Up late talking games & writing? You're...

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Writing: Work on the book is coming along, slowly but surely. Things went by a lot faster before the baby was born, but the family unit is finally settling into a fairly stable groove. Of course, it didn't help that 18,000,000 games got released for the fourth quarter crush and that I've been doing a few night gigs here and there, but all that stuff aside, things are getting back on track.
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Although I'd love to have a few days where I could sit in front of the computer for six hours and bang out three chapters, I'm still content and my co-author is the definition of the word gracious.
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Writing is really all about patience anyway, isn't it?
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Games: Still playing Assassin’s Creed 2, and at this point I'm completely sick of it. In fact, I'm sick of it to the point that I had a few available hours to keep playing, and I chose to turn the system off and walk away because I just couldn't take it anymore.
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Tedium and repetition have crept in and put a stranglehold on the proceedings, and it doesn't help that the story is about as boring as the story can be. Italian Renaissance political intrigue? Snore.
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Although I will admit that this game is better than the first, that doesn't mean that it's great. Far from it. I'm honestly shocked that people have given it such great reviews (currently a 92 on MetaCrititc! A 92!!) and I'm even more shocked that anybody would even consider it for GOTY status. Seriously don't get that.
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Anyway, back to the book…
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Misc: Although I'm not really one to celebrate the holidays in general, Thanksgiving today had a little more significance for me than usual.
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Maybe it's because I'm getting older, maybe finally having a baby in the house full time has given me a slightly different perspective on things, or maybe the path I've taken in life to get to where I am today has made me appreciate what I have. Regardless, to celebrate the occasion, a short list of some things I'm thankful for:
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My amazing wife and my two wonderful sons, a good job in a down economy, a warm and dry place to live, enough food to actually be stuffed on a holiday like today, the ability to recognize and be thankful for what I have, and last but certainly not least, review copies of fantastic games from publishers.
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Life is good. Happy Thanksgiving, folks. Hope you've got blessings to count as well.
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Games: I sent out a message via Twitter earlier, but in case you missed it, here's a link to my appearance on the most recent Big Red Potion podcast. The topic was Modern Warfare 2 and the connection between games and their portrayal of wartime politics.
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Many thanks to Joe DeLia and Sinan Kubba for having me on. Also, props to my co-podcaster Steve Haske from Play. It was certainly an honor, and I hope to do it again sometime.
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I've got a few fairly cool features that are being cooked up as we speak, but at the moment I'm spending some time with Assassin's Creed 2. If you caught my review of the first game, then you'll know that I saw it as a huge disappointment. If there was ever a poster child for missed potential, Assassin’s Creed 1 would be it.
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In spite of my dismay, I held out hope that Ubisoft would take the copious amounts of player feedback and apply it towards the sequel, finally crafting a title that lived up to the promise. The early word was good, and practically everyone I spoke to said that the developers had seen the error of their ways and had delivered a game that ‘kept all the good stuff and got rid of all the bad’.
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I wanted to believe. Oh, how I wanted to believe.
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I'm not done with the game, but I've put somewhere in the neighborhood of six or so hours into it so far. Initial impressions were extremely poor… the first four hours or thereabouts were extremely slow and dull, taking entirely too much time to establish a story that's not nearly as interesting as the developers want you to think it is. It also doesn't help that this giant block of time serves as an overly-extended tutorial, dragging out what could have really been condensed into a fraction of what it takes.
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Getting through that part was fairly painful, and once I was done with it and got into the game proper, I can't really say that things got much better. Although I'm still reserving final judgment, what I've seen so far amounts to an exact copy of the first game with a lot of stuff I don't care about crammed into it-- things like a money system, a notoriety system, managing items, and being caretaker for a property owned by your family. I suppose this is an attempt to emulate GTA, but I just keep asking myself why I'm supposed to care. The game is called Assassin’s Creed, and yet (just like the first installment) I’d have to say that the assassinating is probably the weakest part of the experience.
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The controls feel kludgey, the stealth mechanics don't include using shadows (or even ducking), and I'm just not getting any kind of satisfaction with the tasks I’m completing. There may be a bullet-point list of new features that make this game “better” than the last, but from where I'm standing, it seems as though the developers basically left the core experience unchanged-- and that's the part that needed the most work.
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(Incidentally, Jim Sterling over at Destructoid seems to like it about as much as I do so far… maybe even less. He's written a pretty brutal review which I actually like a lot, if for no other reason than it's rare to see a high-profile reviewer really lay into a ‘top-tier’ game like this one. Jim Sterling, I salute you.)
