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Re: Unreal Gold on OSX
Posted By: PerseusSpartacusDate: 12/10/13 7:58 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Unreal Gold on OSX (treellama)

: Yeah, modern games could learn a lot from Unreal. In just about every game
: now you're some kind of super human, and you have special powers or a
: hazard suit or battle armor or other nonsense, and it's up to you to save
: the damsel / world / universe. Unreal was epic in more subtle, thoughtful
: ways.

Makes sense. Even though I've never played the game, I already get the sense that it was very interestingly done. Of course, that's before they became a bunch of juveniles playing with chainsaws and faux-epicness, but hey, we can still look back and admire the left-overs.

Another game that sounds similarly well-done is Half-Life. Again, never played it, but it seems pretty similar in providing 'epic' moments without really trying to beat you over the head with 'epicness'. It sure sounds like it has a lot of little memorable moments in it. Vortigaunts talking over the corpse of a dead scientist, for instance, sure sounds interesting to see. All the while, the game isn't trying to make you out to be some uber-badass saving the universe. You're just a scientist who picks up a crowbar and tries to survive against innumerable odds, and somehow manages to do so with the help of a mysterious man in black.

Marathon does imply (very heavily) that you are a cyborg, and as such have very cool abilities. However, it does this in a very different way. Sure you have awesome powers, but there's more to it than just that. You're a tool; you didn't mean to be what you are, yet you can't escape now; your fate is tied irrevocably to that of a mad AI who could easily crush you like a bug if he so chose. You may be a cyborg, but you're not invincible, nor are you saving the universe. You're doing what other people tell you to do, all the time. You aren't even as autonomous as the Master Chief; you're a pawn, albeit a very powerful pawn.

This is why we love such games - they don't fall into the usual pattern of trying too hard to make everything seem epic when really it's just stupid and ridiculous (aka StarCraft II). These games (Marathon, Unreal, Half-Life, and to some degree the original Halo) all came during the golden age of gaming, and as such they weren't prone to the same patterns and issues found in more recent games.

For all the glittery hi-res graphics of the new gaming generation, we still love 2D Sprites running in a 2.5D world. Why? Because "Durandal was Laughing" is so much better than Jimmy carrying a recently-deinfested Kerrigan off the field of battle into a weird faux-sunset. The former is a well-thought-out ending created by a small group of writers who are seriously running their brains on all cylinders to create a story that, even if it is hard to understand, is very good. The latter is cheesy cliché thrown together by a bunch of lazy writers who just want a story that will sell big time.

Clichés are accessible to all. Wide accessibility means more money. More money is inherently good. So goes the logic of gaming these days.

