The Escapist : Zero Punctuation Game Reviews

kaimera

I lulz'd

Dont have ps3 for lbp but still, I liked the little interlude.

On user made content...he does have a point..for every bit of quality there is bound to be a **** ton of **** just because people can.

Jazzy

noodler wrote: »

lol, no. This is ZP we are talking about.

If it were the game's fault every time then there would be no good games.

i find hes actually pretty much right about most games. he'll give credit where its due but if its boring and watnot then he'll say it. sure he focus's on the bad points but thats wats funny. he just upsets fanboys. OMG HOW CAN YOU SAY HALO 3 / LBP / SMASH BROS ARENT AS GOOD AS I THINK!!!!
hes right tho, all pretty much boring games. hes got extremely high standards, but heck.. so do i

/snob

noodler

He makes a good point now and again but he is pretty much entertainment for me. I would never use him as a review source when deciding to buy a game. I mean he doesn't even acknowledge online play.

AnCapaillMor

What noodler said, usually by the end of some reviews you're wondering did he like it or not. Its modern journalism, negativity sells.

Jazzy

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Its modern journalism, negativity sells.

thats not modern journalism. negativity has been selling since dickity two.


i dunno, i still like his actual reviews. they take no prisoners and tell u pretty much everything wrong with a game - which is pretty much wat i want to hear. u can tell wat is good about a game with other reviews or by seeing in game footage

pixelburp

Well I don't think he's a reviewer as such, but upon reflection I think he's an important critic of the media in general. He is an indy games designer himself, so I value his views on the games industry as a whole, which he regularly makes comments on in the midst of his vitriolic reviews.

Games journalism is a very toothless and passive entity & valid criticisms of the overall culture are few and far between. It's nice to see Yahtzee getting a carte blanche (albeit on an otherwise anonymous games site) to call it as he sees it, as opposed to the gamespots of the world, too petrified at p*ssing off the sponsors to rattle some cages.

pixelburp

This week, Thief: The Dark Project of all things:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/544-Thief-The-Dark-Project

RobertFoster

Thief is one of those games I never got around to playing.

pixelburp

RobertFoster wrote: »

Thief is one of those games I never got around to playing.

You should. I mean really should; they're a classy series, including the third, despite Yahtzee's comments (Shalebridge Cradle baby; fook FEAR, the Cradle's a real pant sh*tter).

kaimera

I was really getting it T3 ages ago..hadnt reached the cradle level but loved the game.

fond memories of the original too.

some quality comedy in this weeks review

kaimera

skate 2

Retr0gamer

You can't say Yahtzee doesn't know his games after Doki Doki Majo Shinpan! was used for the child molestation game

kaimera

Fear2

Mr E

A fair review. I liked the rant about sequels at the end....

kaimera

Spiderman.web.of.shadows.

L31mr0d

kaimera wrote: »

Spiderman.web.of.shadows.

I watch his reviews more out of habit now but I haven't laughed at any of them for a good while.

Again. He's mostly spot on with this game. Once you get the web-strike, it makes all the other unlockable moves redundant. Although, the Dark Spiderman also has one move which is pretty much way too overpowered also.

That being said I thought the combat system was really good, there are a plethora of different moves and combos, each with upgrades, and the web swinging was really well done.

As spiderman games go I really liked it. Solid combat system, decent enough plot and a really refined web swinging system which greatly improved wall running and the ability to quickly scale building over Spiderman 3.

Retr0gamer

You seem to play way too many poor-mediocre games

This was probably the worst review of his I'd seen in a while. Not many laughs really. Still entertaining but I think the quality has gone downhill lately.

noodler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You seem to play way too many poor-mediocre games

This was probably the worst review of his I'd seen in a while. Not many laughs really. Still entertaining but I think the quality has gone downhill lately.

I dunno if you noticed or what but most of the gags for me are on the little pieces of text coming from the stickmen during the review.


Got a particular laugh out of the "Help us Spiderman!" and "Awaay!" one.

