Angry Birds: Space

Angry Birds Space is the latest incarnation of Rovio's hugely popular physics game. The tried and tested gameplay formula that made the original game such a hit is back with an interesting new twist. All of the Angry Birds titles tasks you with destroying your enemies, green amoebic pigs, who are usually perched in or around structures which can be destroyed by flinging amusing looking birds at them via a large catapult. The same applies here, however the earlier games were all based on Earth, albeit with strange shape-shifting birds and even stranger sentient pigs with limbs or visible means of locomotion. This time you are in space, no longer constrained by a large and all encumbering gravity field. Now when you fire a bird they keep on going until they hit something.

This has been implemented very well. The structures you must destroy are now free floating, with the pigs all wearing glass space helmets. Now when struck by a high speed bird, they fly apart in a spectacular and immensely satisfying fashion. The pigs now react when things around them change, making scared or alarmed facial expressions when they are jolted or something nearby disintegrates.

Another really cool feature is the addition of asteroids or small planets that have a gravity field around them. Anything inside the visible gravity field is pulled down towards the centre of the asteroid. This adds lots of scope for interesting and challenging levels. Depending on the speed and angle of the shot, a bird can be fired in such a way that it just skims the gravity well, altering its trajectory in a way similar to that of how real objects would behave when passing planets in space. Sometimes birds can be launched in a way that results in them actually entering a stable orbit around the planetoid, endlessly circling it and adding another obstacle to avoid. Sometimes structures are in orbit with can be brought down to the surface if they are nudged with some well place shots. This looks great and is very gratifying.

Usually there are several asteroids of varying size and strengths of gravity. Many of the tricky shots needed to pass the later levels in the game force the player to plan out their shots carefully. The bird will then meander through the asteroids, each pulling on it to aim it correctly. The whole thing reminded me a lot of some of the levels in Super Mario: Galaxy for the Wii. Some levels take place entirely within a gravity field of a large asteroid, however the curvature of the shot is proportional to the size of the asteroid and still make a big difference. Occasionally things can be knocked out of orbit and sent crashing to the surface. The is plenty of variety and as usual a ton of levels. New ones seem to be planned and there is a nice 'Coming Soon' placeholder at the end of the world selection screen. 

Overall an excellent game, really cheap or free. For those playing the free version, the usual poorly placed ads from the are still present unfortunately, but easily overlooked for something that cost not a cent. If you enjoyed any of the other Angry Bird games then you will not be disappointed with this!

Rage Review (PC)

Well its finally happened. My beloved gaming PC has at last encountered a game where I have had to set the graphics to low settings. This is a major blow to my nerd ego as I used to pride myself on my beasts potency. However now I must face the realisation that it is finally time that a new computer is in order or else a major upgrade. Due to my recent acquisition of an Xbox 360, thanks to my significant other, I feel it may be a while before I'm in the position to get a worthy machine. So I reluctantly began to play ID software and Bethesda Software post apocalyptic FPS, Rage.

So before I continue, my panic about having to play the game on low settings turned out to be rather premature. Despite the game being played at about 30% of maximum power (that info provided by the useful benchmarking feature in the games video settings), Rage has ridiculously beautiful graphics. Incredibly jaw dropping scenes of spectacular scenery would often have me stop and try to find a vantage point where I could simply gawk and drool. Crumbling cities, shattered landscapes and amazing desert scenes all greet you in the opening few minutes. So the games graphics are amazing, the character lip syncing can a bit rough at times however the is some great character and environment design. We are rapidly approaching an age where stunningly realistic graphics will be standard, so I will not linger too long on the games presentation. The music is unremarkable but more than adequate, nothing really sticking in my mind. The voice acting is pretty good, John Goodman appearing on the cast and I can even recognise some of the voices from my ongoing epic adventure in Skyrim. Bethesda obviously likes to keep the same voice actors with them through multiple projects. Overall the games graphics are amazing but also as good as I would expect for a new game in this day and age.

The tired post apocalyptic setting, despite its beautiful presentation, no longer holds as much fascination for me as it once did. So the Earth was devastated after a gigantic asteroid obliterates human civilisation. Blah blah blah. Before the impact, Arks were built all over the world to house genetically and nano-technically engineered people to emerge and repopulate the Earth when the time is right. However upon emergence you find that a great deal of humanity has in fact survived, eking out a savage a existence amongst the ruination. Advanced technology still exists, but it is mostly controlled by the Authority, the primary antagonists of the game. However despite the clichéd setting, I enjoyed Rage, it has many redeeming features that left me feeling sated after a few hours of play.

So within about an hour of beginning the game, one thing struck me immediately. Rage is essentially the mutant child of an ungodly coupling between Fallout 3 and Borderlands, where Mad Max was hiding under the bed. The bandits, buggies, ruins, mutants, salvage, desert landscapes, sandbox style gameplay, extended driving scenes and a native population of redneck survivors living in ramshackle towns are all represented here. So infact, rather than playing Borderlands, Fallout and watching Mel Gibson back when he was still Australian, you could just play Rage. Considerable time saver. The games developers even inserted some strange mementoes and easter eggs referencing these games. Well it is amusing I guess if a little strange.

