The last game you beat,did you like it and what are you playing next?

[monroeski]

Don't remember what I posted that I was playing last, but I'm currently still playing Devil Survivor and the new Scott Pilgrim game. Both are pretty great; Devil Survivor is just what you would expect from an SMT tactics type game, and Scott Pilgrim is basically the successor to River City Ransom.

Every once in a while I still pick up FFXIII, but I'm still far from finishing that.

Trying to decide what PC RPG I want to play, as I now have Oblivion, Fallout 3, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and The Witcher on Steam, plus I bought Arcanum recently. I'm thinking I'll start with Oblivion.

[fastitocalon]

Don't remember what I posted that I was playing last, but I'm currently still playing Devil Survivor and the new Scott Pilgrim game. Both are pretty great; Devil Survivor is just what you would expect from an SMT tactics type game, and Scott Pilgrim is basically the successor to River City Ransom.

Every once in a while I still pick up FFXIII, but I'm still far from finishing that.

Trying to decide what PC RPG I want to play, as I now have Oblivion, Fallout 3, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and The Witcher on Steam, plus I bought Arcanum recently. I'm thinking I'll start with Oblivion.

The best of that group IMO is Dragon Age, however it is also the longest.

[Farmer_BOB]

I just beat the original Sam and Max game Hit the Road. The animation, voice acting, and music was amazing. The art style was a lot like Day of the Tentacle. The main problem I had was that there wasn't a clear plot or mission. This is the first adventure game that I had to go online to look up where to go next. I also think the combining of items didn't make any sense. I'd mention what I'm talking about, but I don't want to spoil it.

I'm planning to play Indiana Jones Fate of Atlantis next!

[Spaceman Spiff]

I finished Alan Wake last night.

I enjoyed the game overall. I didn't think it quite lived up to the (pretty substantial) hype that seemed to swirl around it for so long prior to release, but it was still a very good game.

I loved the fact that it was essentially an action-oriented graphic adventure. The narrative was superb. Not enough games anymore actually try and tell a worthwhile story, and whether you find the story compelling or not, you've got to hand it to the developers for actually trying to be storytellers first, and they do an exceptional job with that. The voice acting, cinematography, and plot progression and character exposition were all very well done. That was refreshing. A game made for adults that doesn't need boobs, bullets, blood, and bad language to do it.
Gameplay was solid, with very few frustrating parts. Simplistic controls and fairly linear paths kept my frustration to a minimum.

On the not so bright side though, I found the combat/action gameplay to get quite repetitive quite fast. While I was never annoyed with it, it did start feeling like a chore at times wandering through the woods, watching my surroundings go crazy, having "The Taken" appear, dispatching them, walking another ways in the dark, rinse and repeat until next story section. Blah. The lack of enemy designs was also disappointing. Ghostly miners, lumberjacks, crows, and possessed inanimate objects were about all I could remember. It wouldn't have been too big a deal, if combat wasn't such a big part of the game. But it is.

Also, and this is just personal, I had to keep reminding myself this wasn't a (survival) horror game. It's a "thriller" with "paranormal subject matter". The problem is, the atmosphere, the setting, the enemies, etc...all made me think I was on the verge of being scared, and well, I never was. Not even close. I kept wanting to be creeped out by what I was going to face next, but I couldn't even muster that. The "Dark Presence" felt a bit...watered down. I wasn't afraid of it at all, or its powers, or the taken. They all seemed a bit generic to me, and as much as I didn't want it to, that had a big impact on how the game effected me. If you're trying so hard to make a creepy, disturbing atmosphere, and I'm neither creeped out nor disturbed at any point, that takes some points off for me.

I know it sounds like I have more complaints that praise, which isn't true. It's just that the complaints are on the most important aspects of the game for me.

If it had had a bit more creep out/tension/scary factor, I might have been more patient. On the other hand, if that couldn't be done, maybe a little less redundant combat with enemies that failed to spook me, especially after the bazillionth time fighting them.

I'll get around to the DLC chapter probably around Halloween, but I'm not really in any rush to play it right now.

Good game, very close to be "very good", but just not quite "great" for me.

My Final Score: 8.0 out of 10

Up Next:

I don't know yet. These are the front runners:

Mass Effect 2 (most likely candidate)
Dragon Age Origins
Assassin's Creed II
Deus Ex
Fallout 3
Terranigma


...also, Civ V is just around the corner, and Halo Reach is truly calling to me. Gah. Not...enough...time.

[JDC]

I finished Singularity a few weeks ago. It's a pretty standard shooter with a pretty interesting time-manipulation mechanic. Basically you can age(+~50 years) or revert(-~50 years) enemies and items. For example there are mutated enemies and you can revert them back to human soldiers, or you can age human soldiers to dust. Same with items, if there is a broken staircase you can revert it back ~50 years so it is a functioning staircase. Most of the puzzles revolve around this mechanic.

I played on the hardest difficulty and I died, a lot. It seems the enemies were really powerful or I wasn't using my powers/equipment properly. It got quite frustrating at times.

I didn't play multiplayer(and probably won't since Reach is out), but I'd say it's a good rental game.

I've started Darksiders and am almost done with that. It's pretty much a God of War clone(though I've read it's more like a clone of Zelda with GoW style). I got it for cheap and having fun with so not many complaints there.

I'm also playing Halo: Reach. Started with multiplayer with some Firefight sprinkled in. Not much to say here so far.

