Agreed Marc. So let's plough in :lol:
Disclaimer: I'm only about three hours in to the game, so I may be missing some things
Gran Turismo6
It's absolutely the best GT so far. The cars have a real dynamism that was lacking before - you can really feel the weight shift around and alter the control of the car. It's really satisfying. It's polished and I've not seen any of the annoy screen tearing type bugs GT5 had - so it's a better game to play.
The menu system is neat, yet flourished. It's very well designed and makes a lot of sense. Lots of really positive things about the game.
Then you play and... You win. And you win. And you win.
It's just the same as before. There is no challenge in the actually racing environment. It's all rolling starts to put you half a lap behind the leader, which you take away within the first lap and then sit out in front for the rest. It's a racing game, I want to race!
As with previous versions, the challenge is all in the, erm, challenges. Seasonal Events, Goodwood and the specials in each class offer a good level of difficulty. They require you to keep the car under good control and to actually drive well.
I think Marc hits it when he talks about his mate. I know for a fact (having played Marc online) that I'm nowhere near as good as he it. I also more than suspect I'm not up to the level of Neal and Smithy - so playing them online would be depressing. Yet the game can't step up to the level I'm at. I'm not great, but the game seems to think I'm completely crap.
I think the best example of this are the challenges. I'm an "always Bronze first go, Silver after two or three attempts and Gold if I really work at it" kind of level. That's from the "N00b" challenges, Goodwood and the seasonals. I know that's my level and I'm happy with it.
So why have I walked home every race - first time - with Gold and out in the lead by a lot (10 seconds+ on a bad race)? The difficulty should be standard across the game, then I can replay to get better at it as I get better at the game. I've not even bought a car or upgrades yet, I'm always running at least 50PP below the allowed PP number, yet still winning no problems.
It's stupid, annoying but... It's addictive fun too. The driving is really great and that's half the battle. It's just that it feels like a collection of time trials
My only other major bugbear is the same as always. Tyre squeal. I was driving the Corvette monster in a challenge. Great fun, big beefy car with a roaring engine. Head into the fist corner and it's like somebody has suddenly put earplug in you and then littered the track with hamsters, the dying squeaks of which are the only thing that can penetrate the earplugs. Brake gently and... No engine noise, just SQUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL! Turn gently and... No engine noise, just SQUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!
I have tyres on this car the width of the Thames. I'm doing 5mph. WHY IS IT SQUEALING???
What I'm actually desperate for is the Sat Nav update. I want to plot my course to work, in the same car on the game as I have and then see just how realistic it is. True test
I may do a side by side comparison.
As I'm working too much, I'm being selfish at home and playing games. So as well as GT6, I've been ploughing through other stuff too (PS+ freebies).
I completed
Metro: Last Light on Sunday morning. I didn't really enjoy it, but the mechanics were just good enough and the story just intriguing enough to keep me at it. It's a weird mix of Half Life and Thief - two games I loved.
Pacing was awful, with far too much "lack of action time". You'd have levels with sneaking and crawling, followed by a cut scene, then a walk through a "time out area", cut scene and then sneaking and crawling. You could be half an hour or more without shooting a single bullet or killing anyone. While you obviously don't need to be shooting constantly, you'd then have points where it was half an hour of constant killing. It just would be nice to have a little more of a mix up and less sitting around with nothing really happening.
Still, it was an easy game to be occupied with and just good enough.
Then started
Bioshock Infinity which I'm enjoying so far, but I'm only about four hours in to it and haven't really hit the main plot stream yet. I love the world it's set in, it's glorious. I prefer the game mechanics to the other two games too, but I got bored quite quickly with those, so time will tell...