Assassin’s Creed III

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

by J. Adams

I love the Assassin’s Creed franchise. My favorite of the series is probably Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, which takes place in Rome during Ezio Auditore’s 3-game story arc. AC: Revelations was also great fun, and I loved Constantinople (which became Istanbul, oddly enough), but it felt like there was a little bit missing. I have been looking forward to AC:III since it was originally announced and, while I am enjoying it, I don’t think it has the same feel as the previous games – and this is rather disappointing.

AC:III continues the present-day story of Desmond Miles, joining his Assassin cell at a cave containing a temple of the First Civilization in the American northeast. Having re-lived the entire life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, the Assassin mentor in Europe during the Renaissance, Desmond needs to find a “key” to the device that has been hidden in the temple so that he can (hopefully) protect the Earth from the coming solar maximum. To do this, he’ll be living the memory of yet another ancestor, Connor Kenway, who was an Assassin during the American War for Independence. Like the rest of the series, the game is split into “memory sequences” that are explored and unlocked as the plot unfolds.

The Good:

The gameplay itself is fantastic – motions are fluid, combat is a blast, and the addition of the wilderness and the ability to free-run in the trees or climb large rock faces is more than welcome. There is plenty to do aside from the main story, including building up the Davenport Homestead through “recruiting” settlers that then allow you to harvest materials and craft goods. There are “Mountaineer” challenges that take place in the game’s “frontier” area (the less settled areas of the northeast during the period of the Revolution, containing towns like Lexington and Concord) that consist of hunting animals or debunking wilderness myths from the colonial period.

You can also sail your own ship, the Aquila, along colonial-era trade routes up and down the eastern seaboard and into the Caribbean. The naval gameplay is simplified, so it’s easy to pick up and take part in naval battles, fort attacks, and route patrols. The naval gameplay is so good, in fact, that if Ubisoft were to make a spin-off title based only on running a ship, I’d be among the first in line for a chance to play.

The core of the Assassin’s Creed gameplay is, more than anything, evolved. It’s more fluid, more fun, and more engrossing than ever before.

The Not-So-Good:

I’m not going to go so far as to say that there’s anything “bad” about the game – there really isn’t. I find a few things concerning the plot and the presentation to be a little disappointing, however.

1. A HUGE plot point is dropped onto the player and, if you’re like me and didn’t purchase the “Lost Archive” downloadable content for AC: Revelations, you’ll pause your game for about an hour while you research what the heck happened. In the interest of preventing spoilers, I’m not going to go into any detail.
2. The game actually begins with a player character other than Connor – a man named Haytham Kenway. While he does turn out to be fairly critical to the story, the entirety of the first three Sequences concerns Haytham with the end containing one heck of a twist (which, again, I won’t reveal) and a rather amusing achievement. The problem I had with this is, while Haytham is a critical character, I feel that his story being told in this way – by being a player-character - isn’t really all that crucial and actually detracts from Connor’s own story.
3. Connor himself isn’t really all that likable. One of the reasons that Brotherhood is my favorite is that I really enjoyed the character of Ezio Auditore. I thought it was great fun to play through, essentially, his entire life from birth. To me, the decision to choose the time period in which the game takes place may have been a slight mistake – the game tries to put Connor into a fairly central role in this conflict, but because there is so much going on around it, it’s very easy for both Connor and his story to be lost. I feel like Connor hasn’t been developed as much as could be.

Despite those few negatives, Assassin’s Creed III is a solid game that I’m more than happy to be playing at last. I do hope that Ubisoft becomes aware of these few missteps and works to rectify them in future installments – if they do, it might result in the first perfectly executed game I’ve ever played. 

23 Days in the Mists

Or: How to Deal with Facial Monitor Burn

J. Adams

Welcome to Pandaria

On September 25^th, Mists of Pandaria (MoP) brought the land of the Pandaren to World of Warcraft (WoW).  Since then, I have spent most of my free time (except the time spent playing XCOM as I mentioned last week) working on my Pandaren Monk - the new class (and the new race) that became available with the expansion. Despite the initial controversy from a rather vocal minority, it seems that the Pandaren race has turned out to be quite popular.

I rolled up my Monk the day the expansion dropped and immediately spent the first 15 minutes gaping in awe at the surroundings of the Pandaren starting area. It was gorgeous. Even though the graphics of WoW are looking a bit dated, especially in comparison to Rift or TERA, the art team did an outstanding job in creating the Pandaren themselves and the lands from which they’ve come. The colors are vibrant, and the heavily Asian-influenced architecture is beautiful, whether you’re looking at a small shrine in the forest or the amazingly ornate Temple of the Jade Serpent (pictured above).

The Pandaren starting experience takes place on the back of a giant sea turtle named Shen-Zin Su and gives the player an idea of how the Pandaren have been living on the “Wandering Isle,” as well as how they react to the sudden appearance of the Alliance and Horde. I spent the first 13-14 levels on the Wandering Isle, learning about the Pandaren and marveling at each new landscape. I had a great time, but then came the moment where I had to choose between the Alliance and the Horde – this was fine, since all my characters are Alliance anyway. The problem was that I was going to have to play from levels 15 to 85 through content I’ve already played half a dozen times or more.

So I did it all again, and about two weeks after MoP came out, my new Monk was level 85 and ready to start adventuring in the rest of the new content that the expansion provided – the continent of Pandaria itself.

If I’d been impressed with the first area, I was blown away by Pandaria. Even more than in the starting area, the landscapes are polished to a point where they’re nearly blinding. The quests are more varied, though you still see plenty of “go to point ‘a’ and kill ‘x’ of ‘y’,” but these are broken up by plenty of story development and characterization so they really don’t feel like chores. Each zone is split into distinct “storylines,” and you can track how many you’ve completed and how many are left to go. Most storylines feed into one another, but there are also shorter one-offs in certain zones that you’ll find by exploring the land (and, helpfully, tracking the location of the “!” on your map).

I found myself becoming engrossed in the story of Pandaria in a way that the Cataclysm expansion hadn’t matched. Blizzard did a great job in creating an emotional hook right from the beginning by having a character, Taran Zhu, come right out and say that by bringing “my” war to Pandaria, it would be changed forever.

