It'd be a lie to say I didn't utterly hate about 60% of what Volition did in Red Faction: Guerrilla. So basically everything besides the explosions and non-linear nature of the game. When I heard Armageddon however dropped the 60% of the bull crap, had more awesome weapons to use, let you repair structures to blow them up again, and they'd even actually put some effort into providing a real enemy, I was excited. Hell, they even had a new protagonist who wouldn't sound like he was an emotionally stunted four year old in a grown man's body. How could it possibly go wrong?

Apparently, very, very, wrong. And yet somehow, still okay?

This is a RANT for the PC version of the game.

What's that you say? We obviously cut corners and dropped open world last minute and left maps showing it? Pft!

Red Faction: Armageddon is a game I have sunk many hours into. According to Steam, over thirty hours. It is probably the greatest Red Faction game I've ever played, but also one of the worst written, scripted, designed, balanced, and cobbled together third person shooters I have ever encountered. I normally would start talking to you about the story here but you know what, this game is so stupid in terms of storytelling that you magically fix the very thing that causes everything to go wrong in the first place, as if the option only arises now. There are two "final" boss fights, one of which is a frigging on-rails shooting section and the other is so basic it'd be a mini-boss in God of War. Other boss fights occur with almost no reason or introduction and in the end, there's never really any clear enemy, or objective, or even a purpose to what you are doing. Red Faction: Armageddon is both blindfolded and deafened in terms of direction, besides the one aspect that Guerrilla truly didn't understand.

DESTRUCTION. Finally! I mean, sure, there were the demolition missions but Guerrilla treated destruction as if it were a reward, not the entire purpose of the game. Most of the side missions were even built for defending structures or where if you broke things to carelessly your objective died. There was that Wrecking Crew mode, but you were severely limited because it was a "challenge" mode. Not anymore folks, it's entirely the focus hear; that and crushing bugs. If this were any other franchise, I'd probably say that wasn't even to save it, but as I said, it's finally a Red Faction game that feels vaguely both awesome and like a Red Faction game.

Well there's yer problem! SPACE TERMITES!

Guerrilla was Saboteur but without the fun parts, at least rarely funny dialogue, and no sense of personality beyond "you're on Mars". Guerrilla couldn't even manage a lead antagonist save for one guy who literally dies and appears in the first scene. Armageddon, if you really want to count, basically has three. A village idiot, a weird cult guy who you're supposed to know from the SyFy Red Faction movie you never watched, and the giant monster queen because Volition really wanted to make an Aliens game before Gearbox (irony that this would be better). And you know what, it's actually got that kind of going for it to. The shotgun in particular just works like you'd want it to and some of the other guns feel like they're straight out of a Colonial Marine armory. Auto-targeting smart guns, multiple pistols, and probably most likely to be in Half-Life 4 -- the magnet gun. It's literally a gun with unlimited ammo, that picks one thing up and makes it collide with something else. Anything that is not nailed to the floor will do. Anything. Yes, that idiot who keeps looking at you funny. Your house cat. You name it, it'll throw it.

How do they compensate for such imbalance? They... don't, really. They never seem to really care about it besides ammo count for other guns like the Singularity Gun, which does like the name implies and yes it it's actually one of the earlier weapons like the magnet gun to show up. You also finally have a melee attack and the ability to NOT carry that dog damn hammer that Guerrilla kept forcing you to bring along like a mother forcing her child to eat the salad she put in their lunch box by setting an electric remote collar on them if they try to buy their own lunch or trade. In fact, there are even cheat codes (yes, seriously) that you can unlock as upgrades that make EVERY gun have unlimited ammo, along with a bunch of even crazier guns including a focusing beam that fires a mortar strike of rockets with each shot. I'm not even covering the unicorn that farts destruction upon your enemies.

Now this stuff is all fun but the fact is, it feels like a slightly modded version of Saints Row 3. In fact, if I understand correctly, they're built on the same basic engine. As a result, like SR3, the PC port is solid, although that's not saying much when we still don't have any mod tools in sight. And my gosh, this game could use some mods, like a complete total conversion for the narrative. As I said, the less spoken about it the better but understand that this is probably one of the weakest scripts I've ever endured. It makes everything I've said about Uncharted look like a single criticism based on how much I could just complain about this story. It's as if it was literally someone's fanfiction just passed in between the game design document without anyone noticing.

You'd think it'd be the GOOD games that would try to rip off ideas from Dead Space...

Also, the pacing is all over the place. The opening feels like Call of Duty by way of Red Faction, then immediately we're in Dead Space, then more Dead Space, and suddenly L4D meets Crackdown, and then for only God knows what reasons, Aliens. In fact, that's it, when the game does try to turn us away from blowing up structures, it's Aliens. Except it fails to understand what made the xenomorphs scary so the monsters feel more like saturday morning cartoon enemies. They even go splat like as if they were the aliens from Republic Commando. However they certainly aren't the cheesiest, most silly part of this story. No, that's for our hero (my gosh that term is getting looser with every review I write) Darius Mason. We're supposed to think he's a badarse, I think, but I can't speak with certainty. What I can agree with the GI review though is, he is the whiniest space cowboy. Han Solo would shoot Darius dead and Darius would STILL be complaining. And it's not just Darius. Everyone complains. Everyone bickers. Everyone argues. It's like a parody but it's played straight in just such a way as to not be funny. You can thankfully mute the voice overs though, so at least you get that respite.

The biggest flaw though is, the gameplay outside of what's already in place is so uninspired. After you've beaten the final boss you still have to do a generic "hold until a bar is full" section while repairing generators to keep it going. The enemies don't even come rapidly, they just sort of spawn every few minutes and then make themselves easy targets. There's no challenge and really, in most cases, that can be said for roughly the entire game. I played through on hard for three hours just to test, and I could run past enemies without taking more than minimal damage. Add in the cheat codes you can unlock, and the game becomes so easy that you won't even be surprised that invincibility wasn't included as a cheat.

Levels, while unique in layout and sometimes having a change in aesthetics, all feel the same and are all navigated the same. Even the game's new co-op only Infestation mode feels like a retread of sections you've already beaten. Speaking of which -- you can play it offline, and presently that is the only way save getting together online with fellow owners of Armageddon. Ruin Mode is Wrecking Crew but with a Free Play mode. That plus New Game Plus means, considering the length of the campaign, a surprising amount of really redundant combat and scenarios.

And yet, I can't knock it for trying. This may be the best RED FACTION game so far released, it just isn't a good game in of itself. Guerrilla was downright handicapped in some departments whereas Armageddon is merely mediocre yet fun. Still, it's got more holes and a lot more to answer to than similar guilty pleasure games like Blades of Time and darkSector, so I'm afraid that I'm going to have to give it a 5.5/10. I hope you've enjoyed this rant review. My regular reviews will proceed as normal.

Until the next total recall,
Paradigm the Fallen

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Trivia: I'm writing this at 3 AM to get it out before Rayman Legends finally unlocks on Steam. I figured getting an unpleasant game out of the way will make Legends all the more sweet and enjoyable.

P.S. Also, don't bother with the DLC. It's just cut content from the singleplayer that no one asked for, including a downright awful new boss fight.

Bonus Round: Image nitpicks

This is really an object prompt? You couldn't, I dunno, just put an arrow and a button prompt like you always do?

Even the end cutscene knows you just want it over. Plus, nice to remind us about our girlfriend we kissed once and then watched die because for some reason she gets out of the mech to see us.

Apparently in the future scout is codeword for "built out of cardboard"

Game assumes you give a crap about who Adam Hale is already, then states his full name with exposition after. Red Faction is awful at exposition.

If Ken Levine goes to hell it won't be for being an Atheist. It'll be for damning us by giving a reason for every ****ing game to include audio diaries.

So the person who designed this UI did the menus for Mass Effect 1 on the Xbox 360?

Still stealthier than the Crysis 2 suit. Also, why is Prophet on Mars?

I like how those nanobots that can reproduce matter without expending any visible energy can't hack a simple computer. Clearly rebuilding dumpsters was more important and pragmatic.


It's cute how you seem to think people will still be playing this game after they get halfway into the singleplayer and then realize they can just play Ruin Mode.

Top Ten Tuesday 34

My Top Ten Games I Wish I Could Play Again for the First Time

Disclaimer: There are many top ten lists but this one is mine, if you think a game is missing here, I either didn't play it, didn't have any interest in it, or I just hate you.

Pre-List Notes

Many games and genres offer such incredible replay value through randomized levels and content, choice driven story lines, or New Game+ that your fourth play-through may be just as entertaining as the first. There are those special games, however, that resonate so strongly after you put the controller or mouse down (why are you holding the mouse?) that you can never quite recapture that initial experience. Maybe it was a huge twist moment that completely floored you, or an epic emotional sequence that left you drained. I’ve listed ten such games that I wish I could play again for the first time and relive the magic all over again.

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Top Ten Games I Wish I Could Play Again for the First Time

10) Spore

If you take away the insane controversy over Spore’s admittedly awful copyright protection system, Spore was a highly anticipated game seen as the next big simulation evolution from Maxis genius Will Wright. Ultimately Spore was not the game most of us were hoping for, but for what it’s worth I still found it a very fun and innovative experience, and nothing beats evolving your little creature from a single-celled organism into building his own spaceship and exploring the galaxy. Countless replays made me realize that the real game was in the final space stage, but nothing beats those first moments of diving into the creature editor and truly shaping something unique.

If you're curious, it looks like my Spore page still exists!

9) Transformers: War for Cybertron

I’m a huge Transformers nerd. I may have a five foot shelf sitting across from me filled with figures organized by era and generation, and I'm sure you've noticed my current banner image. When High Moon released this love letter to my favorite franchise, set in the old days of Cybertron’s initial civil war, I was absolutely smitten. Your mileage may vary, but few gaming moments will top driving in and around Cybertron while fleeing the laser blasts of Omega Supreme. The kid in me was overjoyed, and the adult was finally satisfied that Transformers got the awesome game they always deserved.

8) The Whispered World

A semi-recent point and click adventure game that I was excited to play as part of my Rogue's Adventures backlog playthroughs, The Whispered World tells the intriguing tale of a depressed circus clown and his quest to save the beautifully drawn fantasy world of Silentia….or destroy it. The emotional journey Sadwick goes through is unlike anything I’ve experienced in an adventure game, and the twist ending still gives me goosebumps.

Read my Final Thoughts on The Whispered World (Spoiler Warning).

7) BioShock

An obvious choice for most folk’s list, BioShock helped prove that not all first person shooters have to be mindless murder simulators and can in fact be thought-provoking, beautiful, haunting, and have some of the biggest story twists of the entire generation. The sequel proved that you can return to Rapture, and even include another great story, but few moments can compete with the first time you saw a Big Daddy, discovered Atlas’ secret, and confronted Andrew Ryan.

6) Red Dead Redemption

As incredible as Rockstar’s open-world games are, they’ve never encouraged replaying from the beginning, instead rewarding you for continuing to play and accomplish everything you can do. This makes for a wonderfully cohesive and fulfilling experience, but also a burning desire to experience it all again. Red Dead had an amazing story (the slow middle section in Mexico notwithstanding) with an actual likable protagonist and Rockstar’s usual cast of colorful characters like Seth the grave robber and Nigel West Dickens the snake oil salesman. Action-packed set pieces were lifted straight out of classic Western films and tropes, like the train robbery, assaulting the fort, and fleeing on stagecoach. But the biggest moments were emotionally wrenching, and coupled with that amazing soundtrack created an experience we’ll never forget.

5) The Walking Dead

Although Telltale’s incredible adaptation of the popular comic book (and now television series) offers replay-ability through a choice driven narrative, many fans (myself included) can’t bring themselves to replay such a strong story-driven game. Treating Kenny differently or letting a different person live or die just feels wrong in a way no other game has – my first and only playthrough will always be my definitive Walking Dead experience. No other gaming experience has spurned me to immediately get online and discuss the game's story and moments with my best friend that was also playing it at the same time, and making different decisions along the way.

4) Mass Effect

I’m part of that group of fans that believes the original Mass Effect game to be nothing short of a masterpiece, the best of the series, and a memorable experience that I can’t quite capture with multiple playthroughs. Hell I even put Mass Effect 2 on my Most Disappointing list, rendering my love for the original as borderline irrational. Exploring the galaxy with the Normandy and Mako while learning about the fully realized and incredibly interesting universe Bioware created helped make that first playthrough one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had. The moment when Sovereign first reveals himself to you on Virmire is still one of the coolest moments I've ever experienced in a video game (hmm future top ten list?). To this day Mass Effect remains the only role playing game that I’ve immediately started playing again after beating it the first time.

3) Grand Theft Auto III

As I mentioned with RDR, Rockstar doesn’t encourage you to play their games again, but the open world is so compelling you can’t help but sink dozens of hours just having fun in the city-sized sandbox well after finishing the story. Both Vice City and San Andreas made my Top Ten PS2 Games List, but Grand Theft Auto 3 makes this list purely because it was my first experience with such a genre that just puts you in a big 3D world and lets you have your way with it.

Check my top ten list of Grand Theft Auto Moments.

2) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

GTA3 was my first open world game but Zelda paved the way a few years before with the incredibly enchanting 3D world of Ocarina of Time, including a fully explorable Hyrule with new friends and enemies as well as familiar faces. Ocarina also had an engrossing story that retold the classic Zelda tale by inserting an interesting time traveling twist where a young idealistic Link is transported into the future (and aged appropriately) to a dystopian Hyrule ruled by the evil Ganondorf. Princesses in disguise, earning your own horse in a race, and traveling between both time periods make Ocarina of Time one of the most unforgettable experiences in gaming, and my favorite Nintendo 64 game.

1) EverQuest

You never forget your first time, or your first massively multiplayer online role playing game. Well, technically I started with Sierra’s The Realm, but EverQuest presented a, say it with me now, fully explorable 3D world! But this time there were other people involved – hundreds! Unlike anything I’ve ever experienced at that time, EverQuest was my first real gaming addiction as I helped found a guild, met some awesome friends, and spent more time than I care to admit waiting for enemies to spawn and loot to drop. It was terribly cruel when you died, had flawed gameplay mechanics, and the graphics were as rough as that early 3D era gets, but it was one of the greatest gaming experiences I ever had, and I played it for a solid year from 1999-2000. Trying to recapture the magic I jumped back in at some point in the early 2000s, and was met with an odd mix of nostalgia and depression as the old zones were near empty as people had moved on to the yearly expansion content. It’s true what they said, you can’t go home again. Other MMORPGs have held my attention for varying times but none had a stranglehold on me as EverQuest did, and none have measured up to its greatness in its initial heyday.

Wrap Up

Pretty obvious to see that the early 3D era, which gave way to open ended gameplay and exploration had a huge affect on the games I loved and unique gaming memories that I’ve formed. Sadly that era has not held up well graphically at all, making many replays more frustrating than fun, but they do make for the perfect candidates for this wishlist. Many games have received HD treatments or found new life on the handhelds so a whole new generation of gamers can experience the magic.

If you're shocked that I left out some classics that crop in several of my lists, maybe your Chrono Triggers, your Elder Scrolls, or even a Mario game, know that while I love them all, those games actually remain awesome on subsequent playthroughs in a comforting way, like putting on your comfy pants or listening to an old favorite song. All the games on this list gave me memorable experiences and while a few have made for great replays, nothing can match playing through those big moments for the first time.

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Alright, so the next generation of systems is upon us and the closer it gets to them being released the more understanding we have of them. So the question everyone is asking, Playstation 4 or Xbox One?

At the end of all these debates of who is better, it all comes down to YOUR personal opinions and preferences. What i am stating in here is just my feelings towards the topic and what i think. 

First off, just know i owned a Xbox 360 and PS3. I liked both systems a lot, towards the end i really got into the PS3 because of all their exclusive AAA games coming out. The 360 had my attention the start of the generation but it slowly lost momentum for me. Lack of exclusives and the dashboard being bombarded with advertisements was really annoying. The PS3's online was free, the 360's Xbox live had a fee ($50-$60?) a year. People can make the argument that the service Xbox live provides is better then PS3's network because it has "party chat" or "timed exclusive DLC". I find those reasons laughable, only because the PS3's online network (PSN) is just as good as live, sure it may not have the party chat function or timed exclusive DLC but the overall stability of the network was fine. In fact the PSN has come a LONG way from what it was when the Playstation 3 launched. 

The 360 was not at all a bad system, it's just towards the end of the cycle is was losing momentum. I already played Halo and Gears of War. What else do you have Microsoft? show me some new IPs or something! granted they did release State of Decay earlier this year, which i did play and had a blast with but they need to broaden their library of games. 

