Just plug it into the back of my head

I love tactical shooter games, the more real, the better.

In the online PC version of COD4, on a full-ish SGS server your life expectancy is insane, some people stop playing online because most of the time, you don’t survive the duration of a single clip. Ja, that would happen in real life as well if you’d run in the in the middle of the street, spraying-&-praying. A lota players are playing a semi-realistic game, arcade style…

I’ve dreamt of a FPS where it’s as close to real life as possible. Things like taking a chest shot and dropping, loosing ability to walk, realistic firing accuracy, getting tired, using your body as a human shield, forcing players to go from cover to cover, covering team mates, etc.

Would it really be fun? A lot of people will probably get annoyed, but i think all the milsim fans out there will just love it. Some game developers have sorta tried it, take for example Flashpoint, they pulled off some realism, while still keeping it fun. Flashpoint 2 and the Source realism mods I’d say is your best bet for the ‘most’ realistic gaming, but nobody has gone all the way, guns blazing…

I’d love to see someone try and cut away all possible arcade from a FPS war title and attempt maximum realism, is that so hard to ask?

[Francois]

For in the darkness, no one can hear you scream…

…in frustration. Or in fear. Or surprise. What am I on about ? The new Alone in the Dark (AITD) game.

I was (and still am) a huge fan of the first AITD game back in 1992. The game was a breakthrough for it’s time (the first 3D survival horror game ever). The atmosphere and sense of dread you felt while walking through the spooky mansion on creaking floorboards, through rooms emitting funny sounds and passages and caves that left you feeling cold was absolutely incredible. This wasn’t a game. It was an experience. The way your heart beat wildly as you prepare to enter a new room not knowing what’s waiting inside. How your body tensed up if your character was in a tight spot and you had to get him out or die unceremoniously. And the fact that the sound was done to perfection, even allowing it to be played on a PC speaker, all contributed to the game being one of the best for it’s time, and all time for that matter. Playing the game today your first impression might be to throw up when looking at the graphics, but underneath all those polygons, lies a game that will draw you in.

1994 and 1995 saw the release of two more sequels to the game. Alone in the Dark 2 and Alone in the Dark 3 respectively. Both of which carried on the same flourish of atmosphere, game play and sense of anticipation. I added these to my collection and love replaying them from time to time when I’m feeling a bit nostalgic. Then, in 2001 AITD made the move to a new engine. Utilizing a mixture of 3D and 2D techniques that allowed the game to successfully imagine the use of a flashlight in it’s dark scenes. But I was left wanting when I played it. Gone was the atmosphere drenched environments I became so familiar with. In it’s place, was a Resident Evil-ish game. Not to say that it was a bad game, it just didn’t feel like Alone in the Dark. And taking the environments into consideration, the game could just have been called “Dark”.

Approaching 2008 then, I wasn’t too enthusiastic upon hearing of a new AITD game. If the last was anything to go by, we’d be moving still further away from the core of what made AITD stand out on it’s own. And after playing the new game, I’m left with mixed feelings.

The very first thing I noticed, was the graphics are pretty damn good. Most of the current generation bells and whistles are included in the engine and it runs very smooth. One up for the win column then. And then you’re introduced to a new mechanic. One that has never been used before (that I’m aware of and I could be wrong). When in first person mode, you can blink the character’s eyes. Holding down the button, will of course present you with a black screen. At the start of the game, your character is groggy for some reason, with blurry vision. Blinking his eyes, will clear his vision. “Hey, that’s neat”, I thought. But then it went ape. Having to blink the character’s eyes every two steps, it became a chore rather than a mechanic extremely fast. Some tip-ex here and there, and it’s been moved to the lose column. I would have felt much more comfortable if the player blinked his own eyes in a situation where his vision blurs the entire time. This would have brought across the feeling of helplessness you’re supposed to feel in this game. The feeling of “C’mon man, open your eyes!!!! I can’t see wtf I’m doing! There’s something making funny noises in your pants!”. Thank goodness that blinking only lasts for the first few minutes, although I don’t know if it’s going to make a return later in the game. Here’s hoping it won’t.

