As something of a corollary to my Bioshock Infinite review (which I thought of updating but it really would be just to discuss this issue) I'd like to point out one of the great nuisances of its gameplay. The few "choices" you're presented with have either little or no impact of the outcome of the game. The pendant choice is purely cosmetic; not killing Slate has him show up in a prison cell later, eliciting a comment from Elizabeth; and a choice I'd forgotten - whether to draw on a ticket booth guy or let him stab you in the hand has the impact of some comment from Elizabeth followed by her bandaging the wound, or not if there is nothing to bandage. And it seems that if you are aggressive and harm unarmed, non-combatants, someone notices and offers you gear as a reward for your bloodlust.
That's it. Completely linear rail shooter of a game (with some literal rails) that offers choices that really have no impact. If anyone wants to complain about my complaint, let me put it this way: If the choices have no meaning, then don't bother putting them in there. If a game says it's a linear story game, I can deal with that. Giving me choices as if a second playthrough could lead to a different outcome only to leads to my disappointment. You want people to pay $80 for something that gives about 10 hours of fun? At least in other games there is lateral gameplay, such as "RPG" (to be discussed in a future post) like The Elder Scrolls series, which lets you do different things and play the game different ways. They're equally disappointing in terms of not really being able to change the outcome, but they're also relying on that lateral gameplay (not to mention lots of exploration) to extend the life of their games.
Bioshock Infinite is a straight line, and if it had been upfront about that, I wouldn't be as irritated as I am.
Friday 17 May 2013
Friday 10 May 2013
Blah
I have nothing to talk about, this has been a very disappointing week, lots of inanity. Why I'm bothering to post about nothing bewilders me. Try harder world, be a better place.
Friday 3 May 2013
Tomb Raiding (optional)
A review of the latest Tomb Raider game from Square Enix.
This is from the perspective of someone who has never played a Tomb Raider game, so I have no opinions on how this reflects on the series. I don't mind platform games, which I understand most of the series were, and there are elements of the platform style here, at least when it comes to moving around environments. However I find there to be a startling lack of depth in both the story and the gameplay.
So after being shipwrecked on a mysterious magic island (which is kind of Lara's fault since she's the one who led everyone there) we get to see the systematic breakdown of Lara's character. Everything gets taken away from her, friends, mentors and of course her humanity. Because after coming to terms with the need for survival (the overarching theme of the game) Lara fairly quickly becomes a mass murderer. That is not a joke. While there are attempts (at least early on) to show Lara struggling with her new found blood lust, she fairly quickly gets over it in the name of survival. I'm stressing the survival because the game uses this as an excuse for lots of violence. Technically all the bad guys are out to kill you and technically you could call it self-defence, but I don't think you can call it realistic to have your character kill a few hundred people and not come out as a stone cold psychopath.
General madness aside the game handles the motion of exploration and combat fairly well. Most of the time it's preferable to stealth kill so as to avoid enemies alerting the swarm of guys hanging around. Open combat is a little unusual in that it utilises a soft cover system - there's no "enter cover" button, but Lara will hunker down next to objects and pop out to aim. Of course you could try charging in, but you can die pretty quickly.
Speaking of quick, Quick Time Events are something you'll have to get used to. This is not handled very well because you can't always tell when they're going to appear and when they do, they can go by fast. So at least at the beginning, expect to see Lara die a few times while you sort out which buttons to push and when. Also there are button mashing episodes, which I'm sure everyone can't get enough of. I mention both of these because I find it annoying that in a game with a fairly decent control system for third-person movement also throws in the occasional button mash or QTE. At least in games that use heaps of QTE you know to expect them; here they just pop up at inconvenient moments.
As my review title suggests, most of the "tombs" you'll discover aren't the primary objective, which even for me makes the game title rather misleading, serving simply to tie it to the series despite being a prequel/reboot. Most of the plot is about the crazy cult inhabiting the island and an undead queen, so yes there is supernatural magic involved in this game which is ostensibly about archaeology.
What I like: The graphcis are good but very bland - mostly grey, even Lara's tank top is grey. I don't understand why everyone wants newer and better ways of rendering grey. Graphics have been pretty good for several years now, can you start focusing on something else? The controls are easy to use, movement is good and doesn't screw you over most of the time. The weapon modding/upgrading system is nice, letting you focus on your preferred weapon to save on "salvage".
What I didn't like: Button mashing, QTE, lacklustre visual style, lacklustre voice acting, lacklustre story. The open world exploration is also lacking in depth, all of the documents that give back-story only give fragments. I suppose they were going for suggestion of detail rather than having to come up with reams of text on the history of the island. Despite the open world, exploration is not really necessary and also not very rewarding unless you really want to get skill points and weapon upgrades.
