The Golden Compass: Review
Posted 13th December 2007 at 11:58pm by M1ke, tagged as Review | Commenting Closed
Otherwise known as Northern Lights, but renamed because Americans aren't sure where North is
Films of great books are always scary when they loom upon the cinematic radar, as whilst every great book can be envisioned as a film most transitions from print to screen go horribly wrong. There are exceptions of course, and whilst something is always lost in the translation such films as the more recent of the Harry Potter offerings, the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the phenomenal Lord of the Rings trilogy have bent and broken these barriers. The Golden Compass is a New Line Cinema film, the same as LotR, so you would have thought they could learn a few valuable lessons and they have. Sadly they also missed some points which will incite occasional to frequent winces from fans of the book.
The film starts a little poorly, with the principles of Dust, the parallel worlds and daemons explained in a voice over. Whilst I understand this may have left some less clever members of the audience in mild confusion I do think it should have been put across in opening scenes rather than wimping out by just telling the viewers. However from this point the film continues on well, with good coverage of the main plot points and the subtle differences in this parallel world put across well. The main characters are all well portrayed and whilst some scenes feel rushed it is a testament to the writers trying to fit everything in that they are included. There are a number of well known faces in the cast (Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig) although Christopher Lee, a name doubtless printed on the teaser posters, appears very briefly and no one is quite sure who he is meant to be playing. No characters stuck out as being played badly, and Ian McKellen does a traditional sterling job playing Iorek Byrnison.
As with any big budget release these days the special effects are done excellently, though some of the technology shown seemed a bit too sci-fi, rather than the slightly odd renditions of our technology that Pullman describes in the books. A certain fight involving bears is done especially well and the ending actually managed to shock a large number of the audience. Some other moments in the film also have a bit of jump potential, which keeps attention during the slightly slower early stages. Sadly despite the excellent renditions of the large dominating church buildings in both London and Oxford, the Church is only ever referred to as the Magesterum - whilst it takes this name in the book occasionally the word Church is mentioned far more. I can guess reasons for this change but it is surely a poor state of affairs when a clearly fictional film must censor itself in such a way, undermining a lot of Pullman's original points.
The main problems as far as following the book come in the second half, with some vital portions of the adventure put in a distinct wrong order. Whilst the film again manages to hit all the points it means that the start and end of each of these sections has to deviate wildly - and considering that both sections are present I can't understand why they were placed in that particular order. Similar in the pointless changes department is renaming king of the bears Ioufur Raknison to Ragnar Sturlusson.
The final criminal is the ending. Whilst I don't want to spoil it the ending does away with what would traditionally be a brilliant Hollywood cliffhanger and a huge signpost to the next film and ends in a weak "sailing into the sunset" point that can only leave the next film floundering. It is unfortunately likely that this was done because of fears of a poor critical or financial reception that would make a second film unlikely anyway. Still it is a shame because it turned what had been an enjoyable film into a real point of annoyance right at the last moment.
I wouldn't urge people to go and see The Golden Compass if they are big fans of the books and despite the obvious effort that went into a lot of it certain writing decisions have marred what it could have been. If a second film is made it would be better off to try and stick to the form of the books, as well as maybe overcoming some fears about naming when regarding the Church.
IMDB: The Golden Compass
Fortress Forever: First Impressions
Posted 15th September 2007 at 12:53am by M1ke, tagged as Review | Commenting Closed
Today a mod that I've been waiting a couple of years for has finally been released. Fortress Forever is the Source mod that attempts to replicate Team Fortress Classic, a mod for the original Half-Life released with a patch 7/8 years ago. It was a mod that never had the massive fanbase of Counter-Strike or Day of Defeat, but nevertheless it was a brilliant mod, and a large, dedicated fanbase built up around it. Some of its maps became iconic for the clever design, even if few gamers ever actually played them. It mattered not, TFC did things its own way, with a sniper rifle that took some skill in finding a good spot and waiting until the right time, rather than just strafing left and right and hoping your ping beats theirs ala Counter-Strike. Tactical use of grenades due to the fact that you could hold down a button to throw them whilst still using other weapons, and even time their detonation by waiting to throw (an idea first replicated by Halo 3 years later). It also deviated from the standard CTF of most team games, with progressive assault maps, tug of war maps and even VIP escort maps - all before most mainstream games had come up with them. TFC is such that it's still great fun today, especially as its running on an old engine means it's virtually lagless over broadband. What of it's modern day remake then?
