“The debut E3 trailer set the graphical bar high for the Ubisoft developers, as far as current gen is concerned they get a pass but the 360 and PS3 ports have come under a lot of criticism.”

The initial sales figures suggest that Ubisoft hopes of a new franchise to add to their development rooster might come to fruition. Over 4 million copies sold in its first week, making the game the best-selling new IP at launch. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot commented last month that they hoped to sell as much as the first Assassin’s Creed title which sold more than 6 million copies. At the current rate of 4 million in a week Watch_Dogs should easily surpass any of Ubisoft’s predictions and with a WiiU release still to come in September. With such impressive sales and generally positive reviews there is no doubt that the Ubisoft heads will be cracking the whip for their Montréal development team to get back to work on a sequel. In fact last year the Head of Sales and Marketing at the company Tony Key made the comment “That’s what all our games are about; we won’t even start if we don’t think we can build a franchise out of it. There’s no more fire and forget – it’s too expensive.” in reference to the then in development Watch_Dogs. A statement that reflects Ubisoft’s current catalogue of games that are mostly made up of sequels or games based on existing properties. Nobody can really blame the publisher from taking a conservative approach when faced with new IP, video game budgets have increased tenfold in the last decade. The likes of GTA V costing Rockstar over $250 million, with the company relying on the games accumulated reputation to shift copies and recoup the costs. Even if Ubisoft have to take a hit financially on the first release with planned sequels the can account for the initial loses in the franchise.

“A small hitch in the games release as arisen over a bug that causes players to get stuck on the games loading screen. Uplay, Ubisoft’s digital distribution service is suspected to be at fault.”

In an interesting move the publisher has also tasked their film division Ubisoft Motion Pictures to start drafting up a film script for Watch_Dogs. It seems a little earlier to planning a movie adaptation for a series that is so new but then again they are already thinking of the long term plan for this would be franchise. Ubisoft have already made plans for all their other major franchises to get the silver screen treatment, the Assassin’s Creed movie gathering steam with a late 2015 release date announced and Michael Fassbender attached as the lead. The video game industry in fact is beginning to mirror their Hollywood counterparts in some respects. At the top end of the industry the big players favour content that will be able to offer them significant return over a long period of time as opposed to a quick flash in the pan. It would be hard to envisage the pitch session for Goat Simulator with the executives at EA or Activision and the publisher drawing out plans for the game as a franchise. Disney planning out a road map for their highly successful Marvel series of films right through to 2021. The big movie producers favour adaptions over original screenplay, the video game industry taking a similar stance.  At the other end of the scale the indie scene has exploded in popularity with new IP finding great success in what can be sometimes a swing and miss sector of the industry. For as many triumphs like Minecraft and DayZ there are there are ten times as many failures among them. The indie movie scene following a similar failure success rate among the films released over the last few years.  However the more important issue surrounding Ubisoft’s movie studio is will we finally see a decent video game adaption in the cinemas, the video game community doesn’t needs another Prince of Persia movie.

“The film is still in early pre-production with no indication of what role Michael Fassbender might be taking on; Altair, Ezio or Connor?”

Taking a look at some of the other major publishers, paints a similar picture with already establish IP getting the go ahead and financial backing. EA like Ubisoft seemed to have taken a gamble with new IP Titanfall, but then again is it much of a gamble when working with Vince Zampella a proven hit driven developer. No doubt EA have plans for Titanfall to be what Call of Duty has become to Activision with Zampella the man behind that particular franchise. The same could be said of Take-Two interactive and their new IP Evolve that is set to release later this year. Not so much a gamble with Turtle Rock at the helm, the same team that was behind the highly successful Left4Dead franchise. These games also seem to be perfectly suited for a host of DLC releases and eventually sequels. It is becoming rarer and rarer that a game will be made with a definitive end point. Modern video games are developed with the sequel in the back of the developers mind or at least at the top end of the industry. When a publisher is given a hit by one of their studios they always want more. The video game fans also playing a part in this, the community endless speculating on sequels and follow ups. With E3 just around the corner the rumour mill is in full effect and rampant speculation abounds.

“E3 could have seen the big revel of the next Assassin’s Creed game if it wasn’t for those pesky internet sleuths leaking the news early. No doubt they will still have a few tricks up their sleeves for the event”

Watch_Dogs wowed fans at E3 2012 and the anticipation for the game only intensified over the following two years. The game has amassed encouraging sales in its first week of release and is surely on its way to recouping the development costs. Ubisoft might have been criticized for making such bold claims about the games future over a year prior to its launch. Most developers and publisher have future vision for their new IP but to come out and state those claims so boldly is not so common. If the games follow up can build upon the original and maintain the fans attention than their maybe hope for the future of the franchise. If not certain Ubisoft executives might have to back track on their previous statements.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post Watch Dogs Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

“Darks Souls will teach you how to expertly dodge and roll, just don’t expect to acquire these skills without ranking up a serious amount of respawns.”

Dark Souls II and its predecessor occupy a place in the relativity uncharted territories of Masocore gaming. The term a portmanteau of “masochism” and “hardcore”, a quite accurate description of what the genre is about. It is a genre of gaming that employ complex and extremely difficult gameplay mechanics as a method to deliberate frustrated the player. Generally the player will die or fail very easily and with very limited save points, they will often have to play certain sections of the game repeatedly. It is surprising that anyone would find this enjoyable and future more would be willing to pay for the privilege, but in truth the concept has existed since the early days of the industry. Many of the arcade classics featured harsh gameplay mechanics and due to the technical limitations of the day checkpoints where non-existent. In fact a lot of modern games borrow from the Masocore genre of gaming; they just don’t employ the technics to the extremes that games of that ilk do. An indie title like Super Meat Boy will sometimes stray into the Masocore genre or the gameplay mechanics of a game like QWOP could be viewed as somewhat masochistic. The classic example is the satirical platformer I Wanna Be The Guy, a game that has no qualms about testing the players’ tolerance for difficult gameplay. A more recent success in the genre is Flappy Bird, a game that is a case sample for studying gamer’s addiction for difficult games.

