One of the most stunning and entertaining games in the past five years was definitely the absolutely brilliant Portal.  Brought to us from the masterminds at Valve, Portal proved you could pull out all the filler and make an amazing game out of sheer puzzle solving fun that lasts two hours and leaves you feeling completely satisfied.  Part of the appeal of video games has always been the notion of escapism.  Kids and young adults have been using games to escape for a generation now (myself included) and the longer and more involved a game, the better it served this purpose.  However as my generation grows up and moves beyond the need to escape, so, too, have games moved passed the need to provide us with these hours of distraction, instead moving towards actual fun as the main objective.  There is also a case to be made for the time constraints present in any functional adults life.  Only the most lazy of my layabout friends has the time to pour 40+ hours into multiple games these days.  My favourite titles of late have been the RPGs that take maybe 8 to 12 hours of my life, like Mass Effect or Fable 3, as this is a time investment I can happily fit into my gainfully-employed life.  Games that bank on a player spending 40+ hours playing are asking for time I simply don’t have anymore, a sentiment I’m sure is shared by many adults these days.

Another lesson being learned and applied rapidly to game design is “simplification”.  Take the example mentioned above of Mass Effect and it’s sequels Mass Effect 2 and 3.  The first game, while certainly incorporating elements of first-person-shooters, skewed hard towards RPGs in it’s inventory management and character development, elements which drew criticism from the current group of game reviewers in an otherwise stellar game.  In response to these criticisms developer BioWare stripped away many of the offending elements, by including very simplified inventory and leveling systems, in Mass Effect 2.  These adjustments were met with praise because they took the micro-management out of the player’s way and let them go straight down the rabbit-hole without being forced to pause in every hallway and consider what they could throw away in favour of better loot.  While Mass Effect 2 still boasted the daunting and massive “Codex” menu, I felt myself less inclined to visit the screen and read about the various races and creatures I was encountering, as the game felt much more immersive in general; this was a world I could live in without having to study it first.  This immersiveness can be attributed to the scaling back of menus and time-intensive activities like grinding and looting, allowing the player to become involved in the world in much less time.

Fable 3 took the excellent formula set out by Fable 2 and eliminated menus almost entirely, relegating them to options and saving only, a truly inspired move that keeps the pace of the game always moving forward.  The elimination of menus makes the game so much more accessible and eliminates those moments of dread associated with the thought of filtering through an inventory full of garbage to find that one item, instead choosing to engage the player and set things out in an organized way that is fairly easy to navigate and understand within the context of the game.  This approach is not without its flaws–the world map hovered dangerously close to a boring menu that took forever to load–but it takes a huge step in the right direction, eliminating much of the work associated with managing an inventory in an RPG.  Fable 3 still fell into some of the typical RPG trappings of grinding and looting, however the main story requires very little investment in these activities to enjoy, something that is becoming very popular among developers and gamers.  A short, enjoyable story that requires a modest time investment is padded out with the obligatory side missions and quests that games have always had, but are now strictly optional.

Ironically the antithesis of this sentiment comes from the same developer as Mass Effect in the form of Dragon Age Origins.  Dragon Age eschews all the lessons learned in Mass Effect in favour of a massively complex and sprawling RPG that is currently overwhelming me with details every time I turn it on.  The impetus behind this article has actually been my experience with Dragon Age and its endless customization and massive, messy inventory screens full of poisons, poultices, lyrium and crossbows.  In another world this game would have been my heaven, and a part of me really wants to believe that it still is, but in reality every time I sit down I feel like I need to study this game to really enjoy it, and I inevitably feel like my time could be better spent doing something more productive (like writing articles about video games).  Much of my time in Dragon Age is spent reading and rereading the tutorials in order to better understand the game, something that would have delighted the 15-year-old version of myself, but annoys the 25-year-old version of me.  Having to spend so much time pondering what to sell and what to keep, how to tactically level my characters for maximum performance and how to approach every enemy encounter is exhausting.  Part of the reason it is so exhausting is because I want to do things right, and if I allocate a talent point incorrectly I won’t be able to continue.  This complete refusal to acknowledge the prevailing winds of game development is bold, but ultimately lost on me for now, I do pray that the game will sweep me up into it’s epic story eventually, but for now I’ll take Dead Space with it’s flashing paths straight to objectives.

