STALKER

Thursday, 10 July 2008

Written by: Melaisis

Personally I'm still playing GTAIV, so here's a STALKER review (Its a long 'un!):


Well, I said I was gonna do another review, so here it is! Again, I am typing this in a single-sitting without any actual drafting, so excuse me if it sucks, or seems all ranty, or you find something else distasteful about it (I suppose that's where I come in - Mel). This review will be on the last game I completed, GSC Game World's "STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl". Yes, I know this game has been out since March of 2007, but the prequel is due to come out within the next couple of months, and I just finished it. So if you're the kind of person who will bitch about me reviewing it for that reason, go drool over 3dRealms' table scraps or something instead of pointing it out like it's some kind of damn crime. It's not illegal in my jurisdiction, anyway.

According to the pseudo-intellectual clusterfuck known as Wikipedia, GSC Game World is based in Kiev, which, like Chernobyl, is in the Ukraine. I suppose their proximity to the site of Captain Planet's worst nightmare makes them a good choice to make a game set in that location. Again, according to Wikipedia (ally to those too lazy to do their own damn research) they have had most of their success with some sort of strategy series that I don't remember the name of, about people on horses stabbing each other in squabbles about arbitrary boundaries... or... human history, I guess would be an easier way to say it. I think this is their first adventure into the wonderful world of shooting people with Kalashnikovs in a first-person view.


In STALKER, you play an unattractive Slavic dude who is suffering from amnesia; an affliction about as common among action/adventure protagonists as the common cold. Rescued from a pile of dead Slavic dudes who were in the back of a crashed Soviet-era (old Soviet crap is very atmospheric, right?) truck that got hit by lightning or something... who drives a huge, rickety truck in a lightning storm... damn, this is kind of a run-on sentence now and... dammit. Ok, so another, less ugly Slavic dude rescues you and brings you to an even more ugly, fat Slavic dude with atrocious table manners, and you wake up, and your fancy PDA thingy displays a message in English telling you to kill some other Slavic dude.

There are lots of Slavic dudes, actually. Most are probably Ukrainian, but I'm not sure, some might be Russian, or Estonian. Who knows? They're here for a reason. See, the story goes that sometime in... 2008, I think the game said, but my mind is wandering... there was a second explosion at the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear powerplant, and afterwards, weird shit started going down that could not be attributed to this. Some of this weird shit resulted in the formation of bizarre 'artefacts' which have strange and wondrous effects on human life, and mutant critters that biologists think could lead to new discoveries... and new discoveries can mean big bucks... er... roubles.

You wake up in a camp of 'STALKERs', people who have come to brave the dangers of 'The Zone' in hope of finding stuff that they can sell, perhaps allowing them to at least buy toilet-paper and thus improve their standard of living. As payment for saving your irradiated ass, the fat dude asks you to do some jobs for him, which gradually leads into the game's main story, which I will summarize... at some point.


I should probably make note of the fact that in the cutscenes, which are not rendered with the in-game engine but are actual video (haven't seen that in a while), the lip-syncing seemed off, but since there isn't much of it to be off in the first place, and this is a Ukrainian-made game, and I was playing it on my new laptop which I haven't played many games on (and thus may be responsible for the issue itself upon further investigation), I was willing to forgive that little problem. The cutscenes themselves are quite nice, in my opinion, they have a very cinematic feel to them.

Anyway, one of the first things you will notice about this game is that speaking to NPCs brings up a dialogue thingy, which kind of reminds me of Fallout, but doesn't take up the whole screen. Some of them have a lot to say... but very few NPCs actually voice it... if that bothers you, take some more Ritalin so you can enjoy it, for the sake of gaming... uh oh, am I gonna rant again!? No... anyway, the dialogue is fairly simplistic, but this is an FPS, so that's fine... it gets the job done, letting you ask for busy-work, find out more about the setting, hear rumours, and so on.

