Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
edited June 2009
According to what I read yesterday it wasn't due to hit stores till today, and according to Gaf, it's in stores today but appearantly many stores are selling out of their stock reletively quickly.
I will add everyone a little later.
I went did about three random matches: so far no lag, quick set up, lots of fun! maps are pretty good if a little generic. will write more about it tomorrow.
I am still dialing in my controls but will do that in the single player.
So i just got this game today and feel that it is VERY worth my money. It was the 3 left in the store (futureshop Burnaby BC). The first 15 mins of the game i just played around in the options menu simply exploring the sheer amount of freedom this game lets me have in customizing my experience with it. HUDs, menus, sensitivity, controls, mapping, layout etc. What High Voltage has done should now act as a benchmark for future FPS or pointer based games need to be from now on. It feels like the same freedom you had in RE4 and you could just place your items in your attache case any way you wanted. Just having that freedom felt great and it still does.
After the 15 mins of retooling to my specs, I started the game with a very short crappy tutorial level. But it does serve another purpose by introducing some of the fun guns you'll be using, and the alien guns are fun. Sure this game isn't going to be making you well up in orgasmic tears of awe nor will its story delivery give your poetic soul handjob, but what I can tell you about this game is that it's fun. An almost return to perfect dark fun, so far for me. If i want to get emotionally moved during a video game, ill drink exlax during a tetris match, whilst reciting shakespeare.
The game is good. And well worth my money so far (well no buyers remorse yet after day's worth of play). It's also challenging. Im stuck on the end of the second level and its closing act is kicking the shit out of my shit. AND IM ONLY ON NORMAL! Im not great at fps' but I am above average. It's just this part is really difficult (anyone want to agree with me?) Im at "the stairs" (not too spoilerish i hope).
A mediocre game, with high dreams reaches above average rating from me. High Voltage has a record of hit or miss releases, and this one is a hit for the wii for sure. Feels great, plays great, looks meh, sounds meh. For me worth the 60CAD and havent even played multiplayer! If youre iffy, probably still worth it for the multiplayer at 40-50 bucks.
Just a couple design things I want to inform the curious people of:
- Waggle control assignment is highly limited. Either grenade throwing or melee. Cannot be assigned to anything else (reloading etc.)
-grenade throwing mechanic has never felt better in any other wii fps. Point at where you want the grenade to land, and also will explode on impact.
-Game cannot be run and gunned for the most part. Health is a bar and DOES NOT regenerate (about fuckin time they brought that mechanic back!)
-AI is very hit or miss. Don't expect the armacham soldiers from FEAR, but also don't expect garbage AI from legendary or prototype. These enemies will shoot, pursue, try to get behind you, get some cover and are never stingy with grenades. The one hit kill charged shots you give them will also be coming at you with just as much power. But their limitations do exist. I have tried double backing through levels though but it appears the AI either stick together or are designed to stop at certain areas. They cannot open doors from I've seen so far. They don't appear to communicate in any fashion but do know to stay together. From what i heard at PAX, the AI changes with difficulty.
-AFAIK only the aliens suffer from headshots. Any marine shot in the head either doesnt show increased damage or very little extra damage upon bullet/brain impact. Hit detection is above par, but i wish body parts could have had effects on the enemies. oh well.
-if you run out of ammo, switching to your next weapon is significantly faster than reloading your current (As it should!). Even holds true for me when im switching from an empty handgun to a machine gun.
-melee damage isn't instant kill (thank goodness) but it does take off a good chunk. The new iteration of turok for the 360 designed the knife in such a way that made all other guns in the game obsolete. I think HV has struck a good balance here that you're shot enough times to deter you from just gun butting everyone. The rate on the melee is also a slowed.
One question: Can you clarify the difficulty a bit? Basically, is it "enemies take a dozen hits to die while you're a fragile little girly-man" tough, or "enemies avoid your shots while trying to flank you" tough? Artificial difficulty is something that usually gets on my nerves after a while in most games.
Haven't played much, but I can comment re: the sales aspect. I picked it up at EB a few hours ago after work and got the very last copy. They only started selling it today (but they also only got 5 copies).
yeah i talked to one of the designers at pax about this and how bullshit lazy it is.
The AI accuracy is better, so you can't lazily take a stroll down the hallway. Theyre more likely to fire more than move to other positions. I havent noticed them being more bullet spongey, I do notice having to take advantage of the shitty > weird cover system they have which is: crouch behind objects.
Thanks, that was a good read. Sounds like exactly what people have been saying. Fun is all that matters to me, sounds like nifty weapons + decent AI + balanced mechanics makes this one play well.
