#oneaday Day 651: Circle of Blood

Having beaten Xenoblade, I was in two minds as to what to play next. Should I go and grab something brand new, or should I delve into the Pile of Shame?

I opted for the latter. Broken Sword, to be specific, and the new(er) Director’s Cut version, which features (marginally) updated graphics and some extra Nico-centric scenarios. The new stuff so far is cool — some immensely satisfying codebreaking puzzles are a particular highlight — but the fact that the sound quality is so markedly different to that from the original game is a little jarring.

I have fond memories of Broken Sword. It came out when I was doing work experience down on PC Zone. That particular issue saw me writing a bunch of captions for some material about Quake, and publishing an entire review on Virtua Fighter PC in which I used the then-fashionable terminology on Zone of “turbo nutter ninja bastard” to mean “very powerful”. But that’s beside the point.

Broken Sword comes from a very different era to the console-centric experiences we have today. This is obvious in a number of ways. Firstly, it’s a point and click adventure, and while we do still get some of those nowadays, they’re a lot rarer than they used to be — and I can’t remember the last time a point and click adventure would have been regarded as a triple-A title. Secondly, none of the characters feel the need to run everywhere. They saunter around at a leisurely pace, mercifully just short of being infuriatingly slow. This relative slowness, however, gives the game a much more “sedate” feeling pace while you’re playing — it’s almost relaxing to play, despite the fact that you’re chasing down a murderer.

Perhaps it’s the sensation of using your brain in ways it hasn’t been used for a while. The concept of “puzzles” in a lot of adventure-style games these days tends to (still) involve pushing blocks around or finding ways to get to switches. Broken Sword, meanwhile, involves good old fashioned adventure game puzzles. In order to open a door early in the game, you need to pull on a cross on the wall, wedge it open with a shell casing you found earlier, insert a stone tube into a socket that opens up, pull out the shell casing (which hopefully you had remembered to flatten under the door earlier, otherwise you’ll have to repeat the above process) and use it to lever open the stuck door that had been partly activated by your insertion of the stone tube. It sounds a little silly, sure, but it makes sense while you’re playing — and by golly it’s satisfying when you work it out for yourself without the aid of GameFAQs. And it’s not as stupid as the rubber ducky puzzle in The Longest Journey, a game I’m finding myself hankering to replay very soon.

Broken Sword is quite impressive in that it has been around for a very long time in computer game terms and still “works” as a game today. Sure, the pace may seem relatively snail-like to console gamers (though the original did come out on PS1 and Game Boy Advance, among others) but there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the puzzle and dialogue-heavy gameplay. In fact, we could stand for a few more games like that these days, and a few less that involve you staring down the barrel of a gun.

#oneaday Day 650: Rules are Made to be Kept

“Rules are made to be broken.” I want to go back in time, find whoever coined that phrase and punch them in the testicles. The reason for this is simple: far too many people out there seem to live by these words, and allow subsequent generations to do so also.

This was particularly frustrating when I worked as a teacher. As a teacher, you’re expected to uphold the behavioural standards of the school and punish miscreants according to the school’s policies. In most cases, because teachers aren’t able to dish out any form of physical or psychological punishment, this means Giving Them A Detention. Fair enough. If you gave a child a detention and they turned up to it, this would be an effective punishment. However, unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases, they will not turn up at all.

Let’s take a couple of examples. In the first school I taught at, there was this objectionable little scrote in one class who constantly played up, threatened other children, swore, gave attitude to adults and was generally someone you really didn’t want to have around but had to. Attempt to punish him for his relentlessly obnoxious behaviour and he’d simply come back with the response “my Mum says I don’t have to do detentions, so I’m not going to.” And indeed, she didn’t think he should have to do detentions, and as such he didn’t.

Another example comes during my brief stint as a primary school teacher. One of the brightest kids in the class was, unfortunately, a little arsehole behaviourally. Much like the previous example, he’d swear, shout, get angry at adults, punch and kick his peers and occasionally storm out if he felt like it. He’d also goad the real problem child in that class into kicking off and causing trouble. When I confronted his parents with his behaviour one parent’s evening, they told me that they’d taught him to retaliate if he ever thought he was being treated unfairly. You really can’t win in that situation.

