Lovers to the end: Gears of War 3 (360)--Spoilers

The end of the world is horrible to contemplate, and even more so if one were to do it alone. Marcus Fenix has been the center of the Gears trilogy, a gruff, hard man who began this battle in a jail cell in the original Gears. His constant companion and jail breaker, Dominic Santiago, is also often his protector, moving to Marcus’ side as he falls from enemy fire. Together, they have travelled across and below the surface of planet Sera, watching as their leadership make harder and harder decisions, resulting in the destruction of most of the human population through multiple events.

Space-nazis are a bitch: Killzone 3

Unlike Killzone 2, the third installment in the exclusive PS3 franchise does not in fact cause bouts of motion sickness and an inability to finish the game. Rock solid in its framerate, KZ 3 is a much-appreciated step in a more colorful direction, leaning away from the brown-grey design tropes that litter the FPS genre.

Picking up moments after the end of KZ 2, KZ 3 is the culmination of the story so far. A massive interstellar civil war between two factions of humanity, the ISA (good guys) and the Helghast (Nazi imagry embracing bad guys) has decimated both sides. The finale of KZ 2 (spoiler) literally ended in a bang, as the Helghast leader detonates a nuclear weapon, fully destroying one of their cities.

Grunts Sev and Rico find themselves driven to escape before the impending retribution while dealing with a military hierachy that doesn't appreciate their can-do rule breaking attitudes. Playing as Sev, KZ 3 jumps the narrative around in a six-month period, varying mission types from on-rails vehicle defense, to a Modern Warfare-esque stealth mission within a colorful and dangerous jungle. The controls are tight and precise, the visuals stunning and the narrative not entirely stupid.

Story nuggets are left untouched as Sev and Rico are reduced to guerilla fighting with dwindling supplies and men, small soliders in a bigger war. The character models are often indistiguishable from Gears of War, which is unfortunate, as the enviroment design has a much larger palette and scope.

At 8-9 hours, the campaign is fun, pushing the player forward through the scenario and rewarding use of the snappy controls. Easily the first FPS I've not struggled with on the PS3, KZ 3 follows closely the tropes of the military shooter genre, replete with soliders going AWOL, barked orders, and cinematic backstabbing.

The ending gave me pause. It involves destruction on an unfathomable scale, and seems unearned. Thrown at the player at the last moment, the game touches on a larger impact of the destruction but does not explore the ramifications, leaving both the player and the characters unresolved.

Killzone 3 is a massive improvement over 2, delivering on the original promise of Killzone 2 as a PS3 launch title.

Eat my testosterone

Gears of War 2 is the follow-up to the gorgeous, yet thinly plotted, spectacularly linear Gears of War and thus far, is exactly the same as the first, but up-sized. More enemies thrown at you, larger vehicles on larger rail sequences. And more Brumak, way more Brumak.

People often wonder why the Gears and Unreal games running the Unreal 3 engine all look better coming from Epic than virtually anyone else using the engine (a lawsuit is pending about this very issue). The answer is pretty simple a)they designed the damn thing b)they cheat.

By cheat, I mean in the traditional film jargon sense, as in "cheating" the camera over a few inches, or using forced-perspective. The idea is to cheat the eye into seeing something that really isn't there and Epic have always excelled at this.

By creating vistas that you can never actually explore and funneling gameplay down narrow path surround by the appearance of beauty, Epic games seem like they look better. They are simply better optimized for the gameplay, whereas a game like Mass Effect uses the engine to show vistas that you can actually walk up to. That makes the engine work harder and it doesn't have the sheen Gears does. It's smart design, if limiting, which seems to be Epic's trademark.

From the intial Unreal, Epic has thrilled with visual tricks and story ideas that never live up to the potential. Epic has become the new ID, with their games standing more as entertaining tech demos than immersive experiences. The story sessions seem to have been frat-boy keggers where Cliffy B continually asks "what's cooler than..", ie. "Hey what's cooler than a shitload. (beat) Ten shitloads."

That there is some fine writing Cliff.

What does appear to be true is that the games are not purchased for the single player experience, which is simply the gravy to the online experience of curbstomping your pals.

Thus far I am underwhelmed by the story, but the game mechanics are as compelling as ever

I play a hell of a lot of games it seems--

so I figured I would compile a list of the games I have played, beaten, loved and hated for this year. Please note, this does not necessarily mean games released this year as I have a tendency to walk away from games that frustrate me until the itch to play them starts again...


GAMES I HAVE BEATEN IN 2007 (for the first time)

Easily the best game I have beaten for pure entertainment value has been Bioshock. Despite a mediocre tacked on ending, this is the first game that for me has displayed the true potential of games as an artform. The painterly art direction combined with thematic depth and subtext of the story make this a true masterpiece, topped off with a real emotional punch.

The Darkness and Mass Effect also demonstrate the power of the next(current?) gen hardware when combined with real storytelling and a commitment to quality, especially in voice-acting. While Mass Effect delivers a ridiculous amount of value in its 25+ hours of gameplay it does suffer from tech issues, such as slowdowns and framerate drops. It is also not as revolutionary as hoped, with an overall feel of Knights of the Old Republic redux. The Darkness delivers top quality writing and performance with a story and delivers a real emotional gut punch early on. While it never again reaches that level of immersion, the graphics and gameplay are excellent.

