City 16

• IF I enjoyed ir/rational THEN I will write a post about it.
• I am writing a post about ir/rational.
• THEREFORE I enjoyed ir/rational.

ir/rational is a short game by Tom Jubert, writer for the Penumbra series. It’s short. It’s free. You should probably play it. Not good enough? Maybe a can make a rational argument to persuade you.

• This is a gaming blog.
• IF you are reading this blog THEN you are interested in games.
• ir/rational is a game.
• THEREFORE you should play ir/rational.

Now for the less rational (irrational?) stuff. ir/rational is a text based puzzle game. It requires you to use propositional calculus to solve an increasingly complex series of arguments. This is actually a lot less daunting than it sounds. Once I’d grasped the concept, initially struggling through the first couple of puzzles, I became a lot better at seeing the logical patterns for the subsequent, supposedly trickier, levels. This isn’t a criticism of the game however. It doesn’t become easier, later levels do require a lot more working out, it’s just trains you to think through your argument before clicking that big Continue button. It’s a tactic that can be evidenced in all great puzzle games, minimising the frustration to the player and instead letting them feel the thrill of successfully solving problems.

Around the framework of these logic puzzles hangs an almost playfully dark and humorous story. Your character wakes up with no memory of what has gone before in a room with no discernible exit. While the set up may sound familiar to anyone who has played an escape-the-room webgame, it doesn’t take long for ir/rational to announce its own unique style.

The interesting thing about the story is that the character you play would be, in most situations, entirely unlikeable. His almost faultless application of logic and and general angry sarcasm make him… Well let’s just say that, before the memory loss, I doubt he was invited to many parties. In pitting him against an entity of pure logic, however, it allows the character’s humanity to shine through, highlighting the battle of wits between the two. It’s an interesting angle that keeps the story element interesting throughout the game.

I’m now in danger of spending longer writing about it than I did playing it (it really is quite short) so, in summary, ir/rational is a fun and interesting little puzzle game. Check it out.

Bloody hell, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. Can I even remember how to make one? Oh yeah, I play a game for an hour and then write about it. Of course! Well this should be easy then…

What Is It?

An open world game set on Mars. Massive hammer based destruction seems to be the focus. Beyond that I’ve got no idea. I did play the demo, however, and hated it.

Why Did You Buy It?

Legions of people saying that the demo was a poor reflection of the game, which is actually brilliant fun. Also this video. Also Game selling it for £5 over Christmas. Also the allure of hammering things.

The Preamble

Before I play the game, I have to start the game. This logic is undefeatable. Unfortunately I can’t find the bloody thing because there doesn’t seem to be a THQ, Volition or Red Faction Guerrilla folder in the start menu. Ah, of course. This is going to be one of those games that ignores the years old tradition of putting the executable files into an easy to sort through centralised set of nested folders, instead choosing to use the caustic wasteland of shit that is the Vista Games folder. This will need to be rectified.

I’ve got two reasons for using Steam as a centralised platform for launching all my games, whether they were bought through Steam or not. The first is, as a game launcher, it’s light years ahead of Vista’s awful Games folder. The second is that it adds the Steam overlay to non-Steam games, meaning they don’t crash to the fucking desktop when Rock, Paper, Shotgun’s Steam group announces one of their seemingly hourly TF2 matches. With RF:G added to the fold, shit can finally get hammered.

Runtime error! Fuck. Hmm, maybe my illicit Steam antics are causing issues. Time to brave the wastelands of the Games folder.

Nope, not that. To the Internet! Oh, my flatmate must be up because the Internet’s down. I really need to get around to resetting that bloody router. Still, at least I’m not playing a Ubisoft game (burn!)

The router’s remembered how to deal with two connections again… To the Internet! The only thing I learn from my search of ‘Red Faction Guerilla runtime error’ is my propensity for misspelling guerrilla. Maybe the game’s been patched? It has! Although the only patch download I can find is hosted by Gamespot, who want me to sign up to get it. I’ve gone this long without needing a Gamespot account, I’m not about to get one now.

Oh. Shit. RF:G uses Games for Windows: Live. This does mean it would auto-update patches but, crucially, only if I could start the fucking game. The game’s website is the usual flash-enabled hell of pointless screenshots and over-hyped feature lists. No help there then.

I’ve finally found the patch! Hidden on the community forum in a technical help thread. There’s also some advice for what to do if you can’t start your game.  Surprisingly none of the advice is “play a better made game,” which is what I’ve been leaning toward for the last 10 minutes. Okay, I’ll play along and update my graphics drivers.

I forgot, Nvidia’s auto update site doesn’t work properly in my Firefox browser. Hey, Internet Explorer, you’re going to get some work for a change. Make the most of it. Unsurprisingly I’ve already got the latest graphics driver update (well, excepting the one they removed for breaking people’s fans) this patch better work.

“Red Faction Guerrilla recommends you install Raptr.” Red Faction Guerrilla can fuck off. Jesus Christ, it’s actually launched a Raptr installation executable. Red Faction Guerrilla can fuck right off. Still the patch is done. This had better be one hell of a hammer.

Runtime error!

The very last suggestion in the technical help thread is “Uninstall and reinstall the game.” I’m certainly going to follow at least half of that advice. First though is the slightly bizarre suggestion of turning off all spyware and anti-virus software. How the fuck is that going to help? Is the game offended at the cowardice of using a full suite of security tools? Whatever, I can’t see it working but I’ve jumped through this many hoops already. Say goodnight, Bitdefender.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

The Playtest

Fuck it, I’ll do it another day.

Ride an explosive barrel off into the sunset.

I think I may have found my new Mercenaries 2/Saints Row 2/Prototype.

City 16 has a Steam Community!

The ultimate goal of the community is to build a collection of people to chat and play some games in a relaxed, non-competitive environment. So join and start inviting some friends. They don’t even have to read the blog – that’s how non-committal I’m looking for this to be.

Join at: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/district16

Dear Publishers,

Please stop making special editions for games.

Yours Faithfully,

My Wallet.

Rules of Blogging #79: Been playing a fuckton of games over the last few days? Not quite ready to focus on one of them for a single post? Unable to currently play most of them due to global PS3 armageddon? Then throw out a ‘What I’ve Been Playing’ round-up post! Maybe while listening to some 16 Volt. Maybe.

Bayonetta

If you were writing a walkthrough of Bayonetta you’d probably have to start every paragraph with “after a lengthy cutscene.” Not only is the game’s story told in excruciatingly long cinematic chunks, it is, without doubt, one of the most completely batshit insane affairs I’ve ever seen in a videogame. I remember the first time I saw the anime Excel Saga not quite knowing whether to love or be disgusted by just how brutally retarded it was. Bayonetta’s like that. It might be brilliant. I’ve completed it and I’m still not entirely sure.

The actual game is on much more solid ground. It’s clearly in the same mould as Devil May Cry but Bayonetta is much more focused on the dodging mechanic. Time your dodges right and everything slows down leaving enemies open to combo attacks. It’s also a game that demands multiple playthroughs. Your first time through the game is primarily focused on surviving and figuring out how to defeat the myriad of enemies thrown at you. On subsequent attempts, as you can afford more powerful techniques and weapons, things should become much more centred around actually moving through the levels with style. At least that’s my theory – I’m not quite ready to delve in again.

Mass Effect 2

I’ve got no excuse for having not finished this yet, especially since it’s been the only thing I’ve wanted to play for most of February. The only reason that I can think of for my slowed progress is that I’m near the end – and the end means over a years wait for the next Mass Effect. If we were further into the year I’d call it my favourite game of the year so far. It’s a true statement still, but loses most of its impact if you say it at the start of March, especially when you’ve only played a couple of 2010 released games.

I’ve got a couple of posts lined up to go into some specifics but, as a general overview, I can confirm the truth in all the reviews. The combat is much improved over the last game. I’m now actually looking forward to the fights Shepherd finds herself in instead of merely putting up with them. That said, the true brilliance of the game, as with last time, lies in your interactions with your crew members. The overall plot might be a but more clunky this time round, but the characterisation of some of your team is as strong as ever.

Battlefield 1943

I’m still going through periods of playing this compulsively. In the period between the closure of the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo and the release of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 this Friday it’s pretty much the only competitive online shooter I’ve played. For a console FPS that isn’t called Modern Warfare 2 it’s still surprisingly easy to find a game.

Luckily most of the hardcore FPS freaks have moved to MW2 so things are surprisingly casual for a game centred around shooting men in the face. I’ve been able to gain a respectable score while indulging in the stupid crap I tend to get up to when I become a little too familiar with an online game – excessive sniping, parachuting out of a plane at the right angle for it to cause insane explosions and parking a tank in the middle of an enemy base to see how much destruction I can cause before being blown up have all been unhelpful contributions to my team’s war effort.

Borderlands

Specifically the Mad Moxxi DLC pack which adds an arena mode to the game. With loot drops and XP earning removed for the arena battles the game’s forced to rely purely on its FPS mechanics. Luckily it rises to the challenge admirably, proving just how satisfying its gunplay is.

Because trying one of the arena battles solo is tantamount to buying a one way ticket to Rape City (which I don’t think is a real city) I’ve been forced to head online for co-op buddies. Generally I never do this with strangers because I assume they’ll be arseholes, hence why despite owning Left 4 Dead for about a year I’ve never actually played its campaign mode, but here your interactions are pretty basic. As waves of enemies flood your ranks your interactions are kept to “kill things, keep other players alive.” There’s very little room to be a dick because, if you are, you could lose a hell of a lot of progress.

Heavy Rain

This is how I’ve spent the last two evenings, and would be this evening if I could. It’s the same story as could be applied to any Quantic Dream game – if you’re the type of person who is prepared to enjoy it you will absolutely love the thing. I’m sure once I’ve finished the game and have gone back to try and elicit different results, once I’ve seen the limitations of the storytelling mechanic and the way you don’t have as much agency over the outcome as you first thought, I’ll be slightly less fond of the game. For now though it’s a rare example of a game where my decisions are reactions to often tense and stressful situations. I want to do the right thing for each character and trying to decipher just what that is where the game’s strength lies.

An example, that I’m keeping vague but is nevertheless slighlty spoilerish: A guy is pointing a gun at the head of my partner and I’m trying to talk him down. At each point I can choose a different topic to try and make him lower the gun or I can shoot him. With each attempt he’s becoming seemingly more erratic. Do I try a different approach? Have I got time? Oh God he’s going to pull that trigger at any moment… At which point I’m hammering the R1 button to take him down before I fuck it all up. Fuck. I don’t even like the guy I’m partnered with.

Yeah, Heavy Rain’s really fucking good.