The waiting game.

The waiting game.

Let me set the scene; I am sat in my apartment in Naples (Italy), it’s five-past midnight and my girlfriend is sat next to me, earphones in listening / watching something on her laptop; there is a lot of noise drifting in through the window from the streets and tightly knit apartment blocks that make up the Materdei district of Naples; the light in our living room is on and as I look at this Word document my eyes are burning up. It might be the newly installed anti-mosquito chemical dispersing plug that is glowing red somewhere in the bedroom, it might be the insanely strong onion that I chopped a few hours ago for lunch, it could be the oddly dim energy saving light-bulb. My eyes are burning up and I could probably say that one of these reasons is true. But I would be lying.

My eyes are burning up because today, like most days these days, I have read every single new word published on the Internet about the next generation of consoles: in particular the PS4.

That’s right. My eyes are melting because I can’t stop reading about the PS4. It’s like an addiction. Today, over early afternoon coffee, I realized that I was still sat where I had sat to drink my early morning coffee. I hadn’t moved other than to clean out the coffee maker and make said new early afternoon coffee. I am a next gen zombie. I may as well be an alcoholic for all the use I am at the moment. I stay up late reading, I wake up early and read and stare into space and read and stare and read and stare until my eyes bleed tired, caffeine infused blood.

And why?

The last generation passed me by. Completely. Sometimes I enjoy reading the comment threads on next gen articles (IGN is best) and read the bilge and vitriol hurled between fan groups whose brand loyalty got a little out of hand in the PS3 XB360 era but I don’t really understand. With the exception of a handful of games (Red Dead and Rayman Origins to name two) I genuinely thought the last generation was pretty bad.

From the very beginning the last generation distanced itself from my traditional gaming ideals. SKU’s? No thanks - the Super NES didn’t need SKU’s. Multi-player games that couldn’t be played with friends in the same room? Fuck that – mid-nineties multi-tap parties ruled. Cooling fans borrowed from government issued, Fujitsu made, shit spec PC’s?  Nope. I already live with quite enough background noise thank you.

These things are perhaps from the sillier end of the spectrum but I do have some serious issues with the last gen.

One issue particularly stands out for me – a perceived lack of direction. To be fair, this can be leveled at Sony more than anyone. Nintendo had their direction sorted; Microsoft had their PC in a box with added achievements but Sony? Well, who knows?  The team that gave us the PS1 and the PS2, two machines that knew what they wanted to be and kicked-ass doing it, gave us the PS3. Sony built an expensive powerhouse that was prepared for any direction future tech might take but with no clear idea of what that might be. In 2006 Facebook picked up where MySpace left off and social networking boomed – people wanted connectivity and personalization; records of achievement to show to their friends in an online community. Cue hardware revisions to remove functionality and reduce costs. Cue endless firmware updates. Cue mandatory trophies for developers. Sony was prepared for everything except this; Microsoft and LIVE had got it right but they missed the boat on Blu-ray, HD, and basic console reliability.

This era also saw a massive change in the economics of, and thus end product of, game development. Costs spiraled, development teams grew exponentially and a risk-averse culture reared its ugly head. Cue FPS shovel ware. That’s right – shovel ware. I see no difference between the endless list of shit Wii titles and the endless list of shit PS3 and 360 titles. Shit is shit. That Syndicate Wars, a brilliant game, was ‘brought up to date’ and released as an FPS sickens me. Still.

So why am I excited about PS4? Why?

Because Sony have got it sussed. Social networking? Tick. Ever improving PSN? Tick. Enlisting indie developers to liven up the games scene? Tick. Name dropping the PS1? Tick.

Big mistakes were made in the last era and it seems that Sony have learned from them. What Sony went through with the PS3 is what Microsoft seems to be going through with XBO now.

Before the PS4 reveal, I had never heard of Mark Cerny but may I take a moment to say well played that man. The PS4 is shaping up to be a huge success à la PS2. The reason? Direction.

So yes. I spend all my time lapping up the articles about the PS4 because I am excited. I am massively impatient to stop reading about it and start playing it.

But right now I should really just go to bed – rest my eyes up for another reading marathon tomorrow; so goodnight everyone.

Keep it focused, keep it OMG.

Pokéfest - Final Day

Final Day


And that was the day that was. 2 months of work from 5 players had built up to this moment on Monday 4th June. What a dramatic day it was.

