Why the iPad will suck and why the Courier will.. probably suck as well.
So unlike most of Apple's target audience, I know my way around a computer and am completely unwilling to shell out thousands of dollars for one. I've used Macs before and they have their uses, but the day I willingly pay money for one is the day I shove bamboo under my fingernails.
And so we move on to Apple's next piece of flashy hardware that I file under 'flashy gimmicks that are hilariously overpriced and lacking in real functionality', or the iPad.
So at first glance it would appear the iPad is just an iTouch with a bigger screen. And you'd be exactly right. It uses the exact same OS as the iPhone/Touch, and has more streamlined browser and music player. There's also a bunch of new stuff Apple is excited to sell to you, like eBooks and an iWork suite, which has stuff like word processors and things.
Why it will suck: If the Apple logo wasn't a good indicator (yes I'm that petty), a big one should go off when you read the words 'no browser flash supported'. Meaning a lot of the things that web browsers use to enrich our lives and be awesome will be disabled.
But probably the ultimate reason the iPad will suck is the price. For 16 gigabytes (spaces achieved on jump drives now), you'll have to shell out $499, before taxes and whatever else you'll need, like apps and such. For 32gb, you'll need to want to dump $599 down a hole, and 64gb tops out at $699.
But people will buy it, because thats what they do. The iPhone/Touch worked because it was small, the size of a large phone, fit easily into pockets / purses and had a phone somewhere inside. In comparison, the iPad is huge, the size of a netbook or larger. Apple may pick up the crowd that buys netbooks, but I have a feeling they're thinking this is the next logical 'step' in handheld devices. Maybe a step backwards.
Next we have Microsoft's Courier, which actually looks decent. Unlike Apple, it appears Microsoft put some actual thought into their tablet computer. Sporting a stylus and two screens, there seems to be a lot more 'realism' in the graphical interface. Things like flipping a photo over to make a note, dragging pictures around, etc. There's a lot less information out on Courier, so I'll jump straight away to why its already much better than the iPad.
Why Courier is so much better than iPad: Firstly, its shaped like a book. You can fold it up, put a nice leather case around it, and leave it in a bag without worrying about mussing up those lovely touch screens. This also leads into the fact it has two screens, leading to a lot more multitasking capabilities and multi-application interactions. You can also 'store' information in the fold between the screens, just to keep things out of the way. All this may mean its heavier, but at this point its not really a big deal is it?
See Apple, while its all nice and fine you've made your iPad light as a feather, its still a gargantuan piece of machinery. The iPhone/Touch needed to be light and slim because we were sticking it into our pockets and using it as phones. You guys did well on that, and I applaud you. But now you're into tablet PCs that can fit life size keyboards on them, a little more weight here or there isn't going to worry anyone. I'd much rather have something with a little more to it than a piece of glass that I'll constantly fret over breaking.
Moving on, the Courier has a stylus. While you could have used a pencil or whatever for the iPad/Touch/Phone, a lot of complains were heard over generally messing the screen up a lot. Styluses get rid of a lot of that, and if you do it right may hide that you're on a computer. You're just scribbling in a notebook, right? And scribble you can, writing notes and such using the stylus should be nice. Though what the stylus can't do is multitouch, but thats when we resort to our fingers.
Why the Courier will probably suck eventually as well (though I hope it won't): Microsoft, like Apple, has a nasty habit of forcing their other products down our throats, in the delusion everyone wants to use them. So we might get blindsided by limited use of Bing.com, Hotmail, Live Messenger, Live Games, or whatever else.
One thing is that there's no sign of a keyboard. In the video at the link above, the presenter writes in a URL while web browsing. Unless the handwriting software sucks (or your handwriting sucks), this will cause a lot of problems. Hopefully they've already anticipated this and are including an on screen keyboard. Microsoft definitely looks like its on the right track (you know, actually thinking of new and interesting features) with its plans for Courier. If the price is right, people might actually buy it.
The Void
It's hard to find a game that doesn't fit into any established genre. A genre label will tell you at a glance what you can do in the game. Since The Void can't be easily fit into any genre, it begs the question, what does one actually do in The Void? First, it's worth noting The Void is probably best described as an adventure game, but even that is a limiting title and not worth taking very seriously.
