We’re back this week with IGN’s Mitch Dyer as we talk about FTL, The Walking Dead, Middle Manager of Justice and more, then move on to some letters.
This week’s music, in order of appearance:
Alice in Chains – Hollow;
Alela Diane – Take us back
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The cast of Rebel FM should list their top 10 games of the year here in the comments section. =D
The “pay for beta” thing is one of the worst things about gaming right now. If you are ready to accept money for your game, it’s ready for review. “Beta” doesn’t mean anything anymore. If you want to stress test servers or gather mass data for balance, hold an open beta of a specific section of game. It’s a slap in the face when you ask me to pay money for your broken, incomplete game. Finish it, or budget better. It’s most likely going to release full of bugs and require an early patch anyway. I can understand true indie developers doing this if they are truly near release and close to budget, but the beta price needs to be half of what you intend to release it at. Even in that case, me personally would never pay for a game that they think is too shitty for review.
On the inflation thing, they’re right. I spent $85 for Turok 2. That was in 1998 dollars, when I was 12 years old. I remember I had $90 cash after Christmas that year. After tax, i had 75 cents left. All the Christmas gifts from my whole family resulted in one game and three quarters. And i was happy.
With what you get for the money, $60 is an incredible price. Especially considering the development costs of a great game. Most video games easily cover my “how long did i work for this money vs. how long will I use/enjoy what I want to spend it on” rule for buying anything.
Public service announcement:
If you enjoyed The Walking Dead game skip past the first 25 minutes of the episode, unless you want to hear Arthur be (mostly) down about it. But it’s at least free of spoilers if you haven’t played and want to hear it.
Arthur’s advice to go more than four cores for gaming is inaccurate. Most games do not even utilize four cores. The new Haswell intel chips will be four cores max until Haswell-E. More cores does not necessarily mean the cpu will run faster, the 15 2500k smokes the new eight core amd chips by a significant margin and the six core 173930 is runs about as fast as a four core 15 3570k.
It is absolutely no surprise that Debbie Downed Gies is down about something everyone (or was fondly) dug. I find great solace in him reviewing Ass Creed III and Halo 4 and liking those games and me thinking those were the best examples of what I don’t want out of games. People like what they like and overlook the flaws to validate their interests and time (well) spent.
It still astounds me people are over the moon about Crysis, Skyrim and Old Republic
From me, the guy whose read all of the Walking Dead, hates the show and loves the game.
It is absolutely no surprise that Debbie Downed Gies is down about something everyone (or was fondly) dug. I find great solace in him reviewing Ass Creed III and Halo 4 and liking those games and me thinking those were the best examples of what I don’t want out of games. People like what they like and overlook the flaws to validate their interests and time (well) spent.
It still astounds me people are over the moon about Crysis, Skyrim and Old Republic
From me, the guy whose read all of the Walking Dead, hates the show and loves the game.
Phone f**kin up and double posted
Arthur was mostly criticizing TWD’s gameplay mechanics, which is totally valid. I didn’t agree with his assessment of Clem being one dimensional and “scared a lot and wanting”. She’s a fucking little kid in a zombie apocalypse. I think her personality is appropriate in the game’s setting. The original Crysis is quite possibly the most overrated game of all time. It’s prettier than it is fun. Crysis 2 is a more interesting game, both visually and game play wise. Just my opinion. Assassin’s Creed 3 is probably my most disappointing game of this year. I enjoyed my time with it – over 40 hours – but the bar was set so high with past iterations that AC3 was destined for mediocrity.
And I love the shit out of skyrim. That is all.
Happy Holidays.
Also I’m hoping Anthony chose to play Saints Row the Third because the city in that game is a fun place to be.
I’m a PS3 owner so anyone saying Skyrim is “Game of the …” I just stop them before they finish that sentence.
It’s unfortunate that a lot of games with numbers after them were just pure dreck this year. Maybe the next Halo game will just be multi-player only … that’d be cool.
On the whole 60fps 1080p argument. I’d like to see some games use it. For example Battlfield 3 really benefits from being at 1080 or 2560 + 60fps. The whole game feels more fluid and intense. A high resolution is crucial if you are trying to snipe guys that are more than 1000 meters away. And, correct me if i’m wrong, i thought i heard Arthur once say that higher fps usually means that input lag is less. 1080p should be the standard.
Arthur on being screwed by FTL map randomness: Options -> Show Beacon Paths on Hover.
In terms of general randomness, I can win essentially 100% of the time if I can pick my ship (Red-Tail for example is an easy 100%). A random ship brings me down to about 50%.
Crysis 2 was one of the most generic games of that year, the story telling was head ache inducing and eye rolling. The mechanics may work, but they are not anywhere near satisfying, felt more like a chore. Crysis is all about visuals, thats it.
PS: Love Mitch Dyer, he’s like on my same brain level haha
I liked Halo and Assassin’s Creed 3. I think that halo was more accessible, but I liked Assassin’s Creed 3 more.
I realize what people didn’t like about AC3, but for someone like me who was so familiar with the old AC games, most of the perceived issues were really simple to overcome, or simply made me adjust my playstyle or think a little. I also found the combat to be WAY more fun. It felt like the biggest change in AC since AC2. Bigger even. And I’ve gotten almost 100 hours of gameplay out of it and I’m not even done getting 100% synch. (which I will, I did it on every AC game since 2)
I loved the story, I loved the gameplay (and really want to replay it differently later) and I just always have a good time when playing that game. I would have given it somewhere around Arthur’s score, which I feel is fair because it would require some effort at points for people who haven’t played AC or don’t like/get it, and it does indeed love to introduce mechanics without explaining them. But for someone who wants what I want from an AC game, and who doesn’t mind being lost in a somewhat complex game and having to explore everything to get all the content, this was one of the best. There were so many optional conversations both in and out of the animus, almost all of which were designed to explain and explore parts of the plot which would otherwise be ignored. I would urge people who didn’t bother with them to check the modern assassins for new dialogue after every sequence, and read ALL of Desmond’s emails.
And the story moved me in a way other AC games have not. Each cutscene had far more emotional depth, helped by the better animations and incredible music, at least in the main uprezzed cutscenes. I could imagine how the characters were feeling, and each kill scene felt tense and sad, unlike in AC2 where they felt like Ezio’s opportunity to justify his kill, or in AC1 where Altair’s victims did the same for THEIR actions. In those moments, they felt like people, and their death seemed a tragedy.
Halo 4 had interesting enemies, fairly interesting and easier to follow story (compared to previous halo games), beautiful environments and a sense of exploration, and my favorite multiplayer in a long time.
I don’t think either of those games deserve to be ranked down significantly from their overall scores, and I think Arthur’s scores were fair.
I can also see how people might not be crazy about the walking dead’s gameplay. It’s like Mass Effect for me: I watched and loved all the cutscenes, but I feel no desire to bother with the gameplay myself. I can deal with watching people do it, but I suck at adventure game mechanics.
I found it pretty refreshing to hear some criticism for The Walking Dead (although I think calling the gameplay a “war crime” is a bit hyperbolic Arthur), seeing as I’m not only having technical issues with the game but also not really connecting with the characters.
Also, I hope the crew does an episode solely focused on GOTY talk; not that the subject hasn’t been mentioned, but I’d like to hear some more specifics and there’s probably more to say. Really looking forward to the game-music extravaganza if that should come together.