Mirror’s Edge 2: A Sequel of Hopes

There was a lot of interest surrounding Mirror’s Edge in the build up to its release in 2008. It was an intriguing idea for a game, mixing Parkour with a first person view point to run through a near-futuristic city. For Dice, it was an experiment with gameplay and unfortunately it didn’t quite work. Thankfully it wasn’t a complete flop. The game-world was a stimulating scene of perfect whites and bright primary colours. It stood out as a visual feast in a time of grey-brown shooters.  

Both EA and Dice had been very coy about the prospect of a sequel. It seemed that another original IP had been doomed to a single instalment for not being blockbuster success. So it was a pleasant surprise to see a teaser trailer for Mirror’s Edge 2 at this year’s E3.

Being a teaser trailer, it didn’t really give away much. In particular, the direction Dice will be taking the gameplay in. Mirror’s Edge was a bit of an unfocused mess, as it veered between exciting Parkour chase sequences and clunky combat that would break the flow; usually as a hail of bullets blocked your progress.

And as shown in the trailer, the combat is here for another round. Dice only need to achieve two things to make melee fights a welcome part of the game rather than a frustrating roadblock. Learn from games such as the fantastic recent Batman titles, which demonstrate how to perfectly have big flowing melee brawls; and clearly sign post which enemies you have to fight and which you’re supposed to evade. There were points in Mirror’s Edge where you were never really sure if you had to stop and fight, or keep running. The action often devolved into a horrible trial and error routine, as you frantically scrabbled for the path to follow.

A revamped control system would also add a lot to the sequel. Faith had an extensive move set, but it was difficult to time your actions. The minimalist HUD wouldn’t give you any hints as to how long you could wall-walk for, or when you needed to time your melee moves to disarm opponents. It gave the game an unnecessary high skill requirement, which a couple of interface hints could go a long way to fixing.

My biggest hope, is that the world becomes a lot more fleshed out. The opening cinematic set up the events of the story for Mirror’s Edge, but you never really got to find out more about the city. It looked gorgeous and was fun to run around, except you never got really explore it. There were some opportunities to take different routes, yet the majority of the game was a linear path. It would be interesting to see some real branching paths that give you a choice in how to approach the level. Most of all, it would be great if the story for the sequel is longer than five hours. The length of the story really hamstringed Mirror’s edge as it was hard to justify paying full price for such a short experience. So here’s hoping that Dice use the time they have (as the trailer simply gives a release date of ‘when it’s ready) to perfect the sequel, and deliver a game that matches the hopes we had for Mirror’s Edge.

Planetside 2: Second Wind

What a difference a player population boost can make to a server. I had been barely logging into Planetside 2 over the past couple of months due to new releases until last weekend. Suddenly the population on the Miller server has shot up, no doubt thanks to the game being promoted at Rezzed recently and Rock Paper Shotgun frequently running some big community events.

The difference the population boost has made is drastic. The game feels almost new again with constant large scale battles that haven’t been seen since release. And now is a great time for new players to jump in.

SOE have been very busy getting in the key features scheduled on the Roadmap. In one of the most recent game updates, the tutorial was finally implemented. I took a quick tour just to see what it covered and as expected, it covered the full range of basics. It’s voice acted and takes you through a little facility with various training objectives complete, explaining each element along the way. A help option has also been added to all the menu windows to clarify all the individual elements. Planetside 2 isn’t the most complex game, but there’s no doubt that these features will help new players get going in the game a lot quicker.

Another great addition for all players has been the introduction of the virtual reality training area. It’s a simple little box area with some static targets and firing ranges where you can try out any options and set-ups you want before purchase. I’ve found it really helpful on more than one occasion, and it’s certainly allowed me to make much more informed buying decisions for my hard earned certifications. It’s also had a recent update to allow players to try out the aesthetic customisations as well. It was really a feature the game should have launched with, but I’m glad it has made it in after only a few months.

The largest change to game mechanics has been the revamp of Indar. Indar was the first continent created for the game and is currently the only one of the three to be using the new lattice system. Before, you could assault any adjacent territory and begin capping it for your faction; even if the territory you left was under attack itself. Now, the lattice system links adjacent territories in a rigid system where you must have complete control of an area before moving on. At certain points the system branches out, usually around main bases which will have multiple routes in and out, adding to their strategic importance on the map.