And Pandaria is changing, slowly but surely. Some of the changes are obvious, and because your character is directly involved, you can’t help but notice them. Others haven’t come to fruition yet, but in the way the storylines play out and from the small changes in dialogue from non-player characters you deal with as you progress, I just know some Bad Things are going to happen. It also helps that Blizzard has come out and said Bad Things are going to happen, but even if they hadn’t, this expansion has been so well written that it’s pretty easy to tell.

As of right now, I don’t have any characters up to the new maximum of level 90 because I’ve been working on my secondary professions and catching up on my primary professions that I’d allowed to lag behind in my rush to get from level one to level 85. This is another change from Cataclysm, as I had taken a character from level 80 to 85 (the maximum for that expansion) in under 14 days. For some reason, I just don’t feel as rushed in Pandaria. It might have something to do with this expansion feeling more polished. It may have something to do with the Pandaren credo of “slow down and enjoy the journey.”

Whatever the reason, I am willing, after these 23 days of playing, to call Mists of Pandaria my favorite expansion to World of Warcraft. If you’ve played before but left, give it a try. If you’ve never played, this is a good reason to start. 

Invasion: Earth

Or: Damn you, aliens! You got Johnny! …and Kumiko! …and Sven!

by J. Adams

XCOM: Enemy Unknown came out this past Tuesday and before anything else, let me just say one thing: this game is hard. I should also say that I’ve spent pretty much all my free time since it came out playing it (my wife is furious).

To call XCOM: Enemy Unknown a remake would not be doing justice to either this iteration of the game or the original that was released back in 1994. Enemy Unknown takes what was great about the original and makes it better, while removing the things that made the original just a little clunky and annoying to manage – a couple of examples just off the top of my head would be Time Units and starting the mission inside the Skyranger transport. For that reason alone, I’m happy to call it a “re-imagining” instead.

There are two distinct phases to the gameplay, the first being the tactical, turn-based action portion where you control your individual soldiers, and the strategy, base-building/resource management phase (referred to as the “ant-farm” during the game’s development).

During the strategy phase, the player, as the commander of XCOM, must manage the multi-level underground facility by choosing where to place strategic assets like workshops, laboratories, and generators. The commander is also responsible for keeping the XCOM project funded by protecting the countries around the world that are supporting the project through the Council. Each of the 12 countries represented on the Council has a “panic” meter. If a country is not covered by satellites, has alien abductions or attacks ignored by XCOM, or is the site of a catastrophic XCOM failure (losing a tactical mission), the country may pull its support from the Council – which means you lose their funding and additional benefits for the remainder of the game. If the commander loses too many Council countries, the “Doom Counter” fills up, the XCOM project is disbanded, and we can only assume that Earth is conquered by the aliens.

The tactical phase generally consists of taking XCOM soldiers to sites of alien abductions or attacks and fighting off the invaders, but there are additional mission objectives that are assigned as the game progresses that may include the rescue of a VIP from an area, rescuing any and all civilians involved in an “alien terror attack,” or risking life and limb (more than usual) by getting close to a particular alien and attempting a live capture. Killing aliens yields corpses that are used for autopsies and other research as well as fragments of their weapons (which explode when the alien dies), fragments of alien alloys used in manufacturing new weapons and armor for your squad, and a new element called “Elerium” that can be used for research or construction once enough has been gathered.

The game’s story begins with an XCOM (the acronym is never explained as far as I know, but I figure it’s something like Extraterrestrial Command) squad being sent to the scene of an unexplained incident. On arrival, the team discovers that aliens have attacked other humans and that this is the precursor to a major invasion. Once this first mission is complete, the player is introduced to the strategy portion of the game and the real fun begins. You’re able to start at least one research project right off the bat and probably begin construction on another facility or two in the base, which might include digging out new areas to develop or extending the central lift further underground to expand the base. XCOM’s starting weapons are woefully inadequate compared to the aliens' weapons, but as you fight and gather weapon fragments, your scientists are able to reverse engineer their weaponry to help give your troops an advantage.

Each soldier is fully customizable up to and including their first and last name. This allowed me to have some extra fun by naming them after friends of mine, one of whom I informed through instant messaging that she really needed to shape up on the battlefield during my next game. I couldn’t afford to have her getting killed in her first mission again (shot in the face with a plasma rifle, to be specific)…which brings up the next big point – don’t get too attached to your soldiers.

I mentioned above that this game is hard, and this problem is not helped by the fact that if your soldier dies in battle, they are gone for good. Yes, it means if you have a max-level soldier (rank of Colonel) that has an unlucky break and takes a few too many hits, he’s gone. In addition, almost every time a soldier takes any damage at all, they’ll be “wounded” for a certain amount of time once the team returns to base and will be unavailable for missions until they recover. Hire and train lots of soldiers. Play magazine put it this way: “…dying is back in fashion.”

This difficulty is one of the draws to the series – the XCOM games have always been unforgiving. Enemy Unknown takes this a step further by offering an “Ironman” mode, which forces the player to play the entire game from one auto-save file, and re-loading is disabled. You don’t get a do-over.

Aside from my personal love of the game, the critical praise for the game has been pretty close to universal.  I’d love to have a few more equipment slots to customize on my soldiers, I would like to see a more extensive skill tree, and I would like to be able to choose my soldiers’ specialization myself rather than having it assigned when they level up the first time. These are extremely minor issues, and it can easily be argued that these limitations serve to increase the difficulty without actually making the enemies any harder than they are.

There’s also multiplayer, but I haven’t tried that yet. I’m a single-player man most of the time anyway.

If you have any interest at all in tactical and/or strategy games, you owe it to yourself to give XCOM: Enemy Unknown a try. You won’t be sorry, though you might get some of your friends killed (digitally).

No Bethesda! Don’t Do It!

Or: The Elder Scrolls Must Never Be an MMO

by J. Adams

Back in May of this year, Bethesda Softworks announced the first massively multiplayer online (MMO) installment of the popular and venerable Elder Scrolls series. The reveal was played up by Game Informer, which dedicated the cover and a substantial section of the magazine to the announcement and a preview. 

I really wish Bethesda had left well enough alone and kept the series a single-player only or, at most, a two- to four-player cooperative game. 

