Whipporowill
Erudite
Hajo said:
Hehe, don't worry Hajo. You have your own thread and all, I'd say that sort of qualifies you as a regular.
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Restricted Area...
- Thread starter Astromarine
- Start date
Hehe, don't worry Hajo. You have your own thread and all, I'd say that sort of qualifies you as a regular.
Hajo
Liturgist
Whipporowill said:
This feels almost like coming home DarkSign
Erudite
Thanks, Perra, for your in depth explanation of the game.
I definitely going to buy it when it comes out, simply because Im tired of the MMOs Ive been playing and I cant get past the last level on Prince of Persia.
Your time fumbling through a dictionary is highly appreciated!
I definitely going to buy it when it comes out, simply because Im tired of the MMOs Ive been playing and I cant get past the last level on Prince of Persia.
Your time fumbling through a dictionary is highly appreciated!
Grifman
Liturgist
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2003
- Messages
- 131
A few counterpoints:
1) There are four characters. Even accepting your length, that comes out to 4x3=12 hours - still very short I agree.
2) However, I'm not certain that measuring a game by how fast you can complete it is appropriate. If I am "quick" as you put it, I can probably complete Fallout or KOTOR in 10 or so hours if I just stick to quests related to finding the waterchip/Master (Fallout) or the Starmaps (KOTOR) and ignoring all other quests. Does that mean Fallout and KOTOR are as short as Restricted Area?
3) My "scources" (others who have played the game) consistently give me about 10 hours/character, or a total of 40 hours
4) A seemingly balanced review is at RPGDot:
http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsactio ... fd78d51429
Grifman
I guess I wouldn't count as regular.
I liked the idea of a cyberunk-Diablo, but as it looks I'll wait for the bargain bin.
I liked the idea of a cyberunk-Diablo, but as it looks I'll wait for the bargain bin.
Sotka
Novice
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2005
- Messages
- 29
Yesterday I finished VTM and decided to give RA a try.
First, had to skip any videos due to unresolvable glitches. This immediately created objectional taste which was dispersed in the process of striking "acquaintance" with game interface and mechanics (well I never read manuals).
Remapped keys to more familiar. This is almost all what can be done under options tab. Ingame graphics is rather usual, nothing special except game runs kinda windowed with full resolution for flat monitor and this adds to negative feelings. Scrolling/less resolution just strikes visual perception (remember Diablo 640x480? heh and windowed)
Stiill under influence of VTM (ventrue melee) I chose japanese-looking Takesha (you spell it) - a guy with katana, obviously melee char, and normal difficulty (the lowest one). Skipping some rant on gameplay (later on), this one was killed in line on level 4-5 because of my unwillingness to keep it alive moving. Meaning he should have been constantly moved to avoid blows. And I forgot to distribute char points that I guess had no impact on attributes eventually; skill points were allocated to katana and avoidance. I thought I suck as a melee and decided on change to Johnson.
This guy rules as for my lazy approach. Click / shoot, click / go, click /get new equipment, allocate level points, equip new implants, sell eq, get new mission, click / shoot, click /go etc. Addictive and dopy. Utterly dull. Even more dull (duller?) than Diablos. This becomes clear when you understand that there is no real char progress or development and you become bored with repetitiveness. I played up to level 15 or 16 (skipping some would-be story videos because there is no story) and quit. Several hours gone.
I plugged my clickfest mouse for this game and decided to spare it after all.
Things that stink.
Pathfinding. Probably developers did not have a notion. Your char literally has to be drawn with pressed mouse to his goal.
Level/mission design. Wretched Fallout-art pieces - same rooms filled with crats and junk, same mobs that differ in levels. Bosses sometimes.
AI. Sigh. All melee mobs run to destroy nearest crat/box, then run to you. Shoot'em at will. Or shoot at explosive barrel, there are piles of them. Explosions usually kill all mobs around.
Implants. Other "cyberpank" name for usual equipment. Adds points or percentage to attributes/precision/evades. More level, more adds. That's all.
