Game design from a gamer's perspective

This is a multi-part series on successful game design from a gamer's perspective. This article series will encompass such topics as story, models and texturing, lighting, artwork, gameplay, genre choice, audio and many other subtle aspects of creating 3D based video games. This article will also discuss what game techniques work and what to avoid. So, let's get started.

Successful games

Let's get right into the meat of this and discuss what makes a successful game. Clearly, success is nearly always measured by dollars. Specifically, how many units sold and how much profit was made. Even more, did the game pay off its debts that were generated during creation and did the revenue rise above those expenses to actually make money? For executives of gaming companies, this is the goal of a video game. But, was the game actually successful for the gamer? For the C-level executives, I'm sure they'd respond a resounding yes (assuming it exceeded its dollar goals). From their point of view, apparently enough gamers purchased the game to make the dollars at least work. But, was the game a success for the gamer? That's a completely different question.

From the gamer's perspective, the game may not actually work. An overhyped game from a brand resting on past successful history can produce games that appear successful, but only because a gamer was 'tricked' into the purchase. So, success of a game is measured both in dollars and in how the game was received by the gamer. The adage is still quite relevant, "Once bitten, twice shy". If you burn the gamer with a bad title, you likely won't get much respect from future titles. So, don't burn the people who keep you in business by producing bad titles.

So, that means you should measure success in two ways. First, money. Second, longevity. Money describes how well the gamers decided to adopt the game immediately. Longevity describes how long the gamer played the game before giving up or trading it in. If there are massive trade-ins within a few days, the game failed as a game. That's when the developers need to understand why it failed.

No longer can developers sit in a bubble and develop games without listening to gamer comments. With social networks like Twitter and blogging, it is more important than ever for developers to review forums, read critical reviews, listen to complaints and understand just what problems gamers have found in a game. These are issues that must be addressed, preferably in patch updates to the existing game if possible. If not, then these issues definitely need be addressed in any sequel games.

So, while sheer numbers may describe immediate monetary success, this does not tell the whole story. Executives who are simply bean counters fail to see the bigger picture. Gamers are finicky and will choose with their wallets. Once bitten, twice shy applies to game titles. More than this, it also applies to game development company loyalty more and more frequently. As a gamer, I know what companies to avoid. For example, I simply will not purchase any more Square Enix titles. I've been burned too many times from this company. I've about had it with EA as well. The quality of EA titles is so widely varied that it's too much of a risk. So, before I buy any EA titles, I must read reviews and play demos, if possible. I also feel this same way with Activision's and Atari's hit and miss strategy.

Game development: Ideas that work and techniques that don't

As a game developer, it's important to solidify the game style and format up front. All too many times, the gaming engine that is chosen dictates the game's play style. The choice, for example, of using the Havok engine may have serious consequences on the success or failure of the final game. So, choose your engine wisely based on game genre and understand its downsides carefully. For example, licensing the Havok engine for a full RPG is probably not a good idea. At least, it's not a good idea without some recoding effort.

Health Status Indicators

As an example of what doesn't work, there are some licensed engines that don't offer a health meter. Instead, the engine opts for a blood or out-of-focus halo around the screen. As health diminishes, the halo increases. For a gamer, this aspect can make the game frustrating and unplayable. Halos obscure the play view, so you can't see what you're doing (see Perfect Aim / Perfect Vision). Worse, some games inhibit the character's ability to play after a certain point. So, you can't move or respond correctly to enemies. This just leaves the gamer to stop right there and reload from a saved game. There's no point in continuing to play when you can't even control the character properly. Mass Effect 2 is the perfect example of a blood halo done poorly. In 2010, if you can't provide a health meter on the screen, don't bother creating the game. There is no reason not to provide a health status indicator (more than a blood halo). All too many times, especially in health screen halo engines, once you see the blood halo, your character has 1-3 hits left before completely dying. Worse, you can't properly see the screen to maneuver your character out of the way.

On the other hand, having an actual meter on the screen so you can see how many hit points you can take before dying is much more useful. It helps the gamer decide how strong a given enemy is by how much damage they deal. Having this information allows the gamer to create a strategy to beat that enemy and know their relative weapon strength.

Save Game Locations

There are many styles of game saves. These include checkpoint saves, save anywhere, pause save screen options and in-game save points (obelisk saves). Game developers need to understand that saving the game is not and should not be part of the game play. Don't weave in saves as part of the story or challenges. Saves are there for convenience to the gamer. They are there to allow the gamer to save progress and also allow the gamer to stop the game at selected times and/or prevent losing the work up to that point. Therefore, game save points should never be treated as some kind of obstacle, challenge or in-world treasure. Never.

It is preferable if game saves be allowed anywhere in the game. This style is the most efficient for the gamer and allows the gamer to prevent starting over time and time again. The game save style to completely avoid is the one that forces you to play through an incredibly long, hard and complex level with lots of chances for death before you reach an in-game save point. This style of gaming is frustrating and extremely bad design. It ensures the gamer will give up before they finish the game. Don't do this.

Checkpoint saves can be useful as long as there are enough checkpoints. Again, this goes back to in-game saving. If your team has decided that checkpoint saves will be the only mechanism for saving progress, then your team better make sure there are enough of them along the way. Otherwise, your game will end up in the same boat as the immediate example above. Keep in mind the pitfalls of using checkpoint saves, though. Checkpoint saves overwrite the previous save. So, the gamer can only start at the most recent checkpoint. This means they cannot step back two or three checkpoints and redo those sections of the game. If your game is the type where you can make choices that affect the outcome of the story, then checkpoint saves are not appropriate for this gaming style. Checkpoint saves are intended for mindless zombie killing. They are used where outcome of the game is irrelevant. For RPGs where choices can be made that affect outcome, do not use checkpoint saves. Instead, RPGs should always use save-anywhere saves. This allows the gamer to save before critical choices or battles and restart the battle from seconds before.

