Goldeneye: Finally a "Wolf-3d" clone that makes use of you're mind and feels "real".
Phil
(note* First off, i don't have Goldeneye yet, but will get it within
the next day or so.)
However i seen the demo's and played the first level from Blockbuster
Video(in store, all rentals were out), for long enough and have come
to a reasonable conclussion.
Now, i *live* first person games in the remake of "Wolf-3D" and
"Ultima Underworld", and i have just about every one to hit since
those were released(if not every one..even the Japanesse imports),
including even the Doom versions on the 32-x,and 3do. You name the
system i got each of it's first person games, from 3do's Killing
Time(talk about bad frame rates)-Escape From Moster Manor-Jurassic
Park Interactive-Immersenery..and many more, to the Jaguar's Aliens vs
Predator and Doom, to even way back when on a TI-994a PC (forgot the
name) that involved moving, and of course shootiing through a
dungoun(it was on a tape and catridge).
If a first person game was made for any console(i had/have them all)
or the PC(had almost every one of them since the
Timex2k/c64/c128/Sinclair Spectrum/Every Atari PC/ many Amiga's/286->
till my 3dfx Pentium system now).
If there is one console or PC (other then the MAC..sorry never got
into the MAC) that has been made, i had bought it..including many
Japaness only systems.
Trust me..i was(and still am) foolishly buying these gwnre of games,
whiethier it was/is utter crap or the next "Doom" or "Quake" or
"Turok".
I have the Quake 2 beta, the Hexen 2 beta, the Unreal alpha,
Turok-3dfx's beta, SOTE's 3dfx beta, even the Jedi Knight alpha(please
don't ask how), as well as N64's Turok,Doom,Hexen,SOTE, and every
Playstation and Saturn Doom clone including the extreme lame one's.
(ie..Saturn's Congo).
So i hope it's clear..crystal clear, that first person shoot'em up's
are my life. (and yes i have no life :)
Finally about Goldeneye, i have not seen a game with as much emphasis
in this genre, on using you're mind before finger twitching, since
.well Ultima Underworld, which was an rpg in reality.
As much as i love these types of games(as much as a person can love a
game..that is), it has been very frustrating seeing
"Doom"..or"Wolf-3D"..you name what it should be called, clones with
the same run..shoot.run..get the rocket launcher..blow away20-30
creatures in a room, turn a green/blue/red switch or open that door to
advance or escape a level, kill 20 more creatures, while it just so
happens health pickups were left behind..for some unexplaind reason,
to replenish you're health. Sure games like Hexen,Duke3D,Redneck
Rampage,Shadow Warrior,Powerslave,Blood,ect... helped add some needed
added features such as enviromental damage, flying, smart-assed
rimarks, real world locals,ect..but if you put aside the overdone
blood(and i like blood to be shown, but it's being overdone *big time*
now) and once heard Duke/Blood/ShadowWarrior,ect.. smart ass
remarks..that personally grow tiresome after a few times, the gameplay
is still the same old Wolf-3D type with some crafty..but still thinly
fancy added features(ie..jetpack, ducking, enviromental damage,
realistic looking levels,ect) and of course high tech
graphics..wheithier it's polygonal or texture/sprite based.
Goldeneye finally achieves what i had always thought was missing in
this genre, it's called thinking before doing. Having to accomplish
different misssions is a blessing from the normal pick up a key or
flick a switch to complete levels in simular games, sniper fire is
nice..it's been done before, however not to this accuracy.
The animation of the enemies and their ai is far from the normal "one
shot near them they walk like zombies towards you" as it actually
seems like they "think" if you take a foolish shot and you'll be
ambushed for doing so.
Alot has been made over the lack of blood, but when playing these
games you wish to be in that person "shoes" and how many times in a
movie have you actually seen someone get shot and blood
splatter(almost in buckets) and drip down on whatever is nearby?
That amount of blood is simply far from reality.
Most importantly, if YOU were faced with being in that persons shoes
in"real life" , you *know* you would make every step the right one,
every shot the most perfect and most silent one, and *never* even
think about starting an ambush.
It's about time realistic mission goals, reality based outcomes(ie no
quick dumb moves, leading to you vs. 20-30 enemies), amazingly
realistic enemy animations(like a guard seemingly getting po'ed from
you knocking his cap off from long range) and when an enemy is shot in
the head he's dead..when shot in other areas he still moves
about..even crawling.
Heck even one time i misfired and the guard pushed the alam to alert
others i was there. Now when have you ever played a game with this
much emphasis on "reality"?
Now i just seen/played the first two levels and was blown away from
the amount of *reality* programmed into this game, and for the first
time in years was very pleasently surprised.
Sure it's not perfect..and i'll write a complete review on the game
early next week(as if there was not enough reviews already out!), to
ellaborate both pro and con, but from what i played and seen it's *by
far* the most realistic playing first person game i have come acrooss
in years.
And yes GLQuake has tremendous multiplay over the net but it's still
the same kill..shoot..kill.run..jump..grap the rocket launcher as fast
as possible, all while some other 15 or 31 people run at the same
speed doing the same thing, over and over again.
Hexen2 and Quake2 remind me of the same, and i'm really shocked no PC
or video game has come out with such empahasis on strategy and
"reality" as Goldeneye 007 has apparently achieved.
And to say a first person game is nothing without multiplay, is
downright wrong, it's very easy to produce a fine looking CAD game(ie
GLQuake) with hardly any empasis on single play, and make net play
it's main drawing point.
But to actually have single play that is a riverting..especially
mentally, is an achievment only the best of programmers can achieve.
I hope i made some sence in this posting, it is late, but i had to get
it off my chest.
Thanks for reading,
btw: I made these assumtions based on the first2-3 levels, i hope the
rest of the game continues in the same manner
Phil
