Game Review: Black

Inspired by fellow classmate Eric's post on game realism, I decided to return to a well kept secret in the world of first person shooters: Black. Your character is a special operations soldier named Jack Keller who is on the hunt for a rogue American agent responsible for a professional terrorist organization called 7th Wave. You have to battle your way through various urban landscapes including military border patrols, industrial loading docks and a real creepy bombed out asylum. Black provides what IGN.com calls a "100% visceral experience 100% of the time" and the guys over at IGN are pretty much bang on.

Without question, the most incredible feature of this game is its graphics. Criterion, the company responsible for Black has gone above and beyond what is expected of a shooter, delivering an awesome and engaging treat for the video game senses. Glass will shatter, concrete and wood will disintegrate under a hail of gunfire, and you get to see lots and lots of explosions. Find yourself out of grenades? Just try shooting any of the various explosive objects that are littered throughout each level. And given that you are moving through war torn regions under intense military control, theres lots of targets of opportunity. Glee.

These pillars were in good shape, but they got in the way of Kellar's bullets. Oh yeah, and the bad guys aren't doing too well either..

The game play is smooth, nothing exceptional for the genre, however the extra effort that Criterion put into the games graphics goes above and beyond any other shooter I've played. For instance, everything is governed by real life physics so that when you fire a sniper rifle over a long distance, it takes a few seconds to reach its target. The opposing soldiers will use flanking maneuvers to try to gain a better position on you, and you can hear them communicating along with putting up with regular radio chatter from your own teammates in certain levels. Generally the AI is pretty simple minded, but theres enough challenge to make it interesting (especially on the higher difficulty levels) without feeling like you're shooting up mannequins all game.

The game has two major flaws that I found, which IGN also cites as the game's biggest flaws (see their video review and lots of in-game footage here). The first is a lack of a multi player option, which could have opened the game up to a much larger group of gamers. As it stands, its just a short yet engaging single player game that has very little lasting power. Which brings me to Black's second flaw: the game only lasts about 5 hours total. Usually a good game will last between 10 and 15 hours, with the exception of RPG's which can last much longer (some can exceed 60 hours, or go as long as the gamer can stand playing). However, its short length is probably a good thing because otherwise the game would get dull.. All that running and shooting can only fill so much time, and the storyline can only make a game go so far before it becomes tedious to follow.

Overall, I give this game a great review because of its excellent audio and visual effects, smooth game play and its realistic feel. It loses points for the lack of multi-player options and the one dimensional storyline (which seems to me like a Tom Clancey novel), and an extra .5 deduction for the stupidly long intro sequence and lack of a way to skip the cinematic scenes.

Sheel-Score: 7.5/10

Films and Gaming: A New "Force" in Next-Gen Gaming

It seems that Star Wars is continuing to be a leading innovator in media, this time merging Hollywood and gaming in an upcoming PS3 game that looks to be totally AWESOME. The storyline follows what is essentially an 'evil' version of Luke Skywalker; a young apprentice of Darth Vader before the bucket head and his Emperor get whooped by the Rebellion. And let me tell you, this guy is totally out of the ballpark juiced on Force steroids. In the E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) trailer the main character takes down a whole Star Destroyer with his force power, then he charges up his lightsaber and looks like he's going to dice up the ship for a big Stormtrooper and scrap metal salad. Holy (deleted)!!!
This guy is serious. He's ready to kick the entire Star Wars universe square in the nuts.

The most significant part of the game revolves around five characters: A nameless apprentice, Darth, another semi-evil mentor guy, a sexy blonde femme fatale, and what looks like a more evil version of C3-PO. Sounds weird, but what's great is that all five of these characters are portrayed by real actors filmed in a small studio (see some behind-the-scenes footage here). The production team paired up with George Lucas and, taking a hint from the enormous popularity of storyline based games like Halo, cast real actors to play the parts of the game characters. I'm not sure whether they will incorporate this into the regular game play or just in cinematic cut-scenes, but its a pretty interesting step forward in how games are designed. It also draws the gamer into the storyline a lot more than the standard run around, kill everyone in sight style of game which doesn't develop characters in any way.

No game is complete without the scantily clad cleavage bearing pin-up girl, complete with an impossible outfit.

If they can avoid the usual pitfalls with such games (dragging cinematic scenes, poor game play, or poor use of surrounding environment) then this game should be a hit. So far it looks like you can force lift pretty much everything, and do so with a variety of different force skills. And of course, there's the fan favorite: the Lightsaber, plus what promises to be a myriad of other cool ways to cause mayhem around the galaxy . Star Wars fans, do yourself a favor and keep updated on this one.

Videogame History is Made, and the Chief Becomes Legendary

Bungie Studios must have been under enormous pressure developing the game considered the most highly anticipated video game of all time. I think it's safe to say that tomorrow morning people out there that will unwrap Halo 3 from its package and never see the light of day again. I think with the online capabilities of the Xbox 360 and the addictive nature of online multilayer games (Such as Gears of War, or dare I mention the old cult classics: Counterstrike or Unreal Tournament) Halo 3 has the chance to be a long lasting favorite of gamers through the next 2-3 years, solid. The lucky bastards at IGN received the game ahead of the world to give their reviews. I've watched them all, and.. Damn. The game (aside from what IGN calls "some issues," they assured their readers that it has been the game that we have been waiting for.