“Dwarf Fortress difficultly start with just trying to understand what the ASCII graphics represent, is it a game or a corrupted text file?”

The somewhat reclusive developer Dong Nguyen seems to have a penchant for Masocore as his avian side-scroller exemplifies the genre. The game went viral earlier this year, topping the mobile download charts for weeks until it was pulled down by its own creator. Nguyen citing that he had become too overwhelmed by the game success and his growing concern over it addictiveness. Many questioned such motives but maybe instead of been hounded for his actions he should be hailed for saving gamers from such a sadistic game. At the heart of its popularity is the sense of satisfaction the player receives when they manage to navigate the vertically challenged fowl through a certain number of marioesque pipes. Every time going back to the start and only through sheer perseverance each time managing to pass through more pipes. In some ways Flappy Bird is a more of a masochist game then Dark Souls, because even with successive attempts there is no acquired skill or hidden secret to bettering ones progress. It is a simply case of rinse and repeat with randomness, luck or even a glitch helping you progress further. As difficult as Dark Souls is, the player can learn through much trial and error how to beat certain enemies. The game does have a learning curve it just happens to be a very steep one, an ascent up the sheer face of the Matterhorn an apt analogy.

“Miyazaki has a bit of a thing for impossibly difficult games, with his previous effort Demon Souls testing the mental wits and perseverance of its players”

It is a key aspect of the Masocore genre that isn’t there to hold the players hand throughout the game, instead hoping that they learn from their own mistakes. Which is in part such games appeal that the player has to figure out for themselves how to master the game and not having it spoon feed to them through constant nagging hints. One interesting mechanic that the games designers used instead of more common insistent pop-ups is the player generated hints system. This can take two different forms; the most notable is the bloodstains left on the ground by other players after they have succumbed to an untimely end. Not reviling what killed them but giving the player some idea of the dangers that might be nearby. Other online players might also appear as ghostly phantoms, displaying their real-time progress and more often than not their eventual death. Instead of the video game developers setting out tutorials at the beginning of the game, the players themselves feed into a real time in game FAQ. Even with help from fellow gamers the game still poses a massive challenge for newcomers to the franchise.

“Entering an area covered in blood and filled with hapless phantoms having their heads caved in might be a warning to head in the other direction, or at least be ready to die over and over again.”

The creator behind the series Miyazaki last year announced that he was shifting his focus away from Dark Souls and onto a brand new IP. No information has yet been announced about his next title. However it would be no surprise if work on Demon Souls and Dark Souls over the last number of years will influence his next creation. Also owing to the fact that the Masocore genre seems to be growing in popularity, with gamers never tiring of challenging and strenuous gameplay mechanics. How many more cracked smartphone screens, dented controllers or smashed keyboards will come as result of the Masocore genre. Many studies have extolled the behaviour effect of violent video games, but a more recent group of researchers have linked aggressive behaviour to the frustration of losing while playing video games. Developers of Masocore games might have to think about the effects their complex and infuriating mechanics have on the psyches of gamers.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post Dark Souls II Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

“A panel of industry veterans stating the obvious that the PC gaming market is still around and makes a lot of money, not the most startling revelation to come out of PAX East this year.”

One reveal that was probably more highly anticipated than any other was the early gameplay demo of Star Citizen. The most successfully crowd funded game boosting a budget of over $42 million dollars and what do all those backers get for parting with their hard earned cash. What seems to be a fairly standard looking space combat simulator with some fancy graphical HUD elements. Granted this is a game very early on in development with the launch more than likely two or so years away. The game is very impressive from an aesthetic point of view the demonstrator keen to point out various little nuances in the spaceships design. Even down the subtle flaring up of the spaceship thrusters and the neat animations of the pilot when entering his ship. As mundane as this quick demo of the gameplay might seem it wasn’t the same feeling resonating with the crowd present at the event. You could have been mistaken them for an incoherent rabble watching an MMA bout. So for Chris Roberts’s team it seems they have won over their fans which is the important point as they are the ones who funded the game enormous budget.

“So far the media releases for Star Citizen have focused primarily on the space combat aspect with no sign of the trading mechanics yet and PAX East was no different.”

The game that was hoped to have some real hands on access at the event was Watch Dogs a game that is on the market in just over a months’ time. Ubisoft have remained as covert with the marketing for Watch Dogs as the actions of the games main protagonist. The game is one of the most anticipated releases of the year but they have yet to release any solid info about gameplay or the overall narrative. A few videos here and there have been released just enough to keep the gaming community intrigued. However it seems odd for a game so close to its release not to have any sort of hands on presence at an event like this. Maybe Ubisoft feel they don’t need too, seeing as the anticipation for the game is already at fever pitch and will likely sell in big numbers. The QA team back in Montréal better hope they have rid the game of all major bugs because sure enough those game halting glitches will be found soon enough by the gaming community at launch.

“It has nearly been two years since Watch Dogs was first unveiled at E3 2012 but on May 27th it will finally hit the market.”

