Hoi hoi. Etc. Gallumphing.
So recently I’ve been playing two games, Dark Souls and Forza 4. They sound rather disparate titles, but hear me out here – for all their opposing notions, they have some things in common too. I’ll start with Dark Souls, as that came out first. If you don’t know much about it, it’s basically a hack n slash RPG with roguelike elements liberally mixed in. [If you don't know what a roguelike is, check this out for a quick intro.] It’s not quite as harsh in death as a roguelike in that you only lose your souls (both currency for items and the consumable used for levelling up) and your humanity (you wander around as an undead until you choose to restore your humanity). What sets this apart from other hack n slashers is the difficulty level that is often reported as ‘brutal’. That’s probably for want of a better word – while it’s possible for any ol’ mook to kill you in seconds, you have to have rather stuffed it up for that to happen. If you’re careful about it, you’ll dispatch them fine. Where it really gets hard though are the bosses – for reference of those who’ve played it, I’m up to a rooftop battle with a couple of gargoyles. I’ve only tried it twice (and I was a little drunk the second time) but both times I lasted barely long enough to do any damage. I won’t launch into a review as those are easy enough to find about the place, but suffice to say it’s a game that presents a huge barrier of entry to and would be off putting for people who don’t know what they’re getting into.
Forza 4 is a racing sim, and it might be the best one yet. Depending on who you ask that’s either a reasoned opinion or I’m a frothing xbox fanboy who’s blind to its glaring faults. Its competitor is the latest Gran Turismo game you see, so there are many of the usual internet based arguements about which is superior in every way. Also as usual they’re unreasoned, poorly researched (if at all) and totally pointless, but hey.. it’s the internet. Suffice to say I’ve not played GT5 so am in no reason to know either way, but I can say that I’m not tempted to buy a PS3 in order to play it. Anyway, its a game that’s been geared to be fun for all players, no matter their skill. In this I can say that its been rather successful, as I (who am rather good at these things) can still have a bunch of fun playing with less experienced friends. It has its flaws; they took out the endurance racing for some reason, which I really enjoyed and the engine swap options seem to be a little less bizarre – ie, no more V8 shopping cars but still a solid effort. It’s recommended anyway, if you’re after a driving game.
So how the hell are these two related? Well, Dark Souls takes a game type that would usually see you hacking a swathe through countless mooks with nary a scratch on you and turns it into an experience that brutally punishes mistakes but ends up all the more rewarding for it. Forza 4 takes an experience that can easilly be insurmountable for a newcomer (remember this is sim racing, not Need For Speed racing) but adds layers of assists to ensure that there’s an experience in there for everyone. By working hard at presenting a cohesive experience to the player they both ensure that a deep, rewarding experience is available – in Dark Souls case to a niche section of the market who love it, in Forza 4′s case to basically anyone who likes tooling about in cars. In both cases though it helps to get very familiar and nerdy with the skills required and more importantly the physics and real world reasoning behind why such skills are required for success. Just as a little guy with no strength or endurance will survive for long in a fight, a little car with skinny tyres and a huge V8 will struggle to get around a corner without ending up a twisted wreck. Sometimes though, getting a bit sideways can lead to a big grin.
