Monday, December 14, 2009
Retired
After almost 4 years of blogging, Wolfgang Chronicles is closed. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this little experiment of mine, as well as my silent readers, it's been fun.
Monday, December 07, 2009
The Joy of Exploits
This weekend was a full blown weekend of exploits in Modern Warfare 2. The Javelin glitch, previously reported by Destructoid was just the tip of the iceberg. This weekend I saw no less than 20 rounds of Free for All end by Tactical Nuke. How did this happen you ask? Simple, Infinity Ward designed it that way.
While I am not an expert on this process-I don't exploit games unless I am in single player offline mode ;-)- I believe I understand the basics. Players begin by starting a round of Free for All, then, tell a friend or clan mate of theirs to join the game via their friend list. Once inside the map, they find a nice private place where they can kill each other over and over again without being seen. In COD4, this wouldn't have been possible due to the random nature of respawns, but with MW2 there is a piece of equipment called Tactical Insertion. TI gives players the ability to control where they respawn via dropping a flare. So, they are simply dropping a flare next to their friend, their friend kills them, rinse repeat until 25 kills have been achieved.
This is a perfect example of why open betas are a good thing: they shed light on some of the darker player tendencies that exist out there in online gaming land. Xbox is issuing 3 day bans to those who are caught "cheating," but I'm not sure that is the right answer. Is it little Johnny's fault he found a way to obtain the Tactical Nuke achievement on his own terms, or is it Infinity Wards fault for coding the game that way? In my opinion, the first players who discovered the exploits truly deserve their in-game achievement, since they were smart enough to manipulate the architects, and that is truly an achievement worthy of mention. All others are just playing to win right?
While I am not an expert on this process-I don't exploit games unless I am in single player offline mode ;-)- I believe I understand the basics. Players begin by starting a round of Free for All, then, tell a friend or clan mate of theirs to join the game via their friend list. Once inside the map, they find a nice private place where they can kill each other over and over again without being seen. In COD4, this wouldn't have been possible due to the random nature of respawns, but with MW2 there is a piece of equipment called Tactical Insertion. TI gives players the ability to control where they respawn via dropping a flare. So, they are simply dropping a flare next to their friend, their friend kills them, rinse repeat until 25 kills have been achieved.
This is a perfect example of why open betas are a good thing: they shed light on some of the darker player tendencies that exist out there in online gaming land. Xbox is issuing 3 day bans to those who are caught "cheating," but I'm not sure that is the right answer. Is it little Johnny's fault he found a way to obtain the Tactical Nuke achievement on his own terms, or is it Infinity Wards fault for coding the game that way? In my opinion, the first players who discovered the exploits truly deserve their in-game achievement, since they were smart enough to manipulate the architects, and that is truly an achievement worthy of mention. All others are just playing to win right?
Friday, December 04, 2009
It Begins.
The mother of all FPS wars is about to begin and this can only yield positive results for gamers. EA has issued a challenge to Activision, and it comes in the form of a new Medal of Honor game, set in present day. This is good news, very good news.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
The Game That Takes Down Modern Warfare 2
Will have to create an unpredictable multiplayer experience, or at least come up with some way to make each multiplayer match unique. 2 different options for achieving this result already exist and are widely neglected: randomized/player created maps, and destructable environments. Both are viable options IMO, and the company that successfully implements both, has the potential to create the ultimate FPS online experience.
Right now, the best time to play MW2, or many other current online first person shooters, is during the first 2 weeks, before the majority of hardcore players have had a chance to memorize various chokepoints and hold down high traffic areas. Arguably, the best moments of a FPS shooter is when everyone is still learning the map: when everyone is learning, WOW moments are the norm and predictability takes a backseat to experience. Instead of wasting precious brain cells memorizing the best place to camp, random maps create a permanent "new" feeling, a feeling that fuels adrenaline, mystery, and oh shit moments, not "ugh, another sniper in the belltower, what a surprise," moments. This concept is no secret, Diablo 2 players have known for over a decade that random stages make great play experiences. Far Cry 2, albeit a fairly mediocre online experience-for reasons I won't get into here-did offer players the ability to create their own online maps, which is a rather large step forward. But a random level generator, operating independently, requiring zero effort from the game community, is what someone out there needs to perfect in order to take the sales crown.
