Sciere (930479) on 4/7/2009 7:32 AM · Permalink · Report

They brought on Kieron Gillen probably because no one else dared to touch it. It's a very balanced review, but he sides with the people who want to have entertainment/gameplay first. Knowing his history in favourites on RPS, he's either inconsistent or very defensive in that review.

St. Martyne (3648) on 4/7/2009 8:54 AM · edited · Permalink · Report

And since we're already on the subject of The Path...

Personally, no matter what Eurogamer and Kieron say, I didn't find The Path to be too experimenting, or no-fun experience. The joys of exploration have been at the core of many games for years nobody is willing to count. In that respect The Path is not much different from Fallout 3.

So, when I see sentences like "there is no fun in the game" I want to cry "Why?" Were the excitement of discovery and piecing together a jig-saw puzzle banned from the exclusive club of fun activities in video games?

Unfortunately, there are many things that keep The Path planted firmly on the ground. First of all is the subject matter. The reimagining of the Little Red Riding Hood story has been done so many times, so it's next to impossible to bring something fresh to the table. All the sexual and violent overtones have been explored thousands of times over. Actually, the Company of Wolves by A. Carter is, perhaps, The Path's closest relative. So, coupled with the loads of rather meaningless symbolism, the story and the mystery didn't really work for me.

But that's not all. I don't really know about you, but the audiovisual fluff constantly occupying the screen and speakers were on my nerves much more than the "running problems". Especially, when you stop, to actually consider how much of the atmosphere it is brining to the overall experience. The dullness and derivativeness of the art (apart from the character's models and animations) is really the game's weakest point. I always felt that I was not alone in the wood, with the developers constantly following me switching post effect filters on and off, and throwing random shit all over my TV screen, just to keep things artsy enough.

Regardless, I think the Path is a good game. Just a game, without the excuses and clarifications. It's very fun to explore the woods, finding new things, discovering new ways to interact with them and after that trying to piece together a relatively plausible explanation for all the outlandish events happening on the screen.

It's just interesting, though, that the game disappointed me in the very areas it was supposed to excel at, namely it's theme, idea, symbolism and visual art.