Thursday, December 24, 2015

Merry Christmas 2015

SO WHAT DO YOU NEED? BESIDES A MIRACLE...



Dear followers, readers and friends!

I know I haven’t been active in a while. I am terribly sorry for that but I hope you trust me saying that I didn’t really have the time. I am glad this Christmas post gives me the chance to kind of explain myself a bit as well as to give you a short glimpse of what is about to come.

First of all since a few months I have a new job and been working as game developer for a great company. Honestly I don’t know what I can tell about them but given my contract I would rather not tell anything at this point. We are working on some pretty cool prototype that is supposed to be officially announced around the end of Q1/16 most likely already with a public alpha. So, as much as I would like to write about that project now, I guess we all have to be a bit more patient with it. What I can tell so far is that we are an awesome team and working with everybody on a project that size is really inspiring and a very positive experience for me.

The second thing - something I have been sort of hiding so far – is the fact that I am already working on the next “private” indie project too… actually I should say “we” are working on the next indie game, because this time also here I am working together with several other Austrian developers and artists in collaboration. The team – for the time being – also summarized and labeled as sIPXgames actually already got together during the summer but after intense brainstorming and planning, the work the first prototype finally began in November. The game we are making in our spare time is called Street Justice and it is going to be not only a hot action driving-shooter but a funny satire to Austria and the situation we are facing on the streets here every day. Wait, I don’t want to go too much into detail at this moment… the website for the game will be available shortly and together with it going online there naturally will be a big announcement post right here on this site! For now, I just hope you sort of understand now, why there haven’t been any updates on the blog for a while.

Doing this editorial stuff with reviews and essays is pretty nice and I like it a lot but I am sure you also understand that it doesn’t really generate me any money I need to pay things like rent or food. And besides, to me there is only one thing more rewarding and satisfying than playing, analyzing and talking about games,which is: making games! No matter the scale, given games the way they are these days and seeing where it all is going, I honestly prefer making them myself and having a ton of fun in the process.
But not to worry, my motivation hasn’t changed and I don’t intend to stop writing about them. I think that I am at the end of a more or less short transitioning phase. I just needed to see how and where things are going so that I could come up with at least sort of a schedule that not only puts my life on some stable tracks but also has place for this blog.



GUNS. LOTS OF GUNS!!!



It’s hard to ignore that the time I can spend reviewing games decreased significantly but I think it is possible to get something up at least every two weeks. – Depending on the time I have left sometimes I think I can even post something on a weekly basis. I will tell you more about the schedule in the following posts. A lot is coming and I hope you will do as I and use this holiday time to rest and prepare for it!

For now, I only want to wish you all a merry Christmas and happy holidays! Also many thanks to the people who downloaded Supreme Chicken Showdown, despite its flaws and sometimes misinterpreted intentions as not being a super serious project, and especially to those who didn’t think twice and even donated me a few bucks for it. I think the people who did, realized that what they gave wasn’t explicitly for the game alone, but for a much bigger picture and the general effort behind everything I do.

Sometimes it is not easy to follow your heart, sometimes I was about to give up during this (yet another) turbulent year,… but somehow it is over and to be honest, going into 2016 looks a lot better now. I know some of you really saved my ass. – Just wanted to make sure you know it too! Thanks!


Merry Christmas 2015!




Play more! Expect more!
 

Thursday, October 15, 2015

SOMA

WRONGLY LABELLED BUT STILL A REALITY


So,.. I finished Soma last weekend... and it was... great! Really, I absolutely loved playing this game. Not necessarily because I am the fan of horror games but because I am a fan of science fiction and story - which leads right into the first and probably most crucial point you should know about this game: Soma isn't really a horror game! It has horror elements and it keeps you tense for a big part, but it is neither the generic jumpscare-festival we're all fed-up with, nor is it the atmospheric "fear of death" experience the likes of Amnesia.

If anything, don't think you will get a game like Amnesia out of this! They don't have a lot in common. Yes, some core mechanics are similar but Soma has a much greater focus on story as well as graphics. - And the naked dudes were replaced with some killer-zombie-cyborgs btw. On the other hand Soma "lacks" almost any gameplay mechanic other than running, hiding and picking up things for the sole purpose of rotating them in your hand. It certainly misses everything that made Amnesia what it was; there is no light/dark mechanic, so subsequently also nothing - let me repeat that: nothing - to collect at all,... not even matches to light candles, the monster encounters are far less tactical and a lot easier to manage and luckily we've lost all the medieval torture devices.

The story of Soma (here on Steam) takes place in a future about 100 years from now, if I remember correctly. It is a future where basically everything on our planet is destroyed and clouds of dust darken the sky. All of mankind was extinct by a meteor and the only installation that survived the impact is a collection of connected underwater facilities on the bottom of the ocean. Before facing global extinction humanity put all effort into a final project to preserve some sort of legacy. - Of course, nothing short of scanning brains and then copying people to a computer, placed in a self-sustained space module with a continuously running computer simulation.

Well,... at least that was the plan and of course something went wrong; the ark (the computer) never got loaded on the space module and the space module (satellite/rocket) never got launched to space. So now it is your task to find out what went wrong and to finish the job, for the sake of humanity, of course. - Pretty much for a guy who just (in our time) took a more or less simple brainscan due to persisting headaches and then suddenly wakes up on the bottom of the ocean about a century later...


CUTS ON PROVEN FORMULA, BUT ADDS MORE DEPTH


Honestly, besides really impressive graphics, a perfect sound experience and a deep, immersive story, Soma doesn't work. - Not as a conventional game that is... I don't want to be too harsh on it because I really loved how the game puts you right on the spot while telling an extremely fascinating plot, but at some point it lost the status of a game in my opinion and what remains is more of an interactive first-person, sci-fi/horror movie with a bit of Jules Verne to it.

With previous titles Frictional Games usually hit the heart of the veteran horror game fans by emphasizing and focusing on simple things that were feasible for them as a small indie studio. They always managed to created something a little bit out of the box and overall appealing, thanks to immersion, challenging puzzles and the simplest, yet most playful mechanics. So if you, as the regular "stick&carrot-gamer", thinks that a game like Amnesia already missed out on gameplay mechanics, then you will be surprised that Soma tops that by a landslide and you probably shouldn't touch it.


WAIT, HOW WAS THAT ABOUT COPYING THE COPY OF A COPY?


Soma works and it is an absolute pleasure to play through it in almost every aspect, but I think at some point we have to discuss if something like that really counts as a videogame in the classic sense at all:

No HUD or display elements, no health, no death penalty, no saving, no objectives, no rewards, no weapons, no items, no inventory, no - at least in a minimal way demanding - puzzles, no map, no multiple directions, no skill, no thinking (except about the story), no secrets, no replay value, no nothing,..


