Tag Archives: Gaming

X is for X-Men

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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: X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is an action RPG that has topped almost all lists of X-Men video games, including player-voted Ranker Games, and also screenrant.com who said the game,” improved on practically every aspect of the first game and delivered a highly satisfying sequel.” It is the follow up to 2004’s X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse

Release Date: 2005

Developer: primarily by Raven Software

Publisher: Activision

Genre/gameplay mechanics: Players can choose up to four characters to use at once from a larger roster of fifteen+. Players unlock additional characters as they proceed through the game. Four players can play on one machine cooperatively, and players can join or leave at any time. Online play for up to four players, a first for the series.  As characters gain experience points their mutant superpowers and unique abilities can be upgraded. Items found during gameplay can also be equipped to further enhance a character’s abilities.

Setting: X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse is not set in any particular Marvel Comics universe. The game takes place sometime after the events of X-Men Legends. Locations include a military prison in Greenland, the fictional mutant sanctuary of Genosha, the Savage Land and Egypt.

Storytelling:  It unites two Marvel Comics superhero teams, the heroic X-Men and the villainous Brotherhood of Mutants as they together face the mutant supervillain Apocalypse and his minions. Apocalypse, having witnessed the X-Men’s defeat of Magneto remotely, declares that the Age of Apocalypse is nigh. Prior to the game’s campaign, he kidnaps Professor X and Polaris for unknown purposes. The game begins with the X-Men and Brotherhood of Mutants uniting forces to save Professor X and Polaris.

Formats: Microsoft Windows, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PlayStation Portable, N-Gage, mobile phone

Origins (Chronological):

  1. 2004 – X-Men Legends follows Alison Crestmere, a young mutant who has the ability to summon and control volcanic activity. As Alison is taught to control her powers at the X-Mansion, the X-Men are sent on several missions. Eventually, the X-Men learn of Magneto‘s plan to cover the Earth in darkness from his base on Asteroid M.
  2. September 10, 1963 – Writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby create The X-Men, a fictional team of superheroes appearing in The X-Men #1 published by Marvel Comics. They are among the most recognizable and successful intellectual properties of Marvel Comics, appearing in numerous comics, books, television shows, films, and video games.
  3. The 1930s (& earlier)-present – Explicitly referenced in recent decades is the comparison between anti-mutant sentiment and various discriminations, including anti-Semitism. Magneto, a Holocaust survivor, sees the situation of mutants as similar to those of Jews in Nazi Germany. Some regular characters are from other discriminated groups.

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Adaptations set in the ‘X-Men’ universe include:

  1. Comics – most recently Astonishing X-Men Vol 4, and notably, Logan’s reappearance as Wolverine, popping his claws for the first time in fifty years in Wolverine Vol 3 72.
  2. Films – Rotten Tomatoes gave 93% to Logan (2017) saying, “Third time’s the charm. After whiffing on their first opportunity to give Wolverine a compelling solo outing with the calamitous Origins, then inching a little closer to snikt-worthy cinema with The Wolverine, Fox finally gave fans a properly grim and gritty third instalment.” In his top ten, TheWrap’s film critic Alonso Duralde ranked X2: X-Men United (2003) top [85% Rotten Tomatoes], saying, “Still arguably one of the best superhero films ever made, this entry enjoys all the second-time-around benefits of any franchise where the first movie had to lay all the groundwork and tell all the origin stories.” Nine of Slashfilm’s crew matched these ratings, putting Logan just ahead of X2.
  3. TV Shows – after thirteen animated series, the expanding X-Men universe has added the two current live-action TV series, FX’s The Legion (2017-) and Fox’s The Gifted (2017-) directed by Bryan Singer. Which is better depends, as does whether they exist in the same universe as the movies.

Recommendation: The game was well received by gaming critics on all platforms. All platforms hold aggregate scores in the 80–85% range at aggregate review websites GameRankings and Metacritic. Critics felt that the inclusion of online play, additional mutant powers, and a larger cast made the game an improvement over its predecessor. Some reviewers were critical of the game’s voice acting and felt that the gameplay was repetitive. It sold enough copies to be added to the budget line known as PlayStation 2’s Greatest Hits.

As Hardcore Gamer said in its review of the top-five X-Men games, “Possibly the precursor to the Ultimate Alliance game, X-Men: Legends and X-Men: Legends II were two of the greatest superhero games to come out on the PS2….  The best was levelling up your powers as you went along, allowing your mutant powers to get even more powerful during the course of the games.”

