Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=533https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2988Gamelog #5 entry 2 Gameplay: After finishing another skirmish I stumbled upon a new type of game play called General challenge mode. This allows you to play as different sub factions of China, USA, and GLA. The different factions focus on specific tactics such as infantry, nuclear weapons, and laser weapons. All in all there is 9 different factions to choose from, each with its own General. Before beginning the battle there is an amusing cut scene of the General you are about to face which provides you with important information on how to beat them. The General challenge mode was very engaging to play because the General you battle against uses his surroundings very well to combat you. In fact the entire level is designed to give the opposing general the advantage. This made the General challenge modes much more fun than regular skirmishes. The player really has to think on his feet and use different strategies to beat their opponent. This innovative feature takes a twist on skirmishes which I found to be very enjoyable. Design: I have mixed feelings about Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour. The game has many innovative elements that define it from other RTS games, but suffers from clumsy controls. The defining element of this game is the ability for the player to “level up” by destroying enemy structures and units. The higher the level the player is, the more special abilities he unlocks. Many of these abilities are very powerful and can be game breaking; this forces the player to take his general level into consideration. The other innovative element that I have mentioned before is the General Challenge mode. The cut scenes do a very good job of hyping up the battle come by making the game more personal as insults are thrown at you. Also. by adding a face to each specialized faction instead of just a name the player can connect to the General who he most identifies with. The sub faction design of Zero Hour was very innovative and by adding General challenge mode, the game offers players something they won’t find in any other RTS. My major concern with the design of Zero Hour was the control scheme. It could be because I am biased from playing the Warcraft series, however, the hotkey system seems clumsy and the click-to-move action seemed delayed. Many times I feel frustrated when trying to get my units into the battlefield; the control design could have used some adjustments to give the player a smoother game experience.Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:52:10 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2988&iddiary=5709https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2988Gamelog #5 Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour Summary: Command and Conquer is a RTS game where you can play as the USA, China, or the terrorist group called GLA. Each of these factions uses different weapons, buildings, and tactics to defeat their opponent Gameplay: One of my hall mates gave me Command and Conquer Generals because he never plays it. I decided to try it out, being a long time fan of the series. I really enjoyed Command and Conquer Red Alert, but thought that Command and Conquer Tiberian Sun was just average. I had heard good things about this game and had high expectations. I started off playing on the USA campaign, and for the first couple missions it was enjoyable, but there were some problems with the cut scenes. The cut scenes could not be skipped, so if the player failed the mission, they would have to watch the scenes over and over again. I personally have never enjoyed completing campaign missions on RTS games because I like to have all the weapons available to me right away. So I abandoned the campaign after about 25 minutes of play and started doing skirmishes. I had a great time doing the skirmishes; it really brought back a lot of fond memories from Command and Conquer: Red Alert. It took some time to get used to the controls, but after the first couple matches the game was very enjoyable. The graphics, for an RTS, are very good. Though they are definitely not the best I have seen, however there is a lot of attention to detail which makes the player more attached to his units. For example, when sending a flame tank to attack soldiers, they run around on fire and turn black before they drop dead. There is more attachment to units in Command and Conquer generals than in most RTS games.Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:05:14 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2988&iddiary=5617https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2723Gamelog Entry #2 GAMEPLAY: After last nights multi-player experience with Super Smash Bros, I decided to play the game in single player mode. No one was in my house at the time so I was able to get some quality one on one time with Super Smash Bros. The levels in single player mode are the same ones that you can choose from to play multiplayer on. That being said, I was comfortable with all the levels and had a good idea of how defeat my computer opponents. (I beat this game several years ago but still remember a lot of it.) Originally I set the difficulty to normal, but got bored and put it on hard. AI opponents were not very dynamic and were very easy to beat even on hard. It was fun going through the stages on single player this time, though I probably wouldn’t want