Red Dead: Views

In the build up to the much anticipated release of GTA V in September, a month that still seems so far off, I've been exploring the incredible world of Red Dead Redemption. Although it's been out for a good while now, I only purchased it last December (the GOTY edition which is currently only between £15 - £20 at most retailers) and have been in and out of it ever since. Whilst I have in not been drawn into it to the extent that I've been playing it every day, it's a great game to play for stints during the week - similar to GTA IV.

As it is a GOTY edition, it does include the praised Undead Nightmare addition as well as all the other DLC. I can't say I've played through either much, wanting to get more invested in the main campaign first, but the addition of Zombies is not a bad thing to the game, and developers Rockstar have done a great job of adapting it for the lore. Unfortunately, the multiplayer is slightly disappointing due to the scarcity of players, though not unsurprising considering the late stage at which I have taken up the game. I imagine many have gone back to GTA too.

Overall, the game is essentially a reskined GTA with a fresh Western look. Changes have been made along the way in many cases for the better of the game. Combat is similar, the cut scenes are very reminiscent of GTA, as it the story with a serious overarching tale with humorous and imaginative side quests thrown in as well. It all takes place in a giant sand box, populated with outlaws, gunslingers and the various fauna of the American west, much of which is hostile to your presence in this vast land.

The world it seems is in a period of transition. A once wild and uninhabited is slowly becoming populated with Americans from the east. In the search of a new life and prosperity, they have brought with the greed, violence and crime. Other than the few 'civil' strongholds placed throughout the land, the world is ruled by outlaws and bandits where thievery and murder are common place. There is a general feeling that the 'civilized' east has little or no impact in this lawless land. A feeling though that is in the process of changing.

Your character is part of that change, on the hunt for a notorious criminal he was once allied with in order to help his family and redeem his past sins. On the way he meets a wide variety of characters all trying to make some sort of life in the world they have found themselves in. Locations are generally varied, and beautifully rendered, with huge expanses to explore. Particularly appealing to me was the travel past the Mexican border to a world not dissimilar but with its own personality to it - something that comes across in the architecture of the buildings and the people. Whilst the West is still wild, it is prosperous to a degree - the people try and replicate what they know of the East in terms of dress and manner. Mexico is clearly poor, rundown and in a major period of transition.

Historically speaking, how accurate it is is another matter, a period a know little about. It does seem to draw on real events, even if sometimes rather broadly. It makes Red Dead Redemption a very interesting game, as well as being fun. Whilst there are a few issues, none of which I have covered (travel in the vast world can take a long time) it is such a brilliant game to get absorbed in even on brief play throughs that it merits all the praise it receives. In some ways it is more than just a game, but an interesting cultural and social commentary on the world of the Wild West and the attempts to tame it. Though a topic covered in films of the genre, Red Dead succeeds above them in really capturing the feel of the world and immersing you in it. Though I have yet to finish it, this may be the game of this generation, and not just because it is so brilliant at being a great game.

Happy Wars

The latest game I've started playing is not one I can admit to being entirely proud of. Happy Wars is Microsoft's first foray in the ever more popular free-to-play genre. Though gamers are required to have a gold subscription to play, other than that playing it costs nothing and not unlike similar games on mobile platforms or on PC, it is sustained by Micro Transactions. Essentially, the player can buy weapons, armour and vanity items for their assortment of characters.

A Medieval theme with a variety of locations

The main aim of the game is akin to a Battlefield: join a side, pick a class, fight your way across the map capturing points along the way to eventually destroy the enemy's principal spawn tower. The classes categories consist of warriors - your basic infantry, clerics - who have a strong attack but act as support building and healing, and mages - soldiers with longer range who employ magical abilities.

All are varied enough though I feel the game could have benefited from a fourth option. Each class has a select number of abilites, a number which increases as you progress through each level. In order to progress to learn more, you are advised to kill, capture enemy towers, help allies and build defenses.  This does encourage a certain degree of team work and some abilities can only be used with the support of allies. Clerics, despite having attack abilities, really are just a means of support and perhaps one of the more underused classes as a result - warriors and mages are far more common. Working as a large team does make the game compelling though and as a result, despite some poor reviews from others and my own reluctance to even give it a go, I have found it compelling - even if the action can be a little repetitive.

