They don't make em' like they used to:

 The things today's game developers can learn from Legend of Zelda, Majora's Mask

Earlier this week I was discussing with a few friends, games we used to play when we were younger, One game we were all reminiscing about was the second title on N64 for Nintendo's classic series the Legend of Zelda, Majora's Mask. This game along with its predecessor, The Orcarina of Time were revolutionary in everything from gameplay to graphics, but especially story. I believe that game makers today can learn a lot from this game and the Zelda franchise.

Setting
Although limited by 64 bit graphics the developers of Majora's Mask utilized the graphics to their fullest potential to create a believable and immersive setting. The world of Termina, an alternate version of Hyrle which is the setting for the other games in the series, is a very rich environment with the different areas of the map having their own flair and character.


Gameplay
The gameplay in Majora's was unique in several ways. The game was one of the first to feature an open world with the ability to free roam. It was also one of the first to feature, for the most part, a non-linear storyline. The gameplay was limited to a three day span, about an hour of real time gameplay, where at the end the player would have to use a magic song to return to the first day. The progress in the game was recorded by completing certain tasks and meeting certain people but also collecting masks of power that were scattered throughout the game's world.

The masks granted different abilities to Link and several would transform him. Three of these transform him into one of the other principle races in the story, the Deku a small plant like people, the Goron a strong stone like people, and the Zora an aquatic race. Switching between races doesn't only change the way the character looks but gives him new abilities but also changed the way NPC's in the game would react to him.

Story

The Zelda series was one of Nintendo's first to feature a rich storyline. Although they are archetypal of the hero's journey they have all the elements that make up a great story. Link is always the hero and he is fighting to save the world and rescue the princess, however cliche it is still very entertaining. Majora's Mask was no exception, This time Link must stop the moon from crashing and destroying the land. Link must also make peace with the four major races in the land in order to stop this disaster.

Has hell frozen over? -A Duke Nukem Forever Release Date

Duke Nukem Forever

In the midst of the Supreme Court's deliberation of Schwarzenegger v the Entertainment Merchants Association which may be devastating to the gaming industry and mature games in particular, 2K Games and Gearbox Software have recently announced a 2011 release date for the much anticipated sequel to the highly controversial Duke Nukem 3D from 1996. Duke Nukem Forever has been listed as "in development" on and off for over a decade and has become a running internet joke and nerd meme for something that will never happen. The Escapist's Yahtzee, in 2009, even made a mock review of "Forever", you can check it out here. But this never to be released sequel has once again been green lit.

Duke Nukem 3D one of the first real first person shooters. It was similar to Doom but had more violence and adult themes. It was one of the first games to be heavily attacked by critics, and has become a poster child example of violent  and harmful video games despite the fact that the game is now a decade and a half old.


Aside from the ironic timing of the announcement of this game we shall all see if the game can possibly live up to over a decade of hype.

Re:Plastic Band-A Hands on Review of Rock Band 3

This week Rock Band 3 was released in North America, and I had to pick up a copy. I few weeks ago I previewed RB3 but now I've had the chance to play it. Overall the game provides the same fun music gaming experience and set list of quality songs that the Rock Band franchise is known for but Harmonix has added many new elements that are innovative and make the game fun to play and an improve upon the previous Rock Band titles.


Set List
The set list for Rock Band 3 is in my opinion the best setlist in any Rock Band game in the series including classics as well as new favorites from every genre and songs from the 60's to today. With the addition of keys, songs including excellent piano such as Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and The Doors Break on Through have been included, but RB3 hasn't moved away from the classic guitar hits that made the game famous including songs such as Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird.

Game Play   
With Rock Band 3 Harmonix has improved the game play in many ways from Rock Band 2. In RB3 players gan jump in or drop out at any time, previous games required backing out of the current game mode to activate another instrument . The single player and band tour modes are less clunky and seem more focused than in Rock Band 2 with a more intuitive ranking system so you can see your progress in the game. Also, the new and improved training modes make it easier for new players to get into the game. The game now supports up to 7 players at once with the addition of keyboard and three part vocal harmonies, a feature debuted in Harmonix Beatles Rock Band title released in 2009.


