The Dylillama Waves Goodbye To 2010

Well that’s it for 2009 then. Don’t know what happened there. The year just seems to have disappeared - like Paul McCartney's dignity. I suppose that’s a good sign - the speed of the year, not the absence of dignity. A year that drags on and on is rarely memorable for the right reasons. Yes – 2009 was a good year. As has become customary on my little site, I’ll give you a run down of my highlights and lowlights for the year.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
I never got around to writing a full length treatise on this gem. This is slightly unforgiveable on my part, especially given the panning I gave the first outing. I still stand by those opinions.

UC2 is another story altogether – literally and figuratively. After 9:30:06 hours, 11026 shots fired, and 967 bodies left in my wake (at a hit ratio of 47.57%!), I was wholly satisfied I’d partaken in one of the finest ever playable action adventures. Nothing is radically different from the first – but it’s just so much better, so much more refined and realised. The plot is fantastic, the characters and their interactions with each other unprecedented, and the gun play and platforming are an absolute joy. The added bonus is that it’s jaw droppingly beautiful – easily the best looking game so far this generation. Highly, highly, highly recommended.

Modern Warfare 2
The MW2 Juggernaut was impossible not to notice this year, and again it’s pretty unforgivable that I haven’t managed to write down any thoughts. I was a late comer to the original Modern Warfare, only getting into it in late 2008. The single player campaign was fantastic, and in the multiplayer I found any incredibly challenging, deep, and customisable take on the FPS genre. It was a hard act to follow, but MW2 has managed it with aplomb.

Well, there are a couple of problems. The campaign’s plot is entirely absurd and impossible to follow without the assistance of wikipedia. It doesn’t really do justice to the subtlety and immersion of its predecessor. More importantly, the much hyped ‘airport scene’ is crude, and astonishingly out of place in what is essentially bubble gum entertainment. It’s frustrating to see the game ask the player to consider such serious social and political themes in one small section, and then spend the rest of its duration exploding, shooting, stabbing, and setting fire to everything in sight. ‘I’m JUST A VIDEOGAME’ you hear it roar indignantly as your speedboat tears of a cliff in a hail of gun fire and helicopter parts. Please Infinity Ward – we’re not all mindless drones. You can’t have it both ways.

On the flipside - the multiplayer is strong as ever, and the inclusion of Spec Ops is most inspired. It’s that same addictive mix of visceral, precise combat, with more-ish RPG depth. I’m sure this will be my multiplayer fix of choice for a long, long time.

Batman: Arkham Asylum / Demon's Souls

Batman was brilliant. Probably my Game of the Year. *Gush*. Or maybe Demon's Souls. *Gush*.

Scribblenauts

No year is complete without its share of crushing disappointments. Scribblenauts was gash. After all the promise, all the hype, what was delivered was an unplayable, half-finished turd of a game. What good is a massive dictionary of possible words to summon if the controls are so fundamentally broken that walking across the terrain is more difficult than beating Uri Gellar at a game of Jenga? No good, that’s what. A broken, broken effort. Avoid at all costs.

Halo: ODST

Meh. I generally love Halo games. I love the way they play, love the bombastic, epic plots, and love the truly excellent multiplayer. ODST wasn’t a massive disappointment, but by gosh was it a sign that gaming has moved on since Halo 3. And more importantly, that Bungie need to do more with their games to stay relevant. The purported innovations were merely window dressing. A leopard cannot change its spots. Jessica Simpson cannot just dye her hair and not be soul crushingly vapid. And Halo can’t go all ‘film noire’ and not be Halo. It was essentially the same game I played two years ago, told from a slightly different perspective. Even the cast of Firefly couldn’t liven it up. Here’s hoping Reach can do more just keep the franchise chugging along.

The Wire

I kept hearing about this show. Rumblings from people and newspapers I liked and respected. Rumblings about a sprawling and insightful look into the drugs trade in modern American. So I caved. Amazon was my partner in crime, and all 5 seasons gradually made their way onto my bookshelf. This series is a knock out. A slow-burning, complex, character driven exploration of a single neighbourhood in West Baltimore, told through the eyes of dealers, users, po-leece, politicians, and journalists. It’s an astounding series, and features some of the finest acting you are ever likely to see in a television series. It’s the HBO format in full flight – in the same vein as the Sopranos, Deadwood, Rome, Oz, et al. But it is subtler, more insightful, more human. Watch it if you haven’t.

