What are you playing at the moment? [Archive] - Page 25

Creaturemagic

11-06-2012, 12:30 AM

Mount and Blade Warband: Napoleonic Wars!
The game was fun just messing around on pubs and lone-wolfing it. But now that I've found a friendly Australian Regiment, gosh is the game just amazing. Honestly, having more fun with my regiment doing line battles, sieges and just pubbing than I've had with any of those AAA amazing graphics games everyone buys. The steam sale has bumped the population up and now theres Aussie servers with 200+ people. And it seems like the population will stay even after the sale.

Not only is the game amazing, but that community. I don't know of many other communities that are as great as Napoleonics (RPS obviously is great, but its not a community for one game, its for many)

Fumarole

11-06-2012, 02:58 AM

While I'm waiting for my new components to arrive I've been playing mostly older games that my laptop can handle: X-Com, Puzzle Quest 2 and the like. Once I build my new rig I'll finally be able to catch up on the latest games I've been holding off on for not being able to run them at the quality I prefer; first up will be Total War: Shogun 2.

Oak

11-06-2012, 03:04 AM

But...but what about Napoleon?!

vinraith

11-06-2012, 03:17 AM

Hegemony: Gold, still. It's absolutely fascinating, and I'm still getting my head around this peculiar mixture of RTS tactical battles and slow real time empire management all on a seamless map. I've got enough of an idea what I'm doing, now, that I'm considering a restart to set myself up better. Garrisons are important, walls are important, and I think I finally understand the supply line/logistics elements that are critical to success in this game. A more careful expansion, and staying away from traditional RTS unit-blobbing tactics (which the AI circumvents to deadly effect) should yield better results, I hope. Have I mentioned this thing is fucking brilliant?

Also, winding down Dead Island in co-op. It's an interesting creature. Still a little janky, but the melee combat is great, the open world is huge and well-populated, the crafting is a lot of fun, and the plot is actually half-interesting. Not bad at all.

Fumarole

11-06-2012, 03:58 AM

But...but what about Napoleon?!I still have the save files. I'll see if I can still finish my AAR with a new OS when I build the new PC.

TaroYamada

11-06-2012, 04:31 AM

For my online fix, I am playing Team Fortress 2, as per usual. I have a tendency to only play one online multi-player game at a time as I find single player experiences (or co-op campaigns) to be more rewarding, but for a while I was playing Duke Nukem Forever's online + TF 2. I stopped though.

For single player stuff, I am largely playing Bastion and Psychonauts right now, with a bit of Metro 2033 sprinkled throughout. I have to take more breaks from Metro 2033 cause it freaks me out.

Juan Carlo

11-06-2012, 05:31 AM

Finished the second Blackwell game. It was pretty good. These really are the perfect adventure games for casual play--the writings good, the puzzles are neither too easy nor too hard, and they usually take around 3 to 4 hours to complete. It was light, but with an incredibly dark subtext, actually, given that it's a prequel and the lead character from this game eventually ends up dying in a mental institute (I liked how they hinted at how this might go down via the main story line, but never really went there explicitly).

Still I would like to know more about what happened to her. Hopefully one of the remaining games in the series might explain it more.

Rii

11-06-2012, 11:21 AM

So I finished Catherine. I have to say I really didn't appreciate the whole "oh, did we say that the Cathedral was the end? Haha, no, have another half-dozen levels and narrative sequences on top of that" thing. I guess I like to know where I am in a game. On the plus side, all that 'additional' content did serve largely to elevate the game in my esteem, not least of all because quibbling about how unrealistic some of the narrative twists and options are seems a bit silly once the game firmly and deliberately jumps the tracks into batshit insanity. Here again, tho, the game doesn't know when to stop. Mutton was a perfectly fine end boss -- an entertaining standout amidst a whole menagerie of entertaining bosses (I vote "Child with Chainsaw" for #1) but then they had to follow it up with his far less interesting and entirely redundant demon form. I'm pretty sure my reaction upon realising that Mutton wasn't the last boss was literally "Oh for fuck's sake." And after all that I didn't get to meet Ashtoroth!

Anyway. I got the 'Freedom - True' ending, i.e. shacking up with neither Catherine or Katherine in the end. Kinda fitting in light of my own /foreveralone status. Or perhaps it should be depressing: I'm unfit even for videogame relationships! Actually the commentary accompanying that ending resonated quite strongly for me; I'm not sure whether to attribute that to coincidence, the 'Horrorscope effect', or a heretofore unsuspected degree of sophistication in the game's alignment mechanics.

Of course I checked out the other seven endings on Youtube. The 'Catherine - True' ending is definitely the most entertaining, although I appreciated the 'Katherine - Good' ending for giving us a look at Katherine with her hair down, so to speak. I guess I felt a bit cheated by the game in that respect, I knew nothing about our past relationship and had to judge only by this endlessly sighing and controlling woman currently in front of me. Who knew to what extent she'd previously been a far happier person and her current demeanour the result of my own shiftlessness? Of course with Catherine it was the opposite problem: who knew the dangers lurking beneath her charming exterior? Thing is we got hints of the latter early on, whereas with Katherine I only got that one photo of her smiling over a birthday cake, and that near the end of the first alignment phase...

I was amused to discover the bonus 'Midnight Venus' ending (for clearing the Babel stages) on Youtube too, although it made me wish for a bonus Erica ending as well. I'd take Erica over Katherine or Catherine (or Midnight Venus) any day of the week. Even if she does wear yellow.

http://youtu.be/f7BYP8DcPHw

Overall verdict: A unique and compelling experience. The most immediate and significant problem -- the gulf between gameplay and narrative -- was actually largely resolved throughout the course of the game.

Next-up: Red Dead Redemption.

Rauten

11-06-2012, 02:09 PM

Made a lot of progress in FarCry 1 without much frustration, to my surprise. Then I blew up the main compound and got thrown back to the jungle with only a Colt rifle which merely has 10 bullets. Then I called it quits for the day, I mean what the eff.

Still I think I'm pretty close to the end of the game, so I'll try to finish it tonight.

Jams O'Donnell

11-06-2012, 02:17 PM

Ravelle

11-06-2012, 02:59 PM

Having a great time with Max Payne 3, enemies are bullet sponges and are made of glass.

I have one nitpicky though, I'm not really fond of his running animation, he runs around pistols aimed infront of him and unless I missed it there isn't a walking toggle button, running past cover while you try to hide behind is is kind of clumsy irritating. The fact that max auto-equips his pistol after every cut-scene and bullet dive is kind of unpractical and annoying.

It's little things but when you come directly from Splinter Cell Conviction which had great animation, running, walking and hiding mechanics this is kind of a step down.

coldvvvave

11-06-2012, 03:47 PM

I played few hours today in BF3 co-op just to unlock G3A3. With a friend on Skype it's kinda ok but MP is better.

DoW2 Retribution. *PRIDEPOST WARNING* I just won against a top3 guy in a pretty nervewrecking game, at least for me it was nervewrecking. I managed to win somehow. Feels good man. He chose a random race though, so maybe he isn't very good with Space Marines and I lucked out. Still feels good.

Heliocentric

11-06-2012, 04:11 PM

kstress71

11-06-2012, 04:22 PM

Just finished up Alien Breed: Impact last night. I really liked the game. Nothing too complicated or deep, but cool environments and very tight, focused gameplay. Yes, it got repetitive at times and a better waypoint system would have been appreciated, but for a small episodic game, very enjoyable. Not sure why it suffered such horrible reviews.

TailSwallower

11-06-2012, 06:36 PM

Been playing Braid a bit. I finished it (sans stars) on xbox when it was fairly new, but have since forgotten all the puzzles, so it's a totally new and brain-hurting experience. I want to get the stars this time around, but I really have no idea where/how to even start...

Dredmor with DLCs, paid and free. Haven't really played enough to get a handle of the new skills yet though.

Runespell: Overture. Not really sure what to make of the game. The gameplay is basically just junior poker, with battle animations, and the story so far is completely generic fantasy. Lost half an hour's worth of progress thanks to the game not liking alt+tab, and I'm not sure if I can be bothered going back and replaying those tedious battles.

The JG Man

12-06-2012, 01:34 AM

Bullestorm is...an interesting game. They've got some great mechanics in there, but the game feels kinda dull to play. I feel like the remaining skill shots (the game's score system) are either too absurd to pull off, or I just end up keep doing the same ones that get enough points anyhow. Hilariously, if they stripped out the point system and made it so you could just kill whoever you wanted however you wanted without any sense of penalty, it'd probably be even more satisfying. This makes it even worse when you consider that so few other games have such versatile means of eliminating enemy fools...but it just becomes lack lustre. I feel like I've done all I'm ever going to do in this game and I'm maybe half-wayish through, which is also crazy because I'll finish it in two and a half decent length sittings.

My other problem with it is that the PC version is screwed. I constantly keep sequence breaking events, meaning I have to restart the checkpoint. If that doesn't work, I have to restart the chapter. I'm not a keen fan of having to redo material I've already played through. I wouldn't say it's as bad as Red Faction: Armageddon's refusal to manually save, but it's not far off. There are other issues too, but I feel like I've now engaged that part of my brain that has determined I'll finish the game, but I may never touch it again upon completion.

It is, however, extremely good looking and refreshing to see so many colours in an FPS. The humour is fairly good, if not a little predictable and as I said, the actual gun-play is pretty good. The whole game just feels lacking though. It's just one long shooting gallery, where it neither doesn't care and just runs with this (a la Serious Sam) nor tries to persuade you that it isn't. Disappointed, I'm sure, is the word I'm looking for. It's not bad, it's just painfully mediocre. I hope the second half does something cool, but I'm not convinced it will be.

Alternatively, the run through of Ocarina of Time with my friend is going well. We're about to fight Ganondorf...I say we, I mean me. She's deftly afraid of actually dying, so the controller keeps being passed to me. The thing is, I don't know if it's either blissful ignorance, or just not putting the dots together - she partially worked out how to beat one of the temple bosses, but then couldn't really get it together. Now, OoT isn't an easy game, but I'd argue that bar a few things, it's incredibly intuitive. Despite that, it's still incredibly fun and very, very easily stands up to the test of time.

SirKicksalot

12-06-2012, 03:51 AM

I like Max Payne 3 very much. I thought the cutscenes would annoy me but they don't. Playing on medium feels like a fair challenge. I actually enjoy replaying sections after death and I like the ammo/pills refill when I screw up too much.

Roufuss

12-06-2012, 04:24 AM

Crusader Kings 2.

Well, kind of. The game has far, far too many buttons and no real tutorial to speak of. The Youtube tutorials I have seen are dry and long-winded so I'm just hacking away at it and learning as I go.

Spider Jerusalem

12-06-2012, 05:54 AM

game of thrones da rpg. enjoying it much more the second time round. i bounced off it at first (immediately), but was hungover/disinterested enough in the world to give it another shot today. i think watching the entire second season of the show in about a day and a half also helped. really solid if you're a fan of the world.

Althea

12-06-2012, 08:09 AM

It is, however, extremely good looking and refreshing to see so many colours in an FPS. The humour is fairly good, if not a little predictable and as I said, the actual gun-play is pretty good. The whole game just feels lacking though. It's just one long shooting gallery, where it neither doesn't care and just runs with this (a la Serious Sam) nor tries to persuade you that it isn't. Disappointed, I'm sure, is the word I'm looking for. It's not bad, it's just painfully mediocre. I hope the second half does something cool, but I'm not convinced it will be.
I paid £35 for it. Seriously.

sabrage

12-06-2012, 09:02 AM

1.5 years on, I decided to re-attempt Amnesia from the beginning... Even the parts where I know there aren't any monsters or real danger freak me out.

So I ended up playing Oracle of Seasons instead.

flagoon

12-06-2012, 10:18 AM

First few days in The Binding of Isaac. Sick little game, but fun :)

augustuskent

12-06-2012, 10:34 AM

On the few people talking about Far Cry series:

Seriously Crytek have this twisted fascination with ruining their games at the half-way mark by putting in unnecessary monsters/aliens.

Like c'mon, I'm sure everyone playing Far Cry 1 thought they were having this awesome Rambo experience until they pull the trigens on you. It's like a smack in the face - maybe that's why I like Far Cry 2 more. Roll on FC3 though, finally with working stealth melee kills!

Drake Sigar

12-06-2012, 10:45 AM

airtekh

12-06-2012, 11:06 AM

I'm done with L.A Noire. I really want to like it, since there are some great ideas there, and solving crimes as a cop is a nice change of pace; but there are so many things which bug me about it too.

I've had a number of cases now where I've performed fairly well, picking up solid evidence and asking the right questions, only to have the case completely fall apart when I get a single question wrong near the end. It's very frustrating, and sometimes illogical.

I feel the devs should have taken the resources devoted to the shooting and driving bits (which are both mediocre) and funnelled them into fleshing out the investigation and interrogation elements. The action bits would have handled perfectly well in cutscenes.

