Games have been an important part of my life for years. Along with Music and Films they have entertained, inspired and sometimes even educated me. Some of these have been throw away experiences that lasted as long as i played them, while others have stayed with me long after i stopped playing them. These are the games i want to talk to you about today, Games that were almost more to me than just entertainment.
My first dedicated gaming system was actually the original Gameboy, i got it for Christmas one year bundled with Super Mario Land and Tetris. While Nintendo's Russian puzzler was extremely addictive and super fun to play, it was Mario's first outing on the Hand held platform that i spent most of my time playing. I was so addicted to the game and so in tune with the gameplay that once i completed it i actually turned the system upside down and played it that way just for the extra challenge! The music, as simple as it was on the Gameboy system was iconic but also completely unique to the Mario Land series, something that made the game feel less like a 2 bit remake and more like its own game, which of course it was. Platform games improved graphically on the system over the years that followed, Mario World 2 was a prime example, but they never held the same interest for me that the first Mario Land did.
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!! I played the original ISS so much and scored so many goals that i drove everyone else in the house nuts with that simple word shouted over and over. ISS was the first time i had ever played a football game on a console and felt like i was playing a real game of football. It was a step ahead of everything that came before. The animations were fast and fluid with characters that actually looked like adults, rather than the super deformed players featured prior to its release in 1995. It had crowd chants, tricks, superb animation, addictive menu music, an editing suite where you could change your teams kit colours, and most importantly it had commentators celebrating whenever you scored a goal.
I didn't play sensible soccer until much later, and although the top down perspective "Sensi" can rightly claim to be the first true football game available released (3 years earlier than ISS) i would still take Konami's offering over it.
Staying with the SNES, It pains me to admit that i was a bit of a late comer to the party where the Legend of Zelda is concerned. My sister bought me a copy of Link to the Past for my 11th birthday in 1994.
Link to the Past has wonderful art and brilliant gameplay, as always it has a decent story that keeps it simple and allows you to concentrate on the task in hand. It's also the first game i owned on a console that had an on board battery powered memory pack built into the cartridge. Just as well when you consider just how big the game was. I would spend hours looking for cave entrances and fairies that could heal my wounds, all the time spurred on by a great soundtrack that made the most of the SNES's soundcard. This game in short, was the game that started me off on RPG's and made me a fan of games that you had to spend more than an afternoon playing.
Well, let's be honest, you knew this would be on the list didn't you?
Of course you did.
Released in the UK on November 17th 1997, Final Fantasy was the first of the series to appear on Sony's Playstation console. I bought it within a couple of weeks of release not really knowing much about the games history or what i was getting into. Many people will site this game as their gateway drug, the game that opened their eyes to the JRPG genre, i'm one of them.
Final Fantasy VII benefited from the increased data capacity that came with Playstation's CD format, but even so the game was so large that it took 3 CD's to fit all the content in. I recently started playing through FFVII again and a few things stood out to me. The story telling is still superb, even if the translation of the original Japanese dialogue is a bit sketchy in places. Use of Music was a stand out feature the first time i played this game back in 1997, something that still holds true today. I have bought two game soundtracks in my life, one of them was the FFVII OST.
As technology improved and Games got longer thanks to memory cards and on board battery packs it became more and more of a rareity for me to complete a game. Cloud's story in Final Fantasy VII was so compelling that i stuck with it all the way through to the end. Finishing this game was honestly one of my proudest gaming achievements (and this was a time before achievements were a dirty word)
I literally spent hours getting my infiltration of Shadow Moses as perfect as i could, i've never played a game before or since (except perhaps for the other MGS games) that have instilled in me such a dedication to getting things just right. I would happily lay under a truck for ages trying to figure out the movements of the guards and see if there was a weakness i could exploit.
The solution to the Psycho Mantis boss fight was an inspired use of the console, while all the other boss fights were just the right side of infuriatingly difficult. I'd be annoyed if i died fighting a boss but then go straight back and say "can i have some more sir?"
I was amazed by the cinematic feel to the game, from the opening credit sequence to the final scenes at the end. The script was tight, voice acting was excellent, and every character felt fleshed out and real. MGS truly was an immersive experience for me, the music, story and characters were all well done and made me care.
