Sin & Punishment is everything a video game should be
Tagged: gamer . impressions . Sin & Punishment
Source: unknown
Sin & Punishment's story is convoluted. It's N64 era graphics are dated, to put it nicely. I can't recall a single tune from the soundtrack as I write this piece. None of that matters. A video game is a gameplay experience first, and everything else second. With gameplay this enthralling, S&P is gaming at its zenith: pure bliss.
I could sum it all up by simply saying, "It's developed by Treasure." Now go and buy it. For those not in the know, Treasure is a rare breed in today's gaming market. The genres they tackle are old school, yet their games are full of sublime, forward-thinking design.
S&P is an on-rails shooter, the likes of which you probably haven't played since Star Fox and Panzer Dragoon. Hell, I can't even name another game in the genre. While both of the aforementioned series are brilliant in design and fun in actual play, S&P may take the cake in the end.
One segment has you chasing down a huge boss through a hard to navigate corridor. Another has you flying through the air, taking on a fleet of navy vessels. Treasure even decided to throw in a side-scrolling level near the end. They really think of everything, don't they?
The game is of perfect length. Long enough to show you a few different setups. Short enough that it doesn't overstay its welcome. I'm a big fan of keeping games short and sweet. Filler kills games just like it kills anime. And if there's one thing Treasure games are, it's taut. There's nothing loose or dangling. There's nothing that doesn't belong.
The story is ridiculous, but it frames the action and generally stays the hell out of the way. And let's face it: what's there is actually better than what the average game throws at you nowadays. At least it's something I've never seen before. Generic just doesn't fit Treasure's vocabulary.
The 3D graphics are antiquated. But the artwork is still leaps and bounds above your average, brownish-grey FPS pushing umpteen million billion polygons. In other words, a creative artist beats out even the best programmer in my book. And I'm a freaking programmer...
So, how could this game be even better? Hell if I know. But I'm sure Treasure will come up with something even more amazing for Sin & Punishment 2, due out later this year. And I can't wait.
May 12th, 2009 at 1:17 AM ET
Comments
1) JP from the Inn
I'm having a hard time going around gathering those treasure games. I won't miss the chance that S&P2 represents.
Otherwise, the title bears too much of a resemblance with Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.
Re) Michael is LoHP
@ JP from the Inn
Maybe one day, games can aspire to that level of storytelling. Not that there haven't been a few games with great stories. But still...
As for your collection, Virtual Console has five Treasure games so far: Sin & Punishment, Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, Alien Soldier, and Light Crusader. Now if only the Wii could pull off Saturn emulation...
2) Seantaku
I've never heard of this game but I do love shooters like that. What system is it on??
Re) Michael is LoHP
It's available for the Wii on the Virtual Console under the N64 section. It was previously never translated for English speaking countries... even though the game natively features ENGLISH VOICE ACTING. God, I hate the video game industry. Oh well, eventually they came correct and translated the two whole lines of text for the game and put it up for download, two generations later.
I'll try to remember to add some links to this post for YouTube videos of gameplay or a good video review later tonight, when I get the chance.
3) Seantaku
Sounds great! Can't wait to see the videos.
Re) Michael is LoHP
@ Seantaku
Couldn't really find what I wanted. As far as I can tell, none of the professional sites did a video review. I tried to find shorter clips showcasing only certain snippets, but no go there too. So here's a video of a good section of a multi-part playthrough someone posted on YouTube.
4) ETERNAL
Quite simply, I loved Sin and Punishment. It's not entirely old-school, but it's got the same focus on pure gameplay as many older games, and it's both fun and challenging. Glad to see someone else liked it.
Re) Michael is LoHP
@ ETERNAL
It's really nice to see developers like Treasure around nowadays. The focus of too many games has shifted too far towards the cinematic and other elements outside the core of the game. It's pretty bad when I feel I need to label newer games that actually focus on gameplay as "old-school."
5) tce
Treasure is my favourite development studio, and S&P is one of my favourite games. It's simply heaven. Tight and intricate control, brilliantly creative level design (A SWORDFIGHT? In a RAIL SHOOTER?! What?! Genius!) and intense challenge rolled up into one - in my opinion it's one of Treasure's greatest achievements, which is saying a LOT. Anyone who doesn't enjoy this game gave up after dying on the third level, and never bothered trying to improve. Period.
Too many games these days try to be artistic masterpieces, or cinematic, or worse REALISTIC. Treasure is one of the few developers who still has good ol' traditional values in mind, and I love them. The S&P2 trailer looks utterly brilliant, and I sincerely hope they show it off at E3 09.
Re) Michael is LoHP
@ tce
Don't even get me started on "realism" in games. That has to be the number one cancer killing this generation of gaming. For the sake of "realism," we lose a number of factors that made video games fun in the first place. If I wanted a cinematic experience, I'd watch a stinking movie!
So few games pull this off. MGS is at the top of a small list of exceptions. Unfortunately, everyone seems to think that this is the only way to make games. Ugh. So, thank god for Treasure and the short list of today's developers that get it.
6) tce
The fact is that reality and everything it entails don't translate well into video games. I absolutely agree that realism is the cancer killing this generation. The best games of all time didn't rely on realistic graphics or realism shoehorned into an existing genre.
There's too much of a focus on "immersion" these days, specifically in genres that don't, or at least SHOULDN'T, require it such as FPS. Developers think that by making their game as realistic as possible they can achieve greater immersion and supposedly make the game better.
But they're wrong. If I want to be immersed in a REALISTIC world, I'd switch off the video game system and go for a walk. A good developer is perfectly capable of immersing the player in as bizarre a world as they like.
And of course, the BEST developers (Treasure) throw immersion out the window, and craft pure concentrated intense gameplay experiences like S&P.
Re) Michael is LoHP
@ tce
"If I want to be immersed in a REALISTIC world, I'd switch off the video game system and go for a walk."
That had me laughing hard!
I mentioned MGS before, and I have to give credit to Kojima for just outright throwing out the fourth wall whenever it suits him. He's one of the few developers that knows when and where to be realistic, and when and where the game simply needs to be a game.
I have to build on top of what you said and point out that I am truly most immersed when playing an intense video game like Sin & Punishment. With most "realistic" games today, I can't help but notice all the flaws whenever something doesn't come off as realistic enough. With old school gaming, I'm too busy having fun to give a shit about anything else. Priorities...
In other words, I think immersion is something you earn, not craft.