The Official "Console War" and Video Game Thread

[markatisu]

Is there a place or video where I can catch up on the MGS storyline? I have never played any of the previous games and I really want to play 4 except I'm probably not going to understand the story at all.

Is there a Youtube video or any summary somewhere?

Yes there is, one site contains all the movies from all the MGS games sorted by game.

Gametrailers also has a nice retrospective here

The easiest way would be to get a hold of the preorder DVD because that told everything with a family tree as well

Basically what you need to know to play this is that Solid Snake is looking for his brother (Liquid I think) to finally end things (thats the overall jist I got from the start of Act 1), of course there is a ton of subplot and backstory involved with the secondary characters.

I cant believe how incredibly bad I am at MGS, it took me probably 1hr to get used to stealth again and once I did I got a lot farther but man those enemies will kick your ass if you dont plan and just go run and gun

Which spoliers exactly? Would have thought that it would have been ovious that since the game is called Metal Gear, there would actually be some Metal Gears in it.

You also see them in the trailers for the game and on the preorder DVD so its not like they were a surprise. But yes I was scared of them too because they really stalk you and act just like a soldier, one of them actually chased me and then cornered me and crushed me when I was trying to find a place to hide. Once I realized I was not intended to kill them it made things a lot better.

Which brings me to the transitions, how amazing is it to go from movie to game that well. And I am loving being able to hit X and see the flashbacks during the cutscenes, it makes you really pay attention instead of normally just sitting there.

You knew what I meant when I said "low." Everyone was talking about how Wii Fit was going to raise sales higher than "normal" (which would be 500-600k for Wii) and ironically enough, it didn't really do much to push hardware. Of course, the points you mentioned are probably the reasons for the "lower than expected" numbers, but I still expected at least 700k like what Smash did.

Well you cant push hardware anymore than 100% of inventory But I get what you are saying. They said they wanted 1 million for US launch but with it being sold out at every store I dont see 300-400k Wii Fits just sitting there so obviously they botched their shipment

Anyhow, I wasn't saying 600k was low in overall hardware sales, I just meant it was low for a month where a AAA title was suppose to increase sales projection.

The more I think about it the more I think it was done on purpose, for 3 reasons.

• June is a 5 week month, it is also the start of a new fiscal year. If you take May's weekly sales and add another week you are almost at 850-900k.
• Reggie and Nintendo US said they expected to surpass the 360 by July 1, I would not be surprised if they undershipped to make a statement in June
• E3 is in July, what better way to give the industry the finger than 30 days before E3 (which is when sales will be released) you not only defeat your rival but crush them (since they were only 90k behind as of the end of May)

That may sound overdramatic but remember this is a company that spent almost all of E3 last year patting itself on the back with youtube videos to impress their shareholders.

While we may think E3 is not as important anymore the shareholders dont and so I think Nintendo wants a BIG June in terms of sales to hammer home just how many people dissed the Wii and missed the boat. Its a risky gamble to do that but no different than what Sony did when they had their infamous E3 presentation that said the PS2 was the sales leader and the Xbox and Gamecube were so far behind it would never matter.

I'm also glad that the PS3 got a small bump in sales as well. Am I the only one who feels like the 360 has reached a market saturation and needs a price drop?? The sales for that console have been flat for the first five months of the year.

Microsoft needs to announce a price drop at E3.

Yes Microsoft needs to do something, they have only been able to outsell the PS3 two months. Of course at this pace it would take 21 years for the PS3 to catch up but still MS had a 1 year lead and the better line up of games (I mean I want the PS3 to do good but so far there are only 4 games worth buying on the system and thats MGS4, GT5P, Uncharted, and GTAIV) and 1 of those is a dual release with the 360.

The 80gb MGS4 Bundle is flying off the shelves (all the stores here are sold out of it in only 1 day) so thats a good sign for Sony.

[Skullface]

Sadly, I didn't get much of a chance to check out MGS4 last night. I did get it installed, (hilarious progress screen, btw) watched the title screen video, (sweet!) the mission briefing video, register my Konami ID & Game ID, and make my character. By then, it was time for bed - had to get up at 5am this morning. Going to see HULK tonight, but maybe I'll get to check it out for a little bit when I get home......

But what I did see was beautiful! I actually had a blast messing with the voice options for my online character!

Oh, and IGN's US review is finally up - they gave it a perfect 10. Not that I think they're the best site out there, but how many games have they given a 10 to since Ocarina of Time? Like 2 others?

