Editorial | Why Dragon Age is special to me.

By Sam Coles:

If you know me you would know I have a deep love for high fantasy, whether it is in books and of course video games. Dragon Age is a series that I have deep love for, as it has a special place in my heart because it got me through a tough time in my life. I just want to talk about why the series is so special to me, and detail my personal feelings towards the series.

In early 2011 I was in the second half of studying my final year of A-levels, I just got back from the Christmas break and honestly I was feeling low. The days were dark, miserable and cold and I just felt too much pressure from my studies. As I was cycling home one afternoon I went into my local Blockbuster, I perused the shelves as I usually did and I saw a game called Dragon Age: Origins. At the time I didn’t follow the gaming industry as I all did in terms of writing about video games were reviews for my local newspaper, but the Bioware logo stood out to me as I had played Mass Effect 2 the year prior. I thought Wow a high fantasy RPG made by the same people who made Mass Effect, as I was just starting to read through the Lord of the Rings trilogy at the time, so I was enthralled with the setting. When I got home and put the game into my 360 I fell in love, as I explored the world of Thedas.

What I noticed about Dragon Age when I first booted up the game are the characters, they are all well written from the lustful and beautiful Morrigan, the cheeky and clever remarks from Alistair to the wise, calm and collective demeanour of Duncan. Even the sequels that people like to hate have some wonderful characters, such as the sly but charming dwarf Varric, the intimidating Seeker Cassandra and the noble hawk. Even the Inquisition with its returning cast has a few new ones that had me grinning ear to ear, such as the playful Sera the elven archer who is friendly but is not afraid to slit your throat if you get on her bad side.

It’s these characters that you genuinely get to know throughout all three games, you really connect with them when you sit around a fire and talk the night away in Origins, visit them in their homes in Dragon Age II or share an ale in the grounds of the Inquisition’s fort. They all feel dare I say it, realistic and believable you want to swap stories with them, whether it is a troubled past, sexual encounters or just conflicts they have had on their adventures.

The music is something that still sticks in my mind; every main menu has a beautiful theme. From the calm and soothing tones of Origins, the haunting and almost creepy atmosphere of Dragon Age II to the epic orchestral score of Inquisition which evokes the epic nature of the open world adventure you are about to embark on. It’s a soundtrack that I listen to in my spare time when I’m writing, it has a good mix of relaxing Celtic folk and adrenaline pumping orchestral scores when you are slaying Darkspawn in the Korcari Wilds.

You would probably laugh at me when I say the environments are beautiful, and yes even for 2009 Dragon Age: Origins wasn’t exactly on the cutting edge of tech. To be honest it is just the unique locations, such as Brecilian Forest which has one of the best character interactions with the Rhyming Oak Tree. It’s when Bioware switched to the Frostbite 3 engine for Inquisition was when they captured the beauty of Thedas, with lush green fields of the Hinterlands to the extravagant and ostentatious cities in Val Royeaux.

Dragon Age is a series where I can lose myself in world with well written characters, and worlds that feel lived in and believable that have a deep history. Yes the first two games are not the best looking games, but it is the lore and characters that keep me coming back where I feel genuine grief when I lose them whether it is through death or a disagreement. Even nearly a decade after its debut, Dragon Age is something I can revisit over and over again as it can always get me through a tough time and it can always make me smile no matter what.

Grip Review - Which way is the right way up?

By Sam Coles:

The 90’s were a strange time for gaming, more in a good way as game developers were more experimental with established genre tropes. This was the case with a racing game called Rollcage that released on the original PlayStation back in the late 90’s, as it was a racing game with an interesting gimmick. If you grew up in the 90’s you will perhaps remember those remote control cars which drive no matter which way up it is, Rollcage was a racing game with those in it which made for a fun and unique racer. Grip tries to recapture that in modern gaming, where it mostly succeeds.

Grip does not concern itself with a story as it is a racing game, it lets the gameplay do the talking and I must say racing games have been rather exciting in 2018. This is not realistic, I mean how realistic can you make a game that takes a remote control car that drive not matter which way up it is that also shoots rockets. The emphasis of this game is verticality, you don’t have to drive in a straight line, well you can if you are boring. What’s great about this emphasis on verticality is that you can find different ways around the track, with interesting shortcuts and plus it looks amazing spinning in the air as you break the sound barrier.