Destructable environments is another feature that has been underused and could be the way to topple the MW franchise. Red Faction 2 took advantage of this in 2001 via "Geo-Mod Technology", or Geo-Mod2, the current name used for Red Faction: Guerilla. This feature doesn't create a unique experience like random maps would, what it does do, is give players the option to flank opposition by using explosives to create holes in walls, instead of being forced into choke points where Sir Camps Alot is waiting with a machine gun. Destructable environments would also add something that has been missing from the MW franchise: realism. Calling in a Stealth Bomber or Predator drone sounds cool as hell, but what good is 20,000 lbs of bombs, if the enemy can simply run into a building and obtain safety? Imagine if the US Airforce had the same problem: "Sir, I would like to take out the threat, but he ran inside a 7-11. He's Immune!!"
Giving players the ability to control a C-130 that can't penetrate concrete is not only illogical, it's laughable considering the fact that a 357 Magnum with "Full Metal Jacket Rounds," can...
Destructable environments and random maps are just a couple of ways to improve a dated first person experience. None of the afore mentioned ideas are new: the former has been around for over a decade, and the later for nearly a decade, so why are these great relics of game design languishing in the void? Why didn't they become an industry standard? With so much time being wasted, designing titles for my character like "Noob Tuber", the developer that decides to forsake cake, and dish out more meat and potatoes, stands to gain the coveted real life title "king of the mountain"; and that title is worth 3 billion dollars. It looks like EA will attempt to make destructible environments with their Battlefield sequel "Bad Company 2," but if there's one thing I have come to expect from EA, it's a semi-polished product. Time will tell.
Right now, the best time to play MW2, or many other current online first person shooters, is during the first 2 weeks, before the majority of hardcore players have had a chance to memorize various chokepoints and hold down high traffic areas. Arguably, the best moments of a FPS shooter is when everyone is still learning the map: when everyone is learning, WOW moments are the norm and predictability takes a backseat to experience. Instead of wasting precious brain cells memorizing the best place to camp, random maps create a permanent "new" feeling, a feeling that fuels adrenaline, mystery, and oh shit moments, not "ugh, another sniper in the belltower, what a surprise," moments. This concept is no secret, Diablo 2 players have known for over a decade that random stages make great play experiences. Far Cry 2, albeit a fairly mediocre online experience-for reasons I won't get into here-did offer players the ability to create their own online maps, which is a rather large step forward. But a random level generator, operating independently, requiring zero effort from the game community, is what someone out there needs to perfect in order to take the sales crown.
Destructable environments is another feature that has been underused and could be the way to topple the MW franchise. Red Faction 2 took advantage of this in 2001 via "Geo-Mod Technology", or Geo-Mod2, the current name used for Red Faction: Guerilla. This feature doesn't create a unique experience like random maps would, what it does do, is give players the option to flank opposition by using explosives to create holes in walls, instead of being forced into choke points where Sir Camps Alot is waiting with a machine gun. Destructable environments would also add something that has been missing from the MW franchise: realism. Calling in a Stealth Bomber or Predator drone sounds cool as hell, but what good is 20,000 lbs of bombs, if the enemy can simply run into a building and obtain safety? Imagine if the US Airforce had the same problem: "Sir, I would like to take out the threat, but he ran inside a 7-11. He's Immune!!"
Giving players the ability to control a C-130 that can't penetrate concrete is not only illogical, it's laughable considering the fact that a 357 Magnum with "Full Metal Jacket Rounds," can...
Destructable environments and random maps are just a couple of ways to improve a dated first person experience. None of the afore mentioned ideas are new: the former has been around for over a decade, and the later for nearly a decade, so why are these great relics of game design languishing in the void? Why didn't they become an industry standard? With so much time being wasted, designing titles for my character like "Noob Tuber", the developer that decides to forsake cake, and dish out more meat and potatoes, stands to gain the coveted real life title "king of the mountain"; and that title is worth 3 billion dollars. It looks like EA will attempt to make destructible environments with their Battlefield sequel "Bad Company 2," but if there's one thing I have come to expect from EA, it's a semi-polished product. Time will tell.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Modern Warfare 2 Crybaby
First the Angry German Kid and now this. I'm 98% certain this is pure acting, but why someone would actually destroy their own hand is beyond me. Course.. I did have a rather sophisticated latex makeup kit for Halloween when I was younger that would allow me to create some realistic looking wounds, perhaps he's using the same thing.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Modern Warfare 2 First Impression
After a year+ of hype, Modern Warfare 2 has been released. Is it worth 60 bucks? Yes, yes it is. In the spirit of the game, this review will come in the form of bullet points ;-)
Bullets that hit the target:
* The single player campaign is fast, furious, well scripted, and contains great voice acting.
