Editorial | The sun kissed streets of Los Santos: 6 years later.

By Sam Coles:

Time is such a fragile existence, what may feel like five minutes ago could end up being 10 years ago. This is especially true when it comes to video games, as they can take half to even a decade to make due to complexity, or just general development issues. 6 years ago Rockstar Games gave us one last gem for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the form of Grand Theft Auto V. A game that took five years to make, which was met with the classic Rockstar slow and drip fed marketing where it was announced in 2011, where we didn’t get to play it until 2013. I want to take a trip back to why to this day we are still talking about it, so I grabbed a copy for the Xbox 360, put myself back in my shoes when I was 20 years old and hit streets of Los Santos.

The question that is often posed when it comes to open world games is what makes them so special? Is it the characters? Possibly! The gameplay? Close, no what makes open world games special, is the world itself and how the game lets you explore it. The thing about Rockstar when it comes to exploration it doesn’t hold your hand, from the word go you can explore the entirety of GTA V’s map,  gone is the arbitrary system of locking islands off for story purposes. No, instead this time round Rockstar North created this seamless world, where you are not bound by barriers or loading times (unless you are switching characters).

What region did they decide to go with? Los Santos, well in terms of the city as they also had the outskirts which consists of deserts as well as rich and vegetated countryside in the state of San Andreas. What is beautiful about the open world is that it will reflect the current situation of the area, for example if you are in a deprived area it will show it through rusty cars, people who are more liberal with their gun control and police constantly chasing people who aren’t you. Whereas on the over hand, head up to the more wealthy areas of the elite, you will see sharp suits, expensive cars and houses that tower over the very hills they stand on. It’s this attention to detail that Rockstar finally got right, where in their previous GTA games they were limited by the technology.

Playing this game on the Xbox 360 for this article actually stunned me, this level of graphical fidelity shouldn’t be on this console. Even back when this game released the Xbox 360 was severally out of date clocking in at 8 years old at the time, how Rockstar pulled off this wizardry is baffling, you have beautiful sunrises and sunsets that give a warm red glow as you slowly drive into the darkness towards the Alamo Sea. Rain effects that make your playable character wet, while it creates puddles that splash as you drive and walk through it. Not only that the lightning that dances across the sky, where it lights your path in the pitch black night as you traverse.

The details don’t just stem from the landscape, NPCs will react to you appropriately something that they took from Red Dead Redemption. People will compliment your car, clothes or insult you if you are rude or if you dress sense is questionable, and the funny part is you can retort back to them in a rude manner. Yes I know this was somewhat of a thing in GTA: San Andreas, but it feels more organic in this game, and I never heard a repeated line.

Grand Theft Auto V is a game that I feel we will be talking about 20 years from now; its beautiful landscapes still stand the test of time. For a game that was originally design for out of date hardware, it is staggering how it looks this good. It is a true testament of how Rockstar can craft a convincing world, where everything is seamless, NPCs that have their own schedule as well as it being a blast to explore on your own. It is a game that will be regarded as a piece of art with in the video game medium for years to come.

Editorial | My childhood with the N64.

By Sam Coles:

Now if you know via social media or personally, you would know that I have a love hate relationship with the N64. Now hear me out before you decide to stick a halberd in my gut, as I love the games themselves but the controller is about as intuitive as drinking coffee through a straw, it’s bound to hurt eventually. On the other hand, I grew up with the system and some of the best video game memories with my brothers and just playing it in general. I just want to talk about a few games, and how they had an impact on my life.

I remember when we first got an N64, and the first game that I remembered playing was Super Mario 64 and I was enamoured with the game. As a child it was basically the only game that I would play the worlds, the exploration, power ups and music stuck with me even 15 years after finishing the game. As a child I would imagine myself in the game, performing jumps through the woodland area I live in such as the long jump, although I never perfected the coffee grind. I know I have said the game is very much dated (which I stick by that), but I understand the impact it had in the industry. This game has formed so many memories within my childhood, I would just sit there on the title screen, playing around with Mario’s face and just listening to the updated (at the time) version of the Mario Bros. theme.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask (Yes I’m bundling them together), were games that I didn’t finish until I was a teenager. However they are games that I use to watch my oldest brother play, I was fascinated by the different worlds and temples as well as being frightened by the enemies. Majora’s Mask was a strange experience for me to watch, I was 7 years old at the time and seeing the looming doom that was the moon with its dark eyes and yellow and menacing teeth, would give me nightmares. Majora’s Mask’s ominous atmosphere haunted me throughout my childhood, where I would establish a fascination with it. It wasn’t until years later where I would play through it on the GameCube via the collection that came with a copy of Mario Kart Double Dash, where I would finish it myself. To this day it is my favourite Zelda game.

