Oh man was Far Cry boring. It was the most "meh" game I have played in awhile. It was a...far cry from being a fun game. See what I did there?
The game is definitely dated. But in all fairness, a good game should stand the test of time. I would still go back and play the original PlayStation Metal Gear Solid game. It was awesome. This game, not so much. The story is told in choppy cut scenes and quiet radio dialogue. The story has a pretty solid footing. It's what would have happened if Charles Darwin went mad with power during his trip to the Galapagos Islands after being inspired by Jurassic Park. Unfortunately, the voice acting is shit. Especially the main character, he is awful. The voice acting may have single-handedly made the player character one of the worst in history. He was so unlikable that I kind of just wanted him to die. But that would have made the game really, really long if I just died over and over again. As a side note, I'm pretty sure he is the same actor that did the voice of Duke in Duke Nukem Forever (see said review).
The game is also stupidly long, which is bad when the story sucks and the gameplay is mediocre. There were two spots where I thought yes, its finally over, only to be smacked in the face by another level loading screen. The story gets exponentially worse--they stop caring about it almost completely. At the end, they bring in some terrible plot devices, queue guy in your ear betrays you and you save the hot girl. They also left it vaguely open ended with the hint of some larger omnipresent organization that goes beyond the government (to my knowledge none of the other Far Cry games pick this storyline up, thank you God).
Luckily the gameplay worked. It had standard FPS mechanics, nothing too special. The guns were all pretty standard. There was a secondary grenade launcher on an assault rifle that did almost no damage. Besides that everything was pretty vanilla. The "Trogen" (or whatever they where called) were super boring looking. They were the worst mutants/monster models I have ever seen and I'd say they were completely uninspired. There where some pretty sharp spikes in difficulty. But for the most part, if you moved slowly and corner camped it was a cake walk. One of the spikes occur right after you're thrown from a helicopter with nothing but a gun and 10 rounds in it. This part of the game was actually kind of cool. It completely changed the pacing of the game and added a real sense of survival. Unfortunately, it was a little too difficult and just became trial and error to find which path to take. The enemy awareness was way too good and sneaking through wasn't an option. You just had to run and hope you didn't encounter any of the enemies that could one or two shot you.
Now that all that is out of the way, I can tell you about my favorite part: the hang gliders. They were soooo cool. I have no idea why a research facility on a chain of islands has hang gliders. I guess the Mercenaries needed something to do on their lunch breaks. But for whatever reason, they are there. The first one is the best; the first time is always the best. You get to fight a fucking HELICOPTER with a hang glider. I felt BA taking out that helicopter from my hang glider. Too bad there is only one other hang glider opportunity. They really had something there. I mean, honestly, if they made a game called Helicopter Hitman: Glider Team Alpha, I would play the shit out of it. For some reason this game wasn't Helicopter Hitman: Glider Team Alpha. It was Far Cry, and it was boring.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
The one thing that really comes to mind when I think of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is wasted potential. This game really could have been good. It basically boils down to a somewhat Max Payne-esque tale of revenge, betrayal, and unlucky circumstances. I'm a sucker for this type of game, so I thought maybe I could look past the negative reviews and enjoy what Kane and Lynch had to offer. Unfortunately, I found that there were just too many flaws for me to have fun with this missed opportunity.
To start off, the game really does have a decent premise. Both the main characters, Kane and Lynch, are flawed convicts whose personalities and interactions make for some really interesting situations. For a little while this alone almost had me enjoying the game. But truthfully, they didn't utilize this nearly to the extent that they could have, and they also never really delved into our protagonists' backstories enough to give us a strong emotional connection to the events in the story. The plot, while starting off fairly strong, also started to devolve toward the end. I remember one segment in particular where I was suddenly whisked off to a distant country without even so much as a cutscene in between. Oh, and it also included a pretty obnoxious "moral choice" at the end, which I found to be pretty poorly implemented and not satisfying in the least.
I don't usually like to mention graphics in reviews, because it's not something I focus on a whole lot when judging games. But I do have to say that the graphics in Kane and Lynch are particularly sloppy and severely lacking in polish. The character models are muddier than you would expect from a game coming out when this game did, and the explosions don't look too "hot" either. However, this didn't bother me as much as I'm sure it does some people. In general, this is just another aspect of the game that gives me the impression that not enough time and effort was spent developing it.
