Various musings about games, books and life - By Tony Huynh, Video Game Designer
Various musings about games, books and life - By Tony Huynh, Video Game Designer
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Underrated or overlooked games, by their very nature are only played by a small minority and slip under the radar of even hardcore gamers. Having said that, my list is not meant to be a definitive list and is no doubt different from most other people’s lists. Being a game designer by profession, I naturally put more weight on gameplay mechanics than other people. If you read my other article “Become a Video Game Designer: Everything You Need to Know” and are looking for some games to research, I would highly recommend any of the games on this list. With that I give you my list in no particular order.
Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (PS2/Wii) 2007
The most balanced 2D fighter in existence. Nearly every character can be played at a tournament level and has a chance of winning.
Let’s run through this game’s new and creative mechanics that developer Arc System Works has introduced. The gameplay is incredibly fast. Most of the characters can, double jump, dash in the air or run along the ground. Low air dash attacking is a common strategy. This makes for lots of action and a frantic pace.
Custom Combos: An endless variety of custom combos can be created by a mechanic called the Roman Cancel, which ends the animation frame of an attack as soon as you press the button, allowing you to chain any move you wish.
A Tension Gauge limits the use of Roman Cancels. This bar fills up as you move towards the enemy, inflict damage or receive damage. A Roman Cancel would take 50% of the Tension bar and an exactly timed False Roman Cancels on specific attacks take 25% of the tension bar.
Fortress Defense: An impenetrable defense that uses up the Tension Gauge to block both high and low attacks and nullifies special move blocking damage.
Burst Gauge: This bar fills up as you receive or inflict damage and serves two uses. If being attacked, it can be used to break out of any combo or it can be used offensively to refill the Tension Gauge.
Guard Gauge: Another common problem with fighting games is the turtle (ultra-defensive) strategy, which leads to boredom and little action. Guilty Gear has largely alleviated this issue and keeps the game’s frantic pace by introducing a penalty for employing this strategy in the form of the Guard Gauge. The Guard Gauge begins a fight half-filled. As the player blocks, the Guard Gauge increases and as you takes damage the gauge empties. If the player neither blocks nor takes damage, the gauge returns to the middle. The emptier the gauge is, the less damage you take. Therefore, if you continue to turtle you will take more damage when you do get hit. Also if the player refuses to attack, they are warned and then hit with a complete reduction of their tension gauge, a 20 percent fill-rate of tension for 10 seconds and suffer an increased likelihood of becoming dizzy when hit.
Since the number of hits received drains your Guard Gauge, attacks had a built in diminishing damage return. So the subsequent hits in a combo do less damage than the previous hit. This forces combo creators to frontload the heaviest damaging attacks at the beginning of the combo string for maximum efficiency.
When you look at all the innovative fighting systems in place coupled with really crazy character design and finely balanced characters, Guilty Gear is the pinnacle of all 2D fighting.
Sword of the Berserk: Gut’s Rage (Dreamcast) 1999
Berserk’s brand of cutting people and mutants in half and blowing their heads up with your giant sword and seeing fountains of blood spray everywhere action never gets old. Sword of the Berserk had multiple paths that were determined by whether the player successfully completed specific Quicktime events. Decent variety and design of enemies and huge bosses kept the gameplay from getting stale.
What really set the game apart from others was that Guts had two complete sets of melee moves; one with his giant sword and the other was hand-to-hand melee. Gut’s massive sword did the most damage, but could not be swung in tight places or if the character was close to a wall. In tight places, Gut’s had to switch to hand-to-hand which was not as damaging. This caused the player to have to be careful of where their player was in the environment and allowed the designers to ramp up the difficulty in areas by bringing in the walls for short periods of time. In addition to his giant sword and fists, Guts has a huge arsenal of weapons including throwing knives, bombs, a hand-cannon and a rapid-fire crossbow. All of them useful, balanced and more importantly satisfying to use.
The story was compelling and told through a number of well-directed cinema scenes. All in all it was a very fun game that did not deserve to be overlooked.
Oni (PC/PS2) 2001
Oni is heavily influenced by Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell anime series. Oni is set in the year 2032. As Konoko, a police agent in the Technological Crimes Task Force, you will use any of 10 different guns and numerous different martial-arts techniques to eliminate foes. As the player progressed through the game, new melee attack moves would be introduced to make Konoko more effective.
While everybody praises the “Halo” control scheme as revolutionizing shooters on consoles, this Bungie game invented that control scheme that Halo gets all the credit for. As a result of this revolutionary control scheme, Oni controlled amazingly well on the PS2.
This game was universally reviewed low, and I am still not quite sure why. Oni’s unique blend of hand-to-hand melee combat and third-person shooting had never been pulled off as successfully before or since the game’s release in 2001. What really would have pushed this title over the top is the inclusion of Multiplayer, which I had heard from inside sources was working and insanely fun, but sadly never saw the light of day.
