Face Off: Single player games can be too long
Face Off pits two verbal gladiators against each other as they attempt to tackle gaming’s most perplexing conundrums. This week we decide if single player experiences can be too drawn out, or if more is always better. Grab some popcorn and get ready to see these two contenders duke it out with argument uppercuts and logic bombs.
Tactical Advantage: How visuals can affect strategy games
Rob Zacny gathers his troops in our monthly Tactical Advantage column to examine the complexities of strategic gaming and development. This month, Rob explains how pretty visuals don’t necessarily make a better strategy game.
A PC upgrade can make everything feel new again, even something as minor as using Microsoft Word. I’m giddy at how much information my new 27-inch monitor can display. With enough desktop space to write in one window while others show me sources and chats with editors, I feel like the world is at my fingertips. I wish strategy games gave me that feeling more often, since they actually do put a world at my fingertips. Too often, strategy developers take the wrong approach to visual design and misplace their priorities when it comes to graphics.
Alternate Lives: RPG Novels
Desslock puts on his reading glasses and sinks into his Lazyboy for our monthly Alternate Lives column, letting us in on some impressive game based fiction. This month, Desslock flips through the pages of the newest novels based in the fantasy world of The Elder Scrolls and The Witcher.
In early RPGs, exchanges with NPCs generally consisted of being told where to go to dispatch the evil wizard mastermind. Thataway, Avatar. These days, however, NPCs have become downright loquacious, and you’re just as likely to hear characters spout deep philosophical musings or attempt to seduce you as you are to get quest directions. BioWare’s RPGs, in particular, have effectively evolved into interactive novels that feature some first-rate writing and storytelling.
And in other PC gaming news…
Today in the PC Gamer offices Owen came back waving a stick around and going ‘whom, whom, whom’. For a while we were worried he’d taken a blow to the head, but it turned out he’d just been playing the Old Republic beta weekend. Now he keeps holding his hand out towards Rich and making an angry face. He’s either trying to force choke him or he’s lost his teacup.
May a selection of PC Gaming news be with you.
Serious Sam 3: BFE publisher on piracy: “people will pay for awesome”
In a refreshing change to developers moaning about piracy levels on the PC, Serious Sam publisher Devolver Digital have given the platform a big bigging up. The company’s chief financial officer, Fork Parker, tweeted: “people will pay for awesome.”
Destructoid asked Parker for more comments, and he followed up with: “Piracy is a problem and there is no denying that but the success of games like Skyrim and our own Serious Sam 3 on PC illustrates that there is clearly a market willing to pay for PC games.”
Ken Levine on vocal protagonists and the use of silence in Bioshock Infinite
Without giving too much away, a key twist in the original BioShock story is to do with your character being completely mute throughout the game. It was an interesting twist on Gordon Freeman-like character design, and a comment on the game’s key themes of determinism versus free will.
In BioShock Infinite, the protagonist – Booker DeWitt – will be able to speak. In an interview with IGN, its creator Ken Levine explained the decision. “How do you go back and say okay, well you’re that kind of character again after you already had that discussion with the gamer?” asked Levine. “Our response to it was, let’s really place you firmly in the world this time. Let’s give you a story, let’s give you a character to develop a personal story…You’re very active, your story is very active, Elizabeth’s story is very active.”
Battlefield 3 trailer shows Gulf of Oman, jump jets, tiny yellow digger
At one point in the above trailer for the Back to Karkand Gulf of Oman map I had the sudden feeling that I had seen something very odd in the middle of all the explosions and collapsing buildings. After a couple of rewinds I discovered what it was. A tiny yellow digger, driven by a pair of engineers waltzing right through an insane fight between a tank, two buggies and a jump jet. Brilliant, but what the hell is it for?
The VTOL jets should also prove more effective against infantry targets than their speedier brothers, bringing air and ground combat closer together. All the more reason to get excited about the upcoming Back to Karkand expansion for Battlefield 3. It’s out next month.
Team Fortress 2 gives Notch his own hat
When he’s not tweeting, Minecraft developer Markus “Notch” Persson loves to indulge in a little Team Fortress 2, according to his tumblr blog. He was recently invited to take part in the third TF2 Mixup, with famous Team Fortress 2 personalities such as Valve’s Robin Walker and YouTuber Freddie Wong blasting each other to bits.
Notch was enjoying the game, earning the Primeval Warrior medal, when suddenly he was awarded with his very own hat. It resembles Notch’s own visage, if it were made in Minecraft and then copied onto a cardboard box, and – so far – he’s the only owner. “I am never quitting TF2 again, and you should all go buy it right away,” said Notch. “How much is it, you ask? It’s FREE! YES!”
Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai announced
The Creative Assembly have just announced that they’ll be releasing a huge standalone expansion for Total War: Shogun 2 called Fall of the Samurai. It will be set in the period leading up to the Boshin War, in which European and American forces introduce a new wave of military technology that threatens to wipe out the Samurai.
Fall of the Samurai will add six new factions. Some, like the Nagaoka, sill support the might of the Shogun. Others, like the Satsuma clan, want to embrace Imperial power. Externally, British, French and American forces are vying for influence in the Land of the Rising Sun. Over the course of the campaign, you’ll get to decide Japan’s fate.
Maple Story server hacked. 13.2 million Korean accounts compromised
As reported on Kotaku via Yonhap news, Maple Story – the hugely popular Korean MMO – has had it’s Korean database compromised by hackers. The incident has been reported to the Korea Communications Commission by developers, Nexon.
The Korean server was attacked last Thursday. Player’s user IDs, player names, passwords, and residential registration numbers were all compromised. Don’t know what a residential registration number is? You’re probably not playing a lot of Maple Story on the Korean servers so don’t need to worry.
The details were encrypted but Nexon recommends that anyone who might have used the same password on other accounts change it immediately.
You’re probably used to doing that by now. Sony, Codemasters, Bioware and, most recently, Steam have all had their databases attacked by hackers. These are sad times indeed; Uplink was fun. This isn’t.
Assassin’s Creed survey lists possible settings for future titles
A number of Assassin’s Creed fans have received a survey asking them where they’d like to see Assassin’s Creed set. It’s multiple choice, which means we get to see the options that Ubisoft are considering. Eurogamer got hold of a screenshot of the survey from Empire State Gamers, which offers eight different settings that range from Medieval China to the American revolution and Victorian London. But which is your favourite?
Mad Max: Fury Road game in the works, according to director George Miller
When I was 14 years old, I sat down on a Sunday and watched two films back to back: Mad Max, and Akira. I lay awake that night until 4am, in a cold sweat, convinced there would be some kind of apocalyptic scenario which would result in everyone furiously driving fast cars and motorbikes.
Both films would prove instrumental in the games that followed – Fallout’s dusty vision of a radiated America seems particularly inspired by Mad Max, minus the vehicular combat. Max is returning to the cinema screens in Fury Road, and during this very interesting interview with Australian Financial Review – linked by Kotaku – director George Miller says he wants to do a Mad Max game, too.
“After resisting the impulse for years, and watching imitators clean up, Miller is now finally going to make Mad Max, the game,” says the article. The game was originally going to be made in Sweden (we guess Just Cause 2 developers Avalanche Studios would be the perfect fit) until Miller met LA Noire creator Brendan McNamara, who seems to be working on the game.
Star Wars: The Old Republic beta – what do you think?
I’ve been playing lots of the Star Wars: The Old Republic beta recently. More than Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City combined.
Why? Umm. I’m not convinced that the TOR is the better game. Or that its stories or landscapes are as pretty as Bethesda or Rocksteady’s. But it’s an MMO. And I find MMOs extremely moreish. Also: I like wielding a lightsaber as much as the next man; possibly more considering I’ve watched three of the movies in the past week.
Server issues aside, if you’re an MMO-loving Star Wars fan you’ve probably had a chance to sample The Old Republic too. How are you getting on? Has it lived up to your expectations? So far, I’ve had most fun playing as a Jedi Knight, followed closely by my Trooper. In at attempt to keep my final game experience as fresh as possible, I’ve restricted my early access to playing as Republic-only characters. Everyone knows PC Gamer’s real allegiance lies with the EU Mint Imperials and US Coconut Monkeys.
Twisted by the Dark Side, young PCG has become.
Nvidia beta drivers boost Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City
Here’s a quick heads up for anyone running an Nvidia card. New GeForce 290.36 Beta drivers have been released that add ambient occlusion support for Skyrim and Modern Warfare 3. Screen flickering and triangular artifacts in Battlefield 3 should also be fixed by the new drivers, and Nvidia recommend the update to Batman: Arkham City players. The update streamlines PhysX support, so players experiencing performance problems in Arkham City might want to give this a download.
The Skyrim and Modern Warfare 3 ambient occlusion settings can be turned on via the Nvidia control panel. You’ll find instructions on how to enable the advanced shadowing effect on the Nvidia site where the new beta are now available to download. You’ll find the full release notes below.
Whore of the Orient is the new game from L.A. Noire’s director
Depending on who you talk to, LA Noire was either a compelling masterpiece or a grand folly. One thing’s for sure, though; its creator Brendan McNamara had an ambitious idea for a game and followed it through.
His next game seems to be taking a similar retro-tact to LA Noire. According to Kotaku, it’s “one of the great untold stories of the 20th century.” Oh yeah, it’s also called Whore of the Orient – but we’re not sure how long that name will stick before a concerned parent makes them change it to “Chinese Detective Story”.
