Like Htman, Assassins creed
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
The Perfect Shooter
The shooters that inspired a gun-toting generation of games pros…
If it moves kill it. Sound advice, that. You’re about to delve into a series of dark, hostile worlds, where foes are numerous and friends are few. Best pack lots of health packs and… a fully loaded Fat Man Nuke Launcher!
The humble shooter has come a along way since the Nazi-killing days of Wolfenstein 3D. But the core gameplay remains pleasingly untouched: aim your gun and pull the trigger. Blast a hideous, mutated space-freak in the face and delight as its lifeless body spins gracefully in zero-g, pumping out globules of claret from its severed limbs. As glib as it sounds, shooting stuff is fun.
So then, what exactly makes the perfect shooter? We’ve tapped up some of the best writers and biggest names in the industry and asked them exactly that. Here’s what they said…
Resident Evil 4
“When it comes to third person shooters, Resi 4 reigns supreme. Not only is the gunplay zen-balanced and the armoury plentiful, but the intense horror aspects and variety ensures there are thrills around every corner. There’s still no finer feeling than lining up that red-dot sight of the handcannon and popping some skulls. Lovely stuff.”
Nathan Irvine, associate editor, GamesRadar
Gears of War
“The only shooter that makes me feel like a big walking tank made from a slab of impossible pantomime muscle and that arms me with a chainsaw and puts boots on my feet that can stomp heads into worm mush. That’s why I love it.”
Matt Cundy, UK editor, GamesRadar
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
“Being a console man, this is the only proper taste I’ve had of Battlefield’s unique brand of online, head-popping genius. But I’m hooked. Why? Unlike COD and its many clones, Battlefield asks you to work as part of a team – and rewards you for it. The classes are so well balanced and thought out, the game modes simple and effective, and it’s the team that pulls together and thinks before they shoot that inevitably wins. What’s not to like?”
Andy Hartup, associate editor, PSM3
Metro 2033
“Not the most technically refined FPS but I would consider it one of the bleakest and most atmospheric I’ve played for years. It portrayed the feeling of being a post-apocalyptic survivalist much better than Fallout and was filled with neat touches like your hand-held dynamo torch and oh-so-fragile gas mask. An interesting individual and massively overlooked title.”
Shaun Curnow, reviews editor, GamesMaster
Bioshock
“The prefect blending of atmosphere, storytelling and shooting wrapped up with a story twist that would make Hitchcock proud. Would you kindly go play it again?”
Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games
Doom
“I was a Marine going against the legions of Hell and it invented Deatmatch and birthed a genre.”
Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games (again)
Half-Life 2
“Still unbeaten in many ways for its pacing, variety and the seriousness with which it took its own world. Also: GRAVITY GUN!”
Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games (can’t make up his mind)
GoldenEye/Halo
“For showing the world that console shooters can be fun, accessible, and most importantly, highly controllable with analog sticks.”
Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games (will he ever shut up?)
Doom (vote 2)
“In terms of sheer number of hours invested in playing that game. It was also life-changing for me. Doom really converted me from one kind if gamer into an action gamer. I was more of a role-playing, adventure gamer. Wolfenstein was the catalyst, but Doom pushed it over the top. Doom changed everything in my world, and you can see my entire career’s been affected by that.”
Randy Pitchford, CEO and president of Gearbox Software
Prefect Dark
“I love its sheer malice. Sedating guards with a tranquiliser and then putting them to sleep with a lethal injection remains gaming’s cruellest takedown. Though unleashing the laptop gun on a platoon of brainless ‘meat sims’ comes close. An FPS lives and dies by its arsenal. Perfect Dark’s is the best.”
Mattew Castle, reviews editor, Ngamer
Duke Nukem 3D
“The best implementation of co-op, excellent action, scary like Doom, tons of monsters… and I love Duke’s character!”
John Romero, Wolfenstein impresario and co-founder of id Software
Quake 3 Arena
“It’s such a pure activity kind of game – more of a sport than a movie. For any player looking to test their skill, I think Quake 3 is the best there ever was.”
John Carmack, Daddy of Doom and co-founder of id Software
Far Cry
“Not the castrated console versions, mind. Played on a high end PC, Crytek’s sandbox vision swept me away on a tropical tide. Visually unparalleled, the sense of creative emancipation when deciding how to approach and accomplish objectives blew my mind, Crysis 2 may be mere months old, but this remains Crytek’s opus. And I haven’t even mentioned the Hang Glider!”
Rob Taylor, writer, GamesMaster
GoldenEye (vote 2)
“In its prime, nothing could touch it. Rare understood Bond, stealth and shooting, and they married it all to a sublime multiplayer, ahead of its time and still, in many ways, unmatched.”
Tim Weaver, editor, Xbox World 360
Quake 3 Arena (vote 2)
“Twelve years on, nobody has managed to nail online shooting quit as effectively as id. Q3A is multiplayer distilled into absolute purity, nothing but breathless speed and uniquely murderous weapons. Even today five minutes’ play leaves me wired and twitchy – it’s the gaming equivalent of a gallon of espresso.”
