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"I prefer..."

I got Blink 182's album in November last year. Amazing it is, in fact I'd say one of the best albums I have ever heard. Sadly, although many do, not everyone thinks so. There are 2 sources of criticism, the first are from the anti-pop punk crusaders claiming the album is nothing more than "generic pop punk". The problem with this criticism is that bar first release "feeling this" the album is nothing like any traditional Pop punk. The second source of criticism is the current Blink fans claiming they wanted something "like the old stuff".

I can name 5 people in my small friendship circle who wanted a more, "cheery pop-punk album and not this good but depressive mature-punk album". My reply to them is simple: "If you want cheery Punk listen to Blink's other 4 albums".

Fans of the group have to agree that despite the greatness of fourth album Take Off Your Pants And Jacket, it was VERY familiar to previous album Enema of the State... almost identical in style. So in my more optimistic eye this change is good, it is still the greatness I expect from Blink BUT it is also totally fresh and new.

Now comes to the point of the post.

Recent anti-Resident Evil 4 claims have been pointed at the more "Action" aspect of the gameplay. What no puzzles? No dumb Zombies? Less scares more action?

Yes get over it. Resident Evil 4 has changed the series just as Blink 182's new self-titled album has changed Blink 182. You see just like Blink 182's previous 4 albums, Resident Evil has endured 5 almost identical games. Resident Evil, 2, 3, Code Veronica and Zero play almost identically too each other (bar some minor gameplay twist in some titles). The games were great, but even I, an avid Resident Evil fan, were starting to get a little bored. So Resident Evil 4 COULD be a successful change in the series, sure less scares maybe BUT just as much fun and the series can continue. Blink 182's latest album have kept the immature Punk Pop outfit alive into this new generation, Resident Evil was becoming stale. It needed a change.

Most of you I'm sure would agree with the above. But now I bring in my next set of examples. You see I've been defending Zelda: Wind Waker and Mario Sunshine to the grave lately against an endless supply of critics. And in this I'll also defend the game I don't enjoy too much, Metroid Prime. You see my defense of Wind Waker is thus, the combat system and the graphics have changed the style of game so much that the title rules. The aggressors to the title claim "The lack of epic storyline, length and interaction have damaged what Zelda used to be and therefore is not as good as the previous games".

Nonsense.

If I want interaction I'll play Majora's Mask, just as if I want pop-punk I'll listen to older Blink material. If I want an epic storyline then I'll play Ocarina of Time. If I want an addictive control system, an emphasis on collecting and a great comic adventure then I'll play Wind Waker. But why can't they include all three I hear you cry? Well Nintendo can make an epic adventure, they proved that with OOT. They can make a fantastic interaction filled adventure, they proved that with MM and they can adopt amazing graphics, controls and comedy as they did in WW. But Majoras Mask's interaction is VERY complicated and took nearly a year to implement entirely. Ocarina of Time took nearly 4 years to make mainly due to it's size, and the graphics and gameplay of Wind Waker took the majority of it's development time. Do you think Nintendo have deep enough pockets to waste their most talented development team on what could be a multi-million 7 year project? Of course not! So Nintendo opted to give us something slightly different instead, a different Zelda experience.

The same applies to Super Mario Sunshine. Yes you are TOTALLY right, the game is missing Koopa's etc... the game does include a back pack changing Mario's ideas. The recent Edge magazine asks to put the Italian back into his old games. That is what we want. But the thing is we ALREADY have Mario 64. Yes we all really wanted a Gamecube edition of Mario 64, but instead Nintendo gave us a new option. They gave us a new game, different to IMario 64 but somehow similar. We've already got a fantastic 3D platformer that is like Mario titles, now we wanted the similar level of fun but in a different way. And we got it.

Metroid Prime is my final example because I can't really be bothered to go into Double Dash (I'm sure you've got my point anyway). Yes a third person platformer would be fantastic but then there have been countless third person Metroid games. Isn't it about time things changed?

My point is thus, and I'm sure you got it, game series' evolve in order to survive. Moods and opinions change. Playing Ocarina Of Time with my Gamecube Bonus Disc was fun for five minutes. I soon realised it wasn't for today's market. Neither is any of the Resident Evil games we have got. The lack of epic story in Wind Waker maybe cleared up for next time, but the emphasis on light hearted fun with stella graphics and gameplay will still exist. Maybe Samus will appear more out of her suit in the next Metroid but the new first person adventure idea will continue to apply. Mario 128 may return to more familiar surroundings, but expect similar new ideas to the ones we got in Sunshine.