I was quite pleased upon loading that there were already over 200 servers up - pretty impressive for a mod that hasn't been out a day. Obviously the entire TFC community has been watching for it (even though the "official" sequel TF2 is being released in beta by Valve on Monday) and it shows in the numbers. I saw Jolt were running a 24/7 Dustbowl (an assault map) server so I jumped in. It took quite a while to load the map, but the loading screen had an over-head view and an explanation of the objectives, handy for new players. Once in the buttons for teams are big and obvious, and each shows the team's score and number of players. On the class screen you can see a description of each of the 9 classes skills and what they look like before picking one. You spawn immediately and can set out doing whatever you're team is meant to. I began as a sniper, and found the sniping mechanics to be very similar, apart from a little bar under the cross-hair which makes it easier to tell when the rifle is charged. I won't describe every movement, but once the game started and I started shooting it felt like everything was all second nature. The maps look excellent as far as recreations go, with all the random faceless buildings and tunnels of old decorated and painted and generally made to look like a real place. There are a couple of texture details in the map, but nothing that puts one off the gameplay itself. It's the gameplay where FF still has that TFC shine - the grenade tactics are there, with a handy progress bar for timing the perfect shot, the health and ammo readouts are obvious but don't get in the way, and your "Fortress Point" score is shown permenantly at the top of the screen. The points system is good, as rather than just award one point for a kill and 10 for a flag capture, it awards varying points for all kinds of things, and still records kills and deaths seperately. Even something as simple as an engineer repairing a team-mate's sentry gun nets 6 points - not much compared to the 100 for a kill, but a nice way of encouraging more teamwork than just all shooting the enemy.
A complaint would be that a few of the weapons don't quite feel right - especially the sniper's auto-rifle which doesn't actually show any sign of being fired other than a faint noise. Similarly the Heavy-Weapons Guy's cannon is nice and powerful (with a new overheating feature to prevent them hosing an area for too long) but sounds a bit weak. Admittedly it probably sounds like a real mini-gun, but the roar of the old cannon does feel missed. The engineer has a much easier time building turrets, as they can be selected and "ghosted" in front of you before building, which also shows a handy progress bar. An even better feature is the pie menu that makes up an engineer's "special" ability. Using this the engineer can re-target his gun, and detonate or dismantle guns and ammo dispensers by clicking once and moving the mouse - very flash.
Overall the game felt very fun to play, and with more people jumping on and more servers starting it will only get better. They might all run away to TF2 when it hits but I reckon this will be a more faithful reincarnation of TFC - TF2 is afterall a sequel and as well as changing the graphics style I'm sure the gameplay will feel different as well (I've not yet seen any evidence of the tactical grenades, for example). Regardless my point is that there's hopefully room for both games to co-exist, because after spending just a few hours playing only three of the classes on a single map I already like FF a lot, and want time to come to love it. If you own Half-Life 2, go and get yourself this mod now.
Half Life 2 Review
Posted 13th July 2006 at 9:03pm by M1ke, tagged as Review | Commenting Closed
There is little to say about this game that hasn't been said before, due to my writing this bout a year and a half after the game hit the shelves worldwide. The game also hit the internet in the form of Steam - you could buy the game from Steam and download it, but those who bought the game in the shops were also required to install Steam, create an account and register their key in order to play the game. This caused alot of consternation, much complaint and three changes of government in South America. However the Steam hate has passed and regular readers of this blog will know that I myself am an advocate of the system - to the extent where I may review it separately. For that reason I'm not planning to mention Steam again during this review.
It is good to view something in hindsight - it saves you taking on hype as opinion and allows you to have had time to reflect on your experience, rather than being left slightly cold at the end, as with most other games. I recently completed Half Life 2 for the second time, and it was probably as enjoyable on this play through as it was on the first - albeit with some of the amazement replaced by smug knowledge of what was going to happen. If you haven't played it then I would hazzard that you'll still be amazed by the game - if not as smitten with the graphics as you would have been playing it upon release. Don't get me wrong the Source engine still looks wonderful and feels much more real than the engines in other next gen shooters which, whilst very nice and flashy, can sometimes make things look a little too shiny for their own good. The more matt textures in Half Life make it more believable. Facial animation is still on a par with the current shooter crowd, and the voice acting combined with this feature of Source means that you can believe the characters. Apart from the rebels in later levels, but we shall come to that later. Safe to say that the story of this game is told in the same way as the story in the first, except this time it's been alot better thought out. Valve stick to their guns and don't rely on movies or out of body experiences to carry it along - you're in Freeman's body the whole time, if not always able to move.
