Unscripted moments in gaming

So recently I started to play video games on the PC again. I got a new work laptop with a discrete video card, so now could actually use it to play some of the more graphically intensive games. When you are out on the road as much as I am, it is something to do back in the hotel. I decided to start playing some older games that have been around for a while that I never got around to playing. One of those is the Halo series.

The last FPS that I played a lot was Battlefield 1942 and also Medal of Honor. A little before then also Half-Life, although I never played the single player campaign. Back then, the technology involved with team based combat and opponent AI was not as well developed as it is now. I was floored while playing Halo and now Halo 2. To put it in perspective, everytime you play through the game, it is a different experience. The reason is, that the opponents will have different tactics and your teammates will as well. What is even better, is that there is audio involved, and they always say something different. Supposedly Bungie (the developer) recorded like 5000 soundbites for the original Halo, so the chances of hearing each one of them is very minimal. One of my favorites was when one of my teammate marines killed one of the enemies and exclaimed, "Did anybody see me? I kicked his ass!" Another one that really brought me into the experience was after seeing another of my marine teammates kill one of the enemies, then run up to the corpse on the ground and kept shooting at it while yelling, "That was for my brother!" Completely unscripted. But that wasn't even the best one. This one was one that was completely unexpected and prompted me to write this entry. So in Halo 2, a civil war actually breaks out with the antagonists. There is an enemy type known as Grunts which are the smallest and weakest (basically peons), and they sided with the Elites (which I was playing as in the campaign mode). Grunts make all sorts of funny sounds and visuals, they have a tendency of running away unless one of their generals is around, they also have a tendency of sleeping on the job. Well, in this particular level I walked in to see one cowering in the corner of a platform. Below, were several Brutes (basically giant gorillas). They saw me and we started fighting. It was a tough one that I ended up dying several times. One time, the grunt jumped into the fray and quickly got killed. Another time, it ran away. Most of the time it stayed cowered. So what was unexpected, was one of the times that the Brutes decided to rush me and came up to the platform. I was able to kill all but one, at which point the Grunt jumped up, and threw a grenade that landed on the last Brute. Boom they all go flying everywhere. The Grunt jumps to the front of the platform, slams both his hands on the ground while screaming "BIG AND UGLY!! BIG AND UGLY!!" I unfortunately died again later, and no matter how hard I tried I was never able to get the Grunt to repeat his actions. Simply unbelieveable.

Now I can't wait for Halo 3 to come out on PC, and also to play some of the other newer unscripted games that are on my list. I am hoping for more great surprises.

Science and Islam; Gamer Generation

A couple of things of interest I found this weekend:
1. If you get a chance to get to a newstand, I highly recommend reading the article Science and Islam in Discover magazine. If you wait a month, you can find it here: http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jul/science-and-islam. Its a very interesting article, and a little bit scary.
2. If you have Discovery (and even better Discovery HD), take some time to watch/record Gamer Generation, a two part documentary. I actually still need to finish the second half, but its also pretty interesting. Of note is that there is also an Islamic/Arabic section in the documentary.