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Jan 28th, 2008 at 14:26:34 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
OK, maybe I was a little harsh because it was built up too much, but my arguments remain valid.
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Jan 25th, 2008 at 04:00:48 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
GAMEPLAY
OK, so I have played quite a bit more of this game, including the multiplayer, and I have to say, not much has changed. I'll agree that the multiplayer is alright, but it's nothing that would hook me for any long stretch of time. And oh boy did the single player piss me off.
So, I've already talked about the difficulty of the game. Now I realize it's not the controls at all, it's the unforgiving nature of the game. I cannot beat the second level on easy. First of all, it took me a while to even get to where I was supposed to be going because of the lack of direction. No map, no compass, no hints. So, I finally make it to this final room (which is supposed to require some decoder, even though the guy who gives it to me is only there half the time, and I can open the door without it), and I meet up with my partner. We are supposed to destroy some tanks or something. I walk into a door, and boom, the level is over. Apparently this unmarked door is the exit to the level and I just failed for leaving without completing my mission. No signs or anything warn you this is the exit. That pissed me off. So after starting the whole level over and getting to the final room again, I am barraged with an infinite amount of bad guys. I mean infinite. I had no idea where to go or what to do, I just killed wave after wave of bad guy until I randomly shot some container and found out it (and others like it) was what I had to destroy. Of course before I could destroy them, I died. So, I start over and I walk into that final room prepared this time. I start setting the bombs on these containers before the bad guys even get there. Figure I would make a quick get away. I hit my watch detonator and... FAIL. Apparently my partner thought that the best course of action was to stand by the containers we had to destroy. He was caught in the explosion. I tried the level one more time, and thought I actually had it, when I died right as I was exiting the level. At that point I put it down and vowed to never touch the game again.
DESIGN
So, why did I hate this game so much? I'm pretty sure I've narrowed it down. The game is way to unforgiving and offers you no direction or story at all. The majority of the time, You are thrown into the level just barely knowing what to do. I know I had to destroy a dam. Why? I have no idea. Did I? No I ended up just having to destroy the alarms. Huh?
What the game needed was some sort of compass or minimap or something that helped you keep track of where to go and what to do. The game is downright unfinished. Objectives are unmarked and goals are ambiguous. And then when you finally figure out what to do, You usually die and have to start the entire level over again. Is it too much to ask for a checkpoint?
The multiplayer was fun, but not fun enough to excuse the horrible single player campaign. But even it was unfinished. Does it show you how many kills are needed? Does it show you how much time is left? No. Again, you are left walking around, not knowing what is going on.
Overall, the game felt unpolished, mediocre and downright frustrating. It's game engine may have been innovative, but that doesn't make it fun.
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Jan 23rd, 2008 at 20:11:18 - Goldeneye 007 (N64) |
SUMMARY
Goldeneye is a first person shooter in which you play as the legendary secret agent, James Bond. You go on missions, complete objectives, and shoot a lot of bad guys.
GAMEPLAY
So, the graphics are about what I expected for a Nintendo 64 game. But the first thing that got my attention were the very confusing control scheme. I know that it was innovative by giving you the ability to look up, but in my opinion, they should have worked on the controls a bit more. Having to look side to side and move forward and back on the joystick, and then looking up and down and moving side to side on the c-buttons, is just really weird. Plus only having one button to switch weapons means having to cycle through all of your guns in the middle of a fire fight.
So, the game was pretty hard while I was getting used to the controls, then, when I figured them out, I realized that the game was just plain hard nonetheless. Now it's definitely not the hardest game in the world, but in my opinion, it is just hard enough to make it a little frustrating. My health seems to go down really fast, and there are no health packs anywhere! To top it off, if you die, that’s it, you have to start the entire level over. I was about 98% done with the first level (after having to start over twice already), when I decide to shoot a computer. I had no reason to do it, just was goofing off. So I shoot it, it explodes, and I die. I didn't realize computers explode when you shoot them. Needless to say, I was pissed.
So aside from all that, I really wasn't thrilled to be playing the game. There are virtually no characters you grow fond of, and all the bad guys look the same. The music is pretty good, but other than that, there really isn't anything that gets me emotionally involved. Maybe when I try the multiplayer, my opinion will change, but as of now, I don't see what the big deal is.
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Jan 14th, 2008 at 02:19:44 - Next Life (PC) |
GAMEPLAY
So, I have played some more of the game and discovered that not much has changed. The story has started to pick up a bit and my interest has slightly increased. The dialogue is as bad as ever. Characters just seem to not make any sense. Not even the character I control seems to make sense when he rambles to himself. So far the puzzles don't seem very well constructed. You usually just run into a dead end, and then you retrace your steps and talk to everyone again until you come across some new, seemingly random, development, which helps you proceed. For example: When I had to pick leaves from the side of some steep cliff, I spent a good amount of time looking for some rope. There actually was some rope in a room, but I couldn't pick it up, it was jus there for the background. Then when I randomly talked to some lady, my character inexplicably asked her for her stockings.
The game is full of "puzzles" like this. There really is no rhyme or reason to it. You just keep talking and re-talking to people until you progress. I will probably finish the game purely for the story, because I still find myself intrigued by the premise, but with characters like this, I will not enjoy it.
DESIGN
So, you can probably tell where I'm going with this review. The design is obviously flawed. The whole game feels rushed and unfinished. It definitely needs some major patching. I might literally be stuck due to a glitch. I am currently stuck in some nightmare world. After ages of walking back and forth between the three areas of this dream, I finally gave in and looked at a walkthrough. Apparently I am supposed to pick up something which my game is not letting me pick up. I am obviously quite confused and hope I can figure this out soon. The puzzles are not challenging in the usual sense. they are just tedious due to the constant moving back and forth (which is very slow, due to the characters robot-like movement). The dialogue is laughable, and the voice-acting makes me cringe.
However, technical flaws aside, the game is still lacking. There is virtually no reward structure that I can see so far. Really nothing is keeping me going besides the fact that I spent thirty dollars on this thing. The standard formula for point and click adventures is here (if not fully functional), and nothing is innovative. The story might be better if the game were able to spice it up with some drama, but the NPCs are so lifeless that it just can't keep up any sort of dramatic environment. I wasn't expecting much out of this game besides maybe an OK story, but it couldn't even deliver on that.
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Mr. Bear has been with GameLog for 16 years, 10 months, and 10 days |
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