Lab 3: Analyzing "Machinarium"

Usually, point-and-click style adventures are not my cup of tea, but because this is for a grade... I'll grit my teeth and attempt to enjoy myself.

Overall, gameplay wasn't half bad. There weren't any spelled-out instructions besides primitive clicking controls, but then again, the concept of the game was so simple that you didn't really need any anyway. Instead, Machinarium guides you along with speech or thought bubbles that give hints as to what to do. The fact that the robot could extend and contract helped make the puzzles interesting; there were some things you couldn't solve without doing one of the other (like that stupid third level that took several minutes for me to complete because I forgot he could shrink as well). 

The sound design, however, was something on an entirely different level in my opinion. The ambient sounds in the background of the first two levels helped to create a sense of unease in the game, which is right for the situations reflected. The third level is where I think the sound really shined. The looped track there was very easy on the ears and very well and lightly composed in my opinion. I actually found myself just sitting there after a while, listening to it. Overall, the sound is what made the game for me, despite the fact that I despise point-and-click games... Not bad, Machinarium.

Lab 2: Analyzing "Batman: Arkham City"

Before I begin my analytical review of this game, let me start by retracting a statement I made in the first week of class. When I stated that my favorite game of all time was The World Ends With You (2008) for the Nintendo DS, I had totally forgotten than just a few months ago, I got my hands on what would soon become my new favorite: Batman: Arkham City (2011). It is my favorite game of all time for a variety of reasons, and I shall explain why.

First off, let me begin by saying that I am a DIEHARD Batman fan; without a doubt, he is my favorite superhero. Secondly, I played the first game, Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) a few weeks and considering the fact that that game was amazing, the sequel would have no choice but to be bigger and better. And I was right in every aspect: Batman: Arkham City was much better than its predecessor in every way possible, from the better graphics, better gameplay, much better story, and most of all in my opinion: BETTER MUSIC.


To me, music helps to make the experience. You'll remember a song from a movie or a game, and attached to the memory of that song will be the event that went along with it. This was one thing that Batman: Arkham Asylum was missing for me: a memorable soundtrack. Don't get me wrong, the game itself was still amazing, but I only really remember the specific events that took place in the game, not any of the music that came with it. Batman: Arkham City, however, GREATLY improved on the soundtrack, creating moments in the game that cannot be forgotten, or remembered without the music playing in your head right with it.





The main theme to the first game was lackluster, something that I actually had to go back and listen to before writing this analysis because I seriously couldn't remember what it sounded like. However, the opening theme to Batman: Arkham City (posted above) is extremely well-composed. The build-up of the song is simply beautiful. I would actually find myself sitting at the main menu for minutes at a time before I finally started the game. The original soundtrack for the game was composed by Ron Fish and Nick Arundel, the two very same composers for the first game, which leads me to believe that the two of them sat down, listened to what they had done in Arkham Asylum, and decided that it was time for an overhaul. And boy, did they deliver. I actually own the soundtrack on my iPod and sometimes sit down and listen to how well-crafted every track is. 

Not only was the soundtrack improved on, but the overall sound design in the game was well done as well. Every sound used in the game, in my opinion, was crisp and clean, from footsteps to grapples to flying bats. Distance was judged very nicely, and the stereo sound was used well; if a group of cronies was discussing something far away to the right, the sound would be faint, and in your right ear. If Batman changed position, the sound would move accordingly. As the hand-to-hand combat or the stealth sequences heated up, the music would pick up in intensity along with the action, which in my opinion makes the player feel as if he or she is accomplishing something and amps them up for more action.

Overall, Batman: Arkham City greatly improved on many aspects its predecessor didn't shine so brightly in, from the story to the sound design. The experience that the whole game brings together is something that NO person calling themselves a gamer should miss out on.

Lab 1: Analyzing "Galaga"

Now, me being born in 1992, I'm not much of what you would call an "old school gamer"; the first video game I ever played was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992), a 16-bit cartridge on the Sega Genesis that was most definitely ahead of its time and is still considered a classic today. However, that is not to say that I have never played any games before my birth. Growing up, I began to trace gaming back to its roots, playing games like Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990) and Pole Position (1982). One game that I specifically couldn't get enough of was Galaga (1981).

A screenshot of the beginning screen.

As a kid, Galaga was an arcade machine in every laundromat in the region, and every time my father would go to wash clothes, I would happily tag along, quarters in pocket, ready to shoot my heart away at those little alien bugs. And they would run circles around me, blow up my space fighter, capture it, and so on until I was all out.

But anyway, enough about my personal experiences and on to the game itself. Galaga was - as most people are actually unaware of - a sequel to the 1979 game Galaxian, a game with a similar premise: you're a space fighter, shoot the aliens. However, Galaga improved in a lot of aspects as compared to its predecessor. For starters, in my opinion, Galaga just overall looks better than Galaxian. The space fighter in the first one looks like some kind of strange plunger, whereas the ship in Galaga actually looks like a fighter jet. Enemies in Galaga were faster and not only dropped towards your fighter in a side-to-side formation, but did loop-de-loops as well! Other improvements included the ability to shoot more than one bullet at a time, being able to have more than one space fighter out at the same time, and Challenging Stages in between every few rounds.

Sound design in Galaga was also a vast improvement from Galaxian in my opinion. The 1979 space fighter had a strange jingle before starting the game that just struck me as creepy, and there was an "ambient" sound in the background that annoyed me. The shot sound came off as just plain wrong as well.




Galaga, on the other hand, had a jingle at the beginning that I'm quite sure all gamers would recognize immediately. There was no background noise; the only ambiance needed came from the player's constant shooting and the constant swarm of enemies falling down to attack you. The sound was done on a Namco WSG using 3-channel mono, and the end product was something of beauty when it comes to 8-bit sound.