to do it again for a couple more years. The single player mode is definitely not as exhilarating as multi player. By far the best part about the single player game is the twists that they put into different stages to help keep the player entertained. One of my favorite twists put into the game was steel Mario who was much more resistant to throwing attacks. Little twists such as these throughout the game keep it from becoming too repetitive. Even though the multi player aspect of Super Smash Bros is much more interesting than the single player mode, it can still be enjoyable and help hone your skills when facing human opponents. DESIGN This game is not the typical fighter game and is probably why it did so well. The biggest difference between Super Smash Bros and other fighters is that it does not contain the standard health meter where you can get hit a certain amount of times before you are killed. In Super Smash Bros you have a percentage to show how much damage you have taken. The higher percentage of damage that you have taken, the easier it is for you to be knocked off the screen. This new combat system is what really defines the game. It is a great change from the classic fighters such as the Mortal Kombat series and forces the player not only to incorporate fighting, but also positioning on the map to throw the other player off screen. Super Smash Bros encourages social interaction among players with its “easy to learn, difficult to master” controls. There are only a few different combinations that you need to know to be a avid player and every character uses the same control scheme for their special attacks. This allows beginners to compete with the more experienced players and still have a good time. This game is a great game for someone who has four controllers and a group of friends willing to play. Though the single player is a bit underwhelming, the multi player mayhem makes up for all its downfalls.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:44:34 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2723&iddiary=5186https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2723Game log Entry#1: Super Smash Bros. SUMMARY: The game Super Smash Bros. for the N64 is a fighting/action game that incorporates all the popular Nintendo characters into one battle royal. Your objective is to do damage to your opponent and then knock them out of the screen. GAMEPLAY: I was able to go home for the 3 day weekend and bring my N64 and Super Smash Bros back to Santa Cruz. I was afraid that my N64 would not be working, but it turned out to be work just fine. Last night I played with my roommates and girlfriend, knowing that Super Smash Bros really shines with four players. We played for a couple hours, each of us had played before but we all had different levels of experience. It was amazing how such an old game can bring so much excitement into our house. Controllers were flying and there was a considerably large amount of trash talk considering we are all friends. One of the reasons people get so exciting over Super Smash Bros is because of their attachment to their favorite Nintendo characters. Even though the characters in Super Smash Bros are not original, they are still very likeable because of prior attachment to them. The multi player on Super Smash Bros is really what makes this game so memorable. There is so much going in such a small area, especially when items are put into the game, that the resulting mayhem is just nonstop fun. The game doesn’t have graphics or plot of many of the other fighter games, but there is nothing more rewarding than seeing Mario throwing Link off a giant spaceship.Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:44:58 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2723&iddiary=5119https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2362Gamelog#3 Entry #2 Gameplay I attempted to play this game online for my second session, however, some complications arose with windows vista and I was not able to play Battlefield 2 online. Though I was restricted to single player, I was able to borrow my friend’s joystick and this added a new dimension to the game as I was able to operate vehicles more effectively. It took some time to configure the controls for the joystick properly, but after working out all the kinks it was so much fun. I have never played any flight simulation games with a joystick and hadn’t realized how much fun they can be. The joystick is a must for Battlefield 2, it is much more engaging to use and provides a sense of realism that is absent when using a mouse and keyboard. I was playing this game with a couple friends in the room and they could see the amount of I was having and wanted to get in on some of the Battlefield 2 action. The AI on Battlefield 2 is very good, especially when fighting aircraft vs aircraft, this really gives you a sense of accomplishment after defeating a computer player. Even though I was not able to play multi player online, using a joystick added a new dimension to the game that was very engaging and interactive. Design: This game had some very innovative elements that really made it stick out from other first person shooters. The most innovative aspect of the game is the ability to be the commander of the troops on the battlefield. This mixes first person shooter with a RTS game. It enables the player to enter the battle and be a regular solider like most first person shooters, however, it also allows you step back and command