No, really, I'm asking.
I know this might be a little dated, given that this game came out almost a year ago, but I've only just gotten to this game in my big stack of unplayed, well-reviewed titles.
I've played through a fair chunk of Infamous, probably logged 5-6 hours so far, and it is a solid sandbox action game. It moves along at a good pace, has a fairly interesting sci-fi storyline, and some pretty entertaining superpower mechanics. I've enjoyed what I've played so far, and as such I have eaten up every sidequest possible up to where I am in the game.
So, why don't I love it?
The closest analogy I can come up with is that playing Infamous, for me, has been like watching TV late at night. I am clearly finding some entertainment value in what I'm doing, because I sit there doing it...but I'm not sure what that value is.
The game is pretty well put together, top to bottom, but it's like it doesn't have a heart - I don't care about any of the characters, I don't care about the people I'm saving. The game appears to have a mechanic that the city's population celebrate my heroic deeds, apparently by having some schmuck run up to me, point at me in an exaggerated way and then run off, or by my friend Zeke popping on the radio to tell me people are putting up posters of me around the city. It's a nice aesthetic touch, but really, I don't care much about it. I'm more worried about increasing my completion percentage than I am about whether a random bystander accidentally gets hit by a flying car.
And what's with the guy playing the main character? I know we can't have Nolan North play the role of every hero, but it probably doesn't help that the main protagonist Cole seems about as charismatic as a broken blender, with a voice to match. Maybe that's where the disconnect lies? Cole doesn't seem too concerned about anything that's happening either, presumably because of the morality system - he's got to play neutral until you decide whether he's going to do what's right or what's easy.
I suppose this makes Infamous seem like a bad game. It's not. It's really not. It's got a lot going for it. At the end of the day, I'm going to keep playing because of the neat gameplay and to see / mess around with Cole's other powers, but I think what keeps this game from being truly great is the disconnect that I've described above. I don't really feel involved with Cole or any of the characters. I'm entertained, but not engaged. And that's too bad, because all the right elements are there for a great experience, but they don't quite seem to fit.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
The Uncle Bill Conundrum
Over Christmas 2007, I spent a fair amount of time at Clair's, having spent my first semester at law school living apart from her. I decided to bring my Wii to her place, and hook it up in her den, where there was more room for waggle-related antics. I had picked up Super Mario Galaxy before coming home for Christmas, and Clair's parents, presumably advised by Clair herself, gave me the Resident Evil 4 Wii remake as a gift that year.
Every year, as is tradition at her house, her uncle Bill and aunt Ronnie fly up from California and stay with her family over the holidays. Most of Clair's family took a curious interest in what the Wii was all about, and some even played a round of Wii Sports or two. But it was Clair's uncle Bill who took the most interest in the Wii, and in Resident Evil 4 in particular.
A couple of days or so after Christmas, I had started my first playthrough, and Bill came downstairs to see what it was all about. It was like something out of a commercial - he was saying things like "look out for that guy!" or "can you break open that box?" and generally getting very excited. Much later that same evening (or more appropriately really early the next morning), Clair and I were about to settle in for a long winter's nap when a clatter arose from downstairs. I sprang from the bed to see who else could possibly be awake at 4 AM. I had a suspicion, and sure enough, when I peeked my head out of Clair's room, I heard the familiar gunshots and guttural groans of Resident Evil 4 emanating from downstairs.
Sure enough, it was Bill. He was hooked.
The next day he updated me on his progress, telling me he'd managed to find the president's daughter, killed some "big monster guy". I should note that his progress in the game at this point was far beyond anything I'd actually accomplished in my time spent with the game.
Bill and Ronnie headed back to California a few days later. The following Christmas (this time last year) when they returned for the holidays Bill proudly informed me that he had purchased his own Wii and a copy of Resident Evil 4, and that he'd completed it a number of times over.
Fast forward to this holiday season. I was surprised to learn that Clair's mom was getting a loan of a Wii from a friend of hers so she could set it up in the house for Bill. When I first visited Clair's after getting back into town, Bill was still elatedly discussing his numerous playthroughs and various collected secrets and additional game modes. My knowledge of Resident Evil 4 is pretty basic, so at first I wasn't sure if Bill was just trying to establish conversation with a topic to which he knew I could relate. Then, he mentioned having completed the Mercenaries mode, and I realized that the man really did adore this game!
