New 360 and some games. Meh!
by Phil Carlisle · 12/29/2006 (2:34 am) · 38 comments
I've got a 360 now and I've been playing a bunch of games this christmas. Thought I'd share my thoughts here.
Dead Rising
While its fun bashing zombies with all sorts of stuff, it can get a bit samey. I liked the lawn mower etc. Thats the good bit.
The bad is the damn save system! ONE SAVE SLOT?? I mean, christ on a bike, you think they'd have gotten saves down by now. So I'm saving, running around, trying to find a save point WHY DONT YOU SAVE ANYWHERE YOU ****! I'm dying, spawning, dying, spawning.
Then there's the "missions". Ok, so the first "fun" mission is to help Brad? What does this entail? It entails shooting, against a guy with a deadly accurate machine gun. Whats the HARDEST thing to do on a console? Thats right, first person aiming! So I'm pressing my "go first person trigger", I'm trying to center the cursor on the dude, he lets loose with his machine gun, I lose 2 health blocks, I stagger back, losing my aim. Rinse repeat till dead.
I had to go online and find a walkthrough that tells you that you have to jump up on two boxes (what the hell are two large boxes doing in a bloody food court?) and get onto the scenery on the same level as the villain. Meh.. double meh in fact.
Then we finally take him out (lots of taking cover, trying not to spend too long as he's reloading boredom). The next "mission" involves an unkillable vehicle that pretty much unstoppable. You apparently are supposed to rely on them snagging on the scenery in the level to save you.. ooh thats fun.
I gave up at that point.
Gears of War
A fantastic looking game, if you're into homo-erotic space marine style graphics. Pretty generic human alien enemies are ok. I like some of the unusual camera work in the squat running etc. Feels kind of strange when you get hit and there are sort of decals of blood on the screen, but it pretty much works.
But its got that "been there 1000 times" gameplay feel to it.
Ohh, so enemy is round the corner, lets sidestep and try and take him out while our squadmates soak up the damage. Get on that fifty...erm.. space machine gun!
And then there's the berserker sequence. Oh man, what a delight that is. Whoever thought that one up deserves a good smack upside the head. I mean this kind of gameplay was done about 20 years ago for gods sake. It feels like I just stepped into a timewarp.
Frankly, Call of duty does this kind of mindless killing game a LOT better. Pity its all about teh graphics though eh.
Project Gotham Racing
Looks pretty, a bit too "shiny" for realisms sake, but yeah, it looks nice. However the cars feel like theyre made of sodden cardboard, the engine sounds like it came direct from the sewing machine factory, the collisions are as dull as paris hilton.
Why cant someone make a nice old drift round corners RACING game? Not some mad cop-chase thing (need for speed, I'm looking at you) crap.
Check out Motorstorm, which I think is more my cup of tea. Its not out yet here in the UK (that would require the PS3 to be out too), but it looks fantastic and seems to offer what I want (destruction, drifty RACING) and hey, theyre mates of ours, with a LOT of my students working there.
More to come:
I've got Viva Pinata still to play with yet, I'm hoping for this one to be a gem. It certainly looks more like something I'll enjoy.
So my take-out from this little .plan, is that for all of the sparkly graphics, I think that there are a few clear issues:
1) Large companies still cant write decent save systems
2) Graphics alone can sell a game
3) You can have a fantastic looking game and still screw it up with unresponsive controls or other relatively fixable issues
Dead Rising
While its fun bashing zombies with all sorts of stuff, it can get a bit samey. I liked the lawn mower etc. Thats the good bit.
The bad is the damn save system! ONE SAVE SLOT?? I mean, christ on a bike, you think they'd have gotten saves down by now. So I'm saving, running around, trying to find a save point WHY DONT YOU SAVE ANYWHERE YOU ****! I'm dying, spawning, dying, spawning.
Then there's the "missions". Ok, so the first "fun" mission is to help Brad? What does this entail? It entails shooting, against a guy with a deadly accurate machine gun. Whats the HARDEST thing to do on a console? Thats right, first person aiming! So I'm pressing my "go first person trigger", I'm trying to center the cursor on the dude, he lets loose with his machine gun, I lose 2 health blocks, I stagger back, losing my aim. Rinse repeat till dead.
I had to go online and find a walkthrough that tells you that you have to jump up on two boxes (what the hell are two large boxes doing in a bloody food court?) and get onto the scenery on the same level as the villain. Meh.. double meh in fact.
