Wednesday, May 20, 2009

New Game Reviews + Slurpee Love!



sorry so choppy- Mac is crazy slow today...

44 comments:

NeedlesKane said...

Hey David,

any info on when your game will be announced

grasshopper said...

Man I didn't even know they were making a Terminator game. Seems like such a cool concept for a game...too bad I guess. Hey out of curiosity how are ya playing Punchout? I heard it had like the old school NES controls and the swing type motion stuff. Been dying to play that but I don't think I can drop $50 on a game that I played before more or less.

Gekkoton said...

Hi David, have you seen the leaked Trico video? what do you think of it?

Gekkoton said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Oh gawd....I hate training mission levels in games....Call of duty series has them even tho they take about 5 mins. But the worst training levels that the developlers make you go through are games like splinter cell: double agent and america's army. UGH!!!

Anonymous said...

Understand where your coming from, but disagree on the whole cutscene argument. If done right, I feel adding those story elements really keeps the gamer hooked. I cant tell you how many games kept me playing because I wanted to reach the next cutscene to see where the story would go next.

David Jaffe said...

not opposed to cut scenes. Am opposed to so many cut scenes at the start of the game. I don't even know if I like your game yet and your are forcing me to watch all this back story when all I wanna do is PLAY! It's like, why are games always ignoring what players WANT TO DO?!?!

Benjamin said...

Though i do completly agree and feel the same about training missions/levels that just get in the way of starting the damn game, but one question does pop to mind.

How can you make the player accustomed to the control layout etc without resorting to training levels or tutorials for games that arent so story orrientated?

Dom said...

Actually you're wrong David. Guys don't like training sections. Girls on the other hand do like them and prefer that over sandbox "try it yourself" approach.

There's a research on that if you're interested. If you sit down with a little girl and start a game, you'll immediately hear "show me" (or "daddy show me" in your case I guess). That's because females prefer showing over trying yourself.

I won't argue about BC's target audience though. It's most likely wrong approach for the game. But in general you were incorrect. :)

CosmycMyndFuhk said...

My only interest for the Terminator game is the trophies, all of which are gold (except the Platinum, of course), and it sucks that BC isn't doing well. Good luck on your games mile stone, hope you guys are in the zone and are kicking ass.

ihatereading369 said...

Hmm question-
You said you didnt like cut scenes in the beginning of games and especially in action games right?

Well if I remember correctly, God of war had a cut scene before you even got to do anything at all (aside from the menu obviously). And god of war is an action game, no?

So if you hate these types of things so much then why did you decide to put them in your own game??

David Jaffe said...

GOD OF WAR opens with a cut scene that lasts about 30 seconds. It originally opened RIGHT on the battle with the HYDRA- which I still would have liked.

A cut scene to establish place and setting- while I hate it- is still needed in a story based game like GOD OF WAR. But in a game like Bionic Commando- which to me does not seem to market itself as a story game- do we really need to sit thru 4-6 cut scenes (broken up by very tiny bits of play) before we get to TRAINING LEVELS?!?

It's like they are doing everything they can to turn me off from playing what is clearly- under the hood- a polished, well made title. I'm gonna stick with it cause something about it just FEELS good...but it certainly is not off to the best of starts...

Daivd

Keith K said...

You're gonna love inFAMOUS David. I don't know how that's relevant, but just hearing your Pros/Cons to Bionic Commando, I think you're gonna dig inFAMOUS. (Assuming you don't already have a copy)

Graham Waldrop said...

Punchout is pretty good. My buddy just got it, it's fun.

Yeah, the Terminator game, I dunno most movie based games just don't cut it. I wasn't even interested in it when I saw it was coming out. I still think the movie has a chance of being kick ass. Fuck the critics. This article I was reading in EW about the making of it convinced me that this has a good chance of bringing Terminator back to glory.

Good luck with the game as always, sir.

-G.W.

Agent-X said...

I thought it was going to turn out great but when I saw the review at GT i was like WTF screw that I aint playing it I'll just put my money towards Fight Night Rd4

Agent-X - HipHopGamerShow

Unknown said...

