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Gamefly buys D2D, officially

May 252011

To update our previous post, it’s now officially official. What does this mean for D2D customers today? Not much. Gamefly was looking to get into the PC gaming business and add to their portfolio. Those of you who have hopes of eventually seeing PC game rentals, stay tuned as that could be a real possibility. In a quote to their own Shacknews, Gamefly CEO Dave Hodess said “we know that consumers are interested in PC game rentals, so we will investigate this idea thoroughly.” I’m assuming that they will be looking at digital rentals, with DRM in place to limit the time and usage of PC games. Obviously, pricing is the wildcard, but priced right, it could be a worthwhile business. Would you be interested in renting PC games? Might not be bad to rent the latest CoD installment or any other 4-5 hour linear single player game that’s not worth owning for the rest of your life, which is the case with PC games today.

Brink gets better

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May 242011

Last night Splash Damage posted a patch for the PC version which includes a fair number of bug fixes cleaning up many common issues with the game. You can read the changelog here, although the three key ones that have plagued many users are:

Fixed sound dropping out when playing networked games
Improved graphical performance, especially when using Ambient Occlusion
Fixed memory leak/crash when alt-tabbed out

To extend the double meaning of this post title and to follow up my post last week, I can say that Brink does get better with time. While I don’t think I ever found that “Eureka!” moment, after more time spent with the game and playing with friends, the game does start to click. There is a bit of a learning curve to some of the game’s nuances, and unlocking abilities while leveling up your character improves the experience greatly. Since the game does rely heavily on team play (arguably, even more so than say, BFBC2) online matches can vary wildly in quality depending on how adept your pub teammates are. Brink does provide a nice change of pace from the latest round of cookie-cutter modern warfare shooters, and while it doesn’t get everything right, does a good enough job for those willing to stick around long enough to learn the ropes and find a groove.

My turn at a Brink impression

PC Gaming No Responses »

May 202011

Brink has been out well over a week, and I’m still not sure what to make of it. I’ve done some challenges, played a bit of the campaign modes and did some random online action and I’m still not sure how I feel about this game. This is a bit strange for me. Usually I have a fairly strong opinion of a game after several hours, but I’m having a hard time trying to figure out exactly what Brink is.

One thing I have learned is that you can essentially throw out all the single player and co-op stuff, if you want to call it that. Bot matches in this game are completely unfulfilling, even after a recent patch that was said to “remove bot intelligence inhibitors.” While the bots are aware of objectives, they seem to have zero concept in supporting those objectives — which, ya know, is kind of important in objective based games. A strong argument could be made that the bots in UT2K4 are more intelligent than what we’re seeing in Brink 7 years later.

You’re probably yelling at the screen at this point, telling me that of course the bots are dumb, and the only way to play this game is with real people. I’d easily agree with that. My sticking point with the bots is that they seem to be such a large part of the game. The game has essentially three modes: single player or “solo”, a co-op mode and internet “freeplay.” Bots are prevalent in all three and required in two of them. Join many freeplay servers that are less than full with real players, and it’s filled in with bots, which I wouldn’t have a problem with if they were just a bit less stupid. One more reason why you can throw the co-op/private modes out: forget about trying to set up a peer-to-peer game with friends on the PC. Obviously some people have gotten it to work, but suibhne and I wasted a good 20 minutes last night trying to get something other than a “server not responding” message before we gave up and played on a public server.

Now that I’ve gotten over my bot rage, the rest of the game seems ok, but for some reason it’s just not clicking with me yet. I say “yet” because I keep feeling like I’m on the brink (sorry) of hitting that magical moment where it all comes together in perfect harmony for me. All the multiplayer hallmarks are there; classes, character progression, unlockables galore and enough guns and weapons to keep it interesting. However, I’d have to question some of the balance of the classes, since it feels like engineer and medic are really the only two classes that are worth playing regularly, unless a specific objective calls for something else. The stunning amount of guns and attachments sounds great, but I find that without the help of the community, figuring out the strengths and weaknesses of some of these in game is virtually impossible.

