video games

God of War 3

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The following fact should be perfectly clear if you’ve ever read any interview I’ve ever done or even know anything about me in general, but I will reiterate it anyway: I love God of War.  It is basically my favorite game series of all times (yes, all times, plural; it’s my favorite in the Bronze Age, the Roman Empire and the Crusades in addition to today’s age).  Upon reading this, you might think me possessing unnatural feelings for this game and its bald, blood-soaked protagonist, Kratos.  Let me assure you that all feelings for Kratos are irrelevant, as he responds to all affection with MURDER.

I say this for the following reason: no matter what I feel, what I think or how I may dream of one day killing someone through a quick-time event minigame, this game kicks exactly seven different kinds of ass (Australian, American, European, Incan, Martian, Smithsonian and the ass of some dude named Dennis).

Keeping in mind these disturbing and awkward confessions, let us go kidney-deep into this game…

Some of you may not know the story of the game, since God of War I and II came out in that black era of JRPGs and one-testicled fighters known as the age of PS2, so let me enlighten you.

This is Kratos.

Kratos is not a happy man.

Kratos was never a happy man.

Kratos pretty much does what he’s doing to Helios there, except to everyone. He did it to the former deity of war: Ares.  He did it to the former deity of wisdom: Athena.  And now, having slaughtered close to a fourth of the Greek pantheon, he has returned, riding atop the backs of the formerly imprisoned Titans, to finish the rest of them off, climbing Mount Olympus to kill vengeful Zeus and eviscerate, decapitate, decimate, annihilate and sometimes masticate all of the mythical Chimeras, Minotaurs, Gorgons and Cerberi standing in his way.

The single word that would summarize this game is epic. There is absolutely nothing about this game that isn’t cranked up to 11, graphics or content-wise.  From the great, primordial Titans that carry Kratos to face the Gods, brimming with their own heavenly fury, everything about this game is completely balls-off-the-wall.

Recently, I’ve begun using my own style of scoring for any kind of book, video game or movie I see.  And that is how many times it manages to make me guffaw like an overstimulated buffoon, cackle like a hyena at a frat party or squeal like a little girl seeing a pale, pasty Briton.  Basically, the stupider I look playing a game, the better it is.

Approximately two minutes into God of War 3, I probably resembled a drooling, gibbering mandrill and it only got worse from there.

The combat is superb.  God of War has always been a pioneer of combat, striking a perfect balance between easy-to-use controls and the challenge of mastering the delicate ebb and flow of a fight.  You can’t simply go mashing a button and winning all your fights.  You need to feel the fight.  You have to keep an eye on the Centaur in front of you, wondering when he’s going to charge you, while simultaneously fending off the vicious blows of his undead soldiers.  Add into this watching the skies for a vengeful sun god and you basically have something that is gory, violent and oddly beautiful, like a clockwork ballerina: everything moving in gorgeous, utter harmony as she gingerly wraps the twisting gears of her thighs around peoples’ necks and watches the skin bunch up, fold and split in the mechanism.

The beauty of the fights are only compounded by the graphics.  God of War is known for pushing the limits of a system’s visuals and God of War 3 continues this trend, not so much pushing the limits as smashing off a piece and using it to shatter the rest into pulverized dust.  That is to say, it’s very, very beautiful and…lordy, it’s like lovemaking.  You can’t describe it.  You must experience it.

Gorgeous, vastly elaborate environments, and the puzzles so greatly worked into them, are also an object of renown in God of War games and the third installment continues its new tradition of smashing this old tradition into dust.  The puzzles are fantastic, delicately woven into the environment so that they don’t feel so much as there just to inconvenience you as they are a natural part of the area.  Admittedly, if I have one criticism about this game, it’s that the head-scratchers might have been toned down from the previous installments, as there weren’t any real moments that caused me more than a few minutes’ pause (compared to God of War 2’s almost conspiratorially frustrating Phoenix Chamber), but overall, I think this is the best choice, as it means the action never once slows down.

