Heroes in a half-shell? More like heroes at half the framerate, huh? Digital Foundry has released some hands-on impressions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan – and they're not particularly positive. We've been told that review code isn't quite ready to go yet, so this is the best that you're getting for now.
So, what's the takeaway? Well, first of all, the game runs at 30 frames-per-second on the PlayStation 4, despite Platinum Games usually opting for the much slicker 60 frames-per-second. However, given that the combat here is incredibly simple – DF describe it as MMO-esque – that's not exactly a major deal. This isn't the Transformers: Devastation-esque experience that you may have been hoping for.
In fact, it looks like a PlayStation 2 licensed title. Not in terms of visuals, of course – it's marginally better looking than that. But we just mean in terms of production values: lousy mission objectives, boring combat, sub-par presentation – these are all of the hallmarks of a non-existent budget. That's not the end of the world when priced accordingly, but Mutants in Manhattan costs $50/£40.
And to make matters worse, DF mentions that the campaign only runs for around three hours – which may or may not be the title's saving grace if it really is as poor as the video makes out. We'll try to bring you our impressions as soon as possible, but in the meantime, we'd recommend dropping your pre-orders for this in the Shredder.
[source youtube.com]
Comments (63)
I must admit, the cel shaded art-work isn't something I like and the video made the game look dated in its premise/combat. With the 'simplistic' artstyle though, I am surprised the game isn't capable of reaching 60fps. You expect a 'sacrifice' in some visual style for a higher frame-rate but after seeing what games can run at 60fps, this is certainly lacking!!
Sounds like my previous comments - looks like a $20 DL only game. My kids played TiT Reshelled alot b/c I think there were collectibles, or just fun b/c it was 2 player, but it was really short as well.
This does have online 4 player, so maybe there's a reason to keep replaying it? Probably not $50 worth though.
This could have been really good, looks like they mailed it in and are just trying to create a little revenue of the upcoming movie. Shame.
@rjejr Worth noting there's no local co-op in this one.
Holy hell! I just put money towards this game yesterday, but this is a huge no-go for me.
Was willing to forget about the lack of local co-op...that was when I thought local mp was being scrapped for a 60fps presentation on an at least 6-hour campaign.
Also, the "switch between 4 turtles" approach fails every single time it is done. A TMNT game needs to have each turtle feel unique, secret characters, and local 4-player.
@get2sammyb Yeah, I know, read some Amazon reviews this morning. They said they had to keep it out to maintain the 60FPS.
OK, so um yeah no redeeming qualities at all, my previous comment is worthless. I think even if this was a $20 DL it wouldn't have gotten rave reviews. Better, but not rave.
Oh well, maybe Knack 2 will be good?
Personal note - finishing up Unfinished Swan. Man that game is good. I'm usually not a big fan of artsy-fartsy like Flower or Journey but this one has enough puzzle platforming to keep me hooked. Oh, and TR still looks great on PS3 - halfway thru, just fell into the cave of blood, blech - really looking forward to the new one on PS4.
well looks like i'm steering clear of this one
why can no one make a decent TMNT game now a days?
guess i'll have to stick with Turtles in Time on SNES
platinium finally shows it spreads itself to thin..
y dey do dat? Devastation was actually really great. Not a big Turtles fan anyway so this was never going to be a day one but it sounds like it may be a day never now..
@BAMozzy "With the 'simplistic' artstyle though, I am surprised the game isn't capable of reaching 60fps."
My thoughts exactly. These graphics are basically PS3-level, so what's the deal? And the game is only three hours long? And the combat looks incredibly dull? And the game costs $50?
Sounds like a GOTY contender, folks.
@rjejr Unfinished Swan was easily one of my favorite PS3 games. I played through the first level on the PS4 version but because of the unique art style I didn't feel the new version really added anything. I did get all trophies on the PS3 version, and after doing that you generally don't want to do it again (the trophy where you have to get through the entire first level with only a few ink splotches is tough!). That said, I'll probably head in as I've gotten one lonely trophy on the PS4 version...
Oh dear, yeah I might not pick this up then.
@glassmusic I'm not a big trophy guy, I'm just looking forward to chapter 4 tonight and that's it. Though I might be tempted to play thru with the balloon radar. I haven't purchased anything yet and only found 1 or 2 balloons in the dark area, curious where the rest are.
I give up. We'll never get a good TMNT game again.
Why do developers even contemplate releasing such garbage? As a cheap download title fair enough but a full price retail game, that's just a joke
@carlos82 Would you still contemplate buying it at the same price as most 'indies/arcade' type games? 3hrs of repetitive, poor gameplay?
Yeah yeah. So it's another Platinum game that critics bash, got it. Just like they did with Anarchy Reigns, the best 3D beat em up of the last ten years.
Whats the deal? Thats pretty obvious.......
It's an Activision tie-in game......
Don't blame Platinum on being a bad developer, I'm pretty sure Activision gave them a very strict timetable and budget, who cares if it's enough to make a quality game or not.
