What are you playing at the moment?

[Wizardry]

Got to The Friendly Arms in BG1, and some creepy bloke killed me outside a keep.

Yaaaaaaay.
He sucks. Just don't let him get a spell off. Pro tip: Use Imoen's wand of magic missiles when he starts casting.

[SMiD]

Got to The Friendly Arms in BG1, and some creepy bloke killed me outside a keep.

Yaaaaaaay.

I may be wrong, but I believe you can grab a bow and some arrows for Imoen and constantly interrupt his spellcasting. And having Xzar and Monty along if only for this fight helps tremendously.

[Althea]

I may be wrong, but I believe you can grab a bow and some arrows for Imoen and constantly interrupt his spellcasting. And having Xzar and Monty along if only for this fight helps tremendously.
I had them, and Imowhatsit was using her bow.

My MC (Fighter) had fatigue, though, and died pretty quickly.

[Memph]

Given up on Deus Ex 3 thanks to insideous microstutter. Got as far as China. Shame really as that started to look a bit more open than the boxed-in, unrealistic deadendathon that Detroit was (gangsta closets? really?).

Can't decide between the third Tomb Raider or Wolfenstein now... Still playing BF3 MP whenever there's others I can join.
I love how no swearing / insults or kick/ban servers are getting more numerous. Yay for all admins that actually admin a match. You are heroes.

[NathanH]

I had them, and Imowhatsit was using her bow.

My MC (Fighter) had fatigue, though, and died pretty quickly.

Fatigue is pretty deadly at the start where you have fairly low hit chance anyway. You probably need to rest every time you see it.

[Wizardry]

Fatigue is pretty deadly at the start where you have fairly low hit chance anyway. You probably need to rest every time you see it.
It's not that deadly, but you should rest. Unless you are fighting a solo mage. Seriously. He shouldn't be hitting you.

[alms]

Finally found the inspiration to finish Ben Chandler's ^_^. I'm going to get the bundle from the AGS Bake Sale, any idea how good are the other games?

[NathanH]

It's not that deadly, but you should rest. Unless you are fighting a solo mage. Seriously. He shouldn't be hitting you.

Don't forget that BG1 solo mages cheat with their AC!

[Wizardry]

Don't forget that BG1 solo mages cheat with their AC!
Their AC has little to do with whether they hit you or not. That mage goes down in like 2 hits.

[NathanH]

I can't remember his spells to be honest. He never gets mirror image up any more when I play. I assume he follows up with Horror and then Acid Arrow or Magic Missile, which is enough to kill one character if he gets his mirror image up and you're not attacking efficiently.

[Althea]

It's not that deadly, but you should rest. Unless you are fighting a solo mage. Seriously. He shouldn't be hitting you.
Oh no how dare I manage to fuck up whilst playing a game with a long-deceased ruleset and die on one of the first fights.

[Drake Sigar]

Got to The Friendly Arms in BG1, and some creepy bloke killed me outside a keep.

Yaaaaaaay.

Because of your low level, a great degree of luck is involved in a couple of the earliest battles. It may take a few tries through no fault of your own. Once you've got some more levels under your belt, the game responds to tactical thinking instead.

[Wizardry]

I can't remember his spells to be honest. He never gets mirror image up any more when I play. I assume he follows up with Horror and then Acid Arrow or Magic Missile, which is enough to kill one character if he gets his mirror image up and you're not attacking efficiently.
Of course. The key is to not let the mage cast horror or whatever it is. You need to interrupt him quickly. You need all your characters in melee range swinging at any mirror images and Imoen should use a charge from her wand of magic missiles. You'll typically either die or kill the mage without being hit at all.


long-deceased ruleset
What does that have to do with anything?

[Nalano]

Shame really as that started to look a bit more open than the boxed-in, unrealistic deadendathon that Detroit was (gangsta closets? really?).

Hengsha's a bit more... unique in its architecture, but it's still just as ridiculous as Detroit.

[Kelron]

BG1 is tough at the start, especially if you aren't familiar with the rules. But it's worth it, get a level or two of experience for your characters and combat will become more tactical and less random.

[Casimir Effect]

BG1 can be especially tough if you get screwed over without knowing it. For example, going a fighter as you've done (which is a good choice for the first playthrough) means needing a lot of hitpoints. Having a high CON helps this (I think you get +4/level for having CON 18) but there still is a dice roll in the background. If that roll came up a low then you can be at a disadvantage right from the off. Later games introduced a difficulty setting or even tickbox to Maximise HP on levelup (the tweakpack does this for BG1), which was a great thing to have. Else you were stuck quicksaving, pressing the Level Up button, then quickloading depending on the results. Unless you played things completely straight of course.

Good luck with the game, and if you get sick of it then still try BG2. It's a different beast and an altogether better one.

[Althea]

I've tried BG2 before - many times. Sometimes I get further than others, but I'm gonna try and do the series from the start. Unmodded (bar Widescreen/UI fixes and a custom portrait), same with BG2, and the IWD games.

[SMiD]

I've tried BG2 before - many times. Sometimes I get further than others, but I'm gonna try and do the series from the start. Unmodded (bar Widescreen/UI fixes and a custom portrait), same with BG2, and the IWD games.

Good luck, and stick with it. Taking a character all the way through BG1, 2, and ToB is an experience I've yet to equal in any other game. It's really fantastic when you think of how your weak your character was at the start and how incredibly powerful you become at the end.

[Wizardry]

Good luck, and stick with it. Taking a character all the way through BG1, 2, and ToB is an experience I've yet to equal in any other game. It's really fantastic when you think of how your weak your character was at the start and how incredibly powerful you become at the end.
Pool of Radiance through Curse of the Azure Bonds and Secret of the Silver Blades to the end of Pools of Darkness was just as epic. Great fun.

[Anthile]

Most people only played Pool of Radiance to the end of their system files.

[Memph]

I'd heartily recommend Icewind Dale first to anyone if the combat model is new to them. Much quicker progression and thus learning to be done, then port what madskills, numbers know-how and cheesy manoeuvres you done learned to playing BG and the otherwise ruthless combat doesn't quite so much utterly bugger the deeper RPGing to be had.

[SMiD]

Pool of Radiance through Curse of the Azure Bonds and Secret of the Silver Blades to the end of Pools of Darkness was just as epic. Great fun.

You're not the first to suggest this to me. It's actually on my to do list at some point. I just need a) to ensure it runs properly, and b) the time.

[Wizardry]

Most people only played Pool of Radiance to the end of their system files.
I don't understand. Explain please.


You're not the first to suggest this to me. It's actually on my to do list at some point. I just need a) to ensure it runs properly, and b) the time.
I think b) is the biggest challenge!

[Drake Sigar]

Not as impressed with New Vegas as I thought I'd be. There doesn't seem to be any viable reason for my character to do most of the things he does, and half the time there's no option to ask about payment before accepting a job. I feel like there's no foundation to the supposedly deep faction system. Why am I chasing a guy up and down Vegas after he shot my in the head? I want to get as far away from him as possible. Fallout 3 eased you into this stuff. You start off in a vault, know jack crap about the outside world and try to find the only person you do know. Your character starts off with a clear motivation which makes sense whether you're a coward, hero, or psychopath.

I think I was hoping for another focused player character story like KoToR 2, rather than a tweaked Fallout 3. Not that there's anything wrong with Fallout 3.

[Fumarole]

Not that there's anything wrong with Fallout 3.Oh yes there is.

[Memph]

I am now playing Wolfenstein. And bugger me if it isn't bloody fun. You don't just shoot these guys, you punch multiple gushing holes into their collapsing fleshy bodies. It also happens to look pretty gorgeous to boot.
Brilliant animations too. The cutscenes are notably well acted and animated, BJ in particular. It's raised me a smile on a couple occasions as it plays out the campy action-fare with all the seriousness of a Leslie Nielson movie. And i'm only 2 hours in.

[Serenegoose]

I am now playing Wolfenstein. And bugger me if it isn't bloody fun. You don't just shoot these guys, you punch multiple gushing holes into their collapsing fleshy bodies. It also happens to look pretty gorgeous to boot.
Brilliant animations too. The cutscenes are notably well acted and animated, BJ in particular. It's raised me a smile on a couple occasions as it plays out the campy action-fare with all the seriousness of a Leslie Nielson movie. And i'm only 2 hours in.

I really enjoyed that game up until the point where you get the power-boosting ability. The shields were really interesting tactical conundrums, once you can just shoot through them at will... it lost something. It's great that you feel powerful right from the start of the game, but it quickly starts to feel unsporting instead. I mean don't think I stopped enjoying it at that point, but the edge came off of the insane amount of fun I was having.

[Althea]

Not as impressed with New Vegas as I thought I'd be. There doesn't seem to be any viable reason for my character to do most of the things he does, and half the time there's no option to ask about payment before accepting a job. I feel like there's no foundation to the supposedly deep faction system. Why am I chasing a guy up and down Vegas after he shot my in the head? I want to get as far away from him as possible. Fallout 3 eased you into this stuff. You start off in a vault, know jack crap about the outside world and try to find the only person you do know. Your character starts off with a clear motivation which makes sense whether you're a coward, hero, or psychopath.
Sounds about right to me.

[Malawi Frontier Guard]

I don't understand. Explain please.

He's talking about a completely, entirely different game that bears a strikingly similar name and deleted system files when you tried to uninstall it unpatched!

[Drake Sigar]

Oh yes there is.Fallout 3 was fine (if you weren't expecting Fallout 2.5) I'm just finished with it. There was more than enough to keep me there for months and I have no desire to play an identical game.

Not being able to ask for payment, or find out what that payment is beforehand is REALLY starting to bother me. It's like the devs are assuming a quest's very existence is justification enough to complete it. Give me a personal, ethical, or monetary stake!

[ado]

Recently beat MGS3, then took a detour with ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. ICO is a masterpiece, pure and simple. Now I'm playing Shadow and it's pretty amazing as well.

[Ian]

Finished the main story of Mass Effect 2. The game doesn't much of a story but the finale is pretty damn excellent, I thought. Felt tense, felt hurried, felt weighty as I knew that squadmates can die. Not that any of mine did. :)

Played the Arrival DLC, which was alright, and made a start on the Shadow Broker DLC.

[Lukasz]

still fallout tactics on mission 9 (Jefferson)
fighting mutants at the moment and it is a bit too much of load/reload as they can one shot me if i do not shot first. so my tactics currently consists of hiding my big gun behind a barricade/wall while my two snipers take mutants down from as far as possible. whoever actually tries to come closer will get shot by my big gun user who will hide back after firing his weapon.
yet 90% of kills are made by farsight and me.
stitch helps sometimes but with crappy perception he is lousy with sniper so he is more close combat last resort gun.

wondering whether i should have had a deathclaw join my team. unarmed/melee fighting seems a bit too dangerous against mutants.

[NathanH]

I seem to recall that at least one of the deathclaws could knock down a super mutant with every hit, so that in a 1v1 battle the super mutant had no chance and always died.

[TailSwallower]

If you're already setting up traps so the mutants come walking towards your Big Gunner, you can always do the same thing with a Death Claw. Leave the DC just around a corner, lure a mutant and BAM! Dead Mutie. DC should always get to attack first due to high Dexterity.