Alternative ‘X’ thoughts:

X is also for Xena as in  Robert Tapert‘s quirky and fun Xena: Warrior Princess franchise, which has become a cultural phenomenon and feminist and lesbian icon. With seven video games, this would have been a missed chance to revive my passion for Greek mythology, despite the weird co-habitation of myths and legends.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

Hela da

 

W is for Witcher

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16

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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 Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt is an action-adventure RPG based on The Witcher series of fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, it is the sequel to the 2011 game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

Release Date: 19 May 2015

Developer/Publisher: CD Projekt

Genre/gameplay mechanics:  Players control protagonist Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter known as a Witcher who fights, rides, walks, runs, rolls and dodges, jumps, climbs and swims. Weapons include bombs, a crossbow and two swords: steel sword is used primarily to kill humans while the silver sword is more effective against creatures and monsters.  Geralt has five magical signs at his disposal; crafted mutagens increase magic power. Players can learn about their enemies and prepare for combat by reading the in-game bestiary. A dialogue wheel allows players to choose how to respond to NPCs. Geralt must make decisions which change the state of the world and lead to 36 possible endings.

Setting: Open-world with a third-person perspective, set in the Continent, a fantasy world surrounded by parallel dimensions and extra-dimensional worlds. Humans, elves, dwarves, monsters and other creatures co-exist, but non-humans are often persecuted for their differences. Europe was the basis of the game’s world, with Poland, Amsterdam, and Scandinavia as its primary inspirations. Locations include the Redanian cities of Novigrad and Oxenfurt, the no man’s land of Velen, the city of Vizima, the Skellige islands (home to several Viking-like clans) and the Witcher stronghold of Kaer Morhen.

Storytelling: The Continent is caught up in a war between the empire of Nilfgaard led by Emperor Emhyr var Emreis and Redania ruled by King Radovid V. Geralt of Rivia is looking for his missing adopted daughter, Ciri on the run from the Wild Hunt, an otherworldly force determined to capture and use her powers. The writing is infused with real-life aspects like moral ambiguity in a deliberate attempt to avoid simplification, impart authenticity, and reflect Sapkowski’s novels.

Further details: Game Wiki + Kirk Hamilton’s Beginner’s Guide to the setting, story, and more.

Releases + Expansions:

  1. Two expansion packs, Hearts of Stone(2015) and Blood and Wine (2016) were also released to critical acclaim.
  2. 16 DLCs were released that included cosmetic and additional gameplay content.
  3. A Game of the Year edition, with the base game, expansion packs and all downloadable content, was released in August 2016.

Formats: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One

Origins (Chronological) – these range from Sapkowski’s books, other writers such as the Brothers Grimm to Edgar Allen Poe, as well as Polish cultural elements. The main sources include:

  1. 2007 – In 2007 Polish video-game developer CD Projekt Red released The Witcher, the first game based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski‘s saga. CD Projekt had acquired the rights to the book series for about 35,000 zloty (approximately US$9,500) from Sapkowski, who wanted all the payment rights up front, rather than through royalties. However, as Sapkowski said in a 2012 interview by Eurogamer’s Zbigniew Jankowski, “The game – with all due respect for it, let’s say it openly – does not create any “alternative version”, let alone any further sequence. The game is a free adaptation that uses elements of my creativity, an adaptation made by other artists.” He also noted, “‘The Witcher’ is a well-made video game, its success is well deserved, and the creators deserve all the splendour and honour due.”
  2. 1990s – The Witcher appeared in Bogusław Polch‘s six comic books, which he drew from 1993 to 1995 – Maciej Parowskiwrote the story with Sapkowski, already a popular fantasy author.
  3. 1986 – Andrzej Sapkowski’s first short story, “The Witcher” (“Wiedźmin”), also translated as “The Hexer” or “Spellmaker”, was published in Polish science fiction and fantasy magazine Fantastyka. By 2017, The Witcher series encompassed two collections of short stories (1992-1993) and five novels (1994-1999). The 69-year-old author has become one of Poland’s most distinguished fantasy literary icons. Despite readers’ pleas, Sapkowski gave up the idea of continuing The Witcher His next series was the fantasy Hussite trilogy, the main character of which is Reinmar from Bielawa.
  4. Although the author denied any similarities between Redania and Poland in the books, the game developers do make use of Polish elements. Marcin Blacha, Story Director at CD Projekt Red said in a December 2016 interview, “We have the perception we were taught by the poets of Romanticism. Every time we look into the sources, we don’t study old Polish literature or archeologic manuals, but culture which refers to those elements. We don’t draw from the source itself, but from the pulp processed by cultures, and we try to make it look that unique way in which we ourselves perceive it.”
  5. 1820-1864 – Romanticism in Poland, a literary, artistic and intellectual period in the evolution of Polish culture, began around 1820, coinciding with the publication of Adam Mickiewicz‘s first poems in 1822. It ended with the suppression of the Polish-Lithuanian January 1863 Uprising against the Russian Empire in 1864. The latter event ushered in a new era in Polish culture known as Positivism.
  6. 13th-15th century – Marcin Blacha said, “…The Witcher is a tribute to the Polish language and to Polishness in general. At least I always treat the game that way”. For instance, supposedly, the annual re-enactment of the Battle of Grunwald(1410) was recorded for the sounds of battle, marching, blacksmithing, and the firing of arrows. However, it is impossible to focus on a specific era, although the 13th century might be the nearest – or is that because the game world says May 1272 – in another dimension.
  7. 12th century – Across Central, Western and Northern Europe, the Wild Hunt is a well-known folk myth of a ghostly leader and his group of hunters and hounds flying through the cold night sky, accompanied by the sounds of the howling wind. The supernatural hunters are recounted as either the dead, elves or in some instances, fairies. In the Northern tradition, the Wild Hunt was synonymous with great winter storms or changes of season.
  8. 6th century – The world in which these adventures take place is heavily influenced by Slavic mythology. The first authoritative reference to the Slavs and their mythology in written history was made by the 6th century Byzantine historian Procopius, whose Bellum Gothicum described the beliefs of a South Slavic tribe. However, as Marcin Blacha of CD Projekt Red said, “The truth is that every time we start creating some monster – like the botchling or a noonwraith – we don’t perceive this monster like pre-Slavic people did, because we have no idea what their perception of the monster was. We have the perception we were taught by the poets of Romanticism.”