It's fine to combine save styles, though. If you allow save-anywhere saves and want to also create checkpoint or restart mission saves along side, that's fine. Again, though, beware of pitfalls. If the character dies on the level, let the gamer choose which save point to restore from. Do not automatically start loading from the checkpoint immediately after a character death. This is especially true if there is a newer save-anywhere save present. This is waste of the gamer's time as he/she will need to wait through that load sequence only to reload again from their own save. Mass Effect 2 is a prime example of this behavior. Do not do this!

Other saving issues include how much data is saved to the save file. For example, the best games store everything including character position in game, character level, inventory items, etc. With this save type, your character starts exactly where you left off. This is the best style of save format there is and the least disruptive to the gamer. Always choose this style of save when designing. Other save game file formats include starting over at the checkpoint. So, this file format stores only the start point and nothing else. In this case, the gamer starts the level over with a clean slate (no previous weapons, armor or whatever). This is frustrating because all of the stuff you'd found to that point is lost. Don't do this... especially on an RPG. Don't force the gamer to backtrack in a game to get goodies a second, third or fourth time. For shooters, it may be acceptable, but even here I wouldn't recommend it.

Time Savings

As part of the game, don't waste the gamer's time on irrelevant or unnecessary things. These things include long loading screens, long death sequences or unskippable cinematic sequences. In this goal, the pause button on the controller should work 100% of the time in game. Granted, certain times you can't, like intro loading screens, game saving sequences and other operations that can't easily be interrupted. But, as long as it's in game, pause and load panels should be available 100% of the time. Again, Mass Effect 2 is the prime example of not doing this correctly.

Coming up in part 2:

• Bosses (when is too much or not enough)
• Character Deaths
• Loading screens
• Loading times

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Gamezelot's Top 15 Holiday Console Game Picks

So, we're fast approaching another holiday season and you're trying to decide what games to get and what games to leave on the shelves. Well, if you're an RPG, FPS or racing game fan, then I'll go through all the games that are on the top of my list.

15. BioShock

Bioshock is an older, but still well done shooter. The game has some questing and RPG aspects. The leveling up system on this shooter is unmatched by any other shooter. It's not a full out RPG, but it definitely straddles the line between being an RPG and a shooter. Definitely worth a play if you have not played it. Contains violence and possibly unsuitable themes.

14. Civilization Revolution

CivRev is a strategy game through and through. If you like games like Risk, then you'll like CivRev. This game is not quite as complete as Civilization IV, but for a console crossover, this game is quite well done.

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

While I generally don't put movie games on my lists, this one is particularly well done. The questing system is RPG-like, the quests are fun and you get to fully roam Hogwarts. Definitely a fun play if you've never played it. It might be hard to find new at this point as it's a bit old now. This game is also quite family friendly.

12. Oblivion: Elder Scrolls IV

This game is over 2 years old at this point, but it still tops my list of best RPG games out there. If you haven't played this game yet, you owe it to yourself to play it. It takes a little bit to get into this game and you have to like the medieval type genre of games. But, this game system is one of the best concieved to date. It might be hard to find it new, but even used this game is great. Get the Game of the Year edition to get all of the add-ons. May contain unsuitable themes.

11. Halo 3

What list wouldn't be complete without Halo 3? I debated about not putting this one on the list. But, because this game is so well done, I had to put it on the list for this year even though it is now over a year old. Contains violence and possibly mature themes.

10. Drake's Fortune (PS3)

While this game isn't exactly an RPG, it does have some RPG elements. The game has an excellent graphics system and the puzzles are well thought out. The game is one of the more fun titles on the PS3.

8. Gears of War 2

Gears of War 2 is a first person shooter that offers all of the same fun that Gears of War offered. It's fun and challenging, but not overly challenging. The guns and vehicles add excitement to the game. Note, contains mature themes and violence.

9. Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed came out last year, but is still a fun play through. It's also on this list because apparently the next Assassin's Creed is already in the works and may be out sometime in 2009. You should play this game before buying Assassin's Creed 2. Contains mature themes and violence.

7. Grand Theft Auto IV

This is a psuedo-RPG. The storylines are reasonably engaging and all of the fun of ripping off cars is still there. Too bad the game didn't expand to add storage, modding and selling of the cars, but the game still works. This game is not recommended for anyone under 17.

6. Gran Turismo: Prologue (PS3)

This game is absolutely gorgeous. The graphics are stunning, the driving is amazing, but this is only a teaser game. The real game will arrive in 2009 (hopefully). However, this game is still very much worth getting just for the shear beauty of the cars. Amazing. However, don't expect the be able to mod your cars. That will be in the final game.

5. The Orange Box

The Orange Box is an amazing title in itself. This package holds 5 games in one: Half-Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode One and Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress. All of these games are worth playing. The Half-Life titles are shooters and are extremely well done. Portal is a puzzle game. Team Fortress is a multiplayer level-based shooter. This is definitely a must-have if you haven't played Half-Life. May contain unsuitable themes.

4. Fable II (and Fable I)

These games are both high quality RPG-style games. Fable I is for Xbox and Fable II is for Xbox 360. I like both of these games quite well, but I actually like Fable I just a bit more than II. Fable II's mapping system needed an overhaul, but the quests are still quite fun.

3. Mass Effect

Mass Effect is a Sci-Fi semi-RPG from Bioware (same people who did Knights of the Old Republic). While this game did not come out this year, if you haven't played it, it should be on your to-play list. Contains mature themes.

2. Saint's Row 2 (and Saints Row 1)

Saints Row 2 is the latest installment. This game is ahead of GTAIV only because they have been able to far improve the GTA formula. The game is about gangs and that genre, but the quests are still of the same style as GTA. This game is not recommended for anyone under 17.

1. Fallout 3

Fallout 3 is technically the successor RPG to Oblivion: Elder Scrolls IV. While it does have the a similar combat system, they did add some improvement to it in the VATS (targeting system). This game is fun, but can be tedious to play at times. The imagery of the game is stark and there are no vehicles to speak of. That said, though, the guns are fun and the quests keep the storyline interesting until the end. Note that the Fallout 3 main quest is much shorter than Oblivion's main quest. Contains violence and possibly mature or unsuitable themes.

