Platinum_Vice Posted February 5, 2022 Share Posted February 5, 2022 13 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Now I know a horribly forward foreword by a force as course as 47 13 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Of course at its core could orally cure dormancy and formally while I'm forced by remorse 13 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: To source recourse, this sort of chortle importing cavorting is mortally important to import my most forth sorts of thoughts 13 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: On the PS4 port of Hitman 3. Floored. Great review in general though. You guys have really sold me on this game. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted February 5, 2022 Share Posted February 5, 2022 Awesome Hitman 3 write up dude! I started out quoting blocks of text - but it was turning into just a repetition of "I agree!"s which was getting redundant ? Agree on pretty much all of the points on the individual levels - Even Dartmoor, which I must admit, is the one I feel a little out of step with other on. As cool as it is in the story, it's one of my least favourite levels for contracts mode (making and playing) because I think it's exceptionally well designed for that story-based mission, but not quite as good as most when it comes to playing in the sandbox - a bit too open in the outside, and a bit too small on the inside... this is Hitman! Where's the massive secret bucket, or torture chamber, or labyrinth below? Wheres the inexplicable tunnel to a science lab?! Where's the entrance to the vast catacombs I know must be down there?!?!? ? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted February 6, 2022 Author Share Posted February 6, 2022 On 2/5/2022 at 4:01 AM, GonzoWARgasm said: Floored. Great review in general though. You guys have really sold me on this game. Thanks dude! Yeahmann, I think you'd find yourself addicted pretty quickly. Has your schedule become a bit more forgiving yet? The homie needs some time to chill! On 2/5/2022 at 6:44 AM, DrBloodmoney said: Awesome Hitman 3 write up dude! I started out quoting blocks of text - but it was turning into just a repetition of "I agree!"s which was getting redundant ? Thanks bro! I've done that quite a few times, where you're scanning the quoted box and after a while you're like ehhh they get it, I get it, we'll just chat directly! On 2/5/2022 at 6:44 AM, DrBloodmoney said: Agree on pretty much all of the points on the individual levels - Even Dartmoor, which I must admit, is the one I feel a little out of step with other on. As cool as it is in the story, it's one of my least favourite levels for contracts mode (making and playing) because I think it's exceptionally well designed for that story-based mission, but not quite as good as most when it comes to playing in the sandbox - a bit too open in the outside, and a bit too small on the inside... this is Hitman! Where's the massive secret bucket, or torture chamber, or labyrinth below? Wheres the inexplicable tunnel to a science lab?! Where's the entrance to the vast catacombs I know must be down there?!?!? ? That's a great point about Dartmoor that I hadn't considered - it's so well-tailored to its story mission that anything outside of that would be bound to suffer. And yeah, even Whittleton Creek had basements!! That patented underground lab business of IOI's is what saved Chongqing, I thought - as pretty as it is to look at, it's not til you're trying to maneuver your way through the lab - and when you figure out the paths where the guards aren't and can SOSA it - that the level really takes off. Fuck, I love this game! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post YaManSmevz Posted February 10, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 10, 2022 (edited) Platinum #49: Murdered: Soul Suspect All dressed up with nowhere to go This entry is going to be a bit conflicted, so first things first, I'd like to state for the record that I liked Murdered: Soul Suspect. Enjoyed it quite a bit, really! The concept is great - we open with a plainclothes detective mid-death. You're being thrown out of a window by an unknown assailant, and after the rather rough landing, you find yourself looking down at your own dead body, trying to process what just happened to you, and what to do next. I was a morbid ass kid who loved movies like The Crow and was obsessed with the concept of death, so this kind of stuff has me at 'hello.' The mood throughout is as you would expect - dark, tense, and unsettling. The music is solid, a touch overblown here and there (at times it felt like someone swapped in cuts from The Dark Knight score by mistake), but for the most part fitting. The grey and blue filter and perpetual fog that dim Airtight Games' version of Salem, Massachusetts contribute to a believable air of gloom, and along with the grisly clues you find and the sad stories of people long gone that you can uncover, this world is well developed and sucks you in with ease. Murdered has a story that isn't especially unique or original, but has that air of charm to it where you can't help wanting to know what happens next. Something that is rewarded, I feel - the murder mystery is a fun one, filled with the appropriate twists and turns. I never found it overly predictable, and frankly they had a lot of chances to go with an easy ending, but they didn't, and I applaud them for that - the game is all the better for it. There are only a few issues really, but one is particularly damning - the gameplay simply isn't that good. For the most part, you're just walking around and taking inventory with clues and such, and as the meat of the game, this is all done pretty well. What doesn't feel well done is.. well, pretty much everything else. Every additional feature just feels tacked on, like they wanted to spice the game up or something, but didn't really know how. Like if someone added too much salt to their food, or used the wrong spice, and now it tastes funny. Whether Square was like "No game of ours is gonna be a WALKING SIM, ADD MORE GAMING MECHANICS!!" or Airtight was just feelin froggy, it didn't work quite as well as it should have. Firstly, the combat is plain awkward. Some areas have patrolling demons, and the only way to kill them is to get behind them (and there's a sweet spot to be at, just being behind them isn't quite enough I found) and initiate a QTE. Normally I like sneaking up behind enemies, but here it's so clunky moving from hiding places (necessary, because they'll kill you with the quickness on sight) and hoping you're in just the right spot behind them, and that another demon doesn't roll through while you're giving his buddy the ol' Ghostbuster treatment. Could have been a lot more fun, I'm sorry to say. Also there's a few platforming sections where you have to possess a cat and have it traverse through areas you can't reach yourself. A dope idea, but unfortunately the execution falls a touch flat - again, awkward is the best word to use here. In all fairness, this is the most blatant while pursuing a few collectibles, but... well, more on that later! There are others that lose their charm quickly, like the poltergeist mechanic. It's a great idea, but before long, its one-note nature starts to feel a little contrived. I remember when the ability was first revealed to me, I tried to mess with people just for kicks, but they don't have a reaction to it at all unless they're supposed to. I know this was just me goofing off, but I can't help feeling that's a bit of a missed opportunity! Again, I liked Murdered. It frustrated me, but in the best possible way - if I didn't enjoy the game as much as I did, and recognize the exceptional potential it has, I wouldn't have cared so much. I would have just made fun of the "Grizzled Cop with a Checkered Past meets Sassy Teen with a Dark Secret" dialogue and been on my way. But the story hooked me, I gleefully bought into it and was happy to be along for the ride. Murdered is definitely flawed, but there's some really good stuff here. I'd recommend it, though I'd also heavily recommend using a guide to speed things up. It's a quick (and largely enjoyable) platinum too, so if you're a fan of noir settings and the macabre, and you don't demand perfection, why not? Stray Observations - For there being a vicious serial killer on the loose, there sure are a lot of people chillin outside late at night. Some even wandering through alleys by themselves! Pretty ballsy, folks. - The whole Salem idea was really inspired. I liked how 1692 and the present were weirdly meshed together, and provided good explanation as to why our ghostly hero can't always go where he pleases. Plus, there's a section in a museum regarding the witch trials, where some dude in the present is scoffing about "Why couldn't they just escape," a female ghost is standing next to him, scoffing right back at his clearly deliberate misunderstanding of the situation. I love it? - In one of the town's corners, you will find Robert Loblaw's law office... this was a brilliant Easter egg, and I had a really good laugh at this. Anyone familiar with the show Arrested Development will catch the shout out. For the uninitiated... - Some of the clues were clearly just thrown in for padding. "Flipped bed?" My guy, we literally just watched her do it, how is that a clue?? "She seems agitated." Wow, bro. And you wonder why you're dead! - Ronan's attire alone is proof that this game was made by people my age - head to toe, that outfit would've been pretty bangin... back in '04. He looks like the "dangerous" one in a boy band from the early 2010s. - The demons are clearly supposed to be scary, but the way they saunter around swaying their arms brings to mind a drunken middle-aged housewife dancing to Fleetwood Mac in the living room, glass of wine in hand. - The ghost stories were a nice touch, but what I really liked were the lost souls you could help out. They're quick little investigations you can do to figure out what really happened to them, and it's nice to see them find peace and earn their way out of purgatory. I would probably be one of these people in such a situation - obsessing over what had happened when the solution is quite literally a stone's throw away all along? - The ending suffers just a hair from moving a bit slowly, and I can't help wondering if the overall reveal would've been more impactful if it'd been a bit more swift. I really liked this ending though, and a huge bonus - a QTE unlike the simple button prompts we're used to, rather a sudden real time moment where quick thinking is prized over fast reflexes, if that makes sense. Now that's a QTE I can get down with! THAT Trophy: Collector All And now the real reason that completing Murdered: Soul Suspect can feel like a chore. All 242 of them! In the interest of fairness, I feel the need to point out that I was on this "fuck guides bruh, I GOT this!" kick with the exact wrong game for it. I made it to the museum, which I knew had missables (as it's the lone location you can't return to), and thought I'd check in with a guide to make see where I was, and uh... yeah, I didn't do quite as good a job as I'd thought. While that's on me, what's on Murdered is how needlessly bothersome collecting all these things feels. Any good game with an open world to explore will provide you with a map. And if there are a considerable amount of collectibles for you to find, a considerate game will have a system to inform you of what ones you've already gotten, or in some cases, make it possible to see where to find ones you've yet to get. We get neither in Murdered, which makes the already burdensome amount of collectibles annoying as hell. Without a guide, that is! With a guide, this won't be anywhere near as annoying, so this applies merely to my own experience as opposed to anything universal! And said collectibles are actually helpful and pertain to the story. Much like Oxenfree (which had about 200 less things to pick up), there's a reason for (almost) everything you find, which does take some of the edge off! Anyway, I hope this came across as more fairly critical than negative, because I really did enjoy this game! Shout out to @rjkclarke for the rec, you are 2 for 2 on the year so far! Aaaand that's a wrap for me! Edited November 10, 2022 by YaManSmevz 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 24 minutes ago, YaManSmevz said: But the story hooked me, I gleefully bought into it and was happy to be along for the ride. Murdered is definitely flawed, but there's some really good stuff here. I'd recommend it, though I'd also heavily recommend using a guide to speed things up. It's a quick (and largely enjoyable) platinum too, so if you're a fan of noir settings and the macabre, and you don't demand perfection, why not? I... am? I am! ? I am all those thing! ? Totally agree with your review here man - tip top! It's a good story, a nice, hokey setting and the whole thing looks nice, but man, they really wanted to jingle a lot of shiny's to try and distract the player form feeling like they were playing a straight forward narrative game - and holy hell, do they love collectibles! It's like the Psychonauts school of overburdening your player with a billion things to find! ? It definitely gets points for oddness - there's really nothing out there quite like it... ....even if some of the reason for that is that any other developer would be like "What? No, don't be silly! Sit down Gerald! Stop talking! That's not how you make a game!" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 Having not played Murdered, your review is giving me light The Evil Within vibes, in as much as it’s a bit of a horror story with paranormal elements (and third person). Have you tried any of those games? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted February 10, 2022 Author Share Posted February 10, 2022 20 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: Totally agree with your review here man - tip top! It's a good story, a nice, hokey setting and the whole thing looks nice, but man, they really wanted to jingle a lot of shiny's to try and distract the player form feeling like they were playing a straight forward narrative game - and holy hell, do they love collectibles! It's like the Psychonauts school of overburdening your player with a billion things to find! Thank you, sir! Yeahmann, they went a bit too far with the collectibles! If there exists a gamer who lights candles, puts a ball gag in their mouth, and taunts themselves over and over about "getting all the collectibles," with a rider's crop, then yes, this game is for them! Sadly, I didn't happen to play this game on a Tuesday, so it ended up not being for me? And yes! What's wrong with being a straight forward narrative game? Absolutely nothing, says I. Funnily enough, it was their narrative that saved it! 20 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said: It definitely gets points for oddness - there's really nothing out there quite like it... ....even if some of the reason for that is that any other developer would be like "What? No, don't be silly! Sit down Gerald! Stop talking! That's not how you make a game!" At any other developer's office: "So how about a teleporting mechanic, and we'll necessitate it in a tight space with small nooks you need to get to, otherwise a ghost train will kill you. And you can easily get yourself killed by accident too, because the teleporting is kind of particular about where you can go! That counts as genuine challenge, right?" "...Gerald? Shut the fuck up, seriously." 12 minutes ago, DrunkenEngineer said: Having not played Murdered, your review is giving me light The Evil Within vibes, in as much as it’s a bit of a horror story with paranormal elements (and third person). Have you tried any of those games? I have not! Were you a fan? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 3 minutes ago, YaManSmevz said: Thank you, sir! Yeahmann, they went a bit too far with the collectibles! If there exists a gamer who lights candles, puts a ball gag in their mouth, and taunts themselves over and over about "getting all the collectibles," with a rider's crop, then yes, this game is for them! Sadly, I didn't happen to play this game on a Tuesday, so it ended up not being for me And yes! What's wrong with being a straight forward narrative game? Absolutely nothing, says I. Funnily enough, it was their narrative that saved it! Dude, I reckon I need not even mention that I totally agree… I mean, look who you’re talking to… the guy who just ranked Life is Strange: Before the Storm one notch below Mass Effect ? Narrative games need to stop being scared of just being that - because just being that can be the most effective thing in the world if you do it right! 3 minutes ago, YaManSmevz said: At any other developer's office: "So how about a teleporting mechanic, and we'll necessitate it in a tight space with small nooks you need to get to, otherwise a ghost train will kill you. And you can easily get yourself killed by accident too, because the teleporting is kind of particular about where you can go! That counts as genuine challenge, right?" "...Gerald? Shut the fuck up, seriously." ?? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 21 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: I have not! Were you a fan? I enjoyed them! But they are more Silent Hill/Resident Evil inspired than anything else. I’ve thought about dipping into them on PSN for the trophies but the first one has a brutally tough, one-hit death mode requirement for the plat. But, if you didn’t care about that they are worth checking out when you want some spooky shit! Here, have a copy/paste of a review I wrote on Steam for Evil Within 1. Quote The Evil Within is a nostalgic love letter to survival horror games of yesteryear. The gameplay is highly inspired by Resident Evil 4, sharing Shinji Mikami's influence. Monster designs are brilliant, borrowing heavily from Silent Hill. The story stumbles a bit, but that's honestly never been what's attracted me to survival horror games. The dopey dialog and cheesy characters and melodrama are here in spades. Inventory management, scraping by enemy encounters, knowing when to fight or run, that's well represented. Resources start out scarce, but as the game progresses packrats will be swimming in so much ammo that the tension is diminished when you know you can engage in every enemy encounter. I suspect this was deliberate as the tone drastically shifts about the halfway point. How Dead Space transitioned into Dead Space 2, a more action oriented title, is spot on for how The Evil Within treats it's two halves. The controls are a bit clunky, and the PC port isn't honestly the best, but the overall package is strong and great fun for survival horror veterans. Aside from some frustrating sections I enjoyed my time. For fans of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Dead Space it's an easy recommendation. Others are best served waiting for a sale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 On 10/02/2022 at 5:43 PM, YaManSmevz said: Platinum #49: Murdered: Soul Suspect Only took me four days.... But I got to writing something here eventually Hell of a good write up of Murdered: Soul Suspect.... I know mine would sound pretty conflicted myself. It is a game that unfortunately just gets in its own way a little bit...... Absolutely up to its eyeballs in potential, which it does hit quite a lot of to be fair, just not all of it unfortunately. The problem with coming late to the party is that lots of the things you're likely to say have already been said...... *someone opens a window and shouts * "GET SOME MORE ANECDOTES THEN YA DAMN HIPPIE!" That being said though - I think the game would be so much better if it just relied on being a narrative experience, keep the investigation stuff obviously, but introducing that really iffy combat-lite thing that it has going on really doesn't do it many favours at all, and it'd probably be much cooler without it. Oh..... yes, and the, erm collectibles..... Could do with less of them too. I like the idea behind them, that they're nice little pieces of lore, but having to constantly check a guide to see if you've got them is one of those things that does somewhat hamper things slightly. Okay so I want to talk about your Hitman 3 review, but I won't, because I haven't played it yet, but just know that it's brilliant, and another one of the many things that have added to my hype for actually playing it. I'm just being a silly person about it and refusing to play it until I have a PS5, but I'm really, looking forward to it. On 04/02/2022 at 4:10 PM, YaManSmevz said: I really need to get on board with that one. So is it true that there's an inkling of similarity in the gameplay, except with Bloodborne actually getting it right? I'm very curious. This might be ten days ago, but yeah, there is definitely some similarity there between Vampyr and Bloodborne's combat gameplay..... It's a fairly fitting word when talking about Bloodborne, but it's just so much more visceral than it is in Vampyr. Everything feels and looks brutal,whereas in Vampyr it just feels a bit flat. That is one of those things that really lets down Vampyr.... Is the fact that it is so obviously trying to be like Bloodbornes combat, but ultimately feels like it's going at about 0.5 times the speed unfortunately. On 04/02/2022 at 4:10 PM, YaManSmevz said: Although I do still get that nagging feeling like I'm some annoying loud mouth who won't shut up when I crank a lot out in a short period of time, I do like getting a lot of them done. My goal is by the end of the year to be caught up, so that every new review is of a freshly completed game! Nah.... Never, ever that dude! I get where you're coming from, because I sometimes feel that way myself, when I put a few things out quickly.. I made several replies in my thread yesterday and then a review, then I thought " I bet people are thinking, could you kindly SHUT THE F*** UP, and let us enjoy our Sunday in peace please" That's a good plan to be completely caught up by the end of the year... I reckon at this rate, you'll definitely manage that. I wish I could say the same, but I suspect I'll look like Mr Burns by the time that I'm all caught up on reviews of my earlier completions, that'll teach me for not starting a checklist until I was 299 completions deep I suppose ?..... Them's the breaks I guess. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted February 17, 2022 Author Share Posted February 17, 2022 On 2/14/2022 at 8:16 AM, rjkclarke said: Hell of a good write up of Murdered: Soul Suspect.... I know mine would sound pretty conflicted myself. It is a game that unfortunately just gets in its own way a little bit...... Absolutely up to its eyeballs in potential, which it does hit quite a lot of to be fair, just not all of it unfortunately. Thanks man! And agreed 100%, this had so much potential - such a great foundation, but it seems as though they got caught overthinking it. A pity, but at the same time still a solid game! On 2/14/2022 at 8:16 AM, rjkclarke said: Oh..... yes, and the, erm collectibles..... Could do with less of them too. I like the idea behind them, that they're nice little pieces of lore, but having to constantly check a guide to see if you've got them is one of those things that does somewhat hamper things slightly. Or if you set out guideless and pick up a bunch, only to have to go back and retrace your steps... only thing worse than following a guide for the whole game is following a guide for the remainder of the game after already scooping up several collectibles?? It was cool that so many of the collectibles actually developed the world of the story, I feel like making collectibles feel organic really goes a long way. But... I mean they really could've called it a day at half of what they ended up with, they absolutely did not need 242! On 2/14/2022 at 8:16 AM, rjkclarke said: Okay so I want to talk about your Hitman 3 review, but I won't, because I haven't played it yet, but just know that it's brilliant, and another one of the many things that have added to my hype for actually playing it. I'm just being a silly person about it and refusing to play it until I have a PS5, but I'm really, looking forward to it. Thanks! And you're probably doing the right thing, saving Hitman 3 for marria- er, I mean the PS5. You're gonna have such a good time with it man, I envy the fact that you have all that to look forward to! On 2/14/2022 at 8:16 AM, rjkclarke said: This might be ten days ago, but yeah, there is definitely some similarity there between Vampyr and Bloodborne's combat gameplay..... It's a fairly fitting word when talking about Bloodborne, but it's just so much more visceral than it is in Vampyr. Everything feels and looks brutal,whereas in Vampyr it just feels a bit flat. That is one of those things that really lets down Vampyr.... Is the fact that it is so obviously trying to be like Bloodbornes combat, but ultimately feels like it's going at about 0.5 times the speed unfortunately. ....and Bloodborne gets another violent shove up the backlog... On 2/14/2022 at 8:16 AM, rjkclarke said: Nah.... Never, ever that dude! I get where you're coming from, because I sometimes feel that way myself, when I put a few things out quickly.. I made several replies in my thread yesterday and then a review, then I thought " I bet people are thinking, could you kindly SHUT THE F*** UP, and let us enjoy our Sunday in peace please" That's a good plan to be completely caught up by the end of the year... I reckon at this rate, you'll definitely manage that. I wish I could say the same, but I suspect I'll look like Mr Burns by the time that I'm all caught up on reviews of my earlier completions, that'll teach me for not starting a checklist until I was 299 completions deep I suppose ..... Them's the breaks I guess. It's unfortunate how easy it is to assume that, isn't it? That's one thing I feel very fortunate about, that I started this when my profile was only a year and some change in. Although I also kind of envy how you and Doc have these massive vaults of completed games so that there will always be something to write about. While I'm glad that reviewing everything I've completed into the near future is plausible, I must say that I wish I had such a vast selection of completions to choose from. Grass is greener, maybe? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post YaManSmevz Posted February 18, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 18, 2022 (edited) We Don't Need No Stinkin' Trophies!!! #1 What up, what up? There's a game I've been wanting to talk about for a long while, but it didn't meet that oh so crucial requirement - trophy support. After all, how can I assure you fine people that I know what I'm talking about without the array of trophies to prove it? Impossible, right?? After several conversations about this with the homie @rjkclarke, I came to realize that it's an entirely made-up requirement, that these are our threads and we very much can talk about whatever we want. And thus this segment is born, where I'll go over a game I completed without the carrot-on-a-stick motivator that is a platinum trophy, and I shall be updating it wheneverly. The game for this first installment? As Highlander taught us, there can be only one: The Godfather Released on March 21st, 2006 Played on PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 The Godfather: The Game: The Review: The First Paragraph is finally here, and I couldn't be more excited to get into it! Back in 2006, I was high on my Rockstar fanboy-ism, and out of some weird brand loyalty had little interest in trying out open world games by other developers. True Crime? Miss me with that shit. The Getaway? Get the fuck out of here. Driv3r? Learn how to spell, asshole. That silliness ended with one announcement: that there would be an open world game based on The Godfather. Whaaaaaaaaaat?? After The Warriors showed everybody that good games based on movies are a thing, here comes one that puts you in one of the greatest films ever made, and right from Jump Street they're dishing out details on the lengths they've gone to for as authentic an experience as possible: They secured the rights to Nino Rota's score. They enlisted voice actors from the original film, including James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Abe Vigoda. They even got recordings from Marlon Brando before his passing. Then came the caveats.. While Al Pacino's voice and likeness had been sought out, he'd already approved of said use for a game based on Scarface, which started development around the same time, and he was contractually unable to participate. Predictably, this proved to be quite a blow, as with literally everybody else's likeness on board, his absence was a bit jarring. Look at how on point these characters are: Then compare this to their approximation of Michael Corleone: Not only that, but they needed someone to voice Michael, which ended up being Joseph May. Who is... fine. He does an okay job, but it's such a crucial role. Our protagonist actor, Andrew Pifko, recognized the powerhouses he would have to work alongside in James Caan and Robert Duvall, and accordingly brought it. May, on the other hand, comes off as tepid at best. The other thing is that EA had to come clean and admit that Marlon Brando's recordings were unusable, as there was an audible oxygen tank in the background. Not only that, but if you listen to the actual audio, it's quite sad! The actor was clearly on his death bed and should not have been wasting what energy he had left on providing a voice for a video game, which makes me think that maybe it wasn't the coolest thing of them to try getting work out of him. "I recorded my parts, guys.. I just hope you're pleased with my performance. I'm so happy to reprise this role one final time." "Yeah, that's great.. except for the freakin OXYGEN TANK, that shit is loud as fuck! You wanna be in the game, don't you Wheezy?? Now DO IT AGAIN, MARLON. ....Marlon?" Oh my god... EA killed Marlon Brando!! Fortunately, Doug Abrahams stepped in with a very convincing portrayal of the Don, which completed the cast. And now that all that's established, we can get into the actual game! The Godfather gives you your own story that occurs concurrently with the timeline of the film. In 1936, you're a child and witness the gunning down of your father. For whatever reason Don Vito Corleone happens to be passing through and tells you that one day, you'll have your revenge. Good enough for me, I am into it! Fast forward to Connie's wedding in 1945, and your mother is one of the people visiting the Don and asking a favor, hers being to give you a helping hand, as you've become quite the young ruffian and could use the guidance. So one day you're getting your ass beat by fellow ruffians, and Luca Brasi walks up and shows you how to fight, whereupon you remember that you're Rocky Marciano and proceed to beat down the same thugs who had just been slappin you around. And so begins your association with the Corleone Family! The Godfather integrates you into the story pretty well for the most part. Things that happen offscreen in the film become missions here, like avenging Bonasera's daughter, placing the gun for Michael, or perhaps most cleverly, putting the horse's head in Woltz's bed. After a while your character starts to feel like Forrest Gump with how he's randomly inserted into all these famous scenes, but it largely works, and EA essentially achieves their goal of making you feel like a part of the film. The only real shortcoming storywise is the romance angle - you meet this girl Frankie, and you get this fun, flirtatious rapport going. Then, you get this mission: Frankie's out of town? Who gives a fuck, you just met this girl. And this is some weird creepy uncle shit, like "huh huh you can cheat on your girlfriend huh." Then a few missions later you guys are living together. Like what?? I totally get that the years are going by quickly, and that the game's story covers more than a decade, so it does make sense. There's just such minimal development to it that aside from the handful of scenes that she's in, she practically doesn't exist. It's also weird how at the end of the game, you become the Don - especially since Michael is alive and very much hanging around, apparently unbothered by an outsider taking his role. Al Pacino wouldn't have taken that shit, I can tell you that! As for gameplay, The Godfather largely ascribes to the 'Keep It Simple, Stupid' philosophy, which pays off marvelously. Combat, both armed and unarmed, is a breeze. Depending on what position you knock your enemies into (and how low their health is), you can perform one of several executions, all of which are really fun to pull off. You can simply choke them to death too, by pushing in on the analog sticks - a great mechanism, as it makes you feel like you're choking them yourself. Savage! The vast majority of the game is spent taking over businesses and rackets to expand the Corleone empire. Not entirely unlike the gang warfare from San Andreas, you take over New York's neighborhoods piece by piece, gaining ground on the other families. It's definitely repetitive busy work, but I enjoyed the fuck out of this. Maybe it was playing Risk as a kid, but anything with this sort of flavor to it I'm likely to fall in love with. The best part are the warehouses and hubs - these are large areas where you have to clear out a staggering amount of enemies, and the closer you get to the end, the more intense it feels - I can't tell you how many times I was nearly at the end, with a sliver of health left, only for one last guy to spring out from somewhere and blast me with a shotgun. Oh, the loud exasperated sighs this would get out of me! The world is also extremely well done. The 1940s New York setting is realized quite well, even with the NPCs having timely dialogue, like someone talking about Truman or someone else mentioning that they hate the Dodgers (hey, fuck you buddy!). The way they react to you is great as well - at first, you're clearly looked at as kind of a scrub, but halfway through the game and beyond, everybody knows who you are and respects you ("It's... an honor!"), which really ups the immersion that much more. The cars look great, in spite of the game only having like four (a fast one, a regular one, a cop car, and a truck by my recollection), and they handle okay - the game does that Mafia thing where the cars are pretty slow, but that's not that big of a deal. I also really enjoyed the customization suite! You can make your character look however you'd like, so I did the same thing most people do - made a handsome version of me, and then a disgusting fat slob version of me. And both were awesome. You can also use money to buy new outfits (in game money, not the real kind... EA hadn't discovered microtransactions yet), which was a nice touch. Along with Bully, this game dominated my 2006. Flawed as it may be, it's just so damn fun, and so easy to lose yourself in the Godfather saga. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that world? In video game form, of course... if I were actually there I'd likely get my dumb ass killed! When I resumed gaming a few years back with the 360, I bought this game and completed it same as I had on the PS2, but with achievement documentation this time! I was ready to buy a third copy without hesitation until I learned that the PS3 port, for whatever reason, doesn't have trophy support. Pair that with the fact that a PS4 upgrade seems unlikely at best, and you have a very sad Smevz. I absolutely adore this game, and wish I could revisit without having to bust out an old console. But it's all good - it's not as though I don't already have hundreds of games waiting to be played or anything! Anybody else play this one? What did you think? Anyway, that about wraps it up! I wrote this review a month or so ago, and lost it literally when I got to right about where I am now, so hopefully I touched on everything that was in the original. I would just hate it if now that I'm finally almost done again this post were to sudde Edited November 10, 2022 by YaManSmevz I can't spell 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post YaManSmevz Posted February 22, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 22, 2022 (edited) Platinum #46: The Forgotten City And you may say to yourself, "My God! What have I done?" The Forgotten City was one of those pieces of media where I had a minimal awareness of it, but that was about it... and then all of a sudden it was so ubiquitous that not having played it felt like a faux pas that needed to be corrected immediately. Over the course of about eleven or twelve days, I was repeatedly informed of its greatness, cracked and made the purchase, installed the game, and immediately fell in love with it myself. I first saw a glowing review of it in the Fall/Winter Challenge thread by SicilianDragon92, who posted an equally passionate and informative write-up on the game that totally turned my head. Okay, I thought. Mental note, gonna have to play that. A few days later, there's another post by Bl4ckb1rd92, gleefully confirming what the earlier post had said. Holy shit, I thought. Maybe I gotta play this sooner than later. THEN I'm pokin around in the Bingo Bonanza thread, when who should I see but the good Doctor Bloodmoney showering his praise on the game as well! So finally, I'm like okay. You win, Forgotten City. Purchased. Installing. I'm finally going to play it and see what th- ....wait, now Realm722 posting a bad ass, gushing review??? COME ON!! This was seriously The Forgotten City having me in an armbar, and I held out for as long as I could but eventually succumbed and tapped out... but the bastard wouldn't let go of the hold. "I BOUGHT YOU, I'M GONNA PLAY YOU, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP DOING THIS!!" "OH NO, YOU'RE GONNA READ ONE MORE