I bought this game (and rented the Punisher) and started playing. So far, I am liking this game, with a couple of exceptions. I haven't gotten really far into it yet, but it seems to be too simple.
Mercenaries is typical GTA format (3rd person, lots of guns, missions). To me, the missions are really easy, and again, I just started so it may change. The missions however are fun, ranging from objectives like destroy, defend, bounty hunt terrorists. The more you destroy, the more money you get. Yay!!
The story itself is decent (I won't say its spectactular, but it's captivating enough to want to keep playing.).
So far my biggest beef, and believe me this ticks me off to no end (it almost made me want to stop), is the driving. The handling is horrible, the only way to slow down is to go in reverse (which is the same button as brake), and when in reverse, accellerate. It's a big problem.
Other than that, this is a good game and I'm really enjoying.
Now on to The Punisher.
This has got to be the goriest game I have witnessed. Woodchippers, blowing off heads and limbs, table saws... very bloody. And I love it. As someone who wasn't too familiar with the story line, The Punisher has a very interesting one. It's another 3rd person shooter type game. I thoroughly am enjoying this one. What I really enjoy though so far is the gore and the one liners. Special kills, interrogation, blood and gore, revenge... for all you gore fans, this is one to have (especially since I have an inkling that it will be taken off the markets). This is definately not one to give to kids, though. I have no doubt that the media is soon going to play the blame game with this when some kid shoots another, and they find The Punisher in the basement.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
I have not played the game, but I was unfortunate enough to have seen the movie. It was bad. Really, really, really bad. I'm glad to hear the game is an improvement.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I asked this over on Sakeriver, but I may as well bring it up here too. I know that while watching R rated movies isn't strictly against the LDS faith, it is frowned upon by a pretty large number of Mormons. I'd always assumed that this was due to both the sex and the violence in R rated movies, but I realize that I may be mistaken in that. Assuming that I'm not, though, I'm curious--do you watch R movies? If you don't, how do you reconcile your enjoyment of, say running a guy through a table saw in a computer game with your refusal to watch the same thing being done on the big screen?
If I'm wrong in my assumptions about the reason many LDS avoid R rated movies, I'd love to know the true reason--I'm a big fan of replacing assumption with solid fact whenever possible.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Almost two years ago, I decided that I am no longer against watching rated-R movies. If there's a rated-R movie that I'm interested in watching, I'll check to see *why* it is rated R, and make a decision.
Even though that was two years ago, I have yet to watch a rated-R movie in that time. There just hasn't been one that I've been that interested in seeing.
And I would not be comfortable playing a game where I run somebody through with a table saw.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Most avoid it for the sex and the violence, and it has also been recommended to avoid R rated movies. It's just my personal choice, though I do try to avoid the more sexually heavy ones.
And just so we can keep on track with this thread, if there is any other discussion with this topic, I'd prefer someone start another thread.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
You're no fun anymore!
Okay, I'll start a new thread.
Posted by Puppy (Member # 6721) on :
T_Smith, don't most driving games handle the brake and reverse exactly the way you described? I think it's pretty much the standard. If you don't like it, you've got a problem with the genre, not with Mercs.
Personally, I'm loving the game The physics do get a little interesting at times, and it can be frustrating to accidentally shoot an ally and lose massive amounts of money or faction for it. But the missions definitely DO get more difficult as the game progresses. Keep playing, I think you'll enjoy it.
Have you hijacked a helicopter midair yet?
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Heh, thanks dude.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Geoff, I've just played through a mission and also found the driving controls counter-intuitive.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Not yet. Geoff, I usually don't have a problem with driving on other games, such as GTA, Halo, etc., so I don't know how to describe it, really. It's not too much of a problem now that I'm used to it, but when I first started out, and comparing to other games, it irritate(s/d) me.
Posted by Puppy (Member # 6721) on :
It's the tank controls that I had a hard time getting used to. And the fact that the camera no longer floats behind them independently, as it does with a car, but rather is locked to their orientation.
The car controls are basically exactly like GTA.
[ January 26, 2005, 08:32 PM: Message edited by: Puppy ]
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Oh, that explains why I drove like crap in GTA.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I can't drive in GTA. It's sort of funny.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
See, in GTA, if you let go of the gas, it slows down. It doesn't in Mercenaries, it just keeps driving. The steering, and it just may be my, seems to be extra sensitive, too.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Okay, at IU, our department has an organization called the Graduate Theory Association. When I randomly flipped back to this thread, and saw people talking about GTA, I momentarily blanked and thought, "Wha? How'd they know about GTA?"
Completely off-topic, btw, but as an IU student, I really expected something entirely different from the movie A.I. (our teaching assistants are called Associate Instructors).
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
BTW, Megan, IUSA AID just approved a bunch of money for early music stuff and new music stuff, the second for an event sponsored by the graduate conductors association or somesuch I think.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Interesting...do you happen to know specifically what they was for (and if so, is that something you can't divulge)? I believe most departments have a graduate student organization of some sort; in fact, we're currently (or getting ready to, not sure) applying for a CASI grant to bring a speaker here in April.
They usually announce the events in Prelude, so I'll hear the specifics that way, too.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Sorry, dude, didn't mean to break up your gaming chat!
Edit: Oh, sure, delete your post...now I look like a nut!
[ January 26, 2005, 08:46 PM: Message edited by: Megan ]
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
No you don't, I saw it too.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Thanks, Mack!
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Lets see . . .
We approved money for Gamma Ut to bring Eric Hoeprich and Barthold Kuijken, and we approved money for the Association of Graduate Composers to bring Margaret Brouwer (an IU alum performing New Music).
We will also be approving (almost certainly) funding for Amjad Ali Khan to come at a future meeting (we put it off so they could think up excuses for us to give them more money ).
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
quote: I have no doubt that the media is soon going to play the blame game with this when some kid shoots another, and they find The Punisher in the basement.
Okay, but what if a kid runs another through a table saw and wood chipper? :puke:
Sorry. It's just a little too close to home for me. But I'm a very repressed and disturbed person.