Tag: PS4

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Free to Play

I can recall the theme tunes for many of the programs I watched when I was very young because children’s brains just absorb information as a survival mechanism; a process which advertisers and producers use for merchandise and general awareness among their hyper-receptive audience as a vector to their parents’ wallets.

However fondly we remember the entertainment media of our past, things cannot remain the same. In the same way the stop-motion puppets of Postman Pat and Fireman Sam have given way to CGI, videogames have grown in scale and complexity. As well as moving from solid-state cartridges to discs to digital distribution, new business models have come to the fore as an alternative to conventional ‘boxed’ retail. Nostalgia for the good old days when you put a game in a slot and it just worked is fine, however it should not come at the cost of technological and narrative development. Secondly the idea of entertainment trying to bypass the rational and decision-making structures of our brains through manipulation and playing to our inherent psychological weaknesses is something I find unpleasant as a child of the early 1990s.

Previously the domain of Asian MMOs, the concept of playing a game with no up-front cost but an in-game market for items or service bought with real money has become a mainstream and largely accepted practice outside of its geographic and genre limitations. The first and one of the most memorable examples of this practice was an article from 2007 which is fortunately still available to read online about how one player in the Chinese MMO ‘ZT Online’ rebelled against the games’ heavily monetised and random chance-based systems which rely on inter-player conflict to promote their use. Examples such as this gave such games a reputation as ruthless money-vacuums designed to exploit behavioural conditioning techniques to make as much money as possible. In the West this kind of business model was frowned upon at the time, however it would soon become the business model of choice for MMOs as an alternative to being turned off.

The first major example of this taking place in a Western game was Dungeons and Dragons Online’s switch to F2P in 2009 and Lord of the Rings Online the following year. Both these games are still active today, most likely as a direct result of this change; removing the cover charge at the door gets more people in, gets more eyes on the real-money purchases and crucially provides other people for the “whales” to play with and reassure they aren’t wasting their disproportionate spending habits on a dead game.

After DDO and LOTRO shifted to an F2P business model the floodgates opened; more and more post-World of Warcraft subscription-based MMOs with dwindling populations took the opportunity to re-brand and re-launch; from giants such as Everquest 2 and City of Heroes to smaller games like Warhammer Online and Star Trek Online. However this is not a panacea for all of a game’s financial woes. Warhammer Online and City of Heroes eventually shut down despite this change. The launches of modern subscription-based MMOs such as The Elder Scrolls Online, Wildstar and Star Wars The Old Republic were met with scepticism and ridicule, mocking the hubris of pre-release videos of developers explaining why their game would be fine with a subscription, how it offers so much more to the passionate community etc. Invariably these games have moved away from subscriptions, often accompanied by more PR videos explaining how its a new opportunity for even more people to experience the game world, opening it up like never before.

Now only World of Warcraft still relies on a subscription and even then you can play the game up to level 20 for free; a replacement for the old 14 day trial program. Even EVE Online is taking a similar approach to draw in more new players; a development I look forward to talking about more as a former EVE player myself. Now it is arguable that the heyday of MMOs is well and truly over. The novelty of being online in a virtual world has worn off and games like League of Legends, DOTA offer the same team play, fantasy worlds and watchable competition with none of the lengthy grind to get there. Many of these games have now jumped to the console environment too; Warframe, Smite, Neverwinter, DC Universe Online and Star Trek Online have been ported and are successful enough to keep going in a period of market uncertainty and where even the biggest releases are failing on the sales figures of previous iterations.

The most worrying aspect of these mechanics is their proliferation in said big releases; what have been called “fee to pay” games which charge you upfront for the game and then act as a platform for further monetisation. Dead Space 3 was widely criticised for skewing its crafting system to make spending real money more attractive than the long real-time slog to acquire upgrade materials.

The recent examples of YouTubers being implicated in covertly running gambling websites for CSGO and other games which have blind purchase boxes and other elements show that the issues around this area are moving away from games media pontification like this very article towards being a “real” issue. I was on a train once and saw a boy of no more than 14 or so playing a fake CSGO weapon skin opening game; one that simulated the experience of playing Valve’s slot machine, presumably as playing the real thing wasn’t an option at the time. These kind of things make me worried for the future of games as both current experiences as well as their preservation for the future. What happens when these predominantly online games are no longer profitable and are shut down? Such concerns are a topic for another article, but are issues we should be considering when encountering, discussing or supporting such systems.