Adaptations set in ‘The Witcher’ game universe – CD Projekt Red studio head Adam Badowski in response to the Eurogamer interview, said, “We want to develop The Witcher’s universe in other media, not only video games. We have Mr Sapkowski’s blessing and what we create is in line with his vision of the world, no matter how the saga will evolve. We want The Witcher’s universe to be a part of pop-culture like Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings, and for our fanbase to expand rapidly. We just have to carefully and diligently do our thing.”

  1. 2011 – second video game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
  2. In 2007, Kuźnia Gier developed two card games based on CD Projekt’s The Witcher video game. One, Wiedźmin: Przygodowa Gra Karciana (The Witcher: Adventure Cardgame), was published by Kuźnia Gier; the other, Wiedźmin: Promocyjna Gra Karciana (The Witcher Promo Card Game) was added to the collector’s edition of The Witcher in some countries.
  3. Another card game, Gwent was released with The Witcher 3: Wild Huntas an in-game activity. In 2016 a stand-alone Gwent online card game was announced and then released as Gwent: The Witcher Card Game by CD Projekt Red.
  4. In May 2017, Sapkowski’s The Witcher was picked up by Netflix, to be adapted as a television series. Sapkowski will serve as a creative consultant on the project. The series of eight episodes is set for release in 2020.

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Recommendation: The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt received critical acclaim, with praise of its gameplay, narrative, world design, combat, and visuals, although it received minor criticism due to technical issues, some of which were later patched. It received numerous Game of the Year awards and is considered to be one of the greatest games of all time. By August 2016, CD Projekt said that The Witcher 3 had received over 800 awards since its release.

The game was also a commercial success, shipping nearly ten million copies by March 2016. GameSpot and Eurogamer gave the game their highest rating.

In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die

4.7 Stars: I must confess that I have been sucked into The Witcher world – hence this long post. Plus, my research is ongoing as a reader, writer and gamer. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt is my first adventure in the world and the settings are brilliant. The storytelling is great, underpinned by reading the 1993 collection of short stories. Also, the side quests do tie into the overall world-building. The gameplay element was more complex than other games with a lot to learn and master. However, it was entertaining, and I got my partner hooked. As for its roots, well, that’s an ongoing quest.

  1. Setting: 4.75*
  2. Storyline: 5*
  3. Gameplay: 4.25*
  4. Entertainment: 4.5*
  5. Genesis: 5*

Alternative ‘W’ thoughts:

W as in When Women Were Warriors, the best trilogy since The Lord of the Rings, and also for Wonder Woman – the original comics, the classic TV series and the enjoyable 2017 movie.

+ ‘W’ Games played: World of Warcraft, which was my original W game – until the research started.

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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V is for Vindictus

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2

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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: Vindictus is an action-dungeon-crawling hack & slash MMORPG, and a prequel to the popular MMORPG Mabinogi, so the game is known as Mabinogi: Heroes in Asia.

Release Date: KOR: 2010-01-21; NA: 2010-10-13; EU: 2011-10-05; JP: 2011-11-30; TW: 2011-12-23; AU: 2012-11-15; THA: 2015-12-02.

