Microsoft Sunset Overdrive - Jet Set Radio Meets Dead Rising with a Splash of Prototype

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So whadya think? Did I describe it right? :'D

Seriously though, this looks hella fun. Surprised Libre didn't make a thread about it yet (unless he named it something weird or typo'd).

 

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It's like Crackdown meets Dead Rising meets Ratchet and Clank meets Jet Set Radio/Tony Hawk.

This is the gem I will be picking up for X1.[DOUBLEPOST=1400027719][/DOUBLEPOST]Seriously, this game looks tits and the development history makes me adore Insomniac more than I already do:

I like to imagine he was parkouring around the office and talking like an over-excited little kid.

 

It looks alright, but it'll probably be just inFamous/Crackdown fun, stuff we've done before with no real differences apart from it's colourful.
As much as people hate review scores, it looks like an 8/10 so far. Solid game of something you've played before.
I thought there would be a bit more innovation in it, actually.

 

EXCEPT WITH CRAZY GUNS AND BALLOON TURRETS!

Honestly, for a game like this, setting and arsenal are the most important factors and these are things Insomniac does better than most companies.

 

I've been using crazy guns since 2003, it's not something I easily get excited for, though I like the creativity.
If it plays the same, it won't really mean anything. I'm not bothered by visuals, it's a very passive thing in a game after all, the atmosphere is interesting but it doesn't feel like the crux of this sort of game. It's about shooting things in a bombastic manner and that looks fairly ok but that's it.

 

I'm interested in the different style of mobility—It looks like a free-roam beat-'em-up in the vein of Prototype, inFAMOUS, or Hulk Ultimate Destruction (First and best :I), but your maneuverability is at least somewhat limited to what the environment gives you. Looks like those super-jumps can only be done on cars? And the telephone pole grinding mechanics are something straight out of the old arcade skating games. I think it will cause you to focus more on finding just the right conditions for battle and adapting to your surroundings, as opposed to being able to vault off of anything or run sky-high on any vertical surface and thus vastly outmaneuver your opponents (Instead, you have just enough mobility to get a vantage on them, but you have to use it wisely). It's a unique combination of traditional mechanics, which is what appeals to me about it.

 

See I'd believe all that variety, but more often than not, I and many players will stick to one favoured ability or even avoid combat altogether after a time of experimenting and get on with doing missions and such. The grinding looks like a more refined version of inFamous' grinding stuff from one and two. Wall running looks like Mirror's edge's but in third person. Car jumping looks like Crackdown's regular jumping.

It all just looks like stuff i've done before. I'm waiting for it to really surprise me with something new or be better than this older stuff. Because it really needs to up hand 6 year old games and on a new generation.

 

You really like to rag on dominant strategy, don't you? :'D I've said it before and I'll say it again: Player preference has nothing to do with variety. Anyway, it is stuff you've done before; what isn't? It's the way they come together that makes them special, and it's pre-emptive to say it won't be special.

 

What's the point in variety if there is a dominant strategy? Either way, you wouldn't vary your style if you've found the most effective or fun one to use.
It's pre-emptive to say combos will make it special too. Neither of us has played this game, i'm just saying it looks a lot like stuff we've played before and that's what i'm basing my thoughts and expectations of the game on. Like I said I wanted something surprising or better than what's already established, just not getting either of those vibes. Happy to be proven wrong with future vids they give out.

 

NEW VIDEOOOOOOOOO. God I love Insomniac

...But you scored it.

 

Aye, I reviewed the game based on a trailer. Never misled otherwise. And I've already said I'd be happy to be proved, wrong and it be incredibly better than what i've seen.

Actually now that trailer's out, it looks like Tony Hawks with a gun. Looks pretty good.

 

>I reviewed an interactive piece of media's fun levels by one five minute video

Dude we've been saying that this entire time. But glad you're enjoying it now.

 

It was sarcastic.
I never not enjoyed it, just made some wide criticism. Can I not like the look of a game and still critique it? Because I do that with every game anyway.

 

You really shouldn't until you see more, or you just end up bringing negativity to the party... I say that because I used to do it, only to end up playing a lot of games I didn't really enjoy because, critically, they looked great.

 

I find it interesting and new because I normally don't get to enjoy or play ANY type of new games lol. It reminds me of borderlands though and the creativity for the game got me going.

