Borderlands

Posted by Milko Aritonoski

Lewt me baby, one more time...

Shiny!

Grinding (that never ending cycle of repetitive actions for the sake of rewards) has recently flourished as a gameplay addition in almost all segments of gaming. Not that It wasn't present before (we had it portioned in tiny segments in almost all genres of games). However, with the enormous rise of the MMO culture in the past decade or so, some developers have started to develop games with griding encased in their essence.

Apart from MMORPG's which are prime promoters of the "quest/reputation/raid - grind" idea, this segment has started to implement itself in many other genres as well. RPG's are especially prone to it's "benevolence" and the last to have fallen to its seductive powers is Borderlands - the very game that will be the topic of this review. Now I must point out that I have nothing against games and genres (in particular) that base themselves around repetition with the promise of better loot. All that "grind talk" from early on was to introduce the healthy (or unhealthy) influence on the game itself which you might experience after you decided to try it out.

Yeah, I learned the true meaning of "Borderlands" the hard way... sigh...

In essence, Borderlands is a first person shooter with roll playing elements and a grind system that will drive players forward by acquiring better items for their character. It's a well developed and pretty straight forward formula and it's proven many times over by its successful and very famous... uhm, "users" (Diablo and World of Warcraft come to mind). My own definition of Borderlands would be "Diablo with guns in a Mad Max setting." And it fits pretty well. There are tons of different items and equipment you get from doing quests or slain enemies (or hidden chests); the quests are given through a standard (yet humorous) texts and the enemies are pretty much a variation of road riders with baseball masks.

The story revolves around a mysterious, alien built "Vault" on the distant planet of Pandora which has been a target of many treasure ("vault") hunters, including the four main protagonists. You get to choose one of those "bastards" for the upcoming journey. There's the Hunter - a sniping specialist who has a birdy as his special ability; Lilith - a siren that is great with SMG's and has the power to phase walk; Brick - a self explanatory name for a 10 foot tall berserker who can bash the living hell out of enemies with his fists; Soldier - the most balanced class of all who can deploy a turret to mow down enemies. This is of course, the description given in the selection menu (well, more or less) and to be honest, there isn't a penality (or a bonus) for using just one class of weapons that will make you choose one class over the other. Well, OK, the special abilities do represent a certain... ehm, trait, in the whole gameplay process but I don't think it will matter that much once you find your first shotgun.

Weird Angel Lady... get off my screen!

Once you've chosen your class you get this weird message from an "angel lady" who claims that the Vault is real and that she will guide you to it. Then you get off the bus, receive your brand new GUI and finally, you are ready to shoot things. That's not to say shooting is what you will always do. Quests are the integral driving force of the gameplay and the progression is bound to them. Quests give experience which you will (naturally) need for leveling up. Each level grants you more health and also, special points which you can use to upgrade your abilities. Each class has three skill trees with unique special abilities. Some special class items further complement skills and are very useful later on in the game. Back to quests-town, you will get a simple variety and some cleverly written texts that will usually make you got shoot someone for his possession, scavenge for missing parts, find the missing person, resolve a dispute (by shooting the other party) and a varietion between the three.

The main problem with quests is closely tied to the level up system. It's due to leveling up so fast that some quests quickly become obsolete and there's really no point of going back to complete them. Also, while some quests are truly inspiring with the whacky objectives and cleaver use of in-game mechanics, some are repeated far too often, while some will make you constantly go from one place to another just for the sake of one objective out of many. It gets tedious very fast. Another complaint I have with quests is their immortal opposition to be permanently abandoned. I finished the game with two level 40 characters yet I still have quests in my quest book from the early levels. To make matters worse, there's this little robot that constantly reminds you of the quests you have missed in a very irritating voice. I have left those damned quests with a reason: "stop reminding me, god damn it!"

"It be causing explosions mon!"

When it comes to shooting, Borderlands really shines. There's this "unhealthy" amount of guns, rifles, snipers, shotguns, revolvers, rocket launchers, SMG's, alien weaponry, grenades and shields which is a real treat if you are in for the loot. Each weapon looks different and handles different. Revolvers are powerful but slow; repeater pistols are fast but drain ammo instantly and aren't that precise; SMG's are fast and carry lots of ammo but their punch isn't that strong; combat rifles are well balanced and can offer both accuracy and high amount of damage; shot-guns can be either fast or slow but either way they deal massive damage on expense of their poor accuracy; alien weapons, rocket launchers and snipers do massive damage but are limited to slow reload time and (apart snipers) poor aiming. Add up variations of different aiming mods, firing speed and reloading speed, as well as elemental damage (fire, electricity, corrosive or explosive) and you get an arsenal that will satisfy even the greediest loot lovers in the universe.

The rest of the equipment doesn't come in short supply either. Shields for instance, are integral part of the arsenal and provide a "punching bag bar" for your character. Each shield can have a variety of additions, depending on the quality (slow health regeneration, resistance to elemental damage, etc). There's also this cleaver mechanic which makes shields essential in firefights, and it's called Second Chance. Each time you get pinned down by a larger number of enemies (or a grenade form a cowardly bandit) you go in a prone mode in which you have to kill an enemy for a short period of time. If successful, you are given a second chance and your shields are up to 100 %. Should you fail, you are given a trip to that reassembly station for another go... oh, yeah, you pay a fine each time you die, and it gets greedier with each level.