POST ABOUT HOW GREAT I AM!! MWAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!" Seriously though, twelve days - and with as good as this thing is, it should only have taken one. There's a lot of things that The Forgotten City gets right, but the first thing that needs to be mentioned is its mastery of time loop gameplay. Time loops are cool, but they can get old fast, particularly if there's a lot of information to learn and a lot of tasks that pile up, both of which occur here. They figured out a simple solution to cut back on the repetitive workload games like this can lay on you, as once you've figured out what you need to do, in subsequent loops a mere conversation will take care of it for you. This game respects your time, and knows you've got cooler things to do here than repeat some convoluted task that you just did ten minutes ago! Not only that, but there's multiple ways to approach most of the tasks at hand - one example that impressed the hell out of me was the fact that you don't actually have to get the golden bow if you'd rather skip that whole segment! It's so well layered, too. The narrative reveals itself to you at an excellent pace, with little nuggets being dropped here and there, some completely changing your perspective of what's even going on in the first place. Clues get connected, characters show their true colors, and things you saw back at the beginning that you couldn't make sense of before hit you with a crushing clarity. The whole idea is you as a modern person somehow landing in an ancient Roman city, so there's a historical as well as philosophical slant to how you interact with the citizens. You can debate whether yours or their era is more humane. You can marvel at the parallels they make with concepts of your time (memes being compared to hieroglyphics will never not be funny), and debate religion and ethics. There's even an old philosopher who just wants to talk shop with you - a hard thing to resist on the first playthrough! The characters here are all great, and whether they're there for you to love, hate, sympathize with, or roll your eyes at, they all hit their mark. The obvious favorite is Galerius, our very own Roman Mr. Clean, but damn near everybody gets their moment to shine. The voice acting is top notch as well, really bringing everybody to life - the painfully simple Duli, pompous Malleolus, frantic Naevia, and sleazy Desius in particular come to mind, though if I thought about it for a moment longer I'd really just end up listing pretty much everybody! As for the bad? Well, as is common for this type of game, the combat and platforming aren't great. The bow is a bit janky, particularly noticeable with how accurate you have to be with it, and you can get yourself killed quite easily if you're not focused. But yeah, that's it. If you haven't played it, I envy you and strongly suggest that you give it a shot. Solid writing, great characters and twists, and of course a quick platinum to boot. All love for this one man, it's just a fantastic game! Stray Observations - You know how I knew I was in good hands right from the very beginning? The developers went full-on 1960 Alfred Hitchcock and gave us a gentle message: play it, enjoy it, thanks for the support, but please don't be spoiling shit for anybody. Mad respect, Modern Storyteller? - While the commentary on Roman mythology being swiped from the Greeks is of course true, it's not as common to delve further and be like "well, you know where the Greeks got their shit from, right?" It made me weirdly happy how The Forgotten City deftly lays this out. - As bright and lovely as this game is, there are some seriously dark moments! This is definitely one of those games that rewards guide-less playing, there were a few moments that totally caught me off guard. My only gripe here? It's partly responsible for me heading into Murdered: Soul Suspect without a guide. Grr! THAT Trophy: Match-Maker Galerius and Equitia were absolutely adorable, loved em both. But trying to land on that rock to pick the flower for Galerius was the closest I ever got to being annoyed while playing this game (and even then, not really). ....crap, did I forget to mention that you should play this game? Well you should? aaaaaand I'm out! Edited November 10, 2022 by YaManSmevz 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 6 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Platinum #46: The Forgotten City Okay so - I already put a rep point on this review..... I haven't read it yet, however much I really want to. I would bet large sums of money that it's awesome though. and you can be that I will be reading it once I've played the game myself, alongside all the other awesome glowing reviews of it you highlighted! I don't think you would have put spoilers in it, but I REALLY REALLY want to get around to playing this. It's another one of those I'm admittedly putting off because I want to play the PS5 version. STUPID ROB, IS STUPID, right? Haha ? On 18/02/2022 at 5:16 PM, YaManSmevz said: We Don't Need No Stinkin' Trophies!!! #1 This is awesome man! I totally approve, well I guess I would wouldn't I haha What with me telling people to just write about things you're passionate about even if trophies aren't a thing. I'm actually working on one of my film centric ones as well, that I want to put out soon. But yeah...... Godfather! Hell of a review there dude! I loved reading that - absolutely reminded me why I loved that game myself back in the day. Those unused audio tracks with Brando are sad, I remember listening to them and thinking that. When you think about what Brando was like, it's pretty mental that he was even up for returning to the role, let alone for a video game.So I've always liked the fact that he wanted to do it, even if his body and voice weren't quite up to it. Oooooh dear, that Michael thing really is bad isn't it - I've not replayed this since about 2010-ish, so I'd forgotten exactly how much he doesn't look like Pacino, or really sound like Pacino, it's honestly pretty distracting. On 18/02/2022 at 5:16 PM, YaManSmevz said: True Crime? Miss me with that shit. You weren't missing much anyway ? It turns out you've literally been playing the best True Crime game recently anyway. I don't know if it's officially considered the third True Crime game... But I know that Sleeping Dogs originally started life as the third True Crime entry, before the True Crime name was dropped from it at the very least. You know what though? I actually think you'd enjoy Godfather II. I re-played it for trophies back in I think 2019 after playing it on 360 originally and it's still a remarkably fun game. So if you ever dust off the PS3 I know you have, and fancied getting the one Godfather platinum available, you can usually find that game dirt cheap, I know you can in the UK so I don't see why it'd be any different where you are, and have a blast on it. Those things you liked about the first, that you compared to Risk is really well expanded in that game, it's got some light strategy elements to it too, where if you have built up your Mafia family enough, you can usually just send them to take or retake places if you've already cracked the safes there. It's a really good time, and I think I played it over like 2 days and had a really good time with it. You still kind of get awkwardly inserted into scenes of the film, but not quite as much. Godfather II sort of doubled down on the "on the periphery of the film" type missions that the first one had, with a few glaring exceptions. On 17/02/2022 at 5:45 AM, YaManSmevz said: Or if you set out guideless and pick up a bunch, only to have to go back and retrace your steps... only thing worse than following a guide for the whole game is following a guide for the remainder of the game after already scooping up several collectibles It was cool that so many of the collectibles actually developed the world of the story, I feel like making collectibles feel organic really goes a long way. But... I mean they really could've called it a day at half of what they ended up with, they absolutely did not need 242! Yes!!!! I agree with all of that, especially the going guideless and having to backtrack thing. That is one way to sour your opinion on a game pretty quickly. I imagine it's a mistake that we've pretty much all made too. I did that in the original Rage game back on the PS3, couldn't remember what I'd collected and then ended up doing an entirely new playthrough for it. ...... That's like the epitome of that Hans Moleman quote where he does the " You wasted 4 minutes of my life and I want them back......... ooooooh, I'd only waste them anyway" ? On 17/02/2022 at 5:45 AM, YaManSmevz said: That's one thing I feel very fortunate about, that I started this when my profile was only a year and some change in. Although I also kind of envy how you and Doc have these massive vaults of completed games so that there will always be something to write about. While I'm glad that reviewing everything I've completed into the near future is plausible, I must say that I wish I had such a vast selection of completions to choose from. Grass is greener, maybe? I don't know man. You could be a little of column A, a little of column B syndrome (not a real syndrome ?) perhaps, more than Grass is Greener. I guess if you were all up to date you'd have a little more gaming time potentially. I'd struggle to complain about that part if it was me. In a way it's nice to have all of those things to fall back on, to always have something different to write about, as you say. But that specific phrase you used "vast selection" does have a downside, in actually deciding which ones to pick. Wouldn't be a problem if I went chronologically, but I know I'd find that too rigid, as I'd put less effort into a few games I'd want to talk about sooner, instead of giving each one a fair look over. I love it when I get to do like a whole series in one fell swoop over a week or so, for example. I've got like 9 Ratchet and Clank games to cover at some point after all haha! There's definitely more ups than downs to it I think. Then I see how many of them I haven't written yet and then I start to panic at the slow rate I'm getting through them. But looking at it the other day it's not as bad as daunting as I think. If I wasn't having fun with it, I just wouldn't bother as well I guess. It helps that I love writing, and I'd usually be doing that anyway, even if it wasn't writing about games, or playing them, so I guess in a way it's an excuse just to do more of it haha! You've got some real big hitters of the ones you still have left to review. So I'm really looking forward to reading about what you thought about some of those games. As ever man, top quality reviews (I know the one I haven't read will be). We might end up getting Resident Evil 5 reviews out at a similar time too, if I can actually manage to get those last Team Slayers trophies at some point soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted February 23, 2022 Author Share Posted February 23, 2022 On 2/22/2022 at 10:20 AM, rjkclarke said: Okay so - I already put a rep point on this review..... I haven't read it yet, however much I really want to. I would bet large sums of money that it's awesome though. and you can be that I will be reading it once I've played the game myself, alongside all the other awesome glowing reviews of it you highlighted! I don't think you would have put spoilers in it, but I REALLY REALLY want to get around to playing this. It's another one of those I'm admittedly putting off because I want to play the PS5 version. STUPID ROB, IS STUPID, right? Haha Thank you bro! There was so much more I wanted to mention in the review but I went out of my way to avoid any possible spoilers, because it very much is that type of game where you're best going in as blind as possible, its world is one that just begs to be explored. So not to self-promote, but I'd call it a safe read! That settles it, we're starting a gofundme to get you a PS5. Hitman 3 and The Forgotten City alone necessitate this! Quote What with me telling people to just write about things you're passionate about even if trophies aren't a thing. I'm actually working on one of my film centric ones as well, that I want to put out soon. Hell yeah!! Lookin forward to it? Quote But yeah...... Godfather! Hell of a review there dude! I loved reading that - absolutely reminded me why I loved that game myself back in the day. Thanks a lot man, I really appreciate that. Especially since if not for you, I doubt I would ever have written that, so I'm really happy to hear that you enjoyed it. Quote Those unused audio tracks with Brando are sad, I remember listening