INFINITY BLADE

Just finished Infinity Blade (iOS). Such an intelligent design! I first knew about it 2 years ago while working at Digital Legends, tried and hated it since I didn't play the tutorial. But some months ago it became free for one day and I decided to give it a try since so many people praised it.

And they were right! It's one of the smartest designs I've seen in years. As far as I know it was conceived to showcase the Unreal engine's possibilities for mobile devices, and it certainly does. First of all the controls are extremely well adapted to the touch screen. The whole combat system relies on it (dodge enemy attacks, depending on how many you perform the enemy will be more or less open to sword swings - Once again performed through tactile input).

But once again the main focus seemed to be the visuala. They wanted to show impressive characters and scenarios, but since the iPhone has a good number of limitations, they adapted the design to it: The number of enemy characters is limited, and they all share pretty much the same animation sets. Camera always focus on them so scenarios don't need to be super-detailed (only in the go-between cutscenes) and actually the list is not particularly impressive. But they conceived the game to be replayed over and over based on a final challenge which is the real hanger.

You start the game confronting the final boss, who's actually the tutorial level. He kicks your ass bad (he's lvl 50) and forces you to replay the game over and over, always fighting the same boss and always being defeated. However in the process you level your character and get better gear, making every attempt a little closer to success.

There is an intelligent microtransaction system, allowing you to ease the process and get faster to better equipment. I took me 7 lineages (playthroughs) to beat the boss, at lvl 22. Should have been possible earlier, I suspect. On the minus side the game can become repetitive unless you're 'hooked' with the challenge, and there is no story of any kind.

Anyway, I recommend it for all type of players (maybe a little more for hardcores) and particularly anybody interested in videogame design. A great example of adapting the design of the final project goals, and making something really entertaining.

MOTORSTORM APOCALYPSE

Thanks to God of War: Ascension I got a one month pass for Playstation Plus. That service offers a limited number of old titles for free (as long as your subscription is active). I've played Ico & Shadow of the Colossus, which I hadn't since the PS2 days, and also finished Motorstorm Apocalypse.

I've never been a fan of racing games, and this is the only game I've completed of this genre as far as I know. It's reasonably accessible (although I had multiple collision problems in the tracks), provides a short-term experience you can adapt to your needs and the controls feel appropriate. The MP still works fine but considering the time it's been in the market other users still playing are far too hardcore for me. It has a good vehicle variety and interesting tracks, based on the unique selling point of the title: The whole scenario is collapsing around you while you race, altering the route on the fly.

On the minus side there is no story nor incentive to progress aside from achievements, customization options are limited to MP, some tracks are not properly balanced and the AI ocassionally performs oddly.

But hey, it's definitively a good game. If you like racing ones I highly recommend it.

THE WALKING DEAD

Yesterday I finished The Walking Dead, the videogame released episodically. I decided to buy it months ago due to the good reviews and a Steam offer, and I don't regret it at all. In terms in storytelling is the most compelling game I´ve played so far, if memory serves.

This leads me to think about a common mistake within the videogame industry: Most people praise games as good in storytelling because they look and feel like movies (i.e. Uncharted). But we often forget stories are about creating feelings. And although you certainly feel the thrill on Nathan Drake´s adventures, it´s generally because of the level design challenges not because he's betrayed by another character (they do a lot, Nathan should really start checking out his acquaintance's intentions beforehand).

Truth is The Walking Dead often navigates between the shores of interactivity and CGI movies. The gameplay pivots around a limit number of scenarios: Environmental puzzles (grab this and use it there, generally super-simple), dialogue puzzles (talk to X team members to unlock the next scene), pure QTEs of button smashing (generally Q+E) and occasional shooting galleries really limited in time. That´s really it. The rest is dialogues, character build-ups and some decisions to be made (sometimes deciding who lives and who dies) that at the end of the day are not really meaningful since the story will continue just the same only with different actors.

