Singular Thoughts - Current Generation vs Last Generation

Browsing through forums over the years made me see more than just a few interesting things, one of those things that came to mind that I've seen a lot more than just recently is the argument of the current generation of gaming against the last generation. More appropriate figures would be the Xbox period of time (Last gen) against the Xbox 360 period of time (Current gen). With this argument in mind, that's what I'd like to talk about in this post.

While I'm sure a lot of people have argued for or against the Current Gen in this situation, there hasn't been a lot of people that actually have had convincing arguments against the Current Gen. In fact I really haven't seen any argument other than one : “The Current generation of gaming is all about graphics” and usually that's where the argument ends. That argument suggests that this generation of gaming sacrifices everything else for improved graphics, to which I personally and respectfully disagree.

Graphics are definitely the first thing most people look at, since it is for the most part the only visual thing to look at (other things to look at arguably are things such as text, or menu design), and in general it has improved the most significantly above the last generation of gaming, despite that, there are many new features in games nowdays that you didn't really see at all in the last generation. The most direct comparisons in this argument would come from sequels where the goal is to not only provide the next chapter of a series but also to improve it all around, there have been many more than just a few series that have been on both the current gen and the last gen, here are a few that come to mind.

Halo

Last Gen - Halo : Combat Evolved, Halo 2

Current Gen - Halo Reach, Halo 3, Halo 3 : ODST

From the last gen the Halo series hasn't really changed too much. It has improved on graphics, but for the most part it has kept what made Halo popular in the first place, which of course makes sense since for a lot of people it was the game that showed that the consoles can do shooters just as well, if not better by perspective, to people. There are many minor things that have been added to the series from the last generation however, such as the ability to have 4 player cooperative play, and the addition of 2 new characters for the third and fourth player in Halo 3. Dual wielding has come and gone as well, it is still around but there are different opinions amongst the development team about it. Halo 3 ODST of course also had the Firefight mode which wasn't in any Halo games previously to it. Finally it's technical fine tuning blows the last generation out of the water with nearly non-existent loading times save for a few to start the game up, and a now standardized but unique to the current gen menu system.

So with all of that said, I believe the Halo series has definitely improved on graphics but it remained the same, thus almost being the same experience as it was on the last gen.

Call of Duty

Last Gen – Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty : Big Red One, Call of Duty : Finest Hour

Current Gen – Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare, Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty : World at War, Call of Duty : Black Ops

The Call of Duty series without a doubt has improved significantly in almost every way from the last generation to our current one. The first is graphics, Call of Duty 2's graphics were very good for it's time, and it was even slightly seen in 3 and 4, but in the end the series has improved on graphics greatly from then on, into games such as World at War, and Modern Warfare 2, and basically every Call of Duty game past 3. In regards to game play, the series has become more faster paced, but it also retained the feeling of Call of Duty 2 with things like tight controls that reacted very quickly, and recharging health; at the same time however with the complete change of setting that Modern Warfare took the series, it's guns still carried the same controls, but felt completely different with the change from bolt action rifles to fully automatic assault rifles. The story telling of the series has also changed with the games featuring high octane and thrilling campaigns rather than a more long journey that was seen more in the last gen, this is probably also the double bladed sword for the series however as the long campaign that was in past games was also very interesting, and fun to play through, at the same time being nearly 2 or 3 times as long as many of the current games in the series. The tone of both generation's games are noticeably different as well, with the current favoring a long lasting effect but quick and strong hit more akin to the duration of a movie rather than the last generation's memorable adventure. Finally, the multiplayer has dramatically improved as well mainly in selection, while in the last gen console gamers really only had Finest Hour, now every CoD game has expansive multiplayer which again has improved by implementing player advancement systems and unlocks as well as in game changes such as killing streak bonuses, however the game play modes for the most part other than war in CoD3/WaW have remained the same.

My final deduction is that the Call of Duty series has improved all around off Call of Duty 2, but it has added many things that completely separate current titles from 2 from the new change of scenery and graphics to story telling and additional game play modes.

