The "What are you playing?" topic.

[Warmaster Horus]

Finished the Survival mod for JK3. Phew, I'm not doing that again for some time! Oblivion and Company of Heroes were uninstalled a week ago or something. I just wasn't getting enough gaming hours in for those two.

I played Star Wars:KotOR II the past few days, finished it with a Light Side male Jedi Master, and today started Star Wars:KotOR. It's kind of like Lucas' planning: the last three movies shown first, with the first three shown last.

[Csargo]

Ricky with the VIP mod as the Prussians. I've taken the entire coast of Morocco just cause I was bored. My economy is doing fairly well 20-30 E per day, it's currently 1842 I believe. I also purchased Lux. from the Netherlands.

[Viking]

Completed F.E.A.R. for second time, now back to M2:TW. In other words, litle variation. ~D

[doc_bean]

Finished Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy. Good game, too bad the storytelling towards the ending feels so rushed.

[Mikeus Caesar]

Team Fortress 2 World in Conflict EVE Online


Fun fun fun!

[Craterus]

MoH: Rising Sun

That jungle level is scary stuff.

[scotchedpommes]

Close Combat V (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_Combat_series): Battle of the Ebro (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ebro), [Mod] on the PC, as soon as I can
find the CD to re-install the original game. This game never dies, and I've
been waiting for a Spanish Civil War mod for a long time. Even attempted
mapping in order to create one myself, but am unfortunately totally inept
in that field.

[And later today Football Manager 2008.]

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

The new computer finally has internet access, which means...

:balloon:Red Orchestra and Battlefield 2!:balloon:

[Geoffrey S]

Finished Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy. Good game, too bad the storytelling towards the ending feels so rushed.
Agreed. Really weird stuff, ...
... the internet has become sentient and wants to kill us all! :dizzy2: It was doing great until after the two protagonists meet at the graveyard. Also thought it was a real shame Tyler suddenly gets written out, he was a great character, easily the most well-rounded black character I've seen in a videogame.

[doc_bean]

Agreed. Really weird stuff, ...
... the internet has become sentient and wants to kill us all! :dizzy2: It was doing great until after the two protagonists meet at the graveyard. Also thought it was a real shame Tyler suddenly gets written out, he was a great character, easily the most well-rounded black character I've seen in a videogame.

From a storytelling point of view, it feels like they left out the middle third of the story. They have the intro and the ending, but the middle part is missing. I wonder if they actually meant to have a middle part in ?

Now there is no build up for the Purple Clan, the 'relationship' between Lucas and what's-her-name-again and the increase of Lucas' powers. As for Tyler, I thought he was a walking stereotype for the most part (The way he walked ! The music !) but he did seem to have some depth that was left unexplored.

[frogbeastegg]

I've completed Metroid Prime 3 on the Wii. 93% in 19 hours and 20 minutes. Excellent game, best on the console IMO.

Next up ... not sure.

[Ramses II CP]

Just ran through Portal (from 'The Orange Box') and man was it excellent. Excellently paced, and lasted just long enough to not overplay it's hand or humor. Highly recommended.

Now I've got to start the bonus puzzles.

:egypt:

[Veho Nex]

Just ran through Portal (from 'The Orange Box') and man was it excellent. Excellently paced, and lasted just long enough to not overplay it's hand or humor. Highly recommended.

Now I've got to start the bonus puzzles.

:egypt:


the cake is a lie!

[Geoffrey S]

From a storytelling point of view, it feels like they left out the middle third of the story. They have the intro and the ending, but the middle part is missing. I wonder if they actually meant to have a middle part in ?

Now there is no build up for the Purple Clan, the 'relationship' between Lucas and what's-her-name-again and the increase of Lucas' powers. As for Tyler, I thought he was a walking stereotype for the most part (The way he walked ! The music !) but he did seem to have some depth that was left unexplored.
It's definitely the middle third that's missing, yeah.
I think, perhaps they focused too much on the first third of the game, although I found that the strongest. As it was, I thought it was brilliant when Tiffany died, but they didn't do much development of the characters after that, ending up with Lucas and Carla suddenly having sex for no apparent reason. And yes, the Purple Clan came out of nowhere. Shame, because the first third of the plot/half of the game was excellent.