If you’re not familiar with the Elder Scrolls series, it started back in 1994 with the release of The Elder Scrolls: Arena, which set the series up as an open world role-playing game where you could choose to completely ignore the main plot while you simply explored the world presented killing monsters, hunting for treasure, or murdering innocent people and livestock for fun and profit. Not that I’ve ever done that sort of thing. I actually became aware of the series after the third installment, The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind was released in 2002. It was my first experience in a truly open-ended , open world RPG and, in all honesty, I found it extremely overwhelming at first. Rather than being guided almost with a leash as in other “traditional” RPGs with which I was more familiar, I had some pretty sketchy instructions from a non-player character (NPC) to go someplace and… that was about it.

In addition to the fairly sketchy guideposts, the world was huge and very easy to get lost in. The island of Vvardenfell (the setting of Morrowind) was revealed to be approximately ten square miles – in scale, of course, but without the usual “go here, now go here,” and the addition of “I’ll follow this road until…oooh a cave with loot (maybe)!” I found myself doing everything except advancing the story, which was completely fine by me because I felt no real compulsion to do anything but what I wanted to do.

Eventually I did finally get around to completing all the quests in the main story, then all the quests in the two expansions that eventually came out, Tribunal and Bloodmoon. I kept playing the game on and off for a few years even once I’d “finished” it because I just had so much fun with it. When The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion came out in 2006 with its 16 square miles to explore and additional expansions Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles, I got to be excited about the open world all over again and spent many hundreds of blissful hours wandering around looting houses. Last year, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim was released with a world around the same size as Oblivion, but packed with even more caves, monsters, loot, innocent victims, etc. Also, dragons. That carry even more loot.

Anyway, the point is that all these games, large as they are, were concerned with the single-player experience. In each of these three games, the player’s character was central to the story. In Morrowind, you were the reincarnation of a Dark Elf hero, Nerevar. In Oblivion, you were the pawn of a prophecy that would ensure that the Big Baddie (Molag Bal – sort of like a demon) was sent back to that universe’s version of Hell. In Skyrim, you are the Dragonborn (Dovahkiin in the game’s dragon language), the only person with enough power to defeat the evil Alduin and save the world.

Based on all these major plots that concern one particular person, the player, I just don’t see how they’ll be able to translate that sort of adventure into something where interaction with other “special” people on a regular basis will make much sense. I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed just playing and exploring on my own. I can see adding the ability to invite a friend or two to adventure with me if I really wanted to, though I don’t think that I, personally, would ever exercise the option.

There’s also another camp of people who disagree with me completely. The worlds are always huge, there’s always a lot going on, so it’s almost made–to-order for large scale multiplayer – I get that. I just don’t agree with it.

Another issue I have is what effect an MMO with its own canon story is going to have on the rest of the games – The Elder Scrolls has a rich history for its world of Tamriel, and each of the games in the series has included an almost ridiculous number of in-game books (Morrowind literature was calculated to take up 1241 standard-size sheets of real-world paper) that run the gamut from literature of the world, the history, and even some smut (written tongue-in-cheek and in hilariously suggestive  language. With the MMO taking place in part of the history of the world that already exists through the books found in these games already released and the MMO having an original plot, will all the stories still reconcile and create a coherent whole?

Bethesda/ZeniMax have done great things with The Elder Scrolls and with the post-apocalyptic RPG series Fallout since they acquired the rights from Interplay Media, so I have faith that the project won’t turn out to just be flat-out terrible, but I have plenty of reservations that aren’t so easy to forget. With the game slated for release sometime in 2013, there’s plenty of time for further development – not to mention that it will most likely be pushed back a few times, as is Bethesda’s normal mode of operation.

I only hope that any future single-player installments aren’t going to be delayed due to the MMO. Skyrim is amazing, so I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do with The Elder Scrolls VI.  

What Went Wrong with Theramore’s Fall

Or: Therafail – Where’s My Story?

by J. Adams

Warning: Spoilers!

I play World of Warcraft (WoW). I have played World of Warcraft since December 2004, which means I’ve paid $1394.07 (jumps to $2788.14 with my wife playing too) in monthly subscription fees, $639.92 in Collector’s Edition (CE) costs (4 expansions for which we purchased a copy of the CE each, including the next one), and countless hours actually spent playing the game; though that’s a number I’m not particularly willing to calculate because it might end up being extremely depressing. Warcraft itself has become a massive intellectual property – it has spawned action figures, a Collectible/Tradeable Card Game (C/TCG), novels, manga, American comics, and websites dedicated to the lore, gameplay, and number crunching (also known as “theorycraft(ing)”). In short, Activision Blizzard (formerly just Blizzard) has created one heck of a juggernaut and, as such, is subject to high expectations from a massive player base.

The newest expansion, Mists of Pandaria, released on September 25^th and, among other things, promised a return to the “Orcs versus Humans” (or “Horde versus Alliance”) that dominated the original Warcraft games since back in 1994 when  Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was first released. As has been their wont for the last few years, the expansion was preceded by the release of a new novel by Christie Golden Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War, that supposedly details the buildup of tension leading to the reintroduction of the Alliance v. Horde conflict the original game was known for. Those of us who have played over the course of multiple expansions are no strangers to novel releases that coincide with these expansions; Cataclysm was preceded by The Shattering, also by Christie Golden. 

Ah Pandaria -

In addition, the Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm expansions were preceded, by several weeks, by in-game events. For Wrath of the Lich King, the Scourge invaded the capital cities of the Horde and Alliance which provided the impetus for taking the war to Northrend, the new continent introduced for the expansion. Before Cataclysm, there was the Elemental Invasion which introduced the “new” Twilight Cult and provided backstory for the emergence of Deathwing, the dragon that ultimately causes the titular “Cataclysm” that changes the face of Azeroth forever.

For Mists of Pandaria, it was hinted that the leader of the Horde faction was going to do something terrible to one of the capital cities of the Alliance – this event would be the cause of increased animosity between the Horde and Alliance and would lead into the main conflict for the first part of the new expansion. Players were also told that they would be able to experience this event from both a Horde and Alliance perspective after the Tides of War novel released, but until then there wouldn’t be anything revealed on a large scale. The novel was released on August 24, 2012 and, of course, spoilers were posted all over the internet in short order. I personally got my information from these spoilers because I very much dislike Christie Golden’s writing and refuse to buy/borrow the book. There are also a lot of WoW players of the impression that lore (story) for World of Warcraft should take place in World of Warcraft – I am also one of these players.

As noted in the beginning of the article, I have already invested far more time and money than I should probably be admitting into this game, so why should I also be forced – in order to follow the lore and get the whole story – into buying a book by an author I dislike? The bottom line is: I shouldn’t.

