Klei's latest game, Shank 2 is out on all platforms today! You can get it (or the demo) for XBLA here (as in your can start downloading it directly to your console via the website), for Steam here (again, including demo) and for PSN, well, on the console's store (but there's a PSN info page here, at least).
I didn't work on the game much beyond some level concepts very early on; in the Ruins and Tanker levels, I can still see the skeletons of those original concepts. But the Shank team totally took it well above and beyond anything I could have imagined and really pulled off something fantastic. Oh, and I think I implemented the wild boar too. I still love that pig.
In basically every way, the game really is an improvement over the original Shank. Similar Left 4 Dead or Assassin's Creed, there were a lot of things the team wanted to improve upon from the original and couldn't pass given the chance to do so. Despite wearing my biases flagrantly, I'm absurdly impressed and proud of what my frighteningly talented coworkers achieved with Shank 2.
And that's enough shilling, I'll leave you with this trailer where a great many 2D people are stabbed, sawed, gored, pierced and otherwise have bodily harm done unto them.
You know what's really, really time-consuming? Make a video game! I've just been absolutely sodding inundated with making our game and while I think it's starting to very much come together, there's still a lot of distance between here and the finish line. And it's distance that's got to be covered sooner rather than later. So this post won't exactly be heralding in a new spate of writing from me; I'm just trying to assuage my shame over posting a part 1 without finishing it up.
Oh, but as a positive aside, we're going to be announcing our new game as soon as sometime this month, and I'm really, really excited for people to finally get an idea of what we're working on.
But now, back to the awesome games I played in 2011.
Best (Repeated) Use of the Word "Boner" - Shadows of the Damned
While a brief glance at Shadows of the Damned might leave one feeling like it's shallow, sophomoric humour and blasting demons, even a little time with SotD reveals the game has a lot more going on. A collaboration between Goichi Suda and Shinji Mikami, the game proudly carries its parentage. The prevalent presence of all things "boner," the absurdly wonderful and horrible world and three profoundly bizarre but hilarious cautionary pseudo fairy tales (also showcasing the protagonist's meager literacy) all smell sweetly of Suda. And the shooting is tight and gory, easily an equal of Resident Evil 4 (but perhaps lacking RE4's setpieces and diversity in enemies).
I wrote more about SotDback here and I really recommend you find or borrow a copy. Of all the games released in 2011 that feel like hidden gems, Shadows of the Damned is the game whose inclusion on various year-end lists I really hope propels more people to check it out. People like you!
Best Spiritual Relation to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - The Stanley Parable
One of, if not the, most brilliantly self-aware pieces of video game writing was a Half-Life 2 mod finally released this year, called The Stanley Parable. You play the eponymous Stanley and in typically game-like fashion, a disembodied narrator dictates your actions. And honestly, I don't want to even say more than that. Just grab the mod and play it, because it's both brief and brilliant. And for reasons I still can't entirely put my finger on, it feels a lot like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. If a modern H2G2 game ever gets made (sigh), I'd want it to feel like this.
Oh and when you're done playing, you can go read some awesome words Kirk Hamilton strung together about The Stanley Parable on Kotaku.
Best Cyberware - Deus Ex: Human Revolution
I think a lot of folks, myself included, had a bit of anxiety about the new Deus Ex. One of PC gaming's most venerated games, it has inspired countless designers and for some, it's still the high water mark for emergent gameplay. Giving that franchise to a brand new team, in an era when seeing a beloved franchise get a modern update is usually a cause for great disappointment, well, I can see why people were nervous. But then Deus Ex: Human Revolution came out and it was good. Maybe it's just a case of managing expectations, but the game just felt tremendously right. The game's design was lifted almost wholesale from the first Deus Ex, but that in and of itself demonstrates seriously significant dedication and confidence, both on the team's part and the publishers. Giving that game to almost any other studio would almost certainly result in a game heavy on spectacle and gunplay, and light on meaningful choice, customization and emergence (you know, the things people love about Deus Ex).
