So I decided to finally use this blog I never use to write down my thoughts on demos I play as oppose to making crappy videos. That way I can better summarize and give my general thoughts in a more organized and even *gasp!* professional way. With that said, let's get to the demo.
Oh hai ripoff!Oh boy...I had to start with THIS game demo didn't I? Well, even if by chance you know of this game, you heard this is just some Gears of War ripoff. You'd be incorrect. It's a stupid, shameless game that actually rips off more than just Gears of War.
The game is made by Tecmo-Koei (which I did not know merged). I've only played Ninja Gaiden and Rygar (both old and newer games of each) from Tecmo and Gitarooman (PSP version) from Koei. Both seem okay game companies even if I haven't played most of their games and it's obviously an attempt to draw in more American gamers since shooters of this nature are about as popular in Japan as dating sims are here in North America. It may seem like a harmless cash-in, but after playing the demo, I may wince at another collaboration of the two companies.
So the demo starts of with our Gears of War character reject Syd going...somewhere in an elaborate tower. I also love how he and everything else looks like it's covered with crusted barnacles. Here we start to fight. I also like to note that I played this on the standard normal difficulty.
Right away the controls aren't as tight as responsive as Gears (yes, I will keep making comparisons to Gears, it's IMPOSSIBLE not to in this game). You can take cover, but you don't have nearly as many options as Gears or even other 3rd person shooters that use a cover mechanic. You can blind fire, sure, but you don't have the option to move to other cover with a button press. If they were going to ripoff Gears of War, they could have at least copied all the mechanics that make Gears FUN, but no, it's implemented half-assed. Even Gears of War 1 is superior to this.
As for weapons, you start with three with being able to switch with the D-pad...sound familiar? You have a rifle that shoots fire projectiles at a slow rate, a machine gun with a crappy reticule, and a shotgun with the worst spread I've ever seen in a shooter. Not only that, but each weapon have it's own "unique" aiming reticule. But all it does it make aiming even more awkward. Imagine trying to aim a gun through one of those symmetry rotatory telescope things you had as a kid, or a transparent symmetry art piece:
You're doing reticules wrong Tecmo-Koei!
As for picking up other weapons, it's DOWN on the D-pad. I guess they wanted to avoid a lawsuit and change up the controls a little from Gears. Melee is...stupid. You press X and Syd will stop in place, raise his arms and smack whatever is in front of him in one stiff motion. Seriously, the animation is so robotic that's it's laughable. Although melee is used for something a bit more elaborate, but I'll get to that later.
So after killing more crust-covered enemies, I took the liberty of using other weapons you've come to expect in a shooter like a sniper rifle and a grenade launcher type weapon. Also, throughout the segment, Syd made the most uninspired, boring sounding dialog I've heard a protagonist say. He makes the crew from Gears sound insightful. At one point when I kept missing he actually said "Damn, I can't hit anything" like he knows he's in a crappy game and points out how aiming isn't that great.
Going back to cover briefly, it doesn't work on everything well. At one point there were pillars I tried to take cover behind but Syd wouldn't stick to that particular pillar, yet enemies could. Nice use of cover mechanic and level design Tecmo-Koei! There's also orange...things that can pop up for makeshift cover.
After fighting off the evil whatevers, we get introduced to the second character, Filena, who's your typical "hot chick that can kick ass" character. Shortly after meeting her, the tutorial informs you that you can throw her at enemies (preferably larger ones) as well as perform intricate combos when you melee enemies.
...
Wait, that sounds familiar...
Okay, when I went into this I knew it was going to rip off Gears of War. But I honestly did not expect the game to rip off the 2008 Prince of Persia, complete with the camera angels during sequences. I was baffled and apparently the only one to notice this since everyone is apparently focusing on the Gears of War aspects they ripped off since it's more obvious.
Anyway, all I was able to do was hurl Elika-I mean Filena at larger foes, but was able to headshot them with my grenade launcher (as ridiculous as that sounds) and when you do make headshots, you get a brief "whoa! you blewed up teh head!" camera shot). I was never able to get these combos to work though, as throwing her didn't initiate them, nor did my melee hits. But my good friend Wellunreal007 told me there is an indicator that changes colour and when it's purple (I think), or whenever she pretty much feels like it, the combos will start. I'm leaning towards the latter.
After fighting through two opposing factions (which the protagonists are part of opposing forces, how original), we get to the boss and I died a few times due to clunky and slow movement, the sheer size of the monster and the lack of cover. Great design guys! But after shooting and hurling Elika-wannabe a few times, he goes down and the demo ends. I sighed heavily after that.
