Control Freak: Customizable, Please

When you begin a new PC game, what is the first thing that you do? If your name is Eddie Inzauto, you immediately hit the options screen and configure your keyboard and mouse. You change the default "WASD" over to "ESDF" to allow your pinky finger access to more commands; you make sure jumping and crouching oppose each other - one on keyboard, one on mouse; you basically set thing up so that they are comfortable for YOUR style of play.

A major flaw in the design of console games has persisted for ages, and for the most part has been completely overlooked, as if it was not a flaw at all. If a gamer picks up a copy of Timesplitters 2 and goes through the usual motions of controller configuration, he will realize that the issue is actually glaring, but us gamers mostly wear darkly tinted glasses to shield us from it.

You see, Timesplitters 2 offered something that few console games rarely do - fully customizable controls. Every available command in the game was mappable to whichever button the player saw fit to map it. It was just like a normal PC game. Want to shoot with the Y button? Go right ahead.

Nowadays, the general rule is that developers make the games, and gamers play them how the developers want them to. Maybe a choice of inverted or non-inverted analog sticks is thrown in, but that is often the limit. In some games, like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, for example, players aren't even given THAT much. If someone simply can't stand inverted aim, it's tough titty for them.

The genre that stands out to me most is the console FPS. Personally, I have had slight issues ever since the N64 days - one issue, to be precise. The N64 controller placed a trigger in the left hand of gamers, and told them to shoot with it. Goldeneye 007 grew in popularity until it reached legendary status - all while forcing predominantly right-handed players to shoot with their left hand. This was all well and good, because who even HAD triggers before then...who had console FPS games before then?! Somehow, though, I'm sure somebody somewhere was complaining the entire time.

After the N64, things changed. Most likely to appeal to the masses of right-handed players out there, FPS were programmed to use the R buttons to fire. Therein lies my personal example of a control scheme that is incongruous to gamer preference. To aim with a dual-analog setup, players need to make heavy use of the right thumbstick. Shooting with the right index finger at the same time detracts (even if only slightly) from the precision of one's aim. Why not let gamers choose the trigger they prefer? I would choose the left - a luxury provided by only a few games (Gears of War, included...luckily).

The issue of non-customizable controls is one that probably plagues more games than most gamers will ever know, simply because oftentimes the default controls fall right in line with gamers' personal preferences - the devs do TRY to implement the most accepted layout, of course. This largely invisible problem only manifests itself in the case of the offended player, to which a game can become nigh unplayable as a result of a simple control tweak that may be absent. Telling them to simply "suck it up and deal" is easy, but that doesn't solve any problems - nor does it make games better.

My proposal is a shift toward GREATER...uh...control...over a game's control setup - not less. It can't be too difficult, because PC games have done it forever, nearly universally. This change is a simple way to appeal to more gamers, making them happier to play, and making the gaming world that much of a better place.

PS - To all you videogame companies, be advised that this option will presumably get your games higher composite scores on sites such as GameRankings and MetaCritic, too. There is bound to be a reviewer out there who hates your control scheme -then bashes your game. Imagine if he got to play it how he wanted...pad that score, add control customization.

Tell Me A Story: Storytelling In Bioshock

Tell me a story... but don't tell me you're telling it.

Videogames, more often than not, tell us stories. These range from the simplistic "rescue the princess" sort of narrative to much more convoluted plots, chock-full of twists and surprises. Not every game strives to tell an epic tale, and some obviously do a better job than others at keeping gamers interested.

Almost as important as what a story entails, though, is how exactly the game goes about presenting it. Is it really enough to have an incredibly storyline if the mechanism by which it is delivered to the player is inherently flawed or unexciting? Would you want to play a game where the main character sits and listens as his local librarian reads a novel out loud? I wouldn't.

Participation is key. Sitting idly by as the storyline is narrated is usually not as fun as providing direct input to the game, and then being rewarded with plot progression and new information. When a player is positioned as an integral part of the story rather than as an outside observer, the game naturally becomes more engrossing.

This week, I've been playing the STELLAR Xbox 360 game, Bioshock. I'm enjoying it immensely, even though my playing sessions are more spaced out than I'd like them to be. As far as I can tell, Brendon's 9.5 review score is spot-on, but I digress.

Although Bioshock doesn't feature a truly player-driven narrative, it does many things right with regards to the art of storytelling.

First of all, there are almost no cutscenes. That's not to say that cutscenes are bad things, because they aren't. Cutscenes are a valuable method for presenting powerful and/or elaborate story sequences exactly as the director intended for them to transpire. The goal of a game that leaves these pre-scripted, pre-rendered portions out, then, is to take creative control from the design team's hands and put it in those of the gamers.

Bioshock finds itself somewhere in-between a game that uses cutscenes to advance the plot and a completely emergent game design. Although the player's control isn't revoked in order to "better" display the protagonist's adventure, there are still a handful of scripted events that occur in the surrounding environment. These are all pre-determined, but unlike a cutscene, the reaction to each event is completely up in the air, and up to the player.

