Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

[The Great JT]

Really, I can't stand the Nintendo Wii. I'm over its gimmicks of motion control. If I wanted to play motion-control baseball, I'd go get some buddies together and go to the park. Same applies with basketball, football, blah blah blah.

But then there's the problem of "causal gaming." Look, I can understand not wanting to delve half the day into beating one part of a really hard game. That's all well and good. But then there are hardcore gamers who actually care about gaming. Now I don't think casual gaming is in any way bad, but I do think it's kind of a step backwards. Casual games like Peggle, Bejeweled and Zuma are nothing but glorified flash games, and packaging them and shipping them out to the masses is nothing short of a ripoff. Especially since for $20 American more you could get the newest blood-and-guts murder-thon.

Y'know, looking at that too, why are most of the games these days killfests? What happened to playing a game because it's fun? No, I'm not talking about games like Madden, I have severe reservations about copy-pasting last year's exact copy of Madden '89 with only slight graphical and gameplay tweaks in that it's not game development it's re-selling garbage. I mean games like...uh...oh who am I trying to kid, the over-the-top splatterfests are fun. But seriously, not every game needs to be guns that shoot red mist clouds. I mean look at Portal, the only example I've ever seen of 3D puzzle games that works. No violence there (unless you step in front of a turret). Just you, a portal gun and a computer egging you on.

 

[crooked_ferret]

As for the entire Nintendo thing, as much as I love Yahtzee, I think he's got a bit of a double standard going. In his Gears of War 2 review, he says that things that are mainstream, in order to stay mainstream and profitable, have to stay the same. I think that's what the Mario, Metroid, and Zelda hardcore gamers are looking for, more of the same. But that's what he rags on Nintendo for doing. I've been playing DDR for 9 years now, and all I expect out of the next version is new songs.

While I agree with you to an extent, I think you're also missing the point to an extent. A hardcore gamer will get bored without some form of innovation or some little addition to breathe a little life back into the game.

Let's step away from console/pc controller/feedback bashing for a minute and look at personal experience.

I'll take an example for myself, I loved the original FEAR, and even Extraction Point the first expansion I still considered a good game. Everything that came after that though, was just more of the same to me. Nothing was new, and granted I played the games, I just didn't really enjoy them at all. There was no real challenge because of course by then I had basically mastered the combat system for the game and it was a dead straight play through. I did not die one time playing through the recently released FEAR 2, and don't misunderstand that's not a brag at all. That's actually a criticism.

If you are playing the same thing over and over, and you are actually a committed gamer the AI quickly becomes ridiculously predictable, the game format holds no challenge and story development often seems to start moving backwards or parallel to such a degree all real interest is lost. It's no longer a good game, it's a trivial way to pass the time.

Placating the mainstream crowd and the 'hardcore' gamer, I think to a degree go hand in hand. I honestly don't think anyone wants the exact same thing over and over again, if that was the case we'd all still be playing pong in full glorious monochrome.

We all want something innovative and new... and even if it doesn't work most true gamers will at least give the game credit for trying. This was true with Mirror's Edge. It may have missed the mark but it was different enough to warrant mention by just about everyone I know that played it. Even Yahtzee here gave it a bit of honorable mention for just trying, and I honestly felt the same.

I'll stop there because my post is getting as long as his article. I hope I made my point to some extent though.

 

[Tuniki]

I regard casual games as a brain cleanser, a mental sorbet, something light to enjoy before you goad a Big Daddy into charging through tripwires and landmines or taking yet another hack at passing Painkiller.

As for the entire Nintendo thing, as much as I love Yahtzee, I think he's got a bit of a double standard going. In his Gears of War 2 review, he says that things that are mainstream, in order to stay mainstream and profitable, have to stay the same. I think that's what the Mario, Metroid, and Zelda hardcore gamers are looking for, more of the same. But that's what he rags on Nintendo for doing. I've been playing DDR for 9 years now, and all I expect out of the next version is new songs.

Unfortunately for you and me I belive the dream is dying.

I still don't see why these people don't leave their options open.
I'm sure they probably make the light fluffy 'softcore' stuff for other systems (not that I would notice) but if this teaches Nintendo a lesson and puts them in the toilet then I say good show, we learned.

