So, I decided to give the free-to-play Star Trek Online a try. I figured with no money to pay upfront, the worst that could happen is that I waste a day of my life and decide I don’t like it. As I’ve played for the past two months, though, I’ve been surprised by something I never thought I’d consider: the online store. See, for most of the time I’ve played MMOs, I’ve always been a paying subscriber right around the time they went free-to-play (LOTRO, SWTOR), so I had no real incentive to care much about the goodies in the store. I did a blog about how Turbine basically set their game up so that it could steal revenue back from the gold spammers, but as for using the service myself, I never really felt that excited about it. As for Star Wars, other people in the industry have already commented on how badly the game was monetized; I mean, honestly, who thought giving free players a bad interface, then charging for more quick bars, was a good idea? Needless to say, very little about SWTOR inspired me to make purchases from the store.

( read more… )

I know it’s been in gaming news all week, but I wanted to chime in on the release of Aliens: Colonial Marines. No, this isn’t going to be a game review; it’s just going to be an editorial rant. And yes, I’m going to vent some anger and frustration at Gearbox.

First of all, I have to say that I didn’t get a review copy, so I only started playing two days after it was out (and I pre-ordered, but more on that later). So, game sites that had reviews out on release day beat me to the punch. That’s not normally a big deal, but in this case, if you’re wondering why I’m only now saying anything, it’s because other reviewers got the jump on me in terms of time. And, in this case, I was just a normal, paying customer like the average gamer who bought it on Steam.

So what’s wrong with Aliens: Colonial Marines? I’m glad you asked, because I have an itemized list (major spoilers ahead).

( read more… )

Today’s advanced technology can be a double-edged sword. It can provide us with tools and experiences unimagined in previous generations. But it can also deprive us of some of the things we’ve come to cherish. Technology has recently claimed another victim in games journalism, and we’re all the worse for it.

( read more… )

First of all, let me just say this: when talking about favorite games of the year, I can only talk about stuff I’ve played. I missed a number of titles that came out this year because of scheduling conflicts and budget considerations, so I don’t want anyone to look at me and say, “Why did you forget X?”, because I might not have had a chance to play it. People might claim that PC gaming is dying, but there’s still more than I have time to play floating around out there.

( read more… )

Retirees gathered around the Wii. Mothers playing a few rounds of Angry Birds on their smartphones. In the last two decades, games have emerged from a small curiosity to a billion-dollar industry that attracts nearly everyone, even (perhaps especially) those who don’t consider themselves gamers. As this new media has slowly emerged from its childhood, we see more of its full-grown potential. Games don’t simply amaze us with technological wonders. They stimulate our intellect, creativity and emotions. Our hobby has just as much artistic potential as any film or novel, perhaps more. Being interactive, games have many artistic opportunities that simply can’t exist in traditional media. For all of their unique strengths, games are still thought of like any older art form. We talk about stunning visuals, immersive sound design and amazing storylines, but we ignore the meaning the game mechanics themselves carry.

( read more… )

I feel like it’s five years ago, but I feel the need to bring up DLC because of stupid stuff I’ve been reading. Normally, stupid comments on Internet forums are nothing I care about. Let’s face it: for any given community in any medium, there’s going to be some percentage of individuals who forsake logic, reason, and their own self interest to indulge in faux outrage over perceived injustices that are, in fact, nothing of the sort. But after reading through comments in various game communities (which shall remain nameless to protect everyone involved), to say nothing of conversations with good friends, I have come to the conclusion that some people just have no idea what they are complaining about.

( read more… )

A few months ago I reviewed the casual-focused Microsoft Flight. Apparently I was the only gamer who didn’t view it as a personal assault against all of sim culture. If even reading its name tortures your ulcer, just get yourself a license for Xplane and never want again. I was a believer in the concept of a small free-to-play flight sim that focused on VFR flights. The aerocash hunts, missions and unlocks were a great idea and made a genuinely fun flight sim. But for all of MS Flight‘s inventiveness, it seems that most of the creativity went into making the DLC a rip-off in new and exciting ways.

( read more… )

It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since the relaunch of the Adrenaline Vault. Angel Munoz, who founded Avault way back in 1995, and editor-in-chief David Laprad gathered together a ragtag bunch of newbie reviewers and set us loose on the gaming world. Since then, we’ve published more than 800 reviews, plus countless blog posts, news items and forum conversations. It’s truly been a long, strange trip.

