Selective memory

This week I have been looking back at past issues of CVG and having a major nostalgia trip. It is fun to see gaming of the early nineties being documented in such manner, especially when one considers how many games of that era still hold up today. 

Funny thing however is that I can't help but notice that many games of that era are overlooked. This is fascinating when one considers the games that have entered history in the years since: Final Fantasy 2 and 3 (4 and 6) never get a mention; the undisputed classic Super Metroid gets a score of 91%, 1993 goes by without any indication of something called Doom and the Lunar series, one of the highpoints on the Mega CD, are nowhere to be found.  

I suppose much of CVG is through a British perspective as it was the magazine's country of origin. And it is likely that many of the console games were handled in it's sister magazine Mean Machines (which I never read and therefore have no attachment to). But it is fascinating to see a) a history that has since proven to show a narrow view of the story and b) a perception that isn't from Japan or the US. 

How does the saying go: That history is written by the winners?

Out Came the Wolves

Happy new year! Happy new decade and the rest.
And what better way to start the new year than to announce another removal from my Hall of Shame:
Say goodbye Wolfenstein 3d!

 Original image located here. Accessed 15th January 2020

To view this game from the distance of nearly three decades presents an interesting case. It may be the grand-daddy of all first person shooters but there have been both countless of innovations to the genre and just as many technological advancements. So how does this game hold up?

Surprisingly well.

Sure there's not much to the game. Sure the 3d effect is all scaling trickery. Sure there is no narrative, only three guns and a level design that is completely bonkers. But ultimately, this game still maintains interest on several fronts:

• The level design may be insane but the mazes are compelling - enough to have me looking around every corner, wary of any baddies in hiding.
• The game is kind of tough - especially on hardest difficulty where health items are scarce and you find yourself wading through ammo clips.....
• I mentioned previously that Doom presents many an opportunity to go full desperado (ie you versus a room full of baddies) - unlike many of it's successors. But now, I think Wolf 3d does it even better than it's younger brother. 
• Its always impressive to use the gatling gun on a room full of baddies. However, now that I think about it, it does burn through ammo quickly - considering there are so many countless ammo clips around, was I being encouraged to use that particular gun?
• Some of the bosses are really tough. And fighting them becomes a tense affair. Which is quite the achievement for a game made in 1992. 

So in the end the original Wolf 3d, somehow, still holds up.
Who would've thunk it?

Five Man Band

Reports have been circulating on how the PS5 is in development. So I guess its safe to say that we are advancing towards the dawn of the ninth generation, whether we like it or not.

With each passing generation, I guess it is inevitable that we will keep moving forward at a rate that is difficult to keep up. But really, the days of computer/video gaming as a niche interest are long gone. Gaming is so commonplace, across many a medium that it is difficult to find something new to say.
I grew up during the Golden Age of Gaming (as some commentators have dubbed the 16-bit era) and I know how it was: Someone gets a great idea, it becomes a massive hit and clones come charging out of the woodwork. Super Mario bros. Doom. Street Fighter 2. But whilst that practice is still in place, it is not as prevalent as it once was.  Oh sure any JRPG made now would owe a considerable debt to Final Fantasy and any sandbox game is walking the path set by the Grand Theft Auto series, but now, any game is building off something else. Its harder for anything new to be said when everything is moving in a loop and forgetting what came before.
It's kind of like drawing off the John Lennon cover of Stand By Me instead of the Ben E King original.

It has been my experience that every new gaming generation has to bring something new to the table to blow away everyone;s mind. I mean, even better graphics than before can only keep you going for so long

Doomed to stay in line

So this came to my attention recently. A mod for Doom that reduces to the game to linear state.

Original video located here. Accessed 8th April 2019

Clearly this is joke mod and I have to admit: there is some amusement value in seeing those mazes reduced to singe never-ending corridor. 

Of course now I'm imagining the Doom marine being confronted with this stupidly long corridor that he eventually gives up in disgust

Strafed

Let's talk about Strafe for a moment.

Well it's here upon us. After a crowd-funding campaign and an advertising campaign we finally have it. And what do you know? It's getting a lot of bad press, what with glitches, stupid AI, restricting environments and presenting something different from the original promise. The latter in particular: It seems that when the trailer offered something along the lines of Doom or Quake, the finished product was more akin to a roguelike.

Not a good selling point eh?

