Below I illustrate systems or concepts I found interesting while playing Conviction.

1. Michael Ironside is Sam Fisher
2. Cover Mechanic and Resource Management.
3. VO, or as the AI like to say “asshole this, asshole that!  Think that will work asshole!  Asshole!  Asshole!”

Michael Ironside is Sam Fisher
Not system or even design related I know. At first I was taken aback and wondering how his arms grew back after that dreadful fall from that mars elevator. I realize his voice is not new to Splinter Cell fans. It was however new to me. His voice acting, coupled with excellently written dialog made Sam’s many cut-scenes and quips quite bearable. To celebrate, for the first time on GToB, I’ve embedded a youtube video. Watch it.

O that’s nice!

Cover Mechanic and Resource Management
Normally I wouldn’t bother covering the basics of the stealth genre. I feel that it is the responsibility of the game studio to create a set of systems that facilitate the switch from stealth game play to action/combat game play to exploration. Being the fifth version of Splinter Cell from Ubisoft Montreal, they’ve had a lot of practice and have done a good job of the systems IMO.

I found the execute mechanic to be an excellent example of the system inter-relation I mentioned above. This specific mechanic is highlighter beginning at 3:22 of the below video. The player can choose to leave “being hidden” to attack the AI, then quickly restore that state using execute. However, to use execute efficiently, the player must observe the AI from stealth. When playing Conviction, you will do this constantly.

Reconnoitering is important. Run and gun is not the name of Conviction.

VO or the Asshole Extravaganza
Ugh. I couldn’t find an example of what I’m referring to here. You’ll know what I mean when you fire up the game.

The enemies are almost constantly spouting the same inane vulgarities. There is some mix up, more then most studios are willing to create. I would have preferred less swearing. It’s comical in a sense. I hear “asshole” about a thousands times throughout the game. That’s ridiculous.

I would challenge you to count each time you hear ass hole during your play through and post it in the comments.

Summary
I really liked Conviction. The story, solid. The environments, solid. The core, solid. Go play it.

Finally!  Wordpress breaths again!  Serves me right for keeping around 2 year old plugins…

Moving on!  I have many updates and plenty of observations, things I like and other GToB none sense!

On with the show!  Below is the list of games I either am currently playing, have played (and beaten) and plan to play in the coming month.

1. Splinter Cell: Conviction – 360 – Beat
2. Civilization 4: Mod Fall from Heaven 2 – PC
3. Super Street Fighter 4 – 360 – zomg awesome
4. Blood Bowl PC: Dark Elf Edition

It’s a wonder I have any time.  I’m sooo excited that I can post again!  Eat it Intertoobs!!!

For instance:

If you begin an encounter poorly, there isn’t a way to bounce back.  In other words, didn’t pull off that perpetual come back.  In other words, the combats must be executed well, not flawlessly or you die and have to re-load.

For instance, its easy to see where the inspiration for the combat came from.  Have you ever played a DnD game?  Have you played 4th edition DnD?  Have you played Baldur’s Gate?  (I feel horrible at referencing their own game, sorry Bioware.)

Another Bioware title within the same universe, Dragon Age: Journeys.  Where its easy to adjust your tactics and bounce back from a poor decision.  This is built into the game because its turn based.  Watching the combat unfold due to your choices is simple to understand.

Playing the real time version is a little less forgiving.  I don’t mind having to pause the game every second or so to manually adjust a character a two, that’s enjoyable for this type of game.  What I’m talking about is that perpetual come back situation.

I like when combat in a tactics focused game feels like the manual, or balance meter, in Tony Hawk.  The idea is to keep the difficulty and choices with the arrow to the center or top of the meter.  When the meter starts to slide towards one way or the other, adjustments needs to be made to bring the arrow back to center.  Being able to effectively bring the arrow back to the top of the balance meters is bacially the perpetual come back.  If in Tony Hawk getting the arrow back to the top of the balance meter were exceptionally difficult, that would be called a slippery slope.

I mean that’s the point right?  The point is to force the player to make heroic choices?  Choices that provide that momentary “aha!” feeling when that simple choice lead to certain victory.