[James]

I'm currently playing Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Plants vs. Zombies, and Star Wars: Empire at War.

Love them all, and would definitely recommend them.

I'm also trying to get back into Professor Layton, since a new one came out, and I haven't finished the 2nd one.

[Timman_24]

Sadly not playing anything at the moment. Too much HW and school to focus on to play games. Vindictus is kind of neat though, plus Minecraft in my free time.

[taggart6]

Just beat Other M.

IMHO, its the weakest Metroid game I've ever played with the exception of Metroid Pinball. The story is awkward, the level design is boring, and the game mechanics are hit and miss.

And Samus in heels? ***?

[monroeski]

I have all three current gen consoles and I just dropped 4 figures on a new gaming PC. I have a massive backlog of games that I've bought at sale price but haven't started yet.

So why am I just playing Symphony of the Night?

[Kamakazie]

I have all three current gen consoles and I just dropped 4 figures on a new gaming PC. I have a massive backlog of games that I've bought at sale price but haven't started yet.

So why am I just playing Symphony of the Night?

I feel your pain.

[Timman_24]

Beat Limbo last night. Pretty good game although it was a bit short for 15 dollars. I think I beat it in around 2 hours played, maybe a bit more. I could rush it now that I know the puzzles in about 45mins-1hour.

Now I'm playing ODST. Picked it up today and I think I'm about 60% through the campaign. Man I sucked hardcore at first (playing on heroic.) Its been since Halo 3 launched that I've played a halo game. Now I'm getting much better and its a lot of fun. I like the way this one is presented.

Monroeski, still plugging around at FF13? I played about 5 hours of it and hate it. The story, graphics, characters, etc are fine if not interesting but the combat is horrible. I dislike how it feels more like a rush to plug through the menus than having any strategy at all. Especially since a lot of the boss fights are random, as in the boss can one shot a full health hero.

[Lee_T]

I Finished re playing Overlord, this time as a bad guy. This game is really good and stands a second playthrough well (but my first was more than a year ago), I've downloaded the DLC to spice it up and it was fine, a bit pricey for what it is but it does add a lot of funny stupid horror moments. I guess the make or break is the control system, either you can't stand it or you go with it and enjoy the stupid story).

As far as I'm concerned this second playthrough was a lot more fun than my first playthrough of Fable II. Same weird humor but the game is much more refined.

I started Overlord II, but I caught a cold so I ended up playing Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts, it's user friendly enough for my fevered mind. So far so good.

[md1198p]

I just beat Mincraft. True story.

[Kamakazie]

i just beat mincraft. True story.

unpossible.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Finished Super Mario Galaxy on Wii tonight.

I'm not going to launch into an in-depth review, since the merits of this game have long been known and trumpeted by pretty much every gaming publication out there, so I'll just add my personal thoughts and some places where I differ a bit from the majority.

First off, this is an amazingly fun game that anyone who has ever enjoyed a Mario game, owns a Wii, or calls themselves a gamer needs to play. Not much more needs to be said, it is, for the vast majority of the time, typical flawless Mario gaming at its finest.
I really looked forward to being able to come home and play it, and discovering new galaxies.

My one big gripe that basically keeps the game from near-perfection is, sadly, the sometimes wonky camera angles. A lot of people have called this (well, Galaxy 2 now, but the first game was labeled as much when it was new) the best Mario game, even the best platformer of all-time. While it's certainly up there without a doubt, some annoying camera work and level design keeps it from the top spot. My first impression of the game was actually not good. I will say this, it is NOT as instantly pick-up-and-playable as SM 64. I didn't like the camera and early level design much at all. It was disorienting, hard to control, and sometimes made me a little dizzy. I never remember any other Mario game doing that.
After I gave the game some more play time, and discovered new levels and galaxies, I adjusted. But unfortunately, some of those same level designs and weird camera angles persist up until the end of the game. I'm sorry, I know it's added to "mix things up" and vary the gameplay, but the upside down/backward/anti-gravity portions of running on the ceiling/wall without the camera adjusting or following just disoriented me, and caused a fair number of deaths (and cursing!) precisely due to the suddenly awkward control. Super Mario 3 had some damn tough levels, and I died and cursed many a time back then too, but never because all of the sudden the camera flipped, the controls switched, and then switched again before I could respond. It just feels a bit gimmicky, and I often thought who would really find this boring WITHOUT having the screen turned upside down while Mario runs along some orb.

Other times, and this is bound to happen in a long game like this, some galaxies just felt like a chore. The green, lush levels reminiscent of the first games always made me want to come back and try again. On the other had, many of the "metallic/robotic/grid" levels that constantly flipped gravity on you made me want to give up and try other galaxies.

I hate to harp on this anymore, but those are really my only two gripes with the game. They are not insubstantial though, and I feel take away few points off my personal enjoyment.

Sill though, SMG reigns as the very best reason I've encountered to own a Wii, is a thoroughly enjoyable and excellent platformer, and is definitely a worthy successor to SM 64 and the Mario legend in general.

My Final Score: 9.3 out of 10



Up Next: Well, I just bought Civilization V. What can I say, I'm a junkie. Hopefully it won't eat up TOO much of my free time. We'll see.

Other than that, the Left 4 Dead games and NCAA Football 11 are whats being played right now, that is until I decide to start another.
I've got a huge backlog of games I'm trying to get through, so the next big "project" is really up in the air right now.