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Feb 9th, 2008 at 02:40:03 - DOOM (PC) |
Gameplay
I progressed through a few more levels. I was pleasantly reminded of how amazing the music in this game is. Several of the songs are actually covers of popular metal songs, and some are just fittingly awesome--both the fast paced adrenaline pumping tracks, and the eerie tense ones.
Graced with the Rocket Launcher during this session, I was also pleasantly reminded of the joy of fragging. That satisfying flesh obliterating sound effect, and the grotesque explosion that reduces your enemies to a red blob. Of course this weapon is nowhere near as useful as the shotgun or the chaingun when it comes to standard combat, for the obvious reason that it damages you as well, and it's outclassed when it comes to heavy duty tasks by the later acquired plasma gun, and, naturally, the BFG. Also, conserving your rockets mean those few occasions when you really need them (the final boss battle of E1 for example).
The awesome scene at the end of E1, wherein, having just vanquished the big baddies, you enter the portal to what you presume to be home, only to be torn to shreds by a horde of monsters, has always been one of my favorites. An excellent segue into the E2.
Design
As I mentioned, DOOM is a game of simple, fast paced action. Though not the first FPS, it was the first to make use of a Z axis (though without the ability to directly manipulate your position on said axis, save dropping down.) The player progresses through increasingly difficult levels, each one reflecting a different portion of the Phobos-Diemos stations (and, climactically, Hell itself, each level representing a circle of Dante's Inferno.)
The player never has a chance to lose interest, because while each level is simply a matter of reaching the final switch of the level (which is usually behind any number of sectioned off rooms, accessed through keys and switches) at every turn you're simultaneously trying to survive the horde of demons infesting the place.
The AI is pretty amazing, relatively speaking. The monsters can interact with the gameworld in every way you can (with the exception of hitting switches or unlocking doors), which is to say, they can move, shoot, and open unlocked doors. They're also fairly vicious, seeking you out even if you move out of visual range. A quirk of the AI (and it can be argued whether this is a bug or an intentional mechanic to be manipulated by the strategically minded) is that monsters, if by chance they happen to damage each other while aiming at you, will immediately turn on each other. If executed properly, you can get an entire room full of monsters to eliminate each other, reducing the amount of work you have to do.
All in all, every mechanic of this game is executed in spades. From the suitably creepy music and sound effects, to the tight controls and brutally paced action. Even the graphics are impressive for a simple sprite based game, and they succeed very well at establishing the atmosphere.
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Feb 9th, 2008 at 00:53:19 - DOOM (PC) |
Summary
DOOM, one of the first FPS games ever created, is an examination of the complex relationship between space marines and demons. As the sole survivor of an invasion of your station on the moons of Mars, your goal is to find a way home, putting a load of buckshot into any demons who get in your way.
Design
The first few levels of DOOM take it easy on you. I was able to get through the first couple of levels without falling far below 100% health (on Ultraviolent. Only a masochist would play on Nightmare). The gameplay is fast and straightforward. See a monster, shoot. You're getting attacked, strafe. You see a prize, pick it up. If you've read my review of Super Mario 64, you know that I give games a hard time for being too simple. But the difference between DOOM and Super Mario is the quality of the experience. DOOM is visceral. You're constantly wary of what's around the next corner, you see see the explosion of blood when you stick your chainsaw up that demon's ass, and those fangs and teeth and fireballs evoke a genuine survival instinct. True, both Mario and DOOM can be boiled down to one or two interactions repeated ad hominem. But the difference is that DOOM is brutal.
Perhaps it's a stylistic preference. Of course I feel the drive to rescue the princess and beat King Koopa, as any true gamer should. But my desire to blow up demons and zombies is just so much stronger. The dark atmosphere, the violence. The demons. Perhaps its overt pandering to pubescient male fantasies, but it works.
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Jan 19th, 2008 at 20:15:45 - Super Mario 64 (N64) |
Gameplay
So, my girlfriend and I did the classic "play until you die or beat a level, then switch" method for determining who was alotted how much gametime. As it became apparent that my skill was dramatically dwarfed by that of my girlfriend's, much of my gameplay experience was spent replaying levels to farm for 1UPs so we could progress through the game. If we had had a memory stick the necessity for this would have been lessened, but as it stood I was hearkened back to my days of playing Super Mario World, playing the first level over and over again for the same reason.
I found myself growing less and less nostalgic, and more and more frustrated as I remembered why I stopped playing 2D platformers, and why I never got into 3D platformers. Jump...grab...jump...grab. A fine way to kill 10 minutes, but not something I'd do for hours on end, at least not without the appropriate company. But the compulsion I felt to get the 30 stars needed to continue onto the next leg of the game was undeniable. There's just something about it, the need to save the Princess, beat King Koopa, to see at LEAST one star out of each of the levels. So I kept playing.
Design
As I said, this is one of the first 3D platformers ever made, and so its shortcomings are forgivable in light of its innovation. That being said, there are shortcomings. Movement is clunky, being manipulated by the awkwardly located control stick. The lack of an independently controllable camera is responsible for countless nightmare spots. The fact that there are no checkpoints in the levels means a wrong jump puts you at the beginning of the level. Throughout the game are a couple "bonus stages" involving sliding downhill. These games are difficult and tedious, and seem completely out of place. The basic gameplay is simplistic, often too simplistic, and usually every task that needs to be completed is explicitly spelled out in exact detail, leaving out much of the joy of discovery, and accomplishment when a task is completed.
However, Super Mario 64 does many things that even the platformers of today don't do right. The facts that many levels have more than one set path to beat them, that each level has different objectives to complete to gain stars (often mutually exclusive except for the extremely skilled), and that levels change depending on your progress in the game adds a great deal of replayability. Each level can be completed for the max number of gold coins, to complete the set of red coins for the level, to beat the boss of the level, or to complete the "quests" certain characters offer in the level. As I already mentioned, the goofy humor is spot on, and goes hand in hand with the cartoony, childlike feel of the game as a whole.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Jan 19th, 2008 at 20:25:25.
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Jan 19th, 2008 at 17:41:05 - Super Mario 64 (N64) |
Summary
Super Mario 64 is a "jump 'n' grab" platformer, and was one of the launch titles for the Nintendo 64. As in previous installments of the Mario series, Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach, and it's up to the harshly stereotypical Italian plumber to jump, smash, and collect his way to freeing her. It seems she's a prisoner in her own castle, the key to her cell locked in a different room. Mario has to adventure through the paintings hanging in the castle (which have been corrupted by Bowser's minions), finding stars hidden throughout the levels. These stars will allow him to unlock different doors in the castle, eventually unlocking the room that has the Princess's key in it.
Gameplay
Having never owned a Nintendo 64, this was my first experience with this game. I have fond memories playing 2D platformers as a child, Mario games among them, but the 3D variety have never been my style really. The music kind of grated on me--I found myself longing for the original Super Nintendo midis. The straightforward gameplay, if not incredibly deep, was as addictive as it was simple. The ancient desire to get all the coins was instantly reawakened within me. The addition of the kick/punch abilities seemed a little out of place, but I suppose there's enough difficulty controlling the character without relying on precisely placed jumps to defeat any enemies.
The dialogue (or perhaps more accurately monologues) that take place when characters or signs communicate with the player throw bits of oddball humor that I found myself chuckling at. Playing with a friend, the classic "ohhhh!"'s of those barely missed platform hops and slides into oblivion made for some fun moments, even if those misses were caused by awkward controls and camera angles.
This entry has been edited 2 times. It was last edited on Jan 19th, 2008 at 20:21:20.
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