And you gave a great example. Same kind of deal here, if you ask me.
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Mad Max: Review Thread.
- Thread starter Krappadizzle
- Start date
And you gave a great example. Same kind of deal here, if you ask me.
And another review:
3DJuegos - 75
3DJuegos - 75
+ The wasteland is bleak, and it captures the spirit of the Mad Max franchise.
+ The experience is long. It's a game with lots of things to do.
+ The progression system is pretty powerful and encourages exploration.
- Melee combat is awful.
- Uninspired and repetitive missions.
- Survival items (water, gas…are a missed opportunity.
Dude, Mordor was right in the title of that game. What did you expect? Green fields and rainbows?
DCDW
Member
Hmm maybe I'm just not far enough into the game yet myself to judge the monotony of the game against itself, but I feel this is par for the course of almost any open world game. That said the Witcher 3 IMO made almost every (side)quest more fleshed out and I feel it's a high standard that pretty much every open world game before and since can't measure up to. I guess it's just a matter of what expectations you have of the game when going into it, but soo far, from a person who has played a good deal of open world games, Mad Max has done things well above my expectations.
But like I said, I have to go back and say that their review is coming from the other side of them probably having beat it and I'm a few hours in. On the other hand, with having beat Prototype 1&2, Infamous series, numerous Spiderman games, Batman series, Elder Scrolls, Assassins Creed (1, 2, Brotherhood), Grand Theft Auto series, just to name some of the bigger titles, I feel a lot of the reviewer complaints would still be fairly used against a large sum of the listed titles as well and in many cases Mad Max executes on some shared mechanics at least as competently if not better.
Could just be genre fatigue I suppose, we've seen it before with the music genre with Guitar Hero/Rock band.
Kölsch Bloot
Member
Seeing as this is out now and I'm not getting any smarter by reading all those opposing reviews I might just ask here:
What do you actually do? Is there a story or do you just try to survive and level up?
EDIT: could someone please link me to some good & spoiler free gameplay?
What do you actually do? Is there a story or do you just try to survive and level up?
EDIT: could someone please link me to some good & spoiler free gameplay?
Alcoholikaust
Member
Xbox One shots:
thanks so much for shots-game has great atmosphere-cannot wait to get home and get back to it-
Actually I agree with the guy. I'm totally fine with a wasteland for Mad Max because it's post-apocalyptic and has vehicle combat and stuff. But LoTR is a setting with lots and lots of gorgeous interesting locations, so setting the game in Mordor and having it be a giant empty landscape with some ruins and camps here and there was just mind-bafflingly dumb. Unless they just wanted to keep the budget down and not have to make a lot of assets, or have the game run really well because there's hardly any environment geometry. But from a user experience, Mordor has got to be the most uninteresting location I've ever seen in a sandbox game.
Steve Youngblood
Member
I think there's a combination of genre fatigue and an element of a game lacking a certain je ne sais quoi that sometimes coalesces to lead to some games kind of being singled out as the target for frustration that has been building for a while. The existence of other games like the Witcher 3 a few months ago and Phantom Pain being released now also don't help (haven't played any of the latter yet, but I know that it's getting a lot of praise for what it's doing in its open world design).
I'm treading into dangerous territories here by drawing comparisons to another game I haven't played (and frankly have little interest in playing), but I sort of feel like you saw something similar with the low reviews for Order 1886. Fans of that game didn't really think it did anything particularly egregious and hold it up as a competent if not entirely inspired third person shooter, but it got blasted in a lot of reviews for not doing anything fresh. Was it that much worse than other third person shooters, or was it finally just a point were a number of reviewers reached a saturation point where a game in that genre really needed to do something fresh and unique to not be just another also-ran in that genre?
For what it's worth, I'm maybe 45 minutes into Mad Max and am enjoying it, but that's not nearly enough time for me to be able to really understand the critiques from a personal standpoint. But the point of my original reply to you was just to assert that I didn't think it was a productive rebuttal. Maybe the reviews are spot on, or maybe they're way off base. But this reply I'm quoting now is a much better way of responding to the criticisms out there than lazily suggesting that it must be due to not getting paid off.
