20°

Press Up, Down, Up, Down to Climax

Quick time events (QTEs). Everyone hates them, right? But perhaps they can actually serve a valid purpose both in terms of gameplay and narrative. Laserlemming examines in-depth how QTEs should and shouldn't be used, while comparing them to storytelling and gameplay techniques used before the humble QTE was popularised outside of interactive films, focusing mainly on their modern use in Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy).

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laserlemming.com
PersonMan4190d ago

I don't mind quicktime events. I think they're designed to make you feel like you have very little time to react (similar to how the character is feeling in the actual game). I wolf is jumping toward you... what do you do... you have to be fast and make the right decision or you'll die.

Plus, I have the tendency to put the controller down and sit back when a cutscene starts, but quicktime events keep me on my toes and make me pay attention to what's happening on the screen.

Bunce4190d ago

Yup, they can actaully be used to effect sometimes.

170°

10 PS2 Games Way Ahead Of Their Time

These are the games that championed ideas, mechanics and systems that would ultimately be a much bigger part of the gaming space in the future.

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culturedvultures.com
TheNamelessOne17d ago

FF12 is still my favorite in the series; followed by 7 and 9.

Abnor_Mal17d ago

Same, but I like the original version more than the zodiac age.

Escamotage16d ago

What's the difference between FF12 and Zodiac Age? I've only beaten FF12.

Abnor_Mal16d ago (Edited 16d ago )

@Escamotage The job system mainly, and how you can set up your party. For me in the original late stage of the game I would give my A team the same skills but nerfed. Vaan was my tank/bruiser/soilder, Penelo was my healer white mage, and Fran was my black mage of course. But I gave Vaan the ability to use both white mage and black mage skills but nerfed a few levels under the true mages. Penelo could use a bit of dark magic and Fran could use a bit of white. So if either mate ran out the other could step in, same with Vaan, with the gambit system it was easy to set up that they would complement each other in battle when needed.

My B team was set up similar but a few levels below my A team. Then when my A team got new weapons and armor, their old gear was passed down to the B team.

In Zodiac age you could not do that, in such a degree as I had it in the original.

Relientk7717d ago

Kill Switch is one of my fav shooters from that generation, highly underrated in my opinion.

Green-Smurf16d ago

EA needs to bring back Army of Two

DefenderOfDoom217d ago (Edited 17d ago )

Red Faction 2001, brought Minecraft .

90sGamingWasBetter17d ago

I'm one of the few people who preferred the original Red Faction to the first Half Life.

DefenderOfDoom216d ago (Edited 16d ago )

Red Faction came out in May 2001 on PS2 and Half Life came out on PS2 in November 2001 . So I played Red Faction 1st .

SimpleSlave17d ago

1. Indigo Prophecy - No
2. God Hand - Hell yeah. Still is. What a game. But Adaptive Difficulty sucks.
3. Metal Gear Solid 2 - Gameplay-wise, sometimes it was and sometimes it wasn't. The AI stuff was already Cyberpunk fair and Political Miss-information was old stuff as well. Furthermore, these themes don't really play out during the gameplay portions of the game. So they might as well have been a movie spliced into a game. Which is my main criticism of the MGS series. A lot of Talk and hardly any of it is part of the gameplay or affects it in any meaningful way.
4. Dark Cloud - Couldn't say. But Procedural stuff sucks 99% of the time.
5. Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow - The Xbox version sure was and kinda still is. The PS2? Not even close. The Asymmetrical MP was cool though.
6. The thing - The system was kinda cool in theory. In practice? Meh. But it should've been brought back for other games for sure, and expanded upon. At least some type of variation of this mechanic.
7. Final Fantasy XII - While the System was kinda cool. It did lends to your party playing on Automatic. Became monotonous after a while.
8. Kill Switch - Kinda. But Metal Gear, Splinter Cell and Winback already had it first. Then there was Time Crisis.
9. Mercenaries: PoD - You spelled Monster Attack way wrong.
10. Mortal Kombat: Deception: Tobal No. 1 or Ehrgeiz.

Ristul17d ago

I have to agree on Splinter Cell, Xbox version was much better, even the Gamecube version performed better than the PS2 version. But the Xbox version was on another level.

Iceball200017d ago

What was the differences that made the Xbox version the superior version?

Ristul17d ago

Iceball2000: There are plenty of comparisons on youtube, I would suggest you watch them to find out.

The Xbox verison is basically the pc version in terms of graphics, so it looks and runs amazing compared to PS2, and handles lighning/shadows very well (important in Splinter Cell as you use the dark for stealth). The levels are complete and are not devided into sections like in the PS2 and Gamecube versions. Lastly, the PS2 has longer loading times. That's some of the differences for you, there's probably more that I'm forgetting.

That said, the Splinter Cell games are great on any platform.

