Hitman 2: Three-Headed Serpent

No one's untochable.

In many ways, I see Hitman as my own personal James Bond Adventure. It's all about jet-setting to exotic locations to perform clandestine actions whilst concealing your true identity. Of course, 47 doesn't boast deep-seated insecurities and mistrust that can only be quenched with an unending string of one night affairs, but 3 out of 4 ain't bad. In that vein, the idea of travelling to the tropical jungles of Columbia in order to assassinate a drug lord is absolutely up me street. So I'm going to go through this level, as I am wont to do, and assess all that I adore, dislike, and am ambivalent towards. (And perhaps learn a little bit about game design as I go.) Oh, Spoilers, by the by.

After the deaths of the Knox's, the Shadow Client, who's name is revealed to be Lucas Grey, activates his Colombian contacts thus setting off the ICA hackers. (Those unsung heroes!) The agency have deduced that the militia are using the drug smuggling lanes of the Delgado Cartel in order to get their way around the world unseen. Diana, therefore, decides that the best way to cripple the militia's movement to dismantle the entire cartel. (Nuclear option much?) To this end, 47 has to "Behead (the) three-headed serpent." of Rico Delgado, Andrea Martinez and Jorge Franco. Rico is ambitious and eager to raise the Delgado name back to the heights is was at before the mysterious murder of his uncle; Fernando Delgado, back in 2004. For this goal his has recruited his childhood friend Andrea, former advertising executive turned Cartel spin doctor; and Jorge, a brilliant but troubled chemist who is on the verge of developing his very own, and I quote, 'super cocaine'. (Okay Dee, you're just making these mission briefs up off the top of your head, aren't you?)

So far so 'Ghost Recon: Wildlands', however, instead of dedicating the next year of his life to slowly killing off minor captains of the Cartel, like the US military opted to do, 47 instead decides to rock up to the Delgado's home address and do it all in an afternoon. And so we end up in the quaint Colombian town of Santa Fortuna. This has to be one of my favourite locations in Hitman., (Jeez, I feel like I say that a lot.) because of the way that IOI managed to flawlessly capture the aesthetic of a small South American town. There's so much to note, from the iconic boxy shape of the buildings and to saturated orange of the bricks. The feel of the town also borrows from the lazy, laid back vibe of Sapienza; quite different to the hectic excitement of Miami's race track.

In the design of Santa Fortuna, you really get the sense that IOI wanted to make a map that had much more of a variety to it's locations than any previous one, which is difficult to do when you are working with a limited, and ostensibly focused, game world. However, one merely needs to explore around to see just how diverse the parts of this particular map are. You have the village itself, with it's aforementioned lazy attitude and low guard presence; the unkempt jungle, with it's tall plants, running streams, and roaming death squads; the Delgado Mansion, which looks exactly as you picture a drug lords mansion looking; the Coca plant fields, with fields of pickers, protective gear wearing guards and more high vegetation to stalk around like a raptor; and the underground tunnels, home to Jorge's 'super cocaine' lab and a huge Bond-esque submarine hanger. Those are just the main stand outs too, I haven't even mentioned the small construction site, the fishing district or the ancient (Mayan?) ruins.

IOI really did want to make sure that they made use of this space when it came to planning out their character routes, which is why we have 3 targets that are positively strewn across this map. Rico is in the mansion, a high security area (obviously); Martinez is in her office, although she frequents the village to walk amidst the commoners;  and Jorge frequents the Coca fields, his lab and (With a little encouragement) the jungle too. Just through the plain act of completing the main quest you will find yourself having been whisked around the breadth of the play space, but even then there will be much you haven't seen. Some of my favourite player-made contracts and escalations have been featured here, and uncovering this maps two secrets have been perhaps my favourite challenge runs. I would call Santa Fortuna some of IOI's best work, and pray the look back on this map when they get around to (The already confirmed) 'Hitman 3: (Presumably) No Subtitle'.

The main mission targets are very special compared to some of the previous ones I've bought up, (or at least two of them are.) because, for the first time ever, we have people who's backstory intertwines with our own (Not in the 'Ort-Meyer' way, but in the 'I murdered your family' kind of way.). The most obvious connection is the big man himself; Rico Delgado. Hitman fans might remember the Delgado Cartel from the 'Hitman: Blood Money' level: A Vintage Year. That mission has you infiltrating the vineyard/coke factory of Don Delgado and killing him and his son. (In a mission that I swear 'Killing Eve' ripped off.) That's right, 'the mysterious death of (Rico's) uncle' that is mentioned in the mission briefing is actually in reference to your own assassination 15 years beforehand. I love how much this connection fills out the wider world of Hitman for fans in a way that feels rewarding to discover.

But, not only is there a reference to Blood Money, there is also a direct link with 'Hitman: No Subtitle' regarding Andrea Martinez. You see, way back in the first Hitman level; The Showstopper, you might remember how Dalia Margolis was running an illicit information brokery upstairs. Many high profile individuals were present with the intent to buy some sweet knowledge, a few of whom became recurring Hitman background characters; one of whom became a main character. Sure, back in Paris Andrea Martinez didn't exactly resemble her main mission counterpart, but she is the same person. IOI just didn't need to dedicate the resources to make a random NPC look high quality back then. (Who do you think they are, CD Projekt Red?)

When creating a world that is full of so many moving pieces like Hitman is, the little details that are put in go a long way to bring the whole thing to life. Back in Nightcall, I commended the choice to have, former side character, Pam Kingsley report on the aftermath of some of your hits (Like how the Cassandra Snow novels skyrocket in popularity after you murdered their author.) Actually bringing old NPC's back as targets helps to push that to a whole new level. Heck, I still think it's cool that Rico's brother, Hector (Who is related to a couple opportunities in this mission), turns up in Miami with that Sultan who keeps popping up.

None of that extra work means that IOI Skipped out on the core experiences, however. Opportunities are still as fun and rewarding as ever. Once again we have a slew of opportunities that take advantage of little character quirks as a way to get close to the target. Martinez works the local populace? Then find a way to lure her onto the construction site so that she might have an accident. Jorge is a paranoid perfectionist who won't delegate work? Mess with his supply chain in order to bring him running. In fact, the weakest link of the targets is, surprisingly, Rico himself, as there are no real discoveries in any of his opportunities. One thing I did like, however, is the way how in this mission, every opportunity could be completed in such a way that, if you don't kill them, you actually end up brightening their day. This leads to a challenge that tasks 47 with assisting everyone in the village (Before killing his targets) and consequently unlocking a very unique, and very fitting, exit animation. I won't spoil it, but let's just say that it brings a welcome touch of Disney to a game about mass murder.

Santa Fortuna is another strong level by IOI, showcasing how they did not limit themselves by choosing to ditch the episodic level format. As a big fan of the last game, I also enjoy the way that IOI choose to mirror some elements of the first game's levels without copying them. Miami was a huge public event, just like Paris; and Santa Fortuna was an exotic, chill, residential area with a mansion, just like Sapienza. Would they continue that trend by recapturing the organized chaos of Marrakesh for their next map? Find out tomorrow when I continue.

Down the rabbit hole!

I've found my next whipping horse

Every now and then I find myself browsing the marketplace of my local digital storefront just to gawk at the weird and downright awful titles that you never hear about. (Yeah, I have a lot of freetime.) Sometimes I even bring my brother along for the ride and we sit there flabbergasted by the most embarrassing cash grabs of all time; like the Top Gear racing game that was real and had 4 player co-op. (The extra person got to play as another Jeremy Clarkson. Yay!) This is how I make fun for myself.

