In many ways this game is fantastic. Over rated but fun. It features a pretty unique story and a charming atmosphere and a breath of fresh air in terms of shooting games in urban environments with a few exceptions I played lately. I did not think I'd like this game and I really did enjoy it as it was free for a short period of time on Ubisoft Uplay. I HATED the second game yet I was bored.. and curious. However there's a bunch of complaints I really have with this that that keep it from being a classic. Firstly it's such a short game. No joke if you knew what powers to get you could probably beat this game in a weekend. Mind you it's about 25 to 30 hours give or take hours to 100% this game. My first complaint is that cellphone. Ok you hear the call. It marks something on the map. Typical GTA logic. Not this game. The game constantly reminds you as if it's rushing you like some impatient kids who were promised Mcdonalds. Can you turn the phone off? No. I ended up putting the phone on mute. That was what I hated the most and it always locked you on to that next half baked mission.
There's very few missions in this is my first issue. I was not expecting 100 I had realistic expectations but seriously. Everything happens so quickly to the point I honestly wonder what would happen if they doubled or tripled the studios budget or made a sequel or two with this story line. Then again hind sight is 20/20 who knew this game would be as successful as it was and they did do their share of DLC but it's inexcusable. You meet this German guy 3/4 of the way into the game on the southern island and 4, maybe 5 missions in. Ready to kill the dictator? Yeah sure! The boss fights were really poorly done. You're gambling with a war lord. He stabs your friend. 3 seconds later it's just you versus the boss of the game in a quick time knife fight. Did the guards eat bad chimchangas? All just really crappy cut scene fights with that silly quick time event fad was cool for Resident Evil 4 but then every studio copied them. There has to be more variety than just that. Seriously though how often Jason hallucinated in the game which the developers seem way too proud of how heavily they rely on it. I did not think that Vaas (tomahawk guy) was dead yet. I was expecting another shoot out or something but no! That was it. Same goes for the final boss of the game. Another big complaint was how far into the game they gave you a parachute.
It's like the game developers had no idea how to write dialogue because it's just like James Bond style bad guys. You get caught and the smart thing to do is to just put a bullet in someones head. Unconscious or not. But no let's be like Goldfinger or Dr. Blofeld (Dr Evil for Austin Powers fans).
The driving I didn't like at all. I pretty much ran everywhere or did fast passes as I found the cars too weak. I was not expecting tanks or invincible vehicles but it got to the point I just gave up on them. The interior of the cars it seemed a bit too zoomed in so I just stared at the GPS. Though admittedly it is quite fun to see the cars fly off cliffs.
Why the heck is there no skip cut scene option! What is this LA Noire? That is inexcusable. That limits your replay value significantly. I don't care how hard the developers worked on the game at the end of the day who is playing it?
The combat can be quite interesting as Jason has a variety of syringes to give him the upper hand in battle as near the end of the game there are a few places the difficulty spikes where like Saints Row 2 the game relies a little too heavily on Rocket launchers. However there are too many unnecessary weapons. How the game is structured if you get all the radio towers which aren't even guarded you can pretty much have a high end sniper rifle or so with only 2 or 3 missions in the game under your belt. I like the stealth elements to it though throwing rocks seems a bit silly and unless you're playing on Legend (hard mode) you'll hardly ever use it. It was cool when Hitman Blood Money did it 4 or so years prior but this just comes off as out dated. Granted I played the game on normal difficulty as it was my first play through but either they are too nice or they spot you too easily like playing Metal Gear Solid 5 against A++ and S ranked soldiers. You cough the right way ... pew pew pew. Such as this mission where you have to blow a truck on a dam up. Which is one of the probably two levels the game has infinitely spawning enemies which to me is a deadly sin in game design. The weapons are terrible for the most part. The red dot sight attachment on most guns I used was quite useful but then there are some weapons where I have no idea what I'm shooting at. The sniper rifles are awful. The scope on the sniper rifle you either get the "luxury" to zoom in more or get an illuminated one which in my opinion was useless. I have no idea why they didn't mix them together. I have very good vision but even I had to sit up and look at the screen as it's a black cross hair on mostly dark characters because if you want to survive you need to zoom in with the file. The best guns in the game still take way too many bullets on the heavily armored guards even the firearm that you get for getting that 18th tower. The enemies were pretty diverse, the helicopters were really poorly programmed and would stay in place like shoot me, shoot me! The heavily armored soldiers should not have been given so much health. The "ultimate" weapons the shredder and the other ones you get for completing certain side quests are too similar in specs as well. The ultimate sniper rifle in the signature portion of weapons having no suppressor is a joke. I have no idea why it doesn't have a higher range though the draw distance for this game is not the greatest and the fact it isn't semi automatic. Just all bolt action sniper rifles.