At first it may seem like a very restrictive system that denies you tactical options, but that freedom of choice was often used by large outfits to avoid bulky groups of enemies; simply doing large unopposed land grabs by taking undefended outposts behind the front line. It became farcical at points as some outfits would just manoeuvre around each other. Now, the lattice focus players into set attack and defend avenues which helps to naturally create the large scale battles the game is meant to be about. There’s still plenty of scope for flanking attacks and covert operations, whilst allowing players to better predict the flow of battle across the continent.

Other gameplay updates have included the class revamp of the Max suit, although this turned out to be more of a tweak with weapon balances and the addition of faction abilities. The new abilities add a little extra flavour to the class, with Vanu getting the most interesting option. Their max suits with the right certifications can now gain a temporary damage and speed boost, at the cost of also increase the damage they receive. It’s an excellent risk-reward option that’s caught me ought on more than one occasion, as your health is obliterated when you’re caught on the receiving end of angry Vanu Max’s bullets.

New weapons have also started to make an appearance, although many deride the pump action shotguns for their ability to one-hit-kill opponents in close quarters. SMGs added some extra choice for all classes, with Infiltrators in particular benefitting.  They’ve allowed players such as me that aren’t so keen on sniping to have some fun causing havoc behind enemy lines.

There’s been plenty of smaller quality of life tweaks over the past couple of months as well. The UI has gone through a couple of iterations. Players can now customise the colour coding for all enemy and friendly indictors individually. The map for each continent highlights where battles are currently occurring, as well as the status of generators in facilities and how long it will take any point under attack to be capped. Customising your appearance is now a lot easier with quick camouflage selections available. It’s also a lot easier to restock your consumables such as grenades, as they now have a prominent place on the menu rather than been buried under other layers. Weapons stats are now also clearly displayed, showing all the details such as accuracy values and damage dealt over range. This replaced the absolutely useless bar graph system which obscured all the really helpful information.

It’s good to see that SOE have continued to be committed to developing and updating the game at the pace they have. It’s surprising how much the game has evolved over the past six months. Annoyingly they still haven’t delivered any major performance update with many players still suffering from low frame rates in busy areas. The game is still a monster for any CPU that is slightly old.

But if I had one wish for the game, it wouldn’t be performance improvements. It would be for SOE to make sure that new players are attracted to the game and to keep them playing. As I said at the beginning, the difference new players have made is very noticeable. Yet any new player will still have contended with an experienced player base that is much better equipped than them. Overcoming the experience gap will always require time; however SOE can tackle the equipment problem. I think new characters should start out with a least a few suit upgrades for each class. They would no doubt help a new player to be more durable on the battlefield. Hopefully SOE will take some action on this sooner rather than later.

If you’re interested in giving Planetside 2 a go, you can make an account and download the game here. If you want to know more than what has been updated, you can read my first impressions and follow up where I discuss the gameplay in more detail.

Screenshot Library

New to the blog this week is the screenshot library, which you can find on the right hand side column. Simply click on the game you’re interested in to visit a page with all my screenshots for the title. To view larger versions, just click on an image. 

Dead Space 3: Boom, Bang, Splat, Meh

*Warning, minor plot spoilers below

There are few games I stop playing before I complete them and now, Dead Space 3 has joined that small group in my games library. Not because it’s functionally broken in some way or terrible in quality, but due to a lack of atmosphere and genuine scares.

Dead Space is one of the very few AAA franchises that considers itself to be horror.  And yet with each new title, it moves further away from the shocks and scares of the original and towards being an action orientated title. And there’s no reason or need for the change of direction as the original had a good balance between action and horror that made it unique.

A lack of atmosphere and pacing are the main culprits for the missing terror. Instead of trying to build any tension, it relies almost solely on jump-scares to the point where you can predict the appearance of every enemy. To compound the problem, the Necromorphs have had a significant speed upgrade which gives you about a second to kill fresh enemies before they jump on you and take a chunk out of your health.