Personally, looking back at the (in)famous advertising campaign, it seems more laughable than provocative. And therein lies the point where my interest dies down: Considering how much trouble the makers of this game, Bleeding Edge, went to with the adverting campaign, one can't help but feel that they put more effort into it than the actual game.
Personally, as someone who spent much of their teen years in the nineties, I am questioning whether Bleeding Edge really speak from experience. Did they really play the right games? Or are they selling a fantasy? You see, I can safely say that, back in 1996, whilst there was some strong interest in Doom and Quake, they weren't THE game. You know what I'm talking about: THE game that everyone had, and everyone was falling over themselves to get a hold of and play to death.

No, back in 1996, THE game was this:

Original video located here. Accessed 19th May 2017

T-20

They say that nostalgia happens in chunks of twenty years. If that is the case, then the nostalgia goggles will be aimed at the the mid-to late nineties - also known as the Fifth Console generation.

I've said it once and I'll say it again: This was a great period for the PC Gamer with them being spoiled for choice with the likes of Baldur's Gate, Doom, Warcraft, Command and Conquer, Deus Ex, Plansescape Torment and System Shock 2 among others. Sure, there was some shlock when Windows 95 rolled around but once that nonsense was sorted out, there were some real games to be found. Sure there were some interesting things happening in the console camp but they have not aged well as their PC counterparts. I remember at the time, console games of this era were being marketed as 'cutting edge' but looking at them now, they have naturally aged the worst.

This in turn presents an interesting opportunity for someone keen on nostalgia: Take a brand, fix some glaring issues with it and you'll have a certified hit. Why do you think so many have been clamoring for a remake of Final Fantasy 7? When you have a hugely successful game you have a hit guaranteed purely on brand recognition - but when you fix some of the problems the critics have pointed out, you win on both a commercial and critical level.

I myself aren't really that interested on nostalgia as, for me, it stifles progress (how can you move forward when you have eyes on the past?). But I will admit, however grudgingly, that there's something to be said for making classic games readily available, accessible without dragging some aging tech out of the deepest corner of the bedroom cupboard and in a state of preservation.
That being said, has anyone tried to resurrect some of the lost classics from the Saturn? Someone must've played the likes of Panzer Dragoon Saga and Shining Force 3 - So surely they must've been hit with inspiration strong enough to make something similar so what they enjoyed two decades ago can be enjoyed by people of the present. If anything, I'd rather play a RPG that involves traveling across on a desolate, post-apocalyptic world with minimal NPCs atop a flying, customisable beast, encountering Moebius-inspired monsters and discovering lost ancient tech than a retread of Advent Children any day....

Quaking in my boots

Another announcement emerging from this year's E3 is that the Quake IP is being dusted off and being revamped as a new game. I suppose all 90's IP's are having that done to them so such news shouldn't come as a surprise. But such news would be a good enough excuse to talk about my own experiences with Quake.

I will be blunt: When I first came across the first Quake in the mid-nineties I wasn't thrilled. Far from it: I HATED it. At the time, I played Doom a lot and was impressed by Duke Nukem 3d's pushing the envelope of what a 3d shooter could do. That being said, Quake looked old and tired.
Growing with games, I learned a vital lesson from a early age: Amazing graphics can't make a game on it's own, for it needs engaging gameplay to back it up. And that was the problem I had with Quake: It just looked like Doom but with a new coat of paint. But this new coat of paint wasn't that remarkable what with drab colors and an overdose of green. Furthermore, it was baffling as to why people talked up the graphics when the character designs looked dull and hideous. Therefore I never could grasp why people were ecstatic about this game.
Eventually my hostility towards Quake softened in three fronts: 1) I discovered the mod Navy Seals Quake and found it much more enjoyable, 2) I played Quake 2 a lot and found it a much more tense, exciting and satisfying experience next to it's predecessor and 3) One can't disagree with the thrill of playing Quake deathmatches on a LAN. Still, why people revere Quake like they do is something that still eludes me.

So unlike Doom or Duke 3d, I have no real attachment to Quake. Will I pay any attention to this new game? Well, I would be interested to see if something new will be done - if anything.
But most likely I will see this game becoming yet another faceless shooter in an ocean of them and dragging the name of a once glorious IP down with it.

Doomed to Obscurity

Here's something I've been pondering on recently: Has anyone actually played Doom 2 all the way through?

