After helping a friend out with his blog and seeing him enjoy working on it, I thought it was time for me to jump on the bandwagon. This blog is, obviously, about videogames. I plan on discussing everything from what I've been playing recently, to issues concerning the industry as a whole. To start off, I'm going to keep things simple and talk about my recent purchase of an Xbox 360, and more specifically my thoughts on Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts.With the recent price drop of the Xbox 360, I thought it was time to finally purchase the shiny white box. I had previously only owned a Wii, PS2 and Nintendo DS, so there were a ton of games I was missing out on. One particular title I wanted was Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. I loved the original N64 outings, so to get my hands on a new entry after eight years or so (the GBA titles don't count) brought quite a few memories flooding back. Sadly, when I actually purchased my 360 all my local stores were out of copies, so that night I had to settle for some Viva Pinata action. The next day I immediately travelled to the city, and went about purchasing various 360 games.
I went to about five stores looking for Banjo, and not one had it in stock. I was starting to wonder why it was so popular, surely there was at least one copy left? I didn't waste time though, while searching I also picked up Naruto: Rise of a Ninja and Kameo: Elements of Power - I had some catching up to do for all those missed years. It came down to two last stores: EB Games and Harvey Norman, both at City Cross in the heart of Rundle Mall. I walked in to EB and to my surprised they actually had a copy, but when I went to the counter the sales assistant was rather obnoxious.
Before I continue, I'd like to point out I've never had any issues with the staff at EB Games. I know a lot of people say how unprofessional they are, but for the most part my experiences with them have been pleasant. You can imagine my disappointment when this happened though…
The assistant paused as I handed him the game box. "I'm just going to warn you, this game's really bad" he stated. Before I could respond he asked if I enjoyed the N64 outings. I quietly nodded my head. "Well you shouldn't play this one then. It's just all racing and it's nothing like the originals. The only good thing I got from it was the pre-order code for XBLA"
Now, while I kept my cool throughout the transaction, I was starting to get a little aggravated. "I've read quite a few reviews for the game actually. It seems rather promising. I'm aware that the gameplay is different than the originals, but I'm willing to give it a go before I make a final judgement." I said those words sharply, while managing a mild smirk.
"Well, I'll still sell it to you, it's just I've had so many returns of this game"
As he came back from the stock room I couldn't help myself, "You know, I think a lot of people are walking in with the expectation it's going to be an updated version of the original. I'm walking in knowing about the gameplay change and I've accepted it." With that, the guy shrugged. He could see I wasn't happy with him. It's not so much he said he hated the game, it's just he tried to push me away from purchasing it. To be quite frank, I didn't ask for his opinion, all I was interested in was making a smooth and quick transaction so I could get home and play the damn thing.
On the way home I questioned to myself if the guy was right after all. Despite generally positive reviews, I have been known to dislike favourable games. Zack and Wiki comes to mind, I just didn't see the appeal in it and got bored, though I did respect what it was doing for the point-and-click genre. Thankfully, from the minute I loaded up the title screen my concerns died.
I'll be perfectly honest, when the new gameplay direction was first announced, I was sceptical. Rare hadn't quite been up to scratch with some of their previous efforts, and to take Banjo in a whole new direction seemed like a huge risk. Thankfully, at its core it stays true to the series. The music consists of remixes from previous levels, while the game’s humour is spot on. At the end of the game there’s a quiz, and one of the questions even pokes fun at the whole Stop ‘n’ Swop connectivity feature that fan sites “still won’t shut up about”. You can really tell the development team had a lot fun making the game, and as a result its quality shines right through from beginning to end.
This all said, you can’t possibly expect it to resemble the N64 games. While you can step out on foot, a majority of the game is spent driving around in vehicles completing challenges. This seems to be the biggest grip fans are having with the title, but in the end it’s commendable Rare did try something different. How many times have developers been criticised for simply rehashing the same experienced year after year? Hell, one of my personal weak spots in gaming is the Dynasty/Samurai/Orochi Warriors series, and each entry is nearly identical. The fact is, Rare chose to do things differently and keep the series feeling fresh and innovative, yet they’re being lambasted for not sticking to the same old formula. As much as I love a good platformer, and I’m glad that did it this way. My memories of the originals have not been tainted in the slightest, and Nuts & Bolts is truly an achievement on their part. The worlds are huge and can take hours to explore fully, while the vehicle creator is simple in design but is only limited to imagination. I don’t mind telling you I’ve spent hours perfecting my vehicles just for the one challenge, and the surprising thing is it never gets dull. To sum up what I’m trying to say, if you haven’t got Nuts & Bolts yet, go purchase it this instant. As long as you keep an open mind and take the time to learn the rules, you’ll have an absolute blast.
For those that don’t know me, I’m a staff member at Australian Gaming website PALGN. As such, I’ve already reviewed Nuts & Bolts there, so I apologise for my brief comments in this entry. As I said however, I do have quite a bit of catching up to do with the 360 library, and the plan is that I’ll take an in-depth look at those games. I hope you guys will appreciate taking a trip down memory lane, or perhaps you’re in the same boat as me and you’ve just purchased a 360. Regardless, I also have a few one-off feature ideas I’d like to type up, which means there will be plenty of content in this blog. I'll also give some first hand impressions for games I'm reviewing for PALGN, so any visitors from there can have something to look forward too as well. Until next time keep safe, and I hope you all check back soon.
Oh my god, spoilers!
ReplyDeleteNo I kid, you already spoiled that quiz section last night. ;) Seriously though, you already know my thoughts on the game despite my lack of progress in it. It is disappointing having people turn their nose up to it (so to speak) just because it is different and as harsh as this may be, I do think it is their own faults for expecting a game that Nuts and Bolts clearly isn't. Their loss I suppose but ultimately it ends up hurting Rare more than it does these close-minded players, which is a shame after seeing the developer be bold enough to do something different with the franchise or even just bring a new installment altogether. They didn't have to, after all.
I also think it is quite the underrated game too, falling by the wayside while bigger name games get the purchase priority and also the play time priority. Hopefully once gamers are done with these games they will give Nuts and Bolts the time it deserves and hopefully they also end up enjoying it. For now though, at least we like it right? ;)
I told you, the quiz was revealed by Rare months ago, it's not a spoiler. ;)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it's the gaming community's fault for not excepting Nut and Bolts. I can see how they would be disappointed that it's not an old-school platformer, but to completely pan the game is just stupid. Rare have achieved quite a lot, as I said the vehicle creator is implemented well, far better than any other games I've played.
Though, there are some flaws which can get annoying. An example is the physics engine; it struggles to keep a consistent frame rate going when you're looking at a distant object. In the grand scheme of things however, it takes a back seat and you soon forgive Rare, while at the same time cursing them for the difficulty associated with obtaining some of the T.T. Trophies (I’m looking at you Return of Saucer of Pearl challenge)
Another thing, while I highly recommend Nuts and Bolts, I’ll admit it isn’t for everyone. Some people won’t want to explore the huge worlds and will stick sorely on the missions. The missions can get repetitive after a while, but then again it’s debatable that ever game can get repetitive. Let’s take a look at Unreal Tournament 3, I enjoy going online and playing a few matches here and there, but to be quite frank I get sick of playing on the same maps multiple times in a row. It’s a bit like that with Banjo. I’ll get tired of doing missions in one world so I’ll move on to the next, or I might decide to hunt around for musical notes. There’s enough to keep you occupied and amused for hours, but if you want to dive straight into the action then you’ll be disappointed.
And yes, at least we like it. :P