Atom Zombie Smasher - One Shot

Go To The Winchester, Have A Nice Cold Pint And Wait For This All To Blow Over

I really didn't Atom Zombie Smasher to be a One Shot, but then, I never played it a short campaign on it before. The games I had played of it before were brutally difficult, making me quit out, saying "I must have fucked up big time somewhere!" Turns out, my fuck up was playing a normal length game!

Typical Friday night! Am I right?

I really like Blendo Games, the team behind Atom Zombie Smasher. They seem like a group that get absurd humour, as shown in this and their previous game Flotilla, where you play a spaceship pilot in a galaxy filled with evil space deer and Rastafarian cats. AZS continues this fine trend by setting a zombie apocalypse in...Nuevos Aires? Yeah, I had to look up if it's a real place too. The game is filled with little vignettes of different characters, such as my personal favourite: "Animal" Smith, who makes a right dick of himself in most of them.

Poor Animal

However, Flotilla was so rich with story that the small, bite-sized chunks that were occasionally dished out throughout my campaign didn't satisfy me. This could have been a problem with playing a Short campaign, but a problem that could have been easily solved by giving them more frequently. However, the ones that I did see where still funny and provided some personal story to a largely anonymous game.

Gameplay-wise, Atom Zombie Smasher hits a lot of high notes with it's overhead, real-time strategy action. It's easy to spend countless minutes trying to plan how to rescue all the civilians from the Zed, calculating where they are gonna go and where to place snipers, foot soldiers or explosives, only to have it all go to shit when you accidentally blow up about twenty civilians with dynamite...in my defense, I didn't know that they couldn't be detonated individually.

It's got a better love story than Aquaria, that's for sure

However, it's these mishaps during a mission that add to the charm, because it makes you think on feet. I blew up some civilians, so I knew it wasn't worth my trouble sending soldiers or my rescue helicopter over there and could focus my efforts elsewhere on the map, probably resulting in me doing much better in the mission than I would have otherwise. I've never been a huge fan of real-time strategy, but I feel Atom Zombie Smasher gets it right by giving you access to map control, rather than units. It gives the game a kind of reverse-tower defense style to it, and I thorughly enjoyed it.

I imagine I'll go back to Atom Zombie Smasher in the future, and play a longer game, because I do love the quirky humour and engaging gameplay, and Blendo Games isn't known to disappoint, with their "20th Century Cyberpunk" hacker game Quadrilateral Cowboy on the horizon, I look forward to see how the company make light of another silly situation.

How's that for a slice of fried gold?

Next up...Bastion!

Aquaria - One Shot

Under The Sea!

I had no idea what Aquaria was before I started playing it, and I'll tell ya, I was pretty shocked! I kinda expected a neat, little underwater puzzle game...

Boy was I wrong!

Ok, that screen shot is a little out of context, but for the first scene of a called called Aquaria, I was thrown for a loop that it started on a bloody flying city! So, in a scene with no context, I was transported into the undersea world of Aquaria as the amnesia-ridden Naija (narrative cliches in abundance!). Once given control of Naija, I realised something...the game didn't tell me where the hell to go! And this was a common occurrence throughout my ten hours: I would wander around aimlessly until I found where I was meant to be, do what needed done there and go back to wandering aimlessly until I found the area where enemies didn't kill me in one hit or where my newly acquired powers allowed me to continue to previously inaccessible area.

Yes, Aquaria is a Metroidvania game, in the vain of Metroid, Castlevania, or, more recently, Shadow Complex or Guacamelee. For the uninformed, a Metroidvania game is one where progress is limited by the acquisition of different weapons or tools that allow access to area previously unavailable, usually with a lot of backtracking involved along the way. For example, I eventually gained the ability to travel against strong currents, allowing me to go to new areas. My problem with this was that modern Metroidvania game have gained standards that simply weren't present in Aquaria and the made the experience so much more frustrating in what started as a really mellow and relaxing game, which was sorely needed after Amnesia.

This kinda looks like Amnesia though...

I'll give it credit where it's due, Aquaria is a beautiful game. The environments, the hand drawn art and the use of music made me feel extremely engrossed in the atmosphere of the game and the world, in a similar, but still completely different way, to how Amnesia made me feel as if I was Daniel and in that castle with him. And the characters were very well written. Naija's plight was well established, as she was searching for a purpose to what happened to her and her people, and even side character with little to no lines were given a purpose in her story. However, the negatives were constantly there on the fringes, making me frustrated and a bit sick of the game.