Today boredom struck, so I decided to delve into the madness once again and was greeted with something I never thought that I would see again; A movie license game. Yep, for the upcoming 'Zombieland: Double tap' it seems that Sony Pictures wanted to resurrect that long-dead practice and see if they could make a quick buck out of it. Honestly I was never a huge fan of 'Zombieland'. Don't get me wrong, the movie was fine, but I just couldn't see myself sitting down to watch the thing more than once. I just felt like the whole time the film was trying too hard to be quirky and likeable to the point that I wanted to poke my eyes out with a fork. Maybe it's just another symptom of general-zombie-fatigue-syndrome but I feel the cells in my brain start to shut down everytime I look at a piece of promotional art for the new one. But doesn't mean that the tie in game can't be good, right?

Well, we're looking at a twin stick zombie shooter with local co-op. (A twin stick. In 2019. Okay.) The screenshots, what few I could find, seem to show us that the game has players taking the role of these ugly looking mannequin people that appear to represent the academy award winning cast. (You can tell because of the photoshop filtered JPEG's at the bottom. Also some weird lighting choice makes them look badly cropped, is anyone else seeing this?) The description is hardly that descriptive either, telling us merely that the game is "It's own unique story" and also how it is "Ridiculously fun." (Well, if the description said it, then it must be true!)

"Play as your favourite heroes from the original - Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock-" (Those were their names? How quirky!) "as well as new unlockable characters from the upcoming sequel." (Could that be an omen hinting at Microtransactions? Magic eight ball says: I don't know, Probably.) "The game embraces the game-like elements seen in the film by  incorporating everything from the "Rules" to "Zombie kill of the week".  I'll admit, that sentence made me vomit in my mouth a little. (Oh, by the way, that double space before 'incorporating' is there in the official description. This game just oozes quality, huh?) "Use your special abilities... (blah blah) ...weapons... to stay alive against huge numbers of uniquely grotesque and dangerous undead monstrosities in Zombieland: Double Tap." Firstly, 'huge numbers'? Not too specific there. Also, look at these screenshots, what about these blocky sprites scream "Uniquely Grotesque"? What does that even mean? Also the game will have a "story-based mode, wave-based horde mode and boss battles." Not entirely sure why they thought 'boss battles' counted as its own mode, but at least they are excited to talk about the game.

Truth be told, I hardly thought that this game would be worth a mention on this blog. As I skimmed past all the screenshots and glanced over the description nothing seemed to hook me at all. I just ended up thinking, "Oh, this game looks like a free-to-play mobile title from the early 2010's" and brushing it aside. Curiosity bade me to take down the studio name on the storefront to see which poor sod Sony managed to rope into making this turd and see their history. I googled their name, GameMill Entertainment, and discovered that Giant Bomb had an entry on them reading:"GameMill Entertainment is a third party video game publisher. The company is best known for being the publisher of 'Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing.'" 

The room fell into a hush. (I was the only one in it, but still.) I'm sorry, they what? They are responsible for the legendarily terrible 'Big Rigs'? The game that was so bad of a racer that, in the original release of the game, your opponents didn't even have AI and wouldn't leave the starting line? A game so incompetent that, upon reaching the end, you are greeted with a message reading: (And I quote) 'You're winner'? Someone gave them money to create a movie tie-in to a multimillion dollar movie? Is this real life? Is this just fantasy? Well, no, not entirely, GameMill merely published Big Rigs just as they are merely publishing 'Zombieland: Double tap road trip', but it sets the tone for the quality of people that this publisher works with. 

Let's take a look at their other publishing roles. It seems that they also published an unnerving amount of games based around hunting like 'Big buck trophy hunt', 'Pheasants forever: Wingshooter', and' Deer Hunter Reloaded'. (Which they also developed.) They've also been picked up for this 'low-budget' tie-in game thing before; They published the DS games of 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2' (Did not know that movie got a sequel.) Frozen: Olaf's Quest (No comment) and Hotel Transylvania. (Because if any movie screamed for a video game tie in...) Also, they published a game called: Water Sports. I have nothing more to add to that, because the name says it all.

But we are besides the point right now, there is little honor in kicking the publishers in the shins when there is a developer who is likely more to blame for this impending train wreck. They appear to be one 'High Voltage Software'. The company responsible for developing some of GameMill's more... rural titles; such as 'Country Dance' 1 & 2 for the Wii and 'Victorious: Taking the lead'. (Wait... does that mean that there is a Wii video game with Ariana Grande's likeness in it? Oh my god, I found it below. My life is complete.) They also developed the ports of Injustice and Saints Row 4 and the HD re-release of 'Zone of Enders'. (All of which were trash.) High Voltage got a chance at a big break when NetherRealm, apparently not learning from the first time, entrusted them with porting their own baby to the home computer; Mortal Kombat X.  That went... incredibly poorly. Yeah, NetherRealm decided to go with a different company for Mortal Kombat 11.

So these are the guys that Sony Pictures think will bring justice to the Zombieland brand on consoles. (I can just imagine the look on Sony Entertainment's face when they find out their sister company went behind their back with some two-dollar hoe from the off-licence.) I'm usually a more measured 'wait and see' kind of guy, heck, I sit on the fence so much it's started to mold to my butt groves, but I don't think such trepidation is required when assessing this to-be-released title.  'Zombieland: Double tap Road trip' will be one of those beautiful disasters that get swept under the rug by most media and only ambulance chasers, like myself, will stick around to gawp at the gorey remains. At least that's something to look forward to this October.

Grand Dead Online

There is never enough time.

First of all, yes, I fully intend to review Red Dead Redemption 2 at some point but seriously, it's Red Dead Redemption 2... it deserves for me to take so time. Or at least for me to do a fully exhaustive playthrough. (Plus the game is only coming up to a year old. Knowing how late I like to do things, it might be more 'on-brand' for me to wait a few years.) However, yesterday I did briefly bring up an element of that game I think is interesting; the Online component. Although I believe it is only starting to reach it's full form, as Grand Theft Auto Online did long ago, I think I've experienced enough to sum up my thoughts on the affair. But before I get there, it would make sense to start at the beginning.

The year is 2013 and September has just rolled around. Rockstar have finally released the long anticipated Grand Theft Auto V after delaying the game by six months, which definitely wasn't because they purposefully announced the game early to build on hype (>wink<).  Fans flocked to the game- (Okay, that's not entirely true.) Everyone and their mother flocked to the game, making it a undeniable success in it's launch week. Although it is difficult for me to say how much they made in that first week, (No one has boasted about it strangely.) I can confirm what you likely already know; the first day of sales amounted to 11.21 million copies sold (about $800 million) with that number climbing up to 16 million within three days (breaking the $1 billion mark.) For perspective, that means that GTA V broke six world records (as observed by Guinness) before 2014; Best Selling Action/adventure videogame in 24 Hours, Best selling video game in 24 hours, fastest entertainment property to gross $1 Billion, Highest grossing videogame in 24 hours and Highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours. It was a bit of a success then.

Yet, somehow, impossibly, fans were still upset when they got the game. "Why?" I hear you ask, because the online portion; which, for the record, had only been announced and detailed in August of 2013, after the original release date, (But I'm sure the delay wasn't a marketing ploy >wink<) didn't release with the rest of the game. People had to wait an additional 18 days to get their hands on the exciting multiplayer mayhem that the trailer promised. (18 days!? but that's an eternity!) As you can imagine, mass riots broke out across the world as people took to the streets to voice their displeasure; resulting in several broken bones, casualties, and the overthrowing of the Kaznian government. Okay, maybe that last sentence was entirely false, but seeing the reaction of people online, you'd have thought that rioting was just around the corner.

