Latest news with #Dishonored
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Avowed's inert cities remind me just how good we had it in Skyrim and Oblivion
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. It took me a while to find my flow in Avowed, but ever since converting my imperial envoy into an stealth-mage assassin (aka 'Dishonored') build, I've been enjoying my adventure through the Living Lands. The distinct biomes with dungeons and caves branching off of them, the ample side-quest opportunities, and engaging with this visually vibrant fantasy world from the first-person perspective—spellbook in one hand, sword in the other—all combine to evoke some of my greatest gaming memories wandering around Tamriel throughout the Elder Scrolls series. It's simpler and smaller, sure, but 14 years since the last Elder Scrolls game, I'll happily take something to scratch that itch on my arrow-scarred knee. The more I play Avowed, however, the more cracks I'm seeing in its depiction of a living, breathing world—little glimmers of unflattering light shining through to illuminate its artifice. Maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing, as it helps me appreciate Obsidian's RPG as its own world with its own design quirks and rules rather than looking at it through a Bethesdo-scope. On the other hand it's made me appreciate all the little things that made the Elder Scrolls worlds feel so alive. Avowed unique weapons: Grab these earlyTotem of Rightful Rulership: Find all the piecesIntimidating Feline Codpiece: Treasure map solutionKai romance: Soldier through togetherAvowed Ygwulf: How to handle the assassin First up, there are no routines, dynamic AI, or behaviours underlying NPCs in Avowed, which is fine at first but after a while creates an uncanny Truman Show feeling, where you start to feel that the world is on standstill waiting for you to interact with it. I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but then it became apparent in the second region's capital city of Fior mes Iverno, that NPCs don't walk around—they just stand there! Some NPCs have fixed animations, brushing the same patch of ground or swaying back and forth in one place like a Weeble Wobble to demonstrate drunkenness, but after a while these repetitive behaviours make them feel more like animatronics than citizens. During an early quest, I saw an NPC run out of the pub with an upset stomach to be sick in the alley outside. You'd think that after a few minutes he'd get on with his life (or at least return to whatever standing animation in whatever spot's been designated to him), but after untold further adventures that took me to new lands and saw me fighting off an invasion of another city, I eventually returned to that pub to find the same poor sod still in that same alley, barfing in perpetuity. This extends to the matter of theft—or lack thereof—in the Living Lands. Everything in this land is yours for the taking, and while my like-minded pal Robin has already ranted about this at length, it's worth repeating that for you to be able to grab goods from the stalls of merchants without them caring or even noticing is one of the greatest sins a game can commit when trying to sell you on the illusion of its world. Combine that with the rigid animation loops, and you have a scenario where you can, say, go up to an NPC meat vendor, grab all the meat out from in front of them while they are curing it, and they will forever continue curing the air in front of them where the meat used to be. You can't attack NPCs in cities, you can't piss anyone off, everyone is stuck in their roles. Interestingly, I experienced one incident where an NPC had a dig at me for rummaging through her backpack, but that made it all the more bizarre that I could continue doing so without consequence. It got me thinking that even if Avowed justified your petty thefts by the fact that you're an envoy of the empire who can flaunt your authority to procure all items in the Living Lands in the name of fighting the Dreamscourge, that would be at least offer something to explain the world's non-responsiveness. I'm not saying that every RPG needs a full-on dynamic AI system like Oblivion or its distant offspring Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but some reactivity would've gone a long way to making me feel the ebb and flow of this world, and in turn become more invested in saving it. It's worth remembering that Obsidian's RPGs are more story-driven than Bethesda's, with a greater focus on narrative choices, and also that Obsidian is a mid-sized studio that's always juggling multiple projects at once rather than going all-in on a single game, but this is hardly revolutionary stuff. Back in the 90s, we had Baldur's Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment: two very much story-driven games that still took the time to program NPCs to potter about cities and respond to your rowdiness. The Witcher 3, which is again more focused around story than emergence and simulation, still implemented basic NPC routines and consequences for committing crimes publicly. Not to mention Obsidian has itself let you get on the wrong side of the locals in Fallout: New Vegas as well as Pillars of Eternity. Some degree of reactivity has been foundational to RPGs for years. There's much I like about Avowed, but a weird side-effect of playing it is that I've found myself missing Bethesda's flawed but majestic fantasy sandboxes. I like to laugh as much as anyone at the bottomless well of jankiness content that Skyrim and Oblivion continue to provide after all these years, but amidst the wonky physics and the NPC mass brawls it's easy to forget that the Elder Scrolls series is a masterclass in immersion that's still largely unmatched. These games rewarded your (usually criminal) curiosity with appropriate NPC reactions, and had a framework flexible enough to accommodate whatever weird character you concocted in your head-canon—be that a serial killer, fisherman, or thief. Maybe I'm spoiled by the fact that my formative gaming years were between 2002 and 2011—a nine-year period during which Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim were released, and reactive RPG worlds made up a big part of my teenage gaming tapestry. Maybe there's a part of me that will forever associate RPG freedom with petty thefts and wanton murder, but 14 years on from the last Elder Scrolls game, I'm feeling their absence more than ever.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'It's like Die Hard but with more comedy': Immersive FPS Skin Deep has talking cats, banana traps, and enemies you can disable by making them sneeze