But despite anything else the game does right or wrong, the gameplay mechanics are without a doubt the worst part of the game. Featuring a sloppy cover system, very loose gunplay, atrocious friendly AI, and an awkward automatic reloading feature, what more could you really ask for? I can't count the number of times that I cursed my partner for darting out into the open, only to be promptly gunned down. Then it would be my job to run out there and heal him back up after dealing with all the enemies myself. I mean, it wasn't a tremendously challenging game, but babysitting artificial teammates is flat out annoying. The combat just lacked polish, just like everything else about the game. I couldn't help but get very clunky vibes as I jogged around firing at the incoming waves of opponents.
In the end, I did hate Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. But luckily it only took about four hours or so to beat, so it wasn't nearly as painful as it could have been. I'm just disappointed that the game didn't get the proper attention it needed to succeed. It really could have been right up my alley if the finished product hadn't been so unpolished and its strengths so underutilized. I would say that hopefully they got their act together with the second game, but I haven't heard many good things about that one either. Damn you, IO Interactive. Will you ever listen to criticism?
To start off, the game really does have a decent premise. Both the main characters, Kane and Lynch, are flawed convicts whose personalities and interactions make for some really interesting situations. For a little while this alone almost had me enjoying the game. But truthfully, they didn't utilize this nearly to the extent that they could have, and they also never really delved into our protagonists' backstories enough to give us a strong emotional connection to the events in the story. The plot, while starting off fairly strong, also started to devolve toward the end. I remember one segment in particular where I was suddenly whisked off to a distant country without even so much as a cutscene in between. Oh, and it also included a pretty obnoxious "moral choice" at the end, which I found to be pretty poorly implemented and not satisfying in the least.
I don't usually like to mention graphics in reviews, because it's not something I focus on a whole lot when judging games. But I do have to say that the graphics in Kane and Lynch are particularly sloppy and severely lacking in polish. The character models are muddier than you would expect from a game coming out when this game did, and the explosions don't look too "hot" either. However, this didn't bother me as much as I'm sure it does some people. In general, this is just another aspect of the game that gives me the impression that not enough time and effort was spent developing it.
But despite anything else the game does right or wrong, the gameplay mechanics are without a doubt the worst part of the game. Featuring a sloppy cover system, very loose gunplay, atrocious friendly AI, and an awkward automatic reloading feature, what more could you really ask for? I can't count the number of times that I cursed my partner for darting out into the open, only to be promptly gunned down. Then it would be my job to run out there and heal him back up after dealing with all the enemies myself. I mean, it wasn't a tremendously challenging game, but babysitting artificial teammates is flat out annoying. The combat just lacked polish, just like everything else about the game. I couldn't help but get very clunky vibes as I jogged around firing at the incoming waves of opponents.
In the end, I did hate Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. But luckily it only took about four hours or so to beat, so it wasn't nearly as painful as it could have been. I'm just disappointed that the game didn't get the proper attention it needed to succeed. It really could have been right up my alley if the finished product hadn't been so unpolished and its strengths so underutilized. I would say that hopefully they got their act together with the second game, but I haven't heard many good things about that one either. Damn you, IO Interactive. Will you ever listen to criticism?
Sunday, June 24, 2012
What REALLY Makes a Game Awful?
I'm reading all these posts from Facebook users about the games they hate, as well as our recent posts about the games we hate. It really got me thinking about what can make a potentially fantastic game just miserable. Most would probably agree that the storyline and the gameplay (how it feels to be playing the game, the controls, etc.) impact how you feel about a particular game. If you think about it, if a game doesn't deliver what you want in the first ten minutes, it's all over. A game starting off horribly won't end well for the gamer, no matter the gut-wrenching ending. So, what makes a game frustrating, obnoxious, and everything else that makes you want to walk from it and never return?
Some of you on Facebook weighed in on a question I posed (here's my shameless self-promoting). You all agreed with my previous statements that mostly storyline and gameplay contributes to the overall frustration of a game. However, there's much more to a game than these two things as you all pointed out. I was impressed by the responses I received. In particular, I want to talk about characters and their development which, again, was mentioned by multiple people as I think these two elements are extremely important.
