The evolution of first-person shooters

Last year wasn’t significant because of the number of first-person-shooter games released. For a few years now, this has been a popular niche for developers and publishers since it caters to the hard-core gamers who are the bread and butter of the video-game industry.

The reason 2007 stands out is the variety and excellence of the first-person shooters that were released, due in part to the processing power of the next-generation PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and to the increasing emphasis that developers are placing on story and character development.

Halo 3 (Microsoft Game Studios; Xbox 360; rated mature) This game’s single-player story mode is exactly what it needed to be: more of what the first two games gave us. Where there was innovation in Halo 3 was in the multiplayer options available for FPS gamers. With the ability for 16 people to go after each other, or for four players to cooperate on playing through the story, Halo 3 made a plural out of the FPS genre.

Bioshock (2K Games; Xbox 360; rated mature) Bioshock was groundbreaking for two reasons. First, the art direction and singular vision behind the game make it a complete and entirely believable world, despite its madness. The second reason involves the debate as to whether FPS games should construct the protagonist as a blank slate. The idea is that individual gamers are better able to “become” the character if that character is vague. This is why nobody knows what Halo’s Master Chief looks like. In Bioshock, the character you play has no identity at all, and this becomes critical to how the story plays out. The clever game designers took a philosophical argument and made it a plot point.

Jericho (Codemasters; Xbox 360; rated mature) It’s the talented storytelling of Clive Barker that causes Jericho to stand out. He’s crafted a horror game that is gory, weird, and tinged with religion, basing the story on gnostic texts. You are the commander of a seven-person military unit trained in conventional and occult warfare. Each squad member has some kind of occult power, and you can move from team member to team member, making strategic use of each one’s talents. This ability, compared to switching from one gun to another, is a great game-play mechanic.

The Orange Box (Valve; PC, PS3, Xbox 360; rated teen and mature) You’ll use surprisingly few weapons in the Half-Life games, of which three are included in The Orange Box. The protagonist, Gordon Freeman, isn’t a soldier, super or otherwise. He’s a scientist, and his primary weapon is a gravity gun, a device that allows him to pick up and move heavy objects. Admittedly, such objects can crush enemies, especially when flung at high speed. Unlike so many games that beat you over the head with explanations, Half-Life is refreshingly vague about what you are supposed to do. At times, trying to solve the puzzle of “How do I get across this room?” becomes maddening because of the lack of clues, but most gamers appreciate being left to figure things out.

BlackSite: Area 51 (Midway; PC, PS3, Xbox 360; rated teen) BlackSite is built on mystery. You play as a U.S. soldier caught up in a conspiracy, starting the game by looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but instead stumbling across some bizarre and dangerous creatures. Imagine your surprise when you encounter the same creatures in the desert around Rachel, Nevada, the closest town to the rumoured American military base at Groom Lake—Area 51. No shock, then, to discover that the enemies you fight in BlackSite are aliens. I was able to overlook some of the technical problems with this game, and instead enjoy the sly subversiveness of the game’s story, which is a pointed commentary on U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Crysis (Electronic Arts; rated mature) Crysis was developed to push the limits of PC gaming systems, and would be fairly standard first-person-shooter fare if it weren’t so visually stunning. You are a member of a special-forces squad sent in to secure an archaeological site, but there’s something on the island that’s making meat out of all the soldiers. The flowing imagery of Crysis hasn’t been achieved before, and it sets a new standard for visual fidelity. To really make the most of this game, you’ll need a topnotch system running Windows Vista. You can play the game on lesser computers, but you’ll miss out on what makes it so special.

[originally published in the Georgia Straight]

You've got questions? We've got answers

rawbean asks:
I have a PS2 but only have two games: Katamari and a disc (disc?) of old arcade games like PacMan. I have played a total of 20 minutes since receiving the PS2. What should I do now? PS I also like the sims.

Well, rawbean, Katamari is still one of the most fun, most clever video games ever made. There is a new version of the game - which is essentially the same as that first one - for the "next-gen" Xbox 360.

But if you say you haven't played the PS2, you might not realise how much fun there is in a session of Katamari Damacy.

I believe that everybody is a gamer. What differs is the type of game people prefer and the degree to which they like playing. Even paper-and-pencil Sudoku puzzles are games. So are crosswords.

Monopoly? Texas Hold 'Em? Fetch with your dog?

All games.

In terms of video games, though, they have come a long way, to the point where they are truly interactive entertainment.

Both Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 will give you access to game demos, so you can try some new games to see if you like them.

Xbox LIVE, which is the online marketplace for the Xbox 360, has a wealth of arcade and casual games for people to download and play without having to commit 80 hours or $80.

And the PS3 is still the best Blu-ray player on the market, so if you are thinking about upgrading your DVD player, the PS3 is cheaper than other players, it's a better player than the others, and you get the option of playing games if you want, too.

Does that help?

Getting extreme with Dark Sector

Dark Sector is a new video game developed by London, Ontario's Digital Extremes (co-creator of Unreal) and published by D3Publisher, and it shipped to retailers today.

