Reality's Fringe
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- 8 (100%)
Posted this in the wrong forum, so I moved it here. Sorry.
I gave this a rent on Thursday and I finished it up, only a scant two nights later.
I felt it was necessary to let everyone know that this is, despite its greater flaws, an extremely entertaining game. I don't want to launch into an in-depth review here, but I'll list some main points(Note Iplayed the Gamecube Version):
1. It's gritty, it's violent, it's professionally voiced. This is a game of Deadwood caliber, which means lots of profanity and stuff getting shot at.There's tons of racism and colloquial terms as well, sono happy horseshit here. Chinese people are called "Coolies" and Native Americans are either "savages", "redskins", or "indians" and are extremely caricitured (for some odd reason) so don't expect a politically correct game.
The voice acting is well done, and despite the fact that the plot is fairly standard, the overall narration is very entertaining despite it's brevity and lack of development. Events happen at a rapid fire pace, and the game never develops them for more than a few scenes. You'll go from being*minor spoiler* a deputy to an outlaw to a prisoner to a blackfoot brave*end minor spoiler* extremely quickly which leaves you feeling hollow. You barely get to know the characters before you're thrust into another misadventure. The fact that the game is well scripted saves the pacing from being completely shallow and uninteresting.
2. Stuff splatters real nice like. An overlooked detail in most violent games is the ability to do body model damage. Thankfully, Neversoft tries to answer the visceral "Call of the gamer" by adding apendages that blow off with big pools of crimson goodness. Be it pistol, shotgun, rifle, sharpshooter or bow; limbs and chunks of head will be flying everywhere regardless of whether you're a bad shot or not. I did a little test, and there seems to be 6 areas which you can blow off of the game's inhabitants. These are: head, foot, tibial area, femoral area, forearm area, and bicep/tricep area(yeah, I'm not a bio major). There may be more, but I haven't really taken a ton of time to do more precise shots. Luckily your weapons are well-suited to the task of dismemberment and you eventually get such weapons as a double-barreled shotgun, a bow with exploding arrows (ripe for comedy), and a .69 caliber rifle (not a sharpshooter, but a regular rifle) which is hilariously powerful.
It's the small details that make the splatter extra special, though. Shooting people in the head with a shotgun/powerful rifle gets you a chunky red explosion as the hat they were wearing floats down and lands on top of their crumpled body. I remmeber blowing a guy off of his horse with a shot to the chest, and his hat remained where his head had been for a moment before floating down. I was laughing pretty hard at that one. Another time I lost a hand of texas Hold-Em, so I shot an explosive arrow into a nearby prostitute, blasting her torso onto a nearby moose head. Your experience will be full of stuff like this as well. Oh, and did I mention you can scalp people while they scream like little girls? Violent? Yes. Gratuitous? Yes. Sweet? Oh hell yeah.
3.It's pretty, but with a caveat. This game was clearly deisgned with next gens in mind, as there are graphical glitches abound. Clipping problems, popup, choppiness, a lot of stiff animation, and some drab areas are the main problems. Yet, when the game wants to be majestic, it pulls it off with gusto. Riding through a trail of dut which obscures your view of the main character, herding cattle through the Badlands as the sun sets over a nearby red mountain, and sneaking out of town in the middle of the night are all examples of just how well the scenery and atmosphere can be pulled off. The game's musical score is also fantastic, particularly the main title track(also used in game) which is composed of melancholy string instruments. Other pieces include Native american tribal style music and typical western fare. Good stuff.
4. It's too short and easy, damnit. I beat this game in about 3 nights on Normal difficulty. I don't know how many hours that was, but the only night I really played it a great deal was Thursday night. I also completed all of the side quests except for the Texas Hold 'Em thing as I'm not a big poker fan. It's too short, too too short, and I feel this can be attributed to the lack of plot development. It just goes by too fast. If I didn't do the side missions (which is basically a terrible idea because doing side missions nets you cash for upgrades and increases your stats) I swear the game would only be about 6 hours long. The overworld is huge, but feels mostly empty unless you're on a sidequest.
Another problem in this department was that none of the sequences or boss battles are difficult (save the final abttle, which is a bit tough). I didn't die on a boss until 85% of the way through the game, and I came back and stomped ass the second time. Colton (the main character) is just too badass for them to handle. This is both a good and bad thing.
Final thought: Wait for it on the 360 if you're getting one, otherwise wait for a price drop and then buy it. I can't see spending $50 on the game, but $29.99 or $39.99 should be the magic price for you. If the game were longer, more involved, and had a few more graphical tweaks then it'd be worth the $50. As it stands, just wait a while to get it, but you'll be doing yourself a huge disservice if you pass this oneup. Kudos to Activision and Neversoft. The Wild West needs more games.