Gamers are growing up.  My generation now has to think about things like rent, families and working full-time, all things which fill the time previously occupied by video games.  This is forcing games to evolve into more fun-oriented experiences that can offer the huge time-investments of yore, but realize that their audience is growing up and so should they.  I am fully aware that an article like this is likely to incite a chorus of outrage from gamers who feel that games are becoming “too easy” or “dumbed down” in hopes of reaching a wider audience, but I have already conceded to being capable of shameless indulgence in a game so lets not shoot the messenger here.  My obsession with Final Fantasy XII was so intense that I learned how to fix the dreaded PS3 “yellow light of death” simply so that I could continue on a 14-hour gaming marathon on my day off.  However, I hope that those out there who enjoyed or are enjoying Dragon Age can admit to themselves that these games are becoming less common as gamers grow up and get lives.  Any comments to the contrary will be assumed to be coming from shut-ins and 14-year old kids (who don’t count).

Welcome to Paradise, Burnout Style

When Criterion games announced that Burnout Paradise, the next iteration in their wildly popular Burnout franchise, would be an open world I don’t think I was the only person who wept tears of joy. The mere prospect of driving through an entire world built for crashing, jumping, speeding and just general chaos brings happiness to my humble heart. Then came the announcement of their ambitious online plans for the game and I was even more impressed. One would think that, with all this hype and build up, it would be near impossible to meet fan expectations, but, against all odds, Criterion has pulled away from the pack once again.

The history of the Burnout franchise of games is one of underground critical success, with Burnout and Burnout 2: Point of Impact, and then a breakthrough into the mainstream with Burnout 3: Takedown and Burnout Revenge. Burnout Paradise, however, is Criterions masterpiece, showcasing just how far the series has evolved and setting a new bar for every other driving franchise to strive for. Sadly absent from this iteration is the extremely popular (and extremely addictive) crash mode, replaced by a rather dumb-downed version called “showtime”. To activate showtime a player needs only to press the two bumpers on the controller and the car jumps off its wheels and begins cart-wheeling down the street in slow motion, the idea being to set it off at just the right time to deal maximum damage to other vehicles on the road. While showtime can definitely be fun it lacks the puzzle-solving aspect of the old crash mode and sticks out as the one thing fans will miss the most, even if the world provides tonnes of opportunities for chaos.

The massive free-roaming world is the centerpiece of this work of art, evolving the series past its menu-driven predecessors and dropping the player right into the middle of the action. One will find nary a load screen anywhere in this world, save for the initial load-up that is, which comes as a huge relief after years of endless load screens chopping up the action. Players are free to roam the titular Paradise city at their leisure and there’s definitely no shortage of things to do in your random wanderings. From smashing billboards to crashing through special gates to finding the best shortcuts and jumps to use during races one could occupy themselves for hours without even noticing that there are hundreds of events waiting at any intersection.

That’s right, even the events are handled in-world now, so no need to pause and look through a list ever again; all you need to do is pull up to a stop-light and spin your tires (by applying the gas and brake simultaneously) and voila, you’ve entered an event. The events range from simple races to the super-aggressive road rage (where the object is to force as many people to crash as possible), to the new “marked man” (where two very aggressive CPU players try to run you off the road while you do your best to make it to a checkpoint in one piece). Coupled with time trials, events could occupy anyone indefinitely, as players try to beat their best scores and earn new vehicles. Speaking of the vehicles you’ll find no shortage here; with dozens of cars to be earned and many more promised in downloadable content it would be hard to find fault here, especially when everything just looks so damn good.

The visuals help to define this Burnout as truly next-gen, from the consistently mind-blowing cityscape right down to way your vehicle’s paint rubs off on anything it touches, Criterion have spared no small details in making this their most visually impressive game to date. Add in a silky smooth frame rate that never drops, and watching cars wrap around highway medians has never been more appealing. The first time you “accidentally” hit a wall dead on doing 180 miles per hour your jaw will drop as the front end of your car realistically crumples and your windows blow out, all in slow-motion. Bring in your buddies for some online chicken contests and you’ve got yourself about a dozen drinking games in the making.

