Disaster Strikes!

So, I was hoping to post the second half of my review by Monday, however both my Xbox 360 controllers have just conked out, leaving me in a position of helplessness. Control should be restored by tomorrow, until then, comment the hell outa this blog!

Matt
(Damn technology...)

Written Log Aquired, Press Back to Read

There Here.... Coming to get me..... Make it stop.... AHHHHHHHHHH... Splat
I'm sorry to say that due to an untimely case of death by necromorphs this blog will be slightly late Nah! I'm just kidding ya! If you haven't guessed already, this post is going to be all about
Dead Space 3

As with all my reviews, it's spoiler alert time! However I would like to say that this particular post will have some scenes of graphic violence, so... enter if you dare...

 

So, what is Dead Space then? The best way I could describe it as a series, is as a psychological thriller, however, this definition doesn't really hold up when you look at the games individually.
The original game Dead Space is more of a traditional "pop out and say boo!" house of horrors time game. It's fun, sure, but there's a complete lack of well written story that leads me to believe it was never intended to be part of a series.




Dead Space 2's needle in the eye scene. I wont show you what
happens if you fail, as it's shockingly gory


Dead Space 2 was, in my opinion, a much better game, with a considerably more intricate story, and taking the genre of horror more seriously. The entire Dead Space 2 story line centres nicely around a particularly disturbing minigame, where you have to guide a needle into Isaac Clark's eye, if you get it wrong, Isaac is brutally and gruesomely executed by the very machine he's trying to use. It's this kind of story point which marks the difference between the two games, a well thought out, gruesome story point in the second game, which I just couldn't tear my eyes away from (no pun intended) until the process was complete, compared to a cheap fright by a necromorph popping out to say boo, then swipe your head off, in the first game. I know which I'd
rather choose

Dead Space 3 is curious as far as the series goes. It seems to show a good amount of enthralling story but adds in a lot of "pop out and say boo!" factor as well. In this instance at least, its in no way a bad thing.



Aww, he just wants to give you a big hug!

In terms of gameplay, all the enemies are faster and harder to kill, making Isaac's shot's wild and panicky. Isaac's melee attacks are slower, wider and harder to aim, suggesting a level of desperation that wasn't present in the previous games. Attacks are also a lot easier to chain together, many times have I found myself mashing RB to make Isaac stomp over and over again, even though my enemy dies many hits ago. The gameplay alone pulls you into the story, and even though Dead Space 3 is more difficult than the previous games, you find yourself playing the game as if you where actually there, consequently allowing you more survivability.

There is certainly a much higher emphasis on survival, from story right through to mechanics.
The new bench mechanic shows this very well.
We now have the ability to craft guns from parts (as any good engineer should) and this allows you to personalise your load out, however no one gun seems to be better than the other, the all just seem to have different abilities. This means survival depends on finding a gun you're comfortable with, as you don't get enough time to let off aimed shots. Another great mechanic is used during Isaac's time on the planet Tau Volantis, an ice world. You can probably see where I'm going with this, at some point your suit is damaged beyond repair, and you have to survive long enough in the arctic tundra to find a new one. Isaac does this by... you guessed it.... standing close to fires, in order to raise his body heat. Yes I know its practically cliché by now but I still think, in this instance, and this one alone, it works. The mechanic helps to emphasise that this game isn't about soldiers being heroes, its about one man who has absolutely no military training, surviving until a job is done.

That's all I have to say on Dead Space 3 at the moment, as per usual I shall now play the other half of the game, and get back to you on it in a few days

As always my comments bar is open for business, free line guns for all who participate!

Matt.
(Get off me you damn necromorph!)

Continuing our spacy theme...

Hi guys! I'm playing through Dead Space 3 at the moment.
All I'll say for now is that I'm enthralled! as far as story goes, it's an excellent game, and I've already had 3 near heart attacks in the 20 minutes I've been playing

Expect a review of it sometime this week!

Matt.
(BOO)

Ground Control to Major Tom...

So, I've been playing a lot of Kerbal Space Program, ever since it became available on steam. For those of us who aren't perpetually geeking out over physics and space stuff, Kerbal is a space ship simulator, where you have to design, build and fly your own space ships, from launch to wherever you choose to set your destination. For science geek's like me, its nothing short of an excellent game, and highly addictive.

Look! I made a pretty space ship!

Before I put you off for life however, I would say that, whilst difficult, Kerbal is in no way impossible if you don't have the advantage of studying an engineering degree.

The reason I bring Kerbal up is because it's a prime example of what I wanted to chat about today. Does technology interfere with gaming. On the surface of it yes, it does! Gaming is already being taken up as a world wide sport, with leagues in many countries and on many games, and in that situation the answer is a resounding and total affirmative, as unbalanced technology removes the human factor and eliminates skill as a variable (in non-science talk we say cheating). However, I think non competitive games like Kerbal make an excellent exception to this rule.



The Kerbal Space Station, after having just crashed my
pretty space ship into it.

