Notes of Rapture from...

...Yaughton, a leafy Shropshire Village stuck in a timewarp in the 1980s…[youtube vid]

An enticing valley is beautifully rendered before me, blossoms are falling from trees, sunlight is dancing across the empty road and glorious music is moving and uplifting where everything here is so... deserted… It’s intriguing… and it’s another fine example of game-'plays’ to come.

As I start looking around, the first, apocalyptic signs slowly appear: abandoned cars, unlocked doors… Am I an English 'Donnie Darko'? Hold on a moment: who’s this? Oh… the residual light energy from the past; ‘ghosts’ giving me clues about what on earth has happened. 

It must have something to do with the locked observatory nearby, which will mark the beginning and the end of this revelatory ‘journey' called 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture'. A big question is: will these villagers know the 'Timewarp dance'? [ok, that's 1975 to be exact.] 

There are five 'areas' in the game, each of which revolve around a different character, with the main protagonists being Dr Katherine Collins (Kate) and her husband, Stephen – both scientists at the observatory. During their work, Kate and Stephen encountered a ‘strange pattern’ which appeared to be an unknown form of life. They observed the pattern ‘infecting’ and sometimes killing other lifeforms. Kate concluded that the pattern was attempting to communicate with humans, ignorant to the harm that it was causing during her attempts to communicate with it. During this time, Stephen becomes convinced that the pattern is a deadly threat capable of destroying the human race. [wikipedia]

Immediately, it strikes me as very radio play though, i.e. a lot of try-hard dialogue and this is a little distracting from any involving mystery. It seems to detract from a sense of mystery, the characters being so down-to-earth. Also, although not a big Archers fan, it’s quaint for the scenario and I do like some radio plays. The combination could still work… besides, the countryside and mesmerising light-shows are compensating.

Quick note to players: go with the flow. Try and get through it in about 2 sessions. This isn’t an open-world experience, but a story-based, emotional narrative that we get to – literally - follow. I treated it as a non-linear game initially, searching for ‘complete freedom’ (which is what I so love when I’m given a whole map to explore) but consequently I had to backtrack in order to proceed. Bummer.

1980s ordinance survey map preserved in a timewarp

On with the reflection and suggestions…

There’s lots of reviews out there of ‘Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture’, not just a great title in itself but a ‘mature experience’ in that it’s not any mainstream shooter, puzzler etc. We should just have some new genre now in the gaming world for the ‘deeper’ titles; spiritual titles that must really be celebrated straight-off for expanding what modern games can be, what forms they can take (especially before the advent of VR experiences).

And it felt a little like this is what strategy developer The Chinese Room has in their heads. Virtual atmosphere. The environment and sound are the key players as the world of Shropshire ‘breathes’ before an almost disembodied, first-person POV. It’s those 2 lovely adjectives: lush and detailed. We are supposed to move lightly through this story; we are given time to dream and to think for once. The power of PS4 was alive and well as I started to move about. It’s a game to play in a comfortable chair. I’ve read the term ‘a good couch co-op’ game which is a good one. You can watch someone else play without getting stuck all the time (unless they do what I did). 

The detailed countryside is the sort of thing I’m writing about in my nature-based game-world, The Spiral, which is a non-linear concept, in that the areas of the game-map are open to explore in any sequence and revelations will be a mix of scientific and magical but all relating to real science/nature. So naturally I was a little disappointed by the constraints imposed by the narrative in Yaughton.  

However, there’s loads I like about this ‘interactive story’ as opposed to game: the graphics, atmosphere and story have been given full attention; the dancing light streams are captivating and enrapturing (a Ghostbusters game would be great too like this.) There are clearly talented people out there who can program and control light graphics. Fine wizardry! The music (Jessica Curry) and scenery work really powerfully together. The sound adds a haunting, necessary weight to the whole exercise.

I’ve seen some of the bad reviews out there: ‘walking simulators’ is amusing criticism, but so undeserved. Yes, it’s a slow game, but this is the point; it’s all spiritual, just read the title on the tin.

I don’t like to add to the criticism (where this is an appreciation site, featuring titles which already resonate personally), and also because the central point is that, having experienced it through to the end; this game works. It feels perfectly crafted for what it delivers. No, it doesn’t test your mind (like shooters setting up an attack in Far Cry), or resource management (like a knowledge of crafting in Skyrim), but it ‘shows’ you an experience of people from an almost subjective perspective; everyday, earthbound people facing and sharing a looming shadow. 