Hmm. Is there a decent amount of cover? I'm sort of flashing back to Perfect Dark since you mentioned it, and I remember that game having lots of useful but believable cover: hallways to duck into, pillars to hide behind, counters, rubble in appropriate areas. I guess whether you'd notice the cover depends on how inclined you are to use it. Really, as long as the enemies aren't bullet sponges, cover is useful enough, and I don't get shot the split-second I peek out, I think I'll enjoy it just fine. I'll still probably enjoy it even if it doesn't have that, to be honest.
mars i can liken it more to golden eye. anything that stops bullets is what youll be looking for. you wont have like a re5 or R6vegas style of around the corner shooting. its straight up "i cant see shit unless i poke my head out and shoot" style cover
Honestly, I prefer that. I played the hell out of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, and found their system to be more than adequate. Actual cover systems are fine, and they work right for certain types of games, but I find most FPSes work better without them.
Though, now that I think of it, GE and PD both had the ability to lean, which was a crucial part of using cover. I guess having the Wiimote might make that less necessary. At any rate, so far it sounds pretty much what I was anticipating, so hopefully when I head out to buy it tomorrow it'll be in stock.
Picked up the special edition earlier, but I haven't played it yet. Even though I think the SE box art is better, I'm starting to wish I had the super cheesy box art instead. I'm not sure why.
I can confirm that using cover is necessary. I died on the first level due to strolling through without bothering to take cover anywhere. Also liking the non-regenerating health.
These guys are awesome. Like FUCKING AWESOME.
You know how in Ninja Gaiden black/sigma/'whatever you die and press continue for a loading screen?
You know how you die in gears of war and have to watch shitty cutscene over and over again, after a loading screen?
When you die in this game, it takes you back passed shitty scenes to the checkpoint before the action and get this
WITHOUT LOAD TIMES!
you see the death animation, fade to black, press A, fade to the checkpoint and youre right back in it!
Its sooo seemless that if you press A fast enough, the music doesnt even reload when you come back to life. Dying over and over has never seemed so painless. This is like cartridge fast loading. Yes, the part you can't get passed is hard as balls, but at least they cut all the bullshit inbetween retrying to get you right back into gaming.
I have to say I was surprised at how INCREDIBLY short this game is (if the % on the save file is to be believed). But being able to play this on 3 harder difficulties, TONS of unlockables and then multiplayer, along with the awesome design choices Im still glad i picked this one up.
edit: its funny. i said the EXACT same thing when I saw the game disc. "damn this thing is colorful"
So what's the verdict on the boards? Are the controls up to par (....better?) than Metroid Prime 3? I thought those controls were terrific, and this game is pretty tempting.
george-x on
0
Brainiac 8Don't call me Shirley...Registered Userregular
edited June 2009
According to the majority on Gaf, it's the new bar in Wii FPS controls.
bought it last night, played 2 levels and a couple rounds of multiplayer. I had to stop because I had a migraine goin but here's my quick and dirty impressions before I head off to class
Controls
- The hype about the controls delivers. Everything is customizable, and so how well or poorly the game controls is up entirely up to the player. There's certainly a level of fine tuning that needs to be done, and I don't think I'm exactly at what I exactly yet, but even so, the game controls great. Meleeing is the only thing that trips me up, but hopefully I'll be able to get around that somehow. I've heard that aspect described as an added level of "realism" because it messes up your aim, just like it would in real life. I don't know if I'd go that far...
Graphixxxx
- Meh. Pretty bland. I'm only on the second level but I'm not impressed. iirc, MoH: H2 looked better (cleaner, better framerate, etc). Everything is super bland with the exception of enemies. Jaggies abound! They could really have done a better job of making the world look more vibrant and interesting. MP:3, madworld, galaxy, and brawl all look much cleaner, crisper, and appealing.
Gameplay
- Pretty fun, I must say. The game environments are mediocre and the AI is often hit or miss but it's still quite enjoyable to play. The weapons are unique and pretty different and in that regard, the game does feel a bit different from a lot of other shooters. People have been comparing the game to goldeneye and perfect dark and that sounds spot on. Even the jaggies are reminiscent of the 64!
Multiplayer
- Played 2 matches with zero lag. I was pretty impressed overall with the options and the speed at which I was connected to a game. You can vote for levels, rules, and weapons, which is something I always badly wanted in the halo series. This is where the game feels most like a throwback to old rare shooters. It's classic run and gun. It's pretty frantic at times but enjoyable. Not as deep as other shooters by a long shot, but I'll probably be playing it for some time.
