Kyle McAuliffe's Personal Site » video game

Aion screenshot preview

Kyle McAuliffe — Sun, 24 May 2009 02:58:59 +0000

So i tried the open beta of Aion yesterday. I used http://www.mobiusxp.com/?p=101 to join the chinese beta. I also had to hunt down enu.pak from http://bass-ackwards.net/ftp/AION/ENU.pak. After this though, the game was fully installed in english and i had a chance to play. Below you can see a variety of screenshots i took during my first few hours.

The game itself is beautiful and runs very smoothly. I enjoyed myself quite a bit and am about to load it up again.

Fallout 3 vs The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Kyle McAuliffe — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:01:08 +0000

I purchased Fallout 3 the day it came out. I had not heard much about the game other than a recommendation from a friend who has played the entire Fallout series and thought that i would like it. The point that persuaded me was when i was told by another friend that it uses the Oblivion engine. I became addicted to Oblivion when it came out and was excited for a game with similar play and feel but otherwise totally different.

Lets start with the obvious differences; Oblivion is a fantasy based game that mixes the RPG side of games like Neverwinter Nights 2 with a FPS. It is based in it’s own world, with it’s own races, classes, etc. Fallout 3 is based in post-apocalyptic Washington DC. You are a human (your only choice to start) and you have no special abilities.

Many aspects of the games are similar, the controls, the leveling and feats. I am having a tough time deciding which one i prefer more though. I thought it would be Fallout hands-down, but i feel myself wanting to play Oblivion again. I’ll go over a few things with some screenshots for clarification (and something to look at).

Graphics
Having not played Oblivion in a while, and not on my 8800GT, i still recall the graphics as being stunning. Im going to give Fallout the benifit of the doubt because it has 2-3 years on Oblivion and the graphics had BETTER be improved.

Here are some examples of characters:

Also here is a Fallout horizon and an Oblivion sunset.

Gameplay
Gameplay in each are very similar. There is one defining characteristic that sets Fallout apart though. This is the use of VATS which is reminiscent of the slowtime in Max Payne. This allows you to basically pause the game in combat and select which part of an enemy you would like to shoot. There are many factors that go into this and just because you want a head shot doesn’t mean you are always going to hit.

There are some things that were changed from Oblivion that i think was for the worse. My major beef right now is with lock picking. In Oblivion it was quite a challenge. However with Fallout it is a joke. I have picked ~30 locks and broke 2-3 bobbypins. In Oblivion i remember i couldnt get enough picks.

Much more to say, but that shall come later (possibly…)

Thoughts on SPORE

Kyle McAuliffe — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:58:35 +0000

So SPORE has been out about a week now, and there is plenty of buzz about the game. Unfortunatly, most of this is due to the DRM. The game can only be installed on 3 PCs. Now I am no fan of DRM, but that did not sway me not to purchase this game. I have installed it on my desktop and my laptop. I do not know what else I would install it on. With all the buzz I am positive that EA will rid of the DRM in time.

All of this talk of DRM has had quite a negative impact on the game without even touching on the actual gameplay. Let me be the first to say that the actual game is incredible. I was able to reach the 5th stage rather easily (thats not to say i never died) in about 10 hours. Granted half of this was spent tweeking my creature’s design. Then came stage 5, the space stage. I was surprised by the difficulty of this stage. This is not a critique, but a praise. After basically breezing through the game on Normal difficulty, i was finally faced with quite a big challange.

Overall, the game is amazing. When you actually stop to think of how they made it so that any design of creature each has their own emotions and movements, it becomes even more amazing. What initially turned me on to this game was 1) the sound track is by Brian Eno, and 2) a seminar I viewed at the Long Now with Brian Eno and Will Wright.

Despite the negativity surrounding the DRM, I think that this game is epic and everyone blasting the DRM are probably just hoping to pirate the game so they dont have to cough up $50. In the end, it’s thier loss!