Unfortunately, I’m writing to you with a crinkled £50 still in my pocket, looking for something worth the investment.
Character Creation
Somewhat fun, but limited. I’m one of
those chumps who makes my avatar look at least a little like myself, and
it wasn’t really possible here. Whether the game or my face is to
blame, we’ll call it a draw. Failing my usual route, I was left to make
the stupidest looking guy I could, and ended up with some sort of Wreck
It Ralph/Raggedy Ann mashup with sharp teeth in place of irises
(unfortunately forgot to get a screenshot before my trial expired). I
was actually keen to play as the charismatic hipster chap in the
trailer, as he seemed like the funny, adventurous type with whom I’d
enjoy dodging death. Instead, multiplayer is going to be full of guys
with ponytails and girls in skimpy outfits. So basically how I imagine
Miami.
Gameplay
I probably did cool stuff like this. But I can’t be sure.
To the game’s benefit, we’re thrown
straight into the action, dodging boil-covered enemies after a
ten-second cutscene. Within 3 minutes, we’re halfway across the city
shooting giant mutants from above. It’s quick and colourful, but it’s
not pretty.
I can best describe Sunset as a
teenage fantasy. It’s like a group of high schoolers gathering in their
pimply groups and decide to starting a band, only everyone in the band
plays the drums. If I had sat down with my old college friends and
proclaimed that we should make a video game putting in ‘only the coolest
things’, this might have been the result. Crude jokes, insane guns,
explosions and zombie/mutants craving energy drinks, it’s all in there.
It sounds fun in theory, but I’m dead certain whatever game our drunken
gang came up with would have been pretty horrible. This is proof enough
of that.
Having so many ingredients in the mix
makes the fun, animated aesthetic fade into the background. If my focus
is on changing to the right gun, or grinding on the right rail, or
shooting the right beast, or selecting the right special power, I’m
quickly lost in a mess of uncoordinated button bashing. When such a
seemingly simple idea is burdened by complex gameplay, we’re left with
an inconsistent game that’s impossible to fully enjoy. I’m forced to
either admire the smoothness of my aerial manoeuvres and fail my
objectives, or focus on my assault and miss out on the impressive level
design.
The Design
As we knew from trailers, the game looks and feels cool.
With practice, the smooth angles do allow for some joyful journeys as
you grind and bounce your way around the city. And the new gen
capabilities have been used well as countless enemies are thrown into
the mix. Insomniac Studios, who spent their early days developing
innocent games like Spyro and later the more mature Resistance and Fuse have done well to somewhat combine the styles into this kind of adult action.
Visuals aside, my favourite aspect of the
game has to be the self-aware dialogue, which is almost enough to force
a negative review to raise its thumb. The gameplay problems are
addressed by a parodical voiceover, who basically runs out of breath
explaining the extent of the special powers (of which you receive three
or four at once). The clichés bounce and the pop culture references are
a-plenty, and made me chuckle from time to time.
Overall
I don’t usually opt for star ratings, but
if I was pressed, I’d be looking at something like 3 out of 10. 14 year
old me with my brand new Xbox 360 may have loved it. I see high praise
for the game around the internet, so I’d be keen to hear if I’ve missed
something that would have made the experience more valuable. In the end, the best thing I can say is that it was worth the price I paid.
If you like the things I write about, we’d probably be good
friends. You could find me in any random London cafe most days.
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