Good tunes from 2014

Well, since its almost New Years I figured I would hop on the bandwagon and pop out a "best of 2014" list, which in the process of writing made me realize how terrible my memory is -- I seriously almost had trouble remembering what stuff came out this year (a lot of good shit, actually). Feast your eyes (in no particular order):

Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails

Starting off with probably the most polarizing release this year, Fallujah's weird ass "deathgaze" didn't go over well with everyone - nor did the apparently spotty production of the album (which I was lucky enough to not encounter). I'm not quite as fond of it as I was when I reviewed it, but it remains a very bold, very interesting album that is definitely worth a listen.

Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No

Topping the list of "quirkiest albums released this year", this little gem was the biggest sleeper hit of the year for me. Bizarre lyrics, great riffs, and an incredibly long album title -- aren't foreign bands the best?

 

Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden

Pallbearer is hot stuff right now, and for good reason -- they've managed to breathe new life into the ancient mummy that is doom (plus, look at that album art!). If you listen to nothing else on this list, this is the one album you need to check out.

Tempel - On the Steps of the Temple

Another true sleeper, these guys came out of nowhere with their debut album and absolutely crushed it. Good riffs? Check. Actual use of dynamics and quiet time? Check. Amazing artwork and atmosphere? Mega-check. These guys are up there with Pallbearer as the bands I'll be keeping an eye on in 2015.

Triptykon - Melana Chasmata

Finally, I feel like I have to mention this record. Tom Warrior's group knocked it out of the park with this one, delivering a dark, fuzzy (or slimy, looking at that artwork) bunch of songs that still don't sound quite like anything else, despite how long ole' Tommy boy has been at this.

Honorable Mentions

Opeth - Pale Communion

When I first reviewed this album, I wasn't a huge fan and mentioned how it just wasn't clicking with me -- well, revisiting it now I'm glad to say it totally has (and strongly enough to get me to buy a physical coy). I'm a huge fan of Opeth's shift into weird creepy prog, and I'm very interested to see how they'll follow up.

Haken - Restoration

While I'm not the biggest fan of the new version of "Blind", I loved most of this EP. "Crystallized" is one of the best progressive songs I've heard in a long time, and just like with Opeth I can't wait to see what these guys do after The Mountain and this disc. 

Rant: Haken (and bands in general) "sold out"

So I've been seeing this opinion here and there ever since Haken released Visions, but it seemed like The Mountain made people shut up and realize that the guys still have some tricks up their sleeves. Recently, though, I feel like its been making a comeback (catalyzed by the release of Restoration).

The opinion that Haken have purposefully altered their sound to resemble more conventional progressive bands like Dream Theater is borderline insulting -- and this applies to most bands nowadays. Especially in such a niche sub-genre within a very un-mainstream genre (progressive music in general), how much more money would they really make by altering their sound? Anyone playing any kind of metal music nowadays will never be rich no matter what they sound like, (barring the 5% of metal bands that are popular with girls) so it isn't like they're trying to turn a quick buck.

Yeah, Aquarius is a great album, we get it. But that was 4 years ago - time to move on. If you don't like what Haken or any other band is doing, thats fine, and if you want to voice your opinion, thats fine, just don't spout ignorant shit like this.

Far Cry 4 Review

Shameless in its familiarity, Far Cry 4 is a mostly fun and occasionally fascinating iteration on Far Cry 3's reward circuit formula, with all meta-narrative ambition stripped away to make room for the real star of the show: the gameplay.

As a fan of the Far Cry series, I found myself experiencing a strange kind of hype whiplash in the months leading up to this one's release. On the one hand, the new environment and the set-up for the story seemed genuinely interesting; on the other, the low level minutia of actual gameplay seemed incredibly similar to the previous game. The information and further gameplay we were shown painted (at least for me) an unprecedented likeness to Far Cry 3, which was a fairly big deal for this series.

Strange Deja Vu  

And after getting 20 or so hours into it, the feelings of familiarity definitely only increased. The mixture of old and new ideas is pretty largely skewed, and on paper the balance doesn't seem too flattering for the game -- but everyone and their dog has already mentioned how "samey" it feels, so I'll save you that trouble. In any case, it was kind of a foregone conclusion given the 1/2 as long development cycle.

It isn't just the gameplay, though -- many of the missions in the campaign are riffs on previous escapades (some more obvious than others), with some pretty standard "decision making" thrown in. From what I've seen, these decisions don't really affect the outcome much, which is both annoying and nice. Annoying, in that Ubisoft thinks I'll enjoy these little decision trees even though they have little bearing on the plot, and nice because in a game with an inexplicable lack of save slots, I just don't give enough of a shit to start over and see how it would play out had chosen Sabal over Amita. Which brings me to the characters.

Characters Welcome?

While I was afraid Pagan Min would turn out to be a half-assed Vass clone, he quickly became my favorite (just as Ubisoft intended, I'm sure). His appearances bookend the game and just like with Vaas, I found myself leaning in and turning up my TV to hear him -- Troy Baker deserves huge props for making a character with a tiny fraction of the screen time as the others the most interesting one.

There really ins't much to say about the headbutting leaders of the Golden Path, Amita and Sabal. Amita is the modernist, Sabal the traditionalist. Neither side is explored in a deep way, and outside of a single drug trip that causes you to hallucinate the "dark side" of the one you've backed, their motivations and goals are incredibly under-developed. Side characters like Yogi/Reggie and Hurk are apparently just here for comedic relief -- the only other one I was interested in listening to was Longinus, the African arms dealer. Other than that, Ubisoft played it pretty damn safe with this cast.

"Skyrim with guns"

The rest of the gameplay should be very familiar to anyone who's played a Ubisoft game -- climb a tower, reveal stuff, do stuff. This time there are even more collectibles to find, outposts to liberate, caves to explore, animals to hunt, and skills to purchase. The new side missions are a mixed bag fun-wise (convoys are great, hunting is bleh) and there is an increased emphasis on leaderboards and replayability. The core gameplay is as fun as before, but the amount of hedging on display here is a little unfortunate.

Far Cry 4 is a fun, mostly engaging game. It's just kind of a bummer to see a franchise that had consistently tried to take risks and challenge its audience become so much of a "paint by numbers" affair. While the "ankle-deep ocean" type experience works relatively well here, I find myself wondering how sustainable the Far Cry franchise can really be with only 2 years between games -- the franchise is at a crossroads, and I think the next game will define the future of the series. Here's hoping for something that isn't such a sure thing.      

Far Cry 4: Halfway-through-the-game impressions

I'm about 20 hours in, and hopefully more than halfway done with the campaign. At this point, the experiences have had enough time to marinate and allow me to form some relatively solid opinions on the game:

- The campaign is very reminiscent of Far Cry 2, in that it is very boring. None of the missions are particularly memorable, and the "decision moments" seem like a cop-out so Ubisoft didn't have to commit to a linear narrative (which is apparently a bad thing).

- The characters are also pretty bleh. Pagan Min and his buddies don't seem very interesting except for Paul, who was the first one you had to deal with. Noore could've been interesting with some development, but I don't know what happened there. Overall, the campaign feels rushed and repetitive, like the developers knew it wasn't really the focus of the game, which is a shame.

