Review Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Review @ PC Gamer

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Dark Souls: Prepare to Die

PC Gamer offers a review of the recently released Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition, rating it 89/100. Snippet:

First, I’ll give you something Dark Souls never does: a warning. Brought to PC by From Software, this port of the Japanese fight-heavy action-RPG is just that: a port. A straight port.

It plays like someone took an Xbox 360, packaged it up small, and slid it into your PC when you weren’t looking. The HUD is huge, the textures muddy, and such luxuries as control over field of view and vsync are nonexistent.

Ask yourself how you pronounce ‘PC game’. If your emphasis is on the ‘PC’, then run. Run far from Dark Souls and don’t look back. There is nothing for you here.

There are many reasons to run. The twisted, shrouded, uneasy medieval fantasy land of Lordran stretches away like the darkest night. Go the wrong way, probe too deeply into the inky depths, and the things that lurk there will get you.
...
Dark Souls is a game entirely about combat tactics, and it succeeds in making a vast range of them viable. As well as my Hunter and my friend’s sword-and-board Warrior, I’ve seen spell-spouting Sorcerers and Assassins so quick they can parry (left trigger on the 360 pad, timed perfectly against a foe’s strike) every incoming attack, opening a window for a lethal critical hit. There’s real choice in the way you can battle your way through the game, as well as choice in the kit you can do it in. Your starting gear, once levelled up with the right equipment – dropped by certain foes – is competitive with gear found much later in the game. There’s no set alpha-tier equipment, simply what suits a player’s style – be it play-style or aesthetic style. My Cleric wore a skirt and leather boots for the manoeuvrability bonus it offered her; my Hunter dressed as Death himself with an oversized black cloak hiding his face for the confidence boost it provided me.

There’s a similar range of choice in exploring the game-world. Like my dark, clanking house, the realm of Lordran – and later Anor Londo – seemed to open up beneath me. No corner of this world is inviting, but almost all of it is open to exploration in any order.

 

[Gruia]

I appreciate the score, although the braindead perception over hires graphics.. which proves he knows so little of immersion.

Trust me, in a couple of years, people will use UGLYNESS filters to make their games grittier and deeper

 

[Jashiin]

worst port ever plus gfwl. why are we even talking about this.

 

[sea]

worst port ever plus gfwl. why are we even talking about this.

I'm more concerned that PC Gamer apparently does not care about the quality of the PC games it reviews.

 

[Dexter]

worst port ever plus gfwl. why are we even talking about this.

I'm more concerned that PC Gamer apparently does not care about the quality of the PC games it reviews.

They gave Dragon Age 2 a 94% (by the same guy that reviewed Dark Souls by the way, so it's obviously worse than that piece of subhuman crap according to him...): http://www.pcgamer.com/review/dragon-age-2-review/
They called it:

The best RPG of this decade? Nine more years will tell, but for now, yes.

and

The best RPG combat ever. Not gaming’s best story, but maybe its best storytelling. Darker, sexier, better.

I expect nothing from them after that and frankly also think that they're either bought off or retarded, cause nothing else would explain that one.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Wait, you mean to tell me someone was paid to write this?

The best RPG of this decade? Nine more years will tell, but for now, yes.

and

The best RPG combat ever. Not gaming’s best story, but maybe its best storytelling. Darker, sexier, better.

ffs.

 

[evdk]

Wait, you mean to tell me someone was paid to write this?

The best RPG of this decade? Nine more years will tell, but for now, yes.

and

The best RPG combat ever. Not gaming’s best story, but maybe its best storytelling. Darker, sexier, better.

ffs.

Well yes. Paid by EA, that is.

 

[commie]

worst port ever plus gfwl. why are we even talking about this.

I'm more concerned that PC Gamer apparently does not care about the quality of the PC games it reviews.

