GTA again.


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GTA again.
02.02.05 (12:33 am)   [edit]

Normally I'm not going to do this.  But i felt like doing it today.


Earlier I wrote a scathing review on GTA San Andreas.  I know it's not actually proper ettiquite for a reviewer to be dishing out negative criticism since it creates a division between elitists and newbs (as the groups usually end up calling themselves).  But, I felt it ok since Rockstar games probably isn't concerned about what a lone blogger has to say.  (how the hell Seanbaby keeps up his hilarious "Rest of the Crap" in EGM is beyond me).


Anyways, a fan of the GTA series obviously wasn't too thrilled that I had anything bad to say about it.  So he (I'm assuming he's a he) wrote me a "nasty" reply.  I posted both his reply and mine afterwards.


Again, I'm not a mean spirited guy.  It's just that I don't take insults very seriously when I'm trying to read past the gramatical errors to see what it is you're saying to me.  In other words, stupid people really get under my skin.  (which makes me wonder why the hell I'm intentionally going into the comics industry where I have the potential of being pestered by fan boys.)


 







» MavericK [outside user]

i dont care what you say, u can have your opinion if you wish, but its alot of crap, u say about swearing.. its 18+ if u dont like it.. but play it, the graphics are because of the 5 year old graphic card in the ps2, get the slimline version for better graphics.. and u dont understand the way of the gangster, dont understand it, laugh at it and learn how the back street americans do things, jesus the mafia in GT3 was pretty ing stupid, but no one complained. static pops.. no static pops, your high or something, and the controls, what do u expect from third person shooter, there has never been a good third person shooter.. first person is the best and only..
just stop complaining and give them credit for trying to squeese the best they could of of the old ps2
if this came out for the ps3, you would not complain

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» butcher [outside user]

hmmmm ....

perhaps you're a bit touchy.

Or, judging by the fact that you didn't use the return key to organize your thoughts you were so mad that I contradicted you by knocking an item of the GTA series that you wanted to razz me bad and make me feel about about having done so.

Another possibility is that you're not that mature/intelligent since you used VERY LITTLE punctuation or capital letters. And you also used lazy typing practices like "u".

Or, youment well but just weren't that organized when you wrote this and were tired.



Regardless, I'll reiterate my points just to make sure you know my views:


I made the review after playing a number of other titles on the PS2. I will refer to these other titles in the re-explaination.


Swearing: ok, so I mocked it. Big whoop. The main reason I mentioned it was that I'm sure most people aren't used to hearing vid games drop the F-bomb. (and it's not like I have a high-horse to get on, Ladykillers was one of my fav movies last year).  I just don't view swearing vid game characters as something to be proud about.  To me it's just a logical step that was going to happen.


graphics: yeah, the PS2 has a 5 year old card on it. But, you apparently didn't read my specifications on how the graphics sucked.

Here is ONE of the points again.

Heavily pixelated textures. I mean REDICULOUSLY pixelated textures. (that means the images painted on the game s have big square blocks of color on them).

If you want good examples of games whose textures AREN'T pixelated, where's a handful: DOA2 (one of the first games on the system), Time Splitters, LOTR the Two Towers, SSX3, Rachet and Clank, XIII, FIFA 2001 MLS, Kindom Hearts, Maximo 1 and 2, Escape from Monkey Island, Simpsons Road Rage, Castlevania: Lamment of Innocence, just to name a bare handful.

None of those have the un-antialiased crap for textures that occur in this game. Like I said, the portrait of CJ's mom was an impressive 8x12 pixels wide.  (to give you reference, this is lower picture quality as the hidden bonus pictures of Mario and the gang that you can see in Zelda: Ocarina of Time in the Hyrule Castle courtyard scene.  That was on the 64.) Again, comparing to Rachet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal (because comparing games that came out at a similar time is the best way to tell how well a game should be), there's a funeral scene in which they have a picture sitting out of the recently deceased.  That was a fairly high quality picture, and had the same screen time as did CJ's mom.  painful.


The gangster life: I just want to reiterate that I didn't mean to knock it. I just don't relate.  Similar  idea would be if they made a GTA game set in the midwest backed with a country soundtrack (implausible, but it gets the point accross), I'd have the same level of apathy towards the style of the thing.  Again, the reason I brought that up was to emphasize the point that I was looking at the game for what it was without the style.

And if you didn't notice, I did give it a 300% style bonus. I said they did the style well. It doesn't float my boat, but they did do the style well, and it helped the end score what little it could.



"static pops.. no static pops, your high or something":

what did you just say?

ok, I'm assuming you're trying to debase the fact that I ripped on the sound. If you want good examples of sound, PLAY ANY OTHER F***IN' GAME! Good grief! Rachet and Clank has some of the coolest gun noises I've heard.  The Time Splitters series has very realistic gun shot noises as well.  Even Goldeneye from the 64 had better sound quality than this game.

But I honestly couldn't tell what the crap those gunshots were supposed to be the first time I heard them. I mean, Contra from the original NES had better gunshot noises. When you heard those noises, you knew it was a gun shot. When I heard the static eminating from my Big Screen, I thought that there was a glitch. Then I saw the person firing the gun. It just wasn't good quality!

that and "your high" is a possesive phrase meaning a high that I own. I believe that the correct phrase you were looking for would be "you're high" which includes a contraction of the words "you" and "are."



controls: you made mention that "there has never been a good third person shooter."

I am going to assume you have never played the following games (which came out before GTA San Andreas): Rachet and Clank 1, Rachet and Clank 2, 007 Everything or Nothing, Oni, Jak and Daxter 2. All of these games contained at least a segment of 3rd person shooter in them. And all of these games were fairly good at giving you a good ammount of control over the character. (the Rachet and Clank series, again, is by far the best 3rd person shooter game I've played, including in terms of being able to control what you're doing).


Also, about your comment that "first person is the best and only.. "  Turok 1 provides a prime example of what isn't a good idea to include in a FPS, heavy platform jumping.  They have a number of tight-rope style log walking to do, plus an inordinate ammount of platform jumps that have to be made.  1st person is about the worst perspective to have in these scenarios since it's very difficult to get a feel for where you are in relation to the edge of the cliff.



I say it has sucky controls because the character on screen is sluggish to respond to your inputs.

I also say that it has sucky controls because it hasn't improved in the least bit since GTA3. (sure, they added more things too control, but they didn't improve on how you control the things you alread do, aside from the targeting system, which is passable at minimum.)

Drving controls would be a good example. the cars handle in just about the exact same way that they did back in GTA3, somewhat sluggish (including the sports car that I stole). They've been at it for how many years now? and the controls of how the vehicles work still act the same way? Where would the Gran Turismo series be if that was their motto: "functional controls need not be improved upon." Right, they wouldn't have continued to impress us with the most realistic feel to driving a car that's out on the market.

I'm not expecting car control like GT, but I am expecting SOMETHING better than GTA3.


Trust me, if this game came out on the PS3, looking as ty as a high-frame rate PS1 game, I wouldn't complaining. I'd be hunting down the developers for wasting my time.
 

posted by: butcher (reply)
post date: 02.02.05 (12:34 am)

format came out looking a little screwy when I pasted it into the text window.

oh well.


posted by: Rob (reply)
post date: 02.02.05 (6:26 am)

Haha, bend over and take it MavericK.

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