Pro Mode
Probably the most anticipated feature added to the Rock Band experience is the "Pro" gameplay mode which is intended to create a more realistic experience. The Pro guitar requires a separate controller that has six strings like a real guitar, but I did get a chance to try out the Pro keyboard which uses the same 25 key controller used for the normal mode in Rock Band 3. Pro keyboard requires use of all of the controller's 25 keys and it takes a while to get used to, even with a little piano playing experience Pro easy still seemed a bit difficult at first. I then went into the Pro training mode and after a little while I started to get the hang of it. The Pro trainer which according to Wikipedia, was developed in conjunction with the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Return of the RTS continued - DotA 2!!!

This week I have an update to my last post about the return of the real time strategy game as a popular genre in computer gaming. This week popular video game development company Valve, of Half-Life, Counter-Strike and Portal fame as well as the popular Xbox 360 franchise Left 4 Dead, announced that they have signed on and begun development on
DotA 2, a sequel to the ever popular fan made mod of Blizzard's Warcraft 3, Defense of the Ancients. Valve is working with and has given all creative decisions to the self made game developer IceFrog who as been the designer of DotA for the last few years as well as heading the official DotA website DotaAllstars.com which has since been shut down due to Icefrog's leaving. IceFrog has since made his own DotA headquarters at playDotA.com, which he has just begun to use promote the new game which is set to release in 2011.

DotA Game in Progress

I've mentioned the game League of Legends and DotA in my previous post and for those who don't know what LoL or DotA are, they are team based tower defense games that are based in a real time strategy engine but also incorporate elements of role playing games, such as leveling up and buying/building items and upgrades. They are fast paced and competitive and can be a lot of fun.

I have high hopes for this new version which will be a complete, standalone game. It will be the first time the DotA brand will be freed from the now ancient Warcraft 3 engine which is over 7 years old, but Valve plans to bring more that just graphics to the table. They will be implementing things which would have been impossible in the Warcraft engine, such as an improved AI for computer controlled characters, improved voice acting, integrated Voip (voice over IP), and a more sophisticated and intuitive ranking system to make team battles more fair.

Valve games has had a long history of turning out great games as well as their own fan-made game mod that made it onto store shelves in their popular first person shooter franchise Counter-Strike, which was originally a mod for Valve's Half-Life.

With DotA 2 Valve promises to keep all of the key elements of the game play, as well as DotA's list of over 100 different characters, the same so that it will be instantly recognizable to a veteran player. They are also looking to attract new players by giving more detailed in game guides as well as proposing a coaching system which will pair up veterans with newer players.  As a fan and one time avid player of DotA I will be waiting to see more of this new adaptation of an old favorite.

StarCraft II and the Return of the RTS

Since the late 80's the RTS, or real time strategy, genre has been very popular but in the last ten years these games haven't gotten the recognition of other types of games such as shooters or action games. This may be because RTS games are mainly PC games which have been in a lull since the release of next-gen consoles, but recently new advances in PC video graphics have made PC's competitive on the next-gen level.

The RTS hasn't disappeared, it has been in the background and on back shelves of video game stores over the last ten years but has remained widely popular especially overseas, with Blizzard's StarCraft even becoming a national sport in South Korea, with televised matches and pro tournaments. The genre seems to be making a comeback with League of Legends, a remake of a mod to Blizzard's Warcraft III called DotA or Defense of the Ancients, and StarCraft II the long awaited sequel to the cult classic StarCraft.

StarCraft II

First off, StarCraft 2 is a graphical masterpiece. I played SC2 over the summer but today I opened my new MacBook Pro and I was finally able to witness the game in all its glory. Each unit, and they're are often dozens even hundreds rendered at once, is incredibly detailed. The scenery is also very detailed and realistic. SC2 also has realistic physics and shadows.    