PC - Spore

Spore

Will Wright is well known for producing The Sims and Maxis' other big hit simulator titles. So, it was not without a big to-do that Spore would have a lot of fervor surrounding its release. Well, Spore is out and people aren't happy.

Digital Rights Management

Some people are upset over Spore's inclusion of DRM within the game. Visiting Amazon.com, you will find (as of this blog article) that Spore has a 1.5 star rating. And most of the bad ratings are as a result of DRM. Yes, DRM is a problem. But, DRM is by no means the only problem with Spore. Visiting the old Spore Forum and the new Spore Forum, you will find many users having a lot of problems with Spore (and it appears most problems are not related to the DRM). As of this writing, the old Spore Forum is in transition to the new forum, so most posts regarding issues are on the old forum. But, if you find that this link no longer works, it's because EA has taken the old forum down.

Just as an FYI, apparently Spore utilizes the Securom DRM method. This method uses a security key (located on the manual) to 'activate' your copy of Spore. This DRM system may check in periodically to make sure that the key is still valid (apparently, so they can invalidate keys and stop a game from working). Anti-DRM users feel that this is tantamount to renting a game instead of buying it. Since they have the ability to prevent you from playing the game at any time, it may very well be a form of renting. I feel that DRM is only necessary when you have something worth protecting. Unfortunately, Spore isn't original enough or that well done to be worth spending the money on DRM. This should serve as a warning for EA and Maxis. Drop the DRM before your users drop you.

Bugs, bugs and more bugs

Ok, so there's bound to be a pun in here somewhere. In all seriousness, the game is chock full of bugs (and I don't mean the pretty kind you can build through the Spore creator). The kind of bugs I mean are the ones that lead to frustration, crashing and overall bad game quality. Did EA or Maxis actually beta test Spore prior to release? I mean, come on.. I expect some bugs, but this bad?

Some of the bugs I've encountered include:

• Can't install Spore into a directory other than the default (doesn't work)
• Can't get past the cell level without crashing (see workaround below)
• Changing colors in the creator leads to a crash in many cases
• Random crashes while playing the game
• Game is sometimes unresponsive to commands

There are numerous other problems that have also been reported by others. These range from problematic gameplay to the game not starting up.

Maxis and EA have both been slow to respond to these issues on the forum or otherwise.

Crashing after the Cell level

If you have installed Spore on Windows (XP or Vista) and can't get past the Cell level, try using alt-enter to move Spore into a window on the desktop just before you click to go to the next level. This should allow the game to progress to the next level and allow you to continue playing. This workaround doesn't, however, let EA and Maxis off the hook to provide a patch so this isn't necessary.

Gameplay

In spite of the severe installation issues and crashing problems, the game does play on my system now. I did manage to get it installed with a plain vanilla install. However, there are still crashing issues from time to time. So, save earily and save often... especially before you enter the creature editor.

Cell Stage

At this level, you are basically a small organism swimming in the primordial pool. You must eat your way up to becoming big enough to evolve into the Creature Stage. You are effectively a 2 dimensional creature at this point. Once you consume enough DNA, you are big enough to evolve. This is the stage where you decide if you want to be a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore. If you choose carnivore, note that the food gets progressively harder and harder to find except by killing other creatures.

You can obtain new parts for your creature by certain events. Increasing the parts you have gives you better speed, poisons (protection) and other means to better defend yourself.

This is a fairly short stage, but it sets a lot of groundwork for the rest of the game.

Creature Stage

You evolve from the 2D phase to becoming 3D and walking on land. This is the first time the game introduces you to the character creator. At this stage, you have a nest. You can make basic friendships with your neighbors or you can attack them for food. As you wander the level, you can pick up enhancements and then change the appearance of the species through the character creator. The quest is for sentience.

You'll note that at this point, all of the emphasis placed on obtaining power ups has really diminished by this level. So, everything that was setup on the Cell Stage is really not utilized much on this (or successive) levels. Meaning, you can add the power ups to your characters, but they really don't enhance the outcomes of battles much.

Tribal Stage

At this stage, you are now sentient and can band together to create a redimentary tribe. You can befriend or conquer neighboring tribes. You can domesticate pets. In this level, you are expected to turn your tribe into a village which leads to....

Civilization Stage

In this stage, you are basically playing at a much higher level. Instead of commanding individuals in the tribe, you are now commanding vehicles to do your work. You are building cities, creating homes, factories, entertainment and other things for your cities. You can go to war with other cities and take them over in various ways (militarily, religious propaganda, etc). Cities can be either religious, economic or military. Depending on the city you take over and how you take it over, the game may or may not give you the choice to change the type once you conquer it.

Space Stage

In the space stage, you have progressed to the point where you can venture into space with a space ship and operate space missions.

Creature and Object Creator

The creature and object creator lets you create objects for use in the Spore universe. You can build creatures, houses, spaceships and vehicles. So, when the game has you place houses in a city, for example, you can create your own or use another player's creation (if you're online). You can share your creations with the rest of Spore.com and you can even set up a Sporecast to highlight your best creations.

Controls

The controls work fairly well. However, I did find the mouse to be unresponsive at times. For example, I select the entire military to do an action (attack an enemy vehicle) and they simply don't obey. I also found that as you progress through stages, the view of the world gets wider and wider. So, in the Creature Stage, you are at ground level. By Civilzation State, you're almost orbiting the planet from a high distance.

The mouse control to move the world is frustrating as you have to make sure to place the mouse precisely to get the world to move properly. The tiny map in the lower left corner of the screen is too tiny to be useable (no way to make it bigger). Many of the controls around the screen are too tiny as well. The tutorial mode is annoying and gets in the way, yet starts up when you start the game each time.

I also found that the zoom mode works reasonably well, but you can't always easily zoom on specific things you want. The control is not fine grained enough to accomodate this.

The controls do work, but not as precisely as I would have expected.

Sound

Most of the music is simply ambient and not all that appealing. The talking sounds are mostly Simspeak (gibberish). So, when you give commands to your fleet, they always acknowledge with non-sensical Simspeak.