Characters and character developments are huge. I know that I want to have a character I can connect to. I don't want some dull, borderline useless character who does nothing but pillage cities and is self-serving. Characters HAVE to have some sort of depth or internal struggle within themselves. As with any television or movie character, video game characters battle something. They're either working towards a goal, struggling to find out who they are, finding their purpose, or solving something that has plagued them. If you're the test subjects in Portal 2 (mulitplayer mode), you're struggling to solve puzzles and trying to get your counterpart to the next level with you. Even as robots (which admittedly terrify me), they had a great sense of likability about them. They were fun, interactive, and above all else they engaged the gamer. I'm sure that you all can think of a character that you really liked. It may not even be your favorite character. Think of one that you really enjoyed playing as. Got it? Okay. Now, what made that character so special? They had dimension. They had human like characteristics in the sense that they failed somewhere along the lines and are now looking to be redeemed. That being said, a huge factor is redemption. We want our characters to succeed in solving the crime, saving the Little Sisters, rescuing that pesky person that always manages to get kidnapped, and finding new equilibrium (part of Todorov's Narrative Theory about the 3 main parts to a movie, new equilibrium being the last. See, told you I'd bring in theory.).
If there is no struggle, no dimension, no satisfying redemption for the character, identification with the character is gone. In fact, it will never be there to begin with. Most of the "Games You Hate" reviews discuss the frustrations of having a character who just sucks. They might be awful, unoriginal, or characters you find yourself having a hard time to relate to. The point is, if the character doesn't have any redeeming qualities chances are the game won't succeed. If the character doesn't develop and become a different form of who they were at the beginning, the game DEFINITELY won't succeed. Again, let's go back to my movie or television examples. If you have a character who is the exact same from beginning to end, not only is the show/movie not going to make any money, it's going to be a flop with audiences.
In all honesty, I (like you) just want a game to feel original. I want an interesting storyline, an interesting character, development for that character, and some sort of solution. Even if the controls are crappy, I can usually look past that if the game is engaging. However, if the gameplay is awful, the game receives a prompt return to the homescreen where I shut off my Xbox and say goodbye to it forever. I know that for me, these two factors stick out the most. I'm tired of games being thrown out there year after year with the same concept in different areas, ESPECIALLY when the characters suck.
As usual, come join our discussion on Facebook ("Games You Hate") or e-mail us at gamesyouhate@yahoo.com with questions, comments, or ideas on how we can make this site better. Please bear with us in the coming weeks as we have some interactive, interesting ideas rolling out. We're also working on a schedule. If any of you are interested in contributing to the site, again, e-mail us your idea. You don't even have to have anything written yet. How sweet of a deal is that? Just tell us what game you hated and wish to add on our "Reviews" section. We'll work with you to come up with an article and get it posted. Also, if you run your own video game related site, blog, etc. we would love to work with you! Get in contact with us so we can make it happen! Communitas!
Again, thank you to the Facebook users who contributed to today's article. I appreciate you all supporting us and, as always, we value your opinions! You're helping us progress as a site, and we hope that you'll continue to contribute. Thanks!
As usual, come join our discussion on Facebook ("Games You Hate") or e-mail us at gamesyouhate@yahoo.com with questions, comments, or ideas on how we can make this site better. Please bear with us in the coming weeks as we have some interactive, interesting ideas rolling out. We're also working on a schedule. If any of you are interested in contributing to the site, again, e-mail us your idea. You don't even have to have anything written yet. How sweet of a deal is that? Just tell us what game you hated and wish to add on our "Reviews" section. We'll work with you to come up with an article and get it posted. Also, if you run your own video game related site, blog, etc. we would love to work with you! Get in contact with us so we can make it happen! Communitas!
Again, thank you to the Facebook users who contributed to today's article. I appreciate you all supporting us and, as always, we value your opinions! You're helping us progress as a site, and we hope that you'll continue to contribute. Thanks!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.
