Bring it Back: Heavy Gear
With the likes of indi developed Hawken and the franchise reboot F2P MMO Mech Warrior: Online on the horizon I’ve become increasingly interested in seeing more studios return to the mech game sub-genre
With the likes of indi developed Hawken and the franchise reboot F2P MMO Mech Warrior: Online on the horizon I’ve become increasingly interested in seeing more studios return to the mech game sub-genre
I have recently been playing a bit of a psn game titled Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: the Game, and while I have been playing it, I started wondering about the cyclical nature of certain types of games, and how certain genres seem to ebb and flow with each new generation of console. For example, if we go back to the days of the NES, we see many games such as Scott Pilgrim (side scrolling beat em ups), yet if you look at that same genre today, you would be hard pressed to find many more outside of re-releases of the older games, yet if you say that you want to look for a modern military shooter, you cant take two steps without running into a sea of them.
This seems true of nearly every console, and while some of these moves are obvious (they couldn’t put out many of the modern shooters on earlier systems solely due to the fact that they didn’t have the amount of power needed), why is it that we do not see more of these “retro” style games released on the current consoles? Two examples that I can think of off the top of my head are Rayman: Origins and the previously aforementioned Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: the Game, and while they may not have as many explosions or violence, they are both extremely competent and fun games in their own rights, yet they seem to get overlooked by the media in favor of the next modern military shooter or FPS.
An example when the need for accessibility can go too far and change the fundamentals that make up the reason a game is enjoyed in the first place.
Skullgirls is a game you may not know about, and for good reason; it’s an independently developed fighting game but it looks amazing.
Game prices, especially when it comes to the retail sector need to change if the game industry is to ever evolve beyond its current state of charging as much as possible and the biggest games only ever being the ones that truly succeed under this model.
My thoughts on why Journey is one of the most important, and greatest games to be released so far this generation, and possibly ever. It’s one of the few games where every moment stays with you long after you have finished it.
In 2006, Quantic Dream floored geeks and gamers with The Casting. A tech demo that featured a digital actress auditioning for a movie role. The entire scene played out with the actress’ performance conveying a full range of emotions for the camera. The realism and emotion conveyed in the performance was unlike anything seen before in game engines. Heavy Rain was eventually born out of this technology and was extremely impressive. The game was critically acclaimed and pushed many boundaries in how video games were played. Building on what they learned from their previous game Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain provided an expertly executed, fluid storytelling mechanic that featured branching paths. Heavy Rain kept the story advancing regardless of player performance. In fact there was no incorrect way to play, as the death of a main character simply altered the story and ultimately its ending.
I think that it is apt to say that George R.R. Martin is in a pretty safe place financially. Once his books were made into an HBO series (that has done quite well), his popularity skyrocketed, and now, with the release of the video game coming quite soon, Martin has reason to like how the near future looks. The coverage for Game of Thrones has been a bit spotty, but from what I have seen, it looks (stylistically) like something like Dragon Age: Origins, but the gameplay system seems to remind me of something like Call of Duty (not in the fact that it is a first person shooter, but in the fact that there are multiple characters that are already set that you may or may not alternate between). From the information that I have heard, there are two playable characters, one from the Night’s Watch (who will most likely be a warrior/tank), and one character who is a Red Priest, which will most likely be a rouge/mage type of character. There will be two people from the television series that will reprise their roles in the game, yet they are characters that may not be as big as people may want. The first of the two that will make an appearance is James Cosmo, who plays Jeor Mormont, the leader of the Night’s Watch. His role in the first season was fairly light, but I would guess that he would serve as one of the main quest givers for the Night Watch character that you will be playing as. For the other reprieved role, Conleth Hill will be voicing Varys, who was the eunuch aid to the King. Varys had a bit of a larger role in the show, but for the most part, was a tertiary character. With this being said, it will be nice to have some characters voiced by the actors that actually play them.
In 2006, Quantic Dream floored geeks and gamers with The Casting. A tech demo that featured a digital actress auditioning for a movie role. The entire scene played out with the actress’ performance conveying a full range of emotions for the camera. The realism and emotion conveyed in the performance was unlike anything seen before in game engines. Heavy Rain was eventually born out of this technology and was extremely impressive. The game was critically acclaimed and pushed many boundaries in how video games were played. Building on what they learned from their previous game Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain provided an expertly executed, fluid storytelling mechanic that featured branching paths. Heavy Rain kept the story advancing regardless of player performance. In fact there was no incorrect way to play, as the death of a main character simply altered the story and ultimately its ending.
If you’ve been following playeraffinity for any lengthy period of time, you probably know that I have a huge amount of affection for the Ninja Gaiden series. After investing tens of thousands of hours across all games (with a large chunk of that being Ninja Gaiden Black) and waiting almost 4 years since the last full game, my expectations for Ninja Gaiden 3 are, mixed to say the least. One half of me is unbelievably excited at the prospect of another game in the series, especially as it looked fairly likely that NG2 would be the final one. Then there is other half of me, the Ninja Gaiden player in me, who has kept up with every little scrap of information release about NG3 so far and he is very, very concerned.
