fortytwo points

Kotaku Discusses the Art of War; No One Becomes a Better Warrior For It

I think I've made it clear in the past that Kotaku is one of the few gaming sites I respect and today they've set out to solidify that opinion further. Owen Good's batted us another homer with his insightful piece about art direction in combat-oriented video games and claims "leaps in game presentation have typically corresponded to some kind of combat themed game". Considering the advances in photo-realism games like Call of Duty and Tom Clancy's Latest-Game-About-Special-Force-Guys-Doing-Special-Forcey-Things have helped usher in, it is an opinion-cum-fact that is difficult to argue against.

Good takes the time to interview members of Guerilla Games, Gearbox, and Infinity Ward to get their opinions on the subject and they all offer great insight into the process of designing worlds for these types of titles. Some lament the duty of creating realistically accurate environments while others embrace it, but it is great knowledge for those who think they may want to make a war game themselves. You can read the piece on Kotaku by clicking this link:

Kotaku Feature: "The Art of War" by Owen Good

They never fail to surprise me with a topic I am not sure I would have thought of myself. If you consider yourself a gamer and have not already, then I highly suggest you join their site.

Plus, Fleshbot is a part of the Gawker Media Network as well (parent company to Kotaku), and you're probably already a member there anyway, aren't you?

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

-Unfather

Watchmen Saturday Morning Cartoon

Okay, it has nothing to do with video games but who isn't excited to see The Watchmen movie?

It was a rhetorical question.

The movie drops tomorrow, but until then, enjoy this mock Saturday Morning Cartoon by HarryPartridge:

Genius. Gotta love the nuances, and my thanks to King-mag.com for pointing this one out.

-Unfather

Where To Get Incredible Game Music

dB Soundworks may not be well known now, but I'll put money down that this guy's gonna be the next Tommy Tallarico.

Danny Baranowsky owns the property and created the fantastic music for Flashbang's fantastic game Blush (reviewed here). There's a nice selection of electronic music to go through and it's all free to download, so check it out.

That's really all I've got to say about that. ;)

-Unfather

Flashbang's Blush flOws like Spore (the fun parts, that is)

It's sometimes surprising if not downright amazing what social networking can do for you. I really only joined Twitter to compliment fortytwo points with some real-time updates and I never thought it would actually lead me anywhere I cared to be. This parts not surprising, but I was wrong.

As I investigated my few followers in an effort to determine how crazy they must be to have taken an interest in my Twitter account, I found that one of them (at least) probably isn't an individual. Instead, they turned out to be a gaming service.

Now, this is exactly why I never did and really still haven't gotten into the whole web 2.0 hoopla. You're a less valuable community when someone starts using your channels to hawk their wares in what will probably be an apparently objective manner. It's not wrong to sell shit through creative means, but it is wrong to think that someone's your friend and to friend them as if they actually were. Take a look at Tila Tequila. No one in the world actually likes her and yet she has millions of online "friends". Am I the only one who finds a service that facilitates this kind of madness unappealing?

Extended Viewing with Halo Wars: Other People's Reviews

I haven't played the full version of Halo Wars yet and quite frankly probably won't any time soon, but I did offer my two cents about the demo with a review that you can see here.

The gist is that while it's functional, I'm not a fan.

But of course like most people in the world, I'm a fucktard in many regards, and if you just swallowed my view without a counter-opinion, well, that might just make you one too. So, to not help propagate exactly what I created this site to fight against, I've come across a few video reviews of Ensemble's latest and final effort and I decided to post them up here for your consideration.

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. may be Rightful Heir to Ace Combat's Abandoned Throne

I don't know how it happened, but some where in my gaming career I became a massive fan of aerial combat games. The first Ace Combat is probably what won me over but it's still a surprise whenever I consider it. I mean, I loathed Top Gun the movie and the game before I ever even knew what that word meant, and frankly, my poor opinion of the license stands after having given it additional opportunities to prove itself. And have you played the theme song in Guitar Hero III yet? If repeating the same 5 goddamned irritating chords in an irritating pattern doesn't make you want to smash someone's expensive HDTV with a plastic instrument, I don't know what will.

