steve kwan user experience designer

Updates!

(December 14th, 2003)

I was up at the cabin this weekend because BC Hydro cut off water to my house. While I was up there, I played some video games and did wrote some updates. See reviews for Medal of Honor: Rising Sun and Sphinx and The Cursed Mummy below.

I should probably put together a Reviews section. Look for this in the upcoming days (if I get around to making one), as well as a commentary on Saddam Hussein's capture (if I get around to writing one).

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun

(December 14th, 2003)

So we went up to the cabin this weekend and rented Medal of Honor: Rising Sun to occupy ourselves. I didn't play it much, as I was more occupied with movies and my latest PS2 purchase, Sphinx and The Cursed Mummy, but I absorbed enough of the game by watching it being played to write this review.

Firstly, let me state that I've never gotten into the World War II shooter genre, so my review is likely a little biased. If you really like WWII shooters, then you might like this game a lot more than I did.

That being said, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun sucks.

My first impression of the game is that it was actually pretty cool. The game takes place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, where you play an American soldier fighting against the Japanese. The first mission has you defending your base in the attack on Pearl Harbor. In this level, the graphics are stunning. A lot of effort was put into making the assault look good.

However, the game quickly went downhill after that. By the time you reach the third level, it becomes apparent that the game designers lost interest. This level takes place in Guadalcanal, which looks less like World War II guerrilla warfare and more like Daikatana.

Aside from the first level, the graphics in this game are unimpressive and the level design uninspired. The AI of your allies and of the enemies seems very buggy. This might have something to do with the difficulty selected (easy), but a lot of the time the computer-controlled characters would mysteriously stop fighting and stand still.

Additionally, the computer-controlled teammates are all scripted into the game's story, which means that they can't die until it's time for them to die. So, you can basically let your invincible teammates kill enemies for you (although that usually doesn't work out well).

The music in this game is typical orchestrated WWII music, which suits the game well, although it is sometimes overdramatic.

The interface to the game can be quite confusing. My brother, for instance, couldn't figure out how to properly save/load his games.

A big problem with this game is that the objectives are linear (that is, you must proceed from one to the next), and there are "bugs" which sometimes prevent you from moving further. In other words, you might find yourself in a position where you know you've completed an objective, but the game won't let you proceed.

To its credit, this game does do some things well. Although I'm no WWII expert, it seems that certain aspects of WWII warfare were captured well, such as the Japanese rushing with their bayonettes instead of shooting. Not a bad touch, especially when they could have gotten away with using nearly unmodified AI code from previous Medal of Honor games.

Overall, I suppose the best I can say about Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is that it's okay. There are far worse games, but there are so many better ones that this game is scarcely worth a rental.

Graphics: 6.5/10
Sound: 7/10
Gameplay ("Fun Factor"): 7/10
Replay value: 7/10
Interface: 4/10
Overall: 6.3/10

Sphinx and The Cursed Mummy

(December 14th, 2003)

I just picked up Sphinx and The Cursed Mummy for my PlayStation 2, and I must say that I'm impressed.

This game doesn't break any new ground. It's a typical Zelda-type adventure game. In fact, the gameplay is almost in the exact same vein as the Zelda series; the only major difference being that it takes place in Egypt.

What makes this game different from other games of its type is that it actually succeeds at imitating the Zelda genre!

The general premise is this: you are Sphinx, an Egyptian demigod, who is on a mission to stop an evil force from rising. Initially the plot seems kind of vague, but things are made more clear as the game progresses.

Additionally, on a few missions you control the Mummy, who cannot fight and cannot be killed. The missions where you play as the Mummy act as a sort of intermission from the main game. The Mummy's levels are entirely puzzle-based, whereas Sphinx's levels involve puzzles as well as combat...more like a Zelda game.

Overall, the game is quite well balanced, with plenty of brain work with a solid helping of hack n' slash.

As in Zelda, you follow your objectives (completing lots of puzzles along the way), obtaining upgrades to your player such as more health, more weapons and new abilities. These upgrades permit you to find more secrets and progress further in the game.

