Steve sits in the chair after having turned on the TV and the Xbox 360. Bill is sitting on the corner of the bed, facing the TV. Both have a controller in their hands. Halo loads up and Steve navigates through the menus and enters a game entitled "4v4 Slayer" on the map Sanctuary. Once the game has loaded, Steve and Bill are on opposite sides of the map. On screen an opponent crosses in front of Bill, and Bill says "Hey buddy" before going after him. Suddenly Bill is sniped from across the map, sending his body flopping down to the ground, and he screams "What the bastard! I thought I was red!".
Meanwhile, on the other side of the map, Steve has acquired the Battle Rifle and is walking towards the center of the map. The noise of a nearby grenade is heard and Bill tells Steve to "Watch out!". The grenade explodes, blasting shrapnel, fire and smoke outwards, but Steve is unharmed because he turned a corner. Steve continues towards the center of the map and says "Watch this shit" before moving out from behind his cover and shooting at an opponent with the Battle Rifle. Another opponent appears and after Steve has killed the first, sending his body sprawling over the edge of a bridge, he attacks the second, then pulls behind the wall to let his shields charge. Once his health is full, Steve darts out and surprises the same opponent who had become engaged with another battle, killing him. Steve turns around and begins walking towards the edge of the map along a bridge, his field of vision swaying back and forth across the map.
On Steve's screen there is a signal indicating that his teammates are under attack, he begins to make is way to the battle when the horrifying swoosh of a sword is heard. Steve quickly turns around and backs up while throwing a plasma grenade. An opponent has just appeared around the corner, pursuing Steve with the shiny and deadly sword, and the grenade sticks right onto his chest. When he explodes Steve shouts "Yeah! Got the sword douchenator!" Bill then chimes in, "I'd like to have the sniper rifle, I'll tell ya why, Reed, In the game of Spiderman, I mean Halo, --" Stops talking and chases an opponent, then kills him with the shotgun while shouting "Ahh! there's a dead one -- Bitches!" Soon afterward, another opponent attacks Bill from behind with the Carbine, a weapon that shoots green bursts of energy. Steve says "I'm coming" and starts running towards the battle, but is too late and Bill is killed.
As Bill waits for his avatar to respawn, his cellphone buzzes, signaling an incoming text message, and he looks down to read it. On the TV screen, an opponent runs by and assassinates Bill's avatar, who is standing still, facing a wall; he looks up from his cellphone and says "Dammit". He redirects his attention to his cellphone and begins texting back, using his thumbs to type.
Meanwhile, Steve has acquired the sword and is pursuing a group of opponents. He rounds a corner and sees them all shooting at a distant enemy. He leaps up and kills the first one with a single swipe. The other two turn around and start shooting but Steve is already on the second one, killing him. By now, Steve's shields are low because of the enemy fire, and before going for the final opponent, Steve yells "Oh ho!" and as he kills the last one, he is shot at from the other side of the map and is killed. He yells "Shit!". Meanwhile, Bill has finished texting, has focused back on the game, and is gathering weapons. He looks out into the middle of the map and sees an opponent on a machine gun turret. He throws a plasma grenade high into the air in the direction of the gunner and yells "Come on far stick!". The blue grenade sticks on the opponent and explodes, sending the body flying through the air into a wall. Bill screams "Yeah!" and Steve lifts his hand up for a high five while saying "Oh boy, fucking awesome".
Steve is running around on one side of the base and kills an opponent with an SMG, a rather weak gun that the player starts with when spawned, then says "He's not the greatest". He then goes on to kill another opponent with the Battle Rifle and gets a "double kill" award, but takes heavy damage. He then says "whew, almost died", and hides behind a wall to allow his shield to charge. Bill is in the center of the map and runs by a doorway. In the corner of the screen, inside the doorway, are several opponents shooting across the map. Bill throws three grenades in and kills the two opponents. With these two kills the game is over. Steve says "yaaay".