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More to come.
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Games: Getting closer to the end of my ‘must-plays’ of 2009, I just wrapped up Batman: Arkham Asylum on PS3 a few minutes ago. I've got to say, this is one of those extremely rare times when I felt that all of the praise and accolades given to the game were well and truly deserved.
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Rocksteady Studios did a fantastic job on this project, no two ways about it.
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I think one of the things that I admired the most was that everything in the game was created in service to the overall experience. What I mean by that is, there were no design choices or mechanics that did not serve the greater function of carrying the player along on a fast-paced adventure portraying Batman as no other game has. Every aspect supported the central vision. I don't detect anything that feels out of place, or that was left in despite not quite fitting with the rest. For a developer to show such restraint is practically unheard of.
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Not only was the design incredibly tight, Arkham Asylum is without a doubt the best Batman game ever made, and it's better than practically all of the films. It's not going to be my game of the year, but this was most certainly one of the top games released in ’09 and will make it to my own personal top ten without breaking a sweat. I absolutely can't wait to see what Rocksteady does next.
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My friend Chris Vandergaag has come up with a few more (hilarious) commentary pieces that I think readers of this blog might appreciate. The first is on the mainstream press, and the second is about the Modern Warfare 2 launch. Check them out if you're so inclined.
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TV: USA Network has really been on a roll lately. Coming from rather humble beginnings, their roster of original TV programming has now become quite strong, if you ask me. Although I've never appreciated Monk as much as the people who give out the Emmys do, I'm definitely a fan of Psych and Burn Notice. Added to that list is White Collar, the newest series that recently debuted on November 27th.
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Sticking to the standard USA formula of characters-with-quirk and story arcs that continue throughout the whole season despite each episode being able to stand alone, the show is about a clever criminal genius (now reformed?) who’s released into the custody of the FBI agent who originally caught him. Combining illegal techniques with a badge and a directive to solve crimes, the two work together and have sort of an Odd Couple dynamic as they take down bad guys.
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The two lead actors (Matthew Bomer and Tim DeKay) do a great job in their roles and have great chemistry together. Neither feels the least bit uncomfortable or stiff, and they each have a great facility for injecting just the right amount of eyebrow arching or wisecracking without pushing the show too far into the humor category. Although it's definitely on the lighter side, it's not satire or straight-up comedy. You might have to leave your brain at the door once in a while and let some of the plot points slide by, but I'm definitely going to be tuning in for the rest of the season.
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Food: Just a quick note about coffee -- And I know this may be old hat to some, so I'll beg forgiveness in advance. Anyway, although I'm definitely a hard-core coffee drinker, I’ve generally used the standard drip-machines for most of my life. Not anymore.
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Certainly I’ve known about French Press coffee makers for quite some time, but I've never really had much experience with them outside of the occasional slightly-upscale restaurant. It always seemed kind of goofy, and not as easy as simply putting some beans inside a filter and pushing a few buttons. However, the wife started using one couple of weeks ago and (no joke) I could tell that the cup of coffee it produced was superior to the drip method after just one sip.
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At this point, I'm a total convert. We haven't used our drip maker since that first cup of French Press, and I would strongly recommend that any fellow coffee drinkers out there go down to your local department store, pick one up and give it a try.
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The model pictured here is the exact one that I have, and it's relatively inexpensive. Here’s a link to it on Amazon, and it can be had currently for about $20. Not only is that a lot cheaper than buying a standard drip maker (a good one, anyway) I can pretty much guarantee that the cups will be a lot tastier, easily justifying the cost of the purchase. Seriously... if you like coffee like I like coffee, you can't go wrong.
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Games: Oops, forgot to add a link to my Dragon Age: Origins review. Please note that it's based on the 360 version and not the PC... There are extreme differences in the way the combat plays out.
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Games: I’ve been putting a little time into The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road on DS. I love games that repurpose classic characters or stories, and the saga of Dorothy Gale is certainly known far and wide. Sweetening the deal, the art style is very attractive and I have to admit I was kind of a sucker for the idea of having a four-character party made up of the iconic film characters.
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Dorothy casts Heal! The Tin Man attacks with his Axe!
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Totally tantalizing stuff. Sign me up.
