OneSingleLife review

What comes after death? For OneSingleLife, it's a credits screen followed by the realisation that you cannot play the game again. Much like real life, this game only gives you one chance to succeed, and once you fail – it's game over. You only have One Single Life.

The premise is very simple – jump from one building to another through tapping the screen once to initiate a run up and once more to make him jump. No points, no leader boards, only one life. The straightforward gameplay adds to the experience – all you have to do is make a successful jump. Each level greets you with a sign saying that x percentage of players will die in this level. Will you be part of that percentage, or will you break away from the pack and succeed? The game plays (hur) on the player's need to succeed and fear of failure. In fact, it's enjoyment is derived from the trepidation felt before each jump, and the knowledge that failure will mean death – forever.

Which brings me to my major concern – OneSingleLife is an entirely subjective experience. How willing are you to completely absorb yourself in the experience of life and death? For me I was highly immersed on my first run through, where my heart rate grew and my palms grew sweaty as I completed each level. But will someone else be as engrossed as I was? After all the game is just about getting the tiny avatar from one building to another, a concept that was created almost two decades ago. It really is a game that relies on the player's emotions, more so than the mechanics of the game itself.

Which makes OneSingleLife a hard game to score. On repeated play throughs the experience is diminished, where after a failed jump comes the grumble of having to wait for your iPhone to uninstall and reinstall it again – it's like a loading screen just a lot more convoluted. However as a first experience, the game placed me in a position so many other games fail to do today – to make me realise that the little man jumping from building, who fist pumps every time he succeeds and screams every time he falls, wasn't no longer a creation of FreshTone Games, but rather me. Whether you become him – is an entirely different question.

L.A. Noire Review

L.A. Noire has more in common with Capcom's Ace Attorney Series than it does with it's Rockstar Brethren. It's got the investigation process, the shifty witnesses, and protagonist Cole Phelps shouting out OBJECTION every time he accuses the witness of lying. Okay maybe not that last point, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did shout it out halfway through the game. More importantly, both L.A. Noire and the Ace Attorney games share the talent to tell an extremely engaging story.

This is the heart and soul of L.A. Noire, where the post World War 2 period has given rise to drugs, violence and corruption in the streets of Los Angeles. As Cole Phelps, you'll go through five different ranks in the police force, from patrolman all the way to arson investigator, where all ranks have their own main arc stories, meaning that each case are not entirely separate of each other, but linked even though you may not think so at first. The fact that they are all connected to create a larger picture is great because it creates a 'one more case' mentality, where you won't stop investigating crime scenes, questioning witnesses and even chase bad guys until you've solved everything there is to solve. Simply put, it's quite addictive!

Even if L.A Noire was just a story, it would still be good, but the fact that it's a game makes it a huge success. Unlike other games where story and gameplay are entirely separate of each other, L.A. Noire succeeds because the plot and the gameplay itself work in tandem with each other, encapsulating the player in the world of Cole and his colleagues.

Gameplay is generally centred around investigating crime scenes, areas linked to the crime and questioning individuals who are some how linked to the crime, as well as the shootout and chase scene. Investigating has Cole searching for clues, where the game alerts you with a chime and a rumble of the controller if a clue is found. It can also trick you into investigating mini red herrings (such as a beer bottle that somehow turns up in almost every case) that have no bearing on the case. The process is highly rewarding because each clue discovered unveils another piece of the case itself and ultimately unveils another piece of the story: for example a ledger that directs you to a person of interest, which then leads you to track that person's address which then leads you to questioning that individual for further clues and perhaps even your main suspect!

Which leads to the other hook of L.A. Noire: the questioning of individuals who have some association with the crime itself. Like Phoenix in the Ace Attorney games, Cole must question individuals to either gain more clues, ascertain whether the individual had a major involvement in the crime, and in some instances, charge the suspect with the crime itself. Ascertaining as to whether or not the individual is telling the truth or not is decided on whether they are telling the truth, holding back some information or flat out lying, in which case truth, doubt and lie are assigned to three of the face buttons. In the case that you decide the individual is lying, evidence must be presented to back up your accusation , ala Ace Attorney.

