Best Game of all time?
For me defining the best game I have ever played is a hard judgement. I have Played lots of games and I have lots of games that are favourites. I like strategy games and Hearts of Iron 3 is a favourite of mine in that arena (played over 800 hours on steam to prove it).
The graphic are from a top down perspective with you controlling units of division (or smaller) size units of men.
I also like real time stratergy (RTS) games that Blizzard make like Warcraft and Starcraft.
Star Craft : Brood War.
What can I say about this game? We had a saying with my games night mates when setting up a P.C.
Install OS (operating system), get drivers working (sound, latest graphic drivers etc), install anti virus then install 'BroodWar'. It was like that for me for a while after I purchased my latest PC I did that, all my 'PC gamer' mates did it. We had a LAN party at my house with 16 guys playing 8 v 8 StarCrafting for a 2 days.
I included this YouTube clip not because it shows any game play but because it plays the original musical score, which is what got me hooked from the start!
However StarCraft is not my favourite game of all time and yes I have not talked about the game, well go and do some research and find out yourself why South Koreans go crazy over this game.
I also like first person shooters (FPS) like Call or Duty, DOOM, Wolfenstein 3D (original not 2014 remix with pretty graphics), Half Life (omg what a good game) and most recently "Remember Me" with its innovative memory hacking elements.
My Favourite Game is Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Wikipedia says this about it "Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a cyberpunk-themed first-person action role-playing video game developed by Eidos Montreal and published by Square Enix,[1] which also produced the game's CGI sequences. Originally released in August 2011 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360."
PC Gamer UK gave the game a score of 94 and the Editor's Choice, describing it as a game that "puts almost everything else in the genre to shame."
Official Xbox Magazine UK gave the game a 10/10
Well that's great but why do I like it?
Game-play: Its a standard FPS feeling game using standard WASD keys. You move around and can engage with the world around you. However with 'Jensen' you tend to walk around with your gun holstered (unless in combat). You can engage in conversations or just listen in as you walk by. Often just 'listening in' helps a lot and sets the atmosphere and tone of the game. You can also 'sneak', which for me was the whole point. The Duex Ex system rewards those who use their brains. and find ways round the guard or the security cameras or security laser sensors. You get rewarded for been patient and thinking around the problem rather than letting your gun speak to you. There are places where obviously you have to engage in combat BUT they are in the minority. Many FPS games its about getting from A to B and killing everyone that gets in the way. Duex Ex is not that and for me is much more realistic and true to life. You get rewarded for talking and using enhanced social engineering cyber modifications to socially engineer people. Just like a salesman tries to do when they are trying to sell you a car these days (thank God they don't have a CASIE (Computer Assisted Social Interaction Enhancer) mod!). You can hack terminals, go invisible, punch through walls, jump safely from any height etc with these augmentations).
Every mission you do gives you more XP (experience points) and experience points unlock your augmentations (as praxis points which you spend). You also can buy and find praxis packs (points) which do the same thing.
Music: The music composed by Michael McCann is an understated triumph. It is menacing when is needs to be and it can be a soothing melancholy ambiance as you enter a 'limb' clinic. A heavy trance when you go into the 'Hive' Nightclub and a throbbing sexual beat in a brothel. It sets the tone for the game, without it the game would be missing a very important element. I liked the music that much I purchased it from ITunes, though I must say listening to it outside the game isn't the same. I just end up want to play the game more when I listen to it!
Theme: Trans-humanism, at the core of DE-HR's story is the fundamental question of what it means to be human. Indeed, Jensen himself is quite literally "more machine than man", who among other things, can see through walls and is immune to toxins. But on top of that, while Jensen is superhuman by pure accident, many people in this world choose to replace their original body parts with new augmentations. Does replacing body parts with durable, reliable machinery make you inhumane, or unnatural? This question is subconsciousness asked as you play and engage with this game. We are now in a world were this is taking places before our eyes.
To prove this I did a quick web search and found this :-
Currently being developed by DARPA researchers at Washington-based Innovega iOptiks are contact lenses that enhance normal vision by allowing a wearer to view virtual and augmented reality images without the need for bulky apparatus. Instead of oversized virtual reality helmets, digital images are projected onto tiny full-color displays that are very near the eye. These novel contact lenses allow users to focus simultaneously on objects that are close up and far away. This could improve ability to use tiny portable displays while sill interacting with the surrounding environment.
