Gameplay

Gameplay complaints today. Not complaints about gameplay in games but people complaining about gameplay. I remember one of the big complaints about FF VII is that “The gameplay was nothing but hitting the X button”. Yeah, so what? The gameplay in an RPG isn't what happens with the controller, but how you build your character, and what you do as you advance. Just like in a pen and paper RPG. But the incessant complaints about there being no gameplay has, over the years, been taking RPGs more and more real time. RPGs as a whole are one of the last refuges for people that like some kind of video game, but have no thumb sweat ability.

Another one is a sin of IGN, who complain about the simple repetitive gameplay of Dynasty Warriors or Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom. Again, so what? We played Pacman, Defender and Asteroids for hours on end back in the day. Those things has simple, repetitive gameplay, but they were a blast to play. There is something to be said for simple games. There are those, like me, that don't want to spend hours figuring out the intricacies of a control structure or the tactics the game wants. We just like to sit down and play dang it.

I sometimes thing it may be in the differing ways that games get played. I play for a half and hour, or hour at a time (tops) at any single game. I drop in, play for a while, save, and stop. I'm sure that the people who complain about the simplistic game play tend to play for hours and hours in one sitting.

Now back to games - bashing aliens with a crowbar.

Games played since last post.
Half Life (PC)
Solitaire (PC)
Earth Defense Force 2017 (360)
Rumble Roses (360)
Assassins Creed (360)
Call of Duty 4 (360)

Snap Judgement Reviews 1

One of the things I intend to do on this blog is give commentary of games I play. I work at a movie rental place and get free rentals, so I will do a lot of these. My “Snap Judgment Reviews” are reviews on first impressions of a game, usually made with less than an hour of play. If a game can't grab me in an hour, well too bad for the game.

Snap Judgment Reviews:

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
Gorgeous game. Decent controls, and I just wan the other characters to get out of the way so I can play the dang game. They get in the way, get shot, and reset me back to checkpoint. They don't seem to do much to help, and are just a problem.
Game difficulty - On easiest level, I got killed in the second firefight. Not a good thing on easy level. Now part of that is my play style, I tend to run and gun, and not hide or take cover a whole lot. But unlike The Darkness I wasn't frustrated to the point of wanting to throw my controller against a wall. I didn't try to replay after I died once (it was late). Will play more and see if that is just some basic tactics I need to learn rather than a problem with the game and my play style.
Major comment great game, but I just wish it were a solo game. I hate squad based games, but this one may be good enough to keep playing.

Addendum - Didn't take much to get through the first firefight - and while there are sqaud members around, I don't seem to lose if the enemy kills them (which really hasn't happened yet). So this one is going to get more play. And the squad stuff helps give it a stronger story aspect.



Gears of War.
Visuals are cool, I like the controls and the game. I'm usually not for 3rd person games, but both Earth Defense Force 2017 and Lost Planet have become favorites so I thought I'd give this one a try too. I enjoy playing it, but like above, one the easiest mode, I got killed in the first firefight. An NPC got hit, and the screen came up wanted me to help him. Screw that, I'll kill the bad guys first. If he dies, that just means I get to play a solo game (as I prefer). Like CoD4, I intend to try again, with better tactics than last time. I have a feeling this one may be a keeper.


Addendum - after playing Gears of war for 20 minutes and getting killed time and again in the first real firefight, and then going to gamefaqs and finding that unlike other shooters a quick burst of gunfire can kill you - and taking cover is one of the most important things in the game.... well this one is off my to get list. Not the way I play.

But now back to games - time to try to assassinate some Templars.

Games played since last post:
Battlestar Galactica (Xbox)
Earth Defense Force 2017 (360)
DoA 2 Hardcore (PS2)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
Zelda 2: Adventures of Link (NES) - my favorite of all of the Zelda games. Period.
Solitaire (PC)
Minesweeper (PC)
Luxor 2 (360 Live arcade)

Easy should be Easy

Ever play a game on “easy” and it isn't? That just sucks. I love video games of all stripes and styles, aside from a couple (see history in the sidebar). And one thing I've noticed is that many game developers don't want people like me to enjoy their game.

I spend lots of money on games, and I love playing them, but to be honest, in a lot of ways, I'm not that good at them. I don't sit down for hours at a time and play straight through a game. I play it in 20 and 30 minutes chunks, weekends notwithstanding. :) I don't want to take hours to learn the ins and out of the details of the game just to be able to play it. To master it yes, but to play it - no. A good example of a game done right this way is DoA 2 for the PS2. Easy level, don't know any of the moves, don't know any special moves, and I beat it first time through. That is what an easy mode should be like. Now I like fighting games, and I will take the time to master their fighting styles, and game play, but I didn't need to in order to enjoy this game.

Easy should be hard enough that a guy who has really never played video games before should be able to peruse the rules, get the basic controls, and have a chance of beating the game.

Having recently picked up a 360, and a bunch of older Xbox games, I find that a lot of the Xbox games don't have an easy level, even if they say they do. Take Battlestar Galactica, a game I really have been enjoying, but I still haven't been able to save my game. I have to complete the first mission, with 7 sections to it, before I can save. I don't have 2 hours to sit down and make my way through the whole first mission, without getting killed or failing a sub-mission mind you, before I can save. So I've been playing the same sub-missions over and over. So yeah, I'm getting better at them, and some time in the future, I'll be good enough to get to the point to save.

The point is, I shouldn't have to.

Another game done right is Earth Defense Force 2017. Each scene takes 5 to 20 minutes. You can save after each one. The difficulty does increase, but I've only failed to beat 3 scenes the first time through, out of about 20 I've played so far. I tried the game on hard - first mission beat the crap out of me. So I go back to easy.

I applaud the Wii and the advent of developers who actually make games that beginners or people with no game skill can play on easy. The whole casual game movement is something I hope really takes steam.

But now back to games - shooting down Cylons... the original ones, where Apollo was a guy's name name and not a call sign, and Starbuck was a guy. :)

Games played since last post:
Godzilla saves the Earth (PS2)
Earth Defense Force 2017 (360)
Lego Star Wars Complete (360)

Player 1

As noted in my history, I don't do the online game thing. I have never liked multi-player games in general, although there were a few in the arcade - I enjoyed playing Gauntlet in '85 with my RPG group, and playing Golden Axe with my wife.

I have never, ever played video games to play against someone else. Back when street fighter came out, if someone else came up to play two player, I would ask them not too. If they did, I just turtled in the corner and let them beat on me, or walk away from the machine. I never compared my high scores with others; I would try an beat my personal best, but never worried about where I stood in comparison with others.

This attitude followed me from the arcade to home computers and then to consoles. I love doom - I loved the doom community, with all the extra levels and such. I have hated all multi-player games I've ever played. I can't stand MMOs - although if one came along that had absolutely no PvP and punished players for screwing with newbies or griefing, then I might. I don't care about gamerscore or achievements - in my 360 I have a profile just for downloading content. I never play games on it. So I profile with everything zeros. :)

For me, Video games is generally a solo hobby. I play when I'm not surfing message boards (which is interactive), Roleplaying (my other major hobby), reading or watching movies. The only multi-player I actually do, is when the Wife and I play a game together (Champions of Norrath is a pretty fun one for us). If I have friends over, we talk, or play PnP RPGs - videogames just never enters into the equation.

So when I listen to podcasts or whatnot and hear "It's always better online" I just scoff.

And that is one of the reasons I started this blog. As a voice from a video gamer who doesn't follow the norm. Other differences in later posts.

But now back to games - Gotta go shoot some bugs in Earth Defence Force 2017. :)