When A Climax Is Not

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It took about 16 hours to finish Dishonored on a “low chaos” setting. If I recall, I only ever had to kill 1 enemy for a sub-quest and a bunch of spitting plants. Every single boss, including the last, has a non-lethal solution. Let’s get to that.

It’s no mass secret that Dishonored is about being betrayed. How often that happens is perhaps a secret but a poorly kept one after 10 minutes of play. You know the outline just not the details. And the details are good.

The final mission, or set really, test your ability to get around without being seen. Where the first missions had you jumping from roofs to avoid people, the last few have you running in the open with massive robots and teleporting ninjas all around. The second last zone is quite taxing.

The final zone has 4 enemies to avoid before the boss. Took a few tries but I got through.

When you reach the boss, you aren’t yet acknowledged so the door is open if you will. I shot sleeping darts, moved on up and opened a door to end the game.

I can tell you that after having subdued the first boss at the start of the game, pulled him across what seemed like 5 miles of corridor and branded his face, this last fight was perplexing.

But then I looked at it from a lore/story perspective, and lacking the want to spoil it, the ending made perfect sense.

It Is What It Is

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You know when you put your name in a hat for something and nearly a year later you get a call about it?  That feeling of “huh, I guess I was interested then“.  FireFall and Wildstar both piqued my interest about this time last year, when my SWTOR beta blues were hitting hard.  This week I got a pre-beta (what the heck is that if not an alpha?) for FireFall and decided to load it up.

Primer first.  FireFall is an FPS with PvE and PvP elements.  The RPG elements are skill unlocks and player customization.  The more skills you have, the better your loadouts.  You can also craft, but most of that is off-limits in the beta, as are the top-tier loadouts.  A few common classes, medic, engineer, tank, assault and sniper.  You can swap between them for little cost and the typical advantages/disadvantages apply.

Other than the actual beta-type issues (supremely interesting bugs), the core mechanics seem solid enough.  Shooting things to shoot more things makes sense.  The aiming portion feels solid.  The damage portion does not, but I think that’s a numbers game that beta will solve.  Skills make sense, cooldowns are long enough to provide meaning.  Movement is fluid, quests are indicated by checkpoint flags.  There’s plenty of random stuff happening on the map too, so there’s always something to do.

The hiccups for are as follows:

  • The game is based on group play.  Beta currently has few people.  This isn’t player driven content (like Planetside 2) but you still need players.
  • The variance between classes is significant.  Assaults/heavies deal much more damage than other types, way more than snipers.  Balance in any PvP game in terms of basic numbers is important.
  • Parallel to that, skill should play a larger factor.  I play most FPS games on the hardest level and get by well enough.  Standing and shooting has the same impact as moving and shooting, for the most part.  AI aiming/damage seems like it’s perpetually cheating.
  • I really don’t get how the game is monetized other than cosmetics.  Again, it’s beta, so a lot of stuff is going to change.  Still, I hope that cosmetics/convenience are the only things for sale.
  • Tutorials.  The game throws everything at you on the first mission.  All you unlock later on is more skills on the bar but 90% of the game is right there to start and they practically expect you to know it all.  I don’t mean combat, I mean crafting, loadouts, changing skills, using skills and all the town related items.  It took me 20 minutes to figure out how to load a 2nd skill.  My 2 year old was pressing random buttons and found the menu.
  • Self-healing.  There needs to be some type of self heal available at lower levels.  Being at 5% health with no healing options (or nearby players) is a drag.

The pluses!

  • Sound is great.  Sound is a stupid important part of an FPS.
  • The art style is cohesive and entertaining.  It reminds me a LOT of Borderlands, without the black outline.  Not only stylish but lowers the video card requirements
  • Integrated systems.  Everything seems linked in some fashion.  Spawns can trigger other spawns, some skills work best when combined with another one.
  • The skill progression is interesting, if somewhat confusing.  I like talent trees.  I like that your talent tree changes drastically when you change loadouts (classes) or armatures (sub-classes).
  • I like a challenge.  FireFall is a challenge.  The wall for skill for any player is high, very high.  I died about 20 times in the first hour.  I expect that to be slightly worse for the average player.
  • 3D matters.  If your enemy cannot shoot, then get to higher ground.  If they can, then use line of sight to your advantage.  This is smart.

There’s quite a lot of potential here.  Beta should be going on for another 6 months or more, but with no EXP resets, what you play/buy now will be there forever.  I think this will become the norm for F2P games, where the perpetual beta/slow rollout means that the server loads make sense.  No more day zeros of loading 100 servers then 2 months out, no one is left.

Sign up, give it a shot.

Edit: I wanted to point out that I found a bug on the main quest chain after you get your first upgrade that essentially stopped you from any progress whatsoever story-wise.  You can still level and explore, but the main quest is unavailable.  Hopefully it’s fixed by the time anyone tries it out.

Let’s Get This Straight

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When you exchange money for something and it’s understood by both parties that you are getting a specific item, that’s a purchase.