The reason why I'm asking is that my experiences with Doom 2, at the height of it's mid-nineties popularity, is that everyone plays the first three levels before jumping straight into the death match. Whilst there was no denying death matches were fun - they are, after all, what sold Doom 1 and 2 - it does raise the question as to whether or not anyone did play the rest of the game all the way through.
Indeed, I played Doom 2 all the way through recently and saw many things that I did not recall originally - some of which I did not recall from my PS1 playthrough. Why is this so? Is there only so many Doom levels one can take before they all start looking the same? Did we all play the game for five seconds before entering in the cheat codes? Did we get sick of the bizarre level design that we resorted to a rage quit? Or did we just use the level skip just to get to that one Wolfenstein level with the Cyberdemon? (seriously, until recently I never knew there were two Wolfenstein levels).

Most likely it was the deathmatches that had such a powerful sway over gamers that it pretty much destroyed the rest of the game - still it wasn't called a revolution for nothing.

Doomed from the start

These past few weeks I've been playing a lot of Doom, 1 and 2, largely through the enhancement lens provided by the Brutal Doom mod.
However, whilst I've gushed about the dramatic changes Brutal Doom offers, it doesn't however change one pet peeve I've had with Doom. It's a problem I had twenty years ago and it still bothers me now - and that;s the stupid level design. There are places that are inaccessible and stuff that's near impossible to find.
And I feel this problem was ramped up in Doom 2 - Whilst I was able to get 100% kills and secrets on every level in Doom 1, in Doom 2 I missed more than a few. Yes it may provide a challenge but there were times when I'd been over the same level several times to a point where I felt I was being trolled by the game designers.

Still, in a world clogged with ultra-serious shooters, there's something to be said for a twenty-year old shooter that has enough 'goin' desperado' clout to hold appeal even now

A cheat worth remembering

Everyone who grew up in the eighties and nineties era of gaming may know the Konami Code from Contra or the 'iddqd' cheat in Doom, but how many of you remember the cheats from Alien Breed?

Alien Breed was a series of games that originated on the Amiga but eventually found it's way to the PC - it also inspired a series of remakes that are currently available on XBLA.
But what I remeber about it were the cheat codes - not so much what they did but what had to typed out. And through GameFAQS I found them again.
So credit to Team17 - they may be cheat codes but they certainly have a sense of humor about them (that is sadly lacking in games since):

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...

You're not the PS1 for me

When I was in High School (1994-1997) I wanted a PlayStation. Who didn’t? It was a big deal to have a genuine third contender to the Sega vs Nintendo conflict. And there were a lot of unique and impressive games on the console. Of course, I never got to own a PS1 – and it was only after I got a PS2 that I made an effort to seek out, and subsequently enjoy, some of the games that escaped my notice the first time around.

However with the passing of years, the fifth console generation grows further and further away. And in that time, my perception of the PS1 has grown from a tantalizing goal to a something more disdainful. Why the change? Well for one thing I find that a lot of games in the fifth generation have aged quite badly (especially considering I find many games of the fourth generation still appealing two decades later). But the main reason I have grown disdainful for the PS1 is this:

Ask anyone what the defining game on the PS1 and they’ll say one of the ‘Big Three’: Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII and Castlevania Symphony of the Night.  Beyond that, anyone may find coming up with another game something of a struggle. And it’s always this ‘Big Three’. Whilst another console may have a number of great games spread across it’s lifespan, it always this ‘Big Three’ that everyone keeps coming back to. It’s as if this ‘Big Three’ were the only games made for the PS1 and the console’s lifespan pretty much started and ended with them.

So for today, a little experiment: I want to tally up my collection of PS1 games and match their years of release against each other. And as I live in a nation situated in a PAL region (read: a place that doesn't matter), the years listed will be based on PAL release dates.

So here we go, by order of year:

1995    Doom
            Raiden Project
1996    Darkstalkers
            Loaded
            Return Fire
1997    Castlevania Symphony of the Night
            Final Fantasy 7
1998    Ghost in the Shell
            Metal Gear Solid
1999    Wip3out
2000    Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
2001     Final Fantasy 9
2002     Final Fantasy Anthology
             Final Fantasy 6

Looking at this list, it seems that my hypothesis was correct: The PS1 era pretty much began and ended with the 'Big Three'. Based my collection, before the Big Three there was conversions of well-known games and attempts to get an IP going. And after the Big Three, not a lot else happened. Why, back in the day I recall seeing Final Fantasy 7 and 8 in stores but never 9. And the most recent games I have for the PS1 arrived when the PS2 had well and truly touched down and even those games are SNES conversions!