It wasn’t just singleplayer games that I grew up with; no I have lots of memories of playing multiplayer games with my school friends and brothers. Games like Mario Kart, Goldeneye and Super Smash Bros. these games are truly special. Mario Kart was the cause of many domestic arguments, especially when you obliterated someone at the finish line with a blue shell, yes I remember many shouting matches when that happened. Goldeneye introduced me to the world of first person shooters, and yes the framerate is about as stable as me after four coffees, but it was fun nonetheless with the over top modes.

Smash Bros. at this point was rather rudimentary, where you had about a dozen characters to choose from, compared to the family tree worth you have now. However it still has that frantic fun, this was before people took it seriously in the competitive scene, when Nintendo thought it would be fun for their characters to slap several shades of blue out of each other. I go back to this game often with friends, where we just grab a few beers and just play the night away.

The N64 is a childhood memory that I will never forget, putting aside my cynical outlook on it now it has a lot of great games on it, it is just the controller and framerate, no Sam positive now! As I always say I only criticise because I care and love, I will hold these memories with until the end of time!

Editorial | Far Cry 3: The definition of insanity 7 years later.

By Sam Coles:

There are certain words within the game’s industry that are met with hostility, such as micro transactions and multiplayer. The “Ubisoft Sandbox” is generally met with so many eye rolls; you can hear them all move in unison as if they are dust bin lids dancing around a tumble dryer. Digressions aside, Ubisoft games actually use to be fun and filled with passion where it didn’t feel like you were obliterating a checklist just to do admin. 7 years from its original release Far Cry 3 was and is still is the best game in the series, as it doesn’t focus on numbers which you slowly upgrade incrementally. No, instead it focuses on a solid narrative, a beautiful world to explore and a pure power fantasy as you mow down enemies like they are storm troopers, although these enemies can hit their target.

Why is Far Cry 3 to this day still sited as one of Ubisoft’s best? Well I think most remember the story and its memorable villain Vaas, with his iconic speech about the definition of insanity. However I would probably argue it’s the character arc of Jason Brody that is more interesting, because we see him go from insufferable spoilt moron, quivering mess with his first kill and then a unstoppable killing machine where he picks off pirates like after eight mints. One could argue his arc is somewhat predictable, but it is at least development which kind gets tied to a burning truck as it drifts off a cliff in future instalments, because future protagonists are as bland as a popcorn bagel.

Not to say Vaas isn’t a highlight, I would be lying if I say he wasn’t with the excellent and unhinged performance from Michael Mando. From the very beginning of the game you know exactly what Vaas is like, anything can set him off and Mando brings across his insanity convincingly, I was almost tense in every scene with him. He captures the psychotic nature of any well written villain, especially with his iconic speech about the definition of insanity. The acting across the board is fantastic, it was one of the early examples of full body performances, where they would motion capture the movement and record the voice work at the same times.

Look at me I’ve been talking about the characters and I have barely got into the gameplay, which is good where it was one of the early incarnations of Ubisoft sandbox. However this was before they decided to turn their games into admin jobs, where you check in each day and do mundane tasks. No doing side activities had a purpose, scaling the towers had purpose where it would obviously uncover more of the map but it also granted you extra weapons free of charge of course.

