To finish out my three post mega update, here are just some games I played but I really don’t have any long thoughts about:
Call of Duty: World at War
Really, it’s a decent enough game but they really didn’t try to do anything interesting with the story telling. Almost every moment in the Russian section of the game is taken from a previous Call of Duty and the Japanese section of the game is very underwhelming. They wanted to show the horrors of war (to the point where they show Japanese and German soldiers trying to execute the player TWICE in the game), but nothing in the game itself gave you that feeling. Call of Duty 4 had the nuclear bomb moment... this one just has people die around you and at this point, that’s just not enough anymore.
In fact, there's one point in the game where the game pauses and you're told by your Russian sargeant to execute some German soldiers who have surrendered. But your choice is meaningless - if you kill them, the game moves on and if you spare their lives, your sargeant kilsl them and the game moves on. If this was meant to be a chilling moment in the life of a soldier where one has to choose mercy over self preservation, it completely fell flat. Treyarch just didn't earn that emotional investment from me as a player, despite how hard they tried throughout the entire game. Unfortunately, Activision seems intent on pumping these games out and because there two different studios working on Call of Duty games, the “learning time” from game it game is increased. But now that Treyarch has had the opportunity to learn from Infinity Ward, hopefully Call of Duty 7 will have more interesting storytelling.
Also, the damn clown car spawn closets are still here. I know that’s their way of forcing the player to progress and move forward but it’s just annoying as hell. I think I swore several times during the horrible storming the Reichstag level. I will say that the Black Cat mission – this game’s scripted vehicle sequence – was pretty fun. It’s nothing like the AC-130 Gunship section in Call of Duty 4 – indeed, the tone of the Black Cat mission is hectic and exciting whereas the AC-130 mission is cool and calm – but seeing your character jump from turret to turret to shoot down patrol boats and Zeroes was pretty exciting. It also gave me an appreciation for WW2 turret gunners. I have no idea how they could have hit anything with those viewfinders.
One other thing that’s just worth mentioning is that the intro videos for each level are edited like they were made for MTV. It’s extremely slick and probably a little overly produced. On the one hand they were striking and made you want to pay attention but on the other hand, they didn’t fit in with the tone of the game at all. If anything, Infinity Ward should have used intros like this in Call of Duty 4.
Left 4 Dead
There’s not really much to say here other than this is a game that’s more of a ludic experience rather than a narrative experience. There is no true narrative in the game other than you are survivors of a zombie apocalypse and that you are trying to escape to freedom. As with all Valve games, the environments do tell a story (mostly through signs and writing on the walls) but otherwise, it’s pure gameplay. And honestly, this is a game where it’s all about what happens to you and how you solve a problem. If ever there was a game where the personal stories were “emergent”, it’s this one. Add the fact that no two gameplays will ever be the same because of the “AI director”/procedurally generated enemy spawns and you have a game that’s all about personal experience.
And co-op makes the experience that much more fun because it’s very much like watching a zombie movie with your friends, except of course that you are all in the movie itself. Inevitably, you’ll scream for help when you are caught by a zombie, you’ll yell in frustration if someone does something stupid and you’ll all cheer when you escape the final zombie horde in a helicopter. This really is the best co-op experience ever designed – probably even better than the ultimate co-op game, Rock Band.
Little Big Planet
Again, this is another game that is more about your own personal experience derived from the game rather than the story. And again, co-op is very much like Left 4 Dead, although there’s less screaming because no one uses headset on a PS3. The design itself is very charming and clever and it also has some of the greatest community features found in a game. I haven’t really had time to play with the level making tools (and I’m not sure if I ever will), but some of the levels I’ve played are simply astonishing. I just can’t imagine the time and effort it must have taken to make something like a Gradius clone or a level that plays the introduction to the song “Sweet Child of Mine” or to program the logic tables to make a calculator or a fully functional Tic Tac Toe game. The Microsoft hater in me would just like to point out that I don’t have to pay to play online on the Sony network and their games have much more robust online features than any game found on the 360.
And just for my own reference:
Pure
This is just a fun ATV off road arcade racing game really – probably my surprise of the year. I almost never finish racing games and unfortunately, I probably won’t finish this one either, but I definitely had a lot of fun with this and I’d love to get back to it some time.
Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero 4
More plastic guitar action! The music creator in Guitar Hero 4 was a letdown so hopefully the feature will be much improved in the sequel. Rock Band 2 changed single player for the worse and I’m left playing quick play in order to play through my songs.
On a random note, I think I've spent more money on Rock Band DLC than I have on music in my entire life.
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix
It’s Street Fighter 2! I just wish I could find a decent joystick... the Hori is good, but there could be something better.
Chrono Trigger DS
I really have no excuse not to finish what some people consider the greatest game in the history of games. I've finished the game so many times when I was in high school and I've seen all the endings, but I really just need to experience the game again as an adult and "professional" academic. Hopefully my new perspective will give me new insight into the game's design and narrative.
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