troops to different strategic areas. This was a great mixture of genres, not only do you have to concern yourself with the fire fight that your engaged in, but you must also keep an eye on the overall status of the battlefield as well. This was a very creative and appealing element of the game that really defines Battlefield 2 from other shooters. The level design of this game kept the game interesting as each battlefield had different terrain and situations. Each level was a different battlefield that required a different strategy to achieve victory. There was a wide variety of terrain, ranging from deserts to swamps, and of course cities. The game was able to keep you within the game world space because when leaving the “combat zone” your commander reminds you that if you don’t return quickly, deserters will be shot. This was a good way of keeping players in the game world and at the same time adding to the tone of the game. Battlefield did a good job with level design and game world space. The only major problem of game design for Battlefield 2 is the lack of narrative. The opening cut scene was great and I was expecting to get more of them as I progressed but it never happened. There was only a textual description of each battlefield during the loading screen explaining the situation. As I mentioned earlier this may be because Battlefield 2 was designed to be primarily an online multiplayer game, however, this does not free them of criticism. Overall, this game was very innovative and had attractive level design and made good use game world space. However, if the developer added more cut scenes and narrative to the game it would have enhanced its single player game experience tremendously.Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:44:40 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2362&iddiary=4568https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2362Game Log 3 Summary: Battlefield 2 is a first person shooter for the PC that focuses on zone control. The weaponry in this game is modern and realistic, playing as the United States, China, or the fictional Middle Eastern Coalition. Gameplay: I recently upgraded my computer and have always been a fan of the Battlefield series so I decided to borrow my friends Battlefield 2. As soon as I installed the game I noticed a huge difference from the original Battlefield 1942. The introductory scene was amazing! The great sound effects and graphics on my new monitor and video card made the game feel very realistic. The intro alone got me pumped up to play. I played this game alone and was wearing headphones so I was definitely inside the magic circle of Battlefield 2. I played on single player campaign. (Knowing I would be do terribly online) I was very impressed with the graphics of this game even though it is a little bit older. Also, the sound was very good; some of the explosions caught me off guard and made me jump. The graphics and sound of this game were definitely added to the gaming experience. The controls of Battlefield 2 were a little bit different from its predecessor and took some getting used to. However, after about 15 minutes of the intro level I had a pretty good handle on the basic controls. One of the biggest discoveries I made while playing this game was a new function to be the commander of the battle. I thought this feature was so innovative that I decided to stop playing the campaign and just do skirmishes on a particular level I enjoyed. The game play of Battlefield 2 was exciting and innovative, but it seems like it was primarily designed for multi player. There is no real storyline for this game, just a briefing before each battle. This is the reason I abandoned the campaign mode and decided to only play the levels I liked. For my next session I will try to play online and see how multi player differs from the underwhelming narrative on single player.Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:30:18 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2362&iddiary=4503https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2047Gamelog #2 Entry 2 GAMEPLAY: My second attempt at Zelda was not as enjoyable as my first couple hours playing. This could be because I was not playing it with anyone or because my nostalgia had lessened. The game became very repetitive and I find myself not caring about Link’s health. Before I was careful not to lose life and very meticulous with my actions. The lack of storyline has definitely contributed to my detachment from the game. There is no story line throughout the game, at first this was fine as I remembered the basic storyline of the game but now it seems like I was just running around randomly killing monsters. The games use of rubies as a way to buy new items also made me unenthusiastic to play. Many of the items in the game seem overpriced and when they are finally attainable, they are the most part a lackluster. An example of this was for a new shield I had saved up for my entire time playing Zelda which ended up being only slightly better than the one I began with. The over priced and underwhelming items in the game definitely did not create an incentive for me to keep playing the game. The other problem that ruined my game play experience was that there were items that were mandatory to progress through dungeons in the game that cost hard earned rubies. In my opinion this was flawed, I feel that items should enhance you as advance through the game, not be required. The expensive