As much as the game provides a high level of difficulty, the

players have the chance to learn from their mistakes, try out

different strategies, and learn how to overcome the hurdles.

When tuning the game, the dev team puts priority on making

sure that the failures are based on the player actions and choices that they make.

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That is the legacy that Dark Souls II has to live up to, the latest instalment in a series now infamous for a rewarding, but unmerciful style of action-role playing. The Souls series, which began with the smaller, PS3 exclusive Demons Souls has grown into an ambassador for old school, hardcore gaming, where the emphasis is on danger, difficulty, and slowly learning (through repeated death) how to overcome the odds with strategy, preparation and skill. Now Dark Souls II is being frantically prepared for a March 2014 release, and things are quite a bit different for this series that started out niche, but is now a sizable gaming phenomenon amongst the hardcore gaming circles of the world.

Challenge In DesignOne of the defining aspects of the Souls series for fans is the difficulty, which is now legendary in the medium. In a world where the typical first person shooter makes the player feel like an unstoppable killing machine, Dark Souls II makes players feel like the odds are stacked against them. Monsters throughout the game are powerful and can kill players easily. Death traps abound, and even something as seemingly harmless as darkness can kill, with bottomless pits and other dangers looming into range too quickly to react to for players that insist on leaping without looking.

Tak Miyazoe, global producer on Dark Souls II explains it this way. As much as the game provides a high level of difficulty, the players have the chance to learn from their mistakes, try out different strategies, and learn how to overcome the hurdles. When tuning the game,

the dev-team puts priority on making sure that the failures are based on the player actions and choices that they make. By doing this, players will hopefully strive to continue trying and challenging to conquer the challenges that exist.

That reputation for difficulty is a double edged sword. It has garnered a lot of critical praise from experienced gamers that find modern games too easy. But this tends to discourage more mainstream gamers that might enjoy an interactive experience where they dominate the field. Miyazoe, however, seems to be at peace with this. As publishers, one of our goals is obviously to

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have more players pick up the game and enjoy, he says. However, we do understand that the core elements of the Dark Souls world are hardcore and we do not necessarily intend to force this game into the mass market space. Dark Souls II is not just a difficult, mean game. The challenges can be conquered by careful, patient strategizing, and not giving up. With this philosophy in hand, players will eventually fully understand the sense of accomplishment that the core fans enjoy.

Its not a common design philosophy these days, especially in light of Call of Dutys surgical exploitation of the male power fantasy, and the massive profits that were the result. Most Western developers have followed suit, but many Japanese developers follow a path similar to the Souls series. Is this a difference in culture playing out?

Im not sure if its a Japanese way of game development, says Miyazoe. But I feel that the high challenges allow players to sense the high sense of satisfaction when overcoming said challenges because the success in the game is based on the choices the players make.

Of course, the other thing that determines success in the game is one element beyond player control; other players.

Tenuous ConnectionsThere are two phrases that are thrown around a lot when the developers of From Software talk about Dark Souls II; loose connections, and accessible.

That latter word has been cause of concern for dedicated fans of the series. Accessible has often been used by developers to describe the process of making a game easier to play, something that is in direct opposition to the core concept of the Souls series. But Tak Miyazoe was quick to allay fears that one of the hardest games of the last generation was going soft. We first understand and feel that satisfying the core fans is something very important to the franchise, and we have no intentions of drifting from our core concepts, Miyazoe says.

He explains the concerns further. Our use of the word accessible was not intended to express the difficulty or the challenges in the game. We meant the streamlining process of the tediousness that hindered players from experiencing the core elements of Dark Souls. We wanted to express the process of carving away the fat that existed in order to more directly communicate what we want players to experience from playing the game. The games level of challenge and difficulty will be enhanced for a more immersive, in-depth Dark Souls experience.

One thing that isnt changing is the amount of communication available to players in the game, and this is where the loose connection concept comes from. Unlike other games that incorporate co-op or competitive multiplayer and encourage people to use headsets and other means of explicit communication, the Souls games have always been more nebulous, allowing players to enter the gamespace of otherswithout permissionand help or hinder their efforts without any means of communication. More traditional players have asked for this to change, requesting things like lobbies and means for friends to quickly meet up, but that doesnt look like its going to happen. Dark Souls II will still maintain the loose connections with other players and will not incorporate any means of directly playing with friends, Miyazoe confirmed. We will not be implementing any sort of direct communication, chatting in the game.

But while central concepts of the games systems arent going to be seeing any radical changes, that doesnt mean everything is will be same.

You Are Never, Ever SafeIn previous Souls games, players could continue to play regardless of whether they died or not. Death, aside from transporting a player back to a starting point, would penalize a player, making them weaker, but it compensated for this by rendering them immune to attack from other invading players. This will not be the case in Dark Souls II.

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Concept art for Dark Souls II showing off what sort of environments the players will have to contend with.

One of the goals for Dark Souls II is to have players want to remain as a living soul in the game, Miyazoe explains. The characters in the game begin cursed and are on their journey in search of the cure. During this, we want the players to want to remain living. Therefore, being undead will not be protection against other players, however being enrolled in covenants will allow players to seek protection if necessary. Of course, players bound and determined to have a solo experience can simply disconnect from the Internet, but Miyazoe describes the uncertainty of invasion and defence as the true essence of the game, and urges players not to go offline to avoid this component.

Part of the reason for that are covenants, which are being further refined. In the original Dark Souls, players could find NPCs that allowed them to join a covenant, which rewarded them for following the covenants agenda, whether that was invading the games of other players to kill them, or collecting an in-game currency called Humanity. According to Miyazoe, this is even more elaborate in Dark Souls II. There will be several covenants, including those for invaders and protectors. Players will take on their roles and responsibilities in the world through the covenant system. Enrolling in a covenant will also afford players a certain amount of protection from other players, depending on which group they join. Its all part of a more elaborate integration of onlineincluding dedicated serversplay for the latest game. We intend for players to take on their own roles within the world, Miyazoe explains.

And utilize the covenant system to enjoy a different level in the network space.

Another big change coming with Dark Souls II is the traditional pacing of levels. In most games, players traverse the environment, fighting normal enemies along the way, ultimately leading to some kind of boss fight, which, upon defeat, opens up a new level so the cycle can begin again. Miyazoe states that things are going to be different this time. It is difficult to fully explain how this will function, Miyazoe starts. But one goal of Dark Souls II is to try and give players more freedom in how they attempt to conquer the game. There will obviously be areas that are more difficult than others, but it will be up to the players to determine what routes to take and decide how they explore the different areas. Further, in order to change the classic rhythm, there may be areas where the bosses will be encountered in an earlier part of the level, and players may have the chance to defeat bosses in areas other than the end of the level.

Dark Souls II is still on track for a March,11, 2014 release date, and in the meantime anticipation continues to build. Theres now even a comic book, published by Dark Horse to bring the dread of the game to fans in a new way. The Souls series may not be the best selling franchise on the market, but for those with deep appreciation for challenge and uncompromising game design, its certainly one of the most infamous. It wont be much longer before everyone preparing to die gets the chance to do so, again and again.

Dark Souls II: Into The Light

Dark Souls II: Into the Light

PRAISING THE SUN

[Into the Light] oozes with atmosphere, and its brought to life with a dark gothic vibe that complements the games focal theme of death.

thE StoRy bEhIND GIvING DARK SoulS MoRE of A StoRy

Words by Alex Coop

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You will often notice the frustration on peoples faces when they talk about Dark Souls. Memories of con-stant death suddenly resurface, and the conversation frequently ends with I stopped playing there. Its not a game for everyone, but theres no denying the interesting universe surrounding the traps, monsters, and other bizarre characters you come across. It oozes with atmosphere, and its brought to life with a dark gothic vibe that complements the games focal theme of death. If youve never had the chance to complete the game, and you fear Dark Souls II will be laying the smack down again youre probably correct in that assumption, the promo for the series after all is pre-pare to die then Dark Souls II: Into the Light, a graphic novel based on the upcoming RPG, will serve as an appropriate substitute.

