The Adrenaline Vault » Features

Hands On with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Matthew Booth — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:55:52 +0000

What do you get when you task Kurt Rolston (lead designer of Morrowind and Oblivion), R.A. Salvatore (acclaimed fantasy author) and Todd McFarlane (creator of Spawn) with creating a single-player RPG? An intense hack-’n’-slash experience called Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The game’s creators promise a massively open-world experience with hundreds of hours of gameplay, serving as a precursor to their upcoming MMORPG, codenamed Project Copernicus. Most of us are jaded from countless promises of a game experience that never delivers, so what hope of redemption does Reckoning provide? Read on to find out.

Kingdoms of Amalur is a fantasy world created by R.A. Salvatore that will be brought to life through comics, novels, video games and toys. Reckoning is our first glimpse inside that world, centering on the Fateless One, previously dead, who is brought back to life through the magic of the Well of Souls. With no memory of his past and no clear destiny, the Fateless One’s future is wide open. As the Fateless One, you can choose to align yourself to a god and receive a bonus in magic, speech or combat, or you can choose the path of the godless and gain experience points at a higher rate. The Fateless One’s destiny in Amalur appears to focus on destroying the chaotic Tuatha Deohn, but I’m hoping that the game allows you to choose a side. Otherwise, is the Fateless One’s destiny really unwritten?

Reckoning’s opening gameplay is a familiar blend of “choose your name/race/powers” cut-scenes that almost all popular RPGs utilize. Each of the four playable races (two human, two elf) have bonuses (or handicaps) in areas of magic, speech and combat. The demo attempts to give us a taste of the essential types of combat without divulging anything too specific. I chose to go the way of the rogue, relying mostly on stealth and dual-wielding daggers, but the demo didn’t provide enough time to really find out how choosing this path can alter gameplay. I was still able to charge into a room full of enemies and take them out as a warrior would. I’m anxious to find out if choosing stealth would force me to be more methodical in combat, as it did in Skyrim.

In the hour or so that I played the demo, it’s clear that Reckoning is influenced by popular games in the RPG action genre. Most notable are many similarities to the Fable style of combat and storytelling. I thoroughly enjoy the Fable trilogy, so this is a strong point for Reckoning. Unique to this game, however, are its adult themes and level of violence (would you expect anything less from the creator of Spawn?). Reckoning combines RPG elements in a way that’s accessible to all gamers – not just D&D nerds – and provides mature gamers with the level of violence and storytelling that can keep the game engaging. If there really are 200-plus hours of gameplay in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, I hope the rest of the game is a strong as the demo. From what I’ve experienced so far, I’m hooked. It appears to be what I’ve been looking for in a hack-’n’-slash RPG but was never given. Reckoning is available now for the PC, Xbox 360 and the PS3.

Hands On with CounterStrike Global Offensive

IanDavis — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:46:42 +0000

There was a time when I could call CounterStrike my game. I logged hundreds of hours with friends before Steam even tracked such things. I replaced my gun models, installed blood mods, and even dabbled with mapping. But somewhere along the way CS and I parted ways. Sure, CounterStrike: Source was amazing, and the Gun Game mods were a hit at every LAN party, but I just couldn’t hack the competition anymore. But now the beta test of the upcoming CounterStrike: Global Offensive has stirred me out of my single-player fever dream and brought me back into the fray. So, gather around and listen, all who have eyes to read, while I document the pain and glory to be found in CS:GO.

The beta only has two maps currently, de_dust1 and de_dust2. Both are the same classic maps that you know like your own living room, but unlike your living room, they’re getting cleaned up. Most notably in Dust 1, there’s a new passage connecting the underpass to the way above, which reduces the time it takes to mop up the stragglers towards the end of a round. Likewise, the weapons are fairly limited in the current build. A Desert Eagle (now available to teams), the UMP, the two sniper rifles, and each side’s respective rifle and starter pistol were all I had at my disposal. Both sniper rifles have received visual redesigns, and the scout has been retitled the “SSG 08.” The only change I noticed was a higher rate of fire for the UMP, which significantly improves its viability.

All the weapons feel like classic CounterStrike. This is because developer Valve is staying its traditional course and not adding the ubiquitous ADS (aim down sights) ability. This forces you to crouch, walk or stand still to control your gun. You need that control because the weapons have the same wide cones of fire. It’s easy to open up full-auto on a guy, only to have every shot go straight over his head. To compensate, the dynamic crosshairs are much improved, providing much more detail about your current accuracy than any others I’ve seen. You might not be able to hit the broad side of a barn, but at least you’ll know why.

Global Offensive introduces two grenades that add new tactics to the game. The Molotov cocktail is the easiest to understand. When it explodes, it spreads out flames that temporarily block off a passage, while the smoke provides a modicum of concealment. The Decoy has the most intriguing of uses. It makes gunfire sounds wherever it’s thrown. It’s most useful at higher-level play, where using sounds to guess enemy locations is critical, but I can’t see it being used much in casual play.

There’s a lot of cross-platform compatibility in CS:GO, but it never holds back as a PC game. In the options menu there are lots of settings for TVs, including lowering the field of view, switching to a higher brightness and moving the screen to fit your display. These settings are likely to coincide with the launch of Steam’s TV mode, which will allow for full navigation of Steam (and Valve games, apparently) via controller. While I can’t see anyone playing CS:GO with a gamepad against the average keyboard-and-mouse gamer and enjoying themselves, I can see it working well for that bloke who always lugs his 40-inch plasma to the LAN party.

Avault Looks Back: Betrayal at Krondor (1993)

IanDavis — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:20:12 +0000

The gate swung open.

Revolted by the thick scent of excrement in the chamber, Locklear hastened to the ladder affixed on the far wall and ascended its filth-slick rungs. Behind him, Gorath and Owyn reluctantly did likewise, gaffing on the noxious vapors in the shaft. “This is nothing,” Locklear grunted, shoving upwards against a grating. “All the windows in the palace are open right now. You ought to smell it in the winter.”

Darkness surrounded them as they slithered out of the privy, their only impressions of the chamber provided by the faint flicker of distant firelight. Ten yards before them the hall joined with an elaborate colonnade stretching in either direction. “Somehow I hadn’t pictured my first visit to Krondor like this,” Owyn sighed, falling blindly into step behind Gorath and the Seigneur.

Betrayal at Krondor surprised me. I expected an RPG typical of the era (it was developed in 1993 by Dynamix), complete with clunky combat and minimal story. I knew it was based on the Riftwar series of novels by Raymond E. Feist, but I expected that to be little more than a marketing tie-in. Instead, it’s an early crossbreed between games and literature.

His curiosity sufficiently piqued, Owyn popped open the half-gallon cask and inhaled deeply. Immediately his senses reeled as the heady cinnamon-like aroma assaulted him. Keshian Ale!

Krondor inundates the player with text at every opportunity (the quotes in this article come straight from the game). Whenever possible, it serves up paragraphs of it, stewed in its own fantasy world. The developers knew that they could only say so much at a time, so every sentence is full of seasoning and flavor. Nothing is wasted.

Voice acting is nice, but it reduces scenes to simple dialogue. As anyone who’s experienced Planescape: Torment can attest, the power of text is its ability to deliver so much more than speech. Every item has a paragraph detailing not just the object, but also the characters themselves, picking them up, turning them over, and telling stories about them. Everything is given far more nuance than even an advanced 3D engine ever could.

Let’s Play: Crusader Kings 2

Jason Pitruzzello — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:48:04 +0000

Alright, strategy gamers. I finally got the chance to build a video of me playing Crusader Kings 2. Luckily, the video displays the game as it appeared on my monitor, and not what I looked like while playing it (which would be disturbing and not as much fun).

