…shouldn’t you at least, I dunno, add a minor twist to make it seem like you didn’t just rip something off from another prominent game?
“[It] makes excellent use of the physics engine. This tool allows you to hold and launch just about any imaginable object in the game. See a box, target it, use it as a shield, and then launch it…as a weapon.”
IMAGINABLE. That’s the key. The gravity gun in HL2 only lets you manipulate most of the viewable objects. But if you can simply imagine an object in this Doom3 expansion, this gun lets you wield it. I don’t think you can get much more innovative than that.
Gordon Friedman. Love it!
What really bugs me is the way they talk about this weapon using Preview Hype Language as though it were some kind of great new thing, completely ignoring the fact that they know damn well it’s a copy of the HL2 weapon.
If they were actually being journalists, they would at least say something like “… much like the famous Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2”. That can be said in a neutral non-judgemental way – some readers might think, hey cool, they are incorporating something known to be a fun gameplay feature *, others might think, wow they are being lame copycats.
Gaming Journalism is such crap…
And the HL2 gun is just a copy of the TK power in Psi-Ops – and Psi-Ops actually did it quite a bit better.
The Doom 3 expansion will also feature a new online service called “teamS”. You can buy the game at a local store or download it over teamS.
The Doom 3 expansion will also feature a new online service called “teamS”. You can buy the game at a local store or download it over teamS.
Of course, installing it will be a game in itself as you spend an hour swapping CD’s, then having to complete a diabolical jumping puzzle in the vain of Mario Bros to actually unlock your files. Thats not all folks! Once you’ve managed to unlock your files, you then have to contend with the authentication system, which may or may not let you log into ‘teamS’ depending on the state of servers mind.
We knew about the gravity gun before Psi-Ops was even released, remember?
Hmmm, pistol, shotgun, machine gun, chaingun, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, rail gun…I’m sorry, could someone tell me when was the last time id came up with any original weapons?
:?
Well, technically, the Soul Cube qualifies, but this is a source of a major gripe I have with PC FPSing. As far as I can tell, you can classify 95% of all shooter weapons into six categories:
Pistol
Shotgun
Automatic rifle/machine gun
Sniper rifle
Rocket launcher
Grenade launcher
Just playing through the typical game I can see how every weapon fits nice and neatly into one of these six categories. This is why I hate playing shooters set in the real world. The truly sad part is that Doom 3 isn’t even set in the real world, and the only two ranged weapons that break this mold are the BFG and the soul cube.
Well, technically, the Soul Cube qualifies, but this is a source of a major gripe I have with PC FPSing. As far as I can tell, you can classify 95% of all shooter weapons into six categories:
Pistol
Shotgun
Automatic rifle/machine gun
Sniper rifle
Rocket launcher
Grenade launcher
Just playing through the typical game I can see how every weapon fits nice and neatly into one of these six categories. This is why I hate playing shooters set in the real world. The truly sad part is that Doom 3 isn’t even set in the real world, and the only two ranged weapons that break this mold are the BFG and the soul cube.[/quote]
coughPainkillercough
I’m sorry, could someone tell me when was the last time id came up with any original weapons?
BTW, to be fair, the Doom 3 expansion is being done by Nerve Software, the folks who did the multiplayer part of the Wolfenstein. They’re the ones who should get credit for thinking up this Levitator Gun.
And although Doug points out that Half-Life 2’s Gravity Gun is just a copy of the TK power in Psi-Ops, I disagree. I’m pretty sure it a) pre-dated Psi-Ops release, and b) is more of a variation on Trespasser, as is a lot of Half-Life 2’s physics schtick. I’m not saying it’s copied as blatantly as Nerve is copying the gravity gun, but I do think it represents the same kinds of design choices.
-Tom
the reason this is cause in the REAL world those r the only types of guns, and ppl tend to reject the really fakey guns.
the reason this is cause in the REAL world those r the only types of guns, and ppl tend to reject the really fakey guns.[/quote]
Whoa, spelling and grammar, thanks.
