Amount Completed: Entire game with just about every activity completed (might have missed gold on a few).
Saints Row IV takes the Saints Row series into an entirely different style of plot but continues and expands the standard sandbox gameplay of previous games. Now in addition to the standard run/gun/drive gameplay your character takes on ridiculous super-hero powers allowing you to run up buildings and glide through the air. This functionality was first seen in DLC for SR3 only to be expanded upon extensively for SR4.
The plot was a bit bizarre at first but seemed acceptable in its semi-serious homage to Mass Effect. Unfortunately as with the previous games the writing seems to leave a lot to be desired. It's not necessarily that things are weird and sometimes outlandish it's that so many decisions/characters just leave you confused and asking "why" -- it's primarily a problem of not really having a solid rulebook for given characters as they go through the plot of the games.
The game plays really well with tons of things going on at once. I was very impressed with the graphics as I flew through the city and leapt across the skyline. This is not to say the graphics themselves are always great but the performance certainly was. The activities were a lot less frustrating than in the previous games... but not always that much fun. Platform jumping and hurling colored items at targets seemed more like a demo for a Wii game than a Saints Row activity.
Gut: I really enjoyed the actual gameplay experience. The quick time events were limited and used appropriately. Much of the story was meh/fine but like its predecessors when it was bad it was really terrible. I definitely recommend Saints Row IV for the super-powered sandbox experience. (My Playthrough experience)
Friday, October 18, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Resident Evil 5 [Game][PC]
Amount Completed: Entire Game with my spouse.
Resident Evil 5 is a clunky 3rd person survival action game. The graphics are good and the imagery certainly is gruesome at times. As a cooperative game it is fun and at times teamwork can make things much easier. Unfortunately the controls really hamper the ability to feel like you are in direct control of your character. Instead you spend much of the game fighting the interface instead of the zombies/undead/infected/whatever.
The story is not exactly enticing but at least there is a narrative to an extent. Some of the game felt like a designer wanted to make a Tomb Raider game instead of a Resident Evil game. The quick time events in this game are just abusive. Not only does failure result in repetition but often quite a bit of repetition. I hate quick time events that appear over plot development as I want to pay close attention to the action and dialogue not random prompts that can appear up to and including 1 frame of game time (yea that's fair and balanced).
The biggest flaw/bug I saw was a prompt that indicated to hold a button down that was in fact intended to indicated to rapidly tap the button. To make things worse this occurs when battling the final boss. QA wins an award for not actually paying attention when testing the PC version (and possibly others too) in English. Congrats you did terribly!
Gut: Not exactly worth it... invalid instructions for quick time events aside... The experience is more infuriating than enjoyable. I hate most quick time events in just about any video game. This one relies on them too heavily and often requires you to fail to learn the key combinations ahead of time so you can press them within the given 1 frame window (I suggest pressing them before it even prompts you).
Resident Evil 5 is a clunky 3rd person survival action game. The graphics are good and the imagery certainly is gruesome at times. As a cooperative game it is fun and at times teamwork can make things much easier. Unfortunately the controls really hamper the ability to feel like you are in direct control of your character. Instead you spend much of the game fighting the interface instead of the zombies/undead/infected/whatever.
The story is not exactly enticing but at least there is a narrative to an extent. Some of the game felt like a designer wanted to make a Tomb Raider game instead of a Resident Evil game. The quick time events in this game are just abusive. Not only does failure result in repetition but often quite a bit of repetition. I hate quick time events that appear over plot development as I want to pay close attention to the action and dialogue not random prompts that can appear up to and including 1 frame of game time (yea that's fair and balanced).
The biggest flaw/bug I saw was a prompt that indicated to hold a button down that was in fact intended to indicated to rapidly tap the button. To make things worse this occurs when battling the final boss. QA wins an award for not actually paying attention when testing the PC version (and possibly others too) in English. Congrats you did terribly!
Gut: Not exactly worth it... invalid instructions for quick time events aside... The experience is more infuriating than enjoyable. I hate most quick time events in just about any video game. This one relies on them too heavily and often requires you to fail to learn the key combinations ahead of time so you can press them within the given 1 frame window (I suggest pressing them before it even prompts you).