I found throughout my experience races never really fell in my favour completely, because usually in racing games once you are in first you generally just speed off into the sunset. However in Grip the races are very unpredictable due to the verticality and the emphasis of keeping momentum, because if you don’t keep your top speed up you will lose as the A.I opponents don’t mess around. If you do find yourself behind in a race you have access to items which are either offensive of a way of speeding up. You have two slots where you can stock one more item; these can range from speed boosts, machine guns or missiles to turn enemies into a pile of shrapnel on the asphalt.

Visually the game looks okay, not bad by all means but okay it’s not the best looking game and that is odd considering it runs on the Unreal Engine 4. However I can see why this game looks okay as it shoots for performance over looks which is something I will take, as this game is blisteringly fast as you hit speeds of 500 km an hour which requires ones utmost attention because if you fumble you will be tumbling off a cliff. Honestly the track design is what stands out rather than the visuals themselves, but let me stress it is not a terrible looking game but it’s just okay.

Grip is a game that evokes the 90’s where developers were daring with current genres; it is fast, frantic and will keep you on your toes. I highly recommend picking up this game if you are a fan of Rolecage that was released on the PS1 and you want a modern interpretation as it is really fun. The game is out now on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Switch.

Editorial | The resurrection of mascot platformers.

By Sam Coles:

The past couple of years we have seen a resurgence of mascot platformers, as they have been somewhat absent during this generation of gaming and last gen, with a few exceptions of indie projects. However there were none from triple A studios, well not any good ones I’m looking at you Knack. With the release of Ratchet and Clank back in 2016, there has been this slow resurrection of genre, where we eventually got a remake of the original Crash Bandicoot Trilogy and now Spyro. I want to discuss what makes these games so special, and why we suddenly have an interest from triple A developers again recently.

The mid to late 90’s was a wash of platformers since Mario 64 proved it can be done in 3D, others tried to cash in. It is true Crash Bandicoot did it six months prior, but it was basically a 2D game because it was a linear plain where you moved forward instead of side to side. Mario 64 had full 3D movement, so naturally other companies would capitalise on this. We had anything from Bob Cats, Mice and personified gloves, no I’m not joking if you remember Glover from the N64.

Why do people have such fond memories about these games? It wasn’t necessarily the gameplay, which wasn’t bad but it was run of mill mostly. No it was the characters and how unique the worlds were, from the Artisans Realm of Spyro the Dragon with its high fantasy aesthetic to the rain soaked jungles of Crash Bandicoot. The characters and worlds were just realised in such a beautiful way, with their popping colours and well written characters with self-aware humour.

The wonderful aspect about these types of games is that the developers could base it around anything, the only limitation for devs are their own imagination. We had characters like Earthworm Jim, Banjo Kazooie and hell I would even give credit to Bubsy the Bobcat the most irritating platform character in history just because it took some creativity. You could make a platformer about a jar of pickles and make it entertaining somehow.

As funny it maybe to say now given how spoilt we are with visuals now, the graphics with these sorts of games were something we had not seen before giving us what was at the time a Saturday morning cartoon look. Yes some of these games look crude by today’s standards but some of them have aged surprisingly well, such as Crash Bandicoot with his expressive eyebrows as he is about to mount an unfortunate Wild Boar.

In 2016 Sony released a remake of Ratchet and Clank for the PS4, which ignited an interest in genre but why did it spark an interest again? Well to be honest if we think about it and this is just a theory, the people who grew up with these games are now working in the industry and want to bring back that childlike wonder again with people who are still playing video games. Plus sometimes we just want to sit back and take a break from games that have heavy subject matters, don’t get me wrong I like a good narrative but I like to switch gears and play something that is light hearted and fun.

I think mascot platformers are slowly making a comeback, with remakes of Crash Bandicoot and of course the recent release of Spyro Reignited Trilogy. It evokes of a simpler time where the games industry didn’t take itself seriously and could have fun and laugh at itself.

Editorial | Stop and smell the roses.