In some instances, the screen can get a little over crowded and the player may lose his/her character in the mass on troops on screen. These instances are rare and tend to occur mainly at the start and end of a game, thanks to large map design.

Happy Wars adopts a cartoonish style with unrealistic characters resembling puppets or dolls more than people and the whole thing is coated in a bright pallet of colour to match the 'happy' theme. Whilst some may find it annoying and off-putting, it should not discourage as at the end of the day, the game is still a good 30 mins of fun distraction that you don't have to invest in should you not want to.

Though I am in no way topping leader boards, I haven't felt compelled to purchase anything from the game's store. Items can be required without having to pay, using the in game currency to access random weapons via a spinning wheel. Though it's unlikely you'll find a game-changing item, most are better than the starting weaponry. Items can also be modified and upgraded should you wish to do so.

All in all, for the time I've spent on it, Happy Wars is nothing more than a fun distraction for those looking for some free and fairly solid multiplayer on the Xbox 360.

Call of Duty

With several leaks in recent weeks, Activision has seen fit to release information on its best selling franchise, Call of Duty, with a new trailer and the name: Ghosts. Not the MW4 many were expecting/dreading, the new title implies a slight departure from the traditional story, akin to what Black Ops did. With Infinity Ward once again at the helm, it should be an interesting game to follow, with more information arriving on the day of the Xbox press event.

Having said that, it's not a game I'm extremely excited about. Whilst it boasts a new engine along with a new story, I can't envisage a huge overhaul of the overall gameplay, which doesn't necessarily make it bad, just something I'm not particularly interested in.

Recently, I have still been playing a fair amount of Black Ops 2, though have started to become increasingly frustrated with it. Maybe I'm just getting worse, or the online competition better, but the multiplayer does not feel as compelling or solid as the MW series did. It left me even resorting back to MW3 on one occasion.

I've come to the conclusion that whilst Black Ops 2 did boast a number of improvements to the multiplayer, the gameplay itself had a bit of a tumble. The new load out screen for example is a vast improvement compared with MW3, which is cumbersome and slow to navigate. Upgrading a weapon or your perks, whilst not complicated in MW3, is so much simpler in Black Ops 2 and definitely something future iterations should adopt. The perks have also been overhauled to make changes to the player only, not the weapons which are separately modifiable. Finally the scorestreaks do seem to balance the game a bit more. You won't find yourself constantly bombarded with airstrikes and nukes like in MW2 and 3 to some extent.

I swear this (MW2) just looks better too, especially compared to BO2

Having said that, after giving MW3 a go, I felt the gaming experience was much more enticing. The maps were more interesting and varied, Black Ops 2's best was the reused Nuketown. Weapons handled and sounded better. I got more pleasure out of it than Black Ops and wanted to play more. Ultimately, I find neither stand up to MW2 or MW1 which for some reason feel a lot more balanced and more entertaining. MW2 had some really good maps which the more recent releases have failed to recapture, and MW1 I consider the ultimate experience, despite joining the party a few years later.

Whilst COD is still a good way to spend an hour in the evening to destress after a working day, it's repetitiveness is beginning to ware on me. Either that or I just don't find the latest ones as much fun. I might stop Black Ops altogether and go back to the MW series. Having said that I've gotten back into the excellent Red Dead Redemption, in anticipation of the exciting release of GTA V...

The Good and the Bad: Two Films

This weekend I managed to fit in watching two films, which were in quality terms at completely opposite ends of the scale. The first was the somewhat hyped Man with the Iron Fists from Wu-Tang Clan rapper RZA. The second, Indie Game: The Movie.

Whilst I did not exactly have high hopes for the first, it still surprised me simply because it was so bad. To be fair to RZA, it was his big screen directorial and acting debut with previous experience staring in a somewhat major role in a season of Showtime's Californiacation, where he essentially played himself but entertaining and funny nonetheless. How he managed to convince the producers (Tarantino no less) to support him to make his own film though is a mystery. The story is truly awful, and in some ways, completely unnecessary. It serves merely as a tool for moving the film along from one action scene to another with bland and uninspired acting in between, not helped by a script seemingly written by a six year old. The characters are incredibly shallow and other than the motivation for stealing the gold bullion - the main object of the plot, have no real reason to be there. I would probably preferred it if the whole story had simply been RZA and a few other Chinese warriors fighting there way through hordes of enemies. Instead though we are presented with motivations of love, loyalty, greed and so on, none of which really need to be there, especially as other than greed, none of them are believable.

