Category Archives: Gaming

M is for Might & Magic

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.

[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

 

Game: Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, commonly abbreviated to Might and Magic VI or simply MM6, is an RPG that was praised for its non-linear, user-friendly and interactive approach.

Release Date: April 30, 1998

Developer: New World Computing

Genre/gameplay mechanics: player chooses & controls four adventurers; character improvement and ageing; fully explorable maps; battles can be conducted either in real time or in a turn-based mode; single-player, 1st person viewing with 360 degrees turning; keyboard controls – arrow keys not WSAD or mouse; main and side quests.

Setting: Medieval fantasy world of Enroth on continent of same name, Seven years after the events of Heroes of Might and Magic II: The Succession Wars. As semi-realistic as blocky-graphics of era allowed. Terrain varies between grassland, swamp, desert and extra-terrestrial constructs.

Storytelling: Continues the 1500-year war between the Ancients and a Devil-like race of alien beings, the Kreegans, from some of previous M&M games. The war spills over into nearby planets. On Enroth, the adventurers aim to keep a rightful dynasty in control amidst various plots and machinations.

Releases + Expansions: Might and Magic is a series of RPGs created by Jon Van Caneghem. Might and Magic is considered one of the defining examples of early PC role-playing games, along with The Bard’s Tale, Ultima and Wizardry series.

The majority of the gameplay takes place in a medieval fantasy setting, while later sections of the games are often based on science fiction tropes, the transition often serving as a plot twist. Combat is turn-based, though the later games allowed the player to choose to conduct combat in real time.

From Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven onward, the interface features a three-dimensional environment.

There are ten games in the series:

Anthologies

  • Might and Magic Trilogy(1993), includes Might and Magic games III, IV, V, and the fanmade Swords of Xeen.
  • Might and Magic I, II, III, IV, V: Collection Classique(1998), contains the games I-V
  • Ultimate Might and Magic Archives(1998), includes the first five Might and Magic games, World of Xeen and the fanmade Swords of Xeen.
  • Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven – Limited Edition(1998), a collector’s edition of Might and Magic VI that included the first five games on CD-ROM as well.
  • Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven – Special Edition(1998), included Might and Magic games I, II, III, IV, V and the fanmade Swords of Xeen as well.
  • Might and Magic Sixpack(1998), includes the first six Might and Magic
  • Might and Magic Millennium Edition(1999), includes the Might and Magic games IV, V, VI and VII.
  • Might and Magic (Platinum Edition)(2002), includes the Might and Magic games VI, VII, VIII and IX.

There were several spin-offs from the main series, including Heroes of Might and Magic, Crusaders of Might and Magic, Warriors of Might and Magic, Legends of Might and Magic, and the fan-made Swords of Xeen.

In August 2003, Ubisoft acquired the rights to the Might and Magic and has since released multiple new projects using the Might and Magic brand, including a fifth instalment of the Heroes series, an action-style game called Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, and a puzzle RPG called Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes.

Limbic Entertainment has developed the latest game in the franchise, Might & Magic Heroes VII, for Ubisoft,

Formats: Microsoft Windows

Origins (Chronological):

1983-86 – The original Apple II version of Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum was written almost single-handedly by Jon Van Caneghem over three years. Van Caneghem had difficulty finding a publisher to distribute Might and Magic, so he self-published as New World Computing, handling the distribution himself from his own apartment until he was able to broker a distribution deal with Activision.

M&M2

Recommendation: Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven was a critical success upon release. GameSpot gave the game a 9.1 out of 10 and called it “a standout game in what should be a great year for role-playing game fans”, as well as saying “the graphics in Might and Magic VI are the best yet seen in a 3D first-person-perspective role-playing game.” GameRankings compiled reviews for an average of 85.14%. Might and Magic VI was nominated for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences‘ “Role-Playing Game of the Year”, Computer Gaming World‘s “Best RPG”, PC Gamer US‘s “The Best Roleplaying Game”, GameSpot‘s “Role-playing Game of the Year”, IGN‘s “Best RPG of the Year” and Computer Games Strategy Plus‘s “RPG of the Year” awards, all of which ultimately went to Baldur’s Gate – see my post B is for Baldur’s Gate.

