Project Gotham 2 and 4 are two of my favourite racing games ever and even though it’s difficult to argue against Forza 3 being the best console racing game money can buy, I still love going back to PGR 4 for the odd race. I love the driving model (straddling the line perfectly between Arcade Racer and Simulation) and I think the Kudos system is fucking genius.
So when I heard that the creators of PGR Bizarre Creations wouldn’t be doing another PGR game I was a bit sad. When I heard they were doing an arcade-style ‘combat’ racing game I was a bit worried. And after playing the closed Beta a month ago I wanted to vomit.
Okay, maybe vomit is perhaps a bit too strong so let`s just say I was really, really, really disappointed. It`s basically a more combat-intensive version of Mario Kart mixed with Modern Warfare and disguised under the semblance of the genuine racing game. Now if you’re a hardcore fan of Mario Kart then this game is definitely worth checking out. I don’t dislike Mario Kart but one of the things that always pissed me off was that you could have raced your ass off, be meters away from the finishing line and then “BOOM!” someone nails you with a (insert color) shell, you lose the race, and are suddenly reminded that you’re not actually playing a racing game. Regrettably for Blur (at least for me), is that this seems to happen ALL THE FUCKING TIME!!!
When I first started the Multiplayer Beta I was frequently racing against players who were at a higher experience level and had unlocked better cars (again, think Call of Duty’s unlock system) and yet I would race the pants off their faster cars only to be shot, shocked and rammed at the finish line. This literally happened my first three races and by the third time I was ready to throw the controller out the window. It`s not like I don`t like Arcade racers – I adore Burnout Paradise but even with the aggressive nature of the shunting it`s the actual driving that matters. Sure you can wreck my car, but you have to use your skill to actually catch up to me – not get me in your crosshairs from 400 meters away.
I then decided to change my focus, think of Blur not as a racing game but as a shooting game – it’s not about finishing on the race podium but about shooting people. That’s all fine and dandy but the problem is that if I wanted to shoot people I would just play Bad Company 2 or a whole host of other legitimate shooters.
Clearly, I’m not the target audience for Blur but what upsets me is that there is one thing that Blur does better than any racing game I’ve played – 20 car fields with little to no lag! Yes, twenty car fields. In those rare quiet moments of actual racing Blur is fantastic when you’re racing against 19 other players and my biggest disappointment is that Bizarre Creations couldn`t make a PGR game using this tech.
Again, if your idea of a racing game is Mario Kart and if you don’t understand the big deal about vehicle damage in simulation racing games then Blur is probably right up your alley. For me, I`ll be staying far, far away in Forza 3-land. And hey, you never know, maybe Blur will be the racing game equivalent of an electric fly zapper – drawing cornhole-happy, no skill douche bags away from legitimate racing games and keeping them there. Yeah, I`m not a fan.
The Blur multiplayer beta is now open to everyone on the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Lavan
PS In case you were wondering.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Map Pack Costs How Much?
[Don’t forget that you can check out my (deep breath) “2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa” demo impressions in my previous post.]
I mentioned in my 2010 FIFA World Cup demo impressions that I could understand if gamers were a bit peeved at the fact that World Cup is a full price game. This reminded me of the recent sales figures for the Modern Warfare 2 ‘Stimulus’ Map Pack. With only 3 new maps and 2 old maps the pack sold for a ridiculous $15 and the announcement of that price prompted the expected internet uproar. However, Activision recently announced that the pack sold a whopping 2.5 Million ‘copies’ (or downloads/or whatever)!
My initial thought upon hearing that news was “Great, every one of you fuckers who paid $15 has just screwed the rest of us because you’ve basically told the game industry that $5 per new multiplayer map is the going price.” However, when I think about how I didn’t really have a problem with spending $60 on a World Cup ‘update’ for FIFA 10, I guess it comes down to how individuals perceive value for money. For me, and the amount of play time I’ll spend with it I’m prepared to pay full price for a World Cup licensed FIFA game. Likewise, for the 12 year old snot nosed racist, homophobic shitheads who play Modern Warefare 2 $15 of daddy’s money is fine because they can get hours upon hours of enjoyment glitching the game, cheating and generally pwning noobs in the new maps.
I guess the bottom line is that if you feel strongly that a product/game is too pricey than instead of whining about it, just don’t buy it.......
Lavan
PS I was kidding about my generalization of Modern Warefare 2 players. Not really.