Vale,
Perseus

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/27/13 6:17 a.m.
     Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.cB557 11/27/13 8:24 a.m.
           Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.ukimalefu 11/27/13 12:31 p.m.
                 Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.cB557 11/27/13 12:51 p.m.
                       Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/27/13 3:34 p.m.
                             Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.PerseusSpartacus 11/27/13 3:45 p.m.
                                   Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.PerseusSpartacus 11/27/13 4:36 p.m.
                                         Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/27/13 11:38 p.m.
                                               Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.cB557 11/28/13 2:43 a.m.
                                                     Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/29/13 4:06 a.m.
                                                           Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.cB557 11/29/13 6:14 a.m.
                                                                 Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/29/13 4:53 p.m.
                                                                       Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.cB557 11/30/13 1:58 a.m.
                                                                             Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/30/13 4:51 p.m.
                                                                                   Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.cB557 12/1/13 1:59 a.m.
                                                                                         Re: And Now For Something Completely Different. *NM*treellama 12/1/13 2:41 a.m.
                                                                                         Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.PerseusSpartacus 12/1/13 10:23 a.m.
                                                                                               Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.cB557 12/1/13 11:11 a.m.
                                                                                                     Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 12/1/13 4:04 p.m.
                                                                                               Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.treellama 12/2/13 3:45 a.m.
                                                                                                     Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.cB557 12/2/13 5:39 a.m.
                                                                                                           Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.cB557 12/2/13 8:17 a.m.
                                                                                                                 Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.jonny 12/2/13 9:14 a.m.
                                                                                                                       Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.PerseusSpartacus 12/2/13 10:22 a.m.
                                                                                                                             Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.treellama 12/2/13 12:21 p.m.
                                                                                                                                   Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.PerseusSpartacus 12/2/13 12:47 p.m.
                                                                                                                                         Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.jonny 12/2/13 10:29 p.m.
                                                                                                                                               Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.cB557 12/3/13 1:36 a.m.
                                                                                                                       Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.treellama 12/2/13 12:24 p.m.
                                                                                                                             Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.jonny 12/2/13 6:33 p.m.
                                                                                                                 crazyboy a sight more prissy than crazypatrick 12/2/13 1:28 p.m.
                                                                                                                       Re: crazyboy a sight more prissy than crazycB557 12/2/13 2:40 p.m.
                                                                                                                             Wait, right, there was a Patrick on the Phorums *NM*cB557 12/2/13 2:46 p.m.
                                                                                                                       Re: crazyboy a sight more prissy than crazyjonny 12/2/13 9:15 p.m.
                                                                                                                             Re: crazyboy a sight more prissy than crazytreellama 12/3/13 3:26 a.m.
                                               Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.PerseusSpartacus 11/28/13 9:09 a.m.
                                                     Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Martin 11/28/13 10:13 a.m.
                                                           Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.PerseusSpartacus 11/28/13 12:05 p.m.
                                                                 Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Martin 11/28/13 1:14 p.m.
                                                     Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/29/13 4:03 a.m.
                                                           Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.PerseusSpartacus 11/29/13 10:21 a.m.
                                                                 Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/29/13 4:58 p.m.
                                   Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/27/13 11:28 p.m.
                             XCOM XCOM XCOMcB557 11/27/13 3:46 p.m.
                                   Re: XCOM XCOM XCOMNarcogen 11/27/13 11:41 p.m.
                                         Re: XCOM XCOM XCOMcB557 11/28/13 2:42 a.m.
                                               Re: XCOM XCOM XCOMNarcogen 11/29/13 4:05 a.m.
                                                     Re: XCOM XCOM XCOMcB557 11/29/13 6:13 a.m.
                                                           Single player onlyNarcogen 12/4/13 11:42 p.m.
                                               Re: XCOM XCOM XCOMNarcogen 11/29/13 4:10 a.m.
                                                     Re: XCOM XCOM XCOMcB557 11/29/13 6:14 a.m.
                                                           Re: XCOM XCOM XCOMcB557 11/29/13 6:41 a.m.
                                                                 Re: XCOM XCOM XCOMtreellama 11/29/13 11:17 a.m.
                                                                       Re: XCOM XCOM XCOMcB557 11/29/13 2:21 p.m.
                 Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/27/13 3:30 p.m.
           Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Narcogen 11/27/13 3:29 p.m.
     Re: And Now For Something Completely Different.Dispatcher 12/1/13 4:17 p.m.
     Episode 2Narcogen 12/4/13 11:39 p.m.
           Re: Episode 2cB557 12/5/13 1:25 a.m.
           Re: Episode 2jonny 12/5/13 8:43 a.m.
           Re: Episode 2PerseusSpartacus 12/5/13 9:52 a.m.
                 Re: Episode 2cB557 12/5/13 10:46 a.m.
                       Re: Episode 2Narcogen 12/5/13 10:57 p.m.
                 Re: Episode 2Narcogen 12/5/13 10:56 p.m.
                       Re: Episode 2PerseusSpartacus 12/6/13 11:54 a.m.
                             Re: Episode 2Narcogen 12/6/13 3:24 p.m.
                                   Re: Episode 2PerseusSpartacus 12/7/13 12:57 p.m.
           Re: Episode 2 *LINK*Narcogen 12/5/13 10:57 p.m.
                 Re: Episode 2treellama 12/6/13 3:48 a.m.
                       Unreal Gold on OSXNarcogen 12/8/13 7:48 a.m.
                             ClarificationNarcogen 12/8/13 7:53 a.m.
                             Re: Unreal Gold on OSXtreellama 12/9/13 4:55 a.m.
                                   Re: Unreal Gold on OSXNarcogen 12/9/13 6:36 a.m.
                                         Re: Unreal Gold on OSXPerseusSpartacus 12/9/13 8:28 a.m.
                                               Re: Unreal Gold on OSXtreellama 12/9/13 8:53 a.m.
                                                     Re: Unreal Gold on OSXPerseusSpartacus 12/9/13 8:58 a.m.
                                                           Re: Unreal Gold on OSXcB557 12/9/13 10:07 a.m.
                                                                 Re: Unreal Gold on OSXPerseusSpartacus 12/9/13 10:56 a.m.
                                                                       I guess we're talking about Marathon music nowcB557 12/9/13 11:22 a.m.
                                                     Re: Unreal Gold on OSXDispatcher 12/9/13 1:38 p.m.
                                               Re: Unreal Gold on OSXNarcogen 12/9/13 4:24 p.m.
                                                     Re: Unreal Gold on OSXPerseusSpartacus 12/9/13 6:02 p.m.
                                                     Re: Unreal Gold on OSXtreellama 12/10/13 4:16 a.m.
                                                           Re: Unreal Gold on OSXPerseusSpartacus 12/10/13 7:58 a.m.
                                                                 Re: Unreal Gold on OSXDispatcher 12/10/13 9:04 a.m.
                                                                       Re: Unreal Gold on OSXPerseusSpartacus 12/10/13 3:03 p.m.
                                                                             Re: Unreal Gold on OSXDispatcher 12/10/13 4:06 p.m.
                                                                                   Re: Unreal Gold on OSXPerseusSpartacus 12/10/13 5:09 p.m.
                                                                             Re: Unreal Gold on OSXtreellama 12/11/13 4:22 a.m.
                                                                                   Re: Unreal Gold on OSXpatrick 12/11/13 4:01 p.m.
                                                                                         Re: Unreal Gold on OSXtreellama 12/11/13 5:50 p.m.
                                                                                               "Wisdom! Let us be attentive." *NM*patrick 12/13/13 1:02 a.m.
     Something Completely Different Episode 4Narcogen 12/17/13 7:10 p.m.

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