That may seem unfair and often I did feel cheated when entering a room; being immediately jumped on with little time to react. But to give you a hand with your quick draw, the audio goes absolutely ballistic with loud, sharp noises to announce the appearance of every enemy. The sound design completely robs the moment of any shock value and instead becomes a cue you rely on to progress. There’s no moment where the audio tries to build tension, it’s just flicked on and off like a child playing with a light switch.

Dead Space 3 also fails to make the best use of space. In fact only about a third of the game is set in space with the rest of the game taking place on the snow planet of Tau Volantis. And the developers missed a great opportunity to use the most terrifying scenario of the series. The moments when Isaac has to step into a decompressed room, or walk out onto the hull of a ship. These were brilliant examples of when the sound design perfectly complemented the atmosphere of the game.

All you can hear in these moments are dull thumps of your footsteps and thuds of your weapon discharging. You have to depend on your other senses as the Necromorphs can sneak up to you unheard. It was these moments that put me on edge, sweeping the room to find enemies before they found me. I didn’t even want to step into these areas.

And there wasn’t a single moment like this in Dead Space 3. There are some interesting points where you can jet around freely in space between the wreckage of an old fleet to scavenge parts. However the fact that you can simply fly through space means that enemies can barely attack you. I often didn’t even notice that Necromorphs were firing at me because they couldn’t hit. Otherwise the homing space mines were the biggest concern, and they fail to be any real threat as they kindly announce their approach with loud warning beeps; like angry trucks trying to reverse into you.

The new upgrade system is the largest change in Dead Space 3. Notoriously done to cram in EA’s micro-transactions so you can upgrade faster. EA did claim that micro-transactions wouldn’t be necessary and in fairness to them, it’s absolutely true! Once again you quickly acquire your trusty Plasma Cutter and it’s still a perfectly viable weapon for the entire game. All the other parts you pick up along the way allow you to craft other weapons to add a little more flavour to your arsenal. The big flaw is that the crafting system is very confusing. It took me a while to work out all the possibilities and how valuable certain resources were. Compounding the problem is the lack of detailed tooltips which led me to creating a few poor weapons and adding useless upgrades.

I might return to Dead Space 3 when there’s a lull in the release schedule just for the sake of completing it. I feel that Visceral Games has taken a wrong turn and need to rethink their approach to horror if they want really scare players. Otherwise the franchise will become just another third person action game; a very competent third person action game, but lacking the elements that used to define it.

SimCity: DLC Before Bug Fixes!

Unsurprisingly EA is already rolling out the first wave of DLC for SimCity, which isn’t a problem in itself. However they seem to have prioritised it over fixing critical bugs. To my dismay, I only discovered them after many hours of play within the same game region, and after writing my own review.

The first bug I encountered was caused by trying to build a regional wonder with the help of a friend. After he paid the hefty price of one million Simolians to begin construction on an Arcology, we both noticed strange occurrences in our cities. Random warning messages from our advisors would pop up, stating buildings weren’t open due to a lack of workers. Incredible traffic jams would form at the freeway junction and buildings were being abandoned at an alarming rate. After some investigation, it turned out that almost my entire population was going to work on the Arcology every day. Something that shouldn’t occur until the required amounts of construction materials had been delivered to the site.

Despite this completely crippling my cities economy and forcing me to abandon my gambling specialisation, I decided to carry on. I was curious to see what would actually be achieved if we finished building the Arcology. At this point you may sensibly be thinking, “why not cancel building it, if it causes so many problems?” Well that was plan A until we realised the game won’t let you.

Several hours of careful city management later, I bumped into a rather typical nuisance of playing SimCity. My game had failed to synch with EA’s servers again. Great, another twenty minutes of play lost I thought as I clicked the ‘roll back’ button again. Then as I tried to re-enter the game, it never got past the loading screen telling me to try again later. After leaving the game for an entire day, I was still running into the same loading error. A quick search turned up a massive thread on EA’s tech support forum, as thousands of players who had encountered the same bug were having to manually ask EA’s tech support to recover their save files. No proof was needed to show that games which only allow cloud saves are a bad idea, but now we have it. Having run into this bug, I know it’s not worth my time playing another minute of SimCity.

As for the DLC itself, players can now build Nissan Leaf Charging Stations as extra mode of transport. This lets your Sims zip around in non-polluting electric cars. Obviously it’s a little piece of advertising for Nissan, and to make up for that the DLC is free.