Jon Hicks, editor, Official Xbox 360
If it moves kill it. Sound advice, that. You’re about to delve into a series of dark, hostile worlds, where foes are numerous and friends are few. Best pack lots of health packs and… a fully loaded Fat Man Nuke Launcher!
The humble shooter has come a along way since the Nazi-killing days of Wolfenstein 3D. But the core gameplay remains pleasingly untouched: aim your gun and pull the trigger. Blast a hideous, mutated space-freak in the face and delight as its lifeless body spins gracefully in zero-g, pumping out globules of claret from its severed limbs. As glib as it sounds, shooting stuff is fun.
So then, what exactly makes the perfect shooter? We’ve tapped up some of the best writers and biggest names in the industry and asked them exactly that. Here’s what they said…
Resident Evil 4
“When it comes to third person shooters, Resi 4 reigns supreme. Not only is the gunplay zen-balanced and the armoury plentiful, but the intense horror aspects and variety ensures there are thrills around every corner. There’s still no finer feeling than lining up that red-dot sight of the handcannon and popping some skulls. Lovely stuff.”
Nathan Irvine, associate editor, GamesRadar
Gears of War
“The only shooter that makes me feel like a big walking tank made from a slab of impossible pantomime muscle and that arms me with a chainsaw and puts boots on my feet that can stomp heads into worm mush. That’s why I love it.”
Matt Cundy, UK editor, GamesRadar
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
“Being a console man, this is the only proper taste I’ve had of Battlefield’s unique brand of online, head-popping genius. But I’m hooked. Why? Unlike COD and its many clones, Battlefield asks you to work as part of a team – and rewards you for it. The classes are so well balanced and thought out, the game modes simple and effective, and it’s the team that pulls together and thinks before they shoot that inevitably wins. What’s not to like?”
Andy Hartup, associate editor, PSM3
Metro 2033
“Not the most technically refined FPS but I would consider it one of the bleakest and most atmospheric I’ve played for years. It portrayed the feeling of being a post-apocalyptic survivalist much better than Fallout and was filled with neat touches like your hand-held dynamo torch and oh-so-fragile gas mask. An interesting individual and massively overlooked title.”
Shaun Curnow, reviews editor, GamesMaster
Bioshock
“The prefect blending of atmosphere, storytelling and shooting wrapped up with a story twist that would make Hitchcock proud. Would you kindly go play it again?”
Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games
Doom
“I was a Marine going against the legions of Hell and it invented Deatmatch and birthed a genre.”
Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games (again)
Half-Life 2
“Still unbeaten in many ways for its pacing, variety and the seriousness with which it took its own world. Also: GRAVITY GUN!”
Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games (can’t make up his mind)
GoldenEye/Halo
“For showing the world that console shooters can be fun, accessible, and most importantly, highly controllable with analog sticks.”
Cliff Bleszinski, design director, Epic Games (will he ever shut up?)
Doom (vote 2)
“In terms of sheer number of hours invested in playing that game. It was also life-changing for me. Doom really converted me from one kind if gamer into an action gamer. I was more of a role-playing, adventure gamer. Wolfenstein was the catalyst, but Doom pushed it over the top. Doom changed everything in my world, and you can see my entire career’s been affected by that.”
Randy Pitchford, CEO and president of Gearbox Software
Prefect Dark
“I love its sheer malice. Sedating guards with a tranquiliser and then putting them to sleep with a lethal injection remains gaming’s cruellest takedown. Though unleashing the laptop gun on a platoon of brainless ‘meat sims’ comes close. An FPS lives and dies by its arsenal. Perfect Dark’s is the best.”
Mattew Castle, reviews editor, Ngamer
Duke Nukem 3D
“The best implementation of co-op, excellent action, scary like Doom, tons of monsters… and I love Duke’s character!”
John Romero, Wolfenstein impresario and co-founder of id Software
Quake 3 Arena
“It’s such a pure activity kind of game – more of a sport than a movie. For any player looking to test their skill, I think Quake 3 is the best there ever was.”
John Carmack, Daddy of Doom and co-founder of id Software
Far Cry
“Not the castrated console versions, mind. Played on a high end PC, Crytek’s sandbox vision swept me away on a tropical tide. Visually unparalleled, the sense of creative emancipation when deciding how to approach and accomplish objectives blew my mind, Crysis 2 may be mere months old, but this remains Crytek’s opus. And I haven’t even mentioned the Hang Glider!”
Rob Taylor, writer, GamesMaster
GoldenEye (vote 2)
“In its prime, nothing could touch it. Rare understood Bond, stealth and shooting, and they married it all to a sublime multiplayer, ahead of its time and still, in many ways, unmatched.”
