Warhammer 40K: Space Marine

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine puts the player in the role of Captain Titus.  In the violent and fantastic future of the Warhammer universe, the space marines are the tip of the spear in the human war effort.  They are huge, beefy, near-immortal, ultra violent and undoubting in their own righteousness.  A perfect avatar for a modern action game.  


Outside the game, the Warhammer universe is a melting pot of all things science fiction and wargaming.  But the dedication of its designers and a huge fan base has kept it engaging and current.  The main complaint with this game is that it hasn't embraced this enough.  There's around a dozen playable factions in tabletop Warhammer or in the Dawn of War series - only 4 make and appearance here, and only 2 are playable (one being a reskin of the other).  In the  Space Marine chapter itself, there's a unnecessary absence of some of the most iconic elements such as dreadnoughts and terminators.  

The game itself establishes the core mechanics and demonstrates that there's more than enough room in the crowded 3rd person shooter market.  Innovative mechanics and interesting changes are spread throughout the game and it plays out smoothly.  Combining healing with melee is a novel mechanic which is mostly successful here, as is the various weapon mechanics and jet packs which pop up from time to time.  The story does an adequate job of establishing the crusader mentality of the marines but the major traits of their bloodthirsty opposition, but little more.  


Overall, the game feels like a solid effort to begin building a new franchise, but that is also its main detraction - it sticks too closely to the mainstream of the genre and fails to tap into the most captivating and interesting parts of the warhammer fiction.   Much like the Dawn of War titles - Relic has only played a small part of the universe here, giving itself lots of room for future sequels. I can't help but feel that this strategy is wrongly timed - at the end of the console cycle, in a crowded genre and with a strong fan base already established I would have liked to have seen a lot more here.  Space Marine appears thin compared to similar titles and difficult to justify at the same price.  


I recommend this game for anyone interested in a new take in this genre and at a more appropriate pricing.  Established fans will have something to enjoy here for now and we can all hope for a strong sequel to this debut.

The Witcher

On the surface, The Witcher is a game set in a fantasy world, about a mysterious, gifted warrior who battles evil forces.  


Look deeper and the fantasy races are just different classes of society, the gifted warrior is  someone who doesn't quite fit in with anyone; a necessary but unsightly hero and those forces of evil seem to be present, but perhaps not quite where you expected.  In short, the Witcher is a game about challenging expectations and about that grey area which is so often overlooked yet so much more interesting than the black and white of most fantasy games/fiction.

We follow Geralt.  A man who has undergone mutations to become an adept at dealing with monsters.  An absolute necessity in a place where dark creatures prowl at night, graveyards are haunted by the restless dead and the forest looks back at you from a dozen different eyes.  But, as men civilize the world, there's less and less room for goblins and elves.  They are driven to the edges, sometimes forgotten.  The Witcher becomes an unwanted reminder of a different time.  Slowly their place in the world is receding as well, but they're not quite gone yet.


Having lost his memory, Geralt slowly puts the pieces back together as he follows a quest to hunt down some men who have stolen the last things of value to the Witchers, the secrets of their mutations.  The main story takes its time developing, letting Geralt learn about the world and rediscover his relationships with past allies and friends.  He picks up odd jobs as he travels, remove some ghouls here, a spectre there.  But sometimes the monsters at the crossroads are men, driven by lust and greed.  How does Geralt deal with them? Or when monsters beg for his need his mercy and even assistance?


Geralt's dealings with his world build over the course of the game, like a pot slowly coming to a boil.  There's a feeling of containment everywhere: items are derived from fallen enemies, weapons are improved by friendly smiths, books teach Geralt about this world leading him to new areas, everything leads him further on, but nothing seems forced.  Friendships are forged, tested and altered.  Politics moves everyone, motivations sometimes only hinted at.   


At first, Geralt must balance between these forces and then eventually, inevitably things come to a boil and Geralt must make difficult and costly decisions.  At the end, things are different, peace is restored but one expects that things have only been postponed.  The players have shifted, nothing more.


A must buy.


J

Mass Effect

I love the Mass Effect series and I'm really excited to see how the story ends.  Anyway, I have one quick thing I want to say about the games up till now - for me, having to choose between two characters (Ashley and Kaiden) in Mass Effect 1 was one of the highlights in the series.  My game is forever altered because of that one choice.  In Mass Effect 2, knowing that there was an achievement for "saving everybody" just pushed me to make sure I got that even though I think it took 2 or 3 tries to properly do it.  And there's no question that will be the save I carry through to ME3.  Overall, I think the game suffers for that.  If Mass Effect is defined by great characters and these sort of 'good' or 'bad' decisions, then there's no better way to show this off then by giving you these types of Sophie's choice style situations.







For Mass Effect 3, I am really hoping for some more of these game altering and grey area decisions.  Imagine  having to choose between Mordan or Wrex.  Or worse, picking 3 or 4 characters to go on a real suicide mission.  I think there's some opportunity there to create some unforgettable moments and really send the series out on a powerful note.










J

I must be missing something: Volume 2

Let's call this post on Dead Space the first "I must be missing something" post, because everyone seems to love that game but I really don't get it.  To me it just seems like an endless exercise in going from A to B.  Just follow the line on the ground and wait for the monsters to pop out of the vents.  Spoiler: there's always a monster in the vent.  