NPCs are fairly well done. Except for the most important ones, they speak in Russian, which is very atmospheric, and explains why audio dialogue with the player is sparse. They go about their business, usually sticking in the same area, but not like damn statues... they will tell jokes around campfires, some have guitars they'll play little songs on... they all have names, and they do in fact remember your actions towards them. If you shoot some guy in the ass for... I dunno, maybe you have an ass-shooting fetish... he won't like you, and neither will the people he hangs out with. If someone else does it, and you patch him up, he'll like you. The only problem is that some dialogue is repeated over and over in a relatively short span of time, like this butt-buccaneer in the bar who keeps saying "My information may be of use to you, Stalker," every 15 seconds, and he even says it in English, so you can't even at least start to learn a new damn language! Asswipe. I'm not much good for Eastern European etiquette, but I feel fairly confident saying that's really fucking annoying in any culture.


There are NPC factions; Loners (this is actually the lack of a faction I guess), Duty, Freedom, Monolith, the military, mercs, and bandits. You start out as a loner, and (to my knowledge, though I never tried) can later join Duty or Freedom, but not both, because they don't play nice. Your interactions with various NPCs will change faction opinions of you, so if Duty really likes you, Freedom will hate your guts, and vice versa. If you're a huge arsehole and kill people for fun and profit, the mercs and bandits, I'm told, will not necessarily gun you down on sight, though Monolith and - "MY INFORMATION MAY BE OF USE TO YOU STALKER" - the military will still decide you need some added ventilation. All in all, this is a very cool feature which I feel was under-utilized. Apparently GSC agrees, because they say it will play a major part in the upcoming prequel. Sounds like good times.

I seem to have been interrupted during that paragraph by the most annoying NPC ever. Sorry about that.

Now, it's about time I actually talked about the gameplay, particularly the shooting. This is really a shooter, after all, as much as I want to praise the more RPG-esque parts of it. The combat ranges from "Haha, this is awesome!" to "I think I'd rather get kicked in the shins by midgets". It's interesting to note the fact that although some enemies seem to take bullets to the stomach like they were getting hit with clumps of soggy Wonderbread, a single shot to the head (which can feel like it's the size of a mandarin orange if you take into account the inaccuracy of some weapons) will kill all but the toughest enemies... if it's a sniper round, that will kill anything. Then again, I'm playing through the game a second time and not noticing this on a higher difficulty, so I am now attributing it to a poor choice of weapons and a reluctance to use armour-piercing bullets the first time through. The lesson? Experiment with weapons in this game.

The shooting is nothing special, for the most part, but you do get an impressive array of cool guns, which all have different characteristics which may appeal to different people. The MP5, for example, fires faster than the AKM-74, but - "MY INFORMATION MAY BE OF USE TO YOU STALKER" - is less accurate and does less damage. You can put a silencer on the MP5, but you can't give it a scope and a grenade launcher like the AK. Then again, that scope on the AK may be over-rated, because, as I said, accuracy is an issue; the bullets won't always go exactly where the scope says they will - better switch to semi-auto! Maybe you should hit your 'V' key and use that full-featured grenade launcher? I do like the grenades in this game, something I don't say very often... the launched ones have a small blast radius, but the thrown ones have a realistically large (HUGE compared to the puny grenades in most shooters) range that makes them easy to use unless you decide you want to play catch with flying shrapnel, and neglect to get behind cover. There's a lot of choice in how you kill the bad guys, here, given the setting. No gravity gun or anything, but you'll be surprised how different things will feel going from one assault rifle to another.


You also have a knife, which is VERY powerful if you can get close enough to use it without getting hollow-point brain surgery... much harder than it sounds. For a game called STALKER, it's really hard to sneak in this. Everything you do makes a bit of noise. Draw or reload a gun? Noise. Step through a bush? Noise. The enemies don't see you like some kind of psychic assassins, but with how well they can hear you, I'd expect them to have ears like fucking Dumbo. Did I mention that when they do hear you, they notify the Borg collective... er... each other... of it through telepathy (well, not really, but it sure FEELS that way) and thus ruin your attempts at stealth? Maybe that's a bit of exaggeration, it's ENTIRELY possible to do stealth kills, but for the effort it takes to do so without at least alerting nearby NPCs that something is up, you could be - "MY INFORMATION MAY BE OF USE TO YOU STALKER".