Now i could go on and on about 360 vs PS3 but this post is for the next-generation systems. Now when the companies were getting ready to announce their new systems i was getting pretty excited, i already had a lot of fun out of my two other systems and now i am wondering what their successors will be like. I was actually more curious with what Microsoft's new Xbox will be all about. The first Xbox wasn't really a success but wasn't a failure either, the 360 was successful and had a big install base especially after Sony fell short with the launch of the PS3. So how will Microsoft top the 360 success? then it was revealed, the Xbox One. 

Okay, the Xbox One. How can it be One when its the third xbox? Oh okay, so it was revealed to be an all in ONE entertainment center meaning you can play games, watch tv, and listen to music all on this ONE device. Nice concept, but personally I don't need all those features on my GAMING system, just give me some great games to play and then i'll listen. When Sony announced the Playstation 4 they came right out of the gate saying that this system was made to play games. Sure it comes with features like Netflix and hulu and what not, but they never focused on JUST that branch of entertainment they know they messed up with the PS3 and for them to earn redemption they need the Playstation 4 to be just that, a system for games. immediately i knew during Microsoft's Xbox One reveal that i wasn't on board, i was actually confused of what i was watching. Why is a company that came off a successful game console opening it's successor reveal talking about how you can use it's hand motion/speech recognition to watch your favorite tv shows or sports team? 

After the reveal of the Playstation 4 i wanted more, after the reveal of the Xbox One i didn't care but i still had some optimism in me for the system, so i decided to wait until E3 to see if they can give me more information that i am looking for. When E3 showed up i was eyeing Sony's conference because i wanted more info on this system that had already amazed me way back in February, as for Microsoft? i wasn't getting my hopes up. Now they promised that E3 would be all about the games, and it was! Games like Metal Gear Solid 5 and the exclusives Dead Rising 3 & Titanfall all looked great! i was actually getting excited for the system, then the bombshell. $499.99 price point, kinect must be connected for your system to operate, must do an online check in once every 24 hrs, you can't share games with friends unless you have them on your friends list for 30 days. It was just a mess a complete utter mess! on top of that they still didn't require indie developers to self-publish their games they had to make a publishing deal with Microsoft. I thought everything was going great from the start of Microsofts conference but all those good looking games just went from "must haves" to "i do not care at all" because of these dumb operations. 

It is now Sony's turn to take the stage and boy did they deliver. They kept their momentum going with it being all about the games, they showed a strong support for indie games letting them self publish on their system without any loopholes on some fine print, which is the exact opposite approach their competition is doing. Then not only that but during the last 30-20 minutes of their conference they just threw the gloves off and came out saying "No online connection required" and you can play used games and share games with friends without having to pay a fee. Then on top of that, they gave us the price of the system, $399.99. That is $100 cheaper then its competition! because Sony isn't forcing some silly camera onto you, they have made it optional which is a perfect way to do it. 

Now after Microsoft had its conference a lot of people began attacking and giving the company a hard time for its ridiculous operations on the new system. It became such a big thing that Microsoft started to roll back and change it's policies. Now people may think this is a good thing, which on paper yeah it is. It shows that this huge company is listening to its backlash and wants to make up for upsetting its consumers. In my eyes this move shows me that Microsoft tried to get away with stuff but the smart people caught on and called BS on them, now unfortunately they are hurting from it. I can't trust a company who based their product around all these policies and operations and then to suddenly change them one at a time, if Microsoft was so sure about their system succeeding with these policies in place then why change them? sometimes you have to stick to your guns and take some risks. Microsoft has come off as a flip flop company (my opinion) and i do not want to buy a product where the company can't communicate what exactly we are getting.

If you read all of this then it is obvious which one i am for, there is a whole bunch of stuff i could go over but ill save that for another post. Thanks for reading.

Now, before I start this show in earnest, let me be clear: this is not a blog about Call of Duty, despite what the title and above image may lead you to think. Rather, this is going to be a blog created for the purpose of talking about the first person shooter genre today, and how it is constantly evolving in many ways, and devolving in others. That point having been made clear, I feel it is relatively safe enough for me to continue on without fear of losing you.

First person shooters have come a really long way in the short time since the creation of a certain hallway shooter by the name of Doom. We, as gamers, owe virtually everything to Doom in many ways- at least from a FPS perspective. While it may not technically be the very first first person shooter game created, it is known as the father of modern shooters, and recognized thereof anyways. Games just aren't made like Doom anymore, and that is a good, and bad thing in more ways than one.

It's a good thing in that games have evolved heavily, in general, over the last two and a half decades or so. Those games in general being, for the purpose of this blog, first person shooters. We go from Doom to Battlefield 4- snap, just like that, in about twenty years. It's crazy. I mean, not only have the graphics improved massively over the years, but the technology behind the games, the amount of time put into them, the money, the features, and countless other aspects are simply astronomically different. Heck, modern technology could learn a thing or two from the video game industry in the way of producing new technology. We'd definitely have flying cars for everyone by the year 2020 then. But that's beside the point.

While there has been plenty evolution of scale, scope, and general magnitude of gameplay, story, and other key facets of first person shooters- there has also been a steady devolution of sorts going on at the same time. Whereas FPS games used to simply have the core mantra of "Shoot those bad dude!" today we have overly complicated gameplay and storylines. Gone are the simple "press S to shoot" and simplicity, only to be replaced by a full controller scheme and a story so riddled with holes and so convoluted that it sounds like a Romero film. What used to take three or four keys on a computer- to walk, shoot, reload, and jump, now takes several dozen across multiple consoles. It's crazy, it's good sometimes, and it's also scary others. But it's a fact, look at it how you will.

How is it, that when things are going so well, that we can think that quality substance can be replaced by mere substance at any one time? I mean, sure, there are plenty of stellar modern FPS games out there currently- that is undeniable, but, it is also increasingly apparent that there are quite a few more with quality concerns and lacking gameplay. And yet they get the green light anyway to be produced. Back in the day (not to sound old, but I am relatively more so than the majority of you here, I assure you), we didn't see many titles released each year, or at least, not at the rate we do today. It was very rare for a truly "bad" game to release, as they were usually stopped before too much funding was sunk into the project. But today, we've gone from jewels like Doom and Red Faction to Blackwater and Daikatana and Conflict: Denied Ops. Just how is that possible? Sure, every generation has its bad games, but there's always hope for fixing the formula later, right?

Well, it's interesting that I mention that, because those three games come from relatively different console time periods. Daikatana was a game released only a few years before the dawn of Xbox and Play Station masses on the PC. The Conflict series has spanned several years, but Denied Ops was released in 2008 for most consoles, and Blackwater was released fairly recently, with certainly no excuse for the quality it portrayed. Yes, there will always be bad games, but with something that used to be so simple as "shoot those guys" can we seriously not just churn out some invigorating and epic titles again, and more often? When duty calls, shouldn't we be answering with gusto?

But that's just me thinking out loud, and that's just my opinion piece for the day. After all, this is only day three of my 30/30 blogging challenge, and I have no plan of relenting anytime soon. I'll be seeing you guys for the next twenty-seven days after all, so things are only going to get better from here on... Until tomorrow, I bid you a fond farewell.

If you like this article, please visit its original place of publication at The Game Effectright HERE! If you want more articles like this, be sure to visit The Game Effectregularly for unique content and opinions.

Finally, after two years of service, Electronic Art’s Origin service has the opportunity to upset Valve’s Steam, as well as the whole digital game marketplace, with its Great Game Guarantee refund policy. Refunds can be asked for up to seven days after purchased (even if pre-ordered) or 24 hours since being opened. This policy only applies to EA’s own games so far but they are looking to extend it to third party games.

How could this shift in policy affect digital game distribution? To understand, we must look back at Origin's history.

EA up to this point has been building upon the framework that Valve created with Steam which became the game industry’s standard for digital distribution. They, along with every other PC digital store, have been trying to catch up with the juggernaut Steam has become. Most companies stop when they realize they cannot. Steam may have paved the way for the mainstream acceptance of digital game downloads but direct competition with them is a gargantuan task. Smaller companies do not possess vast library Steam has, the means to sustain efficient servers to handle many requests, facilitate smooth online play, anti-cheating measures, aspects of social media to foster game communities, and sales with deep discounts. These smaller distributors, instead of competing directly, carved their niches in the digital space. To name a couple, Good Old Games (GOG) offers DRM free games but does not have the same library of triple-AAA games like Steam and usually at higher prices, and Green Man Gaming (GMG) offers digital trade-ins but suffers the same setbacks as GOG.

When Origin first launched it felt like the new platform was there to serve its own niche – albeit a large one – with service exclusively to EA games. However, EA just did not want to be like Valve, it wanted to be on Valve’s level.

Third party games came soon after. Cloud game saves, auto-patching, achievements and cross-platform releases were added to keep on par with modern day expectations of PC gaming. Origin sales  began  happening more regularly.

Aside from some  issues over the years (not  unlike  Steam  has had), which is expected from a relatively new service, there is nothing substantial that separates Origin from Steam except for the differences in library sizes, Steam’s Greenlight service and mod workshop (unless cosmetic features like Big Picture Mode, Steam Trading Cards and marketplace are so important to you).

EA's horrid reputation has also been holding them back from striking a significant hold in the digital marketplace. This was exacerbated by the disastrous launch of the highly anticipated SimCity. Servers were overloaded, EA’s customer support was unhelpful, and people who were asking for a refund for an unplayable game were rebuked.

Recently EA has been trying its best to win customers’ confidence back. Ex-CEO John Riccitiello stepped down and was replaced with Larry Probst. The Humble Origin Bundle offered a plethora of critically acclaimed games for any price people wanted and all proceeds went to charity. Sales on Origin can now offer the same steep discounts Steam has offered for a long time.

Now, whether the new policy was born from the frustrations of customers demanding refunds for SimCity or to pioneer new ground, EA has added the Great Game Guarantee, the first significant policy to differentiate it from Steam. It offers refunds to consumers, a first for any digital marketplace.

But why should Steam care? GOG has DRM free games. GMG allows for the trade in of digital games for money. Features like these are not offered by Steam, and would be welcomed by gamers, but these smaller distributors do not have the weight to force Valve’s hand to change when they cannot match Steam’s selection (anything available on smaller platforms are available on Steam) and prices.

EA has the exclusive series: Battlefield, Crysis, Dead Space, The Sims, Need For Speed, and the upcoming Titanfall. They have the capital to promote their platform aggressively, especially with their own games. This promotion is made more enticing by a refund policy that gives consumers the security that they will enjoy the games they will buy, or their money back. If EA is able to convince third parties to adopt their Great Game Guarantee, Origin will be the only place where people can get refunds on digital purchases.

There will be problems getting other companies to agree to the Great Game Guarantee. Digital sales are final with other retailers. Why would a company ever agree to a policy where dissatisfied customers can reclaim their money after putting it down? It is unheard of even with physical games. If they did adopt this policy they would have to make sure their games were well received by critics in order to minimize the chance of returns. This would pressure game makers to only put up high quality games on Origin. Already EA is pressuring themselves with this policy; bad games will mean more people demanding refunds.

This sort of customer protection has been a long time coming. This will definitely curb people being swindled by false advertising (Alien: Colonial Marines) and broken games (SimCity, DayZ).

EA will still have to work hard to cause any market shift with the Great Games Guarantee. Third parties need to be coaxed into the policy. The Origin library needs to be strengthened with a variety of games. Origin’s technical issues need to be polished. Gamers need to have confidence the same confidence in EA like they do in Valve.

Valve does not have a monopoly on digital game distribution, but there has been stagnation in meaningful innovation because of its dominance in the market. EA has been the only company so far able to attempt to stand toe to toe with Valve’s platform. If their new policy succeeds, it will give EA a better foothold in the market as the only platform where all games are able to be refunded. If there is a significant change in the markets, Valve will have no choice but to reconsider its stance on refunds.

Whether or not you like EA right now, they are pushing new policies that will hopefully influence the markets and be a boon to consumers.

Arnulfo is currently working on his B.A. and writes for The Game Effect where this article was originally published. Be sure to follow him on Twitter and keep up with his work and studies.

As all of you could tell, I love the Legend of Zelda for many reasons. What, with its great gameplay, awesome stories, and magnificent music, I'm very confused as to how someone could not like this franchise. But behind these aspects, the Zelda series contains a large amount of strange and downright wrong things. With a multitude of choices, compiling a list of these things was not a challenge in the slightest. Whether it be weird, disturbing, or even cringe-worthy, these are, in my opinion, the creepiest things in the Zelda franchise.

Number 15...

Romani's Abduction- Majora's Mask

When you first enter Romani Ranch and talk to Romani, she will tell you about... Them. She's referring to a type of invaders that show up at the the time of the festival to take away cows for unknown reasons. Yes... The beings Romani is talking about is aliens. There are aliens in a Zelda game. Romani asks you to arrive back at the ranch on the night of the first day, in order to help her fight them off. When you arrive back, things start coming together. The aliens appear and begin attacking the ranch. The whole scenario is extremely unsettling, but unfortunately, it gets worse. If you manage to defend the ranch for a full period of in- game time, things will return to normal. But, if you let just one alien reach the ranch, this is where things get freaky. An entire alien saucer comes down and not only abducts the cows, but abducts Romani as well. For the whole of the second day, Romani will be entirely missing from the ranch, but will be back on the third day. When you do see her on the third day, Romani is entirely different. Not only has practically all her memories been erased, but her entire character has shifted from a happy, fun- loving girl to a depressing and emotionless wreck. This raises a question: What exactly did the aliens do to her up there? ... On second thought, I don't want to know.

Number 14...

Zant Hand- Twilight Princess

Well... This practically sums up my experience:

Number 13...

Silent Realms- Skyward Sword

After getting Zelda away from Ghirahim's grasp, your required to enhance your sword by passing trials set by the Goddess. These spirit trials are fairly interesting. Taking a page out of the Twilight areas in Twilight Princess,you need to collect 15 tears of a specific Goddess, in order to allow your spirit to grow. Now this seems fine and dandy... Until you run out of petals. These enemies in the picture above are known as Guardians, and trust me, you do not want to mess with these guys. Every time you collect one of the tears, you are given a 90 second time period where the Guardians are stuck in limbo. But if that time runs out ( or you run into a Watcher or Waking Water), these enemies will begin chasing you. These enemies cannot be defeated, and if they hit just once, you have to start the trial all over again. One of the things that makes the Silent Realms so freaky is how, when they're chasing you, contrasts so much from the rest of the Silent Realm. The Silent Realm mostly has a soft, comforting track with a little comforting appearance to make you feel safe. When the Guardians awaken, everything turns rough and terrifying. There are sounds of hard footsteps and scraping of sythes, and it's just... Aaaaahh. And the chasing music is just nightmare inducing. This was me the first time I played through the Silent realms:

Number 12...

Ancient Cistern Underground- Skyward Sword

A thing the 3D Zelda games never seemed to get right is the water dungeons. All of them alter the game in a negative way, and all of them turn out to be the most tedious in the game. However, there is one 3D Zelda dungeon that does the water thing correctly. And that would have to be the Ancient Cistern from Skyward Sword. Not only does this dungeon not focus on underwater trends, it also has a unique design and is overall, a very fun dungeon. But this dungeon does have something that will surprise quite alot of people. What is this dungeon hiding? Well... Hell, of course. 

Seriously, when I first played through this dungeon, I never saw this coming. Not only is this basement floor a huge contrast to the upper floor, this place is quite literally Hell. You have the dead just walking around, you have various torture- looking implements, and you even have a lake of purple liquid that can gradually kill you. But what really pushes this area over the edge is that it's actually based on a story known as the Spider's Thread. In this Buddhist story, Buddha is walking through paradise ( the upper floor) and gazes through a pond, where he can see into the depths of Hell ( basement). He spots a criminal named Candata ( Link), who had performed one good deed throughout his life: Choosing not to step on a spider. Moved by this, Buddha desends a spider's thread into Hell, which Candata starts climbing in order to reach paradise.

However, other damned souls ( Cursed Bokoblins) begin climbing the thread as well. worried that the thread would break, Candata announces that the thread is his and his alone. With that, the thread snaps and all the sinners, including Candata, fall back into Hell. Pretty unique once you think about.... But, pretty morbid as well.

Number 11...

Diabolical Cubus Sisters- Phantom Hourglass

Phantom Hourglass. I've had so much fun with this game, and it never seems to get old. In the first portion of the game, the story focuses on tetra being kidnapped by the Ghost Ship, and Link being required to collect the three force fairies to find the ship. Once those three have been collected and you've progressed through the foggy deep, you enter the Ghost Ship. The Ghost Ship, in itself, is a relatively creepy dungeon. It is continually inveloped in fog and there are a multitude of freaky enemies. As you progress further, it's apparent that you mast save there four sister trapped within the dungeon. 

