Something Different: CatPoke!

The predators have become the prey. Molly crouches down and edges toward her target. Finger primed and ready. The poor, unsuspecting house cat is enjoying Adventure Time. Then suddenly, the strike! The cat will never trust this sweet, innocent little girl again.

Welcome to this new section on the blog, where I'll be looking at games that I wouldn't normally pick up and play. Usually a game in genre I don't play, or that I struggle to find the time for. So when I discovered CatPoke, I decided to change my attitude, and it was well worth the 15 minutes it takes to play.

The story is simple. It's a rainy day and poor Molly has been told by her mum that she can't play outside. But then, Molly spots one of their cats, and wry smile appears across her face. Thus begins your puzzle based quest to poke all the cats in the house.

The layout of the game is straightforward. You can explore the various floors of the house, discovering objects you'll need to coax the cats out of their hiding places. Controls are a bit awkward. 'Escape' will close the game entirely, so don't forget 'w' is the menu key. The arrow keys are movement, with 'a' as jump, 's' is poke and 'd' for item.

You’ll need patience with some parts of the game. Certain objects have to be placed in very specific locations. This makes a couple of puzzles tedious, as you know from the clue that you've solved it. Thankfully, when you get an object, you can use it as many times as you want. So you can spam the drop button if you get fed up.

The art and sound design perfectly suit the game. The game looks very good for a free indie title. Animations are well done, adding character to Molly through her actions. There's only one piece of music for the soundtrack, but it's an interesting jingle, and long enough so that it doesn't loop too many times. Also included in the background, are some nice pixel art references to other well-known games and TV. Kudos if you recognise them all.

If you’re interested in playing CatPoke, you can find it here. It's only a few megabytes to download, so you can get it running in seconds. The ending is fantastic and the perfect end to a fun little game.

For Science! Portal 2 Testing Initiative Tested!

Some companies create DLC, good and bad. Valve creates incredible free content. Going into the level editor, all I expected was a tool. What I found was the most intuitive, funny and stylish level editor I've ever used.

The art style is taken from the animated Aperture Science ads, the game's release advertising. Catch a glimpse of yourself in a portal, and you'll see a hard working Aperture stick figure. Excellent new lines have been added for Cave Johnson, which will have you giggling at a cloud. Nicely tying community levels into the game, rather than them being an appendage.

The main advantage is that the editor looks simple, and is simple. If you ever try Valve's Hammer editor or the Unreal SDK; it's like jumping in the deep end of the pool. Of course the greater complexity of the software gives you more creative options.

So just how easy is it to use? The controls are straight forward. Useful actions such as adding and removing blocks are bound to '+' and '-'. To toggle a portable surface, drag select and hit 'p'. All actions can also be performed with the mouse, with handy context sensitive icons. It took about 30 minutes for me to have a basic layout of my test chamber ready.

Then comes the tricky part of creating any level, play testing. This is where you realise your puzzle pieces don't quite interact how you would expect. Queue repeatedly replaying your level, over and over. Each time you get a bit further, and then find another adjustment to make. With some practice, getting it right the first time will become more likely. Being able to play test from a specific point would be a helpful addition. When your fiendish puzzle is ready to torture the minds of others; all you have to do is give it a name, then click 'publish'. Then hope the Workshop isn't busy and can handle your request.

Finding community creations is also a streamlined process. Jump into the Steam Workshop and you can pick from a plethora of tests. There a couple of filters you can apply to the Workshop, but it is lacking categories. When a community can create content for a game, you always end up with it being used in new ways. So you have more than just extra puzzle chambers available to you.

As an example, the first chamber I entered was a Sentry Gun bowling alley. Great fun and deserving of the thumbs up votes it received, but it wasn't really a puzzle. Being able to sort test chambers by themes and difficulty would be helpful. Although it would rely on creators using them appropriately.

What the Workshop gets spot on, is how quickly you can get into playing. Simple click on the thumbnail of something that grabs you eye, then jump back into the game and hit play. The loading times are tiny. No long downloads, just queue the levels up and away you go.

Once again, Valve has set the standard. Not just for how fun you can make a level editor, but also how to gain fans with free content. You will however, still have to buy the hat.

Wii U: Controllers Unveiled

Nintendo came to E3 this year to promote and answer some of the questions about the Wii U. It was confirmed that the console will be able to support 2 of the tablet controllers simultaneously. The tablet has now been officially names as the 'Gamepad' in reference to the original NES gamepad.

The main feature Gamepad is its ability to create asymmetric gameplay, where one player has a different perspective or role in the game. Nintendo used its new social playground, NintendoLand to demonstrate how a player can be given more options by utilising the extra screen.

Asymmetric gameplay is not a new idea. My first experience with the concept was playing the original Mario Party, which included 3 vs 1 mini-games. A question only time can answer is whether games will be developed around the concept, or if it will be side-lined, only used in bonus multiplayer modes.

At the moment developers are using the extra screen for quick menu selections, so that the player doesn't have to pause the action to make choices. I expect the most interesting uses for the Gamepad will come from Nintendo themselves. Third party developers never really got the most out of the Wii Remote and it's likely history will repeat itself here.

