The Count | Best Of 2008

Braid (XBLA)

Braid is incredible. It was, in my opinion, the best game of 2008, and one of two (maybe 3) "perfect 10s" I've ever played. From its ingenious time-manipulating gameplay to its emotionally powered story to its beautiful audio and visuals, I have trouble finding any way to fault this masterpiece. While most puzzle games wear out their welcome in a matter of days (or less), Braid's puzzle/platform action is still one of my go-to titles on a rainy day (or any day, for that matter), because it is so much more than your everyday gaming experience.

Penumbra: Black Plague (PC)

Penumbra is probably not something you'd expect to find on this sort of list, as it is a relatively obscure PC title from a tiny Swedish development studio, and was released very early in the year. Nevertheless, this combat-less first-person horror adventure did so many things so well that it is impossible to ignore. The Lovecraftian atmosphere delivered a genuinely frightful experience (something rare in gaming), the physics-based puzzles were clever and engaging, and the story and characters had depth and meaning uncommon to the medium at large. Black Plague was simply excellent.

Fallout 3 (PC)

Bethesda's done it again. If Fallout 3 was just "Oblivion with guns," that'd be enough, but it's much more than that. The game refines the mechanics of its predecessor while adding the entirely new aspects of gameplay necessary to do justice to the cherished Fallout license. It may have cut back on the lore of Oblivion, but for everything taken out, something equally as impressive was added.

Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)

Oh Kojima. Although he could be called the Jackson Pollak of videogame designers, the end result of his throw-everything-at-'em approach to storytelling is truly epic. There has never been a game that could rival MGS4's meticulously directed cinematography, and the heavy themes found therein are also somewhat unprecedented. As a game (because it's true that much of it plays like a semi-interactive film), MGS4 mixes it up with a variety of gameplay, and always keeps things interesting. By the time this game is over, players feel like they've just taken part in something monumentally historic, and in a way, they have.

Mirror's Edge (360, PS3)

I'll admit that I am both a bit of a neophile and a whore for climbing and acrobatics, so when a game like Mirror's Edge comes out, it seems tailor-made for someone like me. This parkour-based first-person platformer doesn't dial down the excitement, because even during the moments Faith isn't being chased by squads of riot-ready guards, the free-flowing gameplay builds a sense of motion and momentum that keeps your hands glued to the controller and your eyes fixated on the action. The minimalist Orwellian plot set an intriguing stage for the action, as well, even if the main story arc wasn't exactly the most compelling narrative. In any case, this one was tough to put down.

LittleBigPlanet (PS3)

I named it "Best of E3 2008," and LittleBigPlanet remains one of the best games of the entire year. There is limitless fun to be had with this game, be it via offline solo play, online co-op, level-building, or even simply customizing and re-customizing your Sackboy as you scour each level for new items, stickers, and decorations. The best part, though, is the fact that the game never ends, as members of the community are constantly conjuring up new content that is arguably better than the core game itself. LittleBigPlanet is the closest thing to a virtual toy that I've seen in the videogame world, and never fails to put a smile on my face.

Honorable mentions: Too Human, Persona 4, God of War: Chains of Olympus, Left 4 Dead

Taking Risks: The Expansion Of An Artform

As the videogame industry marches eternally into the realm of increasingly sophisticated technology, creating videogames that push the envelope and take full advantage of the resources available to developers becomes ever more costly -- a fact of life that developers and publishers never hesitate to point out.

Claims that a game needs to sell at least X-hundred-thousand copies in order to simply break even are common, and complaints about unoriginal game content are often rebutted with evidence that consumers more often than not tend to play it safe and go with what they are familiar with when it comes time to cash out at the register. Whether the average game consumer is indeed the same man, woman, boy, or girl whose passion for the pursuit of gaming excellence drives them to complain about these seeing-eye sequels and copycat productions is up for debate, but in any case, the dissonance between critical and fiscal demand is quite evident. But that is for another discussion.

In 2008, we have seen a great many rehashes of old titles -- the numbers 2, 3, 4, and beyond adorned many retail packages this year -- but we have also seen games that represent great leaps of faith on the part of developers and publishers. I personally praised games like Penumbra: Black Plague, Patapon, Braid, Too Human, and Mirror's Edge for challenging traditional gaming archetypes and delivering truly innovative gameplay experiences, and sincerely hope that the positive response to these games far outweigh the negative, encouraging their creators to continue exploring ways to expand the definition of videogames. They may not please every gamer, but these games are essential to the industry's growth.

Ubisoft's Prince of Persia producer Ben Mattes seems to agree, and even cited Mirror's Edge as a big risk-taker in 2008. In a recent interview, he expressed his disappointment at the lack of recognition his studio received for the "high level risks" involved in the acrobatic platformer's development.

