I must admit, given the great time I’ve had with the game, that I’m a bit surprised to see it ranking in the low 80’s on Metacritic.  Now, I know that Metacritic isn’t the best site to look at for such things having seen first hand how their internal translation system turns a C+ into a 58 thereby skewing a game’s perceived quality downward.  Still though even reading through the reviews the common criticisms seems to be that rather than come up with their own gaming mechanics, Vigil decided to instead lift mechanics of off popular gaming franchises, namely The Legend of Zelda, Portal and God of War.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Darksiders does just that, however I have to question whether or not knocking the game for it is a valid criticism.  I say this because we as game reviewers seem to be incredibly tolerant of this when it comes to sequels but incredibly intolerant when it comes to new IP’s.  Take Uncharted 2, for example.  Uncharted 2 is, hands down, the most thrilling experience I’ve ever had while playing video games but it is, at its core, just a refinement of the mechanics presented in the first game, which, by the way, were taken wholeheartedly from other games such as Gears of War and Tomb Raider.  It isn’t the mechanics though that make Uncharted 2 such a great game, although they certainly help, it’s the pacing, the voice acting, the incredible technical achievements that, when all bundled together, make the game so damn exciting.

While we’re on the subject of unoriginal games you don’t have to look much farther than Gears of War 2 and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  Both games are sequels, both games build upon, or refine mechanics created in earlier games and neither do much to move the franchise into new territory yet both are very highly rated.  It seems that we, as reviewers, are more than happy with more of the same if those same mechanics are presented in the franchises we expect to see them.

On this, I gotta call bullshit.

Now, if you want to argue that Darksiders didn’t implement the cribbed mechanics in a compelling way then I think that’s a valid criticism.  Personally, I wouldn’t agree with you, but that’s just my opinion and what works for me doesn’t work for everyone.  Slamming the game because it uses game mechanics that we’ve come to love in other games is patently ridiculous.  Nintendo fans the world over always complain about the long lengths of time between Zelda sequels.  Fans are similarly vocal about wanting a more mature, more violent take on the franchise, although I personally don’t think Zelda is the place for blood and guts.  When it comes to Portal, Valve develops sequels according to their own strange whims and who knows when a sequel for Portal will be coming, if one does at all.   So we want more Zelda and we want more Portal and here a game gives it to us, wrapped in its own style with its own world, story and characters and we’re supposed to say “no thank you” simply because it didn’t come from Nintendo or Valve?  Yeah, again, I gotta call bullshit.

The simple fact is that not all studios can come up with a new game mechanic that changes the world of gaming.  It’s simply not possible.  There has to be room in gaming for studios that can take existing mechanics and build compelling games around them.  Why we’re tolerant of first person shooters, a collection of mechanics that hasn’t changed in years, yet not so for something like Darksiders is not only stupid, but hypocritical.  It also can’t be terribly comforting to budding, young game designers to think that the only road to critical praise lies in either creating a completely new gaming mechanic or in getting work on an established sequel.

Now, I’m not saying that Darksiders is perfect, but I do think it’s better than that aggregated Metacritic score would lead you to believe.  It’s certainly better than Gears of War 2 a game that somehow managed to use the same mechanics as its forebear yet take a step backwards at the same time.  I love Zelda and while I don’t feel that it is the appropriate franchise for blood and guts, there are times that I want to play a game that combines the mechanics of Zelda and the visceral feel of a game like God of War.  Darksiders does just that and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

It’s easy, as a reviewer to fall into easy critical traps and I’m of the mind that knocking a game for using another game’s mechanics is one of those traps. If I go to a restaurant and order a bacon cheeseburger, I’m not upset that the chef took a beef patty, cooked it and then put cheese and bacon on it.  That’s what I wanted and while I may be happy to entertain some sort of alternate take on the sandwich, for the most part, I want what I ordered.  There has to be a place in gaming for bacon cheeseburgers where the only criticism is based on how good it tastes, the quality of the presentation and how well it fills you up.

Darksiders may not be incredibly original but it is one damn fine bacon cheeseburger.  For me, for right now, that’s more than enough.