More than anything else, I love that DX: HR not only demonstrates these kinds of games are financially and critically viable, but there's an underserved audience very hungry for this kind of game. I'm hoping Arkane's Dishonored offers up a similar buffet when it comes out this year.
Oh, and the other thing to learn from DX: HR? Never, *ever* outsource gigantic progress blocking boss fights in your game. Just ... just don't. Ever.
Best Spaceship Arm- Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
I didn't buy Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet when it first came out (I tried the demo and it didn't grab me), but then I was assigned to judge the game for this year's IGF. I played it through to completion and was actually struck by how much I enjoyed it. Beyond the striking visuals that clearly bear Michel Gagné's mark, the game itself is actually a pretty freaking tight little Metroidvania. The various tools almost all have a great feel, especially the little claw arm the ship can use to heft, drag and throw objects. The perfect size for a downloadable game, it very well scratched that explore -> upgrade -> explore more itch. And it made me kind of want to make a Metroidvania game ... hmmm ...
And it appears that ITSP was nominated for an Annie Award (Animation's Oscars, basically) for best game animation. Shank was actually nominated last year, but Limbo took the award home, which was fair enough. And I'd say that if ITSP or Rayman: Origins doesn't take home the statue this year, something ain't right with the world.
Best Emo Vikings - Skyrim
This one is cheating a little, since I technically haven't finished Skyrim yet (but I will ... someday!). And really, I'm not sure there's left to be said about Skyrim that someone hasn't already said. It's gorgeous, it's sprawling, it's diverse and it supports so many different kinds of play. Sure, it has its flaws, but the sheer scale of the game and the joy one gets from exploring it make that almost not matter. (Although Shamus Young's takedown of the Thieves Guild questline took me from ambivalent to also actually very disappointed as soon as I thought about how many gigantic plot holes there are, and I generally love any sneak-y bits!)
So yeah, Skyrim is fantastic, especially once you install the mod that gives the game an actual, usable inventory. Actually, the fact that when so many games are shipping with ever-increasing restrictions, seeing Bethesda's whole hearted support of modding of Skyrim continue (and in fact, via the Steam Workshop, become possibly more prolific than its ever been) is something I could not be more excited about. I'll always be a PC person at heart and things like this are a big part of the reason why.
So those were some of my favourite games of 2011. Now back to making ours, so hopefully it can show up on at least a few people's lists this time next year.
While I think there's some fun to be had in ranking a year's best games, the practice does feels both too definitive (these are really thebest?) and amorphous (how do you even begin evaluating "best" anyway?). So in a total cop out, I'm just going to write about some games I really, really enjoyed that I played in the last year. And they'll be delivered roughly in chronological order.
A couple caveats: 1) I'm only considering games I played and finished in 2011. I suppose this precludes the persistent games that can't be finished, but I didn't play any of those in 2011 that I hadn't played in years previous as well (e.g. TF2, L4D2). If there was something of that ilk, I'm sure I'd just consider "finished" to mean "I played a lot of this, to the point of solid understanding." 2) I'm counting games I played in 2011, not necessarily those that were released in 2011. Granted, most of these are still recent, but some were technically released in 2009 or 2010 and I just didn't get to them until 2011. There are ten games in total, five here and five more in the near future.
Without further ado:
Best Protagonists for Hugs - ilomilo
Seriously, just look at those guys. Just listen to that music. It's almost impossible to imagine something more heartwarming and adorable. In a continual parade of games seeking to be more gruesome, dark, gritty, visceral, insert-"over-the-top"-adjective-here, it's wonderful to play something that's trying to be, well, cute. But ilomilo does so without becoming saccharine or mawkish. The story is actually a bit sad if you really think about it. And despite its cute exterior, the puzzles become truly fiendish later in the game. If you're curious, the demo can be downloaded here.
