Let's actually review some games shall we?
Firstly, I've sent GTA IV back to LOVEFiLM. I've had it two weeks, and put in a fair amount of time. My original opinion still stands - it's great, but I've really done it all before.
The problem is that you're forced to sit through lengthier and lengthier cut scenes. I keep watching them in the vague hope that one day it will make for an interesting story line, but it doesn't. Like the other's before - it's pretty simplistic and dull. Even though graphics and animation are much better too, it's still not pretty either. The strip club is clearly aimed at titilation, but it's just not well animated enough.
To be fair, the game is huge. The city is huge, the amount of stuff in it is immense. It's very impressive - but it's also it's downfall. I'm limited to a tiny corner, which gradually opens up as go and fetch yet another car - go and shoot some more bad guys - go chase a biker... Sometimes I just want to wander, but so much is shut off to start off with - I can't.
I can understand the 'carrot' principle at work here, but it's more off-putting, knowing that after 10 hours play, I still only have a quarter of the play area opened. It's because I've put so much into the other games of the series, I just don't want to do it anymore. I just want the sandbox, to do the things I enjoy... I'll pick it up next year for a tenner or something, and play it through further, but I'm in no way inclined to pay full price for it at the moment. It's sad, because the game underneath is superb. The driving, shooting, weather, graphics (the waves on the river for instance) are all top notch. Grrrr :lol:
Next,
No More Heroes for the Wii. I can't quite make up my mind about this one. It's just something utterly different. It's the bastard love child of great 80's arcade games and the modern action/adventure games like Assassin's creed. It's a shock to the system, and is superb in it's styling. One of those games where you can see a real artistic talent has been let loose. The basic gameplay is good, the fighting works well enough (if a bit button mashing - but the remote swings add a delicious flavour), and the sub jobs are wacky and varied. so it's basically superb, except for one problem - which is bad in a lot of modern games, but worse here - the idea of a 'hub'.
I think Tony Hawks was the first to do this, where you free roam, then find the next 'mission'. NFS:U2 followed suit, as did Burnout and many others. While in GTA, it works, as the cities are so busy and full of life - and you always have a path to follow and advance along - I find hubs suck generally.
In games like TH and BO - I want to have a list of things to do, and to see what I've achieved. I don't want to spend hours bumbling around aimlessly looking for something interesting - I have limited gaming time, and want to achieve as much as I can in a game. The hub idea limits this. Okay, sometimes I like to have a bit of a sandbox play (on Burnout it's finding the signs and smash points), but most of the time, I just want to got on with the core of the game.
No more heroes is the worst form of this I've seen to be honest. At least in the other games, the driving/skating bits can keep you entertained as you go from place to place. No more heroes just isn't. The bike is tedious to drive, and there's little/no interaction out on the streets. You just blandly drive to the job centre or assassin's guild thing, do the next mission, then blandly drive home to save. It's bland! And Tedious! There's none of the fun in mucking about like there is in GTA, and no extra achievements to really gain from it like on Skate/TH or Burnout. It ruins the pacing of an otherwise superb game.
Having said that, I think that the 'blipvert' nature of the game means that you need to have this kind of rest period, but it could have been done so much better.
If you like something cool though, and beating the **** out of people, then the game is top class and well worth looking at!
Finally, I've been putting time into
Animal Crossing DS again. Biggest waste of time ever. I spent last night weeding my town and watering the flowers as I'd not been on it for four months. It took me two hours. Tonight I'll be back again looking after the town :lol:
I hate it, but love it! Stupid bloody game! :lol:
