Wednesday 16 February 2011

Activision v.s Tale of Tales

               v.s  

Or more precisely: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 v.s The Endless Forest

Modern Warfare 2 cover.PNG
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Windows, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3)
Testing Medium: Playstation 3

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 continues the story of the original in the usual Call of Duty style, 17 missions in which to shoot and blow-up as many things as your heart desires. Call of Duty is a series that has run from 2003, it is a 1st person - 3rd person shooter, which has taken the world by storm and has become one of the greatest gaming franchises in the world. Modern Warfare 2, is set in Russia and is the sequel to Modern Warfare. The game continues the quality of graphics used in the series, each level is stunningly made and features various NPC's including friendly and enemy characters. The whole experience is interactive and puts the player right into the battle fray, this game is possibly one of the most convincing games of the series. In particular the Moscow airport level, in which the player takes the role of a terrorist, you make the choice whether to kill the hostages or not. This game could be considered not just a war game but the next level in playing God in gaming. The opinion on whether the game had gone 'too far' is greatly disputed, yet the reviews still managed to sky rocket, for example the Metacritic review for the PS3 and Xbox was a massive 94%, whilst the PC version reached 85%.

My personal opinion is that the game was extremely entertaining and convincing, the graphics were incredible and the reviews were well warranted in their opinions. However, like many I feel the Moscow Airport senario went a little bit too far, especially considering the decreasing age in which the players are becoming, it does not inspire confidence for the future. Therefore, if kept within the adult age range the game is amazing and possibly the most realistic shooter yet.

Activision is an American video game developer and publisher. It is one of the most renowned game publishers on the planet, with game titles ranging from Crash Bandicoot to Guitar Hero. The company understands and expresses various cultures through their video games, including my play test game set in Russia.


******************

The Endless Forest (Windows)
Testing Medium: Windows

The Endless Forest is a social strategy game in which the player takes up the role of a deer and explores a virtual woodland area. The game is an interactive social, there is no clear goal of the game, except to grow stronger and learn by doing. The graphics aren't as visually stirring as Call of Duty, but that is to be expected of a smaller video game developer with less people working on the game. Although the games graphics aren't as superior as Activision's, the games produced are far more original and quirky in contrast. This makes the developer more unique. The character deer in The Endless Forest are similar to that of the 'Forest Spirit' in Hayao Miyazaki's 'Princess Mononoke', giving the character a human face allows the player to connect mentally with the character and also adds to the idea of a social game, in that the character's face is more expressive in personality. A great feature of the game is the ability to change your environment depending on user preference, meaning if you want a normal forest, you can have it, if you want something completely different, you can change it! Obviously the reviews for the game are fewer than that of Call of Duty, yet they are equally as positive, for example; 'Donna's' review at: http://www.adventurelantern.com/reviews/endlessForest/endlessForest.htm
She grades the game at an incredible 95/100! Thats more than Metacritic's review for Call of Duty!

Hayao Miyazaki's 'Princess Mononoke' (The Forest Spirit)

Tale of Tales' The Endless Forest (Deer)

My opinion of the game? I thought it was highly entertaining, original and something completely different in both principles and visuals than any other game I've ever played! I enjoyed the game even more than I enjoyed Call of Duty, perhaps because the game was something I had never really experienced before. Call of Duty is a good shooter but as far as war games go, it's been done before.

Tale of Tales is a smaller development/ publisher company based in Belgium, it's published games include:
'8', 'The Endless Forest', 'The Path', 'Fatale', 'The Graveyard' and 'Vanitas'.


So the conclusion? I rate Tale of Tales as the better games developer!

No comments:

Post a Comment