Unfortunately, Blizzard did not agree – and here’s how they, in my opinion, showed their contempt for all the players that love WoW and its story but don’t believe they should be forced to invest in other media just to keep the story straight.

On September 17, 2012, the “Battle for Theramore” scenario was released as the pre-expansion event leading up to Mists of Pandaria. The event was hyped as noted above – players were going to see to what depths the Horde leader was going to sink to start a war of extermination against the Alliance, culminating in an atrocity that would wipe an Alliance capital (Theramore) from the face of Azeroth.

Jaina’s Mage Tower in the center of Theramore.

The Horde leader, Garrosh Hellscream, was to lead a massive attack on Alliance holdings on the continent of Kalimdor, obliterating one of the largest military and naval bases on that continent. Beginning with the fall of Northwatch Hold, detailed in the novel – Northwatch Hold is also a main Alliance questing hub in the game for lower level Alliance characters – the Horde army would then advance on the city of Theramore, a city led by one of the more popular Alliance lore characters, Jaina Proudmoore. The battle would be fierce, with the Alliance and its allies sending other major lore characters such as Rhonin Redhair, the leader of the Kirin Tor faction; General Marcus Jonathan of Stormwind, a character that has been standing outside of the city of Stormwind almost since the game was released; Admiral Tarlen Aubrey of Northwatch Hold, a quest-giver for lower level Alliance characters; and Pained, a character that has been associated with Jaina Proudmoore since the game was released to the area to assist in the defense of the city. As detailed in the novel, the attack is, in fact, fierce, but eventually the Horde forces withdraw, which confuses the defenders, until a goblin zeppelin flies over the city and drops a Mana Bomb, enhanced with an artifact known as the Focusing Iris, which obliterates the city and its defenders, with the exception of Jaina herself, in a blast that is the fantasy equivalent of an atomic bomb. 

Great story, right? I thought so – but what I actually experienced on the Alliance side was, to put it as bluntly as possible, disappointing and almost entirely disconnected from what the novel laid out. Entering the scenario, I was treated to a long-distance view of Theramore Isle where the titular city is located. The camera made a couple of passes over the towers and gave a fairly decent view of the city prior to the destruction I was expecting – but within the first 30 seconds, a goblin zeppelin arrives carrying a massive spherical object that looks a lot like a bomb. The captain of the zeppelin proclaims, “We’re gonna turn this place into a sinkhole!” The sphere drops, hits the ground, and explodes, destroying Theramore.

Somebody set us up the bomb…
with no apparent reason.

All the possible ways to actually make this event mean something, all the ways that Alliance players could have been introduced to this, literally, earth-shaking event and…nothing. To a person who knew nothing of the lore from the novel as I described it above, there is no rational explanation as to why this bomb was used to obliterate this city – or where the bomb came from, or who gave the order to have it dropped, or why the order to have it dropped was even given in the first place! A player that isn’t aware of that lore has no reason to feel the anger and/or betrayal in the subtext of the entire event. All the emotion that could have been evoked from a well-told story is wasted. The real introduction to the escalation of the Horde/Alliance conflict doesn’t even take place in the game that it will be changing.

Keep in mind that this is only from the perspective of an Alliance player. I don’t have a max-level Horde character with which to attempt this scenario, so what I have to go on is hearsay from trusted sources.

Keep in mind that this is only from the perspective of an Alliance player. I don’t have a max-level Horde character with which to attempt this scenario, so what I have to go on is hearsay from trusted sources. 

Speaking of the Horde, other events in the novel encompass meetings with other Horde leaders like Baine Bloodhoof of the Tauren and Vol’jin of the Darkspear trolls. Their meeting was thought to be a secret, but Garrosh manages to crash the meeting toward the end and tell them that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated in the future. Baine, however, has already made a decision that Jaina should be warned of the attack and sends a message to the city advising them of the danger – without Garrosh being aware. Evidently Garrosh has also withheld the reason for this assault from most of the army taking part in the invasion, and the greater portion involved has no idea what is coming. 

In the Horde side of the scenario, the players are in Theramore after a “failed” raid, and they’re required to fight their way out and also rescue a Blood Elf spy who is being held in the basement of the main keep. After completing the objectives, including killing several commanders, blowing up some tanks, and sinking a few ships, the characters rescue the spy who only then tells them that the attack was a ruse – oh, and go through this portal before the goblins drop the bomb or we’re all going to die.

From a lore standpoint, and as someone who loves the story that WoW tells and wants to be part of it as much as the game will allow, I feel this was a horrible, horrible way to bring this event to the game and introduce us to what was happening. However, as a way to preview what the scenarios Blizzard would be bringing to us in the new expansion will be like, it was a nice appetizer and I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of them – but I think previewing one of the other scenarios, not  related to such a huge lore event, might have been a better idea.

Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street, the Lead Systems Designer for WoW, had the following to say when asked, “What’s your take on the Theramore event?” during a YouTube interview with Wowcrendor.

“We did not do a great job on messaging. Players expected an event -- but what we were really doing is giving players a preview of scenarios, there are a ton of scenarios coming in Mists of Pandaria. It's saying "this is what scenarios are like", they're a new feature, a way to do content quickly, in your lunch break, to get some more valor or gear.

I think players who understand that it's a scenario preview are enjoying Theramore, while those expecting a world event aren't. Players expecting a huge challenge aren't going to find it in scenarios, challenge modes are more for those players.”

It helps that Ghostcrawler is willing to admit that there was a lack of communication regarding what expectations players should have. I wish it could erase my disappointment over the whole issue. In any case, my anticipation for Mists of Pandaria hasn’t diminished, so next week I’ll be joining several million other adventurers in the initial rush to dominate a new continent.

See you there.

Triads and Lawmen and Horsemen, Oh My!

by J. Adams

WHACO will return at the beginning of October – my brief personal hiatus didn’t leave a lot of time for the research required for a month’s worth of games. Today, though, I’m going to talk about two of the games from the August issue of WHACO: Sleeping Dogs and Darksiders 2.

images from wikipedia

Let me begin by saying, simply: if you’re on the fence about one or both of these titles, do yourself a favor and pick them up. Both games are enjoyable for their gameplay alone and the stories they tell will keep you entertained while you’re doing it.

