Five PS1 Games Worth Playing: Version 4

Where Are They Now? (The True-Life Story of Five Forgotten Mascots)

Lost in Shadow (Wii) Gameplay

This is gameplay for Lost in Shadow on the Wii.



I you loved the unique art style of ICO on the PS2, then Lost in Shadow should be right up your alley. Lost in Shadow is a unique platformer in which players control a boy's shadow which has been detached from the boy, while traversing through a giant tower to get back up to the top where the boy's physical body is.



I have yet to play super far into this one, but I decided to buy this one on a whim a couple of years back, and have found it to be a unique game. Beyond the unique art style, is a solid platformer, that even makes good use of the wimote for puzzle solving elements. Pointing the Wiimote at physical objects in the foreground changes their shadows in the background, opening up new paths and platforms for your character to use.



If you are looking for something unique on the Wii to play, and like side scrolling platformers, then give this one a try. I have yet to get very far into it, but I already really like.

Rune: Viking Warlord PS2 Gameplay

This is Gameplay for Rune: Viking Warlord on the PS2.

I just got this game in the mail yesterday. I remember wanting to play this game when I first saw it being previewed by the magazines at the time, however, the extremely low review scores for the game made my decide better of it. However, seeing as I am no longer influenced by the gaming media, I have decided to go back and buy games that I wanted to play, but for whatever reason, never did.

While waiting for this one in the mail, I noticed a disturbing lack of quality footage for the game on youtube. At least, a disturbing lack of footage that someone isn't ruining by doing a let's play video. The only other clips were very short as well. Mostly old clips from IGN that date back to the time of Rune's release.

I am still very early in the game, seeing that this is only my second day of owning it, but so far, I'm digging it. The game has some issues with it's framerate, and some hefty load times, but from what I have seen, the reviews seem way off on this one.

So far I am digging Rune's action/adventure gameplay. There are definitely some Tomb Raider inspired elements, as you can see by my getting lost for a couple of minutes in this vid. it feels sort of like a mixture of Tomb Raider and Draconus (which might be even more obscure than Rune is, but I have a video or two up of Draconus if you are curious).

Another very interesting thing worth noting is that Rune's controls scheme, for it's time would have been completely innovative for console games as you move with the left stick, and aim with the right using R1 to attack, and R2 to defend. That seems pretty simplistic by today's standards, but for a game released in 2001, it was pretty much unheard of on consoles. Old hat on PC though.

Timesplitters (PS2) Review

Out of all the PS2 launch titles, the
original Timesplitters still remains my favorite. Games like SSX,
Summoner, Smugglers run, Armored Core 2, Dynasty Warriors 2, tekken
Tag Tournament, Ridge racer V, Unreal Tournament, and even Gungriffun
Blaze were all quality launch offerings for the PS2, but the original
Timesplitters is not only the launch title I put the most time in on,
but is one of the PS2 games In general I spent the most time with.

When I first heard that members of the
Goldeneye team at Rare had left the company to form Free Radical
design, and were working on a game called Timesplitters, I was
immediately excited to play this game. Timepslitters, aside from Gran
Turismo 3, which was the pack-in game for my PS2 was the first PS2
game I owned, but even before that I borrowed a friend's PS2,
swapping my Dreamcast with him for a week or so, I went right out and
rented Timesplitters, meaning this was actually my introduction to
the PS2.

Taken from the back of the game's case:
The Timesplitters are an evil race dwelling outside of time and
space. Roused from an ancient sleep, they cross the threshold from
their shadowy dimension, ripping through the fabric of time itself to
make humanity history.

The Single player mode in the game is
pretty basic. You can tell that Free Radical rushed the game to meet
the PS2's launch. There is no story development, and no complex
objectives. The single player sees players traversing through the
various levels, killing enemies, while searching for an artifact,
upon finding the artifact, the Timesplitters, warp into the map
trying to stop you from getting to the exit. Essentially, each single
player level is a game of capture the flag, or the bag if you will,
where players run to the artifact, and then run to the exit of the
map. As I said, it's a pretty basic concept, but what the single
player mode lacks in complexity, it more than makes up for with
intensity as, even playing on the easy setting is challenging,
meaning that sometimes you escape by the skin of your teeth.