 

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Monthly games review – Pumped BMX+ (PS4, PS+)

It is entirely possible to argue that Microsoft and Sony are taking gamers for a ride by charging extra to access online multiplayer features through Xbox Live Gold and Playstation Plus, especially as the latter was not necessary to play online with the Playstation 3. Each service offers several “free” games each month as long as you have an active subscription with them as an incentive, the idea being that by paying a flat fee of around £30-35 per year (this price fluctuates with online deals, competing retailers and seasonal sales) you get a handful of titles each month meaning that you could technically never have to buy a game for your console of choice and stick to the offerings that Sony/MS present.

Is this worthwhile? Part of the problem is that we often don’t know what is going to be on offer each month and the quality can fluctuate greatly. There have been a few exceptions; The Banner Saga 2 was available as part of Microsoft’s Games With Gold program at launch. Following on from my article about how to save money on games, I am going to periodically present a first impression of some of the games that turn up on these services as often they are less well-known indie games that are not popular or frequently discussed or whether they’re potentially worth buying on their own if for whatever reason you either don’t have any of these services or want to know if they’re any good regardless.

The first game I’m going to talk about my first impressions of is Pumped BMX+, a two-dimensional sports game which was on Playstation Plus in November 2016 but is also available on Xbox One, Steam and the Wii U.

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIdP-VAwFAM[/embedyt]

I went into this expecting to be disappointed; the version available here is a consolidated mobile port and I was wary it would be a simple Trials knockoff with some fiddly tricks thrown in. It is one of the better examples of a game making a jump from phones to “real” consoles; there are no microtransactions or examples of copy-pasted UI to betray its history and apart from its slightly basic visuals this could pass as a standard indie game developed to a smaller budget.

You control your slightly blank-faced BMX guy on a 2D plane as you navigate jumps, do tricks in the air and grind rails to complete sets of objectives for each level. You might have to do a particular trick, get a certain score or pull off certain combos to unlock the next and more difficult set of challenges. The control scheme has been successfully translated from touch screens to a controller; you hold down X to accelerate, release it as you are about to jump, use the right analogue stick with the shoulder buttons to pull off tricks and spins then hold X again to land quickly to keep momentum for the next jump. You can just blitz through the levels or chose to get deep into the score/trick system to complete every set of objectives which push you to improve through using the tools provided. It keeps the mechanics (relatively) simple and challenges you to use them better as you progress; a framework which made Trials, Trackmania and other games like it so appealing and rewarding.

My only complaints are that from what I’ve seen the level design is a bit basic; you’re not going to get the wild variety of strange and out-there levels of Trials Evolution here. Also the soundtrack is incredibly annoying, I turned it off after a few levels so to keep the right atmosphere you might want to find some early 2000s skate punk or the soundtrack to your favourite Tony Hawk game instead.

Pumped BMX+ was a pleasant surprise that I may well come back to every now and again and is one to watch out for in Steam sales/future Games with Gold promotions.

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Review: Titanfall 2

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It wasn’t meant to be like this.

Titanfall 2 was meant to be a mess. It was meant to be another fast-paced shooter, with a multiplayer mode that ruined it’s predecessors and a tacked on campaign that would be, at best, a boring diversion. So what happened? How did a game launching between two of the biggest first-person shooters of the year turn out to be such an essential purchase?

The most unexpected surprise in Titanfall 2 is the singleplayer campaign. What was expected to be a token gesture to those who bemoaned it’s absence in the original game, has somehow managed to be one of the most engaging and memorable of recent times. It’s Respawn reminding everyone of just how accomplished they are at crafting a campaign that is full of memorable moments and set-pieces. All this backed up with smooth, intuitive controls and surprisingly good writing.

The relationship the main character develops with their Titan, BT-7274, is both genuine and heartfelt. What could have very easily came across as forced and cliche, develops quite naturally during the 5-6 hours of the story. The selectable dialogue options you have when conversing, allow you to create the illusion of some real back and forth banter. As the game progresses, BT slowly begins to become more in sync with the player, even beginning to respond to and participate in some of the jokes. It’s a well constructed relationship, and while there are few surprises in how the story plays out it manages to create a genuine emotional connection to the character.