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I'm not too far into it, but to be frank, playing the game is a very puzzling experience. Mentally, it seems pretty obvious that I should not be enjoying it-- it's a bare-bones basic RPG framework (very beginner-friendly) and the gameplay consists of having Dorothy run down a long series of paths while smacking down various fantasy creatures. I put a number of hours into it, and so far it doesn't seem to get any more complex or varied than this. There’s not even any story carrying it.
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I let the wife have a go at it, and she quit out of boredom after about two or three hours. I totally understand why she did and I don't blame her at all. I mean, I really don't know why I haven't quit it myself. I see no compelling reason to keep playing, and yet... I do.
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I am confused.
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In other news, Spike’s Videogame Awards are now accepting votes for this year's ceremony. In the RPG category, Demon’s Souls is one of the nominees-- and if there was ever a game that deserves every bit of props it could get, Demon’s Souls is it. If you haven't already voted, go HERE and cast your ballot.
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Speaking of Atlus games, news has started to trickle out about the upcoming Shiren the Wanderer for the Wii. Set to release on February 9, this is absolutely one of my most anticipated games for the foreseeable future.
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In case you missed it, I picked up a copy of Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer on DS a while ago and blogged about it obsessively for a few days. (You can search the blog via the box at the top if you want to catch up on those posts.)
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I knew very little about it except for the fact that it was a Roguelike, but it didn't take me long to fall in love. More than anything, I admired the unyielding discipline of the developers and the way they implemented the rules of the game consistently and fairly from start to finish. It was certainly difficult to be sure, but it was one of those rare games that never felt unfair or cheap. If I died, it was due to my own error and I would always immediately restart, completely motivated to redeem myself. Hearing that Atlus was going to bring the Wii sequel to the states put an immediate smile on my face.
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You can read up on the game at the official blog site HERE, and if you are at all interested in the sort of game that's not afraid to ask a little more from players before giving up the credits, then you'll want to keep your eye out for this one.
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Finally, before leaving the topic of games, I'm getting near the end of my must-play list for 2009. At the moment, the only significant titles left to get to are Batman: Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Assassin’s Creed 2. If what people tell me is accurate, then this basically means I'll be playing three of the best games of the year back-to-back… definitely looking forward to a string of high-caliber hits like these. Hopefully they’ll live up to their respective reputations.
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In the meantime, if you've got a suggestion for a title that you think I should take note of before putting together our year-end wrap up, post a message here, hit me up on Twitter, or send me an e-mail and let me know what you think deserves some recognition.
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Comics: I’ve mentioned Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead before, but I just finished the sixth trade paperback collection and I continue to be extremely impressed with the work he's done here.
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In case you haven't checked the book out yet (and for God’s sake, why not?) it takes place in the standard zombie apocalypse scenario, but becomes an exceptional read due to the fact that it focuses mostly on the interaction of the characters left alive.
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There’s certainly plenty of action and gore, but the main draw to the book is seeing how these remaining people cope with being put in an incredibly harsh situation. Kirkman does a phenomenal job of getting inside the heads of the characters, giving each a very realistic, relatable personality. It's effortless to identify with most of the survivors, and if you can’t identify with some, then you at least understand them.
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Without a doubt, it's one of the best comics I've read in years. Evidently, someone in Hollywood agrees since the series is being turned into a television serial drama. Do yourself a favor and get caught up on the books now, before the show hits-- you'll gain insta-cred among your friends for being the cool kid who knew about it beforehand.
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Games: A while ago, a friend on Twitter recommended I check out SwitchGames, an online trading service for folks who want to get rid of the old in exchange for the new. Rather than messing around with tokens, credit, or trade points (I get enough of that nonstandard currency crap paying for DLC already, thanks) SwitchGames offers a 1-to-1 trading system—basically, a straight-across swap service that matches people up according to their wants.
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Done with Borderlands and want Uncharted 2? There’s a guy somewhere with Nathan Drake’s latest adventure on hand waiting to take a trip into the dusty brown world of monotonous gun collecting. SwitchGames.com helps you find each other and then… trade get!
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Although my initial experience using the service was a little on the rocky side thanks to a few bugs, the support staff was quick, courteous and efficient in addressing my concerns, getting the problem ironed out in a day or so. Since then, I’ve completed two trades with fellow used gamers across the country, and been totally satisfied with smooth transactions in both cases.
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After personally using the service and really digging how it worked, I wanted to know just a bit more. To that end, the founder of SwitchGames, Jason Crawford, was good enough to take some time out of his day to share a few words with me.
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Jason, what's Switchgames?