I think the reason why i picked these 5 games out is that they all share some of the traits i've mentioned, no matter if it's the iconic music from Mario Land, the revolutionary animation in ISS, the Immersive gameplay of Zelda and FFVII or the combination of all these things as found inMetal Gear Solid. Maybe these aren't the 5 greatest games in the world, but for me they will always be the games that i hold most dear.
At the end of Assassins Creed we learned that Altair had gained possession of the Piece of Eden and taken control of the Assassins guild, Assassins were still in existence in modern times, Abstergo Industries was the modern face of the Templars, Lucy Stillman was ,in fact, an Assassin, and Desmond was picking up the odd skill from experiencing the memories of his ancestors. In AC2 things have changed. Desmond is on the run thanks to help from Lab technician Lucy, we meet more members of the Assassins guild and we delve further into Desmond's mind to experience the life of another of his ancestors, in the hopes that he can, through experiencing another assassins life, become one himself.
Assassins Creed II, much like it's protagonist Ezio Auditore has some large boots to fill but at the same time had the potential to improve on its predecessor. The original Assassins Creed had been criticised in some quarters for lacking variation in game play. Although the game had a brilliant fighting system, superbly fluid free running mechanics and a story that had you intrigued from beginning to end it lacked the variety in mission types needed to keep boredom at bay over the course of the many hours required to complete it. As riveting as it is to climb a hundred foot tower and then jump off the edge into a hay bale it tends to lose it's shine after the thirtieth or so!
Luckily where the original faltered, it's successor has excelled. It goes without saying that the meat and potatoes of this game is the assassinations of key Templar conspirators but the surrounding missions vary so much that it's difficult to get bored with. You are tasked with everything from escorting allies around the city to delivering letters, from time to time you have to free imprisoned rebels who will aid you in your cause, while at other times you must take out enemy archers in total silence so that your friends can take their place in the lead up to a target assassination.
Free running (parkour to those in the know) is just as fluid and enjoyable as ever. The inclusion of pigeon roosts as indicators of "leap of faith" points is a welcome improvement while the tried and trusted leap of faith from upon high is still in tact and as thrilling the first time you do it as ever. Oh and if you jump off a rooftop and find yourself falling into a canal don't worry! Ezio has had swimming lessons and can keep himself above water quite ably.
Fighting is very similar to the first outing with Altair, counters and dodging are still important to your survival during a fight with low level guards. Heavy duty soldiers, denoted by large swords or axes along with thick armour can't be parried as easily and must instead be dodged and then countered. There is a wealth of new weapons available for your journey through Italy, and while you can probably complete the game with the basic weapon load out where's the fun in that? There's no greater feeling than taking on a group of guards bare handed, disarming the first to attack and then dispatching him with his own weapon. Your favourite counters are all included in this sequel while a few new animations are included for good measure.
During your more stealthy missions you'll find dispatching multiple targets easier thanks to the second hidden blade newly developed by Leonardo Da Vinci from plans drawn up by your predecessor Altair. You can take down two guards at a time with this new upgrade both on your feet and from the air. New stealth kills are avilable too, you can now kill a target from a cart full of hay or grab them from a ledge below and hurl them to their deaths.
Now the down sides, although there really is only one worth a mention. Horse riding still feels awkward at best and at worst is horrible. Unlike Rockstars' Red Dead Redemption Ubisoft seem to have reached a certain level of functionality with your steed and then decided it was good enough to move onto other things. Fair enough, unlike the first AC you won't need the horse for many areas, in fact you can't ride in the cities at all, but it still feels like while everything else is nicely polished the horseplay is lacking that same sparkle.
Speaking of sparkle, the graphics in this game seem a step above the previous entry in the series. Maybe it's just the re-cap but the graphics from AC1 seem a little more jagged. That point not withstanding, Assassins Creed 2 is a beautiful game to behold. The Cities are all reproduced in stunning fashion as you can see from the screen cap at the start of this review. Voice acting is strong throughout with the exception of Shaun, played by Danny Wallace, who isn't horrible by any means but can be slightly inconsistent from time to time. Desmond/Ezio 's lines are delivered well which helps to make him, once again, a believable character who is very easy to empathise with. Believe me, there's plenty to empathise with him over.