It sometimes surprises me how little regard people have for rules and even laws in reality. Obviously people don’t go around murdering each other or anything, but small thing like littering, smoking and doing things that signs politely ask you not to do — all of those make a regular appearance.

It was particularly apparent during our trip to Legoland this weekend. In some of the queues for the rides were small Duplo stations where bored kids could build things. On every one was a sign saying “please do not build tall towers” — presumably so they didn’t collapse, spray Duplo everywhere and make a mess. And yet in every instance, what was the first thing built by kids? You guessed it.

It wasn’t just the kids, though — the adults were just as much to blame, whether it was not correcting their children when they did something they’d been politely asked not to, or smoking outside the designated smoking area for no apparent reason other than to be slightly (but not massively) rebellious.

Accusations of this country being a “nanny state” are often bandied around, and often with some degree of accuracy. But just because we feel that we’re being regulated too tightly on some things doesn’t really mean that we should just only follow the rules that we think we should. I’m not talking about blindly following instructions and being a mindless robot here — I’m talking about following rules that just make common sense or are based on courtesy. If you’ve been asked not to smoke in the nice family-friendly theme park, smoke in your little smoking area — at least you’ve been provided with one. If your children are doing something they shouldn’t, inform them that they are doing something they shouldn’t — and don’t get pissy with someone else if they ask you to keep your children under control.

Also, get off my lawn, you pesky kids don’t even know you’re born, etc. etc.

#oneaday Day 649: Lego Of Me!

Andie and I are at Legoland for the weekend. Well, not right now, but we’ve spent the day there today and are going back tomorrow.

As theme parks go, it’s rather tame and kid friendly for obvious reasons, but it seems to be pretty good. It’s been a long time since I last went to a theme park so it’s been nice to enjoy their particular brand of semi-organised fun.

One thing which struck me was how keen they are to get more money out of you, even after you’ve paid [x] amount of money to get in there. Of all things, it reminded me of Facebook games, only with regular reminders of how much fun and free Lego you could get if you signed up for an Annual Pass. That and the wallet-raping prices for food — though I’ve seen worse.

The attractions were a mixed bag. The Dragon roller coaster was fun and lulled you into a false sense of security with a ghost train-style sequence at the start. The log flume, whose actual name I’ve forgotten, was good, if a little short, with only one drop. The “boat school”, in which you got to drive an actual electric boat, was sedate but pleasantly entertaining.

The day ended with a firework display inexplicably themed around Scooby Doo. This meant that there was a cringeworthy (but kid friendly) story told with roughly five fireworks set off throughout the course of it, which was a bit disappointing. However, the main event then started, which was a spectacular and very expensive looking firework display that was impressively well synced with the loud music soundtrack.

Have been impressed with what I’ve seen so far. We’re looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow and seeing the things we missed. And probably going on the Dragon again.

#oneaday Day 648: Xenoblade Chronicled

Finished Xenoblade Chronicles and can say with some confidence that it’s my Game of the Year so far. With only a few months left and only a few things on the horizon which could be contenders, it’s looking good for Monolithsoft’s epic RPG extravaganza.

Of course, my Game of the Year vote is of interest only to my friends. Gamer culture at large will undoubtedly vote Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3 or Uncharted 3 (hang on a minute… there’s a pattern there somewhere) as GotY. But that doesn’t matter.

Xenoblade Chronicles toes the line perfectly between JRPG and WRPG. On the J front, you have your floppy-haired protagonists who wield physically improbable weapons; you have your large-breasted female companions (one of whom spends most of the game clad in “armour” that really wouldn’t protect anything besides her modesty — and even then only just); you have your small, annoying creature; you have your ultimately quite predictable JRPG finale (I still love ’em, I don’t care how cliched they are). On the W front, you have a huge open world with minimal loading breaks — individual zones are huge in area and packed with things to do: monsters to kill, quests to complete, people to find. Straddling the line between both, we have an excellent combat system somewhat reminiscent of MMOs like World of Warcraft or, probably more accurately, Guild Wars.