I started and finished Dear Esther as well. I'm really not sure what to make of it. It's ... an experience, I guess.

After that I booted up Q.U.B.E. There's a Portal-like vibe coming from it, but the puzzle mechanics are distinct enough. It's not particularly taxing, but the game changes itself often enough not to become stale. Liking it so far.

Ravelle

12-06-2012, 11:14 AM

Crusader Kings 2 with the GOT mod, I have no idea what I'm doing or what most things mean.

Drake Sigar

12-06-2012, 11:18 AM

Crusader Kings 2 with the GOT mod, I have no idea what I'm doing or what most things mean.
I was tempted to give it a whirl. Is it the tweaked features you're having trouble with, or did you not know what you were doing in the base game either?

Flint

12-06-2012, 11:38 AM

I hope the second half does something cool, but I'm not convinced it will be.

It won't, it's pretty much the same as the first half.

The thing that annoyed me about Bulletstorm is that there is a great, immensely fun shooter extravaganza bubbling underneath the surface of the game but it keeps getting pushed down by all sorts of bigger and smaller annoyances (constant dreadful NPC accompaniment, weapon selection limits, levels that do not take full advantage of the zany action you could have in the game, etc). There's potential and it occasionally taps into that potential, but never allows it to go wild with it. A shame, because god knows today's FPS world needs more games with a more colourful, imaginative design, a setting that isn't modern/almost-modern warfare and genuinely fun weapons.

*****

Decided to finish Amalur last night and just had a big binge of it. The final journey didn't really stand out from the rest of the game, and if I'm honest I actually started getting annoyed at all the enemies - for a long time the combat had become completely trivial because my character was essentially a god among men who couldn't be defeated and by the end I had already gotten slightly bored at the invulnerable onslaught I could cause just by twirling my fingers. Ending was enjoyable, even if hilariously abrupt in transition from the final boss' death to the final cutscene. Overall, a pleasant and enjoyable game - at times, and especially in the beginning, it actually feels like a great game but it's way overlong and the consequences of that (character overpowers everything, the skills become pointless, everything starts feeling a bit monotonous and repetetive) start to overshadow the good times I actually had with the game.

Now I'm once again at that crossroads where I've no idea what to play next despite a grand desire to play something. I've still got Rayman Origins hanging in the background but I'm in the mood for another long, sprawling RPG-ish adventure. Just can't decide which one. Somewhat leaning towards Dragon Age: Origins but who knows what I'll end up with.

fiddlesticks

12-06-2012, 11:58 AM

I've still got Rayman Origins hanging in the background but I'm in the mood for another long, sprawling RPG-ish adventure.
For what it's worth, I heartily recommend going through Rayman: Origins. It's the best platformer I've played in years. So unashamedly joyful.

The JG Man

12-06-2012, 12:04 PM

I paid £35 for it. Seriously.

Ow. I remember trying the demo as soon as it was available on the 360 and thinking "Hey, this is pretty good...but not amazing." I only picked it up on Steam during a sale because it was really cheap and I did have some interest in it. It's one of those occasions where I wished my convictions were a little stronger and I'd gone with my "not amazing" rather than "this is pretty good" feeling.

It won't, it's pretty much the same as the first half.

Ah. Well that'll make tonight's session all the more fun!

The thing that annoyed me about Bulletstorm is that there is a great, immensely fun shooter extravaganza bubbling underneath the surface of the game but it keeps getting pushed down by all sorts of bigger and smaller annoyances.

Bingo. I generally agreed with all of that paragraph, but as a summation, yes. I can tell there is a great game there and it almost makes me sad that there won't be a sequel, but the potential was unmet here and it unfortunately shows.

I'm done with L.A Noire. I really want to like it, since there are some great ideas there, and solving crimes as a cop is a nice change of pace; but there are so many things which bug me about it too.

I have an issue with L.A. Noire; I want to play it, but part of it has been spoiled and the general response people seem to have for it is "alright". Having learnt from Bulletstorm and a variety of other games that I shouldn't just rely on alright, despite the price, I'm conflicted between a game I'm genuinely very curious about and one that I've actually heard other people's thoughts on it...

Flint

12-06-2012, 12:04 PM

For what it's worth, I heartily recommend going through Rayman: Origins. It's the best platformer I've played in years. So unashamedly joyful.
Oh aye, I've played it quite a lot and I fully agree - one of those most fun experiences I've had in ages. I've just not completed it yet and haven't been in the mood for it recently, so it's been left in the background a bit.

Ravelle

12-06-2012, 12:30 PM

I was tempted to give it a whirl. Is it the tweaked features you're having trouble with, or did you not know what you were doing in the base game either?

I followed the tutorial guide thing in the base game and I know the basics somewhat but the whole claims and levis and revolting people out of nowhere is really confusing. I know Levis produce an army of sorts but after a while they start complaining the levi's too high.

I also set my counsil to do tasks in different areas like taxes, improve relationships etc but I don't know where I can see how far it has progressed or if it has any effect at all. I don't seem to be getting any money either.

Oshada

12-06-2012, 12:37 PM

For what it's worth, liberally using a walkthrough makes LA Noire so much better.

alms

12-06-2012, 04:03 PM

Finished the second Blackwell game. It was pretty good.

Yeah it's a good series. The only thing that bugs me about it is how graphically different the games are, to the point of being uneven.

Giaddon

12-06-2012, 04:05 PM

Man, I love Bulletstorm. For a rough approximation, Bulletstorm is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000x better than L.A. Noire.

SirKicksalot

12-06-2012, 04:25 PM

L.A. Noire needs a mod that replaces the dialogue options with the actual lines the character is about to say.

Giaddon

12-06-2012, 04:26 PM

Why? You're not roleplaying, you're playing "read-the-developer's mind!"

Althea

12-06-2012, 04:29 PM

Moon logic abounds, I say!

Tritagonist

12-06-2012, 05:48 PM

NathanH

12-06-2012, 05:48 PM

Generally with that sort of dialogue system it is best to pretend that the protagonist has some sort of insanity.

Rauten

12-06-2012, 05:51 PM

The tutorial has succeeded only in further confusing the issues at hand, so I suppose I'll have to figure things out as they come along.

That seems to be the case with most Paradox Grand Strategy games.

Sketch

12-06-2012, 06:00 PM

I wish the tutorial was more like Endless Space, explaining and giving a key showing exactly what it means as you use things. So you won't see the advanced tutorials until you're ready to do advanced things and therefore won't forget it.

Malawi Frontier Guard

12-06-2012, 06:00 PM

At least it's not narrated by Hitler this time.

NathanH

12-06-2012, 06:09 PM

There's seldom much point in a Paradox tutorial anyway, since the 297 patches will render it quickly obsolete.

Fanbuoy

12-06-2012, 06:33 PM

Yes, I believe that that is how most do it. You may want to check out a few "Let's play" as well to answer any remaining questions. Or just post in the forums, plenty of CK2 players here.

EDIT: Okay I'm new with this, but is there any difference between hitting "reply" for a message and just posting a quick reply at the bottom of the page?

Casimir Effect

12-06-2012, 07:53 PM

Lots of Empire/Napoleon: TW stuff
So I kind of hate you now?
Do you know how little time I have? How much Empire has taken up already? How much more it will take before I make the world bow to my rule? Do you know how hard it is to write a thesis when you're mind is constantly driting off to plan the next 10 years of your rule?
And now you've made me itch to get stuck into Napoleon, and given me a mod that means I'll have to play through it again. Because that mod sounds like something I want, nay, need to play.

So I also love you now, because the campaign AI is still the biggest factor holding back a Total War game. For example, I see playthroughs of Europa Universalis or the like where your allies actually come help during a war. Whereas in a TW game allies can only be relied on to be less likely to attack you than anyone else. Them being a direct help is a rare occasion, which compounds my hesitance to ever offer assistance to them - especially as it'll often end up with you worse off somehow. This mod could be one of the things in gaming I've been looking for and so I thank you for the link. Can I ask though: does it make the game a lot more difficult, and if so then in what ways?

Now to get stuck back into Empire after several days of absence. Several very painful days. Seriously, what did this game do to piss people off so much? Was it massively different at launch?

vinraith

12-06-2012, 08:03 PM

Played a bit of Crusader Kings II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusader_Kings_II) after buying it in last weekend's Steam sale. Still don't have much of a clue as to what I'm doing - or if what I'm doing is actually useful. The tutorial has succeeded only in further confusing the issues at hand, so I suppose I'll have to figure things out as they come along.

Paradox tutorials are shit, Paradox tooltips and in-game help are outstanding, proceed accordingly.

To topic:

Just finished Dead Island. Fun game, weak ending. Act 3 has far too many "escort the incredibly annoying" NPC quests. They're hardy, at least, and I don't think I ever really failed one of these, but they're still kind of crap. Act 4 drops the whole "open world" thing entirely, barely has any side quests or loot, and tries to turn said annoying escort NPC's into a source of pathos. It also clearly ran out of money towards the end of development, "sparse" barely describes act 4.

Still, on the whole it was a great time. The explorable areas are actually worth exploring, the side quests are well done, the main plot even manages to be halfway engaging. There's a lack of enemy variety, unfortunately, but not a lack of tools to kill them, and the crafting was just awesome. For $10 I got 30 hours of good fun and another ten of fun/frustration mixed, I can't complain.

Still playing and learning Hegemony: Gold, which is fantastic. I'm also thinking about going back and giving Sins another try, maybe with lowered expectations I can find the fun.

Fanbuoy

12-06-2012, 09:02 PM

vinraith

12-06-2012, 09:20 PM

I couldn't agree more about Dead Island. Even the part about just finishing it, as I did it yesterday. I would, however, raise an additional complaint about the weapon degradation. Why the hell does everything degrade so quickly? It felt like it was as much a weapon maintenance simulator as a Zombie game. Also, why dont guns degrade? Having done military service, I must point out that guns require way more maintenance to function properly than, for example, a baseball bat.

But still, a very enjoyable game. Quite beautiful too.

Well, I was mostly using edged weapons, and I was pretty much fine with the rate of degradation as keeping an edge on those seemed about as hard as it should be. My friend was playing with blunt weapons and didn't really have an issue with the degradation, but I know a lot of folks have complained about this and I don't think it's justifiable for things like baseball bats. More than anything I think it's just a money sink, since repair benches are so prevalent.

And yes, the lack of degradation in the guns is just a weird oversight. I'm one of those crazy people that actually really liked that the guns deteriorated and jammed in Far Cry 2.

SirKicksalot

12-06-2012, 09:28 PM

Join me in mourning the loss of weapon degradation in Far Cry 3.

vinraith

12-06-2012, 09:32 PM

Join me in mourning the loss of weapon degradation in Far Cry 3.

Far Cry 3 seems to have abandoned very nearly everything I enjoyed about Far Cry 2.

Spider Jerusalem

12-06-2012, 09:36 PM

Roufuss

12-06-2012, 09:54 PM

I've got high hopes for the Dead Island sequel that they announced at E3, if the developers listened to their fanbase.

Dead Island was a great first attempt, so I'm really excited to see what a sequel brings now that they can refine the concept.

Rauten

12-06-2012, 10:18 PM

Far Cry 3 seems to have abandoned very nearly everything I enjoyed about Far Cry 2.

Guess I might actually have fun with Far Cry 3, then.

Speaking of which!

Finished Far Cry 1 (man, the final part of the game is an effort in frustrating the player until he screams. Urgh) and moved on to Far Cry 2... only to be severely annoyed by it. I don't like the way the weapons handle, aiming itself feels sluggish, inaccurate and sloppy, the quickly respawning outposts are a freaking joke... ugh. This is a game I cannot play.
I'd love to, the locale is nice, and pretty, and interesting, and I also like the way the health bar works, kind of a midpoint between health regeneration and medkits, but I just can't get over the annoyances. NEXT!

Ravelle

12-06-2012, 10:22 PM

Heliocentric

12-06-2012, 10:39 PM

Actually it isn't a sequel, it doesn't have a 2 in it's title and is a complete new story.
No zombies then?

Roufuss

12-06-2012, 10:53 PM

Actually it isn't a sequel, it doesn't have a 2 in it's title and is a complete new story.

It is a sequel.

[Update: Aubrey Norris reached out to us to clarify that when she stated "This isn't Dead Island 2," she was referring only to the title of the game and pointed us to another tweet from earlier this morning which states this explicitly. So, Dead Island Riptide does represent the next installment in the Dead Island series, but the series is not using a numbers in their titles. Thanks to Aubrey for helping us find the mix-up! - Ed.]

Aubrey Norris works for DeepSilver.

http://www.destructoid.com/dead-island-riptide-is-not-dead-island-2-will-cost-50-229347.phtml

Just because it doesn't have a 2 in the title doesn't mean it's not a sequel. Regardless, my original post still stands as its the successor to Dead Island so I'm interested in seeing if they are going to adapt the game based on the feedback they have gotten.

