What did you think of Mass Effect 2?Quote:
Originally Posted by Geforce255
What did you think of Mass Effect 2?Quote:
Originally Posted by Geforce255
I just beat Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. It was another great addition to the series. It felt a bit longer than the Curious Village. I liked the story more in Curious Village though. I wish that they let you stay at Dropstone longer than they did. I really found the village to be very intriguing.
Before that I also beat Tales of Monkey Island on Steam. That was another great experience. It was hilarious. I think it was a lot more fast paced than other Monkey Island games. With other Monkey Island games, I felt like I was stuck in an area for a very long time before moving to the next part. Tales of Monkey Island has you traveling to many more different places. All areas also seem very unique, so it really added to the mood of the game. All pluses really.
The only catch is that it felt like Tales of Monkey Island seemed to be a bit more easy than past Monkey Island games. I'm not sure if it's because I recently beat Sam and Max Hit the Road and Indiana Jones Fate of Atlantis (I've had these games for years but finally decided to just sit down and play it), but there was only one real part that I was really stuck in.
I've never played Monkey Island 4 Escape From Monkey Island, but I have beat 1-3 so it's nice to revisit the universe. I do think that Curse of Monkey Island was the best of the series, so Tales is a lot more like that. If you didn't like Curse of Monkey Island, you may not enjoy Tales.
I definitely recommend both games. I'm looking forward to playing Layton's Unwound Future. I don't have it yet.
I need to finish diabolical box.
I just finished Alpha Protocol (the 360 versions I have no idea how the PC versions behaves).
It's way way way better than any review that I've read about it. If you like westerner RPGs (things like Bioware, Bethesda or Obsidian pulls out) then you should give it a try if you find it in a bargain bin. The story is interesting and well told, the choices you make do affect the game's storyline. As far as I'm concerned the gameplay is only marred by terrible boss fights (why we still do trudge through these 80's memes is beyond me anyway). I wish Deus Ex 2 had been more like this game.
About the reviews : reading them back after playing the game I think I understand why the Bioware guys did ME2 the way they did it (more shooty, less RPGy). Alpha Protocol is a RPG, not a shooter, not a stealth game, it's no Splinter Cell or Call of Duty, yet it was very often compared to those kind of games in the reviews which is pointless yet is the reason for most of the bad scores. I've never read a critic saying that Gears of War was disappointing because you couldn't choose Marcus Fenix replies like in DAO or Fall Out 3, why the opposite?
Then again who am I to judge. I started playing Alpha Protocol like it was some kind of Splinter Cell + RPGs. I was infuriated more than once by my inability to go stealthy more than once in the first missions. And then I realized my error, skills aren't a given in a RPG, they're earned. You can't be Sam Fisher from the start, you have to level up you stealth skill if that's how you want to play it (and with the Stealth Skill maxed you can do some ridiculous exploits that would put Sam to shame).
Playing Red Dead Redemption now. The sunny colorado makes me look at my TV more than my autumnal windows.
I loved it. I think the first was a bit better, less on rails; but this was still masterful. The combat and squad tactics are superb. The AI is some of the best I've seen. Okay, your squad mates are kind of dumb - but I think that's to encourage the player to manage them. The enemy is quite clever. It uses cover effectively and seeks opportunities to flank.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fig
The story is derivative; where the first one basically ripped off Babylon 5, this one cribs from the Borg Saga of Star Trek, still it doesn't matter because they do such a great job of telling the story that it still works.
The game runs great with no crashes. Visuals are okay, not great but certainly adequate. The atmosphere is superb, it sucks you in and keeps you there. Bioware does what few have done with games, makes you actually care about the people - not just about completing quests. The Borg attack on the Enterprise - oops, I mean the Reaper attack on the Normandy actually had me anxious about the fate of a certain crew member. This was done so well that it didn't matter at all that the entire plot curve for this section was lifted from Star Trek.
It is a great game, an all time classic.