I spend a lot of time blabbing in voice-overs in these videos, but before you start watching, you should keep some things in mind. First, this was played on version 0.78 of the game engine. It’s still in beta; the current version floating around in press copies is 0.80. The game has already changed in some slight ways since I encoded this video and posted it. Second, it did have a glaring bug at the beginning, which has since been fixed. You see William the Conqueror ask Harold Godwinson of England for a white peace a few seconds after the start of the video. This kind of changes things, since the famous conqueror doesn’t even try to make good on his claims to the English throne. Aside from that, things proceed in a plausible way, but I don’t want to hear any complaints relating to William. I know he should have invaded England, the designers know it, and everyone with a high-school education in either the US or the former British Empire should know it. The AI just didn’t know it, but that has been fixed.

Oh, and don’t bother asking me why certain troop types do certain things, or why certain buildings cost a certain amount. These things are still changing, so don’t sweat that stuff. Instead, sit back, listen, watch, and then ask me intelligent things, such as “Why did the AI just send the entire Holy Roman Empire into the oblivion of a civil war?” or “Holy Machiavellian politics Batman, why did you just spend 10 years crushing your own vassals?”

The video is broken up into three separate chunks. They can be found here, here and here.

Top Casual PC Games of 2011

Bob Mandel — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:39:12 +0000

Despite the proliferation of games designed for mobile platforms, the casual computer games market continues to flourish. The personal computer, because of its openness and ubiquitous presence, remains a primary development platform. So, while many other game sites still focus their attention exclusively on conventional big-budget AAA retail offerings, for your playing pleasure I have unearthed the very best hidden PC treasures that casual gaming has to offer. This represents the latest in a series of annual awards articles that now has continued for well over a decade, by far the longest consecutive casual-games award series anywhere.

To select the dozen 2011 award winners from an increasingly competitive field, I have spent many hours playing through hundreds of full registered games to discern their overall value. Interestingly, most of the winners emerge from developers outside of the United States. Moreover, because of the presence in many casual gaming homes of multiple computers (some of which lack online access), and the increasing use of intrusive and annoying copy-protection (DRM) schemes, I only tested offerings that had a single-player version that could be registered and played on an offline machine. I also considered only downloadable computer games, not ones played in a browser or on Facebook or Twitter.

The definition of the casual computer game has become quite murky, and some readers might disagree that all of this year’s award-winners belong in that category. The wide-ranging ways used to delineate casual games include the following: A low price point, a small or “indie” development team, and compact code size allowing quick downloads and having low minimum system requirements. They must appeal primarily to consumers who might often buy their games at places such as Target and Wal-Mart. They are games that stay-at-home moms play when they have a spare moment. They have low complexity and sophistication, often facilitating immediate play without having to read complex instructions. Specified game objectives should be easy to complete with mistake tolerance, hint systems, and/or the ability to exit and later continue at any point. The games should not include dark, bloody or morally objectionable material, they should have ports on mobile devices, and should include cute characters (such as cuddly creatures) or low-stress side activities (such as mini-games).

Xotic
Developer and Publisher: WXP Games (Seattle, Wash., USA)

First-person shooters have become increasingly complex, ultra-serious, and not at all aimed at casual gamers. In this context, this new item is extraordinarily refreshing: a fun, arcade-style FPS that combines shooting enemies with Pac-Man-like pickup accumulation. Instead of the typical, dreary, drab realistic shooter settings, Xotic’s gorgeous widescreen environments in its four-stage campaign are colorful, imaginative and eerily organic. Featured are “hard holograms,” a nice innovation allowing you not only to shield yourself, but also to climb to get a better vantage point or to find hidden pickups. Using an upgradable weapon with multiple firing modes, you can electrify enemies, obliterate Orb brains, trigger magnificent chain reactions and aerial combos, and cleanse the worlds of evil minions. Replay excitement escalates in this PhysX-supported game as you try hard to accumulate more points on each level.

Glowfish
Developer and Publisher: Mumbo Jumbo (Dallas, TX., USA)

Sometimes incredible games emerge that defy easy categorization, and Glowfish is one of them, although it fits somewhat into the action-adventure niche. Your goal is to explore fantastic and intricate underwater environments and try to save your fishy friends and Coralline from the clutches of the evil, menacing Dr. Urchin. Within the many dazzling levels, you and your assistants try to survive through an ever-increasing variety of obstacles and foes. One of the most creative means of attacking a larger enemy is to encircle it and cause it to shrink. The ultimate final battle with Dr. Urchin is an epic one. The music, sound effects and graphics are all excellent, cute but not saccharine, vibrant and bouncy. Along the way, you discover hidden nooks with secret surprises, along with many enticing bonuses. You can play with a gamepad or mouse and keyboard in full widescreen mode.

Capsized
Developer and Publisher: Alientrap (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada)

This outstanding two-dimensional platformer is heavily influenced by first-person shooter combat action. The backstory has your ship crash-landing on a strange planet, after which you have to make your way through untold hazards to save yourself and your crewmates. What immediately separates Capsized from run-of-the-mill platformers is the hand-drawn, mysterious, organic alien world, filled with the weirdest entities and topography you could possibly imagine. As you play, you begin to realize that beyond the visuals the designers have incorporated extremely clever use of physics so as to expand the range of ways you can accomplish any particular objective. There’s lots of exciting combat, physical puzzle solving, and modes of navigation to hard-to-access places, with the jetpack particularly noteworthy. You can play using the gamepad or mouse and keyboard in single player or co-op mode.

Naval Warfare
Developer: Games Distillery (Bratislava, Slovakia)
Publisher: Just a Game (Berlin, Germany)

I have long missed the intense whimsical fun of the old Psygnosis classic Shipwreckers, but not anymore, thanks to this highly polished action-shooter with breathtaking panoramic views of naval battles. In a raging sea war, you engage in increasingly challenging large-scale operations involving enemies and allies fighting from above and below in ships, submarines and aircraft. Between missions you can unlock new ship types (each with unique tactical advantages), as well as a huge variety of weapons and ship upgrades. Occasionally you get to command small squadrons in your relentless pursuit of victory. Using mouse and keyboard or gamepad with intuitive controls, you can play alone, or cooperate or compete with other people locally on your computer. A fascinating backstory punctuated by entertaining dialogue and hand-drawn comic-book cutscenes really keep you glued to your seat.

Benjy sits down with Recoil’s Samuli Syvahuoko

Benjy Ikimi — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:59:55 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Samuli Syvahuoko, one of the founders of Recoil, the team behind the very cool indie title that’s coming soon called Rochard. In the game you control an astro-miner, John Rochard, who finds an ancient structure hidden deep within an asteroid that proves mankind is not alone. John and his team then find themselves stranded as space pirates trying to use the secret for their sinister intentions. He must use both his wits and mining tools to battle the space pirates, save his team, and find out the secrets within the asteroid.

After you watch this trailer, I’m fairly sure you’ll agree that it looks and sounds both fresh and exciting. So, without further ado, here is what Samuli had to say about the game!

Avault: Okay, first off, a miner? Who came up with that idea?

Samuli Syvahuoko: The whole mining setting was the brainchild of Pertti Kainulainen, the Creative Director of the game. It was a theme he had been thinking about on and off again for quite a long time and the opportunity to combine it with space and gravity was just too good a mix to pass by.

Avault: What were the influences for this game?

SS: Gameplay-wise, there is a succession of excellent platformers that Rochard pays homage to. Games like Super Mario Galaxy, the various Metroids and obviously you can’t have a gravity tool without acknowledging Half-Life 2 from Valve. Theme-wise, the game draws influences from classic science fiction stories, but doesn’t take itself too seriously. I also have to add that the team loved the old Lucasarts adventure games to bits.