The perfect Dark
Banned
daninthemix
Member
This is all good analysis, but I would add that it's easier to endure an average game for 8 hours (The Order) than it is for 30-40 hours (an open-world game).
Yautja_Warrior
Member
If anyone thinking about the PC version but hasn't got it yet, CDkeys.com has the game + The Ripper DLC for £12.99 !!! I just got it and Steam is downloading it now. Can't go wrong at that price.
Daredevil7
Banned
I dont trust GameSpot review at all, complaining about the combat which basically same as Arkhams and SoM then complaining about inventory because your character has hammerspace.
8bitnightmare
Neo Member
I wonder how this would of done if it hadn't of released same day as MGS V
The perfect Dark
Banned
15 hours, yeah. But I can't recommend your strategy. The story is pretty average (just like the characters). The gameplay is the real strength (similar to Just Cause 2).
shinobi602
Member
From the Kotaku review:
I honestly have zero problems with this. That's why it's hard for me to really gauge how a game in its entirety would serve me based on others, as things like this bother some reviewers to no end while having no effect on me. In fact I like cutscenes and slow starting intros.
I honestly have zero problems with this. That's why it's hard for me to really gauge how a game in its entirety would serve me based on others, as things like this bother some reviewers to no end while having no effect on me. In fact I like cutscenes and slow starting intros.
stufte
Member
First 30 mins of MGSV is cut-scenes and crawing around on the floor doing nothing. 10/10
Steve Youngblood
Member
This is something worth considering. However, there's a couple of things there. One, different reviewers. Two, I touched upon this earlier, but what I was getting at earlier by noting that some will thinks that this game lacks a certain je ne sais quoi is just something that brings it all together. Sometimes, it doesn't take much I think for that one idea to be the difference between a game people love and a game people are kind of "meh" on. And there -- just from the little snapshot -- I'd conclude that the difference is something novel like the Nemesis system.
Krappadizzle
Member
Thanks for those posting scores and blurbs. Makes it easier to update OP from mobile. Will fix a few formatting issues and structure reviews high to low when I get home.
KefkaTaran
Member
I'm biased on this note as a reviewer, but I've got to say, I've really been enjoying your contributions to this thread and your push to keep it on a more interesting discussion track. Hope to see that in more review threads here, definitely makes me more interested in popping in and answering questions!
PositronicMan
Member
Dude, just because it's Mordor doesn't mean the world can't have some personality.
It's weird how with some games so much content/stuff to do is a positive, and with others it's "bloated and overstuffed". If there's not enough the game is "empty and shallow", but too much and it's a chore.
From everything I've seen, this content sounds more like Just Cause 2 content (i.e. Fun to me personally) rather than Dragon Age: Inquisition side content.
Daredevil7
Banned
Anyone else like to share their initial impressions before I pull the plug.
InsaneTiger
Member
I'm just tired of open world checklists.
This is my opinion and I'm not trying to agrue against those that want to buy it.
This is my opinion and I'm not trying to agrue against those that want to buy it.
stufte
Member
I already bought it! You can't make me unbuy it, knave! HAVE AT THEE!
Chill Penguin
Member
The difference is that a lot of content is a good thing if the mechanics are fun and the content is varied. If the mechanics are simple and the content is repetitive the game is going to get boring very quickly.
Omega Kirby
Member
Definitely seems like just cause, you don't play it for the story but just to wreck things.
Steve Youngblood
Member
I don't really either. But I won't deny that interesting threads can be an effective hook, particularly when the action isn't linear and you need to press on. I'm the last person in the world who wants to focus on narrative over gameplay, as I have increasingly less patience for the former in games as I get over, but I do sort of feel like the game could have benefited from taking more cues from Fury Road.
