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NEVER GO FULL UBISOFT - (not quite) a review of Catalyst
June 11, 2016 3:18PM
edited June 2016
First, I would give ME:C a rating of 7.5 out of 10. Considered the fact that I am a total biased fan of Faith, 7.5/10 is pretty sober.
But it's not quite a review, because there are many things I liked and loved about this game: Faith as an icon herself, the view of glass, the stunning sound, the speed, the few great campaign missions, Kuma, the music by SolarFields, the design, the characters and probably more. Yet I don't wanna write about those things.
Instead, what caused all these negative reviews? All this criticism? I think it's because DICE had all the right incrediences, but set the wrong priorities. Or, how Kirk Lazarus would put it: "You went full Ubisoft; never go full Ubisoft!"
Short version:
There was too much of 1. Repetitive side missions (deliveries, distractions etc.), 2. collectibles (gridleaks, Allcom Chips) and 3. Unnecessary audio chatter during side missions
While there were not enough 1. Campaign missions, 2. Side missions that had a narrative (like that break-in for Nomad or Birdman's missing pigeons) 3. Cutscenes and dialoges urgently needed for deeper characterisation.
Long version:
Question, fans: What is Faith capable of?
She can't use guns (anymore). She can't fly and doesn't have plenty gadgets like Batman. She can't use magic and can't handle a sword like Geralt of Rivia.
But she can move in spectacular ways. And if there's something I've learned from Catalyst, then it's the fact that moves alone are not enough: You always have to set them in the right context. And what is the right context? Answer: Daring, exciting level design.
Which is why I loved the campaign much more than those mini-side-missions you can find in every Ubisoft game. The campaign had truly unique moments, like outrunning these turrets in the construction area, climbing the anansi emporiom, cleaning the underground of KSec, breaking into that modern-art museum, and of course the shard. What I like about those missions is that I am exactly reminded of why I am running now. For paying my depts with Dogen. For saving a specific character. For finding new shelter in the underground. And so on.
Same with those red-marked side-missions that have a story too. I cared much more to find Birdman's pigeons than I cared for every single delivery a made.
And there's the problem: Imo, those campaign missions where way, waaay to short! Often enough I was having fun running and my adrenaline spiked - only to find out it lasted just a few seconds. Often enough I was like: "What, already??"
And then I also feel there weren't enough of these campaign missions. It could have been more! Faiths running could have been put to the test in more ways.
Just two examples from the original ME:
1. Closing gates. Was there ever a gate in Catalyst coming down so Faith had to slide underneath it quickly or be punished with a longer path? Original ME had them! ****, even the first reveal trailer from 2013 had a closing gate. Why not here?!?
2. Snipers. Very exciting in the Shard level of the original ME. Forced the player to move effectively and to max out the enviroment. Not in Catalyst.
Then the cutscenes: I liked them all, but they weren't enough. Not for all these new characters. Ever seen Birdman again after his initial missions? Or Nomad?
Negative reviews of MEC stated that Catalyst had a "dull story" or "dull characters". I differ: They weren't dull. They just weren't given the proper amount of scenes or appearances. I loved the campaign. It was just too short.
Now, about those side activities:
You know, the new Tomb Raider games from Square Enix suffer exactly the same problem like Catalyst: Too many random, redundant and repetitve things to do while letting the main missions fall short. In the new Tomb Raider games, I get to set flags on fire and collect various stuff, and now in Catalyst, I get to collect Allcom Chips and Gridleaks.
Question: Anyone here who can honestly state: "YEAH, chips! It's so fun! I spent hours roaming through Glass just looking for those exciting super-dupa Allcom Chips!!!
" Well, not me. Collecting chips was just a nuisance.
Same with gridleaks. (Except those red gridleaks you had to collect for plastic in short time - that was really cool!)
The audio chatter is also unneccesary sometimes. I couldn't have stood talking this woman for the 20th time about that precious statue all along the way of the 20th attempt to run that fragile delivery mission.
