December 12, 2007 at 00:37Fear and horror
As you know, fear and horror were brothers. The sons of one father - the god of war, Mars. The genre of shooters, too, often generated fear and horror. And even if the emerging games were not blood brothers by the developer or publisher, fear and horror held their bonds stronger than formal unity.
Although Blacksite: Area 51 and Clive Barker's Jericho were born and not on the same day, but still - almost simultaneously. At first, their mystical connection showed little in what. Yes, both shooters. Yes - one of them obviously likes to catch up with fear, and the other does not shy away from horror. But is this really the reason to announce their elusive eye of a simple observer as an inextricable fraternity?
The strength of the night, the strength of the day ...
Evil seeds sown by Half-Life, Medal of Honor and other "story" shooters of the Stone Age sprouted - first on consoles, and then, through cross-pollination, and on a PC. Our today's heroines - the Blacksite: Area 51 and Clive Barker's Jericho games - are the fruits of this inflorescence.
The spiritual unity of both games is beyond doubt: strict adherence to the story through the level pipeline, automatic preservation and recovery, exit immediately on all major platforms, solo mode in a group of like-minded electronic people, ambushes and scripts, “trendy” graphics: in one case, borrowed , in another - his own.
But the main thing, nevertheless, is not this. Games are very similar deeply internally - both of them pretend not to be what they really are and stick out not at all those sides that are worth sticking out.
And now - about all this in order ...
Original sin
If Blacksite: Area 51 and Clive Barker's Jericho games (hereinafter Blacksite and Jericho respectively) were books, everything would be fine with us. Do you know why? Of course, you know: behind the scenes of Blacksite there is a seasoned game scriptwriter Susan O “Connor (former works - Bioshock and Gears of War, future ones - FarCry 2), and the name of writer and producer Clive Barker is so well known that he is taken forward in several games besides Jericho.
Unfortunately, written by Miss O »Connor and Mr. Barker did not lie in black on the white pages of the pocketbooks, but turned out to be walled up inside a couple of very mediocre games. Which, oddly enough, further aggravated their mediocrity.
Although, in fact, why - "oddly enough"? It’s just not at all strange for us: any carefully made detail always spoils the look of an already miserable object, emphasizing its squalor with its quality. And in the quality and sophistication of the scripts of Mr. Barker and Miss O “Connor cannot be denied ...
The female look at the problem of an alien threat is in Blacksite not only saturated with details, but also quite topical. A detachment of Iraqi veterans (there is also an Iraqi episode in the game, being an educational prologue) goes to the desert-mountain Nevada, where everything bad is happening in the village of Rachel. It is not well expressed in the invasion of alien monsters - who for some reason decided to visit the secret base Area 51 closest to Rachel. The very one on the territory of which the CIA and the FBI disembowel humanoid scouts.
It would seem - everything is clear: the space brothers reasonably decided to take the remains of their skilled pioneer heroes, while simultaneously causing maximum damage to Nevada's agriculture. But not so simple. It turns out that the offal of aliens was not only carefully studied by earthly scientists, but as far as forces were built for military purposes. Specifically, for a project to grow miraculous warriors without fear and reproach. Having been born in a large number and solid variety, the miraculous warriors treacherously deserted, having accepted to destroy everything around no worse than aliens ...
Why is the plot of Blacksite good? Oh, this is an interesting question! As you know, the true master of the frame is not a hindrance - and Susan O'Connor showed herself to be a real master. Despite the obvious stamping of the plot, she managed to create excellent character characters, earn vivid scenic moves, build a dynamic development of history. Actually, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the existence of gamers who agreed to go through Blacksite to the end, entirely and completely, is due to Susan.
At Clive Barker, the merits are completely different. His plot for Jericho is really cool. It is based on the apocryphal (that is, religious, but not recognized by the Church as sacred) and Gnostic (religious doctrine) texts covered by legends about the times “before Adam”.