Why the Guild Wars comparison? Well, like that game, you only have a finite number of skills which can be “equipped” at once, from a larger potential bank. The number of skills you acquire in Xenoblade Chronicles isn’t as ridiculous as NCSoft’s title, but then you do have several characters to manage all at once. Mercifully, you only have to control one of them at once, with the AI doing an excellent job of performing whatever role each character is ideally suited to in the party.

Gameplay-wise, it’s top notch. Simply proceeding through the areas, completing quests and following the story when I’d “cleared” an area was enough to get me almost to the very end — there was only a few levels’ worth of grinding required to safely get through the home straight, and by that point you’ve learned plenty of EXP-boosting skills so it’s not as painful as it could be.

This is all very clinical and mechanical — and that’s fine, as an RPG can live or die on its mechanics. But the real star of the show in Xenoblade Chronicles is its cast. Brilliantly voiced by an English cast, the characters are all memorable and, despite my “floppy haired protagonist” comment earlier, manage to not fall into the usual stereotypes. Each of them is an interesting individual whom you get to know throughout the course of the game, both through story sequences and through optional “heart to heart” conversations, where two characters have a chat and come away from it either liking each other a little more or a little less.

Characterisation isn’t just limited to story sequences, however — different combinations of characters in a battle party elicit different battle cries and responses to one another. And, as characters develop their Affinity for one another, they start to talk to each other during battle differently, often engaging in some light-hearted banter that makes them seem a lot more human. Okay, you’ll hear “what a bunch of jokers!” and “my rifle’s getting hotter!” an awful lot throughout the course of the game, but on the rare occasions where they start teasing each other after a successful battle, it’ll definitely raise a smile.

For me, the sign of a good RPG is whether you have a kind of “empty” feeling after it’s all over — you won’t be spending any more time with these characters, and that’s sad. I felt it particularly strongly with Persona 4, whose ending sequence made me tear up, and I’m not ashamed at all to admit it. Xenoblade Chronicles gives me that feeling, too. It’s a different sort of ending to Persona, but once it’s over you have very much left those characters behind to get on with their lives in their post-adventure world. It’s a bittersweet moment.

By far the saddest thing about Xenoblade Chronicles, however, is how few people will get to play it. While it got a release in this country, it’s likely to become harder and harder to find as the months go on — and there’s sure to be plenty of people who will dismiss it out of hand purely because it’s on the Wii. This isn’t even getting into the whole fiasco of Nintendo of America stubbornly refusing to bring the game to the States, despite there clearly being an audience for it. The game is already translated and ready to go — we Europeans have to deal with American spellings in most games, so would it really kill you to put up with the words “armour” and “learnt”? No — but Nintendo of America apparently doesn’t see it that way, presumably believing that sales will be poor.

The thing is, though, Nintendo is in a difficult position right now. The 3DS is ailing, the Wii is fading and the core of the gamer community has all but left the company behind. For Nintendo of America to bring Xenoblade Chronicles to the States would be a gesture of goodwill to all the loyal fans who still defend the company, even amid its gradual move away from the core audience. It would give people more faith in Nintendo’s current and future products, and, in the long term, it would help attract people to the Wii U as people see it as a system that will cater to the core.

Sadly, it doesn’t appear it’s going to happen — so if you’re an American and you would very much like to play Xenoblade Chronicles, I would say don’t hesitate — import it, mod your Wii and enjoy. There’s over a hundred hours of absolutely top-tier entertainment there, and you will not regret the time you spend in its highly distinctive world.

Now I better go to bed. Off to Legoland tomorrow!

#oneaday Day 647: Badvertising

There are some truly awful adverts on TV at the moment. The trouble is, I can name pretty much every one of them, meaning that this badvertising is actually proving effective, meaning that there’ll inevitably be more of it. Worse, people actually seem to actively like some of this stupid nonsense, meaning they go viral and enter culture at large.

Let’s take the Confused.com adverts. These have developed a life of their own over the years. Formerly, their crazy-haired mascot was just that — a mascot or, more accurately, a logo. Now, however, she’s jumping around, singing some butchered version of YMCA which has been badly edited so it doesn’t flow properly and, to make it even worse, the animators have actually taken the time to make her boobs jiggle.