Resident Evil 4 is more action based because it has to be in order to survive and keep us interested. We are never really happy with what we get even if we didn't really know what we wanted in the first place. We are constantly evolving, games are constantly evolving. Goodbye Resident Evil, you were fun for a while but now I need a new experience. Gracefully give up your Survival Horror King status or change.

You choose.

I’m off to listen to Blink.

Dringo.

Rickoss wrote:
> Okay, I'm perhaps starting to turn, but I still wouldn't have traded
> Prime for the world, even if it just had extra TPS sections :-P

I'd have loved TPS for Ridley, the Plant Boss, and the "first" Metroid Prime, but yeah, scanning and exploring like that for the first time was blindingly absorbing. :-)



And to Cyclone.
It's not just what was done first.
If Windwaker had had Windwaker controls and graphics in OOT's Hyrule then it would've topped OOT. It's just that sea world was REALLY dire in comparison.

It's not the sailing itself that was SO bad, it's just you'd do about 5 minutes sailing to find that 90% of the Islands were just bare rock and the other few inhabited ones really weren't THAT interesting... you know.
It had it's moments, but that was really all it had.

However, now Zelda has it's Windwaker engine dusted, there will be slight tampering, but most of Windwaker 2 will be dedicated level design, so that game should top OOT and Windwaker completely.
And it still won't be what OOT was for it's time, like no FPS will ever be what Goldeneye was for it's time, or any platformer be like Mario 64 for it's time, or any fighter like Smash Brothers for it's time...

But I'll have nothing to moan about it. :-)

OOT is genius, WW is not perhaps genius as such, but is a better game, if not a revelation/revolution - because OOT did that first - and no matter how much one implores the fact that OOT and Mario 64 weren't just reveelutionary but also brilliant (which of course they were, OOT is utterly magnificient), one cannot deny the fact that one played on them more because they were so stunningly new. WW and Sunshine (which one has to admit are not as incredible as we'd hoped, and have some flaws) might be played less, but they are still better games to play.

Regardless, Metroid Prime is just better than anything ever.

Dringo wrote:
> Whether you like it or not isn't important. Blink 182 are no longer
> kids who were having a laugh... they are now musicians... and genius'
> at that.

No.

List of Blink albums

Chesire Cat
Dude Ranch
Buddha
Enema of the State
Mark, Tom & Travis show
Take off...
Blink 182

Okay, I'm perhaps starting to turn, but I still wouldn't have traded Prime for the world, even if it just had extra TPS sections :-P

Rickoss wrote:
> I love scanning in boss battles and things, it makes things just that
> little tougher. I got to the level just before the Omega Pirate on
> Hard, with the Fusion, and got every item and scan I could up until
> that point, then some more games arrived and I got carried away into
> the land of Zelda.

Small mis-understanding then. :-)

I didn't mean JUST third person. I meant where you could switch between a first person and third person view.

> There are very little games that make me want to complete them 100%,
> especially when there's so much to do, and without the scanning I
> don't think I'd really have much incentive to go back for another try
> and, no matter how much you try to twist my arm, you can't convince
> me that scanning would work in a TPS.

Nope. Scanning is a looking thing and would need a first person view, but when I said Third Person Metroid, it was ALWAYS going to have a first person view, for looking around and aiming when need be.

Best of both world mon ami!

> Four major factors of Prime's brilliance would be lost in the
> transition to TPS; the atmosphere (2D games had atmosphere by the
> bucket load, especially Fusion, but leaping around in the third
> dimension wouldn't feel as... trappep, I suppose, and far less
> tense), the control system, camera angle and the scanning. If Retro
> did manage to pull those three off in third person, then they really
> ARE the best delevoper in the world, buti doubt that could happen.

The control system WAS a third person control system.
All that would have to change would be a button to switch between First Person and Third Person, and some camera controls for third person (one of the annoying things about using the morphball in Prime).

The atmosphere wouldn't really be affected by a third person view.
Yeah, you wouldn't feel so clumsy when jumping, but after 5 minutes you'll realise that's a good thing. I know Metroid is about atmosphere, but not in place of good action either which the better movement would provide.

And after all that, even though the third person mode would be there, you wouldn't HAVE to use it (although if they put wall-jumps, I can see that being very hard to do in First Person! ;-D).

> From the teaser trailer at E3, it looks like the Space Jump could
> make a triumphant return, but we'll have to wait and see that will
> pan out.

Prime's Space jump was a watered down version.
The classic used to let you do as many jumps as you like! :-D

I can see why THAT wouldn't work in 3D though.
Or perhaps it would...