I mentioned in my 2010 FIFA World Cup demo impressions that I could understand if gamers were a bit peeved at the fact that World Cup is a full price game. This reminded me of the recent sales figures for the Modern Warfare 2 ‘Stimulus’ Map Pack. With only 3 new maps and 2 old maps the pack sold for a ridiculous $15 and the announcement of that price prompted the expected internet uproar. However, Activision recently announced that the pack sold a whopping 2.5 Million ‘copies’ (or downloads/or whatever)!
My initial thought upon hearing that news was “Great, every one of you fuckers who paid $15 has just screwed the rest of us because you’ve basically told the game industry that $5 per new multiplayer map is the going price.” However, when I think about how I didn’t really have a problem with spending $60 on a World Cup ‘update’ for FIFA 10, I guess it comes down to how individuals perceive value for money. For me, and the amount of play time I’ll spend with it I’m prepared to pay full price for a World Cup licensed FIFA game. Likewise, for the 12 year old snot nosed racist, homophobic shitheads who play Modern Warefare 2 $15 of daddy’s money is fine because they can get hours upon hours of enjoyment glitching the game, cheating and generally pwning noobs in the new maps.
I guess the bottom line is that if you feel strongly that a product/game is too pricey than instead of whining about it, just don’t buy it.......
Lavan
PS I was kidding about my generalization of Modern Warefare 2 players. Not really.
Monday, April 12, 2010
2010 FIFA World Cup Demo Impressions
As I mentioned in my last post, the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (yes, that’s the full title) demo came out last week on Xbox Live and PSN. After a solid few matches I have to say I’m impressed but not quite as impressed as I’d have hoped to have been – even if this is an incremental upgrade and not FIFA 11.
The demo lets you play a 4 minute `Group Stage’ match between Italy and Spain in Durban. Right off the bat the expected EA Sports flash and fanfare is present but again it’s the little details (or lack thereof) that make the difference. The stadium looks fantastic, the confetti looks great, but why would the World Cup trophy itself be pitch-side before a group match? Likewise, even though they’ve been slightly modified, the substitution animations/sequences are still utter crap. The goal celebration sequences are also still completely inconsistent with what happened just before the ball went in – if you score, run to the touchline and skip the user-controlled celebration; the cut-scene may show you standing still in the 18 yard box celebrating.
The better the graphics become, the more jarring the lack of consistency and little details and becomes. Fortunately/Unfortunately, those graphics are very good. It may be my imagination but the faces in World Cup appear improved from FIFA 10 and very close to the awesome faces in PES 2010. There also appear to be a few new animations – I saw a Torres scuffed shot that looked great.
On the pitch the game definitely seems a tad faster – not something I’m a big fan of but definitely not a game breaker. Control and responsiveness are both tightened up and players bring the ball down a lot quicker. Shooting also seems a bit improved and you can fire low and hard shots more frequently. Crosses are still a bit ‘floaty’ like in FIFA 10 but obviously not as bad as those in FIFA 09 and 08. The game still allows you to bypass midfield a bit too easy and it can often become end to end unless you make a conscious effort to hold on to the ball.
Overall, I enjoyed the demo and looking forward to some of the other features they’ve listed for the final game. According to the demo the final build will have 199 National Teams and full Qualifying. One of my favourite modes from the last World Cup game – the Scenario Mode is back with real-life scenarios from qualifying for South Africa 2010 and also scenarios from the 2006 Finals. EA Sports also state that the game will have a ‘free live service [that] will deliver new scenarios during the 2010 FIFA World Cup’. The Captain Your Country mode (Be A Pro/Be A Legend) present in Euro 2008 is also back and there will be an online World Cup.
It’s a lot of features and some minor gameplay tweaks – is it worth $60 ($70 in Canada....even though the dollar is on par......)? Well, that’s a good question. Since 2010 World Cup provides many teams, game modes, stadiums and some (minor) gameplay tweaks I’m not too fussed to pay full price for it but I can definitely see why some would be upset at the pricing.
The game comes out April 27th and I’ll be posting day one impressions.....or at least trying to! ;)
Lavan
The demo lets you play a 4 minute `Group Stage’ match between Italy and Spain in Durban. Right off the bat the expected EA Sports flash and fanfare is present but again it’s the little details (or lack thereof) that make the difference. The stadium looks fantastic, the confetti looks great, but why would the World Cup trophy itself be pitch-side before a group match? Likewise, even though they’ve been slightly modified, the substitution animations/sequences are still utter crap. The goal celebration sequences are also still completely inconsistent with what happened just before the ball went in – if you score, run to the touchline and skip the user-controlled celebration; the cut-scene may show you standing still in the 18 yard box celebrating.
