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Mar 5th, 2008 at 20:08:34 - Portal (PC) |
Gamelog Entry #5 (Log 2)
Gameplay
This game got so much better in my second 45 minute round, and it also got pretty hard too. I still had a blast with it though. Finally being in control of both portals, GLaDOS now informs you that the tests are going to get much harder. And they do. You need to get the flinging mechanism down (momentum) for much of the puzzles, and you'll start getting worried as you hear some of the corrupted comments GLaDOS makes. Kinda eerie. You will also encounter a new kind of danger in the form of sentry turrets. Though they aren't really characters in the game, they have funny (but creepy) voices and they don't hesitate to mow you down with gun fire. Another character that isn't really a character in this game is the Weighted Companion Cube. The WCC (weighted companion cube, for short) doesn't speak and, in fact, doesn't do anything a noraml weighted cube doesn't. The only reason players become attached to the companion cube is because GLaDOS seems to emphasize a lot on it, so it is kept in your mind longer. The game produced quite a character and people have become rather attached to it, until they realize that they have to incinerate it in order to continue.
Something else I encountered while moving exploring some of the test chambers, were small areas that appeared to have had people living in them. The plot thickens as you read some of the things they have written on the walls and the game does a great job of making differences in the design of these areas aside from the test chambers. It is only after GLaDOS tried to kill the main character that you realize, you might want to escape from this facility. After this level you end up moving through the actual building itself instead of the test chambers and in the end, come face to face with GLaDOS herself. Hilarious comments commence.
(One thing not really mentioned before, is that you never really see who you're avatar looks like, but as soon as you get the upgraded portal gun, you can place them close together so you can actually see that you're a female.)
Design
Though this game doesn't provide much difference in level design (most levels were either in the testing areas or the faciilty itself), but it does such a good job with those two that it completely makes up for a lack of variance. The testing areas really do give you a feeling of sterile and clean areas, while falling down into the toxic death-water gives you a feeling of being in a sewer. The games level design in the testing areas really take advantage of portal use, as flinging avoiding death traps becomes essential.
For most of the game, you are deceived into thinking that there will be cake at the end of the road, until you actually reach that point when you realize GLaDOS intends to have you incinarted and it becomes apparent that she is a bit homicidal. That is when the level design of the clean test facility comes to an abrupt stop and shifts to that of the gritty and dark tone feeling of the actual facility. (You see bits a and pieces of this in small areas where it appears people tried to escape.) The change is very dramatic and the dangers escalate as GLaDOS seems intent on killing you.
What this game does best is let you have full control of the portals you make (with limited restrictions on where you can place them), but you can have a lot of fun with the portal mechanics themselves. This also brings me to another aspect of level design that I find quite intriguing in this game: gravity and momentum. The flinging process is only achieved with a believeable sense of gravity in the game. In other words, the gravity mecahnics here actually made me feel like I was in the game myself. It pulled me in that deep. And in the end, thats what really matters to me about games.
This entry has been edited 5 times. It was last edited on Mar 5th, 2008 at 22:00:30.
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Mar 5th, 2008 at 17:51:14 - Portal (PC) |
Gamelog Entry #5 (Log 1)
Summary
Portal is a fun 3-D Platform/Puzzle gmae for the Xbox 360. (It is one of five games offered with "The Orange Box". The goal of the game is to make your way through many tests (levels) filled with all sorts of danger and puzzles, using a gun that fires portals, in order to make your way through safely.
Gameplay
The first 45 minutes of Portal were fun and amazing. To start off, you don't start with the portal gun and, in fact, you start off in what is basically a cage. From that first moment, the game does a great job of making you feel like a lab rat of some sort. This feeling is further enhanced when you first hear the main computer, GLaDOS. GLaDOS seems talks in a robotic voice, but you can tell from the tone that she is female, but she is, quite frankly, the funniest character in the game, only because shes a bit of a smartass and has some dark humor behind her. Her comments alone, are very entertaining.
As I progressed through the first stage, I finally got my hands on the portal gun. Unfortunately, this wasn't the better version of the portal gun and only seemed to fire one portal (blue) instead of two (orange). Still, it was a blast experimenting with it, though. As the game progressed, the test enviroment starts to become a little more life threatening and you'll realize that GLaDOS might have a few bugs in her system.
The next few chambers all contained relatively simple challenges such as keeping pressure switches held down and redirecting dangerous high energy pellets ("...the Aperture Science High Energy Pellet seen to the left of the chamber can, and has, caused permanent disabilities, such as vaporisation...", hilarious), then I came upon one of the more innovative aspects of the game: momentum. Apparently, the same speed you are traveling when you go through a portal, is the same speed you'll be traveling when you come out of the second portal, basically introducing a new aspect to the game that you should get used to because you're going to be needing it often. The only problem I've had so far is that there are 20 tests (levels) and I just got the upgraded portal gun (now able to fire two different portal) on the 11th test. Kind of a let down.
This entry has been edited 6 times. It was last edited on Mar 5th, 2008 at 20:08:00.