I’m a little tired of Saints Row 2 right about now.

It’s not just SR2 either. I’m tired of games in general right now which can mean only one thing, fall is upon us.

I usually like the fall. I like the colder weather.  I love football.  I like that I don’t have to mow the lawn any more.  I like that we can put the down comforter on the bed.  I like the leaves.  I even don’t mind raking them.  I used to like that fall was when all of the best games came out and wherever you looked, there was something good to play.

Now?  Not so much.

In the past 30 days I played and reviewed Rock Band 2 for the 360, played and reviewed The Price is Right for the DS, played and reviewed de Blob for the Wii, played and reviewed the aforementioned Saints Row 2 for the 360, wrote my humor column about Rock Band 2, played with and reviewed two Rock Band 2 instruments for a  Rock Band 2 gear round up and played Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (review pending).  That’s a whole lot of playing and a whole lot of writing.

Now, much of, if not all of this is my own fault.  After all, I’m the one who picks the games that I want to cover and I picked all of these, with the exception of Saints Row 2 which was given to me by default for attending the preview event.  So, my schedule is all my doing, however at the same time, when I don’t pick games, I can expect an email from my editor asking me if I’m sure that I don’t want to cover any more games. This is one of the pitfalls of being competent at something.  Others expect you to keep doing it.  The reverse of this accounts for why I’m never asked to be on anyone’s basketball team.

It is a common lament among gaming journalists that the holiday season is hell on Earth for those that write about games and as packed as my schedule has been, it is nothing compared to what I’m sure those writing about games full time has to put up with.  After all, I pick my own games, and my editor is steadfast in his refusal to let you pick two games that come out on the same day even if they’re on different systems, a notion I have bristled against for some time now due to my ability to play both a handheld game and a console game at the same time.  Well, not literally at the same time, but within the same deadline space.  Any way, I can only imagine that for those that do this full time, they have to juggle multiple games at once and keep it all straight in their heads.

For me, at least I get a break to go to work, or play with the kids, or do something other than play games.  If you write about games for a living, you still have breaks, but they are fewer and farther between, even more so come the fall crunch time.  More importantly, once you finish a game and then write about it, you jump right into the next one.

This is my biggest problem with crunch time, not the constant playing of games, because honestly, how much I play games during these times doesn’t change that much other than an occasional longer session when I’d usually be watching tv with Linda, or playing on the DS or PSP at lunch.  What changes come crunch time is that I don’t have any time to play games that I’m playing just for enjoyment.  I need a little bit of a break between assignments to get my thoughts straightened out and cleanse the gaming palate, so to speak.  If the only time I had between games was spent writing about the one I just finished, I think I’d go a little crazy.

Plus, for me, having more time to not be playing the game gives me more time to formulate an opinion about what I’m playing.  There are some really great design choices made in de Blob but it’s not until you step away from it and have some time to think about it, that you realize what’s there.  Well, I didn’t any way, and you’re most likely much smarter than I am, so your mileage may vary.

Don’t get me wrong, I love having the extra cash on hand as the holiday games season is filled with games that I do want to play, many of which I’m not reviewing, and they’re not going to just show up on my doorstep free of charge.  The holiday season also means an influx of toys, specifically Transformers, all of which I am compelled to buy.  It would just be nice if the onslaught of games that come from mid September through December could be spread out over the course of the year, rather than force feed me over the next few months and then starve me come January.  Cause, let me tell you, as bad as the crush of games is now, it ain’t nothin’ compared to the titles available for review come the new year.  I give you Draglade.

Luckily, due to SR2 arriving a lot earlier than I imagined and the next Crash Bandicoot game for the PSP being delayed a couple of weeks, I have 2.5 weeks before I have to play anything that I don’t want to.  Oh sure, I have to write my Sonic Chronicles review, but that’ll be done this weekend and then it’s nothing but me time.  This is a good thing because I still have to finish Mercenaries 2 and I have a bunch of touring to do in Rock Band 2 not to mention I’m still crawling my way towards level 60 in Mass Effect.   So much to play and it’s all completely up to me!  My gaming ship is my own to navigate through a sea of choices!  Who knows where I’ll stop, but for now, I am in command!  Me!  Me!  Me!