Above: the original drawing of Master Chief.. Badass.

What makes Halo so awesome? Well, the original game introduced the rechargeable shield in tandem with a health meter, which changed the way first person shooters were played but without eliminating the dynamic of physical damage and medpacks. It introduced a new approach to physics of the game (if you played, you might remember blowing up warthogs with a reckless abandon), and borrowed largely from Half-Life's concept of an exciting and attractive story line, which made playing through the campaigns much more enjoyable and engaging for the player.

The new game will have a map editor feature, which means that even if Halo 3 wasn't awesome enough for the online multiplayer experience, now you will have the joy of creating your own customized maps to play out a whole variety of different scenarios. I've already seen review footage of some guys using the gravity hammer (a weapon that allows you to go into Barry Bonds mode against vehicles) as a baseball bat, with another player as a "pitcher" shooting rockets at you. I think I'll want to avoid striking out on this one.

Master Chief John-117 is back.. Kicking alien ass with an extra shiny visor.


I'll tell you about my playing experience when the game comes out (Tuesday!), and if I can pry my friend's brother from the Xbox controllers long enough to give it a try. Not owning a 360 myself, I have to get the cheap condensed version of a review.

The Revenge of the Nerds...

James Rolfe looking real pissed as the AVGN



I mentioned gaming nostalgia in my last post, but I wasn't thinking about the overpowering blast of early 1990's memories I would get when I stumbled across the Angry Nintendo Nerd. Original NES gamers beware, watching any of the following videos will make you scramble to your closet to look for your old console, praying that you haven't accidentally smashed it to bits in frustration, or sold it for five bucks to some kid at a yard sale.

Before I elaborate further, I want to put forth a disclaimer for anyone who watches these videos. The Angry Nintendo Nerd (James Rolfe) is a wrathful, vulgar and sometimes violent gamer, who works off a combination of shock value and satire. He swears profusely (an understatement) and his descriptions of what he would rather do than play some of the games he reviews are pretty graphic to say the least.

That being said, I think he's hilarious. I love watching his videos because he revives the frustration that I remember having trying to play these games. What sets the Nerd apart from other video reviews of games is the format of his videos. They run very similar to the preferred format of many of the AdultSwim cartoons: 15 minutes or less of video, a short title sequence and original theme music, and a sense of humor that my aunt likes to call "toilet comedy." Awesome.

He has gained minor success on YouTube.com and ScrewAttack.com, as well as his own website Cinemassacre.com which features his film work (including the Nintendo Nerd series). If you're not particularly interested in old school Nintendo , it might be tough to relate to these episodes. But if you love the old gaming experience, check him out. Here are my episode recommendations:

Nintendo Power (the old nintendo magazine! how awesome. A good first episode to watch)

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (the original review, of a truly horrible game from a truly great series)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I personally thought this game was sweet, but I was 6 years old. I still think it's sweet, and that the Nerd just can't handle the TMNT power)

Here's a compilation of the rest of his videos. The layout is kind of crappy, but easy enough to figure out. Enjoy!

For Those About to Game...

Ever since the explosion of Pong in the early 70s, video games have become increasingly popular in the average North American's lifestyle. It has become a multi-billion dollar industry, commanding the attention of countless gamers around the world. Video game 'cult classics' continue to be produced and often bleed over into other markets as a result of their enormous popularity. The stereotypical video game programmer is found by his computer working late into the night guzzling coffee and sweet tarts, obsessing over a sprite design and struggling with a deficiency of vitamin D after not seeing anything except virtual sunlight for weeks . Why do these programmers (and countless gamers) subject themselves to these sorts of conditions? Is it the appeal of a virtual world, an escape from reality into a new environment? Taking part in activities not legitimately possible in the real world like drive by shootings, stealing cars or battling fantastic other-worldly creatures? Is everything else just really really boring?

Whatever the reason, video games have become as much an integral part of our culture as movies, television and music. The demographics associated with gaming suggest some interesting trends. Consider these gaming statistics collected by the Entertainment Software Association:

1) The average age of a gamer is 33
2) The majority of gamers (almost 50%) are between 18 and 49
3) Females are playing games almost as much as males (girls make up 38% of gamers, and there are more females over 18 gaming than there are males under 17)
4) Gamers spend triple the amount of time exercising, playing sports, or volunteering for the community than they do playing video games (23.4 hrs vs 6.8 hrs weekly)

Other cool gaming stats from the ESA


Why is this important? Well, it means that a large portion of the North American adult community is and has been actively involved in gaming for many years. I myself have been playing Nintendo consoles since the earliest days of NES (I still get nostalgic every time I think about Double Dragon or Blades of Steel). In fact, many of the people I know have been gaming as far back as I can remember. A good portion of my Christmas mornings as a pajama-clad youngster were spent calling all my friends to talk about which games or new consoles Santa brought us, and whose house we were going to spend the next two weeks of vacation glued to a television, controllers in hand.

Clearly these video games have been and continue to be a significant part of our culture, and they don't seem to be on their way out anytime soon. So for all of you gaming nerds, for all the university and college escapists, the up and coming programmers and game designers, couch loving stoners, late night media addicts, and to anybody else that finds themselves coming back to the controllers again and again, I salute you. Game on!