Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: candycanearter07 Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action Subject: Re: What Have You Been Playing... In December 2024? Date: Wed, 1 Jan 2025 20:50:03 -0000 (UTC) Organization: the-candyden-of-code Lines: 259 Message-ID: References: Injection-Date: Wed, 01 Jan 2025 21:50:04 +0100 (CET) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="9d1638243932364283b7d3569db7955f"; logging-data="3096850"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18V+GJcXt+NrzVXI+lQY1vgpj3bDyOR3Y4HcwyCdRS+iQ==" User-Agent: slrn/1.0.3 (Linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:bcVqkMv6lDQI4PyWJux9037PaAQ= X-Face: b{dPmN&%4|lEo,wUO\"KLEOu5N_br(N2Yuc5/qcR5i>9-!^e\.Tw9?/m0}/~:UOM:Zf]% b+ V4R8q|QiU/R8\|G\WpC`-s?=)\fbtNc&=/a3a)r7xbRI]Vl)r<%PTriJ3pGpl_/B6!8pe\btzx `~R! r3.0#lHRE+^Gro0[cjsban'vZ#j7,?I/tHk{s=TFJ:H?~=]`O*~3ZX`qik`b:.gVIc-[$t/e ZrQsWJ >|l^I_[pbsIqwoz.WGA] wrote at 16:23 this Wednesday (GMT): > > The only officially sanctioned* CSIPGA monthly game's round-up thread! > Accept no substitutes! Sure we're at the start of a new year, but > forget about looking ahead. Look back, and tell us all what games kept > you occupied during the busy, busy holiday season! > > Shall I go first? Oh, I think I shall! > > > Just The Names > --------------------------------------- > * Metal Hellsinger > * The Hunter - Call of the Wild: Salzwiesen Park DLC > * The Invincible > * Trek to Yomi > > > Everything else plus the kitchen sink > --------------------------------------- > > * Metal Hellsinger > This game is so disappointingly average. It could have been so much > more but the end result is just so mediocre. > > In essence a 'boomer shooter', the 'gimmick' of "Metal Hellsinger" is > that your weapons do more damage if you time your attacks to the beat > of the music. That music, of course, being a tremendous selection of > thrashin' heavy metal tracks. All well and good in concept, but the > execution leaves something to be desired. It's not that it doesn't > work well at times -it's undeniably cool when you happen to get in the > rhythm and are watching demons (it's a boomer shooter, so of course > the bad guys are demons) burst into multi-colored sprays of ichor as > you blow them apart with your weapons. But there are a host of > niggling issues that keep you from achieving this feeling of grace > long enough to make it worth playing the rest of the game. > > Reloading, for once. This game would be so much better if, after every > five shots or so, you didn't have to break rhythm to reload. It's just > so immersion breaking; you're groovin' to the beat, bang bang bang, > watching demons pop one after another and then suddenly: click. And > then a long and slow reload. Or take about how that some weapons just > never seem to be able to match up to the beat. Or watching your damage > multiplier march agonizingly downward not because you can't keep up > the rhythm, but instead because the enemies aren't spawning fast > enough (or because the AI is stuck behind some pillar on the far side > of the map and can't get to you). Then there's the discordant tracks > that play on the higher difficulty levels; it makes it harder to match > the beat (which is part of the challenge) but until you do, there are > no lyrics and -frankly- listening to those tracks is just ear gouging. > It's not fun; it's not enjoyable. You're constantly being pulled out > of the moment because of problems with the mechanics, and not your own > abilities (or lack thereof). > > But even that might be a survivable flaw if there was more to the > game, but there's not, really. The gunplay is --beyond its > beat-matching gimmick-- completely average. It's story and setting > aren't original or even notable. Its graphics are passable but aren't > anything you probably have not seen dozens of times before. The levels > are small and the bosses are tedious grinds. There isn't much variety > to the enemies, or the weapons for that matter. It's all so... bland. > > "Metal Hellsinger" could be great. It really could. The beat-matching > mechanic, if tweaked with better weapons, could raise this game to > becoming one of the classics. But it's not there yet. Maybe one day, > but right now? It's just not worth playing. > > > > * The Hunter - Call of the Wild: Salzwiesen Park DLC > It's been a while since I played "Call of the Wild". The release of a > new DLC seemed as good a reason as any to give the game another go. > "Salzwiesen Park", a hunting preserve nominally set in north-eastern > Germany, looked like it could be a winner. I'll admit; it's not awful. > But it is disappointing all the same. > > Its biggest flaw is its size; the map is /tiny/. It's probably a > quarter of the size of any of the other maps. I literally explored it > in just a few hours of play. There is very little to actually see too. > Other maps had all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore; little bits > of history and architecture to stumble across as you chased your prey. > Not so "Salzwiesen Park"; there are just three or four locations to > discover. > > The map looks nice, for sure; it's got colorful foliage and a nice mix > of