PSX5Central
Playstation/Gaming Discussions => PS3 Discussion => Topic started by: Ryu on March 07, 2001, 10:11:05 PM
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Looking back on all the negative reviews and all the positive reviews from magazines and internet sites, I can honestly say that Bouncer needs to be played in some capacity so you can formulate your own opinion about it. With the 5-minute impressions I gave last Saturday, my views were incredibally harsh and inexperienced, however, they were far from completely innacurate.
Background/Foreground:
First off, I want to dispell any rumors about incredibally short length. Sites reporting the game being "2 hours long" are only partially correct. Sure, it\'ll take anyone roughly 2-3 hours to beat the game once from start to finish, but that\'s completely beside the point. If you play games one time and throw it in the trash when you are done, you are missing a whole slew of different things that makes the Bouncer really stand out.
I beat the game my first time and sat back, dropped the controller on the floor, and listened to the nice soothing song playing during the credits and watched another short FMV about Sion and Dominiques past, of which I am sure changes with every characters ending. To put it simply, once I finished the game, I picked the sweaty controller back up again and commenced playing. Even though the story was bland and of standard "save the princess" fare, I found myself largely addicted to the gameplay, of which I reported to be both repetitive and boring in my impressions.
Earlier, I said the game was of your typical storyline fare in which case I am referring to the ever-present Mario storyline that is in lots of games even today. You start off as one of three hereoes: Sion, Volt, or Koh. Your objective in the game is to fight your way to the Mikado corporation and retrieve your kidnapped ally, Dominique Cross. Sure, it sounds washed up and done, but the Bouncer presents a take on this theme not found in any game to date. The atmosphere is brooding and dark while the characters present their own dramatic flair to the story in their personalities and design.
Each bouncer you can select from has their own different techniques and styles setting each apart from the other. Sion is the well-rounded all out decent character anyone can jump in and use while Koh is a faster, yet weaker character, and Volt is the strong guy of the bunch presenting brute strength over finess and speed. Each character has their own set of combos and special moves as well has their own take on the story as well presented in a combination of button holds and taps. One of the best features about the Bouncer is the ability to change characters before every fight. Just before a battle, a character select screen appears and you are to choose one of the three protagonists to battle it out with the enemies on-screen. After the battle and everytime before, the character you choose has a bit of dialogue and their own perspective on the take of the events. For example, if you choose Sion, his story revolves around nothing except saving Dominique while using another character such as Koh, the game is shown as a way to become more powerful and show off your skill. In any case, each characters take on the story is fully refreshing each time you venture through it.
Graphics:
Graphically, the game is superior to all games available. Only in Shenmue have I seen lusher textures or more details. The Bouncer even rivals the facial animations of Shenmue, in fact, it\'s difficult to tell when FMV starts and in-game graphics begin, or end for that matter. The visual aura of every piece of the game is stunning. I wish I could say the same for the sound effects and English voice-overs, but all in all, the presentation of the game is utterly breath taking. Every emotion in each character is presented skillfully in-game and their personalities and nuances truly come alive with each scene. If there was ever a game to show off to your friends, this is THE title to do it.
Gameplay:
Gameplay wise, there is LOTS of different combos you can execute thanks to the dual shock 2 controller and lots of special moves which have to be earned per each character. The pressure sensitive buttons allow for multi-hit chain combos just by pressing the buttons with different degrees of pressure. In addition, at the end of a combo, you can do a special move by holding the L1 button and pressing 1 or 2 buttons in tangent with it. Plus, not only does each character have a wide range of techniques and combos, there is also triple team combos that are executed by your party of three. When a teammate motions to your character and says some type of phrase in battle, pressing the R2 button will trigger a triple team attack. The attack itself isn\'t particularly damaging to the character, but it is impressive as hell to watch. Just watching the teamwork reminded me of those double attacks present in Chrono Trigger.