Ugg, this game. So many things this game did wrong and so little it did right. I'm just going to rip into this game guns blazin', because I know that's what Tom would want.
This game is shit. There is one glaring problem that would have made this game shit all by itself, but unfortunately there are many other problems as well. The stupid "assist off" feature is garbage. It takes all the fun out of piloting a super maneuverable, state of the art jet fighter and replaces it with the frustrating feeling of trying to control a movie scene. Have you ever tried to control a movie scene? "Don't open that door!" Of course they open the door, you can't control a movie. In "assist off" mode the camera zooms way back and uses a dynamic cinematic camera angle to track your plane. Sounds cool! Well, it blows.
Example:
You are pulling a hard left. The camera swings around to show you the front of the plane. This is where things start to go down hill (more like fall off a cliff). As the camera swings to the front, your left and right switch. You are now pulling a hard right. For some reason the game does not fix your control input to the plane reference frame but rather the world reference frame. It makes flying very un-enjoyable, and it's unnecessarily painful to go after a target with any kind of thought out plan. Instead you just jerk the stick around a bunch to not get hit by stuff, and then shoot some missiles when you finally manage to get behind your target.
It should be noted that I fly R/C planes, so I am used to flying something with a different frame of reference. Perhaps this game was setup so you always fly from your frame of reference, but I never found it very intuitive. It was awful.
The next awful element to this game is that every plane feels exactly the same. Besides different planes and having different weapon loadouts, their flight characteristics felt identical. It made me a little sick. This was most likely amplified by the fact that I am an Aerospace Engineer. If every plane had the same flight properties, we wouldn't build so many different models. I will say that the 3D models look very nice, but that doesn't get you very far.
The last big problem is the story. Normally this would be at the top of my list, but I have a special place in my heart for flight games (sim and arcade). Neither of these games are known for their stories, but someday I would like this to change. It's a super generic ex-US military guy joins shady mercenary organization, the United States is the perfect noble nation, and you have to switch sides at the end because you have been duped. The US wins at the end and everything is perfect. Blah, Blah, Gag!
It wasn't all bad news though. The campaign was short and there was a cool navigation system that had you fly through gates to get on someone's tail or give you a good angle for bunker busting. There was also one cool stealth mission where you use an F-117 to navigate through a sky full of missiles and anti-air shells; any deviation from the gates and you get rocked.
The best part of this game is that I got it for free with my awesome flight stick that I bought to play Wings of Prey. Get Wings of Prey. It walks the line between simulator and arcade perfectly. It also offers complete customization so you can make it a more or less realistic simulator. Not to mention each plane feels different. They all have their little quirks. Back on topic, H.A.W.X. sucked. I'm mad there is a second one, but I will probably play it.
This game is shit. There is one glaring problem that would have made this game shit all by itself, but unfortunately there are many other problems as well. The stupid "assist off" feature is garbage. It takes all the fun out of piloting a super maneuverable, state of the art jet fighter and replaces it with the frustrating feeling of trying to control a movie scene. Have you ever tried to control a movie scene? "Don't open that door!" Of course they open the door, you can't control a movie. In "assist off" mode the camera zooms way back and uses a dynamic cinematic camera angle to track your plane. Sounds cool! Well, it blows.
Example:
You are pulling a hard left. The camera swings around to show you the front of the plane. This is where things start to go down hill (more like fall off a cliff). As the camera swings to the front, your left and right switch. You are now pulling a hard right. For some reason the game does not fix your control input to the plane reference frame but rather the world reference frame. It makes flying very un-enjoyable, and it's unnecessarily painful to go after a target with any kind of thought out plan. Instead you just jerk the stick around a bunch to not get hit by stuff, and then shoot some missiles when you finally manage to get behind your target.
It should be noted that I fly R/C planes, so I am used to flying something with a different frame of reference. Perhaps this game was setup so you always fly from your frame of reference, but I never found it very intuitive. It was awful.
The next awful element to this game is that every plane feels exactly the same. Besides different planes and having different weapon loadouts, their flight characteristics felt identical. It made me a little sick. This was most likely amplified by the fact that I am an Aerospace Engineer. If every plane had the same flight properties, we wouldn't build so many different models. I will say that the 3D models look very nice, but that doesn't get you very far.