About the other activities: I already stated that they just aren't exciting without a narrative behind them. And without that, they felt too repetitive. So I didn't do them all. I would say distractions are the best of them, as they truly test the player skill in MEC. Then billboard hacks, then all the rest.
Maybe those random activities would be better if combat was better. I'm not going to talk much about combat here, as I feel a better combat system is only a few fine adjustments away. (Like: KSec-Guards should not take damage when they get tossed against each other. Made fights too easy. Staggering them is okay, but not taking damage! Same for getting tossed agains objects. Or: More variety, please! Same type of guards were always taken out the exactly same way - like shock protectors always getting the knee to the face - , and 3rd person finishers are way to rare.)
Am I presumptuous to wish for a longer campaign and narrative? After all, the dev team had only limited ressources and already worked for 4 years, right? Maybe I am. But I'd also like to argue that the team wasted some ressources on other things that weren't neccessary and added nothing to Catalysts quality.
"You went full Ubisoft. Never go full Ubisoft" - I couldn't get rid of that thought. Because Ubisoft games are mostly like that: Collect this, collect that, do 10 times this and do 15 times that. Such as Catalyst.
Oh, and you even get to climb high spots like in Ubisoft games - the billboard hacks.
Will I play Catalyst again? Certainly! Am I still a fan of Faith? Absolutely! And that's why I'm hoping for another Mirror's Edge Game, one that truly brings all the franchises potentials to bear for the first time.
But it's not quite a review, because there are many things I liked and loved about this game: Faith as an icon herself, the view of glass, the stunning sound, the speed, the few great campaign missions, Kuma, the music by SolarFields, the design, the characters and probably more. Yet I don't wanna write about those things.
Instead, what caused all these negative reviews? All this criticism? I think it's because DICE had all the right incrediences, but set the wrong priorities. Or, how Kirk Lazarus would put it: "You went full Ubisoft; never go full Ubisoft!"
Short version:
There was too much of 1. Repetitive side missions (deliveries, distractions etc.), 2. collectibles (gridleaks, Allcom Chips) and 3. Unnecessary audio chatter during side missions
While there were not enough 1. Campaign missions, 2. Side missions that had a narrative (like that break-in for Nomad or Birdman's missing pigeons) 3. Cutscenes and dialoges urgently needed for deeper characterisation.
Long version:
Question, fans: What is Faith capable of?
She can't use guns (anymore). She can't fly and doesn't have plenty gadgets like Batman. She can't use magic and can't handle a sword like Geralt of Rivia.
But she can move in spectacular ways. And if there's something I've learned from Catalyst, then it's the fact that moves alone are not enough: You always have to set them in the right context. And what is the right context? Answer: Daring, exciting level design.
Which is why I loved the campaign much more than those mini-side-missions you can find in every Ubisoft game. The campaign had truly unique moments, like outrunning these turrets in the construction area, climbing the anansi emporiom, cleaning the underground of KSec, breaking into that modern-art museum, and of course the shard. What I like about those missions is that I am exactly reminded of why I am running now. For paying my depts with Dogen. For saving a specific character. For finding new shelter in the underground. And so on.
Same with those red-marked side-missions that have a story too. I cared much more to find Birdman's pigeons than I cared for every single delivery a made.
And there's the problem: Imo, those campaign missions where way, waaay to short! Often enough I was having fun running and my adrenaline spiked - only to find out it lasted just a few seconds. Often enough I was like: "What, already??"
And then I also feel there weren't enough of these campaign missions. It could have been more! Faiths running could have been put to the test in more ways.
Just two examples from the original ME:
1. Closing gates. Was there ever a gate in Catalyst coming down so Faith had to slide underneath it quickly or be punished with a longer path? Original ME had them! ****, even the first reveal trailer from 2013 had a closing gate. Why not here?!?
2. Snipers. Very exciting in the Shard level of the original ME. Forced the player to move effectively and to max out the enviroment. Not in Catalyst.
