Tomb Raider

With the end of the year looming in earnest I find myself happily distracted by many things. The purpose of these things is to:

a) Saying goodbye to my current school.
b) Ensure that all feel that they should improve in the weeks we have left.

My gaming has become more focussed. I have for a long while wanted to game for 15-30 minutes at a time. An article on this should be written soon, but I thought that something on my completion of the latest Tomb Raider game last night is worthy of some thoughts.

The first Tomb Raider is a classic game that was constructed with ambition. Its latest in carnation is bred from such rich heritage, and it does not disappoint. Beginning with as decent a story as a platform game allows (trapped on an island), the game unwinds its gentle rhythms to ease you in. Grinding is kept to a minimum, and even then is judiciously created to balance action.

Many moments have stayed with me, most notably:

a) The easy 'trapped with wolves' scene in the thunderstorm.
b) The arduous 'navitage through a wood' parachute scene in the sun.
c) The first time you use a rope ascender to escape a burning boat.
d) Lara becoming progressively more adept in her survival skills.
e) The varied and pleasing nods to the other games, such as the infancy of a theme, and the dual wielding pistols.

There were a few puzzles that, although tricky, trapped you in a room so as you did not have to venture outside the level to solve them. I must admit that once I used an internet solution to fire an arrow into a wall (mostly because the level allowed me to venture too far and wide to focus on where I should have been going). Aside from that, the level design I think develops contemporary expectations for both pace and challenge. Such love and expertise for a seminal series shows how gaming takes itself seriously as both art and entertainment.

That statement is perhaps a little too much to say. However, this game is good - a 4.5, and worth your time. 

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Does making a game 'hard' make it better?

An excellent question OP. I have become more of a content tourist with my time, and certainly appreciate the ease of games like Max Payne 3 and the latest Tomb Raider.

I don't really have time for games that require an absolute dedication to discovering their mechanics before I can actually being to 'play' them. Even then, I appreciate a space for making mistakes and being naive. Therefore, some games that I love (Sins of a Solar Empire; Dawn of War franchise) tend to be underplayed because they rely upon discovering build-orders and requiring an intense focus for the entirety of the game.

Saying all this, there are some games during which inevitable progress ruins the experience. Space Marine, for example, had very few sections that were 'difficult' in the sense that it was a necessarily monotonous mod for Gears of War rather than a game in its own right (a comment which perhaps won't hold up under scrutiny, but drives the kind of point that I am trying to make).

The Portal, Total War, and HL series have, even now, an almost flawless level of difficulty. I can progress through them in a relatively straight line of success and still feel that there are some action parts/puzzles that require some mulling over. For those who have a very limited amount of time and attention to dedicate to gaming, I would say that a game where you rarely die/get stuck at a place for more than three lives/attempts has the kind of difficulty curve that is well-designed (or at least designed for you in mind!).

Finally, the latest game that said it was 'hard' was Dark Souls. And blimey, that was a tedious game. Killed a few bosses, died at a few points and had to march back through a lengthy and easy section prior to it. Equally, Arma 2 DayZ is hard (to stomach) but actually becomes an experience rather than just a ludic challenge: that kind of 'hardcore' mode I can recommend.

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How to install mods onto Medieval Total War 2

After many hours of installing mods to Medieval Total War 2, I have managed to give a short list of instructions of how to do so.

I repeat it below for those who search for it via google. Good luck! The mods are definitely worth it...

The Quill Guy: Firstly, download this
The Quill Guy: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=2824
The Quill Guy: Then, with the third age mod in its own folder (not pasted like other mods into other folders)
The Quill Guy: start the app
The Quill Guy: Find the Third Age folder
The Quill Guy: Select
The Quill Guy: It'll select the config file that acts like the .exe
The Quill Guy: Choose kingdoms as the 'launcher' option
The Quill Guy: (All this is clear when you do it)
The Quill Guy: Then...
The Quill Guy: Replace the normal launcher with this http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2500705
The Quill Guy: Follow instructions (it's a copy job of one file!)
The Quill Guy: Restart steam
The Quill Guy: And it'll work perfectly. As will all your other mods :-D
The Quill Guy: Send me a message if it doesn't work; I've ten hour's experience getting it to work!

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Max Payne 3

It's been a while since I've committed myself to a review, even though I've been playing through a few games. Max Payne 3 is a game a decade in the making, and a true AA(A) title. It has its flaws, and it has its strengths, and it is still one of the best action games to be purchased.

Currently on regular sale on steam for under a tenner, Max Payne 3 happily fills the linear action shooter niche, complete with laughable dialogue and well-paced action. The story is predictably hammy throughout, yet pleasingly self-referential. Cover-glitch issues and unskippable cut-scenes sadly pull this down into an 8/10, but there isn't any to match what Max can bring.

Taking the story into a variety of scenes, we join on Max on some ridiculous quest-or-another across favelas, nightclubs, and his familar New York past. Much love has gone into the design of the game and it sustains its set-piece-and-then-another without entropy.

One criticism many have of this game is the unskippable cut-scenes. For a first-time play through I liked them: they provided a breather between the set pieces. On a second play-through, they were tedious. While most of them were merely 30 seconds or so, there are some that do last for several minutes (it seems). Poor design in here. Of course, playing in window mode allows you to Alt-tab into something else while you wait for the action to start. Rockstar have said this practice is due to the need for loading times (which can't be right).

A righteous criticism of this game that I suffered a well-documented cover glitch. On my previous gaming computer Max would freeze behind cover and only move out when he was rolled. This meant that enemies would auto-hit him. A frustration that hasn't been sorted (yet acknowledged by Rockstar) this made the game near unplayable at times near the end (particularly in the airport scene where use of cover is essential). All I can suggest, if you suffer the same, is to reduce the quality of your graphics. On my new computer, the game breezed through without any issues, and I clocked many sections much easier.

One tip I would give, too, is to realise that if you begin to reload behind cover and then select bullet time, your adrenaline bar does not decrease. Near the end of the game this is a boon, as you have to headshot most enemies to progress. At this point, too, the rifles are too inaccurate, and dual wielding is far superior at medium to close range.

Ultimately Max Payne 3 is well worth a purchase. It won't be a full meal for a gamer, but it is a juicy steak sandwich with graphical sauce to delight. Even with some very naff DRM, lack of graphical optimisation (with the cover glitch), and cut-scene design, I have managed to put 24+ hours into it laughingly.

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