7 replies to this topic

[Hex Pallett]

So as anyone following videogames has already knew, Kevin Spacey will be in the next Call of Doody game. As I was reading this article about how they talked Spacey into the game, I was searching in my head about storytelling bits in action games. Strangely, what first came to mind was this:

I don't know about you, but I think this is an incredibly well-done storytelling bits. Carefully placed set pieces, intense sound design, great attention to details - I especially love how the soldier patted the roof of the car - and of course a kick-ass soundtrack. I still remember my first time playing this, when the car turned to the ocean and there're jets and tanks all over, that gave goosebumps all over me.

Love or hate, Call of Duty does a damn fine job creating Michael Bay stuff in videogames. Well, I'd say they did a little too well. Most action movies usually involves about three or more themed set pieces. Most CoD has one in each level, which raised the bar too high and we no longer notice....but even though, There's at least one memorable level in each CoD. Except for Ghost, which I didn't play. And I heard it's awful.

And there are other games trying to emulate that and failed. Noticable EA with Medal of Honor and Battlefield, which they fell flat on their faces. I just bought Ace Combat Assault Horizon and it's abundantly clear that CoD had its influence on it (*cough* mandatory AC130 mission), but it's not doing so well.

Anyway, some thoughts.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Never played a CoD game before - but you did more to make them sound interesting by comparing them to Michael Bay (who I think it terrible - but I like "so bad its good" stuff) than anything else I have seen or heard

[Nathan Foxbane]

The Ghost storyline is a bit hard to follow. Still better than Black Ops in my opinion. AC: Assault Horizon is a fun game, but the story is less developed than AC6. Now there is one hell of a story. Fuse has a good story as well. Though Deus Ex: Human Revolution takes the cake. I have put 40+ hours into that sucker and am still not finished with the first play through on the lowest difficulty (of course I have a compulsive need to hack any terminal I can, stay on the cops good side, and going for a non-lethal game).

[Hex Pallett]

Shar Wolf, on 10 May 2014 - 12:02 PM, said:

Never played a CoD game before - but you did more to make them sound interesting by comparing them to Michael Bay (who I think it terrible - but I like "so bad its good" stuff) than anything else I have seen or heard

CoD singleplayer is basically "action movie simulator". Go grab Modern Warfare 1 and 2 and you'll have a good time

Nathan Foxbane, on 10 May 2014 - 01:40 PM, said:

The Ghost storyline is a bit hard to follow. Still better than Black Ops in my opinion. AC: Assault Horizon is a fun game, but the story is less developed than AC6. Now there is one hell of a story. Fuse has a good story as well. Though Deus Ex: Human Revolution takes the cake. I have put 40+ hours into that sucker and am still not finished with the first play through on the lowest difficulty (of course I have a compulsive need to hack any terminal I can, stay on the cops good side, and going for a non-lethal game).

I absolutely love DE: HR. In fact I think that game shows how storytelling should be done - by scattering bits and pieces around, and you learn it by exploring and taking side quests. Heck, Jensen's apartment is a story in itself.

But, how dare you bashing Black Ops! It's one of my favourite! Indeed it goes into the "so bad it's good", but it has vietnam! It has JFK! It has rooftop chasing in Kowloon! It has you infiltrating a Russian rocket facility! My favourite is the gulag escape - you get to see a Russian badass killing people with mattock, push minecarts against heavy MG fire, harpoon a heli out of the sky, slay the reinforcement with minigun and then escape on motorcycle while shooting a lever shotgun - how can anyone NOT love that!

[SethAbercromby]

My big problem with the CoD games is that they can't establish a good narrative outside of predetermined cut scenes. It feels more like watching a movie that tries to tie you in without giving your actions as a player any mentionable depth. "Go there, shoot this" is most what you get to do as a player and that is just uninteresting.

The game I've spend the last few days sinking more than 45 hours in is Murasama Rebirth for the Vita and not anywhere to have completed the game (I'm through the main storylines but I still have 2 DLC characters to complete and there's still a truckload of challenges I haven't beat yet). Aside from the super fast and challenging combat and beautifully hand-drawn sprites and backgrounds, the game has a very strong narrative without relying too much on dialogue. You can talk with some people along the road and even pre-bossfight dialogue with various characters usually doesn't take much longer than 2 minutes. But just from the way the charters talk in these brief dialogues sometimes gives you quite deep insight in their personality and how they think. The voice-Acting is Japanese with English subtitles and very professional, which also helps with the narrative (as a single sentence with good delivery can be much more insightful than 10 sentences trying to get to the same thing with bad delivery).

Another thing is that while both protagonist fight very similarly, they move very differently in combat. The movement is also a very good aspect in the narrative, albeit very subtle. The different kinds of body movement shows the differences in their intentions and goals very well. I personally find one of the characters to be much more interesting than the other though (I'm not telling who, to avoid any biases).

Overall, I think it handles narrative much better than most other games that have been released in the last few years, and that thought is kind of depressing. I'd love to see a lot more games of that quality again...


Btw: The game can be goddamn difficult at times. The boss encounters are challenging and even random enemy encounters can be lethal if you start getting cocky. For replayability, there are 3 endings for each of the main characters, the latter 2 of which need to be unlocked via optional challenges (the 2nd can be unlocked after completing the story of both characters and then fighting an alternative final boss, the last requires you to then complete some rather difficult bonus challenges). None of the endings can be assumed to be "true", which I personally like a lot.

There are also 3 difficulties, Legend (Normal) and Chaos (Hard) that can be changed at any time (even mid-combat if you feel being cheesy) and the later unlocked Fury (Instant death) that requires the player to start a new save file, locks the HP at 1 and cannot be changed at any time. I've reached the first ending with one of the characters in Fury. It is surprisingly fun to test yourself to your absolute limit and it makes you appreciate the level of craftsmanship that went into each of the enemies, especially the bosses.

[Alaskan Nobody]

Helmstif, on 10 May 2014 - 03:11 PM, said:

CoD singleplayer is basically "action movie simulator". Go grab Modern Warfare 1 and 2 and you'll have a good time

Big reason I haven't played either is I am not usually a fan of FPS games.

Older ones with lower graphic settings actually make me motion sick

[SethAbercromby]

Shar Wolf, on 10 May 2014 - 03:18 PM, said:

Older ones with lower graphic settings actually make me motion sick

I have no real sense of depth in older games which confuses me sometimes. I don't really have much problem with motion sickness but I can see how the odd angle can cause some weird effects.

[Alaskan Nobody]

SethAbercromby, on 10 May 2014 - 03:25 PM, said:

I have no real sense of depth in older games which confuses me sometimes. I don't really have much problem with motion sickness but I can see how the odd angle can cause some weird effects.

Not the angle actually (I have poor depth perception as well) but the lower texture resolutions sliding past.