Unfortunately I’m not privy to the combat design discussions or even direction over in cold Edmonton Bioware headquarters.  So for all I know this is “working as intended”.

However, I am enjoying the story.  Even if I don’t understand or immediately see the consequences for my actions.  I’ve saved a life here, saved a life there.  Nothing terribly important in the grand scheme of things in DA:O.

Leaving combat aside and on a humorous note, if Bioware continues with this ridiculous everyone covered in blood conversation cut scenes, maybe they’ll have animations of the characters, I dunno, wiping off the blood?  Maybe have an opener like:

“Hey, you’re covered in blood.  You obviously killed everything on your way here.  Now giving you’re a FUCKING KILLING MACHINE, why should I risk my life talking to you since obviously I like living… and did I mention you’re covered in blood?”

P.S.  There’s no mention of sex here because unlike what I felt like the forced sex scene and relationship that happened in Mass Effect, I actually enjoy how the romance is progressing in this game.

You know it doesn’t happen after I decide to kill one(Ashley or Kaidan) and let the other live (Ashley or Kaidan).  I mean WTF, I treated Kaidan like shit the entire game and he followed me around like a futuristic head ache ridden love sick beaten dog that was told twice.  Maybe my female Shepard was a Scorpio and he a cancer.  Yeah, that’s makes sense…  Oy… *palm face*

I always preferred Chaos and the Tyranids.  For years I played Tyranids.  There was nothing quite like throwing 80 Hormegaunts from 2nd edition across the table towards whatever army I was fighting.  It didn’t really matter who they were in the end.  160 dice against any foe causes wounds.  My apologies readers if you have no idea what I’m talking about.

With 4th and 5th edition I became increasingly interested in Chaos.  I never liked Nurgle and I always thought the history of the Heresy to be quite dubious.  I believe it resonates with my lack of understanding of Fanaticism.  So imagine my surprise when I’m in a local book store and I see a novel titled Fulgrim.

I immediately picked it up, read the back cover and a flipped to a random page to see the quality of the writing.  I was confronted with nouns, characters and settings in Pre-Heresy 40k.  I was in heaven.

Each book paints the pre-Heresy Imperium in a very interesting light.  Almost each new planet must negotiate with super warrior who arrive and basically say “Well you were once human from Earth so we own you.  Follow us or die.”  Yeah, fanatics.  Even the good ones are still… ridiculous.  Moving on.

I’ve devoured each book and I’ve increased my scope and knowledge of the 40k universe.  Of note would be the Emperor’s last execution of a major religious leader on conquered Earth, Uriah Olathaire to be exact.  It is detailed in Tales of Heresy.  Fantastic story.  The Emperor is quite a fiend.  I suppose there is always the argument “The ends justify the means.”  I will leave you the readers to find that novel.  If you are a fan, you’ve already read them.

Which brings me finally to my dislike of the Space Wolves.  I dislike them.  Maybe its the models.  Maybe I just don’t like Vikings, or whatever culture the SW are based on.  What I’m particularly latching on to is the statements in this video.

The tension between the Space Wolves and the Thousand Sons has been set up for about 2 books now, Tales of Heresy and the Battle for the Abyss.  If, as the authors suggest, the Thousand Son’s were turned to chaos because of a betrayal by the Space Wolves, it will solidify my dislike of that legion forever.

I got my copy of MW2 yesterday and the game continues to impress.  I wasn’t under the impression that Infinity Ward was a continuing series based in their MW universe.  Although I don’t think IW delivered MW2 to the same level of critical reception as MW, the game does impress.

The main players of the first installation, if you will, of MW make a come back appearance in MW2 in addition to some new characters.  The russian level, that everyone made such a fuss about, does leave an impact and introduces the call to action.  That pivotal part of every Hero’s Journey where the main character/characters are spurred into action to right the wrongs of the world.

The resolution leaves something to be desired in the same way that the Matrix Reloaded leaves the audience feeling.  You can tell that the events of the presented story are complete but there is much yet to be resolved.

