HumpX
07-08-2006, 06:51 PM
Keep in mind I won't use any spoilers for areas that weren't played in the demo. If you haven't played the demo and want to keep that a surprise (I highly recommend you do) stop right here.....no, wait.......here. It'll also save me from having to explain the characters and backstory. I'm lazy like that.
The demo really got me pumped for this game. The first two levels worked so well and were so cinematic that I can't recall a more frightening experience than when Tommy goes "Oh....my....God" and you realize you being warehoused like cattle along with thousands on a conveyor belt looking at the earth below. Even HL2 never hit that spot with me.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/7520/lips2hx.th.jpg (http://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lips2hx.jpg)
Unfortunately the game never seems to get back to that level of emotional impact after that point. To be sure there ARE some great moments in the game that almost gets there but it all sort of goes sliding back to conventional hallway crawling like so many other shooters do. Once the novelty of the portal puzzles (some are quite brilliant), gravity paths and spirit walking has run its course you are left with a pretty but conventional shooter in the same vein as Doom 3. NPC's spawn in twos and three's popping out of their little portal rifts to take potshots at you and occasionally they'll bring along a large dog-like creature that takes a few extra rounds to bring down. The curious thing is there is never really any tension to the combat which I blame on the spirit hunting mechanaic. If you remember from the demo once you die you are brought to a "spirit plane" (everything associated with the fucking Indians in Prey is referred to in terms of "spirit"...as in spirit cave, spirit bow, lost spirits, etc.) where you literally have to fight your way back to reality shooting at "lost spirits". You never really "die" per se unless your manna-type life force (I forget the name....I'm sure it has "spirit" in it though) is empty. You can save/load anywhere you'd like but I never once had to use it. The weapons, as you saw in the demo, are pretty much dressed up takes on conventional shooter fare, shotguns, rocket launchers, sniper rifles etc etc. While the designs were certainly imaginitive I do think HH could've spent a little more time and done something a bit more unique in regards to their functionality.
http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/1346/protein8tx.th.jpg (http://img489.imageshack.us/my.php?image=protein8tx.jpg)
On the plus side the game DOES come across with the goods on many occasions. Several times during the course of the game you'll get in to some old-school style boss fights. In a couple there are ways to defeat the beasts other than simply hammering away with your weapons but you have to use your head to figure those methods out. You even get health meter for the boss on your screen and all. Its a nice touch and it didin't detract from the experience at all.
Speaking of old school, Human Head and 3DRealms put in lotsa of nice little easter eggs and secret areas to explore. Things like the interactivity in the baroom of the jukebox, games, toilets etc is very reminiscent of Duke nukem which is, of course, 3DRealms' claim to fame. these little touches keep the game from bogging down at some of their slower moments (you'll come across some of the game kiosks from the bar along the way). One thing the demo didn't touch on were the vehicle levels. I'm sure you've seen them (vehicle) in the gameplay movies so i won't spoil anything but to say that these levels provide a very fun change of pace and keeps the game from becoming a complete bore once you've had enough of your corridor marching. Tommy's dialogue is fun (and at times funny) with the voice acting a definite cut above what most of us are used to in games like this. The grandfather is played a bit over-the-top and comes off as unintentionally humorous (if you've ever heard Larry Kenny from Imus' show doing the old Indian you know what I mean) but it's fine for what it is. Graphically what can I say, the game looks great. It's not nearly as dark as Doom3 (which is the engine tech at use here) plus it uses a much more colorful palette. I have a moderately strong rig with a 4200+ AMD, 7800GT GeForce and 2gigs of high-end Corsair RAM. I was able to jack up the settings to their highest except for AA which I kept at 4X and resolution which was at 1024 x 768. I got a solid 30fps during most of the game. The mutiplayer is of course just deatmatch and TDM. The full games maps look fantastically fun though and I can't wait to hop on and try something different besides what we've all played in the demo.
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/69/jet6kq.th.jpg (http://img234.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jet6kq.jpg)
All in all I recommend the game. its not the next Half-Life, its doesn't advance the genre nor do I think its game of the year material. it was perhaps a little too overhyped with too many movies that gave away too many spoilers and a demo that really should've come out AFTER the game shipped. But given all that its a really solid, stable and fun game that almost achieves an epic cinematic feel had they varied some of the shooting aspects more.