On the positive side of things, I’ve grown to appreciate the parkour-style movement, and the way you can smoothly navigate some obstacles works surprisingly well. I haven’t felt this nimble in a FPS multiplayer game since probably UT2k4. Graphically the game looks as good as any other current mp games and the game engine allows for ample tweaking which bucks the trend of locking everything down. Check out our wiki page for some common tips. Also the game has Splash Damage’s traditionally great long term support behind it, so Brink does have a lot going for it.

Brink really does have great potential that’s just beyond my grasp at this point. The fact that it hasn’t “clicked” for me just yet but I want to keep trying it has to mean something, right? It’s like a meal that’s been simmering on the stove all day that’s missing that one ingredient to bring it all together. I’m hoping to find that spice soon with some more game play time.

Direct2Drive being sold to Gamefly?

Gaming Deals, PC Gaming 1 Response »

May 202011

MCV is reporting that one of our favorite PC digital distribution sites, Direct2Drive is being sold to Gamefly. Gamefly rents console games by mail (think video game Netflix) in the US and also recently bought community news site Shacknews. An interesting development, for sure, although I doubt that this will have much impact on users in the short term. The deal is said to be in the final stages. D2D was previously owned by IGN.

I refuse to make another “Brink” pun

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May 122011

So hey, the game’s out.

Reviews since the Tuesday launch have been a mixed bag. Joystiq excoriated the game with a 2/5, while other outlets have gone up to 8/10 and 88/100. Ars Technica went so far as to explain why it won’t be reviewing the game until the messy launch is sorted out. What’s a gamer to do?

I’ve dropped an hour or two in the Challenge modes, solo. It took about that long to unlock everything available through the Challenges (which is mostly weapons and attachments; character skills are unlocked by leveling up), and many reviews have criticized the game for this ease of getting new stuff. (Just fyi, I narrowly avoided a “Master of Unlocking” reference there.) Reviews have also opined that you can reach the maximum level with your character in just a handful of additional hours.

On both of these counts, I think reviewers are spectacularly missing the point. Brink doesn’t try to offer a 75-level drip-feed of character progression, unlike the current vogue among the CoD-alikes (plus BC2) which dominate the shooter market. It wants you to unlock (almost) everything quickly, then just play the game. If anything, Brink fails by not clarifying its distinct approach in a crowded market.

Splash Damage spokespeople also encouraged people to get the wrong idea about the game when they talked about the “seamless” integration of the competitive multiplayer, cooperative multiplayer, and single-player modes. Just like TF2, this is a class-based, objective-based multiplayer game – full stop. If you’re looking for a single-player experience, move along. Nothing to see here.

Brink is hurt by an overall lack of polish, too, but you can get that story elsewhere. Some reviews might be missing the point of the game, for better or worse, but they’re accurately tallying many of its technical shortcomings. The good news is, Splash Damage has a consistent history of providing responsive, long-term support for its games and has already issued two quick patches for the PC version – within two days of the game’s North American release, and before it even unlocks in Europe.

I haven’t played the game online yet, and I’ll be out of town for the next few days. Funkmaster will also be installing Brink next week, so we’ll have more in-depth impressions later. At the moment, the most I can say is that the game might become something great – and if it fails, it’ll be an interesting failure. I can’t predict which of those paths it will take.

In the meantime, I’ve started a new wiki page for the game, covering some important details about configuring the PC version for the best Brink experience possible. Check it out.

To (From) Dust do we return

Console Gaming, Gaming, PC Gaming No Responses »

May 062011

Following up on my blathering on about Eric Chahi’s groundbreaking game Another World, back in distant April, I want to point out this Destructoid-exclusive designer diary for Chahi’s upcoming game From Dust. In a nutshell, From Dust is a “god game” based on terrain deformation. And it looks fantastic:

It’s slated to be a mid-priced title ($20 or so, presumably?) for multiple platforms, including PC. (Who knows, PSN might even be back up by the game’s release, sometime in the coming months.) Ubisoft is publishing it, and they seem to be putting some marketing muscle behind the game while still providing Chahi the independence to create a new world. Maybe they’re trying to work off some of their sins accumulated from the last few years of draconian DRM.