> Metroid's one the only franshises that has never had a weak title...
> all deserve well above the 9 out of 10 mark in my opinion. I wouldn't
> to see such a radical change go wrong for it (I realise how ironic
> that is... but I was never really interested in Prime much anyway, I
> only pre-ordered a week before release, opposed to three months for
> Zelda) and the series could stray off into the mindless, 3D blaster
> genre. With cool weapons and a hot main character ;-)

Mindless? Nope.
Cool weapons and hot main character? That's ALWAYS been the case for Metroid, it's just you barely ever SAW the character in Prime! :-D
Samus would just play a bit more like she does in Smash Brothers with the cool dodging moves before hse blasts them away.

You try rolling under someone in Prime and they kill you before the camera's had a chance to change properly (unless they're REALLY slow).

And it's not a radical change. Just look at the control system:

There's a direct link to the morphball.
A jump button. A zelda style lock-on button.
A look around button - (that you hold to look around with - why would a FPS EVER need that?) and shoot is the A button rather than the trigger.

Those are third person controls. I think that change only came about because they perhaps had a few problems with the camera.


There's only 2 alterations that I'd make for add a third person mode:

We'd need a button to switch between F view and T view.
Every button is taken so far so I'd move the map onto the start menu and Z would perform this changeover.

In T view, we need camera control. The C-stick does this most naturally but the weapon select is there. But, there's not visors in T view, so we could move the weapon select to where the visors go in F view, and put camera controls on C.
R could be Zoom (forwards + backwards on the C-stick when R is held down) and could be "look around" like in F view with the "click".

Understand all that?
Read it over and picture it...

If you wanted to play the entire game in FPS mode, the only button change for YOU would be the Z one changing view, and the map being on the start menu.


Now how could that possibly damage your game?
Besides, you'd be turned over once you saw how good platforming got in Third Person. I mean, Metroid Prime's platforming was acceptable MOST of the time (which is genius for a First Person game) but with a Third Person view it would be up there with Mario, only the kids won't snubb it because of "cute" graphics.

I love scanning in boss battles and things, it makes things just that little tougher. I got to the level just before the Omega Pirate on Hard, with the Fusion, and got every item and scan I could up until that point, then some more games arrived and I got carried away into the land of Zelda.

There are very little games that make me want to complete them 100%, especially when there's so much to do, and without the scanning I don't think I'd really have much incentive to go back for another try and, no matter how much you try to twist my arm, you can't convince me that scanning would work in a TPS.

Four major factors of Prime's brilliance would be lost in the transition to TPS; the atmosphere (2D games had atmosphere by the bucket load, especially Fusion, but leaping around in the third dimension wouldn't feel as... trappep, I suppose, and far less tense), the control system, camera angle and the scanning. If Retro did manage to pull those three off in third person, then they really ARE the best delevoper in the world, buti doubt that could happen.

From the teaser trailer at E3, it looks like the Space Jump could make a triumphant return, but we'll have to wait and see that will pan out.

Metroid's one the only franshises that has never had a weak title... all deserve well above the 9 out of 10 mark in my opinion. I wouldn't to see such a radical change go wrong for it (I realise how ironic that is... but I was never really interested in Prime much anyway, I only pre-ordered a week before release, opposed to three months for Zelda) and the series could stray off into the mindless, 3D blaster genre. With cool weapons and a hot main character ;-)

I'm still no where near getting there...

I'll hopefully play it during the summer drought...

Sadly Beyond Good and Evil is getting lost in the void...

Not getting all the games I want this week at once though...

Oh and Prince of Persia is now 96% complete!

I was only teasing about you avoiding the Metroid point but yeah, you're right and I'm right. :-)


Now Rickoss to convince! :-)


By the by Dringo, how far have you gotten in Prime now?



**Metroid Prime Spoiler**


Now I've completed it, it makes a bit more sense (I was wondering why that last creature was called "Metroid Prime" when it appeared to be completely unrelated to a Metroid, but then low and behold, it was just a wierd monster possesed by a Metroid Prime. Perfect sense!) than it did last night. It also means that all this time the Space Pirates were trying to evolve Metroid's with phazon, it was a Metroid that was PRODUCING the phazon! :-D

Also, where did that Asteroid come from?
It MIGHT be SR388 (Metroid 2 - home of the Metroids where the Space Pirates originally captured them to work on at Zebes), or was it an escapee of the Zebes project?

There is one major pain in the asss about the game though.
If you're going for EVERYTHING you need to scan EVERY creature you come up against. That means that some creatures you only meet once have to be done THAT time or you miss them.

I've started the game again on hard mode anyway, but STILL! :-)

Strafio wrote:
> And see how you had to go back to Sunshine/Windwaker to skip my
> Metroid point? :-P

What me to concede? Well I can't really... I said Metroid Prime could work just as well in first person than it did in third and I was right.

BUT...

I'll concede that now they've done that they should take samus back to her third person routes and give that a go.