Developer: devCAT; Publisher: Nexon

Genre/gameplay mechanics: FTP with shop/paywall; fast-paced combat, cloth physics, and the ability to weaponize objects in the environment; players choose one of twelve gender-locked characters, each of which has different combat skills and abilities; crafting; customizable & enchantable gear; dungeon quests.

Setting: Vindictus takes place in the same Celtic-themed setting used in Mabinogi, but is placed chronologically several hundred years prior to the first game during a period of war and strife. Semi-anime fantasy world with a few historical references.

Storytelling: Straightforward. “A malevolent force shrouds the land and monsters terrorize the last bastions of humanity. All seems lost and yet one hope remains: you.” Loosely based on Celtic Mythology, the goddess Morrighan has promised that all who aid in the killing of the Formor (the enemies of the land) will go to the promised land, Erinn, the land of Paradise. The story uses a mix of traditional dialogue accompanied by still images of character portraits, along with fully animated cutscenes during certain quests and missions. Some of the quests, characters and the chapters/updates are influenced by other genres, like steampunk.

NOTE: Formoroi appear in several video games, including my K game, King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame, where the Formorians appear as antagonists.

Formats: Microsoft Windows

Origins (Chronological):

  1. 2004 – Nexon released the fantasy-anime MMORPG Mabinogi. Although the name of the game is taken from the Mabinogion, a Welsh anthology of legend and some names are Welsh, the settings for the game are loosely based on Irish mythology.
  2. 12-13th centuries – The Mabinogion, compiled in Middle Welsh, covers a collection of eleven prose stories of widely different types. There is a classic hero quest, “Culhwch and Olwen“; the historic legend in “Lludd and Llefelys” glimpses a far-off age, and other tales portray a very different King Arthur from the later popular versions. The highly sophisticated complexity of the Four Branches of the Mabinogidefies categorisation.
  3. 11th century – Lebor Gabála Érenn(The Book of the Taking of Ireland) is a collection of poems and prose narratives that purports to be a history of Ireland and the Irish from the creation of the world to the Middle Ages. It tells of a series of invasions or “takings” of Ireland by a succession of peoples, the fifth of whom was the people known as the Tuatha Dé Danann (“Peoples of the Goddess Danu”), who were believed to have inhabited the island before the arrival of the Gaels, or Milesians. They faced opposition from their enemies, the Fomorians, led by Balor of the Evil Eye. Balor was eventually slain by Lug Lámfada (Lug of the Long Arm) at the second battle of Magh Tuireadh. With the arrival of the Gaels, the Tuatha Dé Danann retired underground to become the fairy people of later myth and legend.
  4. 11th century – The Fomorians are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. They are often portrayed as hostile and monstrous beings who come from the sea or underground. Later, they were portrayed as giants and sea raiders. However, their relationship with the Tuatha Dé Danann is complex and some of their members intermarry and have children. It has also been suggested that the Fomorians derive from an older group of gods who were displaced by a newer group. The Fomorians have thus been likened to the jötnar of Norse mythology.
  5. 7th – 8th centuries – The Morrígan‘s earliest narrative appearances, in which she is depicted as an individual, are in stories of the Ulster Cycle, where she has an ambiguous relationship with the hero Cú Chulainn. The Morrígan was a tripartite battle goddess of the Celts of Ancient Ireland. She was known as the Morrígan, but the different sections she was divided into were also referred to as Nemain, Macha, and Badb, with each representing different aspects of combat.

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Recommendation: Vindictus was nominated for best MMO at E3 2010 that was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 14 to 17. IGN awarded Vindictus Best Free-to-Play MMO Game of 2010. Metacritic gave a score of 76 averaged from 6 critics. In their 2010 review, MMORPG.com gave it 8/10, while users gave it 7.8.

3.5 Stars: Vindictus is one of those games that failed to pull me in, although the combat with the ability to pick up and use ‘the environment’ was cool. However, the game felt repetitive and the storyline felt shallow compared with other games. The game controls were not intuitive, or clear, and the basic functional NPC interaction was dull. The game feels dated and, for me, lacks a reason to reach the end.

  1. Setting: 3.25*
  2. Storyline: 3.5*
  3. Gameplay: 3*
  4. Entertainment: 3*
  5. Genesis: 4.75*

Alternative ‘V’ thoughts:

V is also for Vikings as in the TV show and in the 1958 Richard Fleischer movie – and in other media. Yes, there is even a game, Viking: Battle for Asgard that I haven’t had the urge to play. Instead, I gave you a post on Hellblade that tangled with Norse Mythology, and another on LOTRO with its Northern European and Anglo-Saxon roots.