Finished SP Black ops...4 hrs...***...this isn't a movie.
Last beat my second run through of Batman AA.....man that game is so freaking awesome. Before that I played and beat Mass Effect 2 and that was pretty killer as well. Both on PC.
Right now Im playing Warcraft 3, Alien Breed Impact and Fallout 3.
I just finally beat Luigi's Mansion for Gamecube. It's a great game and I wish that they did release a sequel. I only got rank F though in the end so my Luigi house was super small.
I'm not sure what to play next, but I'm thinking either Hotel Dusk or continue playing Broken Sword 2. I'm not enjoying Broken Sword 2 so far though, the story isn't very interesting and the pace is extremely slow. Then again, I've only really started and just passed the outside cafe.
Beat Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's probably my favorite Ratchet game out of the entire series. I'm probably going to go back and collect everything.
Just beat Infamous. Overall I wasn't that impressed with the game. I felt Crackdown and Prototype offered a better overall package with a more interesting combat system and dynamic city. I was greatly disappointed by the story, which I felt started off strong but quickly fell apart.
I just beat Gears of War 2. I was very close to beating it and just decided to play it again after Luigi's Mansion. I didn't think that we were that close to beating it. I still find the story to be very confusing and the relationship between Marcus and Anya is very robotic. I'll still probably end up playing Gears of War 3 though, since I've played through the first one and now the sequel.
I just beat Lara Croft Guardian of Light for Steam. I played it in local coop. It took about 7 hours to beat and that's with thoroughly trying to get all the collectibles in the game. I really wasn't close to finding everything still and there's a lot of challenges that rewards you for beating a part even sooner. This game can be beat in probably 5 hours or less if you just sped through it, but there's a lot to enjoy that would have you do otherwise.
The graphics were awesome and some of the puzzles were really fun and varied. There's a lot of teamwork involved. If I were to compare it to anything it would be PS2 Baldur's Gate meets Lego Indiana Jones. Even if the game is very short, it's still worth the price I paid (7 bucks). It's the perfect game for renting at your local Blockbuster (haven't done that in forever) and playing through a weekend. Since renting games isn't really all that in anymore, the 7 buck deal makes it worth it.
I just purchased Sims 3 for Mac/PC so I'm guessing that I'll probably play that next. It was only 14 bucks at Amazon, so I'm glad I was able to get a good Cyber Monday deal!
Finally beat Dead Space. Ending was pretty much expected but i really enjoyed the tense game play and the added features of zero G and other mechanics that help break up the game play from being one long boring trek through a dimly lit hall.
Considering playing through a gain to try the other weapons but I probably won't. All in all a solid game and I look forward to part 2.
Now to finish Batman Arkham Asylum with 100% completion
I just finished Red Dead Redemption.
Good game, could be better. The good is the inspiring setting, the characters, the dialogs, the sun setting behind clouds while riding across a deserted plains, etc... the could be better is the disjointed storyline, it could have deserved a more RPGish approach. It feels a lot more like a collection of vignettes about the old west than the story of one John Marston.
Started playing Splinter Cell Conviction. After a few missions, it leaves me with a weird feeling. My beloved Splinter Cell stealth game seem to be yet another victim of the shooter infection.
Alpha Protocol
8/10
There isn't much I can say about this game except I have no idea why it got bad scores, I had so much fun playing it and am very tempted to play through it again. For the sub $10 it is going for now I would recommend trying it if you ever thought about it.
+Fun
+Dialog trees cracked me up
-FOV (can be changed via .ini on pc)
-too short (didn't want it to end) ~12 hours
-Needs .ini changes to run well on PC
All in all Alpha Protocol was one of my favorite games i've played this year and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys Action or 3rd Person RPG's.
I'm gonna try Two Worlds: Epic Edition (lol) next. Got it for $6.00 and I've been wanting to play a open world RPG lately.