By Sam Coles:

As I have said before, as I get older my gaming choices tend to take a slower pace. Now this is nothing to do with my reflexes being shot, far from it my reflexes are the best they have ever been. I just like to slow down and zone out where I figuratively and literally stop and smell the roses. I want to go other some of the games that have enthralled me over the years, where I can just look around with no particular goal or just games that take a more relaxed approach.

I can hear you all sigh with content and thinking “Oh god he’s talking about Oblivion again”. Yes while I do like to talk about this game a lot, that is because it has had a massive impact on my life even 12 years later I have a sense of wonder when I boot it up. The beauty of Oblivion is that you can take things in your stride; the game doesn’t really force to do a certain thing in a set path, with the exception of the dungeon escape. I always find myself exploring to see what settlements I could uncover and what ruins there are to uncover artefacts and weapons. Not only that Jeremy Soule’s melodic tones really help, with the soothing welcoming tunes as you walk through the market at dawn, to the emotional scores as you are traverse the fields of Cyrodiil. It never gets old and ages better (mostly) as the years go by.

The original Red Dead Redemption (yes I have to say that now), is one that is truly special to me, it got me through a tough time when I found my A-Level studies were weighing on me. When the game came out it consumed my summer in 2010, I could just load the game up and explore the plains of New Austin and Mexico. Like most Rockstar open worlds you can just do anything, but Red Dead took a slower approach which was thematically appropriate given its western setting. It is always a joy to lose oneself in the world of Red Dead, were you can stumble across interesting characters who want to talk, or rob and mutilate your corpse. Again the game doesn’t really force you down a set path, I can’t tell you enough the amount of things I found just going off the beaten path. Where I found camps left for the wildlife, to poor and helpless men and women with broken down stage coaches.

I know it may be a stock standard answer when it comes to The Witcher 3, but you have to recognise an achievement in terms of storytelling and role playing in interactive form. When they first said that The Witcher was going open world, I was hesitant but as I thought about it more it made sense. Every time I boot up The Witcher 3 I tend to just slowly walk around taking things in, whether it be the cobbled streets of Novigrad or the boggy swamps of Velen. It’s the attention to detail which make me to take my time and explore the nooks and crannies of the environments, coupled with the fantastic musical score from the Polish folk band Percival. It’s a game that encourages you to take your time, and almost pokes you saying “do you see that abandoned hut over there? Take a look”. It’s that organic nature of the game that makes it fun to explore.

Now this last example may make you call my gaming credibility into question just hear me out, Two Worlds II has a beautiful environment that makes you want explore its entirety. Yes this game has a lot of issues with animations, voice acting and to put it politely questionable controls. However it has this slow and steady pace to it where I like to look around the varied environments which you don’t often see in medieval style RPGs, you start off in a beautiful African Savanna to a village that resembles Feudal Japan. It’s not the most technically polished game, but it is a true testament of how they managed to produce such a visually pleasing world to explore, it was an apology letter in video game form after the disastrous first game.

Those are just a few examples of games where I just like to slow down and take my time, or smell the roses as it were. The next time you play a game just stop and take the time to appreciate the subtle things, you may find something special that others will not even bat an eyelid at. This is what makes the interactive medium special, that everyone has a different experience.

Editorial | John Marston - Outlaw to Gentleman (spoilers for RDR 2)

By Sam Coles:

Red Dead Redemption II is one of if not my favourite game of 2018; check out my review if you haven’t. It has given me a new outlook on John Marston, he is not the main focus of the game well not in the first three quarters of the game but it does shine a light on the character. I want to go over John’s transformation from a hot headed and blood thirsty outlaw to a gentlemanly cowboy.

When the game begins, you are transporting your gang through snow laden tundra of the mountains after a heist gone wrong, John goes missing and Arthur has to go and find him. Arthur retorts with “He’s gone riding off again” suggesting that this is something quite common with John, Arthur goes and finds him like an obligated father. John is injured which gives me his signature scares that are tattooed into his face, once John is back in good health he is up to no good.  

