/dev/games 25 Nov 2007 08:08 pm
2007 High Scores: The “Almost Made It”s II
I didn’t realize there were so many games that I liked this year but that I didn’t like like, wink nudge etc.
Rock Band
Sigh… I really wanted to like this one more than any game ever, at least at first. It’s got a small army of problems, though, and while some of them (song selection) might be fixed over time, I ended up liking rocking out to Guitar Hero quite a bit more… Since this game is everybody’s post-’giving darling, I might as well make those complaints clear:
- The songs are boring. Some people call them easy, but I find that almost every song on this game’s list (including the DLC) to be pretty boring to listen to or perform UNLESS you’re playing the drums. There’s not a single guitar part in this game that compares to the solos in the FIRST TIER of Guitar Hero III’s list… Most of them lack interesting syncopation or wailing, and that’s pretty inexcusable in a game about ROCKING THE FUCK OUT. Similarly, most of the vocal parts are boring as SIN, and aren’t FUN. The bass parts, as usual, are lifeless. As others have put it, Harmonix made Drum Hero, and they allowed you to hook other instruments up for an inferior experience.
- The guitar that the game comes with is terrible. Maybe mine’s just broken (I actually put in for the warranty already, so we’ll see about that!), but the frets are sticky and the strum bar doesn’t register about 20% of my upstrokes. For some reason these plastic guitars get WORSE every time one of these games comes out.
- The game’s default calibration is WAY off. I think this is also true of the guitar hero games, but they hide it by introducing a sizable deadzone. I PREFER THIS GREATLY. There’s nothing worse than hitting forty of the same note, constantly strumming in perfect tempo only to have the game think that you missed the 31st note. It makes me frustrated that I’ve been unable to get it calibrated perfectly, while Guitar Hero 2 and 3 have never caused me any trouble on the 360.
- It’s got a pretty bad framerate! This doesn’t matter too much. But it annoys me, as a framerate guy. The game’s not even DOING anything. WHAT THE HELL.
- No online world tour. Really? This would have ushered in the NEW ERA.
- They made several small mistakes in how the 360 features are handled: the new instruments can’t turn on the console, so when you start up the game you are likely going to have your profile signed into the controller that’s plugged in, which is probably not what you want (since, as mentioned before, you probably want to play the drums); there’s no in-game keyboard for text entry which makes text-entry stupid on the guitars; you cannot purchase DLC from within the game, at least I couldn’t find a way to do this (you have to browse to the game in the Xbox Live Marketplace, while in Guitar Hero 3 a note appears telling you there’s new DLC and then you just go and buy it, right there, in the game’s main menu)
There’s actually more stuff that I’m unhappy with… but at the end of the day the game’s pretty fun in a group so it gets a pass, I think.
Stranglehold
SHOOTING. SHOOTING AND JUMPING AND SLIDING NOW IT’S TIME TO EXPLOOOOOOOOOOOODE. This game has, without question, the best first level an action game has ever had. Unfortunately, every level after the first gets progressively worse in terms of design. Action Button Dot Net really nailed it when they said this game was like Shenmue only done correctly; I just wish it kept the initial pace through the whole game.
Halo 3
It arrived on my birhtday! I had some glorious fun playing this game on co-op, but it didn’t really accomplish anything new and, for whatever reason, I don’t feel the need to ever pop it in again. Maybe I’ll get the last skull that I need, but I think I’d rather go through Gears of War instead. At least this was much better than Halo 2! And co-op really was pretty nice…
Pac-Man: Championship Edition
We finally get a true sequel to the original Pac-Man (not like the lousy expansion pack Ms. Edition), and it’s probably the best arcade game I’ve ever played. It’s really beautiful and classy, but somehow it’s just not as fun as Pac-Man Vs. If only they had plans for DLC…
The Orange Box
The only reason this isn’t the best game released this year is because I feel like it’s cheating. Take 4 pretty good games and 1 unbelievably fucking amazing game, put them together, and then release it like it’s just one game? It took some balls, that’s for sure, and it is easily the best gameplay value EVER. As a spoiler, two of the games that came with the Orange Box are in my top 10 list, and I wanted to honor them separately with their own praises. Which brings me to…
Team Fortress 2
I like it and all, but I’m terrible at it, so you probably won’t see me online in this for some time! People are already doing way too many “glitchy” things which just makes inexperienced players feel even worse in an online match. I will say that when you’ve got the friends to play it, this is probably the best multiplayer only experience out there (other than Halo 3 co-op and Shadowrun, which is only bad because nobody bought it).
on 25 Nov 2007 at 8:47 pm 1.mike! said …
I’ve already put in for a replacement geetar as well. If the follow up develops similar issues (blatantly missing a downstrum and/or the sounds of something rattling about inside) I’ll attempt to open it up and fix it myself.
Though I must admit I’m super stoked with the base song selection, and have been doing lots of rocking the fuck out, and then downloading packs and rocking out even more. Apart from the odd quirks like calibration woes, and the bizzarro implementation of “can’t use this band because the leader is not logged into the instrument he/she was when forming the band in spite of you wanting to change up the formation so you have to make a new GD band or just quick play”‘itis, we’ve been estatic with the kit.
I’m actually kinda getting tired of guitar hero, but admittedly I’ve not given GHIII a go yet, as I still have the foul taste of the 80’s edition lingering in my mouth. Skinning GH2, adding a meager song selection, and then charging $10 more than what had become the standard PS2 title intro rate? Whiskey Tango Fuck?