Games like Star Citizen and Watch Dogs have been doing the rounds in video game press circles for a while now. However one game announcement that came as a surprise was the project to come out of Civilization creators Firaxis Games. Civilization Beyond Earth looks set to be the spiritual successor to the much loved Alpha Centauri title released back in 1999. A brief trailer was shown at their panel and was met with great fanfare, not least because this isn’t just some concept piece it has a Fall 2014 release date. Notwithstanding the fact that such ambiguous release dates often end up getting pushed back, there might be hope to see some fleshed out gameplay at the E3 in a few months. Another game that is set to have a Fall release date was Evolve. The new multiplayer title from the Left4Dead team that have re-established Turtle Rock Studios after breaking away from Valve. The game bears some resemblance to their previous work with a team of four players fighting together against an enemy assailant. Although instead it been an unending horde of zombies it one giant monster that is player controlled, making it a PvP 4 on 1 situation. The game development itself it a rocky patch when its original publisher THQ filed for bankruptcy, with the games rights sold off to 2K Games for $10 million. Now the game in nearing completion and attendees at the event where able to get to grips with some of the basic gameplay features.

“A chance to explore the final frontiers with updated graphics and improved AI, Civilization Beyond Earth is personally the most exciting announcement so far this year.”

Other notable announcements to come over the weekend included the first batch of DLC for Titanfall that will move the battlefield into the Jungle. A new Borderlands game that will be a prequel to the series and a trailer showing off the latest game from the mind of Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, The Evil Within.  The main release window for the video game industry spans over a three to four month period in the winter. So an event that takes place in early April is never going to see as many announcements and reveals as the conventions that take place later in the year. It’s still early in the year with the probability of a number of other high profile announcements coming over the next few months quite high. Not just at conventions like E3 or PAX Prime but as was seen in the case of Assassin’s Creed Unity unofficial leaks that are quickly turned around as a PR opportunity. The video gaming community is ravenous with hunger for any sort of video game news even if it is just buggy alpha gameplay or a few scant screenshots. They want to know about it and it is this desire for constant development updates that drive the various video game conventions that fill the annual calendar, PAX East no exception.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post PAX East Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

“Those gamers hoping to pick up where they left off in Skyrim are going to disappointed about the lack of dragons and the powers that come with been the Dovahkiin.”

The answer has to take various factors into consideration and look at the MMO’s that have tried to emulate WOW but ultimately failed. The first aspect that has to be addressed is that this article is only taking western released MMO’s into consideration as Japan and the East Asian market has released to many MMO’s to mention. Although I would still wager that WOW holds more sway then many of these regionally released games. The most recent case sample for judging the potential success of The Elder Scrolls Online would be Bioware’s The Old Republic. The MMORPG based in the highly popular Star Wars universe and what seemed like concept that couldn’t fail. Despite the fact the game idea was not new with Star Wars Galaxies launching in 2003 to only be shut down in 2011 due to lagging subscriber numbers. Nonetheless the fanfare and anticipation that surrounded Bioware’s new game prior to launch would have more than eased the concerns of any anxious executives. Four years after its initial announcement, in December of 2011 it was launched and less then twelve months later it switch to the free-to-play model. Initially it saw its subscriber base growing to 1 million within the first three days, making it the fastest ever growing MMO to date. Those numbers failed to increase significantly enough over the following months and prompted the publishers EA to reconsider their options, eventually making the game free-to-play. Not to say that problems faced by one game will be the same for another, but those at ZeniMax Online might take heed and not count their chickens before they have a solid subscriber base.

“For a franchise that has proved so popular in various different video game genres and other forms of media, Star Wars MMO’s seem to be cursed.”

A slight advantage that ZeniMax Online might have is that their MMO is based on a game series that has a long establish history in the industry. Granted it’s not like Star Wars was new IP and Bioware had worked on the very successful Knights of the Old Republic previously. The Elder Scrolls franchise however has a twenty year long history of giving fans the best RPG experience in the genre. The question is can a series that has been solely been based on a singleplayer experience make the crossover to the multiplayer realm. From the early beta testing and tentative reviews of retail game it seems like ZeniMax Online might be onto something. It’s too early to tell if the game is a success with The Old Republic seeming like a sure bet in its first few months post launch. Other MMO’s series have even managed to maintain a solid user base without massive number. Guild Wars opted for the one time purchase subscription method, it has allowed them to maintain 400,000 concurrent users and even produce a sequel. All the same I’m sure ZeniMax Online will want to do better and compete in the big league alongside WOW.

“Once again Elder Scrolls fans will be able to explore the rarely visited corners of Tamriel, from the sands of Hammerfell to the swamps of the Black Marsh.”

The Blizzard team on the other hand are surely not wiping sweat from their brow with worry over the launch of ESO. WOW is a game that came out nearly ten years ago and still has nearly 8 million subscribers according to figures from the end of last year. The subscriber base has actually increased in the last number of months; most likely due to interest peaked with the announcement of the next expansion Warlords of Draenor. The Elder Scrolls Online beta received 5 million registered users, which is not a bad start but turning those players into long-term subscribers is another matter. This is the essential problem faced by any developers wishing to get into the pay-to-play market; the gameplay experience must live up the monthly subscription fee. ZeniMax Online is taking a risky venture by charging $14.99(€10.87) per month to play ESO. WOW only charging $12.99(€9.42) in comparison, not to mention that Xbox One users will have to cough up for an Xbox Live subscription alongside the $14.99/mo. fee. The developers stating that ‘significant’ DLC set to be regularly released post launch justifies the high price point. Bethesda Vice President of PR, Pete Hines has stated that there is no intention of using the free-to-play approach in regards to ESO. Reasoning that quality is better than quantity, creating better gameplay experiences at the expense of a larger user base. It’s a gamble that might work with the Elder Scrolls series known for its richly detailed worlds and immersive game experiences. However in the MMO game it’s all about the numbers and it will be interesting to see how certain opinions might change if ESO fails to gain any traction.

