The Darkness

Here’s another game I just finished playing (I did beat the game) from Gamefly. This game, The Darkness, I really, really wanted to play from the commericals I saw a couple of years ago. I’d like to share my thoughts in a review-like format here, focusing on its strengths and areas for improvement.

The Fun Aspects

The Darkness did have a couple of fun aspects to it. The basic premise was interesting and did provide a couple of moments. You are Jackie Estacado, an orphan turned professional hitman. One day, things go sour and the other goons turn a hit on you (the traditional setup). Jackie finds his way out of his fix when the Darkness, a mythical demon, bonds with Jackie. Jackie then turns his sights to avenge not only himself but his loved ones as well (without any spoiler, there was a brutal sequence with the final bad guy and Jackie’s girlfriend). That was pretty cool. In addition, Jackie gains power from standing in the darkness and can then use the powers of the Darkness (tentacles, guns, black holes, and summoning demons) to take down the thousands of hitmen and stereotypical thugs that come Jackie’s way. I actually spent more time (and had more fun) finding the bonus phone numbers in the game to call the random people of NYC and listen to their answering machines (this was linked to “Bonus Content”) – there were about 100 of them to find, but I didn’t find them all. This was something I enjoyed and looked forward to while playing this game. Unfortunately, that was about it.

A Broken Experience

There were many different aspects of this game that ended up breaking the experience. While this may look like it is in rant form, it is in the best way for me to remember and chronicle these parts of the game which made me not enjoy it. The story had a couple of “random” aspects which made me scratch my head and pulled me out of the experience. While the overarching themes of revenge and love kept me wanting to know more, Jackie ends up getting pulled between the past (in the Darkness’s mind) and present-day NYC. It happened frequently (and you even shoot zombie Nazis) and didn’t give me a chance to adjust to what was going on; I turned into a player that would keep going until the next animated sequence, which I think shouldn’t be the experience to strive for.

Another aspect of this game that really didn’t work out was that it tried to be a mixture of a traditional mafia movie, FPS game, and RPG. I had to constantly run around the subways and streets of NYC to find other people to help (because they have no means to protect themselves), enduring lots and lots of load screens (which were cool at first – it featured Jackie ranting or giving aspects of his background – but then got super-super-repetitive), and trying to shoot many, many stereotypical mafia goons. People named Paulie and such were used all the time, making me not care at all about the people I was helping (or shooting). In addition, the game was loaded with (I think) unnecessary ice cream scoopfuls of f-bombs and other epithets, reminding me of the many bad b-movies I’ve seen (especially the ones on the SyFy channel), and making me care even less about the people in the game. With these elements, I was such removed from the game and caring about the people in the game that I just shot pretty much at anything (or used the tentacle powers) that moved.

Some of the major mechanics of this game also really irritated me and made it more clear I was playing a game that could have been executed better – much better. Everywhere I went, in order to use the powers of the Darkness, Jackie has to be in the dark. But, there’s lights on EVERYWHERE. I had to shoot every single light bulb I would see, lest I couldn’t use any of my powers to keep me alive. The light bulbs didn’t take away me health, but another reason why I did this was because Jackie had pretty much no life whatsoever. Any more than 4-6 shots and Jackie would die (but he is supposed to be stronger and can come back from the dead with the power of the Darkness – some superpowers :( ). James Bond from Goldeneye would last 8 shots on 00 Agent, and he didn’t have any supernatural help. One of the last aspects of the game which could have been improved was the aiming. I like to aim, but if the game presents an auto-aim, which it did, I don’t mind using it. It was especially handy (sometimes) to take out the lights in this game. But, about 80% of the time, the auto-aim would take over while I was setting up my shot, and then revert back to manual aim while I was pressing the trigger. I ended up losing a lot of ammo trying to shoot at lights that the game was trying to aim at. I ended up extremely annoyed at this any would actually talk to the game, asking it why it would do such annoying things.

Overall, though this game is better than some I’ve played, but far, far worse from many of the other FPS games I’ve played. If you’re bored, I’d say go for it, but if you’re looking for a compelling FPS and a story to keep you shooting, I’d say go look for something else.

The New Type of Dance?

Even though I’m not at E3, I’ve still been keeping up through Google Reader on the latest and coolest action there. One of the things that has been getting my eyes and ears ready for some epic epicness is the new game coming out for the Connect from Harmonix. It’s called Dance Central, and I’m pretty excited (as you can already tell).

