Regarding Gears of War itself, there are only two observations I have- firstly the cooperative AI is too daft to play the game on insane difficulty solo, and secondly you can’t stop the Cole Train, baby.

Genre: Action adventure
Platforms: PC, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Developer: DICE (EA Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment)
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release date: “Late 2008″

Mirror’s Edge comes from the Swedish developers DICE, most famously known for the Battlefield series. It’s nice to see them producing something very different from their recent games and I’m sure it’s a refreshing change for the developers themselves! The game stars Faith, a runner delivering packages in some future dystopia fighting to save her sister.

The gameplay features true first person gaming, in the sense that as you run you can see your arms and legs flailing about- I did feel queasy the first time I saw the trailers - and seems to heavily feature parkour. Speed and momentum appear to be key, with weapons being a secondary, optional element to the game.

Seeing the acrobatic character, weapon-less gameplay and clean visuals I was reminded of an old Bungie game called Oni (yes they have on occasion made other games besides Halo), as well as the character YT - or Yours Truly - a young Kourier in the seminal Cyberpunk novel Snow Crash.

If you haven’t seen the game in action before the first video below features the game’s first trailer which has been floating around for a while now. Following this is the second trailer that was released recently and puts to rest my concern that the entire game world was going to be very white and very bland. Finally the last trailer features footage of the EA conference where the game was demo-ed. In this walkthough they mention that they are following ‘one of the possible routes’ in the game, however I am concerned that this may be a very linear game with limited replay value, but as always I reserve judgement until the game has actually been released. This is one game where you’ll want to watch the trailers below in high definition if you have the bandwidth for it.

I’ll be posting up my own impressions of games that have caught my attention, as well as links to demo videos and walkthoughs.  Penny Arcade - as ever - are on the ball neatly summing up the three main conferences if you don’t have the time to watch them all:

(Credit: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/7/16/)

A movie trailer for the often mentioned but rarely seen Max Payne movie has been released. I’m not sure if it was intentionally let out into the wild as the official site in the trailer bounces to a Fox website, and the link there bounces to a domain place-holder! Regardless although the trailer can be found on the obvious video sites on the ‘Net, NokkonWud has hosted a high def copy here: http://www.nokkonwud.com/?p=189.

Movies of games fill many people - including myself - with dread.  More often than not they are just simply awful.  Street Figther the Movie anyone?  Wing Commander?  For me Max Payne is a cherished IP.  The original game was released back in the ‘Matrix Era’ when slo-mo bullet time was a new concept and sucessfully melded fast-paced action with a strong (if predictable) plot.  I hold the sequel in high regard thanks to it’s storyline, pacing and action.

The movie appears to be based on the plot of the first game.  From the trailer you can see Wahlberg seems to have immersed himself in the role quite nicely and from the one split second shot, Ludacris doesn’t seem to be out of place. My main concern is that in going for a PG-13 certificate the film may be watered down to hit the rating.

I don’t want to say it, as I don’t want to be disappointed and I know I’ll be called on it in the future, but this movie might actually be… good!

I just killed my last Templar - quite stylishly I might add by countering his attack and sticking my hidden blade through his neck - netting me 40 gamerpoints bringing me to the full 1000.

I got Assassin’s Creed back when it was released in November 2007 and looking at my achievement history I completed the whole game in 5 days, 165 points short of the full 1000.  Assassin’s Creed is an entirely single player affair so what were these missing points if they were not of the ‘kill 1000 people in ranked multiplayer’ ilk?  Collectables.

Collectables have been around for a long time, hidden items squirreled away in games rewarding the inquisitive gamer (or the gamer who bought the strategy guide) with extra ammo, a secret level or unlockable extras.  As mentioned in a previous post, Tomb Raider: Legend is my idea of well thought out unlockables (and achievements for that matter).  There are only a few artefacts to be found on each level and are often in plain sight but a challenge to get to.  Putting the effort into getting them rewarded the gamer with unlockable outfits, concept art, character bios and cheats.  Assassin’s Creed has no less than four hundred flags (touch to pick up collectables) to find and sixty Templars (footsoldiers of the game’s villains) to kill throughout the game’s world.

