UPDATE: TMNT: OoTS finally launched on PSN today with a perk for PlayStation Plus subscribers. That so called \”perk\” is the pack containing an avatar for each turtles for free. Woo hoo. A whole $1.49 savings on an avatar pack people may not ever use. Why not discount the game for PS Plus members? Regardless I still bought the game and am enjoying it on PS3. The first thing I noticed is the game is a bit uglier that it\’s PC predecessor. With games like The Last of US and Uncharted 3 I expected it to easily transition to the PS3 with all the graphical bells and whistles. TMNT OoTS does feel more responsive with quicker animations, combos, fighting, and turtle switching. And yes, the camera is still shit. After an eight month delay for the PSN release I was hoping for adjustable depth for the camera—hell even the ability to hit a button like R3 to have the camera snap back behind me would help when the combat gets frantic, but alas you don\’t have that ability. So there you have it—it\’s snappier, a tad bit uglier, and has the same camera issue. Thankfully the tightening up of the combat and quickening of the animations make up for the lackluster camera. Eventually I want to take online multiplayer for a spin. (hello fellow coworkers). It\’s a fun game but I just expected more after such a delayed release.
The internet seems to really hate Teenaage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and I can kind of see why but at the same time the game isn\’t that bad. It really isn\’t. As a kid and gamer I dreamt of the day when I\’d be able to have a badass 3D TMNT game and a thrilling realistic Jurassic Park type of game. And while I don\’t think Telltale\’s Jurassic Park game lived up to what I and most others were hoping for, Red Fly Studio pretty much delivered on what I\’d want a Ninja Turtles game to be. (fingers crossed Primal Carnage Genesis is as badass as it looks). I\’ll be honest, I haven\’t beaten OOTS yet because I had to blow out my computer and never got around to reinstalling Windows for Steam since the game ~~still hasn\’t been released on PSN yet although according to their Facebook page they\’re feverishingly working on it~~ UPDATE: It has been released on PSN and you can buy it on the web store here. Anyway, I\’ve honestly liked what I\’ve played so far. The story isn\’t anything spectacular but the combat and playing as the turtles in a 3D rendition of New York City is pretty fun!
Right now I\’m going to get all the stuff that sucks out of the way starting with the camera. It\’s zoomed in way too tight, especially in combat. I want to be able to survey my surroundings and see what enemies are around me. Luckily there\’s a bunch of fan made easy fixes for the PC version. I personally use the one Steam user Klorgor created which you can download here and it makes a world of a difference. I\’m disappointed the developer hasn\’t released a patch giving the player the choice of a few camera distances to choose from. But I\’m sure that\’s because they\’re hard at work on the PlayStation port which I\’ll definitely be picking up partly because I really do like this game and partly because I want the trophies. Some people on the internet seem to hate on the fact that this game is a \”button masher\”……um WTF were all the other TMNT games? They were 2D sidescrolling beat-em-up button mashers as well. This game is just reimagined with fancier graphics, a different art direction with the turtles themselves, and is set in a more modern 3D environment with an updated combat system. I don\’t really mind the reimagining of the turtles either. They look more like turtles now than frogs although I favor the original character designs more. Other complaints area about the sparse environments which I agree with. It would have been nice if I could throw the foot into crates or down a sewer drain or hit them with a meter but his is a $15 title.
Now let\’s get on to the stuff I like. First off I really like the darker vibe throughout the game and the inspiration from the comics.The environments and turtle character models themselves have nice detail and the animations are fluid and realistic. While roaming the cityscape the brothers exchange in witty conversations that are believable and each turtle also has their own personality and interact with each other the way they always have. Also just like in the Nickelodeon animated series when the turtles are in combat their eyes are all white and while it doesn\’t affect gameplay it is pretty badass looking. The combo system is fun and so is switching between characters on the fly at any point in the game. There is also a neat RPG-esque point based upgrade system that enables new abilities for each turtle. There are more unlockables throughout the game as well like comic book pages and my favorite—levels in Donnie\’s arcade cabinet back at Turtle HQ. it is there you are treated to a sidescrolling beat-em-up with a fresh coat of paint thanks to the Unreal engine akin to the TMNT arcade games of yesteryear. There are seven levels in total and I\’m hoping once the PS3 (PS4 please!) port is complete there will be more levels offered as DLC. I haven\’t gotten to try out the local or online multiplayer modes yet. Apparently there were online issues that have since been resolved with the latest patch. Having the ability to play through campaign, challenge, and arcade with a friend either locally or online seems like a good time.
All in all I\’ve been having a lot of fun with this game. The biggest glaring issue I have with the game is the camera being too close up during combat. Again it\’s an easy fix for PC but sadly not so much for Xbox and it probably won\’t be is not for PS3 either. The game sure is better than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the 3DS and Wii. You can check out my review of that game to read my thoughts on it . While it seems many will argue the turtles would have been better off left in the shadows, I say that I\’ve spent $15 on much worse things and this game isn\’t one of them.