3.55 Stars: I played Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, obsessively, around 1998 – determined to find a final secret cache defended by dragons in the desert – a side mission as I completed the game. After dying a few times – nothing has changed – I learnt how to manage a party and stormed ahead. Re-visiting the game after 20 years, I’m dying as I re-learn the tricks of the past – but it’s fun as I re-learn forgotten tricks.

  1. Setting: 3.5*
  2. Storyline: 4*
  3. Gameplay: 3.25*
  4. Entertainment: 4*
  5. Genesis: 3*

Alternative ‘M’ thoughts:

M is also for A Matter of Life or Death, one of my top ten movies for so many reasons – 1946, Powell, Pressburger, Niven, Hunter, Goring…

+ ‘M’ Games played: Mabinogi, Medieval: Total War.

 

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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L is for Lord Of The Rings

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.

[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: LOTRO or The Lord of the Rings Online is an engrossing MMORPG set in Middle-earth, the high-fantasy universe based upon J. R. R. Tolkien‘s writings.

Release Date: April 24, 2007

Developer: Turbine

Genre/gameplay mechanics: MMORPG mechanics with special features such as traits, deeds and reputation; PVE and PvMP (Player vs Monster Player); avatar selected from six races and ten classes; evolving/learnable skills; questing through virtual game-world; six-player Fellowships (groups); Kinships (clans); crafting; housing; musical instruments, festivals.

Setting: 25 distinct and semi-realistic regions of Middle Earth during the time period of The Lord of the Rings (LOTR). Each Region of Middle-earth is represented as being permanently “frozen” at a certain point in time. For example, it is always September of the Year 3018 of the Third Age in the Shire, December 3018 in Rivendell, February 3019 in Lothlórien, etc.

Storytelling: The player starts simultaneously with Frodo and company leaving The Shire and their actions on the Epic Quest Line (main storyline) are helping the Ringbearer on his task, while combating the forces of evil. These are extra events created by the makers of the game but based on LOTR lore. Throughout, the player interacts with characters from The LOTR at key moments. Standard side-quests are new stories.

The game’s milieu is based on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. However, the developers do not have rights to any other works in Tolkien’s legendarium, such as The Silmarillion, but intend to develop their interpretation of the Middle Earth world.

Releases + Expansions: In addition to regular free updates, six expansion packs have been released:

– Mines of Moria: 2008 – this expansion featured the underground world of Dwarrowdwelf.

– Siege of Mirkwood: 2009 – introduced Mirkwood region and the skirmish system.

– Rise of Isengard: 2011 – introduced Dunland region and new instances in Isengard.

– Riders of Rohan: 2012 – featured mounted combat and introduced East Rohan.

– Helm’s Deep: 2013 – introduced “epic battles” and a new region in Rohan (West Rohan).

– Mordor: – 2017 after three years of minor free updates. It introduced Plateau of Gorgoroth region and new instances in Mordor.

Formats: Microsoft Windows and OS X

Origins (Chronological) – :

  1. Published in three volumes over the course of a year from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955, J. R. R. Tolkien‘s The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling novels ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.  Although a major work in itself, the story was only the last movement of a larger epic Tolkien had worked on since 1917, in a process he described as mythopoeia. In 2003, it was named Britain’s best-loved novel of all time in the BBC’s The Big Read.
  2. 1937 – The Lord of the Rings started as a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien’s work The Hobbit, published by George Allen & Unwin.
  3. 1936 – “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” was a 1936 lecture given by J. R. R. Tolkien on literary criticism on the Old English heroic epic poem Beowulf. Tolkien also revealed how highly he regarded the poem: “Beowulf is among my most valued sources”, and this influence may be seen throughout his Middle-earth legendarium Plus, reading the lecture in my teens was my first encounter with the Professor.
  4. 1920-1959 – LOTRencompasses many influences, including religious and mythological sources from Tolkien’s academic studies and from personal experiences.
  5. The Völsunga saga is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan featuring, in particular, a magical golden ring and a broken sword re-forged.
  6. 1220 – The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri’s Edda often assumed to have been written, or at least compiled, by the Icelandic scholar, lawspeaker and historian Snorri Sturluson. Tolkien’s Elves and Dwarves are by and large based on these and related sagas.
  7. 9th-11th century – The influence of the Welsh language, which Tolkien had learned, is summarized in his essay English and Welsh: “If I may once more refer to my work. The Lord of the Rings, in evidence: the names of persons and places in this story were mainly composed on patterns deliberately modelled on those of Welsh (closely similar but not identical). This element in the tale has given perhaps more pleasure to more readers than anything else in it.”
  8. 10th century – Beowulf one of the most important works of Old English literature. A date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating pertains to the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025. Tolkien was a Professor of Old English/Anglo-Saxon and Middle English language and literature, and this literature, particularly Beowulf, influenced his own writings.
  9. A final question: was Tolkien creating a new mythology or building on others? See – Simon J Cook’s J R R Tolkien’s Lost English Mythology.

