Artsygamer
4 those who see(k) the art in games
Zero Punctuation: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
Oct 16th
Hope there’s an easy eaaaaaaaaaasyy mode and that they’ll finally release a bugfree console version: i like that in consoles, or used to before they too have started having inet: at the core of it there’s just a one chance to make a good game. I mean sure, I’m happy by the time I played it Gothic 2 had a bigger version number… but it’s kinda nice to know that the version you have is FINAL.
Starcraft II – Kerrigan Storyboards
Oct 15th
It’s awesome getting a glimpse into the cinematics department of Blizzard: they’ve constantly impressed with amazing stuff, and seeing how they thought this out I expect this clip will also do that once it’s finished. For me personally it’s also fascinating to see these roughs, something i’ve never seen before animated like this with quite good voice: i bet this helps them not only in knowing what 3d assets to develop but also in the timing of the animation. cool!
Read the rest of this entry »
Golden Axe: Beast Rider – sound
Oct 15th
Not thrilled about the music I hear, the voice acting seems pretty nice (though probably ultra linear, thereby reducing my chances of ever going back to it like they say they aim). As for the level artwork: not thrilled with it’s look or polish but based on the concepts it might be at least an okay artwork. Still, if it’s just going to involve killing a kazillion monsters my fingers hurt just thinking about it. Also, as they seem to be aware themselves, this is a new team and i wouldn’t be surprised if their second title showed a much improved workflow. I dare hope this game will have the potential of Drakan… but it may turn out to be yet another kill-everything bland thing too: still, it’s set in a fantasy world so I’ll probably one day give it a try, but so far they haven’t really made me drool.
Read the rest of this entry »
Dead Space – art & gore doc
Oct 14th
Though i am still largely unimpressed by the visual design (seems still too generic and uninteresting) I am happy about what they’re saying here as it promisses good things: however it may be from a pure visual arts standpoint I see they’re working on the intelectual angle which is at least as important (even to me) in that things which are well thought out (as opposed to just throwing artwork in ther) increase immersion and believability a lot, and it is indeed a strong desing principle that i’ve discovered in my work (i’m a graphics artist/designer) that people really do need to be able to relate and "understand’ what they see: you can’t be too original/weird/different without facing the strong possibility that people will no longer get the message, while the safe & most probably succesfull formula is what they’re talking about: take known objects and just make modifications on them.
The thing that i suspect will go wrong with this game, at least for me, is that they won’t show restraint in the number of monsters: it’s awesome and very personal when you see a crew member with his spine hanging out in mutation, but with the second one it loses it’s uniqueness… and i’m afraid (for practical reasons that i DO understand) they’ll end up havign say 50 or 200 same model reuse throughout the game which will totally make you lose that special feel that you have in a movie where your memory can rewind to "the moment when i saw that super scary baby"… while the chances are much smaller that you’ll remember "baby number 143, and even if you do it won’t be as vivid and speciffic.
Gears of War Flashback: Top 5 Battles
Oct 12th
Quite an interesting presentation. Can’t say the storyteller or cast seem like characters i can relate to… but it may very well be the first Gears clip that actually tempts me to play the game and add it to my todo list more seriously: an actual bit of story/background beyond the "shoot everything" premise that was showing before
Zero Punctuation: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Oct 10th
Could this be another sign to the beginning of the end of the media love for Wii that i was forecasting? I played the ps2 version and was similarly shocked at the differences: like he said i wouldn’t have minded lower graphics… but complete different level design and what to me seeming missing story elements… of course it’s not like i was expecting it to be all that the ps3/360 versions are: not paying the price to deserve them yet. That does bring the interesting question of weather or not on a lower end machine it would be better to keep the same game or tune it to another channel… both points i think could be successfully argued… theoretically i can imagine a situation where the ps2 version might have had better artists onboard even with the lower hardware… but this certainly doesn’t seem to have been the case, and indeed it wouldn’t have made a great deal of economic sense.
Planescape Torment
Oct 5th
I can’t not mention this game. I don’t know if in the almost ten years since it’s launch I have yet seen another game with this much focus on story & plot… though believe me I have searche and searched. Though not quite as branching and freedong giving like my beloved Fallout 2 it’s got a much more lyrical flow to it: you play the story of an immortal cursed to never die, or actually die many deaths, always losing himself more and more. I was particularly fascinated by the experiences with your past selves. I’m not talking about the above clip, but the experience as you move through the world and you encounter the actions of those that were you, but are you no more, as they may even strongly oppose you and be your biggest enemies, like your paranoid past self who in his (justified imho) selfishness does not want future selves. The game is full of heartfelt moments, touchign on love, destiny, self… and a lot on relationships, even though for that i can tell you less because the game was powerful enough to let me play a lot of it even by myself. How many other games can you think of with this much story and dialogue? And if you still don’t believe me: check out the brilliant novelization done by Rhyss Hess based on the brilliant writing of Chris Avellone and Colin McComb. And this is NOT like other game novelizations (caugh caugh … i’m not even going to name names… caugh) where the novel has little to do with the game: the game is just about killing stuff while the book actually contains the depth that the game should have had, this is I think 99% plain old copy-paste out of the game. 227 pages worth. And I seem to recall i once saw 2x that, one book for the good path and another for the evil one (yes, there are actually meaningful choices!). I bow my head in admiration of this amazing masterpiece!
PS: the concept of the sensory stones is still one of the most brilliant i have ever found in my extensive searches, as is the city of doors with the keys being anything from a feeling to a tune…
)Fable 2, music & sound
Oct 3rd
That’s pretty cool. The idea i find most fascinating is painting the ambient music on the maps… like say you have a forrest and it’s scarry but then you reach a sunny clearing with a magical tree (anybody else played Quest for Glory 2 ? 
) and gradually the music fades from scary into calm and peaceful.
Undying
Oct 1st
I figure this game deserves a post because of it’s great artwork in terms of original and varied level design (the autumn prehistoric level or the one floating with bits of stone forming under your feet come to mind) and quite intereting story… actually the tying story isn’t as strong in my opinion, but loved the bits you find out through scrying, and the ones told (again) through the level designs. Also it manages to have a lot of variety & interest making for one of the better gothic/horror theme games I’ve played. If you can look past the now aged graphics you’ll see in it some trully photo worthy moments (the chapel at sunset or the stairs of the mansion come to mind).
PS: almost forgot to mention the trully memborable Abbey ruins, the moving moment of seeing the monks commiting suicide in a vision, and of course the mirracle of travelign to the past after seeing the sun burned ruins to see a snowy winter with it’s glory days. Oh, and superb attention to detail: loved the moment when the rats all flee in a line from the sewer type tunnel castle place…