Avault: You mentioned your team loving the old LucasArts Games, and one that springs to mind is the Escape from Monkey Island series. Did the quirky humor and clever puzzles from those games have any impact in the way you approached your title?

SS: The Monkey Island series is certainly a staff favorite, as are Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. With Rochard, it wasn’t a matter of delivering a ton of humor and punchlines which was clearly LucasArts’ forte, and far more suited for a narrative-heavy genre such as adventure games, but rather taking an irreverent attitude towards the subject matter.

Avault: What was the most difficult aspect of the game’s production?

SS: Firsts are always hard. The game was the first one the team shipped together, and it was also the first PS3 title on Unity. Also, creating the amount of content in a tight timeframe required a major effort from the team which paid off in the quality of the experience.

Comic-Con 2011 wrap up (Friday)

Christopher Troilo — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 04:59:06 +0000

Comic-Con 2011 wrap up (Thursday)

Christopher Troilo — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:00:03 +0000

This year marked the first time ever my wife, Jill, and I attended the San Diego Comic-Con. As two proud geeks, it has long been on our bucket list, so we were thrilled when we got our tickets and made our arrangements. When the schedule was released each day, Jill and I poured over it with excitement, meticulously choosing the panels we wanted to see the most and which activities were not to be missed. But, you want to know about the Con, so let’s dive right in!

Thursday

As we approached the San Diego Convention Center, we couldn’t help but be amazed by the sheer number of people who surround us. An estimated 130,000 people attend the event each year, all descending on the downtown area for four days of nerd-dom. You may have heard that you have to wait in endless lines almost around the clock. This is partly true, and we first experienced it when we had to pick up our badges, bright and early, the first morning. But waiting in line is half the fun. Almost everyone around us was brimming with excitement, and extremely friendly. Also, Comic-Con is perhaps the best place in the world to people watch. About 20% of con-goers are dressed up in elaborate costumes and 85% have quirky, unusual t-shirts worn proudly. It’s not uncommon for people to stop those in costume to take pictures of or with them (I rocked out this Captain Hammer outfit the first day).

Upon entry to the Con, Jill and I first took some time just to get our bearings, as the space is enormous. The first 90 minutes or so we scoped out where we would have to wait in line and did a quick tour of the main ballroom floor, which is where all of the booths (videogames, comics, movies, etc.) are located. Our first stop, however, was offsite at the Konami Gaming Suite where we were allowed to try some new games not yet released on the market. Most are slated to hit the streets in the fall.

The first was a remake of the classic BurgerTime for the XBLA. The simple vertical platform game has been given a fresh coat of paint and several unique level designs. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the original, the basic premise is that the player, while controlling their chef character, must construct burgers. This is done by running across each layer of the burger (bun, meat, etc.), which allows it to fall to the level below. All this must be accomplished while avoiding the evil baddies (fried eggs and peppers). BurgerTime was quirky and fun and I think I’ll try it more once it’s released.

Next we tried Bobblehead Baseball, which is exactly what the title suggests. The likenesses of the pros have been transformed into limbless head-bobbing dolls and are ready to play. Bobblehead Baseball had rather simple gameplay mechanics where the player usually controls the pitcher or batter respectively. Overall, the game seemed to have potential, but I found it hard to just sit down and immediately play. In the few minutes I had, I was able to get a handle on pitching, but batting was a bit confusing.

Chris Stewart talks Sword of the Stars II

Jason Pitruzzello — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:59:47 +0000

I recently had the chance to do a quick interview with the folks at Kerberos concerning Sword of the Stars. Producer Chris Stewart was kind enough to take the time to answer my questions amid the team’s busy development schedule. Since I have a real interest in game mechanics and story elements, I pressed him on a number of issues that went beyond simple considerations of graphics.

Avault: I’m glad I’m getting the chance to interview the Sword of the Stars team. Back when I reviewed SOTS: Ultimate Collection, I was impressed with how Kerberos managed to create a 4X game that was as interesting as it was nuanced. I’m sure some of my readers are chomping at the bit to hear all about the Lords of Winter in the upcoming Sword of the Stars II, but before I ask about aliens, I want to talk about game mechanics. SOTS utilizes an approach that gives each race its own unique way of traveling the stars. I’m guessing we’ll see a return of that mechanic, but I’m wondering if the races we’ve seen before will return with their unique drives? Will the Hivers be using jump gates and the Humans node drives? Or have you planned some surprises for us with the returning alien cultures?

Chris Stewart: Part of the balance of creating new surprises, while keeping things kind of familiar to players of the first game, was to stick to the same drive systems for each race as they were in the first game. Keeping the drives familiar and then adding in those new surprises to the rest of the game means that players automatically have some new strategic challenges facing them. The new race of course has a new drive surprise for players, which I think will give people goose bumps, but at the same time, their Zuul minions are still tearing around using their ripping Node drives.

Avault: Speaking of technologies, I’ve read that SOTS II will assume a starting position for the various empires that is more advanced than the initial starting positions in most SOTS scenarios. Since the empires will be more developed at the start, there might not be any more researching of such basic technologies as waldo units and so on. However, will we see a return of non-drive technologies that are fan favorites, such as assimilation plague, heavy beam weapons, and my personal favorite, impactors? And will the tech tree still be randomized like it was in SOTS?

CS: The tech tree is still randomized – if we were to change every single thing about the game (which we didn’t, but hypothetically speaking…) the randomized tech tree would still be there. The amount of replay through randomization, not to mention the universal leveling effect (you might not get the big bad weapon you want each game, but that just means you know the other guy might not have it either) is too effective. New players find the game more accessible, even after the game has been out for a long time and there are a lot of established veterans out there. It works way too well, and even when bad luck strikes, that’s more interesting than a static tech tree with optimal paths.

You’ll be happy to know bio-weapons are still on the table, as are heavy beam weapons, and your fave is still there, too.

Avault: I’ve also read that how you play your alien race will determine how its government develops. War-like gameplay will develop your politics differently than peaceful coexistence. I’m very curious about this particular design choice. Could I develop the peaceful Liir into a jingoistic juggernaut that only desires conquest, or take the Tarka on a path that leads to their forming a peaceful interstellar organization not unlike Star Trek’s United Federation of Planets? And how does this impact other parts of the game, such as trade and planetary industries?

CS: You can look at it like that. To put it another way, you as a player – all players – have a favorite style of play. Some people are very aggressive and ruthless, others are more cautious – if we let you pick your government, you’re still you, meaning if you’re an aggressive player, you’ll just use the pros and cons of a particular government as an aggressive player. Instead, we let you be an aggressive player or a cautious player or a sneaky player or a diplomatic player, and over time your actions will shape the pros and cons of your game as you move towards a particular type of government. Once your actions have moved you into a particular area on the game’s political map, the pros and cons inherent to that type of government changes. These pros and cons affect everything from production to population to research…not all at once, but pretty much everything in the game.

Disclaimer: Kerberos Productions has released this game for entertainment purposes only. It does not represent an actual evaluation of your leanings towards plutocracy!

Avault: Let’s talk about menaces and grand menaces. I confess to a love-hate relationship with the menaces from SOTS. It can be great fun to try and stop the Von Neumann machines or Locusts from wiping out the galaxy. On the other hand, every once in a while I would spend time swearing at the screen when a Peacekeeper Enforcer or Puppet Master would show up at an inconvenient time. Will any of these menaces be making a return to terrorize players yet again? Do you have any hints for us on new menaces? And will that damn Herald finally stop attacking my planets now that the Lords of Winter are finally here (assuming that the Herald was, in fact, heralding the arrival of the Lords of Winter and not some greater, more ancient threat)?