Bondi Team's use of motion scan technology, which is a highly developed and more detailed version of the usual motion capture technology used to capture a more realistic facial expression, is what makes and to some extent breaks this section of the game. While the facial expressions are indeed very real and highly interesting to watch, the fact that there is little subtlety to the actual facial expressions, makes discerning truth from lie easier than it should be. Case in point, if the individual is telling the truth, they will look maintain full eye contact with you, if they are lying or holding back info, they'll look away, move their lips and a whole host of other facial expressions that scream out “I'm lying!”. However the feeling of making a successful judgment is still one to behold, as what usually follows is more clues, allowing the story to progress or just proving your belief that the individual was a lying sack in the first place, and that's always a whole lot of fun! Failing either this or failing to find potential clues can lead to some parts of the story being entirely missed, and in some rare cases – the innocent being wrongly accused of crime because of a lack of evidence. The game lets you know this with the continued references to the 'gas chamber' – making the impact of failure a whole lot more heavy, as a fatal error could result in the death of an innocent (remember capital punishment was alright during the late forties). However in most instances, the game does it's best to make sure you catch the right guy even if you're the most incompetent detective, which is somewhat disappointing as the few instances where you are forced to choose between two suspects who are both equally guilty and not guilty are some of the best moments of L.A. Noire.

Presentation wise L.A. Noire treats the eponymous (if oddly spelt) crime genre with the respect and care it deserves. From the blurring of the lines between good and evil to the melancholy soundtrack, the underbelly of Los Angeles and the rain which creates a depressing atmosphere, it certainly is representative of one of the key genres of crime fiction. The voice acting is some of the best heard in a video game, with Aaron Staton as Cole Phelps delivering his lines like any top grade actor. The motion scan is brilliant too, with some moments of 'hey I know that guy from [insert movie/tv here]!' indicative of how effective the technology is. The fact that I managed to recognise an actor who played a brief role in Supernatural is further evidence that the technology should set a benchmark for future games.

However what makes L.A. Noire extremely memorable is the fact that Team Bondi has managed to create a game that presents a fantastic story and fantastic gameplay that work wonderfully with each other. Never does either feel like it overpowers the other, creating a seamless experience that is utterly encapsulating, utterly magnificent, and utterly deserving of one of the games of the year thus far.

The mental wear and tear of NBA2K11

38 matches is a long time in the Premier League. Add F.A. Cup and Carling Cup matches (depending how far you go) and you've got an even longer and arduous season of football. How long can a player keep up the mental toughness required to be at the top of their game? What happens when they drop the ball and lose focus?

Now take 38 games, add another 44 and you've got yourself just the regular season of NBA without consideration of playoff matches. That's 82 matches, some games played back to back, sometimes three matches played in the same week. It's long, and it's tough, and by the mid point of the season it's extremely hard to maintain the intensity you had at the beginning of the season. By the way I'm talking about NBA 2K11 not real life basketball.

But answer me this - how different is it to the real thing? Of course strip away the physical aspect of the game (because we all know that gamers are unfit and undesirable, thanks to the media) and instead focus the mental side of the sport.

I still remember how pumped I was when I played my first game as the Cavaliers against the Boston Celtics. I was itching to get onto the court with a Lebron-less team, and Kevin Harlan, Clark Kellogg and Doris Burke did a fantastic job of reminding me that it was the opening of the season. The crowd in Quicken Loans Arena were loud and raucous, and everytime I scored they cheered. Now fast forward to 54 games in, and while I'm at the top of the Eastern Conference (sans Lebron HAH), it's fair to say that mental fatigue has set into my play. I'm a lot more eager to go for fast basket, go for a steal and be called for a reach in foul, or just have mental lapses in the third and fourth quarter. The fierceness and determination to win has now been replaced with notions of each match being a chore, and sooner or later I'm going to stumble and fall, while Paul Pierce, Dwayne Wade and Dwight Howard are waiting in the wings to snap at first position on the ladder.