...Nevermind. I hate that guy.

Anyway, you could spend a ton of time just fooling around with the various killing implements. The only problem is that they start to wear down with use... after a while, they start to jam (which forces you to reload... even in the middle of combat) and - "MY INFORMATION MAY BE OF USE TO YOU STALKER" - eventually stop working altogether. This can be a pain in the arse if you've found a really nice weapon and are attached to it... where is this shit made, Hong Kong? I thought most former Soviet countries had a conscription-based military, do NONE of these people know how to fix a fucking gun?

My apologies for the - "MY INFORMATION MAY BE OF USE TO YOU STALKER" - dammit he interrupted me again... see, annoying! Rude!

That leads us to... inventory, maps, and menus. Interestingly, using any of them does not pause the game, so you have to be careful where you do it. This can be irritating, like when you're getting your bearings while a pack of a half-dozen mutant dogs that even PETA would advocate euthanasia decide they want your kneecaps for dinner, with a side of inner thigh. It doesn't help that you can only carry 50 kilograms of stuff before your stamina (used for jumping and sprinting, as usual) starts taking a SEVERE hit, and 60 kg (unless you have strength-boosting armour) before you find your top speed suddenly decreased to approximately that of a tree stump. This means that you may be inclined to spend a - "MY INFORMATION MAY BE OF USE TO YOU STALKER".

...I really wish that guy would shut up.

As I was saying, you may spend a lot of time fidgeting with your inventory... you also need to use it if you want to change your pistol or SMG/Rifle... you can only equip one of each, plus... ah, those artefacts I mentioned earlier? They aren't just good for selling; if you choose to equip them (up to 5), they will affect you in various ways, increasing your resistance to bullets, or things that want to chew on your face, or maybe increasing your stamina. They usually have a negative effect too, though. For example, producing radiation, or making you more vulnerable to fire. It's also fun to experiment with these.

You'll also spend a lot of time using your maps (and using that sprint that begs you to keep your carry weight low), because this is a astoundingly large and open game world by shooter standards; perhaps the biggest I have ever seen in a shooter. It's very well done, with burnt-out villages, swamps, laboratories, factories, forests... you gain access to more of it as you play the main story, but you get so much at a time you won't mind. Really, it's astounding they put this much detail into it, and it never really gets old. It's exactly how you'd imagine the area around Chernobyl looking. You even get to go through the Red Forest and Pripyat (look them up, I'm lazy). Apparently the devs looked at photos and news footage of the area, but it feels more like they arranged to spend some time in the real world location (hey, they let people in there, you just have to make arrangements I guess). Not too far from Kiev, so they very well may have.

Anyway, you've got all of this area to explore, and dead bodies will sometimes alert you to the location of hid- "MY INFORMATION MAY BE OF USE TO YOU STALKER" -den loot scattered... just ignore him, Lord knows I try... erm, scattered across them. The stashes are a bit buggy, though... if you get a note on the same one twice, it will erase the loot and leave the marker on your map. Kinda frustrating. But the stashes aren't the only reason to explore, there are other goodies you can find, and many side quests, which would be a pain in the ass if this weren't such a kick-arse environment to do them in. To make things even more interesting, there are 'anomalies', which will blast, throw, crush, burn, melt, shock, and irradiate you... they're all over the place, and often surround really good stuff or important areas... navigating them is quite nerve-racking at times (but in a good way). They're a new and interesting challenge.


Actually, it's quite overwhelming, especially with the mutants and bandits (who, judging from the rate at which they are able to repopulate their camps, apparently reproduce asexually and take 5 minutes to reach maturity and sprout an AK-74 from God knows where), and that's perhaps my biggest gripe ab- "MY INFORMATION MAY BE OF USE TO YOU STALKER" - Ok, I take it back... second biggest gripe about the game... sometimes it will feel like you're running a marathon to get back to the nearest trader, especially if you're carrying too much and keep running out of breath. A quick-travel would be welcome, and thankfully, GSC says the upcoming prequel will have one.