Tim Weaver, editor, Xbox World 360
Quake 3 Arena (vote 2)
“Twelve years on, nobody has managed to nail online shooting quit as effectively as id. Q3A is multiplayer distilled into absolute purity, nothing but breathless speed and uniquely murderous weapons. Even today five minutes’ play leaves me wired and twitchy – it’s the gaming equivalent of a gallon of espresso.”
Jon Hicks, editor, Official Xbox 360
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
A Non Gamers Guide To Serious Gaming
Everyone has an opinion on The Godfather, but only gamers can tell you why Beyond Good & Evil is an essential purchase. But fret not, you too can blag game-savvy credentials with this handy ten point guide.
Non Gamers are a dying breed – a dusty antique from a bygone era. The Wii’s idiot-proof controller and gimmicky lifestyle peripherals suckered in a whole new demographic of gamers. Care homes across the country were kitted out with Miyamoto’s motion controlled console to help the elderly residents escape the crushing bleakness of their surroundings. Nintendo’s shrewd Blue Ocean Strategy helped them shift 86 million units and ushered in a new era of accessibility. Games for everyone! Huzzah!
But even in this brave new world there still exists a gaping chasm between this generation’s tech savvy youths and the parents who raised them. Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than when Essex boy Ryan Cleary was arrested on suspicion of masterminding a global computer hacking operation from his bedroom. “I thought he was playing computer games in his bedroom”, said Ryan’s bewildered mum as cops swooped on her extended bungalow in Wickford.
Now, let’s get one thing straight: this guide won’t help you thwart digital terrorism. What it will do is make you look less of a clueless tit in front of your mates. And that, of course, is by far the weightier issue. After you’ve read this guide you’ll be able to feign knowledge on the topics that gamer’s truly care about; everything from the dreaded Red Ring of Death to the uber-loony world of Katamari. Hell, it even explains why you should hate Gears of War’s game designer, Cliff Bleszinski. Yup, it’s all right here, in easily digestible fun-sized chunks…
RROD
How best to explain the gut wrenching nausea that strikes all Xbox 360 owners when the RROD strikes? Well, imagine how you’d feel if you woke up to discover your loyal mutt, Fido, bludgeoned to death at the foot of your bed. Now multiply that horror tenfold. You’re still not close.
The Wii U Reveal
Aka the biggest balls up of the decade. Even the tech savvy journos that comprised E3’s audience let out a collective ‘eh?’ after the Wii U was unveiled. The source of confusion was Nintendo’s barmy decision to show only the controller. The actual console was no where to be seen. In an attempt to placate the bewildered attendees, Satora Iwata hastily tweeted a pic of himself holding both the console and the controller. Incredible.
Cliff Blezinski
The Cliffster. Dude Huge. Good ol’ Cliffy B. The head honcho at Epic Games. Whatever you choose to call the irrepressible scamp, one thing is clear: he's a bit of a tit. You see, Clifford is far too busy fellating himself to notice what the world thinks of his smug, self-congratulatory posturing. We don't like it Cliff. Please stop.
Rage Quit
In the grand scheme of things, what is a kill/death ratio? It’s a small number contained within a game that only you and a couple of your mates really care about. In the grand scheme of things, it's the lint from the belly button of life. No one dies because their kill/death ratio (hoho) dropped by 0.4%. So don't be a total douche rag and rage quit out of a game because your stats might take a hit.
Spawn Camp
I know it's tempting to march up to your enemy's spawn and repeatedly kill them as they appear on the map. But don't do it. It's a dick move. What are you hoping to achieve by spawn-camping? Does it make you more attractive to the opposite sex? Will everyone applaud your gaming skills and offer to buy you a beer? No. People will think you're a cunt.
Duke Nukem
If it took a craftsman thirteen years to make a teapot, you'd expect that teapot to be the best darn teapot around. If, however, that teapot spat boiling water into your eyes every time you poured a cuppa, you'd be justified in your apoplectic rage. You'd demand a full refund and compensation for your scarred fizzog. And the craftsman responsible would be laughed out of the National Potters' Guild. Got that, gearbox?
Katamari Damacy
Crazier than The Priory at full capacity, Damacy’s success is a load of balls. Big sticky balls to be exact; or to give them their technical name, Katamari. The aim of the game? To roll your adhesive orb over every object in your path, thus creating a chaotic ball of bric-a-brac. Yup, it’s as mental as it sounds; more so when you factor in the high-octane Japanese-pop soundtrack.
Videogame Blogs
Everyone in the world writes their own gaming blog. Yes, even your dead gran has one. Thing is, 99.9% of them are shit. The remaining 0.1% have a combined readership of seven people. Competing against the likes of VG247, CVG, Eurogamer and Destructoid is a waste of time. So don't bother. Do something more constructive, like pissing into the wind.
Staggered Release Dates
Aka sloppy seconds. Forced to endure the squeals of delight as those around you prod and poke their brand new toy is surely a breach of human rights. Any element of surprise or novelty is tweeted into oblivion. You've completed the game before you've even played it. Not fun. Worldwide release dates need to be mandatory practice, on pain of death.
