Game Review: The Saboteur

Title: The Saboteur
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Platform played on: Xbox 360
Release Date: 2009
Final Score: 8/10

The Saboteur is one of two heavily stylish World War II shooters that featured a heavy stealth element and came out in 2008, the other being Replay Studios' Velvet Assassin. Though both games came with their fair share of problems, I think it's admirable that they tried to do something different in their approach to Nazi-murderin', in a time where WWII games mostly consist of boring, brown and grey first person shooters. These prettier takes on the genre were a breath of fresh air.

And man, was The Saboteur ever pretty.

Seriously you guys, it is so fucking pretty

The game uses Paris as the backdrop for its story, and leaves the entire city open for you to explore. It's basically GTA: WWII Edition (but this game is actually fun). In the beginning of the game the world is completely black and white, with only small splashes of color, like the red on the Nazi flags or splashes of blue to help you identify other members of the resistance. Not only does this make The Saboteur one of the most visually striking games I've ever played, but it also gives the game a very oppressive and depressing atmosphere. As you drive through the streets you'll see the Nazi soldiers straight up gunning people down in the streets, as their massive air Zeppelins slowly soar by overhead.

This isn't to say the game is a completely bleak killjoy. As you progress and the resistance grows stronger, color will flood back into certain areas of Paris, giving these areas a strong feeling of hope and provides a complete contrast to the helplessness that the black and white areas convey.

Freedom FTW, BITCH!

 It is seriously stunning. A game that I can wholeheartedly recommend for the art direction alone.

The story begins in the countryside, and follows an Irish racecar driver named Sean Devlin. After being cheated out of a win in an important race by a blond haired, blue eyed German man named Kurt Dierker, Sean and his best friend Jules decide to trash Dierker's prize racecar as payback. This plan ends up blowing up in their face however, when they learn that Dieker is (*SHOCKER*) a Nazi! Dierker tortures and executes Jules in front of Sean, under the impression that they are British agents sent to spy on him. Sean manages to escape, but once he leaves the facility where they were being held, he learns that the Nazi invasion has begun. He grabs Jules' sister Veronique, and they flee into the city.

Soon after this, we learn that losing his best friend has left Sean feeling slightly depressed. So joins the French Resistance in order to find the man who killed him. It's actually a pretty compelling little story, and the characters are for the most part, fairly charming, especially Sean, with his charismatic Irish-ness and witty one-liners. William Grover-Williams, the man who voices him, really brings the character to life.

The supporting cast is pretty decent as well, though there are some hilariously phony accents you'll have to look past. The actors aren't given much to work with, as the characters surrounding Sean are likable, but rarely get much in the way of character development or their own personal arcs. It's really Sean's story through and through.

The place where Sean decides to hide out happens to be a night club with lots of naked women in it. CLASSIC SEAN! 

The gameplay is a bit of a mixed bag. It's a third person open-world stealth action shooter with platforming and RPG elements. If that sounds like too much, that's because it is. It's the game that tries to do everything, but some of these things aren't as fully developed as they should be. The gameplay mostly consists of running around the massive city, gunning down Nazis and blowing up all of their equipment and bases with dynamite, and let me just tell you, killing Nazis has rarely been this fun. Filling the bastards with bullets and watching them go down as red blood splatters across the black and white backdrop is just plain cool. Sean is able to soak up a lot of damage before you'll need to take cover to heal, so you're really able to indulge in the gleeful insanity of the combat.

The city of Paris is your sandbox, and it is filled with German bases, towers, and equipment for you to obliterate and steal to your heart's content. Doing so earns you contraband, the game's form of currency, which you can use to obtain better cars and weapons. You also get perks for doing certain things, like killing a certain number of Nazis in a particular fashion, or blowing up a specific kind of vehicle. These perks can change the combat, like your character's accuracy or ammo count,  but they can also unlock cool weapons and abilities for Sean to use in battle.

Where the game really falters is in the stealth and platforming segments. I feel like they wanted to have an Assassin's Creed type thing going here, but where Altair from AC can fly from rooftop to rooftop and spring his way to the top of buildings quickly and fluidly, Sean moves, by comparison, much more sluggishly, which makes climbing in The Saboteur more of a hassle than anything else. It's not really required for you to climb much, but it unfortunately tends to be one of the most effective methods of doing certain things, so it's unfortunate that it feels so slow and dull. 

HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO TAKE

I will admit, however, that sliding down a zipline and punching a Nazi on the other end square in the face is fun as fuck.

