Friday, October 9, 2015
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Vester Flanagan - Lost in the dark
Virginia; Disgruntled former anchor man; Vester Flanagan gunned down 2 people who worked for the station he was fired from, and left someone else fighting for their life in a local hospital. Flanagan claimed that racism was the issue for his rampage.
'Racism'. Here we go again. Listen; Vester Flanagan never represented any group other than the one titled 'Fucking Idiot'. That group is multicultural. Fucking Idiots everywhere will pull the 'Racist' card when all they are really saying is: 'I want an extra edge in this conversation / debate'.
I Remember being in court. This guy ran a red light trying to turn left (East to North). The red light was so stale that he was actually cut off from completing his turn by Northbound traffic. He couldn't make any court dates where the one witness was able to attend...but the one time the witness wasn't able to attend he was able to make that. This guy said that I had a car full of hooligans and we pushed the car into the position that it was when the cops arrived. Since all he claimed is that he 'Ran a Yellow' the idiot prosecutor asked me to lie on the stand. I told the truth. I said that this guy ran a red light so stale that he was cut off by the traffic heading Northbound. Since the courts proved that he didn't run a yellow, I, de facto, ran a red. Yeah...that's the kind of justice we get up here.
I lost the case.. because this guy knew how to play the system and was willing to lie ... and would do it without hesitation...without ethics. He stood up there and he called me a Racist...and ironically he looked at me with burning hatred in his eyes. In this guy's home country, corruption is just a way of life. Is it racist to say that? I had a good talk with someone who just came from that country and they confirmed it voluntarily (yeah... that race). So not all people from that country are scumbags, you stand a much higher chance in getting them. I'm not going to assume that any individual is like this from that country...but I'm not going to be blind to the possibility of it...and not because of racial characteristics but of cultural characteristics.
So someone who hated me for being white or maybe that of all the people in that courtroom, I , alone knew how much of a complete lowlife lying asshole he was...called me a racist. As a word it's kind of like a shield...and I know darkness likes to hide behind shields. (not in all cases).
Delusional, Vester manufactured a reality around his lies. He convinced himself that he was actually the victim and that his former fellow employees spent their days mocking him in his absence. Sinking deep into the rabbit hole, Vester surrounded himself in hate...building himself up into a bomb. He used the Internet to praise mass murderers except for Dylan Roof. Him? He decided that shooting a couple of his former white co-workers was the perfect reply (from one idiot to another).
In Service to a concept that you think you are fighting but only fighting for; In ignorance to the irony.
It's a waste of a mind and a waste of a life. Power is a very addictive thing. Many people don't feel powerful enough. I remember being with this one woman who claimed that a consensual episode that happened between us had been 'Not so consensual' to friends. It was years later when I found this out. I was actually set up to go on a date with her from these friends who claimed that she was Honest, Faithful and Trustworthy. After I knew her for 7 years, she cheated daily on whoever she was seeing, words were only useful in what they could produce for her (with no regard for the truth). The 'Episode' happened in the beginning of knowing this person as was what was said to the friend about the fabrication of 'Date Rape'. It didn't actually affect my relationship with that friend because she KNEW that this person was a bullshit artist. So why did she say this? Power. Saying it made her feel powerful. It had influence over people. She could have taken me to court and ruined my life with that...or attempted to (and God knows...with this justice system)... just to know that she could. She used it with all future boyfriends that I found myself in social situations with so that she could have an angry dog with my scent on a leash. I always wondered why none of her BF's were nice to me. Later I found out. Power.
So knowing FULL WELL that this person was full of shit ... my "Friend" looked me square in the face and told me that she was HONEST. I don't see any of them now (for the last eight years).
The point is there are huge idiots out there. I haven't been always right in my thinking but if I go off course I always try to correct it. It all comes down to truth. If you start to lose your grip on reality...then strange thoughts start to manifest. The truth is the one thing that keeps our compasses pointing in the right direction.
As long as there is more than one race, there is going to be racism. Killing people because they happen to belong to a race you hate ... That ... That is a compound lie. The only entity you serve by killing a member of another race (for that reason alone) is RACISM.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Far Cry 4 - Post Mortem - DOES contain SPOILERS
What happens when you get a bunch of millennial writers and directors together and tell them to make a story "LIKE" this other story. THEY - JUST - DON'T - GET - IT.
I sat there wondering why I was bored in Far Cry 4. It seemed to defy my perception. The game, mechanically, had all the aspects I liked.