Adaptations set in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ universe – (Middle-earth would be too numerous):

  1. FILMS – Three film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings have been made. The first was The Lord of the Rings (1978), by animator Ralph Bakshi, the first part of what was originally intended to be a two-part adaptation of the story. The second, The Return of the King (1980), was a television special by Rankin-Bass. The third was director Peter Jackson‘s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, released in three instalments as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).
  2. TELEVISION – there has been a Swedish TV series and a Finnish one. Amazon is reputed to be developing an adaptation with Warner Bros. Television and the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien.
  3. STAGE – several adaptations have been made including musicals.
  4. AUDIO – over a dozen recordings and radio plays have been made, notably the BBC broadcast dramatisation in 26 half-hour instalments. It starred Ian Holm as Frodo Baggins, the protagonist; he would play Bilbo Baggins, his character’s cousin/uncle, in the Peter Jackson films.
  5. VIDEO GAMES – over two dozen games have been produced including The Lord of the Rings Online. The two most recent are: 2011 – Lord of the Rings: War in the North is an action RPG that takes place in Northern Middle-earth; 2014 – Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is an action RPG – with a sequel, titled Middle-earth: Shadow of War in 2017.

LOTRO_Isengard

Recommendation: The Lord of the Rings Online received wide universal acclaim on release, and positive reviews continued to appear after the game’s release. For instance, GameDaily awarded the game 9/10, praising its rich, fantasy-themed universe, well-integrated trait and title system, and a story that remains true to the works of Tolkien. Metacritic gave the game 86% (40 reviews). See also: MMORPG.com, and MMOS.com.

However, the release in July 2017 of the Mordor expansion received largely negative reviews, and there are signs in its eleventh year of operation of burn-out.  But the game has a staunch core following and Middle Earth is still populated. This interesting in-depth 2017 analysis at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j22DC4axaQ gives the pros and cons.

4.7 Stars: My partner and I have played The Lord of the Rings Online since 2011, for a time in an active kinship and more recently on-and-off, especially for festivals. Great soundtrack and setting make it enjoyable. Classes and races give enough variety. For me, this is the nearest I can come to being in Middle-earth – interacting with Frodo and Elrond were highlights. Lore is very true to Tolkien with acceptable developments within the restrictions of rights. There’s a huge world to explore and we have yet to visit everywhere. Nor have we tackled the end-game grind that we have been warned about.

  1. Setting: 4.75*
  2. Storyline: 5*
  3. Gameplay: 4*
  4. Entertainment: 4.75*
  5. Genesis: 5*

Alternative ‘L’ thoughts:

L is also for Lagaan, a superb Hindi movie that I highly recommend, even if it’s very long at 225 minutes – drama, romance, cricket and so much more.

 

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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K is for King Arthur

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.

[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

 

Game: King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame is a strategy game with an Arthurian theme that builds on the mystery-shrouded tales of the Round Table – and yes, he gets his sword.

Release Date: November 24, 2009

Developer: NeoCore Games

Genre/gameplay mechanics: turn-based strategy; diplomacy; campaign map; real-time battles with victory locations; heroes; heroic quests; recruitment; single or multi-player; RPG elements.

Setting: Quasi-historical Britannia made up of numerous provinces in a post-Roman Britain. For an ex-pat, this could be England, even Wales.

Storytelling: Open-ended single-player campaign storyline has many scenarios, some built around Arthurian lore, but others delve into fantasy realms, even intermixing foreign elements. The player takes the role of King Arthur himself and commands his knights and armies to expand his kingdom. It is explained that Uther Pendragon, Arthur’s father, failed to draw the sword Excalibur from the stone. Arthur, years later, pulls the sword from the stone, unleashing ancient forces upon Britannia.