[Scumbag]

Friend asked me to comment on the stalker games so I stupidly played all 3 of them... un-modded. Intresting as its the first time I've played SoC fully patched up without mods and seeing it stable / not having the AI spaz out is rather nice.
Still, unmodded feels like driving a custom car for years and then going back to a basic factory model. Its fine, but DAMN some things just feel wrong.

[Drake Sigar]

wondering whether i should have had a deathclaw join my team. unarmed/melee fighting seems a bit too dangerous against mutants.
Deathclaws are pretty awesome against Mutants, having a great chance at knocking them down with every hit, doing a decent amount of damage, and leaving them unable to fire their gun. The one called Mother single-handily got me through the first major Mutant mission. Pump the points in sneak and unarmed then watch the mayhem.

They suck against robots though. Deathclaws beat Mutants. Mutants beat robots. Robots beat Deathclaws.

[DaftPunk]

Until few days ago i played Rvs,Swat 4,OGR and SCCT..but now i got this urge for something horror survival but can't find anything that suits me -.-

[vinraith]

Lots of Borderlands multiplayer, which is a bit of a surprise because when we finished the Knoxx DLC a year or two back we were really burnt out on the whole thing, to the point that I never expected to pick it up again. Fortunately, after a long rest, it's back to being a lot of fun. We're playing through the Claptrap DLC, picking off some leftover sidequests, and seriously contemplating diving into a second high level playthrough. Good times.

Thanks to airtekh, I'm also back to at least dabbling with Assassin's Creed Revelations (now that I know how to avoid that obnoxious TD minigame). I quite like the city, and always had a soft spot for AC mechanics all the way back to the first game, so it's a comfortable, relaxing thing to play.

[/URL]I'm also on something of an ancient history kick thanks to listening to Mike Duncan's marveouls [URL="http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/"]The History of Rome (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/member.php?472-airtekh) podcast when I've been on the road lately, so I'm trying to come to grips with EU: Rome. "Trying" is the operative word, I'm not having a lot of luck and keep getting Macedonia destroyed in the first year of the game. Hmm.

[sabrage]

Until few days ago i played Rvs,Swat 4,OGR and SCCT..but now i got this urge for something horror survival but can't find anything that suits me -.-
Try Cursed Mountain?

Or Cryostasis, I've actually played that one and it's awesome.

[Voon]

right now, I'm trying to stay off the games for a while for the tests. But still, currently playing The Dark Spire and Monster Hunter Tri.

Still exploring that dungeon in the second floor now, which is a bloody maze. Somehow, pirates kept appearing in the game trying to kill my party like the others when it should be out in the seas, plundering islands or villages or something. Going to bring a Cutlass along as a disguise to get in the room and probably kill them in a "mid-boss" fight.

In Monster Hunter, meanwhile, I've had problems killing a Rathian in High Rank. Two faints, poisoned after getting hit by tail spin attacks. At least I can just take the eggs and end it in a subquest with a ton of money, still. I just need a buddy to hunt with because this just won't cut it. Going online, next week.

[DaftPunk]

Try Cursed Mountain?

Or Cryostasis, I've actually played that one and it's awesome.



Nice suggestions man,i always wanted to try out Cryostasis BUT,i have this piece of shit computer which can only run game until 2004,after that he gets heart attack.

[Voon]

Nice suggestions man,i always wanted to try out Cryostasis BUT,i have this piece of shit computer which can only run game until 2004,after that he gets heart attack.

Yume Nikki. Do it

[sabrage]

Nice suggestions man,i always wanted to try out Cryostasis BUT,i have this piece of shit computer which can only run game until 2004,after that he gets heart attack.

Oh you don't stand a chance with Cryostasis, then. That game absolutely devours computers.

/v/ has a pretty good wiki page (http://vsrecommendedgames.wikia.com/wiki/Scary_Horror_%26_Mindfuck) on the genre, though it rarely gets updated. That's where I first heard about Yume Nikki, but I honestly thought it was kind of boring. There's tons of 90's games on there, so you should be able to find something to your liking.

[Voon]

Sometimes /v/'s recommended games wiki suck ass, you know. Like you said about Yume Nikki, I got bored. But I played Again (DS game), actually. /v/ puts it on the wiki, tried it out, but holy shit, the writing's so bad even those cheesy B-movies had better dialogues than that shit. Waste of time.

[outoffeelinsobad]

J.U.L.I.A. is out today. Anyone gonna give it a shot?

[DaftPunk]

Oh you don't stand a chance with Cryostasis, then. That game absolutely devours computers.

/v/ has a pretty good wiki page (http://vsrecommendedgames.wikia.com/wiki/Scary_Horror_%26_Mindfuck) on the genre, though it rarely gets updated. That's where I first heard about Yume Nikki, but I honestly thought it was kind of boring. There's tons of 90's games on there, so you should be able to find something to your liking.


Thanks for the link,i'll go through it now hah,don't have nothing smart to do anyway :c

[outoffeelinsobad]

For frightening themes, I recommend Yahtzee's 5 Days a Stranger and its sequels.

[Wizardry]

He's talking about a completely, entirely different game that bears a strikingly similar name and deleted system files when you tried to uninstall it unpatched!
Yeah, I guessed that. I have no idea why he mentioned it considering I mentioned the 1988 game's sequels in the same sentence.

[Lukasz]

Deathclaws are pretty awesome against Mutants, having a great chance at knocking them down with every hit, doing a decent amount of damage, and leaving them unable to fire their gun. The one called Mother single-handily got me through the first major Mutant mission. Pump the points in sneak and unarmed then watch the mayhem.

They suck against robots though. Deathclaws beat Mutants. Mutants beat robots. Robots beat Deathclaws.
huh. should i then add one after current mission (the one where you attack their factory and have to destroy power generators) or should i restart the mission so the deathclaw benefits from experience from this mission (i am only half way through with only one generator destroyed)?

[Flint]

My team consisted of two heavy weapons guys with heavy machine gunes and four small guns experts with sniper rifles. Pretty much mowed down any opposition, especially when I picked up enough ammo for M2 Browning (one of the game's most devastating weapons) so one of my big guns experts could use it frequently.

[Drake Sigar]

huh. should i then add one after current mission (the one where you attack their factory and have to destroy power generators) or should i restart the mission so the deathclaw benefits from experience from this mission (i am only half way through with only one generator destroyed)?
There's at least two more Mutant missions after Jefferson, but for the most part they allow you to make full use of long range attacks. The Deathclaw was probably at her best in the confining trenches of the previous mission, so you can scrape through if you want.

[TailSwallower]

Been playing a lot of the FTL demo on OnLive. I want this game to be finished and available yesterday damnit.

[NathanH]

I wouldn't bother with a deathclaw after the first super mutant level.

[gganate]

I'm almost finished with the main story line in Batman Arkham City. It's definitely a good game, and it's great fun to see villains like the Mad Hatter and Strange who aren't familiar to most people. But I do agree that the game is a bit sexiest. Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Talia - they're all whispering double entendres while prancing around half-naked, which is disappointing, considering how maturely these characters were portrayed in the 90's animated series (and that was a kid's cartoon).

[Wizardry]

(and that was a kid's cartoon)
I think that was the reason.

[gganate]

It's a pretty excellent cartoon, though. It was clearly designed to appeal to adults as well, with it's almost retro-Gothic feel. I always liked the theme, which was taken from the Tim Burton movies.

[Althea]

To be honest, Bruce Timm (one of the developers) is a pretty good artist when it comes to women.

[gganate]

Well, to be honest, they certainly look very good. I'm not a prude. Everyone in the comic world has an idealized physique. Of course, that ideal is from a male perspective. I wouldn't mind being having Batman's biceps, or my girlfriend having an ass like Catwoman. But all of her dialogue, it just sounds like fan service... what about the cutscene when after being released by Poison Ivy she asks "what? no kiss?" Yeah...that's a pretty ridiculous response.

[Anthile]

Managed to beat Escape From Butcher's Bay. I am not impressed. Not enough shooting for a shooter and not enough stealth for a stealth game and both together don't mix too well here.
Overall it felt like that sixth level from every shooter ever where you end up imprisoned and lose all your gear, except they made a whole game out of it. I jope Assault On Dark Athena is better.

[Memph]

what about the cutscene when after being released by Poison Ivy she asks "what? no kiss?" Yeah...that's a pretty ridiculous response.

I wouldn't necessarily think so. I'm no Bat-fanatic, but isn't Ivy's whole thing to seduce and subdue? Just sounds like sarcasm, rather than outright suggestive lesbianism.

[sabrage]

Managed to beat Escape From Butcher's Bay. I am not impressed. Not enough shooting for a shooter and not enough stealth for a stealth game and both together don't mix too well here.
Overall it felt like that sixth level from every shooter ever where you end up imprisoned and lose all your gear, except they made a whole game out of it. I jope Assault On Dark Athena is better.
I didn't like it too much either. I stopped playing around that first fight with a robot... Thing. The melee is great but the shooting felt terrible.

[Memph]

I didn't like it too much either. I stopped playing around that first fight with a robot... Thing. The melee is great but the shooting felt terrible.

I'm also on this boat. I was quite perplexed what all the fuss was about with it tbh, when I went though the demo the only vibes I got from it, were to the tunes of plain and average.

[sabrage]

I'm also on this boat. I was quite perplexed what all the fuss was about with it tbh, when I went though the demo the only vibes I got from it, were to the tunes of plain and average.

Well I don't know what the demo is like, but the opening to the game is actually really cool. The atmosphere, voice acting and brawling early on are all top-notch, but sadly it spirals into mediocrity right around the time you first pick up a gun.

[Jabberwocky]

Giving Frozen Synapse another go. Turn based games are normally a bit too slow for me, but I really want to like this game. Thankfully I convinced a friend to pick it up. Playing against someone I know, and who I can talk about the game with keeps me coming back.

[Sketch]

Just finished MGS3 for the first time, and I have to say it's one of the best games I've played. It's the best edited out of the 4 main games and has a really good and not too convoluted story, with Naked Snake being a great main character. It's a sshame it's not on PC because it's well, well worth experiencing.

[Rauten]

To be honest, Bruce Timm (one of the developers) is a pretty good artist when it comes to women.

*Looks at avatar* Marry me.

OT: Still Really Big Sky, good god that game is fun, despite how simple it actually is. Also, TERA beta this weekend, so getting quite a bit into that.

[Althea]

Ha!

Anyhoo, I've been playing Dredmor, Terraria, Burnout Paradise... I just load up Terraria or Burnout Paradise to kill time - can't say I'm particularly enamoured with either right now. As for Dredmor, just playing it here and there whilst I wait for the next patch.

[DaftPunk]

Just finished MGS3 for the first time, and I have to say it's one of the best games I've played. It's the best edited out of the 4 main games and has a really good and not too convoluted story, with Naked Snake being a great main character. It's a sshame it's not on PC because it's well, well worth experiencing.


You can play it via emulator i guess,otherwise is he really naked or is it just the name lol :x

[Doodier]

Sooo, I just finished Batman: Alcoholics Anonymous and it was pretty great - except for boss fights, those were annoying (ugh, seriously - it was the same, every goddamn time!), it says I completed 71% of the game which is fine by me and I don't think I'm gonna go and try to max it.
I am also playing a lot of CS 1.6 lately and a lot less of Borderlands that I'd want to (unfortunately it's kinda hard to schedule a play with 2 other players).
I got bored of Realm of the Mad God after about 13 hours and few clumsy deaths. I am pretty sure I'll get back to it eventually.
So now, I am thinking about playing either Titan Quest, Planescape:Torment or F:NV. Not quite sure yet, so I'll just install them all and decide afterwards :)

[sabrage]

You can play it via emulator i guess,otherwise is he really naked or is it just the name lol :x

Butt ass naked.