As mentioned, it was a shame there wasn’t a bit more flexibility in how the user comes to understand this story. This would then work - even more - like seeing a theatre play where you actually controlled how you understood and experienced the events (but would be much harder to craft).

So, there are a few things not to like, but none really detract from its core objective: to show you a story about life and death; to present an artistic idea about this transcending. Personally, I didn’t like the Archers-style rendition of humanity, in that none of the English – or American - characters seem particularly real or likeable. Stephen, the most interesting, and a very eighties character, is also rather annoying considering this weight but it’s a good try at a 3-D character under pressure. 

The task of placing the writing around the ‘world’ of this countryside must have been challenging and they have tried hard to tune up the emotion, but the writing still feels stretched out across the spaces. Maybe a completely different setting - like a deserted space-station – would've been even better, because the characters would not have to be quite so real? See also the PC classic System Shock 2.)

The mystery itself here is interesting and revelatory but not surprisingly or amazingly so. The revelations begin to feel a bit contrived and flowery instead of moving but – at least - it’s mostly positive for once, for an interactive medium. I guess the title clue of Rapture pre-warns us. 

Towards the end we get writing like: ‘The earth continues after we’ve gone’ – well, yes – and the idea we’re all light and motes is great but the metaphysical snippets don’t really convince. It’s all a bit cosy and human wrapped up in a consoling blanket of music when there have been clearly a lot of issues between people in this village. I guess this may be the concept: to contrast with something alien or ‘other’ which is positive - in order to teach us to keep positive… and why not. But… I almost wanted more science to help give me a big insight somewhere. A Prof. Brian Cox to appear. Why not just find the positive from what science and nature teaches us more directly? There’s a lot there.

Following the balls of light – even when so captivating – starts to get a little tiring. It’s a good thing we start to reach the observatory before long.

To summarise, I hope none of these humble notes stop anyone from visiting this super-illustrated story-game and experiencing its stand-out moments which are awesome, pushing the medium.  Not to be missed is the beauty of feeling that you have ‘found’ or ‘followed’ a story moment, so that the past becomes more present, more revealed and understood. The way the night sky opens up and reminds us of our tiny place in a universe of light: great stuff.

Well done to The Chinese Room for contributing to, or continuing to expand, connections with virtual environments that are more about movement and time, and less about what we have to explore or click on. This title proves that the gaming genre can handle the dramatic. I hope their next title works even harder. Now that they’ve done the Archers, what about a Shakespeare!? All the English A-level students would have an excuse to do some gaming. Beyond this, there are so many revelatory experiences that could be presented in similar ways...

What is it now about the 1980s? I do love feeling nostalgic and admiring the graphical details. It seems to be becoming more and more prominent ‘modern’ timezone. I suppose it now seems a simpler realm to base stories, still with a modern rendering. 

ah... the old 'Play' button for cassettes

Is it because the 1980s were the last decade of our ‘innocence’ before gadgets and technology took over; a modern setting before we realised we were ruining the earth. Was it a time when people talked to each other – too much?! - but were still very flawed, as this game reminds us ! 

'live in fragments no longer... only connect.' [e.m forster]

[my youtube vid 'seeking the Rapture'...]

You’ll also like: 
Dear Esther (same studio), Journey, Alien Isolation (but… good luck!), System Shock 2, Heavy Rain…

British Academy Games Awards

Please see the link for the news on the results from the British Academy Games Awards...

It's great to see this British game from company The Chinese Room, 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture' being awarded for such a spiritual and different experience.

I've currently put Witcher 3 AND Star Wars Battlefront on hold to play through this £10 game and am finding it a really atmospheric change of pace. It's also keeping me inspired in my current creative writing about games, such as The Spiral...

Watch this space... for my upcoming PS4 notes, videos and full thoughts on 'Everybody's Gone to the Rapture'.

I'll let you know there if I've decided to join them!

Notes on... Red Dead Redemption 2

Readers may have encountered my recap on the classic Rockstar Games title Red Dead Redemption, which granted gamers the right to experience the spaghetti western in its own way...

Well, I've recently been reading that a sequel may be coming out this year or next, and I just felt I had to share some ideas (and worries!) about this event (some of which were mentioned in the recap)...