Then we finally take him out (lots of taking cover, trying not to spend too long as he's reloading boredom). The next "mission" involves an unkillable vehicle that pretty much unstoppable. You apparently are supposed to rely on them snagging on the scenery in the level to save you.. ooh thats fun.
I gave up at that point.
Gears of War
A fantastic looking game, if you're into homo-erotic space marine style graphics. Pretty generic human alien enemies are ok. I like some of the unusual camera work in the squat running etc. Feels kind of strange when you get hit and there are sort of decals of blood on the screen, but it pretty much works.
But its got that "been there 1000 times" gameplay feel to it.
Ohh, so enemy is round the corner, lets sidestep and try and take him out while our squadmates soak up the damage. Get on that fifty...erm.. space machine gun!
And then there's the berserker sequence. Oh man, what a delight that is. Whoever thought that one up deserves a good smack upside the head. I mean this kind of gameplay was done about 20 years ago for gods sake. It feels like I just stepped into a timewarp.
Frankly, Call of duty does this kind of mindless killing game a LOT better. Pity its all about teh graphics though eh.
Project Gotham Racing
Looks pretty, a bit too "shiny" for realisms sake, but yeah, it looks nice. However the cars feel like theyre made of sodden cardboard, the engine sounds like it came direct from the sewing machine factory, the collisions are as dull as paris hilton.
Why cant someone make a nice old drift round corners RACING game? Not some mad cop-chase thing (need for speed, I'm looking at you) crap.
Check out Motorstorm, which I think is more my cup of tea. Its not out yet here in the UK (that would require the PS3 to be out too), but it looks fantastic and seems to offer what I want (destruction, drifty RACING) and hey, theyre mates of ours, with a LOT of my students working there.
More to come:
I've got Viva Pinata still to play with yet, I'm hoping for this one to be a gem. It certainly looks more like something I'll enjoy.
So my take-out from this little .plan, is that for all of the sparkly graphics, I think that there are a few clear issues:
1) Large companies still cant write decent save systems
2) Graphics alone can sell a game
3) You can have a fantastic looking game and still screw it up with unresponsive controls or other relatively fixable issues
About the author
#22
12/29/2006 (12:50 pm)
Strange, I love Gears of War. I don't know what game it's supposed to be so similar to. I can't think of a single other shooting game that has quite as easy hide/shoot style. If you play it right, it's completely different than say Halo because you simply can't go running around and shooting people. You need to hide and cover your head. It rewards you for being patient... what other game does that?
#23
12/29/2006 (1:01 pm)
I think the real problem here is that not enough people are marbling it up. ;)
#24
I'm going to be playing Pro Evo Soccer 6 tonight, then I should have a pretty good idea of my whole catalogue so far.
12/29/2006 (1:06 pm)
Rainbow Six or any of its cohort (latest one is vegas, but it looks a bit glitzy to me).I'm going to be playing Pro Evo Soccer 6 tonight, then I should have a pretty good idea of my whole catalogue so far.
#25
I've played Uno more than any other game on the 360. May be the biggest waste of a console's processing power ever. But it's quick and easy (pretty mindless) fun.
Burnout Revenge is lots of fun too.
Melv, I love the Dalek comparison, haha! That's exactly how I feel. Just can't play FPS's with a console controller. No biggie, I'm finally playing through Thief 2 on the PC.
I will play Dead Rising when it hits 10 or 20 bucks somewhere. That save system is ridiculous but if I go in expecting it, I won't get too irate. Apart from that, it sounds like a good time.
12/29/2006 (1:16 pm)
Ah yes, Marble Blast... lots of fun. I'm deep into the advanced levels and cursing all you at GG, Mark. :)I've played Uno more than any other game on the 360. May be the biggest waste of a console's processing power ever. But it's quick and easy (pretty mindless) fun.
Burnout Revenge is lots of fun too.
Melv, I love the Dalek comparison, haha! That's exactly how I feel. Just can't play FPS's with a console controller. No biggie, I'm finally playing through Thief 2 on the PC.
I will play Dead Rising when it hits 10 or 20 bucks somewhere. That save system is ridiculous but if I go in expecting it, I won't get too irate. Apart from that, it sounds like a good time.