The Void is a kind of afterlife, a desolate place devoid of natural life. Three kinds of people inhabit the Void: Sisters, Brothers, and Predators. Sisters are naked guardians of chambers, and you'll need to feed them Color in order to continue. Brothers are blind, hideous, and deformed people that guard the Sisters and the Color in the Void.
Within minutes of playing, Color becomes the most important aspect of the game, because to do anything, you'll need Color. Speaking to NPCs, fighting, moving around in the map, all of it requires Color. Color is your health, mana, currency and inventory. There are six different kinds of Color, and they also represent your stats. Run out and you'll die. Color appears naturally around chambers in The Void at the beginning of each cycle (similar to an in-game day), but it is not enough to sustain you. You'll need to grow gardens, infusing trees with color, which will bloom each cycle and give you color. Color can also be mined or given to and later extracted from local fauna.
In the game, you'll visit Sisters who are hungry for Color. Feed them the Colors they want and they will reward you with Hearts, places in your body to store your Color. Each Heart also serves as a 'spell', allowing you to give Color, shield yourself, run quicker, etc. However, Color is always fading from your Hearts into your Nerva, which is color that can actively be used in the glyphs (or spells). The glyphs are drawn directly onto the screen with the mouse.
Brothers are the guardians of Sisters, twisted, blind creatures that will also punish you for wasting Color. They will assign you tasks to complete and will casually rampage your carefully grown and maintained gardens. So, you don't like Brothers all that much. Deformed and twisted creatures, Brothers provide the foil to the Sister's beauty. If you fail at a Brother's task, instead of restarting entirely, you'll get a chance to defeat him (although 'it' might be more appropriate) in battle.
I won't lie, it took me a long time to play even a small amount of the game. While it is overall well built, it is so foreign that simply breaking into the rhythm is a feat among itself. That on top of its brutal difficulty and general indifference to the player, restarting it once or even twice is something that must be done. Many times you'll find yourself stuck in a chamber with no Color left to leave, and you'll have to go back to a previous save. It's easy to see where you can have fun in The Void, but the problem for some may be wrapping your mind around it.
Unfortunately, I found it hard to enjoy myself in the game. I did my best to try to like it, but the sheer slope of the game's mechanics and presentation made it hard to slowly ease into the game and enjoy it. The score below is hopefully a more objective assessment and less about my troubles playing it. If you're into games that you know what will happen, or just in for something quick, fun, and easy, then it's likely you won't enjoy The Void. If you're always out for a new experience that simply can't be found anywhere else, you'll love the ultimate freedom to do as you wish, once you unlock how to.
Likes:
- Color is everything, changing how you view things like currency and health in game
- Beautiful and downright creepy visuals
- Amazing story line
Dislikes:
- Brutal difficulty, unless you're into that
- Easily possible to get yourself stuck requiring loading up an old save
- Nailing down glyph drawing can be tricky
Review Score
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The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.
Its a Test!
So at some point in the past Michael said blogs would be implemented so he could come and tell people what he was doing. But, I do all of the design on the site, it gets implemented when I remember and / or have the time. So I suppose this is the first inaugural annual perennial half daily blog post by me.
Its a pretty boring New Year's Eve for me, considering I'm writing a blog post on the site. Listening to Flight of the Conchords and such. As a random fact, on both of my ankles I have a V laceration, about a half inch wide on each / and \. It was from ice skating. I regret nothing.
Nick
Nick has recently purchased lots of books, and would like to point out (for the nth time) that he does not like consoles.
Gratuitous Space Battles
If you ever find yourself daydreaming about life as a commander of a space fleet, able to customize your ships and tactics, and watching the ensuing slaughter of your enemies, Gratuitous Space Battles is a game you will ruthlessly enjoy. However, it takes the power of directly controlling your ships right out of your hands. During the actual battle in any scenario, you simply watch, and see if your strategies and tactics were effective.
This brings about very skewed levels of intensity in the game, when compared to a normal space combat game. A lot of your work goes into customizing your ships and tactics, but with the battles themselves all you can do is watch and hope your plans work. So your focus goes into balancing your ships right and counteracting different rules for each scenario.
