about 2 hours into this one so its time for a first play thread.
graphically, going off today's standards, this game is rubbish. Its DC era at the best. nice facial animation when in cut-scenes (all using the in-game engine) and a few nice 'little details' like butterflies swarming and birds flying... but its really hard to find anything worthwhile in the eye candy department at all. tons of glitches (arms going through walls, your characters pony-tail going through his body/other peoples bodies etc). sad to say that the water (which is one of the main features of the game - you know, with it being set on treasure islands and all that) is worse than anything seen for many many years, we are talking sub-par n64 ish here (Mario 64 had much better water imo)........ anyways less of the graphics (we aren't graphic whores after all) and onto how this little beauty plays.....
'You don't control the characters movement, you control the camera' or so the game tells you. In other words 'its a similar control system to the original tomb raider, with identical supertanker style turning circles etc but to make it just that little bit harder both movement and camera are on the same stick'....needless to say, not a good control system does this make.
the game is supposed to use an advanced AI system, where you point at the place you want to go and the game's AI will get you there - no more pressing Action to climb onto and over objects, the game does it all for you. Sounds good doesn't it...........sadly the proof is in the pudding (as they say) and the AI system just isn't upto the job at all. I point at an area i want to go to, and the game takes my character there, until it gets to a railing that i don't want to climb over but oh no, the AI knows better so over i go, to then land on a slope and slide (Tomb Raiderish) to the bloody bottom (where i started).... so i then go back up the bloody slope and come to the same railing and guess what - yep you guessed it, over i go again and back down to the bottom. Game was turned off at this point, into the back garden i went where i proceeded to enjoy the bee's buzzing, the people cutting lawns and the sound of some idiot playing the same record over and over again. So feeling refreshed i went back to the game and this time the AI actually managed to bypass the railing for me
another thing which the game heralds is the ability to suss out what an item does whilst heading towards it, thus negating the time needed to press an Action button telling you character to perform whatever motion needed. Sounds good again, but once again IT DOESN'T BLOODY WORK. approach an item from the wrong angle and it won't do what it says on the tin, its still locked onto it, its still telling you to press UP to activate the motion (can someone explain to me how pressing UP is any different from say pressing X to activate something?) but it won't do it. Lock off, approach from the right angle, lock back on and it works ...... totally revolutionises how we will play platformers from now on doesn't it Mr Gard
lets see, what else does the game do right........ ahhhhhh the combat system. lets bumrush the players character with numerous enemies, and give the player a control system which means you have to swing the camera round to attack to left or right. Yep that will make a smooth combat engine won't it . lets then give the character 2 buttons and no block button (to block you must have the camera facing the opponent attacking - which means that once you are surrounded you are fooked (to put it mildly)) ..... just how a game can be released in this day and age with such a shoddy combat system is beyond me, its as though Mark of Kri and PoP (or any platformer with combat elements released in the past few years) just didn't happen.....
don't forget the obligatory boss fights (this 'insert boss model here' is too big to fight normally so you need to climb onto its back and attack its head ala countless Sinbad movies), the timed sections (what do you mean i have 10 seconds to get to somewhere/something that i can't see, don't know where it is, fighting enemies on the way etc etc etc), the 'sliding down a slope dodging obstacles/jumping fires etc etc.......yep you got it, all the 3d platforming cliches are all in place -------- revolutionary or what...
anyways - back to this masterpiece ft:
graphically, going off today's standards, this game is rubbish. Its DC era at the best. nice facial animation when in cut-scenes (all using the in-game engine) and a few nice 'little details' like butterflies swarming and birds flying... but its really hard to find anything worthwhile in the eye candy department at all. tons of glitches (arms going through walls, your characters pony-tail going through his body/other peoples bodies etc). sad to say that the water (which is one of the main features of the game - you know, with it being set on treasure islands and all that) is worse than anything seen for many many years, we are talking sub-par n64 ish here (Mario 64 had much better water imo)........ anyways less of the graphics (we aren't graphic whores after all) and onto how this little beauty plays.....
'You don't control the characters movement, you control the camera' or so the game tells you. In other words 'its a similar control system to the original tomb raider, with identical supertanker style turning circles etc but to make it just that little bit harder both movement and camera are on the same stick'....needless to say, not a good control system does this make.
the game is supposed to use an advanced AI system, where you point at the place you want to go and the game's AI will get you there - no more pressing Action to climb onto and over objects, the game does it all for you. Sounds good doesn't it...........sadly the proof is in the pudding (as they say) and the AI system just isn't upto the job at all. I point at an area i want to go to, and the game takes my character there, until it gets to a railing that i don't want to climb over but oh no, the AI knows better so over i go, to then land on a slope and slide (Tomb Raiderish) to the bloody bottom (where i started).... so i then go back up the bloody slope and come to the same railing and guess what - yep you guessed it, over i go again and back down to the bottom. Game was turned off at this point, into the back garden i went where i proceeded to enjoy the bee's buzzing, the people cutting lawns and the sound of some idiot playing the same record over and over again. So feeling refreshed i went back to the game and this time the AI actually managed to bypass the railing for me
another thing which the game heralds is the ability to suss out what an item does whilst heading towards it, thus negating the time needed to press an Action button telling you character to perform whatever motion needed. Sounds good again, but once again IT DOESN'T BLOODY WORK. approach an item from the wrong angle and it won't do what it says on the tin, its still locked onto it, its still telling you to press UP to activate the motion (can someone explain to me how pressing UP is any different from say pressing X to activate something?) but it won't do it. Lock off, approach from the right angle, lock back on and it works ...... totally revolutionises how we will play platformers from now on doesn't it Mr Gard
lets see, what else does the game do right........ ahhhhhh the combat system. lets bumrush the players character with numerous enemies, and give the player a control system which means you have to swing the camera round to attack to left or right. Yep that will make a smooth combat engine won't it . lets then give the character 2 buttons and no block button (to block you must have the camera facing the opponent attacking - which means that once you are surrounded you are fooked (to put it mildly)) ..... just how a game can be released in this day and age with such a shoddy combat system is beyond me, its as though Mark of Kri and PoP (or any platformer with combat elements released in the past few years) just didn't happen.....
don't forget the obligatory boss fights (this 'insert boss model here' is too big to fight normally so you need to climb onto its back and attack its head ala countless Sinbad movies), the timed sections (what do you mean i have 10 seconds to get to somewhere/something that i can't see, don't know where it is, fighting enemies on the way etc etc etc), the 'sliding down a slope dodging obstacles/jumping fires etc etc.......yep you got it, all the 3d platforming cliches are all in place -------- revolutionary or what...
anyways - back to this masterpiece ft:
Comment