The butchering of a popular song seems to be a much-used approach at the moment. DHL do it with their latest, which puts some nonsense about “logistics” (don’t even get me started on that one) in place of “That’s Amoré” or whatever the song is actually called. And there are doubtless others out there.

Then we have hair care and beauty products, which are in a whole world of their own. One commercial at the moment actually promises “even more science”. Others make up lists of “seven signs of aging” or “thirty-eight signs of damaged hair” or “twelve signs your vagina is about to fall out”. For example.

One of the best-worst adverts at the moment is for Müller yogurts. It’s an impressive homage to kids’ TV of the past, featuring characters like Yogi Bear and the Mr Men in some sort of terrifying dystopian future where cartoon characters are possessing humanity, but it has absolutely nothing to do with yogurt. You can guarantee it will have been a subject of discussion at water coolers across the country, but will it sell yogurts? I have no idea.

By far the most infuriating place to watch ads is on YouTube, which appears to carry a library of approximately two ads at any one time and play the same ones every time you want to watch a TV programme, then again halfway through. Thankfully, recently, a bug in the system means that they often cut off early, leading to some interesting edits — the best of which is clearly the Coors advert, which opens with Jean Claude van Damme saying “Hello, I am van Damme. My pants froze,” and often cuts off at just that point.

Advertising serves a purpose, of course. Without it some things wouldn’t get funded. But does it have to be quite so fucking irritating?

#oneaday Day 646: The Industry that Won’t Grow Up

Here in the UK, it’s the Games Media Awards this evening, an event run by trade publication MCV — arguably one of the biggest and most reliable sources of industry news in the business. The awards ceremony should be a great honour for those nominated — national recognition for the work you do is something which should be celebrated, and the tireless hours of work that those who work for various publications and websites put in should be rewarded with something like this.

Unfortunately, for me at least, there’s something of a problem: the way these awards are being marketed, particularly on Twitter. Doubtless someone somewhere along the way has been looking at the eternally-bizarre Betfair Poker account and decided that they’d try to do their own “self aware Twitter account” thing for the GMAs. There’s crude humour, promises of “industry boobs” (which — ha ha — turn out to be images of male nipples from a feature on the UFC personal trainer game that came out a while back) and generally very little discussion of the reason the awards actually exist — the games media and the good work they do.

In the last 24 hours, the GMAs Twitter account has encouraged everyone to turn up to the awards ceremony nude, noted that “if by this time tomorrow we’re not unprofessionally drunk, we’re doing something wrong” and publicly ridiculed anyone who decided to speak out against the attitude on display. For me, that doesn’t instil me with a particularly large degree of confidence in the credibility of the awards, however big the sponsors are — and they’re pretty big.

I’m not saying the awards and the way they’re promoted should be po-faced and boring — far from it. But I’d much rather see the industry’s achievements being celebrated than puerile jokes better suited to the playground — great stuff gets written every day, yet in 24 hours of tweets leading up to the announcement of the award winners, precisely one tweet (itself a retweet from a reputable journalist on MCV) called attention to a good piece of work published online. The rest promised boobs, nudity and drunkenness. And while I don’t doubt there will be plenty of drinking at the GMAs ceremony tonight, to revel in it quite so much on the official account seems… I don’t know, inappropriate.

The problem is partly that gaming itself is stuck in a curious cultural position somewhere betwixt “creative medium”, “kids’ toys” and “big business”. The disparate elements aren’t always entirely compatible with one another, and it can often lead to accusations of the industry being “immature” — an argument lent weight by the number of games that fulfil childish (and usually stereotypically male) fantasies such as playing soldiers, flying spaceships and killing monsters.

But the thing is, the industry as a whole does seem very much to want to grow up. The very existence of ceremonies like the BAFTAs for games and even the GMAs themselves suggest that the industry and those who work in it do so desperately want to be taken seriously, to be seen as a worthwhile part of society rather than being regarded in the Daily Mail light of “destroying childhood” and the like. Unfortunately for those people who think talking about boobs and drunkenness on the official account for an awards ceremony is the right thing to do, that means knowing when to turn off the smut and turn on the professionalism — because if you don’t, it simply undermines everything you’re trying to do for the industry and destroys your credibility.