Spider Jerusalem

12-06-2012, 11:46 PM

Guess I might actually have fun with Far Cry 3, then.

Speaking of which!

Finished Far Cry 1 (man, the final part of the game is an effort in frustrating the player until he screams. Urgh) and moved on to Far Cry 2... only to be severely annoyed by it. I don't like the way the weapons handle, aiming itself feels sluggish, inaccurate and sloppy, the quickly respawning outposts are a freaking joke... ugh. This is a game I cannot play.
I'd love to, the locale is nice, and pretty, and interesting, and I also like the way the health bar works, kind of a midpoint between health regeneration and medkits, but I just can't get over the annoyances. NEXT!
fc2 is one of the more frustrating games in the universe. i've uninstalled/reinstalled so many times, but every playthrough the outposts drive me crazy.

vinraith

12-06-2012, 11:56 PM

Guess I might actually have fun with Far Cry 3, then.

Speaking of which!

Finished Far Cry 1 (man, the final part of the game is an effort in frustrating the player until he screams. Urgh) and moved on to Far Cry 2... only to be severely annoyed by it. I don't like the way the weapons handle, aiming itself feels sluggish, inaccurate and sloppy, the quickly respawning outposts are a freaking joke... ugh. This is a game I cannot play.
I'd love to, the locale is nice, and pretty, and interesting, and I also like the way the health bar works, kind of a midpoint between health regeneration and medkits, but I just can't get over the annoyances. NEXT!

Funny "unplayable" was my reaction for Far Cry 1, but I absolutely adore Far Cry 2. Yes, it would be nice if the respawn was slower, but other than that it's pretty much exactly what I want from an FPS. The only (absolutely criminal) omission is a lack of mod support. Eh, to each their own.

I should go back and play FC2 again, actually, it's been awhile.

Fumarole

13-06-2012, 02:03 AM

I should go back and play FC2 again, actually, it's been awhile.Ever play it self-imposed (http://drgamelove.blogspot.com/2009/12/permanent-death-complete-saga.html) hardcore (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/108775-permanent-death-in-far-cry-2/) style? I gave it a shot and died in a rather stupid fashion before having a buddy to save my ass. Woe is me.

vinraith

13-06-2012, 02:08 AM

Ever play it self-imposed (http://drgamelove.blogspot.com/2009/12/permanent-death-complete-saga.html) hardcore (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/108775-permanent-death-in-far-cry-2/) style? I gave it a shot and died in a rather stupid fashion before having a buddy to save my ass. Woe is me.

That'd be cool to try, though I'm guessing it wouldn't last long.

The JG Man

13-06-2012, 02:09 AM

And that's me done with Bulletstorm. It'll be quite boring for me to run down how mediocre I feel the game is, ironically stopping itself short with the trappings it tries to ignore, not to mention repetitive with my previous post, so I'll simply say this and have my peace on a game I'll probably never touch again.

There were several parts in the final run of the game where I felt like I was playing Halo: CE again. As good as Bulletstorm can be, it did not match the intensity and ferociousness of Halo's ending. It came close at a few points, but it was so damn predictable and inconsistent with pacing that it just didn't do much for me. The worst part is it was some of the best paced stuff in the whole damn game! What I will say, in its defence, is that the last hour or so had some of the funniest moments in the entire game, including a genuinely laugh-out-loud 'escape'...

Finally, the whole game was just sickeningly linear. I felt more open at times thinking about the width of my desk than the paths you could run on, not to mention just how many things you stand on in the game give way or crash to an absurd degree.

Hilariously, the run through of Ocarina of Time with my friend also came to a conclusion this afternoon and what a damned fine ending it still is. The entire game, for the most part, still holds up well over a decade later. Fantastic pacing and build-up, with a real demonstration of all you'd achieved during the game. I know Ocarina of Time is fabled in its success, whilst Bulletstorm's lack of sequel is indicative of its own, so it may seem unfair to be playing them at the same time, but OoT does so much right while Bulletstorm struggles so much.

Anyhow, my backlog shrinks down to 11 games, with me starting probably Psychonauts next.

SirKicksalot

13-06-2012, 03:10 AM

Spec Ops: The Line demo. Tight controls, deadly weapons, challenging gameplay, awesome setting, intriguing writing. Very long demo. I actually haven't finished it. Played enough to see the level opening up, I hope the full game is more like that and less corridor shooter. I especially love the atmosphere. Will buy.

Also Max Payne 3, so far the best game I played this year. Captures that Tropa de Elite atmosphere really well.

Cosm

13-06-2012, 05:44 AM

Picked up Krater tonight and I've been playing that the past few hours. So far it's awesome, a mixture of Diablo, Borderlands, Fallout, and Warcraft III with some Magicka-esque Swedish charm. Having a lot of fun with it. The world seems huge. Just $15 too. Anyone else picked it up? I haven't seen much discussion about it anywhere, it sort of came out of nowhere for me.

Returning to Dragon Quest VIII as well, beginning another burst of time spent on it. Every once in a while I just get in the mood for some good old classic JRPG. Someday I'll beat it. Someday, but not today.

Spider Jerusalem

13-06-2012, 06:08 AM

i played the krater alpha/beta and wasn't too impressed with it. it seemed like a fine enough game, just very far from being finished (the last time i played being a couple weeks ago); really didn't seem ready for release.

Cosm

13-06-2012, 06:41 AM

Huh, well I'll definitely have to put some more time in to it before I can say, but it seems pretty smooth, haven't had any problems with it. Was it just buggy or lacking some features?

khaz

13-06-2012, 06:43 AM

Casimir Effect

13-06-2012, 07:00 AM

Funny "unplayable" was my reaction for Far Cry 1, but I absolutely adore Far Cry 2. Yes, it would be nice if the respawn was slower, but other than that it's pretty much exactly what I want from an FPS. The only (absolutely criminal) omission is a lack of mod support. Eh, to each their own.

I should go back and play FC2 again, actually, it's been awhile.
Exactly how I feel about the two. Far Cry 2 is my favourite FPS whereas Far Cry 1 holds no affection from me.

There were several parts in the final run of the game where I felt like I was playing Halo: CE again. As good as Bulletstorm can be, it did not match the intensity and ferociousness of Halo's ending.
Please tell me you're not referring to that awful warthog escape where you have to drive with precision a vehicle that handles like a broken shopping trolley on ice?

Spider Jerusalem

13-06-2012, 07:10 AM

Huh, well I'll definitely have to put some more time in to it before I can say, but it seems pretty smooth, haven't had any problems with it. Was it just buggy or lacking some features?
both, but the bugs were the biggest issue.

i think it was the mp that was causing the problems, though. i see they've removed that for the moment.

Heliocentric

13-06-2012, 08:43 AM

Hilariously, the run through of Ocarina of Time with my friend also came to a conclusion this afternoon and what a damned fine ending it still is. The entire game, for the most part, still holds up well over a decade later. Fantastic pacing and build-up, with a real demonstration of all you'd achieved during the game. I know Ocarina of Time is fabled in its success, whilst Bulletstorm's lack of sequel is indicative of its own, so it may seem unfair to be playing them at the same time, but OoT does so much right while Bulletstorm struggles so much.

Anyhow, my backlog shrinks down to 11 games, with me starting probably Psychonauts next.
The early ending with the leesh doing things you couldn't with it annoyed me. But mostly I want to pressure you to play Majoras Mask. It's so much better than oot.

Ravelle

13-06-2012, 08:45 AM

It is a sequel.

Aubrey Norris works for DeepSilver.

http://www.destructoid.com/dead-island-riptide-is-not-dead-island-2-will-cost-50-229347.phtml

Just because it doesn't have a 2 in the title doesn't mean it's not a sequel. Regardless, my original post still stands as its the successor to Dead Island so I'm interested in seeing if they are going to adapt the game based on the feedback they have gotten.

They even said in the article you posted that it isn't a sequel.

Also worth noting that in another Tweet, she very specifically states (https://twitter.com/Chupacaubrey/status/211718625290235904) "This isn't Dead Island 2". So there's that. Not a sequel and a price point below the current average for a new release.

sonson

13-06-2012, 09:12 AM

Anyhow, my backlog shrinks down to 11 games, with me starting probably Psychonauts next.

DO IT

Not even finished it myself yet but the two thirds I have played through have been some of the most enjoyable, life affirming, creative experiences I've had in computer gaming acorss a multitude of platforms and genres. Believe the hype.

Fanbuoy

13-06-2012, 09:23 AM

They even said in the article you posted that it isn't a sequel.

Dude, you should read the edit as a correction. The article at first interpreted the tweet as Riptide not being a sequel. They then got contacted and corrected, and thus edited the article with a correction.

Labbes

13-06-2012, 10:37 AM

I just read All The Pretty Horses and the following book, The Crossing, by Cormac McCarthy. Since The Crossing is not called All The Pretty Horses 2, it's not a sequel at all!

Heliocentric

13-06-2012, 10:48 AM

All the pretty horses 2: Horse Prettier

Anthile

13-06-2012, 11:18 AM

Stop horsing around and get back on topic!

Fanbuoy

13-06-2012, 11:20 AM

Neigh, I like this topic.

Ravelle

13-06-2012, 11:25 AM

Still trying to figure out CK GoT. How do I get someone to the head of church and Maester? When I select appoint it shows nobody. Oh and how do I gain plot power?

Labbes

13-06-2012, 11:26 AM

Stop horsing around and get back on topic!

Oh shoof off.

Edit: @Ravelle: You gain Plot Power by inviting people that like you (they have a green thumbs-up symbol). The plot power of people is influenced mainly by their intrigue, but also by position, i.e. spymaster gets bonus plot power.
You can check whether or not it's possible to "convince" someone when trying to invite him by hovering over the "invite" button or whatever it's called. There are pluses and minuses, if you can get a person to have more pluses and minuses, they'll join your plot.

The JG Man

13-06-2012, 12:19 PM

Please tell me you're referring to the warthog escape and not the c&p flood levels or you and me will have to resort to fisticuffs sir.

Please tell me you're not referring to that awful warthog escape where you have to drive with precision a vehicle that handles like a broken shopping trolley on ice?

Ha. Yes, the Warthog run, although some parts of the ending did feel like Halo post-Flood. Even though the ordering was mixed up, the fact that both games [Halo and Bulletstorm ending spoilers]have you return to your own/main ship in the game to set off a world-spanning explosion, causing you to then find a way off as it's about to explode, heck both to a timer(!), while everyone else is in-fighting as you make your way through[/spoilers]...now I'm not saying that Halo is the most original game in the world although I feel the need to say that, even if I think good parts of it at least feel original, but the fact that Bulletstorm was just openly ripping on other FPS' made me jump to that sequence anyhow. Vehicle handling mechanics aside.

Funnily enough, Gearbox, who did the PC port for Halo, used the same vehicle controls as they did do in Borderlands, which I believe they've commented on addressing with BL2. They take a bit of time to get used to, and whilst they're not amazing, they worked well enough. I never felt like the Warthog run was more challenging because of them.

The early ending with the leesh doing things you couldn't with it annoyed me. But mostly I want to pressure you to play Majoras Mask. It's so much better than oot.

The whole ending was a bit silly, which was partially the whole point sure, but I agree. The fact that the final boss is 'killed' via QTE slightly irked me too.

Anyhow, I'm a bit Zelda'd out for the moment, with Skyward Sword leaving a disappointing taste in my mouth in December and now restored with OoT, but I bought a DS a couple of months back and I picked up Phantom Hourglass. Despite its mixed reception, I'm still looking forward to playing it, something I might do over the summer if I can ever take out Pokémon Black from the cartridge slot.

Anthile

13-06-2012, 01:28 PM

Since my adventures with the rather terrible Capsized I decided to play some other, smaller games before I start with AssRev.

-Scarygirl: Pretty okay platformer but it doesn't really excel at anything. Play and forget.
-Limbo: Really liked the art style, puzzles are pretty good even if the frequent deaths (if inconsequential) became a little grating after a while. Also, I disapprove of the frequent violence against arthropods in this game. Somebody think of the children.
-Unstoppable Gorg: Really fun tower defense game and probabably the highest production value of any TD game. It does feel very polished. Only downside are some of the later levels where orbits spin on their own which can make it rather frustrating.
-Burn Zombie Burn: I enjoy a good twin-stick shooter once in a while but the developers of this abomination somehow managed to make the worst one I have ever seen. Is there any genre simpler than twin-stick shooters? How can you mess that up even if you tried? This game is just not fun. At all. It really makes you wonder if the developers ever played their own game.

Giaddon

13-06-2012, 01:32 PM

I start with AssRev.

Play the multiplayer!!!!!!!