L.A. Noire
How can a game be excellent and shit at the same time? 'Tis indeed a mind bending paradox, but something that L.A Noire manages to achieve. The gurning, squinting, shifty looking characters that inhabit L.A. Noire’s world are excellent. The mechanics that drive the narrative are shit. Conclusion? Flawed yet fundamentally likeable, just like Detective Phelps.
Bonus: A Non Gamer's review of Ocarina 3D
Non Gamers are a dying breed – a dusty antique from a bygone era. The Wii’s idiot-proof controller and gimmicky lifestyle peripherals suckered in a whole new demographic of gamers. Care homes across the country were kitted out with Miyamoto’s motion controlled console to help the elderly residents escape the crushing bleakness of their surroundings. Nintendo’s shrewd Blue Ocean Strategy helped them shift 86 million units and ushered in a new era of accessibility. Games for everyone! Huzzah!
But even in this brave new world there still exists a gaping chasm between this generation’s tech savvy youths and the parents who raised them. Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than when Essex boy Ryan Cleary was arrested on suspicion of masterminding a global computer hacking operation from his bedroom. “I thought he was playing computer games in his bedroom”, said Ryan’s bewildered mum as cops swooped on her extended bungalow in Wickford.
Now, let’s get one thing straight: this guide won’t help you thwart digital terrorism. What it will do is make you look less of a clueless tit in front of your mates. And that, of course, is by far the weightier issue. After you’ve read this guide you’ll be able to feign knowledge on the topics that gamer’s truly care about; everything from the dreaded Red Ring of Death to the uber-loony world of Katamari. Hell, it even explains why you should hate Gears of War’s game designer, Cliff Bleszinski. Yup, it’s all right here, in easily digestible fun-sized chunks…
RROD
How best to explain the gut wrenching nausea that strikes all Xbox 360 owners when the RROD strikes? Well, imagine how you’d feel if you woke up to discover your loyal mutt, Fido, bludgeoned to death at the foot of your bed. Now multiply that horror tenfold. You’re still not close.
The Wii U Reveal
Aka the biggest balls up of the decade. Even the tech savvy journos that comprised E3’s audience let out a collective ‘eh?’ after the Wii U was unveiled. The source of confusion was Nintendo’s barmy decision to show only the controller. The actual console was no where to be seen. In an attempt to placate the bewildered attendees, Satora Iwata hastily tweeted a pic of himself holding both the console and the controller. Incredible.
Cliff Blezinski
The Cliffster. Dude Huge. Good ol’ Cliffy B. The head honcho at Epic Games. Whatever you choose to call the irrepressible scamp, one thing is clear: he's a bit of a tit. You see, Clifford is far too busy fellating himself to notice what the world thinks of his smug, self-congratulatory posturing. We don't like it Cliff. Please stop.
Rage Quit
In the grand scheme of things, what is a kill/death ratio? It’s a small number contained within a game that only you and a couple of your mates really care about. In the grand scheme of things, it's the lint from the belly button of life. No one dies because their kill/death ratio (hoho) dropped by 0.4%. So don't be a total douche rag and rage quit out of a game because your stats might take a hit.
Spawn Camp
I know it's tempting to march up to your enemy's spawn and repeatedly kill them as they appear on the map. But don't do it. It's a dick move. What are you hoping to achieve by spawn-camping? Does it make you more attractive to the opposite sex? Will everyone applaud your gaming skills and offer to buy you a beer? No. People will think you're a cunt.
Duke Nukem
If it took a craftsman thirteen years to make a teapot, you'd expect that teapot to be the best darn teapot around. If, however, that teapot spat boiling water into your eyes every time you poured a cuppa, you'd be justified in your apoplectic rage. You'd demand a full refund and compensation for your scarred fizzog. And the craftsman responsible would be laughed out of the National Potters' Guild. Got that, gearbox?
Katamari Damacy
Crazier than The Priory at full capacity, Damacy’s success is a load of balls. Big sticky balls to be exact; or to give them their technical name, Katamari. The aim of the game? To roll your adhesive orb over every object in your path, thus creating a chaotic ball of bric-a-brac. Yup, it’s as mental as it sounds; more so when you factor in the high-octane Japanese-pop soundtrack.
Videogame Blogs
Everyone in the world writes their own gaming blog. Yes, even your dead gran has one. Thing is, 99.9% of them are shit. The remaining 0.1% have a combined readership of seven people. Competing against the likes of VG247, CVG, Eurogamer and Destructoid is a waste of time. So don't bother. Do something more constructive, like pissing into the wind.
Staggered Release Dates
Aka sloppy seconds. Forced to endure the squeals of delight as those around you prod and poke their brand new toy is surely a breach of human rights. Any element of surprise or novelty is tweeted into oblivion. You've completed the game before you've even played it. Not fun. Worldwide release dates need to be mandatory practice, on pain of death.