As you help, suspicion begins to arise. The four girls constantly get you caught by the patrolling enemies and gives you advice that turns out to put you in more danger than before. It makes you think these girls are trying to get you purposefully killed... Oh, wait. they are. Once you save the final sister, they reveal themselves as the boss of the Ghost Ship, The Diabolical Cubus Sisters. The sisters look pretty damn pretty, what with their permanently forced smiles and their shiny red eyes... *shivers*

Number 10...

Wallmasters- Ocarina of Time

For being a bunch of disembodied hands, these things can be extremely frightning. In certain dungeons, if you stand still for a period of time, a Wallmaster will drop from the ceiling, grab onto you, and pretty much drag you all the way to the beginning of the area. Lets say you were playing Ocarina of Time for the first time. You get to the Forest Temple. You read the sign about the shadows on the floor. You see the shadow of your feet start to grow in size.Then you stay... Mesmorized by it... Then, almost instantly, a Wallmaster comes down and takes you away. It's a suttle type of horror, but extremely effective.

Number 9...

Reveal of Blizzeta- Twilight Princess

Mood- whiplash moments can be incredibly effective if you do it right. And lucky for us, Twilight Princess just happened to have one of these moments. Lets set the scene: You've just gone snowboarding down a mountain, and it was really fun. Afterwards, you arrive at the home of two Yetis, the Snowpeak Ruins. The two Yetis that live here have found one of the Mirrors of Twilight, and locked it away in their bedroom, but surprisingly, they are very willing to help you retrieve the mirror shard, even if there are a few detours. See, the girl Yeti tries to give you directions to the bedroom key, but... Fails. TWICE. But the third time, she gives you the right directions and Link and her go into the bedroom together. You see the mirror shard and Yeta walks toward it to get it... But then she stops. She starts trembling, the music becomes darker, and then...

... Wow. This is definitely a great case of mood- whiplash. All throughout the dungeon, Yeta was sick due the power of the mirror shard, but was still a very pleasant character. For her to have such a huge transformation is startling for even the most harden gamer. The unveilment of Blizzeta is is just so cringe- worthy. The blood- curdling scream she makes was enough to send me reeling in my seat the first time I saw it. when replaying the scene, I saw her that her entire head does a 180 degree turn, and that face is on the back of her head...  Why in the living hell does she have two faces?!?! Oh, Nintendo...

Number 8...

Re- Deads- Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time

Out of all the scary things in the Zelda series discussed by fans, this enemy is the one that pops up the most. While the Ocarina of Time Redeads look pretty derpy, in my opinion, the Wind Waker and Twilight Princess ones are far from it. Wind Waker ones, oh my... You thought the original Redead screams were horrid? Listen to the Wind Waker version: (Please visit the site to view this media) OMIGAWD... Anyways, the Twilight Princess ones are something different. Instead of using *ahem*.... "Rape" to attack Link, they use their trademark scream to stun you, then swing at you with their giant blade. With these two kinds of Redeads, it's know wonder they got this high in the list.

Number 7...

Shadow Temple- Ocarina of Time

Referring back to Ocarina of Time for a bit, an aspect this game is praised on is its unique dungeons. With the Forest Temple and its unique Bow implementations, the Spirit Temple with the use of both versions of Link, and even the water temple is unique for its... Difficulty... However, second to the Water Temple, the most famous dungeon in Ocarina of time would have to go to the horrifying, 7th dungeon, the Shadow Temple. When I first played through this dungeon, all I was thinking was " This got an E rating?!" I mean, not only is it directly linked to a graveyard, but it's also where the most villainous people all of Hyrule are buried... Seriously? I'd imagine this being in Silent Hill, not a freaking Zelda game! This dungeon is greatly known for being the one of the most horrifying locations placed video games, let alone Nintendo games. things like Redeads and wallmasters make the appearance here, but things get worse from there on out. From a large number of room made out of what appears to be actual dead bodies, several reaper statues, and even a ghost ship that tries to drop you into a huge pit of death. The boss, like the Redeads, looks kinda derpy, but there is sort of a creepy sensation when your fighting a severed head and hands, while you fight on a beating drum, surrounded by a pool of the dead. 

Number 6...

Huge Poes- Twilight Princess

At the beginning of the Arbiter's Grounds in Twilight Princess, you see a huge door surrounded by four torches with flames. You are about to go into to the door, but it suddenly closes due to the fact that four of the Grim Reaper- looking enemies take the flames from the torches and then fly away. Now you have to play some hide and seek! .... GRRREEAAAA- And giving the darker, creepier tone on this dungeon, it's pretty much terrifying to search for these practically invisible foes. But, if you see a lantern nearby... Be prepared. Still, it's kinda creepy to know these four poes are just lost souls that were condemned to the prison known as the Arbiter's Grounds.

Number 5...

Death Sword- Twilight Princess

Like the Huge Poes, the Death Sword was also a prisoner in the Arbiter's Grounds, just a bit more powerful. When you come into the mini boss room, you see a sword held to the ground by these talisman- like ropes to contain its power. Like the curious Link you are, you cut off one talisman, and the sword comes alive. At first, you see sword just flying around in the air by itself, but put on your wolf senses and...

... http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7qmklyRhu1qjo3xfo1_400.gif 

 If it's appearance wasn't terrifying enough, it lets out a blood- curdling scream to let you know it's pissed and wants to end your life. The whole time I was fighting it, I literally thought that it was going to come behind me, snap my neck in two, and take me into the shadows so that I'd never see the light of day again... Thank you, Mr. Death Sword for making me officailly scared of rams. Well, at least you get to watch it explode into black butterflies once you defeat it... Oh, wait... That's creepy...

Number 4...

Dead Hand- Ocarina of Time

Out of all the things people rant and rave about over the Shadow Temple, the biggest thing is the mini boss. Now in all seriousness, what in Mary's holy name is this abomination? As you walk into the boss room, you are greeted by long white arms with long white fingers with red finger nails. As logic would suggest, since there's nothing else in the room, you are drawn to these hands. The hands then grab you as this disgusting thing emerges out of the ground. the Dead Hand is sickly white covered in purple spot and stained in blood. It's battle start is to hold you in place with its arm and then attempt to bite your head off. 

^ Really. He's always aiming for your head. Its German name, Hirnsauger, literally means brain feeder... Again, I believe Nintendo screwed up big time when they put this as a E rated game...

Number 3...

Weird Cutscene- Twilight Princess

Just... Watch...

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Number 2...

Elegy of Emptiness Statue- Majora's Mask

It order to progress through certain areas of the game, you will need to learn a specific song regarding to that area. In the more particularly scary area in the game, you will learn a song known as the Elegy of Emptiness. In essence, this song creates a statue in whatever form Link is currently in. While it is useful for making it through the Stone Tower Temple, these statues are extremely creepy. Mostly the human Link statue, though. This statue is the epitome of creepy, but what make is so high on this list is not the sheer creepiness of it, but more of the Creepypasta inspired by it. Many of you known this Creepypasta as Ben Drowned. If you've ever read it, you'd have the feelings I do about this unsettling statue. You see, the Creepypasta tells the story of a guy  who finds a haunted copy of Majora's Mask. He is then haunted by a spirit known as Ben, based to the kid that originally owned the game, who drowned, and his spirit takes the form of the human Link Elegy of Emptiness Statue. Even though this story is totally fake, its so well written with some incredibly well crafted videos to go along with it, that I admit, put me on edge when I first saw them.  There's just something about the the Song of Healing being played backwards followed by a creepy statue following you, followed by you burning to death multiple times that I don't know... Creepy?  

Number 1...

The Moon- Majora's Mask

A large part of you probably saw thing coming. As well as the last level in Majora's Mask, the Moon is the driving force behind Termina's destruction. The first thing to note: Just. Freaking. Look at it. It has huge, unblinking eyes and a cynical grin. Moons do not look like that. For how gigantic it is in size, its surprisingly suddle. Think about it: When your not actually looking for it, it tends to stay out of sight like its up there... Watching you... Waiting for a chance to wipe you off the face of  the Earth. When you actually enter the Moon to fight Majora, what do you think the Moon looks like? An insane world with no rules? Room filled with pain and torture? Anything stereotypically scary? Well.. No. None of those appear. The inside of the Moon is...

A green field with a lone tree in the center? Playing around the tree are four children, each wearing a mask of the bosses you've beaten. They will offer to play games with you in exchange for the masks you've collected. These "games" are trial rooms, where you have to make it through a room based off the dungeon the boss was from. Once you reached the end of these rooms where you find one of the children, you will be asked to give them more masks. After giving them the number of masks they require, they will start asking some strange and psychological questions such as "Who are your friends?" and "What do they think of you?". All these things in the final area of the game just raises a huge amount of questions: What the hell is happening? Who are these children? Why is the inside of a demonic room a paradise? Is this Heaven? If so, why is Majora a devilish monster here? Even though a confusing concept, it is explained very well in the Majora's Mask manga. See, there is a short story on how Majora's Mask actually came to became to be. Majora was a beast in the distant past, who fed on the desires of humans who came to steal his armor that could grant the wish of those who took it. One day, a travaler came to the monster and began talking to it. He found that the monster was miserable and wanted to die, so the man then played a tune on his bongos, sending the beast into a dancing trance for 3 days, until the beast died from exhaustion. The man then took the armor then carved it into a mask, and sealed the beast's power inside of it. That mask was named Majora. The mask then seeks a host, not resting til its wish was granted. This leads to a back story of the Skull Kid. The Skull Kid was once friends with giants who protected Termina. Eventually, the giants had to leave, making him feel lonely and miserable. This resulted in him lashing out on people, like the Happy Mask Salesman, allowing him to fall under the influence of Majora. Why does this entire story matter? Think about it: Majora possessed the moon and created an illusion based on the Skull Kid's misery. The lone tree represents Clock Town. The kid wearing Majora's Mask is him, sad and alone, while the other four symbolize the giants who were once friends with him. All the questions asked by the four children are questions the Skull Kid himself wanted an answer to. Playing with the child, while looking into his own personal Hell is where Majora's Mask makes its home. To sum this all up, the Moon is disturbing and creepy for a number of reasons. Its appearance, the presence of this strange world inside, of it, and the answers I've wanted to know for so long makes the Moon the creepiest thing is the Zelda series.

What do you think is the creepiest thing in Zelda? Comment below and thanks for reading!

What Does It Mean to Be Strong?

When you ask any gamer for an example of a strong female character, you probably hear the names Elena Fisher, Jade, Alyx Vance, or Chell come up. Many people (including myself) would describe them as "strong women."  

Well, it's a fairly common topic of discussion in the game industry, but what exactly does that mean?

Personally, whenever I use that term, whether it is describing someone male or female, I think of that character as an individual. They are someone who has a distinct identity of their own, who may or may not actually be physically strong. For being fictional, they seem so real because they're compelling and multi-faceted. For a female character, I'd add that it's somebody who wasn't designed solely to better a male character, or to serve as a romantic interest of another (male) character.

I've always liked John Maxwell's quote that says, "Courage isn't an absence of fear. It's doing what you are afraid to do. It's having the power to let go of the familiar and forge ahead into new territory." So basically, truly strong people aren't perfect. They do what they need to or aspire to, despite their weaknesses or any obstacles in front of them.

Feminist/media critic Anita Sarkeesian's video series "Tropes vs. Women in Video Games"  critiques various depictions of female characters. Part of this includes the "damsel in distress" trope, which some people defend in saying, well hey, what's wrong with a female character being saved? Is it really bad to have a "damsel in distress" character in a game? No, not necessarily. It's only natural that every person, male or female, at some point in their lifetime relies on another person for help. However, if she (not he most of the time) is only known as a "damsel" though, then that's not so good. It's kind of like she's a prop. And if you look at the big picture of video games (and other media) and notice this pattern? That's bad.

The only truly bad female character is one who’s flat. One who isn’t realistic. One who has no agency of her own, who only exists to define other characters (usually men). Compelling female characters don't have to be necessarily strong, or good, or geniuses, or lone wolves. It sounds silly, but they just have to be themselves.

The Last of Us: Unfair Sexist Criticisms?

The Last of Us has been called 'The Citizen Kane of Games,' and has been discussed a lot by both the media and gamers alike. It also has been criticized  for "favoring the man." Personally, I only have two negative criticisms concerning female representation in The Last of Us. While playing through the game, I found military dog tags of female Firefly members, but I never encountered any of them besides Marlene. Similarly, I never got to fight against any female hunters. As I've shown before, women have shown they are capable of violence. Naughty Dog themselves have actually evidenced this before in The Last of Us and in their previous series, Uncharted.

As Uncharted fans know, Nate Drake's greatest nemesis was Katherine Marlowe in the third installment. She is one of the most cerebral enemies in any game-ruthless, intelligent, and willing to do whatever it took to achieve her goal, whether it was killing a young boy or blackmailing one of Nate's loved ones. Players never had to battle her, but in The Last of Us (I won't spoil it), there is a major confrontation with a female character. It's brutal, and affecting. So while Naughty Dog has proven that they are comfortable with female character violence, Joel and Ellie never get to fight any lackeys. I'm not quite sure why they made this decision, because Joel and Ellie battle Infected females, and female hunters are playable in the multiplayer portion of the game. I hope it wasn't because it would make players "uncomfortable", but on the other hand, I can't say that it greatly impacted my experience. It was more of a side-note than anything.

Speaking of our co-leads, yes, that's right I said co-leads, if Naughty Dog would have created Jolene and Ellie/Elliot instead of Joel and Ellie, it would have been very different and refreshing. I can't think of any game in which a woman helps protect and teach a young girl/boy about surviving. Having played the game as Ellie and Joel though, I believe Naughty Dog made the right decision because I can't imagine experiencing The Last of Us without either one of them. I've mentioned it before, but I don't believe in sacrificing artistic integrity to fulfill some quota. This game is proof of how diversity naturally enhances the experience, because it isn't fake or scripted.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Even before diving into the game, Naughty Dog did a phenomenal job in equally highlighting Joel and Ellie in marketing The Last of Us. This was the first trailer I saw, and it's what fueled my initial interest in the game. It's pretty rare to have a game with a male and female lead who are relying on each other equally. Joel even looks to Ellie for encouragement on proceeding with the attack, and puts his life in her hands when he throws himself at the Infected clicker.

I can't fail to mention this article either. Neil Druckmann, the game's creative director/writer, fought to include Ellie on the box art cover despite pressure to move her to the background. When I opened the game, I was pleasantly surprised to see both Joel and Ellie's faces on the inside of the case. This is rare, and a great step for female character marketing.

And finally, this was the most recent trailer:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

"Could you put your life on the line for me... the way I would for you?"

Again, Ellie is narrating, and in that statement she's describing their dynamic in-game. This exactly describes Joel and Ellie's relationship. They take care of each other. They take care of each other. As co-protagonists, both Joel and Ellie are equal in terms of the story. Even if you are playing as Joel most of the time, Ellie is so integral to the story that she is a constant presence in gamers minds whether she is in the scene or not. Some publications argue that the game does have sexist undertones, including the "woman in the refrigerator" trope.

Now, if you look at two particular character's deaths without playing the whole game, then I can understand how you would feel that way. However, everybody is human and this is the apocalypse. They didn't die because of their gender. One person's tragic death significantly affects Joel and the whole story, while the other person chooses to go out alone, guns blazing, the way she wants to (which is a rarity in any media). You have to play The Last of Us from start to finish to understand that while it plays upon this trope, it isn't defined by it. In other words, it's original and not stereotypical at all.

In The Last of Us, the game's post-apocalyptic setting strips away any former societal privileges, statuses, and roles. It's a dog-eat-dog world, and every character is responsible for their own well-being and survival. It's stressed that you shouldn't care for another person. To survive you must do whatever it takes, whether it's killing someone else or leaving someone stranded. The government is policing citizens in quarantine zones while abandoning anyone too far away from its perimeters. Hunters are scavenging, hunting and killing anyone they come across (sometimes eating them too). And the Fireflies are in a power struggle with the government, willing to do whatever it takes to save humanity. There are no perfect characters, and it is something the game, and gamers, benefit from immensely. All of the characters feel so genuine.

Bill is an associate of Joel who is so paranoid of relying on someone else that he prefers to live alone. His base is surrounded by booby traps, and he talks to himself to cope with the world. A stranger you encounter, Henry, is traveling around, looking out for his brother, Sam. He's one of the most decent persons you encounter, but even he will do whatever it takes to keep Sam safe. And finally, there's Joel, who at the start of the apocalypse is barely living. He's a closed off man who's broken after losing someone he loved needlessly. Joel's done some really bad stuff to survive such as killing, and smuggling drugs and weapons (it's implied he was even a hunter at one point), which is something that still haunts his brother, and former partner, Tommy to this day. Tommy on the other hand, has moved on from Joel to start anew with someone he loves. He's helped start a quiet little community with his wife, Maria, who is the head leader of their group.

