• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Official Prototype Thread

bigdaddygamebot said:
So you bet that the embargo is there just because Activision feels like it. Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
It's equally as ridiculous to infer that the embargo is set one day past the release date because it's a shitty game and Activision has no faith in it. Just sayin'.
 

DeadGzuz

Banned
Jim said:
The US embargo is "Wednesday, June 10th at 9:00 AM Pacific", not Friday, FYI.

Isn't this what movie distributors do, they lock reviewers out when the reviews are going to be bad so they can get some money from the opening weekend?
 

BeeDog

Member
bigdaddygamebot said:
Current official impressions total one, and it's a website inconsequential enough to just compromise their credibility to get more clicks on their site, or inconsequential enough to not have a reviewer worth a damn that would review it appropriately.

Coupled with the embargo, I'd say where there's smoke, there's sub-par games.




So you bet that the embargo is there just because Activision feels like it. Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

I was referring more to GAF impressions. And would it be the first time a publisher puts an embargo on reviews even if the game proves to be awesome?
 

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
I imagine it's like most embargo's, if your score is below X (usually 9) then you can't post your review until Y.
 

Wired

Member
backflip10019 said:
It's equally as ridiculous to infer that the embargo is set one day past the release date because it's a shitty game and Activision has no faith in it. Just sayin'.

Well, no it's not equally ridiculous to say that. Now I don't know if the game's good or not, but if Activision had any confidence in it being great wouldn't it make sense to get the word out as soon as possible to you know, build some hype? Most games sell the most at or soon after release. So, in theory, delaying a review as long as possible could sucker people into buying a less-than-good game.
 
Wired said:
Well, no it's not equally ridiculous to say that. Now I don't know if the game's good or not, but if Activision had any confidence in it being great wouldn't it make sense to get the word out as soon as possible to you know, build some hype? Most games sell the most at or soon after release. So, in theory, delaying a review as long as possible could sucker people into buying a less-than-good game.
Perhaps, but I feel like a bunch of people who are assuming that are just kind of jumping the gun and automatically assuming that it's a POS.
 
I'd proceed with caution on this one guys. Middling pre-release opinion, no demo, disproportionately long development time, not street-dated, and embargo until mid-day release day.

All signs point to not so good.
 
snack said:
I'd proceed with caution on this one guys. Middling pre-release opinion, no demo, disproportionately long development time, not street-dated, and embargo until mid-day release day.

All signs point to not so good.

Yeah, I just realized that it's 12 PM EST. EB Opens at like 9 or 10. Yikes.
 

Wired

Member
backflip10019 said:
Perhaps, but I feel like a bunch of people who are assuming that are just kind of jumping the gun and automatically assuming that it's a POS.


Well better to assume it's a piece of shit and be proven wrong than the other way around :)
 

Mesijs

Member
backflip10019 said:
It's equally as ridiculous to infer that the embargo is set one day past the release date because it's a shitty game and Activision has no faith in it. Just sayin'.
welcome to the real world then...
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
I'll be honest when I say I don't understand how they think this policy is a good idea. I can understand an embargo when it goes in hand with moneyhatting two or three reviews at major sites but does the way they're doing it here bring anything positive to them? The ones who actually care about reviews will know about the embargo and wait for it to be lifted anyway and you get more people to become wary of the game.
 
Fuu said:
I'll be honest when I say I don't understand how they think this policy is a good idea. I can understand an embargo when it goes in hand with moneyhatting two or three reviews at major sites but does the way they're doing it here bring anything positive to them? The ones who actually care about reviews will know about the embargo and wait for it to be lifted anyway and you get more people to become wary of the game.

The reality is that there is a vast swath of gamers, much larger than the segment that actively follows these sorts of things (see: us), that saw the ad in the new issue of Wolverine: Origins, thought it looked kick ass and pre-ordered it. They won't have heard anything bad about it at that point.
 

