Beneath a Steel Sky

From the makers of Broken Sword is Beneath a Steel Sky, a point n’ click adventure released in 1994 on the PC. With similar design and gameplay to Broken Sword, it’s a classic example of a point n’ click, large pre-rendered backgrounds and puzzle-solving.

Set in the future, a young man is kidnapped by city police and taken away from The Gap, a wild plain outside of the city where he grew up after being found in a helicopter wreckage as a baby. He manages to escape the police who take him and the adventure starts, as you try to find a way to escape.

The opening scene features iconic art by Dave Gibbons (Watchmen) and background designs were also designed by him, the opening is much higher quality than in-game graphics, however they are well detailed and look pleasant.

The tone of the game wavers from serious to amusing, the story features graphic content and themes, while the characters are strange and jokey, creating an interesting and not unwanted dissonance which sets it apart from other adventure games. The voice acting features some fantastic accents ranging from Welsh and Yorkshire to American and Australian, the language and humour is also distinctly British, forming like-able characters.

Unfortunately at about 3 hours the game is unusually short, there isn’t too much backtracking, but lots of cryptic puzzles mean that the most difficult parts often feel rather arbitrary than genuinely challenging.

For a freeware game, it’s lots of fun and features nice Sci-Fi aesthetic, if it were longer it would probably be my favourite Point n’ Click, hopefully the ‘sequel’ will be able to address the length issue.

Beneath a Steel Sky

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson

With the surge of Cyberpunk novels in the late 80′s and early 90′s came Snow Crash, a hugely influential novel published in 1992 and written by Neal Stephenson. The novel is known for popularising (not starting) the use of the sanskrit term ‘avatar’ in technological context.

The novel is rather absurdist, particularly at the beginning, however tones down by the middle to become relatively normal, for a cy-fi. As well as covering widespread internet usage there are also themes of mythology, linguistics, memetics and socio-politics, all of which is pretty fancy sounding in direct contrast with and perhaps more accurately compared to the truest most basic nature of the story, which is the adventures of a Pizza delivery guy called Hiro Protagonist.

After wrecking a state-of-the-art pizza delivery car following a high speed run around the city, Hiro befriends a young girl who works as a street courier after she saves his pizza delivery. In an anarcho-capitalist world of mafias which control big corporate identities, Hiro is a nobody, but in the meta-verse, a 3D virtual environment in which there is even real estate, he is the c0-owner of the Black Sun, a trendy exclusive night club and part-time creator of all sorts of world-building codes.

Hiro is the self-professed  “Last of the freelance hackers and Greatest swordfighter in the world.”, somehow this seems to for the most have escaped notice in the real world unless he directly points them to it on his business card, at which point people seem to take the claim at face-value, not even once asking where the proof of such a one is.

After discovering Snow Crash, a drug that has the ability to take down a user in real life while they are activating the Meta-verse, Hiro and Y.T. attempt to get to the bottom of it. Sort of. I say this because in actuality, despite the overwhelming agency and wealth of environment to draw from, the first half of the novel is really just fluffing around aimlessly, waiting for things to heat up enough to actually force the characters into action.

It’s all rather paceless and doesn’t make for very engaging reading. The biggest problem with Snow Crash are the info-dumps. There are ways of inserting background, story or just details without relieving the reader of their will to live, unfortunately Stephenson’s brazen disregard means he just waffles for pages about things until his world is bereft of life.

Some of the plot points are questionable, with lots of it being a little obvious despite the immediate weirdness of the premise. Uninspiring, bafflingly pretentious, as if he was the first to clock onto linguistic nature of computing, utilising an abstract and threadbare mythological element as the single dull backbone of the story, which is only tangentially linked to the agency of its characters.

It’s understood that some people view it as a satire, however it would do the novel more harm with this outlook, knowing that it neither excels at nor sheds any light on the cyberpunk genre, merely using it as the most relevant and fast-moving genre which would illuminate his work.

The highlights of the novel come from its fun and interesting tech, often in novels tech is used as a plot device or merely just some background flavour for a world, in Snow Crash we get to see the practical and exciting ways that it can be used to make an action scene which keeps you on your toes.