Through 2K giving the player the option to play every single game, they have recreated the most realistic aspect of sports games in general, where 54 games into the season and counting – the feeling of mental fatigue has crept into the mind of the player. Now let's compare real life - is there any doubt that the performance of Derrick Rose dipped some way throughout the season due to mental wear and tear? Lebron's exodus from the Cavaliers was somewhat due to the relief that he would no longer have to carry the offense 'night after night' and instead become more of a distributor for the Miami Heat – inevitably being a one man team took a lot out of him. At some point or another basketball stopped being a passion and became a job for them. And I think I'm starting to feel the same way about 2K11. And it kinda sucks.

It's no doubt that there are parallels between 2K11 and real life basketball. Beyond the realism of Jordan sticking out his tongue whenever he drives to the basket – it's hard not to feel worn out by mid season. Is that any fun though in terms of game design? At what point does a player stop playing and start simulating, leaving the fate of his team to a bunch of unseen numbers that determine win or loss because they can't be bothered playing anymore? In the end I play games like 2K11 to relax and have fun, but the mental fatigue I'm feeling at the moment is starting to take its toll on me. I'll play the 82 games and every post season game (mmm trophies) but whether I'll be playing another season...I'll have to decide after my ticker-tape parade.

Top 3 games of 2010

2010 was a pretty glorious year in gaming! Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption, Halo Reach, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Heavy Rain not to mention the release of the Kinect and Move to combat the Wii's motion revolution; there probably wasn't a dull month for games whether it was a big title release or big announcement or a combination of the two!

Yes all well and good but what about me on the other hand? 2010 was a year where I looked from the sidelines watching all the big releases come by without partaking in any of the fun – bar a few games here and there I would get my grubby hands on.

That's not going to stop me from doing a best games of 2010 list (though it'll only be top 3, rest assured I played more than just three games released in 2010, these are just the best ones). Without further ado here is my top THREE games of 2010

3. Red Dead Redemption

John Marston's tale through the dying wild west on a quest for redemption is one of the most memorable experiences not just in 2010 but in gaming general. The hustle and bustle of the urban landscape of so many GTA iterations was thrown away and in favour a beautiful western landscape that's a reinvigorating design of the open world. Nothing beats riding my trusty steed from town to town, encountering wild life and individuals in need – except I didn't know whether they were clamouring for help or waiting for me to let down my guard and throw me off my horse. Marston's quest for redemption made me feel for his cause despite his bloody past – he makes no secrets about the fact that he regrets what he's done, but everyone deserves a second chance don't they? However the most involving character of the game is the environment – and this is what made Red Dead Redemption one of the best games of 2010, it's ability to encapsulate me in a world that is so lively and so real – that getting on my steed and galloping to an unknown destination – is pure unadulterated fun.

RDR MOMENT: While the final moments of the game gave me goosebumps, my RDR moment came when I had planned to head back to the nearest town by eight but the need to search for a desert sage (a certain flower) had carried long into the night. Galloping around on my trusty steed, I started to grow restless and tired. Then I stopped, and looked up – the sight of stars glistening across the night sky - providing a brief moment of respite from an otherwise fruitless quest. The sound of a gunshot in the distance snapped me back into action, and off on my steed, did I ride once more.

2. Super Street Fighter IV

If my game of the year was awarded on game spent most time on, Super Street Fighter IV would be the runaway success. Super Street Fighter IV pulled me back into the franchise which had become firmly entrenched in my gaming life, and the advent of a better online mode allowed me to test my skills from the comfort of my own blue living room couch – sometimes with good results and sometimes with some controller throwing inducing moments (DAMN YOU LAG!). Super Street Fighter IV didn't also affect me just in my living room – it exposed me to the competitive scene, where the videos of Daigo, Justin and Filipino Champ amongst others where they combine tactical play and mind games combined with lightning fast reactions, is simply amazing to watch. Maybe just one day I'll be half as good as them, but until then – SONIC BOOM!


SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV MOMENT: When I managed to win 10 in a row – as I kept getting closer to the elusive 10 (and a trophy) the feeling of being invincible started to grow and grow. This was evident in a high ranking match against a Makoto, where she had me down a round and almost out in the second. Her rapid fire tactics kept my Guile unbalanced and unsettled, but something in the back of my head told me I wouldn't lose this match. With a sliver of health to spare in the second round, I pulled off a Sonic Hurricane which somehow managed to connect. I knew my match was for the taking, and I had composure to pull off my sonic boom – air throw tactics, to throw him off and win the match! YEAH!!

