[Roper Klacks]

Originally Posted by Gazzoid

Wait, what? Legend a terrible Tomb Raider? Aren't you forgetting The Angel of Darkness? That's the worst Tomb Raider game. Legend was quite an improvement in comparison.

Like i said Legend is a decent action game, but there is nothing Tomb Raider-ish in that game. Take out Lara and it could have been named "generic action-adventure game 4.0". It has no soul and felt like a tech demo for future Crystal games.

Angel of Darkness is a technical nightmare (my god those controls...), and it also has few classic Tomb Raider elements, but i have a soft spot for it. It actually had some very good and ambitious ideas, excelent platforming and exploration and a great atmosphere.

[DustyShinigami]

Hmmm... interesting. I don't completely agree, but I understand where you're coming from. I'd say Legend was Tomb Raider-ish, but just not in the same sense that the originals or even Anniversary are. It certainly doesn't have the same... heart? Or quality at any rate.

The Angel of Darkness was much less Tomb Raider-ish because of the levels/environments you explore - the streets of Paris, sewers, a museum, a graveyard, the streets of Prague and later levels take place inside a facility. Not many tombs, really. Or even complex puzzles. The first part of the game reminded me of Broken Sword because of character interaction in Paris and inventory puzzles. I have to be honest, even though the first half drives off in a completely different direction to the usual Tomb Raider formula, in a mixed kinda way, I did enjoy it because of the Broken Sword-like quality. Yeah, I agree the game does have atmosphere, but I wouldn't agree the platforming is good. Lara can't even perform certain jumps or climbs until you've made her slightly stronger in another area. And apart from the streets of Paris and the tomb at the bottom of the museum, there isn't that much exploring to do. Levels are incredibly short and linear.

[Origami]

A new game in the line of 'contemporary' adventure game experience might be out very soon.
It's called Enslaved.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Originally Posted by Origami

A new game in the line of 'contemporary' adventure game experience might be out very soon.
It's called Enslaved.

I've played the demo on PS3 (it's also slated for X360). It looks mildly promising though I know the demo can't give us a sense of everything about its quality.

There are a bunch of similarities between Enslaved and the Uncharted games - platforming, shooting, fighting, story, character development. The quality seems inconsistent (based on the demo). Character controls don't feel fluid enough like they did in Uncharted or Uncharted 2 (those two games spoiled me with their elegant controls). Animation tends to look awkward and cartoony.

However, the story and how the two main characters interact look rather promising. Andy Serkis (who played Gollum in the LOTR movies, and also played King Kong in the eponymous 2005 version) does the motion capture for the playable character, Monkey. The voice acting sounds believable.

Developer Ninja Theory focusing heavily on the characters and story so expect some good cutscenes and narrative development. It has echoes of Ico and Prince of Persia (2008 release).

The player controls Monkey, using his various martial abilities and weapons to protect Trip—for if she dies, the slave headband will discharge a lethal dose, thus killing Monkey. He also uses his climbing skills to ambush combat mechs. Although Trip cannot fight, she can protect herself by using a handheld EMP device to temporarily stun enemies which gives her time to escape.

Trip has the ability to use a dragonfly camera to explore the game, find and identify hidden enemy patrols, and display their radius. It can also detect mechs' weak points, such as machine gun attachments that Monkey can rip off to use as weapons. The player can avoid combat, with Trip riding on Monkey's shoulders. Trip can be a distraction while Monkey sneaks up on enemies.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enslaved_%28video_game%29

[Roper Klacks]

Ninja Theory is very talented with motion capture and facial animations, Heavenly Sword (also with Andy Serkis) was great in that department. They are also developing the next Devil May Cry game, a reebot i think.

[Giles Habibula]

Thanks folks for answering my questions.

[trueg]

I started Uncharted 2 just last night and so far I love it. I only finished the first Uncharted a couple of weeks ago and I very much enjoyed it too.

Regarding Uncharted as an adventure game, let's consider a few things (from Wikipedia)....

Adventure: An adventure is an activity that is perceived to involve risk, danger or exciting experiences.

The oldest and most widespread stories in the world are stories of adventure. Mythologist Joseph Campbell discussed his notion of the monomyth in his book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell proposed that the heroic mythological stories from culture to culture followed a similar underlying pattern, starting with the "call to adventure", followed by a hazardous journey, and eventual triumph. The adventure novel exhibits these "protagonist on adventurous journey" characteristics as do many popular feature films, such as Star Wars.

In a literal sense, the Uncharted games are definitely adventures.

In practice, the word 'Adventure' in 'Adventure Game' is not taken literally.

Consider this (again from Wikipedia)...
An adventure game is a computer-based game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge.
- Essential elements of the genre include storytelling, exploration, and puzzle solving.
- Combat and action challenges are limited or absent in adventure games, thus distinguishing them from action games.

Clearly, there is a separation of literal meaning and common usage.

In a literal sense, the term "Adventure Game" says nothing about what type of game it is, other than an adventure takes place and it's a game.

Instead, the genre should be defined by how the game is played.

Common genres would be:
point & click adventure
action adventure
RPG adventure
platform adventure
casual adventure
puzzle adventure (the line between puzzle and point&click can be narrow)

"Adventure games" can easily mix the above genres.

What separates action from action adventure, RPG from RPG adventure, etc etc, is the focus on story & character development.

This site focuses on point & click, puzzle and sometimes casual adventures.

With that in mind, it makes sense that games like Uncharted and Uncharted 2 are not reviewed here.


TrueG

-------------------------
www.computerabuser.com

[Jatsie]

Originally Posted by Ninja Dodo

I think this is a game that you need to play with the right expectations. If you go in looking for intricate puzzles and free exploration you will be disappointed. There's only one way to go and there's too much hand holding (Drake's diary) for you to need to do much thinking...

