The four were transfixed by the sight before them as they stood by the ledge atop the apartment building. The light of the setting sun slipped between two buildings adjacent to the firehouse, a brighter ray framed the nightmare that lay in the street. They could see it clearly now.
A roughly round, flesh colored mound the size of a bus. Just visible on its surface they could make out a spiderweb of red veins that faded to gray and were replaced from moment to moment. It rumbled and pulsed, shaking the ground slightly.
"What is that thing? I've never se--" Swift cut off at Rrwatch's frantic gestures for silence. Satisfied that all would remain quiet, he motioned for them to huddle close. He began to whisper.
"You three clear that door as quickly and quietly as you can. I'll stay here and see what it does. Noise already draws zombies, and I really don't care to find out if it draws these too. We get inside, hole up as best we can until tomorrow, and when morning comes we put as much distance between us and that as possible. All agreed?"
"Don't have to tell me twice, Watch." Swift whispered back.
"Why not just go back down the fire escape? I know it might be a little louder, but there could be zombies in there. What if we end up fighting our way to the bottom and the noise draws that thing? Wouldn't we be trapped?" said Val, barely audible.
"We don't know much about that thing out there. I'd rather not be running from it in the dark, and already tired from today's excursion. Plus, if we didn't know about that, what else might we not have seen? We'll just settle into the top floor. If that thing moves again, then the one on lookout will feel it." She still looked concerned, but no one seemed to have a better idea.
The others moved away from the ledge to clear the door of its improvised reinforcements, the wooden wedges sliding out from the door easily. The two-by-four jammed under the handle slipped from Wadey's grasp, but he managed to catch it with his foot before it could hit the ground. Across the way the thing seemed to have settled down. They gave a collective sigh of relief. Very quietly.
The door hinges squeaked ever so slightly as it swung open towards them. The stairwell inside was black as pitch. Out came the flashlights. The air was musty, but the lack of rotting flesh scent was encouraging. Val took the lead and peeked into the door to the top floor. No stench. No blood sprays. She stood guard on the door while the others made a room by room search through the floor's eight apartments. Clean. Even had some canned goods. They took one with a window facing the firehouse's direction. Though the mound wasn't visible from it, they would see it if it moved toward them, should they somehow not feel it. The night passed slowly.
Wadey, who'd taken the last turn at watch, woke them as the light of dawn came through the window. Heading up through the stairwell, they emerged onto the roof again. A look toward the firehouse showed that the blog thing was still there.
And something else.
Two figures were down in the street that ran alongside the apartment building, about a block passed where the thing sat by the garage door one over from the corner nearest the block. Rrwatch raised his rifle to his shoulder to look through the scope.
People...
Not zombies, but real, living people! Were these the survivors from the camp? You could see the tops of the warehouses by the lake dock a few blocks beyond them. He looked more closely at them.
A man and woman. The man had one arm? No, it was there, just bound to his chest. And how on earth could he stand the heat with that heavy coat? The woman stayed to the center of the road, casually swinging the shotgun in her hands left and right.
"What is it?" asked Val.
"A man and a woman. Living." he said, the last word still tinged with surprise. His eyes suddenly went wide, and his tone changed to an alarmed one. "They're going to pass right near it!"
"We have to warn them!" She gathered in breath for a scream, but he forestalled her.
"No noise! Just wave for all you're worth. Wadey, Swift, head down the fire escape on this side fast and quiet as you can. We'll stay here to get their attention." Hands and guns raised to the sky, they began trying to get the newcomers to see them, hoping they would notice in time and didn't yell when they did.
Ninja and Cel made their way along the empty street. No amount of pointing out how dangerous it was to walk down the middle could persuade her to move to the relative safety of the sidewalks. Too cramped, she had said. With her out there for all the zombies in the world to see, there was nothing for it but to stick close and be ready to fight or run when they were eventually spotted by something. He reached up and lifted his katana a couple of inches before letting it fall back, checking that it was free in its scabbard. His arm was still badly broken, but his other was still good. Good enough, anyway. He squinted into the store windows as they passed them, but had so far found only their reflections.
The wind shifted and a rank scent caught them full in the face.
"Oh, my god..." said Cel between coughing fits. He pulled out a spare mask and offered it to her.
"It'll help." he said. "I've smelled this before. In the hospital." She tied the mask in place and her coughing subsided, but she still looked pale.
"Those flesh things you mentioned? Well, at least they didn't do anything."
"They destroyed the hospital."
"By being heavy. It's not like it was a deliberate attack. We need to get a look at those anyway." she said as they neared the intersection ahead.
There was a sound like canvas ripping.
Rrwatch looked in stunned horror as the thing moved. It was shrinking, but getting taller? Stretching itself up. Soon something began to form. Four, no, five points on the thing began to emerge, getting larger.
No! It was one piece, all five joining together and becoming more defined as it rose into the air. A hand. Broken and misshapen, but still very clearly a hand.
"God no..." Val whispered next to him. If it were to move sideways now it would brush the roof of the firehouse, a good fifteen feet at least! The base was only the size of a small car now.
"LOOK OUT!" he screamed before he could think. Val was only a heartbeat behind, firing a shot in the thing's direction. It wouldn't hit at this range, but the noise would help. The hand began to fall toward the street.
Cel's head whipped around toward the sudden gunshot. Could the others be here? Where was it coming from? There! On top of that building. But they were screaming? They should know better if they'd survi--
A hand grasped her shoulder and roughly threw her back the way they'd come. She nearly fired before she saw it was Ninja, leaping backwards to follow her.
There was a deafening roar as something--a giant hand?!--crushed the ground where they'd been standing. The thing before them began to grow in size.
"OVER HERE!" a deep voice bellowed a ways down the street. She caught sight of a large man waving frantically on a fire escape.
"We have to move. Can we get around it safely?"
"It doesn't look too quick. Run for it and I'll follow." he said, drawing his blade. They circled the increasingly large mass. Nothing remained of the hand shape, It wasn't an arm pulling itself closer. Rather, it simply seemed to flow from where it had been to be where the hand had come down. She let loose a blast of buckshot.
It barely seemed to notice. The pellets buried themselves inside the thing, but there was little spray. No wounds were visible inside the mass of red veins pulsing over the thing's surface.
They ran.
It had gathered itself up again and seemed to be extending toward them.
They ran faster.
Atop the building, Rrwatch and Val rained bullets down on the thing in the street. Its flesh rippled with the impacts, but it kept coming. Did it have no vital organs at all? Even zombies died when you blew their heads off! But surely it was too heavy to make it up here at least. He'd seen the crater it left when it had swiped, for lack of a better word, at the two newcomers. They could hold it off and barricade themselves inside until they could find a way to kill it, or at least keep out the zombies that would almost certainly swarm them after this much noise.
They sped up the fire escape driven by terror, the four of them pounding up the stairs. They might make the ten flight run in record time, but it wouldn't be enough. They were through the halfway point on the stairs, but the thing was sitting below it and reaching up.
At the three quarter mark, the fire escape lurched as the thing latched on. The man with one arm slipped and nearly fell, but Swift caught him and pulled him back.
It appeared to be gathering itself again, but not toward the stairs. The surface on top of the thing momentarily parted, and suddenly a tendril shot out from it and slammed into the building. There was the sound of glass breaking as the building shook slightly. Another parting, followed by another tendril, only higher up.
It was climbing.
Heavy panting announced the arrival of his friends at the top of the building. He's been so shocked that he hadn't been able to take his eyes from the thing. Wait.
"Where's Wadey?"
"He went in on a lower floor." said Cel breathlessly. "Ninja is with him. I know it's not the time, but thank you. We're only alive because of your warning. Heck of a way to say hello to old friends." They all four shared a brief smile, but it faded as she asked, "What are we going to do?" Not afraid, just unsure.
More impacts shook the building. The thing was nearly halfway up now. They began reloading, for all the good it would do. Cel switched from buck to slugs, saying how the former had appeared nearly useless.
As they looked down at the thing trying to think, a head popped from a window on the eighth floor straight below. Wadey.
"What are you doing?" Rrwatch called.
"Waiting." He hefted his axes. The idea clicked into place. Clever, but would it work?
"It's worth a try." Ninja's head joined Wadey's in looking out for a moment, but on the ninth floor just below. They nodded and retreated back inside. The thing wasn't far away now.
"Let's back up and give it room." said Val.
A tendril appeared atop the ledge, wrapping around it. Then another, and another as the monstrosity began to haul itself up. The side facing them parted. It roared, opening its new mouth wide and buffeted them with a dizzying stench. Their eyes watered almost instantly, but they held their ground. Inside the mouth he could see--no, they weren't teeth. Bones. Rows of broken and jagged bones. Some still stained a pinkish red, others bleached white. One still had the flesh of a red veined hand clinging to it. What is this thing?
Just as they were about to open fire, it screamed again. There was a quieter, but still audible roar from below as Wadey and Ninja began to go to work with their blades. It began to howl, but the mouth closed over as something else emerged in its place.
Eyes. Dozens of eyes, all crammed together. Some were empty sockets. Some were milky white with decay, but not all. It turned its mass toward it's right--insofar as the thing could have a right or left side--and peered down below.
There was a distant sound like a pop, and a moment later blood bloomed among the sockets. Again. Again.
The eyes faded back out, the mouth returning with a murderous cry. This was it. It had to happen now.
Swift and Cel dashed forward. He lived up to his name as his hands became a blur of strikes on the tendrils to one side, trying to make them lose their hold. Cel simply blew apart one on the other side. Rrwatch and Val emptied their guns into the gaping maw above their friends. It lurched backwards, nearly at the brink now. Getting as close as she dared, Cel slammed the barrels of her shotgun in among the thing's substitute teeth and fired. Crimson spray fountained from above it.
The horror fell.
"Grab on to something!" yelled Rrwatch. They grabbed a/c units, pipes, each other and waited only moments.
With a gut wrenching, sickening, wonderful sound of crunching bone, the thing slammed wetly into ground below. The entire block groaned as the impact shook the buildings to their foundations. Blessedly, they seemed to be holding.
The survivors lay there panting for breath, rancid though the air still seemed. Eventually, there was a crackling from Cel's radio at her waist. The others made for the ledge to be certain the thing was truly gone. Much of it seemed to have liquified on impact, and the small crater in the ground was filled with goo. Though the surrounding road and buildings had certainly gotten a generous coating of it as well.
"Are you guys alright? What was that noise? Um, over."
Cel dragged herself up from the ground to the ledge and gazed down the road at the warehouses just barely visible next to the lake. She caught a tiny glint of light and began to laugh.
"Hello? Over?" She took hold of herself with some effort, enough to answer.
"We're okay, Jolli." she said, as Wadey and Ninja emerged from the stairwell and onto the roof. "Better than okay. And tell Kid he gets a gold trophy for those shots."
"Thank heavens. Hmm? Kid says 'It was easy and only worth a silver?' whatever that means. Now, would you care to tell me?" She could only laugh again. The others just looked confused. Ninja took up his radio.
"Jolli, have you fixed that boat yet?"
"Nearly, why? What's going on? Please? Over?"
"It's important. I'll explain when we get there, but we need to be ready to move now." He turned to the others. Cel's laughter faded to giggles, and those cut off abruptly as her eyes widened. She looked ready to cry.
"What is it?" said Val.
"Two days ago we raided the Surgery Center downtown for supplies. You may have heard it collapse if you were in the area."
"We did. Saw the dust cloud too." Swift said.
"It wasn't anything we did. Too much weight, you see." He gestured with his chin at the ledge. "It was full of those things."
Friday, June 1, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Zombie Apocalypse: Rising Heat
The amount of brush in the area had to have been huge to leave this much ash and soot. Even after the heavy rain that swept the area, the smell of charred wood still permeated everything in the sizable clearing. The wind carried bits of ash as it blew toward him off of what his experienced eye told him were the remains of improvised structures near the middle. That broken circle of rocks nearby was probably a fire pit used for cooking. What was left of that contraption hanging from the trees was a mystery though. Some manner of defense, most likely, but not enough of it left to tell what kind it may have been.
But the most baffling thing was the pile of bodies. Well, bones anyway. The rest was just shriveled tissue and a glaze of melted fat. Despite the large open space, all of them were up against a rock sticking out of the side of the hill. Didn't seem to be anything on top of the hill to draw them, and they would probably have just gone around anyway. It wasn't exactly hard to get up there.
"Why would they do that?" he wondered aloud.
"Huddling away from the fire. I can only imagine how horrible it would be. Surviving the nightmare that the world's become only to die like this? It's...just wrong." Her voice broke a bit at the end which prompted him to look up at her. Green eyes close to tears stared out from underneath her reddish brown hair at the mess before her. Rising from where he was crouching, he briefly patted her on the shoulder. Good girl. Strong. Just cared too much sometimes.
"I wouldn't feel too bad about it, Val. Those weren't survivors." Her eyes widened in surprise. "Look at the ground. What's missing? What would survivors have that's not there?" A couple minutes passed with her pacing back and forth examining the ground, the near tears of a minute before now replaced with an analytical eye. Finally stepping back beside him, she still stared at the ground as though looking.
"Weapons?"
"Right on the first guess. Even if they didn't all have guns, they still would have had something to defend themselves with. Blades, crowbars, ax heads, hammers. None of that would succumb to this much heat. " He gave her a small smile of encouragement. "So the question becomes..."
"What would zombies find so important about that rock?" she finished after a moment.
"Right again."
"Well, if you want to know, then just take a look." The low voice of the man with a mohawk came to them as its owner strode across the field. Always a blunt one, aren't you, Wadey? The big guy headed straight for the rock, seemingly unconcerned by the crunching and squelching of bone and ruined flesh beneath his boots. Val looked ill. Leaving Wadey to his grim inspection, he turned back the way he had come from.
"Find anything?" That was addressed to Swift. Perhaps the most nondescript man he had ever seen, he thought it might be impossible to pick him out of a crowd. He seemed to have no outstanding features whatsoever. An average face on a body with an average build. So overwhelmingly ordinary that he seemed to almost disappear whenever he stood next to other people. Frankly it was a little disturbing. Still, it was good to have him around.
"Not much. The only used trail is the one we followed up here, and you already know that someone's been along it since the rain. Yesterday at latest, you said. You find anything here, Watch?" Rrwatch, he corrected silently, and let it pass. It wasn't important, and a man of his age had learned not to waste energy on pointless squabbles.
"Little more than we already knew. Definitely a zombie attack, though no saying what flavor with everything here reduced to muck. There must be close to 40 of them piled around that rock, with I don't know how many more outside that ring of heavy ash. It was a heck of a fight, I'm thinking.
"This camp's been up and going for a long while. At least a few months. Thinking at least 5 occupants. Those who came here yesterday didn't stay long. Just surveyed the place quickly and turned right around and left. Either they knew there was nothing to loot, or they had some place else to be in a hurry. Weird thing is that rock over there."
There was a loud thud from the direction of the rock in question. Wadey had thrown himself against it, it would seem.
"I think it moved." said Val. They all shared a look. Without another word, Swift went to join Wadey by the rock, though he hedged around the outside of the mess and picked his way through instead of just trampling on it. The two younger men set their feet as best they could and heaved. The rock did indeed move. Backwards into the hillside perhaps an inch or two. Nothing seemed to have shifted in the rock face above, so apparently it was safe. They heaved once more, this time getting more than a foot of the way in. A faintly musty scent crept out of the new hole and mingled with the ash. The air inside was going bad, but only just starting. Cave must have been open until recently. One last heave and it slid in all the way.
"I need light," rumbled Wadey, drawing one of the hand axes he kept on his belt and holding out his other hand for a flashlight. Swift pulled his pack open and retrieved two from it, handing one over.
Rrwatch shrugged at Val--Nothing for it but to follow.--and readied his rifle. She took the cue and unholstered her own handgun.
The inside of the cave was cool and smelled of water, a welcome change from the burnt gore and ruin above. A faint rushing sound in the distance meant the possibility of an underground stream. Rrwatch took the lead, scanning the cave floor while the others watched ahead.
"Hold up. Tracks."
There in the dust was a clear boot print. Another nearby, a different size. And there, an animal track. Dog of some kind. No telling how old these were, but he'd be willing to bet it was no more than a handful of days. The night they'd seen the fire and decided to come to investigate.