“Plopping down the Nissan Leaf Charging Station will add happiness to nearby buildings. Adding the Charging Station will not take power, water or workers away from your city. Zoom in to the streets of cities and players will start seeing a percentage of their Sims from all wealth classes driving the electric vehicles. The Charging Station produces no garbage or sewage as well making it pollution free.”

While I’m not entirely opposed to large companies being able to put adverts into games, it would be nice if the added content was actually balanced. Much like the special editions of the game that included the British, French or German theming, it just makes an already easy game even easier. Of course it is optional DLC, but considering the bad PR EA and Maxis have already attracted for the game; you’d expect them to get their priorities sorted.

All I Wanted was to Play Games

As every PC gamer knows, there's one real problem; hardware failures. This time it was the turn of the PSU. It had faithfully powered my machine for nearly six years. Now the bastard decided to keel over just after the Christmas holiday, a time when I could have quickly done something about it. Pulling it out of my machine was like doing battle with a copper hydra. The damn thing had so many spare connectors, it was a puzzle just to work out what it was actually connected too.

My desktop icons are full to the brim with great titles I picked up in the Steam winter sale, all ready to go. Now I have to wait patiently for a postman to turn up, probably when I'm not in. No doubt he'll leave a note saying it's been sent back to the depot, so I'll have to begin my quest to Mordor so I can deliver my own post to myself.

I've had to resort to using a MacBook Pro just to type this entry. Not a problem as it's actually quite a nice machine to use. That is until it tries to be 'helpful' by auto-correcting as you type, changing correctly spelt words into other, similar words as if it were secretly working for Pyongyang. Apple's word processor is a bit silly. Still a step up from Chrome though, which is on a mission to remove apostrophes from the English language by underlining every single word using one as a spelling mistake.

As long as the apocalypse of snow the news keeps harping on about holds off another day. It should be back to schedule next week, with why I think Blood Bowl Legendary Edition was a waste of my money.

The Worst Decisions of the Year

For all the good that has happened this year, the growing recognition of the indie scene and expansion in the free-to-play market. Some developers and publishers still managed completely cock things up. It didn’t matter what negative feedback from the community the top offenders received this year. They ploughed on, destined to make a silly amount of money. It’s fair to say that what annoys one person in a game will no doubt be defended by another. But my top two worst decisions this year are perfect examples of what I never what to see in gaming again. So what has managed to earn my scorn this year?

First up is Mass Effect 3. Surprisingly neither the ending nor the reworked version are main my complaint. The original was a bit lacklustre and the revamped version did a lot to turn it into a fitting end. It was a fantastic game with an excellent multiplayer mode added on. But what annoyed me about this title was EA’s blatant cash-in on the end of the series.

Taking a page straight out Activison’s Call of Duty book, EA jacked up the launch price and went straight for the day one DLC. Now day one DLC by itself is not a problem if it is handled with care. EA’s approach was to use it as an opportunity to encourage people into buying the overly expensive Digital Deluxe and Collector’s Editions.

The DLC itself contained Javik, a Prothean team member and the side mission that introduces him. So why was this such a big deal? Well for any fan of the series, the Protheans are one of the most interesting pieces of the backstory. They were the last great civilisation to inhabit the galaxy, and by the time of the third game, any clues they have left behind could be key to Commander Shepard’s success. Of course nothing important is withheld from those without the DLC. But EA’s change in day one DLC attitude was pretty ridiculous.

With previous titles such as Dragon Age series and Mass Effect 2, EA had been leading the way. Day one DLC was available as a free pre-order bonus for any customer. You didn’t have to splash out on a special version or spend extra to have a complete game. And to add insult to injury, console versions of the game had a bug that could prevent you from carrying over your Commander Shepard from the previous game. You’d hope EA would learn from this. Better not wait for miracles though, EA has shown before that is more corporation than publisher.

My second offender is Diablo 3. Again it managed to sell a truck load of copies despite its problems. This does send a worrying message as games which are always online are a pain in the arse. Now I have to hold my hand up and admit I bought a copy. And now I understand the complaints Ubisoft received for trying this DRM trick with Settlers and Silent Hunter.