[markatisu]

Oh, and IGN's US review is finally up - they gave it a perfect 10. Not that I think they're the best site out there, but how many games have they given a 10 to since Ocarina of Time? Like 2 others?

Its more then deserving (and this was someone who is generally against 10 scores), but every single thing from the controls, story, map design, is just above and beyond. I mean this is not just a graphics upgrade like Halo 3, or a expanded environment upgrade like GTAIV.

The faults the game has are very minimal and result more in personal preference then actual faults/flaws.

Here is a 20min video for those wanting to jump into MGS4 and have not played the others, its not real big on story details but provides a good overview

[VaderLives]

Well, I rented Uncharted tonight (waiting til I finish Snake Eater before I check out MGS4).

Gotta say....not overly impressed. Not whatsoever.

I like the exploring and solving puzzles and such, but I hate the combat. I straight up HATE it. Like, I just got onto the island, but I really don't want to play it anymore if the shootouts are already this bad at the beginning of the game.

And graphically speaking...I don't know, I guess I'm just not seeing it. I mean, the environment looks absolutely incredible, no doubts there, but the characters look really bad IMO. They look like the characters from Eternal Darkness just with more polygons (which is not to knock Eternal Darkness by any means, that's hands down one of the best games I've ever played, but it was basically just souped up N64 graphics, and I really expected the PS3 to be much more than that). The characters in the Gamecube Resident Evil games look MUCH better, IMO. Like, there's really no comparison.

I definitely won't be buying this game unless it goes WAY down in price.

I have the game until Wednesday, so I will be playing it more, but it's going to have to do a LOT to impress me at this point. Right now I'm going back to playing Symphony of the Night.



Is it sad that I'm getting BY FAR the most enjoyment out of our PS3 by playing a first-generation PS1 game?

[markatisu]

Is it sad that I'm getting BY FAR the most enjoyment out of our PS3 by playing a first-generation PS1 game?

It is sad and you will probably never enjoy the PS3 because Uncharted is one of the pinnacles of the system

I thought the character models were superb, the enemy models are not but the work they put into each individual character is great.

[GR81]

GR81 says:

Hooray... i got a new Blue Ray player..... oups i mean a PS3 hehe

[VaderLives]

I suppose I probably should have specified...in-game the characters look fine, but in the cutscenes however...blech. The reporter chick especially. She's really just Alex Roivas with more polygons, which is sad given the alleged graphical superiority of the system. The Resident Evil characters are far superior, IMO.

Although the dead captain in the U boat did look really cool.

[markatisu]

I thought this was funny



I wonder how much they had to pay Nintendo to use Mario to pimp out the game

[IronAvatar]

I suppose I probably should have specified...in-game the characters look fine, but in the cutscenes however...blech. The reporter chick especially. She's really just Alex Roivas with more polygons, which is sad given the alleged graphical superiority of the system. The Resident Evil characters are far superior, IMO.

Although the dead captain in the U boat did look really cool.

I'm going to be an a$$-hat and come right out and say this; I think that you're determined to see the PS3 and its games in a bad light, no matter what. I think you've already made up your mind, and that's just the end of the story.

Which if that is true, is completely fine. You're entitled to have your biases without explaining or justifying them. And if I'm wrong, then I will quite happily eat a truck load of humble pie


Regarding Uncharted. I can SORT of see where you're coming from on the graphics front, but where you're seeing "just higher poly character models" a lof of us have seen it as "thank god it's more than just brown and too much bloom". The environments look lush and colourful....it really is something when you get to look out over a large portion of the island from a certain point.

Naughty Dog went for a very specific art-style with Uncharted, and I think it looks great because of it. Who needs the "mostly-brown" sludge that a lof of games seem to have these days? I think you just want the overly busy textures (an art-style that I personaly hate) that Capcom seem to love so much....not to mention the extreme amount of polygons they can use on games like RE because they're rendering almost nothing.

A lot of the power has gone into something VERY important, something even GTA has had to deal with (using NaturalMotion) and that's the animation system. Uncharted probably has one of the most complex in-house animation systems that I have ever seen. There are very few times when Drake's movements look artificial or where there is glaring "popping".

Even then....the PS3 isn't being fully exploited. For me, Uncharted was the first step towards what a PS3 game should be...both technicaly and in terms of good, soild gameplay.

Right....back to MGS4 for me.

