Terminator: Salvation
The greatest thing about this game is that I’m going to be done with it soon and can review InFamous.
And yet the worst thing I can say is that beyond a few bugs and the fact that it’s a bland third person shooter, it’s not terrible either. Despite Wolverine being the first good summer movie tie-in printed to a game disc and the universe typically trying to balance itself out with an avalanche of gloopy digital shit, the game is playable as a rental if you’ve used up the rest of Movie Gallery’s game shelf.
Note to self: Liquify Christian Bale, then raid a post-apocalyptic Radio Shack.
First, the bad: For PS3 users, this feels like another lazy Windows code-n-port that results in early gen graphics and a pervasive fog, though arguably this is what Los Angeles actually looks like. The combat is the most generic kind of cover-and-shoot mechanic, punctuated by sloppy scripting (the gun you’re holding will sometimes appear to float a few feet from your body as you jump over cover, enemies on a scripted path will sit stock still at their starting position, get stuck against walls, etc).
And it’s just fucking monotonous. Jump from one bit of cover to the next, to the next, to the next, try to hit the machines from behind… only 90% of the time they have a hard-on for you and you alone.
The good: If you live in Los Angeles, it actually looks like Los Angeles instead of Generic Nuked Midwest Town #17.
The other good:
60%
May 24th 2009
Sounds like a waste. Not that I expect anything good nor did I have any interest in the title (in fact, I barely realized there was a movie tie-in game). The point is, not everything can be Spider-man 2 or Aladdin on the Genesis. Sure Wolverine is fun, but it basically cheated since it was in development before the movie even had a finished script.
That all being said, I bought the first Transformers game, and I plan on buying the second one. I wasn’t completely disappointed with the first (despite it ruining a major movie plot point for me the day before I saw it), but it sorely needed a number of gameplay features. I feel that by buying the second one, I am asking them to slap me in the face again.
And inFamous…has somehow figured out a way to impress me with its demo. Much like the notoriously short Heavenly Sword demo did.
May 26th 2009
If you liked Spider-Man 2, you should look at Web of Shadows if you haven’t. 2 was good, I could play it for months after beating it just for the swinging physics, but the combat was pretty boring after a while. Shadows was fun all around. AVOID
Wanted to like Transformers. Did at times. Then it shat on my lawn once in a while and I tossed it on the used shelf so hard it broke.
Heavenly Sword made Satan crawl up my ass. I don’t like those button-matching sequences because my reflexes are a bit arthritic these days, and when failing one makes the boss you’re fighting regenerate, it’s time to use the thing as a shot put disc.
Might review InFamous tonight, but the dog needs to be walked and the workout station needs to do something other than hold my jacket. Probably tomorrow.
May 26th 2009
AVOID Spider-Man 3, was what that cut-off sentence was supposed to say. Sometimes Firefox freezes and my brain skips a step or five. Useful with mystery novels but pretty hazardous if you’re assembling the gas grill.
May 27th 2009
Too late. I bought Spider-man 3 when it came out. It was a disappointment, and I think that is indeed why I didn’t play Web of Shadows, when probably the inverse should be true. Also, being a big fan of action games, I find that certain ideas in a game can lead me to buy it. I think for Heavenly Sword, it was around the time I threw a guy and used the “after touch” thing to curve ball him into another few guys with hilarious rag doll physics. I really enjoyed the game in the end. It’s story flirted with ideas uncommon to the genre and video game market in general dealing with issues of gender, identity, and purpose in a rather tasteful manner (though not going into any sufficient depth for any of them).
Also, in my defense about Transformers, there are still so few games that even let you turn from a giant robot into a speeding vehicle, so its not like I can get that fix many other places.
May 29th 2009
WHEN IS HANNAH MONTANA DROPPING?! HALO WARS FTW!!!
hey, did Max finish the flooring?