[Juan Carlo]

0
I got bored of Realm of the Mad God after about 13 hours and few clumsy deaths. I am pretty sure I'll get back to it eventually.


I got bored of it at 12 hours. I unlocked all the characters then realized that killing gods is really, really hard to do without an organized group. So I quit.

I'll maybe go back at some point too.

[Doodier]

I got bored of it at 12 hours. I unlocked all the characters then realized that killing gods is really, really hard to do without an organized group. So I quit.

I'll maybe go back at some point too.
Wow, all the characters? I managed to unlock just about 5 of them. And I didn't even see the Mad God. Those others (like cube god etc.) are "killable" if you happen to have that unbelivable luck of finding a great group of people (which is not often). I think, joining a guild is not a bad idea.

[Tritagonist]

I just finished Alpha Protocol (http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/alpha-protocol), and overall, considering I picked it up for something like €3,50 on a sale, I quite liked it. I'm not sure how the choices you're able to make will hold up on a second play-through; I imagine the mechanics behind them will start to show through in that case. There are a lot of rough edges to this game, some more so than others, but it was a decent change of pace from the usual fantasy and (soft) science fiction themes. The story was, for better or worse, quite Jason Bourne-esque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Bourne).

[Nalano]

The story was, for better or worse, quite Jason Bourne-esque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Bourne).

Well, the devs said they were trying for the three JBs: James Bond, Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer.

[Malawi Frontier Guard]

I dabbled for a couple of hours in Realm of the Mad God, but what else is there to this game than the minor thrill of walking around for the first time in a big spontaneous group killing enemies and doing quests? The shooting and class system are as shallow as they get, and lag makes actual skillful play almost impossible. Is it really just grinding up gear for score?

[Nalano]

Is it really just grinding up gear for score?

Aren't most games?

[Malawi Frontier Guard]

Not really.

[Voon]

The story was, for better or worse, quite Jason Bourne-esque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Bourne).

Depending on your choises. Responce in dialogues, actions and all. I love the way Obsidian handled my douche-Mike run in the dialogues while I still get to be as sneaky as a Garrett in the missions even when he's got a temper. Well, not Garrett but Fisher, maybe.

[Juan Carlo]

Wow, all the characters? I managed to unlock just about 5 of them. And I didn't even see the Mad God. Those others (like cube god etc.) are "killable" if you happen to have that unbelivable luck of finding a great group of people (which is not often). I think, joining a guild is not a bad idea.

It's easy to unlock characters if you look for "trains" (or big groups of people who run the maps in mobs killing monster for experience). You can level a character from 1 to 20 in half an hour doing that. So I'd pretty much do that, die, start a new character, until everyone was unlocked.

[vinraith]

I dabbled for a couple of hours in Realm of the Mad God, but what else is there to this game than the minor thrill of walking around for the first time in a big spontaneous group killing enemies and doing quests? The shooting and class system are as shallow as they get, and lag makes actual skillful play almost impossible. Is it really just grinding up gear for score?

It's just one of those things that people either seem to find insanely addictive or utterly pointless. I certainly fell into the latter camp (played for about 15 minutes, got bored, moved on to something else) but a lot of folks seem to be wired for this kind of thing.

[Tritagonist]

Well, the devs said they were trying for the three JBs: James Bond, Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer.
I did read that somewhere; the way conversations work seems to reflect that by giving you the choice to be Suave, Professional, Aggressive, Joking etc. It was quite nicely done - and while the things the player character said weren't always satisfactory, the system was at least consistent and never turned an innocent "not now"-dialogue choice into a mean spirited tirade against everything the NPC character stood for (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Age_II).


Depending on your choices. Response in dialogues, actions and all. I love the way Obsidian handled my douche-Mike run in the dialogues while I still get to be as sneaky as a Garrett in the missions even when he's got a temper. Well, not Garrett but Fisher, maybe.
I think I'll be playing the game again in a while to take a different path through some of the choices. I'm curious to see to which degree the way you go about your business actually matters beyond the obvious 'Save A or do B', but, like I said, also worried that it will expose the mechanics behind the illusion.

Either way, I thought it was a decent game, but perhaps it's failings were more grating to those who paid the full €50 for it.

[trjp]

I finally got around to buying and playing Waves (as much praised by folks here) and - well - I hate it to be quite frank. I don't often get to feeling like this about a game - but this really got under my skin.

I make no claim to be a shmup/twin stick wizard but I enjoy seeing how they work and how it would be possible to rack-up enormous scores if I only had a bit more dexterity/patience/whatever - but in this case I don't need to bother because there's FAR FAR too much luck involved here.

Luck? How do I know it's luck?? Because I look at my scores and there's a crap one, crap one, crap one, AMAZING one, crap one, crap one, AMAZING ONE and so on. Of my first 20 games (in the first mode) my highest score (by a factor of 3x) was my 2nd!? Wrong, wrong, wrong - if a game is playing fair, you shouldn't see stuff like that - you should see constant improvement (with the odd dip) - not a random spike/trough thing which is more a sign of luck/circumstance than skill.

Seems to me that far too many deaths down to unavoidable collisions (a function of enemies appearing all over the place and your 'ship' having inertia) and the showpieces (time slow and bomb) are a bit crap and unpredictable in that order (meaning they aren't tipping the balance back towards skill enough).

Time Slow - lovely idea but it slows EVERYTHING down including your (already too slow) firing - which actually means it's only use is in dodging really, really tight situations which (as I've already mentioned) usually doesn't work thanks to the interia you need to build/overcome to change direction and the way enemies jink-around unpredictably.

Bombs - lovely idea but again you never quite know when you're going to get one and it will likely expire almost instantly meaning you'll often end-up cornered and dead before it triggers or miles from anything when it does. The odd time you get a sequence of bombs going is great (and results in huge scores) but it feels more like chance than skill.

Then there's the need to hang-back and not shoot stuff until there's lots of it - other games do this only here it takes ages!! In a time-limited game I'm spending 10,15 even 20 seconds doing nothing in the hope it will kick-up a gear and I can PLAY it again!? (IN fairness to it, Scoregasm does this a bit too, but it never felt quite as annoying there).

Finally there's a really minor personal irk but one it really rubs in - writing sarcastic hints and comments and tips is great when done in moderation, but this does it like a 13 year old who's just discovered wanking!! Don't chide me for not using the timeslow every 2 mins and then kill me anyway when I do, don't be sarcastic about my varying scores when it's more a function of a game which really trades skill for luck and generally speaking, use your wit with some subtlety eh?

Don't get me completely wrong here - when it gets more frenetic it can be fun but that doesn't happen anything like often enough and the likelihood is that it will end with one of those deaths you see coming before it happens and can do nothing about

Looks pretty I guess - but otherwise I can do without seeing it ever, ever again.

[Bobtree]

ROTMG is essentially an action game. I don't think of it as an MMO or action-rpg because it has so little resource management. It's more like playing Gauntlet with 85 players at a time. They could even replace the loot collecting with "touch this drop to powerup" items and remove leveling to improve the pacing IMHO. Unfortunately it has some lag and very bad performance issues, which hurt it quite a lot due to the permadeath design. I've gotten all but 3 classes to lv20 and it's still an enjoyable diversion.

[Lukasz]

I just finished Alpha Protocol (http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/alpha-protocol), and overall, considering I picked it up for something like €3,50 on a sale, I quite liked it. I'm not sure how the choices you're able to make will hold up on a second play-through; I imagine the mechanics behind them will start to show through in that case. There are a lot of rough edges to this game, some more so than others, but it was a decent change of pace from the usual fantasy and (soft) science fiction themes. The story was, for better or worse, quite Jason Bourne-esque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Bourne).
they hold up quite nicely. seeing different responses, making friends and enemies out of people who were your enemies or friends before... changes storyline quite nicely. do recommend second playthrough with different style, different weapons and choose your starting mission (after arabia) in different location. it will change few stuff.

[Drake Sigar]

Always reserve one playthrough for an evil Thorton. Being a psychopathic asshole never felt so good.

[Lukasz]

Always reserve one playthrough for an evil Thorton. Being a psychopathic asshole never felt so good.
i actually felt really bad for that russian in a moscow bar when choosing the evil options. Too much assholism for me to swallow and had to reload.

[SirKicksalot]

I'm not sure how the choices you're able to make will hold up on a second play-through; I imagine the mechanics behind them will start to show through in that case.

You can bounce between hubs once you finish Saudi Arabia. I never realised this in my first playthrough. It makes things more interesting.

I restarted White Gold. It's like Deus Ex, Stalker and Far Cry rolled together in one very crazy game. I'm having a lot of fun snorting cocaine and making life worse for everyone. It's so much more than the sum of its parts... everything is rubbish when taken separately but the overall package is very fun and compelling. And the writing is hilarious.

[Ravelle]

Since Payday is free this weekend I decided to give it a try with a friend and quite enjoy it so far.

[Flint]

I tried Payday as well and from what little I've played, it seems like a good little multiplayer nugget. I really enjoy the constant stream of objectives to pay attention to as well. Only problem is that, as usual, co-op gaming with pubs is sheer hell and I don't think I can drum enough interest among my usual co-op buddies to give the game a go this late to the weekend, so doubtful I'll get it.

I haven't really played much anything recently: ME3 is lurking right on the horizon and I don't really want to start any other games in case I don't get around finishing them before ME3 hits. This weekend I've been spending time with Killing Floor with a friend and while not free from flaws and possible longevity issues, I'm quite enjoying it.

[NecroKnight]

I am currently playing Vessel. Some of the puzzles are quite irritating, but overall it is a lovely game.

[The Pink Ninja]

I have been playing Payday which is fun but not worth buying. I'm almost totally done with it after just a few hours of play.

I have a question though: Is there something about the level Slaughterhouse that makes people dumb? Every time I have played it my team has died like morons. Just now I played with a bunch of people who had reps as high as me, none of them newbs, and they stood about in the open getting shot. Teams generall seems to also forget to grab their gold bag or to go and get the gas. The number of times I have had to go through an assault wave of cops by myself to get the gas...

The only other one I haven't completed is the Road one, but that's less dumb team-mates and more "That shit is hard"

[Doodier]

I just spent 2 hours grinning at the monitor while playing Dungeons of Dredmor. Oh my, that game is hilarious.

[DaftPunk]

Anyone else have issues with THE SUFFERING,which is free to download. It won't launch at all,i set to run it as administrator and to run in xp and stuff,don't help at all.. -.-

[Scumbag]

Like others, been giving the free Payday a few rounds. Not the best title in the world, but quite a good laugh when you get a good team and things work well. Not too harsh on the shooting mechanics and in theory its not a game that requires all the team to be on top of their game (on normal mode that is).
Only bad thing I can see is trying to get into a game and hosts constantly quiting before the match launches.

[DaftPunk]

Wanna play Suffering but it won't launch..anyone o.O

[Vague-rant]

Empire: Total War.

Go Poland and Lithuania! A lot better than I remembered it. I've managed to develop more tactics than line everyone up and charge, and only one crash in 5 hours.