[markatisu]

Regarding Uncharted. I can SORT of see where you're coming from on the graphics front, but where you're seeing "just higher poly character models" a lof of us have seen it as "thank god it's more than just brown and too much bloom". The environments look lush and colourful....it really is something when you get to look out over a large portion of the island from a certain point.

Elena's face was probably the only thing I could take issue with, but I chalked that up to a first attempt. Naughty Dog has said in interviews Uncharted only uses 12% of the PS3's power and that their sequel and next game will use much more of the systems power. The fluidity of the movement by the characters more then made up for it (aka not the Robocop movement that plagues most games)

Naughty Dog went for a very specific art-style with Uncharted, and I think it looks great because of it. Who needs the "mostly-brown" sludge that a lof of games seem to have these days? I think you just want the overly busy textures (an art-style that I personaly hate) that Capcom seem to love so much....not to mention the extreme amount of polygons they can use on games like RE because they're rendering almost nothing.

If you beat the game you can turn on the "next-gen" filter which makes everything brown with tons of bloom, its hilarious

Capcom is similar to Square in how they approach their games, downright beautiful cutscenes but in game tends to not be the same. You can always tell whats a cutscene and whats playable.

The thing I have noticed with the PS3, first with Uncharted and then with MGS4 (especially MGS4) was the ability to go from movie to cutscene and have both be almost identical.

[IronAvatar]

Elena's face was probably the only thing I could take issue with, but I chalked that up to a first attempt. Naughty Dog has said in interviews Uncharted only uses 12% of the PS3's power and that their sequel and next game will use much more of the systems power. The fluidity of the movement by the characters more then made up for it (aka not the Robocop movement that plagues most games)



If you beat the game you can turn on the "next-gen" filter which makes everything brown with tons of bloom, its hilarious

Capcom is similar to Square in how they approach their games, downright beautiful cutscenes but in game tends to not be the same. You can always tell whats a cutscene and whats playable.

The thing I have noticed with the PS3, first with Uncharted and then with MGS4 (especially MGS4) was the ability to go from movie to cutscene and have both be almost identical.

Yeah. It amazes me that many of these developers are STILL using pre-rendered cut-scenes, or mission briefing sequences. I could understand it in the days of the PS1 and MAYBE the ps2/xbox, but now?

The MGS series has always used the game engine to play-back cutscenes since the days of the PS1. I think that this was because Kojima wanted a LOT of in game audio for the CODEC, and even on 2 CD's, it didn't leave enough space for the cinenatic sequences.

A second reason would have been to try and make the use of cut-scenes as fluid as possible. You've noted this yourself....one second we're looking at one thing and then it switches to some beautifully rendered movie. While the movie looks great, it really breaks the suspense of disbelief as you constantly switch between two very different art-styles.

So the use of the engine to play back animations, audio and perhaps the occasional montage movie meant that you were ALWAYS in the game world. Always looking at the same art style and quality, without some jarring change. Along with the gameplay, it was another area in which MGS innovated and leapt ahead of everybody else.

I was watching a cut-scene earlier, where Snake is moving carefully around the corner of a wall. I found myself trying to move the right analog stick so I could get a better view of what was being blocked by the wall! I felt like I was still in control of the action! I have NEVER had that experience in another game...because the different art quality makes me aware than I'm watching a "blah blah" cinematic.

I was so scared that the lengthy cut-scenes would be a problem in the game, but they're so integral and feel just like you're playing the game, they aren't a problem.

[markatisu]

I was watching a cut-scene earlier, where Snake is moving carefully around the corner of a wall. I found myself trying to move the right analog stick so I could get a better view of what was being blocked by the wall! I felt like I was still in control of the action! I have NEVER had that experience in another game...because the different art quality makes me aware than I'm watching a "blah blah" cinematic.

And its like that from the get-go, in the 1st playable area before Act 1 when you are trying to evade the machines, and when you use camo for the first time (when the machines think you are in the box of watermelons) I was actually trying to move a bit not realizing it was the movie taking over

I was so scared that the lengthy cut-scenes would be a problem in the game, but they're so integral and feel just like you're playing the game, they aren't a problem.

Yes, lenghty cut scenes have been the downside of every MGS game but this one. The addition of flashbacks (pushing X and L1 at specific times during the cinematic) and the fact the story is much more fluid and engaging is a huge turn of the corner for the one fallacy MGS has had.

As of today I can honestly say that right now the two games I have for my 2008 game of the year are MGS4 and Wii Fit (yes I count it as a game) in a tie, mainly because of the innovations/capabilities each one provides are so above and beyond anything the industry is doing at the moment.

