Will Ooi » Game Love

In Memoriam: a Dead Rising retrospective – Part 1

Will Ooi — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:46:19 +0000

This blog is a tribute to the original Dead Rising, the game that helped usher back into mainstream consciousness the lovable appeal and popularity of the Zombie Apocalypse, a genre now near-oversaturated and encompassing almost all forms of media. Whether it be the hilarious Undead Nightmare expansion to Red Dead Redemption or real-life "Zombie Walk" social-event-meets-cosplay events, would any of these tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating moments truly have been possible were it not for the fun people had photographing female zombie knickers for high 'Erotica' scores through the camera lens of the game's everyman main character, Frank West, himself clothed in a tight-fitting red rose dress direct from Willamette Mall's high-end fashion section? Wait, what? That wasn't how you played the game? No way.

Esteemed origins Japanese developers Capcom had previously frightened a generation of players in the mid-90's with its original entry to the Biohazard/Resident Evil series, simultaneously coining a new term for the experience as we came to grips with the jump up in quality of the 32-bit generation. "Survival Horror" made its debut on the original Playstation and took gamers on a horrific expedition through a sprawling mansion and secret underground laboratories populated by nightmarish creatures, forcing them to salvage scarce healing and ammunition resources - knowing full well that the more the player explored the game setting, the more risk they'd encounter. The need to conserve bullets wherever possible, accompanied by both a harsh difficulty level and limited amount of in-game ink ribbons to simply even save one’s progress, ensured that the 'survival' aspect of the title was alive and well, even if that meant that the selectable player characters, Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, often weren't. Add to that a 'horror' attribute stemming from classic moments such as the infamous dog-jumping-through-the-window trick, the unsettlingly gorgeous but deliberately claustrophobic pre-rendered backgrounds and just as limiting "tank-like" control scheme which always kept players within the grasp of the game's multiple and grotesque enemies, Resident Evil was an instant, terrifying success. ~

Also seen on Gamasutra and Galaxy Next Door

Old World Blues

Will Ooi — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 10:31:28 +0000

~ Escaping the madness and zooming back home Mind and body intact I venture across familiar terrains Readying myself for those expected, incessant attacks ~ The Dam still at stake and The Strip up for grabs Livelihoods and futures at the mercy of bullets, bombs, slugs Yet as accustomed as I should be to this [...]

Life, as told through Fallout Vault Boy images

Will Ooi — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:51:47 +0000

As a child growing up, I learnt many things

To take care of oneself...

as well as the blessing of pets

To be inquisitive and questioning

and to make many friends

To stay fit and healthy

and to open my mind

To have passions and hobbies

and to not be fussed with popularity

To be as good as I could be

without trying to be more than I am

And now that I am older

despite completing my studies

there's still plenty more to learn

with just as many perils at hand

And that honesty and truth is the key

to a life full of enjoyment,

reward,

and special loved ones to hold dear

Image Sources: Fallout Wiki/Fallout 2

Related: The Life of a Gamer

Red Dead Redemption Wants You To Be Good

Will Ooi — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 04:53:29 +0000

~ * An analysis of the ending of Red Dead Redemption, strong spoiler warning * Finally, Rockstar have come up with a game that wants us to be good. Playing as a reformed outlaw in a graphically gorgeous title combining almost every aspect of the Wild West we've come to recognise through films, TV shows and folklore, the most surprising quality of Red Dead Redemption - even more impressive than the amazing attention to detail - is the enforced morality and, in line with the game's title and its central theme, redeeming qualities of the main character. John Marston, contrary to those previous incarnations of Grand Theft Auto and other Rockstar Games' antiheroes, is not seeking success and wealth through crime; he is aspiring to be good for the betterment of himself and his family. As in previous open-world games the players themselves are free to do as they wish, inevitably leading to a sandbox environment of carnage and chaos as the he/she sees fit. In Red Dead, the option to be 'good' or 'bad' is presented - do you capture criminals alive to collect bounty rewards and shoot the weapons out of people's hands instead of killing them, or decide to go renegade by robbing the innocent and, as an homage to the classic Western cliche of moustached villainy, tie a woman up and place her on railroad tracks? Despite your decisions in these situations and regardless of your own personal play-style, the most striking thing about the main story missions is how Marston always, from the start of the game to the finish, chooses the honourable route.

Moral Conflict, Character Development and Consequences: A Dragon Age Origins Review

Will Ooi — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:15:34 +0000

RPGs tend to always intimidate me before I start one: upon estimating the hours I'm going to need to commit towards understanding the equipment system, not to mention navigating all those menus and grasping the fictional history as well as figuring out the combat tactics, it worries me ever so greatly and yet, strangely, I am never sufficiently put off enough to avoid the genre altogether. The worry stems from a selfishness: a concern borne out of a fear of what will happen to me if I actually like the game. Or rather more specifically, what will happen to me if I actually, sincerely, love the game.

A Fallout 3 Investment Property of a Lifetime

Will Ooi — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Selfish housemates getting on your nerves? Time to move out? Well ahoy there!! I, Landlord Lucantile of Alexandria Arms, am extremely pleased to offer you – YES YOU! – the investment property opportunity of a lifetime! An absolutely stunning three storey complex. Of course, only one of those floors is operable and there isn’t much [...]

You Know You’ve Played Too Much Fallout 3…

Will Ooi — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:00:00 +0000

… when such an historic, worldly significant day like this …just makes you think, immediately, of this… …and this Photo credits: 1, 2

A Fallout 3 Review/Confession

Will Ooi — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:00:00 +0000

Originally posted here ~ [I will probably get in trouble if certain people read this blog. But here it is anyway] A bit of context, just to get it out of the way early on: I tend to take my gaming addictions a bit far sometimes, and I absolutely love open world games. GTA III [...]

The Life of a Gamer

Will Ooi — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:00:00 +0000

Originally posted here ~ Here is a quick timeline of the gaming life of a former Sega “fanboy”. In writing this I discovered quite a bit about my own hypocrisies and double-standards…coming to the conclusion that we should all give up hating this console or that console, this company or that company, Sonic or Mario [...]