4 out of 5 Jack Thompsons. Ungodly and violent, but many savage heathens die.
I gave this a rent on Thursday and I finished it up, only a scant two nights later.
I felt it was necessary to let everyone know that this is, despite its greater flaws, an extremely entertaining game. I don't want to launch into an in-depth review here, but I'll list some main points(Note Iplayed the Gamecube Version):
1. It's gritty, it's violent, it's professionally voiced. This is a game of Deadwood caliber, which means lots of profanity and stuff getting shot at.There's tons of racism and colloquial terms as well, sono happy horseshit here. Chinese people are called "Coolies" and Native Americans are either "savages", "redskins", or "indians" and are extremely caricitured (for some odd reason) so don't expect a politically correct game.
The voice acting is well done, and despite the fact that the plot is fairly standard, the overall narration is very entertaining despite it's brevity and lack of development. Events happen at a rapid fire pace, and the game never develops them for more than a few scenes. You'll go from being*minor spoiler* a deputy to an outlaw to a prisoner to a blackfoot brave*end minor spoiler* extremely quickly which leaves you feeling hollow. You barely get to know the characters before you're thrust into another misadventure. The fact that the game is well scripted saves the pacing from being completely shallow and uninteresting.
2. Stuff splatters real nice like. An overlooked detail in most violent games is the ability to do body model damage. Thankfully, Neversoft tries to answer the visceral "Call of the gamer" by adding apendages that blow off with big pools of crimson goodness. Be it pistol, shotgun, rifle, sharpshooter or bow; limbs and chunks of head will be flying everywhere regardless of whether you're a bad shot or not. I did a little test, and there seems to be 6 areas which you can blow off of the game's inhabitants. These are: head, foot, tibial area, femoral area, forearm area, and bicep/tricep area(yeah, I'm not a bio major). There may be more, but I haven't really taken a ton of time to do more precise shots. Luckily your weapons are well-suited to the task of dismemberment and you eventually get such weapons as a double-barreled shotgun, a bow with exploding arrows (ripe for comedy), and a .69 caliber rifle (not a sharpshooter, but a regular rifle) which is hilariously powerful.
It's the small details that make the splatter extra special, though. Shooting people in the head with a shotgun/powerful rifle gets you a chunky red explosion as the hat they were wearing floats down and lands on top of their crumpled body. I remmeber blowing a guy off of his horse with a shot to the chest, and his hat remained where his head had been for a moment before floating down. I was laughing pretty hard at that one. Another time I lost a hand of texas Hold-Em, so I shot an explosive arrow into a nearby prostitute, blasting her torso onto a nearby moose head. Your experience will be full of stuff like this as well. Oh, and did I mention you can scalp people while they scream like little girls? Violent? Yes. Gratuitous? Yes. Sweet? Oh hell yeah.
3.It's pretty, but with a caveat. This game was clearly deisgned with next gens in mind, as there are graphical glitches abound. Clipping problems, popup, choppiness, a lot of stiff animation, and some drab areas are the main problems. Yet, when the game wants to be majestic, it pulls it off with gusto. Riding through a trail of dut which obscures your view of the main character, herding cattle through the Badlands as the sun sets over a nearby red mountain, and sneaking out of town in the middle of the night are all examples of just how well the scenery and atmosphere can be pulled off. The game's musical score is also fantastic, particularly the main title track(also used in game) which is composed of melancholy string instruments. Other pieces include Native american tribal style music and typical western fare. Good stuff.
4. It's too short and easy, damnit. I beat this game in about 3 nights on Normal difficulty. I don't know how many hours that was, but the only night I really played it a great deal was Thursday night. I also completed all of the side quests except for the Texas Hold 'Em thing as I'm not a big poker fan. It's too short, too too short, and I feel this can be attributed to the lack of plot development. It just goes by too fast. If I didn't do the side missions (which is basically a terrible idea because doing side missions nets you cash for upgrades and increases your stats) I swear the game would only be about 6 hours long. The overworld is huge, but feels mostly empty unless you're on a sidequest.
Another problem in this department was that none of the sequences or boss battles are difficult (save the final abttle, which is a bit tough). I didn't die on a boss until 85% of the way through the game, and I came back and stomped ass the second time. Colton (the main character) is just too badass for them to handle. This is both a good and bad thing.
Final thought: Wait for it on the 360 if you're getting one, otherwise wait for a price drop and then buy it. I can't see spending $50 on the game, but $29.99 or $39.99 should be the magic price for you. If the game were longer, more involved, and had a few more graphical tweaks then it'd be worth the $50. As it stands, just wait a while to get it, but you'll be doing yourself a huge disservice if you pass this oneup. Kudos to Activision and Neversoft. The Wild West needs more games.
4 out of 5 Jack Thompsons. Ungodly and violent, but many savage heathens die.