Sleeping Dogs is a third-person, open-world action/crime drama with limited roleplaying elements that has the player in the role of Wei Shen. Shen is a Hong Kong native who spent some time in the United States before returning to the city of his birth to work as an undercover cop infiltrating one of the Triad groups, Sun On Yee. The game was developed by United Front Studios and Square Enix London and published by Square Enix in what seems to me to be a rather radical departure from their standard roleplaying fare.

Sleeping Dogs is a gorgeous game – the designers seem to have done their homework in creating a believable Hong Kong, crowded with people and vehicles, food stands and bright neon. The combat is intuitive and flows very well, allowing Shen to rather easily take on large groups of thugs with some pretty impressive martial arts. As with most open world games of this kind (Grand Theft Auto most easily comes to mind), vehicles play a central role in getting around – thankfully there are only a few driving events that are required to advance the plot, and while some of the street races that serve as mini-games can be quite challenging, the required sections are dumbed down for people like me who are ridiculously terrible at driving in video games.

The plot highlights Shen’s internal struggle with performing his duties as an officer of the law in his attempts to bring down the Sun On Yee from the inside while growing attached to the men and women he encounters as a member of the gang. This is where I think the developers were trying to add the “role-playing” elements, but while I thoroughly enjoyed the story presented, there’s no real “choices” to be made between the police and the Triads. I believe they missed a huge opportunity in the many cut-scenes and dialogues to add actual choices of responses or even interruptions (such as in Mass Effect 2 and 3) that would demonstrate the player’s (and therefore Shen’s) loyalty to one side or the other. There’s no real sense of indecision on the part of the player about who will eventually win Shen’s complete loyalty – it doesn’t help that in order to advance the plot, you’ll often have to perform some jobs for the Triads, then some for the police, then some more for the Triads, etc., or that completing the jobs for one side or the other have no effect on the opposite side, even when the jobs are somewhat related to the same issues.

Despite those missteps, Sleeping Dogs is a well-crafted action game with a compelling story and plenty of diversions from the main plot when you just feel like killing time.

Speaking of killing, Darksiders 2 puts the player in the role of Death himself…and Death turns out to be an all-out badass.

Rather than continuing the story told in the first Darksiders, Darksiders 2 actually takes place concurrently with the plot of the first. Without giving too much away (for those who haven’t played either game), Death’s brother, War, has been accused of starting the Apocalypse too early and without the support of the other three Horsemen: Death, Fury, and Strife. Death is convinced that War has been wrongly accused and has set out to prove it by finding out just what the hell is actually going on. 

Darksiders 2 is also an open-world action/role-playing game, with a deeper customization and dialogue system than Sleeping Dogs is able to boast, though dialogues still tend to be extremely light on actual “choice” and instead focus on directing conversations to reveal more about the game’s backstory and universe as a whole. The game looks fantastic, though while Sleeping Dogs goes for realism, Darksiders 2 is very much stylized; given the subject matter and the fantasy feel, though, this is probably a good idea. Having said that, some of the environments can be bland, with the land and sky being various shades of grey and brown with more grey and brown as highlights. Luckily the world itself is usually interesting enough for the dreary palette to be forgiven.

Combat here is much like God of War, with Death using his signature scythes as a main form of attack along with an array of secondary weapons that range from heavy axes and hammers to light, fast arm-blades and gauntlets. The two sets of weapons can be used in conjunction to pull off complex combos that can end rather spectacularly with Death flashing into his Reaper form (what most of us think of when we talk about Death personified – though to be fair, he looks much cooler in the game) for the final blow. Death has several armor and weapon slots that can be filled, and armor pieces have their own unique look. He also has two very different skill trees to choose from, one of which focuses on hand to hand combat and the other which focuses on summoning various kinds of undead to do his bidding. I’ve never been much for minions, so I tend to keep to the pure combat side.

While the story is enjoyable, the tasks and quests fall into a predictable pattern of “You’ve done well, but to do X, you have to Y [insert number between two and five], Z, and you will be granted ________,” rinse and repeat. As much fun as the game’s story is, getting it to advance can sometimes feel like a chore. The potential for exploration and combat along the way can help to make it feel less so, but every once in a while I did find myself rolling my eyes when the Bone King would tell me I had to kill three more things before he would tell me what I wanted to know.

All in all, Darksiders 2 delivers an experience that is a few good strides ahead of some of the other recent action offerings.

So, as I said before, if you’re on the fence about one or both of these titles, just make the investment of time and money. If you’re looking for well-told stories and entertaining diversions, here are two great choices good for at least 30-40 hours each.  

WHA.C.O. - Vol. 1: WHAt’s Coming Out (August 2012)

by J. Adams

August is usually a fairly light month for triple-A game releases - school is starting up again so the “traditional” target audience isn’t going to be spending as much time or money on games. It also falls before the major U.S. holiday season (and the beginning of most companies’ fiscal year) when publishers are most anxious to see their highest sales. This August isn’t an exception.

Nintendo will release the Nintendo 3DS-XL on August 19^th for a relatively modest $199.99. This new model of the 3DS includes dual screens 90% larger than the original (top: 4.88 in., bottom: 4.18 in.), an “86% longer battery life” which will bring the play time on a full charge to roughly six hours, while increasing the weight of the system by about 3/4 of a pound. The new handheld will release on the same day as New Super Mario Bros. 2, likely to help your local game shop employees sell both to you at the same time – that’s what I would do, anyway.  

August 1

Deadlight – XBOX Live Arcade

A side-scrolling, survival horror platforming by independent developer Tequila Works, Deadlight is the first game.

August 7

Persona 4, Arena – PS3, Xbox 360

2D fighter based on Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 characters, with its own side-plot loosely connected to Persona 3: FES and Persona 4.

Sound Shapes – PS3, PS Vita

Side-scrolling musical platformer, geared to casual gamers. 

August 8 

Hybrid – Xbox Live Arcade

Downloadable from the Xbox Live store, Hybrid is an online multiplayer third-person shooter that takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting. 

August 10 

The Amazing Spider-Man – Windows PC

I’m not a fan of movie tie-in games because they tend to be rushed to coincide with the release of the movie they represent. This particular game is being developed by Beenox, the same company that developed the last two Spider-Man games, Edge of Time and Shattered Dimensions. Those two were a bit of a good time, so this one might be worth a look as well – just beware of spoilers, as the game is supposed to serve as an “epilogue” to the film. 

