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Jan 25th, 2008 at 23:31:47 - Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) |
GameLog # 2 Shadow of Colossus (Classics Game)
Gameplay
The second time around, nothing really changed much except for the colossi and I got more comfortable with the control scheme. When I first played this, the camera angles were kind of throwing me off because you control them in free motion. This I found to be a little irritating because it's hard to control the camera angle when your fighting one of the colossi. You have to get used to controlling the camera and the player at the same time. I still haven't encountered any new characters and the story is still a mystery.
When I am fighting the colossi, I kind of feel sad for killing them because when you inflict damage upon them, they start to moan in a very sad tone. Personally, I don't really even know why I am killing them. They haven't hurt me in any way and their just chillin out. I love how the colossi are now getting more complex and differently structured. Now it's just more than grabbing on to hair and climbing your way to victory. You have to jump form place to place on the colossi and your movements have to be precise because if they are not, you'll fall a couple of hundred feet and die.
I also love the fact that you just keep fighting boss after boos and don't have to deal with little enemies. Some may argue about the lack of story, and to a certain extent it is true, but the visuals and epic boss battles make up for it.
Game Design
Game development is the key feature in the game. Even though the PS2 isn't the most powerful machine in terms of graphics and visuals, this game is created flawlessly. There is a lot of detail given to the environment which mostly consists of grassy outdoors, rivers, and ruins. Tough you can shoot down fruits from trees and kill lizards, or jump objects, interaction between the environment and the player is very minimal. I do love the fact that a lot of the times you have to use the environment to your advantage to overcome the colossi. Lighting effects in the game are beautiful and give a very realistic feel to the outdoors. There isn't, however, any incentive to roam around in the environments because your not going to encounter any rewards or new weapons except for the lizards and fruits that increase your health bar.
The music in the game is another great element. When you are riding outdoors, it's mostly orchestra that is calm and adventurous. However, when you start a battle, the tempo picks up and changes depending on the stage of the battle. The developers also did a great job in avoiding the implementation of strange creatures and animals. If they would of done that, it would become more of a fantasy world and lose the realistic aspect of the game. The HUD in the game is really simple and comfortable. Since you only have two weapons, you don't need to scramble around with buttons.
Player movement in this game is kind of stiff and slow. Since this was a very graphically intensive game, the developers had to decrease the framerate to a substantial amount. However, the visuals are worth it. Agro's development and movement is worth complementing. I have never really seen a more realistic horse in a video game. In most other video games, riding a horse is pretty much the same thing as riding a car in terms of changing directions and speeding up. In this game, however, Agro's acts like a real horse. The controls are a little more stiff when Agro is running a you have to change directions. The way his head and muscles move while walking or running is very realistic.
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Jan 24th, 2008 at 23:07:45 - Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) |
Game Log # 1 Shadow of Colossus (Classics Game)
Summary
In Shadow of Colossus, you play as a young man who must travel through land and water on his horse named Agro and defeat giants, known as colossi, to bring a dead girl back to life. This is a third-person action/adventure game that has strong emphasis on the environment and colossi.
Gameplay
This is not the easiest game to pick up but it also isn't the hardest. The primary goal is simple but how you accomplish the missions may get a little frustrating. As you start the game, very little is known about the story and the mysterious girl that seems to be the love of the young man. This stays pretty much constant throughout the game. Besides the unnamed young man, dead girl, and Agro (the horse), there aren't any new characters that I have encountered. Also, besides the colossi, there aren't any other enemies.
As you travel through the vast land, your sword acts as your navigation device. It guides you to the next colossus by shining a green beam towards your destination. This only works in the a sunlit area. There isn't any action on your way to the colossus, but that is good in a way because the colossi get harder to defeat and require a lot more time as you progress. For now, I have only encountered the first two and it took me a good amount of time to beat them. I've noticed that the colossi are more like puzzles and require strategy more than brute force to defeat them. Each colossi has weak spots where it is prone to damage.
This game is really fun to play cause there is a mystery element to the story and you just don't know how the next colossus is going to look like. I also love how you get to climb the colossi and explore the vastness of it's body. The intuitive design of each colossus and how you go about defeating it is what makes this game really interesting and enjoyable.
