Chromehounds and Prey (360), Then Wandering Off Into Narbacular Drop
I mentioned that the Saint's Row demo had some very strong buzz going. Well, that's nothing compared to the buzz that Chromehounds has going for it in online mode. Squad-based warfare in a persistent world, and it's going to have a cult following for a long time.Which does you (or me) no good if you want to play the single-player section of the game, because it's basically a six-mission tutorial to prepare you for online play. So if your only interest is offline, avoid this game at all costs. If you have time to spend in the online world, though, almost everyone I've heard from is totally hooked.
A nice rental, in other words, to at least to check out what's going on. Thank you, Gamefly.
I also looked at Prey via Gamefly, and it's hard to define. As a first-person shooter, it's a very odd mix of unique and cliche. Unique in the sense that the portals are cool, and adding the dimension of running on ceilings and whatnot is also interesting. Cliche in the sense that there's a whole lotta Doom 3 going on at the same time in terms of how the game looks, and combat feels very cliche as well.
There are some absolutely ingenious touches (an Art Bell cameo, which is totally inspired in a game about aliens), and there's also attention to detail--the bar in the first scene has all kinds of mini-games and a jukebox that plays the kinds of songs a jukebox out in the middle of nowhere would actually play. And if you're a big fan of the first-person shooter genre, that's probably going to be enough. If you're a bit weary of FPS, like I am, then this game won't change your mind.
The portal concept, if they had done it a bit differently, could have made this game a legend. Seriously. If they had allowed the player to create portals as a strategic element in the game--in other words, if it worked like Narbacular Drop (whose team is now working for Valve), it would have revolutionized the genre. And if you're wondering how Nuclear Monkey Software implemented the portal concept in Narbacular Drop, here's a description from their website:
The concept is two interconnecting portals that can be freely placed by the player. When looking into one portal, the viewer sees out the other and vice versa. The added feature of moving through the portals allows for many unique gameplay possibilities. Combining portals with the basic physics simulation allows for a huge level of interactivity. Players can toss boxes, boulders, or even themselves around the dungeon. Players can come up with their own creative solutions to overcome the challenges in each level.
The portal interface is very simple. The left mouse button fires the a blue portal, which appears on the wall, ceiling, or floor in front of the player. The right mouse button fires a red portal. Only one of each portal can be open at a time.
Genius, in short.
Here's a link to a Half-Life 2 Episode 2 preview video featuring the portals. As a dark irony, an ad for Prey has to be watched first:
Half-Life 2 Portals.
Sensational video. Absolutely sensational.
<< Home