[frogbeastegg]

Also playing Portal, half because of the concept, half because I heard the credits song and found it hilarious. On level 17/18, and finding it great.

There's no point crying over every mistake, just keep on trying until you run out of cake. :loveg:

[Ramses II CP]

Highly recommend the Portal bonus puzzles, especially the least portals challenges. You'll figure out tricks that really shift the way you look at your previous solutions. Excellent game.

[Kekvit Irae]

The challenges and advanced tests will MELT YOUR BRAIN.

[Fragony]

Portal is absolutily awesome, eposide 2 was as sucky as the rest but Portal prevents me from hating the Orange Box.

Anyways, playing the oh so fine Metroid Prime 3, and Super Paper Mario, which I recommend to everyone who isn't a anti-nintendo fundi. Absolutily hilarious dialogue, and I mean laugh out loud funny, and a fun mix of platforming and rpg-lite. Only complaint are the graphics, the 2d is so sharp, it's hard to forgive the jaggies when you switch to 3d mode but nothing serious.

[doc_bean]

Phantom Hourglass.




Portal is absolutily awesome, eposide 2 was as sucky as the rest but Portal prevents me from hating the Orange Box.

I've been considering picking up the orange box, since I never played HL2 back in the day (I didn't care much for the demo).

[Craterus]

I just finished MoH: Rising Sun.
:blank2: I can't decide what to play next:
GTA: Vice City Stories maybe.

[Csargo]

GTA!!

Still Playing Vicky

[Fragony]

Phantom Hourglass.





I've been considering picking up the orange box, since I never played HL2 back in the day (I didn't care much for the demo).

I don't llike half-life 2 and the extra episodes, most overated games ever. Portal, pure genius, I'd would for the price to drop though.

@Craterus, a proper psp needs Killzone, it's excellent.

[Ramses II CP]

HL2 rates an okay in my book. Not exceptional, but I got my money's worth. I haven't played Ep 1 or 2 yet, they didn't look very interesting frankly and I wouldn't have bought the Orange Box if not for TF2. As it turns out I've spent all my time on Portal so far, and playing through HL2 again quickly.

I'd say if you aren't interested in TF2 or HL2 then wait for a price drop or buy Portal seperately (I think it's $20 via Steam). A few days ago they released the files for users to make Portal maps, so I expect some good 3rd party content to be in the pipeline very soon.

:egypt:

[Veho Nex]

Strong hold crusader

[doc_bean]

I'd say if you aren't interested in TF2 or HL2 then wait for a price drop

What price drop ? I don't see the orange box getting any cheaper anytime soon.

[Craterus]

I don't llike half-life 2 and the extra episodes, most overated games ever. Portal, pure genius, I'd would for the price to drop though.

@Craterus, a proper psp needs Killzone, it's excellent.

Hmm, sorry Frag. I don't even own a PSP.
I bought VCS for PS2 cos I was curious. It was kind of a disappointment and only took me a week to complete but I've decided to replay it (more for the wandering about than the missions/story).

Killzone worth getting on PS2? I imagine it's quite old now.

[Fragony]

Didn't know vice city stories was also released on the ps2 my bad. Killzone on the ps2 is an entirely different game then on the psp, it was overhyped, was supposed to be the Halo killer, nono. But when it rocks it rocks, but sadly when it sucks it sucks, mixed feelings. Very atmospheric and great visuals for a ps2.

[Ramses II CP]

The point being, Doc, that if you aren't in it for a multiplayer game then you're just as well to wait it out. Single player games generally get better with age and patches, whereas MP games generally just get dropped and/or lose players. What in the Orange Box makes it a 'must have now' unless you're interested in TF2?

:egypt:

[Fragony]

MUAHAHAHA it's mine all mine

Super Mario Galaxy. Opening box. Nice knowing you bye

Update, get it. It's every bit the revelation that was Mario 64, this is a work of absolute joy. Stingra surfing: greatest thing ever. I want a new waverace with these controls.

[doc_bean]

The point being, Doc, that if you aren't in it for a multiplayer game then you're just as well to wait it out. Single player games generally get better with age and patches, whereas MP games generally just get dropped and/or lose players. What in the Orange Box makes it a 'must have now' unless you're interested in TF2?