Basically, the message is that this game not only succeeds, but succeeds to a phenomenal degree, at nearly everything it does: gameplay, graphics, puzzles, combat, design, monsters, soundtrack (beautiful orchestra done by Gerard Marino, Ron Fish and Cris Velasco).  I mean, hell, the depiction of Kratos himself is almost a work of art with the level of detail put into him.

It’s one of those games where the biggest flaw you can think of is that it eventually ends.

This is a game that has has a few people lamenting the lack of a PS3.  Is it worth the price of one alone?  Eh, possibly not.  Though, if you have your eye on any other PS3-exclusives, like Uncharted 2, then this one should be on your list, as well.

And if you have a PS3 and don’t own this game?  You are automatically worse than Hitler.  Yes, I know I just violated Godwin’s Law.  It’s that good a game.

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Let’s Talk Video Games

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It’s probably not too hard to believe that a lot of authors are also avid video gamers. Why, Richard Morgan has recently been hired to write plots for video games with (I think) EA? Someday, I, too, may ascend to such a lofty position. For the moment, though, I must be content to merely play them and talk about them.

I suspect, too, that if you’re interested in my book, you might also be a fan of video games. To that end, you might find this post, detailing the best of 2009 and the most anticipated of 2010 to be handy.

Without further ado…

God of War Collection

I’m using Amazon for this because I can’t find a homepage. Anyway, it may come as a less than shocking confirmation or a horrific surprise that I am a colossal God of War fan. I played both obsessively on the PS2 and, on the PS3, my lust for blood and quicktime events has been rekindled (largely because my PS2 died ages ago).

The gist of the game(s) is as follows: Kratos is a man who is not nice. He sold his soul to Ares, the ancient Greek god of war, in exchange for power. When he decided that this was too much to pay, he went on a rampage across Greece, slaughtering minotaurs, gorgons, skeletons and basically everything out of Clash of the Titans. In God of War 2, he decided that it wasn’t the best idea to stop with Ares and swiftly declared war on the rest of the Pantheon.

What I really love about this game, beyond the fact that you can headbutt a minotaur, drive a pair of blades in his open mouth and rip his jaws apart, is the sheer lack of apology and bravado with which Kratos is depicted as a warrior. Yes, he rips off heads. Yes, he rips the eyeballs out of cyclopes. Yes, he impales giant hydra. But that’s just what he does.

Did you never play God of War? You might wonder if you are a bad person for not doing so. It’s not up to me to pass judgment (but yes, you are awful, play it now).

Dragon Age: Origins

Bioware is a company renowned for awesome RPGs, most of which involving wizards, goblins and the occasional cameo by a Forgotten Realms character. If you played Mass Effect, you’re probably aware that they’ve moved onto somewhat more original and independent project. DA:O is their second project, returning to traditional fantasy roots.

It’s labeled a “dark fantasy,” and the most I can guess is that this means “there is a lot of blood and some of your group members are a-holes.” There’s a lot of the old fantasy tropes: elves, mages, dwarves, orcs. But they’re done in a very interesting way: elves are second-rate citizens or angry xenophobes, mages are dangerous thrill-seekers, dwarves are underground Hindus, orcs are called something else entirely are born FROM A FOUR-BREASTED ABOMINATION WITH TENTACLES.

It’s quite fun, all in all. The story is a little predictable (tell me if you can’t spot the treasons coming), but that’s not a bad thing, necessarily. The writing and dialogue is top-notch and the combat is very fun, being both great for those who enjoy a seat-of-the-pants playstyle and those who prefer a more tactical approach.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

This is easily my choice for Game of the Year. I can’t say enough good things about this game (and this is coming from a man who knows next to nothing about the Batman universe).

The best thing I can say about it is that this is the only game I’ve seen in awhile that actually invents and brings together an entirely new style of gameplay, namely, predatory. Stealth games aren’t new at all, it’s true, but to call AA a stealth gameplay would be an understatement that would probably make me deck you. The sheer variety of tools, techniques and abilities with which you have to hunt and take down your enemies is mind-boggling. You have a lot of great methods, it’s true, but none are so powerful that they overrule the use of others or make the situations any less tense. The fast, fluid combat is just a bonus on top of that.