This may change when Little Big Planet hits but the sense of wonder that MGS4 and Wii Fit have provided are hard to beat.

[krosfyah]

I'm going to be an a$$-hat and come right out and say this; I think that you're determined to see the PS3 and its games in a bad light, no matter what. I think you've already made up your mind, and that's just the end of the story.

Which if that is true, is completely fine. You're entitled to have your biases without explaining or justifying them. And if I'm wrong, then I will quite happily eat a truck load of humble pie


Regarding Uncharted. I can SORT of see where you're coming from on the graphics front, but where you're seeing "just higher poly character models" a lof of us have seen it as "thank god it's more than just brown and too much bloom". The environments look lush and colourful....it really is something when you get to look out over a large portion of the island from a certain point.

Naughty Dog went for a very specific art-style with Uncharted, and I think it looks great because of it. Who needs the "mostly-brown" sludge that a lof of games seem to have these days? I think you just want the overly busy textures (an art-style that I personaly hate) that Capcom seem to love so much....not to mention the extreme amount of polygons they can use on games like RE because they're rendering almost nothing.

A lot of the power has gone into something VERY important, something even GTA has had to deal with (using NaturalMotion) and that's the animation system. Uncharted probably has one of the most complex in-house animation systems that I have ever seen. There are very few times when Drake's movements look artificial or where there is glaring "popping".

Even then....the PS3 isn't being fully exploited. For me, Uncharted was the first step towards what a PS3 game should be...both technicaly and in terms of good, soild gameplay.

Right....back to MGS4 for me.

I have no experience in this regard as I haven' a ps3 or 360 - but it sounds like you are seeing the game from an insiders POV. now from what I'VE seen of the game it looks great - again I hated the demo but it looked really good. but your comment here reminded me of the commentary on the incredibles, it's all technical and animator interest. they barely say ANYTHING that would appeal to the casual viewer. Vaderlives seems to be making his judgement based on personal preference and expectation according to hype. the latter generally being the hardest to ever live up to for anything. you on the other hand are noticing and aware of stuff that most of us wouldn't take into account. not that we woudln't notice great animation, but we wouldn't see the complexities of what goes into the animation system - we'd just expect for the hype and the price of these systems (particularly the ps3's launch price) we expect near pixar level animation and smoothness. not that that is fair but we've been in 3d since what 95 now for the home consoles, its natural for the casual observer to expect that level by now. (aain I can't say what level these games ARE at...

for the record though it IS cool to get your perspective when it comes to how things work in the industry and the more tech side of things.

[hemanrep]

I'm going to be an a$$-hat and come right out and say this; I think that you're determined to see the PS3 and its games in a bad light, no matter what. I think you've already made up your mind, and that's just the end of the story.

I know I should bite my lip and totally ignore this post, but I CAN'T.

Don't you think we could probably say the same thing about you in regards to Nintendo?

OMG, you must have seen that coming...

Of ALL the people posting in this thread, you're calling him bias?!? WOW.

--------

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. It was too easy.

Anyhow, I bought MGS4 yesterday. I tried to get the story from the previous games via Markatisu's link (thanks btw!), but it just seems so convoluted that I decided I'll play MGS4 and play the other games after.

I'm in the latter part of Act II and thus far, I love it. It's an amazing game. The thing that has surprised me most is the story makes sense to me. I know there are characters that I should react differently to, but I still feel drawn in by the plot and Solid Snake.

If there is one nitpick (a tiny one) that I have about the game, it's that I expected it to look better. Don't get me wrong, it looks fantastic, but there are textures that don't look right. Oh and usually I can't really tell between 30fps and 60pfs...but in this game, I can totally see the difference. When I'm in a building, everything is super smooth...and then when I go outside, you can see the drop based on all of the effects that are going on.

But that's a very tiny problem. The character models look amazing and for the most part, the locations I've gone through are impressive.

I'm probably be in the minority, but I think Uncharted looks better. That's just my two cents though.

[markatisu]

But that's a very tiny problem. The character models look amazing and for the most part, the locations I've gone through are impressive.

I'm probably be in the minority, but I think Uncharted looks better. That's just my two cents though.

Part of that is Uncharted is running at higher resolution, there are a few threads around the net that discuss how MGS4 is not running at true 720p (it cant run at 1080, the PS3 upscales it) and the resolution is is not near Uncharted either.