A lot of thought needs to go into your ships. You'll balance crew and power, among others to be able to support your shields and weapons. There are three classes of ships, fighters, frigates, and cruisers, in order of size. Ships can be outfitted however many times you want and configured to fight in different ways in a battle. You can have as many different kinds of ships, but at the start of a battle you have a specific amount resources available, limiting how many ships you can deploy.
After each battle (assuming you win) you are awarded "Honor", which can be used to purchase new ship hulls, weapons, shields, armor, countermeasures, and the various other items you equip your ships with. Once you own a particular upgrade, it won't cost to move it around as much as you need to, provided your ships can handle it.
Your ships can have a deep level of customization to their tactics. They can be assigned to attack weak targets, retaliate, group up, hold their ground, etc. Along with your tactics there is a light form of multiplayer, in which you can 'upload' fleets in battle scenarios and download others to fight against, but that is as far as it goes.
GSB is not for everyone. Those who want to immediately jump into the heat of a battle and directly control each ship will not find it very enjoyable. If you're on the other end of the spectrum though, the game is perfect for you. You spend much longer putting your ships together than watching them in action, and everything up to that point is quite enjoyable.
Likes:
- Deep level of customization
- Lives up to the gratuitous title
- No resource collecting or empire building
Dislikes:
- Limited multiplayer
- Bit of a tougher learning curve, but not too bad
Review Score
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The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.
LevelFortyTwo Contest – Shattered Horizon
We're happy to announce our very first contest! While we won't be having them on a regular basis, whenever we get a copy of a game to give out, you're in luck! Our very first game is Shattered Horizon, a competitive shooter set in a fully 3D zero gravity environment. If you listened to the podcast, we mentioned that you will have to create a name for our discussion segment, but instead we're going to be cutting our pure discussion segment, and will be allowing it to just pop-up when something catches our fancy. That way we avoid clichés.
The new contest requirements will be: you must create an account on the site, and then leave a comment on this page that you would like to ask us on the podcast. We'll be picking entries at random on Monday November 30th. All entires must be in by 12pm EST, any entries submitted after this time will be disqualified. Good luck to all who enter!
Shattered Horizon is a game you don't want to miss out on!
Shattered Horizon
It's not very often a competitive online shooter will make you rethink how you look at the entire genre. Shattered Horizon, on the other hand, forces it upon you. Set in the near future, all of the battles take place in zero gravity, around space stations, mining facilities, and asteroid belts. Since there is no 'up' in space, everything is relative, and thus combat tactics become almost limitless.
A lot of unique elements have been incorporated into a game like this for it to function properly. Players can land and walk around on any surface (in any direction). This is a necessity to be able to have accurate aim, especially when sniping. Simply floating around, the recoil will cause problems. Normally sound cannot travel through space, but since audio cues of gunfire or explosions are so important in a game like this, the developers have sidestepped the problem with your suit's 'audio simulation' which effectively gives you sound.
However you can engage in a 'Silent Running' mode. This shuts down your entire suit, your audio simulation and major maneuvering abilities, along with your HUD. This allows for a lot of stealth abilities, especially if you stay in shadows, but without your suit powered on recoil is brutal. With the audio simulation turned off, all you hear is your breathing, blood pumping, and vibrations of your gun firing. This adds an eerie level of realism, and when used properly you can sneak around anywhere.
All of this combines into a very enjoyable game that really takes some time to get used to. There is only one weapon, the assault rifle, which converts into a sniper once you are zoomed in and doesn't need extra ammunition, just reloading. The use of grenades are also done well, seeing as they don't do direct damage but have more tactical uses, such as smoke, EMP (which shuts down anyone's suit in the blast radius) and the MPR which sends out a shockwave pushing everyone further into outer space.
Instead of a skirmish depending on the weapons used, they rely more on the player's skill. While this was intended to provide a more strategic approach to combat, it doesn't expand up to the entire team. Without voice chat, most players simply strike off on their own, and the entire team suffers. When a team does pull things together, miracles can happen, and battles are intense. Until that though, battles that are intended to be coordinated are naturally messy.
