This Quick Look got slightly less than 2/3rds of the way through of the game. There is only one more world after this one and it is 4 levels and a boss.
I don't wanna go all game cost to gameplay ratio but I feel like game is a bit of a rip off at $30 from length alone.
The worst thing about this game is that the more I watch it the more I want it because it is incredibly charming. Really, even though this game is taking the Sticker Star style again, it actually looks pretty great. Like, the writing is some of the best I have seen in a Paper Mario, and everything about the game pretty much oozes tons of charm.
I feel like the only reason for the Times Square mission is mainly because it is a cool set piece (which it was). Really the entire games depiction of New York feels like New York as viewed by a tourist. It just hits all of the things New York is known for, but doesn't really get the actual "nitty gritty" of how the city is.
Really though I think one of the biggest problems the game has can be summed up with what Alex once said about the enemy groups. No matter what you are afraid of, this game has you covered. I really feel that the game just is super afraid of taking any specific side, and is afraid of looking like it has any sort of political leaning. It is afraid of saying something. Like, even the one radio comment about the Rikers gang feels to me less like it is one writer trying to point out the reality of Rikers Island, but is instead the result of someone at Ubisoft going "this may look like we are saying something, better make it seem more neutral" just to avoid the possibility of upsetting the left or right leaning players. For a game about catering to both leftist and rightist fears, it itself seems super afraid of upsetting anyone, even though it is a Tom Clancy game and is all about shooting people.
Honestly, I do really like the game conceptually. The idea of roaming around and trying survive in what was recently a bustling city full of life, especially when it is kept more grounded and modern, really interests me. I just wish the game was more about helping people. Like if the early missions were about helping pockets of people make it to safe areas, and foraging for supplies and whatnot to allow the people at your home base to live comfortably and peacefully I feel it would be such a better game.
You know, this game really does end up feeling like Duke Nukem Forever, but in top down shooter form. Just everything is so bland and uninteresting, and on top of that it all feels so old but without any real charm.
The worst thing about all of the delays is that going off of the backer demos the game is going to be mediocre at best, what with its boring to bad level design and strange control choices (there are two dashes that both do the same thing except one is lower, and when you land with forward momentum you stumble in that direction) and with the game looking like a bad PSP game graphically.
Yoshara's comments