I’ve been playing a few FPS games again recently after a fairly lengthy break from them. It is amazing how much they stick to convention. They feature the same old gameplay over and over again and the same old problems. Here is my top ten of annoying FPS game design and behaviour.
Enemies spawning in behind me. I just checked that room, it was empty. Why does me standing on this patch of ground cause an angry gunman to materialise there and shoot me in the back? If you are going to keep spawning in enemies around me, at least make them come in from an entrance, don’t just teleport them into the action.
Platform jumps in first-person. Don’t make me judge a jump in first-person, it is just annoying. Having to make jumps that could potentially see you falling to your doom is irritating in any genre but in first-person it is truly horrible.
Linear corridor environments. When I go places in real life I get bored of walking the same routes so I alternate. The same rule applies in games. I understand the need to have linear levels from a technical point of view, especially if your game is heavily scripted but at least give me a bit of choice. Going back and forward through the same section of map over and over is tedious.
Identical map sections. I get an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, have I been here before? No it is just a regurgitated bit of map identical to the bit I just went through in true cartoon style because it is cheaper. If you’re going to have an identical section of map at least change a texture or two, maybe move some pot plants or stick a blood smear on the wall so I can tell which is which.
Camping. I like to run around in FPS multiplayer, people who camp with their sniper rifle fixed on the horizon clenching their buttocks in anticipation are my sworn enemies. When we were designing The Ship we added Needs to drive you round the map and gave your position away to your hunter every so often, partly so campers would be penalised.
Spawn killing. This has been eradicated in decent FPS games and it is quite simple to stick in code which ensures you spawn away from the other players or in a safe zone of some kind. There are few things in life more irritating than spawning in and catching a bullet in the face before you’ve moved from the spot.
Opposing teams with identical uniforms. I really don’t care too much about realism when it comes to uniform visuals in FPS games. I like to play with friendly fire turned on but if two opposing forces are wearing the same uniforms then I find either my team mates get annoyed when I keep shooting them or the pause as I scan the uniform to see if it has an enemy insignia is enough time for them to shoot me in the face. Make them different and if you’ve auto switched my team from red to blue please keep reminding me or I’ll go on a friendly fire killing spree and wonder why the kills seem so easy
Unbalanced weapons and dominant strategies. If there is one approach in the game which works best or one weapon which is clearly more useful than the others then the designer is forcing me to adopt that strategy or use that weapon if I want to compete. I want some choice damn it.
NPC’s who don’t react to anything I do. I love Half Life 2 for this. The moment where you knock over the monitor in the professor’s office and he tells you off is awesome design. If I walk off while a character is talking to me then they should react or stop talking until I return. If you don’t want me to shoot the guy in the head to see what will happen then take away the option. I like the system where you automatically lower your weapon when talking to an ally. The worst case scenario is a character explaining a mission while I shoot him repeatedly in the head with no effect and then run out of the room with the sound of him droning on continuing behind me. If you don’t have the resources to do responses then just freeze me for the dialogue.
Stupid AI. This can manifest itself in so many ways and despite the fantastical claims made by many games AI characters are generally very stupid or at least simple in terms of behaviour. Path finding flaws are the most common, where you find an AI running into a wall because they can’t reach their destination. Perhaps the worst AI I’ve seen was in a game I won’t name but they had obviously been told to zero in on the player’s location, the problem was they apparently wanted to stand inside your body before attacking you which resulted in them running straight at you and then firing from point blank range. It is tough to approximate humans too, AI are typically idiots at movement but fantastic shots capable of hitting you in the face from miles away. To be honest I think the only way you get a real challenge in an FPS game without playing against code which effectively cheats is to play other people.
Got something else to add to the list? Post a comment.
This is a great time of year for gamers. There are so many good releases that your only problem is choosing what to play. The big franchises don’t disappoint and for me Pro Evo still beats FIFA. I’m also finding Football Manager 2010 ridiculously addictive.