Releases + Expansions:

  1. Bug fixing patches versioned 1.02, 1.03 and 1.04 were released after publication.
  2. NeoCore released two downloadable content items: Knights and Vassals (adding further units and heroes), and Legendary Artifacts (adding additional weapons, relics and other items) on January 19, 2010.
  3. July 2010 expansion – King Arthur: The Saxons added an additional campaign set after the Arthurian period, during the Saxon era of Britain; sandbox game style.
  4. January 2011 expansion – King Arthur: The Druids, set in Wales, ‘sandbox’ type game format.
  5. September 2011 stand-alone expansion – King Arthur: Fallen Champions was released, with a story-based mission structure. Intended to act as a bridge between the stories of the original game and the sequel.

Sequels: September 2011 (EU) + April 2012 (Worldwide) –  King Arthur II: The Role-Playing Wargame. Single-player but no multi-player.

Formats: Microsoft Windows

Origins (Chronological) – the core sources for King Arthur:

  1. Most later Arthurian works are derivative of  Le Morte d’Arthur, Thomas Malory‘s retelling of the entire legend in a single work in English – first published in 1485 by William Caxton.
  2. c1170-1190 –  Chrétien de Troyes wrote five Arthurian romances that had the greatest influence with regard to the development of Arthur’s character and legend.
  3. The first narrative account of Arthur’s life is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth‘s Latin work Historia Regum Britanniae(History of the Kings of Britain), completed c. 1138. Over 200 manuscript copies of Geoffrey’s Latin work are known to have survived. It is one of the central pieces of the Matter of Britain.
  4. The 9th-century Latin compilation  Historia Brittonum describes the supposed settlement of Britain by Trojan expatriates and states that Britain took its name after Brutus, a descendant of Aeneas. The work was the “single most important source used by Geoffrey of Monmouth and was the first source to portray King Arthur, who is described as a dux bellorum (‘military leader’) or miles (‘warrior, soldier’) and not as a king.
  5. Based on a chronicle begun in the late 8th century in Wales,  Annales Cambriae (Welsh Annals) also sees Arthur as a genuine historical figure, a Romano-British leader who fought against the invading Anglo-Saxons in the late 5th to early 6th century.
  6. Excalibur was associated with the Arthurian legend very early. In Welsh, it is called Caledfwlch and appears in several early Welsh works, including the Culhwch and Olwen, a work associated with the Mabinogion and written perhaps around 1100.
  7. The earliest literary references to Arthur come from Welsh and Breton sources.  A 2007 academic survey, Concepts of Arthur by Dr Caitlin R. Green, identifies three key strands to the portrayal of Arthur in this earliest material: the first is that he was a peerless warrior who functioned as the monster-hunting protector of Britain from all internal and external threats; the second is that Arthur was a figure of folklore and localised magical wonder-tales, the leader of a band of superhuman heroes who live in the wilds of the landscape. The third and final strand is that the early Welsh Arthur had a close connection with the Welsh Otherworld Annwn.

Adaptations set in the Arthurian universe – notable & seminal examples:

  1. BOOKS – Since H. White‘s The Once and Future King(1958), there have been some noteworthy adaptations, some listed in this excellent article by historical-fiction writer, Annie Whitehead. These include my favourite, Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon.
  2. POETRY – the most notable poet, for me, is Alfred Tennyson, whose first Arthurian poem “The Lady of Shalott” was published in 1832.
  3. ART – William Morris and Pre-Raphaelite artists are among the many to produce works with an Arthurian theme.
  4. FILMS – personal preferences are John Boorman’s 1981 film Excalibur, Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 film King Arthur with Arthur as a Roman cavalry officer rather than a medieval knight, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), with its watery tarts and swallows.
  5. TELEVISION – favourite and historically the most interesting was the series Arthur of the Britons(1972–73)
  6. VIDEO GAMES – around twenty video games reference Arthur, from Tomb Raider to King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame.

KingArthur_1081122-955129_20091201_002

Recommendation: On Metacritic, the game received an aggregate 54/100 and within the industry was well-received…including this Gamespot review, which mentions “watery tarts”, and says, “While the overall game is well worth playing because of the outstanding development of the Arthurian theme and some innovations on both the role playing and strategy sides of the fence, the flaws that mount up after a while will leave you hoping for a patch.”