to them and thinking that. When you think about what Brando was like, it's pretty mental that he was even up for returning to the role, let alone for a video game.So I've always liked the fact that he wanted to do it, even if his body and voice weren't quite up to it. Oh mos def, I always had a lot of respect for him wanting to do that. I've also always been ehhh about that towards EA though - I had to fact check before writing to make sure I was remembering correctly, and they did in fact use it as an advertising point upon announcement that Marlon Brando had recorded dialogue for the project before his passing, only to backpedal a bit when more details were released. After hearing the actual recordings, it was pretty clear that they knew right away they weren't gonna be able to use them, so I guess that always kinda rubbed me the wrong way. Quote Oooooh dear, that Michael thing really is bad isn't it - I've not replayed this since about 2010-ish, so I'd forgotten exactly how much he doesn't look like Pacino, or really sound like Pacino, it's honestly pretty distracting. It really is! And I totally get how understated Pacino's performance is and that May was most likely trying to capture that, but MY GUY. Every time he's on screen and talking you're just like "what is happening?" Quote You weren't missing much anyway It turns out you've literally been playing the best True Crime game recently anyway. I don't know if it's officially considered the third True Crime game... But I know that Sleeping Dogs originally started life as the third True Crime entry, before the True Crime name was dropped from it at the very least. Sleeping Dogs did have a long path to being made, didn't it? I'm so excited to get to work on that review man, it was such a great game. And I'm quite glad they distanced themselves from that franchise - sucks for True Crime though, it's my understanding those games were always ambitious but fell a bit flat, and this would have been a great redemption story for them. Unless they would've just mediocre'd it up of course? Quote You know what though? I actually think you'd enjoy Godfather II. I re-played it for trophies back in I think 2019 after playing it on 360 originally and it's still a remarkably fun game. So if you ever dust off the PS3 I know you have, and fancied getting the one Godfather platinum available, you can usually find that game dirt cheap, I know you can in the UK so I don't see why it'd be any different where you are, and have a blast on it. Those things you liked about the first, that you compared to Risk is really well expanded in that game, it's got some light strategy elements to it too, where if you have built up your Mafia family enough, you can usually just send them to take or retake places if you've already cracked the safes there. It's a really good time, and I think I played it over like 2 days and had a really good time with it. You still kind of get awkwardly inserted into scenes of the film, but not quite as much. Godfather II sort of doubled down on the "on the periphery of the film" type missions that the first one had, with a few glaring exceptions. I've thought about trying that game out for years, I may just end up buying it on Amazon or something. Even with that one included my stack of PS3 games wouldn't be terribly tall, so once I'm a little happier with where I am overall completion-wise maybe I'll do a challenge just with the PS3 or somethin. Your recommendation is one I value a great deal, lemmetellya, so I may just have gotten the swaying I needed? Quote Yes!!!! I agree with all of that, especially the going guideless and having to backtrack thing. That is one way to sour your opinion on a game pretty quickly. I imagine it's a mistake that we've pretty much all made too. I did that in the original Rage game back on the PS3, couldn't remember what I'd collected and then ended up doing an entirely new playthrough for it. ...... That's like the epitome of that Hans Moleman quote where he does the " You wasted 4 minutes of my life and I want them back......... ooooooh, I'd only waste them anyway" How did you like Rage? A buddy was trying to get me to buy Rage 2 so we could play online, and it was on sale but something about it made me hesitant. Crap... did you already write a review about it and I missed it? Well put.. because in those moments you very much feel like Hans Moleman as well? I wish there was a warning label on games, like "Bruh if you see collectibles don't even bother, just wait til you get a guide cuz this shit is mad excessive." ...well maybe clean it up a bit but you know what I mean! Quote I don't know man. You could be a little of column A, a little of column B syndrome (not a real syndrome ) perhaps, more than Grass is Greener. I guess if you were all up to date you'd have a little more gaming time potentially. I'd struggle to complain about that part if it was me. In a way it's nice to have all of those things to fall back on, to always have something different to write about, as you say. But that specific phrase you used "vast selection" does have a downside, in actually deciding which ones to pick. Wouldn't be a problem if I went chronologically, but I know I'd find that too rigid, as I'd put less effort into a few games I'd want to talk about sooner, instead of giving each one a fair look over. I love it when I get to do like a whole series in one fell swoop over a week or so, for example. I've got like 9 Ratchet and Clank games to cover at some point after all haha! There's definitely more ups than downs to it I think. Then I see how many of them I haven't written yet and then I start to panic at the slow rate I'm getting through them. But looking at it the other day it's not as bad as daunting as I think. Thats a fair point, sometimes an overwhelming amount of choices can make it difficult to make a decision! Not to mention if you ever feel like you're hardly making a dent in the massive catalog(ue?). I thought about going chronologically too, but you hit the nail on the head - you should write about what you're feelin at the moment as often as possible, it just feels more organic that way. A sidenote, you're on a good one as of late, sir! You've been quite productive, so it's good to see that you're not seeing it as too daunting. I was gonna say "in rare form" but whenever I think about that expression it low key feels like a back handed compliment. Like "usually you're shit, but lately you're not shit! What a rare thing!" There's that overthinking again? Quote If I wasn't having fun with it, I just wouldn't bother as well I guess. It helps that I love writing, and I'd usually be doing that anyway, even if it wasn't writing about games, or playing them, so I guess in a way it's an excuse just to do more of it haha! Quote You've got some real big hitters of the ones you still have left to review. So I'm really looking forward to reading about what you thought about some of those games. As ever man, top quality reviews (I know the one I haven't read will be). We might end up getting Resident Evil 5 reviews out at a similar time too, if I can actually manage to get those last Team Slayers trophies at some point soon. Thank you man, makes me happy to hear/read/see/be told/register that! Res 5 makes me want to start on the RE games I haven't completed here yet, so I can do them in kinda the same way I did the Rockstar reviews. Writing about 5, I think I'd bring up 4 a lot, but I haven't played it in well over a decade? I can say that I'm definitely looking forward to your write-up of the game though? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post YaManSmevz Posted February 24, 2022 Author Popular Post Share Posted February 24, 2022 (edited) Platinum #50: Sleeping Dogs I'm a sailor peg, and I lost my leg A long time coming, this one! Rising from the ashes of the True Crime series, Sleeping Dogs endured a long, tumultuous development to finally carve itself a very unique place in the open world gaming landscape. Finally the combat, intricate drive-by mechanics, and undercover cop angle of the True Crime games were given the polish they deserved. Full disclosure, I've never played those games, but by most accounts I've heard the stories were a bit dull, the gameplay was ambitious but lacking, and they were overall under developed and horribly buggy. Sleeping Dogs can be a touch buggy, but generally I look at these criticisms and can't see them applying to this game at all, it's just so well put together. I copped this on the 360 when it was still a reeeelatively newer title (Sleeping Dogs was released at the tail end of the seventh generation, so in 2016 it wasn't super old) and played the first mission, was absolutely floored by it... then completely ignored it for six years. When I got my PS4 it was one of the first games I looked for in the store, but upon purchase again sat there untouched until the homie Mr. Clarke rightly reminded me that I was very much missing out and needed to get crackin on that. So where to even start? The story is insane. They not only put together an excellent story about an undercover cop, but captured the sharp dichotomy of your dual roles, and the incredible tension that comes along with it. Protagonist Wei Shen is constantly under the microscope and we're right there with him - every time you hear about what Triads do to traitors, every time they look at you sideways, every time you meet with your handler and they're warning you that you're getting too comfortable in your gangster role, the rope tightens just a little bit more. The characters go a long way (I will be fighting the urge to employ a Wei pun for the entirety of the write-up, and no, I am not proud of it) in making the story as convincing as it is. You're constantly getting closer with the gang that you're investigating and find yourself feeling more distant from the the officers who put you on this assignment in the first place. It's just so brilliantly realized, and shows what a remarkable job United Front did getting every ounce of storytelling quality they could out of this precarious situation. The world itself dazzled me, they captured the simultaneous neon and grit perfectly. I know Hong Kong about as well as I know the surface of the moon, but the developers absolutely nailed it. They spent a week in Hong Kong, taking 20,000 pictures as well as recording ambient noises around the city, and it really shows. Sleeping Dogs enters the echelon of games deserving the review cliché of "it feels lived in." The diversity is nice too, with the tropical Aberdeen and downtown feel of Central coming to mind immediately. Plus the map hits that Goldilocks sweet spot, it isn't too big or small, and there's plenty of cool shit to explore within. Before I get into the gameplay, I have one lone criticism: The camera while you're driving is very whatever, and occasionally borders on shitty. Looking up and down is a pain, and using down to look behind you doesn't feel intuitive at all. And if you clip the whip on something in an alley or intersection, maneuvering yourself back on track can be tricky. That's it though, and it's not even that bad. Everything else is excellent! Overall I really enjoyed the driving, it has this arcade-y feel to it that made me actually enjoy the racing parts, which are almost always my least favorite part of open world games. The mechanic for slamming into other cars was a dope idea, and how fucking bad ass do you feel when you pull off an action hijack?? Also, something they got right that GTA has always struggled with? Tailing missions. There's less focus on "YOU'RE GETTING TOO CLOSE OMG FAIL" and more on you just driving like a normal person to attract less attention to yourself. Makes sense, right? Shooting while driving is expertly implemented, and while it can be kind of frantic at times, it's extremely satisfying when you pull it off and pop out a tire or blow up a vehicle entirely. Or shoot one of those 18K fuckers off of their bikes, aww man I hated those missions? Firearms in general are done pretty well. Using your gun is simple, disarming your enemies is gratifying, cover is ample and gunfights can be mad intense. The only thing is that your gun disappears when you start certain jobs or missions, which is kinda wack, but gunplay is not the main focus of combat in this game anyWei. Fuck! Okay, that was the only one, I promise. Let's move on. The focus on hand to hand combat is great, and it only gets more fun as you get more upgrades. Using the counter mechanic is life - you seriously need to master that first, but it's a breeze - opponents glow bright red to let you know it's time to counter, then Wei does a cool animation and you can get back to busting heads. Seamless! The fighting system finds what I felt to be the perfect balance between button mashing and precision striking, particularly in the Zodiac tourney. Some of the shit you can do is absolutely brutal, too.. and not just the grapples (you can crack someone's leg, and the enemies around you will actually stop what they're doing and whince for a second, it's great), but the environmental attacks! More than a few of them had me cringing in the best way possible. Meat hooks, table saws, chandeliers, bruh. It's glorious. The radio is great, but there was this odd glitch where sometimes a radio station would be stuck on one song, and every time you get back into the car it starts over again from the beginning. I spent a large portion of this game neglecting the stations because of the way the game would be stuck on a song! The station diversity was great though, I particularly loved Daptone - the funk and soul felt oddly appropriate here! Lastly, the DLC. This shit was a real treat! The car built to be a Triad Batmobile is excellent. The Zodiac tournament was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad that was the last thing I did. The old Kung Fu movie aesthetic was absolutely brilliant, and the perfect thing to follow up the story and the ensuing completionist grind. The tournament even gets its own island! It was also fun to see the enemies utilize more fighting styles - I think it's a jiu jitsu style that one guy uses who's like "let's see how your ground game is, BRAUH" and of course the drunken style the final boss uses - he was surprisingly tough! Year of the Snake was cool, the massive firefights were a lot of fun, but Nightmare in North Point is the far superior bonus material. I loved the cheesy horror feel, and the nods to Thriller slapped a big ol smile on my dumb face. You may not be able to tell, but I really enjoyed my time with Sleeping Dogs. I feel like I went way over my time with this one, so I'm just gonna say play this if you haven't because I wish so much I'd just played this game sooner - if I'd completed this on the 360, I'd still have happily completed it again on the PS4! Stray Observations - As you're wandering through the city, you're going to regularly hear this wet, sickly sounding cough. If the intent was to make the city feel dirty, mission accomplished, as I can only assume that the ground of United Front's rendition of Hong Kong is coated with lung butter. Still, it got a laugh from me here and there! - I swear that during one of the cock fights I overheard one of the trainers boasting "My cock is the best!" I never heard it again though, so who knows, maybe I made it up. - In the GTA games, when you back up while on a bike the character moves with this awkwardness, like he got a wedgie or somethin, but Wei kinda got a lil boogie to him as he backs up. I don't know why, but I really dug that! - As mentioned before, the ludonarrative consistency (Thanks for that one, Gonz!) is largely in tact, but there are moments where it slips. In some of the open world events, someone gets their purse or whatever stolen and you chase down the thief to take back what they stole... only to put it in your pocket? I picture Wei realizing this and lamenting in a dumb oaf voice "Oh no, I Triaded when I was supposed to Police." - Gotta love an unintentional trophy milestone. When I was getting close to wrapping it up, it occurred to me that this is the perfect 50th plat, as Wei actually is five-o! THAT Trophy: Chief Inspector As much as I really enjoyed everything this game had to offer, I remember when I unlocked the DZS-90, a bunch of new missions popped up and finally completionist fatigue set in. It didn't especially help when I tried one and the large amount of enemy cars sent the frame rate right to shit. I was so relieved when I found out I didn't have to do those for this trophy, as at that point I realized how much grinding I'd done! Kind of a weak trophy to use here, but literally nothing else gave me any trouble, this thing was a joy from start to finish. Sorry, this one did get a bit out of hand! For those of you still here who have not been bored to death, thanks for sticking it through. However, if you stopped mid-review to go play Sleeping Dogs yourself, then props for that too! Edited November 10, 2022 by YaManSmevz 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBloodmoney Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 10 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Platinum #50: Sleeping Dogs I'm a sailor peg, and I lost my leg Climbing on the top sails? You lost your leg? 10 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Rising from the ashes of the True Crime series, Sleeping Dogs endured a long, tumultuous development to finally carve itself a very unique place in the open world gaming landscape. Finally the combat, intricate drive-by mechanics, and undercover cop angle of the True Crime games were given the polish they deserved. Full disclosure, I've never played those games, but by most accounts I've heard the stories were a bit dull, the gameplay was ambitious but lacking, and they were overall under developed and horribly buggy. Sleeping Dogs can be a touch buggy, but generally I look at these criticisms and can't see them applying to this game at all, it's just so well put together. I can't speak for all of them, but the first True Crime game? Hell-crikey-yeah.... that game was a mustard burp. The idea that it managed to even limp to any sequels was proof of the lack of any gaming deity... until Sleepy Dogs came along, of course! 10 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Before I get into the gameplay, I have one lone criticism: The camera while you're driving is very whatever, and occasionally borders on shitty. Looking up and down is a pain, and using down to look behind you doesn't feel intuitive at all. And if you clip the whip on something in an alley or intersection, maneuvering yourself back on track can be tricky. That's it though, and it's not even that bad. Everything else is excellent! Dude - the best part about the whole "Drive like an actual driver" part? being set in Hong Kong, this might be the only game I can recall where I drive on the "correct" side of the road.... us Scottish / English folks have spent too long having to learn right-hand-side road rules! ? 10 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Firearms in general are done pretty well. Using your gun is simple, disarming your enemies is gratifying, cover is ample and gunfights can be mad intense. The only thing is that your gun disappears when you start certain jobs or missions, which is kinda wack, but gunplay is not the main focus of combat in this game anyWei. This was the smartest thing in the game IMO - the lack of availability of guns. It's the most stark contrast to something like a GTA, and meant they really focussed on the had-to-hand combat, which came out really well - much better than in virtually any other open world crime game of the time, I thought.... 10 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: The focus on hand to hand combat is great, and it only gets more fun as you get more upgrades. Using the counter mechanic is life - you seriously need to master that first, but it's a breeze - opponents glow bright red to let you know it's time to counter, then Wei does a cool animation and you can get back to busting heads. Seamless! The fighting system finds what I felt to be the perfect balance between button mashing and precision striking, particularly in the Zodiac tourney. Some of the shit you can do is absolutely brutal, too.. and not just the grapples (you can crack someone's leg, and the enemies around you will actually stop what they're doing and whince for a second, it's great), but the environmental attacks! More than a few of them had me cringing in the best way possible. Meat hooks, table saws, chandeliers, bruh. It's glorious. ...and glad you agree! ? 10 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: - As mentioned before, the ludonarrative consistency (Thanks for that one, Gonz!) is largely in tact, but there are moments where it slips. In some of the open world events, someone gets their purse or whatever stolen and you chase down the thief to take back what they stole... only to put it in your pocket? I picture Wei realizing this and lamenting in a dumb oaf voice "Oh no, I Triaded when I was supposed to Police." This should have been the title of the game! Damn - missed opportunity! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted February 25, 2022 Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 7 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Climbing on the top sails? You lost your leg? I'm afraid so. Long story short, that's why I'm shippin up to Boston. .......WWAAAAOOOOOHHHHHOOOHHHHHH 7 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Dude - the best part about the whole "Drive like an actual driver" part? being set in Hong Kong, this might be the only game I can recall where I drive on the "correct" side of the road.... us Scottish / English folks have spent too long having to learn right-hand-side road rules! Yooo I knew there was something I forgot to mention!! Being from my side of the pond this absolutely threw me. You're absolutely right though, open world games certainly didn't switch that to accommodate the other 40% of the world, so I figure it was my turn... When we visited the UK and Ireland, I insisted that we not rent a car... and this game is the proof that that was the right call? 7 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: This was the smartest thing in the game IMO - the lack of availability of guns. It's the most stark contrast to something like a GTA, and meant they really focussed on the had-to-hand combat, which came out really well - much better than in virtually any other open world crime game of the time, I thought.... Mos def! The flip of reliance on fighting vs firearms was such a breath of fresh air and made the combat feel that much more versatile. To my knowledge this is the only game of the genre to do it so well! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 19 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: I copped this on the 360 when it was still a reeeelatively newer title (Sleeping Dogs was released at the tail end of the seventh generation, so in 2016 it wasn't super old) and played the first mission, was absolutely floored by it... then completely ignored it for six years. When I got my PS4 it was one of the first games I looked for in the store, but upon purchase again sat there untouched until the homie Mr. Clarke rightly reminded me that I was very much missing out and needed to get crackin on that. Same story for me, except swap out 360 for PC. I unlocked 1 achievement back in 2014 and I've been meaning to get back to it for years...I even picked up the DLC for it so I could 100% it when I want to! 19 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: However, if you stopped mid-review to go play Sleeping Dogs yourself, then props for that too! Caught me! Not entirely serious, but that is indeed the danger of these checklists - my backlog grows and my attention diverts (think Sauron's great eye scanning from game to game). I think when I do give it a whirl I'll pick up my PC copy, and if I like it enough who knows, might chase the platinum/100% on PSN. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted February 25, 2022 Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 1 hour ago, DrunkenEngineer said: Same story for me, except swap out 360 for PC. I unlocked 1 achievement back in 2014 and I've been meaning to get back to it for years...I even picked up the DLC for it so I could 100% it when I want to! Oh wow! Dude from my perspective, having just finished it, I can quite enthusiastically say that you've got a great time ahead of you! 1 hour ago, DrunkenEngineer said: Caught me! Not entirely serious, but that is indeed the danger of these checklists - my backlog grows and my attention diverts (think Sauron's great eye scanning from game to game). It really is. I think before these forums I had legit about a hundred less games I was thinking about, in fact I felt I was in need of recommendations! Careful what you wish for, I guess.. 1 hour ago, DrunkenEngineer said: I think when I do give it a whirl I'll pick up my PC copy, and if I like it enough who knows, might chase the platinum/100% on PSN. This is a good plan? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjkclarke Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 (edited) On 24/02/2022 at 9:48 PM, YaManSmevz said: Platinum #50: Sleeping Dogs I'm a sailor peg, and I lost my leg That was a treat man....a treat which also joins the list of "don't review that for a while in case of plagiarism claims"..... your good self and @DrBloodmoney have gotta stop inflating that list ..... Or I've got to stop nudging people in the direction of playing certain things, one of those two haha ? Alright so, am I being a complete and utter filthy film nerd here.... or am I just putting two and two together and getting 40,000? That lyric is you subtly referencing The Departed right? I sure as hell associate that song with that film, and Sleeping Dogs sure reminded me of the thing that birthed The Departed - plus there's also the fact that The Departed is a remake of another awesome film Infernal Affairs, in which a police officer infiltrates the triads? Whether I'm clutching at straws or not I loved it. On 24/02/2022 at 9:48 PM, YaManSmevz said: - Gotta love an unintentional trophy milestone. When I was getting close to wrapping it up, it occurred to me that this is the perfect 50th plat, as Wei actually is five-o! This is an unintentional trophy milestone for me as well, funnily enough.... Big Congrats on that by the way! Although yours is way better than my 30 one haha - especially with the whole five-0 thing, that's way more fitting. 12 hours ago, DrBloodmoney said: Dude - the best part about the whole "Drive like an actual driver" part? being set in Hong Kong, this might be the only game I can recall where I drive on the "correct" side of the road.... us Scottish / English folks have spent too long having to learn right-hand-side road rules! 4 hours ago, YaManSmevz said: Yooo I knew there was something I forgot to mention!! Being from my side of the pond this absolutely threw me. You're absolutely right though, open world games certainly didn't switch that to accommodate the other 40% of the world, so I figure it was my turn... When we visited the UK and Ireland, I insisted that we not rent a car... and this game is the proof that that was the right call It's really interesting you both mentioned those specific things.. As I'm just starting to learn to drive you'll probably find this pretty funny, especially you Doc, as we should be driving on the same side of the road ?...... but I think the second time I ever did any substantial driving it was a while before I was told, you do realise you've been driving on the wrong side of the road this whole time,right? I was on a huge industrial estate with no cars or anyone else around, so my Dad who was kind of giving me my first sort of trial by fire I guess, just assumed I was doing it for ease. Whereas I think I've driven so often in videogames set not in the UK that I genuinely forgot for a second which side of the road we drive on..... Maybe? haha ? There's loads more I'd love to say about Sleeping Dogs, but to be honest you did such a cracking of job of covering Sleeping Dogs in great detail I worry I'd just be resaying a lot of the same things. Which is why you shouldn't worry about how long the review went, sometimes with a game like that, there's a lot to say, and I'm really glad that you did just that! The thing I'm most happy about though, here, is that you had such a good time with it. I think it's one of the strongest games from the PS3/360 generation, and it's certainly one of my favourites! 4 hours ago, DrunkenEngineer said: I think when I do give it a whirl I'll pick up my PC copy, and if I like it enough who knows, might chase the platinum/100% on PSN. Yes!!!! DO EEEEEEEEEEEET it's a damn fine game..... remember, even if it's on PC you've got your own little place to talk it up if you have a good time with it, which I suspect you will! Even if you decide not to pick up the PlayStation version! On 23/02/2022 at 7:33 PM, YaManSmevz said: How did you like Rage? A buddy was trying to get me to buy Rage 2 so we could play online, and it was on sale but something about it made me hesitant. Crap... did you already write a review about it and I missed it? No I've not reviewed Rage yet. Oh that's an interesting one.... I liked Rage a lot, but it has a fair few flaws that may, or may not be an issue for some people though. It's got really nice and satisfying gunplay - which I guess you'd expect from the guys that brought us Doom. The wingsticks are a super cool weapon, i really loved those, it's got a pretty good balance of side content and main content. I really enjoyed the fact that all of the side content you get access to at each point gives you a slight advantage going into each new main mission going forward if you choose to do them, I think it's a real neat touch when games do that. I just think there's bits of it that are just very, very bland - I always think of Rage as Borderlands, if it took itself far too seriously. There's definitely a bit of overlap between those two IP's and Rage is just a little too rigid and humourless, for my tastes but it didn't stop it being a fun game for me. Couldn't tell you about Rage 2 as I haven't played it, yet. but I was genuinely shocked that it ever got made, as Rage never seemed to have a huge fanbase even back around the time when it was originally released, but I've heard very conflicting things about Rage 2, I guess I'll play it for myself if I see it for the right price! Another fine review dude! You've almost got me wanting to give Sleeping Dogs another go through! Edited February 25, 2022 by rjkclarke 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted February 25, 2022 Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 18 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: Alright so, am I being a complete and utter filthy film nerd here.... or am I just putting two and two together and getting 40,000? That lyric is you subtly referencing The Departed right? I sure as hell associate that song with that film, and Sleeping Dogs sure reminded me of the thing that birthed the departed - plus there's also the fact that The Departed is a remake of another awesome film Infernal Affairs, in which a police officer infiltrates the triads? Whether I'm clutching at straws or not I loved it. You are not clutching at straws, that was 100% the intention. I knew that wouldn't go unnoticed? I initially thought that would be a stretch until I remembered that Infernal Affairs takes place in Hong Kong, then it just felt too perfect to pass up! 18 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: It's really interesting you both mentioned those specific things.. As I'm just starting to learn to drive you'll probably find this pretty funny, especially you Doc, as we should be driving on the same side of the road ...... but I think the second time I ever did any substantial driving it was a while before I was told, you do realise you've been driving on the wrong side of the road this whole time,right? I was on a huge industrial estate with no cars or anyone else around, so my Dad who was kind of giving me my first sort of trial by fire I guess, just assumed I was doing it for ease. Whereas I think I've driven so often in videogames set not in the UK that I genuinely forgot for a second which side of the road we drive on..... Maybe? haha That's too funny. When I initially had difficulty getting used to the driving (for the record, my complaint was with the camera, not driving on the opposite side!), it took a moment before I realized how coddled as a gaming driver I'd been, as literally every other open world game drives on the side that I'm used to. But not only have so many gamers been forced to rewire their brains while playing these games, it seems you've been set up with an incorrect default setting as a driver from the jump! Lousy video games! I can only imagine your pops bein like "so uh...." 18 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: There's loads more I'd love to say about Sleeping Dogs, but to be honest you did such a cracking of job of covering Sleeping Dogs in great detail I worry I'd just be resaying a lot of the same things. Which is why you shouldn't worry about how long the review went, sometimes with a game like that, there's a lot to say, and I'm really glad that you did just that! The thing I'm most happy about though, here, is that you had such a good time with it. I think it's one of the strongest games from the PS3/360 generation, and it's certainly one of my favourites! Thanks a lot, dude! And thanks a lot for the long overdue urging to finally get into this game. Sleeping Dogs very much ticked every box, and I'd have to agree that it's a highlight from the seventh generation, hands down, full stop. 18 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: I just think there's bits of it that are just very, very bland - I always think of Rage as Borderlands, if it took itself far too seriously. There's definitely a bit of overlap between those two IP's and Rage is just a little too rigid and humourless, for my tastes but it didn't stop it being a fun game for me. Hmm... Borderlands is another franchise I've been meaning to get into. Same as with Sleeping Dogs, played a little of Borderlands 2, enjoyed it, and never went back. Maybe I'll try that out before Rage and see how I feel about all that! 34 minutes ago, rjkclarke said: I just think there's bits of it that are just You've almost got me wanting to give Sleeping Dogs another go through! I dunno man, I've heard worse ideas..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenEngineer Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 (edited) I have played RAGE 2 on PC. I wasn't aware it had coop, but I can't imagine how it would improve on the game. I wouldn't buy it for more than $20, to be fair. It's a hard game to recommend. The story is pretty dumb, the open world is very bland. All the stuff that made Mad Max (also by Avalanche) a very charming, C grade open world game just misses the mark in RAGE 2. The shooting mechanics are aces however, but it doesn't overcome the other shortfalls. I definitely wouldn't want to platinum/100% it. Edited February 25, 2022 by DrunkenEngineer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YaManSmevz Posted February 26, 2022 Author Share Posted February 26, 2022 (edited) Hundo #13: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Paranormal echoes from unexplained evidence maps You are paranormal investigator Paul Prospero. 12 year old Ethan Carter has gone missing. ARE YOU A BAD ENOUGH DUDE TO SAVE HIM?? Just kidding, this isn't that kind of game. Shout out to @rjkclarke and the president's skeleton though? The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is an interesting game, a walking sim with light horror and detective elements as well as a dash of weirdness for good measure. It's also very short, which unlike a game like What Remains of Edith Finch, is a strong suit here, as it can get kinda formulaic after a while. First of all, this thing is stunning. The environment feels like walking around in a landscape painting (they apparently took direct inspiration from a mountain range in Poland), and there are an endless amount of gorgeous views. The ominous mood counteracts with this very well though, as there's an immediate air of mystery, and things only get more surreal and off-putting as you progress. When you first start entering and exploring these abandoned buildings, there's a very spooky feel to it. This could just be me though - quick story, I've always loved doing that sort of thing, and one time quite a few years back I decided to check out a lone abandoned house on a hill overlooking the freeway. It was a long walk from where I was able to park, and it was beyond dilapidated - at that point where local hooligans would show up just to break stuff, have some giggles, and be on their way. However, I remained curious about the house and tried to Google whatever I could about it, only to find out that some guy had been abducted, taken there and shot literally within a week of the day I went there. Playing that part brought that memory back with authority, and I managed to dig up that same story in case anybody's interested. Wild? Gameplay-wise, you're going to encounter crime scenes that need to be solved. Once you discover all the clues, it's up to you to piece together what happened in chronological order, after which you get a more full idea of what happened here. A great idea, but it gets a bit too comfortable with itself, and as this is what you'll be spending most of your time doing (aside from walking of course), as mentioned before it starts to feel somewhat repetitive. Find the body, find the clues, arrange the events, on to the next. Breaking these up are other little puzzles and challenges which reward you with stories of Ethan's, which