When GTA Online did finally drop, it wasn't exactly what everyone was expecting. Although, to be fair, no one knew what they were expecting. GTA Online was essentially a sandbox environment for people to murder each other perpetually, broken up by a string of fun missions that led into nowhere. There was also a few unimaginative game modes, a horde mode which I played to actual death and a meta that revolved around grinding as much money as humanly possible in order to buy the most mundane things in the game. (I don't even want to think about how much effort I had to put in to buy my garage of classic/super cars.) Thus was born the foundations of the Grand Theft Auto experience for the next six years.

There was one huge omission that did draw considerable ire from the public, however. You see the premise of the main game followed a washed-up forty five year old seeking some excitement in his life by falling back into a world of crime (most importantly bank robbery.) The game focused around 3 huge spectacle robberies (and 1 James bond-esque robbery) and Rockstar promised that there would be even more in the online portion. People would have a greater amount of control over them and it would essentially be the highlight of every online experience to rob a bank. Reality set in, however, when the online mode launched without any heists whatsoever. Although an official reason was never given, I believe that this was a balancing concern. Rockstar had no idea how profitable their new online service would be and didn't want to upset that balance by adding a way for players to pocket truckloads of money off-the-bat.

Fan's had to wait somewhere close to a year before heists finally landed, and by that point Rockstar had already cemented their formula for the future. For those who are unfamiliar (or who ignored my last blog) it works thus; every piece of developed expansion for the online mode comes attached with a price tag, like normal DLC. However, this price tag is made of in game dollars that can be earnt through game play. The price itself is so high, however, that unless you are as much of a cheapskate as I am, you'll likely just pay for the cash injections that they offer for a small real-world fee. In the end, heists were such a huge time commitment, and took so many people working in conjunction in order to setup, that they didn't butt into that carefully balanced ecostructure at all.

Yesterday I mentioned how much I enjoyed that model, and I stand by my words. I've always enjoyed the concept of "If you work hard, you'll get there in the end." maybe because I've experienced the exact opposite in real life so I find the concept quaint. That being said, I do understand that this system, and it's success, is the main reason why GTA never saw any substantial DLC or 'mix up' like Red Dead Redemption had with 'Undead Nightmare'. The biggest new asset that I've seen that team cook up in the past 6 years is that giant casino that they plopped in the middle of Los Santos. Which, by the way, actually breaks the lore of the game. (Allow me to get nerdy.)

You see, GTA Online officially takes place before the events of the main game, which  is indicated when Lester mentions knowing an operative but immediately scraps the idea by saying that they're too 'unpredictable'. Therefore, the Los Santos skyline shouldn't hold any significant changes to the one from the main game, however, here we are with a brand new Casino. Are you telling me that the entire building disappeared one night, the same way it appeared? What is this, a ghost casino?

Anyway, GTA Online ended up making all the money in the world and grossing something stupid like $6 billion, beating out Endgame and single handedly making gaming the most profitable entertainment medium in the world. It is also the reason why every soulless game's company out there is desperate to make their own hit 'live-service' despite the fact that they all lack the recognition, scope, and talent of Rockstar. (Looking at you; EA, Bethesda and Ubisoft.)

Anticipation swelled when Red Dead Redemption 2 was announced, as people guessed what that game would do to push forward the formula. Rockstar confused everyone, however, by refusing to release even so much as a trailer hinting at such. (despite promising one.) Then they turned around to their parent company, Take-Two, and assured them that Red Dead Online (the name that Rockstar filed their trademark under) wouldn't be a competitor to GTA Online. So what does that mean? Would Red Dead Online not be a live-service? Of course it would be, it would just be seeking a different demographic.

Personally, I see Red Dead Online as GTA Online 2.0. Much of the core concept itself is unchanged, there is a free-roam portion, a mission mode and a whole bunch of online competitive modes (However this game's competitive modes are almost all uniquely imaginative.) Plus, a lot of the game is built around the grind for money, the only significant difference I can see is that the price points have altered. Instead of saving up for millions in order to buy that new supercar, you end up saving just as long for that $600 horse. The biggest overhaul has been the inclusion of a brand new currency in gold.

I struggle to call this a 'premium currency'. As although you can, and are likely expected to, buy this outright; you can still earn this money in game and consistently. This separates this from other premium currencies like those found in Mobile games (that limit how much you can earn to make buying anything fun damn near prohibitive.) and other AAA games. (Like how Fallout 76 drip feeds Atoms through daily activities in order to hook concurrency.) Plus, a lot of the time, gold can be used as a substitute for in-game money, achieving... I'm not sure what, to be honest. (Likely just an incentive to spend real money on gold, honestly.)

The problem comes from the fact that there are some incredibly fun elements of the game that are locked behind gold and cannot be purchased with in-game money. This ranges from particularly cool pieces of equipment to entire portions of the gameplay loop that were added in the 'specialisations' update. Again, you can feasibly make up this Gold by just grinding away at the game, but not everyone is unemployed and talentless, some people out there have lives. I'm not blind to how manipulative this all is, but similarly, I'm not blind to how Rockstar will support this game mode substantially for years to come. It feels like such a betrayal to say that I am fine with this model, but I truly hope you can see my reasoning when I admit that I am. (Although that does not extended to GTA's Casinos. Literally, screw the GTA O team for that.)

One aspect of this game that has certainly improved over GTA Online is the way that they handle progression. Just like in every other live service, you'll find yourself being drip fed things you can buy,  like clothing and weapons, as you level up. Standard procedure. But when Rockstar added the 'specialisation' update, an interesting evolution was made to that system. Instead of just earning more clothing, or endless new pistols (GTA Online), you could unlock specialized pieces of gear or skills that could be used in the main game. For example, if you level up your bounty hunter skills, you'll eventually unlock a bolas, which can knock someone off their horse from a distance and tie them up. Keep working your way through to the upper levels and you'll even learn how to duck on your horse, dodging shots from players or NPCs and becoming an invaluable tool for multiplayer matches. It's important to note that neither of these two mechanics were present in the main game and both were realized exclusively for the online.

The free roam has been expanded upon too, learning from the mistakes of GTA Online. In that game, people were upset that missions took place in their own instanced space, meaning that players couldn't run into each other or interfere unless they grouped up in the mission lobby. Red Dead Online fixes this by not just having mission occur in the open world, but actively encouraging near by players to join in. (Usually aggressively.) This can make a standard wagon delivery mission turn into a deadly chase scene, which I may be alone in liking but I enjoy it nonetheless. Maybe I'm just a sucker for dynamic game play scenarios.

The controls and gameplay are fantastic for it's mastery of all things simple, but that is a topic that I think is best left for my review of the main game. (Whenever that will be.) and Rockstar even took the effort to make movement a lot easier, by allowing you to put your horse on 'auto mode'. Yup, if you go into cinematic mode whilst you have a destination on your map, your horse will take you there. Now, if only Rockstar could make sure that doing this didn't net you with the customary "You will be logged out in 13 minutes for inactivity" threat, then I could really enjoy myself by looking at the scenery.