Fuu

Formerly Alaluef (not Aladuf)
BenjaminBirdie said:
The reality is that there is a vast swath of gamers, much larger than the segment that actively follows these sorts of things (see: us), that saw the ad in the new issue of Wolverine: Origins, thought it looked kick ass and pre-ordered it. They won't have heard anything bad about it at that point.
I know, it just adds to how pointless it is to withhold the reviews with nothing else to "back it up". Gamers who follow this stuff won't be fooled when there's absolutely nothing to chew on (even at the game's official forum there's a thread titled "where are the reviews?!") and people who buy games without looking at reviews won't care.

Oh well, I guess there's a percentage of gamers that do take review scores in consideration who will buy the game day one whitout wondering about why there are none in sight before the release, but I still don't think those would be really affected by some 7.0s (or 6? 4? I'm actually very curious now).
 
BeeDog said:
I was referring more to GAF impressions.

GAF impressions have been, er, mixed. The purely positive impressions seem to focus on the joy in free-form, indiscriminate mayhem. Nothing wrong with that if that's all you're looking for, but I for one would like to read some more in-depth impressions, find out if there's anything more to it, and I'd also like to know how well the formula holds up in the long run.

I'm still wondering if this embargo covers impressions as well as reviews.
 
backflip10019 said:
It's equally as ridiculous to infer that the embargo is set one day past the release date because it's a shitty game and Activision has no faith in it. Just sayin'.

That would certainly be one of the most common reasons so...share what your reason might be.
 
shrinkingviolet said:
OK, taking it from a different angle: is there a historical precedent where a review embargo was in place for a well-reviewed title?

It happens all of the time. The most recent one I remember vividly was GTA4, since we knew so little about the game going into it.
 
bigdaddygamebot said:
That would certainly be one of the most common reasons so...share what your reason might be.
I'm just saying that it's not necessarily the case that the game will suck just because there's an embargo that is not up until a day after release. A lot of people seem to be jumping on the hate train simply because of the embargo.
 

beat

Member
backflip10019 said:
I'm just saying that it's not necessarily the case that the game will suck just because there's an embargo that is not up until a day after release. A lot of people seem to be jumping on the hate train simply because of the embargo.
I like how everyone freaked out that the embargo supposedly lasted beyond the release date.

(Though Activision is being unfair to the Euro press if NA press's embargo ends a few days earlier.)
 

Aaron

Member
Kittonwy said:
How come they put a review embargo until Wednesday? I'm trying to decide between this and Red Faction.
That's easy, choose Red Faction. Seriously.

Wired said:
Well better to assume it's a piece of shit and be proven wrong than the other way around :)
It's not shit as much as games like inFamous and Red Faction are so much better.
 

ultron87

Member
Shouldn't any site with an ounce of integrity utterly ignore the embargo and just post their review tomorrow? You know, when the game is out on store shelves and anyone can go pick it up?
 
It's Activision policy for the game review embargos to go up on the day of release, at least for online media. So this doesn't have anything to do with the game it self.
 

neojubei

Will drop pants for Sony.
All this embargo crap is just pissing me off. I'm going to save my money for the new iPhone next week.
 
poserdonut said:
It's Activision policy for the game review embargos to go up on the day of release, at least for online media. So this doesn't have anything to do with the game it self.
Wasn't the case with COD4 I think?
 

JdFoX187

Banned
ultron87 said:
Shouldn't any site with an ounce of integrity utterly ignore the embargo and just post their review tomorrow? You know, when the game is out on store shelves and anyone can go pick it up?
Except the game is only shipping tomorrow and it probably won't be "on store shelves" until Wednesday afternoon for the majority of the country. Not to mention, what good is integrity if the largest publisher in the industry ignores your little publication for all future features and reviews? Idealism at its best.
 

Sidzed2

Member
Some impressions after 30-35 minutes of play (take them for what they're worth, then!):

The game seems alright, but nothing special. The visuals are fairly crisp and pleasant, but there's barely any detail. Impressive crowds, though.

The controls are a bit sloppy. Alex has so many abilities and you can do so much that it is all a bit crazy and haphazard. Nothing about it feels refined. The overall experience of navigation is a bit janky, but nothing you won't get used to.