It's a dark, mature-themed game (seriously: this game is not for kids) set in a "decaying Eastern European city". You'll play as Hayden Tenno, an elite black-ops agent who is attacked and wakes to find that he has been, well, altered.

Look closely at the image here and you'll see that Tenno is armed with what can only be described as the Glaive from Krull. Nice weapon.

It'll be on shelves in the next week or so, and is available for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Dead Space feature film in the works

Electronic Arts is adding another medium to its Dead Space project.

The survival horror game - inspired by films such as Alien, Event Horizon, and The Thing - is slated for release this Halloween for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Dead Space is a new intellectual property developed at EA, and the game is preceded by a six-part original comic book series written by Antony Johnston (the excellent Wasteland) and inked by Ben Templesmith (the equally excellent 30 Days of Night). The first issue is now available.

EA has also teamed up with Starz Media to develop an animated feature film that will bridge the plots of the comic series and the game. Starz plans to license the feature for television broadcast as well as release the project on DVD. The film is expected to be released at the same time as the game.

It's looking to be a very cinematic - and very creepy - project.

It's about a parasitic alien race that inhabits the bodies of other species. Like humans. Nice.

Remember the tag line for Alien? "In space, no one can hear you scream."

“Deep Red” PSP announced

Releasing this June is a new red PlayStation Portable. It’s a beauty, actually. Nice red enamel and on the back a silkscreen of Kratos, the protagonist of the God of War franchise.

It’s part of a package that includes the PSP, a copy of the game Chains of Olympus, Kratos' first appearance on PSP, the movie Superbad on UMD, and a voucher to download the PSP game Syphon Filter: Combat Ops onto a Memory Stick. The God of War package deal has a MSRP of Cdn$199.99.

God of War: Chains of Olympus, the new PSP game starring Kratos, will be available on March 4 for those of you already in possession of a PSP system.

In related PlayStation news, Sony has come up with a PS3 bundle for late Q2 that includes an 80GB PS3, a new Dualshock 3 wireless controller, and a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for only Cdn$499 (suggested).

The Dualshock 3 game pad combines the rumble feature of the old PS2 controllers with the motion-sensing Sixaxis technology. They will be available in April for Cdn$54.95.

Legendary: The Box coming this summer

E3 2007 was a different type of affair. Held in the hotels along the beach strip of Santa Monica, not the convention centre of Los Angeles, it was three days of exclusive appointments, instead of the usual free-for-all.

I didn't get a chance to book time to see the folks at Gamecock, but all journalists who hung out at the beachside motel taken over by Gamecock were all talking about Legendary: The Box, being developed by Spark Unlimited.

The game is about an art thief who steals Pandora's Box. You can imagine what happens when he opens it. If you can't, this is from the press release:

When he inadvertently opens it, he releases hordes of beasts thought to be fictional – such as werewolves and gryphons – into an unprepared modern world. A full scale war between man and myth begins, and it is quickly complicated by the actions of powerful secret societies. As the person responsible for releasing this terror, Deckard’s unwittingly become the only person capable of containing it once more and saving civilization from being destroyed by the terrifying creatures.

Today, Gamecock sent a note - from the company headquarters, the Cockpit in Austin, Texas - establishing Summer 2008 as the release date for Legendary. It's coming for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Note to self: make sure to schedule time with Gamecock at the next E3 in July.

Metal Gear Solid collection

News today that Konami is releasing the first three Metal Gear Solid games in one package for the PlayStation 2 game system.

Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection includes the original Metal Gear Solid, developed for the original PlayStation, the director's cut of Metal Gear Solid 2, and Metal Gear Solid 3. All of it comes in a commemorative package with artwork by renowned Metal Gear Solid artist Yoji Shinkawa.

The Metal Gear games, with anti-hero Solid Snake as the protagonist, pioneered the stealth action game genre.

I just know I'm not the only one waiting patiently for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. It's expected to be released in June.

Studio tour: Propaganda Games and Turok

I spent a good chunk of the day at Vancouver’s Propaganda Games today, steeped in the Turok experience.

The day started with a presentation by game director Joel Manners. He talked about how everyone on the team was excited to be working on a game in which players got to interact with dinosaurs.

What he really meant was get hunted by dinosaurs.

His group of employees did a great job of reimagining Turok, and updating it not just technically, but also in terms of story and character.

Playing Turok

Turok is a visceral, sci-fi themed first person shooter set some 250 years from now. You are Joseph Turok, a former black ops commando who has been enlisted to help take down his old mentor, a rogue military specialist. You crash land on a planet that is infested with dinosaurs, and have to not only survive, but find a way home.

All the while you are hunted by the denizens of the world. And yes, Virginia, there are T-Rexes in this game.

Manners said that how you approach the game is up to you. You can be stealthy, or blast your way through, or even turn your enemies - dinosaurs and soldiers - against each other. “You’ve got firepower, environment, and multiple enemies,” said Manners, “and how you use them is up to you.”