Besides the mostly positive things to tell about it, there is definitely a lot of wasted potential in Soma. But as I said, Frictional always managed to deliver. And next to the fact that the result is really great and definitely worth a play also this time, I just think they delivered something nobody expected: Not a new Amnesia, not a horror game, but also - to me strangely - not a game at all.

Play more! Upload more!
 

Thursday, October 1, 2015

THE SIMS 4

WOOHOO! - ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY FIGURES ARRIVED

... FOR THE GAME THAT PUTS UP DLC FASTER THAN YOU CAN TYPE!*



Alright, because it finally is one year since the release of The Sims 4, the world is still alive and my girlfriend remains very much insisting on it, let's write a bit about the one special game that dares to simulate life itself...

And since we are doing numbers, let's start with some of the speculative math that doesn't light up in the recently published figures from EA.

First, did you know that besides Sims 4 (for around 40 bucks now) there are already 6* "expansion"/DLC packs for an additional total of about 130€* bucks available? That means if you buy the game with all its additional content it would cost you - let's factor in some sales - about 160€*! Ouch, you new shiny virtual refrigerator! EA really knows how to make money.

What a mighty machine at work. It's not about woman in the field or about real graphical improvements. Honestly, this is how videogames industry has really changed from its past golden age and the most pressing issue...


While 20-15 years earlier a game was "completed" and hit the shelves, it stayed there, it had a price that dropped naturally over the years and sometimes, mostly only if you were lucky and the game was any good, there was another, complete and mind-blowing sequel about 2-4 years later. - Nice, right? Everybody knew what they got and more importantly what they paid... but nowadays... I cannot but smile and regret that I don't own any shares of that company; why sell a game for 60-40 bucks and then wait three years to sell the next one if you can constantly sell parts of the same game and make 4 times more revenues by releasing several addons and expansions all the time...

So, apparently there were about 93 million Sims created which (assuming that number doesn't account for the Sims born in the game and taking the number of Sims from my girlfriend as average, as well as being a bit more generous because of a lot of hardcore players who individually created easily around 30 Sims already per account) makes somewhat between 3 to 4 million players. Of course I don't know it, but I think that is fairly realistic for a franchise of that magnitude, especially given the fact that the first game (wikipedia-) officially sold 16 million copies, there was sort of a mediocre shit storm about Sims 4 being "rushed" and released "unfinished" and at least vgchartz numbers suggest more than 2 million retail copies - without accounting for the digital distribution, as always.

On a side note, since we have those shiny figures, we know that all those players' data is mined by the almighty, yet most annoying, constantly updating and buggy Origin application, but now let's assume that about half of those people at least bought half of the available expansions in addition to the basic game... how many zeros is that? Just play with the numbers yourself... no matter how you arrange them it is safe to say that Sims 4 with all its addons must have accumulated at least about a quarter of a billion of revenues worldwide.

Furthermore, I can't be sure of course, but after speculating and taking a reasonable look at the numbers, I would bet my cat that in this case all the expansions sold in just this one year are already equal to about half of the whole sales from the stand-alone game. And that is sick! - Neither good nor bad... just sick!


Actually I am not that surprised. - But I hope you are! If you take a look at Sims 3 the same thing happened; Every year at least 2 expansion and 2 accessory packs and so on. This whole franchise always was a jackpot. And again...not bad, not good, just sick.


UGH! CHEE WAGA CHOOCHOO!


Ok, enough of the figures... seriously, I am not that impressed that all the Sims "woohoo'd" 235.000.000 times and even less surprised that the most popular trait of a Sim obviously is being romantic.

Yes, I think I have a pretty good picture of who exactly is playing this game for already 27.900 years of gametime, or to say it in Simlish: "Shooflee!"


So, have you played it? Are you a Simsolian - or whatever you call yourself? - Well, I am. I am an expert, obviously... no, not really - Haha! This game is too complex for me... seriously, I can hardly manage all the needs of one single Sim, let alone a complete household of Sims with children and pets and Sims-eating plants and whatnot. If I play I only play the single Sims, maybe have fun with some homo-erotic adventures between Sims of the same gender or set some annoying neighbors on fire... but ultimately I usually stop after I used all the cheats and bought myself a nice television.

Oh, but I like building. Yep, that's what I do... my girlfriend takes care of sending them to the toilet, giving them food and making them work for all the money and I am some sort of a building manager / architect. Which is a hard job too! - Especially when you can't cheat and you have to carefully consider everything. So trust me, it's not only design decisions we are dealing here.


OOOH DABEE DOOH, SAGA DAH!


How I like the game? - Well, I can say that my girlfriend likes it a lot... But honestly I have a bit of a hard time speaking for myself. I guess I like it too. It's fun. I know The Sims and actually, in one more questionable way than the other, I have also "played" every single part of the franchise. You know, the Single-Sims lifestyle with a focus on cheating until I get a big TV and so on.

I mean, in this case (compared to other franchises like FIFA for example), I respect the fact that it is such a big franchise... I get where the fun comes from and I can have that kind of fun for a while too. Furthermore I think that the FIFA by definition is far more of a rip-off than the Sims. But ultimately I am not the guy who needs a cartoony simulation of the real life. In a way most games are simulations, some more than others, but I prefer the ones with a real story, with a hero that is something else than "Casual Johnny", doing his laundry. I don't like the "Be your own hero" implication and I certainly am full with the real, real life to a point where I don't want to spend even on minute in a simulated version of that. - Virtually washing the dishes, cooking food, going to work, having a shower... I mean, come on!?! - Seriously? I'd be the Master Chief over that any day!

What I personally find rather interesting is that, at least according to a bigger part of the players that actually voice their opinion, the game is - supposedly - not as good as its predecessor. Hmm,... I don't know about that. I guess that's mostly because these people have played the older parts to extensively and might got used to them. Also you can't forget that there was like a gazillion expansions and game enriching content to enjoy, that is simply not released for the new part. I know there are also some people complaining about changes in how and what you can build, but personally I think the new building system is a lot more intuitive, easy, makes more sense and gives you even more options in most regards.


BUY MORE. BUY MORE NOW. BUY! AND BE HAPPY!


All in all I think the The Sims 4 is precisely what it's supposed to be and actually a damn good game. Finally the graphics are somewhat bearable for today's standard and everything plays really smoothly. Seriously, in about one year of more or less actively playing this game, there wasn't a single crash, a bug or something wrong with the game. - That is some damn quality right there! I think the build mode is fine and you can do the same cool stuff like in the older games.


What I don't really get is the new mood system for the Sims personality but at least from what I have played and seen I think it's not the total game changer. To all those people that still don't like the game more than part 3 - or even 2 - I would say: Have patience. In another year from now there will be at least 6 new things to buy and install that will give you exactly what you want, and need, or don't need,... and don't want... Just buy it! Buy and be happy!