 

[Angrywyvern]

I've never been a fan of game devs trying to make gameplay ultra realistic because then we end up with situations such as this. As soon as you get into the game immersion starts to break as soon as there is some slight flaw or imperfection which there will ALWAYS be. Games like this deserve to be movies, not an interactive experience. Realism is dull and tedious. I'd rather be having a sword fight with a velociraptor on a tightrope over a pit of lava.

Yeah, the uncanny valley effect, a game needs to either be unrealistic or perfectly realistic (which is almost impossible) or people feel uncomfortable.

Also, I agree that the showdowns would have worked a lot better if the game had given the player a choice on how he wanted to go about doing them, or if he wanted to do them at all.

 

[ddq5]

Well at least he changed the quotation formatting to italics. I'm happy.

 

[Goldeneye103X2]

At least the showdowns are more kind of realistic this time round. Unlike the previous game's inconsistency of waving the bloody crosshairs everywhere like your characters right arm is made of jelly. Although the ability to sidestep left and right like a very quick bunny would have been very useful here.

Still, COJ:BIB is one of the better western shooters around, at least 'til red dead redemption comes out.

 

[_Algernon]

One thing, though - if the "Hardcore" mantle belongs to the righteous, the just, etc., what's the term for those OCD tweakers who fixate on hoarding cheevos and boast of plowing through five shitty games a week just to get their GamerScore up?

I've heard such people claiming the title as their own - perhaps only because "Hardcore Gamer" sounds sexier than "Compulsive Gamer", "Problem Gamer", etc...

 

[Pillypill]

I'm surprissed that there arn't just as many western games as there are irritating, repetitive, worn down, ww2 ,call of duty 2 (not 1 or 3 or waw) wannabe's. i can only think of 4 western games.( and one of thems about poker!)

 

[Dan Shive]

Nintendo has a grip on us and they know it. Sure, we might whine a bunch about not getting Mario or Zelda games, but once they make one? We'll be there to eat them up. There are enough people who grew up on these games that the nostalgia factor will continue to draw us in, and once we're drawn in, the games are generally well done.

Yahtzee's point has greater strength, however, when one considers the counter-nostalgia factor of the Wii's controls. Yes, it's great to see Mario, Link and their band of hooligans on screen, but the nostalgia is weakened by the simple fact that the controls feel radically different. Up through the Gamecube, the controllers have felt like upgrades to the original controller. Now we have a completely different setup where we're flailing a stick around, and it might still be fun, but it doesn't feel the same. As far as simple nostalgia's concerned, that's a strike against it.

 

[Stabby Joe]

Bitter but true words with the last statements about last week's Wii Resort. However I will put some of the blame on the hardcore NINTENDO fan since the only reason Nintendo went with the casual market is they lost out in the last few generations, and I'd say that those who previously owned their consoles clearly didn't buy enough as opposed to hardcore games on other systems (PC to).

As for CoJ... meh. I'm not entirely sold, I mean I'm sure it has fun elements but I'm getting to impression that its good enough, but I'm low on cash right now and so good enough isn't... good enough. I want great.

 

[Kollega]

The willy joke is ingenious. And overall,Extra Punctuations is a good thing,because it manages to be informative while retaining dick jokes.

 

[crooked_ferret]

The willy joke is ingenious. And overall,Extra Punctuations is a good thing,because it manages to be informative while retaining dick jokes.

and after all that's why we're all really here now isn't

..oh wait


WTF!?!

 

[zenoaugustus]

I remember playing Red Dead Revolver. Every major boss fight amounted to a showdown, which I never understood. It seems like Call of Juarez is the same way. I feel like showdowns are cool concepts for Western games, but they ultimately ruin the experience when as Yathzee said in the review, "It's not just that it's repetitive; with difficulty curves being what they are each one has to be harder than the last, and the only way to do that is to make the baddie draw faster." I was able to beat the last boss, but it just seems ridiculous that you have to be perfect by the end of the game with the showdowns. I understand the oppenent is the compurter generated AI, but they are supposed to act human, therefore have flaws. I think the idea should be left out of games, except perhaps in minigames, or perhaps a showdown tournament. In Red Dead Revolver, there was a tournament of showdowns. If it had been just that tournament, I probably would have walked away with a different opinion of these showdowns in Western games.