#26
Fight Night Round 3 - this game looks sick and will impress the hell out of your friends as you pummel their faces into bloody messes
Kameo - extremely pretty action game from Rare, pretty fun and cheap to buy
Condemned - brings nothing new to the table per-se, but it's moody and creepy as hell with the lights out
also from the recently backwards compatible list - play Psychonauts if you havent and play it again if you already have
12/29/2006 (1:19 pm)
Nice impressions, though I don't necessarily agree with all of them. Here's some games I think you should check out with a rental at least :Fight Night Round 3 - this game looks sick and will impress the hell out of your friends as you pummel their faces into bloody messes
Kameo - extremely pretty action game from Rare, pretty fun and cheap to buy
Condemned - brings nothing new to the table per-se, but it's moody and creepy as hell with the lights out
also from the recently backwards compatible list - play Psychonauts if you havent and play it again if you already have
#27
. More and more I'm leaning toward the 360 for my FPS fix, even though I've played Half-life 2 and Episode 1 on the PC I'm really looking forward to the HL2 + EP1 + EP2 + Team Fortress for the price of one 360 game. It's also SO much easier to jump into a multiplayer game on the 360, it just makes gaming easier.
12/29/2006 (2:48 pm)
I think Condemned was a great game, it really freaked me out on a couple different occasions. I also really enjoyed Gears of War and Prey. More and more I'm leaning toward the 360 for my FPS fix, even though I've played Half-life 2 and Episode 1 on the PC I'm really looking forward to the HL2 + EP1 + EP2 + Team Fortress for the price of one 360 game. It's also SO much easier to jump into a multiplayer game on the 360, it just makes gaming easier.
#28
If you've played enough 1st and 3rd person shooters gears is far from new, if you haven't played many it may be amazing, but it becomes same quickly and someone who said they hadn't tried dm yet, it's possibly the most boring multiplayer I've seen in all my games so far for 360 (I buy games 90% for the multiplayer so that's a huge factor for me and may be why I don't like gears much at all)
If you like the gears style of duck and cover though you should definetly at least try to play rainbow six somewhere, especially when you start to bust out the terror hunt aspect of the game.
this post has brought up some games it seems I may need to check out though, trying to get myself a good 5 games I can rotate through to keep myself entertained
@Matt I play some arcade games a lot too and the simpler ones at that does Uno have a big player base?
I'm NoWorriesXxX on 360 if anyone ever comes across me
12/29/2006 (2:55 pm)
@ Chris Rainbow Six is a series that goes back to the earlier 90s, and it requires patience and strategy and you can't just run around shooting people, and there's been other games to try and be that way gears is far from the first one to ever do that, there have been many games where you take cover and can shoot from cover, and I disagree I've found so far the best way to play single player and DM is to run like a mad man and just keep killing only taking cover to reload or heal where as rainbow six if you try that against computer opponents you die almost instantly, against human players it depends on their skill.If you've played enough 1st and 3rd person shooters gears is far from new, if you haven't played many it may be amazing, but it becomes same quickly and someone who said they hadn't tried dm yet, it's possibly the most boring multiplayer I've seen in all my games so far for 360 (I buy games 90% for the multiplayer so that's a huge factor for me and may be why I don't like gears much at all)
If you like the gears style of duck and cover though you should definetly at least try to play rainbow six somewhere, especially when you start to bust out the terror hunt aspect of the game.
this post has brought up some games it seems I may need to check out though, trying to get myself a good 5 games I can rotate through to keep myself entertained
@Matt I play some arcade games a lot too and the simpler ones at that does Uno have a big player base?
I'm NoWorriesXxX on 360 if anyone ever comes across me
#29
I absolutely love GEARS, and frankly, it makes Rainbow Six : Vegas feel broken to me. It is not without its flaws, but they are easily forgotten when you play the game co-op on a harder difficulty levels.
@Phil : I have been following the PGR series since its first inception on the Dreamcast (a little game called Metropolis Street Racer). I cannot stand Gran Turismo, Sega GT or any of those 'realistic' games, yet PGR's kudos system has me coming back to it time and time again.
Project Gotham 3 lacks several features which made the previous iterations feel more complete (Radio stations, car variety, challenge system). The graphics are wicked-cool, the engine sounds are forgettable, but the car handling is just right if you've followed the series for a while.
The game also feels like it focused on marketing bulletpoints, trying to appeal to the widest audience...I feel that they have lost part of the magic there. Project Gotham 2 still stands as my favorite so far.
If you take it as a 'serious' car simulator....you'd better wait for Forza 2, but if you take it as an arcade game, then it shines oh so bright :) Then again, everyone has the right to have an opinion, right? :)
12/29/2006 (3:10 pm)
@Chris : Many games reward the use of cover, but no other game has done it in such a slick and intuitive way.I absolutely love GEARS, and frankly, it makes Rainbow Six : Vegas feel broken to me. It is not without its flaws, but they are easily forgotten when you play the game co-op on a harder difficulty levels.
