First impressions; Its fun, feels fast and no loading screens. The game just flows, the tutorial is narrated in game and the 70 tracks of licensed background music just plays forever in the background. its a good game even by 2008 standards. I am actually surprised. I spent 2 hours just driving around in a seemless space taking shortcuts and doing jumps. This is another game bought online from TVGC.
Game play
If you like driving around an open world that is kinda like NFS and GTA had a baby then this is the game for you. It is easy to drive fast and easy to crash in dramatic ways. But after a crash the game just keeps going as if it exists just so you can drive around forever. It gives you different cars. The cars are fast as soon as you get them so there are no dumb skill trees or things to upgrade - at least as far as I can see in the 2 hours I have played. I am at 7% now, we will see how it evolves as I win more races. I am going to jump back into Dark Souls 2 and play some more of this tomorrow.
The game is really easy to pick up and play. I can see it being really addictive for people who like arcade-y style racing games without being forced to do stuff. The downside of this open world vibe is that you cannot just jump to a race - you need to drive to the stop light that starts it which can get a bit annoying when you are speed running the game. Also when you lose a race there is no option to start over. The game has no quit option - it auto saves when you win a race and so you just turn off the console. Some of the cars you get have much worse handling so you have to adjust your play style to the car you are driving which is annoying the first time you experience a poor handling car.
Conclusion
Hours later I can safely say the game is still fun. Hours could pass before you get bored crashing your car into other cars, over and over again with no consequences. So far I am 8 hours in 24% complete. There is no story, no stopping to get gas, no stopping to repair your car nothing. Just pure driving and slow-mo crashing. Awesome 9/10. I can now see why it's been ported to every modern system. It's fun chaos.
Tips and Tricks
The game loop is pretty simple; the higher the license the more time you will spend hunting down stop lights that have not yet been completed. Some cars are better than others so make sure you try out all the cars to see which one matches your style. I realized that some parts of the world map are more "fun" than other so you might want to hang out around the parts you like because you will have a easier time.
The art style is pretty but bad level design choices made the game more annoying than it needs to be. In some cases the level designers force the player to change direction when the nature of game encourages a forward flow state. With video games you are free to create near any structure you desire. Why not create a structure that is fun?
Its not fun
Sometimes the direction you should go is not clear, so much so that they give you a button point you in the correct direction. This shouldn't be needed. There are red highlights that appear but then they made a red level which made everything blend together and I was like lol, omg, why? The game is more a case of confusion as they add in pointless things like trains, armed guards and helicopters. It's a case where the designers want to maintain tension but there is no way to avoid the these sections. So you are forced into a sort of mania.
I should have known from the 2008 release date on the home screen that I was about to enter a world of jank. I mistakenly adjusted the video settings to very dark because most of the game is bright and over exposed. But unbeknownst to me, a couple levels deep into the game the designers put me in an air vent which was pitch black because of my settings. Why have air vents at all when you can render almost any structure?
Another problem I find with this game is some of the spaces make no sense physically. I understand that they want to force you down a certain path but some high rise floors have no down stairs or rooms with no exits. Sometimes you end up in a space which just simply does not add up. Only to eventually see a open vent above you. It messes with your mental map of spaces.
Lets not talk about the janky combat and the helicopters that are permanently on your tail. [h]Please leave me a lone let me navigate the spaces in peace.[h] After playing Hitman Absolution (2012) with its miriad of options and paths in this game I got total clusterphobia.
It is obvious when the game is forcing you down a tunnel when easier - more natural paths - could have been allowed at extra cost. There are even cases where you could simply run around an obstacle or use a wall jump but the designers purposely wall you in. The funny thing is once you do the thing that they set up you end up on the other side with no real benefit - only a sigh of relief that you overcame another annoying roadblock in your path. There is no cost to just allowing me to take the easier path.
I will try to complete the game just to see the environments but I am tempted to stop playing the game. [never completed it, maybe later, doubtful]
Conclusion
The game is pretty but the play is not polished. They tried too many things instead of just sticking to one core move set. It is hard for me to give this game anything more than a 5/10. 2008 jank. It does not maintain its flow and every puzzle has only one solution. I stopped playing in chapter 7 - the boat. I felt the game was wasting my time. After every puzzle instead of feeling accomplished I felt relief. My brain instantly erased the trauma of the previous hurdle. Dumb unrealistic rooms that exist only to setup a particular puzzle really grinds my gears.
Addendum
Also the game is very empty and its definitely a technical limitation(baked lighting) but it goes to places where people should be - instead of avoiding those places. If I was the producer I would have avoided any areas where the player would miss the absence of people. The dystopian city scape really doesnt explain away the lack of people. The story conflicts with the visuals as if it were 2 separate teams with no director. The game might have been better with no story at all. Or as a story with no game.
Played the game to completion. I am not sure how long it took but I had to stop myself from doing the fetch quests and taking over the encampments. Honestly capturing encampments is the most fun I've had in the game. But I had to get through the story. The game is fun once you get the tools that you need to be effective and craft the bags you need to carry lots of ammo and grenades. I am surprised that 13 years later I finally get to play this awesome game. So many games have followed this formula up until this point.
I could see people playing this game for a very long time. Collecting every treasure, traveling to every corner of the map by foot instead of using fast travel as I did but the options are there, many guns and bullets at your disposal. Its an almost perfect sandbox of shooting or stealthing around with the bow and arrow.
I swear a million people worked on this game creating all the set pieces and loot to find in the sparce jungle. Too bad most of it is pointless only for the most dedicated collector.
Conclusion
Its a good game solid 9/10. It starts a bit slow with the animal hunting and skinning but once you get your skill points up you practically never need to play another FarCry type game after playing this one because they are all the same with different cutscenes. For me its on to the next game but this was certainly a nice ride. I will eventually play blood dragon. Right now its on to Mirrors Edge.