 

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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U is for Ultima

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4

U

 

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: Ultima Online (UO) is an MMORPG set in the Ultima universe. A spin-off of the main series, it has become an unexpected hit, making it one of the earliest and longest-running successful MMORPGs of all time.

Ultima Online is the product of Richard Garriott‘s idea for a fantasy game involving several thousand people who can all play in a shared fantasy world. Prior games allowed hundreds of people to play at the same time, including Habitat (beta-tested in 1986), The Realm Online, Neverwinter Nights (the AOL version) and Meridian 59; however, Ultima Online significantly outdid these games, both graphically and in-game mechanics.

Release Date: September 24, 1997

Developer: Origin Systems

Genre/gameplay mechanics: continued the tradition of previous Ultima games in many ways, but due to advancing technology and the simple fact that it was Origin’s first persistent online game, many new game mechanics appeared. Partially designed as a social and economic experiment, the game had to account for widespread player interaction as well as deal with the tradition of players feeling as if they were the centre of attention, as had been the case in single-player games. It is also known for its extensive PvP combat system.

Setting: Ultima Online began with a single world, with specific expansion packs adding additional territory and new worlds. Felucca, the original world, evolved to include dead trees and tombstones to distinguish. It has a harsher rule set where player killing is more common. The third world of Trammel did not allow player killing and was geared towards fighting monsters. Felucca adopted a darker, more foreboding look and kept its player vs player roots. The worlds were called Felucca and Trammel, after the two moons in Ultima’s Britannia world.

Storytelling: Its lore retconned the ending of Ultima I, stating that when the Stranger shattered the Gem of Immortality, he discovered that it was tied to the world itself, therefore its shards each contained a miniature version of Britannia. The player characters in Ultima Online exist on these “shards”.  From that moment of shattering, their histories diverged and each ‘shard’ became home to their own unique people, places, and traditions. There are different guilds and different player organizations on each.

Releases + Expansions:

Since its release, Ultima Online has added eight expansion packs, a booster pack and dozens of free content updates. The release of Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn in 2007 brought a new game engine with upgraded visuals.

Formats: Microsoft Windows, Linux

Origins (Chronological):

  1. June 1981 – the release of Ultima, later known as Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness or simply Ultima I, was created by Richard Garriott and first published in the United States by California Pacific Computer Company Since its release, the game has been completely re-coded and ported to many different platforms. The 1986 re-code of Ultima is the most commonly known and available version of the game.
  2. 1979 – Akalabeth is considered the first published Computer Role Playing Game. In the fall, Garriott entered the University of Texas at Austin, and later joined the Society for Creative Anachronism. He created Ultima I while at the university. It was published by California Pacific Computers and sold in Ziploc plastic bags, as was common in those days. While not explicitly stated, Akalabethis seen as the first game of the Ultima series, and was, therefore, included as part of the 1998 Ultima Collection where it officially picked up the nickname Ultima 0.
  3. In creating Akalabeth, Garriott was primarily inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, for which he held weekly sessions in his parents’ house while in high school; and the works of J R. R. Tolkien, which he received from an in-law of his brother.
  4. The name derives from Tolkien’s Akallabêth, part of The Silmarillion; though the game is not based on Tolkien’s story. In the original game, the last monster on the need-to-kill list is called “Balrog”, like the demonic monsters from The Lord of the Rings, and unlike the later name for the monster in the Ultima games, Balron.

Ultima

Adaptations set in the ‘Ultima’ universe – beyond the extensive video game series:

  1. NOVELS – Several novels were released under the Ultima name, including: The Forge of Virtue (1991) by Lynn Abbey; The Temper of Wisdom (1992); Ultima: The Technocrat War by Austen Andrews; Machinations (2001); Masquerade (2002); Maelstrom (2002)
  2. JAPAN – Three manga comics, an Ultimasoundtrack CD, two kinds of wrist watches, a tape dispenser, a pencil holder, a board game, a jacket, and a beach towel were released. There was also an Ultima anime cartoon.

Recommendation: According to an Origin employee, Electronic Arts initially expected a maximum of 15,000 subscribers for Ultima Online. Between Ultima Online‘s launch on September 25 and November 13, the game sold 65,000 units. In Japan, its initial shipment of 5,000 units had sold out within 15 minutes. Origin announced that it was the company’s fastest-selling title ever, and the fastest-selling online-only computer game of all time. Ultima Online reached 150,000 simultaneously subscribers by February 2000.