So maybe it is indeed true: The only games everyone remembers on the PS1 are the ‘Big Three’ and everything that came before and since was of little to no matter. All I can say is that I’m glad that the PS1’s successor, the PS2, boasted a wide and diverse gaming library that left PS2 users spoilt for choice.

Cooperation makes it happen

Today I want to talk about Co-op gaming.

Having lived through many years of gaming it’s been fascinating to see how co-op gaming has evolved. At first, co-op gaming was a popular idea: during the eighties to early nineties, co-op gaming was essential during the era of the arcade game. Having trouble trying to beat any particular game? Don’t worry, get a friend and the playing field is leveled! You’ve got someone to watch your back and to develop strategies with! This mentality then carried over into the consoles and computers people had at home. Indeed, it was certainly satisfying to struggle with one game – only to have a much easier time once you talked someone else into helping you out.
And better still, if you had two more friends you could form a team and go up against the computer – as the popularity of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade (and it’s successors) proved.
In retrospect the arcade era was co-op gaming at it’s finest.

But alas it couldn’t last forever: Because, according to history, the likes of Quake and Doom dominated the mid-to-late nineties era of gaming. Suddenly everyone can play games against each other over LANs and everyone has their own computer screen.
And it’s funny how the attitude towards co-op gaming not only turned around but so drastically: based on my own experiences, everyone loved playing against each other over LANs – to the point where the mere suggestion of a co-op game would result in being laughed out of the room.
Why is this so? Maybe because, following on from the arcade era, everyone realized arcade games are essentially a money thief and thus obsolete. Or maybe the computer AI wasn’t efficient enough to cater for more than one person. But the most likely reason is that there was a certain satisfaction in blowing away a human opponent – This was, after all, the era that spawned the term deathmatch.
During this era of gaming, I personally both tried co-op and deathmatch gaming. I found the former to be due and the latter to be trampled upon by someone who knew what they were doing (Stadium level of Duke Nukem 3D anyone?).

However in recent years  it seems that co-op gaming is enjoying something of a resurgence. Mostly due to online gaming where many people can come together and work together to achieve a goal. Of course deathmatches are still the sole domain of LAN parties, but it certainly is satisfying to see that people realizing, again, that to beat a game it helps to have someone watching your back. Indeed, it makes for an interest contrast where co-op gaming builds friendships while deathmatches wrecks friendships.

This presents an interesting question: is there a future for co-op gaming? It can be argued that once you beat a game, with or without help, there’s not much left to it. Indeed, with what could well be the king of gaming co-op, World of Warcraft, that has lasted so long through it being well-designed and having a stream of regular updates added to it. It is doubtful that there will ever be an end to co-op gaming in WoW considering the amount of quests available and the time it takes to get to (at time of writing) level 90. But ultimately World of Warcaft is a MMPORG: Which is more or less a complete genre where co-op gaming is a dominating force - much like how deathmatches dominate LAN parties. In a way it seems MMPORG gaming seems much like an evolution from the co-op gaming that was the arcade era.

I’ve seen certain games trying to carry the standard for co-op gaming in a different manner (Resident Evil 5 being one such example) but is there much point? For, as established above, the attention of the gamer can only last so long and the lasting power of a co-op game seems reliant on how much new material can be delivered. Furthermore, a co-op game truly works when the players have to work together and each player can provide something unique that contributes to victory. And to find examples of this, one has to look back to the arcade/early-nineties era. The best example of co-op done right is the Chaos Engine – for the unfamiliar, it was about guiding a two man team against a horde of mutants and really emphasized the co-op nature with each selectable character having unique weapons and abilities and both players being rated on how much they contributed to the objective.

Also noteworthy is the arcade game Crackdown where two players operated separately in laying bombs in a monster-filled maze before time ran out – it works because the two players were working for the same goal and could operate without being joined at the hip (something that should any potential co-op games should consider in their design scheme).

So it would seem co-op games can work – it just requires a lot of thought and some clever design. And as nay gamer will tell you any clever design will win anyone over. Even those who aren’t normally associated with any particular gaming genre.

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...