It was this design of their open world games where it still felt organic, where the open world would gradually open up for the player as you explored. Plus the game incentivised exploration as it rewarded you appropriately, as I said before climbing towers rewards you with weapons. Not only that hunting had a purpose, where in games like Red Dead Redemption it is there for the sake of it. No hunting in Far Cry 3 serves the gameplay, as you can improve how much ammo you can carry, more weapon holsters, bigger wallets and much more. It feels like you are slowly growing more powerful throughout the adventure, plus every weapon has a purpose even when you are fully powered up with different perks, you are not swapping out weapons every five minutes like chewing gum. The AK-47 you use at the start is still the same gun at the end of the game, and it will still be just as effective as it was with its initial introduction.

Visually this game still holds up, this was during a time where colour was making a comeback with games. During the 7^th generation of gaming a lot of developers were shooting for “realism”, where we got a colour spectrum that looked like me after a heavy night’s drinking. However around 2012 more games injected more colour, we had games like Kingdoms of Amalur having more colourful environments.

Far Cry 3 left the brown deserts of Africa behind, and instead went back to the tropical island setting of the first game. The greens of the lush the grass and palm trees pop, as you sneak through and shish kabob enemies with a machete, or the cyan oceans as you blitz across the water on a jet ski. It has aged extremely well and still holds up, however just don’t play it on the Xbox 360 (unless you are playing it on the One) or PS3. Why do I not recommend it on the consoles it debuted? Well this is one of the worse performing console games from that gen, because the frame rate aims for 30 frames per second which is fine. What is not okay is the Goldeneye levels of stability, where the game basically sits at 20 frames per second in cutscenes and gameplay in general. When action kicks into full swing, the game stutters like me after too many coffees this was released towards the tail end of the 360 and PS3 and the hardware was being stretched to its limits at this point.

Far Cry 3 was the peak of the series, however after that it felt like routine as it fell into a comfort spot where Far Cry 4 as good as it was, just felt like Far Cry 3.5. It did give birth to the mundane and dull nature of Ubisoft open worlds, but this was before it became about numbers, with a good narrative and beautiful world to explore.

Editorial | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare - Taking things too far?

By Sam Coles

:

Video games and controversy tend to go together like butter and toast, but leave it there for too long and it will slowly slide off the crust leaving a mess on the floor. The term “Too far” is often thrown about, especially when it comes to depictions of violence within the interactive medium. With the recent reveal of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s multiplayer (at the time of writing), it has ruffled a lot of people’s feathers due to it including a killstreak of a nasty weapon known as white phosphorus. Now is it wise to question one’s artistic vision? No to a certain extent, but I want to take the time to explain why this isn’t a huge deal and perhaps a bit background on the weapon.

White phosphorus which is also given the nickname “Willy Pete”, can either be used in a defensive or offensive capabilities, it’s mostly used as a smoke screen however it gets its notoriety from its offensive uses. White phosphorus will stick to the recipients skin and will burn all the way down to the bone, this can’t be stopped unless you cut off the oxygen but nine times out of ten that rarely happens. Nasty stuff isn’t? It is, however the military rarely use it, as you can’t exactly control its spread and more often or not there are civilians in the cross fire where they are prohibited from using such tactics.  

The question I want to bring to the table, is it too far to put said weapon in a game like Call of Duty? In short no, why? Well let’s face it the series over the past 10 plus years has had weapons that have been just as bad, if not worse. Yes one could argue that it puts a light spin on the weapon in the multiplayer, because you are rewarded for killing so many people. However it is within the context of the combat scenario, as it is “Modern Warfare” so you are going to be using contemporary tactics and combat.

Now you will get the age old argument about children, but I’m sorry that doesn’t wash with me not every video game or piece of media are for children. Now I know some people who are under age are going to play this game, however that is down to the parents and not the publishers or developers. If you think your child is mature enough to handle the subject matter then that is fine, my parents were the same, but don’t go blaming the publishers because you didn’t do any research into the game. If my parents thought a game was too much they would take it away from me, this lack of parenting in this regard is mindboggling.

What people have to realise is that this Call of Duty has a very dark tone compared to the others in the series, by the look of it the campaign is going to address some very series subjects. As the trailer states at the start “The rules have changed, there is a fine line between right and wrong”, it is going to explore the morality of war and if it is reasonable force to use certain tactics.