- The amount of side content is ridiculous and overwhelming. There's very little breathing room in this game -- no wonder they let you turn off the HUD. The amount of filler aka "collectibles" is also staggering and disheartening. I much prefer having a small number of collectibles that actually mean something (the memory vaults in Psychonauts, Jackal tapes in FC2) than this dreck. I don't need an incentive to explore the world in an open world game, guys. Have a little faith, jeez.

- The "karma" thing is weird. I like random encounters, but the idea that murdering soldiers is a good deed is questionable.

- I'm over halfway into the story and so far the game seems to have nothing to say about the blurry line between terrorist and freedom fighter, the nature of patriotism, returning to your birthplace as an outsider, or anything significant really. People gave Far Cry 3 shit about using tropes and cliches, but at least they tried. Here's hoping for a redeeming final act.

- The grappling is pretty sweet. The map design as a whole seems solid, although honestly it all kinda blends together. The buzzard is also pretty cool, but kind of gimmick-y, as are the elephants.

Once I finish it I'll wrap the whole game up with a real review, but I like this as an in-between. Still interested to see how it all shakes out.

Haken - Restoration

The latest from the standard bearers of modern progressive music is a testament to their improved songwriting abilities - tasteful, yet restrained  

The newest release from progressive rock's saviors, Restoration is an EP intended to slake our thirst for new Haken songs while they write their next album (which will be awesome). Wait, did I say new? Because they aren't really new - they're based off of songs from their original demo CD Enter The 5th Dimension from way back in 2008. I was kinda bummed when I heard that these songs wouldn't be  100% new, original compositions, but after hearing how it turned out I wanted to put out a little review of it. There are 3 songs here, all of which are based on songs off Enter... to varying degrees:

"Darkest Light" - A rock solid opener with a killer lead, "Darkest Light" and it's 2008 ancestor "Blind" have always been favorites of mine. The guys have done a good amount of fat-trimming on Restoration, but the missing parts from "Blind" are the bits I miss the most - the carnival music was cute and I'm always a fan of random samples, but I don't really miss the instrumental stretch.

"Earthlings" - Now this is more like it: a track that sucked originally is redone into something listenable. I'm not a huge fan of either this or "Black Seed", but this version is definitely more interesting. The harmony/Gentle Giant vocals help give this track some legs to stand on, but it's still kinda forgettable.

"Crystallised" - The "epic" piece of the EP clocking in at around 22 minutes, and easily the best song - in fact, this song is one of their best in general. It apes "Snow" pretty closely but probably contains the most actually "new" music to be found here - plus, apparently Mike Portnoy plays a gong at the end? I dunno. Anyway, it's amazing, and they  do the Gentle Giant harmony thing again here, and it's incredible - definitely one of their most emotional tracks.

As for the actual sound of it? It's pretty good. Enter... sounded like it was recorded on an Xbox Live headset (especially Ross' vocals, yuck), so just the increased production value alone makes these songs worth hearing. If you liked Enter... then you'll probably like Restoration, and if you didn't like Enter... then you'll like this even more, as the songwriting is much better on this release.

Far Cry 4: Blurred Lines

So Far Cry 4 is coming out in a couple weeks, and I'm... cautiously pessimistic? There's been a ton of gameplay released on YouTube, which could've been cool, but mostly just shows the same couple of missions and areas, which is weird. At this point, I think we all know what we're getting, which is a problem I have with this game - overexposure.

The game mechanics are another - and yes, I realize the developers had only 2 years instead of the usual 4 for this one, and that Far Cry 3 was such a huge smash that of course they would keep the mechanics in place. My problem is that, while they were pretty sweet, Far Cry 3's mechanics felt very unique to that game - and by re-using them (in a practically identical way, too) in a different title, they won't make as much sense.

A Sequel in Name Only

One of this series' main claims to fame (Pretty good, right?) is that each entry has been pretty significantly (mechanically, at least) different from its siblings. The original was a fast-paced shooter/tech demo with an emphasis on challenge. The sequel went in the opposite direction, with stiff, uncompromising gameplay and a bleak, (unintentionally) nearly-absent narrative that came together to form a very different experience . Then, Far Cry 3 came along and pulled another switcheroo, shoving all these characters into our faces and giving us a deep, if narrow sandbox to play in. 

What's significant about all this crap that you probably already knew, is that Far Cry 4 is clearly recycling a lot of stuff from Far Cry 3 - which is...fine, Far Cry 3 took the setting and camera mechanics of the first Far Cry and that worked pretty well - but I'm worried that some of the stuff they're re-using maybe won't work as well in this new game.

Smooth Moves

First, the "takedowns". These were a huge part of what made Far Cry 3's combat so fun, while also being a great metaphor for Jason's transformation into a monster. Remember these?

One thing should be clear to you: these are not nice ways to kill people. In fact, when you think about it, sneaking up behind someone and jamming a machete down their throat is a really, really crazy (like mentally ill crazy) way to murder someone, and the fact that these moves are so powerful and useful (compared to, you know, guns) speaks a lot to the game's message. Jason/you is kind of a psycho, hence the Michael Myers-esque combat.

And now, we're playing as a totally different guy who seems to be pretty normal, yet who continues the tradition of these over-the-top, horrific killing methods. Just doesn't make any sense.

And that's not even getting into the rest of the same-old stuff, like the bell towers, outposts and "bigger" outposts, and the grab-bag of assorted filler that Ubisoft is known and loved for. With all the negative reactions the game is getting, though, maybe Far Cry 5 will be something different again.

Spooky Review: Silent Hill 2

While it isn't exactly the triple-A franchise it was in the early 00's, the first three Silent Hill games are still considered the high water mark for whole horror genre. And after playing Silent Hill 2, I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Setup

The game is technically a sequel to the original Silent Hill game from '99, retaining the titular setting and trademark fog while telling an entirely new and unrelated story. You play as James Sunderland, a guy who returns to Silent Hill after getting a letter from his wife saying that she's "waiting for you... in our 'special place'" - problem is, she's been dead for three years. So now you're here to find her!

It doesn't really make sense, and you know that even as you play it, but it's such a powerful "what if?" that it really pulls you in - and the more you play, the more compelling it gets. It's also a nice treat after enduring so many modern horror games that feature your character waking up in a castle/creepy manor/hospital with amnesia. Ugh.

Graphics/Art Design

Like the other "main" SH games, the art direction here is absolutely top-notch, and frankly repulsive in areas (in a good way). The fog-swept town is as forlorn and desolate as ever, and the various locations are all put together beautifully without ever feeling over-done - the environments are definitely scary, but in a kind of subdued way - there are a lot of dilapidated buildings and decayed rooms and stuff, but you won't find any mutilated body parts or anything like that. The atmosphere is more of a quiet, slowly building tension than a "spooky prison" or something stupid like that. Think Penumbra, not Dead Space.

The monster designs are little more blatant. Silent Hill in general is known for having some pretty fucked-up looking monsters (Pyramid Head), and Silent Hill 2 is no different -this game has some of the most creative, bizarre, and just-plain-gross monster designs in the whole genre. Pyramid Head looks downright normal when you compare it the Mannequin, Abstract Daddy, and the Nurses.

Soundtrack/Sound Design

Even more important than the environment and enemies is the soundtrack, and whadda ya know - Silent Hill 2's is brilliant. It's difficult to get across how much work the soundtrack does here, but I'll try.

