As Nathan says at one point, "I'm so tired of climbing sh*t."
It is a little repetitive, but I enjoy the actions I'm repeating, so it's okay.
If I have a complaint, it's that it is a little too action-packed for my tastes. Action-wise, I feel like they threw everything but the kitchen sink in here. I won't go through the list, because there are people who haven't played it yet, but during the later sections of the game, it's just one high-action set piece after another, after another... There's a small break for some platforming, and then it's back into the fray again. I would've preferred a little more downtime between big action scenes. It feels like a little too much. Although, I did play for a long stretch yesterday, so maybe that's part of it.
I'm not sure whether I'd like that one myself. It's a long game, and I'm not a big fan of turn-based combat or FF-styled characters. I've watched some vids of it on Youtube and thought, "Do I want to spend 60 to 80 hours on this?" Not so sure.
I keep waiting for him to stop and make out with these women whose asses he's spending the whole game looking up at while they climb ladders. I mean, come on, take a break.
It's a great game, no doubt about it. I think I just overdosed on all the action-packed action yesterday. I'll go play Rain for a while or something.
I loved how action packed the uncharted games are. The set pieces are spectacular and amazing. It really feels like you're playing an action movie because there's no filler and it's just go go go. That's why it's good the games are only 8-10 hours or so because anything longer and then the game could feel like it's dragging on. The movie feel of the games is one of the main reason I love it so much, since I also love the story and characters.
Just finished the game. It was really good. It's amazing how sharp writing and solid voice acting can make videogame characters feel like real people rather than just 2-D "game characters." Makes a big difference. Had it not been for me wanting to see what happened to the characters, I probably wouldn't have ploughed through all the shootey shootey stuff (which was fun, but not enough by itself). Thumbs up to Naughty Dog. 9/10 from me.
I've been getting interested in Elder Scrolls Online lately, so I might trade my PS3 for a PS4 sooner than I planned, in June or July. That would give me a couple more months with the PS3. I'd like to see if I can at least get through Beyond: Two Souls, Rain, and Uncharted 3, then maybe give a handful of other games a shot.
Just finished the game. It was really good. It's amazing how sharp writing and solid voice acting can make videogame characters feel like real people rather than just 2-D "game characters." Makes a big difference. Had it not been for me wanting to see what happened to the characters, I probably wouldn't have ploughed through all the shootey shootey stuff (which was fun, but not enough by itself). Thumbs up to Naughty Dog. 9/10 from me.
I've been getting interested in Elder Scrolls Online lately, so I might trade my PS3 for a PS4 sooner than I planned, in June or July. That would give me a couple more months with the PS3. I'd like to see if I can at least get through Beyond: Two Souls, Rain, and Uncharted 3, then maybe give a handful of other games a shot.
Started Beyond: Two Souls today. Uncanny valley, man.
The graphics and character models are impressive, and the acting and voice work is far above average. I feel bad for Ellen Page, she put so much effort into her performance in this game, and it received a mediocre reception.
I'm enjoying the story, although I can see why people complained about lack of gameplay. It does feel like you're watching a movie where you only occasionally exert control, and a lot of those control moments are pretty trivial, like opening a door. Controlling Aiden has been fun, though.
I can't decide if I should unload my PS3, or keep it as a "second TV" machine. I've had it and the 360 unplugged and sitting in my spare bedroom since the PS4 and X1 launched, but still haven't sold either back.
Yes, as Dried Mangoes Naty said, I've played Heavy Rain. I enjoyed it. I also liked Indigo Prophecy.
So far, Beyond seems like an interesting experiment, a blend of cinema and gaming, but not an entirely successful one. The action suffers from all the damn QTEs. Everything here -- every action -- is a QTE. Cage has always been heavy on the QTEs, but he's trying a more action-oriented game this time, and QTEs just don't work very well in an action oriented game.