CS: I’ll start with the good news. The Herald will finally stop shouting at your planets while attacking. The bad news is that he now has backup, now that the Lords of Winter have returned. Old familiar menaces have returned to menace again, while some new surprises are in store. For the sake of maintaining a level of delighted surprise/screaming terror in players, I can’t say much more than yes, the randomized menacing will continue until morale improves.

Avault: Let’s talk about the Lords of Winter, or Suul’ka. I’m sure you don’t want to reveal everything, but I’m interested in hearing about their method of traveling the stars and why they have chosen to reappear now. Have they just been hiding, as the Morrigi have been known to do? Did the bioweapon the Liir used to liberate their own planet actually seriously threaten the Suul’ka as a whole? And can they form diplomatic ties with other races in the game, or are they even less prone to friendly relations than the Zuul?

Reputation not for sale!

Michele White — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:23:23 +0000

Have you ever wondered if some of the reviews you’re reading are influenced by outside sources? Do some alleged AAA titles get preferential treatment in the media? The answer to both could be yes, depending on where you go to read your reviews, but not here. Part of our mission statement reads: “The Adrenaline Vault (Avault) was launched on November 1, 1995 with the goal of becoming an independent source of unbiased information about video games.” And our team here at Avault takes that very seriously.

Earlier today many of us in the media entered our virtual and physical offices and were confronted with a bit of a scandal that we’d only been mildly aware of surrounding the recently released Duke Nukem Forever game. Now before I begin my rant (yes, I borrowed Alaric’s rant pen for the day), Wired‘s Joel Johnson had this to say this morning about the fine PR folks that we all deal with daily.

“A large part of my job is dealing with people who work in public relations. The vast majority of those whose do PR for video game companies are polite, well-intentioned, and extremely professional. They need us to get their games coverage, and we need them for access to the developers and early code to review in a timely manner. The press and PR relationship may sometimes be strained, but it’s rarely adversarial.”

With this, I have to agree. 99% of my communications with the gaming PR community are friendly, professional, constructive, and enjoyable. There are even a few I game with and with whom I have cordial social ties. Last week our Avault team was wined, dined and schmoozed by reps of publishing houses both big and small, but at the end of the day, none of that affects anything but the timeliness of our coverage (I’ll get to the why for the timeliness in a bit). This is because anyone that has ever dealt with us here at the Adrenaline Vault knows up front that neither our coverage nor our ratings of titles are for sale, and cannot be influenced by shiny baubles. We don’t even let our reviewers keep anything (except for review product) more extravagant than a t-shirt.

Recently, the Redner Group’s official Twitter account posted the following tweets concerning the first wave of Duke reviews, the text of which awaited me when I checked in this morning.

“Too many went too far with their reviews…we are reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn’t based on today’s venom.”

“Bad scores are fine. Venom filled reviews…that’s completely different.”

Now, I’d like to say that this was a first for me, but it’s not. Usually, when we give a game a poor score, we simply get a thank-you note for the coverage from the PR rep. Sometimes we hear nothing until it’s time to request the next upcoming game, and then we get nothing. (If you’ve ever wondered why some of our reviews come out later than others, this is why. We have to wait for release day to buy it.) But on rare occasions, we get hate mail, forum rants, and threats. After Ed Humphries made an innocent remark about how he was afraid to look forward to BioShock 2, we were bullied and denied a copy. We actually didn’t receive another 2K game for almost a year, when the rep moved on to another position and was replaced by someone who had no knowledge of our “history.” Ubisoft, a company with which we’d enjoyed a wonderful relationship, at one point remanded us to their blacklist, and while they never said it was due to anything specific we’d said, the event occurred almost immediately following something negative we’d said about a sequence of their titles. That relationship has also been repaired, but again, only following the departure of the PR rep involved.

In fairness to Jim Redner, he deleted the above tweets and issued a mass apology via email. In it, he admitted that he overreacted, and was guilty of issuing a response that was both overly emotional and unprofessional. Unfortunately, only time will determine the sincerity behind it.

Our review of Duke Nukem Forever goes live tomorrow night. I’m not going to spoil you on its contents, but I can tell you that none of the above has any bearing on the score the reviewer issued. Reviews are subjective, but they’re based on a reviewer’s personal enjoyment and experiences with a title, and factor in its overall production quality and polish. We will continue to provide you the most unbiased coverage that’s possible under the human condition, and continue to ignore any bullying that may occur behind the scenes. Those PR guys have a job to do, but so do we: To bring you the most honest information available on the Web.

E3 2011 Day 3

Michael Smith — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:00:15 +0000

The final day of this year’s E3 was reserved for the smaller publishers, at least for the most part. You could tell that they were the smaller publishers because they were all sequestered in a previously unused portion of the convention center, nestled conveniently between the two main exhibit halls. The room was arranged in rows of high-walled cubicles; an overhead map of the area made it look like a gigantic ice tray. But it was here where I had some of the most productive conversations of the entire show.

I started at the GamersFirst booth to check out APB: Reloaded. This is something of a return to the scene of the crime. Last year, developer Realtime Worlds showed APB: All Points Bulletin, which promptly crashed and burned a few months after release because of rampant lack of gamer interest. GamersFirst, a company dedicated to the free-to-play business model, rescued the game late last year and has been making significant changes to help pique user curiosity. The most significant of these changes is the switch to FTP, with a $10-per-month premium service that gives you more XP, more in-game currency rewards and a more robust character creator. The focus of the game has been changed from team-based RPG to an FPS feel. Weapons and the driving mechanic has been improved, quests are made available according to your character’s experience level, you don’t have to empty a clip of ammo into an NPC to kill them (some can now die in one shot), and vehicles have been toughened up. Also added is a PvP arena known as the Asylum, where you can engage in 4×4 and 8×8 battles, as well as a deathmatch mode. The interest seems to be there amongst the current beta participants; GamersFirst reports that more than 600,000 registered users are playing an average of four to eight hours per session. APB: Reloaded hits the streets sometime by the end of 2011.

After standing in endless lines at the EA booth earlier in the week, I finally managed to get hands-on time with one of their big new releases: Star Wars: The Old Republic. After a 10-minute tutorial video, the BioWare employees on hand set us loose in the new game, and it was indeed impressive. The conversation sequences have the BioWare trademark dialogue trees, and the graphics during these scenes have a hand-painted look as compared to the action sequences, which are sharp and clear and smooth, not unexpected considering the beefy PCs on which it was running. MMO fans will immediately understand the controls; a minimap in the corner of the screen points you in the direction of your quest destination, and the combat system is deep and easy to use. We were only given 20 minutes to explore, but I saw enough to know that this is the game Star Wars geeks have been seeking. BioWare is still being cagey about release dates and subscription plans, but it will certainly be worth the wait.

The Witcher 2 was released on the PC a few weeks ago, but developer CD Projekt RED was in attendance at the show to tout their upcoming Xbox 360 version of the game, which they described as more of an adaptation than a port. Some changes have been made to bring it to the console: there are some quick-time events included in combat, and the inventory interface has been altered, but it looks great, and you don’t have to have played the PC-only original to get into the sequel; cutscenes bring you up to speed on the story so far. Look for the Xbox 360 version near the end of 2011; a possible PS3 version could be in the cards for the future.

One of the nice things about the smaller development houses is that their representatives are more willing to spend quality time with folks like me than their counterparts do in the exhibit hall-sized booths upstairs. Such was the case with my visit to the Topware Interactive cubicle. I had a one-on-one session with Topware PR director Vince Harding, who spent almost an hour walking me through their new products. First was Raven’s Cry, an RPG in which you play a young man who wants to become a pirate to gain revenge on the men who killed his parents when he was a child. For this game, Topware has joined forces with Nitro Games, a developer known for their naval-based epics (East India Company). Raven’s Cry is played on both land and sea, including ship-to-ship cannon exchanges and boarding parties, in seven environments, such as the legendary pirate outpost, Port Royal. Single-player and two-player co-op will be available when the game casts off on the PC, PS3 and the Xbox 360 in the spring of 2012.

