The morning Inbox imagines a Walking Dead sequel without the zombies, as one reader wonders if Half-Life 3 will ever happen.
To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk.
Sick entertainment
I’ve just spent all day playing Civilization V: Brave New World (I was sick, honest! I just couldn’t sleep!) and I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. As GC’s review said there is nothing like conquering the world and subjecting mankind for making you feel better. It is odd how you’re basically acting like the world’s most evil dictator and yet it all seems like perfectly logical, and straightforward when you’re making the decisions.
Apart from picking on the French I don’t make any choices out of malice, just what’s good for my people and what’ll help me win. The scary thing is that I do agree this makes you think about how these decisions are taking in the real world. Is this sort of dehumanising attitude the same one politicians and generals use? Are they basically playing a real-life version of Civilization? If so I don’t think they’re very good at it…
Morgan Taylor
Unique selling point
Maybe it’s just me but I’m still struggling to see what’s different about Need For Speed: Rivals. I don’t even really understand what it’s gimmick is, that it has lots of social features? Hasn’t the last two or three Need For Speed games had that? Not to mention just about every other racer around lately.
To me this is one of the classic reasons that there shouldn’t be so many yearly updates. I hate to quote Nintendo, considering what a mess they’re in at the moment, but I have to agree that if publishers just made better games then not only would people not trade them in you also wouldn’t need so many sequels diluting your brand.
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted were both good games, what’s wrong with just promoting them for years on end, and maybe just having new downloadable content ever year? Anyway, did GC see Rivals at E3? Any thoughts?
Red Shift
GC: We didn’t have time to see it we’re afraid, perhaps at Gamescom next month.
Undead Guitar Hero
So does GC and readers think that with the next generation coming in we might see a return of Guitar Hero and other plastic instrument music games? It’s been a good few years since anything like that and I wonder if the problem was just one of oversaturation, which should now be over?
Although the other argument was simply that the games had done all the obvious songs and there really wasn’t anything else iconic left to do, that would work well with the games. I know that sounds a bit weird considering how there’s essentially an infinite number of songs that could be used but I do feel this is kind of true.
I personally wouldn’t mind more obscure bands and songs but I’m not sure people would pay for them and they couldn’t really front a new game. It’s odd to think that such a massive genre is essentially dead, but I don’t see there being any coming back.
Ivant
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Minus points
I’m not sure if I was being too naïve or too optimistic but somehow I didn’t believe quite how bad Ride To Hell: Retribution was until I played it. Obviously I didn’t buy it myself but I noticed it in my mate’s pile of games to be sold, that he was obviously hoping I wouldn’t notice. He sheepishly admitted that he didn’t know what it was before he bought it, but that it ‘looked cool’.
We put it on and… oh my… If anything I think your review was being too kind, but then I don’t think you give minus points to anything. All I’ll say is that the voice-acting and the fighting are just shockingly bad and that the Hulk out/constipation rage mode is the hands down funniest thing I have ever seen in a video game.
We got a few beers in and we actually started to have a bit of fun with it (despite the constant crashes) and decided we’d play far enough to see the five-person dry-humping orgy. We were not disappointed. Best worst game ever?
Rimmer HD
The Walking Living
Have to admit I was a bit disappointed with The Walking Dead: 400 Days too. It wasn’t just the absence of Lee and Clemy, or that all the segments were really short. It was more the fact that they were all so clichéd. There have been so many zombie films, games, and books now that I’m beginning to feel like I’ve seen every possible permutation.
I’m beginning to wish there wasn’t a second season (or at least not a third) and that the same writers move onto something more original. I don’t want to dictate what that is, but it’s the characters that made The Walking Dead great and the difficult decisions and none of that has to involve zombies.
I forget what that comic book game was that they’re doing next, but I’ll certainly be looking out for that with great interest.
Andy S.
GC: That would be The Wolf Among Us, based on the Fables comic book series. It’s supposed to be out this autumn, as is the second season of The Walking Dead.
Unofficial assumption
I’m just wondering what the chances are that there’ll never be a Half-Life 3 at all. I mean everyone I think has pretty much assumed that there’ll never be a Half-Life 2: Episode Three, so what is there to make anyone think there’ll actually be a proper sequel? It would be so difficult now to tie up all the story threads and make it understandable to new players I’m just not sure they’d even bother.
And does anyone other than PC gamers even know about the series? I’ve certainly never heard any of my console owning friends mentioned? What does GC think? Has there even been an official word on what they’re planning?
Futterman
GC: Officially they’ve never mentioned it. But then Valve almost never has any official announcements, in the usual press release sense of the word.
