Building a Better Game

If there's one thing I really love about Rockstar Games and their approach to designing a game its the way they give gamers a chance to take a peek at their design process. I think this started more so when Grand Theft Auto 4 was in development years ago but Rockstar started a design series where they would detail features not just features for the game but also the new technology powering the game. So naturally you'd expect this for their upcoming title, Max Payne 3 and Rockstar does not disappoint. They recently released the first in their gameplay series videos detailing the design and technology behind Max Payne 3. Based on this first look I can already see some very cool ways that the new tech Rockstar is using will impact the gameplay. 

The Max Payne series has always relied on a blend of action and cinema style presentation and the third game appears to be no different. A recent series which seems to do the same would be the Uncharted series. It's good to see more games that are managing to seamlessly integrate the gameplay and presentation. It makes for a far more immersive gameplay experience. Anyway, rather than me continue to talk about this how about I just show you the video so you can see what Rockstar is up to for yourself. Happy gaming guys and gals.

[credit to Rockstar's YouTube channel for the video.]

L.A. Noire - The Review

I really couldn't wait to get back and share my thoughts on L.A. Noire. So much so that I did some impressions the day after its release just to share some thoughts on how much I was enjoying it. Little did I know that what I had experienced was just the tip of the iceberg. This game is deep, thoughtful, and ridiculously awesome. What Team Bondi has delivered into the hands of gamers might be the first step in a new wave of interactive media and quite frankly I welcome it with open arms. While some of the concepts might not be entirely new, the interface and material are presented in such a way that L.A. Noire is very much creating its own special genre. It is perfect by no means but the high spots definitely outshine the flaws and makes L.A. Noire Rockstar's finest game to date. That statement is one I found hard to make at first considering how much I loved 2010's Red Dead Redemption, but after spending enough time with this game it became an accurate statement.

The thing about L.A. Noire is that at some points it almost borders on being a straight up detective simulator. This is something that not many games have allowed players to experience. Most of the time we're on the other side of the law as some amoral thug who deep down has a heart of gold. That routine was becoming a bit cliche for Rockstar and very quickly people labeled Noire as Grand Theft Auto set in the 1940s. That couldn't be farther from the truth though. Rockstar allowed Team Bondi to craft something different entirely. Sure the fact that you play a cop isn't a new thing in games. Titles such as True Crime and Stranglehold allowed you to do the same thing, except the entire time you were still driving recklessly and mowing down countless enemies. In L.A. Noire you can't even draw your gun unless you are engaging a suspect who has pulled a gun on you. Basically you only use extreme force when necessary. I'm getting ahead of myself here though. Lets break this game down to give you a good idea of what you would be getting into.

First Impressions - L.A. Noire

Going into L.A. Noire I wasn't sure what to expect. As the release date neared I found myself reading many reviews in preparation but I knew none of them would really sway my decision to play the game. I was far too interested in the premise as well as the technology powering Rockstar's latest marvel. I already had a small taste of what a detective styled game could be like with small portions of detective work presented in last year's Heavy Rain. However L.A. Noire takes that ball and runs with it at full force while retaining some of our favorite sandbox game play mechanics. Those of us familiar with Grand Theft Auto's previous installments know full well that there's plenty to do and see around the model cities when you're not out doing missions.

L.A. Noire Preview

With under a week to go before the game releases on the X-Box 360 and PS3 platforms I thought it would be nice to do a little preview of the title. Considering it's probably the number one game I'm anticipating this year I've been giving it a lot of play on the blog. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Rockstar Games because they continue to put out quality products that appeal to the mature gaming audience. Rockstar is mainly known for their huge, open world sandbox games which became popular with Grand Theft Auto 3 on the PS2. Their unique blend of freedom, story, and game play created a juggernaut of a franchise with the follow ups to GTA3. They would also branch out this generation with Red Dead Redemption, which some people thought would simple be Grand Theft Auto with horses but it proved itself to be much more than that.

With L.A. Noire they seem to have an entirely different beast on their hands. Gone are the fictional towns of the old west and Liberty City. Instead Team Bondi has taken on the task of recreating Los Angeles of the 1940s while researching the various real life crimes and unsolved murders of the era. This is where L.A. Noire seems to take a bit of a turn from what Rockstar is known for. In Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption the player takes control of some fairly rugged individuals. John Marston was a reformed outlaw while Niko Bellic was more a former soldier trying to make a new start. In both cases the characters were trying to leave their old ways behind and live upstanding lives, however over the course of the story they were led into situations which required them to set their morals aside. L.A. Noire's Cole Phelps is vastly different from the start though. Phelps is a World War II veteran who returns home to Los Angeles where joins the police department. From the get go you're going to be upholding the law instead of breaking it. 

Mark Your Calendars

Why? Well because Rockstar just dropped the release date for their latest game via the latest trailer. The following video gives us some clues as to what the game's storyline is about as well as when we can get our hands on this gem. So give it a looksie and sound off with your thoughts on the matter in the comments. Video after the break.

New Technology, New Experiences

My mini write up on L.A. Noire for my last post really got me thinking that I want to expand on my coverage of the game. However I realized there's one part of that coverage that I wanted to dedicate a whole post to. Lately I've been trying to keep the talk on the blog a little casual but today we're going to get a bit more technical. That is to say, this post is going to explore the new motion capture technologies that are driving forward today's entertainment. Once again I'll just warn you this will get a little technical but you'll have a better understanding of the tech that's powering the games you're playing.

In my best of 2010 post I kinda gushed over one of the few PS3 games I played last year, Heavy Rain. While the finished product didn't look exactly like the cutting edge graphics from Sony's infamous E3 2005 video, they came pretty damn close. Quantic Dream may have just released the game last year but about four years ago at E3 2006 they released a tech demo that showed off just what their new motion capture technology was capable of. Not only could they do full body capture but their new system would allow them to accurately capture a person's face, providing even more accuracy for the end product. The following demo was just a sampling of what they would soon be capable of.