And to respond - in a futuristic sci-fi world where you’re in a space station that gets taken over by demons, I think there should be some effort made to add some sort of sci-fi elements to the weapons, maybe? Halo 2 does a good job of this, with Covenant weapons as compared to human weapons. I do recall that different people liked different combos - dual needlers (is that a pistol? no… automatic rifle? no… shotgun? no… etc.), some people liked a plasma rifle/SMG combo, or a plasma pistol smg combo, or whatever. People don’t seem to be rejecting the really fakey guns there.
And I won’t even try to take a crack at the flashlight in Doom 3, that’s been done to death.
Ok, fine I will use proper grammer, it just takes longer to type it out! I didnt say that all futuristic guns failed, no, I said people tend to reject fakey ones. However, I should have noted that many ALIEN weapons with said traits are very successful, as they have a premise. The truth is, it is a lot easier to believe that some guy is blasting his way through the future with some modification of something we have now as opposed to a completely faked gun with all sorts of hoses and knobs and the sort. Also, gamers understand these weapons, they know each ones pros and cons. For example: a shotgun is powerful but slow. It gets the job done, but it is inaccurate at long distances as well as having a small clip size. So if you are fighting in close quarters it kicks ass. Where as an assault rifle allows you to deliver the maximum number of accurate shots into a target at close to medium range. It is fast, has a big clip, and has some stopping power. A gamer doesnt know what to do with a gun they cant classify easily, it might take them awhile, but once they get a feel for it they will classify it into one of those categories.
As for the combos: I am sure that any one here who has played Halo 2 would GLADLY use dual shotguns, or dual assualt rifles. But can they? No, you can only use single handed weapons to dual-wield. Here is another tid bit: the pistol in halo 2 is much less powerful than it was in Halo. Why? Because they found too many people used the pistol as a sole weapon. the pistol (thats not a needler or any other alien weapon), in fact pretty much every person I have talked to said they usually prefer the non-alien weapons. And most people I have played that aren’t dual-wielding are carrying guess what? A shotgun or a battle rifle or the energy sword, but really that is a powerful knife, in context of our day and age, it is pretty acceptable.
You don’t understand what I’m talking about at all. A shotgun is a shotgun even if you call it a “crystal spreader” and give it a futuristic look and ammunition. Likewise, virtually every game has a machine gun of some sort, only some futuristic games dress it up as a needle cannon or something (one of the Unreals did this). Do you think I give a shit about the graphical design of the weaponry? I’m talking about gameplay.
Also, gamers understand these weapons, they know each ones pros and cons. A gamer doesnt know what to do with a gun they cant classify easily, it might take them awhile, but once they get a feel for it they will classify it into one of those categories.
Uh, not if it’s an actual interesting weapon, that has characteristics other than “contemporary weapon with fancy graphics”.
None of these imitate pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, sniper rifles, or grenade launchers:
Halo’s Needler
Half-Life 2’s Gravity Gun
Painkiller’s namesake weapon in secondary mode
Doom 3’s Soul Cube
Metroid Prime’s Wave Beam
Armed & Dangerous with the Shark Gun and the Topsy Turvey.
On the contrary, dual wielded pistols in Halo 2 will fuck you up super fast at close - medium range…much faster than dual SMGs, pretty much the fastest killing dual wield combo I’ve found (no delay like needlers).
Well, technically, the Soul Cube qualifies, but this is a source of a major gripe I have with PC FPSing. As far as I can tell, you can classify 95% of all shooter weapons into six categories:
Pistol
Shotgun
Automatic rifle/machine gun
Sniper rifle
Rocket launcher
Grenade launcher
[/quote]
You forgot ‘Melee’. Fists, knife, crowbar etc.
…such examples are why I said 95% and not 99%. :)
Many games do have counterexamples, which is good for those games. A lot of shooters I’ve played don’t. Far Cry was an especially bad disappointment in that regard. The only fun toy in the entire game, IIRC, was the infrared-vision goggles.
No, I just ignored it. Usually melee is relatively unimportant, and some games even make the design decision to leave it out.