The presentation is alright - Alex smoulders with boring, seen-it-all-before rage and the conspiracy storyline seems marginally interesting. I'm keen to see where it goes, I suppose.

Overall, I don't think this is a stinker at all. Seems quite fun, actually. However, to compare it to a certain other game with a similar premise, it seems a little bit kitchen-sinky. You can do a lot of things, very fast, very violently (oh the violence *drool*) but nothing feels very focused or slick.

A must-rent, by the look of things (and I assume it only gets better...maybe); but don't get too excited - it seems too sloppy to be truly great.
 

ArjanN

Member
The embargo may mean that Activision has no faith in the game, but then again Activision had no faith in Brutal Legend either...

ultron87 said:
Shouldn't any site with an ounce of integrity utterly ignore the embargo and just post their review tomorrow? You know, when the game is out on store shelves and anyone can go pick it up?

Except that then they won't get sent preview/review copies of Activation games in the future any more.
 
ArjanN said:
The embargo may mean that Activision has no faith in the game, but then again Activision had no faith in Brutal Legend either...

Like I said, it's policy. The game is good, it might not be perfect but I'm having a lot of fun with it.
 

Domino Theory

Crystal Dynamics
You people with embargos and reviews. Do something better with your fucking time. :lol

Free roaming a la Crackdown + Super Human Mutant + Total Destruction = get the fuck out of my way, I'm buying Prototype.
 

neojubei

Will drop pants for Sony.
Domino Theory said:
You people with embargos and reviews. Do something better with your fucking time. :lol

Free roaming a la Crackdown + Super Human Mutant + Total Destruction = get the fuck out of my way, I'm buying Prototype.


That would be nice if it was just that but I believe there are some "stealth" missions and "chase" missions.
 

glaurung

Member
I actually bought the world-exclusive review magazine, PSW.

The review was favorable, if a little too much moneyhatty.

The good:
  • You can play the game the way you prefer - stealth, supermutant powers or military hardware utilization.
  • Plenty of stuff to do and collectables to find.
  • Minigames are graded with medals and you can always go back and try again with upgrades.
  • The upgrade system looks pretty thorough.
  • The graphics are pretty good for the carnage that goes on.

The bad:
  • The graphics are not really next generation.
  • Some funny animations here and there.
  • AI ain't too bright.
  • Somewhat wonky targeting system.
  • The story makes little sense, but is executed pretty nicely.
  • Unfair boss fights.

The final score was 9/10.
 

commissar

Member
Fuu said:
The PC version was scored 70% by PC Zone (August 2009) Summarising positively with "Wonderful free Roaming", "Slash people up real good", "Stunning views". But negatively with "Missions are a bit dull", "Too many features?" and "Weak visuals"

Can anyone confirm these?
That sounds about right to me. Not too sure about the too many features bit as I didn't get that far into the game. The story seemed intriguing, though cliche.
It is really the speed at which you can move through the environment is pretty much what gets me about this game.
The simple jump (hold a) and then release when you land to get an extra boost is a cool addition, and the running up the buildings, while initially disappointingly uninteractive to me, keeps the flow going nicely, as it's less about the current building as it is about the next one :)
So the sense of power in the game is nice.
Though it's way too violent against the average citizen for my taste.
I found the visuals to be fine from a distance, but the average pedestrian detail is not so good.

So yeah, my impressions, despite not being a fan of the OTT violence, is that I had fun while playing it, and have returned infamous for a prototype preorder (though I suspect I'll return that too if the rest of the game is as unrelentingly psycho).


Also of those who've played Red Faction (I see a few in this thread): Am I the only one who doesn't think the physics have any weight?

v Guerilla
 
backflip10019 said:
I'm just saying that it's not necessarily the case that the game will suck just because there's an embargo that is not up until a day after release. A lot of people seem to be jumping on the hate train simply because of the embargo.

There's been enough precedent set in the past that

No Demo + No Credible Reviews Prior To Launch = Piss Poor Game

It's simple really. If it was a great game, you want to get hype out there so you're sell units on day one.