The drama began before the players had even convened with the news that Richard would not be attending. An alleged game wipe being the reason for this late withdrawal. The 'Pokéboss' Richard would not be.

Then came the news that Spanish Dave could not immediately arrive with the other players but would have to arrive later in the day. After much deliberation, the boys decided to play on without him and then he would have to play 3 games back to back when he arrived.

And so the tournament began!

Game 1


Ben vs Andy

The first game was a terribly one sided affair with Ben laying down a marker for other players to try and reach. A level 65 Haunter was Ben's starter Pokémon and he took down in short order Andy's Pikachu, Gyarados, Haunter and Tony the Blastoise! Things were looking grim for Andy until Mr Pickles, the worlds most famous Kadabra, made his first appearance of the day. Kadabra unleashed his first attack, Hypnosis, and both Ben and Andy watched Haunters life bar rapidly decrease. And keep decreasing. And decrease further still. But it stopped. With perhaps 20% health remaining Haunter cleaned up. Mr Pickles was put to sleep and soon enough his dreams were eaten. Game over. Hitmonsteve the Hitmonlee was sent out but had no chance. Haunter had ruined Andy's team. Ben showed his potential to be Pokéboss, Mr Pickles had showed his potential to upset.

Game 2


Jim vs Andy

Jim swaggered into this game looking to add further punishment to the crestfallen Andy. However, a surprise lay in wait. First up Jim's Lapras beat Andy's Pikachu. The mighty Lapras was soon cutdown though - Andy's Haunter putting it to sleep and finishing the job. Jim's Charizard recovered the situation by beating Haunter but was soon beaten himself by Tony the Blastoise. Jim's Gyarados then beat Tony, Hitmonsteve and Andy's Gyarados. Andy had one Pokémon left; Mr Pickles. Pickles unleashed the beast! Gyarados was taken down and was followed by Jim's Hypno after a long headbutt vs recover struggle. Mr Pickles then put Pikachu and Haunter down and put the game to bed. The upset of the day was complete. Mr Pickles showed his class and sealed his legend.

Game 3


Ben vs Jim

This was expected to be the game that would decide the Pokéboss title but after the previous upset it was now more a case of Jim trying to save his chances. Ben began as he did against Andy, Haunter beating Jim's Gyarados. However, Haunter was soon taken out by Jim's mighty Hypno. Ben recovered with his Jolteon who took out Jim's Hypno and Haunter before falling to Charizard. Ben then unleashed his suprise entry Persian who beat Charizard but lost to Jims Lapras. Ben onto his 4th Pokémon and the game was even. His Kadabra finished the job though beating both Lapras (surviving a hit from Blizzard without being frozen) and Pikachu; finishing with a one hit kill against Pikachu. Ben moved to 2 wins and 0 losses. Jim had lost 2 and won 0.

Game 4


Dave vs Jim


Dave enters the building and surveys the battlefield. He's nonchalant and confident. Jim throws out his level 50's Gyarados, Dave throws out his level 27 Dratini. The crowd gasps. Jim's Gyarados takes out Dratini and then Dave's Raichu and Haunter before losing to Dave's Gyarados. Jim's Haunter then beat Gyarados but goes on to lose to Dave's Charizard. Jim's Lapras returned to action at this point and Dave withdrew his Charizard replacing him with a Marowak who quickly fell followed by Charizard. Jim wins and saves face. Gyarados looked mighty.

Game 5


Dave vs Andy

With Jim having played all 3 games and winning 1 and losing 2, a win for Andy would seal second place in the Pokéfest for him. Dave had other ideas, he wanted his first win. First up Dave's Dratini was beaten by Pikachu but following some withdrawing his Raichu would beat Hitmonsteve. Raichu then lost to Mr Pickles. Some more withdrawing and Dave's Gyarados beat Andy's Pikachu, Gyarados and then, surprisingly, Mr Pickles. Gyarados would lose to Tony the Blastoise but Dave's Haunter would save the win beating both Tony and Andy's Haunter. Dave got his first win and Andy joined Jim on 1 win and 2 defeats.

Game 6


Ben vs Dave

A win for Dave would leave these two players tied on 2 wins a piece. Some discussions were held as to what would happen if this were the case. It didn't matter, it wasn't to be. Ben opened as normal with his Haunter beating Dave's Charizard but he would lose his Haunter to Raichu. Ben then took the opportunity to unleash his as yet unseen level 70 Charizard. Game over. Charizard beat Gyarados, Haunter, Raichu, Dratini and finally Marowak. Charizard went wild. Ben celebrated. 3 wins. He was the Pokéboss! Dave joined Andy and Jim on 1 win 2 losses.

