Gameplay Videos

The following video clips are from select games that I enjoy:

Assassin's Creed II:

Assassin's Creed II improves upon the formula of the original in every aspect. Variety, combat, characters, all the problems that players had with the original were dealt with and improved on. The real-life Italian settings were meticulously recreated in-game to provided an imersive world unlike any game before it.

BioShock:

BioShock is the spiritual successor to System Shock and continues forward with the tradition of horror. What sets this game apart from others is its uncanny ability to blend a shooter with the philosophical ideas of Objectivism, genetics and the creation of dystopia.

Braid:

Braid is certainly one of the most artistic games out there with gameplay that builds on top of the classic Mario formula with an element of time manipulation added in. Braid is one of those games to point at when outsiders question if there is any culture in games.

Forza Motorsport 3:

Forza Motorsport is one of the key titles in the genre of racing games. The philosophy of the game is to turn car fans into game fans and game fans into car fans. It has evolved the simulation elements of the Gran Turismo series and has added the idea of community with racers, car livery artist, tuners and film editors coming together online to create and share their own unique creations. Racing games are special in that they create a new reality were it is possible for everyone to have their dream garage. $2 million for a 250 mph Bugatti Veyron, in our race the grid is full of them. It's all about making dreams come true.

GoldenEye 007:

The original GoldenEye 007 showed the world that it was possible to make a shooter work on the consoles and received critical acclaim. Even today it still holds its place as one of the highest rated games of all time. The remake for the Wii brings back the classic with modern gameplay elements that are expected of today's shooter. Playing the original without the need of rose-colored-glasses.

Halo: Reach:

Halo is one of the most popular series of all time with good reason. The gameplay is second to none. With each iteration in the series developer Bungie come up with an updated set of changes that further balances and improves the second to second play. It is not a coincidence that players find elements in other developer's games that stem directly from the model of the Halo games. Each installment in the series continues to be more refined than the last, and the standard that every game strives to match is that of a Halo.

L.A. Noire:

It is hard to imagine such a mature game coming from the same studios that brought Gran Theft Auto to the masses, but Rockstar Games is always ready to defy the public's perspective of what is expected of a game from Rockstar. The Primary team of L.A. Noire, Team Bondi, shares staff from GTA's PS2 era rival The Getaway, and it shows with the effort in challenging the basic concepts of how players traditionally play a game. Gone are the artificial interfaces HUD's, health bars, ammo counters. What is left is the purity of presentation through the world itself. It is not a game about armies of enemies, but rather focuses on putting together the logical facts and being able to tell if someone is telling the truth.

Mass Effect:

Take one part Star Wars, with it's elements of force powers and a rag tag crew, and one part Star Trek, with elements of space exploration and the status of the human race as the new kids on the intergalactic block; mix in some BioWare RPG flare, and you get Mass Effect. One of the most interesting elements of the game is the repercussions of the choices you make in game. There are literally hundreds of choices that not only effect the story of this game but carry-on into Mass Effect 2 and even Mass Effect 3. A predominate example of how much the game's story can vary is the choice of how to deal with one of the story's companions in the first game. If you decide to kill him, then he is dead forever through the rest of the story. If you manage to have him live, then he becomes the king of his race in Mass Effect 2. Take into account the scenario is just one of of many hundreds, and the possibilities become unique as the different personalities of players. Each choice further develops into the following games. Mass Effect is not the first game in a succession of iterations, but rather the series is like The Lord Of The Rings, one story split into three books.

Mirror's Edge:

Mirror's Edge is at the forefront of proving that a first person game need not be a shooter. It is not just possible to finish the game without having to fire more than one bullet, it's a challenge in the form of an achievement and challenge. It is a game about getting from Point A to Point B as fast you can. In more ways than one it is not about killing people in games, it is about delivering a message. No really, you play as a message carrier.

Modern Warfare 2:

With each installment of Call Of Duty a new sales record is broken. Call Of Duty is as mainstream as anything gets in video games. The gameplay is smooth, and Call Of Duty is the winter winner to Hollywood's summer blockbuster. The gameplay epitomizes over-the-top action in its single player and twitch reactions in its multi-player. Modern Warfare 2 might just be the peak of the series as it was the last game from the original developers at Infinity Ward.

Portal 2:

More of a puzzle game than a shooting game, Portal 2 takes the original contained environment of Portal and explodes it wide open. The writing in the Portal games is some of the best in the medium and way better than most of the slapstick comedy found in film today. The developers at Valve are able to communicate story and setting in a way that is unique to video games. Story is not forces through non-interactive cutscenes, but is communicated though the environment itself. Little scribblings on the walls, a hint of what was there before. In this method of communication players get as much or as little as they want out of the story, and players are rewarded with a better understanding of the story the more they explore.