Tikey

13-06-2012, 01:40 PM

Witcher 2: Witcherier

It's certainly pretty. Still not sold on the new combat system but warming up to it. I'm on act 1. Sidequests are more interesting now but they're a bit vague sometimes.

alms

13-06-2012, 01:47 PM

After finishing Bastion out of sheer will, I wasn't really in the mood to play anything but started LA Noire nonetheless. The first couple hours were spent getting accustomed to the control scheme and the interrogation mechanism, plus fiddling with graphics options. By the time I got to my first traffic case all this was left behind and now I am really warming up to it.

AlexClockwork

13-06-2012, 03:39 PM

About Far Cry 2... I'm playing it on the hardest mode right now, and it's absolutely amazing. It makes you have a hard time if you want to win... ^^

Regarding to Bulletstorm... Yes, it's linear, its multiplayer is limited, and it's not half as long as I'd like to. I liked it, though. I mean, it's funny, there are lots of weapons (and original ones), and there are lots of deaths to "collect". For a few euros/bucks/pounds, it's worth it. I think I paid 5€ and I don't regret it at all. Don't think I'll replay it too much, though...

The JG Man

13-06-2012, 04:08 PM

I don't think Bulletstorm is bad. Like I said, the gun-play is great and generally very satisfying, which is a key element, it's just that everything else is so mediocre. You talk about there being lots of weapons, but you're still boiled down to rifle, sniper, shotgun, pistol, leash and then the two final ones which have the most creativity, of which the cannonball is in Serious Sam and far and away better in that. Even if the shotgun has four barrels, it's still a shotgun.

Maybe that's unfair on creative design, but it would've been cool if it acted slightly differently, like you could fire from so many barrels at once, depending on who you were fighting or what you wanted to do. They basically made a shotgun that looked cool, but that acted like every other shotgun in every other game. It's a shame, because it's things like that where they had great ideas but then never quite followed through. It's also quite hard to praise the weapons too when you can only hold three of them at once, of which the main lowly rifle you cannot replace.

My point with Bulletstorm is that they wanted crazy. I like that. I want that in a game...but they didn't deliver, not truly.

SirKicksalot

13-06-2012, 05:03 PM

Bulletstorm's shotgun had a fantastic alt-fire.
It had four barrels because it's inspired by a weapon cut from Unreal.
Painkiller's ice shotgun was better though.

Giaddon

13-06-2012, 05:15 PM

I'm playing Endless Space. The end.

Rauten

13-06-2012, 05:28 PM

I'm playing Endless Space. The end.

But I thought it had no end?

Sorry sorry sorry sorry

Tikey

13-06-2012, 06:08 PM

But I thought it had no end?

Sorry sorry sorry sorry

Thank god you did it. I was so tempted.

Similar

13-06-2012, 06:08 PM

Been playing World of Tanks all day, for the first time. It's ... odd. Addictive, but it doesn't provoke any emotions at all. Even teamkillers are just a minor annoyance, even when they kill me, like it doesn't really matter. Winning is nice, but not really something that matters either. And it'd be nice to get that next upgrade, but ... shrug.
I don't think it'd feel any different if all the players were replaced with bots.
Nice production values, though.

Sketch

13-06-2012, 06:10 PM

After the talk of Black and White I installed it and after a bit of tweaking got it working properly. Good God (hurr hurr hurr) it's a great game and I'm having a blast playing it again. I'll move onto BW2 next which I still like a lot, just for different reasons.

kstress71

13-06-2012, 09:18 PM

fc2 is one of the more frustrating games in the universe. i've uninstalled/reinstalled so many times, but every playthrough the outposts drive me crazy.

I played FC2 when it first came out for about 20 hours and then hit a game-breaking bug where, according to the developers, was caused by "turning right on a forked road", which leads to a mission-dependent NPC. So the bug caused the NPC to not exist in the game, and as that was the primary plot mission, I couldn't move forward. Also, according to the developers, it was not fixable with a patch and I would simply have to start over.

To hell with that. If a company won't take enough pride in their game to protect against that kind of event (either via patching or otherwise), then to hell with them and their game. They shouldn't be making an open-world game if they are that sloppy.

I sincerely hope FC3 is not similarly borked.

kstress71

13-06-2012, 09:20 PM

On topic, I have poured about 15 hours into Diablo III now and I'm really enjoying it, but Blizzard can kiss my ass for their online requirement. Simply stupid and lazy policy. I've died no less than 5 times due to lag.

Roufuss

13-06-2012, 09:46 PM

I finally hit that moment in Crusader Kings II where everything just clicked, and then spent the next four hours playing it without even realizing where the time went.

What a brilliant game.

Flint

13-06-2012, 09:54 PM

As mentioned in the screenshot thread, I've started my second playthrough of Dragon Age: Origins. This time playing as a sarcastic and snarky mage and planning to choose differently in the game's Big Choices at the end of the main questlines (though still trying to be more good than evil, I just can't play bad characters). So far so fun, although I'm a bit lost as to how to advance my character. Not only is there so much to choose from in the mage spell trees, but I recently got to choose my first specialisation and selected arcane warrior, meaning now I have a perfectly viable excuse to go melee-wizardy if I so choose. But seeing as my first character was a warrior, I think I'll stick to being in the back of the ranks and casting spells, just with the ability to equip gear that doesn't look cringeworthily bad.

I'm also eyeing up on Awakening... am I right in thinking that it's essentially just More of the Same and if I loved DA:O, I should love it Awakening as well? How big a deal is old character import with it?

NathanH

13-06-2012, 10:09 PM

Awakening is good, it is pretty much more of the same although I found it consistently a bit easier.

Spider Jerusalem

13-06-2012, 10:13 PM

i loved da:o to bits, but found awakening to be pretty boring. it's worth picking it up, but it was a bit of a letdown after the finale of origins.

Heliocentric

13-06-2012, 10:14 PM

I'm also eyeing up on Awakening... am I right in thinking that it's essentially just More of the Same and if I loved DA:O, I should love it Awakening as well? How big a deal is old character import with it?

Personally i found the story much better, but they totally weak out on the ending [spoilers]mass effect 2 "improve everything and everyone lives" style.[spoilers]But generally its excellent.

Spider Jerusalem

13-06-2012, 10:33 PM

i suppose that's what bothered me. the tenor of the whole thing after the rollercoaster that was da:o.

The JG Man

13-06-2012, 10:55 PM

So, Psychonauts, eh? It's pretty good, isn't it?

I'm 2, maybe 2.5 hours in. It just has this charm and wonder about it that makes it very fun. It's a shame that with the controller support, the UI doesn't properly accommodate, but it works well enough that it doesn't matter so much. The music is great, the settings and colour usage is appropriately varied and imaginative/creepy/weird/interesting etc. The humour is absolutely fantastic though. I was laughing a hell of a lot during the opening cinematic, but it's so consistent, but doesn't force it out. There's some really nice touches too, such as in the training mission where the shrubbery is made of barbed wire and ammunition belts. Dialogue is great, design is great...it's just all great. I have no idea how far I am into the game, but I can already tell I'm gushing with enjoyment and disappointed there isn't going to be a sequel to play.

Drake Sigar

13-06-2012, 11:06 PM

I'm also eyeing up on Awakening... am I right in thinking that it's essentially just More of the Same and if I loved DA:O, I should love it Awakening as well? How big a deal is old character import with it?
Awakening doesn't really make sense unless you start a new Orlesian Warden character. My dwarf prince always had the interests of the dwarven realm at heart, and my Origins game ended with him being declared a paragon, his royal lineage restored, and him asking the surfacers for an army to fight the persistent Darkspawn hordes underground (which they gave him). Awakening basically erased my entire epilogue.

Heliocentric

13-06-2012, 11:41 PM

Technically all of those things can be true. This is a different burg.

Labbes

14-06-2012, 06:34 AM

Oshada

14-06-2012, 06:58 AM

Awakening also introduces Fun Anders, he's a really good character. Some bosses are quite excellent as well, not to mention some of the (almost OP) weapons.

NathanH

14-06-2012, 08:53 AM

It's definitely an expansion that makes you think "they really know what they're doing here, they can see the strong points and the weak points of their game and work out how to improve things. The sequel is sure to be amazing..."

Drake Sigar

14-06-2012, 08:56 AM

I remember when it first came out a lot of people couldn't play unless they changed the compatibility settings to Windows 2000. What?

Althea

14-06-2012, 09:49 AM

I remember when it first came out a lot of people couldn't play unless they changed the compatibility settings to Windows 2000. What?
BioWare can't even make menus properly, so y'know.

Herzog

14-06-2012, 10:02 AM

Arma 2 - Operation Arrowhead: Got this because I wanted to check out Day Z. But until now I only got to play the tutorials of the main game and that is because of...

The Binding of Isaac: I dont know but this game is just like crack. So terribly addicting. Just finished the fourth challenge where you have to beat Mom with the dead cat item. Barely made it with 2 lives left. The DLC added a lot of new stuff to the game, really like it!

Red Orchestra 2: Started playing again after the free weekend. Lots of new players, new gamemodes and a new map. Fighting in the trenches at Mamayev Kurgan is a blast. Didnt enjoy my first round when I was defending as the Russian side, but learning maps is always better from the attacking side. Slowly advancing with the German side makes this map.
As for the new Classic mode, I dont care really. Currently I am mostly playing on a server with "realistic" settings. Classic just makes the game more slower but coming from games like Quake I generally like the faster approach.
And to everyone who is bored of playing BF3 and COD3 - get this game now ! Only very few bugs left, the performance greatly increased since the last big patch and most importantly there are many players now (at least in Europe!).

thegooseking

14-06-2012, 10:06 AM

I'm playing The Saboteur. I couldn't figure out whether it was underrated or not, but what I said in the Spore thread gave me a bit of a handle on it. Aside from the lamentation that more games should be set in Nazi-occupied Paris, there's little critical interest, there. The gameplay is a competent but uninspired by-numbers hybrid of Grand Theft Auto and Assassin's Creed. The end result is something that's fun to play, but has little value for talking about or learning from. Well, aside from the visual direction they use to distinguish between Nazi areas and areas where you've strengthened the Resistance. That's pretty cool.

Drake Sigar

14-06-2012, 10:15 AM

BioWare can't even make menus properly, so y'know.

Overall it was a pretty good game I guess, the characters really stand out. Sigrun and Oghren were awesome. Dwarf power! I just felt in some respects it was 'Neverwinter Nights 2 - Greatest Hits' lifting the updated castle system (yes I'm aware BG 2 had it first) and not continuing to build on some of those great ideas Obsidian introduced.

Plus NWN 2 has much more colour. All those greens really popped out and punched you in the face. During the tutorial area I thought I was in the fucking Shire.

Spider Jerusalem

14-06-2012, 11:48 AM

sonson

14-06-2012, 12:17 PM

I played a second playthrough of DA: O and imported into Awakenings straight after, my first time with that.

I’m not sure If my rogue was just horribly overpowered but playing Awakenings was like playing an ARG in which you can never die, which kind of ruined it for me. The best thing about Dragon Age in my opinion is the sense of history and legend it conveys throughout, and being this invincible dude who no one can even hit ruins that, as it means none of that deep background has any effect on you. It’s hard to buy into this richly explained fiction of the blight which will consume the world when I can waste 17,000 Darkspawn on my own.

It’s like reading Lord of the Rings, as is, with the only difference being that Frodo is 123 feet tall, able to fly, owns all of the money in the world and is made of diamonds and knives and fire. But he still has to make the slow trek to Mordor, and relate to everyone else as if they matter and have any bearing on him at all, because that’s the story, even though it is completely incongruous with the main protagonist.

Good game, but it sort of broke itself in my experience.

Althea

14-06-2012, 12:56 PM

NathanH

14-06-2012, 01:36 PM

I think you have to stick the difficulty up a notch from the level you played Origins at to get the right experience from Awakening.

sonson

14-06-2012, 01:38 PM

Yeah, Awakening had piss-poor balance, and to make it even worse they gave you some of the most ridiculously over-powered abilities they could think of. Reminded of one of the warrior skills which killed all enemies below a certain 'strength'.

Paeon killer or something I think it was called.

It wasn’t the attributes so much as the failure to scale enemies appropriately, as characters were at such a high level that even basic hits did a ridiculous amount of damage without factoring anything else in. The only enemies I had an issue with-and I mean absolutely the *only* ones-were the big beasties that could hold you/pick you up regardless of stats, or spells which knocked you over. Otherwise every time someone tried to hit me I would just hear this “ching” noise and see my rogue do a block animation.

Take my character out of the equation and the story was great-Political intrigue, development of some of the best mythos in the original game (Fereldan politics, Darkspawn, Legion of the Damned, Grey Wardens) and the glimpses you could get of the Northern Region were strong. Good finish as well, strongly aided by the fact that it was the only part in the game were you only felt overpowered as opposed to a living deity.