Euro Truck Simulator 2 – Windows PC

Have you ever wanted to be the driver of a semi-truck, picking up and delivering cargo in and around Europe’s major cities? Me either - but apparently there are people out there who enjoy that kind of thing. They are welcome to it. 

August 13 

Sanctum – Mac

Sanctum is a hybrid first-person shooter and tower defense game that has been available on Windows since April 2011. It’s a fun diversion, but I prefer Orcs Must Die. 

August 14 

Darksiders II – Windows PC, Xbox 360, PS3

This is the highly anticipated sequel to Darksiders released in 2010. In the sequel, players will take control of Death, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who is convinced that his brother War (the playable character from the original), is innocent of the crimes that he has been convicted of committing. The game is reported to be double the size of the first and will include additional puzzle-solving and a hub-spoke dungeon system. 

The Last Story – Wii

Normally I am very lukewarm about third-person action/role-playing games, but this particular game is being developed by Mistwalker Studios, the company founded by the legendary Hironobu Sakaguchi (creator of Final Fantasy). As an added bonus, Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy, the SaGa series, and The Black Mages (band)) is composing the score. I am definitely looking forward to this one. 

Papo & Yo – PS3 (via PlayStation Network)

A casual fantasy adventure game by independent developer Minority, Papo & Yo is a puzzle/platformer about a boy and his massive, razor-mawed monster. I generally pass on these sorts of games myself, but there is a very large (and growing) market for games like this. 

Sleeping Dogs – Windows PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Sleeping Dogs is an open world crime drama action game with controls reminiscent of Batman: Arkham Asylum’s “Freeflow” combat system, a fully-integrated cover system, and a three-tiered experience point system that will represent the main character’s support of the Triads, the Police, and his general reputation around the city. I’m not normally one for these particular sorts of actions games, but if the role-playing elements and the experience system are well managed, it might be worth a purchase. 

August 15 

Dust: An Elysian Tail – Xbox Live Arcade

This game has been getting quite a bit of attention for simply being developed by a single person while maintaining “a level of graphic quality usually notable to teams with dozens of personnel.” I’ll give the demo a test run, but I won’t have high expectations for more than graphics based on what I’ve seen. 

Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack – Windows PC

This was a downloadable launch title for the PlayStation Vita and a sequel to Tales From Space: About a Blob. Mutant Blobs Attack is a side-scrolling platformer in which players control an alien blob that grows as it consumes loose objects in the game world. There are some physics-based puzzles involved, and many of the obstacles presented to the player can be bypassed by simply growing larger. 

August 19 

New Super Mario Bros. 2

It’s Mario, so there’s really not too much to say. The game plays like a classic Mario Bros. side-scroller, but this installment puts a larger emphasis on gathering coins – the ultimate goal of the game is to collect One. Million. Coins. Sounds like a weekend of fun to me! 

August 21 

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive – Windows PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Mac

It’s been a while since there’s been a full-blown Counter-Strike release, and this installment seems to be a good direction for the series. It plays as a first/third-person shooter based around terrorists vs. counter-terrorists and will feature objective-based matches as opposed to the more common Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. 

Retro/Grade – PlayStation Network

Another Indie for the PS3, Retro/Grade is part rhythm game, part shooter. The game plays like a normal space/plane shooter but is entirely timed to the background music. As such, it can be played with a regular controller or a guitar controller. 

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron – Windows PC, Xbox 360, PS3

The sequel to 2010’s Transformers: War for Cybertron is the next chapter of the war between the Autobots and Decepticons prior to their arrival on Earth. It’s a third-person action shooter that shows promise, and the first game released to slightly above-average reviews. 

August 24 

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition – Windows PC

When released for the PS3 and the Xbox 360 several months ago, Dark Souls gained a solid following simply because it is, quite simply, one of the most unforgiving games ever created. The standard difficulty of this game puts “Realistic” modes on any other game to shame. Finally, PC gamers are going to have the chance to play it – although most of their time will most likely be spent watching death animations. 

August 28 

Guild Wars 2 – Windows PC

Guild Wars is one of the more popular massively-multiplayer online games, and one of the stronger competitors to Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. Guild Wars focuses far more on player-vs.-player (PvP) content, and for many, that is the primary attraction. I wasn’t a fan of the first release, so I will likely be giving this one a pass. 

Madden NFL 13 – PS3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita

Electronic Arts releases a new Madden game every year, and they’re all basically the same. I have exactly one sports game (Madden ’09) that I play maybe – maybe – twice a year. In short, expect more of the same (football) with slightly better graphics and updated team rosters and stats. 

Rock Band Blitz – Playstation Network

It’s Rock Band without the need for special controllers shaped like musical instruments. I rather like that idea, as Harmonix’s first two games, Frequency and Amplitude, were two rhythm games that I thoroughly enjoyed, and they were out long before the first Rock Band or Guitar Hero. The Xbox Live version releases on August 29. 

The Ratchet and Clank Trilogy – PS3

This collection of the first Ratchet and Clank trilogy (Ratchet and Clank, Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando, and Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal) has been remastered to support 1080p HD and, if your television is set up for it, 720p stereoscopic 3D. The games were great when they originally released, so I would imagine they’ll be just as great now with updated graphics.

That’s all for August – as we move into the holiday season, we’ll be seeing even more sequels and a tighter release schedule. There are a few titles I’m looking forward to in the next few months, some of which might even have their own features. You’ll have to keep reading to find out! 

Downloadable Content and Micro-transactions

by J. Adams

Last week I briefly mentioned downloadable content (DLC) in the context of needing permanent internet connections to make sure it’s been “authorized” for use. I also mentioned my (possibly) unreasonable dislike of microtransactions. What’s the difference between downloadable content and microtransactions? 

Way back in the early days of PC gaming, the original downloadable content, beyond patches that contained bug fixes or other changes to gameplay, was almost exclusively player-made modifications (“player mods” or just “mods”) to games that supported them. I’m sure there are earlier examples, but the first one that I was ever really aware of was the venerable Sid Meier’s Civilization II. There were mods made that turned the game into a fantasy-themed strategy game, sci-fi, or modified the basic game by adding new technologies, new units, new art, or any number of new and/or improved features. These were invariably free because people were making them for love of the game (not to mention that even before all the most recent fights concerning copyright/trademark infringement, it was against the law to profit from someone else’s intellectual property). 

