Videogame Review: Brink (2011)

By Scott Jeffrey

Bethesda Softworks set out to make a whole new genre of objective based shooter with Brink. Though a lot of the thinking has been taken out of the shooter genre this game seems to grow quite stale and offer little more than a basic multiplayer assault match, with countless squads running to capture command posts and complete objectives before the clock runs out.

The campaign has a simple story line that revolves around a floating installation known as the ark. The ark was built as a conquest for humanity but with global warming water begins to flood the world making the ark a necessity. This game sounds a tad like Waterworld. But to me Brink was equally as disappointing as the Kevin Costner stinker of 1995.

The ark has two factions at war with each other with different ideals. The security faction seeks to unite the ark, and make it a better place to live. The resistance seeks to leave the ark in order to find others and start a new life away from the confinement of the ark.

The opening footage sets the game up for a really awesome sci-fi experience story. Prepare to be let down in the story department. There is little to no character development or ongoing campaign story, just 16 missions 8 for each faction with short cinematics showing each squad right before “stuff goes down”. So much more could have been done with this.

In order to be successful in Brink it is crucial that you have a decent representation of classes on your 8 man team. Even when playing with computer bots for teammates, missions can become cripplingly slow and tedious if a squad is composed of all one class.

Changing up classes is done through a command post, the 4 classes in Brink are Soldier, Engineer, Medic and Operative. Soldiers have access to detonator kits which allow you to blow up and take over base objectives. Engineers can repair machinery and hack terminals to get you access to mission objectives. Medics can help with escort meetings and keep your team up and mobile. Operatives are the spy’s capable of hacking safes and stealing intel, operatives can also camouflage to avoid detection. Though this resembles a Team Fortress Style, it is required to play as each of these classes to finish the game. Each mission usually requires at least one class change.

By playing through missions and in online matches players are able to unlock an armory of weapons and abilities that will strengthen both their character but their characters abilities in an individual class. Appearance options also unlock as you complete challenges and level your character. Its ok to favor one class, as you probably will only have to play the other classes in order to complete an objective and then it can easily be switched out at the nearest command post.

One part of Brink that is particularly interesting is the SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain) system that they have come up with. Characters in Brink use parkour to get across all kinds of obstacles in the level design. Instead of having to press multiple buttons to jump, there is one button you can hold and the game will then predictively free run across objects as you move along. This is similar to an Assassins Creed free run just from a first person shooter viewpoint.

The character design is also very good. There are many options and certainly an art style that is signature to the game. Many of the characters come out looking sickly and alien like but this goes towards the artistic vision created for Brink. It’s like they had it on the verge of realism, but then took it all back and exaggerated the art style in a cartoon way. Though it does create a very interesting reality for the game, the cartoon style makes the combat seem sort of cheesy and arcade.

I was not impressed with the combat at all. It was fairly simple, there is a wide range of weapons and attachments to help you achieve pwning status. Unfortunately it really just seemed like a lot of people running towards objectives but because of poor map design ended up bottlenecking into a massive horde of dead bodies. Sure you can jump around and avoid stuff while parkouring but it felt very clunky and with the arcade feeling combat it was just very unimpressive.

The online multiplayer is really just more of the same. Though it does help to have a squad that knows what they are doing it is great to have people who are proficient in each class and have the upgrades in each class. With a mixed team there is less switching at command posts for objectives and you are able to get all of the class advantages for your team. One really strange issue is there are no lobbies in Brink, so you can either join a match in progress or invite one of your friends to join your campaign, challenge or freeplay mission, but not match make for one. This is a huge disadvantage in a game where the object is to work as a squad and what better way to do so but with real living breathing players.

Brink set to change up the idea of a modern shooter. I agree with Bethesda, the Modern Warfare and Battlefield system is starting to get a bit mindless. The SMART system and the idea of having to change objectives was an interesting call, but maybe not something that worked all too well. Cutscenes and story in this game are sparse and unfortunately Modern Warfare 3 brought to the table a better cinematic storyline that could suck me in. I think if anything this game could have spent a little more time in the incubator. It seems quite rushed, there is really no connection to the storyline and hardly a sense of purpose. As I was playing I just felt like I was mindlessly jumping over buildings and changing to whatever class it told me to, while getting gummed up in some terrible combat and rushing back to the mission objectives over and over. For something that boasts itself on being a new, “thinking” shooter it seemed a bit too simplistic and a bit too much like a typical multiplayer base assault match which we have all played before.