The better the graphics become, the more jarring the lack of consistency and little details and becomes. Fortunately/Unfortunately, those graphics are very good. It may be my imagination but the faces in World Cup appear improved from FIFA 10 and very close to the awesome faces in PES 2010. There also appear to be a few new animations – I saw a Torres scuffed shot that looked great.
On the pitch the game definitely seems a tad faster – not something I’m a big fan of but definitely not a game breaker. Control and responsiveness are both tightened up and players bring the ball down a lot quicker. Shooting also seems a bit improved and you can fire low and hard shots more frequently. Crosses are still a bit ‘floaty’ like in FIFA 10 but obviously not as bad as those in FIFA 09 and 08. The game still allows you to bypass midfield a bit too easy and it can often become end to end unless you make a conscious effort to hold on to the ball.
Overall, I enjoyed the demo and looking forward to some of the other features they’ve listed for the final game. According to the demo the final build will have 199 National Teams and full Qualifying. One of my favourite modes from the last World Cup game – the Scenario Mode is back with real-life scenarios from qualifying for South Africa 2010 and also scenarios from the 2006 Finals. EA Sports also state that the game will have a ‘free live service [that] will deliver new scenarios during the 2010 FIFA World Cup’. The Captain Your Country mode (Be A Pro/Be A Legend) present in Euro 2008 is also back and there will be an online World Cup.
It’s a lot of features and some minor gameplay tweaks – is it worth $60 ($70 in Canada....even though the dollar is on par......)? Well, that’s a good question. Since 2010 World Cup provides many teams, game modes, stadiums and some (minor) gameplay tweaks I’m not too fussed to pay full price for it but I can definitely see why some would be upset at the pricing.
The game comes out April 27th and I’ll be posting day one impressions.....or at least trying to! ;)
Lavan
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
2010 FIFA World Cup Demo - out tomorrow!
According to Eurogamer the 2010 FIFA World Cup Demo will be out tomorrow on both Xbox Live and PSN. The demo will feature Spain vs. Italy. Apart from the odd game here and there I haven't been playing much FIFA 2010 recently so it'll be good to get back into some console football.
Impressions tomorrow.
Lavan
Impressions tomorrow.
Lavan
Sunday, April 4, 2010
FIFA Online and Heavy Rain
It seems that starting off with an apology is the standard greeting for all of my blog/website entries and I won’t break the trend here so; sorry for not updating for an absolute age. There are a variety of excuses I purport that include; work, wife being pregnant, work, my computer carrying the new website design dying (hard drive fried), family stuff, alien abduction, and so on and so forth.
Fortunately/Unfortunately, not a great deal has been going on in the soccer-gaming world except for the FIFA Online Beta and the Ultimate Team add-on for FIFA 10. I managed to score a spot in the beta for the former and found myself quite impressed. Unfortunately, I haven’t been playing the PC iterations of the last few FIFA games so I can’t compare the gameplay but I still found it surprisingly deep and a lot of fun. The stats laden manager-mode at the heart of the online game is right up my alley and I’m looking forward to the third phase of the beta.
I haven’t yet downloaded the Ultimate Team add-on for FIFA 10 yet because much of my recent console gaming time has been with non-sports games.
Speaking of non-sports games, when I haven’t been playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 on the360, I’ve been blown away by Heavy Rain on the PS3. I know it’s only April but both Heavy Rain and Mass Effect 2 are easily contenders for my game of the year already. You’ve probably read reviews galore about Heavy Rain and while I readily acknowledge it’s not a game that’s going to grab everyone I found myself utterly enthralled by its grim, gritty, dark world. Developers Quantic Dream did a masterful job of characterization and I loved the way the game manipulates the player both emotionally. It’s in the realm of emotion that the game really sets itself apart from the pack for me. Other games have made me feel emotion like the thrill of scoring a last minute winner in a football game or the connection to your crew that you feel in Mass Effect 2. However, Heavy Rain was the first game to instil a sense of dread and fear in me. In fact, at times the game generated such a genuine sense of unease that I had to stop playing – and it didn’t do it with Gieger-esque monsters, cheap scares, or gore either.
What also helps the game is that the multitude of various branches in the story lends a real sense of permanence to your actions; if you screw up and let a character die then that’s it – they’re done. This also means that a lot of gamers will have had very different story experiences through finishing the game.
Heavy Rain isn’t perfect – I really wish Quantic Dream had hired an all American/Anglophone cast and there’s a twist at the end that seems a bit outlandish (though not as bad as the batshit crazy supernatural twists at the end of Quantic Dream’s previous game – Farenheit). However, for what it does well and does uniquely, Heavy Rain deserves special recognition.
Lavan Chandran
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