Mature

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The Real Truth About “Mature” Gaming.

Posted by Karl Weller on November 2, 2023
Posted in: Feature. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

It’s interesting how our preferences adapt as we get older. When you’re in your 20’s it’s all about socialising, late nights and alcohol induced comas. Well I imagine that’s what it was like. Replace “socialising” with barricading oneself in their room playing Dragon Quest and GTA, and you have some insight into my tragic Weekend sabbaticals. The same is true of the games we play. As an adult, much of my time is divided between work commitments and supporting my family, as well as the domestic responsibilities required when I’m not working. So very little time is reserved for the simple pleasures of gaming, beyond the fleeting evening excursions after the family has gone to sleep. So it’s important that you settle on a fitting game that will satisfy your needs, maximize your limited time and all without compromising your own requirements for rest.

Which is why I often find myself reverting back to the games that induce that reassuring comfort that appeases my restive mind. And I think my preferences as an adult really reflect where I am in my life. In my younger, less grey more viril days, I could roam the virtual, dragon infested pastures of “Generic Fantasy Named World” with impunity. Or survive in a nihilistic post apocalyptic environment, ravaged by humanity’s self-destructive hubris. Now, fatigued by a physically and mentally demanding job, exasperated by the added delight of children, much of my gaming habits are limited by the infrequency as well as limitations of afforded time. Many of my choices are motivated by the mitigation of the tension exerted by the day. It’s the games that seem to incorporate the mundane tasks that are some of the most effective.

Nothing promotes the alleviation of stress with such effortless speed as a game like “Power Wash Simulator”. There’s an inherent contentment from the completion of such mundane tasks. An almost meditative balm from the simple act of cleansing the encrusted dirt that has accumulated on the door frame of a house. It’s a similar sense of satisfaction I get from maintaining my island in “Animal Crossing”, that is perpetually beset by invasive weeds and stray branches. When a game devolves into nothing more than garden maintenance or spray washing a grubby patio, two domestic responsibilities I despise doing outside of virtual environments, I think you really have to begin questioning how you got to this stage in a hobby. But conversely feel encouraged that despite tastes, mood or age demographic, that there will almost certainly be a game to scratch that seemingly interminable itch. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a toilet to clean.

A View Of The “Lake”.

Posted by Karl Weller on June 7, 2023
Posted in: Feature. Tagged: , , , , , , . 1 Comment

I find that as I get older my gaming preferences have become more diverse. Now I’d like to believe that this is a result of natural maturity. The rigours of ageing imparting it’s inert wisdom upon my world weary soul. But honestly, I think my flourishing proclivities for sophisticated experiences is a direct result of becoming more conscious of my own dwindling mortality. Not that I’m planning on shuffling awkwardly from this mortal coil just yet, but I find that age, as well as the responsibility of being a parent, does have a profound impact on how you perceive life as it was, as it is and the ever shortening journey towards its inevitable end. Games that invoke the banality of everyday life, with enough compelling introspective dramatisation to keep you from falling into narcolepsy seem to hold this rousing appeal that a more dynamic game would have when I was younger.

“Lake” certainly conforms to these contemplative persuasions. With self reflecting endeavours that delve into the intricacies of rekindling relationships from your youth. You play as Meredith, a writer who has returned to her fictional hometown of Providence Oaks to assume the role of the town’s mail carrier in her father’s absence. A rather contrived incentive to precipitate such a quaint concept, but one that does strangely work. “Lake’s” gameplay largely hinges on delivering packages to the local denizens, whilst reconciling the mistakes of your past and contemplating your future with interspersed dialogue. It’s these humble stories of self rediscovery that has captivated my attention most, over the irksome bluster of AAA titles that are constantly baying for attention of its fickle consumers or exploiting its popularity with loot boxes.

You’d think a game that perpetuates the mundane life of a delivery carrier, whose life briefly interjects with those in the local community, socialising as well as providing conversational support to these individuals you meet, would be a fundamental moral quandary for an introvert that wouldn’t engage with his own mother for more than a minute if I didn’t have to. But there is something so soothing about living vicariously through the perspective of someone socially confident. Taking inventory of their life to better understand themselves, whilst carefully considering their future. It also helps that the relationships Meridith establishes with the gregarious inhabitants develop in a very organic fashion, despite the limited autonomy of dialogue options, that really only equates to responses that are either verbose or glib variations of Yes/No. Though the game’s divergent endings do give your decisions some limited autonomy.

“Lake” isn’t perfect. The movement is awkward. The graphics are low rendered and at times featureless. The streets and residences are often as disserted as a Toys R Us in Chernobyl. Dialogue can sometimes feel stilted and the lip syncing is about as accurate as a dubbed Japanese movie. Lake can feel repetitive, but it’s that repetition that gives the game real authenticity. But for all Lake’s faults, it’s the game’s earnest cathartic that makes it so compelling. Lake may not be the most exciting, nor the best presented, but what it lacks in superficial quality, it more than makes up for by providing a unique comfort. And certainly an experience to really wind down too.

Heavy Rain; Treating Gamers With Respect

Posted by Karl Weller on January 3, 2012
Posted in: Feature, Heavy Rain. Tagged: , , , , , , . 4 Comments

Video games have, for many, generally served as an entertaining distraction from life’s mundanity, like watching a film or reading a novel, for me though games have had far greater importance in my upbringing. My first experiences with this virtual world consisted of Sonic the hedgehog dashing frantically from one side of the screen to the other, only to be ruthlessly impeded by various, mechanical piranhas, or impatiently attempting to pass other vehicles in Micro Machines, only to fall helplessly off the side of the pool table, again! (In retrospect, I wasn’t very good was I?) Or even trying in blind expectation, to somehow reach the finishing line in Road Rash, running! Which I sadly never achieved (believe me, I tried), but as I grew older, the lack of maturity that alluded most games seemed to hold greater significance to me than I had previous noticed. Compelling story telling are my main enticement, complemented with inventive gameplay that continually sucks you in, and for me Heavy Rain not only attained this, but simultaneously granted the games industry’s story telling capabilities, with much-needed creditability.