Turning the corner brought a sudden increase in the sound of water. A little light showed a strong stream of water bursting out of the wall along the right of the path and falling down into what appeared to be a lake. Carefully making their way down confirmed it. A sizable cavern with an underground lake spread before them.
"It's a shame what happened to the place," Val said. "Good location, natural spring water from in here, easy hunting area."
"Is that a tunnel out there?" Wadey pointed toward the far wall of the cavern. Swift added his light to Wadey's.
"Looks like it."
"What's that noise?"
"What noise, Watch?"
"It's like a wooden thumping. Like something hitting a log." They shined their lights around the nearby shore. "There." Not far away was a piece of wood caught on a protruding bit of cave wall in the water, the waves batting it against the side repeatedly.
"Just some wood." said Wadey dismissively.
"Look closer. It's been worked into a rough paddle shape. They most likely had a canoe or boat down here."
"Brilliant! All that other stuff, and a shelter with an escape route. This place is gold! Give me some light here. I wanna check the map." Val pulled the weathered map from her backpack and carefully unrolled it. The film advertised on the outside had long since missed its showing, but the back of the poster had found new life as pretty durable map. They'd put it through the mill though. It would need to be copied soon. After a minute's inspection, she announced confidently, "I'm almost certain this lets out the cave at Label Lake. If they took a boat down it, and it didn't branch off somewhere else too, then they would be just outside the city when they came out."
"That's a pretty big if, but I think it's worth a look. What about you two? Up for a bit more tracking?"
"You're the boss." came the rumble. Swift contented himself with a nod, barely visible in the light.
"There's no other boat or we'd be able to follow them easy enough. We've got time. Let's get back to town and set up for the night."
A couple hours later they were walking down the deserted city streets. The afternoon heat pressed down on them, making each step more of an effort than it had any right to be. Strange how they hadn't seen any zombies. There was almost always a few that needed put down, but not a single one was to be found today. Come to think of it, the earlier trip in the morning had been just as uneventful. He wanted to believe it was a sign of things getting better. So, why was worry creeping along next to him like an itch between his shoulder blades? The empty windows of homes and businesses so long left untended seemed like hollow, sunken eyes watching their procession silently. As the sun began to sink lower in the sky they started searching for a place to take for the night, settling at last on a nearby bar.
The side window was broken, but that seemed the only visible weak point, easily blocked off. Inside held its own surprise though. Dust and rotted bits of cloth marked the resting place of at least four Shamblers. Someone had fought here a while back. Well, if it had been assailed, then maybe it wasn't the best spot.
Taking some of the liquor left inside, they made their way across the street to a nearby apartment building and onto the roof through the fire escape, pulling it up behind them and blocking off the roof access door. They were just settling in when the wind shifted and brought them a horrific stench that left them choking and coughing as quietly as they could manage.Thankfully the wind shifted again shortly after, but no one was eager for their meal anymore. In fact, Swift decided to empty his stomach over the side of the building.
"What is that?" he asked, pointing off down the street a couple blocks away.
"Where?"
"There. In front of that firehouse. Looks like a big mound of flesh. You think that's what's causing that smell?" The wind chose that moment to change again, most definitely coming from that direction, and sending them scrambling to cover their noses and Swift into dry heaves.
"Let's get inside. It's dangerous, but we can't stay out here. We can do something about that thing tomorrow."
"You're the boss, Watch."
They went to unbar the door inside, but a slight tremor running though the ground brought them up short. Looking out in the failing light they could just barely see it.
The mound was moving.
But the most baffling thing was the pile of bodies. Well, bones anyway. The rest was just shriveled tissue and a glaze of melted fat. Despite the large open space, all of them were up against a rock sticking out of the side of the hill. Didn't seem to be anything on top of the hill to draw them, and they would probably have just gone around anyway. It wasn't exactly hard to get up there.
"Why would they do that?" he wondered aloud.
"Huddling away from the fire. I can only imagine how horrible it would be. Surviving the nightmare that the world's become only to die like this? It's...just wrong." Her voice broke a bit at the end which prompted him to look up at her. Green eyes close to tears stared out from underneath her reddish brown hair at the mess before her. Rising from where he was crouching, he briefly patted her on the shoulder. Good girl. Strong. Just cared too much sometimes.
"I wouldn't feel too bad about it, Val. Those weren't survivors." Her eyes widened in surprise. "Look at the ground. What's missing? What would survivors have that's not there?" A couple minutes passed with her pacing back and forth examining the ground, the near tears of a minute before now replaced with an analytical eye. Finally stepping back beside him, she still stared at the ground as though looking.
"Weapons?"
"Right on the first guess. Even if they didn't all have guns, they still would have had something to defend themselves with. Blades, crowbars, ax heads, hammers. None of that would succumb to this much heat. " He gave her a small smile of encouragement. "So the question becomes..."
"What would zombies find so important about that rock?" she finished after a moment.
"Right again."
"Well, if you want to know, then just take a look." The low voice of the man with a mohawk came to them as its owner strode across the field. Always a blunt one, aren't you, Wadey? The big guy headed straight for the rock, seemingly unconcerned by the crunching and squelching of bone and ruined flesh beneath his boots. Val looked ill. Leaving Wadey to his grim inspection, he turned back the way he had come from.
"Find anything?" That was addressed to Swift. Perhaps the most nondescript man he had ever seen, he thought it might be impossible to pick him out of a crowd. He seemed to have no outstanding features whatsoever. An average face on a body with an average build. So overwhelmingly ordinary that he seemed to almost disappear whenever he stood next to other people. Frankly it was a little disturbing. Still, it was good to have him around.
"Not much. The only used trail is the one we followed up here, and you already know that someone's been along it since the rain. Yesterday at latest, you said. You find anything here, Watch?" Rrwatch, he corrected silently, and let it pass. It wasn't important, and a man of his age had learned not to waste energy on pointless squabbles.
"Little more than we already knew. Definitely a zombie attack, though no saying what flavor with everything here reduced to muck. There must be close to 40 of them piled around that rock, with I don't know how many more outside that ring of heavy ash. It was a heck of a fight, I'm thinking.
"This camp's been up and going for a long while. At least a few months. Thinking at least 5 occupants. Those who came here yesterday didn't stay long. Just surveyed the place quickly and turned right around and left. Either they knew there was nothing to loot, or they had some place else to be in a hurry. Weird thing is that rock over there."
There was a loud thud from the direction of the rock in question. Wadey had thrown himself against it, it would seem.
"I think it moved." said Val. They all shared a look. Without another word, Swift went to join Wadey by the rock, though he hedged around the outside of the mess and picked his way through instead of just trampling on it. The two younger men set their feet as best they could and heaved. The rock did indeed move. Backwards into the hillside perhaps an inch or two. Nothing seemed to have shifted in the rock face above, so apparently it was safe. They heaved once more, this time getting more than a foot of the way in. A faintly musty scent crept out of the new hole and mingled with the ash. The air inside was going bad, but only just starting. Cave must have been open until recently. One last heave and it slid in all the way.
"I need light," rumbled Wadey, drawing one of the hand axes he kept on his belt and holding out his other hand for a flashlight. Swift pulled his pack open and retrieved two from it, handing one over.
Rrwatch shrugged at Val--Nothing for it but to follow.--and readied his rifle. She took the cue and unholstered her own handgun.
The inside of the cave was cool and smelled of water, a welcome change from the burnt gore and ruin above. A faint rushing sound in the distance meant the possibility of an underground stream. Rrwatch took the lead, scanning the cave floor while the others watched ahead.
"Hold up. Tracks."
There in the dust was a clear boot print. Another nearby, a different size. And there, an animal track. Dog of some kind. No telling how old these were, but he'd be willing to bet it was no more than a handful of days. The night they'd seen the fire and decided to come to investigate.
Turning the corner brought a sudden increase in the sound of water. A little light showed a strong stream of water bursting out of the wall along the right of the path and falling down into what appeared to be a lake. Carefully making their way down confirmed it. A sizable cavern with an underground lake spread before them.
"It's a shame what happened to the place," Val said. "Good location, natural spring water from in here, easy hunting area."
"Is that a tunnel out there?" Wadey pointed toward the far wall of the cavern. Swift added his light to Wadey's.
"Looks like it."
"What's that noise?"
"What noise, Watch?"
"It's like a wooden thumping. Like something hitting a log." They shined their lights around the nearby shore. "There." Not far away was a piece of wood caught on a protruding bit of cave wall in the water, the waves batting it against the side repeatedly.
"Just some wood." said Wadey dismissively.
"Look closer. It's been worked into a rough paddle shape. They most likely had a canoe or boat down here."
"Brilliant! All that other stuff, and a shelter with an escape route. This place is gold! Give me some light here. I wanna check the map." Val pulled the weathered map from her backpack and carefully unrolled it. The film advertised on the outside had long since missed its showing, but the back of the poster had found new life as pretty durable map. They'd put it through the mill though. It would need to be copied soon. After a minute's inspection, she announced confidently, "I'm almost certain this lets out the cave at Label Lake. If they took a boat down it, and it didn't branch off somewhere else too, then they would be just outside the city when they came out."
"That's a pretty big if, but I think it's worth a look. What about you two? Up for a bit more tracking?"
"You're the boss." came the rumble. Swift contented himself with a nod, barely visible in the light.
"There's no other boat or we'd be able to follow them easy enough. We've got time. Let's get back to town and set up for the night."
A couple hours later they were walking down the deserted city streets. The afternoon heat pressed down on them, making each step more of an effort than it had any right to be. Strange how they hadn't seen any zombies. There was almost always a few that needed put down, but not a single one was to be found today. Come to think of it, the earlier trip in the morning had been just as uneventful. He wanted to believe it was a sign of things getting better. So, why was worry creeping along next to him like an itch between his shoulder blades? The empty windows of homes and businesses so long left untended seemed like hollow, sunken eyes watching their procession silently. As the sun began to sink lower in the sky they started searching for a place to take for the night, settling at last on a nearby bar.
The side window was broken, but that seemed the only visible weak point, easily blocked off. Inside held its own surprise though. Dust and rotted bits of cloth marked the resting place of at least four Shamblers. Someone had fought here a while back. Well, if it had been assailed, then maybe it wasn't the best spot.
Taking some of the liquor left inside, they made their way across the street to a nearby apartment building and onto the roof through the fire escape, pulling it up behind them and blocking off the roof access door. They were just settling in when the wind shifted and brought them a horrific stench that left them choking and coughing as quietly as they could manage.Thankfully the wind shifted again shortly after, but no one was eager for their meal anymore. In fact, Swift decided to empty his stomach over the side of the building.
"What is that?" he asked, pointing off down the street a couple blocks away.
"Where?"
"There. In front of that firehouse. Looks like a big mound of flesh. You think that's what's causing that smell?" The wind chose that moment to change again, most definitely coming from that direction, and sending them scrambling to cover their noses and Swift into dry heaves.
"Let's get inside. It's dangerous, but we can't stay out here. We can do something about that thing tomorrow."
"You're the boss, Watch."
They went to unbar the door inside, but a slight tremor running though the ground brought them up short. Looking out in the failing light they could just barely see it.
The mound was moving.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Zombie Apocalypse: Glowing Embers
The stench was coming from this way, no question. Worse than anything yet. What on earth could be causing it? A slight movement against his collarbone told him that his little pal shared his discomfort.
"Cover your nose, Boo. This place reeks of evil." He'd just been joking, but the rodent actually nestled deeper under the over sized collar of his coat. Sometimes he wondered if it actually understood more than the simple commands he'd taught it. Pulling out a spare mask he placed it atop the one he had on. Better than nothing. Katana drawn, he made his way deftly over the gore strewn tiled floors. Most of it was dried, but here and there a juicy bit remained to slip up the unwary. Not surprising, really. The ill and injured couldn't have run very fast.
Looks like the morgue's residents got up for a snack when all this started. Or maybe some of those Virals had caught the madness first. No matter. With any luck whichever it was would have long since moved on. Trusting to luck is a fool's path, and a fool's path always ends abruptly. He slowed down his stealthy run to a walk to make even less noise. Still, his steps sounded loud in his own ears.
The flashlight flickered briefly as he checked his route. A few steps, flicker. A few more, flicker. No need to waste the battery or announce his arrival more than he had to. Not like he could see clearly beyond a short ways even with the light. The flashes revealed white halls, floors, and the occasional chairs whenever he passed a nurses station. Well, they would have been white. The four months since the ZA hit had seen the halls and rooms left untended, though not uninhabited. Black streaks of dried blood marred the walls more frequently as he pressed onward, and the scent actually managed to gradually grow worse. Turning the corner toward the cafeteria suddenly showed him why.
Filling the hallway from side to side and nearly floor to ceiling was a...thing? A mass of flesh. A hop showed him it went as far as he could see down the corridor, and even seemed to branch off to side paths. Bright red veins stood out starkly on the otherwise smooth mass for a moment before the color and texture changed. Between one blink and the next it has shifted from the pinkish red of growing flesh to the greenish grey of decay. Now back again. What could this thing be? Those red veins make it seem related to the Virals. Something new they've mutated into? They've got to know about this. But we need those supplies too. Have to find another way around.
Twice more in the trek towards the pharmacy the weird biomasses halted his progress and forced a detour. Neither showed any more sign of moving than the other, but he sneaked quietly by them anyway.
As the not quite lone warrior neared his goal there was a subtle, but increasingly loud groaning of wood and metal. Very aware of being on the fifth floor, he took his stride back up to a run, which nearly made him slam into the pharmacy counter that he found to be in front of him.
GGGRROOAAANN! It seemed to be coming from somewhere higher up.
Antibiotics, penicillin, and various other meds flew into the pack as fast as he could get them.
GGGGRRROOOAAAAANNN!
Wasting no time, he dashed down a nearby hallway which showed light at the end's T intersection. Light meant windows. Windows meant outside. Static at his hip turned to a worried voice.
"Ninjas! Can you hear me? What's going on in there?" He held down the button to reply.
"Don't kn--"
GRNNN--CRACK!
Only his quick feet kept him from being flattened by the sudden entrance of a biomass crashing through the ceiling. Frantically backpedaling away from the crumbling floor ahead of him, he manged not to be carried over the edge as the biomass hit the floor and kept right on going. The crunch of something inside snapping accompanied by the sound of flesh tearing filled his ears. The smell sent a wave of nausea over him that nearly caused him to empty his stomach into his mask. Which might have been preferable to the shaking starting up. He slammed the button down on his walkie-talkie and began running down the opposite hall.
"This place is losing it, Cel. Get away from here."
"What about you? I'm not leaving without you."
"Great, but I didn't plan on staying. Now move!" Skidding to a stop in front of a broken window, he looked out at ground below for only a moment. That tree would have to do. He sheathed his weapon and pressed the small lever that would lock the blade in place as he took the sheath from behind his back. From his right sleeve he pulled a length of cable and unfastened the claw at the end from his cuff. The shaking worsened which made the job of attaching it to the catch on the sheath no easier, but at last it was done. The groaning of the building threatened to deafen him.
As the floor began to give way he leaped from the window, hurling the sword end over end into the nearby oak. Blessedly, it caught among the old, gnarled branches. Debris rained down around him, some striking as he spiraled around the tree. Something heavy hit him in the side causing him to spin unexpectedly. No way to get oriented in time. His right side slammed heavily into the trunk and everything exploded in pain.
The world came ever so slowly back into focus. Mostly. Everything kept sliding along to his sides sending little jolts of pain through his body. What was happening? He was laying down, but still moving? Movement on his chest caused him to look down. There sat Boo bouncing along with the rocking movement. The little green bandana he'd made for him waved slightly. The little fur ball crouched on top something. Cloth straps encircled his chest and he could see more further down on his feet. A gurney? He shifted his weight and the pain flared up anew. He growled and ground his teeth.
"Finally awake, huh?"
"Do I want to be?"
"Probably not. But it's better than not waking up at all." Apologizing for the bumps between gasping for breath, Cel pushed the gurney along the road at a good clip. "Sorry, but we've got to put distance between here and what's left of that place. If that wasn't enough noise to draw them I don't know what will be."
"My sword? The supplies?"
"The meds are on my back, and your pointy stick is with them, don't worry," she smirked halfheartedly. "Had to cut the cable though. Too tangled. And the rig looks busted besides. You'd ask about that before your own injuries?"
"I think my arm's broken."
"It is. Your whole right half is good and bruised too. But at least you're awake. That's a good sign. That was a plum crazy thing to do though."
"Sometimes the fool's path is the only one left to you."
What is that infernal buzzing? Oh, the radio! Yes.
"Say again, please. There was, um, some static," said the man, pulling his nose out of the book for the first time in hours. How long had that thing been squawking? No matter. He'd gotten to it eventually. "This is Jolli. Say again, please. Um, over."
"Thank God! Jolli, are you still in the place we left you?"
"Yes, yes. Um, over." Somehow the momentary silence from the radio suggested a rolling of eyes on the other end. No call for that. He'd answered, hadn't he?
"Look, Ninja is hurt. We're going to have to hole up there for the day at least. No way we can make it back to camp by nightfall. We should be just up the road from you. Could you and the kid unblock the doors for us please?"
"Of course. Won't take a minute. There's nothing outside, right, Kid?" he asked as he turned towards the scrawny teenager sitting by the ground level window. Jolli waited for the kid's coughing to stop before repeating the question.
"Saw a few earlier. Didn't pop them because we don't need the noise. Too little ammo. Might still be out there."
"Well, you stay here and cover them, okay? They should be coming into sight. I'll go unbar the door." He hurried up the steps while ignoring Kid's grumbling about escort missions or something like that. Ducking his frame through the door up from the basement to the main hall, he set about removing the large tables and shelves pushed against the large double doors of the library's front entrance. This is good solid wood. I could make something from this. Maybe good supports for the glider wings, if that ever gets off the ground, or perhaps reinforce the--
The muffled voices from outside jarred him from his thoughts and he quickly finished his task. He opened the door just in time to see Ninja sitting up on a gurney with the aid of Cel on one side and using his sword as a crutch on the other. Those wheels could be useful too.
"How bad is it, Ninja?"
"Just some bruises and a broken arm. I'll live."
"Good, good! And how's the rig?"
"Busted," said Cel. "I had to cut the cable too. But it did save him out there."
"Well, we can always get more cable. Better cable. The important thing is that it worked...Because it means you're safe. Yes," he added in a rush.
Jolli and Cel eased Ninja into a nearby chair and set about rebuilding the barricade. Just in time too, it seemed. A coughing in the nearby staircase announced Kid's arrival.
"We got hostiles outside. Not too many, but I thought you should know. I'm going to the roof."
None of them knew what to make of the kid. They'd found him only earlier today in this very place. Had to have been here or somewhere close since the first day. He looked frail, but he'd managed so far. It appeared to have affected his mind though. Seemed to think the whole thing was a game. He'd nearly shot them when they first appeared, claiming he thought they were just palette swaps of regular zombies. Still, on realizing his mistake he had put down three of the group of six Shamblers that wandered around the corner.
"Just be ready to go in the morning. We'll camp here toni--" The kid spoke up heatedly, cutting Jolli off.
"I'm not camping! I'm sniping. There's a difference!"
"...Of course. My mistake. Well then, we'll 'rest' here tonight to save our strength. Okay?"
"Save often," Kid nodded, "and on alternating files."
"Oh, always." This seemed to satisfy the kid, and he made his way to the back of the large room filled with books and into the side room with the ladder to the room. The other three shared a confused look.
The day moved on into evening without much further incident. Jolli went back and forth between fussing over the rig being broken and claiming it was worthless and that the next one would be a hundred times better and more presentable as they helped Ninja out of it. Next time the frame would be smaller. They couldn't argue that it didn't work. If he hadn't hit the tree as he did it would have been fine. The lightweight metal frame around his chest connected to the segmented rods sewn into in his sleeve was a perfect way to move the force of a climb off just the one arm and onto the more manageable chest area. He was sure they couldn't argue it, but felt the need to repeatedly remind them.
Ninja about bit through a book as they set the bone in his arm, but he once he'd recovered he was ready for something tastier. They made a meal of rations.
Kid had apparently cleaned out a nearby convenience store, and was content having some chips and a couple bottles of Mountain Dew. No wonder about his health if that's all he lived on.
As the night got on Cel volunteered to do a watch from the roof once she found out that the only other place to be was the small basement.
Which is why she was the first to see the fire flare up in the woods outside the city.
"Cover your nose, Boo. This place reeks of evil." He'd just been joking, but the rodent actually nestled deeper under the over sized collar of his coat. Sometimes he wondered if it actually understood more than the simple commands he'd taught it. Pulling out a spare mask he placed it atop the one he had on. Better than nothing. Katana drawn, he made his way deftly over the gore strewn tiled floors. Most of it was dried, but here and there a juicy bit remained to slip up the unwary. Not surprising, really. The ill and injured couldn't have run very fast.
Looks like the morgue's residents got up for a snack when all this started. Or maybe some of those Virals had caught the madness first. No matter. With any luck whichever it was would have long since moved on. Trusting to luck is a fool's path, and a fool's path always ends abruptly. He slowed down his stealthy run to a walk to make even less noise. Still, his steps sounded loud in his own ears.
The flashlight flickered briefly as he checked his route. A few steps, flicker. A few more, flicker. No need to waste the battery or announce his arrival more than he had to. Not like he could see clearly beyond a short ways even with the light. The flashes revealed white halls, floors, and the occasional chairs whenever he passed a nurses station. Well, they would have been white. The four months since the ZA hit had seen the halls and rooms left untended, though not uninhabited. Black streaks of dried blood marred the walls more frequently as he pressed onward, and the scent actually managed to gradually grow worse. Turning the corner toward the cafeteria suddenly showed him why.
Filling the hallway from side to side and nearly floor to ceiling was a...thing? A mass of flesh. A hop showed him it went as far as he could see down the corridor, and even seemed to branch off to side paths. Bright red veins stood out starkly on the otherwise smooth mass for a moment before the color and texture changed. Between one blink and the next it has shifted from the pinkish red of growing flesh to the greenish grey of decay. Now back again. What could this thing be? Those red veins make it seem related to the Virals. Something new they've mutated into? They've got to know about this. But we need those supplies too. Have to find another way around.
Twice more in the trek towards the pharmacy the weird biomasses halted his progress and forced a detour. Neither showed any more sign of moving than the other, but he sneaked quietly by them anyway.
As the not quite lone warrior neared his goal there was a subtle, but increasingly loud groaning of wood and metal. Very aware of being on the fifth floor, he took his stride back up to a run, which nearly made him slam into the pharmacy counter that he found to be in front of him.
GGGRROOAAANN! It seemed to be coming from somewhere higher up.
Antibiotics, penicillin, and various other meds flew into the pack as fast as he could get them.
GGGGRRROOOAAAAANNN!
Wasting no time, he dashed down a nearby hallway which showed light at the end's T intersection. Light meant windows. Windows meant outside. Static at his hip turned to a worried voice.
"Ninjas! Can you hear me? What's going on in there?" He held down the button to reply.
"Don't kn--"
GRNNN--CRACK!
Only his quick feet kept him from being flattened by the sudden entrance of a biomass crashing through the ceiling. Frantically backpedaling away from the crumbling floor ahead of him, he manged not to be carried over the edge as the biomass hit the floor and kept right on going. The crunch of something inside snapping accompanied by the sound of flesh tearing filled his ears. The smell sent a wave of nausea over him that nearly caused him to empty his stomach into his mask. Which might have been preferable to the shaking starting up. He slammed the button down on his walkie-talkie and began running down the opposite hall.
"This place is losing it, Cel. Get away from here."
"What about you? I'm not leaving without you."
"Great, but I didn't plan on staying. Now move!" Skidding to a stop in front of a broken window, he looked out at ground below for only a moment. That tree would have to do. He sheathed his weapon and pressed the small lever that would lock the blade in place as he took the sheath from behind his back. From his right sleeve he pulled a length of cable and unfastened the claw at the end from his cuff. The shaking worsened which made the job of attaching it to the catch on the sheath no easier, but at last it was done. The groaning of the building threatened to deafen him.
As the floor began to give way he leaped from the window, hurling the sword end over end into the nearby oak. Blessedly, it caught among the old, gnarled branches. Debris rained down around him, some striking as he spiraled around the tree. Something heavy hit him in the side causing him to spin unexpectedly. No way to get oriented in time. His right side slammed heavily into the trunk and everything exploded in pain.
The world came ever so slowly back into focus. Mostly. Everything kept sliding along to his sides sending little jolts of pain through his body. What was happening? He was laying down, but still moving? Movement on his chest caused him to look down. There sat Boo bouncing along with the rocking movement. The little green bandana he'd made for him waved slightly. The little fur ball crouched on top something. Cloth straps encircled his chest and he could see more further down on his feet. A gurney? He shifted his weight and the pain flared up anew. He growled and ground his teeth.
"Finally awake, huh?"
"Do I want to be?"
"Probably not. But it's better than not waking up at all." Apologizing for the bumps between gasping for breath, Cel pushed the gurney along the road at a good clip. "Sorry, but we've got to put distance between here and what's left of that place. If that wasn't enough noise to draw them I don't know what will be."
"My sword? The supplies?"
"The meds are on my back, and your pointy stick is with them, don't worry," she smirked halfheartedly. "Had to cut the cable though. Too tangled. And the rig looks busted besides. You'd ask about that before your own injuries?"
"I think my arm's broken."
"It is. Your whole right half is good and bruised too. But at least you're awake. That's a good sign. That was a plum crazy thing to do though."
"Sometimes the fool's path is the only one left to you."
What is that infernal buzzing? Oh, the radio! Yes.
"Say again, please. There was, um, some static," said the man, pulling his nose out of the book for the first time in hours. How long had that thing been squawking? No matter. He'd gotten to it eventually. "This is Jolli. Say again, please. Um, over."
"Thank God! Jolli, are you still in the place we left you?"
"Yes, yes. Um, over." Somehow the momentary silence from the radio suggested a rolling of eyes on the other end. No call for that. He'd answered, hadn't he?
"Look, Ninja is hurt. We're going to have to hole up there for the day at least. No way we can make it back to camp by nightfall. We should be just up the road from you. Could you and the kid unblock the doors for us please?"
"Of course. Won't take a minute. There's nothing outside, right, Kid?" he asked as he turned towards the scrawny teenager sitting by the ground level window. Jolli waited for the kid's coughing to stop before repeating the question.
"Saw a few earlier. Didn't pop them because we don't need the noise. Too little ammo. Might still be out there."
"Well, you stay here and cover them, okay? They should be coming into sight. I'll go unbar the door." He hurried up the steps while ignoring Kid's grumbling about escort missions or something like that. Ducking his frame through the door up from the basement to the main hall, he set about removing the large tables and shelves pushed against the large double doors of the library's front entrance. This is good solid wood. I could make something from this. Maybe good supports for the glider wings, if that ever gets off the ground, or perhaps reinforce the--
The muffled voices from outside jarred him from his thoughts and he quickly finished his task. He opened the door just in time to see Ninja sitting up on a gurney with the aid of Cel on one side and using his sword as a crutch on the other. Those wheels could be useful too.
"How bad is it, Ninja?"
"Just some bruises and a broken arm. I'll live."
"Good, good! And how's the rig?"
"Busted," said Cel. "I had to cut the cable too. But it did save him out there."
"Well, we can always get more cable. Better cable. The important thing is that it worked...Because it means you're safe. Yes," he added in a rush.
Jolli and Cel eased Ninja into a nearby chair and set about rebuilding the barricade. Just in time too, it seemed. A coughing in the nearby staircase announced Kid's arrival.
"We got hostiles outside. Not too many, but I thought you should know. I'm going to the roof."
None of them knew what to make of the kid. They'd found him only earlier today in this very place. Had to have been here or somewhere close since the first day. He looked frail, but he'd managed so far. It appeared to have affected his mind though. Seemed to think the whole thing was a game. He'd nearly shot them when they first appeared, claiming he thought they were just palette swaps of regular zombies. Still, on realizing his mistake he had put down three of the group of six Shamblers that wandered around the corner.
"Just be ready to go in the morning. We'll camp here toni--" The kid spoke up heatedly, cutting Jolli off.
"I'm not camping! I'm sniping. There's a difference!"
"...Of course. My mistake. Well then, we'll 'rest' here tonight to save our strength. Okay?"
"Save often," Kid nodded, "and on alternating files."
"Oh, always." This seemed to satisfy the kid, and he made his way to the back of the large room filled with books and into the side room with the ladder to the room. The other three shared a confused look.
The day moved on into evening without much further incident. Jolli went back and forth between fussing over the rig being broken and claiming it was worthless and that the next one would be a hundred times better and more presentable as they helped Ninja out of it. Next time the frame would be smaller. They couldn't argue that it didn't work. If he hadn't hit the tree as he did it would have been fine. The lightweight metal frame around his chest connected to the segmented rods sewn into in his sleeve was a perfect way to move the force of a climb off just the one arm and onto the more manageable chest area. He was sure they couldn't argue it, but felt the need to repeatedly remind them.
Ninja about bit through a book as they set the bone in his arm, but he once he'd recovered he was ready for something tastier. They made a meal of rations.
Kid had apparently cleaned out a nearby convenience store, and was content having some chips and a couple bottles of Mountain Dew. No wonder about his health if that's all he lived on.
As the night got on Cel volunteered to do a watch from the roof once she found out that the only other place to be was the small basement.
Which is why she was the first to see the fire flare up in the woods outside the city.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Zombie Apocalypse: Nation in Ashes
Welcome to the Treetops once again, my friends. Or if you're new here, then what took you so long? Geez. At any rate, this here is a first for this blog as we venture into the realm of storytime. A few days ago I put up a thread asking for some volunteers to defend the Nation from encroaching zombies hordes. If after this you find yourself interested, then feel free to join in. I can't promise to get everyone, or even when it might get done. But I'll give it my best.
Without further delay, here's the story. Hope you enjoy it.
Nation in Ashes
The last casings clattered onto the floor. His targets followed them to the floorboards with hollow thumps. Chorus of bloody angels, far as he was concerned. Trying not to gulp air and draw in the putrid stench of decaying flesh, he ran a hand through his ruffled brown hair to try to calm himself.
"Rest in peace," he muttered, making the sign of the cross with the barrel of the handgun. "I mean it. Don't frickin' get back up again." His hands shook slightly giving further trouble reloading the unfamiliar weapon. Low on ammo. Have to hurry. Others might have heard the brief exchange, and it was best to assume they had. Taking the pack from his shoulder, he walked briskly over behind the counter. Head down, avoiding the mirror. Couldn't stand to look someone in the eyes if he might have to put a bullet between them soon. At least there was some good news under here. Grabbing the shotgun, he found it loaded with a couple boxes of shells in the back. Into the pack it went. Only stuck out a bit sawed off like it was.
"Nice, but now for the real prize. No time to be picky." Bottles of whatever was to hand went into the pack, wrapped lightly in an apron hanging close to hand. A little padding certainly wouldn't hurt, but no clinking was more important. A little more.
His mind wandered idly as he went about the task at hand. How many days has it been? Or is it weeks now? So many gone. And what's the difference? What makes those veiny ones special? He glanced over at the still forms littering the room. All in ragged, moth eaten clothes, rancid flesh seemingly frozen in the act of rotting off the bone. These fit the classic definition, certainly, but those oth--
Sound caught his ears and snapped him back to the present like a whip.
Slowly sidling up to the shattered window, his hand reaching for the hilt of the weapon at his side, he peered cautiously out the opening. It hadn't been that loud if his aided hearing had just barely picked it up. If it was only one, then the blade would be enough. There is was again. A low rumble. A...growl. Couldn't be. In all this time there hadn't been any signs of animal infection yet. If they were susceptible... He risked a look out the window. Best take no chances. The blade bared nearly halfway began sliding once again into the scabbard, hiding the roughly etched cross.
Nearly had the gun out again when the ball of fur and fangs hit him full in the chest, taking him from his feet and pushing the wind from his lungs. His hand closed around the gun beneath his long, dark grey coat, but it was trapped by the weight of the beast. This is it, he thought, followed by a string of silent curses. With a snarl, the thing lunged for his neck. The teeth closed around his throat. Just at the moment they would have drawn blood, it...stopped!
There was a snuffling sound and the pressure vanished momentarily. He got a breath only to have it pushed out again as two paws put the weight into his gut again and again accompanied by a quiet whining. He risked opening an eye.
Late afternoon light from the open window framed the reddish fur of the large and distinctly canine figure sitting on his chest. The muzzle descended again and worried eyes peered into his.
"Dingo?"
A mistake, it turned out, as the bouncing resumed accompanied by his face receiving a generous coating of saliva. He threw his arms around his old friend almost as much to stop the jumping from bruising his ribs as to warmly welcome back someone thought lost. He couldn't help laughing though. Weeks since seeing any living thing he hadn't had to chase off or try to catch for supper--he didn't dwell too long on that--and now here was Dingo. The silent curses, which had never really stopped, only slowed, were replaced with silent prayers. The shock of hearing a feminine voice forced thought from his head, which swiveled back towards the window.
"Just what kind of bar you running here, eh?" The tone was flippant, but the smile on her face took any sting from the words. Her shoulders shook with silent laughter, swaying the wavy brown hair that nearly brushed them.
"Az!" He couldn't fight back the laugh that rose from his throat and just kept going. Az and Dingo both here, both alive! A hundred questions tried unsuccessfully to crowd out the laugh. Well, there would be time later. Abruptly her brow creased in worry.
"I couldn't be happier to see you, Liam, but we've got a group of about twenty Virals not three streets over. If they didn't hear the shooting, they've definitely heard us by now. We have to move." Suiting her words, she readied a revolver and quickly vanished from the window. Dingo followed her, bounding through with another quiet but somehow anxious bark, seemingly urging speed. Grabbing his pack from the counter and taking only a moment to make sure it was properly secured, Liam stepped warily around the bodies and out the door.
Emerging onto the deserted city street, he found Az crouched low by trash cans outside the bar, Dingo was nowhere in sight. He shot a questioning look at Az and she motioned with her hand in a circle towards the surrounding area, then shaded her eyes while looking about. Scouting then. Suddenly bursting around the corner, Dingo gave a frantic bark.
"What's over there, boy? The kind with the veins stickin' out all over?" A single bark in reply and a false start running. "You're sure?" A growl. "Alright, alright. Follow me then!" Without waiting to see if they would, he took off down the nearby alley. At the end he paused and nearly collided with Az. Fast girl.
"What are you doing? They're not going to stop now. This is a pointless risk and a waste of ammo at best!"
"Trust me. I saw a group of Shamblers this way earlier. The ones without the veins, look like they've clawed up out of the ground?" he added at her confused look. "What'd you call the other ones? Vrals?"
"Virals," she corrected. "But what does that have to do with anything, eh? And why in the world would you want them to chase us?! How is finding more zombies this way a good thing?" Her modest chest was heaving, either with exertion or anger. Another time he might have stopped to admire the movement of the muddy denim jacket and the once white shirt underneath. Now though he had to move. Pity.
"Just come on." The Virals--Probably a better name than Veinys. Works for me.--were starting to reach the mouth of the alley. Torn and bloody clothes barely staying on bloated flesh. Every vein on them standing out a stark red. They were whole enough, unlike the Shamblers, but they were definitely no longer human either. Swollen as they were they should have been slower, but hanged it if wasn't a race to stay ahead of them. "Move," he yelled and took his own advice. She caught up after a moment, and Dingo loped along almost easily, his nearly 7ft nose to tail length making ground eating strides. One block, two...There! Turning to their right down the next street he stopped in front of the firehouse.
"I managed to trap a bunch in here earlier," he wheezed. "Just what we need. Help me get the door open. Too heavy." The garage door opened up by inches at first, and that pungent scent they were too used to began pouring out. It was nearly bad enough to make them forget the pounding footsteps less than half a block away.
"If you had a good reason to do this, now would be a good time to tell me!" Oh, yes. Definitely anger. With a final heave it flew the rest of the way up. Almost immediately the moaning started. Withered hands grasping towards the light. With cut off cries the two jumped back. They stood now between the two groups, about ten feet either way.
"See how we ain't dead yet? 'S why," he panted.
"Okay, but why aren't we?" said Azira, looking frantically from one still group to the other. Here and there was the sound of something best left unknown dripping among them. Dingo whined and barked in turns.
"C'mon. Leave 'em be. We're going to just walk out of here. Back this way slowly. Dingo, watch behind us, right? Grand." A ways away they turned and ran again. Were nearly a mile down the road when the ruckus started. "I don't know what the difference is, but those two kinds mess with each other. I think they both see something that's food, but isn't. It's them, but isn't. It's two things it's not. Their hunger overtakes one side eventually, but it's usually long enough to get away, and it always thins them out which doesn't hurt." Az laughed delightedly, well as much so as possible while trying to breathe from all the running. "I've got a fairly safe spot over this way. We can..." Az was waving her finger before he even finished.
"We've got a better one. Promise. But we gotta go before it gets too dark. You'll have trouble seeing the path."
And so it was that about an hour later that they'd reached the edge of the city and started up into the woods. Dark had begun to set in, and it was a right mess with mud everywhere and thorns around too often to suit him. Az didn't seem to be having any trouble, but even Dingo slipped from time to time.
"Not much further now." Despite the moon being far from full her eyes seemed to glow slightly when she looked back. Almost like they were gathering up what little light there was. Dingo began to bark happily.
Suddenly, a hedge seemed to appear out of the darkness ahead of him. Nearly walked into it before he was even aware of it. Which was quite impressive, considering it was at least 8 feet tall. Liam cursed quietly as he nearly backed into a thorn bush in surprise. Az giggled until she heard where some of that cursing was being directed.
"Lower the bridge! Company's here," she yelled all of a sudden. "Step back a ways." That was for him. Minding the bush this time he picked his path carefully away as she repeated her call. He turned down his hearing aid. There was a creaking and whirring of pulleys as a wooden staircase landed a few feet from the hedge, lowering into place like it was on a hinge. He shot Az a dirty look.
"Why didn't you tell me someone else was here?" he growled. She just smiled, the fff-f-friend of his. Yes, he had to remember that. Besides, how could he stay mad? At least one more survivor! He wasted no time in climbing to the top of the bridge. The scent of something cooking--And not very well either. I'll sort that!--hit him as he crested it. Just don't look down. Stairs were always a thing with him, but right now he didn't care. When they were safely on the other side Az pulled a lever that hauled the bridge up. A voice he'd been afraid to hope to hear chased all thought of dizziness right out of his head.
"Well, I'll be a son of a brainmuncher. Liam! Get your butt over here before I start crying some incredibly manly tears!" said the voice. Slowly raising his eyes from the ground showed him boots, then jeans, then flannel before coming to a stop on a familiar face topped with a tattered baseball cap.
"Oh, yer gettin' a cupper!" he said. Six roared with laughter as Liam made good on his word. Once the celebrating died down they got on to the questions. Sadly, it was just them here for now. But they had hope of more, and his appearance sparked it anew. The hedge was something he whipped up with care, determination, and a great deal of scavenged Miracle Grow. Good for staying hidden, better for giving warning. Yes, yes Liam would be taking over the cooking duties. The three of them made excursions into the city for supplies in pairs most days. Near as they'd kept track it had been three months since everything had gone down. Still no idea what caused it. That topic dulled the merriment a bit.
Finally Liam sat down hard on a log near a small fire, his pack's contents clinking. That brought the smile back. Bringing it around before him he set the new shotgun on the log and pulled out a bottle of...something. The label was gone, but he knew liquor when he saw it. Was about to offer it when Az snatched the pack away.
"Save some for the rest of us," he chided.
"This bag's full. Excellent!" To Liam she said, "I"m saving it all for the lot of us. We need this to sterilize things." He shot her a murderous look that faltered only a bit when she added, "Would you rather be drunk or undead?"
"I'll get back to you on that," he said, pulling the top from the one measly bottle left to him and downing it. Six chuckled.
"It's for the best, my friend. I assure you." Liam looked doubtful, but resigned. He knew sense when he heard it. But he didn't have to like it. "I've got night watch tonight, so we'll catch up tomorrow. Maybe get some plans in place to widen our searches now that there's more of us. I'm off to check the perimeter now. Thing's near 6 foot thick, but you never know. Could be some critters chewing on it, making a hole. Can't have that. Get some rest my friend." With that he strode off toward the hedge and pulled the semi-automatic hanging from the strap on his shoulder around to face forward. Two steps towards the hedge and he seemed almost to melt into it, not bothering with the bridge. That's our Sixy.
Stretching out on the log, which he found oddly comfortable until he realized Dingo had curled up where he was going to put his head, he settled in for the rest of the night. A pat on the nose was in order, it seemed. Even Az's clinking as she sorted his, no, their supplies couldn't dampen his mood. This was the best night in a long, long time.
Without further delay, here's the story. Hope you enjoy it.
Nation in Ashes
The last casings clattered onto the floor. His targets followed them to the floorboards with hollow thumps. Chorus of bloody angels, far as he was concerned. Trying not to gulp air and draw in the putrid stench of decaying flesh, he ran a hand through his ruffled brown hair to try to calm himself.
"Rest in peace," he muttered, making the sign of the cross with the barrel of the handgun. "I mean it. Don't frickin' get back up again." His hands shook slightly giving further trouble reloading the unfamiliar weapon. Low on ammo. Have to hurry. Others might have heard the brief exchange, and it was best to assume they had. Taking the pack from his shoulder, he walked briskly over behind the counter. Head down, avoiding the mirror. Couldn't stand to look someone in the eyes if he might have to put a bullet between them soon. At least there was some good news under here. Grabbing the shotgun, he found it loaded with a couple boxes of shells in the back. Into the pack it went. Only stuck out a bit sawed off like it was.
"Nice, but now for the real prize. No time to be picky." Bottles of whatever was to hand went into the pack, wrapped lightly in an apron hanging close to hand. A little padding certainly wouldn't hurt, but no clinking was more important. A little more.
His mind wandered idly as he went about the task at hand. How many days has it been? Or is it weeks now? So many gone. And what's the difference? What makes those veiny ones special? He glanced over at the still forms littering the room. All in ragged, moth eaten clothes, rancid flesh seemingly frozen in the act of rotting off the bone. These fit the classic definition, certainly, but those oth--
Sound caught his ears and snapped him back to the present like a whip.
Slowly sidling up to the shattered window, his hand reaching for the hilt of the weapon at his side, he peered cautiously out the opening. It hadn't been that loud if his aided hearing had just barely picked it up. If it was only one, then the blade would be enough. There is was again. A low rumble. A...growl. Couldn't be. In all this time there hadn't been any signs of animal infection yet. If they were susceptible... He risked a look out the window. Best take no chances. The blade bared nearly halfway began sliding once again into the scabbard, hiding the roughly etched cross.
Nearly had the gun out again when the ball of fur and fangs hit him full in the chest, taking him from his feet and pushing the wind from his lungs. His hand closed around the gun beneath his long, dark grey coat, but it was trapped by the weight of the beast. This is it, he thought, followed by a string of silent curses. With a snarl, the thing lunged for his neck. The teeth closed around his throat. Just at the moment they would have drawn blood, it...stopped!
There was a snuffling sound and the pressure vanished momentarily. He got a breath only to have it pushed out again as two paws put the weight into his gut again and again accompanied by a quiet whining. He risked opening an eye.
Late afternoon light from the open window framed the reddish fur of the large and distinctly canine figure sitting on his chest. The muzzle descended again and worried eyes peered into his.
"Dingo?"
A mistake, it turned out, as the bouncing resumed accompanied by his face receiving a generous coating of saliva. He threw his arms around his old friend almost as much to stop the jumping from bruising his ribs as to warmly welcome back someone thought lost. He couldn't help laughing though. Weeks since seeing any living thing he hadn't had to chase off or try to catch for supper--he didn't dwell too long on that--and now here was Dingo. The silent curses, which had never really stopped, only slowed, were replaced with silent prayers. The shock of hearing a feminine voice forced thought from his head, which swiveled back towards the window.
"Just what kind of bar you running here, eh?" The tone was flippant, but the smile on her face took any sting from the words. Her shoulders shook with silent laughter, swaying the wavy brown hair that nearly brushed them.
"Az!" He couldn't fight back the laugh that rose from his throat and just kept going. Az and Dingo both here, both alive! A hundred questions tried unsuccessfully to crowd out the laugh. Well, there would be time later. Abruptly her brow creased in worry.
"I couldn't be happier to see you, Liam, but we've got a group of about twenty Virals not three streets over. If they didn't hear the shooting, they've definitely heard us by now. We have to move." Suiting her words, she readied a revolver and quickly vanished from the window. Dingo followed her, bounding through with another quiet but somehow anxious bark, seemingly urging speed. Grabbing his pack from the counter and taking only a moment to make sure it was properly secured, Liam stepped warily around the bodies and out the door.
Emerging onto the deserted city street, he found Az crouched low by trash cans outside the bar, Dingo was nowhere in sight. He shot a questioning look at Az and she motioned with her hand in a circle towards the surrounding area, then shaded her eyes while looking about. Scouting then. Suddenly bursting around the corner, Dingo gave a frantic bark.
"What's over there, boy? The kind with the veins stickin' out all over?" A single bark in reply and a false start running. "You're sure?" A growl. "Alright, alright. Follow me then!" Without waiting to see if they would, he took off down the nearby alley. At the end he paused and nearly collided with Az. Fast girl.
"What are you doing? They're not going to stop now. This is a pointless risk and a waste of ammo at best!"
"Trust me. I saw a group of Shamblers this way earlier. The ones without the veins, look like they've clawed up out of the ground?" he added at her confused look. "What'd you call the other ones? Vrals?"
"Virals," she corrected. "But what does that have to do with anything, eh? And why in the world would you want them to chase us?! How is finding more zombies this way a good thing?" Her modest chest was heaving, either with exertion or anger. Another time he might have stopped to admire the movement of the muddy denim jacket and the once white shirt underneath. Now though he had to move. Pity.
"Just come on." The Virals--Probably a better name than Veinys. Works for me.--were starting to reach the mouth of the alley. Torn and bloody clothes barely staying on bloated flesh. Every vein on them standing out a stark red. They were whole enough, unlike the Shamblers, but they were definitely no longer human either. Swollen as they were they should have been slower, but hanged it if wasn't a race to stay ahead of them. "Move," he yelled and took his own advice. She caught up after a moment, and Dingo loped along almost easily, his nearly 7ft nose to tail length making ground eating strides. One block, two...There! Turning to their right down the next street he stopped in front of the firehouse.
"I managed to trap a bunch in here earlier," he wheezed. "Just what we need. Help me get the door open. Too heavy." The garage door opened up by inches at first, and that pungent scent they were too used to began pouring out. It was nearly bad enough to make them forget the pounding footsteps less than half a block away.
"If you had a good reason to do this, now would be a good time to tell me!" Oh, yes. Definitely anger. With a final heave it flew the rest of the way up. Almost immediately the moaning started. Withered hands grasping towards the light. With cut off cries the two jumped back. They stood now between the two groups, about ten feet either way.
"See how we ain't dead yet? 'S why," he panted.
"Okay, but why aren't we?" said Azira, looking frantically from one still group to the other. Here and there was the sound of something best left unknown dripping among them. Dingo whined and barked in turns.
"C'mon. Leave 'em be. We're going to just walk out of here. Back this way slowly. Dingo, watch behind us, right? Grand." A ways away they turned and ran again. Were nearly a mile down the road when the ruckus started. "I don't know what the difference is, but those two kinds mess with each other. I think they both see something that's food, but isn't. It's them, but isn't. It's two things it's not. Their hunger overtakes one side eventually, but it's usually long enough to get away, and it always thins them out which doesn't hurt." Az laughed delightedly, well as much so as possible while trying to breathe from all the running. "I've got a fairly safe spot over this way. We can..." Az was waving her finger before he even finished.
"We've got a better one. Promise. But we gotta go before it gets too dark. You'll have trouble seeing the path."
And so it was that about an hour later that they'd reached the edge of the city and started up into the woods. Dark had begun to set in, and it was a right mess with mud everywhere and thorns around too often to suit him. Az didn't seem to be having any trouble, but even Dingo slipped from time to time.
"Not much further now." Despite the moon being far from full her eyes seemed to glow slightly when she looked back. Almost like they were gathering up what little light there was. Dingo began to bark happily.
Suddenly, a hedge seemed to appear out of the darkness ahead of him. Nearly walked into it before he was even aware of it. Which was quite impressive, considering it was at least 8 feet tall. Liam cursed quietly as he nearly backed into a thorn bush in surprise. Az giggled until she heard where some of that cursing was being directed.
"Lower the bridge! Company's here," she yelled all of a sudden. "Step back a ways." That was for him. Minding the bush this time he picked his path carefully away as she repeated her call. He turned down his hearing aid. There was a creaking and whirring of pulleys as a wooden staircase landed a few feet from the hedge, lowering into place like it was on a hinge. He shot Az a dirty look.
"Why didn't you tell me someone else was here?" he growled. She just smiled, the fff-f-friend of his. Yes, he had to remember that. Besides, how could he stay mad? At least one more survivor! He wasted no time in climbing to the top of the bridge. The scent of something cooking--And not very well either. I'll sort that!--hit him as he crested it. Just don't look down. Stairs were always a thing with him, but right now he didn't care. When they were safely on the other side Az pulled a lever that hauled the bridge up. A voice he'd been afraid to hope to hear chased all thought of dizziness right out of his head.
"Well, I'll be a son of a brainmuncher. Liam! Get your butt over here before I start crying some incredibly manly tears!" said the voice. Slowly raising his eyes from the ground showed him boots, then jeans, then flannel before coming to a stop on a familiar face topped with a tattered baseball cap.
"Oh, yer gettin' a cupper!" he said. Six roared with laughter as Liam made good on his word. Once the celebrating died down they got on to the questions. Sadly, it was just them here for now. But they had hope of more, and his appearance sparked it anew. The hedge was something he whipped up with care, determination, and a great deal of scavenged Miracle Grow. Good for staying hidden, better for giving warning. Yes, yes Liam would be taking over the cooking duties. The three of them made excursions into the city for supplies in pairs most days. Near as they'd kept track it had been three months since everything had gone down. Still no idea what caused it. That topic dulled the merriment a bit.
Finally Liam sat down hard on a log near a small fire, his pack's contents clinking. That brought the smile back. Bringing it around before him he set the new shotgun on the log and pulled out a bottle of...something. The label was gone, but he knew liquor when he saw it. Was about to offer it when Az snatched the pack away.
"Save some for the rest of us," he chided.
"This bag's full. Excellent!" To Liam she said, "I"m saving it all for the lot of us. We need this to sterilize things." He shot her a murderous look that faltered only a bit when she added, "Would you rather be drunk or undead?"
"I'll get back to you on that," he said, pulling the top from the one measly bottle left to him and downing it. Six chuckled.
"It's for the best, my friend. I assure you." Liam looked doubtful, but resigned. He knew sense when he heard it. But he didn't have to like it. "I've got night watch tonight, so we'll catch up tomorrow. Maybe get some plans in place to widen our searches now that there's more of us. I'm off to check the perimeter now. Thing's near 6 foot thick, but you never know. Could be some critters chewing on it, making a hole. Can't have that. Get some rest my friend." With that he strode off toward the hedge and pulled the semi-automatic hanging from the strap on his shoulder around to face forward. Two steps towards the hedge and he seemed almost to melt into it, not bothering with the bridge. That's our Sixy.
Stretching out on the log, which he found oddly comfortable until he realized Dingo had curled up where he was going to put his head, he settled in for the rest of the night. A pat on the nose was in order, it seemed. Even Az's clinking as she sorted his, no, their supplies couldn't dampen his mood. This was the best night in a long, long time.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Make Sense, Not Cents
I was browsing the web the other day when a certain headline caught my eye.
"Survival horror market too small for Resident Evil, says Capcom producer Masachika Kawata."
Resident Evil, one of the founders of the survival horror genre, cannot be a survival horror game anymore because the market isn't big enough. Let's look at that again. Maybe we misread it.
"The market for that style -- "survival horror" -- just isn't viable enough to warrant the biggest investments."
Afraid not. Looks like my theory about the industry's skewed mentality was all too right. Here too they are falsely finding "lost" sales. On finding out that the market for Resident Evil games is smaller than for games with constant mindless action, Capcom immediately decided to mash their existing IP into a slot it doesn't fit by throwing a ton of money at it. If you ever needed more proof that the industry is only interested in making money, not games, then the following is it:
"Looking at the marketing data [for survival horror games] ... the market is small, compared to the number of units Call of Duty and all those action games sell," he said. "A 'survival horror' Resident Evil doesn't seem like it'd be able to sell those kind of numbers."
"Survival horror market too small for Resident Evil, says Capcom producer Masachika Kawata."
Resident Evil, one of the founders of the survival horror genre, cannot be a survival horror game anymore because the market isn't big enough. Let's look at that again. Maybe we misread it.
"The market for that style -- "survival horror" -- just isn't viable enough to warrant the biggest investments."
Afraid not. Looks like my theory about the industry's skewed mentality was all too right. Here too they are falsely finding "lost" sales. On finding out that the market for Resident Evil games is smaller than for games with constant mindless action, Capcom immediately decided to mash their existing IP into a slot it doesn't fit by throwing a ton of money at it. If you ever needed more proof that the industry is only interested in making money, not games, then the following is it:
"Looking at the marketing data [for survival horror games] ... the market is small, compared to the number of units Call of Duty and all those action games sell," he said. "A 'survival horror' Resident Evil doesn't seem like it'd be able to sell those kind of numbers."
This just in, apples are not, in fact, oranges!
If John Deer noticed one day that its tractors weren't as popular as sports cars, should they start making tractors with more powerful engines and slap spoilers on them? They would immediately create a product that isn't good for either farming or racing. A product that tries to do both and succeeds at neither.
A Resident Evil game doesn't have to pull in the same numbers as an online multiplayer FPS because they're entirely different things. Expecting that it will is pure madness. The only numbers that an RE title needs to bring in are those from the survival horror genre. If it isn't "viable enough to warrant the biggest investments" then don't give it the biggest investments. Give it a reasonable budget for the amount of profit you expect it to bring in. If you want to try your hand at something else too, fine. But that doesn't mean you have to twist what you already have just to make a buck. Create a new, dare I say, original IP in which to attempt to appeal to that market. Otherwise you'll just drag your existing IP's name through the mud and ensure you create a product that no one is happy with.
If John Deer noticed one day that its tractors weren't as popular as sports cars, should they start making tractors with more powerful engines and slap spoilers on them? They would immediately create a product that isn't good for either farming or racing. A product that tries to do both and succeeds at neither.
A Resident Evil game doesn't have to pull in the same numbers as an online multiplayer FPS because they're entirely different things. Expecting that it will is pure madness. The only numbers that an RE title needs to bring in are those from the survival horror genre. If it isn't "viable enough to warrant the biggest investments" then don't give it the biggest investments. Give it a reasonable budget for the amount of profit you expect it to bring in. If you want to try your hand at something else too, fine. But that doesn't mean you have to twist what you already have just to make a buck. Create a new, dare I say, original IP in which to attempt to appeal to that market. Otherwise you'll just drag your existing IP's name through the mud and ensure you create a product that no one is happy with.
Exhibit A
Friday, February 24, 2012
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Review
A wise monkey once said in his review of Final Fantasy XIII, "The game was fun, but I've come to expect much more of this series. Here's hoping Square listens to their fans' feedback for the next game." With that in mind I was skeptical when they announced XIII-2. I waited until the reviews came out, finding solid 8/10s in most places. I asked a friend who'd bought it, and he said he was enjoying it. So I decided to take a gamble and picked it up recently. What's the verdict? Well...
Presentation: 10
Was there ever a doubt? This is a Final Fantasy, after all. If they did nothing else, you could always count on them to look and sound good.
There are a few flaws in the sound department. One character's voice can be a bit irritating, and a blessedly rare boss battle track that sounds like someone's murdering a camel to screamo music. Even that's not enough to detract from the overall goodness of the soundtrack though.
Story: 7?
Let me preface this by saying that there is a vague, but important spoiler in this section. It's the source of my biggest problem with this game, and might really impact your decision to buy it. I highly recommend you read it anyway. With that warning out of the way, here goes.
The game centers around Serah, former damsel in distress of the previous game, as she journeys through time with Noel (pronounced "Noll" not "No-el"), a guy from far into the future, in an effort to find out what happened to her sister, Lightning, who everyone apparently thinks was pulled into the crystal pillar along with Vanille and Fang at the end of the first game.
FFXIII-2 has an interesting take on time travel, and dodges many of the expected tropes. However, it also doesn't seem to follow its own rules sometimes as well. For example, having caused a change in the future at one point, another fellow time traveler is removed from that point because they would no longer have been called there. However, the very same thing applies to our heroes, yet they remain right there. (No, that was not the important spoiler.) A few other mostly minor things as well, but they do take away from your understanding of exactly what's going on. Speaking of which, letting you get that understanding is something XIII-2 seems bound and determined to keep you from right up until (here it comes) the ending cliffhanger. That's right, for all your time invested you'll be getting a great big "To Be Continued" before the credits roll.
Now to its credit, as cliffhangers go it certainly leaves you wondering. But that's partly because there are several story hooks and characters that are introduced and then never expanded on...in the game. Looks like they're supposed to be DLC. Yeah.
On the timeline map you'll notice 3 areas completely separate from the rest of it. These are for upcoming episodes featuring those characters, the first of which drops this month sometime, I believe. In addition there's a Colosseum you visit briefly during the game, but never have any reason to return to, unless you shell out for the Lightning and Amodor DLC that was available on release. And as another symptom of the DLC infection, the main menu holds the Outfits option which you can use to put on different costumes for your characters, but there are absolutely no alternates available within the normal game itself. Not even any unlockables. The prices of these DLCs are so far no greater than $3.00. But since they are dangling story hooks with places clearly prepared and set aside for them in game, it really feels like withheld content, whether or not it actually is.
But you know, even with this, I might still be able to overlook it since nothing that's available yet is essential to the story. I certainly don't like the idea, but I can't hold that against the game itself. The real question is whether the story continues into a XIII-3 or a DLC. I absolutely cannot recommend supporting a company that would intentionally withhold the ending of a game into DLC. It's absolutely inexcusable. So, amazingly enough I'm going to sit and hope for a sequel. But I don't think it's likely. That's why there's a question mark next to the score up there. What'll decide it is whether the game is just the next part in the story, or just a lead up to DLC. For now I'll assume the best and count that 7 into the score.
You might say to me, "Hey, the game has multiple "endings" you can go back for." But only once you complete the true ending, so none of them can be canon, nor do any of them actually brings you any true conclusion either. I sorely wish they had spent the time and resources used to make these false endings exploring those story hooks. Why didn't they? I can only assume it's because they couldn't sell the paradox endings like they can what's up for DLC.
Characters: 7
Our protagonists are all likeable, but don't develop much. Or rather, it's done in the same style as XIII and there's no real transition. Aside from them there are a few characters that really have some personality about them.
It's good that they've added in a town or two, but once again most of the people in it are blank slates you can't talk to unless they're specifically for a quest. They will randomly speak as you pass by, and it is cool how they'll respond to things you do like riding a chocobo or throwing Mog. But that doesn't give them personality since everyone will react the same way.
Gameplay:8
Much has changed for the better in this area, but they sometimes take a step back as well.
The first problem addressed is the infamous linearity of the levels. That's not to be found here. Many places have multiple routes to take, and all of them have out of the way nooks to explore and search for treasure.
Combat has remained similar to the original in most ways, but with several changes. Since the story only focuses on our two characters, the third party slot is filled by a monster. Whenever you defeat a monster there's a chance it will turn to crystal. Should this happen you get that monster as a party member (though only one of any given monster at a time). Obviously not all monsters are obtainable, but a very large number are. Each monster has it's own miniature Chrystarium that you use found/dropped materials to advance them through to level them up and make them better. You can also choose to Infuse one monster into another. This will transfer any passive abilities (HP +20%, Item Finder, etc) from one to another. This does consume the donor creature, but aside from a very few unique monsters, you can always catch another one later. If they share a role (Commando/Ravager/etc) then you can also select a number of active abilities (Thundaga, Shell, Powerchain, etc) to transfer depending on the Chrystarium level of the donor.
The problem here is that each creature only has one role and you can only put 3 in your party at a time to switch between in fights. This is less diverse than simply having a 3rd character would be since a person can have any of the 6 roles, but most of the time you won't notice a problem. It helps that you can now save up to three different sets of paradigms, and those will automatically switch in the saved creature combination as well when selected.
Each monster also has a kind of Limit Break too. As long as they're in battle their Feral Link gauge fills up. When it's full you can activate their ability at any time. There are a variety of abilities ranging from simple damage, to area damage, to healing and buffs for the party. The status of the gauge persists between battles, and it can be used as often as you like in a fight. Unlike Noel and Serah's similar abilities which can only be activated once per fight. The right monster with the right Feral Link can make all the difference in a fight.
In what I consider another waste of time and resources, you can also collect a ton of different Adornments and stick them on your monsters for a bit of personalization. Don't get me wrong, it's nice and all, but again I would much rather have had more of the more important stuff.
There has been another improvement to the paradigms, though. You can now customize them a little more by setting whether or not you want more focused or spread out attack types. By selecting a paradigm like Relentless Assault you can adjust it so that your characters will use single target attacks (like the basic Attack or Fire abilities) against single foes and make it Relentless Assault X, or if you want them to prioritize using larger area attacks (Blitz or Firaga, etc) with Relentless Assault W. A nice touch, but it doesn't go quite far enough. If they would give you the ability to simply turn off some actions like in FF12's gambit system, you could get them to focus on doing the actions you would prefer. For example, Poison is most often a waste of time (though it does have its uses rarely). Nevertheless, both the AI controlled character and your Autoselect will prioritize it over the vastly superior Imperil.
Lastly, the ATB gauge still has the same flaw as before, where increasing it just means you act most slowly since you have to wait longer for it to fill up. While you can order your character to act before it's full, the other two AI controlled ones will always wait. This could potentially lead to a lack of healing when you need it, or longer than needed battles because they wouldn't do the one or two attacks needed to finish them.
That isn't actually a major problem though because of the game's difficulty. Or rather, its lack of difficulty. It comes in two settings, but if you'd told me I was playing on Normal instead of Easy, I might not have believed you. I rarely had to scramble for a strategy during a fight. Only ever really had use for 4 paradigm slots. All through the story I died about 4 times too. It wasn't until I started to take on the few powerful monsters after the endgame that I died repeatedly. Luckily it wasn't an extreme grindfest this time to get within striking distance of them though.
The casino was a letdown. It only has two games; a slot machine and chocobo races. (Though they're quick to tell you that they'll be adding two more card games in the upcoming DLC. Sigh.) The slot machine is worse than random. In hours of playing it I never came out ahead. Worse, you're required to play it to get a Fragment, one of the game's collectables to unlock a few things. (More on that in a moment.) The fact that they had to put in a button to do all the boring stuff for you should have been a hint that it shouldn't be in the game to begin with.
The chocobo racing is much like the battle system in that you can't actually control what happens specifically. Instead you just get to pick a strategy and hope your chocobo has the stats to pull it off. The ones you race are captured in battle just like any other, or in two instances found in item boxes. Their battle stats and skills are what determine their racing abilities, so catching them in the wild and improving them like other monsters makes them better racers, and very handy combatants too. Unfortunately, you don't even get to control where you run on the boring oval track. You're assigned a position in one of the 8 slots before the race. Your chocobo will never leave that slot to try to get ahead of others either. You only really control when it uses its Boost to sprint, and even that seems broken.
In either game there's little or no skill involved. C'mon, Square. Shouldn't you have to be good at something to win instead of just hoping the numbers come up in your favor?
