14th April 2004, 3:00 PM
Quote:<http://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/review_2004-02-16a.html>Read my above post.
Their complaints center around how the combat is simple and repetitive, not that the controls are bad. Seriously, where did you get that? I haven't seen any reviews yet that call the controls bad...
There are only three, maybe four genres on the PC that control well with the mouse and keyboard. And 99.9% of all third-person action or adventure games control like first-person shooters because that is the only way to make the controls good without having to support an analogue gamepad. Games like Zelda and Mario could never work well with just a keyboard and mouse, and BG&E is no exception. PC game reviewers have to compare BG&E with other games in the genre on that format... which there are none. The game is excellent but the controls terrible, but when it comes to non-FPS controlling 3D games, only console gamers care about good controls (especially analog controls). So even if the controls are terribly awkward and aren't even analog (an atrocity for a game like BG&E) then they give the game a good score, because frankly there's nothing better.
Quote:In dungeons, I'd say that it's easier than save-anywhere, actually. Why? Because unless you're saving every two minuites, you'd have to go back farther with a save anywhere than with this 'in the last room' save system! I'd say it's MORE generous than save anywhere. And as I said it keeps the game moving, but drops the difficulty a lot... I'd honestly rather that it was more restrictive. Not 'start at the beginning of the dungeon' or anything annoying like that, but not quite as simple as it is... as it is there's really no penalty for dying.That is ridiculous. In most PC games you can just press a button every five seconds to do a quicksave, so even if you make one tiny mistake you can go back half a second and fix it.
Quote:Also, I thought it was painfully easy to avoid detection... turn around. Find nearest pipe/door/etc. Go through. Wait a few seconds. Return. Again, it keeps the game moving but makes it so EASY...That's how all stealth games are, just not quite as easy. You can describe any type of gameplay simply and make it sound dumb.For example:
All you do in Mario is press right and jump. It's so dumb and EASY.
Quote:You're right, it is well told. I just found it too simple for a game with as much storytelling as that... as I remember from IGN's review, it's a complaint that the story wasn't more complex. It's obvious from the start that Alpha Section is evil. They are. Okay, so there's a lot of story along the way... but I can't help but feel that it's a simplistic (if verbose for its genre) one. A missed opportunity perhaps...The story is better told than even Metal Gear Solid, even though that game has a much more complex story. What is with you and equating complex with good? A simple, well-told story can be better than a complex, not-as-well-told story. And did you even beat the game?
Quote:Gauntlet... great game yes, and for that one simplicity is the best way it could be. It is more fun simple than it would be complex, I think. Each game is different. I like both simple games and complex, obviously. You know better than to say that I don't like complex games! Fine I like simple ones too, but that just means I like a variety of styles... and for this game, like PC Gamer (or IGN, I'm pretty sure)'s reviews say, the combat is just too simple for its own good. Oh, it's not like it isn't fun, it is. I just think it could be better...Better would turn it into Wind Waker, and there isn't as much emphasis on combat in BG&E as there is in WW, plus the game is much shorter so there aren't a whole lot of battles.
Quote:Oh yeah, and isn't this what programmable gamepads are for? Though the keyboard controls work fine, and anyway I think I need new joystick drivers (blasted thing crashes or messes up far too often to be reliable for this kind of thing...)...
You still don't have analog controls, the biggest thing missing from the PC version. Have fun living in the stone age, though.
Quote:Awkward? A bit, but it's familiar too if you've played many 3d PC games!
Name ONE PC game that controls like BG&E.