StarCraft 2 is not only graphically light years ahead of its '98 predecessor, it challenges the genre in its story telling ability and creating a captivating game experience. It has an immersive story which builds on the first game and its expansions as well as 12 years of books, lore, and fan speculation. The use of well known characters from the StarCraft universe allow a veteran player to easily connect to the story of StarCraft II's campaign. The campaign also features a non-linear story line which allows the player to chose between several different missions and can complete them in any order. Also during the campaign, the strategy based missions are paralleled by a third person loading area, the battle cruiser Hyperion, which is reminiscent of an old school point-and-click adventure game which serves to drive the story as well as where a player chooses missions. Although released in July, the Wings of Liberty campaign is just one of a three part series that will be released over the next few years.

StarCraft 2 also builds on the competitive nature of the first game with an in depth multiplayer mode and intuitive ranking system which Blizzard hopes will overtake its StarCraft: Brood War as the most played game in the e-Sport circuit.

With any hope, StarCraft 2 and League of Legends are just the beginning of the return of this once great genre.

Enjoy the Little Things - Immersion in Open World Games

Home on the Digital Range

The Uncanny Valley

The concept of the "Uncanny Valley", the human eversion to things that approximate human looks and actions, is a concern of game developers when designing characters in games but there is a similar discrepancy when it comes to designing the environments in which games take place.

In open world games the environment is almost a character itself. It conveys the feeling, the mood and the tone of the game play. Therefore it is important to design worlds that are convincing and immersive to the gamer. 

More Than Just Looks

In the theory of the Uncanny Valley we find that still images of things that are "uncanny" are less repulsive than moving ones. Something that may look convincingly human when still, may be immediately jarring when it begins to move. Looks aren't everything. Similarly an open world may be beautifully rendered but seem distant and unimpressive. It will be an increased attention to the little things that will bring open world games to the next level.  

There are many ways game developers can make a virtual world feel real. Games such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Saints Row 2  push the boundaries of what the player can do in the game with everything from flying planes to gambling. This interactivity and non linear gameplay can help to bring a more immersive experience.  

Another important aspect of creating a real feeling world is sound. The sounds and sound effects of the world should create a realistic sense of the environment and of the action. 

Red Dead Redemption

Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption is in my opinion a good example, in recent games, of a very immersive open world. Although Rockstar included many gameplay elements that have made their previous titles feel immersive with Redemption they went further. The sound and the lighting give this game a realist feel.

The sounds in Red Dead Redemption's world are very well planned and intuitive, from the weather, to sounds of the wind, to sounds of birds or animals. Since hunting is a major gameplay element, there are dozens of different species of animals that randomly spawn throughout the game. Rockstar took this element a step further. In game anytime you hear a bird fly over or a snake in the brush, you can track the sound and find that animal, but if you hear wolves barking or a cougar Watch Out! This adds a sense of realism to the world, that the ambient sounds are relevant to the gameplay. The sounds of the changing weather in game are also some of the best I've seen to date. The sounds of rain react to objects and surfaces make different sounds when walked over wet or dry. Also the thunder and lightning look and sound realistic. The lighting in the game also enhances the feel of the game and sets the mood. In Redemption the use of shadows and reflections also makes the world seem more realistic. In this game these elements came together to make a world that was nice to look at as well as immersive and fun to play.

Plastic Band - A look at Rock Band 3

For the last five years music games have become a best selling phenomenon in the video game industry, creating fun new gaming experiences as well as inspiring kids to pick up a real instrument. But since the release of the first Guitar Hero game in 2005 and gamers first got a look at a plastic guitar with five colored buttons, music games have been criticized, claiming that they are an aberration of actually playing an instrument as well as convincing gamers they can really play. This may have been true...till now. The newest addition to the music game genre, Rock Band 3 to be released next month, may change some of the skeptics into believers.

The newest Rock Band game includes Pro modes on each of the instruments which is now up to four with the addition of keyboard. Pro mode changes the gameplay to more accurately recreate playing the instruments. The Pro guitar controller has 6 strings and plays like a real guitar, pro drums have three cymbals, and keyboard uses all 25 keys of the keyboard controller. It will also have special training modes to help you learn to play.


This new game experience isn't cheap. The keyboard will be $79.99 and the two versions of the Pro guitar will be $150 and $300.  The cymbals are $39.99 That's assuming you already have a drum set and microphone.  So the full experience of the game may set you back $500 or more.