Best Gravelly Russians - Metro 2033
It's important to note that being dark and gritty isn't necessarily a bad thing. I was actually turned onto Metro 2033 almost a year ago exactly, when it started showing up in a number of year-end conversations. A convenient Steam sale later and Metro 2033 became one of my favourite FPSs in quite some time. As I noted here, it manifests an almost "Natural Law" design aesthetic that a number of Eastern European developers seem to possess (see S.T.A.L.K.E.R., The Void, etc.). It's not that the game is crushingly difficult in a Super Meat Boy way. Rather the game world's rules are enacted almost without any regard for the player and if you want to survive, well, it's on you to do so. In an era where at times I worry some games are walking dangerously close to instilling serious learned helplessness in the audience, games like Metro 2033 are absolutely refreshing. I hope that in this year's sequel, Metro: Last Light, 4A and THQ don't lose sight of what so many people loved about Metro 2033. At $20, the game is a steal. Oh, and make sure to play it with subtitles and Russian dialog.
Best Funny Robots - Portal 2
Lots of good words have been etched about Portal 2, with it ending up on many erudite's folks year-end lists/conversations. Rather than replicate their sentiments (yeah, everything about Portal 2 is pretty bloody great), there's one observation I'd like to make: the way humour manifests in the two different modes of the game. As someone who's helped make a couple funny games and might just like to make more some day, Portal 2 proves an interesting case. In the single-player, the comedy is delivered through the game's authored content. The writing is as sharp, if not sharper, than Portal and both Stephen Merchant and J.K. Simmons are brilliant additions to the cast (not to mention the ubiquitous Nolan North's cameos).
But what's interesting is the way humour tends to manifest itself in the co-op portion of the game. Pretty much across the board, I felt the writing in the co-op was weaker. The "playing the partners against each other angle" became one-note pretty quickly. Additionally, I'd be talking to my partner while the jokes were playing out, so we'd either have to stop talking or miss the lines. However, I'd say the co-op is still as funny, if not funnier than the single player simply because of all the situations you and your partner can end up in. Accidentally switching the wrong portal and sending them tumbling to their death never failed to produce a laugh. Waiting just a few extra seconds to drop that portal, while their head is smashed again the ceiling again and again by a jump pad. Accidentally (or purposefully) hitting the switch that crushes them, rather than moves their path. And that's not even to mention the havoc one can wreak with the laser cubes. The humour in co-op comes largely from the players' interaction with the content, rather than the content itself.
Dan Cook of Spry Fox wrote a bit about authored vs. procedural humour in games, and I added my two cents on there. It's an interesting conversation and definitely something I'd like to think/talk more about in the future. If you some reason you don't own Portal 2, I have a couple Steam coupons that make the game only $15. They expire at the end of January, so if you want one, contact me soon!
Best Acoustic Frontier Trip-Hop - Bastion
Like Portal 2, there's been a lot of year-end talk about Bastion. And frankly, it's all well-deserved. The game is gorgeous, plays great and sounds even better than that. The look, story and sound of Bastion are fantastic, but in some ways, it's the gameplay that I actually appreciate the most. Having made a couple actions RPGs, I promise you, striking the right balance between meaningful choices and depth is not easy. The Diablo/Torchlight style of action RPG is the number crunching, spreadsheet-y way to do it, but I'm very interested in other ways of providing meaningful ARPG decisions without turning it into columns of figures and procedurally generated loot. Bastion beautifully demonstrates how to do that. Greg, Amir and everyone else wholly deserve all the recognition they are receiving. I want more small games that are still rich and interesting and if they're even half the game Bastion was, I'll be happy. You can get Bastion on Steam, XBLA or even in your Chrome browser.