As you can see, the various male characters all have different ways of coping with the end of the world. Joel may seem like a stereotypical "gruff, tough" man, but the story doesn't rely on what would be a trope. Nobody is on a killing spree or a lone wolf for no reason. Joel especially is still reeling from his loss, but he doesn't turn into some vigilante or Rambo. He is an example of how some people naturally deal with grief in that he internalizes all of his feelings. The game flourishes because these different perspectives breathe so much life into the story. This wouldn't be possible without the female characters as well.

Tess is Joel's business partner/ambiguous romantic partner (it's open to interpretation), but she is the unquestionable, no-nonsense leader of the duo. The first time players meet her, she is waking up Joel after being jumped. Tess completed their trading mission alone. She doesn't need to be consoled, rather, she just says that she did the job, and now wants to get even. When the duo are on their way to achieve this, walking through the quarantine zone, people address her. Joel also defers to Tess when confronting other people and situations. He does voice his concerns, but is more than happy to have Tess take the reins. She even has to remind him to keep "in line" a few times. Tommy is similar in that he finds strength in his wife, Maria. He used to survive by working alongside Joel, but he couldn't take it anymore. Tommy still has nightmares to this day, but he's found something to live for with the (relatively) peaceful community he helps Maria run.

Marlene is another leader, of a group called the Fireflies. When Joel and Tess first meet her, she's gravely injured and makes a deal to meet the duo across the country. Well, she makes it unscathed, though she loses a lot of her comrades along the way. She's a resilient leader, and unlike Joel, is willing to do whatever it takes to try to save humanity even if it means sacrificing something precious to do so.

Noticing a pattern here?

Ellie is no different from these women, and in creating her as a co-lead for Joel, it makes for one of the most memorable stories I've experienced in any media. It's not hard to see why Ellie is beloved by many fans (myself included). She is not some warrior or wunderkind. Ellie's just a young girl trying to do something with her life during the apocalypse. She collects comic books, is inquisitive about how life used to be, and hilariously pains Joel with her puns. Ellie claims from the beginning that she doesn't need any babysitter, and despite an initial lack of weapons or physical strength, she uses her wit, size and determination to help Joel get through enemies and obstacles.

As the game progresses, and their relationship deepens, you can see how much Joel looks to her for strength. He even says to Marlene that they wouldn't have made it so far if it wasn't for Ellie. She is indeed a strong character, and the game would be nothing without her thoughts and personality. Ellie is brave for her age, but she's not afraid to let out her emotions. She curses more than anyone in-game, but is also compassionate enough to try and console others. And unlike most people in The Last of Us, despite their differences, Ellie is the only person in the game to actively reach out to form a relationship with another person, Joel. The bond they forge is really beautiful, and it's a good example for other developers to learn from.

I won't spoil anything, but at one point, Ellie comes into a particularly grim situation in which she faces a truly deranged man, but she is never a "damsel in distress." It wouldn't have made me angry or anything, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that she saves herself, and afterwards Joel comforts her. This is exactly what she did when Joel was in his own life-threatening situation. It's a really beautiful thing, and a brilliant gameplay option, because you get to step into both of their shoes and become both of them. Those moments were so refreshing that I wish they could have happened more.

Where Do We Go From Here?

 In my opinion, I do think The Last of Us has been unfairly criticized. If anything, it does what a lot of other media neglect to do, which is develop a wide spectrum of characters. I could go on about the brilliant characterization Naughty Dog achieved, but even if you haven't played it yet, you can see how The Last of Us didn't strive to create heroes on pedestals or "male power fantasies." They simply told a story, full of men and women who both have vulnerabilities and make mistakes. This is exactly what I would like to see in the next generation of storytelling, especially for female characters.

"Screw writing “strong” women. Write interesting women. Write well-rounded women. Write complicated women. Write a woman who kicks ass, write a woman who cowers in a corner. Write a woman who’s desperate for a husband. Write a woman who doesn’t need a man. Write women who cry, women who rant, women who are shy, women who don’t take no sh-t, women who need validation and women who don’t care what anybody thinks. THEY ARE ALL OKAY, and all those things could exist in THE SAME WOMAN. Women shouldn’t be valued because we are strong, or kick-ass, but because we are people. So don’t focus on writing characters who are strong. Write characters who are people."

(Source unknown, unfortunately.)

If you should garner anything from this post, it's that you shouldn't have a well-written man or woman, just have a well-written character. That's exactly what Naughty Dog did. They didn't write good black, gay, straight, young, old, male or female characters.

They simply developed well-written people.  

Well, I know it's been a long time since I posted any blogs, but I have my reasons. The main one being that my friend Trevor and I have started reviewing horrible fanfictions. After the final day of 31/31, I wanted to do more, but with company. So, will John Freeman ever live up to his family name? Will my jokes be as terrible as I thought they would be? Will Trevor ever regain his sanity? Time to find out.

Xl9: Ohai Trevor. I have something for yooooou.

Trevor: Is it a fiction about drug dealing ponies named ‘wolf’ and rapping griffons?

Xl9: Er… No. I thought you were the one who wanted to review that. This is a Half Life Fanfiction. In fact, it’s a very infamous one. It has received countless Gmod treatments, and even has it’s own section on Know Your Meme. But I’ve never seen a review of it.

Trevor: You say Gmod. I know that place. It’s full of the lowest brow humor in history. It can be appreciated at times, but the origin stories can get rather scary to see. Wait, it’s not a pony fiction?

Xl9: No siree. It’s a Half Life fanfiction from the man who brought us “Halo: Haloes in Space”

Trevor: I’ve never heard of it, but I get the feeling that I’ll know ‘Haloes in Space’ intimately if I keep hanging out with you.

Xl9: Just shut up and review the fic with me.

John Freeman who was Gordon Freemans brother was one day in an office typing on a computer.

Xl9: I can relate to him typing on a computer.

He got an email from his brother that said that aliens and monsters were attacking his place and aksed him for help so he went.

Xl9: Whenever I get attacked by aliens and monsters I send an email to my brother before anything else.

Trevor: What... What do you have me reading this time?

Xl9: Art, my dear Trevor. True art.

John Freeman got his computer shut down and wet on the platform to go up to the roof of the building where he left his motorcycle and normal people close because he was in his office lab coat. John Freeman got on his motorcycl and said "its time for me to live up to my family name and face full life consequences" so he had to go.

Xl9: The kings of the one liner. Nolan North. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Harrison Ford. John Freeman.

Trevor: Xl9... yet just ‘wet’ on the platform. What is going on here?

Xl9: Who cares? It’s the best thing ever, and no spelling mistakes will change that.

John Freeman ramped off the building and did a backflip and landed. He kept driving down the road and made sure there was no zombies around because he ddint have weapon.

The contrysides were nice and the plants were singing and the birds and the sun was almost down from the top of the sky.

Xl9: Man, don’t you love sunsets? Looking out and seeing the sun and the birds come down from the top of the sky is the perfect time to reflect on life.

Trevor: Well, I like watching the bats come out, but... I still don’t know what I’m reading. Gordon has a brother?

Xl9: Duh, haven’t you played Half Life 2: Episode 3?

Trevor: Honestly, if Episode 3 were like this, I’d still play the heck out of it.

Xl9: It’s valve, I think that’s a law.

the mood was set for John Freemans quest to help his brother where he was. John Freeman looked around the countrysides and said "its a good day to do what has to be done by me and help my brother to defeat the enemys".

Xl9: That’s up there with Lord of the Rings for the most inspirational speech in fiction. Rock on, John Freeman.

John Freeman was late so he had to drive really fast. A cop car was hiden near by so when John Freeman went by the cops came and wanted to give him a ticket. Here John Freeman saw the first monster because the cop was posessed and had headcrabs.

Xl9: You laugh now, but headcrabs is a very serious issue.

Trevor: I think there’s a special shampoo for that.

"I cant give you my lisense officer" John Freeman said

Xl9: Then pay with your blood!

"Why not?" said the headcrab oficer back to John Freeman.

"Because you are headcrab zombie" so John Freeman shot the oficer in the head and drove off thinking "my brother is in trouble there" and went faster.

Trevor: Wait, he said he didn’t have weapons. What did he shoot him with?

Xl9: If you had read the fic, you would’ve known that “Bullets too slow and I need to kill fast.”

John Freeman had to go faster like the speed of sound

Xl9: Got places to go gotta follow my rainbow!

and got there fast because Gordon needed him where he was. John Freeman looked at road signs and saw "Ravenholm" with someons writing under it saying "u shudnt come here"

Xl9: Man, Someon is a really nice person. How kind of him to tip off John Freeman!

Trevor: Dear lord, I knew the day would come where you would throw something like this my way. Have you not a soul?

Xl9: It’s a long story involving a cursed sword, Thresh the chain warden, and an assassin named Black Star.

Trevor:... I won’t ask again.

so John Freeman almost turned around but heard screaming like Gordon so he went faster again.

Trevor: He went faster... again?

John Freeman drove in and did another flip n jumped off his motorbike and the motor bike took out some headcrab zombies infront of John Freeman. John Freeman smiled and walked fast. John Freeman then looked on the ground and found wepon so he pickd it up and fired fast at zombie goasts in front of a house.

Xl9: So are Zombie Goasts like double negatives? They died, turned into a zombie, and came back to life when they turned into a ghost?

Trevor: Now you’re questioning this spawn of Beelzebub?

Xl9: Well, intelligent stories like these need to have good backstory.

John Freeman said "Zombie goasts leave this place" and the zombie goasts said "but this is our house" and John Freeman felt sorry for them becaus they couldnt live there anymore because they were zombie goasts so he blew up the house and killed the zombie goasts so they were at piece.

Xl9: Wait. WHAT?

Trevor: It’s chapter 6 in the white book. Under Radical Exorcism.

Then John Freeman herd another scream from his brother so he kept walking really faster to get where he was. Ravenholdm was nothing like the countrysides there was no birds singing and the pants were dead

Trevor: You notice that he never runs. He just ‘walks fast’?

Xl9: RIP Pants.

and teh dirt was messy and bloody from headcrabs.

Xl9: Those headcrabs, always getting blood over teh dirt.

Trevor: Well call it cider and chase the rainbow. You chose quite a poetic fic here.

Xl9: Just wait until John starts talking about hands. That’s when the poetry really kicks in.

When John Freeman got to where the screaming was started from he found his brother Gorden Freeman fightin the final bosss and Gordon said "John Freeman! Over here!"

Xl9: Gorden Freeman spoke 0/10 worst fic evar

Trevor: It’s not Life-Led. 2/10

so John Freeman went there to where Gordon Freeman was fighting. John Freeman fired his bullet from teh gun really fast and the bullets went and shot the final boss in the eyes and the final boss couldnt see.

Gordon Freeman said "its time to end this ones and for all!" and punched the final boss in the face and the final boss fell. John Freeman said "thanks i could help, bro" and Gordon Freeman said "you should come here earlier next time" and they laughed.

Trevor: The best bromance since Fenix and Dom.

The laughed overed quickly though because John Freeman yelled "LOOK OUT BRO!" and pointed up to the top of the sky. Gordon Freeman looked up and said "NOO! John Freeman run out of here fast as you can!" and John Freeman walked real fast out.

John Freeman loked back and saw Gordon get steppd on by the next boss and he was mad and angry.

Xl9: Aren’t those the same thing?

Trevor: I just know there’s a difference between a mad scientist and an angry scientist.

"I'll get you back evil boss!" John Freeman yelled at the top of lungs.

John Freeman walked like speed of light back to his motorcycl and left behind the bad place behind him.

Xl9: Saying that Ravenholm is bad is like saying that I’m indifferent about Love Means Having to Say You’re Sorry.

Trevor: Honestly, I’ve seen low income housing that’s worse than Ravenholm.

Xl9: Do they have zombie goasts?

Trevor: Crabs, yes. Goasts, yes. Never both in the same entity.

John Freeman had to ride his motorcycle really fast back to the office but John Freemans gas ran out. John Freeman jumped fast off the motorcycle and landed on dead peoples hands.

Xl9: Those damn hands. Always getting in the way of my jumping.

"Gordon Freeman is now these hands... i must kill the next boss and live up to full-life consequences!" John Freeman said out loud.

Xl9: How poetic.

Trevor: I’m starting to suspect that this isn’t an autobiography, and that’s he’s being followed around by Denny from The Room armed with a legal pad and crayon.

John Freeman picked up a laser gun and aimed it at trees to see if he could. John Freeman shot and tree fell down in front of him. John Freeman seen eggs fall out of the tree and he put them back home safe.

Trevor: This is so that Gandalf can use them at a later date.

"These birds dont have to see Gordon Freeman yet. its not time." John Freeman said to him.

Xl9: John Freeman. Brother of Gordon Freeman, and master philosopher.

John Freeman had to walked faster and was back at his office work and on a computer. He looked on the internet and found the next boss.

Xl9: Gamefaqs, avenging dead family members since whenever this was posted.

Trevor: I think he just looked up Gman’s Livejournal.

"I know his weakness now" John Freeman said. And after that he got emails from someone.

Xl9: someone@JohnFreeman.org

Trevor:FWD: appl3D@$iefore<3ver@blogspot.com

John Freeman opened up the emails and read them.

"Dear John Freeman, how are you? I miss you at home come home safe and soon with Gordon Freeman for thanksgiving dinner. Love mom." John Freeman looked at it and got sad and yelled "I WILL KILL THE BOSS AND GORDON FREEMAN WILL BE HAPPY SOUL!" then he turned on off the computer and wet on the platform again down to his other more faster motorcycle that had gas in it this time.

Trevor: Continuity is important.

John Freeman put the laser gun on his motorcycle and his machine gun and his rocket gun that he found on the side of the motorcycle.

Trevor: He must have gotten the laser gun from the Email.

He went through traffic and went fast like litning to back to Ravenholm and back to the bad place where Gordon Freeman was. John Freeman went off road and did backflips and landed on back wheels but kept going too.

Trevor: This is why I own a motorcycle.

John Freeman went really fast again like before and was soon back again at Ravenholm but saw more zombie goasts.

Xl9: Didn’t he tell the zombie goasts to leave this place?

John Freeman said to them "Zombie goasts i have killed your friends at the old house and i dont want to shoot your heads. move near the countrysides and you will be friends of John Freeman."

Xl9: Friends of John Freeman sounds like a cult.

The zombie goasts said that "no we will kill you" and walked fast to John Freemans motorcycle.

Xl9: I see John Freeman isn’t the only one who doesn’t understand running.

Trevor: M.J. proved that running isn’t cool. Cool is constantly walking in a forwards moonwalk.

Xl9: Huh, you must’ve been reading a different issue than I did. Mary Jane never did anything that cool.

Trevor: Youth these days... Socrates, I know what you mean now.

Xl9: Who’s that?

Trevor: does “Soul-crates” ring a bell?

Xl9: I dunno. Wasn’t he the protagonist of Black Ops 3?

Trevor: No, he was a founder of the Wyld Stallyns foundation, but let’s move on.

John Freeman waited until they were in front of his motorcycle and backflipped off his bars and shot heads below and landed and walked fast to where the next boss was.

Xl9:... What did I just read?

Trevor: A rendition of the Hazard level in Half-Life 2. Quite an inspired retread, if I do say so myself.

"you will be one of us!" yelled the dead zombie goasts. John Freeman laughed and shot a rocket at them.

Xl9: Ok then.

Trevor: You would suggest a better way to shoot a rocket at a zombie goasts?

John Freeman saw the next boss far down the road and walked slow

Xl9: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!

this time. He walked really slow like a turtle

Trevor: Image of a pony riding a tortoise comes to mind.

Xl9: That was a good episode. No complaints here.

Trevor: Dash sure knew how to rocket zombie goasts

and sat down on a rock and watched the next boss near the dead last boss and where the place that Gordon Freeman was.

Xl9: Isn’t this an algebra question without the equations?

Trevor: It’s New Math.

The next boss was laughing at John Freeman so John Freeman said "YOU WILL NOT LAUGH AT ME!"

Xl9: Pinkie Pie is rolling in her grave.

and shot a rocket at him since that was his weakness.

Xl9: Wow. Just like a Zelda game.

Trevor: Spirit Tracks or Wind Waker?

Xl9: Spirit Tracks. Wind Waker is too good to be associated with this.