I think if we want people to take the video game medium as a serious art form, we have to explore sensitive and taboo subjects. There is a reason why old media doesn’t take it seriously, it’s because of the overreaction from mainstream games media crying foul whenever a game decides to touch on a dark subject.

Yes there are lines of course, you can’t do whatever you want, but one most push boundaries to a certain extent in order to push art into the modern era. Same thing happened back in the late 1960’s and throughout the 1970’s, where they pushed violence as a storytelling device in cinema which was controversial at the time. However these days it is the norm, and we think need to have a more a calm and collective mind set in order to let it flourish in video games. How nearly 30 years later are we still having this debate, the fact is pieces of art and media it is not for just for children.

Overall do I think Modern Warfare is taking it too far? No, it’s just a game that has done its research and wants to show the grim reality of modern combat. Yes it is horrible, but then again that is the entire point it wants to show how horrific and scary it is to be in these scenarios. You have a right to an opinion on the matter to disagree, however when you start trying to force a developer or hell any artist to change their artistic vision that is wrong. You can’t force someone to change something because you and you alone find it offensive, the term that springs to my mind is, if you don’t like it don’t play it.

Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled Review - The 90's are back!

By Sam Coles:

The kart racer was once a genre that dominated the mid to late 1990’s, this mostly stemmed from the success of Super Mario Kart in the early 90’s. Other developers tried to replicate Nintendo’s formula, but most were unsuccessful however Naughty Dog threw their hat in the ring with Crash Team Racing in 1999 and almost beat Nintendo at their own game. Fast forward 20 years later and we have a full remake of the game, and I have to say it is a truly faithful remake coupled with extra content that they didn’t have to add but they did anyway. Is a worthwhile remake for current fans and new comers? Absolutely, let’s get into it.

Crash Team Racing has a plot, but it’s not anything particularly complex just something to set the adventure mode up. An alien called Nitros Oxide wants to take over the world and turn it into a giant car park, but he gives the characters of the Crash Bandicoot universe a chance by racing him. He wants to race the fastest driver on the planet, and if they win they stop him from turning the planet into a large multi-story car park. The plot is completely unnecessary, but the voice acting is fantastic and it doesn’t take itself seriously and got a couple of chuckles out of me.

Gameplay takes certain ques from the Mario Kart series; however it puts its own spin on the formula to differentiate itself from the plumbers racing escapades. For one as I mentioned in the plot synopsis it has an Adventure Mode, what this entails is that you complete various races to unlock trophies, to race bosses and eventually to race Nitros Oxide. However that is not all, you can go back to various stages and complete various challenges, which can consist of collecting crystals, CTR tokens while winning the race at the same time and general time trials, nothing particularly out of place for a Kart Racer.

Crash Team Racing’s controls compared to other kart racers rely on speed and momentum; you have to chain drifts and jumps around corners which can make it a tricky game. I never felt that I was miles ahead of my opponents; races would be very close every time I would cross the finish line where they are nipping at my ankles. The controls are so tight that it feels immensely satisfying to throw a kart around a corner with a drift, to then accelerate with lighting speed with a boost.

Like most kart racers there are power ups, they tend to share similar properties to similar games in genre but in CTR they are thematically appropriate to the Crash Bandicoot universe. You have items such as TNT crates, rockets and masks that make you invincible for a short period. However these items can be increased in power, how you do this is by collecting crates filled with wumpa fruit which also increases your overall top speed. This keeps things fresh and players on their toes, as it can tip the odds in the favour of a losing racer, all the races are always very close due to this.

Visually this game is absolutely stunning, like the Crash Bandicoot remakes from 2017 it looks like a Pixar movie that you can play. Yes it is clear they have reused assets from the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy such as character models and certain animations, but that is not a bad thing as they look great and is a good way to cut corners to focus on other things. All the characters look amazing with individual hair strands rendered with exquisite detail, coupled with the bright and colourful race course to compliment them.

The game does have some issues which bring it down, first are the loading time they are unbearable. I thought this may have been an isolated issue for the Xbox One, but no I asked PS4 and Nintendo Switch users and they have the same issues. The other problem is that the A.I. opponents can be extremely aggressive even on normal difficulty, now some will probably say this is intentional but this is ridiculous when they are miles ahead because you are not pixel perfect with driving. It led me to almost throwing my controller; it’s extremely annoying and a bit of a dampener on what is a great game.

Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled is a classic brought back to the current generation of gamers, it’s colourful, challenging and has lots of content to keep you occupied. Yes it has some technical issues, but that doesn’t get in the way the fact that it is a fun and light hearted game, this is a game I highly recommend just get ready for the challenging adventure mode.

Editorial | Duke Nukem: Forever - A relic from the past.

By Sam Coles:

The term worse game of all time is often thrown about within the gaming community where it loses all meaning, where I want to introduce the word hyperbole to them. This term is often used for the game Duke Nukem: Forever a game that was notorious for its long development cycle, where the forever in the title was rather appropriate by the time it came out. Was it as bad as people said it was back in 2011? No, but it’s not exactly a good game either, but there are worse games out there, I would just say it is mediocre more than anything.

Announced back in 1998, Duke Nukem: Forever was a direct sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, where at first in the concept stages it was pitched as a platformer, however they decided to make it an FPS due to the success of 3D. It was announced then silence, then in 2001 a trailer showing off gameplay in a new engine appeared which wowed people with its interactivity, with the tag line at the end saying “It will come out when it’s done”. Then after that it went completely quiet, the problem was with this project they kept scrapping it and starting again, mostly due to George Broussard seeing new engines every five minutes and going “I want that”. What he failed to see you can’t take what existing work you have in one engine and transfer it to another, that is not how it works.

Years and years went by with no word about the project, where Take 2 Interactive started to get very impatient with 3D Realms where they ended up suing them for incompetence. George Broussard wasn’t exactly professional about the situation, telling them to shove it where the sun don’t shine, but after that most of the 3D Realms staff left and the project was put in the ground, or so we thought. It was revived again in late 2010 where Gearbox Software picked up the project, where it released in May of 2011 and it was met with a resounding….. Meh.

Now does it deserve the backlash it got back in the day? No, but it is not a good game so don’t read too much into that statement. The problem was is that the game felt very dated, in terms of visuals, gameplay and Duke’s humour in general.

Let’s start with the gameplay; there was something that was just off with the aiming and movement in this game. It felt clunky and very floaty, now I wasn’t opposed to the regenerating health with Duke’s ego bar, I thought that was rather fitting as you had to increase it by doing “manly things”. No the gunplay just lacked impacted, where at certain points outside of the shotgun I wasn’t sure if I was hurting the enemies. All the guns were there from Duke 3D, but they didn’t have the same weight or impact, the Ripper Cannon sounded pathetic, it was like you were firing paper clips out of it. The only gun that felt good to use was the shotgun, because enemies reacted appropriately when you shot them. The game was also bombarded with gimmicks, with vehicle sections and mini games that barely worked with the floaty physics, I’m looking at you pinball mini game!

Visually this game wasn’t that great looking even for 2011; visuals are muddy and are lacking any sort colour with brown and grey hues that look like Modern Warfare and not Duke Nukem. It has really bizarre haze as if someone slapped Vaseline on the camera lens, which come to think it was like that with most games during that year *cough* Call of Juarez: The Cartel *cough*. It really didn’t look like a current gen game (at the time), it looked like a PS2 game in HD, now I know that is a hyperbolic thing to say but it did look that bad.

Now Duke’s personality is what really stuck out in this game, what may have been funny in the 90’s may not translate as well in the early 2010’s. You see fans of the old Duke games at that point had grown up, maybe started their own families the juvenile and outdate humour just didn’t stick the landing. Where he would make fun of vastly superior games, such as Halo and Valve titles, yes this was when Valve was still making games. His humour and personality just failed to move with the times, and he just came across as a relic which ironically enough the President of the US in the game calls him that.

Duke Nukem: Forever will be remembered in video game history for all the wrong reasons; was it a terrible game as some would let you believe? No, but I’m not saying it’s a good game, but it is not as abysmal as some would let you think. With a long development cycle, coupled with the fact by the time it did release it felt dated with level design, gameplay and humour that was about as funny as a monkey throwing its own faeces at a wall, which ironically you can do in game.