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Benny

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    Your Milestones of Wonder in Gaming

    in Discussion

    Posted

    Having just finished Batman VR, and being completely blown away with what feels like a transformative experience, it got me thinking what other games throughout the last 30 years have made me feel that way when they first came out, either because of their graphics or their mechanics feeling totally new or immersive. I mean real wonder moments where you feel like you're experiencing the future. They don't necessarily have to be your favourite or even particularly great games, just ones that elicited a "woah" response in some way.

     

    I came up with the following:

     

    The Sentinel

     

    I think Elite will be a popular choice, but this one was a real eye opener for me because it was a fully filled 3D world that you had to navigate around to get behind the titular guardian. It had a really oppressive atmosphere and sense of dread to it and I think outside of text adventures I'd say it was the first true survival horror game. I'd never felt fear in a game before this.

     

     

    Sonic the Hedgehog

     

    I think it was just how solid everything looked and how fast everything moved: compared to 8 bit games it felt like I was playing a cartoon with sprites that felt really expressive, and the layers of the environments made them seem very tactile.

     

     

    Street Fighter 2

     

    The sheer size of the on screen characters was amazing, as up to then I'd not seen games with such large sprites and animations, and the special moves that you had to input arcane combinations for felt crazy at the time.

     

     

    DOOM

     

    Might seem laughable that it would have the effect it did on me now, but at the time this was the most realistic, scary thing I had ever seen. It felt like the game was actively trying to scare and kill you at every turn, and it was the first time I saw gory "realism" in a 3D game world that you could explore freely and that was fully textured. It did so many futuristic things at once it blew my tiny mind and I assumed all 3D games would be this good in future (they weren't).

     

     

    WIpeout

     

    The first Playstation game I played, and it blew my socks off. I couldn't quite believe it was real. The sheer speed of it was incredible at the time and I thought it was photo realistic. The CD audio seemed like witchcraft as I hadn't imagined before the idea of having real music tracks used on a game.

     

     

    Banjo-Kazooie

     

    I think for most people this spot would be filled by Mario 64, but oddly enough I actually played this first, so it was a similar revelatory experience, just different. I remember I kept marveling at how I had full freedom of movement around a game world and could change perspective at will to look at different things, and I remember being impressed with simple things like how good the floors looked and that it was a bit like real grass when the characters got obscured by the texture, or even just how amazing and realistic the ripples on water were when you were splashing through it, or even just the fact that you could freely jump into and splash in ponds in the first place.

     

     

    Soul Calibur

     

    I genuinely thought this was the first photo realistic game this time. The quality of the animation made it look like real people were fighting to me, and the animation was so good and wowed me so much in the unlockable weapon katas it made me take up martial arts.

     

     

    Shenmue

     

    The same system produced what felt like another leap forward. The characters felt like real people with routines and it was the first time I thought of a game world as a real place that you were visiting. The interactions you could have just opening individual drawers and the detail in every single object that could be interacted with including the little capsule toys seemed like playing a game from 10 years in the future.

     

     

    Phantasy Star Online

     

    The Dreamcast was just full of games that did this for me. This was the first time I was teaming up with real human beings online and to say it felt ahead of its time was an understatement and it was like being lost in a futuristic dream.

     

     

    The Metal Gear Solid 2 E3 Trailer

     

    Yeah.

     

     

    Shadow of the Colossus

     

    The sense of scale still gets me to this day. I hadn't imagined just how big it was possible to make a moving character in a game world, let alone one you interact with, and grabbing hold of moss that looked like real moss to climb felt really tactile.

     

     

    World of Warcraft

     

    The first time I stepped into Azeroth it was just a mind blowing experience. Here were hundreds, even thousands of other humans all playing in the same persistent world, where you can explore for hours and encounter different real people as you wander around, who are sharing the same experience as you in a fully 3D fantasy world.

     

     

    Zelda: Skyward Sword

     

    Bit of a left-field choice this one, as I think I had a better experience with the controls than most. For me it just worked, and I never felt so in control of a virtual character before, with the sword copying my movements feeling so natural it seemed weird it hadn't been done before.