I feel there is too much padding. 120 relics which you only need 60 unless you want 100% completion. Loot boxes are pointless. The letters are a waste of time as well. I'm just glad you don't have to gather sea shells. The knife throwing was really poorly designed I did it twice. There is no point to the stupid supply drops. Most require no skill and what do you get? Maybe a few levels up fast but no special car, nothing. Not even an achievement on Ubisoft Uplay. Most of the side missions are insultingly easy too. Oh go see my husband and scare him by shooting by his feet.. ok here's 500 bucks or whatever. There is a few of them you can do so simply you wonder how lazy the people on this island are. I never cared for poker so unless a mission said so I didn't bother. The animal hunting was a unique touch to give you an extra edge in battle but there are a few the biggest one being the sharks trying to kill them in the water with a bow. There is a skill to it sure but they were such a pain in the butt and they made certain animals way too powerful. More than once I was shooting at one animal and either a komodo dragon or cassowary were there to try and kill me. Snakes were completely pointless other than a jump scare or two. However the cassowary you fire an unsuppressed weapon and they come running after you blood like someone making a non-PC joke and a Karen or some millennial can't wait to tell you how insensitive you are. The crafting for the most part I feel could have been more than just animal skins. I was picking stuff up with what seemed unreal expectations as certain things I was hoping to put together but nope! Just more unnecessary cash.
Before getting the parachute it can be a bit too easy to fall to your death and the steep hills and all that were pretty lazily done to the point you wonder if Jason has osteoporosis as some falls you just want to rage quit the game how easy Jason dies. The game lets you die when it feels like it to the point I wish there was like hiking boots or so as an upgrade instead of the 4 or 5 guns per tier I guarantee you won't use half. Thankfully there are many checkpoints. Burning stuff looks incredible in this game however there are parts where it becomes annoying especially in the level you have to burn a farm and it takes forever for the crops to burn. There is realistic and there is annoying. This is annoying. It was not a chore in GTA San Andreas why should it be here? Is it just me or was there no oxygen meter when Jason dives into the water.
My last nit picking is some voice actors/actresses sound great but some have such thick accents I have no idea what the heck they just said making the motion capture to lip syncing they did a waste of time . I'm sure there is a subtitle option but it didn't work for me and should have been on by default, their models are diverse and so forth though the "Save friends" ending needed a bit more work. Plus it would have been great to have more than one save folder without having to copy and paste it all.
What I would have done to make the game better a better story, more choices more missions longer missions, you got this big island and not enough happens upgrading the health refill syringe More diverse guns, most are too similar improved stealth more diverse boss battles no spikes in difficulty get a parachute earlier less slippery slopes or way less fall damage
At the end of the day this should have seriously just been a 3D Movie. Similar to what the Resident Evil franchise did. I mean sure you could probably watch some youtuber play it and treat it like one but there really needs to be more out there than kiddie 3D movies about fish finding their parents and whoever thought it was a great idea to make Jerry Seinfeld a bee. Sort of like what The Simpsons and Japanese anime did to make animation what it is today. Darker and edgier humor to more serious tones.
If you've got a weekend off give it a try, It's not a long game, it's not a great game but it's cheap now thankfully.
There's very few missions in this is my first issue. I was not expecting 100 I had realistic expectations but seriously. Everything happens so quickly to the point I honestly wonder what would happen if they doubled or tripled the studios budget or made a sequel or two with this story line. Then again hind sight is 20/20 who knew this game would be as successful as it was and they did do their share of DLC but it's inexcusable. You meet this German guy 3/4 of the way into the game on the southern island and 4, maybe 5 missions in. Ready to kill the dictator? Yeah sure! The boss fights were really poorly done. You're gambling with a war lord. He stabs your friend. 3 seconds later it's just you versus the boss of the game in a quick time knife fight. Did the guards eat bad chimchangas? All just really crappy cut scene fights with that silly quick time event fad was cool for Resident Evil 4 but then every studio copied them. There has to be more variety than just that. Seriously though how often Jason hallucinated in the game which the developers seem way too proud of how heavily they rely on it. I did not think that Vaas (tomahawk guy) was dead yet. I was expecting another shoot out or something but no! That was it. Same goes for the final boss of the game. Another big complaint was how far into the game they gave you a parachute.
It's like the game developers had no idea how to write dialogue because it's just like James Bond style bad guys. You get caught and the smart thing to do is to just put a bullet in someones head. Unconscious or not. But no let's be like Goldfinger or Dr. Blofeld (Dr Evil for Austin Powers fans).
The driving I didn't like at all. I pretty much ran everywhere or did fast passes as I found the cars too weak. I was not expecting tanks or invincible vehicles but it got to the point I just gave up on them. The interior of the cars it seemed a bit too zoomed in so I just stared at the GPS. Though admittedly it is quite fun to see the cars fly off cliffs.
Why the heck is there no skip cut scene option! What is this LA Noire? That is inexcusable. That limits your replay value significantly. I don't care how hard the developers worked on the game at the end of the day who is playing it?
