Category: FPS

Today’s WTF: Before Left 4 Dead, Valve Worked on a Fairy RPG

Tinkerbell BraaaaainsYes, you read the title of the article correctly. You know, some daily WTFs are so absurd sounding that they practically speak for themselves.

Earlier this week in an interview with PC Gamer, Valve honchos Doug Lombardi and Gabe Newell let slip some rather interesting information about what the famed developer was doing just before they embarked down the path that helped them create the zombie sensation Left 4 Dead. This little exchange occurred when PC Gamer asks them what they think they’ve failed at:

Doug Lombardi: There were a few failed starts to build Left 4 Dead.
Gabe Newell: Well, there was the flying fairy game. Is that the one you were referring to?
Erik Johnson: That was just a different game that, when we stabbed it… (everyone laughs)
Doug Lombardi: … It turned into Left 4 Dead!

Huh? Apparently, this fairy RPG required mouse gestures to cast spells and such. Newell later went on to say “it was so clearly dumb that it made us say, ‘OK, what are we actually good at that we can do instead?'” However, sometimes you have to fail to learn truly valuable lessons. They went on from there to figure out that the focus should be on AI and the co-operative experience. Well, thank goodness for that little revelation.

Honestly, as ridiculous as this is, I wish more developers would take about the genesis of some of their greatest ideas. I’m sure that Valve isn’t the first studio to start down a really bizarre path only to fail and then find those gems worth polishing. It’s interesting because with movies we’ve gotten so used to special features that walk us through every step of the process. I wish we had more material like that when it comes to games, because the whole thing seems so mysterious to us outsiders.

What do you guys think about this? What games would you like to hear more development stories about? Go!

Source – PC Gamer

Halo: Reach Live Action Trailer is a Blast

Halo 3 set a precedent for using live footage to pimp a game, and now it seems like every new title has a live-action commercial to go with it. Halo is still the king with the excellent short called “Landfall” by Neill Blomkamp for Halo 3 and the “We Are ODST” video for the half-expansion cum sequel Halo 3: ODST. By rights, Reach should have an awesome trailer depicting Spartans kicking ass and taking names. However, all we’ve had are people on the planet Reach standing around talking, but that changes right now. Take a look at Halo: Reach’s live action trailer:

While I did enjoy the video of civilians before the fall of Reach, something about Spartans in combat just gets me even more excited for the game (if that was possible). It also helped that the video reminded me a little of District 9, which might have been intentionally done to link it back in with the Blomkamp shorts. What did you guys think of the trailer? Actually, what do you think of the current trend of using live-action commercials for games?

GamerSushi Asks: Leaks and Spoilers

modern warfare 2It’s a sad fact, but the early theft of video games is becoming more and more common in the industry. Giant games such as Modern Warfare 2 and Halo: Reach are being picked apart and distributed far ahead of their street dates, with spoilers running rampant. For example, Modern Warfare 2’s “No Russian” level was leaked about a month in advance of people getting hold of the game, and many argued that the reveal of such a controversial mission spoiled the plot. Even larger gaming sites got in on the leak, making such videos a front-page deal, drawing even more attention.

So, we have a question for you, the community. When video games break their street date either through piracy or simple error, do you actively go hunting for spoilers? If you’re the sort of person who likes to stay pure, does it irk you to see gaming websites posting videos that give away elements of the game?

College Course to Include Portal on its Syllabus

GladosOne of the things I remember dreading the most in each college course was the handing out of the syllabus. This loaded piece of paper captures your entire semester in paper form, telling you just how busy you are going to be, and exactly what you’re going to be doing. Add five of these together, and they become a horde of wild beasts. Although perhaps I would have felt differently if I were a student at Wabash College this year.

For the first time, a video game is appearing on a Wabash College syllabus as required “reading” for a course titled Enduring Questions, one that all freshmen must complete in order to move on with their college careers. Here is a little bit of a snippet about the course itself:

Enduring Questions is a required freshman seminar offered during the spring semester. It is devoted to engaging students with fundamental questions of humanity from multiple perspectives and fostering a sense of community. Each section of the course includes a small group (approximately 15) of students who consider together classic and contemporary works from multiple disciplines. In so doing, students confront what it means to be human and how we understand ourselves, our relationships, and our world.

Apparently, one of the faculty members is a gamer, and took the charge to think of unique non-text media examples to a great conclusion: Portal. To him, it addresses questions of individuality and the onstage performance of people versus their backstage identities, which perfectly sums up Aperture’s experiments in a nice, thoughtful and engaging way. He pitched this idea to the rest of the faculty, and they jumped aboard, and began testing distribution and Steam installation on a big level, to ensure that many freshmen could all do it as well.