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Space piracy is a real problem in the future, but luckily there's a new and exciting loss prevention system to meet the needs of cautious space travelers. That's where you come in. In Skin Deep, you're Nina Pasadena, a former assassin turned insurance commando, part of the deluxe insurance package for corporate starships. You're frozen and stuck in a drawer on the ship, to be defrosted and put into action if pirates show up and try to kidnap the crew. Skin Deep is an immersive FPS from Blendo Games, maker of Quadrilateral Cowboy and Gravity Bone. Basically, it's like Deus Ex or Dishonored, but you can set banana peel traps for enemies to slip on and throw pepper in people's faces to make them sneeze so much they can't fight back. Also, you work for a company run by talking cats. (It's the future.) "It's very light and very goofy," said Brendan Chung, creative director of Blendo Games, in the Annapurna Interactive Showcase today. "But it treats this light and goofy stuff very sincerely and very earnestly." "It's like Die Hard but with more comedy," said Blendo Games programmer Sanjay Madhav. Unfortunately, the cryotech process that turns you into an insurance popsicle doesn't allow you to freeze your weapons, so you'll have to make do with whatever you find on the ship or can take from the pirates. A banana found in a locker can become a slippery trap. Ragweed thrown at someone will stun them with sneezes (though if you step into the "pepper cloud" it'll also cause you to sneeze, which can alert guards). There are traditional weapons like pistols and rifles to grab, but isn't it more fun to turn on a gas vent, lure a dimwitted pirate over to it, flick on a lighter, and roast him like a Christmas goose? There's a lot of neat systems you can glimpse in the trailer, like eliminating a pirate, taking his walkie-talkie, and then mimicking his voice when the pirate boss asks him to check in. You can also fake your own death by making it appear you've been purged from the ventilation system into space, so the pirates will stop looking for you. The pirates are pretty crafty themselves, though: the trailer shows one being killed, at which point his head is automatically encased in a cryo-dome so it can be placed onto a regenerated body, essentially making him immortal. The solution to that? Flush his head down the toilet. Standard insurance procedure. Skip Deep uses the Doom 3 engine, which is 20 years old and gives the game a "timeless look" according to Chung. Announced way back in 2018, it's finally almost here: Skin Deep launches on April 30. There's a demo on Steam available now.
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Viktor Antonov, art director for Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, has died, according to colleagues
Viktor Antonov, best known for his work as art lead on Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, has reportedly died at age 52. Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw broke the news in an Instagram Story, and other former colleagues have since taken to social media to pay tribute as well. 'I didn't want to say much till I felt it was confirmed, but I learned today that Viktor Antonov, our visionary art lead on HL2, has died,' Laidla wrote in the now-expired post, which was reshared by LambdaGeneration on Saturday night. Antonov got his start in video games working on Redneck Rampage, and in addition to serving as art director for Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, he went on to consult on titles including Doom (2016) and Fallout 4. The Bulgarian artist just recently appeared in a documentary celebrating the 20th anniversary of Half-life 2 this past November. 'RIP Viktor Antonov. I wish I told you how much admiration I had for you but we get caught in our lives until a surprise like this hits us,' Raphael Colantonio, founder of Arkane Studios and Wolfeye Studios, wrote on Bluesky. 'You were instrumental to the success of Arkane Studios and an inspiration to many of us, also a friend with whom I have many fond memories.' In another post, game designer Harvey Smith added, 'All this about his impact and talent is true, but I will also always remember how much he made me laugh, with his dry, devastating wit. RIP.'
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Viktor Antonov, art director for Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, has died, according to colleagues
Viktor Antonov, best known for his work as art lead on Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, has reportedly died at age 52. Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw broke the news in an Instagram Story, and other colleagues have since taken to social media to pay tribute as well. 'I didn't want to say much till I felt it was confirmed, but I learned today that Viktor Antonov, our visionary art lead on HL2, has died,' Laidla wrote in the now-expired post, which was reshared by LambdaGeneration on Saturday night. Antonov got his start in video games working on Redneck Rampage, and in addition to serving as art director for Half-Life 2 and Dishonored, he went on to consult on titles including Doom (2016) and Fallout 4. The Bulgarian artist just recently appeared in a documentary celebrating the 20th anniversary of Half-life 2 this past November. 'RIP Viktor Antonov. I wish I told you how much admiration I had for you but we get caught in our lives until a surprise like this hits us,' Raphael Colantonio, founder of Arkane Studios and Wolfeye Studios, wrote on Bluesky. 'You were instrumental to the success of Arkane Studios and an inspiration to many of us, also a friend with whom I have many fond memories.' In another post, game designer Harvey Smith added, 'All this about his impact and talent is true, but I will also always remember how much he made me laugh, with his dry, devastating wit. RIP.'