Because MGS4 is the first fully utilized Blu-Ray game is how the cutscenes and gameplay can run so smooth

Kojima has said that he is not fully satisfied with MGS4 because they just broke through some barriers late in production, same complaint Naughty Dog had about Uncharted.

[IronAvatar]

I know I should bite my lip and totally ignore this post, but I CAN'T.

Don't you think we could probably say the same thing about you in regards to Nintendo?

OMG, you must have seen that coming...

Of ALL the people posting in this thread, you're calling him bias?!? WOW.

--------

Actually, I didn't see that coming. It's not as if it automaticaly invalidates what I've said, is it? An important point is that I can quite happily admit that there ARE games on Nintendo's platforms that I like. And hopefully when I say I'm not impressed by a game, it's because I genuinely am not impressed by it.

A good exmaple is Zelda on the Wii and Phantom Hourglass on the DS. Now I dislike both platforms from a technical and development point of view, but they do have their merits. I absolutely detest the shambles they made of Twilight Princess, being a Zelda fan, but love what they did with Phantom Hourglass on the DS.... I LOVE that game.

Also....it's Nintendo's management and dealing with third party's that I dislike so much. After twice having watched Nintendo break agreements/force conditions that cost the companies I worked for, millions of dollars, I don't think you can accuse me of having "unjustifiable biases"

If anything I'm quite possibly the most objective person on this thread when it comes to Nintendo. You still seem to have a problem actually accepting that it's only certain facets of Nintendo that I detest.

After all...I have no problem in admitting that I got the Wii's success completely wrong. I had my anti-Nintendo blinkers on, no to mention my programmer blinkers. But Nintendo have pulled off something massive in terms of Wii sales...ad I got this completely wrong because of whatever biases that I have. But that doesn't change the fact that Nintendo are mismanaging how they deal with third parties, and anything else I've said regarding the lack of support from the big publishers as well as the drought of good third party developers.

I still stand-by by assertion of "if you choose your platform and game based on cost/platform sales alone you're going about making games the wrong way". And unfortunately, for the majority of third-party Wii developers, this is still sadly the case.

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. It was too easy.

Well....it's pretty much the sort of thing I've come to expect. No harm, no foul. It's all good fun and I have no problems being made to look like a Donkey. After all....I have lots of experience in that area

[Flor2099]

I mean no disrespect, but when it comes to any Nintendo system since the SNES, I have never cared one bit about any third party. So to me, every Nintendo console has been a very personally satisfying success.

[VaderLives]

What is it that so many people see in Uncharted? Because OMG that game SUCKS!

Like seriously, am I missing something, or have people forgotten what good gameplay mechanics are?

If the game were just exploring the jungle and finding treasures/solving puzzles then I might have gone and bought it after I return it to blockbuster. But even then, the jumping is so imprecise that it makes those sections much harder than they need to be.

But I flat out HATE the shooting. No two ways about that. It straight up SUCKS. And you know there's something wrong when the guy who's favorite game of all time is Goldeneye is complaining about the shooting aspects of a game.

First off, I HATE using the right joystick for aiming. There really should have been a control option to change that. Secondly, in the extremely bright, sunlit environments, the tiny-ass white targeting reticle is impossible to see (white? honestly? have Naughty Dog never played a shooter before?). Third, the getting into and out of cover does not work nearly as smoothly as it should. I'll have had to hit the O button five or six times before he'll duck behind something, all the while being shot at.

But most importantly, there's the fact that you die with like five hits, but it often times literally takes all of your ammo to kill ONE enemy. I thought Call of Duty 4 DS was bad in that regard, as it literally took a full clip to kill each enemy, but at least in that game ammo was overly abundant. Combine that with the fact that five or six guys will be shooting at you at a time, and once you kill one five more come in, and that really makes it the most terrible shooting game I've ever played.

I have never, ever, played a more frustrating shooter. Seriously, how the hell do people enjoy this?

Oh yeah, and the whole picture getting blurry every time you move the camera isn't annoying at all.

And while I do agree with you all that the seamless transition between in-game and cutcenes is fantastic, I've always hated that disparity in games, I stand firmly behind my opinion that the Gamecube had better looking character models. And that's just sad.

I'll be the first to admit that I hate Sony, but that's not clouding my opinion here (I can give them their due on the rare occasions that they deserve it. for one thing I'm enjoying the HELL out of Symphony of the Night now that I finally have a chance to play it). Honestly, I was really expecting good things from this game, what with everyone here and elsewhere raving about it. But what an utter disappointment it ended up being.

It's not due back until Wednesday, but I doubt I'm going to play it again.

Oh well, at least Metal Gear will be awesome...Just have to finish 3...

[markatisu]

What is it that so many people see in Uncharted? Because OMG that game SUCKS!

Thats too bad you did not like it, I hope in the sequel they tone down the gunplay and increase the puzzles.

Oh well, at least Metal Gear will be awesome...Just have to finish 3...

You will really like MGS4 I think, that one you can be sure has made some definite changes for the better (cutscenes keep you involved, story for the most part is engaging) and the use of a certain item really changes the tempo around some

I do commend you for sticking with MGS3, out of all the ones that one was the hardest for me to get through

Also a few things from Marvel in regards to games came out this weekend

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

The game will be set during Marvel's recent "Civil War" story arc, with players forced to choose sides in the conflict. There'll supposedly be "over 20" playable Marvel characters, including the Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Venom and the Human Torch, and players will be able to "fuse" two character's powers together to give one character hybrid abilities. The release mentions the game will be appearing on 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP & DS.

Two Wii exclusive Spiderman games, one using the Balance Board

Spider-Man: Agile Warrior

Players control Spider-Man's feet via the Wii Balance Board to make him jump, soar through the air, climb walls and kick and cartwheel foes.

Spider-Man: Webmaster

Will ship with a game-specific controller that lets players flick their wrists to shoot web balls, aim their webs via the Wii Remote and use gestures to swing across Manhattan.

[VaderLives]

I do commend you for sticking with MGS3, out of all the ones that one was the hardest for me to get through

Oh I'm loving that game, I just haven't finished it yet. And I know I don't necessarily need to finish it before I play 4, I just don't want to be in the middle of 2 metal gears at once.

I'm at the sniping boss battle with The End. Last time I played I got tired of trying to find where he was, and then I got distracted with other games I forgot to finish, including Ultimate Alliance. I still have to finish that, too. Just got picked up by the Watcher.

And speaking of which...

They're going with Civil War? Ugh. Whatever happened to the Onslaught game? I thought that was supposed to be the next game ever since X-Men Legends 2 came out. I'd much rather have that than Civil War. Boo.

I mean, I suppose it makes more sense to go with the recent big happening in the comics rather than something that happened a decade ago, but still, I had no interest in Civil War in the comics, they're gonna have to do A LOT to get me interested in it for a video game, especially since I've enjoyed the series less and less with each game. Though I will admit having Venom as a playable character is a step in the right direction.

And those Spidey games...while I'm sure will not be the greatest thing in the world, the Webmaster one sounds like a hell of a lot of fun! Not too sure about the balance board one, though.

I'm really looking forward to Web of Shadows, though. Does that have a release date?

And has anyone played the Incredible Hulk game? From everything I've seen it looks like it's a souped up Ultimate Destruction (which is NOT a bad thing). I wonder if it's any good, I'm kinda leary given Sega's recent track record. That's definitely the next game I'm going to rent. Unless I finish Snake Eater first, but I doubt that. Damn, I had no idea how HUGE Symphony of the Night is. I thought Dawn of Sorrow's world was big...


Oh, and if that Metal Gear item you're referring to is a certain type of camoflauge...I've read about that and damn that sounds awesome as all hell!

[markatisu]

They're going with Civil War? Ugh. Whatever happened to the Onslaught game? I thought that was supposed to be the next game ever since X-Men Legends 2 came out. I'd much rather have that than Civil War. Boo.

I mean, I suppose it makes more sense to go with the recent big happening in the comics rather than something that happened a decade ago, but still, I had no interest in Civil War in the comics, they're gonna have to do A LOT to get me interested in it for a video game, especially since I've enjoyed the series less and less with each game. Though I will admit having Venom as a playable character is a step in the right direction.

Yeah well it makes even less sense given what happens at the end of Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I mean if it was meant to be a continuation of the story then using Civil War as a backdrop is a very confusing choice

And those Spidey games...while I'm sure will not be the greatest thing in the world, the Webmaster one sounds like a hell of a lot of fun! Not too sure about the balance board one, though.

I'm really looking forward to Web of Shadows, though. Does that have a release date?

With Spidey games I am always cautious as Spiderman 3 had superb controls on the Wii but the overall game and graphics were utter crap, these seem to be built or at least designed form the ground up so they are least have the benefit of the doubt at being good.

Oh, and if that Metal Gear item you're referring to is a certain type of camoflauge...I've read about that and damn that sounds awesome as all hell!

