How are you all this peaceful long weekend? Summer's funny -- one minute it seems ages away, and then suddenly, there it is. At least, that's the case here in New York and in surrounding New England where the seasons tend to be abrupt and schizophrenic.
I'm continuing to catch up on some of the things I would've linked, asked, discussed and shared with everyone here at SVGL had I had more time over the past couple weeks -- in that spirit, I should've linked this like ages ago, but I was invited to be on a podcast earlier in the month by the nice dudes of First Wall Rebate.
Man, ever since that famous episode of Rock Paper Shotgun's podcast, everyone seems to want me to be drinking when I join them on podcasts. So I complied for these guys -- especially since they were so nice about me needing to reschedule on them about a billion times. However, the result was a super enjoyable chat on some surprisingly deep topics -- in their words, "the impact of social networking technologies on game development and coverage, authorial control and community involvement, as well as Twitter and N’Gai Croal’s WordFu score."
Definitely give it a listen if you're up for some mellow Sunday mulling, because those guys were sharp tacks and good people. Hopefully you're off work tomorrow, spending time close with family, possibly beer (if you are of legal age, of course) and ideally, meats of various types that have been cooked outdoors over charcoal.
By the way, I hear really good things about the Infamous (uh, inFAMOUS?) demo from some friends and I mean to check it out -- anyone tried it?
12 comments:
Um, the inFAMOUS demo is really good, but it's pretty easy to die. I've read in several reviews that the beginning of the game is hard, before you get more powers. I am excited for that game, though.
I really enjoyed the inFamous demo -- it was challenging without being frustrating (like, when I died, I knew that I'd screwed up somehow), and Sucker Punch absolutely nailed the free running/climbing stuff. It's just fun to move around the world (and grind on power lines/train tracks!). Definitely check it out.
Infamous has a really polished feel to it. The movement, combat... all that stuff snaps together just right. It feels like it could get repetitive kind of fast though. Hope the rest of the game and the new powers they give you keep it fresh till the end.
I was expecting not to like inFamous, not even slightly, but I've enjoyed what I've played of the demo so far. The environments look fantastic. The helpful lady assisting you with radio instructions has a limited phrase book though, there's a lot of repetition if you spend to long looking for the item she's told you to shock/shoot etc.
I'm not sure I actually like it enough to buy it.
Thanks again for coming on FWR, Leigh. We've been fortunate to have some truly awesome guests in our first year, and you were of course no exception. Cheers!
I hated the demo, mostly because it did what so many demos do: it dumps you into the game and offers only the barest amount of guidance and background information. I had no idea who I was, let alone who I was fighting, and while I had a variety of powers at my disposal I had a hell of a time figuring out how to use them. The climbing mechanic was neat, as was the ability to shoot while hanging off something, but in general the enemies seemed faster and stronger than me. Also, I managed to run down the "wrong" street and terminate my mission without any warning cues to turn back.
This game is probably better than the demo lets on, but having the demo turn out so crappy is a disappointment. More games need to make their demo duplicate the start of the game so players can adjust to the game normally. BioShock and Mirror's Edge did that perfectly.
@feitclub
Shamus Young said something along similar lines about demos on The Escapist:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6088-Your-Demo-Sucks
In any case, I quite liked the demo. I was a lot more vulnerable than I thought I would be, which changed my tactics quite a lot from how I had been trained to behave in most other superhero games.
That said, I could have done with a little worse aim on part of my enemies. Maybe that was their superpower?
inFAMOUS? Like, more than famous?
With respect to your podcast comments on reporting and immediacy - similar things were said about film vs theater when movies were young, and about TV vs film when TV was young.
I don't think there's anything really to worry about; there will continue to be a market for articles - especially insightful ones - for the forseeable future.
Hans
Honey, you don't know what schizophrenic seasons are - come to Chicago for a change! Maybe right around Lollapalooza time? I'm sure you can find some indie enjoyment. :)
To both James and Leigh - neither of you know what a truly schizo weather is. Go to Ireland, where you can have all five seasons in the span of an hour, plus a fifth, unnameable season!
(It may not sound like it, but I really do miss it).
Anyhoo, as to InFamous, I was hoping to like it, I really was. But I mostly found it frustrating, to the point I don't think I want to pick it up. Found the controls a little sticky, and the free running, or, well, free climbing, only worked when it wanted to. Combat was ok, but I feel like I would have preferred a more melee centric system. That's more of a personal choice than a niggle against the game, though.
Still, I seem to be in the minority there, so the game should do well.
Great post!
http://pie-ing.blogspot.com/
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