System Shock (PC) 1994
System Shock is one of those titles that was overlooked simply because it came out at the wrong time. It attempted to go head-to-head against Doom II and obviously lost. Looking at the two games side-by-side System Shock seemed to come out way ahead. System Shock was way ahead of its time. Unlike Doom II, System Shock had a true 3D environment that allowed the player to look up, down, climb, duck, jump and lean to the side. Its story about a murderous sentient AI was deep and engrossing, it had interactive environments with actual physics, first-person action and RPG elements all in one title. The player could even enter into a gravity-free wire frame 3D Cyberspace through computer terminals littered throughout the game to open doors.
System Shock holds up even going back and playing it today. If you are interested in playing this game, the DOS emulator DosBox is a good way to do it.
http://www.dosbox.com/
I am glad that the remnants of the team at 2K Boston that created System Shock finally got their hit in the spiritual successor to System Shock, BioShock.
Kill.Switch (Xbox/PS2/PC) 2003
This 2003 third-person shooter developed by Namco was one of the first Japanese developed games to use the “Halo” control scheme. This overlooked gem introduced the cover mechanic and blind fire mode later made famous by Gears of War.
Instead of a single “A Button” press of Gears of War, Kill.Switch used a hold down button not unlike Time Crisis’ step peddle mechanic. If you were out in the open the player would duck, if you were close to a wall or other piece of cover the player would latch himself onto these pieces of cover. The cover mechanic was very innovative and well implemented.
Body Harvest (N64) 1998
Many people credit GTAIII as the first free-roaming sandbox game, but in reality Body Harvest owns that title. Body Harvest was developed by DMA Design who later developed GTAIII and was bought by Take-Two games and renamed Rockstar North. You played as Adam Drake, a human in power armor, thwarting an alien invasion of Earth.
Body Harvest’s world is populated by numerous civilians whom you were supposed to save, but could just as easily kill. Civilians react realistically and throw their arms up and try to flee when shot at. With over 60 drivable vehicles, including, cars, tanks, planes, boats and planes and 1000 virtual square miles Body Harvest was huge. Random mission objectives would pop up as you traveled around the world.
Body Harvest received mediocre reviews at release mostly because of poor graphics when compared to its more linear contemporaries. This is not surprising considering even modern open-world games have to sacrifice graphical fidelity to fit a huge world in memory. Body Harvest was an overlooked title that today’s open-world games owe much to.
Shadowrun (SNES) 1993
Shadowrun was great game that had a futuristic adult setting that broke the mold. Shadowrun came out in a time when its contemporaries were little more than Dungeons and Dragons clones. Based on a gritty near future Seattle, where Megacorporations ruled the world, the game is a revenge story that opens with the player waking up in a morgue with no memory of how he got there. Thus begins the player’s search for vengeance against those that killed him.
Shadowrun combines both the statistical numbers of traditional RPGs with a mix of real-time gameplay. You would place the cursor over the enemy and fire at them. By killing enemies you gain karma that is used to raise different attributes, skills and magical powers.
Other innovative aspects of this game include the ability to hire mercenaries to help you in your quest, hacking into the matrix to gain information and cash, and a dialogue system that would highlight specific words that you could later ask other NPCs.
Syndicate (PC/Amiga) 1993
Syndicate came out in 1993 and blew my mind. It is by far my favorite Peter Molyneux game. The Blade Runner inspired game put you in control of four juiced up and upgradable Syndicate agents from an isometric camera view. The cities you played in were teeming with civilians, cops, vehicles and enemy agents. The buildings can be entered and most of the environment, from skyscrapers to vehicles could be destroyed.
You could also steal and take command of vehicles like cars, trucks, APCs, fire and trash trucks and use them as transportation. Not only that, you could use the vehicles to run over people and watch them splatter.
The items in the game were one of the highlights. While using a flamethrower to set cars on fire had its own charm, the best item in the game by far was the Persuadertron. The Persuadertron let the player take over the minds of the civilians, cops and eventually enemy agents. You could go around the city and gather up a force of dozens of civilians that would throw their bodies in front of enemy fire to protect your agents. If you happened to kill a cop or an enemy agent they would drop their weapons and your new loyal civilian shields would run up and pick the weapon up to defend you.
Simply, one of my favorite games of all time.