Assassins creed 2 has managed to improve on the formula of the original, continuing what was already a very interesting and original story and further developing Desmond from a gateway character, who seemed to be there only so we could play as his ancestors, into a more complete character who is becoming just as interesting to play as in his own right.
Your Wife and Son have been Kidnapped, and the only way to get them back is to track down and kill the men you used to call family.
Welcome to the life of John Marston, a former gang member turned farmer who has been tasked with the unenviable task of tracking down his former running mate Bill Williamson and Gang leader Dutch Van der Linde. Along the way you'll meet a ragtag band of miscreants who will both be of help and a hindrance to you. Some, like Irish, are as much for comedic relief as they are for plot advancement but each is memorable in their own right and feel very much like part of the world in which you find yourself thrust. The whole game is in the same vain as GTAIV, no bad thing since it's been based on the same engine as the most recent entry of that successful franchise.
The world in which you initially find yourself is what most of us would term as classic Wild West America, circa 1911. You won't stay there for long though as you travel south of the border into Mexico and eventually venture north into the snowy reaches of Tall Trees, an environment that feels and sometimes looks a lot like Colorado. The level of detail in these settings is astonishing, on more than one occasion you will find yourself slowing your horse to a slow trot as you take in a beautiful sunset or gaze in wonder at the huge explorable Vista in front of you. Rockstar have combined the three environmental settings of Red Dead extremely well, considering that, geographically, these three places are nowhere near each other in the real United States.
While exploring you never feel any form of disconnect from one area to the next, each one bleeds naturally into the other.
Where necessary, for plot reasons, Rockstar has no problem separating them with a variation on every sandbox game makers favourite structure, Railway Bridges. While there are many side missions to get your teeth into, the real meat of the game is in the main story which while not necessarily the longest seen in a sandbox game is certainly one of the more emotionally involving. The whole "Family have been kidnapped to force you into something" story might not be the most original, but it's realised in a way that makes it interesting throughout non the less.
Music is important in any game, at best it can be the final piece needed to suck you into a story making a half hours fly by before you know it, at worst it can completely ruin a game by not suiting the goings on or completely distracting you from what's happening. Rockstar have a good track record where it comes to in game music, although normally it's listened to through a car stereo and can be toggled on and off. In Red Dead Redemption the music is treated like the score to a film, changing depending on environment and situation. Each track is perfect for the situation and blends into the background to create a rich and vibrant world. The only time you truly notice the music is when you're meant to. Upon entering Mexico you're treated to a beautiful song by Jose Gonzalez entitled "Far Away" it's a true stand out moment in the game as you'll be tempted to slow your horse and simply enjoy the ride with that song playing you onward.
Another area where Red Dead excels is your equestrian friend. "Gun" attempted the sandbox western a few years ago but never quite managed to get horsemanship or gun fighting down, and since you'll be spending as much, if not more time on your horse as you will off of it (drinking your milk optional) this is obviously a very important part of the game. There's a feeling of connection with horse riding in Red Dead, you feel like you are in total control of the animal underneath you which is just as well given how huge the environments are, and how often you'll be riding one.
Gun play is very similar to that found in GTAIV with the addition of something called Dead-eye, Red Dead's version of Bullet Time which allows you to become the biggest bad ass in New Austin, taking out six assailants at a time with well placed head shots before they even squeeze a shot off.
As mentioned earlier, this game is based on the same engine as GTAVI, the graphics are sharp and at times jaw droppingly gorgeous. Character models are full of life, each one is brought to life by some excellent voice acting. As is the usual with any Rockstar title there isn't a bad performance in there, each actor has put in some excellent work. Cut scenes use the in game engine so you're never taken out of the experience, the animation throughout is superb. The map is the same as the one found in Nico Bellic's adventure in Liberty City, again not a bad thing since it works quite well and is not too obtrusive when you don't need it. It would perhaps have been nice to see the map tweaked to reflect the games turn of the century feel.
