Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Let's talk turkey

Too many games to play right now. No mapping. No blogging. Must be time for another playlist!

Left 4 Dead 2

My experience with the demo was just the tip of the iceberg. L4D2 takes away all of the 'cheapness' of the first game (corner/closet camping) and forces players to experience L4D the way it was meant to be played. The new infected and crescendo events are game changing. You better get your head right, because what works in L4D will get you killed fast in this game. A whole new approach is required to be successful.

Valve didn't just 'fix' the basic gameplay and call it a day. The new levels set a higher standard in level design. Of course the visuals look stunning, but the atmosphere is like nothing you have experienced before: The constant bombings by the military in The Parish. The interactive games in the Dark Carnival. Opening the elevator doors to discover the whole floor is engulfed in an inferno, an inferno that you must traverse to safety in Dead Center's first level. Coming out of the safe house in Hard Rain to discover the rain has turned into a full-on thunderstorm. Then when you're out in the open the real storm hits.

After decapitating an infected with a fire axe you may never want to pick up a pistol again.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Infinity Ward has mastered the single player FPS experience. Great gameplay, interesting storyline, and stunning visuals abound. Too bad it's over in 5 hrs.

Dragon Age

I really liked this game from the word go. A few hours into it and I'm starting to get antsy. My party wipes nearly every battle, and the frustration is starting to catch up and overwhelm my enjoyment of the game. Only through carefully planning my battles am I able to make it through unscathed. By "carefully planning" I mean hitting the pause button every 2 seconds of play to issue commands. It's getting old fast and I worry that the party members and skills I chose are the reason for my joy being held prisoner. I'm not so far into the game that a restart isn't out of the question, but my fear is that I'll not want to play the game again after doing so.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope to have some mapping updates for you after the holiday!

V out.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Tour de force

Work has progressed at a good pace on my Left 4 Dead campaign project. The first level is fully blocked in now and merely awaits a few fixes - some major and others minor - and should be on deck for some real testing soon.

I started my first WIP (work in progress) thread on a public forum this week. I've exposed my work before, but baring my work to the critical eye of a much larger electorate than what I enjoy at this url is another beast altogether. Fortunately, my skill tree has many points invested in the moderator proficiency at the heretofore linked site and am not against annointing someone's captious brow with a healthy does of ban should the situation require it.

Kidding aside, if you are at all interested in the virtuous hobby of level design as it pertains to L4D, I strongly encourage you to register at the site linked above. Knowledgeable chaps, good feedback, and a strong desire by most to help out new recruits to our venerable field a good mapping website makes.

I've come to realize over the past few days my mind has subconsciously boycotted any further play of Borderlands. The continued lack of PC support after the consoles were patched within a week is annoying at best, infuriating at worst. The announcement of DLC for the console owners (in the form of zombies! no less) with nary a word whispered for the PC is equally egregious. There are other games more worthy of my time investment at this time of the year.

In stark comparison Dragon Age was obviously designed for the PC and is a tour de force of solid story and excellent gameplay. If only for the reason it lets me say things like 'tour de force' - and mean it- does Dragon Age deserve my love and commitment. If you even remotely like RPGs, give it a look.