The formula for the books story closely resembles the story-telling methods of the dark and deadly game series. Looking back at Dark Souls, the focus was undoubtedly on the world that surrounded you, and the bosses, who on a regular basis pummelled your health bar down to zero. There were no complex side quests that developed secondary characters, or complicated plot twists, so if you appreciated the minimal narrative aspects of the game, you will enjoy Into the Light. Even if youve never heard of Dark Souls before, the graphic novel is worth a look because it will ease you into its engrossing universe without shoving all of its lore down your throat.

Namco-Bandai will be releasing a couple of pages of Into the Light every two weeks until the launch of Dark Souls II on PS3 on March 11, 2014.

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[the Dark Souls universe] has that extra layer of desolation, decay and despair - which pushes it to a whole other level. Simply put, the chance to create a story where the possibility of the character dying at every turn was pure nirvana

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We had confines of where we could and couldnt go. That probably helped us, considering the wide breadth of the games world, explained British comic book writer Rob Williams (Ghost Rider, Deadpool), who is one half of the writing talent behind Into the Light. We werent told a lot of the lore, so we concentrated on getting across the feel of the game, and ticking some boxes that players of the game would enjoy. Plus we were given sneak peeks of some of the bosses from the new game, and some of the environments, so we included them.

In a scenario like this, you may assume its difficult to transfer to a comic a main character from a game, which didnt really have a voice, and had the potential to be any number of character classes with different abilities. Williams and his writing partner, British author Andi Ewington (Forty-Five), decided to go with a nameless warrior, who, like the players created avatar, develops over time as he endures the wrath of his deadly surroundings.

The challenge is the same in any story you write. Try and get to the heart of this character and engage the emotions of the reader, Williams said.

According to him, this unnamed warrior, initially has none of those pesky emotions like fear and doubt getting in the way of his adventures. Interestingly enough, players usually feel the opposite with their selected character at the beginning of Dark Souls. Fear and doubt reign supreme during early portions of a playthrough, yet despite these differences in how the main character is introduced to readers, the impor-tance of development remains the same.

You give the character an arc, and strip away his machismo bit by bit as the chal-lenges he faces increase in fear and difficulty. Hes not the same guy by the end of the story, Williams said.

Without an interesting universe to work with, a genuine nar-rative such as this would buckle under the lack of established structure. With so many unique landscapes to expand upon, combined with the long list of available monsters including a bloody big dragon, according to Williams the decision to pitch the initial concept to Namco Bandai was an exciting chance for writer Andi Ewington to explore, and ultimately enrich the Dark Souls universe with a brand new story.

[The Dark Souls universe] has that extra layer of desola-tion, decay and despair -which pushes it to a whole other level. Simply put, the chance to create a story where the possibility of the character dying at every turn was pure nirvana, explained Ewington, who also admitted to being a fan of the punishing RPG. I have a serious respect for any gamer that doesnt give up and beats that bad ass game.

The merging of two writers for the purpose of creating a story is not uncommon, and in this case, its an experience Ewington described as intense. After enlisting the help of Williams and artist Simon Coleby (Judge Dredd), the two writers co-wrote the first draft, edited each others work, and 20 drafts later the fantasy adventure was complete - on paper anyway. Then it was a matter of keeping in touch with Coleby to ensure the visu-

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als reflected the narrative. Aside from the challenge of living up to the aesthetic standards established by the game designers, Coleby said he felt quite at home within the design choices for Into the Light, and main-tained a process he believes is crucial to the creation of an eerie, gothic atmosphere.

We all know that the scariest monsters are the ones which lurk in our imaginations, and frequently thats something which can be translated directly into this kind of artwork. Although I tried very hard to visually depict the various monsters and characters in a way which is faithful to the game, I also aimed to shroud them in as much shadow as possible.

Coleby said he regularly sets the scene in a silhou-ette, and adds many elements in the foreground and background of panels to add to the overall atmosphere of confinement and imminent doom.

While working, I very often listen to music which reflects the atmosphere of whatever Im trying to visually create. For Dark Souls, my studio was filled with an awful lot of black metal, as well as plenty of very dark ambient music. Gojira, Katatonia, Opeth, Skinny Puppy and Witch-man, among others, were rarely off my studio stereo.

It may have been familiar territory for Coleby, how-ever both Williams and Ewington were middling with an unfamiliar genre in Dark Souls II: Into the Light.

Ive not written in the sword and sorcery genre before. It was fun, actually, admitted Williams. Id like to do more in that sort of world. Ive worked with Coleby before several times and hes mentioned fancying a pop at a Conan type of book. Maybe we should revisit that.

Ewingtons recent work is heavily geared towards the more grounded, realistic super hero stories, but a recent project of his he said provided him with a lot of experience with dungeon crawling escapades. I just recently adapted Ian Livingstones Deathtrap Dungeon that Im hoping will get published. Thats a trap filled adventure with plenty of deadly foes and gory deaths, so fans should rest easy that I have the experience and love of the genre to do it justice.

The pool of ideas writers and artists can find and expand upon from the video game world are practically limitless. The concept of creating a comic out of a game is nothing new, and is steadily increasing in popularity, however its not as popular as one may think it is.

Im genuinely surprised there arent more [video game related comics]. There seems such a natural crossover between the two audiences and the types of worlds these games inhabit really lend themselves to comics. Plus, from a purely commercial standpoint, the audience for games is enormous. Any comic based on one of the leading game franchises would, youd imag-ine, do very well indeed, said Williams.

The transition from videogame to comic appears to have been inevitable, and with an approachable prem-ise thats sure to please even newcomers to the series, Dark Souls II: Into the Light will likely thrive among comic book audiences. For those who are familiar with the games, the graphic novel will still be an enjoyable Dark Souls experience, just without the impending threat of all your hard-earned souls vanishing into thin air every time you turn a corner.

DELIRIOUS HEIGHTS

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE VERTIGO IMPRINTWORDS BY WAYNE SANTOS

The Sandman

Hellblazer

Comics have changed.

Vertigo Comics

For a long time, they didnt. For over 30 years through the 50s up to the 80s, they were safe. Sanitized. Pablum. They were stories designed to coddle the innocent, strictly enforced to present childrens entertainment through the Comics Code Authority. But as the readers grew up, so did their tastes, and with the rise of specialist comic book shops as well as a new generation of writers stepping into the industry, comics themselves were ready to grow up. Vertigo was the face and voice of this new, more mature medium that was ready to live up to the potential it had carried for decades, and this is the story of how this unlikely publishing imprint from DC came to be.

DMZ

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Alan Moore: The Harbinger

Despite the fact that Alan Moore is often associated with the Vertigo line, he never officially worked for the imprint. He was, however, instrumental in changing the tone of comics at DC so muchalong with Frank Millerthat eventually the comic publisher saw tangible, profitable benefits to abandoning the Comics Code and telling edgier, more mature stories. Beginning with his run on Swamp Thing and culminating with his seminal mini-series The Watchmen, Alan Moore proved that there was an older, affluent audience of comic book readers that was willing to spend money on comics again if those comics catered to their adult sensibilities.

In October of 1984, DC took a definitive stand against the Comics Code Authority that had put so many limita-tions on what was an acceptable narrative for comic readers. The CCA had rejected issue #29 of Saga of the Swamp Thing on the grounds that it featured zombies in a state of decay that was too disturbing for readers, as well as implied hints of incest amongst villains por-trayed in the story. DC, rather than changing the story to appease the CCA, took Alan Moores side, and pub-lished the story anyway, without the traditional Comics

Code stamp of approval that meant the comic could be distributed wholesale to traditional outlets. Instead, DC put a tag on the cover reading Suggested For Mature Readers, and accepted that the comic would only be sold via direct distribution at specialist comic book stores, rather than convenience stores, newsstands and other general outlets. By this point, DC had realized the majority of their income for the series had been coming from comic book stores anyway.