Collecting Fragments through story progression or doing missions here and there can result in unlocking Fragment Skills. Unfortunately, only a couple are useful. Ones that might be good are rendered useless due to when you get them. For example, Field Killer lets you use the overworld attack button to kill monsters instead of just starting fights with them. But you only get it after completing the Bestiary, meaning you've killed every boss and monster. In all likelihood, it's the last one you'll get since completing the Bestiary requires finishing all the paradox endings as well. There are some handy ones which increase or decrease the monster spawn rate as you want, or increase the spawn rate of rare monsters. But they're outnumbered by the useless ones.
Replay Value: Low.
Since you can rewind time as much as you want in any area after completing it and finding an item to do so, there's little reason to ever start from the beginning again. You'll likely skip most cutscenes and conversations too. The adventurous types will likely have found and explored every area to it's fullest as well. Plus, you know, the ending thing.
Overall: 8...for now.
I'm disappointed by the DLC shenanigans and the lack of a true ending. A lot's riding on where they go from here. They definitely listened to the feedback about the last game. Let's just hope they listen this time too.
Presentation: 10
Was there ever a doubt? This is a Final Fantasy, after all. If they did nothing else, you could always count on them to look and sound good.
There are a few flaws in the sound department. One character's voice can be a bit irritating, and a blessedly rare boss battle track that sounds like someone's murdering a camel to screamo music. Even that's not enough to detract from the overall goodness of the soundtrack though.
Story: 7?
Let me preface this by saying that there is a vague, but important spoiler in this section. It's the source of my biggest problem with this game, and might really impact your decision to buy it. I highly recommend you read it anyway. With that warning out of the way, here goes.
The game centers around Serah, former damsel in distress of the previous game, as she journeys through time with Noel (pronounced "Noll" not "No-el"), a guy from far into the future, in an effort to find out what happened to her sister, Lightning, who everyone apparently thinks was pulled into the crystal pillar along with Vanille and Fang at the end of the first game.
FFXIII-2 has an interesting take on time travel, and dodges many of the expected tropes. However, it also doesn't seem to follow its own rules sometimes as well. For example, having caused a change in the future at one point, another fellow time traveler is removed from that point because they would no longer have been called there. However, the very same thing applies to our heroes, yet they remain right there. (No, that was not the important spoiler.) A few other mostly minor things as well, but they do take away from your understanding of exactly what's going on. Speaking of which, letting you get that understanding is something XIII-2 seems bound and determined to keep you from right up until (here it comes) the ending cliffhanger. That's right, for all your time invested you'll be getting a great big "To Be Continued" before the credits roll.
Now to its credit, as cliffhangers go it certainly leaves you wondering. But that's partly because there are several story hooks and characters that are introduced and then never expanded on...in the game. Looks like they're supposed to be DLC. Yeah.
On the timeline map you'll notice 3 areas completely separate from the rest of it. These are for upcoming episodes featuring those characters, the first of which drops this month sometime, I believe. In addition there's a Colosseum you visit briefly during the game, but never have any reason to return to, unless you shell out for the Lightning and Amodor DLC that was available on release. And as another symptom of the DLC infection, the main menu holds the Outfits option which you can use to put on different costumes for your characters, but there are absolutely no alternates available within the normal game itself. Not even any unlockables. The prices of these DLCs are so far no greater than $3.00. But since they are dangling story hooks with places clearly prepared and set aside for them in game, it really feels like withheld content, whether or not it actually is.
But you know, even with this, I might still be able to overlook it since nothing that's available yet is essential to the story. I certainly don't like the idea, but I can't hold that against the game itself. The real question is whether the story continues into a XIII-3 or a DLC. I absolutely cannot recommend supporting a company that would intentionally withhold the ending of a game into DLC. It's absolutely inexcusable. So, amazingly enough I'm going to sit and hope for a sequel. But I don't think it's likely. That's why there's a question mark next to the score up there. What'll decide it is whether the game is just the next part in the story, or just a lead up to DLC. For now I'll assume the best and count that 7 into the score.
You might say to me, "Hey, the game has multiple "endings" you can go back for." But only once you complete the true ending, so none of them can be canon, nor do any of them actually brings you any true conclusion either. I sorely wish they had spent the time and resources used to make these false endings exploring those story hooks. Why didn't they? I can only assume it's because they couldn't sell the paradox endings like they can what's up for DLC.
Characters: 7
Our protagonists are all likeable, but don't develop much. Or rather, it's done in the same style as XIII and there's no real transition. Aside from them there are a few characters that really have some personality about them.
It's good that they've added in a town or two, but once again most of the people in it are blank slates you can't talk to unless they're specifically for a quest. They will randomly speak as you pass by, and it is cool how they'll respond to things you do like riding a chocobo or throwing Mog. But that doesn't give them personality since everyone will react the same way.
Gameplay:8
Much has changed for the better in this area, but they sometimes take a step back as well.
The first problem addressed is the infamous linearity of the levels. That's not to be found here. Many places have multiple routes to take, and all of them have out of the way nooks to explore and search for treasure.
Combat has remained similar to the original in most ways, but with several changes. Since the story only focuses on our two characters, the third party slot is filled by a monster. Whenever you defeat a monster there's a chance it will turn to crystal. Should this happen you get that monster as a party member (though only one of any given monster at a time). Obviously not all monsters are obtainable, but a very large number are. Each monster has it's own miniature Chrystarium that you use found/dropped materials to advance them through to level them up and make them better. You can also choose to Infuse one monster into another. This will transfer any passive abilities (HP +20%, Item Finder, etc) from one to another. This does consume the donor creature, but aside from a very few unique monsters, you can always catch another one later. If they share a role (Commando/Ravager/etc) then you can also select a number of active abilities (Thundaga, Shell, Powerchain, etc) to transfer depending on the Chrystarium level of the donor.
The problem here is that each creature only has one role and you can only put 3 in your party at a time to switch between in fights. This is less diverse than simply having a 3rd character would be since a person can have any of the 6 roles, but most of the time you won't notice a problem. It helps that you can now save up to three different sets of paradigms, and those will automatically switch in the saved creature combination as well when selected.
Each monster also has a kind of Limit Break too. As long as they're in battle their Feral Link gauge fills up. When it's full you can activate their ability at any time. There are a variety of abilities ranging from simple damage, to area damage, to healing and buffs for the party. The status of the gauge persists between battles, and it can be used as often as you like in a fight. Unlike Noel and Serah's similar abilities which can only be activated once per fight. The right monster with the right Feral Link can make all the difference in a fight.
In what I consider another waste of time and resources, you can also collect a ton of different Adornments and stick them on your monsters for a bit of personalization. Don't get me wrong, it's nice and all, but again I would much rather have had more of the more important stuff.
There has been another improvement to the paradigms, though. You can now customize them a little more by setting whether or not you want more focused or spread out attack types. By selecting a paradigm like Relentless Assault you can adjust it so that your characters will use single target attacks (like the basic Attack or Fire abilities) against single foes and make it Relentless Assault X, or if you want them to prioritize using larger area attacks (Blitz or Firaga, etc) with Relentless Assault W. A nice touch, but it doesn't go quite far enough. If they would give you the ability to simply turn off some actions like in FF12's gambit system, you could get them to focus on doing the actions you would prefer. For example, Poison is most often a waste of time (though it does have its uses rarely). Nevertheless, both the AI controlled character and your Autoselect will prioritize it over the vastly superior Imperil.
Lastly, the ATB gauge still has the same flaw as before, where increasing it just means you act most slowly since you have to wait longer for it to fill up. While you can order your character to act before it's full, the other two AI controlled ones will always wait. This could potentially lead to a lack of healing when you need it, or longer than needed battles because they wouldn't do the one or two attacks needed to finish them.
That isn't actually a major problem though because of the game's difficulty. Or rather, its lack of difficulty. It comes in two settings, but if you'd told me I was playing on Normal instead of Easy, I might not have believed you. I rarely had to scramble for a strategy during a fight. Only ever really had use for 4 paradigm slots. All through the story I died about 4 times too. It wasn't until I started to take on the few powerful monsters after the endgame that I died repeatedly. Luckily it wasn't an extreme grindfest this time to get within striking distance of them though.
The casino was a letdown. It only has two games; a slot machine and chocobo races. (Though they're quick to tell you that they'll be adding two more card games in the upcoming DLC. Sigh.) The slot machine is worse than random. In hours of playing it I never came out ahead. Worse, you're required to play it to get a Fragment, one of the game's collectables to unlock a few things. (More on that in a moment.) The fact that they had to put in a button to do all the boring stuff for you should have been a hint that it shouldn't be in the game to begin with.
The chocobo racing is much like the battle system in that you can't actually control what happens specifically. Instead you just get to pick a strategy and hope your chocobo has the stats to pull it off. The ones you race are captured in battle just like any other, or in two instances found in item boxes. Their battle stats and skills are what determine their racing abilities, so catching them in the wild and improving them like other monsters makes them better racers, and very handy combatants too. Unfortunately, you don't even get to control where you run on the boring oval track. You're assigned a position in one of the 8 slots before the race. Your chocobo will never leave that slot to try to get ahead of others either. You only really control when it uses its Boost to sprint, and even that seems broken.
In either game there's little or no skill involved. C'mon, Square. Shouldn't you have to be good at something to win instead of just hoping the numbers come up in your favor?
Collecting Fragments through story progression or doing missions here and there can result in unlocking Fragment Skills. Unfortunately, only a couple are useful. Ones that might be good are rendered useless due to when you get them. For example, Field Killer lets you use the overworld attack button to kill monsters instead of just starting fights with them. But you only get it after completing the Bestiary, meaning you've killed every boss and monster. In all likelihood, it's the last one you'll get since completing the Bestiary requires finishing all the paradox endings as well. There are some handy ones which increase or decrease the monster spawn rate as you want, or increase the spawn rate of rare monsters. But they're outnumbered by the useless ones.
Replay Value: Low.
Since you can rewind time as much as you want in any area after completing it and finding an item to do so, there's little reason to ever start from the beginning again. You'll likely skip most cutscenes and conversations too. The adventurous types will likely have found and explored every area to it's fullest as well. Plus, you know, the ending thing.
Overall: 8...for now.
I'm disappointed by the DLC shenanigans and the lack of a true ending. A lot's riding on where they go from here. They definitely listened to the feedback about the last game. Let's just hope they listen this time too.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
A Look Back
With the announcement of yet another game I was interested in being tainted by a shady business tactic (specifically the upcoming title Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning using an online pass), I was disgusted. What happened in this industry?
Change. It comes to everything in time.
Some change is good, some is bad. In the couch's case sometimes it's a decades old Cheeto. But whichever it is, it's important to not only rally behind or rail against it, but to try to understand where it comes from. To that end, I want to look back at some recent changes in the gaming industry. I've spoken against the myriad bad business practices in the past, but now let's have a look at what may have caused them.
So, what is the immediate reason for the Online Pass policy, among other undesirables, increasingly infecting our games? To attempt to combat the used games market. However, the used games market is as old as the game companies themselves. What's changed that it's now a "threat" to them? More and more people have come to gaming in recent years. The market has exploded. Gaming has hit true mainstream status.
Change. It comes to everything in time.
No, not just couch cushions. Get your head out of there and pay attention.
Some change is good, some is bad. In the couch's case sometimes it's a decades old Cheeto. But whichever it is, it's important to not only rally behind or rail against it, but to try to understand where it comes from. To that end, I want to look back at some recent changes in the gaming industry. I've spoken against the myriad bad business practices in the past, but now let's have a look at what may have caused them.
So, what is the immediate reason for the Online Pass policy, among other undesirables, increasingly infecting our games? To attempt to combat the used games market. However, the used games market is as old as the game companies themselves. What's changed that it's now a "threat" to them? More and more people have come to gaming in recent years. The market has exploded. Gaming has hit true mainstream status.
Hipster Link: "The games I was in used to be made for fun. You've probably never heard of it."
Look back at how games used to be made and targeted toward specific audiences. RPGs didn't worry about being too complex to be accessible for everyone. Shooters were made without Skinner Box level up systems, and were there just to pit you against other players on a level playing field. And so on with each type of game only trying to be itself.
Then came the increase in gamers who are new to the experience. A tidal wave of new people looking to spend money, and not sure what to get. They immediately started going for the easier, more accessible titles. Completely understandable. You can't expect someone whose only gaming experience is Bejeweled to grasp the intricacies of StarCraft strategy, or follow through the twisting warren that an MGS title has for a story. And since these new gamers are almost entirely casual players, they either can't or don't care to spend the time and effort required to excel in or understand them.
Since accessibility became the biggest demand by virtue of sheer numbers, that's where the industry went. Suddenly, almost every game that came out needed to be as accessible to everyone as possible, not just those interested in its genre, to try to capture the largest possible sales. And for a while sales were crazy good. Everyone kept buying whatever they were told through media or word of mouth was a good game.
The problem starts here. No matter how accessible it is, people just aren't going to like some game types. But with no experience to tell them which they will or won't like, they just tried everything they heard was good only to be disappointed. And so the games they didn't like got traded in. After a little while, the newbies started to learn what they liked and didn't, so sales started to even out. Those who had learned they liked FPS mostly just bought FPS, and no matter how well advertised a fighter was they would no longer buy it because it was well spoken of if they'd learned they didn't like them. (This process is still ongoing, of course. New gamers arrive every day, though not in the numbers of the original wave of casuals.)
This seems to have caused a shift in the view of game makers (mostly publishers). They had become used to this level of sales and the sudden "drop" made them start worrying. Instead of counting every sale they got and appreciating it, they began trying to count every sale they didn't get and worrying over it. If a game's predecessor had sold 10 million units, but the new one sold only 7 million it wasn't just that the sequel didn't sell as well. It was 3 million in "lost" sales.
The problem starts here. No matter how accessible it is, people just aren't going to like some game types. But with no experience to tell them which they will or won't like, they just tried everything they heard was good only to be disappointed. And so the games they didn't like got traded in. After a little while, the newbies started to learn what they liked and didn't, so sales started to even out. Those who had learned they liked FPS mostly just bought FPS, and no matter how well advertised a fighter was they would no longer buy it because it was well spoken of if they'd learned they didn't like them. (This process is still ongoing, of course. New gamers arrive every day, though not in the numbers of the original wave of casuals.)
This seems to have caused a shift in the view of game makers (mostly publishers). They had become used to this level of sales and the sudden "drop" made them start worrying. Instead of counting every sale they got and appreciating it, they began trying to count every sale they didn't get and worrying over it. If a game's predecessor had sold 10 million units, but the new one sold only 7 million it wasn't just that the sequel didn't sell as well. It was 3 million in "lost" sales.
Pictured: Delusion
Meanwhile, as a byproduct of the learning process the casuals (Well, vets too, I suppose. The process never truly ends. Their numbers just aren't as great.) are going through, used game outlets are practically covered up in used titles. They begin selling those more cheaply than the new ones, as they should for a used good (Gamestop, etc, overcharging is a different discussion), so people buy them.
The makers look at the numbers with their altered view, and decide that every used sale is a lost new sale. But this is a flawed view. Just because someone buys a used copy does not mean that they would have bought the same game new at a higher price if the used option were removed. Used games are selling because new games are expensive, and used ones less so. In today's economy you can expect nothing less. But that's not what the makers see, and so now the used games industry is a "grave threat" to their business instead of the boon it used to be.
To put it simply, the industry has bitten off more than it can chew, but insist they need to bite off more instead of giving the market time to digest this change. They need to accept the fact that the sales aren't going to be like that again for a long time at the least. They need to stop trying to rush titles out the door to keep people on the line. They need to go back to doing what they used to do best and just make games that people enjoy. Each company needs to stop trying to control the entire market with pointless, morally gray business practices and rushed titles trying to appeal to everyone, and just let everything take its natural course. It will all normalize.
The makers look at the numbers with their altered view, and decide that every used sale is a lost new sale. But this is a flawed view. Just because someone buys a used copy does not mean that they would have bought the same game new at a higher price if the used option were removed. Used games are selling because new games are expensive, and used ones less so. In today's economy you can expect nothing less. But that's not what the makers see, and so now the used games industry is a "grave threat" to their business instead of the boon it used to be.