Chronicles of a Gamer (Michael Revisited)

Here's a little something I bashed out - inspired by the legendary Michael ad:

I’m the one who walked with Link on his journey
The one Princess Zelda calls when danger nears
To Ganondorf I’m his constant enemy

I told Snake how to destroy the Metal Gears
Through me he found a sense of meaning in life
And we still meet regularly to drink some beers

I showed John Marston how to kill with a knife
With me he became a Legend of the West
And I got him back with his son and wife

I went with Commander Shepard – he’ll attest
I was with him through the Omega Relay
As everyone ‘round us gave their very best

I walked with Yuna every step of the way!
Got Ico and Yorda out of the fortress!
I’m that which makes Cyberdemons run away!

I got Samus Arun through planet Zebes!
Kefka, Loughain, M Bison, I did fracture!
Even Morrigan Aensland I did impress!

I got the Little Sisters out of Rapture!
I’ve faced down lines of relentless invaders!
Made friends with a wolf god and a space hamster!

I’ve been with Avalanche and Raynor’s Raiders!
When all’s gone to hell I’m the one they rely!
And I’m a friend of many a gun trader!

I’ve fought sand demons, zombies and colossi!
For I am the gamer and I’ve done it all
And in the eyes of my comrades, I’m their guy

Shocked to the Heart! And You're to Blame!

Recently I’ve been having a shot at Bioshock. Last week, I finally completed it so what do I come away from it?
Well to begin with, much like Portal, much has been written about this game – And in Bioshock’s case, the deconstruction of free will in the video games and the usage of the objectivist philosophies of Ayn Rand. But that’s where the similarities end for whereas Portal inspired the meme’s that ultimately ruined the game and drove it into the ground, Bioshock has managed to avoid such a fate – okay so yes I may have heard the phrase ‘Would You Kindly…’ before but somehow, it didn’t diminish the impact of how those words were put into use.
And somehow the game is even better for it: Word of mouth is a powerful tool that can make or break any new IP – whilst exposure is nice it also runs the risk of destroying much of what the game is trying to get across and ruining a lot of the mystique of the original. And seeing as the makers of Bioshock have something to say and are getting it across in their game, so much hinges on a game being discovered on the player’s own terms – not those of some douche who thinks quoting a video game makes him look cool (personally I’m still waiting for the voice quotes from Impossible Mission to make a comeback via meme but what are the chances of that happening?).

As for the game itself well I’m quite impressed by the creativity and inventiveness that’s gone into it. I’ve often been fascinated by steampunk – in that how many elaborate devices can be produced via steam power and this is a shining example of that principle. Seeing as shooters thrive on current firearms and some bizarre novelty weapons, it is welcome change to see some obsolete firearms being put to use – also pleasing is the designs of the weaponry once they’ve been put through the upgrades.
And keeping with the steampunk theme, I liked how the splicers talked with British accents, the use of the gun turrets (even though it is puzzling how they could identify friendlies from foes) and how everything is available through vending machines. I even enjoyed the hacking mechanic which involved the pipes! Yes even when no one else seemed to!!!
Indeed, it should be noted that I'm not a big fan of shooters - personally I think they're a dime a dozen and the shooters I've enjoyed are the old ones where you could go desperado against an army of dudes (ie Doom and Duke 3D). So to see someone else do something different with the genre is indeed a treat.
I also enjoyed the idea of exploring the city of Rapture. The setting looked fantastic with the place being lived in and once glorious in its day - but now succumbing to ruin and abandonment. I liked the idea of venturing into the place as the residents have descended into madness. I also found Andrew Ryan to be a compelling villain who is still hanging on even when his idea of a utopia has all but crumbled away.

So yes, I liked Bioshock for it’s great writing, it’s inventiveness, the creativity involved and it’s willingness to go beyond the conventions both shooters and games in general. However to does leave one question:
Why the hell does the sequel exist? Must be a bit hard seeing as Rapture crumbled and the villains of the piece are kind of.....dead....and wet.....

Reality called

It's a funny thing looking back at the past: More often than not, one will recall a new innovation/technology that was supposed to change the world..... only to do the exact opposite. Indeed it's funny to see how things were marketed as revolutionary when in, the present, we have other things that do the exact same thing only better.

That being said, I remember Virtuality. Based upon the then new technology of Virtual Reality, it was a product of the early-to-mid nineties that was built on the promise of taking the immerse nature of games to a whole new level.
How it worked is that people step into a confined playing space, don headsets and grab a controller. Once the game kicks in, the player's movements correspond to the game characters: Thus it is possible to move and look around in a rendered environment.



