Living Up to the Hype?

Hype is the unavoidable beast in media, a geek generated hysteria which when at its largest can render a game the second coming or the ultimate disappointment. Hype, to me, is like the nuclear powered logger from Thunderbirds, it hacks its way through the forest of gaming discussion destroying anything that dares to oppose its power. If handled correctly it can guarantee sales but at its worse one mistake can bring everything tumbling down or hinder a titles popularity. The magnitude of hype that has followed Halo 3 for the past year and a half is the Holy Grail of marketing for a number of reasons, namely that most of the advertising is done by the gamers themselves with forum discussion, role playing or flash games.

Assassins Creed wowed the gaming public with its CG trailers in 2006, the blend of Prince of Persia acrobatics and the atmospheric setting started to power up the hype machine, however at E3 this year the ever lovely Jade Raymond showed us a disappointing demo. It was too simple and clearly unfinished, the animations weren’t as fluid as we hoped and the combat system was far too watered down. The result was a loss of faith in the game and in a year so chock full of titles; unless you’re lucky enough to be filthy rich then you have to be careful as to what you buy.

Call of Duty 4, which came out of nowhere and made fans of the crowd at the E3 Microsoft Conference with a stunning gameplay video which showed that the series still had life in it despite the change in setting, later on during their presentation they also announced that they would follow the trend started by Bungie, a public Beta. These Betas are superb marketing tools; Halo 3’s was a resounding success, a reward to the gamers for their allegiance to the series. These Betas are major events, thousands of people will want to take the opportunity to play a game before its release and it’s also the best way to test servers so the game runs smoother come its release.

If a hype machine crashes, sometimes it’s a small repair before it’s up and running again but other times it becomes a full blown disaster that doesn’t just render the game a failure but can destroy developers credibility and ruin entire franchises. Oh yes, it’s that old chestnut Driv3r, the gaming equivalent of Pearl Harbour.

Tanner was back, the game was going to give players a chance to have Hollywood style police chases, the game that would blow Grand Theft Auto out the water, it was going to be awesome, then it came out. I don’t think the gaming industry had seen such a dark time since Atari and the ET fiasco way back in the 80s. There was mass panic in the streets (read: internet), rampant ‘discussion’ everywhere over the suspicious scores given by some magazines most notably PSM2’s 9/10 which in turn began the wild conspiracy theories about pay offs and such which will forever be known as Driv3rgate.

Bioshock, the highly anticipated release from Irrational suffered a unique problem linked to its hype. The major websites had all rated it so highly ranking the game up there with other classics but when Edge magazine decided to give it an 8 all hell broke loose. The majority agreed that the game was good but this 8 began the argument about just how good it the game was, ridiculous as it sounds. Many a gamer were actually arguing that the game was a 9 rather then a 10 which is frankly ludicrous considering that both clearly loved the game. Many argued that the positive reviews (not that Edge’s wasn’t positive) were influenced by the games hype and that Edge gave it the correct score. Then there was the trouble of the actual review text, it was negative throughout and read more like a 7/10. Did Edge write a negative review to counter the positive ones? Did they do it to stand out and gain sales? Probably but the silliest thing of all is that an Edge 8 is a damn fine score to have anyway. It all just comes to down to the most hated thing on the internet, opinions.

Killzone, touted a Halo killer throughout its development the Playstation community waited patiently as they finally got the FPS franchise they had dreamt for. The outstanding graphics! The fluid reload animation! The evil Hellghast! The space marines, oh God the space marines! PS2 owners got their Kleenex out as the release date neared; November 26th 2004 was going to be a day all gamers would remember. They were right, just for all the wrong reasons. It was a distinctly average game that had and still has many people in denial as they realised the game mechanics weren’t quite as good as the reload animations.

Some games though never get the hype they deserve, Psychonauts, Phoenix Wright, Killer 7 are all example of great games that never made the big time due to their unique design and gameplay. Phoenix Wright is a series that has been a massive success in Japan for year but when it made it to the West it didn’t enjoy as much success. These games are released but soon forgotten by the masses whilst their niche continues to play and stand up the game on forums across the web. Forever more will the topic of “Most Underrated Game” be associated with Ubisoft’s Beyond Good and Evil.

My final example is a game with such a massive hype machine that as the release date got delayed and delayed and delayed once more the wait was almost painful. I know many people who would have gladly hunted down Gabe Newell, put a gun to his head and forced him to release Half Life 2 no matter how many little bugs needed ironing out. It was a long wait, a very long wait that tested many gamers’ faith to the franchise. It was worth it in the end but the psychological splash damage was going to leave a footprint on the games history.

So as the Hype machine slows down for Halo 3 we can see the effects of Hype on our not so little hobby, it can work wondrously, it can hinder a game, it can be mistakenly none existent, or it can just be an all out catastrophe. But then again if the game is good it has nothing to worry about.

Or does it?