 But discussing popular culture in the gay community is not what this site is about, so I apologize for digressing. Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. by Ubisoft's Romanian division is the newest flight combat title to grace our respective consoles and I have got to say that, by the demo, it's pretty damned good. Here's some gameplay footage I shot myself so that you may consider it without all the bullshit quick-cutting marketing departments like to use:

Vadrum Rocks Super Mario Bros.

There's no end to the number of videos showcasing someone playing a video game theme on some unwitting and likely unfitting instrument, but this has to be one of the best:

You can check out more of Vadrum's work here on his YouTube channel. This guy's like the John Bonham of nerd-drummers.

That is, if John Bonham had died a virgin.

-Unfather

GTA IV: The Lost and Damned Review: It's Nice to be Killing People in Liberty City Again

Shallow games seem to be all the rage these days. It's as if we're finally getting what we asked for (good gameplay) and now it's biting us on the ass, or me at least because I actually care about character development. Gears of War 2 is fun but it's about as emotionally compelling as a canceled soap opera, so it's nice to return to the warm cradle of a good plot-line from time to time. I suppose that's why it's been so good to be back in Liberty City's arms again these last few days.

Rockstar's latest car-jacking riot comes in the form of exclusive  downloadable content for the Xbox 360 that goes by the name of The Lost and Damned, and it's a primarily biker-themed affair. I'm sure you've heard of it by now but unless you're willing to drop 1600 Microsoft points sight-unseen, you may not know if it's worth your time. New motorcycles, weapons, and mission objectives are nice, but is there enough here to justify spending twenty of your potentially hard-earned dollars on? Fortunately by most standards the answer is a resounding yes, and I believe it shows The Lost and Damned is just the start of GTA IV's great expandable potential.

Tripbase's Stunning Videogame Locales Full of Strong Picks

I've been lazy about posting but surprisingly the site is growing despite me. Let's just cut through the excuses and explanations as to why this is and get to the happy ending though, shall we? I just had to clean dog S off the thankfully-hardwood floors and my patience has thinned a bit.

To calm myself down I decided to spend a little time gawking at the scenic vistas in Tripbase's nostalgic gallery of video gaming's best environments, and it may very well have saved the dog's life. Anything that acknowledges American McGee's Alice at the start is a worthy distraction, and it's accompanied by other strong choices like Fallout 3's wastelands, Assassin Creed's Middle Eastern landscape, and Oblivion's bloom-bleached, sheep-stained hills.

The choice-picks for me though have to be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Shadow of the Colossus, the latter which you may not have seen coming but will likely understand. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is one of the first games to make me feel as if I truly was where I was supposed to be (post-explosion Chernobyl), and Shadow of the Colossus benefits from enemies that act as the levels themselves, making for an experience that will be unique until God of War III hits shelves.

The descriptions are lacking unfortunately so if you have not played these games, the references may mean little to you. But if you have, it will spark many fond memories of better games past. You can check them out for yourself here:

Tripbase's Stunning Videogame Locales

Now we have an excellent list of ideas to reference/steal when we make our own games, right?

-Unfather

Dawn of War II: So Much More and Sometimes Less Than Expected

The Warhammer universe is one rife with conflict, turmoil, bloodshed, and as far as I can tell, little else. Story-lines never seem to consist of more than some hero selling out to another race and then being taken out in a valiant self-sacrifice by the protagonist, all while alleged millions die in the war. Perhaps that is why the tabletop game is as popular with pasty Mountain Dew-spazzes as it is; it requires little consideration of else other than combat. While Orks, blood-thirsty space marines, and xenomorphs aren't a recipe for scoring a date in even the most desperate situation, they do make for a great video game, and Dawn of War II for the PC proficiently proves this.

Relic's latest effort is a drastic shift from the original Dawn of War game but it is strongly in the vein of their close-combat tactics style. The game is much better for it too, I should add. Joining a unit called the Blood Ravens as their Force Commander, you are a soldier who's record in battle is tremendous and who can literally crash through stone walls at will. Atypical to every plot in the 40K universe ever, the combined forces of the vicious Ork tribes, the hyper-advanced Eldar, and the terrifying hordes of the Tyranid are upon you, and you have been tasked with putting a space boot up their asses or die violently trying. And I do mean violently: