Caltrops - Devil May Cry 4





	[quote name="Jerry Whorebach"]They have a new column now where some mystery games developer, calling himself (I'm not kidding) <i>GameCynic</i>, offers his cuttingly insightful perspective on some of today's hottest releases. [quote name="GameCynic"]Game developers are often cuttingly insightful about the flaws and successes of games they play and games they make; the discussions in the studio or among colleagues are miles away in focus and depth from the average review.[/quote] Gee, this couldn't possibly be QT3's Charles, could it? [quote name="GameCynic"]I've always enjoyed ambitious, combinatorially complex emergent behavior games, but I have a fondness for narrative and story. I've always hated games on rails; at least leave me the illusion that I'm making meaningful choices![/quote] Yeah, it's fucking Assassin's Creed's Charles all right. :( Anyway, he goes on to talk about how he's not a young man anymore... [quote name="GameCynic"]Maybe my eyes aren't 24 years old, or maybe they're blurry from too much crunch-period death marching, but despite the lovely PSP screen, that wooden-handled hammer just doesn't pop from the rusty grey/tan medical cart.[/quote] And how he doesn't have a fucking clue how to actually play the games he's such an expert on... [quote name="GameCynic"]Now, I'm hardly an FPS player -- you won't find me in demand on any deathmatch ladders.[/quote] And how Call of Duty 4 had such an intense and <i>viscerally superior</i> single-player campaign that he lost all contact with reality and lived an entire lifetime as a simple peasant farmer on a long-dead planet... [quote name="GameCynic"]I like open-world games, but COD4 was just so viscerally superior to the allegedly open-world Medal of Honor that it wasn't a contest. I like a good narrative, and like the survival horror games of old, COD4 distracted me so completely that I was only distantly aware that I was on rails. The fiction was more relevant -- I only assume that Penny Arcade's written some strips about the endless WWII themes, because they've been -- well, endless. The game had just enough veneer of tactical simulation to suspend my disbelief. It is very much the shooter version of "24" -- our heroes are insanely martially competent, the enemies are rooted in CNN, and the action is so fast, with lots of intermediate rewards, that you never question the believability of the story.[/quote] And how Holo-Moriarty tried to trick him into crawling inside the TV and he saw through that obvious ploy just like he saw through Activision's attempt to bilk the taxpayer for <i>millions of dollars</i> in government contracts... [quote name="GameCynic"]Activision's been so enamored of the Madden model (new year, new game, 5 million-plus in sales!) that they might be missing the real opportunity: more episodes.[/quote] And, finally, ends up proposing episodic games as the new market paradigm, because the old one was moving too many units or something. Well, that was certainly "miles away in focus and depth from the average review." I think I can see why he's so concerned about losing his job (at Ubisoft Montreal) if his ladyboss (Jade Raymond) were to ever learn what a cynical lightning-rod for controversy he can be, but only when nobody's cramping his style with direct eye-contact.[/quote]