Other honorable mentions:
Jet Grind Radio (DreamCast)
Bushido Blade (PSX)
Herzog Zwei (Genesis)
Psychonauts (Xbox/PS2/PC)
Beyond Good & Evil (Xbox/PS2/GC)
Psi-ops (Xbox/PS2)
Ico (PS2)
Viva Pinata (Xbox360)
Wings of Fury (Apple II)
See my other related articles also:
Become a Video Game Designer: Everything You Need to Know Part 1
10 Greatest Video Game Designers Part 1
10 Greatest Video Game Designers Part 2
Low Skill Cap and Luck (RNG) in World of Warcraft PVP
Top 5 Greatest Moments in Competitive Gaming (eSports)
What Video Games Taught Me About Life
Roger Ebert is Right: Games are Not High Art…Yet
What’s Bad About Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Multiplayer Mode?
Dead Space Through the Eyes of a Game Designer
Call of Duty: World at War Through the Eyes of a Game Designer
Best Games of All Time by Genre Part 1
Best Games of All Time by Genre Part 2
Pimps at Sea err I mean Age of Booty & Gen 13 Cosplay
My Student Films 2: EverQuest Documentary and Guilty Gear Isuka Trailer
Best MMA Fights & Genki Sudo: Real Life Video Game Character
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Monday, November 3rd, 2008
The Mirror’s Edge Demo is out and available for download for both the PSN and XLA. EA and DICE have done just an amazing job at creating buzz for this game. This is a lesson in how to combine music with onscreen action.
Check out the newly released demo trailer here:
And the announce trailer here:
Having played through the demo a few times already, I found that the controls are very fluid once you get it down. I had to switch out from the default controller settings to an option called, “Shoulder Swap” to really get comfortable. This game reminded me a lot of the Xbox game first person shooter / fighting game Breakdown. Just like in Breakdown the amount of camera bobbing and motion may cause some people to get motion sickness. My girlfriend watched me play and immediately became nauseated. I have found that as long as I am at the controls, motion sickness is not a problem for me.
The demo level was fairly linear, which is not surprising given that it is mostly a tutorial. I hope the rest of the game opens up a bit more though. Despite the linearity you can definitely see the potential of chaining all the moves together. When you do miss a jump the player will die by falling from great heights before hearing a bone crunching death. While you don’t see anything, the audio of the wet snap of bones going off is gruesome.
While the city lacks color and is almost monochromatic, there is a sheen to the city that makes it beautiful in its austerity. All the mirrored surfaces of the city are pretty cool as you are able to see the reflection of your character on these surfaces.
Overall, I would have to say the demo was great. I will be picking this game up on day one.
Here is an MP3 download of a fan-made remix of the main theme. Be sure to buy the official soundtrack, which will be released at the same time as the game.
Alcorus – Shine
The game and soundtrack releases on 11/11.
Amazon is doing a $10 giftcard for the game if you pre-order. Xbox360 l PS3 l PC
Tags: Alcorus, Breakdown, breakdown versus mirror's edge, Comparison, game design, limitlessunits, limitlessunits.com, mirror's edge, mirror's edge announce video, mirror's edge demo, mirror's edge demo review, mirror's edge demo video, mirror's edge game, mirror's edge game deal, mirror's edge music, mirror's edge review, mirror's edge soundtrack, riposte101, tony huynh
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Sunday, November 2nd, 2008
I was flipping through my stack of magazines that I am trying to catch up on and ran across the June issue of Wired magazine that has this attention-grabbing headline on the cover, “Attention Environmentalists: Keep your SUV. Forget organics. Go nuclear. Screw the spotted owl.” The article stipulates that “If you’re serious about global warming, only one things matters: Cutting carbon. That means facing some inconvenient truths.” The article goes on to list “10 Green Heresies.” To summarize:
1. Live in cities
The magazine goes on to state that urban living is kinder to the planet. The desire for more elbowroom has caused sprawl to get out of control. Currently there are over 3.5 million commuters in the United States who spend more than 3 hours a day in transit spewing carbon dioxide. The average Manhattanite’s carbon footprint is 30 percent smaller than the average American. This is not surprising since 65 percent of the population walks, bikes, or rides mass transit to work. Large apartment buildings are the most efficient dwellings to heat and cool. So move to the cities.
2. A/C is ok
The magazine compares living in Phoenix to New England. When it is 0 degrees outside (in New England), you must raise the indoor thermometer to 70 degrees. In 110-degree weather, you need to change the temperature by only 40 degrees to achieve the same temperature. Also, it takes less energy to cool a given space by 1 degree than to heat it by the same amount. A New England home would release 13,000 pounds of carbon annually for heating, compared to 900 pounds of carbon produced by a Phoenix home for cooling.
3. Organics are not the answer
Organic dairy comes from cows that are not pumped up with hormones. The result is that they produce 8 percent less milk than conventionally raised cows. Add to that the fact that a single organically raised cow puts out 16 percent more greenhouse gases than its counterpart. So more cows and more carbon per cow for the organic over the conventional variety of cows.