The next boss died and John Freeman was happy. He walked over to the dead bosses and put them under the ground and planted pants on them so instead of messy dirt and dark there was pretty things there now to be happy.

Xl9: Excuse me, my mind has just been blown.

John Freeman walked to where Gordon Freeman was lying dead and crushed from the next bosss feet and looked down. A tear droped out of John Freemans eye and landed on Gordon Freeman.

"You are dead bro...

Trevor: Gordon couldn’t Lift.

...and i killed the evil boss." John Freeman told Gordon Freeman

Then John Freeman saw something bad. A headcrab was on Gordon Freeman! Gordon Freeman standed up and said "John Freeman... you got here slow and now i am zombie goast. you will pay..."

In the future the world was dark and scarry. One day Combines came and noone knew why.

Xl9: I hate it when fics point out their own plot holes.

Trevor: But you love it when a character literally falls into one?

Xl9: Err… Are we talking about To Boldly Flee now?

Trevor: I was thinking Deadpool, but alright.

Combines were robot things that werent robots with ugly faces and sometimes glowing eyes and slaved people in the city and made them angry and sad.

Xl9: That’s oddly vauge. Almost as if the writer has no clue what the Combie even are.

Trevor: Do we even know what the Combie are ourselves?

Xl9: Combine, Combie, practically interchangeable.

Trevor: Unless this is turning into a Gumbee crossover.

Henry Freeman who was living in the city and with his mom said "mom why are Combines here" and she said "Henry Freeman Combines are from science and outter space and hate humens."

Henry Freeman realy hated Combines because they beat up every one and Henry Freeman hated it. "mom why are they beating up that girl!" Henry Freeman said to his mom. "Because she is humen Henry Freeman, and they are evil Combines" Henry Freemans mom said back.

Trevor: I really want this to stop. How much more do we have to read?

Xl9: Enough to leave an impression.

Trevor: In the shape of an inoperable tumor?

"Hey you Combines stop beating her up you evil guys!" Henry Freeman yelled loud at them. "Shut up kid or you will pay!" the Combines said and aimed there lazer guns at Henry Freemans head. "Combines dont aim your lazers!" yelled mom then the Combines shot her and laughed "Ha ha stupid humen girl with no head" they said with smiles.

Xl9: Whaaaaaaa...

Trevor: A tear shed for the lost. The Combie will pay.

Henry Freeman grabed his moms hand and said "mom you were beautiful soul and Combines will pay." "Henry Freeman no get out of here fast as you can..." Henry Freemans mom said and died.

Xl9: Oh watchu saaaaaaaaay.

Trevor: Mmmmmmm. That you only meant weeeeellllll

Xl9: Mmmm because you didn’t.

Trevor: May the circle be unbro- Yeah, I’m done.

Then Henry Freeman grabbed a wepon and shot the Combines in the heart and said "this is not over."

Xl9:(Please visit the site to view this media)

The people around Henry Freeman cheerd and smiled and said "good job Henry Freeman we hate those Combines!" Combines made people fraid and when Henry Freeman killed them it gave them hop.

Xl9: That crappy CGI movie about the rabbit?

Trevor: If Henry starts defecating reese's, I’m done.

"Combines we are not scarred no more!" said Henry Freeman and every one around Henry Freeman said "YEAH!" and grabbed lazer guns and rocks.

Xl9: One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong!

Trevor: This has now become the adventures of Tom and Henry.

Henry Freeman and the people walked fast like waves and went towards to the Combine tower that was big like the sky.

Xl9: Do the birds and the sun come down from the top of it?

"Where do you humen think you are going?" a big Combine army with lots of striders said.

Trevor: Doing one thing and one thing only: Killing Combies.

"To send you back to science and outter space!"

Xl9: Science, of course!

Henry Freeman yelled with mad "ATTACK THE COMBINES!" Henry Freeman yelled again.

The war was going and blowing things up when Henry Freeman saw a gravity gun on the ground. "Combines it is time to do what has to be done and live up to my family name" Henry Freeman wispered with head down.

Xl9: And it goes full circle.

Trevor: By and by, lord, by and by.

The Combines were shoting people and steping on them with stiders and people were shooting lazer guns back and killing them sometimes. Explosions like 10 times of the sun went around Henry Freeman but Henry Freeman didnt care.

Xl9: Henry Freeman. Grade A Badass.

Trevor: I saw that. You almost called him a ***.

Xl9: SHHH. You don’t want to spoil the ending.

"Humen kind is losing and I need to help" Henry Freeman said. Then a big rocket came down and blew a guys arm off and legs and head and killed other people too.

Xl9: Wha… Ok. I just need to accept it.

Trevor: This is how half the MLP fictions I read end.

Xl9: And one of the official episodes!

Henry Freeman saw the dead going on all around. The Combine were to strong and big but Henry Freeman didnt care neither.

Xl9: Even the Honeybadger would call him desensitized!

Henry Freeman put the gravity gun on and started to throw striders and at buildings. The bildings fell and made dust and smoke and blinded Combines so Henry Freeman culd use the gravity gun to throw them into the sky realy high and make them squish.

Trevor: All this talk about Henry makes me want to read a book about John Henry. That guy was my hero growing up.

Xl9: A book about John AND Henry Freeman?

Trevor: Don’t you dare. There are some things in the world that need to remain pure!

Xl9: Rule 43, my friend. Rule 43.

The people were wining but then glowing things went in the sky and Combines came out. "Henry Freeman we have to go out of here!" a guy said to Henry Freeman. "No they are all every where!" another guy said.

"You are surounded prepair to die" the dark man said.

Xl9: Wait, WHO?

Henry Freeman lookd around. Combines with lazer guns were there. Henry Freeman knew if humens lost now it would be sad for ever.

Trevor: I think this is how Mass Effect 3 ended.

Xl9: Red, blue, or green Henry Freeman death? The choice is yours.

"FIGHT" Henry Freeman yelled.

People runned toward the Combines to kill them and the Combines were going to shoot all the people in a second when a brite light came in teh sky. A shiny thing like the Combines came from opend in the sky and a guy came out.

"Combines leave my son alone" John Freeman said.

Xl9: “Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!”-Rainbow Dash 2011.

John Freeman backfliped out of the sky and landed besides Henry Freeman. Henry Freeman looked at John Freeman in the eyes and cry falled out and said "Dad mom has dead". John Freeman went sad at the ground then moved head real fast up.

"COMBINES YOU KILLD WIFE?" John Freeman said with growls.

"Yes John Freeman" the dark man said after "Henry Freemans mom is shot in head" the dark man said again.

Xl9: He never said this before!

"I loved wife like sun raise... DARK MAN YOU WILL SUFFAR!" John Freeman ponted and yelled.

Trevor: Cut to a man in a trenchcoat with a face hidden by bandages.

Xl9: Eh, I always prefered Joker over Hush.

John Freeman jumpd in to sky with kicks and hit dark man and the dark mans mask ript off and John Freeman seed ugly Combine face but it looked like humen tooo. the dark man scrumbled back to Combines and Combines went to shoot John Freeman but Henry Freeman throwed granaid for John Freeman to shot them in faces.

"Son take people and leave the city its time I have to kill the enemys and make evil go away from here forrest of time!"

Xl9: Isn’t the Forest of Time a location in a Zelda game?

Trevor: ^ < > ^ < >

John Freeman said to Henry Freeman and people.

"John Freeman we fight!" people said and didnt go no where.

Xl9: Half Life Full Life Consequences. Written by Applejack.

Trevor: Edited by Rainbow Dash

Xl9: The first editor was Twilight Sparkle, but she was put into a permanent state of shock after reading the first paragraph.

"Dad humens have to fight for freedome!" Henry Freeman said and didnt go no where neither.

Xl9: The Freedome sounds like a sports arena. Or a campaign to free a wrongly convicted prisoner.

John Freeman was fraid for first time.

Trevor: Big moment here. John had shown no fear before. Cleary the author was trying to convince us that the character was some sort of quasi demi-god that had nothing to fear from mortal monsters like zombie goast. The moment he shows fear is the moment he realizes the danger that he put his only son into and...

Xl9: I like Pizza in da morning. I like Pizza everyday! I like Pizza, in da evenin. I like Pizza, ANYWAY!

Trevor: How is this my life?

Xl9: Insert Game Grumps reference here!

He didnt want nothing to happen to Henry Freeman because Henry Freeman was John Freeman saw Combines start to run like monsters to humens

Xl9: Er... Wait. Did he just ABANDON HIS TRAIN OF THOUGHT?

Trevor: No, Xl9. What we’re seeing here is an existential crisis of the Id vs. the Super Ego.

Xl9: Hah! NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERD!

and Henry Freeman and saw Henry Freeman and humens run like brave to Combines. John Freeman got quiet then dropped wepon and said "I have to kill fast and bullets too slow" and started killing Combines with bear hands.

Trevor:I would almost agree that bear hands is a more appropriate killing tool for Zombie goasts

John Freeman was killing Combines and barking necks

Xl9: The cow says moo. The cat says meow. The neck says woof.

Trevor: The sane man has written his epitaph in his lifeblood by now after reading the first half of this fiction.

Xl9: IT HURTS IT HURTS IT HURTS

and humens and Henry Freeman was behind shooting at Combines at front. Now Combines got scarred and ranned back to the dark man who was at the door to the big tower that was big onto the sun and went around the dark man and got redy to fight again. then the dark man pressed the button that made the big tower glow and smoke.

Xl9: That’s a built in feature with all towers these days.

"John Freeman you let next boss step on me and made me headcrab zombie. Combines came and put science in me and made me live and strong and big now I make you and Henry Freeman headcrab zombie. Prepair to die" Gordon Freeman said.

Trevor: 

Xl9: Hey Trevor? You ok in there?

Trevor: Let’s just... let’s just finish this.

Xl9: Aww. But I reaaaaaalllly wanted to draw it out!

Trevor: You do not want me to create a problem here. There aren’t enough corpses in the earth to shield you from the wrath which I will rain upon your pathetic mortal flesh! Blood will scream from your pores and yet you will find that a gentle mercy for the kind of pain which I will bring upon to your house and your home! A pox! A pox upon you for putting me through this... this... HOGWASH!

Xl9: Tl;dr

"Gordon Freeman you are my bro and I killed next boss. Combines science is bad and made you tricked bro stop the button and glowing." John Freeman said.

Xl9: Wait, is this some sort of anti-science message?

"NO!" Gordon Freeman angered back.

Gordon Freeman teleportaled to John Freeman and hit him with crow bar and John Freeman tried to grabe it but couldnt so he punched Gordon Freeman instead.

Xl9: Isn’t this the ending of Man of Steel?

Trevor: I wouldn’t know. You’ve threatened me with bodily harm if I ever stepped near a theatre with that show.

Xl9: It’s for your own good! ITS FOR YOUR OWN GOOOOOOOD!

Trevor: You just would rather me review this with you than watch it, right?

Xl9: At least this is ENJOYABLY bad. Unlike Man of Steel which is just bad from start to finish.

John Freeman and Gordon Freeman was fighting for life and death when the Combines and humens started shoting each other again. Henry Freeman got in front of humens and saw the tower smoke and glow more and more like litning clouds.

Henry Freeman shout "It will explod!" so Henry Freeman and the people shot bullets and bombs at Combines so humen kind could press the botton and make it stop. Then Henry Freeman went to a Combines car and shoot all the Combines in it and went to the top and used the torret gun. Henry Freeman made the torret gun shoot Combines and bullets cut them in two and half.

Xl9: You do realize that’s the same thing, don’t you author?

Trevor: Poetic License.

Henry Freeman kept shooting Combines and the rest of humens got closer and closer to button to stop it. The Combines shot at the humens and made some die but no one cared becaus they had to do it.

Trevor: You have to sacrafice a few apples in order to make a delicious victory pie.

Then Combines started coming out of the hug tower

Xl9: Awww. That sounds adorable!

to stop the humens. There was too much Combines and humens couldnt go to the button no more and the tower was all smoke and glow now expect for a little bit.

John Freeman knew it was too late and humens couldnt stop button. John Freeman had barley time but was still fighting Gordon Freeman.

"Bro it is time Im sorry" John Freeman said to Gordon Freeman.

"time for you to die John Freeman!" Gordon Freeman said back.

"No bro" John Freeman said then kicked Gordon Freeman in teh part of the face that was like Combines.

The science flew off Gordon Freemans face and landed and blowed up in a boom and Gordon Freeman stood and fall. "Bro.."

Trevor: “You could lift after all.”

Gordon Freeman said so John Freeman got closer to the ground like Gordon Freeman.

"Combines made me tricked bro Im sorry" Gordon Freeman said.

"I know bro but you are hero" John Freeman said back to comfart Gordon.

"Save humens and Henry Freeman" Gordon Freeman said quiet like pain and breathed slower and slower

John Freeman had Gordon Freeman and saw eyes shut and the breath stoped but Gordon Freeman had smiles on face.

Xl9: So Gordon Freeman died of Joker Gas?

John Freeman let go Gordon Freeman and went up back on his feet and loked his head around and saw trees and aminals and humens then looked at glowy tower and knew what has to be done.

Xl9: If Fluttershy was here, we all know what she’d choose. Don’t be worst pony. #SaveHumens2013

"Son and people get back!" John Freeman said out real loud so Henry Freeman frontflipped off torret and went with people back to John Freeman and ducked bullets and rackets.

Xl9: Can’t you do that in Spec Ops: The Line?

"Son take people on motorcycle and leave city. Make people safe son and nothing happen to them." John Freeman said to Henry Freeman.

"But dad I fight!" Henry Freeman said.

"No son go with people" John Freeman said so Henry Freeman and humens went on motorcycle.

Trevor: Those sidecars get roomier every year.

Henry Freeman started on motorcycl and started to go but slow becaus he didnt want to. the Combines saw and said "STOP THE HUMENS!" and went charge at motorcycle.

John Freeman walked to wards Combines and made fists with hands. John Freeman punchd and hit Combines in front but all Combines in back shot rockets and masheen guns.

Xl9: Lots of Combies use masheen guns.

Trevor: Can I go home now?

Xl9: Nope.avi

a Rocket hit John Freeman but he got up and killed more Combines then a Combine went at John Freemans back and stabed him but John Freeman got nife out and stabbed Combine in brane.

Xl9: He can’t be bargained with. He can’t be reasoned with. He doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And he absolutely will not stop, until you are dead.

Combines got close and hit John Freeman body with bullets but John Freeman kicked Combines back.

John Freeman kept fighting Combines and put head up to tower and saw it go brite and break then turned around in last second and saw motorcycle in far off safe place and was happy. Henry Freeman and the people in the motorcycle saw the tower go like millon stars and fire and loud noises then the people went down but Henry Freeman kept going and didnt say nothing.

Xl9: Oh… Ok then.

After the world was nice and humens had new city and happy because the Combines was gone and nobody was slave or sad.

Xl9: Wait, when did that happen?

President Henry Freeman and people and animals and earth had peace and in the middle of new city was a statue that said "John Freeman Saver of Humens"

Uhhhhhhhhh…

SO! That was the greatest story i’ve ever read. It’s truly the Birdemic: Shock and Terror or fanfiction. It’s a magical experience that’s so bad that you HAVE to love it. It’s literary perfection, and i’m proud to know that I got the honor of reading it in my lifetime.

Sure, let’s go with that. Cya later, folks!

        When it comes to the amount of power, influence, and intelligence the Doctor possesses in the Doctor Who TV show, one could conclude that he is tampering and meddling with forces that only God should control. He's a finite (albeit ancient) alien life form that can attain new bodies after being mortally injured; he captains a time traveling ship of unimaginable and impossible capabilities; he wields a virtually universal tool capable of opening, fixing, and analyzing almost anything, and he has experienced more happiness, anger, sorrow, excitement, and anguish (and even more emotions than I could list) than any normal sentient being would be able to handle without becoming utterly insane. A character in the show was able to access and comprehend the Doctor's mind and history, and he perfectly sums him up by saying, "He is like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun. He's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and can see the turn of the universe. And...he's wonderful."

        Man, wouldn't that make for a nice subtitle for anyone on a resume? Perhaps that's a bit too pretentious? Yeah, maybe...

Anything in a pixelated form is automatically awesome.

        So, if the Doctor is as awesome as he sounds, and since the show is legitimately excellent when it comes down to its deep characters, creatively bizarre stories, high quality music, surprisingly good special effects (especially since Series 5 began), well-paced plots, and constantly changing, diverse settings, shouldn't it make for a fantastic video game?