Hey David,

Just wondering about your feelings towards cutscenes. It's clear from your past posts that you loved MGS4, as did I. How do you feel about the cutscenes in MGS4? Can you clarify/differentiate between what makes the MGS4 cutscenes OK, and what makes Bionic Commando's so bad? Did you give them a chance before skipping them outright?

I personally like MGS's cutscenes, even if they are a little long or overdone. I'm just hoping you can further elaborate on this point for the sake of discussion.

Cheers,
Charlie

jfraley said...

Did you dislike MGS4 at the beginning? That game started with a lot of cutscenes before you actually got to play. It definitely started to get on my nerves when all I wanted to do was play.

Hope everything with the game is going well.

F1REST0RM said...

Who knows, Terminator definitely has some dissenters. Basically it seems people who go for an action movie loved the hell out of it, and people who were really looking for something more got disappointed by it. My friend went to an advanced screening and enjoyed the hell out of it, so that makes me optimistic about it.

And I'm glad you feel the way you do, because otherwise I might not have gotten into God of War as much as I did because the beginning wouldn't have been as engaging. So, I don't know about any market research on the subject or whatever, but I certainly am not fond of training segments (I tried playing Splinter Cell again the other day and put it right back down because I had to go back through the fucking training level). In my experience a lot of gamers aren't as well.

David Jaffe said...

Yeah, I've never been in love with the myth of Terminator so I'm totally ok with a loud, fun, imaginative action film. From what I read, it sounds like you are right: people who wanted a more serious, thought provoking flick (ala T1, T2, Dark Knight) are bummed. People looking for a fun movie are happy.

So I'm excited to see it.

But hell, I'm excited to see NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM PART II as well :)

Anonymous said...

Jaffe get your shit straight, the critics actually liked Die Hard 4 (81 on rotten tomatoes). You need to not generalize on what one or two critics say.

KonKat said...

I semi agree that long cutscenes in the beginning of games are bad. But they are only bad in gameplay action games. Stuff like Killzone 2, Call of Duty, and Gears of War have no business having long cutscenes (I'm not saying they do). But games that focus on the story and art of the game can work well with having long cutscenes in the beginning. These are games like SotC, and MGS.

As for the training missions, I like having tutorials in game, but they need to implemented better.

Hellhound30 said...

I never buy a game based on a movie license. I learned my lesson a looong time ago. I think the only Movie based game that I liked was King Kong a couple years back, but other than that I steer clear of any movie based games...
As a gamer I also hate when games are unbalanced forcing you to either watch the samething over and over again or keeps sending you back to the loading screen. Oh I hate that so much.... I stopped playing Demon stone because of that... never did finish it... What trips me out is that these game developers and game publishers a literaly pouring millions of dollars into producing these games and they can't get the balance down. Even in Halo 3 I keep away from certain missions because I get sick and tired of Kortana slowing up the game even if its only for a couple seconds it really bothers me that I can't skip it.... so I choose not to play those chapters.
As far as cut scenes go in general I love em. I could'nt imagine some games without them. I've spent over 17, grand on my video game collection and most of the games I've bought are for the story. I find them more interesting that say a book, or a movie.... In my game collection I have absolutely no "Sports games" what so ever.... For me Game play and story go hand in hand, and if done right can even provoke emotion when there is a true conection made with the gamer and the hero in the game. I mean I teared up a bit at the end of Final Fantasy 10 when Tidus tried to hug Yuna. I think that was probably the coolest experience I've ever had in a game. I remember just leaving my Playstation 2 on hoping it would'nt end.... I just let it play the music over and over with "The end." on the screen I just wanted it to keep going... I think if cut scenes and game play are done right it can be a profound experience... I never set out to get teary eyed by a game, but alas it happened to me. Before Final Fantasy 10 I never wanted to play those type of games, and thought they were for nerds with no life. After that game I think I became more of a gamer searching for another profound experience like that.....

Anonymous said...

Dear David Jaffe,

One thing that always bugged me about your videos is that you always have to treat the way you film stuff like you're talking to another human being. I mean, it's your blog man, fuck us if you have to take a phone call or intend on taking a blog break, no need to apologize. But then I realized that you're trying to act like you're talking to another human being. At least I'm pretty sure that's how you're approaching this. Now it doesn't bother me so much. You seem like a really good dude. I wish I could send you like, a 6 pack of some good beer or something as thanks for being the only e-person I care enough about to check your blog weekly, but I don't think the US Postal Service would approve of that.