Next on Topware’s list is Check vs. Mate, which is the North American version of Battle vs. Chess, which the company showed last year. It’s basically a vastly improved version of the classic PC chess simulator Battle Chess, in which chess pieces fight each other when you attempt to remove one from the board. You can select one of six backgrounds for the action, and there are enough difficulty levels that you won’t have to play the virtual equivalent of Garry Kasparov; in fact, Check vs. Mate is an excellent tutor, so if you’ve found chess to be somewhat daunting, this could be a good entrance into the game. It will be available in September 2011 for the PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PSP and Nintendo DS.

E3 2011 Day Two

Michael Smith — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 21:16:08 +0000

More heavy hitters were on my menu for E3 Day 2. Several of Electronic Arts’ big new games (but not all); two promising new titles from 2K, including a long-anticipated reboot of one of the greatest PC games of all time; and updates of two classic arcade games from Atari. There were also some good-looking strategy games, a sequel to one of my favorite shooters from last year, and a very comfortable sit-down with streaming-gaming company OnLive.

You can always tell the importance of a publisher by the size of their E3 booth. Some of the indie companies are lucky to have a 10 ft x 10-ft cubicle, while pubs such as Sony or Nintendo have booths that seem to take up a city block. Such is the case with EA. An enormous carpeted area and a giant video screen are surrounded by demo rooms and stations where their games can be played by the attendees. My first stop: Need for Speed: The Run, a multi-stage racing game that takes you from San Francisco to New York. Developer Black Box has used the impressive Frostbite 2 engine to craft a driving game with twice as many tracks as any other installment in the series, more than 50 cars, 150 NPC opponents, and on-foot sequences that take up about 10 percent of the game. The out-of-car action is mostly controlled by quick-time events, but the sequence we were shown in the demo was exhilarating nonetheless. Also included is the Autolog feature that debuted last year in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Autolog allows you to keep in touch with the completion times of the players on your friends list, giving you a chance for those important bragging rights. NFS: The Run will be available for PC, Xbox 360, PS3, DS and iDevices (basically every platform except the Wii U).

Next from EA was Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, from Big Huge Games and former pitcher Curt Shilling’s 38 Studios (Shilling could be seen prowling the booth, shaking hands with the attendees; he’s shorter and plumper than I thought he’d be). Reckoning is a single-player, open-world RPG that casts you as a resurrected hero who is no longer effected by fate, so he goes out in search of the destiny of his choice. The game is played in five zones, taking you through deserts, cities and swamps. There are 120 dungeons to explore, six factions to join and hundreds of side quests to complete. If a big part of your RPGing is crafting, you’ll be pleased with Reckoning; you can create items in three categories: alchemy, blacksmithing and sagecraft. Skill-wise, there are nine non-combat skills to use, along with 60 abilities to improve through character leveling. And if you’d rather not wade through pages of dialogue, each dialogue tree has a choice that will move you quickly through to the next part of the game; you’ll see it highlighted in blue. We were shown a pre-alpha build of the game, but it already looks amazing, so RPGers should look forward to it on the PC, the Xbox 360 and PS3 sometime next year.

And my final stop at the EA encampment was to see one of EA and BioWare’s most anticipated games: Star Wars: The Old Republic. This new MMO takes place 3000 years before the rise of Darth Vader, in the period just before the war broke out between the Republic and the Sith Empire. You can choose one of eight character classes, with each encompassing more than 100 hours of gameplay, so you could be playing TOR for a very long time if you choose to follow all of the classes to their end-game content. You can visit dozens of planets, including some of the most popular locations in the Star Wars canon. BioWare has brought the Codex, an old favorite of Mass Effect fans, to The Old Republic. The Codex includes detailed information about all of the locations and races included in the game. They’ve also adjusted the conversation system to meet MMO requirements; all members of a party can respond to questions and statements, with one of the responses used to continue the conversation. Also included is a map that can be turned translucent and superimposed over the action on the screen so that you don’t have to depend on a tiny minimap in the corner of the screen or stop the action to bring up a normal map. And endgame content is in the form of Operations, which is BioWare’s term for raiding. Star Wars geeks have been clamoring for a detailed, fun-to-play MMO for years; BioWare might have finally found the magic formula.

You might legitimately ask, “What, no Mass Effect 3 coverage?” A good question with an unfortunate, personally infuriating answer. Demos at the EA booth all involve standing in lines. This year they’ve made an effort to separate the media and retail attendees from the rest of the visitors, ushering us to the front of most lines. Not so with ME3. I was about 20th in line for the demo. One of the EA folks working the line told us that they were only admitting five people from our line into the demo room every half hour. Some quick math showed that I’d be waiting two hours to see the demo. E3 is a show in which you can’t afford to stand in line for anything for two hours; there’s just too much to see. So, unfortunately I had to skip it. Either the demo was too long, or the room was too small, and I suspect that I won’t be the only media type complaining about this in the next few days. But, on the other hand, I could take the glass-half-full attitude and say that more of the game will be fresh and new to me when it finally releases in March.

Anyway, back to the action. Another truism about E3 is that the small developers and publishers offer the most swag, and Bohemia Interactive is no exception. I visited their booth to see ARMA III, the next iteration in their PC military shooter series. Bohemia has made some serious improvements in the ARMA formula, with revamped ground combat, and customizable characters, weapons and vehicles. The graphics inside the vehicles are nicely detailed, while on the outside they are smooth and clear, with fully deformable environments and a 900-square-kilometer play area. The new game is also not land-locked, with the inclusion of naval battles and underwater action. As for the aforementioned swag, I walked away from the Bohemia booth with a press kit, a pen, a DVD with video and screenshot assets, and a nice T-shirt that might actually fit me. ARMA III

E3 2011 Day One

Michael Smith — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:52:14 +0000

The first official day of E3 2011 started off with big news from the Nokia Theatre, where Nintendo held its annual press briefing, and ended up at a cowboy bar on Sunset Boulevard. In between, there were some impressive presentations of huge new games coming in the next year or so, and one new indie game that parents should check out for their youngsters at holiday time.

Say what you will about Nintendo, but they give great press conferences. They started this year’s briefing with a full orchestra and chorus performing themes from Zelda games in celebration of the series’ 25th anniversary this year. As part of Zelda’s birthday party, it was announced that Link’s Awakening would be coming to the Wii Virtual Console and GameBoy, a 3D version of Oc arina of Time (with new added material) is on the way for the 3DS, Four Swords will be available for the DSi on DSiWare in September, and the new Skyward Sword is being released for the Wii (complete with a gold-colored Wiimote) for the holidays. Also, a symphonic presentation of Zelda music scores is planned for a world tour in the fall, and the Ocarina of Time soundtrack will be available for free with new Club Nintendo memberships.

Sales of the 3DS have been disappointing for the House of Mario, so a slate of new games has been announced to whet the appetites of those still on the fence (and who won’t be buying the similarly priced PlayStation Vita). Included are 3D versions of Mario Kart, Star Fox 64 (which you can control by tilting the console instead of using the buttons) and Super Mario (the first Mario game made completely from scratch for a handheld). Also new for the 3DS: Kid Icarus: Uprising, featuring 3v3 multiplayer and Augmented Reality Card support; Luigi’s Mansion 2; and third-party games from Ubisoft, Capcom and others.

