In a recent Humble Bundle I received a game called Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken. I'd never heard of this game until now, and really wasn't anticipating much of it either. Last night, a little bored, realising it would only take 20 minutes to download the game, I though "Why not?" So, expecting to play it for an hour, to at least justify getting the game; I installed it. Shortly afterwards I discovered the game has 3D support listed on the options menu and, lo and behold, I actually had some old red-green stereoscopic glasses lying around that I'd found in the attic a few weeks prior. A coincidental gift from some dusty, moth-eaten loft god; they really do have a grand design for everything.
Now, I'm not a fan of 3D usually. I find movies that try it generally look appalling. Bad films to begin with, slapping on 3D as an afterthought, like some 60 year old crack whore slapping on the makeup to bring in more paying customers.
But I digress.
I wasn't expecting a lot from the game so I figured I'd give it a whirl and clicked the little check box labelled '3D Off/On'
And
Wow!
I fell in love instantly.
Now the game itself is nothing special. It's fun, humorous, a little challenging from time to time but the controls are clumsy and feel rather stiff. It's the stereoscopy that makes it all worthwhile, working with the game like hand in glove. It's cartoon, 2D sidescrolling graphics suit the 3D beautifully and the vision of multiple-layered, flat, decoupage-esque, images (that are often the reason I find stereoscope to not work within other mediums) make it feel like I'm walking inside one of the pop up children's books of yore. Even the loss to the colour spectrum, exchanging it for an all-over grey-greenish hue, seems to gel perfectly, adding an oppressive, Soviet tone.
I sat, playing Hardboiled Chicken all night, blood and feathers sticking to individual broken widow panes, ducking in an out of shadowed alcoves, making fruitless attempts to grab shafts of light that almost touched my nose. Engrossed in this little 3D world, I was snapped awake by my morning alarm. Realising I'd been at it for nearly 11 hours, it was definitely time for breakfast.
After a few Googles on the subject, today, I find that Just Cause 2 also supports 3D stereoscopy, and it just (Cause) happens that the game is on my Steam library. Unfortunately though, it does not benefit from it. The layered, flat, pop-up image effect just doesn't sit right with the game, and, in a sense, everything looses it's curvature - looking far from realistic. The usual, lush, tropical colours suffer harshly too, taking a dip towards the grey scale. (Not to mention it's severe punishment towards frame rate)
So, "what is the point of this rambling?" I hear you ask. Well, my brethren, I'm here to ask about your experience with 3D stereoscopy within games. Is it something you enjoy? Do you have some recommendations for games that look great with it enabled? For those of you who use it regularly, do you have any recommendations towards 3D glasses or video cards? Or maybe you're a virgin to the whole thing and would like to try it out yourself. If this is the case, I highly recommend digging out some old-school 3D glasses and giving Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken a go.
Now, I'm not a fan of 3D usually. I find movies that try it generally look appalling. Bad films to begin with, slapping on 3D as an afterthought, like some 60 year old crack whore slapping on the makeup to bring in more paying customers.
But I digress.
I wasn't expecting a lot from the game so I figured I'd give it a whirl and clicked the little check box labelled '3D Off/On'
And
Wow!
I fell in love instantly.
Now the game itself is nothing special. It's fun, humorous, a little challenging from time to time but the controls are clumsy and feel rather stiff. It's the stereoscopy that makes it all worthwhile, working with the game like hand in glove. It's cartoon, 2D sidescrolling graphics suit the 3D beautifully and the vision of multiple-layered, flat, decoupage-esque, images (that are often the reason I find stereoscope to not work within other mediums) make it feel like I'm walking inside one of the pop up children's books of yore. Even the loss to the colour spectrum, exchanging it for an all-over grey-greenish hue, seems to gel perfectly, adding an oppressive, Soviet tone.
I sat, playing Hardboiled Chicken all night, blood and feathers sticking to individual broken widow panes, ducking in an out of shadowed alcoves, making fruitless attempts to grab shafts of light that almost touched my nose. Engrossed in this little 3D world, I was snapped awake by my morning alarm. Realising I'd been at it for nearly 11 hours, it was definitely time for breakfast.
After a few Googles on the subject, today, I find that Just Cause 2 also supports 3D stereoscopy, and it just (Cause) happens that the game is on my Steam library. Unfortunately though, it does not benefit from it. The layered, flat, pop-up image effect just doesn't sit right with the game, and, in a sense, everything looses it's curvature - looking far from realistic. The usual, lush, tropical colours suffer harshly too, taking a dip towards the grey scale. (Not to mention it's severe punishment towards frame rate)
So, "what is the point of this rambling?" I hear you ask. Well, my brethren, I'm here to ask about your experience with 3D stereoscopy within games. Is it something you enjoy? Do you have some recommendations for games that look great with it enabled? For those of you who use it regularly, do you have any recommendations towards 3D glasses or video cards? Or maybe you're a virgin to the whole thing and would like to try it out yourself. If this is the case, I highly recommend digging out some old-school 3D glasses and giving Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken a go.