I reviewed Chinatown Wars on the PSP the other day and it’s my least favourite GTA game but still one of the best titles on the PSP. You can check out the review here. Actually getting the game working was a bit of a hassle. I got sent a code for it so I went to the PlayStation Store on my PS3 and entered the code. The game popped up and I downloaded it onto my PS3 hard drive, so far, so good. It didn’t take long to download and I plugged my PSP into the PS3 with the controller USB cable and downloaded the game onto the PSP. Once again it was nice and quick with no hassles.
Awesome, I thought, that was easy and I went to load up the game on the PSP. Denied, I need a software update before I can play the game. How do I get a software update for the PSP? Can I just hook it up to my PS3 again and do it the same way as I downloaded the game? No. I have to connect to my wireless network and get it directly. This meant configuring a new network connection on the PSP which actually proved to be pretty easy since I have a wireless router with a WEP key printed on the bottom. I entered the key, it connected and downloaded the update before auto installing it which probably took as long as it had taken me to download and install the game but at least it worked.
In the end it wasn’t too bad and it definitely took less time than going to the shop to physically pick up a copy would have. I’m a fan of buying and downloading games and I buy the vast majority of my PC games through Steam. I’ll probably do the same for the PSP from now on, we just need full console games to adopt the same system and we’ll never have to go to the shops again.
As predicted the PlayStation 3 is about to get support for streaming movies. The Netflix service will be offered on your PS3 before the end of the year. You can pay a monthly subscription to Netflix (from $8.99) and get access to TV shows and thousands of movies. You can also stream Blu-rays but apparently at first you’ll need a special disc to make it work. The streaming disc will be free. The same service costs $50 a year on the Xbox 360.
This is great news for US PS3 owners but what about the UK? Apparently similar plans are afoot but no announcement as of yet. Hurry up damn it! I want my streaming movies!
Crates have been an ever present feature of gaming since the days of Doom. The perfect crouching cover, climbing step, space filler and smashable hiding place for pick ups. Then there’s the king of crates - the exploding variety. Only barrels have even come close to appearing in as many games as crates and yet for all their cameos crates have never been center stage. Well get excited because that’s all about to change, crates have finally got their own game! It’s called Crate Expectations and it’s an awesomely addictive wee puzzler. Behold the trailer.
Now tell me you’re not excited. I’ve been playing a nearly finished build all night and it is fiendishly addictive. The simple aim is to slide your crates from point A to point B, you play against 2 opponents and the winner is the first to deliver 5 crates to point B. This simple premise is deliciously spiced up by the ability to add ice blocks and aid your passage or block your opponents. It manages to capture that kind of Bomberman feel and the easily picked up mechanics allow for a surprising level of tactical deviousness.
Icy winter wonderland maps provide a variety of grids to negotiate and you can play against AI or human opponents. The art style is cute and colourful and the whole thing has been put together with a good level of polish.
Where can I buy it? I hear you shouting. Well hold on there for a minute. You’ll need to wait a while for the PC release but you will be able to buy it on Xbox Live Indie Games by the end of the month. Even better it will cost less than a cup of coffee. The crate related puns alone are worth the price tag.
Mostly Batman: Arkham Asylum which is as good as everyone says it is. You can read my Batman: Arkham Asylum review or the Combat Guide and Hints & Tips. It is the best mainstream game I’ve played in ages and it doesn’t really do anything especially original or unique it is simply very well made, cinematic and highly polished. It’s the first game I’ve actually gone back and played after completing in years. If you are going to get it buy the PS3 version because you get to play the bonus challenges as the Joker as well.
The other game which has managed to pinch a few hours is Majesty 2. I did a review for Boomtown last month and then a strategy guide the other day. It is a nice RTS with a twist in that you don’t control units directly you offer them rewards to do things for you. It actually works very well and if anyone remembers the original game you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
The dud of the recent bunch was definitely Raven Squad, here’s the review. It was billed as an RTS and FPS cross which I suppose it kind of is but sadly it crosses a bad RTS with a bad FPS.
As the console war continues to escalate Sony are really sticking it to the competition….. better late than never. Since announcing the price cut and the new slim version of the PS3 they have shifted over 1 million units worldwide.
Microsoft were quick to announce their own price cut to keep the Xbox 360 in line with the PS3 at $299, although the Xbox 360 lacks Blu-ray. Now Nintendo have announced a price cut for the Wii amidst falling sales. They have knocked $50 off the lightweight console making it $199.99.
