Late I know, but what can I say?
It was good. At times, real damn good. But it's merely the first stepping stone in a genre I truly hope is continued, and the game is really held back by it's writer/director David Cage. Good direction, the man certainly knows how to frame a shot, but the writing is inconsistent, and the narrative completely falls apart at the end.
IP's character controls are so broken it's damn near insulting. Everything else works control-wise, from the right analog stick interaction to the various (err, I mean two) different mini-games. But trying to move the characters around the indoor environments with the awkward, static camera is simply frustrating. There are a couple flashback sequences in the game as well, the content of which I won't spoil, but I will say they require you to sneak your way around. Yeah, they're trash. Should've been removed in QA for lack of fun-ness. What does work is the seamless integration between cutscenes and gameplay. And I don't mean one into the other, but rather one within the other. It's different, it's well implemented, and it makes the cutscenes even more intense. It really works well.
The fact that two of the three characters you play as are detectives unfortunately doesn't mean you do much investigating. Sure you walk around a couple crime scenes, but all you do is wait until an interaction icon lights up at the top, and then hit it. There is one great scene where you have to pair together a bunch of clues, and had they had more of this, and expanded on it, I would have been in heaven.
The narrative is the true reason to play this game, though not because it itself is anything special, or unique for that matter (it's kinda poor actually), but because it is presented and paced in an extremely exciting manner. The plot builds with questions upon questions arising, yet it only gives you a little at a time, and the urge to continue playing is very strong. The balance between the three playable characters is also quite good, and the idea of chasing yourself is lovingly Dick-ian. It's a shame though that towards the end the game goes off on such a fantastical tangent that it detracts from the earlier, more believable aspects of the storyline and atmosphere. Cage clearly got away from himself.
I have to mention two more things, one very good and one very, very bad. The good, is the game's score, composed by Angelo Badalamenti. It's damn near excellent, and very fitting. The bad, is the censorship in the American version. Two sex scenes were removed from the European version, one interactive, one not. Judging by the rest of the game, it is quite possible that these scenes would have further strengthened the relationship threads of the plot, which were the weakest by far. It is also possible that they are nothing but mere titilation, but in a title such as this, that is so dependant on it's narrative (and is rated Mature and clearly aimed at adults), that decision should be left up to me, the gamer, and excluding them is inexcusable, and completely unacceptable behavior by Atari.
Do I recommend a purchase of this game? No, I just rented it and I'm glad I did. I'd like to buy it simply to support this genre in the future, but there are just one too many missteps, and the censorship is something I will not support. Give it a rental though, it's a refreshing experience that I hope to see more of.
Presentation 7
Play 5
It was good. At times, real damn good. But it's merely the first stepping stone in a genre I truly hope is continued, and the game is really held back by it's writer/director David Cage. Good direction, the man certainly knows how to frame a shot, but the writing is inconsistent, and the narrative completely falls apart at the end.
IP's character controls are so broken it's damn near insulting. Everything else works control-wise, from the right analog stick interaction to the various (err, I mean two) different mini-games. But trying to move the characters around the indoor environments with the awkward, static camera is simply frustrating. There are a couple flashback sequences in the game as well, the content of which I won't spoil, but I will say they require you to sneak your way around. Yeah, they're trash. Should've been removed in QA for lack of fun-ness. What does work is the seamless integration between cutscenes and gameplay. And I don't mean one into the other, but rather one within the other. It's different, it's well implemented, and it makes the cutscenes even more intense. It really works well.
The fact that two of the three characters you play as are detectives unfortunately doesn't mean you do much investigating. Sure you walk around a couple crime scenes, but all you do is wait until an interaction icon lights up at the top, and then hit it. There is one great scene where you have to pair together a bunch of clues, and had they had more of this, and expanded on it, I would have been in heaven.
The narrative is the true reason to play this game, though not because it itself is anything special, or unique for that matter (it's kinda poor actually), but because it is presented and paced in an extremely exciting manner. The plot builds with questions upon questions arising, yet it only gives you a little at a time, and the urge to continue playing is very strong. The balance between the three playable characters is also quite good, and the idea of chasing yourself is lovingly Dick-ian. It's a shame though that towards the end the game goes off on such a fantastical tangent that it detracts from the earlier, more believable aspects of the storyline and atmosphere. Cage clearly got away from himself.
I have to mention two more things, one very good and one very, very bad. The good, is the game's score, composed by Angelo Badalamenti. It's damn near excellent, and very fitting. The bad, is the censorship in the American version. Two sex scenes were removed from the European version, one interactive, one not. Judging by the rest of the game, it is quite possible that these scenes would have further strengthened the relationship threads of the plot, which were the weakest by far. It is also possible that they are nothing but mere titilation, but in a title such as this, that is so dependant on it's narrative (and is rated Mature and clearly aimed at adults), that decision should be left up to me, the gamer, and excluding them is inexcusable, and completely unacceptable behavior by Atari.
Do I recommend a purchase of this game? No, I just rented it and I'm glad I did. I'd like to buy it simply to support this genre in the future, but there are just one too many missteps, and the censorship is something I will not support. Give it a rental though, it's a refreshing experience that I hope to see more of.
Presentation 7
Play 5