A game is not made by its story however - the story is important to give it some substance, but the bare bones of any game are its gameplay. Half Life 2 follows the standard format of moving through areas, killing enemies and occasionally solving puzzles to progress, so nothing so original there. But it's how it does this that makes the game so great. For a start, the first two levels you don't have a gun and aren't even meant to kill anything. It's just for you to walk around in this strange city you've found yourself in, a city occupied by the mysterious combine. It's in the style of an eastern European city, but with stuff clearly not of this world blended in. The populace is oppressed, some of the vortigaunts (those lightning enemies from the last game, now friendly) turned to slaves, but they talk of the 'One Free Man' who will save them. After the combine decide you're a citizen in the wrong place and following a very sudden and exciting chase you meet Alyx Vance, who brings you to see your old scientist friends Doctor Kleiner and Barney from Black Mesa. Events transpire and you find yourself making your way to the new Black Mesa East on the outskirts of the town. The progress is excellent fun, the scripting sublime. From a well placed audio cue when Barney first tosses you your crowbar to some exciting fights along a working train line the action doesn't abate - even if it does change pace. The guns have to be mentioned here - there arent a great deal of weapons in this game, but each one feels like it has a use at a myriad of different points, and it isn't just a question of picking the most powerful weapon for each situation. Again the Source engine proves its worth, as combat feels visceral and satisfying despite not having the brutality of games like Quake 4 and FEAR. You will come to love the sound that emenates from the Civil Protection soldier's helmet when they are taken out.
One weapon of note and which you would have to have been living under the proverbial rock not to have heard about (or just, not be really interested in games) is the Gravity Gun. Originally made for a tech demo to show off the physics, it was made into a real weapon and whilst it doesn't allow you to kill things directly, plenty of objects are left lying around to chuck at things that want to hurt you. It is also integral to a few puzzles, though these never impede on the action or your progress overly much. You do get to fight with allies in a few of the levels. The first time is pure genius with you controlling the creatures that have been attempting to kill you for the past few levels, and using them against the combine. The second is a bit of a lower point, when you fight with the rebel soldiers. Don't get me wrong they can be handy and you feel safer with them around but they can be frustrating. Whether its standing in stupid places and getting themselves killed (you wouldn't really care, but they can make tough fights easier) or saying the same stupid phrases as they get in your way yet again (I'm a scientist cum alien slayer, I know to reload my gun!) it just grates a little when everything else in the game is so wonderfully fitted together. But should you get more annoyed than myself about these and contemplate giving up, don't. The last levels are worth it, and a bit of a departure - though not in the awful way that Xen was in Half Life 1.
It's been a long review, but there is much praise for this game, and I've tried to cover all the points. At the end of the day the game is just enjoyable. It feels good, it's not too difficult but it isn't a breeze and you'll get a fair bit of play time for your money - especially if you play it twice through like I did. I expect you'll be off to get it now, so visit a retailer for a boxed copy, or get it from Steam - just remember that if you buy it boxed, the PC it installs on must have a net connection at the time of install. My one last word of advice would be that once you get to the last level, don't stop playing until you reach the end - you'll find it that bit more satisfying, which is saying a lot with a game of this calibre.
- Link to Steam
Beyond Good and Evil Review
Posted 5th April 2006 at 11:26pm by M1ke, tagged as Review | Commenting Closed
When the tallies of the great games are taken at the end of cyber existence, Beyond Good and Evil will not be on them. But then again, neither will Battle Realms, neither will Hostile Waters, neither will Giants or Warrior Kings. Why? Because for some reason these games never got the acclaim they deserved - the mags rated them, the public ignored them. So here now is a list of reasons why the public are a load of retarded blind fools.
You start the game with a nice view of a peaceful planet, and a news report of impending war. Then suddenly something is happening, and you aren't quite sure what. Then you're in control of Jade, the game's main character, and fighting strange green blue alien things. You are told to press the left mouse button and thats about it. Luckily this is about all combat at this stage consists of, but as pressing the directional arrows also has an impact on what happens, you se there's a little more to do in combat. However it is simplistic and this would be a problem, if the game was a lot more combat heavy. But in a lot of situations, combat is not at all necessary. And not all areas where there is combat in the offering need to be visited.One main 'good thing' about the game is its open endedness. You can explore the planet, have your own little adventures in caves and the town, buy stuff, win stuff and talk to a variety of people when not attempting missions. And of course there is the photography - Jade is equipped with a camera which she can use to take pictures of wildlife. You see an animal you haven't snapped before, you hold shift to aim with the camera, get the target at the required zoom level and press the shutter. Straight away the picture is sent to a 'science centre' and you get money. The camera also allows you to take personal pictures (a sort of advanced screen shot function), allows you to take pictures of maps and codes to be analysed, and also forms the basis of your missions - making reports.
I wont detail who you work for in the game, but every mission revolves around photographing things (usually evil things) to prove certain other things about some aliens. Unfortunately it isn't as easy as snapping wild-life; in fact its damned difficult to find what you have to photograph, let alone get in good position to take the shot. Whilst the levels them selves are a linear progression, there are a few different ways to complete them, although most encounters with 'baddies' after the first objective (which is a lot of wildlife bashing) are more puzzles that need to be solved, rather like some aspects of Sam Fisher's earlier adventures - only Jade has a lot less chance to resort to violence. Even combat in some areas is handled like puzzles, with half the challenge being working out what to do, then usually kicking people in the back for a while. Of course it isn't just Jade on the missions.