But compared to the original I think it’s very weak as far as the playing of it goes. The majority of the quests tend to just fizzle out , or are just ridiculously “gamey”, things to do because it’s a game and that’s what you do in games. The one where you run around town in a circle openly killing people mumbling to themselves while absolutely no one bats an eyelid comes to mind. There’s just no depth as well. In the original Dragon Age rumours of a smuggling operation would have taken you on a quest which would have lasted hours and told you all sorts about a variety of power struggles and political interests. In this it was a case of jumping through a hole in the floor, bashing the smugglers and stealing their stuff, that was it. Similalry Anders’ involvement should have been a great device for exploring the Templar/Circle arc, but It was woefully under-used and never really developed it at all. The little overheard conversations and rumours and snippets which added so much narrative depth in Origins weren’t there either; everything you read and conversed about was sufficient to fill out the quest in question, nothing more.

Whereas Origins was primarily a brilliant narrative achievement with a decent game worked in around that, Awakenings is an alright game with a story.

Kodeen

14-06-2012, 01:38 PM

sonson

14-06-2012, 01:42 PM

I think you have to stick the difficulty up a notch from the level you played Origins at to get the right experience from Awakening.

Played it on the hardest mode possible; the fundamental issue was that my dexterity was too great for anyone to hit me. That could have been solved if enemies had had strong enough characteristics to get past that, but as they didn’t it ensured that for anyone playing with high dex the fundamental fight mechanics are broken sadly. Given that builds with two of the classes often favour high dex it should have been given more thought.

Juan Carlo

14-06-2012, 03:30 PM

Awakening is amazing. The characters and story are fantastic, and I believe some of the buggy sidequests have been patched either officially or by fan patches. It balances out the classes, making especially two handers far more powerful.
Basically, it improves DA:O in every single aspect, and I already loved that.

Beware, though. There's still a nasty bug in the prison level where if you are a mage/warrior hybrid everything you have equipped once you are abducted disappears forever. The only way around it is to get completely naked before you get abducted. I lost like 4 hours of playtime to that bug and as far as I'm aware they never bothered patching it.

Anthile

14-06-2012, 03:50 PM

Yeah, they never fixed it. Here's what causes it: Basically, the game creates a weaker clone of your character, wearing your gear but it only uses the basic class so no prestige class. However, since it's the arcane warrior specialization that allows you to wear heavy armor your clone can't wear it and it spawns naked.

Bobtree

14-06-2012, 04:05 PM

The Saboteur's real strength is its stealth and demolitions. Don't play it like GTA, play it like Hitman.

Casimir Effect

14-06-2012, 04:16 PM

David_Landriault

14-06-2012, 05:05 PM

I have mainly been playing minecraft for the most part.

Althea

14-06-2012, 06:52 PM

A bigger thing should have been made of that Awakenings bug. We have a big add-on for a triple-A title which contains a widespread, repeatable bug that can massively perturb the experience (or completely fuck it up if the player is the type to only keep one save) and the studio never bothers to fix it; they just moved on. This isn't something like Gamebryo bugs which are heavily circumstantial or hardware dependent, and Bioware aren't so small that they can't afford to spend time ironing these things out. This bug seems to get most people who play Awakenings regardless of their system.

I'm all for tolerance when it comes to week-1 bugs or even month-/year-1 if the game is big enough, but only if the develop can be relied on to fix them.
Awakening is as broken as fuck. There's loads of quests that don't work properly.

Sketch

14-06-2012, 07:57 PM

Roufuss

14-06-2012, 08:15 PM

A bigger thing should have been made of that Awakenings bug. We have a big add-on for a triple-A title which contains a widespread, repeatable bug that can massively perturb the experience (or completely fuck it up if the player is the type to only keep one save) and the studio never bothers to fix it;

This isn't the first time Bioware has done something like that.

On the Xbox version of Mass Effect, when you're saving the colonists on Feros, if you save there and reload the save it places you back in the elevator... but the doors won't open. Then, the game also autosaves at that point as well, so you have two saves stuck in the elevator.

Heaven help you if your backup save is far away or you never had one to begin with.

They never patched it because "it didn't affect enough of the users for us to put time into; we're aware it happens but we won't fix it." I was stupid and didn't use back-up saves back then, so that entire run of the game was over as I could never get out of the elevator. My only option was to start the game over again (which I didn't do until years later.)

Althea

14-06-2012, 08:47 PM

Haha, I'm so lucky, I run through all these big games and never more than 1 or 2 minor issues with them. Awakening included, I don't think I had a single issue, except what the hell I should do regarding the Architect.
Well, a number of the companion quests weren't fixed... and the patch that fixed them didn't actually fix them.

EDIT - What I'm playing:

Lord of the Rings Online
I play this on and off. It's... really fucking dull, but in a strangely addictive way. I've got to level 30 on a Hunter (I have a Guardian at 28 as well) and I'm really kinda struggling but pushing on with it anyway. It's the only MMO I'll give much time to these days.

Divinity II - The Dragon Knight Saga
Almost got my tower now, but I'm taking another little sabbatical from it for reasons I can't comprehend. Largely work and LotRO, I think.

Wiedźmin 2: Zabójcy Królów
In other words, The Witcher 2. I'm taking it a bit slower than I did the first few attempts and it's slowly starting to click for me. I've made a few choices I'm not entirely happy with, but those women who seemed like Daily Mail readers in it can fuck the hell off.

Raaritsgozilla

14-06-2012, 09:04 PM

Just started Battlefield 3 multiplayer, but also just realised I am oh so so terrible at it. How do people get so good??

Heliocentric

14-06-2012, 09:11 PM

The Saboteur's real strength is its stealth and demolitions. Don't play it like GTA, play it like Hitman.

Hell yes to this, the AI is laughably dumb at times, but that's okay.

Bleekill

14-06-2012, 09:20 PM

Just started Battlefield 3 multiplayer, but also just realised I am oh so so terrible at it. How do people get so good??

Practice a lot I suppose. I played a ton of CSS back in the day and even if i don't touch the game for a year, I can get on and dominate. I guess it becomes embedded in your brain.

I'm just starting Silent Storm, so glad it was put up on GoG.

Ravelle

14-06-2012, 10:30 PM

Just started Battlefield 3 multiplayer, but also just realised I am oh so so terrible at it. How do people get so good??

This is me panicing when ever I see someone, spray around and hit everything but the enemy in front of me.

postinternetsyndrome

14-06-2012, 11:04 PM

Just started Battlefield 3 multiplayer, but also just realised I am oh so so terrible at it. How do people get so good??With practice of course. With proper recoil control (pulling the mouse down to counter the recoil of weapons) you can kill people incredibly fast. This means that seeing the enemy before they see you is an enormous advantage. You almost never win a duel where the opponent started firing before you saw him. This makes positioning and awareness extremely important.

In the beginning I had trouble even making out other soldiers against the background, but it sinks in after a while. Realizing stuff like firing weapons shows you on the minimap (unless you have a silencer) also goes a long way towards making sure you are not surprised too much by enemies appearing from nowhere.

Other non-obvious stuff is that scopes take different amount of times to zoom in, affect your aim speed differently, and have a big effect on how distracting recoil is (high-zoom scopes are affected quite a lot by recoil). In general, red dot sights and the kobra sight are the fastest and most mobile choices, and can be used to great effect even on longer-range weapons.

...and so on. There are a lot of details to the game, and being aware of them all is one important aspect of winning more and dying less. But of course fast and accurate aim doesn't hurt by any means.

Sketch

14-06-2012, 11:07 PM

I'm sure there's some sort of conspiracy where everyone I see on forums is really bad at the game supposedly, so I buy the game thinking I may have a chance, but when I join I just get repeatedly deadified by angry people with guns, all of which never seem to panic when they see me, and decide I would look better with several holes.

LTK

14-06-2012, 11:12 PM

Wow, I was worried about installing Super Meat Boy because "you need to play this with a controller!" but even without it's really fun.

Raaritsgozilla

14-06-2012, 11:18 PM

This is me panicing when ever I see someone, spray around and hit everything but the enemy in front of me.

Amen to that.

I just cant see people, but, as postinterneysyndrome pointed out hopefully that will come with time. Also its quite hard to get off the first few levels of a gun. For example, I would love a red dot sight, but nooo my M4A3 has a 4x ACOG which is useless in close range (and I cant shoot from long range) and my M4 only has iron sights. Dont get me started on the Russian weapons :(

postinternetsyndrome

15-06-2012, 12:09 AM

Yeah, on many weapons the iron sights are actually preferably to some of the early scopes you unlock. Except for mutants like the FAMAS whose iron sights cover the entire screen with metal. Atrocious. Also worth noting that the russian weapons tend to unlock the russain optics early and american late, and vice versa. All weapons unlock the canadian scope - which is quite neat - late.

For spotting people, standing still should not be underappreciated. I regularly stand still without looking around and just wait for my peripheral vision to catch movement on the screen. This of course also picks up pieces of paper drifting in the wind, but can be useful anyway since the colours of both soldiers and environment are very Modern Gaming. Just for a few seconds though, and not i places where you are an obvious target.

Look for "noob only"-servers that kick people above a certain level. You will be safe from the most seasoned headshotters at least.

MD!

15-06-2012, 12:12 AM

Wow, I was worried about installing Super Meat Boy because "you need to play this with a controller!" but even without it's really fun.

Yeah, the 'controllers win' thing is a bit weird. Everyone always goes on about how you REALLY MUST use a controller, but as far as I can tell it's just that a lot of people find that more comfortable. There's no analogue control in the game, and no combination of button presses that is impossible with a keyboard.

The JG Man

15-06-2012, 07:38 AM

This patch will add controller buttons to the GUI. Just be sure to let it run for a little while, it's not the best at indicating progress.

Eh? I've played the game for over 2 hours and it does recognise some controller inputs on the GUI, but overall it seems like it doesn't quite get it. How long is 'a little while', do you know?

sonson

15-06-2012, 09:57 AM

So, Psychonauts, eh? It's pretty good, isn't it?

My advice, which I wish I had known during my play through- Get the arrowhead diviner thing asap and then search for the deep arrowheads straight away so that you can buy the cobweb duster, which becomes a necessity later on. Without wanting to spoil anything it is much harder to collect the deep arrowheads to afford it after a few hours in.

Heliocentric

15-06-2012, 10:13 AM

Wow, RAGE sure ended suddenly. I was expecting something more epic I guess?

Lambchops

15-06-2012, 10:31 AM

Started Max Payne 3 but got distracted by the FTL beta.

LutherBlissett

15-06-2012, 01:04 PM

Drox Imperative for the last 4hrs. OMFG it's space crack!

zay

15-06-2012, 01:59 PM

Just finished the main story to Alan Wake. I have to agree with some comments I've seen that the gameplay gets pretty stale about halfway through, but my god the story more than carried me until the end. And what an end! Totally spine-chilling. Now I'm up to the specials, and I started playing The Signal, but it was a massive step up in difficulty from the main game.

Kodeen

15-06-2012, 02:17 PM

Eh? I've played the game for over 2 hours and it does recognise some controller inputs on the GUI, but overall it seems like it doesn't quite get it. How long is 'a little while', do you know?

It appears that I am dumb and did not link to the patch I was referring to. Try this out.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2151566

Sketch

15-06-2012, 02:28 PM

Drox Imperative for the last 4hrs. OMFG it's space crack!

How does it play? I'm interested, but can't find any decent videos or articles on it.

Drayk

15-06-2012, 02:44 PM

Diablo 3 and Arkham City mostly.

roryok

15-06-2012, 04:33 PM

I had a list of games to play so I decided to play a ton of them at once. Currently playing Full Throttle, The Dig, No One Lives Forever, Vampire : Bloodlines, Octodad, and replaying Curse of Monkey Island, Splinter Cell 1, and Mechwarrior 2.

Granted I'm not getting very far in any of them but I figure I'll stick with the ones I like best.

On the list to start up this weekend are The Witcher and The Saboteur

The JG Man

15-06-2012, 04:47 PM

It appears that I am dumb and did not link to the patch I was referring to. Try this out.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2151566

Thanks, I'll look into that!

Flint

15-06-2012, 05:08 PM

IMO Psychonauts doesn't even require a pad, the mouse/keyboard controls are well done.

djbriandamage

15-06-2012, 06:24 PM

I just dropped $15 on LOTRO's Steam Starter Pack, someone sent me a 21-day Eve trial today, and I have Analog: A Hate Story staring my in the face begging to be completed.

So how come all I can think about is Origin's Bioforge? It's an awful game but I'm having nostalgic pangs to beat a blue imprisoned man with his own severed arm!

Heliocentric

15-06-2012, 06:28 PM

I'm having nostalgic pangs to beat a blue imprisoned man with his own severed arm!

And in the game?

Rauten

15-06-2012, 06:30 PM

and I have Analog: A Hate Story staring my in the face begging to be completed.

...Fuck. *Adds to the list of games to buy during the sale* *Sigh*

On topic: DotA2 with some IRL friends and tried the War of the Roses alpha a bit. I'd comment, but I'm pretty certain the NDA says something about an endless pit in the bowels of the earth or something like that.
Oh, and also started Noitu Love 2 from the Indie Royale; it's like a beat'em up on crack cocaine that was told to become mouse-centric if he wanted to keep receiving his doses of crack. Pretty damn fine, and hectic as all hell, can't play for long or I get dizzyness.

