Metro Exodus- E3 2017

Originally Posted by crpgnut
I couldn't get into Metro at all. I just lost all interest in less than 15 minutes. The game didn't seem to have an inventory or much of anything else. It was like a totally scripted corridor shooter where the only choice was whether to fire your weapon. I might try that new Wolfenstein though.

The opening level is indeed very much a corridor, but you never gave the game a chance with only 0.5 hours of play time.

Still, the Metro games aren't for everyone. I enjoyed them, but I can completely understand why you wouldn't like them.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Joxer prefers the Ubisoft style of hunting down collectibles and magically unlocking new weapons by completing various tasks. Some people like their games to be gamey.

I like destroying trashmob nests so they don't continue to respawn. Or burning corpses.
IIRC The Witcher 2 is not Ubisoft game.
Collectibles? You mean grinding in recent Prey to collect enough of exotic material? No, I don't like that.

Dunno what some people like. I know I didn't see Dodo anywhere lately.

I mean collectibles that have no logical place in the game world and exist solely as an achievement for the player.

Originally Posted by joxer
I know I didn't see Dodo anywhere lately.

There's one right above me.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I mean collectibles that have no logical place in the game world and exist solely as an achievement for the player.

There is only one achievement I care about:
- Completed the game and did all sidequests.

Everything else like, kill this and that x times, collect something y times, perform a triple salto whatever, reach levelcap, buy DLC… Does anyone even care about that bullshit?
Okay I admit, I did get "collected all epads" achievement in DX:MD, but that's a result of exploring everything trying to find praxis kits and stuff, I wasn't looking for tablets. You won't see me bragging about it here. But you'll see me bragging I have sidequests solved achievements unlike review sites that didn't do all sidequests but lied to their audience that they did.

Originally Posted by JDR13
The opening level is indeed very much a corridor, but you never gave the game a chance with only 0.5 hours of play time.

Still, the Metro games aren't for everyone. I enjoyed them, but I can completely understand why you wouldn't like them.

Yeah, I'll go back to it again. I think I just was looking for something different. I bought it and the STALKER series at the same time and the latter got my interest. I've grown bored with those though, so I'm looking for something fantasy/magic oriented now. Something with lots of loot hidden for the explorer types

I was wondering what happened to these folks with the fighting between russia and ukraine. THe games are a bit linear I guess but they tend to have a strong story.

Originally Posted by JDR13
You really thought TNO was good though? Other than the visuals, I found it pretty disappointing. It just didn't feel much like Wolfenstein to me.

Yes, absolutely. I loved the Nazi utopia. They did an outstanding job in my opinion to properly capture the look and feel as well as the atmosphere (Eisenwald prison was a very memorable level to me for example).

I also really liked the characterization from Blazkowicz to Anya and that resistance leader whose name I can't remember right now . I generally liked the atmosphere of operating as a member of the resistance from a safehouse against the omnipresent über oppressive Nazi terror regime. They did a good job to convey that feeling of nightmarish oppression and trepidation in a lot of scenes.

The art design was awesome and the level design was also really good. The entire creative team at Machine Games did an outstanding job to imagine, depict and deliver this very unique and unusual non-generic setting.
Overall, I thought it felt Wolfenstein-y enough since you got to kill lots and lots of Nazis .

No, seriously, TNO and The Old Blood definitely rank among my most favorite FPS in the 2010s thanks to the well balanced mix of atmosphere, gameplay, visuals, characters and story. They're just great, short, very enjoyable popcorn entertainment shooters for when you're in the mood for this kind of game.

Co-incidentally I've been playing the first Metro over the last week. Yeah it's linear but it's not bothering me. Is interesting/engaging enough. Only raised eyebrow so far has been at there being Nazis in the game. It's what, 2033, and there's "nazis" in nuked out Moscow? A weak design choice if you ask me.

Originally Posted by porcozaur
looks good but video was so scripted

Not to be rude but I am going to be a bit. Aren't all games scripted and don't all games and movies try and and show you their best.

I am not a gun style game but this one does look good.

Originally Posted by KaosWarMonk
Co-incidentally I've been playing the first Metro over the last week. Yeah it's linear but it's not bothering me. Is interesting/engaging enough. Only raised eyebrow so far has been at there being Nazis in the game. It's what, 2033, and there's "nazis" in nuked out Moscow? A weak design choice if you ask me.

Ah yes.. the Fourth Reich. They evolved from a far right Neo-Nazi group after the apocalypse. I thought it was a pretty cool idea actually.

Originally Posted by Moriendor
Yes, absolutely. I loved the Nazi utopia. They did an outstanding job in my opinion to properly capture the look and feel as well as the atmosphere (Eisenwald prison was a very memorable level to me for example).

I also really liked the characterization from Blazkowicz to Anya and that resistance leader whose name I can't remember right now . I generally liked the atmosphere of operating as a member of the resistance from a safehouse against the omnipresent über oppressive Nazi terror regime. They did a good job to convey that feeling of nightmarish oppression and trepidation in a lot of scenes.

The art design was awesome and the level design was also really good. The entire creative team at Machine Games did an outstanding job to imagine, depict and deliver this very unique and unusual non-generic setting.
Overall, I thought it felt Wolfenstein-y enough since you got to kill lots and lots of Nazis .

I agree with most of that. Not the level design though. I thought that was just average. Combined with the horrible checkpoint-only save system, I found it frustrating on multiple occasions when I realized I had missed a secret and couldn't go back without restarting the entire level.

I also didn't care for the regenerating health, and I thought there was an overabundance of ammo in most areas. Those are just minor nitpicks though. I'll definitely be getting the sequel.

Oh yes, that reminds me of one of the few parts I did not like, i.e. the checkpoint saves.
I vaguely remember this multistage final boss fight where you had to fight that huge monstrosity and then jump down into some kind of pit and where the fight continued in a burning kind of catacomb underground level.
IIRC, the game made a checkpoint save before you jumped down into that pit so if you did not survive down there, you had to replay a rather tedious long part again (run around the ground level, pick up all the loot from the boss fight and then jump into the pit). That was really stupid.

Secrets aren't my thing in this kind of game, however. That did not bother me. While I do enjoy doing the little bits of exploration (for extra ammo, armor, medkits etc.) that are even possible in a corridor shooter like this, I don't have to find all the secrets. I prefer to somewhat keep up a run&gun pacing and not obsess over scouring every nook & cranny.
The secrets always feel a bit like a artificial timesink anyway. Most of these FPS dating back to the old days could be finished in just a few hours with pure run&gun so I guess the devs felt they needed to build in a "brake" in the form of secrets to prolong game time.

To me, the great part about TNO was the delightful delivery of an entertaining story - which was both tongue-in-cheek and quite brutal at the same time. It felt like a throwback to the action fests of yesteryear - but in a way that worked beyond my expectations.

It felt ever so slightly like Duke Nukem 3D - mostly based on the attitude of the protagonist and the brutality of the over-the-top violence, that obviously wasn't too serious in tone.

I still can't forget that wonderful scene on the train with that female Nazi testing you

I really enjoyed the storytelling - but found the gameplay ultra-derivative. Still, it was smooth and fast - and it worked well enough.

They nailed the feel - and the areas are full of atmosphere and immersion-building little bits of lore.