Comments on: Games for 2008: Project Origin

By: Searching For The Young Strategy Rebels | Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Searching For The Young Strategy Rebels | Rock, Paper, Shotgun — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:42:18 +0000

[...] Total War, Red Alert 3 and Dawn of War 2 loom, versus what’s a comparatively weak FPS hand – Project Origin? Tiberium? They’ll probably be fine, but I can’t see ‘em being RPS’ most-read posts, [...]

By: Señor Citizen

Señor Citizen — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:23:11 +0000

@WCAYPAHWAT:

Yes, I was also surprised that World in Conflict came in a cardboard box and paper sleeve. It seemed most of the new titles, at least all the Games for Windows titles, had abandoned that for the plastic cases.

However, my Unreal Tournament 3 came in a plastic case, not sure how you ended up with the paper sleeve with that game?

By: Randy

Randy — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:28:16 +0000

Sweet! I’m definitely a fan of F.E.A.R. original, and Project Origin is sounding pretty good.

However, what we really need is another proper (i.e. not a Contract JACK diversion) NOLF game from masters at Monolith. Now that — would rock!! :D

By: j

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 12:05:06 +0000

I know it’s a cliche and all but my favourite Monolith era is still NOLF 1/2.

By: WCAYPAHWAT

WCAYPAHWAT — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:44:10 +0000

Qwertalot:

I’m in Australia. I also realize different regions all get different packaging and stuff. I also partially agree with Malkav’s point, although its thankfully a much rarer issue, and hey, at least they stack neatly with the othergames.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:00:14 +0000

At this point I’m starting to prefer the crappy paper slips to the unnecessary double-sized DVD boxes. If your game is on one DVD (and it damn well ought to be.), you only need that kind of extra space in the case for an enormous manual. And you could have that *outside* the case, and make it possible to store more than a handful of games on a single shelf. *mutters*

By: Lou

Lou — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:30:43 +0000

Lou – environments aren’t just a cosmetic issue as backgrounds are in Tetris. FEAR’s combat was limited by the fact that most of the rooms were dull in their design and much of the game consisted of corridors. The pacing and rhythm of the game was also hampered by how the whole thing consisted of four near-identical industrial sites that in themselves were tediously clinical and worryingly grey in their designs.

You were right to bring up HL2 as an example of game that did a vastly better job of it, though.

But the actual level design in FEAR was great, that was my point. They looked dull, yes, but they were perfect for the gunfights. Always multiple paths, chokepoints, coverspots, etc., and they were evolving and changing all through the game. It was a game that concentrated on the absolute core elements of the genre – AI, and weapons, and pulled this off flawlessly.

HL2 did indeed make a better job with the environments, and had a vastly superior art design (and told a story, of course), but the core gameplay was, in my opinion, hopelessly inferior to FEAR – in the end, I loved both games. My point just was that saying FEAR had boring environments only tells half the story, because (for me at least) it made up for that with its other strengths, which also highlighted the weaknesses in other games of the genre.

By: Sir Qwertalot

Sir Qwertalot — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:32:07 +0000

^ Buh? Where do you buy your games?

Also, I disagree with Andy. The cosmetic design of the maps in FEAR may have been dull but the level design was great. It made the most of the enemy AI so that firefights were always tense and exciting, it certainly didn’t limit the combat!

By: WCAYPAHWAT

WCAYPAHWAT — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:02:43 +0000

what shits me is games, especially the ‘big’ titles…..that insist on shipping their discs in those crappy paper slips. I’m looking at you, World in Conflict. You too, UT3…..cheapskates.

By: Andy Johnson

Andy Johnson — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:01:59 +0000

You were right to bring up HL2 as an example of game that did a vastly better job of it, though.

By: dhex

dhex — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:38:56 +0000

i must say i was surprised at how good perseus mandate was, considering how shit extraction point was. (it eschewed the atmosphere of the original for OOGA BOOGA type bullshit)

so yeah project origin. maybe more outdoors locations? they’re nice.

By: Kast

Kast — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:29:20 +0000

It’s all about the goodies. Months on I may not appreciate Bioshock so much but my little Big Daddy model is still loved and faithful. He sits to one side of my monitor, facing off against a wobbly-headed Alien. Now THAT would be a great fight.