Which Witcher is Which?

Ahhh yes, it's like getting into a warm bath that soothes every aching gaming thought I've had while weathering through the last few months of gaming. This game has been given RPG of the year for 2007 with good reason.

The Witcher (Click here to visit the official website and possibly download a demo). Is a sweet return the days of Baldur's Gate and Diablo. I won't get into iteration wars here, suffice to say if you enjoyed one of those games your probably played all the sequels. That's the way it should be for the The Witcher.

To give you a taste of the story, which comes from a number of tales written by polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, the game gives you a well narrated action packed CG intro movie, in which you will probably come to appreciate the character Geralt, whom you play. You are then thrust into a future where you have no memory of who you are and get to avenge your past and carve out a new name for yourself in a dark and hostile land.

I'm only a few levels into the game so far, but there is more than enough depth to keep me interested, the plot so far has given me a taste of good things to come, and the adult aspects of this RPG lead me to believe we can only expect true to life characters throughout this tale's twists and turns.

I will keep this blog posted with updates on my progress, and all you veterans out there feel free to throw me a bone with helpful suggestions.

Here's to a beautiful dawn in the RPG gaming era.

What the Hellgate?

What the hell just happened?

I think I just finished Hellgate: London last night. I put emphasis on the "think" part because I'm really not sure. You see, like most people I was intrigued and drawn in by this gorgeous intro movie, but I think it was a sham, they sold me snake oil and took DAYS of my life away.

***Warning: Spoilers Below***
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So as you can see in the video above, there is a well laid path for an intricate and deep plot. A young daughter gets saved because she has a destiny. But in reality, that destiny doesn't turn out to be all that interesting. You get a small hint late in the game that the little girl's father (who you will see in a full intro movie from the game) sacrificed himself so that humanity's survivors could go into hiding, but this is where things start to unravel.

You see, to make the plot a little more unnatural and epic they included these "Truths". They give all these speeches about the virtues that will save humanity, that will allow you to fight the demons, to attack the Hellgate itself. But they are incredibly overdone and the "glamour" fades long before the end of the game. Even the final speech about "hope" seems more of a cop-out on the game's part than anything else, like saying "oops, well we can't build up to a really terrific ending (especially since that might stop us from making tons of sequels), so .. we'll just have to send you to battle in Hell ..."

Then on top of that .. well .. here watch this movie of the end of the game.

Now, have you seen everything? That's you, battling in hell, ouu scary! :p See I know this falls into myth and religion, and that Hell is supposed to be the ultimate "bad place", but really can't you get a little more creative? I mean your dealing with "the dark" which has supposedly destroyed thousands of worlds, why can't you be taken through what you've called a "Hellgate" (accept the fact that it's just some religious archetype that your culture or history provided) and end up on a more interesting wasteland of a world were the demons .. or "the dark" began, or are at least based out of.

On TOP of the poorly pieced together ending, the game isn't really over .. AT ALL .. in any sense of the world "over". They want you to keep playing on and on, until the expansion comes out .. then you can play some more. All the buildup leads you to a battle that you obviously cannot win, and Earth is still stricken with the plague of demons. I mean, there's really nothing good about this ending at all. You kill one big baddy, you lose your sorcerer, if you hang out in the hellgate entrance long enough you'll see that all the templars DIE, and the Hellgate is still there, just hanging out .. letting demons pour through it. They even put effort into developing the pseudo-science/magic of this universe and they don't even apply it to the hellgate (something which must be maintained, or powered, and can be taken down or turned off).

Anyway, I think the moral of the story is that my original fear is partly well founded. Gaming companies are being run as successful businesses, but the business has been inbred into the games. It's all about only putting in enough effort to sell the game, not develop something awesome. Even games like Gears of War ended this way. They only include enough cutscenes and content to keep you playing until the next add-on comes out for sale. I'd love to see how much they spend on advertising and how much is actually spent on the game. On top of this the online was very buggy on its initial release, which was supposed to be a huge part of the game.

For those interested, here's a movie of what looks to be the expansion. Here's hoping it's a little more content oriented.

Mmmmm PORTALicious

I recently read an interview on WIRED.com with one of the original bloggers. This guy looks like he's seen a lot, and done a lot, and missed his barber appointments for the last 10 years, but he made some vital points.

1. Blogging isn't about re-hashing some topic you're interested in, it's about searching for articles that already exist online about said topic, and linking to them.

2. Original BLOGS were just logs were people tracked URLs.

Now these points aren't an attempt at shooting myself and many other bloggers in the feet. I believe part of blogging is sharing an opinion or perspective, that someone else might not have seen before, and hoping that someone finds it funny, or interesting, or enlightening.

The problem with blogging about video games is that there are A LOT of people that do it already, and for the most part you can do a random google search and find out whether or not a video game is worth buying or playing etc. So why read? Well I guess here, and in many other blogs (but not all of them) I will try to stick to the habit of actually posting worthwhile links. That old somewhat scary looking guy had a point, or 10 ...

Useful Portal Links:

Fileplanet Free Maps - These are a fun, but hard, way to fill that empty hole Portal leaves in a wall somewhere (and in your heart) when you finish the game.

Portal Maps Fansite - There are a lot of maps here, and though they seem poorly organized, I'm sure there are some winners.

