Wow, I thought they were previewing the next Tomb Raider game! :lol
Honestly though, that was a really poorly written preview. What's with all the comparisons to Tomb Raider? I just simply don't see it. They simply couldn't get over it. If you ask me, I'd say they're hoping that the game fails. The article tries to pigeonhole the game into two categories: combat and puzzels. Both of which they say are rather unimpressive. On the puzzeling side, they complain its the same old mechanics you've seen in, to my surprise, Tomb Raider. Because Tomb Raider was totally the only game to feature rotating statues and raising water levels (aka, Half Life 2: yeah, I went there!
). Lastly, they complain that new areas don't stick out too well when the whole goal for Naughty Dog was not to make it too obvious. I mean, because in reality, doors totally stick out five feet from the walls to which they are grafted too, and vines have red color to separate them from the green ones so we know which one to climb. Not to mention, just about anyone should be able to climb a vine, so why not just make them all interactive. :lol
Next, they say the combat is not entirely responsive. While it is smooth, it is clumsy. Wait, what?!? Sticky scenery spots?!? What are they talking about? It would help if they could explain the control issues they had, but they don't. They complain that enemies dance around your bullets and is too unfair because they are good shots. You know Nathan Drake is an everyman kind of person. He has probably never fired a gun before, but adapts to the situation regardless. The pirates on the other hand are pirates. If they have taken part in criminal acts, they have probably had experience with guns. And what exactly does this have to do with unresponsive controls? Yeah, I have no idea either. They even go as far as to say Elena is virtually useless when it comes to support when everyone else has been stating in previews she is surprisingly helpful. Was that everything now? Oh, now they think the A.I. is pretty unintelligent when all signs point to the contrary.
Now, what about the graphics and animations? Oh, forget about that. That is just yellow journalism: blatant lies. Now what? The camera? Oh, I just realized something. They must have been previewing the TGS build. Everything sounds oh so familiar. Regardless though, if this is representative of the widely acclaimed "
best quality gaming magazine in the world", I'm very glad I wasn't suckered into that piece of... but I digress.
I look forward to everyone's impressions tomorrow. One more day until the demo; twelve more days until the game: this topic is going to explode!