Shattered Horizon excels in its simplicity. It's easier than it looks to pick up and play, and the sheer uniqueness of it will keep you coming back for more. More maps are promised to the four that come with the game, and the entire game is well balanced. Once you get used to the idea of zero gravity combat, it suddenly feels quite natural. At a price tag of only $20, Shattered Horizon worth getting.
Likes
- Beautiful visuals and sound
- Well planned out maps and locales
- Unique gameplay
Dislikes
- Mean system requirements may lead to crashing
- Slight learning curve
- Long loading times to join games
Level 42 Review Score
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You can also win a free copy of Shattered Horizon. Find out more here.
The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.
Left 4 Dead 2
It has been about a year since Valve first unleashed their cooperative survival game Left 4 Dead, and since then the life of Left 4 Dead 2 has already been wild. An entire boycott has risen up against the sequel, claiming that the melee weapons, new characters, new characters, new campaigns and special Infected aren’t simply enough for an entire new sequel.
A lot has been added to the original game. There are several new variations of the standard weapons, along with the addition of melee weapons. The melee weapons fit in seamlessly into the course of the gameplay, taking over your secondary weapon slot. It suddenly becomes very hard to imagine the game without melee, it fits in so neatly. There are several new items available, such as the adrenaline shot, allowing you to move quicker. You can now pick up vials of Boomer vomit and dispense them onto enemies and watch with glee as normal Infected rush after them; defibrillators can revive also fallen allies.
The most variety comes in with the new Special Infected. The Charger barrels through crowds and pummels whoever gets in his way. The Spitter shoots out a vile liquid onto the ground, causing damage if you step on it, while the Jockey grabs hold of you and steers you around at its whim. Without a doubt these add a different level of playing, especially in the versus mode. The Infected team now has flexible strategies available to pick off the Survivors.
The new multiplayer mode is called Scavenge, and brings a fierce level of tension. Similar to Versus, but instead the Survivors are tasked with gathering gas cans and bringing them to various locations at a map. The Infected are simply tasked to stop them. With the rather enclosed arena style maps, the game play changes considerably, with both teams placing a lot of emphasis on strategy and teamwork.
The sequel has struck a nice balance between familiarity and new content. The base games of campaign and versus haven’t changed fundamentally, yet feels fresher with the new content and enemies. All of the new additions have fit perfectly with the original that really enhances the entire experience. Thinking back to the original Left 4 Dead, its hard to imagine playing without melee weapons or defibrillators and adrenaline shots.
Likes:
- Great characters, the chatter between them is fun to listen to
- Superb level design, each level has a spectacular climax and is very unique
- Uncommon Infected add a little more flavor to the otherwise mundane horde
Dislikes:
- A few minor graphical hiccups, nothing major but noticeable
- Friendly AI is still dodgy but workable
Review Score
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The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.
The Spectrum of Hardcore Gaming
Everyone is roughly familiar with the history of video games and gamers. It was not until recently that games emerged as a widely popular form of entertainment. I would put forth that Xbox Live is the turning point, when gamers could connect and really take the experience to another level, though mostly by shouting themselves hoarse into a microphone.
But before this type of gaming was viewed as a hobby, it was not much of a serious form of entertainment by those who didn't practice it. The buzzword 'hardcore' fits in here somewhat, and has been cropping up recently due to the explosion of 'casual' games. These games have done well due to the easy accessibility of the iPhone, XBLA, PSN, WiiWare, and the Wii in general. Gaming now has become a natural part of everyone's life.
Hardcore games are not going anywhere. People will still enjoy rolling dice and writing together character sheets in a basement or convention somewhere. But now that casual games are popular, this level of devotion and energy put into specific games will begin to stand out again. The people who ignore the Rock Bands and Peggles and Wii Sports are being viewed similarly to the people that played video games at all, a decade or two ago.
Back around that time, gamers were contrasted with people who didn't care much for games, and were seen as devoted to what they love. But now, gaming has since become a natural part of life, and casual gaming is undeniably more popular, hardcore gamers are now compared those people who only play games at parties or can't name a developer studio.