Poor Obsidian...their games are pilloried to hell and back because of 'bugs' and 'performance problems' real or imagined, but a shit port that's pretty much unplayable without a controller, despite supposedly having a k/b+mouse option still gets highest scores ever based on what it supposedly was like on the console. Fuck, I remember in the past reviewers would slam barely playable games even if the core elements were great because what's the point if you can't actually see those elements in action?

 

[Gerrard]

My bet is on retarded.

Considering that there are only two other reviews that MC counts, 92 and a 100(!), my bet is on the first option.

 

[Jashiin]

Rich McCormick

Rich started his gaming life by ‘playing’ MS Paint for six months while he couldn’t work out how to install Tomb Raider. Then he did figure out how to install Tomb Raider and played that instead. It was much better.

Following the revelation that PC games were more fun than basic drawing programs, he spent New Year’s Eve 1997 playing Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat. Around this time came the simultaneous revelation that PC Gamer was better than other written things, so he read that too, learning all about angry houses and things also in the game.

After that, he lost his heart to Planetside, Counter-Strike, and Deus Ex, playing through the latter so many times that he sometimes wakes up screaming “GREASY GREASY GREASELS!” The only way past this deep-seated psychological issue was to pester Tim so hard that he relented and gave him a job.

Rich is a Staff Writer for the magazine and website, he’s convinced PC Gamer saved his life once during a particularly turbulent flight aged 13, and his best ever k/d score is 24/3.

edit: saw this in the comments : http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/dark-souls/1225854p1.html

even gamespy is critical about the port state. shows that nothing pc gamer says has any value.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

those retards give 90+ to everything anyway.

Sorry, 89

It's actually hilariously symptomatic of their criticism; those "89" or "9-" or "93/100" are apparently supposed to mark considerably flawed experiences unworthy of round scores. Why so harsh and critical?

A video game must be on the fucking Postal 3 level for them to actually regain their consciousness.

 

[MikeHaggar]

the port in itself is shit, but the game is good and i think anyone who wants this game should buy it for the sake of support. if it sells well on pc the next game in the series will undoubtedly have much higher port quality then this game.
many of the mistakes are inexcusable, but its still better then the console versions because of the higher resolution that someone modded into it. here it is: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488240

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

FUCK THIS GAME Currently it pissed the fuck out of me, need to vent

EDIT: Overall the game seems pretty nice, reminds me alot of the Soul Reaver series. The port is fucking atrocious; I know it's only because ppl asked for it etc. but they could've at least bothered on a minimal level.

So far, the combat is alright, I guess, if a bit repetitive. The countless respawns don't help either. I won't be forming my opinion about this game anytime soon, but if their recipe for 'difficult experience' is flooding the player with retarded respawn grind, then I'm not quite sure what the fuss is all about.

 

[Jasede]

There are almost no respawns as long as you don't use a checkpoint. The more you chose not to save your game, the less you have to fight- but the more progress you may lose.

 

[TheEntitledOne]

I have the game but the port is indeed atrocious (they could at least use the K buttons in the tutorial and not the console one FFS, what does each thing do?)

Apparently there is some mod that does something more than graphic fixes:

http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/

 

[Roguey]

worst port ever plus gfwl. why are we even talking about this.

I'm more concerned that PC Gamer apparently does not care about the quality of the PC games it reviews.

Poor Obsidian...their games are pilloried to hell and back because of 'bugs' and 'performance problems' real or imagined, but a shit port that's pretty much unplayable without a controller, despite supposedly having a k/b+mouse option still gets highest scores ever based on what it supposedly was like on the console. Fuck, I remember in the past reviewers would slam barely playable games even if the core elements were great because what's the point if you can't actually see those elements in action?

Obsidian games aren't fun with or without a controller so the bugs aren't justified, that's all there is to it.

 

[Excidium]

Might be worth picking up on a sale someday when it gets fixed by modders.