After getting you to do its dishes all game. Padding that shit out with volumes of monotonous side quests (much like the Assassin's Creed series), Amita and Sabal turn into Kony and Isis Respectively.
Back in Far Cry 3, Dennis talks to you like a human being. He tells you about Vaas. He guides you and supports you. You get a sense of who this person is past what they want from you. Hell...he even gets drunk and tells you about an injustice he suffered as an American immigrant. So when he tries to stab you at the end after you refusing to kill your friends...it comes as a surprise with the realization you didn't get the whole picture on him. In FC4, you really don't know much of anything about Amita and Sabal and any information they give just seems like an awkward attempt to manipulate you. Despite fighting all their battles for them, you never have enough 'pull' to tell them both to grow the fuck up and stop arguing. It seems logical that if 'Your father' was leader of 'The Golden Path'...and these guys can't stop fighting...that you should assume leadership with both of them as advisers. Instead, more often that not, you are relegated to being that stupid sycophant from GTA3 that just does anything anyone tells him to. INCLUDING assassinating the other leader!!!
After King Min tells you the country that you have been tearing up is yours since he is giving you the entire place - Amita and Sabal are just assholes who use people to get their way - that all the killing you have been doing has been absolutely pointless - any remnant of investment that you may have accrued in this game is completely out the window. Let's face it; Investment in what happens in this game is inversely related to how much bullets people seem to have. A game where if there is a civilian outside, it is being attacked by soldiers, eagles, dogs, bears...usually all of those in a row. This was funny with faceless scientists in Hazmat suits back in FC3 Blood Dragon... because that was the theme...in this game it's just fucking stupid. After a while you just become jaded to the screams of Townsfolk.
You are introduced to people like "Go see Longinus...he is friend to the Golden Path". He is a brain damaged former warlord who thinks he is a preacher. Hurk shows up as a soulless joke factory complete with a southern drawl to make him look even more like a cartoon character. There is Rabi who is a wise cracking DJ...and also a joke factory. Mr. Schifon a gay clothes designer (good thing they're not using stereotypes) who acts as you would expect. It's pretty sad when the best interpersonal connection you have in the whole game is with a couple of drugged out nesters squatting in your ancestral home. They're a couple of joke factories as well but at least they show some vulnerability. The person who did the voice for Noore was the same person who did the voice for Liza Snow back in FC3. Mylène Dinh-Robic. The speed at which her emotions seem to superficially change makes her look like a princess that changes her emotions to suit her needs from another person but the background is one of a long-term victim of emotional extortion. There needed to be a whole lot more thought put into the realization of this character by the director. None of these characters really establishes a connection with you and it all looks like it was put together by committee.
I do not blame the voice actors. Some of those guys are the best of the best.
Characterization is fine with Amita (Janina Gavankar) and Sabal (Naveen Andrews). Yet you don't see much in the way of content from them past "Do it my way" and "You're an idiot for not doing it my way". My idiot light went off with Amita when she told me to "Destroy the temple and melt down the relics". This is a great actress using great characterization and saying the dumbest shit written by a hack writer.
Pagan (Troy Baker) you might recall from Bioshock: Infinite where he played the protagonist: Booker DeWitt (Yeah...it shocked the shit out of me too!!!). He owned it.
Reggie and Yogie were also fun and not completely cartoon-like.
Of note...The guy who played Keith Brody in FC3 is the main protagonist in FC4 (James A. Woods). So that's a tasty bit of trivia.
Mechanically, this game has all the best toys...but the story, (some) characterization and emotional involvement in this game is so counterproductive to that fun that it is almost like having your grandmother look over your shoulder saying 'Buzzkill' shit like: "You probably killed babies with that attack. Do you like killing babies?" and "You know that guy you killed has a mother who loved him don't you?".
FC3 Had a point where you started to realize that the people you had been working with the whole time may not be who you thought they were. There was an arc that got steeper toward the end. FC4 was, to contrast, written and directed by far too many idiot millennials that dug around in the FC3 graveyard finding parts to attach to the soulless Frankenstein entitled 'The Story and Characterization of Far Cry 4'. All 10 (writers and directors) have enough experience to add up to a single competent professional of either category. But 10 stooges aren't better than 3...and it shows.