    51

    Batman: Arkham VR

    in Discussion

    Posted

    If anyone is on the fence about this due to the price and length: ignore that, it's the best gaming experience of the year. The review scores are stupid because they mark it down for its brevity. A film critic wouldn't do that for a 15 minute short, and nor should any self respecting reviewer do it with this.

    2
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    PlayStation VR

    in Discussion

    Posted

    So I finished Batman at 2am last night (seems to be becoming a habit)...

     

    I think it's the single greatest experience I've had with gaming in about a decade.

    10

    PlayStation VR

    in Discussion

    Posted

    Well I played Rez for 3 hours straight last night with no ill effects.

     

    Fuck me it's an experience and a half. I know people seem to love Area X but personally the highlight for me was the boss in Area 4, which has always been my favourite level. In VR it's like a little slice of heaven.

    4

    PlayStation VR

    in Discussion

    Posted

    Even though I got mine a few days ago, I had a pretty massive headache and was super tired on the day so took an executive decision to wait until I was feeling fresh. Had a night out the day after so that was also off the cards as didn't want to play drunk.

     

    However, today, after the arduous setup and working out how to get it on for the first time around my glasses and getting everything focused...

     

    It's GREAT!

     

    I say this coming from an original Oculus DK1, so the initial mind blowing nature of it was perhaps dampened, but the combination of higher res screen, essentially not really noticeable screen door when focusing on objects, and the ability to lean in and look closer or move around is just a revelation. I'm having a break now because I don't want to overdo it, but here are thoughts on the experiences I've had so far of the demos:

     

    Alumette: the first thing I tried - I felt like the little people were actually there in front of me and looking closer at them it was like interacting with a dolls house. I wanted to reach out and touch everything. Compared to say, the AR on the 3DS, this was just something else entirely.

     

    Battlezone: I was wary of going straight to an action game but thought, fuck it. I was not prepared for how awesome it felt to be in the cockpit. Perhaps a bit intense for a first play, but when I was aiming my turret up and down and noticed the fucking MASSIVE gun moving on the right I let out a little delighted chortle.

     

    Ocean Descent: I think the resolution of the screen is not really good enough for something like this to be as wondrous as it could be, but the sense of scale is unbelievable.

     

    Superhypercube:  Great concept, awesomely psychedelic visuals. But I think this fried my brain and that's why I'm now having a break.

     

    So, to sum up: most gaming journos are joyless idiots.

    4

    RLLMUK's films of the Year - The Eighties (All results declared)

    in Film, TV & Radio

    Posted

    You know, on that note, 1999 was a bumper year for memorable titles, I mean:

     

    Fight Club

    The Matrix

    American Beauty

    The Sixth Sense

    The Blair Witch Project

    Eye Wide Shut

    Toy Story 2

    The Green Mile

    Girl, Interrupted

    Being John Malkovich

    The Mummy

    Notting Hill

    Magnolia

    The Talented Mr. Ripley

    Galaxy Quest

    Mystery Men

    Dogma

    The Iron Giant (:sniff:)

    The 13th Warrior

    South Park

    eXistenZ

    Idle Hands

     

    Although it also brought us Wild Wild West, so I guess it balanced out.

     

    Also something else which we won't speak of.

     

    Spoiler

    something about menacing some phantoms.

     

    1

    RLLMUK's films of the Year - The Eighties (All results declared)

    in Film, TV & Radio

    Posted

    Right, here we go...

     

     

    1980

    1. Kagemusha - another masterpiece from Akira Kurosawa. So many beautiful scenes, layers of black humour, and an enthralling story all the way through.

    2. The Empire Strikes Back - the first Star Wars film captured our imaginations, this one electrified them.

    3, The Shining - every shot is a painstaking work of art.

     

    1981
    1. Raiders of the lost Ark - simply one of the finest action adventure movies ever made.