If there is one game that shows the true face of our modern lives as the grand unification of consumerism and happiness, it's this one. Want to teach your kids what life is all about? Want to experience it yourself and simulate your life as if everything was great, you had a ton of money and you could buy all the happiness you will never get in reality? Or you just want to have a bit fun? What are you waiting for?

Play more! 1138 more!


* Please note that (literally) while publishing this post even more DLC packages got released, hence the long header. And some numbers aren't correct anymore, if they ever were in the first place. - Just wanted to let you know... not good, not bad... just sick.

Monday, September 28, 2015

SAVAGE LANDS

AND CRAFTING FOR PRESIDENT


Well,… back from vacation and we are literally "surviving" again. This time we find ourselves waking up on the beach of a ridiculously vast island - I guess - "called" Savage Lands...

Almost completely naked we spot some basic tools scattered on the beach and that’s it. Seriously, that’s the story, that’s the plot, that’s what this game – similar to many other games of the survival genre – builds upon: a naked and nameless dude on the beach.

As you know, or might have guessed, I am not the biggest fan of this type of games but occasionally I like to try them out as well. In this case the game actually caught my and all my friends' attention for our annual Barn-LAN, due to the fact that it can also be played cooperatively. Anyway, after spending some time on the island alone and together with friends, here are my thoughts about it:



Savage Lands (web) is a decent, modern survival game from Signal Studious and DigitalDNA Games. Nothing special but also nothing that has to hide on Steam. Actually offering several gameplay elements, in my opinion the game's focus still clearly lies on crafting and - as most others in the everlasting shadow of Minecraft - it simply fails to deliver, so (early access) far. Although the game allows you to place a few buildings, the gear as well as weapons are vast in numbers and basically it is fun to craft, the game lacks completely in making it fun to gather the resources for the crafting.

As in almost all other similar games the collecting of resources or rather crafting materials becomes a necessity and more of a burden instead of something fun to do with the certain adventurous characteristic. Unfortunately the environment in Savage Lands is way too big (even for 4 players!) and even worse offers almost no diversity at all. - Seriously, the whole island looks the same... everywhere and regardless of playing one minute ore 15 hours. Sorry, you know I am not that much of a graphic-fanatic but we are talking about immersion here, and I honestly think a game that is making me run around in the wilderness for hours and hours just to find some rocks to craft something should make this very wilderness as special, diverse and beautiful as possible. If I walk for miles and miles, at some point I just want to see something different. - And yes, three big towers and some abandoned houses aren't enough. Why is there no water on the island for example? I don't know about the final plans of the developers but for now (early access) the whole island (except the items) is static... so, if it stays that way, I dearly suggest to add some rivers to the island. That's not too much work, it's not only something to look at but also a good chance to add some more basic resources like fishes and also a renewable stone and/or ore source. Oh, and it would also be a great option to help the player find his way on this big and confusing island. - Btw.: Don't ever craft the compass in this game... such a waste.

Like I said, crafting is no fun if getting the materials isn't. Also balancing was still an issue with the game at the time I played it and not only the balancing of enemy health, enemy damage, enemy numbers, player health, hunger, item durability and coldness... unfortunately also the crafting system showed serious imbalance and ultimately closed the above described loop of burden when it comes to gathering resources.


"TOO MANY WOLVES!", HE SCREAMED...


So, besides constantly running out of resources just to maintain a certain level of gear and being forced to drift further and further away from your bases which in turn loops back to you getting killed and your gear getting more broken than ever and having to head out further in order to get the materials to repair it,... what else is there in Savage Lands? - Well, there are some enemies to kill! - Not that many, but with about 5 or 6 different types of enemies this game actually ranks among the better independent survival games, honestly. But yeah... fighting the enemies not only becomes boring but also pretty frustrating since you have no chance to block and basically no chance to run away, which is the main reason for your gear getting broken and the constant need for new materials to repair them (yep, back in the loop). Oh, and there is also one big dragon flying around the island constantly burning your ass... erm.. gear, I meant "gear". Good news is, that allegedly it can finally be killed in the current version of the game.




Honestly, Savage Lands isn't that bad of a game. I would still recommend it anytime and without hesitation to everyone who likes this type of survival game and who has a good idea of what to expect from an independent game like this. One of the more outstanding things about Savage Lands surely is the multiplayer or rather cooperative capability which is something most related games always miss. I spent about 20 hours on that island and I did pretty much everything there was to. Some people might say that's a lot of time, others might say that's nothing. I honestly don't know... and while I feel and think the game didn't offer me that much after the first few hours of playing, I still got caught in the loop of my own ambition and probably got enough time out, justifying this purchase.

Most of the issues I had with the game could be completely different already, or when the game is finished. I doubt that there will be much more graphical and environmental improvement but I am sure at least the unbalanced game elements will be resolved. Also, as much as I love to use my own imagination, I would really appreciate a little bit of story, lore and purpose to the whole game and its characters. I believe the developers still have a long way to go. But who knows, in the end we might still get a survival clone that with its mature approach without the usual zombie infestations can stand firm in the shadow of Minecraft and the thousand unnamed clones after all.

Play more! Collect more!
 

Friday, August 21, 2015

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT

THERE MUST BE SOME KIND OF WAY OUTTA HERE


Batman is one of the most iconic and favored superheroes of all time. Who wouldn't want to be Batman? In light of the impending Batman VS Superman movie, I would still say that I’d root for Superman but when it comes to videogames the whole modern Batman franchise, initially created by Rocksteady Games with the first part Arkham Asylum back in 2009 clearly stands out. In these games you really are the Batman without doubt!

I have mentioned it a lot of times before, but actually Arkham Asylum is one of my favorite games of all time. I know I am probably heading out on thin ice but for me neither Arkham City nor Arkham Origins came close to the feeling of the whole and complete experience the first part offered. Maybe because they – well, at least the third part – weren’t directly developed by Rocksteady anymore? I was pretty relieved that the master himself ultimately laid hands on the newest and allegedly final part of the series.

So, a little overdue, but here are my thoughts about the latest spectacle:


I guess you probably want to hear my thoughts about the most controversial thing behind this release (the fact that it is still not working on PCs), right? So let’s start there and get over with it. If I think of it, actually I have only one thing to say: “Haha!”… and the rest can definitely be described best with a facepalm. – Sorry, but if you outsource a port to a third party, you still have to make sure it’s meeting the standards,… in this case it should at least work. On that note, I guess I should mention though, that it really worked perfectly on Xbox One. In hours and hours of gametime I haven't had a single bug or glitch. - Bravo! But how could you mess up the PC version so much? Who is nowadays forcing all these multiplatform releases? – It stinks and it is absolutely not necessary. Here’s an idea, mainly for the publishers and not necessarily for the developers, but think about it: Make a game perfect for one, dedicated platform and then take your time to bring it to another. Nobody cares! Of course nobody would buy a whole new system just to play one single game anymore but they will wait a few months – I for one am even willing to wait a year or more. Only one thing is sure: People want to have their game working when it’s released. So please just take it easy, ok? Well, I know it’s not that simple; I’ve heard about the third party, I can imagine that they were pretty overwhelmed, I heard about the new nvidia features and so on, but in the end this whole situation is nothing more than another sad example of money policy and greed… a reality that should concern us all more than we might think. Anyway, since I feel like fighting against the windmills all over again, I will stop here and focus on the game at hand.