Pictured: Fun as fuck
Not pictured: Nazi face punching

The stealth elements also fall really flat, which is odd since so many of the ideas here are great. You're given the option to kill a nazi and steal his uniform, giving you the opportunity to sneak into areas previously restricted to you, and fuck up all their shit undetected. AWESOME....in theory.... Because you see, also much like Assassin's Creed, there is a "suspicion meter" of sorts. Once the suspicion meter reaches its peak, every Nazi within a 100 mile radius will be on your ass. And the Nazis are suspicious of everything you do. This makes it nearly impossible to go through any mission undetected. You can try, but they will almost always end in a blazing firefight. The game gives you the illusion of choice in how you tackle a mission, but it's not done well enough to be considered a viable tactic.

Like most open world games, there's also a lot of driving...Even a few racing segments, as you might have guessed from the protagonist's background. I thought that for the most part the driving controls worked smoothly. They couldn't take too much damage, but I guess that's just realistic...This was the 40s, after all. I thought the driving in this was more fluid and fun than in most GTA games, but I'm in the minority there.

So, to sum it all up, The Saboteur is an underrated and under appreciated gem and if you haven't played it yet, you suck. It has its rough spots, but if you're able to look past them you'll find a very rewarding, highly entertaining, and beautiful game. It's a personal favorite of mine, for sure. 

8/10

Super Retro Game Review: Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption

Title: Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption
Platforms: PC
Release Date: 2000
Final Score: 7/10

BORING NOTE: I am labeling this a "Super Retro Game Review" as it covers two sub-review types I will be attempting in the future. Retro just means it is an older game (Anything that came out before 2005 will most likely fall into this category), and the "Super" title just applies to anything that I have a lot to say about. In other words, it is a way of telling you that this review will be VERY LONG.

VtM: Redemption is, in theory, everything I could possibly want in a video game. It just appeals to me on so many personal levels. Hack & slash RPG? Check. Sexy vampires? Yep. Heavy gothic aesthetic? You betcha!! Epic story of forbidden love that spans centuries? Oh, fuck yes! Put me down for 10 copies! You know, because...reasons.

But obviously, the execution of these things is kind of a big deal, and this is where Redemption falls a little flat. There are a lot of good ideas here but the game is hindered by some seriously poor design choices along the way, like stilted voice acting, dialogue and animations, extremely clunky gameplay, and...well, it seemed to forget that it was, in fact, an RPG somewhere down the line. I hold the game very close to my heart for nostalgic reasons, but it's sad to see such a mediocre game when it has the potential to be so much more.

Just your typical dance club/blood bank

The game is loosely based on the pen and paper RPG of the same name. It's a series with a very rich mythology and set of rules that the designers could have explored, but opted instead to pick and choose what they liked and made up the rest as they pleased, with mixed results.

The plot is kind of heavy, so I'll try to sum it up quickly (in hindsight I failed miserably at this, deal w/ it).

The game starts off in the Prague during the dark ages, and you play as a French crusader (with a suspiciously American-sounding accent) who, after suffering a terrible injury in battle, is nursed to good health by the beautiful nun (and obligatory love interest), Anezka, and this scene is where we learn that the in-game graphics somehow look better than the pre-rendered cutscenes:

LOL

Soon after awakening, he learns that the mines just outside of town are infested with demons, and even though he's still weak, he ventures in there to fuck up their shit, and it's here that he encounters the hideous abomination, Ahzra the Unliving:

And when I say hideous I am of course referring to her WARDROBE! I mean, justlook at her. Fashion nightmare, am I right?

She warns him about a vampire who will rise and bring about the end of times, something which may or may not be important later (spoiler alert: it is). Christof promptly stabs her to death and tells her about how she is eternally damned because he is VERY religious, and the game makes a big point of this a lot throughout the story. It turns out that Ahzra's followers were not too fond of you murdering their messiah or whatever, so they attack the convent shortly after your return to town.

But oh no! Anezka is in the convent! Christof rushes in just in time to save her, and then tells her about his undying love for her because this seemed like the time for that. That's cool, after all, he's known her for all of two days. Fortunately she feels the same way, but unfortunately, falling in love with a nun is a big no-no, so Christof flees the convent in the dark of the night in order to save Anezka's immortal soul... or something.

As it turns out, his recent activities have peaked the interest of a vampire from the Brujah clan (the vampires have clans), Ecaterina the Wise, who wants to welcome you into her family...And... she does. As Christof is moping around the streets of Prague late at night, she pounces and turns him into a vampire, and this is where the whole "Redemption" part of the game comes in. Now that he is one of the damned, Christof is forced to question his faith, and to look for redemption as a creature of the night. He soon learns that not all vampires are totally reprehensible beings, because as it turns out, most of them like earth just the way it is, and would like to put a stop to this pesky apocalypse business.

LOL again

Christof's real driving force to continue on is Anezka, who has been kidnapped by the shittier representatives of the vampire species, and he intends to save her. It's all very romantic, actually. <3

So, that covers the first hour or so of the game. It probably sounds really interesting, and...it is, to some extent. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, the dialogue and voice acting can be very jarring at times, and the cutscenes tend to be very stiff, drawn out, execution dumps where people stand around, telling you everything about everything while looking and sounding bored about the whole affair. It's a great story with some very questionable execution.