You know what?  On second thought, I think I’ll just play Saints Row 2 tonight.

As I made my way down to the hotel lobby for dinner, I was thinking about how I really didn’t want to go to this dinner. I’m not a social person, and meeting new people while having to be professional didn’t appeal to me on a good day, much less one where I had just spent most of the day working and then took a 4.5 hour plane trip. Nevertheless, I felt it was a good idea for me to be there. I was also concerned about my outfit as I hadn’t packed for being semi-professional for one day, much less two days and I was pretty sure my “roll off of the tarmac” shorts and t-shirt ensemble wasn’t up to the dress code of the restaurant. At least I had elected to leave the monkey t-shirt at home, all four of them. I was also hesitant because, honestly, I didn’t feel like I belonged to be there. Nothing against my talent, meager as it may be, but the game reviewing thing is strictly a side gig for me. I use the money I get for it to buy Transformers and video games. The other people attending this event do this for a living. Should I have been there? I was, so it’s not like I could have changed any thing at that point, but I wonder, if I were in their shoes, and someone like me rolled up, would it bother me or would I not care at all?

I wasn’t waiting in the lobby long before I realized that my dress wouldn’t be a problem as the rest of the gaming journalists filtered in all wearing some variation on my outfit. Geek wardrobe FTW. Introductions were made all around and while I was told the name of the outlets everyone worked for, for the life of me, I can’t remember them. You hear the six names, all with some variation of “game” in them within the span of thirty seconds and see how well you do.

Once everyone was rounded up we headed in for dinner. I sat between the lead designer of the game and an editor at Team Xbox and across from the event planner. It was, literally, the best seat at the table as to the right of me I had someone to talk to about making games, to the left of me was someone to talk to about writing about games and across from me was someone to talk to about the promotion of games. Unless Ken Levine was going to pour the wine, I don’t see how it could have gotten better. It was a very fun evening with lots of good conversations. The event planner and the guy from Team Xbox were both big wine fans so they had lots of stories about wine and California which were surprisingly entertaining. I got in some really good discussions about GTA IV with the lead designer of the game. The wine was good and the food was good, although expensive. I would not be surprised if the bill for the meal was over a thousand bucks.

Now, a thousand bucks is an extreme amount of money for a meal, even a meal with 12 people present, and certainly with game developers and publisher grousing on how expensive it is to make games, it doesn’t make sense to drop that kind of cash on dinner, but in the grand scheme of things, that dinner, hell the cost of the whole event is a drop in the bucket. The original Saints Row sold around 2 million copies. If we’re conservative and say that only the first million copies were at full price, and retailers buy the game from the publisher at 50 bucks a pop, that’s 50 million bucks. If the game cost 10 million to make and promote, you’re 40 million in the black before you start tallying up sales for the second million copies. Even if the entire event cost $100k to put on, it’s such a small percentage of what they will probably bring in for Saints Row 2 that it doesn’t mean anything.

After dinner, folks were going about their evening in Las Vegas, and me being the type of guy who never shied away from wasting his money, I proceeded to get killed by the slot machines, thereby erasing any hope of making this an even remotely profitable trip.

The next day was game day. They dropped the 360 HD off in the room around 10:30 and I started to play the game. At this point, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to have happen. On the one hand, if the game was bad, I could prove to myself that these people could buy me all the steak in the world and it wouldn’t prevent me from writing my honest opinion. On the other hand, the guy I had just spent the last evening talking to was very nice and this game represented his and his team’s life for the past two years. Why would I want it to fail? This was exactly the problem I was worried about. My responsibility to the reader has to win out every time, but if the game sucked, what would I do at that evening’s co-op event? Smile politely, say something nice about it and then trash it in the preview? Be honest but make everything awkward? The mind reeled.

