A Grab Bag of Thoughts

I thought I’d jot down some thoughts on the various games I finished recently. I may revisit them eventually. I’m too tired to write up something about Braid at the moment.

Rocketmen: Axis of Evil
Part ARPG, part dual-stick shooter, this game is based on an IP created by WizKids. The only thing that I want to say about it is that the universe is one of the freshest takes on science fiction that I’ve seen in a while. It’s just a riff on 50s SF serials, but it doesn’t try to be either scientifically consistent or take itself too seriously. Flash Gordon, eat your heart out.

The only really noteworthy aspect of the game that I want to write down is the fact that it follows the recent trend of breaking the fourth wall. One of the mechanics in the game is to tap on X repeatedly in order to activate various consoles in the game – and that’s exactly what the characters in the game tell you to do. Then, the character you play will get this funny look on her face and mock the simplicity of this game mechanic.

There’s a moment at the end of the game where your “handler”, Zach, pokes fun at you for being afraid of the overwhelming odds against you. Your character replies, “Well, you’re just a NPC character! It’s not like you’re in any danger!” While not as clever as the first Psychomantis battle in MGS, but it’s a nice way to bring levity into the game and is perfectly consistent with the setting and the universe.

Star Control 2/The Ur-Quan Masters
I’d refer to SquadCast #6 for some real discussion of the game... suffice it to say, if I were to write some kind of “top 10 games list” (yuck), this game would definitely make that list. I can’t believe I missed it when it came out in the 90s (misspent youth indeed) and I’m even more surprised that no one else has tried to make a game that tried to copy the game since (Yes, there was Epic Game’s Solar Winds, and I haven’t played it since it came out... and while it was another space-shooter adventure game, it definitely was not as open or in depth as Star Control 2).

What’s so remarkable about this game is how the many pieces come together. The first game was a deeper take on the original Space War, featuring two ships going head to head in combat. Branching off from that, Star Control 2 takes that combat (calling it Melee) and builds an entire space exploration and management game on top of it. It’s not quite the 4X of Master of Orion, but the ability to influence empires and at the very least explore planets to exploit their resources gives it that 4X feel. On top of the two seemingly disparate game mechanics is what is essentially an adventure game or RPG.

If there was ever a case to be made for the idea that games are both simultaneously ludic and narrative experiences, this game is it. First and foremost, there IS a story. I won’t go into detail, but you basically have to save the galaxy from the evil aliens with the help of all the good aliens. How you do that is based on how well you explore the galaxy and manage your relationships with the alien races throughout the galaxy. How well you do this effects how the game unfolds around you – you can see the galaxy map slowly change as time passes. And of course, this effects how the plot unfolds as well – your successes in the game are directly reflected by how the characters in the game react to you, as are your failures. It’s the perfect fusion of gameplay and story, as your ludic experience influences your narrative experience and vice versa. A small example of this is the fact that when you start the game, you have a limited number of replacement crew because there are only so many human beings that can staff your ship. If you start losing crew members, it slowly becomes more expensive to replace them. However, if you complete a specific quest, you’ll be able to constantly replenish your crew for free (or close enough). There’s a story reason for the economy in the game and the game mechanic effects how the story is played out.

As for the universe and the story itself – in some ways, it shares a lot with Rocketmen in that it’s pulpy science fiction. That said the original dev team managed to create a world with so much personality that if you enjoy science fiction on any level, you’ll love all the characters in this game. The aliens range from the typical sexy blue skinned alien women to the atypical gaseous blobs that somehow managed to evolve on a gas giant. Even if you ignore the gameplay innovation, the story and universe itself is a gem that should be canonized alongside Star Trek and Star Wars.

While no game has tried to use this formula, Mass Effect did come awfully close. Though there is no ship combat, you are thrown into a galaxy that you can explore at your whim. That said there was simply no reason to go around exploring the universe unless you were off collecting items for quests or purposely trying to gain XP. The fact that travelling from system to system required a load screen combined with the dubious Mako planet sequences, I’m not surprised that most people simply ignored the exploration aspect of the game and stuck to the main story. Even then, your exploration didn’t have any effect on the main campaign (although, to be fair, a completely separate side campaign about Cerberus awaits those who choose to go off the beaten path), so the game didn’t encourage you to explore the large galaxy map anyway. And while I do like the Mass Effect universe and it is certainly more expansive than the Star Control universe, it just pales in comparison. Star Control feels alive and compels you to find out more about the different aliens that populate the galaxy. Mass Effect? Not so much (although, those Elephant-looking aliens were pretty cool).

One final point to make is the fact that the game is a product of its time. It’s HARD. Really HARD. Like all old school adventure games, you’ll want to have a pen and paper with you in order to take notes because there is no quest log or even any in game reminders of where you need to go. Also, the game world is constantly in action, almost like a Rogue-like – it’s not quite a full blown simulation, but as time passes scripted events will unfold. You can change what events unfold, but the races will do their own thing as you go about your own adventure, meaning that if you take too long to initiate the end game, the evil aliens will win and you will lose the game.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
Now this one will be really short since most people should know what this game is all about. To be crass, you can call it Tomb Raider with a man... but I would call it Sahara: The Game (Yep, as in the 2005 Matthew McConaughey action film). In short, you play Nathan Drake, descendant of Sir Francis Drake, in search of the older Drake’s missing treasure. And as we’ve learned from Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, every time someone searches for some ancient, missing treasure, bad things happen.

The first thing I want to point out is that the game was directed by Amy Hennig – and as one of the few women in a position of power on the creative side of game production I just think it’s worth pointing out. At the very least, I think it’s a very big reason as to why Elena Fisher comes off as a normal character and not some kind of archetype – she’s neither a damsel in distress nor a scantily clad and heavily armed bad grrrrl.

The second thing I want to point out is that this is a game that I would rather watch than play. That’s not to say that there’s anything bad about the gameplay... it’s just that it’s not interesting in any way. The platforming can get tricky because sometimes that crack in the wall turns out to be a texture that you can’t hold on to, leading to a potentially nasty fall. The shooting can be frustrating as well, but that’s because the game is trying to encourage you to use melee attacks – the brutal combo specifically. No, the gameplay is perfectly serviceable but it’s the cutscenes that shine. Fully mo-capped and featuring great voice acting, these cutscenes play out like scenes from a big budget Hollywood film. Greg Edmonson’s brassy score (including the beautiful main theme) only add to how well produced these cutscenes are.

I’m just not sure if this is a good thing though. On one of the post GDC 2008 1up Yours podcasts, Hennig defended the use of cutscenes to tell a story, pointing to how the player can break how the story is delivered in Half Life 2. To that point, I definitely agree with her and I can see why a game director would want to wrest control from the player at certain points in the game in order to tell the story that holds the game together. But if this is a game where I’m perfectly happy watching through the cutscenes in lieu of actually replaying the game, isn’t that a problem? Uncharted isn’t as incongruous as Grand Theft Auto 4 or Metal Gear Solid 4 when it comes to using cutscenes to tell a story, but I can’t help but wonder if there was a better way to integrate the storytelling into the gameplay itself rather than rely on conventions set by filmmakers.

In keeping with the “movie” presentation, one final observation is that through some kind of technology trick, the game NEVER needs to load after the initial load. That means the game seamlessly moves from one level to another, creating the effect that you are playing one large, epic level rather than a series of smaller levels. The only way you know that you’re in a new “chapter” is when the game overtly tells you. It’s a neat trick that helps you forget that you aren’t playing a game, if only momentarily.


Well, that's all for now. I'm avoiding the Braid post because... well, my brain can't take it!