Here’s something I didn’t see coming—Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw, the grumpiest gaming curmudgeon that mocked so many games this side of Metal Gear Solid 4, has begrudgingly admitted that Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is fun. Yes, the AI is shit and the GTA clone sandbox game is full of bugs, but it’s still fun.

I was expecting a hilarious rant that would deconstruct each flaw. Well, Croshaw did engage in an uproarious, close-to-five-minutes tirade, but he also confessed that he enjoyed blowing everything up. Sigh. I might consider selling blood this holidays.

Post from: EveryJoe

Surprise of the week: Yahtzee thinks Mercenaries 2 is “fun”

Benjamin “Yahtzee” Croshaw thinks Metal Gear Solid 4 is a “stiff and inefficient” third person shooter,” mainly because of the controls. The game’s storyline was lambasted as well, but that was to be expected. Surprisingly, Yahtzee seems to hate MGS4 even more than Haze, which was universally reviled.

Controls freak
Apparently, the part-time adventure game designer believes that pressing both shoulder buttons and the triangle face button while firing “is not good design.” Personally, I never had a problem with it. And from the looks of things, so did dozens of other critics who evaluated the game.

I was wondering if Yahtzee ever got the memo that MGS4’s first-person view (triggered by pressing triangle) is entirely optional. Heck, even the manual aiming is optional, but maybe the guy didn’t bother looking into that—even if he was supposed to make a review.

I was also surprised that Croshaw was having trouble shooting behind cover. Our favorite curmudgeon believed that players need to stand up first before they can fire back. If our misguided critic bothered to stick to cover and aim behind the edge of objects by pressing L1, he wouldn’t have those problems. Funnily enough, the option to use the cover is displayed in plain sight each time Snake sticks close to any object large enough to hide his body. Obviously, this gripe is invalid.

And this bit about a split-second delay to fire the gun? I have no idea what Yahtzee is talking about. If he’s referring to a slight delay when bringing out a hidden firearm (a quick press of the R2 button), then he must probably be unaware that holding the R2 button pauses the game.

Thick and redundant
As for the enemies being “legendarily thick,” perhaps the guy is playing MGS4 in the easiest level. The baddies may not be as Einstein smart, but it’s not that easy to get past them. Nothing wrong with playing the game on the easiest setting since not everyone who can write half decently can necessarily play. However, for a review to be truly comprehensive (and more accurate), the critic shouldn’t select the easiest difficulty.

Despite our differences in opinion regarding certain gameplay elements, Yahtzee and I agree that MGS4 is badly written. Dialogues are redundant, resulting in 90 minute cutscenes. Then again, I think some redundancy is necessary especially when dealing with events in the previous games. Not every person who played MGS4 was fortunate enough to go through the previous installments so a background is quite necessary.

There was no mention of weapon customization, high production values, great visual design, multiple installations, annoying 90-minute cutscenes, or even the quirks of Metal Gear Online in Yahtzee’s review.

Good writing can get you only so far
If you’re keeping track, I’ve pretty much discussed each point that Yahtzee made and I’m puzzled with the supposed issues he highlighted. This gives the impression that Croshaw didn’t really pay that much attention to the game as a whole. Who knows? He may have never reached the second act. For the first time, I must question Croshaw’s reviewing methods. I love his scathing reviews because they’re entertaining and fresh. Still, good writing can get you only so far.

To Yahtzee: It’s always a good idea to spend more time with the games you review. And know what you’re talking about. If you really took the time to complete MGS4 like some of us reviewers did, then there’s a good chance you’d be singing a different tune.

Post from: EveryJoe

Deconstructing Yahtzee’s Metal Gear Solid 4 review

Here’s something one should pay attention to when watching one of Benjamin “Yahtzee” Croshaw’s video reviews: the guy is not big on praising games that belong to the FPS genre. If Yahtzee doesn’t hate (place shooter title here) as much as Turok, then the fanboy in you would likely deem it as worth the purchase. That said, it’s rather surprising to see that Croshaw doesn’t hate Haze, a much-maligned FPS from Free Radical. Correction, Yahtzee doesn’t hate Haze that much.