After the initial “intro” sequence when the player starts to get into the game, one would think that it becomes easier to play. Well the unfortunate truth is, the annoyances just keep popping up. One of the major gripes I’ve had with the game so far (one which has cost a lot of love to be lost between me and the game), is the viewing system. You can alternate between first person view (FPV) or an outside view (OSV – the camera is fixed at a certain point in the room / area you’re in and you see your character from a distance). I have no problem with either of the two views, but I do have a problem with the game deciding which I should use. Frequently I’d switch to FPV to move about more accurately and view my surroundings properly. When all of a sudden the game would switch me back to OSV. Switching back to FPV would result in the same happening again. Walking around a bit and switching will allow me to stay in FPV for a while, until the engine deems it better to be in OSV again. A NOOOI YING! Isn’t this supposed to be the player’s choice ?

Focusing on something other than the camera then, let’s look at the inventory system. Quite innovative I have to admit. Accessing your inventory sees your character opening his jacket and looking down, with everything he’s picked up positioned inside the pockets of his jacket, pants and in holsters on his belt. Add to that the fact that you can combine most items as you see fit, the recipe for something special starts to form. Combine duct-tape with an explosive bottle of liquid and throw the resulting object towards an enemy. It will stick and now you can have your fun trying to hit the bottle to make him go up in flames. Add the double-sided duct-tape to a glow-stick and throw it against the ceiling to illuminate an area. Lighter and mosquito spray anybody ? Duct-tape + flashlight + two-handed weapon ? It all makes for some interesting game play, but of course there has to be something wrong with such an idea. And in this case it would be the control of it all.

Clumsy is the only way I can describe it. I felt like a fumbling fool trying to combine items, attempting to make him release a certain item and use another or just to actually make him use the one I want. I’m not sure how this compares to the XBOX version. Once I’ve played through the game, I will most definitely play it through again with my own XBOX controller. Just so I can get a complete view of what the game is like and give it a fair summary. And to maybe better understand some of the design decisions.

Also, similar to the previous game, the freedom you had in the first three games are non-existent. Sure, you can proceed in any way you want. Locked door in the way ? Burn it. Or shoot out the lock. Or bash it with a fire extinguisher. You have freedom in that way, but not to go where you want and re-visit areas. I suppose they did it because you don’t need to re-visit areas and the game is supposed to feel cinematic. Like you’re playing a movie. But it would have been nice to feel a bit more like you’re not just following a deliberate path.

So all I’ve said so far is pretty negative. Does the game have any positives you might wonder. Yes is the short answer. But they are unfortunately outweighed by the bad.

Fire is basically at the core of the game. Enemies need to be burned in order for them to stay defeated. Also, fire spreads as it would in real life. Along the walls, ceiling, rugs start burning, furniture and it’s quite disconcerting if you’re caught in the middle of it. Some pieces of furniture you can pick up (small chairs for example) and hold it close to a flame to ignite it. It then serves you as a source of light for darker areas. It makes for a nice change in game play from most games.

The cinematic feel of the game also had quite a bit of work put into it, it would seem. Climbing on the outside of a torn apart building with explosions launching debris at you from below, more debris falling at you from the top all promising to knock you off your carefully chosen perch. It adds that heart-stopping feeling to the game. And the game is quite forgiving if you die as well. You don’t need to replay loads of game time. The game is divided into nice sized chunks of game play and you’ll start at the beginning of the one you’re busy with. In a word, it’s pleasant.

For anybody who’s not a hardcore fan of the series, I’d advise caution when considering buying this title. My forever continuing obsession with tea leaves tells me this isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. It does provide survival horror fans with enough of a game to keep them hooked and interested, but the controls and the engine deciding what view for you to use will probably make the game unpopular with most. But still, if the developers release a patch here and there to address these issues or somehow smooth them out, this game should be in every gamer’s collection. It’s really not a bad game at all. I suppose for most it’s just not a good game…. yet =)

But has thou the faith to survive the onslaught of evil ?

Sometimes I’m in the habit of buying a game, and then getting side-tracked with either a newer game or an old one I start replaying. So I end up uninstalling the game and putting it on the shelf for a later stage. But I do get to these titles at some stage. No matter what, I have a strict policy of finishing every game I own. One such game, is Clive Barker’s Jericho.

