10-09-2008
so i was at target and i saw that assasins creed and vegas two were on sale assasins creed was 30 and vegas 2 was 20. let me tell ya, if pc gaming is dieing it's from bad ports, i only played the first mission in vegas 2 but what a cheap expansion i can't believe it released for 60 bucks on the 360, the AI is horrible, the level design is bland and in areas is broken by a cover mechanic that is only as good as the level design, and no lean button is really silly. the interface is unintuitive and clunky like all the rainbow games (except 3) but doesn't have any of the tactical potential, the squad control interface would have been good if the squad AI wasn't the worst i've ever seen, i'm playin normal and am on the first level and they never properly advance to cover, i've only had them successfully block me, that is about the only thing they do. breaching a room is the only thing they are capable of, but getting them from room to room or through a open area gun fight is a exercise in frustration. i've only installed assasins creed but lets hope even though it too is from ubisoft, the champion of horrible ports. i can't for the life of me understand how a game like vegas 1 can degrade into vegas 2, and the story is absolutely the worst voice overs aren't synced to lips heck it feels like listening to a police scanner while playing a rainbow six game.
i was tasked with playing a portion of ratchet and clank and then wrighting a review/analysis here is the assignment copy and pasted.
Please use the following guidelines for this paper:
First, provide the designers structure for the game (see document in Course Content).
Next analyze the game and write about the following criteria:
Originality of Concept.
Originality of Gameplay.
Quality of visuals and sound.
Comparison to similar titles.
Conclusion: How fun is it and why is it (or isn't it fun)
Games outside of the Games For Review list may be considered, but they must be games the instructors are familiar with and they must be approved in advance.
Ratchet and Clank Future Perfect is a PS3 exclusive title, the game play is based in third person action shooter genre with an art ****that is very cartoony and will undoubtedly be compared to Sly Cooper, Mario or Crash Bandicoot. I played approximately three hours of it and found it to be light on challenge and fun, but with no real drawback, making the game is easy to recommend. The player is tasked with a linear progression and simple AI adversaries. The draw of the game isn't what one would expect when looking at a shooter, you'd think immersive action, compelling story, but what I witnessed in my preview of the title was a game where the reward is in the humor, and the challenge is in the arsenal.
Originality of Concept:
The game is different from pretty much every other third person shooter/action game. Weapons are very ridiculous, often hilarious, AI is very simple and useless, and the humor woven into the whole thing is what pulls the player through the game. The story is very simple, stop bad guys save the universe, and at times (often) irrelevant, but the delivery of that boring story is like that of a good Pixar film your characters and their interactions are diverse and surprisingly entertaining. Humor in games has been tried and often failed. But this game to me shares more with Painkiller, Armed and Dangerous, and Serious Sam than with Mario. Weapons are inventive to say the least(a disco ball weapon!) you start with very traditional weapons(aka boring) and progress towards more rewarding fair as the game progresses. Though as I've mentioned the game only really takes the FPS formula of that proved successful if not fully realized and polished it and made it third person.
Originality of Game play
The Concept and the Game play are pretty closely linked, being a game with humor and action and then having the driving force of the game play also being one of the larger sources of amusement does a pretty good job of integrating everything together. The problem with the game though is that since the AI is so simple the combat is derivative and without a constant flow of new weapons it becomes a grind and not fun, you may use a new weapon two or three times before you bore of it, then default to the plasma pistol or lightning whip. Did I mention that weapons upgrade, well it's not that involved of a process. I really wish that new weapons came at a faster clip or that each one had multiple functions similar to UT or painkiller so that time spent switching weapons in the pause menu was a little less. I found that I felt compelled to stop playing the game after 20-30 minutes simply because a lot of it started feeling like grind. The game as I played it presented no real challenge, no penalty for dying, nothing, humor and curiosity where the only driving forces. Though I can see the inspirations for the gameplay design in this title I must say that it feels unique and well thought out, just a little thin in some spots.
Look and Sound,
While it is a solid game I still found the art and color of Mario galaxy to be far superior, the opener for the game is very visually solid/stunning but then as I progressed it felt less so. The Sound work is uneven. While the voice work, music and sound effect are all top notch and the presentation is good I felt that the mixing could have been better. The sound mixing felt flat, for a big budget ps3 title. The implementation of sound in the game makes the beautiful explosions fall flat on your ear drums. Over all a good job though animations are fun and exaggerated but I still prefer the nuanced animations of TF2. Again a fun and unique spin on the animated look that is starting to pop up more and more the closer to the uncanny valley games get.
Comparison
I found this game to compare to many games from across the board, the childish animated appearance of the game has many comparing it to Mario Galaxy, and Banjo and Kazooie the humor and weapons make it comparable to Serious Sam or Armed and Dangerous. I can't say that this game is revolutionary, but it is a good game. My only real problem is if you take away the interesting weapons the game isn't very compelling at all. It's hard to make the gameplay contingent on only one factor like a weapon and keep it replay able or interesting. With only one element that is compelling and every other game play element simple and second ****the game doesn't hold up well once you've seen its bag of tricks. I didn't finish the game but what I played of it left me feeling that way after the first couple play sessions. And as I mentioned this game made me feel compelled to put it down after 30 minutes but unlike other such games as world in conflict or guitar hero where you play for a little bit and move on I didn't feel any sense of achievement I put the controller down more from boredom than anything else.
Conclusion:
This is a good game and I would recommend it to people who are predisposed to these types of games. But I wouldn't say to my RPG loving roommate, quick go buy it, because really for all the flavor of the game it really has some missed potential. Maybe with stronger puzzle elements, or more developed AI, or more challenging boss battles this would have been one for the books. Instead it is a compilation of game play elements from across gaming history that feel unique only in their compiled state, but separate are only status quo.
