Painfully Obvious
Painfully Obvious
Feb28
87%
(Minimum score is 0; maximum is 100.)
0
Heavy Rain
A couple years ago, I stumbled upon a game called Masq. It #8217;s a simple game with the art style of a comic book mdash; a bunch of still frames with no sound mdash; but each choice you make affects the final outcome in significant ways. I played at least four times and never had the same ending twice.
I #8217;d forgotten about Masq until I played Heavy Rain. They #8217;re both interactive dramas (a sparsely-populated genre, to say the least), but the new PS3 offering aims to meld the forking plotlines of Masq with the atmosphere and immersion of high-tech games.
Developer Quantic Dream is aiming to break new ground in both story and storytelling. To distinguish between them, I need only recall Indigo Prophecy, the studio #8217;s previous game: it used fascinating storytelling mechanisms to convey a story that was utter shit.
Well, they #8217;ve fixed that part. I spent the entire game somewhat fearful that the plot would veer into WTF territory, but it didn #8217;t. Instead, I got a simple-yet-compelling noir plot, plenty of meaningful choices, and a unique ending. No, I mean a unique ending; there are seven in total, the most I #8217;ve seen in a game since Chrono Trigger.
The main story is about eight hours long, but I #8217;ve already finished two playthroughs, and I know I #8217;ll revisit Heavy Rain at least once a year to remind myself how a game should tell a story.
Feb23
0
The fantasy that is indulged when Bob Costas speaks breathlessly about an upcoming ski race where he already knows exactly what happened is no longer even a fragile fantasy; it #8217;s a blatant fiction that everyone knows about.
— Linda Holmes
Feb20
0
Bus Route of Tears
Misspelled protest signs have become a strange, hilarious art form over the past year. Terrence Nowicki reminds us that we only laugh at them to hide our own tears.
Feb18
0
I’m always a little confused by this stuff. Are we supposed to believe that Barack, Michelle, and Anita Dunn are secretly Maoists, but they keep forgetting to actually seize power in a violent coup and instead got confused and put internationally famous neoliberal economist Larry Summers in charge of economic policy?
— Matthew Yglesias
Feb14
83%
(Minimum score is 0; maximum is 100.)
0
Bioshock 2
For most sequels (though Mass Effect 2 is a notable exception), my expectations are largely diminished mdash; even when the original is one of my favorite games of all time.
That #8217;s why I was satisfied with Bioshock 2, even though it #8217;s not as good as the first. The gameplay improvements (dual-wielding weapons and plasmids!) are much appreciated. The setting and backstory are solid; it was nice to see how Rapture #8217;s other half lived, and how the city #8217;s class stratification laid the grounds for a collectivist counter-movement.
But the plot, when viewed up close, grew more and more incoherent as the game progressed. The last two hours are spent communicating with an ally over radio; I started to feel like her only purpose was to explain a plausible plot rationale for why you had to go to place X and do thing Y, over and over again.
The main villain is depicted as the ideological opposite of Bioshock #8217;s Andrew Ryan. But Bioshock documented the events that turned an ambitious mogul into a hypocritical authoritarian. Sofia Lamb, on the other hand, has no depth to her villainy, and seems to undergo no character development in the two decades she #8217;s spent under the ocean.
But, again, I nitpick because I love. I #8217;m in the middle of my second playthrough and will be first in line for Bioshock 3.
Feb13
0
Don #8217;t slip a concrete dildo into someone #8217;s box of Fruit Loops. They won #8217;t be happy with your Morning Breakfast Surprise. Put the concrete dildo in a clearly labeled box, with instructions. Then when someone encounters a problem, #8220;Hey, something is screwing me here. Maybe it #8217;s the concrete dildo? #8221; at least they know to ask.
— The Higgs Bozo
Feb9
1
Surprisingly, there was no press release with a rationalization for the name or any explanations of how the logo represents cutting edge technology and XFINITY #8217;s commitment to its customers. Or whatever. The new name feels at the same time pompous and clichéd mdash; as if there is no brighter horizon than the infinity of XFINITY but, really, nothing is as depressing as a badly placed #8220;X, #8221; a gesture better reserved for extreme games and products, for bad dot-com era start-ups and for strip-club dancers not named Destiny. It might sound more fun than #8220;Comcast #8221; but at least Comcast sounds like a real company with almost fifty years of experience.
— Brand New
Victorious Return
Since the 2006 season, the most zealous of Saints fans have gone to the airport to welcome the Saints back from road games. After landing, players and coaches leave in their own cars — but fans line up along the path to the airport exit, forming a gauntlet of adulation. As he creeped along, coach Sean Payton hoisted the Lombardi Trophy out of his sunroof.
Saints 31, Colts 17
The last 24 hours have been warm and tingly. Congratulations to Drew Brees — who finally might get treated like the best quarterback in the league — and to the rest of the team, too. The best part of winning the Super Bowl? The victory is preserved for posterity by NFL Films. It will be shown on countless TV specials and DVDs in awe-inspiring slow motion with orchestral accompaniment.
Feb1
82%
(Minimum score is 0; maximum is 100.)
1
Mass Effect 2
On one hand, it boasts a story of comparable quality and a leap forward in combat gameplay. It easily warrants more than one playthrough.
On the other hand #8230; must they excise so much of what makes a game an RPG? I #8217;m speaking mostly about the level system, looting, item customization, and a handful of other things that were completely retooled from the previous Mass Effect.
But in one other aspect, too. In the real world, stuff exists on the edges of the frame. Stuff you #8217;ll never end up examining in detail, but which exists even so. This stuff is important! It lends crucial verisimilitude to the game #8217;s universe! When it #8217;s trimmed, as it seems to have been in Mass Effect 2, that universe feels stark and linear, as though you were on a #8220;save the galaxy #8221; amusement park ride. Tycho explains it better.
larr; Older
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