ProfessorEss

I don't remember exactly but my first vivid memories are of Combat for the 2600.

Yeah that's irked me a little bit since the day I saw the first screenshots.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the WoW aesthetic but seeing as how Blizzard did it so well and so efficiently (min spec masters) and so many games have aped it since I think you gotta at least add your own touch, or do it so well that it can be seen as more than just a copy-paste.

I think of Vigil (Darksiders) as a great example of using a very similar "style" but then embellishing it enough that it stands on it own.

Obviously if the game is good enough none of this will matter, but yeah, it's visuals fail to pique any interest for me.

Regardless of the impending release of Absolution Hitman: Blood Money is one of those games that I very regularly think about popping back in.

I mean, I never do, but I think about it often.

That looks pretty rad. The body positioning and weight shifting while firing looks soooo good.

For me personally I get the most story out of open world games where I'm just wandering around aimlessly doing "ambient" challenges. In games like Skyrim or The Saboteur I get so into aimlessly wandering the world that the character and situation develop in my head on their own with no pesky plot line interrupting to tell me who I am or what my motives are.  
 
I guess that's more an example of my ability to get immersed than it is an example of how games can tell a story but the key for me is still the world. A well crafted, fully realized world always goes a long way for me. It allows the writer to keep things to the point while the setting fills in the little details.

I just started playing it and think it's quite excellent.

I did enjoy Wolfenstein (the latest one) quite a bit and this feels similar to me, but with a much better story.

As a Kinect owner and long-time fanboy of Schafer and Doublefine I was really excited for this, but I got my son Once Upon A Monster for Christmas and it is easily the worst controlling Kinect game I've played to date.  
 
Now I'm pretty skeptical about it.

@JoeyRavn said:

@ProfessorEss said:

I don't say it myself but I would hate to live in a world without people who say "Hwhat?".

Don't go to the 18th Century then.

You know what man, I betcha even in the 18th Century there was someone, somewhere, saying "Hwhat?".

Very cool piece. A lot of what Manveer says resonates with my own views of the reviewing process and how it, in it's current state, really doesn't provide much for anyone, consumer, developer or the reviewer.