But enough about the plot, let's talk about the other stuff!

Gameplay is a pretty standard "click on this thing until it dies" type of thing. You have a party of characters to switch between and each one has special (mostly useless) vampire abilities based on the clan they come from, with their current health and stats being displayed at the bottom of the screen. This is a mechanic that sounds great in theory but is still very poorly executed, mostly because whichever character you aren't currently controlling will be strategically useless.

Your team mates will run straight into the gigantic beast that can eat their head in 5 seconds flat, use all of their blood to use those aforementioned useless abilities, and if you are naive enough to let them wield a ranged weapon, they will stand there like an idiot and fire off all of their arrows or bullets at the wall because there might be an enemy standing behind it.

Do we let him put us in his mouth or...?

Fortunately the enemy AI is almost equally stupid so combat isn't too much of a challenge. If you're like me you'll probably spend most of your time luring enemies away from their friends so you can dispatch them one at a time, like you're the pied piper of dumbasses.

The game also calls itself an RPG, but it is an RPG only in the loosest sense of the term. You are sometimes given branching dialogue options during conversations with NPCs, but they have almost no bearing on the plot, except for your character's overall "Humanity level" which effects which ending you get. And as for leveling up and choosing your skills, it is a stupidly convoluted process where the stats you choose to boost really only effect which kind of abilities and weapons you're able to use. Many of these stats lack any sort of function or purpose, so choosing them would literally be a complete waste of XP, while many of the abilities are just carried from the pen and paper game and basically useless in the video game.

Believe me, it looks far more complex than it really is

Now, back to the positive. The game is absolutely beautiful. While character models may look slightly outdated after 13 years, the game still looks great due to some fantastic art direction in the level design, and it  boasts some truly awesome monster design as well! Most of the areas you explore are unique and memorable, the likes of which include the peaceful streets of Prague in the 1400s, to a dilapidated castle filled with abominable horrors,  an Egyptian-inspired brothel & temple, a cathedral literally crafted from the flesh of tortured souls, and many more. :D

This wide range in environmental design is never more evident than in the change from the Dark Ages to the modern day. At about the half-way point, the protagonist goes into a coma which lasts for about...oh, 800 years or so. This transition is flawless, it really feels like you've stepped into a completely different world than the one Christof had previously been accustomed to (and there were some fairly entertaining fish-out-of-water moments as well).

Unfortunately, this section of the game really wants you to use guns, and as I mentioned before, ranged weapons are very bad.. It is fortunately possible to get one generic sword for everyone, but I missed the wide range of melee weaponry I had to choose from in the dark ages. At the end of the game I kind of decided, "fuck it" and gave one of my team mates a rocket launcher. He blew all of us away in our next battle. I believe we were fighting large rats.

"ALRIGHT, LET'S GO GET KILLED!"
"YEEAH!"

The game also sounds great, hammy voice acting aside. The score always keeps in tune with the game's overall tone. Each area in the game is given a theme that captures the essence of it. It just works really well, and in some areas it even adds depth and emotional resonance to what otherwise might have been empty and shallow scenes.

Overall, Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption is a fun but flawed game that never really reaches its full potential. The AI is frustrating and the RPG elements are half-assed, but it's a visually stunning game that's still fun to play in spite of its shortcomings, and the story and aesthetics kept me engaged throughout. I recognize all of its flaws but I still deeply love this game. It was a very memorable experience and I don't think there are many games that look and play like this one does. 

I'd recommend it if anything here sounds remotely interesting to you, but the sequel improves on most of the problems mentioned and isn't connected to this game at all plot-wise, so if you're gonna play one, play Bloodlines, please.

A generous 7/10

Game Review: Bioshock

Title: Bioshock
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Platform played on: Xbox 360
Release Date: 2007
Final Score: 9/10

Okay, so, the year was 2008.

My gaming experience hadn't really gone beyond the Sega Genesis, the original Xbox, and the PS2. Halo was probably one of the "newest" games I'd played at the time. That summer, I went to hang out with my cousin at his house, and he had the Xbox 360.  The first games he put in that thing while I was there? Bioshock.

I was immediately taken in by this game. The atmosphere, the visuals, the characters, the entire God damn world of Rapture. To say this game had a big impact on my life would be a colossal understatement. It is not only the reason I bought my 360, and the reason I am such an avid fan of the medium, but it is also why I want to make games for a living.

Bioshock showed me what this medium was capable of, both as a storytelling tool and as an art form. It isn't the best game I've ever played, but it is easily my favorite for these very personal reasons, and it is still one hell of a game.