That was the snowball that rolled down the mountain and started many things. It began DCs increasing defiance of the Comics Code; it signalled the start of a British Invasion of comics, spearheaded by DC editor Karen Berger as she sought a different, darker, edgier, less juvenile style of storytelling in UK writers. Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis and Neil Gaiman were just a few of the names from the United Kingdom that began to grace a whole series of existing and new DC titles, all with the label of Suggested For Mature Readers placed on the cover. Alan Moore continued on Saga of the Swamp Thing for a few more years, creating an important proto-Vertigo ambassador in the form of John Constantine,

Vertigo shook things up. Drugs, incest, old age, gender equality, questions of consciousness, political and social satire, the nature of religion, even revisionist fairy tales all of these themes had homes at Vertigo.

V For Vendetta

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but it was in 1989 that Vertigo got its cornerstone. Karen Berger indulged Neil Gaiman, and allowed him to have a series of his own. That series, based on an obscure, no longer active DC character, was called The Sandman, and it made everything else possible.

Vertigo ArrivesThroughout the late 80s, a lot of changes occurred at DC Comics. Alan Moore, once the star writer of the company, had a serious falling out and walked away. Meanwhile, the more obscure, less mainstream heroes and titles such as Animal Man and The Sandman were doing the unthinkable; they were attracting new readers from outside comics, even the coveted female demographic that traditional super heroes had failed to appeal to in any significant number.

By the time the decade ended and a new one began, it became clear that DC was now a house divided. On the one hand, there were still the pillars of the company, like Superman and Batman, holding their own along with the rest of the Justice League. But there was also Morpheus the Sandman, the Swamp Thing, and John Constantine, the Hellblazer. The upper management of DC held a meeting, to which Karen Berger was invited, and it was decided that she would head a new imprint, dubbed Vertigo, which would continue this new direction for DC, integrating many of these new, weird titles into the imprint and expanding with new, creator-owned titles. The first of the pure Vertigo publications was Death: The High Cost of Living, while other brands such as The Saga of the Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, John Constantine: Hellblazer and of course, The Sandman traded the DC logo on the top left corner of their covers for a Vertigo one. Vertigo was in ascension.

Over the years, Vertigo would make a huge, critical

impact with its titles, tackling issues and subject matter that traditional superhero comicstied as they were to decades of continuity and audience expectationcould never hope to broach. Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn, for instance, dealt with a world in which all but one male died, as the society of surviving women strug-gled to adjust to this new life. The Invisibles, by Grant Morrison, allowed the highly lateral Scottish writer to finally take off the leash and write one of the most drug-addled, conspiracy laden series in the history of comics.

Vertigo wasnt for people that liked comics just the way they were. The imprint seemed tailor made for the lapsed reader; the one that stopped reading comics because they felt they were more grown up than the material they were reading. Where the mainstream comics of both Marvel and DC were rigidly stuck in the world of superheroes, where people regularly died and came back, where the status quo was periodically upset and then restored, Vertigo shook things up. Drugs, incest, old age, gender equality, questions of consciousness, political and social satire, the nature of religion, even revisionist fairy tales all of these themesand subsequent anarchic characterizationhad homes at Vertigo.

It was during this time that Vertigo also did the one thing that comics regularly failed to do; get taken seriously and critically by the media. Of course, writers such as Alan Moore and Frank Miller had managed to garner the occasional spotlight with their work, but the rest of comics were often regarded as inhabiting a cultural ghetto. Vertigo was not. The challenging nature of the work published by Vertigo regularly brought these works into literary discussions that normally excluded comics. The Sandman is regularly hailed as a great literary work regardless of medium and has won

That was DC Comics, now we have DC Entertainment. It is a different beast, being run by different people.

Neil Gaiman on the shift in Vertigos priorities, which played a part in prompting Bergers split with the publisher.

Karen Berger

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Bram Stoker, Hugo and World Fantasy awards.Commercially, Vertigo also expanded the range

where comics could be found. Thanks to the mainstream success of The Sandman and the strong demand for the collected issues as trade paperbacks, Vertigo books were sold not just in comic shops, but bookstores, acting as the vanguard for the comic/graphic novel section of numerous chains such as Barnes & Noble, Chapters and the old Borders chain before its untimely demise in 2010.

But of course, like any story, the golden age can never last forever. And despite the fact that Vertigo as a publisher is still with us today, its not the same Vertigo that disrupted the marketplace throughout the 90s and turn of the century.

The Price Of SuccessIn December of 2012, Karen Berger, who had now been a part of Vertigo for nearly 20 years, announced she would be leaving the imprint she had created. In March of 2013, her departure took place. In an interview with the New York Times, Berger said, of her decision, Its time to ply my storytelling skills elsewhere.

Shelly Bond, her protg holding an editors position at Vertigo, moved up the ladder to succeed her as Executive Editor. Bond was a safe choice for upholding the Vertigo vision. She understands Vertigo, given her past track record, discovering and supporting Bill Willingham for his Fables series, for example. But even if Shelly Bond is a suitable heir to the Berger throne, that doesnt mean the kingdom is going to remain the same. Neil Gaiman, one of Bergers most celebrated finds, pointed out the key difference in the same New York Times interview, That was DC Comics, now we have DC Entertainment. It is a different beast, being run by different people.

Berger herself was all too aware of the fact that both her former employer and its rival are no longer self-owned comics publishers with the same sense of experimentation from earlier decades. Ive found that theyre really more focused on the company-owned characters, she said. Of both her former employer and its rival Marvel, she noted they are superhero companies owned by movie studios.

The big difference for Vertigo is the industry landscape it now inhabits. When Vertigo first broke onto the scene, companies like Image were busy dismantling the industry with short-sighted practices like emphasizing cover variants and placing more importance on dynamic, two page spreads rather than quality story telling. Super hero movies were still a niche market, and comics were only just starting to be taken seriously by people outside the fanbase.

Today, Image is a force to be reckoned with, having learned its lessons about storytelling versus market-ing, and is the proud publisher of critical series like The Walking Dead. Even Marvel has jumped on the creator-owned bandwagon with Icon, an imprint that lets Marvel creators own their work, rather than jumping off to Vertigo or Image to retain ownership. Digital publishing and consumption are also changing the way comics are made and consumed, and so, rather than being a maver-ick publisher of mature, creator owned content, Vertigo is now one of many, with its peers having taken the best practices of Vertigo itself, and made them their own.

Vertigo Comics is, at least for the foreseeable future, not going anywhere. But with Berger gone, DCs own position as an asset of Warner Films, and the continuing uncertainty of print in the digital era, it should come as no surprise that Vertigo will have to change with the times.

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MAGIC WOR[L]DSLANCE PARKINS ON ALAN MOORE AND HIS OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY

Words by Phil Brown

Alan Moore

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Alan Moore has been many things throughout his life. He was a master of British underground comics through 2000 A.D. and of course V For Vendetta. He

also reinvented the superhero comic through iconic DC works like Swamp Thing, The Killing Joke, and of course the comic that created the graphic novel: Watchmen. All

of that happened in the 80s. After that, Moore cut all ties with mainstream comics and turned himself into a crafter of bizarrely brilliant indie comics like From Hell, Promethea, and the artfully pornographic Lost Girls. In

his private life, Moore has been a cantankerous comics critic, a political activist, a performance artist, a massive beard enthusiast, and a magician. In short, hes the most

fascinating mind in the comic book world.

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Lance Parkins

All of which brings us to Magic Words intriguing and amusing biography/analysis of Alan Moore by Lance Parkin. The author is a longtime Moore enthusiast who has written about the comic guru in the past and embarked on this project as an unauthorized biography from an adoring fan. Then the unthinkable happened. Somehow he got the notoriously combative Alan Moore to endorse it. So, Magic Words turned into simultaneously authorized and unauthorized Moore biography and fortunately its a strong enough piece of work to support that odd classification. CGM recently got a chance to chat with Parkin about his experience reading and writing about the work of Alan Moore.