Personally, I'm hoping I won't have to sit through a million cut-scenes again which continually robbed the pace of the gaming action and didn't really add a whole lot of emotion or memorable moments (in comparison to the game itself). Keep it tight people at Rockstar! It seems that sandbox games in particular suffer from this disease. You can't keep pulling people away from the action, despite the reward for encountering a 'storyline moment'. Instead, why not keep it slick and atmospheric, with more emphasis on a dynamic gaming world that pushes the envelope of immersion.

Even having dialogue choices - I find - detracts from the freedom of acting in the game-world itself. 

What was so impressive about Red Dead Redemption was its freedom, its dynamic world, graphical detail and scale, with so much action embedded in it.

I do think there needs to be a strong storyline, but the more surprising ways to find it, the more concise and the more potential outcomes within it... the better! 

M.C. Escher would have played this...

A white, fragile little form is gingerly stepping through another door and I'm not sure where it's going to emerge... another long staircase? Perhaps I'll need to press a button, or find a cube to press a button... Maybe I'll be able to get my hat back from one of these accursed black crows... or... I may even have reached one of the big-hatted mystics at the end of a puzzle, who give me a sense that I'm achieving something as I progress through all these confining yet physics-bending buildings...

Check out the artist M.C. Escher here (wikipedia) because he would have loved playing Monument Valley, a neat, atmospheric puzzler in the vein of Journey and Flower etc... 

You've got to 'take your hat off' though to Ustwo Games. It must have been tricky to create, that's for sure, because it's tricky to play. But tricky is the name of the game and fortunately you'll never find yourself getting stuck for too long. The puzzles have been - thankfully - designed with great care and mastery to keep the balance and your humble figure never too far away from the next 'pat on the back' for progressing. Only in a few places did I have to return afresh to 'confront' a level, and if this game had been too confrontational, it would have failed.

The levels open up in inventive and unexpected ways that pay great homage to Escher and the beauty of design itself. They also reminded me a little of that menacing cube from the Hellraiser films from Clive Barker. An absorbing atmosphere is maintained through an eerie, mysterious backtrack and the light, magical sound effects.

The words 'beautiful', 'tidy' or 'neat': they don't sound that unique or alluring but here they all work consistently - and spookily - in tandem through the just-adequate quantity of intriguing puzzles. The easy playability also recalls top, classic platform games such as Prince of Persia (the original first and second 2D games) and the illusion of complexity is traversed with such simplicity on a touch device. Yes... it's all very neat. Another refreshing thing is that you don't keep dying and re-starting like so many games. You either progress, or you give up, and no-one likes a quitter, especially not inside such a beautiful, puzzling puzzle-land.

The spirituality of the storyline doesn't amount to a whole lot, but it adds a bit of mystery and enables us to feel the progression and the fact that our minds are becoming accustomed to the inherent trickery of it all by our very solving of it. The odd nature-touches are very effective though after so many blocks and squares.

And... don't forget the add-on pack of further 8 puzzles called 'Forgotten Shores' which does a good job of extending the dynamics, adding water, cliffs, flying etc... It ends up making us feel the potential of this type of game and that many more intricate puzzles could be made, enticing us with new mixes of graphical elements and physics-defying mental chocolate. 

A Virtual Reality version I'm sure would add a whole new perspective... and realism! You'd feel like you were certainly as trapped as this little figure, and the pressure to think and escape would be very real...

Thinking back to... an early Open-World simulation...

Finally... the game actually loads correctly and I'm in the car, 80's dashboard rendered. Outside though, cars are moving by and I'm parked at a crossroads... Their simple textures don't seem to notice me. Yes, it's a simulation game and there is a world going on out there. But it's also San Francisco and it gives me a huge sense of urgency to explore and cause some trouble is stirring... For someone who can't drive yet, this game will be fun...
 

 

 

What is this game that I've just remembered?.. suddenly it occurs to me... Vette!, a driving simulation game behind the wheel of a Corvette and with an actual version of San Francisco to explore. This was the first taste of total adulthood freedom for any 80’s kid with a clunky PC where sometimes games just didn’t even load at all. I don't think there were many missions apart from trying repeatedly not to get fined, and failing to capture some other fast cars.

 

 

For a full review and retro-reminiscing, visit this extensive video...

