vga

I’ve been putting off real updates for the redesign, which is coming as soon as there’s an extended gap in my schedule - I just need to have the right day and the right amount of drive to finish it off. However, in the past few days, there has been a plethora of news that I would be completely and thoroughly sad to miss out on posting.

First off, there’s the game announcements from the Spike VGAs. As I’ve already indoctrinated many of my readers to the awesomeness of Mass Effect, I’ll start there.

Mass Effect 3, teased some weeks ago, with a blurb leaked some days ago, will be arriving Holiday 2011 for at least 360 and PC, with a PS3 version very likely. PS3 owners can expect a slightly beefed up version of ME2 (compensating for a lack of ME1 on the console) on January 18 in NA, January 21 in Europe. Check out ME3’s first teaser here.

Next we have a real trailer for Arkham City, with what appears to be a new primary villain for the game. Hugo Strange gets all villainous in this very pretty CG movie. The game is scheduled for release late in the third quarter of 2011 for PC/360/PS3.

Bethesda announced the next game within their major IPs, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It’s scheduled for a release date of 11/11/11, although I would be very surprised if they actually make the date, or the year. Thankfully, they’ll be dumped the Gamebryo engine that they’ve used since Morrowind in favor of a new proprietary engine. This, assuming competence, will hopefully lead to less bugs! So, let’s enjoy a teaser for now.

Last thing I must mention is Uncharted 3. It’s out November 1, 2011, and here’s a trailer! This is a game series I haven't had the opportunity to play very thoroughly, but it's definitely something I recognize as very good.

Note that I have not mentioned a single thing about the awards themselves UNTIL NOW. Though I may agree with some of the winners, much of the awards are biased towards sponsors and partners. I don't really fault that kind of deal, it's just that you can't really put any stock in their choices beyond "this winner will generate the most buzz for the show or for the game." For example, in the voice acting categories, the only winners were semi-famous actors in their own right, though their performances were rather lack-luster within the games themselves. NPH is cool, but, shit.

This isn’t actually the last post I’ll make before the redesign, in all likelihood. There’s a lot I want to say about FFXIV soon, especially with all the changes afoot. The director was dumped in favor of new talent, and the free trial period has been extended indefinitely. Lots to say, but I’ll say that for the next article.

Last month at the Spike VGAs, one of the trailers premiered was for a sequel to the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum. The trailer is more of a teaser, actually, and shows off chaos on the streets of Gotham, ending on an beaten Joker, laughing of course. The tag shown as the scene fades is “Arkham has moved.”

In a recent interview with Paul Denning, senior gameplay programmer for the game, he made it clear that the Arkham setting had “run its course.” This is true, considering you explore the entire Arkham island through the course of the first game. He also describes Gotham as a “fantastically realized fictional city” with many places ideal for gameplay and exploration, but says not to expect a Gotham sandbox. Apparently, they don’t believe the game will lend itself easily to an open-world, so they’re avoiding the concept altogether. Without that, however, incorporating the kind of explorative nature that made the first game so immersive will be challenging. Islands lend themselves well to isolation, after all, and you never question the fact that you can’t leave this area.

Back when this site was run in Wordpress, I posted about the Arkham Asylum demo, stating how it had essentially convinced me to buy the game. I didn’t actually manage to get it until Christmas, and have only had the opportunity to play it just these past few days. I completed everything within the game except challenge maps (they’re hard!), in what feels like 20-25 hours. A lot of the time I was laughing maniacally at what I could do in the game. The game is possibly the first stealth-action game to get the genre completely right. MGS is great and all, but stealth is often a chore that can be unforgiving at times. Arkham Asylum takes the concept and introduces this badass combination of Bat-skills and a reasonable safety net that allows you to essentially try anything within the stealth sections of the game. This, plus an extremely satisfying and well-realized combat system makes you feel as badass as you look, taking on groups of 10 men.

In short, the game is badass, and basically everyone should play it. When I think of games of a similar caliber, Half-Life 2 and Metal Gear Solid come to mind. While neither game is much like Arkham Asylum, they each define their own brand of storytelling that complements the gameplay, keeping you wanting more. Any sequel that can achieve a similar compulsion will undoubtedly be a great game. And, given a developer who realizes their own limitations with the content of their game, there’s a lot to hope for.