However, even though the triple team attacks are amazing and that feeling of teamplay leaves you bubbling with joy, your teammates are about as dumb as doornails. They generally stand there watching you get pummeled by the enemies while they too take a beating from time to time. Only when the last hit needs to be nailed on a difficult foe do they chime in and steal your Battle Points, more on that later. It\'s pretty sad though, but even in game, you are forced to choose a favorite "helper" every once in awhile and I must say, maybe it\'s just my version or maybe it\'s everyones version, but Koh is utterly useless as a helper character. Volt tends to be right up in the action with you and he tends to land a strong hit ever once in a great while, but most of the time, Volt just takes a fierce 4 or 5 hits and he\'s out for the count.
Cons:
With that said, here comes the biggest thing I hate about the Bouncer, the lack of a 3 or 4 player mode in story mode. I\'m sure if Square and DreamFactory worked hard enough on it, they could have come up with an awesome split screen mode where players split up to accomplish certain tasks. Playing the game alone can become stale pretty quickly once you\'ve gone through the game at least once with each character, but after that, it\'s about as fresh as milk from the 19th century.
The Bouncer\'s foibles are simple at first, but they take away from the full experience over time. For starters, the battles are hectic with multiple characters onscreen teaming against you and throwing you off guard, but they battles tend to be scripted and slow from start to finish. Just moving around an enemy in battle tends to be a chore as the game has a type of proximity detecter hat automatically slows your characters movements once the two of you are within range of eachother. It\'s a small detail, but it\'s nothing like the videos we saw from TGS just a short while ago. Speaking of the TGA videos, the backgrounds are about as interactive as a 90 year old granny in a colma. Sure, she\'ll twitch every once in awhile just like you can throw an enemy into a wall, but after that, don\'t expect much. Ya, they\'re petty gripes, but it\'s enough to throw people off attack wise from time to time.
Speaking of throwing people off, the camera angles in many situations are fairly poor and fail to show you much of the scenery, as well as your opponent, which can be useful to you in the battle. When moving forward, the camera angle is decent enough to get a clear view of everything ahead, but once you back track, the angle remains constant and you have to guess if there is anyone behind you. Personally, I would have killed for an "over-the-shoulder" camera angle, but, there\'s little I can do about it now.
Replay Value:
The RPG "level up" battle point system acquired when defeating enemies is a great way to keep you continuing to play as well as the different perspectives of the story mode with each character, but the replay lies solely and skillfully on the multiplayer modes. Nothing like having four peeps over and crushing eachothers fighters, and more importantly, their spirits with wonderful smack that can only be backed up with excellent fighting.
Overall:
The game overall is utterly beautiful in many ways graphics wise, but there is much to be desired in the gameplay. The game holds so much promise, but it\'s hard to really see that when there is so many things holding it back. It\'s a good game to watch story wise, but gameplay wise, there is much to be desired and many fixes need to be addressed. Here\'s hoping the Bouncer 2 will be the game we all wanted when we first saw it in video form at TGS.
Score: 7.5/10
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so the game isn\'t great but it isn\'t as bad as previously reported
I\'m going to rent it either way
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Thats great Ryu, I really appreciate you posting this.
I value your opnion rather highly...well you samwise/bob/soul grind and its great to see that you enoyed it despite its faults.
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yea i went and changed my reservation from Bouncer to Onimusha and am glad i did
but i still will rent this game - i really do wish square would have taken more time with this - i wanna know what they changed to have to keep holding it back - i mean i am glad they didn\'t release it at january here what all would we have even gotten
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Square didn\'t do anything to the game...all they did was publish it I believe.
But cause Square is the big name they\'ve been getting the bad rap for "Dream Factory" I think is the name of the company that actually developed it.
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Yep, it\'s Dreamfactory, it\'s in rather small print on the game box actually. Anyways, DF did tobal 1 and 2, and Ehrgiez. To show just how much control Square has on DF, lets look at a recent interview IGN had with the game\'s director.... and I quote in response to a question about a sequel...
IGNPS2: Will there be a sequel to the Bouncer?