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [Game][PC]
Amount Completed: Entire single player game
My review of this game is essentially the same as the review for Modern Warfare (1).
I think in the end... I was a bit disappointed. The game actually started out being a more fun than the first and felt larger-than-life but as the game came to a conclusion I was wishing for something more... grand. A number of the missions with America under siege felt almost open and less on rails than the rest of the game. Unfortunately this didn't continue and instead things were generally right back on fairly rigid rails.
There seemed to be a lot of "going to the well" when it comes to the main character becoming incapacitated or otherwise...
Gut: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a fine (mostly on rails) shooter. The story is nothing too exciting to me and the general gameplay is what I would expect of a shooter.
My review of this game is essentially the same as the review for Modern Warfare (1).
I think in the end... I was a bit disappointed. The game actually started out being a more fun than the first and felt larger-than-life but as the game came to a conclusion I was wishing for something more... grand. A number of the missions with America under siege felt almost open and less on rails than the rest of the game. Unfortunately this didn't continue and instead things were generally right back on fairly rigid rails.
There seemed to be a lot of "going to the well" when it comes to the main character becoming incapacitated or otherwise...
Gut: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a fine (mostly on rails) shooter. The story is nothing too exciting to me and the general gameplay is what I would expect of a shooter.
Friday, July 5, 2013
The Walking Dead [Game] [PC]
Amount Completed: All 5 Episodes
The Walking Dead "adventure" game is definitely intriguing and entertaining. I wouldn't say it is exactly fun as it's not much of a game. There's a lot of cut-scenes and talking. The action sequences are mostly uninteresting and could have easily been skipped to make an even more casual television viewing experience.
I was impressed with the lack of a filter of some very sensitive topics, such as the death of child character. The game is not one of great joy and certainly can be quite depressing at times. As a grand adventure through the world of zombies I think the story fit and moved along reasonably well.
Not all of the episodes are created equally either... Some of the required activities and interactions can become repetitive very quickly.
Gut: The Walking Dead was an enjoyable choose you own adventure. I recommend it for the interesting story and choices. If there is a way remove all the "action" sequences I would recommend doing so.
The Walking Dead "adventure" game is definitely intriguing and entertaining. I wouldn't say it is exactly fun as it's not much of a game. There's a lot of cut-scenes and talking. The action sequences are mostly uninteresting and could have easily been skipped to make an even more casual television viewing experience.
I was impressed with the lack of a filter of some very sensitive topics, such as the death of child character. The game is not one of great joy and certainly can be quite depressing at times. As a grand adventure through the world of zombies I think the story fit and moved along reasonably well.
Not all of the episodes are created equally either... Some of the required activities and interactions can become repetitive very quickly.
Gut: The Walking Dead was an enjoyable choose you own adventure. I recommend it for the interesting story and choices. If there is a way remove all the "action" sequences I would recommend doing so.
Arrested Development Season 4 [Television]
Amount Viewed: Entire Season
As with just about every fan of the show I was looking forward to seeing more Arrested Development when I heard it was given a second life by Netflix. As the release date drew near I heard rumors of very character driven/focused episodes and then I started to realize what was happening. The ensemble would not be an ensemble.
So here are some major points that made season 4 difficult for me to enjoy:
Gut: Unfortunate. "It just blue itself."
As with just about every fan of the show I was looking forward to seeing more Arrested Development when I heard it was given a second life by Netflix. As the release date drew near I heard rumors of very character driven/focused episodes and then I started to realize what was happening. The ensemble would not be an ensemble.
So here are some major points that made season 4 difficult for me to enjoy:
- No longer an ensemble where at least half the cast plays an active role in each episode
- Michael is no longer the straight-man and anchor of the show -- instead he is now a lot like the rest of the characters in the family
- The first episode I found to be tolerable the whole way through was Maeby's. (
- I don't need to see every angle of a story through the eyes of every character.
- Overload of stupid or unfunny
Gut: Unfortunate. "It just blue itself."