* The mutiplayer maps were well thought out: most maps are multi-tiered, allow players to choose more than just 2 ways to flank their opponents, feature destructible environments, even if only from a cosmetic standpoint, and are generally quite fun.
* The new perks for multiplayer have been slotted well, and the pro upgrade is a nice change from COD4. Each perk has a standard and pro form; pro form increases the functionality of the perk and is unlocked after the player completes the challenge -usually by killing things- associated with said perk.
*Two words: Tactical Insertion. This piece of equipment gives the player full control over where they will respawn after dying. Just drop the flare, die, and respawn where the flare is hidden. Awesome idea, but beware the enemy who finds your flare and camps patiently next to it.
* Riot shields are a blast! I can't stress enough, just how much fun it is to shield bash another player to death.
* Special Ops breathes new life into an otherwise played out multiplayer frag fest by offering players the chance to team up, tackle smaller skirmish style scenarios, compete individually, and still work together.
Bullets that missed their mark:
* There are too many kill streaks in my opinion; seriously, how many different precision air strikes, helicopters, and UAV versions do players need? And a 25 kill tactical nuke that sounded absolutely amazing, but turned out to be nothing more than a blast wave coming toward my player, followed by game over!? Where's the mushroom cloud!? Lame.
* The graphics have been downgraded and are beginning to look cartoony. Not a big deal, but if realistic looking smoke grenades are something you enjoy, don't expect the level of polish previously used.
* Still no hardcore domination or free for all. This is a personal gripe, but deathmatch and headquarters are still the only way to play the game realistically.
* The majority of play options don't offer the ability to talk to your friends via party chat. In the old days I was able to talk exclusively to my friends, ignoring all squeakers, loud mouths, jock "your gay" fanbois, suburban white kids who use Ni*#a every other word, and other online undesirables, via party chat. Now I have to mute every douche, or play a mode that offers party chat support, like ground war.
Bullets that missed their mark and killed the small child crossing the road with their grandma:
* Player rewards for.... wait for it.... sucking! Yup, you will now be rewarded via deathstreaks when you suck ass and get shot over and over. I'm glad Infinity Ward decided to basically remove the martyrdom perk from the game, but I am 100% against rewarding players for getting owned. It goes against the entire principle of competitive multiplayer. For shaaaaaame!
* MW2 now has a welfare system, and it comes in the form of a "care package" killstreak. This killstreak reward drops a crate from the sky containing a random killstreak reward. The crate could contain something simple like ammo, or it could give the player a C130 gunship. With the Hardline perk, a player can now obtain a 12 kill reward after only 3, making this the worst design decision I have ever seen implemented into a competitive first person shooter.
While I haven't finished MW2, I am enjoying the game. I had to look hard to find issues with the spec ops and campaign modes, and even under my cynical microscope, cartoony graphics is the only flaw I can come up with-massive props on these two modes. Multiplayer is another story.. In some ways, I love multiplayer, but I find death rewards despicable, worthy of nothing more than a non-competitive, offline game. Random killstreak rewards are just as deplorable, and I can't stress enough, just how much these can change the outcome of a match. For these 2 reasons, I have stopped playing MW2 the way I played COD4, competitively, and now just run around shield-bashing people in the face, because if Infinity Ward is going to remove skill from the game, and reward losers, I will continue to view MW2 online the only way it deserves: as a game that coddles the weak, and punishes the strong.
On a side note, I am now taking bets on how long it will take Blizzard to begin handing out epics for wiping 5 times in a row ;-)
Bullets that hit the target:
* The single player campaign is fast, furious, well scripted, and contains great voice acting.
* The mutiplayer maps were well thought out: most maps are multi-tiered, allow players to choose more than just 2 ways to flank their opponents, feature destructible environments, even if only from a cosmetic standpoint, and are generally quite fun.
* The new perks for multiplayer have been slotted well, and the pro upgrade is a nice change from COD4. Each perk has a standard and pro form; pro form increases the functionality of the perk and is unlocked after the player completes the challenge -usually by killing things- associated with said perk.
*Two words: Tactical Insertion. This piece of equipment gives the player full control over where they will respawn after dying. Just drop the flare, die, and respawn where the flare is hidden. Awesome idea, but beware the enemy who finds your flare and camps patiently next to it.
* Riot shields are a blast! I can't stress enough, just how much fun it is to shield bash another player to death.
* Special Ops breathes new life into an otherwise played out multiplayer frag fest by offering players the chance to team up, tackle smaller skirmish style scenarios, compete individually, and still work together.