"In terms of us taking a shot and missing, I guess I would have to go a little higher level here and speak about risks in general.

For years we've all been reading complaints about sequels and companies churning out carbon copies of proven formulas without focusing on innovation or taking risks. Fans, developers and critics alike seemed ravenous for new ideas -- new IPs; major innovations -- advances in this art-tertainment (I'm trying to coin a new term here ;)) form we all love.

We tried to really embrace this challenge on PoP. We set out to keep a few core fundamentals but to re-imagine everything else, discarding some very well entrenched ideas not only about the brand but also about videogames in general (and we weren't alone. EA took some major risks this year with new IP and innovations - Mirror's Edge and Dead Space, for example).

What surprises me is how little these high level risks seem to be noticed and appreciated as attempts to shake up the industry and push things forward. Perhaps I'm an idealist, but I think perhaps I was expecting a few more virtual pats-on-the-back for our attempts to do something new.

Whether this means we didn't totally succeed in our risk taking or whether our industry in fact has a stronger appetite for the familiar then it wants to admit remains to be seen. Honestly I hope it is the former."

Yes, studios should be recognized for their efforts to elevate the medium to new plateaus, but what exactly constitutes a thorough attempt to achieve this sort of groundbreaking development? What determines whether a specific design decision is merely a change from the established formula, or if it is indeed a "major risk" in the creative process? How do we define the term "risk" as it relates to videogame development?

Blurring the lines between genres, infusing topics typically reserved for purely academic discourse and analysis, introducing previously unimagined and untested gameplay mechanics, presenting a product whose meaning is entirely subject to audience interpretation; these are risks -- design elements that take gamers out of their comfort zone and reach into unexplored territory.

Did Prince of Persia ever really push the envelope in such a way? Eliminating consequences for gamers' mistakes was a bold move, but it never felt like a monumental change; the game did not represent a paradigm shift, and it certainly didn't fundamentally alter the way people think of videogames. I do applaud Ubisoft for their efforts with Prince of Persia, but Elika was not revolutionary.

If anything, she took the "risk" right out of the game. :-p

One Word Review | Too Human

This is One Word Review, a concept that I shamelessly lifted from my friend Creighton over at Nerdology (it's okay, he said I could). The idea behind OWR, as we like to call it, is that videogames are so often rated, reviewed, and discussed to exhaustion that it is sometimes a relief to read a succinct, definitive description of a game--a single word that sums up the most prominent characteristics of the gaming experience. That's the idea, so here goes:

Transcendesign

Too Human Scribblings

I recently played and reviewed Silicon Knights' long-in-development Too Human, and the review process ended up being one of the more laborious examinations in recent memory. A great deal of consideration went into my assessment of the title, and along with that came a fairly large text file of notes about the game.

A la Kyle Stallock (from whom I shamelessly stole this idea), I give you my pre-review scribblings about Too Human. Enjoy.

like a movie. some of the best direction and cinematography i've seen in a while.

the graphics are not amazing in a technical sense, but the cinematography, artistic direction, and environment design make up for that

miss the whole backstory unless you let the title screen play out. maybe a bad choice

camera shows you what the devs want. crafted experience. wonderful angles make this an epic experience. a static-yet-mobile camera similar to eternal darkness

controls are good. take some orientation. shooting is like smash tv or...uh...commando. also somewhat like eternal darkness

the game doesn't tutor the player much. help available if sought.

spend lots of time in inventory, changing weapons/armor as you get new. auto-salvage can prevent this to a degree

weapon sets give bonus bonuses

dying is a momentary lapse in the action. consequences=weapon degradation

a vast amount of equipment customization. charms, runes, colors, sets,

there is no way to heal oneself, aside from picking up random health drops (or playing as a bioengineer). class distinctions

catching bits of conversation as you explore helps explain the belief structure of the society and the political situation in too human

the game is divided up into missions that baldr embarks on as the story unfolds. each is introduced via a healthy dose of cinematic narrative and backstory. retrospective flash-back segments and explanations reveal...

past missions can be re-played outside of the main storyline of the campaign mode

5 classes, each with different strengths/weaknesses, skills, proficiencies, equipment, etc

some enemies must be dealt with in specific ways. i.e. explosive enemies must be attacked from afar to avoid getting caught in their explosive death throw. alternatively, a player can use a melee juggle to launch them into the air and have them explode far away. gun-resistant, etc

bosses are visually diverse, but some employ similar attack strategies

party is sorta useless, or at least invisible. you hear them more than you see them. always seem to show up at the path to the next area.

pacing is up and down. the game is abnormally death-inducing......for a no-defense berserker.

the excellent dual-world setup should be taken advantage of more. it tapers off

thor
baldr
loki
grendel
aesir
hod
odin
hel
nidhogg
ragnarok

niestzche - human, all too human...hunting monsters

God Is Dead, Reborn -- Too Human Review

There are occasions when it is difficult to immediately recognize a game's greatness without first allowing it to unfold and reveal its entire composition. Such games often deliver the most satisfying experience to players who opt to explore the content thoroughly and completely.