L.A. Noire
How can a game be excellent and shit at the same time? 'Tis indeed a mind bending paradox, but something that L.A Noire manages to achieve. The gurning, squinting, shifty looking characters that inhabit L.A. Noire’s world are excellent. The mechanics that drive the narrative are shit. Conclusion? Flawed yet fundamentally likeable, just like Detective Phelps.
Bonus: A Non Gamer's review of Ocarina 3D
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
LulzSec
This quote, uttered by Ryan Cleary's bewildered mother as cops swooped on her extended bungalow in Wickford, demonstrates the gaping chasm that exists between this generation's tech savvy geeks and the parents who raised them.
For the uninitiated Ryan Cleary is the teenager who was arrested yesterday on suspicion of master minding a global computer hacking operation from his bedroom in Essex. The student is thought to be the leader of LulzSec - a group claiming responsibility for hacking into the databases of gaming giants Sony and Nintendo.
I can’t help but feel a perverse sense of pride that the ‘global cyber villain’ in question is a 19 year old lad from Essex. Looks like Britain really does have talent.
 |
| Ryan's Home in Wickford, Essex |
 | |
| Ryan has two computer monitors in his bedroom from where is alleged to have masterminded the cyber attacks. Note the two scantily clad women above his desk: the perfect muse for world domination. |
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| Ryan's mother, Rita (right), said her son rarely left his bedroom. 'He's a complete recluse, he would only come out of his room to use the bathroom'. |
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| Hacker group LulzSec brought down the website of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) |
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| LulzSec wasted no time in claiming responsibility for Monday's Soca attack on its Twitter page, see top right. |
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| On the offensive: LulzSec announced its operation to bring down high-profile websites on Twitter. |
Who are LulzSec?
Lulz Security's rise to prominence has been extraordinarily fast.
The hacking group first emerged in May and in the past few weeks has attacked the websites of some of the world's leading corporations and governments.
It is regularly abbreviated to LulzSec, which breaks down into two parts - Lulz refers to 'LOL' (laugh out loud), while Sec is short for security.
The group specialises in locating websites with poor security and then stealing information from them and posting it online.
The attacks do not appear to be financially motivated - instead, LulzSec seems content to receive international recognition for embarrassing some of the world's largest companies.
Not all the attention has been negative, either, as some cyber experts have praised LulzSec for exposing the inadequacy of online defences without maliciously exploiting these weaknesses.
The first LulzSec attack on record took place against the Fox.com website in late April - the hackers gained access to emails and passwords of hundreds of employees.
In a matter of weeks, the group has claimed responsibility for breaching the security of conglomerates including Nintendo, Sony, the NHS, the CIA and Soca.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
How To Spot A Non Gamer
On the surface, the Non Gamer looks like any other functioning member of society. But take a closer look. Concentrate on the eyes. You'll notice a distinct lack of humanity; a vacant, hollow stare. These empty husks, at some point in their lives, lost that mischievous spark of inspiration. Their childlike urge to explore, to touch, to play has been worn away by the grey calendar of existence.
Now look into a Gamer's eyes. That glistening black pupil is a gateway to a million different lives. The assassin within is sated when we sneak towards an unsuspecting foe and sink a sliver of cold steel into their neck (Assassin’s Creed). The borderline autism that compels us to collect and sort and classify is actively encouraged (Pokemon). Our inherent need to build things is given free reign with astonishing effect (Minecraft). Our lives are enriched by playing games.
Next time you’re on the train to work, surrounded by dead-eyed office drones, take comfort in the fact that in your pocket is a portal to Hyrule.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Bioshock Infinite Interview
Many new Ips aren’t successful, so why do you think that Bioshock was?
You know, if I knew the answer to that question I’d be a happier man than I am! Let me put it this way, when I was a screenwriter somebody said to me: “Ken, why don’t you write something more commercial?” and I said: “If I knew what that was, I would write it.” Because I never really know what’s commercial, it’s not really my thing. I just try to do what I think is cool. Sometimes that works out, and sometimes it doesn’t work out. I don’t think I missed any magic formula to make it successful though. I think the only thing you can do is put your heart into it and believe in it and love it, because if you don’t love it first, nobody else is going to love it. But we loved Bioshock very, very much.
 |
| "Good girls gather, gather..." |
Bioshock Infinite shares a name with the original, but what makes it a Bioshock game?
When we started working on this we tried to identify the elements that make a Bioshock game. There are two main elements that we came up with. One is that it’s set in a ridiculous and fantastic, over-the-top, but somehow still very grounded and believable world. You get to explore that world, and that’s a key part of the game.
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| An underwater "aerial" view of Rapture. |
The other element is that we offer a broad set of tools, and the player decides how he approaches the problems of the game with that toolset. Everything else we determined was secondary to that, to those two elements. When we had it, when we understood those things, that was very freeing because when we knew what made a Bioshock game, we could move forward working on Infinite, confident that it was a Bioshock game.
