camera criticism

Hi.

Not really one to blog about games, but i've just played a game that is blog worthy. Not in a good way.

Afro Samurai.

Now, i loved the series, the artwork, the voice acting, the animation, and i'm not really that big on japanese animated-ish films. There was so much good stuff in the series, and i was really excited when i heard that they were making a game. What could be better? Samurai with an afro, spilling gallons of blood, tearing off limbs, the eastern-influenced hip hop music directed by the RZA, and of course, Samuel L Jackson. Perfect.

Minus the camera.

WTF. Worst camera control. Left looks right, right looks left, and you can't change it. I can't tell you how many times i died while trying to look at the off screen guy and moved the camera the wrong way.  Plus the fact that the camera seems to like the enemy better than me since half the time when fighting a boss character, i couldn't see what i was doing since the camera was behind the boss. Not to mention when you go into focus mode the camera snaps and jumping left results in you jumping backwards towards your imminent doom.

There are numerous complaints about the camera in that game alone. It seems developers are so set on adding a few useless perks to the game and don't focus on the main game itself, that criticism can be aimed at almost any game, Mirror's Edge, Afro Samurai, Ninja Gaiden, GTA IV, Fable 2, Assassin's Creed and countless others.

Fix the fundamental parts of the game and please don't add useless crap or achievements unless it's really necessary. Focus on gameplay, camera, and enviroment interaction. I'm tired of seeing a potentially awesome game get tossed aside because of fundamental mistakes. The combat system is broken, the camera sucks, i keep getting stuck on random objects, i do actions not intended. Fix this first, then add all the mindless crap like putting collectibles in a game. I'm not going to replay it if i barely struggle through it the first time.

One more thing, if it's a fighting game, don't put puzzles in, we're not playing fighting games because we really want to figure out puzzles.