River_Rat_459
12-14-2011, 08:59
I signed up for the beta. If I'm selected, I'll let you know how it is.
Gotham City Imposters is Fun And Unique, But is That Enough?
(PC, PS3, XBOX 360)
Can Monolith's newest game take on its Free-to-Play competition?
By Ryan Winterhalter 12/13/2011
Developers take a big risk implementing unconventional ideas in video games. History has shown that consumers are not exactly welcoming to anything too different from the norm. However, it's not the risks that Gotham City Imposters takes that makes me doubt its future success, but rather the risks it doesn't.
As you might guess, Gotham City Imposters takes place in Gotham City. Deciding that Batman shouldn't have all the fun, a group of aspiring super heroes and villains have sprung up. These newcomers, however, are not exactly what you'd call prime vigilante or criminal material. They wear ridiculous masks that look like a three-year-old's Halloween costume; some get around on roller skates; and all wield a deadly assortment of makeshift weapons. Underneath the humorous window dressing GCI is a pure multiplayer shooter and nothing more. This is actually quite refreshing -- it's nice to see a developer as talented as Monolith tackle a smaller, and more focused game. GCI lets you customize your character with a variety of outlandish outfits, gadgets, and weapons. My Batman wannabe was an obese nerd on roller skates with a cheap looking cowl, undersized T-shirt, assault rifle, and frag grenades. Meanwhile the get-up and kit sported by the rival "Jokerz" team was just as ridiculous.
As expected in a modern FPS, you unlock new weapons, equipment, and costumes as you play through the game. However, the sheer number of unlockables in GCI impresses in itself. Additionally, there are a variety of gameplay modes, including challenge levels that require you to master the various gadgets of the game without interference from enemy players. When you do go online to tackle the competition, you'll find that the competitive modes are fairly standard, but at least try adding a twist to change things up. For example, instead of Capture-The-Flag, there's Fumigation Mode which tasks each team with setting off a gas bomb in their opponents' base. Players have to trigger the bomb and defend it until it detonates to score.
I spent a few hours playing the game at an event recently, and found myself more drawn into it then I expected. Unlock track aside, this is not a Call of Duty clone, and simply finding a shooter with atmosphere and style is somewhat of a relief. However, GCI's unique personality begs comparison with other quirky shooters -- Team Fortress 2 to be specific, but one could also include Battlefield Heroes. Both TF2 and GCI have an off-beat art style, both feature traditional game modes with a twist, and both have an enjoyable sense of humor. However, TF2 is free, and GCI is not. That's why I said at the beginning of the article that it's the risks that the game doesn't take that make me worry for its success. The game is unique, but its business model is not.
If you're someone looking for a cartoony, and quirky shooter (and the success of TF2 shows that there are a lot of you) you have choices at this point in time. Even if Gotham City Imposters ends up being a better game than TF2, the latter still has the advantage of being free. GCI will cost 1200 Microsoft points or $15 depending on platform. My demo leads me to believe that it will be more than worth the money, but I wonder if there won't be large number of players who see the game and decide, "nah, I'll just stick with TF2." Hopefully, that's not the case and there will be an ample player base to compete against when the game comes out in January.
http://youtu.be/xb9dx7UQD6A
Gotham City Imposters is Fun And Unique, But is That Enough?
(PC, PS3, XBOX 360)
Can Monolith's newest game take on its Free-to-Play competition?
By Ryan Winterhalter 12/13/2011
Developers take a big risk implementing unconventional ideas in video games. History has shown that consumers are not exactly welcoming to anything too different from the norm. However, it's not the risks that Gotham City Imposters takes that makes me doubt its future success, but rather the risks it doesn't.
As you might guess, Gotham City Imposters takes place in Gotham City. Deciding that Batman shouldn't have all the fun, a group of aspiring super heroes and villains have sprung up. These newcomers, however, are not exactly what you'd call prime vigilante or criminal material. They wear ridiculous masks that look like a three-year-old's Halloween costume; some get around on roller skates; and all wield a deadly assortment of makeshift weapons. Underneath the humorous window dressing GCI is a pure multiplayer shooter and nothing more. This is actually quite refreshing -- it's nice to see a developer as talented as Monolith tackle a smaller, and more focused game. GCI lets you customize your character with a variety of outlandish outfits, gadgets, and weapons. My Batman wannabe was an obese nerd on roller skates with a cheap looking cowl, undersized T-shirt, assault rifle, and frag grenades. Meanwhile the get-up and kit sported by the rival "Jokerz" team was just as ridiculous.
As expected in a modern FPS, you unlock new weapons, equipment, and costumes as you play through the game. However, the sheer number of unlockables in GCI impresses in itself. Additionally, there are a variety of gameplay modes, including challenge levels that require you to master the various gadgets of the game without interference from enemy players. When you do go online to tackle the competition, you'll find that the competitive modes are fairly standard, but at least try adding a twist to change things up. For example, instead of Capture-The-Flag, there's Fumigation Mode which tasks each team with setting off a gas bomb in their opponents' base. Players have to trigger the bomb and defend it until it detonates to score.
I spent a few hours playing the game at an event recently, and found myself more drawn into it then I expected. Unlock track aside, this is not a Call of Duty clone, and simply finding a shooter with atmosphere and style is somewhat of a relief. However, GCI's unique personality begs comparison with other quirky shooters -- Team Fortress 2 to be specific, but one could also include Battlefield Heroes. Both TF2 and GCI have an off-beat art style, both feature traditional game modes with a twist, and both have an enjoyable sense of humor. However, TF2 is free, and GCI is not. That's why I said at the beginning of the article that it's the risks that the game doesn't take that make me worry for its success. The game is unique, but its business model is not.
If you're someone looking for a cartoony, and quirky shooter (and the success of TF2 shows that there are a lot of you) you have choices at this point in time. Even if Gotham City Imposters ends up being a better game than TF2, the latter still has the advantage of being free. GCI will cost 1200 Microsoft points or $15 depending on platform. My demo leads me to believe that it will be more than worth the money, but I wonder if there won't be large number of players who see the game and decide, "nah, I'll just stick with TF2." Hopefully, that's not the case and there will be an ample player base to compete against when the game comes out in January.
http://youtu.be/xb9dx7UQD6A