1. 999: 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors

Is it strange that one of my most favourite games of all time appeared not on the PS3, but on the DS? Is it even stranger that almost a year later another game has come along, encapsulated me and yet it is also on the DS? Whatever it is, 999: 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors is for me – the best game of 2010, and even more so, one of the best games I've played. In a story reminiscent of something between Battle Royale and Saw, 9 people wake up on a ship, and are told by the ominous 'Zero' that they have 9 hours to live, and that if they fail to abide by certain rules that a bomb within their stomach will detonate. The game is primarily composed of text, and while I was afraid that most of the game would involve me pressing A repeatedly, I found myself drawn into the story, where tension and atmosphere was created to present a truly scary game – yes this game frightened me, simply because of the fact that rather than present full blown cutscenes, it instead uses text, so descriptive that it pervades your mind and screws with your imagination.

I have only finished the game once, and there are 6 possible endings – where the possibility of Junpei (protagonist) and the other characters who are all very well written, can die. Imagine the situation when a character suddenly goes missing, only to confront the rest of the group later and having to hear the shocking news that he/she is dead. It is one of the most confronting moments I've ever played in video games, and on one occasion, I had to close my DS because it was too immense.

That is the power of 999, and is why it is the best game I've played of 2010.

So those are my top three games of 2010 - feel free to comment and discuss my choices, and what were YOUR top games of 2010?

In space, no one can hear Jared rant

I first heard of and saw Dead Space when my friend was showing us a video in class that involved the protagonist of the game, Isaac Clarke being chased by what seemed to be humans who had been simultaneously mutated and made crazy. As Isaac ran down the hall the sound of rapid footsteps and screams could be heard chasing from behind, until he had reached the elevator where all seemed to be safe – that is until the mutated human had managed to pry open the door. Isaac was trapped with no where to go, and for a moment I felt his fear and acceptance of the fact he was going to die – until the door shut and decapitated the monster in the process.

Yes quite scary, and quite an overwhelming experience from just watching footage of the game – although it was helped on by some 'woahs' and 'oohs' from my fellow classmates who had also been watching on too. In that instant my friends and I were convinced that this was going to be the best horror game in recent times. In the ensuing weeks, my friends were getting in on some Dead Space action, commenting that it was living up to the hype that we had created. I gave into hype and pressure to buy the game, and readied myself for a few sleepless nights and constant changing of underpants.

Playing through the first hour or so I had to admit I was pretty scared – necromorphs (the mutated humans) were menacing, jumping out at me from air vents or pretending to play dead till I closed in on them, and it stimulated some jumps and screams. The first hour didn't disappoint, but for the rest of the game, I started to feel underwhelmed.

You see, Dead Space isn't a game of subtly, from the opening scene I was presented with my space crew discussing the fact it wasn't normal for a spaceship to have a 'total communications blackout'. Upon entry, the hallways of the Ishimura are barely lit, and that the place is left in shambles. In fact the end of the first chapter spoiler alert has the space shuttle the crew entering in exploding – indicating that Isaac and the player are stuck in this hell hole with hellish creatures and there's no way out from it.

And attempts to scare the player start to get tired half way through, case in point: the fifth time I run in a room which is quite large but seemingly empty, I know some quarantine is going to off, locking all the doors with an ensemble cast of monsters in the room with me. It's just not that scary once it's done to death (I'd say done to dead to make a funny pun but that would be grammatically incorrect). If Dead Space was a person, it would be the equivalent of him popping out of the same cupboard every five minutes trying to scare me – yes I get it, you are trying to be freaky, just stop it and try something new.

I know it sounds like I'm hammering the game, but I actually thought the gameplay was pretty solid – the dismembering of necromorphs (who lacked variety) to kill them was pretty cool, it was a way of 'unlearning the headshot' that all gamers with an itchy trigger finger have mastered, going into zero gravity was pretty awesome and made for some pretty awesome action scenes, the story was pretty cool (if a bit tiresome at times) interweaving some crazy religious cult with some deep problems with Issac himself, and the design of the Ishimura was fantastic.