This is very apparent, coming off of Uncharted 2. In that game, I was moving through the environment under my own power, using my own wits, reflexes, and creativity. When I got through a group of baddies, I felt a sense of accomplishment. In Beyond, though, I am just responding to occasional on-screen cues. What happens has very little to do with me -- or at least, that's how it feels*. I don't feel a sense of ownership of the character or the actions. I don't feel a sense of accomplishment, either. All I've done is manage to push buttons the screen told me to push.
I would feel differently if the game were not so action-oriented. But in an action-oriented game, I want to feel like I am the author of the actions, not just a monkey responding to a button cue. I think Cage's QTE-heavy style might work better in a less action-oriented game. I thought it worked pretty well in Indigo Prophecy, for instance, where a lot of what you were doing was detective work.
*edit: I understand that there are moments in the game where your choices do lead to different outcomes. However, all of that happens behind the scenes; it not a part of your experience, as you're playing the game.
Yeah but the problem with uncharted, you go up a ladder open some kind of door and they force you to watch him opening it and close it. Now, that makes it more realistic or whatever but there are just too many circumstances where they are trying to mix the two. So, I can handle it better in Heavy Rain a little more for example.
Uncharted also has way too many, "dramatic event's" it becomes very cliche and unrealistic. I'm fine for goofy games/movies but I don't like over dramatic oh s***, I almost fell and died moments. That is more cheesey than extreme comedy to me Those aren't too bad to have but when im climbing up a train that is "hanging off death" and I almost fall off it with 20 different scripted events , that is the part that just isn't needed and I'm just waving my controller thinking I just want to play it and get on with it.
I still want to see a game with a heavy physics calculations system so that if I fall or land on something it has to do with angles and weights. Still too far from that I guess.
I didn't mind the brief little QT-type moments in Uncharted 2. That's how you should use them, imo -- as an occasional break or variation in gameplay. In Beyond, QTEs are the whole menu, not just a side dish. I don't think that works for an action game, that's all I'm saying.
I agree that Uncharted 2 had too many "oh sh*t" type moments where Nathan almost died but didn't. It got a little ridiculous. I got in the spirit of the thing, though, and ended up laughing about it. "Damn, dude, how are you still alive?"
A lot of games have that "survived by the skin of your teeth" moments.
Tomb Raider was just as bad in that regard. (also a great game though)
Cod Ghost had a moment where you destroy an oil rig and have to jump off before it blows up. Of course the rescue helicopter had a ladder to jump to. Naturally your guy jumps for the ladder last and just barely grabs the last rung. Not the forth or fifth rung from the bottom, but the last one. Lol
I think it stands out more in games like CoD, that are aiming for gritty realism. There, you almost want to say, "Yeah, riiight..." But Uncharted is similar to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was inspired by 50's pulp comics. The over-the-top "oh sh*t" moments fit that comic book style. They're part of the charm, really. It also helps that Uncharted has a sense of humor about itself. I think the ludicrous "oh sh*t" moments stand out more in games that take themselves very seriously.
there's a point where the self-aware humour line is crossed. uncharted 2 crossed that line about a 100 times. games in general really need to evolve out of that disconnect between gameplay and story (drake killing literally thousands of people was numbing). thats why last of us was such a step forward for gaming imo, it towed that line quite well, compared to whats we're used to, at least. fewer but meaningful encounters > constant waves of nothingness
obviously this is a general thing im speaking of. wave killing can still be handled well, i just dont think uncharted did that. uncharted games really have no need to be 8+ hour long because they get so stale. the mechanics and story would be better served in short 3-4 bits. vanquish did a much better job at fulfilling that wave killing+tounge in cheek genre, for example.
Well, I wasn't saying it was all self-aware humor, exactly, more that the humor helped you take the absurdity less seriously. Mainly, I think it's just a genre where that kind of over-the-top "oh sh*t" stuff works better than in other genres -- although I agree it was still overdone, to the point where I was laughing at the game, saying, "Oh, come on." I also agree that it went on a little long with the same type of action. I feel that way about most games, though.
A lot of games have that "survived by the skin of your teeth" moments.