Red Dead Online is a game that is hell bent on taking all of your free time, and that is a little bit a problem considering every modern video game wants the exact same thing. However, with the sheen of quality over every aspect, I don't feel as dirty donating my considerable free time to the West as much as do whenever I play Fallout 76 or... well, mostly just Fallout 76. I haven't even gone into the real deep end yet; like, did you know that RDO has a Battle pass? But I am enjoying what I have played on a surface level so far. I really do hope, however, that whatever success Red Dead Online garners does not end up putting a dampener on the chances for real Red Dead DLC, as I think the single player is ripe for some extended content.  Now, if you don't mind, I have to collect some bounties. 

Red Dead Redemption 2: Undead Nightmare?

You've got red on you.

I may sound like a little bit of a hypocrite for writing this but here goes; I actually really enjoy the live-service model that comes with Rockstar games. I know, I know, I'm always going on about how manipulative these kind of practises can be and yet I'm actively playing one myself; I suppose we just all have our lines in the sand that we draw. Don't get we wrong, I don't believe that Red Dead Online and Grand Theft Auto Online are flawless in any regard, the writing for both is terrible and their respective communities are some of the worst in gaming; but I can get behind any system that refuses to lock content behind a hard paywall and makes all content available to everyone as long as they work hard enough. (Although, admittedly, sometimes they ask for a lot of work on our behalf.)

But that topic is neither here no there for today, as I want to talk about another thing that can be achieved through a 'live-service' angle; messing with your player base. When you are in a position to constantly update your game, it can be fun for developers to tease their fans with change logs (Herobrine removed) or hidden updates. You can make your world feel alive by throwing in little teasers of what might come, or just random events that make the experience feel fresh. Well, it seems that Rockstar did exactly that when they released their 'specialisation' update last week. The RDO Reddit is now popping off with something special that some players have discovered in the game world: The existence of zombies!

I'm not just talking about those freaky Murfree Broods either, I'm talking honest-to-goodness, dead fleshed, glowing eyed, zombies. A few have been seen standing in the swamps of Lemoyne, completely interaction-less, but if you want to reliably see one yourself, you merely need to take a look in the coffins behind the sheriff's office in Armadillo. (Or just look at the picture I took from that location above.) Obviously, these beings have been conjured up with the intent to tease at some oncoming event, (I'd imagine that our proximity to Halloween might have something to do with it too) but fans are torn as to whether this will just be a seasonal online-only zombie invasion or, given Rockstar's history, a surprise drop for a zombie themed 'Undead Nightmare' overhaul.

For those who are unfamiliar, back in 2010, just a few months after the release of the critically acclaimed (and Award winning): Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar released a zombie themed update in Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. This came to the surprise of everyone a few days before that year's Halloween festivities, likely ensuring that many kids didn't get their candy that year. Who could have predicted that the folks at Rockstar would completely shake up the formula of their game within the space of a few months?

The original Undead Nightmare took place during the epilogue chapters of Red Dead Redemption, (But before the ending, obviously.) and followed the journey of John Marston as he worked to free the land from an ancient Mayan curse or something. This meant that players would find themselves going around West Elizabeth and New Austin, reconnecting with old friends and slaying your typical video game zombie variants along the way. (Walkers, Spitters, exploders etc.) You even had the chance to travel to Mexico and fight poncho zombies. (the most terrifying of all the zombies!) Yeah, the main story was mostly just schlocky fun, but no one really expected anything more from a game that bought the undead to the wild west

This wasn't just some half-assed re-skin either (As though you need be told that knowing that this is a Rockstar game.) this was a boxed game that they released in stores, with new animations, cutscenes and a heaping of fun side activities. Some of my personal favourites were the Bigfoot hunt (which was a sly reference to the long running 'bigfoot' rumor regarding GTA San Andreas), The horses of the Apocalypse (which gave the player challenges to complete and rewarded them with special apocalyptic horses) and the chupacabra hunt (In which you get to track and kill a Mexican folktale.)

One problem with Undead Nightmare, however, was the fact that, because the game was technically a re-release, it came with a separate online mode attached. This meant that there was a slew of new online modes to try out, but also that people who owned the original game couldn't play alongside those who had Undead Nightmare. Plus, then there is the issue with the Online DLC that Rockstar released and the whole thing just turned into this huge, unreserved mess. However, that was before Rockstar got a handling on how to handle a sustainable online, so maybe things will be better this time.

That is assuming that Rockstar intend to re-release Red Dead Redemption 2 in the first place, or even that there is a event impending at all. Rockstar are famously tight-lipped about all of their projects so they haven't even let slip a rumor about what the appearance of these surprise zombies could be hinting at. If anything does ultimately come from this, we should find out definitively in around about a month. I know better then to try to predict Rockstar's actions here, but I will admit that I hope for something more than the 'snowy map' that GTA Online gets every Christmas. At this point, there's nothing for us fans to do but speculate and wait for results, but I doubt we'll be disappointed.

100 Blogs in.

Next milestone at a thousand million. Wait, is that a billion?

Would you believe it, this is my hundredth post. That's right, I've made 99 other posts that all boil down to little more than inane ramblings about a world I know and love, the world of gaming. (Or 98, considering the very first post was just me setting the stage so-to-speak.) That means that I have officially been doing this for at least 3 full months without missing a day, (We'll see how long that keeps up...) and that is about 2 months and 3 weeks longer than I expected to be doing this. A couple of weeks back I saw this milestone impending and decided to hold a little state-of-the-blog, for my own sanity as much as for any actual record's sake. Plus, this means I get to write a little diary-esque entry, which is fun considering the fact that I've never been good at keeping a diary. (I figure that if I wait for every power of 10 to write my next diary entry, I should be safe to think up another one for at least the next 4 years.) WARNING: This blog is entirely just me talking about myself and nothing of value is to be gleaned here. Please move along.

First off, let me start by saying that I am very appreciative for the cathartic effect that writing this blog has had on me. For the past year before I had started this blog, I was undergoing the natural shedding of contacts that happens to some people once they leave full-time education. As I possess something of an abrasive personality, (Which you may have picked up on.) no one wanted to put up with me longer than they physically had to and so I found myself completely devoid of people to talk to practically the second that I entered what is known as 'Adulthood'. On the surface, this would fit my person fine, as beneath my British snark I am, and always will be, shy. But soon you find yourself grow increasingly lonely as you realize that you have less and less people to relate to.

Most of my peers had quickly moved on to the things that they were doing, and the rest just drifted away from me. (Sometime pointedly.) It hurts to lose people that you consider to be friends, but that is the natural progression of life so there's no point bemoaning it all. Even my own family (I come from a particularly large extended family.) never seemed to enjoy my company for any longer than they had to. At the last family barbeque I went to, I was literally the only person sitting around the grill for a good 2 hours, and the second I moved to visit the toilet everyone else seized my spot like a pack of vultures. (I would have been okay if they just asked me to move.) To be fair to them, everyone else in my family is at a different part of their lives to me and so I don't blame them for avoiding talking to me, I just wish it they were more amicable about it.

Even those that I used to be somewhat close to, like my (admittedly older) cousins, have moved on to semi-successful careers and even started getting married and having children. I vividly recall, during one of their weddings, I found myself standing next to my taller cousin (the one who wasn't getting married) after having tapped myself out of the dancing. (I am an unstoppable force on the dance floor and nothing save for abject exhaustion, will quell my dancing wrath.) He must have felt awkward standing there in silence, so he offered my what, in hindsight, probably amounted to 'wedding small talk' in his mind. He joked about how the next time we all got together like this would likely be for my wedding, and it really struck a cord for me in just how distant we were to each other. Here was a man who had a steady job, a stable relationship and would soon have a daughter along the way; whilst I was a kid fresh out of Sixth form, who couldn't even secure an interview to save his life. (Still can't, by-the-by, 2 years later.) It made me realize just how lonely I felt with having literally no in the world who I could talk to on a peer-to-peer level.

