Journey of a Gamer

Zeno Clash 2 trailer.

Looks like we’re in for more awesome first person melee combat in the strange world of Zenozoik.

Max Payne 3 is finally out for the PC and I’ve played a small chunk.

Max is a fucking mess, after two games of killing and pain killer popping the cracks are finally starting to show. Rockstar have done a great job of portraying the ageing Max, who is stuck in a job he doesn’t think he’s cut out for, feeling like he doesn’t belong and he drinks heavily. Not to mention he’s addicted to pain killers.

I won’t go into much detail about the plot, all I’ll say is that this is a Max Payne sequel, it feels worthy of having the name and it’s stunning. Noir doesn’t have to be tired down to one specific place, the city of Sao Paulo is just as noir as New York is. It’s a stylish, fast paced, bullet driven noir misadventure and I’m really impressed.

Hitman Absolution GAMEPLAY footage. Now this is more like it, some actual gameplay from the game. The crowd system really looks like it’s been improved on since Blood Money. It’s actually looking like a Hitman game, finally.

Star Wars 1313

Star Wars 1313

Star Wars 1313 is a new third person action game from Lucasarts set in the bowels of Coruscant. You play a bounty tooled-up bounty hunter who must unravel a conspiracy in the depths of one of the galaxy’s busiest metropolis worlds, on the doubly unlucky level 1313. Lucasarts describe it as a “never-before-seen dark and mature world.” There will be “exotic weaponry” and “fast paced combat” and “epic set pieces.”

Hoping to see some of this next week. I’m instantly excited about anything Star Wars when it’s not set in the prequel era.

The Elder Scrolls Skyrim Dawnguard trailer. It’s good to see some of the content in this trailer is taken from the gamejam Bethesda did whilst developing Skyrim. For now I’ve burnt out on Skyrim but perhaps this will be something to lure me back in.

Max Payne 3 PC launch trailer taken with 100% PC footage. I’m currently waiting for this to arrive today but with Zavvi’s track record I’m realistically thinking I’ll get it next week.

• I'm not posting the new Hitman trailer because
• 1. It's being purposefully controversial and shocking for attention
• 2. It shows zero gameplay
• 3. Its fucking abysmal content
• 4. Everything that is wrong with gaming advertising
• 5. A total disregard for everything the Hitman series is
• I'm still wanting to play the game but that trailer is unacceptable. The marketing department at IO Interactive should be ashamed.

Tomb Raider E3 trailer. I’m not too sure about this one. It looks like it’s trying too hard to be Uncharted and I bet it’s full of QTE’s. Paint me curiously cautious.

Metal Gear Rising trailer is very actiony, lots of stuff gets cut up and he goes a bit batman towards the end. Not really looking like a Metal Gear game but I’ll definitely be giving this a chance.

War of the Roses gameplay trailer. It’s looking great so far, but I hope they show more than just a few guys battling. I want to see big numbers!

Dishonored gameplay trailer. Now that is how you make a trailer.

Wow this trailer for Planetside 2 is marvelous.

My DayZ adventure started in the dark. The worst possible way to begin a zombie apocalypse is in the dark. I was confused, scared and didn’t know where I was. Shit, I thought, shitting shit shit. Fuck it. I’ll follow the shoreline and see what I find. I didn’t have a map after all.

It took me a while to find anything significant, I skipped past a a village because it was too dark to see. I knew zeds were in there, shambling shuffling screaming biting bastards. I could hear them. So I moved on. Later I will realise small villages are nothing to worry about. It’s towns you need to worry about.

Still wandering in the dark I see a flare go off in the distance. They look amazing illuminating the whole skyline, gorgeous red light showing me my first human being. I drop to my knees then onto my front, did he see me? I guess not. I wasn’t going to risk anything this early on so I avoided the possible early death. If I had my microphone connected I could have shouted friend or foe in his direction, he might have heard me. The game has directional hearing so you can hear people far off in the distance talking.

Moving on I found another small village but this was different, it seemed pretty empty. I took my first risk and headed in. No noises, nothing stirring, it looked fine. It wasn’t. I hear them, screaming and I know they’ve either heard me or seen me. I wasn’t stealthy enough. Either way I’m in trouble. There is two of them, nasty looking with angry faces and rotting flesh. They are fast. Faster than I would have thought possible. They close so quickly I barely get a chance to let off a shot. The first one goes down somehow, I must have hit it. The second gets it’s claws into me and I’m bricking it. I try and aim as best I can and let off three rounds in it’s hideous direction. With a grumble and a thud it’s dead. The first encounter is always the worst, not knowing how to react, not knowing how many bullets it takes. It’s awesome.

Getting inside the house was my next priority. If there are more zeds around they will have heard my shots and I’ll be in serious trouble. I realise I’m bleeding and as soon as I have shelter I bandage up my wounds. Blood is precious but delicious to 95% of the population. Hopefully there will be some stuff in this house to scavenge.

To be honest there wasn’t much in the house, whatever loot there is, is randomised. Some places will have more than others so if you use common sense you’ll find what you’re looking for. After finding a little food and some light sources something amazing happened. I turned around to exit the house and there was Brian. I was scared. He was pointing a gun at me but in the chat he was letting me know he was friendly. Trust is the hardest aspect of DayZ. Trusting someone is the fine line between having a great time or starting again with nothing. They could be friendly or they could be absolute human filth. Bandits. Bastards. Y’see anyone can kill anybody. All you have to do is see the other person first. It turns out though, that Brian, was a good man. In fact he was so awesome we decided to team up. We had an amazing adventure that night but I’ll leave that for another time.

I’m off to play Dayz!

Zombies are getting boring for most people and I tend to agree, but hold on a minute, they aren’t done yet. The shambling undead suddenly have a new least of life in the form of DayZ, an amazing mod for Arma II that got the Internet excited within a few days. I caved in and reinstalled Arma II and Operation Arrowhead after two weeks of thinking it over and it was probably the best decision I’ve made this year. There is a guide to installing it and getting it all working here.

So what makes this game so great? Is it the isolation you feel when wandering the russian landscape, or the thrilling feeling of being chased by fast zombies, or the tense atmosphere during the first time you meet another human being?
Well of course it’s all of the above and more because there isn’t anything else like this out there. The military simulation of ARMA is the perfect setting for a zombie survival game. You’ve got the huge expanse of the world, plus the fact that you have to eat, drink, and can BLEED. You have finite ammount of blood and when you’ve bled too much then you’re done. Game over. Restart. With no equiptment.

Everyone starts off alone, on the shoreline with a gun, some bandages, painkillers and morphine, a little food, water and some flares. The rest is out there in the world. It’s to be scavenged or stolen depending on how much of an evil bastard you are. It’s hard to be alone so teaming up with other trustworthy people is essential. You aren’t a killing machine, you’re vulnerable and if you alert too many zombies out in the open then you’re dead. Game over. Restart. With no equipment.

Zombies are better tackled in the dark, as they can’t see you as well. Only you can’t see them either. Night is dark in DayZ and I’m mean really pitch black. The servers run on real time. So if it’s dark in real life then it’s going to be dark in the game. You’ll need a flashlight or glow stick, or flares and good luck.

I’ll wrap this up by saying, part of the genius of this game is that there is no tutorial, there is nothing to help you and that is good because part of that genius is being thrown head first into this without knowing. I’ve not spoilt anything in telling you that night time is really dark, or what you get when you start. The genius is when you play it for yourself and discover how to survive. I think I’ll write some more about DayZ later, about what happened to me on my first day but for now I think I’d like it if youse all went and played it for yourself, make your own story and enjoy.