Way back when the game was announced, I was jumping up and down like a kid before Christmas at the thought of a new Clive Barker inspired game. Still fresh in my mind was Clive Barker’s Undying. A game overlooked by, I’d wager, 90% of gaming population. For whatever reasons I cannot fathom. Undying was to my mind, a masterpiece. It had atmosphere, a fantastic story, intriguing gameplay and did I mention atmosphere ? It was a game ahead of it’s time, maybe. And it’s lack of popularity could also be because of it’s lack of advertising. I’ve always been a gatherer of gaming news, but I never once saw as much as a glimpse of Undying. Yet when a friend introduced me to the game, I was drawn to it immediately. Even though Undying is an old game now, it’s definitely still worth a play-through by anybody interested in the horror FPS genre.

The announcement of Jericho then, meant another game from the mind that brought us the Hellraiser movies. Another game stepping into twisted reality and blowing our minds with images and ideas so horrid and terrible that they seem plausable. So does Jericho live up to that reputation ? Thank goodness, yes it does.

What’s it about then ? To quote wikipedia : “Certain Apocryphal and Gnostic texts speak of a being created by God, in His own image, before the creation of Adam and Eve; according to legend, this being was abandoned by its own Creator…The Firstborn, too powerful for even God to keep from breaking into the mortal world, would make seven attempts to escape, each time taking back a piece of the earth to add to its domain and each time sent back to the Abyss…The Jericho Squad is sent to Al-Khali to prevent Leach from opening the breach and unleashing the Firstborn upon mankind once again“.

A thrilling story unfolds from there and the world your eyes are bombarded with from the word go, is realized in perfect graphical splendour. Even though the game is near on a year old, the graphics still surprised me. Lighting is used in such a way as to bring the world to life and add that extra level of atmosphere. Not that the game needs it. Jericho is literally oozing with atmosphere. Throughout the game, you get to control all the different members of Jericho squad. Each member with his / her unique abilities. Ranging from Abigail Black’s “Ghost-bullet” ability where you get to telekinetically control a bullet fired from her sniper rifle in order to kill up to three enemies with one shot, to Simone Cole’s “reality hacking”. Allowing her to affect reality using complex mathematical equations. She’s also charged with keeping ammo levels high, effectively “rewinding” time in the team’s ammo belts to the point where they were full.

The deeper one delves into Jericho, the more intruiging the story becomes and the more you start to ponder on “What if this were all true…”. Some of the game’s reviews I’ve glanced at on the net, mention bad level design. I think it’s not so much bad level design as part of the linearity of the game that shows. But the game being linear doesn’t hurt it at all. It still remains an experience to run around the guts-infested levels being assaulted by creatures straight out of hell and your worst nightmares.

Some reviews also have bad mention of the timed events. These are somewhat of a cut-scene where the player gets to view the events from one of the teammates’ viewpoint and having to press buttons as they are flashed on the screen in order to get out of sticky situations. Press a wrong button, and it always ends in death or something horrible happening. True, some of these scenes end up leaving one frustrated because you really have to be quick and accurate in most of them. But to me, it just adds that extra sense of accomplishment once you get through a particularly difficult situation. Also, it adds to the reality of “being there” even more.

Sure, this kind of game isn’t anybody’s cup of tea and most people want freedom in a game. But if you’re interested in experiencing a horror story as it unfolds and feeling as if you were truly there, Jericho does this masterfully and really brings it’s twisted world to life. I’m actually dreading getting back to the game. Not for fear of what lies next, but for fear it will end. That’s the kind of imprint it’s leaving on me already.

In closing, Jericho goes straight to my column of “Must buys” for any horror FPS fans out there. It lies there right next to Undying and Call of Cthulhu. If you enjoyed a game like F.E.A.R, you will most definitely enjoy Jericho. It’s pacing is perfect, it’s story leaves you wanting more, it’s controls are intuitive and most of all it’s a lot of fun to play. From steering a bullet through three skulls in a row leaving them in smithereens, to engulfing enemies in flames as a result of blood magic. It all fits together nicely like a well-oiled machine and apart from the often difficult timed events, the player feels as if they’re in control all the time.