Wednesday, September 06, 2006
GUN
The deeper I dig into the 360's launch library, the more pleasantly surprised I am. I just wrapped up GUN today (finishing up the straggling side missions now), and though it's riddled with flaws and very rugged game design, it's actually a pretty worthwhile experience. Neversoft got pretty lucky nailing Tony Hawk and it's popularity right off the bat, but they also pigeonholed themselves from then on, obviously. They branched out a bit here, and I'm actually glad that there's obviously room for improvement too. Yearly TH iterations got a bit stale since they perfected it by the second game, but GUN has a lot more potential since it's a much larger idea.
For starters, gunplay and horse riding are dead-on. When there is action, it's almost always fast, fun and visceral. I remember reading early previews which spoke of the potential for massive mounted gunfights in open fields, Indians and cowboys going nuts on one another. It's not quite as epic or dynamic as I was imagining, but there's certainly dozens of chaotic firefight scenarios to engage in. The game is best when it's throwing everything it has at you, and goes a long way towards solidifying the setting and the world it otherwise casually presents.
The mechanics of the gunplay are central to the game, and everything is thankfully built around them. You have Quickdraw, a slow-motion inducing, pistol-centric maneuver that allows for flick-targeting between all threats, and puts the headshot potential in your hands to adjust manually. You also have a regular first-person view you can click into for zoomed firing with rifles (your primary offense), and a third person reticle when you've exhausted the other two methods. Switching constantly between these three (and a melee attack) depending on the distance, position and type of threat never gets old, particularly because the headshots are gib-tacular and the slight ragdoll death animations, while archaic, are always satisfying. You can also pull off some more fancy maneuvers such as throwing a barrel of dynamite into a crowd and shooting it before it lands, but it's usually more impractical than you'd like.
You're only on a horse about a third of the game, if that, but it's always responsive and works well with the gun targeting. Not that it feels like you're riding an actual horse (see Shadow of the Colossus for conveying the grace and power of an actual equine), but it serves it's purpose well replacing a car (skateboard?) as the typical method of gaming conveyance. It also never gets old shooting someone's horse out from under them (sorry horsies).
Story and presentation? Eh. Kind of pointless hiring decent voice actors when the script is full of embarassing Western cliches and awkward dramatic timing. It's not awful, and it's better than most games, but such cinematic presentation can only stand poorly next to actual cinema.
The games' strongest and weakest point is in how it all comes together; as I said, when things are clicking and you're riding atop a stagecoach shooting guys who are stupid enough to ride up alongside you, the game is almost great. When you're left to your own devices to wander and "do side missions to increase your stats", you quickly realize not only is it a far cry from an Old West GTA, but that it should have been an entirely linear game altogether. The world isn't populated enough to feel vibrant, there aren't enough extra doodads to find to make the world worth exploring, and when it comes down to it it only takes about two minutes to get just about anywhere on the map.
(Also, and I wasn't planning on bringing this up but I guess I have to, the game is just downright ugly. Completing the quadfecta of untouched launch ports from Activision, it's pretty hard to stomach such muddy textures, out-of-place lighting mistakes and plain NPC models. There are some nice environmental moments simply by virtue of the setting, but Rockstar had a much better feel for the Old West aesthetic in Red Dead Revolver. Anyhow, don't buy this game for the graphics.)
I wouldn't recommend anyone go anywhere out of their way to obtain the game for keeps, but it's probably the perfect rental (as I did, via Gamefly). It showers you with achievements for the most minute of tasks, and can be pretty thoroughly vanquished in a good seven hours of your time (there are extra things to do afterwards, but it quickly gets old without any thread of a narritive to play towards or reasons to level up). Stay tuned for more inevitable feedback about games I'm nine months behind on.
For starters, gunplay and horse riding are dead-on. When there is action, it's almost always fast, fun and visceral. I remember reading early previews which spoke of the potential for massive mounted gunfights in open fields, Indians and cowboys going nuts on one another. It's not quite as epic or dynamic as I was imagining, but there's certainly dozens of chaotic firefight scenarios to engage in. The game is best when it's throwing everything it has at you, and goes a long way towards solidifying the setting and the world it otherwise casually presents.
The mechanics of the gunplay are central to the game, and everything is thankfully built around them. You have Quickdraw, a slow-motion inducing, pistol-centric maneuver that allows for flick-targeting between all threats, and puts the headshot potential in your hands to adjust manually. You also have a regular first-person view you can click into for zoomed firing with rifles (your primary offense), and a third person reticle when you've exhausted the other two methods. Switching constantly between these three (and a melee attack) depending on the distance, position and type of threat never gets old, particularly because the headshots are gib-tacular and the slight ragdoll death animations, while archaic, are always satisfying. You can also pull off some more fancy maneuvers such as throwing a barrel of dynamite into a crowd and shooting it before it lands, but it's usually more impractical than you'd like.
You're only on a horse about a third of the game, if that, but it's always responsive and works well with the gun targeting. Not that it feels like you're riding an actual horse (see Shadow of the Colossus for conveying the grace and power of an actual equine), but it serves it's purpose well replacing a car (skateboard?) as the typical method of gaming conveyance. It also never gets old shooting someone's horse out from under them (sorry horsies).
Story and presentation? Eh. Kind of pointless hiring decent voice actors when the script is full of embarassing Western cliches and awkward dramatic timing. It's not awful, and it's better than most games, but such cinematic presentation can only stand poorly next to actual cinema.
The games' strongest and weakest point is in how it all comes together; as I said, when things are clicking and you're riding atop a stagecoach shooting guys who are stupid enough to ride up alongside you, the game is almost great. When you're left to your own devices to wander and "do side missions to increase your stats", you quickly realize not only is it a far cry from an Old West GTA, but that it should have been an entirely linear game altogether. The world isn't populated enough to feel vibrant, there aren't enough extra doodads to find to make the world worth exploring, and when it comes down to it it only takes about two minutes to get just about anywhere on the map.