Love,
videokyd

Anonymous said...

I'm totally with you on the tutorials! There is a need to give the player some pointers, but at this point I'd rather not have tutorials in some games. What can be done to stop this madness?

CleanNJerk101 said...

lol..... WTF 10:05 P.M Anon..

Ah luv these comments.

AC1DSMOK3R said...

Hey David im a huge fan just wanted to se if u can add me on the PSN i understand if u don't but its worth a try my ID is AC1DSMOK3R see ya.

Harlequiine said...

In regards to the training missions, and cut scenes straight away I personally think it's clever game design when it it intergrated into the first level or so. BioShock, for example. A tiny cut scene (until the very end), no training rooms, but yet the controls are still easy to pick up and grasp as is the story because of the way it was created. Or in the case of Half Life (which is my personal favourite game and has fantastic design) have a seperate training room which is optional.

Just my two cents.

REZBLUE said...

Man that Terminator game was a let down. Im a huge Terminator fan and the game felt nothing like Terminator aside from shooting some terminator.

I gotta go trade it in. They need to put some money behind the IP and spend some time making a AAA game. The main menu and loading screen graphics looked awesome, like top notch next gen graphics. Like a glimpse into what a game could offer.

Unknown said...

considering that the developers, who made terminator: salvation, also were responsible for bionic commando, wanted and bc:rearmed - which all came out this year - I'm not surprised that at least one would turn out crappy.

they definitely focused more on the bionic commandos. maybe capcom payed the most! :D

iceveiled said...

Tutorials and cutscenes.

I rather enjoy tutorials in games providing they are very short and brief right at the beginning of a game, and then spread out within the first hour or so, as you are introduced to scenarios where you need to learn new moves.

I thought Metal Gear Solid 4 did a good job at easing the player into the action with small chunks of action teaching you the basic controls of maneuvering and using Snake's weapons.

Speaking of cutscenes, a game shouldn't start with a long cinematic. There should be enough of a story or back story to hook the player and it should lead directly into action. Let the player actually PLAY the game for a good portion of time before bombarding him or her with a bunch of plot.

Using MGS4 as an example once again, as well directed as the cutscenes were, they were just way too fucking long and way too fucking frequent.

Not to suck up and kiss your ass (but because I've played the shit out of it and it's one of my favorite games ever) but I think god of war 1 did both perfectly. You start a new game, see a very short and engaging cinematic of a tortured Kratos attempting suicide by diving off Mt. Olympus, and then you are thrust into the action.

Then, AFTER you take 30-45 minutes going through the Aegies Sea level (or whatever it was called) the player learns more about Kratos and his back story before the Athens level.

Anyway that's enough out of me. Let us know what you thought of Terminator. It looks like sheer mindless fun. Fuck the critics.

Gvon said...

I hate in your face tutorials,they really piss me off,but some are done perfectly.

The Legend of Zelda OOT was amazing,you never felt disconnected from the game,it's as if everything you did in the game was built around that first tutorial section,rather than most tutorials that feel tacked on afterwards.

But I prefer it when it's like MGS1 on PsOne .It was ace because it didn't have a tutorial,you didn't unlock powers or anything like that,you start off with all Snakes ability, and kojima basically said "Why should I help you, if want to pass this section,teach yourself"
and I'm glad he did,because the sense of achievement after spending hours trying to do it without getting busted is awesome.

Don't know when T4 comes out in the UK,i'll see it because I've got the others,and no doubt get the inevitable complete box set on blu-ray :/

Anonymous said...

Hey Dave,

Thanks for your small review for terminator. I can't agree with you more on the "WHY DO I KEEP ON DYING HERE" parts of games. I am receiving this from Gamefly and will open it and zip it right back up and send it on it's way... No need to wrap it!!!! As for Bionic Commando, I am going to give that a 30-40 minute(that's basically how long it takes to see if a game has the WOW factor) playing.... You Rock Dude!!!! Big Fan, maybe you can friend me on Facebook??? Geez!!! Joseph Perito

evolgenius said...

I hope you stick with Bionic Commando, as you master the swing mechanic the game becomes more fun and rewarding. I'm really curious what your impression of the game would be after a few more hours of playtime.