I concur.Quote:
Originally Posted by fastitocalon
As for the reviews my guess is that just like some of Mass Effect reviews, for some reviewer as long as the main character wields a gun the game must compare favorably to shooter games. Shooter fans are playing those games because they saw a guy in camo shooting opponents and expect it to have the same mechanics as any CoD/GoW/MoH/Halo/etc... Which is both wrong and unfair, but that's the way it is and it won't go away (Bioshock was more a shooter than System Shock, ME2 more a shooter than ME1, Splinter Cell V more a shooter than any SC, etc...).
Haven't beaten a game in a bit.
But I'm currently finishing up CoD3, as well as Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.
I started playing Viva Piñata. Man, this console to PC port buggy as hell.
I've been sucked back into WoW dammit! I have been playing GT5 and plan to play NFS HP during christmas break along with Halo Reach with my brother.
I just finished "Splinter Cell : Conviction" and this games bring to my Trekkie mind the 239th Ferengi rule of acquisition "Never be afraid to mislabel a product".
The shorty:
It's a good game, albeit a short one. However, Splinter Cell fans beware, it is not, I repeat NOT, a Splinter Cell game. Change the names of the characters and you have a new Ubisoft IP.
Old & New :
This game is about gunning, killing, defeating waves of mercenaries, interrogating guys Bauer style, exploding stuff, pursuing guys, outsmarting gatling guns and combat helicopter, saving the president attacked in the white house by your former teammates (the story does get quite preposterous) and in the midst of all that doing about one mission reminiscent of what used to be Splinter Cell (which used to be about stealth, infiltration and sabotage, sometimes upping the ante by forbidding killing).
The names of the character are the same, but the story and the characterization makes them look like their old selves as much as Katee Sackhoff looks like Dirk Benedict. Continuity note : the game assumes you killed Lambert in the previous chapter.
The new Sam's equipment is different too, gone are the two weapons and gadgets. They're replaced by an arsenal of guns not unlike the one you'll find in most modern world FPSs (though you'll still be only able to equip two) and a handful of gadgets functioning like grenades. Old Sam's fancy ninja tricks and moves have been replaced by simpler moves and kravMaga take downs. The best transition from old style to new style is the way movement from cover to cover is handled. I hope other games using cover will take note of that simple yet effective system.
Other new mechanics are:
Prepare & Execute : you're able to "mark" enemies (a tiny arrow appear above their head and is visible through walls making it easy to follow their movements), and when you do a close combat take down you earn the ability to "Execute" all the visible marked enemies by pressing a button (the ability is "stored" and can be triggered whenever you want).
This new mechanic pretty much set the rhythm of the game as you'll constantly try to get up close to a poor P&C "ammo guy" and then wait for the best moment to unleash Sam's fury on as much enemies as possible (of course to balance for that new mechanic the levels are way more crowded than before, way more crowded).
Last Known Position : when you go out of the field of vision of enemies who spotted you the last point where they saw you will be marked by a "translucent Sam statue" enemies will gather around and check if you're still there while you circle around them to get them by surprise (or not as the AI may decide things are getting too much dangerous and try to consolidate it's position rather than going after you).
the new Goggles : gone are the night/thermal goggles, they're replaced by sonar ones. The main advantage : you can spot enemies behind walls (and "mark" them that way), the main defect : they don't work well when you move, but it's not a big problem since you can follow "marked" enemies without them thanks to the P&C mechanic.
Using the new mechanics and gadgets will earn you P&C points with which you will buy items in the game.
Will you like it? :
If you're into action games and were bored by the Splinter Cell games when you tried them then this game has been made for you. Have fun, it's a well done game if overproduced (a bit too much flash over substance for me) the gameplay mechanics are solid and well incorporated into the level design. The campaign is short (for me, but longer than most FPS's solo campaign nowadays) but there's a bunch of "challenge" maps on the side which you can play coop (the mechanics of the game do lend themselves very well to the coop playstyle, I could only try it alone with two controllers but it made me wish I add a friend interested in playing it).