Right from the first fight you get to see how great the supporting cast are, as they make great entrances, and you really feel you need them at points - indeed some puzzles relate to getting your friends to places so that they can help you get to other places, which sounds a lot more confusing than it is. The dialogue is well written, and the voice acting is great - these are some of the best characters outside of a Lucas Arts adventure game, which is high praise.
The simple fact is, that Beyond Good and Evil cannot be pinned down in any genre, other than generalised under the title of 'adventure.' It has platform elements, but none of the annoying jump timing that infuriates after the third fall to one's doom, and none of the irritating camera issues that can plague that kind of game. It has elements of stealth, but again it does with it something different, more of a puzzle than of any skill at controlling. But whatever you don't like about any of the genres that are mashed (well, delicately woven) into it, you'll like so much more because this game is so good. If every adventure game was made like this, taking the basic 'third person game' premise and doing with it whatever the hell they wanted, we wouldn't give a damn that point-and-click was dead. This isn't a game to show off to your mates with, not one that will get you saying 'awesome' but one that you will enjoy every aspect of, finish it, and remember it long after it is wiped from your hard drive. And now it's on budget as well. Just get the damn think, ok?
90% - I don't know why it deserves this, play it and you'll see it is unquestionably a classic game, so that's what it gets here.
Deus Ex Review
Posted 5th April 2006 at 11:22pm by M1ke, tagged as Review | Commenting Closed
Deus Ex is a game that should rightly be remembered as a true masterpiece of gaming - overshadowing every game of its time and remaining one of the best and most playable games even now, five years after its release, and after such Behemoths as Half Life 2, Far Cry, Morrowind etc. It managed to create the perfect fusion of FPS, RPG and story there has ever been.
For those who don't know, you play as JC Denton (though that is just your code name, a clever part of the game that allows all people to talk to you whilst you still play yourself), a nano-augmented agent for UNATCO - a security force for the United Nations. Your augmentations mean you are a lot more than human, and provide one of the aspects of character development seen in the game. Throughout the game you may find augmentation canisters - some are obvious and others need some searching to find, or work to get hold of - which fit into slots in your body. When activated they drain your bio-electricity, but allow you such feats as seeing through walls, becoming invisible and detonating enemy rockets. Each one has four upgrade levels, reducing bio-electric drain or adding new features. They are amazingly cool when upgraded to higher levels, so searching for them is always important.
To do said searching you must move around the game world - standard FPS fare but with a lot more to interact with. There are many items around just to be chucked at walls, shot through hoops (a basketball court in the city of New York) and hurled at terrorists (in the case of TNT crates). Doors can be locked, and you will have to find special keys called 'nano-keys' in order to open them - throughout the game these are stored in your nano-keyring. If a door cannot be nano'ed, you can lock pick it, or maybe there is a security panel you need to get a code for - unless you use your electronic tools to bypass it. Maybe there is even a computer around that will open it, or tell you the code in an email. Lock picking, electronics and computing are all skills in the game - these skills are the crux of most RPG games, and they are important in DX to - but the advantages of the skills are always more apparent than in generic D&D 327. Upgrade hacking skills, you get more control over computers, upgrade heavy skill, you can run around at full speed carrying enormous rocket launchers. Skill points are gained for exploration, completing mission critical objectives, meeting characters and sub-quests. For some of these, you will also be paid by UNATCO, and there are always credits lying around in empty houses, behind the counter in bars and in government safes - and if you find them you might be able to find a dodgy dealer to get you that scope you wanted, or buy some wine for a girl in a club. Credits by no means have the importance which money does in other RPGs, but it is yet another way to get stuff in DX.
Missions are the best part of Deus Ex, emphasising full freedom, whether you are on a set course mission objective - raid this building - or are exploring a section of a town in search of your objective, or in search even of what to do - one level in particular can be quite confusing if you don't get stuff, or you wander off the beaten track to much, though the rewards are worth the fumbling. Enemy AI is not the best in an FPS game, but the way the AI enemies have patrol routes, instead of relying in scripting to know where you are, means missions are tactical, and can be played super stealth, tranquillizing and stunning enemies, instead of mowing them down with machine gun fire - though both alternatives are fun.
Finally the story must be discussed, since without it there would be little reason to progress - well apart from the promise of ever better weapons, augs and skills, and many wonderful locations to go and... well ill get back to story. The story progresses excellently in dialogue, datapads and email - so you can get as little or as much as you want. There are always twists in the story and the end result will NOT be what you are expecting.
So now I feel like I'm wasting my time. Surely with a game this great, everyone has played it in the last five years? Well I've given twenty minutes of my time to make sure that if you haven't played it, you now know what you missed. But its not too late - the game is still available on budget, so go, become kings - or better than kings. Gods!