Critical Miss: Space Marine

[emeraldrafael]

The blonde kids reminds me of Wonderweiss Margela.

...

If you dont know who that is, This is him
<url=http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/Wonderweiss_Margela>http://images.wikia.com/bleach/en/images/6/60/Wonderweiss_Margera.jpg

 

[Aardvaarkman]

It's just rose-tinted "Things-were-better-in-my-day-get-the-hell-off-my-lawn" fogeyism masquerading as populist criticism,

How does that work? The guy telling people to get off his lawn is supposed to be a cynical curmudgeon. He's looking at the world through murky, cataract-inflicted eyes, not optimistically looking through rose-tinted glasses. That's such a collision of mixed metaphors!

 

[The Wooster]

It's just rose-tinted "Things-were-better-in-my-day-get-the-hell-off-my-lawn" fogeyism masquerading as populist criticism,

How does that work? The guy telling people to get off his lawn is supposed to be a cynical curmudgeon. He's looking at the world through murky, cataract-inflicted eyes, not optimistically looking through rose-tinted glasses. That's such a collision of mixed metaphors!

Well, Rose-tinted refers to how they look at the past, like it was some golden era of game design. I suppose it does kind of clash with the rest of the metaphor. Fuck it, they're rose-tinted bifocals.

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

Hah, thats exactly how my RTS friends act!
And I like the shirt the guy on the left is wearing :3

 

[Iron Lightning]

It's not really fair to criticize the tone and aesthetic of Space Marine for being widely prevalent. Warhammer 40k invented the modern power-armored space marine concept. Criticizing Space Marine on the basis of it all having to do with space marines is kinda like criticizing a new Alien game for having a lot of dark claustrophobia-inducing tunnels.

I also disagree with the comic's statement that Space Marine is a brown-and-gray washed-out game. You spend the entire game looking at a guy in bright blue armor with burnished gold trim for love's sake. The game also cleverly uses to color to differentiate the heavily detailed enemy models on a moment's notice (e.g. brown-shirted Orks (Snake Bites clan) use melee weapons while yellow-colored Orks (Bad Moon clan) use guns.)

 

[rapidoud]

Because basing your gameplay on the source material means you're just copying everyone else. Right. And 'comparing' it to GoW when clearly GoW (and starcraft where zerg = tyranids as well) stole the majority of their material from something decades old is a valid comparison.

These comics are getting worse somehow.

 

[tamerman]

For the Tyranids! Hrikikikikikikiki!

 

[Aardvaarkman]

Well, Rose-tinted refers to how they look at the past, like it was some golden era of game design. I suppose it does kind of clash with the rest of the metaphor. Fuck it, they're rose-tinted bifocals.

Yeah, I kind of get that, but I still think it's a little off the mark. I don't think that type of character is feeling particularly warm and fuzzy about the past, more that they just hate anything new and different. I think it goes better with the "we had to walk to school in the snow both ways" attitude. They aren't fondly remembering the past, they'e upset that kids today don't have to suffer like they did.

 

[Mouse One]

Laughed hard. I'll say this-- the demo prepared me completely for this game. The combat is repetitive, and you have to play on hard to get anything remotely resembling a challenge. But dang, maybe I'm just a hopeless Warhammer fanboy, but it's a fun romp. Smash smash smash, FOR THE EMPEROR!!!!!!

Hey, afterwards I'll go play Retribution multiplayer, just to apologize to my underutilized brain cells.

 

[dickywebster]

I blame the die hard gws fans for that approach, plus the space marines came before the games industry became obssessed
Probably why i like the game myself actually :3

 

[Jachwe]

I normally like this strip but it failed this week.

Turning a turn based TABLETOP game (can you even HAVE real time tabletop games? ~.~) into a FPS, and turning a widely popular COMPUTER turn based game into an FPS are very, very different.

Well to answer your question... yes you can have a real time tabletop game. The only requirement for such a game is, that it is supposed to be played on the top of a table and has no turn based game mechanic but gameplay unfolds in real time.
To comment on your statement: No, turning a turn based (tabletop) game into a first person shooter does not differ from turning a turn based (computer) game into a first person shooter. How can it be? You just state that it is so but do not answer your own imlicit question why it should be so. If you did you would recognize that it is not obvious why it should be so and that it is not so.
The games being tabletop or computer games are just superficial facts that can be transcended by our concisnious. That is simply put they are just games. They have certain rules which determine the game's mechanic.
So from that viewpoint we recognize that a game cannot be turned into another game. We expect games of a franchise to bear game mechanics and rules similar or identical to the predecessor of said franchise. But we have to admit they are two different games in the narrow sense even if the are similar respecting their rules and mechanics. If the successor game's rules and mechanics are vastly different from its predecessor of one franchise they have not turned one game into another but created a new game of the same franchise.
It does not matter that one game is a tabletop and the other is a computer game when there is a new game that is created.