The action is definitely the strongest part of the film. The fighting choreography was ambitious in some cases but on the whole seemed to work, with some brutal yet awe inspiring battles. Though they tended to be the ones that didn't feature RZA, or Russell Crowe for that matter, a normally decent actor who must be going through a bit of a crisis at the moment. Either way, this is a film to miss. You can probably catch the best scenes on Youtube... The music is pretty god awful too.

Indie Game: The Movie may be one of the best films I've watched in a while. Other than End Of Watch which I caught recently which is thoroughly enjoyable, Indie Game is an interesting and emotional ride.

A documentary, it follows the lives of the independant game developers behind Super Meat Boy and the one behind Fez, with interviews with other developers and journalists.  It starts off with both developers some way into the making of their games, with all of them explaining their motivations and aspirations. Some are even quite heartfelt admissions of difficult childhoods looking for means to express themselves, and now having found that in video games. It then tracks their progress right up to the launch day of Super Meat Boy, and Fez's second unveiling at the PAX show in Boston.

It's a incredible journey where I felt really attached to the interviewees as the film progressed. The film makes did an excellent job of really getting the developers to open up - meaning I could easily relate to them despite leading completely different lives. It also made me realise the difficulty and energy that is required to go into game development as well as the constant fear of failure that the developers feel. Considering that both games came out well it the end, it made me think about the number of indie developers that put and equal amount of effort in without the same success.

The beautiful world of Fez

 
Perhaps my biggest surprise though was the amount of themselves that they invested in the game, and by that I don't mean the amount of time and energy, but parts of their personality and feelings. A part of them was in those games.

Indie Game: The Movie is well worth a watch, especially for those that have an interest in games or enjoy a well produced documentary.

Smart Glass

Last year I believe, Microsoft announced what at the time seemed to be a nifty little app for the Xbox called Smart Glass. The reasoning behind it was that a user could install the app on both their Xbox and Smartphone/tablet, and then control their Xbox with the latter device. A good and interesting idea in theory, so far in Europe at least, it's execution has left me really wondering: why bother?

Useful

They key benefits it seemed were that it gave you access to a keyboard, a useful feature should one employ it regularly (I tend to play games on my Xbox) gave you access to extra content when watching certain Xbox films or playing games, or act as a touch screen controller. The first two to me are limited as I tend not to watch films on my Xbox and the games that take advantage of this device are so far few and far between. Those that do, ie Halo, are limited. They keyboard is good on occasion but considering Smart Glass takes a while to start running on my phone, I've usually done any typing I need beforehand.

The controller aspect could prove useful on some games that don't require too many buttons, though I've yet to test it. Manipulating the dashboard with it is fun but not really a necessity.

The only app that I have found it useful for is Internet Explorer on the Xbox, which until recently, I never used. Yesterday I decided to see how intuitive it was, in order to watch videos on a bigger screen without having to connect my PC to the screen/xbox. It worked rather well, but what made it all the more exciting was that Xbox allowed me to use my phone. This is a major benefit considering the controller is rather slow and cumbersome to use on a webpage, and doesn't give the user the ability to manipulate a whole lot. Either that or I hadn't worked out the buttons. Smart Glass on the other hand offers a much more intuitive user experience that takes full advantage of having touch screen controls. In some ways it even breathed new life into my Xbox experience and showed me a whole host of other possibilities.

Whilst the app is certainly not revolutionary, it has a lot of potential to make the Xbox experience that much better and give users a whole lot more to do. Unfortunately, with the latest Xbox announcement, I can envisage this potential all getting put to one side and forgotten about, if that hasn't already happened. Having said that, I'm sure it will be part of the Next-Gen Xbox's features. It's a genius idea to give users the ability to use a table or smartphone to control a game they're playing on their Xbox, or watch a film, or whatever...
The next Xbox is supposedly branded as the entertainment hub of the living room - Smart Glass seems like a good feature to have alongside, especially when so many people seem to use their tablets and phones to game on. It's a good tool to use against Nintendo's WiiU, which in my mind is essentially a gaming tablet, with seemingly fewer features.