Best Indigo Trading & Carpet Weaving - Dawn of Discovery (Anno 1404)
The oldest game on this list, Dawn of Discovery (known as Anno 1404 in Europe) technically came out in the summer of 2009, but I didn't play it until the middle of last year. And I cannot believe I waited that long. A real-time town building simulation, Dawn of Discovery is everything I loved about old city building sims like Caeser. Mine this, harvest that, grow this and trade it here; you can set up freaking automated trade routes to take your wine here and pick up indigo there. It's a particular game for a particular type of person, but if you're that type of person, dear god, it's so, so good. And the game is also absolutely gorgeous. The sequel Anno 2070 was released just a few months ago and I've got it on the docket for after I finish a few more games. I strongly suspect it will show up on a similar list to this a year from now. Due to some nonsense with Ubisoft patching (or rather, not patching) the game, it is not currently available on Steam. But one can still get it on Direct2Drive and other sites.
That's it for the first half, the next shall follow before too long. Until then, what games did you play last year that shined with special brilliance?
If I haven't mentioned it here before, one of the best things that happened to the Vancouver game dev scene (at least in my realm) was the Full Indie developer meetup really gathering steam. And at the last meetup of the year, I was asked to pull out a small section of my MIGS talk and deliver it to the assembled indie masses. And one of the organizers was kind enough to tape and upload it.
I ended up expanding the section where I talked the development of TV as a medium for creative expression. Basically, TV used to be awful. Really, fundamentally awful. Now we've got things like The Wire, Madmen, Battlestar Galactica, Arrested Development, etc. and they're really good (I think I actually prefer a good serial TV show to most new movies at this point). What changed? Well, watch the video and find out!
A lot of this is drawn from Steven Johnson's book Everything Bad is Good for You. If you haven't read it, I heartily recommend it.
Also, I'm finally going to stop blogging (exclusively, anyway) about this talk now. I've got a year-end games post I'm going to pull together this week. I won't be anything as definitive as a "Best Of 2011." It's more just things I played that I really enjoyed, found surprising, etc. So stay tuned! (Get it??)
Once again, Scott and Jorge were kind enough to have me on the Experience Points podcast (which still remains the consistent gaming podcast on all the internet), talking vaguely about the things I covered at MIGS. It included a lot of good insight from them and some things I cut from my talk for length, so it's actually kind of a director's commentary or something.
I highly recommend checking out their site in general, tons of great writing on a suspiciously regular basis (I suspect their both at least cyborgs, if not full-on androids. Perhaps even Cylons).
I realize all I've been writing about for months here is MIGS, but it's hard to not mention an excellent recap of the event over at Kill Screen. It includes a few quips from yours truly and a bunch of other folks. Great perspective from Lana, who was a very interesting person to meet and talk with general. Kill Screen sure does know how to pick 'em.
I'd like to get back to writing more regularly here, but I'm currently swamped with work, judging for the IGF and a dozen other things. Soon ... I hope.
I'm back from MIGS! It was actually a really fantastic trip. Montréal is an awesome city and MIGS is a great conference. Small, but small in a good way. Got to hang with some awesome folks, hear some awesome talks and eat some awesome poutine. The insane photo above is me playing some weird exercise biking through bloody veins game at The Prince of Arcade, which was put on by the Mount Royal Game Society.
I also gave my talk about 2D platformers, indie darlings and meaningful games. I thought it went well, although I think I burned through it at a pace even more horrifying than when I rehearsed. I believe the audio for the talk will be available soon (heh, if you don't mind your ears catching on fire at the rate of my delivery) but in the mean time, I thought I'd post my slides and the text I used to prepare the talk. I cannot guarantee that the text is the same as the words that came out of my mouth on the day of (in fact I promise it's not), but it's close enough to be well representative. Heh, it's actually probably more thoughtful and composed that whatever I burned through that day.
There's a Word .doc and a .ppt. There are bolded words in the .doc and those are the "advance the presentation" markers. If you had any thoughts, feedback, whatever, I'd be delighted to hear it!
Thanks to everyone that came and to the organizers for setting up a wicked conference. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy some more Montréal in the future.