One or two characters make less obvious choices and are taken to unusual conclusions throughout the novel, it’s hard to tell whether this was intentional or not, but it nevertheless adds some depth, albeit a little too late, to some fairly one-dimensional characters.

A messy blend of the futuristic and the mythological, trashy and pulpy, there’s not much underneath the hood, but enough sparks to keep the infrequent reader mollified and the regular, ticking over.

Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson

Deus Ex

The last of the new wave of PC games in the late 90’s, Deus Ex was created by the same team that made Daikatana, which hardly inspires much confidence, nevertheless, having already played Deus Ex: Human Revolution and resultantly enjoying it, I was less skeptical of playing the predecessor.

The cyberpunk world of Deus Ex is set in the near future and the events take place in New York, where JC Denton is starting out as an agent at UNATCO, a highly-specialised government agency which deals with internal affairs and terrorism. Denton is a cybernetically augmented human whose superior agent brother’s feats earns him high anticipation of his abilities on his first day after he is asked to quell a terrorist attack on Liberty Island. He soon learns that the government has a limited supply of Ambrosia, a drug which cures people of the Gray Death, a fatal illness which ravages the lower classes as it is left unchecked, with the Ambrosia being delivered in favour of the rich and powerful - I don’t think the game leaves you with any doubt at all that UNATCO are baddies.

Much in the same vein as Thief or System Shock 2, which shared some creators, Deus Ex features 1st person adventure mechanics and seems to blend the two inspirational games together, with elements of RPG and stealth. There are numerous plot and gameplay paths in the game, exemplifying choice, various unusual ones can be made with regard to the story and objectives and you could decide progression style to get past guards by lockpicking a door, killing or sneaking.

Skill points can be gained through completing missions and exploration and allow Denton to level up one of his passive abilities, such as small guns, swimming or lockpicking for example and there are various permanent augmentations you can add on different parts of his body which can be found throughout the game, these often require activation for use and use up Bio-Electric energy (basically MP).

I was warned that due to the over-powered skills and abilities later on, the beginning of the game is rather hard, as there aren’t any decent skills to help. However, I found that it was relatively easy to go through if you don’t mind doing an aggressive play-through, however I was initially attempting a no-kill one and was having some difficulty progressing, such is my aptitude.

Despite large environments, the game is simple to navigate as there aren’t windy corridors or maze-like caverns that can be found in the likes of Thief, this is one of the downsides as I like to get a bit lost in games, as I seriously doubt if you plonked me in a building I would be able to find the right room and person without at least a hundred laps. There are several objectives to each mission which are usually beneficial and give great rewards both within the context of the game and as part of plotline.

The gameplay is incredibly immersive, with no load times and everything is rendered in-game, the guards have commendable AI and are vastly improved from the likes of Goldeneye, which is the closest videogame comparison you can come up with for Deus Ex. Obviously it’s a lot better though, Christ those guards were dense in Goldeneye, sometimes they would just run right up to you and you could chop them in the face.

The narrative and characters are fantastic, there is more depth than initially perceived, however the story is very predictable, with some of its finer moments being locked in less obvious corners. Although not as atmospheric in the same sense as System Shock 2, there is a complete world behind Deus Ex, although you won’t be living in the moment like in the former, there is a great sense of accomplishment in the grand scheme of things, it feels like the entire city is living and thriving when you turn off the game, not just a few NPC’s mooching around.

With the multiple endings and choices in the game it is probably good for replay value, it gets a little bit too formulaic by the very end, with some of the different pathways feeling rather rushed and could have used the build up to make the last level more option-specific as well as slowly dripping some of the philosophy rather than just slathering it on as if they had lost confidence in the rest of the game.

It’s probably not for everyone, it’s definitely a distinctive game from its era, with wonderful and charming game design and colourful characters that just wouldn’t work in a modern game, but the mechanics are still very solid and is probably the most refined of the lot. Also this guy is in it. What more could you ever want?

Deus Ex

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

I read this book like a creature possessed.