In a clear sign that the gloves are well and truly off just hours after the announcement from Nintendo, Sony revealed plans for a new motion controller for the PS3. It will have two motion sensors, a gyroscope and an accelerometer. This will bring Wii style functionality to the PS3 and it is due to be released in Spring 2010. They actually announced it back at E3 but now it has a release date and this was obviously intended to take the shine off the Wii price cut. Here’s the demo from E3 in case you missed it.
In the UK Nintendo have refused to pass along the price drop. They are offering the console for the same price of £199 but offering an extra game. Great! So it is actually now more expensive in the UK than it was on release and more expensive here than anywhere else in the world. Nintendo are not winning me over.
The use of Kurt Cobain’s likeness in Guitar Hero 5 has caused a fairly big uproar. His old band mates from Nirvana have condemned it and more recently Jon Bon Jovi weighed in agreeing with Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic that it is distasteful. Cobain’s ex naturally came out and had a moan as well even though it was her that signed an agreement with Activision allowing the use of his likeness. In typical Courtney Love style she leeches yet more money from the memory of her husband while simultaneously moaning about it.
There is no doubt that he would not have approved and that’s reason enough to not do it. Have some respect you big business whores. Reviving corpses to make extra money is a filthy act. We were all screwed on this after the first big profile case when the family of Steve McQueen agreed to line their own pockets and let Ford use him in a car advert, splicing together footage from his films. It seems you no longer have any rights after you die and your greedy, graspy family can whore your likeness out to the highest bidder.
Sadly there isn’t too much we can do about Cobain in Guitar Hero 5 other than not buy it. This is the only way the game was going to get this level of publicity because it is a tired series which has pushed on past its sell by date. Just like the truly great bands you have to die or break up to leave a genuinely awesome legacy.
Talking about celebrity appearances in videogames it may be too late for Kurt but we can do something to prevent Ant and Dec appearing in videogame form. I’m referring to this story at MCV which reports that Nintendo have signed them up. Prepare for the ultimate awful Wii release. I’m not against them using a videogame likeness of Ant and Dec out of respect, more because they are a couple of overexposed no talent arseholes. For non UK readers who have never heard of them, I envy you.
The recent tweaks made by the PlayStation 3 Firmware 3.0 update may not have blown your socks off but there is one addition that is proving super popular here in the UK. Since they added the BBC iPlayer link to the XMB the PS3 now accounts for 10% of all iPlayer usage. Macs only account for 8.5%.
The presentation on the PS3 is very nice and iPlayer is awesome, offering many of the BBC’s programs from the last seven days as free streams. It works well but no one could have expected such a massive instant response.
Is there any escape from spammers? Well not if you’re online there isn’t. In fact spammers are even infiltrating games now. They are approaching gamers in MMO games like World of Warcraft and touting in game items and levelled up characters in exchange for cash.
Sony Online Entertainment have decided enough is enough and they’ve put together a team of spam busters who police games like Everquest and Free Realms stalking spammers and building up a picture of their evil organisation. Just like undercover cops they wait to find Mr Big before they call SWAT in and fill them all full of lead…or ban their accounts at least.
Most of these characters farms are based outside the reach of the US so there isn’t much the publishers and developers can do about the trade which is estimated to be worth several million dollars every year. You can read about this in more detail here.
I love the idea of that job working for Sony. What is their job title? Virtual Detective? MMOG Police? It must feel really rewarding to bust spammers, they should raid them in game and stick their characters in stocks for gamers to throw rotten veg at before they ban their accounts. Then hang, draw and quarter them and leave their heads on poles as a warning to other spammers.
I’ve been playing a few FPS games again recently after a fairly lengthy break from them. It is amazing how much they stick to convention. They feature the same old gameplay over and over again and the same old problems. Here is my top ten of annoying FPS game design and behaviour.
I reviewed Chinatown Wars on the PSP the other day and it’s my least favourite GTA game but still one of the best titles on the PSP. You can check out the 
Mostly Batman: Arkham Asylum which is as good as everyone says it is. You can read my 
The recent tweaks made by the 