ShadowHearth

Jazzy wrote: »

i find hes actually pretty much right about most games. he'll give credit where its due but if its boring and watnot then he'll say it. sure he focus's on the bad points but thats wats funny. he just upsets fanboys. OMG HOW CAN YOU SAY HALO 3 / LBP / SMASH BROS ARENT AS GOOD AS I THINK!!!!
hes right tho, all pretty much boring games. hes got extremely high standards, but heck.. so do i

/snob

heh m8, i think he is just pure awesome, even if he is riping on games i like . And 100% he is right about them.

His standarts are not high, his standarts are: THE FECKING GAME HAVE TO BE FUN!!!

And i like his attidute for pc gamers, he is 100% pc gamer and bless him for that!

I can bet, one of his favorite games are: seriuos sam 1 and 2!

pixelburp

He is trying too hard at times. He's in one of the most recent Australian Gamer podcasts & he comes off as an idiot trying to act controversial by by blurting out random offensive comments.

noodler

He isn't always right. If he was then games wouldn't be so popular.

pixelburp

It's not that he's not always right, it's that he's not really that funny lately, doubly so outside of Zero Punctuation!

d22ontour

noodler wrote: »

He isn't always right. If he was then games wouldn't be so popular.

Tomb Raider has sold millions of copies.Just because it is/was popular doesn't make any of them good.

johnny_ultimate

I certainly don't laugh as hard as I once did at Zero Punctuation, but I still tune in each week for an entertaining four minutes.

One thing I do feel is that Yhatzee's criticism has improved as time goes on. While his reviews are clearly slightly less than objective because of his need to entertain, the flaws and issues he tends to point out sometimes acknowledge the important criticisms other game journalists refuse to. He certainly has an intelligent take on game design and the oft-ignored problems with contemporary games. If designers listened more to what he has to say, I personally feel some games would be a lot better.

That said, I still wouldn't take his opinion as bible on specific games (with the exception of the four or five gems he constantly praises, his views on games tend to only range from outright hatred to mild disdain), I'm just glad to see someone who acknowledges the fact that a lot of long accepted game design is bollocks.

L31mr0d

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You seem to play way too many poor-mediocre games

true. I play all of the big games in the genres I like and the platforms they support. They just tend to be awfully short. So in between I give the mediocre games a chance. Sadly, a lot of the big titles differ marginally when compared to the games that would be rated as "mediocre". From this I've found quite a few gems over the years that most will overlook due to few and far between reviews, being overshadowed by hyped titles or not looking "next-gen'y" enough. Of the mediocre games I've played, few have largely disappointed. The only 2 in recent years that I couldn't finish would be Doom 3 and the new Golden Axe.

I apply the same non-biased approach to music, TV and movies. I will largely avoid the reviews and give it a chance if the premise, style or sound is of interest to me.

Jazzy

i think ppl are just waiting for ZP to "jump the shark". for the past 6 months ppl have been saying how hes past it and watnot but imo, games need ppl like yahtzee. he reminds me a lot of digitiser. he doesnt take games as ultra serious as most other reviewers and absolutely doesnt give a toss about PS3 vs. 360 vs. Wii yada yada... unlike Edge (apparently the top tier magazine for reviews and gaming critique) who change their colours once every 6 months to "stay ahead of the curve".
the more yahtzee the better. still dont like his intro music tho

Canis Lupus

I quite often enjoy what's going on in the animation more than the gags.

Stev_o

Man the Irish lads of De-Rez do some really good skits, bit hit and miss though but some are just hilarious.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/de-rez/557-Dave-Hiroshima-Investigates

noodler

d22ontour wrote: »

Tomb Raider has sold millions of copies.Just because it is/was popular doesn't make any of them good.

?

I hope the "vice_versa" reply to your statement is obvious. Most Tomb Raider games are decent actually, but thats not the point, point is that we all seem to find enjoyment in games when he finds none.

Don't wink at me please.

jaggeh

maybe the drop in quality of his reviews has a direct correlation (sp?) to the amount of shítty games he has to plow through in order to get one that he can possibly consider giving any kind of publicity too. for every flower there is piles of dung.