“Blizzard’s last expansion pack didn’t go down that well with gamers; however they will hope Warlords of Draenor be a hit for the aging MMO.”

It stands to reason that a highly successful RPG franchise should have no problem taking their dedicated fan base and bringing them over the MMO genre. Then again the average video game fan is a fickly beast that could easily see The Elder Scrolls Online detracting from the series. Other Elder Scrolls properties that tried to make the jump over to other genres, like The Elder Scrolls Travels games that failed to gain any favour with critics and gamers alike. All of the questions about ZeniMax’s venture into the MMORPG genre will be answered over the coming year. Will the game be able to hold the attention of its subscribers, facing tough competition with the upcoming expansion for WOW due to launch sometime this year.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post The Elder Scrolls Online Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

“The MOBA genre has seen a huge increase in popularity over the last few years and Hi-Rez studios will hope that SMITE can be a part of that growth.”

SMITE was launched with a closed beta in May of 2012 after debuting the game at PAX East the previous month. Although the term closed beta would denote a restricted number of players testing the game, when the game finally moved to the open beta stage the following January its player base was already up to 900,000. SMITE has been free-to-play throughout its beta stage, although like many other free-to-play games it relies microtransactions to help finance the continued development of the game. Due to the games increase in popularity it gave the development studio the impetuous to continue development and release regular content updates. No doubt development may well continue after the games official launch, to help maintain a strong player base. The games developers Hi-Rez Studios may have also noticed that the gaming community might see the SMITE launch go unnoticed. In response they have organized a LAN Tournament to be held in Atlanta over the weekend to celebrate the momentous occasion. Upholding their openness with the gaming community they have given players the chance to chip in on the cash prize on offer at the event. Initially set at $100,000, players can buy a custom skin for one of the game characters with the money going towards the prize fund. Now the cash prize is sitting at $185k, it is a question of how far will this level of community involvement lead too. Of course the contributors do receive a piece of DLC for their donation, but what’s next. If the development studio is late on the electricity bill or has to call out a contractor will there be a Kickstarter to raise funds to pay the bills or fix the plumbing. An overexertion of course but the video game industry has changed so dramatically over the last five years. From what was traditionally an obscured development process to now involving mass community engagement.

“Mojang have achieved legendary status within the industry not only because of their highly successful game but the method by which it was developed.”

The obvious example to point to as the origin of this current trend is the Swedish based developers Mojang and their game Minecraft. There is no doubt that Minecraft acted as a watershed moment for the video game industry, the extended and open development process of that game influencing many other to do the same. The game was available online to buy while the game was still in development. Players not only helped the development process by giving Mojang a few dollars to play the game, but also through community discussion and game mods gave the developers a clear idea of what the players wanted. Instead of hiring a number of QA testers to play an in house version of the game, the entire Minecraft community became Mojang’s bug testing team. The game continues to shaped by community driven feedback. In fact it’s hard to believe that Minecraft actually had an official release over two years ago at this point. For those players who bought the alpha version of the game for less than $15 back in 2010, they can still expect new and upcoming features for no additional cost. It is a question if the development process for Minecraft will ever cease, will there be a Minecraft 2 or is this game set to be in development indefinitely. Another game with a seemingly never ending development cycle is the much loved by gamers and NASA scientists alike, Kerbal Space Program.

“Squad a company based out of Mexico City operate as a marketing firm, who just happen to take a chance on a video game pitch from one of their employees.”

The game has now remained in the alpha stages of development for the past two and half years. No beta or official launch has been announced, which hasn’t stopped the game from racking up impressive game sales. Normal industry conventions would state that alpha builds of a game are for in house testing only and that releasing an unfinished buggy version of the game will hurt eventually retail numbers. This traditionally ideology surrounding the development cycle is been challenged by games like Kerbal Space Program, who buck the trend set by the major AAA studios. The move towards digital distribution spurred on by services like Steam has given developers the opportunity to offer their games for sale at increasingly earlier stages of development. What would have been financially impossible in the cd and cartridge days of the industry, selling an early build of a game can now in fact help fund the continued development of a particular project. The conversion of the ARMA II mod DayZ into a standalone title has benefited from such an approach. Released in December of last year on Steam as an early access alpha, DayZ sold over a million copies within a month. No longer do developers have to keep their fingers crossed throughout the development process, hoping that when the game is launch that it is a success. Instantaneous feedback can be received very early into the games development, reducing the financial risks that would have previously held back many developers.

“The hype surrounding DayZ was a major factor in its high number of sales, but will gamers be turned off after buying an incomplete buggy version of the game?”

The modern video game industry has caused the standard terms of alpha and beta to be redefined in a new context. No longer just versions of an incomplete game that would not be seen outside of the development studio save for a short testing period open to the public. Most AAA studios still stick to this model with information about an upcoming game only available through a few scant reports or planned media announcements. In the past it was only through unofficial leaks that gamers could get a chance to get hands on with a game prior to its official launch. Now the indie game scene has taken it a step further an offered up their games to the public from the get-go, with warts and all. The developers no longer keeping their game hidden behind the curtain until launch day but allowing the public to join them on the journey, to see that the game evolves to meet their wants and desires.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post Smite Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

Titanfall

“Medal of Honor marked a turning point in video game narrative, were games could now attempt to emulate Hollywood in terms of grandiose storytelling.”

