Scrubking said:


Because the Wii doesn't reflect the values of the videogame industry and the videogame media. It's clear that the industry wants to be Hollywood. That is why Graphics are worshiped at a fanatical level and given the highest priority. Devs don't want to make games anymore - they want to make cinematic experiences that make you cry. They want games to look as real as possible in order to make these pseudo movies.

This fanaticism has gotten to the point where a game that was amazing a few years ago is treated like a piece of shit simply because it doesn't look as good as something made today. You hear buzz words like "standards" and "dated" in order to justify the illogical and irrational devaluing of older games based on how they look. It's sad when someone says they can't play a game they supposedly loved anymore because of how it looks.

Gameplay which is what makes a game a game and not a CGI movie is treated as secondary, and as such we have games today that look amazing but have the same gameplay as those of last gen and before. Of course making HD graphics is easy and making compelling, innovative gameplay is hard, and that's another reason why the industry wants gamers to value graphics above anything else. If they can sell you the same game every year with a prettier coat of paint then they've got you.

Modern Warfare Reflex is essentially the same game that you saw on the 360, but since it doesn't have that HD sparkle that makes internet nerds go fap, fap, fap it will be dismissed and derided. It doesn't matter that it plays the same, has the exact same content or has superior controls. It's not in HD and that's what matters to - sadly - the vast majority of people who call themselves the "hardcore" in the media and industry.



This post I found summed up how I feel when playing some games. I'm currently playing COD MW Reflex on wii and last year I played World at War on Wii too.



What did I say last year with that title?






gamingeek said:






Since the design is the same they're basically saying that it has better graphics and a couple more online modes. I've played a few next gen games which are basically getting extra overall points for presentation. I like great production values, but if a game is lacking in design or lacking in fun then I can't look past those flaws. That's why even with games which have some superlative production values, eventually they can bore me.

COD World at War has some spiffy production values but also has some limited and frustrating design that stops if from being a great experience.



If they had limited the frustration, got rid of some archaic design bits like spawn points and trigger points and made a dynamic and fun AI system, the game would be much better. The insistence on cinematic flair over gameplay: for instance throwing smoke all over the screen, so you can't aim at anything, or shaking the screen with every explosion which makes aiming a bitch. Or having guns with no stability which kick up and force you to constantly re-adjust. Or the old battle system of pressing forward into clustered defence points. It's quite linear design and having a very slow basic movement means that the levels don't flow as well as they could. Seeing how they are both WW2 FPS on Wii I booted up MOHH2. Basically COD5 blows it away on cinematic scope and large levels, but the gameplay in MOHH2 is just so much smoother and more accurate it's not even funny. If the games could combine both aspects they would have something pretty special.



And what did IGN say about the HD console versions of World at war last year?



IGN said:


"This remains a Call of Duty game through and through. What that means is that the action is fast and fluid, as well as rigidly scripted. The success of the franchise proves that there's a vast audience for that, and this won't change anyone's mind. Enemy soldiers and your computer-controlled teammates respawn endlessly until you advance far enough to hit the triggers to make them stop reappearing. Then you advance to the next firefight and repeat the process over again. The thing is, you're far too busy shooting and ducking and dying to really notice much of the time. The sense of immersion is pretty complete. "


So this is the crux of the matter, as with last years World at War, Reflex is exactly the same game, the same design as the big brother version with worse graphics but better controls.



If you want to get bogged down in minutia the wii version has only 10 players online and no voice chat. Other than that its all modes, all the campaign all the multiplayer maps along with controls that faaaaar better than last years World at War.



And yet the reviews are hugely telling. You see the problem here is that the design of Mordern Warfare can't hold up. There is nothing special here in gameplay terms. Halo 1 has better AI then this game, grenades are constantly falling at your feet, enemies are endlessly respawning, the levels rely on trigger points. It's a game which is virtually on rails. And yet it tries to disguise this structure with sensory overload. It throws so many enemies at you, you feel as though you can't catch your breath and it hopes that the visual pizazz of HD versions will have you wowing at how cinematic everything is.



Now this is where reviewers are being shown up. Their reviews for this Wii version have been terrible. For a start most of them sound like they have phoned in the reviews, others have terrible factual innacuries and are wearing rose tinted specs to the point of absurdity.



Some still make bizaare comments about the controls, despite them being several times better than last years world at war. Despite there being 5 presets and infinite options for tweaking, reviewers still cant find that sweet spot or even take the time to tweak the controls to their liking? Isn't it the responsibility of the reviewer to explore the options the game allows? Especially in an IR shooter where your enjoyment of the game relies so heavily on the controls?



Then there are WTF statements from some rose tinted goggled reviewers claiming that WaW on Wii had better visuals, which is blatantly wrong.



One review I read from NOM sounded like he had played the first level, then kicked on multiplayer and called it a day. Another made clear that they were playing it on a huge HDTV and complaining about the graphics. Well no shit sherlock, when you try and stretch 480 lines over a 1080 line television of course its going to look like shite.



Eurogamer made the same inane comment, making it abundantly clear that they were playing on an HDTV.



Let's look at it this way, what if the next generation of TVs came out, the ones a step up from HDTV and they made all HD content look like ass? Would you expect reviewers to be playing PS3 and 360 games on these new TVs and then claiming the graphics were ass? No? Well why should it be any different with Wii which is made for SD displays?



But the worst part of the reviewers is that they basically boil down to "The graphics aren't as good as 360 and its two years old" and then they call it day.



Just because something is late doesn't mean its bad. If the same game, the same design, the same story, modes and weapons is suddenly SO terrible with a lower level of graphics then what does that tell you about how games are being reviewed? I hate to use the term blinded but that's what its boiling down to. If a game can look suitably "epic" or cinematic it gets +++++++ points all over.