To put it simply, the industry has bitten off more than it can chew, but insist they need to bite off more instead of giving the market time to digest this change. They need to accept the fact that the sales aren't going to be like that again for a long time at the least. They need to stop trying to rush titles out the door to keep people on the line. They need to go back to doing what they used to do best and just make games that people enjoy. Each company needs to stop trying to control the entire market with pointless, morally gray business practices and rushed titles trying to appeal to everyone, and just let everything take its natural course. It will all normalize.
Until we go for full digital distribution anyway.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Heavy Rain
This one's been a while in coming, I know. The game's already out on its Greatest Hits version, so maybe this review won't be that helpful. Or maybe it will. What if, like me, you waited and were going to pick up this game for cheap? Well, then I would say to you, "Good call." My review agrees.
Presentation: 7
In the graphics department there's not too much to complain about. The biggest problem is the woodenness of the movements you control. For example, when watching an NPC walk across the room it looks fine. The mo-cap really works. Try the same thing with your currently controlled character, and you look like a puppet with termites. Same goes for the facial expressions. Don't get me wrong; the faces themselves look pretty great. But if you watch someone talk in a scene, it looks much better than if your character speaks as you stumble about with blankly staring eyes and a lack of expression.
There are also numerous clipping issues in any scene involving a crowd. You can have people walk right through you.
The persistent damage to the characters is nice though. If someone gets beat up in a fight, it changes the character model to reflect how badly, and it stays that way. Very nice touch.
As for the sound, the biggest problem is from the early game's Ethan character. And when he yells for his kids he just sounds ridiculous. He gets better as he goes on, but at the start he sounds very hollow. Madison also gets this occasionally. Other than that, no real problems.
Story: 7
The game's greatest strength, but it's not without its own faults. I'll say very little of the actual story because it was good enough that I can recommend playing the game for it and wouldn't want to spoil anything.
The structure of the story is very malleable. It changes depending on your choices and successes with (or rather against) the controls in many scenes. You'll get one of 18 combinations of endings based on that. Most of the time it flows pretty seamlessly. It's like watching a good movie. However, there are instances where it seems that the story counted on this or that to have happened when you didn't actually do it. Someone pulling a name out of the air when they never encountered them or even heard of them, for example. And in one case, a full on retcon of an event to be something other than what the player witnessed. Not just seeing it from a different view, but actually changing it. Very immersion breaking.
Also taking away from the story--and again it's like a modern movie here--are the all too standard issue nudity (male and female) and an obligatory sex scene. These instances have no place in the story other than to be what they are; that is, ways to cater to the lowest common denominator or add "shock value". The problem, of course, is that to be there simply for the sake of shock value makes them pointless in terms of shock value. By contrast, the fact that your characters have numerous places in which they can be permanently killed adds real shock value if it happens. Having fakes alongside it really belittles the genuine article.
There are also several missed opportunities and things left unexplained. I want to say more, but won't spoil it here. Might post in the Heavy Rain thread later for those who have finished the game and want to know what I'm talking about though.
For all that, when you reach the ending stretch, and all (well most) of the pieces fall into place it all really comes together.
Characters: 8
Aside from the aforementioned hollowness, these characters are pretty good. When he's spending time with his family or trying to save them, Ethan's affection and desperation really come through (except for with that silly yelling).
Madison fills the role of dedicated journalist very well, but has the unfortunate drawback of being the sex object of the game. Still, when she's not making the day of the 14-year-old boys who managed to get this game due to lack of parental interest, she shows that she's intelligent and brave.
Scott is perhaps the best character. This retired cop turned PI is dogged in his search for the evidence that could catch the Origami Killer and put an end to the murders. Smart and tough as nails despite his age, his story segments provide some of the more entertaining parts of the game.
Jayden is very convincing with his flaws, and even manages to break out of his stereotype of 'criminal profiler'. He deals with his problems and does his best not to let them get in his way.
Even the side characters manage to have some solid personality to them.
Gameplay: 3
Ouch. You read that right. "3".
Most actions in the game are handled by virtue of a QTE. The first problem is that there are far too many pointless actions. In the tutorial/prologue it's understandable since you need to learn all the controls and what they do. But even as the game progresses you're still expected to do each and every little thing. QTE to open the cabinet. QTE to walk up the hill. QTE to do everything. It's boring and unneeded. The QTEs in the various action/fight scenes are better because there at least it feels like you're accomplishing something.
Unfortunately, actually succeeding at them is also spotty sometimes due to the inclusion of motion controls. These just do not seem to work sometimes.
During the times when you get to walk around you're fighting the camera and controls. Instead of simply letting you walk around with the stick, you're forced to use R2 to walk at all and the direction you're going changes with the camera. So you can be walking one direction, have the camera change (or change it yourself) and suddenly be going the opposite direction than you were. This can be infuriating during time sensitive events.
Moreover, your characters all subscribe to the Fatal Frame school of movement. That means no matter the circumstances, while under the control of the player they are never, ever supposed to move faster than a brisk walk. Not to save their lives or anyone else's.
An entertaining, but ultimately damaging feature is Jayden's use of the ARI, or augmented reality interface. It's a combination of glove and sunglasses that basically function like Batman's detective vision from the Arkham games. They let you see clues in a very limited area and analyze them instantly, or replace your surroundings to something more entertaining. Handy, yes, but it doesn't make any sense for this setting. Particularly when you return to a chapter he's in to find him sitting at his desk...on Mars or above a huge waterfall. It's pretty, no mistake, but pointlessly kills the suspension of disbelief which is vital for a game or even the movie this one's trying to be.
Replay value: Fair at best
Despite there being so many ways the game can play out, you can't unsolve the mystery. Once you know, you know forever so there's no way to bring the same tension and fun to the table again.
Overall: 5
This is a great game...as long as you don't have to play it. I would gladly have watched this in a theater, or even still played it as a game if the controls were better. But as it is, I can only advise buying it on the cheap.
Presentation: 7
In the graphics department there's not too much to complain about. The biggest problem is the woodenness of the movements you control. For example, when watching an NPC walk across the room it looks fine. The mo-cap really works. Try the same thing with your currently controlled character, and you look like a puppet with termites. Same goes for the facial expressions. Don't get me wrong; the faces themselves look pretty great. But if you watch someone talk in a scene, it looks much better than if your character speaks as you stumble about with blankly staring eyes and a lack of expression.
There are also numerous clipping issues in any scene involving a crowd. You can have people walk right through you.
The persistent damage to the characters is nice though. If someone gets beat up in a fight, it changes the character model to reflect how badly, and it stays that way. Very nice touch.
As for the sound, the biggest problem is from the early game's Ethan character. And when he yells for his kids he just sounds ridiculous. He gets better as he goes on, but at the start he sounds very hollow. Madison also gets this occasionally. Other than that, no real problems.
Story: 7
The game's greatest strength, but it's not without its own faults. I'll say very little of the actual story because it was good enough that I can recommend playing the game for it and wouldn't want to spoil anything.
The structure of the story is very malleable. It changes depending on your choices and successes with (or rather against) the controls in many scenes. You'll get one of 18 combinations of endings based on that. Most of the time it flows pretty seamlessly. It's like watching a good movie. However, there are instances where it seems that the story counted on this or that to have happened when you didn't actually do it. Someone pulling a name out of the air when they never encountered them or even heard of them, for example. And in one case, a full on retcon of an event to be something other than what the player witnessed. Not just seeing it from a different view, but actually changing it. Very immersion breaking.
Also taking away from the story--and again it's like a modern movie here--are the all too standard issue nudity (male and female) and an obligatory sex scene. These instances have no place in the story other than to be what they are; that is, ways to cater to the lowest common denominator or add "shock value". The problem, of course, is that to be there simply for the sake of shock value makes them pointless in terms of shock value. By contrast, the fact that your characters have numerous places in which they can be permanently killed adds real shock value if it happens. Having fakes alongside it really belittles the genuine article.
There are also several missed opportunities and things left unexplained. I want to say more, but won't spoil it here. Might post in the Heavy Rain thread later for those who have finished the game and want to know what I'm talking about though.
For all that, when you reach the ending stretch, and all (well most) of the pieces fall into place it all really comes together.
Characters: 8
Aside from the aforementioned hollowness, these characters are pretty good. When he's spending time with his family or trying to save them, Ethan's affection and desperation really come through (except for with that silly yelling).
Madison fills the role of dedicated journalist very well, but has the unfortunate drawback of being the sex object of the game. Still, when she's not making the day of the 14-year-old boys who managed to get this game due to lack of parental interest, she shows that she's intelligent and brave.
Scott is perhaps the best character. This retired cop turned PI is dogged in his search for the evidence that could catch the Origami Killer and put an end to the murders. Smart and tough as nails despite his age, his story segments provide some of the more entertaining parts of the game.
Jayden is very convincing with his flaws, and even manages to break out of his stereotype of 'criminal profiler'. He deals with his problems and does his best not to let them get in his way.
Even the side characters manage to have some solid personality to them.
Gameplay: 3
Ouch. You read that right. "3".
Most actions in the game are handled by virtue of a QTE. The first problem is that there are far too many pointless actions. In the tutorial/prologue it's understandable since you need to learn all the controls and what they do. But even as the game progresses you're still expected to do each and every little thing. QTE to open the cabinet. QTE to walk up the hill. QTE to do everything. It's boring and unneeded. The QTEs in the various action/fight scenes are better because there at least it feels like you're accomplishing something.
Unfortunately, actually succeeding at them is also spotty sometimes due to the inclusion of motion controls. These just do not seem to work sometimes.
During the times when you get to walk around you're fighting the camera and controls. Instead of simply letting you walk around with the stick, you're forced to use R2 to walk at all and the direction you're going changes with the camera. So you can be walking one direction, have the camera change (or change it yourself) and suddenly be going the opposite direction than you were. This can be infuriating during time sensitive events.
Moreover, your characters all subscribe to the Fatal Frame school of movement. That means no matter the circumstances, while under the control of the player they are never, ever supposed to move faster than a brisk walk. Not to save their lives or anyone else's.
An entertaining, but ultimately damaging feature is Jayden's use of the ARI, or augmented reality interface. It's a combination of glove and sunglasses that basically function like Batman's detective vision from the Arkham games. They let you see clues in a very limited area and analyze them instantly, or replace your surroundings to something more entertaining. Handy, yes, but it doesn't make any sense for this setting. Particularly when you return to a chapter he's in to find him sitting at his desk...on Mars or above a huge waterfall. It's pretty, no mistake, but pointlessly kills the suspension of disbelief which is vital for a game or even the movie this one's trying to be.
Replay value: Fair at best
Despite there being so many ways the game can play out, you can't unsolve the mystery. Once you know, you know forever so there's no way to bring the same tension and fun to the table again.
Overall: 5
This is a great game...as long as you don't have to play it. I would gladly have watched this in a theater, or even still played it as a game if the controls were better. But as it is, I can only advise buying it on the cheap.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
What can I say about this game that hasn't been said already? A mountain of amazing games released this year and, for many gamers, Skyrim stands firmly at the peak. Does it truly deserve to stand there with giants like Uncharted 3, Dark Souls, and others also scaling that mountain? Well, that'd be a matter of opinion. And since you came here for mine, I'll gladly give it.
Presentation: 9
Greatly improving on its predecessor Oblivion's already nice graphics in many areas, the look of Skyrim is pretty darned good. You'll still find the occasional jagged-edged shadow, and a close look at the plants will let you see them as flat. But the character and creature models, the flowing water (complete with currents that push you along this time), spell effects, and every single item you can pick up being lovingly rendered in your inventory goes a long way to make up for it. The only true flaw in the character models is that they have some difficulty showing expression. The best example is probably the guy in the opening scenes who's voice shows he is clearly freaking out, but his expression remains quite wooden.
The musical score from the trailer captures this game's sound perfectly, going from heart pumping to breathtaking and back again. Which is what the game does too, incidentally. The wind howling at your back as you look out from the edge of a tall cliff, or the heavy breathing of your character as they stagger on, one wound away from death. Every bit of the sound in this game is flawless. There is a single annoying line that quickly skyrocketed to meme status. And it's only really annoying because of the way people won't stop talking about their knee arrows everywhere on the internet.
Story: 9
In another improvement on Oblivion, the main campaign's story is very nice. The Thieves Guild's story is good enough to rival it too. Every questline has its moments, to be sure, but those two stand out as the best. In a way it's the opposite of Oblivion's weak main story and much stronger side stories. Most side stories here could use some improvement. None are bad by any stretch, but they do suffer somewhat from having their pacing just a bit off. Or from a somewhat silly thing in the story like being made Archmage of Winterhold Mage's College by virtue of smacking someone around with a sword as opposed to, you know, using magic really well. Then again, that's almost an Elder Scrolls staple nowadays. Still, there are a thousand little stories waiting to be discovered aside from any of the major questlines. From an aged Orc wandering the wilderness in search of an honorable death in battle, to an ambushed merchant's wagon telling you of a nearby dungeon, to a friendly ghost who pops up to applaud your diving skill should you leap off a certain high place. There's always something to find.
Characters: 9
Aside from the aforementioned woodenness in their models, the characters are mostly well done. You will find some odd mismatches of text from time to time. Such as children who claim not to have 'seen such a thing in all their years' when you fell a dragon. I'm pretty sure this was purposefully done for a giggle as it is voice acted for the children and not simply them getting an adult's lines. There are a number of likable characters and an equal number of detestable ones. And all are great to see.
Gameplay: 8
The classic Elder Scrolls combat style of 'backpedal furiously while attacking' makes its return. But it's now complimented by an improved stealth system as well as more effective use of blocking and the ability to dual wield any one-handed weapons or spells, and combine two casts of the same spell for increased effect. Not to mention the inclusion of various Shouts, abilities with a cooldown in between uses that can let you do things like push enemies away to gain a moment's respite in combat, breathing dragon's fire on your foes, or sensing the lifeforce of enemies through walls, and many, many others.
That's a lot of improvement on your options over past games. But it's not without its downsides.
There's a smaller number of spells to be used per school than in past games, and the ability to make spells yourself has been removed completely. This kinda sucks because it would be really helpful to be able to make weaker versions of stronger spells. For example, when the Destruction school's basic Flames or Firebolt spells aren't strong enough, but you don't have enough magika to cast Fireball effectively. Things like that make playing a pure Mage character a lot tougher than it should be compared with the other character archetypes of Warrior and Thief.
Also suffering from a limiting factor is the Enchanting skill. Not only are you now limited as to what item can be enchanted with which effect, there are also fewer pieces of armor and equipment available to enchant. You can only wear one ring, and the torso and grieves armor are no longer separate. While this is pointless from a gamer's perspective, it does make sense in order to maintain balance. Without this limitation you would have no reason not to cover your equipment in enchantments that increase your primary attack skill (One-handed weapons, Destruction magic, etc) to crazy heights and just dominate everything you come across.
Not that you can't do that anyway, mind you. People were quick to find a way to exploit the system, as always, to make weapons and armor that can completely remove a school of magic's mana cost allowing for infinite free spells, or to craft weapons that can do over a thousand damage per strike while their original form could do only 50. Of course, doing so takes any and all challenge out of the game.
The leveling system too has it's improvements and problems. Unlike in previous games, your level no longer requires you to use only specific skills to level up your character, which greatly removes some of the tedium and so is quite a welcome change. In addition, the new perk system lets you feel like you've really been rewarded when you level since any given perk's effects are a lot more tangible than the previous games' minor increases to stats. Oblivion had perks too, true, but they suffered from the same problem of being too subtle most often. It's definitely an improvement...but it's not perfect. Why?
Level scaling, while more in line with Fallout's version, still causes gamers grief. One of the bigger problems is that improving social or crafting skills still contributes to increasing your level. This is a problem because enemies' stats are still based solely on your level. It's best summed up in this comic. You can quickly find yourself outclassed by even the basic enemies if you focus too much on increasing skills like Smithing or Speech. After all, no matter how charismatic you are, you generally can't talk well enough to convince a bear not to eat your face. (Though you can Shout at him and send him flying.)
I can't help but think that the whole thing would go over better if your combat and social skills were split into different levels. Or if they would just stop insisting on using this badly flawed level scaling system.