The combat can be quite interesting as Jason has a variety of syringes to give him the upper hand in battle as near the end of the game there are a few places the difficulty spikes where like Saints Row 2 the game relies a little too heavily on Rocket launchers. However there are too many unnecessary weapons. How the game is structured if you get all the radio towers which aren't even guarded you can pretty much have a high end sniper rifle or so with only 2 or 3 missions in the game under your belt. I like the stealth elements to it though throwing rocks seems a bit silly and unless you're playing on Legend (hard mode) you'll hardly ever use it. It was cool when Hitman Blood Money did it 4 or so years prior but this just comes off as out dated. Granted I played the game on normal difficulty as it was my first play through but either they are too nice or they spot you too easily like playing Metal Gear Solid 5 against A++ and S ranked soldiers. You cough the right way ... pew pew pew. Such as this mission where you have to blow a truck on a dam up. Which is one of the probably two levels the game has infinitely spawning enemies which to me is a deadly sin in game design. The weapons are terrible for the most part. The red dot sight attachment on most guns I used was quite useful but then there are some weapons where I have no idea what I'm shooting at. The sniper rifles are awful. The scope on the sniper rifle you either get the "luxury" to zoom in more or get an illuminated one which in my opinion was useless. I have no idea why they didn't mix them together. I have very good vision but even I had to sit up and look at the screen as it's a black cross hair on mostly dark characters because if you want to survive you need to zoom in with the file. The best guns in the game still take way too many bullets on the heavily armored guards even the firearm that you get for getting that 18th tower. The enemies were pretty diverse, the helicopters were really poorly programmed and would stay in place like shoot me, shoot me! The heavily armored soldiers should not have been given so much health. The "ultimate" weapons the shredder and the other ones you get for completing certain side quests are too similar in specs as well. The ultimate sniper rifle in the signature portion of weapons having no suppressor is a joke. I have no idea why it doesn't have a higher range though the draw distance for this game is not the greatest and the fact it isn't semi automatic. Just all bolt action sniper rifles.
I feel there is too much padding. 120 relics which you only need 60 unless you want 100% completion. Loot boxes are pointless. The letters are a waste of time as well. I'm just glad you don't have to gather sea shells. The knife throwing was really poorly designed I did it twice. There is no point to the stupid supply drops. Most require no skill and what do you get? Maybe a few levels up fast but no special car, nothing. Not even an achievement on Ubisoft Uplay. Most of the side missions are insultingly easy too. Oh go see my husband and scare him by shooting by his feet.. ok here's 500 bucks or whatever. There is a few of them you can do so simply you wonder how lazy the people on this island are. I never cared for poker so unless a mission said so I didn't bother. The animal hunting was a unique touch to give you an extra edge in battle but there are a few the biggest one being the sharks trying to kill them in the water with a bow. There is a skill to it sure but they were such a pain in the butt and they made certain animals way too powerful. More than once I was shooting at one animal and either a komodo dragon or cassowary were there to try and kill me. Snakes were completely pointless other than a jump scare or two. However the cassowary you fire an unsuppressed weapon and they come running after you blood like someone making a non-PC joke and a Karen or some millennial can't wait to tell you how insensitive you are. The crafting for the most part I feel could have been more than just animal skins. I was picking stuff up with what seemed unreal expectations as certain things I was hoping to put together but nope! Just more unnecessary cash.
Before getting the parachute it can be a bit too easy to fall to your death and the steep hills and all that were pretty lazily done to the point you wonder if Jason has osteoporosis as some falls you just want to rage quit the game how easy Jason dies. The game lets you die when it feels like it to the point I wish there was like hiking boots or so as an upgrade instead of the 4 or 5 guns per tier I guarantee you won't use half. Thankfully there are many checkpoints. Burning stuff looks incredible in this game however there are parts where it becomes annoying especially in the level you have to burn a farm and it takes forever for the crops to burn. There is realistic and there is annoying. This is annoying. It was not a chore in GTA San Andreas why should it be here? Is it just me or was there no oxygen meter when Jason dives into the water.
My last nit picking is some voice actors/actresses sound great but some have such thick accents I have no idea what the heck they just said making the motion capture to lip syncing they did a waste of time . I'm sure there is a subtitle option but it didn't work for me and should have been on by default, their models are diverse and so forth though the "Save friends" ending needed a bit more work. Plus it would have been great to have more than one save folder without having to copy and paste it all.
What I would have done to make the game better a better story, more choices more missions longer missions, you got this big island and not enough happens upgrading the health refill syringe More diverse guns, most are too similar improved stealth more diverse boss battles no spikes in difficulty get a parachute earlier less slippery slopes or way less fall damage
At the end of the day this should have seriously just been a 3D Movie. Similar to what the Resident Evil franchise did. I mean sure you could probably watch some youtuber play it and treat it like one but there really needs to be more out there than kiddie 3D movies about fish finding their parents and whoever thought it was a great idea to make Jerry Seinfeld a bee. Sort of like what The Simpsons and Japanese anime did to make animation what it is today. Darker and edgier humor to more serious tones.
If you've got a weekend off give it a try, It's not a long game, it's not a great game but it's cheap now thankfully.