It’s clear that Arthur has some reservations with John, as he is reluctant to do any jobs with him mostly due to his impulsive nature which leads them to a cordite filled situation. However as the months go on Arthur begins to warm up to John, and Marston begins to realise he can’t keep the criminal life up and starts to doubt Dutch’s words of a life in a tropical paradise as he keeps saying “Just one more time”. John starts to realise that he can’t continue like this, as he has a child and partner and he can’t raise a family with empty promises of paradise. So after one thing after another, he leaves the gang after Dutch goes insane, where he then retires to a normal and mundane life as a ranch hand.

When John leaves the outlaw life he tries to go straight and find a legitimate job, however he has trouble adjusting to normal life at first as his violent tendencies have a habit of surfacing in certain situations. He stumbles on a farm as he is delivering food and supplies to them, he sees that they are being hounded by a small time gang where he then chases them off. He is taken on by the ranch where he and his family can stay on site; he slowly warms up to the ranching life as he is shown the ropes as he slowly falls into a routine.

John’s violent tendencies seep through once again, but it’s not through malicious intent as he is trying to defend the ranch he works for against bandits. His partner Abigale doesn’t see it that way, she sees it as John going back to his old ways and then she leaves. John now alone and broken decides to prove himself, he hears about a piece of land in Beechers Hope and wants to settle there. With some help from his boss he is able to take out a loan, gather materials and build his home where he can settle, what I like about this character development we see Marston mature and shape into the man we know in the original Red Dead Redemption. He truly turns into a man of honour and respect.

With his home built John finally gets his wife back, it’s a touching moment and we see him turn into a sensitive soul as they go and do normal things such as going to the theatre and getting their photo taken. We see the sensitive side of John show, and his violent and outlaw life have finally faded away as he can leave the madness of Dutch behind and live it out with his family, for now anyway.

It was great to see John Marston’s character to shape in Red Dead Redemption II, from a naïve and violent outlaw to an emotional and gentle soul who wants nothing more than to live the rest of his days with his family. It makes it doubly hard to deal with his fate in the original game, and makes me shed a tear more as it shows that he genuinely wants to make a difference in his life.

Editorial | Embracing F.E.A.R

By Sam Coles:

The horror genre can come in predictable forms with jump scares and monsters but there are certain games within the genre that switch gears in an instant. F.E.A.R is one of those games, if you watch reviews on Youtube or on other blogs; people often harp on about the combat and the “advanced” A.I. However that is only one half of the game and I want to go over why F.E.A.R’s atmosphere is totally unique, and will completely catch you off guard.

The game begins with main antagonist Paxton Fettle breaking out of confinement; however he has a unique ability to take control of a clone army known as “Replicas” telepathically. You are then sent in to investigate and bring Fettle in, but it doesn’t go to plan where he knocks you out and taunts you for a bit. It is a typical villain set up, but it’s not the story that captivates in Fear it is the atmosphere where it can juxtapose from high octane action to unnerving horror. There is also a child named Alma stalking you throughout the game, with her intentions unknown.

The game starts off as a gruff military shooter, where you are fast roping out of a helicopter and gunning down Replicas as they rag doll in their as meaty giblets fly in the air as you spray buckshot at them. However in most cases when a firefight finishes, what do you hear? Nothing! This is what always gets to me in Fear, after having a lot of fun in a gunning down soldiers in slow motion it suddenly switches gears and becomes very quiet with nothing more than the sound of your footsteps.

Like Monolith’s other game Condemned which released the same year as Fear, it likes to play with your expectations because when you walk down a corridor and there is a suspicious corner your natural human instincts think there is going to be a jump scare. However when you turn the corner there is nothing there. This is what elevates the atmosphere as you think you know all the tricks that the game has but the game plays with you and almost taunts you, and catches you off guard after a gunfight as most would think that this is a standard action game.

The music or lack thereof is what also increases the tension of the atmosphere, as the game goes for more audio ques instead of a traditional soundtrack. You will mostly here diegetic sounds this can consist of objects falling off shelves, moaning of unnatural entities and just general industrial hums as you traverse in the darkness. It is this oppressive weight you feel in these moments, that I get twitchy and paranoid when I’m playing late at night.

As I said earlier you are stalked by a child named Alma, her back story is dark as she was experimented on by her own father we she has become this godlike figure where she can literally make people explode with her mind. She is always there watching you throughout the game, what I like about this is that you can miss her sometimes as she is in the darker corners of an area, or you see her shadow as she slinks away into the shadows. It creates a paranoia within the player, especially when you clamber down ladders she has a strange fascination with ladders and it still gets me with the audio ques and her playful yet creepy laugh as she taunts you.