The Bourne Ultimatum (Greengrass, 2007)

2007 will be remembered as a year of disappointing climaxes to what could have been truly memorable trilogies. Don’t get me wrong, Pirates of the Caribbean and Spiderman both had fairly good threequels but they still left a sour taste in the mouths of many who expected films of equal greatness to Spiderman 2 and Curse of the Black Pearl. The Bourne trilogy was the last major trilogy to close and with the sour taste still lingering it would be understandable that the Bourne fan base were cautious as the hype machine progressed. Bourne was always different though, a more realistic approach to spy thrillers that had enough influence to shake the very foundations of the Bond franchise forcing a fresher, grittier look to take centre stage for the 21st film, Casino Royale.

The story of one Jason Bourne began with The Bourne Identity back in 2002 with the tale of an assassin who suffers from amnesia struggling against the agency that nurtured him. In the sequel The Bourne Supremacy, Bourne comes to terms with his past and makes a journey to Russia to apologise to the daughter of the targets in his first mission. The climax to this trilogy sees Bourne attempt to find out who he was before the mysterious Project Treadstone agency made him an assassin. The first two films had some brilliant action sequences like the chase at the end of Supremacy and when Bourne took the fight to Treadstone at the end of Identity but both are outdone by the Waterloo scene near the beginning of this film. It brings together all the elements of the films that people love most into one scene culminating in a scene reminiscent of a fast and frantic game of human chess. It’s a scene that will no doubt become a classic over the years.

As Bourne, Matt Damon provides a stellar performance blending his character’s coolness under pressure and is frustration perfectly. In his journey he wants again bumps into Nicky as played by Julia Stiles, too much of a coincidence perhaps but still the right side of believable. On the other side we have Pamela Landy played by Joan Allen who seems to be only one not intent of killing Bourne off and keeping Treadstone and subsequently Operation Black Briar a secret. She understands Bourne and the two know this, this leads to another scene of “I’m watching you” phone call that without spoiling it, provides the film’s twist.

The main fight sequence of the film takes place in Tangier after another thrilling chase sequence in which Bourne and Nicky are avoiding an agent named Desh. When Bourne and Desh finally fight we’re treated to a blood thirsty, hard hitting and ultimately brutal fight which sees both men destroy the apartment as they throw each other into tables and book cases. Another staple of a Bourne film are the car chases, Ultimatum is no different with a chase in New York which rips apart a number of cars and ends in a spectacular crash. These sequences are what make the film, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats with Paul Greengrass’ trademark shaky cam adding a level of realism and the feeling that we’re in the action. The cherry on top that truly made this film a classic in my eyes was the ending which keeps the audience guessing with held breath, the suspense is paramount in this scene resulting in an ending that not only brings the trilogy full circle but leaves the viewer with a sense that they witnessed something special. An ending so undeniably perfect no more sequels are needed.

It’s rare in this day and age that a film series keeps its focus for so long and manages to produce quality entertainment from the first frame till the last. The Bourne trilogy is an unforgettable classic of the modern age, a summer blockbuster that doesn’t turn to clichés and doesn’t patronise its audience. It’s hard to find a fault in this film, if you loved the first then you owe it to yourself to discover how it ends because it’s a cinema experience to never, ever forget.

10/10

Bioshock (360)

Hype machines can be very dangerous things; whilst ultimately good for sales they can cause disappointment when a game has massive expectations to live up to. Throughout its development Bioshock has been slowly but surely building a reasonable fan base, most likely the same gamers that enjoyed System Shock 2 all those years ago from the same developer. It was the fortnight leading up to the games release however when the internet went into overload as review scores hailed this game as the best thing since sliced bread and lavished praise on it like it was the newest Zelda title.

It’s certainly a good looking beast; Irrational have clearly but a huge amount of effort into the design of Rapture and the use of lighting to make this deep-sea Utopia a beautiful but haunting place to not only fight but survive. The biggest box to tick on Irrationals list would be to make Rapture look convincing not only as a once thriving city but as one from the fifties. Both of these were nailed and what’s been created is one of the greatest gaming worlds ever created, there’s more than enough to keep environments fresh and interesting as the game progresses.

The same can’t be said of the enemies though of which are all the same height and weight and only attack in a couple of different ways. There are the Splicers which can vanish and re-appear at will, the Splicers who cartwheel around you and cling to the ceiling and finally the regular gun-totting Splicers. It never becomes an annoyance which hinders the game to a great extent but after so long you can’t help but get a little bored as yet another Splicer attacks you. Splicers represent the only constant threat to your safety in the game with gun turrets and security bots being hackable through a rather nifty mini game to then be used against your enemies.

However the most important character in the build up was the guy that symbolises what Bioshock is all about, the constant menacing threat, the brutal offence and the mystery surrounding them. The Big Daddy’s have become so popular that they’ve made toys of them to go with the special edition which is saying something because this is an 18 rated game and certainly not for children. Their purpose is to protect the little sisters who are the games source of Adam which is needed to buy upgrades and new plasmids. The Big Daddies are there to protect the Little Sisters who wander the city looking for corpses to extract Adam from. They won’t hurt you unless you hurt them or the Sisters but when you need to defeat one and therefore get to the Little Sister, then they’ll do anything to beat you. The Bouncers (one of two types of Daddy) are the familiar ones with the spherical helmets and massive drill, these guys will charge you at incredible speed and smack you around like a rag doll. These guys are much harder to defeat then the Rosie types who are equipped with guns and throw proximity mines at you. These are basically the games Boss Battles and they’re challenging to say the least, to defeat them you’ll have to use almost all your ammo and more importantly your surroundings to eventually kill them.