And there we have it. Ben was the Pokéboss 2012 and well deserved it was too. And what a great time everyone had. The original Pokémon games cannot be praised enough. They are still utterly compelling and I may have to write a piece on them at some point in the future.

For now I can say, congratulations Ben! Next year onto Gold and Silver!

Keep it Johto! Keep it OMG!

Misty: Oh no, Staryu's in real pain!
Ash: How can you tell? It doesn't even have a face!
Misty: It's because I'm sensitive to others feelings!
Ash: Oh yeah, like I'm not!

Pokéfest - Week 9

Day 69


A long time has passed since the last Pokéfest blog and this is primarily due to the drying up of any real news; however, today we can officially say that in one week the Pokéfest 2012 will be upon us...

5 men, 2 months, 1 goal - to be crowned Pokéboss 2012.

Since the last post it would seem that a level of contentment has come over all the trainers who have already completed the game. Almost an air of complacency in fact. Jim, Ben and Spanish Dave all attest that they have put in minimal time to the game over the last 3 weeks. Ben is quoted as stating a mere 2 hours of play. All three however are far from forthcoming with details of the training, Pokémon in their team or the levels their monsters are currently at.

It is interesting. I considered recently that the Pokéfest may have been too long at a near 2 months but I quite like that it has been an epic rather than a quick race. It feels more true to a real Pokémon trainers life - as you know you can't stop at the Elite 4, you have to keep training hard, pushing it every single day as you never know, you can never be certain, that Gary Oak isn't going to jump you when you walk around the next corner....

Ok, perhaps I've immersed too deep into Pokémon but then, I'm still playing. I am now up to 6 badges with the 7th imminent. Mr Pickles has been on the steroids and is no average Kadabra - the sleeping Snorlax on Route 12 was just the latest unsuspecting victim of his 'roid rage - and is ready to take on the world. I just need to get some of my other boys up to scratch but there can be no doubt that I will bring them into peak form at the right moment. I can do no more.

The news regarding Richard is interesting in that he has 4 badges, the same as he has had for some while now, but, he claims his team are levelled in the 50's. I'm still not writing him off. He came in with the nickname Pokéboss, he could still leave with it as his official title. All correspondence addressed to Richard (B.A. hons, Pokéboss) if you will.

Just one week left. I for one cannot wait to see what happens. Of course, all will be posted here!

Keep your Snorlax safe! Keep it Kanto! Keep it OMG!

"I'd better split before I catch loser-itis!" - Gary Oak 1998

Pokéfest - Week 5

Day 34


Just one month and one day until the big match day!

5 weeks down and we're officially a little over half way through the Pokéfest and the competition at the top is now really on as we have 3 players who have collected all 8 badges and shown the Elite 4 the real meaning of the word trainer. This could be terrible news for my own chances but there is some good news as we shall see...

Ben as we knew last week was at the level grinding stage having beaten the Elite 4 first. The news from Ben this week is that he has shockingly not played at all. Level grinding is tough work and so he is taking a break. I don't expect this to last too long but I consider it an opening.

Jim was second to beat the Elite 4 and he too has now declared a break from the game. Jim, in fairness, has spent 120 hours, more time than anyone (possibly ever), playing the game and so has a very balanced team in level terms. He has avoided the unplanned level jumping which is so easy to fall into when you allow one Pokémon too frequent a use. One strange piece of news that came from Jim this week was that he let slip that he has levelled up the Mewtwo (M2) he has caught; he couldn't explain why knowing that he cannot use this on the Championship day but he seems to like it.

Dave was third to complete the Elite 4 and after taking some time to return to the early parts of the game to pick up a Pokémon he missed first time around he too has now declared his intention to take a break.

3 players grinding to a halt upon completion of the story? Interesting news in itself but you'd better make that 4 players.

The Pokéboss is struggling. He has now taken 2 weeks off.

Worrying times for everyone but me then. Now is clearly my chance... the tortoise beats the Hare.

For myself, I have picked up another badge with a couple of simple one hit kills. I am now on 4 badges. I am particularly buoyed by the manner of my 4th badge win as my Pokémon are clearly ahead of the level/difficulty curve. There is a long way to go but my team may be finding a groove.