Nope its a certain music oriented device, Iron Avatar knows and hemanrep should as well but its such a nice surprise in your items list during Act 1 I dont want to come outright and spoil in.

The camo is pretty awesome though

[Battle_Brak]

Well, I rented Uncharted tonight (waiting til I finish Snake Eater before I check out MGS4).

Gotta say....not overly impressed. Not whatsoever.

I like the exploring and solving puzzles and such, but I hate the combat. I straight up HATE it. Like, I just got onto the island, but I really don't want to play it anymore if the shootouts are already this bad at the beginning of the game.

And graphically speaking...I don't know, I guess I'm just not seeing it. I mean, the environment looks absolutely incredible, no doubts there, but the characters look really bad IMO. They look like the characters from Eternal Darkness just with more polygons (which is not to knock Eternal Darkness by any means, that's hands down one of the best games I've ever played, but it was basically just souped up N64 graphics, and I really expected the PS3 to be much more than that). The characters in the Gamecube Resident Evil games look MUCH better, IMO. Like, there's really no comparison.

I'm sorry but you must have poor vision. I have yet to see characters that look better in a video game. Yeah some of the Resident Evil models look more realistic(but just the models), but Uncharted isn't meant to look realistic. The facial animation, procedural animation, wrinkle mapping, and sub-surface scatter make the Uncharted characters look far more natural than anything in the Resident Evil series in my opinion. In fact the entire game is full of jaw dropping visuals. You can pretty much name any cutting edge graphics technology and it is implemented in this game and masterfully I might add! My apologies, but I'm a 3D modeller and on rare occassion I do work for video games. I know how much work goes into the visuals of a game like this and to see someone preferring the run of the mill graphics of the Resident Evil series just boggles the mind.

As for the combat. I like it alot. In my opinion it's a much better system than anything in an FPS. It's challenging, intuitive, and creative but I understand that being so unique it's hard to adjust to for gamers who are used to more conventional combat systems.

But most importantly, there's the fact that you die with like five hits, but it often times literally takes all of your ammo to kill ONE enemy. I thought Call of Duty 4 DS was bad in that regard, as it literally took a full clip to kill each enemy, but at least in that game ammo was overly abundant. Combine that with the fact that five or six guys will be shooting at you at a time, and once you kill one five more come in, and that really makes it the most terrible shooting game I've ever played.

Head shot, head shot, head shot. If you hadn't figured that out yet you really didn't play for very long. You can shoot someone in the leg 100 times and it won't kill them, you have to hit the heart or the head to be effective.

I have never, ever, played a more frustrating shooter. Seriously, how the hell do people enjoy this?

This is your first mistake. You are regarding this game as a shooter when it's not. You've even compared it to COD4 (which is one of the biggest piles of crap I've seen in recent history but I digress). So you are expecting FPS mechanics in a game that is much deeper than that. The combat in Uncharted is challenging and it gets ridiculous at points, but it is not bad or broken in any way. However, if you were expecting shooting mechanics similar to an FPS or even like those over-the-shoulder mechanics from Gears of War then you went in with misguided expectations. I DO get the impression that Naughty Dog has never played a shooter before, and that's one of the reasons I love them so.

I'll be the first to admit that I hate Sony, but that's not clouding my opinion here (I can give them their due on the rare occasions that they deserve it. for one thing I'm enjoying the HELL out of Symphony of the Night now that I finally have a chance to play it). Honestly, I was really expecting good things from this game, what with everyone here and elsewhere raving about it. But what an utter disappointment it ended up being.

Well everyone is raving about it for a reason. It's an extremely solid game with exceptional production values. I think it's just a matter of personal preference with you. There are certainly games with high production values, talented artistry, and mechanics that are adored by many that I simply can't stand. For example, I absolutely loathe the entire Grand Theft Auto series. I can't deny the millions of people who love those games. There is clearly something appealing about them and they are in many regards well constructed, but on a personal level I think they are utter garbage. I really can't find a single thing redeeming about the GTA series, but I can't deny their success so I have to chalk it up to personal taste.

[VaderLives]

Uncharted isn't meant to look realistic.

Then why is the game world the most photo-realistic environment ever seen in a video game?

You don't go so all out on the environments and then just halfass the character models. It's such a HUGE disparity and I absolutely cannot stand it.

Now yes, the characters do generally animate well (I still maintain that the reporter chick is UGLY AS HELL and nothing will change that), but when the object you're animating looks bad then that pretty much ruins the point.

