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Review Argonauts uneven art, poor implementation and bad design

Discussion in 'RPG Codex News & Content Comments' started by DarkUnderlord, Jan 23, 2009.

  1. DarkUnderlord Bringing that old Raptor magic.

    DarkUnderlord
    Joined:
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    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #1
    Tags: Rise of the Argonauts

    <a href="http://www.yougamers.com/reviews/22352_rise_of_the_argonauts/">YouGamers took a squizz at Rise of the Argonauts</a>. Here's the verdict:
    <br>
    <blockquote>Unfortunately Rise of the Argonauts is not just a simple rushed release with a few outstanding bugs stemming from the panic to finish the game for the holidays. Instead, we have a jumble of great design ideas, uneven art, poor implementation and bad design ideas that somehow survived to the final code. All that is then thrown together with a licensed engine for the Xbox 360 and quickly recompiled for the PC. I'm sure you can see where this is going...
    <br>
    [...]
    <br>
    I've heard the comparison "God of War mets Mass Effect" and well... naah, that would stretch the truth just a tad too much but it sure sounds good when you are marketing a game. For starters, Mass Effect actually has interesting characters with a great storyline and God of War's production values and playability are on a whole different level.
    <br>
    [...]
    <br>
    Combat shows the biggest "bad design" decisions of the game. Rise of the Argonauts has basically no HUD at all. You can add in a health bar for yourself and a simple four-icon menu for the god powers, but that's it. The only way to figure out when an enemy is going to die is to whack him until he finally croaks. I can fully understand the immersive qualities of "no user interface elements" school of design, but in practice it rarely ever works. Here it's clear that it didn't work as the game ends up using several UI elements. Once you cross that line, leaving out other elements just so you can say your UI is "minimalistic" is just silly.</blockquote>
    <br>
    Someone better tell Peter Molyneux reviewers don't like minimalist UIs.
    <br>
    <br>
    Spotted @ <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com">RPGWatch</a>
     
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  2. Konjad High on potatoes Patron

    Konjad
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    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #2
    I wish I had a HUD with many options and useless shits in Sillent Hill 2. That would be HORROR IMMERSHUM!

    But I agree with im. Games without HUD are too hard and who could enjoy the game with no HUD? Just who? When you don't have that 13%health, 121/322 ammo, [|||||| ] enemy life etc you can't know if you should shoot at him only once or perhaps two times. OH MY GOD, it's not immersive and next-gen!
     
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  3. Occasionally Fatal Prophet

    Occasionally Fatal
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    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #3
    minimalistic huds are great as long as they still tell me everything i as a player need to know. as for the hudless experience, i think it would work great, but only if there is some other form of feedback for the player. for instance, some games give a hud element over enemies so you can gauge there health. replace that with having the enemies react/look differently based on how much health they have left- basically different method same result.
     
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  4. Krash Prophet

    Krash
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    #4
    Big, unnecessarily large and cumbersome UIs are also pretty shit. Perfect example: SupCom

    It's about balance, like everything else.
     
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  5. mondblut Arcane

    mondblut
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    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #5
    Lots of bars, numbers and buttons > immershun
     
    • Brofist Brofist x 1
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  6. PennyAnte Liturgist

    PennyAnte
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    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #6
    Fail.

    The characters are plastic action figures and the story is fomulaic, and at best, so-so to passable. I loved Mass Effect, but as a corridor shooter with fun "spells" along with stats and minor variations in possible plot situations.
     
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  7. DraQ Prestigious Gentleman Arcane

    DraQ
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    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #7
    What the fuck are "production values"?
     
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  8. Angthoron Prestigious Gentleman Arcane

    Angthoron
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    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #8
    Kinda like "family values" but not.

    Think it's the fancy way to say the amount of moneys invested into a product's... erm, production.
     
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  9. DraQ Prestigious Gentleman Arcane

    DraQ
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    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #9
    Ah! A buzzword, you mean?
     
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  10. Angthoron Prestigious Gentleman Arcane

    Angthoron
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    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #10
    Wouldn't you say a buzzword, in a way, is also a buzzword?

    But yeah, I'd put it to that category. :straightfaceironyundetected:
     
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  11. hiver Guest

    hiver
    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #11
    More options

    More options

    i actually had the misfortune to play this game recently... i deleted it half way through only a few days ago and its a horrible piece of shit.

    On almost every level except combat mechanics themselves. They are.... not bad, considering everything else. Pure consolish click fest, mind you but you have some nice options like rolling around to avoid attacks, bashing enemies with shields, different attacks and combos depending on the weapon used (sword, spear, mace) and those powers they talked about.

    Interface is pure shit, most of all because you cannot assign keys as you want at all but also because some just dont work - like assigning god powers to quick keys.

    I did and they didnt appear on the screen at all and it was impossible to discover which keys actually power them up - i tried very hard - its broken.

    The rest is pure shit. Story is mental, characters are horrible. Hercules looks like a supermutant, Achiles long dark hair with blond stripes in it. Yeah really.

    And their behaviour and dialogue is the same as their design.

    Its a kiddy game with a lot of pretty explosions and stuff. Avoid at all costs.
     
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  12. SuicideBunny (ノ ゜Д゜)ノ ︵ ┻━┻

    SuicideBunny
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    Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Torment: Tides of Numenera
    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #12
    pretty much, but imo it's way better than mass effect.
     
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  13. St. Toxic Arcane

    St. Toxic
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    Jan 23, 2009 Stats Ignoring
    #13
    I agree. It crashed and broke 15 minutes into the game and spared me from potential discomfort.
     
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