Takashi: There are no plans at this time, but if it proves to be a big hit, we just might have to create a sequel, no matter what we say.
Just might have to no matter what? Sounds like someone is pointing a gun to their heads when they say it like that... or their contract above a paper shredder ;)
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ahhh, been looking forward to this for a long time, and hearing about how awesome it is as a multiplayer game, i might have to check it out even more, my friend loved Eirgeiz, so this should be good
next on my list ZOE
oh and...
I value your opnion rather highly...well you samwise/bob/soul grind and its great to see that you enoyed it despite its faults.
ahh, thanks Cypress
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Not a problem Bobtollicus :)
I think i\'ve spelled that like 5 different ways in various posts. I can\'t remeber the correct way.
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Ryu answer me this please, I think I missed it abov in your article.
Can you play story mode with at least 2 players?
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Story mode is one player only, but there are varios modes for multiplayer such as 4 player, 2 player, 3 player, and some other option i have yet to fully test out. The other single player mode is survival. I recommend playing it to get a feel for the battle system before jumping into the game.
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cool i\'m really appreciatin this information btw...is there ANYTHING that 2 players can do co-op wise?
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Not really... I would have liked the 3 player co-op story mode, as I said above, but sadly, this just isn\'t so. *Sigh* there are just so many things that only need slight adjustments that would make this game GREAT, but it just misses the bar, sadly.
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well if they do make a sequel I hope the capatolize on there mistakes and give us soemthing magical.
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It really wouldn\'t take much to improve its faults. A different camera angle, a split screen branching system for the story mode and just a few more objects you can obliterate when you throw an enemy into them. Once things like that are fixed, which I think they will be in Bouncer 2, the game will be amazing. It won\'t take much, just a little common sense.
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The game is pretty good despite what the reviewers said. But it is lacking in some areas such as no interactivity, no exploring what so ever, and no co-op play, and some bad camara angles. I\'d rent it first. It seems to me that they could have really done a lot more with this game
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Does the PS2 have the power to have those graphics and all those extras too though?
cause that seems like the nly thing they wanted to do was make something gorgeous.
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Ofcourse it can.PS2 havent completed 1 year after launch yet.Its still a very "young" console.There is still much more to squeeze from the machine.
MGS2 also is a proof of interactivity and great graphics.
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I think Im going to have to buy this one too
Hmmm, I hope its nothing like ONi, dear gawd, buying that game was a mistake...
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I bought...but am not gonna play it until the sun goes down
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Hey great review Ryu.
I\'m gonna have to agree with pretty much everything you said.
The game is not a \'must-have\' but it isn\'t a complete pos either. For some reason I don\'t want to return it, and I will stick with it. I just like the \'style\' that it has. --Granted I haven\'t even finished it yet. The battles remind me of the battles in Shenmue.
All in all, it\'s not as good as it could have been as Ryu mentioned. Here\'s hoping Bouncer 2 will make it with all the extras that 1 should have had.
- dm
- what\'s in the f\'cking box?
So Ryu, you gonna keep it? Or still gonna sell it/send it back?
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That seems to be the million dollar question. If I completely level up my characters to A level and have a few 4 player battles, the game is as good as dead in my book. The replayability is lacking once you beat the game backwards and forwards. It takes at least 2 sittings with each character (each sitting beating the game at least once) to get through the game twice and have an A-ranked character. After that, the longevity lies only in the fact that you have 2 things:
1. A multitap with 4 controllers
2. 3 friends who are willing to invest 3 hours in learning all the battle moves and trying to kick the crap out of you, the owner, and the one who has played it the most.
If you got both of those things, the game can last for a good month or two. As is though, I think by Saturday, which is when I plan to sell it, it\'s usefulness to me is pretty much null. However, I will get to borrow it whenever I want it so that\'s not too bad either.
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I advise to many... rent before you buy... perhaps you won\'t have to buy ;)
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I advise to many... rent before you buy... perhaps you won\'t have to buy
True. Unless of course you need something to hold you over for the next few days till Onimusha.