Bullets that missed their mark:
* There are too many kill streaks in my opinion; seriously, how many different precision air strikes, helicopters, and UAV versions do players need? And a 25 kill tactical nuke that sounded absolutely amazing, but turned out to be nothing more than a blast wave coming toward my player, followed by game over!? Where's the mushroom cloud!? Lame.
* The graphics have been downgraded and are beginning to look cartoony. Not a big deal, but if realistic looking smoke grenades are something you enjoy, don't expect the level of polish previously used.
* Still no hardcore domination or free for all. This is a personal gripe, but deathmatch and headquarters are still the only way to play the game realistically.
* The majority of play options don't offer the ability to talk to your friends via party chat. In the old days I was able to talk exclusively to my friends, ignoring all squeakers, loud mouths, jock "your gay" fanbois, suburban white kids who use Ni*#a every other word, and other online undesirables, via party chat. Now I have to mute every douche, or play a mode that offers party chat support, like ground war.
Bullets that missed their mark and killed the small child crossing the road with their grandma:
* Player rewards for.... wait for it.... sucking! Yup, you will now be rewarded via deathstreaks when you suck ass and get shot over and over. I'm glad Infinity Ward decided to basically remove the martyrdom perk from the game, but I am 100% against rewarding players for getting owned. It goes against the entire principle of competitive multiplayer. For shaaaaaame!
* MW2 now has a welfare system, and it comes in the form of a "care package" killstreak. This killstreak reward drops a crate from the sky containing a random killstreak reward. The crate could contain something simple like ammo, or it could give the player a C130 gunship. With the Hardline perk, a player can now obtain a 12 kill reward after only 3, making this the worst design decision I have ever seen implemented into a competitive first person shooter.
While I haven't finished MW2, I am enjoying the game. I had to look hard to find issues with the spec ops and campaign modes, and even under my cynical microscope, cartoony graphics is the only flaw I can come up with-massive props on these two modes. Multiplayer is another story.. In some ways, I love multiplayer, but I find death rewards despicable, worthy of nothing more than a non-competitive, offline game. Random killstreak rewards are just as deplorable, and I can't stress enough, just how much these can change the outcome of a match. For these 2 reasons, I have stopped playing MW2 the way I played COD4, competitively, and now just run around shield-bashing people in the face, because if Infinity Ward is going to remove skill from the game, and reward losers, I will continue to view MW2 online the only way it deserves: as a game that coddles the weak, and punishes the strong.
On a side note, I am now taking bets on how long it will take Blizzard to begin handing out epics for wiping 5 times in a row ;-)
Friday, November 13, 2009
On Release Dates.
Warning, rant post.
Is anyone else sick of damn near every new game being released in October or November? The list of games I am looking forward to is long, and frankly, I don't have the time to play them all at release because there are so many!
When did this trend begin? Has it always been this way? Is a game doomed to fail unless it is launched just before Christmas? Is a game doomed to fail BECAUSE it is released at Christmas, and it isn't finished? What about this game?- you know, the one that set all kinds of records and was released at the end of April! Now I must admit, that particular game WAS scheduled to release on Oct 30th, not April 30th, so I'm sure there were many execs who were saying "ZOMG, we're going to miss mad sales due to releasing post Christmas!!", but guess what, it never happened. The game kicked ass because it was a great game, not because it was rushed out the door at the behest of marketing gurus who still think Christmas is the secret weapon.
I can't wait until another major company catches on to the absurdity that is Christmas and instead decides to launch during mid summer. I hope the title beats all previous records and forever smashes the pathetic maxim that says "launch before christmas or die". Oh wait, that already happened and the company learned jack shit. /end rant.
Is anyone else sick of damn near every new game being released in October or November? The list of games I am looking forward to is long, and frankly, I don't have the time to play them all at release because there are so many!
When did this trend begin? Has it always been this way? Is a game doomed to fail unless it is launched just before Christmas? Is a game doomed to fail BECAUSE it is released at Christmas, and it isn't finished? What about this game?- you know, the one that set all kinds of records and was released at the end of April! Now I must admit, that particular game WAS scheduled to release on Oct 30th, not April 30th, so I'm sure there were many execs who were saying "ZOMG, we're going to miss mad sales due to releasing post Christmas!!", but guess what, it never happened. The game kicked ass because it was a great game, not because it was rushed out the door at the behest of marketing gurus who still think Christmas is the secret weapon.
I can't wait until another major company catches on to the absurdity that is Christmas and instead decides to launch during mid summer. I hope the title beats all previous records and forever smashes the pathetic maxim that says "launch before christmas or die". Oh wait, that already happened and the company learned jack shit. /end rant.
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