Quake 4- the Demo

Huh, looks like the Quake 4 demo's out, and I just finished playing it.

The reviews on this game have ranged from everything from "Good ol' school fun" to "far too outdated for its own good." My own opinion lays somewhat in the middle.

First off, the visuals are what you might expect; its Doom 3 with more lighting, and some minimal art design inspired by Quake 2. So, while it looks detailed, it doesn't look interesting. It feels like something you've seen before because you pretty much have.

The actual gunplay is somewhat improved over Doom 3. The weapons here are much more satisfying; the feel powerful when they fire, something that was all too much absent from Doom (the shotgun was the worst offender. Was it even firing shells?). That isn't to say that the enemies will go down quickly; most of the strogg are tough cookies, and even with the help of your squadmates they often won't go down until they're right in your face. Which brings me to another problem; the AI is weak. Enemies are still only smart enough to strafe and blindly charge at you, and your comrades are not much better. This stands out in stark contrast to many of the scripted events you'll witness where Marines are kicking all sorts of ass. Why they suddenly become stupid when tagging along with you makes no sense. Actually, yes it does; Id and Raven, like so many other developers, are still far too worried about making a game look good to even bother much with AI . Considering we've had two generations in a row with identical playing games (and signs that the 360 wont' chagne things), I find this to be a bad trend.

So is it worth it? The weapons and the production values do a good job of giving Quake 4 the intensity and grittiness that one expects from a sci-fi shooter, but there's no denying that the gameplay feels old and tired at this point. At least Doom 3 tried to mask this by constantly trying to surprise the player and instilling them with a sense of dread. Quake 4 seems like a decent pick-up a year from now when its $20 bucks, but in the mean time I think Id and Raven need to hit the drawing board if they don't want to fade into obscurity.

Also, looksl like Bioshock may have found a publisher in Take Two. You may not be familiar with many of Irrational's games, but trust me; if these guys can get a big break, it'll be good for the whole industry.

Desperation Move

Before I left for break, I said something in the blog about getting a truck ton of work finished so that I could return with some peace of mind. I'm proud to say that my mission was accomplished. It was quite an undertaking; the 10 page paper took most of the break to write and my Prolog assignment took me until 4:30 in the morning to complete. I lost two pages of my paper an hour and half before class, and I managed to complete my econ problems while the class was going on and I was eating a chicken parm sandwhich in the student center (and I still got to hand it in at the end of the lecture).

In reality this is only the beginning of my workload for the remainder of the semester, but I feel a lot better beginning the journey with my best foot forward.

I'm pretty sure there were other things I wanted to mention in this post, and now I forget them. Maybe it will come back to more tomorrow. For now, its time for sleep

Book of Root

I don't remember if I ever mentioned the Book of Root project in this space. In any case, it deserves mention now. Its a webcomic that a friend of mine has been trying a very long time to create, and at one point I was going to write for. While I'm not part of the project anymore, it looks like it is finally getting off the ground for reals, which I'm glad to see. Perhaps you will find it entertaining too.

Wax on

Of all days of they year, Thanksgiving should be the very last one in which I feel hungry at 11:00 at night. Yet that is just what happened to me yesterday night. Family Thanksgiving always involves a very large amount of people, making it physically difficult to actually put food on one's plate. I've developed a system over the years that works rather well for firsts, but seconds are still out of the question, so fast are the leftovers removed and stored away. I might have been saved by the traditional midnight turkey sandwhich, but the severity of the local roads after some bad snow caused us to leave early.

No candy on Halloween, not stuffed on Thanksgiving, and now I can't think of anything I want for Christmas. Man I'm really screwing up the holidays.

I have a lot of writing to do today, hopefully this post will get the juices flowing. I spoke to someone last night about how I've been frustrated with any and all writing assignements this semester. This despite having only two major writing assignments so far, and getting grades of an A- and a B respectively. Why am I worrying so much when I'm not even doing C work? I guess its the fact that I still look at everything I type as being pure crap, and that I never have/give myself enough time to complete assignments. Thus every time I hand something in I feel as if this is the one, the bomb that will do my in. If I just did them, turned them in and forgot about it, I'd probably do well enough for myself, probably continue to get A-'s and B's (respectively). But for some reason I enjoy this stuff too much to just say "you're a CS major, you're not supposed to write well." and be done with it. There's something ticking in the back of my mind that keeps saying "you can do better, keep trying." with every page I type. I haven't learned to ignore that yet, and I don't know if I ever will. Is that a bad thing?