There’s a lot of politics and philosophy behind Bioshock, which gives it an intellectual weight. Do you think this is a good thing for games to do?
I don’t like to see myself as an arbiter of what other games should do because I like playing stupid games where you blow crap up. One of my favourite games of all time is Mercenaries – I love blowing stuff up! But as a developer, I don’t really think that’s the kind of game I’m good at making. So I think games need to be diverse, I think that’s a fairer thing to say, and the more diverse team we have, the better it is. That’s why we’re able to service more and more people. I remember the first time I showed my parents Bioshock. They’d seen all my games before, and honestly I don’t think they ever really understood what it was I did until they saw it, because they couldn’t really relate to a lot of that stuff. They’re not gamers. And I started thinking there was something in Bioshock that people who wouldn’t normally be interested in videogames took notice of. I think it’s a good thing if you can reach out to people, but I think it’s also important to make a game that hardcore gamers are going to want to play.
Would you say Bioshock is an FPS or an RPG?
I would say that it’s an FPS. Even when we were developing it, I think it had to work as an FPS, so I think I’ve always thought of it that way. I like working in first-person games particularly because I think that’s the best way to explore a world, because it’s the most intimate, most immediate.
So what are the biggest technical advances between Bioshock and Infinite?
We initially thought about doing the game in the technology we developed for Bioshock, and that we used in Bioshock 2 as well - but it became clear that wasn't going to work. We wanted you to be able to move very quickly around the space using the Skylines; that's a streaming challenge. When you're walking around in the first Bioshock, you can stream the content at a very comfortable rate. When you're going at 80 miles per hour in these Skylines that we have in Infinite, that becomes a much more challenging proposition. The moving cities, they become a moving platform. In Bioshock you'd encounter perhaps three or four guys at a time. Well in this game we want you to fight maybe 15 or 16 people at a time sometimes.
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| The Sky-Line is a mode of transportation throughout Columbia. It was originally created to be the city's main freight transport system, and was adapted for personal travel. |
The strong horror element to Bioshock, was one of its most compelling features. Columbia looks brighter, so are you going to achieve the same kind of feel?
I think that it's certainly obvious how you do horror, in a dark stormy night - the setting like we had in the first Bioshock. But we had quiet places too, because one thing we wanted to do is to make that Rapture was a beautiful place. People asked: "You're making all this beautiful art - how do you make this scary? So that was out challenge here. This time it was: "You have this city and it's sunny and it's beautiful, so how are you going to make that scary?" We just look at different references. One of my favourite horror movies is the Shining, which was quite fluorescent - it wasn't really dark at all. I'm not sure there's a dark scene in the entire movie. For me the scariest part of that movie is the scene with the little girls in the hallway. It's just terrifying! There a scene that I remember at the end of Carrie that scared the hell out of me and that was in bright sunlight. The opening of Blue Velvet where you see that ear lying in the grass - that severed ear. It's harder, but if you pull if off you'll have a much more unique space to stand in.
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| The iconic Shining twins, an unlikely source of inspiration for Infinite's scarier moments. |
Was the idea for Columbia one you had from the very beginning of the project?
The first idea we had was the time period. We were really drawn to the art style of that era. And then the next idea was the city in the sky because a lot of science fiction artwork from that era portrayed cities in the sky. That was their vision of where their future was going. The other reason is since that time was compelling, because the pace at which technology was changing at the turn of the century, nothing has been seen like it before. I think if it this way; in the last 20 years, the only huge, earth shattering technological innovation we've had is the internet. You go back then, you have electricity - in the same kind of time, the 20 years round the turn of the century, you have electricity, you have cars, you have aeroplanes, you have radios, you have movies, you have photographs. The electric light bulb. The telephone. All of those had the same scale of impact that the internet had. We've had one innovation in the last 20 years that's changed our lives - can you imagine how much their lives were changing then? - their heads were spinning. It was a fascinating time from a technology standpoint, and that made people think about the future. And I always thought if you asked someone back then if they though we might be living in the sky in ten years, they'd probably say: Yes, that sounds about right".
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| The name Columbia refers to the female personification of the United States used in various forms of patriotic symbolism in the 19th century. |
What are the ideological differences between Columbia and Rapture?
We've only talked about some of the ideology in Rapture, and that evolved from the initial founders, in that the city had very much the ideals of the founding fathers of America - you know of individual liberty, of rights that were granted, that were intrinsic in all mankind. Also the notions of individual initiative and industry that America was becoming so successful with. So what we wanted to explore, I think, was that if you show the same founding documents to different people they can walk away with two very different interpretations - or three people will have maybe three different interpretations of those documents, and that was a really interesting concept to me. I'll think you'll find in Columbia different groups with different points of view as to what it means to be an American. What those same set of principles and ideals mean, and I think people might differ so much of what those pieces of paper mean that they'll kill each other over it.
