Thief 4 preview gameplay

 

Trailer Rating: 10 / 10

Hello everyone! And welcome to yet another preview of some the most potential games for PS consoles. I'm really looking forward to Thief's release (yet to be confirmed.) There has been no mention of collectors editions as of yet. However; I will let you guys knows if any news arises.

In the meantime, let's take a look at the video footage. The first minute of gameplay we hear Garrett weighing all the options for entering the Baron's compound. Audio and voice acting sound very distinct and clear, perfectly matching the character's personality and likeness. The next thing we see is "swoop dash" mechanic used by Garrett in previous titles. I believe this is a very useful tool and it mystifies as to how no others games have this sort of mechanic. This action is very human... when I say this I mean, there are many animators and game developers that are constantly trying to make character actions apply to what we would do in their situation in real life. This is difficult, yet if you succeed, your work will be remembered not only by your colleges but also the fans of the game. Also, I found the use/appearance of the character arms and hands interacting with its surroundings, pleasing to watch. Selecting your weapons and tools have been made a lot more easier to access via wheel.

After several minutes, we discover that the game's atmosphere it dark, misty yet scenic at the same time. The views of the moon behind the manor and clouds was indeed an impressive sight to see. As the character moved, I was pleased to see these small wet patches of water on the cobbled walkways. This may sound strange to you folks, but these are the small touches that contribute to the whole atmosphere and feel to the upcoming game. Lip-sinc is excellent as well as the NPC animations and body language. And like Dishonoured, there are many ways to reach your objectives. There is the light everything on fire and create havoc option, and there's the sneak, knockout and shoot people in the head silently option. So good variety there! As a thief, you will have some very handy tools to accompany with you on missions. Take for example: your mechanical eye. By using this, you will be able to see oil spills, see the movements of enemy movements via foot sounds, see wallets, pickpocketing opportunities, climbable areas and other tools. To balance gameplay, the developers have also provided empty bottles to create distractions, potions to refill your focus meter. The missions seemed to vary quite abit. I adore the look of Garrett's bow, and arrows. They look impressively jagged to add a more rouge feel rather than the super polished weapons you see in other games.

The stealth system is a lot more clear and clever. When you are in complete darkness, the edges of your screen will turn and twist and if you approach more lighted area, this effect will fade dramatically. So even if you are standing in front of guard in the dark, he will not see you as the darkness cloaks your appearance.  The rope arrows are back1 Giving you access to secret and un-climbable areas.

Judging from what I have seen so far, I cannot wait to get hold of this game. Once more gameplay has been released, I shall review them in the future. It is my greatest hope that we get to see more footage and a collectors edition of some sort. If they did decide to create a collectors edition. what would you like to see?

Please feel free to answer in the comments box below! Many thanks!

ARD407 Ideas and Concepts - ARD409 Creative media Production ( Storyboard for a Game Trailer Evaluation)

Work on this assignment began from 1st May - 16th August 2013. Upon receiving the brief, my first task was selecting the preffered type of games, these were: Trenchdog (First World War) , Mario Spacehog, Freedom Force, Warbosses, Penalty, LadyKills, LEGO Lunacy, and Eyepet Lizard. The Ladykiller category did interest me however I was more taken away with the Warbosses theme. First thoughts were Warhammer4000 so I thought it would be interesting to link the two in some way. The requirements for the category included butch characters and over sized weapons. This explains my link between Warbosses and Warhammer4000. After selecting the category, I decided to conduct some concept sketches. Earlier in the year from a past assignment, I developed a story/game concept that was related to the Warhammer/ fantasy/sci-fi themes. After gaining permission to develop this concept, this enabled me to add much more detail than with the previous attempt and make the appropriate changes.

(Sadly, there have been technical issues while uploading the images for this post. I shall attempt again at a later date.)

Part of my assignment involved market research. I looked at trailers and posters to strengthen my concept further. I am all too aware how crucial marketing is to the gaming industry as this is were you attract potential customers and players. Thus trailers must be appealing to the customer. I looked at Skyrim, Dead Island and Thief 4 trailers and posters. These reviews are located within my sketchbook and are on my blog. For me, I really enjoyed the market research as this enabled me to get a better understanding of my industry and it's promotional material. For the storyboard, I was  aiming to show my growing knowledge in film language and experimenting more with colour and mixed media. Storyboards are vital as they are a means of communicating your ideas to your client or your team. Therefore, it is of great importance that they understand what your attempting to convey. All in all I created three drafts for my storyboard but I realised that the sequence doesn't have to be complicated so I opted for a more abstract and simple look. From looking at trailers, I acknowledged that the viewer doesn't really see much due to voice overs, black screens and flashing imagery. In my opinion, I believe my storyboard has vastly improved from previous assignments, there is a lot more contrast, composition and colour which adds reality to the storyboard.