Graphics

While my graphics card isn't capable of running this game all on high at 1920x1080, I did try it briefly to see if it made a substantial difference. It does make a difference, but not enough for it to wow me. As you progress and the camera moves out, Maxis decided to use low-res texture maps for certain surfaces. So, even though you can zoom in, many of the texture maps don't hold up.

Note that the Creature and Object creator lets you assign texture maps to your creations. These texture maps look great in the editor itself. Unfortunately, once you're out of the editor, these texture maps no longer look that great in the preview area. Worse, when the objects are used in the game itself, many times they are so tiny that you can't even see all of the detail. Worse again, objects inherit the color assigned to your territories. So, even though you may have made your spaceship silver, it will have a bluish tint based on your territory color.

These issues make the game itself less than stellar graphically. I would have expected better from Maxis by this point, but it's just not quite all there.

Game Concept

If you've played any Maxis simulation games like Sim City, Sim Ant, Sim Farm and especially Sim Earth, you already have the concept of how Maxis games work. If you've played Sim Earth, then you've essentially played much of Spore. Spore, however, makes Sim Earth more 3D and adds the online creature sharing aspect (when it works).

EA and Maxis are clearly having growing pains with this game. The servers don't always want to work, so you can't always share properly. The game is still very buggy and the concept isn't terribly original. The graphics don't have a wow factor, the sound is also not great.

The best part of this game is the Creature Creator and sharing modes. I like that the game will use other user created creatures in your game, but this is really not enough for an online experience. If Spore had taken the extra step to turn this into a Second Life kind of simulation, Spore would have been something. Right now, it's really more of a novelty game and really not all that ingenious or original.

PC Games vs Console Games

The main problem I have with this game is its problems that people seem to be having across the board (Mac and PC). That said, for this exact reason. this is why I prefer console games. Consoles have a consistent interface and set of hardware. Once the game is working, it will work on all consoles. No installation troubles, few problems and patches can easily be addressed. PC games must work on multiple hardwares using multiple controllers, multiple operating systems (old and new), multiple PC vendors and multiple graphics card types. This is a challenge for any game developer, so some of these issues are expected. But, knowing this, EA and Maxis should have been ready for them and willing to make comments when the issues presented.

In other words, I would have preferred to see Spore on Xbox 360 or PS3 first to avoid all of the DRM, installation and PC related issues.

Overall

I like this game, but only to a degree. It doesn't have enough diversity to keep me playing for a long time, but I may play with the Creature Creator for far longer than the game itself. I actually find it more fun to build things than actually play the game. It's too bad these creations and objects aren't able to be used more effectively.

If you're looking for a real-time strategy game similar to the Civilization Stage, I would recommend Civilization Revolution or Civilization IV over Spore. Spore is fun to a point, but Maxis tried to pack too much into this title and ended up dumbing down too many aspects preventing it from becoming as intricate and detailed is it should have been. Basically, the Creature Creator could have been so much more. But, I find that by the time you reach Civilization stage (or later), your creatures are far less important overall and the game ends up more about your cities, buildings and ships. So, the creating new creatures is really only worthwhile up to the Tribal Stage of the game. After that, the creatures are so tiny on the screen (and as part of the game) that they become secondary.

Score

• Graphics: 8/10
• Audio: 8/10
• Gameplay: 6/10 (buggy/crashy, installer problematic, untested)
• Bang-To-Buck: 5/10 (Not bad, but been played before)
  
• Replay: 4/10 (replay until game is finished)
• Overall: 6/10 (wait until the first patch release)

Xbox 360 - Assassin's Creed Game Review

Assassin's Creed by Ubisoft

At first impression, you might think Assassin's Creed isn't a game that you'd really want to play. In fact, I didn't buy this game immediately when it was released. I only later bought it on a whim. Occasionally, you find sleeper hits and this is definitely a sleeper.

When I began playing the game, it was obvious that Ubisoft had a winner in this game. A winner not so much in the gameplay (we'll get to that), but the overall storyline. The mixing of old world and high tech works quite well to bring the story across and compel you to play the game just to see how it unfolds. For the same reason that the Half Life story was so compelling, Assassin's Creed is even more compelling. In Assassin's Creed, you play two characters at the same time. In the present, you play Desmond Miles. Desmond has been captured and held prisoner by the biotech company Abstergo in hopes of using a mind viewing device to view genetic memories and determine the location of a device from the past.

The genetic memory amplifier allows both you and the room participants to watch. It also pulls memories from past ancestors and lets you relive their lives through the amplifier. The only problem is that you must become an Assassin in order to fully integrate into the memories.

In the past, you play as Altair who is an Assassin who follows the assassin's creed. Unfortunately, Altair has fallen from grace and must regain his assassin's privileges. That's where the player comes in. You must help Altair regain his honor, privileges and equipment.

Gameplay

The game starts in the lab, but very quickly gets you into the amplifier and begins reconstructing the genetic memories. Each level unlocks a specific set of genetic memories getting you closer to unlocking the target memory.

For most of the game, you'll spend playing as Altair in the past doing assassin missions. This portion of the game is the meat of the game. You can exit out of the past at any time and get back to the present. But, you'll quickly find out there's very little to do in the present. So, in order to progress, you need to complete the past missions.

Playing as Altair

Missions

There are basically four types of mini main missions for each level: Eavesdropping, Pickpocketing, Intimidation and timed assassinations or sometimes flag recovery. These 'mini' missions unlock the final boss assassination mission. You must complete a certain number of mini missions before you can do the final boss mission on each level. There are additional unrelated missions in the cities as well such as rescuing citizens, climbing towers to open up your map (views), capturing city flags and assassination of Templar Knights.

Cities

The Cities are divided into usually three or four areas. As you complete the game, these sections open up on later missions. So, you might have to visit the same city several times, but in a different section for different missions.

Traveling

For the first portions of the game, you'll need to get a horse and ride to each of the cities. Once you have visited each of the cities once, you can 'fast travel' to cities and avoid traveling by horse (unless you really want to). Note that there are really no main missions on the roads when traveling between the cities. There are, however, side unrelated missions (flags, climbing towers and templar knights).