From Dust looks beautiful and new, and that means it’s important.

Mass Effect 2: Arrival

Console Gaming, PC Gaming No Responses »

May 042011

Mass Effect 2 has been out for well over a year now, but just last month, Bioware dropped some fresh DLC to supposedly bridge the gap between ME2 and ME3. At the ME standard DLC price of $7, the question is, is it a piece of must-have content for a ME fan, filling in important story lines, or is it completely avoidable? Probably more of the latter and less of the former.

Let me start off by saying this DLC mission can be played through in probably one and a half hours, so it’s one of the shorter DLCs available for ME2 — definitely shorter than the great Overlord or Lair of the Shadow Broker add-ons. Without going into the story for the spoiler-sensitives amongst us, Arrival only provides a couple mission scenarios heavy on combat. Expect lots of corridor shooting, with a few areas to explore a bit for some extra research items, credits and resources. Did I mention a lot of shooting? You shoot lots of dudes…a lot. Some mechs too, and there’s a short but satisfying sequence where you can control your own LOKI Mech. It’s also worth mentioning that you’ll be fighting solo, you can’t bring any of your team along to help out, because the mission is super secret…or something.

The story is decent but not great, and doesn’t really feel like it’s critical to the story arc. It makes sense and fits in with the end of ME2 and what we know about ME3, but didn’t feel all that important — more like a footnote. That’s probably the best approach, and true with all of the ME2 DLCs; totally avoidable to those who just want to play the main games, but offering more to those who just want more Mass Effect stuffs.

So, who should get this DLC? If you’ve played the other DLCs and still want some more ME2 action to hold you over, then you’ll enjoy it enough. It’s merely average, but you’ll be somewhat satisfied. If I wanted to nitpick, I’d say it’s not really worth $7, it’s probably more like a $4 DLC if I had to put a value on it. If you’re looking to take a look at some ME2 DLC for the first time, skip this one and take a look at the Overlord, Shadow Broker, or even Katsumi (if you’re looking for a new member and a new loyalty mission that’s actually pretty good) before this one.

The Arrival DLC is available on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 (when the PSN store comes back online) for $7. More info here.

Embeded below is the Arrival trailer:

Crysis 2 to be playable; news at 7

Gaming, PC Gaming 1 Response »

Apr 272011

According to Crytek staff posting in the official game forums, a hefty Crysis 2 patch is on the way. The promised changelog includes some welcome bugfixes, but the most striking improvements are at the top of the list: “Vote-kicking feature added; Further improvements to anti-cheat measures.”

I found the multiplayer side of Crysis 2 to be consistently more enjoyable than online play in both Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops. That sound like damning with faint praise, but the core shooting and movement systems are polished and satisfying. Maps are generally better than we’ve seen in recent online shooters, too. On the other hand, this patch reminded me of the game’s biggest problem since launch: rampant cheating.

Crytek seems to have shipped the game with no anti-cheat protection, a baffling decision which undermined its viability online. Funkmaster and I ran into cheaters only a few days after the game’s release. When I fired up Crysis 2 again last week, I had to try out several different servers before finding one without an obvious cheater.

I’m conservative about calling hacks. I’ve dabbled in online competition for shooters like CoD4, and most experienced gamers I know have been falsely accused of cheating in public servers. In Crysis 2, tho, I was encountering players with names like “CRYN3TkillahLOLOLOL”, racking up 55-0 nets with 100% headshots. The glaringly obvious killcam shots were just icing on the (exasperating) cake. And with no vote-kicking, honest players had no recourse but to move on and try to find another server – or “Quit to Windows” and choose another game.

With Crytek giving more attention to anti-cheat measures, will this patch make Crysis 2 playable again? It may deserve a second look from those who, like me, shelved the game due to the rampant cheating. But it’s notoriously difficult to rebuild multiplayer communities once they begin to contract, and Brink’s release is less than two weeks off. Time may have already run out for Crysis 2.

