Tuesday, March 08, 2005
On a Tuesday, no less
So I was out of town, and Tom has apparently been playing Luigi's Mansion like a weirdo - thus, no updates. I'm back though, and I'd like to talk about a couple of games.
My little brother picked up NBA Street V3 recently; he's not really a basketball fan, or a sports fan in general, but he knows a good game when he plays it (Street 2) and he'd been looking forward to this one. As had I, because it had been a fantastic series thus far. With that said, for all it's market-tested attitude, in-your-face menu screens and corporate America's take on the concept of "street", it's woefully fake, and painfully unfun.
Everything that made the last two games such a blast has been taken way too far, beyond the realms of reason and fun. Blocks are more dominant than ever, to a ridiculous degree - there's no point in taking an outside shot, ever, unless all players from the other team were just knocked to the ground (and even then, you have about a half second window to shoot, as they can goaltend legally from anywhere between you and the basket). Dunks are really the only move that makes sense to attempt now, and you don't even have to do that if you don't want to. Just run around doing small dribble and pass tricks until one of your players jumps up for an alley-oop, then toss it to him. Alley-oops give you a massive amount of gamebreaker points, and you can pretty much pull them off every time if you wait around long enough. I lost three straight matches to my brother because after trying it a couple of times I refused to play that way (wait around, do a trick or two, toss it). And the gamebreakers themselves have become ultra-lame - not only can you not block them, ever, but the interaction just involves spinning the right analog stick to do tricks until you're ready to dunk it, at which point you stop. So lame.
Every game devolves into both sides just struggling to get gamebreakers first, without the need to score traditionally at all. There is no strategy to speak of, whether you're against the computer or not. Nevermind the fact that teams consist solely of three-man rosters now; and if you don't your basketball obscenely well, good luck telling two similar-looking players apart, as you can't even read their jerseys. The game is just broken, and I feel like all the high reviews come from people who didn't play either of the first two games (which were much more well-balanced, and therefore fun). Oh, I guess I can't be disappointed with the online play, because the game wouldn't even go online, despite my PS2 passing all connection tests flawlessly.
On the other hand, there's Devil May Cry 3, which just makes me smile, despite a few flaws. Well, one flaw really, and that involves the lack of checkpoints - when you die at a boss, you have to replay the entire level, usually just to get slaughtered by them again. That wouldn't usually be a problem since the combat on the way there is so fun, but by the time you've gotten back to the boss you've forgotten any strategy you had against it, and can't quickly adjust after just having slain a hundred lesser minions. And the exploratory bits are boring the third time around and onwards.
As I said though, the combat is lots of fun, partially because of how deep it is. The sword and gunplay are both very smooth and dynamic, and there's a ton of ways to mix it up mid-battle. It can be a button-masher if you want it to be, but it definitely won't get you as far. I would say it can most easily be compared to Soul Caliber, whereas Ninja Gaiden would be Virtua Fighter. You can button-mash in Soul Caliber, but you'll be stomped every time by a player who knows what they're doing. In NG and VF, you either memorize moves or you die. There's not really any other way to play the game, despite what you may be looking for. So it's definitely something to keep in mind when you're comparing the two.
The cutscenes are well-choreographed and mostly badass, but so over-the-top that it defies description. Dante couldn't be more of a douche, really. And the unintelligible rock music playing over every fight isn't too fun either. So I guess there are a couple more flaws. The bulk of the game is lots of fun though, exploring cool environments and fighting mostly well-designed beasts. There are lots of little things like multiple fighting styles and weapons that just feel like icing on the cake, even if they're meant to be incorporated into the game more than they are. I'd definitely recommend the game to those with some patience, and I think I'm about ready to go play some right now.
My little brother picked up NBA Street V3 recently; he's not really a basketball fan, or a sports fan in general, but he knows a good game when he plays it (Street 2) and he'd been looking forward to this one. As had I, because it had been a fantastic series thus far. With that said, for all it's market-tested attitude, in-your-face menu screens and corporate America's take on the concept of "street", it's woefully fake, and painfully unfun.
Everything that made the last two games such a blast has been taken way too far, beyond the realms of reason and fun. Blocks are more dominant than ever, to a ridiculous degree - there's no point in taking an outside shot, ever, unless all players from the other team were just knocked to the ground (and even then, you have about a half second window to shoot, as they can goaltend legally from anywhere between you and the basket). Dunks are really the only move that makes sense to attempt now, and you don't even have to do that if you don't want to. Just run around doing small dribble and pass tricks until one of your players jumps up for an alley-oop, then toss it to him. Alley-oops give you a massive amount of gamebreaker points, and you can pretty much pull them off every time if you wait around long enough. I lost three straight matches to my brother because after trying it a couple of times I refused to play that way (wait around, do a trick or two, toss it). And the gamebreakers themselves have become ultra-lame - not only can you not block them, ever, but the interaction just involves spinning the right analog stick to do tricks until you're ready to dunk it, at which point you stop. So lame.
Every game devolves into both sides just struggling to get gamebreakers first, without the need to score traditionally at all. There is no strategy to speak of, whether you're against the computer or not. Nevermind the fact that teams consist solely of three-man rosters now; and if you don't your basketball obscenely well, good luck telling two similar-looking players apart, as you can't even read their jerseys. The game is just broken, and I feel like all the high reviews come from people who didn't play either of the first two games (which were much more well-balanced, and therefore fun). Oh, I guess I can't be disappointed with the online play, because the game wouldn't even go online, despite my PS2 passing all connection tests flawlessly.
On the other hand, there's Devil May Cry 3, which just makes me smile, despite a few flaws. Well, one flaw really, and that involves the lack of checkpoints - when you die at a boss, you have to replay the entire level, usually just to get slaughtered by them again. That wouldn't usually be a problem since the combat on the way there is so fun, but by the time you've gotten back to the boss you've forgotten any strategy you had against it, and can't quickly adjust after just having slain a hundred lesser minions. And the exploratory bits are boring the third time around and onwards.
As I said though, the combat is lots of fun, partially because of how deep it is. The sword and gunplay are both very smooth and dynamic, and there's a ton of ways to mix it up mid-battle. It can be a button-masher if you want it to be, but it definitely won't get you as far. I would say it can most easily be compared to Soul Caliber, whereas Ninja Gaiden would be Virtua Fighter. You can button-mash in Soul Caliber, but you'll be stomped every time by a player who knows what they're doing. In NG and VF, you either memorize moves or you die. There's not really any other way to play the game, despite what you may be looking for. So it's definitely something to keep in mind when you're comparing the two.
The cutscenes are well-choreographed and mostly badass, but so over-the-top that it defies description. Dante couldn't be more of a douche, really. And the unintelligible rock music playing over every fight isn't too fun either. So I guess there are a couple more flaws. The bulk of the game is lots of fun though, exploring cool environments and fighting mostly well-designed beasts. There are lots of little things like multiple fighting styles and weapons that just feel like icing on the cake, even if they're meant to be incorporated into the game more than they are. I'd definitely recommend the game to those with some patience, and I think I'm about ready to go play some right now.
// posted by Nick @ 10:31 AM 
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