Edge #209

[SweatyTravolta]

You guys were right, Dragon Age is ace. Stupid Edge.

[Shagger]

You guys were right, Dragon Age is ace. Stupid Edge.

Yeah, the PC version is, the console versions not so much.

[Stolly]

Yeah, the PC version is, the console versions not so much.

Er my PS3 disagrees with you; its superb

[Grobbelboy]

It is odd that people are complaining about there being too many tens these days. Let's not forget that the first three all came within two and a half years (and so did Goldeneye, which should've got one). They have been more frequent since then, but so what? Why is rarity such a virtue? A lot of people on here reckon games are better than they've ever been. The tens have been erratically distributed, but that's a good sign, isn't it? It means Edge aren't too bothered about making them seem random (cf people saying Half-Life didn't get a ten because it was in the same issue as Ocarina), and are actually giving them out when they think they're deserved rather than thinking "ooh, we haven't had one in a while, what's good at the mo?".

Totally agree.

[Takizawa]

Why so many complaints about Bayonetta getting a 10?

I've had me eye on it for a while but never expected such a glowing review, and Edge really confirmed it was a game i'd love. That's kinda why I buy a few games magazines you know, to get an informed opinion on games i've been following. I'm not saying I always agree with Edge reviews, but the guy clealrly loved it, good on him I say!

I dont agree with this 'a 10 has to be genre defining' statement, why exactly?

[Broker]

I'm not fussed about which gmes they are, I just feel that EDGE changing their criteria on what deserves a ten and clearly relaxing the policy to allow reviewers to express their love for any game they feel is really special has left a situation where the list of games which have received the accolade is heavily balanced towards recent releases.

[Rudi von Starnberg]

You guys were right, Dragon Age is ace. Stupid Edge.

Quite the turnaround.

[Guest]

Quite the turnaround.

He played it for more than a few hours?

[SweatyTravolta]

Pfff I hadn't even played it before, I said it looked boring and nerdy. Still £22 on Steam and I've joined you freaks in trying to seduce Morrigan. The combat is still massively confusing but too simple on easy. I want more control without getting over whelmed.

[Guest]

Pfff I hadn't even played it before, I said it looked boring and nerdy. Still £22 on Steam and I've joined you freaks in trying to seduce Morrigan. The combat is still massively confusing but too simple on easy. I want more control without getting over whelmed.

What did you make of the story and all that? Isn't it utter rubbish? You aren't a professional games journalist how can we trust you

[SweatyTravolta]

Well that stuff always appealed to me. I've no idea where Edge were coming from in their review in regard to story and voice acting. I think it's all tip top. It's very generic Lord of the Rings stuff but it's very well told.

I mean Edge have been losing it for a while but after this and Borderlands they appear as a little old man, naked and lost in the snow.

[Uzi]

Well that stuff always appealed to me. I've no idea where Edge were coming from in their review in regard to story and voice acting. I think it's all tip top. It's very generic Lord of the Rings stuff but it's very well told.

I mean Edge have been losing it for a while but after this and Borderlands they appear as a little old man, naked and lost in the snow.

Glad you saw the light.

Seriously anyone who has played the game, and then reads the review will get a guranteed gasp followed by a lol.

[Guest]

Well that stuff always appealed to me. I've no idea where Edge were coming from in their review in regard to story and voice acting. I think it's all tip top. It's very generic Lord of the Rings stuff but it's very well told.

I mean Edge have been losing it for a while but after this and Borderlands they appear as a little old man, naked and lost in the snow.

Certainly the best place to come for games advice is the forum. It's so much better being able to have dialogue about the game/s, share experiences, and learn about new games that we otherwise may have missed

[FlowerOfInfinity]

Glad you saw the light.

Seriously anyone who has played the game, and then reads the review will get a guranteed gasp followed by a lol.

I played the game, then read the review and it said everything that I'd already thought about it.

Well that stuff always appealed to me. I've no idea where Edge were coming from in their review in regard to story and voice acting. I think it's all tip top. It's very generic Lord of the Rings stuff but it's very well told.

The voice acting I found to be emotionless drivel and the stories to be pretty much on rails, rather than the more free-form approach of something like Oblivion.

To be completely fair, I think I only played the game for about 3 hours before trading it in. There might be an argument to say that I'd need to play much more of it, but (serious question) does the voice acting improve and does it get much less linear as it goes on?

