EvaUnit02 on 22/10/2009 at 13:34
Quote Posted by SD
Pastiche and parody are lost on some people.
Have you played GTA4? The main story and overall game design had pretty much dumped all of that - relegating it to the radio stations, billboards, in-game internet, TV shows and a few of the girlfriends (eg an obvious caricature of Paris Hilton).
There weren't many tongue-in-cheek characters as there were in previous games, Brucie - the steroid-popping, homophobic, fratboy-esque wigger; Phil Bell - basically coked and highly paranoid Henry Hill from the 3rd act of Goodfellas; and Manny, who wanted to "clean up streets" in order to gain the media attention to launch an entertainment career or some such - he didn't
live for very long. Oh and Bernie.
Where were the story missions along the lines of like pasting porn movie advertisements onto buildings by making jumps on a motorbike; fighting off an aerial assault of RC planes armed with bombs; or stealing a combine harvester for the task of marijuana farming? Performing assassinations under the guise of a job interview or an internet personals date? Whoopty fucking doo, I'm falling asleep here.
I mentioned this in the Dragon Age thread. The game's tone is highly schizophrenic.
Quote:
The arcadey fun and tongue-in-cheek atmosphere was dumped in favour of realism and dead seriousness, including a grim dark storyline. The tone of the radio stations, internet and television utterly clashed with the gameplay and the rest of the established world.
SubJeff on 22/10/2009 at 14:13
That's just it though Eva, I don't think the main story dumped all that - perhaps its too subtle for some people.
EvaUnit02 on 22/10/2009 at 15:17
I disagree, Grand Theft Auto 4 is about as subtle as a tonne of bricks falling in every aspect of its writing, everything is hammered across. Puns or pulp culture references in mission titles don't count.
You really have to have played all of the incremental PS2 era GTA's to appreciate my point.
Iroquois on 22/10/2009 at 16:49
I have to agree with the point about the schizophrenic mood. The game still has some humour, but it's inbetween unecessary grittiness. It has lost the absurdity of previous titles, which doesn't quite click seeing how the entire setting just isn't all that plausible.
It's why I enjoyed Saint's Row 2 a whole lot more, myself. Also, I should note here that I found that turn to the direction happening from as far back as San Andreas; Vice City was the last title to maintain the colorful atmosphere that characterized the series. The Game Overthinker had made some really good points on the subject.
By the way, did people really find the driving mechanics an improvement? I hated them! Sometimes Liberty City felt bigger than it really was just because I had to stop on the occasional red light and hitting the gas all the way to the floor was a guaranteed trip to the nearest hospital; especially on the motherfucking bikes.
One thing I did find very welcome was the somewhat reduced difficulty.
SubJeff on 22/10/2009 at 17:54
On the PS3 the accelerator is R2 which is analogue. Makes it very easy to drive and going full pelt on a motorbike is unnecessary when you can go 80% and still catch up to anything.
I've played GTA3 and Vice City Eva. I don't see the massive difference apart from GTA4 being a bit more gritty which, imho, is very very welcome.
Stitch on 22/10/2009 at 17:59
Quote Posted by SD
Pastiche and parody are lost on some people. Those people should probably leave GTA games alone and go play Super Mario XXXXVII
^^^I would play this
Iroquois on 22/10/2009 at 20:10
Quote:
On the PS3 the accelerator is R2 which is analogue. Makes it very easy to drive
It makes it easy to adjust the speed. That doesn't make the driving mechanic easy; cars are still heavy, steering a bike is still like picking your brain through your eye-sockets.
Taffer36 on 22/10/2009 at 20:30
Quote Posted by Iroquois
It makes it easy to adjust the speed. That doesn't make the driving mechanic easy; cars are still heavy, steering a bike is still like picking your brain through your eye-sockets.
Yeah but that's the point isn't it? It's pretty obvious that they sought out to make it more difficult because of how absurd it was in the older games. The result isn't just that it feels more "real", but when you actually floor the pedal it feels amazing. No other game gives me the feeling that GTA 4 does when you reach top speed. Because of the danger that's now associated with going fast, it's that much more exhilarating to do so.