I myself have after a ruptured appendix have a high tech sheet implanted in my abdomen to support my internal organs!
So the question we should be asking ourselves is were do we cross the line between allowing technology in our bodies? This a question that society will soon be asking itself, because progress is happening in this area around us all the time.
Characters in the game
Adam Jensen, is the security chief at 'Sarif Industries' and is on a quest to find out what happened to his ex-girlfriend 'Megan Reid' who was brutally killed in the opening section of the game. You shape his personality as the game develops, is a morally good? or a nasty piece of work? You choose that as the game develops.
Frank Pritchard is Sarif Industries IT expert, he is at odds with Adam (initially). He thinks of himself as some sort of elite hero hacker. He is with Adam on every mission, usually as a voice in his head. The witty sarcastic comments they make to each other adds to the atmosphere of the game.
Faridah Malik is your taxi driver (so to speak). She drives the futuristic helicopter you use to get from one mission location to another. She is a self confessed fly girl, fun loving and friendly. Emphasises with Adam and really comes in to her own once you get to China and do a mission for her.
David Sarif is the CEO of Sarif Industries. He comes from a hard working immigrant family. He is direct when dealing with others and unafraid to show emotion. He is close friends with Hugh Darrow, the father of mechanical augmentation.
Atmosphere: Duex Ex - Human Revolution shows us a near future were large corporations operate outside the control of government controls. The artwork is all encompassing starting from the detail on Jenson's jacket to the cityscapes Jenson walks in. The concept art for this game is simple put gorgeous in every way. Add to this the gripping musical theme, the cyberpunk game play and tense dialogue it ticks all the boxes of what make a good FPS.
In fact its a FPS a puzzle solving game, deals with some deep moral questions about technology and it role in our day to day life and how we engage with it.
Game Plot: Sarif Industries sit on the cusp of a breakthrough that might fully "unlock" human potential, courtesy of a love interest from his past, Megan Reed. But before you can say "Alex Murphy," Reed is dead, and Jensen lays mortally wounded on an operating table, receiving an involuntarily hands - and legs, and lungs, and eyes - on crash course in humanity's future in the post-human era. The majority of Human Revolution involves Jensen's quest to unravel that conspiracy through missions spinning off of main city hubs all over the world. While each hub has a central plot thread carrying through Jensen's investigation, side missions populate each locale. These aren't the maligned fetch-quests of other RPGs. Each mission has several layers to it, several angles to be explored or not, several perspectives to consider, and several possible outcomes that often tie into the greater mission at hand in unexpected ways. This creates a well-realized sense of choice and consequence throughout Human Revolution.
Conclusion: Before I get into why I like it lets talk about why others don't, lets keep it simple its the boss's fights. The boss fights that were not even designed by Eidos Montreal, they were outsourced to a studio called Grip Entertainment. This the bit of the game anyone who ever plays says. The boss fight suck!
Well that's great but why do I like it?
Game-play: Its a standard FPS feeling game using standard WASD keys. You move around and can engage with the world around you. However with 'Jensen' you tend to walk around with your gun holstered (unless in combat). You can engage in conversations or just listen in as you walk by. Often just 'listening in' helps a lot and sets the atmosphere and tone of the game. You can also 'sneak', which for me was the whole point. The Duex Ex system rewards those who use their brains. and find ways round the guard or the security cameras or security laser sensors. You get rewarded for been patient and thinking around the problem rather than letting your gun speak to you. There are places where obviously you have to engage in combat BUT they are in the minority. Many FPS games its about getting from A to B and killing everyone that gets in the way. Duex Ex is not that and for me is much more realistic and true to life. You get rewarded for talking and using enhanced social engineering cyber modifications to socially engineer people. Just like a salesman tries to do when they are trying to sell you a car these days (thank God they don't have a CASIE (Computer Assisted Social Interaction Enhancer) mod!). You can hack terminals, go invisible, punch through walls, jump safely from any height etc with these augmentations).
Every mission you do gives you more XP (experience points) and experience points unlock your augmentations (as praxis points which you spend). You also can buy and find praxis packs (points) which do the same thing.
Music: The music composed by Michael McCann is an understated triumph. It is menacing when is needs to be and it can be a soothing melancholy ambiance as you enter a 'limb' clinic. A heavy trance when you go into the 'Hive' Nightclub and a throbbing sexual beat in a brothel. It sets the tone for the game, without it the game would be missing a very important element. I liked the music that much I purchased it from ITunes, though I must say listening to it outside the game isn't the same. I just end up want to play the game more when I listen to it!