The standard walking-around tracks are all great - they accentuate the tension and general "this doesn't feel right" vibe of the whole game real well, but it's the smaller touches that really seal the deal. The static burst your radio emits when monsters are nearby consistently made me anxious despite the relatively low danger (a classic Pavlov's Dog situation). The air-raid siren after the first fight with Pyramid Head is deeply unsettling, as is the oppressively loud machine noises in the clock room in the apartment building. The guttural mutterings in the prison, and the weird dirges in the labyrinth -- all of these lesser elements combine to create an almost dream-like collage of sonic oppression that consistently kept me on the edge of my seat.

Gameplay & Story

Since Silent Hill is (very much so) a Japanese game, it controls a little differently than you might expect. It's a relic of the single-control-stick era, as Japanese gamers were resistant to the idea of dual analog sticks. As such, the game controls in a very unique and weird fashion, with fixed camera angles and a two-button combat system. Oh yeah, there's combat in this game - and a lot of it. It's awkward and clunky, but also pretty grisly and cathartic - there's perverse fun to be had by beating the various nasties to death with a pipe, especially when your nerves have been frayed bare by the rest of the game.

What you actually do in the game is a mix of puzzle-solving and combat, with a heavier emphasis on the former. The puzzles are kind of an odd bunch, with most of them being satisfyingly-tough riddles that make some amount of sense. Some of the other ones are a bit more esoteric and will probably take you a while. Honestly, this is the only area of this game that hasn't aged super well.

The story, on the other hand, is very impressive. The pacing is slow (maybe a little too slow - don't worry, it's worth it!) and methodical, and the dialogue is frequently nonsensical. The plot is set up so that its basically impossible to figure out everything that happens, and it's never really clear whats real and whats not. Multiple playthroughs are encouraged by the game and there are a whopping six different endings available - three of them only attainable on your second time through.

In terms of length, there were three distinct moments where I thought "Oh shit, this is definitely the end" and was completely wrong, so don't worry about that - there's plenty of meat to chew on here.

Bottom Line

This game is considered the greatest horror game ever made, and after playing it I'm inclined to agree. From the sound design to the characters to the story - everything about Silent Hill 2 oozes polish, superior craftsmanship, and slow-burning tension and fear. It's more interesting than Amnesia and Slender, and more varied and twisty than Dead Space and Resident Evil - honestly, it's perfect.

(Note: I played it as part of the Silent Hill HD Collection on Xbox 360, which I later discovered is a pretty awful port. If you can find a copy for PS2, get that instead. The PS3 version of the HD collection is also preferable to the 360 one apparently.)

Destrage - Are You Kidding Me? No

Impressively mature and adorably juvenile at the same time, the Italian upstarts deliver a fresh set of mosh-friendly riffs and quirky, creative songwriting

This one is a bit late (the album dropped in March) but I haven't really seen anything about it, so I'm taking it upon myself to get the word out about these guys, because they kick ass. They're called Destrage, and they're an Italian group who have been around since 2007 or so. 

Ostensibly, they make "progressive/alternative metal", but those classifications don't really do them justice. If by "progressive" you think keyboards, long songs, and cheesy lyrics, then these guys are 0 for 3; "alternative" works better, but it still makes me think of stuff like Tool, Jane's Addiction, and Fishbone, which these guys are, again, not really like. Basically, they're progressive in the sense that their songs jump all over the place and the music is pretty intense, technically-speaking. Thankfully, though, these dudes know how to trim the fat: the longest song of this set comes to just under 8 minutes, with the rest hovering around the 5 minute mark. The short song lengths aren't the only thing that sets these guys apart from other progressive bands - the vocals here are almost exclusively harsh.

In addition to the rougher vocals, the music here is much closer to Between the Buried and Me than Dream Theater - plenty of breakdowns, monster riffs (seriously, they're real good), and crazy lyrics. There are some slower and quieter parts for variety, for the most part this is very good and very groovy drive-around-with-the-windows-down metal. For such a young group, Destrage show a lot of songwriting skill, and are definitely a band worth keeping an eye on.

Elton John's The Diving Board

Smoky, somber, and a little sad, Elton John's latest album in seven years exceeds expectations with a collection of powerful and varied tunes 

John's latest album in quite a few years, The Diving Board was something I was looking forward to. I had (and still do) loved The Captain & the Kid, and had mostly enjoyed his "return to form albums": Peachtree Road, Songs From the West Coast, and Too Low for Zero. The Diving Board, however, is very different from Captain, and is really most similar to earlier records like Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across the Water.

First off, it's mostly just John, his piano, and the band's light accompaniment on these tracks -- it might help to think of it as an acoustic record (because it basically is). Most of the songs are slow-rolling ballad-types with an emphasis on atmosphere over accessibility (hey, kinda like the new Opeth record!), and they're mostly all good. There are some more adventurous pieces sprinkled in as well - "Take This Dirty Water" is a great gospel-ish tune, and "A Town Called Jubilee" recalls the days of Tumbleweed Connection in a way that isn't cheap or boring. Honestly, it's hard to talk about standout tracks because the songs are so consistently good here. "New Fever Waltz" is the worst, but even so, it isn't really "bad" - just really boring. "Can't Stay Alone Tonight" and "Voyeur" are my personal favorites, though.

In addition to the fantastic songs, the production on this album is crazy good. There's a heady atmosphere of melancholy maturity to The Diving Board, and John hasn't sounded this good in a long, long time. T-Bone Burnett deserves props for his excellent work here (and for his ridiculous stage name).

If you're a fan of Elton John or just want a break from your usual musical diet, I can't recommend The Diving Board highly enough.

Opeth's Pale Communion

A meandering, somber record that's heavy on atmosphere at the expense of hooks

Well, here's another one to put into the "really wanted to like but just can't" category. Coming in directly after their folk/prog thing Heritage (which I also do not like), it seemed like a return to form for a band that seemed to be in an awkward transitional stage. And it is, in the sense that it's much better than Heritage -- the band's progressive tendencies have fully crystallized on this disc. Right from the opening keyboard swirls on the first song (and one of the better ones), "Eternal Rains Will Come", the sound is darker and more melodic, and that emphasis on melody is carried along throughout the whole record.

It's tough to do a track-by-track breakdown of an Opeth record, and Pale Communion continues that tradition. The songs aren't all super long (which is how I remembered them until looking up their lengths for this) but they do all sound similar -- its a lot like Damnation, but with atmosphere instead of hooks. The only standout I remember is the "epic" of the lot: "Moon Above, Sun Below", which has some cool lyrics and interesting instrumentation. 

That isn't to say it isn't worth a spin or two -- it definitely is. It just didn't click with me.

Fallujah's The Flesh Prevails

Aggressive and atmospheric, progressive yet restrained, Fallujah deliver a brilliant record of icy beauty

One of the most exciting parts of following a band is the privilege of being there as they change and grow -- and its hard to think of another band that has leveraged changing influences and artistic ambition with as much success as Fallujah has with this latest record. Stitching together the progressive threads spun by other groups (the influence of Cynic here is clear), the band has crafted a collection of songs that are more intertwined than usual, with certain songs recalling others (most easily noticed on Levitation and Alone With You) or sharing elements.