:egypt:

Well, by that logic I wouldn't get any game, since I don't (normally) do MP :laugh4:

[frogbeastegg]

Finished Portal; the cake is great.

I'm now trying to keep my head above the water with both Mario Galaxy and Assassin's Creed. I'm enjoying them both very much so far.

[doc_bean]

Still on Phantom Hourglass, the game is longer than I had expected. It's rarely less than brillant though, and the minigames are great fun.

[Kekvit Irae]

I'm enjoying Beautiful Katamari to death. I've placed 6th in the US on the supergiant leaderboards (385 overall, out of 6246), and 3rd place in the US for the calorie level. Not an easy feat, considering the Japanese have gotten all the DLC before us.

[Fragony]

Silent Hill origins. owwww Silent Hill on a portable hihihikewl. The psp keeps amazing me, the graphics are excellent, especially the suroundings, characters look morecartoony then usual but Silent Hill on a portable muahahahawesome. Well there is a town there is fog there are monsters and a cool soundtrack :2thumbsup:

[Craterus]

I'll be starting Assassin's Creed in 5 mins. Bye everyone ~:)

[Ayachuco]

Civ 4: (just installed Beyond the Sword Expansion) Charlemagne Mod Scenario

[Xehh II]

I brought a game called Fear recently and no matter how hard I try I can't finish it. I suppose I'll keep playing 'til I finish it.

[econ21]

Civ 4: (just installed Beyond the Sword Expansion)

Ditto - well not just installed, but gone back to it.

I was at a loss for what game to play - none of my collection appealed. But something made me load up Civ4 again.

:jawdrop:

Boy, what a game! Playing just on Prince - a mere one step up from the balanced normal setting - the AI really gives you a run for your money. I can't recall a strategy game where the AI was so at your throat as this one. Yes, it's partly by giving the AI cheat advantages, but still - the AI uses its resources rather well.

In my latest game, I restarted to get a nice setting and survived by turtling to be the number 1 faction. Then a crippled ex-enemy, Hannibal (ranked second from bottom), declares war on me and that same turn hits a neighbouring settlement of mine with a stack of doom including 8 trebuchets. It fell instantly. As did another the next turn. Now that kind of violent AI threat is what I play Civ for - although the AI is forming better stacks and making fewer tactical mistakes in BTS than the original Civ4 (the expansion also makes the game FAR less demanding on your computer due to better optimisation). But what came next was even more impressive.

THREE AI factions piled on Hannibal, sending their own stacks of doom to recapture my cities and attack him from all sides. They did this before my pitiful stack - not of doom, more like "of mild unease" - could make any impression. My "allies" then promptly return my settlements to me and make Hannibal their vassal before I could take him down. The whole episode leaves me feeling so inept in comparison to the proficiency of the AI. I feel like a kid trying to play in the professional league and getting a bar of candy as a consolation from some of the big boys. :shame:

It's a superb game and a very good expansion (although the espionage and corporation additions don't appeal to me).

[GeneralHankerchief]

Just fired up C&C Red Alert 2 for the first time in years and have quickly remembered why I played with "Superweapons: Off" in Skirmish mode. :wall:

Still a great game.

[TinCow]

Crysis. I am trying to set a world record for the most enemies killed by falling trees.

[Papewaio]

Sodo you get a lumberjack uniform for that achievement?

[TinCow]

No, but I have been doing some scientific research. If you cut down a tree with bullets from a silenced automatic rifle, and the tree falls on enemy, but no one else is around to see it, the unfortunate fellow DOES make a sound.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
:laugh4: :laugh4: :laugh4:
.

[Warmaster Horus]

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones on PC. Got it a couple of days ago, to see what Ubi Montreal could do.
The result? Makes me hopeful for Assassin's Creed on PC. The Keyboard/Mouse combinaison was no problem for me; hence why I think AC will be good, since it's being worked on by Ubi Montreal, right?

I just finished the Royal Kitchens bit, I'm now outside, scaling up the Palace. It's pretty nice.