So, after about an hour and a half of play, I'd recommend it as long as expectations are tempered to where they should be.
Oh my god the multiplayer is fantastic. Just finished my first half hour: absolutely zero lag, full games, only waited 2 minutes to join the game, you can join one in progress instead of having to wait for a new one... can't say enough good things about multiplayer except that there's no local (I assume that's due to the problems of having people aim their pointer at their corner of the screen).
Single player is meh. Controls great, but story is rather blah, locations all look the same (but pretty!), and it doesn't do anything new. AI is decent but not great- they cover well, but don't pursue well at all and don't work together.
Controls are fantastic. I haven't got them configured right yet but I've only played about 2 hours. My only gripe is the melee control- you have to push the remote forward, not just swing it down. I just set the sensitivity to max so that it detects my flails as correct input. I don't really want to remap anything except maybe the 180 button and the ASE, but I could!
Had a lot of fun with this last night. Only played single player, but it is just what I was looking for/expecting - a straightforward FPS with incredible controls. I've mentioned before, but I don't play enough console FPSs to know/care what is generic, which may help :P
I've never been into online FPS play, but I may give that a try soon.
Yeah I dunno what's up with that A.D. game. It could potentially be awesome, and it definitely is up there graphically. I read impressions that all seemed favorable, but frankly watching the videos I couldn't help but think the combat seemed kind of lame and half-assed.
Posts
Does it also have some type of lag comp? That was my biggest frustration in WaW.
SteamID: FronWewq
Battle.net: Orange#1845
3DS Friend Code: 1289-9498-5797
XBL Gametag: mailarde
Screen Digest LOL3RZZ
"WTF is the Conduit"
Rumor is I can't find it until thursday, but either way I'm still picking it up.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
The electronics clerk at Walmart told me yesterday that they didn't have a UPC for it.
I will add everyone a little later.
I went did about three random matches: so far no lag, quick set up, lots of fun! maps are pretty good if a little generic. will write more about it tomorrow.
I am still dialing in my controls but will do that in the single player.
After the 15 mins of retooling to my specs, I started the game with a very short crappy tutorial level. But it does serve another purpose by introducing some of the fun guns you'll be using, and the alien guns are fun. Sure this game isn't going to be making you well up in orgasmic tears of awe nor will its story delivery give your poetic soul handjob, but what I can tell you about this game is that it's fun. An almost return to perfect dark fun, so far for me. If i want to get emotionally moved during a video game, ill drink exlax during a tetris match, whilst reciting shakespeare.
The game is good. And well worth my money so far (well no buyers remorse yet after day's worth of play). It's also challenging. Im stuck on the end of the second level and its closing act is kicking the shit out of my shit. AND IM ONLY ON NORMAL! Im not great at fps' but I am above average. It's just this part is really difficult (anyone want to agree with me?) Im at "the stairs" (not too spoilerish i hope).
A mediocre game, with high dreams reaches above average rating from me. High Voltage has a record of hit or miss releases, and this one is a hit for the wii for sure. Feels great, plays great, looks meh, sounds meh. For me worth the 60CAD and havent even played multiplayer! If youre iffy, probably still worth it for the multiplayer at 40-50 bucks.
Just a couple design things I want to inform the curious people of:
- Waggle control assignment is highly limited. Either grenade throwing or melee. Cannot be assigned to anything else (reloading etc.)
-grenade throwing mechanic has never felt better in any other wii fps. Point at where you want the grenade to land, and also will explode on impact.
-Game cannot be run and gunned for the most part. Health is a bar and DOES NOT regenerate (about fuckin time they brought that mechanic back!)
-AI is very hit or miss. Don't expect the armacham soldiers from FEAR, but also don't expect garbage AI from legendary or prototype. These enemies will shoot, pursue, try to get behind you, get some cover and are never stingy with grenades. The one hit kill charged shots you give them will also be coming at you with just as much power. But their limitations do exist. I have tried double backing through levels though but it appears the AI either stick together or are designed to stop at certain areas. They cannot open doors from I've seen so far. They don't appear to communicate in any fashion but do know to stay together. From what i heard at PAX, the AI changes with difficulty.
-AFAIK only the aliens suffer from headshots. Any marine shot in the head either doesnt show increased damage or very little extra damage upon bullet/brain impact. Hit detection is above par, but i wish body parts could have had effects on the enemies. oh well.
-if you run out of ammo, switching to your next weapon is significantly faster than reloading your current (As it should!). Even holds true for me when im switching from an empty handgun to a machine gun.