When you exchange money for a chance at something, that’s called gambling.

This proliferation of lockboxes that can only be opened by exchanging real money is gambling. I know the US prohibits online gambling as it’s the easiest way to launder money. I am astounded that companies that offer this feature, without an in-game option, haven’t yet been brought to court.

I’ve studied enough math to know that gambling is a tax on the mathematically inept. If you gamble TO make money, you’re delusional (or a prodigy and lucky). If you gamble as a passtime, with the same budget as others (say a round of golf), then that’s quite a bit different. Sadly, there are more in the first bucket than the second.

Little fact for you. The odds of winning that $500 million PowerBall were higher than getting killed by a vending machine trying to coax the chips out.

Games You Should Play

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We’re a couple days out of December and less than a month to Christmas (we need to find a more offensive name for it) and people are going to start making lists about top games and whatnot. Let’s fall into the pack shall we?

This list is going to include games released in 2012 and that I played. There are other games out there, such as Journey and Darksiders 2 that I found interesting from other people but never had the change to play. Without further delay, I give you:

Top games I recommend, based on play in 2012!

XCOM

Long have we awaited a return to form for the classic XCOM game. While it does remove a fair amount of strategic elements, the difficulty remains as does the attachment to the crew, which were mainstays of the first game. Play on Classic and Ironman to get the real feel.

Borderlands 2

Rarely does a FPS game hold my attention for any period of time. Put on RPG elements, a lottery style itemization structure and you have a hell of a hook. So much so that two F2P games are coming out to replicate it (Wildstar and Firefall). Great story, solid controls and lots of replay make for a great game.

Dishonored

Like the game itself, this one kind of snuck in there out of nowhere. Set in a dystopian past, this combination of Thief and Assassin’s Creed makes a strong contender for game of the year for major sites. I really like the pacing and exploration portions of the game, with some slight reservations around combat. Sound is really good, as it should be with any stealth game.

Legend of Grimrock

Back to old school dungeon romping. The simplicity of Grimrock is the real selling point. That you’re able to have an atmospheric experience, worried about what’s around the corner while trying to explore every nook and cranny, speaks volumes around the developers’ ability to get the core gameplay down solid. Considering this game is under 5$ now with most vendors, it’s a must buy.

FTL

Indie game that came out of nowhere really, and supplanted my want for Star Commander on the iOS. A space rogue-like game under a time clock is one thing. Being put into perpetual no-win scenarios and still going back for more punishment is another. Don’t let the simple interface and graphics fool you, this is a near perfect representation of what rogue-likes should be.

Torchlight 2

This is what Diablo 3 should have been.  Choices matter, progression is near infinite, the art style is cohesive and there’s no massive penalty for bad design.  Every single frustration I had with D3 I found solace in Torchlight 2’s arms.  For the price you pay for admission, you get a super solid balanced gameplay, enemies with interesting abilities and always, always have the feeling you can get through a tough spot.

Failure Is an Option

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I picked up Dishonored during the Steam sale this weekend and I’ve put a few hours into it.  Think a combination of Splinter Cell, Assassin’s Creed and Thief together.

Where in most stealth games there is but a single path, with perhaps a few options along with dozens of reloads, I find that Dishonored doesn’t follow that path.  You seem to always have ways to subdue enemies without killing them, even if they see you.  You have 2-5 different ways to get to your goal as well.  Heck, the goal isn’t even static as most quests give you a kill or don’t kill option depending on actions.

The difference is in the impact of the decisions.  Kill everyone and the world turns darker, with more rats and “zombie-like” enemies.  Play cleanly and the world gets brighter with less much around.  Combat isn’t easy by any means.  Some game have enemies queue up to kill you.  Dishonored sends 2 guys against you and odds are you’re going to die.  I like that mistakes aren’t instant death and that they are survivable but not so much so that I can simply walk around dancing and singing a tune.

From what I can tell, I’m about half-way through.  The mini-collection quests along the route (runes, charms, signs and paintings among others) make you hunt down odd passages and explore more than you would think otherwise.  If I were to ignore them and simply take the obvious route, I’d probably end up being a worse player with a more complicated experience.  It’s odd where a game is able to integrate this side-game without being a complete distraction (*cough*batman*cough*).

I’m having a lot of fun.  People should give this game a shot.  It hits all the right notes, has a good voice cast, interesting setting and smooth gameplay.  Happy hunting.

I Hear Voices

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There are quite a few topics on the blogosphere about immersion.  Syp has reached an uncanny valley, Zubon has a crush,  Bhagpuss finds it distracting and  Nosy decides what avatar to play based on their voice.

I don’t have perfect pitch but I have an ear for accents.  I can place most people on a map from just a few sentences and regional dialects are a hidden passion of mine.  Part of this is that I can recognize a base voice using an accent, which makes me kind of bored of Jennifer Hale.  She does some good work, don’t get me wrong, but she can only deliver a specific type of character.  I mean, don’t go asking Kristen Stewart to do anything but pout, right?