If that sounds a bit too proggy for you, don't worry -- Carstairs and the boys keep things firmly rooted in riffy, blast-beat laden death metal the vast majority of the time. What's really impressive, though, is the way the band mixes that brutality with lighter touches: ambient keyboard touches, airy synths, and breathy female vocals -- not exactly staple features of the genre (the vocals were provided by electro-pop singer Roniit). This split between heavy and heartfelt is the album's biggest strength, as it effectively balances the progressive elements of the bands' sound (most audible on "Chemical Cave", "Sapphire", and "Allure") with the depressive ("Carved From Stone", "The Night Reveals"). 

Bottom Line: With a well-crafted mix of technical death metal and atmospheric ambiance, The Flesh Prevails is an excellent record for fans of both metal and electronic music, and a great introductory point for people new to either genre.

Dream Theater: A Dramatic Turn of Events

(This is gonna be short cuz I'm tired)

Dream Theater's A Dramatic Turn of Events

 DT's first album without Portnoy was pretty interesting when it was released just after Black Clouds & Silver Linings, and it's even more of an odd one now that Dream Theater is a thing. Deliberately retro and full of little nuggets, it's a bit more consistent than Systematic Chaos or even Octavarium but sometimes I don't think that's a good thing: this is one of those CD's I really need to be "in the mood" for.

The biggest change is obviously Mangini replacing Portnoy on the skins. Even before Dream Theater everyone knew Mangini had monster chops, but on this record his playing is pretty subdued. Part of that is due to him being kind of buried in the mix (John Myung is somewhere down in there too, if you can find him), but some of it is also because of the newness of the situation. 

The songs on this album are also part of it -- they're much more prog than metal, with a heavier emphasis on melody and catchy choruses than usual. It's honestly pretty impressive how well the album flows, but I guess it isn't surprising since they were going for that "Images and Words 2.0" vibe. Also, I find it funny that that fact is considered controversial or a "nugget" - upon hearing the first 20 seconds of the first track, you'll probably get reminded of "Pull Me Under". Some people love that, some don't - personally, I think it's a nice nod to the fans. 

That said, the song quality here is definitely a mixed bag. There are some real ear-worms in there - the choruses to "Bridges in the Sky" and "Lost Not Forgotten" are crazy catchy. "On the Backs of Angels" is a solid opener, but it drags a little bit towards the end, but pseudo-epics "Bridges in the Sky" and "Lost Not Forgotten" are not only excellent in the context of this album, but just in DT-land in general, and the latter is one of the band's best songs period.

What's more surprising, though, is how good the ballads are here. "This Is The Life" is simply sublime, with some of the best orchestration and composition on the disc, and the other two examples, "Far From Heaven" and "Beneath The Surface" are excellent as well. Yup, the cheesy ballads really do some good work here.

Of course, there are some stinkers. "Build Me Up, Break Me Down" is boring as hell and has shit lyrics, "Outcry" is far too long and far too boring -- they honestly ruined this song's good riffs and chorus with another Dream Theater© instrumental section that goes on for about 4 minutes too many. "Breaking All Illusions" has some nice atmosphere (especially with the samples! Use them more often, guys!) but it's also just too damn long.

In conclusion: a solid album, and a nice throwback to that "classic" DT sound (even though they only sounded like that for one album). A couple of awesome songs (especially the ballads) and a couple of real lame ones -- definitely worth a spin if you've got a hankering for more melodic DT stuff.

PS all those long songs = great road trip music

Tempel's "On the Steps of the Tempel"

On the Steps of the Tempel

If you listen to as much metal as me, you probably can agree that the genre has a problem with creativity. I realize that homogeneity is a problem that affects all areas of music (and most other forms of art, come to think of it), but it's always seemed to me that metal music suffers from this more than other genres. While there are countless new bands popping up, a sizable portion of them seem to either be content with occupying - at least to me - already well-explored subgenres (e.g. neo-Thrash bands like Evile, Havoc,  Savage Messiah, etc.), or competing to see who can drive farther off the map of extreme music, which can be seen at different ends of the spectrum in bands like Pig Destroyer, The Black Dahlia Murder, and The Dillinger Escape Plan vs. Soma, Boris, and Sunn 0))).

So in the middle of all this polarity, it's refreshing to see a band like Tempel come up out of the woodwork. On the Steps of the Tempel is their debut album, and it's an excellent of example of how to make music that is supremely heavy without sacrificing hooks or appropriate song lengths. The first track, "Mountain", is eight and a half minutes of chugging riffs that do an excellent job of sucking you in before getting sludgy with the follow-up, "Rising from the Abyss". From here the boys give you some quiet time with "Final Years" before repeating the pattern all over again with the last three tracks.

While the riffs and musicality are deserving of praise here, I'm more impressed with the band's inclusion of quiet, sparse pieces to give you a chance to catch your breath and to give the really crushing tracks like "Avaritia" more punch.

All in all, really solid. Highly recommended.

Review: Psychonauts

A criminally overlooked gem from 2005, Psychonauts is an action platformer based on a brilliantly unique concept: you play as Raz, a young psychic who accomplishes real-world objectives by diving into different characters' minds and exploring their often-troubled psyches as you attempt to stop a shadowy plot.

I got this game a couple of years ago through one of the first Humble Indie Bundles, along with Amnesia, Braid, Limbo, Bastion, and some other stuff I never played (just those four were plenty). Amnesia wouldn't on my laptop so I had an excellent excuse to not play it (I did, but later and with friends. Horror games are a lot of fun played in a group setting, actually). I had already played Bastion and Braid and loved them, and Limbo was also awesome. But since everyone and their dog has written about those games, I thought it would be fun to write about the game I had never heard of upon starting it up but found myself being completely sucked into almost immediately. So here I am (and here you are, I suppose).

The game's a platformer (like Banjo-Kazooie or Spyro) so most of the game is you running around the world exploring and navigating the different levels. Sounds pretty normal, but there's the twist: each different level takes place in a different character's mind, so each environment is completely distinct. And I really mean "distinct" here, not just each level using the same assets in different colors. An example: one level takes place in the mind of a paranoid-schizophrenic. His mindscape is like a dark, twisted version of a 50's suburb, with crazy spiraling streets, guys in trenchcoats all over the place, and a shadowy conspiracy that only he knows about. Another character (who happens to be one of the instructors at the camp) is a dancing fashionista who's inner psyche is a giant party.

Not only do the levels vary tremendously in terms of their appearances, they also all feature distinct mechanics that really lend a sense of identity to each one - in one level, you have to stop a bull running amok through a Mexican town by defeating different luchadors and collecting different paintings (this is the world of a depressed Hispanic painter)  and in another you assume the role of the director of a play (this is the world of a crazy actress with delusions of grandeur). All of these little worlds are totally unique and have their own secrets and collectibles hidden inside, and they all serve to flesh out the the characters beautifully. These characters - and the environments in general - are all rendered in a unique, cartoony style. This style makes it instantly recognizable in the same way games like Limbo and Braid are easy to identify because of their art.

The way in which you interact with these compelling, vibrant areas is brilliantly executed as well: Raz has access to a number of psychic powers that he obtains gradually as you level up (a tried-and-true device excellently adapted: you gain experience not by defeating enemies or completing quests, but by collecting figments of characters' imagination that are scattered throughout their mental landscapes) that all facilitate interesting gameplay, ranging from levitation and pyrokinesis to clairvoyance and invisibility. Just like with the dialogue, your ever-expanding bag of tricks has wide-ranging applications in a number of situations, including ones you may have encountered in previous worlds. This kind of design really encourages backtracking for all the right reasons: to find out more about the characters and their motivations and personalities via brilliantly drawn slideshows contained in "memory vaults", to access hidden areas, or just to get more resources.