SAID THE JOKER TO THE THIEF


As I said, given the more or less disappointment parts 2 and 3 were to me, compared with the first game, my expectations were really, really low for this one. The coverage of the game before release was the same contemporary story like everywhere else; bigger, faster and prettier – so in a sense nothing to get me excited. Also in retrospect, I have to say that I didn't think the city was all that big. Yes, definitely bigger than in the previous parts but really not that big of a deal. And then there was also all this talk about the Batmobil... seriously, I have hardly had a conversation or read something about the game without constantly being reminded that Batman can now drive his car.

“Great”, I thought “now the new Batman will be a GTA or what?” or something like: “Why would this guy drive, if he can already fly? – Isn’t that supposed to be faster?” But!!!!! – Hold your dear horses, because this thing did really positively surprise me quite a lot! Yes, the feeling persists that the car is way too overused in the game, but at least to me it really plays absolutely great. The driving, the puzzles where it is tied into… everything is damn well done and adds a fresh wind to the overall gameplay. Especially the tank shooting mechanic is awesome in my opinion and could easily be a game on its own. If you ask me, I think the Batmobil is precisely what this new part of the franchise needed. Without it I think the game would have been pretty boring and surely attacked from everyone for being repetitive and nothing new.

Also story-wise Arkham Knight managed to hold up against the tide. The story – basically well thought-through and exciting till the end – could only have been told better in my opinion. Somehow there is too much confusion. I guess that is what the developers intended but I couldn’t relate to well to all this madness and the constant questioning of “reality”. Not only that Scare Crow is gassing the whole city, there is also that thing about Batman having Joker’s DNA inside of him and being mentally torn apart… seriously: pure insanity! What I did like a lot were the jump scares. – Yes, you heard right; this game offers some! And totally unexpected I often found myself not on the couch but on the floor in front of it. That is really well done and absolutely surprising!

The rest of the game doesn’t need too much analysis or reviewing in my opinion. It is pretty much the same good old Batman we learned to love: Great fighting – again with updated thugs and new battle mechanics, great riddling – again massive but fair, nice side quests with familiar as well as new bosses, great characters and great atmosphere! One new battle mechanic that made me a bit skeptic at first is called “Fear-Multi-Takedown”; justified due to Batman having a new “super scary” suit and being able to move faster with it, he can now chain single (silent) takedowns up to six foes. If you haven’t played it yet you might also think that this sounds a bit overpowered… and it clearly is at the beginning of the game, but after the enemy numbers start to increase and you on the other hand start having a hard time with all their abilities, you will also feel the necessity of it.
Personally I think the biggest applause regarding this game (once again) should go to Mark Hamill and what he (again) did with the character of the Joker! – Seriously that performance deserves a videogame Oscar!


A WORTHY END! NOW CAN WE GET SOME RELIEF?


I can absolutely recommend this game to all fans of the franchise. Like I said, in my opinion this game ranks right after the brilliant first part of the series. It is kind of sad the franchise is supposed to come to end with this, but yeah… not really, right? We all know that the cow is not milked dry as long as she is still standing. It would really surprise me if there was a sudden change of heart in the industry… What I do want to believe however is that Rocksteady is now finally done with it and that they will concentrate on the next big thing. At least I hope so while reminding myself that even Kojima once broke his “promise” and continued to work on Metal Gear games after Guns of the Patriots

Play more! Takedown more!
 

Friday, July 17, 2015

RADIUS FESTIVAL VIENNA 2015

SUPER GREEN AND HOT, HOT, HOT!



Back in reality; some days after the Radius Festival took place in Vienna, it remains hard to immediately forget the vibrating impressions of a long, very long and exciting weekend. All those smiling faces, so many people indulging in probably the purest form of contemporary entertainment, getting together, united across geographical boundaries and cultural differences to play and talk about their mutual passion: Videogames.

Interactivity is not only a key aspect of any game itself but plays a central role when we are looking at the indie scene; at events like this it exceeds the games and moves to a social level where even visitors are not only watching but becoming part of it. It’s about meeting people and appreciating their work, getting and giving feedback and about connecting. Especially when you are making games, no matter how small or successful, you can feel it: A reality beyond, a cosmos with its own sets of rules, its own dynamic full of widespread tolerance difficult to find elsewhere. Finally a weekend where you wouldn’t talk about Greece and the demise of the European Union (at least financially). - A welcome break from frustrating politics or economics, a place where – at least for a short while – the only thing that actually matters is games!


Radius ranks high among the best events I have visited so far. They had a beautiful location, they were well organized, took care of your every need, everybody was friendly, they had a super exciting night show broadcasted live on twitch and maybe most importantly: A really, really awesome collection of indie games to play. Seriously, with more than 50 games, the list is that long that I can’t even see me doing the work of linking to all of the juice. Luckily the website of Radius itself offers links to (almost) all of the games that were shown on the weekend, so I strongly urge you to check the games out from there. However, here are some of my personal favorites:



TOTEM'S SOUND

Initially made for a museum this 2D-RPG doesn’t come short on historical content but surprises with lovely graphics, traditional RPG values and atmospheric sound. You play Johan Adrian Jacobsen and more or less accurately experience his story with the goal of retrieving several artifacts that are actually exhibited in the museum. Sounds boring? – I don’t think so!

Although strictly seen this might be an “educational game” (and there goes the profit) it really is not. Even if you are not interested in the history and you don’t want to visit the museum this game offers everything a good RPG needs, except multiple party members, and it is free as well… so no profit anyway. Check out the game here and please follow/support @causecreations and their other games as well.



SHOOTING STARS!

Hmm… considering the success this game (made in Austria by @bloodirony btw.) is having on iOS all over the world at the moment, it won’t take too long until Michael, Stefan and Alex – the sympathetic developers behind it – have to add themselves to the game as stars!
Don't trust the website, here’s the true plot: There was this rainbow unicorn; white, with rainbow hair and well… unicorny. It could walk on two legs, speak English and loved coffee. Then came aliens and sort of body-snatched into the stars of our world – as in Alk Hogan, Pew der Pie, Edmund McBillion and Nuck Chorris – to do bad things. So, the unicorn mated with itself and magically gave birth to a man named Tscherno. He first travelled back in time and stole the hoverboard of Marty McFliege before he fell in love with a cute cat in Eastern Europe that could shoot lazers from its mouth named Bill. They teamed up and are now on a rogue-like, arcade-style mission shooting the stars (wait... killing the aliens). – Well, something like that anyway. Seriously, just get the game and try figuring it out yourself while competing for a highscore here.