Comics Gaming Magazine: Youve got a glowing endorsement from Moore on the cover of your book. How did you pull that off? Flat out bribery?

lance Parkin: When the book was finished, my editor sent him a manuscript and Moore phoned back a couple of days later saying he loved it. I tried to give a fair account of events. Other people who were there, and often ones who were on the other side of the dispute, have said they liked it, too. I know that if Im writing a book about Alan Moore that Moore becomes what things revolve around. I had a full draft of the book at the start of this year, but I worried it was dominated by Moores version of events. It needed strong counterweights. Luckily, the people Moores fallen out with are strong personalities in their own right, like Dez Skinn, his editor on Warrior and Don Murphy, who produced films based on Moores work. I didnt seek them out to start a fight, but I knew I could rely on them to put their point of view across without pussyfooting. The books still unauthorized. Its just that the subject of the book likes it, and was extraordinarily kind enough to show that support by giving an endorsement.

CGM: What is it about Alan Moore and his work that resonates with you?

lP: Moore surprises me. Thats what Ive always liked about his work. Youll turn the page and the story will suddenly present the very last thing youd expect a giant blue naked man, a double spread in the shape of a mbius strip. Comics are formulaic, its in the nature of a running series with quite simple characters. Theres that old advice for Batman writers that if someone doesnt crash through a window at some point, youre doing it wrong. Moore works within those conventions a lot of the time, but hes never lazy, he seldom pulls some off the peg sequence out.

CGM: After reading your book I feel like Alan Moores greatest creation might be the image of himself in the media. Hes always up for

interviews, but sometimes it feels like he manipulates how hes presented as much as he opens up. Do you think thats the case or am I being too cynical?

lP: I know what you mean. Hes aware that hes Alan Moore, this larger than life figure, and there are plainly ways he plays up on that. He genuinely doesnt have an Internet connection though, and I think hes, at best, only dimly aware whenever theres a fuss on Twitter. I dont think its deceptive. There are famous people who adopt a media persona thats not really like them as a private person. Their work tends to become rather easy-to-swallow product that matches their public persona. Moores work really has shifted the other way, into almost incomprehensibly personal territory at times. I think if theres a fake Alan Moore out there, its the one you read about online, whos apparently always burning with anger about the movie versions. Or the Alan Moore a lot of American creators and editors

talk about. The one whos sore because of some bad financial deals in the past. I dont think theres even really an element of truth in either of those.

Moores always had a healthy sense of his own importance. One thing perhaps he doesnt appreciate is there is a difference between his irreverence and harsh words towards other creators as a hungry young artist on his way up, when hes sat on his throne looking down at the mortal world. Back in the eighties, it was a dialogue: Moore was spurring people on and they in turn would spur him on. That dynamic no longer exists. So its easy to read as Moore bullying people.

CGM: Moore recently did an interview with The Guardian in which he was particularly harsh about superheroes and their fans. Do you think he genuinely hates the genre now?

lP: I dont think he was misquoted, but I think the remark was given a prominence in the article that

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COMICS ARE FORMULAIC, ITS IN THE NATURE OF A RUNNING SERIES WITH QUITE SIMPLE CHARACTERS.

- LANCE PARKIN

Moore himself would not have given it. Hes been saying, pretty much the same thing for 25 years. Its not a recent development for him to say that he thinks theres more to life than superheroes or that graphic novels that collect up monthly comics are just a way to make grown-ups feel good about reading some fairly adolescent work. Personally, I think what people often miss is that Watchmen and Killing Joke were created as out-of-continuity, deliberately extreme takes on the genre. They were meant to test the concepts to destruction, not act as a blueprint for every superhero comic. The recent Man of Steel movie took a lot of cues from that grim and gritty aesthetic (and it is very close to Moores Marvelman run in places). For me, it just missed the point of the character. Its a mistake Moore himself never made with Superman. Theres a line from Charlie Brooker, who knows his comics: Theres a

reason Postman Pat never went postal. There are many and exciting things that you can do with superheroes, but for me an adult take would have to be an exploration of the nature of heroism, not just watching them rip each other apart and seeing all the guts flying around.

CGM: Where do you fall on Moores claims of being a magician?

lP: As I wrote that chapter, I realized that Moore was, in many ways, still on the same quest Id found myself on: to come up with the words that summed up what he meant by magic. He had some experiences that he found very difficult to explain, and as he looked into it, he came to understand that many occult writers had had experiences very like his, so there might be some

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underlyingor overlayingtruth to it. So hes continued to think about it, to create art around it as he tries to figure it out. Now, its easy to dismiss all that and say that if you take hallucinogenic drugs, youre going to hallucinate, but that does Moore a huge disservice.

Its hard to talk about it without resorting to pop psychoanalysis. Very tempting to see it as a type of mid-life crisis, or a reaction to the fact that hed swiftly achieved all his professional goals as a writer and was looking for something new. Or even as a way to strengthen his friendship with Steve Moore, a long-time magician. The magic chapter is the longest in my book, and I think its the shortest description I could write. Moores magic is a very nuanced, complex system he has for addressing issues like consciousness and creativity. I think hes sincere, but I think there are plenty of people in this world who are sincere but also wrong. I didnt convert to Glyconism, but it did make me think about big issues like the nature and limits of art in new ways. Its a belief that encourages Moore to take risks and produce weird projects. Id much rather he did that than write a Killing Joke sequel every ten years.

CGM: I highlighted an interesting reoccurring pattern in Moores career in which he inevitably fought every publisher as part of an anti-authoritarian stance (whether justified or not) and tended to hold grudges forever. Do you think hes aware of this in any way and would ever relent? At this point I feel like he could do anything he wanted for DC or Marvel and probably even get a film made if he were willing to approach people and make amends.

lP: It is interesting to see Neil Gaiman, Mark Millar and Frank Miller move into cinema with relative ease. I think youre right that an Alan Moore who wanted to do that could have done so. He seemed to be heading that way in the late eighties when he wrote Fashion Beast and turned down a Robocop sequel. A lot of current movie producers, directors and writers love his work. Despite his reputation, he does play well with other creative types.

Hes fallen out with some of his artists, but its always been over business. He likes collaborating. I think the problem is purely that even a cheap movie is expensive, its inevitably driven by demographics. That compromises things. His Jimmys End series is one way to square that circle crowdfunded, low budget work. But its never going to be a cinematic version of Promethea, a no holds barred, lavish vision. The superhero movies weve seen have pretty much all been quite straightforward summer blockbuster stuff. I think thats the mistake the Watchmen movie makes: Moore and Gibbons created something cinematic, but its art house cinema. It should be cut together like a Nicolas Roeg film, but thats not going to make two hundred million dollars.

CGM: Did you come out of this project with a different impression of Alan Moore than when you came in?

lP: Thats an interesting question. Its a literary biography, its about his work and career. Im not the person to write some intimate portrait of his personal life. I think, probably like most people, that I started out thinking the centre of gravity for Moores career is that landmark work for DC, but that really looks more like a blip now. Theres a hugely interesting time for him creatively after he leaves DC, with work like Brought to Light and Big Numbers. I think if Big Numbers had been finished, it would have been his masterpiece.

I didnt come to the book with a huge agenda about Alan Moore, the man. I came to it with the belief that in an argument, it takes two to tango. In pretty much every case, I can see both points of view. DC is right, in DCs terms, in their dispute with Moore. They are also the ones with a wider responsibility. A lot of the time, neither side is being malicious. DC was caught out by the success of Watchmen. Dez Skinn was caught out when the Warrior creators themselves became the marketable asset, not their characters. Above all, Id resist the idea that Alan Moore is somehow unique, or single-handedly responsible for the changes in comics. Its also 50 years too early to work out what his impact is, or where he stands in the literary pantheon of literature. I obviously think hes noteworthy.

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PC Gaming

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Theres a PlayStation 4 on my shelf. It looks pretty nice, it runs the few games installed on it quite

well, but, aside from its unique user interface and controller, it also feels very familiar. This is likely because I also play a good number of videogames

on my computer. Now, Im not about to suggest that a desktop PC and a current generation console are exactly the same thing because theyre not. But the

blending of personal computer and the branded machines put out by the likes of Microsoft and

Sony has reached the point where marking a clear difference between them is fairly tough.