Of course Blizzard claimed it would improve the experience. Everyone would be able to access the auction house. Easily accessible drop-in and out multiplayer would encourage more people to play in groups. However, it never really worked. The majority of players played the game exactly how they always said they would. In single player; as one person against the legions of Hell.

So Added to their single player experience, they now had the penalty of playing a game that could lag in single player. Not even a stable connection can give you a perfect experience. The way the system is set up is just ridiculous. For myself, it never got to the point of complete frustration. But a quick Google search on the issue will return plenty of players who have lost characters in hardcore mode because the game lagged at a critical moment.

The problem could have been mitigated by providing an offline experience. Just give players the choice to completely remove a character from any online content. Alternatively, the game could have checked in with servers periodically, rather than reporting every last click.

In the end, Blizzard’s decisions have no doubt pushed consumers away into the arms of their completion. I’m sure they’re ruing their foolishness whilst swimming through a pile of money Scrooge McDuck style.

Hopefully continued pressure from communities will help persuade publishers and developers into more consumer friendly practices.  And the next Sim City is on the horizon, already in the firing lines for its always online requirements.

The BIG Award!

Well it’s nearly the end of the year, and no gaming blog would be complete without a set of awards to give out. So without further ado, the Best Indie Game award!

This year I’ve found myself playing more indie titles than ever before. Part in thanks to Kickstarter giving a new funding source to budding developers, and part to the greater recognition indie titles are receiving in the mainstream gaming media. It wasn’t an easy decision as I’ve enjoyed all three games in this list, sinking may hours into them all. The runners up are:

Endless Space! Amplitude studious set themselves the lofty goal of making the best strategy games and Endless Space was an impressive first release. They took the strategy 4x sub-genre and axed the complexity leaving a highly streamlined game. A brave move when these games are defined by having an instruction book longer than a short novel.

The end result was a stylistic sci-fi world which you could dip into briefly and get a lot of enjoyment. Ship design and combat is too simplistic which is the game’s only negative point. But some nuance is added by the tactics system. Correctly predict your opponent’s strategy and pick the counter move gives you a powerful advantage. Enough to overturn a tech advantage, which allows players to explore different avenues within the tech tree, without having to keep a constant focus on war. Since its launch, Endless Space has had some free bonus content added, including the option to create your own space fairing race. Tailoring a faction to your preferences is good fun, but there are some combinations which are a bit unbalanced.

The second runner up is Legend of Grimrock! This game revived a genre that had been dormant for many years. And I’m glad it did as it introduced me Dungeon Crawlers, a category of games I would have completely missed out on otherwise.

Adventuring through the depths of Grimrock with your rag-tag bunch of four criminals is both tense and satisfying. Puzzles are everywhere and they’ll test you. There are many that you have to solve to progress and even more that are hidden, guarding the game’s greatest treasures. The game is well thought out as out of the hundred or so puzzles, I found only a few that completely confused me. The vast majority follow good logic, so with a bit of patience, you should not find your progress impeded at any point.

Combat was surprisingly tense throughout the game. Screenshots don’t really do the game any justice, as they can’t explain the feel of the grid based system. Moving around is simple with a few direction keys, leaving the mouse free to active your fighting abilities on your character portraits. You often hear enemies before they reach you, building the suspense as some horror stumbles out of the darkness. When the enemy is in sight, you engage in a ballroom dance of death. Gliding around the tiles, trying to land attacks on your foe before neatly side-stepping away.

The story is the driving force of the game, leading you deeper into the depths of the mountain with the promise of freedom for staying alive. How long the game takes to complete depends on how many of the secrets you try to find. It should give most people a good ten to fifteen hours for their first play-through. Unfortunately there is only one dungeon created by the developers to explore. There is now a dungeon editor, so the game content possibilities are endless, but the quality may well not be the same as the main game.

So who is the winner of the first BIG award!?

It’s Faster Than Light! This stylish rogue-like has really captured my attention this year, and kicked my arse whilst doing so. You play the part of a Federation scout ship on a mission to deliver critical information on the Rebel fleet. Your journey takes you through varied and random systems as you try and escape the pursuing Rebels.