Venoxn4g17d ago

Good list, I would include Okami (brush mechanics), Viewtiful Joe (time & zoom mechanics)

purple10116d ago

whoever downvoted these two, isn't a gamer

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200°

New Tomb Raider Merchandise Provides Closer Look At Lara Croft Character Design

The arrival of new Tomb Raider merchandise has offered a closer look at the updated Lara Croft character design.

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twistedvoxel.com
Sonyslave334d ago

Im going to miss the new lara croft design, i hope they don't change that much from the last game.

RavenWolfx33d ago

I liked her reboot look as well.

OtterX33d ago (Edited 33d ago )

Plot Twist, this is what happened to Nathan Drake after Uncharted 4.

I kid, I kid. :)

CrimsonWing6933d ago (Edited 33d ago )

Man… her face gives me the heeby jeebies. I hope she looks better in game.

450°

Upcoming Tomb Raider RPG shows more unified Lara Croft for leaked "open-world" game

An upcoming Tomb Raider RPG planned for early 2025 shows more of unified Lara Croft planned for a new AAA adventure leaked as "open-world".

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videogamer.com
ROCKY2852d ago

This is not the Crystal Dynamics you once loved - this is a sold publisher that houses maybe 10% of it original cast of employees - this game will BOMB !!!! F Embracer Group - they suck BALLS ! Basketballs

LG_Fox_Brazil52d ago

Dude, calm down, let us wait and see the announcement and official images first

anast52d ago

The game is going to suck, though.

ROCKY2852d ago

Embracer Group is an EVIL company that absorbed many companies with investor money
knowing damn well they were going to put amazing hard working people on the street
their plan was weak and they screwed up and lost BIG TIME $$$$
They can go Fuk themselves !

jznrpg52d ago

Of course most of the the original Crystal Dynamics team is gone they took over Tomb Raider over 20 years ago. That’s not abnormal. That doesn’t mean the newer devs will automatically fail.

KyRo52d ago

Open world is already part one of setting it up to fail. I can sense the fetch quests, camp clearing, kill quests with hundreds of collectables sprinkled in already, just like every open world of the last 10 years. Lazy game design awaits.

YourMommySpoils52d ago

But do they suck basketballs or actual balls? I really need to know.

smashman9852d ago

This is true of literally any IP as old as Tomb Raider.

ChronoJoe52d ago (Edited 52d ago )

Definitely not true. Crystal have kept the majority of their team, know a lot of folks that work there.

Don't disagree with you about the general sentiment towards Embracer though.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 52d ago
Redgrave52d ago

Isn't this the "Truth Seeker" one

jznrpg52d ago

I am interested for sure. Embracer as a parent company has made a massive amount of mistakes and crappy moves but that doesn’t mean this dev team can not make a good game. If the game is good and has a physical copy I’ll buy it. Tomb Raider rpg in theory could be great.

RaidenBlack52d ago

the 'rpg' referred here is the table-top borad game called the Crypt of Chanos

ROCKY2852d ago (Edited 52d ago )

Embracer SUX ASS !!!!
Yes I said it - they are an EU company where they received investment to suck up companies and kill them off or break them down and has put 1000's of workers out of work - as we say in the USA - F them - losers

Rebel_Scum52d ago

A wise man once said “I seen a lot of people hate me and I didn't know what to feel about that so I guess I didn't like you much neither. During this fight, I've seen a lot of changing, the way you felt about me, and in the way I felt about you. In here, there were two guys killing each other, but I guess that's better than 20 million. I guess what I'm trying to say, is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!”

RaidenBlack52d ago

I don't like the 'open-worlding' every franchise idea ... Tomb Raider needs to be semi-linear-ish ... or do segmented open spaces

KyRo52d ago (Edited 52d ago )

This. They all follow the same basic structure and it's boring. Open world games have all become to similar to one another.

Christopher52d ago

I'm kind of hoping they're saying open world but they mean the more 'hub' design they've had with recent games. I liked the hub concept. I'm not a fan of just open world a la Ubisoft, though. Ubisoft goes so hard on open world that I feel we really don't need any more.

Noskypeno52d ago

I would like them to do a Halo ODST style, with the open hub area containing extra tombs and Easter eggs and collectibles and finding certain items will bring you to the linear mission.

Profchaos52d ago (Edited 52d ago )

For me I'd like to see more of a emphasis on puzzles return the last trilogy felt a bit like a modern action game

-Foxtrot52d ago

The Unified timeline bullshit still sounds awful going off the rumours

You can't make Survivor Lara and Classic Lara the same, they have totally different histories and origin stories.

They actually want to say that Survivor Lara turns into Classic which would then erase Classic Lara's origin story with the plane crash in the Himalayas.

Also an open world game...sigh

I had hoped the love for the Remaster games would have pushed them to continue that timeline or do a new reimagined timeline where you play as Classic Lara surviving in the Himalayas for those 2 weeks before she found a small village for help.

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