-melee damage isn't instant kill (thank goodness) but it does take off a good chunk. The new iteration of turok for the 360 designed the knife in such a way that made all other guns in the game obsolete. I think HV has struck a good balance here that you're shot enough times to deter you from just gun butting everyone. The rate on the melee is also a slowed.
FINAL VERDICT:
ITS GOOD!
The AI accuracy is better, so you can't lazily take a stroll down the hallway. Theyre more likely to fire more than move to other positions. I havent noticed them being more bullet spongey, I do notice having to take advantage of the shitty > weird cover system they have which is: crouch behind objects.
Though, now that I think of it, GE and PD both had the ability to lean, which was a crucial part of using cover. I guess having the Wiimote might make that less necessary. At any rate, so far it sounds pretty much what I was anticipating, so hopefully when I head out to buy it tomorrow it'll be in stock.
You know how in Ninja Gaiden black/sigma/'whatever you die and press continue for a loading screen?
You know how you die in gears of war and have to watch shitty cutscene over and over again, after a loading screen?
When you die in this game, it takes you back passed shitty scenes to the checkpoint before the action and get this
WITHOUT LOAD TIMES!
you see the death animation, fade to black, press A, fade to the checkpoint and youre right back in it!
Its sooo seemless that if you press A fast enough, the music doesnt even reload when you come back to life. Dying over and over has never seemed so painless. This is like cartridge fast loading. Yes, the part you can't get passed is hard as balls, but at least they cut all the bullshit inbetween retrying to get you right back into gaming.
I have to say I was surprised at how INCREDIBLY short this game is (if the % on the save file is to be believed). But being able to play this on 3 harder difficulties, TONS of unlockables and then multiplayer, along with the awesome design choices Im still glad i picked this one up.
edit: its funny. i said the EXACT same thing when I saw the game disc. "damn this thing is colorful"
gamesuniverse.com is your friend.
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
Controls
- The hype about the controls delivers. Everything is customizable, and so how well or poorly the game controls is up entirely up to the player. There's certainly a level of fine tuning that needs to be done, and I don't think I'm exactly at what I exactly yet, but even so, the game controls great. Meleeing is the only thing that trips me up, but hopefully I'll be able to get around that somehow. I've heard that aspect described as an added level of "realism" because it messes up your aim, just like it would in real life. I don't know if I'd go that far...
Graphixxxx
- Meh. Pretty bland. I'm only on the second level but I'm not impressed. iirc, MoH: H2 looked better (cleaner, better framerate, etc). Everything is super bland with the exception of enemies. Jaggies abound! They could really have done a better job of making the world look more vibrant and interesting. MP:3, madworld, galaxy, and brawl all look much cleaner, crisper, and appealing.
Gameplay
- Pretty fun, I must say. The game environments are mediocre and the AI is often hit or miss but it's still quite enjoyable to play. The weapons are unique and pretty different and in that regard, the game does feel a bit different from a lot of other shooters. People have been comparing the game to goldeneye and perfect dark and that sounds spot on. Even the jaggies are reminiscent of the 64!
Multiplayer
- Played 2 matches with zero lag. I was pretty impressed overall with the options and the speed at which I was connected to a game. You can vote for levels, rules, and weapons, which is something I always badly wanted in the halo series. This is where the game feels most like a throwback to old rare shooters. It's classic run and gun. It's pretty frantic at times but enjoyable. Not as deep as other shooters by a long shot, but I'll probably be playing it for some time.
So, after about an hour and a half of play, I'd recommend it as long as expectations are tempered to where they should be.
Hmm..this sounds like a 7/10 or something. Maybe I'll wait for the $30 mark
it's too early to tell right now, but if I had to give it a score, it'd probably land at a solid 7.8 to 8.0 out of 10
That being said, the best are the ones that give no score, grade, etc, but merely discuss its strengths and weaknesses.
That is, of course, my humble opinion.
Single player is meh. Controls great, but story is rather blah, locations all look the same (but pretty!), and it doesn't do anything new. AI is decent but not great- they cover well, but don't pursue well at all and don't work together.
Controls are fantastic. I haven't got them configured right yet but I've only played about 2 hours. My only gripe is the melee control- you have to push the remote forward, not just swing it down. I just set the sensitivity to max so that it detects my flails as correct input. I don't really want to remap anything except maybe the 180 button and the ASE, but I could!
Switch - SW-3699-5063-5018
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
I've never been into online FPS play, but I may give that a try soon.
Some of us don't have a sizable disposable income at the moment. 8-)
Nintendo Network ID - Brainiac_8
PSN - Brainiac_8
Steam - http://steamcommunity.com/id/BRAINIAC8/
Add me!
Then again, it's still early.