It turns out that before Adam God was a great experimenter. Reflecting on the future crown of creation, the Creator gave birth to a certain creature - not a boy, not a girl, not good, but not evil - called “Firstborn” for simplicity. Although the firstborn was of an incomprehensible orientation, he had a violent disposition. Therefore, having suffered for some time with the problems of didactics and pedagogy, God hid the firstborn in an underground punishment cell, and in his place he molded the forefather of our Adam and mother Eve from clay.
The link to the first-born was clearly not in favor - the bad character deteriorated altogether and the baby began to appear regularly. Since by that time God had somehow departed from direct intervention in earthly affairs, a specially created sect, and, officially speaking, the order, was engaged in solving the problem. This order, regularly sending seven monks to the slaughter, created a new prison at the place of the Firstborn's captivity. The problem was that every time the "walls" of the dungeon expanded, giving new spaces and ... times to the power of the Firstborn. Yes, the dungeon was a kind of spatial chronoplasm, nowadays covering the whole Arab city. To deal with the problems of this city - in the face of the monsters of Hell crawling out from under the ground - the special squad Jericho was sent. The detachment consists of seven psychic fighters, the main over which are you.
The number seven, of course, is not without reason - after all, so many victims of magicians are needed to put the next seal ... The victims, by the way, will begin almost immediately.
Almost at the very beginning of the game you will be killed.
I would give half my life for not being born ...
Well, my friends, this (“they will kill you”) was the last clearly good news in our review. Now the news will go mostly informative, neutral and derogatory. Simply put, we’ll look at what exactly prevents us from playing Jericho and Blacksite?
Despite the high-quality scenario, Jericho's first problem is precisely with the plot. It lies in the fact that the story of the Firstborn is very little correlated with the direct gameplay. Moreover, its intelligence and ornate gameplay openly slow down.
Judging simply and without fancies, Jericho is an arcade shooter in the spirit of Doom or Painkiller. It’s just that there is less “meat”, the enemies are more powerful and smarter, the player does not run alone, but in the company and in general - from the point of tactical diversity, the game is made very good.
Defeated by an evil creature, the main character Jericho - Captain Devin Ross - remains in this world in the form of a disembodied soul. Which can inhabit the body of any of the comrades in the Jericho. The skill, it must be said, is of great use, because the Jericho squad is not a joke to you, the best people on the planet are gathered here.
For example, the giant sergeant Delgado, the owner of a six-barreled machine gun (it does not need to be reloaded!) And the gift of an extrasensory pyromaniac.
Or the beauty Simone Cole, whose assault rifle is especially effective inside a slow-motion loop.
Priest Rawlings is also not bad - his gift of resurrection can be extremely useful if Ross himself (in the body of one of the fighters) is killed again.
The skills of the other fighters are not so necessary in the heat of battle, however, Captain Jones, Lieutenant Black, and Sergeant Church will not be bored during the campaign on the Firstborn. At least they will have to be used not only as pseudo-intelligent automatic turrets.
Fights in Jericho are just a sight for sore eyes. We run up to the level of the desired trigger, get up on the barricades pre-arranged by the good designers, give the team the order “to stand to the end” and, choosing the right fighter (having settled in it), we provoke monsters to attack.
A battle follows, furious and powerful as much as it was conceived by the developers and scripts. They rely on additional fun: fierce shooting, running between associates to resurrect them, and using the moment-appropriate fighting magic. Fun and boring ... if you consider the game a set of shootings.
To consider it big - the plot and the ugly level design do not allow it. We already talked about the plot - it is too heavy and too ... serious for such a game. As if a new-fashioned bauble was made of expensive red gold. As for the design of the levels. He's just bad. Corridors and landing areas in various frames (rocks, ruins, palaces, interiors ...). Very functional and very boring.
God is not visible in the mirror
The situation in Blacksite is mirrored by Jericho, and this is also the peculiar unity of these games. As already mentioned, the Blacksite plot is not something that does not interfere with the passage, but in general is almost the only argument in favor of a throw to the coveted final credits. But the rest, friends ...
