Three New Game Ads (Feedback)

[Havok]

So I'm flipping through a new comic and there are three game advertisements. One of them looks AWESOME. One looks like it could be really good and the last one is a sequel, but also looks like it could be good.

The Sequel....

Bionic Commando: Man I remember this game being tons of fun. But the imagery in the ad makes it look like a Resident Evil character got a grappling arm. Plus he has dreadlocks.

The Really Good...

[Prototype]: It looks like the new Megatron and a human had a baby. From the small screen caps it looks like it could be interesting and have a large world to roam and the main character is obviously having a lot of angst over whatever is happening in the game because his hoodie is up and he is very emo/broody.

The AWESOME...

DarkVoid: Dude, it totally looks like the Rocketeer in SpaaaaAAAAACE!!! with heaps of GRIMDARK!! What is NOT AWESOME about that?!

So anyway. I've now had my interest piqued in these games and I want to know more about them. I could spend hours sludging through reviews and different game sites, but as I have learned from here, most of them are either paid off, raging fanboys, or developers pushing their wares i.e. all garbage. So I want the input of my trusted nerd/geek video game resource.

Please inform and educate.

[Starglider]

Dark Void does look fun. There aren't enough games with proper 3D gameplay these days. Actually there's a lot of good stuff scheduled for late 2009. I'm looking forward to Bioshock 2 and IL-2 Sturmovik in particular.

[General Zod]

[Prototype]: It looks like the new Megatron and a human had a baby. From the small screen caps it looks like it could be interesting and have a large world to roam and the main character is obviously having a lot of angst over whatever is happening in the game because his hoodie is up and he is very emo/broody.

So anyway. I've now had my interest piqued in these games and I want to know more about them. I could spend hours sludging through reviews and different game sites, but as I have learned from here, most of them are either paid off, raging fanboys, or developers pushing their wares i.e. all garbage. So I want the input of my trusted nerd/geek video game resource.

Please inform and educate.

You can elbowdrop a fucking tank in Prototype. Quite frankly that alone makes it worth a rental at least, emo angst or not. (Though I hear Stark hates it because there's no Multi or Coop. )

[Ford Prefect]

(Though I hear Stark hates it because there's no Multi or Coop. )

Co-op in Prototype was going to be THE SHIT. Alex Mercer clones himself and there is suddenly TWO ridiculously powerful skyscraper-running tank-punching helicopter-stealing body-snatching hoodie guys.

Also, Hav, Bionic Commando has been released in North America, and I think there are reviews out. Nathan 'RAD' Spencer is being voiced by Mike Patton of Faith No More. While I've never heard any of his songs, his voice acting in The Darkness was stellar.

[General Zod]

(Though I hear Stark hates it because there's no Multi or Coop. )

Co-op in Prototype was going to be THE SHIT. Alex Mercer clones himself and there is suddenly TWO ridiculously powerful skyscraper-running tank-punching helicopter-stealing body-snatching hoodie guys.

Also, Hav, Bionic Commando has been released in North America, and I think there are reviews out. Nathan 'RAD' Spencer is being voiced by Mike Patton of Faith No More. While I've never heard any of his songs, his voice acting in The Darkness was stellar.

Maybe they'll release co-op as DLC? Preferably not the failtastic way RE5 released multi.

[Ford Prefect]

That would actually be pretty cool. I can't remember exactly why they cut it, but so long as it isn't spectacularly broken, I'd download it.

[General Zod]

That would actually be pretty cool. I can't remember exactly why they cut it, but so long as it isn't spectacularly broken, I'd download it.

Then again maybe not

1UP: Is there any chance of co-op making its way into the game as downloadable content at some point?

CA: The honest answer is that while it would be incredibly cool, adding a "bolt-on" cooperative mode to a big open-world game that was sculpted around a single-player experience would be a gargantuan task and difficult to pull off with the same levels of quality and polish of the original game. This is why we made the decision to deliver a knockout punch with Prototype's single-player game experience.

1UP: I'm always interested in how the combat and gameplay options evolve as you upgrade your character in games like this. Is your goal to make Alex feel dramatically different -- faster, stronger, etc. -- by the end of the game, or is it to give him more abilities? Or both?

