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Jan 31st, 2007 at 17:09:22 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
I lost the Jungle level after reaching the end, because I apparently missed a drone gun that I was supposed to destroy. So I couldn't bring myself to replay it, and instead replayed the first levels on Secret Agent mode. The difficulty levels are well-executed in this game; as a real 00 agent, one couldn't be expected to simply run through and escape from the dam in the first level; there are objectives to achieve which require more skill and time. In this manner, the game implies that to truly be playing as James Bond, one must play on the hardest difficulty, although one could play as a regular or Secret agent for the purposes of the game.
The level designs are based on the movie, of course, but most of it is pure innovation on Rare's part. There's a good mix of wide-open outside levels and corridor-filled inside levels. The Cuban jungle level in particular does quite well at emulating a jungle while allowing enough freedom of movement that it's possible to get lost, but not so much that the designers can't direct the player experience.
In general, I think that given the hardware and capabilities of the N64, the enemies are stupendously well-crafted. The AI leaves a lot to be desired, of course, but this is made up for by the many and varied animations (reacting to a bullet striking near them, several styles of shooting for each kind of gun or guns being wielded, several amusing and realistic idle animations, impressive walking/running animations). I have played lots and lots of shooters, but never again did I virtually shoot someone with so much satisfaction as I did in Goldeneye. There are even reasonable physics which take effect during explosions; enemies will fly away from the explosion, other objects might fall off a destroyed table or crate (although the fact that the tables and chairs explode is a bit strange).
The story had to be stretched to fit around the number of levels in the game, but then i wasn't looking for narrative involvement anyway.
In short, Goldeneye embraced the strengths of its console while working around the weaknesses, as well as seamlessly integrating fantastic level and game design with a pre-existing property without defying or limiting either one.
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Jan 31st, 2007 at 16:54:14 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
Goldeneye was one of the foremost games of my youth; as far as I was concerned, all sniper rifles in the world looked like Super-Soakers and were silenced. It was one of the few games I enjoyed enough to replay, and I did so over and over. However, I hadn't played for at least a few years before checking it out from the library, so the excitement was palpable.
I started a new game and only took a few seconds to get used to the control scheme again. The weak point is the manual aiming system, which is a bit shaky, only part of which is intentional. I was able to breeze through the first ten or so levels without difficulty, although my hubris led to some unnecessary damage a few times. One thing I appreciate about the design of the game is that, without making a big deal of it, there is a stealth option. That is to say, it's not like Oblivion or Thief or something where stealth is a separate paradigm of gameplay; it's simply something that's incidentally possible with the right use of silenced weapons and keeping out of lines of sight. I think this is more realistic in a sense, although it does mean that certain aspects aren't very well-developed, and often there is no stealth option, if there are no silenced weapons (and hand-to-hand combat is a difficult proposition at times). It also means there are a few different ways to play each level; 1) go through in a balanced manner, killing anything you find, clearing the area, and then achieving whatever objectives are necessary; 2) sneaking through the level, silently dispatching only those who would blow your cover; or 3) rushing as fast as possible, using a rapid-fire weapon to kill or at least injure anyone directly in your way and relying on speed and evasion to keep you alive. Certainly not all of these are viable possibilities for every level, which forces the player to adjust strategy in a very subconscious way.
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Jan 19th, 2007 at 03:38:48 - Katamari Damacy (PS2) |
The next 45 minutes were spent trying and retrying one level, never quite successfully, although with improved results each time. This game fights a battle with its own camera; the center of the view is a ball which you are supposed to increase in size, but the bigger it is, the harder it is to see where you're going. The game tries to compensate in a few ways: at certain thresholds, the camera zooms out, effectively reducing the relative size of the ball in in the camera. It also provides a "jump" command, which allows the player to instantly take a more birds-eye view of the surrounding area to scope out targets and obstacles. However, I still found myself attempting to lean over to look around the ball, which of course is impossible. Another camera problem is simply that it cannot be controlled, since the analog sticks are both mapped to movement. This means that in more enclosed areas one can get stuck and not be able to even see the ball anymore, having to resort to trial-and-error movements until one is freed. However, this kind of problem only comes up very rarely, and for the most part, the game does an incredible job of actually making replaying a level reasonably fun and worth it. there are a few frustrating moments when fast-moving projectiles which you are unable to amalgamate in your ball knock some of your hard-earned amalgamations off, but I think it's just enough frustration to make it a game which provides a reasonable level of challenge even for a fairly avid video-game player, without resorting to super-powered boss attacks or anything of the like.
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Jan 19th, 2007 at 03:30:53 - Katamari Damacy (PS2) |
I had played Katamari before, but never for long, and it was a long time ago. I knew the concepts and oddities behind it, but it felt like playing a new game. It is the sort of game where story and logic are thrown to the wayside in favor of pure gameplay and amusing content. I can imagine the designers must have had great fun in creating it, and the extensive original soundtrack is genuinely good while fitting in with the offbeat nature of the game.
I was bothered at the beginning by the controls, which make use of both analog sticks on the PS2 controller, in tandem. Turning in particular seems like something which could have been more elegant. But the game is pleasantly merciful in many respects, and the sound effects and visual qualities of the items you collect add more than a few chuckle moments to each game. There is an impressive array of items, which definitely adds to the experience by not recycling item sets extensively. The levels so far are decently varied, with different theme areas per level, but can sometimes be hard to navigate between until having familiarized oneself with the level by playing several times.
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blahquabats has been with GameLog for 17 years, 10 months, and 13 days |
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