The most confident thing about Blacksite is, oddly enough, the level design. The extent to which it is not a shame to drive a jeep, beautiful views, good architecture - especially if you do not get inside ... After the musty Jericho canals in the open spaces of Blacksite truly breathe deeply.
But the tactical management system does not stand comparison with a shooter named Barker. To begin with, there is no question of any movement between the characters. On the one hand, there are no plot prerequisites for this. And on the other hand, the comrades-in-arms of our hero, and although they possess (thanks to the efforts of Susan O "Connor)" unique characters, are completely identical and faceless in battle.
Management of a herd of friends and colleagues is done intuitively: for all occasions there is one button that starts processes, puts the necessary items in the right places, gives commands and puts a marker in any place of the visible part of the level where our subordinates are running in a crowd. At the same time firing off from the haunting nightmares of the Universe.
Theoretically, the Blacksite gameplay is designed so that you won’t be able to cunningly hide behind the backs of computer mates and send them to certain death. The “moral” system of the fighters is responsible for this, which grows if subordinates see your distance and fall when their beloved commander shows criminal cowardice.
However, in practice, things are not so fantastic. The fact is that the fighters are too stupid to provide too important support for our heroism and ... too stupid to ignore direct orders that turn them into cannon fodder. Thus, we still have to fight. And more. But not because of the “moral” system, but because our subordinates are fools.
True, the opposite side also does not differ tactical genius. Soldiers, mutants and other guests from outer space disciplinedly tumble out from the corners, occupy the appropriate positions and begin to thresh from all the available arsenal for us and our team. We can counter them with the cannon fodder already mentioned in the paragraph above, various shelters and the semi-immortality of the protagonist so beloved this season.
Dusty epithelium
For a straightforward shooting gallery, Blacksite looks pretty good - Midway Games, not sparing money, bought a new-fangled UnrealEngine 3 for the development needs. Thanks to this miracle of world programming, Iraq and the State of Nevada look stylish, though not so subtle. Good textures, some special effects, animations and models of enemies and friends. Painted with post-processing of the frame, the picture looks somewhat “dusty” - and this only enhances the effect of presence.
Unfortunately, even UnrealEngine 3 could not protect Blacksite developers from ridiculous miscalculations. One of the main mistakes can be considered very mediocre optimization of the game. Which, as you yourself understand, is impermissible neither in shooters, nor in shooting galleries, nor in stories about the invasion of aliens.
If the Blacksite picture can be called “dusty”, Jericho deserves the epithet “metallic”. In fact, with a clear lack of architectural ingenuity, the shooter authors solidly kicked the surface with shaders of all stripes. As a result, we enjoy the rough walls, chrome-plated iron and carnal tints of the mucous membranes. This is not to say that the sight is not impressive.
You experience even greater aesthetic shock when meeting with various enemies. If the first natives of the cradle of the Firstborn are rather inconspicuous, then somewhere in the middle of the game begins to produce real masterpieces of the Kunstkamera. And so what are the bosses!
In general, both games graphically did not disappoint. Of course, this is not a “high class” but la Crysis, but projects certainly have a peculiar charm. Blacksite has less, Jericho has more.
More Than Failure
Let's be honest: neither Blacksite nor Jericho can play without some effort on themselves.
In the case of Jericho, you have to close your eyes to the level design and perceive the plot completely apart from what is happening on the screen. Probably, everyone already knows that Blacksite went to print elementary unfinished. And if so, then there is no sin in admitting - only the plot saves this project from the many unkind words that it rightfully deserves.
On the other hand, it turns out that only time gotten away from the title of Blacksite hit?
What about Jericho? Would Jericho turn into a hit without losing Clive Barker's inscription and the plot attached to it? Would he become more interesting in cunning interiors? Or would it be easier for him to abandon that light, hectic and, let's not hide the truth, fun gameplay, which is so inappropriate in a game that claims to be a “mystical shooter”? Unknown
The only important thing is that both games turned out worse than they could be. And precisely in this is fear and horror.
