You now have absolutely no excuses not to play it.  So go give it a go:

http://chrome.supergiantgames.com/

Before I start this, I will attempt to keep this article as spoiler-free as possible, as part of the beauty of Bastion is playing through the experience.  For me to sit here and describe it really doesn’t do it justice.

Bastion is at its core an isometric hack n slash with simple RPG elements.  You have a variety of upgradable weapons, potions which add special abilities, and a simple XP system.  They also have a really wonderful ‘god’ system, where worshipping a particular deity dramatically increases the difficulty of the game by increasing enemy speed, or attack damage while providing the player with an XP bonus.  All of this is combined with a lovely bit of mythology which paints the picture of an amazing game environment that was constantly refreshing.

All of that would have made a good game.  What makes Bastion awesome is the Storytelling Mechanism, and the Sound and Music.  I think Bastion has done something rather unique in the way it delivers the story to the player, and unfortunately – this is the point I won’t say anymore.  You really need to play the game to understand what I’m talking about.  So I’ll quickly move on to the music.

Now, I will post some links here, but I suggest you play the game and discover the music for yourself instead …

The Bastion soundtrack is one of the best collections of music to come out of a computer game in years (Yes, they certainly don’t make them like they used to).  You need only listen to ‘Build That Wall (Zia’s Theme’)’  to understand that this soundtrack really is something special ( oh, and the closing credits track ‘Setting Sail, Coming Home’ ? So perfect ). Of course, the OST is available for purchase, and I highly recommend you check it out as well.

Out of all the games I’ve played recently, this is the one I would recommend above all others.  You can currently grab it on 360 in the XBLMarketplace (where I got it from), and it is also now on Steam.  I’m not sure how well it will translate to a keyboard/mouse combo, so if you’ve got a gamepad, I suggest you use that instead.

What about you? Have you played Bastion? What do you think? Personally, I can’t wait to see what Supergiant Games have for us next.

Oh LA Noire.  You were such a wonderful little gem of a game.  You were moving along so beautifully.  Then you had to go and ruin it all by doing something so very silly.  For the first 3 quarters of the game, we were playing as Detective Cole Phelps.  A complicated and tortured protagonist, but a damn fine detective.  We are getting used to his methods, his mannerisms, and the way he thinks.  He is our link to the game world. Our hero.  And then, out of the blue, like some sort of bizarre spiritual possession has taken place, we are now somebody else (Namely Jack Kelso).

And this my friends, is one of my all time gaming pet-hates.  Multiple Playable Characters.

Why?

Why the switch?

Why spend so much of the game putting us into our (flawed) hero’s head, only to rip us violently out of it just as the game is reaching it’s climax? Stop doing it!

It’s not like Jack Kelso brought anything new to the table.  If anything, he brought less.  Why not just have Phelps get booted off the force and go after the baddies rogue cop style?

At least make this second protagonist a cooperative player, not concurrent! Or even the ability to play through the entire game as one protagonist, and then play through it again through another characters eyes.  But for god’s sake, stop switching us mid-game.

In LA Noire I found it particularly off putting.  It would be like switching Niko for Roman in the final act of GTA4, Link for Tingle in Zelda, or Mario for Luigi in Mario64.  It just doesn’t make any sense.  Especially when you take into consideration the attempt at sadness and shock in the final moments of LA Noire.  Any affection I had towards Cole was well and truly gone by the time the end of game rolled around.  Did I care? Not in the slightest.  It was more of a “Oh yes, I remember that fellow.  What a bastard”.  To me it’s like the scriptwriter got bored and started writing a sequel starring Jack Kelso ( Want to bet he’s the protagonist in LA Noire 2? ), so they figured they’d just write Phelps out of the equation.

Adventure games are probably the biggest culprit.  Gray Matter, Gabriel Knight, Kings Quest 7, Broken Sword.  I usually end up hating one character before the end of the game rolls around and dread any chapter that features them.  Is it that hard to write a game which has a solid investment in a single character ?  I understand that they are trying to get a different perspective on the story, but I always find it weird playing two stories concurrently.  It would be like reading a book written in the first person, only to find that half way through the book “I” is now a different person.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the multiple protagonist thing works.  Games like Killer7, or even Banjo Kazooie where the ‘multiple characters’ are actually part of the game mechanics.  If you want to have different mechanics, then fit them into the existing game world.  If you can’t fit them in, don’t try to stick them on with tape – they are just not meant to be there.  I’m dreading Half Life Episode 3, because I can just feel Alyx becoming a playable character.