Finding at a guess 90% of these is not a challenge- there are so many of them you run into them when simply bounding from rooftop to rooftop when evading the city guards.  The problem comes when you have found most of the flags and Templars in a city but are missing one here or there.  It is not a challenge to reach those scattered about the rooftops and streets - Assassin’s Creed’s much lauded parkour-esqe gameplay makes this easy - but instead it is finding those hidden in a shadowy corner where you would never venture, or in winding alleyways that you are often flying over rather than travelling through.  Yes in games of old I would be saying that I was being rewarded for diverging from the path to the level exit and exploring that side corridor- but in such ‘living world’ games exploring every street would take an inordinate amount of time and wouldn’t be very entertaining.  It is an exercise in endurance in the face of boredom, not a smart addition to the core gameplay.  In fact after going through the entire game world again trying to find the half dozen remaining flags and Templars (online guide in hand, check out the very useful assassinscreed-maps.com) I had to admit defeat and accept that I had missed them somewhere, forcing me to restart the game again from the beginning so that I could grab each flag and Templar methodically.  I can only surmise that the flags were an artificial attempt at extending playtime beyond the core game, an incentive to buy the strategy guide or an afterthought.  Though it is wrong to assume that everything you do in a game should be directly rewarded there is absolutely no benefit (save gamerpoints- I would not have bothered if I was a PS3 gamer) for collecting the flags or killing the Templars.

In my opinion any sequel should feature far fewer flags, all of them easy to spot but placed on the top of the tallest and hardest to climb structures, rewarding the player in some fashion for collecting them.  They would also be flagged on the map once picked up so that the gamer isn’t forced to retrace their steps later in the game to work out which flags they are missing.  That way the gamer would face a challenge in getting to the flags but then be rewarded with both unlockables and a sense of satisfaction.

Despite some negative backlash from gamers shortly after the glowing praise from professional reviewers on release, Assassin’s Creed is a good game and worthy of a play.  Graphically it is simply beautiful: from the first time you ride in to Jerusalem on horseback to when you climb the tallest church in the game and survey your surroundings, it is quite a masterpiece to look at.  In terms of technical merit the vast, detailed cities that make up the majority of the game are impressive, as are the visceral, action-packed sword fights and the ability to climb just about any surface in the game accurately (the protagonist reaches for handholds rather than simply moving across a wall texture).  There is an argument to be had that in creating such a beautiful, technically brilliant game they forgot to put in the gameplay- it is quite repetitive and simple to play.  On balance though, it is worth playing both as a piece of entertainment and as a milestone in games development, just don’t expect to be picking it up again for another play after the end credits roll.

When do my Microsoft Points expire?
Purchased points don’t expire. Any points you get through promotions can have expiration dates. Typically, points expire within thirty days of the date you get them. To view any points in your account that have expiration dates, go to the Billing and Account Management page, sign in with your Windows Live ID, and then click Microsoft Points under Stored Credits. If you have points that are expiring in the next thirty days, you can click View expiring points to view the points and their expiration dates.

The good news at least, is that promotional points are used up first if they are about to expire:

How do I use my expiring Microsoft Points first?
Promotional points with expiration dates are automatically redeemed first before purchased points.

Microsoft’s billing site can be found at https://billing.microsoft.com if you want to check out if and when your points expire.

Thanks goes out to Zico on the OcUK forums for making me aware of this.

A catalogue from Forbidden Planet dropped through the door the other day and amongst the myriad of Star Wars memorabilia, Doctor Who tchochkes and slightly disturbing animé statuettes were the new Gears of War action figures designed by Neca. They stood out from the rest of the catalogue through sheer detail alone and ignoring the part of my brain that asks why I need such things I bought two.

One thing that concerns me when buying figures like these is that the product shots you see are often of high detail reference models and what you end up with is of a much reduced quality. For this reason what follows is a series of photos and my opinions on these models.

When viewing these pictures, click on them for a much large view and compare them with the official photos on the Neca website: http://www.necaonline.com/features/gears1/

My fascination with Gears of War stems from the fact that it was the first ‘triple A’ game I played on the Xbox 360 and ended up sucking up a lot of my time. Though the hyper-macho Gears themselves with their enormous boots, biceps and necks are staples of Epic games and not exactly original (see just about any Unreal Tournament game from the last ten years), I thought they would make good figures to sit on my shelf. For that reason I ended up getting Marcus Fenix - the protagonist of the game - and a Locust Drone:

I ended up buying the figures from Play.com as they were a shade cheaper at £9.99 each, my first thought would be that they were not packed very well. The figures are stored in cheap plastic ‘blister-pack’ boxes. This has two problems: firstly as Play only sent them in a jiffy bag the boxes had taken quite a beating on the way to me and secondly you will need to get out some sharp scissors and a box of plasters, the former to break into the packaging and the later to put on the wounds you’ll get from cutting into the plastic. This of course means that unless you are careful you can pretty much forget keeping the packaging.