Currently at war with Austria and Prussia. Prussia, I'd assumed would be a quick victory, with them having very little land. But they seem to have taken over a chunk of extra land, and after being dragged into a war with Austria via allies and the Ottoman empire making unfriendly moves to the south, my borders are being stretched. Might have to give Ukraine to the Russians in exchange for technology, just to make everything easier to defend.

Also, my alliance with Courland is annoying the hell out of me. They managed to steal one of the regions I'd softened up while my army was sieging it, and they bring me barely any trade. Would attacking them ruin my reputation? Can I try to demand technology or land from them?

[vinraith]

Still playing lots of Borderlands multiplayer.

Just started a game of STALKER: SoC with Complete 2009. I'm hoping to actually make it through the game this time, free of game-stopping glitches. I've never made it past the dump...

[WindWhale]

My first post... oooo...

Just started playing Limbo (the visuals are so simple I wonder why I couldn't build something like that... then I recall that I have zero artistic talent);

Need to finish Mass Effect 1 so I can get through the series

Just started on CivV... not sure what I think about it yet. I kind of like that one single hex can't be loaded with a nations' worth of military.

[Serenegoose]

Empire: Total War.

Go Poland and Lithuania! A lot better than I remembered it. I've managed to develop more tactics than line everyone up and charge, and only one crash in 5 hours.

Currently at war with Austria and Prussia. Prussia, I'd assumed would be a quick victory, with them having very little land. But they seem to have taken over a chunk of extra land, and after being dragged into a war with Austria via allies and the Ottoman empire making unfriendly moves to the south, my borders are being stretched. Might have to give Ukraine to the Russians in exchange for technology, just to make everything easier to defend.

Also, my alliance with Courland is annoying the hell out of me. They managed to steal one of the regions I'd softened up while my army was sieging it, and they bring me barely any trade. Would attacking them ruin my reputation? Can I try to demand technology or land from them?

Crush Courland - they're parasites.

Now I want to play as Poland-Lithuania again - my joint favourite faction alongside France. I could never win a naval engagement in that game though (ever) so I played as them more, since it was more optional with Poland than France.

[Nalano]

Saints Row 2.

Out of the box, it's nigh unplayable. It needs Gentlemen of the Row (http://idolninja.com/sr2.php) to deal with the crash problems and bad scripts, and Powertools (http://saintsrowpowertools.com/) for the speed bug (as everything runs at ~1.5x speed). Once those are in, it's great.

[alms]

I'm playing Ensemble Backlog January, punctuality isn't my strong suit as you can guess.

[cosmicolor]

I've been going through The Witcher 2 again, I swear I will finish it sometime. Currently up to Chapter 3 which I gather is the last one, so I suppose I'm not far off.

[Oak]

Also, my alliance with Courland is annoying the hell out of me. They managed to steal one of the regions I'd softened up while my army was sieging it, and they bring me barely any trade. Would attacking them ruin my reputation? Can I try to demand technology or land from them?

It's been a long time since I've played (I can't believe it'll be three years old soon) but I think breaking the alliance and attacking the following turn should leave your reputation intact. I believe you're judged by how quickly you're expanding rather than who you're attacking. As for techs, you could always try a lopsided trade (3 of yours for 1 of theirs) since they're too small to implement anything major anyway. Have you tried convincing them to become a protectorate?

[DaftPunk]

Just played some coop with my buddy today,we made the first level. Also first time playing the game,it was quite fun :D

Ps. Still can't figure out why is The Suffering giving me those problems,not launching at all-.-

[Voon]

Just started a game of STALKER: SoC with Complete 2009. I'm hoping to actually make it through the game this time, free of game-stopping glitches. I've never made it past the dump...

First time starting Complete 09 or you installed it again? Last time I played it on Complete 09, The Garbage didn't give me any problems. No crashes, no bugs, nothing. Nada. And my PC's a piece of crap. Well, maybe a few bugs in some places but it's fine.


Speaking of STALKER, any ideas how to get the Weather Overhauled mod to work in AMK 1.4? Tried installing with it but it crashes even when I started playing it on a new save file. Gonna try AMK Complete if it still crashing.

[Anthile]

Finished Assault On Dark Athena yesterday, which suffered from a severe drop in quality in the last third (once you reach Aguerra) and one of the stupidest final bosses in recent video game history. It basically gives up on being a stealth-ish game - there is hardly any shadow anymore, you are constantly outgunned by enemies who can dodge your bullets and can take ridiculous amounts of damage, spider turrets that kill you almost instantly and have a tendency to hang around corners and last but not least, tedious Alpha Drone mini bosses.
So I started playing Shank, which doesn't seem particularly amazing either. I have no idea who came up with the control scheme for this game but it feels like they were contractually obligated to use up every button on a standard pad. I have no idea how anyone could play this with a keyboard and live to tell the tale - and that's coming from someone who played most of SUper Meat Boy using a keyboard.

[Vexing Vision]

After the recent discussions about Baldur's Gate 2, and the fact that my computer crashed and burned and I am forced to play on a laptop, that's my entertainment du jour. I never finished the game with a pure rogue, so that's what I do right now.

[Ian]

Crusader Kings 2.

What a game.

[sabrage]

I can't focus on any one game...

-Rez HD (360): This game is cool, but ultimately a little short and shallow for my taste. I'm on the 4th stage.
-Blue Dragon (360): I'd hate this game if it didn't have Japanese voice options. Maybe I'm choosing to play this at the wrong time of day, but I keep falling asleep while I'm playing this... The battle system is interesting in theory, but the animations are way too long (which wasn't a surprise or anything, but damn) and I don't see myself finishing this anytime soon. It does have some interesting ideas and spins on the traditional JRPG, though, and the game looks really nice despite the fact that I don't even like Akira Toriyama.
-Wipeout Pure (PSP): I've got like 150 gold medals in this game. I think that's only like half of the total.
-Yggdra Union (PSP): Never played the GBA original, but I got a free download for this with another game and I'm enjoying it so far. The art is great and the game itself wholly different from any other game I've played (as Sting is known for.) Think Advance Wars with RPG elements, a shitload of bizarre rules and a more active battle system.
-Final Fantasy XII (PS2): I finally picked up a PS2, and this came with it so I just played about 15 minutes to make sure it worked. Good art design, cutscenes don't bother me so far, loading times suck.
-Darkstalkers 3 (PS1): Donovan ftw. Need to mod my arcade stick so I can use it on my Playstation, because I really suck with a d-pad.

[Voon]

I can't focus on any one game...

-Rez HD (360): This game is cool, but ultimately a little short and shallow for my taste. I'm on the 4th stage.
-Blue Dragon (360): I'd hate this game if it didn't have Japanese voice options. Maybe I'm choosing to play this at the wrong time of day, but I keep falling asleep while I'm playing this... The battle system is interesting in theory, but the animations are way too long (which wasn't a surprise or anything, but damn) and I don't see myself finishing this anytime soon. It does have some interesting ideas and spins on the traditional JRPG, though, and the game looks really nice despite the fact that I don't even like Akira Toriyama.
-Wipeout Pure (PSP): I've got like 150 gold medals in this game. I think that's only like half of the total.
-Yggdra Union (PSP): Never played the GBA original, but I got a free download for this with another game and I'm enjoying it so far. The art is great and the game itself wholly different from any other game I've played (as Sting is known for.) Think Advance Wars with RPG elements, a shitload of bizarre rules and a more active battle system.
-Final Fantasy XII (PS2): I finally picked up a PS2, and this came with it so I just played about 15 minutes to make sure it worked. Good art design, cutscenes don't bother me so far, loading times suck.
-Darkstalkers 3: Donovan ftw. Need to mod my arcade stick so I can use it on my Playstation, because I really suck with a d-pad.

Somehow, I can't bring myself to finish Blue Dragon. It's okay and all with the beautiful art, hilarious monsters, quite good music, standard JRPG fare with a hint of FFV (dat class system). But, it also felt kinda..... meh. Maybe it's the bland story or that incredibly off-putting boss fight theme. I don't know.

FFXII looks pretty awesome, though. The art direction is the best I've seen in any FF game, imo. Shame the protag wasn't Basch. Or Balthier.

[Flint]

Shame the protag wasn't Basch. Or Balthier.
It was supposed to be, but sadly the executives decided that some grizzly guys weren't an attractive enough main hero for a Final Fantasy game and thus Vaan was created. If you pay attention you realise he's completely incidental to the plot and Basch etc are the true main characters.

[Lambchops]

Crusader Kings 2.

What a game.

Glad that you're enjoying it!

It's still sapping a lot of my time. With my current dynasty I've somehow (more through luck than judgement) found myself heir to The Holy Roman Empire. Unfortunately he's only 19 and I'm 23 so I'd need a big slice of luck to actually inherit it as I don't have sufficient intrigue skills to pull off an assasination. Fortunately my current character has bucked the unsavoury trend his descendants had of killing their wives, which was beginning to get a bit disturbing!

It's also one of the few games where I'm hoping for some DLC, i reckon it would be fun to play as one of the Muslim or pagan nations.

---

Also had a wee play with the demo of FTL, which led me to contributing to their Kickstarter. When it comes out I can definitely see it filling the "quick blast of gameplay" role that I generally have filled with a rougelike-like or puzzle game.

[sabrage]

Somehow, I can't bring myself to finish Blue Dragon. It's okay and all with the beautiful art, hilarious monsters, quite good music, standard JRPG fare with a hint of FFV (dat class system). But, it also felt kinda..... meh. Maybe it's the bland story or that incredibly off-putting boss fight theme. I don't know.
Oh yeah, that boss theme is turrible. If anything does drive me to keep playing, it's going to be the class system. I rarely play my 360 so I'm sure the disc will be in there for quite a while, so maybe I'll just play it sporadically... It's pretty damn long though, right? I mean, jesus, 3 discs?

[Voon]

It was supposed to be, but sadly the executives decided that some grizzly guys weren't an attractive enough main hero for a Final Fantasy game and thus Vaan was created. If you pay attention you realise he's completely incidental to the plot and Basch etc are the true main characters.

Yeah, but they could at least picked Balthier! He was supposed to be the protag after Basch in the first part of the game. Then, Vaan. In the third part of the game.

And, come on! The guy's like Zidane, only better. And he's a pirate. And he's got a gun. And a sexy bunny friend. And a badass. What more could we possibly ask for?

[Voon]

Oh yeah, that boss theme is turrible. If anything does drive me to keep playing, it's going to be the class system. I rarely play my 360 so I'm sure the disc will be in there for quite a while, so maybe I'll just play it sporadically... It's pretty damn long though, right? I mean, jesus, 3 discs?

I know, right? And wait till you play Lost Odyssey...

[sabrage]

I know, right? And wait till you play Lost Odyssey...

That bad? I was considering getting it. I heard it actually has a really great story, but I just remember it got pretty bad reviews and was immediately forgotten. Maybe I'll get Nier instead (I saw the Joystiq review, I hear that the guy misunderstood the game pretty badly)

[Voon]

That bad? I was considering getting it. I heard it actually has a really great story, but I just remember it got pretty bad reviews and was immediately forgotten. Maybe I'll get Nier instead (I saw the Joystiq review, I hear that the guy misunderstood the game pretty badly)

Oh no no no. I never said it's terrible or anything. Just longer than Blue Dragon, so I heard. Never played it per se, but it does have a good story. Not so sure about the gameplay, though.

