Alex Lovendahl - The Daily Cardinal

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War never changes in nuclear 'Fallout 4'

By Mike Ewing and Alex Lovendahl | Nov. 11, 2015

There’s a joke from 2008 about how two games, “Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots”and “Fallout 3,” both opened with gruff old guys talking about war. The joke is in the fact that “Metal Gear Solid 4” wanted us to know about how “war has changed,” and repeated that line several times in its introduction, whereas “Fallout 3” was emphatic about how “war never changes.” Well, in 2015, “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” and “Fallout 4” were both released two months apart, and “Fallout 4” still opens with a monologue about how war never changes.

News

“Downwell” combines casual and platforming styles

By Alex Lovendahl | Oct. 21, 2015

“Downwell” is a new game for iPhone, iPad and PC that respects your time, your intelligence and your ability. In “Downwell,” the player controls a small white blob who hops into a deep, dark pit. The game is a platform action game, like an old “Mario” game, except the player’s only destination is down; the blob uses boots which shoot bullets to protect itself from rude bubbles, vicious bats, spooky ghosts and other monster baddies by either hopping on their heads or shooting them. By wiping out baddies and going into treasure rooms, the blob collects spare health, alternate weapons, spare charges for the gun-boots and gems which can be used at shops to buy health and charges.

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Hideo Kojima haunts the redirection of 'Metal Gear Solid'

By Alex Lovendahl | Oct. 11, 2015

While making my slow exploration through the uncharted “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain,” I’ve also been watching “Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots” with my partner. The Metal Gear Solid games are subtitled “Tactical Espionage Action,” a title which betrays its political edge, stealth-action gameplay and its total pretension. The series is named for a ridiculous bipedal mechanical suit, designed after the rise of Mecha anime in the ’80s, one supposedly representing total military superiority because “it can launch a nuke from anywhere.” It’s also a series which has featured cyborg ninjas, a Russian commando who shoots bees out of his arms, a terrorist named Revolver “Shalashaska” Ocelot and a severed arm which, attached to said Revolver Ocelot, takes over his entire personality with that of the deceased.

News

The tricks of fall gaming: Keep an eye out for these video gems

By Alex Lovendahl | Sep. 24, 2015

The first day of fall each year, I make sure I indulge in a pumpkin spice latte and let the season have me. No other season grabs me like fall; spring’s start is nebulous, and I somewhat scorn winter and summer. I regard autumn with new music, new attitude and my indulgent, overrated elixir of what I’ve been known to describe as liquid gold. Soon, we’ll have apple cider, Halloween costumes, nude trees.

News

Maker movement encourages players to make their own fun

By Alex Lovendahl | Sep. 17, 2015

This weekend marks the release of “Super Mario Maker,” Nintendo’s celebration of the 30th anniversary of its long-running franchise. The game is primarily a level editor, using accessible yet powerful tools so that anyone from our mothers to expert game designers could design the Mario levels of their dreams. The game pulls in ideas, characters, enemies, obstacles and platforms from four Mario side-scrolling releases, meaning those who “grew up with a different game” will likely see themselves represented in the tools.

CAMPUS NEWS

Video games is a medium worth studying as an art

By Matt Fox and Alex Lovendahl | Apr. 28, 2015

I find myself often stymied when considering how to write about games. Not truly permeated into the mainstream (though advocates will herald the “Call of Duty” series’ gross as “larger than Hollywood”) I find myself often simply justifying the thought I put into the medium. Yet the games themselves and the subtexts they contain is enough to merit study as a form of literature, akin to the study of cinema and television.

COLUMNS

Finding originality in franchised repeats

By Alex Lovendahl and Jon Spike | Apr. 14, 2015

The sensation that everything has been done is common and overwhelming in art. Games currently are experiencing a massive and overwhelming version of this issue; with a lack of successful non-sequel games on our brick-and-mortar marketplaces, we find ourselves lauding iterative improvements, such as the blue-shell-stopping horn in “Mario Kart 8” or the Sky-Hook in “BioShock Infinite.” This is neither an abnormal nor a bad thing; artistic evolution comes slowly and less focus on innovation allows for expression and execution to come to the fore. It’s also a generalization ignoring those games with drastically new gameplay styles like the independent games “Sportsfriends” or “Mini Metro.”

COLUMNS

Game journalism might be too harsh

By Alex Lovendahl | Mar. 2, 2015

In the midst of new voices joining the video game space, the underperformers of the past have been forced to make room in the market. After years of commercial underperformance and failed expectations, some of the game industry’s most visible creators are forced to cede their roles to fresh faces.

COLUMNS

Minor changes in ‘Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft’ alter gameplay

By Alex Lovendahl | Feb. 9, 2015

It’s been a year since I downloaded the beta client for Blizzard Entertainment’s card game, “Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft,” based upon the MMORPG that stole lives before it. To quickly summarize, it’s a game quite like Magic: The Gathering, in which two players build decks of disparate types and work to eliminate each other. The mechanics are simple, but the cards are numerous, allowing depth and long-term variety beyond the game’s simple randomly drawn card system.

Savannah Strauss

News

Madison hosts Wizard World Comic Con

By Alex Lovendahl | Feb. 9, 2015

Months away from GeekCon, Madison finally has a spring fan convention of its own. The Wizard World Comic Con came through Madison this past weekend, bringing a slew of vendors and celebrities into the Alliant Energy Center convention hall. Walking in, a young girl called out to her father, “You’re breaking the law! You can’t be both Superman and Batman!” It set the tone for a sweet event.