Editorial | Reflecting on Red Dead Redemption 2: One Year Later.

By Sam Coles:

Time is such a fragile existence where it suddenly goes by with the click of a finger, one year use to feel like forever when I was younger but now it just slips through my fingers like sand. Red Dead Redemption 2 came out one year ago (at the time of writing) and it is hard to believe, as it felt like I was waiting for it forever as the first game came out all the way back in 2010. I just want to reflect on my experience with the game over the past year, as well as the lead up to the game.

Back in 2016 gaming was in a weird spot because game releases were a bit meh, but towards the end of the year Rockstar Games changed their logo and it had the rustic look of Red Dead Redemption, we all knew what was coming. Then they dropped the first trailer showing off the beautiful world, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing as the leap from the first RDR was staggering it looked realistic and awe inspiring. Towards the end of the trailer it said it will releases in the fall of 2017, me being me though I knew this wasn’t true and I called it on Twitter at the time as I know how Rockstar work. Then lo and behold Rockstar delayed the game from 2017 to spring 2018 and then once more to fall of 2018.

Working in the games industry naturally I tend to get games sent to me; however there was something special when I got an email from Rockstar Games and they said “We are sending you a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2”. When the game finally arrived on release day at 8 o’clock in the morning, I sat there patiently waiting for the game to install and then when the game started I fell in love and felt 17 years old again like I was playing the first Red Dead Redemption.

The first time I booted up Red Dead Redemption 2 I was immediately enraptured with the world, mostly stemming from the visuals. The graphics from the original Red Dead Redemption were and arguably still are a marvel to look at, and I thought to myself how can they improve the presentation and they did it! Everything has an attention to detail that you just don’t see in most releases, they even put in the effort into things that most players won’t even bother to look at. Rockstar see every blade of grass, every footprint in the snow and specs of dirt on the player character to be just as important as the weather effects and character animations.

The characters and story are something that really stood out, especially the dynamic of Arthur’s gang where they all but heads but they all end up getting the job done, well until Dutch’s plan predictably fails. Arthur is a well-rounded character he knows what he is doing is wrong, however it is the only life that he knows as he has been with Dutch for 20 years. The whole gang have been characterised which is amazing, no other game would bother to flesh out each character like this. They all have their grievances, but they band together to get a robbery done it’s this dynamic that really adds a layer of unpredictably with how they are going to react.

The world itself was a joy to explore, unlike most open world games that relay on numbers *cough* Ubisoft *cough* Red Dead’s world is more organic and narrative based. It doesn’t flash up a notice saying “You are not a high enough level”, no it just lets you explore at your own pace and it gave me the same feeling when I explored Oblivion or Skyrim’s world for the first time. The game outside of missions doesn’t hold your hand, if you see smoke of a campfire nothing is stopping you to go and investigate, however it may hold several perils that will kill you. It’s this freedom that Red Dead Redemption 2 gives you when explore the world that makes it feel alive, this could apply to most of Rockstar’s worlds.

Now gameplay is the most contentious topic as some love the more “realistic” approach, while others prefer the first game with its more freeform movement. I fall in the former category as I find that the more realistic approach to movement and shooting add an extra layer of weight and tension, guns in the 19^th century were not particularly reliable and wore fairly quickly. They brought this across with the gunplay as guns would slowly get dirty and rusty, where they would become more inaccurate. You can clean them off with gun oil yourself or do it at a gunsmith, it doesn’t really eat too much into the gameplay and I think most people are rather hyperbolic about the “realism” because you don’t have to do most of it, it is there for the sake of immersion and role playing.

I’ll be honest I love the combat it has a sense of weight and brutality to it, you see every exit wound as you fan the hammer of your six shooter into a Lawman’s skull. Heads explode if you use a shotgun at close range, which actually made me jump when it first happened to me. Enemies will clutch at specific areas and limbs when you shoot them there as they cry out for help, as well their limbs flying off when you throw a stick of dynamite at them. The detail of body damage is so insane that bodies realistically decompose if you leave them out for long enough, again Rockstar showing almost an unnecessary amount of details in their games, in a good way of course.