I think my uncle gave me this game as a kid, on floppy disks. But I now realise it would have come with a cool manual, a full map of the city etc. I’d love to receive such a gamebox, even today…visit more cities... especially a non-fictional GTA-style one... So…more driving simulation open-world experiences please !

The STAR WARS post !

A Galaxy of Games... A Universe Getting Closer and Closer...

The signature Star Wars universe offers such ultimate opportunities for developers that almost every type of game has a Star Wars version. Shooters, simulations, adventures, mobile platformers, lego, pinball.., It just goes on and on, and seems to be getting more and more wide-ranging. There are even mods for other games to turn them into Star Wars games (search Skyrim Star Wars mods). And as technology improves the scale and vividness will increase until… well… until we will be plunged one day into some Massively Multiplayer Virtual Star Wars Ongoing Conflict, which moves on, I suppose, a cyclical time-loop of all movies that have been made. In that universe, many types of game will exist, from entering a Tatooine pod-racer or an Endor speed-bike to piloting the Falcon on smuggling missions or Death Star raids. The question will only be how long will a character survive for, in whatever path they choose to take? How will we die and be reborn and delay player fatigue and frustration? How can we stop ourselves playing any other Star Wars games, outside of this futuristic game-world vision??

Today we exist in a world of fragmented Star Wars experiences, the newest of which as I write – the new Battlefront reboot game – surely captures a vivid sense of participating in the major battles.

Star Wars is a fantastic universe that offers a package outlined by the vivid movies: an array of exciting scenarios, characters and aliens, from the reluctant good guys (Han Solo) ,strong females to the guardian Jedis, with an even greater array of charismatic evil characters, including one of these Jedi Knights turned bad. It was just a unique combination of mythical elements brought carefully together. A deep saga for the space age with iconic fighting devices and sound effects.

How can games take advantage of all this, to create the most resonant or involved experience?

I’m still playing Star Wars games. Due to limits on time I’m reduced to the absorbing distraction of Zen Pinball and the fortify game Star Wars Commander on my phone.

But I remember a different time… especially the time of Kyle Katarn in Dark Forces. This was the first time 3d shooters post-Doom entered the Star Wars domain and we could properly begin first-person adventures in these realms.

 

Let’s think about what these early developers decided to do for a moment to really capture and sell an engrossing, exciting, educational experience, entering and enhancing the star wars universe (which they did).

Cut-scene.
Level.
Boss/Objective.
Cut-scene.

The above format simplifies a large part of it. Just as in Wing Commander the trick was firstly to make an engaging story with levels set in different – old favourite – worlds or scenarios, with a brand new character to engage interest and act as our avatar. Of course, he'd be a mix of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, and we'd see him interact with old favourite characters. Next, the story would be coloured by exciting cut-scenes that described his situation, before we enter the first-person shoes of the hero. Over now to the level designers who – in the Jedi Knight series – continuously came up with surprising, challenging, memorable and frustrating(!) levels. On top of this progression must come the Force, of course, and the possibility of choosing a binding path through the game which is either Good or Bad, with a number of force powers to employ.

You could say this is pretty impressive and long-awaited since the credits rolled and left us stranded after Return of the Jedi. LucasArts pulled it off here at the beginning of the Age of Gaming. Add to this the variety of weapons with all our favourite sound effects and music, and a graphics engine that got better with every release, enabling it to cater for more and more widespread multi-player action.

This format is still in use today with such focussed adventure shooters. In fact, even the larger-scale open-world games simply contain this format, but offer us more widespread or prolonged interaction with a universe. But the focus gets lost and for many these ambitious games are simply too much.

There are game formats that Star Wars hasn't yet breached. I don't think there's a Wing Commander-type Star Wars game, with a campaign that gets positively or negatively affected. There isn't a full-scale RPG Elder Scrolls type game yet (although the online Star Wars Galaxies came quite close). And meanwhile we see some newer developments arising in games, in response to the improving technology. In games these days, a scenario can be more fully explored without compromising game-play or switching to cut-scenes anymore. The focus seems often now to be about not compromising one, fluid, elaborate first-person gaming experience. I’m thinking Alien: Isolation and the Nathan Drake games.