3.8* Stars: I first bought the game anticipating a similar game to Medieval: Total War  (2002) and its expansion pack, Viking Invasion (2003) which I had enjoyed. King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame had echoes but with different elements, such as the RPG quests and heroes. Combat-wise, I got my armies wiped out at the beginning – too much trial and error as the Gamespot review said. But the game is addictive.

  1. Setting: 3.25*
  2. Storyline: 4*
  3. Gameplay: 3.25*
  4. Entertainment: 3.5*
  5. Genesis: 5*

Alternative ‘K’ thoughts:

K is also for King Kong. I enjoyed both Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s great 1933 movie and Peter Jackson’s excellent 2005 version. Plus, there are video games that I haven’t tried.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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I is for Indiana Jones

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper.

[Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

 

Game: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is a point-and-click adventure game widely regarded as a classic of its genre today. The game featured the Indiana Jones character who first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Release Date: June 1, 1992

Producer/Developer: LucasArts

Genre/gameplay mechanics: Point-and-click adventure game; single-player explores static environments and interacts with sprite-based characters and objects; three unique paths to select, influencing story development, gameplay and puzzles.

Setting: 1939, on the eve of World War II, with environments representing New York, Iceland, Guatemala, Monte Carlo, Algiers and the ruins of Atlantis.

Storytelling: Nazi agents are about to get their hands on a weapon more dangerous than the atom bomb. Only Indy can stop them before they unleash the deadly secret that sank Atlantis. Storyline offers three different paths to the completion of the game and many alternative ways to solve puzzles. The player who finishes all the puzzles in all three paths and all the alternative solutions receives a full IQ (Indy Quotient) score.

Releases + Expansions:

  1. 1993 – Re-issued on CD-ROM as an enhanced “talkie” edition with full voice acting and digitized sound effects.
  2. 2009 – CD-ROM version released as an unlockable extra of the Wii action game Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, and as a digitally distributed Steam
  3. The intended sequel Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix was set after World War II but LucasArts cancelled the game. The plot was later adapted into a four-part Dark Horse Comics series by Lee Marrs.
  4. Another follow-up game, Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny was planned but eventually cancelled. Elaine Lee loosely reworked the story into another four-part comic book series.

Formats: Amiga, FM Towns, MS-DOS, Macintosh, Wii

Origins (Chronological):

  1. 1981 movie Raiders of the Lost Ark with Harrison Ford, (and later Indiana Jones films in the franchise).
  2. 1954 – According to Lucas and Spielberg, the first Indiana Jones film originated from Lucas’ desire to create a modern version of the serials of the 1930s and 1940s. However, there was a B-movie titled Secret of the Incas that provided inspiration to some of the team.
  3. 1948 – Carl Barks’ comic character Uncle Scrooge, was as a relation for Donald Duck in the “Uncle Scrooge” Dell Comics book series involving exciting and strange adventures in the company of his duck nephews.
  4. Many people are said to be the real-life inspiration of the Indiana Jones character—although none have been confirmed as inspirations by Lucas or Spielberg. An analysis by the Smithsonian Channel concluded that the linkage for the main contenders is indirect, but Roy Chapman Andrews (1884-1960) and other explorers such as Hiram Bingham III  (1875-1956) and Percy Fawcett (1867-1925) served as the model for heroes in adventure films of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, who in turn inspired Lucas and his fellow writers.
  5. 1912 – Another possible basis is Professor Challenger, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doylein 1912 for his novel, The Lost World. Challenger was based on Doyle’s physiology professor, Sir William Rutherford, an adventuring academic, albeit a zoologist/anthropologist.
  6. 1885 – Sir  Rider Haggard’ssafari guide/big game hunter Allan Quatermain of King Solomon’s Mines, is another notable template for Jones.
  7. The roots of the Indiana Jones universe lie in the quest for secrets and treasures that has become the science of archaeology, and which grew out of the older multi-disciplinary study known as antiquarianism, dating back to ancient scholars like Ouyang Xiu(1007–1072) and Plato (c.428-347 B.C.) – but probably without a bull-whip and Fedora; even if Plato knew about the Fate of Atlantis.