Yeah, the Resident Evil graphics may be "run of the mill" nowadays (I would say the new industry standard), but at least those characters actually look natural as opposed to just a pile of clearly discernible layers of polygons slapped over top of each other.

See that's the thing, when I look at these characters I don't see the characters, I see all the parts that make them up. You're not supposed to see that. The whole is supposed to me more than the sum of its parts when it comes to 3D characters.

It's no longer the N64/PS1 days, after all. I'd like to think we've moved on since then. Apparently not, I guess.

Head shot, head shot, head shot. If you hadn't figured that out yet you really didn't play for very long. You can shoot someone in the leg 100 times and it won't kill them, you have to hit the heart or the head to be effective.

Oh I figured that out alright, but what with the invisible targeting reticle getting headshots is virtually impossible (seriously, it's not that hard to figure out that if your environments are all really bright and sunlit, you need to make the cursor a color that will actually stand out. such as, oh I don't know, RED maybe!). And even if you shoot them in the heart you still have to pour at least two clips into them for them to go down. OH, and sometimes even then they'll fall down as if they were dead and then get back up a second later. Meanwhile if that was you you'd be dead six times over. Yeah, that's totally my idea of a fun time.

This is your first mistake. You are regarding this game as a shooter when it's not. You've even compared it to COD4 (which is one of the biggest piles of crap I've seen in recent history but I digress).

If it wasn't meant to be regarded as a shooter then why is so much time spent as such? I mean seriously, it's pretty much you hop across a few ledges, shootout for 20 minutes, hop across a few more ledges, shootout for 20 minutes, etc.

If there is more to it than that, then they really should have showed that early on in the game. Because I've logged about 6 hours into it (including all the countless times I've died and restarted) and I absolutely cannot stand to play any more of it.

And how come, when you're running away from the bad guys, do they keep popping out in front of you? How does that make sense?

And yeah, COD4 was really bad. But this is even worse. If nothing else, at least in COD you actually had ammo.

However, if you were expecting shooting mechanics similar to an FPS or even like those over-the-shoulder mechanics from Gears of War then you went in with misguided expectations.

How is expecting to have game mechanics that actually work right misguided?

I think it's just a matter of personal preference with you.

Yeah, I suppose we'll have to suffice it to say to each his own, but damn, I really do hate this game.

Though I do absolutely agree with you about GTA.

[hemanrep]

For those of you who bought MGS4...do you guys play online and if so, do you guys want to start a he-man.org clan? I finally figured out how to do the port forwarding on my PS3...and played 6 100% lag-free matches and it is sooo much fun!!

The registration stuff totally sucks (that's where the difference between PSN and XBL really come into light), but after the 20 minute registration (you have to make 2 IDs?!?) and character creation (micro transactions FTL), everything was great!

If you guys are interested, we can set up a thread that has all the Game and Konami IDs.

By the way, finished ACT III earlier in the afternoon and the end of that act was jaw-droppingly gorgeous...amazing, beautiful, emotional...any other adjectives I miss? This game OWNS. And people are telling me that ACT IV is even better...how is that possible?

[Battle_Brak]

Yeah, the Resident Evil graphics may be "run of the mill" nowadays (I would say the new industry standard), but at least those characters actually look natural as opposed to just a pile of clearly discernible layers of polygons slapped over top of each other.

Resident Evil has drab muddy graphics that look like just about any other "survival horror" game. It's become a video game cliche that to make something more realistic you desaturate everything and throw a layer of grime on top. The characters are stone faced, depleted of any and all "character" and so pretty(AKA boring) that they look like moving dolls. Yeah I'll agree this has become the industry standard and it shows a lack of artistry and creativity.

See that's the thing, when I look at these characters I don't see the characters, I see all the parts that make them up. You're not supposed to see that. The whole is supposed to me more than the sum of its parts when it comes to 3D characters.

It's no longer the N64/PS1 days, after all. I'd like to think we've moved on since then. Apparently not, I guess.

If you are seeing bare polygons or even angular edges on the characters then you are playing a different game. The character models are immensely detailed. Much moreso than any gamecube game. If you are actually comparing the graphics in this to N64 and PS1 graphics then you seriously need to have your head examined...

And how come, when you're running away from the bad guys, do they keep popping out in front of you? How does that make sense?

I have not once had this happen.

How is expecting to have game mechanics that actually work right misguided?

You are getting dangerously close to blaming the controller with this.