How can game companies escape the passive cut-scene without jeopardising our sense of story and character? The answer has come by bringing the cut-scene into the game itself, by merging the two into a fluid, continuous action set-piece. Or by making it a part of the world itself that the character is watching. Or by making the game one big scenario, so cut-scenes are no longer necessary. The Assassin’s Creed series still breaks into cut-scenes which tend to go on forever. But games instead are largely moving away from the retro Single-Player story experiences. Everything – perhaps - needs to be connected online and unfolding in the games of tomorrow.

So I think back with real affection at my time in the Dark Forces and Jedi Knight strategic shooters, (even where cartoon/animated elements described the blaster fire and cut-scenes). We were this separate commando-type character yet operating within this vast, familiar conflict. How would we get the Death Star plans out of the secret Imperial base? How would we free the captured rebel spy from the Detention Centre? You'd lie awake wondering how you were going to get through the tricky bits. It threw us into its large levels (where one blaster shot might shoot an alien off a walkway from long distance) and we knew we had to work it out using stealth, map consultation and the right combination of weapons, in order to achieve the exciting star wars-related objectives. Check out the Youtube videos of these old, engrossing classics.

Recently, I've been to gog.com to buy Jedi Outcast, because I might be able to find a moment to actually play this later Jedi Knight sequel, one that I missed when my PC was too slow. At the end of the day, such Star Wars games, those that enable you to 'become' a Jedi, offer an exciting promise to young adults; a chance to escape and explore, to become something, be good at something, and also to test themselves against others. Therefore the physics and keyboard controls etc. had to be finely tuned for in-depth PC controlling immediacy. It had to be a platform for wannabe hero gamers. Online, Jedi Knight was the first time I truly felt the power of Multiplayer Gaming... I would be running down a corridor and an opponent would be running towards me. I would use Force Pull to take his weapon out of his hand, and then use it on him before slashing him down with a sabre stroke. A complicated keyboard-assisted move and not so easy on a console. The pace of action was quick (when Internet was running well) and players would be re-spawning continually, but the trick was to use speed and to die less than others...

Later, with the less strategic and more accessible Star Wars Battlefront 2, the Unleashed series (a good try at more involvement with the Wii controller too) etc…we only knew the games would get more and more sophisticated until the entire universe will likely be available to play virtually and online, with the ability to play as any character… Surely there will come a proper smuggling Han Solo + Falcon-flying game one day too!…Because at the heart of this heroic, chivalric universe, there must always be: character, a sense of adventure, proximity to the classic characters, spirituality and friendship…if not cut-scenes, then ways to make you feel like you are close to the context, close to the experience you wish to complete… Good luck future designers... May the Force be With You!

Double Dragon 2 in EGA graphics

Having just downloaded the mobile game app of Double Dragon, which contains episodes 1 to 3 for a great price, I need to mention this nostalgic experience here. I only had the sequel, but now I get to be Billy Lee once again, fighting to rescue some unenviable lady friend and avenge myself with a variety of raw fighting moves. It's not easy being a small Patrick Swayze-like bitmap character. However, I find myself tapping away on a mobile and re-living the same excited sensations of seeing new scenery unfold as I fight my way onwards - rightward - to the edge of the screen.

click to enlarge this 80s Game Box Artwork

The last time I saw these graphics in Double Dragon 2, was in the 90s, in EGA graphics, using a keyboard with keys so big they made a sound and now I get to see it work at a decent, playable speed. In the process, the controls of attacks have lost a lot of their depth but the mechanics were never subtle. Back then we hoped they were subtle. But this was before Mortal Kombat combos.

In this adventure fighting game, it was also possible to play Co-operative, with Jimmy Lee helping out against the assorted baddies. Seeing the magic of these Coin-op classics (yes, I had Golden Axe too), to play in the comfort of home on a PC/console was the real start of gaming, family and social. We were fighting our way through this key-stroked action movie, just after watching one on VHS, before leaving the house on BMX bikes.

 

 

Video gaming will get ever more advanced, and more immersive, and maybe more social. But we should never forget the simple (and frustrating) kind of experience that being Jimmy and Billy Lee in a platform-style adventure provided. What would the next baddy be like? Laughable or insanely difficult to thrash? What keystroke combos would work best? How long could we last before being sent back to the beginning of the damn level? And what would be the nugget of wisdom we might glean from the wise master at the end of it all?

Well in this case there are no nuggets... but you do get to fight the final boss from Double Dragon 1 and then... a spooky clone of yourself !