But they saved the most impressive for last. The new Nintendo console finally has a real name: Wii U (formerly Project: Café). Nothing was said about the console itself; it was the controller that got all of the attention. It features a 6.2-inch touchscreen, two buttons on the rear, two on the shoulders, two thumbsticks, the usual four buttons on the front, a D-pad, speakers, a microphone, a forward-facing camera and an accelerometer. And it can do some really amazing things. If your spouse wants to watch her soaps on the living-room TV, you can transfer your game from the TV to the controller and continue playing. It can be used in conjunction with the Wiimote in games that support both; in a golf game, for example, the touchscreen can be used as a virtual tee. Take your stance with the Wiimote as the club, look down at the ball on the touchscreen and swing away; the ball leaves the screen and flies onto your TV. You can also make video calls to others who have the system. Launch titles include a version of Smash Bros and LEGO City Stories for both the WiiU and the 3DS. And hardcore gamers, who’ve never taken to the Wii because it lacks content that interests them, will be very pleased with the WiiU. Games in the works for the new console include Darksiders 2, Assassin’s Creed, Ghost Recon Online, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Tekken and Ninja Gaiden 3. The only thing that wasn’t revealed about the WiiU: storage. One of the things players hate about the Wii is that it has no hard drive; no mention was made about whether or not this problem has been addressed about the WiiU. We’ll have to wait until sometime in 2012 to know for sure.

To anyone who might attend E3 in the future, heed my warning: don’t schedule any appointments for right when the doors open! The sea of humanity waiting to get into the halls is biblical in proportion. Unless you get into the convention center early enough to be at the head of the throng, you’ll be guaranteed to be late to your first meeting. Such was the case with me today, as I was about 10 minutes tardy for my visit to the Bethesda Softworks booth to see perhaps the company’s most anticipated new game, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The game, three years in the making, is powered by the new Creation engine and the Havok Behavior animation system, and it looked stunning during the 30-minute gameplay demo lead by Bethesda’s Todd Howard. The usual menu interface design has been replaced by a very pleasing, graphics-intensive layout that gives you a clearer and more-detailed look at your inventory and quest log. You can explore five major cities and 150 dungeons, and travel quickly from one place to another on horseback if you choose. Also, you can equip both of your character’s hands with whatever spells and weapons you want to use. Skyrim launches on November 11.

My most pleasant surprise of the show so far came at the Sony Online booth, where I had a chance to play the first few minutes of Papo y Yo, from developer Minority Inc. The game’s creator (also creative director and company president) Vander Caballero describes Papo as “a metaphor for growing up.” Set in a favela in an unidentified South American country, Papo casts you as a young boy who has a robotic friend named Lula, who helps him navigate his environment and solve puzzles. Eventually you make friends with a playful monster that joins you and Lula in your adventures. This game is a breath of fresh air in an industry awash in violent action games. Look for it on the PlayStation Network in November 2011.

© Michael Smith for The Adrenaline Vault, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments

The Wii U and Me

Michele White — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:29:51 +0000

Written by: Chris Micieli

They say you never forget your first E3, and I’m not one to doubt that notion since last year’s show was one of the most memorable things I’ve ever done. But after day one of this year’s expo, it’s hard to imagine forgetting ANY E3 convention. Especially one that debuts a brand new console!

I have an uncle that was in the stands when Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th career home run. I’ve had to hear about that moment every time I’m with him watching a Yankee game and A-Rod comes to the plate. I can’t blame him. I would probably do the same thing. Now, thanks to Nintendo, I now have my A-Rod 500th home run moment. I was there watching in person as the all new Wii U was revealed. It was a true “pinch me” moment. Nintendo goes back with pretty much all of us. Each console they have released has staying power and a following all its own. To know that I was there, live, when Nintendo showed the world their new console is something I can honestly say I will never forget.

Forget about the fact that we didn’t get every little detail on what the console will bring. I think we want to know everything about it because we haven’t had a new console to gush over for almost 9 years. We have been waiting for a long time and a huge moment just happened. We want all the info now, but deep down we all know that we weren’t going to get answers to ALL of our ten thousand questions.

The things we did find out were enough to satisfy me. Just knowing that hardcore games are finally going to be coming to a Nintendo console has me excited. A few minutes after the reveal, I turned to Turks and said, “sports games on this are going to be amazing.” I love it when I’m right. I’ve been killing Madden football for years for not doing anything significant with the game, but maybe it wasn’t all their fault. Not having a new console and new technology to play with is definitely a factor. The Wii U will give developers like EA a whole new platform and I for one cannot wait to see what they bring to the table.

But we have plenty of time to speculate on just what we want and expect from the Wii U. We will get some things we are happy about, and some things that will make us scratch our heads. But what we are getting is a new console! And I was there!

© Michele White for The Adrenaline Vault, 2011. | Permalink | No comment(s)

E3 2011 Media Day

Michael Smith — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:46:20 +0000

And so it begins once again…another edition of the annual gaming craziness that is the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Another year of getting up before the crack of dawn, getting on a crowded plane with overpriced food and no onboard entertainment (other than the games on my iPod touch), and ground transportation that just barely gets me to my hotel in time for the first event. But I’m at ground zero in the video game industry, in a place where most gamers would love to be. So I should just shut up, stop bitching and get on with it!

A $10 taxicab ride gets me to the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles just in time for the start of the Electronic Arts press briefing. CEO John Riccitello starts us off with new footage from the now-delayed-to-2012 Mass Effect 3, in which Cmdr. Shepard calls down fire during a battle with the Reapers on Earth. Just enough new content to make the ME fans in the audience want to step into the wormhole and come out next year. Other highlights of the EA presentation include Need for Speed: The Run, a race that literally crosses the country and also includes some on-foot sequences. The Autolog feature included in last year’s NFS game returns, making it possible for you to keep track of your friends’ progress. Star Wars: The Old Republic made another appearance this year, but BioWare’s presentation video was nothing more than a collection of footage that has been previously released, and no release date was announced, which was disappointing. This transitioned into a very slick trailer for the snowboarding game SSX, showing two athletes trying to stay ahead of avalanches and otherwise trying to survive. Players will be able to try their luck on courses laid out on all of the world’s major mountain ranges, with graphics help from NASA. EA Sports president, Peter Moore, then introduced new editions of the Madden and FIFA franchises. For Madden 12, EA trotted out three NFL players in full uniform, but said very little about how the new game compares to last year’s model. FIFA 12 was another matter, as improvements in defensive play, ball control and physical gameplay were demonstrated. Also, EA Football Club, on online service that serves as a social connection between footballers all around the world, was introduced as a free extra feature for FIFA 12, with plans to extend it to all previous FIFA games at a later date. Also on the menu were some new third-party offerings which include Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning, a fantasy RPG developed by former baseball star Curt Shilling’s 38 Studios (Shilling appeared onstage to introduce it); and Insomniac’s Overstrike, a squad-based shooter with equal parts action and dry humor, if the trailer can be believed. The EA presentation ended with some footage of Battlefield 3, built on the new and impressive Frostbite 2 engine. A multiplayer open beta is planned for September 2011, and the full version hits stores on October 25.

Three blocks down Broadway is another classic old movie house, the Los Angeles Theatre (this part of town is strewn with old movie palaces in various states of disrepair; such a shame). This was the site of the Ubisoft conference, but there wasn’t much of real interest to be found. A new Rayman game (Rayman Origins), the oft-delayed Driver: San Francisco (now scheduled for a March 2012 release), a slick new iteration of the Trackmania series, and new games in the Just Dance and Your Shape franchises. Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson were shown talking about the game version of their upcoming animated film The Adventures of Tintin. There was a live demo of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and the announcement of a free-to-play online version of the original Ghost Recon. Gearbox president Randy Pitchford, who much be grateful not to be talking about for a change, showed some footage from his new Brothers in Arms game, Furious Four, which looks very much like it was inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. Ubisoft seems to want to try to keep the music-game genre alive while Activision has Guitar Hero on hiatus; Ubi’s Rocksmith teaches you how to play guitar using your own instrument instead of a plastic one with colored buttons. No details were shared on how you actually make that happen, but it looks cool from a musician’s standpoint. But Ubi’s major announcement was for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, which takes place in Constantinople in 1511 and has Ezio Auditore trying to track down information about his family’s colorful past. Revelations is planned for release in November 2011.