If Bioshock as it existed today was put on Xbox 1 with identical design and with Xbox 1 graphics it would be getting 8.0 scores.



So yes, graphics can add to the experience and yet that wholly omits the notion that controls, which actually directly affect gameplay, can enhance the experience too and in IR shooters that's paramount and reviewers dont seem to give any recognition to that fact.



At the end of the day I find Modern Warfare to be a fairly ordinary, overated game, I would 8.3 it based on the single player. This same game, same design on an HD system somehow becomes this AAA rated, worldwide sales phenom.




Posted by gamingeek Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:32:43 (comments: 18)
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Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:15:59

Chinatown wars is completely different Aspro its a custom made platform exclusive.

It's not the case of exactly the same game with a lower level graphics suddenly being reviewed as a dud and not worth your time.

Dvader they could make Twilight Princess with N64 graphics and it would still be as good. But we're not talking such a huge drop here. You can play RE5 on an HDTV then RE4 on an SDTV and your eyes wont be crying. You're online comparison is pretty poor to me, yes the player count has dropped to 10 but its exactly the same, all the design, geometry, modes, weapons, upgrades its all there exactly the same, even with host migration AND far superior controls. If it was good then its good now, we're not talking a decade long lull here. I have no idea what you mean when you say that you doubt the wii could handle the experience, it does.

And its the nature of the reviews that is totally bogus. I can understant it not getting attention but the tone and details of the reviews suck ass. They dont even give it a fair shake, they barely sound like they played it. They make WTF comparisons, they play it on a TV which makes it look like ass and then complain about visuals. They dont customise the controls then complain about it. They play 1 level then write a review.

And this is the same game they were 10/10-ing before, suddenly its a bad game?

star-trek-spock1.jpg

No, its exactly the same game with a lower level of graphics. So knowing that and going by logic the only reason everyone jizzed over it was because of the graphics.

 
Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:05:27

1up haven't half assed the review and they gave it an A- rating.

"Basically, you can take everything from our 2007 review of the original version and apply it to Reflex, and that's pretty dang respectable. The woefully uncredited team at Treyarch deserves some props for faithfully -- not necessarily exactly -- bringing over Modern Warfare's single-player campaign and multiplayer modes. No, of course it doesn't look quite as good, and runs at less than 60 frames per second, but it's a necessary evil that's not worth harping on. The intense missions are still there, as are the characters, the plot, the great sound design, and of course, the gunplay. So what if there are a few less plumes of smoke on the battlefield? "

At least they are consistent, it isn't a half assed "teh graphics are worse so its bad" waste of reading.

 
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:03:45
I'll be honest here, I think Reflex just got a hard time because it's two years old. If Reflex came out along the side of Modern Warfare back then, it would've been treated like World at War.

Also, you have to consider Modern Warfare 2 releasing on the same day. Activision was stupid to do this. They should have released Reflex a year ago OR port MW2 on the Wii instead.

But I agree with your blog because I can apply your reasoning to other games that got reviewed like this. Like NSMB Wii. I really think the DS game took away the excitement and could-be accolades from the Wii version because a lot of reviewers, *cough* IGN,*cough* criticized it that way, which is unfair since NSMB Wii is obviously the superior game in every way. The IGN reviewer is strange because he gave the DS version a 9.5 yet gave the Wii one a 8.9 even though he clearly said the Wii one is a much better game. And can you believe he actually said that he felt NSMB Wii was a step back from Super Mario Galaxy? You can't spell ignorant without "IGN!"

So my opinion on Reflex? I understand why reviewers would dock it lower and paid no attention to it and I'll be honest to say that it'll be hard for me to even want to play Reflex especially since I played Modern Warfare 1 on my 360 to death already. Maybe that's how they feel too, but then again, they are supposed to be professionals even though they don't review like one a lot of the times.

But you're points are valid, GG. Just saying Activision is stupid.

 
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:21:36
I said they shouldn't give it some crazy low score, it is a great game. What I am saying is that I can see why this game gets zero attention and why so many reviewers seem to not even want to play it. Its a port of a 2 year old game with no real reason to play it again that came out on the same day that the mega sequel hit.

Yeah I know there are some wii only owners out there, yeah this game is probably awesome for them. But everyone else have played this game and the better version of it. It's not just that it doesn't have pretty graphics anymore, its that its 2 years old and everyone on the planet has played it already.

Say RE5 gets released on the Wii in 2011 it wont get nearly the same scores it got. Its not cause the game is bad its cause its a lesser port of an old game.
 
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:56:57
^How did re4 Wii do with it's release scores?
 
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:17:22

RE5 Pffft edition if it comes out on Wii. 

But seriously, reviewers need to review the games on their own terms. If RE5 released on Wii with better than RE4 graphics with better aiming and exactly the same design and modes, if it does get pffft reviews and 7.0s I would find it to show up reviewers on graphics like reflex does. 

They dont review the game, they turn it on to compare the graphics to the version they know, then phone in a review. 

 
Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:47:42
Is Captain Kirk molesting Spock in that pic? GASP
 
Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:08:50
RE4 Wii was on the same hardware, in every which way it was the superior version. You can't say that about CoD nor RE5 if it happens. Yes graphics do matter add the fact that its old. Outside of wii owners that have no other consoles, these ports have no reason to exist.

Now it is up to the review to put himself in the shoes of a wii only owner and give a true review. Sadly they don't seem to be doing that. I don't expect the same scores as the original games for the reasons I posted above but if CoD4 is in tact as you claim it is, it should still be a highly rated game.
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