Monthly Archives: August 2015

IDL FEATURE – Day 7: Gears of War

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For this category I had the hardest choices and sacrifices to make, but I chose: Spec Ops: The Line, Dead Space, and Gears of War.

Honourable Mention: Mass Effect 2 (An RPG, I know, but I don’t really like RPGs. And the only reason I played this trilogy was because it was a shooter, so deal with it.)

Day 7 – Gears of War

Developer: EPIC Games
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studio

From the creators of the Unreal Engine, and the Unreal and Unreal Tournament universe, Epic Games, or formerly Epic MegaGames, has been in the industry for a long. With their engine they’ve been constantly pushing the industry forward technologically, but aside from their Unreal Engine, hasn’t made many truly noteworthy games. That changed in 2006 with the release of Gears of War, the game that moved Xbox 360’s off the shelves and many felt from the opening sequence that a new franchise was born.

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Partnering with Microsoft to publish an exclusive game, Epic Games and game director Cliff Bleszinski, Gears of War was born into the world – the first in a series of sequels. A military science fiction third-person shooter, Gears of War follows a team of troops called Delta Squad on a fictional planet called Sera, as they take on an unrelenting subterranean enemy known as the Locust Horde. The player plays as the main protagonist, Marcus Fenix, and can be played cooperatively with the second player assuming the role of Dominic “Dom” Santiago.

The game’s environments are dark and dreary, and very gloomy. The war against the Horde is not going well, and the heroes have been losing family and friends alike. The levels are very dark and ominous, and the game utilizes the shadowed areas as danger zones where the Kryll, a bat-like enemy, rips the player apart if caught in the darkness for an extended period of time. There are many enemy types, large and small, and a lot of the burrow out of the ground as the player progresses from one section to the next.

Gears of War stood out because of its haunting and violent subject matter, but the gameplay and visuals set it apart from all predecessors and copy-cats.

Visually, the game set the bar for the 360, begging any competition to match it. As mentioned, Epic Games are the developers of one of the premiere game engines in the Unreal Engine, always pushing the tech forward, and Gears utilized it in a way only the creators of the tech would know how.

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The gameplay gave us a fresh take on the third-person shooter genre, granting us a new, unique cover mechanic. As the player we can crouch up against any wall in the game with a tap of a button, and we can strategically aim around the walls, blind fire, as well as vault over, or around any cover. All seamless and smooth.

The game also introduced Cliff Bleszinski’s much lauded Chainsaw Gun: an assault rifle with a chainsaw attached to the front, allowing for ranged gunplay, but deadly close encounter attacks.

Gears of War is one of the best all-around packages on the 360: gameplay, visual, story and multiplayer, and wraps up my top three third-person shooters on the platform. It has spawned 2 sequels, and a prequel, along with other stories and works crossing multiple mediums.

And lastly, announced earlier this year at E3, Microsoft, who now owns the Gears IP, along side a new development team in The Coalition, will be bringing a new story to us in Gears of War 4 later next year. You can check out my E3 impressions here.

<- Yesterday – Dead Space
Tomorrow – Platformer Category: Enslaved – Odyssey to the West ->

-iRogan

IDL FEATURE – Day 6: Dead Space

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For this category I had the hardest choices and sacrifices to make, but I chose: Spec Ops: The Line, Dead Space, and Gears of War.

Honourable Mention: Mass Effect 2 (An RPG, I know, but I don’t really like RPGs. And the only reason I played this trilogy was because it was a shooter, so deal with it.)

Day 6 – Dead Space

Developer: Visceral Games
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Dead Space was a real breath of fresh air (HAH. Get it? Cuz we’re in space?) out of a company that, for years, had been regarded as a soulless machine, pumping out only annual titles, not taking any risks. The company I’m referring to is Electronic Arts: king of the sports titles.

Dead Space was a risk, but it was a step in the right direction for EA. For a notable period of time EA was only pumping out Need for Speed titles, The Sims, and annual sports titles, or buying up other studios, and shutting them down and NOT gambling on any new IPs. Year after year they were winning the distinguished “Worst Video Game Company”. Not something to be proud of. But EA claimed that they heard our pleas, and in return, in 2008, published Dead Space, from Visceral Games – originally EA Redwood Studios.

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Dead Space is a science fiction survival horror game. We play as Isaac Clark, an engineer, and while responding to a distress call, land on a  mining ship looking for our girlfriend, and end up finding only necromorphs – or reanimated human corpses.

The game is slowly paced, with creepy dark corridors, heavy breathing, screeching music, and plenty of jump scares. The two notable parts of the game is its unique HUD design, and tactical shooting mechanic.

HUD first: The game has no HUD. We see Isaac from a 3rd person perspective, and can be either angled over the left or right shoulder. The weapons have their own ammunition read out, and the “HUD” is made up on a projected holographic display. This is broadcasted in front of the player’s suit upon command, and this is how we view the map, inventory, and any video messages.

Second is the shooting mechanic. The game, as mentioned, is slow placed. We’re wearing a heavy mining suit on a space ship with artificial gravity, so it makes sense. But the shooting mechanic is tactical in nature. The game calls it “Strategic Dismemberment”. Body shots, or head shots will not stop an enemy. The goal is to focus on the limbs. The plasma cutter is the primary weapon, and is used to slice off the legs and arms of the approaching enemies to stop them, and then you can stomp them to death when you’re done. The game showcases many enemy types, and many weapon types, inventory management, suit upgrades and crafting.

The game’s last notable mention is the Zero Gravity zones, where we get to float around a large environment, while being propelled around with our space boots. Sometimes even in space! SPAAACE!

Dead Space was a slow, creepy horror game that spawned two sequels. That said, the sequels sadly drifted away from the original creepy horror mechanics that made the game awesome. The third one did offer co-op though, which was an acceptable inclusion.

<– Last Week – Spec Ops: The Line
Tomorrow – Gears of War –>

-iRogan