On the plus side, there are some voice actors who are amazing at delivering piss poor lines. Brad Dourif has to be at the top of that scale, simply in his method of delivery.  Dishonored might not have the best script or lines but damn if the people behind the faces aren’t giving it their all.

I should write a list of all the memorable voice acting bits I’ve come across.  Jon Irenicus from Baldur’s Gate 2 would likely be #1.

Size Matters

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Rift Giant

Just don’t tell anyone! (zing!).

Rift has this thing where it plays with scale, more so now in the expansion.  There are two portions to this statement.  First is in the zone layout, where there are simply no real dead spots.  You aren’t so much running from place to place as you are running through things to get to other things.  Whereas most themeparks have you running on an empty path ( or flying there), Rift forces you to run through piles of enemies (or nearbouts) to get to the next hub.  This makes the world feel larger because it takes longer to get somewhere.

The second portion of the scale issue is in enemy variety.  I’ve fought dragons and bone golems to wolves and small birds.  There is a diversity in all enemies, which is a good thing in a game that so focuses on a realistic setting.  Compare to WoW or TOR, where everything has a bright cartoon feel and is easily distinguishable, Rift needs some method to have things stand out.  The original game did this with enemy diversity but not so much size.  Storm Legion has you taking on massive enemies  just often enough to make you feel powerful but not so often than the little guys seem inconsequential to your power.

It’s an interesting balance.

 

ADD is Good

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Let’s say it’s taking me about 5-6 hours per level in Rift and that’s if I concentrate.  I find it extremely difficult to set myself up on a goal and continue to completion before something else catches my eye.  The eye catches are the following:

  • harvesting nodes:  I get to one, see another, see another, etc…
  • carnage quests: these are kill X quests that start when you kill the first enemy type.  There are 20-40 per zone from what I’ve seen
  • main quests: there are only 3-4 active at any given time, sometimes only 1.  It’s the driver to move through the zone often
  • rifts: these pop up (or I summon them) for a 5 minute battle.
  • random quests: these come from drops or items on the ground, they make you move around the map.
  • protect from invasions: at specific spots on the map are hubs that you use to defend against invasions.  sort of like rifts but without the quest mechanics.
  • artifacts: the shiny white spots that you collect to fill out, uh, collections
  • achievements: sometimes you just see a weird spot and know there’s an achievement, like jumping from waterfalls
  • exploration: the vistas look amazing. I like to find the highest point around and look around

All of these are happening all the time.  It makes it hard to just do one thing and then get to the next, as most themeparks do.  WoW and TOR are these types of games.  I remember doing 85 to 90 recently and I think there were a dozen choices total that I had to make.  I make more than a dozen choices per hour in Rift.

Though the content isn’t necessarily innovative, it makes it continually fresh because it’s given out in various types and amounts.  It sure does make the time much more fun than it could be and let’s Trion make leveling take as long as it does.  Now to go smash some giant bone golems.

What A Dollar Gets You

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Syp has a good post on the F2P change for SWTOR.  The main argument is against the two main models of F2P – one that lets people play for free with add-ons paid for cash and another that provides huge restrictions and essentially works as a limited trial.

Rohan has a nice breakdown of the F2P components that bears repeating, where the main ones include:

  • Box
  • Access
  • Content
  • Cosmetic
  • Convenience
  • Power

The box is simple, access too.  Content can be pieced out, as Turbine does pretty well with DDO and LOTRO.  Cosmetic is the way for most Cryptic games, including most super hero variants.  Convenience speeds up portions of the game that are clearly tedious.  Faster mounts, bigger bags, experience potions et al.  Power is the most controversial but the most prominent in the F2P world of Asia.

TOR is clearly using Access, Cosmetic and Convenience as the main drivers for cash.  Content is simply much too expensive for TOR to sell piecemeal, what with the full voice over costs and high production values.  Power isn’t an option either as the pusback on this model in western games can destroy a game.

You are paying for access to raids and PvP and whatnot but the general agreement is that these portions are a much better value in other games.  The convenience issue is an interesting one.  There is no real challenge in TOR, at any given point.  1-50 can be completed, if slowly, for absolutely zero dollars.  For 20$, much less than anyone would pay for a box copy of a AAA single player game, gets you enough unlocks to may the game very playable.

Once you hit level 50 though, then it’s much less about convenience or access.  Nearly every single aspect of the game at that point is locked behind cash doors.  You need to pay to do anything, use the AH, truly craft or customize your character.  Heck, you need to pay to equip items.

Right now, you can buy KOTOR2 for 10$ (on sale for half for a few days), a game dating from nearly 8 years ago or you can pay 0 dollars for KOTOR3 that’s 1 year old.  If you only wanted the Single Player experience, I would say “good deal”.  If you’re looking for the social experience, I would say that the F2P option isn’t an option at all, subscription is the only way to go.

This essentially means that TOR is offering a free trial from 1-50, with the option to buy perks along the way.  Once you hit 50 though, it’s a subscription game like any other.