Drake's Fourtune and Brütal Legend
By DanielJW 11 Comments
With this wonderful season of brand spanking new video games, I'm playing... mostly old ones. Partially due to the fact that I wanted to catch up on the story for a newer, very well liked game. That said, I've been having fun with them for the most part. So please, kick back and read ahead as I spin you tales of gaming.
Brütal Legend
I finished this fella up last night. I don't think I can say a lot that hasn't already been said. The story is wonderfully engaging and funny, however the game play, not so much. I found that I was more often than not frustrated to the point of turning the game off with a lot of the stage battles. The controls weren't able to keep up with what I felt I had to do. But no matter how many times I threw the game across the room, I happily skipped over to grab it again to see more of the story.
Perhaps it was less of a "the controls were bad" issue and more of a "you're bad" issue. I've never been the best at RTS games but damnit I tried! It shouldn't be this difficult to the average person, especially given it's target audience. If it wants to draw in people with Jack Black and metal themes, than make a game that caters to that audience, not Age of Empires with chrome and ladies. Sexy, sexy ladies.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Cinema! I feel like I'm playing too many games that either should be or feel like movies. In Uncharted this is a good thing. A lot of the action is very filmesque and feels out of place in a good way. The game is still essentially shoot-em-up hard ass Nathan Drake rolling through some jungle ruins, but these cinematic elements are certainly welcome. In fact, those are the only things about this game that are welcome. Gun fights, platforming, please leave the room, I want some alone time with quick-time events and camera angles.
I have never been enraged by a game more than I was during the gun play in Uncharted. The enemies soak up bullets like a Sham Wow in a tea cup. Not only was I consistently running out of bullets, but the enemies were riddling me with theirs. Laser scopes, bum rushing automatons with shot guns and flanking men with assault rifles barreled down on me and my piddly little pistol throughout the entire game. On top of that the grenades are entirely useless. Spending the time to mangle your arms into unthinkable positions to aim a grenade with six-axis in the middle of a battle is impossible and inviable. Yet, enemies toss grenades like Tom Brady on a good day.
Though the platforming was generally done surrounded by stunning environments and beautiful scenery, it could not hide the utter genericism of the climbing. It wasn't done particularly horribly and controlled competently, but was just straight-up grueling. The environments often made it hard to distinguish what you could jump to and what you couldn't. Nor did the game do a very good job of pointing you in the right direction. Any time I have to turn on my laptop to consult a guide on where my next jump should be, is a strike against the developers.
However I hear Uncharted 2 fixes some of those issues and it's gotten pretty OK reviews, so I plan on giving it a shot around Christmas time.
Wrap-up
That's what I've been doing for the past few weeks. I just picked up Burnout: Paradise for $20 at my local Wal-mart, and I'll be grabbing Modern Warfare 2 come November tenth. If you liked whatcha' read here, than you should totally check back in with me later for my thoughts on those games. Spoiler for my next blog;
That's all for now folks. See you on the flip-side.