Although Blacksite: Area 51 and Clive Barker's Jericho were born and not on the same day, but still - almost simultaneously. At first, their mystical connection showed little in what. Yes, both shooters. Yes - one of them obviously likes to catch up with fear, and the other does not shy away from horror. But is this really the reason to announce their elusive eye of a simple observer as an inextricable fraternity?
| The game | Blacksite: Area 51 | Clive Barker's Jericho |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | First person shooter | First person shooter |
| Publisher | Midway games | Codemasters |
| Publisher in Russia | New Disc | Beech |
| Developer | Midway Studios Austin | MercurySteam Entertainment |
| Platforms | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 | PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 |
| Multiplayer | LAN, I-net | not |
| Complexity | Customizable | Customizable |
| English | Not necessary | Not necessary |
The strength of the night, the strength of the day ...
Evil seeds sown by Half-Life, Medal of Honor and other "story" shooters of the Stone Age sprouted - first on consoles, and then, through cross-pollination, and on a PC. Our today's heroines - the Blacksite: Area 51 and Clive Barker's Jericho games - are the fruits of this inflorescence.
The spiritual unity of both games is beyond doubt: strict adherence to the story through the level pipeline, automatic preservation and recovery, exit immediately on all major platforms, solo mode in a group of like-minded electronic people, ambushes and scripts, “trendy” graphics: in one case, borrowed , in another - his own.
But the main thing, nevertheless, is not this. Games are very similar deeply internally - both of them pretend not to be what they really are and stick out not at all those sides that are worth sticking out.
And now - about all this in order ...
Original sin
If Blacksite: Area 51 and Clive Barker's Jericho games (hereinafter Blacksite and Jericho respectively) were books, everything would be fine with us. Do you know why? Of course, you know: behind the scenes of Blacksite there is a seasoned game scriptwriter Susan O “Connor (former works - Bioshock and Gears of War, future ones - FarCry 2), and the name of writer and producer Clive Barker is so well known that he is taken forward in several games besides Jericho.
Unfortunately, written by Miss O »Connor and Mr. Barker did not lie in black on the white pages of the pocketbooks, but turned out to be walled up inside a couple of very mediocre games. Which, oddly enough, further aggravated their mediocrity.
Although, in fact, why - "oddly enough"? It’s just not at all strange for us: any carefully made detail always spoils the look of an already miserable object, emphasizing its squalor with its quality. And in the quality and sophistication of the scripts of Mr. Barker and Miss O “Connor cannot be denied ...
The female look at the problem of an alien threat is in Blacksite not only saturated with details, but also quite topical. A detachment of Iraqi veterans (there is also an Iraqi episode in the game, being an educational prologue) goes to the desert-mountain Nevada, where everything bad is happening in the village of Rachel. It is not well expressed in the invasion of alien monsters - who for some reason decided to visit the secret base Area 51 closest to Rachel. The very one on the territory of which the CIA and the FBI disembowel humanoid scouts.
It would seem - everything is clear: the space brothers reasonably decided to take the remains of their skilled pioneer heroes, while simultaneously causing maximum damage to Nevada's agriculture. But not so simple. It turns out that the offal of aliens was not only carefully studied by earthly scientists, but as far as forces were built for military purposes. Specifically, for a project to grow miraculous warriors without fear and reproach. Having been born in a large number and solid variety, the miraculous warriors treacherously deserted, having accepted to destroy everything around no worse than aliens ...
Why is the plot of Blacksite good? Oh, this is an interesting question! As you know, the true master of the frame is not a hindrance - and Susan O'Connor showed herself to be a real master. Despite the obvious stamping of the plot, she managed to create excellent character characters, earn vivid scenic moves, build a dynamic development of history. Actually, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the existence of gamers who agreed to go through Blacksite to the end, entirely and completely, is due to Susan.
At Clive Barker, the merits are completely different. His plot for Jericho is really cool. It is based on the apocryphal (that is, religious, but not recognized by the Church as sacred) and Gnostic (religious doctrine) texts covered by legends about the times “before Adam”.