The results of the game are not even close, Bill and Steve have many kills and their teammates have even more. The opponents have more deaths than kills and didn't receive as many medals as Bill and Steve. It is a glorious victory.
Writing this without any commentary or explanation was rather difficult and I feared that some of the more exceptional moments would not be fully appreciated without interpretation. During the whole game, the microphone wasn't attached, so none of the opponents could hear what Bill and Steve were saying. I suppose it would have added some interesting dialog if there was communication between the two teams, but Bill and Steve's comments were directed solely at each other, me, or aimlessly into the universe.
When Bill threw the plasma grenade across the map and stuck the opponent on the turret, that was an awesome event and one that is quite rare and cause for celebration. Another sweet moment was when Steve got a triple kill with the sword, laying waste to three opponents, but alas, dying soon afterward. The sword is perhaps the most versatile and powerful weapon in Halo 2, and in the right hands can be devastating to the opposing team. It was for this reason that Steve reacted with such vigor after killing the opponent with the sword who was chasing him.
I missed out on a fair amount of the action because I was trying to focus on both of the players and the details of their exploits, and so while I wrote about Steve's attack with the sword, I don't even know what I missed on Bill's screen. Overall, though, I think I was able to describe the general flow of the game and some of the outstanding moments.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Halo - Writing from Observation.
Steve sits in the chair after having turned on the TV and the Xbox 360. Bill is sitting on the corner of the bed, facing the TV. Both have a controller in their hands. Halo loads up and Steve navigates through the menus and enters a game entitled "4v4 Slayer" on the map Sanctuary. On screen an opponent crosses in front of Bill, and Bill says "Hey buddy" before going after him. Suddenly Bill is sniped from across the map and screams "What the bastard! I thought I was red!".
Meanwhile, Steve has acquired the Battle Rifle and is walking towards the center of the map. The noise of a nearby grenade is heard and Bill tells Steve to "Watch out!". The grenade explodes and Steve is unharmed. Steve continues towards the center of the map and says "Watch this shit" before moving out from behind his cover and shooting at an opponent with the Battle Rifle. Another opponent appears and after Steve has killed the first he attacks the second, then pulls behind the wall to let his shields charge. Once his health is full, Steve darts out and surprises the same opponent who had become engaged with another battle.
After killing him, the swoosh of a sword is heard and Steve quickly turns around and backs up while throwing a plasma grenade. An opponent has just appeared around the corner, pursuing Steve with the sword, and is stuck by the grenade. When he explodes Steve shouts "Yeah! Got the sword douchenator!" Bill then chimes in, "I'd like to have the sniper rifle, I'll tell ya why, Reed, In the game of Spiderman, I mean Halo, --" Stops talking and chases an opponent, then kills him with the shotgun while shouting "Ahh! there's a dead one -- Bitches!" Soon after, another opponent attacks Bill from behind. Steve says "I'm coming" and starts running towards the battle, but is too late and Bill is killed.
Bill's cellphone buzzes, signaling an incoming text message, and he looks down to read it. On screen, an opponent runs by and assassinates Bill, he looks up from his cellphone and says "Dammit". He looks back down to his cellphone and begins texting back, using his thumbs to type. Meanwhile, Steve has acquired the sword and is pursuing a group of opponents. He rounds a corner and sees them all shooting at a distant enemy. He leaps up and kills the first one with one swipe. The other two turn around and start shooting but Steve is already on the second one, killing him. Before going for the final opponent, Steve yells "Oh ho!" and as he kills the last one, he is shot at from the other side of the map and is killed. He yells "Shit!". Meanwhile, Bill has finished texting, has focused back on the game, and is gathering weapons. He looks out into the middle of the map and sees an opponent on a machine gun turret. He throws a plasma grenade high into the air in the direction of the gunner and yells "Common far stick!". The grenade lands on the opponent and explodes, killing him. Bill screams "Yeah!" and Steve lifts his hand up for a high five while saying "Oh boy, fucking awesome".