Guns and knives

Game designer Ryan Greenhow talked about how Manners’ philosophy was that the player needed to “experience the game through the gun.” What that meant, said Greenhow, was that “you have to have a cool gun in your hands, and when you pull the trigger you have to have a cool reaction, and then you have to see the result of that.”

The trick, though, was figuring out how to get that “through the gun” experience for the knife. In most first-person shooter games, explained Greenhow, the knife is “the lamest weapon.” But along with the bow, the knife is one of Turok’s key weapon specialties. To keep the intensity, then, the Propaganda crew came up with “crazy knife moves” that you can execute to make fighting with a knife more visceral.

What’s missing

Manners also talked about how the team pulled vehicles from the game after spending a great deal of time working on them. While it was fun to recreate the Jeep scene from Jurassic Park, explained Manners, vehicles just didn’t fit in the Turok experience. “You’ve got to be able to smell that thing’s breath,” he said, “and you can’t get that when you’re mechanized.”

Inspired by dinosaurs

Manners said that there were two films that were particular inspirations for the new Turok video game. The first was Aliens, with its gritty reality and sci-fi background, but horror take.

The second was 28 Days Later. “The zombies in that film embodied what we wanted in our raptors,” said Manners. “Unending killing machines that are fast as hell.”

Manners said that the Turok team didn’t want Jurassic Park raptors that hunt in packs and can open doors. They wanted their raptors to be brutal and ruthless. All the better to create carnage.

What’s next

Turok is now available for PS3 and Xbox 360, and will be available for PC later this spring. While Manners admitted that it was developed with sequels in mind, he was careful not to suggest that a sequel has been confirmed for development.

It’s a fun game to play, with lots of twitch action and some shocking surprises for good measure. Nothing like having a dinosaur attack you without warning to get the blood boiling.

Don’t forget that the developers of Turok are going to be at the Granville and Robson Future Shop in Vancouver tomorrow night, to say hi, answer questions, offer game play tips, and even sign your copy of the game. For those not in Vancouver, you can participate in the online chat with these same developers. Full details are over here.

Grand Theft Auto IV: April 29

The highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV will be available worldwide - on both PS3 and Xbox 360 - on April 29.

Rockstar Games had hoped to get the game out the door last fall - it would have helped with the financial status of parent company Take Two Interactive - but perhaps wisely held the game to make sure it was polished and ready.

Fans, I'm confident, approve, despite how anxious some are to play the game. GTA IV has the potential to set sales records.

The latest game in the franchise is set in Liberty City. You'll play as Nikloai Bellic, searching the city for a person of importance.

GameDaily has a round-up of eight new features in the game:

1. Technology: your character can use computers, Internet, mobile phones
2. More difficult police alert system: not so easy to get away
3. Role-playing features removed: customizing character and leveling up are gone
4. Going up: you'll be able to get onto the roofs of those skyscrapers
5. Aim control: free aim and zoom features for weapons
6. Hail a taxi: a safer way to get across town, especially given #2
7. How to make friends and influence people: networking has become a game mechanic
8. Multiplayer: perhaps even cooperative play

I'm looking forward to this. Plus, it looks amazing. What do you think?

White PS3 coming to America

A number of gaming sites (here, here, here, and here) are reporting that Sony is ready to announce the release of a white PS3 - sorry, ceramic white - in North America.

The console has been on shelves in Japan since last November. It's one of the 40GB units, so it will not have backwards compatibility or memory card slots.

The white - sorry, ceramic white - PS3 will ship with a ceramic white DualShock 3 controller. Now with more rumble.

No availability date has been announced, but we like the idea of crisp white in the spring.

Anyone out there like the idea of mixing up their black and white peripherals, a la Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney?

Resistance 2 confirmed

It's not news, at this point, but we have confirmation that Resistance 2, the sequel to Insomniac Games' Resistance: Fall of Man, is well under way.

Game Informer magazine has the game as its cover story for its February issue, and scoops that Resistance 2 will boast eight-player co-operative play, 60 player multiplayer, and two campaigns, although I'm not sure what that refers to.

The first game was a launch title for the PlayStation 3, and was on my list of best games of 2006. I found it to be a better story and game than Gears of War, actually. (Let the flaming begin.)

Now we just need to scrounge up a release date for Resistance 2. It'd be nice to see it this year.

Video game review: Warhawk

Available on-line through the PlayStation Store on your PS3, or in stores – where it comes with a headset – Warhawk is the kind of game you'll either play with friends or make friends while playing. You'll need a high-speed Internet connection for your PS3 if you don't already have one, as the gameplay here is only on-line, and is only multiplayer. Up to 32 people can play on a variety of maps, ranging from infantry to jeep and tank action, to dogfights in the air while flying the aptly named Warhawk fighters. You'll want to spend most of your time in the skies, where you'll have the most fun: the Sony Computer Entertainment developers have come up with a great control scheme for flying the planes, which can hover and move up and down, as well as fly forward, pitch, and roll. Go get 'em. Rated teen.

[originally published in the Georgia Straight]