Following the release of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault some of the developers including West and Zampella decide to leave 2015 Inc. and form their own studio. The limitations imposed on them by their employers and the control on the creative process by the publisher EA, forced 22 members of the development team to break away and establish Infinity Ward in 2002. Interestingly 2015 Inc. has only produced one game since the mass departures and has not seen the same level of success as it had with Medal of Honor. Infinity Wards funding was boosted in the beginning when the publisher Activision bought up 30 percent of the company. The studio went straight to work on its first title a WWII themed FPS, following on from the experience gained with their previous game. Call of Duty was released in October of 2003 and was an instant classic, with mission structures and narrative techniques that their previous publisher EA had disagreed with. The most iconic mission of the game, forcing the player to fight through the besieged city of Stalingrad with only a clip of ammunition and no weapon. An idea that was unthinkable in the FPS genre, a reason why the game was a success and spawned an acclaimed franchise. When WWII shooters became too commonplace West and Zampella decided to shake things up and produce Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Again Infinity Ward proved to be the studio at the forefront of the FPS genre setting the trends and game design conventions that others would attempt to emulate.

 “The original title in the series received its very own rerelease on the next gen system in 2009, known as Call of Duty Classic.”

Just as the second Modern Warfare title was breaking all sales records decent was brewing between Infinity Ward and their publishers/owners Activision. West and Zampella were aggrieved about the lack of royalties afforded to them by Activision, based on the success of the latest Call of Duty release. The ensuing conflict resulted in Activision firing both West and Zampella on the grounds of “breaches of contract and insubordination”. The reason for the dismissals was in reaction to a supposed meeting that took place between the pair and EA, to which Activision was not privy too. The subsequent legal battle of lawsuits being filed by both parties would mar the establishment of West and Zampella’s new venture Respawn Entertainment in April of 2010. Just as in the case of 2015 Inc. a large number of Infinity Ward’s development team left the company, 48 resigning from Infinity Ward with 38 of them joining West and Zampella at Respawn Entertainment. Activision has tried to maintain the high level of quality and strong sales figures for its Call of Duty franchise even bringing in another development studio to help get the games to market. Although sales figures have been annually smashed with each subsequent release aside from Call of Duty: Ghosts, the critical acclaim and public opinion has waned of late. Now after four years in the making Titanfall is finally on the market, but can the Respawn team do what they have already managed multiple times before and reshape the FPS genre.

 “It’s a game of cat and mouse between the fast and agile pilots; and devastation brutal giant titans.”

The development of Titanfall has not been without its level of turmoil with long time development partner Jason West leaving the company for personal reasons. Although the nature of his resignation has been a matter of rumour and speculation, with West’s erratic behaviour and discord with Zampella possible reasons for his split with the company he co-founded. Zampella is now flying solo and we will get to see if he can do it on his own. Judging from the response of the beta released in late February and from the early Metacritic scores it looks like Respawn is on to a winner. Just as Zampella and his team have always done in the past they have not settled just to follow along with the crowd. The FPS genre of late has becoming increasingly stagnant, with little in the way of innovation coming out of the genre for the last number of years. A few gameplay tweaks and graphical improvements seem to be enough for most developers, with new IP falling by the wayside in the face of established franchises. Titanfall is attempting to draw influence from a myriad of different sources to push forward the evolution of the FPS genre. The most distinctive feature of the new Zampella title is the lack of a singleplayer narrative, with the game only featuring multiplayer gameplay. Not that this is something new in the FPS genre with the original titles in the Battlefield series featuring only multiplayer modes. However for Zampella this is breaking new ground since the singleplayer narrative has been as much a crucial part of his previous games successes as the multiplayer component. Iconic gaming moments such as the storming of the Normandy beaches and the first-hand experience of a soldier post nuclear blast, have helped Zampella earn his high ranking status in the industry.

 “Will we see a reunited West and Zampella in the future, somewhat debatable with the apparent success garnered by Titanfall under the solo leadership of Zampella?”

Probably the far more interesting point about Titanfall’s online elements is that the game relies on some of the AI components to be handled by Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform. Essentially this means that the game is online only, with the AI hosting and physics calculations handled by Microsoft’s servers. It is also bad news for gamers living in regions without the Azure service like South Africa, who have understandable become quite upset. They have even gone as far as to petition EA and Respawn to have a South African release of the game. Not helping the issue is the fact that Xbox Live experienced a momentary technical hitch on launch day. Aside from the few regional grumbles and Xbox Live outages, nothing much has been made of Titanfall‘s always online requirement. This is good news for Titanfall publisher EA who suffered a calamitous PR disaster due the resulting backlash that followed the botch launch of their always online title SimCity. It’s interesting that prior to launch nothing has been made of Titanfall’s method of offloading some of its processing tasks to the cloud. Granted from the outset Titanfall is sold as a multiplayer game so certain level of internet connectivity is expected from the outset. All the same the video gaming community was ready with torches and pitchforks at the announcement that the Xbox One would need to be connect online at least once a day. Never mind the fact that for much of the western world regular online connectivity is pretty standard. Here we are less than six months post launch and a game that requires a similar feature, no angry mob in sight. It is amazing how video game fans can go from extreme statements of vitriolic fury to quiet and subdued acceptance. Obviously Titanfall is just that good of game that such heated opinions can put aside. Gamers are clearly very enamoured by giant mech’s, to let go of such issues.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post Titanfall Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

Anti-Piracy measures are nothing new, with a service like Steam requiring the player to sign in to authenticate their account and access their games. Nonetheless SimCity was a dismal failure as far as EA’s PR department was concerned, with the company already in a rocky relationship with the gaming community. It is no surprise then that it has been the indie game sector that of late has had a massive surge in popularity. Mainly due to its non-corporate approach to game design, where player experience is top of the list of priorities. AAA development budgets are now astronomically high in comparison to indie developers, rivalling Hollywood productions in terms of money spent on the project. Many indie developers are working on nothing more than shoestring budgets, with passion and determination the only driving factors.

