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Kane & Lynch 2

Martyn Zachary 2 Comments

#@$%! Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days was announced a while ago, so here we go:

Kane & Lynch 2 Logo

Kane & Lynch 2™: Dog Days is inspired by documentary filmmakers and the user-generated era. Every aspect of the game has been designed to deliver a fresh perspective to the words ‘intensity’ and ‘realism’ in video games.

While Kane & Lynch may have become a suitable pariah for the gaming community (check this GameBomb review out) by exemplifying underhanded press tactics and poor decision-making – something that we also briefly discussed in an early story of ours, Kaned & Lynched – the game is not without merit, and I am one to think a sequel could redeem many of the failings of the first title. (more…)

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Your Attention, Please

Martyn Zachary 1 Comment

Half-Life 2 BreenboardSome video games we lambaste for holding our hands, others we chastise for letting us wander. For developers, then, balancing the flow of progression means… a walking of the tightrope. On this topic, then, I would like to share with you two interesting articles that I have recently read.

In “Guiding the Player’s Eye”, Matthew “Gangles” Gallant directs our attention to the complexities of orienting the player in a three-dimensional world by illustrating, via a generous amount of example screencaps, Valve’s use of various visual cues:

The best approach is to guide the player organically, catching their eye with elements that fit seamlessly into the game world. In this school of thought, Valve is peerless. 1)http://gangles.ca/2009/05/26/guiding-the-eye/

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These Times

Martyn Zachary 1 Comment

Times OnlineGetting a proper read of where video games reportage and research stands at right now is very difficult: By and large, we’re subjected to a hybrid beast of misunderstanding and sensationalism combined with real concern and ignorance. Much emphasis, of course, is put on the social psychology of gaming – its ills, woes and side-effects, leading to “expert”-citing sweeping statements and controversy-inviting headlines.

Where does the real enthusiast figure in all this? Always on the defensive?

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Collapse

Martyn Zachary 3 Comments

Collapse is a 3rd-person apocalyptic combo-based shooter-brawler from Kiev-based Ukrainian chaps Creoteam (no, not the Croatian fellas Croteam! A one-letter difference in typing makes for 1,500km in distance) that has oddly succumbed to deafening radio silence after a bit of a media blitz in late 2008.

“In year 2013 a terrible catastrophe happened in Europe, with a cause remaining unknown still. The major part of the continent turned into a huge abnormal zone. Great numbers of people died or disappeared, and those who survived were telling unbelievable things…” 1)http://creoteam.com/en/games/collapse/

Odder still, the game had already gone gold as early as September ‘08. The announcement was further reinforced with the release of a playable demo (that can still be acquired from http://www.collapse-game.com/sadm_files/collapse-demo.exe – do be warned that the demo is in Russian, though neither the menus nor the game are hard to navigate) only shortly afterwards.

“The anomaly couldn’t be viewed from a satellite, and all attempts to study it gave scant results… After ten years of silence that followed the catastrophe, an event happened, later called the ‘First Aggression’ – the anomaly started growing swiftly, claiming the territory of Europe and begetting thousands of bloodthirsty creatures.” 2)http://creoteam.com/en/games/collapse/

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