When I was a reviewer for a dutch site, already a year or two ago, I gave MGS2 a 9.2, there was a huge fuss about it, everybody thought I was crazy, I thought the score was a bit high as it was...the same story with my 8.2 for Eternal Darkness, I was really bashed alot for that. So you can't ever please everyone with a score.
The Chronicles of Riddick PC Gamespot review
- Thread starter Doom_Bringer
- Start date
I wish people would stop pimping Half-Life 2 as if it were the single greatest game ever made. It IS good, I'm not suggesting otherwise...but damn it, it's FLAWED. It was simply nowhere near the experience I had hoped and all these people constantly slamming this "best game ever" BS in our faces is actually having a negative effect on my opinion. I really did enjoy it, so I can't say that I'm too pleased.
Sadly, there just hasn't been too many truly great FPS title released over the past few years. Halo and Halo 2 are the best FPS titles I had played since Deus Ex (which really isn't an FPS in the traditional sense).
Sadly, there just hasn't been too many truly great FPS title released over the past few years. Halo and Halo 2 are the best FPS titles I had played since Deus Ex (which really isn't an FPS in the traditional sense).
It's been stated before that Riddick is going to have a sequel. However, do we know if Starbreeze is going to be working on it? I know it was discussed somewhere, but I can't remember where.
I hope Vinny knows enough to realize that Riddick would not have had ANY love without Starbreeze, as all of us would have dismissed it as just another movie-game.
I hope Vinny knows enough to realize that Riddick would not have had ANY love without Starbreeze, as all of us would have dismissed it as just another movie-game.
For what it matters, I loved Riddick, but the load times in the original release were just as jarring as HL2's. No doubt that they aren't an issue in the PC version, though.
As for the whole Riddick vs. HL2 thing... I really liked Riddick, but I had much, much more fun with HL2. "Second coming of the FPS" be damned, HL2 is probably the best singleplayer game I've played in years. And when things like Svencoop 2 and Action HL2 hit... Yes.
As for the whole Riddick vs. HL2 thing... I really liked Riddick, but I had much, much more fun with HL2. "Second coming of the FPS" be damned, HL2 is probably the best singleplayer game I've played in years. And when things like Svencoop 2 and Action HL2 hit... Yes.
junkster said:
I dunno, supposedly Tigon is trying to take credit for most of the game... given I didnt like Enclave at all, Im sure they do deserve some credit.. but I would rather the exact same group of people make the sequal. Universal, Tigon, Starbreeze, and put it on the next gen systems.. and I will eat it up.
I don't really care that I can only get 30 fps at 800x600 in HL2 or that it takes forever for me to start the game, load a save and about 15 seconds to load a map (sometimes longer, there was one really big map that took about twice as long to load). technical problems aside (half of which are just because my pc isn't all that up to date) the game is fun as hell, has brilliantly designed levels and a lot of events that are just plain amazing. like the original, it's also one of those games where everything in the game was put together extremely well and offers a similar kind of open-ended approach to combat situations like Halo, only it's the physics and environment you use more than weapon combos/limitations.
the physics aren't really something you can credit valve for doing, but the entire gameplay is designed around them, and you can credit them for doing that so well.
the physics aren't really something you can credit valve for doing, but the entire gameplay is designed around them, and you can credit them for doing that so well.
That's the only thing I disagree with in your statement. The combat was the most disappointing aspect of the game. Everything happening around me was so exciting, but the CORE COMBAT just was not. I'd rather not dive into explicit details here, but there were just too many little things that added up to prevent me from truly enjoying the combat.
boredJonathan
Member
dark, I just gotta say thanks for backing up my sanity in these posts. It's like you read my mind sometimes.. frightening.
Anyways, I think that people tend to say that 'Oh it's a PC game, it's going to have loading' and think that it is the simple act of loading that dissapoints us are missing the point. It is entirely the way in which they were handled. That is a game design issue, and if it stems from Source, well then Valve should have worked within those confines instead of hacking up the experience like they did.
As for epmodes comment, I think its more a matter of comments feeling like a counter weight to all of the "Half Life 2 OMGWTFBBQ GOTY" comments that make these discussions seem so ambivalent.
Anyways, I think that people tend to say that 'Oh it's a PC game, it's going to have loading' and think that it is the simple act of loading that dissapoints us are missing the point. It is entirely the way in which they were handled. That is a game design issue, and if it stems from Source, well then Valve should have worked within those confines instead of hacking up the experience like they did.