Each time you jump to the next system you encounter new hazards: derelict ships, asteroid fields, nebulae and pirates. If you survive the perils of space, you salvage parts to improve your own chances. Upgrades for your ship include new crew members and more powerful weapons. The further you progress, the higher the stakes become. You’ll need to develop clever strategies in order to take down ships that are much larger than yourself.

FTL’s presentation is a fantastic combination of excellent two-dimensional sprites and animations. You quickly forget that your ship is static in the centre of the screen. When combat starts, missiles and laser fire starts flying. You have to manage your weapon systems to do the maximum damage to the enemy whilst putting out fires and patching up holes in the hull. The whole game is accompanied by an excellent sound track that captures both the emptiness of space and the franticness of combat.

With plenty of achievements and ships to unlock, FTL has an excellent amount of replay-ability. Combined with its price point, FTL is excellent value for money, and this makes it the winner of the first BIG award! 

Sword of the Stars 2: Enhanced Edition

To say Sword of the Stars 2 (SotS2) has had a troubled release is an understatement. Developer Kerberous made a real impression with their take on the Sci-fi strategy 4X sub-genre. So when the sequel was unleashed on unsuspecting consumers (me) with more bugs than an Ant hill; it hit their credibility and the goodwill they had with fans very hard.

On start-up you were greeted with barely functioning menus and incomplete features. If you got a game running you’d need to pray to the old gods and save regularly to avoid crashes ruining your fun. Alpha versions of games shown by other developers at conferences have been more complete than SotS2 at launch.

A year later, SotS2 is back with an enhanced edition. Supposedly this is close to the version of the game developer Kerberous intended to release. They certainly get a medal for effort as they could have just cut their losses and run. Now there is new DLC including an extra faction and it’s been added for free.

Sadly the game is still not quite up to standard when it comes to setting up a multiplayer game. The menus are still tedious and feel unresponsive; however the real killer is the long load times. So long I assumed my game had crashed. Users have posted on forums that you have time to take a shower before you’ll be playing.

Single player is now mostly functional, but this is the sort of game best played with friends. The AI still aren’t the sharpest tools in the box and only function as training opponents. It’s a shame that the sequel still hasn’t achieved its full potential, as the original was an innovative. And SotS2 builds on those features, in particular an expansion of the semi-random tech tree. Rather than standard tech trees found in other games, SotS has a set of core technologies that when researched, may branch out into other intriguing systems and weapons. It’s carefully balanced to avoid a player lacking firepower or key ship structures. And it adds uniqueness to each game, stopping players from relying on set strategies.

Hopefully Kerberous will carry on polishing the game with further patches to remove the remaining issues. But for now, my total playtime is going to stay around the one hour mark and my go to game for the genre will still be Endless Space.

Play Expo

Last weekend Play Expo made its debut in Manchester, and it was a welcome sight. There’s a real lack of gaming events in the UK considering how large the sales of games are here. The event was billed as cosplay, retro games, pro gaming and new releases all under one roof. My real hope for the event was that the major publishers would showcase their upcoming releases, considering the Christmas period is just around the corner.

Sadly the event was a little disappointing on this front. Some big names attended. EA brought the latest Need For Speed and Medal Of Honor. Halo 4 was playable in a small multiplayer area and Nintendo brought a WiiU / 3DS booth. It was great that they attended, but the booths themselves were small and run by marketing firms. It was a long wait to get hands on for anything. The Nintendo area was quite open, so it was easier to just watch the WiiU in action rather than queue. It seems that the best way to play upcoming releases for Brits is to make the trip over to Germany for Gamescom.

The European Gaming League took up the majority of the expo floor. Rows upon rows of 360s were set up for competitive Call of Duty and Gears of War. It was easy to spot the more professional teams, turning up with team jerseys and matching headsets.  At the back of the event there was a large stage area set up. Unfortunately it was never used while we were there on the Saturday. It would have been great to see teams competing on the large screen. Instead, watching any part of the competition meant crowding around the teams, peering over their shoulders. There were no leader boards set up anywhere, so it wasn’t possible to keep track of anything.

The real highlight of the show was the large retro area. Once you got fed up in the queues for the few new releases, you could always grab a seat and enjoy some classic gaming. There was massive variety of games and consoles on show. I took the opportunity to play some Lemmings on an Amiga 600, alas the poor thing crashed after level 3 and needed resetting. There was also a large retro stall which at the start of the day had a selection that could rival eBay.