[Tiberius of the Drake]

Assasin s creed for the 360. Best game Ive played this year

[Kekvit Irae]

Mass Effect, otherwise known as The Great Destroyer of School Grades, Social Life, and Intimate Relationships.
But all that doesn't matter as long as I can get just... one... more... level!

[Csargo]

Playing HoI2:DD with the mod The Peace to end all Peaces. :grin:

[doc_bean]

Played and finished Portal last week, very nice game, but way too easy and short (only took me a good 3 hours to finsih).

It does make me long for a full sized FPS without the S,a bit like Half Life without the guns, just a scientist using his/her wits to survive and stop an alien invasion, not a scientist/Rambo shooting his way through.

[Fragony]

Played and finished Portal last week, very nice game, but way too easy and short (only took me a good 3 hours to finsih).

It does make me long for a full sized FPS without the S,a bit like Half Life without the guns, just a scientist using his/her wits to survive and stop an alien invasion, not a scientist/Rambo shooting his way through.

SYSTEM SHOCK 2 BABY.

If you liked the Portal premise Prey is fun for a snack, has a few clever puzzles, first person zelda dunguon.

[frogbeastegg]

Finished Assassin's Creed. Overall very good, definitely a chalk and cheese game. Plot and progress oriented gamers will more than likely loathe it, those who like to explore and try things out for the sake of doing so will find it more favourable. Pity about the last section ditching everything which was good about the game and locking you into a generic series of fights.

Still playing Mario Galaxy and Jeanne d'Arc, the former purposely slowly and the latter at lunchtime. I might start Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter; I'm saving Mass Effect for the 4 days off I have after Christmas. I feel like an RPG and it needs to be short, and BoF:DQ is the one which comes closest to that.

[Fragony]

I am on a serious shopping spree, always happens when the days get shorter. DS needed some more. So I got me Dementium:the ward (import) and it is as creepy as a handheld game can be. Not as goodlooking as Silent Hill for the psp but for a DS-game this is fantastic, it has that oldschool vibe, it's kinda hard, and it's quite scary, reminds me of the first Silent Hill, dark and grainy. Especially cool is the sound, wailing baby's moaning zombies you get it, brrrrr.

edit, put in a youtube, you probably didn't know your DS could do it, younger players beware.

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=oLGZeA1wwSE

[Geoffrey S]

Started Mass Effect. Brilliant so far, though it remains to be seen how much time I can invest in it. Playing a very nasty thug for a change from my usual stealthy good guys; some absolutely hilarious lines ensued.

[Martok]

Well now that my PC is *finally* working again, I'm happily playing two old favorites: Medieval Total War and Star Trek Birth of the Federation. Ah, how I missed them! :2thumbsup:

[doc_bean]

I am a TF2 addict. First multiplayer game I've played extensively since...the original team fortress.

Phantom Hourglass has been lying around for the last few weeks. I think it might just be too long, returning to the temple of the ocean king becomes a drag.

[Xiahou]

I am a TF2 addict. First multiplayer game I've played extensively since...the original team fortress.
Ditto. I just wish they'd hurry up and implement a Hunted (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Fortress_Classic#Hunted-style) game mode. I also miss having grenades and the option of having FF on certain servers. Regardless, TF2 is a great game. :yes:

[frogbeastegg]

My copy of Drake's Fortune arrived this morning. Reviews have been highly positive, I'm expecting a lot from this one. First proper PS3 game to be played on my console too; Stardust doesn't count.

Never did start Breath of Fire. ~:handball:

[Veho Nex]

Warlords 3 Battlecry, Warcraft Frozenthrone, and the god of all PS2 FPS Call of Duty 2!!!

[frogbeastegg]

Shelved Uncharted due to the overly frequent unenjoyable combat, picked up Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction instead. Same concept, far more enjoyable.

[Craterus]

Still doing the additional things on Assassin's Creed. I think I'm doing pretty well:

42/60 Templars
77/100 King Richard Flags
44/100 Saracen Flags
19/33 Hospitalier Flags
14/34 Templar Flags
11/33 Teutonic Flags
17/20 Assassin Flags
40/100 Jerusalem Crosses
I've got all the view points
And I've saved every citizen ~D

[Xiahou]

I got my hands on Soulcalibur Legends for the Wii. Played it for about 30mins and have had a blast so far. The first thing I did was turn down the sensitivity on the swing detections, so it takes more deliberate movements to swing your weapon. Occasionally, you still don't get the precise attack you want, but I'd say 9/10 times it works just fine and I expect that will improve more as I get more familiar with the game.