VG Cats Flash Portal Video - This one is only for when you've finished the game, it will make you laugh and reminisce and want to play it all over again ... maybe for some cake?


So, in case you haven't seen any other sites about Portal, played the game, or heard that the hype is reality, turn off your computer and go to the nearest shrine of video game provisions. Go buy this game, you'll get 4 other games with it in the Orange Box and you too can have cake .. maybe.

New Year, New Fear

To all the ladies out there who used to think of Heath Ledger as a heart-throb I have nothing to say except,

"...what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger." - Joker (Dark Knight 2008)

To all the guys. If you haven't seen this yet, please indulge yourself. It's decadent like a velvet chocolate cake with scary little leprechaun hallucinogens baked in.

Now if they can keep this new birth of the Batman series alive with as much grit and Gothic texture I'd love to see what they continue to do with Lazarus, The Riddler ... and all the other worthwhile villains of Gotham.

And now for something Completely Different!

Actually I lied. I justed wanted to quote Monty Python. This is another fear, relating back to a previous post about the BEASTLY nature of Hellgate: London. I'm sure given the thorough discipline of any high school computer geek you could zip through this game in a few all nighters, but it's taking a hell of a lot longer to get through it casually. I'm lvl 21, and I've beaten a number of big baddies, got some neat gear, and enjoyed it all so far, but I've yet to see another cut scene!

I fear that my most favorite form of video game reward has gone the way of genital piercing, companies only do it once and then lose the balls to do it again. Is it really that painful? (making cut scenes .. not piercing your nibbly bits) Sure it takes time, but you can often use it to market the game, and then the full version of these videos live on inside and out of the game as a vivid memory of awesome moments, forever immortalized in online music videos. I mean, if you've played Diablo do you think it would have been the same without the great story and well placed CG movies to drag you into hell? I really hope this fear is unfounded and I get rewarded with more videos as I finish the games I've enjoyed so far this year.

Back to the grindstone, lvl 25 hear I come!

Hellgate London is predictably a BEAST

Ok this is just a short post to warn any of you addicts out there craving a fix. Hellgate London is a ride that only the experienced gamer should be taking. Do not take this warning lightly. It will test the limits of your system, especially if you don't have a brand spankin new graphics card that supports Active X 10. On top of that they have really gone for a recreation of the Diablo and Diablo 2 realms so that they can keep you collecting, upgrading and crafting for ALL ETERNITY!

On the plus side I have a really cool rocket launcher and I'm only level 10 :)

But seriously folks, don't plug in unless your ready to face the time stealing, hot poker eyes from your girlfriend, parents wondering what happened to you for the last few months, unshakable "I need a fix" feeling that emanates from the Hellgate.

I am the incarnation of Aunt Flow

Once a month isn't that bad for a blog, .. or is it? I guess if it's something you dread, that changes your life irrevocably (like dear old Aunt Flow) then once a month might be considered too often.

Regardless we're here with a couple little tidbits for you dear reader.

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BIOSHOCK

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Recently I had the pleasure of playing this years premier first person shooter. I hesitate to call it just a first person shooter because it contained so much more than that. A lot of players and writers agree that the simple dedication illustrated in the art, style and story of Bioshock have made it a next_gen game.

From the moment the curtains open on a mysterious flight and a convoluted main character you are teased and coaxed into a world that is definitely not your own, or is it? Memories, or ghost sightings, friends or enemies, little children or horrible monsters? You are left to decide what is real and what is malleable. You can choose some of the outcome of the game, and even though it's a small choice the moral weight it carries lifts this game into a realm of great interactive storytelling.

Now as difficult as it is to put aside the fantastic plot, with its twists and seeming dead ends, to do justice we must look at the mechanics of the game as well. I don't want this to turn into some formal process, but the choice of weapons (which go back to the surreal 40's 50's style armaments) are key. Having the ability to upgrade these weapons for different effects, and also use different kinds of ammunition, adds so much to the game mechanics. On top of that, you have your Plasmids, which are tied very closely to the storyline. They may appear to be just another form of magic, but the science fiction that draws you into the story proves that ADAM is more than myth and magic. If that doesn't make sense to you, then take my explanation as just another attempt to make you go out and buy BIOSHOCK. You won't be disappointed.

2kGames Bioshock Website

We're BAAACK!

The future is an uncertain thing. It's like a liquid soup of destiny that can slip through your grasp as you reach for your goals, desires and dreams. However if you learn to cup your hands together you can dip into your future and drink deeply.

Here at Working Title, or www.3dgamer.blogspot.com we cup our hands together and bow our heads as a sign of respect and apology.

We had a small community of enthusiastic writers that wanted to create something fun, something worthwhile, something all about video games. But we reached out too far, we dug too deep and our attempt at a new and interesting source of gamer news failed.

So now I am probably the soul surviving writer that will continue on here.

I'd like to establish this as a PC gaming blog, but I know I will touch on more than that .. like awesome webcomics, other systems and all the delicious paraphernalia that feeds the typical geek's addictions.

Like Nintendo's "Blue Ocean" strategy that won them so much acclaim for the Wii, we'll cover a lot that's out there and maybe some stuff that's not, appealing to a market that's huge, because it doesn't exist ... yet.

For now I'll thank anyone that takes the time to, come and glance at old posts, and comment on new things that peak their interest. Hopefully you'll see some content that will make you want to return.