DAY 250 / GAME 250
Loadstar
My brother always did always pick out the weirdest games when we were kids. Admittedly having chosen this game simply based on the back of the box, Loadstar really was an oddball title. Or at least, it seemed more unusual at the time than it does in retrospect.
Loadstar was yet another Full Motion Video driven rail-shooter amongst many others that populated CD games as this new media now allowed for games that couldn't fit onto a cartridge or set of floppy disks. Loadstar though, was a rail shooter in a more literal sense. It wasn't so much that your path was predetermined as you were traversing a set of mag-lev railways in space on a transport ship-slash-train.
In the end the footage was actually pretty good. The introductory sequence and interstitial clips were fairly well acted and contained some pretty high-end sets and props. I just hopped over to Youtube and checked out he 7 minute intro movie again and realised it's actually got a few notable actors in it including Michael Anderson from Carnivale and The X-Files.
The overall game was pretty acceptable, like Sewer Shark you find yourself shooting at various enemies on screen while trying to navigate a maze-like series of video clips. Unfortunately the shooting uses a D-pad which can be a big pain and on top of it all initiating a turn requires you stop shooting whatever is attacking at the moment and race to get your cursor all the way to the edge of the screen. It really would have been better played with either a mouse or an analog joystick.
Nevertheless, it was a unique game that looked incredible in both design and at the time, graphics. FMV based games really did feel like the future at the time since they could incorporate high-end prerendered CG graphics or live-action video footage. Of course, looking back on it now is almost painful, though I can honestly say the story footage is worth looking up. It's a neat little watch.
DAY 249 / GAME 249
Killzone
Killzone always stuck in my mind prior to it's release as the Helghast pictured in the promo material were confusingly similar to the Combine pictured in the Half-Life 2 promo materials. Of course, I was far more concerned with the release of Half-Life 2 and even though Killzone was a pretty big property for Sony I still kept managing to forget it existed. Each time I remembered a little bit about Killzone I was always afraid of forgetting about it again.
Eventually though, I picked it up when it became re-released under a 'greatest hits' value title and appeared on the shelves again. Turns out that a game I was drawn to simply for it's enemy design ended up being a pretty great game. Though I was a little unhappy with the muddy aiming controls and one poorly designed level near the end caused me to rage-quit the entire game; overall I was very happy with it. Between Resistance and Killzone, both games which Sony backed in an attempt to put a Halo on the PlayStation, Killzone was the only one I was happy with.
Killzone truly felt like a future-wartime shooter. What you would expect to see if they placed Medal of Honor in the era of space colonization. As you made you way through the storyline and through the various areas of the game it felt like you were on the frontlines of some dirty, bloody battle between two loosing forces.
Killzone really carried some awesome designs as well. Not only were the Helghast (Killzone's particular antagonist force) fantastically menacing but the weapon designs were gritty and physical as opposed to the fantastic and futuristic weapons of Halo. Beyond that, most of the level designs were something to behold as well. One level in particular that felt like some kind of abandoned skyscraper frame will always stick in my mind. One that you scaled as flying forces rose to meet you with gunfire.
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Killzone 1 was great in the sense that it got the series started and established the story and design. But beyond that each sequel was far superior. Though, now that I see that they've released an HD remake of this first PlayStation 2 title I'm itching to give it a go again. (Maybe that one level is easier to navigate now.) I've read (and seen) that this HD remake actually looks quite good and may be worth my invested time.
DAY 248 / GAME 248
Darkseed
I've always had a penchant for strange and unusual games. Though they can really be hit-or-miss when it comes to the overall quality, I usually enjoy them in some fashion or another. And though most of the weirdest games I've played have originated in Japan, (Pen Pen TriIcelon, Seaman) back in the late 80's and early 90's imported titles weren't as easy to come across and so I had to settle for plain American oddities.