It will be interesting to see how much Microsoft uses Smart Glass in its future products. When it was launched it seemed like quite a big feature. Though not unlike Kinect, it hasn't had a huge amount of support for the Software giant.

Apps on Windows Phone

Recently at their conference in Australia, Nokia head Stephen Elop boasted Windows market place had an already large and growing number of apps for their mobiles. Whilst I can't disagree, I'm still yet to find a truly amazing app that I feel I can't live without.

From what I have discovered though, here are some of my favourites, as well the ones I use on a more regular basis:

1. Nokia Drive:

This app is the one I would claim is indispensable for all Windows Phone users. Fortunately, it comes pre-installed on the phone and is free. It's essentially your very own Sat Nav. Whilst it's by no means perfect, it is incredibly useful and accurate.

For me, the key advantage of it is Drive does not require a data connection. It can use a GPS to find address and guide you to the desired location, a feature that won't cost you a dime. It's also incredibly accurate, in some cases more so that the TomTom in my car (though that be because it requires an update...). On the whole it's clear and easy to use. Furthermore, for me who travels a fair bit in France and the continent, you also have free access to any map you require, a benefit you have to pay for on some competitor devices.

The only downside is that whilst you are driving along it gives no indication as to the timing of your journey or arrival, only the distance remaining. Whilst it's not a complete hindrance, any updates would do well to incorporate such a feature.

2. Purple Cherry:

 Purple Cherry is a GameBoy colour emulator for your windows phone. When I first started playing games on the device, I immidiatly noticed a shortage of good games available on the Xbox market place, other than the obvious. Purple Cherry is a cheap solution to such an issue. 

It provides you with the whole of the GBC catalouge of games which it then plays on your Windows phone. The controls aren't perfect for games like Mario where a physical controller would be better, but for games like Pokemon, it is more than suitable. I have already sunk several hours into replaying Pokemon Gold and it still doesn't get old. 

In recent months, there is also rumoured to be a free update that will add GB Advanced repertoire. What more could you want?

For some, the only downside is that it does cost £0.99. It's not a huge asking price for what is essentially crap ton of free games.

3. Lomogram:

Instagram is apparently great and all but unfortunately it doesn't exist on WP. Lomogram is the solution, supposedly providing the same or similar tools to enhance your camera pictures and pretend you're a trendy hipster. 

I've tried a couple of the camera apps and so far this seems to be the best one. Although you can't do everything on it, the app still provides considerable content to keep you busy fiddling with images.

4. Sky Sports:

It does actually seem to be the best and only way to keep up with Sport in the UK. Though I believe ESPN also has an app, I've found this pre-installed one to be more than adequate. Whilst it does suffer from the occasional glitch, on the whole it works well and is a useful way to keep track of all the latest news in the world of sport. It could do with an update though to make it run slightly faster.

5. BT Wifi: 

This app is along with Nokia Drive perhaps one of my favourites, the reason being is that it is bloody useful and on the whole works really well. This app essentially allows you to connect to any BT Wifi hotspot in the UK for free, without any of the hassle of constantly having to log in. To work it, simply input your details on the app, then next time you connect to a hotspot, click the app and it will do the rest for you. Free internet! (if you use BT that is).

Considering there are so many hotspots across the UK as I believe BT uses its customers Wifi, this is a must have for any BT customer. 

So that's a brief round up of some of the best apps that I've found on the market place and use on a regular basis. I'm still yet to find a good free Youtube app, something I know Microsoft is having trouble developing because of issues with Google. Though many good ones are free, the ones I have used are just trials that force you to buy the paid for ones.. 

Violence in Games: In defense of the Gamer!

I recently wrote an article where I essentially attacked those who view video games as harmful to the people of today, most notably the youth. Cases have arisen where video games have been partly blamed for violence and even murder. Perhaps the most high profile one was Andres Breivik who supposedly trained for his attack by playing Call of Duty. In light of recent comments by a US senator who is claiming violent video games induce violent behaviour in individuals, (they are supposedly more dangerous than guns), I question his logic behind such assertions without going into the blatantly obvious (you can't kill another human by directly playing a game...).