AFL

Who would’ve thought it, but I actually watched more AFL this year than I did last! You know, 2008? When I was mostly in Australia? How did I do this you you say? I found a website that gave me delayed online streaming access to every single game of the year, watchable anytime after the final siren. All for the low low price of £29.99. The effect being I watched nearly every single game of the year. And all at a reasonable hour! It really was a cracking season, despite the demise of my beloved Swans. I was truly glad to see the Cats grab another flag – an accurate reflection of their flare and dominance of the last few seasons. Here’s hoping 2010, the last season before the introduction of those pesky new Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney teams, keeps up the high standard.

Live Music Galore

Really hit the live music up this year. Saw Neil Young, Ben Harper, Fleet Foxes, The Notwist, The Mars Volta, and Modest Mouse, among others. About the only disappointing act was Modest Mouse – the singer was obviously ill, and they just seemed to lack any kind of energy and enthusiasm. London is a top town for music – there’s always something on. And it’s not just big acts either – the local scene is absolutely kicking with talent. Look forward to more of it next year.


Beards

I flirted with growing a fully fledged beard for several months now – timidly moving from three day stubble to scraggly looking seven day affairs. But the Christmas break might finally have done it. I am now the proud owner of a relatively non-seedy two week job. Depending on how the girl feels, it might be here to stay.

Right. Well. I’m talking about beards, so that must be it for me this year then. Once again, I hope you have enjoyed reading my little site as much as I have writing it. Looking back to this same post last year, and I realise that I made all sorts of crazy promises for the year ahead that I never kept. Like for instance, reviewing Fallout 3 – a task I never got around to. And never will. So nothing like that this year. Just the promise that I’ll be back in the year 2010 with more thoughts, reviews, rage, and senseless ramblings.

Until then, dear reader, may all your drinks be doubles, and all your white powders non-lethal.

Adios.

The Dylillama Is Strangley Addicted

So I clicked on this link.

You should do the same.

It is awesome.

And very more-ish.

Much like crack.

The Dylillama Has Motion Sickness. Again.

I’ve just started Mirror’s Edge, having picked it up for £5 bundled with Modern Warfare 2. I know I’m pretty late to the party. But really not as late, in relative terms, as say, oh I don’t know, the entire global leadership to the whole global warming thang. So I’m not doing too badly. In relative terms.

Impressions? Loving it. There’s a really distinct feel to the game’s visual aesthetics – a feeling that draws you in, making you want to spend more time in this unique shiny and stark world. Or maybe it’s just that it’s not entirely made up of greys and browns like most releases these days.

The free running mechanics are fantastic. Building up speed and flying across rooftops is a visceral and entertaining experience, and it’s a breath of fresh air to play an ‘FPS’ where shooting is entirely optional, and in most cases undesirable. It really is a very unique game, and well worth a look.

God damned but it makes me ill though. The first person perspective definitely adds to the experience, but prolonged exposure makes my stomach churn and my head ache in a way I haven’t experienced since I was selected for a Ludovico Technique trial. It’s a game I can only play in short stretches. Which is a shame – cause it’s both entertaining and intriguing. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to take some Dramamine and have a lie down.

The Dylillama Follows The Creed

The original Assassin's Creed was a guilty favourite of mine. It was stunningly beautiful, the free running was a delight, and the assassinations themselves highly entertaining. It was such a fresh and exciting concept for a game.

But despite this, it was a 'guilty' pleasure because of its many and obvious flaws - it was excessively repetitive, the plot was full of gaping holes, the constant trips outside the Animus were tedious, and some mechanics simply did not work. For example, being forced to walk very slowly (whether on foot or horse back) past guards to avoid detection, created a time consuming and frustrating stealth experience.

Assassin's Creed II feels like the game AC wanted to be. It's more fleshed out - there's more to do, the combat feels more satisfying, the world feels much more alive, and the stealth mechanics are more fluid. Hell, Enzio can even swim this time around. But despite all this, I can't help but feel the game has lost some of it's 'soul' in the transition to its sequel. I'm not quite sure what I mean by that. I just felt that the freshness, the sense of danger and urgency, has been lost in this more fully realised sequel.

