Greenvale Revisited: Engagement and Playabitlity in Deadly Premonition

Playing games these days can often be like indulging in amphetamines. It’s not uncommon for specific moments to rush past and get lost in the endless hours which themselves pass within seconds. Nights of playing Halo Reach slip by in a psychedelic scree slope of death and victory. Death is quick but the respawn is just as instantaneous. Digital figures zip between and over shimmering purple structures. And you either struggle to keep up, or swing the disembodied gun, through a flick of the thumb, and watch as the stick-man enemy flips and collapses.

Recently I departed on a trip entirely different from that of Reach’s kaleidoscope of death – and from that of many other recent videogames (for one reason or another). To say that this trip was into an open-world wouldn’t amount to much - for who hasn’t been enjoying the open-world game recently (what with Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Arkham City recently being released) – but nevertheless this open-world remains unique. Its distinctiveness is initially discernable as an unexpected flashback to the textures of the Play Station 2 era. Grass looks like blurry sandpaper, textures pop-in irregularly, and all the characters have a somewhat unnerving quality to them – mostly down to their swaying bodies and uncomfortable twitches.  

Radiant Historia

With the release on Xenoblade Chronicles earlier this summer European gamers found themselves in an unfamiliar situation. Many Japanese games over the years have been denied a PAL release whilst simultaneously being localised for America (NTSC region). But now, with the release of Xenoblade, the next-best-Japanese-RPG has not only been localised for our European Wii’s but has simultaneously been denied to the American gaming public. Thus we find ourselves either dutifully feeling America’s pain, or, more likely, guiltily enjoying this rather peculiar turn of events. However, while we can for the moment bask in this small victory (it we may call it that) there are still many games which tragically slip through our fingers. Not least is a title which appeared earlier this year in America, a unique and rather brilliant RPG called Radiant Historia. Released for the Nintendo DS and developed by an in-house team at ATLUS, Radiant Historia is one example of the many excellent Japanese games which still miss our oft-ignored continent.

Viktor Antonov - Half-Life 2 and Dishonoured

The Citadel wall

Half-Life 2 is an excellent game on many fronts. One of most interesting (though not the only) aspects is the design for the game’s environments. Set in a dystopian future where humans are ruled by an oppressive alien force, the game does not simply present a world on the edge of destruction due to alien invasion, but rather creates locations which are uncanny in their familiarity. The designs are reminiscent of cities and sites which we may all know. The central locale of City 17 was reportedly designed with Eastern European, Soviet Bloc countries in mind. The city echoes the insipid kind of repression associated with modern oppressive regimes; its streets are empty a part from clusters of military police or slow moving civilians, their heads down often murmuring nervously. The alien-ness of the outerspace, or inter-dimensional, invasion is felt by the constant presence of the Citadel - like a monument to the faceless industrialism at the heart of the game’s enemies. City 17’s design creates an amazing sense of an organised invasion – not one of utter destruction – in which human dwellings and spaces are no longer pleasant; more spaces of necessity rather than for living.

Review - Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (Nintendo DS)

Capcom's Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective begins by posing a question to its player. This question, which may be familiar to the mystery fan - and which is possibly in danger of becoming rather clichéd - is, Who Am I? The player is therefore immediately confronted with the basic plot strand of the game, yet Ghost Trick is not about to give you just one vague mystery to solve. In fact the game continues to pile mystery upon mystery even to the very end, and it is truly a testament to the writers of the game that it holds together so impeccably well. Because, while Ghost Trick may open with a generic question, it is the game's concise and entertaining narrative which drives the player on through till the very end.  

Missile!

There are certainly traces in Ghost Trick of lead developer Shu Takumi's previous work on the Ace Attorney Series, but here the plot is even more refined and though not always completely water-tight, its few holes are forgiven due to the charismatic and eccentric characters who populate this mystery, as well as the beautiful presentation of the game as a whole. It is best not to delve too deep into the plot for the moment (I really wouldn't want to spoil the game). Suffice it to say that the myriad plot twists rival Shyamalan at his best, yet remain pleasingly believable in the game's rather bizarre universe.

Welcome to the Three-Headed Monkey

Greetings! I write to you from the depths of the marvellous realm of videogames! No, not my dank, fetid room but the imaginative, interactive hemisphere of ‘new media’ in which gratuitous violence can happily live alongside cutesy animals, inspired art, disproportioned women and brain-straining puzzles.

This blog will try to be as wide-ranging a collection of articles on computer games, gaming culture, reviews, thoughts, etc., as it can be –there is so much to talk about with games that attempts to confine yourself to psychotic fanboyism is just silly. I will also try not to be pompous, because, while videogames are currently getting much deserved attention from academia, I just don’t feel this is necessary for me at the moment. For a start, I don’t have much to say about the psychology behind three-headed monkeys and using rubber chickens to zip-wire between islands.

Also, while I've named this blog in reference to the funny, funny joke in Monkey Island, this isn't to say that everything is going to be about Monkey Island (though it probably should be). The game kind of defines gaming for me so I thought I'd use this quote in homage to it- if you aren't a fan don't worry (or at least, don't worry too much).

Thus! I begin my report of games. I hope some of what I write is insightful or helpful, or just fun to read. Please feel free to comment!