Zeno Clash 6.5

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The Bad
* Truly insane dialogue.

How is this bad? I found it funny and interesting.

* Simplistic beat-'em-up mechanics

Moar liek best brawl mechanics since Riddick, amirite?

It's all very atmospheric, and the art certainly gives the game a distinct mood, but it also seems a little too much, given the strangeness of everything else. Without some attachment to reality, the unrelentingly surreal trappings come off as gimmicky.

I thought some games were expected to leave reality behind and allow us to live the most impossible adventures. I guess the Alpha Centauri and Rise of Legends curse strikes again...

pistols that appear to be constructed from conch shells

Fish. They're fishtols. Kinds like that liztol from eXistenZ.

Even the club is hard to use well because you have to cock it back with the right mouse button and swing it with the left, a lengthy process that usually sees it smacked out of your hands after you get in a couple of whacks.

No. Left click for a fast hit, right click for a slow, heavy hit.

Anyway, I agree that the combat is a bit broken because of the locking system and because you can't throw or holster your weapon (or maybe that was fixed in an update?). But 6.5? I think that's too low.

It's Brett Todd's review. Non-mainstream games aren't his thing - Mount and Blade 6.5, "King's Bounty needs multiplayer" etc.

Critic average score: 8.0
User average score: 8.2

Gamespot score: 6.5

I lol'd.

It's IGN's game of the month.

Two words: Brett Todd.404-not-found

Actually you can holster your weapon by locking onto an enemy with the E key.DragonfireXZ95

And losing your peripheral vision as a result, or get stuck in a corner. When you unlock, the weapon pops out again. You unlock when they try flee and sometimes when another enemy hits you. It's terrible, I don't understand how people can use this function when simple strafing is a lot easier to use. A locking system only works in 3rd person games, like Jade Empire.

I personally agree with just about everything Brett Todd pointed out in his review. On a side note IGN gave Cryostasis 6.0 which is completely laughable. Somebody switched the review scores I guess. Zeno Clash is getting a lot of attention because it's indie and because it's unusual, but neither are a real strength in terms of gameplay. Yeah I bought it, and I supported them, but in the end I don't think it's a great game.nutcrackr

Let's face the harsh reality of it all if Zeno Clash was made by Eidos or a phat big company that can choose whether or not Gamespot gets access to their stuff and sponsorship and even determine if a member of staff gets fired over a poor review i think it would of got rated slightly higher don't you??

GTA 10/10? = lol

The constant praising of all Call of Duty games yet these reveiwers never seem to mention that it's basically the same old crap.

Brett Todd... lol

I can't believe Gamespot still use this guy to review stuff... I would be ashamed honestly.

Gamespot's is currently the lowest score listed on metacritic for Zeno Clash. Same thing happened a couple months ago with E:TW. There really is no denying that gamespot does not review PC games fairly. They give Gears of War for 360 a 9.6, and the PC version a 9.0, dispite calling it "the definitive version of Gears of War." Even if you agree with all of the points the reveiwer made, it doesn't mean that the score is automatically justified.

never trust gamespot reviews

GTAIV got that score because it cost about $100 million to make and because GS was given access and probably loads of merchandise (read: payoff). Zeno Clash got that score because it's an indie game, and GS would love to drive the indie scene away with subpar scores. They grade indie games next to high-budget games, and note how many features these games lack in comparison to $100 million games.

Even so, gamespot's PC reviews section is a joke. They might as well do away with it, because throughout the last couple years it's been going steadily (and increasingly) downhill.

gamespot reviews.....how are you surprised?

Once again........ i dont agree with reviews, this is just another perfect example (same with Demigod).

I suggest you do like i do..... Dont pay attention to gamespot reviews.

yeah and is it me or are all the PC Review on this site always really late in the day? and also i notice there isn't really that much time as far as PC games are concerned...

and as to "basic" combat mechanics.... what the hell are they comparing that too? and this guys whining on about the guns, it's not about the guns in about 90% of the game, it's all about getting into a punch up!

I personally agree with just about everything Brett Todd pointed out in his review. On a side note IGN gave Cryostasis 6.0 which is completely laughable. Somebody switched the review scores I guess. Zeno Clash is getting a lot of attention because it's indie and because it's unusual, but neither are a real strength in terms of gameplay. Yeah I bought it, and I supported them, but in the end I don't think it's a great game.nutcrackr

While I haven't played the game myself, I don't think we should be quite so quick to criticize Gamespot. Granted, I just made a thread about how I didn't think Demigod deserved the score it did, but I didn't have a problem with the review itself. From the gameplay videos I've watched, it seems as if the basic game mechanics are a little too simplistic to be entertaining for long. I need to actually play the game before I can make any more comments, but Brett Todd did raise a few good points.