Whats actually bad?

Stoib · 12-21-2011, 02:55 PM

A lot of reviews or posts seem to mention QTE's like it's a bad thing. For someone who loved Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain and generally has no problem and even enjoys this style of play, what other negatives contributed to the rather average metacritic score?

Brokenie · 12-21-2011, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoib

A lot of reviews or posts seem to mention QTE's like it's a bad thing. For someone who loved Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain and generally has no problem and even enjoys this style of play, what other negatives contributed to the rather average metacritic score?

God awful graphics (Not an issue for some) and the prevalence of bugs, and furthermore, being slightly boring.
I love Jurassic Park, it's my all-time favourite film, but this game so far is just disappointing.

Dreadjaws · 12-22-2011, 05:46 PM

Well, QTEs are not for everyone, specially if you get tired of them after seeing them in so many games. It's fine if you like games that test your reflexes, but if you want that, just play Simon. This is an adventure game, and people prefer a more direct control over the characters.

I liked the game, I didn't hate it as much as everyone seems to do, but it's excruciatingly linear. Except for the ending, there are not two ways to do one thing, it's as scripted as it goes, it barely qualifies as a game, is more of an interactive movie.

Also, coming from a long line of very similar adventure titles from Telltale, this title took us by surprise with an entirely different "control" scheme. We were expecting something very different and that shook away part of the excitement.

Besides, the game will constantly change what character you're controlling, not giving enough time to flesh them out for us to care enough about them. Granted, that's not necessarily true for all the characters, but you practically have to play the game in one sitting to actually get to know them well. This is a special problem, considering how terribly generic the characters are. It shouldn't be so difficult to connect with them. Had this game been released in episodes, we wouldn't remember anything about the characters with each new one.

Speaking of the gameplay, the puzzles are too few and far between, which is a shame, because some of them are very clever. But the QTEs make me feel bad, not because of the QTEs themselves, but because of what we see represented on the screen thanks to them. The characters will outrun and outsmart the dinos so easily you'll feel you're being attacked by drunk old men instead. You'll rarely feel threatened, and that's a serious step back from the movies.

And I have no real issue with the graphics. They fall in the middle of realistic graphics and classic Telltale cartoonish characters. But this presents a problem when dinos come into scene. The dinos are realistic Jurassic Park-like, while the characters have a slightly more cartoonish look, and they don't fit well with one another.

But the biggest problem with the game are the bugs. This game feels unfinished. While I experienced no crashes during my playthrough I noticed that I missed QTEs not for bad reflexes, but for obvious unresponsive controls. Also, sometimes some QTE prompts don't show up on screen sometimes and you'll be penalized for it, despite the fact it wasn't your fault.

All in all, a mediocre game that should have been released as direct-to-DVD animated film instead.

Stoib · 12-22-2011, 05:56 PM

Cheers for the feedback, as a long time fan of Telltale and adventure games in general it saddens me to hear all that

Hopefully the lackluster reviews and score will bring the price down even further in the near future, as I would still be interested in picking it up for the story at the very least.

To be honest I was slightly disappointed in Back to the future also, hope this trend doesn't carry over to the Walking dead

Dreadjaws · 12-23-2011, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoib

Cheers for the feedback, as a long time fan of Telltale and adventure games in general it saddens me to hear all that

Hopefully the lackluster reviews and score will bring the price down even further in the near future, as I would still be interested in picking it up for the story at the very least.

To be honest I was slightly disappointed in Back to the future also, hope this trend doesn't carry over to the Walking dead

Yeah, as I said, I don't think it's a terrible game, just mediocre and definitely not worth the full price, maybe not even half. It's just a dissapointment. The replay value is practically nonexistent unless you're an achievement hunter.

I'm also a long time Telltale/adventure games fan, having started with Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade back in the time of 5 1/4" floppies, and this game is a step back even from those times in every sense except for the graphics and voice acting.