Playing as Desmond

When you're in the lab and not on the table, you can wander around and do a small amount of detective work. As you progress through the game, you'll want to talk to Lucy as much as you can. She reveals a lot of information about Desmond, about the company and about what's really going on. But, even as much information as you can gather, it only gives you background information. It is not intrinsic to finishing the game, which is unfortunate. But, if you want to get all of the challenge points on the Xbox 360, then you'll need to do everything in the lab.

Graphics

Assassin's Creed is another game with stunning 3D visuals. Altair's wardrobe (and that of the other assassins) is top knotch graphic design. The robes flow pretty well, but can be a bit stiff at times. However, there is simulated wind against the fabric which is quite convincing. The most realistic is Altair's climbing abilities. This is where this game excels. The amount of time they put into Altair's jumping and climbing is amazing. When he climbs a tower, it looks like you would expect someone to climb. Obviously, Altair is quite adept at climbing and can obviously do so without slipping or falling no matter what he's climbing.

Sound

The audio effects and soundtrack work quite well to move and pace the scenes. There are few cut scenes, but there are some in the games (specifically at the beginning of each level). You can't skip them, so if you're playing through a second time, you have to wait them out.

Criticisms

Assassin's Creed is a bit repetitive. After you have done a few of the four types of missions (listed above), it's pretty well been done. What you do doesn't change, you just do more and more of it. The only refreshing change is the timed assassin missions or flag capturing missions. These are really the only challenge missions in the game. They do change, but again get repetitive. Even above the repetitive nature of the game, the story is still compelling.

The present day lab feels a bit like Half Life. I wish that there had been more to do in present day. In fact, the story would have been even more compelling had there been an equal number of things to do between the past and present to move the story along. But, that didn't happen.

According to a website that I found, there will be three games in total (a trilogy of games). But, I've also read that there were to be a trilogy of books, but were canceled because of some issues to do with some of the material they based the game on. I'm concerned that this may limit, change or even cancel the final two games in this series. It is clear that the end of Assassin's Creed is a cliffhanger. It's also clear that there are planned to be more games. let's just hope they happen.

Ubisoft set up an incredibly detailed and well thought out world. The problem is, they didn't put that much thought into the missions within this world. The missions are too structured, rigid and limited. So, they end up repetitive and banal after a while. If Ubisoft wanted to take this to the next step, this could easily turn into an RPG.

Score

• Graphics: 9/10
• Sound: 8/10
• Gameplay: 6.7/10 (a bit too repetitive)
• Bang-for-the-buck: 8.5/10
• Replay Value: 2/10 (not enough to do after game is finished & too short)
  
• Overall: 7.5/10 (again, due to its repetitive nature)
  

Wii -- Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles

Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles by Capcom

Several years ago, I played Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube. I really enjoyed this first person shooter. The controls worked well, the environments looked great and everything just worked well together. So, when Umbrella Chronicles was first announced, I was excited. When it was released, I was hoping and expecting a similar experience to Resident Evil 4. Unfortunately, it is not here.

Graphics

The graphics are fluid and work, but....

Gameplay

Umbrella Chronicles goes back to the old style Resident Evil gameplay which I really dislike. It uses fixed camera angles and stilted moves to get through the levels. So, instead of exploring the game, you end up fighting with the controls and your character ends up dying many times just to find the exact sequence to get through each level. Overall, I don't like sequence levels where your character dies over and over just to find the proper button sequence. If I had wanted to play Simon, I would have bought Simon.

Overall

This game was a disappointment. This really is more of an arcade style game designed to waste lots of quarters and time. It isn't a first person shooter. So, don't expect anything like it. I've heard that Resident Evil 5 may be more like 4. So, if you're wanting a first person shooter like RE4, wait until 5 and skip the Umbrella Chronicles.

Score

• Graphics: 8/10
• Sound: 8/10
• Story: 5/10
• Gameplay: 4/10
• Replay Value: 1/10
• Bang-To-Buck: 2/10
  
• Overall: 4/10

Xbox 360 & PS3 - The Darkness

The Darkness by 2K games

The Darkness is one of those games that seems like it should be a taboo subject. In reality, if you can ignore the semi-demonic aspects of the main character and what you have to do, the story is really pretty decent. However, this is a first person shooter through-and-through.

Graphics

The graphics in this game were always fluid and functional (unlike Mass Effect). The Darkness gives you everything you want to see in a first person shooter. You have a first person view, you have special powers, you can pick up weapons from just about everywhere. So, there's no lack of weapons in this game.

Sound

The sound quality of this game, while not a masterpiece, certainly fits the mood properly. The key story moments offer more compelling soundtrack themes while the background music is kept to a minimum. This leads to a good balance of music to gameplay. The music also works quite well to enhance the gameplay.

Story Line

The Darkness is effectively about an orphaned kid who was taken in by a fictitious mafioso-type family. Then, this family turns on him later and effectively wants him (your character) dead. In that light, we come to find out that this character also has the power of 'The Darkness' (when he turned 18) which is a demonic creature that gives certain powers to the inhabitant. These powers give you the ability to kill much more efficiently than with a gun alone. As you progress through the game, these Darkness powers grow and expand giving much more powerful Darkness powers.

The way the game unravels is well done. The romantic encounter is a bit stilted because there was little setup. But, it kind of worked in an awkward kind of way.

Gameplay

Overall, the character is easy to control and the darkness powers are easy to switch between. The hardest part of this game was knowing when you can and can't use the darkness powers. For example, if you're standing directly under a bright street lamp, you can't use them for long. By the same token, you can either shoot out the lamp or use a darkness power to break it. Once it's dark enough, your darkness powers regenerate and can be used. Also, so long as it remains dark, you can regenerate the powers continually.

The guns in the game are reasonably decent. Mostly small handgun varieties and a few semi-automatic and automatic weapons. They're reasonably efficient to use. But, the real benefit is in the darkness powers. This is really what the game wants you to use.