Sadly, though, from what I have seen, I appear to be in a minority in feeling this way — worse, by posting this, it’s entirely possible I’m opening myself up to public ridicule by the account in question itself. Still, if that does happen I think it will prove my point rather aptly.

#oneaday Day 645: Roll Your Own iOS Shovelware Game

There are some truly great games on the iOS platform. But there’s also an awful lot of complete pap, most of which comes in the form of ripoffs of other, more successful games that got the formula just right. Now you, too, can be a part of gaming’s mobile revolution by designing your very own iOS game! All you have to do is fill in the blanks in the press release after the jump.

Are you ready? Then let’s begin. Continue reading “#oneaday Day 645: Roll Your Own iOS Shovelware Game” →

#oneaday Day 644: This Post is Pre-Owned and Proud

Fellow daily blogger and #oneaday 2010 alumnus Ian Dransfield posted a good rant about Online Passes earlier, and I thought I’d add my two-penneth.

These arguments have been made before, and will doubtless be made again, but people need to stand up to this behaviour and stop defending it. Why? It’s quite simple.

Online passes are completely indefensible.

It really is that simple. There is no reason for a publisher to lock off sections of content from people who have purchased copies of their games legally other than the completely mercenary “to make extra money.” Sure, publishers don’t make any money from preowned game sales — the thing which systems like this have been clearly set up to combat — but let’s look back, shall we? We survived the PS2 era with a flourishing second-hand game market. Grew enormously, you might say. Even the early part of this console generation did just fine without requiring you to enter three or four codes before you can even play the fucking game you paid money for.

One frequently trotted out excuse from publishers is that online passes help pay for server space and maintenance. Again, in previous generations and on the PC, that has never been an issue, so it’s a spurious argument at best. The argument is often extended to point out that when a second-hand copy of a game is sold, some space on the server must be created for the new player when, in fact, an extra copy of the game has not been paid for. Fine, but bollocks; the previous player is no longer playing it because he traded it in, meaning their precious server space can be taken up by the new owner. Easy.

This isn’t even getting into the fact that this argument is completely destroyed by games such as Arkham City, which lock single player content behind an online pass. And exactly what, pray, are those gamers who don’t have their consoles connected to the Internet supposed to do? Just go without? Well, yes, apparently, so it seems.

It astonishes me (and Ian, for that matter) that there are people out there who will happily defend this obnoxious practice — people who are the very consumers getting bummed senseless by it. It’s unnecessary, it’s indefensible and it’s just plain rude to consumers. And it’s giving me pause when considering whether or not to purchase new games — an issue which started to grow as DLC and later Game of the Year editions started to rear their heads.

Let’s take Uncharted 3 — a game which, by all accounts so far, is likely to be pretty brilliant. The Uncharted series is known for its excellent single player campaigns with strong stories, wonderful characters and spectacular setpieces. And yet news has emerged recently that the game will be making use of both an online pass to access the multiplayer, and a Season Pass allowing people to “preorder” downloadable content. The presence of both of these rubbish things is making me not want to purchase a new copy of Uncharted 3 when it’s released. Because I’m unlikely to play the multiplayer anyway, I may as well wait a while and pick up a preowned copy for cheaper, thereby depriving Sony and Naughty Dog of the money that I actually wanted to give them for producing a spectacular game.

I’m hoping these horrific business practices will cause the “mainstream” part of the industry to implode at some point in the future, because at the moment the vast majority of the gaming population is proudly presenting its collective posterior to the likes of EA, THQ and Ubisoft and allowing itself to be repeatedly violated with a large phallus made of money. It doesn’t have to be like that. If an independently developed game such as Dungeon Defenders can be one of the most-played online games on PC while costing $15 and without demanding anyone purchase any kind of pass for the privilege of playing online, then large publishers such as EA clearly don’t need any money.

The sad thing is, though, that the desire to play the latest and greatest games as soon as they’re released is a far stronger impulse than the “hang on, I’m being bum-burgled here” sensation. People want to play things day one, and by buying new copies they figure the online pass thing won’t affect them. But in doing so, they’re indirectly giving publishers the A-OK to carry on with these anti-consumer measures. And that’s not OK.