Next stop for me is the Pokémon Tower and I ain't afraid of no ghost as they say! Unfortunately Mr Pickles, my trusty Kadabra, is terrified of them so someone is going to have to step up and fill his psychic, spoon bending shoes. It should be fine. It's always fine.

Incidentally I used to live in a haunted house with Ben. True fact.

And that is it for the now. More news soon.

Keep it M2! Keep it OMG!

Mr Pickles used Teleport, Mr Pickles teleported out of battle...

Pokéfest - Week 4

Day 26


Ok, so I am still in last place and I know what you're thinking but you can just stop right there alright! Put the thought away, stop pulling that face; I'm on it. It will be fine.

I currently have 3 badges but am close to my 4th having just arrived in Lavender Town - next stop Celadon City. I don't expect it to take long to get my 4th badge as I have spent most of my play time over the last week beating on Diglett's and Dugtrio's in the Diglett Cave which is a fantastic place for level grinding. I've added both species to my Pokédex so I am now showing 23 Pokémon caught. I predict a severe whooping for Erika at the Celadon gym - my current team is particularly handy at mowing (that's right I went there) down Grass type Pokémon.

Out in front this week is Ben with 8 badges collected, the Elite 4 beaten and 42 Pokémon caught. He's only added 9 Pokémon in the last week so I feel certain that he now has his team picked. Or at least has it down to 8 on rotation or something to this effect.

Jim and Dave are both right behind with 8 badges collected but the Elite 4 still waiting to be beaten. Jim I know is taking care to level up - Dave I believe is simply living a dream. Dave has so rapidly progressed to second place that he may well be on course to win the Championship!

The shock of the week is the stalled progress of the Pokéboss Richard. Apparently a boss no more. His stats remain 4 badges and 15 Pokémon. Now, it must be taken into account that he has sat and passed his driving test this week (congrats buddy) so I feel we can give him the benefit of the doubt - for now. His words are worryingly apathetic though; all we can do it hope for a return to form this coming week. With the progress of the top 3 his place as the number 1 seed is looking increasingly mis-judged.

And that is it statistically for this week. Movers and shakers all round as you can see - though being rooted to the bottom of the league I am definitely more shaker than mover.

Finally we come to our major announcement. There will be NO legendary birds used in the Pokéfest. The voting ran as 4 no's to 1 yes, Richard being the 1 in favour of them. In truth I was unmoved either way but the other 3 guys were adamant.

Incidentally, Poké-quote of the week goes to Spanish Dave. In response to whether he wanted the legendary birds to take part, he responded:

"I would not lower myself to using the birds or Mew Two, all of whom are essentially morally cheating."

Consider yourselves told morally cheating trainers of the world. Consider yourselves told.

Keep it Kanto! Keep it OMG!

Andy is confused.... Andy hurt himself in his confusion!

Pokéfest - Week 3

Day 18


Ok, so it looks as if people are starting to motor at this point in the Pokéfest with badges and Pokémon rolling in. All except me that is.

I'm currently hanging out back in last place with a paltry 2 badges and 21 Pokémon. The truth is that I have spent a good deal of the last week levelling up my Abra to a Kadabra and giggling at my mighty Jigglypuff taking on all comers; a little Jigglybeast if you will! At least I've now completed the SS Anne section and am ready to take on Lt Surge. I am getting there. However, the rest of the trainers are pulling away so I really must get a move on.

Out front we have Jim who currently has 6 badges and 50 Pokémon. Jim is what can only be described as a hardcore trainer. He recently relayed to me a story of how he gets so into playing the game that he shouts, jumps, and on one occasion ripped the power supply out of his Game Boy Colour, thus shutting it off by mistake and losing his unsaved progress. He lives on the Poké-edge! To such extremes has he taken his playing that whilst talking to Jim via a certain social media website chat function I realised that he had gone oddly quiet. Jim was not responding to my posts and questions. Where could Jim possibly be? Asleep, thats where! With his Game Boy on his face; still turned on. An extreme trainer if ever there was one.

In second we have Ben who also currently holds 6 badges but just 33 Pokémon. I have heard less from Ben but just judging by his figures I guess he has a pretty settled team at this point and is probably levelling up pre push for the Elite 4.