A nation of college students mourn over the passing of Mr. Miyagi, and I mourn over the silliness of Black Friday. Doesn't everyone realize that the hottest gift, the Xbox 360, is already sold out? Whatever else might be on sale, I doubt there is a need to trample over people to get to it. And besides, the best sales always come the week before Christmas. Its one of the few reasons I can take pride in being a procrastinator.

My brother spent eight hours one day fixing my grandmother's computer. His reward? A shiny new iPod Nano. And to think I did that shit for free during freshman year. But back to the iPod; this has been the first time I have really got to sit down and play with one. Kinda sad that the only person who has ever trusted me with such a device is my own flesh and blood. I never understood all the hype around these little pieces of hardware, but when I held it and felt the cool factor around me increase, I finally understood. Still too rich for my blood, but my previous idea of buying a non-iPod music device to be "different" from the rest has been effectively shot to shit.

Oh, and the iPod came with Apple stickers, which my brother has slapped on his Dell. It really is like a cult of sorts. Then again, what isn't these days?

Just...wow

This is a quote on the IGN forums commenting on 50 Cent: Bulletproof...

I thought Final Fantasy 7 had a great story line... this game brings out so many emotions in me.. god.. i cant wait for a sequal~!

My friends, this is what is killing the f$%cking industry.

Another news flash; Japanese people are as racist as we are.

Here I go again on my own

Thanksgiving break begins tomorrow. I'll be packing things up and heading back home early, so its time to say goodbye and wish everyone an enjoyable holiday. I myself have quite a lot of work to do and business to take care of, but for some reason it doesn't bug me. If it all works out well, I'll be able to enter the home stretch of the semester with some peace of mind, which would certainly make things easier.


Be safe everyone. And try to play some RPG's. Those are great for the long days off with nothing to do.

Xbox 360

A new console is now among us (or will be tomorrow). I've thought a lot about the Xbox 360, and what it could mean for the industry. Personally, I want to see it do well, for the sole reason that I don't like where Sony wants to take the industry with the PS3, and having an undisputed industry leader 3 generations in a row is just silly.

Still, while I want it to succeed, I am also very much worried about it. I had a whole post on this planned in my head, but it turns out that Eric-Jon Rössel Waugh (one of my favorite game writers of recent) expresses many of the same concerns in the style of a real, professional writer. The console does have a focus tested feel (First time I saw it I thougth "Macintosh + Mountain Dew, and I don't believe that is coincidence), as if every piece of its design exists soley because

a) its currently fashionable
b) Sony would do it.

When I picture the "casual/cool gamer" and "Xbox 360 mega fan", I get the same image. That doesn't sit well with me, not because the console is designed for someone else, but because people don't always know what they want. Catering to them won't make things any better.

Perhaps my biggest concern can be found in this one paragraph by Eric-John:

The 360 is the first out the door, and surprise of surprises, two-thirds of the games on its launch list are either gussied-up current-generation games like Gun and King Kong (both developed for the lowest common denominator of the PS2) or merely the 2005 entries in long-unchanging series like Madden and Need for Speed. Get rid of a couple of PC ports and all you're really left with are two Rare games, neither of which has much to say that we didn't hear a decade ago on the N64 (as pretty as they might be).

A brand new next generation console, and we're playing current gen PC/console ports and a few games stuck in their N64 roots. The same thing happened with the PS2 launch, and to this day there are only a few titles that I can say play better becuase they're on PS2 rather than if they were on PS1. I know they need some time to really show what the 360 can do, but I'm afraid that for a long time we are going to be stuck with games that play no better than they do now. And it will all be in the name of graphics.

All hail the HD-Era, where everything will look pretty. Good luck Microsoft. You may-or may not- be needing it.

Tasty

I'm on fire with these posts. What the heck?

Bad day for me today. Here's the scoop if you are so curious, but realize that it is a link to Livejournal. You should know what to expect. You have been warned.