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The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are both, in their own way, attempts to streamline the many functions of a PC. By shrinking down form factors and running minimalist operating systems, consoles offer much of the same experience as playing on a desktop, only conveniently packaged for maximum approachability. This is starting to change. Consoles have traditionally served as a way to make computer gaming more approachable, reliable, and, supposedly, less expensive. In the brave new world of 2014, though, these distinctions are crumbling away. Regular software patches, increasingly complex user interfaces, and multimedia features have become console mainstays. When these two supposedly different sides console and PC come to resemble one another so closely it makes it hard to see why computers are still considered a somewhat niche gaming platform.

So, why dont videogame fans talk about the PC more? While there are websites and magazines devoted entirely to computer gaming,

the platform is still regarded as fairly niche, home to simulation fanatics and those obsessed more with technical performance than an enjoyment of gameplay. The computer doesnt get nearly as much coverage as Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendos systems, and that seems like a shame. Since no single company manufacturers computers and because the kind of generational leaps that mark console upgrades are not as readily apparent (outside of the launch of new graphics card series) nobody has any reason to market the PC. A lack of advertisement and the prevalence of outdated myths have put the gaming computer in a strange position.

Theres no reason why this should be the case anymore. Personal computers may not benefit from the hype cycle generated by the big console manufacturers, but there are plenty of reasons to pay them just as much attention as is typically given to the Xbox One, Wii U, and PlayStation 4.

***

One of the PCs greatest strengths also used to be the reason I was so afraid of playing games on a computer in the first place. The extremely high level of customization afforded by a personal computer is wonderful, but can also be extremely intimidating. Is it better to spend money on a cutting edge processor or an awesome graphics card? What kind of power supply do you need for a powerful machine? And, oh god, does any of the stuff you just spent an afternoon researching even work with the motherboard you budgeted for?

Its easy to see how the factors that go into putting together a PC can scare off potential buyers. Fortunately, there are extraordinarily helpful online communities that are more than happy to help look over a parts list before you pull the trigger. If thats not enough, buying a pre-assembled PC will increase price, but can be worth the expense for those who would rather not deal with the stress of going it alone. If all of this makes it seem like buying

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THE INCREASINGLY ExPANSIVE STEAM

MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR COMPUTER

PLAYERS INTERESTED IN

NON-TRADITIONAL ExPERIENCES TO

FIND A WEALTH OF STRANGE AND

INTERESTING GAMES.

a console is a far easier choice, its worth remembering that the potential headaches involved with actually constructing a PC pays off in long-term flexibility.

Where the hardware inside a PS4, Xbox One, or Wii U is set in stone (except for potential increases in hard drive size and small changes to appearance of the case) a PC can be painlessly upgraded over time. With a good enough foundation, its possible to drastically extend the life of a computer with graphics card replacements, hard drive swaps, and other improvements. This level of flexibility means that investing in a quality computer can allow players to run current games for far longer than a console.

An argument in favour of PC gaming wouldnt be complete without addressing the issue of cost, though. Aside from the supposed difficulty of putting together the right computer, the expense involved with getting into

PC games is the most common complaint. Luckily, this is a bit of a myth. Its completely possible to drop upwards of two thousand dollars while building a state-of-the-art system, but, with a little research, a high quality computer can be bought at a price that is comparable to one of the current generation consoles.

Because computer components are constantly being improved and upgraded versions are released at an incredibly quick pace, the range of prices attached to parts like processors and graphics cards can stretch from very low to extremely expensive. A graphics card that costs $600 now can drop to less than $200 during the lifespan of a console. For those of us interested in using a PC to play current games it isnt necessary to construct a machine out of top of the line components and the constant price reduction of parts makes building a high quality system affordable. Adjustable

graphics options allow PC games to scale to a wide variety of setups as well. Outside of pre-set options (low, medium, high, and the increasingly common ultra), computer games can be tweaked in order to provide the best performance possible on a players unique setup. Playing a game on medium settings often matches the visual performance of the same title running on a console, but, depending on the strengths and weaknesses of a given computer, theres usually room for further optimization.

The high cost of building a computer is an assumption based on browsing gaming PCs and believing that in order to play current releases its necessary to buy a top of the line machine. Instead of spending a fortune, though, its cheaper (and probably smarter) to put money towards a mid-range machine thats built with quality components. This approach allows for future upgrades and

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A LIBRARY OF PC GAMES CAN INCLUDE TITLES FROM MORE THAN

TWO DECADES OF RELEASES, ALL PLAYABLE

FROM THE SAME MACHINE.

Papers, Please, Kentucky Route Zero, Gone Home

may actually be more affordable than picking up an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 in the long term.

***Of course, no videogame platform means much of anything without excellent titles. This is where the PC shines. Not only do non-exclusive games typically run and control well on the computer, but an enormous number of experimental and independent titles are only available on PC . The ease of digital distribution via personal websites, indie friendly storefronts like Desura, and the increasingly expansive Steam makes it possible for computer players interested in non-traditional experiences to find a wealth of strange and interesting games. 2013 alone saw fantastic, unorthodox titles like Papers, Please; Gone Home; Kentucky Route Zero; and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs release exclusively for computer. In the past, games such

as Hotline Miami, The Binding of Isaac, and Dont Starve have come to the PC before new versions made their way to consoles.

Theres also the issue of videogame preservation and the realization that backwards compatibility can no longer be taken for granted on consoles like the Xbox One and PS4. While the PC certainly isnt perfect at running every game from the past, ardent fans and digital stores like GOG.com have made it easy to play old titles on modern operating systems. And not only is it possible to download obscure games from the early 1990s and have them run perfectly well with a current PC, but also to easily play multi-platform titles from relatively recent console generations without much of any fuss. Revisiting games from the nearly 13 year old Grand Theft Auto III to last years BioShock Infinite doesnt have to require pulling out an old console. A library of PC

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THE PC HAS ALWAYS BEEN A GREAT WAY TO PLAY GAMES AND THIS WILL STILL BE THE CASE IN THE FUTURE.

games can include titles from more than two decades of releases, all playable from the same machine.

***If the current generation of consoles feel more like streamlined gaming PCs than ever before, this tendency only looks to become further exaggerated in the near future. After seemingly endless rumours that publisher/Steam founder/occasional game developer Valve was preparing to enter the console market with a system of its own, the company announced that 2014 would see the debut of living room-ready PCs called Steam Machines. Rather than manufacture the Machines itself, Valve has made the (pretty clever) move of outlining ideal hardware specifications, crafting its own open source operating system, and allowing third parties to make their own products. Despite substantial differences in price and power, Steam Machines will all have important elements in common. They will run on Valves own SteamOS and be able to run games purchased through the Steam digital distribution storefront.

This could end up being a very big deal. Steam Machines represent a balance between the intimidating level of freedom offered through personal computer building and the ease of use represented by consoles. It will soon be possible to buy a Steam Machine at a pre-determined price point then upgrade it later, extending the lifetime of, what is in essence an unorthodox console, by slotting in a new graphics card, extra RAM, or a bigger hard drive. The sea change this

could lead to is worth thinking about. Valve and the companies planning to manufacture their own Steam Machines are set to offer a gaming PC that provides all the advantages of a computer while simultaneously overcoming disadvantages like the confusion that surrounds parts compatibility.

Given the uproar that accompanied the Xbox Ones plans to require online connections and ban used games (a plan that was thankfully reversed), the PlayStation 4s removal of media streaming functionality, and both consoles loss of backwards compatibility, the PC begins to look a lot more desirable. Steam Machines will offer a wide range of features while still being packaged as a shiny, easy-to-use console with standardized price points. This combination of freedom and accessibility could do a lot to upset the path of the current console generation. The current trend in videogames seems focused on limiting the players ability to take control of the hardware and software theyve purchased. While these problems still exist in computer games, the open nature of the PC platform makes it easier to circumvent them. It remains to be seen whether or not Steam Machines will be a major success, but it seems likely that, if they are, the idea of the home videogame console is set to change in a drastic manner. The PC has always been a great way to play games and this will still be the case in the future. The only question is if personal computers are about to transition from a relatively niche gaming platform to the dominant one. As of right now it seems likely.