Since there is no traditional narrative in Bioshock, the backstory must be disclosed via other means. The way that players explore the game world to discover its history acts as a powerful tool for immersing them in the experience. Rather than explicitly explaining what has happened, who did what, etc., the story is pieced together slowly from the bits of information scattered throughout the city of Rapture.

This information comes in the form of random signage found posted on walls, short audio and video clips, and of course the aftermath of all manner of structural and biological destruction. Everything players see in the underwater city augments the story formulated within their own minds. The imagination is a magnificent thing when prodded in the right direction.

Finally, the non-player characters encountered throughout the game act as the very fabric that coheres entire story together. It is through their monologues, dialogues, behaviors, and especially their forsaken diaries that the player ultimately comes to understand the city of Rapture, its culture, its politics, and its tainted history.

The entire process of discovery is just downright awesome, and I feel that more games should take this approach to storytelling.

Like I said, tell me a story...but don't tell me you're telling it.

Why I Love Towns

I've been playing video games for a long time. I've played all sorts of games, from Super Mario Bros to Bejeweled to next week's mega-release, Bioshock. I even rocked a little bit of the mildly creepy Astro Grover for the NES (what is it about that game that always bugged me out as a child?). I've been around the proverbial block, as games go, and I guess one could say that I know the ins and outs of most of the genres out there. By now, I've even managed to formulate a pretty solid set of understandings and opinions about each one.

One type of game, however, has vexed me throughout the years. I've hated it, loved it, been indifferent to it, etc., and this cycle will probably continue for at least another decade. The genre in question? Role-playing games.

When I first picked up Dragon Warrior for the NES, I was but a wee tyke, and being as such (that's a stupid little kid, for clarification), I couldn't quite grasp what could possibly be good about such a slow, uneventful, and tedious game. I promptly asked my father to exchange it for the much more agreeable Ninja Gaiden II. Up through the SNES era, I was re-acquainted with the genre, via games like Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, and my beloved 7th Saga. By the PS2 era, I was definitely into RPGs. In recent years, I kinda sit on the fence, waiting for one to catch my eye.

Now I can guess what you're thinking. How the hell does "Why I love towns" pertain to any of this? Well, I've been playing some RPGs lately (Brave Story is in my PSP right now, its soundtrack crashing a cymbal at me from across the room every...let me count...ten seconds), and what I realized is that, well, I love towns.

A while back, I wrote an article on random battles, and how they f*cking suck. That's basically one part of what I'm getting at now. There's a certain sense of tranquility when you enter a town in a traditional JRPG. It's as if a great burden has been lifted, and you can breathe easier. Gone is the worry that you will face yet another in a series of arbitrarily encountered generic foes and gone is the annoyance of that worry becoming a reality. Everything becomes pleasant, cozy, and predictable.

Maybe what I like most about RPG towns is the freedom to explore, even though I am bound by the city limits. Most of the town's inhabitants feel perfectly safe leaving their doors open, which means that their houses are never off limits to my exploration, and of course, my treasure-hunting. It's great to steal sh*t out of someone's home, oftentimes right in front of their face, and then proceed to have just the most friendly conversation you can muster. As a matter of fact, I love talking to NPCs.

Did you ever notice that you have to talk to people no more than twice in order to hear everything they'll ever have to say? Well, that's great, because who really wants to talk to everyone in town, anyway? I've got a world to save, I don't really have time for that crap. It's just the completionist (and curious little kid) in me that compels me to chat them up in the first place. Unless they are going to give me something, advance the game state, or reveal an interesting plot point, I really don't give a rat's ass about them.

Lastly...the shops. Who DOESN'T like being able to sell anything that they no longer need, even if it only nets them a quarter of the market value? The town is the main place that I buy and sell items, eat, sleep, and equip myself with deadly toys, allowing me at least some pleasure in dealing with Bandit 1 and 2, or Mr. Slime and all his friends and family. It's the town, and everything therein that takes the edge off of those anxiety-ridden treks between happy places.

Disclaimer: No, I don't hate RPGs. And no, I am not completely jaded to the overworld map and it's encounters. There are just better ways to construct an enjoyable videogame experience, and I'm sure I'll be telling you about at least one way to do so after playing Bioshock next week.

Terror From The Deep -- Bioshock Preview

Talk about terror from the deep, Bioshock is just that. Or maybe it's simply a gift from the gaming gods. 2K Boston (formerly Irrational) has been hard at work on this spiritual successor to the System Shock series for quite some time now, and from what I have seen it is WELL worth it.

As of yesterday, eager Xbox 360 owners have the opportunity to play a demo version of the game before it releases on the 21st. Being an eager Xbox 360 owner, I have played through the demo twice now, and it has skewed my personal most anticipated games list heavily in Bioshock's favor.

The game is set in an underwater city called Rapture. This city is a post-WWII metropolis, reminiscent of New York City in the years following the war. Established by a man who seems to be a transhumanist social architect, the goal of the city was to escape the backwards thought processes and inhibiting parasitic ideals that plagued the land above.

