At this years Rezzed, Chris and I were lucky enough to grab a few minutes with James Broadley and Luke Williams, a couple of the minds responsible for the absurd and delightful Surgeon Simulator 2013. Momentarily taking a break from saving lives, they were happy enough to answer a few questions from us.
If I had to choose one game from the Rezzed event as my Game of the Show, it would go to Beatbuddy without a doubt. I suppose that Sir You are Being Hunted might have rivalled it, but I didn’t get to play the quintessentially English game. Beatbuddy though was something else. …
Last weekend, a horde of PC gamers descended on Birmingham’s NEC for Rezzed, an annual celebration of all things indie, unexpected and otherwise awesome with regards to PC gaming. I met up with Chris on Sunday, and together we ventured forth to prod, peer and poke at all the show had to offer.
Earlier today I was at a the Rezzed PC and Indie Game Show in Birmingham with Nick having a grand old time and now I am home having finished writing this piece about my grand old time. There were plenty of games on show with a small number of AAA titles like Company of Heroes 2 and Planetside 2 making appearances alongside indie titles like Democracy 3 and Beatbuddy. After the break you will find a brief report before some more detailed thoughts on various titles over the coming weeks. …
“You’re the marines, the key to survival is to work together.” It sounds simple but when Xenomorphs are leaping all around, composure and teamwork make way for terror and unfortunately damp trousers.
Playing two 6 vs 6 LAN games at Rezzed we demoed the online deathmatch gameplay of Aliens: Colonial Marines. As aliens the games is most similar to a hack-n-slash. The small warehouse we played offered aliens chances to ambush and annihilate individual marines, but the narrow hallways made it easy for the marines to stick together.
Unlike most other online games tactics played as much a deciding factor in which team won as skill. Charging head first into a group of marines will just end in a bunch of smug marines high-fiving each other and acidic blood splattering the walls.
A co-ordinated attack is needed. Either isolating and picking off individual marines or attacking with an all-out assault from all directions. And it really is possible to attack from all directions as the aliens have the ability to cling to walls and ceilings. Dropping down on a marine while decapitating him with your tail is immensely fun as well as a great tactic to terrify the opposition.
As marines we played on a much more open map. The long range of sight, which favoured the marines, was offset by the lack of cover, meaning that an alien ambush could spawn from anywhere. Playing as a marine is nerve-wracking experience. The lack of a HUD creates a real sense of immersion with the game. Information about the game is projected through the environment. Number of bullets remaining are displayed on the side of weapons, health is shown through the screen darkening and then there are the motion sensors.
Much like in the films the marines have sensors that show the location of any nearby aliens. Scanners that show red dots and emit a haunting beep whenever a Xenomorph is near. Knowing where the aliens are can be the difference between life and death. However, the sensor can’t be used at the same time as a gun. So switching between shotgun and sensor quickly becomes a necessity for survival.
Other than this little innovation the marines side plays like most other FPSs, albeit against a much more terrifying foe. Weapon layouts allow you a primary and a secondary weapon. Kill streaks appear after getting three, five and, presumably higher numbers of kills without dying (five was the highest I managed). What sets Aliens: Colonial Marines apart isn’t in the mechanics of the game, which are competent if not particularly exceptional, though – it’s in how it feels.
As Xenomorphs there is a feeling of true power. Sighting a lone marine, leaping into the air and tearing him to shreds in one swift movement offers a feeling that incomparable to anything in any other competitive online game. It’s easy to get carried away with this sense of power and attempt to decimate a group of marines before getting shot to pieces. But even after being slaughtered that sense of power remains, with only sensibility keeping it in check.
As marines there’s a constant feeling of helplessness, of knowing that if a Xenomorph turns the next corner then a gun will be no match for its flailing tail. Taking one down feels like a real achievement. Playing as a marine feels like playing as an underdog, like facing an insurmountable foe and winning.
Remarkably despite this the two teams are remarkably well balanced. Despite being wildly distinct in playstyle both the Xenomorphs and the marines have an equal chance of winning. It all depends on how well the team works with one-another.
The most impressive thing though is how the game recreates the terror of the Alien films. It’s difficult to play as a marine without cracking up and shouting “Game over, man. Game over.”
E3 2012 was criticised by many for being bland, overhyped and predictable. None of these adjectives describe Rezzed, a PC and Indie games show set up by Eurogamer and Rock, Paper, Shotgun. This year our very own Jordan Harling attended. Here are some of his highlights. …
Beginning a demo with a cut-scene of a half naked woman is a risky manoeuvre. It can put people off the game instantly, making people think that it is shallow, attention seeking and even misogynistic. Yet this is how the demo to Far Cry 3 opened, a game which could possibly be the most intelligent and abstract FPSs of the past few years.
The demo was available to play at Rezzed where I got a hands-on preview. The first thing that was noticeable was how beautiful the game looked running on a high-end PC. After the opening cut-scene the demo started out in a thicket of jungle, every leaf on every tree stunningly rendered. A path led to a cliff overlooking the island and the pristine blue sea that surrounded it, showing off the game’s impressive draw distance. On a dock on the island a man was casually tipping corpses into the sea.
After a dive into the lagoon and a brief swim the game really began. The jungle’s thick foliage and the default weapon, the bow and arrow, made stealth the most obvious tactic. Picking off enemies with the bow gave a satisfying sense of power. The tension of being seen while drawing back the string countered by the elation of an enemy dropping to the ground, bolt protruding from his body.
This feeling was somewhat lessened though by the relatively quick drawback speed of the bow and its one hit kill effectiveness, regardless of where you shoot an enemy. However, it’s possible that both these issues were due to the difficulty settings of the demo. …