Phil Fogg, Around the World in 128 Days

Well, it's been 128 days since our last podcast, and strangely that is exactly how long it took for me to get around the world in the game 80 Days, which is a touch-pad version of my namesake's voyage Around the World in Eighty Days.

Not be the first time.

Not be the first time.

It is surprising how little interest my name, Phil Fogg, has brought over my lifetime. Fortunately for me all of my schoolyard bullies were illiterate, and even since then my name is rarely recognized name as being shared by one of Jules Verne's most notable characters.

As for the game, which was awarded Time magazine's Game of the Year in 2014, (a selection that only served to confirm that the last time Time got anything more wrong was in 1938), I was left not feeling fully serviced.  But I'll save that for a review.

- Phil Fogg

Jazzpunk Director's Cut

Jazzpunk, what would have been my 2014 Game of the Year had I played it in 2014, is receiving a Director's Cut version on the Playstation 4 next month.

I've exchanged e-mails with the creator of the game Luis Hernandez (as discussed in Episode 60) and found him to be as thoughtful, charming and memorable as his game would suggest.

Jazzpunk is available on Steam for $15 USD and I encourage all listeners to the podcast to play.

- Phil Fogg

Inside Update

From what I can tell I am about halfway through Inside and am enjoying it considerably more than Playdead's debut game, Limbo.

Since it is a game with sparse audio design I decided to make a playlist with songs with the word, "inside" in the title.  This worked out pretty well, with a fair few happy coincidences popping in as I played.

So the songs in my MP3 folder were:
Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again - Bob Dylan
Devil Inside - INXS
Inside My Mind - Groove Armada
Step Inside Love - The Beatles
Inside Job - Don Henley
Inside My Love - Trina Broussard
I'm Hurting Inside - Bob Marley
Deep Inside of You - Third Eye Blind

I have no idea how 80% of that got into my MP3 folder (I actually do, as an I.T. worker in the aughties I used to harvest MP3's off of PC's I worked on), but in any case... it was a mostly satisfying experience, as is playing Inside.

-Phil Fogg

 

"The match was described as 'manly but fair'."

In David Cage's debut game Omikron: The Nomad soul, you play as yourself; possessing characters in the game. Probably. So far, at least.

Anyway, as soon as you arrive in the apartment of the man you are possessing, you may urinate in the bathroom. After you zip his Robocop cosplay up, his girlfriend arrives home.

You inform her that you are not, in fact, her boyfriend. But it's time for some very awkward dry humping nevertheless. In her defence, I wouldn't have believed you either.

Strangely for a David Cage game there is no post-coitus shower scene. Indeed, you don't want to shower! What the fuck?

Now that your bladder and testicles have been relieved, it's time to explore; smelling of God-knows-what. As you enter the first circle of hell, it's not long before you begin to wish you were possessing a body with some new possibilities. Or at least two big ones staring you in the face. And maybe a third: showering in a more suitably David-Cage-shower-scene body?

As you leave the first circle of hell and enter the second, you discover that Minos punishes the lustful with angular dildos...

omikron 7.jpg

..and a spasmodic David Bowie.

I am sorry Dante, but there are more circles to explore yet.

Inside Inside

I really wanted to get a hard copy of this game for a console, because I think it's going to end up being one of the remembered games of the generation. But not wanting to wait for the inevitable limited run collector's edition (possibly including Limbo), I bit the bullet and downloaded Playdead's Inside today.

This is not what it looks like.

This is not what it looks like.

So far, it's visually arresting. Having just completed Limbo for the first time I am finding the controls to be easy to pick up.

More impressions soon.

- Phil Fogg

This would be a great format for a Stranger Things game.

This would be a great format for a Stranger Things game.

The Land Before Time: Great Valley Racing Adventure Review

As promised, here is the first in my two-part series of reviews of the works of Vision Scape Interactive. This is the first game that was released under that studio's banner. The back of the box promises, "Dino Fun on the Run!" read the review to see if the studio delivered on their claim. Link to the review.

Based on the credits the game was completed by a very small team, but like many indy games of today.

Based on the credits the game was completed by a very small team, but like many indy games of today.

 

 

The Works of Vision Scape Interactive

Entertainment site IGN writes of The Land Before Time Great Valley Racing Adventure, "Who knew that dinosaurs could race cars at all, let alone drive so professionally?" To which I ask, "Who knew you can’t spell ignorant without IGN?" given that this is a competitive running game, not a vehicular racer. They also list the developer as being TDK Mediactive (sic) when any visitor to (admittedly now-defunct) lbtgame.com knows that Vision Scape Interactive produced the game.

Only a team on their level could release (just six months later) Razor Racing, and then two months later release X-Bladez.  For their final game, Vision Scape took their time and eleven months later released SeaBlade for the Xbox. 