Yes, the bikes suck balls no matter how you look at it, although they did learn their lesson and the bikes are MUCH better in the Lost & Damned.
henke on 22/10/2009 at 20:47
Quote Posted by Iroquois
It's why I enjoyed Saint's Row 2 a whole lot more, myself.
I bought SR2 a few weeks ago and had a lot of fun with it, for about a week and a half. Still are a few Brotherhood and Ultor missions away from beating it but haven't found the desire to go on, or play it at all, in the past week. A lot of the missions are just ridiculously punishing, I often die because a teammate bazookas an enemy that's right next to me or an enemy car comes out of nowhere and runs me over when I've been knocked over and am lying on the ground. When I have to start a mission over for the umpteenth time because things totally out of my controll messes things up it just stops being any fun. I don't remember SR1 having this problem so I can't see how Volition could've fucked up so bad with this one.
The driving is as simple as in the first one. When SR1 came out all we had to compare it with was GTA:SA and it wasn't that bad. But after GTA4 this just won't do. The cars are bad enough but the bikes are even worse, sometimes your character actually leans right when he steers left, or doesn't lean at all. The helicopters and jetski's/boats dont handle better than those in the earlier GTA games either. I did like the fact that Volition threw in some extra islands and hidden places(easter eggs) far of the edge of the map though. Using a jetski to explore the vast seas, and zoom though the sewer system under the city, was fun.
The minigames are hit and miss. Insurance Fraud is still the highpoint of em all. The Hitman mode has been improved. The soundtrack is just as weak as the one in GTA4. It's quite ugly, and buggy to boot, it had frame stutters and actually
froze on my 360 numerous times, forcing me to reboot the system. Has anyone else had this happen, or did I just get a defective disc? The story is pretty good and the dialogue is snappy. I liked the character customisation feature. I made my dude be a middle aged fat British geezer who looks like he's a washed-up heavy metal-singer. Complete with long black hair and leather vest, natch.
I would defenitely recomend SR2 for anyone who yearns for more
pre-GTA4 GTA. And now it's dropped in price enough(about 20euros on play.com) that it's certainly worth picking up.
Quote Posted by Taffer36
Yes, the bikes suck balls no matter how you look at it, although they did learn their lesson and the bikes are MUCH better in the Lost & Damned.
Care to name a game with better bike physics than GTA4? In my view it had the best bike physics since Motocross Madness 2. L&D had different bikes that handled differently than the ones in the vanilla game, sure, but the core physics weren't really updated at all so I don't see what you mean by "MUCH better".
Iroquois on 22/10/2009 at 22:38
Quote Posted by Taffer36
Yeah but that's the point isn't it? It's pretty obvious that they sought out to make it more difficult because of how absurd it was in the older games. The result isn't just that it feels more "real", but when you actually floor the pedal it feels amazing. No other game gives me the feeling that GTA 4 does when you reach top speed. Because of the danger that's now associated with going fast, it's that much more exhilarating to do so.
Yeah, but the problem is the city itself is crammed with cars and comprised of fairly narrow streets. The heavier steering doesn't help. It's cool flooring the pedal, but it's not easy staying in one piece after doing so. Whenever the game doesn't feel like spawning a lot of NPC it's great, but every other time... meh. Especially with the cops starting to chase you if you so much as touch their car.
Not to mention that the NPC drivers are either too stupid, or just programmed to get in your way. Especially on the damn bridges, it's like they purposefully change lanes just to piss you off. They even do it when you're stationary and end up crashing their cars on your fender.
I don't know; it's just a move that seems to have been made to add to the pseudo-realistic feel and not because it actually works with the rest of the game.
Quote:
A lot of the missions are just ridiculously punishing, I often die because a teammate bazookas an enemy that's right next to me or an enemy car comes out of nowhere and runs me over when I've been knocked over and am lying on the ground.
Really? I found it a rather easy game. It did pull a couple of dick moves here and there, but I still finished it in a breeze.
I actually prefer the driving in SR2. My only objection with it is the lack of a first-person camera. I hate the rotating camera during driving.
Quote:
And actually froze on my 360 numerous times, forcing me to reboot the system. Has anyone else had this happen, or did I just get a defective disc?
It's not your disk; the game froze a few times on my PS3 as well. It has more holes than a Michael Bay movie.
