Short and sweet, those are the keywords.
Remember me mentioning The Grail of Eternal Life, a Spear of Destiny-mod that me and Havoc made some years ago that's getting a complete overhaul for the better? Sure you do, or else I'll be angry. And you don't want me to become angry, really.
Anyhow, I've uploaded a christmasy/wintery trailer for it, to show that it's still alive, and going really steady. Over the last three weeks, the mod's been ported to Wolf4SDL (thanks Havoc!) and around four more maps have been made. That's incredible, considering that over the near two years before that, the mod's progress has been incredibly slow, going at a map per every six months or so. It looks like it'll see the light of the day already next year, if all goes well *wink*!
Check out the trailer at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I0h4l7Jv4g
That's all for now, happy holidays!
/Marcus out.
2008-12-21
2008-12-18
We Are Next.
Prey was released just over two years ago, but had been in development for several years before that, I think it might've been ten even. But don't quote me on it.
Prey was originall designed and developed by 3D Realms, you know, the guys behind the infamous and commonly ridiculed vaporware-title Duke Nukem Forever, but after some years, Humanhead Studios took over the development. 3D Realms were still involved with the production of the game though.
Prey takes place in modernish time, at a pub somewhere in a native American reservation in Oklahoma. As usual, you play the good guy; a garage mechanic named Tommy, who's not particularly fascinated by his cherokee heritage. His girlfriend, Jen, is a bit more interested however, but neither her nor Tommy's grandfather can convince him about the importance of his heritage. He'd rather move out to the big cities and live like everyone else. At the night of the frightening event, which will later be explained, Jen is working at the bar and Tommy and his grandfather are also there, as well as two fellows who've had a few drinks too many. After having a quick and easy fight with the rude drunks, things start to happen. Bad things, of course. Without spoiling too much, the three of them, Tommy, Jen and Tommy's grandfather, are abducted and brought to a peculiar alien vessel of some sort, called the Sphere.
Prey is quite famous for it's twisting and turning of gravity in real-time. It's been seen a few times since, in games like Super Mario Galaxy. Portals similar to those found in Valve's Portal (nifty name, huh?) can also be seen throughout the game, and both these elements play a big part in the game's fun and unique gameplay. Another interesting element is the spirit form, which is neccesary to change to in some situations. It keeps the gameplay from becoming dull running and gunning and the fact that you cannot really die but instead go to a spirit realm where you shoot down lost spirits in order to regain your spirit power and physical health keeps you from frustratingly beating the shit out of your keyboard.
Story-wise, the game is still really good, but the storyline seems a bit mediocre at first. Average, working people get abducted by aliens with laser weapons, but don't worry, it builds up and gets a lot more interesting as it progresses.
The plot involves a few minor twists and turns, and about seven tenths through the game, the main objective and motivation for our hero Tommy changes. He also develops as a person through the game and the relation between you as a player and your virtual cherokee avatar make a pretty steady bond, but it doesn't go quite the whole way, which might be because of the game's length, or moreso lack of it.
This is one of the game's weak points, which prevents it from being as fantastic and enticing an adventure as I imagine it could be. Some might argue that the id Tech 4-engine is a bit outdated to today's standards, but the amazing design makes up for whatever the engine lacks in nifty physics and advanced shaders.
Overall, it's a great game and I recommend anyone to buy it, since you can find it real cheap in stores today. I'm hoping to see a sequel soon, to compensate for the rather short alien-slaughter experience that it was. Hopefully, any sequel will not take as long to come out as the original title did. Wether or not it was worth the wait, I cannot answer, as I heard of it just some months before its release, but it sure deserves the positive comments that the front cover's been decorated with.
That's all for this time, over and..!
/Marcus out.
Prey was originall designed and developed by 3D Realms, you know, the guys behind the infamous and commonly ridiculed vaporware-title Duke Nukem Forever, but after some years, Humanhead Studios took over the development. 3D Realms were still involved with the production of the game though.
Prey takes place in modernish time, at a pub somewhere in a native American reservation in Oklahoma. As usual, you play the good guy; a garage mechanic named Tommy, who's not particularly fascinated by his cherokee heritage. His girlfriend, Jen, is a bit more interested however, but neither her nor Tommy's grandfather can convince him about the importance of his heritage. He'd rather move out to the big cities and live like everyone else. At the night of the frightening event, which will later be explained, Jen is working at the bar and Tommy and his grandfather are also there, as well as two fellows who've had a few drinks too many. After having a quick and easy fight with the rude drunks, things start to happen. Bad things, of course. Without spoiling too much, the three of them, Tommy, Jen and Tommy's grandfather, are abducted and brought to a peculiar alien vessel of some sort, called the Sphere.
Prey is quite famous for it's twisting and turning of gravity in real-time. It's been seen a few times since, in games like Super Mario Galaxy. Portals similar to those found in Valve's Portal (nifty name, huh?) can also be seen throughout the game, and both these elements play a big part in the game's fun and unique gameplay. Another interesting element is the spirit form, which is neccesary to change to in some situations. It keeps the gameplay from becoming dull running and gunning and the fact that you cannot really die but instead go to a spirit realm where you shoot down lost spirits in order to regain your spirit power and physical health keeps you from frustratingly beating the shit out of your keyboard.
Story-wise, the game is still really good, but the storyline seems a bit mediocre at first. Average, working people get abducted by aliens with laser weapons, but don't worry, it builds up and gets a lot more interesting as it progresses.
The plot involves a few minor twists and turns, and about seven tenths through the game, the main objective and motivation for our hero Tommy changes. He also develops as a person through the game and the relation between you as a player and your virtual cherokee avatar make a pretty steady bond, but it doesn't go quite the whole way, which might be because of the game's length, or moreso lack of it.
This is one of the game's weak points, which prevents it from being as fantastic and enticing an adventure as I imagine it could be. Some might argue that the id Tech 4-engine is a bit outdated to today's standards, but the amazing design makes up for whatever the engine lacks in nifty physics and advanced shaders.
Overall, it's a great game and I recommend anyone to buy it, since you can find it real cheap in stores today. I'm hoping to see a sequel soon, to compensate for the rather short alien-slaughter experience that it was. Hopefully, any sequel will not take as long to come out as the original title did. Wether or not it was worth the wait, I cannot answer, as I heard of it just some months before its release, but it sure deserves the positive comments that the front cover's been decorated with.
That's all for this time, over and..!
/Marcus out.
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