TailSwallower

15-06-2012, 08:41 PM

Lone Survivor. It's weird, it's creepy, it's unsettling, and I honestly don't know what to expect from the game. Loving it so far.

Noitu Love 2: Devolution. Played the first stage and I'm not too sure about it. So far it's simply been a case of holding the right arrow and clicking on things until they fell down dead. 2D side-scrolling Diablo? Not at all, but the constant clicking certainly didn't feel like exciting gameplay to me. Doesn't appear to be any different attacks - apart from the double-tap moves which are limited), and doesn't appear to be any meaningful combos, ways to juggle enemies or anything like that.
Shame though, 'cause the art style and animations are great (if you like that sort of thing).

LutherBlissett

15-06-2012, 09:13 PM

How does it play? I'm interested, but can't find any decent videos or articles on it.

If you've ever played Din's Curse or more specifically Depths of Peril... it plays like them but in space. The things that make those games "quirky" fit naturally into the space setting. Evolving / organising AI, algorithmically generated sectors etc... It reminds me of a skirmish game of Star Control II though I haven't played it for a while. OR imagine someone else is playing Endless Space or GalCivII and you are Han Solo... working for the highest bidder. That's kinda what it is... doing missions for the NPC AI - helping them win the galaxy.

Play wise... it has a learning curve and no effective tutorial yet but if you stick with it for a few hours, and have played any Action RPG, you'll probably get it. It starts off slow and builds up to hectic within the first hour as the NPC AI start expanding and declaring wars.

After the disappointment that Krater currently is, Drox was a happy find.

LutherBlissett

15-06-2012, 09:23 PM

...and tried the War of the Roses alpha a bit. I'd comment, but I'm pretty certain the NDA says something about an endless pit in the bowels of the earth or something like that.
I'm one of those people whom God forsook. Now i doubly hate Fatshark.

Althea

15-06-2012, 09:36 PM

vinraith

16-06-2012, 12:15 AM

Still working my way through The Witcher 2.

I'm in Act 1, maybe the middle of it, and I'm finding it okay. The combat is... a little crappy, I much prefer TW1's style, but I think the minigames have improved somewhat.

I've owned Witcher 2 since it came out, but haven't ever actually gotten around to playing it. I wasn't a big fan of the rhythm game combat in the original, how's the new combat work?

Sketch

16-06-2012, 01:25 AM

It has a completely new system, that's directly controlled by you with heavy slashes, rolls and light slashes combined with the signs that you cast in combat. I didn't mind the rhythm combat, but this is a lot better IMO, makes you feel in control. That said when it was released Geralt would sometimes feel a bit slow, not sure how much that's changed.

Lambchops

16-06-2012, 01:47 AM

Noitu Love 2: Devolution. Played the first stage and I'm not too sure about it. So far it's simply been a case of holding the right arrow and clicking on things until they fell down dead. 2D side-scrolling Diablo? Not at all, but the constant clicking certainly didn't feel like exciting gameplay to me. Doesn't appear to be any different attacks - apart from the double-tap moves which are limited), and doesn't appear to be any meaningful combos, ways to juggle enemies or anything like that.
Shame though, 'cause the art style and animations are great (if you like that sort of thing).

For me the art style and inventiveness were more than enough to win me over. I agree that it's pretty easy and mindless to complete but it was a fun ride. Plus to be fair it did seem to be going for the style of being easy to complete but hard to complete with good scores/ratings (whatever it was it had). That's not so much my cup of milk so like you I found the ease of completion somewhat disappointing but for those who like to be the best they can at a game there is something extra to enjoy there. I thought it was worth buying if not spectacular.

sabrage

16-06-2012, 02:01 AM

Having a good deal of fun with War of the Roses.

kstress71

16-06-2012, 04:27 AM

I tried to stay away, but I'm thoroughly in the iron grip of Diablo 3 now. So many other games deserving attention and every few free minutes I have go right to Blizzard.

Damn it.

Spider Jerusalem

16-06-2012, 08:06 AM

just got into the smite beta. really surprised at how good it is, a great new take on the moba formula.

Althea

16-06-2012, 08:59 AM

I've owned Witcher 2 since it came out, but haven't ever actually gotten around to playing it. I wasn't a big fan of the rhythm game combat in the original, how's the new combat work?

It has a completely new system, that's directly controlled by you with heavy slashes, rolls and light slashes combined with the signs that you cast in combat. I didn't mind the rhythm combat, but this is a lot better IMO, makes you feel in control. That said when it was released Geralt would sometimes feel a bit slow, not sure how much that's changed.

Basically what Woundedbum said, but it feels... a lot slashier than it used to. I mean in TW1 you could take down groups of enemies fairly easily as you had the group style, but now a group of enemies is pretty lethal. I ran into a group of Nekkers and Drowners last night and barely survived.

I just prefer TW1's combat. I wouldn't say it was particularly better, but it was more forgiving and a lot smoother.

Casimir Effect

16-06-2012, 11:16 AM

TW2 combat is more like the combat of Fable (Light Attack, Heavy Attack, Block and Dodge-roll), but a lot more 'serious' in various ways.
For example: Geralt can't change direction or roll away in an instant - the lad has some weight to him; getting hit from the flanks does a lot more damage (unless you take a skill on the sword tree) so multiple enemies are a massive threat early on; blocking consumes Vigor so can only be done a few times before you need to let Vigor regenerate (Vigor also powers your Signs).
In amongst all the rolling, blocking, slashing and... signing(?) you'll also be throwing grenades/bombs or perhaps trying to lead enemies over any traps you may have placed, so there's lots of things to do certainly. The hard part is remembering all these things when your health is at 50% and Nekkers are leaping at your face.

The skill path (Sword, Signs, Alchemy) you go down will also change your play style heavily, although only from about 1/2 way through Act 1 as I think it takes until about then to get enough skill points to have access to those trees. Up until then you have to put 6 points in the Witcher tree, which has useful, basic skills like more health/vigor.

Althea

16-06-2012, 11:19 AM

It's certainly a lot more unforgiving, and in my opinion that's not a good thing.

Potions and enhancements make a big difference, but it's really annoying when the game puts you into areas where enemies stream almost constantly and you find it hard to find areas where you can safely meditate in order to prepare and drink potions.

NathanH

16-06-2012, 11:45 AM

Not being able to drink potions during combat was an odd decision. I guess it makes lore sense, but good game mechanics is more important.

Althea

16-06-2012, 11:51 AM

It's not so much that, it's just drinking potions is almost necessary for even trivial fights. That and the ridiculous abundance of materials (I think at one point I had 70 Nekker teeth, 50 Nekker hearts, etc) is... bad.

Casimir Effect

16-06-2012, 01:29 PM

Potions I'd only use if I thought a big fight was coming, or would pop a Swallow potion before leaving town as I knew there'd be stuff to kill and I had plenty to spare. I think it would be better if they were handled like they were in the first game though. Sometimes being truthful to lore isn't a good idea.
On Normal difficulty I found myself dying quite a lot until I realised how unforgiving the game was. It's annoyingly easy to let a small fight against a couple of Nekkers, for example, get bigger and bigger as more of the fuckers pop up from the ground. Geralt vs 2 is easy, vs 6 can be a nightmare if they surround you

It's one of those games where you need to realise there is no shame in dropping it to Easy difficulty. I did for my first playthrough, and had a great time going Sword tree where I barely died for the rest of the game. My second playthrough was on Normal going Sign tree and because I now knew how to play the game I probably died only a few more times than the first. I'd never go to higher difficulty though - as that way would lie massive frustration, masochism and internet dick-waving.

Anthile

16-06-2012, 03:42 PM

So, turns out AssRev is pretty much the worst of the AssCreed. The plot is paperthin (collect the 5 magical mcguffins to open the fabled mcguffin library... which contains something), the gameplay is still the same as the two previous games and the villains are uninteresting.
It's not bad but at this point it seems that I have already played it... twice. The bombs are a nice addition but there's just too much of them so most of the time I just use smoke and poison ones. The mediterranean defense minigame has now more depth but it still feels tacked on. I just don't give a fuck if the templars steal cupcakes in Lisbon, alright. I already conquered all the cities and it's still bothering me. Why? It's completely inconsequential.
Apropos templars. That's what bothers me most, really. In the very first game they have been presented as well-intentioned extremists and they have gradually turned into moustache-twirling clichees who are responsible for absolutely everything bad that ever happened. It starts to feel like that one scene from the Simpsons, with the republican headquarters.

Giaddon

16-06-2012, 05:37 PM

Play the multiplayer!

sk2k

16-06-2012, 06:18 PM

Fallout 3 GOTY, with the following mods:
- Mart's Monster Mod
- Apocalypse Armory
- DC Interiors Project
- GNR Enhanced
- Conelrad Civil Defense Radio
- my own tweaks (higher global damage, lower timescale, slower leveling, halfed xp rewards, etc.)

Cosm

16-06-2012, 07:55 PM

Have to disagree with Althea about the Witcher 2. I think the combat in Assassins of Kings is so much better than the first. I couldn't even finish The Witcher 1, it just felt incredibly boring and not a challenge at all. I really like the Witcher 2 because almost every fight can turn deadly if you make the wrong move (at least in the beginning, the game gets much easier as you progress and gain more abilities/mutations). The only thing I dislike is the targeting system, because you can only damage the enemy you're targeting regardless of what your sword is actually hitting, until you level up and gain the ability to hit multiple enemies. Just felt really weird with their more hack n' slash type combat this time around. But yeah, I found it awesome because you really need to utilize all your skills to survive. Don't be afraid to roll away and wait for a better chance to go on the offensive. I do agree about the ridiculous about of crafting stuff though. The inventory management was really annoying, I just downloaded a mod that makes everything weigh nothing. :P

Still playing Krater, and it's still pretty fun but not nearly as deep as I'd hoped it would be. Each of your characters are stuck with basically the same two skills the whole game, so it just starts to get really repetitive. You can add boosters and implants to change their effects a little bit, but not nearly enough to keep them interesting. We'll see though, I still have a lot of the map to explore and I'm guessing a ways to go on the main quest. Also playing Alpha Centauri again with a friend, such an awesome game. Got Blitzkrieg in the mail, so I'll be playing that a good bit soon to hold me over until Company of Heroes 2 comes out.

Forever playing GTA:IV.

Althea

16-06-2012, 08:00 PM

Geralt is a master-swordsman with superhuman stamina and strength, as well as excellent tactical knowledge. Combat is not supposed to be that challenging for him.

Cosm

16-06-2012, 08:07 PM

Leopig

16-06-2012, 08:11 PM

I have never played The Witcher 2, but I hated the combat in the first (it put me off I stopped playing after 2 hours). But if Gerald is a master swordsman in the first by using the rhythm technique he would be boss at Guitar hero or Dance Dance Revolution.

Althea

16-06-2012, 08:38 PM

Anthile

16-06-2012, 09:02 PM

Oh yeah. I tried playing AssRev multiplayer.

http://i.imgur.com/r6DkV.png

Casimir Effect

16-06-2012, 09:55 PM

Well he is a master swordsman, if you can be a master swordsman, and that's much more satisfying. It doesn't make sense to me why you'd want to play a game as Superman, you might as well just watch a cutscene of Geralt being a badass and end it there. No challenge just leads to boredom in my opinion.
This is exactly it - his ability is shown by the amount of things he can do in a fight which most of the other human enemies can't. Think of how restrictive it feels when the game gets you to play briefly as another character, that demonstrates the difference between Witchers and normal folk.

Also, a lot of the human enemies he fights are soldiers. Now, games have a tendancy to depict the basic soldier as an low-level threat, which is silly as there's a good chance that soldier could be some veteran of 100 battles and so be pretty damn good himself. Even a fresh recruit would have picked up a thing or two in a land as dangerous as the game makes out. So I loved that in TW2 you could get a beatdown from 4 guys if you weren't careful - that ballista fight right at the start was a baptism by fire the first time I played it. Makes a change from pretty much every other big RPG around right now.

Drake Sigar

16-06-2012, 11:03 PM

TW2 still shouldn't have booted me to the main menu when I died in the tutorial though (no I'll never shut up about that).

Heliocentric

16-06-2012, 11:11 PM

Oh yeah. I tried playing AssRev multiplayer.

I know, CoD4 grinding fucks it up, but its otherwise majestic.

Casimir Effect

17-06-2012, 12:06 AM

Just started Mass Effect 3 and already I have 3 questions:
1. Who is this muscle-bound Gears of War reject and why should I care?
2. Why is Ashley whoring it up and gone all Michael Jackson with her skin tone?
3. Since when would my Shepard have allowed himself to be grounded by the Alliance - that body of people he did not fucking work for in ME2 (he did favours for and that was it)?

