🚀 go-pugleaf

Sorry about the last mixed up post.  I didn't realize Dejanews did that.
Anyhow, I decided to repost and add a bit more to my complaint list...

I have several complaints about the Android Assassins-Z (AAZ) demo.

1. It is almost the same old, same old. Well, all FPS's are, so this is
minor. You get your usual selection of 30 or so weapons, the ability to
engage in hand to hand combat (with a large selection of martial arts moves),
and a dynamic AI that makes adjustments on the fly.  In otherwords, same
old-same old.  It has been seen numerous times before, so it is a bit old.  I
guess since this what people want, this is what people get.  The Android
Assassins you hunt in the game are varied, with different attributes,
temperments and such.  All this has been done before, so it is cliched.

2. Like the first one, a hackned plot.  Go track down an android in a large
crowd of people (I will gripe about the crowd of people later) that wanders
throughout a city targeting different political figures.  I just wish someone
would do something a wee bit different than this umpteenth millionth variation
on the movie Blade Runner or Virtuosity (if anyone remembers this really
ancient film).  Yes, it works as a gimmic to set up a FPS, but I am getting
tired of it.

3. Only 500 people simultaneously when playing game over the Net.  Sheesh,
this is small. Other games out there support over 10,000 out of the box.  I
guess maybe it is just the demo, and it is still a beta, so maybe they will
up the number in the full release.

4. The crowds.  PLEASE do something about the graphics.
The people in the crowds look like the graphics in the really old arcade
game, Virtua Fighter 3 (if anyone remembers this ancient arcade game).	In
other words, the people in crowds have a store maniquin-ish(spelling)
appearance (skin textures are too plastic and shiny).  Yes, they are very
varied in appearance, from old woman to a teenage biker, and such.  From a
distance, it looks like real crowds wandering busy city street.  BUT, when
you get up close, they look so artficial.  I know, it is the demo, so the
makers of the game may fix it.	I hope they implement a combination of
fractal generation along with video streaming on the faces to make crowds
look more realistic.  Other games have much more realistic crowd graphics.
Then again, it is the demo, so I hope they improvie.

5. Your computer AI assistants in the game's AI are a bit weak.  I think the
designers of AA-Z need to tweak their weapon selection and such.   I had one
attempt to assist me in terminating the first android assassin in the first
"level" (well, I use the term level loosely, because there really aren't
levels in the game, since the world dynamically changes on the fly.), or it
was the first android assassin I wasted.  My assistant, due to a lack of
sufficient firepower or shielding, was killed.	    I think the designers of
the game need to tweak the weapon/armor selection of the computer assistants
to the game. As it stands now, with the android assassins having massively
superior weapontry and shielding, I will have no assistants left by mid-game.

6. The interface is ancient.  Why should I need the combination of a keyboard
and mouse, or a trackball/joystick to control things?  I am assuming the
designers are still tweaking the body language sensors, so that is why these
ancient control mechanisms are used for the demo.  I do hope it is fixed.

All told, I am disappointed with the demo.  I hope there are improvements
made before the game is released.  As it stands now, I don't think this game
is going to do well, and is destined for the bargin bin shortly after it is
released.  Come on developers, you can do a bad job on the demo.  This is not
like the ancient days when Unreal came out, where multiplayer was broken when
you released a game.  Competiton is very fierce now.  Companies like Sierra,
Microprose, Activision (their whole , and GT Interactive all went under due
to shoddy products.  I know the day Sierra filed bankruptcy, there was a bit
of lamenting at first, but everyone then rejoiced because the company
continued to produce dogs.  The whole Outpost 3 fiasco did them in.  And, if
it weren't for G.O.D, Take-2 would have been gone long ago.

I do miss the golden age of great games, such as Railroad Tycoon 2 (I spent
hours on that one), Quake Arena (amazing how turing a FPS shooter into a
sporting event worked.  I remember spending weeks, against the computer AI
oppponents, working my way up until I won the Nationals in the game.  Now that
was fun!  And another few months to win the Nationals with my team in Capture
the Flag), HOMM 4, and the TOAW Collection (It had volumes 1-3, if I recall
correctly.  This was the ultimate wargame pack, unmatched even today.  It let
you do every battle from the start of the 19th century to the year 2000).
Anyone else remember great games from the golden age of the late 1990's?
Anyhow, I digress

Anyhow, thank you for your time and we return you to your regularly scheduled
programming for today...

- Richard Hutnik (email: ab...@maristb.marist.edu)

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