The good first then. Set in Renaissance Italy this time around, the plot is much better. Enzio's life of ladies and leisure is suddenly torn asunder when his father and brother are hung for high treason. He swears vengeance, puts on a familiar cowl, and, thanks to the help of techno-genius Leonardo Divinci, a familiar wrist mounted weapon, and seeks off in search of those responsible. Along the way he discovers a maze-like conspiracy, and the truth behind the age old conflict between the Templars and the Assassins. He also leaves a small nation of corpses behind him, but hey, he is an assassin. Enzio is more likable than Altair - the first games' protagonist spent far too much time brooding and scowling - and he is truly a delight to control.

The journey takes you across four sprawling maps as you ferret for clues, take down targets, and gradually build up a formidable armoury and repertoire of moves. It's worth mentioning the gorgeous visuals, and just how realised each map feels. Venice in particular, with its interconnecting canals and beautiful churches is a delight to behold.

Add to this the action outside of the Animus, as Desmond Miles, still a prisoner at Abstergo Industries, attempts to unravel the mystery on a much grander scale, and you have quite an intriguing set up. Plot moments outside of the Animus are much less frequent, which is very welcome given how annoying the constant breaks in the action were in the first outing.

The gameplay itself is excellent. The combat is terrific, and much improved on the original. The sheer variety of ways to deal out the death are astonishing, and is really only limited by your own creativity. There's a lot a variety in side quests and general game options. Assassination contracts, races, beat-up events, pickpocket chases, official chases, assassin's tombs, pick pocketing, hiring minions, feather collection, glyph collection - you could never accuse ACII of being lite on content. Indeed, the 'Grand Theft Persia' badge has become increasingly more accurate. Money plays a big part in the game with each mission earning you florins, which can be used to purchase new gear, or to increase the value of your mansion, which in turn generates income for you automatically. The financial elements seem almost RPG like in their execution.

But for all these improvements, there's still something missing at the heart of the game. In AC, no matter how repetitive the tasks, they were always related to the assassination at hand. In ACII, there is no actual purpose to the most of the side missions. They aren't related to the current mission, and seem only included to pad out the game. You are rewarded financially, but money eventually becomes useless, as after a time there will be nothing left to purchase. Even the 360 achievements list tacitly acknowledge this lack of a compelling reason to complete all available side quests. Hardly any of them are awarded for completing all in a sequence of available challenges.

It would be possible to fly through the games main missions, without touching any of the extra content - and the experience would be no less for it. That is both a comment on how good, how enjoyable, the main content is, and a comment on how little reason there is to complete every single 'race' in the game. Surely the player should be given a reason to attack the content available?

The plot on the whole is not easy to follow, and in places is down right confusing. Indeed, it was one of those games that made me make a trip over to Wikipedia to work it all out. The conspiracy outside of the Animus gets increasingly more ridiculous, and the big reveal as the game builds towards its conclusion, and in the glyph unlocked 'The Truth', borders on the preposterous. Suffice to say, it sets itself up for another sequel.

ACII is an odd game. It's definitely entertaining. It definitely fleshes out much of the potential of the first game. But it's still missing something - and I'm not quite sure what it is. Undoubtedly production values have been ramped up. But, it feels like design by committee, not strongly governed by an overarching artistic vision. The clearest example of this I can come up with is the escape sequences. In AC escaping the scene of an assassination was a heart pounding affair, where guards tenaciously gave chase frequently leading to the player's demise. In ACII they barely make chase at all, and avoiding detection is a simple affair, devoid of tension, and rarely leading to a loss of health bars, let alone to death. For all its improvements, ACII fails to invoke the emotions and tensions of its predecessor.

That's not to say it's a bad game. It isn't - it's very good. But great? No. For the game's (presumably) closing installment, Ubisoft Montreal must work out how to hold all these ideas together more coherently; how to make side quests relevant to the core experience; how to tie together the various elements of an increasingly complicated plot; how to marry entertaining and accessible gameplay with tense and challenging moments.

If they can do this, then they will have a great game on their hands - a game I will very much look forward to playing.

The Dylillama Harbours Demonic Intent

*This one got a run over at Screenplay.

Demon’s Souls is a very special game. While most modern releases have increasingly become more accessible, more willing to give gamers an easy ride, and less willing to punish mistakes, Demon’s Souls does the opposite. Demon’s Souls is a game that demands your complete attention. It’s a game that won’t reward you unless you’ve earned it, even if that means you don’t see half the content the game has on offer. And it’s a game that will not to hesitate to punish you should you choose to treat it with any sense of complacency or hubris. Demon’s Souls is a hardcore action rpg dungeon crawler, laden with old school mechanics, but shining with all the bells and whistles of an AAA PS3 title, as well as some exciting and truly ground breaking online features. And, most importantly, it’s freaking fantastic.

