Moar Demos: Wolfenstein

I’ve been playing a bunch of XBM demos lately. Time to update my blog.

First off: Wolfenstein. The difficulty selection screen took me back about 20 years. Yes, it’s true that the first person shooter is a hard core genre. It’s very unlikely that a noob to the genre would have picked this game up without having played many previous shooters (including previous W games). So I won’t make my standard “why the pejorative ‘Can I play, daddy?’ label for Easy mode?” comment.

What I ask, on a much deeper level, is why include Easy mode at all. If it’s clear you despise and disdain noobs and don’t want to have them play your game, then spend the time and money refining default (Normal) difficulty level and making sure that the harder difficulties are correctly calibrated to the kinds of challenge that these folks want.

Side note: I’ve been paying more attention to cinematics controls lately, and Wolfenstein adds a new wrinkle: Pressing A calls up a bottom of screen text hint: “A to Skip; B to Pause/Play”. Very elegant in that I learn that A-A quickly skips me ahead. And you get the bonus feature of pausing it if you actually want to watch the cinematic, but just need to get up and grab a soda.

On to the more important stuff: Initial experience. After the quick reprise of Halflife and Halflife 2 (start in a train car; run past authoritarian guards who are interrogating civilians) it jumps quickly into a learn-as-you-play tutorial.

I managed to fail the tutorial pretty much right away when I was trying to complete the “Use the veil to pass through the wall task”. As soon as I started to walk through the wall I received a “press down on the dpad to exit the veil” prompt. Whoops. I exited the veil while I was in the middle of a wall. Death and restart. Last checkpoint could probably have taken me back to the underground sewer as opposed to the train car at the beginning of the level.

Otherwise, the “basics” tutorial was pretty good. I’m still not sure what “veil pools” are (vs. all the water and water runoff I see all around me in the sewer) but the learn-to-play mode covered basic navigation and exploration in a straightforward and non-intrusive manner. No interruptions to game play for modal billboard text, just navigate through the sewer and learn a few of the basic functions (walk, run, open things, climb ladders, jump, crouch).

I kind of missed the introduction of my next “magic” power because it was in the middle of a mission briefing and being handed a bunch of standard weapons. It looked like I picked up some sort of cool item, but I wasn’t really sure what it was.

Then came combat.

The “Mire” ability seemed pretty cool in terms of visual and game play effects. It’s fun to send bodies flying. It’s nice to have a combined slow time/detective mode ability when I want to take out a squad of enemies single-handedly. The standard MP40 had a satisfying sound and feel to it. The grenades, however, were lacking. Most importantly, there was no visual, sound, or rumble feedback to let you know how long you could “cook” the grenade for prior to throwing it. This is a problem given that your “use grenade” prompt basically tells you to hold the LB to burn through the timer. Needless to say I made a mess of myself.

In terms of combat feedback, there were a couple of things missing. First, there was no “tango down” equivalent when an individual enemy was finished off. I realize that this is much easier to do "within the fiction” with more futuristic games (like in Halflife 2 when you hear the flatlines), but even so it’s something that I find I miss when it’s not there. Other games use tell-tale vocal screams or grunts that accomplish the same thing. That said, there could have been an intentional decision to NOT provide this feedback in order to encourage players to use their weapon sites to visually confirm each kill – and punish players who throw caution to the wind. However, I would have expected that approach more in a survival/horror kind of scenario instead of a squad based tactics scenario.

The second part that was missing was the “end of sequence” feedback. I mostly knew we had killed all the local baddies when my squad mates moved forward and/or my objective changed. I guess I’ve just been playing a number of games that had dynamic music lately -- and other games that provided a dramatic cinematic of the last baddie’s death – which provide a nice sense of closure.