With that said and done, was there ANYTHING good from this? Well...the graphics are okay I suppose, pretty typical technical wise for current consoles. Art style is a bit weird though, it's like combining the dark and gritty Gears of War with something more fantasy like and then throwing crusted barnacles all over. Everything else is mediocre at best and I can not see myself having fun with this game, especially since after playing the demo, Wellunreal007 read the plot synopsis on wikipedia only to laugh at not only how bad and contrived it was, but how it was apparently written by someone that cared about as much as the rest of us did toward the game.
In conclusion, the demo did not warrant interest and I will most likely never play the demo or the full game. It will no doubt have huge price drops due to it's lack of originality and appeal and even then, I wouldn't want it. And with Wellunreal007 having also played the demo, I can safely post this picture to showcase our verdict:
Well, that's it for this demo, thank you for taking the time to read this, and I'll post more blogs now and then for demos, games, and other things game related from now on. See you then!
As for picking up other weapons, it's DOWN on the D-pad. I guess they wanted to avoid a lawsuit and change up the controls a little from Gears. Melee is...stupid. You press X and Syd will stop in place, raise his arms and smack whatever is in front of him in one stiff motion. Seriously, the animation is so robotic that's it's laughable. Although melee is used for something a bit more elaborate, but I'll get to that later.
So after killing more crust-covered enemies, I took the liberty of using other weapons you've come to expect in a shooter like a sniper rifle and a grenade launcher type weapon. Also, throughout the segment, Syd made the most uninspired, boring sounding dialog I've heard a protagonist say. He makes the crew from Gears sound insightful. At one point when I kept missing he actually said "Damn, I can't hit anything" like he knows he's in a crappy game and points out how aiming isn't that great.
Going back to cover briefly, it doesn't work on everything well. At one point there were pillars I tried to take cover behind but Syd wouldn't stick to that particular pillar, yet enemies could. Nice use of cover mechanic and level design Tecmo-Koei! There's also orange...things that can pop up for makeshift cover.
After fighting off the evil whatevers, we get introduced to the second character, Filena, who's your typical "hot chick that can kick ass" character. Shortly after meeting her, the tutorial informs you that you can throw her at enemies (preferably larger ones) as well as perform intricate combos when you melee enemies.
...
Wait, that sounds familiar...
THOSE HACKS!!!!
Okay, when I went into this I knew it was going to rip off Gears of War. But I honestly did not expect the game to rip off the 2008 Prince of Persia, complete with the camera angels during sequences. I was baffled and apparently the only one to notice this since everyone is apparently focusing on the Gears of War aspects they ripped off since it's more obvious.
Anyway, all I was able to do was hurl Elika-I mean Filena at larger foes, but was able to headshot them with my grenade launcher (as ridiculous as that sounds) and when you do make headshots, you get a brief "whoa! you blewed up teh head!" camera shot). I was never able to get these combos to work though, as throwing her didn't initiate them, nor did my melee hits. But my good friend Wellunreal007 told me there is an indicator that changes colour and when it's purple (I think), or whenever she pretty much feels like it, the combos will start. I'm leaning towards the latter.
After fighting through two opposing factions (which the protagonists are part of opposing forces, how original), we get to the boss and I died a few times due to clunky and slow movement, the sheer size of the monster and the lack of cover. Great design guys! But after shooting and hurling Elika-wannabe a few times, he goes down and the demo ends. I sighed heavily after that.
With that said and done, was there ANYTHING good from this? Well...the graphics are okay I suppose, pretty typical technical wise for current consoles. Art style is a bit weird though, it's like combining the dark and gritty Gears of War with something more fantasy like and then throwing crusted barnacles all over. Everything else is mediocre at best and I can not see myself having fun with this game, especially since after playing the demo, Wellunreal007 read the plot synopsis on wikipedia only to laugh at not only how bad and contrived it was, but how it was apparently written by someone that cared about as much as the rest of us did toward the game.
In conclusion, the demo did not warrant interest and I will most likely never play the demo or the full game. It will no doubt have huge price drops due to it's lack of originality and appeal and even then, I wouldn't want it. And with Wellunreal007 having also played the demo, I can safely post this picture to showcase our verdict:
*Insert fail horn*
Well, that's it for this demo, thank you for taking the time to read this, and I'll post more blogs now and then for demos, games, and other things game related from now on. See you then!
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