It looks horrible.... Late ps2 style... 3 hours long?
And they are asking full price for this? What s wrong with the studio that delivered bayonetta 2 and Transformer Devastation??
@arnoldlayne83 Platinum have put out some crap before. Seems they have an A team and a B team.
@BAMozzy good point and probably not, these days we can get some pretty high quality indie/arcade games
I wonder if these practices are the reason Minami left; this is not what Platinum set out to be when they first started.
@kyleforrester87
I diagree again, come on, it's an Activision tie-in! You know it just had to be made on budget and in time. I'm sure if you were like, "Hey Platinum, take as much time as you want....". They would make something stunning, instead, this is a Activision led cash grab.
Stop putting all of the blame on Platinum!
@arnoldlayne83
Activision, jeesh, people......c'mon!
@sub12 eh? I wasn't actually, just saying it seems Platinum have good projects and not so good ones. As it happens, though, devs choose to get in bed with publishers so I wouldn't say they are not responsible.
I'm not particularly anti-Activison anyway, they've put out some good series in my life time and more recently Destiny and Transformers are two of my favourite games Not saying they are not guilty of some bad practise but credit where it's due.
Damn. First, Legend of Korra, then Star Fox Zero, now this. I'm starting to worried that Platinum Games are going downhill.
No other developer in the industry is as hit and miss as Platinum
A shame. Perhaps the Platinum B-Team needs to slow down - this is coming about 8 months after Devastation.
@sub12 But Platinum churned out a good Transformers game last year so their capable of making a good game in a short time period. Wouldn't be surprised if they've stretched themselves too thin. Legend of Korrea, Bayonetta 2, Transformers, TMNT, Star Fox Zero and Scalebound all in production within the last two years.
WTF....it looks like crap....zero quality control....
3 hours seriously is this the demo version. Not like activision to screw you over
hahahaha
@sub12
I do agree. The worst part of P* portfolio seems to be their Activi$ion games.
Since their great games dont sell, I wouldnt be surprised if they have to do these B efforts to stay in business.
No local co op sucks. This begs for 4 players. I am getting on the cheap for my P* collection.
So after playing online multiplayer with it for the last two hours:
+the game is typical Platinum beat em up, if you've played and like Bayonetta and Anarchy Reigns you'll be at home here. Very frantic and with constantly shifting objectives and events.
+the battle system is not "MMO-esque" or boring. Maybe it is if you're a retard who mashes X and Triangle. There are special arts which can be upgraded, team-up attacks, parrying, backstabs which take pinpoint timing to pull off...if you don't understand how to play, that's on you and that English education.
+the special arts are part of a loadout, which you can assign and level up. Each turtle has different ones, giving incentive to not only try out each one, but level up their abilities and make them stronger.
+HUGE maps.
+lots of voicework, cinematics, fanservice. Your mileage may vary but if you love the Turtles you'll be into these aspects
The bad:
-HUGE maps that are pretty easy to get lost in. There's a small marker to guide you but it's not terribly helpful.
-bosses are cheap, there's challenge and then there's Karai killing your full energy bar in one hit
I am about to start playing single player and will be able to comment on the gist of this article, framerate issues, of which I saw none online. None. No slowdown, our group stayed close..if that kind of stuff is a deal breaker for you then I question why you even play video games.
Be back later, having fun with a fun video game.
@Technosphile i am with you its fun treat it like a time attack game and experiment with different characters and load outs in multiplayer and you will have a ball
@Kutchi71 it's Anarchy Reigns reskinned. I mean it plays almost exactly the same. So it's fast and intense. Great fun.
Couple other impressions--people complaining about no local co-op have no idea what they're asking for. The game isn't set up that way, one turtle can be in a completely different part of the map from the others. I guess splitscreen could have been an option, but I thought we outgrew that when we put away the N64?
And honestly, the game works best as, and may have been intended to be, an online multiplayer brawler. In single player managing the other turtles is more trouble than it's worth and they mostly just flock to you regardless of the situation. Online you essentially are the turtle you choose and contribute with whatever abilities that turtle has that the others do not; for example Leo has a "witch time" art which works the same as Bayonetta's, while Donny can heal the group with Pizza Power.
Lastly, I can't see framerate drops. If the game isn't 60fps, I have been too busy smashing Foot soldiers to notice and deem the game garbage based solely on that. I suppose that eliminates me from ever being a Push Square staff writer.
Love Platinum.
Despise their recent spread of B list games.
I'll wait for Scalebound and Nier 2, possibly Bayonetta 3.
@Technosphile The frame rate's capped at 30fps on consoles - all Sammy's pointed out is that Platinum's games are usually capped at 60. Makes a big difference in action games.
Hard flop
Wasn't expecting this and it was one of the games I was planning to pre-order. Instead, I opted for Overwatch and decided to wait for a price drop on TMNT but after reading this I don't think I'll be buying it.:/
PC version is capped at 30fps, too. I loved transformers, but did not enjoy this one.
