Clive Barker's Jericho Demo Released!

Jodou · #1 09-27-2007, 12:24 AM

FYI.

While you wait on the DL, check out their site. It's actually really well done.

EDIT: Oh c'mon, now they're just taunting me with demo footage and it's not even in English! 25% to go. . .

Jodou · #2 09-27-2007, 05:05 AM

First impressions are everything and unfortunately Jericho reminds me terribly of a game that was once to be the first Halo killer, Brute Force. Sadly, about the only thing Brute Force killed was your wallet over broken controllers and the shiny new coaster the game disc doubles as. Both are squad-based games in which the puzzles are only as difficult as switching characters on the fly, but this time around it's in first person rather than third, which really is a shame given how beatifully sculpted each character is.

Diving right in I assumed the role of the team's sniper blessed with the ability to use mind-bullets and a force-push of sorts. I say mind-bullets because you can control the path of your projectile through 3-4 enemies before losing control and it doesn't consume any real ammunition from what I could tell. After mostly following my teammates (and letting them do all the work really) to a locked door, I'm prompted to assume command of the team's resident ninja.

Church (and I'm really not sure why they named her that, but I certainly wouldn't mind her housing my supreme being if you get my drift) wields a katana and automatic pistol, although I'm not entirely sure why she has a gun as one slice of her sword is an instant kill. Apparently one-hit kills weren't powerful enough to arm her with, so we're also given two powers: one 'angel-scripture' to tie my enemies down (obviously to aid the auto-aim feature in completely putting me to sleep) and the other to set the entire room on fire (which will slowly kill anything in my way as long as I can back up far enough before they die at my feet).

Halfway through my exciting adventure of holding down the slash-sword button through a tunnel I'm met with the increasingly prominent action button sequences. At this point I was rather worried that the game would fail to be any less cumbersome than another Halo sequel, but I was relieved to find that the action sequences were like playing Dance Dance Revolution with my fingers ultimately removing all doubt. Feeling pleased with myself for making it this far despite suicidal tendencies, I set the room on fire and walked over to a lever that couldn't be more obvious if they told me over the comm to find one. But they do and the demo ends.

It's not that Jericho is a bad game, it's just that it falls into the same category of challenging as pushing block shapes through their appropriate holes on a toddler's toy. They state in the video that the demo takes place approximately halfway through the game, which is most likely the only time players will actually play this portion seeing as most will fall into a catatonic state before ever making it this far.

RedQ · #3 09-27-2007, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jodou

First impressions are everything and unfortunately Jericho reminds me terribly of a game that was once to be the first Halo killer, Brute Force. Sadly, about the only thing Brute Force killed was your wallet over broken controllers and the shiny new coaster the game disc doubles as. Both are squad-based games in which the puzzles are only as difficult as switching characters on the fly, but this time around it's in first person rather than third, which really is a shame given how beatifully sculpted each character is.

Diving right in I assumed the role of the team's sniper blessed with the ability to use mind-bullets and a force-push of sorts. I say mind-bullets because you can control the path of your projectile through 3-4 enemies before losing control and it doesn't consume any real ammunition from what I could tell. After mostly following my teammates (and letting them do all the work really) to a locked door, I'm prompted to assume command of the team's resident ninja.

Church (and I'm really not sure why they named her that, but I certainly wouldn't mind her housing my supreme being if you get my drift) wields a katana and automatic pistol, although I'm not entirely sure why she has a gun as one slice of her sword is an instant kill. Apparently one-hit kills weren't powerful enough to arm her with, so we're also given two powers: one 'angel-scripture' to tie my enemies down (obviously to aid the auto-aim feature in completely putting me to sleep) and the other to set the entire room on fire (which will slowly kill anything in my way as long as I can back up far enough before they die at my feet).

Halfway through my exciting adventure of holding down the slash-sword button through a tunnel I'm met with the increasingly prominent action button sequences. At this point I was rather worried that the game would fail to be any less cumbersome than another Halo sequel, but I was relieved to find that the action sequences were like playing Dance Dance Revolution with my fingers ultimately removing all doubt. Feeling pleased with myself for making it this far despite suicidal tendencies, I set the room on fire and walked over to a lever that couldn't be more obvious if they told me over the comm to find one. But they do and the demo ends.