    2. Time Bandits - I love Terry Gilliam, and this might not be his finest work, but it's inventive, fun, and has one of my favourite versions of the Devil in film.

    3. Mad Max 2 - A very different film to the original, but in many ways containing the same amoral near future horror, this is also one of the finest action films ever made.

     

    1982:

    1. Blade Runner - unquestionably my number one of this year, as it's one of my top 10 films. A truly gorgeous and haunting vision of the future, like a neon-coated dream.

    2. The Dark Crystal - Jim Henson's creations have never been more wild, more inventive, and more emotionally affecting than this. A truly magical and remarkable journey.

    3. Conan the Barbarian - a great year for science fiction and fantasy fans this. Conan is dated in some ways, but the soundtrack elevates this to a perfect fantasy romp.

     

    1983

    1. Return of the Jedi - yes, it has the Ewoks. Yes it's not as good as Empire. But you know what, the space battle at the end is one of the single most exciting scenes of all time.

    2. Scarface - not a film that I'm sure I actually like, but find fascinating. The descent at the end is extremely memorable.

    3. Monty Python's The Meaning of Life - not the Python's best by any stretch, but I have a soft spot for it purely for Eric Idle's Galaxy Song.

     

    1984

    1. The Terminator - a truly tight, brilliantly scored slice of sci-fi horror. Better than its sequel, the effects may be more dated, but the escalating tension is just perfect throughout.

    2. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - an early effort from Studio Ghibli and already showing Miyazaki's genius. A truly wonderful film.

    3. This is Spinal Tap - still just as funny and surprisingly heartwarming as it ever was.

     

    1985

    1. Back to the Future - just endlessly watchable over and over again, as much as it ever was. The time travel was handled just right to suspend disbelief after all these years

    2. Brazil - quite possibly Terry Gilliam's best film. A truly warped and terrifying vision of a retro bureaucratic future, directed with the demented energy only Gilliam can provide.

    3. Commando - it's brash, it's dumb, it's stupid, it's a classic Arnie film. So many guns, so many muscles, so many viewers invited to let off some steam with the utter mayhem.

     

    1986

    1. Aliens - one of the single greatest sci-fi and action movies ever made. Ignoring the slightly ponderous opening sequence added to the special edition, the pace is relentless.

    2. Laputa: Castle in the Sky - quite possibly my favourite Ghibli film. Boundless imagination, delightful characters, and genuine pathos. Ghibli create worlds like no others.

    3. The Hitcher - never has one actor been more terrifying than Rutger Hauer. Unsettling, brutal, and unforgettable.

     

    1987

    1. Evil Dead II - I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the original Evil Dead, though I understand its importance. Evil Dead II however, is scary, hilarious and riotous fun.

    2. Predator - from the typically ultraviolent opening scenes, this could have been just another arnie action movie. But once the hunt starts it's anything but.

    3. Withnail & I - a marvelously mad slice of whimsy and wit.

    4. RoboCop - because fuck complying, it's RoboCop.

     

    1988

    1. Grave of the Fireflies - one of the single most affecting war films I have ever seen. Utterly devastating.

    2. Who Framed Roger Rabbit - truly impressive technically and a love letter to animation itself. Saw this when I was a kid instead of The Jungle Book and it blew my mind.

    3. Akira - truly a great year for animation, Akira is a juggernaut of complex science fiction themes, incredible visuals, and an unforgettable score.

    4. Die Hard - I mean, I so wanted to rate this higher, I just love the other films more, but I still have to mention it because God it's fucking Die Hard, you melon farmers.

     

    1989

    1. Batman - the original and in my opinion still the best batman film, and the template for the outstanding animated series after. Jack Nicholson is just mercurially watchable.

    2. Henry V -  an excellent Branagh adaptation with some truly horrible battle scenes, that feel exhausting and realistic in a way that makes Braveheart seem a bit trite.

    3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - dialing everything up to 11, but in a way that doesn't jump the shark, this is a barnstorming send off for Indy with so many great scenes.

     

    Phew, that was a lot harder than I expected!

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