4 those who see(k) the art in games
Reviews
Yakuza 4 [gt review]
1Normally i would be quite reluctant to try a game so very focused on the combat, and it seems like just another Gta clone… BUT … i played Yakuza 2 and I must say i was BLOWN AWAY at how gripping the story was. I mean very veery interesting. I just couldn’t wait to find out about what happens next. Even the violence seems much more internally coherent and justified than most modern action games. However I will penalize it saying that lack of voice overs and having to click your way through dialogues with many people is not a plus, though it is nice that the interaction is there.
I hope they do continue the series/the developer branches out/other companies pick the good stuff out of these games while filling their more empty spots (content, production values, less Japanese only targeting).
The Void
15A few impressions on “The Void”, a game by Ice-Pick Lodge – the talented creators of “Pathologic”:
It’s mainly a game about a soul who entered into The Void(some sort of purgatory) after the death occured. In this ‘purgatory’ Colour is everything. You collect colour(it grows like plants) and then you can use it in various modes: you need colour to sustain your life, you can use colour in combat, you can give colour in order to receive(by giving colour to some dead trees they’ll come to life and produce colour for you, in time)… There are different colours with different effects: some are good for combat, some are good for increasing the trust of The Sisters(female characters which will guide you through the game), some will attract the jealousy of The Brothers(they are the rulers of The Void) and so on…
An interesting thing about player’s interaction with the environement is the “language” used for that. In order to attack and enemy, or to activate some sort of a shield, or to give colour to someone else or whatever may be, you’ll have to draw a letter on your screen(e.g. the greek alpha, or an “o” etc.) corresponding to the action you want to perform. So, the game, or to be more precisely The world which is called “The Void” has some sort of a language of it’s own.
Well, this is the gameplay-side of the game. it requires great resource management skills. In fact it is pretty hard to finish it: there is a patch on the internet to reduce the difficulty.
But beyond this, the game has a great artistical value. the visual experience is stunning, music is very beautifull also.. and the mood given by these is absolutely like no other.
Also, I found it very oxymoronic:
The Sisters – beautifull gentle creatures vs. The Brothers – harsh, ougly, powerfull, almost monstruous creatures
The desert like, hopless, dark surroundings vs. those colour plants barely emitting some light(and with that – hope for survival) and also those richly coloured trees from The Gardens where plenty of colour grows.
(Personally, I like this side of the game very much.)
Of course, one may say the game has also a philosophical aspect and indeed the game in it’s richness alows such interpretations. (For further reading on this side of the game check these texts from the official forum).
Limbo
15
Developed exclusively for Xbox 360, Limbo is the first production of the independent game studio “Playdead”, grounded 2006 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The game revolves around the central figure of a boy who embarks upon a long, dark and dangerous journey in the quest of his lost sister. The Limbo actually represents the horrible world that he must silently trespass overcoming puzzles and challenges in order to reach what he looks for. It is no random fact that producer and game director Arnt Jensen chose this title for the game: in the Catholic theology, Limbo refers to the edge of Hell, a temporary state of those who died prematurely but not freed from the Original Sin. Also, Dante in his masterpiece Divine Comedy describes Limbo as the first circle of Hell, whereas medieval theological beliefs assigned Limbo as one of the 4 parts of the underworld.
This strong background of meaning can therefore explain the film-noir appearance of the game, dominated by deep blur and a fabulous range of gray tones, meant to convey solitude, uncertainty and danger of the gloomy world of the boy`s itinerary. The silhouette of the main character is the only one that appears to be alive under the heavy, smoky sky that covers everything. What is particularly strange about this game is the lack of a soundtrack in the common acceptance of the concept, compensated just by ethereal echoes and ambient sounds; the resulting silence makes you feel even closer the suspense and the atmosphere of the game.
Among the compact shades that dominate the scenery, white sparkles often appear in the foreground, creating a beautiful contrasting picture; and, as a significant detail, the boy`s eyes are always shining, like a small light in the dark. This black and white technique of the game is inspired from the German expressionism, a trend at the beginning of the 20th century, marking cinematography with black and white usually very abstract and suspenseful elements, e.g. Alfred Hitchcock` s movies. Concerning the game puzzles, Limbo combines the beautiful imagery with a unique, challenging and brain teasing collection of puzzles to be solved, ranging from simple to difficult and even hostile, but all of them equally fun to solve.
Based on all this extremely unique set of elements and features, the game has won the Excellence award in Visual Art and Technical Excellence last year. The bad part is that for now, the producers refuse to extend it on further platforms, although there are numerous requests for PC and Mac versions. Let`s hope they will eventually change their mind, because Limbo offers a very distinct and beautiful game experience.