Besides the environments and mechanics, the writing is another aspect of this game that elevates it - it's consistently excellent at both making you laugh and care about the characters. Every one of Raz's fellow campers has a unique line to say about nearly every item you can get, and even ones you technically shouldn't be able to have, making for a wonderfully rich cast of people with unique personalities and motivations. The jokes are clever and sharp and the plot is interesting and deep without being too twisty for it's own good, and the voice acting is uniformly excellent, especially Steven Horvitz as Raz.

All of these disparate parts all add up to make a game with a singular vision, which is something I love. Games like Spec Ops, Braid, and Bastion are all collections of different assets acting together for a single purpose and to get across one "main point", which is something that you don't see outside of indie games nowadays. Psychonauts doesn't share the ludo-narrative or meta focus that those games do - rather, it's just a damn good game entirely focused on being a damn good game.

The art is great, the writing is great, and the gameplay is great. What's not to love? it's available on Steam and XBL Marketplace for way cheap. You owe it to yourself and, more importantly, to the industry to support projects like this.

Far Cry 3 was intentionally designed to be gamey and un-immersive

This game again. Yeah, it sucks, but I started playing it again and needed to get my thoughts on more of the design side of the game out there. For your edification and pleasure!

Gamey-ness?

Gamey-ness is kind of a weird term. I don't think its a real word with a defined meaning - its more of a "gut instinct" kind of thing: a word describing a feeling. To me, a game's "gamey-ness" is basically how much it reminds me that I'm playing a game while I'm playing it. So something like Far Cry 2, which does everything possible to immerse you, is very ungamey. Penumbra and Amnesia are very ungamey. Far Cry 3, though, is very much gamey, and I don't think it was an accident.

Design Choices - HUD 

Probably the biggest impact on a game's overall ethos is it's HUD, since you'll be staring at it for 99% of your time with the game. Far Cry 3's HUD is a strange juxtaposition of convenience and immersion against annoyance and intrusion -- for example, your weapon's ammo counter fades out after a few seconds, so the right side of the screen is largely uncluttered, which is great. But your mini-map, a much bigger intrusion on your immersion, is constantly there to remind you of things to do and places to go -- not very immersive. It doesn't help that many of the icons used for game objects seem strangely sparse against the otherwise constant bright greens and blues of the jungle: white diamonds, almost silly-looking inanimate cars and boats, and jewel-like relics. What makes this element of the HUD truly aggravating, however, is how unnecessary it is since you have a real map one button away. What's more, the developers took the time to import Far Cry 2's GPS diamond tracker into the game which you use for a nice side mission, so it isn't as if they didn't have the code ready. No, the mini-map's constant presence was deliberately implemented to reduce your immersion and make the game feel more like, well, a game.

Going hand-in-hand with the mini-map is the game's crazy amount of pop-ups. You can turn most of them off, thank god, but even then they're pretty annoying after you've been playing for a few hours -- they're incessant, unavoidable, and they do a great job of reminding you that you're playing a video game every 6 minutes. And that isn't mentioning the button prompts for climbing, driving, interacting, and takedowns! Only the latter one of those is even useful, and yet they're omnipresent. When I think of immersion, I definitely think of big button prompts paired to loud tribal "whoosh" sound effects to announce their presence.

Music

And that brings me to the map screen and pause menu -- but before that, I have to talk briefly about this game's music. I haven't read or seen anything on this subject which has confused me, mostly because of how goddamn weird the music is in this game! Think about it: it's a game where you run around a jungle and kill pirates and rare animals -- don't you'd think the music would be more Predator and less Eraserhead? Seriously, go play the game for a few minutes, just run around in the world with the music on. It's a hypnotic trance soundtrack to your glorious ultra-violence, and it doesn't fit at all. It's like the definition of cognitive dissonance -- it's weird and kind of creepy, so I turned it off a long time ago and never turn it back on because it makes me want to stop playing.

And you know what else? That's what they were going for. The music is weird and spooky because the game is weird and spooky. If Far Cry 2 went too far on the realism scale, this game tips the scale right back. If the other aspects of the game feel dream-like, the music definitely makes it feel more like a nightmare.

Menus

Ok, so now I can talk about the menu (map screen and pause menu specifically). So we've established that some of the design elements here work towards creating immersion and some towards removing it, and the map and pause screens are no exception -- rather, they're some of the biggest offenders immersion-wise (and the frequent source of complaints). Rather than opt for something interesting like Far Cry 2's in-game map or even stylistically cool and appropriate like MGS 3's, Far Cry 3 instead forces you to hit a button to get to your map. Not exactly a huge deal normally, but accompanying every single opening and closing of your map, you're treated to a cheesy "whoosh" sound effect and your music is abruptly cut off and replaced with the menus' unique soundtrack: more ambient music, but this time much more low-key and quiet.

This cannot have been an accident. The map screen is blatantly unrealistic and crazy -- Dennis even tells you that climbing the radio towers will "unlock" parts of your map. Umm... the physical, tangible, distinctly made out of paper map that Jason picked up in the beginning of the game? Yeah, that makes sense. By forcing players to get softly-but-decisively removed from the experience every time they looked at the map, the developers also killed two birds with one stone by allowing fast travel and waypoints to be used, de-incentive-izing exploration and turning the environments into a series of set-pieces rather than a large land mass.
 
The pause screen is similarly oddly designed. Again, that annoying whoosh plays upon entry and exit, but this menu is also were you do your crafting -- a pretty huge selling point of the game. It's actually pretty strange when you think about how un-immersive this system is, and it makes you wonder why they designed it like that... you can probably guess what I think the reasoning behind that is. While implementing a crafting system was undoubtedly a serious undertaking, I have a hard time believing that this was the most immersive and appropriate option the developers could come up with during 3 years of development.

People (NPCs)

Here's another strange area of the design: character models. This game has, like an insanely low number of them. I think there are 2, maybe 3 varieties of each enemy type tops, and the boss enemies in the Wanted Dead quests all only have 1 or 2 different types either. It doesn't stop there though, because for some reason nearly all of the civilians look identical with just a few different clothing options between them -- and the Rakyat aren't much better. I routinely notice trucks of 3 identical Rakyat dudes driving around, and the same goes for sets of identical enemies at outposts, etc. So what gives? Far Cry 2 only had 2 "classes" of enemy (snipers and everyone else) but they looked pretty much the same gear-wise, but they all had a pretty big variety of pretty nondescript clothing. This made them both unremarkable to look at, and hard to remember appearance-wise, so it was much rarer to notice "twins" running around (come to think of it, I don't remember that ever happening).  It's not like they had less resources to work with here, and I can't imagine that they were rushed or anything (3 year development cycle), so it seems strange to have yet another element employed to break immersion when it could've been used to strengthen it.

Since Far Cry 2 had so few civilians, it may just have been because the developers were unsure of how to implement them fully, though.