It turns out that before Adam God was a great experimenter. Reflecting on the future crown of creation, the Creator gave birth to a certain creature - not a boy, not a girl, not good, but not evil - called “Firstborn” for simplicity. Although the firstborn was of an incomprehensible orientation, he had a violent disposition. Therefore, having suffered for some time with the problems of didactics and pedagogy, God hid the firstborn in an underground punishment cell, and in his place he molded the forefather of our Adam and mother Eve from clay.
The link to the first-born was clearly not in favor - the bad character deteriorated altogether and the baby began to appear regularly. Since by that time God had somehow departed from direct intervention in earthly affairs, a specially created sect, and, officially speaking, the order, was engaged in solving the problem. This order, regularly sending seven monks to the slaughter, created a new prison at the place of the Firstborn's captivity. The problem was that every time the "walls" of the dungeon expanded, giving new spaces and ... times to the power of the Firstborn. Yes, the dungeon was a kind of spatial chronoplasm, nowadays covering the whole Arab city. To deal with the problems of this city - in the face of the monsters of Hell crawling out from under the ground - the special squad Jericho was sent. The detachment consists of seven psychic fighters, the main over which are you.
The number seven, of course, is not without reason - after all, so many victims of magicians are needed to put the next seal ... The victims, by the way, will begin almost immediately.
Almost at the very beginning of the game you will be killed.
I would give half my life for not being born ...
Well, my friends, this (“they will kill you”) was the last clearly good news in our review. Now the news will go mostly informative, neutral and derogatory. Simply put, we’ll look at what exactly prevents us from playing Jericho and Blacksite?
Despite the high-quality scenario, Jericho's first problem is precisely with the plot. It lies in the fact that the story of the Firstborn is very little correlated with the direct gameplay. Moreover, its intelligence and ornate gameplay openly slow down.
Judging simply and without fancies, Jericho is an arcade shooter in the spirit of Doom or Painkiller. It’s just that there is less “meat”, the enemies are more powerful and smarter, the player does not run alone, but in the company and in general - from the point of tactical diversity, the game is made very good.
Defeated by an evil creature, the main character Jericho - Captain Devin Ross - remains in this world in the form of a disembodied soul. Which can inhabit the body of any of the comrades in the Jericho. The skill, it must be said, is of great use, because the Jericho squad is not a joke to you, the best people on the planet are gathered here.
For example, the giant sergeant Delgado, the owner of a six-barreled machine gun (it does not need to be reloaded!) And the gift of an extrasensory pyromaniac.
Or the beauty Simone Cole, whose assault rifle is especially effective inside a slow-motion loop.
Priest Rawlings is also not bad - his gift of resurrection can be extremely useful if Ross himself (in the body of one of the fighters) is killed again.
The skills of the other fighters are not so necessary in the heat of battle, however, Captain Jones, Lieutenant Black, and Sergeant Church will not be bored during the campaign on the Firstborn. At least they will have to be used not only as pseudo-intelligent automatic turrets.
Fights in Jericho are just a sight for sore eyes. We run up to the level of the desired trigger, get up on the barricades pre-arranged by the good designers, give the team the order “to stand to the end” and, choosing the right fighter (having settled in it), we provoke monsters to attack.
A battle follows, furious and powerful as much as it was conceived by the developers and scripts. They rely on additional fun: fierce shooting, running between associates to resurrect them, and using the moment-appropriate fighting magic. Fun and boring ... if you consider the game a set of shootings.
To consider it big - the plot and the ugly level design do not allow it. We already talked about the plot - it is too heavy and too ... serious for such a game. As if a new-fashioned bauble was made of expensive red gold. As for the design of the levels. He's just bad. Corridors and landing areas in various frames (rocks, ruins, palaces, interiors ...). Very functional and very boring.
God is not visible in the mirror
The situation in Blacksite is mirrored by Jericho, and this is also the peculiar unity of these games. As already mentioned, the Blacksite plot is not something that does not interfere with the passage, but in general is almost the only argument in favor of a throw to the coveted final credits. But the rest, friends ...