Bill also told me how he was disappointed with the other Resident Evil games he had tried. I assume he was referring to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and perhaps more recently, The Darkside Chronices, because he didn't like how they "forced him in to go in one direction", when he prefered making his own choices. This is the huge and obvious difference between the two offerings and the game that Bill treasured so much, and I can certainly understand his lament, as much as I loved House of the Dead and its recent re-imagining on the Wii.
Which brings me to the title issue: what games could I recommend to Clair's uncle, given his sheer, almost boyish excitement for Resident Evil 4? The obvious solution would be to point him towards Resident Evil 5, and a PS3 or a 360, right?
Well, no. Because Bill has said he likes the idea of having the "gun" in his hand, and being in more physical control of the aiming, an effect possible only on the Wii, and not at all captured by wielding dual analog sticks. Which means that I'm left with the Wii's admittedly paltry supply of above average games, a class of which Resident Evil 4 is a member, but what else?
The remake of the original Resident Evil just came out for Wii under the Archives brand, but I was dismayed to discover that it is essentially just a bare-bones port of the GameCube remake, wonky control scheme and all. So that went out the window just as quick as I had thought of it.
I decided that given the relatively positive reviews of the Silent Hill remake, Shattered Memories, I'd rent it and see what he thought. While he was rather interested in sitting down with Clair and I as I struggled through some of the Nightmare sequences, he ultimated rated the game "five out of ten", because he preferred to be able to fight his enemies rather than run from them. Personally, as far in to that game as I am, I've been really liking it, despite some trial and error with the Nightmares, but that will be the topic of another blog.
I brought over my copies of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Trauma Centre: Second Opinion, two Wii launch titles, for Bill to try out, thinking them be good examples of mature Wii content. When he reported back to me, he told me that the "doctor game" wasn't really his cup of tea, that he couldn't get into it. He gave what he dubbed "the horse game" more of a fair shake, however. I was concerned that what I found to be a very slow initial section of the game would put him off, but when I asked him how far he'd gotten, I determined from what he told me that he'd managed to at least get to the game's main overworld. So, he clearly put in a fair effort. Ultimately, though, he still seemed disinterested - perhaps due to the slower nature of the totality of Twilight Princess; it certainly isn't non-stop action, after all.
What about some of the other more highly reviewed Wii games that have come along since 2006? Looking at Metacritic's list of best reviewed Wii games the problem becomes very apparent: a very high number of the highest scoring games are decidedly not adult experiences, which is in keeping with the whole Wii sales pitch, of course. New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Galaxy, Rock Band 2? These are not games meant for adults whose first console was a Wii. I can't really picture Bill rocking out to "Paperback Writer" in The Beatles: Rock Band.
When last I spoke to him, I suggested some of the Call of Duty games as my last resort, and as of time of writing, I'm wondering if he will actually take me up on trying one of them out. They are pretty action-oriented, but they might be too hardcore, too fast-paced compared to the relatively slower Resident Evil 4.
At the end of the day, is it that Bill has played the perfect game for his taste, and everything else will be a disappointment? Are there other people out there like Bill, who exist at the wrong end of Nintendo's target market spectrum: desiring a particular type of mature gaming experience, but with motion control? Could Nintendo potentially capitalize on an untapped market of middle-aged men seeking adventure thrills? It is likely that Bill is a gaming anomaly, but along with making me think about these questions, this story leaves me curious just how much the "generation that missed gaming" is missing out on today by dismissing more serious games without giving them a chance, and only playing Wii Sports, if anything at all.
Every year, as is tradition at her house, her uncle Bill and aunt Ronnie fly up from California and stay with her family over the holidays. Most of Clair's family took a curious interest in what the Wii was all about, and some even played a round of Wii Sports or two. But it was Clair's uncle Bill who took the most interest in the Wii, and in Resident Evil 4 in particular.
A couple of days or so after Christmas, I had started my first playthrough, and Bill came downstairs to see what it was all about. It was like something out of a commercial - he was saying things like "look out for that guy!" or "can you break open that box?" and generally getting very excited. Much later that same evening (or more appropriately really early the next morning), Clair and I were about to settle in for a long winter's nap when a clatter arose from downstairs. I sprang from the bed to see who else could possibly be awake at 4 AM. I had a suspicion, and sure enough, when I peeked my head out of Clair's room, I heard the familiar gunshots and guttural groans of Resident Evil 4 emanating from downstairs.
Sure enough, it was Bill. He was hooked.
