I’d love to know what Jonathan called me.

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Essentialy: Pidesco, you’re [Someone I disagree with - RPS Censorship Machine which warns you to keep away from straight insults]

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Well, that’s pretty much exactly how I would describe the combat. Out of interest, which difficulty did you play it on? Because the game works definitely best on a level where it’s a challenge, and where you need to replay sections to find a better approach to a given situation – the “duck, shoot, duck, wait till you recover”-style doesn’t work at all on a difficulty setting where the enemies are too tough to kill them before they flank you, and that’s where the game gets interesting, and the level design shows its brilliance.

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The only concern I have with that statement is it’s coming from Chris Priestly whose about the most useless and unfriendly community manager I’ve ever encountered (me:- ‘I can’t get Jade Empire to run on Vista, can I get some help?’ Chris:- ‘Fuck you buddy, LOL’).

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=(

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Enemies show up. Aim and shoot at them from cover. Stop shooting when the red shows up. Wait in cover until the red disappears. Start shooting again. Repeat as needed. Run forward when done. Start again from the top when new enemies show up.

I wasn’t expecting GoW to be brilliant. I was just expecting the combat to be fun, intense and visceral. Instead I found the combat to be boring, mechanical and detached. And as combat is all there is to the game, this makes GoW one big pile of fail.

Of course, it also didn’t help that the storyline was pathetic, that the game took itself so seriously, and the art direction was generally idiotic, but I was expecting these things at the outset. When the only challenge a game presents is spotting the moving gray amongst the stationary gray, we’ve got a serious problem in basic game design.

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Jagged Alliance 2: Move, Shoot, End Turn.

Civ 4: Build, End Turn.

Never played Space Rangers/2.

My main point was that just talking about the game mechanics in their very basic form can make any game sound shit.

Not that I’m saying GoW is some sort of super complex game of tactical thinking and mass variety, but it’s more fun than just doing the same three things over and over, even if that is just what you are doing at a basic level.

I enjoyed it anyway.

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Yes, Half Life 2 also is crap, although it requires more skill that GoW.

Thief is another matter, though, as each of those actions hides a bevy of gameplay options that affects how you play the game, where you go, and what goals you choose to complete.

As for Mario, just run and jump is actually enough.

And while you are at it, try to do the same thing for Deus Ex, Jagged Alliance 2, Civ 4, and Space Rangers 2.

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Half Life 2: Run, Shoot, Wait.

Thief: Crouch, Hide, Sneak.

Mario: Run, Jump, Eat Mushrooms.

etc.

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Happens everytime.’

Given limitations on what a controller can do (my single biggest obstacle to buying a console, besides price) compared to PC controls, it’s almost a shoe-in that any PC port should have better controls than their console counterparts (emphasis on should)

Not buying the 360 version means waiting a very long time (more than six months in this case) to play what by all respects seems to be an excellent title. I know personally that playing Gears of War on the PC after the enormous wait (apart from the inherent shittiness of LIVE!) felt like… victory.

I also wanna mention that I thought Gears was superb iteration of a highly quality formula. It wasn’t Half Life by any means, but it was darn fun shootin’.

What made Gears truly great for me was that simple fact that you play a Space Marine. Powered armor, huge assault rifle, aliens to shoot, Space Marine! It tapped into this sort of primeval urge for a StarCraft FPS, or somesuch. It was awesome.

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I don’t actually have a 360, so it didn’t really take any determination or fortitude not to buy the 360 version, but still, I am vindicated in not buying a 360 for the game. :P

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