This was one of the factors that led me falling into a depression around the time of my first actual job. "Wait a minute, I thought you couldn't get interviews." and I can't, this job was attained through the virtue of nepotism. (My Aunt was a manager.) I've mentioned this job in passing before and how poorly it was run and managed. (By the head manager, that is. My Aunt did a fine job.) That may seem a little rich for me to say with my limited experience, but work in any job that averages a two-week turnover and some things are just plain for anyone to see. I spent most of my time afraid to lose my job whilst the boss woman, may she burn in H-E-double-hockey-sticks for all of eternity, reminded me each and every day how close she was to firing me. (For 3 goddamn months.) Needless to say, I quit the day I realized that, if I stayed there, I would end up jamming a pencil through her eye, and that was the first positive decision that I made as an adult.

If there was ever an experience to dissolve your self worth, try that, alongside being turned down for every job since without so much as a face-to-face interview. Again, having no one to talk to meant that it wasn't long before I was consumed by my depression. (although, believe it or not, It was actually worse when I was still working for that company.) I can't remember much about that time, as much of those days just blurred into one; all I remember is feeling tired everyday from dawn to dusk. I was tired of being worthless, friendless and futureless and was never a few aberrant thoughts away from thinking about how I could just end it all. I couldn't speak for whether or not I would ever choose to act on such inclinations, I truly don't know; but merely having those thoughts scared me into searching for something to fill my time with.

Video games have always been a huge part of my life (A sentence that I've written so much I think my fingers shadow-type it in my sleep) but during these months they were essential to me, as they were my only method of breaking up the monotony of the day to day. I won't bore you with the specifics and details regarding my 'situation' around this time, but let's just say that my hands were pretty much tied when it came to moving forward with my life in any meaningful way. In many ways, I'm still at that stagnant stage in my life with one huge exception, now I have this blog.

Some three months back I happened across Blogspot on a YouTube video I saw and remembered my Father, whilst trying to get me to stop talking to him, telling me to write about the topics I want to discuss on a blogging space. For whatever reason I decided to just go for it, (in hindsight that was really unlike me to share myself like that, I wonder what came over me?) and I found a forum in which I could speak to someone who truly listened to whatever crap I felt the urge to talk about; no one whatsoever. That may sound facetious, but I'm being serious about this; talking to myself through these blogs (Much as I'm doing now.) has really helped me overcome the rut of nothingness that used to rule my existence. (Oh god, that sounds so narcissistic. Ah well, I guess I've always been a bit of a narcissist.)

Everyday since I find myself unable to find any comfort out of daily routine unless I have penned a blog at least once that day. Somedays I find myself expanding on my horizons, promising to research into a topic for a few days (or weeks) to ensure that my blog on the topic is as informed as possible. (Such as with my Star Citizen and Transhumanism blogs.) All of this has collated to form some sort of purpose for me to continue what I'm doing and, most importantly, to get up in morning. Without this blog, I'm not sure if I would still have the motivation to even do that everyday.

Which isn't to say that I intend to continue this forever. Indeed, I have a long history of disappointing myself and others, so I'm astounded that I've managed to maintain the blog flawlessly for this long. I cannot speak to the quality of my posts and or writing, but I am happy with each and every blog I upload, (at least at some point in time, that is.) so that's all that matters.  With that being said, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep this going or even want to. Perhaps I'm only sticking with this because I'm still in the 'this is new' phrase, and the second I become used to it I'll drop it and sink back into despondency. Who knows? All I can hope to do until then is to keep going and see if the skills I build here (In writing) can be transferred upon the real world at some point.

The more I write, the more I feel it sounds weird to claim that the act of writing this blog is like having a confidant, even when no one reads it, but I feel the enjoyment comes from the writing itself. Some of my favourite blogs to write have been the Hitman series, (Understandable seeing as how I've done so many of them.) as it allows me to revisit and analyze aspects of the medium that I love so much, gaming. The themed 'list-blogs' are the most gruelling to write, as they require me to look into info about several different games; and the long form researched blogs are obviously the most intimidating. By soldiering through them all, I feel a sense of accomplishment that I haven't felt since my days at school, and perhaps just feeling that is enough to make me feel the security that I felt back then.

What I'm trying to convey is, don't expect me to keep this up forever. Maintaining things for 3 months alone is amazing and I already feel like I'm hitting the milestones that I set out for myself. When I started, I wanted to expand upon my writing craft to such a degree that I could write as much as Hunter S.Thompson could in one day without becoming irritated and deleting everything. (Although, the comparison may be a little unfair as Hunter Thompson was an incredibly celebrated journalist with several incredibly creative and/or well written books to his name. Plus he was on every drug in existence for most of his life.) It wouldn't be until my first review (or lateview) last week, wherein I found myself spending the entire day feverishly writing like a madman. At one point I thought that I was going to have to go through my blogs to see which was the longest and most in-detail one that I had written, that was before last week when I wrote 60 paragraphs on Shadow of War in one day. (I both impress and scare myself.)

I'm not sure whether or not my next 'off the cuff' blog will be on Christmas or my Birthday. (10 days after Cyberpunk, ya'll) Or, even, if I'll still have this blog when either of those two milestones land. I could drop off the face of the earth tomorrow, for all I know, so I can't make any promises in regard to this blog. (Only That I have already started to work on my Birthday blog. Yay me.) If I stop posting, I want you to know that it is likely either due to me having found a good job that I'm passionate about, (pfft, unlikely.) or me just growing tired with this whole thing and moving on with my life. Or maybe I'll just wake up on the wrong side of the bed and decide to off myself. I'm really in a weird place of my life and psyche right now. Whatever happens, thanks for sticking by me, me, and I hope you find some guidance or direction to your existence, whatever that may be.

P.S. I know that if I reread through this, I'm just going to end up deleting it all, so I'm choosing to just upload it as is. If that means there are grammar mistakes then, so be it. Plus, this is my blog. You should be used to this stuff by now.

Hitman 2: The Finish Line

Everyone hates power until you offer them some.

Here I am again to jump once more into the wonderful world of 'Hitman 2: No subtitle'. This is blog series within which I analyze the aspects of each of this game's levels summarizing what, in my opinion, works and what doesn't (And perhaps learn a little bit about world design as we go). Seeing as how I did the short introductory mission yesterday, it only makes sense that I move onto the first full-fledged level that Hitman 2 had to offer; Miami. In the lead up to Hitman 2, this was the map that IOI showed off the most of. This was what all the trailers focused on, the subject of their early screenshots and the demo that was released at E3 of that year. So, as you can imagine, this was a map that they were proud of. (By the way, thar be spoilers ahead!)

Following on from the data that was recovered from Alma Reynard's computer in the last mission, Diana managed to pick out some messages that were shared between the militia and, head of Berlin-tech giant Kronstadt; Robert Knox. Apparently, the conversation seems to indicate that Knox is a Providence agent, implying that they have an active mole. Once Providence hears about this, they deploy the ICA to clear up the mess by drowning out their filthy rat before anymore damage can be done.

Here we have the dual targets of Robert Knox, brilliant and disfigured inventor, and his ambitious estranged daughter; Sierra Knox. Robert is a technological innovator who's company's name appears on many of the more outlandish technological marvels from the first and second game; he has pushed tech into the realm of light sci-fi and intends to start gearing towards profitable military applications in the near future. Sierra, ruled by her inferiority complex regarding her father, grew up being fiercely competitive and fiery. Not only has she grown into a financial wizard, but she is also a competent race car driver. (Way to diversify, Sier-bear!) "They sound like a completely nice and innocent couple", you may think, but you'd be wrong! Apparently, Diana didn't fell justified in killing these people just because they happen to be defecting from a secretive shadow cabal of world rulers, so she dug deeper into their Internet search histories and found some dirt. Apparently, one of Kronstadt's 'cutting edge' military weapons (Some sort of missile) was used on civilian protesters by despot ruler; Jin Po, in what is known as the 'Tungan Valley Incident'. (Jeez, D. You know how to dig up the dirt, don't you. I would have just settled for a few unpaid parking tickets.) To that end,  The point of contact is to be made at the Global Innovation Motor race in Florida, because apparently the ICA don't work on weekends.

The second you touch down in Miami, you can almost see IOI flexing their improved engine and mechanics to make the game look fine. This map is essentially Paris (A big public event in which the characters are partaking) but expanded into a huge sprawling level, instead of being stuck in one mansion. The crowds at the GIR are absolutely packed and you will find yourself having to push past hundreds of them when you are in a hurry. The whole 'race event' angle makes things really fun from a visual level. Of course, you have the bleachers to see the event from, but you can also mosey about the food and T-shirt stands, and even sneak into the VIP areas where the racer's lounges are. IOI absolutely nailed the 'event' aesthetic that they were going for with this level and if I weren't there to kill someone, I feel like I could actually enjoy hanging around in this locale.

In it's layout, Miami hearkens back to the approach that IOI used when constructing Paris; in that there are two targets, one reachable from the public and one requiring some infiltration. The difference here is that the public target: Sierra, is busy representing Kronstadt in the Global Innovation Race, meaning that you have to either be active or passive in opening up an opportunity. Robert, on the other hand, sticks exclusively to his company headquarters on the other side of the bay and next to the river. The bottom floor is a pretty looking museum with some chances to lure him down, but you really want to be exploring the upper floor labs and getting some good old fashioned ironic justice.

That is where Miami outshines Nightcall in spades. IOI were back on form when it came to creating fun and interesting opportunities that leaned into an sardonic-approach or 'learn more about the lore approach'. You can learn enough about the couple from hearing people around the event talking about how Robert and his daughter can't stand each other, but you learn a whole lot more from just manipulating events to force them to meet. Dispose of Moses Lee to ensure that Sierra wins the race and you will get a scene where her father comes down to congratulate her.

In that brief moment of awkward interaction, you get a glimpse of the desire to be cordial but the lack of ability to reach there. I expected these two to be typically rude and/or abrasive, but what I witnessed instead was a father and daughter who had no idea how to communicate and how that little fact ruined their chances of a relationship together; It was actually a little bit heartbreaking. These little nuggets of life help to flesh out these targets into 3-dimension people and make you actually sad that you have to murder them. (Dammit, IOI, you made me feel sad about killing war criminals! Why must you confuse me like this?)

One opportunity has you luring away Sierra Knox by impersonating a blackmailer claiming to have evidence of the 'Tungan Valley Incident'. (Making that little bit of the mission briefing relevant.) And another sees 47 impersonating a visiting General in order to have Kronstadt demo some of his experimental military hardware, putting himself in the line of fire. (quite literally.) These are the kinds of opportunities that show IOI at their best. When they create this elaborate back story and life for these targets, and then use that lore to inform the decisions of the core game. That connection helps to elevate this assassination game into an assassination world that people love and believe in. It is the exact same type of connection that games like Destiny try to achieve but sorely fail at.

Miami also highlights the point at which IOI shifted their approach in how they handled 47. As David Bateson (47's longtime voice actor) has pointed out, before 47 was a man of very few words. He could go through the majority of the game with saying hardly anything at all. (Perhaps he was too sacred to talk after the "I need to use the bathroom" incident.) In 'Hitman 2: No subtitle', on the other hand, 47 seems to communicate in this darkly comedic fashion.

That isn't to say that he tells jokes, the man is designed to feel no emotions, that wouldn't make sense. 47 has this dead pan delivery of ironic lines the still display the characters preference to be curt, but opens him up a bit to the audience. One example is during the opportunity wherein you poison Sierra Knox by impersonating a doctor and tainting her Vitamin IV drip. Check out the exchange below:

Subtle, right? I love how, through this back and forth we get a little look to 47's psyche. Clearly he has no idea what is in the drip, but the fact that his off-the-cuff response is to list off poisonous herbs shows us how his mind revolves around death. It's a funny of digging into the enigma of 47 without ruining it all by doing a pointless prequel. (Solo: A Star Wars Story!) Some fans, and Bateson apparently, aren't the biggest fan of this approach, reasoning that it makes 47 into a little bit of a joke; but I think that, as long as 47 is always in on the joke, it doesn't subtract from the cold calculating image of the Assassin in my head. I suppose it comes down to personal preference at the end of the day.

The Finish Line is a fantastic Hitman opener and you can see why IOI were proud enough to show this one off. Although I would have liked to see a more exotic location, the strength of the targets alone it enough to carry this mission. Plus, this is the location that Hitman 2's celebrity elusive target turned up in (Sean Bean, playing "The Undying", Mike Faba.) So I have to give to props for that. Besides, IOI would be going very exotic, whilst also going traditional, for the next map; but we'll explore that next week.

Hitman 2: Nightcall

It's about time we break some rules

A few weeks back, I dedicated a series of blogs towards assessing my favourite levels in one of my favourite games of all time; 'Hitman: No subtitle.' I completely underestimated just how much I would love diving into each and every level and the specifics of what makes a great Hitman level. (Plus that was one of first times that I began providing my own pictures and videos to the blog in place of promotional material.) Honestly, I had so much fun that I'm a little sad that we only have 8 more levels left to go. (With a ninth due this month.) I need to think of another modular game that I can replace this with. (I'd ask for suggestions but...)

When Hitman 2 dropped in 2018, my attention for the game was split between it and Red Dead Redemption 2. (Two powerhouses in my book.) On one hand, there was never a doubt that I would pick up Red Dead at some point, but on the other hand, I felt like I would miss out on a lot of the hype if I waited. My indecision took me all the way to the counter of my local games store, there the staff tried to convince me to get Red Dead, (Advice that was completely unsolicited, I might add.) but I had already made up my mind due to one incidental discovery.

Whilst looking at Hitman 2's store page, I noticed a demo. "Oh, that's cool." I thought "IOI prepared another tutorial level demo like 'Hitman: No Subtitle' had." Unfortunately, I quickly noticed that this new demo was the exact same demo that 'Hitman: No Subtitle' had, it only featured updated mechanics and lighting. I was a little disappointed until I noticed the prompt for "claim legacy pack". Curious, I looked it up and found out something cool. Because I had purchased all the maps for 'Hitman: No Subtitle', I could redownload them for Hitman 2 (With all the map and lighting improvements) without having to buy the full game. I spent the next week playing all my favourite maps (So basically Sapienza and Hokkaido) whilst marvelling at how IOI had put together such a fantastic consumer positive deal. (I swear I don't work for their marketing department!)

