I hate DRM. I really hate it from the bottom of my heart. Just thinking about it makes my blood boil. Tell me, what’s to like about a system devised to make it incredibly difficult use the content you have legitimately bought?

I paid my hard-earned money for my copies of Hitman: Absolution, Deus Ex: HR, Portal 2 and many others. But can I switch on my PC and have a bash whenever I want? No, I cannot. That’s because Steam won’t let me play unless I compulsarily update my games. It’s been over 8 hours now. My update of Hitman Aboslution has moved from 80 to 89 per cent. I don’t want to play any more—because it’s eight hours later and it’s now time to work. And I really wish I’d kept that Rs. 899 for something else and just torrented Hitman so I could at least play when I bloody well want to.

I also hate Steam for assuming that anyone buying their games will also have access to a high-speed (let alone always-on [Are you listening Blizzard?!!]) Internet connection.

The logic that DRM helps prevent privacy is rubbish—in fact, it’s doing a very good job of convincing me that piracy would make my life a lot easier. I’m not labouring under the delusion that before Steam and its ilk the world was a lovely little place where you could play your games free of restriction. It’s the whole premise of these systems and the control they exert on you that I have my problems with. They’re not just pulling the chain tighter on how I play my game, they have detailed information on how, what, when I’m playing.

Apart from making it possible to collect a massive amount of information on their users (I’m not even sure what sort information they collect, but I have a healthy cynicism regarding the motives of big companies), Steam, et al. make it that much harder to install and play a game. I just want to play, damn it. If I wanted to make use of the so-called advantages of Steam, et al.—such as having your game available to download whenever you need and synchronizing saved games across devices—it should be my choice. In any case, they are moot all if the platform itself is an impediment to what I paid for in the first place: to play the effing game.

I know that the makers (and satisfied users) of Steam and Origin and their ilk will be quick to jump to the defences of these systems. And there is no denying that they have their uses. But, and there’s a big but (no, not in the mood for jokes!), as I will quote from this Forbes article on the truth about DRM:

First of all let me dispel the myth about DRM protecting anything. The truth is it does not work. It’s as simple as that. The technology which is supposed to protect games against illegal copying is cracked within hours of the release of every single game. So, that’s wasted money and development just to implement it. But that’s not the worst part. DRM, in most cases, requires users to enter serial numbers, validate his or her machine, and be connected to the Internet while they authenticate – and possibly even when they play the game they bought. Quite often the DRM slows the game down, as the wrapper around the executable file is constantly checking if the game is being legally used or not. That is a lot the legal users have to put up with, while the illegal users who downloaded the pirated version have a clean – and way more functional! – game. It seems crazy, but that’s how it really works. So if you are asking me how do I see the future of DRM in games, well, I do not see any future for DRM at all. [Quoting Marcin Iwinski, CEO of CD Projekt Red]

See, that’s why it makes me mad.

To be fair, I have to admit that this control-freakish behaviour might work to my advantage too, though I’m not sure it’ll be very convenient. I have the option of downloading 13 GB worth of data to install Mass Effect 3 rather than coughing up for a new set of DVDs (Rs. 799) since the one I bought was damaged. Oh good, you say? But here’s the nub: my Internet connection is stuck at 512 kbps for reasons that will have to run into a whole new post of its own. So paying for a new DVD would by far be the more convenient option. (Also, I have to add that this is my first experience of Origin, and have yet to discover if it is as difficult to worth with as Steam.) But I digress, it’s not Origin’s fault (or anyone else’s except mine for not checking the DVDs within the 30-day replacement period) that my discs are damaged…

In short, DRM is evil. Down with DRM, etc. etc. It is yet another camera trained on how we live and work and play in an increasingly “surveillanced” world. Most of us might shrug and think that it’s no big deal, that we have nothing to hide. But when one starts putting together all the (unnecessary) checks and monitoring we are subjected to, it adds up to a pretty significant something.

And at the end of the day, I still can’t play my game. Which, I repeat yet again, I bought legally. If I’d bootlegged it, I’d be writing a review about now.

~PD
[Image credit: mzacha at SXC.hu]

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This post is for Marie! Click for bigger images.

~PD

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And so it came to pass that Commander Jan Shepard finally got the better of Saren. After 24 hours and 18 minutes of gameplay (over an hour of which must have been spent running round and round, keeping out of Saren’s way while taking pot shots and biotic blasts at him) Mass Effect (henceforth ME) was finally completed. It was only the second time that I’ve pursued a game with such single-minded dedication from beginning to end, Deus Ex being the first, which says more about my impression of ME than words will do justice.

But anyhow, a short review follows.

Mass Effect is the first of a trilogy of role-playing games based in the 22nd century. You play as Commander Shepard, an officer of the Systems Alliance Navy, who is essentially tasked with the job of saving the galaxy from malevolent aliens. The game installed without a hitch on my system (late 2011 13-inch MacBook Pro, running Windows 7 on Bootcamp), though at first it kept crashing whenever I tried to play it. After Googling for a solution, it turned out that an update was needed. Subsequently, everything ran smoothly. It does not need a disc inserted in the drive to play.

ME has a pretty interesting storyline and I won’t give anything away. In a first playthrough, the amount of information one has to process regarding the world can get a bit overwhelming at times. I found that concentrating on my progress mission by mission was less distracting—you eventually catch up with the story anyway.

I played as a custom-created character: Jan Shepard, female, Spacer by origin, and a Sole Survivor by psych profile. Her class was Infiltrator, which gave her a good combination of tech and combat talents. There’s some hand holding in the first few missions, easing you into the story and the game’s universe, as well as the interface. You learn to use your weapons, powers and the heads-up-display, and also how to control your squad.

As an RPG, you will, of course, get plenty of decisions to make. How your character develops is up to you, though, broadly, you can take a Paragon or Renegade path for Shepard, each unlocking a different set of abilities. As you go along, Shepard also collects a bunch of allies who are available to go on missions with her. You can at most select two other squadmates in your landing party, so it’s a tough choice sometimes.

The gameplay took a little bit of getting used to, but felt quite intuitive afterwards (and now I’m in the process of unlearning it all for Mass Effect 2!). The combat is just about difficult enough to give you a challenge and easy enough that you don’t get frustrated. In many other squad-based RPGs I’ve played—Neverwinter Nights comes to mind, as does Dragon Age II—I found the controls for manipulating my team, using their powers and giving orders pretty cumbersome. ME, however, made it relatively simple to hurl appropriate powers at mechs and organics and what have you.

Most of the missions can be played in random order, and there are plenty of opportunities for side missions to pick up experience points and goodies. It is also one of the few games where you get to play as a male or female character with absolutely no difference in your abilities, strength or powers. Girl and boy Shepards walk, talk and behave in exactly the same way (though, of course, they have different voices). In fact, the same template (or whatever the technical term is) has been used for the movements of both male and female Shepards, and there isn’t the usual focus on various body parts that a female protagonist might have otherwise inspired. (That said, I’m not sure this extends to other female characters of the series.) There is also scope (albeit limited) for some same-sex romance. Rumour has it that Bioware wanted to go the whole hog on this, but chickened at the eleventh hour.

You can import your ME character into the sequel—in which case you retain your relationships, and the choices and decisions you make are reflected in the world. Overall, ME has immense replay value—I’ve already started a new broShep playthrough: Derek Shepard, on veteran mode.

If I had to rate ME: 8/10. It reminded me exactly why I love RPGs so much.

~PD

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