Each level has it's own historical
theme, and allows players to choose between a male or female
character from that time period, and the game has a good sens of
humor in it's level themes, and characters. A series trait that would
be carried on to both Timesplitters sequels. The single player mode
also allows for cooperative play with a friend. The game even carries
over the challenge mode ideas from Perfect Dark where the player has
a time limit to complete a certain number of things, like killing 100
ducks, or shooting a certain number of heads off of zombies in a set
time. That's right, Zombie challenge modes.

Completing the single player missions,
or the challenge modes unlock new characters and levels in the mode
that is the game’s main focus, the multiplayer mode. At it's core,
Timesplitters is a multiplayer focused first person shooter, and in
that regard, it excels.

You won't find the fast-paced pc
fragfest style of multiplayer found in games like Quake III and
Unreal Tournament in timesplitters. However, you will find fast paced
console-centric style fragfest that we were first introduced to in
games like Goldeneye and perfect dark. In fact, after playing the
entire Timesplitters series, I have found very little reason to
revisit either Goldeneye or Perfect dark outside of their single
player modes. Considering Timesplitters' background though, I
consider the entire series to be the true successor to both Goldeneye
and Perfect dark, and as such, the timesplitters series perfected
that multiplayer style.

The multiplayer goes for the pure
fast-paced arcade feel. What Timesplitters lacks in
tactical/strategic feel, it makes up for with severe amounts of
mayhem on screen. To best describe the multiplayer, think Perfect
Dark on the N64 on steroids, and without the incredibly annoying burr
effect when you get hit.

The modes offered are your standard
Death match, where you can turn up to four teams on, capture the bag,
your typical capture the flag mode, bag tag, were, as in flag tag, or
even hold the skull for those familiar with the Halo version, the
player or team that has possession of the bag for the longest amount
of time before the game timer runs out wins, and escort where, though
not as fleshed out as it could have been, teams must protect a vip
who is walking from the start piont to the exit from being lilled by
the other team.

There are even two unique modes in the
game, one of them, knockout, requres players or teams to find items
on the map, and carry them back to their spawn over the course of the
match, and the team with the most points at the end wins, and last
stand, where players must defend their bases from multiple waves of
enemies who are trying to destroy said bases. Last stand does not
allow computer controlled bots to help you, but it does allow for
split screen play with friends.

All the standard multiplayer modes
allow up to 10 bots to fight with or against, even with split screen
meaning there can be a maximum of 14 player matches. That much mayhem
can cause some slowdown, but even when Timesplitters slows down, it
still moves faster than your average console shooter.

If Free Radical had stopped right
there, with the intense single player, the tough challenge modes, and
the hectic mayhem of the multiplayer, Timesplitters would still be my
most played, and favorite launch title. However, they decided to give
Timesplitters nearly endless replay value by adding a map editor on
top of all the other fun modes, meaning that creative gamers would
throw away hours upon hours creating and tweaking their multiplayer
map creations to perfection.

Though the variety in the map-editor
tiles in the original Timesplitters pales in comparison to
timesplitters 2 and Future perfect, and does not allow players to
create single player levels as it's sequels do, the original still
allows gamers to create the largest multiplayer maps in the series.
What it lacks in refinement, it makes up for in sheer size, allowing
for larger map creations.

The larger maps, overall faster game
speed, and the ability to set higher kill counts in multiplayer
making for the option of longer games are really the only three
advantages the original has over it's sequels. Timesplitters 2 and
Future perfect improved on the original in almost every other
conceivable manner.

Graphically speaking, I remember, when
I first got the game, a friend asking the question “If this is PS2,
then why doesn't this game look much better than N64 games?” My
answer was simple, do you see how fast the game moves? What
Timesplitters lacks in visual luster, having even better looking
first person shooters on the Dreamcast, it more than makes up for in
it's 60 frames per second framerate. In fact, Free Radical named the
game timesplitters because of it's immaculate framerate and speed.
They even advertised the game with the slogan saying death never came
fatser, having someone dressed in a death costume do things like win
a swimming race. The game was also a launch title, meaning that it's
visual are definitely first gen in detail.

