jamcc wrote:cooldawn wrote:Seriously bad controls. All of it. Finding clues is the most frustrating mechanic I've played this generation.
Terrible driving. On rails or what? MAFIA II's mechanics are an absolute joy compared to this.
Boring gameplay overall. Interrogation mechanics don't make any sense...why would a 'Lie' be any more wrong than accusing 'Doubt'? The game put's them in a 'true' or 'false' state. The Notepad mechanics are bad as well. Having to piss about finding the right option and having to press circle, and again, and again etc... to close the book. Why? Combined they completely break the flow; it's exhausting to play.
Bad controls - wut?
Terrible driving - again, wut?
And that last paragraph is so baffling I don't even know what to say.. If it was simply true or false the game would be a 50-50 guess on interrogation questions, which would almost entirely ruin the game. In case you hadn't worked out, even after completing the game:
Truth - a true statement, that you know to be true based on what you've learnt already
Lie - the opposite, but backed up with a piece of evidence you've collected
Doubt - from what you've already learnt of the case you suspect them to be lying but don't have the evidence to prove it.
It's a pretty simple system. Granted, it's not perfect but it's different and, I thought, interesting.
I really didn't like the Resident Evil/Silent Hill mechanic of walking around waiting for the rumble to kick-in. It's a last-gen mechanic that shouldn't be in this game. A button to move sideways would help immensely. I know people wouldn't do that in real life, but in real life the human body is way more flexible than in videogames. Maybe a focus button too so you could literally stand in the middle of a room and zoom in on areas you think are important. Overall, as it is, finding clues is utterly frustrating. I'm not saying it doesn't work...because I did find most of the clues...but it could have been done better rather than the system that brings the game to a halt.
The driving didn't really feel like driving...cars didn't flow and could turn in an instant. Not what I'm used to at all. It did the job but could be a lot better.
Another point I'd like to make is why did they decide to make the player drive to a location, then show a cut-scene of the player walking up to the building, then back to the player to guide themselves in to the building, then to a cut-scene to talk to someone in the building? Why not take all that gooseberry fool out and go from driving to the location straight to a single cut-scene when you speak to the first person there? That would make the game flow much better. That infuriated me no end.
EDIT: Also, why did the game require me to go to select my next location? Could it have done that form me? Yes, it could have. Instead I had to go to through all the options in my notepad. In fact, why wasn't the map added to a button press rather than in the pause menu? It's bad game design, in my opinion.
I still think the interrogation parts didn't really work right; you could ask questions in different ways to get what you need. Personally I can judge people pretty well in real-life, one-on-one, but not in this videogame. Probably because it's all still scripted and not natural even though it is the best the industry has seen so far.
Talking about the tech...I think it's a modified and well developed version of RAGE...is absolutely stunning. I played this on PS3 and, I kid you not, the environments and detail reminded me of Naughty Dog. That's how good I thought the engine was. Everything was absolutely solid bar a few frame hits here and there but the look and feel was up there with the very best. A massive improvement over GTA:IV. So many incidental things happen in a scene and the game picks up on it. Even the sound is amazing. Again the game picks up on it all.
This really is the best open-world engine for this type of game and right now I'm having more fun responding to incidents over the radio. Those are fun.
It's a shame because you can tell the love for craftsmanship in the game but I do think if the game played out like the last couple of chapters, a faster flowing experience, then this would have been stunning from start to finish.
Oh, and I still think the lack of AGENT is because of this game.
Oops, guess i was getting into it more than i realised 
I'll see after I've cleared out my September backlog.
so I got that rockstar pass for 33% off. Time to get on with it tomorrow. GoW3 can wait!!
As you were....