I'm sure we all have games like that, and my shelf seems full of them these days.  Maybe as we get older we get more particular, or grumpy or something.  But, I don't get the appeal of dead space.  


Until very recently, I thought I was missing something huge in Half Life Episode 2.  Everyone says that game is just the most incredible thing since Tetris.  But, I played it on xbox and it was a total chore to finish.   It just seemed like endless sewers, followed by an endless boat part, followed by a long driving part.  I got to the end but I couldn't even finish episode 1 and never touched episode 2.  Add Portal to that list as well, although I eventually finished it on my xbox after a long hiatus.



Gordon, don't hit me.  I'm just being honest...


After finishing the Witcher this summer (play it!), I tried HL2 Episode 1 again on my PC and I realized what I was missing.  These games are made for PC, and finally I got what everyone loves!  It wasn't slow, or dull anymore.  It played fluidly, I loved the characters, the environments and the puzzles.  I got IT! Finally.  Episode 2 was just completely awesome.  I'm looking forward to replaying Portal on my PC just to finally enjoy it.  


I've found this with all my valve games: they play way better on PC.  I'm putting off getting Portal 2 until I upgrade my PC, so that I can experience it the proper way.  It also helps that valve gives away their products on Steam for next to nothing all the time, and they support them so well.  Its PC all the way for me on those titles.


Plus, the Half Life episodes are so good.  Episode 2 is probably still better than 95% of all FPSs out there and its many many design cycles old now.  Its incredible how developers won't even try to approximate it, when they will gladly copy COD4 over and over.


Anyway, as I said at the beginning, we all have our things that we just can't understand the appeal. I bet those things say more about us than any list of favourite games ever would.


Here's a challenge to review sites - put up a list of games you just don't understand why people like.  I would love to read that, but - leave Dark Souls alone.


J

Call of Duty 8: Modern Warfare 3

Lots of publications will say that people play Call of Duty only for the multiplayer, but I think there's a lot of us out there who are just playing it for the single player.  I'm definitely one of these people.

I really liked Call of Duty 4. To me, this is one of the best games of all time.  I played the latest installment, not because I am really attached to Price and Soap but because I wanted to see how they could tie up a story about world war 3.  To me, they pulled it off well enough.  The game play draws you in and keeps you engaged point by point.  Not Call of Duty, but specifically Infinity Ward seems to know the secret sauce in keeping you in the campaign and that "just one more mission" rationalizing to yourself.   I played Black Ops and Battlefield 3 and both of those campaigns, although at times fun, are more like a chore to get through.   I would say that Bungie too seems to know this secret sauce, perhaps there's a post in there about what exactly makes them so.

Anyway, more to the point - I'm a fan of the single player campaigns and I was happy with this latest installment.  I think it told a thrilling story of a global conflict and for me it was a satisfactory end to this trilogy.  

Now that its done, I hope this signals the beginning of the end of this wave of modern military games.  Naturally there's still the 2012 crowd to get through, but Infinity Ward is the master and hopefully they will move on and the others will follow.  Or, if we're really lucky - Bungie's or Respawn's next will be shown at E3 and we can all get excited a new genre that's fresh and not yet overdeveloped.  

This is all Respawn Entertainment has shown of the their next game.  I don't see any UAVs... yet.

In the modern military vein, there might be a little life left - I'm intrigued by what SpecOps the Line is showing, and the promise of Homefront seemed to open a crack into another facet which might be intriguing.  Bring some more realism, bring some better characterisation, lower the scope a bit and things could open up again.  

Anyway, that's what I think.  What do you think?

J

Halo Reach

Hey again,


Earlier this month I went for the achievement in Halo Reach to complete the whole game on legendary alone .  I have never been the biggest Halo fan, but I have a few friends who went for this one and everyone said it was a really rewarding experience. 


Having finally completed it I really recommend it.  The designers at Bungie have made a game that is deep and engaging.  There's no cheap difficulty spikes throughout the campaign, everything is challenging yet achievable given some patience and attention to tactics.  I found that throughout the campaign I'd find little weapon stashes or health packs tucked away for players who were obviously playing defensively.  I never saw these on my solo run on heroic or on a co-op legendary in the past.  I was just passing those areas too quickly, now I see they understood that some players would have to adopt different strategies, and they've given me the tools to succeed.


If you have Halo, and you haven't popped it in for a while - why not try out this challenge.  I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.


J

Indie Glut

Hey there,


I just dove into the indie games scene head first and picked up the humble bundle 3.  So far I'm really enjoying everything that has to offer.  I've played a lot of Revenge of the Titans, and a little of Cogs and Atom Zombie Smasher.  After that, I picked up Frozen Synapse during a steam sale.  Split the cost with my friend and we each got a copy.  


What a breath of fresh air the indie games scene is - low prices, great ideas, engaging concepts.  A perfect counter point to one too many big name console releases.  You'll forgive a lot for a cheap product, and the freedom to be imperfect or to have only niche appeal opens up so much for these indie designers.  I love the art style in both Titans and Zombie.  Synapse is so deep its scary - but the on screen images are pretty basic.  


I'm saving most of the other titles for play on my netbook between novels at the cottage.


Overall, I'm really happy I finally discovered so many of these titles.  I will try to post some reviews of the games as I finish them.  


I'll be eagerly awaiting Humble Bundle 4.  


Thanks,
J