It’s been bugging me, finally figured it out (I think) - they used the same actor from the Force Unleashed games right? Keep expecting him to bust out with some force lightning.
In most open world games, I usually tend to just walk everywhere. But I am starting to really warm up to the motorcycle. I’ve already upgrade it a bit and the controls feel more responsive.
So far this game is hitting all the right notes with me.
Yeah, it’s easily the best rendition of a Pacific Northwest forest ever in games. I know it was last gen, but I remember thinking Alan Wake was laughably sparse compared to what a real rain forest is like around here.
It is weirding me out in one way: the map is backwards. The real geography would put the wetter, forested area to the west and the high desert to the east. For some reason they’ve swapped that in the game.
Yes, Sam Witwer stars in both. He is also the current voice of Darth Maul.
Yep, the bike feels really good when you adjust to it. They key for me was not trying to go full throttle all the time. I feather the gas a lot now, and the drift brake is really fun.
That is a pretty weird thing for a studio based out of Bend to get wrong. Still, they nail one piece of authenticity: absolutely everyone is covered in tattoos.
Seems like most of the zombies were killed back in 2016. But they do show up eventually.
That’s fairly disappointing, but I get it. That nice Last of Us 2 gameplay trailer had great little moments that wouldn’t be practical in real gameplay too. The smoke and mirrors is still disappointing tho.
Seems your prediction was spot on!
The best part is the cigarette.
yeah he like, puts it out on me. Invisible jerk.
LOL, your blunt “no” response was way too funny! :)
I’m about 30 hours in & really enjoying it, even though I wasn’t at all excited or even really engaged about it in the lead-up, but bought it on trust of Sony First-Party exclusives & nothing else in my small game backlog with immediate appeal.
It personally reminds me most of the Tomb Raider reboot of 2013, substituting Lara’s climbing mechanics with traversal of an open world on bike. If you liked that, I think there’s a fair chance you’ll also dig this.
Certainly it lacks some of the polish of other recent Sony First-Party titles, but the quality of the story unfolding makes it easy for me to look past the occasional glitches & gripes with some seemingly anti-intuitive gameplay design.
Man, this game really goes places. Some of them places I’ve actually spent a lot of time. I kept wondering if Sony Bend had included a version of the Black Butte Ranch resort where my family vacationed all my childhood, so imagine my pleasure when I discovered it as the Ripper Headquarters.
I’m just having such a jolly time with the game. The romance in the game is actually really sweet, and there are a ton of super interesting characters, although you have to make it to Lost Lake before you start to find them.
It’s also surprisingly huge. I thought I was building to a climax only to discover that was merely a weigh station on the journey to A SECOND MAP!! I had assumed Crater Lake just wasn’t in the game, but no! Wizard Island is a freaking fortress run by a crackpot militia!
Anyway, still digging the game. The story hooks and drama have all been paying off really well and I’m still loving heading out on my bike to take out freakers and put down anarchists.
I’m also really excited the game is selling well, because Sony Bend getting a second shot at this franchise on the PS5 with an SSD to solve all the loading issues, and a better idea of what they are working towards will absolutely knock it out of the park.
Weigh station, really? The things you learn :)
Having a great time playing this right now. The fast travel system is clever as there is fuel cost penalty associated with it. You can use it to move things along more quickly, but you can get yourself into trouble if you don’t have enough gas left over.
And there is so much you will miss out on if you fast travel. Through riding you will find fixed locations like enemy bases and zombie nests (I am calling them zombies). You will also stumble on to rescue missions that can help build reputation with settlements.
There are also random activities going on around you. One night I was riding my bike to a quest location and heard some screaming and rifle shots in the distance. I parked, and creeped towards the sounds to find a battle between wolves, zombies, and marauders. I hung back and finished off the survivors. Creeping back, I found someone trying to steel the saddlebag off my bike. I was so absorbed in this side activity, I didn’t even get a chance to start the quest that session.
Just to Echo the last few posts.
I’m absolutely loving this game. Most of the middling reviews really didn’t do this any justice.
While obviously no match for Red Dead Redemption 2 or Horizon Zero Dawn it is still a wonderful game in its own right and I can’t believe I nearly passed on it.
Was just thinking that myself today, I suspect we will also see a remaster of this on PS5 that will solve a lot of the glitches caused by U4 exceeding the PS4 & Pro’s Hardware capability. If not for being a First Party Studio, it might have even gotten a PC release that would demonstrate its true potential now.
One of the best game launches in Japan ever!
To be clear, this…still isn’t an amazing number. Yes, it sold better on release than a couple of other major western titles, but launching at 114K on a platform that just passed eight million units sold in the territory is abysmal.