Packaging aside the figures are impressive to see first-hand. They are quite hefty for their size- a side effect of the characters’ armour. They stand up freely without needing to be propped up (they come with no bases or dioramas). This fundamental design of the characters means that the models have an annoying limitation- although the figures boast several points of articulation they are severely limited in movement. The static pose you see in these photos is pretty much what you have to work with.

Marcus comes with a Lancer assault rifle (famous for the chainsaw bayonet) and a snub pistol. He has no holster for the latter weapon though you may spot in one photo I blu-tacked it to his leg. The rifle is a slight disappointment in relation to the rest of the package, mine was quite bent out of the box as it is flimsy and the blood you see in the official photos could easily be mistaken for rust in mine. Also Marcus’ hands are too big for the gun which means it balances in his hands rather than it being held in place. Still, we are talking about a gun with a chainsaw on the end of it, so it all balances out! The paintwork and detail on the figure is impressive, the armour does look distressed and used (as you would imagine it would) compared to the slightly more polished look in the official photos.

The Locust Drone comes with a Hammerburst rifle and a revolver. This figure does have a holster for the revolver. Again the level of detail on the figure is high, the head in particular is fantastic. Neca have perfectly captured the hideous Locust in this figure, it is an imposing figure on the shelf.

I am personally quite pleased with these figures. I was surprised to get such good quality figures that almost mirror the official pictures for only ten pounds each. I would recommend them for fans of the game who would appreciate the detail and complexity of the figures and want something interesting and different on their shelves.

Many thanks go out to my brother for the loan of his camera and a crash course in taking non-shaky-cam pictures. I have a lot to learn about photography and may put up more pictures when skills allow!

Although I never got round to the long planned series of posts on Eye of the North, I did take plenty of screenshots. I have included the best of the bunch below.

I recently put together a HTPC (Home Theatre PC) and Scan came out the cheapest for most of the parts as well as stocking a few hard to find bits and bobs. Annoyingly they were very quick to take my money and then waited a full 24 hours before delivering the parts making them arrive a day late. Apparently this was due to unanticipated demand. Thing is, when I gave them the benefit of the doubt and ordered some more bits a week or two later, exactly the same thing happened, with exactly the same excuse- quick as a flash they take the money, then sit on it. Add to that they sent me the wrong processor (I ordered an E2220 and received an E2200).

So that’s one retailer I’ll be avoiding in future.

Rant over.

Books of note

Half Life 2: Raising the Bar

The daddy of all art books. This is a fascinating look into the art behind Half Life 2, including concept art, rendering and discussions about the process from start to finish. This includes interesting sidebars on creating characters that can express emotion, bits they had to cut (interestingly some of it has reappeared in HL2: Episodes 2 and 3) and the propaganda of the Combine.

It is a hardback (the picture under the paper sleeve is the same as the cover minus the text), hefty tome at 288 pages and sadly as far as I can find, almost no longer in print. Amazon has second hand listings for it ranging in the hundreds of pounds and eBay is not much better. It does look like it’s in stock on the Prima Games website, though I have no experience with ordering from them.

Useful links: Wikipedia page, Prima Games page, Valve Store page (including PDF sample pages).

The Art of Mass Effect

This is another hard cover book, this time without any paper sleeve. At 175 pages it contains a lot less information that would fall into the ‘interesting tid-bits and insights’ category but has plenty of concept art. This is definitely ‘just’ an art book: there are no renders or wireframes and the book lacks a ‘making of’ structure, instead it is split up into the different components of the game: Heroes and Villains, Life-Forms, Transport, A Galaxy of Details and Alien Worlds. Don’t let this read as negative, I especially enjoyed the art work on the races, which capture the ‘mood’ of each race, the beautiful and smart Asari, the intellectual Salarians and the stern Turians. This is definitely one book where you would just flick through the pictures, rather than sit down and read.

The book is available in most of the major book/gaming establishments for around £15. I bought mine from Game for about £18 when I spotted it in the shops bundled with the walk-through (it’s still advertised as part of that bundle if you are looking for it), as I was waiting on Amazon who had a seven week lead time on getting a copy at the time.

Useful links: Prima Games page.

Assassin’s Creed Limited Edition Art Book

This art book is similar in structure to Raising the Bar, in that it covers everything from pre-production through to release, including concept art, renders and interviews with the art and development teams. Assassin’s Creed is a beautiful game and this is reflected in the art work. The commentary provides an interesting insight into the process of ‘theming’ the game, including the balance between creating something realistic and something that is fun to watch and play. If you ever loaded up Assassin’s Creed and stopped to go ‘wow’ when riding into a city on horseback, this book is for you. It is 157 pages long, hardback with a paper sleeve. The blue ‘genetic’ cover is the paper sleeve, the white assassin’s knife cover is the hardback cover.

