Max Payne

Max Payne raised the bar for cinematic action in video games, appropriating the style of John Woo’s gun fu movies. Of course, we can’t talk about Max Payne’s innovativeness without referencing its bullet time mechanic – an ability to transform shootouts into slomo bloodshed. Max Payne’s bullet time was clearly indebted to The Matrix, and whilst it wasn’t the first video game to feature bullet time it was the first to do it with such effortless swagger.

System Shock

The ways in which System Shock was ahead of the curve are numerous: it’s exploration of prescient themes centring on artificial intelligence, transhumanism, ascension, and the human soul is still grimly thought-provoking; its physics engine revolutionised how objects act in 3D spaces; its morally grey antagonist grounded its fantastical setting; it’s emphasis on player choice and options to avoid combat via ground-breaking hacking abilities. System Shock is an all-time classic, inspiring Prey, Dishonored, Portal, to name a few.

Outcast

A fully explorable open world appearing two years before Grand Theft Auto III isn’t why Outcast is ahead of its time. No, this 1999 sci-fi cult classic delivered immersion by the bucketload, far above anything that had come before. NPC conversation was integral to the narrative, but each had daily routines to follow, opinions on each other, and opinions on you the player. An early example of a reputation system, NPCs will help or hinder you based on how well you’ve treated them. Enemy soldiers are progressively weakened by lack of food or resources too, the result of activities you complete for the leaders of each region.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Much like Outcast some two decades prior, Red Dead Redemption 2 set new precedents for immersive open world story telling. It’s gorgeous grassland plains, swamps, and misty mountaintops encouraged horseback exploration; fast travel was not the optimal way to get around. Rockstar deliberately culled the pace of Red Dead’s sequel, stuffing the open world with a smorgasbord of side activities and random encounters. Open world games released today are struggling to reach the levels of freedom Red Dead Redemption 2 presented.

Mirror’s Edge

Flowstate is a remarkable thing when it happens in games. The sense of body and mind working in tandem, fluidly, uninterrupted. Games had toyed with parkour before Mirror’s Edge but none elicited the serene flowstate Mirror’s Edge did. This is in large part to its first-person perspective, it’s almost texture-less clean lines and minimal, distraction free colour palette switching between bright white and bold primary colours. Dying Light comes close, but the innovativeness of Mirror’s Edge is tough to beat.

Metal Gear Solid

An absolute genre-defining masterpiece, Metal Gear Solid changed perceptions of what video games could be via its unashamedly cinematic approach to storytelling, it’s ground-breaking stealth gameplay, and ingenious fourth wall breaking shenanigans. Never had a video game toyed with the player as much as Metal Gear Solid; etching Meryl’s codec frequency into the game’s physical CD case, or – most famously – the Psycho Mantis battle requiring players’ switch controller ports to evade his mind-reading ability.

Shadow of the Colossus

Originally released in 2005 at a time when video game contingent was still debating if the medium could be considered art. Contemplative, bleak, beautiful, befuddling Shadow of the Colossus put that contest to rest via minimal storytelling told ostensibly through environmental puzzles masquerading as boss battles. There really was nothing like it at the time. A wholly unique experience with an ending, like some of the world’s greatest art, wide open to interpretation.

Red Faction

Remarkably ground-breaking for its Geo-Mod technology was Red Faction. It’s incredible how much destruction developer Volition managed to build into its gameplay, and whilst there was a multiplayer component to the game the single player campaign was treated to this bar-raising destruction tech too. Players could reshape the world around them with unparalleled freedom. See a locked door? Blast a hole in the surrounding rock. Want to infiltrate a guarded building? Fashion underground tunnels with rocket launchers. Prior games included scripted destruction, but Red Faction was the first to grant players pure unscripted world-altering capabilities.

Shenmue

Sure, Shenmue’s stately slice of Japanese life divides fans and critics to this day, but the developer’s ambition for what they hoped would become a sprawling series was certainly ahead of its time. Introducing the concept of open world game design to mass audiences (well, Dreamcast players at least), Shenmue heightened immersion through its day and night cycles, NPCs with jobs and routines, and dynamic weather. The interactivity inherent in its detailed world cemented Shenmue as a trailblazer too, ranging from mundanely examining the objects of a kitchen drawer to hitting the arcades for some vintage game time.

Prototype

Prototype’s Alex Mercer is the perfect anti-hero. It’s as simple as that. So many powers and abilities are stuffed into his skillset that there was no more powerful a feeling possible in games than raising utter carnage in downtown Manhattan and barely feeling a scratch from an army desperate to stop you. In blending shapeshifting, superhero-esque aerial acrobatics, offensive and defensive body augmentations, thermal vision, guns, tanks, and helicopters, Radical Entertainment risked Prototype being a sludge of mechanics. Instead, Prototype is a blast; combining so many combat mechanics seamlessly truly was an achievement ahead of its time.