Talking of settled teams we have the quietly confident Pokéboss Richard. Currently with 4 badges and just 15 (!!!) Pokémon. That figure reeks of a trainer who is handpicking his catches and team as he goes. It also screams that he has some high level 'mon in his possession to make it through the gyms presumably whilst facing type disadvantages.

Finally we have our final late starter Spanish Dave. I would love to give you his figures but quite simply he hasn't told me them. I had a brief text message conversation with him over the weekend as I asked him if he had watched the rugby, and I quote his response - 'No - am stuck in Pokémon i cant escape!'

This seems to confirm our worst fear that he has in fact locked himself in his room and is living his life only in Kanto. It's a shame. He is a nice boy. We all liked him.

And so we just have one final announcement to make and that is that we are considering having a special prize for whoever catches the most Pokémon before the Tournament on June 4th. We are also currently debating whether to allow the use of the legendary birds. I think I am leaning to say no. Jim says no. Richard says yes. We will need to see what Ben and Spanish make of it. Hopefully in time to announce in the next update.

Also in the next update we will be bringing you a list of the starters that each trainer chose.

These are indeed exciting times!

Keep it Kanto! Keep it OMG!

Pokéfest - Week 2

Day 12

Ok, so here we are. Pokéfest 2012 enters it's second week and the competition is starting to heat up like a Charmander on curry night.

So far the results that have rolled in have surprised me, completely back to front to what I imagined as they are. To give the statistics:

In the lead we have Jim 'the Brady' Sullivan who has picked himself up 6 badges as well as having 43 Pokémon entries in his Pokédex. Jim has been the real surprise of the first week and has made use of his profession as a 'government sponsored rock climber' (unemployed) to full effect, putting us more experienced (older), professional (employed) gamers to shame. There is still time to set this record straight though and I am personally unconcerned. For now.

I am currently languishing in 3rd place with 2 badges and 19 Pokémon in the Pokédex. Having made a rapid start to my journey I have since become distracted; mainly by trying to catch an Abra which took me two days. That's two days wandering around the same 5x2 patch of grass on Route 25! Still, I am mighty pleased with my catch. I feel he will be of some use later on...

In 2nd place is Ben 'the Fox in the Box' Jefferies. He's rocking 3 badges and 30 Pokémon caught. This high catch to badge ratio suggests to me that Ben may be a particularly thorough trainer, literally out to catch them all. Perhaps a wildly varied team may be unleashed come June.

In 4th place is the Pokéboss Richard. His game only arrived a week ago today (Day 4) and was initially not working but - as if to prove his boss skills - he swapped out the save battery and replaced it. Then, inexplicably, proceeded to put down his Pokémon Red cart onto his bedside table and instead booted up Soul Silver on his DS grinning to himself quite wildly. Jim is calling this a bluff, an attempt to create a false sense of security. I'm not so sure. I'm completely baffled by his actions in fact. But still, he remains my number 1 seed for the tournament. He is a boss after all.

And finally, bah bah bah baaah! Spanish Dave has joined the party. He has borrowed an old Game Boy Pocket from the Pokéboss and is probably completely immersed in his new copy of Blue (it arrived yesterday) as we speak. I say probably as he isn't responding to texts or calls so we can only assume that he is locked in his room trapped in an all too involved battle with Team Rocket. We aren't too worried yet, but if he doesn't re-emerge with some witty rugby related comment soon then we will. Lots. We really hope to have heard from him for next weeks post.

So, as you can see, we've made varying levels of progress through the first week but one thing has been a common point of discussion and that is that, quite simply, these games are brilliant. I thoroughly expected to be awash with nostalgia but I feel that more than that, the games are actually fantastic. Perhaps it is to be expected of me as I am a self proclaimed lover of the retro - but - we are all in unison on this. Pokémon Red/Blue are as fresh today as they were , what?, 14 years ago. Sure they look a bit rubbish and if I'm completely honest Butterfrees' pixelated head makes me feel a bit sick (he kicks ass though) but we don't care. We're all having an awesome time with these games - again - and so should you.

Looking forward to next weeks post! Poké-effing-awesome!

Pokéfest 2012 getting underway

Day 3

As mentioned on OMG last week, to celebrate the much anticipated return of the internets moodiest gaming blog we at OMG will be hosting a Pokémon tournament.

The basic premise is simple enough; start a new game of Red/Blue on Saturday 31st March then train for 2 months before coming together on the 4th June for a round robin tournament.

