Best of the Decade: Braid

Braid

Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Mac OS X, Linux, Windows

Release Date: August 6, 2008 (360 version)

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios (360); Number None, Inc. (Other versions)

Developer: Number None, Inc.

It’s not often that a puzzle game can snare me. I like a good mental challenge, but I don’t have the patience for the genre most of the time. I’m already susceptible to switching away from a game I’m stuck on and an entire genre built around stopping you in your tracks periodically and forcing you to solve tough puzzles usually doesn’t work for me. I’ll try a new game, get hooked until I’m stumped, put it down, and never play it again.

Thus, sadly, I’ve come to largely avoid puzzle games. Portal and Limbo are two exceptions, but both are far more than traditional genre entries.

Braid is more traditional a puzzle game than either of those two, but it’s still something special. 

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Best of the Decade: Limbo

Limbo

Platform: Xbox 360

Release Date: July 21, 2010

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Developer: Playdead Studios

I think most who hold the hobby of gaming close to their heart would agree that the medium is perfectly capable of being considered art. When it comes time to decide which games constitute art, consensus is decidedly less clear. Outside of a few select titles that seem to pop up repeatedly in such discussions, such as Shadow of the Colossus, I’m not sure most gamers know what an “artistic” game is supposed to look like.

Should we look to games like Heavy Rain, which aspires as much as is possible to be a film, for our example? Should we turn to games like Flower, which dispense with most recognizable aspects of being a game at all in favor of being visually interesting and delivering a strong message? Or is the answer somewhere in between?

I think with Limbo we’re a step closer to knowing. Of course, as with any type of art, there isn’t simply one easy definition. Looking at games like Shadow of the Colossus and Limbo, however, it does become clearer what is required on a fundamental level to be both a game and art.

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Best of the Decade - Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved

Platform: Xbox 360

Release Date: November 22, 2005

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Developer: Bizarre Creations

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved has many honorable traits worthy of mentioning all on its own. During a time period where there was a notable drought of quality retail Xbox 360 games, it provided an oasis of cheap, downloadable fun. Its simple design hid an addicting game that could eat up hours of your time without you even realizing it. Its single-minded focus on topping your score and testing your reflexes channeled the simplistic appeal of the arcade games of yore, but brought the experience right to the living room and updated it with modern features and a fresh coat of paint.

You didn’t need a bag full of quarters from your mom to enjoy this gem. For a measly $10 or so, you could download it right to your console and play to your heart’s desire, whether for 5 minutes or 5 hours.

As laudable as Geometry Wars was, and its sequel surpassed it in nearly every way, what it represented in a more philosophical sense is why it’s on this list.

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First Impressions - Fable III

Fable III

Developer: Lionhead Studios

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Release Date: October 26, 2010

Date of Play: November 4, 2010

Stated as politely as I can manage, Fable II was a game I came to rather dislike. Perhaps it was Peter Molyneux’s incessent promising of features he couldn’t deliver, perhaps it was a case of high expectations being soured by a good, not great, game, or perhaps it was simply bad timing. Fable II released a week before the magnificent Fallout 3, after all, giving me only a short time in Albion before being blown away by the openness, freedom, and expansive world to explore in Bethesda’s somewhat wonky masterpiece, leaving Molyneux's world feeling a bit lacking by comparison. 

I would call my time with Fable II enjoyable, to be clear, but I would classify it as good, not great. The ending was lousy. The game world felt small. And it had some issues mechanically that took me out of the experience, such as the absolutely stupid relationship system based on absurd repetitions of dumb animations, or the occasionally frustrating, simplistic combat. 

Still, I liked the idea and the humor of the world, and I hope that Fable III might deliver a better overall experience. I must admit to being highly skeptical of Molyneux’s ability to make this happen, but I’m going to try to keep an open mind. In an interesting twist of fate, the tables are turned from two years ago. Fallout: New Vegas released a week before Fable III and a negative first impression of Obsidian’s lazy sequel leaves the door open to a reversal of fortunes. Can Fable III take back the crown and impress a hardened skeptic who wrties off Fable II as a loss and never even played the original Fable?

Let’s find out.

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First Impressions - Halo: Reach

My First Impressions articles so far have been a little too much like reviews under another name, which was not the original intention. I wanted to  accurately chronicle my thoughts at the beginning of a play experience to analyze what games could do better from the outset and why, after just an hour or so of play, some games leave me drooling for more and others leave me cold. 

 
In order to better reflect my intention and not confuse these as reviews written far too early, I’m trying a format shift. I will record, via my trusty iPhone, my thoughts as I go along my first hour or so. I will then transcribe them here for you as accurately as I can so you can get a true picture of exactly what it was that was going through my head as I played. Nothing more, nothing less.
 

Let me know what you think of the change.

 

 

Halo: Reach

Single player campaign

Release date: September 14, 2010

Date of play: September 14, 2010

• I’ve just started the campaign and I’m already immediately noticing some graphical glitches. This is hardly a new phenomenon for Halo, as I remember similar graphical weirdness with Halo 3, but I’m disappointed it hasn’t been cleared up. I see screen tearing, a little bit of choppiness, and other such distractions. I’m hoping it will go away, because I also immediately notice that this is a substantially better looking Halo than what I’m used to.
• I haven’t heard but maybe two of the music tracks so far and I’m already impressed. I’m going to have to pay close attention to the music because I have a feeling it’s going to be good.

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