The last big problem is the story. Normally this would be at the top of my list, but I have a special place in my heart for flight games (sim and arcade). Neither of these games are known for their stories, but someday I would like this to change. It's a super generic ex-US military guy joins shady mercenary organization, the United States is the perfect noble nation, and you have to switch sides at the end because you have been duped. The US wins at the end and everything is perfect. Blah, Blah, Gag!
It wasn't all bad news though. The campaign was short and there was a cool navigation system that had you fly through gates to get on someone's tail or give you a good angle for bunker busting. There was also one cool stealth mission where you use an F-117 to navigate through a sky full of missiles and anti-air shells; any deviation from the gates and you get rocked.
The best part of this game is that I got it for free with my awesome flight stick that I bought to play Wings of Prey. Get Wings of Prey. It walks the line between simulator and arcade perfectly. It also offers complete customization so you can make it a more or less realistic simulator. Not to mention each plane feels different. They all have their little quirks. Back on topic, H.A.W.X. sucked. I'm mad there is a second one, but I will probably play it.
Spirit Tracks
This should go without saying, but Spirit Tracks is one of the worst games I've ever played. It's easily the worst game in the Legend of Zelda series. From the moment I got on that frickin' train, I knew that from that point forward I would be miserable. Zelda's spirit is stolen from her body. But before that, she enlists Link's help in figuring out why the tracks are disappearing. Each successful trip through the dungeons restores the tracks, but you have to make it through the horribly long temples to do so. You do all of this work and it never feels satisfying. Blah, blah, blah, you go through all this stuff, boss battles, and then SPOILER ALERT Zelda's spirit returns to her body and Link saves the day.
There are so many things to cover with Spirit Tracks. It starts on a choo-choo train. Don't get me wrong, trains are great. They transport stuff, their sound has become something I've grown accustomed to falling asleep listening to, and they're still vital to our country. Patriotism aside, what in the world were game makers thinking? Sure, it caters to a younger demographic to get them involved, but what about the rest of us? Look, I'll be the first to admit I still enjoy childish activities. I'm a grown woman, and obviously I'm not even afraid to admit that I played this game. That being said, why a train? Just why?
There were plenty of other things about this game that made me want to chuck it from the second story. I was BORED. The game had no end in sight. By the time I was on my way to the last temple, I said forget it and shelved it along with all the others. The LoZ series is great. They had a few things here and there that weren't as successful, but generally the games didn't leave me with an overwhelming sense of frustration. Anyway, back to the towers. There were like a million of them! Every time I thought I was getting close, I had another tower to go visit. And it took a considerable amount of time to travel there. The other trains that tried to run you off the track made me a nervous wreck. The only thing I enjoyed was trying to catch those rabbits that you passed, but they were avoiding capture half the time.
I ask myself this a lot, "So what?" What makes this game so great? Why did I go out and buy this game? If it's like BioShock, it's because I cried my eyes out and felt better about myself as a human being (I wasn't an Adam hungry crazy person). I don't have a reason why I bought this game other than I thought it would be good. Phantom Hourglass was incredible. It was challenging, interesting, and knew when to stop. This game never stopped. I'm not entirely sure what they were going for here. The storyline was okay. The gameplay was okay. This game was nothing more than a filler. It served no purpose other than wasting my time as a gamer.
Why is this game so horribly complicated and dull? Well, I think it's because it's geared towards a younger audience. For the most part, kids aren't paying attention to super complex storylines. They want gimmicky items that make them feel like they're doing something, when in all actuality, they're not doing a thing. But why make a complicated game for children? Who knows. There are so many elements to this game that don't make any sense to me. It's just awful. There aren't even things I want to touch on that were good about the game. I think that it ended. Yeah, I'll go with that.
There are so many things to cover with Spirit Tracks. It starts on a choo-choo train. Don't get me wrong, trains are great. They transport stuff, their sound has become something I've grown accustomed to falling asleep listening to, and they're still vital to our country. Patriotism aside, what in the world were game makers thinking? Sure, it caters to a younger demographic to get them involved, but what about the rest of us? Look, I'll be the first to admit I still enjoy childish activities. I'm a grown woman, and obviously I'm not even afraid to admit that I played this game. That being said, why a train? Just why?
