Face the consequences

I’ve issued a lot of praise for the game Peace Maker. If anything, it’s different to the usual in gaming and to see a political simulator – let alone that actually works – is indeed a rarity. I really can’t emphasis just how tense it becomes with making decisions and waiting to see IF they’d deliver the desired result.

That being said, how come no one has tried to replicate this method of gaming? I don’t know about you but a political simulator – with making decisions, dealing with consequence and trying to keep so many parties placated - is a gaming genre that should be put to work – given the right scenario of course.

So let me say this up front: I want to see a political simulator based on Game of Thrones.

Think about it: That scenario would be perfect for a political simulator and making decisions that may have drastic consequences. I mean, what other game could give you the option of dispatching prostitutes to your nephew to curry favor?

After all, it’s not like the Game of Thrones games currently available could do any worse…

You can't please everyone

Recently I’ve been doing another playthrough of the mighty Baldur’s Gate 2. Yep, it still keeps calling to me with an eternal siren’s song – which is indeed a rare thing for many games to do when one has so many of them to keep track.
This time, however, this playthrough is different as I’ve included mods – not least is the one that combines BG1, ToSC and BG2 in one game. This is great for me – not only am I using ToSC for the first time but it’s fun to see a character grow over the course of a super-huge game. A time of writing I’m in the middle of the BG1 portion and, having conquered the ToSC regions, have made it to Baldur’s Gate itself.
Another one of the mods I’m using is one called ‘Virtue’ which takes into account the actions of the party and reputation. However having implemented the mod in the question, it effected the game already in progress. And suddenly, half my party members ended up walking out on me.

The members in question were Safina, Branwen and Khalid. The latter may come across as being surprising but the absence of Jahiera in my party may have something to do with it (but I’m not worried – if, of course, you know what happens to Khalid in BG2). But the departure of both Safina and Branwen is the accumulation of their disappointment over my actions. Being of neutral alignment, they did grumble a lot over my actions and the mod I installed gave them the excuse they were after to leave.
This in turn, is a good excuse for me to rant about the Good/Bad choices in game.

When it comes to gaming I’m far too used to be the good guy – As a child of the eighties I’ve played many games over many years where I’ve been presented with a problem and I must solve it. Such problem included saving the world/girlfriend or overcoming some antagonist. It’s a trope that was done to death in the sixteen bit era and having been exposed to it so often it’s now more like a programmed response.
And it’s still lasted long into my adulthood. As such I play a game now I expect to play the role of the hero - in fact, when presented with the option, I honestly can’t bring myself to be a baddie and do nasty things. So much so that whilst I’ve been a bad guy in games before like Mass Effect, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and, to lesser extent Starcraft, I’ve felt like shit afterwards. And if the game stops being fun and enjoyable then that’s a danger sign if ever there was one.
I guess it comes with the freedom of choice – if you give the player the freedom they will do what they choose along with living with the consequences. It does indeed make a difference than a game that presents little choice alongside an emphasis on consequence (Spec Ops the Line anyone?). But at the same time there is little point in being a prick for the sake of being prick – by of comparison consider Red Dead Redemption: Yes you can become a Desperado but doing so makes John Marston’s insistence of putting his violent past behind him as somewhat insincere.

Yet with age comes experience and in my experience there is no such thing as a ‘pure’ hero. You simply can’t tell me that anyone can do so many heroic things with little effort and not have a single black spot to their name. Okay yes there is Superman but if someone has to Superman it may as well be Kal-El himself. No for me, the more realistic hero is the type that does the right thing but isn’t afraid to do something unorthodox and eschew falling over backwards to be an example for everyone to follow. Indeed, it is, to me, satisfying in the Avengers movie to have the irresponsible hero, Tony Stark/Iron Man, as the leader instead of the responsible one, Captain America.
Thus I like to play heroes that save the day but aren’t the type to take shit from anyone. By way of example when I play Mass Effect I take the Paragon path but I take Renegade choices whenever possible. For, as is often the case, there is no black or white, only shades of grey.

Which brings me back to Baldur’s Gate: My character is a paladin but taking this class has little to do with background or roleplay but more with the ruleset – fighters that can heal? What’s not to like? (The high charisma doesn’t hurt either)  But to be a paladin means you’re confined to being Lawful Good and can’t really break from it. Of course, my choices are me going through the motions of being a gaming hero but, as it would seem, such choices don’t seem to sit well with the people around me – God only knows what would happen when I reach BG2 and am presented with the opportunity to romance Jahiera.
Still though, I do strongly believe that the Good/Bad paths are ultimately futile: There is no such thing as a 100% White and a 100% Black – for being somewhere in the middle is both realistic and far more plausible.
But of course, being a paladin means you can’t sip up even once. Oh well….

Times Like These

Well if you’re going to play Ben There Dan that, you may as well play its sequel Time Gentlemen Please. And, like it’s predecessor, it’s been shown the door out of my Hall of Shame.

I loved the first game so does the sequel offer anything new? Well quite a bit actually: Time Gentlemen Please takes what works in the first game and expands on it – you know, very much like a true sequel (Gasp! Horror!). Yes, the jokes are funnier; the situations even more ludicrous, there are a lot more locations to visit and the game certainly feels bigger and longer. The homages to point and click adventure games are still in place, with various allusions and self-awareness to the nonsense within the situation – but again, never once does it slow down the game’s mission of saying something of its own.
Throw in some clever writing, and a surprisingly epic final showdown and you’ve got yourself a gem.

