Metro 2033 compared endlessly to Fallout 3, next stop Killzone and Viva Pinata.

If I was an internet bloody sensation and had thousands of readers, sure I'd enjoy having such a large fanbase, but you know what would annoy me? Nitpicking at articles. Sooner or later, someone would tell me that this article I'm writing is just the same idea as my post about Erik Brudvig, just about different games. And how they expect more. And how I won't accept their Xbox Live friend invites, and how deep down I'm just a dumb Bad Company 2 fanboy. I think, for now, I'm very much satisfied with having five consistent readers who couldn't give a monkey's whether I wrote now or next year. Stay casual.

I was browsing ol' IGN the other day, checking out how the horror shooter Metro 2033 has turned out. I was interested in how they could make a good FPS out of a book and, apparently, it is damn fun and often has moments of artistic genius. However, that's only according to the players, as reviews for the game have named it 'passable'. Frankly I'm annoyed at this seeing as there are quite so many people calling for it be a 9 or 9.5 instead of a measly 6.9, and because from what I've seen in gameplay videos, it's a success. Nonetheless, I don't want to endlessly protest against a review just because it scored lower than perhaps deserved, but I must say I really didn't approve of the constant referrals to Fallout 3 that it is given from reviews, news posts and fans. 

It seems that people have completely forgotten what Fallout 3 is. It's an RPG. An action RPG which has shooting in it. Not an FPS. I highly respect Metro 2033 whether it's fun or not as it is a shooter ported from a book, but I will not accept that it is a similar game to Fallout 3 entirely because it is post-apocalyptic. 

First of all, Metro 2033 and all the Fallout games are aimed at getting across completely different messages. The Fallout series was even inspired by American movies like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog and features satire about American life and the American dream, whereas Metro 2033 was written by a Russian, set in Moscow, and was at heart a horror story. I'm not criticising it for 'not being deep enough', but these are clearly fundamental differences. You don't compare Call of Duty and Mirror's Edge because they both have guns in them. The games have utterly differing focuses. 

Not to mention that Metro isn't even an RPG. Everything about Fallout 3 oozes RPG, in particular Oblivion, with just about everything having stats of its own and having the ability choose whatever missions you like whenever you like. Metro 2033 is a linear shooter, which again is not a bad thing because that's the genre of game it sits into. It was never meant to be like Fallout or any other RPG. 

It's a shame that we can't release games now without us instantly trying to think of the last 1000 games that resemble it, and these games are usually blockbusters. The first thing that happened after Bad Company 2 started releasing info was that it got compared to Modern Warfare. There are plenty of other modern military shooters out there - including other Battlefield games which actually came out before CoD4 - that resemble BC2 far more, but no, of course every dev team with a decent game has to be accused of trying to be like the contemporary sales victors. I can't imagine dear old Dmitry Glukhovsky likes his book being said to be like a game which insults Russians more often than I've had hot meals.

Gracious return with very little to say.

I've been lazy with blogging before, but taking two weeks off with no decent reason is tall order. My apologies. It's made worse that while I could be playing games I should be reviewing (Mass Effect, Dante's Inferno and SDvR2008) I've been playing nothing but Bad Company 2 and Mirror's Edge.

I won't go on another useless rant about how amazing Bad Company 2 is, because I've talked about it far too much already. So I'll talk about other things.

While I wasn't impressed... at all about the Just Cause 2 demo, reviews are actually very positive (which I believe were released today) and say that the shooting mechanic isn't as bad as it seemed. I do, however, find it hard to believe that 'the physics are good' when shooting someone sends them flying into the air. It just seems to stupid, even though it's going for 'over the top'. That's just what the last one was trying to do, I say no more.

Mirror's Edge is very bloody good. I'm annoyed I haven't played it before, and to be honest I think it's very harshly criticised, when usually the only thing that's really said about it is that 'it's short'. Yeah, it's not long, but that's no reason to ignore the stunning visuals, incredible smoothness and probably the best first-person view there has ever been in a video game.

Next rental once I've reluctantly sent back Mirror's Edge will be AvP and then probably Just Cause 2 (I need closure!). I am also currently selling Mercenaries 2, Frontlines: Fuel of War and a couple of DVDs to save money for a newer, better capture card. The plan is to make a new youtube channel for our gaming 'family' - NOT clan, it's not serious - called LeagueOfMB, as we are starting to call ourselves the League of Magnificent Bastards. I'd also like to introduce Will Holden, our newest friend. Barman, avid BC2 player and hilarious personality, just as awesome as cokeyedcaptin. Very glad I met him.

Anyhoo, I'll get going on an actual article as soon as possible. Happy gaming y'all.

Failboat's Top 5 BC2 Kills

After playing quite so many hours of BC2, some decent kills are bound to go down. To be honest, I'm mainly just putting these down so I don't forget them myself, because knowing me, I will. 5 being the not quite so amazingly awesome, and 1 being my best.

5. Revolver headshot off jet ski - On Isla Innocentes, being a Recon dude on one of the little island/rock things off the mainland. An engineer zipped past on a jet ski, and I thought I'd take my chances with the Rex revolver. In one shot it got him straight in the head and took him off the jet ski and into Hades.