To me, this is a huge and awesome step towards video games getting cultural and thoughtful recognition. It ranks right up there with the way that Shadow of the Colossus was handled in the movie Reign Over Me, as a man tried to deal with the deaths of his family through playing the game.

What do you guys think of this? If you were putting together a video game course list, what would you include on it? Go!

Source- The Brainy Gamer

Portal 2 Co-Op Trailer Shows Robot Buddies

Well, I hate to bombard everyone with so much Portal 2 news, but I doubt anyone really minds. The follow-up to Valve’s critically acclaimed title hits in February 2011, and in addition to having a more robust and lengthy campaign, it’s also going to add a new layer of replay value with co-op missions.

Honestly, I’ve been wondering how a co-op Portal game would work for several months now, as I’m sure many of you have. Well, wonder no longer, because Valve has provided a (very) brief trailer for Portal 2 co-op to give a glimpse of how it’s all going to work.

Also, I call the short fat robot buddy. I’ll fight you for him.

Avert Your Eyes: Halo: Reach Leaks Early

halo-reachSome people are persistent, there’s no doubt about that. Even when games are hidden inside Microsoft’s own fortress of code and priced at over $1250 on Xbox LIVE, pirates still find a way to get what they want. Halo: Reach, which is slated to come out in less than a month, has been grabbed from Microsoft via some skullduggery on their very own servers. The prohibitively expensive version of Reach (statue not included) was intended to be available to reviewers so Microsoft does not have to ship out box copies. Furthermore, even if you manage to scrounge up that many Microsoft Points, you still need a special download code to get it (Microsoft had done something similar with Crackdown 2, which is still not available publicly via LIVE).

While there’s been plenty of debate on this site about piracy and whether it’s good or bad, this is a pretty ballsy move even by Internet standards. Most games are pirated after their release or shortly before, but never from Microsoft’s own website. Spoiler-related threads are springing up all over the Web, so if you’d like to stay pure for September 14, batten down the hatches. Until the Cyber Police get this leak under control, there will be much chaos in the house of Xbox.

What do you guys think about this development? Are you going spoiler hunting or avoiding forums at all costs?

Source – Joystiq

Say Hello to Portal 2 GamesCom 2010 Footage

For some reason, GamesCom this week seems to be coming out with all kinds of information that E3 2010 didn’t have, like the fact that Portal 2 releases as soon as February 2011 to much joyous applause and excitement. It’s nice that it’ll be arriving early in the year, and I honestly can’t wait to get my hands on it, especially if some of the new stuff I’m seeing is any indication to the game’s quality.

We’ve seen a few pieces of Portal 2 so far through a variety of videos, but a new Portal 2 GamesCom video shows alot of the new elements working together, with a few new bits as well. If I’m being honest, I felt like the addition of things like a propulsion and repulsion gel, along with tractor beams, could potentially over-complicate what I feel to be a near perfect experience. However, seeing them all work in tandem shows off a crazy amount of possibilities for gameplay.

So, give it a watch. Like I said, some old stuff is in this video, but it does showcase a few new things as well. Who else can’t wait for February 2011?

Crysis 2 Multiplayer Up on the Rooftop

Crysis had a pretty decent multplayer offering in its original inception, the gameplay laying somewhere between the open battlegrounds of the Battlefield series and the weapon purchasing mechanic of Counter-Strike. Add in the game-altering use of the nanosuits and you had an interesting versus mode that was open only to those with a hefty PC gaming rig. Now that Crysis 2 is hitting the X-Box 360 and the PS3 in addition to the PC, the game’s unique style of combat is going to be availible to a lot more people. Take a look at Crysis 2 in action:

The on-stage demo is featuring the 360 version, but I’ll admit that I thought the feed was running on the PC for a few moments. The game looks really good, and I’m excited to check it out when it drops in March 2011. What about you guys? Are you ready for Maximum Gameplay?

A Spartan Will Rise When Halo: Reach Falls

Bungie has a new ViDoc out that highlights the various Spartans of Nobel Team, giving you an insight into the minds of your squad members in Halo: Reach. Although the video isn’t especially long, I have to say that the character animations for Halo: Reach are much improved over the previous titles, and every Spartan in the trailer seems to have a great deal of personality. As a little treat to Halo fans, the trailer is narrated by a character we’ve read a lot about in the books, but have never seen in a game. Watch the following video to get the run down on your teammates:

We’re almost at September, so the Halo: Reach news will be coming fast and furious. We’ll definitely try to sort out the chaff so we’re not flooding the website with Halo posts, but this trailer was too good to pass up as a fan of Halo lore. I know this sort of video won’t turn anyone around who has decided not to get Reach, but what about those who are? Even more excited now?