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| Columbia's xenophobic propoganda, which harks back to the dark days of not just Nazi Germany, but America's own history. |
How will choice and morality come into the game?
You know the Bioshock games are outside the reach of any kind of specific morality system. We're not talking about anything specific yet for Bioshock Infinite. But I think the game is about the setting - it's certainly set in a context of moral choice and moral systems. The questions are asked to start with, so the very nature of these worlds has a moral underpinning. So we're going to talk down the road about how specifically, game wise, we plan to do morality from a morality perspective. But I think from a story perspective you're obviously seeing a world that has a lot of conflict that would naturally come from being in that world. There's not one clear direction, although we've only shown one side and I think you're going to find, the same way that people were both drawn to and repulsed by Andrew Ryan, you're going to find some of the same feelings here of not being entirely certain how you feel about the various players in this world.
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| Infinite's take on morality will prove a more complex affair than simply chosing to 'rescue' or 'harvest' a little sister. |
Who is Booker Dewitt then and how would you describe him?
Booker is a former Pinkerton agent. The Pinkertons were one the first private security forms, and he was thrown out for being a little too rough - even for the Pinkertons. He's sort of a disgrace, but he's known as a guy who gets things done, and sometimes if you want something that's not particularly savoury or legal to get done, he's the guy you might turn to. He's approached by this man, this mysterious figure, who needs this woman, Elizabeth, recovered for him. So booker asks a few questions and it turns out this woman is in Columbia, this floating city that has disappeared from the radar. Nobody knows where it is anymore. Of course everybody knew about it when it was first created. Booker is the man that seems like a natural choice to find it. If you have a mysterious mission and need someone's who's not afraid to get his hands dirty, Booker is the kind of guy you turn to.
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| Just who is Booker DeWitt? Unlike the other BioShock protagonist characters, DeWitt has his own identity, and the player is aware of it from the start. |
The girl will obviously add something to the gameplay. Can you tell me a bit about how she'll interact with the player?
Elizabeth has a bunch of roles in the game. We've closely looked at the history of companion characters from a range of games, and I think there's mixed degrees of success. We've looked at all those examples and thought very carefully about how to do that right. There are several principles that we've set out for ourselves. One was that Elizabeth should never be somebody who will die if you don't look after her. That's never fun. A full-game escort mission is not a fun concept. She can tale care of herself, which she does. Another place we've seen companion characters fail is when the character can run the game for you. I've seen videos recently of a game where it can pretty much play itself, and that's the last thing we want. So Elizabeth offers opportunities to you, and if you've seen the gameplay demo you can see that she offers up these huge, dynamic opportunities - but you don't have to take them.
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| Elizabeth is a twenty-year old woman who has been imprisoned in Columbia since she was five years old. |
In the gameplay demo we put out there's a sequence where she weakens a bridge for you, and there's an enemy on the bridge - a very powerful enemy - and you can either take the opportunity she gave you to destroy the bridge using one of your powers or one of your weapons, or you can fight the creature entirely on your own and ignore the opportunities that Elizabeth has presented to you. There’s also going to be more systemic and more emergent things she does which we haven’t talked about yet, but which we’ll announce a little further down the road. Sort of dynamically generating an opportunity that she’s going to give you, Also she’s the centre of the story, she’s the reason you’re in the city, she’s the person you’re trying to get out, and she’s the centre – as it turns out – of this entire conflict that’s tearing the city apart.
Can you tell me about how customisation is going to be expanded in Infinite?
One thing we realised in Bioshock was that we thought there were two problems with the character growth system. One is that we didn’t there were enough items to grow. There weren’t enough moments of growth, there weren’t enough things to grow with, and they weren’t lethal enough. And another thing was that none of the choices you made had any kind of permanence, and I think we missed an opportunity there. I think it’s one of the reasons there’s some perception – and I think that it’s a legitimate perception – that the player’s personal choice is irrelevant, because it didn’t ultimately have a lot of meaning, because you could completely undo all those choices at the next station. So I think we want to sort of walk a middle line there. We want to both give some flexibility to the player, but we also want to say: “Hey, there’s a hard choice for you to make, so what kind of tactical choice are you going to make here? And you’re going to live with those choices: you live with them for the whole game, and I think that’s really important and we missed an opportunity in the original game. I think it might have been left on the table. Add to this the broad number of ways you’re going to be able to grow, the number of weapons, the number of powers, the number of passive powers, the number of ways you can tweak your character is going to be substantially greater than in the previous Bioshock game.
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| Murder of Crows is the name of a Vigor in Bioshock Infinite that gives you control over groups of crows. |
I notice that Elizabeth is extremely powerful, but she often seems to look tired after using her powers. Is this a way to make sure that the player doesn’t abuse her powers and just smash their way through the game?