Faster than a speeding bullet. More fragile than your average glass window. It's your ride in Borderlands!

And you will die, at least early on in the game. Higher level enemies will be your usual judicators, as well as grenades launched by enemies that happen to own a friggin satellite navigation system that can spot your puny little vehicle from 10 miles away. The latter becomes a real problem since during the majority of the missions you will be driving from one part of the map to the next (and did I mention that the maps are quite big). So, you will have no other choice than to drive fast (squeezing the last tip of juice from the nitro boost), praying that you will just squish couple of bad guys and run the hell out. Though the vehicle isn't badly equipped (comes either with a rocket launcher or a gatling gun) the main problem I had with it it's the weird controls. You are using your mouse to steer (and shoot at the same time) and your keyboard to speed it up. It's weird and it handles pretty badly. Oh, it also cripples the experience rate from killing enemies by half so... yeah.

Not that you will have problem finding enemies of course. The damned buggers respawn each time you enter a zone (and I wouldn't have it any other way - Diablo style!). As for the variety, you will get plenty of those  Bandits and Psychos which are particularly fond of getting shot mainly because the game is freaking full of them. Seriously, if you can find one game that has a Bandit on every square kilometer, then it's gotta be Borderlands. From start to finish, you will be shooting at lots and lots of them: either for a quest or loot, or just for the plain fun of squishing their bodies with your vehicle. They came in all shapes and sizes (literally) and mainly deviate between melee attackers (Psychos) and ranged ones (Brutes, Raiders, etc). The rest of the enemies are the usual mix of wildlife (Skags, Mutated Ants) as well as some militaristic units which join the frail later on in the game. The game is also filled with Boss (or Badass) types of enemies which serve as tougher challenges which, you might think offer a better variety of loot, but similarly to that randomized system seen in Diablo, tougher enemies don't always drop the shines you all so crave for. Overall, enemies do offer some kind of resistance and some can even prove to be a bit tough to crack at first (due to their natural resistances to elemental damage) but with the proper combination of grenades and weapons, they won't stand for long.

"There is bandits everywhere, and with all that romantic atmosphere, disaster's in the air..."

From a purely artistic stand point, Borderlands presents itself through an interesting graphic-like filter through which the world and all it's inhabitants feel like a comic book come alive. The animation is superb though there are some minor glitches with fallen enemies over-clipping with terrain textures and a small variety of invisible walls. The sounds and audio commentaries you will come across while playing are with excellent quality, especially the audio logs which easily stand out as both humorous and well written.

I wanted to include the first DLC for Borderlands, The Zombie Island of Dr.Ned with this review but I just realized how different these two "incarnations" of the game are. That's why I will make this as my closing statement, saying that Borderlands is indeed a treat for every loot lower out there that shines with it's presentation and variety of weapons and enemies, while being troubled by mild repetition and some small technical hick ups. As for the DLC, stick around for I plan to review it in the upcoming period.

Thursday, February 18, 2010
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F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin

Posted by Milko Aritonoski

Fear Alma (not)

Boooo!

There are several games I can mention that managed to scare the living hell out of me. One of those games was F.E.A.R. a tactical first person shooter by Monolith. Many players might remember FEAR as one of the first titles (after Max Payne) that utilized the use of the slow-motion trigger which obscured the movement of your enemies, while letting you move faster and go on a sudden killing spree.

I for one, remember FEAR best by it's scary set pieces that were implemented in half deserted locations, best represented by menacing half open doors, broken windows, blinking lights and loud footsteps. That is of course, if I exclude the encounters with that little girl named Alma (obviously inspired by the same little protagonist from the "The Ring"). Unlike her big screen counter-part, Alma had this nasty habit of being a psychic experiment gone wrong that controlled a psychic army of psychic clones and used the best of her abilities to screw the player around (literally). Part of her daily harassment policy consisted of sudden burst of objects in the near vicinity of the player - partially demonstrating the excellent physics engine of the game and partially making you painfully aware that you will not leave through another heart attack.

The story in a nutshell was the typical "revenge of the enraged experiment" which we have seen so many times before, though there was this sudden twist involving the connection of the main protagonist with Alma that kept things at least a bit unfamiliar in the end. What made the game so unique and interesting was the winning combination of subtle horror atmosphere and intense action (against the rather unusually cleaver AI), presented through shining new engine and menacing sound effects.

It all began here...

The game wasn't without flaws of course. While the levels felt as claustrophobic and derailed as possible, the pacing seemed to vary greatly from one mission to the next. This was bound the lost sense of progression, a fact backed up by the the small variety of enemies. Also, after some time spent on the main campaign, you could anticipate when a scary piece was about to be unveiled, usually by the sudden "mute" from the environment and the shortage of spawning enemies. This was a big minus since, as a game that pictured itself as a "horror oriented," knowing when you will get scared isn't the best selling point. However my biggest complaint was tied to the representation of the main character - the voiceless Point Man. While it is OK to have a mute character in a FPS (Half Life proved that several times over) there must be at least some level of interaction with the supporting cast in order for some identification to be established. FEAR seemed to neglect all that by throwing in the "hey buddy" phrase in a mission briefing, which sounded pretty cheap and also made me feel like some scrub being instructed in Boot Camp.

