In Defense of "Artistic Indie Games"

I recently stumbled upon two Destructiod articles in which Jim Sterling criticizes a number of "artsy fartsy" games. In summary, he says they're pretentious, self-righteous, and lack any redeeming quality in their gameplay. Ordinarily I would've disregarded this rant as a pretentious, self-righteous farce, just because it's Jim Sterling, but in the hundreds of comments that followed, a lot of people shared Jim's sentiments. I even found a few other articles and forum discussions with people up in arms over these games.

I don't understand why people are so intolerant. Is art not a free expression unchained by conventions and restrictions? Is beauty no longer in the eye of the beholder? Who says that games have to be necessarily "fun" to be enjoyable? Can we not appreciate something just for its aesthetic expression? If you're one of those who disdainfully looks down on games like The Path, then I think you've missed the point.

Great Philosophical Depth in the Infinite Ocean

Jonas Kyratzes' The Infinite Ocean is not remarkable for its gameplay (it's a standard point-n-click adventure), but its story is engaging and offers a lot of room for philosophical interpretation. It explores different aspects of artificial intelligence, asking us to reconsider our definitions of life, and wondering if it's possible for AI to actually be more "human" than humanity. The gameplay has a couple of problems, and there's an awful lot of reading involved, but the way the story unfolds kept me interested in continuing forward. If you have the patience to read a lot of text, and especially if you're interested in AI, then this game is worth playing. Continue reading for the rest of my review / analysis.

I Hate Preliminary Character Creation

I don't like it when games forces me to make decisions about my character before I have any context to understand the effect of what I'm choosing. The decisions you make at the very beginning have long-lasting impacts that dictate how you'll be playing, when you don't have any grasp of how things work with this particular game. Several hours into some games, you might realize that you made a completely broken character, or you realize that certain playstyles are more fun than the one you chose. So I don't understand why games don't handle this aspect better.

Aliens vs Predator vs Boring

Rebellion's 2010 version of Aliens vs Predator feels like a less innovative version of their 1999 Aliens Versus Predator, and like a lamer version of Monolith's Aliens Versus Predator 2. There's almost nothing new or interesting going on here, it's just a modernized re-hash of everything we've already seen and done before. There are only five missions for each species, most of the combat breaks down to mindless click-fests, the missions themselves aren't varied, and it's just not that interesting. It's a shame, really. More about how boring it is after the jump.

Video Games in TV: Law & Order SVU

"Some TV shows just don't get it." Part of a periodical series: Video Games in TV.

In this season six episode, "Game," NYPD detectives work a murder case that appears straight out of a video game. The episode explores the controversial topic of video game violence and does a fairly good job of representing both sides of the debate. But, like nearly every television series out there, they wind up using incredibly stupid-looking game footage, misusing video game terminology, and generally betraying their inept understanding of video games. So let's jump right into it.

Beautiful Escape is Beautifully Disturbing

I wouldn't say that I like Beautiful Escape: Dungeoneer, a free indie game by Nicolau "Calunio" Chaud. It's a game about stalking innocent people on the streets, seducing them, and bringing them home to your basement to sadistically torture them until you've broken their body and soul. Unlike the Saw and Hostel films where the goal is just gratuitous gore and violence, BE:D is actually fairly tame in its graphical depiction, aiming instead for the psychological aspects that motivate psychopaths.

The atmosphere of everything is so thick and disturbing that it crawls under your skin and makes you wriggle with discomfort, not just because of the subject matter, but because of how creepy it is to be inside the mind of a hunter. This isn't a game for everyone, but its underlying message is surprisingly meta. Not to mention it's definitely one of the darkest and most emotionally-moving games I've ever played. To that end, Beautiful Escape is a successful execution of artistic design, as disturbing as it may be. If you're morbidly curious about this game, continue reading for the rest of my review / analysis.

Wonderputt is Wonderful (Kinda)

The latest sensation on the circuits is Wonderputt, a free indie flash game on Kongregate. The premise is mini-golf, where you use the mouse to determine the direction and strength of your putts in a kind of bizarre putting green. It's basically what you'd expect for mini-golf, but there's a wonderful sense of charm with this game, mostly because of the level design. All 18 holes take place on the floating block in the sky, with a few dynamic pieces that change as you move around the course. It's a great way to kill some time, but that's about all it amounts to.