How The Game Is Played

Go Speed Racer, Go

Okay now for part tow of my weekend.

I went to see "Speed Racer" in Imax with my wife, brother and his SO on Monday.

This is a movie that justifies IMAX. One part original speed racer, one part "power rangers" and one part video-game it is just dripping with visual appeal. That there is a video game aesthetic should come as no surprise to anyone: The film was written and directed by the Wachowski brothers who also brought us The Matrix. Whereas the Matrix though was a dark and brooding videogame, this is all bright lights, garish colors and fast action.

Setting the action in an entire world that looks like a cartoon allowed them to get away with what is probably the most important part of a speed racer cartoon-- the over the top cartoon physics and race car driving. The Mach 5 seems to spend more of its time spinning, flying through the air or sliding sideways then it actually does driving straight ahead. But it "works" in the context of this world its set in.

This really isn't so much an "update" as an opening out of the speed racer story. All the elements I remember from the cartoon are there. The original cartoon aired in the late 60s, and the time period for the film is the late 60s, although a late 60s in this alien cartoon world. The "high tech" in the film all looks like the 60s idea of the future pushed through the lense of a modern 3D animation esthetic.

All in all this move was far better then I expected it to be. Its not deep, but it IS fun, especially for those of us who fondly remember the TV show. It looks gorgeous, even better on a bigger screen. The plot doesnt have many surprises but thats okay. Where this move is going really isnt all lthat important. Just sit in the passenger seat and enjoy the ride!

Posted at 01:22PM May 27, 2008 by gameguy in General  | 

Speed and Gore

So its been an interesting weekend. I played the new Age of Conan MMO up to 18th level, and I saw Speed Racer in IMAX. Below are some imrpessions of both:

Age of Conan.

This is the first (mainstream ) MMOLPRG that is rated M for mature. (There have been a few pure cybersex MMOs already. If you don't know what cybersex is, you probably don't want to.)

Being M rated effects it in some interesting ways. First off, it is the goriest MMO I've ever played. It has "fatailities" which are basically like "finishing moves" in Mortal Combat. Do the right things at the end of a combat and you chop the other guys head off, splatter your screen with blood, or trigger other serious gorefest animations.

I'm not a big fan of gore for gores sake but in thsi case, it works. Anyone who knows the original Conan source material knows that this is an important part of the genre. As such, it never feels gratuitous and actually is fun in a mildly sick way.

The game also contains sexual references. I have yet to see an overt sex scene but there is no doubt that the charcters have a sexuality. The NPCs will often tlak in innuendo (the females at least. Which feels a bit odd if your playing a hetero-female character.)

Though i havent tried it, Im told if you take all the clothes of a PC there is actually a naked body under it. There is actually a potentially good reason for this. Most MMOs put "molded on " underwear on character models, like a barbie doll. The problem with this approach, ask any woman, is that one set of underwear dopes not go with all types of outer clothing. Different clothes call for different undergarments. By having a real anatomy, a 3D model cna be dressed in any sorts of clothing and "look right." I have yet to see enough "social clothing" in the game to really taje advantage of that but Im still in newbie land.

Thats the next thing about the game thats unusual. It takes a LONG time to get out of newbie land. Your there til level 20 which is almost half of the current Max level of 50. But it doesn't really feel that bad cause the newbie space is huge compared to many games and the work your given is varied with an interesting, deep plot line behind it.

This has to be one of AoC's stroingest points in fact. The plot is VERY strong and well written with multiple threads that all come together nicely in your story. The quests are, for the most part, directly related to that story and advance it in interesting ways. None of the quests feel like repeats of previous ones and there are very few that feel like "time wasters." All in all the newbie quests are an outstanding feature of AoC.

Another interesting difference is that AoC has two modes, day-play and night-play. In the newbie areas, day-play is multi-player while night-play is single player. Your main story is moved ahead through night play. i *think* the design reason for this is that, as people get higher level characters, it will prevent them using them to "twink" beginning players through the main starting quests.

A final thing I really appreciate about AoC, is that the M rating cuts way down on the kiddie factor. It doesn't eliminate it, especially late at night. (Parents, do you know what your kids are up to on their computers late at night? For some of you, the answer seems to be no.) But in general it makes for a much more enjoyable social environment for adults.

AoC is, in the end, a niche product. It is intended for and theoretically limited to a mature market who like gritty fantasy. Time will tell how big its niche really is, but its a worthwhile contender in the arena thatw as obviously crafted carefully and with love.

Posted at 01:00PM May 27, 2008 by gameguy in General  |