I just am not sure…
And to think, if you just took the main character’s badge away, it would make him sick in his mouth.
Seriously, though, it’s a great game. I can’t fault him for going a little nuts over it, especially if he hasn’t played GTA or the other games of that type.
Enh, I still feel like it’s more of a game engine than a game. They give me the tools to jump high, throw things, improve my physical attributes, and I can see a long distance because of the way they do the assets and all.
Okay, fine.
Now put that into a compelling game. Not just “Well…uh…jump high man! And throw stuff! And shoot guys! Lots of guys!”
It’s as if Valve released Half Life 2, and the entire game was “Here’s the center of City 17. Here’s the super grav gun and the crowbar and a bunch of grenades and explosive barrels. Here’s a gigantic shitload of combine soldiers. Uh…okay, go to it.” And if you play long enough you become Dog or something. It’s neat, for about half an hour, and then I want something with more depth, or meaning.
Otherwise I might as well play a scrolling shooter like Raiden or something. “I’m shooting stuff! I’m picking up powerups and getting more powerful! The explosions are really huge! Yeehaw!”
What gameplay elements would make it more fun for you, Hugin? Be specific please – I’d like to play a Crackdown 2 that’s better than the first one, and I haven’t even played the first one yet!
Is it really just narrative / plot that would make all the difference? You don’t mention any specific game mechanics that are missing. Hell, at a gameplay level, Half-Life 2 is just the grav gun, crowbar, grenades, barrels, and a shitload of Combine.
(Amazing, isn’t it, how setting and backstory can so change a person’s experience of the game, even if it’s damn near the exact same game mechanics! Go figure! :-P )
P.S. For all the poor souls who voted option 3: I voted “Yes”. There you go
P.P.S. Keil, you didn’t answer my question in the other thread: does the full game get more intense (number of enemies, difficulty of fights, insanity of explosions, strength of bosses, craziness of weapons and vehicles) than the demo? If the demo is a 5, what’s the full game? If you can’t say anything, then say so :-)
I like prettyness, and I like story. I like evocative/reflective/moody/philosophical emotional tones. I do not, in general, get all that much mileage out of mayhem alone. Sure, blowing stuff up is fun, but without a lot of context to sustain it, after a very short time I start to feel like a delinquent teenager breaking stuff or setting stuff on fire just because I’m bored.
It should be said, GTA-ish games never really grab me anyway, so it may just be hopeless on this score. “Committing mayhem in the streets” just doesn’t seem like anything worth expending the time and money and brainpower of a game development cycle on. Take away the sandboxy breaking/jumping/whatever, and you’re (generally) left with either a substandard RPG or a substandard 3rd person action game.
If I liked the way Crackdown looked, that might be enough to flip it for me, I admit to being a whore for compelling visual presentation (which doesn’t necessarily mean the greatest graphics tech, my favorite game visually right now is Hotel Dusk, also I have hopes for Bioshock, Alan Wake, and LA Niore visually/atmospherically). As it stands I find Crackdown alternately uninspired or garish.
Also, to be slightly more specific about gameplay, more tactical variety in the combat, more melee choices, etc, would be nice.
We definitely need another Crackdown poll, let alone thread.
We need a crackdown forum.
I think Hugin’s a closet Crackdown fan. He plays it and loves it and hates himself for it because he has this twisted notion of what a game “should be” and this one doesn’t measure up because it’s not about the intimate relationship between a woman and her slide whistle or whatever. So he invades every Crackdown thread and tells us the game sucks and we suck for enjoying it, but really he’s just trying to convince himself.
I can’t say too much, but I will say that the corporate gang in the northeast has some crazy shit going on in it, partly because of the weaponry the gang has. It’s also my favorite area of the city, since it’s pretty much all skyscrapers. Takes a while to figure out how to get up to the rooftops, but once you’re there, you never come down.
<drool> <gibber> <poot>
Also, BJB: “slide whistle”??? What in the holy fuck…
…
Why 2/20, whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…
I’m kind of in the “game ‘looks’ interesting, but what is it all about” camp.
I understand that you work for The Agency, and no one wants to be cops anymore and you’re one of a few super enhanced human beings to take up an Agency badge and fight crime, but is that it?
I don’t need something Pulitzer worthy here, but something…
I can’t say too much, but I will say that the corporate gang in the northeast has some crazy shit going on in it, partly because of the weaponry the gang has. It’s also my favorite area of the city, since it’s pretty much all skyscrapers. Takes a while to figure out how to get up to the rooftops, but once you’re there, you never come down.
If it involves chemical vats and cloning tubes, color me unsurprised.
Don’t accessorize with that wardrobe just yet.