 Now, I would love to talk in depth about this game, the many ethical questions it raises, its inspired art direction, its symbolism and philosophies, etc., but I'm not going to do that. Partially because I don't want to bog down the review, which is about its actual merits as a game, but mostly because I honestly don't feel like I'd be able to do the topic justice at this point in time.

Soon though. I'm not done with you yet, my sweet.

So, you may be asking, "what is Bioshock, even?" Well, shut the fuck up and I'll tell you! Bioshock is a first person shooter with RPG elements, set in the year 1960. It begins when the main character's plane crashes in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He (Jack) is the only one to survive the crash, and fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your view of things), he finds that the plane plummeted conveniently close to a lighthouse in the middle of the sea. Once he makes his way inside, he comes to a bathysphere terminal, which takes him to the dystopian underwater city of Rapture. I know, what a crazy coincidence, right?! (Spoiler alert: It isn't a coincidence)

The city was designed by a man named Andrew Ryan, who wanted to create a place for the best of society to flourish without government restraint, allowing for great advances in the areas of science, arts, and medicine. Unfortunately, this didn't really work out. Something that becomes apparent to the player shortly after arriving, when you witness a man getting gutted by a deformed woman with massive hooks.

Welcome to Rapture, indeed...

Most of the backstory detailing the downfall of Rapture is revealed through audiotapes that the player finds scattered throughout the game, giving insight into all of the central characters and their motivations for doing what they did. You are also given smaller doses of exposition from a man named Atlas,  who directs you through the city via a one way radio you obtain in the bathysphere. He'll give you the basic rundown of what went down before you arrived, and what you can do to help him, but you haven't truly experienced the story unless you seek out these logs.

The scientific advances in Rapture led to the discovery of ADAM, a chemical found in slugs found on the sea floor, which allowed people to alter their DNA and give them super-human abilities, which were called plasmids. Unfortunately, this discovery had the unfortunate side effect of turning its users insane and ADAM-obsessed. People were straight-up murdering each other to obtain their ADAM. You can see how this might be problematic in a Utopian society.

Well, this guy seems pretty reasonable, and not at all insane! :D

Oh yes...Bioshock is a game...It has gameplay...Maybe I should talk about that a bit...

The gameplay's pretty great! So I guess we can add this to the list of horror games that don't need shitty controls to be scary. You've got your standard video game aresnal: a wrench, revolver, shotgun, machine gun, grenade launcher, and a crossbow. All are given the old-timey makeover, to make them period-appropriate. But you will also get a wide range of ammo types for each weapon (explosive, incendiary, etc.) and the ability to upgrade the weapons in certain categories, such as the amount of damage your weapon will do. This kind of customization is where those aforementioned RPG elements come in.

You get to use the plasmids (you know, the ones that made everyone into raving lunatics), and there are a shit ton of those to choose from, such as telekinesis and the ability to shoot a swarm of bees from your wrist to attack your enemies (yes, this is a thing, and yes, it is awesome). Then you have your gene tonics, and there are a few different categories of these: combat, engineering, and physical tonics. You have the option of switching these out for ones that best suit your personal play style.

On top of that, you have the ability to hack turrets, security cameras, and bots to work in your favor and attack your enemies. As you can see, there is a wide range of ways to approach any given combat situation. This makes every encounter intense and exciting, as you can find new strategies and tactics to use against your opponents.

Unfortunately, the hacking thing is accompanied by an atrocious mini-game that brings the action to a grinding halt for a few frustrating minutes, but it's still a cool option to have.

Seriously, don't even get me started on this fucking thing.

Now, plasmids rarely come free. For some of the better ones, you need ADAM to obtain them, and the ADAM can only be found in the demented children that roam Rapture, named Little Sisters. These are young, often orphaned, girls implanted with the slugs to harvest ADAM from the corpses in Rapture, for mass production of the chemical. These girls are always accompanied by hulking men (?) in massive diving suits, called Big Daddies. You've probably seen them in every single piece of advertising or merchandising related to the franchise:

NOPE.

Now, to get to the Little Sisters, you need to kill their protectors (always a challenge), and to get the ADAM the Little Sister possesses, you're given two options. You can save the little girl by killing the slug, and get a smaller amount of ADAM, or you can harvest the slug, getting a larger amount of ADAM, but killing the little girl in the process. Therein lies the major moral dilemma in Bioshock, at least, in theory. Unless you're playing on the hard difficulty the chances of you needing a lot of ADAM are pretty slim, and when you're given a cool package stuffed with goodies for every little sister you save, harvesting has always seemed pretty useless, which I think was the opposite of the designer's intention, so yeah, this aspect tends to fall a little flat for me, but it does effect the ending of the game, so there's that.