Sound: 5/10

Graphics 6/10

Gameplay 4/10

Story/Writing 4/10

Replay Value 2/10

Overall: 21/50

Take away thought: Do not pay any money for this game. If you are interested in playing it at all I would suggest you borrow or rent it. The parkour system is really cool and I hope it could be adapted into a shooter again. The combat in this though just feels terrible. Do yourself a favor and pick up another Bethesda game instead. Out of all of the games from Bethesda I have played thus far, Brink has been the only one I did not enjoy. 

Review: Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning (2012)

By: Scott Jeffrey

Where did my time go? I picked up Kingdoms of Alamur: Reckoning sometime on Friday, It seems as though a time warp has occurred from now until this moment. From the installation of the game, I was quickly immersed into the 30 hour+ mainquest story line that would have me starting as a dead man and ending looking like a more badass Lord Sauron.

The talent in this game is undeniable. With New York Times Bestseller R.A Salvatore as the head writer, the story was nothing short of epic. Todd Macfarlane (Creator of Spawn) was the lead art director so it looks phenomenal, and the developing talent at 38 Games includes staff from Dragonage, Wizards Of The Coast, And the Elder Scrolls Series. This game, on paper should be the game of the year with the team they assembled to build it alone.

When it comes down to the gameplay, it is fun. The combat is probably some of the most fun I have had playing an RPG in years. It’s fast like an action game, A Devil May Cry or even Zelda. In the way that you feel like your actually doing something while your fighting baddys. You have to think about combos, getting as many hits in as you possibly can so that you can charge up the game’s special ability bar and unleash hell. By unleash hell I mean perform amazing executions, which this game has in spades.

When you do manage to fill up your special bar by performing combos and defeating enemies you are rewarded with extra damage until the bar is emptied and if you sacrifice the rest of your special bar you can have a glorious execution in slow-mo with plenty of gore.

An example of an execution:

I walk up to a wolf, twice the size of my character. I activate my special bar and my character proceed to drop his weapon, batter the wolf in the face with his fists and gouge out its eyes. Then he got on its back grabbed it by the head and snapped its body clean in half. I sat at my computer with my jaw dropped, I wanted to applaud but it was 3am, 3 hours ago I promised myself sleep, Not tonight.

The main fun bit lies in the hack and slash combat. The crafting is fairly simple but can yield great benefits if it is leveled up. The menus are fairly simple and there isn’t quite as much to the crafting system as what there was in a game such as Skyrim.

The talent trees are a bit different in this game, because the story is mostly based on changing fates, there is a card system in place which allows each character to equip a fate card, granting them bonuses to their character. These fate cards can be unlocked through questing but the main ones are achieved by assigning talent points in a regular talent tree similar to a World Of Warcraft Style.

The long dialogue does add to the story but I can see many gamers wanting to skip the long conversations from quest givers in game, just to get back to the action. The story of this game was good, but somehow it doesn't quite add up to a game like Dragonage.

The world is a fair size but I was not in a rush to really explore as many of the side quests just seemed a big grind, for little result as the main quest treasure rewards and pickups were usually high and above anything else I got on side quests.

Visually the game looks quite good, the audio and music was great as well. I wasn’t tempted to throw on my own playlist over top of the score. I liked the voice talents and recognised a few from other RPG series. It is sort of like Fable boosted a bit visually and with Dragonage style blood guts and voice talent.

Kingdoms of Amalur has kept me well entertained for a weekend, but I don’t know how interested I would be to try it out again with a new character. I think I may just wait for a DLC or if they make another sequel to this title.