A bloody gorgeous game

First off, I feel that the game could have been a lot shorter, maybe six hours, pushing to eight if you wanted to do all the backtracking for treasure and optional bosses. Secondly, while combat wasn't difficult for the most part, it certainly wasn't the game's strong point, but the game forces it upon on constantly for the last hour or two of the game, with makes progress drag to a halt since, while the enemies are getting tougher, you have no way of upgrading your core abilities, so you really get no stronger as the game progresses, you simply get more tools for fighting, most of which are impractical compared to pumping a fish full of energy blasts.

And maybe this is a result of being spoiled by modern gaming (though, Aquaria is not old by any stretch of the imagination, being released in 2007), I was infuriated by the lack of communication from the game, at a core mechanical level. The game never tells you all of Naija's different forms are mapped to the number keys, instead letting the player revert back to song form, and match the notes to change, which is very impractical at points of combat where switching quickly is key to defeating some bosses. I only happened to stumble upon this miracle when slammed by head into the keyboard in frustration and magically transformed in my fish form.

King Jellyfish!

Finally, I wanna talk about love...what, I can get deep and meaningful too! Mainly, I wanna talk about Naija finding love in Aquaria, in the form of a human. Yes, Naija, a fish-lady, hooks up with Li, a human. Anyone else find that weird? And it's not really explained too greatly either how Li ends up being able to travel underwater with Naija for half the game without needing to breath. And yes, to wrap it all up, they have a child...

Yeah...things got weird

In closing, Aquaria wasn't what I expected it to be. Expecting a underwater, puzzle game, I was greeted with a Metroidvania game that fails in meeting the standards of those set before it. Too much aimless wandering and shallow combat mechanics ruined what could have been a rich story experience, led by a deep main character, strong supporting cast, and a story with real emotional attachment to it. And the final moments kind of summed up my experience nicely: Naija sitting where I found her, alone on a rock, longing for adventure, much like myself, longing for a real adventure in Aquaria.

Plenty more fish in the sea

Next up...Atom Zombie Smasher!

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Completion

You're Entirely Bonkers. But I'll Tell You A Secret. All The Best People Are

I'll admit, I'm actually kinda bummed that I'm finished with Amnesia, because, my reluctance aside, it was an incredible game. I'm interested to see how A Machine For Pigs (the sequel) turns out, knowing that the Servants and insanity won't be coming back for gameplay purposes. But, that isn't out yet and I've four hours of Amnesia to write about here, so, let's get to it.

And I did, every time

A main sticking point I wanted to walk about was death (cheery subject, I know). I'm kinda bummed Amnesia didn't have more of a punishment for death. In fact, there were times I let myself die in order to come back, mere feet away, with more health and less insane, and still not losing any progress in the area I was in. I can get why Frictional Games did it, they wanted the experience to not be frustrating for players because the main focus is the tension, and that can be ruined if you're constantly pissed off at the game, but the fact that I was left rewarded by death on the odd occasion seems a bit silly.

About two thirds of the way through the game, I finally encountered another human, or rather, one that was actually alive. Agrippa acted as a guide for the last third of the game, but moreover, he acted as one massive exposition device! A tad jarring, considering the game had done so well before providing story in a very natural way to the player. However, even seeing another human alive gave me some sense of relief, which was pretty weird, but it made me feel like I wasn't alone in this traumatic experience. However, all good things come to an end...Sorry Agrippa.

I'm a fucking monster

I knew about the multiple endings before I got to the ending of the game, but I had no idea how each one was actually put into place. So, I went in blind, and in the end, my merciless slaughtering of Agrippa could've been avoided because I didn't even go for that ending, which made me feel like more of a dick. Instead, I made Daniel do what I would've done in that situation: revenge. I murdered Alexander and cleared Daniel's conscience, and I strode out of that crumbling castle like a badass...after murdering a naked, old man.