Alternative ‘U’ thoughts:

U is also for the 1995 movie Usual Suspects

 

Enter this portal to reach other Worlds in my A2ZMMORPG

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T is for Tomb Raider

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2

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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: Rise of the Tomb Raider is an engrossing action-adventure video game that promises and delivers. It is the sequel to the 2013 video game Tomb Raider, a reboot of the franchise of the same name.

Release Date: Xbox 360, Xbox One – November 2015; Microsoft Windows – 28 January 2016; PlayStation 4 – 11 October 2016; macOS – 12 April 2018; Linux – 2018.

Developer: Crystal Dynamics

Publisher: Square Enix

Genre/gameplay mechanics: 3rd-person controlling Lara Croft through various environments, battling enemies, and completing puzzle platforming sections, while using improvised weapons and gadgets to progress; semi-open world; open hub zones with resources and side missions; crafting system allows player to create items like different arrow types; combat options including stealth and sneak attacks; quick time events and dodging to avoid deadly traps.

Setting: Siberia – via a snow-bound Soviet-era mining installation as a base of operations to the lost city of Kitezh under a glacier. Realistic and atmospheric.

Storytelling: Builds on 2013 Tomb Raider storyline so strong storyline. Lara Croft turns to her late father’s research into the lost city of Kitezh and the promise of immortality. Lara organises an expedition to Syria, hoping to uncover the tomb of the Prophet of Constantinople, a key figure in the legend of Kitezh. Although successful, the tomb is empty, and Lara is interrupted by Trinity—an ancient order of knights that now exists as a paramilitary organization investigating the supernatural—and their leader Konstantin. Discoveries prompt Lara to go to Siberia, where events unfold.

Releases + Expansions:

  1. The Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch DLC sees Lara investigating a disturbance within the Soviet mining facility.
  2. The Cold Darkness Awakened DLC sees Lara enter a decommissioned Soviet weapons bunker that has been breached by a Trinity patrol.

Sequels: On 15 March 2018, the third game in the rebooted series, Shadow of the Tomb Raider was officially confirmed by Square Enix. It will serve as the third and final game in the rebooted origin story. It is currently set to be fully revealed on 27 April 2018 and released worldwide on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows on 14 September 2018.

Formats: Xbox 360, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, macOS, Linux

Origins (Chronological):

  1. 2013 – Tomb Raider is the tenth title in the Tomb Raider franchise. Rather than a sequel, the team decided to completely reboot the series, re-establishing the origins of Lara Croft for the second time, following Tomb Raider: Legend. Tomb Raider is set on Yamatai, an island from which Lara, who is untested and not yet the battle-hardened explorer she is in other titles in the series, must save her friends and escape while being hunted down by a malevolent cult.
  2. 1993 – Core Design, began to develop Lara Croft as the lead protagonist for its 1996 video game Tomb Raider. Lead graphic artist Toby Gard went through about five designs before arriving at the character’s final appearance with inspiration that included pop artist Neneh Cherry, comic book character Tank Girl, the film Hard Boiled and an Æon Flux He settled on a tough South American woman with a braid named Laura Cruz. Eidos management preferred a more “UK friendly” name and selected Lara Croft from similar-sounding British names found in an English telephone directory.
  3. 1981 – Raiders of the Lost Ark: although developers wanted to avoid being derivative, Lara Croft must share some of her origins with those explored in my Indiana Jones
  4. However, there were many notable female explorers and archaeologists in the 20th century and earlier. This Pinterest board on Women Explorers in History illustrates the breadth, as does this post on Biographies, which includes:
  5. 1831-1892 – Amelia B. Edwards was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist. Her most successful literary works included the Egyptian travelogue A Thousand Miles up the Nile (1877), which described her 1873–1874 voyage. In 1882, she co-founded the Egypt Exploration Fund (now the Egypt Exploration Society).
  6. 1776-1839 – Lady Hester Stanhope was a British socialite, adventurer and traveller. Her archaeological expedition to Ashkelon in 1815 is considered the first modern excavation in the history of Holy Land archaeology. Her use of a medieval Italian document is described as “one of the earliest uses of textual sources by field archaeologists”.