@Phil : I have been following the PGR series since its first inception on the Dreamcast (a little game called Metropolis Street Racer). I cannot stand Gran Turismo, Sega GT or any of those 'realistic' games, yet PGR's kudos system has me coming back to it time and time again.
Project Gotham 3 lacks several features which made the previous iterations feel more complete (Radio stations, car variety, challenge system). The graphics are wicked-cool, the engine sounds are forgettable, but the car handling is just right if you've followed the series for a while.
The game also feels like it focused on marketing bulletpoints, trying to appeal to the widest audience...I feel that they have lost part of the magic there. Project Gotham 2 still stands as my favorite so far.
If you take it as a 'serious' car simulator....you'd better wait for Forza 2, but if you take it as an arcade game, then it shines oh so bright :) Then again, everyone has the right to have an opinion, right? :)
#30
I agree with you about Dead Rising.
Motorstorm is amazing. I didn't think I would like it but I'm loving the demo on my PS3. Can't wait for it to come out. Will it dethrone Burnout as my favorite racing game? We'll see. Project Gotham Racing...meh. Have you guys seen the Gran Turismo HD demo for download on the Playstation store? Almost photo realistic.
Congrats on the 360 and Happy New year!!!
-Ajari-
12/29/2006 (4:13 pm)
Homo-erotic space marines?? Right. I'll leave that one alone. But if your strafing around the enemy in Gears then your playing it wrong. The game uses a cover system I've only seen in one other game, Killswitch. The game is a lot different from the majority of shooters out there. I don't regret the purchase one bit. What exactly were you expecting from Gears anyway?I agree with you about Dead Rising.
Motorstorm is amazing. I didn't think I would like it but I'm loving the demo on my PS3. Can't wait for it to come out. Will it dethrone Burnout as my favorite racing game? We'll see. Project Gotham Racing...meh. Have you guys seen the Gran Turismo HD demo for download on the Playstation store? Almost photo realistic.
Congrats on the 360 and Happy New year!!!
-Ajari-
#31
More review madness with Viva Pinata and Pro Evo Soccer 6 tommorow..
12/29/2006 (5:09 pm)
Actually now I come to think of it, the GOW cover system feels a bit like MGS's (i.e. lay flat against boxes and aim round corners. Its just added the "low wall as cover" idea on top of that.More review madness with Viva Pinata and Pro Evo Soccer 6 tommorow..
#32
12/29/2006 (7:42 pm)
lol Viva Pinata. How does Air Ace run on it ? Ok reserve that question for next year ;)
#33
I got it for christmas and have alternated playing it with my my girlfriends 8 year old daughter and we definitely play it differently.. its fun tho :)
12/30/2006 (2:02 am)
Viva Pinata is a pretty interesting game actually. It strikes me as a game that can actually be played to great depth or very shallowly depending on who's playing.I got it for christmas and have alternated playing it with my my girlfriends 8 year old daughter and we definitely play it differently.. its fun tho :)
#34
12/30/2006 (6:56 am)
I was LOL at the Name "Viva Pinata". You have no idea how many people I have seen loose teeth or draw blood (I am born and raise in South Texas so EVERYONE has / had a pinata).
#35
PGR was probably my favorite of the launch titles (my boys broke the dvd though so I guess I'll have to buy the wireless wheel at some point to get a free copy). If you want that grungie feeling of motorstorm, just do in the in-car view. Crashes and such feel much more visceral that way. I much prefer the speed in PGR than the slow pace of motorstorm (what little I've played of it). It was like it was in slow motion.
Viva is probably my favorite "second-gen" game (though GoW was excellent too) just because everyone in my family enjoyed it, which is really quite an accomplishment.
So why not just make my top ten list already:
Viva
Gears
Oblivion
PGR3
GRAW (why oh why didn't you let us play co-op through the main missions!?! You would have probably been my favorite!)
Kameo
Perfect Dark (multiplayer was really quite deep and was a staple for the first 3 months of the console... I just wish they had shipped new content for it around late january/early february to keep us all playing)
Arcade titles:
MBU
Geometry Wars
Lumines
I really want to get Assault Heroes but there's just not enough time in the day. Maybe next month.
