The Games Thread

[momaw]

I thought I might kick off a thread devoted to the games we play (Games Consoles are a big part of this subforum after all). I thought it could be used for user reviews, questions, hints and tips. I have purposely left it format neutral as so many games these days are just ports and the purpose here is the guts of the games not which platform is better (although if there is a reason a game works best on a given platform let us know so we can get the right version).

If you like the thread, use it. If not it'll fade away.

I'll start it off with my "review" of Resistance: Fall of Man for PS3.

This is from a US Version of the game running on a Japanese PS3 Console

I have previously posted some initial thoughts on the game, but now I have given it a good thrashing (am about half way through) I am in a better position to comment.

Graphics:

This game is very "pretty". I use that word carefully as given the game content, "gritty" would have been a word I would have liked to use. It is very clean. The graphics are sharp and overall it looks good. Having just finished Lost Planet, I can say they are not as nice as that game, but with some work, the potential is definitely there. The biggest gripe with the graphics is that they are too clean. Not a flaw of the console, but rather of the game design.

I know a few have Japanese consoles like myself, so the big question graphically is "What's the deal with the blood". I have played with the game as the console defaults and with a hack to put the blood back in. Even without a hacked save game, there is still blood. Every time you are hit you get flashes on the screen to let you know you are being hurt. Where the blood was removed is when you shoot enemy Chimera. They spout some blood and leave a pool on the ground. To be honest, this really adds nothing to the game. In fact I doubt many will even notice it being missing. The only time I have seen the blood used to good effect is when a swarm on insect like Chimera attack and you take them down in a mist of Red - Ok that is cool and worth the effort of the Hack alone, but really it makes little real difference. Dare I say a plus for parents if you let the little tikes play this type of thing.

In short, it is a nice looking game. The 360 does do it better just now, but it is early days and since this is not on the 360......

Audio:

The Audio has been designed very well and through HDMI, I am getting a full 7.1 soundtrack. As usual, you know when something big is coming when the music swells and starts pumping, but quiet times are just as sonically pleasing. As you walk around, you here the clank of your equipment hitting nearby objects. The gun blasts are quite satisfying and the clink, clink of your jiggling equipment reminds you of just what you are doing - going to war against some nasty buggers. It is pleasing that along with the fact it is a 7.1 soundtrack, it actually uses the rears - you can use speakers to pinpoint enemies at times. The audio knows when to be quite and is designed to at times make you jump a little ala F.E.A.R. I hope all PS3 audio tracks are this good.

The game:

The game itself is a mixed bag. It's pretty much an action shooter. Stay still at your own peril. The game rewards the fearless gamer with satisfying gun battles, but those same tactics can get you killed, very fast. Weapon design is great. There are the usual "bang" weapons with more advanced Chimera toys to play with too. Secondary fire can be quite useful with one weapon firing a "tag" round for others to home in on and another erecting a shield that the primary fire passes through. Nicely done.

The story really doesn't feel very necessary. It's just there to hold the firefights together. Another issue I am finding as I progress is that for a Shooter, ammo can be light on the ground. So too in earlier levels were medical packs. Where in the early stages of the game you would kill for some health, as it progress's you would gladly trade that health for some bullets.

Other design issues that grate is the inability for the main character to jump over the smallest terrain object. Jumping in fact is almost pointless (funny given the pedigree of Insomniac - the designers). Likewise a little more deformable terrain would be nice. There is a little, but not much. Overall I felt a little too led around by the nose with very linear level design. Given some of the open spaces I really wanted to find alternative routes and take those Chimera by surprise. Oh well.

A thinking mans game, this is not. But for a first effort FPS (the makers are platformer guru's with the Ratchet and Clank series under their belts) it's not bad and passes the time quite well. While this is not the Best FPS out there, it's quite a fun entry (once you get past the first level) and I would reccomend it to any shooter fans with a PS3. I wouldn't buy the console for it though.

Update Edit: 20 March.

Have completed the game. Serious gamers will do it in a day to a day and a half. Casual gamers should get a couple of weeks play out of it if only playing about an hour a night.