Adaptations set in the ‘Tomb Raider’ universe numerous from the video games to the 2018 film – include:          

  1. VIDEO GAMES – there have been eleven main title games to date, and the twelfth, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is due out on 14 September 2018.
  2. FILMS – there have been three including the 2018 movie which received mixed reviews, but Matt Zoller Seitz said, “Although it borrows from the game (and, partially, its sequel) for structure and most of its key action sequences, “Tomb Raider” never feels like a pointless companion piece to a work that was created for a different medium.” And his final words intrigue me, “and a female hero who’s as elegant as she is deadly: an ass-kicking Audrey Hepburn.”
  3. COMICS – The original series of comics, which were released between 1999 and 2005, was published by Top Cow and were primarily based on the games released by Core Design. In 2014, following the reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise, the series was revived and is currently being published by Dark Horse Comics. The new timeline of events is based on the rebooted iteration of Lara Croft and her adventures.
  4. NOVELS – Four official novels have been written. The first three, set within the original timeline, were published between 2003 and 2005 – The Amulet of Power, The Lost Cult and The Man of Bronze. Another novel set within the 2013 reboot timeline, Tomb Raider: The Ten Thousand Immortals, was published in 2014 as a continuation of the original story. A fifth book, titled Lara Croft and the Blade of Gwynnever was published in late 2016 and is a stand-alone adventure

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Recommendation: Rise of the Tomb Raider was critically acclaimed. GameSpot’s Mike Mahardy lauded the believability of the game’s characters, as well as the addition of more tombs and the variety of options in combat. He concluded that “Crystal Dynamics has found equilibrium in almost every way.” Lucy O’Brien of IGN praised the depiction of Lara and the world design. She claimed that the game is “the most fun I’ve had with a Lara Croft game since 1996” and stated that it “takes its predecessor’s winning formula and improves on it in every way”. Metacritic gave it an average score of 86/100 on Xbox and PC. In August 2016, Rise of the Tomb Raider placed 18th on Time’s The 50 Best Video Games of All Time list.

4.8 Stars: I never played Tomb Raider until very recently, daunted by the puzzles, death-defying jumps and elements that I believed put it beyond my gaming abilities. Attempting an Assassin’s Creed game, my failings were confirmed. But Rise of the Tomb Raider has reversed my thoughts – and my rating reflects that. Not only have the settings felt realistic and immersive, the storyline kept me engrossed and the game kept me entertained, but also the gameplay has been straightforward – once I had discovered the basic tricks. Just forget about my ability to kill dangerous wildlife IF Lara gets cornered.

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

Alternative ‘T’ thoughts:

T is also for another favourite movie The Truman Show (1998), but there was no video game.

+ ‘T’ Games played: Tantra

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S is for Star Wars

by

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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: SWTOR or Star Wars: The Old Republic is an immersive MMORPG within a vast and detailed SF/fantasy galaxy based in the Star Wars universe.

Release Date: NA: December 20, 2011; EU: December 20, 2011; AU: March 1, 2012

Developer: BioWare

Genre/gameplay mechanics: open world; action-adventure; high production values; ten playable species – with restrictions; eight classes – four Galactic Republic & four Sith Empire; two subclasses per class; unique interactive fully-voiced storyline for each class; great companion system –  five per class with own skills and story; class-based starships; planetary exploration; optional warzones and open-world PvP. Tons of extra features like space combat/missions, crafting, strongholds (housing), etc. FTP with restrictions + sub + cash shop.

Setting: SWTOR is set 300 years after the events in Bioware’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and more than 3000 years before the events in the movie, Episode 1: The Phantom Menace as a time of tenuous peace seems about to vanish across numerous planets, many controlled by other species and factions than the principal combatants, the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire.

Storytelling: Expansive and immersive. Players are thrust into a galaxy where the Jedi Order and the Republic are struggling to maintain control of the core worlds after yet another war while the Sith plot their downfall and the expansion of the new Empire. The conflict opens on many fronts and across many planets, where native factions are engaged in political struggles or civil war. Each of the eight classes has a three-act storyline, against a background arc, that progresses as the character levels up. Players’ choices permanently open or close storylines and affect players’ non-player character (NPC) companions. All class storylines converge in the expansions.

Releases + Expansions – six expansions with last two changing companion system:

  1. Rise of the Hutt Cartel – April 14, 2013: The expansion is centred on the planet Makeb and the rising threat of the Hutt Cartel. The campaign is fully voiced. The level cap was raised to 55, with the levelling from 50 onwards centred on Makeb
  2. Galactic Starfighter – February 4, 2014: introduced 12v12 space-based PvP combat on two maps, with 2 ‘capture-the-flag’ combat missions. Three stock starfighters were made available – a scout, a strike fighter, and a gunship.
  3. Galactic Strongholds – October 14, 2014: introduced player housing and flagships for guilds.
  4. Shadow of Revan – December 9, 2014: centred on the Order of Revan seeking to establish a new galactic order, led by the reborn Revan himself. The campaign raised the level cap to 60 and takes place on two new worlds: Rishi, a tropical pirate haven on the edge of the galaxy, and Yavin 4.
  5. Knights of the Fallen Empire – October 27, 2015: with the emergence of a new threat from another Empire, the storyline departed from the original Jedi v Sith conflict. New companions available to all classes replaced the old class-based ones, although they are slowly returning – for everyone. The level cap rose to 65.
  6. Knights of the Eternal Throne – December 2, 2016: continuing from KOTFE expansion, KOTET focuses on defeating Empress Vaylin and the Eternal Empire. The level cap rose to 70.

