Videogames and Cheeseburgers

Like a lot of people, I enjoy a good cheeseburger. I know what I want in my burger, how it should be cooked and what I’ll be eating when it’s been unwrapped. So why should the games industry be any different? After all our cheeseburgers aren’t cheap either!

The current trend with most triple A titles is to release a game with a multitude of playable modes and options, which increases the amount of time a player can spend within the franchise. Some franchises (Bioshock, Dead Space, Uncharted to name but a few..) have all decided that after a fantastic first installation in the franchise, what the game needs is a competitive multiplayer option. Now when I buy a game it’s usually because I’m intrigued by one of the game modes. I buy single player games for their story (Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption, Dead Space) and multiplayer titles for the well implemented online experience (Call of Duty, Battlefield, Gears of War).

Based on that list of titles you’re probably thinking “well those multiplayer games have great stories too” and you’d be right. I believe the principle behind why those games have developed into well oiled multi-mode franchises is simple; they were multiplayer orientated titles first. We all know the tried and tested FPS mechanics work and are easy to adapt to, let’s just apply them to a story. They are the all you can eat option of the gaming world, you can devour to your hearts content because there are plenty of options.

Going back to my original point, I like a good cheeseburger. I liked Dead Space, it had all the right juicy morsels I needed in a 3^rd person survival horror game to sink my teeth into. So when I heard that a second game had been pushed into the pipeline I was genuinely exited. I didn’t like Dead Space 2. It wasn’t because of the story, or the graphics, it was because they had strapped a silly half-assed attempt at competitive multiplayer on the side which felt like the unwanted baby of Left4Dead meets Waterworld. Why waste time and resources on a pointless feature, a feature I would have happily bought the game without. I could have said “if you don’t like it, don’t play it” but then it feels like I’ve just chucked money away. After all I buy cheeseburgers without pickles in, because I don’t like them.

 

Toy Soldiers Review: Pushing Tower Defence to the Next Trenchline

I’ve always been a fan of tower defence games, many hours dedicated to beating my friends top scores on countless different versions of the addictive strategy game. Tower defence is simple, hold of waves of enemies by placing turrets to destroy them before they reach your base. The biggest problem with tower defence games is that they can become repetitive, slow and boring often leaving players watching the screen as the towers slowly whittle the enemies health away.

Toy Soldiers is the first arcade game released as part of the Xbox House Party event and is available for a mere 1200 MSP. At first glance Toy Soldiers incorporates basic tower defence elements into the period of history rarely touched upon in games. Attacking the trenches of WWI, players will take control of British and German toy miniatures as they storm across the battlefields of famous historic locations. The player will drop immobile units on each level that will destroy the attacking waves of enemies before they reach your toy box. Destroying enemy units earns the player money which can be spend on repairing, purchasing and upgrading existing towers.

Toy Soldiers is a game in a game

Toy Soldiers takes tower defence to a new level, allowing players to “possess” his units and jump into the action destroying the enemies, earning combos and earning additional cash to help with further waves. The player is also granted vehicles, aircraft and towers that only he can use which can swiftly turn an outnumbered situation into an advantage. This increases the action players are exposed to and allows the environments to immerse its audience.

The campaign itself consists of around 10 levels, but offers both a British and German perspective on each battlefield. With all recent games additional achievements have been placed throughout the game in the form of goals for each level creating a sense of repeatability and gives players bonuses to aim for. With Multiplayer also supplied, Toy Soldiers has covered every base an arcade title would hope to, and potentially set the base for future titles from now on. I found myself impressed with the depth and graphics for such a cheap arcade title and would happily recommend this to anyone looking to pick up a cheap game with some great character.

Xbox Live House Party

Microsoft promotes a month of arcade games; but will this lead to a new trend in the games industry?

Arcade games have been on the rise since the release of the Xbox360 in 2005 but only a few titles have been able to breach the abyss of success in the market. This has shifted over the past year with titles like Castle Crashers, Battlefield 1943, Shadow Complex and Splosion Man. It should also be noted that games companies have started to favour small development teams which reduce development costs but still return a healthy profit on the investment. The problem with triple A titles is the attached cost, but arcade titles require smaller budgets and makes it easier to scrap projects.

The house party collection consists of 3 different titles and Microsoft’s retro arcade room, coming in at a healthy 3200 Microsoft points which for the average British gamer is £27.20. Games will be released in weekly intervals starting with Toy Soldiers on March 3rd, followed by Scrap Metal, Perfect Dark and finally the arcade room. For gamers who pick up the collection before the end of March, Microsoft will be offering a 400 point rebate and a month of Xbox Live for existing gold members. Microsoft are also offering a free avatar prop for everyone who downloads a trial of each game by the end of March, a real attempt to coerce people to try the games.

I’ll be picking up each of the arcade games over the month, and dropping a review for each game but you can join in too! What are your views on arcade games? How many games have you played a trial and progressed to paying to unlock the full game? Post your comments below.

The Game Demo: Why Gamers Love Them But Developers Hate Them

So you’ve just found a clip online for some new hyped up game that has taken your interest, but it’s not out for release until the end of the year so chances are you’ll be looking for the first demo to become available.

The demo is a very dangerous sample of play that can send a title up amongst the triple-A cases on the shelves or leave it for rummaging in the bargain bins at your local game store. Developers, especially Peter Molyneux, hate demos and this is partly the reason Fable 2 was released as episodic content on Xbox Live, neglecting the need for a demo. Let’s face it though, how can a 45 minute segment of play give an accurate example of the finished product without stripping some of the best moments out for the release?

The problem stands that many games retail for around £45 in shops and unless you are happy to play “game lotto”, you’re going to need some evidence that the purchase will be worth the money. Partly the reason for posting this was the recent release of a demo for Dark Void, a vertical shooter from Capcom that caught my eye early in the development stages but after playing the demo I was left with little more than “was that it?” on my plate. The demo is often considered for new franchises, but we are all aware the hype of a sequel drives sales enough to disregard the need for a demo for cases like Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

The idea behind Fable 2 though was brilliant; give the player the full game but only let them play the first chapter and upon completion prompt them to pay for the rest of the game. This system also allowed players to purchase the title and get back to playing the rest of the game straight away, with no additional downloads required. I can honestly admit that I’m not the biggest Fable fan but the concept was brilliant, one that I hope will start to appear more often within the market this year.

Because We’re Not Hardcore, But Modern Warfare 2 Is!

So over the last few days I’ve converted over from team deathmatch to “hardcore” TDM on Modern Warfare 2 and noticed a remarkable change in the approach other players take to the game.

In essence the hardcore version of deathmatch strips away the HUD completely leaving it up to you to remember ammo/grenade counts and where your allies are. The only way to get radar is to use a UAV but these get taken down pretty fast. Extra bullet damage means you won’t be running around with double shotguns and often you rely on the company of your team to keep you safe. I’ve also had to change my standard class and killstreak rewards to reduce care packages.

Overall I’ve welcomed the change to the usual deathmatch and started to improve my accuracy and placings on score tables. I would find that in standard deathmatch players would rely on the radar and killcam too often to find enemies but with this it challenges your concentration but rewards you with satisfying kills.

On another note, MW2 is due for it’s timed DLC release in spring this year, promising that Xbox 360 users will get the update 30 days in advance of other platforms.