Once I got into the game though, I realized that my worries were unfounded. The game was very fun and offered an open world experience that was a lot different than the one provided in GTA IV. There was a distinct lack of focus, unlike in GTA IV, which I’m sure many people will find liberating even if I was somewhat put off by it due to my OCD like tendencies. Graphically it looked good, and the sound was great. It was a game that I wanted to keep playing once it got time to shut the console down and prepare for the evening’s event.

Unfortunately, by the time I got to the co-op event, I was so burnt out on playing games all day that the last thing I wanted to do was play more games. I endured though and managed to get some co-op rounds in. The evening’s event was interesting in that I could hear about everyone else’s experiences with the game, and how different they were from my own. We all had similar likes and dislikes, and I remember one guy, the guy from Gamespot, saying that he kept comparing it to GTA IV in his head. My reply was that you almost have to, because when people are making their decision to buy it, that comparison will probably be the foremost thought in their heads. Everyone seemed to like it, or was just really good about faking it.

I spent most of the night watching people play co-op and talking to the PR guy from THQ about his views on the industry and gaming in general. Once I had time, I spent about 25 minutes interviewing the guy from Volition, showing off not only my shiny, new voice recorder, but my inept interview skills. Listening to myself ask questions while transcribing the interview later on was an exercise in torture. I’m going to blame it on the alcohol. I thought it was odd that only myself and one other writer took the opportunity to interview the Volition guy. The other guy was also a freelancer, so I wonder if he too was told that he could get extra cash for an interview piece. I would think that everyone would want some time with the developer, if only to get some quotes to spice up their pieces, but that’s where I would be wrong. I can only assume that spending eight hours playing a game was more than enough material, and if most of them do this full time, and get paid salary, why put in the extra work?

Once the event was over, I was pretty much wiped out. Thankfully the THQ guy told us all that there was an embargo on the preview pieces that wouldn’t expire for a week, so that meant that I didn’t have to go back to the hotel and try and churn out a coherent piece. I was bummed out that I couldn’t go out with everyone else, but I was tired, it was late and I had to get up early in the morning. Game, set and as they say, match.

The next morning, I got up, waited in the lobby with a fellow writer while trying to get my driver on the phone and then rode to the airport with the writer from Gamespot. We had a really interesting talk in the car about how Gamespot reviews games, and about how they had just given Mercenaries 2 a pretty low score. I’m sure it was pretty boring for him, but for someone like me, a gamer who occasionally reviews games, it was fascinating. Once we got to the airport, I gave him a business card and we went our separate ways.

I’m glad I went on the trip, even if staying at home would have made better economic sense. Everyone I met was very nice and I got two good pieces out of the experience, one of which is here and one is here. The talks I had, both about making games and about reviewing games were very interesting, and not ones I could have had any place else. Even upon finding out that this writing for me was just a side gig people were real supportive and in no way made me feel like a second class citizen. Still, it was nice to take that plane ride home, even if sitting right on the wing made it so that I had to shove my earbuds deep within my auditory canals to hear The Untouchables on my PSP.

In October I’ll be reviewing the game, which means that I’ll have to start from scratch and do a lot of those eight hours all over again. A bummer, certainly, but at the same time, there’s so much to do in the game, I can take a different route and most of the stuff will be different. It will be interesting to see if my final opinion matches up with the preview opinion now that the glow of free food and drinks has worn off. If I don’t like the game, will thoughts of those I met come to my head as I’m writing some snark filled review? Maybe, but probably not. After all, I’ve been working for commercial software places for ten years now, and I know that there are a myriad of decisions that go into putting out a crappy product, many of them completely removed from the hands of those in charge of making said product, and that hasn’t stopped me yet. No reason to let a 50 buck steak do so now.

Shortly after agreeing to go on the trip, and getting all of my travel arranged, I realized that I had a big, nay huge problem, namely that the event was taking place on the same day that the Redskins kicked off the ’08 – ’09 football season. I am many things, but first on the list is a Redskins fan. I bleed burgundy and gold, so the notion of not wearing my Redskins jersey on that Thursday, even if said apparel didn’t fit whatever dress code would be expected of me. I brought this concern up with my editor, and he said not to worry, just explain the situation, show off my tattoos (for some reason it intrigues him that I have four tattoos), show my business card and all would be ok. First, I don’t know why my tattoos would make a difference. Perhaps the PR people would assume that if they didn’t assent to my wardrobe I’d stab them in some sort of biker rage. I don’t know. Second, wait, what? Business cards?