The Perfect Game?

Halo 3Since I’ve been knocking out some of gaming backlog, I’m currently tussling with a few titles that I wouldn’t ordinarily play in the midst of some heavy hitting releases. At the moment, I’m trying to knock out Alpha Protocol, which is a meager portion of gaming goodness at best. While the game isn’t bad per se, to me it just highlights everything that Mass Effect 2 did right with that style of play. Even Mass Effect 1, which wasn’t nearly as good as the sequel, does many things better than AP.

But as good as Mass Effect 2 is in my mind, I know that it was a game that was far from perfect. And as I thought more about this, I realized many of my favorite games have some huge glaring flaws. Anthony, a newcomer to the 360, just finished Halo 3 over the weekend, and had some legitimate complaints about the last third of the game, really (though I’ll let him speak more to that himself). The game is one of my favorites of this gen, but I won’t argue about all the things that are wrong with it.

Interestingly enough, one of my other friends calls Halo 3 multiplayer “the perfect game”. While I disagree from just a game play perspective, I think I must disagree from a philosophical perspective as well. Is there such a thing as the perfect game? I’m not talking about just a game without any technical glitches or whatever, but a game that is the perfect blend of all the things that make gaming good? Some of my favorite titles are far from perfect. And really, the closest thing I can think of off the top of my head is Portal.

So what do you guys think? Can there ever be a perfect game? And what games to you hit the closest?

FOX News Talks About Medal of Honor, is Surprisingly Even-Handed

There’s a new Medal of Honor coming out, and news has dropped that in the multiplayer segment of the game, one side will take on the role of the Taliban. Naturally, this sort of “ripped from today’s headlines” type of story is a natural fit for FOX News, which previously treated gamers with a fair and un-biased look at the sex scene in Mass Effect. Sarcasm aside, this time around the FOX News anchor actually played the devil’s advocate for EA and Danger Close Games, the developers of Medal Of Honor. The segment’s guest, a mother who had lost her son in the current conflict came on to say that treating modern events like a game does a diservice to those who have died in uniform. I’ll let you watch the interview and decide for yourselves.

Now, I’m not one for censorship, and the anchor is correct, someone always has to be the bad guy. Unfortunately, the bad guy in this case is one of the most violent and dangerous terror groups in recent history. On the other hand, playing as the Taliban is confined to multiplayer, and games like Call of Duty and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 give you the option to gun down virtual American troops as well. There are multiple sides to this issue, but I want to know what you guys think. Is it wrong for EA to allow players to play as the Taliban? Is it any different than playing as a similarly themed, but differently named, terrorist faction in other first person shooters?

Wanna Watch A Halo: Reach Team Slayer Match?

Psst. You got that itch? That little feeling in your hands, the one where you just ache to throw a plasma grenade at somebody and feel that awesome tingle of joy when it sticks to their body and you watch them run around like they just found out they were adopted before they explode? Yeah, me too.

Sadly, we have another month to go before Halo: Reach hits store shelves, so I can’t do anything about your desire to blow people up or LOCK BLOCK them, but I can give you a small taste of what you will be doing for the next few months. Enjoy and remember…the first hit is always free:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Trailer is Double Elbow all the Way

We’ve seen a few CGI trailers for Deus Ex so far, but nothing that remotely resembles gameplay. A lot of you are probably wondering how the game looks when it’s running in-engine, and Square Enix has put out a new trailer to quiet your inquiries. This new video blends cutscenes and in-game action, and it looks pretty slick if really, really golden. Seriously, they need to get some white lights in this city.

Looks like we’ll be able to do all the stuff promised in the first trailer, such as neck-snapping through walls and turning invisible. Also, any game that features transforming gun-arms are OK in my book. What do you guys think of Deus Ex? Now that you’ve seen some gameplay, are you excited?

The Debut of Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock is ditching the seas and heading to the clouds. We’ve known for some time that the original Bioshock developers, Irrational Games, have been working on a super secret project. There were even rumors of it involving the skies. But nobody could have guessed that they were working on a new Bioshock title that changes the locale of the conflict from the underwater realm of Rapture to the sky fortress known as Columbia.

Bioshock Infinite takes place in the early 1900s, when American imperialism was at an all time high and years before the construction of Rapture in the 1940s. Whether or not this is going to be considered an official prequel to the other two games, or if it’s just taking the role as a spiritual successor to them remains to be seen, but from the trailer it’s easy to tell that we are going to be dealing with the same themes of power, utopia and control. The city of Columbia is perched atop flying airships and great huge balloons, and it is gorgeous and fascinating to look at.