Demon’s Souls gets straight to the point. The mystical kingdom of Boletaria has been completely overrun by demons, with barely a human to be found. From out of the darkness a lone warrior arrives to heal the world and drive the demons from the lands. That’s about all there is by way of exposition. The plot is sparse and the characterisation minimal, but this only serves to heighten the tense and desolate atmosphere that pervades each of the game’s five worlds.

After picking one of the twelve character classes on offer, you’re thrust straight into the action with a bare bones tutorial that introduces you to basic combat - quick and heavy attacks, sword and shield, and any magic you may have, are intuitively mapped to the shoulder buttons. Progression through the tutorial level eventually leads you to an opponent four times your size. One hit from this chap and your dead. And kill you he will.

But fear not, this is just another element of the tutorial, introducing you to the game’s key mechanic – death. When you die you are resurrected in Soul Form, and transported to the Nexus, the central hub world where you shop, level up, and upgrade weapons and armour, before venturing out into one of the game’s five sprawling levels. Each of these levels features a unique motif and visual style, ranging from prisons, to castles, to caves and swamps. Each level is broken up into a series of sub levels, each with a fiendishly difficult boss demon waiting at the end. A boss needs to be defeated before you can progress any further in the world. You will spend so much of your time in Demon’s Souls, dead, in Soul form, because the only way to get your body back is to either slay one of these boss demons, use a rare item, or kill another player (more on this later). What's more, when you're in soul form the game becomes harder by halving your health bar and lowering your damage ratings. That's right - when you fail, the game becomes harder.

Character progression in Demon’s Souls is ingenious. By slaying demons you harvest souls, which can be used to level up any of the stats governing the various skills and disciplines. You’re never locked into a particular class or skill tree, and character customisation is only limited to the amount of souls you can pump into governing stats. To complicate things, souls are also the only form of currency, and must be used to purchase upgrades, medical supplies, spells, and everything else you might need on your quest. Powering up your character is essential to progression in the game world. Some areas are simply off limits until your character can hold its own. Reaching a balance between equipping yourself properly, and progressing your character is a challenge in itself.

Harvesting souls is a risk. If you die you lose all the souls you’ve collected. The game throws you a lifeline by leaving a bloodstain at the site of your last death, allowing the player to reclaim souls if they can get back to their bloodstain. But it only saves your most recent bloodstain, meaning that if you don’t make it back without dying again all those souls will disappear for good. It’s not quite the permadeath of old, but it does lead to some truly heart breaking moments. Knowing when to turn back with the bounty of souls you’ve collected instead of pressing on in search of more is one of the game’s key challenges.

High-level stats will not guarantee you victory – skill, patience, and knowing your limits form equally important parts of success. The levels are laid out exactly the same time each time you enter. Mastering the game means memorising the levels – enemy placement, trap locations, and safe areas. If you know the level your chances of success are raised significantly. Each enemy has its own quirks and weaknesses, and learning how to take them down without taking damage is essential. Above all the game must never be played like a God of War action style romp. Combat is visceral, intense, and deliberate. It is never unfair or cheap – but it is unrelentingly challenging. Every encounter is potentially deadly – right from the smallest grunt to the most towering of bosses. You can never relax. Bashing buttons will get you killed very quickly. You must treat every encounter as potentially life threatening. From the first lurching zombie demon, to the very last terrifying encounter, Demon’s Souls is an exhilaratingly tense ride.

Perhaps the most innovate elements of Demon’s Souls are its online elements. When you log into the game, you log into the server, not for traditional multiplayer or cooperative play, but to play in parallel along side the thousands of other players out there. Throughout your forays into the dungeons white spirits will fade in and out of the game world. These are others playing the same level as you. You can leave messages to warn other players of traps or enemies ahead, or even to trick them into making a deadly mistake. You can touch other player’s bloodstains triggering a replay of the last moments of that player’s life, and perhaps helping you to avoid the same mistake.

Or you can engage in one of the game’s two multiplayer ‘modes’. By using a blue stone you can summon other players to help you through particularly difficult sections or boss fights. More fiendishly, by using a black stone you can invade another player’s game world. Once invaded neither player can leave the world until one of them has vanquished the other. As an incentive, the victor is rewarded with exiting soul form and regaining their body. Invasions lead to some of the tensest gaming moments you are ever likely to experience.

