Le Saboteur said:
In all seriousness though, the lack of strong stealth mechanics turned me off. You could slaughter patrol after patrol, and the town watch would eventually disappear. Had the designers thought to possibly double and triple the guard depending on how careless or cavalier you were with the body count, it might have held my interest longer.
Wait. Are you saying that simply because the game doesn't
enforce a certain style of play to you but simply offers it as an
option, it's enough to turn you off?
Because I don't see anything that's inherently wrong in the game's stealth mechanics. Sure, the game allows you to turn Ezio into a stabhappy mass murderer with little to no consequence, but it's also certainly possible to complete the game by shanking only those required to further the narrative. I know I definitely play with the latter style even if the only real reward is self-satisfaction due to being able to pull it off.
I do agree with your gripes about the game's overall narrative structure however. You being not actually the guy you spend most time with but another guy in the future who's reliving his genetic memories is a rather silly concept and the game could do without it.
On the other hand, while I do think it hurts the story, I still can't help but admire the unusual stance it takes with metagaming (as I've already stated somewhere in this thread). The way it explains away those usual video game conventions such as HUD, reloading the game and regenerating health as part of the Animus interface IS rather clever.
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But that's enough of that franchise at least as long as AC3 rolls out. So onwards. To
Mass Effect 3.
It is kind of sad to state that with little under 10 hours invested, the game's turning out to be exactly as I predicted. Something's off, as I'm certainly not feeling the same glee I had when playing part one or the early stages of the second outing. Don't get me wrong, it's a good game... but it still lacks something - as if there was no soul to the game. It certainly does have me wondering what the hell is happening in the game business these days when people realize they may have a winner IP in their hands. All of a sudden, this mysterious thing called "streamlining" happens and the writers start overdosing on the Rule Of Cool.
Yeah yeah, I get it, you want to bring it out to those "wider audiences", which means making it more approachable, but does nobody ever consider that at the same time they're clearly mooning those who like more meticulous gaming, who in this case are those
who made it so popular in the first case.
And oh, no need to point out the irony. Despite the rant above I'm still playing it, so... I guess there's my answer.
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In other news, I was finally able to take a good look into
Alan Wake considering it was only lately released on PC. And considering I'm still holding out on
Skyrim, it definitely was the most delightful new thing I've played this year. While that one-trick pony gameplay mechanic utilizing a combination of standard shooting with puzzles that involve light doesn't quite hold its novelty all the way to the end, the setting and storytelling are nothing short of charming. If that's your thing in gaming, I can heartily recommend taking a look at it.
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And oh,
The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition is wee over a month away. Did I already mention that if you grab the original release before this one comes out, they'll give you all the extra content that comes with this one as totally free DLC?
C'mon, am I seriously the only one here who talks about this game? If so, I'm slowly starting to think there's something wrong with me.