Grand Theft Auto

Last Gen – Grand Theft Auto 3, Grand Theft Auto : Vice City, Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas

Current Gen – Grand Theft Auto 4 and DLC expansions

Both generations have kept the main principle of being a open world game with a story of crime in mind, but with that the current generation has vastly improved on that vision. The graphics between SA and GTA4 are almost indistinguishable with GTA4 coming out ahead and looking much better, while admittedly it's graphical power was hampered for details everywhere else, that hampering has always been a part of the GTA series. With that aside, GTA 4 looks fantastic, it easily lives up to and rivals most current gen games. In terms of game play, the gun play in GTA 4 is much easier to use than it ever was in any GTA game, while locking on is still much easier than manually aiming, the improvements on the manual aiming system makes it usable if the player desires to use it. Handling of cars and other vehicles in GTA 4 has also improved in a number of ways from the different feels and handling of cars themselves, to the feel of the car when it's applied to the realistic weight of the world with GTA 4's engine. While that aspect is not the greatest for doing things that require precise exact handling (which is rare) it's unique enough to enjoy which helps in overcoming the challenge to adapt to it. The story telling of GTA4 also separates itself from the past entries of the series, while the GTA series originally had a very overdramatic portrayal of crime life, GTA 4 features more normal characters than the rest of the series, although this story telling way is slightly seen in GTA: SA, it is really emphasized in 4 with the main character and the rest of the cast, yet at the same time it isn't changed deeply enough to have a huge difference, I personally thought it was very similar to the past GTA games until I thought about it. Finally multiplayer, while definitely not the high light feature of GTA 4, it has competitive multiplayer and cooperative modes that the series originally did not.

Overall I believe the GTA series has gone a long way, like I said while it's kept it's original principles of being an open world game at heart, the power of the current generation really allowed it to really push those principles much further.

With these 3 popular series as examples, I believe there's more than enough things over than the improvement of graphics for the current gen to be the next step up from the last gen. There's also many more examples of games that have improvements such as these, and while not every game is great, for the most part many games of the current gen are many steps ahead of their predecessors, and I for one, hope that they continue this way to forever have something better than the last.*

*also in the future I may be doing more compare and contrasts of the last and current generation.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six : Vegas 2 - Review

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 brings more of what people love about the Rainbow Six series, with more rigid character progression.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is the sequel to Rainbow Six Vegas, the introduction of the Rainbow Six series onto now current gen gaming. It is a tactical shooter with the game play backings of realism, and although it has a lot more action than most stealth focused games, it still manages to strike a fairly good balance between combat and stealth game play, all of which is done from the same perspective.

You are placed in the role of Bishop, a team leader for one of the squads of Rainbow. The game starts off with events before the first game that allows the player to see the escalation of the terrorist attack, as well from a different team’s view point. This type of story telling of course raises the issue of if you would need to play the first game to understand the story. While it isn’t completely needed, playing the first game would greatly enhance the ability to know what is happening in the game, and for the most part the game is so clustered together and put together a way that almost consists of you getting into a firefight immediately without any real small sessions of the characters strategizing, or discussing events that took place. In the end it would help leaps and bounds to play the first game if only for it’s story if you’re looking for Vegas 2 in that regard, however with that aside, the game has numerous improvements, and additions over it’s predecessor.

As you start the game off those who have played the first game will immediately notice that the character creation screen, previously only accessed directly through the multiplayer menus, displays right after the intro logos, while the facial customization is fairly limited in terms of default face selection, it does have a passable amount of variety. Armor and clothing customization is also included and displayed on your character, which has a in-game effect, as wearing heavier armor will offer more protection, whereas wearing light armor would allow you to move faster while not being as protected as the heavy armor provides. This of course brings up the issue of “How much protection would heavy armor provide?” it’s actually a sizable amount, while still staying in line with the super fragile feel of the game. While you won’t be able to soak up bullets ever, and taking a bullet to the head will always result in death, the protection improvement is definitely noticeable as you get into combat, and on the other hand, mobility is also noticeable when you need it especially to rush a enemy’s position, or to quickly get into cover, however on both ends even the most dramatic maximization and minimization for one stat for the other won’t make a huge difference in game play, it is a very slight feature in all but appearance wise where someone who has a lot of protection looks very armored, where as someone without it would look less bulky. The armor options still also give off the look of a militarized special ops unit even when going out of your way to try to outfit your character to look as wild as possible.