Maybe I should have done this earlier, but now I'll talk about the story. Remember, you're an amnesiac Russian guy? "MY INFORMATION MAY BE OF USE TO YOU, STALKER!"

SHUT YOUR BORSCHT-HOLE, YOU NEVER HAVE ANYTHING I HAVEN'T ALREADY LEARNED IN THE MAIN STORYLINE!

Ahem... you obviously need to find out who you are, so you need to head deeper into the zone chasing clues, though you can skip a lot of these clues (which I think is worthy of praise, options are good!). This will take you through creepy labs, decrepit forts full of underpaid Ukrainian Spetsnaz troops, mutant-infested swamps, brainwashed and heavily-armed cultists... you'll have to weave your way through the irradiated area around the Chernobyl plant itself as snipers and gunships hunt you down, while the plant threatens to blow a third time. There are parts that are creepy, confusing (usually in a good way... you know, teleporters and such), parts that will have you on the edge of your seat... it's really got everything you could hope for in a good shooter... and then, you will get one of seven different endings (though 5 of them are more or less the same, and result from the same choice at the endgame... you'll see).

So, in conclusion, you can probably tell I really enjoyed this game. I understand that the initial release was horrendously buggy, but I'm reviewing the version which we have NOW. I admit it has some significant faults, but in my view, the pros far outweigh the cons (many of which I can let slide, considering this is a Ukrainian game, and a new genre for its developers), and if you like open-ended, RPG-esque shooters, you owe it to yourself to play it. I don't know about you, but when STALKER: Clear Sky is released, I'll be all over it like no shooter I've anticipated in years. In the meantime, I'll be looking for a way to port that 'information' guy to Garry's Mod, and a mod to let me dismember and impale him. I guess that will have to do for now.


So, I have no clue what to review next. If someone will make a suggestion (no, my computer can't run Crysis at more than 2 frames per second), I promise to be less verbose next time! Honest!

ComradeJim270

Labels: 3scapism, 3scapism reposts, melaisis, STALKER

Author: Melaisis | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

Mass Effect

Thursday, 3 July 2008

Written by: Melaisis

More 3scapism repostness!


You stand victorious over the hordes of beasts that have clawed at you, come close to killing you, and are menaces to the galaxy. Finally, it's down to you and the last of its species. It shows remorse, it knows why it had to be wiped out. It seems that it has learnt its lesson, it wants a chance to live, a chance to see its children thrive. You alone have the choice of life and death. Kill it, and the entire galaxy will be thankful. Kill it, and you'll effectively be guilty of genocide. Welcome to the world of Mass Effect.

Set 200 odd years in the future, after humanity has discovered new alien technology and hyperspace travel, the plot reads like almost every sci-fi game ever made. You know, there's some kind of threat to the universe and it's up to you as Captain America to end it by travelling about in a spaceship named after an American military victory etc. But a couple of twists on a tried and tested formula make this game compelling and compulsory playing.


First of all, humanity is rather late to the hyperspace game, and it finds itself in an uncomfortable position as an outsider. Humanity is distrusted amongst the other races of the galaxy (this comes up almost incessantly), and is only recently been given a morsel of power in galactic affairs. Every move you make is being watched by others, some wanting humanity to thrive, some wanting it to be subservient.

It all makes for some fascinating game play when faced with the choices that almost every quest brings up. You not only have to think of yourself and the character you're playing, but the consequences of your actions as a representative of the human race.

One of the most compelling aspects of this game are the moral choices that you are forced to make with almost every quest. How you handle any given situation will give you food for thought. Combined with the well drawn characters, this makes for compelling game play. For example, do you try to handle a hostage situation all guns blazing or do you try to resolve the situation peacefully using a bit of the ol' charm/intimidate? The ability to try and talk out a situation rather than go in all guns blazing is a refreshing change from the 'go here, shoot that' linear mentality of most games today.

For example, during the main quest, you not only have the lives of your squad in your hands but often you are forced to choose whether a party member survives or not. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it's still effective in investing the player in the game morally and emotionally and also getting the player to think about the wider scope of their actions.