“Even the most well planned out village won’t save the townsfolk from a harsh winter or natural disasters.”

Banished is the perfect game for those who have become dismayed at what has become of the SimCity series without Will Wright at the helm. Take SimCity and rewind a few hundred years, Banished is a city-building game that takes the concept and refines it down to it most basic components. Instead of managing an entire metropolis your task is the make sure a small village doesn’t go cold or hungry. That’s its most appealing characteristic, with no financial or macro management the game strategy is boiled down to a few core gameplay mechanics. The game operates on a barter and resource system where money is not present which makes sense for its pre-industrialisation setting. The balance between resources management and population growth is very finely balanced; with one harsh winter, an unexpected outbreak of disease or sudden fire can bring the village to its knees. It is this balancing act that makes the gameplay very additive. Its style of gameplay reminiscent of the Settlers series of games where the layout of your village can have a drastic effect on how the game plays. Place your villager’s homes to far from their place of work and good luck keeping your supplies stocked up. The games difficulty is as rewarding and it is frustrating, if it was too easy to build up a new settlement in the middle of the wilderness where would the fun lie. The only complaint would be that the villagers are all given randomly generated names, it’s like they say not to name the animal you kill for meat so you don’t become attached personally. When that notice pops-up that Lamberly the Miner or Sandell the Farmer died from hunger it really hits a nerve. Like an omnipotent god you’re responsible for their fate and take each death as a personal failure. The strive to do better is always present, with a harmoniously functioning village taking multiple failed attempts. The most amazing thing about this game aside from its well-crafted art design and gameplay mechanics, is the fact that it was solely developed by one man. Luke Hodorowicz is the one man team behind Shining Rock Software, founded in 2011.

“I build them a fancy tunnel but yet they decide to ignore it and walk over the hill instead, ungrateful villagers.”

Typically indie games by their nature feature small development teams, solo development is quite commonplace in this sector of the industry. However to make a comparison to a big budget title like SimCity or even some of the latest games in the Settlers series it is a wonder where half that money goes. How much marketing attributes to the over inflated budgets of these AAA titles. If a sole developer can produce a game as complex and rich as Banished, is there something to be learned by the big time developers. Of course a game like SimCity has far more complexity to it than a game like Banished, but it is a wonder if companies might consider returning to their roots and produce smaller titles. Ken Levine’s decision to close down AAA developer Irrational Games and his pursuit of a smaller more streamlined approach to game design, is an example of this. Levine commenting that he wishes to re-engage with the gaming community and a return to his development roots.

“Who knew how much food it takes to keep a small village of people alive? Apparently it’s a lot, either that or these villagers are just greedy.”

The increasing amount of openness in the development process of indie games, is a trend that doesn’t transfer easily to a major AAA game development. A multiplayer beta or early demo is as close as gamers get to the development process of typical AAA titles. Unlike the plethora of smaller indie titles that have early access builds of their game available to buy on platforms like Steam. DayZ a game not even in the beta stage of development has already raked up over a million sales at this point. Interestingly enough Banished is the one game that has managed to knock DayZ of the number one spot on the Steam sales chart, a place DayZ has occupied for the last three months. Rust another indie game rounds out the top three, with Call of Duty: Ghosts one of the biggest budget games on the list lagging behind the three small time developers. It is a clear indication that the indie game scene is thriving in an industry that is supposedly controlled by the big time publishers.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post Banished Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

“I wonder if the creator of the Helicopter game harbours any notion of envy for Flappy Bird’s whirlwind success.”

As stated above the game is essentially the Helicopter Game, with a bird taking the place of the helicopter. The game challenges the player to fly the vertically challenged fowl through a series of green pipes that of course in no way resemble those of a certain Nintendo game. The player is rewarded for each set of pipes that they manage to pass through, the game becoming increasingly harder the longer it goes on. For most getting through the first few pipes is the initial stumbling block, with the bird’s controls been erratic at best. Flying like it’s the birds first day out of the nest not used to operating its wings. This been the main attraction of the game as it’s the difficult that is frustratingly addictive. If the player could simple pass through several pipes with ease, the appeal would be lost. Whereas a player who manages to make it past ten sets of pipes has a huge sense of achievement and wants to try again for more. Flappy Bird could be classed under the genre of a masocore game. The masocore genre of games are defined as containing trial and error gameplay with intense difficulty, which is designed to frustrate the player. The choice of platform has also served the game well as the smartphone is the new home for casual gaming. Although how many Apple and Android devices has been damaged in fits of rage over a miss timed finger tap leading to an abrupt end in flight.

“As soon as it started to climb the download charts, clones started to appear. Some looking to cash in on the craze others just creating humorous pastiches.”