But for a game that advertised itself as being really scary (*cough floating arm in space for box art cough*) – Dead Space came off as a solid shooter with some horror tacked on, and that for me was the ultimate letdown. I like shooting monsters yes, but for majority of the game that feeling of fear and dread was not there. Did I let my expectations soar too high? From that first video I watched I thought the hype was justified, and most of everyone else from the gaming contingent thought so too. But the end game was that they were satisfied and I was left feeling deflated. Dead Space = solid shooter? Sure. Dead Space = survival horror? Not a chance.

Girls just wanna have fun - a rant on the sexualism that exists within the video game industry.

Just a small rant of mine: every time I see that foxtel-xbox 360 ad I die inside a little. Actually I die inside for every girl who has picked up a controller and enjoyed video games.

The basic premise of the ad is four girls – one of who has foxtel on xbox 360. While excited at the prospect of having cable on an Xbox 360, one girl asks “why do you have an Xbox?” The camera cuts to a tanned surfie with washboard abs, as they all exclaim “ooooooh”.

Apart from having foxtel on the 360 (which does sound pretty interesting) the advertisement makes a possibly unintended comment about women in video games. Namely that women can’t have a console, without a man, and probably a man who is a tanned surfie with washboard abs. I’m only 17, but I’ve played enough games in my time, and seen the rise of the industry, to know that gaming is indeed for the masses, and that gaming isn’t only limited to Wii Fit Plus with Helen Mirren. And I know that the industry is getting past the ideal that gaming is only for men.

Apart from having statistics to back that women make up a significant percentage of the gaming population, the rise of video game journalists, designers and competitive players to name a few, debunks the theory that gaming is only for men. Why not look at some of the more recent video game success stories, Jade Raymond’s rise to the head of Ubisoft Toronto and her work on the first two Assassin’s Creed games, the fact that one of the executive producers on Sony’s flagship title – Little Big Planet, was a woman: Siobhan Reddy. On a more personal level, my girlfriend is an avid gamer much like myself, my sister had gaming sessions up till the early hours of the morning playing Final Fantasy VIII.

On RedKingsDream, Evan Stubbs writes about the sexualism that exists within the industry. Out of three factors that he believes contributes to the division of sex in the industry, one struck me the most: the fact that rather than focus on the message being sent, we are ultimately drawn into a ‘pointless discussion about their genitalia and whether they’re qualified to be talking in the first place’. It is depressing to realise that ‘boobs’ take precedent and is an obstacle for women to overcome.

I know this is a discussion that has grown, old, weary and tiresome. The truth is there for everyone to see, yet ads like this foxtel one continually set the idea that women aren’t meant to play video games Attitudes need to change, and until they do, this debate will rage on – for any girl who has picked up a controller and enjoyed video games – they will rage on too.

The blog, without it's boy.

This is the third day I've spent on my mac doing entirely nothing, except for scouring facebook. Normally I would hop on my PS3 and start playing a game I've been loving, but not this time.

I said a few posts ago that I had a tonne of games that were certainly worth my time, only that I questioned as to why I had lacked the drive to play it. I can't remember if I answered the question, maybe the games weren't just that interesting. Maybe they didn't interest me. What not even Super Street Fighter IV?

Maybe now I realise that it isn't the games that aren't interesting. As humans we are always quick to blame other things bar ourselves, it's just human nature, it's just who we are. Maybe I tried to pin the blame on the games, that 2010 just wasn't a very interesting year for games. But logical thinking took over, and I realised that we had Red Dead Redemption, God of War 3, Mass Effect 2, Heavy Rain and so and so forth. Yes very interesting games, and certainly one of the most interesting years of gaming in recent memory,

"Rita's inside. It was me"

Like Dexter at the beginning of the fifth season, I'm blaming myself, not the games, for not being interesting. I once had a drive to play games, a passion to see games on a deeper level and talk about them with vigour. I can't explain what happened, and contrary to the rest of this post, I won't speculate on the cause. I have faith that my passion will reemerge once more, but for now, it's all gone.

For now that is...