What would otherwise be good games...
Yesterday brought a bonanza to my mailbox in the form of two highly anticipated video games: Killzone 3 for the PS3 along with the sharpshooter accessory and Bulletstorm for the PC (Games for LIVE version). The former had received plenty of coverage leading up to its launch, so I was more interested in getting Bulletstorm installed to see it in action. Let's just say it wasn't a buttery-smooth endeavor.
I have other Games for LIVE (GFL) titles, so I wasn't completely unfamiliar with the process. It has changed over the last year or so, though, meaning that the service has evolved. In essense, it allows you to link your PC games to your global LIVE account that can cover Xbox Live, Zune, and MSN. That means you can get achievements to help your Gamerscore, edit your profile, and make in-game purchases using your MS Points like you would on a console. The problem comes with the way it is implemented. Windows doesn't have integrated LIVE support, probably for the best, so the kit has to be installed. The Marketplace is a separate package and likewise has to be installed if you want to purchase anything or use promo codes. The problem is that they don't really work.
My copy of Bulletstorm is the retail (GFL) Limited Edition which includes an insert card with the download code for the bonus content that distinguishes that version from the standard flavor. The install of the game wasn't too bad. The fun started when I started the game up for the first time. I got to the title screen which asked me to press [ENTER], so I did. Instead of a main menu, it prompted me that a LIVE profile is needed and to press [SPACE] to continue. Right off the bat, it annoyed me and would continue to do so. Some selections are made with [ENTER], others with [SPACE]; if you change any settings, you have to hit [V] and then [SPACE] or else it all resets when it leaves the menu. In the actual game, Reload and Use are the same key as are Jump and Sprint. Context helps, but why not a more traditional FPS configuration? So I start to link my LIVE profile to the game when it finds an update and requires I exit the game to apply it. I'm returned to the title screen with the [ENTER] prompt. If I hit that key again, it requires I sign into LIVE; if I refuse to sign in, it returns me to the screen again; [ALT+F4] doesn't close it, rather functions the same as [ENTER], so how the hell do you exit the damned game?! I ended up opening the task manager and closed it that way, but then it threw errors because I closed it improperly. It worked on the second attempt, though, fuck if I know why. So the update installs and the game hangs at opening. I have to reset my PC. Then it starts to link my profile when I sign in next launch, only to require *sigh* another update.
I finally ake it to the title screen, the one with options and modes to select, and decide to activate my LE bonuses. I try the DLC option on the menu, but nothing there. I read the card again. It claims there should be an option on the screen to "Redeem Bulletstorm Limited Edition Code". No. No there isn't. After some endless hunting, I find a general GFL redeem code option in my profile and enter the code there. SUCCESS. Preface that with an "UN", since it wouldn't download, throwing an error with each attempt. I eventually figured out that the Marketplace module needed to be reinstalled and did that. Only to meet the same result, likely needing a reboot. 'Fuck it' I said and started the game. Aside from the controls issue and some improper scaling at ultra-widescreen (had to drop down to 1920x1200 for comfort), the game looks promising. Even at 5760x1200, the game ran smoothly, so the engine shouldn't have an issue with a more standard rig. The combat can be lame thanks to enemies who can withstand far too many shots, but the catch involves "Skillshots". Skillshots are like mini-achievements that are earned by dispatching your opponents in unique ways. There is one for headshot that gets a couple of points, one for kicking a guy into a cactus for a nice bonus, one for shooting a running foe in the leg so he falls and killing him with an ass-shot. Armed with a grappling-beam-like "leash" and a kicking boot Duke Nukem would be proud of, combos come in many fashions and skillshots are the goal. Each successful one earns currency to upgrade weapons and resupply. The game makes you act crazy, rewarding chaos. Shame that it has to be such a pain in the ass to get started.
The other title, Killzone 3, wasn't exactly broken, but it did have a couple of faults. The first is not unique to this game let me start off. Some games include a fancy opening sequence that can set the tone or reveal some backstory. Some of these can be pretty awesome and Killzone 3 is well above average. When you finally get the necessary updates to start the game, you select your language, sit through a warning screen about 3D and the fact it is an option, and see a few slides about motion controls with the note that you have to calibrate them before you use them. Okay, formalities aside, let's get the 3D going and the Move calibrated! [START]. The opening sequence plays, but I'm pressed for time; I'll watch it later. [START]. Nothing. I hit every button on the damned controllers with no results. You have to sit through the whole cinematic to get to the title screen. I understand that a lot of time, money, and effort when into making it, but couldn't you make it optional, or, barring that, something that plays AFTER the title screen, say the start of a new campaign? It's not short, either. So switching on 3D was easy. Motion controls, notsomuch. I'll forgive it for asking essentially the same task twice in a row, but no matter how many times I "shot" the two targets and adjusted the senstivity, I couldn't get the crosshairs to track. Just when I found a setting that seemed to be good enough, it was time for me to go. So no actual gameplay. Just twenty minutes of a cinematic and shooting two logos ad nauseum.
So two games with great promise of which I was able to play what I believe to be just past the prologue of one of them. That was in a span of roughly two hours. Sometimes I miss the days when starting up a game was as simple as shoving a plastic cartridge into a slot and hitting the power button (and reseating the cart until the light stops blinking). Of course, once I get into Bulletstorm and Killzone 3, I'll appreciate how far technology has come. Until the next two-hour battle to get the next game ready to play.
I have other Games for LIVE (GFL) titles, so I wasn't completely unfamiliar with the process. It has changed over the last year or so, though, meaning that the service has evolved. In essense, it allows you to link your PC games to your global LIVE account that can cover Xbox Live, Zune, and MSN. That means you can get achievements to help your Gamerscore, edit your profile, and make in-game purchases using your MS Points like you would on a console. The problem comes with the way it is implemented. Windows doesn't have integrated LIVE support, probably for the best, so the kit has to be installed. The Marketplace is a separate package and likewise has to be installed if you want to purchase anything or use promo codes. The problem is that they don't really work.
My copy of Bulletstorm is the retail (GFL) Limited Edition which includes an insert card with the download code for the bonus content that distinguishes that version from the standard flavor. The install of the game wasn't too bad. The fun started when I started the game up for the first time. I got to the title screen which asked me to press [ENTER], so I did. Instead of a main menu, it prompted me that a LIVE profile is needed and to press [SPACE] to continue. Right off the bat, it annoyed me and would continue to do so. Some selections are made with [ENTER], others with [SPACE]; if you change any settings, you have to hit [V] and then [SPACE] or else it all resets when it leaves the menu. In the actual game, Reload and Use are the same key as are Jump and Sprint. Context helps, but why not a more traditional FPS configuration? So I start to link my LIVE profile to the game when it finds an update and requires I exit the game to apply it. I'm returned to the title screen with the [ENTER] prompt. If I hit that key again, it requires I sign into LIVE; if I refuse to sign in, it returns me to the screen again; [ALT+F4] doesn't close it, rather functions the same as [ENTER], so how the hell do you exit the damned game?! I ended up opening the task manager and closed it that way, but then it threw errors because I closed it improperly. It worked on the second attempt, though, fuck if I know why. So the update installs and the game hangs at opening. I have to reset my PC. Then it starts to link my profile when I sign in next launch, only to require *sigh* another update.
I finally ake it to the title screen, the one with options and modes to select, and decide to activate my LE bonuses. I try the DLC option on the menu, but nothing there. I read the card again. It claims there should be an option on the screen to "Redeem Bulletstorm Limited Edition Code". No. No there isn't. After some endless hunting, I find a general GFL redeem code option in my profile and enter the code there. SUCCESS. Preface that with an "UN", since it wouldn't download, throwing an error with each attempt. I eventually figured out that the Marketplace module needed to be reinstalled and did that. Only to meet the same result, likely needing a reboot. 'Fuck it' I said and started the game. Aside from the controls issue and some improper scaling at ultra-widescreen (had to drop down to 1920x1200 for comfort), the game looks promising. Even at 5760x1200, the game ran smoothly, so the engine shouldn't have an issue with a more standard rig. The combat can be lame thanks to enemies who can withstand far too many shots, but the catch involves "Skillshots". Skillshots are like mini-achievements that are earned by dispatching your opponents in unique ways. There is one for headshot that gets a couple of points, one for kicking a guy into a cactus for a nice bonus, one for shooting a running foe in the leg so he falls and killing him with an ass-shot. Armed with a grappling-beam-like "leash" and a kicking boot Duke Nukem would be proud of, combos come in many fashions and skillshots are the goal. Each successful one earns currency to upgrade weapons and resupply. The game makes you act crazy, rewarding chaos. Shame that it has to be such a pain in the ass to get started.
The other title, Killzone 3, wasn't exactly broken, but it did have a couple of faults. The first is not unique to this game let me start off. Some games include a fancy opening sequence that can set the tone or reveal some backstory. Some of these can be pretty awesome and Killzone 3 is well above average. When you finally get the necessary updates to start the game, you select your language, sit through a warning screen about 3D and the fact it is an option, and see a few slides about motion controls with the note that you have to calibrate them before you use them. Okay, formalities aside, let's get the 3D going and the Move calibrated! [START]. The opening sequence plays, but I'm pressed for time; I'll watch it later. [START]. Nothing. I hit every button on the damned controllers with no results. You have to sit through the whole cinematic to get to the title screen. I understand that a lot of time, money, and effort when into making it, but couldn't you make it optional, or, barring that, something that plays AFTER the title screen, say the start of a new campaign? It's not short, either. So switching on 3D was easy. Motion controls, notsomuch. I'll forgive it for asking essentially the same task twice in a row, but no matter how many times I "shot" the two targets and adjusted the senstivity, I couldn't get the crosshairs to track. Just when I found a setting that seemed to be good enough, it was time for me to go. So no actual gameplay. Just twenty minutes of a cinematic and shooting two logos ad nauseum.
So two games with great promise of which I was able to play what I believe to be just past the prologue of one of them. That was in a span of roughly two hours. Sometimes I miss the days when starting up a game was as simple as shoving a plastic cartridge into a slot and hitting the power button (and reseating the cart until the light stops blinking). Of course, once I get into Bulletstorm and Killzone 3, I'll appreciate how far technology has come. Until the next two-hour battle to get the next game ready to play.