Battlezone

Never had a game merged first-person action, real-time strategy, base building, and tank simulation as cohesively as 1998’s Battlezone. Whilst the similar-in-scope Uprising: Join or Die released a year earlier it didn’t have the same sense of finesse that Activision’s effort exuded. Battlezone dripped in atmosphere, featured dynamic missions inside an engaging dual-perspective campaign, and – crucially given its melding of disparate genres – a sleek interface innovative for its simplicity.

RAGE

You can debate until you’re blue in the face on the memorability of RAGE. It brought legendary developer id Software back from the brink of mediocrity, but it’s shooting, premise, enemies, story – all middle-of-the-road at least. A solid 7/10. RAGE though had an ace up its sleeve: megatexturing. This tech wasn’t new at the time, but thanks to game engine id Tech 5 RAGE’s environment artists were able to build in an endless stream of unique textures. Dynamic scaling based on PC capability kept the game running at 60fps too; another feature prevalent nowadays but none-too-common back in 2011.

Syndicate

1993’s Syndicate put you in command of four trenchcoated, mirror-shaded cyborgs undertaking a corporation’s nefarious dealings via the trigger of a minigun. Gameplaywise, you’d take to the streets – early examples of living cities – to assassinate, coerce, rescue, or destroy, depending on your objective and whims. There was intelligence beneath the bloodshed too, a satirical mirror exposing the tunnel vision of rampant consumerism. Grand Theft Auto took these themes and ran with it, but Syndicate was the first to do it.

Far Cry 2

If Far Cry 2 were released today, it might be criticised for an overly minimalist approach to open world game design that’s become much more commonplace than it was back in 2008 when it originally released. Thing is, it’s Far Cry 2 that arguably started this trend. A true pinnacle of emergent gameplay, zones aren’t acquired like a shopping list and NPCs don’t tend to function as quest givers. Instead, it’s up to you to head into the bush a cause your own trouble, but beware as guns often malfunction, exploded vehicles cause rampant bushfires, healing is strictly limited. Far Cry 2 had the confidence here to blend FPS with survival mechanics, with Metal Gear Solid V, Fallout 4, and The Forest to name a few taking many leaves out of its book.

Silent Hill 2

Dealing with mature, taboo, brushed under the carpet subject matter in such visceral ways; intrinsically linking a character’s innermost desires and torment to gameplay, to monsters encountered; in crafting an atmosphere so noxious it chokes you – these are all reasons why Silent Hill 2 is an ahead of its time masterpiece, and stands the test of time some 22 years later. In a way, Silent Hill 2 is experimental; for one, its story is told extremely subtly. A very hands-off approach which many developers, plus Konami themselves, haven’t learned from.

Adult Swim recently revealed the official trailer for the anime adaptation of Shenmue. Called Shenmue: The Animation, the series focuses on the story of the first two games. The show will cover new backstories that were previously never covered in the games and will feature 13 episodes for its debut season. To coincide with the release of the anime, a key visual art has also been revealed.

The trailer kicks off with where the first game’s story begins and gives a glimpse of the overall plot, adapted and captured in beautifully animated scenes. And yes, the infamous forklifts make an appearance in the trailer.

Shenmue: The Animation is set to release on February 5 of this year, and will be available to stream exclusively on Crunchyroll. Alternatively, the show will be telecasted on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, joining the Toonami block.

Check out the trailer for the upcoming Shenmue: The Animation down below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pldV6eZdHWo

Insider Dusk Golem – also known as AestheticGamer – has been quite active with leaks for a number of things for a long time now, and recently, he took to Twitter to drop brief but potentially huge leaks for several things in one go. 

Let’s start with the biggest first, with him saying that a PS5 event is currently planned for the first half of September. Previous reports had suggested that PS5 information would be coming in August end, but August is ending, and here we are. It seems plans may have been delayed (which has been a running theme with all companies this year), and with questions about the PS5’s price and its exact release date heating up by the day, mid-September seems like the time where Sony pretty much have to talk about those things.

Speaking of the PS5, something else that’s been in the rumour mill for pretty much the entirety of 2020 is an alleged Silent Hill reboot that is being developed internally at Sony thanks to a partnership with Konami, and will be coming exclusively to the PS5. Despite a number of leaks and no shortage of speculation, this game has yet to be revealed, but Dusk Golem says in his tweet that it is still very much in development. 