There were due to be 6 players but that has been whittled down to 4 due to 'hardware difficulties'. In fact I feel I should clarify that statement. What I mean to say is that two of the players - Vikolai and Spanish Dave - have lost their Game Boy Colours. Their Game Boys are probably in perfect working condition, veritable super bricks that they are, it's just that they're in perfect working condition under a ton of other consoles and peripherals, broken xbox 360's, or perhaps just in the attic.

So that leaves four of us to do battle. Other than myself - andyedessa - we have Ben 'the fox in the box' Jefferies. A past Pokémaster experienced in all generations of Pokémon, he is expected to do well here. Then we have Richard 'marsbar' Evans who has been dubbed a Pokéboss due to his previous Pokémon Blue exploits. Back in what we call 'the day' Richard caught, fought and traded for all 151 Pokébeasts. Finally we have Jim 'the Brady' Sullivan. A man of unknown Pokétential, a dark horse if you will, it is impossible to write him off. After all, this is a man who claims to be able to throw and catch a hail mary pass to himself thus winning Superbowl 46 for the Patriots; if only he had played. Who can argue with that?

Myself, I have previously caught all 151 Pokémon on my cherished copy of Pokémon Red but alas, this has been stolen (along with my teal Game Boy Colour) and so a new copy was snaffled on ebay (along with my new teal Game Boy Colour).

And so on Saturday, three of us set to work. Richard is still awaiting his new copy of Red, unwilling to delete his 'caught them all' Blue save file. At this point it is early days and we all seem to have made similar Poképrogress:

Andy: 1 badge and 13 Pokémon caught.

Ben: 1 badge and 12 Pokémon caught.

Jim: 0 badges and 5 Pokémon caught.

Richard will be a late starter but as we have said, he is a Pokéboss.

And so for now that is it. Expect another update next Sunday/Monday. Things are about to get Pokécrazy!

Well, that was a quick 2 years!

So yes, you just read that correctly; two years after starting down the road to bring 'one more game...' (OMG) into being I am returning to it having only managed three posts. Not a particularly prolific output I admit. More Guns n Roses than The Ramones. More Welles than Hitchcock. More Saturn than PS1... That's right it's been two years and it's taken me just 3 lines to get back to the Saturn; what of it? The game is never over!

The truth is that during 2010 my attention was brutally turned away from gaming for a time thanks to a mixture of breaks ups, beat ups, surgery to repair my smashed eye socket post beat up, and then quite frankly, I plain forgot about 'one more game...'. Which is shame as reading over the posts today, I feel it had a solid start. I had plans to review Red Dead Redemption (which would have scored 'OMG's' first 10) and Mario Galaxy 2 (OMG's first 7) and I wanted to write a piece about the impending decline of the Wii and motion control in it's stick waving form (OMG's first accurate fortune told). Oh well. Spilt milk.

The good news is that OMG is now back up and running and this time I will be having a full tilt at taking it somewhere interesting.

And...

To celebrate the return and rebirth of OMG I have organised an event currently known as Pokefest 2012! There are 6 players who will each start a new game of Pokemon Red/Blue on Saturday 31st March and will convene on Monday 4th June for a round robin style tournament. It will be fantastic fun for everyone involved, and a chance to live the retro dream. Updates will of course be brought to you right here at OMG. So far it has been hilarious to watch a bunch of mid-20's -early 30's guys rushing around looking for 'the old Game Boy Colour' and trying to snaffle a new copy of Pokemon on ebay (not wanting to delete precious 'caught them all' save games of course).

So that's it, OMG is back. For good this time we hope.

Take it easy!

andyedessa

Online Review - Battlefield: Bad Company 2

'Running, jumping, climbing trees, putting on make-up when you’re up there!’

This bizarre but hilarious skit by Eddie Izzard about wanting to be in the army, minus the make-up, is the perfect anecdote for the feeling of adventure that all young boys surely feel at some stage; that need for an adventure, an excuse to chase friends with a cap gun. It’s what drives us all in our early years to break away from our mothers’ apron strings and go and see the world, or council estate in which we live. Izzard is describing a world where every street corner, every alley and lane brings a sense of new danger and ultimately excitement. This anecdote was the first thing I thought of when booting up my first online game of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and perfectly sums up the game for me.

BC2, more than any other FPS I have yet played, carries all the excitement of those young attempts at adventure and danger and there are many, many reasons for this.