I going to agree with this, the 'adventure' portion of the game is almost non-existent, what few - and already simple - puzzles it has are negated by the instruction to "open your diary" which then instructs you to place the red block on the red pedestal to solve the thing.

Uncharted and its sequel are a bit of a mixed bag; they're good fun games, but so long as you go into them just expecting a simple fluffy experience. They're not going to blow you away; the story is hackneyed, the gameplay is predictable, and there's really nothing that hasn't been done before.

I'm sure I'll be pre-ordering Uncharted 3 once it's announced, but I still can't help but agree with the excellent points Yahtzee makes in his reviews:

Zero Punctuation: Uncharted

Zero Punctuation: Uncharted 2

[Origami]

@Trueg

Not to be rude but I think most people are aware of the definitions.
That's why TC was smart enough to put 'contemporary' in the topic title.
Since adventure games are scarce nowadays and not part of the mainstream audience anymore, this topic is just to provide mention of modern games that should show characteristic resemblance

Originally Posted by Jatsie

Uncharted and its sequel are a bit of a mixed bag; they're good fun games, but so long as you go into them just expecting a simple fluffy experience. They're not going to blow you away; the story is hackneyed, the gameplay is predictable, and there's really nothing that hasn't been done before.

That's somewhat remarkable...as you really seem to be the only one sharing that opinion. I have yet to encounter someone who wasn't enthusiastic about Uncharted 2.

And Zero Punctuation is hardly a reliable critic. He considers himself a troll and tries to set himself apart from other reviewers by blowing up minor setbacks in a game. His reviews are more for the purpose of entertainment than being informative.

[trueg]

Originally Posted by Origami

@Trueg

Not to be rude but I think most people are aware of the definitions.
That's why TC was smart enough to put 'contemporary' in the topic title.
Since adventure games are scarce nowadays and not part of the mainstream audience anymore, this topic is just to provide mention of modern games that should show characteristic resemblance.

No, that's the point, there are lots of high profile action adventure games in the market.

There is a lack of point & click adventure games, which were common in the 90's.

Some people seem to think that point & click adventures are the only "true" type of adventure game. They were by far the most common type for many years, so it makes perfect sense that the label "Adventure game" was given to this type. My post was attempting to argue that point & click adventure games are just another type of adventure game.

When discussing games here, the label "Adventure Game" should not be used unless referring to all of the different types (action, puzzle, console, RPG & point&click).

There would be very little dispute on what constitutes an "adventure game" if we clearly identified what type of "adventure game" we were referring to.

[stepurhan]

Originally Posted by Origami

That's somewhat remarkable...as you really seem to be the only one sharing that opinion. I have yet to encounter someone who wasn't enthusiastic about Uncharted 2.

And Zero Punctuation is hardly a reliable critic. He considers himself a troll and tries to set himself apart from other reviewers by blowing up minor setbacks in a game. His reviews are more for the purpose of entertainment than being informative.

Actually two people in this thread share the same opinion (Jatsie and Ninja Dodo) and, while Zero Punctuation definitely goes OTT for entertainment purposes. he usually makes valid criticisms at the same time (as my experience of some games he's reviewed has shown me). I would also point out that no-one has said the game is bad, simply that it's not the gaming equivalent of the second coming it is sometimes being made out to be.

[Origami]

he usually makes valid criticisms at the same time

He rarely makes valid critism. Usually he makes either irrelevant or redundant critism or is a hypocrite.

I would also point out that no-one has said the game is bad, simply that it's not the gaming equivalent of the second coming it is sometimes being made out to be.

To some people it is.
And 'mixed-bag' is usually not a positive description for a game.


EDIT: I just watched UC2's review and I could only spot 1 critism that could hold ground.

[Roper Klacks]

Yahtzee "reviews" are comic oriented, its purpose is to make people laugh. Laugh at the review or/and laugh at the fanboys that can't see that he is joking. Using a common internet term, he is "trolling".

However almost all his negative criticisms are indeed true (from the games i also played), or reflects his personal opinions on gaming (like, all JRPG = Bad). When he doesn't like a game he completely ignores the good points and focus completely on the bad ones, and if that game is big and has a lot of fans its even worse

Anyway, all games have flaws, and Uncharted is no different. There's nothing wrong in expose those flaws, on the contrary. No one should be upset about that.

[Origami]

There's nothing wrong in expose those flaws, on the contrary. No one should be upset about that.

If you're implying me, I am not getting upset about anything.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Wish they'd put out a DLC for Uncharted 2. I'd be willing to pay for it. Need moar of it until they at least officially announce Uncharted 3.

[Origami]

There is DLC for UC2. Unforunately it's Multiplayer content.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Nathan Fillion wants Nathan Drake role in Uncharted movie | Joystiq

According to a recent tweet, it looks like Firefly and Castle star Nathan Fillion wants to fill the shoes of Nathan Drake in the upcoming Uncharted movie. With director David O. Russell reportedly back on the project and a first draft script apparently finished, Fillion implored his fans to rise to the occasion. Tweeted Fillion, "If ever there was a Twitter campaign, let this be it. Rise, ye Browncoats. Rise, ye Castillions. RISE!"

Uncharted 2: Cutscene part 1 (introduction)

[taterfyrings]

Why is it that the Legend of Zelda-games is not mentioned here? A more pure adventure-experience is very hard to find anywhere else IMO as those games are primarily about puzzle-solving and exploration and should definitely be classified as adventure-games.

[Origami]

I have good news guys.

Uncharted 3 trailer will be shown at Spike TV Game Awards.

[Tiocfaidh]

Originally Posted by Origami

I have good news guys.

Uncharted 3 trailer will be shown at Spike TV Game Awards.

Hooray