The next day he updated me on his progress, telling me he'd managed to find the president's daughter, killed some "big monster guy". I should note that his progress in the game at this point was far beyond anything I'd actually accomplished in my time spent with the game.
Bill and Ronnie headed back to California a few days later. The following Christmas (this time last year) when they returned for the holidays Bill proudly informed me that he had purchased his own Wii and a copy of Resident Evil 4, and that he'd completed it a number of times over.
Fast forward to this holiday season. I was surprised to learn that Clair's mom was getting a loan of a Wii from a friend of hers so she could set it up in the house for Bill. When I first visited Clair's after getting back into town, Bill was still elatedly discussing his numerous playthroughs and various collected secrets and additional game modes. My knowledge of Resident Evil 4 is pretty basic, so at first I wasn't sure if Bill was just trying to establish conversation with a topic to which he knew I could relate. Then, he mentioned having completed the Mercenaries mode, and I realized that the man really did adore this game!
Bill also told me how he was disappointed with the other Resident Evil games he had tried. I assume he was referring to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, and perhaps more recently, The Darkside Chronices, because he didn't like how they "forced him in to go in one direction", when he prefered making his own choices. This is the huge and obvious difference between the two offerings and the game that Bill treasured so much, and I can certainly understand his lament, as much as I loved House of the Dead and its recent re-imagining on the Wii.
Which brings me to the title issue: what games could I recommend to Clair's uncle, given his sheer, almost boyish excitement for Resident Evil 4? The obvious solution would be to point him towards Resident Evil 5, and a PS3 or a 360, right?
Well, no. Because Bill has said he likes the idea of having the "gun" in his hand, and being in more physical control of the aiming, an effect possible only on the Wii, and not at all captured by wielding dual analog sticks. Which means that I'm left with the Wii's admittedly paltry supply of above average games, a class of which Resident Evil 4 is a member, but what else?
The remake of the original Resident Evil just came out for Wii under the Archives brand, but I was dismayed to discover that it is essentially just a bare-bones port of the GameCube remake, wonky control scheme and all. So that went out the window just as quick as I had thought of it.
I decided that given the relatively positive reviews of the Silent Hill remake, Shattered Memories, I'd rent it and see what he thought. While he was rather interested in sitting down with Clair and I as I struggled through some of the Nightmare sequences, he ultimated rated the game "five out of ten", because he preferred to be able to fight his enemies rather than run from them. Personally, as far in to that game as I am, I've been really liking it, despite some trial and error with the Nightmares, but that will be the topic of another blog.
I brought over my copies of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Trauma Centre: Second Opinion, two Wii launch titles, for Bill to try out, thinking them be good examples of mature Wii content. When he reported back to me, he told me that the "doctor game" wasn't really his cup of tea, that he couldn't get into it. He gave what he dubbed "the horse game" more of a fair shake, however. I was concerned that what I found to be a very slow initial section of the game would put him off, but when I asked him how far he'd gotten, I determined from what he told me that he'd managed to at least get to the game's main overworld. So, he clearly put in a fair effort. Ultimately, though, he still seemed disinterested - perhaps due to the slower nature of the totality of Twilight Princess; it certainly isn't non-stop action, after all.
What about some of the other more highly reviewed Wii games that have come along since 2006? Looking at Metacritic's list of best reviewed Wii games the problem becomes very apparent: a very high number of the highest scoring games are decidedly not adult experiences, which is in keeping with the whole Wii sales pitch, of course. New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Galaxy, Rock Band 2? These are not games meant for adults whose first console was a Wii. I can't really picture Bill rocking out to "Paperback Writer" in The Beatles: Rock Band.
When last I spoke to him, I suggested some of the Call of Duty games as my last resort, and as of time of writing, I'm wondering if he will actually take me up on trying one of them out. They are pretty action-oriented, but they might be too hardcore, too fast-paced compared to the relatively slower Resident Evil 4.
At the end of the day, is it that Bill has played the perfect game for his taste, and everything else will be a disappointment? Are there other people out there like Bill, who exist at the wrong end of Nintendo's target market spectrum: desiring a particular type of mature gaming experience, but with motion control? Could Nintendo potentially capitalize on an untapped market of middle-aged men seeking adventure thrills? It is likely that Bill is a gaming anomaly, but along with making me think about these questions, this story leaves me curious just how much the "generation that missed gaming" is missing out on today by dismissing more serious games without giving them a chance, and only playing Wii Sports, if anything at all.
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