Fallout: New Vegas
Despite being an almost identical game to Fallout 3, the small changes in gameplay give it a very fresh feeling. I spent countless hours on Fallout 3 playing through every main mission and all the expansions so I wasn't sure what to expect when playing this. From the beginning it felt like it would be just more of the same... and it is. But what makes it feel fresh are changes like weapon customization, damage threshold levels, enemy armor, various ammo types, and constant companions. The biggest change, however, is the inclusion of reputations. The game is full of different factions of people. This could be as small as a town or gang, and as large as an entire army. Every major decision you make influences a factions opinion of you. What makes this so interesting is that when you are faced with a choice, it will almost always negatively affect one faction while making another accept you more. Besides affecting your reputation, I find that the choices you make often cause you to either gain another quest or prevent you from ever finding others. An example of this is where I am at right now. Right after I spoke with a certain character I unlocked around 6 new quests from one conversation. When I look at these quests, I know that no matter which one I do first, the result of that quest will cause me to immediately fail several others. Because of this I'm constantly second guessing myself, and have even decided NOT to play the game in over a week because I don't know what to do next. Regardless, these choices and feelings are something a lot of games are missing and I welcome this change. It makes the game feel more immersive and creates a more enjoyable experience.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Ok, first things first. I'm not even a quarter into this game so take my opinion with a grain of salt.... BUT, although the game is good, I'm just not sold on it being great. In fact, I find myself feeling quite bored while playing it. I don't know if its because my expectations are so high, or if its just not the game for me. Either way, I am just hoping something more... interesting happens. So far, it is simply go in, kill guards without being seen. Crawl through these vents and shut off poison gas to save these people. Then solve a couple of riddles, and kill a big BOSS bad guy. Every missions feels exactly the same. While talking to Skatch, he was raving about the Riddler side quests, but even while trying to do those, I just kept finding it rather monotonous. Maybe I just having given it much of a chance, but if it keeps up this pace, I may find it hard to put the game back in to finish. And I ALWAYS finish my games (FFXIII doesn't count as a real game).
In closing: I did not re-read or proof read this so if it doesn't make any sense... well, I don't care.
XIII doesn't count as a real game, LMAO!
ReplyDeleteNew Vegas was pretty good. I sunk 30 hours into it until my PC kicked the bucket and the steam cloud system somehow didn't save my game so I haven't been motivated to start all the way at the beginning.
I really enjoyed Arkham Asylum. Maybe because my expectations weren't high for a superhero game so I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe I just loved swooping down on enemies. Batman was easily taken down unless you utilized his stealth and different skills. I'd say it's worth finishing...
I enjoyed AA a lot (no, not Alcoholics Anonymous) too. I didn't get the feeling that every mission was the same. I thought there was a nice mix of stealth sections, combat, riddle solving, item collection, and just plain exploration. The riddles were tons of fun, if a little easy. I only struggled with a handful of the 240. One of the things this game did really well was pull the old Metroid card out of its pocket: having a big world that's opened slowly, teasing you by showing you items and places you can't go yet, making you think, "Man, I really want to get up to that ledge" or "I wonder what's behind that grate that I can't pull down yet." I'm a huge sucker for games like this, most notably (as I already said) Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. I think the only downside of the game was the boss battles. A little bit easy, especially the Killer Croc one. That one was just a let down, too, because there's a ton of build-up. Also, I think a lot of people gave it bonus points for using a lot of the same voice actors as the animated series.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Fallout games can eat me.
I know I need to just keep giving it time. And I do think it might be an expectation thing. 3N3MY and Skatch have pretty much created a list of Must Play games that I slowly have been working my way through over the years. This is one of those that they have raved about so I just expect great things.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually a topic I want to post on separately to get some of your feedback. It's actually quite humorous to see the list of games I waited (and even refused) to play.