        Surprisingly, there areseveral examples of Doctor Who video games, especially throughout the 80s and 90s. But they are odd indeed, failing in the realms of the platforming, arcade, and puzzle genres. For example, "Doctor Who: The First Adventure" is a set of four mini-games ripping off big titles like Space Invaders and Pac-Man. The most recent attempt to bring this franchise some fortune was from Supermassive Games with "Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock," which was released in the former half of 2012 as an action/adventure game. Unfortunately, it was met with negative or lukewarm (at best) criticism across the board. So what is it that's holding Doctor Who back from being a successful game? What genre, creativity, and imagination are developers missing? I've mulled over this question for a little while, and I've come up with some jumbled ideas on how to set this wibbly-wobbly misfortune straight.

Dat cover art.

        The most important thing to consider first is what genre would be the most fitting. The action/adventure, platformer, and arcade genres have already been explored, but they haven't been good fits or, at least, weren't handled well enough by developers. The Doctor rarely (if ever) fights or looks like a gymnast. He resorts to outsmarting or foiling his enemies with cunning plans, masterful and manipulative rhetoric, or, well, simply running away. There's also a large amount of investigation for clues, tricky brainteasers and conundrums to solve, and the constant usage of deduction with given evidence (which actually gives the show a crime drama vibe). This obviously makes the aforementioned genres seem inadequate as the main basis for a Doctor Who game. However, one manages to stick out in my mind as the perfect choice: the point-and-click genre.

        It simply wouldn't work well or seem right having The Doctor freely doing crazy platforming or some impossible sort of combat with combos and what not. I like to think of The Walking Dead episodic series as my key example of what I'd like to see. In this game series, Lee (your character) can only perform certain actions within context, certain scenarios, or scripted events. Can he take out an ax or weapon at any time and start flinging it at zombies? No, weapons like that are required during intense QTE-like moments or will come up as an option among several others when moving the indicator to points of interest on the screen.

Could The Walking Dead be an inspiration for a Doctor Who game? Seems far-fetched, but I believe so.

        What I'm trying to get at is that this is how an amazing Doctor Who video game could be structured. For example, The Doctor shouldn't get involved with combat on a whim, but only during dire times. Let's say he's pinned to the ground by an enemy. To dodge, the player must tilt the analog stick left or right depending on where the enemy strikes. But while this is happening, the Sonic Screwdriver must be used as quickly as possible during the moments where he's not dodging to cause, say, electric wiring in the ceiling to topple onto his foe, frying him in an instant. This is simply a random example, and I could give many more that could serve as well placed, nerve-wracking moments

        What if there were some puzzles like in The Walking Dead? What if the Doctor was in an ancient labyrinth that - to open the exit - required figuring out how to unlock a stone door by analyzing ancient carvings on the walls. Does a certain segment reveal the order of how to press the buttons? This could prove to be interesting. And yes, The Walking Dead only requires the player to walk around and examine the environment for clues and tools necessary to progress, which makes the "puzzles" fairly easy and straightforward. However, imagine this aspect of The Walking Dead, but deeper, more complicated, and diverse for Doctor Who. Just one contributor to this wish is the Sonic Screwdriver, which could have an exceptionally pivotal role. For example, let's say The Doctor needs to find the right frequency on his universal device to activate the controls for a mainframe or something. The camera could zoom in on the Sonic Screwdriver, provide some sort of visuals to indicate the problem at hand, and the player could play around with the device's buttons and configurations to set it up correctly. One function could involve moving the analog sticks in a 360-degree motion until a frequency is discovered, or perhaps a series of imputing a precise "code" (button presses) could be found with clues in the environment. I'm sure game developers could come up with infinitely more creative methods of using the Sonic Screwdriver, but hey, at least this is a start!

        When it comes to the scripted QTEs of The Walking Dead, what if a Doctor Who game had this in addition to running segments with a behind view of the Doctor? I can imagine the tense moments of pressing the correct button to jump over chasms, swooshing the analog stick the right way to avoid objects, and pressing a sequence of buttons to open an electronic door from a distance with the Sonic Screwdriver. Think of them as platforming segments in a way, but from a different perspective with less free movement (think "Temple Run," but better).

The GIF says it all.

        Even the TARDIS could play an important role, having the player move around the circular panel at the center while zooming in to pull specific levers, push buttons, simultaneously twist two knobs, or use the Sonic Screwdriver in some strange fashion. The possibilities are broad in this little area.

        To change topic a bit, I believe the story should be the absolute center of this game. Doctor Who is no stranger to having excellent stories, ranging from having themes consisting of thrilling horror, tragic loss, and swashbuckling fun. There's simply too much that a Doctor Who game could draw from for a story. It could literally take place on any planet at any place during any time period. What to choose? That's just too hard to recommend. However, I do think it would be a good idea to combine all of the themes (and ones I haven't mentioned) together. How so? Well, if there was a dialogue system that could let the player choose what The Doctor (or other characters) could say, a morality system with ambiguous choices, and chances for the player to decide which path to take (such as at a forking road), this game could turn into a personal, emotional experience of grand proportions. And the reason why I suggest something like this in the vain of The Walking Dead is because it makes sense. Sure, there may not be a canon story as a result of this direction, but imagine the pressure, excitement, and buzz this could cause. Being in the position of such a powerful being would be intimidating, and being able to decide who lives or dies, what's destroyed or saved, and how something is resolved or broken would craft a Doctor Who story that not only reflects the personal values of the player, but also be consistent in regard to the Doctor. He is capable of laughing away at his enemies with a smile and a skip in his step, but sometimes he can unleash a blazing fury and rage like no other being can muster. With difficult moral choices in addition to ones that reflect certain philosophies, this can work within the context of The Doctor's complex, multifaceted personality while also resulting in dozens upon dozens of branching endings.

The Doctor can be one of the most cheerful, childish individuals or the scariest, most dangerous force in the universe when his morality is abandoned and emotions are rampant. Oh, and since I got a picture of Tom Baker up, I might as well mention that this game could portray any of the Doctors as well. It doesn't have to be Tennant or Smith all the time.

       The prospect of playing something like this excites me, especially the idea of an ever changing, deep story. What about the visual style of the game? This is wishful thinking, but top-notch, photorealistic graphics with actors and actresses from the show doing mo-cap would be the most preferable option to me. Seeing the characters from the show (in addition to exclusive new actors/actresses for the game) in detailed environments with realistic lighting, physics, weather effects, and impressive scope would be fascinating to see. This could also appeal to and entice many people that might not even like Doctor Who with production quality of this magnitude. However, this isn't likely. I can still imagine the graphics in many forms. Stylistic, anime-like, comic book-like (I'm shamelessly ripping off The Walking Dead again), cell-shaded, you name it. A Doctor Who game could be portrayed in myriad of artistic, creative ways.

- - -

        Well, those are my sporadic and quick thoughts on what I think would constitute for an incredible Doctor Who game. When it comes to selecting a developer to make it, I honestly can't think of one (besides Telltale Games, of course) that would be qualified for the job. If you can think of one, let me know in the comments below!

        In addition, what do you think of my ideas for a Doctor Who game? Are some of them great? Lame? What would you change or keep that I've put on the table? Do you have something entirely different in mind, or do you just believe that Doctor Who can never work as a video game? Allons-y in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Dr. J

Developers always have to cut content from their games. Usually it's a matter of not finishing it, excessive content that needs pushed back, or it's become irrelevant. However, sometimes they leave it on disc. Most notorious for this is Shadow of the Colossus, where entire level sections can be found by hacking the game via an emulator. Today however, I give you both a tutorial and insight (with lots of pictures) on how to get back to an area you only visit briefly in Pandemic's swan song WWII sandbox epic, Saboteur. (minor spoilers on some unlocks)

First thing you're going to want to do after starting up the game is, if you aren't there already, go to the cabaret and head out the back to the garage. You're going to want a fast car so the Drake, Aurora or Dierker's car can do. Once you're in your car ready to go, you're going to want to head up to the north east on your map, like so:

Be sure to set a marker at the gates you need to pass!

There are two ways to get here, but one involves a German checkpoint, so you'll want to head the first route it gives from the garage, so don't try to take the main roads. Sticking to back country should get you there, along with a few handy targets along the way if you're willing to expend the resources. I advise also being post-campaign play to get to this area like me, so that you have the majority of the bonuses and perks because it will make it significantly harder to play around in this back area. There are no HQs to respawn at, and if you die, you'll be sent all the way back to Paris. Make each ride up there count.

Now, to get past the border gate you need two things. A Strumwagon and a Nazis uniform. Thankfully both of these are present in subtle ways. The uniform comes from punching out (without setting off an alarm) the SS sniper at the recon post outside the gate. Try not to blow it up, as he's the easiest way to grab a uniform before entering.

Now opposite the tower is a motorbike and a Strumwagon. Get in it and drive to the following location (pictures below) WITHOUT killing the Nazis border guards -- since you're disguised they won't think anything of it. unless you get right in their face or start shooting at them.

Alright, now get out of the car, and climb up the car from it's rear. This is the only way to get on top of the pipes as they aren't climbable, but you CAN jump on them. Jump until you reach here:

Alright, now keep walking the way I have Sean facing in the picture and you'll arrive at...

Congrats! You are now officially in the little slice of Germany used for the tutorial, and can explore freely. In my adventures I noted a number of things.

1. There's an untextured statue of Dierker at the town fountain.

2. Every single Nazis freeplay objective object has a separate counter in this region and doesn't contribute to the count in Paris.

3. The bar from the tutorial has Nazis oppression color scheme and the door can be knocked, but it won't open.

4. Graphics in the far distance will glitch up once you start free roaming in this area.

5. Dierker's Lab and military base is fully accessible and the first Nazis you kill there can still be found on the ground, along with two boxes of non-objective contraband crates. He will still bleed if shot.

6. There are near-finished aircraft models that further implicate, along with the airstrikes by the Nazis forces at Alarm 5-6, that airborne combat may have been a feature at some point. They presently are just static models, and can be blown up (they gib appropriately), but are not a side objective either.

7. Strangely, the AA guns at Dierker's Lab, like the contraband crates, doesn't appear on radar and their shots won't even alert the AI.

8. There's an airship docking station that may have been intended for some additional story mission.

9. Still no sign of Dierker's sluttily dressed female cohort. Despite her appearing in the tutorial, being mentioned by characters, and appearing in the loading screen, it would seem her parts in the game were cut, perhaps implying missions relating to her might have at some point been present here.

10. It's also possible this area was to be re-opened as DLC or via a patch but Pandemic closed before they could release anything.

11. The steepness of hills seems to have almost no impact on whether you can traverse them in this region.

12. You can only call in allied strikes or a getaway strike in the town -- once you head towards the Lab, it refuses to send them.

13. There's a unique waterfall model for under the small bridge.

14. There's an additional sight seeing spot on top of the bar, but there's almost nothing to climb on to get to it, but several wall parts that look like you should be able to.

15. You can climb up until the -very- top of the Lab, where it stops you with an invisible wall. I thought I saw another sight seeing spot once upon there, but couldn't see it again, so it may have been an illusion of my eye.

16. There are no hiding spots when an alert is started, so once you reach a certain level, the alarm keeps going until you're disguised or dead.

17. Zepplins can fly overhead but there was no sign of planes attacking even when I got an Alarm 5 rating.

18. Nazis soldiers are already scripted to patrol routes, even at the lab.

19. There are two destroyable power reactors at the Lab.

20. In the factory part of the lab, you can drive one of the parked Strumwagons on the working stations. You can't get far, but it's the only vehicle that can be driven in a building in Saboteur.

Perhaps you'll find something more. This was a fun little bit of game archaeology.

Cheers,
Paradigm the Fallen

La Seine, La Seine, La Seine!

Trivia: Saboteur was the first M-rated Sandbox game I ever played in full form, and remains one of my favorites alongside inFamous.

Grand Theft Auto 5 (V) is the most anticipated game of 2013 and it is just around the corner. Here are a few games i put together that should help keep you occupied until the big release day. 


5.)  Dead Island: Riptide- Dead Island gets a bad rep for being filled with glitches and having deceiving trailers that don't necessarily fit the tone of the actual game. If you can look past all that and have a mind set of just pummeling zombies, you'll enjoy this game for sure. The length of the game depends on your ability to stay focus on the main story arc. You can easily get distracted by side quests or spend hours beating the undead with a flaming nailed baseball bat. Fun times.


4.) Saints Row (1-4)- Grand Theft Auto always has some comedy in their games, but it's debut of this generation, GTA IV, sort of took a more "mature" realism approach with some obvious undertones. Now GTAV will probably continue that trend, so before you go deep in the criminal mind stories, why not get a little silly first. Saints Row should give you your over-the-top-goofieness fix before Sept 17th. Each entry gets more and more impractical, especially the 4th title where your character actually acquires superpowers. These games will definitely make you shake your head with nonsense but no doubt you'll be laughing about it.

3.) Grand Theft Auto 4 (IV)- You're going to buy GTA 5, the game will be amazing, we all know this. So why not go back and play the game that awed everyone 5 years ago. Relive that experience of traveling through the streets of Liberty City, or calling your woolgather cousin, Roman, to go out drinking then attempting to drive him back  home. That is if you can even make it to your car without stumbling over each other. Playing this game might be a tease though, knowing you're playing a GTA game but just not number 5.....*sigh*

2.) Bioshock Infinite- Most of you have already played this excellent game, but if you're one of the few who haven't, I strongly recommend you do. Now, this game may not last that long for some because you'll be so engaged in the story you wont want to put the controller down, next thing you know the game is over and you still have a week and 2 days left until GTA 5. Check out my review of the game for a little bit more details if you are interested in the game, NO SPOILERS.


1.) The Last of Us- This may seem unfair, picking a game that is only exclusive to the PS3 console. Well i have a solution, buy a PS3 and play this masterpiece! Seriously, everyone should experience this great game. it doesn't just have a spectacular single player but surprisingly the multiplayer is great. It's not your typical "Run N' Gun" type deal. There is actual depth with the crafting mechanics and you should plan smart when you approach a match. I bought this game day 1 back in June, i'm still playing it today. Actually, it's the only game i play right now.


 So there you have it! i hope these games help you kill time until we all get to dive deep in the criminal world of Grand Theft Auto V. Enjoy!

PSN- boxcar182 

A couple weeks ago we revealed a list of the top five sleeper franchises. As a follow-up to that, we thought it would be fitting to focus on three one-off games that deserve a sequel. For the sake of definition, DLC and handheld versions of console games do not count as sequels. Here are our top three.

ModNation Racers

Sony’s answer to Mario Kart, ModNation Racers was a goofy, arcade-style combat racer that let players duke it out with each other using tricked out cars that fired rockets, laid down mines, and disabled enemies with EMPs. The cool thing about ModNation Racers was that there was a ridiculous amount of customization. Each driver could be reskinned and clothed in a way that suited the player’s own personal style. But that was only the beginning. There were nearly limitless combinations of parts to augment one’s car, and players could even upload their creations to PSN. Sony implemented the same practice with course design, giving players a full suite of tools to design tracks and courses to then upload and share with their friends. The result is that every player who played this title had a vastly different experience than their peers. From the standpoint of accessibility, ModNation Racers exemplified what it meant to create a forgiving arcade-style racer that was reasonably accessible for all forms of physical disability. If Sony saw fit to make a sequel instead of simply porting it over to the Vita, they would provide players with another experience unrivalled in the cart racing genre.

Dishonored

This relatively new stealth RPG was a serious candidate for my favorite game last year. The gameplay and visuals are so polished as to immerse players in the gritty world of Dunwall. But the truly impressive thing was how flexible Dishonored was. There were no set paths to an objective. Rather, players were given an impressive suite of tools that made them feel like demigods able to combine powers to work through any situation in whatever way they saw fit. Because of this game’s high level of flexibility and emphasis on rewarding stealthy, non-lethal playthroughs, it posed fewer barriers to gamers with disabilities than other comparable games. If they so choose, Bethesda could take this formula, stay true to the original elements, and create yet another experience that most gamers are able to enjoy fully.

Star Wars: Republic Commando

SPOILER ALERT!

Finally, we come on to one of the great cliffhangers in gaming history. Star Wars: Republic Commando was probably the first game I beat on anything more than easy difficulty. The premise was taking a squad of four cloned commandos through the events surrounding the Clone War. The gameplay was executed using a squad base mechanic. Players directly controlled Boss, the squad leader, and issued commands using a stop-action system not dissimilar to The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. As a result, disabled players could engage in all the frenzied action of a first person shooter, yet still have the option to pause the action at will and cue up orders to be executed automatically by his squad mates Scorch, Sev, and Fixer. The game offered an unprecedented blend of the tactical and first person shooter sub-genres. But the real reason it deserves a sequel is because of its story. The final series of missions places players in the events of the Battle of Geonosis, seen in Star Wars Episode II. At the very end of the final mission, one of the most beloved characters in the game appears to have died, and the members of Delta Squadron have to go and retrieve him just before the credits roll. There was a plan to make a sequel, but LucasArt cancelled it. If a new developer brought it back, they would not only be reviving a great shooter, but also an incredibly accessible one.