Coming from the perspective of a long-time DDR and ITG player (check out the link to DDRecall at the bottom page if you would like proof), I’m excited for the opportunity to be able to exercise to some good music, but to also get other parts of my body involved in the action. While there’s nothing wrong with playing all of the 10s, 11s, 12s, and 13s in the normal arcade setting, the play does end up getting a little boring by oneself and just playing to test one’s own skills. Being able to incorporate the other limbs (I’ve gotten to play ParaPara Paradise before and really thought that it was cool to get the arms and legs involved!) presents a great opportunity for fun, the chance to incorporate other people into the fun, and also a way for players and families to push themselves for exercise. I think exergaming is a great way to have fun, get into shape, and provide the basis for a healthier life, and I would love to help design these games, as I’ve lost 60 pounds playing DDR and ITG (in the groove if you’re unsure of this acronym). I also hope that there will be awesome DLC to continue keeping the game fresh, along with combining multiple players through XBOX Live (as I wouldn’t mind encouraging any other players out there to exercise!). Even having the ability to record one’s own routine and possibly incorporating homemade music into the mix may also bring about an opportunity to bring people together through dance, gaming, and exercise.

With the advent of another music game, I still have some reservations about how the gameplay will be like. From my experience, “easy” and “medium” are pretty good exercise routines, mapping pretty well to the music, but “hard” and “expert” really challenge the player and put much more moves/steps in the chart than what most people expect/can handle. With this in mind, I hope there is a lot of playtesting to make sure that all of the moves map well to the music and don’t place many arbitrary “things” into the mix just to make things hard. Examples of these are: making notes not match the music (see “Two Weeks”, Drums Expert, Rock Band), making the scroll rate multiples faster/slower than what the actual music is rated (see any of the Maxes, DDR), or assuming that all music placed into the game will be in 4/4 (that’s a common time signature – see any songs by Rush/Soundgarden in Rock Band to see that asymmetric time signatures don’t work so well). These are the biggest aspects of the game that I think pull the player out of the experience of having fun and exercise, forcing the player to concentrate on the game aspect of the game, rather than enjoying the music and becoming a part of the experience for the audience and other performers (granted, for the hardcore, this is what the experience they want, but as someone who can play the tough stuff, it irks me to no end). That’s the type of play I’m hoping for in this game, and you can find me at the end of this year most likely playing it. I look forward to it, and exergaming with you, the reader, if you are up for some epic music and exercise.

I would also love the opportunity to be able to playtest it, but that doesn’t seem to be likely any time in the future. In the meantime, I’ll keep exercising in the gym and in the arcade to keep my weight down and tone my body for the next costumes I am making :D .

Have a great one!

(images from joystiq and destructoid)

Fate|Stay Night


I just recently finished watching another anime series, Fate|Stay Night, and would like to spend some time sharing my thoughts. While I may not be the best at mentioning everything about the anime and my reflections on it, I will enjoy the opportunity to talk to you in person about it :D .

Story

I especially liked the story. This anime featured Emiya Shirou as the main protagonist, who suddenly finds himself amidst a war for the Holy Grail. He becomes involved in the war, as he finds himself in a near-death situation and ends up summoning Saber, a magical servant who wields an invisible sword, and who will also listen to Shirou’s orders. Shirou also ends up befriending a fellow Master at school, Tohsaka Rin, who was my favorite character (not only can she wield a wide assortment of awesome magic – all in German – but she also had a very decisive and professional demeanor). They then travel around town trying to solve the mystery of a wide range of mysterious comas, and to also figure out how to end the war for the Holy Grail (trying to give no spoilers). I guess one of the other best parts of this anime was that it mirrored the traditions of Arthurian lore, and gave it a unique Japanese twist.

If you like magic in your anime and a well-written story that is very engrossing, I’d recommend you spending some time with this one. It’s worth your time. There’s a wide assortment of characters, costumes, action, and lore to absorb and enjoy. Enjoy also the lion, a symbol for Saber and Arthur.

For the Future

In the future, I’d like to cosplay Archer, the Servant of Tohsaka. I’d only end up cosplaying him if I had someone going with me as Tohsaka (it only makes sense – I’d want to enjoy the con with my “Master” and it would be a great group cosplay). To do Archer, I’ll need to not only make the main black suit, but also the red coat/covering of the suit, his ying-yang swords, his white hair, no makeup, work out to get his abs, not sure if he needs boots, and the gloves (there may be a cape in there as well). I’ll have to go back to episode 14 to fully get his costume specs, as that episode featured a ton of different angles for me to pick out for the details of his costume. I’d also like to cosplay him, as he is a very matter-of-fact personality, is always around when Tohsaka is around, gave Shirou the motivation he needed to be able to get through the tough battles, and oozes amesomeness. Here’s some pics to help remind me and you of how he is.