As the consoles also started adding internet connectivity, beginning with the Dreamcast, developers started to realize the possibilities – though the Dreamcast in particular was limited by the fact that the network adapter did not support broadband and that it used fairly small memory cards. The PlayStation 2 didn’t actually have internet connectivity out of the box, and didn’t have a network adapter until the release of Final Fantasy XI. The Xbox, however, had internet connectivity on release and the new Xbox Live Marketplace made downloading new content for games extremely easy. At this point, a good portion of it was still free, but new maps (usually sold in bundles) for games like Halo 2 were going to cost you about $10.00 (US). 

Micro-transactions are a more recent invention, developing alongside the multiplayer role-playing game market. In most cases, the game has an internal store that allows you to purchase special vanity items or even items that give your character a bonus using real money (or “points” purchased with real money as opposed to in-game currency).

Downloadable Content Takes Off

Microsoft’s Marketplace service was really the original model for DLC distribution and, since then, DLC has followed a fairly predictable pattern – a game would release, people would play it for a few months, and then new content would be released for a price. Most of the time the content was a few new multiplayer maps or new weapons, but eventually entirely new missions, quests, or game areas would be created with paid DLC. Prices ranged from $0.99 to $14.99. DLC really began to take off as the Xbox Live Marketplace grew and offered more services (for consoles), and as PC developers slowly began to realize that they could make much more money by offering DLC a few at a time for $10-15 instead of a single expansion pack for $25-30. 

As more PC games were developed and more consoles became pretty much permanently attached to the internet (with the increasing availability of broadband giving it a major push), developers began to release even more DLC. Some games would be released with the first DLC expected to come out within a month. This led to a fairly negative community reaction, with most arguments being that developers were now releasing “unfinished” games just so they could make more money selling quickly-released downloadable content. Two of my favorite games, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 actually took “fast DLC” to an extreme – both of these games had DLC available on the day the game was released. Technically, I didn’t have to pay for the DLC separately because I had pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition and the code for the DLC was included…but who am I kidding? I paid an extra $20 for the Collector’s Edition in both cases, so I most certainly paid for that DLC right on day one. 

Personally, I don’t mind DLC – except the day one kind. That really does feel like a game is unfinished and I’m being gouged for more money. The developers of Mass Effect (BioWare – owned by Electronic Arts (EA)) claim that the game was not unfinished, and that the day one DLC (From Ashes, which included a new character, new weapon, and new mission) was developed after principal development for the game was completed – although they do admit that most of the assets for the DLC were present on the released disc because they couldn’t just drop all the new content in right on release day with no preparation. That defense makes sense, but it still leaves a fairly bad taste in my mouth, if I’m to be honest. 

I really don’t begrudge developers their DLC – in my opinion, most of these releases do improve a game, and they add more life to a game that might otherwise only hold my attention for a few months before being forgotten and uninstalled. Unfortunately the quality of DLC is not always high, and there’s no real way to know until after you’ve purchased it – and by then it’s too late.

Free-to-Play? Not So Much, Actually

Micro-transactions are more commonly found in newer games that are being released as “free-to-play,” which often means there’s no charge for downloading or installing the game (as is the case with Tribes: Ascend), or that there is an initial fee for buying the software, but no required subscription fee (as is the case with Star Trek: Online (STO) and The Lord of the Rings: Online (LOTRO)). Of course, what they don’t mention right up front (it’s buried in the agreements) is that for many features, you’re going to pay money. In Tribes, this is less of an issue in my opinion because, with the exception of cosmetic character skins, all the additional weapons, items, and other accessories are purchasable via experience points earned by playing. Of course, someone who wants to spend real money can also buy all the weapons and items right away without “earning” them through play. In most cases this isn’t an issue because this particular game has more of an emphasis on skill than which weapons you buy. 

With STO and LOTRO, however, there’s a major difference. You have access to the basics of the game in both cases. In STO, signing up for the standard subscription gives you a “stipend” of “C-points” which can be used in the in-game store to purchase vanity items, ship skins, experience point boosts, and additional character slots (a free subscription comes with two). Most of this is optional, but as the game evolves, more and more of the new content is becoming available only through the “C-Store.” With LOTRO, the micro-transactions are even more restricting, as certain quests and entire areas are only available once they have been purchased (or, again, a paid subscription is purchased). 

All three of these games are considered “free-to-play,” but when you look deeper, are they really? Tribes comes the closest to truly free to play, but with the store it has set up, the temptation to spend the money anyway (and they also offer sales to help entice customers) is very strong. STO offers all of the main content of the game (missions, ranks, basic ships) for free, but anything more advanced (additional characters, costumes, ships, items that confer character bonuses) is going to cost you money. LOTRO is, by far, the worst offender. Entire quest lines are locked out for people that don’t purchase them, so it’s probably fair to say that if you don’t pay for content in a game that claims to be “free-to-play,” you’re not getting the same experience that someone else is. Granted, they never claim that the “free” game is the same as the one someone pays for, but it’s still a little underhanded.

After all - the first hit is free.

DRM and Constant Connections

by J. Adams

About two weeks ago, the Midwest suffered from a rare weather phenomenon known as a "Derecho", which resulted in major power outages and extensive damage across the region. Thankfully, my own home was minimally damaged and our power was restored within about nine hours. Being the video game and internet junkie that I am, those nine hours of power loss were fairly inconvenient - and even after power was restored it was an additional 24 hours until I had reliable internet connectivity. During this time with power but without internet, attempting to play some of my favorite recently- released games was an exercise in futility.

Yes, these are most definitely First World Problems, but bear with me – I have a point!

To kill time while my wife was at work, I decided I wanted to play some Mass Effect 3. The game loaded up and, of course, could not connect to the Electronic Arts (EA) servers since I had no internet connection. This shouldn’t have been a problem, but it was. Without connecting to the EA servers, the game essentially refused to “authorize” the Downloadable Content (DLC) that I had purchased as part of the Special Edition Pre-Order Bonus (the “From Ashes” pack) which included an additional squad member, a special mission, and a bonus weapon. That would have been fine aside from the next problem; because the DLC couldn’t be “authorized,” all the saved files that I already had for the game weren’t able to be used because they “contained content that could not be authorized.”