I remember this product being hyped as being the next advancement in gaming technology and the promise of a full immerse experience in a full created world (not to those words but still....). As a result, these began appearing in arcade parlors complete with screens to pull in a crowd - of course, these weren't cheap to play but they certainly garnered a lot of interest in the 16-bit era.

The only games I remember were two: Zone Hunter and Dactyl Nightmare.



This was Zone Hunter: You control two giant space marines going through a futuristic environment blowing up anything dumb enough to stand in your way.
This might of looked mind-blowing twenty years but two decades is a long time. Whilst I never played it, I have however spoken to people who have and from I could gather, this game doesn't really deliver on the promises made by the hype. The main problem is that the player character can only move in one direction: Forward! Thus one can't go anywhere else or admire the scenery - and, gameplay wise, one can't duck behind cover: No they're just continually marching and getting shot.

Here's another video on Zone Hunter, whilst demonstrating the Virtual Reality in action:



Still, this is a far cry from Gears of War - another game involving Space Marines blowing shit up. Side by side, one wonders how we ever got by without the necessity of cover.

The other game I recall was Dactyl Nightmare. This was the more well known of the two as it was heavily featured in many a promo video. Here, players could fight each other in an open environment whilst being harassed by a giant pterodactyl who could pick up players and drop them, thus subjecting them to terminal velocity.



Compared to Zone Hunter, this game was going for a one-on-one/deathmatch approach with a horror theme. But again, through a modern eye some baffling design choices come to light. Why is the gaming map so limited in size? Where is it all out in the open? What are you supposed to do when the pterodactyl picks you up?

Looking back, it seems that Virtuality promised a lot but didn't really deliver. Granted a fully rendered gaming environment was a bold step for it's time but what good is it if the player is restricted about where they can go? The deathmatch nature did indeed predate Doom but what good was it when it's played in an open environment?
Indeed a lot of the promise Virtuality has been achieved by the enemy of the arcade parlor: console gaming. Twenty years later, what Virtuality promised has been surpassed in ways that are mind-boggling. Fully rendered worlds are now commonplace and immersion has been accomplished in ways without the use of a headset. Indeed, when one considers the hype that went into Virtuality, one has to wonder what the fuss was all about.

Ultimately, Virtuality seems more a product of the arcade parlors: Sucking people in and then stacking the odds against them just for the purpose of making them cough up money just to keep playing. And it seems the general public thought so too. Because by the time I got to play Virtuality, it was the mid nineties and Zone Hunter and Dactyl Nightmare had been replaced with Doom. And what do you know, it was good fun. So there is an irony that the game that worked best for the Virtual Reality Headset was game made for a home computer.

In researching this post, I recently learned that, surprisingly, the technology for Virtual Reality is still in use - only it's for simulations and training scenarios like Flight training and medical procedures. But it is interesting to see this technology succeed in areas whereas it failed as a gaming machine.

I guess there's no substitute for a wide-screen TV.

We're doomed

Last night I had the satisfaction of striking a game out of my Hall of Shame: The PS1 version of Doom. I remember Doom being very popular when I was a kid but whilst I played the shareware version, I never actually sat down and played it all the way through. So what better way then a version that incorporates both Doom 1 and 2?

There's a lot of talk going round of how people want a return to the glory days of the First Person Shooter: Where it was all about having as many guns as possible and mowing down as many people as possible. Granted, this freedom may have fallen out of favour due to a) People moving to the realistic shooters b) Doom's connections to the Columbine Shootings (Okay, so shooters inspiring kids to pick up a gun is nonsense but the knowledge that two Doom fans did pick up a gun certainly an uncomfortable notion).


But you know, I would like to see such a return. Why? Because they were fun! I mean, with Doom, the idea that you are taking on the forces of Hell is audacious enough but to place you as the eventual victor? Bring it on! Better still, Doom provided a real sense of being a desperado: Facing all these dudes and having so many limited ammo. What do you do? Charge in guns blazing! Try doing that realistic shooters! In fact, while I'm at it, the appeal of Doom lies in it's unrealistic nature: the guns are absurd, you're one man army against a horde of demons and the buildings were designed by an architect who was either drunk or stoned at the time. After all, why should realism get in the way of the fun?

For these reasons I will certainly see myself returning to Doom for future mayhem - either when I have the need to blow of some steam or to get 100% kills and secrets on all levels. And for a game to still hold such staying power seventeen years after release, says a lot.