Abandonia
5
I love old games! And it’s not just because they make you relive that childhood enthusiasm but also because many of them have a great artistic value (some in the real sense of the word and some more as an inspiration for some modern games). I’m guessing everyone loves finding that old game they’ve been searching for who knows how long – so i’ll get to the point: there’s a great site that has an enormous database of such games.. probably anything you can think of: Abandonia. Most of the games here are abandonware = they don’t belong to anyone anymore so you can download them for free. Some more important names like Prince of Persia, Another World or MDK are still under copyright restrictions and for those you have a handy link towards the official sites.
There’s just one problem: most of them don’t -properly- work under recent operating systems (doh)! The solution to this is a very easy to install and to work with program: DOS Box. This is a great piece of software that simulates a tiny DOS environment where you’ll be able to run the games (or any other DOS program). Most sound/video issues will be solved by doing so! A 2 line tutorial: after installing and running the program this will add the games directory to the console:
mount C D:\path\to\your\games\dir
C:
This mounts a directory to the virtual partition ‘C’ and switches to it – where you’ll find your directory structure. You move around with the standard DOS commands. For more info just type “intro” or “help” and you’re good to go.
To start your interest I’ll give you my personal *needed to find* oldies:
| 1. Skyroads - a brilliant game in my opinion! Only one let down (which was very popular at the time): it can get pretty frustrating… Here’s a demo. |
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| 2. Volfied - gets really tough in the end, i never finished although i tried and i tried…! |
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| 3. Stone Age - an awesome puzzle game with special music! |
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| And last but not least: 4. Pushover - again a logic game. It might seems to be for kids but believe me it gets extremely hard in no time. |
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Have fun!
Enslaved [gt review]
0
You know, given post apocalypse PLUS nature overgrowth I was expecting to be in love with the visuals… afraid I’m not. In my humble opinion the art direction is not nearly as full of character as say Darksiders (similar settings), and even on the tech side i see way too many signs of polygons and rough edges… still, moving onto the much better news: i’m very happy to see a game that heads in the right directions: simplicity (ease of gameplay, they say… but do I trust them after being deceived so often on the subject?) & content (in terms of dialogue & story importance, and gets rewarded for it. Thumbs up!
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow [gt review]
0Some quite cool looking artworks my lil eye peeks. Especially the silhouette of that floating tree, the giant ruins & the junglevegetation.
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
0Well, i finally got aroudn to playing it:
+ + high production values
+ high framerate
+ some interesting physics/environment ideas (for example the gas, lighting it with a gun and using it for protection, i’d like to see that in a open survival world)
no super artwork to speak of. I mean everything’s good and polished, but nothing i can’t see in reality done better. The music is nice in the few fight moments it starts up, i also liked teh chitchat of the tertiary characters.
- ending map is just gratuitous… suddenly a more open place and you end up running around killing waves of big thingies. Not that fun, nor did it make a lot of sense
- – while the first game(s) made sense, you felt like a surviving scientist, pushed to do amazing things for survival, now the mood feels like it’s not a scientist but a marine, like many other marines, given tasks and no longer fighting for survival but part of a team and all that military stuff that’s so commonly used.
Zero Punctuation: Silent Hill 2
0
And this is how Yahtzee reviews a game he actually likes :)) As for the game… i have yet to decide if it’s effects on me are maybe too dangerously strong… i mean it’s so scarring that I wonder if one should recomend it… but then again that’s the reason one would: strong impact. My question though is this: is it just for men, or are women as troubled by it? And no, for those of you that don’t know the game i don’t mean because it’s got shooting which men enjoy, it’s because, (i’m happy to say ) like abook or movie, it deals with human issues, but it’s telling some man-type guilt situations so I’m wondering about that.
PS: the thing that sticks with me from this review is the phase: “there’s only you, james and the town, and after a while you start to wonder which one of them is his biggest enemy” , which coupled with that silly graphic of 3 guins pointing into his mouth really stuck into my brain, because what is more terryfing than the thought that the hell he’s in is of entirely his own creation?
Wolfenstein in rhyme (yes, it rhymes!)
0
Had to post this one if only for the brilliant rhymes :)) Some great points too, like future historian and I particularly agree with the pointlessness (of games in general, haven’t played this one) of looting things to upgrade things only for mandatory battles or stuff… now if the worlds were truly open, then yes, i would get it… i’d know there’s a point to my extra time & effort… but if everything’s linear… then why not just push me lightly on a tunnel of fun?
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