There are points when you should be shouting "BOOYAH!" as you right the wrongs and put evil assholes in the ground...just about then, the game's 'Grandma' looks over your shoulder and says "You realize you have just killed half the country by choosing that leader, don't you?" (and choosing the other leader is no better).
Fuck it. I'm subtracting a point from the game. In the final analysis...the game is how much fun you actually had. This game hands you a 'Fun' sandwich with all the trimmings and puts a big fat turd on it. Don't grandma my BOOYAH! idiot Millennial creative staff. Digging up FC3 and trying to copy it tells me you ARE NOT QUALIFIED.
7/10
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Far Cry 4 - Game Review
Let's run it down now...
Far Cry 1 - Hawaiian Shirts and Sneakiness don't mix
Far Cry 2 - You get sick. Everyone hates you and then you die - How cheery
Far Cry 3 - An epic first person adventure feast with a tasty dessert (Blood Dragon DLC)
Far Cry 4 - Too much (good in some cases bad in others)
Don't you just love it when productions take this direction? You see them everywhere. You take a well crafted product (like Far Cry 3)...and figure if you crank it up several notches, it will be all that much better. It's not:
"You like Da Vinci's Mona Lisa? NOW WE MADE A BETTER ONE!!! Her lips are redder (and she's licking them)! Her eyes more alluring! (and she's winking)"
"You like SALT!!??? We've added so much salt that you can't TASTE anything else!!!"
...and this attitude shows up everywhere. I used to watch Pawn Stars on TV. NEWS FLASH! Reality TV show stars make shitty actors...and it shows. Watching Chumlee look like he's reading lines off of someone's face again just makes me roll my eyes. Who was the spod monkey employed to say 'Cut! Yeah that's good enough for the idiots who watch this show.' No sir, it's not...and would you kindly walk out into the desert, get bit by something and die...or at least move from Vegas to Pahrump and get paid for what you do best - SUCKING. But that's a rant for another time. Lets get back to the review at hand.
In keeping with the theme of "MMOOOOOEEEEERRRRR!!!!" It seems the number of writers and directors to the story weren't safe from that impetus. For those of you who don't know: the best stories are the ones where you have one writer and one director. The reason for this is that the artistic vision gets muddied if you have too many people in the process. Far Cry 3 had one director and one writer with an assistant writer (makes sense). Far Cry 4 had - 4 WRITERS AND 6 DIRECTORS!!! For those of you not so good at math that is 7 "MMOOOOOEEEEERRRRR!!!!". It seems the Wikipedia page and the IMDB page have differing facts. IMDB lists 2 Directors (one creative, one 'Realization' - Well that's alright) and 3 writers.
Lets look at the quality of those writers: maybe they have some good credits:
C.J. Kershner - He did a shitty game called "Homefront" In 2011
Lucien Soulban - Did some script writing for some shitty game in 2007. He also, however, did the writing for 'Blood Dragon'...but that game could have been written by a drunken fraternity on '80s night.
Liz Albl - "Script Intern" for Assassin's Creed IV.
Li Kuo - Game Reviews for TV back in 2002 to 2006. He was assistant writer to Jeffrey Yohalem for Far Cry 3.
So it looks like "MMOOOOOEEEEERRRRR!!!!" doesn't extend to experience.
Far Cry 4 was written and directed by a committee of 10. Given what I saw, some were probably fired for their incompetence...with the damage having already been done. There is at least one person who knew what they were doing in the writing and/or directing because some of the characterization is superb. The rest of it looks like it was created by Mathew Costello (Stupid overt silliness).
Far Cry 4 is a soulless clone of Far Cry 3 with regard to its story. There is no character arc. You start with options you can spend points on to upgrade your talents and abilities. There is no back story as to why...you just can! There is no good reason as to why you are invested in the country apart from your 'Mother's' desire to send you into a war to 'Learn the truth' when she could have just fucking written it down!!! GUESS WHAT, WRITERS? NO MOTHER WANTS TO SEND HER KID INTO A WAR ZONE!!! The main villain doesn't really make sense. Vaas was crazy...but he made sense. "Pagan" looks like someone took several colors of crazy...threw them against a canvas and said "That's our man - because that's all the fuck I'm going to give about it".
For some reason, you know how to fight... and join the resistance for no other good reason than 'Your daddy did'...and 'I got to get north to drop my mother's ashes'. I can't imagine the frustration of the few good writers and/or directors on this staff having to put up with the rest of these guys being complete boobs. As you progress through the story elements that seem like oversights and errors are explained (So 'Tell' don't 'Show'!?) and it seems as believable as someone trying to retroactively cover up someone else's shit.