The best part of the event for me was the array of Pinball machines. They were a rare sight when I was young. So it was satisfying to sample an era of gaming that was before my time. All the machines had clearly been cared for and looked like they had come fresh from the arcade.

All in all, it was a fun event. And it’s good to see these events taking place as they are few and far between in the UK.

Raiding, What’s it all About?

Raiding is the part of gaming I’ve been asked the most questions about. Usually it’s a very simple question, why do you do it? From the outside looking in, it’s a strange thing. Large groups of players, meeting a set time and place too battle through a dungeon. Sometimes spending an entire evening achieving nothing, just for it all to reset next week. What’s the appeal?

Well for all the time it consumes, it is the best co-op experience you can have in gaming. Taking on the most difficult content the game can throw at you, and beating it with a group of friends is epic.  Every player in the team has a role to play. Be it simply damaging the boss, or keeping its attention with taunts and taking the heavy blows. It all counts, but a few mistakes can lead to disaster. No individual can make a difference to success. You have to play as a team, sharing victory and defeat.

But surely you’re just fighting an AI, what’s so difficult about that? Well the best raiding content adds new game mechanics. This makes each boss fight feel unique whilst providing extra challenge. Using WoW as an example: I’ve flown dragons, driven steam powered siege vehicles, invaded volcanic lairs, battled on airships and list could go on. All whilst prodding ginormous bosses with a pointy stick, which by rights should just squash you. Each mechanic adds its own twist, which keeps the game feeling fresh and provides new challenges.

The best boss battles are designed around overlapping abilities. They are carefully controlled to avoid unfair scenarios. But the added element of randomness keeps you on your toes. Pushing your reactions to their limits; creating some tense gameplay that can last a good ten minutes or longer on big final bosses.

The only problem with raiding is the human element. No not the part where you sacrifice your evenings. Despite popular belief, MMOs are highly social games. Games are played by a wide variety of nationalities, and being on a European server lets you meet a large mixture of people. However raiding requires a large group of players on a regular basis, which creates a logistic nightmare. Some poor soul always has the task of managing spread sheets. Keeping track of who’s done what, when people are available, and most importantly who gets the shiny loot.

And it’s not easy. You’d think a group of adults could all play a game together, but make one error and you have a world of drama. The simple act of handing out loot from a boss can spark a silly disagreement. Watching grown men argue over an entirely fictional object is embarrassing.  But the lure of the best gear in the game is part of the hook of raiding.

If you can spare the time for raiding it provides incredible and memorable moments. Finding the right group of people to play with is important. In doing so you can find yourself making some enduring friendships, but only if you can afford the time. It would be interesting to see large scale PvE content in games outside of MMOs. Not an easy design concept to translate to other games. At the moment it looks like raiding will only existing as long as MMORPGs are popular, which is a shame. 

MMOs: The State of Play

You could be forgiven for thinking that 2012 is the year of the MMO, they’re everywhere! With Guild Wars 2 dominating the headlines and reviews, what’s the rest of the competition up to?

Well I’m going to cheat to bring up Diablo 3’s recent patch (Blizzard think’s it’s an MMO). I was fairly critical of the difficulty in my review. There was a clear lack of balance in the difficulty of elite enemies and bosses. To counter the problem Blizzard made a range of changes, tweaking numbers across the board.

Abilities were buffed and enemies nerfed to create a massively improved difficulty curve. I’m still slogging my way through Inferno, but it has become a lot more fun to play. It feels like a challenge again rather than a test of my patience. I still wish they would add an option to start on higher difficulties. As much as I want to play the other classes, I can’t bring myself to play through hours and hours of gameplay that is unlikely to kill me once.

To spice up the endgame content, Paragon levels have been added as well as buffs to legendary items. Paragon levels allow your character to continue gaining power. Each one grants a stats boost and gives you a little extra gold and magic find to help you find the best gear. It keeps the levelling treadmill ticking over. Each one requires a massive amount of experience and there’s a hundred of them! Only a madman or someone who farms items for a living (oh yes they exist) will ever hit the maximum level.