Spoiler

just like obsidian games

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

There are almost no respawns as long as you don't use a checkpoint. The more you chose not to save your game, the less you have to fight- but the more progress you may lose.

Hmm dunno. On the one hand, the actual boss fight sequences are genuinely good, engaging and rewarding. it requires the player to pay attention and are well thought out moments of tense action. On the other hand, I'm currently not convinced that those trash mob respawns really add anything substantial beside tediousness that would feel rewarding to the player by overcoming it, especially since the combat options available make it kinda repetitive.

I've heard a lot of good things about this game and that it's universally acclaimed, on the Codex as well, and I'm genuinely interested, and I'll try my luck next time (got my ass owned by mobs with shields two-shotting me) as well. Any tips/strategies?

 

[felipepepe]

Trash respawn is needed, they are there to train you into the game; if you only killed them one time and then reached the boss, you'll die a lot due not properly learning the game thru it's trash. Besides, every time you redo a level you do it faster, so if you are taking too long to kill them is actually because you didn't figure out how to do it properly.

 

[Antagonist]

The game is also full of shortcuts which can dramatically decrease the time to get from one point to another. Many of those have to be unlocked first though via one mechanism or another (usually keys or levers). You just have to be a little observant since not all of them are immediately obvious.

 

[sser]

PC Gamer's been in the shitter for six or seven years now.

 

[canakin]

the port in itself is shit, but the game is good and i think anyone who wants this game should buy it for the sake of support. if it sells well on pc the next game in the series will undoubtedly have much higher port quality then this game.
many of the mistakes are inexcusable, but its still better then the console versions because of the higher resolution that someone modded into it. here it is: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488240

No, this abomination should not be supported, what do you think, they will repent and work harder on the port next time? History has proven otherwise, whenever a shit game sold well, its sequel turned out to be even shittier. People in the game industry don't think they should show their appreciation to the fans by making better games, not anymore, they simply see them as cash cows who buy every piece of dog shit they slapped their favourite games name on. Also the High-res fix is not an excuse for From, it is quite the opposite, it shows an unforgivable laziness on their part that they choose to not bother with a rather important fix which is done by ONE person in ONE week without being paid whatsoever.

 

[Darkforge]

Yes, but it's also the best game of the modern era that make's me realize not all hope is lost. It's a real shame about the shitty port but in this case I will for once, be picking it up... So for the brief hope they are making a sequel and a smaller chance that next time around the PC port is done better then I will support it.

Foolish maybe, but man, thing's are looking grim on the PC front.....

*Update*
As long as you tweak a bit and use DSfix they game is PC worthy now and fantastic.

 

[Jasede]

the port in itself is shit, but the game is good and i think anyone who wants this game should buy it for the sake of support. if it sells well on pc the next game in the series will undoubtedly have much higher port quality then this game.
many of the mistakes are inexcusable, but its still better then the console versions because of the higher resolution that someone modded into it. here it is: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=488240

No, this abomination should not be supported, what do you think, they will repent and work harder on the port next time? History has proven otherwise, whenever a shit game sold well, its sequel turned out to be even shittier. People in the game industry don't think they should show their appreciation to the fans by making better games, not anymore, they simply see them as cash cows who buy every piece of dog shit they slapped their favourite games name on. Also the High-res fix is not an excuse for From, it is quite the opposite, it shows an unforgivable laziness on their part that they choose to not bother with a rather important fix which is done by ONE person in ONE week without being paid whatsoever.

Talking out of your ass ftw.
You wouldn't know a good game if it punched you in the dick. No surprise though, 'cause you wouldn't feel anything.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Trash respawn is needed, they are there to train you into the game; if you only killed them one time and then reached the boss, you'll die a lot due not properly learning the game thru it's trash. Besides, every time you redo a level you do it faster, so if you are taking too long to kill them is actually because you didn't figure out how to do it properly.

Also so you can't kill a few enemies, return to rest, kill some more, rinse and repeat until the area is cleared.