#oneaday Day 643: Out, Hyperbolical Fiend!

I think I’m allergic to hyperbole.

Well, okay, maybe “allergic” isn’t quite the right word. I don’t break out in a rash or anything any time someone says that something popular is good. But I do tend to find that excessive hype actually dulls my enthusiasm for something rather than fuels the fires as it may once have done in the dim and distant past.

Take the recent release of Batman Arkham City. By all accounts, it’s a marvellous game (apparently) but I have very little desire to rush out, buy it and play it. There are a number of reasons for this — cashflow, the fact my Pile of Shame grows seemingly by the day at times, and the fact I’m still playing Xenoblade Chronicles — but seeing the relentless fawning all over it recently has been a little offputting. I find it doubly offputting due to the anti-consumer practices which have been foisted upon it — for the unfamiliar, a chunk of game content is locked off behind a single-use code, meaning that only people who purchase the game brand new will be able to access it without paying extra.

From what I’ve heard, this butchered content actually isn’t particularly good, anyway, so at least that’s something — but it still smarts to know that companies are wilfully screwing over consumers in the hope to make an extra buck. There is literally no good reason for this to be implemented in the case of Arkham City, which is a single player game. Online passes which lock off multiplayer modes can use the “it’s helping to pay for the servers” argument, which is slightly more plausible, though which can still be easily debunked.

But we’re not talking specifically about Online Passes here. We’re talking about hyperbole in general.

The “big games” of the year are all coming out within the next few weeks, and it’s surprising how little I care. I attribute this to several factors: firstly, most of them are first-person shooters that involve Soldiers With Guns, and secondly, having seen the PR circus teasing pointless information about them for the last [x] months, I’m sick of the sight of them already and they’re not even out yet.

I perhaps wouldn’t be quite so sick of the sight of them were it not for the fact that the publishers of these heavily-hyped titles treat them as “products” or “consumables” rather than what they actually are, which is interactive creative works.

Let me give you some sample quotes from press releases to give you an idea of what we’re dealing with here.

This delay is a move to ensure players and fans of our promise and vision to produce high-caliber games that deliver the best quality game experience.

— Sony, on the Payday: The Heist delay.

We are thrilled to see Ezio enter the world of Soulcalibur, as we believe the values of both brands fit together. We think that this partnership will bring a great new gameplay experience to both Soulcalibur and Assassin’s Creed fans.

— Ubisoft, on Ezio being the guest character in Soulcalibur V.

Letting fans vote for the UFC Undisputed 3 cover athlete is a unique way for us to connect with our extensive worldwide audience of UFC fans, fighting game enthusiasts and more casual sports followers. We look forward to seeing if Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre or Cain Velasquez has what it takes to grace the cover of what will be the most invigorating MMA videogame release to date.

— THQ, on the pointless social media marketing ploy that is getting people to vote for what sweaty man will appear on the box of UFC Undisputed 3.

As you can see, these titles are being treated as products, commodities, things to be sold. All soul is sucked out of them any time you let someone with a title that includes “Vice President of [pointless-sounding department]” or “CEO” talk about it. Meaningless adjectives are applied, and talk turns to “brands” and “engaging with audiences” rather than “making a fucking badass game”.

The developers should be talking about these games. The people who are creating them, building them, testing them. Not some suit who has probably never picked up a controller by choice in his life.

Imagine how much better a press release would be if it were written by the developers and they were allowed to show some enthusiasm and/or honesty about their work, rather than sticking to a rigidly defined PR schedule.

In fact, let’s do better than that. Let’s write one.

LONDON, October 23 2011 — Studio A33 today announced their new game “Hobbit Blasters”, soon to be available for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

The game revolves around the tired old concept of pointing a gun at things and pulling the trigger, but this one features arcade-style point scoring with big numbers and loud noises that make it more fun than anything you’ve ever played ever.

“Seriously, you know, it might sound a bit lame,” said Dave Thunder, lead programmer on the project, “but give it a chance. Hobbits are annoying. No-one ever seemed to comment on that fact when Lord of the Rings was big. We’re allowing you to blow the shit out of those little scrotes in HD and you wouldn’t believe how satisfying it is, particularly if the guys from the publisher have been in all morning making us sit through pointless meetings about stock value and other things we really couldn’t give a flying fuck about. There’s blood and guts and it really, positively, absolutely is fun, I promise. And if it isn’t, you can have £10 of my own money. And a pint. And a cake.”