 

[duchaked]

I try not to get too worked up about things pertaining to this topic. Especially since I really love Gears of War and people always try to pin it on the series.
Okay so Gears of War 2 was more enjoyable than the first, which I've been trying to get into again before the third game comes out. It does drain me a bit to play through the first.

 

[Cropsy91]

Judging from the demo, Space Marine is rather fun and doesn't play much like GoW at all. It's more of a merger of hack-and-slash and third-person shooter. Nevertheless, it is rather funny how people will make exceptions when it caters to their interests.

Also, I got a kick out of the trenchcoat guy wearing a Panty and Stocking t-shirt.

 

[Booze Zombie]

I do believe Duke Nukem's "see, it's funny because I ruined the dramatic tension" line (I may have misremebered the exact quote) would work out pretty decently on a T-shirt.

As for hating on games or what have you... well, I find it's better to play each game yourself and give it as fair a look as you can. Of course, you get games where the tutorial level just sucks your soul out through your thumbs, but that can't be helped sometimes.

 

[acosn]

Space Marine is in every sense of the word, "average."

Unfortunately that's rather unbecoming of Relic, and the multiplayer is fairly embarrassing. Balance goes out the window when you can use a weapon like the Plasma cannon and one-shot people at long range without having to do the whole "aiming" thing.

And p2p servers.

As much as I'd like for Relic to just stick with RTSs the market just isn't that big, and they do kind of work for a corporation.

 

[rapidoud]

I normally like this strip but it failed this week.

Turning a turn based TABLETOP game (can you even HAVE real time tabletop games? ~.~) into a FPS, and turning a widely popular COMPUTER turn based game into an FPS are very, very different.

Well to answer your question... yes you can have a real time tabletop game. The only requirement for such a game is, that it is supposed to be played on the top of a table and has no turn based game mechanic but gameplay unfolds in real time.
To comment on your statement: No, turning a turn based (tabletop) game into a first person shooter does not differ from turning a turn based (computer) game into a first person shooter. How can it be? You just state that it is so but do not answer your own imlicit question why it should be so. If you did you would recognize that it is not obvious why it should be so and that it is not so.
The games being tabletop or computer games are just superficial facts that can be transcended by our concisnious. That is simply put they are just games. They have certain rules which determine the game's mechanic.
So from that viewpoint we recognize that a game cannot be turned into another game. We expect games of a franchise to bear game mechanics and rules similar or identical to the predecessor of said franchise. But we have to admit they are two different games in the narrow sense even if the are similar respecting their rules and mechanics. If the successor game's rules and mechanics are vastly different from its predecessor of one franchise they have not turned one game into another but created a new game of the same franchise.
It does not matter that one game is a tabletop and the other is a computer game when there is a new game that is created.

Because a turnbased tabletop game has simplistic rules that don't oversimulate in an attempt to make it (relatively) short whilst still being an enjoyable.

Whereas a computer turn based game throws that out the window in making it as simulated as possible without being too tedious (lest you get grand strategy which typically uses stop-start gameplay) which means that not much of the variables have to be extrapolated, whereas a tabletop game you have to guess a lot of things like gunshot sounds, how the gameplay would really be like, how fast everything moves to balance it (as everything is the same speed in W40k for infantry pretty much, whereas a computer turn based game could have them slightly differing).

 

[Smokej]

The big difference between this and the Xcom game, aside from the fact that Xcom kept literally nothing from the earlier entries, is the fact that Space Marine isn't being billed as an entry in the game series; it's a videogame based on the fluff attached to a table top game. Think about the Mechwarrior series. The Mechwarrior tabletop game was a pencil and paper RPG (the strategy game was actually called Battletech, for those who don't know.) The Mechwarrior PC games, rather than attempting to do a single player computer version of a multiplayer pencil and paper game, looked at the setting and fluff connected to the series, and made a game that fit into the universe, but did things you couldn't do with a pencil and paper. Space Marine is a spinoff in that vein, rather than a direct entry into some main series.

Yep i can agree to that. The Mechwarrior Series (especially 2 and Merc.) was one of the best examples of how to do a tabletop justice without the need of an one-to-one copy. But i have to add that with the Crescent Hawk games there already were some faithfull Battletech RPGs (for their time). Unfortunately Battletech (like SR and several other good systems) were going down the drain together with FASA. There is no real progress in MW5 unfortunately as well... Trailer look really promising...

BTW, the world still needs a Warhammer RPG videogame based on the Fantasy-Flight material and rules...

(can you even HAVE real time tabletop games? ~.~)

To give you a good example within the GW universe take a look at Warhammer Dark Omen and Shadow of the Horned Rat. Of course they used the Tabletop rules for a lot of the gameplay mechanics and calculations. They are far superior to the Mark of Chaos crap of recent times and there is still a small community supporting these games.

Nevertheless turn-based will always be the Champions League of strategy-gaming

 

[MorphingDragon]

I would like a sexism and/or racism shirt. Would be BOSS.

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Personally, I want this latest comic on a T-Shirt. Very funny. Made my Sunday.