Speaking of endings, here comes the most painful part of talking about Bioshock for me. About 3/4 of the way through, the game hits you with one of the most clever twists I've seen in any medium. I'm not going to spoil it here, but I will say this, the game should have ended immediately after that. After this point the game really starts to fall apart. There are a few interesting set pieces and some decent storytelling moments following it but they're dragged out for so long that you'll find yourself wanting badly for the game to end, something which I never experienced before the big twist. It turns into a dull and repetitive series of fetch quests and escort missions, building up to an extremely disappointing boss battle.

It's actually boring, and kind of disastrous in its final act, and after such a strong beginning and middle, it's pretty tragic to play through.

But God damn, it is so great while it lasts.

Final Thoughts: In spite of its shortcomings, Bioshock is a truly beautiful and memorable experience. It's unique setting, complex story and characters and stunning art direction make it a shining beacon of what this medium can do for us, and its rich and dynamic gameplay options make sure there is never a dull moment (before the final act anyway...). If you haven't played it already, DO THAT NOW.

9/10.

PS: So pumped for Bioshock: Infinite. There are no words to describe how strong my anticipation for this game is.

Game Review: Dead Space

Title: Dead Space
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3. PC
Platform played on: Xbox 360
Release Date: 2008
Final Score: 9/10

So, before I get to talking about Dead Space, which is one of my favorite horror games this gen, I need to talk about the jump scare. A lot of people are really quick to dismiss this scare tactic, in both horror movies and games, saying that it is a cheap and uncreative way to spook the player, but I think these people do not understand how difficult it is to stage a good jump scare, which is something that I think Dead Space excels at.

People also tend to dismiss this game as not being horror because of the huge arsenal of weapons you have at your disposal, and how this makes things far too easy for the player. I think these people are also wrong, and I think I will save the different sub-genres of horror for a future post dedicated to the subject, but for now, let's just talk about this game! As with the previous review, a lot of this is based on memory due to the original review being deleted, so please bear with me here (don't worry, there are only a few more of these).

In Dead Space you play as Issac Clarke, one of those silent protagonists that are so popular in shooters. He is part of a dispatch team sent out to investigate the USG Ishumara, a massive ship that sent out a distress signal while on a mining operation on a distant planet. Shortly after this signal was sent, the ship went dark. In a fairly successful attempt to humanize Clarke, we learn in the opening scene that his wife Nicole was on the ship when things went to shit, and he wants to find her and make sure she's okay.

Hi Issac, <3 u, come save me pls.
PS Everyone's a zombie now

Once your ship docks, you learn that the entire crew of the Ishumara have mutated into grotesque beings called necromorphs, which swiftly off most of your team shortly after you arrive, and you become separated from the survivors soon after that. It doesn't take long for you to pick up your first weapon, which is conveniently placed next to some very specific instructions on how to take care of the fiends that are running rampant on the ship.

What does it all mean, I wonder...

Yes, one of the most unique components of this game is that the "zombies" in this can not simply be killed with a gunshot to the head. You need to use your wide arsenal of mining tools to chop off their legs, arms, heads, etc. The creature can keep coming at you with only a few limbs left, so you need to be pretty thorough and really make sure you time your shots effectively, because defending on the difficulty level you're playing at, ammo is sparse.

Now, let's talk about this gameplay, because it is bitchin'. Another common misconception about the horror genre that annoys me is that it needs to have terrible and clunky controls, to make the player feel dis-empowered. No, people who believe this need to stop talking. Forever. Your character does not need to move like a tank in order for your game to be scary. This is such a horrible idea to have, and it can hurt the overall design of the game in a big way. Dead Space is here to shit all over that terribad concept, because it has some of the most fluid and entertaining gameplay I've seen in a shooter, and it still managed to keep me on edge for nearly the entire experience.

The game gives you a lot of cool mining-tools-turned-weapons to use for battling your way through the hordes of fugly beasts the game throws your way. There's the plasma cutter that you obtain near the beginning, which is, in my opinion, the most effective method of shooting off limbs. But there is also a gun that shoots spinning circular saws that hover in mid-air and tear whatever they touch right the fuck up. It is glorious. You also have the ability to punch them to pieces if they get too close and your gun starts to feel uneffective, and once they're on the ground you can curbstomp the limbs away. 

Oh yeah, have I mentioned that this game is extremely gory, because this game is EXTREMELY GORY:

The video doesn't really do it justice, but it's gross, seriously. Limbs are flying around, blood sprays from everything that moves, you get to kick and punch...tentacle fetuses...until they explode. It's great stuff.

But oh yes, the gameplay, it's really good. The controls are fluid and easy to learn, so it's not hard for the gamer to completely immerse themselves in the game...I'm not really sure how to articulate it any better than that, unfortunately, so you're just gonna have to take my word for it.