Hobbit Blasters is in early stages of development but Studio A33 is more than happy to show off its work, warts and all, to any who are interested in seeing it.

“It’s a bit shit at the minute,” said Sally Harpy, lead graphic designer on the project. “But that’s to be expected. We’ve not long been working on it. What do you want, stunning graphics from day one? Give me a fucking break here. I’ve been slaving over concept artwork for months, and now I have to implement all that shite into the game. But if you want to come and have a look, be my guest.”

Hobbit Blasters is due out when it’s finished.

#oneaday Day 642: M-M-M-Multiplay!

I don’t generally play a lot of multiplayer games. There are a number of reasons for this, chief among which being the fact that I never seem to be any good at any I try out — or perhaps it’s just that the sort of people who play multiplayer-focused games tend to play them to such a degree that they get really, really good at them and take great delight in “pwning noobs” or whatever imbeciles like to call it.

Cooperative games fare a little better but I’ve always found myself hesitant to take on cooperative challenges with anyone other than friends that I know well and trust. I have never played Left 4 Dead with anyone other than people I have been talking to and playing with for many years now. Perhaps this reflects my own idealised view of what I would like the situation to be were a real zombie apocalypse to happen — I would want to be with people I trust.

Part of the matter is due to the attitude of some people online, however. I recall giving Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach a go a while back and liking the game a great deal, until I did a dungeon run with a party, at least one of whom had obviously done the quest before. I was still new to the game and learning how it worked, so I made a few mistakes along the way, and a rather poorly-designed platforming part towards the end of the quest caused me a bit of difficulty. Rather than having a good laugh about it afterwards, like I would have done were it someone else in the same situation, I ended up with a torrent of abuse hurled in my direction. I logged off and never went back. An overreaction perhaps, but I was in no hurry to spoil something that was supposed to be fun with the bad attitude of arrogant people who think they know best.

I don’t play much multiplayer on Xbox because I don’t like voice chat, for reasons outlined here. And also, there aren’t that many games that support multiplayer on Live that I’m in a great hurry to indulge in — the Xbox has a reputation as “the shooter console” for a reason. There are exceptions — I loved Need for Speed Hot Pursuit online, and Burnout Paradise could often be a lot of fun, but driving games were often also prone to the “everyone else is better than you” problem.

This lengthy preamble is a way of leading up to the fact that I am very much enjoying playing Trendy Entertainment’s excellent Dungeon Defenders in the manner in which it is supposed to be enjoyed — multiplayer. Sure, you can play it single-player, but you’d be a fool to do so, since it’s extremely difficult solo, and even more so with certain classes. Rather, it’s a game that is well balanced for its four player cooperative action, and features a good balance between cooperation, competitiveness and communication.

I’ve played a few games of it now, and the best sessions I’ve had were the ones where people were communicating — not in a “hurry up u noob” sort of way, but in a helpful “this is going to happen on this wave, so put that there and then be ready for it” sort of way. I’m always pleasantly surprised when I come across people like that, and I always make a point of thanking them after the game when I do so. It’s a genuine pleasure to play this sort of game in the way it was designed — with up to four people working together for a common goal and helping each other out along the way, rather than berating each other for their mistakes.

To cut a long story short, I’m of the strong belief that Dungeon Defenders will be the first game in a very long time that will see me regularly playing online with random strangers. My first experiences have been so good that I don’t feel any of the usual uneasiness about partying up with randomers to hack a few orcs to pieces. It helps that the game itself is excellent and easily understandable, too, and challenging without being unfair.

If you haven’t checked it out yet and the idea of an action RPG crossed with a tower defense game sounds like something that appeals, I strongly recommend you give it a shot. It’s $15 (or local equivalent) on Steam, and also available via PSN and Xbox Live Arcade. I haven’t played the console versions, but I will say that the mouse and keyboard controls of the PC version work extremely well

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have another dungeon to defend before bed.