Plants, Animals, Hunting and Looting

The dynamic animal system in Far Cry 3 has been praised, and for good reason -- it's a lot of fun and really helps the islands come alive. That said, the hunting "system" is actually very shallow in comparison like something like Red Dead Redemption of even Assassin's Creed 4. Instead of tracking the animals or using their body parts to craft a bunch of different items, you basically just go to the marked area on your map, wait for them to spawn, and kill and skin them, with each type of animal only producing one item - it's skin - which only contributes to specific items. If it sounds simple, that's because it is -- maybe a little too simple. Like nearly else everything that you can "interact" with in this game like craftable plants, loot chests, lootable bodies, and certain objectives, they pulse with a bright gold shimmer that's distinctly unrealistic.

It isn't that intrusive, but that's kind of the point: all of these elements I've been talking about haven't been big dealbreakers -- more like tiny "what were they thinking" kind of things. And as I'm sure the developers intended, they definitely add up.

Conclusion

I'm getting tired, so I think I'll give it a rest here. There's more I could mention like the story, characters and dialogue, but that stuffs been talked about already so I dunno. If I feel compelled I'll add to this but I think it's pretty good as is.

Dream Theater - Train of Thought

This album is fucking sublime. I can't think of any other word to describe it, because it's so incredibly powerful and consistent that every time I listen to it I'm blown away all over again. So get ready for some gushing 'cuz we're doing this shit.

Context or "Progressive Music is way too boring way too often" 

So why is this album so good? Put simply, it's because it's different. See, one of the ironic things about the "progressive rock/metal/whatever" genre is how goddamn boring it can be. A lot of the time it seems like "progressive" before that rock or metal really just means "we have keyboards and long songs". Yes, we get it, you're expressing yourself and it's very impressive. I just don't want to listen to a 15 minute song about overcoming your problems or space or whatever silly thing those songs are always about. Oh yeah, that's another problem with this type of music - the songs are always about nothing. Sure, sometimes there'll be one song about the guitarist's last breakup thrown in there, but 95% of the time you aren't even engaged in the topic that these guys have spent so much time turning into a song that drags on far too long, which is a real shame.

And Dream Theater is definitely guilty of this, but a lot less than some other bands *cough The Flower Kings cough Yes*. It seems like for every "Take the Time" you have to sit through 20 minutes of "These Walls" - which gets old. And when you look at the albums that preceded Train of Thought, you'll notice how abstract things were getting - Scenes From a Memory was a concept album about reincarnation and Six Degrees was almost entirely about mental illnesses - not exactly relatable. All of the songs on Train of Thought, however, are much more grounded in their subject matter and are a lot more grokkable as a result.

Finally, this album was a chance for the band to fully explore their metal leanings in earnest, which had never happened before and probably will never happen again now that Mike Portnoy is gone. It immediately followed Six Degrees - a very good album, but one that was pretty firmly "Dream Theater" stuff. Train of Thought ditched that for something much more raw and much more straightforward.

Now that we have that crap out of the way, maybe I should talk about the goddamn CD eventually, right? Yeah.

The Actual Review

Holy shit. If anyone had doubts about Dream Theater's ability to write some serious metal riffs, then they might've busted their mouth putting their foot in there so fast! The first track, As I Am sets the bar high - it also has (I think) the only actual legit studio track drum solo in DT's whole catalog, not counting instrumental songs! Honestly, it just keeps getting better from there. This Dying Soul continues the 12 Step Suite brilliantly, leading right into my personal favorite, Endless Sacrifice. This mofo is an 11 minute jamfest with some of the best headbanging riffs I've ever heard and some absolutely incredible vocals and lyrics. You barely have time to breathe before the opening riff to Honor Thy Father starts pounding your eardrums and sends you right back to the moshpit - another shining moment. At this point things dial back a bit with Vacant, a short little vocal piece a la "Wait for Sleep" which flows right into the album's instrumental piece, Stream of Consciousness. This is my favorite instrumental after "The Dance of Eternity", and it has all of the qualities of that song - incredible solos that keep you interested and a great hook right off the bat. Finally, we have the album closer: the 14 minute monster In the Name of God. This one starts off a little slow, but really picks up after the 6 minute mark and has an incredible ending, making for an excellent conclusion to a jaw-dropping album. So why do I like it so much?

- The songs are actually about real, relatable stuff. As I Am is juvenile defiance at it's best, Endless Sacrifice is probably my favorite love song ever, In the Name of God is about religion, This Dying Soul tackles alcoholism, and Honor Thy Father deals with awful father-son relations. Notice anything about space? How about finding the inner light inside your mind? Nope, none of that shit. These are all real songs about real issues, and the change of pace is greatly appreciated.

- Length. These songs are all around 10 minutes long, but they do not feel like it - which is perfect! These songs are all packed to the brim with changing tempos, riffs, and dynamics enough to make each one seem like a self contained experience, which is hugely important and a big part of why I love this CD so much: these songs all feel like complete, well-rounded compositions that aren't drawn out unnecessarily. They're all beefy and full of content, solid yet light, heavy but quick on their feet.

- Emotion. Since Dream Theater is a bunch of music nerds from Long Island, they don't usually have the same feel that you get from listening to a Neil Young album - but that couldn't be more the opposite here. When you here Portnoy's fill at the end of Endless Sacrifice, you feel the emotion he put into it. When you hear James LaBrie's snarling in Honor Thy Father or the Battle Hymn of the Republic being chanted during the final minutes of In the Name of God, you can feel all the blood, sweat and tears that went into this record.

- Playing. Crazy musicianship is a staple of Dream Theater's work, but they manage to raise even their level of playing for this one. The guitar and drum solos in As I Am, the guitar + keyboard solo In the Name of God, the drumming in Endless Sacrifice and Stream of Consciousness - all of the guys outdid themselves here, and you really just have to listen to appreciate it.

These guys poured their souls into Train of Thought and it shows - the disc is packed front to back with emotion and vision. Even if you hate Dream Theater's regular stuff, even if you hate progressive rock, hell, even if you hate metal - you owe to yourself to give it a spin. No one should miss an album this good.

Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line

That "The Line" subtitle is much more interestingly explored than you're probably thinking

I've heard a lot about this game the last couple of months. It's usually compared to Far Cry 3 as an example of this new-ish trend of "games about games". The consensus seems to be that while Far Cry 3 was mechanically very sound and the story definitely had some nice "meta" moments, it's execution was just a little too safe. The elements of an effective "Apocalypse Now" style journey into madness are (mostly) all there, just oddly hidden beneath layers of subtext that you really need to be looking closely at to see. Personally, too many of the "purposefully" oddly implemented elements - like the animal skinning that doesn't actually skin the animal, Buck's weird ability to track your movements, the magic compass that no-one seems interested in, the hallucinatory boss-fights like the one with Vaas (and especially with Hoyt). With all of this cognitive dissonance being thrown around, you'd think that by the end of the game the events would've built up to a drugged-out fever pitch, but they... don't. I mean, the ending is very trippy, but it's explained ludically (sort of, at least - Citra blows some magic powder in your face and after that things get weird), and it's actually pretty tame compared to what happened at Vaas' compound.

In the end, Far Cry 3 is more similar to Metal Gear Solid 2 than any other game. Both games feature bizarre, unexplained supernatural elements and fantastic, barely-believable story arcs. They're both built around deep gameplay mechanics with a lot of choices available to the player, and they both have eye-catching worlds that feel less than real.