items required to advance made the game very repetitive and underwhelming. DESIGN: The world that Link lives in is very vast compared to many other NES games. For the hours I have played I have just become familiar with land and am no where near mastering it. One aspect of the world that I most admired was that when entering a new area, the entire screen shift to show the place you were entering. This kept me in suspense as I never knew what type of monster I would be facing until the screen shifted into the new zone. One aspect of design that I did not enjoy was the reward system. As you progress through the game you get new weapons, items, and health. There is no “experience” for killing enemies, only rubies to collect and new items to buy. This is the main reason I prefer games such as final fantasy, where you gain levels and learn new abilities as you progress. Another problem with the design was the sound. I am aware that they are only working with 8 bit sound but the tremendously repetitive dungeon tracks are just not enjoyable. At one point I had to mute the sound for fear of insanity. While the tunes for wandering around Hyrule are fun and catchy, the repetitive dungeon tracks did not enhance the level design. The best part of game design for Zelda was the variety of secret areas and destructible environments. These were a very creative use of the gameworld space which strengthens the game replay value. Secret areas are definitely something I would like to put into my game because of the rewarding feeling of discovery. I feel this greatly improves the game by creating an environment that feels interactive. The player is able to engage the environment as well as the enemies, putting them in control of the gameworld. The secret areas and destructible environment make this game much more interactive and more enjoyable to be in.Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:59:59 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2047&iddiary=4105https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2047Gamelog #2 Entry #1 SUMMARY The Legend of Zelda is an RPG about an adventurer named Link who travels across the land of Hyrule in search of carefully placed Triforce crystals. To find the crystals you must enter a dungeon and defeat the boss inside. GAMEPLAY 1986 was marked by two great achievements, Shigeru Miyamoto’s creation of The Legend of Zelda and also the year I was born. I remember playing this game many years ago, finding it very frustrating and turning my attention to my favorite NES game, Final Fantasy. This morning I gave it another try for about two hours, having a great deal of fun with it. Before I begin let me first note that I played this game as emulation on my computer, not on the NES console. (Mine is broken and the libraries are checked out.) After the first ten minutes or so I felt right at home with the controls as they are very simple. However, the game can be very frustrating as the objectives are not clear and the monsters constantly kill you while traveling. Fortunately, I have a lot of nostalgia for these old NES games which was probably the only reason I was able to play for as long as I did. My girlfriend was watching me play for practically the entire time which made the game more of a team effort and alleviated some of the frustrating and repetitive boss fights. Having her there also made me want to complete the dungeon and defeat the boss as I didn’t want her to be disappointed. She had played the game the night before and didn’t realize many of the utilities Link could use to defeat his enemies such as using your shield to block arrows. She tentatively watched me play as I progressed past places she had died and became frustrated with. Occasionally I would pass the controls to her reinforcing that we were in this together. Despite the comparatively poor graphics and simplicity of this game it was still fun to play. I tried to stop playing after about an hour but I couldn’t. There are certain elements of the game which I will address later that keep you guessing and forces you to always be on your toes, because if you get lazy or sloppy in Zelda you will most certainly die.Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:45:09 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=2047&iddiary=3950https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1658Entry#2 (sorry It’s a bit late I misunderstood the assignment) GAMEPLAY: After playing a substantial amount of Gears of War on co-op mode with my friend, we decided to do play against each other in a death match. We both have a good understanding of the controls and are fairly competent using our surroundings. After playing for about 2 hours against each other on almost every level available to us, Gears of War makes for very intense and exciting player versus player. I play many first person shooters almost all of which there is excessive trash talk. Surprisingly, there was not as much trash talk while playing Gears of War. The game required too much concentration and thinking for us to be talking down to each other. The only trash talk was when one of our characters was killed, after which you are able to curb stomp your opponent, most vulgar remakes came after this. It cannot be sure whether this game has less trash talk than others because I have yet to play it online where game play may be different. Unlike playing under the ideal conditions of during coop mode, my friend and had some problems facing off against