It’s funny, I planned to write this rant the second I finished LA Noire, and today, I see that there are two playable characters in Batman: Arkham City. Again, I ask … Why ? Hell, the game isn’t called “Batman & Friends”.  It’s called Batman.  So you should be Batman.  If you want to make a Catwoman game, then go make a Catwoman game.  Now if they made it a Batman/Catwoman Coop experience? THAT I would love.

Please game developers.  Stop being lazy.  Stop making it hard to care about the people I’m supposed to be inhabiting by switching me in and out all the time for no reason.  We players develop a bond with our protagonist, and you keep making me hate them.

My average scores (out of 5) were :

Innovation – 3.93
Fun – 2.89
Theme – 3.14
Graphics – 3.29
Audio – 3.04
Humour – 2.92
Overall – 3.29
Community – 3.25

I scored #46 overall and #10 for Innovation (which is pretty awesome ).

For a first attempt at this whole thing, I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out.  Now to prepare myself for next time…

Am I happy with it? Sure, Sort of I guess.  It’s not a fully finished game, but for something made in 48 hours – I guess it’s pretty alright. I’ll be uploading a timelapse video when I Can get around to it (Timelapse added below – enjoy) so you can see the process and progress.

But the game? It lives here

So, my thoughts…

Game design is not easy.  Especially when you’ve got a limited amount of time and a fairly rubbish theme to work with (No offence LD Voters).  But when you have to take into consideration not only design, but programming, art, animation and sound.  You’ve got a pretty massive project on your hands.

I started pretty much from scratch – and that is a pretty tricky place to start from.  I think my problem is I want to do everything myself.  I don’t like using engines, I’d much rather attempt to write my own – and that’s usually where I fall flat on my face.  I’m not a super duper programmer, I’m a pretty alright one.  I’m better at coming up with ideas.  So of course I always come up with insanely complicated ones.  This time I thought I had a relatively simple idea, until I realised it would need some complicated pathfinding – and of course, I didn’t bother to think properly about this until it was well underway.  To implement the algorithm would take way too much time, which is why the game is set in many worlds with very little going on.

Ideally I would have loved to have buildings in the way – alleyways and the like. But there are always ways you would like to improve things.

Other improvements I would have liked to make ? I would have loved to have different types of people – rich, poor, female.  I would like to have stores and stalls the children could rob, and I would also like to have different kinds of police men and rival gangs. I’d also like to have had the time to really focus on the writing.  Next time, I think an adventure game is in order.

What do I love about it? I’m pretty pleased with my head swapping (Orphans and people randomly get one of a selection of heads), I also really like the concept.

Will I do this again? Yes. For sure.  And I’ll be prepared

Here’s what I did :

Enjoy the sort-of-game.

I figured it was about time I actually used this blog for something Game-Related ( rather than writing all these rants in my head and never publishing them, oh I’ve got a million ), and have decided to blog my progress here.  I will also post micro updates for the folks at Ludum Dare using their own blog.  You can find my posts here.

I thought I’d start here by going into my prep plans in a bit more detail.

I’m sticking with Flashdevelop (ie, Actionscript 3.0 / Flash ) for my programming language.  Since it’s my breadwinner, It’s pretty obvious I would be fastest in it.  I generally use it as a prototyping tool for my non-actionscript projects as well, simply because I know my way around it so well.

I’ll mostly be working from scratch.  However I do have a bunch of actionscript libraries I have written which I will be using in order to make certain things easier for myself.  Text Rendering, Sound Management, those sorts of things.  Currently they’re on my dropbox, but I’ll chuck them up on a code repository somewhere a little closer to the date, so others can have a play with them (If they’re so inclined).

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sound is something I’m really looking forward to revisiting.  I’m using Jeskola’s Buzz.  Buzz was a program that me, my two friends and our school IT teacher would use to write music tracks back when we were in school.  We even formed a little buzz-music group.  So it will be great to revisit this wonderful bit of music creation software.  It can also be used to create some nifty sound effects.  But I’m sure I’m also going to need the help of sfxr and audacity.

All in all, I am pretty psyched for this weekend.  There is an extremely high probability that I will fail, as I often create projects that are way too complicated to complete.  I figure I will just go in guns blazing, try to keep things simple, and basically just have fun.