After a few standard combat encounters, the game got… weird. But in a good way. It was kind of like a combo of Bioshock, The Darkness, and Call of Duty all in one. I like a dose of sci-fi in my action adventure, especially if it makes for interesting puzzles, combat, and upgrade paths. I really enjoyed Bioshock and The Darkness for the story components and gritty upgrade paths. I missed out on fun combat for the former game because I set the difficulty level too low (I wanted to blow through the content) and never really found combat in the latter to be fun (even though I liked the powers and upgrades).

The Call of Duty experience (at least the first couple) was much more about the combat sequences. They felt polished and balanced (except in a few cases) and even though I know they were scripted and I was getting lots of cheat-y help to propel me through the levels, the game play was viscerally exciting.

The Wolfenstein demo ended shortly after I received my first sci-fi weapon (and met the upgrade vendor). Even though I was interested in continuing, I was left to wonder whether the game would be able to deliver the elements I like in a sci-fi action adventure game in satisfying ways? Specifically, will the sci-fi abilities and weapons be viscerally satisfying, make for tactically interesting exploration and combat, and be fun to upgrade? The demo didn’t really answer this question for me – and required me to make a leap of faith that I’m not sure I’m ready to make.

First person shooters are a tough sell for someone like me. I evaluate them against my favorite action adventure games and they tend to come up lacking unless they bring something new game play-wise, have a world that is super fun to explore and interact with, and/or have character-driven story that is well crafted and engaging.

Prey is a great example of an FPS that I knew nothing about before the demo and that blew me away when I saw the cool possibilities that “portal” based game play brought to the table. I don’t get that same sense in the Wolfenstein demo.

I also have a strong suspicion that story won’t carry this game – the bar has been set too high by its competitors (The Darkness, Bioshock to name a few) and, let’s face it, the Wolfenstein franchise is not known for its great character-driven story experiences.

With a ton of other content (casual, social, and console games) and Uncharted 2 around the corner, I think that Wolfenstein gets added to the Gamefly Q.

Day 26: Part 3, Arkham Asylum and WET demos.

I tried two very different demos with two very different initial experiences that both left me intrigued and curious about getting my hands on the full retail versions of the games.

First off: WET. This is the kind of game that I want to like. It offers the fantasy of cool gun play, over-the-top action sequences, set on a cheesy wire-fu movie set. What I was hoping for was Stranglehold but... fun.

Unfortunately, the initial experience was a mess. I was dropped into billboard prompt tutorials that were easy to fail. And fail. And fail.

Part of the problem was that the controls being introduced were quite difficult to execute: They mostly involved manipulating the Right Trigger, Right Thumbstick, and Face Buttons. Moving your right thumb quickly between Thumbstick (for fine grained aiming) and Face Buttons (for mashing) is very hard to do.

Another part of the problem was that the aiming model was confusing. The reticle did not seem to auto-lock on targets, but shots fired seemed mostly to hit targets. It felt exceptionally hard to aim during slow-mo gun play, but then aiming didn't seem to matter because bullets just kind of found targets.

When this was coupled with the fact that the tutorial tasks were very easy to fail within a few seconds, the deck was stacked against the player feeling any sense of competence.

Sure, it's a demo. Players were only provided with a limited amount of content and needed to be rushed up to speed. Hopefully the weapons and special moves are layered on a little more sensibly in the retail version. Ideally players would have opportunities to practice and master core mechanics through well paced challenges.

Although I found the grainy film art style of the opening sequence a bit distracting -- and even nauseating in places -- I loved some of the other art direction choices. The silhouetted background level was fantastic and really provided for some cool stylized violence that I haven't seen before in a game. The guys in bright white shirts and black pants coupled with the red of the background and blood effects really drew me into the game in a way that I haven't experienced since some of the crazy and brilliant levels in Psychonauts.

The final sequence in the demo combined some QTE events with a fantastic car-to-car combat sequence. It made me think of what the Wheelman demo should have been -- and even gave Ninja Blade a run for its money in terms of the sheer insanity of some of the sequences.