A couple points if you will:

1. The characters still have a level of bad assery about them.  By the third time I saw that ridiculous mohawk on Soap’s head I was over it *snicker*
2. The environments are expansive,  This is in stark contrast to MW.  The levels are bigger and have more in them this time around.
3. Grenade spam was lessened.  The annoyance this time around was the use of flash bangs by the AI
4. Increased variety of guns.  ++ for multiplayer

The campaign is only 4-6 hours long.  Which isn’t bad considering the effort put into the multiplayer aspects of the game.  Perhaps for the first time, you can complete cooperative campaigns in the MW setting.  I’m looking forward to investigating the Special Ops mode.

I was seriously hoping for a airplane special level after the campaign, instead I settled for a museum(huh?) setting showcasing the actors and the settings as the credits scrolled by.  Which confused me since I believe there were credits at the beginning of the game too.  Puzzling.

Other then the above, there isn’t much else to say.  IW delivered a super high quality CoD experience and I look forward to the next installment.  What I would like is that the next time around I am wow’d way more.  There were only three moments that really stood out to me.

1. The snowmobile section.
2. The submarine entrance.
3. The final russian army versus american army with Soap in the middle.

If you haven’t checked it out, go pick it up.  It’s worth the while.  If you don’t remember what happened in MW 1, go ahead and play through it to get back into the story.  You’ll thank me later.

L4D on one hand is an introduction to the cooperative shooter experience known as L4D#.  The balancing is great if limited in content.  This rifle is my rifle, there are many like it but this is my rifle and I’ll have this one rifle until the finale and if I don’t die, I’ll have this rifle until the final finale.  Etc Etc.

That last thought is in high contrast to the pacing and balance of L4D2.  Hordes in L4D were overwhelming is scope.  The AI director throwing 50-100 infected at the survivors at one time!  Different then the various horde structures of L4D2.  The AI director is still there.  The AI director is still “throwing” hordes but they’ll trickle in gradually.  The #s may be the same but I’ll be fighting them longer.

Because the hordes are more spread out, I use more ammunition.  Because L4D2 provides other weapon choices more often then an ammo pile I end up switching weapons rather frequently.  That is a nice touch.

The levels are arranged differently too.  Specifically I find there are fewer long shooting lanes.  There’s always a corner is sight or a bend to go around.  The only further word I can use to describe this is a funnel.  The level design funnels zombies my way.  Oh!  And by the way, “Turn around to hit zombies behind you!”  No shit Sherlock…

Finally and the best aspect of L4D2 excellent delivery: The narrative.  That’s right folks, the story!  Each campaign is closely interwoven, as if it is apart of a larger movie.  Or perhaps a string of hour long HBO mini series.  Spectacular.

On another note, I’ll be picking up Dragon Age: Origins next week.  Feels icky to call out certain aspects of its rating without experiencing the game first hand.  I imagine if the game is half as enjoyable as the flash game, it will be well worth the investment.

Happy Turkey Day folks!

Here are my reactions:

1. Does Sex = adult content?  Will I have the choice to not mate with the women in my party.  Can I just mate with all of them at the same time?
2. Does blood and violence = adult content?
3. What kind of moral choices will I be making?  *eagerly awaiting the response to this one*
4. Will it ultimately matter?  *damn well better.  The choices I made in Mass Effect had little to no effect on the game world.*
5. Is it a matter of killing or not?
6. Will the thoughts and feelings of the inhabitants change by way of my actions?  Or will NPCs just be missing from the world because I killed them?
7. What kind of character can I make?  I already know that I’m apart of an organization that saves the world all the time anyways.  Well, at least I’m not androgynous with blue hair this time.
8. Will the story be as… awesome as Mass Effect?  I liked the beginning intro to the Reaver tech universe and the ending exposition by the former races hologram… that’s about it.

Most importantly, how will the story be told?  Will I have to spend a boring 1-2 hours in the first hub world gathering information and listening to exposition or will I get to make the story as I go?  Which style will Bioware choose?

At least I only have to wait about 2 months to find out!

1. Read about the Great War(history link 1, history link 2) in February.
2. Sign up for Eve with a meat space(AKA real life) friend.
3. Find out he and his corporation are apart of Goon Fleet.
4. Join Goon Fleet.
5. Participate in the camping and destruction of system 49-, the last vestige of Delve space owned by Kenzoku.
6. Participate in the final hours of Kenzoku or B.O.B.’s existence.