Oh, and I’m definitely paying these guys a visit before it all starts.  Got to make sure my supplies are fully stocked.

If you’d like to get in touch with me over the weekend, I’ll be replying to comments on this blog, or IMing on Gtalk (anthony dot massingham @ gmail.com), watch as my sanity slowly starts to wane!

Games I am looking forward to

Stacking – Anyone who knows me knows that I love Doublefine.  I enjoy everything they make.  Stacking will undoubtedly be no exception.  It is a truly unique looking game, with a new take on the ‘ghostly possession’ style of gameplay we’ve seen in games like Second Sight etc.  Definitely one to look out for.

DeBlob 2 – Probably the best thing to come out of Australia game-wise in a long time.  I’m looking forward to playing this on my 360, with no stupid waggle controls.

La Noire – La Noire, a film noir-esque detective game, looks like it will make me think. Might it be the murder mystery game I’ve been looking for for oh so long ? The amount of effort they’ve gone into providing incredibly detailed faces for the characters (specifically for interrogation scenes) is pretty mind boggling.  I just hope they use it as effectively as they say they are going to.

Jurassic Park – Telltale making a Jurassic Park game ? yeah, I know – I’m a but confused myself. Known primarily for adventure games, It will be interesting to see what sort of take they have on this little series.  Lets hope it doesn’t suffer from the horrible dialog timing problems that plauge most of the current Telltale collection (Especially since they’re trying for a more ‘cinematic’ feel this time).

Spy Party – Another cool looking indie game.  Designed to be played by two people in the same room but on different machines.  One player must perform a series of spy related actions without drawing the attention of the second player – a sniper, who must eliminate the human “spy”.  It’s a very interesting look at people trying to act like machines, rather than the other way around.

Okamiden – If you own a PS2 or a Wii, Go play Okami.  It is simply one of the best Zelda-esque RPG’s I’ve played.  Filled with beautiful imagery, lovely characters and a really charming plot – I highly recommend it.  Okamiden is a sequel for the DS.  It should be great.  It has also been all cutified, so you know … It will be cute-n-stuff

Subversion – Firstly, check out this video.  Now tell me you are not excited about this game.  It features fully dynamically generated cities, and it’s by the chaps that brought us Darwinia, Defcon and Uplink.  So you know it’s going to be pretty darn good.

Deus Ex 3 – This could go two ways.  Either the way of Deus Ex 1 into awesometown.  Or the way of Deus Ex 2 into Lamesville.  I guess we play the waiting game for this one.

Brink – I’m very interested in the game mechanics.  I like the idea of having constantly changing game objectives depending on a characters skill level.  I’m also hoping that maybe this game can do “free running” but without the awkwardness of some of the other titles that have tried.  In a multiplayer environment that is definitely something they would have to work towards.

Mass Effect 3 – One of the few great RTS series’ from the last few years.  I love it to bits and I can’t wait to play the next installment.

Natural Selection 2 – I think probably the best Multiplayer experience I have ever had was playing Natural Selection (A Mod for Half Life 1).  I think I must have played it almost constantly for 2 years straight, seeing the game evolve from an early alpha all the way to the big version 3.0.  Natural Selection 2 is the standalone sequal to this fantastic original game.  A combination of FPS and RTS gameplay, it requires a team to really work together to perform successfully.

Gray Matter – Jane Jensen ( of  Gabriel Knight fame ) has made a new game.  This is it.  I’ve deliberately avoided too much information about it, but I know it’s an Adventure game, and it involves a neat ‘magic’ interaction system.  I’m pretty excited to pick up a copy when it gets its official English release ( it’s already out in Germany ).

American McGee’s Alice II – Could be a horribly clunky platformer.  Could be wonderful.  If it’s going to be anything, I think it will be beautiful.

From Dust – Watch the trailer at that link, and check out this tech demo, and you will see why From Dust is pretty exciting.  It’s what Black and White should have been.  Awesome dynamic terrain modification.

Child of Eden – Ever play Rez? Well this is Essentially Rez for PsMove and Kinect.  Pretty.

And oh so many more.  Diablo 3, Hitman 5, Portal 2, Beyond Good and Evil 2, The Witcher 2, Batman Arkham City, Elder Scrolls V … The list I’m sure will go on…

(Hmmm, there suuuure are a lot of sequels there … )

Hardware

Hardware wise, I’m pretty excited to check out the 3DS, and to pick up a Kinect.  I think the Kinect really could shine throughout this year – it really depends on what route Microsoft decide to take it.  The Gimmicky wii/psmove way? Or somewhere a bit more interesting? I think with the addition of the upcoming Windows SDK as well as some of the awesome experiments people have made with hacked Kinects already, we’ve potentially got a winner on our hands.

