Just wanted to talk about rare. I'll start by making the same comment I make on many "I'm not sure about buying this game now" threads.
Rare has a waterproof track record on making quality, high-integrity game that stick to their themes and values and never contain unintentional funcitons. I Rate them amongst my top 3 all time developers, along with Double Fine and (back in the day) Crystal Dynamics. So to the nay-sayers I say, look to the past to see the future.
But no onto my intended topic, which is simple to ask what experiences people have had with Rare games and what they liked about them? I actually don't think there's that many full AAA games out there by Rare. I've only actually played 2 I think.
Viva Pinata. Loved it. Loved the theme, loved the atmosphere and nature of the game. Always felt it could have been expanded on, the garden felt quite claustraphobic for me... and finding all the variants felt a bit grindy. I loved the breeding system though, and just watching everything move about. I'd have game it a 6/10, since it was such high quality but did feel very limited in its scope.
Banjo Kazooie nuts and bolts. I spent maybe 400 hours on this game? It was so unbelievable beautiful at times, and so unique. The vehicle crafting system was so much fun, the racing and platforming was enjoyable and the combat was satisfying. There were fustrating and very difficult moments, but there were alway multiple ways to appoach a challenge.
I honestly hope one day this game gets a sequel. The mutiplayer needed a larger concept to it, a more open map to play in. And the vehicle destruction in single player could be put into MP with individual components breaking off from vehicles. This game for me was a definite 9/10, losing that last point only because it could get slightly tedious on some of the more difficult challenges, and at no point did the game ever feel really 'big', geographically. It lacked a sense of having travelled or adventured, a sense of having come from somwhere far away. Things that games like half life 2 and gears of war 2 would score well on, it lacked much of a memorable story.
But yeah that's the two i've played, i rate them both very highly and would have guessed them to be Nintendo games given thei flawless presentation and quality. I'm looking forward to SoT massively, ut i'd like to hear about other people's experienes with Rare whilst i'm waiting.