Combat is fun and when played on hard mode can be quite challenging at times. The game has the standard weapon selection. Each gun has different types of ammo and can be upgraded from the games various merchants and shops. The weapons are the usual sort we have all seen before but nonetheless, shooting mutants and other enemies is satisfying and rewarding. The games enemies are decent enough and varied. Some of the mutants are very fast and acrobatic as they scale walls and climb along pipes and other hardware jutting out of walls and ceilings. Several huge boss characters and large monstrous mutants add some variety and new challenges as the game progresses. Ammo is plentiful and cheap and you can easily fill up on what you need after each mission in the games towns.

Rage has several expansive driving sections as the player moves from place to place. Each different mission is usually based in a location that needs to be driven to. The game world is known as the 'Wasteland', an desert region scattered with settlements, towns and bandit hideouts. It is split into 2 sections, but they are small compared to the settings of some more recent titles. There are plenty of jumps and long straights allowing for some excellent high octane travel. You are also occasionally attacked by groups of motorised bandits who attack and pursue you within a certain region. They can be ignored or destroyed, the result of the latter is cash from the towns bar owners for clearing the roads. This can get a little annoying sometimes and ironically can happen in some of the more interesting outdoor areas, often meaning you must clear the bandits before you can get out and look around.

Rage uses a standard RPG format, with the player moving across the wasteland, receiving missions from various NPCs scattered across it. You are based in a particular town between each mission. Each town is richly detailed and enjoyable to explore, though are quite small. They remind me of the towns you could visit in Borderlands though much more interactive and alive. The games cast of characters is also pretty standard, though some are memorable, Dr Kvasir, Mayor Redstone, JK Stiles as well as some of the characters who challenge you to one on one racing can have funny dialogue and are designed well. There has been an attempt to add more detail to the world by adding lots of mini games into the game world. A card trading game, 5 finger Bishop (this), some music mini games, holographic fighting robots, high speed mail delivery and a ton of off road races are all playable at each of the towns from different characters. The mini games were not that exciting and sometimes frustrating, but a nice touch. The racing sections of the game are well developed and can be fun to play. Especially the rocket races where your car is armed with a variety of deadly weapons.

The games plot is not particularly strong. Before the advanced people were sealed in their arks, a renegade general set the time to release himself and his men earlier than originally planned, allowing them to take control. They form the Authority and eventually rule over what is left of mankind in this part of the world. So you must destroy their organisation and liberate the world yadda yadda yadda. Nothing ground breaking but it  moves at a good pace and the Authority technology, soldiers and locations all look distinctive. However it seems to be very similar to Half Life 2's Combine. 

One thing really irked me about Rage. Early on in the game I was in a fire fight with some bandits. All I had was a shitty pistol that did little damage whilst my opponents were armed with assault rifles. The reward for this mission was a shiny new shotgun. So I thought great, I'll kill these two, grab their rifles and then get my shotgun at the end of the mission. After I had dispatched the two bandits I ran over to where they dropped their weapons to pick it up. However I was unable to. I was looking right at it pressing the 'use' key but the gun simply sat there. Confused I then checked the settings went through the controls to see if there was a specific weapon collection button. Finding none I retuned to the game, only to watch the two assault rifles begin to lose detail, became intangible and dissolved to nothing. The two bandits I'd recently killed then began disappearing in a similar manner. It then dawned on my that you can only get new weapons at certain scripted events in the games plot. In this age of epic free roaming adventures and in horrible contrast to the games it tried to emulate so much, Fallout and Borderlands, this was a huge issue for me. Being blocked from picking up a machine gun that landed at me feet after I surgically removed the head of its wielder with a semi-intelligent boomerang from 80 feet behind the skull of a giant neo prehistoric dinosaur suddenly lost its realism. A strange design decision I must say and I felt a little unfair, especially when a mini gun is dropped by a particularly powerful enemy and you must simply ignore it.

There is a basic levelling and inventory system, but it pales in comparison to a proper RPG action titles. Armour can be purchased at certain stages of the game that improve defence, but there are no stats or attributes that can be improved individually and no real character creation settings. You can construct different machines and items using scrap you find around the Wasteland provided you have the blueprints, but this feature is serves more of a distraction. Most of the parts can be bought from vendors so it seems a little pointless and time wasting to need to scour every environment to find the right bits. Constructing many of your items is easy and quick, but if your missing a part it can get annoying when your in some difficult location and need the item in question. The game is also pretty linear. While there are extra missions and jobs to be done, they are all based in areas already visited and seem a little over simplistic and repetitive. But if your anal about certain things like completing everything you can, like me, there is enough here to give a few hours of extra game play without it feeling too tacked on.