Probably my favorite part, though, is the incredible atmosphere. I used to think of Batman’s villains as being largely cartoonish caricatures of criminals. It took this game to drive home the fact that the Joker, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy are dangerous psychopaths who would kill you for reasons you can’t even fathom. Add to this a decaying, overrun insane asylum with the same kind of tense, macabre wonderland feel that I felt in Bioshock and this game is tops.

I really can’t recommend it enough. It is basically the only game I’ve ever played that made me sad to finish. You’re doing yourself a huge disservice if you’re not at least trying this game.

Most Anticipated for 2010

God of War 3

In fact, it is possible for God of War to be even better! You have to add the ability to ride a maimed cyclops through a horde of enemies and the pure fun of grabbing a guy by his guts and using him like a battering ram to bowl over your foes, but it can be done. Look for it in March.

Dante’s Inferno

This game has proven quite controversial. No, not because of Visceral’s attempts to generate publicity by staging fake protests by Christian groups. Rather, it’s the fact that they’ve made a video game of the Divine Comedy in which the poetic observer is replaced by a blood-crazed, morally curious crusader with a giant scythe and a fireball crucifix and are expecting to be taken seriously. I just finished the demo and, for all respects, the gameplay is exactly like God of War. But the style is completely slick (I have a great passion for Renaissance depictions of hell) and God of War had shit hot gameplay, so I’ll be giving this one a gander in February.

Darksiders

To be honest, I was severely on the fence about this. The style doesn’t entirely jive with me (fire and brimstone demons are a bit passe, as far as I’m concerned) and there’s only so much God of War-esque gameplay I can take. Recent developments have suggested it’s more akin to a darker, apocalyptic Legend of Zelda than anything else, though. Given that I love the Zelda games and I also love ripping zombies apart, I think this January release will be worth a look or two.

That’s that! I hope you find these suggestions useful!

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Dragon Age! Dragon Book!

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Pow!

It’s far beyond the capabilities of my feeble attention span to note how well a book is doing in sales, but I’m assuming The Dragon Book is doing well. It got quite a nice review from our friends at The Book Smugglers. Those ladies know what they’re talking about, sirs and madames. Perhaps you should give it a try based on that?

Further, check out their review of Humane Killer by yours truly and some other author. “Weirdest characters ever?” Fwah!

Now, on to the serious matter of video games.

Everyone who’s going to has probably picked up Dragon Age: Origins by now, yes? If not, I’d wholly recommend it. It’s a Bioware game, closer to classics such as Baldur’s Gate than newer ones such as Mass Effect (but that was a good’un, too). Thus far, it’s been quite appealing.

In a market where characterization is basically boiled down to dimwits who believe everything they’re told, this game is pretty refreshing for the sheer amount of personality in characters. Further, it’s a “dark,” “mature” (and dare I suggest…gritty?) game, so the characters are varying amounts of sarcasm, cynicism, lust and vulnerability. Quite good. As controls go, it’s standard Bioware target and stab until dead (though I’m told shit gets real later).

My sole grievance thus far is…who the hell was in charge of designing the schemers and traitors? The whole point of being a traitor is that no one knows you’re helping the enemy until it’s too late. Yet we see people with sunken eyes, cold metal armor and greasy black hair and we’re supposed to think this guy is on our side? I think the most insulting part thus far has been a traitor with a hook nose, whiny voice, shady story, voiced by TIM GOD DAMN CURRY. When has he ever played a good guy!?

I’m not at all suggesting that there can’t be traitors or turncoats in a story (in fact, they usually make it better), but I find it slightly unbelievable that they can’t figure out how to dress by this point. Protip to anyone wanting to become a traitor in a fantasy story: dress in bright colors, get a tan, bathe every day, say lots of inspiring things.

No one will ever see it coming.

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