Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Six Minute Cool Down?! FUUUUUUU

I have been a video gamer since the eighties. To me a "Cool Down" is that thing your mom makes you take when she's tired of hearing you swear at the TV while trying to clear Dr. Wily's Castle in Mega Man 2. I did not expect an extra 6 minutes to appear on the clock when I got through my full program on the elliptical. It felt like a dirty trick. I finished anyway, and it's been a week so it's time for a weigh in. Drums Please

 I think I need a better scale, This one can't make up its mind. First it tells me 223.2, Then 224.9, Then 223.7. I am going to go with 224lbs. Which may not seem like a big deal, but if I can maintain a pound a week I'll be happy with that. Things may pick up this week if I can maintain 100% runs on the elliptical for the rest of the week.

I want to make these weekly posts the spotlight. I am posting daily as a way of keeping myself honest, or being accountable, but this is where I want the meat, so to say. I am thinking that I will focus on the hooks that Wildstar has, the things that make it unique or compelling and discuss them. I may pull in quotes from friends on some issues.

Since we are just starting out it seems natural to look at the first hook the game really has, its style. Both the setting and the artistic direction of Wildstar are very unique. If I see a piece of promotion that is for Wildstar, I am not going need to see a logo with it to know what game its for. This is an important thing. Guild Wars 2 had it with those beautiful think brush stroke paintings. SWTOR had it with its lavish CGI movies. And Wildstar is just as recognizable with its quirky fun futuristic look and fun sense of humor.

There are three races that are spotlighted in the concept art, very different from each other and each with this great personality that a player would want to identify with. Some great concept art for each.





Then in the Trailer you get to see them Shooting,









Going all Linda Blair,

Or crapping their pants.








Speaking of pants pooping. How about those enemies, dare I say bosses?


The great personality is all over the trailer, the way the dragon chases the heroes with its tongue flapping around. or this shot. Surrounded on all sides, and they've all got time to be smart asses.






The way the art speaks doesn't just get me excited about the game in general, it crafts for me a desire to be one of these characters. At first glance, you have to want to be the duel pistol wielding crazy elemental magic shooting cowboy. But then you see something like this, and it changes your mind. You bet your ass I want to summon magic swords and throw them around like a telekinetic.



As a hook, the style of this game is a fantastic one. Very few games can stand on their artistic direction alone, and Wildstar is certainly tops among them. There is still a lot to learn about this game, but no matter what else, you better believe I'll add a framed piece of Wildstar art to my wall if I get my hands on a piece.

Now, I am off to get French Toast because I have my own way to "Cool Down" After Guild Wars 2 crashes me to desktop 4 times in 30 minutes while I'm trying to get to exploration points in the World Vs World map. (Note: This is not GW2's fault, I have some sort of failing memory in my machine either primary or video, unsure which, tends to crash games that do a lot of loading and unloading, like MMO's tend to do.)

No comments:

Post a Comment