The part that really pisses me off about this: How many millions of dollars were put toward making this game? Interfaces...guns...AI...Terrain...EVERYTHING...and a moderately competent writer individually could come up with better characterizations (for the most part), better insight into those characters and a more cohesive story structure. What really disturbs me is that this may be a trend. Story is relegated to the 'Good enough' category while I'm getting force-fed multiplayer at every angle. A game to me is a story that you become part of. Multiplayer is fun if you are doing it with people that you know (and can smack if they get out of line). Multiplayer with strangers from the Internet? I honestly don't see the point of it.
So what does it have? Well this is where the game gets fun. You've got Gyrocopters to fly around with. You can ride an elephant into an enemy base and lay some serious 'Smackdown' on the troops there. Signature Weapons in Far Cry 3 were too easy to get. You could have the best stuff really early in the game. In the second part of that game, you are introduced to a whole new set of firearms that aren't as good as the signature firearms you got in the first part. In FC4 you don't get some of those Signature Weapons until way late into the game. The early signature firearms do not even come close to the quality of the ones you get later on. This makes a decent upgrade arc. There is also Throwing knives (Great for silent kills) and 'Bait' that you can use to lure local animals into a base with.
There is only one save slot...so that slot you may have used in Far Cry 3 to appease your OCD self
by spacing out the 100% achievement isn't here. You have one game.
Speaking of animals...Far Cry 4 must have some sort of Zombie animal apocalypse going on!? Dangerous animals are fucking Everywhere!!! (no...an adjective not a verb... well... probably that too given the spawn rate). Anytime I see anyone not in a vehicle or at a base....I think "Oh you poor bastard". Then you have wandering lone salesmen. These guys must have a death wish. If I happen to see one on the road...I'd better buy my shit quick because their life expectancy is about 10 seconds.
Events are also very predictable. You will constantly be running into the exact same events at the exact same places. Also the same animals spawn in the exact locations as well. The rate of respawn is quite disquieting. There is one base where 6 wolves always spawn. I like to call that place the Gulag...because it's where I don't fucking want to be. Wait a minute! You guys didn't get that guy back from FC2 to handle that shit, did you!?
The Genus: Canis (dogs, wolves, hyenas) in this game clearly do not give a shit. Back in Far Cry 3... they wandered around in groups of 3. you could kill 2 dogs attacking you and the third would be like "Fuck that! I'm going home". In FC4 they can come in as many as groups of 6 full size wolves and they have no regard for self preservation. They will attack you relentlessly 'til the last.
The Skill set seems to make more sense than in FC3. You can have some of the really good skills relatively early but they will cost you a ton of points that may be better spent buying more of 'lesser' skills.
There is also a function on your mini map that will show you where 'downed' animals are. Anyone who has ever played FC3 and shot an animal will know the frustration of playing CSI: Rook Island trying to find where the fucking thing went to based on blood splatter, slopes, the direction it was travelling when it was shot...etc. The little + signs on your mini map represent a downed animal. This also may be used to find a predator in the area that freshly killed a non-predator.
The environment of the game seems to have been made with the Attention deficit in mind. Shit happens ALL over the place. You get into a Gyrocopter with a clear objective in mind. Then "Charmic Event: Supply Truck!"...Okay. Might as well. "Oh No! Enemy Courier"...Better take him out. On the way out of the truck to get what he is carrying - "Charmic Event: Hostages!!!" Okay...saved them. Great!... Turning back toward the truck you hear behind you from the hostages you just saved "EAGLE!!!" about this time I say; 'I don't give a shit anymore'. Not only do you have the shit packed in to burn you out at the beginning of the game, toward the end of the game, when sometimes you want to give a shit, there really isn't any reason to do so. Your Karmic levels are maxed and you don't need any more money or experience. You've got an in-game voice saying "I'm the hero...I've got to save people" while your out-of-game voice is saying "You are literally wasting your time" - Which blows emersion all to hell.
UBISOFT must have gotten that guy employment from the Assassin's Creed Series...You know 'That guy!?' The one that has to put useless 'Collectables' everywhere to waste your time with. Because you must feel 'Invested'...by wasting your GOOD TIME collecting crap in a game written and paced by Millennial Morons. Seriously...I don't really want collectables in a MMORPG. Bragging rights!? All it really tells people is that you have too much time on your hands.