My editor then explained to me that I’d need business cards because otherwise I’d look like a dork. No, my four superhero tattoos wouldn’t do that, but not having a business card sure would. Right. Not being one to go against the wishes of the guy who doles out my assignments, I set about designing my cards. I did a halfway decent job and in an act that can only be attributed to nervousness, I ordered 200 of them. Now, to my credit, I paid extra to get cards made from 100% recycled paper feeling that the notion of me buying business cards for one event was patently stupid so there was no need to get trees killed for my stupidity. Why I bought 200 of them I still don’t know. Oh sure, I’d love to be able to go out to more of these events, but so many of them that I’d need 200 cards? Highly doubtful.

He also told me that I’d need a voice recorder. Well, I didn’t technically need one, but seeing how there would be developers there, and maybe I could get them to talk to me, a voice recorder would make things much easier on me. He also told me that if I got enough time with a developer that he’d pay me for the preview piece and an interview. Now, I don’t want to tell tales out of school, but let’s just say that I don’t get paid a whole bunch for these pieces. It’s more than I’ve been offered at other places, but far less than I probably could get paid if I actually put some hustle behind this gig. Without getting into numbers, even though I’d be paid for a second piece, any decent voice recorder would balance out what I’d get paid for the interview. Sure enough, the one that I ended up buying was even more than what I’d get paid, but I figured that this was a chance to a) ask some good questions about making games and b) it would be yet another piece to add to my growing collection. Plus, I can use the voice recorder for podcasting, which could potentially get me paid more, so I figured that the voice recorder, unlike the business cards, was a sound investment. Worse comes to worse, I can use it to blackmail people at work.

So, armed with my buttload of business cards and my shiny new voice recorder, I headed off to Vegas. While waiting for my plane, I met a guy going to Vegas for a legal insurance conference. When I told him why I was going, he thought it was pretty damn cool, which, honestly, up until that point, I hadn’t. I’m under no illusion that I’m some font of gaming knowledge, and that my opinion is the definitive word on games. I’m a guy who got lucky enough to find out about a job posting, and who was competent enough to put some work together to impress those that needed impressing. Having an editor willing to take a chance on a complete newbie certainly helped. I like to say that reviewing games is fun up until you have to review a bad one. Truth is, it’s not that much fun when reviewing good games either. Oh sure, occasionally you’ll play something fun that you never would have played, or expected to be good (Crash of the Titans comes to mind), but any time you have to do something under a deadline, it ceases to be fun. But, I love games, and I love writing, so as much as I like to complain about having to review some crappy DS movie tie-in game, it’s totally worth it. After talking to this guy though, it hit me. I was being paid, albeit a modest amount, to go to Las Vegas and sit in a beautiful hotel room and play video games all day long. It was, in fact, pretty damn cool.

The flight was uneventful, and I passed most of the time watching Escape from New York on my PSP (again with the games). I was picked up by my driver Dale, who also thought that my reason for being in Vegas was pretty damn cool and proceeded to tell me that his son absolutely loved Rock Band. Dale’s son, as it turns out, had great taste in games. Upon dropping me off at my hotel, he asked me what site I wrote for and as a result, Dale became my first official recipient of my business card. Not exactly how I planned on things going down in that regard, but if it gets another reader to the site, then who am I to judge?

After getting to my room, which was gorgeous, by the way, I unpacked, cleaned up and headed to the lobby to meet the other writers and the PR guy and the developer for dinner. I had officially arrived in Vegas and was ready to be plied with food, booze and whatever other earthly delights they could come up with to secure my favor. Who needs integrity when there’s steak on the menu?

Tomorrow, comes Part 3, the final part: Twelve Hours of Gaming and I Don’t Even Get a Lousy T-Shirt

But I digress. Last week I was invited to go to Las Vegas to play the upcoming open world gang masterpiece Saints Row 2 for a full day and I figured I’d share my experiences. As a gamer, I’ve always wondered what these big preview events are all about, and I imagine other gamers are similarly curious so here we are. I’d like to say that it was a non-stop tour of PR funded debauchery but it’s far, far less interesting. Onwards!