As for epmodes comment, I think its more a matter of comments feeling like a counter weight to all of the "Half Life 2 OMGWTFBBQ GOTY" comments that make these discussions seem so ambivalent.
boutrosinit
Street Fighter IV World Champion
jetjevons said:
Yes. It is impressive. It's called Multiduplexanalwartfishpiss mapping. You basically take a texture of an ass and put it on a flat surface and then you have a perfectly sculpted ass, but without all the polys! It's total fucking genius man!
And there will be flying monkeys and lepers who shoot their flesh from their eyes. It rules. I played it an everything.
*puts crackpipe back in the evil thoughts box*
bishoptl said:
Lol the mods are loving the new 'laws'.
SELL YOUR....erm......um......I've got a new girlfriend.... she's from Czech Republic....her name is..... SELLY UR CONSOLENSOVITCH. Um yes.
But back on topic....
Riddick rocks....an Xbox showcase, even if you don't like the grim and gritty artstyle, gotta admire all the tech that Starbreeze pumped into the game, and probably only FPS title I've played where the 'fist' fighting actually works. +1 for Starbreeze and the Vin'ster.
I've no hesitation in recommending Riddick as my GOTY 2004. Halo 2 was the better game...but Bungie must suffer my fury at that shit ending and lack of Earth action.
As for HL2....it's been out for two months. AND WHERE THE FUCK IS TFC SOURCE?!?! WHERE IS TF2!??! FUCK YOU VALVE! FUCK YOU UP THE ARSE WITH A CREAM THE RABBIT DILDO!!!!
FUCK COUNTERSTRIKE!!!! FUCK IT UP THE ARSE WITH THAT PIECE OF STEAMING TURD, WITH DANCING MAGGOTS DOING THE FANDANGO THAT IS DAY OF DEFEAT!!! I WANT MY NEXT GENERATION FORTRESS ACTION!!!!!!!!!!!
BuckRobotron
Member
Riddick Xbox really is impressive. Though primarily a one-time through experience, you can at any time boot up a story checkpoint segment and replay that. The last few levels are an absolute riot, with a better scripted and more explosive end run than many movie action blockbusters.
The added developer in-game commentary in the PC version sounds great.
The added developer in-game commentary in the PC version sounds great.
Red Mercury said:
Ha ha, luckily, the loading issue does not necessarily seem to be a problem with Source itself. Vampire Bloodlines, for instance, loads frightenly fast for a new PC game. Once you get rolling, load times between areas tend to take just a few seconds. The performance can be pretty awful, but I blame Troika's lack of tech skillz more than anything else. The game has more complex content running on the Source engine and features load times that run circles around HL2...
CrimsonSkies said:
You gotta be out of your COTTON PICKIN MIND! :lol To say Riddick storyline is weaker is outragous..i sure the hell HOPE you arent trying to compare it to HF2's story :lol ..there is no comparison, Riddick is one of the best story driven fps in a loooooooooong time.
Get with the program sir!
boutrosinit
Street Fighter IV World Champion
jetjevons said:
Yes. And there is also a secret level with ASS bumping. Like bump mapping, but everything (even brick walls and trees) are shaped like asses. All of it. Meanwhile, the film known as 'Old Boy' is amazing and I urge you all to watch it. Riddick (the game) is also excellent. The guy who did GoldenEye Rogue Agent need to be gang raped, without warning, or lube.
I dunno. I know it's not exactly like Halo but I found that in both HL games you can use the environments in combination with weapons to your advantage. i.e. in HL2 there are some areas of the highway 17 level where you fight groups of combine soldiers in abandoned houses - you can barricade yourself into a small room and use the shotgun for close-quarters twitch blasting or you can try to hit them from long range with the magnum, or run and gun with the SMG/pulse rifle.dark10x said:
grenades are really good in HL2 as well, just not as good as the halo games (well I like the grenade controls a ton, but the lack of variety obviously hurts).
it's not Source issues, as HL source loads super fast. I honestly don't know if it's just video settings in my case (since that's what definitely makes the game perform poorly for me - I'm using a gf4 ti4200) but I do know that some of the environments lag like hell for me, particularly anything where there's a lot to be drawn from far away. I personally could look past the technical flaws no problem, probably because I wasn't expecting it to run smoothly for me. and technical flaws aside I think the game is an amazing experience that's just as good as the original HL.Red Mercury said:
on the other hand we have Halo 2, which has awesome technical polish but the single player feels like it's lacking because it's just so limited (maybe 6 months from now Bungie will finally reveal that MS made them cut content from Halo 2 so it would release this year).
and exactly what do you mean by "core combat mechanics"? the point is that HL and HL2 as an entire package provide a lot of situations where you can try multiple approaches. it's not like in Halo where the different approaches are based upon your weapon setup, but the point is that the combat is still very open-ended, just not in the same way as Halo.
firex said:
The best way to look at it is like this;
How much fun would it be to combat a singlular enemy in an empty room with your weapon of choice. In the case of Halo, I can honestly say that fighting most of the enemies in a 1 on 1 environment could actually still prove rewarding and fun. The enemies and weapons of HL2 would not provide anywhere near the same level of enjoyment due to the way everything functions.