CHALO CHALO

...is not a fancy new vegetarian fast-food product from the Netherlands, but an absolutely addicting party game for up to eight players. Still in development I consider myself lucky I could play this game already and even got some familiar “Let’s play risk”-rivalry going with friends visiting the event. Being smart about the path you choose, you just have to reach the goal before the others do – it doesn’t get simpler than that. This game is one to keep under close surveillance! - More info at: Chalochalogame



FUGL

Ever wanted to be a bird? This could be for you. So far Fugl is "only" a bird-flying simulation from Norway. Because the game is still under development there aren't any goals in it yet, but according to the developer Johan (no, not the one from the history RPG) there will be. In the meantime Fugl impresses with a fantastic and colorful, minecraftesque, voxel world and great touch-screen flight controls. Unfortunately there's not too much to follow the development yet but you can get a glimpse of what it looks like here on youtube and I am sure more social links will be available soon.




MARY WOKE UP TODAY

Waking Life meets Point&Click and results in a inspiring and artistic experience for everyone to play. Mary woke up today is another game made in Austria that shows how much talent is actually located here and that less is often enough to leave a lasting impression and make dreams come reality!

Play this short, free indie game linked from here and keep an eye on @inyoursigh for more art!



HUE

Developed by @mudvarkgames from London, Hue is not the usual puzzle platformer; here it's all about crazy colors! I have first seen this game in January at the CEGC15 and not surprisingly the game has come a long way since that. There is a multitude of new puzzle mechanics and an actual game world has evolved while even bits and pieces of the underlying story are starting to emerge. Honestly, the game is still not for me personally, since I prefer action and speed when it comes to platformers, but the visual art of the game together with its literally "colorful mechanics" does certainly make it special. Pay it a visit here and say "Hi" to @DanDaRocha on twitter, will you?



THE ANSWER MY FRIEND, IS BURNING IN THE WIND


- I swear I will let those Dylan quotes rest at some point, but what can you say... they offer soo much!
Of course there were many more games... Her Story, Blood will be spilled, TactiX, Space Box, Antisphere, Ten Weeks, Hive21, Son of Nor, Riposte,... many more great games to be fair, but as I said, I can't cover all of them now and you could always check out the links on the Radius page or even re-watch the recorded live streams of each day on twitch. In the future I will surely take a closer look at a few more of the games but for now let's slowly try to get a hold of the "real" reality again.

Radius was an inspiring and surprisingly big celebration of the videogame culture, not only for Austria but for the whole indie community. It is a pleasant feeling to burn right in the middle of the indie movement that, thanks to a lot of hard working people and entities (@GeorgeBacker, @TomDeRoeck, @GamesAustria to name a few), got finally ignited even in super conservative Austria. The fire is spreading, much more is about to happen and the flames won't be that easy to put out anymore!

Hopefully Radius, Adriel Wallick and Rami Ismail with his "Vlambeer" will return to Vienna again and you will be burning with us next time.

Play more! Celebrate more! 
 

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

CELEBRATING CHICKENS AT RADIUS FESTIVAL

Radius... what more can you say? Besides... that it is in VIENNA this year! - Actually this weekend, from Friday to Sunday. - Sorry for being late telling you but I guess you can still make it, right? The beautiful and spacy Museums Quartier is being prepped as you're reading these lines, tickets are selling like crazy, cocktail menus are studied and - believe it or not - even the chickens won't stop shooting explosive eggs because of sheer excitement!

Yes, I am very happy to (finally) announce that also my latest short game Supreme Chicken Showdown can be played there. - So, you lazy clucks, who didn't make it to the awesome Central European Games Conference in January, I expect you to get moving and be part of this next celebration of (indie) games culture & co! ;)


If you dare - Friday, as well as Sunday - you can even challenge me chicken a chicken... I am looking forward to it. If you win, you may pet the cat. We will all be sad if you can't make it to radius, that's for sure. However, don't forget that you can also watch and even (digitally) be part of the event, especially the everyday night show "full of entertainment and guests", live on twitch.tv Who knows, maybe you'll even see me there...

For more information I strongly suggest you check out www.radiusfestival.com and if you want to get updates during the event you can always follow me on twitter... naturally. I will, of course, also be there to cover the latest trends, indie games and scandals, so be prepared or the usual, in-depth wall of text, you have to read next week.

In the meantime, I have already taken a brief look at what games are on display and next to being really excited about all of them I am absolutely happy to again meet several indie friends from here and neighboring countries. Shout outs to SoapInteractive from Croatia and Doublequote Studio from Slovakia... boys, it's on!

Still, not sure whether to come or not? Ok, here's a short (and shhh, still secret) gameplay video of Supreme Chicken Showdown, maybe this will convince you:




See you this weekend in Vienna! And don't forget to bring your gaming skills.

Play more! Celebrate more!

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

E3 2015

GREAT GAMES, HERE WE COME!




Here we go again... it's E3 recap time. In case you weren't there and also missed the hours of footage from this year's E3, here is a "short" (yeah, you know me ;) summary and as usual my personal opinion on it. Let's start with the show itself, shall we?


You might remember my coverage of last year's expo? - Yes, I was pretty disappointed to say the least... but since the transition into the next generation of console gaming has been going on for quite some time already, I am not too surprised that this E3 was better... a lot better!



First, Microsoft did really a good job. - Especially compared to last year. While the show was really nice and it was clear they put a lot of effort into the presentation, the most important thing in my opinion is that they could and did finally show a lot of games for Xbox One. Also technically they really hit the spot with the new Xbox One "Elite" Controller and the HoloLens.

Well done Microsoft, well done!



I think Sony managed to keep the quality of their presentation compared to last year. They also showed a lot of games - maybe even more than MS - and even better, they showed more actual gameplay than MS, which is pretty important for me? The show itself was pretty much the same as last year, with only one big (panaroma-setup) screen in the back. Although I think this time Microsoft stole the show in terms of visual presentation by far, Sony still did a great job.



And lastly there was Nintendo... and guys,... I really don't know what to say about this. I don't want to offend someone, I dearly love Nintendo, the great games and consoles they made in the past,... but honestly, I can't anymore. I was already heavily disappointed by their show last year, but this year simply was too much and for now I am pretty certain not to get a WiiU anymore. I don't know, games are supposed to be fun, right? Games shouldn't be that serious all the time and mostly deal with shooting, gore and violence, right?

Nintendo always offered the counterpart to this and kept the gaming universe in balance with their simple and colorful Mario & Co titles. But watching this crappy puppet show and people taking obviously nothing really serious - except their focus on handheld titles and their own local market - didn't make me laugh, it almost made me vomit. If you don't want to get into further details or you (still) are a Nintendo fanatic, you might want to skip the next section and continue to the list of games below.