The other part of this assignment required a poster illustrating out game concept. As I had Glandula fever earlier in the year, my tutors kindly asked for a poster created using traditional media rather than digital. The following media was used: coffee, tipex, black ink pens, biro, watercolour paints, acrylic paints, masking tape and graphite. Techniques: stencils, flicking, stribbing, For me, mixed media and composition took first priority. I have really enjoyed using unconventional forms of media to create a piece that interests my tutors. For another assignment, character sheets were required, these could be any character I wished, any time period etc. So I thought it would be beneficial to include these within the game trailer assignment.

This last paragraph will discuss my concept designs of the characters, weapons, mark making sheets and colour choices. I conducted a colour mark making sheet based on acrylic paint samples. A script has also been provided. From selecting various colours, this is what I use to create my traditional game poster. These mark making sheets consisted of tipex, coffee, graphite, charcoal, hairspray, fine liners, permanent marker pens, black biros, black ink pens, water, acrylic, stamping, stencils, oil pastels etc. Again I must apologise for the lack of photos, I will try and rectify this problem. Instead, I shall give a brief description as to what the character look like, personality etc. On the concept sheets feature the following:

Wisdom - Lead Female
Age: 21
Description: Green eyes, navy blue tattoos on the right side of her face, mid back length red hair (white when in combat,) long dark purple armour, straps of black fabric on her arms, shoulders, a black collar that comes just under her ear, plated white gold armour for the ankles, legs, knees and upper legs. Plated dragon horned footware, long black undershirt and a dark soft leather belt with stamped solid silver clasps and decorated metal plating. Wears the accessory that holds the key to unlocking their memories on a thick solid silver chain.
Personality: Strong minded, wise, athletic, trustworthy, tomboy, kind hearted.
Skills: Has power over all elements, can decode the DNA of anything weather dead or alive and use it to her advantage, archery and tree climbing.
Main Weapon: A curved elemental bow that alters it's shape and colour as the character progresses through-out the game.

Mercy - Lead Male
Age: 22
Description: Wears an identical necklace with a thick gold chain, short black hair with long fringe, dark brown leather trousers, waistcoat with white laced collar, white gold plated knees, leg and ankle guard, ivory hood, black undershirt, leather foot bandaged foot-wraps with scraps of fabric laced across his right arm along side intricate tattoos, a navy blue sash with blue trimmings all through-out his armour and bandaged wrist-guards.
Personality: Humorous, kind hearted, ferocious, physically strong and first aider.
Skills: Dual wields curved gem-stoned one and a half swords. Enchanter, survivalist, tracking, hand to hand combat, acrobatic.

Overall, I have really enjoyed this assignment. This has enabled me to experiment further in my discipline and developed my skills in film language, composition, colour, contrast, formal elements etc. I hope to receive a similar brief in the future where I am able to use fine art techniques and media.

Assassin's Creed II Review

 

"Magnificent!" my game rating- 9.9 / 10 ...

Ubisoft's release sequal of Assassin's Creed brought the gaming world to it's knees in 2009. The art department of AC knew that they must recreate environments that players would feel as though they were actually there. This also applied to it's NPC'S animations and combat. Despite the game being released for over 4 years, it still fascinates players and communities worldwide to this day. This review is designed to evaluate the game once more. Is the game truly great? Have the fans demands been met? Is the standard of a high quality? And what is it about this game that captures the positive response from fans and critics alike? In an earlier post, I asked you guys your opinions as to which Assassin's Creed game you liked the most and why. Your responses will be included in the review. So here we go!

