T R I C O . !!!!!!!!!!!!!

First, you must watch:





Yes, you are correct. That was fucking amazing. Lets talk about why that is.

If you've played Shadow of the Colossus, you should pay close attention to how the boy moves while on top of the creature. I could be wrong, but to me it looks like the game is taking the core mechanic from SOTC - grappling onto the fur of giant creatures - and applying it to totally opposite situations. The creature and the boy are obviously close, and the creature takes the boy wherever he needs to go. Flying high in the sky, swimming to the oceans depths, and everything in between seem, at first glance, to be within the players reach. I just can't get over the simple genius of using that mechanic for exploration instead of only combat. Bravo, Sony. Now, all you have to do is give this development studio a better name than the current generic, third-tier-sounding name it unfortunately has. I don't even remember what the fuck it is. And no, Team ICO isn't their actual name.

But more to the point, this game is far and away one of the best reasons to own a ps3. TRICO looks to be some kind of mix between ICO and SOTC, with the possible addition of being hunted by an unnumbered amount of people (notice the beginning of the footage....the boy and the creature seem to be escaping from some kind of prison or fortress). And with the creature's ability to fly, I'm expecting the scope to eclipse SOTC by quite a bit. Son of a bitch, I want this game right now. I think Sony might be showing off the game proper at E3, but I'm not sure about that. Obviously, I hope they do, especially since this footage is pretty old. Who knows how much more awesome can be contained on a single disc? Only god and santa claus know the answer to that, but Sony is getting pretty damn close to finding out for themselves.

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First Impressions: Velvet Assassin (Xbox 360)

I really haven't played much of the game yet, so this will be pretty short. I believe I'm three levels in, and so far I'm very happy with it. For starters, it looks great. I can't even think of anything wrong with the graphics off the top of my head, and honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by that. In fact, I don't even remember who developed the game, and I wasn't expecting it to look or feel like a triple-A game. But so far it does, so.....more power to whoever the fuck made it.

If you didn't know, Velvet Assassin is a stealth game. And it's pretty traditional so far, but in a good way. You basically go through the different environments (which, as I said a second ago, are beautiful) and try to be as sneaky as possible. Stealth kills are super easy to execute, as they're done by simply pressing A when you get close enough to an enemy. The whole screen turns red, and once you execute the move, it's not pretty. I stabbed a man in the crotch and then immediately went for a major artery somewhere around the shoulder/neck area. I've slit a bunch of throats. I stabbed another man in the face. It's brutal stuff, and it's fucking satisfying, to say the least. You occasionally get to use firearms, but ammo is scarce and it's pretty tough to aim with any kind of precision. But that's the point of a stealth game, isn't it? If you were given the controls of, say, Call of Duty, then what would be the point of trying to be all stealthy? Exactly.

The narrative is told as a flashback as the game's protagonist, Faith, is lying in a hospital bed (I think). That's all I remember, actually. Like I said, I'm not very far in the game, and I haven't really settled in with the story or begun to feel a flow or groove yet. But I like the presentation, and there's a dark tone that hopefully will continue throughout the entire game. I need to play more, but I'm juggling three games at once right now: this one, The Longest Journey, and Armed & Dangerous. Land Shark Gun FTW. Anyways, I'll have more thoughts on Velvet Assassin when I'm done, but for now, it's off to a great start.


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Oldies but Goodies - Dreamfall: The Longest Journey

First off, I know I haven't written anything in a month. So to the two of you, I apologize.

I just finished Dreamfall: The Longest Journey today, and I have to admit that it ended with more questions than answers. Having never played the original The Longest Journey, there were things that happened in the sequel that tied into the original, but the full extent I won't know until I play it (I'm planning to start it within the next few days if my laptop isn't totally screwed). Having said that, Dreamfall is straight up, old fashioned good storytelling. The world is believable, the characters are beautifully written and articulated, and the experience really does feel like a long journey that spans across two worlds. The cutscenes are great as well, thanks to a uniformly pitch-perfect voice cast and writing to match. As a game that hinges on all those things mixing well, there's really no greater praise I could give it.

The game's not perfect, by any means, but its shortcomings are far outweighed by everything it does right. Until you finish the game. It's not necessarily a bad ending, but it leaves so much unfinished that if the next game never comes, I'll have no choice but to call it a disappointment. In that way, it's sort of like Quantum of Solace. As a stand-alone narrative, it falls short. But if the next Bond movie delivers, Solace instantly benefits. It's the same situation with Dreamfall, with the notable exception of the story being told really well, but the ending being way too open-ended. In short, I hope to god they make the next one. Soon. I know there are plans in the works for the next game, but it looks to be a little while before any concrete information is put out.

If you happen to be interested in knowing when the next game is coming, bookmark Ragnar's blog. If there's ever an official or semi-official announcement, it'll definitely show up there.

I think the most amazing thing about Dreamfall was how the characters and story intertwined and unfolded. When the game starts, you're only controlling a single protagonist. It stays that way for quite some time, but as more characters are introduced, you gradually start taking control of them at certain points. For example (spoiler-free), in one scene I was playing as character A. While walking I met character B. We had a conversation, and when it was over, the character I was just playing as walked away and I was left controlling character B. That's one hell of an elegant way to tell a story (it helps that the story didn't suck). See, it's stuff like this that a lot of developers don't even think about trying. Hell, even if they try and fail, that's better than not trying at all. Those fuckers.

Something else that hit home for me was one of the central themes of the game: being stuck in a rut and basically going through life on auto-pilot. I can fully relate to that, and in fact, it's what I've been doing up until about a month ago. So, yea, I think having a purpose or goal in life is important, and Zoe in Dreamfall agrees with me, even if she's still stuck in that rut. At least until all the crazy shit starts happening. After that, she doesn't get the chance to be lazy and non-committal. Evil things are afoot, and she's pretty much the only one who can do anything about it. I almost wish it was that easy to fall into globe-trotting adventures, but alas, it is not to be. Oh well, I've started going to the gym, so that's a start.

As far as gameplay goes, well, that's not why anyone's playing Dreamfall. That's not in any way saying that the gamplay is broken or not fun. Quite the opposite, actually. It's just that when you play an adventure game like this, the nuts and bolts take a backseat to storytelling, and, in a broader sense, emotions. If I had to pick something, I'd say the hand-to-hand combat is the worst aspect of the gameplay, but it doesn't happen enough to really matter much. Other than combat, the game is really about following clues. You get to a certain area, search around until you find whatever it is you're looking for, which in turn reveals the next place you should head to, etc, etc. On paper it probably sounds boring, but when you're knee-deep in a double-global conspiracy involving a nefarious corporation and land occupation in another dimention by foreign religious zealots, it gets pretty engrossing.



Adding.... I've now started The Longest Journey, and while I'll save my comments for when I finish it, I'll say this: I've never played an old school point-and-click adventure, and the first couple hours have blown my mind. It's so fresh and interesting, and way different than the types of games I usually play. Also, seeing the places and characters before the events in Dreamfall is really cool. More thoughts incoming.

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