Skills. You distribute level points, 3 for attributes, and "implants" can add more, and several to skills. Usually you can add/upgrade 2-3 skills per level. If you want moving to higher-level branch of skills you have to spend points on unneeded skills to complete a row. Heh, these skill rows are not connected in-between in any sense. For example, you need to open shotguns AND pistols to get your hands on let say, higher chance of finding better implants (not exaggerated).
Thus far, having played some time with unlucky yakuza, and more with a shotgun Indiana Johnson it came obvious to me that game has nothing to propose. Besides of being yet another arcade fabrication, though well-hyped. It has nothing to do with RPG or even cyberpunk arcade (play Harbinger instead). Or replay Diablo. Or wait for Dungeon Siege 2.
I know this was somewhat chaotic (i'm at office), please comment or ask, I will answer in more details.
First, had to skip any videos due to unresolvable glitches. This immediately created objectional taste which was dispersed in the process of striking "acquaintance" with game interface and mechanics (well I never read manuals).
Remapped keys to more familiar. This is almost all what can be done under options tab. Ingame graphics is rather usual, nothing special except game runs kinda windowed with full resolution for flat monitor and this adds to negative feelings. Scrolling/less resolution just strikes visual perception (remember Diablo 640x480? heh and windowed)
Stiill under influence of VTM (ventrue melee) I chose japanese-looking Takesha (you spell it) - a guy with katana, obviously melee char, and normal difficulty (the lowest one). Skipping some rant on gameplay (later on), this one was killed in line on level 4-5 because of my unwillingness to keep it alive moving. Meaning he should have been constantly moved to avoid blows. And I forgot to distribute char points that I guess had no impact on attributes eventually; skill points were allocated to katana and avoidance. I thought I suck as a melee and decided on change to Johnson.
This guy rules as for my lazy approach. Click / shoot, click / go, click /get new equipment, allocate level points, equip new implants, sell eq, get new mission, click / shoot, click /go etc. Addictive and dopy. Utterly dull. Even more dull (duller?) than Diablos. This becomes clear when you understand that there is no real char progress or development and you become bored with repetitiveness. I played up to level 15 or 16 (skipping some would-be story videos because there is no story) and quit. Several hours gone.
I plugged my clickfest mouse for this game and decided to spare it after all.
Things that stink.
Pathfinding. Probably developers did not have a notion. Your char literally has to be drawn with pressed mouse to his goal.
Level/mission design. Wretched Fallout-art pieces - same rooms filled with crats and junk, same mobs that differ in levels. Bosses sometimes.
AI. Sigh. All melee mobs run to destroy nearest crat/box, then run to you. Shoot'em at will. Or shoot at explosive barrel, there are piles of them. Explosions usually kill all mobs around.
Implants. Other "cyberpank" name for usual equipment. Adds points or percentage to attributes/precision/evades. More level, more adds. That's all.
Skills. You distribute level points, 3 for attributes, and "implants" can add more, and several to skills. Usually you can add/upgrade 2-3 skills per level. If you want moving to higher-level branch of skills you have to spend points on unneeded skills to complete a row. Heh, these skill rows are not connected in-between in any sense. For example, you need to open shotguns AND pistols to get your hands on let say, higher chance of finding better implants (not exaggerated).
Thus far, having played some time with unlucky yakuza, and more with a shotgun Indiana Johnson it came obvious to me that game has nothing to propose. Besides of being yet another arcade fabrication, though well-hyped. It has nothing to do with RPG or even cyberpunk arcade (play Harbinger instead). Or replay Diablo. Or wait for Dungeon Siege 2.
I know this was somewhat chaotic (i'm at office), please comment or ask, I will answer in more details.
Eclecticist
Liturgist
People can't really say they were expecting much more from Restricted Area. It was pretty much hyped as an Action-RPG, so t'was to be expected.
Sotka
Novice
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2005
- Messages
- 29
Eclecticist said:
Back for the moment.. I expected as much as from action-RPG. VTM for instance. Or KOTOR (beat me). It turned out RA is not action-RPG. It is arcade positioning itself as action-RPG. Strange I say this, but in comparison with RA even Diablo or DS look much deeper.
A pity we face general profanation of genres lately, but RA is something way too much.
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