For the past few nights after getting back to school with my friends I have been playing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a game released on the N64 in 1998. After playing about 4 hours worth of game time and only making it to the first adult Link temple I have reached a conclusion about the game. For those who don't actively play video games, the change in controls, graphics, and story lines between 1998 and now has been immense. These three changes were drastic from playing the remastered version of Halo CE to playing OOT. Ocarina of Time is a game designed so badly that it is near impossible for a casual gamer such as myself to even come close to ever understanding the controls for the game.
The video clip above is a recording of me attempting to play the game during my second sit down.
The first flaw in the game's design is with the controls, although this is more the fault of the N64 than it is of the game developers. For some reason Nintendo figured that a controller for a game system should look like this:
That's right, a controller with three hand grips, a misplaced joystick, and a poorly implemented secondary D-pad/button arrangement for the C stick. I don't know how any console developer expected players to use these controls for supposedly next generation (at the time 3-dimensional games were all the rage) games such as Super Mario 64 and OOT. The game design stems from the poorly designed controller to affect the overall button system for the game, having to use the C buttons to equip weapons is simply too difficult compared to relatively modern weapon switching mechanics present in games such as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and GTA V.
The next huge pain that presents itself in OOT is the camera system, which also happens to plague other games also released on the N64 around the same time. The camera most of the time will follow the player forcing the user to control Link while watching his actions at completely odd angles. There is a fix for the system that requires the player to repeatedly press the Z button to re-focus the camera behind the player. There are however other bugs present in this camera system including the targeting system, and also when entering certain parts of the maps where the camera is static and simply pans to wherever the player is located. The final gripe that I have for this game is the lack of concrete storyline for the player to follow, this would be understandable if OOT were a completely open world game. However, since the game play revolves around the plot too closely there is no excuse for not providing in depth side-quest information for the player. Ultimately the only reason I will end up finishing this game is to laugh about these flaws and make jokes along the way with my friends. if you are considering picking up this game and trying to play it I highly suggest that you step back and look into a more modern game that has at least better controls and graphics. As always feel free to sound off in the comments with your opinions, and make sure to follow us on Twitter @SageDiscussions and like our page on Facebook.
In case you haven't heard it yet Drake released a new single a few days ago titled Hotline Bling, in it Drake talks about the late night phone calls that a girl from his hometown Toronto used to give him, but has since stopped.
Here is the single Drake released.
This new single has a relatively new sound to it compared to his last two albums If You're Reading This It's Too Late and Nothing Was the Same. It has a sort of mellow 90's Miami beat in the background behind the vocals.
The song feels more like a call out to someone than just a single to push out. It also feels more like an individual effort than something that might be from a new album, but then again you never know what Drake is up to.
So with all that introduction around the single covered I'll quickly break down the feel of the song in a series of gifs of Drake, feel free to scroll through with the song playing in the background.
This month, Xbox's Games With Gold
program gave gold users Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes(MGS5:GZ)
for free. And while I'm not the biggest fan of the Metal Gear Solid
series as a whole, I am interested in playing the upcoming Metal Gear
Solid V: The Phantom Pain. I took this opportunity to check out what
Konami would be planning for a grand finale to their acclaimed
series. What I got was an excellent, repetitive, five hour demo.
MGS5:GZ runs at a smooth 60fps on the
Xbox One. The graphics and scenery are nice to look at, but there's
not really anything that stood out as unique or extraordinary. Most
of the time, you are looking at gray buildings or brown sand.
However, this does make sense, as for the entirety of the game, you
are pit into Camp Omega, a top secret American black site. The
weather, atmosphere, and shading in the game is fantastic and really
immerses the player into the world and the situation. My favorite
graphical part about this game is the how it looks at night. The
lighting and the darkness really mix together well in this game.
However, playing on the same map over and over get quite repetitive
and really makes you wish for something more. With the exception of a
couple of weird textures, MGS5:GZ is a great looking game, but
nothing special.
Story – 7/10
Although the game is only a couple
hours long, the story is surprisingly strong. The game's first and
only main mission has Snake, the series' longtime protagonist,
sneaking in to Camp Omega to extract two agents. As the main mission,
the story is strong here. The game shows not restraint in showing
gruesome scenes, and it adds to the realism and stress of the story.
Overall, the story shown in the first mission is good. However, the
first story is also the end of the story, with the rest of it to be
shown in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
After you beat the main mission, four
extra missions open up called Side Ops. Each of these missions follow
a single story that seems to precede the main story, but are not part
of the main story. Returning to Camp Omega(or a really good replica
of it), Snake is sent on a variety of simple tasks to reveal the
secrets that go on in the black site. The storyline for all four Side
Ops is good, with the best part happening right at the end. However,
the story for the Side Ops is not as good as the main story, as would
be expected.
Gameplay – 8/10
As a major promoter of stealth
gameplay, the Metal Gear Solid series has always been good at
allowing the player to use stealth and quick wit to complete their
objectives. The game gives you several options and paths to help you
get to your target. Firstly, you have binoculars which allow you to
tag enemies so you can know their location at all times. Usually,
marking the enemy with your binoculars is the first thing you should
do before entering a new area. Secondly, your tranquilizer gun will
be the main weapon of choice if you're going down a stealth route.
The tranquilizer will put a enemy to sleep, but the amount of time it
takes to do so differs depending on where you shoot the enemy.
Moreover, when an enemy spots you, Snake enters reflex mode, which
makes everything move in slow-motion for a couple of seconds. You are
given these options and more to complete the objectives at hand.
Conversely, you can play the game more
aggressively, but getting caught will make your life troublesome.
Even getting slightly seen will put most enemies on alert, and
getting spotted will get the guards to attack you. Luckily, escaping
the guards is not especially difficult, but it will take a long time
to get the guards back to normal patrols. The enemy AI in this game
is mediocre at best, with many predictable movements, or silly
actions done by the enemies, but it's doesn't impact gameplay that
much. Enemies are easy to dispatch, as you are given plenty of ammo
and the soldiers don't take too much effort to take down. If you
happen to kill too many, your final score will dramatically decrease,
so playing stealthy is probably the best way to play. In the end, the
gameplay is pretty solid, and is generally fun.
Other – 5/10
Now, I got this game for free as part
of the Games With Gold program, but at the time of writing this
article, MGSV:GZ is a hearty 20 dollars. With the gameplay lasting
around five to ten hours, that makes it more than most modern FPS
shooters, but playing the same level for hours at a time tends to get
stale real quick.
The main mission can be beat
in around 4 minutes. I mean it can, but it'll probably take longer
for most players.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a
great tech demo for the promising Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain.
But that's all it is. Why pay for a demo when demos are made to
entice the user to buy the full game? Free, the game is a steal and
is definitely worth getting; however at twenty dollars, I can't
recommend it to most people. It's just too much money for not enough
content. But at least the content is pretty good.
Recap:
Graphics – 8/10
Story – 7/10
Gameplay – 8/10
Other – 5/10
Overall Score – 28/40
This is my first blog post ever, so I'm
hoping that this kept your interest for a while. If you have any
thoughts or questions about the review or my writing in general, feel
free to leave them in the comments!