On the picture of my pretty space ship (actually its a module on route to the space station I'm building) you can see a task panel on the right hand side of the screen. This is a non standard ad-on. Before all the beautiful, and sadly non-existent, gamer girls all start swooning in the street at my insolence, I would point out that getting two craft to dock in Kerbal is extremely difficult, and not worth the effort required, even if you do have an engineering degree. So, its very simple, I'm using a non-standard piece of technology, software in this case, to enable me to do things that I would usually find difficult or impossible, but I wouldn't consider it cheating.

There are many reasons I wouldn't consider this cheating, mainly in this case it's because I haven't harmed anyone. Kerbal is a game based on using technology to achieve self set goals. In this case, the goal I've set myself is neigh on impossible, and I have to repeat it many times, as you cant just balance a space station on top of a rocket (and before you say it, no you cant, I've Kerbaled it, it doesn't work).

With technology advancing at such an amazing speed, we do have to turn around for a few minutes, as an industry and say to ourselves "do we really want 3D goggles with self-righting gyroscopes and movement sensors, or can we do without it". Ok, that was a little over the top but you see where I'm going with this. Technology is amazing, it helps us do many things, however, it removes the human element, which means we have to be careful in its implementation.

As always folks I'm eager to hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter, and to be honest I'm starting to think my comment bar isn't working, so start commenting!

Matt.

(P.S. Space is Awesome
)

Lectures are boring, gaming is fun!

I know, I know, I should probably be paying attention, but the lecturer also shouldn't be teaching us about springs.

Anyways, the question I've been mulling over for the past few hours is about gaming peripherals, we've already seen accessories like those funny google glasses (I forget the name), infrared keyboards etc.

What I want to know is; do you think these accessories are going to make there way over into the sphere of hardcore gaming, or, is there no beating a good ol' gaming controller.

I have to sit and think for a while, but once I'm done with that, expect a post!

As always leave your remarks in the comments

Matt.

I Tawt I Taw a Booker Dewitt

So, lets have a chat about Songbird. Before I go any further, I must quickly say:

Yeah, if the big arse picture didn't give it away, Songbird is a major character in Bioshock: Infinite, so there will be some definite major spoilers!

Elizabeth and Songbird have a... complicated relationship

Songbird is Elizabeth's guardian and gatekeeper, he fills a very interesting role that speaks very highly to the theory of Stockholm syndrome. Both protector and imprisoner. We first encounter him (I'm assuming Songbird is a him) as we first encounter Elizabeth, at the top of a large tower, where he immediately start trying to kill us. A fairly standard layout for a game character, especially an enemy, however that is where the similarity ends. Elizabeth and Songbird have a complicated relationship, both protector and jailor at the same time, Elizabeth starts off with songbird as her only friend, bringing her books, pictures, films, etc. Eventually, Elizabeth starts to hate Songbird, simply because of his position as her jailor. This complicated relationship is felt throughout the game, and sets the tone for your encounters with Songbird.

Eventually the inevitable happens, and Songbird ambushes Booker and Elizabeth, stealing her away to be taken back, kicking and screaming, like a stereotypical comic book damsel in distress. Story wise, there's not much you can do to get Elizabeth back, and mechanics wise, there's nothing you can do, as Songbird mostly appears in cut scenes.


The Death of a Songbird, a particularly emotional scene

Of course eventually you do get Elizabeth back and the story does progress, leading to the point where you gain control of songbird, I shant say when or why though, some spoilers you'll have to work out for yourselves. It’s very difficult to describe what happens next without giving away most of the plot. After many a cut scene you find yourself facing Songbird's death, a particularly stirring scenelet, which sums up this game perfectly. 

Another cool mechanic that I quite enjoy is the Songbird Defence system. Golden statues of the prophet, rather reminiscent of the mechanical patriots (except with rather less miniguns). If disturbed by Booker or Elizabeth, they emit a high pitched whistling tune, which players of the game will come to fear and dread, as it almost always bring a rather angry Songbird down on you.



Songbird Defence System statue, rather creepy and
egotistic, don't you think?

 If I had to draw a parallel to the other Bioshock games, I'd say that Songbird is very much like the Big Daddies of the previous games. However, there are many Big Daddies, and only one Songbird, allowing us to delve much deeper into the story of the creature.

I seriously recommend that you go and get Bioshock Infinity, as it's an excellent game, and Songbird is only one, very small (if particularly tear provoking) part. Lastly, I'll leave a YouTube link to the songbird call song at the bottom of the page, so you can listen to that damn creepy tune as much as you like.
 
So what do you guys and gals think? Songbird, Sorrowful Loss or Songbird, Beat up old monster?
Share your opinion in the comments!

Matt.

We inturupt your schedualed blogscast...

Just a quick updated to keep you all saited in the long hours of the day where I'm at university.

The next topic on my blog is going to be all about songbird, elizabeth's mechanical guardian from Bioshock: Infinity, there will be spoilers galor, so I'm warning you now.

I've already posted about the topic elsewhere, but I realy need some discussion on it, what do you think? Songbird, good riddance to bad robots, or a terrible tragidy of the worst order

Use the comments to discuss it!