Steve is running around on one side of the base and kills an opponent with a weak gun then says "He's not the greatest". He then goes on to kill another opponent with the Battle Rifle and gets a "double kill" award, but takes heavy damage. He then says "whew, almost died", and hides behind a wall to allow his shield to charge. Bill is in the center of the map and runs by a doorway. In the corner of the screen, inside the doorway, are several opponents shooting across the map. Bill throws several grenades in and kills the two opponents. With these two kills the game is over. Steve says "yaaay".
Meanwhile, Steve has acquired the Battle Rifle and is walking towards the center of the map. The noise of a nearby grenade is heard and Bill tells Steve to "Watch out!". The grenade explodes and Steve is unharmed. Steve continues towards the center of the map and says "Watch this shit" before moving out from behind his cover and shooting at an opponent with the Battle Rifle. Another opponent appears and after Steve has killed the first he attacks the second, then pulls behind the wall to let his shields charge. Once his health is full, Steve darts out and surprises the same opponent who had become engaged with another battle.
After killing him, the swoosh of a sword is heard and Steve quickly turns around and backs up while throwing a plasma grenade. An opponent has just appeared around the corner, pursuing Steve with the sword, and is stuck by the grenade. When he explodes Steve shouts "Yeah! Got the sword douchenator!" Bill then chimes in, "I'd like to have the sniper rifle, I'll tell ya why, Reed, In the game of Spiderman, I mean Halo, --" Stops talking and chases an opponent, then kills him with the shotgun while shouting "Ahh! there's a dead one -- Bitches!" Soon after, another opponent attacks Bill from behind. Steve says "I'm coming" and starts running towards the battle, but is too late and Bill is killed.
Bill's cellphone buzzes, signaling an incoming text message, and he looks down to read it. On screen, an opponent runs by and assassinates Bill, he looks up from his cellphone and says "Dammit". He looks back down to his cellphone and begins texting back, using his thumbs to type. Meanwhile, Steve has acquired the sword and is pursuing a group of opponents. He rounds a corner and sees them all shooting at a distant enemy. He leaps up and kills the first one with one swipe. The other two turn around and start shooting but Steve is already on the second one, killing him. Before going for the final opponent, Steve yells "Oh ho!" and as he kills the last one, he is shot at from the other side of the map and is killed. He yells "Shit!". Meanwhile, Bill has finished texting, has focused back on the game, and is gathering weapons. He looks out into the middle of the map and sees an opponent on a machine gun turret. He throws a plasma grenade high into the air in the direction of the gunner and yells "Common far stick!". The grenade lands on the opponent and explodes, killing him. Bill screams "Yeah!" and Steve lifts his hand up for a high five while saying "Oh boy, fucking awesome".
Steve is running around on one side of the base and kills an opponent with a weak gun then says "He's not the greatest". He then goes on to kill another opponent with the Battle Rifle and gets a "double kill" award, but takes heavy damage. He then says "whew, almost died", and hides behind a wall to allow his shield to charge. Bill is in the center of the map and runs by a doorway. In the corner of the screen, inside the doorway, are several opponents shooting across the map. Bill throws several grenades in and kills the two opponents. With these two kills the game is over. Steve says "yaaay".
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Kotaku = sweet gaming blog
A blog I frequent often is Kotaku (www.kotaku.com). It is a gaming blog that has all sorts of updates on gaming news, and also has humorous and interesting posts that are gaming related, such as posts about fan made videos, cakes, art, etc. and even goes into detail about the business behind gaming.
Starcraft 2, Perfecting Perfection (re-write)
Starcraft and it's expansion, Brood War, are hugely popular and have sold 9 million copies since their release in 1998. Considered by many (including me) to be the best RTS (real time strategy) game ever, it has recieved numerous awards, and is consistently rated among the best games ever, such as on IGN's "Top Games of All Time". Nearly 10 years later, Starcraft is still going strong, and is practically the national sport of South Korea, which has televised matches complete with screaming fans. Despite it's success, or maybe because of it, Blizzard has not released a sequel. Recently however, rumors of Starcraft 2 have been swimming around the internet. It is believed that Blizzard will make some sort of announcement about a new game in the coming days, could it be Starcraft 2? Various bloggers think so, citing the countdown on the Blizzard website that coincides with the announcement date. But is there any way that Starcraft 2 could hope to live up to the reputation of the first? The balanced gameplay, fluent controls, compelling storyline, and easy to use multiplayer would be difficult to match, much less surpass.