( read more… )

Wine, like golf and good scotch, remains a pursuit of the elite. Connoisseurs sit around sipping $50 bottles of wine, smacking their lips and debating the difference between “aged oak” and “corky” flavors. Of course, the joke’s on them. You see, we humans suffer from something called “confirmation bias,” which means that we’re more likely to see (and taste) what we expect instead of what’s actually there. It’s been fairly well documented that the more a person thinks a bottle of wine costs, they more they like it. No doubt this phenomenon exists in gaming as well. I like a masterpiece as much as anyone, but I have to admit: sometimes I want a thoroughly mediocre game.

( read more… )

Retired baseball pitcher Curt Schilling has a thing for MMOs. Having lots of time and piles of money lying around, he started his own game company, 38 Studios. He brought in all the big names. R.A. Salvadore is the Director of Creative Content. Todd McFarlane is the Executive Art Director. They even hired Travis McGeathy, the lead designer of Everquest. Schilling wasn’t messing around.

( read more… )

2011 was a good year in gaming. Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Assassins Creed: Revelations all trickled into our entertainment systems of choice and delighted our eyeballs. It didn’t top the bumper crop of 1998 in my mind, but that could be my nostalgia tumor again (those meds don’t help). Regardless, we as a people stand on the brink of the unknown, the mystery of the void whipping our hair about in wild, sexy ways. Yet we shall not go unprepared, for below is a scouting report on some of the big games of 2012, which many Bothan spies gave their lives to deliver. It tells all: the good, the bad, and the utterly improbable. It’s time to start budgeting for Gaming Season 2012. Remember to blow all your cash on Steam sales before the world ends, or forever wish you had.

( read more… )

After dozens of hours in the province of Skyrim, I’ve done a lot. I’ve plundered tombs, slain dragons. I’ve picked a point in the landscape and gone there, full of manly purpose. I’ve listened to many personal stories and stuck my mailed fist of intervention into more then a few faces. Though my adventuring might someday come to an end, it will never truly find a conclusion. Yet, through all of it, I have reached one conclusion:

I like Fallout: New Vegas better.

( read more… )

Ed wrote a wonderful review of Skyrim for the Xbox recently. I don’t want to steal his thunder, but I thought I would chime in on how the game feels on PC.

First, let me just say that I agree with Ed’s overall assessment of the game. It certainly merits the Seal of Excellence from Adrenaline Vault. And let me also indicate that I think Skyrim balances the demands of gamers for an open-ended experience with the needs of others for a CRPG with real structure. Skyrim is pretty darn open-ended; if you don’t even begin the major narrative arc, it’s like there isn’t even a threat of dragons at all. You can immerse yourself in the Byzantine politics of the region, pursue wealth and riches, or even become a hated villain who murders people for fun and profit (with all the attendant consequences). In fact, your actions outside of the main narrative of dragons attacking Skyrim still have a large impact on the world around you. The game is not only open-ended, but you can change the status quo while not pursuing your destiny as the Dragonborn. (I’d say more, but I don’t want to spoil anything related to certain quest-lines or stories.)

( read more… )

How do you say good-bye to someone who has been an integral part of Avault since before you can remember? You could do a sappy retrospective of their body of work, add an orchestral soundtrack, and bring a tear to the eye of everyone reading. You could write a brief farewell and announcement of their departure for their fans. Or you could say nothing and quietly hope that no one notices the change in the masthead.

But what if the body of their work can be summed up with an acronym and a word? “DRM bad!” What if they have no fans and only adversaries? What if the sudden rantless silence is too much to go unnoticed? Yes, the rumors are true. Doug Lombardi’s Valve has swooped in and captured the one and only (thank the gods) Tsar Alaric Teplitsky.

( read more… )

A curious thing happened recently. I was reading the magnificent RPS, and learned about a very cool indie game called Legend Of Grimrock. It is a first-person dungeon-crawling game, which is essentially a remake of the old classics such as Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore. Much like that other bearded game critic John Walker, I look fondly upon those games and yet find them unplayable for reasons such as lack of modern controls, graphics, and having to run them either in DOSBox or on a virtual machine of some sort. It makes me happy that someone is remaking (or almost remaking) these almost forgotten games. It also makes me wonder why this isn’t happening on any significant scale.

Why does nobody remake old games?

( read more… )