I have tried out the first half of the FF12 demo. All I can say is this: Vyse and Malak called, Square. They want their games back.

The first thing you'll see is the demo FMV, where you'll discover a land full of air pirates and the evil empire of Arcadia. Now if this isn't a ripoff and stab at Skies of Arcadia I don't know what is. To be fair, the FMV showed some very serious/violent battle scenes which looked rather impressive. It is possible that Square is growing out of the teen angst stage and may have the skills to make a serious dramatic story, but the ripoffs are so abundant that I still don't trust them.

Then we have the combat. Its Knights of the Old Republic with summons everonye. The only difference is that enemies respawn MMO style. I didn't really enjoy the KOTOR system after a while, and I doubt that FF12 won't be winning me over to it.

Perhaps the worse sign for the game is that it just wasn't very interesting. The monsters were generic, as were the party members. FF games have generally done a good job of making each character look (and sometimes play) unique. For example, Tidus is the dude with the water sword. Wakka is the wierdo who fights with a blitzball. Lulu and Yuna look nothing alike. In FF12, we've got three generic looking pirate types with generic swords and bows. There's nothing interesting about them, or the environments they fight in. Whatever heart and soul Final Fantasy may or may not have had, it feels gone here.

This was supposed to be the FF I cared about. The one made by the FF Tactics people, who would take the series and bring it back to its former, pre-playstation glory. But then internal problems began, people jumped ship, and the director went crazy. What was left was given to a man who already tried and failed with the series. The results seem to speak for themselvse. I wanted to see Ivalice, but instead I'll just get a world that just so happens to be named Ivalice. I wanted a new combat system, but instead I'll get one from the "Game of the year" that I didn't even like. At this point, Square isn't even trying anymore. And after playing just two hours of Dragon Quest 8, I almost want the Final Fantasy series to give up the ghost so better, more enjoyable/daring RPG's can have some of the spotlight. But who am I kidding? A PS3 remake of FF VII will guranatee at least 8 more games.

Don't worry though, I won't let Final Fantasy taint this post. Let's finish it up with some awesome sauce.



I'd like to see who'd win....

Dragon Quest 8

When you walk into Gamestop, and the clerk tells you there are two remaining copies of Dragon Quest 8, and no, you don't need a pre-order to buy one, you grab it and never look back. That's what I did tonight during a quick trip to the store.

I really didn't need this game. I've plenty of non gaming things to do, and plenty of stuff to already play. But I don't regret the purchase in the slightest. It was one of those cases where I felt it was my duty as a gamer. When I bought Shadow of the Colossus, I said to myself "This is the kind of game I want to see more of. I need to give these people my full support now, not when its super rare and/or super cheap." With Dragon Quest I said to myself "This is the type of RPG I want to see more of out of Square-Enix, rather than angsty Final Fantasy and silly slop like Romancing saga and Radiata Stories. This game needs my support." And so there you have it. I sincerely hope that DQ 8 succeeds in the states (the whole bundle the FF12 demo with it will certainly help along those lines). All the reviews state that while the game has no innovation, it takes the classic trappings of RPG's and makes them fun again. And since I don't see the RPG genre becoming fresh anytime soon, I'll certainly settle for fun.

No WOW update

Sorry about not posting any WOW impressions. Unfortunately I've only played the game for a total of 3 hours since Saturday. I've simply had too much else to do, and when I do have time to sit down, its either with friends, or with a game that I can pop in for 30 minutes and leave when I need to. WOW seems like the type of thing that requires you to invest at least a good 2 hours at every sitting in order to do anything. That's just not something I'll be able to do this semester. Hopefully I'll be able to get back on sometime before the trial ends, but I'm not betting on it.

What I can say is that the wordl is certainly beautiful, and definitely massive in size. This alone made me want to go explore. That being said, the combat and quests seemed so... archaic. I don't know how many times I could run a glorified fetch quest for experience, or whip up the same spells to kill some generic lizard. Most suprisingly, it doesn't seem to be the type of game I could really get addicted to. Granted, I played for three straight hours, but when I quit I had no massive urge to get right back into it the next day. Maybe that's what everyone says when they start playing.

Also, Dragon Quest 8 is out. I'm drooling at the thoughts.