Legendary items have been tweaked to include bonus effects, such as on hit bonuses and special effects to make them stand out. Adding up all the changes does move Diablo 3 towards being a great game. It’s this level of care and attention to their game’s post release, which has earned Blizzard the reputation they have.

But in a galaxy far, far away, things are not looking good. Everyone had predicted The Old Republic’s inevitable slide into a free-to-play model, but it happened a lot sooner than expected. Bioware’s studio that developed the game has shrunk drastically, which is always a shame.

The new system is built around cartel coins that can be earned through play, or bought through the standard subscription. Now almost all aspects of the game have limited access for free, with the option to spend cartel coins for full access. Oddly, the operations are limited to subscribers only, blocking free players from sampling some great content, and potentially paying for more. However the best part of the game is entirely free. The levelling in SW:ToR is easily the best story content in any MMO. Bioware is clearly hoping to use this to draw new players into the game and get them spending money in other areas.

In the world of MMORPGs, WoW and Rift have decided to jump in the same boat. Their new expansions aren’t far from release with all the standard content we have come to expect. More character levels, new dungeons, raids and story. But surprisingly, the granddad of the genre Everquest is about to get its nineteenth expansion. It goes to shows what happens when a game carves out a dedicated fan-base.

And finally, Sony Online Entertainment has let slip the news that Planetside 2 will be released before Christmas. It was announced as part of the ‘Alpha Squad’ package which acts as a sort of pre-purchase. The game will be free-to-play, but the package will grant beta access with in game items and a chunk of Sony’s online games currency on full release. The market has been dominated by MMORPGs for such a long time; it’s exciting to see the return of MMOFPS. The alpha and beta footage released so far has looked fantastic. So fingers crossed for an excellent end to the year.

Panda Pander

It’s incredible that WoW has achieved the success that it has over such a long time. On the eve of its 8^th birthday Mists of Pandaria will be hitting the shelves. But will the party be crashed by the new contender Guild Wars 2?

WoW has simply battered all competition that has challenged it for the fantasy MMO top spot.  And rightfully so, which is sad to say in a way. Many MMOs have come and gone with new ideas, leaving Blizzard picking over the corpses like a vulture.  It seems cruel, but such is the nature of the games industry. The strongest survive.

Mists of Pandaria takes the strategy a step further by rather blatantly copying from Pokémon with the new pet battle system. Companion pets that are collected in game can now battle each other, level up and gain new skills. Although lacking in originality, it will no doubt be a fun aside to dip into. What many MMO makers forget is that players need something to do outside the main PvP and PvE content.

MMOs are large social games and having asides to main content creates a fun chat room. Wrath of the Lich King was the real start of this extra content, bringing over a thousand achievements. It was fun to just play casually earning silly titles and pets. Having more to do than farming crafting materials and raiding added to the longevity of the game for me.

So what else does the new expansion bring to the table? Well the main attraction is of course the Pandaren. Fans have been requesting their inclusion since release, but have had to wait patiently while four other races were added before them in previous expansions. The Monk becomes the eleventh class available in the game. New classes are the most satisfying extra content for me, as they provide a new way to experience all of the content. It’s a shame that the Monk is only the second to be added since the original release.

Scenarios and Challenge Mode brings new PvE content, which has historically been dominated by raiding. As to whether they are just fun digressions or meaningful new content can only be determined by the reaction of the player base on release. The talent system is receiving a much needed overhaul. Previous expansions had simply added to it, but changed little. The statistically best builds were always obvious, leaving almost no room for personal choice. Blizzard planned the new system to shake things up, but since it’s a game based on numbers, you have to wonder if that’s even possible.

Of course fans are once again expected to pay full price for an expansion on top of the subscription fee. Some things never change. But does this provide an opening for Guild Wars 2 to finally change the market? No subscription fee for a title with equal quality, that’s a very attractive prospect. I have long since stopped playing WoW as I became frustrated with the lack of content for the price I was paying. Blizzard revealed recently that subscriptions had been falling. This could be the push for more to follow.

The exact opposite happening is also possible. Pandaria brings a lot of content the fan base have been asking for. Enough to entice old players back. And why not play both games? This will be an interesting battle for control of the market. And WoW still has the free to play model as an ace up its sleeve. So who will win? Is it even a competition? Only one thing is a certainty. Time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell.