barely fatal

I finished Deus Ex 3 and Metro 2033 today. Both excellent games — Deus Ex is a worthy successor of the other two (yeah I actually liked Invisible War, believe it or not), but has its weaknesses. The story and presentation did not grasp me as much and they could have, too much repetition. And I’m just not a big fan of boss fights. [The concerns I had about the AI at first turned out to be relative, as it gets better later in the game.] Metro 2033 oozes atmosphere, and feels more … real. It’s “just” a linear shooter, and not too long, but a damn good one. Gotta love Steam sales.

Ok and this story I already posted on Facebook, but it’s so surreal, I have to post it here as well.

Last night, I dreamt that I met Zachary Quinto in a comic/book shop. He came to me and wanted to talk casually, but he made sure to stay close to an audio visual display which was playing some music or audio loop pretty loud. He asked something trivial (in English!) and I answered, but I could hardly hear him, as it was so loud next to the display. He asked something else, and I gestured him to move away from the display so I could hear him better. But he almost shyly gestured No and turned to leave, when a group of young people recognized him and started asking for autographs, which he gave them reluctantly but with a smile.
And there it ends. I have no idea why Mr Quinto turned up in my dream (I’m pretty sure I hadn’t heard of or thought about him the days before), but when Spock – any Spock – comes visit you in your dreams, you damn better Facebook it, I suppose.

I’m still trying to find the meaning of this.

Yeah I know, I’ve been quiet. A lot has been going on. And right now I have the worst migraene. I think it’s the weather change. Anyways.

Played, finished and sold Crysis 2. Yeah it’s nice but also forgettable, especially the crude story. And I really couldn’t stand the self-importance the series carries. Crytek guys, it’s a game. One amongst many. Yes it’s good. But it’s not the greatest thing since the invention of chocolate chip ice cream, and that’s the vibe I get from your game. A little more humor, originality and interaction, less pathos and cinemetic ambition would freshen up the whole thing. FarCry still is your best game.

Portal 2 is brilliant. Loved the story, loved the world, loved the characters and voice acting. It could have used a couple more complex puzzles. It was definitely easier than Portal 1 and while some of the handholding is welcome (it never gets frustating), a little more exploring, i.e. trial-and-fail would have been nice. Can’t wait for the (free) DLC coming up in summer.

So far Portal 2 is top of my list for best game, but more’s to come,and it’s gonna be a great year for PC gaming. Witcher 2 and Brink are next, and the Duke is lurking on the horizon. But after so many years, I’m not in a hurry.

I went to see Thor. Still don’t like 3D, it mostly blurs up everything instead of adding to the greater experience. The movie was fun, surprisingly solid given it’s eclectic settings. The humor carried the weaker parts.

Had a Star Wars night. Can you imagine, a friend of mine has never seen any of the “classic” movies I grew up with, including Wars, Trek, Indiana Jones, Back To The Future et al. So we started by force feeding her A New Hope first, of course. She seemed to like it. Then as if to take revenge, she forced us to watch the Eurovision Song Contest. Which wasn’t easy, due to my sat line currently being down, I had to hook up my laptop to the TV and watch the livestream. But as always, it was a disappointment. Moldava should have won. I mean, holy Spock, for the hats alone.

What else? I’ve started getting to know the region by visting a different place every week. With the black forest nearby, there’s ample opportunity to get out in this very summer-like weather..

How can you tell you have a great game on your hands?

If every screenshot looks like a postcard? If every line sounds like it came directly out of an action comedy? If you can tether a statue’s head to a helicopter and topple it? If you use your grapple as a way of moving? If there is a flying nightclub shaped like a boat hanging on two giant zeppelines? If the huge world actually feels “real”, because towns, mountains and forests are realistically proportioned? If there are reefs, waterplants and rock formations underwater that you can actually see from a boat or a plane? If there is a cable car in a snowy mountain base that totally works but serves no other purpose than to impress you? If you can reach every single point in the world that you can see? If one of the bad guys totally out of the blue sends you his NINJAS?

Yeah, Just Cause 2 is pretty awesome.

So I rented Heavy Rain. Yes it’s kinda old news by now, but whatever, it seemed like a perfect rainy-day rental and yeah, so much is true.

Though critically acclaimed, I had my doubts about this game from the start, given its main control mechanism is based on quick time events. QTE suck. They sucked in God of War, they sucked in Force Unleashed, and they suck in Heavy Rain, which is why the game ultimately fails its promises. “Game” is kinda not the right term anyway, it’s more like an interactive movie, or a novel even. The film-noire-ish story is what drives this game, what is the game, and in that regard it works perfectly. The twist at the end is pleasantly surprising, the pacing is nicely done, the characters come as close to “real” actors as video games can go nowadays. The music is a high-end production, the graphics are pretty. So what’s wrong with the game?

The quick time events work – most of the time. I’m no fan, and I played on “easy”, but some sequences really play out well. You generally get the feeling that your actions (or lack thereof) matter and have consequences, even when not all of them really do. You get invested in the story and the characters – almost. But the more I played, the more I felt limited by the control scheme. You cannot pick up that item, because you are meant to use that one over there. For example, in a climatic moment I was presented multiple ways to resolve the situation, but it was unclear what sequence of actions does what, and I ended up with a result I didn’t want. There are scenes which let you push a button once and walk 2 meters before the game goes back to a cutscene. I never felt like I was in control of the game; in two instances the game chose an action for me when I was still reading the blurry texts on the quick time action buttons. I’m like, “What the fuck?” – and you can’t go back. There is no saving. Yes, you can restart a chapter, but when that happened I wanted to stop playing. That’s not what I wanted. It felt like the game played me, instead of the other way round.

So as an experiment it surely is impressive, but it fails on a high level. I want control, I want to make my own decision, and button pushing just doesn’t cut it. Push Right to start the car. Push Down to shift to drive. Press R2 to accelerate – cutscene. Dudes, c’mon.

*Update* One thing I forgot to mention: There’s bits of the story – distractors, you might call them – that never get explained in the end of the game. It has a nice, closed ending and all (remember me ranting about shitty endings a couple months back?), but some important bits remain unanswered. I only realized after thinking about it for a while, but for a story that dense it’s a pity not being able to tie up all loose ends. *End update*

RED is a really fun movie with awesome John Malkovich.

Iron Man 2 is just fun to watch. No suffering hero, no tragic death, no treacherous side kick. Just plain fun. Can’t wait for The Avengers.

I almost missed The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock (!) deserves her Academy Award, though.