Once they’re defeated you’ll then get to the sisters, this is when you get a moral choice, do you harvest the sister of all her Adam and kill her in the process or do you save them and only get half the available Adam. On paper this was a great idea but in action it doesn’t work, the sisters are barely human in appearance with massive glowing eyes so there’s no feeling of killing a child involved which no doubt would put some people off. Another reason is that if you do harvest them the character blacks out leaving only the parasite which controls them in your hands, if the death was more gruesome it would also add to the moral dilemma. This is definitely a missed opportunity.

Whilst there is a sense of disappointment with the enemies, the ways in which you can dispatch of them is more than satisfactory. The set of weapons available in the game all have their advantages and each feels much different from the other which is an occurrence rare in most first person shooters, another rare occurrence in the FPS genre is the ability to fire different types of ammo from the same guns which is a great feature making certain enemies easier to kill. With your right hand occupied with weapons your left hand is where the plasmids lie, these genetic “enhancements” created by the ominous Andrew Ryan give you many powers which can be used as methods of attack or methods of evasion. There are also various tonics littered through the city which power you up as you advance allowing you to hack faster or deliver an electric shock to foes who get a little too close for comfort.

It’s rare for a game to have a story quite like Bioshock’s, it’s a twisting tale superbly told with some exceptional voice acting. As your character goes through the game, parts of a wider story are told through the various audio logs you find. There’s a massive twist in the game which I wont spoil but it’s very well done and the clues left through the game are subtle enough not to make you realise what’s really going on. Whilst this may have been penned as an RPG the RPG elements seem to pale in comparison to other genres which Irrational have incorporated into Bioshock. This is more of a hyphen-tastic, first-person-survival-horror-shooter with emphasis on the survival part. As you walk the city you always feel like a stranger to their world and an intruder, in parts where ammo is scarce you’ll find yourself running back to the nearest health station fully aware of the Splicers chasing you. It’s surprising that you get such a sense of survival when if you die you immediately respawn in a vita-chamber not so far away, if those chambers were replaced with loading to the last save then this game could have been much more terrifying.

In the end this is undoubtedly a fantastically made game with a massive effort put into the design aspects, so much so in fact that it’s almost as if they put less effort into some other areas. It still has enough variety to see you through the game but second and third run-throughs could be tedious. It’s a game that’s rare these days, one that’s original in so many areas and doesn’t patronise gamers with clichés. It’s a game that’s also an experience and for that it’s an essential game, now would you kindly buy this game, it needs to be played.

8/10

Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)

I never did “get” point and click games, I didn’t understand where the fun would be in just clicking somewhere on a screen every so often. The hype surrounding Phoenix Wright (on the internet at least) was pretty big but I still didn’t see the appeal. I wanted to try it out though and once I got it, I couldn’t put it back down. On top of re-taking my DS from my mum and her Brain Training I finally got a reason to be interested in the DS which I had since launch.

The game is all about story telling and setting up the characters, you can almost hear Gumshoe’s big dopey voice and Edgeworth’s authoritative tone in your head as you read intently, working out the case in hand. And it’s these cases that make the game, they’re all completely over the top and all have a great sense of humour, where else can you cross examine a parrot. When you’re not in the courtroom you’re investigating with your “sidekick” Maya who helps you out as you go along, as you search through the various crime scenes and other places of interest you talk to a wider variety of characters like Mrs Oldbag the security lady and the big boobed, pink haired April May. However as much fun as it is hunting for clues, the real fun occurs in the courtroom.

It’s in the courtroom where the drama of the game takes over; it all starts off simply enough with you cross examining witnesses. You can point out the contradictions in their testimonies and get closer to the truth but when it finally all clicks and you work it out, the dramatic music kicks in and it’s a frantic time presenting the evidence and watching the witness get increasingly worried. It’s a brilliant moment but it can also be the games undoing because if you work it out before Phoenix does, finding clues can be tedious as can working your way through the day in court before you can finally reveal what you know at the end at the end.

It’s an interactive comic book at heart, it certainly has the look with some brilliant character design and it’s very well written with a great sense of humour as I’ve mentioned. The only gripes I have are that’s its too short and there is no replay value at all, a bit like watching an episode of Inspector Morse again, you know what happens and how it’s worked out so what’s the point? It’s incredibly linear which is hardly unexpected in a game like this but they could have made up for it with a load more cases. There are only four proper cases in the game and I don’t really want to fork out full price for another four or five in the sequel.

It’s certainly fun and is a great little handheld game but it’s shortness and lack of replay value are pretty big gripes but despite that it’s funny and good way to spend a lunch time.

7/10