The character/enemy models look quite nice, with the backgrounds not being quite as nice- but still good. The game hasn't been too challenging thus far, but I'm just having a good time flailing away at enemies and trying to string together some combos. So far, I have Sigfried and Ivy to choose from (gotta love the whip sword :yes: ). The story so far seems like it's going to fill in the storyline from when Sigfried got Souledge until he transforms into Nightmare.... could be interesting.

[Fragony]

Was mildly interested in SC:L but reviews have been less then favourable, gonna wait for No more Heroes as I loved Killer7.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Still EB (RTW)
Freshly bought Mount&Blade
.

[Veho Nex]

Morrowind(all expansions)

Company of Heroes(no expansion)

Rome Total War(no expansion)

Age of Empires 3 (Warchiefs)

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends

Counter Strike Source

[Kekvit Irae]

Crysis. Currently, I'm NOT impressed. If I wanted to play Far Cry, I'll play Far Cry.

[frogbeastegg]

Completed Ratchet and Clank to today, more than a week sooner than expected. The last worlds simply flew by in a hail of pretty explosions. It was a good game, and had some Moments with a capital 'M'. My favourite would be storming a space station while a pair of old geezer robots lectured me with every old guy cliche in the book. Hilarious.

First robot: "Get off my lawn, you hooligan!" :pause: "He's still there, now what?"
Other robot: "These young'uns never listen. Don't know wisdom when they hear it."
First robot: "It's all that music and that entertainment they have. Rots the brain. Why, in my day-"
Second robot: "He just blew up the turrets! The vandal!"
:gring:

It's still too early to start Mass Effect. I'm either going to play Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter or Jade Empire to fill the gap between now and my post Christmas time off. Two nice, short RPGs. I think Jade Empire may be the winning candidate.

[Xiahou]

Was mildly interested in SC:L but reviews have been less then favourable, gonna wait for No more Heroes as I loved Killer7.
I've read a few particularly blistering reviews of SC:L too. Gamespot's was especially harsh- and they're completely full of it, imo. The game is certainly no 10/10, but a 3.5 is completely unjustified. I'd put it somewhere around a 7+ probably. The most valid criticisms would be the repeating level/monster designs. The control scheme misses occasionally, but I think is decent. The fighting is as complex as you want it to be- flailing around wildly can certainly carry you for a good while, but you'll get much better results by using specific moves/attacks. There are also special moves and combos that the reviewers seem to be totally ignorant of. I'm definitely still enjoying the game. It's not hall of fame material, but it is good fun.

[RoadKill]

Unreal Tournament 3, amazing game.

[Kekvit Irae]

I rented The Simpsons Game, and right off the bat I could tell this would be an awesome game. The very first achievement had me laughing. "Press START to Play", worth 5 points. To get it, you need to press start at the title screen. Duh. But the description is what sells it: "Easiest achievement...ever"
:gring:

[Xiahou]

Finished off "Lunar Knights" on the DS last night. About 18hrs of actual gameplay, but it took me months of intermittent playing to get thru it.

I thought the art design, music, and cut scenes were all excellent- the music especially. Some of the standard enemies were on the cheesy side, but the boss fights were generally a lot of fun- the final boss in particular. The ending didn't seemed kinda abrupt though and didn't tie up the character's stories very will, imo. Apparently, I can unlock some more game content by playing thru the game again- but for now I'm moving onto another DS game. Maybe Luminous Arc.

[Fragony]

Dementium is pretty cool.

[Tiberius of the Drake]

Oblivion
with frostcrag spire, battlehorn castle, deepscorn hollow, and Knights of the nine add ons. very good. trying to get every achievement in regular before having to get shivering isles

[Mikeus Caesar]

Solitaire. Lots and lots of solitaire. Mainly because it sharpens the mind. And because my computer won't be shipped over till the beginning of February...

[Craterus]

Mainly because it sharpens the mind.

