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Games of 2011: Gemini Rue

I’ve spent a lot of time in 2011 playing games, but not a lot of time writing about them. Instead of my usual end-of-year game recommendations, I’d like to tell some stories or share some thoughts about the ones that meant the most to me this year. I’ll be posting one a day until Christmas. See all Games of 2011 posts.

I’ve always been a big adventure game fan. The first serious PC games I ever dove into (Maniac Mansion, King’s Quest I and II, Space Quest III) all fell into that genre. I probably had more Sierra 5.25″ floppy disk sleeves than plain white ones.

There’s been a big resurgence in the genre as of late – which has generally been great. I hedge that with “generally” because there’s a common theme through nearly every adventure game series that has reappeared that didn’t used to be the case. Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Back To The Future, Hector, and Strongbad[1. I realize I’m probably picking on Telltale here, but seeing as they’re mostly the ones doing this revival, I’m going to allow it.] all are humor-focused games. What I’ve missed are the adventure games where the focus is storytelling, and narrative, rather than puns.

It probably comes as no surprise that the first time I fired up Gemini Rue and watched the opening – a man only referred to by his captors as “Delta-Six” has his memory erased, and seemingly not for the first time – I let out a huge sigh of relief.

Gemini Rue is one of those games that I haven’t spent enough time with yet. I have only made it through the first five chapters or so. But what I’ve seen so far reminds me so much of those old Sierra titles – the pacing, the atmosphere, the interface design. It’s a welcome reminder of some of my gaming roots.

People who fondly remember Sierra’s best work should give this one a look.

Gemini Rue is available for Windows.

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Enjoyed

Games of 2011: Mortal Kombat

I’ve spent a lot of time in 2011 playing games, but not a lot of time writing about them. Instead of my usual end-of-year game recommendations, I’d like to tell some stories or share some thoughts about the ones that meant the most to me this year. I’ll be posting one a day until Christmas. See all Games of 2011 posts.

When it came to fighting games, I have always been more of the Mortal Kombat type than the Street Fighter type. It wasn’t the blood or the violence (although as a teenager, that was certainly a lot of fun), but more that the games felt more accessible. They took themselves a little less seriously. Or maybe it was just that I could never pull off the 360 rotations necessary for some of the Street Fighter moves.

Regardless, Mortal Kombat as a series fell on hard times after MK3 was released. Practically every title since 1997 disappointed, bloated both the gameplay and the world in which it takes place, and messed with a formula that didn’t need messing with. Weapons in Deadly Alliance? The start of a bad trend. The terrible quest mode in Deception? Laughable. The kart game that was inserted for no reason into Armageddon? Ugh. And how about the neutering of vs. DC Universe, taking what promised to be a dark gritty game and making it rated T for Teen?

The franchise has needed a massive kick in the pants for nearly fifteen years, and I am relieved to say that this year’s release of Mortal Kombat (named just that, no modifiers afterwards) is a pitch-perfect return to form.

No matter where you land in relation to fighting games, it feels like Mortal Kombat has something for you. The story mode is surprisingly well written and seamless jumps between cutscenes and battles in a pretty impressive manner. The game looks fantastic and the sound design is excellent as well. There’s a whole range of competitive modes – tournaments and online battles and such. People who like objective-based progression can find relief in the Challenge Tower, which throws 300 different challenges at the player. Those who are into unlocking things will be relieved to still find The Krypt allows unlocking of plenty of concept art and other content. And those who don’t like to take things seriously will love Test Your Luck mode, where a slot machine gives random modifiers and can make fights completely ridiculous in the blink of an eye. Broad appeal is pretty much guaranteed here.

It’s been great to see increased attention given to fighting games over the last few years, with the rise of competitive gaming and the fighting game community really carving out its place in the world. While I have nothing but respect for Capcom giving Street Fighter renewed love for the last few years, to see Mortal Kombat get such a well done revival this year sent me into sheer levels of joy. This was the fighting game I’ve been waiting for all generation.

Mortal Kombat is available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

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Endured

Games of 2011: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

I’ve spent a lot of time in 2011 playing games, but not a lot of time writing about them. Instead of my usual end-of-year game recommendations, I’d like to tell some stories or share some thoughts about the ones that meant the most to me this year. I’ll be posting one a day until Christmas. See all Games of 2011 posts.

The original Deus Ex hit the market in 2000, and it was a revolution unto itself. It combined the first person shooter with role playing elements and strong writing. It offered the player real choice and branching story lines. Adversity could be worked around, fights could be diffused peacefully. The game brought with it an implied promise: first person games didn’t need to adhere to a formula.

Sadly, that promise wasn’t met. The 2003 sequel Invisible War was garbage, the franchise was shelved, and few developers wanted to try and replicate the Deus Ex experience.

But like other historic franchises, this was finally the year that Deus Ex was booted back up. After four years in development, Deus Ex: Human Revolution was released in August. From the moment I touched the game, I felt that familiar rush again. The stealth, the conversations, the gunplay, the lock picking, it was all just so brilliant. I started to mentally mark it down as a clear frontrunner for the best game I played that year.

Then I hit a boss battle, and those thoughts evaporated.

Much has been said by press and players alike about how out of place the boss battles felt. This is a game where you can specialize in stealth and subterfuge, building your character so that you can slink through each level without killing a single enemy guard. And yet this same game forces you into a guns-blazing do-or-die battle with an overpowered enemy. Players who went in with stealth-heavy builds were severely disadvantaged in these fights.

Player choice is a dangerous tool to wield. For every dimension of character construction you allow, you open yourself up to players working themselves into a position where it is difficult to advance. Regular adversity isn’t a problem – players need a challenge, and there shouldn’t be a build you can just blow through the game with. But games should never make it practically impossible for standard builds to advance, and sadly, that’s what the boss fights in DX:HR did.

Eidos admitted a month after release that they had outsourced the boss battles to another company, one that “didn’t know much about the Deus Ex world before the project began.” What a statement that is: to not only add gameplay that people generally disliked, but to farm it outside of the core team working on the game, to people who didn’t understand the history or vision for the game.

Developers, remember this: make the best games you can. Don’t compromise. And don’t add boss battles if they don’t fit into your game.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.