Silicon Knights' Too Human is that sort of game. This is a piece of software that, like works of literature or film, takes time to develop into something truly praiseworthy. The simply enjoyable combat mechanics evolve into a complex system of character specification; inventory management and equipment customization shift from secondary pursuits into a unified, comprehensive craft; the storyline grows ever more captivating as the game progresses.

Too Human treads the uncommon path of incorporating Norse mythology and 19th-century philosophy into a tale about a technologically advanced civilization of mortal humans and a cybernetically enhanced society of "gods" called the Aesir. The collective group finds itself locked in bitter warfare with an encroaching machine race, and the Aesir are tasked with protecting the population from being harvested by these bloodthirsty sentients.

Serving as the first act in a planned trilogy, Too Human's climax is more the delivery of an intriguing plot point concerning the protagonist (Baldur) than an actual peak in the story's action, and resolution is non-existent; the game ends in a sequel-setting cliffhanger. Despite these shortcomings, however, Too Human is a highly captivating beginning to an epic and meaningful tale about the ills of transhumanism. Wonderfully directed cut scenes and carefully interwoven flashback sequences tie together the action of the core gameplay very well.

Too Human's graphical presentation is not jaw-dropping in a technical sense, but the cinematography, artistic direction, and environment design work together to present players with awe-inspiring scenes, conveying a sense of magnitude that ties directly into the game's plot. The camera is carefully positioned nearly every step of the way, showing players a world exactly as the developers wanted it to be seen. This is a crafted experience, and the static-yet-mobile camera (much like that of Eternal Darkness) provides the angles necessary to make it so. The drawback to this approach is that players have almost no control over their field of view, which occasionally makes combat and navigation more cumbersome than one might like.

For the most part, Too Human captures players in a flow of gameplay that keeps them engaged consistently throughout the experience. Combat is simple enough to carry out using the basic attack mechanics of the right analog stick--push the stick in the direction of the enemy you would like to attack--but also features enough complexities (battle cries, spider abilities, ruiner attacks) to keep players interested as their skills with the system improve. Even dying (the frequency of which depends on the player, class, skill tree specs, etc.) amounts to only a momentary lapse in the game's action and a degradation of equipped items (until repaired). This means that consequences of death are kept in the virtual world rather than being artificially applied to the player's interactive experience with the game.

This seamlessness doesn't go unbroken throughout the entire game, however. Players will gather a massive amount of loot during their quest, and may subsequently spend a great deal of time managing equipment in the inventory menu. New weapons, armor, rune augmentations, blueprints, etc. will all demand attention if the player's character is to grow, especially in the early-goings. Unwanted items must be salvaged to gain bounty (the game's currency), and manually checking equipment and selling it off can be a time-consuming affair. Luckily, there is an auto-salvage feature that automatically trades in items based on a tiered "rarity scale," ditching low-quality equipment without concerning the player. This significantly eases the burden of inventory management, even though it is to a certain degree inescapable.

Too Human is an incredibly customizable experience. In addition to the full sets of armor, various weapon types, equipment tweaks, runes, charms, etc., the game's five distinct classes each demand a different approach to gameplay. The Berserker, Defender, Champion, Commando, and Bioengineer each have heavily weighted strengths and weaknesses, unique skills, proficiencies, and equipment. Each one also has a three-path class skill tree and a two-path alignment skill tree, which players must allocate points to as they gain levels. The opposing paths on each tree are mutually exclusive, meaning that committing to one path will forfeit the abilities found in the other(s). This also means that there are essentially 30 different types of characters (builds) to be played in Too Human, with more alleged to arrive later as downloadable content. The game's story remains the same regardless of character choice.

In the online two-player cooperative mode, class and build characteristics play an important role for party synergy as players travel through the campaign levels (no cut scenes or story integration), rack up experience points, and collect loot. Partnering characters that compliment one another allows players to successfully vanquish foes together. For example, the offensive prowess of a Berserker combined with the restorative abilities of a Bioengineer would make for a deadly team. Characters from the game's single player campaign can be used online, and vice-versa, with all equipment and experience carrying over from one mode to the other. Players can revisit all areas in the single-player game, as well.

Too Human is not for everyone; its gameplay style and/or narrative themes may turn some gamers away before they can even jump into Asgard. The game is, however, a triumph in everything it aims to do. It tells [the beginnings of] an intriguing story through breathtaking cinematography and narrative, introduces a unique and effective combat system, and allows players to personalize their gameplay experience with an extensive amount of customization options. This is an excellent videogame.