The most confident thing about Blacksite is, oddly enough, the level design. The extent to which it is not a shame to drive a jeep, beautiful views, good architecture - especially if you do not get inside ... After the musty Jericho canals in the open spaces of Blacksite truly breathe deeply.
But the tactical management system does not stand comparison with a shooter named Barker. To begin with, there is no question of any movement between the characters. On the one hand, there are no plot prerequisites for this. And on the other hand, the comrades-in-arms of our hero, and although they possess (thanks to the efforts of Susan O "Connor)" unique characters, are completely identical and faceless in battle.
Management of a herd of friends and colleagues is done intuitively: for all occasions there is one button that starts processes, puts the necessary items in the right places, gives commands and puts a marker in any place of the visible part of the level where our subordinates are running in a crowd. At the same time firing off from the haunting nightmares of the Universe.
Theoretically, the Blacksite gameplay is designed so that you won’t be able to cunningly hide behind the backs of computer mates and send them to certain death. The “moral” system of the fighters is responsible for this, which grows if subordinates see your distance and fall when their beloved commander shows criminal cowardice.
However, in practice, things are not so fantastic. The fact is that the fighters are too stupid to provide too important support for our heroism and ... too stupid to ignore direct orders that turn them into cannon fodder. Thus, we still have to fight. And more. But not because of the “moral” system, but because our subordinates are fools.
True, the opposite side also does not differ tactical genius. Soldiers, mutants and other guests from outer space disciplinedly tumble out from the corners, occupy the appropriate positions and begin to thresh from all the available arsenal for us and our team. We can counter them with the cannon fodder already mentioned in the paragraph above, various shelters and the semi-immortality of the protagonist so beloved this season.
Dusty epithelium
For a straightforward shooting gallery, Blacksite looks pretty good - Midway Games, not sparing money, bought a new-fangled UnrealEngine 3 for the development needs. Thanks to this miracle of world programming, Iraq and the State of Nevada look stylish, though not so subtle. Good textures, some special effects, animations and models of enemies and friends. Painted with post-processing of the frame, the picture looks somewhat “dusty” - and this only enhances the effect of presence.
Unfortunately, even UnrealEngine 3 could not protect Blacksite developers from ridiculous miscalculations. One of the main mistakes can be considered very mediocre optimization of the game. Which, as you yourself understand, is impermissible neither in shooters, nor in shooting galleries, nor in stories about the invasion of aliens.
If the Blacksite picture can be called “dusty”, Jericho deserves the epithet “metallic”. In fact, with a clear lack of architectural ingenuity, the shooter authors solidly kicked the surface with shaders of all stripes. As a result, we enjoy the rough walls, chrome-plated iron and carnal tints of the mucous membranes. This is not to say that the sight is not impressive.
You experience even greater aesthetic shock when meeting with various enemies. If the first natives of the cradle of the Firstborn are rather inconspicuous, then somewhere in the middle of the game begins to produce real masterpieces of the Kunstkamera. And so what are the bosses!
In general, both games graphically did not disappoint. Of course, this is not a “high class” but la Crysis, but projects certainly have a peculiar charm. Blacksite has less, Jericho has more.
More Than Failure
Let's be honest: neither Blacksite nor Jericho can play without some effort on themselves.
In the case of Jericho, you have to close your eyes to the level design and perceive the plot completely apart from what is happening on the screen. Probably, everyone already knows that Blacksite went to print elementary unfinished. And if so, then there is no sin in admitting - only the plot saves this project from the many unkind words that it rightfully deserves.
On the other hand, it turns out that only time gotten away from the title of Blacksite hit?
What about Jericho? Would Jericho turn into a hit without losing Clive Barker's inscription and the plot attached to it? Would he become more interesting in cunning interiors? Or would it be easier for him to abandon that light, hectic and, let's not hide the truth, fun gameplay, which is so inappropriate in a game that claims to be a “mystical shooter”? Unknown
The only important thing is that both games turned out worse than they could be. And precisely in this is fear and horror.