But the strength is on the characters. The relationship between Lee and Clementine, and how you feel compelled to protect her is superb. She´s not one of those stupid kids from Spielberg movies who always screw it up but you're supposed to forgive them because they're lovable. These are all stories about survivors and how they struggle to stay alive in a world dominated by zombies. And by god those are tragic stories. Most of the characters die one way or another.

On the minus side, animations often betray the overall result with lack of sync or simply being poor. But you generally forgive the game since the rest is well balanced and interesting.

So if you're interested in well-crafted stories in a videogame, I strongly recommend to give a try to at least the first episode. I suspect you won´t regret it.

XCOM ENEMY UNKNOWN

I got XCOM Enemy Unknown for free (thanks to the Bioshock Infinite pre-order offer) and gave it a try one night... and couldn´t stop playing.

Funny thing is, the basic gameplay seems to have been directly copied from the original XCOM from 1994. I played it for a while but I remember it was extremely punishing and couldn´t finish it. This reboot is practically the same, although with better graphics. Still I had to try 3 times to make it till the end. The golden path of the game is really narrow, and if you don´t make the proper calls early at the beginning you´ll be screwed the rest of the game.

But the playability works incredibly well. Each combat scenario takes 30-40 min to be completed, allowing to adapt your playtime to any personal circumstance. You´ve got plenty of options to customize your base and squad members, and during combat you've got a semi-random element whenever you shoot at an alien that always makes you wonder if you´ll be lucky or not. I admit I played with the saving system (whenever I failed a mission I´d reload the save) so my soldiers would achieve the highest rank as soon as possible. Otherwise the game was too punishing.

Anyway, I strongly recommend it. Although there are plenty of animation / camera bugs, and sometimes the shot success / fail calculations are inappropriate, the overall result is amazingly engaging, the story serves its purpose nicely and the gameplay works like a charm.

BIOSHOCK INFINITE

I should probably start saying I´m a fan of the previous Bioshocks. They master the concept of environmental storytelling, there is constant flow of creativity on the setup and the characters, and the mechanics are well adapted to the scenario, making it shine even more.

It was a no brainer I'd play Bioshock Infinite, and I gotta say it´s a great game. In the first 2-3 hours you´re introduced to the shiny new world of Columbia, and start experience the multiple contradictions of that society. The game systems are pretty much inherited from Bioshock, which creates a certain feeling of 'Yeah, a city in the clouds but this reminds me to Rapture too much'.

But then you meet Elizabeth, and the empathy you feel for that young girl is really powerful. The rest of the game you´re pretty much lead by her through the story. I generally have to make pauses every 2 hours to not be saturated by the game, but in this case I almost devoured it until the end.

And about the end... I don´t want to spoil it but I gotta say it´s really unique. Yeah, really unique. Send me a message if you fancy to talk about it ;)

ECOFISH PSM REVIEW

In case you don´t know, EcoFish was also released on the PSP Mini marketplace. Here you can find a review:

http://www.pspminis.com/10915/ecofish-review-qix-me-baby-one-more-time/

The level design (one of the things I made for the game) seems to be well perceived ;)

BLACK MESA / HALF LIFE

Truth is I never finished Half Life. I played it but I found it boring half way through, and abandoned it. Or maybe it was one of those puzzles which forces you to go back and forth, and internet walkthroughs weren´t that popular at that time... Can´t remember.

Thing is, I never finished the game. But I´ve played Half Life 2 like three times, so it was about time. And Black Mesa was released. It´s a mod which rebuilds HL on the latest Source engine, so it´s prettier (although I generally don´t care much about graphics) and free! I downloaded it and played along some months, until this week I finished it.

It´s a great game. It pioneered the concept of ingame cinematics, and has a superb implementation of scaling the mechanics. Some of them worked just fine (team mates, puzzles involving running around through the whole complex, a weird jump control) but others are simply great (enemies, pacing, storytelling, crescendo events, multiple systems all reasonably well implemented, scenario variations...)

So I recommend to give it a try. I think it has been nominated to a number of 'Mod of the year' awards and it´s really entertaining if you are a little pacience. I will never forget the initial interactive cutscene. And I´ll send a donation to the guys who built it, they totally deserve it.