It’s good to get back into writing again.

This piece has gone through an edit or two - the original review rambled on at just under 2,000 words. This one is a lot leaner, although I still think it’s a bit too long. For a game of this scope, though, it’s easy to get carried away.

Hope you enjoy the read.

If you didn’t already know, Steam is having a big weekend sale. Despite what people may say about it, I think that the platform works extremely well and is a great money spinner.

I was just reading a thread about the sales and someone made the argument that “if they did this more often, there’d be no excuse to pirate (games)”. Immediately afterwards, I read a thread about how PC gaming for this year was lacklustre and that it was only going to get worse (in so many words).

This got me thinking - is PC gaming getting to the point where publishers / distributors have to lower prices to get any sort of volume moving? Is the time of PC gaming actually “dying”? Ergo, is Steam going to go away any time soon?

I, for one, think all this talk of the PC platform going away is rubbish. I can understand the arguments against PC gaming - the high upkeep costs of PC upgrades, the maintenance, the hurdles of compatibility, the numerous DRM issues to curb piracy…hell, I’ve even heard the argument that WASD is too hard to use.

And, despite my heavy PC-gaming background, I enjoy console gaming. I like using my 360 - I’ve had some good times with it, and I think that remembering a handful of buttons is easier than hopping all over my keyboard. I used to abhor FPSes with the controller (admittedly, I still find it amazingly awkward to use) but now I don’t think it’s all that bad.

But now that console gaming is becoming increasingly mainstream, there are more than enough fanboys out there to proclaim the end of PC gaming. While it isn’t as popular, I reject claims that it is dying. Cases in point:

• Many popular mainstream franchises and titles cut their teeth by debuting on the PC platform;
• It would be fair to say that there are more PCs in households than there are consoles, thus increasing market potential;
• The barriers for entry to PC development and distribution are lower, with the emergence of public dev kits;
• Digital distribution can lower costs for all parties in the chain, as opposed to taking a “gamble” with official online console subscription services.

Those are a few that I thought of off the top of my head.

People claim that they game more on their consoles than they do on their PCs, and that it offers an easier, more seamless experience. And that’s fine. That’s one of the main advantages of consoles - it allows those that are not technically literate to enjoy a gaming experience. But to say that “PC gaming is dead” because you now have more console games than PC games is short-sighted. PC gaming is certainly not as popular as it was way back when…but it isn’t going to just “die”.

There is a place for PC gamers…even if it happens to be second place.

So, I just finished Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.

I’ll admit that my main reasons for playing the game were only to hear exaggerated wild west accents, and to shoot pistols akimbo like the crazy Texan from The Simpsons.

BiB did deliver in both regards, but what really surprised me was the thought and care put into the story. The characterisation was a pleasant surprise, with a mixed cast consisting of a young preacher; a womanising lasso twirler; a headstrong and violent gunslinger; a deceitful Mexican bandito and his beautiful yet manipulative woman; a scorned Southern general; and an Apache brave. It’s a large list of characters to follow for a First Person Shooter, of all things, but the story is warm and chewy like well-made popcorn. It doesn’t require you to think too much, but it employs enough drama to keep you interested as to why you’re slinging guns and popping rifles.

Graphics and presentation are stunning, with a heavy emphasis on post-processing effects. High-end cards are the order of the day here.

Some nifty gameplay elements attempt to separate this from the numerous other shooters out there. There’s the option to choose one of the two playable brothers in the game, which usually means different weapons and abilities. There’s also a heavy focus on time-slowing, which is erring into the realm of cliche, but it’s relevant and it works, for the most part. The gun showdowns are something different, although the controls are a bit awkward when using the mouse.

It’s not so much essential gaming as it is comfort gaming. Well worth a second-hand purchase and definitely worth a look if you find it marked down.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned in a previous post that I love horror games. I was especially a big fan of F.E.A.R when it first came out - the individual ideas seemed to complement each other rather well, and of course there were some nasty shocks in there that even I jumped at.

F.E.A.R 2 is technically more of the same. The guns, enemies and abilities have all been heavily “inspired” by the original. It’s not a bad thing - it’s always nice to see old favourites return.

What intrigued me was how…glossy F.E.A.R 2 was. The original F.E.A.R was dark and gritty, with heavy shadows, charcoal textures and violent combat that saw enemies explode into giblet chunks on a regular basis. F.E.A.R 2 felt almost cartoon-like in comparison, what with the shiny neons and funky effects. It’s a bit like Gears of War 2.

That being said, there were moments that had me on edge, giving off a very Condemned: Criminal Origins feel about it. Alma is as disturbing as ever, and there are sections that do get your heart racing - the school level is particularly screwed in the head. Thankfully the plot does get fleshed out via Intel pickups scattered throughout levels, so you’ll eventually understand the difference between the numerous Project names and why Alma is a bit of a sociopath. But the ending (without going into details) did make me raise an eyebrow, so be warned.

I was expecting something a bit darker, though. F.E.A.R 2 had its moments, but it didn’t deathgrip me until the end. The NPCs felt like they were affiliated with an American soap, instead of the adopting the dry realism of the first game. The combat didn’t retain the same feel as the original, where you were conserving every round and abusing bullet-time until the very end. (And besides, the shotgun wasn’t ridiculously overpowered.) The awkward environments didn’t help either - the dynamic cover system didn’t really help at all, and it was enough for me to just stand in a cosy corner and pick enemies off with the Assault Rifle. Meh.

F.E.A.R 2 was good, but not great. Good way to spend a rainy weekend, though.

After finishing Dead Space, I have to say that it’s a game that has exceeded expectations on several fronts. A great single-player experience.

Even the ending is pretty good. *knowing wink*

Write up coming soon, along with some others…

I’m glad I upgraded when I did - it’s so much easier to appreciate games at high res and with mouselook. Enjoy the read!

Churning them out, one at a time…

Just finished a session of Left 4 Dead versus…damn it’s fun being a zombie. I don’t see why we should be killing them in the first place.