Quests

The Darkness is kind of like Grand Theft Auto (review coming soon) in that you get assigned quests by specific individuals you meet. So, you have to roam the game in order to find these people in order to complete their quests. Some of the quests are intrinsic to moving the story forward and others are side quests that you do just to get extras. The game doesn't force you to move in a linear progression specifically. If you choose to wander around and do all side quests, you can leave your main quest activity hanging until you're done. So, in this way, it is kind of like an RPG style questing system.

Multiplayer

This game does offer an Xbox Live multiplayer component. So, if you're looking to get all Challenge Points, you will have to play the multiplayer portions. Note, though, that you are required to basically set up your own server in order to host games. Most times, people aren't hosting games on Xbox Live, so you're likely the one who will have to host them.

Overall

The game was lengthy enough to be well worth the money. The Darkness powers work well to get you through the game. The 3D performance is stellar when compared to some other recent games. The 3D detail is reasonably decent, but not nearly as detailed as some more recent games.

Overall, I'd recommend this game if you like this type of genre. If you're not into the demonic aspects and the killing of the game, then you might want to skip it. Note, the replay value of this game is low because if you've done nearly everything, then going through it a second time less than thrilling as there's not much else to do (other than look for more bonus things).

Score:

• Graphics: 8/10
• Sound: 9/10
• Gameplay: 8/10
• Story: 9.5/10
• Overall: 8.5/10
• Replay Value: 4/10

Xbox 360 - Lost Odyssey

Lost Odyssey by Microsoft Studios

Even though Lost Odyssey is 3 discs long, this review is short and sweet. If you like Final Fantasy VII, get Lost Odyssey. It is, for all intents and purposes, a clone of Final Fantasy VII.. not quite as well done, of course. If you didn't like Final Fantasy VII or are not a fan of turn-based games, skip Lost Odyssey.

This game claims to be an RPG, but Mass Effect and Oblivion are more an RPG than this is. This game is basically turn based random encounters to level up. This game has much more in common with Pokemon than it does Oblivion. There's really very little in the way of questing. So, expect mostly random encounters, like Pokemon.

The controls work reasonably well and the fighting system works well enough if you happen to like turn-based Final Fantasy style gaming. Note, if you want a more detailed review, leave a comment letting me know and I will review this game in excruciating detail.

Score

• Gameplay: 6/10 (too repetitive)
• Sound/Music: 8/10
• Controls: 9/10
• Story: 4/10 (mostly encounters, little story)
• Bang for the Buck: 8/10 (length, if you like this sort of game)
  
• Overall: 4/10 (mostly for being unoriginal)

Xbox 360 - Mass Effect

Mass Effect by Bioware

While I want to love this as an RPG, I just can't. Unfortunately, Mass Effect has so many problems that it really ends up a mediocre RPG in among this genre of game. Frankly, with the poor level of graphics performance of this game, I'm surprised it was released at all.

Graphics Engine

Let's start with the graphics. Clearly, the 3D imagery is highly detailed with every attempt to make the characters seem lifelike in this world. On the one hand, this is one of the most visually detailed games I've seen to date. On the other hand, BioWare obviously worked so hard on the stunningly realistic visuals that they let too many other things slide. This makes for a rather overall disappointing game. Even as detailed and stunning as this game is visually, there are major performance problems that really hinder the game experience.

The 3D movement and performance is herky-jerky. The game pauses every time it has to load information from the media (which is extremely frequent). The game's graphics rendering has severe issues including screen breakup (striping as the entire screen moves), lagging, slowness and overall performance issues. These 3D issues are completely unacceptable in this day and age on a console. If the console doesn't have enough game power to display the game properly, the game should never have made it past the concept phase. Alternatively, they should have redesigned the graphics to give smooth 3D gameplay experience most of the time. To actually let Mass Effect get all the way into production with these major graphics performance issues is just incredibly stupid.

Granted, the performance issues don't prevent you from playing the game, but it does become a continual inconvenience as you progress through the game. Yes, it is even an inconvenience that really almost makes you want to stop playing, it's that bad. I, however, am continuing to play Mass Effect because I've started it and want to see the conclusion. Consider that Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR was BioWare's previous RPG) had none of these graphics performance issues on the Xbox.

RPG Aspects

Having played recent RPGs including completing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (and KOTOR), this game really doesn't much advance the RPG format in any substantial way. In fact, it takes a step back from Oblivion in several ways. It even takes a step back from some aspects of KOTOR. As examples of things missing:

• KOTOR would let you swap team members and use a specific team member's skill to do a certain thing. Like, one of the team might be skilled at security, so you use that member to unlock doors or cabinets. Another might be skilled in the Force, so you let them use their Force powers.
  
• With Mass Effect, you cannot swap your team and you cannot ask your team to do things like open locks. Your main 'Shepard' character must do everything.
• In Oblivion, quests are stored in a journal as is Mass Effect's quests. But, Oblivion takes it one step further by letting you locate where you need to be directly from the Journal entry.
  
• In Mass Effect, you are left to fend for yourself to find out where you need to be. While the Journal might tell you where you need to go, you have to back out of a ton of screens to get to the map and find the location. This makes finding where you need to be next a chore.
  
• There are many many people wandering around on the levels, but you can only talk to a handful of specific people. In Oblivion, every wandering person was a potential new quest. In Mass Effect, other characters are completely ignored.
• The Citadel is sprawling... and while it is huge, there's really very little to do in it. There're few people to talk to and even fewer things to actually do. While it's impressive to see the world they built, it really goes to waste.
• Oblivion's objectives were always clearly documented in the quest journal. So, you knew exactly what to do next.
  
• The Journal in Mass Effect is a bit on the confusing side. Yes, it's off the main menu, but then once you get into it, each quest expands and collapses. It also puts check marks beside the portion of the quest completed. But, it fails to really show you exactly what you need to be doing or where you need to go next.
  
• With Oblivion, each quest objective was clearly marked on the map.
  
• With Mass Effect, nothing is marked on the map. If you want it marked, you have to get out of the journal, open the map and then mark it yourself. So, you have to write down or remember what the current quest objective to know what you want to mark. Not impossible, but a hassle. Worse, if the objective is not on your present level, you can't get to that map to mark it.