F.E.A.R’s tense atmosphere is something that catches you off guard as it uses the downtime in between firefights to play with your expectations. If you haven’t played the 2005 classic I would recommend it, you can play it on 360, PS3 and PC the PC option is probably easiest option.

Editorial | Majora's Mask's dark atmosphere.

By Sam Coles:

There are certain games that take a more unconventional approach to their sequels, I say this because Majora’s Mask is one of those games that stands out in the Zelda series as it only had an 18 month development and doesn’t really feature the titular character. Its dark atmosphere is something that is brought up in gaming discussion 18 years after its release, spawning theories about the subject matter in the game. I want to talk about the game’s atmosphere and Termina’s impending doom!

Majora’s Mask is an unusual start to a Zelda game because it’s a direct sequel to Ocarina of Time, Nintendo don’t often have direct sequels to Zelda games but this is one of the few exceptions. Link is walking through what we presume to be the Kokiri forest in search of Navi (we think); he is then accosted by Skull Kid who is wearing the titular mask. This is where the downward spiral of doom begins, as Link is turned into a Deku Scrub which makes him useless as he is not allowed to leave Clock Town and people are prejudice towards him. He encounters the Happy Mask Salesman who promises Link to return him to his Hylian form; however he will do it in exchange for Majora’s Mask, there is also a catch you have only 72 hours to do said task.

It’s not long to realise that there is an overarching threat to the land of Termina, all you have to do is look up and you see the intense grimace of the moon looming over as it slowly descends towards the sleepy carnival town. What I like about Clock Town is that its inhabitants to begin with are none the wiser to the moon, however as the days progress they become more paranoid to where then realise they are about to die on the third day. It’s the juxtaposition that makes this game work where the people of Termina start off in denial, worried and finally the realisation of their fate, it makes you want to rush to finish the task to save these people.

The point of contention of this game is that there are only four dungeons, which if you look at it with a close mind set it can be perceived as a short game. However that is not the focus as it is all about the citizens of Termina, the side quests are the meat and bones of this game where you help people out with their last wishes or get them out of horrific situations. The most terrifying was the quest when you find a girl’s father as a Gibdo, the deformed face as he contorts is horrific.  

The villain of Majora’s Mask Skull Kid doesn’t really have an overall goal such as taking over the world like Ganondorf, all he wants to see is the world to burn as he wants to smash the moon into Clock Town. There is no motivation all he wants is chaos, and I must at admit this is a good villain with no obscure reasoning behind his plan as he just wants to destroy the world. Skull kid or should I say Majora controlling him is unnatural, as he stands there twisting his head as you hear his body creak as he walks it’s almost like something out of The Ring or The Grudge as he stares at you contemplating his next move.

Compared to Ocarina of Time Majora’s Mask is more colourful with its environments; however that doesn’t mean it is a happy game I like to interpret this as a false sense of security. The game presents the player with these colourful environments, where it then presents you with the first dungeon with its ominous tribal music which use to frighten me as a child.   

That’s what catapulted Majora’s Mask’s atmosphere was the soundtrack, you have jaunty tracks such as Clock Town and the classic Zelda theme for Termina field. However it’s when you enter the four regions of Swamp, Mountains, Ocean and Canyon is where it journeys into creepy and hopelessness. They all share the same track, but what makes them unique is that they are thematically appropriate for each area from the haze and subdued beach music with steel drums to the winter inspired jingles of the desolate tundra of the mountains.  However what all of these areas with the track share is the utter hopelessness of the situation, with the swamps waters poisoned, the Goron’s land frozen coupled with starvation and of course the dead that are restless in the canyons.

Majora’s Mask is an unusual instalment in the Zelda series with its deep and dark atmosphere as you can feel the oppressive nature weigh on you. It is certainly a unique game in the series, and is a must try for any Zelda fan or someone looking for a good story with a dark tone. If you are going to try this game get the 3DS version as the N64 edition has not aged that well, and prepare to journey through the depressing land of Termina.