Red Dead Redemption 2 will go down as a classic, a game that we will be talking about years to come like the original. One year has passed since its release and five years will go past in the blink of an eye. What Rockstar Games gave us with this beautiful and artistic piece of interactive entertainment is stunning. It just shows there are still triple A developers who want to present us with compelling single player experiences.

Editorial | Dark Souls: Darkness, Danger and Loneliness.

By Sam Coles:

There is something about loneliness in video games that is effective at crafting a thick atmosphere, where there is nothing but darkness and the sound of your feet echoing in the environment. The game I think of when it comes to this is Dark Souls, mostly known for its difficulty this game has a very good atmosphere that I think a lot of people miss. These days the game is used as a measure for a game when it is hard, despite them having nothing in common in terms of gameplay. I just want to go over the game’s atmosphere and what makes it so special, I’ll be mostly talking about the first game with a few snippets of Dark Souls II here and there.

Dark Souls doesn’t bother exposition well only with the opening cutscene, however it is ambiguous for a reason as it wants the player to figure it out. Then after that you wake up imprisoned in a dungeon, where you are thrown a key and told get on with it. When the gameplay starts what do you hear? Nothing, no music, no dialogue just the distant hums as the wind flows through the dungeon coupled with the distant moans of prisoners begging for their life. This introduction sets up Dark Souls’ atmosphere, where you are alone, isolated and no one is coming to help you anytime soon.

As you traverse the dungeon you hear deep rumblings, roars where you realise something is amiss and then you see the towering monster that is The Asylum Demon. At first you are out matched as all you have is a broken sword, fortunately you can flee and reassess your situation. You feel shaken and wonder if you can take it down. As you continue through the dark tunnels, you find a sword and shield where you then feel more prepared. You go back and take on the beast, take him down and feel the accomplishment, then you are unleashed onto the world with more monstrosities want to see your insides on the ground.

Each area in Dark Souls is unique, from the dark and precarious underground village that is Blight Town where every corner evokes a sense of danger to the warm and deceptively welcoming Anor Londo. Under the sunny exterior there are what were the inhabitants lying in wait to see nothing more than your death, it’s this false sense of security that catches you off guard.

Now Dark Souls II’s atmosphere although still good it’s missing something, I think it is because there are moments in that game that I found myself holding my breath less as the tension is not as high compared to the first game. I think it is because they tend to use musical ques in more areas compared to the first game, now using music to emphasise tension is fine but the point of Dark Souls is that you are alone, and the silence highlights that. I still like Dark Souls II, but the areas aren’t as imaginative as the original, it’s mostly castles filled armoured goons. Music was used in the original game, but only during boss fights which got you pumped and at the main camp which gave you a sense of ease, however that track left a bit of uncertainty too.

Dark Souls isn’t really classed as a horror game, however if you were to let someone play it with no notion of what it is they could very much perceive it as a horror experience. From the audio design, dark areas and enemy design with the exception of the mushroom people who look like Patrick Star combined with a Goomba. Digressions aside the thick layer of tension can easily get under your skin outside of the difficulty, the oppressive nature of consistent silence as you traverse these dark lands is almost overwhelming.

I think even you are not a fan of Dark Souls’ difficulty I think one can easily appreciate its atmosphere; it encapsulates the depressing and lonely atmosphere. It will leave you feeling many emotions, scared, alone and overwhelmed by what dangers lurk within the darkness. Even 8 years later I don’t think I have played a game that can replicate this atmosphere, it does without using a single word of dialogue and that is what makes video game storytelling beautiful.

Editorial | Doom: The art of its design.