After a rough start, the WET demo took me for a wild ride and left me wanting more. Because of the poor initial experience and the fact that combat felt very mash-y and not very strategic, I do worry that the game will end up feeling unpolished and that combat might get a little repetitive. I'm definitely adding it to my Gamefly Q.

On the other hand, Batman: Arkham Asylum provided an exceptionally polished demo that felt good right from the very start. The controls were almost as complex as those in WET, but they were introduced in a way that made the game approachable and fun. I felt like Batman right from the get-go.

Instead of large obtrusive billboard hints, smaller onscreen help prompts triggered at key moments (e.g., "X to strike opponent"). Combat proceded from simple punches to counters and takedowns at a reasonable pace. Moreover, at least during the demo, there were on screen tool tips that reminded players of some of the cooler combat moves that Batman could perform.

One of the more interesting decisions was to calibrate controls such that the player always felt cool. There was no manual aiming of basic melee attacks; ranged attacks had a lot of target assist, and special moves required very little aiming and were pretty much fire and forget (ensure the enemy or target is in your site and then press the appropriate button). The tactical and strategic feel comes from using a mixture of stealth and sleuthing in order to outwit enemies who are too powerful to take on via a frontal assault.

My main concern after playing the demo was that the game would be too much of a one trick pony: Hop around from high ledge to high ledge and swoop down on unsuspecting loners who get separated from their squad. A secondary concern was how boss battles would play out: It seemed unlikely that I'd be able to grapple with the rather large monster/creature that the Joker unleashed on me just as the demo ended.

Those concerns aside, I did get sucked right into the story. I love the prison/asylum as a setting for a horror/action adventure game (or movie), and I immediately thought of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay and The Darkness, two games I enjoyed immensely.

Interestingly, when I think about whether to buy or rent this game, I find myself leaning more towards buying it. Why? For the same reason that I bought Bioshock. I loved the demo, and because I saw a bunch of my friends playing through it via Xbox Live, it made me think that it must be worth owning and playing right away as opposed to waiting for a rental.

The power of the social network compells me.

Lookin' for options? You've got none left, boy ;)

So, my friends (and probably others) and I firmly believe that serious voice talent can make even reading a phone book engaging and interesting.

For instance, Christopher Walken could probably keep me in stitches as he read the weekly NFL injury report.

The developers of Afro Samurai decided to include VO in their game shell menus. So, when you go to the Options screen, you get the quote contained in the title of this post as read by Samuel L. Jackson.

I'm not a big SLJ fan, aside from his work in Pulp Fiction and Search for One-Eyed Jimmy. But he's cast perfectly and the writing is superb in Afro Samurai.

For a real treat: Go to the Statistics page. Not sure if it only plays the first time (or on occasion) but the SLJ monologue for this menu screen is fan-freaking-tastic.

Kudos to the writers.

The game, itself, is pretty entertaining. It's a frenetic journey, much in the way that Half-life 2 was. Each segment leads into the next in a kind of breathless adventure that leaves me wanting more.

The game bring lots of cool style in terms of music and visuals to the game experience. Cut-scenes are faded in using techniques found in 70s martial arts style movies. The hip-hop music is a great addition and the character and environment design is great.

The combat system is over-the-top and fun (though I still can't figure out some of the special moves) albeit a little button-mashy for the most part. I'd like a little more tactics/strategy in my encounters -- something that the game shows hints of in certain set-piece battles (like where there are sharpshooters perched on some buildings; where certain enemies need to be thrown into specific targets).

The dialog, content, and even achievements are all very internally consistent and support the feel of the game in a way that is extremely satisfying.

In some ways, especially with the loading screen videos and the treatment of player "death", the game reminds me a bunch of The Darkness. Another wonderfully written stylistic game that didn't have the greatest combat, but was still a pleasure to play through for the visceral experience.

Time to dive back in before hitting the road again. Summer crunch is here and it's keeping me busy.

Dead Space: More...

So now I'm about a third of the way through the game and I'm starting to enjoy the claustrophobic atmosphere even if the combat and econ/upgrade system seem lacking.