It's shit like this Bioware. Massively revisionist shit like this. It was bad enough at the end of ME2 when the supposedly godlike, unstoppable Reaper horde is shown to be fucking hours away from Earth, meaning some massive Reaper re-write or deus ex machina will have to be pulled outta someones ass for the sequel. But now you just seem to be changing everything you've established.
I know it's going to be a good, well-designed game. But it is going to try my patience like nothing else.

Heliocentric

17-06-2012, 12:37 AM

1. Who is this muscle-bound Gears of War reject and why should I care?

He's got quite a few funny lines, but, permission to not care granted.

2. Why is Ashley whoring it up and gone all Michael Jackson with her skin tone?Heh, the whoring tones down after those early cut scenes.

3. Since when would my Shepard have allowed himself to be grounded by the Alliance - that body of people he did not fucking work for in ME2 (he did favours for and that was it)?
The WTF's in a narritive sense have only just begun in ME3, I can almost see you in a week or so raging about various things.
But, to be fair, the BS started in ME2, why did Shep buddy with with Cerburus, why did the Human Navy not defend/evacuate its colonies, WTF a giant robot skeleton, WTF why am I not allowed to be jubilant about committing genocide on Batarians? -ME1 racist renegade shep would have been fist pumping.

Sketch

17-06-2012, 12:42 AM

Just started Mass Effect 3 and already I have 3 questions:
-snip-

Regarding point 3, Shep is grounded because he needs to be because the Batarians are pissed and the Alliance and the Hegemony need someone to blame.

And they're not shown hours away, they're in dark space still.

Plus, Althea, I'm not sure how you can say it doesn't make sense, he IS superhuman as is shown by his ability to not be dead when he was to fight multiple enemies. Just because it's a struggle, it's far more than what anyone else could do.

vinraith

17-06-2012, 01:40 AM

2. Why is Ashley whoring it up and gone all Michael Jackson with her skin tone?

This was my question from the demo. I mean seriously, what the hell?

The JG Man

17-06-2012, 03:10 AM

Just started Mass Effect 3 and already I have 3 questions:

1. Token cultural Spanish team member. He is easily out-classed in combat potential as soon as you get your third team member. You need never use him after that, to no detriment, apart from maybe one or two missions where I think he may be necessary.
2. She's a Spectre, so she can wear what she likes. You can, however, use her alternate appearance to something that isn't stupid and gives her defence rather than offensive punch. Also, you can't sell a game without a purdy lady. Apparently.
3. Woefully unexplained in-game, but it's due to the events of the Arrival DLC for 2. You willingly take the fall, although the military sure picked an amazing time to question you on your knowledge of the Reapers...

Althea

17-06-2012, 07:45 AM

Plus, Althea, I'm not sure how you can say it doesn't make sense, he IS superhuman as is shown by his ability to not be dead when he was to fight multiple enemies. Just because it's a struggle, it's far more than what anyone else could do.
As I was saying, the difficulty doesn't make sense in context. Whether you're judging it by the combat difficulty between TW1 and TW2 or general thinking - i.e. Geralt's attacking style is much more fluid in TW1 than TW2 - then something just doesn't add up.

sabrage

17-06-2012, 08:05 AM

War of the Roses is an addictive lil thing, isn't it? Think I'll have to pick up Mount & Blade next time it goes on sale.

coldvvvave

17-06-2012, 08:38 AM

About that Spanish guy from ME3. Whats wrong with having some muscle? I always had him in my party. And why not?

NathanH

17-06-2012, 09:05 AM

Vega is awesome. He's not bad in combat either, I found his special ability to be frequently useful.

Hypernetic

17-06-2012, 09:07 AM

Ashley looks like a plastic surgery disaster in ME3.

NathanH

17-06-2012, 09:10 AM

She doesn't look good, does she. It made me less irritated about having Mr Generic alive instead.

Flint

17-06-2012, 09:13 AM

1. Who is this muscle-bound Gears of War reject and why should I care?
He's basically there for all the people who haven't played either of the previous games; a sort of new guy in the whole situation who doesn't have any ties to the past stuff, much like the hypothetical ME virgin. I've read that his dialogue changes when played with a brand new, non-imported character, with more exposition and explanation of the world and history of the series.

fiddlesticks

17-06-2012, 09:38 AM

Finished Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Last third of the game was a drag as usual, but with a maxed-out Ranged skill and the Steyr Aug it was at least a very easy drag. And the independent ending is amazing enough to make me forget a lot of flaws.

Not sure what to play next. I still have the Witcher lying around unfinished, but I'm also tempted to do another playthrough of Fallout: New Vegas. Oh, the agony of choice.

Ravelle

17-06-2012, 09:46 AM

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/images/misc/quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by Casimir Effecthttp://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?p=144866#post144866)
2. Why is Ashley whoring it up and gone all Michael Jackson with her skin tone?

You're asking the wrong question, it' suppose to be " Why Did I let Ashley live?"

Casimir Effect

17-06-2012, 09:48 AM

His existance as a character I'm okay with and it's always great to have more ethnic representation in games, but the design is terrible. I mean, who actually looks like this (http://s2.imagestime.com/out.php/i662020_vega5.png) beyond those guys at the gym who spend hours there every day, grunting and talking about 'juicing'. Soldiers are in good shape, but they shouldn't have the spare time or diet to be able to go full 'roid like this. Unless he channels Brucie while on duty and starts doing pullups on every door frame.
The worst part is I can tell he's going to be hitting on my Femshep when I do that playthrough. The very thought makes me throw up a little.

As for the Batarians, I played Arrival so understand what the game is giving as a reason. But that reason isn't good enough and could have been better working off the same plot. Ultra goody-goody Shepards may volunteer to be grounded to appease the Batarians, but how is that ever going to come close to settling it? Removing one man from duty vs killing hundreds of thousands, fair deal there guys! Far better to have the Alliance turn around and say they haven't worked with you for 2+ years now - you're a Spectre and possible Cerberus ally so they take no responsibility. Then ME3 opens with you cruising around in the Normandy, dodging Batarian bounty hunters but otherwise protected from war crimes trials or official repercussions due to Spectre status.

Heliocentric

17-06-2012, 10:39 AM

Finished Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Last third of the game was a drag as usual, but with a maxed-out Ranged skill and the Steyr Aug it was at least a very easy drag. And the independent ending is amazing enough to make me forget a lot of flaws.
My wife to be (not long now) is playing Bloodlines, oh my god are some of the quests contrived. I'd forgotten how often you'd go back and forth. Ugh... She just reached downtown, I wonder how she will react to her ghoul.

Rauten

17-06-2012, 01:37 PM

You're asking the wrong question, it' suppose to be " Why Did I let Ashley live?"

Because both her and Kaidan are twats, but at least Ashley can't try to pull a move on my FemShep.

She just reached downtown, I wonder how she will react to her ghoul.

With an endless stream of love and care, I expect. Or there will be a reckoning.

vinraith

17-06-2012, 02:28 PM

My wife to be (not long now) is playing Bloodlines, oh my god are some of the quests contrived. I'd forgotten how often you'd go back and forth. Ugh... She just reached downtown, I wonder how she will react to her ghoul.

It is my great regret that on my only playthrough of that game (as a Nos) I missed the ghoul plot line entirely because I was trying to stay hidden and the room required to start it was, to my thinking, too close to the lobby to be safe (and therefore unlikely to be important, it certainly wouldn't have occurred to me there was a quest in there).

Attempts to replay the game have run into complete apathy, but that's the one thing I wish I hadn't missed.

fiddlesticks

17-06-2012, 03:22 PM

My wife to be (not long now)
Congratulations.

oh my god are some of the quests contrived. I'd forgotten how often you'd go back and forth.
There's definitely a lot of quests that spawn multiple locations, but I actually kind of like it. The interconnectivity gives the semblance of an actual world rather than a collection of individual levels and it means the various hubs stay relevant throughout the entire game. The loading screens do grate on you after a while, especially since, even with the unofficial patch installed, Bloodlines is rather prone to crashing.

Oshada

17-06-2012, 03:31 PM

Unless he channels Brucie while on duty and starts doing pullups on every door frame.

He pretty much does that.

The worst part is I can tell he's going to be hitting on my Femshep when I do that playthrough. The very thought makes me throw up a little.

Don't be hasty.

vinraith

17-06-2012, 04:00 PM

To topic:

I've been dabbling a little with Drox Operative's beta. Neat idea, very Soldak execution (that is, at first glance it's Din's in space, though there's actually more to it than that). It's got enormous potential, and I think I'm going to step back and let it develop a bit more before I play it seriously. $15 well spent, though.

I'm still playing Hegemony: Gold, and it's still pretty awesome. I'm having some issues keeping track of everything, though, as my empire gets larger. I need to figure out whether the problem is that I don't know how to use the interface, or that the interface isn't up to the task.

In co-op, I've been relearning Sins (now with the two expansions) to see if my opinion of it has reason to change. I find it's a game that I enjoy thinking about playing more than I enjoy playing it. I'm still not really sure where I'm at with it, but the fact that I check the clock quite a bit as I'm playing probably doesn't bode well.

apricotsoup

17-06-2012, 05:09 PM

Alice: Madness returns.

Tis very pretty and I am enjoying the multi jumpyness but whilst some areas look fantastic in their design, others are a bit bland (I'm on chapter 3/6 atm). Combat is a bit basic and the lock on a bit iffy but nothing too bad, apart from that it seems fairly solid if a little repetitive. May post some screenies in the other thread if I can be bothered :]

The JG Man

17-06-2012, 05:39 PM

And I've completed Psychonauts. The ending is heart-warming, entertaining and down-right brilliant, although I'm not entirely convinced of the final level. I didn't much appreciate the mini escort quest or the platforming to obstacles at a bend in 3D, however I'll let it all slip for the sheer creativity of the level itself. The whole game is great and generally a joy to play. Whilst I didn't 100% it, I will take solace in the fact that I recovered all the brains, so that's something. That being said, I do think there were a few too many collect-a-thons, although like pretty much everything else in the game, they were worked in magnificently. Nothing in the game didn't work and it all felt like it belonged.

It's not too hard to see why people would want a sequel, especially on the hilarious note it ends on.

Rauten

17-06-2012, 05:46 PM

@JG Man: there's a small extra cutscene for 100% completion, but if you can't be bothered, I suppose it'd be easy to youtube it.

Leopig

17-06-2012, 06:14 PM

About 6 hours into Sniper Elite V2 and loving it. Multiplayer is awesome too.

Casimir Effect

17-06-2012, 06:36 PM

In co-op, I've been relearning Sins (now with the two expansions) to see if my opinion of it has reason to change. I find it's a game that I enjoy thinking about playing more than I enjoy playing it. I'm still not really sure where I'm at with it, but the fact that I check the clock quite a bit as I'm playing probably doesn't bode well.
I find is takes an hour or two for a game of Sins to really grab me and keep me playing longer than I should. That first while is still fun but my empire is small enough that little is going on beyond tentative exploring, pushing that first capital ship out and doing the necessary research (Unlocking planet exploration, Trade buildings, ship types etc). But once that's done then I'm there until 2am without realising it.

alms

17-06-2012, 07:04 PM

After 24h in LA Noire (= I've just begun the last case at Vice, with plenty of driving and messing around), the repetition is starting to get me. The peak of my enjoyment so far was the Studio Secretary Murder case. Also, I'm missing Rusty "who shoved that riddle book up your ass" Galloway.

vinraith

17-06-2012, 08:05 PM

I find is takes an hour or two for a game of Sins to really grab me and keep me playing longer than I should. That first while is still fun but my empire is small enough that little is going on beyond tentative exploring, pushing that first capital ship out and doing the necessary research (Unlocking planet exploration, Trade buildings, ship types etc). But once that's done then I'm there until 2am without realising it.

That's how it usually goes for me with real 4X games, but Sins never does that for me. 5 hour games feel like they took 5 hours, sadly.

Casimir Effect

17-06-2012, 08:59 PM

Nalano

18-06-2012, 02:40 AM

Playing Civ5 in anticipation of Gods/Kings, usually as China.

In the current match, I chose an Earth map and ended up starting in India. I expanded over India and Persia, found America in China, noticed they build more cities than anybody, and ended up taking over Chicago and razing San Francisco somewhere in the Tibetan highlands. Got stalled by Dublin, America's client state, high in the Himalayas. Signed a peace agreement on my terms, and immediately started suggesting to the Songhai in Vietnam to attack them while they were weakened so I could focus on buddying up with my client states in Thailand and Sri Lanka. Right now, pretty much all my borders are mountains, I'm just about to start pumping out zhugenus, and I have three generals to make citadels with, making the Great Wall I built rather redundant. I can pretty much harass anybody at will from my fortress of solitude!