The first time I played starcraft was on a dark and rainy morning in 1999 when I was 14. It was at my friends house and he showed me what to do one step at a time. I didn't even notice the thunder as I collected minerals and pumped out zealots. While playing through the campaign missions I had no idea that I was participating in a game that would become a phenomenon. After returning home I ran to Media Play with my hard earned allowance and walked home with Starcraft in my hands. A few days later, in my basement, when I first played Starcraft online against actual humans, my friends clustered closely around the screen and watched as I suffered a humiliating defeat. My friends made similar attempts and failed miserably. Everyone online was so good at the game, creating enormous armies that I couldn't hope to defeat. After hours upon hours of play and countless losses, I learned to make more than one gateway, mine vespene early, upgrade my units, and slowly my record began to improve, I now had several glorious victories under my belt. I remember being surprised that each of the three races were equally powerful and that I had an equal chance of victory with any of them. Whenever I had an hour of freetime, or even if I had homework to do, I would play Starcraft. Even after several years the multiplayer was still fun and challenging because the other humans I was playing against were as good or better than I was. As I grew older and became busier I played less and less and now I only get a game in every couple of weeks or less.
However, the possibility of an imminent Starcraft 2 announcement interests me. I really, really want it to be an exceptional game if and when it comes out. Starcraft is a tough act to follow, but if any team is capable of creating a new masterpiece, its Blizzard.
The first time I played starcraft was on a dark and rainy morning in 1999 when I was 14. It was at my friends house and he showed me what to do one step at a time. I didn't even notice the thunder as I collected minerals and pumped out zealots. While playing through the campaign missions I had no idea that I was participating in a game that would become a phenomenon. After returning home I ran to Media Play with my hard earned allowance and walked home with Starcraft in my hands. A few days later, in my basement, when I first played Starcraft online against actual humans, my friends clustered closely around the screen and watched as I suffered a humiliating defeat. My friends made similar attempts and failed miserably. Everyone online was so good at the game, creating enormous armies that I couldn't hope to defeat. After hours upon hours of play and countless losses, I learned to make more than one gateway, mine vespene early, upgrade my units, and slowly my record began to improve, I now had several glorious victories under my belt. I remember being surprised that each of the three races were equally powerful and that I had an equal chance of victory with any of them. Whenever I had an hour of freetime, or even if I had homework to do, I would play Starcraft. Even after several years the multiplayer was still fun and challenging because the other humans I was playing against were as good or better than I was. As I grew older and became busier I played less and less and now I only get a game in every couple of weeks or less.
However, the possibility of an imminent Starcraft 2 announcement interests me. I really, really want it to be an exceptional game if and when it comes out. Starcraft is a tough act to follow, but if any team is capable of creating a new masterpiece, its Blizzard.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Starcraft 2, It's Official.
I just got back from the bar with my chum Hannah and flipped on my computer. I quickly did a Google news search and discovered to my delight that Blizzard officially announced Starcraft 2. It apparently uses a new 3D graphics engine, based on the screenshots at IGN, and there are several new units for each race. Wow, this is so exciting, there is also a leaked video on youtube. It's a little bit hard to imagine any RTS game achieving the perfection that Starcraft managed, but certainly, none has a better chance than Starcraft 2. I noticed, while perusing the screenshots, that the interface seems quite similar to the original one. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I wonder if the balance between races will be as equal in the sequel. One of the beauties of the original SC was that any of the three races had an equal chance of defeating the others. Each unit had a counterbalance. And at the same time, the three races had drastically varying units, tech trees, and strengths. I imagine that with the inclusion of new units, new abilities and new tech trees, it would be very difficult to balance everything so that each race is equally powerful. There have been rumors that a fourth race might be included in Starcraft 2, such as a hybrid or even the xel-naga but there was no obvious evidence in the pictures that Blizzard released. While no release date has been given, I'm going to be as anxious for Starcraft 2 as a seatbelt bound child with a full bladder would be for the restroom.