I think the line up for next year significantly favors the 360, with the wii in second place. There are only a couple of "exclusives" to get excited about for other consoles, but there's a nearly a half dozen for the 360 (and that's not including arcade titles like castle crashers) that I will buy without hesitation. The best part is that so many of the big 3rd party titles are going cross-platform (that used to be sony exclusives) that either the PS3 or 360 will provide a lot of great content.. not to mention the unique gameplay of the wii (is it me or does ssx blur look to be HUGE?). It's a great time to be a gamer, that's for sure.
Gamertag: onionroach
-Andrew Douglas
theoreticalgames.com
12/30/2006 (7:44 am)
I'm not a fan boy as I try to own as many consoles as I possibly can - they are our "family entertainment" and being stuck with just one console just wouldn't do... but I have to admit I've enjoyed my 360 since day one (even the waiting in line for 14 hours). As a console, it does so many things right. It's definitely the most fun I've had playing video games since the NES days. Achievements are probably the biggest reason for that, even though I'm not a gamer score whore (I don't go out and rent games just to get points), the variety of gameplay styles (such as not shooting anything, just trying to survive in Geometry wars for as long as you can) and the sense of accomplishment is really extraordinary. It saddens me that the other consoles aren't ripping the whole thing off. I've not gotten the PS3 yet, but the wii does have some nice "accomplishments" on a per game basis (like getting your age told to you by wii sports), but it's just not the same. I try to imagine zelda with accomplishments and it would add so much to the game. I think that's why I liked Kameo so much... it was the perfect addition to the adventure genre. Of course the integration of Live with every game, in a consistent way, is how it should be done. Yes, there are some matchmaking limitations/irritations, but it's still a significant improvement over every other console.PGR was probably my favorite of the launch titles (my boys broke the dvd though so I guess I'll have to buy the wireless wheel at some point to get a free copy). If you want that grungie feeling of motorstorm, just do in the in-car view. Crashes and such feel much more visceral that way. I much prefer the speed in PGR than the slow pace of motorstorm (what little I've played of it). It was like it was in slow motion.
Viva is probably my favorite "second-gen" game (though GoW was excellent too) just because everyone in my family enjoyed it, which is really quite an accomplishment.
So why not just make my top ten list already:
Viva
Gears
Oblivion
PGR3
GRAW (why oh why didn't you let us play co-op through the main missions!?! You would have probably been my favorite!)
Kameo
Perfect Dark (multiplayer was really quite deep and was a staple for the first 3 months of the console... I just wish they had shipped new content for it around late january/early february to keep us all playing)
Arcade titles:
MBU
Geometry Wars
Lumines
I really want to get Assault Heroes but there's just not enough time in the day. Maybe next month.
I think the line up for next year significantly favors the 360, with the wii in second place. There are only a couple of "exclusives" to get excited about for other consoles, but there's a nearly a half dozen for the 360 (and that's not including arcade titles like castle crashers) that I will buy without hesitation. The best part is that so many of the big 3rd party titles are going cross-platform (that used to be sony exclusives) that either the PS3 or 360 will provide a lot of great content.. not to mention the unique gameplay of the wii (is it me or does ssx blur look to be HUGE?). It's a great time to be a gamer, that's for sure.
Gamertag: onionroach
-Andrew Douglas
theoreticalgames.com
#36
12/30/2006 (1:45 pm)
I dunno. I've played a few of the Rainbow 6 games, I think they have a totally different feel than GoW. But hey, that's just my opinion! :) 
#37
12/31/2006 (10:56 am)
I just got my PS3 and Resistance is OK but i still play my 360 more because of Gears of war, all i want to know is what is going on with TEGA, I'm about to purchase softimage 6 because I'm working with greenbriar the makers of toolbox a software that can export and reduce models from poser 7 into torque, which i must say work pretty good, and i talk to daz3d and they said as long as you can't export the file out of the demo it OK. Site http://www.greenbriarstudio.com/3D/index.htm the team is working on collada files importer and exporter into toolbox so i can export my softimage character into torque. I hope we get some news soon on tega because i ready to start my next gen game. 
#38
Just my 2 cents.
Happy new year !
01/01/2007 (5:06 am)
Viva Pinata really kick a**. I think its the best game of the last few years on console. Its a colorfull vision of a mashroom trip..LOLJust my 2 cents.
Happy new year !
Torque Owner Vashner
Something people can play while drinking a cold beer and eating chips on the Sofa. That doesn't cause RSI injuries by pulling on the carpel or working over your various cartlidge.
Someone hook up a rapid prototyping machine to blender or 3dsmax. I played with one once. You can print 3d models and it etches the prototype in polymer.