The argument was made by Jennifer Hepler six years ago. Back then the BioWare writer argued that if dialogue can be skipped in games, then why not combat?
Ignoring the hideous treatment Hepler has received this week, and we will be*, the argument remains a truly excellent one, and one I want to explore.
Last night I woke from chilling dreams in which my gray-haired future self was alphafunding six thousand games simultaneously and buying fourteen indie bundles in every minute of his waking life. Today, the new Indie Royale bundle has been revealed and those two trends of indiedom have intersected, which somehow makes my vision of the future seem all the more possible. The Alpha Collection contains three games that are in development and is currently available for a minimum of £3.17. The games are Towns, which I’ve previously written about and keep trying to find time to properly revisit, 3079, and Wyv and Keep. More on them and the bundle below.
If Sniper Elite V2′s Killcam of the Week is a thing now, then I’m all for it. Simple, effective delivery of bullets to the brain over distance has always been my favourite thing in games, even better when we get to join the bullet on their journey, to share the excitement of their life’s ambition of making a skull’s acquaintance. Rebellion’s WW2 sniper sim puts you in the pants of a an OSS agent, hunting his targets through the Battle of Berlin. Historically inaccurate video, below. (more…)
Actually, no! Don’t forget Amnesia! I’m only saying that for title fun. Remember Amnesia, or when I tie Anna into the creepy first-person adventure genre it won’t make any sense. I’ve cleverly shot myself in my own foot, here. Nothing left to do but bloodily drag the appendage around, wailing at my own cleverosity. Are you remembering? Phew. So Dreampainter’s Anna is set in and around a haunted Italian sawmill. It’s an adventure game, so there’s a fair amount of plucking things from the prettily-rendered environments, combining, jiggling, discarding, using the mouse pointer as you would a hand, pulling open drawers, etc. It has all the basic verbs of the adventure genre, and a few clever twists. It’s a bit like Amnesia>, wink wink.
I’ve counted my plots before they hatched, I’ve duked it out with my brothers and sons, and I’ve lorded over an entire continent. Now, having lost more than I’ve gained and suffered more than I’ve succeeded, I’m finally ready to share Wot I Think about the majestic Crusader Kings II.>
The last time I mentioned that NC Soft’s sort-of-flying MMO, AION, was going free-to-play I used the phrase, “there’s no such thing a free launch”. However, the accolades, the knighthood, the journalism awards and the general celebrity that came from such an extraordinary joke never materialised. This gross oversight should be sorted out quickly. And here’s your chance, because there’s a date for the change now, and more details of what happens if you were a subscriber. Because come the 28th February, Europeans won’t need one to get in.
Britain’s biggest high-street games retailer, GAME, is to close 35 more stores than had previously been announced, as part of a major restructuring. The company will reduce its current GAME and GameStation shops from 610 down to 550 by Christmas of next year. They’re also shutting down forgotten website gameplay.co.uk, redirecting customers there to GameStation’s website. (more…)
To the skies, brave few, to the skies. Wargaming.net, developers of World of Tanks have just fuelled up the global alpha for World of Warplanes so they’ll presumably be hoping the brave many> sign up so that they can test the capacity of the blue yonder and receive plenty of radio chatter feedback. If you fancy yourself a fighter ace, you can sign up here if you are in Europe, here if you are in Russia or here if you happen to be in America. The game will offer a full career mode and covers several eras beginning in the 1930s. Jim spoke with the developers at the end of last year and I shall cheekily direct you toward that conversation if you desire more information.
Chinese IGF winner, Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory is having a commercial release. From S. Korean indie team Turtle Cream, it’s a 2D platformer starring a cube of sugar, fighting against his fate. But, and I’ll never get tired of typing this, with yet another awesome twist idea. Here each screen exists in two versions, constructed from a grid of tiles that are flipped in blocks of four when the cube walks past them. So as you walk along a platform, you may replace it with empty space, deadly spikes, or key elements to completing the screen. It’s a brain-hurtingly interesting idea, and it looks utterly lovely, as you’ll see below.
I just Googled ‘F2PMOBARTS’ and received nothing. Well done, Ironclad Games! Sins Of A Dark Age, has broken the all-seeing eye of the world’s best search engine, and brought out its passive-aggressive side: “Did you mean: ‘F2P MOBARTS’”. No, Google. I did not. F2PMOBARTS, you are officially a new genre. Now to explain what all those words mean. (more…)