This is particularly true given the parallels in the opening segment. Both give the background of the world Max lives in. And both start off with Max being chased by War Boys. But Fury Road is both way more engaging while also not getting bogged down with boring exposition or dialog. You watch that, and sometimes the rebuttal might be "well, sure, but that's a movie. That kind of structure doesn't work in a game!" And I'd respond, "Ok, but the movie is basically just a two hour chase sequence that features ridiculous shit like on the font of a truck connected to a harness playing a flame electric guitar." And yet it still worked! There's real emotion and tension there.
That movie opens up with Max being captured and really showcasing how tortured he is and how hard survival is out in the wasteland. And then he's thrusted reluctantly into a story of people rising up against an oppressive warlord. Primarily, his goal is to survive, but he gets involved in this greater struggle.
In the game, he seems to hold his own fairly easily against the main antagonist right at the beginning of the game and the only struggle is that he wants his car back. Nothing wrong with it. I think it's a decent enough backdrop for video game. But like I said, it's just kind of disappointing coming from Fury Road where they managed to amazingly merge non-stop adrenaline with something that you could still get emotionally invested into. Sometimes you might feel like "that shit works in film, but keep it out of my video game," but there was no (or at least very little) boring shit in Fury Road.
Like I said, not a dealbreaker. And further, I'm super early in. So maybe it gets better at least. And I don't really care anyway. But like I said, it's just a little disappointing coming from Fury Road where all action and little plot (the kind of thing I want from a video game) still managed to tell an engaging story.
autoduelist
Member
As long as it's not a collectathon like Dragon Age: Inquisition was, I don't mind my open worlds having lots to do... it's only when 'lots to do' mean picking up herbs every 10 seconds when I break.
Still getting it tonight. Can't wait.
Still getting it tonight. Can't wait.
Oh good post I see what you mean.
I guess a little more effort with the story would have done wonders.
tearsintherain
Member
I'm really enjoying this so far, its a bit goofy but it feels very much like a mixture of Just Cause 2, Batman and Far Cry with some nice Mad Max atmospherics. If you hate the Ubisoft style of games you will detest this, its not any different. Mad Max Fury Road is one of my favorite movies though so getting to spend any more time in this great environment is amazing.
It has quite a few lore cards which expose you more to the lore of the Mad Max universe, which I am really enjoying since I don't really know much about it beyond the first and last movie.
I'm only 4 hours in so far but I'd put it at a 85/100, the collectathon isn't too bad since there are game mechanics that show you whats left to collect in any area and how much you have done so far. Only thing I sorta dislike is the button layout, its a bit different than Ubisoft games or Batman so takes a little bit to get used to it.
One mistake I noticed, the DLC codes for the car and car addons both say they are for the ripper car. Its two seperate codes and gives you two different sets of downloads/items.
It has quite a few lore cards which expose you more to the lore of the Mad Max universe, which I am really enjoying since I don't really know much about it beyond the first and last movie.
I'm only 4 hours in so far but I'd put it at a 85/100, the collectathon isn't too bad since there are game mechanics that show you whats left to collect in any area and how much you have done so far. Only thing I sorta dislike is the button layout, its a bit different than Ubisoft games or Batman so takes a little bit to get used to it.
One mistake I noticed, the DLC codes for the car and car addons both say they are for the ripper car. Its two seperate codes and gives you two different sets of downloads/items.
Mohonky
Member
Ok without cutting the bullshit;
- if you have played Ubi titles like Assassins Creed and Farcry, you'll be familiar with the games structure immediately (large open map, goto 'viewpoints' to scout your surroundings so that Missions / Loot / Sidequests / Points of Interest appear on map)
- loot missions are basically 'go here and fight a few enemies or look around the surroundings for Scrap'. Scrap is basically kind of like currency, you don't spend use it to shop but use it to upgrade the Magnum Opus which is your vehicle.
- main missions mostly revolve around entering bandit camps to perform certain objectives (things like destroying oil pumps, enemy fuel storage, killing an enemy leader)
- points of interest range from small enemy hideouts to take down / blow up, talking to an NPC that gives you information on how best to take down a bandit camp, entering races or pulling down towers
- completing missions and side quests brings down enemy strength in that region of the map
- this will feel pretty similar to any number of other titles as Mad Max follows a pretty tried and tested formula in terms of progression and gameplay, if you are looking for innovation, you will be disappointed
- the hook for Mad Max is in the game world and reliance on vehicles. It looks every bit as you would expect from a game set in the Mad Max world and really nails that barren wasteland inhabited by psychos and war mongers that you would expect.
