Today I want to talk about video games. I LOVE video games. My Dad bought me a playstation 1 when I was about 6 and I've loved them ever since. We started out playing the Tomb Raider (Lara Croft) franchise, which I've followed all the way to the most recent game which was released in 2008 and I'm greatly anticipating the release of a reboot of the series in the late stages of 2012. One thing I love to see, in the Tomb Raider games especially, is the progression of the graphics from solid angles and being able to see where the textures of floor panels started and ended to now having much smoother more realistic graphics. One way my Mum had this to say about the graphics; 'In 1996, Lara Croft had THE pointiest chest anyone had ever seen, (very reminiscent of Madonnas famous 'cone bra') and now she looks like she has two melons.' My Mother the poet, everyone.
So anyway, I wanted to talk about 3 games today. Games I have bought recently (actually my Dad bought them, like I have money for video games!) and have been really excited about for a while now.
Mass Effect 3 (2012)
The last game in a trilogy sat far off in the future that follows an Alliance marine named Shepard. Now, one thing that I find really brilliant about this game is the character building. You can chose whether to be male of female, whether you have a soldier background or an neutral background etc. I like this because it isn't too intensive like I've heard World of Warcraft and such games are but it gives you enough chance to tweak the character so you can get a feeling for them and make them unique to you. The game has a mostly linear story line but you get certain choices at points, whether you want to recruit a certain team member or leave them behind etc, that can affect the type of ending you get. Which I feel is great because it's not just your standard run of the mill, everyone-has-the-same-ending type game. It means that you can play it through several times and see something different each time. Now, this is the one game out of the three that I have not allowed myself to play through yet as I got it at Christmas but didn't want to get too caught up in it as I don't take video games to my flat in Derby because they're way too much of a distraction and they first playthrough time is usually around 20 hours for me. I have very high hopes for this game as the previous 2 have been fantastic, the game play is great, the combat works well, the environments are so well made and really beautiful and the cut-scenes are film worthy and mostly it's pretty much believable. It is a little far reaching as it contains characters from different planets which all seem to bear a certain resemblance to humans but the story sets it up in a fairly believable way. One little niggle I had with this franchise is the box artwork, the 2 previous games have only showed the male option in the trailers and on the posters and all artwork for the games. This seems a little sexist to me as the option to have a female character is available from the very first game, however, in the last installment there was a special female trailer that appeared on TV and the Internet and the box art is reversible, so there is the male version on one side and the female on the other. This makes me a lot happier than just having the male version. I understand the main audience figures show that it's mostly males that play video games in general but it's nice to see some diversity.
Gears of War 3 (2011)
Now moving away from the more artsy to the more visceral. Gears 3 is also set in the future (I'm seeing a theme here) on a planet called 'Sera'. There begins an attack on humanity from a species known as 'Locust'. The story center's around a marine named Marcus Fenix and the Delta Squad that he commands. Now, although the game is in great quality and the cut scenes are good and whatnot, the marines still look around 7 ft tall and at least 4 ft wide. Their armor looks like they have stereo speakers for chest plates and bits of cars on them for the rest of it. Which makes them slightly unbelievable in my eyes but this can be overlooked once you get into the game play. It's basic cover combat, unless you get a shotgun, then who cares. The players are allowed to have 1 pistol, some grenades and 2 other weapons (shotguns and rifle variants).
The main gun, which is one of my main attractions to this game, is called a 'Lancer', it's a basic rifle but with a chainsaw attachment so occasionally you can actually chainsaw your opponent in half whilst listening to such witty lines as 'Nothing but bits' and having the camera be covered in blood. Being a fan of gratuitous fake gore I find this hilarious. The easy game play allows for a really good fun co-op game and it's great when you have a few people round and take turns. The story isn't too serious and anything that is is broken up with witty one liners and there's one character named Baird that I'm sure was just put in for comic relief and has continually gotten more snarky and witty since the first game.
The way this game is made makes it probably one of the most fun games I have ever played, everything is oversized and overdone and it's fantastic. It doesn't really require any brain power and it's always enjoyable no matter if it's the first playthrough or the 10th. The characters, no matter how gruff they are, are still really likeable, the story is enjoyable and it gets extra points for having playable female characters that aren't girly and still kick some serious ass. Even if their voice overs won't shut up.
Batman: Arkham City (2011)
Let me just start this by saying I am a massive Batman fan. Have been for a verrry long time. Since I used to watch the cartoons when I was little, to watching the terrible but oh so brilliant Tim Burton films from 1989-1997 and even the recent reboot with Christian Bale. My favourite characters will always be the Joker and Harley Quinn, the old romantic in me (which I try to suppress at all times) absolutely loves their totally messed up but loving relationship. My friends often refer to me as Harley, which I can't decide is a good and funny nickname or whether they think I'm a homicidal maniac but we'll skip right past that. My favourite Joker on screen would have to be Jack Nicholson, not only is he already a fantastic actor but he fits the role so well. He easily slips from the late night gangster role into the maniacal world of the Joker and adds more to the character than the PG comics ever did. My other favourite would be Mark Hamill, he voices the Joker both in the cartoons and the videogames, his high and gravelly voice fits perfectly with the image that games creator company Rocksteady made in conjunction with DC Games. My least favourite, suprisingly as it was one of the most successful visions of the Joker, was Christopher Nolan's Joker in The Dark Knight (2008), played by Heath Ledger. I disliked it because it wasn't the true Joker. The proper story goes that Jack Napier was accidently dropped into a vat of chemicals by Batman, this de-pigmented his skin, caused his hair to turn green and petrified the soft tissue around his mouth into that signature grin he's known for. Therefore, no matter how good Ledgers performance was, I don't consider it a true representation of the Joker.
Anyway, enough about my slightly disturbing obsession with Joker/Harley.
Arkham City follows Arkham Asylum (2009), in which the inmates of Arkham Asylum have been rehoused after a breakout to a walled off area of Gotham City. The main foes in this installment are as follows, the mainstream expected villains; The Joker, The Penguin and The Riddler and the more unexpected ones were; Mr Freeze, Clayface, Raz al Ghul, Harvey Dent/Two Face and Doctor Hugo Strange. We also see a few side villains who have very short story arcs separate from the main story such as Victor Zsasz, The Abramovichi Twins, Thomas Elliot and Black Mask. Some of these hint at a sequal as do the end credits, but we'll get to that in a bit.
You can also spend a little of the game playing as the ever over-sexualised Catwoman, she carries a whip. And wears tight leather. Go figure why most Batman fans are male.
The imagery in this game is absolutely sublime, even though the entire city seems to have a grey cast over it and it's always raining it's still lovely. The streets are grimy and covered in litter, the rooftops are all different so they don't look like the same template has been used to create the skyline, the henchmen that you fight through out the city are always really well thought out AI patterns. I have so many good things to say about this game. The main story carries on nicely from the first game, it doesn't seem like it's stalling to make a longer game at any point and it's pretty well thought out with some great twists. Unfortunately for me the story ends with The Joker dying which kinda killed it for me but it was good anyway. A few rumours say we may have a sequel not just for the reasons I mentioned earlier but also if you look closely through the game you'll notice that infact Quinn is pregnant and through the end credits you can hear her quietly crying and singing in a way you would only sing to a child. This was probably my favourite game of the year and one which I intend to play again many times over. If it were up to me, the Batman franchise would never end.
I know this has been quite a long blog but it's just because I am really passionate about videogames, I'm kind of a nerd that way. I just love that there's a whole world which you can get sucked away into and interact with.