Control-wise, Timesplitters uses a
modern setup where you move with the left stick, and look with the
right, and mechanic that was still not set in stone in console fps
games as of the year 2000. The game is default inverted look, but you
can turn look inversion off by pausing the game, and going to the
control setup menu, for all of you who play console FPS games the
wrong way as in non-inverted. You can also turn off the auto leveling
option in the same menu so your aiming cursur stops automatically
moving to the center of the screen every-time you move. The game also
auto aims, but you can manually aim as well, the controls for which
mimic games like Goldeneye in difficulty to use. Timesplitters would
not get a proper aiming recital until the third game in the series.
Overall, though, the controls feel great, and most weapons even have
an alternate firing mode, handled on the fly by r1, and r2 buttons.

The sound effects from the character
grunts and screams, to the guns all pop, no pun intended, but the
real star of the show is the music. The musical scores in
timesplitters are reminiscent of the scores in both goleneye and
perfect dark, and set the tone for the game nicely. The composer,
who's name I am not sure how exactly to pronounce previously worked
on both games as well as a couple of other rare classics which
explains the similar sound. Overall, the soundtrack is awesome.

The only big complaints some may have
with the game are the first generation load times which can be pretty
long, and the fact that Timesplitters is a blue cd-based games,
meaning that some PS2 systems will have trouble reading it. I have to
tip my PS2 on it's side in order for it to read cd-based games
myself.

The Bottom line: Even if timesplitters
2 and future perfect surpass the original timesplitters in almost
every area, the original is still worth a look for series fans. If
you became a fan with either of the sequels, you may be put off by
timesplitters more simplistic nature, and lack of a coherent single
player campaign, however, the multiplayer is still as fun as ever,
and those still looking for their timesplitters fix after completing
timesplitters 2 and future perfect will still find that classic
timesplitters feel, and plenty of challenge modes to take up their
time. If you want to know how timesplitters got it's start, then look
into this one.

The Positive Side of Playing Video Games

In 1994 the debate over violent video games erupted all the way to the United States Senate. Games like Doom, Lethal Enforcers, and Mortal Kombat which depicted scenes of digitized violence, outraged parents, and Senators alike earning video games a negative reputation. After the tragedy that took place at Columbine High School in April 1999, the makers of Doom, id Software, and twenty four other entertainment companies, were sued by the families of the victims in a lawsuit naming violent video games as a cause for the massacre. Scholarly research on the effects of violent video games on gamers has also been inconclusive with some studies showing a link between violent games and heightened aggression, other studies calling previous research methods into question and finding no link between violent games and aggression, and even other studies that showed reduced aggression. With the violent game debate being still too young for research to produce concrete evidence, many parents and senators still look at video games in a negative light. Despite the negative stigma attached, Video Games teach moral lessons, promote creativity, inspire gamers into healthy pursuits in life, and provide money making opportunities for gamers. 
 

Video Games have the ability to teach moral life lessons to gamers. While there are some games, like Sony's God of War series that features a protagonists with, what some would call, a repulsive lack of moral conscience, many other popular game franchises like The Legend of Zelda avoid moral relativism by placing players into the shoes of a chivalrous protagonist on a quest to stop an absolute evil from taking over the Land of Hyrule. Zelda presents the struggle of good versus evil, light versus darkness, and leaves no room for gray area in it's storyline. Final Fantasy, likewise, in it's many iterations, also pulls players into a storyline of a whole party of protagonists who band together to fight an absolute evil in quests that usually also have a heavy emphases on the value of friendship, loyalty, standing up to fight injustice, and even sacrificing oneself to save the lives of others. The advent of cooperative campaigns in games like Halo teach the importance of working as a team to achieve common goals. Players can play split-screen with friends, and some games even have the option of playing coop campaigns online with other players from across the world as well. There are even games like the Battlefield series that require heavy amounts of teamwork in their competitive modes as well. There are many more lessons to be learned from playing video games which go against the belief that gaming is of no moral value to those who play them.

