Gaming Weekend: Decisions Edition
I spoke about Mass Effect last week in mostly positive terms. The early game doldrums quickly fade into enchantment and that’s remained true thus far, even as I put another five hours into the game and advance only a small step forward in narrative.
What I like about the game is what I liked about KotOR, essentially: This is a feat of writing that presents itself within a framework of interaction which, even if that interaction were excised, I’d feel compelled to experience. What I mean is that if you took the story Mass Effect is trying to tell me and massaged it into a graphic novel or a regular novel or a movie or a TV miniseries or whatever, I’d want to be a part of it. KotOR captured the magic of Star Wars far better than anything else had since Return of the Jedi in 1986 and likewise Mass Effect captures the magic of an entirely new science fiction setting better than anything since Firefly.
But what Mass Effect doesn’t do well, and this is where you start to find the line between those who are willing to work for a portion of something that they value, is present it’s non-narrative aspects as cleanly as possible. I already discussed my disappointment with the combat mechanics and that really doesn’t dissipate with time. But beyond that there are many other small elements that add up to a game that frankly you have to really want to play. I think it’s worth it because BioWare writes a mean story, but if things like insanely inconsistent checkpoint placing, wildly awkward vehicle controls and an exploration system that looks more impressive and daunting than it actually is detract from your ability to enjoy a plot then you may find yourself struggling to stick it out.
To me, those things are somewhat secondary. I’ve played plenty of marginal games that had a nugget of joy buried within them that I’ve learned how to compensate for developer misguidance: I can learn to save more frequently and I can adjust to poor controls. But what does manage to reduce my enjoyment is the level to which games continue to speak their own sort of game-language in which layers of abstraction are presented with conceits owning no one-to-one translation with real world activity. In some cases approximation is perfectly acceptable: Leveling up and applying skill points to represent experience and a gradual improvement over time (the act of obtaining veteran-ness). But many tasks have been “gamed up” to the point that they cease to be engaging. Hacking or circumventing security is often prone to this with mini-games replacing anything that might be contextually appropriate and, typically, it’s no fun. Pipe Dream didn’t really have a place in BioShock even though I did a lot of hacking (my motto: “Never Pay Full Price”) and Mass Effect’s security override is essentially Simon Says which I didn’t even like as a kid in the 80s.
Like Penny Arcade, I nitpick because I care, but when you find yourself presented with the opportunity to commit genocide and your party members act like well-scripted shoulder-angels and shoulder-devils, the details are as far from your mind as Eden Prime from mother Earth.
I played only a few other games this weekend, so this should be brief.
- Puzzle Quest – I slog away trying to reach the mythical level 50 so I can initiate the end game sequence. I found a new spell combo which requires a pretty significant investment of magical power (I cannot help but think of it as mana, and I feel no shame comparing this game’s mechanics with Magic: The Gathering) but it results in me acquiring every point of green mana on the board, then converting every red mana block into a skull which effectively removes two entire colors from the board making the valuable 4 of a Kind more probable and, typically there is at least one four-skull match to be made. I’ve done nearly two hundred points of damage on a single run initiated by this three-spell combo and while I can be stymied by spell resistance (there are three possible blocking colors in the combo) for the most part it’s worth the risk.
- Planet Puzzle League – My continuing addiction to Daily Play has resulted in new top scores for all three modes and I found that the game types can be played infinitely under the single player timed games but without the statistical tracking it hardly seems worth ignoring the still-incomplete (and ruthlessly challenging) Puzzle Mode once my allotment of Daily Play attempts has expired.
- Call of Duty 4 – I had my first truly embarrassing experience in multiplayer where I had previously been rarely top of the heap but never the team stooge. At 1-1-17 a team member helpfully suggested I give the controller to my girlfriend or dog because, and I quote, “They couldn’t do any worse.” I turned off the game shortly thereafter.