An interesting feature of the game is your ability to capture monsters in battle and release them later to aid you (Pokémon's influence?). While this is a really fun feature, only a handful of the enemies you capture can be used in battle; most are just things that you can collect. A pity, because I think it would be really cool if you could summon any captured enemy.

Sphinx and The Cursed Mummy is the closest thing to Zelda that I have seen so far for the PS2, and that alone makes it worth buying. However, the game has lots of other selling points as well.

The graphics and visuals are stunning and the sound is terriffic. I thought at first that I'd quickly grow bored of the Egyptian theme, but quite the opposite.

The controls are very good, with a straightforward interface for moving around and making use of your abilities.

The game is certainly a load of fun to play. The first few bits of the game are a little slow, but this is acceptable because they are basically an interactive introduction to the game.

I do, however, have criticisms.

Sphinx's character is barely developed at all. You're never really told who he is; he's known only as an apprentice to Imhotep (your guide in the game). While this doesn't really detract from the game, it would be kind of nice to know a little more about your character.

The puzzles in this game, while very abundant, seem to follow very obvious patterns. Whenever you see an electric receptor statue, you know you have to zap it with electricity. Whenever you see a box, you know you have to burn it. There are lots of obvious patterns in this game that, once recognized, will help you solve the game's puzzles easily. As you progress further in the game, it seemed to me that the puzzles didn't necessarily get that much more complicated. There were just more boxes to burn and electric statues to electrify.

But again, my complaints about this game are relatively insignificant. Overall, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy is an excellent game and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 9/10
Gameplay ("Fun Factor"): 9.5/10
Replay Value: 8.5/10
Interface: 9/10
Overall:9/10

The Last Samurai

(December 11th, 2003)

I saw The Last Samurai this weekend...what an excellent film.

Tom Cruise has really outdone himself this time. I went into this movie with low expectations; after all, any film with a name like "The Last Samurai" and an action star actor like Tom Cruise could be really bad. However, instead of watching a high-budget, cheesy swordfight, I was treated to one of the best movies I can recall seeing.

The basic plot of the film is that Tom Cruise is a white man who travels to the then-developing nation of Japan to train an army to battle old-school samurai. He is captured by the enemy and taken to their village; it is there that he falls in love with the Japanese culture and "switches teams."

What makes this movie so great is the level of excellence it attains. The acting, the scenery, the story...all are of such high quality that you will doubtlessly be engrossed in this epic film.

There are only three complaints I have about this movie; here they are, in order of severity:
1 - The Hellboy trailer at the beginning of the film
2 - A boat scene near the beginning where the CGI (if it was CGI) seemed a little grainy & phony looking
3 - "Emperor Neo." See the movie and you'll know what I mean.

The few quirks are so insignificant that they barely affect the film. Except for the Hellboy trailer, that was horrible. Who funds this crap? That movie is going to suck so bad...didn't anyone learn from LXG?

Oh well...since the trailer wasn't actually part of the movie, I suppose I can't hold it against the film. Suffice it to say that The Last Samurai was an excellent film and is easily worth the $13.75 admission. I give it 4 stars out of a maximum of 4.

Christmas Season!

(December 4th, 2003)

What an eventful day! First, I won the MINISIS Inc."door prize" for best decorated door. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, at work we had a door decorating contest; we all had to decorate a door for the Christmas season; the best-decorated door won a prize.

My door was computer-themed. I made a wreath out of Ethernet cable and ornaments out of floppy disks.

Pictures of the doors can be found here.

Afterwards, we went to Canada Place to decorate our Christmas tree. Our tree was (in my opinion) one of the best-decorated trees there. We might win the award. The Best Tree award is determined by votes, so be sure to go down to Canada Place and vote for our tree! The event is a charity, so it's not about winning...but it would be nice.

Pictures of the tree can be found here.

You know the things you know you know

(December 2nd, 2003)

"Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns, there are things we know we know...We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."

-Donald Rumsfeld