At that time I decided that IOI deserved my purchase; Besides, I was sure that the folks at Rockstar wouldn't go hungry if I got their game next year. (Spoiler: They didn't.) Then I spent my time familiarizing myself with all the maps, story and gadgets that 'Hitman 2: No Subtitle' had to offer, whilst utilizing all the unlocks that I had acquired from my impromptu demo playthrough of the original 'No subtitle'. I found the lack of an episodic release schedule rather saddening, although I'm apparently in the minority in that regard, but I quickly overcame such worries to love this game even more than the first. (In most areas.) So let me convey that love by continuing my level-by-level guide into the IOI's design and maybe learn a little bit about world design along the way.

Hitman 2 kicks off in an moody and atmospheric fashion, as 47 rides in his speedboat towards a lone minimalist house situated on a washed-out beach in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. This a level that positively exudes atmosphere, from the windy beaches to the twilight moonlit locale, and the desolation of this house being the only sign of habitation for as far as the eye can see. IOI even decided to lean into the cinematic approach, taking away the player's HUD and having them just enjoy the location first.

The story picks up where the last game left off, with Diana meeting Providence's spokesperson (The Constant) and arranging a deal between them and the Agency to hunt down this Shadow Broker. The trail leads them to the former girlfriend of ex-militia leader Sean Rose; Alma Reynard. Alma appears to have taken up the mantle of Militia leader since her beau was murdered, and is utilizing her background in eco-terrorism to fuel their anti-elitist operations. Alma is a lot less unhinged than Sean, although she appears to have far fewer scruples than he did. She is an anti-corporate professional who isn't afraid to spill innocent blood to get the job done, however, she does acknowledged that "The boss doesn't like it".  47 is tasked with finding a lead on the Shadow broker and taking her out in a manner that is decently clandestine.

IOI seems to have taken a leaf out of horror indie games when it came to this level, as they make sure that the player familiarizes themselves with the environment (and, incidental, the controls) before any danger is introduced. When 47 lands on the beach, Reynard and her team are not yet home, so the player has time to break in whilst worrying about nothing more than the property's cameras. As this is a 'small' level (At least in comparison to the rest of the game) this level is guided in the beginning, ensuring that the players hit most level story beats in the same way a traditional video game would.

If you follow the guided narrative of the level (And don't just pick up the key in the pot by the door) you will break into the basement and see the murdered bodies of the house's previous inhabitants. It is not long after this that IOI introduce one of their more ingenious world building techniques that Hitman 2 implemented. Once you walk into the main room, you see an impressive projector TV that is stuck on the news channel. Here we see Pam Kingsley, the journalist from the Marrakesh level, presenting information about world events and enriching Hitman lore. Not only was it clever to introduce such a storytelling device in a thematically arresting way, but to use an established character with that device helps to root it in the world that the audience is already attached to. That right there, is clever storytelling!

Once the level really begins (After Reynard and her new lover, Orson Mills, come home.) you're in for a surprisingly tough introductory mission. You might think the situation would be easy to handle, giving that you are in such a confined space, but ,in fact, rather the opposite is true. Much like with Sean Rose's compound, Alma's entire house is a restricted area, (What? You mean she doesn't let random strangers up in her business?) meaning that the player is instantly tasked with a traditional stealthy mission of sneaking about whilst her 15-odd men wander through the house.

With Colorado, I complained about there being no place to relent from the guards, but in Hawke's Bay I find it rather exciting. Perhaps it is due to the location itself being so small, you don't have to cover large distances whilst crouch-sprinting, (That must be hell on the hamstrings) all 47 must do is haunt the corridors of this fairly small abode like an angel of death. It almost feels like being on the other side of a horror movie, no one even knows that the murderer is already in the house.

When it comes to the core narrative, IO do a good job of establishing Alma's character, even if she isn't that 3 dimensional. Unlike other assassinations, however, her flavour dialogue is almost non-optional, because you can literally hear her voice in every room. It takes away some of the 'investagtive' flavour that some of the first game's targets had. Although the dialogues themselves are great to overhear, I particularly love the one in which she calls up someone to blackmail them into pushing their boss off a roof. She ruthlessly threatens the well being of the man's family whilst pausing to tell Orson what kind of coffee she wants. It's a darkly amusing character establishing moment.

Unfortunately, due to this level being relatively small, there are few assassination opportunities to take advantage of. (And none which take advantage of the house's AI or the dog that never shows up but everyone keeps mentioning, 'Max') Nothing has the deviously sardonic charm that you expect from Hitman, you could swap out any target for Alma and nothing will have changed. Heck, some of the map challenges even have you target Orson for some reason. (Likely because IOI wanted to do a 'Psyco' reference and they realized that they couldn't depict Alma in the shower.) Disappointing, but as the level is short lived it isn't too much of a deal breaker.

Ultimately, Hawkes Bay takes the place of the introductory missions from 'Hitman: No Subtitle' but does so in a manner that is a lot more rigid. I appreciate IOI trying something different, but this sort of level doesn't really jive with the rest of the Hitman experience. I enjoy the 'playground' aspect of it (Alma literally has a gun wall full of new weapons to play with) but I can imagine a new player coming to the game and being utterly confused or misled by this first mission. It's wouldn't be until Miami that 'Hitman 2: No Subtitle' started in earnest, but we'll pick that up tomorrow.

Resident Evil: Project Resistance

Knock knock, open up the door, it's real!

In the immortal words of Alan Partridge "Can I shock you?", I am a huge Resident Evil fan. (What!) You may have started to pick on that little personal nugget after I, during my piece on video game zombies, dedicated an entire blog towards their depiction in various RE properties. I really sealed the deal over the weekend, however, when I purchased 5 Resident Evil games in a mad game-buying spree. (Yeah, two of them were technically re-purchases of the 'HD edition', but the sentiment still stands.) So you can imagine how excited I was when I heard that Capcom had unveiled their newest Resident Evil game at Tokyo Games show. Which one would it be? Resident Evil 8? Resident Evil 3 remake? and would it use the stunning Resident Evil engine? To which the answer would be; A new one, no, no and, thank goodness, yes.

Fans were (treated?) to a look at the, dubiously named, "Resident Evil: Project Resistance" through a teaser trailer and a few gameplay looks. What we saw was a game that very much seemed intent on trying something new, whilst actually not achieving that whatsoever. 'Project Resistance' is a asymmetrical multiplayer experience starring a cast of unlikely heroes (Who, as many have pointed out, look like a new-age mystery crew) as they work their way around a hostile space that is being manipulated by the mysterious 'Mastermind', who is yet another player. Gameplay seems to pan out as having the players undergo some task, like smashing up a number of Biocores (Whatever that is), whilst the Mastermind uses their game-creator like power to place zombies around the map in order to disrupt the heroes.

Resistance most closely resembles a game that never came out; Fable Legends. That game would have seen players taking control of some heroes from the Fable lore (Fable's incredibly shallow lore.) and trying to make their way through a gameplay scenario devised on-the-fly by another player. It's kind of like a live version of 'Super Mario Maker', with the Mastermind, or 'Villian' in the terms of Fable legend, having to play a resource game whilst the survivors, or heroes, play a team-objective game. However, Fable Legends never made it launch (Despite getting a full E3 reveal and everything). Heck, the studio behind Fable, Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios, were shut down whilst working on this game. (Although to be fair, that decision was made my Microsoft and probably wasn't solely due to them making this kind of game. If that were otherwise, this would certainly be cause for alarm.)