Tomb Raider was just as bad in that regard. (also a great game though)
Cod Ghost had a moment where you destroy an oil rig and have to jump off before it blows up. Of course the rescue helicopter had a ladder to jump to. Naturally your guy jumps for the ladder last and just barely grabs the last rung. Not the forth or fifth rung from the bottom, but the last one. Lol
there's a point where the self-aware humour line is crossed. uncharted 2 crossed that line about a 100 times. games in general really need to evolve out of that disconnect between gameplay and story (drake killing literally thousands of people was numbing). thats why last of us was such a step forward for gaming imo, it towed that line quite well, compared to whats we're used to, at least. fewer but meaningful encounters > constant waves of nothingness
obviously this is a general thing im speaking of. wave killing can still be handled well, i just dont think uncharted did that. uncharted games really have no need to be 8+ hour long because they get so stale. the mechanics and story would be better served in short 3-4 bits. vanquish did a much better job at fulfilling that wave killing+tounge in cheek genre, for example.
yes, its strange to kill wave after wave of bad guys. like max payne 3 or any other game. You would always have to wonder, where are all these men coming from. I do think that is ok in a game if you like that kind of thing.
I do think you can evolve a game where you can have things to do that are interesting (boring to some) but tense, smart ai that actually go all around a bulding looking for you. Can you escape? do they ever find you? how do they find you and what do they do to find you? you have 30 floors, certain exits. They need to use strats to cover those and to try to stop you. but do you go out a window to try and grab something? a game needs to have enough options to where even the developer or ai may not know how you will try to escpae. this is the kind of evolving i'd like to see when you only have a certain amount of actual enemies. I think a game like that could be a lot more fun and replay value would be insaine to play with when your ai is always doing and setting up new things in large buildings with tons of rooms that you can freely to around in and do what you want.
same. pacing is a sleeping art in video games it seems. so many games would benefit from having half their content chopped outright, because their mechanics just cannot support these runtimes. this is a monetary problem no doubt; gotta find something to pose as justification for that $60 price tag, and bloating your game with enemies and boxes of terrain is the most passable avenue.
yes, its strange to kill wave after wave of bad guys. like max payne 3 or any other game. You would always have to wonder, where are all these men coming from. I do think that is ok in a game if you like that kind of thing.
i don't. at the very least there should be justification for why these mass armies periodically put themselves to the slaughter. most games just ignore this outright and pretend like it's not even a thing. drake from uncharted would murder 100s of guys in gameplay and then the act like some loveable rascal in the cutscenes. total clash. these things actually need to be accounted for
[...] I think a game like that could be a lot more fun and replay value would be insaine to play with when your ai is always doing and setting up new things in large buildings with tons of rooms that you can freely to around in and do what you want.
for sho. would love to play a game like that. i've read that some developers that attempted these things but end up scaling it back because "it's to hard". i don't buy that though, at least not in the broad sense. if you throw super intelligent ai into a game like uncharted you're gonna have a bad time, but if implemented ground up as a core element with other aspects feeding into it (level design, combat -- explicitly built with it in mind) then that would be rockin. i've always wanted to play the S.W.A.T games because apparently they offer something of this nature
I still want to see a game with a heavy physics calculations system so that if I fall or land on something it has to do with angles and weights. Still too far from that I guess.
Continuing through Beyond. It's getting better or else I'm just accepting its style better. I just played through the Homeless section, which was pretty good. Except for the part
where she's channeling Stan's wife with blank eyes and Stan is not freaking out like a normal person would but instead immediately believing and teary-eyed ... I thought that was unrealistic
I'm still having trouble knowing which way to move the thumbstick during fights. I get confused about what Jodie is trying to do (e.g., duck or block), following her movements, and whether I'm supposed to be choosing my direction based on the camera view or Jodie's position. I'm also annoyed that Aiden, this all-powerful entitiy, is no help at all in fights but mainly functions as a furniture mover and button presser.