I wonder if Daniel was naked the entire time too

Above all, and despite the minor gripes I pointed out here, Amnesia will probably be an experience that sticks with me for a long time (ironic, considering the name). Between the tension, the pure fear instilled in me at times, and the sense of accomplishment I had at times when finished the smallest of tasks, The Dark Descent is a true masterclass in how to create atmosphere in a video game. It's up there with Resident Evil (the original) and Bioshock in terms of making you invested in the world and the stories and basically feel like you are in that world.

And in the end, all I have to say is Amnesia is simply one of the best game I've played this generation, and that says a lot.

I've emerged from darkness

Next up...Aquaria!

Amensia: The Dark Descent - Part 2

You Would Have To Be Half Mad To Dream Me Up

It's probably a testament to the pure brilliant design that I can't stand playing Amensia for more than like half an hour before I have to pause it, get up and go do something else for ten minutes, because I'm so God damn tense and stressed. Well, brilliant design or me being a scared little bitch.

It gets weirder

Don't get me wrong, this game is a masterpiece in creating atmosphere and making you shit yourself at the slightest sound, but it makes it incredibly different to get through at any steady pace. I love it to pieces, but at this rate, I won't have it finished for ages, and I really wanna get on to the next game. I think my problem is I'm too scared to commit to taking a hit in by going into darkness, and keep thinking in the action game mentality of "There's gotta be a way to kill these guys". I'm slowly getting out of these terrible habits, but it's a tough process. One I will probably end up picking up again as my Steam library is littered with action games.

Yup...it got weirder

The gameplay is surprisingly varied for a horror game. It isn't just constantly running from the Servants; the puzzle areas are a nice change of pace and there was even a water-section! Though, the water bit kinda rubbed me the wrong way. The game had done a wonderful job of making you never feel defenseless, even if you slip up and get seen by a monster. However, if you messed up your jump in the water level, you were screwed and, more often then not, got eaten by some invisible monster. 

I saw this screen too often

I reckon I'm about halfway through the game, so I probably won't update again until I've finished. That could be one day from now, or it could be a week from now, depends on how much courage I can gather at a time. 

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Part 1

Now I Growl When I'm Pleased, And Wag My Tail When I'm Angry. Therefore I'm Mad

That's a quote from the Chesire Cat, and it kinda sums up Amensia a lot of different ways so far. Granted, I'm only an hour in, but the sheer madness of it all is already playing with my head. While being hunted, you hide in the darkness, but the darkness drives you mad, so you go to the light, but in the light, the hunter finds you and the whole cycle repeats itself. The game makes you want to take refuge in the darkness, because you'd rather go insane than be killed, but both have the same result. The game makes you do the complete opposite of what you would expect to do in any other game.

You and me both, buddy

If I'm honest, the game isn't even that scary, it's just constantly tense and has brilliant ways of making you feel uncomfortable, which works wonders on me unfortunately. And also has good ways of fucking with you. From previous experience playing it, I knew where I would first see the Shadow, and decided to just charge it down to see what would happen and to try and ease some fears, but when it rounded a corner, the bastard disappeared!

Ew...

The first real task of the game is to make it past that...wall? It involves finding four chemicals and mixing them. That sounds easy enough, but add that you have a monster chasing you every step of the way and having to manage the oil in your lantern with not staying in darkness too long in case you go mental makes it a bit trickier. But I managed to do it in the end and, despite it being the first, relatively easy, task of the game, I actually felt like I had accomplished something, which isn't an easy feat.

So I'll continue my descent into madness and keep you posted. I'll leave you with this amusing Facebook post from my brother which kinda tells the experience of playing Amnesia.

This game will be the death of me

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - Introduction

I'm a pussy when it comes to scary video games. Scary movies don't get under my skin and I usually laugh through them because of the obvious attempts of trying to be scary, but for whatever reason, putting me in control of my avatar in the world strikes the fear of God into me. 

Which is why I'm dreading playing Amnesia. I've been told it isn't actually too scary, it's more just constant tension, but that still creeps me out when I'm the one controlling the pace. My first attempt to play Amnesia resulted in me making a very high-pitched scream at the first sight of the monster and quickly shutting the game down proclaiming "Fuck that shit".

Ugh...

I don't imagine there will be too many updates for Amnesia, it probably doesn't lend itself very well to commentary and wise-cracks, but I'll try and do something substantial so I'm not silent for a couple of days.