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SwitchGames.com is the world's largest peer to peer trading site for gamers. On SwitchGames, gamers finally have the tools and community to easily trade directly with each other, putting an end to unfair trade-in practices that have sadly become the norm in the industry. No trade-in values, no points, no waiting cues, no subscription fees, etc., SwitchGames.com is truly free to join and free to use. We offer optional - and I stress the word optional - services that make trading easier, safer and faster. SwitchGames is social marketplace unlike anything else built before.
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[Note: the optional service referred to is basically a prepaid postage/insurance option that reimburses a person in the event that their game is lost, or the person they're trading with ends up being dishonest. Very reasonably priced.]
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Who is Switchgames?
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We're a group of nerds that love video games but hate getting ripped off. We want to disrupt the industry and change things for the better. I was in game development for about 6 years before putting all my savings and time into SwitchGames. Before that, I did web development stuff. My partner Kai had a cushy gig working in business development and strategy before I talked him into joining me in the crazy world of SwitchGames. Our staff is comprised of the smartest, coolest, most dedicated group of people I have ever worked with. We're all deeply committed to the SwitchGames cause and we're all active users on SwitchGames. None of us have made a trip to GameStop since we launched.
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How did Switchgames get started?
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Back in 2003 I put up a quick and dirty version of SwitchGames, which was actually the very first site of its kind. You could put stuff on your wishlist, show off what you owned, and we even had a very primitive version of SwitchBot. [The feature that does the auto-matching between traders.]
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The site didn't work so well after we reached around 3,000 users because it was really meant for me and my friends to trade games with people we didn't know. We never advertised or anything, it just sort of caught on through word of mouth. I spent several years doing video game development, which doesn't leave any time for anything else in life, but I never stopped listening to member feedback or putting designs together for what SwitchGames would be when I could work on it full time.

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Why is Switchgames better than comparable online trading/exchange sites?
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Somehow the word "trading" has become synonymous with "trade-ins" and SwitchGames is putting a stop to that insanity. Too many sites offer a slight variation on the typical trade-in model and then call it "trading". These sites are NOT trading sites but trade-in sites running the same buy low / sell high racket that GameStop and other retail chains are doing. To really understand why SwitchGames is the best option out there, just sign up and start using it. There is no bigger, safer, easier, and quicker way to trade directly with other gamers online. Period. In less than a year we have over 80,000 items up for trade and thousands of gamers save tons of money trading on SwitchGames every day. We have made something truly empowering for gamers. If enough people start using SwitchGames, gamers will ultimately gain control of the used game market. I just love that idea... it's the way it should be.
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Sincere thanks goes out to Jason Crawford and the rest of the SwitchGames crew for this quick Q and A, as well as for helping me plug some of the holes in my collection for what amounted to basically no money. GameStop just got a whole lot less appealing…
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Games: Always one to support smaller development houses and those exploring the downloadable space, I was fortunate enough to get the chance to have a brief exchange with Max Wagner, one of the co-founders of brand-spanking (sort-of) new Signal Studios.
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The studio’s first game, Toy Soldiers, was just revealed at the most recent Tokyo Game Show and will be leading the assault on Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service in the very near future. If the screenshots below are any indication, it’s going to be one to watch out for.
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So Max, who’s behind Signal Studios and how did it come about? What can you tell me about your background, your experience in the industry, and any other vital statistics you'd care to share?
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We started up almost two years ago toward the beginning of 2008. The three founders are myself (Max Wagner), D.R. Albright, and Paul Knutzen - we had worked together previously at Snowblind Studios.
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We were excited about the prospect of being able to put out something for the downloadable market that looks and feels like a big budget, AAA game, but that has more of a quick, pick up and play feel to it. So XBLA was the perfect fit, as it was coming into its own as a strong platform with an increasingly growing base of games and LIVE users.
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We were also attracted to the idea of being able to work with a smaller team with a faster release schedule. We'd all worked at larger studios, and were missing some of the comraderie that comes when you're working in a smaller environment - ultimately we wanted to streamline the process of making a game and cut out a lot of the red tape.
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How difficult was it to start your own studio? What's it like, what was involved, and were there any unforeseen pitfalls or problems?
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It's definitely one of those things that's easy to underestimate - there are a number of challenges beyond just "making the game" - managing those business responsibilities alongside the game development itself takes a lot more time and effort. That said, we knew what we were getting into, and the reason we did this was because we thought we had some good ideas for how to run a game development studio. I think once Toy Soldiers is released we'll be able to look back and reflect a little more concretely on what we've done right, what we've done wrong, and apply any lessons to future work and projects.
