Tycho and I have been playing through L.A. Noire here at the office. Initially we were both blown away by the technology and the story. After wrapping up the homicide desk and moving up to Vice I was getting a bit bored. I began to look at the game much like a real detective might look at a desk full of open cases and imagine the hours he will need to spend interviewing lying assholes. I have to say this Rockstar game kept me playing much longer than any other but eventually I got tired and gave up, just like I did with all their previous titles. It feels like I am given an incredible open world and then asked to do the same thing over and over again. Oh well, I still consider it a great game and I feel like it was worth my time and money.
The only reason I mention that is I think it might have something to do with why I like Hunted: Demon’s Forge so much. I think it’s functioning as a sort of palette cleanser. It’s a light game that goes down easy and doesn’t leave any after taste. The combat is fun, I like the way they handle loot, the magic system is well designed, and it’s occasionally very funny. Visually Hunted looks good pretty much all the time and actually looks great every once in a while. It’s got some clever puzzles and a ton of hidden areas to find and explore.
I’m playing it by myself so I can’t talk much about the co-op side of it. Tycho and I gave split screen a try here in the office and found the game too busy to really play in such a small window. I will say that even with the A.I. partner the ways the game lets you work together in combat are really fun. Having the warrior send all the enemies around him up into the air with a spell and then picking them off with the archer is a real treat. I imagine this stuff is even cooler when it’s your friend helping you out rater than a computer.
I’m not a game reviewer so I’m not going to try and pin some kind of score on it. I’ll say that after playing the game for a couple of days now I like it and I want to keep playing it.
-Gabe out
