The Monday Inbox is not convinced by Guardians Of The Galaxy’s lack of multiplayer, as one reader admits to not liking Sonic the Hedgehog.
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Military rivalries
So what happens if Battlefield 2042 is bigger than Call Of Duty this year? EA has been dreaming of that for years but with COD a no-show so far and everyone seeming to be pretty meh about going back to a WW2 setting what would it mean if Battlefield was the number one military shooter around?
EA has already hinted they’re making a Warzone equivalent but would beating Call Of Duty mean they’d try and turn the paid-for games round to being yearly sequels? How would Call Of Duty respond? Would it immediately go to a near future setting to try and copy Battlefield? Try and add more vehicles and bigger maps?
Rather than Microsoft and Sony I would say that Battlefield and Call Of Duty are probably the best example of two close rivals keeping the other in check. Call Of Duty has been phoning it in for the last few years as far as I’m concerned, while on the other side Battlefield has not been able to get away with sub-standard games like Battlefield 5 because there’s such an obvious alternative.
I probably won’t get both in the same year, but I hope they’re both good this year, so that they’re pushed to be even better next year.
Iceman
Lone voice
Can I buck the trend and say I’ve never liked Sonic The Hedgehog and have no idea how it’s lasted this long, given even the ones people say are good are now over two decades old. Maybe I need to be there at the time but going back to play the Mega Drive games I hate the way you can’t see far enough in front of you to tell where you’re going or avoid a sudden obstacle.
The style of level design is really irritating too. It’s not linear and it’s not open world (or whatever you’d call it given the tech) and to me seems like the worst of both possible worlds. Get lost and confused in a game that’s supposed to be all about running at high speed is no fun, especially when there’s a time limit and you just have to give up halfway through when you realise there’s no way you’re going to get to the end, so why bother?
I’m sure I’m in the wrong but I just wanted to say my piece as I don’t remember ever hearing anyone else say something similar. For me all modern Sonic games being rubbish has barely made a difference.
Colbat34
Common complaint
First of all, if the makers of this game think it is acceptable to sell a game like this, that isn’t worth a fiver, ‘It’s full of bugs and the gameplay is absolutely terrible’. If the ones that made and okayed this game worked for me I would sack them.
And they got the cheek to mention more rubbish they want to try and palm us off with. Don’t think so, last time I buy any of their games. In fact, I want my money back. If they put as much work into making their games as they do their videos it would be brilliant. But they don’t, so ta da from me.
Anon
GC: You don’t mention what game it is you’re complaining about. Given recent history it could be one of several.
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No explanation
So only a week after it was announced and already we have proof that Guardians Of The Galaxy was originally supposed to be a multiplayer game. There’ll probably be much more as time goes on but only ever being able to control Star-Lord is bizarre. He doesn’t even really have any powers, just flying and… guns? I mean he’s cool and everything but with the others just standing there it seems really weird not to be able to play with them as well.
At the very least why not let you switch control to one of the others and keep it single-player? You can do that in Marvel Ultimate Alliance and that game is much lower budget than this seems to be. If the ability to control other characters was always there then why get rid of them just because you ditched the multiplayer?
None of this makes any sense to me and until there’s some proper explanation from the developers I’m not even going to consider buying it.
Puton
My first apocalypse
I’ve only ever played the Persona games but I really liked that trailer for Shin Megami Tensei 5 in the E3 Nintendo Direct. The design of the main character is great and while you can tell it’s pretty low tech I like the mix between Persona style stylishness and the post-apocalyptic theme that seems to be MegaTen’s thing.
I’m definitely interested in giving the game a try if it reviews well. I would’ve with the remaster of Shin Megami Tensei 3 but it seemed like it was just too old-fashioned to be fun nowadays. I actually thought the Nintendo Direct was pretty good in general, given the problems of the last year or so. I’m willing to give Advance Wars a try too.
Punky Hamster
Super Astro Bot Bros.
It’s probably not what’s going on but did anyone else think of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale when they read about Insomniac making a melee-based game? I’m sure there won’t be a direct sequel (that name is not going to fly anymore!) but the idea of a PlayStation equivalent to Super Smash Bros. seems just too tempting to me.
After all, if you’re trying to push the exclusives as your console’s big selling point then what better way than a game with them all in it? I don’t know if the best way to do that is a fighter though? I don’t really see it working with an action role-playing game either. I mean, does anyone really want to see Ellie fighting side by side with Ratchet & Clank?
The free Astro Bot game was great at including everything in just one game, even if they were just cameos in the background. I wonder if that’s something that the sequel is going to be double down on, maybe letting you control them this time. There was obviously a reason that Sony kept Team Asobi going and I wouldn’t be surprised if that was what they were thinking of.
Kettle
Nobody (except one) does it better
Interesting to read the Quake anniversary discussion. I only played a little of the earlier ones and never owned them but Quake 3 Arena on the Dreamcast… now there was a game!
Probably second only to GoldenEye 007 in that era for time spent on multiplayer shooters. The whole setup, to me and my mates, just had a great balance and, importantly, any of us could win. Loved it.
Diamond
No Rush
I eagerly anticipated your Mario Golf: Super Rush review, even more so when reviews began appearing elsewhere and many were unimpressed. It’s currently 75 on both OpenCritic and Metacritic, which isn’t terrible by any means but it’s the lowest rated Mario Golf to date. I did purchase Mario Tennis Aces when it came out (which was 2018, rather than last year as you review states), but found it lacking. To not be able to play a traditional 5 set match of tennis is just ridiculous. I think many loved the older iterations of the Mario Sports games because underneath the Nintendo aesthetics were serious games that nailed the feel of the sports. That is still there I think, but it’s suffocated by power shots, party games, and story modes.
I recall reading that Nintendo will only greenlight games that offer new ideas – I think in reference to Paper Mario: The Origami King’s new battle system (which was quite bad) – so I do wonder whether Camelot have to ‘sell’ Nintendo on new features for each new Tennis and Golf games, because if they don’t have any Nintendo will not let them simply update an older version with improved visuals – though, I wish we did get an updated version of Toadstool Tour.
Matt
PS: I also wanted to respond to the reader asking what people’s thoughts were on Zelda: Skyward Sword. I’m anticipating a slew of critical reviews next month, which is a far cry from the general response when the game originally launched on the Wii. Since then, we’ve had Breath Of The Wild and, sure, Skyward Sword pales in comparison to that, but I believe it’s still a great game. The dungeons are some of the very best in the franchise. I think anything lower than an 8 is very unfair. If you haven’t played it then I would completely recommend it; just don’t expect Breath Of The Wild.
GC: We really don’t think there’s anything to be gained by comparing Metacritic scores from 20+ year old N64 and GameCube games. We’d much rather play Super Rush than any of the previous Mario Golf titles.
Inbox also-rans
Fallout 4 wasn’t a great game, but it had a great soundtrack. I think it definitely deserves a mention.
Russell
So if Sony owns the right to Bloodborne does that mean they could make a sequel without FromSoftware? Like how they got someone else to do the remake of Demon’s Souls?
Burr-Burr
GC: Presumably, yes. Unless there’s some unusual small print in the deal they had for the first one.
This week’s Hot Topic
On Wednesday we’ll be exactly halfway through the year, so for this weekend’s Inbox we want to know what you think is the best game of 2021 so far.
The game has to be one that was released new this year, so not just whatever you happened to be playing from a previous year. How many 2021 games have you bought in total this year and how well do you feel publishers have coped with the problems caused by the pandemic?
Whether they’re new or not, have you bought more or less games in general this year and are there any you’re already planning to get in the second half of 2021?
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The small print
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