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What is Signal’s design philosophy, and what are your goals as a studio?
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Our design and production philosophy is pretty simple really. We try to avoid flashy marketing terms - right now everyone in the game industry is wild for "scrum," and tomorrow it will probably be something else - we prefer to stick with this thing called "common sense" - but hey people should use whatever's right for their game.
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Ultimately the quality of the final product is the most important thing, so we try to take the best path to that end. Our goal is to produce games that are fun and engaging - one of the greatest pleasures of this business is to know you made something that people are out there playing and enjoying. It's simple but that's what it's all about.
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Who or what are your biggest influences, and are there any trends or tendencies lately that the studio is consciously trying to stay away from?
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It's difficult to limit our influences to just other games or developers. I think it's fair to say that we're influenced by all media - movies, novels, comic books, paintings, graphic art, music... and obviously games as well. We're a fun loving crew, we like to joke around and ultimately a lot of good ideas just come out of that.
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We really have a broad range of interests and influences at the studio - I can envision us going on to create a variety of types of games. Right now of course we're really excited about Toy Soldiers - I think it captures our current spirit of just wanting a game that cuts to the chase - no prolonged cut scenes, no overly complicated controls - we just want the player to be able to pick up the controller and immediately have fun and be immersed in the action. Whether you've only got half an hour at the end of the day to sit down and enjoy it, or the better part of a Sunday to play over LIVE with friends - that's where our focus is right now, providing that kind of easy and fun experience.
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There hasn't been a lot of information about Toy Soldiers so far. You've been flying under the radar, although the official announcement was made at the most recent TGS. Now that the cloak of silence has been discarded, what can you tell us about it?
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So there was a bit of confusion with our announce at the Tokyo Game Show - our game was being pitched as Tower Defense. I think everyone that got a chance to preview it was able to see that there was a lot more going on.
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The truth of it is that Toy Soldiers was certainly inspired in some ways by Tower Defense gameplay, and players will find familiar elements there - but we wanted to add the kind of immediacy that comes from shooters and action games. Ultimately what came out of this whirlwind process has a little bit of multiple different genres - action, flying, driving, some light strategy, a little tower defense - but really it's more action than anything else. Basically we just think it's fun to blow stuff up - it's like setting up your G.I. Joes and setting off a bunch of firecrackers in the backyard when you were a kid (I'm assuming I wasn't the only one!).
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Ultimately the WWI setting really just was a natural fit for the whole thing, and provided a unique setting that a lot of gamers haven't seen that much of. It also provided a lot of really amazing and unique material to draw on for the weapons and vehicles - WWI was sort of this bridge between older style warfare with horses and swords, and the 20th century warfare with early machine guns, heavy artillery, and vehicles. There were a lot of experimental vehicles and weapons that we incorporated into the game.
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In the end it makes for some really unique juxtapositions that I think just add to the fun and sense of wonder - there's just a lot of really cool stuff to look at in the game.
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Any idea when players can look forward to downloading Toy Soldiers? Also, will it be exclusive to XBLA, or are there other plans for it?
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I can't give a concrete date at this point, but I'd keep my eyes peeled for something in the Q1 to Q2 phase of 2010 - and yes, this is an XBLA exclusive title.
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Infinite thanks to Max Wagner for taking the time, and best wishes to Signal Studios on their upcoming launch!
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Misc: Although I've got a couple of things to go up on the blog, I had to take care of a late-night/early-morning, last-minute work assignment that obliterated my entire night's sleep. Ended up getting about two hours in the sack, so I'm postponing an update until the edges start smoothing out.
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In the meantime, here's a link to to my recent Trine review (PSN), and a Gamers With Jobs link discussing a different take on DLC which I pretty much completely disagree with. Thanks to @Hargrada for the link!
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Check back tomorrow for a proper update!
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Games: As is somewhat apparent, I've been spending some time (a lot of time, actually) with BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins. Although it's got a few issues, it's a great Adventure-RPG if you like the style as much as I do, and it's had no trouble keeping my interest. However, there has been something that's been bothering me about it-- the character Shale.
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For those that don't know, Shale is an extra character that can be recruited into the player's party. A powerful wrecking-ball of a golem with a witty personality, he's a very attractive prospect. The issue? He's only available via DLC.
