DOOM (4 / next)

[Rangers]

Kotaku rumor: Doom 4 "indefinitely postponed" because of poor Rage reception?

http://kotaku.com/5851953/doom-4-in...owing-rages-disappointing-launch?popular=true

Didn't exactly know where to put this.

 

[Rodéric]

Read that...
So is id realizing it put tech demos out more often than games ? ;p

 

[Richard]

(from the PC thread):

we've just had a denial of that whole "development is halted" silliness:

http://twitter.com/#!/DCDeacon/status/127376777755635712

 

[dobwal]

Given that id is under Zenimax now, maybe id should allow someone else to develop their storylines and gameplay while they stick to the engine and art creation.

 

[Svensk Viking]

Just give me old-school action and it will be GOTY

 

[Turok]

Given that id is under Zenimax now, maybe id should allow someone else to develop their storylines and gameplay while they stick to the engine and art creation.

Yeah, no. This is the worst idea in the history of the world.

 

[NRP]

I agree with dobwal. Id is at least two generations behind other devs in gameplay design (but only about 1 generation behind in visual design ).

Rage is mediocre in every sense of the word imo. I feel that too many people are giving id a free pass. If any other dev shipped a game this underwhelming, they would be crucified.

 

[fearsomepirate]

If Rage had been made by an unknown dev, half the critics would be proclaiming it GOTY. But since it's id, all of the sudden, having a silent protagonist (to name one of the many things that is suddenly unacceptable) makes it the worst game evar. I feel like people are compensating for not saying how bad Doom 3 was when they should have.

The only thing disappointing about the game is the length. If the second section (East Wastelands) had as much content as the first, and if Capital City had been something half as impressive as, say, Dead City, this would be IMO one of the best games of the generation.

The gunplay is fantastic. The racing sections are good enough to spin off into their own game. Graphics & design are superb. The ending just comes too soon and is entirely disappointing.

 

[BoardBonobo]

If Rage had been made by an unknown dev, half the critics would be proclaiming it GOTY. But since it's id, all of the sudden, having a silent protagonist (to name one of the many things that is suddenly unacceptable) makes it the worst game evar. I feel like people are compensating for not saying how bad Doom 3 was when they should have.

The only thing disappointing about the game is the length. If the second section (East Wastelands) had as much content as the first, and if Capital City had been something half as impressive as, say, Dead City, this would be IMO one of the best games of the generation.

The gunplay is fantastic. The racing sections are good enough to spin off into their own game. Graphics & design are superb. The ending just comes too soon and is entirely disappointing.

Amen to that. Though I found the driving to be far too twitchy for my liking.

 

[tabs]

Agree with dobwal. Their gameplay design needs ingenuity and creativity, or at least good old fahsioned being in touch with what people want.

LIKE A SPIRITUAL SUCCESSOR TO PAINKILLER which would be right up iDs street to deliver.

if I write it enough times it might happen

 

[Richard]

If Rage had been made by an unknown dev, half the critics would be proclaiming it GOTY. But since it's id, all of the sudden, having a silent protagonist (to name one of the many things that is suddenly unacceptable) makes it the worst game evar. I feel like people are compensating for not saying how bad Doom 3 was when they should have.

I loved DOOM 3 but I was disappointed when they first mentioned Rage's would have a silent protagonist. DOOM can have a silent protagonist and be less story-driven because that's where it came from (notice I don't say it HAS to be like that). Rage as a brand new IP has a clean slate. I read there's a BFG in Rage, why? They don't have to remake the same game over and over with different names.

The only thing disappointing about the game is the length. [...] The ending just comes too soon and is entirely disappointing.

Spoiler

They ran out of DVD space. :| /troll

 

[fearsomepirate]

I loved DOOM 3 but I was disappointed when they first mentioned Rage's would have a silent protagonist.

Did it bother you when Half-Life 2, Borderlands, every CoD except Black Ops, Demon's Souls, Bioshock, and Dead Space had silent protagonists? For most reviewers, it was acceptable in those games, but when Rage Guy doesn't speak, every review is filled with floods of tears because id can't get with the times.

 

[swaaye]

Deus Ex HR just recently rocked the silent protagonist style into the hate zone, that's all.

It doesn't bother me enough to whine tirelessly about it but I do prefer to have a voice.

 

[Rodéric]

Mass Effect 2, Deus Ex Human Revolution... there has been change, and people are also getting tired of an old excuse.
That said I highly doubt it had any impact on any review score.

 

[BoardBonobo]

I always found having a silent protagonist was a blessing. At least you got to use your own imagination in figuring out what they sound like. If the dev gets the voice wrong then you are stuck with it. Imagine if Naughty Dog had made Drake sound like Snake. An asthmatic younger protagonist would have destroyed the atmosphere.

 

[AlNom]

Mass Effect 2

Maybe they should have an audio tool to let folks tweak Shepard's voice. Damn them if I want to make Shepard sound like a chipmunk or robot (or just an altered pitch to fit what my Shepard looks like).

 

[swaaye]

It's not the literal voice that's nice, it's the fact that your game avatar isn't just standing there all mute while being talked at. It feels like I'm playing a robot or total pushover. It's unnatural monologue. The game takes control away from you. Hell gimme text based responses.

That said, I don't mind THAT much.

 

[fearsomepirate]

I notice no one answered my question. When Bioshock 1 came out, talkie cutscenes had been with us for a decade already. That game's silent avatar certainly didn't bother IGN.

What I want to know is if all the things that supposedly make Rage's gameplay "ancient" and "dated" really upset you when top-rated games released in the last year or two did the exact same thing. You know, it's absolutely fine if you despised Modern Warfare because your character never talks ("talkie" cutscenes had been around for over a decade at that point). But my point is most people didn't, and certainly most reviewers didn't. The same reviewers that complained when Black Ops' hero talked are complaining that Rage's hero doesn't!.

And I don't even know what people are complaining about when they say Rage's gameplay is dated. What, do we hate ADS first-person shooting now? Or is AI and bullet reactivity that beats the snot out of Call of Duty's herp-a-derp hordes and canned death animations not enough? The only thing "dated" about the gameplay is that you can carry more than two guns (oh, and the fact that it's an FPS), and I hardly consider that a bad thing.

 

[tabs]

Bioshock got away with it because of the fairly persistent narrative of ... ahh, what was his name... the Irish dude... in all likelyhood. Your identity (and his) were meant to be part of the mystery IIRC.

I never thought Rage felt dated though.. just a little bland aside from the very nice medium to far away graphical art. BF3 SP has leapfrogged COD IMO, but it is still similarly bland in gameplay.. however the intensity of the visuals and audio go a very long way to make it enjoyable all the same. Rage just didn't hit that spot for me. I felt completely disconnected from the world.

 

[BoardBonobo]

I think it feels a little dated in the invisible walls and little things e.g. no feet. And there is just something slightly stilted in the overall feeling. The bullet impact, AI, and all the other features are very much not dated.
The closed space sections and the very sudden cut off that is the end do feel dated. I'm still trying to work out why it ended like it did!?