 

 You are Ezio Auditore, a young Italian noble who lives with his sister (Claudia), Mother (Maria), oldest brother, younger brother and father (Giovanni) in Florence. In the first hour of gameplay, you and your friends are in the middle of a fist fight with the Pazzi and their friends. During the conflict, Ezio sustains a lip injury and heads to the doctor with his older brother. Once healed, he races to the church roof against his brother exclaiming "it's a good life we lead brother." Moments later, Ezio climbs up to the window of a young noble lady named Christina Vespucci and spends the night the her. Upon returning home, your family give you errands. After completing these ping pong missions, you discover that Giovanni and the rest of Ezio's brothers have been arrested. Thankfully the maid, mother and sister are safe within the Palazzo's office. After several events and escaping the city, you meet your uncle Mario who gives you a nice looking villa and extra training. The villa he gives you is part of the upgrading system for the town, shops you renovate will also grant you 5-15% discount as well as increasing your revenue. Within the villa, you also have a spacious gallery where the paintings you buy appear here, a nice looking armory, office, and a sanctuary where you are given the opportunity to recover the assassin seals to retrieve the armour of Altair.

 

So far, there is a lot to take in. Your understanding of the Assassin and Templar organisations are more complicated than first realised. The Templars firmly believe in order and stability whereas the Assassin's believe in man's freewill and wisdom. Indeed there are huge similarities between them. Some of you may ask: If they are so similar then why don't they work together? Well, you soon learn that this was tried and failed as each organisation have different way of approaching situations. Are the Assassin's really the good guys? These men and women are trained to kill their target whatever the means needed, no matter who they are. However; as Rebbeca Crane pointed out: "Sometimes all it takes is one death to improve the lives of others" Does this mean therefore that the Assassin's have a strong moral compass? That they only target men and women of evil minds? It would seem so.

If any of you ask which side I would want to be with, it would be the assassin's. I believe in freewill, not matter what religion or sex you are etc. Their history is rich, full of detail as well as mystery. Did an actual war exist between these two groups? Sadly, this isn't clear. However; we know the rise and fall of the Templars and their deeds during conflicts in cities such as Acre etc.



What I liked about the game

Their choice of theme and time for the game to take place. I believe the Renaissance was a hugely important period for man at this time. This was known as the "rebirth" of learning, from history to classics, inventing, mathematics, science, English, art and astrology studies. The amount of research is evident towards every aspect of the game, weather that may be environments, to attitudes, clothing, shops and even real life characters such as Leonardo Da Vinci. To me, the amount and the attention to detail is staggering. The storyline, is very good. Of-course it would have been nice to rescue or spend some more time with your other siblings. However; I think that if the father and brothers didn't die, then there would be no storyline or no where near as affective. There are some nice looking textures, not just in the fabric of the cities but also in the clothing and waters surrounding these magnificent fortresses. Combat has dramatically improve since the first game, the animations also compliment this area. Other likeable areas are, the atmosphere, the history, the violence of combat, the upgrading system, the behaviour of guards and other NPC's, the variety of maps and environments, the Assassin tombs, shops, paintings, weapons, armour, overall size of maps, the ability to free run and explore at your pace when you choose,  side missions, over hanging gardens, voice acting, sound effects etc.



And the negatives?

Don't worry, these are very minor negatives. Take for instance the set camera modes while your completing a climbing challenge against the clock, sometimes, these can make me feel disorientated. I was disappointed to realise that there was no official art-book, except those that come with the collectors edition. Surly, for such a release they would have considered an official art-book?  The other issue evolves around distant buildings and overall feel. Sometimes buildings look very blurred and usually when I walk through Forli, close ups are quite blurred yet I understand that this is to create the overall feel and perspective for the game. My last concern relates to how to collect your money instead of venturing all the way to Claudia. Could we have a headquarters in every district as a means of communicating through letter to Claudia, enabling us to collect income and provide her with instructions.

Your Feedback!

Gabe Zune

 

If you haven't guessed, mine is AC2. I felt it did exactlty what good sequels are supposed to do, improve all aspect such as visuals, gameplay, and further the story. It had the most improvements and additions since its predecessors and can be described as the renaissance of the series (see what I did there? xD. Literally everything was improved! The fighting, the atmosphere, the climbing, the visuals, and even the character had more personality than the previous piece of cardboard. All other games have just provided small improvements such as ACR's great music and AC3's good graphics. But in the end, everyone will remember the start of Ezio's journey xD

Carl Johnson

 

I recently started playing the whole series out in the living room, as my dad watches. Suffice to say, he finds the story fascinating.

Thank you to all the people that got involved! I shall be continuing the Assassin's Creed Reviewing process so if guys have any questions or suggestions, please let me know! :)