And just to show that E3 isn’t all work, fellow Avaulters Mark Turcotte, Chris Micieli, Patrick Watts, Matthew Booth and I attended a cocktail party hosted by Jagex to tout their upcoming Transformers MMO. Much refreshment was imbibed (Matthew graciously agreed to be our designated driver, since he lives out here) and many finger foods were consumed (mostly by me, since I hadn’t eaten since I paid $8.50 for eggs, bacon and home fries at the Philly airport), but there wasn’t much talk about the game we were there to celebrate. But it was free, so once again, stop complaining.

Tomorrow is the first real day of the convention. I’ll be visiting the booths of Bethesda Softworks, Sony, Activision and Paradox Interactive, as well as checking out the Nintendo press briefing, which promises to include the unveiling of the company’s new console. And on the party front, we travel to a local country-western bar for the annual Bethesda party, which features mechanical bull riding. Who will stay on the bull longest? Tune in tomorrow to find out (here’s a hint…it won’t be me).

© Michael Smith for The Adrenaline Vault, 2011. | Permalink | No comment(s)

Falling out of love with BioWare

Alaric Teplitsky — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 02:37:34 +0000

BioWare is awful and I can’t stand it. There. I said it. To add to the gravity of my situation, Avault never retracts its articles and I will have to deal with the consequences for so long as I continue working in this field. Or until I get a name change and a face transplant. If I suddenly disappear, it’s because BioWare’s hired goons took me out. It’s OK though, I am ready to face the music. It took me a few years to realize that my relationship with one of my favorite developers was over. Having puzzled for a while over how this could have happened and why, I am finally at a point where everything is sorted out. Now, standing at the grave of my freshly buried romance, I want to share, with whomever is willing to listen, the tragic story of how it all came to be, and how it then came undone.

In 1998 I was a junior in high school. Miraculously, I had somehow managed to avoid meeting anyone who could introduce me to D&D. Instead of paper and pen games, I began to discover the world of live-action role-playing. To be honest, I was more into swordplay than any other aspect of it, so for better or worse I never actually did any proper LARPing. My real passion, however, was computer games. Combined with my love for fantasy, this hobby allowed me to spend hours delighting in games like Warcraft, Legend of Kyrandia (that’s where my forum avatar is from) and Betrayal at Krondor. I tried some of the D&D-based Gold Box games, but never really got any further than a few minutes in. For some reason the series just failed to grab me, perhaps because of poor graphics and unnecessarily complex control schemes. The same could be said for Diablo, which I did enjoy, but felt that it was lacking severely in the role-playing department.

Then, one day, I heard that a new game was in the works. It was developed by some company that I had never heard of, which was just as well, since in those days I didn’t follow developers and didn’t know much about the industry. The game was Baldur’s Gate.

Now, 14 years later, it’s kind of weird to think that at that point the name didn’t mean anything to me. They might very well have called it Otin’s Door or Noki’s Portal, and it wouldn’t have made a shred of difference. Either way, the initial screenshots looked pretty amazing, so I started following its development. I think it was the first time I’d done that, actually. As time went by and information became available, I learned more and more about the game. I also found out about a bunch of related things, most notably about D&D. I still didn’t get into it at that point, and my first-ever group gathered only years later, but it was during this time that I became aware of its existence.

By the time the game was released, I was counting hours and minutes. I’d read everything there was to read about it, I’d seen all the screenshots, and I’d registered at some forums to talk about it with other fans. I still remember my dismay at learning that, because of severe snowstorms in Canada, the stores in Chicago might not receive shipments until much later. In fact, it wasn’t in stores even three weeks after the official release date. Unable to wait any longer, I took the matters into my own hands. I found some guy on the Internet who somehow had an extra copy. I offered him double the price, but he only charged me what he himself paid for it. D&D nerds are good people more often than not.

© Alaric Teplitsky for The Adrenaline Vault, 2011. | Permalink | 49 comments

A Facebook interview with Angel Munoz

Michele White — Fri, 27 May 2011 15:14:53 +0000

Last week dozens of Mass Luminosity Facebook fans were intensively engaged in a contest to conduct an interview with CEO Angel Munoz. Over one hundred interview questions were submitted by fans around the globe, and the following ten questions were selected as a representation of the whole. As far as we know, this is the first instance of an open interview conducted via Facebook and then published on the Web.

Simon Grant: If you could have predicted 10 years ago how far graphics design and gaming would come, do you think anything would be different?

Angel Munoz: To answer your question properly I first needed to mentally transport myself back to 2001. This process took me a few minutes. In 2001, the following top FPS titles were launched: Halo, Max Payne, Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Red Faction. Comparing those games to today’s offerings, you could safely prognosticate that those top games of 2001 would be “discount bin” titles if released today. The evolution of game visuals has offered us a much more immersive and realistic experience, and fortunately, storytelling has not lost its primary placement in the hierarchy of components required to generate a good gaming experience.

Now to your question. Did I expect something different to develop by 2011? Well yes, but I was unrealistic. I expected a more precipitous evolution of technology based on my belief that it was transforming at an accelerating return. I was convinced that by now the fusion of artificial and human intelligence would’ve seen its first embryonic platform in video games.

Jordan Cheng: Where do you expect the future of gaming to land ten years from now? Will it still be 2-D, or do you believe that it will fully embrace the 3-D concept and possibly even include more senses?

Angel Munoz: By 2020 we will be capable of full sensory immersion into video games. These experiences will be like nothing else in the history of humanity. I expect that this virtual hyper-reality will also be used to bring to light some of society’s most persistent issues, decipher scientific problems, connect us in ways that we can’t even imagine from our current perspective, and bring forth new forms of art and personal expression.

Jossie Mann: How do you view social gaming influencing the rest of the industry?

Angel Munoz: Social gaming is just an evolutionary step; I think that in just a few years all video games will have social integration. The powerful multipliers of that format are undeniable. But thinking beyond the headlines, I believe that the engineering of formulas that can predict human behavior, and the discovery of effective methodologies that implement meaningful punishment and reward systems into gaming will be our next frontier. Once these formulas are deciphered, games will significantly outpace all other forms of human entertainment.

© Michele White for The Adrenaline Vault, 2011. | Permalink | 100 comments

A chat with Toonopolis author Jeremy Rodden

Christopher Troilo — Sat, 21 May 2011 04:59:57 +0000

Today the Adrenaline Vault is pleased to offer a unique inside look at a new young-adult fantasy book series being launched that’s heavily influenced by the world of gaming. This spring, Toonopolis: Gemini will be available for purchase. It’s a book featuring characters who inhabit a cartoon-themed universe created by author Jeremy Rodden. I was recently able to speak with Mr. Rodden about the new book series.

Rodden describes Toonopolis as “a combination of different genres, broken up into subgenres organized in a fashion not unlike videogames, cartoons and comics.” The focus of his novels is on their cartoon characters, which populate the “Tooniverse” and its various themed cities (a medieval town, an underwater environment, and even a city entirely based upon the rules and feel of classic role-playing games). Toonopolis explores the adventures these characters have as they interact with one another and with mysterious outside forces beyond their understanding.

