mercutio123

Did you just create this account to trash other people? If you did atleast have the courage to use your original account. I am no fan of the way Abby argued during GOTY last year but her insight is valuable to the site as a whole. It's their GOTY awards - they can talk about any game they like. Her opinion is as valid as anyones.

I finished it a couple of days ago - I completely disagree with basically everything you said. But we all got our opinions and yours is just as valid.

I think I responded to this game so much because for me it blended all the aspects I adored out of The Last Of Us and Batman Arkham Asylum - 2 of my favourite games of the last generation.

I personally found Kratos story to be fantastic - but I also did just play through the previous GOW games so a lot of what it was calling back to, even the more subtle stuff really worked for me. Yes there is the moment with Atreus that others have mentioned that comes out of the blue - but in general I found the story and gameplay so enjoyable that even when they do make you backtrack to go get another item to progress the story - I didn't mind at all because I was having so much fun. And that particular scenario is something I absolutely loathe in basically any other game.

I'll also say that this is the best GOW game by far - an can't wait for another one.

@therealturk: You've nailed most of my criticisms. I will reiterate the things that I personally really don't like.

When you mouse over Videos or Podcasts etc. it should give me a list of what the different "shows" are not just a link to another page - this is frankly a garbage solution to just offload you to another page. The fact that is made worse that when you get to the new page everything is so bloody large you can't really browse quickly.

Also forums not being at the bottom of the page is really really not the way to keep the community engaged - I tended to just fly down to the bottom when I landed on the site and quickly have a nosey of what was going on in the forums - sounds ridiculous but because the forums are tucked away even a little bit I will be much less likely to go find them.

That GB premium membership banner has to go - it is absolutely useless.

And that HUGE video as you land on the page - if this was a player you could just start watching it'd be okay if not a little big - but it just bounces you to another page so it's useless.

I don't like the new design at all.

I don't like the bomb on the new logo - he doesn't look as awesome as he did before !!

I'm a person who loves having a shiiiiit load of information on a webpage at a glance - for example on the old site if you moused over podcasts you got a list of every different one and the same with videos you could see all the series and go from there.

This is super petty but now there is an extra webpage in the way of where I want to go and I don't really like that.

Also on the main page they are doing the Netflix thing of having videos in horizontal lists for lack of a better phrase. Never been a fan of that.

So in conclusion - I'M SET IN MY WAYS AND I DON'T LIKE CHANGEE

I don't like the bomb on the new logo - he doesn't look as awesome as he did before !!

I'll be honest I want to express love but I think I'll just have to get used to it - I'm a person who loves having a shiiiiit load of information on a webpage at a glance - for example on the old site if you moused over podcasts you got a list of every different one and the same with videos you could see all the series and go from there.

This is super petty but now there is an extra webpage in the way of where I want to go and I don't really like that.

Also on the main page they are doing the Netflix thing of having videos in horizontal lists for lack of a better phrase. Never been a fan of that.

So in conclusion - I'M SET IN MY WAYS AND I DON'T LIKE CHANGEE

@inevpatoria: Well it turns out that I have been paying such little attention that I didn't even know it cost cash to fast travel back to the festival ...

@cjduke: What is the benefit of buying the houses? I've probably not paid attention to something and missed the point

I have found driving around to be a lot of fun - it's the first game since Burnout Paradise that I really enjoy just driving around in aimlessly

I think a problem for me personally was that the Subaru you get right off the bat if you pick it can get most things done well so I didn't really change cars to begin with.

Also some things I hate - NOT BEING ABLE TO SKIP THEIR TOTALLY STUPID VOICE ACTED MOMENTS. If it's covering loads I would much rather just sit there with nothing going on they are so bad.

Also the fact that you can't sell cars back once you've got them unless it's in the auction house really annoys me. You just have so many useless cars sitting around by a couple of hours in.

Also very small gripe but I don't like the body kits - they may make the cars better but they look baaad. Wish there was a way to apply the effects and not have to look at them.

Overall I am really enjoying it though - the last FH game I played was actually the first one - I got the second one briefly but didn't connect to it at all so this has been really awesome

@chilibean_3: I was staying with my cousin in Phile and absolutely loved it - however it was so humid at the time I was basically drenched constantly. But the city has awesome transport links and you can get around super fast. You are absolutely correct about me liking the more "European" American cities - it was things such as the actual size of the roads and sidewalks that was reduced from my time on the west coast that I think contributed to it feeling a little more homely.

Reading food terminal in Phile was absolutely amazing - basically went there every day and got something different.

I'll absolutely do another trip in a couple of years - there's so much variety to the USA - I've never been to the south or up near Chicago so I'll have to figure out a way to do that!

To be fair you are both right now that I think about it. I wouldn't want anyone to judge the UK on the basis of 2 cities - I just preferred the little bits of the east coast that I went to.

You are right Marmite is truly awful. And I am sorry.

So I’ve been to the USA before when I was a kid but this is the first time I have been out there without my parents and with a friend instead.

So the route we took was a road trip through California (SF, Yosemite, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, LA), over to Vegas, Philadelphia and finally NYC.

I’ve listened to the guys on the casts both Bomb and Beast and here are my thoughts on the USA incorporating some of those conversations and some general observations I had compared to the UK.

Feel free to hate everything I say and call me an asshole. LET US BEGIN.

1. I’m sorry Dan, I would never wish to disrespect Taco Bell as I know how much it means to you. But it is bad. So bad. So horrifyingly bad. It was so bad in fact that I actually returned to the establishment the next day because I was convinced that I had just had a dud of a meal and it surely would be better. It was not. Now look - I am a fan of terrible food, but a man has his limits, there is a point where something goes beyond trashy junk food to just trash.
2. East coast > West coast. Sorry guys… I know the Bombcast give SF a lot of flack for smelling bad etc. and I thought they were just exaggerating. However literally the first thing I saw in SF the morning after we arrived was a man covered in his own shit. And this was not the last time I would see such a thing in that fine city. In general I found the cities on the east coast to be more “Britainy” - what I mean by that is that in California everything is so fucking big. It’s almost comical how large things are compared to the UK - the roads, the cars, the food. I liked the “speed” of the east coast cities more for lack of a better term.
3. Vegas is everything the team described it as — but I liked it. I could actually see myself staying there for a while if I suddenly developed the ability to shit money. My least favourite city by far was LA. Nothing about it really appealed to me and I never felt like I was “in” the city like I do in other places — I think the sheer size of LA may of put me off. A weird thing I experienced that I actually felt more at ease on the east coast — it weirdly just felt a little safer to me — I had no problems walking around by myself at night in NYC or Phile while I’d be more wary of it in LA or SF. In LA it is also far more noticeable that the city has serious issues with homelessness than other cities - I saw more homeless people in the couple of days I stayed there than I had in years unfortunately.
4. FREE DRINK REFILLS - This is something that just does not happen in the UK in restaurants and other eateries, and the policy was firmly abused while we were out there.
5. Taxes not being included in the price of items. This one I find really irritating -- I get that different states have different taxes etc. but I really wish that they would just say the actual price of a product on the label.

I can't immediately think of many more but I'm sure they'll come to me. Have any other Brits gone to the USA and observed such things ?

I do have to say I love my trips to the USA whenever I take them - the country has some of the most jaw dropping scenery of anywhere I have travelled - and I have yet to meet and American I thought was a true arsehole - which is more than I can say for the UK.