Why everyone should love Lego…

So as a child Lego was for me one of the best toys to possess, it essentially made all other forms of entertainment redundant really. Save of course for the ever constant flickering color box that still to this day dominates my life. With Lego the entire world was yours for the making, and the only limit to the fun you could have was the limits of your imagination, which as a child was usually when you fell asleep.

Now here’s a little confession I want you other Legoholics to make, in truth we always tried to make what we’d seen on the TV. Don’t hide in the back, you all know we did it. The possibilities might be endless with Lego but only so far as what we’d already witnessed, what Television had programmed into our brains and demanded our creative attention. Now don’t go getting all depressed or antagonistic with regards to this idea of children being programmed into acting certain ways or following specific trends. It’s something we all do as members of the human race, and while sometimes it can be a harrowing and indeed tiresome affair. You are programmed to love your children as well, to want to eat and sleep. Repetition is a necessary part of the human condition and at times repetition is one of the greatest human accomplishments. I had more fun as a child with my Lego guns than I did simply watching them on Television, it was me essentially fitting in with the world around me but getting to use my own creativity along the way.

Now skip forward a decade and a half to today, I’m still playing with Lego and still on a fairly regular basis. Yet this time the concept of creativity composed of repetition has already been created for my enjoyment, mirroring even further the giant flickering light box that first captivated my creative mind. Lego has indeed taken some of the constructive enjoyment out of some of it’s latest releases, but the concept of interaction is still there. What I mean to say is that I’ve been playing Lego Lord of the Rings.

Almost all of us must have played a Lego game at some point, and while I can imagine that Tolkien is either performing cartwheels in his grave or shaking his fist angrily form on high (take you pick), at the concept of his ingenious creations being reduced to such idle caricatures. They are bloody fun to play. The game itself follows the arc of the entire Fellowship trilogy sticking closely to the Lego series released alongside the films. As such everything is instantly recognizable if you’ve watched Jackson’s wonderfully constructed trilogy, whether it be the theatrical release or the extended edition collection.

Lego have, rather brilliantly, decided to include the soundtrack from the films themselves, meaning that Lego Aragorn sounds like Mortenson… as does Lego Gandalf seem imbued with the wisdom of Ian McKellen. Yet this all goes hand in hand with the trademark humor of Lego games in general, I mean, who can really take a Lego hobbit all that seriously in the end? At the moment I’m part way through the second film having just reached the battle of Helm’s Deep (for the second time I might add… technology can choose to fail you at the worst of times). So far I’ve seen synchronized horse riding form the Rohirrim and Lego Sean Bean being killed off with a banana to the chest. The delightfully childish sense of humor takes me right back to the time when I made those first Lego creations as a child.

With a wide range of titles on offer form the Star Wars trilogy, to Lego Batman and the news of a Lego Avengers on the horizon, I honestly recommend you pick up a copy today. Sadly Lego LOTR and Batman 2 are the only ones to include actual lines for their characters to speak. Yet this doesn’t diminish the quality of the other titles, so pick up a copy, make sure to watch the wonderful films beforehand that these titles are based on and have a fun night with friends attacking each other until you explode into little blocks.

Keep Watching and Don’t Worry.

Far Cry from home.

Have I ever told you, the definition of insanity?

Vaas

I think it’s about time that I took a moment to look at a game I found myself caught up in for at least 2 straight months, the latest in the Far Cry series from Ubisoft, Far Cry 3. Not initially the most imaginative of titles to say the least, yet it belies the wealth of complexity on offer. I’ll say this early on as well, if your a person who often looks down on the gaming industry with contempt/misunderstanding… then please continue to read this entry, I hope it might change your mind with regards to how this industry is evolving as a whole.

Anyway where was I? Oh yes a wealth of complexity, the game is set on two remote islands somewhere between the Indian and Pacific, both completely open to explore, though the second island is unlocked following certain story elements. These islands are beautiful, especially if your playing on a nice big television, the graphics quality is truly wonderful as is the depth of detail within the game. But I’m not here to talk about technical jargon, I’m here to tell you a story. The game follows Jason Brody, a 1%er dropped on the island by a holiday rep as he parties with his brothers and friends. At this point in the game I think we’re meant to hate him, he sounds like a spoiled child, bemoaning his situation as though that will change things.

His situation? Oh it is wonderful… The island Jason and his friends find themselves parachuting onto, is owned by pirates and smugglers led by a rather vicious drug baron named Hoyt. Yet while Hoyt is clearly a corrupt and insane monster, he is nothing compared to his lead henchman and show stealing bad-ass. Vaas (pictured above).

Vaas, just wow, a forceful character on par with the Joker in terms of psychotic ideology and simple presence on the screen. Vaas rules one of the other islands and represents one of the main forces Jason fights against on the island. He acts initially as a danger to Jason and his friends, a psychotic mad man seemingly intent on killing you in as painful and humiliating a way as possible, you are nothing more than his plaything. Yes I do mean ‘you’ because by this point, since you control Jason and his actions and gradually evolve during your time on the island as such Jason becomes what you make of him. For me he became a silent assassin, sniping men off at a distance, though each player can take their own path through the missions.

Before long though you realize exactly what Jason/You are evolving into… it’s Vaas. You begin to understand his words, the meanings behind his insane rants on the mundane cycle of life… and the definition of insanity. As such you almost begin to forget Jason entirely, and Vaas takes over your attention. Never before have I played a game with such an engaging cast, Vaas played by Michael Mando is of course otherworldly. Yet there’s a whole range of crazies on offer, each with their own coping methods for this crazy soul destroying island. Each are monsters in their own right, Bambi the sadistic monster and Sam Becker the loveable psychopath.

My recommendation is go and buy the game now, the prices have gone down a treat since it first came out and the single player storyline is one of the best written things in gaming history. Even making such classics as Final Fantasy seem like a plain old episode of Coronation Street, with wonderful set pieces and some of the best characters you will ever engage with on a screen. And once you have, play it again… the outcome might be the same, but you’ll understand what insanity truly is.

If this isn’t enough to convince you then I recommend watching the 30 minute long film named “The Far Cry Experience” released as promotional material for the game. It features Mando as Vaas and perhaps you’ll understand why I think he represents the main attraction for the game as a whole. Just click the link below to watch all of the episodes combined and take a little trip through the island.

Keep Watching and Don’t Worry.