Monday, July 1, 2013
Red Faction: Guerrilla [Game][PC]
Amount Completed: Entire single player game (and a lot of the side stuff)
I recalled playing the original Red Faction ages ago but never finished it. I decided I should take this one more seriously after playing it for an hour. The story is a basic uprising against an oppressive government plot. The rebels seek out an upper hand and you run around blasting stuff to bits and agitating the oppressors.
The fun of the game is the physics engine. Blasting buildings and more to shreds is a lot of fun. As you play you gain access to more tools of destruction that arguably make the experience more entertaining. Unfortunately a number of the side missions become tedious and work against the game. I became especially bored with rescuing prisoners as they had a way of getting themselves killed. The "return the car to a base" missions also became extremely frustrating as the vehicle controls left a lot to be desired.
While a lot of fun and interesting enough (story is fairly light) the game simply was too long. Near the end I was ready for it to be over.
In many ways I feel I was spoiled by Just Cause 2. In Red Faction Guerrilla you're glued to the ground and your survival relies heavily on finding cover! There are plenty of very capable enemies working hard to make you die.
Gut: Red Faction: Guerrilla is a very good sand box-like game. Some of the travel required seems to just eat up time instead of adding to the experience of the game. Definitely worth playing through.
I recalled playing the original Red Faction ages ago but never finished it. I decided I should take this one more seriously after playing it for an hour. The story is a basic uprising against an oppressive government plot. The rebels seek out an upper hand and you run around blasting stuff to bits and agitating the oppressors.
The fun of the game is the physics engine. Blasting buildings and more to shreds is a lot of fun. As you play you gain access to more tools of destruction that arguably make the experience more entertaining. Unfortunately a number of the side missions become tedious and work against the game. I became especially bored with rescuing prisoners as they had a way of getting themselves killed. The "return the car to a base" missions also became extremely frustrating as the vehicle controls left a lot to be desired.
While a lot of fun and interesting enough (story is fairly light) the game simply was too long. Near the end I was ready for it to be over.
In many ways I feel I was spoiled by Just Cause 2. In Red Faction Guerrilla you're glued to the ground and your survival relies heavily on finding cover! There are plenty of very capable enemies working hard to make you die.
Gut: Red Faction: Guerrilla is a very good sand box-like game. Some of the travel required seems to just eat up time instead of adding to the experience of the game. Definitely worth playing through.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare [Game][PC]
Amount Completed: Entire single player game
I sought out this game not because I thought it would be a great game but because of the negativity directed towards it. I was not surprised with what I found. I can see why there are a lot of complaints about how there isn't much in the way of choice as you play. It's a fairly rigid directed experience that runs you through the narrative and given events along the way.
The sequence that received a lot of criticism was the artillery shelling of a city where the lives of the targets are reduced to blips (hmm much like the lives of characters killed in video games). As a sarcastic/caustic reminder of what military actions are far from the front lines of battle I was not exactly offended. I was a bit disappointed that they called back to it for the ending credits... oh well.
The story did take an interesting route with dual plot lines. Not everything went perfectly so that was a nice break from most shooters where things are generally fine in the end. Unfortunately except for one event I hardly recall what else happened in the game.
Gut: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a fine shooter. The story is nothing too exciting to me and the general gameplay is what I would expect of a shooter.
I sought out this game not because I thought it would be a great game but because of the negativity directed towards it. I was not surprised with what I found. I can see why there are a lot of complaints about how there isn't much in the way of choice as you play. It's a fairly rigid directed experience that runs you through the narrative and given events along the way.
The sequence that received a lot of criticism was the artillery shelling of a city where the lives of the targets are reduced to blips (hmm much like the lives of characters killed in video games). As a sarcastic/caustic reminder of what military actions are far from the front lines of battle I was not exactly offended. I was a bit disappointed that they called back to it for the ending credits... oh well.
The story did take an interesting route with dual plot lines. Not everything went perfectly so that was a nice break from most shooters where things are generally fine in the end. Unfortunately except for one event I hardly recall what else happened in the game.
Gut: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a fine shooter. The story is nothing too exciting to me and the general gameplay is what I would expect of a shooter.
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