$4 for the best game ever made

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Apr 202011

Okay, that might be an exaggeration. In particular, Another World (originally titled Out of this World in its North American release) could be criticized as featuring too much of the trial-and-error gameplay that was common back in the ’80s and early ’90s. But the same criticism could be leveled at classics like Prince of Persia – which raised the bar for games, spawned a 20-year franchise (including new classic The Sands of Time as well as a vacuous Hollywood blockbuster), and was recently remastered for PSN and XBLA. Eric Chahi’s Another World may not have launched such a far-reaching brand, but it set a similar high-water mark for the medium.

Another World modeled new approaches to animation, music and sound, gameworld design, emotionally-affecting characters, and non-verbal storytelling. The game’s Wikipedia page cites its influence on the creation of PS2 masterpiece ICO (itself soon to receive a remastered release for PS3), as well as accolades from rockstar game designers like Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid) and Guichi Soda (No More Heroes). On a personal level, Another World also contributed some serious lack of productivity to my freshman year of college. Along with Prince of Persia and Bungie’s Marathon, this was one of the games that made me a gamer.

Because of this, I was happy to see GOG.com put the 15th Anniversary Edition of the game on sale for $3.99. The deal is basically for today only, ending tomorrow morning at 6am, so don’t hesitate. You can’t beat this price for one of the most influential games of the past two decades.

GOG.com describes the 15th Anniversary Edition like so:

In the 15th Anniversary Edition, apart from a remastered version of the game, you will find a 20 minutes long “making of” video of Another World, the technical handbook, the development diary and the soundtrack remixed by the original composer JF Freitas.

In other news, Eric Chahi has resurfaced in recent years and is helming the upcoming game From Dust.

Something Witcher this way comes

Gaming, PC Gaming No Responses »

Apr 162011

For me, The Witcher 2 is easily the most anticipated game of 2011. Granted, that might have something to do with my expectation/fear that grad school will suck up every minute of available gaming time after July or August…but it’s also down to the magnificence of Polish developer CD Projekt RED’s first Witcher game.

The Witcher had its share of faults, but it was the most immersive and engaging RPG I’d played in years. Most of its limitations were later addressed by a sprawling “Enhanced Edition,” which replaced the game’s basic edition at retail – but was also released for free to all owners of the game. Remarkably, most of the EE’s improvements address issues so commonplace that it’s hard to imagine any other developer treating its fan-base with such regard. The EE increased the poly count of background characters, for example, and retranslated Polish text which had originally been left out of the English-language version due to word limits imposed on the game’s localization. (It also improved loading times and user interface, perhaps the game’s largest problems at release.)

At a time when the gaming news was full of major publishers slagging on the PC as a platform, CD Projekt RED’s focus on quality paid off handsomely. This independently-developed, PC-exclusive RPG sold over a million copies in its first year (Fall 2007-08), and it’s had a long tail in the 2.5 years since.

Fast forward: The Witcher 2 is due in North America on May 17. Two “final” previews hit virtual newstands in the past few days at Destructoid and RockPaperShotgun. Destructoid’s write-up is especially glowing:

I looked back on my experience with Dragon Age II afterwards, and BioWare’s fantasy RPG now feels like it’s in almost every way a mere toddler in the shadow of The Witcher 2. That’s not to say DA II sucked, but a single village in The Witcher 2 already has more personality than all of Kirkwall.

Pre-orders on the game receive a 10% discount at a wide range of digital distribution sites, including Steam, Direct2Drive, and GamersGate. However, GoodOldGames offers a DRM-free edition with the same 10% discount and a host of extra features, including a free bonus RPG. (I highly recommend Gothic 2: Gold.) Sure, smart money says the DRM will eventually be patched out of The Witcher 2 anyway, as it was with the original game. But GOG.com is run by CD Projekt, the parent company of the game’s developer CD Projekt RED, so this is the site to use if you want more of your dollars going directly to the game’s creators.

I’d like to say that calculus homework will take precedence over The Witcher 2 this May, but who am I kidding? Keep an eye out here for additional coverage.

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