Currently the expected battery life is 3-5 hours, with a 2.5 hour recharge time. Hopefully Ninetendo will provide the option to plug it into the console to save messing around recharging it mid-game. I have enough electronics that need recharging already, but I do appreciate the freedom a wireless controller provides.

Equally interesting was the announcement of the Wii U Pro Controller, essentially the same as the Gamepad's layout minus the screen. The Wii U can support up to 4 total, in combination with Gamepads. The design is visually similar to the 360 pad, which has probably be driven by the increase in cross-platform releases standardising controls. MadCatz revealed their own version of the Pro, which swapped the right hand button and stick locations to match the 360 design. Presumably this is based on selling to gamers who would prefer a familiar design layout.

Nintendo has already been able to get third party developers on board with the Wii U. Ubisoft showed off a trailer for ZombieU, which uses London as an interesting new setting for the zombie apocalypse. Surprisingly Batman: Arkham City Armoured Edition and Mass Effect 3 are being ported to the Wii U, currently expected around the console launch. Why someone would pick up Mass Effect 3 about a year after launch, on a console that doesn't have the 2 previous games is beyond me.

The most important factor for the Wii U's popularity will be its ability to continually attract cross-platform releases. This was an area where the Wii really lost out. It could all hinge on the graphical leap Microsoft and Sony make with their next consoles. If it turns out to be a small step, the Wii U could find itself in a similar position to the PS2; where it ends up as lowest common denominator graphically and therefore the platform of choice to develop for.

Tally-ho WoT WoT!

With the recent reveal by Wargaming.net, British tanks will finally be making their way to the battlefields of World of Tanks. I thought it would be a good time to discuss why I have a love / hate relationship with one of the most interesting free-to-play games on the market.

Why, then, did this game grab my attention in the first place? It took WW2 in a new direction for gaming; most games for this time period are either pure strategy or FPS. WoT is a first / third person tank-driving-simulation-strategic-battle, and a welcome breath of fresh air.

It's not a graphic powerhouse such as Battlefield 3 and The Witcher 2, but it has great artistic direction. The tank models and textures are superb. The developers love this period, and it shows in the attention to detail. The armour plates have individual thicknesses according to the historical values with some changes for balancing. Top speeds change based on your engine power and your accuracy is based on the main gun you take to battle.

Currently the game only has 1 mode, which is a 15 side team deathmatch with capture points. Turning your opponents to piles of scrap metal, or capturing the enemy base without being hit, earns your team victory and an experience bonus. Battle tactics can range from quick and frantic skirmishes, too strategic flanking manoeuvres. This occurs naturally without team communication because of the well balanced asymmetric map designs.

The fundamental gameplay is solid. Driving around the battlefield and firing the weaponry feels exactly like how you would expect driving a tank to feel. It's satisfying crushing scenery beneath your tracks, and watching opponents go up in flames as you punch an armour piercing round through the hull.

WoT is the first game I can remember that provided me with tangential learning. The array of vehicles ranges from mass produced front line tanks to prototype, super heavy monstrosities. The game's well put together wiki drew me in, providing me with the specifications and history of what players could drive in game.

A final big plus point for the game is that Wargaming.net are dedicated to adding more content to the game in patches. This includes new maps and vehicles, as well as some new features like vehicle camouflage. They also run a lot of events for the game, such as bonus experience weekends and competitions.

So with those glowing paragraphs of praise, what could I dislike so much about a free to play game? The biggest problem which any new player will be faced with is the fact that the game is a massive grind. The technology trees for the nations are huge. You can quickly progress thorough the first few tiers of any tree, unlocking all the early starter vehicles and equipment, but beyond that point it takes a lot of time and effort.

That's how the game's economy is set up. It encourages players to pay for premium accounts and other bonuses to speed their levelling progress (the developers need to eat), but the balance for this is completely off. Even if you put money into the game, you have to dedicate yourself to a nation to get into the high tier tanks.

Matchmaking is also a frequent problem for certain tiers of vehicles. The game will often create matches were the low tiers in the game won't be able to actually damage their higher tier enemies, except for lucky shots hitting weak spots. I encountered this very often while driving tier 4 (highest tier is 10) tanks, finding myself in battles with tier 7 and 8 which I would just have to do my best to avoid, whilst hunting opponents at my level or making myself useful by capturing the enemy base.

The brackets for matchmaking should be tightened to provide more matches where you feel that you have the ability to really impact the game. It would increase queuing times, but it's definitely not fun being blown to pieces by a tank twice your size.

The game's power balance just isn't right, even with the constant tweaks that are made in the patches. In fairness to Wargaming.net, they have to balance an arms race that constantly pushed for better armour and bigger guns; that's not easy.

If you haven't played WoT yet I'd suggest you give it a go, it is free to play after all so there's nothing to lose, but if you get into it, be prepared to spend a lot of time reading the wiki due to the steep learning curve and grinding the experience for the next tier.