I say this kind of game is 'nothing new' because we already have a semi-popular horror-themed asymmetrical experience in 'Dead by Daylight'. That game had 4 players cooperate in a typically horrific locale in order to escape and not be sacrificed to 'The Entity' by a revolving cast of horror movie villains. Then there was the, less popular, 'Friday the 13th: The Videogame', which had players assume the role of camp consulars and be hunted down by one of the various movie Jason's. What I'm trying to convey here, is that the medium is already crowded with this kind of niche game and they are all struggling to remain relevant. I named the two most recognizable, and successful, games, but there are a cart's worth behind them of similar concepts that quickly dried up. However, it is true, none of them brandished the recognizable Resident Evil logo.

As a Survivor, the meat of the game comes from utilizing your roles in order to work together and survive the nightmare. You have your usual affair of specializations for this, your Tank, Medic, Hacker and... the other one; all of whom make a powerhouse of a team when you are together. You'll have to support each other whilst being met with traps, automatically locking doors, flickering lights and a huge number of zombies. Capcom decided to bring back all the zombies from Resident Evil 2, including Ivys, Dogs, Armoured Zombies, Lickers and, the big man himself, Mr. X (He's gonna give it to ya.) Gameplay has only shown off a couple of uninteresting indoor maps so far (Places where it is easier to control the level of lighting) but seeing as this Project reeks of 'games-as-a-service' I'm expecting the release of traditional RE locations down the line. (As well as RE characters.)

For a Mastermind your task is simple, divide and conquer. As a team, the survivors are far too powerful to defeat with all their synergistic abilities. Luckily, you have a bunch of tools at your disposal to ensure that the team isn't always together. You look around the map though cameras (similar to the 'Hacker' mode from 'Battlefield: Hardline') and mess around with doors, camera turrets, lights and elevators in order to get your band of heroes to be confused and ready for the kill. Then come the zombies. The Mastermind is put in control of a deck of cards that can be spent to summon an enemy of some type, or buff an already placed enemy. Each action has a power cost (with an acceptable maximum pool of 10 'power points' at any given time) requiring for strategy and planning in order to overcome your foes.

Most exciting of all the new abilities, however, and the one that the advertising team really wants to push, is the ability for The Mastermind to take over zombies. This means that, for the first time ever (As far as I am aware) Resident Evil fans can control the stars of the series, the undead themselves. This means that you can really get into the action of tearing of a college student's face (Sorry Claire) by using all of that zombies abilities in order to throw a wrench in the survivor's plans. (Similar to the 'play as the enemy' mode from Left 4 Dead, Dying Light and 'PREY: Typhon Hunter'.) This also means that players have the chance to don the cape and fedora of the least conspicuous assassin of all time; Mr. X, and pummel human-beings to death as him.

All of this is achieved through the robust power of the RE engine, and that means that this game already has one advantage over all of those potential competitors that I named earlier: It looks beautiful. The RE Engine was conceived during the creation of Resident Evil 7, with the intention of creating a life-like environment with great atmospheric controls. (essential for crafting an effective horror game) One of my personal favourite features of the RE Engine, however, is it's ability to apply damage layering on a model in order to create some of the most fantastically dynamic structural damage that I've ever seen in a video game. This was shown off, to great effect, In Resident Evil 7 against the, tough-to-kill, Jack Baker, and would go on to become my biggest selling-point for all the undead in the 'Resident Evil 2 Remake'. To see this Engine make a return in a multiplayer environment is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

Fans haven't all be as excited as I am, however, with some taken to divorcing their displeasure on the official series' Reddit. (Which I happen to be a regular browser of.) Cries of "This isn't a true Resident Evil game!" were voiced alongside the general disgruntled vibe that arises everytime Capcom opens their mouth and 'Resident Evil 3 Remake' doesn't come out of it. Discourse went so far that one of Capcom's Producers; Matt Walker, took to the forum of the Internet (Twitter) in order to defend the game, calling it "Survival Horror at it's core". (Actually he said "its" but I felt that an apostrophe was needed.) Mat started his tweet thread by noting "Been seeing a lot of people who are not pleased with- Project Resistance." Before explaining his own opinion on the matter. "My take: we as a company need to continue to branch out and try to offer up new things - If we just continue to offer up the same thing over and over again, people will gradually lose interest with what we’re making." (Which is such a 'producer' thing to say!)

Joking aside, I understand what Matt is trying say there whilst I hope that he understands that there are incredibly valid reasons for the community's concerns. The very idea of "We have to try something new in order to keep the franchise fresh." is what gave us the weird; Resident Evil 4, the inconsistent; Resident Evil 5; and the, jack-of-all-trades master-of-none; Resident Evil 6. (And yes, they were 3 of the 5 games that I recently re-bought in HD. RE 4 Leon is still best Leon.) Not to mention that fact that, everytime Resident Evil has tried to go multiplayer, it has ended in disaster.

Who remembers 'Operation: Raccoon City'? That was a 4 person 'what-if' story during the events of RE 2, in which players took the mantle of 4 Umbrella operatives, (With gear that was incredibly advanced consider the Raccoon City incident occurred in 1998.) as they tried to erase all evidence of Umbrella's involvement in the outbreak. (Note to self: Write a blog about how scatter-brained Umbrella's attempts at 'damage control' were for this outbreak.) The there was 'Umbrella Corps', a third-person shooter built on the bones of 'Resident Evil: Revelations 2' and catered towards the (Urgh) E-Sports crowd. (The less said about that game, the better.)

Fans were just starting to mourn at the loss of the Resident Evil franchise when 'Biohazard 7: Resident Evil' popped up and granted the series a second life. (See what I did there?) Finally, the game came back to traditional, great, survival horror experience; something that fans had been begging for since 'Code: Veronica X' (Which is another of the games that I bought. It's going to be my first time too!) Resident Evil 7 didn't perform amazingly, however, so people were worried that Capcom might relapse despite the critical acclaim that the game earned. Fears were only put to rest once the brilliant 'Resident Evil 2 Remake' dropped. (One of the only games that I have ever pre-ordered.)

I'm sure that Capcom want to change up their portfolio every now and again, but Resident Evil fans are so tired with their favourite series being 'ground-zero' for hair-brained (and often unsuccessful) experimentation. That is exactly what 'Project: Resistance' is, an experiment. I don't mean that as a play on the title, either. Capcom have shared that 'Resistance' is more of an idea then a set-in-stone product. Therefore, despite the impending closed Beta, the Project's fate is very much in limbo regarding whether or not it will ever see the light of day. (It's at least nice to see developers be up front and open about this stuff every now and again.)

Despite my ample misgivings, I will admit that the game looks like it might be fun for an hour or two. (Judging purely by footage that I have seen pop up.) I'm just not sure how sustainable this type of game will ultimately end up being. That's the problem with Asymmetric multiplayer games; once the gimmick wears off, it is all to easy for the fanbase to wander too. What happens when you have players who only want to play as The Mastermind? They leave once it's their turn to be a survivor. This sort of mentality makes it hard for a game like this to foster the sort of dedicated fanbase that Fortnite and Overwatch have and Apex Legends had. I suppose that the only solution is to watch from the sidelines and see how this 'Project' turns out; will it be a revolution in asymmetrical horror experiences or the first sign that Capcom are beginning to slip back into their old 'throw anything at the wall and see what sticks' habits.