Star Wars has been an ever popular setting for all types of games. From shooters to strategy games we get to blow up droids, eliminate Sith, and choose which side of the force will become our fate. That being said the branch of the franchise devoted to role-playing has often been one of speculation for me. The entire idea of role-playing involves taking on a role and becoming involved in a world not your own, in a character not yourself, and making decisions for that role. In this particular franchise I have never found the world engaging, the character deep, or the decisions all too important ( *cough* Anakin's acting *cough*).
When one of my friends suggested jumping into the already-established classic "Knights of the old republic" I looked it up. Produced by Bioware (Yes, of Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Jade Empire fame) some years ago, it's reputation was epic and it's following large. The price tag, however, was small. I got in on sale from Steam for a meager $2.50.
Apprehensively I loaded up what was rumored to be a game on the scale of Baldur's Gate 2. I candidly played the first thirty minutes and was able to look past the outdated graphics, silly tutorial-man voice acting, and all too familiar scene of a Star Wars ship under siege. But, what I saw beyond the basic elements didn't impress me. The storyline didn't catch me. I drifted off to more pressing matters, such as another play-through of Psychonauts.
A series of month's passed and I found myself between worlds at having just finished King's Bounty. I glanced at the large icons on my desktop, all of them representing places and decisions and characters I had explored and there in front of me glared Malak's face--the icon for Knights of the Old Republic. I double clicked and prepared some patience to get me past the introduction once again.
Since my fateful decision to start playing it, Knights of the Old Republic has often surprised me. The voice acting took a major leap in improvement from the time you leave the stereotypical introduction and now I am enjoying conversations with rich characters. The decisions you make are very Star Wars in their own right; light and underplayed, but the acting does a fine job of keeping your interest as the plot twists and thickens.
You get to play in a world estranged from the movie as you know it. Four-thousand years in the past the Sith are still wily and the Jedi are still terrible judges of character. Two of their pupils rise as Sith Lords and start taking over the galaxy. Predictably you must rise up and become a Jedi to stop them. Now, don't get me wrong. This is cool. Jedi are cool. Blasters are cool. Spaceships are cool. But, can Bioware wrap it into a cool story driven package? They pull it off.
As a character in the world of Star Wars you get to do things and meet people only the most die hard of fans would dream of. Planets for the first time can be traversed and scoured, citizens talked to, and those annoying droids blown up if you really don't like them. Ever wanted to hack a C3PO-ish droid to distract enemies? How about actually question of those Twi'lek dancers? Maybe you wanted to get from the nitty-gritty of a planets economy all the way to the ritzy heights. Whatever your intergalactic passion, Bioware expands and elaborates upon the Star Wars world wonderfully, and they manage to do it while retaining the overall feel of the series.
With only minor swearing, almost no blood or gore, and very little questionable content (romance options are extremely mild, and cantina's feature alien dancers in semi-modest clothing), I can rightly suggest this title to the masses.
May the force be with you!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Art with a twist
And now for something completely different; time for a game I don't suggest to everybody.
"A man builds a city at the bottom of the sea. That's a marvel. Another man happens to be on a plane that crash lands on the same city in the middle of the ocean. Why, that sounds more like ... a miracle." -Andrew Ryan.
And with those words of great portent you are once again reminded of the alien and awe-some (and altogether terrifying) atmosphere of Bioshock in the city called Rapture; the city that was built on the bottom of the ocean. Throughout this curious city vestiges of the forties remain. Old record players play swinging club music while deformed and twisted people yell out insane jargon and charge at you.
Something in Rapture went terribly wrong. Where "...petty morals" don't bind scientists mad experiments, revised medical aid (unasked for surgery), and the discovery of a substance called ADAM were just the beginning. It was a city without limits. A kite without strings. When you arrive it has already fallen into chaos. Near everyone went insane, their DNA spliced to provide them with incredible benefits while robbing their minds of any humanity or will. Yes, fire can shoot from your fingertips, but that stops being neat when it is used to melt the people around you.
Taking up whatever weapons and personal splices you can find (without the effect of insanity for special reasons unmentionable to those who have not played it) you are launched into this twisted hew of sky-scrapers after crash landing (verrrry conveniently *wink*), into the Atlantic RIGHT beside it. There in the dark of a moonlit night rises the monolithic lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. With no where to go and no other survivors you step in and tremble as the doors slam behind you.