Atleast I think you want positive hype out "there". Who knows? Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe Activision is onto something. Maybe day one sales just don't matter?

...or maybe it's just a mediocre game and they put an embargo on it to prevent bad reviews from discouraging sales.
 

Ashour

Member
My friend just finished the game and says that the game is very fun but he didn't like the medal grading in side quests and side quests in general aren't that great.
 

Sidzed2

Member
Played another 40 minutes.

It's fun, but in a strange, uninvolving way. It's so hectic and messy that it tires me out. The city itself is so veeeery uninteresting.

It's sitting somewhere near a 7 out of 10 so far. Always willing to play more and keep reassessing. Perhaps it improves as it goes on.
 
karasu said:
Can I be a hero in this game? I want to be a hero, not some douche bag terrorist.

You will not find much of a hero in this game, it's more of a guy looking for revenge kind of deal.
 

Dunlop

Member
glaurung said:
I actually bought the world-exclusive review magazine, PSW.

The review was favorable, if a little too much moneyhatty.


The final score was 9/10.

I think you nailed it :D

It looks like a fun game though, Infamous has given me the free raoming sandbox game bug. When I finish it and if the games gets OK reviews, I'll probably bite
 

TheFallen

Member
karasu said:
Can I be a hero in this game? I want to be a hero, not some douche bag terrorist.
Well, umm this isn't as black and white as that. You'll have the option of helping the Infected or the Military I believe (according to the Q&A)
 

glaurung

Member
Rahk said:
Anyone know what the collectables are?

Are there lots of them like the orbs in Crackdown, or just a few?

There's something like the orbs that are called landmark collectibles, I think. Maybe I'm wrong here, but there could be as much as 200 of these littered around NY.

The second collection quest is the consume thing - you can absorb special enemies and it will also absorb their memories, giving you their POV of information regarding Alex and such.
 
glaurung said:
There's something like the orbs that are called landmark collectibles, I think. Maybe I'm wrong here, but there could be as much as 200 of these littered around NY.

The second collection quest is the consume thing - you can absorb special enemies and it will also absorb their memories, giving you their POV of information regarding Alex and such.
Yup, there are 200 landmark orbs (blue) and then there's 50 hint orbs (purple) as well.
 

K' Dash

Member
McLovin said:
Where are the impressions? Do you like it?!

I got in to it last night, graphics are not THAT good, still your eyes won't bleed, the action and gore are awesome, free roaming the city killing people and soldiers, destroying helicopters and tanks is great, you can take the form of ANYONE you consume and you can use any weapons in the game.

Controls are a little messy here and there, with time you will get used to it, combat is nice, combos and powers combined look nice and you have plenty abilities to choose from.

I've only completed like 3 missions, they were pretty different, there are "events", challenges like running and geting 10 orbs in a determinate time for experience bonuses.

You can "buy" upgrades with you experience, those moves you buy have upgrades to make them more powerful, there are various categories, like combat, hiding, running/jumping, health, etc.

The game is good so far (a little less than 2 hours in), I'm really happy with it :D
 
I see it like this. I really enjoyed inFamous. Now inFamous had an enormous amount of techinical problems graphically ( pop in, slowdown, draw in, level of detail problems, poor collision). inFamous had an enormous amount of repetitive side missions, crappy in-game cutscenes, also some questionable bugs (invisible walls).

If I was able to enjoy inFamous enough to go through the good side story, and am working on the evil side now......I'm sure if Prototype has similar problems I should be able to enjoy it as well.
 

glaurung

Member
It looks like there's a bunch of new HD videos up, most feature game play action and the developers talking about it.

Part one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImG7TVDPtmo
Part two - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ22Xqy01BQ
Part three - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YOE4rKxoas
Parth four - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzLIR2im1JA

It seems like the guys really hate Red Faction, because I heard at least three references to Mars and how noone cares what happens there.

Weird, I don't see why they'd have to talk smack about something so dissimilar.

Edit: I am pretty sure that the videoclips from the game in these videos are from the PC version. So sharp.
 
Top Bottom