Alas, not all is great with this game: I can see one glaring problem with Time Gentleman Please (and the same goes with Ben There Dan That) in that it lacks voice acting. This is a wasted opportunity as there are some real some fantastic lines in this game and seeing them presented purely as text loses a lot of the impact. Still, I paid for this game on Steam so hopefully it’ll go to Zombie Cow (or Size Five as they’re now known as) and inspire them to hire some actors and get a patch together.

It’s kind of funny: As my faith in the video games industry continues to wane, it’s interesting to see something come along that challenges some of the frequented problems that are running rampant (nostalgia-blinded remakes and sequels that don’t do anything interesting). Thus, playing both Ben There Dan That and Time Gentlemen Please is one of those things that remind me that not all is lost, we’re not all heading towards catastrophe and there are some game designers out there who have their heads screwed on straight.
Of course it’ll be doubtful that we’ll see more of Ben and Dan but perhaps it be better left that way – I mean there’s not anywhere further they can go following the end of Time Gentlemen Please. Still I have heard that Size Five are working on something new so I’m interested to see what comes of it.
Your move Size Five.

Been there done that

Regular readers would note that I’ve been paying a lot of point and click adventure games over the past few months. Well, another one has been cast down from my Hall of Shame. Who’s out on their arse this time around? Ben There Dan That!

As is often the case, I’d become aware of this game largely through word of mouth: As was my understanding, it was a more recent point and click adventure game which was really funny. Ho Hum right? After all is there ever a point and click adventure game without humor? And isn’t The Dig?
But wait! Ben There Dan That boasts an animation quality on par with South Park! And shares the same demented sense of humor too! And it’s made by British people! Well, I’m all for that. Now as far as I’m concerned the point and click adventure games made by the British are in the minority and the few I have played (Beneath a Steel Sky and Simon the Sorcerer) are of high quality so what the hell? I’m curious.

So I found the game on Steam, played it all the way through and at the end of it? Well to begin with, this is more or less a love letter to the various point and click adventure games from the early nineties. There are various references, in both the visuals and dialogue that call back to this era – but whilst that may sound like a bad thing it never once bogs down the game itself. Yes in an age where people seem intent on celebrating the games they enjoyed as a youth, Ben There Dan That never once gets blinded by nostalgia – no it has something of its own to say and won’t stop in getting its message across.
Holy shit! I can’t believe I just typed that! Yes unlike a lot of other modern point and click adventure games Ben There Dan That seems to have been made by people who have a clear idea of what they want to convey and avoiding pioneer reverence like the plague. I guess stranger things have happened…

Okay, cynicism aside, I found a lot to admire about Ben There Dan That. The puzzles are well thought out and there is a lot of hilarity in the humor and the crude nature of the graphics. The South Park comparisons are inescapable but it’s nice to think of Ben There Dan That as a visitor from a parallel dimension where Trey Parker and Matt Stone were from the UK. Now whilst there are some signs of being a first time game (the limited locations being one such example), this is still an impressive feat for game bashed out by two guys.
And apparently, someone else thought so too for apparently, there does exist a sequel….

Radical Dreamers

Saw this ages agao and was delighted to find it still online.
Mind you it's still funny looking at this in the wake of Disney closing LucasArts

We don't need no education

Some thought about the thorny issue of educational games:

To begin with: Do educational games have any purpose? Yes I can understand the value of presenting an learning activity in a new and exciting way that connect with the kids – but at the same time there is the idea of an educational game come across as an intrusion into something that the kids love. Indeed, take away the escapism that’s leagues away from school lessons and the kids will start smelling bullshit.
And that pretty much sums up the notion of educational games. I can imagine many kids retreating to their game devices at the end of a school day to forget everything they learned (I know I did) so to force them to think may result in resentment.

During my primary school years (1987-1993) I did play some computer games of educational value. I didn’t mind at the time because micro-computers were a ‘new thing’ at the time and it was fun learning how to use one. In addition, the games I used were simple BBC programs. One program I used was one that tested me on naming the locations of Tasmania. I enjoyed it, got a lot out of it, and never once did I feel like I was being preached to – indeed that was the only game that really succeeded in its goal but some of the other games at the time were either rubbish or of questionable educational value.

If anything, for an educational game to work it must present the educational value in a decent matter and be fun to play – a balancing act that is nothing short of tricky to pull off. But can it work? Well as long as the educational values aren’t shoved down the children’s throat, it challenges them to think and is fun to play it can.
Are there any games I can think of that achieve this balancing act?
Well the Civilization series is a prime example of presenting material in a manner that never feels patronizing. Indeed, reading up on the Civilopedia on the Wonders of the World and the scientific advancements was fascinating and never once was dull. It also helped that the game itself was heaps of fun to play, insanely addictive and encouraged my mind to work on a strategic level.
Peacemaker is another game worthy of mention. Through playing this game I learned more about the conflicts between Israel and Palestine than any news program and just how difficult making decisions for a nation can be. Okay sure there isn’t much of a game to speak of but when you’re waiting for an outcome with a mixture of anticipation and dread, you know you’ve done something right.
And continuing with the strategic theme, through playing Pharaoh I learned a lot about the history of ancient Egypt and made me keen to explore some more beyond what I already knew – a sign of success if ever there was one.

If anything for an educational game to work it would first need to come across as something fun and not as a pure educational exercise. And, based on what I‘ve written above, it would seem that strategic games are the best approach with making a game of educational value: It encourages the player to think and offers an opportunity to get one’s message across in a subtle manner.
I mean you wouldn’t use Gears of War as a basis for a game to convey mathematics….

Run with the pack

A cousin of yours Morkai?