Glutton for punishment, and all that other crap: yes, I am reading the print version of PC Gamer again for lack of anything better in the PC-only category. Any help on finding something better would be appreciated. Really, this is incredibly demoralizing.

I picked up the Holiday 2008 issue for the reviews of Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Dead Space and Warhammer Online, which were predictably full of the facetious praise you’d expect for these blockbuster releases. The review of Dead Space was especially puzzling, as it told me next to nothing about what it was like to play the game, except perhaps its aborted attempt at a closing paragraph with some comments on the controls. But hey, I can agree with Dan Stapleton’s sentiments – they sure do suck.

Though what I found most interesting was the rather optimistic retrospective from the new editor-in-chief Kristen Salvatore, on the magazine’s upcoming 15-year anniversary:

I love that we’re old. I love working for a publication that’s established…that has worked to grow and change along with its readers, and that’s shown its commitment, standards and professionalism far surpass [sic] so many of the fly-by-night outlets that the internet has given birth to…We do a better job than many bloggers. We are better respected among publishers and developers…we take well-written, well-crafted writing very seriously. We use fart jokes sparingly.

It sure makes a fine summary of PC Gamer’s current position on journalistic integrity and takes a dig at game webloggers too! I’d almost take offense, except for Tim Edwards’ review of Far Cry 2:

[Your buddy] gives you a weapon and informs you that the United Front for Liberation and Labor (UFLL) are holding another foreign mercenary hostage to the South. You go and rescue the mercenary: Nasreen Davar, a hottie.

Obviously not the same commentary that can only be developed with age and experience. And I’m not even going to touch the closing paragraph, that’s full of so many adjectives I can’t figure out if he is recommending the game or trying to beat me over the head with a thesaurus.

Granted this is one review, but in the face of Salvatore’s editorial I can’t help but think her comments are trying to prop up the magazine against the overwhelming tide of professional and amateur games writing that is now so prevalent on the Internet. And some of it is actually worth reading. I read the magazine for six years (1998 – 2004), quitting shortly before editor Rob Smith left when the magazine had taken a serious nosedive in quality. At one point during my years reading the magazine I had convinced myself it was one of the pillars of modern game journalism. I even wanted to work there. But things have changed in the print game journalism landscape. Computer Games Magazine, a place where quailty writing was never in short supply, died far too young. Massive, a magazine dedicated to the fast paced world of MMOGs printed three issues. Computer Gaming World was rebranded Games for Windows and halted publication after only a year of operation, its success likely hindered by the poor support of retailers who fail to highlight the Games for Windows “platform”. I’d like to think that there is still a need for a print publication dedicated to PC gaming, but perhaps I’m just being nostalgic. PC Gamer is the last one standing, and has the opportunity to become that bastion of solid games journalism we like to talk about but never seems to materialize. The magazine has certainly changed over the years, but not for the better and certainly not to adapt to the needs of the audience that helped establish the magazine in the first place. This can easily be corrected with their financial resources and standing in the industry – and I hope that Ms. Salvatore is finally the one to take on that responsibility.

In this same issue, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway received its delayed final score of 93%.

I was going to play it anyway.

I recenly picked up a copy of the December 2008 issue of PC Gamer while waiting at the airport. I haven’t read it since 2004, but it’s not like I have a choice for PC-centric commentary in print now that Computer Games Magazine doesn’t exist anymore. Flipping through the reviews section, I came to a review of Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway, the full fledged sequel to one of my favorite games of 2005. Like many others this time of year, I’m struggling to figure out what games I should dedicate my limited free time to, and nothing informs gamers better than a review of pre-retail code, right? Though in the particular case of Hell’s Highway, I was astonished by the absence of a final score. The reasoning (emphasis mine):

While we didn’t encounter any bugs in the build we played, at the last moment before going to press, we received word from Gearbox that their commitment to fixing a one-in-200 crash bug has delayed final code of the game. In addition, Ubisoft was unable to provide specific information about possible DRM restrictions at press time. In keeping with our policy of reviewing finished code, we are withholding our score until next issue when we’ve played the final. In the meantime, we feel that the text detailing what we saw in the build we played will be helpful to you in making your game purchasing decision.

Being my usual cynical self, my first reaction was: what were you doing reviewing unfinished code? Furthermore, if specific information about DRM was required to provide a final score, what in the fuck is Spore doing with a 91%?

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In the September issue, Kristen Salvatore writes about the adventure game adaptation of the film:

I confess that I’m something of a literature snob, so it isn’t easy for me to admit I enjoyed a mainstream book like The Da Vinci Code – I love that it’s rooted in factual historical mysteries unlocked with factual historical information.

Except that it isn’t. I guess it was wrong to assume that Brown’s detractors had actively slagged both the book and the film enough over the past three months to get people to start thinking clearly, pointing out that the basis for most of his novel was either entirely fiction or a pseudo-historical text that had been written simply to support some religious crackpot theory. But factual? Come on, a literature snob would have at least done a little casual research before making a statement like that.

Spike Lee’s Inside Man got a bit of attention in the gaming community earlier this year for a scene that showed a computer generated sequence made to look like a violent video game. I just saw the DVD on the weekend, and I have to admit I’m a bit suprised at the clumsily inserted social commentary. I could understand using the wounds of the World Trade Centre as a point of reflection in 25th Hour, but Inside Man’s approach to criticizing violent video games simply felt gratuitous, from multiple viewpoints. It seems that the bigger Lee’s budget, the lesser his tact.

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I see that the rumour mill is once again in full effect saying that Blizzard is going “all MMORPG on the games industry” based on a slide taken out of context from a presentation to some pack of clueless businessmen. Regardless of whether this might actually be true (just look at the amount of backpedaling Gamespot has done!), I find it hard to believe this is coming as a surprise to anyone. There have been talks about Blizzard turning their three franchises into MMORPGs since World of Warcraft was released. What’s the big deal? It’s not like Blizzard had plans to create anything new…they’ve been milking their trinity of IP for almost eight years! Even if their new game wasn’t an MMORPG, what was it going to be? StarCraft 2?

The real surprise in all this is the lack of any snide commentary from Matt Gallant, who usually goes out of his way to slag off the gaming website community when they parrot frivolous rumours like this.