One of the most interesting twists on the book’s concept is that the cartoons in Toonopolis exist in the same realm as humans, and are permanently linked to them. For example, if I were to draw a doodle in my notebook, that doodle would then exist in the Tooniverse so long as I, the creator, still exist. The bond between cartoon creations and sentient beings is a recurring and interesting theme that separates Toonopolis from other cartoon-based works, such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Adrenaline Vault readers will undoubtedly enjoy the many obvious references to videogame paradigms, especially in the first book of the series, Gemini, a reference to the name of the protagonist. The entire premise of the first entry in the Toonopolis canon surrounds a younger-than-he-should-be hero who takes up a quest simply because he must. Along the way, Gemini meets many other toons who often serve as an homage to a multitude of games and cartoons from our childhood.

The goal of the book, according to Rodden, is “to create a piece of work that everyone of all ages could feel a connection to.” As a former English teacher, Rodden says he drew upon his instructional philosophy of using prior knowledge and experiences to create a sense of enjoyment when introducing new ideas and topics when writing Toonopolis: Gemini.

Rodden is also an avid, self-proclaimed gamer, continuing to play to gain new inspiration and ideas. In his second book, Rodden promises to show the love and respect for the world of 8-bit gaming that helped spark his creativity in his younger years. Currently Rodden says he’s working through Mortal Kombat 9, having proudly completed his Pokedex for both Pokemon: Black and Pokemon: White.

Toonopolis: Gemini is a clever representation of the unique ideas and passion that are responsible for the types of media we all enjoy, whether they be drawn, animated or pixelated. Rodden has taken all of these wonderful concepts and brought them together in one place, then asks the question, “Okay, what happens now?” Read Toonopolis: Gemini and find out for yourself. The book is available on Amazon.com.

© Christopher Troilo for The Adrenaline Vault, 2011. | Permalink | No comment(s)

The Children of Doom

David Laprad — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:50:06 +0000

Dear Avault Reader,

Recently two independent events took place that reminded me of an article on gaming and violence that was published on our website back in 1997. The first event was the announcement and marketing, of the soon-to-be-released Duke Nukem Forever. The second was the enlightening chat with Penn State Professor, Ali Carr-Chellman on the Avault Podcast. The subject of violence and its potential relationship with video games is as relevant (and unresolved) today, as it was 14 years ago.

So without further ado, we present to you once again our take on this sensitive subject, written by David Laprad and aptly named The Children of Doom.

- Angel Munoz

The Children of Doom

[first published on the Adrenaline Vault December 22, 1997]

Kids and Violent Games: A Lethal Combination?

“With all the pathetic educational games out there, thank God kids can play our game and really learn something. They learn to be evil.” -Postal developer

“Daddy,” my son playfully queried from behind the computer chair. “Can I play Duke, too?”

I paused my game, granting an undeserving, and very ugly, alien invader a few precious remaining moments of life, and turned to look at Lucas. His 4-year-old face beamed with anticipation.

“Yeah!” my daughter gleefully cried, discarding her kindergarten homework and bolting to her brother’s side for a peep at the impending carnage. “You can shoot the bad guys in the belly, just like Daddy does!”

Whoa! Where did that come from?

Without even looking, I could feel my wife’s searing glare from across the room. I had a critical decision to make. I looked at the young, unblemished faces of my children, and thought of the equally untarnished, yet very impressionable, souls behind their sweet smiles. I then turned back to survey the computer’s monitor. A rocket was nearly imbedded in the alien’s cranium, and a half-dressed dancer was lewdly suspended mid-gyration in the background.

The decision was simple. I turned the computer off. One alien spared, and one husband off the hook.

But did I spare my children? Would a few, arguably innocuous moments blowing up mutants and strippers in the fantasy world of a gun-toting, vulgarity-spewing, womanizing hero have had a transformative effect on my son’s personality, turning him into a brutal degenerate, fully capable of executing lethal harm against fellow human beings? Could a computer game have such a powerfully negative impact that it could offset other positive influences?

© David Laprad for The Adrenaline Vault, 2011. | Permalink | One comment

Competition for WoW on the horizon?

Matthew Booth — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 04:59:24 +0000

If you ask Scott Hartsmann, Executive Producer of the new MMORPG Rift, to compare his game with World of Warcraft, he won’t. Instead, he’ll passionately detail the Rift experience, leaving you to make your own comparisons. I had the opportunity to join several other games journalists in a Q&A session with Hartsmann to discuss the game’s beta testing and longevity. As expected, the session included a healthy dose of the standard PR rhetoric, but our primary focus was on the game’s ability to deliver on its promises. The MMO genre is full of promising games that launched successfully, only to suffer from lackluster content and ensuing player disappointment. So we gave Hartsmann the opportunity to convince us that Rift would succeed where other games have failed.

The interview began with a quick rundown of the game’s backstory and development team. Most of this information can be found here, so I’ll save you the recap. However, Hartsmann did mention a few things that caught my attention. Rift’s development team is composed of equal parts MMO experts and single-player console game developers. I can picture some readers cringing at the bastardization of their preferred genre, but to me, this diversity is the right step in ensuring that Rift will have a balanced gaming experience. My background is in single-player console games, but I’m quickly becoming addicted to MMORPGs, so the thought that Rift could combine the experiences of two seemingly incompatible genres is encouraging.

Looking at the screenshots, you get the impression that the designers and developers aren’t catering to slower PCs in the hopes of expanding the user base. We were reassured that Rift would not only be accessible to slower systems, but if you’ve dropped the cash on a top-of-the-line PC, Rift will also make use of your superior CPUs and GPUs. This is accomplished by using two rendering engines, depending on which system you own. My gaming rig doesn’t suck, but it’s nothing to boast about, so I’m anxious to test Rift’s performance on my older machine.

At this point in the Q&A, the floor was opened up for us to question Hartsmann on everything from the game’s storyline to its ability to compete with WoW. I’ve picked the questions that I thought were the most relevant to the skeptics and cynics out there. If you still have unanswered questions, let me know; I’ll see if I can track down the answers for you.

Q: Rift is adhering to mature content and realistic graphics. Is this a response to complaints about the “dumbing down” and cartoonish nature of other MMOs? Is there a specific core audience that you’re looking to target?

Scott Hartsmann: The Rift developers and designers are some of the best at what they do, so it makes sense that the graphics and content reflect their technical prowess. Having said that, the game is meant to be as accessible as possible. There is content intended for players who are new to MMOs, but experienced fans of the genre will have plenty of content as well.

Q: In keeping with the question about different skill levels, will players that have different levels be able to enter zones and participate in world events together? For example, in WoW, friends who form a group need to essentially be the same level to quest together.

SH: Yes, players who are at different levels will be able to group together to participate in zone events. There are plans for post-launch modifications that will increase the ability of lower-level players to enter zones with high-level players for a wider range of events.

Q: Will Rift deliver when it comes to the quality and amount of end-game content?

SH: Rift will have a metric crap-ton of end-game content. Right now Rift probably has more end-game content than leveling content. When players reach higher levels of experience, additional story content and levels will be unlocked. Higher level players will also have access to 10 and 20-man raid instances as well as dedicated PvP warfronts.

Q: Will Rift have a persistent story progression and a logical conclusion to the rift events? In other words, right now the main goal of the game is to seal the rifts. Will rifts ever cease to be the focus?

SH: Without being too specific, yes, there is a persistent progression of the Rift story while players quest and level. And yes, there are plans for a logical conclusion to the rifts that are tearing Telara apart. The team at Trion Worlds has been planning the future of Rift and has mapped out future updates, events and plot points that will not only shape and change the world of Telara, but will [also] give players a progressive story that can be invested in.

© Matthew Booth for The Adrenaline Vault, 2011. | Permalink | 16 comments