@Gamer83 Took the words right out of my mouth there bud. Guess I just will go back to TMNT IV on SNES.
@Tasuki
Yup, looks like my SNES will continue to stay hooked up. Heck I may break out the Genesis for some Hyperstone Heist as well.
No game that lasts 3 hours is remotely worth 40/50$.
Platinum Games and TMNT, how can it fails..
Transformers devastation was boring, now this.
Platinum? More like Bronze games.
The TMNT arcade beat em up was great. Maybe they should make a hd remake of that.
@themcnoisy Devastation was anything but boring
@kyleforrester87 from digital foundry - lousy mission objectives, boring combat, sub-par presentation – these are all of the hallmarks of a non-existent budget.
Pretty much my experience of transformers, it was fun in places. Just not my cup of tea.
@themcnoisy Fair does. They nailed the soundtrack and presentation in my opinion. That they did such a good job with a low budget is even more impressive. In terms of the combat I thought it was excellent, although Optimus was the worst character to play as - Bumble Bee was the best, ducking underneath enemies legs was a blast!
Really hope we get a direct sequel..
@Bliquid I forgot about that, again it just begs the question of how they can realistic make consistently good games with so many projects on the go.
@get2sammyb local co-op doesn't always have to be split screen! Diablo 3 is a perfect example of how to do local co-op (in a 3rd person view) right.
P* seems to have a huge problem with hit and miss games recently. I don't know how big they actually are but they've been working on, what, 6 games in the last two years? There's always going to be a dip in quality when it comes to releasing so many games that play pretty similar to each other but it seems that they struggle with games that aren't their own IPs.
Here's hoping Nier 2 turns that tide around, but my fear is it will be another Bayonetta-lite experience.
@thedevilsjester That works when the camera is at a fixed isometric perspective, dunno how you'd do a game like this without split screen, unless you had a fixed camera perspective that the characters couldn't independently step outside of, which would be really awful lol Think multiplayer Ico with crazy combo driven combat.
They took it out of Alienation and I can tell why, sharing a screen in Dead Nation was bad enough sometimes when one of you wanted to go one way and the other another.
Platinum brilliant combat and TMNT should've been a perfect mixed how did they mess it up?
Probably Platinum is working too hard with too many projects at one time.
@PlaytendoGuy they didn't.
Can any of you read? Sammy hasn't even played the game. You're basing an opinion of a game on its framerate? I feel bad for you if that's a major issue for you when playing a video game.
There is no stutter or slowdown here. There is a multiplayer mode to compliment a singleplayer which is mostly a watered down version of online.
I mean come on. These comments are ridiculous. None of you have played it and neither has Sammy Barker.
I was out when I heard there's no local coop.
@Technosphile Kinda get the feeling it is probably being a bit unfairly bashed, the only thing it seems to not do that Transformers did is run at 60fps, and critics were rather kind about Transformers. As I mentioned above it doesn't really appeal to me as I'm not a big Turtles fan but after some thought it comes across as a pick up and play fun 6-8/10 (depending on your taste) kind of game. Worth a punt at the right price, at any rate, me thinks.
@kyleforrester87 I enjoyed Dead Nation's co-op, a hell of a lot better than anything split screen ever (except maybe screen cheat!). A game like this begs to be local co-op and if you cannot do that because of a game mechanic that is not crucial to the game, you should rethink that mechanic.
@thedevilsjester Yep Dead Nation was great but it would have (in my opinion) benefited from a system like in Divinity where by when you are on the same screen you share a screen, then when you move it splits automatically.
Rethinking Turtles (or any 3rd person action game) to work as same screen co-op would basically mean turning it into a top down game.
Really there is no technical reason why Turtles shouldnt be able to run split screen on PS4 (even at 60fps I'd wager) but I suspect it's more down to time and budget restraints.
It does seem like a no brainer that this has co-op, I agree, but it's not gunna be a deal breaker for everybody I guess.
@kyleforrester87 I think switching to split screen on the fly is a terrible game mechanic. Its the sole reason that most of my family will play (those kind) of co-op games together. Even really great games like the Lego series. If its a game that makes sense to have local co-op, and its not in first person (or a game that just wont work, like a 3rd person cover shooter), there should be no call for split screen. Down with split screen!
@JoeBlogs
A lot of the games back then were short but you could get hours and hours because of how fun and replayable they were. Especially the old school beat 'em ups like Hyperstone Heist, Turtles in Time, Final Fight, Streets of Rage, etc. It was awesome to just sit down with another person and kick some ass in co-op.
@rjejr What is TR, if it's ok to ask? I can't help but think Total Recall for some reason.
@Totaldude911 Tomb Raider. The reboot on PS3 a few years back. It was just on sale for $5 on PSN.
I don't expect length from a hack and slash game so I've let it off and taken the plunge despite reviews. It's actually pretty good fun so far, I think alot of reviews have been overly harsh. It's not gonna win GOTY but great for bursts of action fun
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