It really depends on what you're interested in. I like that there's a lot of variety, and a lot of variety of ambition, in games these days. No one would ever suggest that every film fan should like the same movie, or ever reader the same book. LA Noire was interesting to me (and fun) in part because of how it played against what we expect of games. As well as the fact that it was gorgeously designed.Originally Posted by oriolesacox
I obviously don't know how 2K12 looks or what they've improved but I'll never buy an MLB game from 2K again. Every version I've ever played has been a buggy piece of crap, I've given them enough of my money. The Show is infinitely better in every facet, which is really a bummer since that isn't an option for the 360.
This is Tom Bissell on RDR, and it's good stuff, I think:
That said, both Bissell (who's a written extensively on gaming) and I have a background in creative writing. Our attraction to this component of the game might be demographic.When I go back over my favorite games and gaming experiences of the Year of Our Lord 2010, I have to admit that, yes, my head tells me that Red Dead Redemption was the best game I played last year: the most involving, the most accomplished, the most comprehensive, somehow. I thought 80 percent of it was terrific, and I loved almost all the characters (with the unfortunate exception of the cokehead Yale professor, who went racing past the line of caricature in a supersonic jet). Also, the quest structure of the game is really, really cunning and fine—much better than GTA IV, I think. My most intense RDR experience came when I was galloping around Tall Trees, the northern area, and I heard someone crying. I followed the sound. It turned out to be a man, kneeling next to his dead horse, weeping. When I got close, the man lifted his pistol to his temple and blew his own brains out. It was a randomly generated event, yes, but it was so harrowing I just sat there for a moment, breathing. I love this type of game storytelling, in which concurrently running systems interact in a way that allows little "stories" like this to occur. It's what I play games for, because it's the kind of storytelling that only video games can do.
However, RDR, I think, still cannot overcome the basic problem with narrative-driven open-world games, which is the degree to which you're constantly being pulled out of the story by what these systems require of you. You're pressed for time, say, galloping across Mexico to do something that, within the game's fiction, is terribly important and pressing … but OK, sure, you'll stop and help this older gentlemen find his ancestral treasure as though you have all the time in the world, because, in a video-game sense, you do. Even though RDR is a game with regenerating health and limitless inventory, and any number of other ridiculous formal conventions native to video games, the way in which RDR's narrative breaks down during these moments often frustrated me. I realize there may be no way around this problem, and that the best game designers can do in narrative games is to mask the tension between narrative and game. Verisimilitude junkie that I am, I still long for a game experience that wants to solve this problem rather than merely mask it. It also makes me wonder whether the hardcore "ludologists" who believe video games aren't or shouldn't be a storytelling medium at all, might be onto something. I hope they're not.
I also agree with John: RDR made me want to play it in a way that honored John Marston. Very often in games I'll play the "bad" path, because it's fun to see how designers cope with players who want to run around as the putative hero, blowing people's heads off. But when, as Marston, I accidentally killed someone who didn't deserve it, I felt a kind of galvanic shock. Marston is real to me the way all really great fictional characters are real. I was not Marston. Marston was Marston; I was merely performing as him. When a game with crappy characters does this to you, it can be enraging. You want to be the author of the game experience; it's what makes games games, after all. But a truly great video-game character, I believe, reminds us that interactivity and agency can still fall silent and bow before first-rate fiction-making.
Last edited by Lucky Jim; 01-05-2012 at 03:26 PM.
I can see why gamers could get bored with RDR. There's really no linear progression as far as I can tell and so far the action is few and far between.
But I do love the expanse of it. I've adopted my own persona where I'm a friend of the law in town and an outlaw on the prairie. I'll kill the lone rider in the wilderness for his ammo and cash. You don't belong out there alone is my theory.
I'm digging it so far.
I wish. Had to be in DC by 7.
LA Noire is great. Probably my favorite game of the past few years. Then again, I love noir in general.
Last edited by Remember The Alomar; 01-05-2012 at 04:32 PM.
The linear progression picks up. By the end, it's laser-focused.
RDR was great but I agree it did take some time getting into it. I played it for like 5 hours, did not play it for a month, then put it back in and played it non-stop.
LA Noire was repeititve, I probably got through 2/3 of the missions and still have not finished.
All EA NHL games are great
All EA Fifa games are great.
Gears of War series is good and you can pick it up on the cheap.
Assassin's Creed series is absolutely fantastic althought I have not picked up the newest one yet. The first AC is a bit repitive but all the games after are one of my favorites.
GTA is good as you already know.
NHL 3 on 3 on XBOX Live is good
NBA Jam:OFE is a great XBOX Live grab too.
Batman:AA and Batman:AC are great.
I actually enjoyed MLB 2k11. It's been a slow process, but I think they're closing the gap on 'The Show'. They still have a ways to go, but they've made progress every year.
I expect 2k12 to be solid and worth picking up.
I second FIFA 12. I love that game. I've played it for 6 months straight and I still play everyday.
LA Noire was one of the best games I've played in a number of years. I was able to take healthy breaks until the last 4 hours or so. There were moments in the game I simply couldn't stop playing. I've honestly never played anything like it.
Maybe that's what I need to do. I probably didn't play the game long enough. Maybe I'll give it another shot.
DO IT!
You have to stick to it and it becomes really focused and really cool. There was a point in the game where I started to lose interest.
I'm totally into it.
I was driving to work today and saw a recycling trash can with a yellow "X" on it. I swerved right into that ****er and no cut scene appeared. So dissapointed in that.
Since buying the Xbox, I've beaten MW3, Red Dead Redemption, and Battlefield 2 and 3. I'm halfway through Black Ops.
I might need a place to stay soon.
BTW, I can't get into Fallout New Vegas. My guy looks like a pickle kisser with that ridiculous run of his and the way he holds his gun.
Hmm. That's tough. I played Fallout 3, first, and then moved on. I enjoy the series as much as any others, I think. I'm currently in the middle of Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, which I'm still somewhat resistant to, but compelled to keep playing.
I love the end/epilogue to RDR.
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