All in all I think 2011 will be a good year for the gamer-creature.  Of course, this is just a prediction – who knows what sort of horrors and delights the year might bring.

So these are just some of the items I am looking forward to … What about you ?

The thought of another Metroid game never makes me think “ugh, ANOTHER?” and I think the Metroid series is one of the few game series that I will never be able to get enough of.   So, when Metroid: Other M was announced, of COURSE I was going to buy it.  It was never a question of if, but when.  And so, having played it and completed it, I am now writing this.

I’m going to say this now – I loved the game.  I’m saying this because from here on I am probably only going to say negative things about the game.  This isn’t a review, it’s more my thoughts on what I did and didn’t like about the game (mainly the didn’t), and how I think it could be better.  This is a format I hope to continue and refine throughout this blogs life.  So lets see how I can go this first time around.

Furthermore, from here on in, I shall call the game M:oM because I am lazy.

See, it all makes sense now

The Story

The Metroid timeline is probably one of the most confusing in the gaming world.  You never quite know when in the grand scheme of things the game is set.  Not that it’s hugely important, but me being a story buff I like to know these things. M:oM takes place directly after the events of ‘Super Metroid‘ and opens with a lovely little cinematic which describes the events that occurred previously.

I’m not going to sit here and discuss the storyline blow by blow (go play the game if you want to know that sort of stuff), I’d like to talk more about the method of storytelling used.  For the first time in the series, M:oM imploys the use of pre-rendered cutscenes.  We finally get a decent glimpse into the character that is Samus Aran : Bounty Hunter, and she’s not really the girl I thought she was.  I always thought she was a no-nonsese, get-the-job-done-at-any-cost kinda gal; the kind that sticks it to the man and is brave and fearless no matter the situation!  Instead, it turns out she is scared of dragons, a bit of a brat, and quite a bit whiny.  She was childish essentially, and a bit useless in many situations (more on this later).  I think I know what the scriptwriters were trying to achieve, but since the character had already gone through the events of the “Metroid Prime” saga, I would have expected Samus Aran to be a bit more hard-nosed and mature.  It just seemed odd is all.

The game is set on a ‘BOTTLE SHIP’ (which I was disappointed to find is not a mini ship inside a bottle, and for some reason must be mentioned in ALL CAPITALS) and of course features the usual Metroid environments (Jungley bit. Icey bit, Firey bit) all wonderfully rendered as hologrammatic simulations within the ship ( There are some neato parts where you turn off sections of the simulation to reveal the ship hidden underneath).

The plot of the game itself is a bit slow moving, but once it gets going it evolves into probably the best Metroid storyline around.  I suppose it doesn’t really have much competition in the series when you think about it.  The twists and turns are quite fun (although sometimes a bit too obvious) and I love what they did with

How can you hate him?

Ridley (Oh boo, don’t complain about spoilers, This is a Metroid game, of COURSE Ridley is in it.  He’s like the neighbour who assumes they’re invited to every party you have.  Besides, You’ve killed him about 20 times, so what difference does 21 make).  We finally got to see a bit more of Samus’ backstory, and more about “Adam” (previously (or if you’re following the Metroid timeline to be eventually) seen in Metroid Fusion) and his little posse (“Anthony” was a bit of a stereotype though don’t you think?). I hope that Metroid games in the future focus even more on storyline and plot, it definitely adds something fresh to the series.

Gameplay

M:oM uses a sort of ‘combination’ of control schemes.  Most of the game is played in 2(and a half)D style, similar to the old metroid games ( or more recently, “Shadow Complex” ) and at any time you can switch to a ‘first person’ view for some precision shootin’.  I think my biggest problem with this control scheme was that you *had* to use the Wiimote’s D-Pad for movement. And maybe it’s just me and my big hands, but after mashing away at that little cross for a while my hand feels like it’s been clamped in a vice.  I would have preferred a wiimote/nunchuck combo ( which I personally think is one of the most comfortable control schemes around ).

