Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Solid
Here's some gameplay from Metal Gear Solid 4 with narration by the game's creator, Hideo Kojima. I'm still not entirely convinced that the series is as great as fans say. For me the amount of stuff that doesn't work still outweighs the stuff that does. And you can tell that part of the reason the game looks so cool is that Kojima is really good at the game. Failure could transform this bad-ass sequence to a nightmare of repetition. But Kojima's still thinking miles ahead of everybody else and I think that's why a certain element so ravenously consume the stuff he makes.
The 1UP Show podcast recently posted this round table conversation between Kojima, Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil) and Suda 51 (Killer 7). I admire all three, but sometimes feel that each is 1/3 genius. Their games, at their best, still feel like they need one more push to really be something special.
Resident Evil 5 Trailer
No More Heroes Trailer
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8 comments:
~Please tell me you don't critique your wife after your love making sessions too.
Or during.~
I think Metal Gear has the fame it does because great graphics and original story line can out weigh sub par game play. I do remember being very frustrated on a boss or two and that stupid run the activation cards back and forth and all over the place . . . but then the story and the cut scene got me over that real quick. Even though I rode off into the sunset with a dude on the back of my snowmobile.
The word "original" is being kind. Kojima cribs like Tarantino, but he doesn't have the chops to put together his references into a tight, or really masterful whole. And exposition in his games is nearly interminable. I did, however, love, love, love the movie discussions in Metal Gear Solid 3.
GIve me Tenchu any day.
Funny you mentioned the cribs thing because I just saw this pic of Auron/MadMax today too:
http://thor.mirtna.org/oddities/lookalikes/pics/auron-02.jpg
And, Tim, I forgot to add: Guys who watch round table discussions between Japanese game developers ought to know better than to open their mouths anywhere near a bed.
1Up is down! They must have been killed by the rush of click-throughs from our blog!
LOL!1111one1!! Psource Dork'd!
Looking at that, I'm abbreviating it to Pork'd.
LOLz!!!! 1Up's teh Pork'd !!11eleven1
Netflix and 1Up down on the same day? Will history remember today as Black Tuesday?
the video was down when I looked here earlier, now I am back.
I greatly enjoy the sub-genre of 'sneak' tactical. I really enjoyed the splinter cell series of games. I like the over-the-shoulder mode, except it can be a bit weird when it switches which shoulder it is peaking over. I don't like the 'flipflop' method shown here, I much prefer the head to get all foggy and you can see through it, or to momentarily be 'from eyes' while switching.
The graphics look really good, has some real well done 'atmosphere' of the middle east. But some stuff just sets me off wrong. I don't buy that blending your suit to look like the wallpaper is going to allow you to avoid detection, just as ineffective as trying to hide behind a tapestrie...the big buldge gives you away. I much prefer having to slip into shadows than matching wallpaper.
The barrel was absolute sillyness, especially the 'roll attack' I do find the idea of using porno mags to distract people nice though. That's a golden oldie. And did he bring his own barrel or was he just using one that was right there? Anyways, the barrel isn't any different than a cardboard box as far as how much protection it is going to give you. None!
I do wonder why there is such a wide variety of ways to incapacitate the enemy once snake is within grapple distance. If they are going to have some techniques that only work on some enemies, or times when nonlethal is important and times when it is not, then great, otherwise it is a waste.
As a shooter, I enjoy being able to use a wide variety of fun and interesting guns in a game, but I much prefer the systems where you can carry only a very limited selection, where which stuff to take becomes part of your tactical descision. I don't like it when you have a library of a dozen different arms to choose from on your person. Also, does this game pause out when you open up the weapons inventory? It sure seemed too.
I hope some weapons in his inventory were simply still there because he picked them up at earlier points in the mission, because they are so seriously outclassed by other items in his inventory, and posess no 'special features' that would make them preferable later on.
I wish game designers who take so much time to get a weapon skinned so it perfectly shows all details of the real thing would get a tiny bit of experience in how they actually work, so when they animate reloading sequences and such they get it right. Now, I have no problem with putting guns as mirror images of the original so that a lot of the important functions that normally would be only visible if you had an eyeball in your shoulder can instead be shown right in front of you.
I especially dislike 'chambering a fresh round' during a 'tactical reload' when all it is doing is chucking an perfectly good round into the dirt. On the other hand, having to chamber the round when appropraite (you choose to fire the weapon until it is 100% empty)is a great added timewaster to make things more difficult for the player. I hate it when running the gun empty and then the computer autoreloads it for you is faster and less interuptive than calling for a reload when you are getting low.
I did like that he is controlling the remote robot with the ps3 controller.
I wish enemies would look behind them on occasion.
I wish the character would shift and twitch a little when 'standing still' so that true motionless would be like holding your breath, something on a bar or similar mechanic, not 'I can't move or they will spot me, so I will just not touch any controls!'
also, was he holding onto the statue's penis?
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