There were of course, more than enough bizarre titles to fulfill my needs. One of the more distressing titles I picked up was the PC adventure game Darkseed. At the time of it's release in 1992, I was more than engrossed in the works of H. R. Giger; the Swiss surrealist who has created artwork and monsters for films like Poltergeist, Species and Alien. Though I'm not sure exactly what the relationship was for this title, Darkseed's Dark World artwork was basically created by composting various portions of his works in to backgrounds and even characters. The entire game is basically just a tribute to his works. As if someone out there just really wanted to turn Giger's artwork into a videogame.
Darkseed was your typical point-and-click adventure, where you explore the world around you and it's puzzles in order to reveal the overall story. As it seemed with this game more than most, the focus was moreso on the story than the gameplay. Not only was it a particularly difficult game so far as the puzzles were concerned, but on top of it all there is a strict 3 day time limit. Time progresses within the game as the protagonist explores the world, but if Mike Dawson doesn't complete his task of destroying the Ancients before then, the embryo implanted in his head births and destroys the world. Pretty intense.
To be honest, I never got very far in this game. It really was too difficult for me at the time and the entire idea of a very restricted time limit lead me to give up early on. Though, I've been reading that this has been regarded as one of the scariest games of all time and so now I think I'm going to have to give this another go. With a walkthrough of course.
Publishers must have seen some money from this as well since they put forward enough to create a sequel, as requested specifically by H. R. Giger himself. A sequel which appears to have featured higher quality artwork and perhaps some more polished gameplay. Both games appear to be abandonware and so if anyone's interested in trying them out, should be downloadable for free.
DAY 247 / GAME 247
Split/Second
As I write this I'm also playing a fantastically unique racing game from Disney Interactive of all studios as I try out my new TV for the first time. It's been a long time since I've bought a new TV and it's incredible how much of an improvement 7 or 8 years of tech and 10 more inches can make. Nevertheless, even on my "old" Samsung 40" LCD tv, Split/Second was an amazing looking game.
Not your typical racing game, Split/Second pushed to create a racing title that was blended with an action movie. Your racing season is instead a tv season with various episodes that unlock as you make your way through the game. You compete against other drivers in a vie for first place, but with a twist. Though not quite a combat racer, Split/Second allows you to trigger environmental disasters as you make your way through the track. The result is, well, explosive to say the least.
Triggering disasters ranges from the small to the immense. As you race, preforming maneuvers such as drafting, drifting or gaining airtime rewards you by filling a 3-part meter. When the meter is full, you can trigger one large event, three small events, or one medium and one small. You can only trigger these as you or other drivers are passing by them, but there are plenty to come across so that is not an issue. Events include small explosions, cranes dropping debris on the track, gate slamming shut or even whole buildings exploding or planes crashing down. In the end, as you dart around these explosions while trying to push for first, it makes for a very exiting race.
I'm going to keep this one short, since I've been busy, it's late and to be honest, I want to play more of this game. Truth is, Split/Second is simply a desirably unique racer that both looks incredible, handles great and is a blast to play. I remember trying it out for the first time at PAX East's Disney booth and I was hooked. I believe it's available on Steam for those who are interested in playing it on PC, but also available on the 360 and PS3 for those like me who'd rather the big-screen experience.
DAY 246 / GAME 246
PaRappa The Rapper
The Sega Dreamcast may have been the console for bizarre Japanese releases, but it's not like PlayStation didn't see some as well. In 1997, two years before the Dreamcast's release, one of the earliest rhythm games showed it's face on the American market. Rhythm games, which picked up speed a bit after this release, are like a variation on your usual puzzle game. Most of the time they require you input particular button sequences as shown on screen, typically with little room for error on the timing. This is assisted by a musical track however, so the idea is that you are 'tapping along with the beat' in a sense similar to how someone plays Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero.
It seems to me that PaRappa was popular with a lot of people for a few good reasons. It wasn't a 'hardcore' game that went out of it's way to be both cinematic, dark and violent like a lot of the mainstream games at the time. It was light hearted, unique and in a sense, 'casual'. It was easy to pick up, playable by anyone, though some people have a better sense of rhythm than others and it followed a nicely stylized visual design that separated itself from most other games at the time. PaRappa's characters were all paper-thin cutouts a-la Paper Mario and the camera angles made sure to reveal this as a stylistic choice and not simply poor design.