The games creator similarly followed the path his games titular character and has come crashing down after a short lived ascent. Dong Nguyen a developer hailing for Hanoi, Vietnam is the focus of a media storm that has been revolving around him over the last few weeks. Interestingly the game had been on the market for the more than six months before it saw its surge in popularity. The game was released on the app store in May of last year but only came to the attention of the gaming community in early January. Its spike in the rate of downloads so long after its release has led some to question Dong Nguyen on suspicion of market manipulation. Nguyen has not made any official comments on the alleged use of shady methods to increase its rank in the app store. Not that any of this matters as the game has now been pulled from both the Apple and Google app stores. Nguyen citing the stress and unexpected attention he came under due to the games popularity, as the one of the reason for the games removal from the market. He has also stated that he is unhappy about the levels of addiction that people are experiencing with Nguyen’s intention to create a game that players would pick and play on a casual bases. It seems like Nguyen has decided to take the moral high ground and save gamers from his highly addictive game.

“$4,999 is a little ambitious by this seller. Nobody can be that desperate to play this game, can they?”

As soon as the game was taken down on the 9^th of February, outrageous offers were placed on smartphones with the game pre-installed on online auction site eBay. Some “Flappy Bird Devices” demanding in the region of $10,000 as a starting price, even though selling devices with pre-installed software goes against eBay policies. Those who missed the boat and want to experience the addictive frustration of Flappy Bird but lack deep pockets to shell out for a pre-installed smartphone. Can look no further than one the numerous clones that immediately sprang up in the wake of the games success. It’s not at all surprising to see other developers looking to leech of the success of a popular game, but now with the original off the market the clones stand a good chance to have their own moment in the spotlight. Splashy Fish an Ironpants the two apps battling it out be crowned the new Flappy Bird successor. Flappy Bird stands as a testament to our modern age, were success is instantaneous and is only present for a fleeting moment before it falls back into obscurity. With the game of the market and its creator looking to return to a private life, how long can its popularity last? It would be a surprise to hear that the game still been talked about in a few months’ time. Unless this is all just a massive PR stunt and Nguyen is going to return to the limelight with the announcement for Flappy Bird 2?

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post Flappy Bird Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

The Banner Saga

“It a game of tactics and manoeuvres between the opposing sides, in a battle of mental strategy.” 

The Banner Saga transports the player into a Viking themed universe with Norse mythology feeding the narrative. The one aspect that sets this game apart for many other games on the market is the stunning art design. The game features 2D animations that are reminiscent of old Disney or Don Bluth cartoons. There is a real resurgence in high quality 2D game art with the industry and gaming community becoming tired of have their vision bombarded with polygons and particle effects. The rise of the indie game sector has definitely helped fuel this 2D revival. Games such as Don’t Starve, Papers Please and Kentucky Route Zero; all spending time to develop and define their own unique art style. Although the fluid animations will grab gamer’s attention the underlying gameplay also has a high level of polish. The game is broken down into three distinct modes of gameplay. The combat is carried out on a turn based checkerboard with the choice of warriors and the strategies of attack implemented meaning the difference between victory and failure. The difficulty of the combat been a sore point for some gamers arguing that the game is a little too harsh on mistakes made along the way. This merciless approach to the player decision making also carries over to the interactive narrative which doesn’t just involve choosing some random text with no real effect on the outcome. In The Banner Saga choosing one text response over another can mean the life or death of one of your characters. It is a feature that forces the player to make some hard decision on their journey across the frozen landscape, which leads to the third and most brutal game mechanic. As your caravan winds its way across the snowy terrain, a resource management mini-game kicks in. Similar to the ruthlessness of Oregon Trail, if you make the wrong decision or god forbid run out of food your followers start dropping like flies. It is this harsh realism within a fictional universe that makes this game stand out from the rest. The player goes through the same strains and stresses as the main protagonists, creating a real connection that makes you want to spend more time within this world of Vikings filled with myth and adventure.

“Choices made earlier in the game can real come back to bite you, every encounter with a stranger has you weigh up the chance that this person will end up stabbing you in the back.”

All of glowing reviews aside one particular company doesn’t care much for the Norse mythology or the turn based strategy gameplay. King.com the makers of many Facebook and mobile games have taken umbrage with Stoic’s choice of name. They have filled an opposition to the trademark of “The Banner Saga” arguing that is would lead to consumer confusion between their game Candy Crush Saga and Stoic’s game. On the face of it seems like a ludicrous claim, it is hard to confuse a puzzle game that revolves around candy and a turn based strategy based on Norse mythology. To most sound minded gamers this is a case of apples and oranges. However copyright and trademark claims over seemingly unrelated properties due to some tenuous linguistic link is nothing new.  It was only a few years ago when ZeniMax the parent company of Bethesda creators of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series, filled a lawsuit against Minecraft developers Mojang. It was again a case of mistaken identity where ZeniMax claimed that consumers would be confused that they weren’t buying the massively popular RPG game The Elder Scrolls. Instead they had bought a trading card game Scrolls made by Mojang. Why do major video game companies think so little of gamer’s metal capacity, it is a little offensive that are grasp of the English language is in such doubt. The litigation raged on for a year until in March of 2012 Mojang finally caved in and settled to agree a licencing deal with ZeniMax. Were they could use the “Scrolls” name for their game but not for the branding of additional merchandise or follow up titles. Other companies like Edge games have spent year’s fruitlessly claiming copyright and trademark infringements against other companies over the use of the word “Edge”. The companies CEO Tim Langdell been removed from the IGDA (International Game Developers Association) board of directors for his unethical behaviour in the video game industry.

“A literal war of words has ignite between King.com and Stoic Studios all over the simple usage of Saga in the title of the companies’ games.”