One of the game's premier features is fighting dragons. Which turns out to be kind of a mixed bag. In the game's initial state dragons were afflicted with a bit of ADD. They might be poised to kill you, only to suddenly notice a mudcrab 50 yards away and be overcome with the urge to attack it instead. The patch released not long after the game mostly fixed that, but afflicted them instead with a random decision to just sort of fly away backwards on rare occasion.
The difficulty of fighting dragons sort of takes on a bell curve as the game progresses (*on the standard difficulty setting). Early on you won't be well equipped, but can still take them down with a little careful dodging for cover and timely healing. They're no bigger threat than any other boss enemy. Towards the middle of the game as your level has gone up you'll start encountering Elder or Ancient dragons. These guys are the heavy hitters. One breath attack you aren't prepared for can be the end of you. But by the time your character starts to reach their end game build (roughly level 50-60, though you can twink it up to 81) you'll be able to take even these two at a time.
Even with that though, there's still a good bit of enjoyment to be had from dropping one out of the sky through spell or arrow and having it plow up the ground as it crashes. Despite what's seen in the trailer, the dragons aren't usually dumb enough to fly within melee range. Which makes sense. Why would they when they can just strafe you with fire and ice?
Lastly, I must mention that there's currently a bug due to the patch that was released. While it fixed many issues, letting the game play more smoothly, it also broke one of the key combat mechanics: your character's Elemental Resistance stats. As it stands now, they don't work. No matter your armor or resistance enchantments, any mage or dragon can put a serious damper on your day. This won't really effect the assassin or thief type characters who tend to focus on not being seen in the first place, but it can give others serious trouble. There's supposed to be another patch to fix it on the way soon though.
Patching lately in games is kind of a hydra. Slay one head and two more arise in its place. Let's hope Bethesda can put this particular beast down for good.
Replay Value: High
There's just so much to do that it's highly unlikely that you'll find even half of the content in a single playthrough. In fact, you're best served by at least making a character for the Warrior and Thief archetypes and playing out the questlines built for their kind of character in their own playthroughs.
Overall: 9
There's something for everyone here. It's got its flaws, but overall its positives far outweigh the negatives. This is a must buy for sure.
If you're still looking for my opinion as to which game stands atop that mountain, I can say this: "I don't wanna choose, 'n you can't make me! Neener neener!"
I haven't played all the games I'd like to, but I can say of Dark Souls and Skyrim that I'm glad I played them back to back. It feels like each has what the other lacks. Go get them both.
Presentation: 9
Greatly improving on its predecessor Oblivion's already nice graphics in many areas, the look of Skyrim is pretty darned good. You'll still find the occasional jagged-edged shadow, and a close look at the plants will let you see them as flat. But the character and creature models, the flowing water (complete with currents that push you along this time), spell effects, and every single item you can pick up being lovingly rendered in your inventory goes a long way to make up for it. The only true flaw in the character models is that they have some difficulty showing expression. The best example is probably the guy in the opening scenes who's voice shows he is clearly freaking out, but his expression remains quite wooden.
The musical score from the trailer captures this game's sound perfectly, going from heart pumping to breathtaking and back again. Which is what the game does too, incidentally. The wind howling at your back as you look out from the edge of a tall cliff, or the heavy breathing of your character as they stagger on, one wound away from death. Every bit of the sound in this game is flawless. There is a single annoying line that quickly skyrocketed to meme status. And it's only really annoying because of the way people won't stop talking about their knee arrows everywhere on the internet.
Story: 9
In another improvement on Oblivion, the main campaign's story is very nice. The Thieves Guild's story is good enough to rival it too. Every questline has its moments, to be sure, but those two stand out as the best. In a way it's the opposite of Oblivion's weak main story and much stronger side stories. Most side stories here could use some improvement. None are bad by any stretch, but they do suffer somewhat from having their pacing just a bit off. Or from a somewhat silly thing in the story like being made Archmage of Winterhold Mage's College by virtue of smacking someone around with a sword as opposed to, you know, using magic really well. Then again, that's almost an Elder Scrolls staple nowadays. Still, there are a thousand little stories waiting to be discovered aside from any of the major questlines. From an aged Orc wandering the wilderness in search of an honorable death in battle, to an ambushed merchant's wagon telling you of a nearby dungeon, to a friendly ghost who pops up to applaud your diving skill should you leap off a certain high place. There's always something to find.
Characters: 9
Aside from the aforementioned woodenness in their models, the characters are mostly well done. You will find some odd mismatches of text from time to time. Such as children who claim not to have 'seen such a thing in all their years' when you fell a dragon. I'm pretty sure this was purposefully done for a giggle as it is voice acted for the children and not simply them getting an adult's lines. There are a number of likable characters and an equal number of detestable ones. And all are great to see.
Gameplay: 8
The classic Elder Scrolls combat style of 'backpedal furiously while attacking' makes its return. But it's now complimented by an improved stealth system as well as more effective use of blocking and the ability to dual wield any one-handed weapons or spells, and combine two casts of the same spell for increased effect. Not to mention the inclusion of various Shouts, abilities with a cooldown in between uses that can let you do things like push enemies away to gain a moment's respite in combat, breathing dragon's fire on your foes, or sensing the lifeforce of enemies through walls, and many, many others.
That's a lot of improvement on your options over past games. But it's not without its downsides.
There's a smaller number of spells to be used per school than in past games, and the ability to make spells yourself has been removed completely. This kinda sucks because it would be really helpful to be able to make weaker versions of stronger spells. For example, when the Destruction school's basic Flames or Firebolt spells aren't strong enough, but you don't have enough magika to cast Fireball effectively. Things like that make playing a pure Mage character a lot tougher than it should be compared with the other character archetypes of Warrior and Thief.
Also suffering from a limiting factor is the Enchanting skill. Not only are you now limited as to what item can be enchanted with which effect, there are also fewer pieces of armor and equipment available to enchant. You can only wear one ring, and the torso and grieves armor are no longer separate. While this is pointless from a gamer's perspective, it does make sense in order to maintain balance. Without this limitation you would have no reason not to cover your equipment in enchantments that increase your primary attack skill (One-handed weapons, Destruction magic, etc) to crazy heights and just dominate everything you come across.
Not that you can't do that anyway, mind you. People were quick to find a way to exploit the system, as always, to make weapons and armor that can completely remove a school of magic's mana cost allowing for infinite free spells, or to craft weapons that can do over a thousand damage per strike while their original form could do only 50. Of course, doing so takes any and all challenge out of the game.
The leveling system too has it's improvements and problems. Unlike in previous games, your level no longer requires you to use only specific skills to level up your character, which greatly removes some of the tedium and so is quite a welcome change. In addition, the new perk system lets you feel like you've really been rewarded when you level since any given perk's effects are a lot more tangible than the previous games' minor increases to stats. Oblivion had perks too, true, but they suffered from the same problem of being too subtle most often. It's definitely an improvement...but it's not perfect. Why?
Level scaling, while more in line with Fallout's version, still causes gamers grief. One of the bigger problems is that improving social or crafting skills still contributes to increasing your level. This is a problem because enemies' stats are still based solely on your level. It's best summed up in this comic. You can quickly find yourself outclassed by even the basic enemies if you focus too much on increasing skills like Smithing or Speech. After all, no matter how charismatic you are, you generally can't talk well enough to convince a bear not to eat your face. (Though you can Shout at him and send him flying.)
I can't help but think that the whole thing would go over better if your combat and social skills were split into different levels. Or if they would just stop insisting on using this badly flawed level scaling system.
One of the game's premier features is fighting dragons. Which turns out to be kind of a mixed bag. In the game's initial state dragons were afflicted with a bit of ADD. They might be poised to kill you, only to suddenly notice a mudcrab 50 yards away and be overcome with the urge to attack it instead. The patch released not long after the game mostly fixed that, but afflicted them instead with a random decision to just sort of fly away backwards on rare occasion.
The difficulty of fighting dragons sort of takes on a bell curve as the game progresses (*on the standard difficulty setting). Early on you won't be well equipped, but can still take them down with a little careful dodging for cover and timely healing. They're no bigger threat than any other boss enemy. Towards the middle of the game as your level has gone up you'll start encountering Elder or Ancient dragons. These guys are the heavy hitters. One breath attack you aren't prepared for can be the end of you. But by the time your character starts to reach their end game build (roughly level 50-60, though you can twink it up to 81) you'll be able to take even these two at a time.
Even with that though, there's still a good bit of enjoyment to be had from dropping one out of the sky through spell or arrow and having it plow up the ground as it crashes. Despite what's seen in the trailer, the dragons aren't usually dumb enough to fly within melee range. Which makes sense. Why would they when they can just strafe you with fire and ice?
Lastly, I must mention that there's currently a bug due to the patch that was released. While it fixed many issues, letting the game play more smoothly, it also broke one of the key combat mechanics: your character's Elemental Resistance stats. As it stands now, they don't work. No matter your armor or resistance enchantments, any mage or dragon can put a serious damper on your day. This won't really effect the assassin or thief type characters who tend to focus on not being seen in the first place, but it can give others serious trouble. There's supposed to be another patch to fix it on the way soon though.
Patching lately in games is kind of a hydra. Slay one head and two more arise in its place. Let's hope Bethesda can put this particular beast down for good.
Replay Value: High
There's just so much to do that it's highly unlikely that you'll find even half of the content in a single playthrough. In fact, you're best served by at least making a character for the Warrior and Thief archetypes and playing out the questlines built for their kind of character in their own playthroughs.
Overall: 9
There's something for everyone here. It's got its flaws, but overall its positives far outweigh the negatives. This is a must buy for sure.
If you're still looking for my opinion as to which game stands atop that mountain, I can say this: "I don't wanna choose, 'n you can't make me! Neener neener!"
I haven't played all the games I'd like to, but I can say of Dark Souls and Skyrim that I'm glad I played them back to back. It feels like each has what the other lacks. Go get them both.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Bad Business Models and What You Can Do About Them
In the last several years gaming has grown. More people play games now than at any time in history. It's gone from being a children's diversion to the most sophisticated technology in the entertainment industry. There can be no argument that gaming is bigger than it has ever been.
But that's not altogether a good thing. As gaming has become more profitable, it's suffered from the same problems as many other industries. It is a business, yes. But now there are more that see it only as a business. The industry has become dominated by those who are only in it to make money. And that comes at our expense in more ways than one. Let's look at a few of the bad business practices that are infesting gaming today.
Shovelware
Particularly prevalent on the Nintendo Wii, shovelware is what you get when companies throw out as many games as they can that provide as little as possible to cut expense and maximize profit. Usually low quality ports of other consoles' games, or quick attempts to cash in on momentarily popular movies, shows, or anything else, as long as it's cheap to make and get out the door.
Rapid Release Titles
Perhaps the biggest offender here is Activision's Call of Duty franchise, with a new title released yearly. Activision tends to keep two developers working on the franchise and alternating releasing titles. This way they can keep coming out with titles yearly, and spending the bare minimum of two years on development. The results are badly broken gameplay experiences that can last for months from release, if they ever do get fixed at all.
Gutting Games for Profit
It was bad enough when this was confined to simply holding out parts of the games to be released as DLC for an additional cost. Now it has spread and gotten worse as publishers are taking things from the game to be given only to people who preorder at specific retailers. LA Noire is a prime example. Numerous different missions and associated content were withheld, meaning if you wanted it all on launch, then you would have to preorder the game from several different places. It was eventually put up for sale as DLC months later.
But even that's not as bad as EA's recent attempt to give preordering players permanently exclusive weapons and accessories in the upcoming Battlefield 3's online multiplayer. Only a massive outcry from the gaming community stopped them.
On a similar note, we have the PSN Pass or Project $10, which won't let you play online without an additional investment unless you buy the game new. My initial reaction to this was very negative. However, having given it some thought I'm now torn because the arguments for and against it both have merit.
On the one hand, I understand that it takes money to keep servers running. They're providing a service, and do deserve some compensation. I also understand that the used game business is starting to really cut into profits for them.
But on the other hand, games are still quite profitable. In fact, they've never needed additional compensation before when they were making less. The profit from selling the game and from any DLCs has always been more than enough to cover the time the servers are up. Games have gotten more expensive to make, but they've also raised the prices accordingly.
If the used games business is cutting into their profits, then it's the publisher's own fault. By releasing shorter, easier games with less content and heavily targeting the growing casual market, they've assured that more games are going to be traded in. Since used games are cheaper, and the discs themselves will have seen very little use, it makes more sense for the consumer to buy a new quality product for less. The only way to make people buy new is to partake in these other shady practices.
Though they are still providing the service of running the servers, it feels more like publishers trying to dig their way out of the mess they made. And the only exit is through our wallets.
Pay to Win
EA's aforementioned abomination was the first real hint of this that we've seen on consoles. However, another big blowup recently occurred in the EVE Online PC game. CCP, the game's developer, recently had some internal documents leak that strongly suggested plans to unveil what came to be called "Gold Ammo". That is, the ability to use real money to buy your way out of a bad situation, or into a position of superiority, in ways you simply could not manage in the course of the game. Things like this throw all sense of balance and fair play out the window, giving victory to those with the deepest pockets.
The outrage from the EVE community was enormous. Protests ranged from actual in game rioting to about $1M worth of cancelled subscriptions. It was enough to get CCP's attention, and they ended up having the game's Council of Stellar Management (a player-elected council to represent the views of the players to CCP) flown to the head office in Iceland in an effort "to help us define and address the real underlying concerns, and to assist us in defining and iterating on our virtual goods strategy." said Arnar Hrafn Gylfason, Senior Producer of EVE Online. The result was a claim that the leaked info was taken out of context, and that there never were plans for Pay to Win. Many remain skeptical.
Overpriced DLC
And we return now to Activision's CoD series and take a look at Black Ops. To date, three map packs have been released, each one containing four multiplayer maps and one zombies map. A fourth map pack, all Zombies maps (4 remakes of WaW's zombie maps and 1 new one) has also been announced. At $15 USD per pack, the total price comes to $60 USD. The initial cost of the game is $60 USD, and that included the single player game, 14 multiplayer maps, and two zombies maps. That raises the question, if you got all that for $60, then is 12 maps and 8 zombies maps really worth double the initial purchase price? Especially considering it's entirely digitally distributed, meaning there are no packaging, shipping, or even physical production costs. For those keeping track, that's $120 USD you'll be paying to get all the Black Ops content out there.
It's also worth noting that another popular franchise, Halo, includes in their games a "Forge Mode" which allows the players to create their own maps all for free.
Sadly, this isn't a full list of all the business practices we could certainly live without. But the important thing is that all the things we want to get rid of share the same solutions. You have few weapons in this fight, so make the most of each one.
Education
Many people just don't know why these business models are bad, especially the booming causal market which is largely responsible for their creation and propagation by buying into them. Talk to them. Help these newcomers and you help us all. Spread the word not to support these business models wherever they crop up. Tell them why it's bad, and take the time to explain that as long as we keep supporting the publishers that do these things, the worse they are going to get.
Abstain from Buying
This is our most potent weapon, but it hurts us almost as much as it does them. It's a part of our culture, and a well ingrained desire, to buy the newest game. To rush out and pick up our favorite series' latest installment. These publishers are taking advantage of that and trying to milk it for profit. As much as it hurts, as much as you don't want to miss out on that special preorder bonus or "free" DLC, do not buy games that are doing these things. At the very least, do not preorder or buy from retailers that assist in the gutting of our games. Angry rants and sincere complaints all go for nothing if you're still handing over your money.
Donate
You might ask, "Why should the developers suffer for their publisher's decisions?" And I would say, "They shouldn't." Time to put your money where your mouth is. Donate to the developers you want to support, preferably with a message as to why you're doing it. You think Battlefield's great? Wonderful! Send money to DICE. Leave EA out of it. You love IG? Help show them that they don't have to be under Sony's yoke. Donating sends two messages. To the Devs it says, "We care about you." To the publishers it says, "Look at all the money you're not getting."
The industry has changed for the worse, but that doesn't mean it can't be changed again for the better. And change is coming. The only question is whether it will be the change we want, or one that takes us further down the wrong path? Your only hope for the former is to use each of the weapons you have to their fullest effect wherever possible. Do this, and change for the better will happen.
It won't happen overnight.
It won't happen without sacrifice.
But it will happen.
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