I'm griping though. Honestly, I'm very impressed with the game in several ways. Graphics, for example. I will just stop to marvel at them, sometimes. And I appreciate what Cage is trying to do, mixing cinema and gameplay, even if he's not always successful with it. I'm interested in the story, and it has provided a couple of moving moments. I value story a lot in videogames, and it's nice to see someone take it so seriously. Gameplay wise, though, I do think it falls short, in the sense that I mentioned above.
That's different, it's basically a 2d/3d game and makes use of physics a lot easier in some ways. Very few games have realistic physics though anyways. Computers just aren't fast enough to get close to it. VR could add some to that with first person adventure games maybe in a few games. I don't think harder jumps is just the idea I'm looking for though. That football game that game out last gen was a good start (forgot the name) to see where physics can lead when it isn't as canned.
Continuing through Beyond. It's getting better or else I'm just accepting its style better. I just played through the Homeless section, which was pretty good. Except for the part
where she's channeling Stan's wife with blank eyes and Stan is not freaking out like a normal person would but instead immediately believing and teary-eyed ... I thought that was unrealistic
I'm still having trouble knowing which way to move the thumbstick during fights. I get confused about what Jodie is trying to do (e.g., duck or block), following her movements, and whether I'm supposed to be choosing my direction based on the camera view or Jodie's position. I'm also annoyed that Aiden, this all-powerful entitiy, is no help at all in fights but mainly functions as a furniture mover and button presser.
I'm griping though. Honestly, I'm very impressed with the game in several ways. Graphics, for example. I will just stop to marvel at them, sometimes. And I appreciate what Cage is trying to do, mixing cinema and gameplay, even if he's not always successful with it. I'm interested in the story, and it has provided a couple of moving moments. I value story a lot in videogames, and it's nice to see someone take it so seriously. Gameplay wise, though, I do think it falls short, in the sense that I mentioned above.
Getting close to finishing Beyond. About 5 chapters left or so. It's been a really a mixed bag.
Strengths:
+ Graphics are outstanding
+ Voice acting is great
+ Character animations are top-notch
+ The story is interesting and did stir emotion at times
+ The game is unique in what it tries to do
Weaknesses:
- Press-to-execute gameplay makes me feel like I'm not really in control of the action, just the elicitor of it; I feel like an observer of the game/movie
- Because of that, I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything. I'm twiddling the controller so that I can watch the next segment of Cage's movie unfurl.
- Controller movements can be awkward and unclear during combat
- No sense of challenge; no way to fail the game, as far as I can tell
- Despite the heavy emphasis on story, parts of the story were pretty weak. For instance,
Jodie decides to have a small child accompany her on a top-secret, high-stakes CIA mission. lol. Really? Cage has her do this in order to set up a "poignant" goodbye scene and then a "twist," both of which fall flat.
Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the game. I'll give it a 7 or so. It's an interesting experience. But it doesn't give me the rewards that I usually get from gaming (e.g., sense of control, challenge, or accomplishment). It feels more like I'm watching a movie that occasionally pauses to give me a chance to move the story forward.
I'm still having trouble knowing which way to move the thumbstick during fights. I get confused about what Jodie is trying to do (e.g., duck or block), following her movements, and whether I'm supposed to be choosing my direction based on the camera view or Jodie's position.
I've not played it, but watched someone finnish it.. I think you're supposed to use the thumbstick from Jodie's position tough.
- I tought the story were pretty exciting, I especially liked the ending.
Finished it last night. Got to be honest, there were so many plot holes, I really lost that "suspension of disbelief" you need to remain connected to a game/story. And too much of the game seemed "sentimental" to me, by which I mean it just tried to evoke emotion without subtlety ("here is a sad part!"), without the story or the writing to back it up, which left me feeling sort of emotionally manipulated.
I admired Ellen Page's performance and the visuals. The story did have its moments, I don't want to discount it completely. It was ambitious, that's for sure. I just don't think it succeeded all that well, either as a movie or a game. 7/10 from me, with points for effort.
