I agree it looks different: but it's a superficial change. We can't know how like Max Payne 1+2 it'll be really until we play the game, because Max Payne's magic was in how the game played over minutes and hours, not chopped up moments of gameplay and cutscene.

Untrue; it has the same shooting mechanics, the same health mechanics, the same camera and perspective, the same (or similar) narrative, the same action gameplay (but leagues ahead of the original on contemporary technology). What it doesn't have that the original did is the same visual tone. Aside from that, it's the…

Rockstar has, and has always had, some of the best writing around. Sam Lake has done fewer games, and they have been great, but Rockstar have done more games, and they have also been great.

The series is linear, level, and narrative based. There's no open world, but the gunplay is leagues ahead of anything you'd see in a GTA game.

Yeah that's true, it is just due to videogames development in this era. However, it doesn't stop it from being something videogames have a grip on before any other medium.

Incredible ending.

Good stuff. I disagree with Barthes, too.

Playing with one or two friends in a co-op game with a headset on? That's a thing I'd recommend the experience on.

That's fair, there really aren't enough people arguing that corner. Probably because it's a very received art (i.e. taught, and you have to experience a lot of it to appreciate it) rather than a perceived art (looks good or evokes emotions).

Holy fuck. Where the hell did this come from?!

It was a bit ambiguous, but Ebert did say 'this game took 100 hours to complete and he didn't like it', and had slated the game before (I believe), so was indirectly slating it.

But it's the same for film, and everything. Art is subjective; in a film it could be the story, the themes, the characters (the writing thus far) or the camera angles, sets, design, that could be seen as art. Everyone will take something different away.

See my comm @Sugoi

Definitely, Skyrim is artistic in design; not in story or theme. Though at times it does approach some pretty well-observed musing, verging on artistic. Morrowing was great for that.

Sounds really good. I'll definitely keep it on the 'to play' list in the background :P

I'm definitely not defending Ninja Theory; I think that's a bad move, too. I suppose I agree, I should just say that I'd rather the DMC team move onto other games than do DMC forever (though I suppose that means DMC really should just die while it's ahead rather than someone else, inappropriately take over).

Very cool. Is it set IRL? That's really appealing to me: I can't abide how grotesquely up-beat fantastical most JRPG's are. Love the idea of it being based on a novel, too. What platform(s) is is the series on?

Hmm very cool, thanks for the potential hintage.

But you don't have to pay for it before you play it...

Yeah, I can actually imagine it being worth buying an XBLA copy just to be able to rope in non-PC people to the Minecraft phenomena, with the splitscreen play. That shouldn't be short of brilliant.