Oh, and the combat felt a bit chaotic (I was playing the 360 version).

[Rudi von Starnberg]

It's never open-world but you can approach the story more or less how you want, with lots of sidequesting to be done and free rein to go where you want to locations on a world map. It's a far stronger game than Oblivion.

I thought the voice acting was 99% great, aside from one or two blips (that Ser Gilmore fellow in the human noble origin for instance). The main party members really sell it and NPCs are generally good too.

[Mr. Gerbik]

I played the game, then read the review and it said everything that I'd already thought about it.

The voice acting I found to be emotionless drivel and the stories to be pretty much on rails, rather than the more free-form approach of something like Oblivion.

To be completely fair, I think I only played the game for about 3 hours before trading it in. There might be an argument to say that I'd need to play much more of it, but (serious question) does the voice acting improve and does it get much less linear as it goes on?

Oh, and the combat felt a bit chaotic (I was playing the 360 version).

Uhm yeah you can go pretty much follow the story in any order you want to. It's not open world, but the story is as free-form as in Oblivion, and besides Oblivion hardly has a story to speak of. I assume you quit playing before finishing the tutorial stage, as the world map opens up after that and you're free to choose where to go to and in which order.

Seeing as you agree with the edge review I can only assume that either said reviewer also played the game for three hours and not bothered to even finish the tutorial stages before writing his review, or you yourself are the edge reviewer in question.

[Spacehost]

To be completely fair, I think I only played the game for about 3 hours before trading it in.

This seriously annoys me. If you've played a game for three hours and you're not enjoying it, it's obviously i) got something seriously wrong with it or ii) it clearly isn't for you. I know in the past I've been one of the "LOL, you haven't played past the Assbeast of Rapetown, it's like Mario in Halo saving the Wastelands from Bayonetta" crowd, but I think you're perfectly entitled to have a negative opinion of a game three hours into it and trade it in.

[davejm]

I don't understand the criticism of the voice acting in Dragon Age. There are shaky moments (that's invevitable considering the amount of voiced dialogue); but it compares favourably with any videogame around for the most part, and some of the characters are superbly voiced.

I guess the dialogue, lore, and setting aren't necessarily to everyone's taste. If you're thinking "ah not ye-oldy fantasy" from the outset, then I imagine that negative frame of mind can sour the whole experience.

I really like the fact that Bioware are borrowing so heavily from other influences during development of their games. Mass Effect seems like cliched sci-fi on the surface, but a lot of love has been put into thinking up a really coherent 'universe'. The same goes for Dragon Age. It might seem like cliched 'ye-old fantasy' but it's all put together so well; with interesting back story, characters etc.

[Guest]

I don't understand the criticism of the voice acting in Dragon Age. There are shaky moments (that's invevitable considering the amount of voiced dialogue); but it compares favourably with any videogame around for the most part, and some of the characters are superbly voiced.

I guess the dialogue, lore, and setting aren't necessarily to everyone's taste. If you're thinking "ah not ye-oldy fantasy" from the outset, then I imagine that negative frame of mind can sour the whole experience.

Of course, Bayonetta nails all this with a comprehensive story that will cater for all tastes.

Oops!

[ah]

Of course, Bayonetta nails all this with a comprehensive story that will cater for all tastes.

Oops!

the edge review did make a point of saying that, though some of the cut-scenes were a bit too long, some of them were up there with the best they'd ever seen. i've not played either of the games you're discussing so won't comment on the truth in that, but they certainly made clear in their review that they loved bayonetta's story presentation.

[ZOK]

half-life is the pinnacle of the genre

edit: i'm sorry, i thought the post above mine refered to halo, which i now see it does not. I feel however that my point stands, as half-life is fucking awesome

This is the FPS genre:

Timeless Pinnacle: Perfect Dark Combat Simulator/MP

Modern FPS crown wearer: Halo and iterations.

Half Life comes in under nice story, or something. EDIT: I know...

Greatest use of resonance cascade as narrative device: Half Life.