(Also, and I wasn't planning on bringing this up but I guess I have to, the game is just downright ugly. Completing the quadfecta of untouched launch ports from Activision, it's pretty hard to stomach such muddy textures, out-of-place lighting mistakes and plain NPC models. There are some nice environmental moments simply by virtue of the setting, but Rockstar had a much better feel for the Old West aesthetic in Red Dead Revolver. Anyhow, don't buy this game for the graphics.)
I wouldn't recommend anyone go anywhere out of their way to obtain the game for keeps, but it's probably the perfect rental (as I did, via Gamefly). It showers you with achievements for the most minute of tasks, and can be pretty thoroughly vanquished in a good seven hours of your time (there are extra things to do afterwards, but it quickly gets old without any thread of a narritive to play towards or reasons to level up). Stay tuned for more inevitable feedback about games I'm nine months behind on.
Breaking News: PlayStation 3 delayed...
In Europe.
The video game industry exists on this glorious island where real world events simply do not matter. I am not being facetious either. No one ever says "How could you release that game/system during that time? What about the hurricane?" There are certain rules that go along with gaming that are followed regardless of trends in the "outside" world. So while people who are not totally immersed in the video game industry may look at Sony's latest setback with the PS3 - delaying their European launch to March '07 - for gamers, this is just another sign that Sony truly has no idea what they are doing. I'm sure you can guess why the system was delayed with little effort. Sony is having trouble manufacturing the Blu Ray player. Have I mentioned that Blu Ray is a bad idea?
For American and Japanese gamers, the PlayStation 3 is only two months from launch. In just 72 days, the PS3 will official go on sale in America and, within seconds, the first ridiculously overpriced system will go on eBay for a near unholy price. 72 Days! That's nothing. And yet, every single news report about the PS3 is still clouded in negativity. How is this possible? This latest report about the European delay includes the sickening fact about the US and Japanese launches - there aren't going to be any systems available. 100,000 will be on the streets November 11 in Japan and 500,000 one week later in America. I realize these are similar numbers to what Microsoft delivered last year, but the PS3 shortage will be much worse. The Xbox only sold 20 million systems worldwide and they only managed that many because of Halo. There was no Halo at launch for the X360. The PS2 not only has sold more than 100 million systems, but it has displaced Nintendo as the default term for video games. Even at $600 a pop, there will be a mad rush to buy those 400K systems.
In Europe, a place dominated by Michelangelo until Sony arrived a decade ago, the door is left wide open for someone else to steal the throne. The Xbox 360 has not really caught on over there yet, but it does offer the same mind-blowing graphics as the PS3 at a much more manageable price. The Wii may make a dent there as well if Nintendo can lure NDS owners to go console. Brain Training and Nintendogs and all those non-games are huge hits over there. Could Wii Sports be the next big thing?
Sony really needs something to keep gamers interested. If this was any other company but Sony, gamer's collective attentions would be turned elsewhere. But Sony did give us the PlayStation 2, most likely the greatest system ever, so people are willing to give them second and even fifth chances. But right now, there is no reason to be excited about the PS3. It's overpriced because Sony is forcing Blu Ray down our throat, but doesn't offer any must have game. With all the negative press surrounding this system, something positive has to turn up at some point, right? Right?
The video game industry exists on this glorious island where real world events simply do not matter. I am not being facetious either. No one ever says "How could you release that game/system during that time? What about the hurricane?" There are certain rules that go along with gaming that are followed regardless of trends in the "outside" world. So while people who are not totally immersed in the video game industry may look at Sony's latest setback with the PS3 - delaying their European launch to March '07 - for gamers, this is just another sign that Sony truly has no idea what they are doing. I'm sure you can guess why the system was delayed with little effort. Sony is having trouble manufacturing the Blu Ray player. Have I mentioned that Blu Ray is a bad idea?
For American and Japanese gamers, the PlayStation 3 is only two months from launch. In just 72 days, the PS3 will official go on sale in America and, within seconds, the first ridiculously overpriced system will go on eBay for a near unholy price. 72 Days! That's nothing. And yet, every single news report about the PS3 is still clouded in negativity. How is this possible? This latest report about the European delay includes the sickening fact about the US and Japanese launches - there aren't going to be any systems available. 100,000 will be on the streets November 11 in Japan and 500,000 one week later in America. I realize these are similar numbers to what Microsoft delivered last year, but the PS3 shortage will be much worse. The Xbox only sold 20 million systems worldwide and they only managed that many because of Halo. There was no Halo at launch for the X360. The PS2 not only has sold more than 100 million systems, but it has displaced Nintendo as the default term for video games. Even at $600 a pop, there will be a mad rush to buy those 400K systems.
In Europe, a place dominated by Michelangelo until Sony arrived a decade ago, the door is left wide open for someone else to steal the throne. The Xbox 360 has not really caught on over there yet, but it does offer the same mind-blowing graphics as the PS3 at a much more manageable price. The Wii may make a dent there as well if Nintendo can lure NDS owners to go console. Brain Training and Nintendogs and all those non-games are huge hits over there. Could Wii Sports be the next big thing?
Sony really needs something to keep gamers interested. If this was any other company but Sony, gamer's collective attentions would be turned elsewhere. But Sony did give us the PlayStation 2, most likely the greatest system ever, so people are willing to give them second and even fifth chances. But right now, there is no reason to be excited about the PS3. It's overpriced because Sony is forcing Blu Ray down our throat, but doesn't offer any must have game. With all the negative press surrounding this system, something positive has to turn up at some point, right? Right?
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