[sabrage]

Oh, and:


Sabrage: Don't give up on Ocarina of Time just yet. Like you, I played it for the first time pretty recently and bounced of the early parts of the game. I thought it significantly after the major event that occurs shortly after Jabu-Jabu (although there are still irritating points). Dungeons 4-6 are all excellent, and one of my favorite moments in gaming is in the Fire Temple when you get the hammer, after which there are 4 or 5 puzzles in quick succession where the solution is "smash it with a hammer." It's very satisfying.

I totally did. I got right up to the Song of Time and I haven't played in well over a month. I really haven't played my N64 at all; it's my favorite console from my childhood (and I still love Super Smash Bros) but it probably aged the worst out of any console generation. At least the PS1 has a ton of RPGs, shmups and 2D fighters to make up for its ugly graphics... Every game on N64 uses 3D graphics, and every 3D game besides racers, rail shooters (or Pokemon Snap) and fighters is fucking atrocious with only one analog stick. If the OOT remake had support for the analog pad add-on, I'd definitely consider a 3DS... But the real problem I have with the game is the hand-holding, so I would probably just stop playing again.

As it stands, I right now have Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, (I picked up that Gamecube version) A Link to the Past, the original NES game, Link's Awakening DX, Wind Waker and Spirit tracks all in various states of unfinished or unplayed. Because what I really want to play is Oracle of Ages.

[Heliocentric]

Oracle of Ages.

I have it stored away, you want? Pm

[Nalano]

It's weird. There's a definite shift in tone between Saints Row 2 and 3. 3 is "gleefully psychotic." 2 is "mean and bitchy."

Both have revenge scenarios featured centrally in the narrative, but in 3 the focus is on enriching yourself rather than punishing others. Yeah, you kill the Belgian dude but you barely even care as you squee wide-eyed at your new toys. You unmask the luchador but you're practically driven to distraction by all the media attention. You're a villain with good publicity (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainWithGoodPublicity)!

In 2, you burn a man's face with radioactive waste before kidnapping his girlfriend in an elaborate scenario where he ends up unwittingly crushing her with a monster truck, and then you make mangle his talented assistants such that they can never work again. You break a man's legs and bury him alive, before nailing his father to the floor with a sword and telecasting his screams of anguish. Holy damn, you're pure malevolence!

It's like, in 3, your character will threaten, "I'm gonna kill you, your family and your dog!" and then forget to do so because there's partying to do. In 2, the next three missions will be "the dude," "the dude's family," and "the dude's dog."

[Rauten]

Something or other about Lost Odyssey and NIER

Easily some of the best games for the 360, but unfortunately very underrated, kinda forgotten.

Lost Odyssey, when it comes to combat, is pretty classic in terms of J-RPGs. It has a few small tweaks here and there, but doesn't deviate too far from the standard formula. The story however is very good, and there are tiny readable stories, short written stories, which are supposed to be some of the characters' memories, which are absolutely beautiful. Seriously. If you don't cry after reading the first one, you have no soul or feelings.

Nier is like a weird attempt at bringing arcade-y combat to an RPG. Feels a bit forced, but it works. However, the setting is amazing, it's like the apocalypse came, humanity barely survived, and what's left has devolved into a kind of medieval state heavily influenced, by the most part, by Celtic culture. The whole soundtrack reeks of it, despite being a purely Japanese game. And once again, the story is pretty good. Although the killer comes when you finish it for the second time.
When you first finish it, you get the "A" ending; you're the best, the boss, the hero, you saved the world; but... the game has 4 endings total. If you replay after the ending, you get thrown already kinda like halfway into the game (in this regard, luckily, the game isn't too long; short for J-RPG standards, actually) and there's this tiny small change, which may seem like little more than a curiosity, a gimmick, but good god it manages to cast the entire story, and most of the characters in a radically different light. It's amazing.

So yeah, I really recommend you play both.

[sabrage]

They're cheap, and I'm assuming NIER will only get cheaper. What was the other 360 RPG I'm forgetting? Vesperia is kinda expensive (but I don't think it'll see a re-release... Namco can be pretty stupid when it comes to Tales) but wasn't there a Tri-Ace game or something?

[Herzog]

1000 Amps: Thanks to Johns WiT last week I got this little indie platformer. Enjoying it so far. I especially like the openness of the gameworld, that when you are stuck you can just try the next room. Only negative thing is that sometimes I have severe mouselag. Damn you flash!

Amnesia - The Dark Descent: I am nearing the Inner Sanctum now. Left at the Choir yesterday evening and will continue later. The atmosphere in this game is just so damn great. Even if it makes me stop playing the game after 30 minutes, because I was scared of something. Really excited to see the ending. Reminds me a bit of Metro 2033, where I also played in short bursts of 30 minutes, but once the credits rolled I wanted to start again!

Red Orchestra 2: Yup, still playing. Currently at honor rank 72. I think with my playtime I could have easily reached rank 99. Never farmed bots though. In the serverlist you can always see many servers with one player on it. Playing against bots, to get faster ranks. Why would you do that? Thats like the most boring thing I can imagine, because RO2 bots are like the worst bots ever in a mp fps.

Serious Sam - The Second Encounter: Have finished the South America campaign. Now into the second level of the persian campaign. I have never played the SS games when they were released and I feel a bit bad for it. These games are just so much fun. Will definitely get Serious Sam 3 the next weeks/months!

[Rauten]

They're cheap, and I'm assuming NIER will only get cheaper. What was the other 360 RPG I'm forgetting? Vesperia is kinda expensive (but I don't think it'll see a re-release... Namco can be pretty stupid when it comes to Tales) but wasn't there a Tri-Ace game or something?

http://www.neoteo.com/images/Cache/A824x900y900.jpg

[FunnyB]

It's weird. There's a definite shift in tone between Saints Row 2 and 3. 3 is "gleefully psychotic." 2 is "mean and bitchy."

But also consider this:

Saint's Row 2 had a few rather touching/dramatic moments, for example (SPOILER) Aisha's death and the mercy-killing of what's-his-face that was dragged by a car. (/END SPOILER)
Saint's Row 3, while a great game on so many levels, really didn't have any touching moments like that.

[Nalano]

But also consider this:

Saint's Row 2 had a few rather touching/dramatic moments, for example (SPOILER) Aisha's death and the mercy-killing of what's-his-face that was dragged by a car. (/END SPOILER)
Saint's Row 3, while a great game on so many levels, really didn't have any touching moments like that.

That's not touching and dramatic. That's capricious and cavalier.

[sabrage]

http://www.neoteo.com/images/Cache/A824x900y900.jpg
Well Resonance of Fate is multi-plat, and my PS3 is newer and more reliable so I usually go with that. I was thinking of Infinite Undiscovery, which I know nothing about.

[Rauten]

Well Resonance of Fate is multi-plat, and my PS3 is newer and more reliable so I usually go with that. I was thinking of Infinite Undiscovery, which I know nothing about.

Oh forgot about that one. It's okay-ish, but nothing amazing or groundbreaking. Bit too short, but it supposedly has heaps of post-game content, but if you want access to all of it, you have to finish the game in the toughest difficulty setting, which is horrible.

[Lambchops]

Fired up Mass Effect 2 again. Not to play the whole thing again (decided to just refresh myself on stuff that happened by reading wikis and so on) but just to get myself in the mood. Decided to get The Shadow Broker DLC as people seem to think it's good and it's nice to have something new to play to get me back into the swing of it. None of the rest of the DLC seems worth it though, so I'll porbably not bother.

[Juan Carlo]

I had a replay of the entire ME series about a year ago, but I quit once I got to the final boss in ME 2. I suppose I need to finish it now just so I have a save game to import, however I really hated that boss. So I'm not really looking forward to it.

[trjp]

I played Nier and sorta liked it - the writing is decent and the combat is 'different' BUT it kinda killed the fun for me when it insisted on rinsing dungeons to death multiple times and making me talk to every single person in the whole damned town to find out WTF I was supposed to do next...

It's dead cheap tho (I think I got a preowned copy for £5) and worth a look IMO

[Miker]

More Tribes for the Tribes god over here. I love it to death, but it's a bit buggy/unstable for me, and makes my GPU shoot up to crazy temperatures no other game does. I do wish Hi-Rez would be a bit faster at putting out patches, but I guess I'm spoiled by Valve's crack team of patchers for TF2 and Riot's for LoL.

[jackaroda]

I am Playing Resident Evil 4 on my Pc.It's amazing soundtrack and graphic......I liked horror video games...http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L9PQuVV5_to/Sh9OPu3xb2I/AAAAAAAAAHI/Al-bNOgJ5m0/s320/Games+Violentos+-+Resident+Evil.bmp

[sabrage]

Deathsmiles for Xbox came in the mail yesterday, so I've been playing that. I have no idea how the item system works and I hate bullet hells, but I'm still having quite a bit of fun.

Dying constantly.

[Malawi Frontier Guard]

What was the last PC game you played, sabrage?

[sabrage]

What was the last PC game you played, sabrage?

League of Legends, today. But that's not particularly interesting to talk about.

[The JG Man]

So, let me talk about Red Faction: Armageddon.

It's so generic it provokes indifference a lot of the time. Yet that's a really casual dismissal of a game that is incredibly well polished for doing nothing outstanding. My save issues aside (as mentioned earlier, how manual saving seems to be completely defunct) I rather enjoyed this romp through blowing-things-up town. I did find a few things annoying, such as enemy placements that at times felt simply unfair as opposed to challenging, whilst the rest of the time it was a walk through easy-town, despite playing on the hardest difficulty. At least that's what it felt like after upgrading yourself. By the end, you're some sort of better-than-tank super-human capable of unleashing unlimited firing rocket launchers (FUN!) and being able to withstand melee attacks from giant alien bug things. The beginning felt like quite the slog . Checkpointing also seems a bit blergh, at best description. Sometimes it's favourable, other times you're cursing at the game for being mean.

The actual shooting is generally speaking quite satisfying, good considering you're doing that for a lot of the time, and the general destruction and rebuilding mechanics work really, really well. It's just such a shame it's all capped to a cave for the majority of the time. This is further compounded in the fact that I very rarely felt anything for any of the characters, taken to its logical extreme when I couldn't tell if The Black Sergeant was homage, irony or fully intended to be that wooden. At least with Halo, The Black Sergeant is his own character, own mythos, while remaining full homage to Aliens. This was just "Oh come on, did he just say that line?"

The variety of weapons is good, although I found myself sticking to the same few once I'd found my rhythm (and the ability to periodically have unlimited ammo). The magnet gun is obviously a particular stand-out, allowing you to full-on break the game when you can throw large enemies, that would take bucket loads of ammo to kill, into 'bottomless' pits. It's a fairly decent length, but probably over-stays its welcome a little. It's at its best though when you're given a vehicle and just told to go crazy. There's still a screw-up here where in one instance you're given a vehicle that is really fragile to the extent you really need to duck into cover regularly. It seems really counter-intuitive to the rest of the vehicle sections.

The best part of the game is when you're given a hover-ship and can just unleash all kinds of brilliant hell with little opposition. It's no surprise that the DLC (which is generally well paced and for what it's worth, better done than the main game) starts off with you in this hover-ship, immediately gives you a tank afterwards and then you get into the TPS section, where you're given some coolish weapons.

