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This month's PC Gamer sucked
tsumake - Oct 4, 2004
  tsumake Oct 4, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked

Hey Guys,

I've been busy with school, so I haven't had the time to post as much as I wanted. I just wanted to "share my feelings" about this month's PC Gamer, which I found pretty damn bad.

I've had an up-down relationship to PCG. I always thought the early years of the publication were the best (then again I was only around twelve at that time so I can't be so objective). Then there was a period where I thought the mag sucked. That was around 2001-02. I can't remember why exactly; I found the writing to be particulary sophmoric and dead, etc. Now, I tend to think it's quite good. Not as strong as before, but closer than usual.

But this edition is horrendous. Their cover story on Quake IV was embarassing. Other gaming mags have accused other publications of "bribing" game developers to get exclusives for their magazine, meaning that if they get the exclusive, they will give the game a favorable rating when it's released. I wouldn't like to think PCG would do something like this, but that preview had the writing on the wall; it was a love-letter to a game which, in my opinion, didn't look all that spectacular...

Yes, Q4 uses the DOOM3 engine, but it looks like a poor cousin to its predecessor. I may be harsh, but it looks like to me that they had to tune down a lot of graphical goodies to get the game running at that frenetic pace the game is supposed to have. And, I think the art direction sucks. It's incredibly bland, dull, same-old-same-old post-sci fi grotesque chic that we're all used to. The character models didn't look that interesting, the weapon models were particularly bad. The only good things about the visuals were the occaisonal impressive texture and of course the sumptuous use of shadows. But this can't compare to Doom3; whoever was in charge of art direction at ID did an amazing job. They were able to elevate a really bland color palette (blue, red, occaisonal green, grey, brown, and of course black) into something very visually interesting. That's damn hard to do - look at how bad things look in Deus Ex 2.

Of course the game is still in development and needs tweaking, but why the hell is Dan Morris jumping into all sorts of hyperbole? Ok, I haven't seen the game in motion, which is always important, but if you look at Raven's track record (SOF, SOF2 an the Elite Forces series of recent) their approach to action isn't all that interesting. I could go on about the little quips and bitches about the title, but to get to the point, this is a pre-emptive love letter to the game. My God, the way he talks about the Multiplayer aspect is so....dumb. (It will be like Quake III but with Doom3 graphics. "It may not sound revolutionary to you, but to me it's revolutionary enough!" :slap )

After that debacle, I found the mag to be generally uninspired. Although for some reason I 'm beginning to like the Vede more and more. I found him to be an asshole for a while, but now he seems not so bad. I liked his article about setting up a surround speaker system in cramped spaces - not the most optimal set up, but I'm glad he stressed the importance of good audio set up for today's games. Doom 3, and particularly Far Cry are a whole different game in surround. The reviews were merely meh to me, although I didn't read through all of them (if I missed a good one, it's my fault, I know). The new Wargamer columnist seems interesting. He definitely has different opinion about Wargames than Trotter and I wonder how wargaming fans will feel about him.

And last but not least, the craptacular fin de mots by Gaz. So, all of a sudden, he feels guilty for playing a "realistic" FPS? What, did he realize at the last moment he didn't have a clue as to what to write for this moment so he just pulled this out of his nether region? It was interesting, though for the fact that he mentioned that he was anxiously awaiting for Doom 3 (this article must have been written a while ago) while earlier in the magazine Vede mentioned that Gaz didn't like Doom 3.....

So, what did you guys think of this month's PCG??

 Alexvrb Oct 4, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked

I've felt the magazine has been uninspired ever since I stopped bothering with it several years ago. But I'm sure they've had some ups and downs since then. I can't comment on this month's issue, since I haven't really touched the stuff often anymore.

 Jedi Master Thrash Oct 4, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked

Is that the one that used to have Coconut Monkey? That used to rock. You'd get those whole multimedia world on the CD to explor and play with. There were little funny gags and things all over the rooms and fun little activities to get to all the CD content. There was hours of fun just form the Cononut Monkey world alone, not to mention the game demos.

Then they got rid of Coconut Monkey, thus they suck.

JMT.

 gameboy900 Oct 4, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked


  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by Jedi Master Thrash@Oct 4, 2004 @ 08:41 PM



Is that the one that used to have Coconut Monkey? That used to rock. You'd get those whole multimedia world on the CD to explor and play with. There were little funny gags and things all over the rooms and fun little activities to get to all the CD content. There was hours of fun just form the Cononut Monkey world alone, not to mention the game demos.



