Day 8 - Just Cause and Borderlands

Just Cause

I've heard a lot about Just Cause 2. I've never tried it, but I've heard many people say that it's a large, crazy game and swear by the parachute and grappling hook mechanic. I'm looking forward to trying JC2, but it's number 157 on my list, so it may be a while. Today, however, I gave the original Just Cause a spin.

The game starts off with a cutscene that told me nothing, and then throws you out of a plane over the island. You're quickly taught how to use your parachute which can open and close mid-freefall. Or maybe the chute doesn't close, but you just have an infinite supply? Gameplay can be best desribed as GTA on steroids set on a tropical island. The shooting was very fast paced, with the enemies coming in waves, but not being altogether that threatening. After a bit of ground combat, the game throws you into the back of a jeep where you operate a mounted machine gun for an on-rails segment. You'll shoot down a dozen other jeep and a few helicopters too before everything is said and done.

Back at the base, you start getting a bit more story, but really not that much. My first mission was to liberate a prisoner, so I set off towards the prison. Breaking him out really wasn't difficult, you don't need to use cover (and in fact I don't believe there's any cover mechanic here), and you can easily dispatch the cops with only a few hits. I did a bit of driving, and it's very arcadey. You steer easily no matter what type of vehicle you have, or what terrain your own. I took a downhill trip through the jungle and came out completely unscathed, but if you hit a fence you will come to a complete stop. It's all very weird and doesn't play right.

I didn't get the grappling hook, although the controls screen tells me it's in here. I don't really want to spend more time on this game than I have already, 43 minutes was enough to tell me that this isn't some amazing gem of a game that I must experience. It does, however, hint that everything I've heard about JC2 could be amazing, if done in a game that's more developed than this one. I'm very much looking forward to trying Just Cause 2.

Borderlands

This is another very popular game that I never got around to playing. It's been described to me as "Diablo with guns," and with the sequel right around the corner I was looking forward to giving it a try. The opening scene was really well done, setting the tone and style, and I really enjoyed it.

This game acts as a first-person shooter with RPG elements. You have to aim and hit your opponent for the damage to take, but damage is calculated based on the weapons stats. Critical hits appear to be based on aim, for instance shooting a human in the head. There were several different weapon types, but I gravitated towards a pistol with a zoom for picking off those headshots, and an SMG for more close range action.

Through the first few quests, I was slowly introduced to a few characters and mechanics, learning how to purchase a shield and weapons / ammo, and shooting a lot of skags. I eventually made my way to the first boss, and got my ass handed to me by his two dogs. Luckily I was able to kill one of them while down, which gives you a second wind. I say luckily, but the whole thing felt like a scripted way to teach you about second winds, I'm not sure I even could have died there.

The game looks beautiful. Cell shading in 3D first person titles is rather rare, but when done right it looks gorgeous. This game is just oozing style all over the place. Unfortunately it's somewhat ruined by the constant forced travel through the same locations. I got very tired of running back to Zed very quickly. Perhaps I missed the option, but I really did not enjoy having to run all the way back to the town after defeating 9 Toes. Perhaps it unlocks later, but not having at the very least a Diablo-style waypoint system really hurt the experience.

I only played for an hour, wanting to save the full experience for Borderlands 2 which releases next month, but this experience did confirm that I will buy the sequel. The heavy focus on FPS elements, as well as the weak point criticals also lead me to believe that I should buy the title on PC again, and not switch to a console.

Notes

 I went back and played more Cities in Motion. The game is really appealing to me now that I've moderately successful. That being said, I'm still not rich and my infrastructure is not great. I have a lot of stops with tons of angry passengers waiting for their bus/tram, and traffic is building up quite a bit!

Album: Steam Challenge - Day 008