lost
10-05-2010, 12:07 PM
Title: Quantum Theory
Platform: 360 / PS3
Platform Reviewed: PS3
Developer: Tecmo Koei (http://tecmokoeiamerica.com/)
Publisher: Tecmo Koei (http://tecmokoeiamerica.com)
MSRP: $59.99
Release Date: September 28th
Writer: Martin 'lost' Perry
Quantum Theory Review
Marcus! Marcus, dude! Come check out this joker!
This was originally announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. I always think that a title changing its platform plans very, very late in the game is a sign that the title might not be worth fighting for. Remember Haze? The same thing happened to that, with a never-released 360 version planned shortly after Sony seemed to abandon all hope for it. Well, Quantum Theory's exclusivity definitely wasn't worth saving. Being brutally honest it wasn't even worth having in the first place – sort of like a venereal disease. In many ways having Quantum Theory on your Gamercard, or whatever Sony call their equivalent, is very much like plaguing your console with inescapable, unforgettable venereal disease.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/LostGames/quantumtheory_7.jpg
I am, perhaps, being a little bit harsh but I am only being slightly hyperbolic. We'll start with the best thing Quantum Theory has going for it – the concept. In the future, or on some other planet (I remain unsure), extremely pleasant looking towers erupt from the ground before setting a plague of giant cuboid flying worms loose. These turn soldiers into monsters, while a race of Nosferatu and Gillskins battle within the structure. Syd, our lovable player character, is hell-bent on destroying every one of these towers and the game focuses around one specific tower and its surrounding area. Along the way he meets a mysterious woman who seems to have a personal connection to this particular tower. No real twists to speak of, but the tower at least gives some promise of neat gameplay ideas.
Moving up the tower involves shooting a significant volume of bad guys, using the mechanics first established within the Gears of War series. There really isn't an awful lot of variation from the Gears framework with the over-the-shoulder camera, the roadie run and melee attacks all remaining. Calling it a knock-off is a little lazy, but since its release Gears has 'inspired' plenty of still individually creative titles I feel like this bland, copycat warrants the comment. Quantum Theory re-uses them in such a wholesale fashion that simply to say that the gameplay is 'like Gears of War' explains the whole thing pretty well. Unfortunately, as with so many doppelgängers, the duplicate comes off as something of a retarded deviant.
First off, enemies are damage sponges, taking bullets on at an alarming rate, much like their Gears counter-parts. However, your magazine clips seem a little too small and the quick reload action hasn't made the leap over the Syd's world. This leads to having to hunker down behind cover just a little too often, which in turn leads to far too much of your time spent out of the action. So, having successfully thrown off the model's pacing, Tecmo Koei move on to the cover system. It's just a little out-of-date, but the big problem is the fact that it doesn't actually seem to cover you very often. Destructible items crumble after just a few rounds, and plenty of columns and blocks are just too small for Syd to successfully hide behind. Most gamers will, I imagine, find themselves doing exactly what I did – run into fire, kill as many monsters as they can, before retreating using the roadie run.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/LostGames/quantumtheory_6.jpg
Having screwed up the action and the cover system, there isn't an awful lot left to get right. The creativity of the concept does, however, makes itself known across the length of the campaign. During several sections you'll find yourself attached to one of the aforementioned cuboid worms, officially named Diabolis, and may have to make daring leaps between them mid-flight. Shooting down enemies from these awkward vantage points does, at very least, break the monotony of the dull gun fights. There are a few boss battles too, the most interesting being a chasing spider during one of these flying sections, but too many are just extra spongy bullet sponges. The movement of the wormy Diabolis isn't the only kinetically charged thing within the tower.
Sometimes, not during every level, the environment around you will shift and change during combat. You'll be walking across a bridge, in the middle of pumping lead into the brains of a Nosferatu, and that bridge will suddenly move, connecting you to a group of much larger and much scarier bad guys. Had they got the clip pacing right, and expanding this mechanic across a greater number of levels, the game might have actually turned out pretty well. Unfortunately they end of feeling like brief intervals of mildly amusing novelty among a shit load of...well, shit.
The multiplayer isn't really worth discussing, given the low volume of players actually participating. Visually, the game has an art nouveau edge, pasted across the top of organic looking structures. The detail is reasonably good, or at least the game looks busy, but up close the texture definition doesn't fair well. The pre-rendered cutscenes display the sort of resolution you expect, that you demand, from a top tier game these days. In-game, your left with a pixelly looking Syd, one who wears battle scars that resemble an Photoshop amateur's attempts at using the smudge tool. The voice-acting, and script, is pleasingly cheesy – offering that odd Japanese twist on Western action hero gusto.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/LostGames/quantumtheory_9.jpg
I stuck the game on 'Easy' pretty quickly, just to make the whole experience bearable. However, during an odd flashback sequence my opinion was cemented that the development on this game was fractured. I caved, failing to completely finish it. This section came in extremely close to the end, but feel free to question by journalistic integrity if you wish. The truth is that I just didn't have the stomach to endure the game's undulation between the completely mundane and the downright awful. I can't recommend it, even though I suspect that the game will develop a very small base of fans who will proclaim that there is 'nothing wrong with it'. Watch a gameplay video, and you might be inclined to agree, but any time spent with the game will leave you feeling itchy and nauseous. Venereal disease. On your video game.
Score: 1 out of 5
http://evavhost.com/public/1.gif
The Good A decent concept in the moving tower, well implemented in parts Cheesy dialog can be fun.
The Bad Over-the-shoulder shooting which feels off pace, clunky and lacks that all important fun factor. Graphics that really fail under scrutiny. Barron online lobbies. A disjointed, uninvolved story that provides zero motivation and lurches around. Dull enemy AI and a broken cover system offers challenge only through frustration.