Formats: Microsoft Windows

Origins (Chronological):

  1. 1977 – The Star Wars franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in 1981), followed by the successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005, which received mixed reactions from both critics and fans. A sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and continued in 2017 with the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
  2. 1934+1936 – Flash Gordon is a 1936 science fiction film serial. Shown in 13 chapters, it was the first screen adventure for the comic-strip character Flash Gordon that was invented by Alex Raymond only two years earlier in 1934. Originally, George Lucas wanted to adapt the Flash Gordon space adventure comics and serials into his own films, having been fascinated by them since he was young. In 1979, he said, “I especially loved the Flash Gordon serials… Of course, I realize now how crude and badly done they were … loving them that much when they were so awful, I began to wonder what would happen if they were done really well”.
  3. 1920s – 1940s – Nazi era parallels include: The stormtroopers share a name with the Nazi stormtroopers (see also Sturmabteilung). Imperial officers’ uniforms resemble some historical German uniforms of World War II and the political and security officers of the Empire resemble the black-clad SS down to the imitation silver death’s head insignia on their officer’s caps. World War II terms were used for names in Star Wars. Lucas himself has drawn parallels between Palpatine and his rise to power to historical dictators such as Adolf Hitler plus Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
  4. Other historical comparisons include the plot climax of Revenge of the Sith being modelled after the fall of the democratic Roman Republic (27 BC) and the formation of the empire.

Adaptations set in the SWTOR universe, include:

  1. Chronicle Books released The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic in November 2011, which chronicles the creation of the game and includes concept artwork and interviews with the development team. The book was written by former Star Wars Insider editor Frank Parisi and BioWare writing director Daniel Erickson.
  2. Comics – An internet comic titled Threat of Peace, produced by Dark Horse and written by The Old Republic developer Rob Chestney offers backstory to the game. The story spans ten years from the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant to the events that start the game. A second internet comic titled Blood of the Empire is set 25 years before the Treaty of Coruscant and offers readers a new perspective on the events leading up to the start of The Old Republic.
  3. Novels – A 256-page novel called Deceived was released by Del Rey on March 22, 2011. This story, by Paul S. Kemp, tells of Darth Malgus, the Sith Lord responsible for the sacking of Coruscant. Another novel written by Sean Williams called Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance was published on July 21, 2010. Drew Karpyshyn wrote a novel titled Revan, published on November 15, 2011. It features Revan, revealing his fate after the Knights of the Old Republic Karpyshyn wrote another novel, The Old Republic: Annihilation, that was released on November 13, 2012.

 

 

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Recommendation: SWTOR has received generally positive reviews from critics, with a score of 85 on Metacritic and an 83.87% on GameRankings. PC Gamer gave a 93/100, praising the story, voice acting, and the amount of content available. Gamespy gave a review of 4/5, praising the storylines and companion system but criticising the “standard kill and fetch” quests. GameSpot gave the game 8.0/10, saying “[The Old Republic] isn’t the next step in online role-playing games. Instead, it’s a highly entertaining refinement of what has come before it. The game has received a 9.0/10 “Amazing” rating from IGN.com. The final verdict of MMOs.com was “Good” There is an extensive community although player numbers are falling in the face of newer games and some problems – as below.

4.47 Stars: My partner and I have played SWTOR extensively, completing all eight class stories and every expansion except the Starfighter one, as we ‘suck’ at space combat, and the latest one. The settings feel realistic from an SF angle and the story-lines were excellent with some classes more memorable than others, plus some favourite companions – like ‘the bug guy’. Gameplay was good, although there are a lot of skills and the crafting can be a slog. Great fun playing the class stories, but from there the game gets repetitive as each class begins to follow a similar line. Then, we lost our companions and when they came back – one-by-one and not all – our relationships were minimal. I have two ‘instant’ level 70 characters, but only one that started at the beginning. Will she ever get to 70?

  1. Setting: 4.75*
  2. Storyline: 4.6*
  3. Gameplay: 4.5*
  4. Entertainment: 4*
  5. Genesis: 4*

Alternative ‘S’ thoughts:

S is also for Shawshank Redemption as in the 1994 movie and also Stephen King’s 1982 novella. The movie is in my top five of all-time. No game.

+ ‘S’ Games played: Star Trek Online and Shaiya.

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