There were plenty of other things about this game that made me want to chuck it from the second story. I was BORED. The game had no end in sight. By the time I was on my way to the last temple, I said forget it and shelved it along with all the others. The LoZ series is great. They had a few things here and there that weren't as successful, but generally the games didn't leave me with an overwhelming sense of frustration. Anyway, back to the towers. There were like a million of them! Every time I thought I was getting close, I had another tower to go visit. And it took a considerable amount of time to travel there. The other trains that tried to run you off the track made me a nervous wreck. The only thing I enjoyed was trying to catch those rabbits that you passed, but they were avoiding capture half the time.
I ask myself this a lot, "So what?" What makes this game so great? Why did I go out and buy this game? If it's like BioShock, it's because I cried my eyes out and felt better about myself as a human being (I wasn't an Adam hungry crazy person). I don't have a reason why I bought this game other than I thought it would be good. Phantom Hourglass was incredible. It was challenging, interesting, and knew when to stop. This game never stopped. I'm not entirely sure what they were going for here. The storyline was okay. The gameplay was okay. This game was nothing more than a filler. It served no purpose other than wasting my time as a gamer.
Why is this game so horribly complicated and dull? Well, I think it's because it's geared towards a younger audience. For the most part, kids aren't paying attention to super complex storylines. They want gimmicky items that make them feel like they're doing something, when in all actuality, they're not doing a thing. But why make a complicated game for children? Who knows. There are so many elements to this game that don't make any sense to me. It's just awful. There aren't even things I want to touch on that were good about the game. I think that it ended. Yeah, I'll go with that.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Duke Nukem Forever
There are some games that I buy that are just plain intimidating to get started on. Whether they sound extremely boring, frustratingly broken, or needlessly complex, many titles just have a way of warding me off for months (okay, more like years) upon purchase. However, Duke Nukem Forever never really had that effect on me. Despite the terrible reviews, I truly believed that this would be a game that I could play through without too much trouble. I guess I was right about that on some level, since I did beat it in about a day. But did I enjoy my time spent with the Duke?
The answer to that question is a resounding "Meh."
Technically speaking, the game works. Playing through it is pretty simple. For the first hour or two, I might even say I had fun with it. Granted, there is absolutely nothing innovative about this game. The graphics are dated. The gameplay is dated. Even the jokes are dated, parodying aspects of gaming that aren't really in the spotlight anymore these days. As a generic shooter, the game works.
So just what exactly is so wrong with this game?
This all boils down to one simple fact: The game just isn't complete.
For all the time Duke spent in development hell, a seeming patchwork of levels and ideas is all they were able to come up with. This is most noticeable when it comes to the level transitions and pacing, especially in the later stages of the game. There is a desert section that particularly sticks out in my mind as just being random, drawn-out, and boring. This is filler. Maybe some people are okay with having their games padded with length to feel like they get more bang for their buck, but I could do without boring patchwork garbage thrown into my games seemingly just because it exists. Not to mention there are unnecessary driving sections which offer absolutely nothing positive to the experience. I am all for having some variety in games, but if developers aren't going to put much effort into the tacked-on features, I would just as soon do without them. The driving in this game is one of those features I would gladly do without. In my mind, ideally, a finished game should be composed of the good stuff people churned out during development and refined into a cohesive, polished experience. This game, however, is the equivalent of a crummy rough draft. But if they were to trim the fat, there wouldn't really be much of a game left. So they just released what they had, somewhat of a patchwork abomination. I stand by my statement that this game is simply not complete.
Long story short, Duke Nukem Forever is a mediocre shooter which drags on for far longer than anyone could possibly hope. Oh, and the "jokes" aren't going to be funny to anyone older than about 12 or so.
Duke Nukem Forever is a game that never should have been. If it was up to me, I would gladly send this game back into development where it would flounder around for all eternity. The legacy of Duke has forever been tarnished with the release of this game.
The answer to that question is a resounding "Meh."
