Posts Tagged ‘Resident Evil’

Only in Fallen Earth!

There are many measures which we apply to games in an effort to determine if we will be a “virtual tourist” or actually take up residence in a given virtual world. In a similar vein, not that long ago, one reviewer for our local paper, upon the presumably embarrassing incident of panning a movie that turned out to be a financial success, explained it away as it being his job to determine what is a quality movie, not successful movie. We here at No Prisoners No Mercy would not try and baffle you with bull hockey, nor inundate you with pseudo intellectual babble. Put another way…

If a game is fun for you than it’s a good game.

The only qualifier we might put on this might be “as long as it doesn’t violate any laws”, but even there you have to be careful in the application of that phrase. After all, there are mmos that can’t be purchased in Australia any more that would leave the average U.S. gamer scratching their head in bewilderment saying things like “you’ve got to be kidding.” 

But there is one standard of gaming that once applied and passed leaves little doubt that the game is a good one.

Playing a game can often become reminiscent of a child at the end of a boring day in school – they keep checking the clock to see if the time has somehow managed to move faster than the time they checked it five minutes ago.

 
Similarly, when I consider going back to World of Warcraft (WoW) and once again leveling up from 59 (where my latest attempt at leveling a death knight stopped) to level 70, the thought gives me the screaming heebee geebees. I have tried to level a death knight three times now and each time I find myself staring at the level meter, hoping beyond hope that it somehow has moved faster than when I checked it the last time I logged on.

So it is a happy and notable day when someone asks me “what level are you?” and I actually have to check.

Yet such it is with Fallen Earth.

Now at this point there may be those of you who are tired of hearing about Fallen Earth, and for those of you who fall into this category, I refer you to the scathing comments published under “side note” below. For the rest of you read on…

Most games have at least some degree of linearity, to a greater or lesser degree.  Even games by companies like Bethesda that are famous for making sandbox games like Fallout 3 at least have a main quest line. Rarely is there a game like Ultima Online in its early days where the answer to “what do I do now” is simply “what do you want to do?”  For this reason, whether a single player sandbox or an mmo, usually we have a clear idea of where we are going with a game when we log on.  If not, there is no shortage of pundits ready to offer their sage advice on how best to play a given game, whether that advice is solicited or no.

The most remarkable aspect of Fallen Earth is not what you might think. The graphics? They are severely underrated. Never mistake a game rendered within a certain range of hues for a game that is bland. This last long weekend I was in an instance and entered what appeared to be a boiler room.  The first thing I noticed was the remarkable interplay of light and texture that left me with one of those “oh wow” moments.

The most remarkable aspect of Fallen Earth is that I set out with the intention of one style of game play, but got so engrossed in another that I wasn’t even aware of it. I set out, as many people do, with a mistaken impression of what the game is all about. Once I played it past the Hoover Dam introduction and well into the next few levels I discovered just how wrong I was. I set about to be a “gun toting, post apocalyptic hell raiser” but that is not where I ended up.

I ended up crafting.

Normally I do not like to craft at all and for the reason why you have no further to look than NC Soft’s Aion Online.  It is so tedious and so expensive that it is no wonder that they just had to ban 16,000 accounts for botting (see “NCsoft Bans 16,000 Aion Cheaters” by Leigh Alexander). The cost of the crafting system alone in Aion is no doubt what was driving the gold sellers.

So imagine my surprise when I found myself not only willing to sort through rubbish tips to salvage parts, but was actually excited to find garbage bags by the side of the road.  After all, bags of garbage meant old salvaged joints, and those were part of a motorcycle I was building. Still, as subtle as Fallen Earth was at drawing me into its game mechanics, it is not a game that attempts to lull you with a siren song of fairies, wizards, fighting dragons and saving the day.  This game is more like a waking up with a strong cup of coffee…thrown in your face.  Icarus Studios put it best in one of their trailers:

Sick of ogres, elves and pixies?

So are we.

Lose the tights.

Bury the crystals.

Quite playing with your wand.

Come get the read deal.

This ain’t daddy’s mmo.

(the side note follows)