Much has been made by the tomes of dialogue that the game throws at you, and with good reason. Sometimes the sheer amount of it can seem a little overbearing, but instead, the dialogue system, instead of bogging you down in the mire seems organic and natural because of the conversation wheel. This sees the player giving a response to a particular bit of dialogue not once the particular line of dialogue has been finished, but a few seconds before. This feels more like a natural conversation, as in most conversations, people are busy thinking of a response rather than listening to what is being said. Of course, this leads to missing out on a bit of dialogue, but it's a feature that is remarkably well implemented. You actually feel as if you're having a conversation rather than choosing a response after having a good long while to think about the implications of your choice. Though by far the most impressive part of the dialogue is the superb voice acting.

Almost all of the dialogue is this game sounds pitch perfect for the situations you are confronted with, and this doesn't just cover the main characters. The amount of interesting characters you will meet are staggering, and this can be attributed to the fact that not one sounds like the other. They all have their nuances, and the voice acting reflects this perfectly.By far the most impressive voice acting comes from the male and female versions of the main character, Shepard (played by Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale respectively), with their dialogue spot on for the vast majority of situations, a quite lofty achievement given the reams of dialogue they spout. An honourable mention must go to Steven Barr for creating the enigmatic Urdnott Wrex, who although a murderous alien, is someone you you'd actually want to have a conversation with.

However, if there is one criticism of the voice acting in Mass Effect it has to be directed to Raphael Sbarge and the character of Kaidan Alenko. You see, Alenko's voice seems a little... familiar, and if you've played Bioware's other space Action/RPG Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR), you'd recognise the voice of Kaidan Alenko as the voice of Carth Onasi. I say recognise, but they are the same voice. Exactly. I'm all for voice actors working on more than one project, but there's just no difference between the performances! People who have played KOTOR will become frustrated by the character very quickly.

Another source of frustration for the player lies in the combat. Employing a third person shooter approach, the mechanics of the fighting are simple enough and will take only a short while to become accustomed to. However, what really grates is the way that squad members are used. In a party of three, commands of 'defend', 'attack that guy' and 'go there' can be issued at any given time which is all well and fine...if you could issue the orders individually. You see, when you give a command such as 'go there behind that hyper galactic space crate', both of your allies go. This can be an immense source of frustration if say, you want to issue an order of 'you go there, and you go to the other side. I'll stay here with my sniper rifle while you two flank and draw out the enemy'. I found myself reflecting on how this could be useful every time my character died from being flanked by the enemy.


Those familiar with KOTOR will feel right at home when it comes to weapon customisation and inventory management. A number of upgrades can be applied to items (such as guns and armour) to increase their effectiveness against certain types of enemy, and these upgrades for the most part really help you out.

Force powers, I mean, 'biotic powers' also make an appearance in the game. These cycle through your standard lift/throw with the power of your mind, kind of powers to more advanced powers such as stasis or singularity and how many you can use and their effectiveness depends on what type of character class you choose. For example, you can't run around throwing enemies about like rag dolls if you've chosen the soldier class. There only about seven powers in total and whereas these biotic powers are useful on occasion, one gets the yearning for there to have more powers to play with.

The graphics and sound in this game really do stand out from the pack though.

The former, while not hyper-realistic are something to behold. The light reflecting from the gentle glow of ship navigation systems, the sparkle of water and the dialogue scenes (which at times look pre-rendered they're that good) all combine well to suck the player into the world. However, for some reason the game comes with film grain turned on, which just looks like the dog's breakfast rather than cinematic. Thankfully, this can be turned off otherwise I would have to take vengeance upon the world (yes, it looks that bad).


The sound in Mass Effect and particularly the score are absolutely top notch. This is one of the few games today that you'd want to buy the soundtrack for with the score taking you back to the glorious days of the 80's sci-fi. It really sets you in that world when you hear an awesome synth piece playing in the background. It's pitch perfect every time for setting the mood whether travelling, going into a creepy room or coming up to a major plot point.