What Heavy Rain achieved cannot be exaggerated enough. It was an ambitious project which appeared so outlandish, that it was almost destined to fail and disappear into obscurity, but it didn’t. Heavy Rains greatest asset was in the way it devised and combined a gritty narrative with a world equally as dark as the intricately enterprising story it told, that didn’t treat gamers like intellectual inferiors. The cast that it so caringly created felt truly organic, as though somewhere in this harsh world, these characters exist, especially Ethan Mars.

You become so empathetic towards the hardships that Ethan must endure in order to locate his suffering son, his struggles become your own and really embodies every parents most terrifying nightmare. Although you can’t relate to him and the increasingly obscure situations he continually finds himself tangled in directly, you can sympathise with his reactions to the dangerously meticulous scenarios that constantly thwart his progress, I mean the literal sense of sickness I felt as Ethan chillingly dismembered his finger, is a reaction I never anticipated I would feel whilst holding a Playstation controller. Even during these unrealistic concepts, Ethan remains believable, a damaged father with the weight of his past mistakes and self-deprecation, weighing so heavily on his haggard shoulders, particularly the blame he vigorously places upon his own failure as a dad, that he still firmly believes to be the reason for Jason’s demise. He encapsulates the dogged determination that we would all like to believe, we could all bravely emulate.

Another of Heavy Rains most unique features is the way in which the weather has such an imposing visage, that constantly looms over you and regularly creates an overwhelming sense of fear and desperation, but also appearing as a natural entity manifesting as a constant obstacle and even a silent enemy. Heavy Rain took an especially bold move in placing a child in the centre of such a callous position, which could be considered upsetting and more than a little tasteless, but because the story is so competently told, it has a feel more akin to a Hollywood drama, which again emphasises how much respect the developers has for gamers, by conveying captivating narratives, with more depth and respect for fans than any previous game.

What game do you think has the most compelling story?

GTA, Why So Serious?

Posted by Karl Weller on August 27, 2011
Posted in: Feature, GTA. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 6 Comments

Grand Theft Auto is undoubtedly the most successful and lucrative series on the Playstation, combining endless entertaining destruction as well as immersive story telling, eloquently drizzled with sexual innuendo’s and provocative images. Often herald as the Godfather of video games, GTA truly defines a generation of gaming and providing a little controversy along the way (just for good measure). Although much of the criticism’s and accusations that has been stupidly heaped upon such a humble and rather defenceless computer game have largely been cast by narrow-minded individuals who not only have no concept of common sense, but have never actually indulged in these apparent “violent video games”, meaning any opinion that these ignorant halfwit’s express are virtually frivolous and ultimately pointless. GTA has been blamed for inciting violence among impressionable teenagers, teen suicide, and through some extensive and imaginary research, the global recession and according to politicians, GTA is the sole creator of both Col Gaddafi and those little pink wafer biscuit things that no-one eats (I think?), but this has only helped the GTA series to become the revered powerhouse that it is today. But the one thing that has always been retained during its illustrious inception back in 1997, is its dry sense of humour and in later installments, its witty and flowing conversation’s between some of the most deeply obscene, obscure and downright crazy characters ever computer generated, but GTA IV changed all that, relying heavily on a more mature narrative coupled together with far more intense characters, and almost entirely forgetting where the GTA series originated from.

The original and subsequent sequel were very entertaining and successful, but were ultimately limited and hindered by technological restraints, and it wasnt until GTA reached the more powerful PS2 that Rockstar could fully create their vision for the series for all the world to ardour. GTA III was a gigantic stride for the series not only for moving from a top down view to a third person perspective, but also for incorporating an intriguing story to accompany the visual feast that we all indulged in. Vice City (my personal highlight in the series), really expanded on everything that made its predecessor great, with a far more diverse range of colourful and sometimes psychotic personalities, from the unfortunately named Lance Vance to the cowardly attorney Ken Rosenberg, humour and comedy were the prominent feature’s in Vice City, and the tongue in cheek approach made Vice City arguably the most popular in the series. GTA: San Andreas concentrated more on expanding the GTA location by crafting a world that was huge, but still embracing the same comedic timing that had been the foundation for the series, (and infecting me with a mild case of Tourette’s as I constantly utter the words “for sure” far too often), and then there was GTA IV.

GTA IV is without any reasonable doubt a great game and still retains many of the unique qualities that make a classic GTA, but there was something missing, a certain charm that the fourth never really captured, and this has nothing to do with the leading man Niko Bellic. Rockstar have always had a good grasp of what a protagonist need’s to be and having an eastern european as the central character in my opinion was a stroke of genius, he was just sadly let down by a completely wooden and frankly forgettable cast. Roman was annoying, Kate was a bore and Brucie, well don’t even get me started, you just didn’t care about any of the characters that inhabited Liberty City, making the all so difficult moral obligations that you faced as you progressed rather idle. GTA IV just wasnt fun, it didn’t entertain in the same manner that the previous games did, the incidents you experienced left you feeling cold and out of sync with the games events, and I’m utterly convinced that the distant feel is purely down to IV’s lack of humour. A dank and dimly rendered city and more realistic combat simply aren’t enough to sustain GTA as the as the king of the open world, and unless Rockstar regain’s its diverse cast of excentric characters and its comedic dialogue then GTA could struggle to match other ambitious titles. Remember where you came from guys?!

Do you think GTA has lost its sense of humour? Or did GTA need to mature? Let me what you think, cheers.