Adaptations set in the ‘Indiana Jones’ universe include:

  1. Video games – With nineteen games, and more on the way perhaps, it’s impossible to list them. However, here are some Top Ten listings from IGN.com and Ranker.com if you wish to explore.
  2. Literature – there are numerous Novels and Comics in the universe, so explore but watch out for snakes.

Indiana-Jones-Fate-of-Atlantis-IGN-3

Recommendation: Overwhelmingly positive with over 1 million sales and multiple awards. The most successful Indiana Jones video game, although not one I’ve played – so stars are a pass.

Alternative ‘I’ thoughts:

‘I’ is also for It’s A Wonderful Life, one of my top ten movies – but this is a gaming post.

+ ‘I’ Games played: Icewind Dale in the same universes as my B post, Baldur’s Gate.

 

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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H is for Hellblade

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16

 H

 

The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper. [Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is an intense psychological action-adventure game which PCGamesN rated, “a miraculous technical feat made by a team just a fraction the size of the ones that typically dominate the triple-A space.”

Release Date: April 8, 2017

Developer/Publisher: Ninja Theory

Genre/gameplay mechanics: Award-winning game – dark fantasy action-adventure; hack and slash; puzzle-solving; psychological horror. Voice-acting integral to unique, 3D binaural audio design. Cutscenes combine motion/performance capture by video editor-turned-actress Melina Juergens and live-action performances by other actors.

Setting: A rendition of Helheim, the Norse underworld – effective use of audio and visual to submerge players in Senua’s nightmarish journey and her accurately-portrayed mental world. The world feels horrifyingly real as the sounds and graphics seem subtly distorted.

Storytelling: Hellblade follows Senua, a Pict warrior who journeys to Helheim to save the soul of her dead lover from the goddess Hela. Also, the character struggles with her mind, and the game revolves around her condition. Senua suffers from psychosis but believes it to be a curse. She is haunted by an entity known as the “Darkness”, voices in her head known as “Furies”, and memories from her past.

As Ninja Theory said in 2015, “Senua experiences psychosis, including hallucinations and delusions, as well as suffering from anxiety and depression. As a player, you will witness Senua’s living nightmare through her own eyes… Developing Hellblade independently gives us the freedom to tackle a subject as challenging as mental health. It is a subject that we are handling with all the respect it deserves, ensuring that our portrayal of Senua’s condition is both accurate and sensitive. To help us with this we are working closely with Professor Paul Fletcher, a professor of Health Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, as well as arranging to consult directly with people who have experience of mental health difficulties. We are also very proud to say that Hellblade is being supported by Wellcome Trust, which is a global charitable foundation which aims to build a greater public understanding of science and in particular health.”

Releases:

  1. August 8, 2017 – Windows, PlayStation 4
  2. April 11, 2018 – Xbox One

Origins (Chronological):

  1. 2010 – Ninja Theory released Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, a video game that saw the Ninja team develop their motion capture with Andy Serkis.
  2. 8th century – The Roman Empire was unable to conquer a group of Celts in the northern reaches of Great Britain known as the Picts. Towards the end of the century, the first Vikings arrived in the islands of Orkney and replaced them as the main population of the land. Senua is portrayed as a Celtic warrior on Orkney.
  3. 793-1066 – Norse Mythology in the Viking Age: “Before the Norse (a.k.a. the Vikings) were converted to Christianity during the Middle Ages, they had their own vibrant native pagan religion that was as harshly beautiful as the Nordic landscape to which it was intimately connected.”
  4. The 1st century and earlier – The main inspiration of Senua’s character was the Iceni queen Boudica, while her name came from Senuna, a Celtic whose name was at first read incorrectly as Senua. The team researching Celtic culture and the Celts’ views on mental disorder, found out that they used the term ‘gelt’ for a man or woman who had been driven mad by a curse, grief, or the trauma of a battle. A gelt would take to a life in the woods in search of penance, punishment and purgatory. The team decided to make Senua a gelt, who had left her home in exile for those reasons.