Then they got rid of Coconut Monkey, thus they suck.



JMT.




[post=120451]Quoted post[/post]


Yeach Coconut Monkey was cool. Still got a cardboard cutout of him standing on my monitor. I was pissed when they stoped the whole extras stuff on the CD's.

 CrazyGoon Oct 5, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked

Blah.. mags suck. And by the sound of it, you are saying "Stuff Quake IV - it doesn't have as good eye candy as Doom 3", which is not good

 it290 Oct 5, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked

I'm pretty skeptical about Quake 4 myself, and I've played Quake for a loong time. For one, there was a bit recently (might have been in that mag actually) about how the game might not have the rail or rockets (I'm sure they'll put them in though, they don't want to be killed). I don't really care about the single player, but I'm just not sure if they can make the multiplayer work. For one thing, iD makes better multiplayer maps than Raven does. Secondly, I'm just not sure the gameplay will work out. I agree, the eye candy isn't important for multi.. bad frame rates are part of the reason D3 mutiplayer sucks right now.

I don't like realism-based shooters, and the only good competitive game on the market right now is UT2004. Don't get me wrong, I like UT2004, but I mainly play CTF and I feel UT2004 is weak in this department.. the TL kind of ruins it. If they can keep the feel of Q3, I'll be happy. You have to realize that Quake players don't want anything revolutionary- they want an evironment where they can feel comfortable.

One more thing, why the Strogg? I thought the monsters and storyline of Quake were far more entertaining than those of Q2.

 tsumake Oct 5, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked

They are doing the Strogg storyline because apparently Quake II was the strongest seller of the series. They want to create a more story-based game this time around......

 racketboy Oct 5, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked

Most PC gamer mags are pretty lame mostly because there isn't much interesting stuff to read in the industry. There is little innovation in PC gaming other than the hardware's capabilities -- which you can read in any regular PC mag.

 Alexvrb Oct 5, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked


  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by it290@Oct 5, 2004 @ 10:03 AM



Don't get me wrong, I like UT2004, but I mainly play CTF and I feel UT2004 is weak in this department.. the TL kind of ruins it.
[post=120475]Quoted post[/post]

Tribes has the best CTF anyway. I loved being able to place tricky explosive packs and detonate them just as the hit-and-run scout thinks he has the flag.

 it290 Oct 5, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked

Tribes, TF, Weapons Factory, and so forth are all a lot of fun, but I really prefer the straightforward, traditional CTF found in games like the Quake series. Class-based gameplay has its place, but my tastes run more towards games where every player is equal and ability is the only differentiating factor.

And racket, I have to disagree with you -- computer gaming has always innovated in a variety of ways, often technical, but just as often not. Examples of things that originated in computer gaming: CRPGs, online gaming, MMO gaming, adult and mature titles, sports games with detailed statistics and management, 'god' games, detailed simulation and strategy games, adventure games, puzzle games, true 3d games, and so on. Nowadays a lot of innovations are being made with interface design, physics and lighting, and the refinement of MMO games. It's true that a lot of the big PC games belong to established genres (FPS and RTS), but that doesn't mean innovation doesn't take place. If anything, I'd say console games tend to be more formulaic, because they are often trying to achieve maximum market share and also because it's much easier for small dev houses to make a name for themselves making PC games.

 Alexvrb Oct 5, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked


  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by Supergrom@Oct 5, 2004 @ 04:23 PM



last time i checked you could do that in tf and tfc as well




[post=120487]Quoted post[/post]

I was giving an example of what I love to do, but you don't have quite the same situation. The idea was that on certain maps you can aim your craft at the flag, leap out of it, grab the flag, and jetpack back into your ship to fly off before they can take you out. Didn't always work, and sometimes even when the way looked clear they got a little "surprise launch" right when they grabbed the flag.

Ish, at least in Tribes everything is free. You pick whatever weapons and armor suits you or the situation best.

 it290 Oct 6, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked

Heh, reminds me of a little trick I like to do while playing Onslaught in UT2004.. grab a Manta (hovercraft) and coat it in grenades - then when I get out of it, I detonate them if an enemy tries to steal my vehicle.

 IronMongeR Oct 7, 2004
This month's PC Gamer sucked

I like playing CTF in Halo.