THE NINTENDO PROBLEM


I understand their strategy and it is clear that their main focus is and probably always was the Japanese market, but personally I can't hold on to that anymore. It's time to face the facts; I am a 30+ western gamer; next to PC-gaming, I prefer console gaming a lot. I want a system to be hooked up with my TV, a good controller, a couch and damn good, impressive games (which doesn't exclude indie games, naturally)! I don't give a rat's fart about any tech-goodies that are said to improve my gaming experience like a controller that makes me stand up, jump around and shake my hands like an idiot, like a connected tablet that lets me control something in the game, or even like "Big Brother" Kinect. I don't need it, I don't want it. Just focus on the games please!

Furthermore I am also not a handheld gamer. I was when I was smaller but I am not anymore. And to finish it up: It is kind of hard to actually say it, but I think I have also had it with Mario & Co. It's simply getting boring... I've been watching those titles closely but honestly everything at Nintendo seems to stay still for a long time already. I remember the time when Super Mario 64 came out and rocked my hole Mario World again, the moment I put in Zelda - Ocarina of Time and I was blown away, when I first played Metroid Prime, Luigi's Mansion or Smash Brothers on the Gamecube... but that's it. What was going on since then? In my opinion there wasn't a single good Mario game, not one good Zelda game, no new good Metroid and so on. - Please keep in mind that I don't do handhelds. I know of some pretty good games there but sorry, that's just not my platform. I am also fully aware that there are pretty good games from the known franchises out and coming like Mario Kart 8, Yoshi's Wooly World or the Donkey Kong WiiU. Also the new Zelda looks pretty nice, but in a way (except Zelda maybe) that is more like keeping the standard and not really improving, wouldn't you agree? What was the last "none Mario & Co - Nintendo franchise" that they surprised us with? - Splatoon? - Sorry, but I don't get the hype about this game, I know this will probably cost me followers, but seriously... while other companies are making games like The Division, Halo 5, Anno 2205, Alien Isolation, Batman, Horizon, The Witcher, a Final Fantasy VII Remake, Tomb Raider, Courier of the Crypts, Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery and many more, the best Nintendo comes up with is Splatoon??? And then everybody is buying into it? I don't get it... well,... actually I do, but it's still not a reason for me to get it. And what is an even stronger reason not to get a WiiU is this Amibo bullshit... sorry, I am out.

To sum it up: Again, Nintendo wasn't there. Again, Nintendo made a childish show. Again, most of their "show" consisted of too long, thus boring interviews about mostly uninteresting stuff. 50% of their "virtual event" showed handheld games, 30% of their show dealt with puppet crap, 5% was dedicated to Super Mario's anniversary and only 15% was about actual games for the WiiU...

From the top of my head, here is an example of what I want, Nintendo:

Get your secret Metroid WiiU back to the drawing boards and make it a dark, realistic and frightening experience in space and on some planets. Make it 3rd-person or even better a 1st-person-shooter style game, that already worked with Metroid Prime and everybody knows western gamers love shooters. Make it like a mixture of Doom, Halo and Farcry with astonishing visuals, next-gen lighting and shading technics and wrap it in a cool Metroid story. - How about that? Just for once make something serious and not the next colorful clone. You have the means, you have the money, so please just stop playing with puppets and do something worthwhile. I think you are relying too much on your established brands and the Japanese market. From what I see happening around, I just have to doubt that this will hold up for you... and I am afraid not even making your brands mobile will be enough in the end.


GAMES, GAMES, GAMES


Ok, (enough of the Nintendo stuff) let's have a bit more fun and watch some trailers of the great things to come. Please note that the videos are not categorized between Xbox One, PS4 and the few there are from Nintendo or even PC, because most of my highlights are anyway cross-platform. Instead I will give you my documented first reaction to each video... :)

  • HALO 5 ("Yep... I can't wait for that! Impressive as always.")
  • RECORE ("Hmm,.. this looks like an interesting action adventure... I hate/love robots")
  • FALLOUT 4 ("Well, it's Fallout... just great and now modding is coming to consoles too?")
  • DARK SOULS 3 ("Not much from the game there, but the production value sure looks nice.")
  • THE DIVISION ("Curious if we will still see trailers about that at next year's E3 or if...")
  • XCOM 2 ("Ohh-Yeah!! Overwatch!")
  • RAINBOW SIX - SIEGE ("I think I could get into Rainbow Six again...")
  • BEYOND EYES ("Awesome! But damn it, another idea of a game I wanted to make!")
  • ION (" 'A game that is not a game?', in space, and with great graphics... count me in!")
  • RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER ("Gameplay please... and Lara is again falling.")
  • FABLE LEGENDS ("Can this be a good part again after the last disaster?")
  • GEARS (of War) 4 ("Trying it again? Hope you learned what you did wrong with the last.")
  • THE LAST GUARDIAN ("Rat + Chicken + Dog = wtf? And more voice samples please.")
  • HORIZON - ZERO DAWN ("Wow! Robot dinosaurs and Barbarella! Brilliant!")
  • HITMAN ("I think you forgot a number in the title... but it still looks nice.")
  • STREET FIGHTER V ("Street Fighter just rocks... also with new characters.")
  • FIREWATCH ("Mysterious... who is in your tower? Exciting... I like it.")
  • FINAL FANTASY VII - REMAKE ("Crying like a small girl at Christmas. Thank you!!")
  • SHENMUE 3 (" 'Perhaps they're out?' and qicktime-events all over again! I am ready.")
  • STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT ("OMG, a Wilhelm scream! Is it going to feel THAT good?")
  • UNCHARTED 4 ("I have to play this franchise sooner or later!")
  • DEUS EX - MANKIND DIVIDED ("Here we go again... impressive, epic, futuristic,...")
  • XENOBLADE CHRONICLES X ("Wished they'd make a Xenogears remake but that'll do."
  • MARIO TENNIS ULTRA SMASH ("Yesss! A new Mario sports game.")
  • YOSHI'S WOOLY WORLD ("Too cute to be true...")
  • ZELDA ("Oops.. didn't make it to E3... hope you don't promise too much for next year.")
  • STAR FOX ZERO ("Wow, looks like an old Xbox game... no, no,...")
  • SUPER MARIO MAKER ("Think I'd rather use Unity to make levels...")
  • ANNO 2205 ("This is just going to be awesome! They always top their previous part!")


THE END OF THE STORY


Finally I feel the current console generation starts to offer something. I haven't been this excited for quite a while and besides wanting that delicious new Xbox Controller, there are easily 10 games in this list I consider an absolute must-have. Have you seen Star Wars Battlefront for example? - I think similar to Alien Isolation, the creators of this game will finally produce an outstanding game for a movie franchise that was waiting a long time for just that. Also Horizon - Zero Dawn (of which I haven't even heard before E3) made me hover above my chair. Then there's Halo 5 and I think I don't have to say anymore about the Final Fantasy VII Remake, right? Oh yes, and they are even making a new Shenmue! How awesome is that?


