To be brutality honest...

Much of the past week has been devoted to revisiting a classic in the form of Doom. So what's the occasion? Well, thanks to a certain game reviewer, I have been made aware of a mod called Brutal Doom. I've had a crack at it and have been significantly blown away by how dramatically Doom has been changed by this mod. Even more impressive is that it was the work of one guy.

But really I cannot emphasize how different Doom has become with this mod: Mouse aiming; Better weapons; the necessity of reloading; A jump function (A JUMP FUNCTION!!!); Marine NPCs; Finishing moves and so much more that talking about it seems awfully redundant.
Indeed it is fascinating on how this mod gives this a game twenty one years old a new lease of life.

Now whilst I have, over the past few months, been indulging in the miracles that the modding community can provide, this is however not the first time I've tried a FPS mod. That honor would go to Navy Seals Quake. Has anyone heard of this? I played this in high school - within a year of Quake's original release no less - and was impressed by the changes made. This involved the demons replaced with human enemies, a reload function and more emphasis on tactical action rather than brainless shooter action.

And much like Brutal Doom, I found Navy Seals Quake so much an improvement over the original game that it wasn't funny. You see, I was unimpressed with the original Quake - I saw it as Doom but with a new coat of paint what with the Demonic enemies, Hell motifs and puzzling level design. Thus I couldn't understand why many people at the time were turning cartwheels over it. Thus, coming across Navy Seals Quake I, and many of my friends at the time, found it far more appealing. Indeed, it should be noted that Navy Seals Quake eschewed the then mindless action trends of FPS and adopted a more realistic approach to the genre - well before Half Life took that concept and ran with it.

My general approach to mods is that they offer new content (but even that is a challenge trying to find some quality in amongst the mud) and they offer to correct 'mistakes' (if you can call it that) that hinder the original game. Indeed, having played Brutal Doom I'm now wondering how the hell I managed to get by on the original - which goes to show that sometimes a new coat of paint isn't enough and sometimes repairs made also be required to renew interest in an old game.
If anything I would rather play Brutal Doom than the latest incarnation of the Call of Duty series any day.

The Cry From Afar

On the weekend I went to a LAN and, for the first time, had a go at the game Far Cry 2.

Didn't get very far though. Because as is often the case with me and first-person shooter deathmatches, I found myself getting shot regularly by people who actually knew what they were doing.
Funnily enough I did approach approach the Call of Duty deathmatch with the same approach and that actually proved enjoyable- perhaps largely that in spite of my inexperience, I actually had a fighting chance. But such a thing I could never find when playing Far Cry 2.

How fitting then that this post should come the same day I find out about a Doom mod called Brutal Doom that enhances the original Doom considerably. Needless to say I'm eager to get a hold of it...

And E makes 3

On last night's episode of Good Game, they did a feature on this years E3.

Thus some random thoughts:
 - Too many zombie games (ie more than zero)
 - I thought Spec Ops the Line would've sent all military shooters to go stand in a corner. Seems I was wrong
 - The new Call of Duty game offering control of a military dog? Well that's something different
 - Beyond Two Souls: Yes it's nice to see some cut scenes, footage of the mo-cap process and the talking up of games offering an emotional connection but can we see some actual GAMEPLAY please?
 - Titanfall looks promising. Stomping around in a huge mech? Hell yes
 - The new Saints Row promising control of the President of the U.S. and tearing up shit? That's sounds so absurd it just might work (oh wait its been banned in this country. Oh well....)

Take a Straight Line

For Christmas my brother got me a new game for my 360: Spec Ops the Line. You might have heard of this: Spec Ops the Line has been creating a stir in the gaming community through it being a deconstruction of the shooter genre. That was my first impression at least and being rather sick and tried of shooter games & the 'must kill fifty guys to get it up' players that flock to them, I thought having game that would challenge it all would require a lot of balls. Well, apparently someone at Yager had the balls so that is worthy enough for my attention. Mind you, my brother noted of my 360 games, with the presence of Bishock, Mass Effect, Gears of War, Halo and the Orange Box, a preponderance of shooters so would Spec Ops the Line be an upset of this?

Well, I like my shooters to be Doom: Fun, exciting and unafraid to place the player in desperado situations against near-impossible odds. That being said I have little to no time for Call of Duty, Battlefield and the like as I find their rigid seriousness/self-importance unappealing beyond basic familiarity. Thus one would I think I would be perfect for Spec Ops the Line.
Well the first thing that struck me about Spec Ops the Line was the use of the menu music: Jimi Hendrix's famous rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Then there was the unnerving sight of my XBLA name included in the opening credits - obviously this is a game that isn't fucking around.

At time of writing I had made it to Chapter 4 and already some signs have been detected of the game's deconstructive intentions: The shouts made by characters during the fighting, clues made out via the intel drops, use of sixties metal music, and being led on in a linear fashion. There have already been some unsettling moments but not enough to put me off completely. Sure the gameplay may be a bit broken but somehow one suspects that may have been the point...

So I will continue playing Spec Ops the Line and it would be interesting to see what happens next...

A moment of clarity...

Today I went into my local JB Hifi where I saw a poster for something Nuketown 2025.
I then noticed it was for Call of Duty: Black Ops but not before mistaking it for the title and release date for a Duke Nukem Forever sequel.

Something Fishy

Last weekend I went to a LAN - whilst I was there, I was able to play, for the very first time, Call of Duty no.4.
I personally have no love for these modern shooters. Most of them due to the following reasons:
1) They all the seem the same. There are so many of them available and so many of them have similar sounding names and it's no increasingly difficult to tell them apart.
2) Pretensions of realism. So many games claim how they are well-researched and so forth that it's something that, for me, is somewhat tiresome. Personally if I were to do a realistic-shooter, I would incorporate elements like soldiers being panicked and frightened under fire and the cost of lives that goes into fighting a war (can you say Cannon Fodder?). Or better still, ditch the realism and concentrate on the bizarre and unreal and see how many LAN-tales it inspires. But I digress...
3) The people who play these games. I've never been a big fan of these types of shooters and have been especially reluctant to play them with anyone else. Reason being, more often than not, you find yourself playing against someone who KNOWS what they're doing. As such, you get shot down repeatedly by someone who relishes in shooting the unfamiliar simply because it's the only way the ace player can get it up. And they take it so seriously too! Therefore, as a golden rule, if a computer/video game stops being fun then then would be a good time to quit.

Grumbling aside, it did take a lot of coaxing for the other LAN participants to get me to try CoD4. And after the initial awkwardness and stupid learning curve (ie kill them before they kill you!) I did find some enjoyment out of CoD4. Sure it was stupid that I got killed so easily but I played it enough times (and shoot so many dudes) to make to the rank of Lance Corporal no.1.
Indeed, once I unlocked the class of Sniper I really went to town through being able to claim a high possie and take out anyone in sight. And it was that point that I went from 'hopeless' to being 'a pain in the arse'. A true advancement and it's funny how a game becomes more enjoyable once you make some degree of headway in it.

So yeah, after some skepticism, I tried CoD4 and found it quite enjoyable. It hasn't changed my distaste for the modern shooter but hey, I can certainly the appeal of that this game has had over many a LAN.