I flew the basic newbie ship called a frigate.  My job was to tackle, or prevent the escape of enemy pilots.  I guarded the various jump gates into and out of the system for a week while my alliance mates destroyed every player alliance owned station in 49-.  Every ship counts.  I participated in the end game of a war whose life time exceeding 2 years.

Heh… What have you done lately?

#1 I love Eve Online’s Skill Development system.  More skills = more options.  Options include but are not limited to:  Bigger ships, industrial focus, auction house focus, crafting focused, making what you use on a ship better, etc etc.  It is a true horizontal development system, and I love it!

#2 When I defeat someone in PVP, there is a real world dollar value attached to the defeat.  In the smaller frigates, maybe 10 cents a ship.  For the later ships, you’re looking at anywhere from dollars to thousands of dollars per kill.  And you thought losing a BG in WoW was an inconvenience.

#3 Griefing isn’t stopped in Eve, but the attacker will be destroyed if they engage you.  See #2 into why only for the crazy is this an acceptable activity.

#4  Different activities allow for varying levels of player interaction.  Mining, crafting and selling are HIGH social activites.  Meaning instead of looking at a horrible crafting UI, you can chat while your merchandise is being created.  PVP combat is a LOW social activity in that NOT using voice chat will get you dead.

#5  The play areas are VERY controlled.  There is no player-controlled free form flight in EVE.  You MUST pick a destination(could be a ship) and either fly to it, or warp(IE fly very fast and be immune to combat) to that destination.  Each system has a number of entry/exit points and/or planets/asteroids.  Each point is a destination.  Obviously, the greater the number of lines that can be drawn between points, the greater the possibilities of engagement.  All of this includes safe spotting, which I’ll not discuss.

#6 and the BIGGEST reason why I enjoy EVE is that within 2 weeks I participated in an END GAME activity.  READ:  Before I payed for the game, I got to experience what EVE had to offer me as a player.  No 6 months of catch up time.  No gotta reach max level + gear up to raid.  Every player has a role to play no matter the skill level.  Its almost like there is a fleet of ships, each with a specific role that requires differents skills(both player and in game) that need to be accomplished.  Hrm, everyone has a place, I likes.  Reminds me slightly of Planetside, with support lines and transport ships…

I am very much enjoying my time playing Eve.  I’ve chosen the combat path.  I’m not a miner.  I don’t really enjoy the economics game and in general I dislike playing the auction house.  I look at spreadsheets all day long, no need to do that in game!  BTW, I really do appreciate all the folks that find playign the market fun.  Without you, most of the games that I enjoy would not have any form of community.  So while we have different flavors, you are respected in my book.  Now just send me an email with your system, ship names and location and I’ll come over and “thank” you for your efforts.

On to Luminary!!

#1 Point and Click combat.  The game isn’t a combat simulator.  Click on a mob, whack it until its dead.  Combat is a means, not the ends.  I likes.

#2 Bejeweled for crafting.  Select certain recipes, play bejeweled.  Score high, make a better item.  Score low, make a weaker item.  Next step is to allow me the player to pick from a subset of mini games when I craft.  In this way, red/green color blind people don’t struggle with the color choices of Luminary.  Yes, I am red/green color blind.

#3 Every recipe in the game is available to you at the start.  This works because the material drop rate is controlled by the devs.  Instead of having two controls, 1 being the recipe rarity, the other being the material rarity, the created something I call inclusive design.  Every player can participate in the economy on any scale.   Again the game isn’t about combat, so this makes sense.

#4  Selling on the auction house.  The fact that I can select an item in my inventory and it will find every instance of that item on the AH, so I can browse for similar items, simplifies and joyifies *snicker*, the AH experience.

#5 When I become a citizen of a town, I can invest in its infrastructure.  When I invest in infrastructure, I can potentially earn dividends.  Win.

#6 The sounds effects are very pleasing.

#7 I get rewarded every day for logging in.  There are “attend” points.  These points are similar to veteran rewards from other games(EQ2, EQ, CoX, etc).

A big acknowledgement to Tobold for writing a nice review and newbie guide about this game.  My characters name is Rerolled, if you decide to play mention me as a referrer.