- Well, actually that one was also kind of sad at the same time because I don't really agree with what they did with kickstarter in that case. How is a million going to help a game that will easily cost 80 million to make? I think that was just promotional and an intended as well as calculated audience appeal test. - I hate when platforms like kickstarter are "abused" in that manner because they should be helping other people and independent projects. Imagine how many great indie titles could have been funded with that million spent on Shenmue solely to prove to investors that there is a market for it.

Well, anyway... I very much enjoyed this E3 compared to last year's. Everybody - in my opinion except Nintendo did a good job and I am more than positive that great gaming times are just around the corner!

Play more! Hover more!

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

THE VANISHING OF ETHAN CARTER

PLAYING DETECTIVE IN THE WOODS



Without hesitation: This is one of the best games I have ever played! I wasn't too sure what to expect from it because I kept myself in the dark and didn't do any research before playing... but it was absolutely worth it and in order not to spoil you the experience I will keep the following words as short and thoughtful as possible.

What you shouldn't expect from the game: A horror game with a ton of jump scares similar to some of the games I recently reviewed. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (web / steam) is not one of these games, it's different. This game has a clear focus on story and ambience and I would thus - if at all - classify it at best as a horror game similar to Silent Hill. The game also lacks any action whatsoever so I think for some people this game might not be the right one. The main goal in this game is exploration.
You have to look very carefully, search for and then skillfully combine clues. Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but actually this is what takes the already great story to the next level by telling it in the most interactive way and keeping it exciting to the last minute.


And while the game on the one side withholds you for example even the ability to jump, it is most generous in giving you one of the most beautiful environments, complete with a perfectly fitting soundtrack, I have ever dwelled in. The realism in this game, the natural feeling of the sun endlessly setting in the area surrounding a small barrier lake together with its dam, some old houses, even a mine and more, is simply incomparable!




In my opinion, the developers, The Astronauts and especially the writers Tom Bissell and Rob Auten, who also worked on parts of the Gears of War, Battlefield and Uncharted franchises, deserve a lot of credit for this master piece. This game, that I think would even be a bestseller in form of a book, shouldn't be missing in any serious collection. I am definitely looking forward to become Paul Prospero - the "gifted" detective - again, although I am afraid the game doesn't have multiple endings,... which is maybe one thing it misses.

Play more! Immerse more! 
 

Thursday, June 4, 2015

DAYLIGHT

WHERE NO SPOOK HAS GONE BEFORE



This game, ladies and gentleman... this game! I wouldn't say it's the best horror game but it definitely is the best when it comes to shocks and scares.

This game is brutal and if you are easily spooked, you might seriously wet your pants with this one... no joke!

Daylight, developed by Zombie Studios who did quite a few horror games already but also sadly closed at the beginning of this year, was released roughly a year ago (steam). It is about a woman who is trying to escape from a hospital/mental facility. Well, that's new, isn't it? No seriously, I realize the stories of - this kind of - horror games all seem a bit similar and probably boring, but there's always a difference in how they are told. And ultimately we should also ask ourselves if we play these games because of the story. I think setting, atmosphere and shock stand out much more in these kind of games. If you want play a horror game with a great story you might consider playing the Silent Hill series. Then again, there aren't as many heart-stoppers...

It is very interesting that after so many horror games I have yet to play one that combines both: A great and deeply psychological story with jump-scares that put you on the floor. But again: Regarding the latter, Daylight is most certainly the game that does it best from what I've played so far!



The game isn't that long but with a total playtime of approximately five to six hours among the longer (modern) horror games and surely a great deal for the money they charge for it. Your goal is simple: There are five (or was it six?) locations, ranging from hospital corridors to sewers and even a forest. In each location you have to explore as much as possible in order to find documents (no, you heard right). Depending on the area you are in there are about five pieces of papers that you have to find in order to spawn an artifact. After picking up the artifact you can open the exit and proceed to the next location. - That's it. Fairly simple, but you might laugh if I told you that it took us more than an hour to figure that out! You know how much I love those endless papers and letters in horror games, right? So naturally I didn't care much about picking them up. - However the documents in this game, while being the general mechanic behind it, are actually what they are supposed to be: additional to the story! You can follow the main story easily without reading them, since there is enough spoken dialogue and the story is well told as it unfolds naturally the more you progress in the game.

You might think that the goal of the game seems fairly easy and ask where the fun or rather spook is and to make it short: In exploration. Daylight scatters these documents you have to find randomly when you start an area. And although they have a small red light indicating their position, they are pretty hard to find. So you are forced to explore...

And the worst is, that while you are out exploring with your limited supply of glow sticks, you are hunted. There is always something on your heels, literally!

Aside to a lot of great (environmental) jump scares, just from cart board boxes falling for example, the ghost they made in this game is just perfect. They made everything right with this one! - It even looks super creepy and not like some sort of exaggerated monster. This ghost is relentless and it creeps on you all the time - even more the more documents you pick up. You can hear it, you can feel it. There is constantly something around you and you are never safe.

In all honesty, Daylight is a game where you just don't want to turn around... especially when you've run out of flares! Featuring great atmosphere, decent graphics, full controller support and the most terrifying spook I have ever felt in a game, I cannot but recommend this game to everyone who - at least from time to time - loves to be scared to the bones!

Play more! Relax more! 
 

Saturday, May 30, 2015

SOMA (update)

EXTENDED GAMEPLAY TRAILER



Do you still remember Soma? - I wrote a post about this game more than a year ago. Since a few days there is now an extended gameplay trailer available on youtube and you should absolutely not miss it!




This game gets more and more promising and the robots make me wet my pants already! Shame that it won't launch for Xbox One... seems I have to stay several nights at a friend's place or play the PC version. Hmm... I don't know, I think wouldn't be able to play it alone anyway. And don't worry, as stated by the creators already some months ago (GamingBolt) a later release on Xbox One could happen after all

Play more! Fear more!

Friday, May 29, 2015

DESTINY

BLABLA... BLA BLABLA!



After finally releasing my small game Supreme Chicken Showdown, I've recently been able to finish a lot of games I have played only sporadically over the last months... so there are quite a few reviews ahead. To mix it up I thought it would be good to start it off with a review of a really big AAA title: Destiny.

Before I begin I would however also like to shortly address something that might again land in my inbox because of this review. Sometimes I am asked the approximated following via email: What is the purpose of a review of a game that is already out for a long time? Why do you do that?