It's not realistic anymore and the more shit they throw my way past the reality barrier, the more I detach from being invested in it. This may have been okay for "Rex Power-Colt in a Blood Dragon 2 DLC" where unreality is the norm... but not Far Cry. Lets face it; Blood Dragon was what Far Cry couldn't be in the realm of its context. It was a great way of saying "Lets have a bunch of fun and not give a shit about anything else"....and it worked. BUT JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE YOUR DESSERT AFTER DINNER DOESN'T MEAN IT IS BETTER TO MIX YOUR DESSERT WITH YOUR FUCKING DINNER!!
The wandering portion (Karmic events, Animals) can't play it for too long before it just gets on your fucking nerves. There is a reason why I get passionate about what I review is that I see the potential. A lesser game I really wouldn't bother with. I mean seriously: Elephant assaults and Gyrocopter carpet bombing? How fun is that!!
**Okay...I've been playing the story missions and the side quests more. They're actually pretty damn fun. The pace is heavier earlier than FC3. You really will be at the edge of your seat. All this game really needs to do is to have less idiot characters, lay off the Animal apocalypse, a more random event generator, and have a proper background story with more character development. You would think that is a lot but given how much this game has going for it...compensates for plenty of shortcomings.
Given the fun I've been having with the missions...I'm going to crank it up another full point. - 7./10
(SEE POST MORTEM FOR REDUCED NUMBER)
Far Cry 1 - Hawaiian Shirts and Sneakiness don't mix
Far Cry 2 - You get sick. Everyone hates you and then you die - How cheery
Far Cry 3 - An epic first person adventure feast with a tasty dessert (Blood Dragon DLC)
Far Cry 4 - Too much (good in some cases bad in others)
Don't you just love it when productions take this direction? You see them everywhere. You take a well crafted product (like Far Cry 3)...and figure if you crank it up several notches, it will be all that much better. It's not:
"You like Da Vinci's Mona Lisa? NOW WE MADE A BETTER ONE!!! Her lips are redder (and she's licking them)! Her eyes more alluring! (and she's winking)"
"You like SALT!!??? We've added so much salt that you can't TASTE anything else!!!"
...and this attitude shows up everywhere. I used to watch Pawn Stars on TV. NEWS FLASH! Reality TV show stars make shitty actors...and it shows. Watching Chumlee look like he's reading lines off of someone's face again just makes me roll my eyes. Who was the spod monkey employed to say 'Cut! Yeah that's good enough for the idiots who watch this show.' No sir, it's not...and would you kindly walk out into the desert, get bit by something and die...or at least move from Vegas to Pahrump and get paid for what you do best - SUCKING. But that's a rant for another time. Lets get back to the review at hand.
In keeping with the theme of "MMOOOOOEEEEERRRRR!!!!" It seems the number of writers and directors to the story weren't safe from that impetus. For those of you who don't know: the best stories are the ones where you have one writer and one director. The reason for this is that the artistic vision gets muddied if you have too many people in the process. Far Cry 3 had one director and one writer with an assistant writer (makes sense). Far Cry 4 had - 4 WRITERS AND 6 DIRECTORS!!! For those of you not so good at math that is 7 "MMOOOOOEEEEERRRRR!!!!". It seems the Wikipedia page and the IMDB page have differing facts. IMDB lists 2 Directors (one creative, one 'Realization' - Well that's alright) and 3 writers.
Lets look at the quality of those writers: maybe they have some good credits:
C.J. Kershner - He did a shitty game called "Homefront" In 2011
Lucien Soulban - Did some script writing for some shitty game in 2007. He also, however, did the writing for 'Blood Dragon'...but that game could have been written by a drunken fraternity on '80s night.
Liz Albl - "Script Intern" for Assassin's Creed IV.
Li Kuo - Game Reviews for TV back in 2002 to 2006. He was assistant writer to Jeffrey Yohalem for Far Cry 3.
So it looks like "MMOOOOOEEEEERRRRR!!!!" doesn't extend to experience.
Far Cry 4 was written and directed by a committee of 10. Given what I saw, some were probably fired for their incompetence...with the damage having already been done. There is at least one person who knew what they were doing in the writing and/or directing because some of the characterization is superb. The rest of it looks like it was created by Mathew Costello (Stupid overt silliness).
