MACHINATIONS

Here is an interesting article about a designer´s tool for balancing game economies. Ernest Adams has written some good books and this tool (you can find it here) can be useful for data-heavy games...

... but honestly I think it´s not intuitive, requires some work to master and eventually it sounds easier to build a simple system in code rather than building these diagrams. Anyway, some people may find it useful. Enjoy!

MIRROR´S EDGE

God bless the Steam summer sales. You get great games for almost nothing. I bought 7 for around 30 euros altogether.

And as usual, any game I buy I try to finish it. First one has been Mirror´s Edge. I played the Xbox demo 4 years ago and although I liked the visual style it was too difficult so I passed. But in PC is easier, so I gave it a try.

Mixed feelings. On the plus side it´s visually unique, the controls become second nature relatively soon, you do have the feeling of being a parkour artist and often suffer vertigo when jumping from roof to roof. I always value when you try to make something different, and for the most part Mirror´s Edge achieve it.

On the minus side the story is weak and predictible, the supposedly oppressive city and subjugated citizens look extremely bright and optimistic and you miss some variation on gameplay, since it´s always jumping and more jumping. Some additional game modes would have been appreaciated as well.

I recommend the title (not so much the iOS version) as long as you like puzzles and platforming. Too bad EA announced that it was not planned to continue the IP, I suspect a sequel would be much better.

DUKE NUKEM: THE DOCTOR WHO CLONED ME

In a previous post I mentioned I had finished Duke Nukem Forever. Not a great game, but I dig the series humor.

Taking advantage of the Steam summer sales, I bought the expansion "The doctor who cloned me" and I recently finished it. Again mixed feelings: There are some fresh and enjoyable ideas regarding the Duke Nukem clone army that you fight, and some brilliant level design (like the portal-like scenarios where you need to pass the Duke Nukem tests) but again it´s often visually poor, and after you finish the doctor the plot totally changes in favor to another alien invasion which offers little to the game. I´m prone to suspect it was a group of levels who didn´t make it into the game, and later they were added to this DLC.

So once more, if you like the Duke Nukem persona or shooters in general I may recommend it, otherwise it´s not the game for you.

GESUNDHEIT!

Gensundheit is an iOS puzzle game. You control a tiny creature with the ability of throwing snot away. The objective of each level is to lure monsters into traps, and optionally collect some objects (stars) present on the scenario. Monsters are attracted to mucus, so you need to control their movements so they fall into traps. If they see you instead they´ll eat you alive.

Released by Konami, I downloaded it months ago due to some good reviews. The game is compelling and has a certain unique mix of moods: Comedy and kid´s nightmare. The basic ability works fine and there are a couple of interesting iterations along the game. Obtaining the 3 stars is really difficult in some levels, and the overall challenge is acceptable. Not many levels, though, but enough.

I seem to be attracted by mechanics based on controlling AI actors. I´ve not only created some designs about it (see The Friendmaker here)but also I like that in games. Interesting, isn´t it?

MAX PAYNE 3

A couple of weeks ago I finished Max Payne 3, a game I was eager to play. And frankly, it has been a little of a deception.

I remember playing the original Max Payne years ago. It was unique because of the use of bullet time, the cutscenes narrated as comic strips and the revenge-consumed main character. Updating the graphics and the gameplay sounded like a sweet deal to me.

But the game is disappointing in many aspects. At first the cutscene visual design is interesting, but it becomes repetitive quite fast, not to mention they are loooong as hell. I wouldn´t be surprised if one of the top shots of the studio got too much involved into the story and forced the experience to have so much time out of gameplay.

Next is the bullet time. Yes, it´s still there but the level design punish you for using it most of the time. At the end you´re encouraged to stay in cover all the time and shoot down enemies from there. That´s not Max Payne, dude.

The story itself is not necessarily bad, but I still feel a little disconnected with the new Max. He was consumed by hatred and now his motivations are more on the line of "it´s my duty to keep killing people" since he´s not really emotionally invested into the issues of the family he´s defending.

Several combat encounters are poorly design, without enough cover points, too many enemies and props which makes aiming really difficult. Also Rockstar´s trademark aiming reticule (far too small) makes it even more complicated. Additional game modes are just ok. They re-use the same levels from SP adding new challenges, and I didn´t have the chance to play MP so far.

On the plus side shooting enemies down is most of the time enjoyable, there are some interesting locations to play in and mission-unique gameplay moments which add compelling twists from time to time.

Anyway, unless you´re a hardcore fan of the character or Rockstar I personally don´t recommend the game. It´s right now rated in Metacritics with 86 points and I think it´s 4-5 points over its real value. Your call.

CUT THE ROPE

Last week I completed Cut the Rope on the iPad. Truth is I didn´t feel 100% motivated to finish it, but the playtime sessions are so short you can easily integrate them in most moments of your everyday life. That´s why is good for "momentos tontos" as we say in spanish (waiting times).

The gameplay is extremely well adapted to tactile devices (in most levels you just need to swipe once or twice on the screen) but there is always a mild challenge. It´s accessible for all audience types and the different gameplay iterations are properly introduced and exploited.

On the minus side you may say that the lack of story makes you feel demotivated to prolong playtime, and since it´s essentially a puzzle game if you get stuck on one level you can´t progress in the whole game which is a real problem.

Actually I feel we solve that problem in EcoFish allowing the user to play all levels from a chapter in the order they feel to. Too bad it´s not selling well...

BATMAN ARKHAM CITY LOCKDOWN

Last week I finished another iOS game: Batman Arkham City Lockdown. Loosely based on the characters and style created in Batman Arkham Asylum and Batman Arkham City, it´s essentially a fighting game. In every mission you´re supposed to defeat a number of thugs tapping and swiping on the screen at the appropriate time to counter-effect the enemies´ attacks.

The basic combat works most of the time (some of the tactile inputs are poorly recognized, leading to frustration) and the visuals are very good for the platform. However the game becomes quickly repetitive because of the lack of secondary challenges. No collectible items, no optional features to break the constant flow of brawling. Just fighting all the time. You can buy upgrades with the xp, but that´s all. Bosses include unique additional challenges, like aftertouch or cleaning up the screen, making me think why not using those mechanics in the rest of the game too.

It cost 5 euros, and frankly I expected a little more for that money. Not a bad investment since its gameplay is related to my current project, but still not the best purchase I´ve made in the app store.