Leveling Up

It's not very clear what levels you up and what doesn't. But, frankly, there aren't enough quests or battles per level to really help you level up. I found that the quests and battles were far too sparse and the dialog scenes were far too abundant. Ditch the dialog and add more action. Or, at least balance the dialog with action.

Because of this, leveling up is difficult. But, at the same time, it also looks like Bioware was aware of this issue and, thus, gives a LOT of experience points for completing even the tiniest little quest event. If there had been more quests and more action, then the game's RPG portions would have been more complete.

Character Creation

While I understand that Bioware kept the formula from KOTOR for this game (giving you a specific character with a specific history) and then letting you customize the look (to a degree), this really isn't an RPG. Yes, you can pick the 'class' your main character is, but unless you pick the combat class, you can't make it through the game. The other classes are so weak, you can't even make it through the first quest. So, this is a HUGE weakness for this game.

Even with Oblivion, there were weak classes, but you could make up for that weakness in other ways. In Mass Effect, there is no way to make up for those weaknesses. Maybe you call it making the game more challenging, I call it a defect.

Inventory

The inventory system is limited to 150 items. This limitation isn't a problem until you pick up item 151. Then, it forces you into a screen that you can't get out of. You must convert one or more items into Omni-Gel (an all-purpose substance). This screen is extremely annoying. The inventory system works much like KOTOR's system, but with obvious differences.

Game Saves

While I applaud BioWare for giving a 'save anywhere' system, the limitations of this system are abundant:

• You can only have a limited number of saves (15-20, I think). After you have used them up, you have to overwrite previous saves. Not smart if you want to be able to go back to a critical point and rework what you did.
• When you die and the game 'resumes' it assumes you want the last Autosave rather than the last actual save. Because it autosaves so infrequently, you're likely loading an extremely old save point. So then, you have to waste time loading another save.
• This goes with the previous point. The Autosave system saves too infrequently. The resume functionality assumes you want to use the last Autosave rather than using the most recent save. You can end up playing through an entire level before it Autosaves again. Bioware should have dumped the Autosave feature altogether and required only manual saves.
  
• The system prevents you from saving while enemies are present. I don't get this one. Oblivion would let you save anytime, even during battle. I guess Bioware didn't want to have to deal with programming a save system that would save a battle sequence in action.
  

Audio / Soundtrack

While I wanted to like the audio, the backing tracks while you are roaming the levels are too repetitive and annoying. It's not soothing, it's not calming, it's just there and annoying. The backing tracks repeat far too frequently to not be completely repetitive. Oblivion's soundtracks got old after while too, but the rotation of the soundtracks and the length/differences were often enough that it kept from becoming completely boring. Even as I play Oblivion today, I've heard them all, but I can still listen to them without being annoyed.

Music should ALWAYS be under the volume control for Music. In the Hotel on one of the planets, the background music is considered a sound effect. This is wrong. Music should never be a sound effect. The music in the hotel is very annoying. I also wanted to play my own music from the XBox 360. But, because it is a sound effect, it mixed in with talking and other effect noises. There's no way to turn the music down as a result (or at least, no way without affecting dialog and other sound effects). Bioware needs to fix this issue.

Combat System

The combat system is downright horrible. For one thing, each 'enemy' gets completely blocked visually by this HUGE red triangle. So, instead of aiming at a character, you just see the triangle. This means, most of the time you don't really even know what you're shooting at visually. You have to rely on the identification text. It's also very difficult to determine exactly when someone has shot you. The character's response to being shot is not responsive. In Oblivion, the health meter was plainly visible and you knew how much health you had left. With Mass Effect, it's extremely hard to gauge the health.

Team Effort

While Mass Effect let's you build a team up, it really doesn't give you much to do with the team once you have it. With KOTOR, you could at least rotate among the characters and use the skills they offered. With Mass Effect, there is no such rotation. You can't choose to use any characters in your team for anything other than combat. Even then, they do what they want and the best you can do is tell them to move to a specific position. More often than not, your team members get in the way. They stand or crouch exactly where you want to be.

In fact, there was one battle where they were so stupid, they just stood and took fire until they died. It wasn't a particularly hard gun battle, it's just that their AI wasn't sophisticated enough to deal with the situation. I ended up waiting until they 'died' and I finished the battle myself so I didn't have to compete with their stupid AI.

Gameplay

The gameplay is fair. Not great, not excellent, but fair. You wander the levels hoping to find things, but you find relatively little to do. Shepard runs very slowly, so it takes an age to go from one side of a level to another.

Renegade vs Paragon

As with KOTOR, you can choose to be 'bad' or 'good'. In Mass Effect, you can be both at the same time. The problem is that there is no clearcut distinction in the dialog which specific dialog leads to which outcome. Sure, you can sometimes tell based on a smart mouthed comment, but in other cases it's not that clearcut. So, you're constantly trying to find which leads to paragon and which leads to renegade. I guess it doesn't really matter much unless you're trying to get 100% paragon or 100% renegade. It's still frustrating.

Dialog

Here's where Bioware dropped the ball. While there are many choices of dialog, the words in the menu almost never match the outcome dialog. This is extremely frustrating. So, while the menu says one thing, Shepard ends up saying something completely different. The menu dialog should have matched the actual dialog word for word.. another Bioware failure.

Character movement

The character moves reasonably well, but about as well as can be expected from this kind of game. I would have preferred an eye level view so I don't have to watch the character from the back all the time. As I said above, he runs rather slowly.

Story Line / Ending

The storyline is not horrible, but not the best I've seen either. Because this is an RPG, there really should be many stories here. Not just one main one. However, because this game is mostly linear, the side stories don't mean much. The side stories are also just offshoots of the main story. On completion of the game, the entire game ends. You can't complete any uncompleted quests, you're just tossed into the credits and given the heave-ho. If you're a true RPG, the ending of the main quest shouldn't end the game. The Darkness (review coming soon) also followed this ending and I also didn't like that ending either. Again, I go back to Oblivion. Oblivion got all of the pieces right in terms of the RPG aspects of the game. Even the way to handle the ending of the main quest story line.