This is further cemented by some truly great level design. Over the course of eight missions, Respawn have managed to craft a hugely impressive game. Each mission essentially has it’s own gameplay premise. The first focuses heavily on wallrunning and training the player how to navigate the environments. The second introduces Titans. What really impresses is that later levels will introduce new mechanics, for example a gun that is used to power up equipment, and run with it. You’ll start off slowly, getting used to what each of these mechanics brings. Then, by the end of the mission, just as you’ve mastered it and things threaten to get repetitive it throws it away. It’s a bold, Nintendo-esque move, meaning that every mission has it’s own unique feel. No more so than mid-point mission “Effect and Cause” which is such a joy to play through and discover that I’ll say no more about it here. Suffice to say the mechanic it introduces slowly evolves over the course of the mission to an utterly fantastic and satisfying crescendo. If anything it makes the remainder of the campaign slightly dull by comparison, though it’s still immensely fun.

So the campaign is a beautiful, wonderful surprise. A reminder in these multiplayer focused times, that there is still much that can be done with a linear, scripted experience. If there are any criticisms to be given it’s that it does feel quite short. Five to six hours is not a lot of time, and it does feel like another couple of missions would have helped to alleviate that. In terms of the story though it does what it sets out to do without an ounce of filler. As the setup for more games in this universe it absolutely succeeds, though on it’s own it would be hard to justify the £50 price tag.

Luckily then it’s only part of the package. Multiplayer is absolutely Titanfalls main focus, and it returns here in stunning form, though it has received some tweaks.

It still follows the now well worn formula of gaining XP (Merits in this case) which level up every single aspect of your Pilot, Titan, Weapons and Abilities. This allows you to customise your pilot loadouts however you like, creating custom setups for bespoke situations. Titan’s however have lost a lot of customisation options.

There are a few abilities that can be swapped out, but for the most part they don’t change too much. This is compensated for with the increased number of Titan classes, each of which fulfills a specific role. There’s Scorch, who can deal massive damage as well as control the play space with his incendiary and thermite attacks. Ronin is fast and designed to get up close an personal with other Titans, while Legion is the very definition of a walking Fortress. Slow but extremely durable and powerful. It helps with identifying what you’re up against on the battlefield, meaning you’re more likely to know how to proceed.

Burn Cards, the once and done power-ups from the original game have gone, to be replaced by Boost’s. These abilities can be activated once the Titanfall meter reaches a specific point, giving the player further tools to aid them during a fight. Maphack, Smart Pistol and deployable sentries are just a few of those available.

In the game itself Titans no-longer have the regenerating shields they benefitted from in the first game. Instead, rodeo attacks on enemy Titans allow pilots to steal a battery from them. This has the benefit of stripping the enemy of a chunk of energy, giving the attacking pilot a boost to their Titanfall meter and, if they can get the battery to a friendly Titan, a boost to that Titan’s shield. It’s an interesting change and it encourages Pilots to get in close to enemy Titans more often. As a counter though, every Titan now has the Electric Smoke ability so Pilots are easily stopped by an alert Titan Pilot.

As a whole it still plays as well as the first game. Hardpoint and Attrition seem to have the lions share of the players, but additional modes such as  Bounty Hunt, Last Titan Standing and the Colisseum add variety for those who are looking for it. The maps so far are probably the weakest point for the game. None of them are bad, but there’s no stand out “Great” maps either. Future maps and modes are all coming for free though and with Angel City from the original title promised for December, we can hopefully look forward to the line-up of stages only getting better with time.

So as a whole Titanfall 2 is impossible not to recommend. It won’t be for those who prefer more tactical, considered shooters, but for anyone else it’s going to be money well spent. The singleplayer Campaign is an absolute joy and a pleasant reminder that the minds behind Modern Warfare know exactly how to marry smooth gameplay and level design into a memorable experience. Topping it off with a refreshingly different type of multiplayer from it’s contemporaries makes this one of the best shooters of 2016. Hopefully it’ll be able to show the staying power that it’s predecessor lacked.

Titanfall 2 is out now on XB1, PS4 and PC (Origin)
PS4 Version Reviewed

Discuss Titanfall 2 on grcade.co.uk