Before we jump into my top five, I’m going to show you one clip that I was going to put in – was looking at being number two – until I watched it again. It’s the opening scene for Mechwarrior 2. At the game this was mind blowing. I remember watching it ever time I loaded up the game. Having watched it again for this blog I can see that is has not aged well at all and there is no way it can compare to current and recent CGI. It was still awesome at the time though.
I am a massive fan of gaming cinematics. Seeing the characters and worlds we love so much in beautifully rendered motion is a pure joy. Over today and tomorrow we’ll post the top 10 cinematics. A word before we jump in. You’ll note these are almost all from very recently released games or upcoming games. There was a cinematic that jumped into my mind immediately when I started this but, upon looking at it, it just doesn’t rate. Technology moves so fast that the old is left behind so quickly.
Also, this is extremely subjective. Feel free to criticize or, better yet, link your own.
The original Dues Ex was one of the biggest games of the decade. It’s been a long time between drinks and that helps the excitement level for this game. The music plays a big part in it too, a fantastic score.
The reason I like MMOs so much more than other games is the rush they can give you. There is a satisfaction to finishing a single player game and a lot of fun to be had in multiplayer games but they don’t make your hands shake, your pulse race or leave you on a high that can last for hours.
I’ve tried out a lot of MMOs and my three favorites have all given me that rush, but all for different reasons. Sometimes it’s easy to get, sometimes it’s tough, but they stir emotions and it sometimes amazes me that a game has this capability.
Lord of the Rings Online did it for me the first time I saw Weathertop. I first read Lord of the Rings at the age of about 12 and it’s probably responsible for my love of all things geek. I’ve read it a few times since and have watched the movies a number of times – it’s a world I love.
Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been playing a fair bit of Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer later. There is no doubt that Modern Warfare is the pinnacle of online FPS’ as seen by the amazing sales and extremely strong online community. It makes me wonder why Activision are so hell bent on destroying the franchise.
Since before the release of MW2 Activision has been alienating the community. It started with the PC community and no private server support. Despite this it sold absolute truckloads. Then the map packs came out – at $15 US. They missed the price point by miles and, subsequently, have not sold nearly as many as they should have. I’m yet to pick up either of them, despite how much I would like some new maps. There is just no way I’ll pay that price. Read the rest of this entry »
Guild housing has always been one of my favourite things in MMOs. Guild Wars, LotRO, AoC and now SWtOR. Fantastic achievements for a player or guild to work towards and great places to show off what you or your guild has achieved. An MMO without housing is missing out on something great for players and guilds alike. I’m looking at you WoW
A few people were able to get some hands on time with Star Wars: The Old Republic at E3. We’ve all seen the magnificent trailers, we all know that no-one tells a story in games like Bioware and we all know that Star Wars is an IP that you can bank on. What we haven’t really known much about yet is how that game plays.
Obviously this hands on time was limited to certain sections and was all solo play, but there is some pretty vital information on the game to come from it. The kind of info that will make plenty of people groan and get a lot of people a little excited. It seems that SWtOR plays like World of Warcraft. A lot like World of Warcraft.
And I, for one, think that’s awesome. Read the rest of this entry »
Somewhere along the line, MMOs have got themselves confused over what kind of game they are. Born out of an RPG, levelling and experience has always been seen as a vital part of an MMO, however there is a pretty significant difference between an MMO and a solo RPG. Solo RPGs, after all, have an ending.
Baulders Gate, Mass Effect, Oblivion, all of these games are structured around levelling up as you progress through the game world, learning new skills and abilities and improving on the old, before going toe-to-toe with some all powerful evil and saving the world. Then the credits roll.
Epic fight is epic
In an MMO you do the levelling but once you reach the level cap, the game changes completely – but it doesn’t end. No longer do you run around questing to help the poor hapless blacksmith that has had his hammer stolen by goblins or get 10 wolf stakes to help feed the village. Now you embark on endless dungeon crawls, fight epic bosses, engage in pitch PvP battles, explore the corners of the world for achievements and pets, or all of the above. Read the rest of this entry »
Ah, the First Person Shooter (FPS), bread and butter of the gaming world. Ever since Doom, FPS’ have dominated the gaming industry and that’s a trend that looks set to continue, if the clips shown at E3 are anything to go by:
Some sexy Star Wars related things coming out of E3, starting with motion control. This is a clip of a Star Wars game coming next year, using Kinect (formally Project Natal). Motion control light sabers. Awesome.