What I don’t get is that Kotaku seems to see otherwise.

Post from: EveryJoe

Yahtzee reviews Haze and doesn’t hate it as much

Deciding to review a bargain 2004 game is indeed strange, especially when a good number of current games deserve attention. To name a few, perhaps Yahtzee can try reviewing Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Echochrome, or even Mario Kart Wii. Granted that Croshaw’s reviews aren’t always timely because of tardy Australian release dates, but four years is ridiculous.

We’ve known for the past four years that Painkiller is an awesome FPS, Yahtzee.

There’s nothing wrong about featuring Painkiller in a hilarious video, but if I were you, perhaps you should have just renamed your clip “How to make an FPS” as a stark contrast to your “How not to make an FPS”/Turok review.

Post from: EveryJoe

Yahtzee hands in late Painkiller review

I have yet to watch a Yahtzee review with no complaints about a particular game. In the earlier part of the clip, everything Yahtzee said about Condemned 2 was quite positive. At least until some weird game-related stuff reminiscent of Indigo Prophecy, a creepy adventure game, started popping in.

From experience, I usually don’t take Yahtzee’s word when it comes to his negative comments because of his very strong preference of story over gameplay. But when the guy starts talking positive about a game, you know there’s something good in said game because Yahtzee is very difficult to please.

I wonder what the Englishman has to say about Metal Gear Solid 4, GTA IV, or Fallout 3 when they come out. I think MGS4 fans should steel themselves for a rant. GTA IV? Can’t say, since even the curmudgeons at EGM are gushing over it. Fallout 3 just might get accolades from Croshaw, but we can’t really speak too soon.

Does this video review of Condemned 2 merit a purchase on my part? Frankly I had to think twice just now, but I’ve decided that it’s still a no because I don’t expect Condemned 2 to have a long shelf life. However, the game is definitely a priority rental in my book.

Post from: EveryJoe

Weird: Yahtzee gives semi-positive review for Condemned 2

Like the average shooter, Army of Two is plagued with AI problems, which is probably why we should stick to playing it cooperatively. However, there are game-breaking instances that would cause players to replay certain situations, like the one that Yahtzee described to great detail:

During a cooperative game, Yahtzee boosts his buddy to a high platform but the partner gets riddled with lead and conks out. Unfortunately, our critic can’t reach the platform to revive his buddy. I don’t know how they got out of it, but instances like that would stump anyone.

Does this mean Army of Two is bad? Don’t let Yahtzee limit your enjoyment of the game, especially if you’re a shooter fan. The guy is a critic and does it in spades, but even the best games get a lot of flak when Croshaw is reviewing it.

Granted that Army of Two does sound repetitive, but what shooter isn’t? You point one end of the gun and press fire. Repeat ad nauseam. This pretty much covers all shooters ever made.

Post from: EveryJoe

Army of Two is repetitive? What shooter isn’t?

Post from: EveryJoe

Turok: How not to create an FPS

Yes, I do like Uncharted for its shooting. There are no massive guns here, though I do find the action satisfying. But to say that Uncharted is a game for white supremacists? I’m not that jaded.

Post from: EveryJoe

Uncharted is too safe, says Yahtzee

The most surprising part of this review is how the British-born curmudgeon views CoD4. Yahtzee actually loves it. Wonderful. Here I am, thinking CoD4 was just another run-of-the-mill shooter. I actually said late last year that the game isn’t on my list of immediate purchases. Sure, friends may recommend it, but getting paid to do this turns pundits like me into snob bastards.

And the other reviews? I can’t exactly believe anything GameSpot has to say ever since Gerstmanngate.

Now, I’m compelled to make the FPS one of the future titles I’ll be borrowing from GameHopper. If I like it bad enough, a purchase may be in order.

Post from: EveryJoe

Yahtzee gives in to public demand for Call of Duty 4 review

Maybe Capcom should instead focus their efforts on making Resident Evil 5 fantastic and timely, instead of making clunkers like Umbrella Chronicles. That 2009 release for RE5 is just a little too far off.

Post from: EveryJoe

Yahtzee doesn’t like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles very much