GCP – Episode 97 - 08/10
GCP – Episode 96 - 07/20
Interview with Frictional Games - 07/14
GCP – Episode 95 - 07/13
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GCP – Episode 72Posted December 21, 2009, Comments (9) |
We name the PC game of the year on this final Game Central Podcast of 2009!
2 Hours Nice. Thanks guys. Hope you guys have a good Christmas.
Woah, Magz on a podcast!? maybe I haven’t listened in a while…
I thought Samy brought up some good points that Chris and Keenan were too quick to dismiss. The presentation of narrative in Machinarium is something I believe comes directly out of sensibilities of silent filmmaking and it’s something I’ve seen done before on film.
Batman, on the other hand has a lot of narrative experience that could only be effectively done in games, like the Scarecrow sequences and the Riddler and Spirit of Arkham narratives.
For me, I felt like Batman was feeding me pieces of narrative as I played the game and explored the world while Machinarium just stopped to show me a cute little moment of exposition.
But for what it’s worth I like Machinarium more because:
1-I’m a shallow person and Machinarium is pretty.
2-The boss battles in Batman were mediocre.
3-Machinarium made me smile.
4-Machinarium didn’t have a half naked chick go ecoterrorist on me.
5-It’s an indie game, and on principle I hate any game that isn’t made in a garage.
Okay, maybe those last two aren’t legitimate.
Also, I forgot to say that yes, Batman does have cutscenes. I really wish they didn’t because the ingame narrative is far better in my opinion. However, I’d say maybe a fourth of the narrative is wrapped up in cutscenes. It’s something I hope they do away with entirely in the second game (except maybe for an opening and closing cutscene).
I basically agree with all of Sam’s points, except that I have yet to play Machinarium for myself so Batman was my personal GOTY. From what I hear, they are both great games, but when choosing an OVERALL GOTY I think Batman should get it regardless of the graphical styling or unique quirkiness of Machinarium. No, I’m not saying Machinarium is a bad game, I’m just saying that GOTY should be a game that the majority of people will enjoy. And sadly in todays day and age, that usually isn’t an emotional adventure game.
That being said, I fully intend to pick it up because I enjoy supporting indie developers. I just bought Braid a couple days ago, and wish I had gotten it sooner because it certainly would have been in the running for my GOTY as well. But I feel satisfied giving my personal GOTY to Batman: AA.
I forgot who mentioned it, but if you are having the “wing” problem in Batman, it is actually a form of DRM that was used to annoy pirates of the game. http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/rocksteady_thwarts_pirates_gimped_version_arkham_asylum
In Kurzon’s defense, he did say he made it out to Arkham Island, and if he was pirating, he wouldn’t have been able to do so. It seemed to me his issue was just not being able to control the gliding very well.
Greetings from Russia! I’ve been looking for years for critics who understand the art of PC gaming and not just play and say – it’s fun or it’s not fun (like f*** GameSpot or IGN). In Russia we had only one true source of real game critics – it was Game.exe magazine. It closed in 2006 due to financial problems. Since then I’ve never seen а publication – offline or online, in Russian or English – which would be a real, intelligent game critique, and not amateurish cries of people for whom the Half-Life 2 was the first game in their miserable life. Thank you guys, I’m very pleased to read and listen all of your thoughts. It would be great to know your favorite games of 2006 and 2007 as well.
As far as I can see you are the one who tried to give Machinarium GOTY title. I heartily endorse those of you who voted for Machinarium.
In 2009 several games were released in which the main component was not familiar gameplay (run, shoot, jump, beat the face, solve puzzles, build up regiments), but design of the surrounding world and the story it helps to tell: Braid, The Path, Mirror’s Edge.
Empire: Total War, Dragon Age: Origins, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War – good games, but they are made according to known patterns, and indicated above games are an attempt to give players not only enjoyment, but also aesthetic pleasure. For this I love those four games – Machinarium, Braid, The Path and Mirror’s Edge.
I appreciate the comments! Machinarium is incredibly underrated. Obviously the best game from 2009.