It's obvious the world isn't split up into hardcore gamers and casual gamers (regardless of how this system would ease our violent uprising). There are always people in between, and a big number of those are children. This article is best viewed ignoring children, since they are and always have been very fond of games, because they have the time and energy to really enjoy it. Adults have to choose how to make use of their time, and can then be put into these generalizations being made of who remains devoted to gaming.
This has all been merely an observation of gamers during the short history of the medium. But now that casual gaming is, and will become more popular, the lines between hardcore and casual will begin to blur. Back in the day, it was any adult who played games at all. Now, it's the "really devoted" who stand out amongst the crowds. Now that more people are being exposed to games, more will stick and become devoted to what they love. Instead of clearly drawn (battle) lines, there will be a smooth spectrum where you can place yourself.
We aren't quite yet at that stage, I would say at this moment things look more like a bell curve. You may be on one side or the other, but with every release of a game that attempts to bridge the casual world to the hardcore one, the curve flattens just a bit more, until at one point where only the true extremes can be defined with any real certainty.
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Origins is Bioware's latest addition to their stockpile of epic storylines and fully fleshed out worlds. Set in a roughly standard fantasy setting, the game feels both very familiar and ahead of the curve. Its base is easily placed in a Baldur's Gate environment, with the three main classes being Warrior, Mage, and Rogue; the three playable races Human, Elf, and Dwarf.
After a satisfying character creator, the game starts you off in an Origin story. This is where, depending on your race and class, you lay the background to your character's arrival with the Grey Wardens. Each Origin story takes about an hour or more to complete, and there are six different ones. Your story, while not totally unique from someone else's, really feels like you get to know your in-game persona. Characters will also react differently to who you are and what your race is or what you've trained yourself as: elves have only recently been freed from slavery under the humans, so many are regarded with open contempt and hostility. Mages, on the other hand, are almost universally feared by other non-mages, seeing as so many go rogue and are destructive, naturally making normal citizens wary of them.
Dragon Age shines best in its story and world. Ferelden feels like a living, breathing environment, with its own history and politics, you as the player feel very much a part of it. Combined with a solid story and tense moral choices, each action you make feels like it can have ripples everywhere. These choices are very gripping to be a part of (except for maybe that everyone seems okay with only you deciding, but we'll leave that alone); should you sacrifice a mother to enter a spirit world to kill a demon, or kill her child that is possessing it? Remember, you are trying to enter into the good graces of the father and husband. Or another, which successor to the dwarven throne do you support?
Alongside the story, the game is well done visually. It's not truly perfect, but for a game that can be played top down or over the shoulder, it handles the load quite well. Fights have plenty of blood splatter and the occasional decapitation, but otherwise look and feel very visceral. The sound is spot on, with music working well but not in your way. Voice acting is very well done, which really comes out in the more cinematic style of dialog conversations than other RPGs.
Battles themselves are also very fun and rarely repetitive. Since action can be paused to administer orders and with an overhead view of your area, tactics become important, and vital in the higher difficulties. Your party members need to be properly positioned in order to be effective, and even in simpler battles carelessness will cost you your life. Several times I breezed though a previously tough situation just by pausing the action, examining my enemies, and employing some simple tactics. This keeps each fight alive and stops things from feeling like a hack and slash.
Your party members can also be customized to a staggering degree. There are dozens of different events (along the lines of “Surrounded by two or more enemies” or “Health below 75%”), and you can set multitudes of reactions to those events (“Activate Skill X” or “Use Health Poultice”). This allows for a great degree of customization for your party members and yourself, if you aren't controlling your character.
If you've ever expressed any interest in fantasy RPGs, Dragon Age is instantly among the best the genre has to offer. Everything works together to pull you into a deep and immersive world. The replay value is obviously quite high, and the longevity is extended with DLC already out and more to come. It is absolutely worth getting, regardless if you're a die hard fan of the genre or just starting out.
Likes:
- Well developed party members that chat amongst themselves and have lives of their own
- Open ended world with plenty of reward for exploration
- Intricate and enjoyable storyline
Dislikes:
- Silent Player Character; after Mass Effect, this feels like a step backwards
- Camera can be a bit tough to handle occasionally
Review Score
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The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.