In between the time when I read fantasy as a child and then started my pursuit of a wider range of books these past few years, I read quite a lot of true crime, stories about serial killers mostly but it ranged to mass killings also. I enjoyed what I was reading, but guilitly so, akin to how one feels when watching porn in that I do very much love it, but I am not too fond about going onto buses or talking about it for fear of ill or the more feared, accurate judgement of my character.

Cor, am I glad Capote relates.

It is known the writing of this True Crime novel was feverish, as Capote became more and more obsessed with the events of a family massacre in a small town in Kansas during the 50′s. But who sodding cares that he almost went mad, when he came up with this seminal masterpiece?

In a prose style which largely resembles fiction, but the attentive and detailed descriptions of the grisly murders come as only True Crime does, hard-hitting and addictive, so that the writer and reader scarcely resemble the grace of flowing language which lies in such stark and sordid contrast. Tantalising words that tease, knowing they have you by the throat as they parade in such unendurably enjoyable slow pace.

This book is like crack, the best crack.

It’s the gift that keeps giving, even after you have finished your sordid affair with it, you can then swank it around and justify your own intolerable addiction like it’s something everyone else should be doing, that being dementedly consumed by such filth is an intrepid virtue.

Cheers Capote! Oh, and the money’s on the dresser.

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote

Should you play Persona 4 Golden?

TL;DR – Yes

One of the most loved games (and latest released) on the PS2, Persona 4 was lauded for its intelligent story and fantastic gameplay, but hell, if you like Shin Megami Tensei games you know you’re going to love this, but what about people who haven’t the foggiest what I am on about?

I haven’t played many of this series myself, but after falling for Persona 3 I went and played Digital Devil Saga 1 and went on to play Persona 4 Golden. I won’t lie, these games aren’t for everyone, but hark! Don’t assume that because it’s a marmite kind of deal, if you don’t like the sound of it, you won’t like it, because this game can really catch you out.

So, Shin Megami Tensei, known as SMT or ‘Megaten’ is a series of dark RPGs set in the modern world where the core battle system revolves around enticing demons to be your friends. And saving the world. The Persona series is an off-shoot of this that is usually set in a high school and is about maintaining social friendships in a sim-style and dungeon-crawling at night earning new demons/personas through finding cards.

So, I can already feel that it’s losing appeal and usually I might follow up here with some brilliant defence or insight, but I won’t. There isn’t any. This game is that good even with that poor overview.

Managing social links in the daytime levels up the connections of your demons at night, through fusing demons together you get more powerful demons and exploring more dungeons gets access to better stuff, etc, etc.

There are lots of friendships to be made and if you like you can choose to completely ignore most of them, even with the clear-cut buddies that you’re obviously meant to be hanging around with. Consequently that could mean you will have some pretty crappy demons to use in the dungeon, but the choice is there.

Girlfriends, oh yes, there are those. The game is a 15 or something, so there’s no nudity or anything really exciting, however the game does waive this kind of prudish-ness with some of the Personas, such as – Succubus, Lamia, Incubus for the ladies (Oh yeah, I couldn’t sleep dry for weeks) and my favourite, Mara, the Penis Chariot.

Hanging around with a lady enough levels up the relationship and when it gets to level 8 then things get serious and they say all sorts of saucy stuff like… “I want to protect you”, “My head’s all messed up” and my favourite, “Why are you always with me?”. Oh, the jollies…

The story of Persona 4 is a murder-mystery, people are getting sucked into TVs and dying like some kind of reverse-Ringu minus the lanky lady and it’s up to you! Nameless Protagonist! To save them!

Naturally, there is a killer out there so I won’t be going into too many details because of these new-fangled spoiler thingamajiggies, although Atlus doesnae seem to give a toss, as it continually shares loads of spoilerific stuff thanks to the super, duper crumpet version of the Persona 4 fighting game they’re releasing, so don’t check that out.

The battles are turn-based RPG fare, the series is notably known as being more difficult than other RPGs but it’s manageable with use of elemental weaknesses and creating stronger persona as well as levelling. The dungeons are long and the map is randomised having come from dungeon-crawling a la Wizardry roots, enemies appear on-screen and can be attacked for an advantage in battle.