The real reason for King to makes its series of trademark claims, is that so often when one bigger company start a court battle with a smaller company; the bigger more financial powerful company wins just by sheer relentlessness. Companies like Mojang and Stoic may have the moral support of the community but when it comes time to pay the lawyers, King has the money to hire the best and maintain lengthy legal proceedings. King themselves have already demonstrated that clout by winning a trademark on the word “Candy” although only granted last month with still time for others fill their own opposition. It set a scary precedence for companies to gain trademarks on common English words. Could Microsoft stop business using the word “window” or Amazon forces the rainforest to be renamed. King has gone on record as saying that they have no desire to stop Stoic from producing their Banner Saga series, that they have only carried out their actions to deter any would be copycats. Any interesting position to take from a company that produced Pac-Avoid a game that was a clone of Stolen Goose’s title Scamperghost, with King subsequently removing their game from the market proving their guilt. They state that their legal claims are just a formality that they must undertake to ensure their own futures. Trademark law does back up this claim by putting the ownness on the company to defend its own trademarks, otherwise they may be revoked on the ground on “non-use”. However this sort of rhetoric is slightly ominous from a company that seems to have scant regard for the detrimental affects their actions could have not just on the games industry, but for what is supposed to be a free market. Are we heading into a future where the Oxford Dictionary will cease to be published due to every company under the sun filling trademark claims on what have previously been common English words?

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post The Banner Saga Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.

“The games art style and visual appeal can’t be in doubt with the vocal talents of Elijah Wood, Jennifer Hale and Will Wheaton all featuring in this dialogue driven game.”

The game is a traditional 2D point and click adventure with no effort spared on the art direction. Broken Age features a hand drawn aesthetic that is very appealing in an industry that has become obsessed with graphical power. The Xbox One and PS4 vying for consumers by trying to pack as many polygons as they can onto gamers televisions. Adventure games by their nature have never really focused on pushing new advancements in graphical technology maybe aside from Myst. Broken Age like many of Tim Schaffer’s other games is more concerned about delivering a gripping narrative and establishing an engaging atmosphere. This game offers two dissecting storylines, one featuring a girl in a village tormented by a great beast that is only appeased by a sacrificial maiden. The other features a young man confined on a spaceship with an overbearing computer system, which has the personal traits of HAL crossed with loving mother. Personally I haven’t been able to complete the game yet not because the puzzles are too difficult on the contrary their far to one dimensional. I’m sure if you leave a group of monkeys in a room with the game one of them would beat it just by randomly clicking on the screen. The main reason I’m having difficulty playing the game is that it is not as engaging as I had hoped, I have no real personal feeling towards either character. In a game that is heavily based on narrative with any sort of gameplay mechanics few and far between aside from the few puzzle like mini-games, the story and character must be engaging. The main problem is there is a set path that must be followed and no chance for divergence. There are plenty of things to interact with but most just result in a short piece of dialogue with no real consequence. The player has no say in how things play out which means they can’t really connect with characters that only want to do things in a certain way.

“I have to wonder what the game would have resembled if Schaffer had only reached his initial $400,000 goal and not the $3 million he received.”

A comparison to another company that has recently established themselves as the new darlings of the adventure game genre. Telltale Games have very quickly become the go to studio for new adventure titles. Many of its developers coming from LucasArts where Tim Schaffer and his team cut their teeth. The one title that really put Telltale on the map was of course The Walking Dead, an adventure game based on the popular zombie graphic novel by Robert Kirkman. Although not original IP with most Telltale game featuring licenced content, they still managed to create an entirely unique narrative within the Walking Dead universe. The game is based around two protagonist trying to survive during a zombie apocalypse. Clementine a young girl trying to discover the faith of her parents and Lee her inadvertent guardian on their journey through the zombie filled American south. The game allows the player to make decisions that have a real effect on how the other characters interact with you and how certain events unfold. The game has been meet by universal critical acclaim, picking up over 90 “Game of the Year” awards in the process. The game has led to a resurgence in interest in adventure games.

“Never has the in game relationship of two characters had such a profound effect on the gaming community, The Last Us a close contender.” 

The most interesting thing about the game and others Telltale have produced is that they were self-published. Tim Schaffer and others at Double Fine have stated that crowd funding was the only way to go with major publishers unwilling to entertain the idea of producing an adventure game. However for well-established studios such as Telltale and Double Fine do they need publishers at all in this age of digital distribution? In the past publishers would also act as distributers making sure the game was printed to CD or cartridge. However with the growth in digital distribution services like Steam, there is no real need for publishers. Other companies like Mojang have demonstrated that they are more than capable of producing a game with no need of a publisher. In some ways Kickstarter is just another version of a traditional publisher just instead of all the money coming from one source it comes from multiple sources.

“Telltale is going all out with four new series in the works for 2014. The communities’ appetite for graphic adventure games unabated”

Crowd funding still operates in the same manner as other publishers, with Schaffer stating that the game would not be possible without a certain amount of capital. The development process touted as been open and inclusive to the gaming community, like many other video game titles stayed relatively behind closed doors. When the project ran out of money they had to come asking for more, eventually deciding to split the game into two parts to ensure it made it to market. I don’t see how Broken Age was supposed to break the mould for video game production when indie game developers have proved that they don’t need a big lump sum of cash up front before they will write a line of code or start manipulate polygons. Titles such as Don’t Starve, Retro City Rampage and of course Minecraft proving that if the idea and concept is strong enough then development should not be halter due to financial constraints. There is nothing inherently wrong with Schaffer using crowd funding to make his game, however it is the concept that a games scope and breath is limited by how much money is in the bank account. It goes against the creative nature of what video games are supposed to embody but then again voice acting from Elijah Wood obviously doesn’t come cheap.

By Colm O’Sullivan

The post Broken Age Review appeared first on Game Design Ireland.