I remember when my Dad brought home my first PlayStation, along with Final Fanstasy VII. I was so excited to be clutching that monster case containing 3 discs. In a world where discs are becoming a thing of the past in favour of digital downloads, it seems crazy to think that any game created after 2010 would need anything like. This was not the case for L.A Noire on Xbox 360. Rockstar had put a lot of effort into their facial technology for this game, which was groundbreaking at the time, and it meant that actors would act scenes from the game to give a realistic feel to interviews in game, allowing us to judge their responses based on facial movements. This amount of data meant that the game had to span three discs on the Xbox format as they could not hold it on a single disc, unlike PlayStation who adopted the Blu-Ray disc format. Gamer’s became upset with having to swap discs throughout the game, questioning whether this technology was worth spending mass amounts of money on when facial animators could have done a similar job. We all enjoy a smooth running game experience and this is exactly what Xbox players didn’t
By far the biggest success story from GTA V Online ‘s DLC content has to be the heists. Surely you must be thinking; ” how is this a mistake, heists are great.” Well, you are not wrong there, as Heists are amazing. Originally part of the single player story, heist expansions allow you to co-op with up to four players to pull off big jobs online and earn that sweet, sweet dough. It isn’t the content itself that was the problem, it was the constant delays on release. After being announced, the addition was welcomed and eagerly awaited, only to be delayed by over a year. To cut a long story short, Rockstar had announced the heists without properly estimating just how big a job they were taking on. Fans kept waiting and it took a long time for them to come. Do the math next time g
GameStop stated that the game’s delay would not affect the overall sale of video games in the fall. This could be because the impact of the game has already lessened, meaning that it wouldn’t have been the end-all game many are hyping it up to be. Instead, moving it to the beginning of the year simply moves it out of the way of potentially bigger titles that could steal its sales. The holiday season is incredibly important in the games industry because everyone wants the best new game as a gift. Rockstar could have realized that even that time of year wouldn’t have helped Red Dead in any real way, so moving the game’s release date at least moved it out of the way of other big play
Getting back on topic, the problem with the controls is that they can be overly finicky. For example, mounting your horse and strangling a nearby pedestrian are assigned to the same button for whatever reason. Same goes with interacting with an item on the ground and say vaulting over a railing to your death. Throwing dynamite while in cover can also be hazardous as more than often it found itself on the cover in front of us. In addition, dealing with a horse is the biggest pain in the ass than anything else in video games and Red Dead Redemption 2 is no exception. The difference between this and Grand Theft Auto is that your vehicle won’t run away when it hears gunfire, ensuring you fail a mission when you need him. The physics can be a little wonky, too, as we had multiple instances where the horse could easily make a small dip or go over a rock, but instead decided to trip over its own feet, dying in the process once in a while. We even had an instance where it ran into another rider while in the cinematic camera angle (which allows you to put the controller down as the horse gallops to a set destination), something the recipient of the crash was not too happy about. Finally, I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to assign the run button (tapping X) to the horse, but there has to be a better way. As you can see, I’m not a big fan of horses in video games, as it consistently feels like you’re fighting with them, which doesn’t help with the already finicky controls.
Unfortunately, the last four major releases from Rockstar Games have all been delayed to some extent. No one really knows if this is simply unchecked hubris or Palworld save loss fix rather that they’re so meticulous about the quality of their games that delaying isn’t only an option, but vital. Rockstar doesn’t simply create new iterations in their existing franchises, they create technical masterpieces that push forward the industry and take hardware to its absolute limits. Will this game be delayed into 2018? Maybe. Will Red Dead Redemption 2 be any worse because of it? Absolutely not. Having your most anticipated game get delayed is a serious bummer, but having it ship as an unpolished product that receives critical backlash would probably feel worse. Here’s hoping Red Dead Redemption 2 releases in 2
Earlier, I mentioned how important Native Americans were to Western culture and how excited we are for the possibility of them sharing center stage. Another character that doesn’t get enough play in the Western genre happens to be the female outlaw. In the closing scene of the teaser trailer, it seems as though the left most rider happens to be a lady. Their clothing is brighter than the other and her body structure seems to lend itself to a more feminine figure. A lot of players feel as though there isn’t enough diversity when it comes to protagonists in video games. Having a leading lady that also happens to be a badass would be a great, but not necessarily a new addition to the Red Dead series. There have been plenty of awesome females in the franchise, but it would be great to finally play as