There are some small niggles to be mentioned though. Small bugs throughout the game made the auto aiming work intermittently and there was a point in the game where Marston couldn't change out of his rancher outfit. This might have been part of the games design, but nothing was mentioned on screen or in the menu about costume options being suspended.
These are all really minor complaints, none of which affected the gaming experience to any great extent and the positives in this game far outweigh any negatives that you may encounter.
A great game with a wonderful story and excellent game play and graphics. If you haven't already, play this game. You won't regret it.
Trust me to open my big mouth.
A few days ago i waxed lyrical about the new FIFA and how unless Pro Evolution Soccer upped their game i would be jumping ship to the long running EA franchise. How on earth was i to know that the new Pro Evo, the demo for which i finally played for the first time today, would have improved quite so much?
The new passing system that i was so worried about is actually just a better implemented version of FIFA's own 360 degree passing system, allowing you to power the ball along the floor rather than any pass i attempted with FIFA 11, which was tempered by the player aids so that it only just about reached the desired player.
PES this year is as graphically stunning a football game as i have ever seen, replays of the action blur player movements so that they look even closer to the real thing and the level of fidelity in general has been greatly improved. FIFA also looks the part this year and as always has slick front end design and in game menu systems that are quick and easy to use. PES has trumped them this year though with a new approach to menu design, everything in the demo is swish and minimalistic, the Vs screen has beautifully rendered images of the two teams star player in their kit and when you delve into the game plan menu things take an even more impressive turn.
This year Konami have given the player complete control of their teams tactics. Drag and drop any player into the position you desire and that's where they'll play, admittedly you could do this last year but it took some trawling through menus to do. This year the tactics are right there up front for you to alter. drag, drop, play.
FIFA has the option to create your own team, complete with club crest, just like Pro Evo. Where the two games seem to differ this year is the level of customisation you can apply to your new club. While you can create a kit and club crest for your FIFA team, Pro Evo allows the player to create their own stadium, right dow to the cut of the grass and the cladding on the stands (which you can also choose from). While i would never want to do so you can even give your players Spartan helmets or Pumpkin heads, have them play with a wrapped sweet for a ball and surround the ground with an 8-bit style landscape.
This year will be a difficult year for anyone unsure about which side to support, it looks like i'm still one of them after all. my best advice? Play each demo to death, rent both games out if you can so you can fiddle with the editing functions that both games have on offer this year, and go with the one you had most fun with.
That's what games are all about after all...
Robinho
If you're willing to ignore the fact that Japan saw the release of the Playstation on December 3rd 1994 then this month is very special in the life of Sony's first computer console.
September 9th and 29th 1995 marked the release of the Playstation in the US and EU respectively, which makes it 15 years old this month.
The Playstation wasn't my first gaming console by any means, that distinction belongs to the Nintendo Gameboy and Sega Master System (i wanted an NES). Along the way i owned a SNES as well, spending many a happy night playing Mario All Stars, but it was the Playstation that stole my heart and took it's place as my favourite games console.
Sony had such a wide array of different games available on the system that any gamer could find something to play and enjoy. Puzzle Fighter, Worms, ISS, Resident Evil, Ridge Racer, Destruction Derby, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy VII and Grand Theft Auto. All these disparate games have only two things in common, first they were all available on the Playstation and secondly i owned them all. There is just a snapshot of how diverse the games library could be, and similarly how random my taste in games became once i switched to Sony's system.
My favourite game on the Playstation, and still one of my favourite games of all time was released two years after the systems launch. Final Fantasy VII came out just a few short months after i became the proud owner of my own Playstation. The opening cinematic, accompanied by Nobuo Uemastu's stirring soundtrack blew my mind. I never thought a video game could rival movies as a form of visual entertainment, yet here i sat watching, not playing the beginning of a game that would go on to swallow months of my life. I was so obsessed by that game that i spent a whole week in bed (I assure you i really was ill) playing through the final stages of the last disc.