How? I feel like I'm getting stupider and stupider the more I play that game... ~:rolleyes:

[Xiahou]

If you wanna sharpen your mind, play chess. :2thumbsup:

[Warmaster Horus]

Yep, one advantage of Vista: free chess!

And yes, I do like sticking up for the underdog.

[Paradox]

Finished playing Assassin's Creed three weeks ago, the only game I play now is Call of Duty 4, which I'm about to finish right now. AC's ending was very confusing, I'm looking forward to the next one, they rarely make games about the third crusade and Saracens.

[frogbeastegg]

I played Jade Empire, and I'm not convinced I shall drag myself on to the finish. It's shocking. It's Bioware by numbers with a poor fighting system. Every last Bioware cliché and hallmark is present and correct, and this time around they are most irksome. Every single instance in this game has been done better elsewhere, in many cases done multiple times better.

Dawn Star is the straw which breaks the frog's break - I've seen her at least 3 times before and she's the only incarnation of the character type to have no personality whatsoever, no charm, no humour, no combat worth (have to stick her on support mode to get any use), and nothing at all to mark her out from the other incarnations except her lacks. The main romance NPC for the female character is just as bad: it's Carth again, complete with the same boo hoo story and, like Dawn Star, stripped of anything which might make him interesting. Blergh! HK-47 was a better version of the comedy evil NPC than the lug with 2 axes whose name I can't remember. Minsc was by far a better comedy good NPC than the inventor guy, as was Mort, Jan, and countless others. Etc, etc, right through nearly every member of the cast.

The plot? I didn't complete Jade Empire the first time I played it. I didn't get half way. I've reached a little past half way this time. I don't know for certain what happens. I sure as anything can lay out a detailed guess, and would stake quite a lot that it is accurate. Most of that guess was formed within the first hour. It's so obvious what is going to happen because it's a Bioware cliché redux.

The old man will turn out to be evil. He's been using me all along to get the amulet put back together so his brother can finish off the water dragon and become uber powerful. He's probably got a scheme which will let him dispose of his brother and replace him as emperor. Before the end of the game my character will probably die, going by all the not at all subtle hints. He'll be magically revived, of course, and probably go on to become good/evil emperor himself. Dawn Star is his daughter, and Sagacious-what's-his-name left the assassins and carried her to safety instead of killing her. This was probably part of the master plan. Death's Hand will be a pawn, a relatively minor player being used as a cover by the real villain.

The combat is slow and awkward. The styles barely have any range at all, meaning my deadly spirit monk chappy flails around at air and fails to hit a bandit who is right next to him. The power attacks are so slow they are infuriating, yet you're forced to use them over and over because enemies spam block. The sword style is the only one I like; it's useless against ghosts so I can't use it half the time. Follower AI is moronic in the extreme, the only way to get some use out of them is to leave them on support mode. Only a couple of followers have useful support effects, meaning the bulk of your party is useless. The combat is so bad I have scaled the difficulty down, and then down again in order to get through it as quickly as possible.

I stopped playing the game when it was released because I was busy. Now I wonder if it might not have been best to leave it like that. Returning to it has done nothing but ruin the positive impressions I had from back then.

The worst thing is that I am now afraid to try Mass Effect. That was going to be my Christmas game. I got the limited edition of it, and brought my 360 with that at the front of the must play games list. But it's Bioware. Unless things have changed very much it will have the same marks as all the other Bioware games. Jade Empire was one repetition too many. Where does that leave Mass Effect?

So I'm playing Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga in co-op mode with my boyfriend. Loved the original two games so it is little surprise I love this director's cut.

[econ21]

I'm sorry you did not like Jade Empire, frogbeastegg, I thought it was very good. You are on the money in your plot predictions. I confess I did not see the twist coming, so it hit me in real life, as in the game, in the solar plexus. I also thought Dawn Star was cute. I guess it helps to be a dumb male to enjoy the game.

[Fragony]

Bland piece of gaming if you ask me, lost interest a lot sooner.

//continues Hotel Dusk <--awesome

[Kekvit Irae]

After a few false starts, I'm finally enjoying NWN2... at least I am after installing the AI fix at NWN Vault.