There are a couple of good points there. Obviously we want to make it clear that Elizabeth is incredibly powerful, but she’s not arbitrarily powerful. There are certain times the world presents opportunities to Elizabeth she can exploit. She can’t arbitrarily decide I’m going to do X, Y or Z. There has to be this facility – and we’ll talk more about this later in the story stuff – but the world itself has some say in what Elizabeth can and can’t do, and what the opportunities are. But even when the opportunity is presented to Elizabeth, the effort that she has to take to exploit that opportunity is incredibly draining on her. I think one of the most important things about Bioshock games is that, if you’re some kind of superhero, the hero is fairly grounded and has some pretty human foibles and limitations – and we want to show that in Elizabeth too. Despite her having all the godlike powers, she gets hurt. It’s painful for her to use those powers, and we want to get these ideas across. We really want to create the feeling that you and Elizabeth are going through this experience together, and that you’re making sacrifices for each other.
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| Elizabeth bleeding from heavy use of her abilities. |
You’ve talked about how Booker won’t get mission objectives dished out on his ear, and how you’ll act more dynamically. Can you give me any other examples of how progression has changed?
I don’t think we’ll have any radios in the ear in this game or anything like that, and it’s something I didn’t want to rely upon in the same way I relied upon it in Bioshock. Since then people have picked that notion up, and it’s very, very common now. So I wanted to move away from that, and while we were thinking about ways to do that, something occurred to us, which was giving Booker a voice of his own, I’d done this previously in a game I’d worked on called Thief. The main character in that game had a real voice, and he could interpret the situation around him, comment on what was happening in his world, and he could drive the action to some degree. He could say: “Oh here’s something I think I should do.”
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| Booker DeWitt is the protagonist of Bioshock Infinite, who you control throughout the game. Through his vocalization, you come to understand DeWitt's past experience and his ability to make decisions for himself. |
That’s been very freeing as we work on Bioshock Infinite, it’s been like: “oh, wait a minute. Why doesn’t Brooker just say this, why doesn’t Brooker comment on this, why doesn’t Brooker comment on that?” In Bioshock it just wasn’t possible that much because Jack was the cipher. We tried to leverage that fact, to exploit that he was the cipher in the storyline. It was sort of a limitation to some degree and we tried to make it to our advantage, but we really want to rely upon this a lot more now. We want to push Booker into the forefront of the character you want to be playing as, but that’s challenging in FPS games. I think you have like a Master Chief or Gordon Freeman, you can have a lot of people speaking about those characters whenever they meet them. “Oh it’s Gordon Freeman! It’s Master Chief! There he is, I can’t believe I’m seeing him!” But I think we have an opportunity to do both that, but also to bring a voice to the character and say: “Here’s what I think I should do next.” And Elizabeth as well, of coursed
There’s a scene in the bar where not everybody immediately attacks you. So you’re not the focal point of everybody’s attention in Bioshock Infinite?
You know the first innovation I got? I was fortunate enough to work at an earlier time in the industry. Back when I was working on Thief, which was with the great Doug Church (Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Tomb Raider: Legend), one of the first important guiding principles ha had on Thief was that he wanted a new way of showing who you could see, and who could see you but not immediately attack you. You know how in System Shock you’d have the guard say: “Hey is there somebody there?” because he’s not quite sure how he saw you. At the time, I was thinking: “Why has no-one done this before? Why have I not seen this in any other games?”. And so it occurred to us as we were working through, that we should try this with Infinite. The things that we love best from Bioshock are those moments where you observe these people doing their craziness – you know, the woman with the baby carriage, and the Big Daddy and the Little Sister walking around interacting with each other.
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| The citizens of Columbia are not going to give you a warm welcome. |
One of the problems here was that with the Big Daddy and Little Sister as soon as anybody saw you they’d immediately attack you, so we thought, why don’t we have people going about their normal daily business in the city. I’m not really interested in saying here’s their schedule during the day. No. I wanted the player to follow them when they were doing something in sync. I wanted the player to catch them when we can really determine what’s going on at that moment… the craziest moments I can create. But why do they always have to attack the player right away? Maybe we should try to capture that feeling we had in the bar in some Western, when the lead character walks into the bar and comes into a potentially violent situation, and the question is: What’s going to happen here? Is this going to get ugly? What’s going to set these people off, if anything?”
The Skylines are quite a big focus of the gameplay demo. Are the intended to be the equivalent of the bathyspheres, or will they be more integrated into each area of the world? Can you use them to move around?
They could not be more different to the bathyspheres. Not only are they more than just a method for getting from one level to another like the bathyspheres were; not only are they more than just like the rail lines you see in a Ratchet and Clank game, where you’re just moving from one zone in a level to another – these are combat experiences primarily. They’re about… we’re actually working on them right now. I’ve been having meetings about it, every day, on the first kind of big Skyline battle that we’re working on finishing. And it really is this incredibly vertical combat experience. I always think of it as like being in the sky and you have a roller coaster stacked on top of a roller coaster stacked on top of a roller coaster, and you can jump from one level to another, and you’ve got guns. And the guys on the roller coaster with you also have guns. That’s what the experience is like.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
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