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DeaD Rising 3PLAYED ON: Xbox OneDEVELOPER: Capcom VancouverPUBLISHER: Microsoft Game StudiosESRB: M7/10

REVIEW BY ALEXANDER LEACH

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Entertainment can be mindless. A lot of old horror movies are silly as hell, relying on over-the-top gore and melodrama as much as suspense and unsettling subjects.

Dead Rising 3 is an old-school, silly zombie movie, like its predecessors, and revelling in that keeps it relevant, for a while. But, unfortunately, not quite long enough, as it lacks some details that would the core kill-fest relevant and interesting.

Dead Rising 3 takes the zombie apocalypse, and expands it out of a shopping mall and into a small city. The result is wider areas, and more zombies, as well as the importance of vehicles in order to travel between the four different islands the city covers. Theres a thrill to exploration there, and thats what keeps it going beyond its initial offering. Hordes of zombies, while intimidating, dont make for the most diverse of threats, and the game would have grown boring without an incentive to explore the restaurants, movie theatres, and other stores.

That combat is satisfying, especially with the range of strange combination weapons. There are tons of zombies on the screen at any time, especially on the highways where the open areas are loaded with gigantic herds of rotting dead. The engine holds up quite well, even under a horizon of undead, and the models themselves look quite good, with a hint of cartoonish exaggeration even in the human characters. The

weapons and combination are dementedly imaginative, and reach mind-boggling silliness (my favourite was the steamroller-motorcycle hybrid covered in flamethrowers). Whats more, the actual stat upgrades feel useful and helpful, actively making it easier to deal with the larger hordes nearing the endgame. I never tried the Smartglass functions, but the game works fine without a Kinect (replacing some of the well-used button prompts with simply shaking the controller).

By the end, however, I found myself getting bored with the content as theres really very little variation in what youre doing. Discovering a new weapon combo or new vehicle was interesting, but the other collectables feel somewhat forced, and I lacked incentive to pursue them for their own sake. The night sections, where zombies apparently get more aggressive, doesnt seem particularly different from the daytime, and dont do anything to add to the games urgency, nor do the different varieties of enemies, human and zombie. The side missions to help survivors rarely amount to anything involved, and are merely an excuse to keep exploring, among many. There seems to be no real reason to use your arsenal, beyond the visceral catharsis of slaughtering hordes of former humans in an acceptable context (the core of all zombie works). While I understand you need reasons to explore the ruined urban environment, they have to be compelling reasons, and just because this is a comedic game

72 CGMAGONLINE.COM

doesnt mean they cant be gripping. The other people, a critical part of any zombie story,

dont help particularly much. Actually teaming up with survivors is pointless, as they never seem to actually help even when Ive given them the best weapons. Fortunately, escorting them seems to be less of a pain than it is in most games, and survivors survive quite well on their own, unless to leave them to fight a giant horde. Its not painful to have allies, but saving people could have a greater impact on the gameplay, and have more benefits than mere points in order to make you fell like it matters.

One of the games main features the Psycho missions, where you fight a boss in the form of a ridiculously over-the-top human enemy lacks some of the charm of previous entries. Im not sure I got them all, but most of them seemed rushed in their execution. The actual fights are quite easy, with a readily-apparent gimmick that you can exploit. Protagonist Nick isnt really a snarky guy, and so the exchanges are pretty one-sided in the opening and closing cutscene. I breezed through the bosses with little strategy, often completely ignoring the unique mechanics present in their stages unless absolutely forced to use them, just by using some of the combo weapons (the final boss succumbed to repeated Dragon headbutts, the single most broken thing in the entire game. And I never even upgraded it with the extra claws and flame-throwing elements). The previous games tried to establish a reasoning behind the boss madness, and while some in Dead Rising 3 get this treatment, most feel like empty archetypes.

Ive left the plot to the end, because there really isnt too much of one off the start. You play a mechanic named Nick Ramos, looking for a way out of the city of Los Perdidos, before the military firebombs the city in six days. The actual story ties into the narrative of previous games, but it takes too long to get to this the new characters arent particularly interesting, particularly Nick, who lacks presence in most scenes. The dialogue ranges from delightfully cheesy to just boring. It doesnt really hurt, but it doesnt help, either. This middling quality is tied into flaws like the boring boss narratives and afterthought-like elements like Tragic Endings (finding a person crushed by a bus would feel more satisfying if there was some kind of narrative attached, making you feel the tragedy).

Its a decent Xbox One title, and I found it enjoyable up until the last few days. But a game needs to be consistently full through its entire length, and I didnt feel that it was, with the boss fights and limited story detracting from what is a cool-looking zombie grinder. When you play a game and feel its too long, this is a problem, especially in this day and age when single player experiences boil down to a couple of hours. Some more reason to kill would have given this game a strong place in the Xbox One library something which the system desperately needs.

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EDITOR'SCHOICE

THE BANNER SAGAPLAYED ON: PCDEVELOPER: StoicPUBLISHER: Versus EvilESRB: NR9/10

REVIEW BY REID MCCARTER

The Banner Saga, like the ancient epics and legends it draws inspiration from, is about journeys. Just as Odysseus

sailed home from the Trojan War, Tripitaka journeyed west from China, and Gilgamesh ventured to the Cedar Forest to fight a giant, Stoics fictionalized take on Scandinavian myth is a larger-than-life tale of perilous quests and arduous travel. This focus on reinvigorating the past of inventing a whole new epic for the modern age is what makes The Banner Saga unique, and what makes its characters, combat, and plot feel bigger and, ultimately, more important than they would otherwise seem.

From the very beginning of the game, The Banner Saga is grandiose. A group of giant men called varl, huge horns jutting from their heads and enormous hands clutching axes, arrive in a frozen city off the coast of an imagined Nordic landscape. Theyve come to link up with a band of human royalty and finally cement an alliance between their two mutually distrustful races. Though the story starts in linear fashion, the narrative moving forward through beautiful, hand-drawn scenes of conversation between the wide cast of characters, it quickly introduces a level of player choice that impacts what follows. Shortly after the humans and varl form a caravan and set off on their journey, The Banner Saga introduces situations where the player must decide how to handle events like bandit attacks, group infighting,

and encounters with strangers met while on the road. Depending on the approach taken, people including playable characters may die, the groups morale may lower or increase, and renown (the currency used to buy skills, items, and supplies) may be gained. While the main storyline will always unfold in a fairly specific manner, The Banner Sagas emphasis on player choice makes an already engrossing narrative feel extremely personal.

The tough decisions that must be made throughout the game wouldnt be nearly as interesting if it wasnt for Stoics excellent character work, however. The games story, with its invented place names and allusions to events that have taken place before its beginning, is initially confusing, but the cast of wonderfully illustrated and well-written characters anchors the plot. By the time the pieces have started to fall into place and the stakes are made clear an invasion of stone monsters and the threat posed by a mysterious, mountain-cracking serpent the audience has come to know the people living in The Banner Sagas world and care about their wellbeing. While the game doesnt permanently remove characters once theyve been killed in battle, watching a favourite cast member being taken out by a vicious bandit or injured due to a bad dialogue choice carries almost the same amount of weight as more hardnosed strategy titles like Fire Emblem and XCOM.

The Banner Sagas presentation is exceptional during the entire

game, but its ability to make combat that could have easily resembled a spreadsheet feel

truly alive is outstanding.

