I've had a lot of games land on my desk...

[Dazz]

So as you know I often do some reviews for either other companies or for The VG Resource, and over the last week I've had so much fall on my desk that I can't even dream to think how I'm going to write a review for each of these.


The list;
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Saints Row: The Third
Assassins Creed: Revelations
Skyrim
LOZ: Skyward Sword
Metal Gear Solid: HD


Out of this list, so far, Saints Row has kept me entertained the entire time I have been playing. I've completed it and I wish that it was longer- even though I've been playing for 20 hours so far, and at 90%, it is just so much fun. The humour is amazing, above all of the others this one stands out for its jokes involving internet references and shit - including a fair few to the old GI Joe video edits that were circling around.

Skyward Sword looks like it has potential to be amazing, but I only started quite late last night, so I only just got my sword. It took me a long time to get to that moment, and it is intensely boring up to that point too, but we'll see how it plays out after that.

MGS: HD is great... It's just HD versions of the previous games, so there's no shock. The controls are a bit weird on a 360, but I guess you just have to get used to them. I'm also struggling with the holding up people while not shooting them afterwards... It just isn't working quite right...
Peace Walker is low poly models and low res textures with low res cutscenes, but still a fantastic and fun game. It is worth the price alone to play it on a controller on a TV instead of on a PSP...

Skyrim is great to screw around in, but just like Oblivion, I get pretty bored, pretty quickly when there's no real guidelines as to what I need to do, which I know is the whole appeal of the game, but I just have a short attention span which dungeon crawling over and over again doesn't enjoy.

I've not started Assassin's Creed or Halo yet. Probably will later today or tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing Skyward Sword being great, but I am really struggling with playing it on a 42" LED screen through component cables, making the jagged edges stand out so much... Honestly, I struggled to see most of the initial dialogue bits while zooming in because I didn't know what I was looking at from such a great distance.
I'm sure it'll be great though...




I guess this topic can be used to discuss these games, or just give short reviews of what you've been playing lately. We don't really have a "general game" discussion topic, so I didn't know where to post this. So I made a topic...

[Keychain]

Assassin's Creed is like the Call of Duty of Ubisoft. Doubt that game's going to be any good. Fooled me once with Assassin's Creed 2, not picking another sequel up until they've proven to have actually made the gameplay more varied and less boring as shit.

[Dazz]

See I enjoyed Assassin's Creed 1, and what I played of 2... I started Brotherhood and didn't know what was going on because I didn't get very far in 2. So I'm kind of guessing that I'm not going to know what's happening here...

The thing that bugged me with the games was that it was SO story based, and it was such a ridiculously confusing and in depth story that's all about historical figures and stuff which I really have no prior knowledge about... And really, I just feel really stupid when I play them...

edit: I really wish Skyward Sword had a method of playing with a controller... Because this shit is stupid to control...

[Azure-Tranquility]

The problem with franchises like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed is that they release entries far too frequently, which devalues the franchises as a whole.

In the case of AC specifically, the first game was very meh. Since most people often try the first entry before moving on to a sequel, if they were burned out on the first game due to its "mehness" then it's highly unlikely they will invest in the sequel, no matter how many improvements were made. You could say first impressions count. Not just AC, but quite a few of Ubisoft's properties suffer from that. Rayman(Non-rabbids) and Beyond Good & Evil seem to be part of the very few Ubisoft series truly worth buying.

@Dazz: Funny you should mention that. In a recent Iwata Asks for Skyward Sword, the developers mentioned that Skyward Sword was originally meant to be controlled by buttons, until later in development when they realized that the game "needed" motion controls for some reason. Still, I enjoyed Twilight Princess despite its dodgy controls, so I'm sure I'll find some enjoyment out of Skyward.

[DioShiba]

I wouldn't go far to say that Assassin's Creed games get released as frequently as CoD.

Sure it's getting a shit ton of games for the second one, but when you look at what activision does with cod every single year you wonder what's so special about the series as a whole because for the most part they do nothing new with the games. At least ubisoft isn't trying to release games for the sake of being released and they can actually contribute to their series.

[Rosencrantz]

Honestly, I thought Assassin's Creed 1 was a boring pile of crap compared to the second game.



(and I'm looking forward to the Halo Anniversary review~)

[Alpha Six]

That's because Assassin's Creed 1 was a boring pile of crap compared to the second one.

[Rakia]

AC2 improved the series gameplay wise, and the story was more involved too. I have to kinda agree with the cod thing though, they're releasing AC too frequently.
But really don't get me started on cod.

I really want MGS:HD, and I wasn't even aware Skyward Sword was released.
I never played Oblivion, so I dunno if I'll get Skyrim. I'm the same way with the guidelines (sometimes).

[Dazz]

AC, and Skyward Sword aren't out yet. Nor is saints row 3...

[Rakia]

I know Saints Row and AC aren't out yet.
I didn't know when SS would be released though

it's out in switzerland


anyway, I'm looking forward to what you have to say about them.

[Dazz]

Skyward Sword is pretty cool - the story is interesting, and the gameplay makes use of the motion controls without a shadow of a doubt. But that is my very problem with it... I can't stand motion control. I've worked out how to do certain things, such as when it asks you to "point the sword skyward" it really means "point it upward and wait until I've decided you're actually pointing up correctly" - I also feel very spoiled with dual analogue sticks. The usual Zelda game mechanic of only being able to place the camera directly behind you makes for some really problematic areas, and narrow paths are annoying.

Flying is hard as hell and very slow. Even following the guidelines it gives you, I don't know how the hell I'm meant to go fast at all - and by fast I mean, actually getting somewhere quickly.

I wish there was a way to skip text. And believe me, you all will too...

Unless you're an idiot, big drops are nothing to be scared of anymore, because you have a piece of cloth... I wish Link thought about the logic of this in the previous games (protip: Logic = none)

The use of your shield is stupid, because it now breaks. You also have a stamina bar which just slows you down a lot and makes Link seem less like a strong hero than in the previous games. He gets tired really quickling from just running. You can pick up fruit that is placed around to replenish your stamina so you can sprint from one to the other, but this is just bloody silly...

The game is kind of fun in short bursts, and I'm sure a lot of you guys will probably enjoy it. But please for the love of god, I want to play this with buttons and 2 sticks... I really want to enjoy it, but I want to play it and not watch it, and then not be able to control it.

[Rosencrantz]

The use of your shield is stupid, because it now breaks.

what the fuck

[Dazz]

You start off with a wooden shield. Which as you use starts to break, and can be set on fire. If it breaks, you go buy a new one. If you pick up the right materials, you can increase its durability, but if it gets set on fire, it's gone again... And the store is back in town, which you have to back track to get to, which is a fucking chore.

[Azure-Tranquility]

crap, I knew it was too good to be true.

[Rosencrantz]

You start off with a wooden shield. Which as you use starts to break, and can be set on fire. If it breaks, you go buy a new one. If you pick up the right materials, you can increase its durability, but if it gets set on fire, it's gone again... And the store is back in town, which you have to back track to get to, which is a fucking chore.

That's incredibly lame.

How far are you into the game? This sounds like an excuse for them to give you a more legitimate shield that won't break halfway into the game.