each other. The main problem was that we had only one TV and Xbox 360 so we had to play on the same screen. Once we were familiar with the map the outcome of the game was decided by who was the best “screen looker.” This problem could easily be fixed, but it did dampen our fun. I’m looking forward to playing this game online where strategy and not screen looking are the most important factors. However, on levels that we had never played, going head to head was much more exciting than even Halo 3. Unlike Halo, you really feel attached to your character and dying makes you feel sick to your stomach. Gears of War is a great game and I’m so glad I rented it DESIGN: I feel Gears of War brings many new design elements to the shooter series, turning away from conventional “shoot’em up” genre. This game requires you to have cover, unlike most shooters were its helpful but not necessary. Other new design features I really enjoyed about this game were the ability to “blind fire”, shooting at the enemy without losing your cover. This really made the game better because it is a much more realistic approach to warfare unlike many shooters were your character transforms into a Rambo and rushes 5 opponents without even thinking about cover. My one complaint about Gears of War is in its level design. Understandably, many of the levels are dark to set the tone of the game. However, it seemed at some points that I was actually squinting just to find my way around. This made the game very draining and took a toll eyes physically. I feel the game could have used some work when it came to the lighting and some parts of the level design were confusing. Even though this game got my heart pounding, I still have never wanted a flashlight more in my entire life. Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:37:06 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1658&iddiary=3819https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1658SUMMARY Gears of war is a third person shooter thats focuses less on running and gunning and more on finding cover and outflanking the enemy. In the game you control a former solider named Fenix who escapes from prison in order to kill the Locust who plague Earth. GAME PLAY Last night my friend and I rented Gears of War and played all through the night. It was one of the scariest video games experiences I have ever had. Not expecting much, we at first were confused with the controls and game play. The controls seemed to be clunky and much different than the Halo control configuration I am familiar with. Once we learned how to effectively command our characters the game transformed into a beautifully designed adrenaline pumping shooter. Let me first note that I experienced this game with my best friend on a big screen TV with surround sound with all the lights down in the middle of the night. The reason the game was so frighting yet exciting was because of the interactions between you and the AI, the beautiful graphics, and of course, the weaponry. The game mechanics for Gears of War forces you to find cover immediately or be killed. This forces you to get up close and personal with you new best friend, a slab of concrete. Forced behind cover, you must decide when to pop up to start shooting the enemy at the risk of being shot at. This game play was very intense as I felt like I was risking my characters life every time I engaged an enemy. The AI responded tactically to our fire, taking cover and always trying to outflank us. This was a new type of shooting game that focuses more on strategy than other shooters, forcing my friend and I to make strategies of our own and creating very exciting play. The graphics of this game were gorgeous. Every character in the game was completely idealized, extremely buff and masculine. The setting was very dark and dreary keeping me on edgy as I walked by hanging corpses. Even the music drew me into the game play because the sharp but melancholy sounds always kept me guessing where enemies were. The graphics were so good that when my girlfriend came back home from her friends she asked "What movie are you guys watching?" My friend and I just laughed. The graphics of Gears of War are very well done and make you feel like you are in a movie. In Gears of War there is nothing more satisfying than cutting a Locust in half with a chainsaw. Gears of War has the best use of a chainsaw weapon than any other games I have played. The chainsaw is mounted on a machine gun and is the "melee weapon" for that particular weapon. The surprising nature of the game where grotesque Locust are constantly jumping out at you really enables to use this type of weapon like never before. Also, the cut screen when using the chainsaw on an enemy which splatters blood over your screen and vibrates the controller never gets old. This is just one example of the new types of weaponry in Gears War that makes the game very dynamic. Last nights experience with Gears of War was very frightening but also one of the most memorable gaming moments in my life. The interaction and game play was very new and exciting while the graphics and sound kept me engaged. The weaponry and boss fights kept me pumped, enabling me to play all night. My experience may be different than others because I played under ideal conditions, however, I would recommend this game to all my friends noting only that it should be played at night.Sun, 13 Jan 2008 17:10:36 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=1658&iddiary=3387