PaRappa was not only a great game for it's design, but the 'rap songs' that the game follows were cute and memorable. PaRappa raps about everything he's doing it as he's doing it. So the story is told as you follow the beat. He spends time learning Kung Fu at a dojo, taking driving lessons, making a cake and more in an attempt to win over a girl he likes. Lines like "crack crack crack, the eggs into the bowl" may not be award winning lyrics, but most people who gamed in the 90's can tell you what it's from even if it was simply because they heard it in the commercial.
I didn't exactly go out of my way to buy PaRappa the Rapper and it's not exactly the kind of game I've plugged hours into as I have with other titles. But it's charm stuck with me since I rented it a few decades ago and it's clear where it's influence lies nowadays with other rhythm games.
It's also interesting to note that this game was first released in Japan and when it was all the songs were still in English, they simply had Japanese subtitles.
DAY 245 / GAME 245
The Club
A lesser known title released in 2008 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, The Club was a third-person-shooter created by racing-game company Bizarre Creations. Usually known for their work on the racing series Project Gotham Racing, Bizarre made an ambitious attempt to create a unique hybrid of a racing game, arcade shooter and third person shooter.
This is another title that I may not have even bothered with had I not been absolutely engrossed in the downloadable demo that was available on Xbox Live. I simply ran the demo over and over, which was easy considering the content. The Club essentially has you running laps about a gauntlet of armed enemies, aiming to reach a specific score before the allotted time runs out.
The entire game is fast paced. Focusing on story about as much as Twisted Metal or Mortal Kombat, The Club really is just the kind of game you can pick up quick in an attempt to beat that next level. Levels which are at times impossibly difficult. In fact, I really haven't seen much of this game since, regardless of owning it, I haven't been able to beat most of the levels. The push to match or beat the required score is extremely tough and requires chaining kills with multiplier targets and all without getting killed. It's great fun, but it eventually pushed me to simply quit the game.
The Club was like nothing else out there and surprisingly enough noone ever took the concept and ran with it after Bizarre Creations dissolved in 2011. Difficulty aside it's a brilliant design that is a ton of fun to play, especially in the attempt to try to best your last score by perfecting your runs throughout the levels. It was the kind of game I wish I had made more time for and I constantly look at it on my shelf and figure I'm going to try my hand at it once more.
DAY 244 / GAME 244
Overlord
Overlord was another one of those sneaky titles I had no idea I was going to enjoy quite so much as I did. I came across it during a time when my Xbox 360 was still quite new and I had a lot more time to play games than I do now. With a lot fewer unplayed titles on my shelf I spent much more of my time downloading whatever new demos were available via Xbox Live. The inclusion of a in-console demo downloading system may be one of my favorite developments in console gaming since the ease of the whole try-before-you-buy process means I started purchasing a lot more games I've played to completion in comparison to previous generations of consoles.
Overlord is easily one of those titles that I simply wouldn't have thought to purchase had I not tried the demo first. Shortly after, knowing how much I enjoyed it, a couple friends got together and grabbed this for me as a wedding gift. Of course, it got a lot more use that some of the other kitchenware I received.
Codemasters really did create something unique with Overlord. The world feels much like that of Fable, set in a similar fantasy time period full of dancing grasses, pumpkins, giant sunflowers, watery cliffs and tons of bloom. The characters are all twisted and either very ugly or very pretty, which makes for a good balance as your Overlord character is little but a big suit of armor. Your goblin minions however, are brimming with personality and are extremely fun to watch as you command them this way and that about the world.
Of course, Overlord may look like Fable, but really is not the same in any other respect. In Overlord you are out to perform evil. Commanding a band of goblins in a very similar manner as Pikmin, you terrorize the countryside and otherwise attempt to take control of the kingdom. There are few games in my opinion, where being evil is this much fun.
Overlord is full of fantastic dark humor and terrific writing complimented by some fun animation and incredible characters. It even saw a few add-ons and a sequel, which incredibly I haven't tried. Though, I did just grab them on Steam on sale and remembering how wonderfully fun this game was I think I'll have to give it a go very soon.