Far Cry 4 is a soulless clone of Far Cry 3 with regard to its story. There is no character arc. You start with options you can spend points on to upgrade your talents and abilities. There is no back story as to why...you just can! There is no good reason as to why you are invested in the country apart from your 'Mother's' desire to send you into a war to 'Learn the truth' when she could have just fucking written it down!!! GUESS WHAT, WRITERS? NO MOTHER WANTS TO SEND HER KID INTO A WAR ZONE!!! The main villain doesn't really make sense. Vaas was crazy...but he made sense. "Pagan" looks like someone took several colors of crazy...threw them against a canvas and said "That's our man - because that's all the fuck I'm going to give about it".
For some reason, you know how to fight... and join the resistance for no other good reason than 'Your daddy did'...and 'I got to get north to drop my mother's ashes'. I can't imagine the frustration of the few good writers and/or directors on this staff having to put up with the rest of these guys being complete boobs. As you progress through the story elements that seem like oversights and errors are explained (So 'Tell' don't 'Show'!?) and it seems as believable as someone trying to retroactively cover up someone else's shit.
The part that really pisses me off about this: How many millions of dollars were put toward making this game? Interfaces...guns...AI...Terrain...EVERYTHING...and a moderately competent writer individually could come up with better characterizations (for the most part), better insight into those characters and a more cohesive story structure. What really disturbs me is that this may be a trend. Story is relegated to the 'Good enough' category while I'm getting force-fed multiplayer at every angle. A game to me is a story that you become part of. Multiplayer is fun if you are doing it with people that you know (and can smack if they get out of line). Multiplayer with strangers from the Internet? I honestly don't see the point of it.
So what does it have? Well this is where the game gets fun. You've got Gyrocopters to fly around with. You can ride an elephant into an enemy base and lay some serious 'Smackdown' on the troops there. Signature Weapons in Far Cry 3 were too easy to get. You could have the best stuff really early in the game. In the second part of that game, you are introduced to a whole new set of firearms that aren't as good as the signature firearms you got in the first part. In FC4 you don't get some of those Signature Weapons until way late into the game. The early signature firearms do not even come close to the quality of the ones you get later on. This makes a decent upgrade arc. There is also Throwing knives (Great for silent kills) and 'Bait' that you can use to lure local animals into a base with.
There is only one save slot...so that slot you may have used in Far Cry 3 to appease your OCD self
by spacing out the 100% achievement isn't here. You have one game.
Speaking of animals...Far Cry 4 must have some sort of Zombie animal apocalypse going on!? Dangerous animals are fucking Everywhere!!! (no...an adjective not a verb... well... probably that too given the spawn rate). Anytime I see anyone not in a vehicle or at a base....I think "Oh you poor bastard". Then you have wandering lone salesmen. These guys must have a death wish. If I happen to see one on the road...I'd better buy my shit quick because their life expectancy is about 10 seconds.
Events are also very predictable. You will constantly be running into the exact same events at the exact same places. Also the same animals spawn in the exact locations as well. The rate of respawn is quite disquieting. There is one base where 6 wolves always spawn. I like to call that place the Gulag...because it's where I don't fucking want to be. Wait a minute! You guys didn't get that guy back from FC2 to handle that shit, did you!?
The Genus: Canis (dogs, wolves, hyenas) in this game clearly do not give a shit. Back in Far Cry 3... they wandered around in groups of 3. you could kill 2 dogs attacking you and the third would be like "Fuck that! I'm going home". In FC4 they can come in as many as groups of 6 full size wolves and they have no regard for self preservation. They will attack you relentlessly 'til the last.
The Skill set seems to make more sense than in FC3. You can have some of the really good skills relatively early but they will cost you a ton of points that may be better spent buying more of 'lesser' skills.
There is also a function on your mini map that will show you where 'downed' animals are. Anyone who has ever played FC3 and shot an animal will know the frustration of playing CSI: Rook Island trying to find where the fucking thing went to based on blood splatter, slopes, the direction it was travelling when it was shot...etc. The little + signs on your mini map represent a downed animal. This also may be used to find a predator in the area that freshly killed a non-predator.