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This fact isn't really an issue for me personally since I ponied up for the Collector’s Edition. In that particular package, the DLC is included. However those who bought the standard retail version will have to pay extra to get the same content I’m going through right now.
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In general, I actually enjoy DLC quite a bit-- it can add new life to games that might otherwise be shelved or traded in, and anything that can extend the life of a great disc gathering dust is welcome in my eyes. However, I'm starting to question the ethics of DLC… specifically, DLC that launches day and date alongside a ‘complete’ retail game.
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After downloading the extra mission and unlocking the character, it was quite obvious that this character was fully integrated into Dragon Age in every way. He has tons of dialogue and fits in seamlessly in every situation. Rather than just being an obvious ‘add-on’, Shale feels as though he absolutely belongs. Ordinarily I would say that this was a great job of integrating extra content and give kudos to the developers, but since this package was available as soon as the game hit retail, it's a little hard to ignore the evidence suggesting that rather than being an ‘extra’, Shale was possibly removed from the game and turned into DLC—or at the very least, it was planned as a part of the game from the start.
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Don't get me wrong-- I realize that publishers and developers need to make money. They're not in this business for any altruistic purposes. These people need to be paid and their families need to be fed. That's not in dispute. Furthermore, they are at liberty to do whatever they want with their product. Gamers aren’t ‘entitled’ to anything really, so we either take what people sell us or we find a new hobby.
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That said, I can't help but have some internal questions about the ‘proper’ role of DLC, if such a thing can even be said to exist-- and if it does, what is it? Is there a line that shouldn't be crossed? If so, where’s it drawn? Who draws it?
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In this particular case, it feels a little dishonest to me to think that a complete game might have been carved up and split off into fragments as a way of increasing profit. At the same time, I have to admit that it's a very irrational sort of feeling since as I stated, gamers have no right to anything at all, except the right to not purchase something. Nobody’s forcing anyone to purchase anything, and as long as the standard game isn’t a gutted shell, then it’s a matter of player’s choice.
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Looking at Dragon Age (and it’s hardly just BioWare/EA, by the way… plenty of others have had launch-day DLC as well) the game is certainly ‘complete’ without the extras in the sense that there’s plenty of content and a beginning/middle/end. It’s not an unfinished game, to be sure. Still, I just can’t get over the quasi-tainted feeling I get knowing that the plan was to have these things as extras well in advance of the game’s launch. Giving players more of what they want after the game’s met with favorable reception is one thing, but intentionally keeping back certain dimensions of the game for those that don’t pay extra seems like another. Logically, I can’t assign any sort of moral misdeeds given the profit-based product nature of gaming, but at the same time, I would still feel taken for a bit of a ride if I had had to pay for something that’s so obviously engineered into the ‘full retail’ version in such a premeditated way.
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It seems like parsing out a game’s substance, attaching a dollar value to each segment, and coming up with a justifiable definition of what a ‘complete’ game entails is a very slippery slope to me, and while we’re all sort of finding our way with DLC, I can’t help but feel that things are going to get worse before players, developers and publishers can all agree on a comfortable middle ground.

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EDIT: I've been informed that despite sporting a $15 pricetag online, the Shale DLC was free in every copy of the game and not just the Collector's Edition as I had previously thought. My error there and apologies for that. I've earned a -2 in my Fact Checking stat, and you can consider my crow eaten-- but the general issues raised with same-day releases remains. (Additionally, as a point of clarification, the Dragon Age Warden's Keep DLC also launched on day one, and that's a paid download.)
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Games: Ok, an update to the Dragon Age situation: Miraculously, the game did arrive at my house, unopened. I was thrilled-- and also very, very confused.
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Turns out that the game was indeed incorrectly delivered to my old address, but through some unexplained happenstance, the postal carrier somehow had an epiphany and remembered that the wrong occupant was living there. He went back to reclaim the box the next day, was able to recover it, and then put it back through the forwarding process which resulted in the extended delay-- and me getting hyper paranoid about the game being stolen by the guy who now lives in my old house.
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I still say he looked damn suspicious, but I guess I owe him an apology since he was innocent. Random dude: my bad.
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So, now that it’s here I’ve been able to log some hours with it and at this point all I'll say is that despite some of the big talk BioWare was putting out, Dragon Age = KOTOR/Jade Empire/Mass Effect in a Medieval-ish/LOTR skin.
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Frankly, it's the same game they've put out a couple times now, so everyone's mileage may vary. In my case, this is one of my favorite game types and BioWare does them best, so I'm digging it. However, I’m under no illusions that the game pushes any boundaries or explores new territory. This is firmly-established boilerplate.