Online play in Burnout Paradise is probably the one thing that makes this game truly revolutionary. You can have amazing graphics and open worlds in any racing game, but the effort spent to make the online experience truly seamless has paid off in a huge way here. To go online with your buddies all it takes is about three button presses, and you don’t even have to pause the game (in fact you don’t even have to hit the brakes). With the press of a button you are dropped into a game with several other Burnout players (selected either at random or from your friends) and the game doesn’t even skip a beat. Now you’re still free to do whatever you please—events, races, showtime—only human opponents have entered the mix. Equally fun is the gameplay that emerges from just screwing around with your buddies (mid-air collisions, personal vendettas, 8-way chicken, etc.) and having a good time just being idiots.

Maybe you could chalk up my starry-eyed love for this game to next-gen awe, but I think in years to come developers the world over are going to find it extremely difficult to match the shear greatness and ingenuity of this game. Burnout Paradise works hard to make sure you never have to take your finger off the accelerator if you don’t want to and in that way I think it succeeds where so many racing games fall flat. That’s not to say it doesn’t have its shortcomings, what with the lacklustre showtime mode, but the flaws are minor and barely worth noting in the face of such a great driving game. Give Burnout Paradise half a chance to win you over and I guarantee, racing fan or not, you’ll be playing chicken with a beer in your hand in no time.

5/5 stars

So how will this login system work? (Warning, going into geek-world, look away) The plan is simple, have the “Login Using Facebook” button at the top of the page, upon clicking the button, if the user is logged in to Facebook they get a dialog asking for permission for my site to access their data and that’s it, from then on they click the button and done, they’re logged in if they are logged in to Facebook.  My database will not need to store any user data at all, it will be retrieved from facebook and stored in a session each time the user logs in.  Since the most important stuff needed for display across the site is considered “Public” by Facebook (ie profile pictures and names for blog/article/video/comment/review authorship) I can access anything I need by storing the contributors facebook id when the item is submitted.  I may alter this strategy as the speed of Facebook’s response to a large amount of requests isn’t clear.

Anyways I’m done rambling about Facebook now, I am enjoying being able to eliminate a large part of my code-headache though, that’s awesome.

Whaddya think?  Sure I was sweating profusely and hey the lighting sucks ass, but overall I think it’s pretty neat-o.

Coming up next week: Mother Mother – O My Heart

Total Weight Lost: 46pds

Total Money Saved: (I’ve abandoned this… for now)

A couple of my more persistent goals this year are to become a better singer and to become a better guitar player, and what better way to accomplish both then to start up a weekly regimen of learning new songs!  So I put forth here, for the world to see, that I will learn one new song each week for the duration of the summer and post a video of me performing said song for your entertainment!  These songs will be performed with an acoustic guitar and perhaps some special guests accompanying me.

In any case I am going to pick a song I pretty much know for this week and that song is “Disarm” by the Smashing Pumpkins.  I will spend the week trying to perfect the song and post a video of the performance on Friday (I hope).  If anyone has any suggestions for future songs let me know and I’ll take it into consideration!

PEACE,

LK

I had the idea to start cataloguing albums I thought deserved some special recognition. Why albums? Well because no matter who writes a top-ten movie or games list, there is always some form of overlap and repetition; I mean do you really want to hear about how much I love Final Fantasy XIII when the entire world is aflame with buzz about it? Probably not.  Music, however, is a much more personal and in-depth medium, it speaks to everyone a little differently and everyone has slightly different tastes, hence an album Hall Of Fame would seem to be much more interesting… I think.

In any case, before I can begin inducting new albums into the hall of fame (and there is at least one nominee right now), I need to get a few older albums in there, so read on brave soul and dive into the depths of my musical tastes.

Inductee #1: Brand New – The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me

This album is one of the best “depressing” albums I have ever heard.  If ever you feel the need to simply wallow in self pity, put this album on and suddenly your life doesn’t seem so bad.  Frontman Jesse Lacey’s vocals range from the dry, brooding tones of “Jesus Christ” to the shrieking urgency of “Not The Sun” and everywhere in between, infusing this album with the kind of sincerity the current crop of faux-sincere pop-punkers could only wish for.  Some of the best moments on the album occur when the band tears you out the nice mid-tempo chill out sections with a sudden burst of burning rage.  All around a must-have for everyone… in my opinion anyways.

