Oh, The Clickers...

I started playing a new PS3 game a few days ago...well, okay, it's not really a "new" game, but it's new to me, darn it!

Last year, The Last of Us came out as a PS3 exclusive. The game received tons and tons of praise from critics and gamers alike...and of course, I had no idea it even existed until about a week ago. (I think this is probably a good moment to offer the disclaimer that I was too busy with more important things to keep up with the latest and breaking news in the gaming world...and it's at least quasi-true!)

Having just finished up Beyond: Two Souls, I decided it was finally time to look into getting a new game to play. I'm the sort of person that usually buys a game that looks like something I'd like to play, has a few good reviews online, or something that was recommended by a fried. But something happens from the time I leave the store with the game that I'm overly excited about and the the time that I get home...I hardly ever play the games that I buy! Make any sense? Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either...

(By the way, the ending that I got for my first play through of Beyond was fantastic! I know that there are at least 24 possible endings, if you count character variations...really don't see myself playing the game through another 24 times...will definitely be looking for YouTube videos of them later though...)

The Last of Us showed up on several lists of games that are considered to be similar to Beyond and Heavy Rain...and my brother and gamer friends all said that they've heard that the game is fantastic. My brother said that he had watched someone play through a bit of the game and that it would be a good one for me to tackle next.

The brief rundown of  the story: you play as Joel in a post-apocalyptic, urban setting. Something has gone terribly awry, an unknown (at least unknown to me at this point) fungal invasion has taken place and all of the requisite chaos for a zombie apocalypse is all over the place. Eventually, you meet up with a young girl, Ellie, and you're tasked with escorting her to safety. 

At this point, my expectations are for a heavily story-based game with some aspects of horror that can't be avoided, due to the nature of the story. So, imagine my surprise when I'm just kind of bebopping around, checking out the mechanics of the game and learning the controls when...

Holy crapballs! What is that?!?

I kid you not, I jumped off my couch when this guy got a hold of me. 

Turns out that the fungal invasion does bad things, very bad things, to it's less than willing human hosts. After various stages of infection, the host turns into what the game refers to as "Clickers." AKA the embodiment of terror itself. On top of these guys looking grody, they can be quite the formidable foe to deal with. The nature of the fungal infection causes the host to eventually lose their sight (umm, yeah, I'm thinking that a gigantic mushroom protruding from you face could do that) and they navigate their world with echolocation. Yep. Like a bat...a horrifying, will om-nom-nom your face while you mess your pants, bat. 

This drastically changes my gameplay strategy (which is usually something like mashing all the buttons until the bad guy goes bye-bye)...one false step can bring a horde of these mushroomy nightmares running for the all-you-can-eat Joel buffet. It doesn't even have to be a step! The game's mechanics rely on sound so much more than any game I had played before, it takes some getting used to, but it's actually quite brilliant! In real life (please please please don't ever let there be a fungal monster invasion!) that's pretty close to how it would be, you would HAVE to be careful about how loudly you walked if you're being pursued by something that was as sensitive to sound as the Clickers appear to be. Did you accidentally break the glass in that rickety old trophy case? Bam! Your face just got eaten. Did you forget to turn off your flashlight earlier and decide to absentmindedly turn it off when you know there are half a dozen Clickers literally around the corner? Bam! Face sandwich. 

I'm probably a little over an hour into the game (I choose to not say how long it's actually taken for me to get this far in the game...I don't do well with shooters, or horror, or being scared in general) but I can't wait to see what happens as the game continues. If anyone has played it before and has any tips for a scaredy cat gamer, do share!!

Do Entities Have Hands? (Beyond:Two Souls...Yes, Please!)

Happy Monday...now there's an oxymoron.

I spent a portion of the weekend nursing a killer migraine, which I strongly recommend be avoided if possible...but whenever I didn't feel like my head might implode, I spent some of the time playing Beyond: Two Souls. So, I'll briefly describe what was one the of most bizarre, yet intriguing gaming experiences I've had thus far.

Beyond: Two Souls came out last year and is brought to us by QuanticDream, a French video game developer. Several years ago, QuanticDream brought us Heavy Rain, a game that is often heralded as a gamer's "must play."

It is undoubtedly the gameplay mechanisms that set these two apart from the just about every other game that I've spent a good amount of time on. Unlike a typical FPS, RPG, or RTS game, both of these games are "interactive drama action-adventure video games." (Thank you google!) Meaning that these games are actually more like movies or books, I always tell people that it's a lot like those old "Choose Your Own Adventure Books." Remember those?

