Cut The Scenes

When the game breaks its own rules for narrative purposes it hurts both the gameplay and the story. The gameplay becomes seemingly moot and your actions seem to have little to no influence on the characters, which in turn makes you feel much less involved in the story.

Steam: A Cynical View

While not attempting to broadcast it on a global scale, I also have not hidden my dislike for Steam. Dislike probably isn’t a strong enough word, but it’s the best I can hope for with my editor metaphorically staring over my shoulder with a Scottish slang booklet in one hand and a guide to Japanese cursing in the other in case I try to get creative.

That’s Half-life

We all have bad days at work. You might accidentally fart in a meeting, drop a USB lead in a cup of water or perhaps even open an inter-dimensional portal to the Xen border world and let in all manner of hideous monsters that do not take kindly to you. Not even Jack Bauer can top that last one as far as bad days are concerned, but that is exactly what threw MIT graduate Gordon Freeman into the position of a hero.