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Although the voice acting is superb and there are tons of dialogue trees available (always pluses) Dragon Age is much rougher and more unpolished than I would expect from BioWare, and it doesn't have their usual ZING! quality. I mean, even a mediocre BioWare game beats the pants off of a lot of other games, but it's far from their best… I’ve hit a handful of small bugs, certain design decisions annoy me, and the game lags far behind its contemporaries in a technical sense. Hate to sound like a graphics whore or the equivalent, but the visuals are part of the immersion, so if they’re not there then it’s kind of an issue at times.
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So far it’s still good and still very enjoyable-- it just feels a little like they’ve got the formula down and they're phoning it in here.
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P.S. – The DLC featuring the extra character Shale is SO worth it. They did a great job not just with the quest, but in how seamlessly they integrated him into the main game. Maybe a little TOO well, if you get my drift. That said, he really adds a lot to the mix and I would recommend it to anybody contemplating playing Dragon Age.
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IMO, get it and install as close as possible to the beginning of the game so you’ll have access to the character early on. You won’t be sorry.
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Games: So, my missing copy of Dragon Age… the saga continues, although not for much longer.
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If you read my last post, then you’ll remember that there was a problem with getting hooked up with the Deluxe Edition of BioWare’s latest.
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It's been pretty tough seeing all the reviews come in, both hot and cold, and it's been especially tough hearing all my friends talk about it on Twitter. This title was my last big “looking forward to” for 2009, and with less than two months in the year, I need to get cracking to see whether or not it has a chance of ranking near the top of the year’s titles.
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In any event, after speaking with Amazon they basically told me to hold tight and give the post office to chance to forward the package to me. There are worse things than waiting, I suppose, so that's basically been okay. However, today I got an e-mail from Amazon telling me that the package has been delivered, and asking whether I was satisfied with the resolution.
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Resolution? Something has been resolved?
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This is news to me.
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Clicking on the informational link provided, the tracking number shows that the package was delivered two days ago. After letting out an audible gasp, I throw on some shoes and dash out of the house, wife and child in tow. If the package has been delivered as the tracking number says it has, then it's either at my old house or at my post office being held for rerouting. I decide to go to the old house first since I figure that will be the first question the person at the postal counter will ask.
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Arriving at my former domicile, I quickly check around the perimeter of the house. Our mailman was infamous for stashing packages in places where no one would ever look, and there were more than a few times that I discovered a rain-soaked package after it had been sitting unseen for a few days. I don't see anything, so I decide to knock on the door.
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A youngish, upwardly-mobile-looking dude comes down. Early to mid 30s, in the same age bracket as myself. Glasses. Hip shirt. Well-groomed. I introduce myself and explain that we were the former occupants of the house, and that Amazon had told me my package has been delivered. Had he seen it? Did he have it?
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(At this point, I'd like to state for the record that I thought his cheeks flushed as I asked the question, and it seemed as though he got a little bit tense. My wife did not agree and having never met the person before, I can't say for sure. It might have just been my imagination, but that was my immediate impression.)
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What was his response when I asked whether he had it?
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“What was in it?”
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Now, I don't know about you, but when I get packages or letters that have been delivered to my address by mistake, I don't open them. I never open them. I put them back in the outgoing mail, or if they won't fit, I take them down to the post office and explain that they were delivered in error. Under no circumstances do I open anything that isn't addressed to me, and it struck me as particularly odd that this person would ask what was inside the package. Regardless of what was inside the box, it would've been perfectly obvious that it was not intended for him. It may be due to my inherent distrust of humanity, but I found it more than a little suspicious that he was so keen to find out what was inside this box that I'm telling him had arrived by mistake.
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My spider sense immediately starts tingling.
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“It was a box from Amazon addressed to me. They said was delivered two days ago, so do you have it?”
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I intentionally don't answer his question about the contents because, really, it's not his damn business what was in the package in the first place.
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He tells me that no, he doesn't know, he hasn't gotten any packages except for some teeth-whitening stuff, and hasn't seen anything. He asks again what's in it. He offers to take down my phone number “just in case.”
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I give it to him, but there's just something about his manner that puts me off.
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Given his age, it's extremely likely that he's a gamer. The fact that he wanted to know what was inside the box suggests to me that he's already opened it. Under the circumstances and my gut feeling about this fellow, if you asked me where my game is, I’d tell you that it's inside this guy’s 360.
