warcrow
Lifer
First impression and thoughts! (PS3)
I spent about 3 hours with the game so far and I actually am really starting to enjoy it--actually much more than I thought I would. I tried to keep and open mind going in to this game and tried to embrace what the devs were trying to do here. So, anyway--here are my random thoughts on the game:
-update- Someone just informed me that there are several Junkyards around the city--you just need to discover them first in order to use them.
I spent about 3 hours with the game so far and I actually am really starting to enjoy it--actually much more than I thought I would. I tried to keep and open mind going in to this game and tried to embrace what the devs were trying to do here. So, anyway--here are my random thoughts on the game:
- The game in incredibily gorgeous. Buttery smooth frame rates without a single hitch at any time. Driving at insane speeds with the super-bright, high contrasty (my word 😛 )sun dried graphics. It looks so good, infact, that it had me secretly hoping that Rockstar would license this engine for GTAIV.
- The sense of speed is almost unbeleiveable. If the game were going any faster I just dont know if it would be able to perceive it sensablity enough to play the game well. It's fine tuned and well adjusted--I hope it remains that way (well adjusted and tuned) throughout.
- When I first started the game I had to practically force myself to keep driving to another, closer, intersection after losing an event instead of going back to retry the event I just failed to "get the game". I'm happy to say that I'm now getting use to the idea of hopping from event to event if I fail, realizing that I can come back to it at a later time. There are SO many things to do in Paradise city. Litterally every intersection has an event to kick off. That being said--I seriously would like the option to restart a failed event. It's a little frustrating to think that it wasnt implimented because Alex Ward didnt want load times in the game. Whatever.
- I love the feature that introduces take-down cars as you progress through the game. These cars will drive around the city, randomly, and if you take them down--you unlock the vehicle. I love that! There was once instance where I took this really long race from the stadium all the way to the wind farm (IE: loong long race event) and I seriously screwed the race up and ended up coming in last. Bummer. Well, I came to an intersection out there (there arnt a lot of them) and was looking around for an event and all of a sudden a pink lowrider BLEW by me--it was one of the special takedown cars. I sped up and chased this guy for miles! All the way into the city, smashing, plowing and destroying things. Funny enough, I didnt actually take him down--I lost him. But the idea that he's still out there, somewhere, possibily lurking around each corner OR even way up in the hills totally adds an extra coolness factor and even incentive to just cruise around.
- In the game there are these fences with yellow signs (those that played the demo, know what I'm talking about). But the thing is they are EVERYWHERE! I feel like these hidden roads are just going to double or even triple my options of where I can go. The yellow is basically a sign from the developers saying, "Hey! Smash through here for a shortcut that might lead to a jump that might lead to another jump or a hidden alley or even another yellow fence. Who knows!". At one point, I smashed through one and it lead to an entirely hidden off-road dirt track that I could just race around--very cool.
- The AI is much more aggressive this time around--and that includes it's own self abuse. There is something just so interesting and satisfiying about racing 8 other AIs and infront of you two cars are aggressivly dueling it out, smashing in to one another ( and infact destroying other cars in the process just to get one another) to take the lead. I just really enjoy watching that. It makes me feel like I'm not the only important person in this world.
- I imagine that this next topic has to do with the fact that I'm early in the game, but I feel like, at times, my car will smash or crash way too easily--almost like if I drive over a pebble it's nuke time. Is my car made of Balsa Wood? This was probably the most frustrating thing for me because I would be racing the aggressive AI and my car would be totalled after edging a slower passenger car that was driving the same direction as me. I yelled at the game quite a bit because of this.
- Some of the long races ended up in the hills (like I mentioned before), and some times I wanted to jump back to the Junkyard (home) instead of drive for 5-8 minutes to get there. Afterall, that's where the bulk of the races are. It would be nice if there was a "Jump to home" button or something of the like.
- At times, I felt like the chase camera was a little too low. There were a few instances where I had a hard time seeing far enough ahead or over a upcoming hill, that I caught myself physically perking up on my couch. You can push up on the right stick--but its only temporary.
- I've not played any MP in the full retail yet.
Playing the demo left me feeling a little bummed that my loved Burnout franchise had taken a wrong turn. But, going into the full retail with an open mind I found that Criterion might have avoided the effect on it's customers that it's title suggests--getting burned out.
-update- Someone just informed me that there are several Junkyards around the city--you just need to discover them first in order to use them.