The HUD is also one of the best I've seen in a game. Everything you'd need to keep track of (Issac's health, the inventory, etc.) are all part of Issac's suit. Meaning that immersion is never broken by the player having to freeze the action so they can rifle through shit for some health. It's all implemented into the gameplay in a very engaging and innovative way. 

Now let's discuss those jump scares I mentioned earlier. The reason they work so well in Dead Space is that the player never really knows when to expect them. The game places them in a very claustrophobic environment with monsters that can attack from any direction at any time. Sure, if you see a necromorph lying on the ground in an area that you've never been before, chances are pretty great that it will be jumping up to attack you at some point...but when? Some of them take no time in waiting, and pounce as soon as you come within 2 feet of them, but sometimes, you can walk by one two or three times, with nothing happening, then, as soon as you start to let your guard down, it will rip your face off.

HUG ME PLS
<3 ME PLS

Then there are the vents. The vents that follow every single area and hallway of the ship, the ones that you can hear the monsters moving around inside of, always with the knowledge that they may jump out and attack you at any moment. This is where the game's stellar art direction and sound design are put to great use. The ship feels like you're constantly walking through some kind of nightmare, and the sounds you are constantly hearing really drive home that feeling. You will never feel safe because you rarely are. 

The boss fights are also really impressive. They're extremely intense, awesome, and epic in scale. Seriously, some of these things are massive. They will blow you away. They're just a ton of fun to fight.

In spite of the gore, the game truly is beautiful. The attention to detail once you get a chance to look up from your curbstomping and limb-severing is really stunning. And not just in the ship and monster designs. This is especially evident in those really incredible moments where you get to step outside the ship for a while to explore different areas.

"Did I leave the oven on?
Shit, I totally did."

 So, now that I've talked about the gameplay and the aesthetics and the mind-numbing heart-pounding terror of it all, as accurately as I could, let's get back to the story (sorry if this review feels a bit scattershot, I am still new at this).

The majority of the story is revealed through audio and video logs, left behind by the crew before you arrived, much in the vein of Bioshock or System Shock II. You learn that this mining operation was not exactly "legal," per say, and that they found a religious relic that was kind of a big deal, and not just in the sense that it was causing everyone to have violent hallucinations and kill each other as well as themselves, which it totally did do.

Back. The fuck. Up.

The story in this game was actually pretty interesting. Nothing ground-breaking, but still streets ahead of many games in the industry today that just...don't try...It was just nice to see some effort put into the story is all.

Final thoughts: A fantastic horror title that is, in my opinion, one of the best new IPs this gen. The story is just good enough to keep you powering through, and the art direction, sound design, and atmosphere are all top notch. This game is definitely worth checking out. 

9/10

Game Review: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Title: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Platforms: PSP, PS2, Nintendo Wii
Platform Played On: PSP
Release Date: 2009
Final Score: 8.5/10

OKAY, so, here goes, my first review on this blog. This is simultaneously terrifying and exciting for me! Before I begin I need to note that I actually played this game months ago, and wrote my review on a site which has since been removed, so I am reiterating my thoughts on this game solely from memory. If I make any mistakes or seem to be confused about anything, feel free to tell me what a dumbass I am in the comments! Now, let's begin!

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a loose reboot of the original Silent Hill game, and while it does veer from its roots a lot, the same basic story remains unchanged. Harry Mason has a major car accident in the strange town of Silent Hill, and upon awakening finds his daughter Cheryl missing, and proceeds on a hellish and life-changing journey to find her.

The plot for the original Silent Hill was...not great...More on that later, but one of the places Shattered Memories shines is how it adds depth to the mundane story that the original game gave us. It made the story a deeply personal character study about a disturbed mind, something that the series became famous for in its sequels, which I have yet to play.

One of the most unique aspects of this game, however, is that it manages to do this by psychoanalyzing YOU, the player. In between each chapter of the game, you will have a therapy session in which you are forced to answer a few questions and perform a number of tasks for a psychiatrist, and the way you respond to his inquiries will effect the story, the world, and your own protagonist's behavior as well as the other characters and the way they respond to you.

This smug asshole is the therapist, in case you were curious.

This mechanic can make every player's experience unique in some way, and it allows the game to get under your skin in a way few games can. By gaining a greater understanding of who the player is and what makes them tick, the developers can unsettle and scare you far more effectively. I've only played through the game twice but both playthroughs felt very different and exciting.

Now for the characters that inhabit the topsy-turvy world that is Silent Hill. There are three big ones, and all of them are ladies: Cybil Bennett, Lisa Garla-nd, and Dahlia Gillespie. The intriguing part is how these women change depending on how you're handling the therapy sessions, not only in demeanor but also in their appearance. For example, Cybil, the cop who's trying to assist Harry in finding his daughter, can appear in one of two ways. This:

Or more hilariously, this:

My, oh my, what a big...badge...you have...