If you're a fan of the slow paced, careful planning and trying as much as you can to be a ghost leaving a trail of unsuspecting living enemies behind you then walk away or play this game for what it is (that is NOT a Splinter Cell game).
Final word :
The Ubisoft guys tried to blend action and stealth mechanics and did good. However Conviction is imo nowhere as good as Batman : Arkham Asylum (better graphic, better story and characterization, better mix of action and stealth, better action and better stealth, longer too).
I wish they didn't change the Splinter Cell IP so much. I'd rather they had created a new IP, or created another character in the same universe spearheading the new gamestyle. I wonder if they'll ever be able to make a new "real" Splinter Cell" game without completely disregarding this opus. But that's not a problem as they probably won't ever want to go back since this one seemed to cater to a larger audience as the old ones and larger audience means bigger money.
They changed the team for the next game, I wonder what they'll do. I hope they'll decide the IP is now in a state of flux and make it their own and perhaps, maybe, add a little more stealth and less Bauer-ism in the mix.
Next in line... probably Alan Wake
I've decided to start Lost Odyssey.
I've had the game since Christmas 2008, and I've never even opened it...until last night.
I'm not even an hour in yet, haven't met any major characters yet that I can tell, but I already like the feel and atmosphere of the game. The FF lineage is very plain to see, and if the story and characters can stay interesting, I'm hoping it will be more entertaining than the last 3 FF games I've played.
Anybody else played it? Any thoughts/opinions on it or how it compares to other JRPGs?
I've played through about 1/2 of it, I really like it and it is much better than FF13. It is just really long lol, the 1st disc is pretty boring also so if you like it now I imagine you will enjoy it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spaceman Spiff
I just finished Alan Wake and wow, what a ride.
I'm not a big fan of spooky story (because I'm a wuss) but this one just hooked me from beginning to end. The atmosphere is excellent, the writing is very good, each and every game mechanic is tied to the story and never gimmicky, etc... I liked it a lot.
The best part for me was the manuscript pages that you find on your way, pages about the story you're going through and are wonderfully done. They're used to give you warnings, foreshadowing, explanations and insight into the other characters (by describing scenes from which your character is absent).
I've read here and there that some got tired with the gameplay along the way, there's a handful of different enemies and there's not many different tactics to eliminate them. But I didn't mind, I was going along for the story and I felt it reinforced the story's consistency.
If you're into storytelling, then you'll like it. It's a well thought out, well told and well "directed" game.
If you're more into action, it might disappoint you as it's fights, interaction with the environment & scenery can get repetitive or monotonous.
After Max Payne and Alan Wake, I'll be waiting for Remedy's next IP.
Next in line will be Prototype. Tried it a while ago and never got past the first mission, time to finish it.
Last game I beat was probably Fallout: New Vegas. Really enjoyed it, but haven't really touched it after putting 80 hours into it.
Playing through FFXIII right now because I never finished it, and I'm honestly liking it more the second time around.
Next game I'll probably play will either be Ratchet and Clank Tools of Destruction or Demon's Souls. I might save Demon's Souls for after beating R&C and 3D Dot Heroes because I hear it can be pretty addicting.
Haven't really "beaten" anything lately since I've mostly been playing stuff that doesn't properly end (like Minecraft). I guess the last one I finished was Recettear three weeks ago; thought it was pretty great overall.
Started Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey and Civilization V in the last few days; I'm liking them both a lot so far. Land units being able to embark and cross water without needing to build a transport ship is a wonderful and welcome change to Civ.
Beat Batman Arkham Asylum before I left for Xmas vacation. Great game with my only complaint being the boss battles which severed more like speed bumps in the racetrack of awesomeness that is Arkham Asylum.
I also wrapped up Dead Space. Another great game though the ending is pretty predictable.
Not sure what to play next.