I usually have Kong talks with the kid at GameStop about the new popular games.

 

I've just re-watched the E3 trailer of it , and I have to say, this game is looking stupid. I mean, stupid can be good with a bit of smarts behind its intent, like how Bulletstorm had these stupid gruff Gears of War characters saying stuff like "YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE? RESPECTING WOMEN!" and the classical music of the advanced age was Disco. It could be great if it takes that silly direction and mocks itself.
But all i've seen so far is an arsehole protagonist boasting it's a great game, just 'cause, and mocking cover system shooters when it's effectively a Crackdown or a Saints Row, complete with mutants and enemy gangs. Also, it has AK-47s and Revolvers. Why? I thought the aim of this game was to trump the classic modern military shooters, but only some of its guns are bombastic whilst the rest are conventional? Currently, it feels like the worst kind of narcissistic arseholes on the internet. It feels desperately trying to appeal.

 

It sounds like you're accusing the devs of being shallow and overhyping their own game to push units. You can say it feels like that if you want, but considering there are tweets and interviews out about the team loving every second of the development and being the happiest dev team people have ever seen, empirical evidence trumps your impression. They're not doing it for the appeal, they're doing it because they love it. If you take the game too seriously, would it matter how seriously it takes itself? You'd still see it as a shallow, attention-grabbing affair, because you're seeing what you want to see. Maybe they didn't think too hard about turning every single solitary aspect of cover-based shooters, apocalyptic zombie flicks, or the like on their head. Maybe they left the revolvers and AKs in because they're fun all on their own. Maybe they're just having fun with it.

Anyway, you cite the comparisons like it's a bad thing. It has the wild, irreverent sense of humor of Saints Row, sure, but it looks to have both more structure where needed and less where not needed; missions aren't just "Go to the place - Run down the street - Shoot the guys," they're more orchestrated than that; but at the same time, the game allows you more ways to handle a situation. I would guess the Crackdown comparison is the whole run-&-gun aspect, but it wasn't the first to do that by far so it's really a moot point. It's not quite like anything we've ever seen, but it takes the best of games we love that haven't gotten a lot of press, combines them in a way that brings those aspects back to the fore, and sharply punctuates a dreary age of gaming that's somehow still hanging on for dear life.

 

If loving developing your game was all it took to make a good game, we'd be surrounded by masterpieces. I'm saying they sound desperate to be appealing at this point, tweeting productions great and their immensely happy as often as you say, makes it seem even more so. After Fuse, they're obviously hoping to encourage fun and colour as an appeal of their game, but I've seen nothing I haven't done before that makes me feel like I should care.

So what if the mission structures are like that? All we've seen so far are demos of the open world, scripted events that take place, this could easily be as structured as Saints Row, I wouldn't care. The Crackdown comparisons is more the massive jumps and enemy gangs and the mutants, the guns. The Saints Row comparison is also the guns, the tone, the bombastic nature of gameplay and such. The only thing they've revealed so far that's 'next gen' is the 'Next Gen Respawning!' which is hardly a selling point for me, otherwise i've played this game before by the looks of it. Not saying the comparisons are bad, i'm saying they're not as original and Insomniac seem to be bigging them up to be., and which you seem to be defending.
Ok this is where i'm lost. What games are theses that haven't got a lot of press that people love that make up Sunset Overdrive? And what aspects are in the fore?

People obviously think I don't like fun, but I still enjoy Dynasty Warriors after playing six instalments because it's fun to whack people, or the recent DmC which was great fun to play and had a nice art style imo, but had terrible characters, story and such. If it didn't look so desperate in my eyes, i'd think this is an alright game, not enough for an Xbox One purchase but a PC port version which i'm feeling will release later like Dead Rising 3. Just have issues with what's shown and said about it so far, no clue what the final game i haven't played will be

 

That wasn't really the point of that though, so now it just seems like you're moving the goal post.

They didn't tweet that. Visitors to their studio did.

Frankly I think I made better comparisons in the thread title. Again, you're seeing what you want to see. Though speaking of the games in the thread title...

How 'bout Jet Set Radio? The maneuverability is immensely reminiscent of an old arcade sports game, with the ability to gain and keep momentum across telephone wires, cars and other constructs and props, and the art style backs up the resemblance somewhat.