Not only can gamers learn moral lessons from video games, games also promote creativity. On June 22, 1996, id Software, the developers of Doom, released Quake on the PC, and included the source code on the disk itself opening up the door for user modifications. PC gamers who had a knowledge of the visual C++ programing language could create custom levels, custom weapons, and even take the 3D and physics engine in Quake to create what is known as a total conversion mod, creating an entirely new game from Quake's graphics engine. Since Quake released, all the major PC game developers have followed suit, and some developers like Valve have even bought the rights to popular user created mods like Counterstrike which was a Half-Life total conversion mod, and Team Fortress which started as a Quake Mod, but was later updated as a Half-Life modification as well. On the home console front, level editors, which allow gamers to create new single and multiplayer levels out of developer designed tiles, in games like Timesplitters, and Little Big Planet have seen a rise in popularity. While not as open-ended as modifications, where the gamer can design anything they choose instead of using preset elements, users are still creatively challenged to in designing working single and multiplayer levels. Now, with network enabled console systems, gamers can share their creations to a community of other level creators, as well as download other user-created levels. There are many other examples of ways video games promote creativity as well, such as music creation, artwork, fan-fiction, and many more that show that gaming promotes creativity.

Not only can gamers learn moral lessons from games, and not only can gamers use their creative and artistic sides in games, but gaming can also be a positive influence that leads to healthy activities. In the 1999 Activision released Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, following Tony's historical landing of a 900 degree mid-air spin in the Summer X-Games of that year. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater brought about the immense popularity of the extreme-sports gaming genre, and influenced many gamers to learn how to skateboard for the first time. It also influenced those who knew how to skateboard to practice even harder. Skateboarding has come to be seen as a legitimate sport, and, like other sports, provides exercise to those who partake in it. In 1997, Sony released Parrappa the Rappa on the original PlayStation console creating the rhythm and beat/Music game genre spawning the creation of many games like Dance Dance Revolution, Samba De Amigo, and the modern Guitar Hero and Rockband series'. Like the Tony Hawk series, Guitar Hero, and Rockband, both of which come with guitar and drum controllers to simulate playing music, have also influenced many gamers to learn how to play musical instruments, and influenced those who already played to practice even more. Learning how to play an instrument can spark a lifelong passion for music. There are also other examples that could be used, like how Dance Dance Revolution, and Wii Fit promote exercise, and how games like Call of Duty have inspired many gamers to join the military, however, there is more evidence to show video games having a positive influence over the belief that they influence violent behavior.
 

Recently, the money making opportunities for gamers with a passion for gaming has expanded immensely. In 1996, a bunch of Quake fans got together at a hotel near id Software's offices in Dallas, Texas, to play together in competitive Quake Matches. The event would soon become known as QuakeCon, and would evolve into the biggest competitive gaming tournament, with real cash prizes, and helped create the “professional gamer,” as in someone who makes their living off of playing games competitively. QuakeCon was not the first ever held tournament of it's type, but as online gaming has become a mainstay in console games as well, there are now entire leagues created for professional gamers, such as Major League Gaming. For non-competitive gamers, there are blogs, and startup websites, but the most popular way to make money off of gaming is to make gaming-based YouTube videos, and then partner with companies like Machinima, TGN, and Fullscreen who pay gamers by sharing add revenue from their videos. Gamers can now spend their time making reviews, commentaries, gaming rants, and showing off their other talents, like posting cartoon skits, comedy sketches, and etc. that were inspired by games, and gaming culture. Some youtubers, like the Angry Video Game Nerd have become famous, and been made wealthy from posting video game videos on YouTube, essentially starting their own businesses as a result. These facts go against the idea that gaming hinders children from obtaining jobs, and it also doesn't take into account eBay selling opportunities, and how mod-making has lead to real development jobs in the industry, and well as indie-game development.

September will mark twenty one years of the debate about violence in video games. Even after the formation of the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) to rate the content in video games to inform parents of the content in games, the debate is still as heated today as when it first started. Many parents are not aware that gaming can teach life-lessons, allow their children to express their creativity, and lead to positive activities. For those parents who are still concerned, it is suggested for them to read the ESRB ratings on the games they buy for their children.