But where MGS2 committed suicide at the end and shoved the truth violently into players' faces, Far Cry 3 felt much more hesitant to break the spell (the unceremonious way in which you're dumped back onto the island after the credits roll immediately comes to mind here). Where MGS2 was totally willing to destroy it's own universe (and franchise, potentially) to make it's message hit harder, Far Cry 3 is torn between sending players a message and keeping players hooked - like if players knew unequivocally that the events of the game were a satire designed to make you think about how far you're willing to go to for "escape" (Spec Ops deals with this a bit as well) they would get angry and stop playing. Personal intuition time: after seeing what happened with Far Cry 2 - i.e., allowing a small team to make a game with a very specific vision, and the resulting polarized reaction - Ubisoft was a little more cautious this time around. Far Cry 3 could be "meta" and "subvertive", sure - but above all else, it needed to be fun. It needed to be a hit. And that's why I think Far Cry 3 is remembered as a great shooter with a "weird story", rather than how people talk about, say, Spec Ops, for instance. Wow, was that a good segue or what?

What Was I Talking About Again?

Spec Ops: The Line, on the other hand, is very different from Far Cry 3. It's also pretty different from MGS2 - I think the only game you can really compare it to is Far Cry 2 in terms of themes and motifs, but even that is kind of shaky. Ludically speaking, the games are quite different in approach - Far Cry 2 gives you a sandbox and a loose overall goal, leaving all the decision making up to you - the degree to which you murder and destroy is largely on your shoulders, and the games' ample quiet moments and gorgeous landscape serve as great counterpoints to the depravity taking place around you. And no matter what you do, the game doesn't really condemn or praise either approach - it just sits back and lets you make your own decisions about how to proceed. The overall tone, despite (or maybe because of) the bright wilderness, is very bleak, and I find the game to be pretty draining (maybe because of all the driving).

Now look at Spec Ops, and you can immediately see that this game is going about things in a very different way. But I'll talk about that stuff a bit later. First, the boring stuff!

Graphics

One of this game's insane vistas

 Obviously the most important part of any game, right? Kinda, sorta, not really. Anyway, if you're coming off of Crysis or something and are preparing for some awful 2011-era polygons here, you should be pleasantly surprised (mostly). 75% of the time, Spec Ops is a fine looking game with interesting environments and good character models. 15% of the time the semi-post apocalyptic clutter and some awkwardly animated cut scenes pop up and bring the experience down a notch. 10% of the time the game looks incredible, and the art direction and environmental design really come together for some literally "wow" moments. The faces look excellent and they did a great job with you and your squads' character models reflecting their mental states - in the beginning they're a bunch of clean-cut soldiers cracking jokes. By the end, they're bloodied and tired, and jokes stopped somewhere in the first third of the game.

This is one of the strengths of the game: showing your character (Walker) as he slides deeper and deeper into total batshit psychosis. By the end of the game half of his face is horrible burned and blackened, and I'm pretty sure he's missing an ear. These visual metaphors help reinforce the impact of the events of the game on your character - it's a great idea that works well here. 

Sound

Just as important as the graphics are the sounds - I think we all know how a soundtrack can make or break a game. Spec Ops surprised me here - I was expecting CoD-type stuff, gruff dudes shouting orders over thumping war music and the like. And there is some of that, definitely, but the audio in this game is a bit different from your usual shooter. First, there are a number of licensed songs - "Hush" by Deep Purple, some Black Angel songs, and others. They're used sparingly enough to make you "wake up" and notice what's happening in their contexts, and also effective at keeping the action up and not giving you a chance to breath. The general ambient soundtracks are also quite good, mostly rockin' guitar type stuff that fits the "gung-ho" nature of the first couple chapters of the game nicely. Overall, the music enhances the player's confusion by not giving them much time to really think - this game does have quiet moments, and they're very deliberate and are much more affecting because of the usual cacophony being blasted at you.

The enemies' banter also reinforces the dream-like horror. Soldiers shout scared expletives and confused directives, and their voices echo and warble in battlefield terror. On the other hand, your character and your team sound cool and collected in comparison, coldly dealing death to what seem to be scared and hapless foes. You'd have to be a sociopath to not have it give you pause, and it never lets up. There are small moments where you sneak up on enemies mid-conversation and have to listen to their innocent small-talk before murdering them. After executing enemies (seriously, this is a real game mechanic), your character will often be panting, breathless after bashing a persons' head in with his rifle butt. And the voice acting of the main characters is mostly well-done also, with Nolan North being perfect for the role of Walker. There are a couple of stinkers here and there (Riggs and Gould are pretty blah) but otherwise the acting is solid, with you and your squadmates' actors turning in the best performances (which is good).

Gameplay

Here's were people have some problems with Spec Ops. The gameplay is Gears of War-style cover-based shooting, but with Drake's Uncharted-style gunplay. It's pretty stock, and after the first hour there isn't anything new, which is kind of unfortunate. The controls are a bit weird and the cover-sticking mechanics aren't flawless - they work, but there's nothing really special about them., with the exception of each weapon having an alternate fire mode, which usually doesn't matter much.

Now, there are some "choices" sprinkled throughout here - but they aren't binary "paragon or renegade" choices. For most of the game, you don't have a choice to surrender or kill yourself - you just have to keep going. And when the game does give you a choice, it's ambiguous at best and, as it turns out in the end, usually pointless. And that's intentional - and awesome, because that's how life is. Life isn't "Press A to save the Little Sister, press X to harvest", it's murky and clouded and sometimes good people die and terrible things happen. But more than that, I think it's the frustration at the game for not giving you an alternative that makes it compelling. You get mad because that "choice" was bullshit, so now you cool off by killing some more American soldiers, which is kinda weird but it's OK because this game is stupid anyway. Right?

I've been writing this for a couple hours now and I'm pretty burned out, so I'll wrap things up. Bottom line? PLAY IT. Not just for the gameplay, or the graphics, or the great soundtrack - the main characters' descent into madness over the course of the events in this game is simply incredible to watch and experience. The subversion and meta stuff is interesting too, but that's more personal so I can't really tell you how you should feel about it. Suffice it to say, this game will make you think about quite a few things - and anytihng that makes you think like this is good.

Ayreon's The Theory of Everything

Ayreon's The Theory of Everything

So you've probably never heard of this "Ayreon" band/thing, right? Yeah, neither had I until this album came out a couple months ago, but it involves neither rap, boy bands, or Lordes, it didn't exactly make a splash in the mainstream. Which kinda sucks, because this is actually a pretty sweet CD. Why? Well, dear reader, look for the answers further in this piece!

Well first, who the hell is Ayreon? Some band? WRONG, you idiot. Ayreon is just one dude, a Dutch guy named Arjen Lucassen. He writes all the lyrics and composes the lyrics, then he gets a bunch of guest musicians to come in and record it for him. If you're thinking that sounds almost exactly like The Alan Parsons Project, then you're right, but shut up because it's different. Instead of a British guy and a fat man writing songs about Isaac Asimov books, Mr. Lucassen here deals pretty much exclusively in that long-forgotten art form of: the rock opera! I have no idea how this guy isn't as popular as Daft Punk.