Several years later and couple of name changes (along with a courtroom drama between Sierra, Monolith and Warner Brothers) F.E.A.R.2: Project Origin finally resurfaced, restarting the previously established plot  in Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate, the two expansions for F.E.A.R 1. In their defense, Monolith developers claimed that Project Origin is the original direction which they wanted F.E.A.R. to be taking in the first place.

"Look at the sky. It's a bird! No it's a plane. Seriously, it's a plane..."

Following the catastrophic ending of the first game, where Point Man witnessed the "boom" of a tactical nuke in front of his helmeted eyes, the sequel kicks in with a new protagonist named Michael Becket. The unfortunate champ is a member of an armed organisation that is tasked to take into custody elite members of the Armacham Corporation, previously known as the bastards who enraged Alma and created all those Replica clones from F.E.A.R. 1. Of course, things go bonkers quickly as Armacham mercs swarm the place in order to erase evidence, while Alma (all grown up now) is ready to share her love with the world.

Through the course of the game Becket will sometimes join arms with members of his scattered team.  Unfortunately these segments are heavily scripted and are usually boiled down to achieving simplistic objectives which don't really add up anything new to the overall experience. What is worse, each members gets mowed down by Alma in the same way, which makes you ache for a chance to yell at your comrade who "just happen to see a young girl that needs help."

Stranded by snipers... typical...

The story takes you on a trip around the ruined city in search for a way to disarm the psychic powers of the ever present Alma, while dealing with all manners of old and new types of enemies. The main storyline is composed of several sections which takes place in ruined buildings, underground laboratory, an abandoned primary school, a hospital, a city subway and an old nuclear reactor. Each location is nicely varied and depicts the dull and claustrophobic atmosphere of the first game. However, the horror elements have been dumbed down significantly, especially by adding ghosts and other superficial beings that act more like aggressive shooting targets than a scary set-piece. Even slammed doors and weird echoes of the ventilation system are not what they used to be. Every now and then, Alma appears and tries to bite you, kiss you or whatever, and you have to push her back by using the left mouse button. Rather unusual and  tiresome way which showcases the developers lack of ideas for new horror elements.

The firefights are still a blast though. Becket gets to try the enhanced reflex system (or what we normal people call "the slow motion") for himself, again turning action into a slow-mo massacre. Hence, the weapons feel a bit overpowered, but handle great and it's a thrill to just keep the trigger squeezed and watch those rag dolls dance on the sweet sound of bullets... yaargh!!!

Mini gun - check. Grenades - check. Thermo vision - check. Bring on the pain - check!

Apart from several new weapons (like the laser canon and that experimental-sniper...err, thingy) the biggest addition to the firing arsenal comes in the form of Armored Suit - pansy name for a mech. Though only available on two occasions, the Armored Suit will turn regular action into pure destruction-fest, since you will be practically invincible and able to fire rockets and use 55 mm cannons to erase enemies from existence.

The major flaw of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is it's lack of innovation. Apart from the mech battles, several unique enemy types and few "cover" additions (the ability to push objects for cover), the game doesn't exceed it's predecessor in any way. I can even go and say it went several steps backwards in terms of pure enjoyment. First, there's the scattered key logs that are as old as Doom 3's PDA notes. I have no problem with reading texts that complement what I was doing in the first place, but putting distracting notes of irrelevant information isn't just bad practice - it's flow breaking. This becomes painfully obvious if you try and ignore the lot of them, only to find out that one particular information is mandatory for the progress on that particular level.

"Ssstaaaannndddd doooowwwwnnnn... oooohhh cccraaaappp..."

The game also suffers from severe repetition since all you ever do is shoot, shoot some more, find a body armor or med kit, and occasionally throw a grenade to spice things up a bit. Oh, sure, you will be able to experiment with the slow-mo mechanics but it all goes down pretty fast so you won't even bother to improvise.

In terms of visual presentation, Project Origin certainly delivers, though the "WOW" factor of the original is certainly gone. The locations are littered with details that shine out with the help of the superb lightning and shadow effects. NPC and enemy models look sharp and detailed, though their animation might seem a bit too "realistic" at times, especially in an explosive scenario which will negate the effect in your eyes.

When it comes to creating atmosphere, the sound effects in Project Origin are up to the task though, they sometimes miss the real chance to scare your guts due to distractions in form of those god damned enemies. Still, expect a healthy dosage of creepy sounds and voices that will make you question your sanity and decision to play further (at least from time to time).

Overall, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin may fell like a letdown when compared to the highly appraised original. But I must confess that though I might have felt bored and "sane", there's something more to the game that will drive you to finish it in the end. Sure the story and horror elements have been dumbed down, and the firefights could be compared to any recent game with slow-motion mechanics, but combining those pieces into F.E.A.R experience, and you might get some fun after all.


Thursday, February 11, 2010
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