Xbox Live

There is no live component to Mass Effect. This is a single player game.

Overall

While I would like to give this game an 8 or a 9 rating on a 10 point scale, I can't. The flaws are graphical performance issues are too numerous and problems too abundant for this style of RPG. The lack of side and free quests make this game more or less linear. These issues really preclude Mass Effect from being a full out RPG. Yes, it does have some RPG aspects, but overall it lacks in too many ways to really be what Oblivion was.

If Bioware wants to make a real RPG, they need to sit down in a room and play Oblivion. Then, from that game craft a new better game from the same things that made Oblivion work.

Ratings

• Graphics: 6/10 (9/10 for details, 2/10 for gfx performance)
• Music: 6/10 (too repetitive, not inspired, out of context)
• Sound Effects: 9/10
• Control: 9/10
• Gameplay: 6/10
  
• Combat: 5/10 (combat system really bad, lack of proper team commands)
• RPG: 7/10 (works, but not outstanding)
• Replay Value: 3/10 (little replay value unless you want to pick up game challenge points)
  
• Overall: 5/10 (needs work)
  

Xbox 360 - Halo 3

Halo 3 by Bungie

CAUTION: this review may contain SPOILERS. Do not continue if you want to play the game for yourself.

Expectations

I purchased Halo 3 on the 25th at midnight and I was done with the single player portion on the 27th. I only played about 2-3 hours a night and I'm not a particularly fast gamer. I found the game to be 'ok' but not outstanding with a very short single player story. The game itself had not progressed much beyond the previous installments as far as weapons and upgrades nor has the game engine gotten any more sophisticated.

Playability

The player segments were fraught with constantly starting over time and time again from checkpoints just to trial-and-error your way through the level. Starting over time and time again is not challenging and not all that fun. In fact, this is such an antiquated way of game play, I thought we were done seeing it in new games. So, instead of being fun, then, it ended up being mostly tedious. It's also very easy to lose your way and not know where to go next. The only real fun aspects were the vehicles. Even then, you're thrown right into the action and get very little time to actually play with the vehicle itself.

Worse, while the baddies constantly get stronger and stronger weapons, Master Chief's skills remain stagnant (no new armor, extended health, shields or enhancements). So, in later levels, one bomb and Master Chief is dead.

Single Player Mode

Frankly, the single player version was so underwhelming and underproduced, I don't really understand why Microsoft/Bungie bothered at all with single player mode. Most of Bungie's time was spent dealing with and creating the multiplayer Xbox Live aspects of this game. Personally, they should have just called it Halo Online and left the single player mode off.

Story

The story was minimal and short. Halo 3 is just Halo 2 and Halo all over again. The engine did not improve in any substantial way. The physics might be slightly better, but not enough to warrant major discussion. The single player portion, as I said, was incredibly short and the overall storyline was monotoned. The storytellers tried to get you to care about the characters in the game, but frankly that failed miserably. Because all but one of the main characters ended up only in the cinematics and because you can't play with any of these characters throughout the game, you really don't care about what happens to them during the cinematics.

If they really wanted to make you care about the characters, they should have had these characters in the game side by side with Master Chief playing and helping you through the levels. Then, they could have added banter, chat and stories to make these characters more personal to Master Chief. If you want to care about characters when they're killed, you have to give them game time. There is one 'helper' character throughout the levels, but frankly the AI on this character was almost completely worthless. Yes, he did help on some levels, but mostly he just stands and waits. Worse, he didn't die in the end.. which you would have cared more about this character than any other because you at least got to know this character.

Weapons and Ammo

Other things that annoy me about the game is the lack of weapons on levels. The game is supposed to be about weapons and ammo, but I found myself constantly running out of ammo and not finding any useful weapons or ammo. Worse, when the enemy characters have weapons, they have infinite ammo. When I pick up a dropped weapon, it has 2 shells left. Ok, so how fair is that?

Fully Tested?

About 4-5 levels into the game, Master Chief got caught in some wreckage and I couldn't get him out of it. Worse, the checkpoint saved right as I'm caught in the wreckage. So, if I revert to the last checkpoint, it lands me right back in the wreckage. I ended up having to completely start this level from the beginning. Was this game actually beta tested?

Audio

The audio/soundtrack with this game was completely underwhelming as well. The soundtrack was, at times, way too ambient and too serene for the action. While the programmers spent tons of time on the vehicle and bomb physics, they spent none on the sound engine. The music and soundtrack should have, through an AI, increased in intensity as the battles got heated. Then, the soundtrack should have cooled as the battles subsided. Instead, we have this out-of-place soundtrack in the middle of the heated battle. Worse, you can barely even hear the soundtrack over the sound effects. The menu also offers no volume adjustments. Only at the final countdown game segment was there an even a close soundtrack that kind-of matched the action. There was nothing wrong with the compositions themselves, they just didn't work within the game action. The game needed both orchestral and choral arrangements combined with some heavy metal + orchestral segments in heated battles.

Graphics

What can I say? The environments are visually stunning on the Xbox 360. Just check out some of my screenshots at Flickr and Gamespot. But, it doesn't make up for the lack of gameplay.

Overall

Halo 3 was overhyped and basically used an old game engine that didn't deliver an up-to-date gaming experience. This game should and could have been so much more. If the programmers had focused on allowing the Master Chief to pick up new abilities, extended health, armor or shields that actually lasted (we're supposed to be in year 2325 or similar), this would have been a huge improvement over previous Halo games. But, this did not happen. Instead, the programmers chose to focus on game elements and Xbox live portions that really didn't improve the single player gaming experience and, frankly, Halo 3 ended up a clone of previous games (with a new storyline).

Score

• Gameplay - 7/10
• Story - 5/10
• Weapons - 8/10
• Vehicles - 10/10
• Replayability (single player) - 2/10
• Fun Factor: 6/10
• Overall: 7/10

--
Brian W.