I absolutely agree that from a review standpoint you can't play through any of the CoD games and call them bad: they're at the top of the FPS genre and for good reason.
I also think that saying it never changes is daft argument to make. Each iteration may not change the basics of the formula, but it always adds or improves. Black Ops II for example now has a branching storyline and strike missions, both of which are big changes for the franchise.
Except for the spelling error in the first paragraph. :D
Launching a new IP in the current economy is tough. To start with just trying to get publishers to risk the money to back a game is tough enough. With developement costs as high as they are they are at the moment each game is a risk, and so companies play it safe.
Once you do get backing, the next problem is the gamers themselves. Once again in the current economy many people don't have the spare cash to spend on lots of games, so they've got to be careful. As such ...
The problem Call of Duty faces is a simple one: if it changes to much, fans will be complain that it's no longer Call of Duty. If they don't change it, people complain it's not changing. It's hard to win.
The second problem is exactly how much should a reviewer take off of a score for a sequel feeling like the game before it? As a sequel, it's supposed to be more of the same, just with some new features, tweaks and refinements, and whether you like it or...
The thing is, though, Assassin's Creed has never truly been a stealth game. The real-life assassin's that the first game was based on had a reputation for killing people in busy, public places, because it gave them them a far deadlier reputation. It made people scared.
Just to spark up some light conversation, what did you guys think of Connor?
I honestly didn't warm to him, which was the shame as the ingredients for a great chracter were there. But in the end I found him to be naive and not exactly the smartest cookie around, two traits I don't normally associate with the Assassin's. In fact, he just didn't feel like an Assassin at all.
Still, he did at least pull off "Badass" quite well :P
I have to agree with that. Gamers love to scream out that developers are never willing to take big risks with their franchises, but when they do the backlash is huge.
They're trying something new with DmC, and so the fans get angry. They've got all the right in the world to dislike the new look and such, but don't write it entirely off until you've played it.
I have played it, and you know what, it was pretty good. Not absolutly stunning, ...
To be fair, Mass Effect wasn't really an RPG either, it was a hybrid.
Personally, I don't see the point in trying to label the games as an RPG or shooter. Why can't they just be what they are. Why can't they just be Mass Effect? Slapping genre labels on things adds contraints and expectations for certain things that don't really need to be there.
Call of Duty is a franchise that's stuck in a strange place. If the developers take the risk and change a lot they'll have people complaining that it's not Call of Duty anymore. If they don't change much and just refine the formula then they'll have people complaining that it's the same as before.
Interestingly a Halo 4 review got bashed when the reviewer argued, in a badly worded way, I grant you, that the Halo formula just hasn't changed enough...
Indeed, the first couple of sequences are slow burning, however, Ubisoft had the confidence to to go with that over a fast-paced intro and they managed to do it well. Crafting a well done slow-burn story is far harder than an all-action one.
I agree, 343 are in a tough place. On the one hand most fans seem to want the standard Bungie formula, but on the other 343 really need to try and make the series their own now.
And how are the trolling? Scores of 8 are still mighty impressive. They may simply feel that in the current FPS market Halo 4 just doesn't quite manage to get to that 9.
No game can be said to be an 8, 9 or a 10 because it's entirely subjective. The reviewer offers an opinion, preferably being as calm and logical about it as possible.
Yes, it has increased its sandbox element, scale and enemy AI. However, it also exists in a world where there's now many other FPS games that also do all of those things very well. It's better than Halo 3 or Halo Reach, you might say, which is fine, and if it was released at the same time then it would have scored huge, but it wasn't, it was released today and today has different standards.
The key is that YOU believe it shouldn't score otherwise. The review...
Every time I see one of these early reviews that break the review embargo without consequence I think to myself, "Why the hell don't I just break it as well and release my review?". Yeah, because I agreed to it, and I don't break my word.
Sorry, mini-rant over :P
Mind you, it's possible this site just got an early retail copy. of course, that doesn't explain the other sites....
Anyway, it's going to be inte...
I almost think the blurry textures are deliberate, but it's hard to be sure. Arkane said a few times they were going with a water-color style for the graphics, so the blurry textures could actually be a part of that. Or they could just be bad texture work :D
Actually, Fantomena has a point. Normally you're quite right: dishonoured's spelling can be varied depending on the country you live in or just personal preference.
However, since it is being used as a name, that changes things. Due to that fact, it should be referred to as Dishonored.
A rather basic mistake, to be honest. Although it could be very, very deliberate on the writers part :)
Have to admit, I absolutely loved the socks off of this game! A fine example of the point-n-click genre today.
It is pretty damn awesome. I'm looking forward to getting some time to myself to finish up all the Achievements, which is something I usually don't bother with!
I'm sorry, but the author should have done considerably more research into the subject. I've personally done a lot of research regarding game addicition, and so I feel justified in saying that this is a very simplistic and uninformative view of the topic.
This article pretty much makes it sound like a horror story, that anyone playing WoW is going to become an addicit. It's far more complex than that, with numerous factors involved.
I've been having great fun with LEGO LoTR, and agree almost completely with Eurogamers review, bar the fact that they failed to mention an irritating glitch on the map where if you set a custom destination and then perform an action, like lighting a fire with the tinderbox, the map will reset the destination to the next storyline mission.
A few other problems have also popped up, but this is TT's most ambitious LEGO game yet. Although wandering around the free-roami...