The Ugly Pretty much the whole fucking thing.
Platform: 360 / PS3
Platform Reviewed: PS3
Developer: Tecmo Koei (http://tecmokoeiamerica.com/)
Publisher: Tecmo Koei (http://tecmokoeiamerica.com)
MSRP: $59.99
Release Date: September 28th
Writer: Martin 'lost' Perry
Quantum Theory Review
Marcus! Marcus, dude! Come check out this joker!
This was originally announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. I always think that a title changing its platform plans very, very late in the game is a sign that the title might not be worth fighting for. Remember Haze? The same thing happened to that, with a never-released 360 version planned shortly after Sony seemed to abandon all hope for it. Well, Quantum Theory's exclusivity definitely wasn't worth saving. Being brutally honest it wasn't even worth having in the first place – sort of like a venereal disease. In many ways having Quantum Theory on your Gamercard, or whatever Sony call their equivalent, is very much like plaguing your console with inescapable, unforgettable venereal disease.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/LostGames/quantumtheory_7.jpg
I am, perhaps, being a little bit harsh but I am only being slightly hyperbolic. We'll start with the best thing Quantum Theory has going for it – the concept. In the future, or on some other planet (I remain unsure), extremely pleasant looking towers erupt from the ground before setting a plague of giant cuboid flying worms loose. These turn soldiers into monsters, while a race of Nosferatu and Gillskins battle within the structure. Syd, our lovable player character, is hell-bent on destroying every one of these towers and the game focuses around one specific tower and its surrounding area. Along the way he meets a mysterious woman who seems to have a personal connection to this particular tower. No real twists to speak of, but the tower at least gives some promise of neat gameplay ideas.
Moving up the tower involves shooting a significant volume of bad guys, using the mechanics first established within the Gears of War series. There really isn't an awful lot of variation from the Gears framework with the over-the-shoulder camera, the roadie run and melee attacks all remaining. Calling it a knock-off is a little lazy, but since its release Gears has 'inspired' plenty of still individually creative titles I feel like this bland, copycat warrants the comment. Quantum Theory re-uses them in such a wholesale fashion that simply to say that the gameplay is 'like Gears of War' explains the whole thing pretty well. Unfortunately, as with so many doppelgängers, the duplicate comes off as something of a retarded deviant.
First off, enemies are damage sponges, taking bullets on at an alarming rate, much like their Gears counter-parts. However, your magazine clips seem a little too small and the quick reload action hasn't made the leap over the Syd's world. This leads to having to hunker down behind cover just a little too often, which in turn leads to far too much of your time spent out of the action. So, having successfully thrown off the model's pacing, Tecmo Koei move on to the cover system. It's just a little out-of-date, but the big problem is the fact that it doesn't actually seem to cover you very often. Destructible items crumble after just a few rounds, and plenty of columns and blocks are just too small for Syd to successfully hide behind. Most gamers will, I imagine, find themselves doing exactly what I did – run into fire, kill as many monsters as they can, before retreating using the roadie run.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/LostGames/quantumtheory_6.jpg
Having screwed up the action and the cover system, there isn't an awful lot left to get right. The creativity of the concept does, however, makes itself known across the length of the campaign. During several sections you'll find yourself attached to one of the aforementioned cuboid worms, officially named Diabolis, and may have to make daring leaps between them mid-flight. Shooting down enemies from these awkward vantage points does, at very least, break the monotony of the dull gun fights. There are a few boss battles too, the most interesting being a chasing spider during one of these flying sections, but too many are just extra spongy bullet sponges. The movement of the wormy Diabolis isn't the only kinetically charged thing within the tower.
Sometimes, not during every level, the environment around you will shift and change during combat. You'll be walking across a bridge, in the middle of pumping lead into the brains of a Nosferatu, and that bridge will suddenly move, connecting you to a group of much larger and much scarier bad guys. Had they got the clip pacing right, and expanding this mechanic across a greater number of levels, the game might have actually turned out pretty well. Unfortunately they end of feeling like brief intervals of mildly amusing novelty among a shit load of...well, shit.
The multiplayer isn't really worth discussing, given the low volume of players actually participating. Visually, the game has an art nouveau edge, pasted across the top of organic looking structures. The detail is reasonably good, or at least the game looks busy, but up close the texture definition doesn't fair well. The pre-rendered cutscenes display the sort of resolution you expect, that you demand, from a top tier game these days. In-game, your left with a pixelly looking Syd, one who wears battle scars that resemble an Photoshop amateur's attempts at using the smudge tool. The voice-acting, and script, is pleasingly cheesy – offering that odd Japanese twist on Western action hero gusto.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y242/LostGames/quantumtheory_9.jpg
I stuck the game on 'Easy' pretty quickly, just to make the whole experience bearable. However, during an odd flashback sequence my opinion was cemented that the development on this game was fractured. I caved, failing to completely finish it. This section came in extremely close to the end, but feel free to question by journalistic integrity if you wish. The truth is that I just didn't have the stomach to endure the game's undulation between the completely mundane and the downright awful. I can't recommend it, even though I suspect that the game will develop a very small base of fans who will proclaim that there is 'nothing wrong with it'. Watch a gameplay video, and you might be inclined to agree, but any time spent with the game will leave you feeling itchy and nauseous. Venereal disease. On your video game.
Score: 1 out of 5
http://evavhost.com/public/1.gif
The Good A decent concept in the moving tower, well implemented in parts Cheesy dialog can be fun.
The Bad Over-the-shoulder shooting which feels off pace, clunky and lacks that all important fun factor. Graphics that really fail under scrutiny. Barron online lobbies. A disjointed, uninvolved story that provides zero motivation and lurches around. Dull enemy AI and a broken cover system offers challenge only through frustration.
The Ugly Pretty much the whole fucking thing.