What I'm saying is, RF:A is not a bad game, but it's not a great one. It sits, happily, perching on mediocrity, with a few things in its favour and a few against it. It also has a massive plot hole for an ending. Ah well. At least (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?316-Screenshot-thread&p=97684&viewfull=1#post97684) the game (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?316-Screenshot-thread&p=97686&viewfull=1#post97686) is very (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?316-Screenshot-thread&p=98656&viewfull=1#post98656) pretty (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?316-Screenshot-thread&p=99170&viewfull=1#post99170).

[DaftPunk]

I am Playing Resident Evil 4 on my Pc.It's amazing soundtrack and graphic......I liked horror video games...http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_L9PQuVV5_to/Sh9OPu3xb2I/AAAAAAAAAHI/Al-bNOgJ5m0/s320/Games+Violentos+-+Resident+Evil.bmp


I wouldn't call RE4 a horror game,but its quite enjoyable as shooter,i must admit :D



Right now i'm playing The Suffering.

http://shrani.si/f/M/Fr/2nYd14PM/1/suffering-2012-03-06-21-.jpg

[Heliocentric]

Finally got the suffering working? What did that take?

[Nalano]

ME3. Using the full playthrough save I did of ME1 and 2 back in September. My ears hurt from having headphones on for seven hours.

[PeteC]

Just finished Arkham City including all side quests (except the Riddler stuff. Can't be arsed with all that). Brilliant game. May have usurped Skyrim as my GOTY. The game was dripping with atmosphere and I love the combat. I can see me dipping into the combat challenges for a long time to come. In fact, I think I preferred Catwoman's fighting style. I hope she gets her own spin-off. Could be great fun.

Also, having that fantastic musical score kick in towards the games climax made the finale even more epic. Can't wait to see what Rocksteady come up with next.

[Voon]

Me play Da Dork Spiyar. Me kill gobnlinz an mushroomz in first flor. now in sekund flor. me kill mor pierits and also foun koinz. flying koinz kill Cedric agin!! ME ANGRY! VOON SMASHSMASHSMAH!!!! an magik. Di end.


Oh, sorry. I'm just trying to let off some steam after the damn coins kept harassing my party in the DS. So, still in a PC gaming hiatus. And still playing nothing from the PC :(

[DaftPunk]

Finally got the suffering working? What did that take?



A simple crack.

[NathanH]

I am playing Minecraft, but the problem I have with the game is that I can never think of what to build. I made a house on a hill with a huge man-made causeway leading up to it, designed so that no monsters can get near (in theory spiders can climb over the gate, but they never do). Now I don't know what to do. Maybe I could build some giant cannons overlooking the sea on the side of my house.

What do people think I should build?

[Jams O'Donnell]

What do people think I should build?

Take advantage of the new world height and build a big tower for your house. I love building lookout towers (and I don't mean just a single-block column, but a proper tower with stairs and suchlike) -- I find places with neat scenery and just throw one up so I can enjoy the view.

-------

I have a bunch of AAA games waiting for me to play them but I cannot tear myself away from Dredmor.

[NathanH]

Take advantage of the new world height and build a big tower for your house. I love building lookout towers (and I don't mean just a single-block column, but a proper tower with stairs and suchlike) -- I find places with neat scenery and just throw one up so I can enjoy the view.

Ooh, my house in in the middle of a mountain region, so I could find the highest mountain and build a tower-observatory on top. I can import some snow from the nearby snow region and make the ascent to the observatory an arduous route through the snow, like the visit to the Greybeard castle in Skyrim. Game on, game on.

[alms]

Usually when I'm out of ideas, I just get a boat or otherwise haul ass and get out and about exploring. Another source of ideas is the minecraft wiki, although that depends a lot on how advanced a player you are. I am not one so it works for me.

Finished Gemini Rue, overall a good game although I found the ending a bit middling. The game draws a lot of its power from the musical score that, except for a couple homages to you know what film (forgetting that one is useful to fully enjoy the twists), is modeled after the style of Thomas Newtwon, and the voice acting which for the most part I found of excellent quality: the weakest part is probably the beginning where there are some timing issues. Generally, the beginning of the game appears to be the part with the most glitches. I'm thinking about replaying this one with dev commentary on.

Also got to the bottom of Lume. The art style is certainly something and it's pretty obvious a lot of work went into it. The gameplay though? it's more of a hidden object game rather than a PnC proper, which is not exactly my cup of tea, although I enjoy playing some of the better made ones occasionally. This one didn't really drag me in and the puzzles bored me pretty quickly, ended up relying on a walkthrough pretty heavily.

[Drake Sigar]

I'm looking at New Vegas a little more favourably now that I'm approaching the end of the game, which can be a game in itself. In my bid for world domination I've begun systematically removing factions who could threaten my rule, often blackmailing other people into taking all the actual risks. Mwhaha.

[Tikey]

Serious Sam 3 in coop is a blast. Sadly the Kleer are annoying as hell. The game would be much better with less of them.

[sanchox]

I have to admit that I have been playing League of Legends as of late, but Realm of the Mad God has stolen my time as well. Fallout New Vegas has been my fallback for longer sessions. I have been enjoying various mods that alter the weather and visuals, but most impressive are a few that make the game a bit more survival oriented. Every last bullet counts! (btw, first post, long time lurker)

[TailSwallower]

[...]but Realm of the Mad God has stolen my time as well.

How's the lag now? I haven't been able to enjoy a game since they went live on Steam, so I'm waiting for it to die down, or for them to add more servers.

Been playing some of the latest build of Towns, which is an improvement over the last build (I'm going to go and post in the Towns thread in a moment if you want to hear more).

[NathanH]

You know, I have only just noticed that your name is not, in fact, TaliSwallower.

[TailSwallower]

Too much ME on the brain, methinks ;)

(And seeing as I get some confusion/questions about my name occasionally, it's a reference to the final full-length album from the band These Arms Are Snakes. Big fan, tattoo, etc.)

[Nalano]

21 hours in ME3 and I have teared up more than once.

[DaftPunk]

Playing Metal Slug with sis in coop at 00.40 (and tomorrow both of us have jobs in morning xD ),we died allot of times but still it was a great fun :D

[alms]

Playing Metal Slug with sis in coop at 00.40 (and tomorrow both of us have jobs in morning xD ),we died allot of times but still it was a great fun :D

Used to play that a lot with my BIL. Good memories. More recently I tried to get him into Jamestown which also is great fun in co-op, but for some reason it didn't work for him.

[Voon]

Playing Metal Slug with sis in coop at 00.40 (and tomorrow both of us have jobs in morning xD ),we died allot of times but still it was a great fun :D

Wanna try a no death run in MS 3?

[squareking]

Wanna try a no death run in MS 3?

Good luck!

I'm entrenched in BF:BC2 single and multi thanks to a kind RPSer. I'm also trying to get EasyTutu to work to no avail.

[Shane]

21 hours in ME3 and I have teared up more than once.

Shit's that bad, huh?

[Nalano]

Shit's that badass, huh?

30 hours and I regret nothing.

[Ravelle]

21 hours in ME3 and I have teared up more than once.
I second this. :(

[Drake Sigar]

The empty spaces in New Vegas are very noticeable, especially your 'base' which has five big rooms and makes it seem as if Obsidian originally intended to have a companion hanging out in each of them. I also can't run a casino, despite taking over one. If I were the developer, that would've been at the top of my list.

On the plus side, my character looks like he jumped straight out of a Cowboys & Aliens movie.

[DaftPunk]

Wanna try a no death run in MS 3?


Its impossible! :v

[Voon]

Its impossible! :v

Not if you belieeveee~

[Flint]

The empty spaces in New Vegas are very noticeable, especially your 'base' which has five big rooms and makes it seem as if Obsidian originally intended to have a companion hanging out in each of them.
The Lucky 38 suite? It's spacious exactly because you can have your companions there - it's the only player home where companions can be sent to when you dismiss them from your active party, meaning all the party characters you encounter and don't want to travel with can be found lounging around its five big rooms.

[Wizardry]

21 hours in ME3 and I have teared up more than once.
I've teared up to embarrassingly bad YouTube clips of Mass Effect 3. What were they thinking?

[DaftPunk]

Not if you belieeveee~


Naah its not me,but my sis is not the best player in the world hah :D

[Drake Sigar]

The Lucky 38 suite? It's spacious exactly because you can have your companions there - it's the only player home where companions can be sent to when you dismiss them from your active party, meaning all the party characters you encounter and don't want to travel with can be found lounging around its five big rooms.

That's cool, though I could have used the suite much earlier in the game when I was stumbling upon these companions. Unless of course they just show up at the suite uninvited? Wouldn't make much sense though.

[Flint]

Unless of course they just show up at the suite uninvited? Wouldn't make much sense though.
Naw, you have to go to the companion, get him to your party and then tell him to bugger off to Lucky 38.

[airtekh]

I know next to nothing about Magic: The Gathering, but after stumbling across some entertaining videos on Youtube and playing the demo, I decided to shell out for Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. Quite fun so far, even though I am slowly getting to grips with the rules.

Still playing Chronicles of Riddick (EFBB), but I'm losing interest in it a bit. The melee combat doesn't seem to have any real strategy apart from 'interrupt your oppenent's animation to win' and the shooting is pretty average. Also, I don't like the way the stealth is restricted by the general linearity of the levels.

[Althea]

I know next to nothing about Magic: The Gathering, but after stumbling across some entertaining videos on Youtube and playing the demo, I decided to shell out for Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. Quite fun so far, even though I am slowly getting to grips with the rules.
It's not as clear as it could be. In the campaign mode there's challenges every so often which I recommend you do, as they help you get your head around the more bizarre aspects.

[agentorange]

My PC is down and out until I get a new CPU, so I have decided to replay MGS3: On European Extreme Mode! EEM means if you get seen by the enemy it is game over (you don't have to restart the game, it's just the same as dying). So far I have been managing to sneak excellently, making use of some conveniently placed bee hives. I did manage to nearly get killed by a crocodile however.

[MD!]

Picked up SBK 2011 on a whim the other day, because I had $5 trade-in value at GMG and $10 in a PayPal account.

My only previous motorbike game was The Cycles:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfysximByUQ&feature=related

So I wasn't really sure what to expect. But I'm really enjoying it! I'm playing on 'full simulation' mode, as well as manual gears and rider position, and right now I'm having a lot of fun ascending the learning curve.

The X360 controller works pretty well with it, though I'm really bad at subtle thumbstick control and tend to use them almost like digital buttons.

I find that car racing games can be a bit frustrating with the pad, because it seems like such a poor substitute for a wheel. But setting up my wheel was always such a hassle (it didn't even fit on my desk properly, I had to use some clamps and a block of wood), and I'm also genuinely worried that I could develop dangerous driving instincts that way. So a motorbike game was a nice compromise, and like I said, this one is pretty well-suited to a gamepad.

I'm wondering how it would work with a proper joystick though -- do people play motorbike games that way? It seems like that would be the most appropriate control method, barring some crazy arcade-style setup.

[Sketch]

Quick question: How playable is Assassins Creed: Revelations using a keyboard? I forgot to bring my pad with me and want something to play while I wait for Mass Effect to arrive.

[vinraith]

Quick question: How playable is Assassins Creed: Revelations using a keyboard? I forgot to bring my pad with me and want something to play while I wait for Mass Effect to arrive.