The environment of the game seems to have been made with the Attention deficit in mind. Shit happens ALL over the place. You get into a Gyrocopter with a clear objective in mind. Then "Charmic Event: Supply Truck!"...Okay. Might as well. "Oh No! Enemy Courier"...Better take him out. On the way out of the truck to get what he is carrying - "Charmic Event: Hostages!!!" Okay...saved them. Great!... Turning back toward the truck you hear behind you from the hostages you just saved "EAGLE!!!" about this time I say; 'I don't give a shit anymore'. Not only do you have the shit packed in to burn you out at the beginning of the game, toward the end of the game, when sometimes you want to give a shit, there really isn't any reason to do so. Your Karmic levels are maxed and you don't need any more money or experience. You've got an in-game voice saying "I'm the hero...I've got to save people" while your out-of-game voice is saying "You are literally wasting your time" - Which blows emersion all to hell.
UBISOFT must have gotten that guy employment from the Assassin's Creed Series...You know 'That guy!?' The one that has to put useless 'Collectables' everywhere to waste your time with. Because you must feel 'Invested'...by wasting your GOOD TIME collecting crap in a game written and paced by Millennial Morons. Seriously...I don't really want collectables in a MMORPG. Bragging rights!? All it really tells people is that you have too much time on your hands.
It's not realistic anymore and the more shit they throw my way past the reality barrier, the more I detach from being invested in it. This may have been okay for "Rex Power-Colt in a Blood Dragon 2 DLC" where unreality is the norm... but not Far Cry. Lets face it; Blood Dragon was what Far Cry couldn't be in the realm of its context. It was a great way of saying "Lets have a bunch of fun and not give a shit about anything else"....and it worked. BUT JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE YOUR DESSERT AFTER DINNER DOESN'T MEAN IT IS BETTER TO MIX YOUR DESSERT WITH YOUR FUCKING DINNER!!
The wandering portion (Karmic events, Animals) can't play it for too long before it just gets on your fucking nerves. There is a reason why I get passionate about what I review is that I see the potential. A lesser game I really wouldn't bother with. I mean seriously: Elephant assaults and Gyrocopter carpet bombing? How fun is that!!
**Okay...I've been playing the story missions and the side quests more. They're actually pretty damn fun. The pace is heavier earlier than FC3. You really will be at the edge of your seat. All this game really needs to do is to have less idiot characters, lay off the Animal apocalypse, a more random event generator, and have a proper background story with more character development. You would think that is a lot but given how much this game has going for it...compensates for plenty of shortcomings.
Given the fun I've been having with the missions...I'm going to crank it up another full point. - 7./10
(SEE POST MORTEM FOR REDUCED NUMBER)
Friday, June 19, 2015
Dylann Roof - A Gamer? A Racist? A Loner? A Product of a distorted thought process.
The other night I saw a video of a young man being escorted by police. He had a meekness to him and a disturbed look on the delicate features of his face.
He killed nine people for the 'Crime' of being Black. Now there is increased tension between blacks and whites again in the US. Ironically, the hatred toward each other is the enemy...not the people.
This seriously bothers me. This kid is my son's age. This is what black and white...yet flawed... thinking will do. Why is garbage thinking festering in the minds of the people?
Lee Boyd Malvo: A DC sniper that killed 16 people...for the 'crime' of being White. Are we seeing a theme here? Maybe our Blacks aren't all that black and our Whites aren't all that white.
Then I see shit like this:
Sure...fan the flames some more...like that has done so much good in the past. Lets have more violence...because that's the way to resolve this. It's so much fun to hate...lets be a group and hate another group until they cease to hate us back. (idiot)
The point is Racism begats Racism. Around here we have the 'First Nation' Peoples. In a nutshell, they were discriminated against...couldn't get a job...had their lands taken...and fell to drink. It all started with Racism. Now, because of the long term effects of that, the group, collectively is in a bad position...and people identify "THEM" for what "THEY" are generally known to be like now. I've known tribes who have it together and they are a pleasure to be around.
So, getting back to the point, lets call this a crime of ignorance. All Blacks or all Whites aren't collectively responsible for anything. Malvo and Roof were on the action end of wrong thinking. That thinking needs to be brought to the light...where it will vanish.
He killed nine people for the 'Crime' of being Black. Now there is increased tension between blacks and whites again in the US. Ironically, the hatred toward each other is the enemy...not the people.
This seriously bothers me. This kid is my son's age. This is what black and white...yet flawed... thinking will do. Why is garbage thinking festering in the minds of the people?
Lee Boyd Malvo: A DC sniper that killed 16 people...for the 'crime' of being White. Are we seeing a theme here? Maybe our Blacks aren't all that black and our Whites aren't all that white.