4. Rocket shot out of Black Hawk helicopter - Once again on Isla Innocentes, in the same match as the revolver headshot. I was in a packed Black Hawk and it was coming in low and very, very fast so that the two passengers (some other guy and me) could jump out. I was an engineer and because I thought I might as well take a pot shot at a Heavy MG that I saw. This was without looking through the sights, and a very vague guess at a high speed. Yet, bang on hit.

3. Double 40mm shotgun headshot - Using the absolutely awesome shotgun attachment for assault rifles on Arica Harbor. Came round the back of a hut to find two sneaky engineers ambushing a tank. Took a shot with the 40mm and managed to blast both heads. The points I got for that one shot were huge...

2. Sniper headshot on Black Hawk gunner - Another match on Isla Innocentes. The attackers were being pretty pathetic and just sniping us instead of blowing up the crates so I was reluctantly a sniper too (much prefer going engineer on that map) to return fire. Saw an enemy Black Hawk in the sky and, for lack of a better target, took a random shot at it, expecting nothing to happen. Marksman headshot. The gunner's corpse plummeted out of the chopper. 

1. Near-miss RPG shot - Yet another kill related to a Black Hawk, this time on Valparaiso. Took an RPG shot at an enemy Black Hawk, and it was very, very close. I was disappointed when it missed by inches, but just as it was about to pass the helicopter, a passenger jumped out, intending to open his chute and land in our base. He jumped out right in front of my rocket and detonated in the sky. 

Any BC2 players (Ryan, Dan etc) post your memorable kills in the comments.

The Failboat Awards

Would just like to hand out some random awards in appreciation.

The Dedicated Blog and Review Reader Award: Nicey/nicekindaguy

The Gamerscore Award: Tom Green/cokeyedcaptin

The Halo Pro Award: Jerry/heresjohn

The Haggard Award: Brian Jones/EnglishCarBomb

The Vault 101 Award: Brother Omee/hitman892

The Videophile Award: Uncle GC/Bulky G

The Bad Company 2 Award: Dan Elliott/Director_Alpha

The Hack 'n' Slash Award: Sindall/Director_Omega

The Lips Award: Sammy/sammyspencer10

The Boring CoD Award: Ian Richardson/dizzypudding

The Awesome New Squad Member Award: Mikey The Pain Train/MIKE OF PAIN

The Twat of the Year Award: Deji Olatunji/AngelzKid

Here's to you guys *drinks air*

'EA... you are RUBBISH'

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Bad Company 2 is the best multiplayer game of this generation, and I can virtually not pull myself off it. Hours upon hours of this absolute gold.

However, many more hours would be able to be put in if there was actually a decent company in control of the servers. EA have been absolutely atrocious. Today (Sunday 7th March) the servers have been fully down twice, and I have encountered other problems. 

At about 7pm, Mikey, Carbomb and me joined a game. Suddenly, BAM, we were not only chucked out of the game, but put back to the dashboard. Confused and irritated, we tried again. We had selected to go on Rush on the Bolivian map (I can't spell the actual name...), but instead EA thought it'd be really funny to put us on Squad Deathmatch on Arica Harbor. Trying AGAIN, we were put in the right match... but all our guns and unlocks were missing. The servers then went completely down.

Later on, they came back... with horrible lag making it unplayable. This sorted itself out after a few match retries but as much as I accept that this is early days, it's a pretty terrible performance from EA. 

On a much happier note, earlier today around 2pm I played what can only be described as the most fun multiplayer match I have ever played. Mikey, Carbomb and a new guy we met called Will Holden (an absolute piloting pro) had a devastating round in a Black Hawk helicopter on Isla Innocentes. I died about twice in the entire game and racked up 20 or so minigun kills. Having a whole squad of four with intense team talk is an unbeatable experience, especially in a vehicle so designed for squads. By the time of writing, about 8 hours of play have been stacked up today, if not more. 7th March will not be forgotten.

Without a doubt the best multiplayer game of this generation.

My Bad Company 2 arrived the day before release, last Thursday. I played through the whole campaign, and about 10 hours of multiplayer.

And it is absolutely incredible.

Developer thoughts on Natal and Halo Reach beta trailer.

I gotta say, I found this good piece of journalism from IGN interesting. It's not advertising, it's got decent, thought out opinions on it which are by no means 'WOW THIS IS GOING TO BE AMAZING, NO DOUBTS ABOUT IT'. Includes a lot of thoughts that are going through gamers' minds about it at the moment.

Also, Halo:Reach beta trailer, looks a lot different, pretty crazy and pretty cool I guess. Mildly hyped, not that I have an invite for the beta... :(

It's still not Infinity Ward burning to the ground, but it'll have to do...

Still trying to make decent sense of this story, but maybe if we all put our heads together and wish REALLY REALLY hard, Infinity Ward will never defile this earth with another Modern Warfare again.

Apparently Infinity Ward managed to breach some part of the contract they made with Activision... maybe over developer rights? I don't know for sure. However Activision, like the gaming Mafia they are, sent a few 'bouncer-like' figures over to Infinity Ward's HQ last night to sort some business out and generally freak people out. After a following information leak it turns out that while Treyarch will be making World at War 2, the next Call of Duty after that will be made by Sledgehammer Games, founded by some of the makers of Dead Space... odd choice, no?

