| htismaqe |
01-21-2012 08:35 AM |
So after finishing the 45 minutes last night, I liked it enough that I feel the need to post some commentary. Hopefully you find it helpful and not boring. :D
One of the things that has always bothered me about computer roleplaying games, particularly so-called "open world" games, is that invariably role playing always ends up taking a back seat to the mechanics of the game itself. First off, most games just don't offer the freedom to create any type of character. Even when they do, more often than not, a situation, scenario, or encounter will occur in the game and the only way to get past it is to play in a manner that is not consistent with, or even counter to, how I have envisioned my character in the game. Few computer games have ever come close to the freedom and imagination that some of us grew up with playing pen-and-paper games.
A good example of this is the fact that most games seem to automatically associate "dexterity" or "agility" with ranged weapons. This one has always been a personal beef of mine. A lot of games automatically assume that a fighter is an axe-wielding monolith in plate armor while an agile hero must use bows or guns. Most games don't allow for the player to explore the idea of a graceful swordsman or a hunter that relies on melee weapons and fast-twitch reflexes. Still other games have areas or encounters that simply can't be won using any and every play style. Charging into a room of brigands with your sword drawn ends up with you dropping dead mid-sprint as they pepper you with arrows. Your only option is to draw a bow and shoot them before they shoot you.
Here I am 3 paragraphs in and haven't yet mentioned Amalur - I do apologize but there's a reason for it:
After playing the full 45-minute demo last night, I'm fairly confident the game addresses everything I've mentioned and more.
The first half of the demo is, more than anything else, a trainer to get you familiar with the controls. About 10 minutes in, the player is presented with exactly one of those scenarios I was talking about - charge in and die. It was at this point that Amalur snagged me.
The narrator suggested I pick up a pair of daggers and enter "stealth" mode. Sure, I could have picked them off 1-by-1 with a bow but the game didn't MAKE me. Instead, I snuck around the back of the area, positioned myself behind my prospective victim, and killed him in one swift, gruesome animation. It was awesome!
The other thing that was awesome was the equipment. Some games rely heavily on "drops" and others on "chests". Still others only offer the best gear through shops. By the end of the demo, I had assembled my best gear from ALL of those places. I even had a cool pair of gloves that I made from pieces at the forge.
The only major gripe I have at this point is the movement. The camera panning and movement are too fast. The camera is easily fixed by turning down the sensitivity. There doesn't appear to be a similar mechanism for the movement itself. It almost feels like the old digital d-pad in that there's only 16 absolute directions you can go and this results in unnatural movement that is "squared" instead of fluid.
I did have some texture mirroring but no other obvious graphical bugs, like the aforementioned headless NPCs. There were several little quirks with conversation - some NPCs responded and talked but in some cases, I would hit A and the game would just freeze for 20-30 seconds before the conversation interface popped up. There were still other NPCs where the interface simply never came up at all.
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