Sound: 8/10

Graphics 8/10

Gameplay 9/10

Story/Writing 9/10

Replay Value 7/10

Overall: 41/50

Take Away Thought: If you are a fan of Dragonage, Fable, or Skyrim. Pick this up because it has elements of all three of these games. The combat is a lot of fun and the story is worth hearing. Be prepared for a marathon because from the opening cut-scene alone, you will be hooked.

Column: Keep the Courts Away From My RPG

By Scott Jeffrey

I Read about a story last week where the Dutch Supreme Court convicted a teen for stealing a sword and shield, in game item from another player in the free MMORPG Runescape.

The Attorney in the case argued that the items stolen were not tangible or material items and expressed no real monetary value in the real world, therefore the theft did not occur. The courts however sided with the victim of the theft ruling that because there had been so much time invested into earning the in game items, they did have a monetary value and a theft did occur. A charge of 144 hours of community service was laid to make up for the apparent theft. 

I do understand that these pixels have a monetary value to some. Many games like World of Warcraft have changed their gameplay rules with bound items and strict codes of conduct which ensure anyone caught stealing items or hacking/spamming will be banned quite swiftly.

Runescape on the other hand does not have explicit policy terms to prevent players from stealing and resulting in bans and retaliation on the part of the game creators.

I think it’s a little bit ridiculous this had to be taken up in a court of law and would side on the fact that these items are simply part of a virtual reality experience. These are pixels that these teens are fighting over, and it should be something easily solved by a GM (Game Master). Not having to bring in real world politics to the situation. Games are games, although we spend a ton of time on RPG’s such as Runescape and World of Warcraft it’s a bit silly to try and attach a monetary value to something you are supposedly doing for recreation.

Games such as Skyrim which can engage players for 40+ hours have no monetary value attached to their saved games so why should any other game be different? 

Granted there is an online competitiveness among the big MMORPG’s but why should someone be able to buy gold/items in order to get ahead in the game? In most cases this too violates the terms laid out by many MMO developers. 

Therefore no monetary value should be placed on any in game content unless it’s released by the developer and does not offer an advantage to the player.

I am hoping that this does not start a train of cases for people demanding money from hacking cases and in game thefts. Games are games if you are dissatisfied with the service or feel wronged by the terms outlined by the developer to prevent you from theft, there are a plethora of different options for security as well as alternatives to the game you are playing.

Keep gamers out of the courts and glued to their screens as they should be.

Column: 64 Bits of Rage

By Aaron Jankowski

I am a very passionate person, and yes, that is a fancy way of saying I am an angry person.

I swear when my sports team gets scored on and curse my head off when they lose. But for the most part, I keep my cool.

There were times when the littlest thing made me lose my mind and turn me into a not so incredible Hulk. Though, instead of gaining super human strength, I would gain the amazing ability to, in an instant do something I regret. More often than not, Xbox 360 games have been the catalyst for my anger, and I’ve spent countless dollars on replacement controllers. If this column were a movie, this is where there would be a montage of me throwing controllers across rooms, on to the ground or into couch cushions, controllers dating back to Super Nintendo’s grey and purple paddle, to Playstation’s tie fighter-esque controller to the giant bulbous original Xbox controller and finally to the wireless controller all Xbox users are used to now. These poor wireless bastards have had it the toughest. Without being constrained by a wire, these babies are far more dangerous.

I don`t know why video games get my goat so easily, but they do.

My anger has been under control for a long time, it no longer pops off at things in everyday life. But video games, some of these fuckers still get me hard.

No, I`m not the guy on the other end of the Xbox live cursing, blaming my controller, calling you all cheats, crying and blowing snot bubbles into your ear. No, I`m the one on the other end of the microphone turning red punching the hell out of my couch pillows.

The funny part is, it isn`t even the typical games that get me going.

Call of Duty? Nope.

Halo? Only when it lags and I am unable to even play.

NHL 12? Nope.

These games make me angry, but losing is so regular in these titles that its par for course.

Lately, the two games that have got me going the worst are NBA 2k11, and Top Spin.

Between these two games, I haven’t broken a single controller, but they have cost me over $200 in damages.

Upon losing the Australian Open in Top Spin, to a very beatable opponent, I threw my hunter green, Halo: ODST edition Xbox controller at my sofa.