Technically speaking, the game works. Playing through it is pretty simple. For the first hour or two, I might even say I had fun with it. Granted, there is absolutely nothing innovative about this game. The graphics are dated. The gameplay is dated. Even the jokes are dated, parodying aspects of gaming that aren't really in the spotlight anymore these days. As a generic shooter, the game works.
So just what exactly is so wrong with this game?
This all boils down to one simple fact: The game just isn't complete.
For all the time Duke spent in development hell, a seeming patchwork of levels and ideas is all they were able to come up with. This is most noticeable when it comes to the level transitions and pacing, especially in the later stages of the game. There is a desert section that particularly sticks out in my mind as just being random, drawn-out, and boring. This is filler. Maybe some people are okay with having their games padded with length to feel like they get more bang for their buck, but I could do without boring patchwork garbage thrown into my games seemingly just because it exists. Not to mention there are unnecessary driving sections which offer absolutely nothing positive to the experience. I am all for having some variety in games, but if developers aren't going to put much effort into the tacked-on features, I would just as soon do without them. The driving in this game is one of those features I would gladly do without. In my mind, ideally, a finished game should be composed of the good stuff people churned out during development and refined into a cohesive, polished experience. This game, however, is the equivalent of a crummy rough draft. But if they were to trim the fat, there wouldn't really be much of a game left. So they just released what they had, somewhat of a patchwork abomination. I stand by my statement that this game is simply not complete.
Long story short, Duke Nukem Forever is a mediocre shooter which drags on for far longer than anyone could possibly hope. Oh, and the "jokes" aren't going to be funny to anyone older than about 12 or so.
Duke Nukem Forever is a game that never should have been. If it was up to me, I would gladly send this game back into development where it would flounder around for all eternity. The legacy of Duke has forever been tarnished with the release of this game.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Dead Island
By now, most people have probably heard of "that zombie game that's supposed to be different than any other zombie game out there." That's right, I'm referring to that flop of a promising game, Dead Island. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the game, I'll give you a rundown of what happens. You start off with an opening scene of some character getting wasted. There's some partying going on, you figure out you're on some sort of island (go figure), and the next thing you know you're waking up in a hotel with no memory of what happened. After some expletives (depending on your character) and some fumbling around, you discover your hotel is empty and (much to your aid) people have left some money and the like behind in their suitcases. Eventually after some nonsense, you go outside, people fall from balconies, there's zombies, blah blah blah. You're directed to a safehouse and that's where the "fun" begins.
For anyone else who wants a detailed description of what goes on in the game, well, I honestly wish I could tell you. I guess this is where the problem for me really begins. You start out in one area and quest along, updating your weapons, getting money, and learning things about the island. Obviously, as a part of the mystery, you're not really sure how this thing all started. The only thing you know? You're immune to this virus. The only thing you don't know? Everything else. As you go through the game, you get little clues that give you some sort of idea of what's going on. I don't want to give any spoilers here, so I'll leave the ending out. So, I guess that leaves us with the middle.
Where do I even begin? You're literally running back and forth throughout the island doing pointless quests. It's time consuming, pointless, and frustrating. The only nice thing is if you're an avid collector of "stuff" in games, you can update your weapons with some crazy mods. These things shock zombies, set them on fire, or do a variety of other violent things that no video game would be complete without. On that note though, the weapons wear down super easily and before you know it, you're dropping all that hard earned looted money to fix your "upgraded" weapon.
I was honestly tired of playing this game after a few hours. All of the running back and forth and moving to different, equally annoying parts of the island just got progressively worse and more confusing. At least they finally give you cars you can drive side to side (unless it's just me, I'm pretty sure these things never went in a straight line). The game was just so much to analyze and take in. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I had to stop. It was exhaustive. The quests never ended and although they were an essential part of the storyline moving forward, I never really found them particularly interesting. The game is entirely too much for one release.
I can't sit here and bash on this game without talking about all the stuff it does well. While the quests seemed to go on and on, they did a really good job of tying the important ones to the storyline. Each main quest would then take you to a different part of the island. This was executed (in my opinion) pretty well. The fluidity between the different areas made transitioning easy. The game makers had excellent ideas, but I think they also got tired of it and just threw in a bunch of ideas at the end and just said, "forget it." I'll give Dead Island credit though. It did what no other zombie game wanted to do, which was to give characters depth and jobs. Each character was different and had vital skills that aided you in your quests. The talent tree was a little much, but again, it allowed for character development in terms of actual usefulness in the game.