CA: Alex really does evolve significantly in powers and abilities after each mission in Prototype. That said, "instant fun" is key for us right from the start -- instant fun is vital to hook gamers into our world. In the first 10 seconds of the first mission, you are going to experience awesome and unique attack and movement powers. And we build you up from there. So the answer to the question is "both." Although the first mission approaches insane levels of combat and destruction, our upgrade system allows you to dial up your character with many more abilities and powers by the end of the game.

[Stark]

Yeah, they turned into idiots and decided their stupid plot/morality horseshit was more important than anyone playing their game for more than a week. It's always great to read how cutting a feature is a 'knockout punch' though. Go marketing!

But yeah BC is shit, Prototype will either be shit or everyone will be saying 'lol infamous' by then, and DarkVoid looks interesting but .. y'know.

It's time for Hav to just come to terms with the fact that nothing good is coming out on 360 for some time. No, Bioshock 2 is not good.

[Vendetta]

But yeah BC is shit, Prototype will either be shit or everyone will be saying 'lol infamous' by then, and DarkVoid looks interesting but .. y'know.

Infamous looks terrible. (and also has the lolmorality, which is presented as blindingly obvious save kitten/kick baby choices where everything stops for you to choose), it has godawful animation (the main lightning shooty attack is the dude holding his arm still at a silly angle for ages and ages) there's fuck all going on in it's environments, and apart from the veneer of PS3 prettiness it pretty much has nothing to reccomend it from the trailers.

It's sad, I liked Sucker Punch's PS2 games, but they should have stuck to funny talking animals, not tried to go Dark And Edgy And Real.

[Starglider]

No, Bioshock 2 is not good.

But IL-2 is awesome right? Also, Dragon Age could be really good.

[Stark]

Oh, I know. People keep throwing infamous material at me saying 'this is good right' and 'haha ps3 exclusive', but I don't get it. I understand Prototype has become more story-heavy as well, and I have no idea why.

[Vendetta]

Oh, I know. People keep throwing infamous material at me saying 'this is good right' and 'haha ps3 exclusive', but I don't get it. I understand Prototype has become more story-heavy as well, and I have no idea why.

Prototype looks like Hulk: Ultimate Destruction with blood and spikes.

And frankly, Hulk: UD was fucking awesome. I couldn't care less about the story, it will be an excuse to go and smash the fuck out of things.

[Stark]

And like other sandbox explosion games it'll get massively boring after a few days. Stupid no-coop.

[Vendetta]

True, for all it's myriad bugs and flaws, Mercenaries 2 was an utter riot in co-op, but as long as it's entertaining enough for those few days, it'll be well worth the investment.

[Stark]

Red Faction would be much more appealing if it had coop, too, regardless of the massive balance issues.

[Chardok]

Red Faction would be much more appealing if it had coop, too, regardless of the massive balance issues.

What is it about new games that make game designers become somehow allergic to making a coop mode? It seems like lately that if it's not a Fighting game or a zombie game, no one is interested. I mean, what was the last realy fun coop game to come out for the current gens? GoW2? Does that even count? I mean, that's more about deathmatch/horde (The latter of course IS coop, but still - - - ) I think...Crackdown had a really fun coop, and...well, that's about it.

[Ford Prefect]

There have been a couple of 'clearly made for co-operative' games in the past year or two. Kane & Lynch was ambitiously co-op, and though had some good stuff in (nightclub level was boss) was otherwise pretty average. Haze wasn't built around the sort of 'two player story integration' that Gears 2 and K&L was, but was heavily into co-op regardless ... though it was terrible.

[Stark]

Coop isn't hugely compatible with nerdservice impotence wank stories that are common in games, especially hyped, spectacle games. Bioshock might have been interesting coop (as SS2 was) but it was built around single uber protaganist central to the plot. Halo is fun coop, but it's just a hackjob LOL FOUR SPARTINS NAOW silliness (totally avoiding the possibility of having others not be SPARTANs) and the story ignores them. Prototype's coop was EXPRESSLY removed because they wanted a more wanky fatso-satisfying story that nobody will care about after a week.

By constrast, Gears is built ground-up for coop, with not one superhero but a whole army (or at least four or five), Marcus not being the LAST HOPE but the squad, Dom and the partnership having a central role in the story and drama, events not always including them, etc.

Without wanting to sound pretentious, effective coop requires more mature storytelling than YOU ARE THE LAST STARFIGHTER OF MEGA-ARMOUR WITH SLOWMO POWERS WHO HAS DEMON BLOOD AND EATS SOULS TO POWER HIS HUNGER FOR NANO-REVENGE!