As for the gameplay itself? I quite enjoyed playing an old-style metroid platformer again.  The ability to dodge and jump out of the way was extremely handy ( though it did lead to some button mashing at times to essentially become invincible ) and the switching between the two viewpoints felt entirely fluid and natural.  Essentially, as always, it felt like I was playing a Metroid game. There are some key differences though : the almost complete lack of (forced) backtracking, unlimited missile ammo, and the “hidden” objects ( missile upgrades, etc ) displayed clearly on the map once an area is clear of enemies.  Does this make the game any easier ? Probably, But I still had enough of a challenge playing it and there were plenty of times I died (though sometimes in extremely frustrating circumstances, eg. not attempting the particular move required to trigger the ‘you can now use your “kill everything” beam’ unlock).

Which brings me neatly to my next little grievance: Unlocks.  Those who have played metroid games before know that as you progress through the game, you unlock various parts of your suit and it’s abilities as you go on – And M:oM is no exception to this rule.  However in this instance, you have essentially all the parts activated, you’re just not allowed to use them until the Commanding Officer (Adam) says so.  I think I lost count of the number of times Mr Commander was just sitting there eating popcorn or something while Samus is getting her arse handed to her by some giant lava fish monster, people are dying all around, and it all could be averted if Samus could just shoot it with something larger than the potato cannon she currently has unlocked. But Noooooooo Mr. CO won’t let her.  Why Samus just doesn’t say ‘eff this!’ and just run around guns blazing I have no idea.  They try loosely to justify this by a throwaway line of dialog, but its just a bit weak in my opinion.

Voice Acting, Cutscenes, and all things Japanesey

^^

Ah yes this is where things become new and shiny.  M:oM oozes Japan. Yes Yes, I know it’s a Japanese game, and a Japanese series but there is just something about the over the top, over dramatic, slow moving style that gets to me.  But lets not dwell on that…  Let’s talk about Samus’ voice instead.  I always pictured Samus as a sort of Ripley meets Sarah Connor style character. The Samus we are presented with has moments of this; her inner monologue sounds almost identical in style to Terminator 2′s Sarah Connor monologues, though at times It sounds more like she is falling asleep, rather than dwelling on past memories (and my god, if I hear her say “The Baby” once more I’m going to strangle her).

There are some really wonderful moments cutscene-wise.  The Ridley unveil ( cliched, but fun ), The Sector 0 Adam bit ( and the following awesome gameplay segment), but I think my favourite was towards the end of the game when the ‘Bottle Ship’ starts to move, and it folds out into the shape of the science station from Super Metroid, beautifully rendered in 3D, but it still had the same style and shading from the opening cutscene of Super Metroid.  It made me smile.

Final Thoughts

My final thoughts ? Metroid: Other M is a great addition to the Metroid series.  The musical score is just as beautiful as it is in every Metroid game (Ridley’s Boss Battle music? Probably one of the best boss themes ever).  The Combat is fluid and intuative; the addition of finishing moves really gives you a great personal touch.  The platforming and problem solving is top notch, though I would prefer some more morph ball puzzles.  And the boss battles are all wonderfully thought out and fun to play through.  The storyline is one of the strong points, I just wish it was presented in a less obvious way.  I wish Samus’ character was more like the one in my head, and less like the child I see on the screen especially considering this game is set so far along in the Metroid storyline; It makes me wonder how Samus has ever accomplished anything by herself.  On the whole, I enjoyed playing it though.

I also suggest for those playing the game to wait until after the credits, and do the bonus mission.  A very fun boss battle awaits, as well as some zero suit action.

Where do I want to see the Metroid series go from here ? Plot wise, I’d love to see an ‘Origin Story’.  I want to know the story behind the power suit.  I want to see some Chozo.  Experience the death of Samus’ parents at the hands of Ridley, and get to know a little bit more about Samus Aran.  Personally I would have liked the Samus in “Other M” to be more cold hearted and mature.  Then see that character evolve in the Origin Story molding her into the Bounty Hunter we all know and love today.

Do I want the next Metroid game be made in the same style as Metroid: Other M? or more like Retro Studio’s “Prime” games ?
I’d like to see a more healthy combination of the two to be honest.  A fully 3d Environment, with the combined First Person elements.  Using the Wiimote+Nunchuck combo to control and having a camera that always pointed to Samus’ back ( and not just the single direction like it does in M:oM ).

Should I get it ?

Do I recommend you go out and buy Metroid : Other M ?
Metroid Veterans : Yes.
Metroid Newbies : Yes.
People who don’t like Metroid Games? :  Probably not.