The econ system feels derivative of Bioshock and Ratchet & Clank -- except it feels older and more tired. There was nothing ground breaking about the econ in either of these games (they are similar to many other action-adventure w/ light RPG elements games) but they seemed cooler because of the sense of humor and the fact that some of the upgrades and new powers were pretty original and fun. Dead Space is much more like Mass Effect (and many other RPGs) where bonuses are a lot of "X% faster" and "1 point more" upgrades that just don't seem cool to me because they make me think about spreadsheets (I've talked about this before).

Combat is interesting but not very visceral or engaging. Even though aiming is required to be effective, I don't seem to be able to do it very well. Part of me would prefer a smarter aiming system (it's not a MP game, right) that maybe I could upgrade over time. I think that Crackdown has a pretty cool system for making limb/head shots interesting and fun without requiring pinpoint accuracy out of a third person shooter.

Where combat gets most visceral is when in close quarters with an enemy or during several canned sequences that are a lot like quick time events in God of War (and other games). The idea is to mash the buttons in the correct directions (or aim your weapon while you're being dragged on the ground) to try and let you experience much more up close and personal combat as opposed to always having ranged shooting. It's a great idea when done well. The problem with its implementation in Dead Space (at least so far) is that it's hard to tell when you've gone into a quick time event (I died twice mashing buttons during one sequence before I realized I was actually supposed to aim instead of mash buttons like in other sequences) and the control sequence is hard to figure out. When I'm being mugged by an enemy, an A button icon appears. But pressing A -- and even mashing A -- doesn't seem to do anything. I now mash the left stick and A button and it seems to work most of the time. That said, I have no idea how the mechanic is supposed to work.

In terms of pace, I'm torn. I get the scary claustrophobic ambience. I realize I'm in a special suit and can't just run and jump around (except in zero g, which is kind of fun). But it still feels a little sluggish and breaks the immersion when I can't just hop up or down on something waist high.

In terms of in-game controls and UI, it's a bit of a mess. It's super hard to access your inventory when you need to (for instance, to use another air cannister), the map is pretty complex and can be hard to use if you veer too far from the default setting, and the button mappings make it a lot harder to perform combat maneuvers than is necessary. 

Regarding combat button mappings, I expect LT to either (a) lock on an enemy (that I could then sub-lock onto a limb/head) or (b) sight my gun (where I get a reticle and a slightly zoomed in view. Currently it's option B, but without the reticle. It also feels extra wonky to pick stuff up and hurl it -- I feel like I need to press and release triggers and buttons in the right order or else it fails in unexpected ways. I feel like some of these decisions were made in order to have RT be both melee (alone) and ranged attack (with LT), which sort of makes sense (because you can't press a face button to melee attack while aiming the camera with RS) but ends up making default attacks (ranged, special powers) more complicated to execute.

I'm definitely torn on this game. I want to like it more and forgive it the flaws it has, like I did with The Darkness. But I loved the story and character development in that game. I'm not sure the ambience is enough to keep me going until the end -- and the story really does seem like a hodge podge combination of Aliens, Halo, and various other sci-fi movies/games.

I'll give it a couple more levels and see if it surprises me. Otherwise it's back to Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

Finished The Darkness (and played some God of War 2)

I just completed The Darkness. It was created by the folks behind Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. I quite enjoyed the ride, even if it wasn't as polished an adventure as Uncharted and the combat never lived up to its potential (weapons + demon powers + minions) in terms of challenge or tactical/strategic feel.

What did I like most? I really liked the way I got to get to know my character better through his dreams and visions. These played at various plot points of the game -- and key ones repeated during reloads. Not only did this make load times much more interesting, but it really captured the feel of the moody/tormented main character.

The game was definitely adult themed and quite graphic and gory at times -- much like a good action/thriller movie. The sequence involving the death of my girlfriend was one of the more powerful sequences in a game. They captured the frustration, helplessness, and anger that I was supposed to feel just right.

