Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Ultimately doing whatever he can
(First off, our comments system is down. "Server Failure", or some such crap. You'll have to keep it to yourself for the time being...)
Anyhow. You would think that playing 10+ hours of new Halo 2 maps would be enough gaming excitement for one day. And it is, I assure you (my retinas are about a split-second away from exploding). However, as much as I adore destroying Warthogs by shooting explosive mines with a scorpion tank, the best gaming moment of the day was found elsewhere. Specifically, in my mailbox on the cover of the new PSM. Now, I wouldn't call PSM a great magazine by any means, or venture to say that their opinions mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but they do get some huge exclusives once in a while. This month, it's Ultimate Spider-Man, a game that looks so goddamned good I could cry about it.
Did you play Spider-Man 2? Never has a game so good been so completely reliant on one amazing gameplay mechanic: sense and control of movement, and freedom of exploration. Swinging around the city just felt perfect, and was more entertaining than the entirety of some other games. Nearly every other aspect of the game was flawed though, which makes it weird that I'd still recommend it. But I do. Ultimate Spider-Man, however, seems like it's going to bring all aspects of the game up to the same level of polish as the swinging, which would make for an obscenely good game if they pull it off. First of all, the game looks INCREDIBLE. I can't find a single screenshot to post here (and I'm not going to post magazine scans), but take my word for it; since this is based on the comic and not the movie, they went with a "3D comic inking" technique that looks like a more polished cel-shading. It's looks quite literally like a comic book, and I'm sure will be amazing in motion. So what exactly are they fixing from Spider-Man 2?
- The City. As huge as the city was, the individual areas weren't too different from one another, and the streets often felt deserted. The new New York is smaller and more concentrated, with a lot more detail and attention paid to each area. There will still be plenty to explore though, and what you do explore will be a lot more rewarding. There's destructible scenery, way more citizens roaming the streets, and a generally higher level of interaction (like being able to throw cars).
- The Missions. Saving the little girl's balloon was entertaining enough the first three times, but after that you just wanted her to float up with it, choking her as you smiled and laughed. Same with the falling painter, lady being robbed, etc. It was probably the worst part of the game when all was said and done, and they're promising a much wider variety of more entertaining side missions.
- The Combat. There were definitely some cool moves available the last time around, but they were a hassle to pull off and only a handful of them were actually useful. In Ultimate, the moves are much simpler, you're actually rewarded for dodging an attack when your spider sense goes off, and you can combo by bouncing back and forth between enemies and objects. And just like in the picture books, you have to web up the baddies before they're down for the count. Oh, and there's also the largest cast of villains in a Spider-Man game yet.
- YOU CAN PLAY AS VENOM. That's right, it seems a decent chunk of the game has you roaming the town as everyone's favorite symbiote, causing havok, jumping huge distances instead of swinging, and eating people to stay healthy. He looks every bit as awesome as he ever has, and if controls as smoothly as Spidey I'll be in heaven.
Trust me, this game looks amazing. I'll post screens as soon as they pop up online. Screw Marvel Nemesis.
In entirely unrelated news, here are two quotes from an article by Keita Takahashi, director of Katamari Damacy (whose sequel has now been confirmed for a U.S. release):
"To hold a controller in your hand and control the action displayed on the screen is a minor thing nowadays, but I still think it's a little miracle. There's no need to add a lot of extra stuff to make it more difficult." This man is brilliant.
"Most game music nowadays is pretty forgettable. I wanted to create a soundtrack that would stick in player's heads, sort of like an evil curse." This man is hilarious.
Anyhow. You would think that playing 10+ hours of new Halo 2 maps would be enough gaming excitement for one day. And it is, I assure you (my retinas are about a split-second away from exploding). However, as much as I adore destroying Warthogs by shooting explosive mines with a scorpion tank, the best gaming moment of the day was found elsewhere. Specifically, in my mailbox on the cover of the new PSM. Now, I wouldn't call PSM a great magazine by any means, or venture to say that their opinions mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but they do get some huge exclusives once in a while. This month, it's Ultimate Spider-Man, a game that looks so goddamned good I could cry about it.
Did you play Spider-Man 2? Never has a game so good been so completely reliant on one amazing gameplay mechanic: sense and control of movement, and freedom of exploration. Swinging around the city just felt perfect, and was more entertaining than the entirety of some other games. Nearly every other aspect of the game was flawed though, which makes it weird that I'd still recommend it. But I do. Ultimate Spider-Man, however, seems like it's going to bring all aspects of the game up to the same level of polish as the swinging, which would make for an obscenely good game if they pull it off. First of all, the game looks INCREDIBLE. I can't find a single screenshot to post here (and I'm not going to post magazine scans), but take my word for it; since this is based on the comic and not the movie, they went with a "3D comic inking" technique that looks like a more polished cel-shading. It's looks quite literally like a comic book, and I'm sure will be amazing in motion. So what exactly are they fixing from Spider-Man 2?
- The City. As huge as the city was, the individual areas weren't too different from one another, and the streets often felt deserted. The new New York is smaller and more concentrated, with a lot more detail and attention paid to each area. There will still be plenty to explore though, and what you do explore will be a lot more rewarding. There's destructible scenery, way more citizens roaming the streets, and a generally higher level of interaction (like being able to throw cars).
- The Missions. Saving the little girl's balloon was entertaining enough the first three times, but after that you just wanted her to float up with it, choking her as you smiled and laughed. Same with the falling painter, lady being robbed, etc. It was probably the worst part of the game when all was said and done, and they're promising a much wider variety of more entertaining side missions.
- The Combat. There were definitely some cool moves available the last time around, but they were a hassle to pull off and only a handful of them were actually useful. In Ultimate, the moves are much simpler, you're actually rewarded for dodging an attack when your spider sense goes off, and you can combo by bouncing back and forth between enemies and objects. And just like in the picture books, you have to web up the baddies before they're down for the count. Oh, and there's also the largest cast of villains in a Spider-Man game yet.
- YOU CAN PLAY AS VENOM. That's right, it seems a decent chunk of the game has you roaming the town as everyone's favorite symbiote, causing havok, jumping huge distances instead of swinging, and eating people to stay healthy. He looks every bit as awesome as he ever has, and if controls as smoothly as Spidey I'll be in heaven.
Trust me, this game looks amazing. I'll post screens as soon as they pop up online. Screw Marvel Nemesis.
In entirely unrelated news, here are two quotes from an article by Keita Takahashi, director of Katamari Damacy (whose sequel has now been confirmed for a U.S. release):
"To hold a controller in your hand and control the action displayed on the screen is a minor thing nowadays, but I still think it's a little miracle. There's no need to add a lot of extra stuff to make it more difficult." This man is brilliant.
"Most game music nowadays is pretty forgettable. I wanted to create a soundtrack that would stick in player's heads, sort of like an evil curse." This man is hilarious.
// posted by Nick @ 12:39 AM 
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