Special mention has to go to Canadian indie band Faunts and their song 'm4 pt II' which plays over the credits and captures the feel and tone of game perfectly. It's one of the very rare times that you'll actually want to watch the credits.

Overall, though frustrating at times, its flaws can be overlooked because of the journey the game provides for the player, one that you actually care about (which is a nice change). In a few areas such as character dimension and voice acting it sets the benchmark for all other action/RPGs to follow.

Depending on your disposition, you will either love every minute of Mass Effect, overlooking its flaws or be ultimately frustrated by the fact this could be a masterpiece if not for the couple of things dragging it down.

Hey Joe

Labels: 3scapism, 3scapism reposts, mass effect, melaisis

Author: Melaisis | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

The Fable Series

Tuesday, 1 July 2008

Written by: Melaisis

More 3scapism goodness!


You know the feeling (perhaps). You had a total stunner of a girlfriend, but it ended badly. She was hot, but underneath her dazzling looks, you realized there wasn't a whole lot there. You called the relationship off in a bid to save your sanity, and haven't spoken to her since. Then one day, three years or so later, you bump into her, and my goodness she's better looking than ever. What's more, she wants to try again with you. She's practically begging you to take her back. She's changed, she says. She's matured, she's gotten some depth. You want to believe her, you really do, but still some nagging part of you says 'No, you've been here before, it'll all end in tears...'

Well, seeing as Fable 2 is peeping its head round the metaphorical corner, I thought it was as good a time as any to look back at the heartless strumpet that was the original Fable. Bearing in mind that Yahtzee did a review of Fable a while back, this is meant to read more as a checklist for Mr Molyneux to go through before he releases his latest creation onto the public. Quite why he would be spending his precious time reading obscure forum threads I have no idea, but we all live in hope. Here then, is a list of the good that should be retained in the sequel, and the bad that should never have been dreamt up in the first place, let alone actually put in the game.

Note to any and all readers: this review contains all sorts of plot spoilers and summaries. Therefore, if you haven't actually played Fable and want to keep your virtuous innocence of its plot unspoiled, scroll down to the end of this article to read what little conclusion I can be arsed to pull out.

Firstly, the good:

- The humour. Whereas most RPGs take their end of the world plots all too seriously, Fable is remarkable light hearted, and dammit even funny on occasion. Being able to play football with chickens, the scripting, even the funny accents, though that's probably more to do with the fact that I will laugh at anyone who hails from the West country. Keep the humour intact, Mr Molyneux, and you'll be doing fine. A laugh a day keeps the doctor away, and all that.

- Combat. Or to be specific; melee combat. If Fable can claim to be superior to Oblivion or Morrowind in anyway, it's the sword combat. Combos are easy to pull off, satisfying to watch, and decapitating a bandit and kicking his head around never gets old. There's not a bad selection of weapons either (though by no means fantastic), and it's nice to see that hammers and maces feel slower and heavier compared to swords and katanas. Soul Calibur it ain't, but for an RPG it's not bad at all. Well done Mr Molyneux, you actually beat Bethesda at something. Have a coconut and a pat on the head.


Erm...

Well... Onto the bad then. [Pulls out the goggles and rubber gloves in preparation for some good old fashioned punishment]

- Combat. Specifically, magical combat. Yahtzee may have already pointed this out, but I think it bears repeating so that Mr Molyneux gets the idea. Magic is meant to be a viable alternative to swords and bows. Spells that start off piss-weak and end up mightier than Armageddon itself are NOT a viable option, they are a bloody frustration. If you are going to have magic in the next game, sort out the fecking balance issues so that we can dip into our fecking pools of magic without having to have a fecking war hammer on standby in case it all goes tits up. Ahem...

- The linearity. Fable, despite what Mr Molyneux may say, is actually a very, very, VERY linear game. The story itself doesn't change at all until the final few seconds of the game, where you have to choose between throwing the Sword of Aeons into the Ether, or keeping it and for some unexplained reason gutting your blind sister. The game doesn't care if you're good or evil, your actions will have no effect on any of the main characters or events whatsoever. The blurb said 'for every choice a reaction'. Bugger that, it's a case of the same bloody reaction regardless of your choice.