I wonder if the balance between races will be as equal in the sequel. One of the beauties of the original SC was that any of the three races had an equal chance of defeating the others. Each unit had a counterbalance. And at the same time, the three races had drastically varying units, tech trees, and strengths. I imagine that with the inclusion of new units, new abilities and new tech trees, it would be very difficult to balance everything so that each race is equally powerful. There have been rumors that a fourth race might be included in Starcraft 2, such as a hybrid or even the xel-naga but there was no obvious evidence in the pictures that Blizzard released. While no release date has been given, I'm going to be as anxious for Starcraft 2 as a seatbelt bound child with a full bladder would be for the restroom.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Starcraft 2, Perfecting Perfection??
Starcraft and it's expansion, Brood War, are hugely popular and have sold 9 million copies since their release in 1998. Considered by many (including me) to be the best RTS game ever, it has recieved numerous awards, and is consistently rated among the best games ever, such as on IGN's "Top Games of All Time". Nearly 10 years later, Starcraft is still going strong, and is practically the national sport of South Korea, with televised matches and screaming fans. Despite it's success, or maybe because of it, Blizzard has not released a sequel. Recently however, rumors of Starcraft 2 have been swimming around the internet. It is believed that Blizzard will make some sort of announcement about a new game in the coming days, could it be Starcraft 2? Various bloggers think so, citing the countdown on the Blizzard website that coincides with the announcement date. But is there any way that Starcraft 2 could hope to live up to the reputation of the first? The balanced gameplay, fluent controls, compelling storyline, and easy to use multiplayer would be difficult to match, much less surpass.
The first time I played starcraft was on a dark and rainy morning in 1999 when I was 14. I didn't even notice the thunder as I collected minerals and pumped out zealots. While playing through the campaign missions I had no idea that I was participating in a game that would become a phenomenon. A few days later, when I first played Starcraft online against actual humans, my friends clustered closely around the screen and watched as I suffered a humiliating defeat. After hours upon hours of play and countless losses, I learned to make more than one gateway, mine vespene gas early, upgrade, and slowly my record began to improve. I remember being surprised that each of the three races were equally powerful and that I had an equal chance of victory with any of them. Whenever I had an hour of freetime, or even if I had homework to do, I would play Starcraft. Even after several years the multiplayer was still fun and challenging. As I grew older and became busier I played less and less and now I only get a game in every couple of weeks.
However, the possibility of an imminent Starcraft 2 announcement interests me. I really, really want it to be an exceptional game if and when it comes out. Starcraft is a tough act to follow, but if any team is capable of creating a new masterpiece, its Blizzard.
The first time I played starcraft was on a dark and rainy morning in 1999 when I was 14. I didn't even notice the thunder as I collected minerals and pumped out zealots. While playing through the campaign missions I had no idea that I was participating in a game that would become a phenomenon. A few days later, when I first played Starcraft online against actual humans, my friends clustered closely around the screen and watched as I suffered a humiliating defeat. After hours upon hours of play and countless losses, I learned to make more than one gateway, mine vespene gas early, upgrade, and slowly my record began to improve. I remember being surprised that each of the three races were equally powerful and that I had an equal chance of victory with any of them. Whenever I had an hour of freetime, or even if I had homework to do, I would play Starcraft. Even after several years the multiplayer was still fun and challenging. As I grew older and became busier I played less and less and now I only get a game in every couple of weeks.
However, the possibility of an imminent Starcraft 2 announcement interests me. I really, really want it to be an exceptional game if and when it comes out. Starcraft is a tough act to follow, but if any team is capable of creating a new masterpiece, its Blizzard.
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