Nonetheless, this is not looking good for the next Modern Warfare, and very very good for the outcast CoD-haters like me in the corner. Activision have said they will require the 'combined talent, expertise and leadership of the team', but this could either be saying 'we want their talent... to be used for the next Spyro the Dragon game' or they could be outright lying. Two of the top members of Infinity Ward have been swiftly fired, and I am distantly chuckling at them from across the pond. 

Never know, modern warfare online games might go back to NOT being horrendously overrated, and everyone will be playing games like Battlefield again. Mind you, judging by how stupid most Call of Duty players are that'll likely be the day Valve start making bad games.

... and by that I mean never.

Info source: 
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/107/1073302p1.html
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/news/news-4527-Infinity-Ward-Still--Central-to-Call-of-Duty-s-Future-.html

The Demise of CoD fanboy and moron Erik Brudvig. A story of death and betrayal by FailboatSkipper.

I've been with IGN for a few years now. By 'with' I don't mean working for (hey, I wish) or having some weird human-corporation relationship with it, I mean I've been a common reader. Time and again, I've read their reviews, enjoyed their thorough, reasonable and often witty opinions on games and have very rarely indeed had reason to argue with them. However, that changed for the first time on February 26th, when IGN released their review for Bad Company 2.

Yes, it's true, I go on about this game a hell of a lot these days, and I'd forgive you for mistaking me for some kind of fanboy. While the term is basically dead post-console war, I AM a huge fan of DICE and Bad Company, and believe to the last that it is infinitely superior to Modern Warfare. However, the reviewer, in this case one Erik Brudvig is not only the opposite to this, but also lets it interfere with his job and result in writing a review which is, in many places, plain incorrect in a blindingly obvious fashion.

It's said about a lot of critics these days that each game should be viewed of itself, and not constantly compared to a rival game or a predecessor. Apart from some obvious exceptions, it's a statement that should be taken into account, not least by Brudvig who included in his Bad Company 2 review more comparisons than you'll find on confused.com (even if they're not literally said, and instead heavily implied). Comparisons to what you ask? Well, you absolute hypothetical moron for asking a question I put in your mouth, Modern Warfare 2 of course. Yes, it seems that Erik enjoyed Infinity Ward's tool for controlling the mindless casual gamer so much that he's entered a delusional alternate reality in which every modern FPS is simply clasping at the heels of Call of Duty, begging a drop of its sweet, sweet idiot juice. A quote in particular being 'DICE seems to have taken a cue from Modern Warfare 2 and tried for a very large and cinematic scope', as just an example. I would very much like to ask Mr Brudvig:

1. At which point the Battlefield games DIDN'T have a large scope, what with having much larger maps, more players and bigger destruction than Modern Warfare.

2. When Modern Warfare 2 ever had a 'large scope', at any given moment that WASN'T watching an EMP explode from space. The majority of the game was shooting in tunnels or in buildings, occasionally broken up with flying in a helicopter. 'Large scope'? More like an ACOG. Har-har.

Another critical quote being 'when everything is a high-action sequence, there's very little tension building'. Apart from congratulating him on his incredibly basic knowledge of film studies, I'd also like to ask him when there is ever anything close to 'tension' in Call of Duty. The series is famed for having a constant guns-blazing approach to absolutely everything, including a sniper mission. It's called excitement. And there's more of it in Bad Company, considering you're not completely invincible as you are in CoD, just to please the morons - and there are plenty.

The man also nitpicks as if his life depends on it. Complaining about a bug where the game momentarily freezes during weapon selection was almost fair enough but I was astounded when he was annoyed that a multiplayer match can end 'right when the game is warming up.' Sure, this is true... if it takes you more than ten minutes to 'warm up'. And since when did that not happen with every multiplayer game?

I won't de-construct every line that came out his mouth - and believe me, what I have quoted is but a portion - but what absolutely must be highlighted as the jewel in the Imbecile Crown is the set of stats included in the written review. Most notably, the 'Sound' section. 9.0. Excuse me? And Modern Warfare 2's sound was a 10? Bad Company 1 was released in 2007 and still has some of the best game audio around, let alone Bad Company 2. Modern Warfare's is little more than shouty-shouty bang bang bang. Literally. The caption with the stats is 'Some fantastic audio samples and above average voice acting.' Great, don't feel free to mention the epic Battlefield score making a majestic return, or the mindblowingly good use of surround sound. No, Modern Warfare 2 had a Hanz Zimmer soundtrack, so it must be better. Shark Tale had a damn Hanz Zimmer soundtrack, how highly did you rate that?

I don't hate IGN, not by a long shot, but to be honest the next time I see Erik Brudvig's name at the top of an article, I'll stop before I die a little more inside. For once, even IGN UK rated BC2 higher than his pathetically ungenerous review. Makes you wonder how much a kid this guy really is.

The IGN video review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c1RrJ_sg4w
The written review (by the same guy): http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/107/1072632p1.html