Have you ever looked up at a beautiful clear sky and thought ‘that’s a good skybox?’
No? Well then you haven’t been putting obscene amounts of time into the Hammer World Builder, the tool that Valve use to build all of their marvellous maps for games such as Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal and Left 4 Dead.
Earlier I wrote a bit about Far Cry 2, and the way it sets a landmark for the FPS. I mentioned that linear FPS games would have to be incredibly polished to stand alongside the open world shooter. Call of Duty 4 is a perfect example of what a linear shooter has to be to compete.
The game’s brevity is a necessary side effect of the level of detail and intensity surgically inserted into every second of CoD4. Every level has its own weapons, environments and aesthetic, and several of them would be candidates for this article. It could be the first War Pig mission with its red skies, night vision room-to-room action and Javelin tankbuster missile launcher. It could be the perfectly realised, chilling air support level which sees you bombarding enemy troops through grainy camera vision as a whispery voice congratulates your every hit.
These are great missions, but there is one that for me surpasses all of these and represents one of the most memorable levels in gaming. It’s a two-parter set in the past. You are tasked with the assassination of a terrorist buying up used nuclear fuel rods amid the ruins of Chenobryl. Infiltrate. Make the hit. Escape.
(Minor mission spoilers ahoy)
Continue reading ‘Greatest gaming missions – ‘all ghillied up’’
The new Left 4 Dead authoring tools have been released, allowing any old Joe to build their own masterful campaign from scratch for free. All it takes is time. Lots and lots of time. Instead of posting, or eating for that matter, I’ve been engrossed in the Hammer level editor trying to bang together part 1 of my campaign, currently dubiously called Suburban Shootout (it happens in the suburbs, you see). I’m taking all suggestions for an actual name and a tagline. Screens of my as yet very unpolished first map are below.
Trying to get a handle on Far Cry 2 is like trying to lassoo a violent and beautiful African predator. Sometimes exceptional, often frustrating and always beautiful. It’s an exotic but flawed FPS which should be remembered for delivering on the promise of it’s predecessor in being a truly open world shooter.
The original iteration of Far Cry (the PC version, of course) gave us some of the largest and lushest environments in which to shoot evildoers. There was a traditional level structure, but each level was a huge expanse of jungle within which objectives nestled in the form of enemy outposts. Here I discovered for the first time the joy of the sandbox shooter. Though I was carrying an assault rifle and a bag of grenades my greatest weapons were a map and some binoculars. In staying hidden beyond the treeline, finding elevated points to better scout enemy positions and sniping patrols I discovered the joy of making plans.
It’s episode 2 of the Man vs Horse podcast! This time we talk about what we’ve been playing recently, including Jade Empire, Bioshock, Zeno Clash and The Path among others. Also featuring, stuff we’re looking forward to and a discussion about 6 Days in Fallujah and gaming demographics, and also Dante says something really mean about Steve Jobs. Sorry Steve.
Listen right now here, subscribe to the itunes feed here. Feedback in the comments. Huzzah!
Ludo out
Grace and Trip have invited you over for a pleasant evening catch up over drinks, but it’s not pleasant at all. Instead of intoxication and canapes you walk into the no-man’s land of a marriage breaking down. Bitterness, snide remarks and revelations are ahead in remarkable indie effort Facade. Whose side will you take? can you save their marriage or will you bring the whole mess crashing down?
Welcome to the most excruciating dinner party in town.
Continue reading ‘Facade’