Sony's Playstation was the first system to truely embrace three dimensional gaming. Tekken, Battle Arena Toshinden and Driver spring to mind as examples of developers taking advantage of the systems power to deliver a more immersive gaming experience.
I'm taken back to a time when Grand Theft Auto was the game all my friends were playing, i bought the new issue of PSM as i always did and opened the page to read about a new game being released soon by the name of Driver. My mind once again exploded, this time at the thought of driving around in a 3D environment with absolute freedom. No need to follow tracks, no caption flashing up on screen informing me that i was indeed "Going the wrong way", in fact there were no real rules at all. Half the fun i had in that game was when i was trying to break it, The monster Truck cheat was great fun, jumping over bridges with suspension jacked up to three times the normal height was an obsession for me, watching replays of my stunts afterwards made it all the more addictive.
The graphics of the PSOne (as the smaller yet similarly powerful update was known) pales in comparison to the later PS2 and PS3, yet it retains it's appeal to me based on the strength of the games and the feelings attached to them. I still play destruction derby and worms from time to time, but dare not touch FFVII for fear of losing my social life to it.
Now that they have made FFVII available on PSN i might risk my social life by downloading it again, i still own my copy of the game from back in 1997 but haven't got the room to set up the old PS2. On second thoughts it would give me a chance to play ICO and Shadow of the Colossus again...
Happy Birthday PSOne, I still love you x
Robinho.
After what seems like an eternity i have returned to the world of the Blog, in the hopes that i can once more be ridiculous for a moment.
Today is a landmark day in my life, for today i have finally turned the corner and realised it's time to make a change. Many a year i have revelled in the creative freedoms that Pro Evolution Soccer has afforded me in the editing suite, but that is no longer enough to keep me faithful to Konami's version of the beautiful game.
Wednesday September the 8th saw a bunch of listeners attend the 50th IGN UK podcast recording and i was fortunate enough to be amongst the lucky few. At this event we were treated to a demonstration of Playstation Move (It didn't work) and also had the chance to play FIFA 11 against each other.
For as long as i remember there have been two camps in the football simulation market, those who play FIFA, and those who play ISS/PES. ever since ISS 98 i have fallen into the Konami camp, preferring how a game played over the official licences it held. When ISS became PES it added something else to the mix which cemented my loyalty to the brand, Full kit editing. Last year i played both games at the demo stage and was sorely tempted by EA's game because for the first time in a long time it was more fun to play and actually felt closer to the real thing. Despite this i maintained my loyalty to Pro Evo more out of blind faith than logical reasoning.
This year will be no different in as much as i will play both demo's to see how they are to play, however there is one big difference that could play a vital role in which game i purchase. This year I'm buying the game i enjoy the most and leaving blind faith at the door.
Now onto my thoughts of the game i played today.
FIFA 11 plays beautifully, the passing is crisp and precise when you get it right rewarding you with a defence splitting pass that puts the opposing goalkeeper at the mercy of your centre forward. That's not to say that the computer does the work for you, you still have to direct the pass and choose how hard to strike the ball with the familiar power gauge.
Tackling is challenging but satisfying, meaning that you'll get as much out of a clean sheet as you will scoring at the other end. When playing with the ball at the feet of Marouan Chamakh or Robin Van Persie i never felt like being barged off the ball as easily as you can be in PES 2010. Trickier customers like Andrey Arshavin were easier to barge off the ball in a physical tussle but nippier and more nimble in and around the penalty area.
Graphically this years FIFA is a definite improvement on last years entry, players looked spot on in the game i played (Man Utd were emphatically beaten by a rampant Arsenal 3-0) The shirts looked as vibrant as they do in the real thing and the Stadiums are painstakingly duplicated in all their majesty. Pro Evo has had the edge as far as looks are concerned for the last few years, but now that FIFA has bucked it's ideas up in that area it'll be interesting to see how PES responds.
Finishing chances off has long been a gripe of mine when it comes to EA football games, but on the limited play time i had with the next one it would appear that the chances of pulling a Chris Iwelumo and skying the ball from 2 yards out have been drastically reduced. Great news for me, less so for my opponents.