The online mode sees you take control of one of four types of soldier. You can be an assault troop, medic, sniper or an engineer, each comes with there own specific weaponry and skill sets and you can either switch between these mid-game or you can stick with one particular type. During combat you gain experience for carrying out objectives and gunning down enemies and this will lead to levelling up and the unlocking of new weapons and skill upgrades. For example, snipers earn the ability to call in mortar strikes while engineers will grow to fix vehicles that have taken damage. All fairly straight forward stuff then. What makes this aspect of the online game such a great addition is the pacing of the levels and the balance between the character types. The rewards are heaped on you fast enough to keep you playing but slow enough that when they do come, they feel well earned. This also leads to a great sense of being wet behind the ears when first starting off with no skills and bog-standard weaponry. Having said this though, the game never feels unfair whichever specialist you chose to be. Although snipers can be a real pain when taking enemy positions, the feeling of reward when you sneak up on one and put a well placed knife in his back and thus steal his dog tags makes it all worthwhile.

The game is fought out over a variety of game modes, mainly being Rush mode which sees an attacking team try to destroy communications stations while defenders hold them off. Conquest mode sees you capturing and holding as many flags as possible while time ticks down faster or slower varied by how many flags you hold, and there is also a group death match mode. It is the Rush and Conquest modes that will take up the majority of your time though and both are executed brilliantly. This is thanks mainly to the fantastic maps which see you fighting through built up town areas, claustrophobic woodland and rocky deserts.

Of course, none of this would matter if these online battles weren’t backed up by the tight controls and game mechanics. The use of vehicles throughout multiplayer adds real drama to the game. To hear the metal on metal scrape of an approaching tank brings real fear into the play, and to watch as players scatter in all directions searching for cover when faced with a helicopter gunship is truly hilarious. Also, the need for team work to win battles leads to a genuine camaraderie between players who ultimately, have been chosen at random.

The key element to this online experience though and the trump card of Bad Company is the use of terrain destruction. This is brilliantly implemented into the online mode. Such a feature could lead to frame rate drops in busy games but this never occurs and it really does add to the battles. Almost nowhere is safe for cover. If a tank is chasing you, holing up inside a small building will do little to help as this will surely be razed to the ground within seconds of you taking up position, killing you in the process. Blowing holes in walls and leaving craters where shells hit leaves the map looking like a genuine war zone post match and it is truly brilliant. If a sniper is giving you trouble from a watch tower, a well placed grenade will not only kill the sniper but also leave the tower in an un-usable state. Fantastic! So, the use of destruction becomes a tactical tool as well as a graphical effect.

All these features together with the great controls and graphics from one player add up to make Bad Company 2 the best online multiplayer I have experienced this generation. If you’re looking for a well-balanced FPS with genuinely exciting combat that can give you that youthful running, jumping, climbing trees (putting on make-up if you’re that way inclined) sense of fun then this is it.

[9]

The joy of offline multiplayer

The joy of offline multiplayer

Fetch me my Saturn


I’m sat on a rare patch of grass in the tourist infested Cardiff Bay enjoying a pint of bitter, the scorching sun and listening to a friend rant over the current state of the games industry. A typical Saturday afternoon it seems.

“I just don’t get online multiplayer!”

With this said Ben sits back with a painfully familiar smug smile which suggests he’s made his point clear. This is where I would normally become defensive, or simply insult his mother, depending on the level of drink involved. Today is different though. For once I join him in the smug smile, as the opinion he has just angrily put forth is one which I completely relate to.

To explain further, we have been discussing the lack of offline multiplayer in a game widely considered to be one of the outstanding titles of 2009 on ps3, Uncharted 2. I suggest to him that the 3 player online co-op mode of Uncharted 2 is a pretty fun, if remarkably difficult jaunt. His reply is simple:

“It’s just not as fun as when you are all in the same room!”

I nod agreement. It is this shared opinion that gives us our problem for the evening. With Ben visiting for the weekend, what can we play when the vast majority of exceptional titles offer no kind of split-screen? We decide that we can play Little Big Planet and maybe some Fifa 10, but the rest of my meagre collection of ps3 games simply do not offer offline multiplayer, and these are big hitting titles like Dirt 2, Uncharted 2 and Battlefield Bad Company 2. No split screen between them.

