And it feels like the same thing happened in sci-fi/action movies, right? The Verhoeven 80s/90s movies in this genre stand out in particular here: RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers. All of them violent, funny, not too serious (while still thought-provoking).
To see the change, just contrast the humor and campiness of the classic original Total Recall with the humorless remake that came out for no good reason several years ago. I didn't see the new RoboCop, so I'm not sure how it compares.
For a newer game that maybe tries to capture this attitude, there's Outer Worlds. But I couldn't get into that one, only played it for 2-3 hours, so I don't have a great perspective of how it compares.
Yeah, good point about film as well. The RoboCop and Total Recall remakes (which I never saw) looked like they took their source material way too seriously. Films in general… whatever happened to awesome comedies? Feels like that genre completely died.
I’ll have to check out Outer Worlds as I’ve heard nothing but good things! I get it confused with The Outer Wilds all the time, haha.
Reviews for Outer Worlds are mixed-to-positive I'd say, honestly. But it's a hard game to pinpoint what exactly is wrong with it, except it just doesn't feel like New Vegas in space, something is missing. I think a lot of people agree with me on this, but others concluded nothing was wrong, nothing was missing, and I can't fault them.
I feel this way a lot of the time about RPGs. "I can't pinpoint what isn't fun about this game, it seems to be competently made and have a lot of depth, and while it has flaws there were also plenty of flaws with the beloved RPGs of yesteryear, yet I loved those games and just don't feel like putting any more time into this one."
Which sometimes leads me to think I just don't enjoy RPGs anymore, except then I occasionally encounter one that I actually do enjoy, like Persona 5.
RPGs are a right-time, right-place for me a lot of the time. If I’m not in the mood, it can be the best game in the world, I just don’t connect with it.
I’ll throw Outer Worlds onto the sounds-neat-maybe-one-day pile!
I loved this game, and had the pleasure of revisiting it recently at one of our post-work retro gameathons. The multiplayer mode was clunky as hell but absolutely hilarious!
I had a perverse enjoyment for the stealth missions in Red Faction, because I would try to murder as many NPCs and guards as possible, in revenge for taking away all of my powerful weapons. It was my futile attempt to reject the forced gameplay design.
Oh absolutely! At some point, I’d like to do a TimeSplitters retrospective because you’re right, those were definitely among the last lighthearted FPSes
Good review, never got to play this one.
And it feels like the same thing happened in sci-fi/action movies, right? The Verhoeven 80s/90s movies in this genre stand out in particular here: RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers. All of them violent, funny, not too serious (while still thought-provoking).
To see the change, just contrast the humor and campiness of the classic original Total Recall with the humorless remake that came out for no good reason several years ago. I didn't see the new RoboCop, so I'm not sure how it compares.
For a newer game that maybe tries to capture this attitude, there's Outer Worlds. But I couldn't get into that one, only played it for 2-3 hours, so I don't have a great perspective of how it compares.
Thanks!
Yeah, good point about film as well. The RoboCop and Total Recall remakes (which I never saw) looked like they took their source material way too seriously. Films in general… whatever happened to awesome comedies? Feels like that genre completely died.
I’ll have to check out Outer Worlds as I’ve heard nothing but good things! I get it confused with The Outer Wilds all the time, haha.
Reviews for Outer Worlds are mixed-to-positive I'd say, honestly. But it's a hard game to pinpoint what exactly is wrong with it, except it just doesn't feel like New Vegas in space, something is missing. I think a lot of people agree with me on this, but others concluded nothing was wrong, nothing was missing, and I can't fault them.
I feel this way a lot of the time about RPGs. "I can't pinpoint what isn't fun about this game, it seems to be competently made and have a lot of depth, and while it has flaws there were also plenty of flaws with the beloved RPGs of yesteryear, yet I loved those games and just don't feel like putting any more time into this one."
Which sometimes leads me to think I just don't enjoy RPGs anymore, except then I occasionally encounter one that I actually do enjoy, like Persona 5.
RPGs are a right-time, right-place for me a lot of the time. If I’m not in the mood, it can be the best game in the world, I just don’t connect with it.
I’ll throw Outer Worlds onto the sounds-neat-maybe-one-day pile!
I loved this game, and had the pleasure of revisiting it recently at one of our post-work retro gameathons. The multiplayer mode was clunky as hell but absolutely hilarious!
LONG LIVE GEOMOD
ALL HAIL!
I had a perverse enjoyment for the stealth missions in Red Faction, because I would try to murder as many NPCs and guards as possible, in revenge for taking away all of my powerful weapons. It was my futile attempt to reject the forced gameplay design.
Ugh, any stealth section in any FPS is just garbage.
Oh absolutely! At some point, I’d like to do a TimeSplitters retrospective because you’re right, those were definitely among the last lighthearted FPSes