Theme: Trans-humanism, at the core of DE-HR's story is the fundamental question of what it means to be human. Indeed, Jensen himself is quite literally "more machine than man", who among other things, can see through walls and is immune to toxins. But on top of that, while Jensen is superhuman by pure accident, many people in this world choose to replace their original body parts with new augmentations. Does replacing body parts with durable, reliable machinery make you inhumane, or unnatural? This question is subconsciousness asked as you play and engage with this game. We are now in a world were this is taking places before our eyes.
To prove this I did a quick web search and found this :-
Currently being developed by DARPA researchers at Washington-based Innovega iOptiks are contact lenses that enhance normal vision by allowing a wearer to view virtual and augmented reality images without the need for bulky apparatus. Instead of oversized virtual reality helmets, digital images are projected onto tiny full-color displays that are very near the eye. These novel contact lenses allow users to focus simultaneously on objects that are close up and far away. This could improve ability to use tiny portable displays while sill interacting with the surrounding environment.
 |
| DARPA Research |
I myself have after a ruptured appendix have a high tech sheet implanted in my abdomen to support my internal organs!
So the question we should be asking ourselves is were do we cross the line between allowing technology in our bodies? This a question that society will soon be asking itself, because progress is happening in this area around us all the time.
Characters in the game
Adam Jensen, is the security chief at 'Sarif Industries' and is on a quest to find out what happened to his ex-girlfriend 'Megan Reid' who was brutally killed in the opening section of the game. You shape his personality as the game develops, is a morally good? or a nasty piece of work? You choose that as the game develops.
Frank Pritchard is Sarif Industries IT expert, he is at odds with Adam (initially). He thinks of himself as some sort of elite hero hacker. He is with Adam on every mission, usually as a voice in his head. The witty sarcastic comments they make to each other adds to the atmosphere of the game.
Atmosphere: Duex Ex - Human Revolution shows us a near future were large corporations operate outside the control of government controls. The artwork is all encompassing starting from the detail on Jenson's jacket to the cityscapes Jenson walks in. The concept art for this game is simple put gorgeous in every way. Add to this the gripping musical theme, the cyberpunk game play and tense dialogue it ticks all the boxes of what make a good FPS.
In fact its a FPS a puzzle solving game, deals with some deep moral questions about technology and it role in our day to day life and how we engage with it.
Game Plot: Sarif Industries sit on the cusp of a breakthrough that might fully "unlock" human potential, courtesy of a love interest from his past, Megan Reed. But before you can say "Alex Murphy," Reed is dead, and Jensen lays mortally wounded on an operating table, receiving an involuntarily hands - and legs, and lungs, and eyes - on crash course in humanity's future in the post-human era. The majority of Human Revolution involves Jensen's quest to unravel that conspiracy through missions spinning off of main city hubs all over the world. While each hub has a central plot thread carrying through Jensen's investigation, side missions populate each locale. These aren't the maligned fetch-quests of other RPGs. Each mission has several layers to it, several angles to be explored or not, several perspectives to consider, and several possible outcomes that often tie into the greater mission at hand in unexpected ways. This creates a well-realized sense of choice and consequence throughout Human Revolution.
Conclusion: Before I get into why I like it lets talk about why others don't, lets keep it simple its the boss's fights. The boss fights that were not even designed by Eidos Montreal, they were outsourced to a studio called Grip Entertainment. This the bit of the game anyone who ever plays says. The boss fight suck!
Yes they do I agree, to an extent.
However to me this is not a problem. Let me explain. Deux Ex - Missing link came out soon afterwards as a DLC, this game was completely done by Eidos Montreal, so no stupid boss fights! Just pure Deux Ex as it should be. However for me something was missing in 'missing link' (no pun intended). It just did not have the same atmosphere for me. I could not connect to it as much. Its hard to describe, but I couldn't not get as attached to it as Human Revolution. I Guess what it boils down to is when you really like a game it has an intangible aspect to it, that clicks with you.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a game that got under my skin and is still their to this day 3 years later!
I play it now and what do I do in the boss fights? Well I do what everyone else does, read the forums of how to kill Barrett (hint : Barrels) and get on with it. To be honest the only boss fight that was annoying was the first one with Barrett, after that the other two are easy because you have enough fire-power from you augmentations to deal with them (hint : Typhoon)
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