[Wiper]

You appear to be confused about the correct categories

Timeless Pinnacle of online MP: (no idea. I liked UT and MoH:AA back in the day, but it's not really what interests me)

Best single-player combat: Halo (not iterations)

Best local MP: Halo (not iterations)

Most atmospheric FPS: System Shock 2

Best impression of freedom of choice: Deus Ex

Best use of stealth: Thief II

Best use of boring-as-fuck-scripted-rubbish: a tie between the Half-Life and CoD series

[Space Renegade Ulala]

This seriously annoys me. If you've played a game for three hours and you're not enjoying it, it's obviously i) got something seriously wrong with it or ii) it clearly isn't for you. I know in the past I've been one of the "LOL, you haven't played past the Assbeast of Rapetown, it's like Mario in Halo saving the Wastelands from Bayonetta" crowd, but I think you're perfectly entitled to have a negative opinion of a game three hours into it and trade it in.

Funnily enough, a lot of what the person you quoted said about Dragon Age was exactly what I thought of Oblivion, I genuinely found it one of the dullest, most broken, dispassionately voiced and generally ugly games (particularly in character model terms) I'd had the misfortune to play and couldn't stick with it longer than 6-7 hours before finally giving up and uninstalling. Many people here would strongly disagree, point out amazing things that happen further in and had grand old times playing through it.

Like you say, if you aren't having fun after 5-10% of a game, it's almost certainly not going to click, you're better off moving on and enjoying something else.

[ZOK]

You appear to be confused about the correct categories

Timeless Pinnacle of online MP: (no idea. I liked UT and MoH:AA back in the day, but it's not really what interests me)

Best single-player combat: Halo (not iterations)

Best local MP: Halo (not iterations)

Most atmospheric FPS: System Shock 2

Best impression of freedom of choice: Deus Ex

Best use of stealth: Thief II

Best use of boring-as-fuck-scripted-rubbish: a tie between the Half-Life and CoD series

Where is Perfect Dark in this list?!

[Wiper]

Ah, sorry, forgot the 'Most enthusiastic use of single-digit frame-rates' category.

[Quest]

Pffft, you don't even notice the frame rate after an hour's play and a spell of vomiting. Perfect Dark is the best thing ever.

[ZOK]

Or if you always play it in slo-mo mode, like me.

[Monkeyboy]

Funnily enough, a lot of what the person you quoted said about Dragon Age was exactly what I thought of Oblivion, I genuinely found it one of the dullest, most broken, dispassionately voiced and generally ugly games (particularly in character model terms) I'd had the misfortune to play and couldn't stick with it longer than 6-7 hours before finally giving up and uninstalling. Many people here would strongly disagree, point out amazing things that happen further in and had grand old times playing through it.

Like you say, if you aren't having fun after 5-10% of a game, it's almost certainly not going to click, you're better off moving on and enjoying something else.

Agree with the Oblivion voice acting comparison. As much as I loved playing Oblivion to completion, anyone would be hard pushed to call the voice acting brilliant. Sean Bean turned in a totally disinterested performance (Liam Neeson did a similar thing in another Bethesda game, Fallout 3), whereas the likes of Claudia Black really nail it in Dragon Age. Whilst there's inevitably the odd chunk of dialogue which can feel overly expository, I do feel Bioware manage to squeeze funny, human, full of life performances out of their voice actors, especially the main characters.

And they definitely do better faces than Bethesda. Although, the ugliness worked in Bethesda's favour for Fallout 3.

[robdood]

Of course, Bayonetta nails all this with a comprehensive story that will cater for all tastes.

Oops!

Ok, can't be arsed catching up with the whole thread; but why exactly does Disciple have a beef with Bayonetta getting an Edge 10? It's definitely a game I'm going to be playing for a good time, and will always remember very fondly, like most in their list of 'perfects' (surely nobody really believes that a 10 is a perfect game, do they? as if such thing could possible exist!)

[Mr. Gerbik]

Ok, can't be arsed catching up with the whole thread; but why exactly does Disciple have a beef with Bayonetta getting an Edge 10? It's definitely a game I'm going to be playing for a good time, and will always remember very fondly, like most in their list of 'perfects' (surely nobody really believes that a 10 is a perfect game, do they? as if such thing could possible exist!)

It's because a lot of people believe that a 10 should only be awarded to certain genres. Crazy, I know, but the words 'niche' and 'appeal' were frequently used in the discussion earlier in the thread. The main argument was that quality means nothing if the game is too niche according to some arbitrary standard.