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This is in large part due to great characterization, but also because of the life breathed into each battle through Stoics top-notch audiovisual design. The Banner Sagas battles are turn-based and see opposing troops wearing down one anothers colour-coded armour and strength/health metres in order to win. Each soldier has a unique fighting style that, once upgraded through an RPG-style statistics screen, allows players to create a specialized team of warriors that fits their preferred combat approach. A giant varl can swing his axe in a wide arc, hitting multiple opponents; the lone, wizardly mender is capable of calling down lightning bolts; and a nimble archer can leave traps that cause damage when an enemy walks through them. Despite a combat system that appears like a series of math puzzles at first glance the effectiveness of each attack involves a bit of quick arithmetic involving the sum of each warriors health/strength and armour rating numbers The Banner Sagas extremely different character classes encourage strategic experimentation.

At first blush the rows of battlefield movement tiles, floating numbers, and menu descriptions may make combat sequences seem like relatively sterile affairs in contrast to the minimalist user interface shown during travel and dialogue sequences. Fortunately, the crisp art style found throughout the rest of the game lends itself well to turn-based fights, too. Weapons thunk into enemies with a real sense of weight, the characters move through attack animations with impressive fluidity, and a score full of pounding drums lends a sense of urgency to each encounter. The Banner Sagas presentation is exceptional during the entire game, but its ability to make combat that could have easily resembled a spreadsheet feel truly alive is outstanding.

Despite a consistently great aesthetic, problems do begin to arise during the last third of the campaign.

The deliberate pacing that helps propel the characters through the narrative for much of the game begins to lose its footing toward the end. The storyline, while never dull, eventually seems rushed, as if it became necessary for the characters to reach the final plot points at a flat-out run in place of the slower and more methodical walk that constituted the game to that point. Highlighting this point is an ending that rather unexpectedly reaches an emotionally resounding peak before immediately jumping to credits. The Banner Saga is obviously intended as the first part of a larger work, but without any way of knowing this before the arrival of its very sudden ending, the conclusion feels extremely abrupt. This is unfortunate because the closing minutes are so satisfying in their own right. Players who werent left confused as to when the many loose ends still dangling from the plot were going to be tied up would have had a far easier time allowing themselves to be affected by a substantial turn in the story, powerfully presented.

These pacing problems were made worse, in my own time with the game, by an unexpected bug that further diminished the ending. During the last few hours of the game, the caravan menu typically displayed on the top of the screen during travel sections vanished entirely, only reappearing just before the finale and spoiling the dramatic stakes of a tense end sequence involving supply management. Though this was the only technical problem I encountered during the campaign, it was glaring enough to make the dialogue choices that previously made travel sections so interesting feel inconsequential. Without the stakes of maintaining caravan supplies and group morale present it was difficult to care quite as much about how specific decisions would pan out. When mechanics inform narrative, as they do in the rest of the game, their absence causes the experience to fall apart.

Its testament to how successful the rest of The Banner Saga is that a few significant problems like these seem so minor when the game is looked at as a whole. The talent and care that has gone into the portrayal of Stoics characters and setting is substantial enough that the its failings are overshadowed by its accomplishments. The Banner Saga, in the end, comes across as a forgotten epic from our collective past. And because it achieves this kind of timelessness so well, it makes it easy for players to lose themselves in the journey of its imagined legends.

ThisisRichard.Heknowsit'shisjobtoteachhissonScottywhatthiswholegamingthingisabout.Theageratinghelpshimpicktherightgames,butbeingagooddadmeanshealwayswantstoknowmore.

ThatsexactlywhattheESRBsratingsummariesarefor.

SearchforagamesratingsummaryatESRB.org.

Lafayette,IN

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The NovelisTPLAYED ON: PCDEVELOPER: Orthogonal GamesPUBLISHER: Orthogonal Games ESRB: NR7/10

REVIEW BY REID MCCARTER

PC

Some of the best stories are concerned with fairly mundane subject matter. A good film can be about the summer job somebody works before heading off to

university. A great book can involve a single person walking around their city for a day, encountering in-teresting people. Videogames as the excellent Gone Home; Papers, Please; and Cart Life have illustrated can also tell engaging stories within the framework of real-life situations. Rather than inject swords, robots, or gunfights into plots by default, a new wave of devel-opers (typically independent and self-publishing) want players to feel the same kind of tension in a grounded setting that they would in a more fantastic one. This is very much the aim of The Novelist, a game that makes the difficulties of maintaining a proper work/life bal-ance feel as dramatically important as any of the world-altering choices made in a blockbuster science fiction or fantasy title.

Kent Hudson, the founder of Orthogonal Games and creator of The Novelist, left a career in mainstream game development to pursue a more personal type of gameplay experience. The end result is the story of Dan, Linda, and Tommy Kaplan, an ordinary fam-ily trying to hold itself together amidst a number of completely relatable, everyday crises. Dan, the epony-mous novelist, is struggling to write his next book while simultaneously attempting to salvage a rocky marriage

and tend to the educational and emotional needs of his young son. The time demands of being a good father, husband, and artist are The Novelists primary concern, Hudson stressing the near impossibility of following a dream, earning a steady income, and being a good fam-ily member all at the same time.

The Kaplans vacation home is haunted by a ghost the games sole and fortunately understated supernatu-ral element who is capable of influencing the familys future throughout the length of their summer stay. As the ghost, players can explore the house by either walking around or flitting from lamp to lamp, all the while hiding from the familys view and secretly reading their diary entries, letters, and thoughts. The ghost may read Tommys mind and see that he badly wants to spend time playing with his dad, pick up a letter written by Linda to a friend explaining her desire to further her painting career, or peruse a memory in which Dan is worried about the quality of his work in progress. After finding every clue possible, the player must decide which issue most deserves attention and guides the ghost to a sleeping Dan to whisper the ultimate choice in his ear.

The Novelist wouldnt be very interesting if these decisions didnt feel important, but, fortunately, Hudson makes prioritizing which of the familys needs are most pressing a difficult (and ultimately dramatic) process. Each of the games chapters concludes with the Kaplan

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The NovelisTPLAYED ON: PCDEVELOPER: Orthogonal GamesPUBLISHER: Orthogonal Games ESRB: NR

The overbearing tone and presentational issues make The

Novelist feel like a better proof of concept than a game in its own right.

family making some progress against the challenges of their lives while also clearly demonstrating what has been lost as a side effect of the players choices. Its tough to see that by spending time sharing a bottle of wine and strengthening the bonds of their relationship, Linda and Dan have let down a son who desperately wanted attention from his parents. Although some of the later chapters feature outcomes that seem unnec-essarily severe the marriage can weaken substan-tially if Dan, finally having found his stride in writing his novel, compromises with a family bonfire instead of a three-day camping trip The Novelist is excellent in crafting a narrative that makes each branching story path feel both weighty and, most importantly, under-standable.

The relatable challenges and heart-rending choices that must be made within Dans family are diminished somewhat by The Novelists lacklustre presentation, though. The games visual style cel-shaded objects, environments, and characters is unique and its tone is consistent, but the writing in the notes and letters is choppy and the voice actors dont seem up to the task of compensating for weaker text passages. This becomes difficult to ignore in the context of a script that fre-quently features monologues detailing frustration and profound sadness.

An extremely melancholy tone, established through a sparse piano score, grey-soaked chapter endings, and monotone line readings, becomes overly oppres-

sive with time and exacerbates this problem as well. For all the strength of its overarching plot, The Novelist contains a good deal of melodramatic moments that try for an unearned level of pathos. The end result is a game that feels a good deal more spirit-crushing than may have been intended. There is simply too much of an emphasis placed on anxiety and despair and very little attention given to the inherent joys of family life and creative work in The Novelist. Sure, the negative aspects of balancing relationship and career needs are the main subject matter that the game is concerned with, but rarely showing Dans joy in playing with his son or nail-ing a plot moment in his book makes the moments of triumph that do occur feel hollow. The minimalist piano sound track takes the oppressive tone of the writing one step further, its lack of variation casting a funereal pall

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Playing Hudsons independent debut

provides a worthwhile exploration of not only

interesting life questions, but the future possibilities

of making realistic videogame narratives

engaging as well.

over every moment of the game. Its already difficult enough when players best efforts at making the family happy lead to a character feeling emotionally wounded. Refusing to balance these small tragedies with occa-sional bits of levity drag the game down unnecessarily and minimize the sense that helping the Kaplans with their problems is a worthwhile endeavour.