To conclude, I enjoyed Rage. The great visuals and fun combat give the player a rewarding and straightforward shooter. While it would have been nice to have some original settings and to see a little effort gone into creating something truly unique but I am aware this is a tall order in these days of recycling old ideas and game franchises that produce sequel after sequel. That said if your looking for a fun but standard shooter I would recommend this. Anyone looking for a decent RPG with any depth should look elsewhere. Overall Id give it 3.5 stars.

Looks cool but maybe not for me.

Cool piece of gaming hardware I reckon, though I wonder if it could take me slamming it against my desk as I do whenever the mouse courser stops moving on my PC. I believe my habit is the result of some reflex wired into my subconscious where I seem to be trying to unjam the ball, long since obsolete in modern mouses. Ah well I guess I'll have to wait until there is a metal version out, though then I foresee needing a new desk... On second though I might just avoid this altogether.. Cool though

Word IT Released!

For the last few months, I have been working with a collegue from my masters course to create the artwork for some of his games, which has been making under FreeWheel Games. He has 3 games created so far, two word/number puzzlers and then an excellent and addictive little casual adventure type that is still under construction. So the first of these is known as Word IT. This is a simple but fun little game where you need to create as many words as you can from the letters you get given on the screen. You get a time boost for each word you create and the objective is to get the highest score possible by making as many words as possible!

My first play through of this game was a lot of fun, so, as much as I'm trying not to sound like I'm shamelessly advertising, I do believe that Word IT is a genuinely enjoyable time waster! The only catch is its not yet ready for Appstore or iPhone release and it is currently only available on Windows 7 mobiles. Click on this link to check it out!

Somehow I think not

This made me laugh. How anyone could consider using the Kinect at all is is beyond me.

Has the FPS genre actually truly developed any further in gaming since the original Doom, Quake or Wolfenstein?

Excluding the graphics, several things have changed over the years. Certain pioneering games, eg Call of Duty, Halo, introduced some changes that improved on the standard forms of game play and were quickly adopted by other developers. While I do not label these as advances really, I do feel that there are a few very important changes that have occurred since the games mentioned above.

Recharging Health Meter - Very common feature in modern FPS games. Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake all used collectable health packs. Most games these days simply no longer use them. The exceptions, often still use some form of recharging defensive measure or try to combine the two. Examples would be Halo's Master Chief's recharging shield, but his actual health could only be restored with med packs. Another is Rage, where the player has a recharging health meter but the player can also used bandages to instantly recharge their health to full.

Cover Based Combat - Most FPS games today provide the player with a plethora of useful waist high walls in most of their level maps. These were probably included to give the player plenty of places where they could duck and hide while their health meter recharges. Sometimes this works well, but occasionally can be over done and at times seem a little silly. Crysis 2 has some moments like this.

Limited carrying capacity - Classic FPS games like Doom or Half Life allow the player to carry hundreds of rounds of ammunition, scores of grenades and other devices, 10 plus weapons and usually a suit of heavy armour. However when Halo was released, suddenly this began to seem a little silly. The Master Chief could carry 2 guns and 4 grenades and that was it. Later games began to copy this more realistic style of inventory use, examples include Call of Duty, Duke Nukem Forever, Metro 2033.

So obviously FPS games have improved since the early days, however I feel that 90% of the improvements have been graphically focused. There is no doubt that modern shooters look amazing, have great atmospheres and can be truly scary. However they usually use extremely clichéd settings, such as the post apocalyptic wasteland (Borderlands, RAGE, Fallout, Brink, Metro 2033, Stalker, the list goes on) or World War 2 (Medal of Honour, Call of Duty etc). They are also often too short (usually less than 8 hours) and too easy for anyone remotely familiar with the genre. So a player will pay €50 - €60 for a game they will finish in 2 / 3 days. While it might have been visually impressive, the predictable plots, unchallenging game play and over used settings usually result in an overall lackluster experience (Crysis 2 for me).

Truly innovative and original FPS games are still rare but do appear (Mirrors Edge, Amnesia Dark Decent). But right now I feel the majority of modern shooters speak of a stagnant genre with a future of remaking classic games and churning out the same old crap to try to make as much money as possible. EA and Activision are the worst offenders. I feel we will have to wait until a brave indie developer comes out with something truly awesome before we see any actual advances in the FPS genre.

Rumour Mill: Assassins Creed 3 Revealed

After some pictures surfaced on tinternet showing what appears to be an assassin standing in front of the old continental American flag (pre civil war), armed with period weapons and clothing, the long anticipated and unrevealed setting of Assassins Creed 3 appears to have been leaked. He seems to be equipped with some 18th century weaponry and clothing and has what appears to be a tomahawk war axe in his hand. Continuing in the Assassins Creed formula of basing the games in unused historical settings, The Crusades, The Renaissance, I must say that this has piqued my interest. There will plenty of opportunities to create some interesting political intrigue in that chaotic times surrounding the American civil war. I just hope I manage to actually get through Brotherhood (my progress has seemed to be stalled indefinitely) and then Revelations before this comes out. Rumour has it Ubisoft will be announcing Assassins Creed 3 on March 5th, so not too long to wait and see how long we'll be waiting and where/when it will be set. Exciting times indeed!