 Okay, so some of the changes are far from subtle, but when it works, it really works. I won't go into the spoiler-ific details surrounding Dahlia's character, but let me just say she is fucking fantastic.

Another fascinating change in this game as opposed to other entries in the franchise is the complete lack of contact. Once the monsters show up, you have no choice but to run and hide until you figure out what to do and where to go next. Does this approach work? Eh...To some extent. The problem is that the developers have split the game up into two parts: story progression, and chase sequences. Usually, near the end of each chapter, the environment will start to ice over, signaling that a chase sequence is about to begin. These moments give off a sense of dread, since the player knows exactly what's coming and that it is not going to be fun.

These chase sequences are intense and fast paced. The player will sprint from room to room, trying to find out where to go or where they can hide from the monsters until they can find out where to go. They're always hectic and adrenaline-charged, and for the most part this works, however, this system isn't without its faults.

The best kind of monsters are the ones that try to hug you to death

For one, the monster design is extremely lacking. Sure, the pink, fleshy, faceless attack-hug monster is scary for a time, but it is the only enemy you'll face in the game. In a series that's renowned for its excellent monster design, in particular how they pertain to the protagonist's psyche, this is extremely disappointing. While it's true that they do change their appearance slightly depending on your therapy sessions, the changes are far too subtle to make any significant difference. Some of the chase sequences also go on for far too long, to the point where it stops being scary and just starts being exhausting, and coupled with the same-y monsters, this makes for some very repetitive action gameplay.

Yaaaawn

The design decision to break up the narrative and the action sequences presents another unfortunate side effect. The story-telling segments are almost completely devoid of scares. Since the player knows they're never in any real danger, it's impossible to create any lasting feeling of dread or unease. The developers did find a few ways to spook the player in these areas, mostly through the use of excellent sound effects and environmental design, but they're always fleeting, and few and far between. I never got that perpetual feeling of danger and terror that I found in my time with other entries in the series. The game relies more on its (thankfully superb) story and characters to unsettle the player, and fortunately it succeeds in that regard most of the time.

Harry can also use flares to ward off the monsters and buy time.
That's pretty kewl, I s'pose.

Final thoughts: What the game lacks in gameplay it more than makes up for with its fantastic story, characters, and environmental design. The psychoanalysis aspect of the game makes it stand out from other titles, for creating an incredible layered  experience and one that is worth replaying for the story alone.

8.5/10

The ACTUAL Video Game Log

So, this post will be solely for me to track my progress. As I hope to play a large majority of the big critical darlings in the gaming medium, on top of a huge array of games I'm personally interested in, keeping track of them all can be a bit of a nightmare. This post will be a very long list that will always be changing and growing over time, of games that I MUST play.

I will also try to use this list to keep track of all of the games I've played and the scores I've given them out of ten, so you can use this post to reference my scores for a  particular game I've reviewed here (haha, look at me assuming that I will have readers that give a shit!), but aside from that I doubt anyone will find this post to be of any use except for me.

A few of the games on the "to play" are ones that I have already played and some I've even beaten, but I need to play through them again in order to look at them more in depth and try to analyze them.

Already Played (reviews to be posted soon):

• Silent Hill: Shattered Memories - 8.5/10
• Dead Space - 9/10
• Bioshock - 9/10
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption - 7/10
• The Saboteur - 8/10
• Fable II - 8.5/10
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines - 9.5/10
• Assassin's Creed  - 6.5/10
• To The Moon - 8.5/10
• Fallout 3 - 8.5/10
• Clock Tower 3  - 7/10
• Braid - 9.5/10
• Silent Hill (original) - 7/10
• Silent Hill 2 - No rating
• Telltale's The Walking Dead - 10/10
• Silent Hill 3 - 8.5/10
• Portal - 10/10
• Oiche Mhaith & Passage - No Rating
• Ico HD - 8/10
• Shadow Of The Colossus HD - 9/10
• Spec Ops: The Line - 9/10

Movies I've Seen:

• Suicide Room

Currently Playing:

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• Demon's Souls

To Play List:

• Final Fantasy I (PSP Remake)
• Final Fantasy II (PSP Remake)
• Final Fantasy III
• Final Fantasy IV
• Final Fantasy V
• Final Fantasy VI
• Final Fantasy VII 
• Final Fantasy VIII
• Final Fantasy IX
• Final Fantasy X
• Final Fantasy X-2
• Final Fantasy XII 
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Final Fantasy XIII-2
• Final Fantasy: Dissidia
• Final Fantasy Tactics (Okay, fuck you Final Fantasy, calm your tits)
• Silent Hill 4
• Silent Hill: Origins
• Silent Hill: Homecoming
• Silent Hill: Downpour
• Haunting Ground
• Rule Of Rose
• The Walking Dead
• Clive Barker's Undying
• Nier
• Sly Cooper 
• Sly Cooper 2
• Sly Cooper 3
• Penumbra: Overture
• Penumbra: Black Plague
• Amnesia: The Dark Descent
• The Witcher
• The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
• White Day: The Labyrinth Called School
• Obscure
• Obscure II: The Aftermath
• Resident Evil (Gamecube Remake)
• Resident Evil: The Director's Cut
• Resident Evil 2
• Resident Evil 3
• Resident Evil 4
• Resident Evil: Code Veronica
• Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
• Velvet Assassin
• Thief
• Thief 2
• Thief 3
• The Path
• Portal 2
• Half-Life
• Half-Life 2 (including Episodes 1 & 2)
• Fear 1
• Fear 2
• Fear 3
• Okami
• Limbo
• Mass Effect
• Mass Effect 2
• Mass Effect 3
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Fatal Frame I
• Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly
• Fatal Frame 3
• Siren
• Siren: Blood Curse
• I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
• System Shocl
• System Shock 2
• Bioshock 2
• Bioshock: Infinite
• Deadly Premonition
• Sweet Home
• Illbleed
• The Dark Eye
• Katamari Damacy
• 9: Yhe Last Resort
• Fallout 1
• Fallout 2
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey
• Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus 
• Oddworld: Munch's Odyssey
• Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
• Grim Fandango
• Psychonauts
• Dead Space 2
• Dead Space 3
• Dark Souls
• American McGee's Alice
• Alice: Madness Returns
• American McGee's Grimm
• The Last Story
• God Of War
• God Of War 2
• God Of War 3
• God Of War: Chains Of Olympus
• God Of War: That other prequel thing
• Remothered
• Hellnight/Dark Messiah
• Shadow of Destiny/Memories
• Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
• Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
• Yume Nikki
• Scratches: Director's Cut
• Nosferatu: The Wraith of Malachi
• Kuon
• Pathologic
• Indigo Prophecy
• Heavy Rain
• Theresia: Dear Emile
• Shadows of the Damned
• Prey
• Alan Wake
• Clive Barker's Jericho
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2
• The Void
• Max Payne
• Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
• Max Payne 3
• Doom 3: BFG Edition
• Borderlands
• Borderlands 2
• Bully: Scholarship Edition
• Red Dead Redemption
• Fable: The Lost Chapters
• Fable 3
• Bientot l'ete
• Rune
• Castle Crashers
• The Binding Of Issac
• Super Meat Boy
• Fez
• The Bridge
• Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
• Mirror's Edge
• Dante's Inferno
• Knights in the Nightmare
• Valkyria Chronicles
• The World Ends With You
• King's Field: The Ancient City
• Chrono Trigger
• Radiant Historia
• Today I Die
• Every Day The Same Dream
• The Company of Myself
• The End Of Us
• Ilomilo
• Vanquish
• XIII
• Ninety-Nine Nights
• Persona
• Persona 2
• Persona 3
• Persona 4
• Amber: Journeys Beyond
• Planetscape: Torment
• Shin Megami Tensei
• Sanitarium
• Xenogear
• Pandora's Tower
• Hysteria Project 
• Hysteria Project 2
• Outland
• Metro 2033
• Trenched
• The Cat and the Coup
• Earth Defense Force 2017
• Catherine
• Monster Hunter
• Bastion
• The Stanley Parable
• Gears of War
• Gears of War 2
• Gears of War 3
• Manhunt 
• Manhunt 2
• I-Ninja
• Brothers In Arms
• Deus Ex
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution
• Singularity
• Rock of Ages
• The Dark Meadow
• Xotic
• RecetTear
• King Arthur
• King Arthur II
• The Banner Saga
• Lone Survivor
• DayZ
• Legend of Grimrock
• Crusader Kings II
• Journey
• E.V.O.
• Terranigma
• Loneliness (flash game, worth discussing)
• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Devil May Cry
• Devil May Cry 2
• Devil May Cry 3
• Devil May Cry 4
• Metal Gear Solid
• Metal Gear Solid 2
• Metal Gear Solid 3
• Metal Gear Solid 4
• Mother 3
• Earthbound
• Eternal Sonata
• El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
• The Darkness
• The Darkness 2
• Shadow Hearts
• Shadow Hearts: Covenant
• Shadow Hearts: From The New World
• Conker's Bad Fur Day
• Painkiller
• The Last Door
• No More Heroes
• No More Heroes 2
• Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii Version)
• Mad World
• Dead Space Extraction
• Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
• Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
• Epic Mickey
• Ju-On: The Grudge
• House of the Dead: Overkill
• Cursed Mountain
• I Wish I Were The Moon
• Papers Please
• Cart Life
• Spent
• Thomas Was Alone
• Papo & Yo
• Call of Juarez: The Cartel (PURELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF STUDYING IT)
• AND MANY MORE...! FUCK.