Best Songs: “You Won’t Know”, “The Archers Bows Have Broken”, “Jesus Christ”

Inductee #2: Coheed & Cambria – Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume 1: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness

I discovered Coheed and Cambria when their single “A Favour House Atlantic” was making the rounds.  I really enjoyed what Coheed had to offer up until that point, but they were by no means my favourite band… until they released Good Apollo IV, Vol. 1 that is.  This album got me through hours upon hours of boring, tedious work in a car factory. GA4V1:FFTTEOM (geez, even the acronym is pretty daunting) is chock full of glorious throwback guitar riffs that owe much of their allegiance to bands Led Zeppelin and Iron Maiden.  The fact that Coheed can produce such an amazing album about a space-opera (did I mention it’s all based on a comic that frontman Claudio Sanchez wrote? No? Well it is) without alienating the mainstream audience they are shooting for is amazing in itself; the fact that this album manages to cover so much ground, from the radio-ready rock of “The Suffering” to the four part epic “The Willing Well”, and never get stale is downright incredible.  Clocking in at 73 minutes I actually expected a lot of filler here, but found none.  Anyone who likes classic rock should own this album… and should also quit bitching about how much new music sucks.

Best Songs: “Ten Speed (Of God’s Blood & Burial)”,  ”The Willing Well” (All 30 glorious minutes of it), “Welcome Home”

Well there ya go, I was going to induct more, but this took me way longer to write then I expected.  Inductees you can expect soon include Underoath, From First To Last, Alexisonfire and The Academy Is… so stay tuned!

You see, for awhile now I have been craving a new desktop computer.  As it is I do all of my work on my laptop, which is a pretty kick-ass laptop to be sure, however living out of a laptop does have its shortcomings.  For starters I have a 160gb hard-drive on this little puppy and as cocainetrain enthusiasts may know I am currently triple-booting my system with Windows 7/Windows Vista/Ubuntu.  This leaves surprisingly little room for anything else on my PC and means I need to utilize an external hard-drive for most of my music and other media.  I also have to take my laptop to school with me on a daily basis, meaning I am constantly forgetting things on my external drive and losing some functionality because files are left at home which is extremely annoying to someone with mild OCD like myself.  I would also like to be able to play newer games on my PC (currently Bioshock, at the lowest settings, is like a frame-rate slideshow on my laptop).

In any case it would be extremely nice to have a computer at home that stays on constantly, has all my files on it and can play games newer than Half-Life 2.  It would also be cool to just let my laptop be a laptop, without all the extra pressure of being a full-time PC.

So the solution is clear, get my ass a new PC that runs one OS (probably Windows 7) and format my laptop to run one (or two) OS(es) as well for school and fun only.  Alas my current money situation is frightening at best, most weeks I’m lucky to have enough gas to get to school/work so it seems like a far off dream and that’s where operation; new computer kicks in.

Today I put $20 in my long dormant Savings account and I am committed to putting as much money in as I can afford to each week until I have enough for a new PC (hello 2015!).  Things aren’t too bleak though, TigerDirect.ca is always offering crazy deals on bare bones PCs, which would be fun to get home and build.

And with that I will ends this lengthy (and fairly dry) post with what will probably become the norm: my progress on the weight-loss and money-saving fronts,

Peace!
Luke

Total Weight Lost: 26lbs

Total Money Saved: $20

Well I just wanted to post an update on my life and talk a bit about the music I’m currently listening to.  So let’s dive right in with the biggest nugget of news in my life right now; I’ve recently lost 22 pounds!

That’s right, I have made a few changes in my lifestyle, not the least of which is adhering to a very popular weight management system, and after one month I am down 22 pounds.  I am very excited about this as you might be able to tell.  Old shirts fit!  My pants are too big!  I’m gonna put a mirror in my room again!

In any case I just had to get that off my chest because it’s awesome, I’ll try to post my current weight loss stats more often so anyone interested can keep updated.

Now onto more blog-worthy subjects, namely the music I am currently listening to.  My taste ranges all over the spectrum and right now I am particularly divided in my tastes, but here are some mini-reviews of some new/awesome albums.

From First to Last – Throne to the Wolves >> Based on FFTL’s last album I really wasn’t expecting the full force post-hardcore blast that is Throne to the Wolves, but then again I missed the fact that FFTL went back to an indie label as well.  In any case this is FFTL at their best.  Songs like “Chyeaa” and “Going Lohan” blaze with the kind of fury that made me love these guys in the first place, while songs like “Cashing Out” and “The He-Man Woman Hatred Club” showcase the band’s ability to write an amazingly catchy guitar riff.  Overall this album is a must-own for fans of FFTL’s older material, especially if you were turned off by 2008′s lackluster self-titled release. (****1/2)

Dragonette – Fixin to Thrill >> I had never even heard of Dragonette until their infectious single “Pick Up the Phone” got put into rotation at HMV (I work there).  While I didn’t really like the song initially, it grew on me and I decided to give their album a shot, and am I ever glad I did.  I am secretly a fan of electropop and as soon as the first song on this album (the title track as it were) began to play I was hooked.  All sex and rock n’ roll these Canadian musicians know how to set the mood for an effective blast of dance-pop.  That’s not to say this album is without flaws.  While Fixin to Thrill starts off strong with awesome songs like “Gone too Far”, “Liar” and “Stupid Grin”, it starts to drag near the middle.  It eventually picks back up and finishes strong, I highly recommend it. (***1/2)

Four Year Strong – Enemy of The World >> Four Year Strong and I have a somewhat awkward relationship.  Oh I don’t actually know the guys in the band, this has more to do with my stubborn refusal to admit defeat in a battle of wills with my brother… confused?  To make a long story short he loved their first album and so did I, but I chose to be a dick and maintained that they sucked for about a year and a half.  Well Enemy of the World effectively ended that conflict by rocking so hard that I had no choice but to acknowledge FYS as an amazing, thoroughly catchy pop-punk powerhouse.  A common theme runs through almost all of the music FYS writes, and that is fighting, or maybe just generic conflict might describe it better.  In any case this is the biggest drawback to their general popularity, a lack of diversity in the lyrics.  If you can get past that minor flaw you will find songs like “It Must Really Suck To Be Four Year Strong Right Now” and “Flannel is the Color of My Energy” that come charging out of your speakers and instantly burn themselves into your mind with their catchy as hell melodies and insane guitar play.  The rest of the album pretty much sticks with the program to varied results, but all around it is a great listen for any fan of punk, rock, metal or hardcore music. (****)

Ke$ha – Animal >> What’s that? Ke$ha? Really Luke? … damn right, now get over it and let’s move on into the review shall we.  Just like probably everyone else on the planet my first introduction to Ke$ha was the infinitely catchy (a ridiculously shallow) “Tik Tok”.  Although it does get old rather fast, “Tik Tok” has the kind of pop sensibilities that make for a good album, or so I was hoping.  In truth there are any number of generic club songs on this album that one could find merit in, my problem is that they all sort of bleed together and never seem to reach for any kind of depth whatsoever.  Song’s like “Party at a Rich Dude’s House” and “Blah Blah Blah” (the second single) revel in the fact that they offer no apologies for Ke$ha’s apparent party-slut lifestyle, but I have a somewhat hard time believing every word she sings.  Among the worst on this album are “D.I.N.O.S.A.U.R.” (which is about old guys hitting on Ke$ha and her friends in the club) and “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes” (what does is sound like it’s about?), neither of which accomplishes the intended effect of comedy or drama.  All around a fairly forgettable debut from a fairly forgettable flash in the pan, but then again how often do you remember the party-sluts that prowl the parties you’ve been to? (**)

Sorry about the total lack of postage, but hey, you probably saw that coming.  Anyways here are some random doodles I did during Calculus yesterday, enjoy!

There ya go, and yes I am crazy…

Luke

It’s pretty awesome up until the end when the music shifts for no apparent reason.  It changes the whole tone of the trailer in a bizarre way, I’m not sure why they chose to do that but oh well, it looks like an awesome movie.