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Jan 15th, 2008 at 02:11:16 - Half-Life (PC) |
GAME LOG # 2
Gameplay
As I continued my progress, this game got better and harder. I noticed that the enemies were getting harder and more smarter. I faced some human Marine Forces that have been the hardest opponents I have faced yet. The first, and only, boss I've faced yet required a lot of patience and brains to defeat it. Though, however, the game does not get frustrating or boring. You are always in control and the primary objective does not change. The scariness is still active with new enemies popping up from time to time and challenging you nerves and instincts.
As the story progresses, you encounter some delusions about a different planet or something and strange creatures. These are all taking place within Gordon Freeman's mind and just as you think you have a grasp on the whole story, they throw more twists and turns at you. I really like this notion of storytelling because it keeps the player more curious. Still, however, there aren't any new characters and some of the people you do meet end up helping you until a certain point or die. The extra characters are mostly composed of security guards and scientists.
I have also encountered new weapons that reek havoc upon my enemies but ammo for these weapons is scarce so you have to stick with the good old crowbar. The crowbar has become the signature weapon for this game.
DESIGN
Half-Life has one of the most intuitive game designs I have ever seen in a game. The most intuitive element is the way it utilizes scripted-sequences to tell the story. While most of the first-person at the time shooters relied on cut scenes intermissions to detail the plotlines, Half-Life's story is put forth entirely through scripted-sequences, keeping the player in control of the first person viewpoint. The player rarely loses control of Gordon Freeman, who has not spoken once in this game yet.
The game does not progress in levels but continues through in chapters. The Half-Life environments are very varied and free. You always see new places and are never taken to the same room over over again. The tone of the environment and the game itself is very dark and mysterious. You just don't know whats lurking ahead. The environments are also designed in a way that requires you to think and then proceed because the wrong decisions will most probably lead to death. You also have to be very agile with your movement because you might be walking on some thin pipes and below is radioactive material that will kill you instantly.
From what I've seen yet so far, this game is perfect and needs no changes. All the characters and environments are created beautifully with an emphasis on mystery. I also liked how there is a comedic element to some of the security guards that you run into. If you try to talk to them, they will say some weird things.
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Jan 15th, 2008 at 01:18:27 - Half-Life (PC) |
GAME LOG # 1
Summary
Half-Life is a science fiction first-person shooter that I played on my PC. In this game you play as Dr. Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist working for a secret underground research facility called Black Mesa. Everything is normal until all hell breaks loose at Black Mesa and Gordan Freeman must now fight his way out of the research facility and uncover the secrets behind Black Mesa. The gameplay style is primarily action oriented with elements of horror and mystery that require the player to perform combat tasks and puzzle solving to advance through the game.
Gameplay
Though I have had this game for many years, I've never got around to play it. I was too busy playing counter strike. After playing it for an hour or so, I was supremely impressed. The first thing that pulls you in is the story. Though they do not tells us much about Black Mesa in the beginning, the things that they do tell us are enough to keep us on the edge of our seat. As you keep advancing, you find out a little more and start to put the pieces together.
I really liked how little creatures jumped form floors, desks, and ventilation shafts and attacked your face. This aspect of the game really scared me and required me to be more cautious. One of my favorite aspects of the game was the use of the crowbar as a weapon. This weapon was very intuitive because it required the player to get up close with the enemies and fight them from a very close range rather than just shooting them with guns. You are, fortunately, given guns later through the game. Another aspect I liked was the toughness of the enemies. Mostly all of the enemies require more than 2 or 3 bullets to be put down so you have to sometimes conserve ammo and stick with the crowbar.
The controls for this game were very easy and basic to learn. The W,S,A,D player movement control scheme is brilliant and comfortable. Besides Gordon Freeman, there aren't any other major characters that are implemented in the game. There is, however, a mysterious man in a blue suit holding a briefcase that I have seen a couple times. I feel that he will play a integral role in the story.
Half-Life gameplay flows beautifully with it's story and keeps you wanting more. Because of the mysterious storyline, you want to keep playing it for hours.
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Ankur has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 8 days |
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