It has since fallen to ruin, lasting a mere 14 years. As you explore the forsaken, foreboding environment, one can almost envision what the lavish city was like prior to its collapse. The vestige of the urban culture reveal the former bustle and prosperity of the art deco -emblazoned Rapture, before it's apparent fall into disarray and dystopia.

To summarize, it feels awesome to place yourself inside of this world - especially since it is a graphical marvel. Bioshock is visually stunning, with crisp graphics running at a smooth frame rate. Lighting and water effects are especially nice, and the game makes use of physics technology to give the world substance. The era-appropriate music, excellent sound effects, and solid voice acting complete the experience.

The game opens up with an unexplained plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean. After swimming to a strange, monolithic island structure and taking a submarine elevator deep below the surface, the completely unequipped protagonist is met with the aforementioned Rapture, and its genetically mutated inhabitants.

Bioshock, as developer 2K Boston has said in the past, is a shooter first, and an adventure second. While it doesn't quite approach the level of gameplay depth that can be found in the System Shock games, it is most certainly a step up from the average FPS. Like The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, players are able to search various parts of the environment, such as bodies and trash cans, for helpful goodies. These range from money to various food items to hypodermic needles filled with superpower-bestowing chemicals.

As for combat, many options are in place to make the action more free-form than standard point-and-shoot procedure. Players can make use of their environment and special powers to defeat enemies in many creative ways. For example, delivering a charge to a pool of water will fry any hapless enemy wading in it, and bottles of alcohol make great molotov cocktails. These, plus plenty of regular weaponry such as the demo's wrench, .45 magnum, and machine gun will all be at your disposal.

Bioshock is sure to be very action-packed, easily eclipsing the fervor found in the System Shock games, but will still refrain from drifting into the realm of mindless gun-blazing. Certain portions of the game promise to exercise the old noggin, such as the miniature puzzle game that players must conquer in order to hack computer systems.

All in all, Bioshock looks extremely promising, and I can't wait to get my hands on the final version. This is one that you, dear readers, will not want to miss.

Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner -- Soul Nomad & The World Eaters Preview

Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) has made a habit of releasing unique and interesting titles for the Playstation 2, scoffing at the label of "last-gen." Their specialty? The strategy RPG. From the Disgaea series to VanillaWare's stellar GrimGrimoire, and now the in-house project Soul Nomad & the World Eaters, NIS is certainly on a role. Their latest game is scheduled for release on September 25th in the US, but is already catching the attention of RPG strategists.

The game begins by recounting the tale of the ancient Lord Median the Conqueror, who toiled to bring peace to the land of Prodesta, but died shortly thereafter. From there, things went awry, as three giant beasts - the World Eaters - and one badass mutha controlling them appeared to ravage the land, and make it a not-so-fun place to live. Warrior Queen Layna then rose against these figures, only to find them so strong that she had to sacrifice herself in order to banish them.

The game picks up about 200 years later, and the World Eaters are back, roaming the land. The star of the show is the strong-but-silent Revya, who is accompanied by his friend Danette. The two are to be appointed to the town guard that day by... Lady Layna?! Paying no attention to her apparent self-resurrection abilities, the duo receive from her a few weapons to aid them as guardians, and one of them happens to be the very chamber in which the aforementioned evil force has been imprisoned for the last 200 years.

Gig, as he is called, is a foul-mouthed menace, who constantly tries to tempt players into giving up some of their soul in exchange for his AWESOME power. When I say awesome here, I mean it. We're talking 1000's of level-ups at once, insane damage, etc. The price? He eats your soul and the game ends. Okay, that doesn't happen every time. It's a really interesting design, though, and these endings never come as a surprise to the player. The choices leading to each are clearly labeled with the "you're going to die" symbol, giving fair warning and a chance to save your progress. What's great about this setup is that Soul Nomad ends up having a ton of endings, and the completist gamer can see them all with little frustration.

What you'll find in between all the R-rated dialogue and game-ending power trips is a rather involved strategy experience. Battles play out on a gridded landscape, with two-dimensional (and somewhat primitive-looking) sprites representing the units. What's differs from other games of this type is the scale of the battle. Like a tabletop war game, each sprite represents 4-8 individuals, who all attack together in a side-view battle sequence. Gig has the ability to create "rooms" for these warriors, which essentially groups them into combat units for use on the battlefield. Additionally, each room offers multiple formation choices, and includes special "decor" to aid in battle, such as percentage bonuses to certain attributes.

The party itself is formed by purchasing or partnering with various "manikins," who are then summoned to the battlefield to fight alongside Revya in independent squads. Each group has a stamina meter, which dictates the actions that they can perform throughout the battle. Depleted stamina is not what a player wants to see, as it can be detrimental to achieving victory. Also, each squad has a leader, and if he or she dies, the entire unit breaks. The whole battle dynamic really feels like a complete system, and is fulfilling to master.

Soul Nomad & the World Eaters is still more than a month from release, but with 40 hours of gameplay, multiple endings, a deep and engaging battle system, and by far the coolest videogame title I've heard in years, already looks promising. Keep an eye out for it.