danclarke wrote:

What's the consensus on how this will do score wise? I'm guessing 7/8 across the board. Solid/unremarkable/contrived/GTA5 a more believable world.

stonechalice wrote:

danclarke wrote:

What's the consensus on how this will do score wise? I'm guessing 7/8 across the board. Solid/unremarkable/contrived/GTA5 a more believable world.

I'm going for a 7 in Edge, and a 7 everywhere else and maybe a couple of 8's. I think in reality it'll be a very average GTA clone not even up there with the likes of Sleeping Dogs. The hacking gimmicks and rubbishy vehicle inclusion will mire it even more. In an era of a million Ass Creed/GTA wannabes this game doesn't appear to have anything going for it apart from the multiplayer which I haven't the slightest interest in. GTA5 was the biggest selling game of all time and who's still playing that online? On paper these sorts of games sound great online - go anywhere, get into strife with other people etc, but in reality, they're a bit of a vacuous experience.

I find it depressing that not only can you guess (with a high success rate) what score a game like this will get, but also summarise exactly what kind of game it will be and why it's not particularly compelling.

Wonder what is was going to be before the delays? Tighter? More focussed on the socioeconomic story side? Or perhaps just more stark and recent a contrast to GTA5? Hmmm

Might download when it's a PS+ jobbie then. Back to ol' Wolfystein. That's a nice homage to old time FPS stuff at least..

danclarke wrote:

I find it depressing that not only can you guess (with a high success rate) what score a game like this will get, but also summarise exactly what kind of game it will be and why it's not particularly compelling.

I'm sure it is a very competent game at what it does, but it gives me the impression as being ... competent. And not much more.

Predictable, by the numbers, ticks all the right boxes, gives you a percentage completion list of pigeons/flags/packages/crayfish to collect, gives you achievements to tick off in a simplified dichotomy of puritan/rogue playstyles (bonus points to do the collections extra times as well) and the some obvious strings for the inevitable DLC side missions with zombies/hordes/scorpion invasions.

Add in a predictably sub-optimised experience (cinematic framerates), misanthropic protagonists with shaved head seen posing with his head down/eyes up on the cover art, and a licensed soundtrack with next year's Linkin Park washup and before you know it seven sequels and three sidestories with other bland characters have been released.

Substitute Gears of War/Infamous/Halo/Assassins Creed/GTA/Splinter Cell/Mass Effect/Uncharted/Call of Duty/God of War in there as well and this post would read the same.

The AAAA market is incredibly predictable. The games are very well refined and do what they set out to do very well indeed in most cases, but in my case I know exactly which twists and turns the story will take, I know what the games will play like, I never have my expectations subverted and I never see something entirely new in these games.

I guess that's why they sell well though - safe bets.

I know this will come off as hypocritical from someone who routinely plays Mario games. I know that series does re-use the same concepts often. But I just feel that there is more likely to be an oddball streak in that series along the theme of a Katamari Damacy or Monkey Ball sense of absurdity. I guess I'm more forgiving of that, however contradictory it may be.

People can like what they like though, so I wont say the other games are necessarily bad. Just that I dont feel they do well what they are lauded for doing.

It baffles me even more when some more excitable types talk about "emotional resonance" and genuine shock at narrative developments within those types of games. I find they usually fall more into the same category of adolescent wish fulfillment/messiah complex stories with trivial treatments of narrative tropes and "moral quandaries" along the lines of abhorrent principles/strategies like "acceptable collateral losses" (Halo array), Machiavellian misinterpretation scenarios (Mass Effect), complete bastardisation of scientific theories (Assassins Creed/DNA nonsense), pandering to the inner right-wing nut in all of us (CoD/Splinter Cell) or just plain juvenile revenge scenarios (all the others).


Fuck me, I'm jaded today.

Vela wrote:

I find it depressing that not only can you guess (with a high success rate) what score a game like this will get, but also summarise exactly what kind of game it will be and why it's not particularly compelling.

I'm sure it is a very competent game at what it does, but it gives me the impression as being ... competent. And not much more. Predictable, by the numbers, ticks all the right boxes, gives you a percentage completion list of pigeons/flags/packages/crayfish to collect, gives you achievements to tick off in a simplified dichotomy of puritan/rogue playstyles (bonus points to do the collections extra times as well) and the some obvious strings for the inevitable DLC side missions with zombies/hordes/scorpion invasions. 

Fuck me, I'm jaded today.

Great post.

Most of that stuff you mentioned above is why I detest so many AAA titles these days. It's the box ticking. The Eurogamer review mentioned the map, and how full of 'stuff' it was after finishing the game. I hate this shit. Look on map, set waypoint to icon, follow blue line there, remove icon from map, repeat till in coma. This is essentially what's required in most of these open world games and many people seem to accept that this is a fun thing to be doing. 

Entertaining, thought provoking game mechanics are absent in so many games recently. It's a terrible state of affairs. So many developers seem unaware of this or are just reluctant to upset the apple cart.

Meh indeed...

The only GTA-esque game I want is a GTA with survival elements and slow zeds...

I think Crackdown is the pinnacle of GTA games to be honest.

DayZ?

TheDJR wrote:

DayZ?

This is the way forward.  Structured single player experiences of GTA and WD's ilk are dying or dead.

That's a scary thought. The more cinematic games become, the less 'game' like they become. It's happening though.

I'm with John (Moto) and his GTA type survival game idea. Los Santos but on the brink of melt down or decayed/decaying a few years later like The Last of Us would be brilliant, and there would be myriad gameplay possibilities in multiplayer. Pockets of Zombies in parts of the city to kill your way through, but genuine, narrative driven reasons for doing so,-i.e rumoured supplies in an infested hospital - team up and go and investigate, objectives and missions updated live every day, an evolving game world, dynamic weather, safe houses you can design and build yourself etc. I really hope all these things are possible on the new tech but it's not looking good is it?  

I know DayZ is kind of that in a nut shell but from what I've heard it's a bit lonely and still a glitch ridden beta but if they polish it up it might be great. It's a start certainly. These story driven singleplayer experiences don't seem to have anywhere to go.

Rust and DayZ have shown the way, others are emerging.  Not to say formal narrative-led experiences are completely shot, but there's a necessary shift a-comin' if they are to remain relevant.  I look at Day Z and see FUTOOOR

Skerret wrote:

Rust and DayZ have shown the way, others are emerging.  Not to say formal narrative-led experiences are completely shot, but there's a necessary shift a-comin' if they are to remain relevant.  I look at Day Z and see FUTOOOR

I reckon we're on the cusp of a lot of the mid-90s modding/shareware community style development where people were making map packs for Doom and Build engine games. Unity is the current one yeah? Consider that the lifeboat for games as playgrounds rather than show rides.

acemuzzy wrote:

I'm guessing a bullish edge [8]

Agree with that.

I still wonder if it's a 7/8 if it's reviewed at Christmas or if there hasn't been a lack of any games whatsoever for next gen.