For more articles on game accessibility, please visit DAGERS, or find us on Facebook or @dagersystem.

Today's blog title might seem a little ambiguous, and I could see why. The title might have no meaning to you, or you might automatically think of the achievement/trophy of the same name from Assassin's Creed Revelations' downloadable 'The Lost Archive' pack. If you chose the latter, or you cheated and read ahead, you are quite correct. Today's blog is set to talk about all things Creed- and no, I am not referring to the band, although they do have some tasteful music, yes. Despite the fact that such a thing as shown in the picture above would never happen, and most certainly impossible considering the fact that assassins have not learned to replicate themselves, last time I checked- I will talk about a few key things about the series here, and explain my choice of title as well.

First things first- title. When Assassin's Creed IV releases this October, it will not be the fourth game in the series, but the eighth game in the series, or ninth, if you count the iOS/Facebook 'Legacy'. In a series with four man titles, two subtitled chronicles, and two handheld accompaniments, there is still quite a lot of room to work with, which is reassuring. The same people who complain about there being a new Call of Duty game every year will often be heard complaining about the next Assassin's Creed title, and vice versa. The major difference I see in this matter however, is that, while both do have single player and now multiplayer selections, they are built from the ground up with opposite modes in mind. CoD is generally built and known for its multiplayer, whereas Assassin's Creed is for its lengthy and stellar single player, and multiplayer was sort of an experiment tacked on for added benefit. And this brings me to the title once more. I intend to present a few options as to how AC can "break the cycle" so to speak, and really shake things up in the AC universe and games. The parts that may concern IV are, of course, completely based on coverage and speculation presently, but the others are rooted in both factual information and thought.

Point No. 1

A constant in the Assassin's Cred universe has always been the versatility with which the assassins can hop around their environment and leap directly into combat in a variety of ways- up close, stealthily, or from a longer range. This has been an excellent formula thus far, and each game has been varied and steeped in its combat from title to title, albeit with the same core functionality remaining: assassinate that guy with your hidden blade to the face. Jokes aside, Black Flag looks to be doing what the others have in the past- changing up a few things, such as Kenway's agility and method of combat technique, but many of the core values are still the same. Trust me, this is not a bad thing by any means, nor am I suggesting that it be changed immediately. However, this blog is meant to bring some radical thoughts to mind, and I think this is as great a place as any to start.

Instead of drastically changing such a honed and refined combat formula, maybe we could tweak it slightly more so here and there, or even do something three times as epic. We could have three different "loadouts" so to speak, and have each control scheme and attack sequence mapped into one of them as either a "stealth", "assault", or "assassination" prompt. I know this would make the game seem to similar to some FPS where you select your loadout before beginning the mission, but I think of it more as a toggle-able option such as that of the assault and recon prompts in Ghost Recon. Toggling one of these switches your squad to cautious and stealthy to Zero Dark Thirty breaking in and popping tangos. Just think, you could easily pause the game by bringing up your weapons and items wheels, where, on the side, there would be a little triangle that can be toggled to switch from method to method. This could not only change your attack animations, but make your character all the more smart and trainable without you having to do more than press a single button. If you switch to stealth, you would automatically take lighter steps and be more in tune with your surroundings- stopping every so often to take out an enemy passing by. With assault, you could be able to bring out the big guns (literally), and pick off enemies from any distance with your more special or powerful weapons. And last but not least, with the assassination setting, you could have a sort of mixture of both, akin almost to the specialist strike streak in MW3, and sport the best of both worlds- up close hidden blades and stealth, or crossbow to the head from afar, or throwing axe to the back. It just depends.

And the best thing yet? You don't even have to switch the toggled setting if you don't want to. Your assassin will adapt to the appropriate setting depending upon what weapon or tool you decide to use, and to the enemy AI's perception to or reaction to your appearance. If the area is on high alert, it might automatically switch to stealth mode to save your skin, unless you decide you want to fight your way out for the heck of it. If you're trying to assassinate a target, it might use the assassination setting, so that you can take him out whenever you get the opportunity, but still have some semblance of stealth to help you get around. It literally depends on the evolving circumstances around you. But that's just my first thought.

Point No. 2

My second and final piece of interesting thought on the matter of radical changes to gameplay formatting in the Assassin's Creed series concerns story. While the story of Desmond and the future assassins was quite an interesting one, and the Animus is definitely an intriguing piece of machinery, I have two points to put forward about the story here. The first is more of a suggestion. I think that, for future titles, the Assassin's Creed series could completely forgo the present day setting and stick to its historical setpiece, without having to justify things by adding in ancestor memories and that kind of stuff. This will be explained here in point two. It's not that I didn't enjoy the way the story meshed together, because I really did, it's just that I'd like to capitalize on the fact that people often forget about the present day setting when they are roaming ancient Rome or Constantinople. You can't help but be immersed in that world. And mind you, this is merely for a single player sense- having the whole Templar multiplayer basis is still perfectly fine. We aren't trying to forget the current story or anything.

Point two is the more radical of the two in that it concerns an idea for a story and setting basis for a future Assassin's Creed title- one that I think should be inherently obvious. We all played the present day missions in Assassin's Creed 3, and were thankful that we could finally kind of actually explore the present day world for once. Well, why not make an entire game set in the present times, since the shakeup at the end of AC3? Interesting thought, no? Have a giant world area like modern day New York or somewhere, and even maybe something like the open wilderness that was AC3's frontier between it and other countries or cities. Or maybe even have a main hubworld, where you can travel to different cities and ports a la AC2's Italian provinces. That's certainly a game thought worth merit, right? We have a nearly infinite number of time periods we could visit simply from 1000 to 2000 alone, and anything from the American Civil War to World War II is game. So if a modern timeline were to be interposed as well, it would only complete the cake. But that's just a story thought.

♦♦♦

Anyway, that's the main meat of my slightly longer, more open-ended and thoughtful blog for the day, which I hope you enjoyed supremely. Whether or not you like the Assassin's Creed series is out of the question of course, as it is unavoidably the topic of my blog for day four, but you can easily suggest your own thoughts as you see fit regardless. I will leave you with that thought, and on that final note. Adios.

You know, I'm starting to notice a trend in Killzone games. They always seem to be in almost a tech demo like capacity for Sony consoles except for Killzone 3, which arguably, unless Mercenary surprises, may beat it. I really think this is why it actually came out so well, because my gosh Liberation is even more frustrating than Killzone 2, and yet ironically still better. How on earth does that work? I dunno!

The stereotypical Killzone design is very much all here. AI partners (this time you can command them -- probably the best feature in Liberation), classic style gameplay hybridization with new age ideas (i.e. health bars and non-stick cover with limited weapons and "gritty" elements), and of course, Rico somehow manages to stay alive even though every moral imperative would encourage his death. However, many new problems arrive, and sadly most are due to the same thing that it can be praised for. Killzone Liberation is probably one of if not the only single stick cover based shooters. Not a rail shooter either -- that screenshot above is what the playing field looks like without the HUD. This is mainly to blame on the PSP system's single stick (because we -had- to put the charging cable where a second stick could have gone) control scheme.

It wanted to be, but the PSP just wasn't built for standard 3D shooters. It was only through attempts at compensating in games like Battlefront, Ghost Recon, SOCOM, Brothers in Arms, and Siphon Filter that the PSP got shooters to work, but before all of them, Liberation was the first to blaze the trail. Unfortunately, it's more like the Roanoke Colony than Jamestown. Why? Because it's a dungeon crawler too! Except we already have a genre for those -- they're called TWIN-STICK shooters. They do everything you're doing, but actually make aiming possible. Also, they don't give the enemy soldiers health bars so large that it takes usually several clips to take out three guys- oh hello Visari-

"What is this madness! We are a proud first person shooter series! The Helghast shall not be looked down upon like they are the size of ants, and we are far more intelligent than these blithering idiots!"

I was just about to get to that...

"This is even more an insult than the last game! How can you ISA dogs spend two whole games wasting your time repairing what is not broken while leaving to rust what needs fixed! No wonder you call the fourth your third game! This one is best left forgotten!"

Visari, slow down! I'm not gonna have a review at this rate!

"You will be silent! I shall speak to the people of this 'Game Informer'!"

Fine, let's see how you do. *Hands the keyboard*

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GAME INFORMER! THIS GAME, IS A PIECE OF S**T. IT IS AN INSULT TO THE VERY FRANCHISE SO MANY HOLD DEAR! IT IS A BROKEN EXPERIMENT BEST LEFT IN THE DIRT FOR LESSER MEN! FOR THIS SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION THINKS ITSELF SO POWERFUL THAT IT CAN PRODUCE A SINGLE STICK SHOOTER WITHOUT AUTO AIM! AND WITHOUT BALANCING!

To say experiencing even a fourth of its campaign was a scarring experience on my life is an understatement! The insipid ISA reject Rico Valasquez continues to be treated as both a hero and a noble figure by the ISA. Jan Templar is allowed to continue being duller than solid rock! The only contribution this game brings that even is worth praising, is a command system! Now you can command the ISA scum to their death, or if you choose to be so merciful, to cover or to assist you! IF ONLY THE REST OF THE GAME HAD THIS INTELLIGENCE!

We, the Helghast, are presented a feuding race of idiots who cannot do but stand up and down behind cover to be shot at! We don't even respond at first if a grenade hits one of our brothers in the face in the hellish ISA propaganda that is this game! They make us look as if we would mutilate hounds to become monstrous machines when our own dogs are far fiercer without any machinery! They make our tanks look like they are made of cardboard! It appears the only thing they fear of our own creation, is rocket launchers. It is clear our superior three shot rocket launchers outdo their one shot launchers, so they quiver at these, but no other gun of ours but our rifles are made to look even useful. Our machine pistols are like water guns! Our shotguns only hold two shells! WHO WAS SO ARROGANT AS TO INSULT US SO?

As if this were not enough, they force you to repeat again and again through the same situations with checkpoints so limited that you will kill more Helghast than there are on our own beloved homeworld Helghan! But it will not matter until you achieve their foolish arbitrary objectives! For that is what the ISA cares about! Rescuing people who shouldn't even be in the area! Continuously spawning Helghast mine drones to hunt you down so you can train or die again so as to better kill our people. It is such an endless slog that by simply completing the first "chapter", as if this were comparable to genuine literature, of this awful game!

And it continues on! Every step forward stinks of an insult to our first person roots! They design it as if it were to be played from the mind's eye and yet it controls as if by a two legged mutt! Rolling is nigh impossible, frontal assaults are conflicted by despotic target selection, and perhaps worst of all, THERE IS NO VARIETY! They make us but one face, as if we were copied and pasted due to some deadline!

For those they consider truly worth of testing they even include a "challenge mode". Except it is but further insult. We are made into cardboard or fools who stand and wait to die as even stupider objectives are met in recycled locations for these ISA dogs to bask in the glow of fake medals that serve no purpose but to aid them in the later battles. As if this were not enough, they even encourage greed and destruction of property by hiding cases of Vektan dollars in various places, making these fools destroy them and reward them! Today it's a crate, tomorrow it is our homes!

Thankfully, the supposed online multiplayer component has been neutered. However, upon inspection, this is but the only mode in which we can represent ourselves. It is rumored that some Vektan regions are back online, and as such, REPRESENT YOUR PEOPLE, HELGHAST! Show them that no matter how badly written their story, no matter how archaic their gameplay, no matter how stupidly lazy and backtracking filled their level design may be -- WE WILL NOT GO OUT QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT.

*takes back keyboard* Feel better now?

"Much."

It should also be noted that the PS Vita port does not get the extended campaign (although why would you want to draw it out any further?) nor any downloadable updates. I'd be upset by this, but I got the game for free, and honestly, there are more important things for Guerrilla to be doing. Like making sure those supposed Killzone: Mercenary singleplayer bugs get ironed out before launch which is *whistles* two days from now. Well, here's hoping that it still goes better than this game. A 6.0/10, for trying so hard in spit of every reason for it to fail, while it may suck, some people liked this game and Guerrilla did try their damnedest to make it succeed. Unfortunately that was not enough.

Killzone Liberation is available on Playstation Network for 9.99 for PS Vita and PSP

For the bonus PSP content, fan sites have continued to support it, and AdHoc multiplayer is still possible in the co-op mode. Additionally, it has been reported on the Killzone forums that the European servers are back online. There's no confirmation how long they will be.

From Helghan with Love,
Paradigm the Fallen

Doing the impossible doesn't mean you'll succeed.

Trivia: I was going to review Liberation first but it was actually taking me longer than Killzone 2. Mainly because of how drawn out every mission is. So much for chronological order, aye?

If a poll of gamers was taken, with the question of “What is the least desirable aspect of your hobby?”, I would venture to guess that many would respond with “My public perception.”  Avid video game fans are often imagined, both by individuals and society, as lazy, unproductive, power-craving, flat-out disgusting people.  They’re often ridiculed and mocked by those unfamiliar with the hobby, and are honestly just not very well represented.  Many argue that this is a result of games being viewed as entertainment for children, prompting many to feel that most gamers simply need to “grow up.”  

Obviously, in today’s world, that is not the case.  Games are created more often than not with adults in mind, many including detailed stories and complex gameplay systems.  More and more, large titles are expanding (both in gameplay and story) into realms that are on the same level as many books or movies, tackling subjects such as social issues and character relationships.  As a result, a large push has been made to make the public aware that we “aren’t the stereotype,” and that gaming is a legitimately interesting and useful form of entertainment.  In some ways, the efforts have been successful.  With titles such as Call of Duty or Angry Birds, the public has come to accept video games as a part of society, regardless of their personal interest level.  

Like it or not, these guys are bringing gaming into the mainstream.

However, the stigma has not gone away.  While a normal person won’t judge another harshly for playing a level or two of Cut The Rope, they often find fault in those whom actively keep up with the gaming industry, or simply play games on a regular basis.  The push to gain acceptance continues, and is spearheaded by gamers that look to games such as Journey or Bioshock to prove that games can be more than “pew-jump-pew-jump.”  However,

while being accepted and appreciated might seem attractive on the surface, I’m not sure that we’re ready, and have several reasons why.

To better understand why I’m not sure gaming is ready to become a completely accepted hobby, let’s look at a few of the last month’s big releases.  The first biggie that comes to mind would have to be Saints Row IV.  The title is widely praised for not taking itself seriously even slightly, engaging players with various oddball activities such as battling aliens while wielding a “dubstep gun.”  This refusal to include realism allows the developers to experiment in any way they desire, and the end result is a game that is imaginative and fun, yet crude and brimming with teenage humor that would be looked down on by many.  So, while the game is honestly very fun to play, and really emcompasses what makes games enjoyable for multitudes of people, it isn’t something that I would show to the public with an expectation that they’d want to bow down and recognize games as “worthy” of their time.

I mean, how could you not take this seriously?

Or, for an even more obvious example, take a gander at Suda51’s newest production, Killer Is Dead.  For those that are unaware, the heavily-stylized action hack-n-slash game has been condemned by reviewers everywhere in the past week for its portrayal of women, especially in the title’s “Gigolo” missions.  In this mode, players are tasked with gazing upon a woman’s breast or legs while she looks away, with the end goal of gaining her affection, giving her presents, and taking her home.  The mode is basically required for completing the game, as acquisition of key weapons is impossible without engagement.  

Honestly, I don’t even need to identify the problem there, and it should be brutally clear why this is a huge hurdle for a normal person looking to understand gamers.  “But wait,” you might say, “that isn’t the norm.  The majority of games look at women positively.”  And, when compared to most other games, you’d be right.  However, that doesn’t others from blame completely.  In a world that has become obsessed with viewing women with strength and worth equal to that of men, we still have multitudes of games that portray women purely as things to be saved, seduced, or supported in some other way.  While some, such as Mirror’s Edge, The Last of Us, and Uncharted throw women into leadership positions, many others use females as the stereotypical “damsel in distress” with few unique qualities.  And, with the focus on women that is so prevalent in the world today, presenting these patterns to the general crowd will likely not be met with optimal reception.

The exception to the rule.

One could even look past the games themselves, and instead look at the vocal communities that enjoy them.  We are building a record of responding to developers’ decisions in a fashion reminiscent of a childish rant, be it through ridiculous online petitions or even death threats prompted by a tweak to the stats of a Call of Duty weapon. While we aren’t all horrible, homophobic psychopaths with the goal of hating on everything, enough of us are that I wouldn’t be comfortable with presenting gamers as “model citizens,” so to speak.