Peas in a pod
Is there any explanation for why the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 look so similar? I know the hardware doesn’t matter once it’s sat under your TV and forgotten but doesn’t anyone else think it’s weird how they both ended up looking almost identical? Or rather they both ended up using the same basic principles.
To my eye the Xbox One just looks straight up like an ‘80s video recorder, which I kind of like, and the PlayStation 4 looks like the ‘90s update, just before DVDs came in. Is this meant to reflect some bigger trend in consumer electronics design, because I can’t think of anything else that looks like them?
Purple Ranger
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Against the tide
When I saw the Hot Topic description the other week nothing really stood out in my mind at the time of games that I could really never get on with, but after reading the Hot Topic itself I got inspired and did think of a couple of games series I never got on with. Not because I’m not good at them, but because I just didn’t gel with them. Firstly, the Demon’s/Dark Souls games. I know they are almost revered in these pages and I don’t want to antagonise anyone here, and those that love it – that’s fine, but I just don’t get the massive appeal.
So to those people that were moaning about having to put up with two weeks of talking about the Xbones policies and its impact on game ownership and the whole industry etc. I had to chuckle, becauseIi had to put up with almost daily talk about those two particular games for almost two years apiece, and am currently bracing myself for I’m sure another similar period for Dark Souls II.
Anyway, I digress. Although I think it’s technically a great game, with a very well designed world and characters, and very solid combat mechanics, I just hated the monotonous and repetitive nature of the game, repeating the same stretch of level over and over and over and over again… I appreciate that’s the appeal of it for many, but it all became a bit mechanical and tiresome for me. I felt it was a waste of my time doing the same section of game multiple times, but as I say, that’s me. The game does have some great and unique ideas though, but I just wish the co-op was better implemented, and it was possible to invite friends.
The other series that I just can’t get on with, but seems universally liked is the Grand Theft Auto series. On paper it all sounds perfect. Open world games with an amazing depth of detail and scope, but I just seem to bore of them quite quickly. I love the idea of sandbox games and they are usually technically amazing achievements, but when it comes to the crunch I just seem to get bored of them on the whole. Number four was my favourite and I thought the car handling and combat mechanics were by far the best in the series, but maybe constantly getting bothered by the cousin in the game to go on trivial outings contributed to putting me off the game.
A proper co-op would make them far more enjoyable for me, it certainly did with Crackdown and Saints Row 2 and 3, and I’m quite disappointed to see that GTA V seems (emphasis on seems) to have the same tacked on/lacklustre, wasted opportunity co-op as GTA IV, especially as there is three playable characters in the main story. I seem to be alone on this, but after seeing the game’s recent gameplay trailer it just doesn’t do it for me, even though it does look technically amazing. The lack of ‘proper’ co-op was a blow, but I don’t personally like this idea of planning heists. I’m concerned that they’ve changed the driving mechanics from number four, which I thought was perfect, for the worse and made it more arcadey/less realistic.
Ironically, when the game comes out, as usual I’ll probably (though maybe not) get swept up in the excitement for it, buy it, play it for about four hours, then get bored of it, rarely touching it from there on in. Maybe this one will change my mind about the series, but I don’t see it. The uninspiring choice of setting may prove exactly that: uninspiring.
Spartas Edge
Inbox also-rans
Good news for fans of the Justice League cartoon (which I know includes GC): Jon Stewart and Martian Manhunter are being added to Injustice: Gods Among Us and both with their original voice actors. Jon is just a new skin but J’onn is a brand new character, here’s a clip.
Coods
Anyone else think the Steam sale has been a bit disappointing this year? No real monster bargains, even if there are some big name games that are fairly cheap.
Ben Crooper
Is there any chance that Bayonetta 1 will get ported to the Wiii U, now the sequel is an exclusive?
OCP
GC: It’s not been hinted at. Technically it should be possible but we’re not sure if there are any licensing problems with the first game being published by Sega.
I’m sorry everyone but I just had to do, I’ve actually pre-ordered an Xbox One from the local gaming hole. Sorry.
RyokoSparda
This week’s Hot Topic
The topic for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Simon, who asks what’s the worst section you’ve ever played in an otherwise great game?
No matter how long or short it is, did the moment actually ruin the game for you or was it just a weird blip in an overall enjoyable experience? What exactly was the problem, and was it related to a particular gameplay element, a specific plot point, or perhaps an unlikeable character?
Was the issue a difficulty spike or something in the game that didn’t work the way it should, like the multiplayer? Or was it perhaps the graphics or some kind of recurring bug? Whatever the problem was how much did it affect your enjoyment and how many such issues are you willing to put up with for a good game?
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