Ultimately, its overbearing tone and presentational issues make The Novelist feel like a better proof of concept than a game in its own right. Kent Hudson and Orthogonal Games discovered an exceptional premise in the story of a man trying to balance the needs of his family with that of his art, but havent quite managed

to deliver on the concept with the type of experience it deserves. The choices presented throughout the plot are well imagined and mostly well executed, and the conceit of a helpful ghost makes for clever gameplay mechanic, but its harder than it should be to appreciate everything The Novelist does well when its still so rough around the edges. Playing Hudsons independent debut provides a worthwhile exploration of not only interest-ing life questions, but the future possibilities of making realistic videogame narratives engaging as well. Its only a bit of a shame that the entire experience couldnt have compensated for its occasional deficiencies to come together a little better than it has.

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Dont StarvePLAYED ON: PS4DEVELOPER: Klei EntertainmentPUBLISHER: Klei EntertainmentESRB: E108/10

REVIEW BY KHARI TAYLOR

Dont Starve: Console Edition is the first PS4 offering from developer Klei Entertainment, the team behind the critically-acclaimed Shank, Shank 2 and most recently Mark of the Ninja, the

latter of which was published exclusively by Micro-soft Studios for Xbox 360 and PC platforms. This time around, Sonys PlayStation 4 has nabbed Dont Starve console exclusivity, and with the game being absolutely free for PlayStation Plus subscribers in the month of January, Dont Starve is no doubt a welcome sight (and in the case of Plus members an absolute steal) for Klei fans who managed to purchase a PS4 during the holiday season. Unfortunately, those who are expecting more of the tight, side-scrolling action and/or stealth gameplay of Kleis previous hits are likely to be a bit disappointed at first as once the whimsical art style and humour that are the studios hallmarks are put aside, Dont Starve is a completely different beast, despite being just as compelling as its predecessors.

In Dont Starve, players initially take on the role of gentleman scientist Wilson, who for reasons unknown is duped by a mysterious demon named Maxwell into building a teleportation machine that transports him to a primitive otherworld filled with dangerous crea-tures. Wilson must use his intellect, wits, crafting and invention skills to survive long enough in this ancient world to find a way to return to his own dimension, but only if starvation and insanity dont do him in first. As

the title of the game suggests, players must hunt and forage for food, materials and other resources to keep Wilson alive and sane for as long as they can until they can effectively escape, but in addition to this concern is the recurring threat of nightfall, in which Wilson has no chance of surviving against the creatures that lurk within its darkness without a campfire. Thus, the game-play in Dont Starve involves a delicate balancing act be-tween collecting resources through hunting, gathering and farming during the day, camping and eating during the night, and whenever possible exploring unknown territory in order to find the key to returning home a task that becomes more difficult as the nights become longer and the winter cold sets in. Oh, and did I mention that the game is a dyed-in-the-wool roguelike?

As a roguelike, Dont Starve is enchantingly obtuse and as difficult as they come. Players only get one life, and while the game can mercifully be saved at any point and resumed at a later time, once the player-character dies the save point is deleted as well, leaving the player no choice but to start over again from the beginning. The only things permanently gained from death are experience points, which are awarded in proportion to the number of days the player has managed to survive. Instead of strengthening Wilson or granting him new abilities however, upon death all XP is accumulated and used to unlock a new alternative character each time the player levels up, which the player can then use to

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take into the game on his or her next attempt. Naturally, each new character has his or her own set of strengths, weaknesses and peculiar abilities, and its up to the players to weigh the pros and cons as to whether the character they choose to take into the wilderness will be a help or hindrance, not to mention appropriate to their play style. Its a completely new roll of the dice.

Another element that makes Dont Starve feel like a total crapshoot is that the worlds are procedurally generated each time a new game is started, so the map layout and location of monsters, resources, and special items will be different every single time. Furthermore, some items and resources that players seem to easily stumble across in one session may be near impossible to uncover in the next, even after extensive exploration. The only guarantees one can expect is that the mate-rials needed to survive the first few days are always nearby, and that adventurous players who travel far beyond their comfort zone will uncover some fascinat-ing, dangerous, hilarious and useful things... though exactly in what combination is a mystery. Quickly learn-ing to adapt ones survival strategies on the fly using the items and resources available are key to a long run, and its the sense of risk, reward and delightful discovery gained from perilous exploration that are at the heart of Dont Starves genius.

Unfortunately, there are several times during the game where Kleis enthusiasm in going hardcore roguelike feels as though it is getting in the way of that genius. Putting it bluntly, the way in which important information is communicated to the player is intention-

ally vague. The player can walk their character up to an object, item or creature and inspect it, which will result in the character making a comment about the thing in question, but more often than not, these com-ments will be just flippant or sarcastic opinions that fail to provide any useful hints or information beyond the obvious. Players are simply expected to learn every-thing by experimentation, either by selecting each item and looking at what can be done with it, or sticking their neck out in front of strange creatures, jumping into tooth-filled wormholes and risking their fragile health eating strange flora and fauna in the desperate hope it will keep them alive long enough until they can find something more substantial. Unless one is an extreme-ly keen observer with incredible luck, or committed to spending an inordinate number of hours and character deaths learning the hard way, the average Dont Starve player will inevitably have to cheat on occasion by looking at an online FAQ, a YouTube video walkthrough or other players broadcasting their own gameplay on PSN if they ever hope to get past certain impasses in the game (e.g. insanity).

Beyond the difficulty however, Dont Starve: Console Edition offers outstanding entertainment value, even at its $15 price tag for non-PS Plus members. It provides just the sort of challenge and stress-filled fun that roguelike fans, OCD gamers and general gluttons for punishment tend to enjoy, but is also charming and rewarding enough that any core gamer worth his or her salt can appreciate it. If youve got the time and the patience, Dont Starves got your moneys worth.

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ENDGAME

WAyNE SAN

toS

Adventure games are enjoying something of a comeback now. We have to thank the efforts studios as varied as Telltalewith The Walking Deadand far less conventional groups like the Fullbright Company with Gone Home. But the genre is a survivor. Its been here almost since the beginning of videogames, and despite its marginalization for many years, it refuses to die. One of the reasons for that is because adventure games are more about stories and ideas than many other genres. And a perfect example of this is LucasArts Loom, a game created by none other than Brian Moriarty, who appears elsewhere in this issue.

My own time with Loom is one of those rare experiences with gaming; I started it in the evening and simply did not stop until I was finished, several hours later, as the sun was rising. It was an adventure game that grabbed me and simply would not let go. To this day, years later, the memory of playing that game is a fond one.

Loom, even by the standards

of LucasArts, was an unusual adventure game. Up until this pointand even beyond itLucasArts

had an unofficial policy of avoiding conventional fantasy. Their games could be science fiction, comedy, even historical to a degree, but they shied away from swords, sorcery, dungeons and dragons. Loom changed that by being their firstand onlygame to take place in a world that wasnt our own, as a wizard of sorts used the power of weaving reality to try and save his world.

Loom, despite being a single game, had an enormously com-plex lore. It was so complicated that a 30 minute radio drama was included on a cassette for people that bought the game. It told the tale of a world where magic was a fact of life, and the humble weavers, who initially worked only with fabric, learned to apply their art to reality itself, and the resultant fear from others caused them to isolate themselves on an island. Bobbin, the hero, inadvertently becomes key to saving the world when a literal embodiment of chaos threatens existence.

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Brian Moriarty did many different things with this game. It was one of the first adventure games to remove death as a penalty for failure. It had a unique system of magic that was based on the playing of simple notes, and it did away entirely with the big inventory pile of past point n click adventures, and basing the solving puzzles entirely on Bobbinsand the playersability to remember and play drafts the melodies required by Weavers to alter the fabric of reality. It told a more serious story that didnt have the signature humour that was becoming the