Oh and as far as commentary is concerned, even though the game i played had commentary turned off FIFA has always beaten PES hands down in that department so i'll take it as red that Mark Lawrenson is still putting through Konami's own net
So how are we doing for reasons to buy this game?
Graphics - Check
Game play - Check
Official Kits and Licences - Check
Commentary - Double Check
The only thing that has me slightly reserved is that EA have still not really come up with a Master League killer and as i understand it you still can't play as your own imaginary team in FIFA. True, you had to edit PES United or Winning Eleven FC if you wanted to play as Brentwood FC in last years Pro Evo, but you could still design your own shirt, crest and sponsor.
I guess old habits really do die hard...
Robinho.
At the risk of turning this Blog into a collection of football related articles, i would like to take the time today to reflect on the latest news coming out of Old Trafford.
It was announced today that the level of debt that Man Utd's owners find themselves in has risen to £1.1 Billion. That's a whole £400 Million more than was previously believed, and a great deal more than any Football club should be saddled with. I should point out that not all of this money is secured against The football team, but if Glazer defaults on repayment they may well be the first port of call for creditors looking to get their money back. A spokesman for the Glazer family has since come out and stated that they hold over £2 Billion in assets (First Allied shopping Malls and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), however Andy Green (a disgruntled Man Utd supporter and City analyst) has discovered that 63 of the 64 First Allied shopping malls have already been mortgaged and most are likely not making enough money to cover the interest on the payments.
Simply put, Glazer mortgaged his only viable business, and secured money against the Football Club he was yet to buy at the height of the financial boom. The bubble then burst and he's been playing catch up ever since.
Last summer Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid for £80 million, sparking the Green and Gold protests which have now garnered 158,000 members and also seemingly been given the support of David Beckham. The importance of this sale to the club is now self evident. Man Utd wouldn't be getting any money from the Glazers to invest in new players, and so they had to sell one of their prized assets in order to develop the team.
The outlook is bleak for a Glazer controlled Manchester United FC, at best they sell up and the new owners clear the debts attached to the club, at worst they default on their massive repayments and the creditors move in. Man Utd are in a terrible position at present, and it is only their continued success on the field which has kept them from slipping. Unfortunately with only one major asset at the club (Wayne Rooney) and no other way of raising significant funds for squad development they may find themselves quickly slipping down the league.
Lets contrast this with the situation at Arsenal. No major trophy for 5 years and seemingly about to sell the club captain and heart of the team Cesc Fabregas to his childhood team, Barcelona, for between £30m and £60m depending on who you ask.
On the surface you would say that they are underachieving, that Arsenal should have won something in the last 5 years. Everyone says that the fans will grow restless, and that the Manager will soon have to win something or leave. What a load of rubbish! Here's some points to explain my position.
- Cesc Fabregas will most likely leave this summer, but the club will make pure profit on a player that cost them nothing and has given his best every time he played.
- If Fabregas does leave this summer Arsenal have a number of alternatives to replace him. Rosicky, Nasri, Diaby, Ramsey, Wilshere, and interestingly if the rumours are to be believed Joe Cole.
- Arsene Wenger has developed Arsenal into consistent top four contenders, and a credible threat to win the champions league. The fans that were there when he was appointed have faith in him, and can understand the importance of running a club as a proper business that is sustainable.
- Arsenal FC are in debt, but unlike man Utd it is a manageable amount that is being payed back quickly and on time thanks to the new stadium that the borrowed funds helped build.
- Of the traditional big 4 teams in England two are owned by Americans that have heaped massive debt (un-related to the actual running of the clubs) onto their new play things, one is owned by a Russian Billionaire that has decided to stop spending his own money on the team, and the other is Arsenal, a team with one of the lowest proportional wage bills in the premier league and a sustainable financial plan for the future.
If the price of a sustainable future for my football club is a trophy shortage then i will gladly pay it, If you ask the same question to Crystal palace, Southend or Portsmouth fans they would agree. They would break your arm off to be in the position that Arsenal find themselves in. Chances are however that Man Utd, the team that wins things every year, will be out of business within 10 years.
In the end i'd rather have a club to support...
Robinho