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Feb 20th, 2008 at 19:20:49 - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) |
Gamelog Entry #4 (2nd Session)
Gameplay
In my second hour play through of Super Mario Galaxy (SMG), I was sucked further into the fun and zany galaxies the game had to offer. There is much variety in the levels and with the addition of costumes, I was happy. (There were costumes in my first session, but I didn't mention them until now.) The costumes in each level are crazy and have more variety than the different hats in Super Mario 64. On one level, you could be flying around and buzzing like a bee and on the next, you could be jumping around while wrapped in a giant spring.
Something else not mentioned in my first session is the inclusion of boss battles. Though relativley easy, they're always fun to beat and are very interesting as well. What made the game even better is that the levels increased in difficulty and the presence of comet-stars made exploring each level more worthwhile.
What I liked a lot about this game is that it actually tells you which levels hidden stars are located in (provided you collected the stars in that galaxy already). This made collecting stars substantially easier to collect. Overall, this play through has made me want to collect every star in the game. Yeah, it's that fun.
Design
Well when it comes to level design, SMG does not falter, even for a second. i never found myself frustrated with this game at all (in terms of level design, not difficulty). I enjoyed exploring every planet and playing with the physics of them as well. This leads into another important element of level design I found fun and interesting: planet gravity. I can't tell you how much fun I had jumping off the sides of platforms only to be launched off and pulled down to the bottom of the platform. This was entertainment on its own, though the controls made the experience a little disorientating.
Gravity aside, the levels were very varied from lava worlds to haunted houses to deadly desersts. What I loved most, is that each level provides some new mechanic to employ whether it be controlling the abilities of new costumes (ghost costume is my favorite) or learning how to use shells in water, I felt as though things never got old and boring, ever.
The better times of this game came when I had a partner with a second Wii remote. This made the game substantially easier as I did all the main actions and my partner just watched my back. Of course, we would always mess with each other, leading to some bad jumps and a lot of deaths. Still, it made the experience more enjoyable, social, and fun.
Something I favored in this game as opposed to Super Mario 64, is that every star you find requires you to take a different path to get to it. This made the game feel more fresh, instead of having you go through the same level again to get a different star. One thing I haven't mentioned is the better features: star bits. These surve as the games monetary system and also serves as ammo as well. Star bits can be collected by walking to them or, even better, collecting them with the on screen star I mentioned in my first section. (They can also be collected by player 2's star.) The on screen star is also a cursor to show where you can fire star bits, preferably at enemies. But they are also required to feed hungy Lumites you encounter, which in turn, transform into galaxies for you to visit.
All in all, Super Mario Galaxy is a fantastic game. It excels in level design and playability, resulting in one of the greatest games of all time. It's a hall of famer for sure.
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Feb 20th, 2008 at 16:38:18 - Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) |
Gamelog Entry #4 (1st session)
Summary
Super Mario Galaxy is an extraordinary platformer for the Wii console and the most recent sequel in the series. In SMG (Super Mario Galaxy), you play as Mario and your goal is to save the princess from the evil clutches of Bowser. The setting for this game, though, takes place in space and you must explore many colorful galaxies and planets in search of power stars that will take you to further galaxies to explore.
Gameplay
This was quite an amazing play through of SMG and I am thoroughly impressed with what I experienced. The story starts off with the same plot, though (but hey, I guessed they just used what worked). You start off in a festival of some sort, which ends up with the princess being nabbed by the evil Bowser and you soon find yourself on some strange planet in space chasing bunnies. But this is where the real game starts.
The colorful shades used on each planet in the varied galaxies gives it a sense of overwhelming fun and the musical score attached to it only makes it that much more fun. The character models this time around are much more colorful and though there is very little dialogue (very little), the characters do have great facial expressions, which gives them a more life-like appearance. One of the things I find a little annoying though, is that there isn’t much of a story to this game, as it follows the whole save the princess theme. The game does give you a little background in the form of chapters in a book that can be accessed at any time by going to the library (in the game, not in real life).
SMG makes excellent use of the Wii control, mostly in the form of mini games that you’ll encounter in the game. These range from twisting the Wii remote to control the direction when you surf or holding it upright and tilting to roll a ball along a dangerous obstacle course. All of these make the game even more fun to play, though it does take some time to get used to. The Wii motion sensing function also serves as the main attack function for Mario, as a quick wag of the remote makes him spin adding extra fun to the game as you must also use this function to traverse the many planets in each galaxy.
What really caught my eye was the fact that this game could be played co-op, in a sense. When an extra Wii remote is plugged in, a second player appears as the form of an extra star on the screen (you already have a star for single player, but more on that in the second log). While player 2 can’t control the direction of Mario, they can force him to jump and even spin, which can help inadequate players or, if you have a jerk for player 2, they can really mess you up. But other than that, player 2 also has the function to collect star bits and stop enemies in there path, which is tremendously helpful when player 1 is distracted with the actions at hand. This makes interaction with people around you even greater as you must communicate with your comrade on collecting items and strategies for getting through levels. And every minute of it is a rip roaring good time.
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nanostylex7 has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 23 days |
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