These books were the best!

The game stars Ellen Page as the main character, Jodie Holmes. I know that she isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I, personally, really like Ellen Page. Big fan of her movies Juno and Hard Candy. Also in the game is Willem Defoe as Nathan...I honestly don't what his character's last name is. Just like on the big screen, these two do a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life. Having them in the game makes it all that much more movie-like.

The game goes through some of the more significant/traumatic memories of Jodie. The load screen, visible between chapters of the game and when loading from the main menu, is a timeline of events with new events appearing with each chapter completion. The game does not go through the chapters in chronological order, but the gameplay goes quite smoothly despite bouncing back an forth between portions of Jodie's timeline. Shortly after being introduced to the main character, you learn that she's not an ordinary girl. Jodie has an imaginary friend named Aiden who seems to be an ever-present source of chaos in her life. (I spent the first hour or so of the game thinking she was calling it Ivan lol) 

In the beginning, the game is intentionally vague about Aiden. We don't know what he is or how he came to be in Jodie's life, but it is certainly clear that he does exist (not a figment of Jodie's imagination) and that he creeps the bajeezus out of most people. Several chapters cover portions of Jodie's childhood and give us some insight to what Aiden is and how that effects Jodie's daily life. It is also during these chapters that we meet Nathan, a doctor of some sort that appears to specialize in paranormal activity. Nathan takes Jodie under his wing and continues the two seem to develop a father/daughter sort of relationship. In one of Jodie's first interactions with Nathan, he asks her if she would draw a picture of Aiden so that he can see what he looks like. 

Aww, isn't it an adorable little ball of terror...

Not much is known about Aiden in the beginning, and most people simply refer to it as an entity. But, as you can see from the picture, Aiden is somehow tethered to Jodie. The two are able to sort of communicate with each other, sort of. Their communication is Jodie talking to the space around her and Aiden knocking over things/scaring people/or ignoring her. During the game, you can actually play as both Jodie and Aiden, which is kind of neat.

So, the ability to make decisions for your character is one of my favorite features of this game. I first thought that I could only make game-altering choice as Jodie, but as the game progressed, I realized that I was making choices as Aiden as well...though those were more poltergeist-like and were either horribly boring or terrifying.

A good portion of Jodie's choices involve the way you interact with the other NPCs around you. As you can see in the picture that I posted of a hobo-chic Jodie, you can choose to be honest, shady, a flat-out liar, or just plain rude. The way you talk to the people around you can have a profound effect on the game and whether or not those around you are willing to help you if needed, distrust you, or decide that you look like a perfect mugging victim.
Most of the decision junctures in the game are rather benign, and occasionally you'll run into situations that seem a little more substantial like choosing who to rescue first and if you should dazzle people around you with your mystical Aiden entity.

And then this happened:

Wait...What?!?

Yep, that's a very distraught Jodie. And yep, you have to choose whether she puts the knife down or uses it to attempt suicide (dirty knife, tetanus-y suicide). There are actually a few points in the game when Jodie contemplates suicide and you have to make a choice. Definitely a gaming first for me! Even though it's dark/disturbing, I think it also plays into how realistic of a story is being presented in this game. Life isn't always sunshine and rainbows...and sometimes, people have to make really hard life choices...

/shudder

Another key plot point in the game that caught me waaaay off guard was when Jodie had to help deliver a baby. Thankfully the game designers spared us almost all of the mentally scarring visuals that come along with an unplanned baby delivery...almost. I mean, I know that for it to be 'realistic' the baby must be born with the cord still intact (Jodie actually has to cut said cord) but c'mon. 

I don't want to spoil the game for anyone that might want to play it (highly recommended, by the way), but here's one more picture that I thought was share-worthy.

At least Aiden has nice hand writing...wait, do entities have hands?

I have no idea what all the little trophies are for...I used a Google search to find this screenshot. This scene is definitely a contender for the creepiest Aiden/Jodie interaction. 

I'm just about 3/4 finished with my first play through, can't wait to get to the end and finally learn what/who Aiden is and why he's attached to Jodie. Do you know how hard it is to search for game screenshots and not accidentally ruin the ending?!? Way too hard. 

Alright, y'all enjoy your Monday...if you need me I'll be gaming!