Donnerstag, 8. März 2012

My Favorite Moments In Gaming - Monkey Island

I'll start this section with a very early memory. It goes back to elementary school when me and my best friend since kindergarten spent all the time we were allowed to (and some more) in front of my friends computer. He had an older brother and probably because of this access to "Monkey Island". When I walked the 3-minute walk from my house to his after finishing my homework, I feverishly looked forward to spending the afternoon figuring out what Guybrush needed to do.

We both were 4 years old when the game came out, so we didn't quite play it upon release. I can't remember exactly how old we were when we played it for the first time, but I can narrow it down between 7 and 10. For me the magic already started, when we had to combine the pirate-heads in order to start the game. I thought it was awesome and already felt like an adventurer before even playing. It was the first riddle to solve and it was real! And you could combine those faces in the most hilarious ways!

But why was this game so much fun for me even though I only sat there, next to my best friend and watched him play it?

"Read On" to find out!

Dienstag, 6. März 2012

Review - Shadow of the Colossus 3D

Seeing as the game has already been out for more than six years, I won't be doing a standard review. Instead I will be focusing on how the 3D is implemented in the re-released HD-Version for the PS3.

I can't ignore everything else and not talk about the game, though. So I'll start with two short paragraphs on the more standard stuff and then talk about 3D.

The game starts with some quite extensive intro cinematics. I have to admit, after sitting through those minutes of having nothing to do, I started to think about if this was my kind of game. I had read a great many extremely praising reviews and had wanted to try it out for a really long time. The only thing that kept me from playing it when it came out for the PS3 last september was that my gaming-schedule was completely full. But in those first minutes I kind of feared that it would be too much of an eastern RPG-kind of game for me. Somehow I never really acquired a taste for those. "Read On" to find out how fast my fears vanished.

Sonntag, 19. Februar 2012

Trailer of the Week - Max Payne 3

I didn't post a trailer last weekend. I honestly spent hours searching for one that I liked, but I just couldn't find one. This week was easy again:



Just kidding. Though this allows me to refer to a trailer that's quite alright but wasn't able to reach the top because of the steep competition: Far Cry 3. (Edit: Here's some Far Cry 3 gameplay)

This weeks winner is Max Payne 3. Although I don't know if I like the direction they seem to be taking with the game (it doesn't seem to be that "noir" anymore) the trailer does a few things right.

Mittwoch, 8. Februar 2012

Mirrors Edge Playthrough - As Peaceful As Possible

I just finished my second playthrough of Mirrors Edge. I was inspired to blow the dust off this game because of an article in the Wall Street Journal about people playing games without killing enemies (I wrote a short post about it here). Mirrors Edge is one of the few games I know that are designed to be played like this. In my opinion the weapons in this game are only for impatient people. Sure you have to hit those fuckers all the time, so "peaceful" probably isn't exactly the right word for it. But then again, they are shooting at you, so it could be self-defense.

The player is encouraged not to shoot the guards (see top right). This was taken seconds before I finished the game.


I did die quite often and I had to try certain levels many, many times until I managed to knock down that red door without shooting a gun, but I did it! And it was worth it! Finally reaching the end of a level after being stuck seemingly for hours, even doubting that it is possible not to kill those guys is just great. It reminded me of Demon's Souls - believe it or not. This feeling of accomplishment after landing that impossible stunt or getting through those guards is something many games lack nowadays.

Dienstag, 7. Februar 2012

In A Land Before Time - An Old Minecraft-Thread

I had to catch up with my Google Reader today because I didn't have time for it on sunday and yesterday. I HAVE to cut down on my feeds but I also don't want to miss all those interesting posts. At the moment I'm getting 200 - 300 posts a day. 1/3 of them I want to read.

Well, anyhow, that was the reason that I just now stumbled upon an amazing post on Kotaku that shared a link to an ancient Minecraft thread. To read this warms my heart. It was started on May 17th, 2009.

I myself obviously was kind of a late adopter. I searched my inbox for "minecraft" just now and I built the first thing in the free Creative Mode in my Browser on October 25th, 2010. I know that because I proudly built my brothers name with coloured wool blocks and then tried to show it to him. On November 2nd, 2010 I bought my first copy of the game (I proceeded to buy copies for both of my brothers later on). I don't want to know how much time I've spent with it since then, but it certainly is a huge amount.

I've played countless hours of singleplayer and multiplayer. I've replaced the top of a mountain with glass, so that my roof still has the shape of the mountain (Probably my most mind-numbing project in singleplayer, but I absolutely wanted to see what it would look like. At the moment, it looks like this).


I've built huge underwater-tunnels with my brothers, gone treasure hunting with them, built villages with friends, built a colloseum and vast tunnel systems. And much more.

I've also spent much time watching videos of people playing minecraft. For a period of time I've enjoyed this even more than playing the game. Minecraft probably was my substitute drug after quitting World of Warcraft. And there couldn't have been a better one.

Minecraft allowed me to create something, instead of doing daily quest after daily quest. It allowed me to set my own goals, write my own story, instead of following a prescribed line. It allowed me to be active, to completely design my experience of the game in a way that I liked. I also have quite a lot of fond memories of my time playing World of Warcraft, but I think Minecraft was a healthy way to go.

Because it also showed me what one man (and a pretty nice man, too!) with a vision can do. Now I just have to put that knowledge into action...

Sonntag, 5. Februar 2012

Trailer of the Week - Aliens Colonial Marines

I have to admit, this one isn't as awesome as the Witcher-Trailer last week, but that was also one of my all-time-favorites. Its hard to match something like that.

What I liked about this weeks trailer is how they used the holes created by the aliens acidic blood that ate itself through the floors as some kind of inherent way of montage. It allowed them to show different perspectives that add to the feeling of looming danger. All this is happening at the same time, those crawling aliens will soon devour the marines that we saw one floor up. But the trailer doesn't let itself get carried away by all this fighting. It manages to set a calm, emotional mood by using slow motion and of course through the music.



Obviously it's at least inspired by the Dead Island Trailer (intense fighting - check; emotional music - check; slow motion - check), but it's still well done and has some own ideas, so I think that's ok.

If you want to see some gameplay, you can find it here. I'm not sure what to expect. To be honest I wasn't exactly blown away by the actual game - above all the aliens just seem too weak to me. But the idea to play in this world - with up to 3 friends as well - seems pretty nice. I watched Alien³ and Alien: Resurrection last weekend with my roommate so I'm still pretty much into this universe. Probably added more to me liking the trailer than I want to admit.

Mittwoch, 1. Februar 2012

Skyrim Creation Kit Let's You Do Whatever The Hell You Want

I just watched the preview of the Skyrim Creation Kit on Kotaku. My mouth is overflowing with saliva right now. If it's only half as good as this sounds, the Kit probably will make Skyrim a neverending ride of joy.

I imagine myself at 68, first day of old-age-pension. My most prominent thought probably will be:

"Finally time to play all those Skyrim mods!"

As a wannabe-writer I'm actually most psyched about the fact that it seems to let you design your own quests and stories. I'll definitely give that a try!



Also, the steam-integration looks really neat.