- vehicle combat is excellent. Ramming opponents will always yield good results but the ability to go into a slow motion state and take out specific parts of your opponents vehicles makes for some gnarly action, whether its shooting explosive cannisters on the back of your vehicle with a shotgun or launching a harpoon through the drivers window and wrenching them out of the vehicle, the vehicular combat is always enjoyable.
- hand to hand combat is the tried and tested system originally found in Batman, you have basic strikes, heavy strikes and counters. By performing a lengthy chain of combos attacking and countering you enter fury mode where your attacks do more damage and open up the option to perform brutal finishers. The combat will be instantly familiar but at the same time it is very brutal and visceral as you would expect from the Mad Max world.
Long story short; the game isnt breaking new territory here and it has a very familiar structure and over all feel to it; but it is solid in every aspect. In the past, similar games to this have always scored very well with above average reception, so why there are so many negative reviews on this game is a little beyond me, particularly as other games of this nature have gone on to be GOTY nominees. Its a very solid and enjoyable title and if you read through this and the official Mad Max topic, you'll see plenty of people are really enjoying the game.
If you need a game that is doing something different or trying to break the mold, Mad Max probably wont do anything for you, if however you're fine with this sort of game (remember there are plenty of titles out there pretty much using this exact same formula with a different coat of paint) then yes, there is really nothing to criticise here.
I've basically been playing for nearly 10hrs straight and I'm no where near finding it a grind.
Also Cumbucket aka Chumbucket is worth a laugh, his religious devotion to all things mechanical makes for an interesting character.
Lumination
'enry 'ollins
Seems like the divisiveness comes from whether the reviewer is tired of the Ubisoft formula or not?
Yautja_Warrior
Member
Not many reviews yet, seems everyone is playing MGS instead. They really should have pushed it back until next month, it's a shame if it gets overlooked because the game is good.
Juke Joint Jezebel
Member
So, I can nab this on PC for £20. Yay or nay?
The perfect Dark
Banned
I'm tired of the ubisoft formula but I'm loving my time with Mad Max. I think it's because the gameplay itself I find very fun, therefore repetitive tasks like taking over strongholds are actually a fun activity in my eyes, thinking how I'm going to approach it etc. It doesn't feel like a dull unimaginitive grind like Ubi or Inquisition's side activities. Even the small easy strongholds are all individually crafted with what seems to be a lot of care and attention. It helps that the world is awesome to explore, I find myself firing up photo mode constantly even 10+ hours in.
What wouldn't be good/better if it was given away for free?
What a silly thing to proclaim in a thread discussing the merits/objectiveness of a game and it's reviews.
Kadayi
Banned
First 30 mins of MGSV is cut-scenes and crawing around on the floor doing nothing. 10/10
Exactly. The fucking Irony is complaining about a couple of minuscule cut-scenes versus what is served up in MGS5 beggars belief.
It's highly context dependent and this comparison is disingenuous and I hope you realize it.
timmyp53
Member
Difference being no one cares about Ethan Mars.
Dr. Kitty Muffins
Member
I'm just a few hours in but my initial impression is that the IGN review score is probably a good barometer of how I may score it personally later but who knows. I can't say how I will view the story later but I feel it starts out pretty good and is done well. The initial combat is good, yet simple (fury mode is great when he does a wrestling move) and Max controls quite great. He is very smooth in fact. His actions appear to be very fluid and look natural. Unlocking parts for the Magnum Opus feels fun and it's inclusion creative. Chumbucket is a worthy companion and well played by his actor. So far, invading enemy camps feels fun and rewarding. I haven't found any initial warts to pick at just yet. The production values are ace. If there is criticism to be had, it must be found later.