Interestingly enough, he also talks about Capcom’s Monster Hunter franchise, saying that a new game is being made for the Nintendo Switch, and will be revealed “soon” (perhaps at that fabled mid-September Nintendo Direct?). This might fall in line with comments by Capcom earlier this year about a new Monster Hunter game meant for younger audiences. Interestingly enough, Dusk Golem says this new entry in the series is being made using a modified, Switch-compatible version of the RE Engine, which is the engine Capcom have used for Resident Evil 7, the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes, Devil May Cry 5, and the upcoming Resident Evil Village.

Something else the insider talks about is a new Shenmue-related announcement that is coming in the next couple of weeks, though he clarifies that it’s not Shenmue 4, describing it as “smaller than Shenmue 4 but bigger than a novel series” and something that’s “more for people who care about Shenmue’s story.”

That’s a lot of leaks in a single series of tweets, and definitely lots to take in. As is the case with all unverified info coming from insiders, it’s best to take this with a grain of salt for now, but most (if not all) things mentioned here are supposedly being revealed soon, so we should know one way or another not long from now. 

We’ll keep you updated either way, so stay tuned.

In other news, RE8 will most likely be great, RE4 is in a bit of a worrying position right now, Silent Hill is still in dev, something Shenmue related will be revealed in 1-2 weeks, a PS5 event first half of September, Monster Hunter Switch is being revealed soon, have a good day

— AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem (@AestheticGamer1) August 28, 2020

I've shared this before, but the Shenmue thing is smaller than Shenmue 4 but bigger than a novel series. I believe it'll be revealed late next week, but not positive. To clarify, it's more for people who care about Shenmue's story.

— AestheticGamer aka Dusk Golem (@AestheticGamer1) August 29, 2020

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

Bethesda’s games have always been buggy and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion was no exception. However, the sheer attention to detail that went into its world and NPCs was staggering, even by today’s standards. Non-playable characters each had their own schedules that follow irrespective of the player’s state; the world is immense and rife with interesting quests, factions and storylines; and there’s freedom in both player choice and AI behavior (to a degree in the latter’s case).

Outer Wilds

The set-up of Outer Wilds, Mobius Digital’s stellar open world adventure game, is that you’re an intrepid explorer in a solar system that’s going to end. You have 20 minutes to explore nearby planets, solve mysteries and determine why the sun is going supernova and destroying everything. Spectacles like planets that are only explorable during certain time periods, shifting gravity and much more make the exploration a treat (and discoveries are tracked throughout all playthroughs).

DEUS EX: MANKIND DIVIDED

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ruffled some feathers with its abrupt ending, but no one could doubt that it was a great game. It built on the complex systemic moment-to-moment action from Human Revolution, offering players diverse choices in how they wanted to tackle any given objective, and all in all, was more than just a solid package. Sadly, at launch, the game’s sells fell below expectations, and Square Enix ended up putting the franchise on ice. Both Square Enix and Eidos Montreal have said on multiple occasions that the Deus Ex series isn’t done yet, so let’s just hope a sequel isn’t too far away (but it most likely is).

SHENMUE

Many years have passed since Shenmue first came out on Sega’s Dreamcast, but the series’ massive fan following hasn’t waned. Shenmue 1 introduced the industry to a style of game that was way ahead of its time- and though the combat wasn’t the centrepiece, learning new combos and then pulling them off against enemies was deeply satisfying.

All General Objectives – Anthem

Whether you want to rail on BioWare for this disappointing product or pity it for all the development woes, Anthem’s objectives are pretty boring. Everything you do in terms of objectives – standing in circles, gathering and depositing items, etc – is boring. The lack of interesting enemies and variety to encounters also doesn’t help. There could have been some way to spice up the general missions, perhaps with some chases or aerial dogfights but nope.

Over the years, we’ve also seen a lot of games with absolutely horrendous voice acting, sometimes with a particular character, other times in the entire game as a whole. And while that’s become less common now than it was a few years back, it still happens every now and again. In this feature, we’ll be taking a look at fifteen games with some of the worst voice over performances we have ever come across.

TIDUS IN FINAL FANTASY 10

The scene in Final Fantasy 10 where Tidus and Yuna laugh into oblivion like maniacs has gone down in history as one of the cringiest in our industry- and for good reason. As bad as that scene is, though, it’s also emblematic of just how bad Tidus’ voicework was for the entirety of the game. Sure, Final Fantasy 10 does deserve some slack, considering that it was the first game in the series to even have voice acting- it’s a good thing the series learned from its mistakes.

GTA 5 – LIGHT POLLUTION

Grand Theft Auto 5’s Los Santos is a stunning recreation of Los Angeles, and though it isn’t exactly 1:1 for obvious reasons, it exhibits some impressive level of detail in several areas. An example of that is the light air pollution you can see in the game against its skybox at night- look at the sky at nighttime from inside the city, and then from on top of a hill on the outskirts, and the difference will be immediately noticeable.