Of course, there are obvious steps being taken to ensure that games will someday be taken seriously by the majorities.  More and more games are attempting to appeal to those that don’t normally care for them, especially indie titles such as Journey or Gone Home.  Bite-sized mobile games have infiltrated the market, and while they aren’t necessarily creating “hardcore gamers” per se, they are turning the hobby into a more everyday thing.  With that said, however, there are still too many barriers keeping us from successfully penetrating into the mainstream.  Until we can manage to consistently rise up above our cultural perception, instead of sadly exhibiting the stereotypes that define us, we won’t be.  Perhaps that time will come, and perhaps it will not.  Perhaps it should, and perhaps it shouldn’t.  Regardless, the time is not now, and we need to stop pretending that it is.

Run and gun. Whenever it involves a multiplayer shooter, these words are usually what apply to them. It doesn't matter if it's Call of Duty, Battlefield, Killzone, or any other shooter out there, running and gunning seem to be how many gamer's play these games. While games like Socom and Americas Army took a more strategic approach to the digital Battlefield, Most players prefer the fast and frantic firefights of their counterparts. 

 I,like most gamer's, have played most of these games. And I admit that leveling up and unlocking weapons as I go was the most clever feature to include in a multiplayer shooter. But since these games hold an arcade feel to it, realism takes a back seat.

 While the gameplay is still top notch, there are problems I seem to have when playing these games with other people. Mostly concerning the option of playing defensively over rushing the enemy every time I see one. And this is one trait that has caused a lot of arguments in between me and my friends.

This may not come as much of a shocker, but I prefer the three Modern Warfare games over Black ops 2. My main reason was the quality. I personally feel that the Modern Warfare games have a bit more quality over the Black ops games. I like Black ops because it has bot's for multiplayer modes,  and comes in handy if you don't like playing with other people.

 Modern warfare doesn't have that feature, but makes up for it with the same leveling and prestige as the online game. So that made it a natural choice whenever me and my friends decided to get together for a gaming session.

 All usually seems normal at first: We chose the mode, which always turns out to be Free for all, modify our guns and killstreaks, and start the match.

Everything play's out like normal, until I take the defensive stance. That's when the accusations fly.

Before I go into detail what happens next, these are the settings for our multiplayer sessions:

.1 Fast health regeneration

.2 We only posses half of our normal life over the normal value.

.3 Time is unlimited

.4 100 kills

.5 Radar always on

 I never figured out why my friends like to down our life meters to half of what we're supposed to have, but I got used to it after a while. The problem is that weapons kill much quicker. This is why i decided to play a bit more defensive. 

The session

 The map of preference is Dome. Since we were only three players, Dome is a small map that makes finding players a simple task without having to cover much ground. And with the radar always on, it becomes even easier.

 Weapons don't matter. Sometimes we suggest the occasional sniper battle, but SMG's take the center stage.

 The scenario play out's in this fashion: As the game starts, we start searching for each other. Since the radar is constant, it's just a matter of following the red dot around. 

 I  manage to kill a few times, but the death's start to pile more than the kills. That's when I start to play defensively over the occasional run and gun.

 Walking into a hallway, a few bullets whiz by me. I quickly duck back behind a wall, watching the red dot on my radar closely. As the dot moves in on my position, I already have my weapon ready. He tries to counter me and jump around the corner. That tactic fails as I predicate his next move correctly. I kill him and then move to another position as I see another enemy close to my position. And proceed to do the same. 

 After the 5th or 6th kill, the infamous accusation is thrown at me:

                                                                      CAMPER!!!!!!!!

Despite the fact that I was only standing in the corner for about 3 seconds before he turned the corner, I get accused of this a lot. It doesn't matter if I was there for  a split second, if I killed the guy while standing still, I was camping. 

 Ignoring their claims for the time being, I continue the strategy since it's working and I'm catching up. With each kill however, things start to get annoying, with my friends either tsking, or mumbling under their breath. 

Things start to get tense when my friend has the nerve to ask : Do you do anything else but camp?This annoyed me, since I knew that camping meant staying in ONE spot for the whole game. I was moving from place to place depending on the situation, and posting myself accordingly. I looked at him and asked:

                                      Do you do anything else but complain?

This was where the tension really started, While he was complaining about my so-called "camping" habits, I told him to stop complaining over the fact I was OUTSMARTING him.

 The session ended sooner since I just put down the controller and left. And later that night, I reviewed what had happened.

Defense over offense

 Whenever I play a FPS, I usually pace myself and try to find the situation that would give me the high ground over the enemy. And the main reason I don't run and gun that much is because I usually end up dead. 

If I was camping, I would have remained at one spot for the duration of the game. But I didn't. Instead, I watched the radar, watched the enemy dots, and found a location that gave me the advantage.

 And it's the one thing I play by: Engage the enemy when it's to my advantage. If I try to run and gun to much,I might as well put a "free kill" sign on my back.

 I'm pretty good at taking covering to. In all truth, my friend is really good at the game, so he spots me before I even knew he was there. So I keep myself close to cover. And if he shoots and me and hits me, or the bullets miss and I still can't see him, I can duck back into safety. I guess that's what annoys them the most. I like to outsmart them. Nothing is more satisfying than catching my friends off guard or foiling a plan. When it does happen, I get a bad look. But I just smile back and say:

                                                                       Problem?

Jokes aside, The usual problem I have is their complaining. If I was online, it wouldn't be a problem. Just press the mute button and be done with it. But what happens when your sitting next to each other? The answer is simple: you have to listen to every single complaint. Similar to a teacher who likes to criticize even though you obviously got the answer right.

 One or two complaints usually slide without any other than the cold shoulder. But when it happens with every kill, then your asking me to throw the controller in your face.

 You see Di5a5terp13ce, this is your weakness. When playing games like this, players will do anything to get in your head or throw you off your concentration.This includes insults and excuses as to why you killed them.It's in situations like these you have to block out whatever the other players are saying. When playing fast paced games like Call of Duty,most gamer's are usually used to responding with reflexes over a good defense plan. Those who use their minds over their reflexes are sometimes shunned or accused of cheating when they haven't. This is the situation with your friend. The best thing to do is ignore him and continue to play to your advantages not him.

 My other reason is that I like to have a plan. Is the enemy aware of my presence? Is he distracted enough for me to assault him? Or is it best to just stay put and wait for him to come to me?

 I like to wait because it gives me time to react. Things in Call of Duty get frantic and I sometimes do not have time to react to the events that are happening around me.

By observing the battlefield, I should have a better understanding on how to react when someone charges me.

Playing  conservative is not cheating

No matter what my friend says, playing conservatively isn't cheating. And I think that they do not like being outsmarted. I realized that running and gunning wasn't working for me. So I asked myself: How can I play or what can I do that will give me an advantage? Turns out one of them was paying close attention to the radar.

 Whenever you play a game, it's up to you how you decide to play it. And if someone can't take the heat, then they should just go play something else. And I bet there are plenty of gamers who can relate to this story.

 I don't play conservative to cheat or to annoy anyone. I play that way because it works best for me. I don't camp either, but if the situation call's for it, then so be it. 

Because, at the end of the day, sometimes a good offense is a really good defense....

Question: Have you ever had similar experience while playing split screen with your friends?

Comics for cut scenes, checkpoints that are placed milliseconds before an inevitable failure, the ending to Mass Effect 3…I have more complaints for games than I have fingers and toes to count them on (yes, that is in fact 20). But there’s one common aspect shared among many games that I dislike. One that I would love to see significant effort put towards finding design alternatives: numbers.

All too often I find myself managing numbers to the point of irritation, even frustration. Math and I have never been good friends, but the problem with numbers in games isn’t so much a mathematical one, but a design problem. For the sake of keeping this topic focused, I’ll be referring to common number mechanics found in many RPGs.

Leveling up, applying skill points, managing the number of items you have; mechanics such as these easily become mundane. I must admit that some are enjoyable, like managing my characters finances. I enjoy living out my fantasy of becoming a rich and powerful warrior in a fictional world as much as the next person. Yet even still, I believe that many of the less enjoyable numbered mechanics have the potential to be replaced with experiences that are more engaging for the player.

Imagine this scenario:

You just finished completing a task which aided a group of characters. For your services, you are rewarded.

Now which reward sounds more appealing:

• having a passive skill, such as HP, increase by a fraction of a hundred or,
• being given a new ability that somehow alters the way you’ve been playing the game, and keeps the experience fresh?

I’m going to go ahead and assume you chose the second option, and if you did then I’d like to thank you for agreeing with me. The numerical increase as a gameplay reward is appealing from a developers perspective. A numbered reward system is easier to program and it formulates gameplay, but it also dilutes the system of ‘accomplish and reward.’

Occasional, large rewards, make for more meaningful experiences. Frequent, small rewards offer constant satisfaction, but often fail to be memorable. After all, anything that is great is sure to be memorable.

I would like to see games replace their statistical reward system with something a little more…well, rewarding. It won’t be easy, but it’s bound to happen. I predict that these changes will come as a result of RPG features being added to game that fall in other genres that are traditionally less number-focused.

Players won’t remember the numbers as much as they’ll remember those moments where the game changed just a bit, and managed to keep the experience fresh.

We just had a great weekend, full of PAXiness and the joy of being able to show our game to the public in an ideal setting. Listen to Keith, Jason, and Pearce talk about their experience with PAX, along with the normal ramblings, all within the hallowed halls of the Washington State Convention Center.

It isn't mentioned in the podcast, but I've got to do a shout-out to the very cool Tim Turi, who so generously shared some of his time with us and got to play our game. He's a nice man, but you already know that.

Anyways, click here for the new episode! 

And, as always, note that you can subscribe to our show on iTunes!

-WARNING:  SPOILERS FOR The Last of Us FOLLOW.  DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THE GAME, YET!-

Like many of you here on GIO, I'd been looking forward to The Last of Us for a while now.  From the teasers Naughty Dog showed clue-ing into part of the game to the months leading up to release, it had been one of the games, along with others like BioShock Infinite, Ni No Kuni (which I'm currently playing), and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, that I was looking forward to playing the most this year.  Well, although a little later than I'd hoped (which is usually the case when I play most games), I recently beat The Last of Us.  Surprisingly, as he's a trophy hunter and usually takes his sweet a** time getting the most out a lot of the games he plays, my brother beat it before me, and has since been trying to eke out a few more trophies before moving on to another game.  I figured why not get his thoughts on The Last of Us in the second edition of...

BRO TALKS

1.  Every game has some flaws and The Last of Us is no different.  Personally, I found enemies ignorance of the partner AI a little unfair, but a blessing in disguise, as had the enemy AI been able keep track of them in the more stealthier sections TLoU might've been close to unplayable.  Also, while I'm glad that crafting was simple, sometimes I felt a little underwhelmed by it.  So we get this out of the way ahead of time, what were the things you didn't like about The Last of Us?

BRO:  Well, I'll start out by saying that I found the whole AI issue more funny than being problematic.  As you've said, the game probably would have been a lot harder otherwise, though interesting to play I think.  I think my biggest gripe with TLoU would be the gameplay.  Now, I'm not saying it was bad, not at all, but I'll go more in depth with it on the next question.

The only other problem I had with the game was the amount of time it took to actually start playing.  The one time I played I was at the loading screen for 4 freakin' minutes, which is absolutely ridiculous.

2.  In terms of gameplay, I was initially unimpressed with The Last of Us the first time I played it.  It grew on me a lot after that first day though, and I would definitely say it feels a lot better than I remember any Uncharted being.  What did you think of how the game played?

BRO:  As I said above, I didn't think the gameplay was bad.  I had a good time playing the game.  The reason for my beef with it though is that it just reminded me too much of Uncharted.  I mean, what should I expect, it's from the same studio.  The thing is, TLoU is supposed to be a completely different game, different world, and the story definitely sets it apart from the Uncharted series.  But when I wasn't watching the cut scenes and it came time to actually playing, it at times just felt like I was playing Uncharted instead of The Last of Us. 

It wasn't a deal breaker for me.  As I've said, I did enjoy the gameplay.  I just think it would've been better if they had made more tweaks with the game so it felt like I was playing TLoU instead of Uncharted.

3.  I felt the violence in The Last of Us was used to great effect, as oftentimes I felt pretty uncomfortable with the more gruesome kills and at points in the game even felt bad for taking out some of the hunters.  I know off-screen they probably did more horrendous things and hell, you even see some of the bad stuff they do, but I honestly felt they weren't much different than Joel or Ellie, ultimately only trying to survive in the f***** up world envisioned in the game.  How did you feel about The Last of Us' ruthless approach to violence and at any point in the game did you feel similar to how I did?

BRO:  I never felt uncomfortable with the violence but it did feel more realistic.  When Joel would choke someone out, it did feel like he was actually choking the guy instead of just running through the motions and taking out people like it's no big deal.  To me, the extra emphasis on the violence made the feeling of the characters trying to survive more genuine.  Was it brutal?  Hell yeah.  But that's what it took for them to survive.  That's my take on it.

4.  As of this moment I'm not sure where I'd rank the story of The Last of Us.  It's certainly great, but the thing I was more impressed with was the characters.  Whether it was showing off the darker sides to Joel's personality, demonstrating that Ellie could hold her own in a bad situation, slowly evolving both characters, or meeting some of the people you find along the way, I felt the cast was one of the best parts of the game.  What did you think of the characters in The Last of Us?

BRO:  I thought the characters were incredible.  Naughty Dog already showed they were great at this with the Uncharted series, but I felt they topped it with The Last of Us.  The development between Joel and Ellie and all the other people you meet as you progress through the game is amazing to watch.  It's probably the best in any game I've played.  Hard to say much else.

5.  (For those of you who didn't heed my spoiler warning earlier, now would be a good time to get out)  Alrighty, time to talk about the game's conclusion.  Honestly, I found a good chunk of the last section of The Last of Us quite conflicting.  Prior to the ending getting set into motion, Joel asks Ellie if she really wants to go through with going to the Fireflies, and Ellie replies that she does, saying that everything they've gone through can't have been for nothing.  Fast forward to the hospital section, and whether it was Marlene not asking Ellie if she was willing to die to produce a cure, or Joel pretty much going on a rampage, having decided he was getting Ellie out of there regardless of what she might have decided, I felt that both parties willingly ignored that it wasn't their decision in the first place.  They took the decision out of Ellie's hands, when it should have been her place to choose her fate.  Quite frankly, it's one of the things in the ending that's come to infuriate me the most, alongside what I felt was Joel's selfish motivations in the last act (which soured me on his character).  Having discussed this already, I know you feel the same about certain aspects of the ending.  Regardless, how do you feel about the way the game closed out?

BRO:  I liked the ending but it definitely is one that's hard to be fully satisfied with.  I think Ellie's choice WAS that they had to have done all this for something.  She might not have known she would die, but by saying what she said, I think it's easy enough to know what her choice was or would have been.

My opinion on Joel as a character hasn't changed.  I still think he's cool as hell, but I do think his choice at the end was selfish.  On one side it's great because you get to see how much he cares for Ellie, which is nice.  At the same time, because he couldn't let one girl die he quite possibly caused the deaths of buttloads more people.  I mean, who's to say that the cure would have been a success.  If it didn't work then Ellie would've died for nothing.  But there was still that chance, you know?  Many people would be saved with that cure.  All it would take was for Ellie to die, which obviously Joel couldn't reconcile with.  Good ending, but one that keeps you thinking.

6.  So overall, what did you think of The Last of Us?

BRO:  Overall I'd say that it was an amazing game to have played.  Gameplay left a little to be desired but just for the story and characters alone, I'd say it's a game you owe yourself to play.

Extra Question: I've seen a lot of people call TLoU the Game of the Year.  Having played it, as great as it is, I'm not sure I would say the same and still think it's too early pick the best game this year anyway.  What say you?

BRO:  This is a tough one.  If we're going by just how fun it was to play, then I'd without a doubt go with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.  I haven't had that much fun with a game since I played Vanquish.  But if I were to think more seriously about the question, it'd probably be between The Last of Us and BioShock Infinite.  They're both incredible and I think it'll take some time before I could actually say which between those two games I'd choose for Game of the Year.  I don't think you could go wrong with either one though.

Alright, thanks for your time, man.

BRO:  Word.

Was hoping to find a picture of when Joel and Ellie are watching the giraffes.  Decided to settle for this instead.

And there's another one.  Once again, I thank my brother for taking time out of his day to answer my questions.  I hope to make BRO TALKS a more frequent feature, as I really like doing them.

But enough about what me and my older brother think about The Last of Us.  What was your opinion on the game?

Take care and thanks for reading!