06.11.08
Posted in Gaming at 9:40 am by Silesti
Hi all, back again to bring you my thoughts on my latest foray in game-space! This time I joined those slightly strange, but hugely funny fellows Tycho and Gabe in their new adventure.
Penny Arcarde: On The Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness, is simply superb! My previous dips into the delights of the Xbox Live Arcade titles have come back with, as was expected, some fairly light-weight, easy to pick up, easy to put down visual treats. The fact that this first (and I’ll put good scheckles it won’t be the last) endeavor into game-space by the Penny Arcade guys was released through this channel by no means relfects it’s quality, playability or simple addictivness! This is a title which would hev been worth a full-on DVD release for sure but which I’m more than happy to spend some Live Points on.
What’s good. Well pretty much everything actually. The games 2D representation fits perfectly with the PA comic-strips and the characters are well presented and realised. This comes as no surprise of course as Tycho (Jerry Holkins) and Gabe (Mike Krahulik) played a major part in the game’s genesis, with Jerry providing the story and dialogue and Mike delivering some of the most detailed art-direction ever seen, I’ll wager. The Steam-punk versions of our game loving, giraffe admiring characters are simply excellent.
Game pace and flow is well executed and I never got bored with a particular case (they’re a detective agency) as there was always something to be worked on or towards. The progression through the learning curve was good too, steep enough that you had to make an effort to get better but not so steep that you got that “I’ll never do this” feeling.
What’s not so good. If I had to find something to point a finger at, it’d be the combat process and this really is a minor niggle point. I noticed on more than one occasion I felt like I’d lost control of the interface. There was an action in progress but I couldn’t see what it was or where it was focussed. Now this is probably more down to me not concentrating enough but at the time I was trying to defend against some particularly nasty steam driven juicing machines (you know the ones I mean) and really didn’t have the opportunity to scan over every character to find out what I’d just done. I think that’s it though.. and I’m sure that when the next episode comes out I’ll simply get better at controlling things and this too will be fine.
So. PA: OTRSPD. Get it – Xbox Windows Mac, Linux – all available.
- Silesti
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05.18.08
Posted in Gaming at 7:36 am by Silesti
HI!
So I sufaced long enough to gather my thoughts about the latest from the Need For Speed franchise. Now, while I can (from a very moral perspective) understand the position they took in moving the racing away from illegal street races and high-speed pursuits with the cops, this only works if you take one of two paths.
1) produce an ‘arcade’ racing game with the qualities of the original Need For Speed series liberally applied and hope the PGR fans like it too
or
2) produce a top notch racing sim which can hold it’s head up in the company of FORZA and make sure every peice is flawless
Unfortunately what we have is a not-so-happy marriage between the two. The racing is too arcade-like without having arcade fun and not close enough to match my expectations from a sim (if I’m on a grid with a bunch of other cars, I’d like to be able to start from any other position than last please!).
I’m pleased the autosculpt features have remained and been more integrated into the game dynamic through their apparent impact on the performance of the car on the road. And the paint and graphic customisation gave me the simple pleasure of having a garage full of cars with my ‘look’ applied in a pain-free and pretty enjoyable way. But the menu structures, both the vertical main and garage and the horizontal/2D chalk-on-the ground game menu, leave a lot to be desired both in terms of navigability (for the chalk one) and speed of access for the rest.
In-game I found the controls a little clumsy. Now I’m not the most dexterous and have even been know to be a little ham-fisted but I know that I can make a car dance sideways in PGR and control a high-speed 4-wheel drift in FORZA but in this game I felt like I was somehow disconnected, especially in the Drift and Speed races. The Grip races seemed a little more manageable but maybe that down to my more extensive on-track experience, who knows.
I also very much dislike that I can’t progress through the game without having to re-visit events to earn enough money to buy the cars I need to even compete in the later ones. I don’t like that I can’t concentrate on one type of racing but have to split myself, and my resources, over multiple disciplines. I don’t understand why there’s a differential between ‘winning’ an event and ‘dominating’ it. OK, of course I do.. but why then is winning not enough to get you through to the next round?
So what DO I like?… Well I actually like the structure of the game. I like the concept of these highly illegal street racers being brought together in a semi-controlled environment and being allowed to simply go-for-it. I like it that the old ‘crews’ have been retained and turned into teams and I did get a feeling when listening to the drivellings of the MC at the events that this was part of a larger world.
In conclusion, my measure of a game’s apeall and worth is how far I get through it before decide to finish it or give it up. Transformers reached this tipping point early and failed, PGR4 reached it early and succeeded. With NFS Pro Street I’ve reached my tipping point after about 2/3 distance and it’s REALLY annoying! I’ve made the investment in time to get this far but I’m going to have to cut my losses and move away from the table. MESSAGE TO NFS: give me back my neon, my tuners, my chases and my free roaming. FORZA is my race sim and you don’t match up!
Silesti
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04.28.08
Posted in Gaming at 4:57 pm by Silesti
Hi folks, it’s been a long time since I touched down but I’ve been more than busy in the intervening period.
Over the next little while I’ll be brining you my thoughts on:-
- Need for Speed Pro-Street
- Assassins Creed
- Lego Star Wars – The Complete Saga
- Mass Effect
- Sega Rally
I’ll also be sharing my thoughts on the new addition to my Gaming world, the Nintendo Wii. So don’t go to far.. updates will be thick and fast!
Silesti
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