Because first of all I am pretty busy and even more importantly I can't print my own money at home, and since nobody (at least not the big-time industry) is sending me free copies of their games, I have to wait a bit until the prices drop before I can buy them. - Luckily, taking a look at the industry prices that doesn't take that long anymore. But there's more: I also don't want to write a review of a game that I haven't played at least through half of it - in most cases I even want to finish it completely. I find this very important because I strongly believe that from playing just a very short time - especially when it comes to bigger titles - you can't and shouldn't really judge a game. I don't have any rush. If this was a race I have already lost. But it isn't! And quite frankly I think it's about time even more people realized that you don't have to play a game right away, let alone buy into the mostly disastrous preorder hypes! I neither have the time nor the money and I also don't want to be treated like any other form of modern, high-speed and in the end completely useless review platform on the net. I see my reviews anyway more like an opinionated and often exaggerated testimony, here to stay and still funny to read even in some years from now. So, sometimes you might get lucky and I can indeed review a brand new title super quickly, but I guess most of the times you would just have to wait until I am really sure what I am writing about. If I just finished a very old game on my Super Nintendo for example, I might even review that just because I feel like it. That's how I meow!

Thanks for your understanding and continuing support and without further delay, let's have some fun (?) and jump right into Destiny:


A BIG FIREWORK FOR NOTHING


Oh boy, was this game anticipated! Everybody was talking about it, the media was going crazy and already at the public beta (like a year ago) servers were running hot and dozens of comparison videos (Xbox 360 vs Xbox One vs PS4 graphics, and so on) flooded youtube while becoming a big part of the general XB1 vs PS4 debate.

I have played the beta... the whole weekend and I already knew back then, that contrary to my expectations, this game wasn't for me. I tried most classes and I was done with it. The game didn't feel like there was anything left to do for me after the content that was provided in the beta... and after I finally got it and started playing (about three months ago) nothing had changed.

Yes, this game's visuals are astonishingly beautiful, the regions are vast and imaginative and especially the controls feel awesome and almost exactly like the - probably - best shooting controls, taken directly from Halo. BUT that's it! In my opinion this game respectfully fails at everything else.


The only thing I naturally have to exclude from that statement is the basic nature of this game being a massive online shooter hybrid. But I don't like massive online games. Be they massive online RPGs or this kind of "modern" shooter adaption. I usually avoid everything that says "massive online". Still, I understand some people like this, so in all fairness for those I'd have to say Destiny might be good in that regard. Personally, I almost had to puke the first time I was teleported to the city and I saw all those other people running around behaving like idiots, doing stupid dancing memes, jumping on my back, and so on... sorry, but this just destroys any game for me completely!

Next up: looting, items, drop rates, skills and customization. - Actually something that could have kept this game going,... but I never felt particularly rewarded or in any way motivated to progress my level or get new gear. Sorry, but I think the skills across all classes and sub-classes are not that special and I would have preferred to find a hundred times more different guns and weapon classes instead.

Also the gear; from what I have seen on very high-leveled players, I didn't like any of it! In a way they all looked liked some messed-up, futuristic vampires and that's not really my taste.

Welcome to Space-WOW? And the rest of it (the items you just find easily while playing through the game without dedicated farming) just all looked like the same piece of armor with only minor adjustments.

And what are you doing in Destiny? Well, you simply accept a mission, you travel there for like 3 minutes (loading time) you run towards your marker, which btw. is so stupidly hidden all the time that you have to constantly press a button and stop the flow to make it pop up again for a few seconds, then you get confined in a final location, you fight off big waves of again more or less randomly spawning enemies and then you travel/load back to the city. - Phew... great stuff, right? Oh, and did I mention that just after you have defeated the final wave and/or the boss, there is always a countdown that stresses you to search the area for possible drops because it strictly ports you out of the location when the countdown reaches zero? - Seriously, what is going on there?

Before I mentioned that the regions are vast... yep, that is true, but sometimes they are simply too big and it really becomes annoying to travel through them. After playing the first missions there is just nothing... not the slightest incentive to play the next one. You always do the same: Fighting of waves of enemies, filled with endless travelling, loading times and other nuisances. - For example the constant stumbling around of other players on the battle fields. Imagine walking from A to B in this game. On the sheer endless way, you fight off one of many spawning nests for enemies, then you continue. You think you have cleaned that spot, you move safely through it and you already aim at the next enemy region in front of you. Suddenly another player enters the region at A and guess what: The first nest you just cleaned becomes again populated with enemies (of course also the "new" player needs to shoot at something, right?). Well, thanks to the new player you are now trapped in the middle of two enemy nests! Bravo! Don't you also love it when enemies just spawn out of thin air all around you? I think after this example you can now very vividly understand that if this game is one thing, it most certainly is a shooting range with an infinite supply of enemies. But sorry... that just gets boring. - Especially if there is no reward or some sort of thought-through challenge involved.

Alright, enough of that. I realize the last paragraph is all about issues up for personal interpretation and I really don't want to go more into detail about the public shooting events you can join. So here's the one thing completely unrelated to whether you like shooting or not and the one thing that ultimately destroyed Destiny for me (as well as my friends):


PURPOSE, SENSE AND STORY



- Is there any of this in Destiny? As much as I am open to imagination,... honestly... no, I don't think so! If it was one thing I expected from this game (something no beta would reveal), it was a deep and epic story; a story that drags you along similar to Halo; great personalities, simple yet sticking dialogues, impressive locations accompanied with some epic music and everything superbly well staged! Maybe the locations are there but in Destiny there is absolutely no staging and everything feels as empty as the surface of the moon. - Like I said, the missions are always the same, they feel boring and if there is something that explains you why you're again supposed to fight your way through infinite enemies over and over again, it is short and useless monologues during the loading/flying times. I am really sorry to say that but this is no staging, this is less than nothing! Where are all the in-game cut scenes? Where is the dialogue? Characters giving purpose to everything? A real introduction the current level and its goals? Characters that tell the story? Characters that become more?

It is obvious to compare this game to Halo, so just take a look at this link (a collection of all the cut scenes from the original Halo), or this (collection of Halo 4 cut scenes)!! I am really sorry but why is there no such story telling in Destiny? Is this not possible to synch with the massive online nature of the game? Sorry... but then please don't force it into that! Destiny has only one good cut scene and that is the intro. I know there are a few more during the game but yeah... they are simply not worth mentioning. If I assume the story of Destiny is actually great, there is only one conclusion: The story telling is ridiculously bad and that is the biggest negative point about the game!

Hmm, Destiny is still said to become the next big thing, isn't it? When you take a look at some official servers stats and how often this game is still played every day, maybe it is. Maybe this was really just the beginning. We will see. For now, in my opinion, this game unfortunately remains an over-polished, short and boring shooter with a good handling but filled with countless massive online zombies instead of real story, characters and purpose. I am deeply sorry but to me this game was a disappointment and I really miss the money I spent on it.

Play more! Cry more!