Then the cutscenes: I liked them all, but they weren't enough. Not for all these new characters. Ever seen Birdman again after his initial missions? Or Nomad?
Negative reviews of MEC stated that Catalyst had a "dull story" or "dull characters". I differ: They weren't dull. They just weren't given the proper amount of scenes or appearances. I loved the campaign. It was just too short.
Now, about those side activities:
You know, the new Tomb Raider games from Square Enix suffer exactly the same problem like Catalyst: Too many random, redundant and repetitve things to do while letting the main missions fall short. In the new Tomb Raider games, I get to set flags on fire and collect various stuff, and now in Catalyst, I get to collect Allcom Chips and Gridleaks.
Question: Anyone here who can honestly state: "YEAH, chips! It's so fun! I spent hours roaming through Glass just looking for those exciting super-dupa Allcom Chips!!!
" Well, not me. Collecting chips was just a nuisance.Same with gridleaks. (Except those red gridleaks you had to collect for plastic in short time - that was really cool!)
The audio chatter is also unneccesary sometimes. I couldn't have stood talking this woman for the 20th time about that precious statue all along the way of the 20th attempt to run that fragile delivery mission.
About the other activities: I already stated that they just aren't exciting without a narrative behind them. And without that, they felt too repetitive. So I didn't do them all. I would say distractions are the best of them, as they truly test the player skill in MEC. Then billboard hacks, then all the rest.
Maybe those random activities would be better if combat was better. I'm not going to talk much about combat here, as I feel a better combat system is only a few fine adjustments away. (Like: KSec-Guards should not take damage when they get tossed against each other. Made fights too easy. Staggering them is okay, but not taking damage! Same for getting tossed agains objects. Or: More variety, please! Same type of guards were always taken out the exactly same way - like shock protectors always getting the knee to the face - , and 3rd person finishers are way to rare.)
Am I presumptuous to wish for a longer campaign and narrative? After all, the dev team had only limited ressources and already worked for 4 years, right? Maybe I am. But I'd also like to argue that the team wasted some ressources on other things that weren't neccessary and added nothing to Catalysts quality.
"You went full Ubisoft. Never go full Ubisoft" - I couldn't get rid of that thought. Because Ubisoft games are mostly like that: Collect this, collect that, do 10 times this and do 15 times that. Such as Catalyst.
Oh, and you even get to climb high spots like in Ubisoft games - the billboard hacks.
Will I play Catalyst again? Certainly! Am I still a fan of Faith? Absolutely! And that's why I'm hoping for another Mirror's Edge Game, one that truly brings all the franchises potentials to bear for the first time.
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Comments
There was one negative review about Catalyst that mentioned the bad luck it had during it's 4 years of development. Because back in 2013, Ubisoft-like games would have been tolerated more than now. But now, two things have changed:
1. There are more than enough open world-games with lots of random stuff to do. More Far Cry, Watchdogs, Assassins Creed etc. To much.
2. The Witcher 3. It raised the bar for side quests. Every side quest has it's own little story there. Same for the last Deus Ex game, but now it can't be ignored anymore.
Nah, I should stop whining. One more good thing about Catalyst: The open world itself did not turn out as a problem - just the way it was filled. Now let's look ahead!
Oh, and Sara: Thank you...
You shouldnt expect them to update everything 24/7 the first update might come in a week or so
I could have ran that delivery 50 times until I succeded. It's just that chatter of those NPCs. I really wanted to go back and let Faith kick her right in the ******* face.
Audiologs are such a funny thing. Useful sometimes (also in Catalyst), but hardly ever as good as scenes. And always to find in the most incredible places. ("Hey, my parent's intimate moments on audio, having been in the sewers for...like...20 years?!?")
Mirror's Edge got it's cult following because it was different. Now EA went and made DICE add **** from everybody else's popular games. It totally dilutes the identity of the game. I feel like I'm playing Far Cry 4 sometimes.