I think Rock Band is my fave game played this year. I’m hoping I’ll have the opportunity to add Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect to that list before the year’s out. Oh… and that “Portal” thing I hear those kids talking about, with the cakes and stuff.
on 25 Nov 2007 at 11:57 pm 2.Colin C. said …
I have to agree with Mike that band creation . selection is asinine and a simpler design would have been way better. But then again, I’m a UI guy. And you can get around it by playing as the same characters in a band, and then it’s totally awesome.
Be careful about Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect. Notice how Ben didn’t put them on the list of “Almost Made It”s; SPOILER ALERT I suspect they are not in his top 10 either.
on 26 Nov 2007 at 12:20 am 3.Ben said …
So, I just finished Rock Band on Solo Hard and I’d like to revise my previous statement a little. I said:
“Most of them lack interesting syncopation or wailing, and that’s pretty inexcusable in a game about ROCKING THE FUCK OUT”
but this should read (having now seen all the songs in action):
“Most songs up until the last two venues lack interesting syncopation or wailing, and that’s pretty inexcusable in a game about ROCKING THE FUCK OUT; but as soon as you crank out some RUSH and some fucking BOSTON things get way better, and the last track I played actually caused me to fail THRICE before I finished it off.”
I also seem to have fixed my calibration issues and the technical songs were much more enjoyable because of this (had to go into the Xbox HUD and set my sound system to stereo speakers, and then manually calibrate Rock Band, and then play with the Guitar Hero II guitar to get the precision I desired).
Also, yeah, I’ll probably be writing about Assassin’s Creed and Mass Effect tomorrow. Along with Motorstorm. And Heavenly Sword. Guess the topic!
on 26 Nov 2007 at 12:22 am 4.Ben said …
I’ll also be writing about Geometry Wars: Waves.
on 26 Nov 2007 at 12:30 am 5.bburbank said …
Also, I think Rock Band will be a great game next year, when tons of DLC has dropped. I just wish you could do world tour by yourself or with online friends, in case I come home early from work or whatever.
We’re getting another song off that first Weezer record this December. I’d probably pay $50 for the whole album…
It still won’t make my Top 10, which are pretty stable at this point (number 10 keeps coming close to dropping off the list, but then I look at its pretty little face and I can’t bear to make it cry).
on 26 Nov 2007 at 12:31 am 6.bburbank said …
Ooooh, I’ll probably also talk about Silent Hill: The Arcade tomorrow.
on 26 Nov 2007 at 10:46 am 7.mike! said …
can’t wait!
on 27 Nov 2007 at 9:21 am 8.Julius said …
Even with the previously stated bad things about RB, I still think it’s hands downs a better than GH3.
I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy doing vocals, but having four people rock out simultaneously is something that’s indescribable to someone who has only played GH3 coop. I’ve played songs where band mates have switched instruments halfway through because their instrument was too difficult and they’d rather finish the song rather than let down the entire band. Also, fighting over the band name is fun.
GH3 coop still feels like there just happens to be someone who is also playing GH in the room, but having a whole band rocking out actually feels like you’re accomplishing something in RB.
GH3 might have a better solo mode, which I still will revert to, but party nights have never been centered around single player GH3. Wock Band Wednesday? Yes, please.
I still haven’t rocked out to all the songs, but the ones we have rocked out to are pretty sweet. I can’t say that I love all the songs on GH3, so I don’t think it’s fair to assess the games based on that.
Rock Band ftw.
on 27 Nov 2007 at 12:37 pm 9.Ben said …
Yeah, I mostly agree with you, but SPOILER I’ll be talking about Guitar Hero 3 soon, and there are a few more reasons that I prefer the game that I haven’t gone into yet.
Again, I think Rock Band will be the better game in the long run, but I’m looking forward to a Guitar Hero sequel (or, oh please God, the Country Music version) quite a bit more. The gap started to close, though, when I played the last songs in Rock Band, but not QUITE.
And my main interest here is definitely the single player or 2 player experience.
on 27 Nov 2007 at 1:00 pm 10.Julius said …
I forgot to mention how hard it is to get a group together that just works. It’s like trying to get a real band together.
Everyone wants to play drums, or at least try it. People often suck and are shunned into playing Bass on Easy. The learning curve kind of sucks, but once you get the hang of it, and turn the volume up high enough to drown out the pounding on plastic sound, it’s pretty sweet.
Then there’s the vocals. Vocals are weird for a couple of reasons. One, it’s really hard to find someone that wants to do them, at least that’s been my experience. It’s sweet because it’s easy, and people with no prior rhthym game experience can jump on and sing. Also, getting someone who can actually sing is a major plus. Not even sing, but people with actual stage presence make all the difference. Supplemental pre-song banter being echoed through the stereo is a good way to build some band morale. It’s badass that you can ad lib a “Sup Orlandooooo” pre-song without getting points deducted. But at the same time, it’s odd when you get someone who’s willing to sing, but just sort of does whatever is necessary to get a passing score.
Also, saving people that fail just adds to the team experience. Once you save someone for a few songs, the pride in completing a song without having to save anyone is all the better. Especially when you just tried out the drums and realized how effin hard it really is.
So, the more I think of it… forming a band is kind of like waiting for the stars to be perfectly aligned. It can make or break the enjoyability of the game. It’s more than just hitting all the notes and getting four stars. It’s actually more fun to just go nuts and get a barely passing score. Sabotage is perfect example of this.