God of War I & II deliver visceral intensity and pitch-perfect gameplay-the third in this series will be the only reason I buy a PS3 (to date)

VAMPIRE THE MASQUERADE:BLOODLINES is one of the rare FPS/RPG's works. Despite the game developer going under and the game being under-cooked at release, a thriving mod community has continued to patch and upgrade the game past the official releases. While the staples of RPG's (grinding, leveling up) are present, the content which explores a mature rating in the best possible way (i.e. not gratuitously) provides massive game play value and entertainment. Like many games of this type, (Mass Effect, Dark Messiah) the combat is nowhere near as tight as one would expect from an FPS/action game but not a deal breaker.

F.E.A.R-FPS action combined with Asian-horror scares makes for a good but short time. The A.I. in this game is unparalleled and even with the visuals scaled down for a low-end machine, it is extremely playable and looks good too. Repetitive level design drag down the imaginative story but the intensity of the action keeps the heart pumping.

GEARS OF WAR & HALO 3 led the action assault in the past 12 months on the Xbox360, each dropping in time for the holidays of 2006 & 2007 respectively. While I originally derided Gears for its repetitive "stop & pop" game play and paper thin story, in the end, the pure intensity of the combat and gorgeous visuals won me over. Halo 3's story is not only thin, but launches itself past ambiguity to incomprehensibility. It is still the perfect FPS for the xbox, with tight responsive controls and well-executed (pun intended) enemy A.I. The graphics are strangely variable from drop dead gorgeous to placeholder matte art that seems to have been missed. The finale (post credits) is a satisfying wrapup to the storyline (such as it is) and solidify the emotional resonance between the Master Chief and Cortana.

CALL OF DUTY 4 was a non-stop thrill-ride from start to finish, with stunning visuals, good (if not original)storytelling and even some resonance. It hides the linear aspect of the game with the intensity of the firefight, though the players squad often take on more than they should, leaving me less the leader of the fight than a follower. Fantastic game.

CRACKDOWN is one of the hidden gems of this year, a game many people only to access the Halo 3 beta unfotunately. Much like Hulk:Ultimate destruction, the open world aspect of the game is fantastic, as is the vertical play, with towering skylines to ascend. Grand Theft Superhero is the best description to apply, though I skipped the driving aspect entirely. A very entertaining way to spend some time shooting things and leaping from tall buildings.

Prince of Perisa:The Sands of Time: After finally reading the manual I figured out how to beat the elevating room sequence and then game....years later. A fantastic entry, improved upon by the second sequel The Two Thrones, which I still haven't beat. The Warrior Within was acquired recently and thought it is a much prettier game visually, it is not as good as the 1st nor the last.

When I have time I will post the games I am still playing, and those I played and ditched.

GEARS OF SNORE

"Gears of War" for the XBOX 360 has been the most highly anticipated 360
game for this holiday season. From EPIC, the makers of Unreal, and
boasting to have truly next gen graphics, Microsoft has positioned this
game as a killer app for this Christmas. It has garnered rave reviews
across the board for its visceral gameplay and astounding graphics.

And I just don't get it.

To put this in perspective, Gears is one of the few games I have managed
to play prior to reading any reviews (Half-life 2 is one as well) so
beyond pre-release hype I didn't really know what to expect from the
game. Almost any other game, including the fantastic but not
earth-shaking Splinter Cell Double Agent, I have made my renting or
buying decision based on reviews and my own personal tastes. Knowing
that the true cusp of next-gen hardware was at hand with this second
generation 360 game alongside the release of the PS3 and the WII I
wanted to see for myself what the big deal was about.

Now don't get me wrong, the graphics are beautiful, but it took until
the end of the first "act" of the game for me to be truly astounded.
Perhaps my expectations were too high, perhaps it's the lack of a high
def tv, or over a decade of staring at computer screens, playing games
at high resolutions that is the problem.

The gameplay itself is entertaining but I find it lacking in immersion.
I never feel I am part of the story, because there doesn't appear to be
one. Behind the flash and sizzle of the graphics, there is essentially a
duck and cover repetition to the game, wherein the onslaught of "smart"
enemies (who bellow out when they are vulnerable, most conveniently)
forces the player to duckwalk from cover to cover, popping up
frantically to fire back. While this forced used of cover is
interesting, but not entirely innovative, it is the cornerstone of the
gameplay. This, in and of itself, would not be a bad thing was there
anything else to hang one's hat on, but there isn't. Enemies spawn in
wave after wave, like FPS's of old (something both Quake 4 and Doom 3
were derided for), and meander back and forth in scripted patterns and
animations. Both FEAR and Half-life 2 on PC demonstrate the same kind of
linear run and gun gameplay, but with far more organic and reactive AI
enemies, leading to more immersive gameplay and greater tension.

Rather than an organic world that leverages the power of the 360 to its
hilt, this is an old-school shooter wrapped in a prettier package.