stands centimeters away from nothingness. Up to this point it’s cut-scene territory, extraordinarily directed as in the previous game, and perhaps even more so. That warm sense of witful charm is reprised, once again heralding back to the terrain of summer blockbuster movies, of Spielberg and Lucas fame. But what was missing in the first “Uncharted”, soon becomes reality in the second: the embodiment of that same spirit during actual game-play sequences.

As Drake dwindles in the rail, the game kicks in, and you’re in charge. Climbing the train is simple and intuitive for anyone who has ever played a Tomb Raider-esque action-adventure game. But, despite it being absurdly simple to avoid Drake’s death while climbing, it retains a sense of tension and dramatic peril that video-games seldom impose without resorting to actual game-over screens. The trick Naughty Dog employed is devilishly clever: they enunciate danger through pre-scripted events but… it isn’t really there. For instance, the moment Drake nears the end of the hand-rail he’s clinging to, it bends unexpectedly. As you climb, objects keep falling down… a bit too near Drake for his own sake. Later, the second Drake jumps away from another rail, it suddenly breaks and falls. This sequence is simply riddled with these small nerve-cringing incidents give you the illusion of danger [as you can see for yourself here], without it ever truly existing, as you can’t really die because of them. The whole level, in fact, is nearly impossible to fail, shifting “Uncharted 2″ away from a pure game, and into somewhat of an interactive, yet highly cinematic experience. The game becomes much more tense because of this, as you never have to repeat the sequence, thus maintaining its initial emotional impact intact. It represents as pure a translation as there has been of the concept of a film-like experience into video game terms; it’s all a matter of deception and misguidance, and the powerless witnessing of danger, as opposed to its confrontation, as is common for games. Something tells me that Spielberg would approve.

From then on, the game continues this strategy to impose tension, throwing unexpected events at the player in any given situation. Trains explode, buildings crumble, bridges fall – the sense of playing a roller-coaster film is pervasive. This engagement improves significantly because of all the work and thought that was noticeably invested in understanding and replicating the cinematic language – from the outstanding set design of each exotic location, to the delicious voice and facial animation, notwithstanding the superlative use of camera directing (especially in-game). Cut-scene and game mesh in such natural and emotional ways, it almost begs the question of why didn’t anyone do this before. Nevertheless, not all is rendered with the manipulating edge of the first few moments of the game. As “Uncharted 2″ moves on, it becomes an actual game, with the expected challenges and trial and error sequences. For the most part, it remains an expertly crafted work, exhilarating as few can be, despite the continuous interruption of death scenarios. There’s also the overuse of the by now blasé “Gears of War” combat, that insists on outstaying its presence, but no amount of slow crawling, tedious and repetitive cover combat can impair “Uncharted’s” sense of style and amusement, let alone its humor, both in and outside cut-scenes. It’s just a shame that such “military” influences are not toned down, as the action in “Tomb Raider”, as a way to punctuate the scale, instead of dominating every beat.

“Uncharted 2″ could have easily been one of the most important mainstream games in recent history, had Amy Hennig and the team at Naughty Dog had the courage to forfeit genre conventions and the ridiculous tick boxes which modern action games are governed and reviewed by, like multiplayer and co-op modes. Had that wasted energy been invested in further exploration of the subtle new grounds of action adventure experience which “Uncharted 2″ skims by, and it might have been a shining new example of a new genre. As is, it’s still the best of its kind – as unoriginal in its game-play as others before it, though designed with a finesse, care to detail and artistry that its competitors are sorely lacking.

score: 4/5