I hope Telltale listens to the complaints and doesn't let The Walking Dead fall into the same trap. At the very least, they should come back to a more traditional control scheme.

Gordon He-Man · 01-01-2012, 10:35 AM

There's nothing WRONG with QTEs per se as long as they WORK when the buttons are pressed!

...oh, and your mouse-arrow doesn't suddenly disappear for no reason!

...oh, and you can't re-do a recent [pink-hearts]-up because of the above mentioned, without having to return to the chapter start.

That's just off the top of my head.

12-21-2011, 02:55 PM	#1
Stoib Join Date: Aug 2011 Reputation: 332 Posts: 1,056	Whats actually bad? A lot of reviews or posts seem to mention QTE's like it's a bad thing. For someone who loved Fahrenheit, Heavy Rain and generally has no problem and even enjoys this style of play, what other negatives contributed to the rather average metacritic score?

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12-22-2011, 05:46 PM	#3
Dreadjaws Join Date: Mar 2010 Reputation: 906 Posts: 3,127	Well, QTEs are not for everyone, specially if you get tired of them after seeing them in so many games. It's fine if you like games that test your reflexes, but if you want that, just play Simon. This is an adventure game, and people prefer a more direct control over the characters. I liked the game, I didn't hate it as much as everyone seems to do, but it's excruciatingly linear. Except for the ending, there are not two ways to do one thing, it's as scripted as it goes, it barely qualifies as a game, is more of an interactive movie. Also, coming from a long line of very similar adventure titles from Telltale, this title took us by surprise with an entirely different "control" scheme. We were expecting something very different and that shook away part of the excitement. Besides, the game will constantly change what character you're controlling, not giving enough time to flesh them out for us to care enough about them. Granted, that's not necessarily true for all the characters, but you practically have to play the game in one sitting to actually get to know them well. This is a special problem, considering how terribly generic the characters are. It shouldn't be so difficult to connect with them. Had this game been released in episodes, we wouldn't remember anything about the characters with each new one. Speaking of the gameplay, the puzzles are too few and far between, which is a shame, because some of them are very clever. But the QTEs make me feel bad, not because of the QTEs themselves, but because of what we see represented on the screen thanks to them. The characters will outrun and outsmart the dinos so easily you'll feel you're being attacked by drunk old men instead. You'll rarely feel threatened, and that's a serious step back from the movies. And I have no real issue with the graphics. They fall in the middle of realistic graphics and classic Telltale cartoonish characters. But this presents a problem when dinos come into scene. The dinos are realistic Jurassic Park-like, while the characters have a slightly more cartoonish look, and they don't fit well with one another. But the biggest problem with the game are the bugs. This game feels unfinished. While I experienced no crashes during my playthrough I noticed that I missed QTEs not for bad reflexes, but for obvious unresponsive controls. Also, sometimes some QTE prompts don't show up on screen sometimes and you'll be penalized for it, despite the fact it wasn't your fault. All in all, a mediocre game that should have been released as direct-to-DVD animated film instead.

12-22-2011, 05:56 PM	#4
Stoib Join Date: Aug 2011 Reputation: 332 Posts: 1,056	Cheers for the feedback, as a long time fan of Telltale and adventure games in general it saddens me to hear all that Hopefully the lackluster reviews and score will bring the price down even further in the near future, as I would still be interested in picking it up for the story at the very least. To be honest I was slightly disappointed in Back to the future also, hope this trend doesn't carry over to the Walking dead

01-01-2012, 10:35 AM	#6
Gordon He-Man Join Date: Aug 2005 Reputation: 1829 Posts: 2,493	There's nothing WRONG with QTEs per se as long as they WORK when the buttons are pressed! ...oh, and your mouse-arrow doesn't suddenly disappear for no reason! ...oh, and you can't re-do a recent [pink-hearts]-up because of the above mentioned, without having to return to the chapter start. That's just off the top of my head.