This isn't a bad game, it's just rather bland. Not much about it stands out. It's also rather short, about 10-15 hours depending on how much exploring you do. Really though the exploration isn't necessary because if you focus on one weapon and the appropriate and related skills, you can just play through only picking up the relics and so on that you come across along that path. I haven't tried the multiplayer, so maybe that might add some longevity, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. Buy it cheap and you shouldn't be disappointed.
MULTIPLAYER
So I've tried the multiplayer and I would suggest that you think long and hard about whether you enjoy being killed repeatedly. It seems wildly imbalanced towards higher level players since they have better weapons and abilities unlocked. Plus it's a bit jumpy so you may find yourself dying for no apparent reason because you have no idea where the enemy is. There are a few game modes but I found myself in team deathmatch most of the time, but at least when I saw another mode, people were going for the objectives rather than just kills. One saving grace is that one of the starting skills gives you more XP for kills, I guess it's to give a leg up to new players.
This is from the perspective of someone who has never played a Tomb Raider game, so I have no opinions on how this reflects on the series. I don't mind platform games, which I understand most of the series were, and there are elements of the platform style here, at least when it comes to moving around environments. However I find there to be a startling lack of depth in both the story and the gameplay.
So after being shipwrecked on a mysterious magic island (which is kind of Lara's fault since she's the one who led everyone there) we get to see the systematic breakdown of Lara's character. Everything gets taken away from her, friends, mentors and of course her humanity. Because after coming to terms with the need for survival (the overarching theme of the game) Lara fairly quickly becomes a mass murderer. That is not a joke. While there are attempts (at least early on) to show Lara struggling with her new found blood lust, she fairly quickly gets over it in the name of survival. I'm stressing the survival because the game uses this as an excuse for lots of violence. Technically all the bad guys are out to kill you and technically you could call it self-defence, but I don't think you can call it realistic to have your character kill a few hundred people and not come out as a stone cold psychopath.
General madness aside the game handles the motion of exploration and combat fairly well. Most of the time it's preferable to stealth kill so as to avoid enemies alerting the swarm of guys hanging around. Open combat is a little unusual in that it utilises a soft cover system - there's no "enter cover" button, but Lara will hunker down next to objects and pop out to aim. Of course you could try charging in, but you can die pretty quickly.
Speaking of quick, Quick Time Events are something you'll have to get used to. This is not handled very well because you can't always tell when they're going to appear and when they do, they can go by fast. So at least at the beginning, expect to see Lara die a few times while you sort out which buttons to push and when. Also there are button mashing episodes, which I'm sure everyone can't get enough of. I mention both of these because I find it annoying that in a game with a fairly decent control system for third-person movement also throws in the occasional button mash or QTE. At least in games that use heaps of QTE you know to expect them; here they just pop up at inconvenient moments.
As my review title suggests, most of the "tombs" you'll discover aren't the primary objective, which even for me makes the game title rather misleading, serving simply to tie it to the series despite being a prequel/reboot. Most of the plot is about the crazy cult inhabiting the island and an undead queen, so yes there is supernatural magic involved in this game which is ostensibly about archaeology.
What I like: The graphcis are good but very bland - mostly grey, even Lara's tank top is grey. I don't understand why everyone wants newer and better ways of rendering grey. Graphics have been pretty good for several years now, can you start focusing on something else? The controls are easy to use, movement is good and doesn't screw you over most of the time. The weapon modding/upgrading system is nice, letting you focus on your preferred weapon to save on "salvage".
What I didn't like: Button mashing, QTE, lacklustre visual style, lacklustre voice acting, lacklustre story. The open world exploration is also lacking in depth, all of the documents that give back-story only give fragments. I suppose they were going for suggestion of detail rather than having to come up with reams of text on the history of the island. Despite the open world, exploration is not really necessary and also not very rewarding unless you really want to get skill points and weapon upgrades.
This isn't a bad game, it's just rather bland. Not much about it stands out. It's also rather short, about 10-15 hours depending on how much exploring you do. Really though the exploration isn't necessary because if you focus on one weapon and the appropriate and related skills, you can just play through only picking up the relics and so on that you come across along that path. I haven't tried the multiplayer, so maybe that might add some longevity, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it. Buy it cheap and you shouldn't be disappointed.
MULTIPLAYER
So I've tried the multiplayer and I would suggest that you think long and hard about whether you enjoy being killed repeatedly. It seems wildly imbalanced towards higher level players since they have better weapons and abilities unlocked. Plus it's a bit jumpy so you may find yourself dying for no apparent reason because you have no idea where the enemy is. There are a few game modes but I found myself in team deathmatch most of the time, but at least when I saw another mode, people were going for the objectives rather than just kills. One saving grace is that one of the starting skills gives you more XP for kills, I guess it's to give a leg up to new players.
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