Thankfully all of the customization with your character isn’t waylaid to the side during single player as many games do, your character completely carries over to the story mode of the game. Another new improvement to the game is the A.C.E.S. system, standing for Advanced Combat Enhancement Specialization, basically it is a way to further improve your character. You gain experience points for simply shooting someone which leads to you leveling up, however you also gain additional points in other aspects depending on how you kill enemies, for example if you kill a enemy with a grenade, you would get 2 points in assault, where as killing someone at a long distance would give you points in marksmanship. The way the system is included in single player, and multiplayer makes it a very good incentive to play the game a lot more than one round through the story mode, besides for progression reasons, it also handles how the game unlocks weapons, and additional clothing, and armor pieces for your character, as you further improve your rating in one of the system’ categories, it’ll give you rewards from additional experience to a brand new rifle.

After you finish the campaign, there quite a few other game play modes to keep your attention for awhile, starting with the returning Terrorist Hunt mode that let’s you take on the smart AI by yourself or with a few friends. While the AI can be cheap at times, sometimes spawning enemies in convenient locations that would allow them to flank you easily, Terrorist Hunt remains a fun and challenging mode. Finally there’s the competitive multiplayer component which for the most part remains the same, with new maps. All of these modes share the same character that you create when you first start the game up, in fact the only thing that doesn’t carry over is your weapon load out which lets players select different weapons for different occasions.

The game play itself is almost identical to what one would have come to expect from the Rainbow Six series, it’s a mixture of a tactical shooter with a lot of realism, in short you won’t be soaking up bullets without dying for very long. The movement is also a lot more weighted than most shooters giving it a further realistic feel, and finally the graphics and sound are brilliant. As gunfire rings through the Las Vegas strip you can see fantastic spectacles of light that are more than muzzle flashes, the buildings and the environmental lightning is very pleasing to look at, and the character models are realistic looking, and look much smoother than the first game.

All in all, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a improvement over the first game in every way except story, where it provides a very interesting concept, but it lacks the presentation to follow through, as well as having little to none “previously on” semblance to catch players up who either don’t want to, or haven’t played the first game. The game is definitely not for everyone, if you approach it like a fast paced shooter like say (Unreal Tournament or the more recent Call of Duty series), the game doesn’t pull any punches having the AI teach you why that’s a bad idea right off the bat; although if you can get used to the way Rainbow Six handles the shooter genre, it can be a very rewarding, and at the very least, a unique feel to the genre, making this game stand out amongst the crowd.

Concept Implementation - Great

-As with all Rainbow Six games, Vegas 2 provides a very satisfying realistic feel to the FPS genre that is done well.

Gameplay - Great

-All of the game’s mechanics gather together to make you feel like a special forces soldier.

Presentation - Average

-There is a severe lack of story line coherency in the game mainly because it goes off the idea that the player has played the first game, however this is not rectified in every a small way that would allow someone who hasn’t played the first game to ease in. There are also a few technical gimmicks that are extremely noticeable.

Graphics - Good

-While not much of an improvement over the first time, the variety of new art assets the game adds makes up for that, and in general the game still is a good looking game, particularly in the effects of combat.

Sound/Music - Great

-The sound goes a long way in Rainbow Six games, and Vegas 2 isn’t any exception; the music is also an improvement over the first one, while it doesn’t exactly add any groundbreaking scores, it does add a memorable theme.

Singularity Score : Single Player - 2, Multiplayer - 3

Overall Score - 22/25 Great