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I have no idea why the post office wouldn't have forwarded the box as they should have, but both the post office and Amazon are telling me that the package was delivered to my old address, and living at my old address is a guy who looks to me like a cat caught with canary feathers in his mouth.
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There was nothing else I could do except thank him for his time and walk away, but I'd be willing to bet any amount of money that my copy of Dragon Age is never going to arrive at my house—it’s already arrived at his.
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At the moment, I'm in a bit of a holding pattern… I'm either going to be doing something work-related the entire day tomorrow, or I’m going to have the day off. I won’t find out until tomorrow morning, which basically means I need to get up, shower, and get totally ready to go with the possibility that I may end up simply moving from the bedroom to the couch. We'll see.
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Games: Playing Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 with the wife right now, doing co-op throughout the entire campaign. (When the baby will let us, anyway…)
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I didn't expect much more than a complete rehash of the first game, but I have to admit I'm a little surprised at how lackluster it feels. It's basically there, but needs more polish to really make it pop. We've stumbled across more than a handful of bugs and glitches which always detracts from the experience, and parts of the game just don't feel very well-thought-out. The boss fight with Yellowjacket was a complete mess, and it really drives me up the wall the way the game is so capricious with the team you’ve selected.
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I've been using Captain America and Luke Cage, both of whom are randomly rendered "unavailable" at various times during the campaign, forcing me to change my team. It's not really that big a deal, except that the selection of available characters isn't very good and the computer randomly redistributes my experience points whenever a shuffle happens.
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There are a few other annoying things and the hyped “fusion” team-up powers are the epitome of gimmickness, but to be perfectly frank there's nothing game-breaking or terrible going on here-- but there's not anything especially exciting, either. I suppose it doesn't help that I wasn't following this particular arc of story in the actual comics, so some of the events that happen in the plot seem pretty ludicrous to me.
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On the PS3, I’ve been putting some time into Trine, a recently-released $20 PSN game which is essentially a 2.5D side-scrolling action title vaguely similar to something like a Castlevania, but only in the loosest sense.
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The hook to the game is that a Wizard, a Thief, and a Knight touch a magical artifact which binds them together. Only one of them can be onscreen at a time, but the player is free to switch between each of the three at will. Each has a unique ability or trait that aids in progress for each level, although I will say that so far the Wizard seems like the least-useful of the lot.
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It's definitely a quality experience, and seems to offer quite a bit of content for the money. More on this one later.
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In Dragon Age news, there’s no news. I pre-ordered the game a while ago, and had completely forgotten about it until this week. Unfortunately, I actually moved between the time that the order was placed and when I remembered about it, and the package had already shipped by the time I went online to change my information.
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Customer service is telling me that the package should be forwarded through the post office with only a minor delay, and I'm really hoping that they are correct. The other potential outcome is that the package gets sent back and I get my money refunded-- which would be fine in any other circumstance, but there's no chance now to re-order another pre-order package.
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Fingers crossed.
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Today has been one of those ‘wish everybody would just STFU, bugger off and leave me alone days’, so in continuing that spirit, I'm going to phone it in tonight and get to bed early. Extra sleep will probably do me some good... In the meantime:
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Games: Episode 24 of the GameCritics Podcast is now live and available for download. It features the first of two parts on the ‘Myths of Game Reviews’ and incorporates the feedback that so many of you left here at Coffeecola and also at the boards over at GC. Give it a listen and let me know what you think.
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@strybe from Twitter (AKA Daniel Lipscombe over at Hi-Score) has a new feature entitled ‘Cinematics with a Twist’ up at his site. It's a collection of short essays from various reviewers and games people on what cutscenes struck a chord with them, and yours truly was honored to be able to contribute a bit about one of my favorite titles of all time, Shenmue 2.
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Over at The Side Mission, Chris Vandergaag has an interesting piece about DJ Hero. His pieces never fail to amuse me, perhaps you'll feel the same.
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Finally, we are starting to talk about wrapping up 2009 over at GC. We will likely be doing some podcast coverage, and you can bet that I will be doing my own personal top ten here. In the meantime, I'm looking for your nominations and personal selections that you think might have been forgotten or overlooked.
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These kind of top-ten lists inevitably favor games that were released in the latter half of the year, but good things were released in the first six months, too. If you've got a title or two that you think deserves some attention, post a comment, send me an e-mail, or tweet me and you just may see your pick at year’s end.
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