Haze

[EvilDevo]

For those of you who liked GoldenEye, Perfect Dark and the Timesplitters trilogy... prepare to be blown away by the next great FPS!

http://hazegame.uk.ubi.com/

[Overthrow]

As much as I respect Free Radical, I don't think they ever did anything that lived up to Goldeneye and Perfect Dark.

The screenshots look interesting, but I'm pretty sure that entire trailer was CG. Any particular reason for the hype besides the company name?

[EvilDevo]

Basically none, no. It's far too early to tell what the gameplay will be like on this game... but judging from what has been created by these guys before: we are in for a real treat.

So Overthrow, are you a fan of either TS or Second Sight? Or strictly a fan of the Rare/N64 days?

[Rumpled Fedora]

Eh, this looks kinda interesting. I guess I'll have to wait and see. As far as I'm concerned, Perfect Dark is the best FPS ever. Period. Yeah, sure. You can talk about Halo 2 all you want, but PD is in a totally different plane.
I still play that game... taking on 8 Dark Sims in the Complex with double Maulers... sniping with the FarSight... using the secondary option on the Dragons. Rare was at the top of its game during the N64 years. Banjo-Kazooie and Conker's Bad Fur Day! Every game they released was pure gold. It's a shame Nintendo sold them...
:eek:

:o Woah. Sorry about that, EvilDevo. Ha, didn't mean to hijack your thread! ;)

[Overthrow]

Basically none, no. It's far too early to tell what the gameplay will be like on this game... but judging from what has been created by these guys before: we are in for a real treat.

So Overthrow, are you a fan of either TS or Second Sight? Or strictly a fan of the Rare/N64 days?

I'm a bigger fan of the N64 days, but I think that Time Splitters and Second Sight were both excellent games. I especially liked the twist at the end of Second Sight that revealed one of the main characters was a pre-cog - I think that the story telling was excellent. However, the controls, particularly the aiming controls, could be often very erratic, and held that game back from greatness at times.

TimeSplitters did not suffer that short coming, being a FPS, but the stories in each game were particularly weak. The comedy of blinking in and out of time while risking creating a series of paradoxes was particularly fun in the last game, but the fact that the game was so goofy also held that series back from greatness status. When I think of the greatest films of all time, my list doesn't go "Raiders, Apocalypse Now, Schindler's List, Austin Powers: Goldmember." Likewise, my list of the greatest games does not go, "Halo, Goldeneye, Prey, Time Splitters 3." I do, however, believe the Multiplayer mode and the challenges are unparalleled as far as depth and fun in a console FPS.

Another thing that bugs me about their post-Rare games are the character models. The models and animations make every character appear somewhat marionette-like, and that kills the realism that I typically expect in other shooters. In Perfect Dark, they were toying with the idea of photo-capping phases onto character models via the Gameboy camera, and in their next game - everyone looks like something off of Thunderbirds.

Here's hoping that the team can get things right this time. They really are brilliant, and they deserve to be recognized for making another great game. Once they make another great game, of course.

[IndyBuff]

It looks kind of interesting but I think it's still too early to tell at this point. Free Radical has some decent games and I enjoyed TimeSplitters 2 but I still think Rare was the perfect company. Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, the Banjo-Kazooie games, Jet Force Gemini; all of those were steller games and I still play my N64 sometimes because of those games.

I haven't had a chance to play Perfect Dark Zero yet and I've enjoyed the small amount of Kameo that I've played but I think Rare was definately hitting their peak on the N64. Free Radical has done some good stuff but it pales in comparision to Rare as a whole.

[Overthrow]

I'll let you judge the game for yourself when you get a 360, but I strongly suggest renting Perfect Dark Zero before deciding to buy it.

[IndyBuff]

I'll let you judge the game for yourself when you get a 360, but I strongly suggest renting Perfect Dark Zero before deciding to buy it.

I'll definately look into it. I've heard mixed things so I'm a little uneasy about playing it. The first one was excellent and PDZ looks interesting but I'm also a bit skeptical, to be honest.

[Overthrow]

Both Rare games for the 360 were mediocre, in my honest opinion. To be fair to the developers, they also both started their development cycles on other systems. Kameo was going to be a Gamecube exclusive before the Microsoft buy out of the company. Perfect Dark Zero was also intended to be an X-Box game, not a 360 game. They were both adapted to a new control scheme and given graphical updates, although at some points, the original Perfect Dark sometimes looks better and plays deeper than its 360 prequel.

The gameplay of both games is nothing impressive, although both franchises still have potential.

There are several other first person games that are very worthy of your time, however. I am currently addicted to the recently released Prey. Oblivion is also an excellent first person game, and can be played in many, many different ways. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter got many positive reviews, but was not my cup of tea, personally. Gears of War also has a lot of positive buzz, and a man that I once though could play Indiana Jones (in the case of an emergency) recently signed on to the upcoming game TimeShift, Dennis Quaid.

But don't pay full price for Quake IV. The gameplay and graphics were extremely disappointing, but it did feature the creepy German actor from the "Unpimp ze auto" commercials in a prominent role. Mildly redeeming.

[IndyBuff]

I do think the points you mentioned had a big effect on Rare. Their games for the old XBOX were far from impressive and games like Perfect Dark Zero had been in development for so long and maybe expectations were just too high. Rare had the chance to score big but it seems that both 360 games have been met with a shrug. I think they're still a good company but it just seems like they've lost a lot of the magic and carefree attitude that made their N64 games so much fun.

I've heard good things about both Prey and Oblivion and they look pretty entertaining. I'm still clinging onto my Gamcube and PS2 right now and they still have some good games coming out. I'm anxious to watch the console race this Christmas and see who comes out on top. It should be very interesting.:)

[EvilDevo]

I miss the glory days of staying up 'til five in the morning with a couple of horribly nerdy friends... Farsighting the hell out of eachother and the bots.
*Sigh* Where have you gone Jo?


:o Woah. Sorry about that, EvilDevo. Ha, didn't mean to hijack your thread! ;)

Yeah. Thanks. :mad:

[Overthrow]

I miss the glory days of staying up 'til five in the morning with a couple of horribly nerdy friends... Farsighting the hell out of eachother and the bots.
*Sigh* Where have you gone Jo?


Indeed. What I wouldn't give for one more round in the old Temple, or Facility. Or even Felicity.

What really impressed me in the Goldeneye multiplayer was the locational damage. Different amounts of health were taken away based on where you were being hit. A leg shot, for example, counted for less health than a hit to the torso or head. And Rare did this before anyone else, even before Ion Storm did it more in depth with Deus Ex. Absolutely brilliant. I was disappointed when Perfect Dark came out, and every headshot resulted in instant death. A lot more realistic, but a lot less rewarding for my playstyle.

My playstyle mainly consisted of going ape on the trigger with a Kalashnikov and circle strafing around my targets head.

Whenever I notice locational damage in a game, it makes me love it that much more. I need more variety in my deaths than just headshots and bodyshots. I can't wait to see what Euphoria can do with gunplay.

[IndyBuff]

I miss the glory days of staying up 'til five in the morning with a couple of horribly nerdy friends... Farsighting the hell out of eachother and the bots.
*Sigh* Where have you gone Jo?

Ah yes, the good old days. My friends and I spent a whole summer just playing that game. The four of us against 8 Dark Bots in the Facility level. Good times.:)