 

[bjj hero]

Im all for the odd boss fight where you just shoot the guy in the face with little or no resistance. It can work really well.

Examples include the end of The Darkness, parts of rainbow 6 and the end of COD 4.

IT fit with the story and was good as it was a change from the rest of the game. If a level is fun and challenging it doesn't always need a boss fight at the end.

Other ideas include a "boss" type event. Eg: Having to run some sort of gauntlet to plant TNT in the right place of a mine/building/bridge/etc. The last boss bit could be a simple as lighting the fuse and watching your hard work come to fruition.

We've had last bosses since the 80's. Think outside the box a little more.

 

[squid5580]

Lets start a charity for all of those poor characters afflicted with cutscene stupidity. Together we can find a cure.

And thank you for laying out the definition of hardcore gamer. Well done.

 

[hansari]

My god.

A description of a "hardcore" gamer that doesn't instantly insult anyone who doesn't play Halo/Gears of War/whatever other casual bullshit is masquerading as "hardcore" these days?

I'm in shock.

Yes all praise be to Yahtzee's literary prowess!

 

[TheEnglishman]

Personally these articles of Yahtzee's are revealing him to be quite the radicalist.

Yes I feel he's hitting the target, but than he continues to pummel away at the target till it's a bloody pulp.

Just because you own a Wii doesn't mean you're betraying gaming and hard core gamers. You can compromise, I own a PS3 and a Wii and play on them both quite equally. There are middle grounds. There are casual gamers who own Wii's and want Mario and Zelda games, and they want a game to be good, I've yet to mett a person looking for a bad game to play.

And pardon me, but aren't the gamers who buy a large proportion of the Mario, Zelda, Sonic ect stuff the casual gaming audience, the one's who aren't wise enough like the hard core guys to know they suck. The creators of Sonic have admitted the only make for the kids nower says, I'm fairly certain, you, yes you Mr Yahtzee have mentioned this fact amongst your video's.

Yahtzee is begining to feel like the guy who goes "What!? You don't want believe in the death penalty!? You want murderers and rapists to walk the streets free as a bird!?!?"

I still enjoy Yahtzee, I'm just finding his imperfections more noticeable now that the honey moon is over. So, that's my rant over with, I'll fall back in line to continue to kiss Yathzee's tanned and trilby wearing arse.

Edit: 100th post, whooo!

 

[heatbox]

I think the real question here is 'do you like Nintendo'? I don't think Yahtzee does. At least not anymore. And that's fine. But don't try and make that seem like Nintendo's fault. They have been the same company with the same mentality since the NES. They have always gone after kids and parents and people who enjoy fun, whimsical games. They are the Disney of this business. . . or the Pixar, maybe. Don't be mad at them because you are not a kid, or a parent, and long ago lost your last shining gem of fanciful thought. Yahtzee, you think Nintendo will "have nothing but a broken gimmick and all the long-term hardcore players they betrayed." But when you are even older the kids in the families with Wiis of today will be twenty-somethings then, and will look back on the Wii as we do the NES. And the wheel will turn again.

 

[ohgodalex]

Not so much interested in how we can fix Call of Juarez but in Yahtzee's description of hardcore gamers. It was almost breathtaking.

Enjoyed the little dig at QTEs, especially since it indirectly mocked RE5 for associating such an irritating gameplay mechanic to moving boulders.

Personally these articles of Yahtzee's are revealing him to be quite the radicalist.

Yes I feel he's hitting the target, but than he continues to pummel away at the target till it's a bloody pulp.

Just because you own a Wii doesn't mean you're betraying gaming and hard core gamers. You can compromise, I own a PS3 and a Wii and play on them both quite equally. There are middle grounds. There are casual gamers who own Wii's and want Mario and Zelda games, and they want a game to be good, I've yet to mett a person looking for a bad game to play.

I'm almost certain that you've missed the point entirely, good sir. He never suggested that Wii owners had betrayed anyone, but that Nintendo had betrayed their former audience.