It's not that Jericho is a bad game, it's just that it falls into the same category of challenging as pushing block shapes through their appropriate holes on a toddler's toy. They state in the video that the demo takes place approximately halfway through the game, which is most likely the only time players will actually play this portion seeing as most will fall into a catatonic state before ever making it this far.

Brute force indeed. Those were my thoughts as I watched the squad intro. I liked brute force, and its been my guildcafe answer to underappreciated game for a few months. It was only decent but had a slither of something unique that I wished would resurface someday.

5 minutes into Jericho I felt like I was witnessing an evil and brilliant tangent of Brute Force. I was totally torn emotionally. I just hope Anvil Studios can take pride that their model was fully realized.

Danmor · #4 09-27-2007, 05:49 PM

OK, I just played through the demo (which didn't take long considering the 1 GB download). But I'm not to thrilled with the game.

Things I didn't like:

The Team: Call it party, squad, team etc. I don't like games that force me to play with NPCs. It was the one thing I didn't like about Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, etc. The only game that did the team-thingy in a way I liked was R6: Vegas.

Changing characters: Looks like this is one of the unique selling points of the game, but it doesn't agree with me. I usually like one play style (sniper, meele, rambo, etc.) or another depending on the game. So please let me play in my prefered play style and don't force me to change to the different characters with different styles.

Graphics: I don't mean the engine, I mean the art style. The characters looked nice, but the rest was kinda boring. It was red and most of it had a stone texture, that is what stood out for me :/

Little things: Primary fire doesn't refer to the character's primary weapon, it refers to the weapon in the left hand. If my primary weapon is a sniper rifle (as i was told in the introductory movie) i expect to fire rounds from the sniper rifle when i hit the left mouse button ... not the granade launcher. Same thing with the big guy and the minigun. I could change it, but then the setting for the sword lady would be messed up.
Also, there is no jumping.

Things I liked:

Action sequences: There are those nice sequences where you have to hit the right button at the right time to live through the next few seconds. It was a nice diversion from the constant killing and a good addition. It allows for moves and stunts that would othervise not be possible with pure FPS controls.

That's about as much as i could find in this tiny demo.

This is my opinion and you are of course free to disagree with me.

<edit>
Almost forgot. I was reading a bit about the game and was looking for information about a multiplayer mode. My thought was, that this squad based play style was a perfect candidate for a co-op mode. Sadly it looks like all this messing with time (slow-motions, etc.) make multiplayer kinda impossible to implement.
</edit>

Delmar · #5 09-27-2007, 07:06 PM

I thought that this game might be a good one. However, after reading the reviews here, I'm leaning the other way. I'm on the fence when it comes to squad-based games (I liked Republic Commando but not newer games). I love multi-play/co-op (n/a here).

I was prepared to d/load the demo this weekend and try it. Now, I'll probably get around to it, but its no longer on my "must do" list.

Gunnarr Varghoss · #6 09-27-2007, 11:49 PM

Bah, Its really sad to see this game go down like that. Brute force imo was decent at best... kind of boring but it had a few things that others dont.... Jericho probably wont be played by me sadly..

Jodou · #7 10-23-2007, 10:18 PM

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Looks like I wasn't the only one to hate Jericho. I like my review better TBH.

Bishop · #8 10-23-2007, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jodou

I like my review better TBH.

You know, me too. That deserves a "favored" clicky.

Other than that, however, I refer you to this post.

Shadow · #9 10-23-2007, 10:24 PM

wow felt like my time would have been spent beta testing Gods and Heroes....lol funny because the game is on someones shelve collecting dust~!!

Dem · #10 10-23-2007, 11:28 PM

Nice review Jodou. I played the demo a while back (360 version), but I'll be much briefer: It sucked ass. Besides shitty enemies, shitty environments, shitty controls and just being shit, I can't see how the full game would be any fun... Waste of minutes.