Does that all sound pretty incredible? It is. And there are so many other elements of Demon’s Souls I haven’t even touched on. It’s a huge game, filled with exciting ideas, and deep, challenging gameplay. It’s a game that you won’t like unless you let it win you over – let it draw you into its intense, foreboding worlds, and challenge you in a way that you probably haven’t been for many years. It’s not a game for everyone. But if you are willing to let it win you over, you will find a game so immense and rewarding that you will probably, like me, be playing for many, many months.
Demon’s Souls is a PS3 exclusive, currently only available on import from Asia or the Unites States. Fingers crossed for a PAL release.

Arkham IS Insanely Good

Remember a couple of months ago, when I excitedly blogged that Batman: Arkham Asylum was shaping up nicely? Well, after a playing through the full game, I can conclusively say that it turned out to be an absolutely cracking experience.

AA is my personal favourite superhero game ever released. Never before has a superhero game made you feel so completely like you are its subject. Well perhaps Superman 64 - but classics like that are just few and far between.

In AA you are the Dark Knight himself. Developers Rocksteady deserve full credit for immersing you in the character so completely. Atmosphere is the key to AA's success. Arkham's environments are creepy and foreboding, the Joker is fantastically maniacal, and the cast of villains is impressive. Arkham is oppressive, sprawling, and unsettling - as much a character as any other player in the game's events.

The story is simple - Batman turns up at Arkham with the Joker in cuffs, at which point the madness begins. The man in the purple suit escapes and sets in chain a series of evil plans which the Batman must, naturally, thwart. Storytelling is fluid and dynamic in AA. Each section flows seamlessly into the next, guiding the player through both plot and character. Indeed, the intensely cinematic encounters with Scarecrow best illustrate this, with the effects of his mind altering toxin allowing for an intense exploration of the psyche of Bruce Wayne. This interaction between story and character is a real strength.

But is it fun? Indeed it is. Character intelligently informs the combat mechanics as well, allowing a variety of different approaches to any given situation. Want to beat the living snot out of a room full of enemies Batman style? You can do just that. The combat system is simple, free flowing, and satisfying. Taking on multiple enemies is a joy, rather than a chore. And options abound. Don't want to try the direct approach? Want to sneak around, employ explosive distractions, or drop from the roof on unsuspecting henchmen? You can. You can tackle any given scenario in any manner that would be true of the Bat. Again, this serves to make you feel as though you are inhabiting his cape.

It's not without it's flaws - although these are ever so slight. The most annoying piece design is the 'detective mode' which Batman uses to sus out clues and hidden objects. Detective mode changes Batman's view, allowing for a kind of x-ray vision that exposes hidden doorways and enemy locations. It's really useful. And that's the problem. There is no real reason to ever turn it off - meaning you miss out on the wonderful visuals in the name of practicality.

The epic boss battles are, for the most part, great. They're tense and exciting, and serve as wonderful tension building moments in the story. But there are exceptions - particularly the final encounter which is surprisingly easy when compared to the terrifyingly tough penultimate encounter. These closing moments perhaps don't do justice to the unique intensity of the rest of the game - and a less 'videogamey' approach to the final encounter would have been welcome.

However, on the whole AA is a resounding success - as entertaining a game as any you are likely to play this year. There's even a whole bunch of 'challenge rooms' to keep you going after the main quest is over. These little touches really extend the life of the title. For example, I haven't even mentioned the Riddler Challenges strewn throughout the levels, which add an extra puzzle solving element to the whole game.

AA is a fantastic experience, and one I recommend without hesitation. Go play it.

The Dylillama Returns From His Epic Break

Well. That was an epic break. Nearly two whole months! The excuses? The usual. Busy, busy, busy. Primarily, work has been insane. So insane that it has fried my brain. And made my rhymes a bit lame.

However fun the subject matter, I have not been able to muster the necessary pizazz or energy to attack my writing with much gusto. So there hasn't been much.

Well I lie. There's a whole bunch of entries marked 'draft' in my postings menu. But they're all half finished, full of lame jokes, and unforgivable spelling erors. I didn't enjoy writing them, so I figured they probably wouldn't be very fun to read.

Oh well. It happens - here's some new stuff!