Why I'm a PC gamer...

I'm mainly a PC gamer and damn proud of it, especially now past this E3 and seeing the three major console manufacturers abandon more and more of what I consider core gaming with silly "cinematic" games that play themselves, series with complex gameplay being reduced to simple action games and being called "improved", where immersion is considered using whacky gimmick controllers to look like an idiot while sacrificing gameplay precision, not to mention calling 3D being the next step in graphics when it's running in 560p and 30FPS where as I run most of my PC games in 1080p and 60+FPS with field of view that doesn't look like I'm wearing blinders.

I've come to believe that consoles are silly locked systems that work with some genres but for the general core experience I think that any core game would fit much better on the PC with it's higher graphic fidelity, moddablity that allows you to customize most details of your game, and finally that it's an open system that encourages innovation and has always been known to push the boundaries. I'll point out that countless series that are huge on consoles today had their start on the PC platform, either as series or the developers started there, games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, Bioware, Rockstar, Epic Games the list goes on.

So in today's multiplatfrom climate where sadly the PC doesn't get to be lead platform that often anymore, it still baffles me how many of the best multiplat games end up having the best version on the PC. I can understand that PC lead platform games shine above the rest because of the push in technology the PC represents. However even games that were released in a gimped consolized form on the PC, such as Mass Effect 2 below for example, end up modded and improved with the result being that the console version looks worse than the PC counterpart.

PC version with texture mods:


Default PC/Console version:

BioShock Infinite E3 2011 Teaser

BioShock Infinite is an upcoming first-person shooter video game, and the third game in the BioShock series. Previously known as "Project Icarus", it is being developed by Irrational Games for a 2012 release on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. BioShock Infinite is not a direct sequel or prequel to previous BioShock games, taking place in an earlier period and different setting, though it features similar gameplay concepts and themes. The player controls a former Pinkerton agent, Booker DeWitt, as he attempts to rescue a woman trapped aboard the collapsing air-city Columbia in 1912.

Irrational Games is at E3 and they're demoing their current project BioShock Infinite, which comes out next year. They released this teaser trailer composed entirely from gameplay footage and I must say that this is looking like another masterpiece in progress from Ken Levine - the mind behind the System Shock games. What has me worried watching this is that it seems to good to be true, the amount of freedom and how large the areas appear with the seemingly insane amount of badass moments leaves me worried that this is just too ambitious to actually live up to it's vision. Still I simply adore the art direction which to me is on a different level compared to the dank and dark Rapture from the first BioShock; and then there is nothing more creepy than creepy stuff happening in broad daylight located in a place that looks like an utopian vision of the American Dream and patriotism.

Battlefield 3 - Shooter of the Year

I just finished watching EA's E3 conference and I am left blown away by the PC version of Battlefield 3 shown. Not only is it the best looking game I've seen to date (Yes, it makes Crysis look old!) but the tech appears to have been used in such a way to further the gameplay. I was also left feeling nostalgic about the time when I played Battlefield 1942 back in the day with huge battles containing 64 players, vehicles and how all of that was extremely impressive back in the day. Now today I got to relive those feelings in seeing Battlefield 3 and the push in technology that it clearly represents. It's something I've been missing for the past year in gaming - seeing technology used to further the experience and immersion. The game looked like a movie during a few select scenes for Christ's sake and I am now praying that my computer will be able to run it at an impressive setting or this might just be the game that will make me upgrade.

It's especially amusing with this presentation because I was watching the Modern Warfare 3 presentation on Microsoft's conference a few hours ago and being struck with how rehashed it appeared and looked almost exactly like the previous games (since 2007!!!). Now I am baffled at how old and silly Modern Warfare looks compared to what I saw of Battlefield 3 - it just appears to be a game from another level or even next generation of gaming. I can only hope Battlefield destroys Modern Warfare's hold on shooters today so we can have a higher level of quality from now on. Still I think that might be hard because it looks like the game will require a beast of a PC to play it on the settings shown at this conference and that kind of narrows down the audience if the console versions don't end up beings just as impressive on their platforms. I will say that today on National Day of Sweden it is appropriate that the Swedish pride developers DICE are really representing and showing that they have joined a select group of elite developers. Cheers!

Frostbite 2 Engine - Features Trailer
"Thunder Run" - Single Player Gameplay Trailer
"Operation Metro" - Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer

Dark Souls E3 Trailer

New amazing trailer for Dark Souls which is now my most anticipated game of the year after the release of Portal 2, Witcher 2 and the delay of The Last Guardian. Then again we'll see in a few days what E3 has to offer to get me excited. In the meanwhile my excitement for Dark Souls assures me of a bright gaming fall/winter. Thoughts on the trailer are that I like that they seem to be focusing on delivering a more fleshed out dark and melancholy story this time around compared to Demon's Souls, but the main thing that excites me is the atmosphere and the eerie dark fantasy world that the game radiates. I simply love the real-looking functional armors and weapons combined with monsters that look like they've been pulled out of the manga Berserk (read it if you have the Gutts) and the resulting gritty bleak world that this seems to create.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Impressions

I'm currently playing Witcher 2 even though I really don't have the time since I should be focusing on my studies, still I couldn't help dedicating a few hours this Friday and Saturday to the game. I'm currently in Act I (three acts total) and so far the game has been superb. It's a lot more polished than the first game and the graphics have been insane - and I'm not just talking about graphics but the amount of detail in character models and environments can at times be staggering. It's such an immersive world because of how the graphics are used to push the beautiful artstyle as you can see in the screenshot I took above and I'm not even maxing the game graphically because it's a beast, but I'm still very satisfied in the visual results I've been getting.

Otherwise the story so far has been really interesting and I like how politically loaded it feels, it adds an edge to it because everything feels grey and I find it very hard to decide who to trust and believe in at times. The decisions so far have been few but I'm glad they seem to go the route where I'll have to take the consequences much further into the game. When it comes to the gameplay I feel that the fighting system is greatly improved since the first game but it does feel a bit awkward in the beginning before you get into it. The quests so far have been good and I appreciate that they let you be a badass in even the simplest side quest missions and going on routine monster killing missions can turn into something extra because of the powerful graphics engine - like when I wandered around the forest of Flotsam and night fell and it felt almost like a horror movie running around killing monsters in a forest during the night.

If I have any complaints so far it's that the game is noticeably developed by a small somewhat inexperienced team with not the greatest budget behind them - there are sections that don't quite have the polish that they deserve such as the voice and lip synch, the audio in general could have been better mixed, some clipping issues that can really get annoying in combat when your sword doesn't always connect with enemy, and lots of small annoyances in the design such as not being able to go from inventory to character screen but having to exit back to the game and into a new screen. These small blemishes detract from the game but the greatness that has been achieved here still keeps me glued to further explore this beautiful world and intriguing story.