So this album is a rock opera. And just like those Tommy and Mr. Roboto, the The Theory of Everything is a concept album. And before you pre-judge this CD and assume the story is retarded like a Styx album, back the fuck up, 'cause the plot is actually pretty grounded. Basically it's about a genius savant who's trying to solve the "Theory of Everything". His dad is jealous of his genius-ness and his mom doesn't actually do much, now that I think about it. If it sounds kind of mundane, that's because it is. There aren't any dragons or magic or robots or anything like that. Actually, the only thing "opera"-ish about this CD is the writing. The lyrics are kind of silly. I'll give you an example because I know you're too lazy to look some up.

"Oh no, I can't believe
You're falling for this loser
Oh no, I thought you knew,
That I am so much cooler!"

To be fair, the character that's saying this shit is a teenager, but it's still funny when an adult is belting these lines out. Also, some of the characters sound alike so it can be hard to tell who the hell is talking and what's going on -- I didn't even realize there where two separate female characters until looking up these lyrics, and I listened to this CD like five times. So... try to listen real good? And besides the sometimes cheesy lyrics, the guest vocalists TEAR THIS SHIT UP. They turn this stuff from cheesy Good Will Hunting-type knockoff material into a pretty legit story that I enjoy listening to as it plays out. Special props goes to Tommy Karevik who knocked his part out of the park.

And if you couldn't tell by the album art, band name, or the fact that this is a concept album... this is a prog rock album through and through. Lots of cool instruments and unorthodox musical structures, just like you''d expect. That's pretty much par for the course when it comes to this genre in general and Ayreon's stuff in particular, but one thing deserves special mention - in addition to all of the other great musicians and singers, fucking Rick Wakeman and "Rock Musician You Would Be Least Surprised to See at a Comic Book Shop" contest winner Jordan Rudess both play keyboards on this thing, which is a lot lamer than I thought it sounds. Basically, they just have separate solos on separate songs, so sadly no keyboard dueling. Still pretty cool though.

So yeah, this is a really good album. It's got an interesting story that isn't too serious/melodramatic (cough Dream Theater cough) with great melodies and amazing vocals. Definitely worth a few spins.

Far Cry 2

I finished Far Cry 2 yesterday, pretty close to the 1 year anniversary of when I bought it. It took me a YEAR to finally get through this game for reasons I'll get into a little later, but first I want to put down why I think this game is so unique and rewarding.

1. The Tutorial Sequence

Annoying tutorial sections are pretty much ubiquitous in games nowadays, especially since the phasing out of instruction manuals in recent years (Metal Gear Solid is the only franchise I can think of that still has real instruction manuals). Usually you have a simple mission or objective that explains the basics to you, or sometimes the "tutorials" are hidden in the game's menus and it just drops you right into things. 

Far Cry 2's tutorial sequence is an excellent mix of both options--the game begins simply by dropping you into a cab in an unnamed African state and giving you a short tour of your new surroundings, while also hinting at some of the game's themes and systems - your route takes you past a brushfire (beautifully rendered thanks to the Dunia engine), displaced refugees, an uneasy encounter at a checkpoint, and your contraction of malaria. All of this happens before you even need to press a button.

The tutorial begins in earnest shortly after this point, and has you perform the following actions:

• Obtain weapons (FC2's weapon loadout system is explained here)
• Repair a car (you'll be doing this a lot)
• Take said car to a Safehouse, murder the men guarding it (now you know how to unlock Safehouses)
• Take a nap in the Safehouse cot to regain health and set the time of day (now you know how to save your game at Safehouses)
• Get back in your car, take it to a small enemy outpost
• Scout out the outpost with your map & monocular, tagging certain entities (vehicles, mounted weapons, snipers, etc.) 
• Clear out the post and meet your first Buddy (now you understand the Buddy system)
• At some point you'll probably pick up an enemy's weapon - at this point the weapon degradation system is explained.
• Meet the Buddy at a bar and also receive a task from a journalist (You remember the guy from earlier who nearly killed you, and recognize his voice on the tapes. You're intrigued)
• You leave the bar and notice the weapons shop nearby. You go in, an have the convoy missions setup explained to you, and also how to buy and use weapons
• Your GPS diamond tracker turns on and you find your first diamond cache
• You return to town, and you're informed that the tutorial is over. The main points are quickly recapped and missions are explained. 
• The tutorial ends with a reminder of your overall objective - "Find and kill the Jackal."

That may sound like a lot, and it admittedly gets a little overwhelming. But once you get past any initial confusion, thats it. The game's systems have all been laid out for you - now your free to do whatever you want, and there aren't any surprises like new enemy types or radical environmental changes - this is it. 

2. Emergent Gameplay

Thanks to these mechanics and systems, Far Cry 2 is pretty much the king of emergent gameplay. "Emergent gameplay/narrative" is a term used to describe game experiences (gameplay) and plot elements (narrative) that aren't authored. Games like GTA and Oblivion also feature a lot of emergent gameplay, and it's basically a buzzword for situations or moments that happen as a result of the player interacting with the game's systems. For example - one mission in FC2 required me to go to a trainyard and destroy a rail car full of natural gas. I arrived at the yard and started picking off enemies stealthily, but it wasn't long before it devolved it until a full-on gunfight. And right in the middle of things, I ran out of ammo for my rifle and was forced to pick up a rusty shotgun from one of my fallen enemies - to make things worse, I was wounded and had no way to heal up. Things became extremely tense as I crept around the area in a desperate game of cat and mouse with the remaining enemies, but I managed to take the rest out and complete the mission. My relief was almost palpable, and remember that all of that happened because I ran out of ammo. That is "emergent gameplay". 

And since FC2 is so open-ended and immersive (I forgot to mention that you have no HUD, and get around the world by navigating using a physical in-game map) it acts as a natural catalyst for these stories and moments to be created.

3. Themes and Message

Another interesting aspect of this game is your role as a player - at the beginning of the game, you choose from one of 9 different characters. The choice has no statistical difference as each character plays the same way, but the characters you didn't pick show up in the game as "buddy" characters that you can work with. What's more, these buddies will often offer you alternative ways of completing missions - and as you can imagine since you're a mercenary working for African warlords, these alternatives are usually even more morally questionable than the primary option. However, carrying out these alternatives always results in an easier mission, so you have to choose between shorter and more difficult tasks, or longer and easier ones. Incentives for working with your buddy include upgrades for your Safehouses, and increased reputation with them. Taking the "buddy way" also involves you having to rescue them from a dangerous situation - and if you don't really want them around anymore, you can murder them or just leave them to die out in the wilderness.

If the buddy system serves to reinforce your position as part of a band of morally challenged killers who only look out for themselves, the rest of the game will drill the message of "war is pointless" into you pretty thoroughly. Several times throughout the game, the warlords task you with doing something to prolong the conflict as they don't want to it end (nor do they want international scrutiny, so they arrange for token peace agreement to dispel attention from the rest of the world). Many of the missions have similar objectives to each other (drive somewhere, kill some guys, blow something up) and several times I felt like I was getting nowhere. The ending really reinforces this, as your and the Jackal's efforts achieve almost nothing. 

So yeah, Far Cry 2 is really cool. It's not easy to play and it actively pushes against you - you never feel entirely comfortable - but as you push through, the mechanics of the game are very rewarding once you put in a few hours. Just don't get it on console - the PC version is far superior.