The company, founded in San Diego, California,  by husband and wife team Tammy and Matt McDonald, had a knack for landing some bankable licensed games.  The McDonalds continued to work at a number of game development houses after the studio closed and have kpet active up until very recently.  Regardless of the quality of their games, the studio demonstrated a disciplined approach, which is likely why they were able to attract so much contract work.

Fortunately for you, dear reader, I have a copy of their first and last game, so I am dedicating a significant amount of time and energy into reviewing the bookends of this studio's work in an upcoming series.

Battlefield: Hardline Review

Phil reviews Battlefield: Hardline, EA's attempt to broaden the FPS military segment of it's gaming line-up by offering up policework in place of insurgent hunting.

Click here for linkage. Important to note that Phil was playing Limbo for the first time when he went through Battlefield Hardline.

Actually that was probably in no way important to note.

Game Under E3 Editorial Staff Wrap-up

Tom Towers coverage appears in normal case (strangely for him). Phil Fogg's coverage is in italics. All image captions are from Mr. Fogg.

Faster Than Light
Was it an angel that descended from heaven, live on stage at E3? Was it Lucifer, losing his wings halfway down? Or was it just Hideo Kojima?

Billy Jean, is not his lover, she's just a girl that says he is The One.

Billy Jean, is not his lover, she's just a girl that says he is The One.

8-Views of Death Mountain
Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!

Zelda will finally fulfil the fantasies of the multitudes. Bullet points in place of a 30-year-old formula. But how exciting, how wondrous these bullet points appear to be when fully realised.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!

But let us not forget in our ecstasy the beauty of a single motif repeated. Each repetition revealing another aspect of the subject, or allowing us the opportunity to revel in the eccentricities of its author[s]; concentrated by the constraints of working to a formula.

Remember! Remember! Remember!

And let us ask, also, what constitutes Zelda? The aesthetic sensibilities, the mythology, the gameplay mechanics…or the formula itself? In retaining the aesthetic sensibilities and mythology sans the formula, do we serve any purpose greater than the gratification of our desire for nostalgic fulfilment?

Remember! Remember! Remember!

Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!

Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!

Amnesiac Chameleons
Apparently a series or two made a drastic departure from their roots. Apparently a few series were rebooted in a classical, yet contemporary style. But so closely did they resemble other games, I can scarcely recall what series they were.

It was nice, however, to see God of War 4 introduce a character that the majority of its fanbase could at last relate to.

Son, Get me a beer.  I mean dear, get me a deer.

Son, Get me a beer.  I mean dear, get me a deer.

As the demographic of console gamer contines to age, Kratos, in his flabby-dad period of life, with his less than sensitive parenting style, spoke for the rising anger in the average (really) white male in bluntly un-ironically pulling his son away from his playthings to get him to go kill a deer, providing an aural mnemonic for the familiar refrain, "go get me a beer". 

Besides that, bringing 40-year old Corey Barlog back onto the God of War team is greatly encouraging. He was present for the original and creative director for God of War II, arguably the best in the franchise. He left the studio under strange circumstances, and his return could only be capped by that of David Jaffe retaking the helm.

Moving God of War into an isolated natural setting with a companion at your side seems to be the Sony way these days, and surely God of War's reboot will not be the Last of These, judging by Sony Bend's new game.

The Tortoise and the Hair
Do developers not realise that beards are now a passé symbol of the hipster? Killzone 3 got the timing right. Broken Age got the contemporary depiction right. The former was released in 2011. The latter’s full-bodied beard was sported by a hipster lumberjack.

The millenial pioneers of beard.

The millenial pioneers of beard.

Choruses from E3 (in conclusion):

The world is ending.

We want to be one of the lucky few to survive the world’s end, whether it is brought about by the Spanish flu, The Great War, technology, zombies, the unknown…or Ganondorf. Fulfilling this desire, videogames have now charted the extent of the decline of Western civilisation, going from the Not-Quite-As-Great-but-Still-Pretty-Good War, to The War on Terror and its echoes of The Cold War, to the cataclysmic beginning of the end: The Great War itself; complemented by a general sentiment steeped in the apocalyptical, present in much of the catalogue on display at this year’s E3.

Incidentally, The Last of Us and Tomb Raider were really very successful.

 

Game Under’s (Tom Towers) Game of the Show: Forza Horizon 3

We at Game Under love the way Australia separates earth and sky. Go horizon! Go! Go!

It actually did look quite good, and I enjoyed that for the first time since Midway's Cruis'n' The World, that Australia is being depicted in a racing game, albeit sans kangaroos. Horizon: Zero Dawn was actually a game that came closer for my E3 GOTY, but ultimately I am most anticipating Detroit continuing David Cage's vision of gaming.
 

We'll have much more to say, including my views on Microsoft's approach, in the next episode of the Game Under Podcast.