There are some pretty big downfalls in the series, music for one. I personally like it, but I can also agree it’s because it’s only because it’s so utterly repugnant as to become hilariously synonymous with the game, often jarringly so. It’s very poppy and has lots of trumpets in, which is rather weird.

Something to take into consideration when playing any Shin Megami Tensei title, they’re horrendously long for an RPG and I finished this one clocking about 80 hours. When I played Persona 3 it took 140 but I think at least 50 of those hours were due to me sucking and getting confused.

If you can overcome all of this, you will find a deep and dramatic story and characters which explore lots of dark, taboo themes without the pretension that other games have. The game pokes fun at other games at times including RPGs and has a rather odd sense of humour which is pervasive throughout. It’s certainly not everyone’s cup of tea but it’s certainly worth pouring at least 10 or so hours in just to make sure, because if you do like Persona 4, you will agree it is one of the most rewarding games you could ever play.

Should you play Persona 4 Golden?

Perdido Street Station - China Miéville

One of the last times I wrote about steampunk I couldn’t help but mention its YA leanings and that I consider it an unsung genre, mostly because everyone involved in it is tone-deaf. That’s not to mean however that there isn’t a somewhat prevalent and talented author that seems to have inexplicably escaped my notice until recently, who also manages to subvert the issues surrounding the genre, without losing any of aesthetic and wonder that steampunk has to offer.

To be perfectly honest, I am not even sure if China Miéville is meant to be considered part of the genre or not, being that steampunk fans are notoriously nuts and fairly shielded from the rest of society, but I’m saying he is; lots of low-tech gadgets – check, pointlessly convoluted explanations – check, mechanic turned arse-kicker – you bloody well know it. I really don’t think I need much more evidence than the fact the book is named after a railway station in the story.

The novel’s plot decides its not entirely happy being  a fantasy and shifts about half way through the story, starting off following almost exclusively two of the main characters, a freelance scientist called Isaac Dan der Grimnebulin, who is hired by the bird-like Garuda, Yagharek, to devise a way for him to return to flying capability, and Lin, a khepri who is hired by a gangster boss to create a sculpture of him using her specialised spit which the insect-headed Khepri lay unique claim. So, the plot is basically the premise for most of the novel when about half way in, it turns into something out of a monster-movie.

To give too much away would spoil the effective build-up that is present in the first half, but I can aknowledge that all of the pieces of the novel come together in a satisfying way, with lots of action and drama ensuing. It’s due to a lot of these themes and different atmospheres that the novel is almost like a game or film, most notably Bioshock, the hop from Lovecraftian horror to swirling mechanical fantasy can be enjoyable, although perhaps I wonder if this is merely a personal pleasure to see lots of my favourite things in one place, like a library of nerdy paraphernalia that I’m allowed to organise and alphabetise to my heart’s content.

Miéville has truly grasped the art of descriptive writing, his style is truly captivating, almost as if the whole place has been painted for you yet leaving just enough out for the reader to allow their own imagination to roam where it will. I suppose the real talent here is knowing when to leave parts out and when it’s okay to dump paragraphs of detail interspersed with the character doing their thing.

Probably my favourite aspect of the novel is its complex array of cultures and races which inform the city that is New Crobuzon, sometimes that simple act of having a map and knowing that there is so much more in the city that you didn’t get to see within the book’s narrative gives the world a lot more depth than if you were to keep it all insulated and neat. It’s a messy city with lots going on, as if action could happen around each corner which might warrant a tale to themselves.

It’s not as if it doesn’t come with its own issues either, such length the first two acts were that the final feels a little stunted in comparison, it’s always a let down to read yet another derivately bow-tied ending, but to go the more philosophical route requires a little more preparation than the author thought it deserves, arising with a rushed finale.

Immersive and engaging, Perdido Street Station is an example of accessible steampunk fantasy with just enough grimness for horror fans. It seems the author likes to experiment so it might be a one off piece of luck, whatever his other work is, at least we can expect it to be interesting.
This would probably make for a half-decent TV show, eh HBO?

Perdido Street Station - China Miéville