Personally I think all the AC games play fine with KB/mouse. Some things are easier and some things more difficult (there's a lot to be said for being able to run in a straight line!), and on balance I tend to think the controller has the slight edge, but it's slight and I don't think you'll have any trouble. I played the entire first game on KB/M and never gave it a second thought. In ACR's case, I keep having to switch to KB/M for the Desmond special stages anyway (which are first person, for some reason).

[Sketch]

Excellent, thanks. I probably will only play for an hour or too, so even if it is trick it's not the end of the world.

[Oak]

I've been playing a couple of rounds of Quake Live every night for the past week or two, spurred on by someone here mentioning the game in passing and me remembering that I'd made an account three or four years ago after reading a preview in PC Gamer and oh hello there are you still reading this I'm just reminiscing is all. Anyway, I've discovered that I'm mildly sorta kinda decent at the game and that The Longest Yard is the greatest multiplayer map I never knew about.

[Doodier]

I've been playing a couple of rounds of Quake Live every night for the past week or two, spurred on by someone here mentioning the game in passing and me remembering that I'd made an account three or four years ago after reading a preview in PC Gamer and oh hello there are you still reading this I'm just reminiscing is all. Anyway, I've discovered that I'm mildly sorta kinda decent at the game and that The Longest Yard is the greatest multiplayer map I never knew about.
I second that, The Longest Yard is indeed pretty awesome and fun to play. Unfortunately I forgot my Quake ID&PW so I'll have to make a new one or stay away from it because it really is a time-eater.

[Rixon]

Currently i am playing Battlefield 3.

[sonja22sonja]

Right now I 'm playing "Cross of the Dutchman" Game.Triangle studio presented a remarkable action piece called “Cross of the Dutchman”. The main premise of the game is that you play the role of a warrior-pirate. You’ll liberate Frisia and continue with your trip on Western Europe. Anyway, I don’t want to tell you the while story as you won’t experience the game at its fullest.

[Heliocentric]

Mass Effect 3.. Okay technically my fiancée has been playing it but I'm sure it will be my turn any day now.

While I wait I am tucking into some Wii titles I hoovered from Game's "not going out of business honest" sale. £2 each for Pikmin (Wii) , Battalion Wars 2 (Wii) and Mario Strikers (Jaguar).
But of the games its Battalion Wars 2 which has me entranced, I keep imagining it as a pc game with 16 or so player multiplayer and lots of minions units and the ability to launch devastating ambushes with hotkeyed groups and voip. Instead its a linear march of-
10:select all, (except specifically vulnerable units)
20:attack nearest
30:goto10
And while its satisfying to bring down a bomber with an AA gun I can't help but feel the short lock on and engagement ranges remove any strategy or sense of cover or digging in.

Still, I'm not far on and it's fun. It's actually alot like a weird hybrid of sacrifice and mass effect, that is high praise.

[Shane]

Replaying Assassin's Creed II, I had completed a substantial portion of the game the first time round until Ubi-DRM derped on my saves.

I'm thinking of getting the disc version of Battlefield 3 mainly cause I don't want to stress my badnwidth any further after downloading ME3 and because it's cheaper than the digital version or is there an advantage to getting the online version?

[trjp]

I finally got around to trying DCUO - the last time I tried the bloody thing wouldn't even launch but this time it seems to work.

Initial impression - there's more game in the character creator than the game!?!?

Seriously tho - combat seems poor, lots of random battering of things - no feel or weight to attacks/weapons - game appears to be full of people will massive brain damage too??

Do I continue? :)

[Heliocentric]

Replaying Assassin's Creed II, I had completed a substantial portion of the game the first time round until Ubi-DRM derped on my saves.

I'm thinking of getting the disc version of Battlefield 3 mainly cause I don't want to stress my badnwidth any further after downloading ME3 and because it's cheaper than the digital version or is there an advantage to getting the online version?
Buy a disc if you get a fair price, it activates on origin anyway.
If you buy a deluxe retail you even get the karkand(BF2 maps) things thrown in I think.

[Althea]

If you buy a deluxe retail you even get the karkand(BF2 maps) things thrown in I think.
If you can even manage to get one, that is.

[DeathPig]

KoR: Amalur looks too much like Fable imho, with all the NPCs with their huge moustaches..but the combat system is pretty smooth. Although I do think they could have done much better on the UI, which is Skyrim-ish at best. I need something to do, while waiting for my shiny ME3 copy to arrive.

[Sketch]

I was just about to come here and complain how I couldn't log into Origin and how everything EA related sucks, but then...I realised I had capslock on. D'oh.

[DaftPunk]

I just uninstalled The Suffering,god damn game aint scary neither challenging on hard. And it also looks like poo... Now i'm again on my quest,for something good to play :3

[Heliocentric]

I just uninstalled The Suffering,god damn game aint scary neither challenging on hard. And it also looks like poo... Now i'm again on my quest,for something good to play :3

What are your parameters?

[The JG Man]

Mario Kart 64 with a friend.

She annihilated me. As in, there wasn't even a contest. She even ripped me a new one on Battle mode. At least I won Rainbow Road.

[DaftPunk]

What are your parameters?



Well i'm in this mood for about good week,so what i want is a good survival game. I want a game which can make feel vulnerable,isolated,under-armed,depressed. But it needs good gameplay and decent graphics. I don't mind if its TPS or FPS,one or another is good with me. Now the problem is also that i'm still on my backup computer with 2004 hardware so its kinda hard to find anything like that. For example STALER games fits perfectly in what am i looking for,but i can't play them because of shitty computer -.-


I just remembered,i always wanted to try out new Alone In Dark game. I know it got bashed allot but one guy who writes reviews in my country said so many good things about the game,and i really agree with him in majority of times,oh well need to wait for the time when i dix better rig.

[Casimir Effect]

Well i'm in this mood for about good week,so what i want is a good survival game. I want a game which can make feel vulnerable,isolated,under-armed,depressed. But it needs good gameplay and decent graphics. I don't mind if its TPS or FPS,one or another is good with me. Now the problem is also that i'm still on my backup computer with 2004 hardware so its kinda hard to find anything like that. For example STALER games fits perfectly in what am i looking for,but i can't play them because of shitty computer -.-


I just remembered,i always wanted to try out new Alone In Dark game. I know it got bashed allot but one guy who writes reviews in my country said so many good things about the game,and i really agree with him in majority of times,oh well need to wait for the time when i dix better rig.
Ever tried FarCry 2 on the hardest difficulty level? It's a love-or-hate game but has a number of the things you seem to be looking for. It is a very good looking game but has a very solid engine so may well scale to your system.

Or if you want a shot-in-the-dark, try Capsized (http://store.steampowered.com/app/95300/)

[Rizik]

Scourge of War and Civ 5.

[squirrel]

Almost see the ending of Syndicate. You mates are right. This is a good yet too short game. Recommend buying this only at bargain price, I say about USD 25. But hey, the actions are super cool.

In singleplayer, however I dont like the fact waves of enemies will keep charging you at the very same position before you can proceed after fending them off. Such is not an effort to make the game more challenging. Obviously it's for drawing attention from the shortcoming that the game world in this game is rather small, and they try to prolong the gameplay.

And I must comment that the AI is rather advanced comparing to other shooters' campaigns. Sentries would take cover and throw grenade at right moment. What's deeply impressing me is that sentries jumping out from cover, while sighting you, will really jump back to cover when they can, in stead of just standing there to shoot like a superman in other shooters (and of course, be knocked down in no second). I always appreciate such moves like I am playing competitive multiplayer.

Oh, and almost forgot Alan Wake. I put it aside after playing Syndicate, and will be back to it after finishing Syndicate. Alan Wake has a great story, but the gameplay is not.

[Flint]

ME3. Absolutely loving it. So many great moments already. I don't really have any desire to talk about it in-depth yet but I'm so far I'm very, very pleased. I did get hit by the bug that stops Shep's face from being imported, but I managed to replicate it pretty well.

Have to say the worries of the multiplayer massively hindering the singleplayer stuff are really overblown, I've not touched the multiplayer at all and just by playing in a typically completionist fashion my readiness meter is already well above the halfway mark in happy green. There's no tedious grind involved either as some have said, the planet scanning thing that most of the miniature readiness-increasing quests use is quick and painless.

But yeah. Much love.

[Kossad]

I'm playing freshly released Wakfu MMORPG

Love it.

Maybe a little too much of farming / grinding.

[Similar]

Not playing anything. After 210 hours of Skyrim I've been spending a while trying to figure out what I felt like playing and finally decided on replaying Space Pirates and Zombies, but then the upcoming update was announced, so it makes sense to wait for that.

So I still don't know what to play. It is a horrible state of affairs. Somewhat.

[Doodier]

Titan Quest for the first time. So far so good, but there are so many skills I can't choose which I want! Does anyone know approximately how long is the main quest line? I have the datadisc too.

[sendmark]

All the Beta hype for GW2 has got me back playing the original Guild Wars. I'm filling my hall of monuments with stuff so I can start GW2 with a nice title and a set of equipment for my elementalist. I can't be bothered to grind, so I'll stop after 20/30 which gives me plenty of stuff.

[sybil44]

Playing Dead Space 2. Played the first one when it was still new, but the 2nd one kinda just 'zooped' past me. Was busy with work I guess. Anyway, now I'm playing it and loving it.

[Drake Sigar]

New Vegas credits are rolling. Am very annoyed how anything I chose to ignore got no ending at all. Did the Brotherhood stagnate and die under their leader's tentative rule? Did the Great Khans ever stop getting kicked around? Just because I told Yes Man to leave them alone and didn't finish a massive questline, doesn't mean I wasn't interested in their fate. The way this plays out you'd think they vanished off the face of the earth.

Still, did a better job than Fallout 3.

[DaftPunk]

I just forced myself to go through first Silent Hill,will post screenies later.

[Sketch]

Deary me.

Origin hasn't crashed my computer, sold my soul to the devil, massacred an orphanage, or in any way been a problem to use. The browser is serviceable, it boots up quickly and it downloads games quicker than Steam does (for me at least.) It's almost as if, and I hate to say it, people were overreacting.

[renhoelder]

Played through Arkham City, loved it, only 44% complete though so I´ll come back to it someday.

Now playing Warhammer 40 000 Sapce Marine, pretty meh thus far, which is about an 1h in. Is the dialogue supposed to be this corny, or maybe it´s just me that I can´t take sapce orcs that seriously, especially after digging through the Lord of the Rings films and audiobooks.

[Serenegoose]

Played through Arkham City, loved it, only 44% complete though so I´ll come back to it someday.

Now playing Warhammer 40 000 Sapce Marine, pretty meh thus far, which is about an 1h in. Is the dialogue supposed to be this corny, or maybe it´s just me that I can´t take sapce orcs that seriously, especially after digging through the Lord of the Rings films and audiobooks.

The problem is assuming orks are there to be taken seriously, and not as a joke. 40k is very tongue in cheek. The dialogue is meant to be corny, the orks are meant to be stupid.

[renhoelder]

Good to know, this is my first encounter with the whole Warhammer 40 000 franchise, from which this game is somewhat of a deviation I understand, since the others in the series are strategy, so I was unsure how to take this universe :)

[aztec]

I just forced myself to go through first Silent Hill,will post screenies later.Never got to play the 1st one. Played the 2nd one and, my god, I still get shivers down my spine thinking about the experience. I wasn't that familiar with the world of SH back when I play SH2 for the first time, and the only other horror game I played and finished before trying out SH2 was Resident Evil 2.