I just wish there wasn't so much stuff. Maybe the game makers were entirely too excited and decided to put every idea they came up with in the game. Dead Island, as I said before, is tiring. All of that going back and forth left me wishing I was closer to the end. It made me overlook important content that was crucial to the game. And, you know what? It didn't phase me at all. I was ready for this game to be over. It was so highly anticipated and maybe that's why it was just awful for me. It almost felt like they were trying too hard to make it what everyone wanted rather than their original idea. The game has EXCELLENT qualities, but they're lost under all of the stuff. Once you lose a gamer's interest in a game, there's no going back. I have no interest in playing that game again. For what it's worth, I don't hate games because they get a lot of attention. I hate games when they don't deliver intriguing storylines, thoughtful gameplay, and gamer involvement. I felt mindless as I ran through these areas and it only got worse as the game went on. I'm all for using my brain in games, but this was just absurd. Please don't waste my efforts on mindless tasks and mediocre side plots.
For anyone else who wants a detailed description of what goes on in the game, well, I honestly wish I could tell you. I guess this is where the problem for me really begins. You start out in one area and quest along, updating your weapons, getting money, and learning things about the island. Obviously, as a part of the mystery, you're not really sure how this thing all started. The only thing you know? You're immune to this virus. The only thing you don't know? Everything else. As you go through the game, you get little clues that give you some sort of idea of what's going on. I don't want to give any spoilers here, so I'll leave the ending out. So, I guess that leaves us with the middle.
Where do I even begin? You're literally running back and forth throughout the island doing pointless quests. It's time consuming, pointless, and frustrating. The only nice thing is if you're an avid collector of "stuff" in games, you can update your weapons with some crazy mods. These things shock zombies, set them on fire, or do a variety of other violent things that no video game would be complete without. On that note though, the weapons wear down super easily and before you know it, you're dropping all that hard earned looted money to fix your "upgraded" weapon.
I was honestly tired of playing this game after a few hours. All of the running back and forth and moving to different, equally annoying parts of the island just got progressively worse and more confusing. At least they finally give you cars you can drive side to side (unless it's just me, I'm pretty sure these things never went in a straight line). The game was just so much to analyze and take in. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I had to stop. It was exhaustive. The quests never ended and although they were an essential part of the storyline moving forward, I never really found them particularly interesting. The game is entirely too much for one release.
I can't sit here and bash on this game without talking about all the stuff it does well. While the quests seemed to go on and on, they did a really good job of tying the important ones to the storyline. Each main quest would then take you to a different part of the island. This was executed (in my opinion) pretty well. The fluidity between the different areas made transitioning easy. The game makers had excellent ideas, but I think they also got tired of it and just threw in a bunch of ideas at the end and just said, "forget it." I'll give Dead Island credit though. It did what no other zombie game wanted to do, which was to give characters depth and jobs. Each character was different and had vital skills that aided you in your quests. The talent tree was a little much, but again, it allowed for character development in terms of actual usefulness in the game.
I just wish there wasn't so much stuff. Maybe the game makers were entirely too excited and decided to put every idea they came up with in the game. Dead Island, as I said before, is tiring. All of that going back and forth left me wishing I was closer to the end. It made me overlook important content that was crucial to the game. And, you know what? It didn't phase me at all. I was ready for this game to be over. It was so highly anticipated and maybe that's why it was just awful for me. It almost felt like they were trying too hard to make it what everyone wanted rather than their original idea. The game has EXCELLENT qualities, but they're lost under all of the stuff. Once you lose a gamer's interest in a game, there's no going back. I have no interest in playing that game again. For what it's worth, I don't hate games because they get a lot of attention. I hate games when they don't deliver intriguing storylines, thoughtful gameplay, and gamer involvement. I felt mindless as I ran through these areas and it only got worse as the game went on. I'm all for using my brain in games, but this was just absurd. Please don't waste my efforts on mindless tasks and mediocre side plots.
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