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The Life of P

Tag: portal

Video Ex Machina

A bunch of videos will make up this post because my free time is going to be spent in the cyberpunk renaissance world of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. When over a decade later a true successor is released to one of my favourite games of all time, I’m not about to make excuses.

Portal: No Escape, I discovered after watching, was directed by Dan Trachtenberg of The Totally Rad Show fame. I knew he directed here and there but this is the first I’d actually seen. And it’s stunning. The live-action short suggests that, if only they were helmed by people who really understand the source material, perhaps game-to-film projects would not be doomed to failure.

Continuing the Portal theme, this is perhaps my new favourite geeky proposal, in which our favourite passive-aggressive AI, GLaDOS, pops the question. “You can say no. I’m sure he’ll get over it. Eventually.” she intones. Interestingly, Valve helped out by recording his scripted dialogue in a session already booked with GLaDOS voice-actress Ellen McLain. What could the voice of Half-Life 2’s Overwatch have been doing there…

And on that note, Escape From City 17 – Part 2 has finally arrived, continuing from the visually impressive, virtually-no-budget original.

Finally, the creative advertising campaign for the Muppets continues its tradition of giving away virtually nothing about the actual film. The latest is a music video with OK Go covering The Muppets Show Theme, while riffing on their own inventive music videos. You may wish to ignore the somewhat tedious ending.

The Face of Gaming in 2009

Modern Warfare 2At the end of last year Modern Warfare 2 landed with such explosive force that it not only breached its way into mainstream press headlines, but it also sent dozens of excellent games scurrying for cover in Q1 2010, which is now the most impressively packed first quarter I can recall. The hype was justified given Infinity Ward’s past performance, the impressive in-game footage already shown off, and the fact pre-orders alone guaranteed profits dwarfing pretty much any other title this year. It is, for all intents and purposes, the public face of gaming for 2009. Which is hugely disappointing.

It is not, let me be clear, because it is a bad game. On the contrary, I’ve just finished playing it and am on the same high as with the climax of its predecessor. While it had a rocky start jumping erratically around the world with short missions that felt like a greatest hits of Bond locations, it gradually sucked me in so that I really did care by the final twists and turns of its tale. It is a stellar title at the peak of the shooter genre, but in some ways therein lies the problem. This is a genre that has existed in much the same form since the early 90s, though the graphical technology and AI has improved in leaps and bounds. It is still what springs to most non-gamers’ minds when they think of videogames. I am not about to apologise for the genre — it can be vibrant, creative and in some cases is arguably a valid competitive sport. However given the wealth of varied experiences offered through videogaming in the past year, it’s a shame the mainstream public will just think of another military shooter.

So what were the best games this year?

Batman: Arkham Asylum: A licensed game that did not poorly ape the recent film but instead struck out its own path, drawing on Batman’s comicbook heritage. Mark Hamill’s deliciously insane turn as the Joker rivals Heath Ledger’s performance (in a different way). Combining intelligent investigatory and brawler elements with the back-catalogue of villains locked away in Arkham, it was a surprise debut hit from Rocksteady Studios this summer.

BraidBraid: Independent developer Jonathan Blow lovingly crafted this beautiful, haunting, artistic and fiendish puzzle platformer in which you affect time to complete your goals. Its careful learning curve may sharply steepen but it does reward the patient. Its ingenuity on par with Valve’s Portal (though Braid’s indie development arguably compares more directly to its predecessor Narbacular Drop).

Assassin’s Creed 2: While it might seem there is only so creative a sequel can be, this was the consumate sequel, as if Ubisoft had listened to every single complaint about the first game and addressed it, particularly the repetitiveness. The action shifted to Renaissance Italy, once again recreated in stunning architectural detail (right to the peak of every church and tower since you can scale them all) but now feeling much more alive. Perhaps not wishing to waste all the historical data they gathered during development, the in-game database is fascinatingly educational as you explore Florence, Venice and more. Depending on your perspective it could be as much an art history project as a videogame.

Uncharted 2: There is a long-running debate as to whether games should become more cinematic and story-driven or strive to differentiate themselves. There are merits to both approaches, but none nailed the cinematic feel so much as Uncharted 2. Arguably the only reason people were not even more impressed by this game is that the first installment was already so good.

Dragon Age: OriginsDragon Age: Origins: this adult fantasy roleplaying game opens with a different Origins story depending on your chosen class, which then affects portions of the main story, may be something of a gimmick. Very real, however, are the characters Bioware has created, each with their own personalities and rich backstories that really drive the game forward moreso than the overt (and somewhat derivative) plot. Fully voice-acted, the biggest disappointment is that whenever selecting party members for a quest, you know will be missing great dialogue and banter from the others. And if they dislike you, they’ll even leave. Meanwhile, ike 2007’s The Witcher, its darker tone also allows it to deal with heavy themes like racial tensions.

The Ones To Watch

Those of you who frequent the Critic section of the site may have noticed a new page appearing in the last few days. Quite why anyone would frequent that section leads to questions of sanity since it is not exactly kept what one might call up-to-date. Which is sort of the point of the new page, Ones To Watch. It is an entirely personal list of the films on my radar that I intend to see, along with the reasons that I am interested. Since it will look forward by around six months, the idea is that it should never end up totally out of date. There is no real guarantee of quality on the films listed, and my opinion may well change as further information emerges, but the descriptions should let you know if it’s likely to be up your street. There is also a higher probability that films in the list will get the full review treatment, but given my dismal performance last year I make no promises at all. The list is sparse right now, just to give you an idea, but should fill up over the next week or so.

Virtually all of the first year trainees are heading off to Diss in Norfolk this weekend for a potentially debaucherous weekend of fun in a large cottage. This is the result of some sterling work by Edwin in arranging the entire affair, including the provision of a worrying amount of alcohol. For the sake of everyone’s health I rather hope there is some left over. Expect a fuller report once recovered next week.

Several bits and pieces I’ve been meaning to mention:

  • Google Maps has added a transit layer for a host of major cities including London. Quite how useful you’ll find it in the long run is a good question, but my impression is it may be more helpful as a tourist in one of the other 58 cities added so far.
  • I’m definitely suffering inauguration fatigue from the excessive Obama coverage, but arguably one of the more interesting things to emerge from it is the best demonstration to date of Microsoft’s PhotoSynth technology in CNN’s “The Moment”.
  • Royal Society of Chemistry announce the winner of their A great idea? competition to solve the conundrum at the end of The Italian Job.
  • The BBC offer a detailed description of Porsche’s stroke of stockmarket genius involving its acquisition of VW shares last year.
  • Wired’s long article The Plot to Kill Google discusses the wrangling behind the search giant’s deal with Yahoo!, the potential criminal prosecution that resulted in Google pulling out, and from where the next threat may come.
  • And finally, a stunning replica Portal gun. This is a triumph!

"Civilization now depends on self-deception. Perhaps it always has."

(CC) BY-NC 2004-2023 Priyan Meewella

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