Now I might just try and find myself a copy of the 1st one. Wonder if it's available for the PC.... If it is, here's to hoping I can find it in a bargain bin somewhere.

[Sketch]

PS1 only, I'm afraid. Easily emulated though, of course.

[Vague-rant]

Still plucking away at Empire. Bloody hell its got interesting. I managed to forge a temporary alliance with Prussia in exchange for some tech, and allowing both of us to focus on destroying Austria. Within 3 years they only had one region left, after which Prussia restarted the war with me. In a valiant fight between 240 linemen (plus the rubbish local reinforcements) and about 1500 Prussian troops with lots of cannon I pushed them back. But another Prussian army is forming on the horizon and my best general is slowly making his way over from Ukraine (about 2 more turns away).

Courland has remained intact, if only because I can only afford 3 standing armies, all of which are tied up either defending or taking over Austria.

As a side note, started on Stacking. Pretty dam good. Quirky puzzle solving as the WIT says.

[sabrage]

I've had the first Silent Hill sitting on the shelf for a while, but the PS3 has audio issues when you play it and I've been too lazy to play it on my PS2... Actually a pretty nice-looking title, for a PS1 game.

[Heliocentric]

At my son's request we finished off World in Conflict together, essentially he played it and I offered advice, but it was quite exciting really ^_^

Now, back to heavy meleeing people stunned by my combat drone in Mass Effect 3

[Scumbag]

Deary me.

Origin hasn't crashed my computer, sold my soul to the devil, massacred an orphanage, or in any way been a problem to use. The browser is serviceable, it boots up quickly and it downloads games quicker than Steam does (for me at least.) It's almost as if, and I hate to say it, people were overreacting.

If you ignore who provides it (if that botheres you thats is) Origin is quite nice. It looks clean, its stable and when you click on something it goes to the desired page rather then getting stuck in a loop. Needs a little work on its ease of acess imo though.

Since the world and its Dog are apparantly playing ME3, I'm doing what any grump who wants to avoid things does: Play Doom II with Brutal Doom.

[DaftPunk]

Never got to play the 1st one. Played the 2nd one and, my god, I still get shivers down my spine thinking about the experience. I wasn't that familiar with the world of SH back when I play SH2 for the first time, and the only other horror game I played and finished before trying out SH2 was Resident Evil 2.

Now I might just try and find myself a copy of the 1st one. Wonder if it's available for the PC.... If it is, here's to hoping I can find it in a bargain bin somewhere.


You can play it via emulator epsx or something like that. Otherwise damn i hardly get scared but this game got me few times,i mean its 13 years old and it managed to scare me,good job! :D

also non related,just watched Zombieland for second time,this movie needs sequel!!!

[Vague-rant]

If you ignore who provides it (if that botheres you thats is) Origin is quite nice. It looks clean, its stable and when you click on something it goes to the desired page rather then getting stuck in a loop. Needs a little work on its ease of acess imo though.

I had a bit of difficulty with it yesterday- kept on saying wrong password, then when I tried to reset my password, I'd get a can't connect message. That being said, it was only a slight hiccup in about 6 months intermittent use for Fifa 12

[DaftPunk]

I'm trying my best but the controls in Silent Hill 1 are so damn awful,they're killing me :'(

[NathanH]

Origin offends me by having its store page appear in French to me, and not making it obvious how I should change this. If it's going to select for me a language I don't speak, I'd at least want it to choose the language of the place I live!

[sabrage]

I'm trying my best but the controls in Silent Hill 1 are so damn awful,they're killing me :'(

You're playing with an emulator, right? Try (assuming you're using a pad) setting left/right on the analog stick to left/right on the d-pad.

I fell for Catherine today, so I'll be playing that.

[Jabberwocky]

Picked up CoD4: Modern Warfare today. It is my first game from Impulse Drive (it's on sale). For some reason I had a bit of trouble logging in, so I couldn't even install the game for several hours. Once I got it installed, I played through the first few missions on "hardened" difficulty. Lots of fun, but dying a lot.

[Lukasz]

nothing... nothing at all... as i am sitting on netbook ubuntu. :(

wonder whether i can make might and magic 1 run on it.

[DaftPunk]

You're playing with an emulator, right? Try (assuming you're using a pad) setting left/right on the analog stick to left/right on the d-pad.

I fell for Catherine today, so I'll be playing that.


How do you mean that,i already set up controls on d-pad,like you said :3

[Voon]

Stuff on the D- oh.... oh, yeah. PC games.

Sadly, nothing.

[Drake Sigar]

Spot of Dungeon Master 2. I love DOSBox, if only Windows 95 games were so easy to run.

[NathanH]

Sim City 2000.

[cosmicolor]

I started playing Blacklight: Retribution recently, been a bit of a shock since I'm not used to the CoD style of FPS, being more of a TF2 man with the occasional bit of Quake Live or Doom. Quite polished for an F2P game but still has some wackiness, like the assault rifles.

[Juan Carlo]

I finished Fallout:NV. I even got 100% of the achievements, which is like the only time I've ever been compelled to do that.

Such a waste of time, I know, but it was so much fun!

[Althea]

Not played a lot recently, but I have booted up Spectromancer a few times.

Now that shit is dope, y'all.

[NathanH]

Not played a lot recently, but I have booted up Spectromancer a few times.

Now that shit is dope, y'all.

I have to enforce a rule of "no Spectromancer and Planeswalkers in the same week" if I want to get anything done.

[DaftPunk]

Still playing SH and don't know where to go,and my pride don't let me use FAQ! So i just circle around the city and do nothing haha.. -.-

[afrobanzai]

Just recently started STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl. I am enjoying it so far, finding it really difficult and am dying a lot though. Playing with the complete 2009 mod because I was told it was great for first time players as it didn't really change the gameplay all that much.

[NecroKnight]

Stacking, a fine game by Double Fine.

[Wizardry]

Spot of Dungeon Master 2. I love DOSBox, if only Windows 95 games were so easy to run.
I much preferred both the original and Chaos Strikes Back.

[NRDubZ]

I'm Living in the past. Just about to beat x-com for the first time and playing through Baldur's Gate with 2 friends. I will say this, Multi-player Baldur's gate with no pausing is a riot.

[Heliocentric]

My fiancée is much further ahead than me in Mass effect 3,we have a no spoilers policy but she told me this.
The end has annoyed her so much she doesn't want to finish the game, what the crap happened? *
*don't actually tell me.

[Similar]

After installing Alpha Protocol, Portal, UFO: Enemy Unknown and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and not really feeling like playing any of them, I ended up starting another replay of Crysis: Warhead. I don't know if I just didn't notice it the other times or if it's because I'm playing on another system, but it has a good number of glitches.
And it's getting rather annoying it tries to install Gamespy every time I start it too.

[vinraith]

The end has annoyed her so much she doesn't want to finish the game, what the crap happened? *
*don't actually tell me.

With the same caveat that I don't want any details, I've heard this complaint a lot all over the internet. I'm hoping it's just a "down" ending (which would be appropriate, to my thinking). If it's something worse than that, ie something inane, cheesy, or otherwise unworthy of the plot/characters, that would be... bad.

[redspielened]

Most people complaining about the ME3 ending are somewhat stupid, I'd say, as they seem to have missed the portion directly after the 'ending' where it would be quite clear that the 'ending' didn't matter in the first place; BUT, only being capable to take things at face value it kinda goes over their heads. It's sort of like telling a joke, and to get the joke you have to accept one interpretation on the meaning of the words, but then you go on to argue that it could mean something different or whatever, in short just being a humourless dickhead. It's a bit like that here too.

[Malawi Frontier Guard]

That's a very interesting interpretation.

[Heliocentric]

Most people complaining about the ME3 ending are somewhat stupid.[...] In short just being a humourless dickhead

Thanks, I'll tell that to my fiancée.

[vinraith]

Thanks, I'll tell that to my fiancée.

Let us know how it goes!

[apricotsoup]

Just completed stacking.

Amazingly charming and some nice puzzles even if the difficulty is generally in the easy range (with a few of the puzzles being a bit old school adventurer obscure if you're going to be a completionist).

Whole heartedly recommended to anyone curious in it.

[sabrage]

http://i.imgur.com/AKTyT.jpg

[squareking]

^ good choice!

[Cable]

I'm playing The Binding of Isaac which is fantastic, just so much to discover and it's delightfully sadistic about it all too. I do worry sometimes about how terrible I am however and if i'll ever manage to beat mum.

[sabrage]

^ good choice!

I partially blame you for the fact that I have a Saturn plugged into my TV right now.

So after bouncing around a good half dozen RPGs, I'm getting on with Severance. Definitely more my pace than wandering around towns and talking to one-dimensional NPCs.

[SirKicksalot]

I finished Far Cry 2. I've been playing it on and off since launch and restarted it a couple of times. This is the first time I finished it. The final section was one of the most interesting in the game - it's actually a third, smaller map with no vehicles and it's linear but wide (sort of like the original Far Cry).

I think I'll play it one more time until September. It's such a beautiful, atmospheric game and it provides thrills unmatched by any game. It's nice that it responds to how you play: the harder you push, the harder it pushes back. You can play it as a relaxing sniper holiday or as balls-to-the-wall Rambo 2 shooter.

At one point I escaped from a prison with only a machete. I Forrest Gumped my way through the jungle in the most intense gaming moment I had this year. It was fucking insane - trying to pull bullets out of my arm, or pick up weapons from the ground, having them jam or break, enemies everywhere, explosions everywhere, fires, jeeps, exploding ammo, accidents, road kills, boat chases... And it only lasted about 10 minutes. This game is unbelievable.

[Voon]

I finished Far Cry 2.

Ah, yes. The game that let's you become a badass Rambo-like or a sneaky bastard if you wanted and puts you in some of the most beautiful (albeit, brown and bloom) settings in gaming. Like you said, unbelievable. And awesome. And someone actually bothered to finish the main missions? IMPOSSIBRU!

I kid, I kid. I'm still trying to get it done and I'm still at 64% completetion, I think. Maybe, I just love blowing shit up at the guard posts, do assassination missions and explore the whole country to bother about finishing the main objective. Plus, the game ends when I do.

[Kandon Arc]

Just finished ME3. Superb game, though I wish I could take a forget-me-now and wouldn't have to remember that ending.

[Kandon Arc]

With the same caveat that I don't want any details, I've heard this complaint a lot all over the internet. I'm hoping it's just a "down" ending (which would be appropriate, to my thinking). If it's something worse than that, ie something inane, cheesy, or otherwise unworthy of the plot/characters, that would be... bad.

Without going into details, it's not just because it's a 'down' ending.

[Casimir Effect]

At one point I escaped from a prison with only a machete. I Forrest Gumped my way through the jungle in the most intense gaming moment I had this year. It was fucking insane - trying to pull bullets out of my arm, or pick up weapons from the ground, having them jam or break, enemies everywhere, explosions everywhere, fires, jeeps, exploding ammo, accidents, road kills, boat chases... And it only lasted about 10 minutes. This game is unbelievable.
It's the parts like that which made the game and have ruined me for any other shooter. The game managed to create these unscripted sequences which felt more tense and alive than any other FPS, and it did it regularly. There's nothing quite like meticulously planning how you're going to take out a camp and then having that plan go completely tits-up.