Time for links. Go.

-The co-owner of the Giants, Robert Tisch, died of cancer. Its shocking to see both men pass away in just a few weeks time, and I hope it doesn't hurt morale. I also hope that the heirs of the franchise manage the team as well as Mara and Tisch did.

This idea is ridiculous, but thankfully I don't think it will catch on.

Colossal achievement

This post has been a long time coming. Time to sit down and actually write it!

I finished Shadow of the Colossus early this weekend. At this point it goes without saying that it has been one of the best gaming experiences I've had in years. What surprised me however was just how moving the ending was. I read someone else who said that it was the greatest love story he's ever seen, and while I wouldn't go that far, SoTC proves just how much romance (as well as tragedy) can be heightened just by the interactive nature of gaming. Developers should take some notes. Not every game has to have a hip hop vibe or teenage angst.

Of course, like many who have finished both Ico and Shadow I have already begun to speculate how both games tie into each other, if at all. I have my own theories, though most have been stated already by much better writers than myself.

I had a coupla missed oppurtunities on Saturday night. I almost saw Serenity this weekend, but the backwards little theatre we went to had a rule that tickets can't be purchased 20 minutes after a film has begun. I was also offered an alcoholic beverage at the restaurant we went to beforehand. It was obvious that the waitress was looking for better tips, which I understand, but since I wasn't paying for the meal I wasn't about to run up the tab for an illegal drink. A cold beer with dinner is nice, but it isn't something I need between now and January.

Some of the coolest cars in existence are up for auction. All I can say is "sweet".

P.S.- I'm playing World of Warcraft now. Or at least a 10 trial of World of Warcraft. I'll make up a seperate post, hopefully tonight, detailing my impressions.

Down for the Count?

So overall, this week felt like 30 hit super combo straight to the gut. I think I have enough credits to continue, but I have to start countering life's big hits a little better.

Tonight is the Loyola College Fall Football Classic, which despite the name, is only a few years old but hugely popular on campus. Its Freshmen vs Sophs and Juniors vs Seniors in flag football, with quite a lot of drunk folk watching from the sidelines. I myself am in a somewhat sticky situation; I'm of course a junior, but live with 5 seniors. If my team loses I'll be hazed and razzed all night long, and if we win I might be locked out of the house (alcohol can do that to people :p). Considering the seniors haven't won a single game they can have this victory, so I suppose I'll take the former option and roll with the punches.

If you go to insertcredit, and look for the "Doom radio Drama" on the front page, you will be treated to something both horrible and hilarious. Don't say I didn't warn you though.

Today is Veteran's day everyone. I hope everyone can take some time out of the day to reflect on the men and women who gave their time and their lives for their nation. Semper Fi soldiers; you may be gone, but never forgotten.

Beatdown

I had two exams in a row today. One was in Economics, a class in which the lectures are the simple, paint by numbers style of a business course, but the exams include rather rigirous multiple choice. Suffice to say that I underestimated the difficulty of the previous test, and learned an important lesson about treating each and every class you take with the utmost seriousness. I made sure not to make the same mistake this time around, and I hope the results will reflect it.

The other midterm was in Programming Languages, a challenging couse taught by the most challenging professor in the CS department. I would probably rate my comfort with the exam as "solid", assuming we exclude the one question that I did not answer. Then again, to my knowledge no one else answered the question either, which I suppose is a good thing for us all considering the situation. Unless my knowledge is incomplete, in which case curve breakers will be flogged.

It'll be back to work for me toinight however, but I might as well take a little bit of time to recoup, and provide some fresh brewed links:

The newest PS3 rumor is that the console will be DRM'ed, so that any games you buy are authenticated for your machine only, thus eliminating rentals, trading and the sale of used games. I don't really belive it will happen; I know Sony has been in the headlines lately about their DRM schemes, but such a strict policy would ruin their market. Is it possible PS3 games will use some form of DRM? At this point it seems a guarantee. But it can't be anything that drastic... its just suicide to think of it.

Talking about how awesome pirates are is all fun and games until some of them try to kill you on a cruise ship. This is just another reason for me to prefer ninjas; they wouldn't waste their skills on innocent people. They have death matches to fulfill....