From what I have read over the years, a number of articles and studies have been written discussing whether violent video games can in fact cause humans to be more violent. The views are generally mixed. Whilst your average Republican candidate would claim that video games cause dangerous behaviour, others say quite the opposite, going as far to say that video games can be used as a good outlet for frustration and anger, which otherwise might be directed at innocent people. Unfortunately though in either case, hard facts are not entirely easy to come by. The debate will rage on until some actual evidence is found but in my opinion, playing a violent game like say GTA, Call of Duty, Gears of War and so on, where violence towards other humans is common place, doesn't make the player a violent person. In my view, should the gamer have violent tendencies, games cannot take the blame as it is more than likely that there is a a more specific reason, possibly even a medical one. If not, then judging by the number of people who play Call of Duty, several million people would now suddenly become gun wielding maniacs with a desire to kill as many people as possible, or at least in Call of Duty's case anyone who isn't American (more to come on COD's potentially racist views....)

These two girls went on to become... normal women

Thankfully that hasn't happened. Because if we had a sudden desire to emulate what we see on television, I think we'd be much worse off. See what I don't understand is why Republican politicians in the US in particular are so quick to blame a game, but disregard everything else. For one thing, parts of the US seems to have a strong 'gun culture' which many of these politicians seem to value and uphold. Yet surely such a culture generates more violence than say a video game? A gun is a tool for murder, whether you like it or not. Not necessarily the murder of a fellow human, but a gun's primary function is to kill. There's no way around it. Now obviously when you play a video game, in many cases you kill as well. The difference is, the world of the video game is entirely fictional. The characters, creatures, things you see are not real. It has all been dreamed up by a group of creative individuals. A normal human should be able to separate this from firing a real gun at a real thing. Though I have never shot anything, the effect of killing something in the real world is a lot more lasting than in a fictional one. Why? Because it's you firing. Not some character on a screen, or even in a book or a painting, you. There is nothing or no one to hide behind when you shoot something in the real world. Now if an individual can't separate between what's real and what's not, then there is another issue.

This brings me onto my next point as to why games get stick but other entertainment platforms don't, or at least don't anymore. Certain films, tv shows, books, and even paintings to some degree depict violence. Yet for now, they don't seem receive any blame. Why is that?

What I will now do is compare two games with two films, all of which depict violence as well as other 'sins' (drugs, sex...). If we were to look at say Call of Duty with Rambo, the differences between the two are minimal. But are essentially the story of soldiers fighting for their lives in a variety of locations across the world. One might go so far as to say they glorify violence if it for the right reasons - the good of many. As a soldier in COD you are fighting to save the predominantly Western world, Rambo... well fights for what he believes in. In both a significant number of individuals are shot, and in Rambo's case in quite brutal ways... Now why hasn't mister Senator picked at the latter for inducing gun crime? Is it because it's one of his personal favourites? Does he enjoy watching Vietnamese soldiers getting brutally murdered all for the good of the American people? I don't know but one reason is because it's a film where the viewer has no control over what's happening on screen. In COD you control the soldier and what takes place. Having said that, Rambo is supposedly a hero. He fought in Vietnam to defend them from the spread of communism, to uphold traditional US values and so on... yet here he is killing people.. How's he allowed to get away with it yet Captain Price from COD is hounded for it?

If we look at say Scarface and GTA, the situation is similar. Here though both protagonists are anti-heroes. They kill for crime, fortune, drugs, women, cars....  Yet Nico Bellic supposedly encourages young people to be violent whereas Tony Montana may as well be encouraging kids to stay in school. It just doesn't make sense. In both cases we are well aware that both characters are inherently bad, whether we like them or not.

Rambo 4: He's got his heart in the right place

It seems to me then that games are simply a victim of their time, like films and books were before them - a scapegoat for the problems that exist today. How long it will last is another question. Games won't disappear and nor will the desire for politicians and officials to find a reason for today's problems. But as more and more people adopt games into their lives (a clear trend), the less of an issue it will become... other than maybe consuming too much of their time.