By Sam Coles:

Doom! A series that has been around for nearly three decades, it cemented the genre that is the first person shooter. It took the foundation that was set by Wolfenstein 3D and amplified it, but why do people to this day still flock to this game? Well I think it’s because and I know I’m going to get some flak for this, accessible. Now that doesn’t mean the game is easy, no it is exceedingly hard especially in the later chapters but it is so easy to pick and play as well easy to understand, however it is very hard to master. The question I want to ask, why is Doom great? Now to preface this article I will be only talking about Doom, Doom II and Doom (2016) as the share similar design traits, plus this rather appropriate as Doom: Eternal is out in a couple of months (at the time of writing).  

Now you would think narrative doesn’t play a huge role in the Doom series and you would be right with the original two games, as John Carmack stated “Story in a game is like story in a porn movie, it’s expected to be there but it’s not important”. Now that does reflect the games he worked on, but that comment is rather silly if you think about it now, however Doom (2016) takes a lot of ques from Half-Life with its storytelling. Yeah the Doom Slayer has as much interest in the narrative as an enraged gorilla as he throws a monitor away, however you can see there is a bigger picture with him and Hell, through flavour text and audio logs. It’s not particularly important to enjoy Doom (2016), but it was nice that id Sofware included it for those who cared.

Now to get into the design of the game, what makes the first two Doom games special? Well for one the map design, one could look the map design of the old Doom games and find them confusing due to their maze like design but to quote Todd Howard “It just works”. You have to navigate them, collecting items, unlocking secrets and finding new and powerful weapons. Yes some of the later levels can get a bit strenuous due to their sprawling mazes, but if you know what you are doing you can finish them in 2 minutes. Some levels have aged worse than others which have an illusion of difficulty, however most are fine and are still a joy to play.

The combat is also an element that plays a big part in this game, where you have a wide selection of weapons that each have a purpose, minus the pistol which is about as effective as harsh language. You have the usual shotguns, chainguns, rocket launchers and chainsaws, you know the basic assortment of weapons you need for a Hell based apocalypse. However the more exotic plasma rifle is great if you want to clear crowds of demons in quick succession; however the BFG the Big “Fucking” Gun is the definition of the series. The BFG will obliterate everything that has a pulse in the near vicinity, generally reserved for more powerful enemies or boss fights, but it is fun to discharge it in a crowd of demons as they explode into meaty giblets.

The combat was given a new coat of paint in the 2016 reboot; it retained the same action but added some extra bells and whistles. For one some weapons and kills are mechanics based, now I know what you are going to say “Sam what do you mean”? Well certain weapons have a purpose for the gameplay, for example the glory kill system. When you have dealt enough damage to enemies they will become stunned and you can execute a glory kill, this doesn’t just act as a flashy and over the top gory kill, no they will give you health when you do this action. What this does is encourage constant movement as you can’t sit in cover, because otherwise you might as well as pull your trousers down and take it like a champ. What you get is this constant rhythm of running and gunning as you prioritise certain enemies, it keeps encounters fast and flowing.

The other mechanic is the chainsaw, what this does is give you extra ammunition however it requires that you have a certain amount of chainsaw fuel depending on the enemy. For example if you have one bar of chainsaw fuel there is no way you are taking down a Hell Knight, which is reserved for Imps and zombies. It does seem out of place that your enemies burst into ammunition as you split them in half like a piñata, but I thought we left realism in the void as we are blowing the top half of a demon off with a 12 gauge when running through Hell.

Let’s talk about the presentation, more so about the first two games not to say that Doom (2016) isn’t a good looking game, but it doesn’t standout compared to the early games. Each sprite is unique and easily identified; you have the individual looks of the zombie marines, with the green hair of the rifleman, the shotgun sergeants with black clothes to the blood soaked mouths of the chaingun wielding zombies. Not only that you have the Imps, Cacodemons, Hell Knights, to the towering behemoth that is the Cyber Demon. They all look unique, plus their telegraphed animations give you a clue to how their attacks work.

Doom is a series that people still talk about nearly 30 years later and for good reason, because it is a game that you can pick up and play no matter your age or experience. However it is a game that is tough to master, it brings you new challenges with each level, each chapter and new enemies that emerge from the darkness. It’s a game series that every gamer should play, plus it can get you ready for the carnage that is Doom: Eternal!