As a rule of thumb, I absolutely hate tooting my own horn, or even giving the appearence of doing so. But the following comments made by Warren Spector about Rockstar games and the industry as a whole are almost to the T the exact same things I said in a debate I had this summer with two of my best friends (who are also the most hardcore gamers I know). It is pretty amazing to see something I said about the industry being repeated by such a gaming legend. Maybe, just maybe, my crazy comments aren't so crazy after all.

Stuff Get!

My brother came down for the weekend, and so far it has been great. Just being able to chill and do whatever we want at our own pace has been a refreshing change of pace. Unfortunately I still have a boatload of homework to do, but I can get it done.

I also had my interview for the NSA/I-fund scholarship, and I really can't say how good or bad I did on it. Some questions were easy to answer, while others caught me a bit off guard. Considering my bad luck with these types of things, I have in my head what I think the outcome will be, but I'll try not to dwell on it so as not to jinx me.

Finally, I bought two items today that are completely opposite sides of the spectrum. In one corner is Revenge of the Sith, which is generally loathed among the geeks of the world. Personally, I don't really care what they think. Only two people I've met have bettered my knowledge of Star Wars and its lore, and I find it to be a fine movie indeed. It also seems that compaining and dissenting about everything and anything it has become cool among the geek population these days, so I'll simply enjoy the film and ignore their bemoaning.

Second is the obscure Gamecube game P.N. 03. It is part of the infamous "Capcom 5" , and got as mixed reviews as possible upon its release. Due to my love of Capcom, obscure titles, and the reccomendation of the hardcore shoot 'em up community, however, I figured I'd give it a go. We shall see I suppose.

In my English Lit class we are currently reading a book titled Sister Carrie, by Theodore Dreiser. In one part of the novel, two of the main characters declare their love for each other, spend lots of time together... but don't quite yet begin an affair. But as a result of this, the man's wife divorces him, and the woman's friend and provider tells her to leave. The catch? - the wife and friend made their decisions based purely on word of mouth rather than any concrete proof. On the other hand, while a true affair hadn't blossomed at the time, there is no doubt it would have, making the actions of the accusers somewhat legitimate. Being a Naturalist work, the novel also seems to imply that these actoins are somewhat inherent in our nature. Its something we do even if we don't mean to.

Anyway, the reason I bring this confusing tale is that I find myself in a similar situation. I made a decision a few days ago about a friend, a decision that was certainly rash and arguably unecessary. I've been thinking a lot about it since then. Like the characters in the book, I made my choice based solely on implications, assumptions, and the words of a few people. And yet, as stupid as that was, something keeps telling me that in the long run, perhaps the choice I made was the right one, and I just haven't realized it yet.

One thing I've learned from reading Carrie is that the best thing to do is to stand by your decisions and live with the repercussions. I'm certainly prepared to do that, though I wish nature wouldn't be so cruel.

Scary things

So last night. Yes, it was certainly the most boring, uneventful Halloween I have ever witnessed. Being under age (really gets to you when you're only a few months away), I couldn't go out with 90% of my friends. The closest I had to a good time was watching them shamble in drunk as hell, telling me about all the fun I missed. But I don't begrduge them; I'd probably do the same thing.

Then there were my other friends, or should I put "friends" in quotation marks. I have always been under the assumption that when someone says "nothing is happening now, but I'll call you in an hour or so." it means that, well, said person is going to call you. When they don't, you could chalk it up to forgetfulness, but this isn't the first time I've been excluded from gatherings. I've thought for a little while now that these people just don't want me around, and last night was just a little bit more proof. At this point even an honest, simple explanation feels like wishful thinking.

At least I managed to beat another Colossi last night. That always makes a man feel like a giant.

Speaking of Giants, their victory on Sunday was what dreams are made of. I was speechless. To shutout one of the best teams in the league with a strong defense and running game (hallmarks of Giants strategy), and for Tiki Barber to have a career day. I can't think of a better way to honor Wellington Mara. Well, I can think of one other thing; a Super Bowl ring.

We all know Sony can be pretty damn petty and evil. But installing rootkits on computers as part of your DRM scheme? For shame. I don't think I can trust you again. Not unless you make it worth my while. Hint hint.