Now, in the context of the game, we all know that you generally do not face enemies in this type of situation. The point, however, is that if the combat is good enough to the point where the above scenario becomes enjoyable, it would absolutely shine when placed in an environment (as long as the rest of the AI is up to snuff).
If you face one of the more powerful combine troopers in that room, what would you do? If you were facing a Covenant Hunter in that room, what would you do?
My point is that, in the case of the combine soldier, I'd probably just aim for the head and should a couple times. With the hunter, I'd move within close range, lead him on a bit, wait for him to charge, dodge his attack, and fire a pistol bullet right into the small patch of exposed guts. The method used to fight that combine solder would apply to most enemies in HL2 (you just shoot towards the head until they die) while the attacks used to kill the hunter simply would not work in the case of other enemies.
In Halo, weapons combos are possible and encouraged, CLOSE COMBAT is EXTREMELY deadly and fun (not even present in HL2), enemies require VERY SPECIFIC strategies to kill efficiently, etc etc. HL2 doesn't offer this kind of combat. It's entirely different and nowhere near as addictive to me.
dark10x said:
I wish people would stop pimping Halo 2 as if it were the single greatest game ever made. It IS good, I'm not suggesting otherwise...but damn it, it's FLAWED. It was simply nowhere near the experience I had hoped and all these people constantly slamming this "best game ever" BS in our faces is actually having a negative effect on my opinion. I really did enjoy it, so I can't say that I'm too pleased.
Sadly, there just hasn't been too many truly great FPS title released over the past few years. Half Life 2 and Halo 1 are the best FPS titles I had played since Deus Ex (which really isn't an FPS in the traditional sense).
CrimsonSkies
Member
I'm amazed at how touchy people get when you talk about a game they like. It's like they have formed an emotional bond with it. Weird.
dark10x said:
ok, that makes sense to me, and I agree. I actually find though that with both HL games the human/soldier AI seems to "scale" a little bit. that is, the more soldiers, the smarter they seem to act, which is part of why things are tougher both in HL and in HL2 when you face bigger groups of soldiers later on in the games. I don't know if that makes sense but it's just that for most of each game, enemies have almost identical equipment setups, but they get smarter as the games go on. and in tests with HL2 at least it seems that a group of 2 or 3 combine soldiers aren't nearly as smart as 5 or 6, for example. they seem to really work like squads. it's not the most brilliant AI ever (as that one video posted shows) but it's just something I've noticed... so, much like the main game as a whole, what makes the HL grunts and HL2 combine soldiers good is the setpieces in the game more than any individual strengths.
Halo's AI on the other hand is something I find a mixed bag. I'm not going to trash the flood AI, because it's no different from the headcrab/zombie AI (and to a limited extent the alien slave/grunt AI in HL, although those are much smarter about their environments when you get to Xen) so there's no real fault for that, plus it's obviously intentional in the case of both games. but lower level covenant types seem a bit gimmicky to me with the stuff you've said, like baiting them into attacking so you can hit their exposed weak spots, while the higher tier stuff is truly really brilliant and can't be faulted. I don't think it "scales" like the AI of soldiers in HL though, which is why it can be just as fun to face a handful of tough guys in either Halo game as it can be to face a ton of them. and that's not a real flaw of either game, because Halo easily wins for enemy variety but I'd actually put both games on par in the AI department when you look at the best things they can do in each game.
a lot of my HL AI experiences are with playing various single player mods in addition to the main game. as long as maps are designed well, squads of soldiers are way tougher in the HL games than anything solo, no matter how tough it may be to kill a single guy. It's like once they get enough guys (4 seems to be the magic number) they'll do things like throw grenades into your hiding spots, or split up and surround you. HL2's environments don't lend themselves to this as much, though, so it's a lot less common (plus there aren't enough soldiers with things like the SMG grenades or pulse rifle alt fire, and the white-suited elite types should have been introduced to the game sooner, like the black ops in HL). the teamwork of the AI is just cool as hell and really should be done more in any expansions for the game.
my personal choice for best AI in any FPS I've played, though, probably goes to operation flashpoint (I'm not completely sure of this, though, as it sometimes has a feel of magic bullet tracing/cheaply finding you out of nowhere). but it's not really in line with either the HL games or the Halo games.