A couple of points to note. A new art book seems to have recently surfaced which is of a different size to the one I describe. It is also £40. I have no idea if this is the same as the one I have, but the one I have can be picked up from the high street for less than half that price including the strategy guide, so avoid the expensive one until someone works out what is in it. Also, the blurb for the one I bought mentions a ‘high quality lithograph’- I have yet to find this!

Useful links: Prima Games page.

Gears of War: Destroyed Beauty

Destroyed Beauty is a short art book that was bundled with the collectors edition of Gears of War. It contains a lot of stunning concept art and a few renders along with a foreword describing the artistic goals of the game. While apparently not available outside of the collector’s edition of the game, a smaller version of the book with different pages was released to the press before the game was released and can be found in the link below. Higher resolution artwork can be found in the section below describing CGsociety.org.

Useful links: ‘Pre-release’ version of Destroyed Beauty.

The Art of Guild Wars

The collector’s edition of each of the three main games that make up Guild Wars came bundled with an art book. These are definitely ‘flick through’ books with limited text but plenty of pictures. There are some interesting bits of information you can pick out of the art, for example the original ‘asian-oriental’ style they went for and then ditched for Guild Wars Propechies, which became the art style of Guild Wars Factions.

Again sadly this is not available separately outside of extortionate eBay auctions, however there is a huge amount of artwork released by the artists on ConceptArt.org and a few pieces on the Guild Wars website.

Useful links: Art on the official site, art on ConceptArt.org (warning, massive images).

Edge Presents The Art of Videogames

I’ve added this to the list to point out one book to avoid. This ‘collector edition’ is a paperback special edition of Edge magazine and is 258 pages long. Don’t be fooled though, there is next to no blurb or commentary with the pictures and at a guess 95% of the pictures themselves are those you could find by putting ‘(game name) art’ in Google Images. A hastily put together book with few interesting pictures which luckily is now out of print. Resist the urge to splurge silly amounts of money on it when the odd copy pops up for sale.

Useful links: Edge page.

Websites of note

Bioshock: Breaking the Mold

This art book is available free in PDF form on the Bioshock website. According to the website blurb it was released by the Bioshock team as they couldn’t get it into the collector’s edition of the game- to an extent this shows. The book has an interesting foreword (or so I am told, I have yet to complete Bioshock so I haven’t read it) and a short blurb before the start of each chapter, but is on the whole a ‘copy-paste’ dump of artwork. Still, free is free and it’s worth a quick look.

It is available in two flavours, high-res and low-res and is 78 pages long. Note on my ageing Pentium 4 system it does take a noticeable amount of time to render each page (perhaps a second or two) on the high-res version.

Useful links: Cult of Rapture page containing the PDFs.

Mass Effect Art Book
This brief (17 pages) art booklet is available in PDF format to those who own Mass Effect. It is very, very similar to the art book that was bundled with the Mass Effect collector’s edition (same cover, size and style but different pictures) and simply contains a set of concept art, with no blurb or text to speak of. Again, free is free so go for it, if you own the game of course. One thing I have found with this one is that though a lot of the art work overlaps, or has been trimmed at the corners, the pages still have their layers intact so that if you want to use one of them as a wallpaper or for something similar, you can simply copy-paste the images.

Useful links: Bioware page (registration required).

FLAREgamer: The Art of Assassin’s Creed

This web page describes a launch party art book that was given out to attendees and includes several pieces of artwork from the book. While every piece there is in the art book you can buy (see above) what makes this page worthy of inclusion is that the pictures posted there are huge enough to be used as wallpapers or even perhaps for printing.

Useful links: FLAREgamer web page.

CGsociety.org

Some notable videogame artists have portfolios here including Raphael Lacoste (Assassin’s Creed) and John Wallin Liberto (Gears of War). The site itself is also a wealth of beautiful artwork, whether related to games themselves or not.

Useful links: CGsociety.org homepage.

ConceptArt.org

ConceptArt.org has a number of fantastic images from artists who have worked on some beautiful games. You should be able to spot a lot of these familiar images from the top bar of the website. These include Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights (I love Bioware’s artwork for their D&D games), Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines and Metroid. The forum also contains a wealth of pictures for your browsing pleasure.

Useful links: ConceptArt.org homepage.

Any I’ve missed?
I’ll update the post with anything else as I find it, but let me know in the comments if you have anything interesting to share.