his family gave uh, let's say lukewarm reviews. They give a window into the world Ethan is living in, but their quality is kinda hit or miss. There's a memory mini-game in the guise of trying to get through a house and find a hidden room, which I thought was brilliant. Other times though, you're chasing a disappearing astronaut or following a voice that keeps asking you a bunch of silly questions just so that you can get a piece of paper. While the gameplay itself is a touch lacking, and I felt they could've put this one back in the oven for a bit, I think the atmosphere and beautiful look of this game makes it absolutely worth playing. Looks like my streak of missing bad walking sims continues unabated! Stray Observations - I dug how when you investigate certain things, the words spin like crazy until you zero in on where the game wants you to look, that was dope. - Ethan's family is batshit crazy, and it's definitely entertaining to see this bizarre behavior and try to figure out where it came from. Only complaint is that the game looks so beautiful, dominated by nature as it is, and the characters themselves look like cartoonish extras cut out of Murdered: Soul Suspect. - I liked the Sea-Thing segment! I hadn't been forced to move through a dungeon-type area mapless in I don't know how long. The most recent example I can think of is the tomb from Final Fantasy VIII where you find the Brothers Guardian Force! Also when you find all the dead folk and they're standing in their places, it looks like you're on some macabre game show, like a ghoulish Wheel of Fortune or some shit. - The music is serviceable, but the real props go to the ambient noises and sound effects throughout the game. The foley is done so well that you can genuinely feel it when things get quiet. The piano piece at the very end was nice too, I fucked with that. - The twist was cool! It very much did its job in wrapping up everything neatly, however it definitely prevents me from writing about a lot of stuff I normally would have added here! THAT Trophy: Fangs I don't know why, but I had the damndest time following that stupid astronaut around! Most of his reappearances were in plain sight, but sometimes I wouldn't see which direction he went into as he disappeared behind a tree or something. To be clear, this wasn't the jeep sequence in Uncharted on Brutal or anything! It just took me a couple of tries more than I expected. Also I'm dumb. On 2/25/2022 at 3:58 PM, DrunkenEngineer said: I have played RAGE 2 on PC. I wasn't aware it had coop, but I can't imagine how it would improve on the game. I wouldn't buy it for more than $20, to be fair. It's a hard game to recommend. The story is pretty dumb, the open world is very bland. All the stuff that made Mad Max (also by Avalanche) a very charming, C grade open world game just misses the mark in RAGE 2. The shooting mechanics are aces however, but it doesn't overcome the other shortfalls. I definitely wouldn't want to platinum/100% it. My dude! Thank you, now I know to bypass altogether and just dive into Borderlands instead. Edited August 7, 2022 by YaManSmevz 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild-Arms-R Posted February 26, 2022 Share Posted February 26, 2022 On 2/24/2022 at 4:48 PM, YaManSmevz said: Platinum #50: Sleeping Dogs I'm a sailor peg, and I lost my leg A long time coming, this one! Rising from the ashes of the True Crime series, Sleeping Dogs endured a long, tumultuous development to finally carve itself a very unique place in the open world gaming landscape. Finally the combat, intricate drive-by mechanics, and undercover cop angle of the True Crime games were given the polish they deserved. Full disclosure, I've never played those games, but by most accounts I've heard the stories were a bit dull, the gameplay was ambitious but lacking, and they were overall under developed and horribly buggy. Sleeping Dogs can be a touch buggy, but generally I look at these criticisms and can't see them applying to this game at all, it's just so well put together. I copped this on the 360 when it was still a reeeelatively newer title (Sleeping Dogs was released at the tail end of the seventh generation, so in 2016 it wasn't super old) and played the first mission, was absolutely floored by it... then completely ignored it for six years. When I got my PS4 it was one of the first games I looked for in the store, but upon purchase again sat there untouched until the homie Mr. Clarke rightly reminded me that I was very much missing out and needed to get crackin on that. So where to even start? The story is insane. They not only put together an excellent story about an undercover cop, but captured the sharp dichotomy of your dual roles, and the incredible tension that comes along with it. Protagonist Wei Shen is constantly under the microscope and we're right there with him - every time you hear about what Triads do to traitors, every time they look at you sideways, every time you meet with your handler and they're warning you that you're getting too comfortable in your gangster role, the rope tightens just a little bit more. The characters go a long way (I will be fighting the urge to employ a Wei pun for the entirety of the write-up, and no, I am not proud of it) in making the story as convincing as it is. You're constantly getting closer with the gang that you're investigating and find yourself feeling more distant from the the officers who put you on this assignment in the first place. It's just so brilliantly realized, and shows what a remarkable job United Front did getting every ounce of storytelling quality they could out of this precarious situation. The world itself dazzled me, they captured the simultaneous neon and grit perfectly. I know Hong Kong about as well as I know the surface of the moon, but the developers absolutely nailed it. They spent a week in Hong Kong, taking 20,000 pictures as well as recording ambient noises around the city, and it really shows. Sleeping Dogs enters the echelon of games deserving the review cliché of "it feels lived in." The diversity is nice too, with the tropical Aberdeen and downtown feel of Central coming to mind immediately. Plus the map hits that Goldilocks sweet spot, it isn't too big or small, and there's plenty of cool shit to explore within. Before I get into the gameplay, I have one lone criticism: The camera while you're driving is very whatever, and occasionally borders on shitty. Looking up and down is a pain, and using down to look behind you doesn't feel intuitive at all. And if you clip the whip on something in an alley or intersection, maneuvering yourself back on track can be tricky. That's it though, and it's not even that bad. Everything else is excellent! Overall I really enjoyed the driving, it has this arcade-y feel to it that made me actually enjoy the racing parts, which are almost always my least favorite part of open world games. The mechanic for slamming into other cars was a dope idea, and how fucking bad ass do you feel when you pull off an action hijack?? Also, something they got right that GTA has always struggled with? Tailing missions. There's less focus on "YOU'RE GETTING TOO CLOSE OMG FAIL" and more on you just driving like a normal person to attract less attention to yourself. Makes sense, right? Shooting while driving is expertly implemented, and while it can be kind of frantic at times, it's extremely satisfying when you pull it off and pop out a tire or blow up a vehicle entirely. Or shoot one of those 18K fuckers off of their bikes, aww man I hated those missions Firearms in general are done pretty well. Using your gun is simple, disarming your enemies is gratifying, cover is ample and gunfights can be mad intense. The only thing is that your gun disappears when you start certain jobs or missions, which is kinda wack, but gunplay is not the main focus of combat in this game anyWei. Fuck! Okay, that was the only one, I promise. Let's move on. The focus on hand to hand combat is great, and it only gets more fun as you get more upgrades. Using the counter mechanic is life - you seriously need to master that first, but it's a breeze - opponents glow bright red to let you know it's time to counter, then Wei does a cool animation and you can get back to busting heads. Seamless! The fighting system finds what I felt to be the perfect balance between button mashing and precision striking, particularly in the Zodiac tourney. Some of the shit you can do is absolutely brutal, too.. and not just the grapples (you can crack someone's leg, and the enemies around you will actually stop what they're doing and whince for a second, it's great), but the environmental attacks! More than a few of them had me cringing in the best way possible. Meat hooks, table saws, chandeliers, bruh. It's glorious. The radio is great, but there was this odd glitch where sometimes a radio station would be stuck on one song, and every time you get back into the car it starts over again from the beginning. I spent a large portion of this game neglecting the stations because of the way the game would be stuck on a song! The station diversity was great though, I particularly loved Daptone - the funk and soul felt oddly appropriate here! Lastly, the DLC. This shit was a real treat! The car built to be a Triad Batmobile is excellent. The Zodiac tournament was a lot of fun, and I'm really glad that was the last thing I did. The old Kung Fu movie aesthetic was absolutely brilliant, and the perfect thing to follow up the story and the ensuing completionist grind. The tournament even gets its own island! It was also fun to see the enemies utilize more fighting styles - I think it's a jiu jitsu style that one guy uses who's like "let's see how your ground game is, BRAUH" and of course the drunken style the final boss uses - he was surprisingly tough! Year of the Snake was cool, the massive firefights were a lot of fun, but Nightmare in North Point is the far superior bonus material. I loved the cheesy horror feel, and the nods to Thriller slapped a big ol smile on my dumb face. You may not be able to tell, but I really enjoyed my time with Sleeping Dogs. I feel like I went way over my time with this one, so I'm just gonna say play this if you haven't because I wish so much I'd just played this game sooner - if I'd completed this on the 360, I'd still have happily completed it again on the PS4! Stray Observations - As you're wandering through the city, you're going to regularly hear this wet, sickly sounding cough. If the intent was to make the city feel dirty, mission accomplished, as I can only assume that the ground of United Front's rendition of Hong Kong is coated with lung butter. Still, it got a laugh from me here and there! - I swear that during one of the cock fights I overheard one of the trainers boasting "My cock is the best!" I never heard it again though, so who knows, maybe I made it up. - In the GTA games, when you back up while on a bike the character moves with this awkwardness, like he got a wedgie or somethin, but Wei kinda got a lil boogie to him as he backs up. I don't know why, but I really dug that! - As mentioned before, the ludonarrative consistency (Thanks for that one, Gonz!) is largely in tact, but there are moments where it slips. In some of the open world events, someone gets their purse or whatever stolen and you chase down the thief to take back what they stole... only to put it in your pocket? I picture Wei realizing this and lamenting in a dumb oaf voice "Oh no, I Triaded when I was supposed to Police." - Gotta love an unintentional trophy milestone. When I was getting close to wrapping it up, it occurred to me that this is the perfect 50th plat, as Wei actually is five-o! THAT Trophy: Chief Inspector As much as I really enjoyed everything this game had to offer, I remember when I unlocked the DZS-90, a bunch of new missions popped up and finally completionist fatigue set in. It didn't especially help when I tried one and the large amount of enemy cars sent the frame rate right to shit. I was so relieved when I found out I didn't have to do those for this trophy, as at that point I realized how much grinding I'd done! Kind of a weak trophy to use here, but literally nothing else gave me any trouble, this thing was a joy from start to finish. Sorry, this one did get a bit out of hand! For those of you still here who have not been bored to death, thanks for sticking it through. However, if you stopped mid-review to go play Sleeping Dogs yourself, then props for that too! Ok man I’m gonna check out the DE, you sold me on the game. That rarely happens.?? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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