Did anyone else try the Wanted demo on Xbox Live yet? I have to admit, I really liked the presentation so far. The voice acting, the slick menus, the intuitive Gears of War-style controls.
But I hate this new trend of releasing demos with only the lowest difficulty level unlocked. (Although it is humorous because you’re forced to play on “Pussy”). The demo doesn’t have any of the fancier moves like bending bullets that the game promises, plus it’s hard to tell how satisfying the combat will be while playing on the lowest difficulty setting. I like the mechanics and presentation just fine, but will the game hit the right sweet spot with regards to challenge? Will the bullet bending mechanic be any good? Who knows? There’s no way to tell from the demo. But I’ll definitely keep my eye out for reviews. This could potentially be another Riddick in terms of being a game based on a movie property that’s actually good. On the other hand, it could turn out to be another Quantum of Solace too.
The demo does have the bullet bending mechanic - press right shoulder button, use left stick to get the trajectory line to go white, release right shoulder button. It’s in the tutorials - along with a bit more on the adrenaline system.
I liked the demo, it’s a reasonable-ish length with a decent bit of content and good presentation - it’s made me more interested in the full game.
I thought it was a poor demo because all the cool stuff you learn in the tutorial doesn’t really apply to the level they offer up. No real flanking opportunities, speed-cover, etc… The tutorials were more interesting than the airplane.
At its core, the stop n pop works, but its pretty bland given all the other tools supposedly at your disposal, which is all I felt I could do in this early taste.
Also, the bullet curving kinda sucks. You are sitting out in the open like a fool while trying to wedge the analog stick into place like some horrid lockpick minigame. Just not the most satisfying way to implement the risk/reward.
I kinda liked that the bullet curving doesn’t hold your hand, actually. It makes it a bit more involved than just a pretty gimmick and invites decisions about risking a difficult curve shot from far away or navigating through cover to get an easier one from closer up.
The camera annoyed the hell out of me, though. It seemed to get confused during cover in the smaller corridors and there were two spots where going into aiming had fancy assassin guy cover up more than half my screen, including the enemies I wanted to shoot. I can understand that happening occasionally with a third person cover based shooting game, but if the problem crops up twice during a short demo it might be frequent enough to be irritating.
I just wish the bullet curving did more damage. It basically just stuns the enemy for a second. In the Giant Bomb preview, they mentioned that once in awhile the curved bullet will be a kill shot, and you get a nice little cinematic like the last Brothers in Arms did.
I didn’t mind the camera so much and I actually kinda of liked the real blind fire, but I did have other issues with the controls. Getting out of cover can be a pain, something that I think all the Gears clones have had a problem with. Also, there seems to be a weird dead spot in the aiming. I guess they wanted the player to have more precise control, but it annoys the hell out of me. If you haven’t experienced it, aim wide to the left and then sweep to the right, there’s a definite slowdown in the middle. If you’ve ever looked up and around in Mirror’s Edge, it’s a bit similar to that.
Still, I thought what I played was a more enjoyable and original Gears clone than 50 Cent and a hell of a lot better than Dark Sector.
I wish they’d included the part where the airplane is apparently free falling vertically - that looked like a lot of fun.
I did get one of my curved bullets to do a cinematic kill. I guess I just lucked out and got a head shot or whatever instead of a shoulder stun. The effect is identical to Max Payne as the camera just follows the bullet to the impact.
I enjoyed the gameplay of the demo, but I hated the voiceover. I realize that the source material is basically Mark Millar making us watch while he masturbates, but I found myself skipping through voiceovers that involved the narrator telling me how pathetic I am and then talking about the problems he has when he can’t figure out how to properly use toilet paper. I’m a fat loser? I’m not the one who has dingleberry issues, pal.
And ‘pussy’ as the lowest level difficulty. Ha ha. Ha. Oh, I do enjoy feeling fifteen again.
Edit: I also like the idea that the main character in the opening cutscene is concerned about the innocent passengers. C’mon guys, did you not even see the movie? They could give a rat’s ass!
I’m on chapter four and I’m really disappointed so far. The pistols are really your only weapons throughout the entire game, although there is one short sniper mission and possibly the worst fixed-MG level I’ve ever played. The special assassin powers are interesting enough, but not executed very well.
The blind fire and flanking ability is a lot of fun when it works, but most of the levels really aren’t designed to make use of it. It really requires a large open square with a U-shaped wall of cover. After chapter three, the bullet curving is no longer an instant kill, it just stuns the enemy and they’ll stumble out of cover. This doesn’t replenish your adrenaline though, and it would have been nice to be able to use bullet curving to make an enemy stumble out of cover, and then use the bullet time to finish him off.
The controls haven’t changed at all from the demo. There’s still a huge dead space in the aiming where there is basically no acceleration and then you’ll suddenly be looking behind you. There is no pull-away-to-leave-cover, you have to press A which feels awkward. Also, there are times when I can see the enemy in my crosshair but it doesn’t turn red and the bullet don’t seem to hit him.
I think there are nine stages, which means I’m about halfway through and I’ve only been playing for about two and a half hours. Then again, I’m already bored. I can’t believe they charged full retail for this.
Just finished it. Okay, so you do get more adrenaline-bullet-thingies, which means you can stun an enemy with a bullet curve and then use the bullet time move to finish them off.
In chapter 8, I also found out that you carry more than one weapon (as Wesley, anyway, I’m not sure about his dad)! I don’t remember the game explaining this, which is odd, since the guns handle bullet curving differently (one does more damage and has a higher cost).
My opinion hasn’t changed, though. If I’d paid full retail for this, I’d be pissed.
They explain it in-game (press TAB to cycle through both guns) at least in the PC version. Wesley has 2 sets of guns as soon as he “met” his father (I keep that vague to avoid spoiling). He gets his guns there.
The game is ok but nothing special once you saw the curved bullets a few times.
The last boss fight is laughable easy. I assumed it would be hard but it’s cake when you use time-stop which the game even points out “he moves so fast”…
I remember Wesley getting his dad’s guns, but I don’t remember the game saying “Okay, now you have those and your old one!”
All of the bosses were quite easy, assuming you used one of Wesley’s or his dad’s assassin powers, or a combination of them. I’m not saying I like hard bosses, but these ones were so easy in terms of both the “trick” and the execution of the trick, that there was almost no satisfaction.
I’m not sure what you mean. It does have auto-save on the 360. It doesn’t have any sort of manual save, not sure if that’s what you actually meant to type. I wouldn’t even say that the auto-save system is broken and inconsistent like Mass Effect’s. Then again, I beat Wanted in about three sessions, and always stopped playing after completing an act. I’m guessing you mean that if you don’t complete an act, and turn off the console, you start at the beginning of that act?
I dunno, GRIN is a pretty large studio now, and I think the main team is working on BC.
According to a recent “Gamestar” (German PC game magazine) the upcoming “Terminator Salvation” will stink, too (piss poor AI and no “Terminator” feeling).
Maybe too many projects going on there at the same time. :(
I don’t get the sense that there is too much on their plate. Wanted is not a bad game, it’s just not a great game in a genre that’s becoming quite crowded. Dark Sector is a much, much worse game. I hated Dark Sector.
My biggest complaint with Wanted is really the thought that someone might pay $60 ($70CDN, possibly even $75 as many new games seem to cost these days) and you get a five-hour experience that isn’t nearly as well done as Gears 2.