Anthile

18-06-2012, 03:51 AM

I swear AssRev has the longest credit section I have ever seen. Those ran for at least fifteen minutes. Interestingly enough, it seems they hired an actual historian this time. Also, there is someone in the world named Stone Chin.
Still Lost Archive to go.

Birdman Tribe Leader

18-06-2012, 04:20 AM

Just started playing SpaceChem again after a while and several computer transfers. Goddamn it is good. The puzzles are just so... mesmerizing. I feel like my brain is amazing when I solve them, especially the special challenges, and I find myself just thinking about the puzzles and playing that music in my head over and over.

I am taking a break for a couple days, though. I went a bit overboard this weekend and fell behind on some projects and mostly on sleep. And I'm a little worried that as the puzzles get bigger and harder (I'm at the end of the third planet, I believe?) it's going to feel really daunting to start each new challenge.

sabrage

18-06-2012, 04:47 AM

I just lost an hour to Fortix 2, which I must have gotten from a bundle somewhere along the line.

...It's a Qix clone. A pretty annoying one, at that.

vinraith

18-06-2012, 05:04 AM

I think the game might not be 4X enough for you, sadly enough. What sort of skirmish setups have you been playing so far? If you're finding things a bit too prosaic then all I can suggest is playing some crazy games: 8 players in 4 teams of 2 over 2-3 stars sort of thing. Then there'd hopefully be enough going on - even just in little things like scouting - to occupy you. I reckon it'd allow the diplomatic side of things to open up more too.

That's a good idea, I'll give it a try the next time I set up a game. We'd been playing smaller configurations (partly to get my co-op partner up to speed) but something bigger and more varied might help. Don't the tech trees top out completely pretty early on a set up like that, though?

tjv

18-06-2012, 07:31 AM

Started Saints Row The Third finally. Not many hours in thanks to all the footie, but blasting throgh this shouldnt take too long. Playing also some Runespell Overture. Neat poker puzzle quest. It is not real poker, but there is some tactics with the powerups and timing.
Tried also playiny R.U.S.E. on 360, but that was horrible. Could maybe tackle the controls and the odd checkpoints with lower difficulty, but churning through the campaign which I understood is quite long on Easy does not sound too tempting. Had bought this while ago, but I've upgraded my PC since that. So surely would be able to run in now on the superior platform. Maybe if its comes on a Steam sale. This copy is going to the local charity shop.

Casimir Effect

18-06-2012, 09:27 AM

That's a good idea, I'll give it a try the next time I set up a game. We'd been playing smaller configurations (partly to get my co-op partner up to speed) but something bigger and more varied might help. Don't the tech trees top out completely pretty early on a set up like that, though?
I've never had a problem with them to be honest. Perhaps the last hour will be spent researching things I don't really care about as everything else is done, but seeing as there is far more uncertainty in a big game you can't just pump money into research all the time. More time has to be spent building up a fleet or two, upgrading planetary defenses and keeping some solvency just in case you need to suddenly drop a load of missile platforms around a planet.

Alternatively, if you still think it could be a problem, play with the Game Options sliders to slow down research rates or income - http://sinsofasolarempire.wikia.com/wiki/Game_Options.

sabrage

18-06-2012, 10:20 AM

Rochard is gonna make me hate indie 2D platformers as much as that other guy. The puzzles aren't great and the combat blows.

Heliocentric

18-06-2012, 10:27 AM

Rochard is gonna make me hate indie 2D platformers as much as that other guy. The puzzles aren't great and the combat blows.

Srsly?

In all honesty, the last 15 minutes were an abomination but i quite enjoyed holding up a box like a shield and then splatting people with it, where are you up to narratively?

sabrage

18-06-2012, 10:56 AM

I'm at the corporation's ship, right after the casino... (which brings up another point, I wish I could skip the cutscenes because I like using my second monitor for Always Sunny when I'm playing) The whole game reminds me of the Wizard character from Trine, which I didn't care much for either. I'll probably finish it - unlike Trine - but I just can't help but feel like something is missing. There's too many "run through this room and shoot the guys" for a proper puzzler, but the general movement and feel is pretty slow-paced, robbing it the feel of a good platformer. It's not the worst I've played, but it's leaving me cold.

Giaddon

18-06-2012, 11:45 AM

Check out the demo of Vessel for a platformer/puzzler done right.

sabrage

18-06-2012, 12:18 PM

To be fair, Rochard doesn't do anything wrong... It just doesn't do it very interesting, either.

Why is that Vessel demo a whole gig? Is that all water physics? I feel like, given that I certainly won't be buying it anytime soon, I'll pass for now.

Heliocentric

18-06-2012, 12:53 PM

I'll probably finish it - unlike Trine

I'm done talking, get out of my internet. Trine is awesome.

BTW, Trine 2 solves Trine 1's worst crime (mana) but loses the big guy being able to throw boxes (awesome in coop).

Kodeen

18-06-2012, 01:11 PM

Speaking of indie puzzle platformers, I played about half of Braid yesterday. It's a very interesting mechanic, I was worried about the game just having a "whoops, cheat" button, but that was before I knew about the time-proof objects. I loved the first couple of worlds, but the third world (which is called world 4) has all movement based on my own, which is not as enjoyable. The music and art are really great.

postinternetsyndrome

18-06-2012, 01:28 PM

I'm done talking, get out of my internet. Trine is awesome.

BTW, Trine 2 solves Trine 1's worst crime (mana) but loses the big guy being able to throw boxes (awesome in coop).I've finished Trine, but not Trine 2. It's extremely the same, minus the inventory. It's disappointing to spend extra time and energy on reaching a treasure chest just to be rewarded with some concept art and a stupid poem.

DaftPunk

18-06-2012, 02:02 PM

Just completed The Dead Walking game yesterday,today i'm going to play Dark Messiah and when my sis comes home,we're going to start Fahrenheit,also known as Indigo Prophecy in USA.

sabrage

18-06-2012, 03:09 PM

Trine is awesome.
I tried to think of a puzzle-platformer that I really liked... Braid came close, but trying to get all the puzzle pieces was way too taxing. Think I'll stick with Picross. I don't like having to fiddle with the answer (or the way my blocks stack) until it finally works.

Drake Sigar

18-06-2012, 03:11 PM

I've finished Trine, but not Trine 2. It's extremely the same, minus the inventory. It's disappointing to spend extra time and energy on reaching a treasure chest just to be rewarded with some concept art and a stupid poem.I kept getting the same poem. Because it was SO good, it had to be heard a third time.

Just completed The Dead Walking game yesterday,today i'm going to play Dark Messiah and when my sis comes home,we're going to start Fahrenheit,also known as Indigo Prophecy in USA.
Well, good luck getting it working. Fahrenheit can be a little tricky if you're using the retail version on Vista or Windows 7.

sabrage

18-06-2012, 03:17 PM

Might want to invest in a non-360 gamepad for Fahrenheit. The keyboard controls are execrable, and Microsoft's toy won't work.

AlexClockwork

18-06-2012, 03:20 PM

Just completed The Dead Walking game yesterday,today i'm going to play Dark Messiah and when my sis comes home,we're going to start Fahrenheit,also known as Indigo Prophecy in USA.
Well, good luck getting it working. Fahrenheit can be a little tricky if you're using the retail version on Vista or Windows 7.

I made it work on W7 last year without too much problems. An amazing game, BTW, loved it when I first played it on PS2 some years ago...

TechnoJellyfish

18-06-2012, 04:26 PM

Just completed The Dead Walking game yesterday,today i'm going to play Dark Messiah and when my sis comes home,we're going to start Fahrenheit,also known as Indigo Prophecy in USA.

Prepare for some of the most eyebrow-raising plot twists in the history of gaming ...

Might want to invest in a non-360 gamepad for Fahrenheit. The keyboard controls are execrable, and Microsoft's toy won't work.

Yes, it does. Get XBCD (http://vba-m.com/forum/Thread-xbcd-0-2-7-release-info-updates-will-be-posted-here), install and configure the right analog stick as Z-/+ (vertical) and RZ-/+ (horizontal) axes. Alternatively, feel free to use my pre-configured profile (save as *.xgi and open with the XBCD utility):

[Gamepad]
DevType=5
LStickDZ=0
RStickDZ=0
BThreshold=10
TThreshold=10
AThreshold=100
AxesOn=9
LAFactor=255
RAFactor=255
NButtons=12
LStickFull=0
RStickFull=0
AxesScale=64646464646464
Layouts=1
Profile0=27292A280807090A0102030405060B0C191A1C1B2 3241E1D0000

Warning ... bla ... third-party drivers ... bla ... may harm your system ...

Scumbag

18-06-2012, 07:24 PM

Noitu Love 2 Devolution: Spammy silly explosions everywhere fun.

Train Simulator 2012: What the hell am I doing with my life?

Ravelle

18-06-2012, 07:41 PM

Awesomenauts.

Hey maybe this DotA community is nice for a change.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2n0ub74.jpg

Nope!

Kodeen

18-06-2012, 08:36 PM

I keep reading that sentence trying to parse it, but I'm not succeeding.

SirKicksalot

18-06-2012, 08:40 PM

Shhhh, no tears. Only die pathetic.

Nalano

18-06-2012, 08:40 PM

I keep reading that sentence trying to parse it, but I'm not succeeding.

Rough translation: "Your inexperience in this team game has caused a loss for me. I will never forgive you, and I suggest the best course of action for you at this moment is suicide."

Hypernetic

18-06-2012, 08:42 PM

Rough translation: "Your inexperience in this team game has caused a loss for me. I will never forgive you, and I suggest the best course of action for you at this moment is suicide."

I do believe he is saying "all you did was die and you never helped the team", but even in that case suicide is the only solution.

Ravelle

18-06-2012, 08:47 PM

This person was either 5 years old, giving him the time to play all day without any other obligations or is from asia, considering his username and poor english and does nothing more than play this game. Or maybe both.

Hypernetic

18-06-2012, 08:48 PM

Ravelle

18-06-2012, 08:53 PM

Offensive, sir.

Yeah, well, so is sending me insulting messages.

DaftPunk

18-06-2012, 08:59 PM

Prepare for some of the most eyebrow-raising plot twists in the history of gaming ...

Yes, it does. Get XBCD (http://vba-m.com/forum/Thread-xbcd-0-2-7-release-info-updates-will-be-posted-here), install and configure the right analog stick as Z-/+ (vertical) and RZ-/+ (horizontal) axes. Alternatively, feel free to use my pre-configured profile (save as *.xgi and open with the XBCD utility):

[Gamepad]
DevType=5
LStickDZ=0
RStickDZ=0
BThreshold=10
TThreshold=10
AThreshold=100
AxesOn=9
LAFactor=255
RAFactor=255
NButtons=12
LStickFull=0
RStickFull=0
AxesScale=64646464646464
Layouts=1
Profile0=27292A280807090A0102030405060B0C191A1C1B2 3241E1D0000

Warning ... bla ... third-party drivers ... bla ... may harm your system ...

Thanks for help but i'll play with keyboard even as i own xbox360 controller,can't hassle with XBCD and i already played long time ago with keyboard and i didn't had any problems. Also i followed one tutorial for getting Fahrenheit to work on win7,it was 2 min long and i installed game with no problems,also went in to see if it works,and it works _D

sabrage

18-06-2012, 09:18 PM

Damn, Jellyfish, I wish you'd come along earlier. I actually bought a Bluetooth adapter for this specific game just to use my PS3 controller with it.

Wayward_Ronin

18-06-2012, 09:31 PM

I've been playing LA Noire, which may be one of the worst games that I've ever come across. It's barely a game. It's an interactive movie, with short paint-by-numbers crime stories with predictable outcomes that lead you by the nose without letting you break out of the story it's trying to tell.

Almost every design decision grates on my nerves - from the pointless non-clues (beer bottles etc) that litter crime scenes to having to turn someones neck from side to side to examine it just to give the barest hint of player interaction. And of course there's the sometimes deeply odd logic jumps that come during the interrogations. It's only broken up by the humdrum street crimes (where Phelps soaks up bullets like a sponge), and exploring a well modeled, but very dull, Los Angeles. I really don't know whether to carry on. Will the storyline, as a whole, make up for all the game's shortcomings?

Anthile

18-06-2012, 09:41 PM

Well, managed to beat the Lost Archive DLC... which turned out to be just more of the first-person puzzler part. Yes, there is a first person puzzler in AssRev and no, it really doesn't make sense in context. Okay, there's also some new multiplayer skins and it seems like a collection of all the pre-order stuff but it's still hardly worth the price tag.
It tells the story of Subject 16 but there isn't any noteworthy revelations (hah!) besides the fact that it's confirmed that SPOILERLucy/SPOILER really was a traitor all along.

I also started to play Dungeon Siege 3+DLC. I can't say much so far. Hardcore difficulty is almost unplayable with just about every mook being able to kill you in 1-3 hits. I gave up on it after the first boss in the abandoned mansion, with the four skeleton mages all being able to one-shot me with homing range attacks, and reverted to default difficulty.