Recommendation: Hellblade was a commercial success and was well received by critics, who praised it as a work of art and applauded its uncommon choice of revolving around psychosis, the quality and uniqueness of its approach of the condition, and its story and main character. Reviews included this  7 August 9 stars review from IGN: “An incredible atmospheric story reinforces Hellblade’s serious subject matter in this vivid tale of harrowing darkness.” 2017 Players were equally enthusiastic in their reactions.

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4.55 Stars: Before I played the game, I watched numerous video reviews, diaries and walkthroughs, and I was excited. The game ticked so many boxes, and elements tied into my current WIP, whose second protagonist suffers from a form of psychosis. The actual experience was intense. As expected the voices-in-the head and confused images created a disturbing atmosphere, at times nightmarish. The combat should have been simple, but not for this nerve-jangled oldie who can’t hit the right keys fast enough – so died repeatedly…frustrating. I’ll keep trying though.

  1. Setting: 4.5*
  2. Storyline: 5*
  3. Gameplay: 3.75*
  4. Entertainment: 4.5*
  5. Genesis: 5*

Alternative ‘H’ thoughts:

H is also for Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials, but I’ve yet to find a suitable game. Is there one?

+ ‘H’ Games played: Heroes of Might & Magic – but that comes under M.

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G is for Guns or Butter

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The aim of my Blogging From A to Z Challenge is to find the origins of online games, some relatively modern and some with ancient roots. Gaming might well be a modern take on an art that is almost timeless – storytelling. A perfect excuse for a writer to delve a little deeper. [Visit here for links to other A to Z participants.]

Game: The Global Dilemma: Guns or Butter  is a 1990 simulation game written by Chris Crawford. The game failed to achieve the play balance that Crawford desired, and he considered it among the worst games he released.

Release Date: 1990

Developer: Mindscape

Genre/gameplay mechanics: Single player DOS strategy simulation; wargame. Randomly generated B&W 2D-map of countries and provinces generated. Player uses the basic info to decide ‘military’ versus ‘food’ strategy to expand improving the economy of their country in an effort to outproduce the computer players.

Setting: Fictional computer-generated countries. Very basic structure and limited commodities to simulate macroeconomics.

Storytelling: simple plot of choosing best strategy to survive and beat computer AI.

Releases + Expansions:

Single release with no expansion as poor response.

Sequels: Balance of the Planet  is a 1990 environmental-based educational simulator developed by Chris Crawford and published on DOS, Macintosh, and PC-98 – arguably the first ‘eco-sim’.

Formats: Macintosh, IBM PC

Origins (Chronological):

  1. Mid 1980s – Crawford, Sid Meier and Dan Bunten all began work on new empire building games. They later met to discuss their designs. Meier stated his goal was to make the game fun and he was willing to abandon realism or depth to achieve that end. He went on to release Civilization in late 1991.
  2. 1985 – Crawford had an enormous hit with Balance of Power in 1985, selling hundreds of thousands of copies and making about $10 million for its publisher, Mindscape.
  3. 16th century – Macroeconomics descends from two areas of research: business cycle theory and monetary theory. Monetary theory dates back to the 16th century and the work of Martín de Azpilcueta, while business cycle analysis dates from the mid- 19th.

Recommendation: The game was a market flop, earning Crawford no royalties past the advance. Crawford was not alone in considering Dilemma to be among his poorest games, and the poor sales translated into almost no reviews. However, in 1991, PC Format named The Global Dilemma one of the 50 best computer games ever. The editors wrote, “If it’s global political simulations you’re after, nobody does it better than Chris Crawford. This and his earlier offering, Balance of Power, are unparalleled works of sheer genius.”

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2 Stars: Guns or Butter was the first computer game that I got addicted to – through strategy-devising and determination to beat the AI. I tried the ‘Butter’ route, using trade to prevail – but that was tough, so I often ended up facing the firing squad, which was the final graphic if the AI won. I was better at balancing my military and trade to beat the game. From there, I moved on to Sid Meier’s Civilization games and Age of Empires.

  1. Setting: 1*
  2. Storyline: 1*
  3. Gameplay: 2*
  4. Entertainment: 3*
  5. Genesis: 3*

Alternative ‘G’ thoughts:

G is also for Gladiator, Ridley Scott’s 2000 film with Russell Crowe – and a brilliant soundtrack for writing. Plus, a wealth of Roman links and the hack and slash video game, Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance. But I never played the game and it’s only related to the movie by profession.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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