It’s no secret that I was not grabbed by the first Bioshock game, but the new Bioshock Infinite trailer and its setting have me itching to see more… but unfortunately, it doesn’t release until 2012. I guess that gives me plenty of time to go back and finish the original. What do you guys think of all of this?

Also, go ahead and get your “Skyoshock” jokes out of the way in 3…2…1…

Time Crisis Starring Spartacus

Freddie Wong is kind of my personal hero right now. Over the past few weeks, he’s made some awesome shorts dedicated to all-out gunfights; most of them poking fun at video games, such as his “Aimbot” piece. His new weekly offering takes us back to the arcade days of our youth, where Time Crisis gobbled up quarters faster than a broken vending machine. It also doesn’t hurt that Andy Whitfield, Spartacus himself, has taken up the second gun. Take a look:

Kind of awesome in my opinion. Also, Spartacus is kind of a recent obsession for my friends and I, so seeing Mr. Whitfield was pretty cool. What did you guys think of the video?

GamerSushi Asks: Classes?

BorderlandsOver the last few days, I’ve been deadlocked in an attempt to clear out my gaming backlog before the big days of Fall land in our laps, and we’re once again swarmed with games to enjoy. Currently, I’m working on Alpha Protocol, 3D Dot Game Heroes and last but not least, Borderlands.

Borderlands is the really curious one, considering it’s a game I stopped playing months ago only to pick back up out of the blue. I forgot just how much fun it is, and the crazed shoot-outs with waves of enemies is satisfying and intense. I’m a level 27 soldier, and my favorite thing is deploying my turret, now sporting caustic damage and rockets that really mess everything up in their path.

While partaking in one of these shootouts, I started thinking about gaming classes. If I had to pick a particular style that suits me for most games, it would have to be some sort of tank or a hybrid of a tank and something a little more specialized, with a few support capabilities. I know that’s fairly vague, but I tend to go all out on offense, preferring chaos over actually racking up kills, and doing what I can to help my teammates in the process. I tend to pick one of the simpler classes in my first playthrough of a game, and then expand from there later.

So, now I’m wondering what your preferences are. What kind of classes do you normally pick in video games? What is your play style for shooters or RPGs? Go!

Black Ops Multiplayer Trailer Teases Replays

Another year means another Call of Duty and this time Treyarch is back in the driver’s seat. Following up on Modern Warfare 2’s massive success, it doesn’t look like the franchises’ B-studio is taking any chances with the formula. Judging by the gameplay it looks to be largely the same, but with a few graphical tweaks and a remote control car bomb. The big news this time, though, is the inclusion of replays to the game, allowing you to go back and watch old matches. If the few moments it appears in the trailer are any indication, it looks to be similar to Halo 3’s Theater mode where you can break the camera out and rotate it around. No word on whether or not you can share the films, but I don’t think that’s out of the question. Take a look at the video:

Ever since Treyarch announced that Black Ops would have dedicated servers on the PC, I’ve been slightly hopeful for this new Call of Duty. If Treyarch brings us more cool stuff, I may consider sinking money into this iteration. What about you guys? What’s your opinion on this video reveal?

Would You Rather: FPS Edition?

Since it’s yet again been a slow news week, it seems that it’s already time for a new edition of Would You Rather. A few weeks back, we did an RPG version of the game, which got lots of awesome responses from people. It was great to see all the positive feedback, and to learn a little bit more about what makes the fellow Sushi-ers tick. So, we thought we’d bring it back, this time with a different genre: FPS games.

For the uninitiated, in Would You Rather, I simply ask a series of questions, and you follow up with your answers. Give as much or as little explanation as you want for your choices, but we all know that we like to see the reasoning behind the madness.

But beware, lest your answers suck mightily. In which case, Anthony and Mitch will kidnap you to trap you inside of Nick’s beard. You don’t want to know what other kinds of creatures lurk in there. I know this firsthand.

For an FPS, would you rather… Continue reading Would You Rather: FPS Edition?

Halo Reach Multiplayer: Remakes, Outer Space and Aerial Assaults

Even though the Reach Beta is far behind us, my mind is still consumed with thoughts of running around Boneyard and Powerhouse, throwing mini-nuke grenades and Lock Blocking some fools. Needless to say, I’m greatly looking forward to the game’s release on September 14, and I’ve even taken a couple days off of work to fully absorb it (that and go to a wedding, but we know which is more important). Bungie recently played host to a variety of media outlets – while snubbing my tear-filled pleas to be invited – and the fruits of those visits are finally hitting the internet. IGN got to take a look at three of the maps being shipped with Reach, and two of them should be familiar to Halo 2 veterans.

It all looks pretty good to me, especially the prospect of flying Falcons in multiplayer. How is it looking to you guys?