Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=1509https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4908Today I continued my massacre, albeit boring. I did some external research on the game and learned that the player gets to go through hell once they decide to go into the library and end the boys lives. Grinding was becoming increasingly boring and repetitive, and I knew that Hell would be pretty difficult unless I leveled up, but I could not take the monotony any longer. I went into the library, and committed suicide. There was a short montage, featuring pictures of the victims, aftermath, and the boys, implying that Dylan and Eric were also victims in this incident as well, albeit in a different way. I made it to Hell, walked around fighting demons, got bored, and turned off the game. The experience that held value was over, as far as I was concerned. I feel as if the game could have been constructed better, not necessarily to reward the player for grinding, but to give them incentive. Perhaps more grinding leads to a deeper speculative look into Dylan and Eric, more cutscenes that attempt to humanize them. You can give the player incentives for actions without attaching rewards to gameplay, and I feel that the game could have gone much further in this respect.Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:27:33 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4908&iddiary=9109https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4908Today I picked up where I left off, and began killing people. I am very familiar with the Columbine story, and knew that the boys killed themselves in the library, so I could guess that would be where the game would end. I spent about five minutes killing people before I got absolutely bored of it. click click click click click click And I'm theoretically, from a gameplay perspective, supposed to kill everyone? Yeah, right. The player has no incentive to kill anyone at all. Perhaps this was intentional. In real life, the killings were senseless, and so to mirror that in a game makes a heavy statement about who was responsible for the event, and contrasts this statement with constant criticisms of people who attempted to blame the boys' actions on suggestive music and violent media. The enemies have names like "Preppy Girl" , "Jock Type", "Pretty Girl", "Preppy Boy," etc, which attempts to put the player in the minds of Dylan and Eric, and the player is supposed to believe this is probably how they saw the world. I am bored with killing people and do not feel like finding the library yet. I assume there will be a credit roll when I do.Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:59:43 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4908&iddiary=9094https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4908I turned on the game, and was honestly surprised at the apparent fairness with which the creator of the game attempted to capture the personalities of the two boys. Most people would assume that they were just psychotic killers, brainwashed children, with no capacity for reflection or introspection. However, the game portrays the two boys as introspective, viewing themselves as tragic sociopaths. They hate the world, and blame it for the way they are. They feel they are above the world, above being human, and have rationalized their actions through this mental framework. We enter into their minds, and the game quietly makes a statement that the forms of media that influenced them growing up are not to blame for their actions. Repeatedly, the characters joke around, to the effect of "they'll probably blame it on our music..." etc, which is close to what happened in real life. This statement coming from the characters, implies self awareness, and disconnectedness from media in the sense that they are aware of it's power, and are not capable of being influenced by it to the point that it would drive them this far. As far as gameplay goes, I set up the bombs in the cafeteria. The weird shapes of the security cameras made it hard to tell what they were for a while, so this level really took me longer than it should have, but everything is set up, I have completed the cutscene overlooking the city, and I will resume play tomorrow. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:22:04 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4908&iddiary=9090https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4846As of right now, I see no reason to prefer sandbox play as opposed to the story missions. Perhaps it is because I am not that far in the game, but I do not see much to do outside of the story. Stealing cars gets old fast, and it doesn't really seem like there is very much to do once you have them. After going back successfully completing the graffiti mission, I was tasked with driving to the local Cluckin-Bell with Ryder, and the two other main NPCs whose names I have forgotten. After a comical ordering scene, the mission is initiated. A rival gang is scouting your territory, and heading over to your neighborhood to commence a drive-by shooting. You must stop them before they make it to your cul-de-sac. If they make it to your cul-de-sac, they will kill members of your gang and you will fail the mission. I have failed this mission twice in a row, and don't understand what it takes to complete it. I cornered the enemy car and held it down while shooting at it for a good thirty seconds, but they always break free and I fail to protect my subordinates. The damp and loose steering doesn't help either, because once they break away and you are left attempting to spin around in traffic, it is nearly impossible to catch them. (This entry has been edited1 time. It was last edited on Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:38:40.)Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:37:30 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4846&iddiary=8996https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4846I realized after turning on the game today, that I had forgotten to save my game. I started over from the beginning, but now that I knew what to do, things went smoother and much more quickly. I noticed something that I had not noticed in my first play through, however. In one early mission, the player goes to go get a haircut, then rob a pizza parlor. The NPC accompanying the player on this mission makes a comment before the mission starts to the effect of "Look at this building. Its all clean and pretty - no respect for the hood." The implication here seems to be that minorities in economically disenfranchised neighborhoods wish to maintain a low standard of living and property values, cannot respect, and must actively destroy legitimate establishments that would help the situation of that area. The mission ends in failure regardless of player action, and soon you are off to reclaim turf through graffiti. I attempted the mission once, but was arrested by a cop who came out of nowhere, drove back, attempted the mission again, and nearly completed it before accidentally driving off of a bridge due to the absolutely insufferable controls, and inadvertently killing the NPC in an explosion that I managed to escape from but he did not. After this, I became so frustrated at having failed the same mission twice, that i decided to beat people up and collect money. I stole $2100, an ambulance and a few guns. This is where i left offSat, 21 Jan 2012 23:43:46 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4846&iddiary=8972https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4846After the opening cinematic, I finally was allowed control of the character. The first thing the character is prompted to do is steal a bicycle. Considering the character is Black, and the first part of the game is about life in an economically disenfranchised neighborhood with a high crime rate and gang wars, prompting the main character to steal a bicycle seems to be a poorly concealed ploy at racial humor. The game is called "Grand Theft Auto" and the franchise has been established by players going on a quest to steal and collect cars. Was forcing a Black main character to steal a bicycle as his first action in a game about stealing cars really necessary? Of course, one could make the argument that this is in the spirit of the game, but then why not just put a car there instead? Why a bicycle? The next thing I noticed were the controls. The game was nigh-unplayable without switching the mouse orientation to inverted. Steering any vehicle, bicycle included, felt unpredictable, slippery, obese and cumbersome. I went through a few of the missions, which included escaping a drive by shooting, getting a haircut, armed robbery at a restaurant, and reclaiming turf through graffiti. This is where i left off.Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:40:39 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=4846&iddiary=8970