Adam Tyner

I can see how air dash might look like flying in a TV spot.

starseed1981

Just wrapped it up. Overall, I was definitely wrong by judging this one after only two hours of play. It does get much better once you get a handle on the combat and grind mechanics. I actually ended up abandoning alot of the grinding and freestyle aspects of the game about halfway through. Like the Ratchet titles I got hooked on support weapons, like the Turret heliocopter gun and acid bath thing, and once those were leveled up there was no need to move anymore. Seriously, I just launched a bunch of those two items and shot away with the harpoon weapon. Once that's maxed out it only takes five shots to take out the most powerful enemies in the game.

I will say that the tower defense thing does become irrelevant because you simply get such powered up traps that you don't even need to defend anything.

I'm happy with the purchase. But honestly I have a feeling copies are going to be all over the place in two weeks. This isn't the type of thing you need in your collection as it's very derivative of other titles (Dead Rising, Ratchet, GTA, Etc). I want to say I probably clocked in around 9-10 hours. Like Adam I didn't get the collectables but did finish every main and side mission.

fumanstan

Finally received this game last night and played for about an hour. I didn't have any issues picking up the controls and jumping around and grinding; I'm actually not sure why people were having trouble with it, as I thought the brief tutorial at the beginning was pretty straight forward and its easy to make out the rails and wires to grind on or the car hoods you can jump on.

Shooting things hasn't been too bad either, and I noticed right away that it doesn't have to be very precise. My problem is usually the novelty of these games wear off for me, especially open world, but we'll see as I get more time and collect more weapons.

Adam Tyner

Just speaking for myself, the learning curve for me wasn't jumping and grinding; it was making sure I kept moving in the direction I wanted (including reorienting myself), keeping the camera where I wanted to be, and shooting -- often all at once! -- while jumping and grinding. It was about the coordination rather than strictly what-buttons-do-I-press. It took a few missions to get the hang of it, but I got there. Even after beating the game, I'm not sure I'd say I'd mastered the controls, but I was obviously good enough.

Deftones

Man, this game gets infinitely better as you play it. There was a side mission where you have to hit these transponder things. The last one is on a banana stand. After you take it out, the main character is like "there's always money in the banana stand." Nice nod to Arrested Development!

discostu1337

Yep! I actually recorded that clip

Music

Yep, I watched that clip

rocketsauce

Yep, I'm going to watch that clip now.

discostu1337

Just finished up the main story. I'd say I collected close to 2/3 of the items, finished most side missions and only did about a dozen challenges. My game time so far is 18 hours. Definitely nowhere near a "short and repetative game".

Time to mop up as many achievements/collectibles as possible before Halo day!

maxfisher

Finished up the main story Friday, and completed all of the side quests. I tried for the achievement for 50 gold medals, but hit 49 and couldn't get anymore, as they were all for weapons I hadn't leveled up enough to be effective with. I cleared about 90% of the collectibles, but couldn't afford the last round of 10k maps, so gave up on those. Did I miss a new game+ option? It seems odd that they'd make it so it's all but impossible to get enough currency to buy all the guns & maps in a single play through, but then not have an option to start over while keeping all your stuff.

As for the game itself, it was a blast. I enjoyed the controls for traversing the map as much as any I can recall. Once they click, it's incredibly fun. My only slight complaint is how easy combat gets once you have the helicopter turrets. I had to force myself not to use them after a while, because any combat situation was so easy to beat by just staying above the fray and tossing turrets down into the mix. I'd say about 1/3 of the jokes fell flat, but they were so non-stop that there were still tons of chuckles throughout the game, including some references that were unexpected and pretty hilarious.

I ended up trading it in to Best Buy yesterday for ~$45, which is sweet considering I paid $48 and got a $10 RZC for preordering. I can see myself picking up a cheap used copy if there's a lull in releases next year, just to go back and grind through the rest of the achievements.

nickdawgy

The more I play this the more I like it. So that's good news.

Deftones

the end is great. loved the jab at NeoGaf forums.

Adam Tyner

I saw it as a tribute/nod rather than a jab, but yeah.

Any word on when the DLC missions are coming out? I can't wait!

Dan

Insomniac Games posted some concept art today...

fumanstan

I'm still having fun with this game, and got to the point where I just destroyed a giant Fizzie balloon attacking me. That said, the weapons, amps, badges, etc system is too complicated for me. I wish it was dumbed down for an idiot like me.

starseed1981

That must've went over my head. Can you spoilerize?

Adam Tyner

I take it as far more of a tribute/nod than a jab. I mean, it's skewering lame endings, not NeoGAF.

There's also a pretty great nod to GameFAQs too.

starseed1981

Ah, now I remember that line. Good stuff there. I didn't think it was a jab but more of a nod to the community. Funny though.

chess

Game doesn't seem to be selling well. Kind of sad, because I like the developer and hope to see a sequel.

at thinking that was a jab at NeoGAF. They loved it over there (both the game and the nod). Rorschach test.

starseed1981

Yeah, I love Insomniac but they are starting to remind me of Squaresoft by refusing to give their audience what they really want. There's a reason Into The Nexus did so well......

RichC2

I'm on the other side, I don't care for Ratchet and Clank nor Sunset Overdrive, but think Insomniac has potential.

chess

Did it?

fumanstan

I haven't seen anything on sales for the game, but the bundle being sold out everywhere seems like a decent sign. Is there a source or link, or just speculation?

RichC2

Just VGChartz until the NPD numbers are released. The bundles were limited to begin with, and with the white console.

fumanstan

The only thing I could see on sales was it launched #2 in the UK behind FIFA. The advertising wasn't particularly great, and I think the "look" of the game might have been a turn off for people. Probably a tough time to launch between Destiny, Call of Duty, Halo, Assassin's Creed, etc. Hope it does well in the long run and the bundle numbers help though.