Dave wrote:I think it was definitely a smart move making GRR more player-accessible. Can't wait to play it. Gotta wait for Win 7 to come out before I buy a PC again. It's a bummer being a Mac user sometimes...
If you're a proper Mac user you'll have a decent enough Mac to play GRR via BootCamp and XP.
PVB wrote:If you're a proper Mac user you'll have a decent enough Mac to play GRR via BootCamp and XP.
That's how i'm playing it. Recent-ish 2GHz Mac mini with an NVIDIA Geforce 9400M in it. Struggles with Shader 3 but silky smooth set at Shader 2. That's under XP.
I think there are similarities between SG and GRR in that as a player you get an immense amount of satisfaction when the core game mechanic (bulling in SG, bullet-calligravity in GRR) clicks and you know that you're starting to play the game well (or at least as it was intended to be played).
However, GRR is certainly more accessible. So far, I haven't been stuck on a single level for days like I was on SG. Am not sure how much longer it'll take me before I "complete" GRR (have 25 Phaal levels left to go). It took me months to get to and beat level 100 on SG, the sense of achievement when I'd accomplished that was very satisfying. Unfortunately, the flip-side of being more accessible is that I don't think I'll have the same feeling when I've "completed" GRR. However, that doesn't mean to say that I think it's a bad game, or even that it's not as good as SG, it's just different.
I still go back and play SG from time to time and I really enjoy the game; probably because in a world of hundreds of fps, platformers and racers it's "bulling" gameplay is unique. I've only been playing GRR for 3 days, and already I'm convinced that I'll be coming back and enjoying a spot of bullet-calligrav-shooting for a long time after completing the game. Again, mainly because it offers a gameplay mechanic that no other game can and because like SG, it's a "zone" game.
So far, the most fun I've had from GRR was after completing Madras I went back and played the game again from the first level on Korma. I found that the skills I'd picked up meant that I could really start to enjoy that bullet calligrav mechanic - knowing which ship to use when is still something I'm working on but am getting a lot better at. The whole ship rotation thing is still a bit of a black art for me at the moment though - unfortunately, that is an area that could really be improved if only the ability to combine mouse movements and keyboard rotation could be implemented. I find that changing the rotation on the mouse just doesn't come naturally to me, maybe I'll try playing it with my Xbox 360 pad...
My only other gripe would be that it is a shame that there isn't an online score-board because on SG I knew I was getting somewhere when I got in the top 50. Comparing, your score with everyone else who's playing gives you a good idea of whether or not you're on the right track (yes, I realise that people are submitting their high scores on the forum but it's not quite the same thing).
I haven't been disappointed by GRR, it's certainly taken the Gridrunner gameplay in a new direction. It's not just an updated GR++ done with trippier graphics, it's a whole new game which does a great job of balancing its llamasoft and gridrunner heritage with a hefty dose of original elements (bullet calligravity rules!).
Jeff is to be commended for not playing it safe and for trusting his gut feeling about the gameplay and control mechanics, not to mention rewriting the game after MS pulled out.
It's taken three days to decide whether I like this or not. Initially I wasn't convinced, but still had the urge to keep playing it. I've just had a very enjoyable game in Vindaloo mode and it's starting to click now. Still think Space Giraffe was better, but then again I think Space Giraffe is the best thing since sliced bread, so GRR has a lot to live up to.
One thing I do like is the "kamikaze sheepie save" technique, where you deliberately smash your ship through a bunch of enemies in order to reach an otherwise unreachable sheep, in order to save your bonus multiplier.
I'm having to play using an Xbox 360 pad (I'll get "mouse claw" if I play this too much using the mouse) - feels OK when you get used to it, though.
Bloody hell, they could've got a better screenie...
No doubt. Either way though, still nice they made a post. They almost always do for new llamasoft games/ news though. Plus, the editor seems pretty positive about the game so far.
By the way, anyone know if a press kit has been sent to Giant Bomb yet? Jeff Gerstmann runs that site. He's the one who previously reviewed SG for Gamespot. He gave SG a 7.5, in what I'd call a pretty fair review. I think he'd give GRR a good fair shot if you sent them a press kit, and got a review. They even already have a GRR section over there with a few old screenshots.
Wow "we must have done quite good" in spreading news, I already been contacted not by one but TWO Italian magazines/sites that wanted "a copy to make a review"
Now this is quite a thing, if we arrived at ears "in Italy" I think that's really quite a thing
The two most common criticisms I have read, from various different people across many different sites, are that a disappointingly limited demo makes the game seem far too easy and that the lack of an online leaderboard leads to people think that the point is to complete the game rather than to aim for higher scores.
For me, being an admittedly crap arcade gamer, I find GRR at least as enjoyable as previous Gridrunners and Llamatron.
Emoticon and contraction free since... quite a while ago.
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. Hope that helps get some traffic to the site.