For burgers, organic beef steers take longer to achieve slaughter weight, which gives them more time to emit polluting methane. Grass-fed cattle burp up 2X the methane as the corn fed cattle. For produce, organic varieties require more land per unit of food. The organic food is also produced by industrial-scale farms and then shipped thousands of miles to their final location. This food is shipped in carbon dioxide belching refrigerated trucks. Wired’s suggestion is to eat food that is locally grown and in season.
4. Farm the forest
In warm weather, trees release volatile chemicals that act as catalysts for smog. Over the lifetime of a tree, it shifts from being a vacuum cleaner for atmospheric carbon to an emitter. For the first 55 years the tree absorbs 1500 pounds of carbon. After that, this number decreases and if left untouched, the tree will ultimately release all that carbon back into the atmosphere. Last year, a report released by the Canadian government, found that the Canadian forests actually give up more carbon from decomposing wood then they lock down in new growth. When it comes to fighting climate change, it’s more effective to treat forests like crops than like majestic monuments to nature. Wired’s suggestion? Create tree farms that act like factories for sucking carbon out of the air. Continually cut down the oldest trees and plant new ones. And as soon as the carbon sequestration of the tree begins to flag, cut down the tree and use the wood to produce durable goods like furniture and houses. This will take huge amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere.
5. China is the solution
Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric stated, “China has as much or more at stake than anyone. Solar energy, carbon sequestration – we’re going to be blown away by China’s progress in the next couple of decades.” China is the world’s number exporter of solar cells, soon will be in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, and windmills. With the Chinese manufacturing muscle behind these green technologies, they will become cheaper and more available. By 2010, China will produce enough gear to generate 10 gigawatts of power annually – more than half the capacity that the whole world installed in 2007.
6. Accept genetic engineering
Keeping 6 billion people fed accounts for 14 percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Genetically engineered crops create higher yields with less greenhouse emissions. Newly engineered biofuel alternatives to replace our fossil fuels. BP and Synthetic Genomics are working on microorganisms that produce cleaner alternatives to gasoline. Amyris Biotechnologies is working on bugs that make jet fuel. So get off of genetic engineering’s back.
7. Carbon trading does not work
Carbon trading is the payment to others to reduce their carbon emissions. Sounds great on paper, but in reality it is hand-waving at best and outright scams at worst. Even if carbon trading fully worked as advertised, the Kyoto Protocol’s carbon trading will slow rising emissions by a whooping 6.5 days by 2012.
8. Embrace nuclear power
Without the troublesome radioactive waste or proliferating weapons, nuclear power is the most climate-friendly industrial-scale energy source. Every serious effort at carbon accounting reaches the same conclusion: Nukes win. A UK white paper last year factored in everything from uranium mining to plant decommissioning and determined that nuclear power emits 2 to 6 percent of carbon per kilowatt-hour as natural gas, the cleanest of the fossil fuels. Personally I think that nuclear power has been unfairly ostracized. The safety record of nuclear power is unmatched. With over 12,700 reactor-years of civil operation there have only been two major accidents. Three Mile Island (USA 1979) where the reactor was severely damaged but radiation was contained and there were no adverse health or environmental consequences and Chernobyl (Ukraine 1986) where the destruction of the reactor by steam explosion and fire killed 31 people and had significant health and environmental consequences. If you take the immediate fatalities from 1970-1992 nuclear power only had 31 fatalities, compared to 6400 for Coal, 1200 for Natural gas, and 4000 for Hydroelectric. This shows that nuclear power is a distinctly safer way to generate electricity.
9. Used cars – not hybrids
Making a Toyota Prius contributes more carbon to the atmosphere than making a Hummer, due to the environmental cost of the 30 pounds of nickel in the hybrid’s battery. The magazine’s recommendation is to purchase a used car that has already had its carbon debt paid off by its first owner. By buying a used Toyota Tercel, the Prius would have to drive 100,000 miles just to catch up.
10. Prepare for the worst
According to Wired, change is inevitable. If the US, Europe, and Japan turned off every power plant and mothballed every car today, atmospheric carbon dioxide would still climb from 380 parts per million to 450 ppm by 2070, thanks to contributions from China and India. There is a green taboo that climate change is a specter to be fought, not accommodated. Our ability to cope with global warming is far greater than our chances of stopping it entirely. The quote of the article is this one: “In his 1992 best seller, Earth in the Balance, Al Gore derided adaptation as “a kind of laziness, an arrogant faith in our ability to react in time to save our own skin.” Better to take Stewart Brand’s advice from the opening page of the original Whole Earth Catalog: “We are as gods and might as well get good at it.” We’re in charge here. Let’s get to work.”
Whether you agree or disagree with Wired’s assertions, I value Wired’s contrarian view on this topic. It is rare to see any criticism of the current environmental movement. Which, if you think about it is very scary. What are your thoughts?
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