You are contacted by the few remaining survivors and you slowly start to understand the history of where you are. The poetic and callous recordings of people who retained their sanity lie scattered across the beautiful and artistic remnants of the once majestic city. You visit old hotels and taverns, theater houses and industrial sectors. You truly begin to understand the horrifying scope of the catastrophe that is Rapture. It truly has suffered from Bioshock.
This game is beautiful. The art and locale, the atmosphere all call out to be explored, understood. It mystifies. However, amidst the contrasting shadow and art is extreme (EXTREME) violence. This game is not a family game, it is more of a novel of classic literature on par with the horrors of Heart of Darkness or Crime and Punishment, only more violent and grotesque. It is a commentary on the times, the folly, the vice of man and their downfall. Furthermore the language, though often poetic and highly stylized, is scattered with swearing. I play with volume barely audible for the brilliant voice acting, though not just for the previously mentioned caveat, but because it is a delightfully frightening game.
For those of you looking for a story to sweep you off your feet, mystify you, horrify you, and ultimately leave you pondering moral dilemmas, I suggest to you Bioshock. However, with the shocking content I cannot suggest it to the general population who might be reading this. It is a game I am cautious to play, but one that is worth at least one ride through for the seeker of art, beauty, and truth who can stand to look at something with lots of dark shades; dark shades that bring out humanity and ultimately help us understand ourselves better.
Enjoy at your own caution and be ready to delve deep (no pun intended) into a fantastical science fiction setting.
Images taken from IGN.com and http://bioshock.wikia.com
"A man builds a city at the bottom of the sea. That's a marvel. Another man happens to be on a plane that crash lands on the same city in the middle of the ocean. Why, that sounds more like ... a miracle." -Andrew Ryan.
And with those words of great portent you are once again reminded of the alien and awe-some (and altogether terrifying) atmosphere of Bioshock in the city called Rapture; the city that was built on the bottom of the ocean. Throughout this curious city vestiges of the forties remain. Old record players play swinging club music while deformed and twisted people yell out insane jargon and charge at you.
Something in Rapture went terribly wrong. Where "...petty morals" don't bind scientists mad experiments, revised medical aid (unasked for surgery), and the discovery of a substance called ADAM were just the beginning. It was a city without limits. A kite without strings. When you arrive it has already fallen into chaos. Near everyone went insane, their DNA spliced to provide them with incredible benefits while robbing their minds of any humanity or will. Yes, fire can shoot from your fingertips, but that stops being neat when it is used to melt the people around you.
Taking up whatever weapons and personal splices you can find (without the effect of insanity for special reasons unmentionable to those who have not played it) you are launched into this twisted hew of sky-scrapers after crash landing (verrrry conveniently *wink*), into the Atlantic RIGHT beside it. There in the dark of a moonlit night rises the monolithic lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. With no where to go and no other survivors you step in and tremble as the doors slam behind you. You are contacted by the few remaining survivors and you slowly start to understand the history of where you are. The poetic and callous recordings of people who retained their sanity lie scattered across the beautiful and artistic remnants of the once majestic city. You visit old hotels and taverns, theater houses and industrial sectors. You truly begin to understand the horrifying scope of the catastrophe that is Rapture. It truly has suffered from Bioshock.
This game is beautiful. The art and locale, the atmosphere all call out to be explored, understood. It mystifies. However, amidst the contrasting shadow and art is extreme (EXTREME) violence. This game is not a family game, it is more of a novel of classic literature on par with the horrors of Heart of Darkness or Crime and Punishment, only more violent and grotesque. It is a commentary on the times, the folly, the vice of man and their downfall. Furthermore the language, though often poetic and highly stylized, is scattered with swearing. I play with volume barely audible for the brilliant voice acting, though not just for the previously mentioned caveat, but because it is a delightfully frightening game. For those of you looking for a story to sweep you off your feet, mystify you, horrify you, and ultimately leave you pondering moral dilemmas, I suggest to you Bioshock. However, with the shocking content I cannot suggest it to the general population who might be reading this. It is a game I am cautious to play, but one that is worth at least one ride through for the seeker of art, beauty, and truth who can stand to look at something with lots of dark shades; dark shades that bring out humanity and ultimately help us understand ourselves better.
Enjoy at your own caution and be ready to delve deep (no pun intended) into a fantastical science fiction setting.
Images taken from IGN.com and http://bioshock.wikia.com
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