Then I see shit like this:
The point is Racism begats Racism. Around here we have the 'First Nation' Peoples. In a nutshell, they were discriminated against...couldn't get a job...had their lands taken...and fell to drink. It all started with Racism. Now, because of the long term effects of that, the group, collectively is in a bad position...and people identify "THEM" for what "THEY" are generally known to be like now. I've known tribes who have it together and they are a pleasure to be around.
So, getting back to the point, lets call this a crime of ignorance. All Blacks or all Whites aren't collectively responsible for anything. Malvo and Roof were on the action end of wrong thinking. That thinking needs to be brought to the light...where it will vanish.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Spec Ops: The Line (for the PC)
Wow. When I play a 'Shooter', I like to think that I'm not shooting real people...or to obscure this in favor of focusing on the adventure. You have to believe that the enemy is just the enemy and that is all there is to it to really enjoy the experience. It doesn't relate to anything real. The concept that there is a group of people that we would collectively like to shoot in real life...but we can't do that, so we do it in a game....is ludicrous.
'Spec Ops: The Line' is a thought provoking, emotionally charged roller coaster through hell and madness. It is a 'Shooter' you will want to play just once. Based on a novel by Joseph Conrad called "The Heart of Darkness". Other media productions have tried to capture the essence of this novel; "Apocalypse Now", Far Cry 2 ... but this game nails it. It captures the descent into madness through conflict, horror and fatal choices better than anything I've ever seen. It is not for the weak of stomach and will bum you the fuck out if you are not completely devoid of empathy. I enjoyed it like I enjoy great art...it was thought provoking and it made me feel a variety of emotions. The voice acting is excellent.
Mechanically there are too few buttons to do too many things. You'll know this when you are attempting to stabilize a sniper rifle from behind cover...it can't be done. Your 2 pals are tough as hell but often have little situational awareness...which means they are often down in a position that kills you too when you try to rescue them. You can, however, order one of your team to heal the other member. Ammo becomes a real issue. There is almost never enough. Picking up dropped weapons becomes a priority issue since nothing is more useless in a firefight than a gun without bullets. You can interact with the environment (by way of shooting it) to help you out. Glass can be shot out from under someone standing on it. Explosives can be shot. Glass with sand above it can be shot to drop the sand on your enemy. There are a variety of circumstances you can find yourself in...so things don't get too repetitive (Looking at you...Far Cry 2).
This game is good for what it was - a Story. There is, however, no replay value and not enough functionality to allow for variation of play. Too few buttons made some functions unattainable. Finally it's a linear shooter. Sorry Yahtzee...but this game isn't more than a 7/10 to me.
Black Mesa
In 1998, Valve and Gearbox came out with 'Half-Life'. A FPS with plenty of movement traps. A massive secret science installation in the New Mexico Desert. You play as an employee in one of the many labs. There is an accident in your group which causes a "Resonance cascade" (Basically hostile aliens port into the base all over). The Army is called in to "Clean up" the situation (which also involves 'silencing' any potential witnesses). You spend most of the game in the installation trying to make your way to some colleagues who have figured a way of stabilizing the problem.
Black Mesa is a remake of the original game that takes place around the Black Mesa facility. It does NOT include Xen (The alien world you get teleported to in order to help stabilize the problem). It's too bad that I didn't know this when I started playing it. I was really looking forward to how they recreated THAT place. I remember going to Xen back when I played the original. That place - Completely alien...technologically...physically. I remember feeling both amazed and disturbed; It was more than an FPS at that point...it was interactive art...and it made you feel.
Lets face it though; Valve is amazing. Progression puzzles aren't my thing anymore. I honestly find them annoying now...especially when the graphics are so good that the 'Interactables' become hard to spot. It's like what I have been saying; sometimes better graphics needs accounting for in regards to gameplay.
For me, Half-Life 2 was my favorite game from them. ID Games were coming out with Doom3 crowding down grey dark interiors facing mostly predictable enemies with a SMG that seems to fire spit balls for all the damage it does. HL2 had an open world feel with Killer Helicopter chases ... scary head crab zombie towns and epic Super-Sized battles with HUGE alien walkers!!! It was YEARS ahead of its time and still would be a contender if it was released today...10 YEARS LATER!!!
HL1 does have a following of devoted fans. The problem with being a fan is that you tend to be a little biased. Great for them...but HL1 is just not complete without Xen. It is like eating a cake before the icing gets put on...or having the icing after you eat the cake.
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