All right, fine. No ME3 for me today. Not to worry, I’ll go ahead and reinstall a game I’ve been meaning to play through again for a while. I dug out my installation discs for Dead Space 2 and got the installation started. Fifteen minutes later, I was ready to go – or so I thought. As it turns out, this game has a “release date verification” Digital Rights Management (DRM) scheme that requires internet access to run. Now this game was released in January 2011, so one would assume that the publisher (EA again) really wouldn’t be that concerned about someone trying to play the game before it’s released.

Zero for two so far. What I’d really like to do is play some Diablo III but that is, unfortunately, outright impossible without the internet connection. Despite the fact that I play exclusively by myself and don’t use the Auction House, I can’t even load the game without signing in and being authenticated by the Blizzard servers.

I’ve got some games on Steam I can kill time with, so why don’t we start one of those up? Oh, looks like there was an update and it wants to connect to the internet to download and install it. I’ll just cancel it since I don’t have internet access at the moment…wait, what? It won’t let me use a non-updated version of Steam? So the other eight or nine games I could have been playing in offline mode can’t be accessed either. I guess I’ll go read a book for a while.

As I said, these are most definitely first world problems, but since I’ve paid for these products, one would think that I should be able to access them on my terms, not the publisher’s. The legal argument against me, of course, is that according to the End-User License Agreement (EULA) I don’t own the software I am trying to use – I am simply paying for the license; in other words, the right to use it in whatever way the publisher decides is acceptable. Unfortunately, this includes the caveat that I must submit to the authorization requirements, DRM requirements, and internet connection requirements that each publisher is free to decide upon.

DRM has actually been around in some form or another since the early 1990s, when it was restricted to audio CDs and film DVDs using either encryption or scrambling techniques. The most prevalent form of DRM is still the form that cable companies use to make sure that subscribers only have access to the channels they are paying for, usually through an onboard chip in a cable box.

Up until the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, this really wasn’t that much of an issue. Most gaming software was purchased in a brick and mortar store and the most restrictive part of the EULA was basically saying that by agreeing to it, you wouldn’t make illegal copies of the software for distribution or charge people to play it on your machine. That being the case no one really paid attention to the EULA, although that hasn’t really changed all that much (admit it – you click the “I agree” button without reading anything, don’t you? I thought so).

The most basic DRM schemes, before any additional software “locks” or restrictions, was to have an alpha-numeric code sold in the same box as the game’s media. The code would need to be entered during installation and, if valid, would allow installation to continue. In the past, these codes were verified by software on the game media itself, so internet access was not required. Now, with the prevalence of broadband, installations may require both a code and an active internet connection to unlock an installation.

Current DRM schemes for gaming – most notably PC gaming, though the reliance on the internet connectivity of the PS3 and Xbox 360 makes the issue nearly as common on consoles – include limited installation schemes (only allowing software to be installed on X number of machines), with one of the most (in)famous examples being Maxis/EA’s Spore. The limited installation DRM only allowed the software to be installed on 3 machines (or one machine 3 different times), maximum, before the user would have to make a phone call to EA customer support and request more installations. This resulted in a large number of one-star reviews on sites like Amazon.com and, unsurprisingly, an increase in the pirating of this title. Eventually, EA seemed to take the hint and removed the more restrictive portions of their DRM. By this time, though, the damage had been done. 

Another, even more reviled, scheme that has been championed by Ubisoft and their “Uplay” service is the constant internet connection. The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom requires an alpha-numeric code at installation that is validated via an active internet connection, creation of a “Uplay” account, and a constant internet connection for validation every time the game is launched. In addition, if you lose your internet connection while playing, the game shuts down. For people with unreliable broadband or intermittent connection issues, this can make playing games that require this service extremely frustrating to stay interested in. Ubisoft contends that the Uplay account also offers players a unique service by allowing gameplay statistics such as scores to be uploaded to online leaderboards and quick access to the Ubisoft store for additional features and DLC. Personally, as much fun as I have had playing The Settlers 7, dealing with the Uplay and Ubisoft ‘features’ annoys the daylights out of me, so I tend not to play it at all anymore. Somehow I doubt that was Ubisoft’s intention.

This is also the scheme that Activision-Blizzard’s most recent offering, Diablo III, uses. The initial announcement that the game would require a constant connection drew quite a bit of criticism, even from long-time Blizzard fans like me. Diablo and Diablo II had been, for me, single-player games. There were multiplayer components that utilized local area network (LAN) connections or Blizzard’s own Battle.Net, but I rarely utilized them. Blizzard’s arguments for Diablo III included their design philosophy for the game itself – that they were designing the game to be played with others – and was later revealed to be just as much, if not more, based on their idea for the Diablo III Auction House. This feature would allow players to trade items for in-game gold and would be followed by the much- debated Real-Currency Auction House. (An argument could be made that the shared stash feature would require some kind of online component, but the independent hit Torchlight featured a shared stash among a player’s characters and did not require an online connection.)

In my opinion, it’s the addition of the Real-Currency Auction House that led Blizzard to decide on a constant connection because it requires validation of a player’s identity to even log into the player’s Battle.Net account where the funds the player earns through sales are kept. I personally disagree with the Real-Money Auction House on principle (I detest micro-transaction games, which I’m sure I’ll cover in a future article), but the fact that it feels like it’s the only reason that Diablo III requires a constant connection just seems to be salt in the wound.

If you check the message boards on most reputable gaming journalism sites, (GameInformer.com, PCGamer.com, IGN.com, etc.) there is most certainly no love lost between gamers and the companies that continually inflict DRM, DLC, and constant connection woes upon us. Even on some developer and publisher websites, you’re bound to see no shortage of “No DRM!!” threads in their forums, and the inclusion of DRM in any form is hotly contested during the development of new titles. I hesitate to mention the number of “if you include DRM I won’t buy this game” threads, but there are also plenty of those. Luckily, the anonymity of the internet allows the folks that post in those threads to go ahead and buy the game anyway, no matter the venomous arguments they unleash in opposition to the decisions that publishers make.

Despite the extreme unpopularity of DRM and the fact that its effect on piracy seems to be more or less non-existent – given the workarounds even to the almost punitively restrictive Ubisoft model – I’m afraid that DRM is something that is just not going to go away. Let me stress that I am not against the developers and publishers being properly compensated for the amount of work that goes into creating my entertainment. I am against the extra hurdles that these same publishers and developers are putting in the way of my enjoyment of that entertainment. Having said that, I’m still 100% certain that I will never actually read the entire EULA before I click “I agree” and go ahead and install my game.