forest and prairie. But there's no variety to the map; what you see > in the first ten minutes is pretty much what you'll see throughout > your explorations. There's nothing to really differentiate one part of > the park from the next. The ecology is almost identical to > "Hirschfelden", which is the very first map of the game. There's an > incredible sense of deja vu; haven't I played this already? Why did I > pay again for something I already own? > > Then there's the hunting. Even though that's actually the least > important part of the game to me (despite it being the core mechanic), > I do pay /some/ attention to it. And, frankly, it's not very > interesting. Your prey consists primarily of varmints; ducks and > raccoons and red foxes. All interesting critters to be sure, but not > particularly exciting prey. They're the sort of beasties I'd normally > go after between hunts for bigger animals; their being the focus of > the whole map makes me feel more like pest-control than Big Game > Hunter. > > This isn't a bad map, but it is bad DLC. It really feels like the sort > of map you put in the base game to convince players to buy your DLC. > "Here's a demo of what the game is like; buy the expansions for more > if you like it!" But as something you are charging customers for? It's > too small and characterless. It feels like a rip-off; a last ditch > attempt to milk the last few dollars out of your customers before you > abandon the game. > > > > * The Invincible > "The Invincible" is one of those games I hate to review, because while > I can individually point to any of its components and say, "Well > done!" when look it as a whole I get a feeling sad disappointment. > There's so much I like about "The Invincible"; why can't I enjoy it as > a game? > > I went into my experience with the game blind; all I knew about it was > that you took on the role of a lost astronaut on an alien world. I was > thus thrilled to learn it was in fact based on a story by Stanislaw > Lem, famed Polish sci-fi author (you may know him for another of his > stories, "Solaris", which is highly regarded in the genre). This > immediately elevated the game in my eyes; how could you go wrong with > a foundation like that? > > And I'll be honest; it's hard for me to point at any one thing that is > bad about this game. It has an interesting story. It has strong > characters. It has good voice-acting. It has a good -although not > memorable- soundtrack. The visuals are beautiful. The aesthetic > -especially the chunky 'Soviet Tractors In Space' motif- is > intriguing. I can't even fault the style of the gameplay, although I'm > sure a lot of people won't care for it; it's a "narrative game" > (a.k.a., a "walking sim"). It's only when you start fitting all the > bits together that you start seeing the cracks. > > I think the biggest fault is that the developers wanted to tell a > tense story of survival and discovery, but then locked it behind the > mechanics of a walking sim. Now, do not mistake me; I have no issues > with narrative games; I actually enjoy the genre. But by their very > nature, there is no tension; there are no stakes in a game you cannot > lose and where the story will pull you forward regardless of what you > do or do not do. And once you realize that is what is happening with > "The Invincible" (as you very quickly will), all intensity is lost and > the impact of story is greatly diminished. > > It doesn't help that the game does everything it can -especially in > its first half- to disguise the player's powerlessness to affect the > narrative. This makes bumping into the many (often literally) > invisible walls all the more frustrating; "The Invincible" implies the > ability to wander where you will and do what you wish, but your actual > range of travel and actions is extremely limited. All the worse since > there's often very little reason to actually explore; this is a game > devoid of any hidden secrets, which makes any attempt to escape the > dictated plot all the more pointless. Couple all that to the fact that > the world of "The Invincible" is so interesting that you are > inescapably drawn into its surreal world that these limitations are > almost cruel in their nature. > > None of this is a fault of the narrative game mechanics, or the story. > But the two do not complement one another and "The Invincible" becomes > a lesser work because they have been jammed together in an awkward > combination. I could see either working quite well (a narrative game > set in "The Invincible's" setting but with a different story, or the > current narrative given different game mechanics) but as it stands > now? It's a poor fit. > > I would really like to say good things about this game. I really, > really would. Not just because I hold anything Stanislaw Lem in such > high esteem, but because so much else of the game is done so well, and > how much obvious love and respect the developers have for Lem's work. > But as it is, this is a game that can't help but disappoint lovers of > Lem's fiction and gamers alike. > > > > * Trek to Yomi > "Trek to Yomi" is a game all about style; it is a stylish game. More, ========== REMAINDER OF ARTICLE TRUNCATED ==========