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/1730/bitch2xx.th.jpg (http://img56.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bitch2xx.jpg)
If I had to give it a numerical score lets say....ummm....7.8-8.2 (depending on your tolerance for Doom-style shooters and deathmatch only mutliplayer)
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/6500/anus1ig.th.jpg (http://img47.imageshack.us/my.php?image=anus1ig.jpg)
The demo really got me pumped for this game. The first two levels worked so well and were so cinematic that I can't recall a more frightening experience than when Tommy goes "Oh....my....God" and you realize you being warehoused like cattle along with thousands on a conveyor belt looking at the earth below. Even HL2 never hit that spot with me.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/7520/lips2hx.th.jpg (http://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lips2hx.jpg)
Unfortunately the game never seems to get back to that level of emotional impact after that point. To be sure there ARE some great moments in the game that almost gets there but it all sort of goes sliding back to conventional hallway crawling like so many other shooters do. Once the novelty of the portal puzzles (some are quite brilliant), gravity paths and spirit walking has run its course you are left with a pretty but conventional shooter in the same vein as Doom 3. NPC's spawn in twos and three's popping out of their little portal rifts to take potshots at you and occasionally they'll bring along a large dog-like creature that takes a few extra rounds to bring down. The curious thing is there is never really any tension to the combat which I blame on the spirit hunting mechanaic. If you remember from the demo once you die you are brought to a "spirit plane" (everything associated with the fucking Indians in Prey is referred to in terms of "spirit"...as in spirit cave, spirit bow, lost spirits, etc.) where you literally have to fight your way back to reality shooting at "lost spirits". You never really "die" per se unless your manna-type life force (I forget the name....I'm sure it has "spirit" in it though) is empty. You can save/load anywhere you'd like but I never once had to use it. The weapons, as you saw in the demo, are pretty much dressed up takes on conventional shooter fare, shotguns, rocket launchers, sniper rifles etc etc. While the designs were certainly imaginitive I do think HH could've spent a little more time and done something a bit more unique in regards to their functionality.
http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/1346/protein8tx.th.jpg (http://img489.imageshack.us/my.php?image=protein8tx.jpg)
On the plus side the game DOES come across with the goods on many occasions. Several times during the course of the game you'll get in to some old-school style boss fights. In a couple there are ways to defeat the beasts other than simply hammering away with your weapons but you have to use your head to figure those methods out. You even get health meter for the boss on your screen and all. Its a nice touch and it didin't detract from the experience at all.
Speaking of old school, Human Head and 3DRealms put in lotsa of nice little easter eggs and secret areas to explore. Things like the interactivity in the baroom of the jukebox, games, toilets etc is very reminiscent of Duke nukem which is, of course, 3DRealms' claim to fame. these little touches keep the game from bogging down at some of their slower moments (you'll come across some of the game kiosks from the bar along the way). One thing the demo didn't touch on were the vehicle levels. I'm sure you've seen them (vehicle) in the gameplay movies so i won't spoil anything but to say that these levels provide a very fun change of pace and keeps the game from becoming a complete bore once you've had enough of your corridor marching. Tommy's dialogue is fun (and at times funny) with the voice acting a definite cut above what most of us are used to in games like this. The grandfather is played a bit over-the-top and comes off as unintentionally humorous (if you've ever heard Larry Kenny from Imus' show doing the old Indian you know what I mean) but it's fine for what it is. Graphically what can I say, the game looks great. It's not nearly as dark as Doom3 (which is the engine tech at use here) plus it uses a much more colorful palette. I have a moderately strong rig with a 4200+ AMD, 7800GT GeForce and 2gigs of high-end Corsair RAM. I was able to jack up the settings to their highest except for AA which I kept at 4X and resolution which was at 1024 x 768. I got a solid 30fps during most of the game. The mutiplayer is of course just deatmatch and TDM. The full games maps look fantastically fun though and I can't wait to hop on and try something different besides what we've all played in the demo.
http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/69/jet6kq.th.jpg (http://img234.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jet6kq.jpg)
All in all I recommend the game. its not the next Half-Life, its doesn't advance the genre nor do I think its game of the year material. it was perhaps a little too overhyped with too many movies that gave away too many spoilers and a demo that really should've come out AFTER the game shipped. But given all that its a really solid, stable and fun game that almost achieves an epic cinematic feel had they varied some of the shooting aspects more.
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/1730/bitch2xx.th.jpg (http://img56.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bitch2xx.jpg)
If I had to give it a numerical score lets say....ummm....7.8-8.2 (depending on your tolerance for Doom-style shooters and deathmatch only mutliplayer)
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/6500/anus1ig.th.jpg (http://img47.imageshack.us/my.php?image=anus1ig.jpg)