As far as God of War 2 goes, I'm playing it more for research purposes right now. I've got a couple of games that I'm working on that are going for action combat. While I really enjoy the combination of action combat and quick time events, I think that it's a little unforgiving on default difficulty. I wonder if I would have been able to complete the first hour of game play without having played a bunch of the first version. That said, the first hour was a wild and fun ride. I look forward to playing more.

I'm not writing, but I am gaming...

I've actually been doing some gaming this past week -- just nothing that I can talk about due to NDA restrictions.

I've been fighting hockey schedule, setting up the apartment (moving into a new place with my awesome girlfriend), leaving my current job, setting up my new business... Lots of stuff.

Thankfully, my gaming "cave" is ready to go. I may even do some PC gaming to celebrate. Perhaps some Portal mods that I can't get on the Xbox 360.

Can't wait to dive back in and start playing and writing again. The Darkness awaits.

For now, I'm just pestering my friends to take their Scrabulous, Text Twirl, and Scramble turns. And I'll be playing some World of Warcraft: CCG this weekend, too.

More The Darkness

The Darkness is still enjoyable, but it is seeming less and less like an action adventure and more like an adventure. It really does fall more in line with Eternal Darkness than Chronicles of Riddick.

I'm finding the story and character development engaging even though it plays on rather tired stereotypes of New York lowlifes and mobsters. The main character reminds me a bit of the main character in Prey: Rough around the edges, but likable.

The combat aspect of game play, sadly, is not all that satisfying. While there is the promise of interesting/tactical/puzzle solving squad based combat, this has yet to be delivered in any compelling way.

Another frustrating aspect is in-game lighting and level design. I often find myself lost and not sure where to go next and need to refresh my memory with the journal or (worse) check street maps to figure out where I am and where I need to get to. Seems like the designers could do a better job subtly pointing my nose in the direction I need to wander in.

I think I'm engaged enough in the story that I'll try to blow through and complete the game in order to get some resolution. It still does amaze me that I'm willing to set aside the varied complaints I made in order to complete the story.

Received my Dualshock 3 today...

I'm dedicating this weekend to setting up my new place -- especially my office/gaming/viewing room. I can't wait to be settled, gaming, and blogging at my usual pace.

Today the Sony Dualshock 3 arrived. I'll have to re-rent Resistance: Fall of Man to give it one last try. Maybe the third try with a meaty, vibraty controller will be the charm? In the meantime I do have God of War 2 at home, waiting to be played and returned to Gamefly. Maybe I'll try some of that this weekend instead of returning to The Darkness (which, as of my last post, had started to pick up).

I sincerely hope that the Dualshock 3 does for the PS3 what Akibono/Controller-S solution did for the Xbox. Say goodbye and good riddance to the Duke and the 6 axis controller.

Whoa... The Darkness punched me in the gut in just the right way

So, I was meandering through The Darkness and was unsure whether I would keep playing. I really liked the demo and heard good things from a friend. But I just wasn't getting into the core game play (shoot out the lights, use your powers in the dark).

Then I entered the blown up orphanage. What an awesome sequence.

Cool ghost apparitions that helped narrate the back story in ways that were compelling and involving enough to make me watch even though I didn't really need to.

And then the sequence where the darkness took over and forced me to watch a rather difficult scene -- the death of my childhood girlfriend -- and then, via a mirror, my own suicide. Let's just say that I was hooked on the story.

It reminded me very much of Planescape: Torment in that this was my character's memory of the first time he died. In other words, dying many deaths is part of this game and of who my character is. He started off dying in the opening credits sequence and has died again at the conclusion of the first act.

I was just left at the beginning of the grisly second act (more executions) and I can't wait to figure out what comes next.

Update: Even better. I spawned into a WWI trench. The soldiers are all reanimated (and won't finally die until you eat their hearts, unlike in the modern world). It reminds me a bit of Eternal Darkness where you play different time periods in the same game as the same character.