Example: At one point in the game you have to choose between killing a bandit lord or letting him live, having beaten him in combat. If you kill him, then later you are warned that his followers have hired a bunch of assassins to come after you as retribution for his death. If you let him live, then you are warned that he has hired a bunch of assassins to come after you as retribution for his humiliation. In both cases, the assassins appear in the same places, running headlong towards you screaming in a way Altair would never think of doing, even at his most conspicuous. The developers had a chance to actually branch the story a bit, and they purposely decided against it. This is one example of many within the game.

Mr Molyneux, if you are going to tout Fable 2 as being non-linear, then bloody well make sure it is non linear before you send it to the publishers.

- Good vs Evil. Right Mr Molyneu...ah, bollocks to all the niceties

Molyneux! If you're going to include a moral choice system in Fable 2 then for god sakes man, bloody well make sure it has at least some small vague trappings of depth to it! If you're going to have a bloody Guild that supposedly doesn't care whether its graduates follow the path of good or evil (a highly suspicious arrangement if you ask me), then bloody well stick to that, rather than having the Guildmaster suddenly telling me his surprise at Whats'isface's betrayal and ordering me to stop Jack of Blades 'because he's evil'. That's the point you twit!!! He may be evil, but he's also the most powerful hero you've ever produced and according to your rules you should be bloody proud of him! Continuity, Molyneux, continuity!!!


And that leads me to my next point. The story. My goodness, if I ever see a more generic bunch of characters assembled together I'll have to phone the creators of Fantastic Four to let them know some of their cast has escaped. Would it hurt to give the bad guy a little bit of depth? Motivation? Just a tad of humanity?? Note for next game, Molyneux; choose a bad guy who's middle name isn't 'Generic with a capital 'G''.

And finally, to end this rant and bring up my final point- hype. It killed your last game Molyneux, don't let it kill this one as well. All that talk of growing trees and whatnot. You had our little hearts in your hand like butterflies, and you crushed them mercilessly with your iron grip of Rushed Production. Keep a lid on it this time. Don't promise us the world on a stick, just give us a good time. All we want is a little bit of fun to brighten up our otherwise dull lives. Give us that. Who knows, maybe you'll exceed expectation this time round...


...But wait. You've already been talking to the press about the dog. Spouting off about how it will be the first ever virtual creation to win our unconditioned love. Lecturing us on how we can buy absolutely anything in the game. Oh dear God no, you've even used those cursed words, 'A living, breathing world that reacts to your every move'!

Damn you Molyneux! Damn you!!!

j-e-f-f-e-r-s

Labels: 3scapism, 3scapism reposts, fable, fable 2, fable series, jeffers, melaisis

Author: Melaisis | Comments: | Leave Your Response?

100th post!

Saturday, 28 June 2008

For our 100th post here at DW's, A couple of Big stories.

Firstly, The one everyone has been waiting for for absolute years, Blizzard reset the Diablo2 ladder. That was exciting enough and prompted many people to start playing, turns out that it was just a clever ruse.

A ruse you say, for what?

Oh, just a little game called diablo 3.

For a just announced game, the teaser site is suprisingly detailed, There are two character classes [Barbarian and Witch doctor], and a ton of screenshots, trailers and videos about the game, its pretty clear blizzard have been working on this for a while, but anyone could of told you that, as speculation was rife as to a diablo 3 last year.

Frankly, as a big diablo 2 fanboy a couple of years back, i'll have another game to obsess about before its release.

--

Secondly, 3scapism, our sister site has shut it doors. Big deal you might say, but what does it mean to you?

Well, all of the quality output that you would previously miss on the 3scapism is now posted here, think of it like a big machine, churning out twice the output of quality content, and well, your getting suitably close. this is the biggest thing thats happened to DW yet, and it certainly is exciting to announce on our 100th post!

Labels: 3scapism, Announcement, Diablo3, Merger, milestone, New Author, News

Author: DW | Comments: | Leave Your Response?