So, with noise-cancelling headphones and as dark as I could get my room at midday with shitty blinds, away we go...

A Game Of Thrones: Genesis - Completion

And Now His Watch Has Ended

Sorry this update took so long. I've had the game finished for a while now, but haven't felt like writing because of the good weather, a pissy mood, and a base reluctance to play the next game on the list.

Finally! One down, but a whole lot more to go. It may have been a struggle at time, but the last three campaigns were a hell of a lot more positive than the previous ones. I did have some problems, from random bugs, to a fucking stealth mission (yeah, in an RTS...I don't know either).

"Made of ice"...

The last three campaigns were more recent than the others, dealing with Robert's Rebellion, Beric Dondarion's brigade during the War of Five Kings, and the Night's Watch fighting wildlings in a full war and picking a side in the war, a story that hasn't been told in the series yet, which I thought was pretty cool. However, I still had some pretty big gripes with aspect of the gameplay, and style choices.

That's not ice! It's a snow-covered stone wall!

That last campaign was easily the highlight of the entire game though, despite the Wall being completely wrong. It receives this prestigious title for cutting out all the bullshit and just giving you a huge army and a target to kill. No resources, no spies, no alliances, just plain war.

This pretty much highlights my main problem with the game: the peace time in the game is fun, and the war time is fun, but only when separated from each other. Put them together and it kinda becomes a small clusterfuck of ideas and tedious micromanagement. I shouldn't have to tell my peasants to go farm, it's their only function! I shouldn't have to tell to run away from enemy soldiers if they come to close, it's basic AI! 

And it becomes impossible to strike a good balance between doing well during peace, and doing well during wartime. If I funnel resources into building an army, chances are my opponent has struck up alliances with all the towns and I'm left with no gold. Put too much towards being friendly towards all the neutral towns, and you're left hamstrung for the war with no immediate army. 

This is why the last mission struck such a chord with me, it made me realise how potential A Game Of Thrones: Genesis had, but was squandered with poor choices and even bordering on trying to cram in too many systems into the game. 

One last battle...

It's funny though, I don't regret buying this game. Granted, it was £5 in a sale, but I've made worse purchases for more money (fucking Viva Pinata!). I don't play a lot of RTS games, but Genesis peaked my interest, for not only being based on A Game Of Thrones, but for adding some interesting concepts to the genre. However, where it failed, modders have done the rest with another game called Crusader Kings 2, but I'll get to that later.

A dream of Spring

Next up...Amnesia: The Dark Descent!

A Game Of Thrones: Genesis - Part 3

The Game Is Dark, And Full Of Terrors

First things first...why is Malcolm McDowell in my Game Of Thrones?!!

I mean, seriously?!

Secondly, my optimism from before is completely gone. So many silly ways of the missions failing have completely ruined my feelings on this game. From archaic mission design, broken AI and plain cheating by the computer opponents, I can say in full confidence that I hate this game. The few bright spots are completely blacked out by the flaws and poor decisions made by developers...who doesn't put a save function in a game in 2011?!

The "Noble Lady" looks like a cheap whore too!

Thankfully, the campaigns have been getting shorter, with only one or two chapters per campaigns, so that means I will have this terrible game behind me soon. But for now...

Winter Is Coming

A Game Of Thrones: Genesis - Part 2

With Fire And Bugs

This campaign took a bit longer than expected to finish (my own fault, got caught up in League of Legends), but overall was much better than the first, so, hopefully the quality continues to ramp up and this turns into the best game ever made!

...too optimistic? 

They're Lannisters, not dwarves!

I mentioned before than I liked some of the stylistic choices made in the game (the Iron Throne, for example, looks really nice). However, the above picture shows the needle swinging the other way. I'm pretty sure Casterly Rock isn't meant to literally be a giant rock! It's the seat of the Lannisters, not bloody Ironforge! The lions out front are a nice touch, though.

Another gripe I had was in one of the missions I was tasked with protecting my liege, Aegon I, through the Reach trying to forge alliances. Now, call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure Aegon the Conqueror, one of the most prolific characters in the Game of Thrones lore, wouldn't die in one hit...I mean seriously!

Oh, last thing, pretty sure there is actually eight campaigns, not six, so I have like three extras hours of this damn game to play.