Strange that Bionic Commando and Terminator were developed by the same studio, ya know? Guess that's just the norm for movie-based games, though. Not as much time to develop and the publisher knows it will sell to the less-informed masses regardless of quality.

starblinky said...

Jaffe, just so you know, movie reviewers are all employed by the big 6 movie studios.

Whenever I pass by a DVD at the video store with my girlfriend, I point out movies like 'The Happening' (which was so so horrible) that have prints on the front of the box saying '5 stars! Best horror movie of the summer!'. I tell her the only people saying these things are the ones being payed by the movie studio that made that movie. Not directly like a bribe or anything, but its like its their job to say good things about their own companies movies.

Take Rolling Stones magazine for example, Disney owned a large portion of shares for Rolling Stone magazine not too long ago (now sold completely to founder of RSM). And guess who released The Diving Bell and the Butterfly on DVD?? DISNEY DID THATS WHO!

Yeah bitch!! haha, so yeah, I thought you, Jaffe would have known about how powerful the big 6 movie companies are. They own just about everything, every tv channel, every magazine, newspaper, news channel, most websites now, clothing lines and the list goes on and on with few exceptions (obviously not EVERYTHING is owned by them).

ged2000000 said...

Well its about f**king time someone mentioned s**t about the training missions in games. They are so f**king annoying.

I want to get stuck into a game when I first get it and get used to every thing myself instead of having to follow a training guide that I can't understand properly half the time.

If the games controlls are complicated then add a training mode thats seperate from the campaign for people who do get stuck.

riazor69 said...

Very funny David. Haven't laughed so much in ages.

Tutorials are a necessary evil though given the need to appeal to a more casual audience. I know that at my stage of life (two young children, job etc) I no longer have the time to trial and error for too long before I work out how the game works, so in game tutorials are a blessing.

David Jaffe said...

riazor- I think a game should 100% take players by the hand and help them learn the game. That is the developer's responsibility to someone who has paid to play their game. But embed the learning/teaching into the fun of the game experience. The way most games do it it's like I have to take a prerequisite class BEFORE I'm even allowed to enjoy the game I just paid for.

David

riazor69 said...

I hear you... being able to switch them on/off early a good middle ground. Also, some are done better than others.. having a game pause to dish out instructions is definately a no-no.

btw... 120% agree with you on cut-scenes... after playing MGS4 and skipping through most cut scenes, I felt like a heretic after listening to quite a few podcasts and countless reviews about how the cut scenes were an integral part of the experience. I am sure they were for some.. me, I'll watch a DVD when I want to slouch in my chair and throw popcorn at my mouth.. not play a videogame.

ged2000000 said...

Another thing about these god dam training missions is, when you go to play the game the second and third time, you still have to do these annoying missions.

Anyway I've got bionic commando today and so far I'm liking it.I'm well past the training mission which only takes 5 minutes so its not that bad and after you do that,your free to move around however you see fit apart from the areas that are nuclear so don't let the training mission put you off.

Voidward said...

If you're frustrated by Terminator, wait u until you you get a bit further into Bionic Commando. As with Terminator, it's made by Grin and uses the same engine, so the load times are present.

One of the issues is a LOT of invisible walls, or I guess barely visible radiation walls, that once you pass you're almost instantly dead, fall in water, also almost instantly dead unless you scramble to pull yourself out with the grapple.

The other issue is how unforgiving some sections are. They seem like they're trying to be true in feel to oldschool 8-bit Nintendo, which I can respect, but it just frustrates the fuck out of you. There's a section you come to with snipers, who need 2 shots to kill you and shoot off 2 shots about a second apart in succession every time, so if you're stationary, running, swinging slowly, or swinging in a line towards them, you're instantly dead and have to restart the level. You have to deal with about 5 of these fuckers spread out quite far away from each other (and they have quite a range) in the first section, then there's a follow up section with maybe 10-15 more of them.

If you haven't gotten there yet you'll be hurling controllers soon enough. The game still seems worth playing to me, and quite fun, I want to get good at it and really get into the multiplayer after. Though I think I'll take a break to play through InFAMOUS before I go back to it, where it's harder to try and not to stick to walls.

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