When the trip was first offered to all of the writers, my initial response was “Woo-hoo! Free trip to Vegas!” Why this was my first thought, I have no idea. I don’t even like Vegas. I am a horribly unlucky gambler capable of losing money faster than you can flush it down the toilet. I don’t like the heat, I don’t go to strip clubs, I’m not about to pay nineteen bucks for a watered down martini and the game I’d be previewing was a sequel to something I never played in the first place. On paper, there was no reason for me to go other than to get the experience and to continue my trend of being as open to assignments as possible. I mentioned it to my wife and she said I should go. Honestly, leaving her behind with our two young, rambunctious children was my primary concern, given that I’d be going for something as silly as playing a video game, so when she said I should go, I figured that I should go. I’ve done quite well by listening to my wife so far. No reason to stop now.

So I offered to go and due to a fellow writer’s Canadian passport problems (oh Office of Homeland Security, what horrors you have wrought!) I was given the chance. Once the initial feelings of “yay, I’m going to Vegas” wore off, I started to feel somewhat bad about the whole thing. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the video game journalism business is seen as fairly corrupt. Big name publishers pay for ad space, or to send writers to lavish events and as a result end up “buying” positive coverage of games that really don’t deserve it. As a gamer, I always thought that these events were pretty low class, but here I was, slavering at the chance to go to one like I’d never been on a plane, or had a meal purchased for me. Shouldn’t I refuse to go, opting instead to maintain my journalistic integrity? Did I even have journalistic integrity? I’m just a reviewer, it’s not like I’m ever in a situation to cover up some massive scheme to defraud the American public. I play games called “Time Ace” and then tell people how crappy they are. In the end, I figured that if my editor wanted someone to go, he wasn’t concerned about how it appeared for the site, and if he wasn’t concerned, then I shouldn’t be either. And so I wasn’t, that is until the details came out.

First, I found out that they were putting me up at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas. This ain’t no Holiday Inn. The Four Seasons doesn’t have it’s own physical building in Vegas, it’s the top four floors of the Mandalay Bay Casino. That right there should give you an idea as to how nice the place is and the level of expense. Plus, it’s the fraking Four Seasons. The plan was that they’d fly me in on Wednesday, put me up at the hotel Wednesday night, bring the console to my room on Thursday so that I could play the game on Thursday and then we’d have a co-op event in the penthouse suite (again, expensive) on Thursday night and then I’d fly home on Friday. When I was booking my travel, the travel agent said they’d get me a car service as well. The airport in Vegas is about five minutes away from the strip, and as it turned out, I could see it from my hotel room and could have walked there if I didn’t mind being crushed by the occasional jet landing. The idea of having a car service for such a short distance when undoubtedly the hotel would have a shuttle seemed absurd and a waste of money, but not wanting to raise a fuss I said “Er, OK” and that was that. Car service it would be.

Again the feelings that I was whoring myself out came out. This was an expensive hotel! There’s a car service! They’re spending a lot of money on my stupid ass! To an outside observer, would it look as badly as I thought it did, that I was essentially, being bought? Maybe. Maybe not. I have no idea. My coworkers, many of whom are gamers, thought that it was pretty cool and didn’t give a damn about integrity, probably because they think I never had any in the first place, or they don’t read the site I write for. Again, I figured that if my editor was OK with it, I should be as well. Plus, this was my chance to show myself that I don’t give a damn about fancy hotels and nice dinners. I was going to play the game and when the time came to write the piece, if the game was a piece of crap, then it’s a piece of crap and I’d call it like I see it. I’d be the most integrity laden motherfraker that ever put words to paper. They’d see! They can’t buy me! Not this guy!

With that, my travel was arranged, my itinerary was set and I was ready to go.

Or so I thought.

Tomorrow, comes Part 2: Voice Recorders and Business Cards and Expensive Steaks, Oh My!