Sounds harmless enough, I know. However, being wireless, the controller had no safety cord to pull it back to Earth. So upon hitting the sofa, it took a giant bounce upwards, flying backwards over the sofa’s back and into the giant mirror hanging above the fire place.

I am sure you can picture the outcome.

If this were a movie, now would be the time there would be a slow motion scene of glass shattering and flying everywhere.

Like Bruce Banner, I turned green. Though it was because I thought I was going to be sick.

This video game I picked up, used, for $15, just got me so mad, I broke a $200 mirror.

Fuck. Me.

Add that $200 to all the replacement controllers I’ve had to buy, I can’t even fathom how much non-essential money I’ve spent on video games.

Game developers are starting to take it easy on a lot of us by adding features to make games less frustrating.

L.A. Noire has the most generous option I’ve encountered yet. It gives you the ability to skip a part of the game if you’ve failed it multiple times. Though, this could be seen as condescending and make some gamers more angry, I appreciate them giving us the choice.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see more games appeasing the casual gamer by adding this kind of “just give it to me” feature, but I know it won’t become common place. Hardcore gamers who want to bleed for every level won’t have it.

For games like Skyrim, whose puzzles can be aggravating as all hell, there are always online forums to help us less ambitious gamers. Though, as I mentioned, the source of most of my frustration are sports games. Perhaps developers can add more comprehensive training modes? Or a sell your soul to the Devil for a killer backhand or a good three-point shot feature.

I have no hopes of these features coming any time soon, but in spite of all the controllers broken, swears shouted and fists slammed onto tables in rage, I will keep fighting the good fight. I will keep buying these devices of torture and rage. I will keep making war against the pixels and the AI foes who keep me down.

For now, I have put NBA 2K11, and Top Spin down, and will focus on the less frustrating, more story driven games like Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City.

I will also continue to try and do my best Tim “the tool man” Taylor impersonation and blend a Wii type controller wrist strap to my new Xbox controller. This sounds easier than playing games in a padded room, or you know, working on my anger more.

Until next time, I wish you all better luck than I had at the Australian Open.

TAKE AWAY THOUGHT: In 64 Bits of Rage, Aaron and Scott will be sharing stories from their experiences in the wonderful world of video games. If you have any good stories, let us hear em! You can email us at speedrocketcreative@gmail.com or tweet us @speedrocketENT.

App Feature: Zombies, Run! (2012)

By Scott Jeffrey

Running is a real drag, but getting into the habit of jogging or running is a great way to exercise and lose weight. Many video game characters run constantly in order to pick up quest items, avoid baddies and get from place to place, but all without the gamer having to do any of the legwork.

The developers at 6 To Start began to develop the idea to turn running into a game. They have turned the gamer into the character that was doing all of that exercise in order to further the progress in the story. What they came up with was Zombies, Run!

The game is an easily downloadable application, which will soon be available for Ipod touch, Iphones and android devices. The object of the game is to collect supplies to take home for survival all while running from hordes of zombies, much like what would happen in a real walking dead situation.

The more you run the more resources you are able to obtain, and when you get home it is up to you to decide how to implement each resource to build your own community and increase your odds of surviving the zombies.

One feature I really enjoy about this app is it lets you keep your music playlists going on your device as well. Letting you know when you are approaching zombies and what resources and story items you are obtaining during your run, while still playing your music.

The app also keeps track of all the technical workout information during your run, including your pace and distance as well as the number of calories you burned during your workout.

The drudgery of running can be managed simply by turning it into a game. I am however a bit afraid of my appearance while running. I can’t imagine what an onlooker may think to see me sprinting up my block, with a look of sheer terror on my face, running from pretend zombies on an audio track. I guess I’ll run when the sun sets so nobody has to see.Then again that might also make it even more frightening.

Nonetheless if this game can motivate me to run, keep interested in running from zombies and building up my own zombie proof empire, than it has done its job to entertain and improve fitness levels for nerds everywhere.

I shall be watching closely on the release date for 6 To Start’s Zombies Run, due out Q1 2012.