Beyond Co-Op Reviews: January 09 - Fallout 3, Persona 4, Prince of Persia and More!
Review System(s): XBox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, PC, Nintendo DS
360, PS3, PC
After imposing what I like to refer to as “The Darkening” upon the Sands of Time trilogy, Ubisoft rightfully decided that the series needed a reboot, and what a glorious job they have done! Taking visual cues from the works of Hayao Miyazaki and control philosophy from Assassin’s Creed, as well as liberal doses of Ico and Okami, the game is a joy to explore. Graphically, especially from an artistic standpoint, this game stands alone. Vibrant, painterly colors explode from your screen as you explore the fantasy kingdom of the Auhra.
Gone is the time reversal of the Sands trilogy. In its place is Elika, your partner throughout the adventure. Whenever you are in mortal danger, Elika will step in and save you, the animation of which you will quickly realize is replacing your standard “reload from checkpoint” mechanic. As you effortlessly maneuver from platform to platform, you will often use Elika’s magic to increase the length of your jumps or make use of magical plates to traverse great distances.
Combat is most definitely not the star of the show in Prince of Persia, nor should it be. All of the fights are one-on-one affairs, and usually boil down to recognizing your enemy’s pattern of attack, and dialing in a combo of attacks that, while laced with visual flair, can become quite repetitive.
Ultimately, your enjoyment of this title will come from how much you buy into the world, your desire to explore every nook and cranny of the environments, and your attachment to the Prince and Elika. Theirs is one of the best videogame relationships I’ve seen in a long while, and I look forward to seeing where this series takes them.
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Its really freaky to explore more of the information stored in the computer terminals that survived such as what was going down at Vault 87 and such.
It may not compare to the great old school rpgs (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 2 and 3 US numbers) but it still is a quality that is all its own.
Likewise, if you powered through FO3 in 20 hours and stuck to the main line quest, you wouldn't learn much about the story, but Bethesda made a world that's *alive* -- every town has a back story that's unique. Individual characters don't get hours and hours of development, but there's little details you pick up in conversation.
In short, it's not the same "class" of game as a classic JRPG. They didn't take a little novel and wrap a game around it, letting you play out the fighty bits (not that there's anything wrong with that!); they fleshed out a world, and the world *is* the story.
Good to see someone got was I was pointing at through my rambling hehe.
I haven't played PoP yet, but everybody's been saying it's way too short and way too easy. I still plan to buy it eventually (maybe after the effects of the Great Holiday Flood have worn off a bit) but it's certainly no Fallout.
Fallout 3 just lacked a certain something. It was good, but it was far from being a must buy. As seen here, people got bored with it fairly easily.
This is just one of those different strokes kind of things everyone has their opinion, and Fallout3 I can agree is not for everyone.
I have put it down but only because alot of great coop/multiplayer games have come out and I generally would rather play coop with my wife then here her complain when I play F3 solo lol.
Total Comments: 9
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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves on Playstation 3
Call of Duty: World at War on Wii
AI War on PC
Castle Crashers on Xbox Live Arcade
Pixel Junk Monsters on Playstation Network
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I am just shocked that this got a silver statue.
While yes, seeing things explode is fun, but good gosh after the 2nd time does anyone else find it getting old?
Not to mention, I cannot see how Elder Scrolls and this game are called RPGs.
None of these games created characters with more depth than a block of soap.
While yes I do own this game. I haven't touched it since Left 4 Dead came out.
They have improved on some elements, but the core concept of any RPG is story and presentation. Sun glaring at you and bodies exploding are not examples of good presentation.
By presentation, I mean character. People you meet who seem like people. Games like Gears 2 and Halo have better characterization than any Bethesda game I've seen.
The only reason, why I brought the game was the fact that I realized I spent 40-odd hours walking around. Which is fun.
Forget the horribly, disfigured thing in the corner crying while rocking back and forth. That's what call a "story".
Grab your trusted rifle, pick a direction and go explore!
I am a explorer and this game, though indirectly, really lets me explore.