We discuss the possibility of breaking out the Wii but we agree that we did the Wii to death when we lived together and neither of us really fancies swinging our arms around at the moment. Plus we guess that no-one will really play our preferred Wii multiplayer game, Mario Strikers Charged Football, online anymore. No competition.

Luckily, there is another option available to us. An option that for most people is little more than a memory long faded. In our search for great offline multiplayer I find myself hooking up the Sega Saturn in the living room and popping in a copy of Athlete Kings. If there is a better summer offline multiplayer game than this on the current generation of hardware, I have yet to find it. We carried on into the night all laughs, drinking Tanqueray and breaking world records that we had set last year. It was an unashamedly fantastic night that eventually came to an end at 4am Sunday morning after a slight detour into Die Hard Arcade.

The problem here is that although we had a fantastic night, we felt forced to skip back two generations of hardware and back to the mid-nineties to achieve it. There is certainly an argument to say that it is my currently smallish collection of ps3 games that caused the issue of what to play to begin with but at some point, it would seem to me, any adopter of this current generation would be faced with exactly the same problem when building up their collection of games. The problem is surely emphasised when it is taken into account the quality of the games involved. Uncharted 2, Dirt 2 and Bad Company 2 have all been lavished with praise, and rightly so, but they all lack something that was taken for granted just a few short years ago. Anyone who remembers working so hard to arrange multi-tap parties on the ps1/psx will remember how important gaming with others face to face was and is. The same can be said of anyone who can recall the astonishing moment that they first played 4 player Goldeneye on the N64.

This leads me onto my next point, and what is really my concern for the future, if major developers turn their back on offline multiplayer for major releases, what kind of gaming culture is this encouraging? I’m sure all gamers have experienced at least some kind of abuse from a faceless gamer via headset. I’m equally sure that we have all seen gamers spamming moves in fighting games, endlessly crashing into others in racing games and of course, camping in first person shooters. It can sometimes seem like an endless mix of desperation to win or desperation to be stupid at all costs. Both of which remove any real fun from the game.

During my formative years as a gamer, which were based heavily around the N64, when playing multiplayer games with friends every action had a reaction. There was a very real accountability created due to the fact that you were sat next to your opponents on a sofa. If someone endlessly spammed moves because they felt like winning, they would quickly receive a cushion to the face. They’d be told to not take the winning so seriously. Also, if someone endlessly ruined a good race for others, driving around a track backwards to take others out for example, a similar punishment would be dealt out. And we all did it of course, pushing our luck and winding each other up, but again, even this process was aided by being face to face as you could gauge the reaction of someone who was about to become the butt of the joke before you made it. Online there is no such system in place. It’s like fitting sarcasm into a text message; it just doesn’t ever come across.

So it seems that due to the lack of this face to face experience there is a danger of creating a generation of detached gamers, gamers who care more for achievements and trophies than for the actual joy of playing against human opponents rather than badly programmed bots. The irony of all this is that before games entered mainstream culture, they were considered a solitary past time, an extension of dungeons and dragons for spotty kids in dark rooms. Now that games are main stream the old stereotype may be truer than ever. By ignoring the importance of offline multiplayer, the industry is effectively encouraging gamers to play alone. MAG may sport 256 player online battles and team communication via headsets but ultimately players are still participating alone.

Having said all this, online multiplayer is truly fantastic. To be able to play multiplayer matches at any time of day is truly the future of gaming. It just seems bizarre to me that I can play co-op Uncharted 2 with Ben when he is 200 miles away but we cannot play when in the same room.

Greetings!

Hi there, how's it going?

As this is my first post I feel obliged to break out the formalities and extend an 'online handshake' to you all.

Just a bit about myself, it will be good for context once I become carried away with my opinionated chatter. I'm a 25 year old history grad/long time gamer. My first gaming memory is of playing Centipede and Joust on the Atari 2600 and since then I have taken in each generation from the 16 bitters through to the current HD age and have also been side tracked by various handhelds along the way. Incidently my most recent gaming memory involves laughing at Jef Jansens weird polygonal ass whilst playing Athlete Kings on the Sega Saturn but I'll get on to that in my next/first proper post.

Anyway, for the time being I'm off down the park to sit in the sun and play Sid Meiers Pirates on psp!

Take it easy!

andyedessa

ps. medal for those who noticed that the blog name is a quote from Goose in Top Gun.

pps. Top Gun rocks!!!