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Ryu, first of all i must say, that revuiew was crap :p J/K J/K J/K, that was a beautiful review, you shold really start reviewing for this site, your words have touched me, yesterday i went to sftware etc. and to ym dismay they had the bouncer on the demo player, i was watching it cause some other guy was playing it for like 30 minutes, so i couldnt get to play, but from what i saw, and the words you spoke, made me decide to buy it, besides the fact i already had 25 dollars credit on the store :). i wanted to give it try none the less, i woudla rented it, but the damn stores dont haveit yet, i havent played it yet but i am going to as soon as i get off the comp, i will post my thoughts on it as well, if i though oni was a great game, ill probably liekt his one 2, oh yea and i have a multi tap :) :)
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I didnt like bouncer....
No Interaction.... no picking up bats, knocking people through tables, throwing someone in front of a train....
The movies are longer then the actual fighting.
The game is super easy to beat if your an ok player.
Why cant you use the hidden characters in story mode?
I personally liked fighting force better , atleast you could pick up guns and get run over by cars..
Oh and where the hell is the 2 player coop story mode.......
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well, i bought it and my opinion is... its a really good game!, i like it very much, the story may be short, but it kicks ass so far, i dont mind not having interative backrounds, its fine the way it is, i cant wit till my brother gets home so i can show him, he will be like.. coooool!, itll hold me over till onimusha as well :)
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I just bought this silly game on my lunch break.. Its 4:45pm EST time and I will be playing this game this weekend. I will have a in depth review on this on monday morning EST.
Well okay then
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that was a beautiful review, you shold really start reviewing for this site, your words have touched me, yesterday i went to sftware etc. and to ym dismay they had the bouncer on the demo player, i was watching it cause some other guy was playing it for like 30 minutes, so i couldnt get to play, but from what i saw, and the words you spoke, made me decide to buy it, besides the fact i already had 25 dollars credit on the store . i wanted to give it try none the less, i woudla rented it, but the damn stores dont haveit yet, i havent played it yet but i am going to as soon as i get off the comp, i will post my thoughts on it as well, if i though oni was a great game, ill probably liekt his one 2, oh yea and i have a multi tap
Heh, this is a modified review of the real one that will be available on gamesnext once it opens up (I work for them when it comes to previews\\reviews). Anyways, I\'m glad you liked what you saw and what you have played. Congrats on your purchase and I hope you have many hours worth of playtime between you and 3 other friends. Don\'t talk too much smack and kick too much ass... friends tend to be sore losers :p
I didnt like bouncer....
No Interaction.... no picking up bats, knocking people through tables, throwing someone in front of a train....
The movies are longer then the actual fighting.
The game is super easy to beat if your an ok player.
Why cant you use the hidden characters in story mode?
I personally liked fighting force better , atleast you could pick up guns and get run over by cars..
Oh and where the hell is the 2 player coop story mode.......
You can\'t use the hidden characters in story mode mainly because they are not part of the overall story. There\'s no story for them to follow. It\'s like playing through Metal Gear while using a Genome Soldier. It just wouldn\'t make any sense. Also, why are games downgraded by comparison? You have to enter each game with a fresh perspective. It\'s not fighting force, that\'s why all those guns and crap are not included. Also, if you\'ll notice, there are no cars in the Bouncer.
As for the rest of your post, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. That\'s pretty much all I have to say about that.
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Originally posted by Ryu
As for the rest of your post, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. That\'s pretty much all I have to say about that.
No no no.... everyone has one, and most of them stink.!!!
:D
HA HA HA HA
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thanks ryu, i have found mt own little cons, you cant use a ps1 controller for multiplyer, i have 2 ps2 controllers, and 1 ps1 controller, i think it sucks you gota buy yet another 35 dollar controller, just to play with 3 peeps, but the reason why you cant use them is because the pressure sensitive buttons, wich explains it all. see if you can hook me up with a job as well :)
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Well, you\'re welcome for the review, glad I could help.