[Warluster]

I am playing Europa Universalis III and Hearts of Iron 2. In EUIII I am enjoying a game playing as England, its 1462 and I've taken a bit of SOuthern Scotland and all of Ireland.

[frogbeastegg]

I'm sorry you did not like Jade Empire, frogbeastegg, I thought it was very good. You are on the money in your plot predictions. I confess I did not see the twist coming, so it hit me in real life, as in the game, in the solar plexus. I also thought Dawn Star was cute. I guess it helps to be a dumb male to enjoy the game.
I am? Great. I formed most of them within the first hour. :blankg: That puts the nail in the coffin, I think. I can’t face however many more hours of that only to be told something I figured out ages ago.

Let's see. He won't talk about certain subjects. He makes suspicious remarks, such as the attack on the village being useful. He blasts an entire boat effortlessly, but won't defend himself or the village when it is being firebombed. He's got a rather dodgy story about how he acquired your character. Some of the things he says do not fit together. After trying so 'hard' to remain hidden he is unconcerned that Gau, a vengeful and petty little fool he just publicly humiliated and threw out of his school, overheard who he truly was. Then there's the character who tells you that the things master Li did do not fit with the way the Glorious Strategist would have behaved. There's the heavy hints about betrayal. There's the heaven-given prophecy about a weakness in your defences where you can't see it, and how it will be your downfall. There's the even heavier hints - it's outright said at one point - about your being used and led along by your nose. There's the way he's always one small step ahead of you no matter what troubles you run into, like he is being used to lure you along. There's the way his family are supposed to be dead, yet there's Dawn Star, blatantly his daughter, still alive.

That's just off the top of my head, and up to an hour or two into the imperial city.

I wanted to like the game, I really did. Bioware games are usually very much to my tastes, and I've been playing them since the release of the original Baldur's Gate. AFAIK this was the first time Bioware have created their own unique setting instead of using an established one like AD&D or Star Wars. I felt they did a good job of it. The fighting is poor, and that is no surprise though it is a disappointment. There's not been a good combat system in any Bioware game IMO, however this is the first to centre itself so fully around one. The engine was a bit ropey and was plagued by huge loading times, again expected and again disappointing.

Dawn Star is the template they built Bastila, Arabeth and Aerie from. When building Bastila they added a sense of humour and a certain determination to be the best. When building Arabeth they added arrogance, and a desire to be good which ultimately blinded. When building Aerie they added whining about her wings, endlessly and repeatedly until I wished I could hit her with a +4 mace. When building Dawn Star they added ... nothing. Not a thing. It's like they didn't have time to make her more than a stock template. Dawn Star doesn't have a sense of humour, and I don't mean that in the sense that it is part of her character not to have one. Her creator neglected to wonder if she should have one or not.

I don’t think it is a dumb male thing, after all I did like Bastila and Arabeth was ok. I’d have had a better view of Aerie if only she hadn’t complained and gone on as much. I can’t stand whining characters, whether they have good cause or not.

The male romance lead is just as bad. My female character gave him the proverbial boot before the first "I have a tragic background but I shall stoically bear it (by the way this means I shall whinge about it in every single conversation with you so I hope you don’t mind, sob)" line finished playing. How many times have Bioware done that one? Carth certainly, and IIRC Anomen from BGII was the same. There's probably more. Again it felt like they forgot to advance him beyond the stock template. It's even the same tragic background as Carth's!

As for the other party characters … meh. They don’t talk. When they do it’s a bare handful of lines and then they shut up again. In KOTOR, for example, you can talk to new members and get to know a little about them right at the start. Jade Empire makes you gain levels and finish key plot points before you can get so much as a “Hello.” The few who do talk soon turn out to be barely developed templates fielded in prior games. The few who look like they may be different, such as the little girl, stay virtually silent whatever I try.

I find I'm fed up of seeing these stock templates over and over, developed or not. I don't want to mentally tag characters under the familiar old labels after a couple of lines of dialogue and then be able to predict what's going to happen. I especially don't want to know the workings of the plot from the first hour, simply because I have seen the same tricks too many times before.

I guess I feel that all the time and creativity went into creating the Jade Empire and nothing was left for the characters and plot, the areas where Bioware usually do best and the areas where my main reason for playing lie.



The more I think about it the more I want to play a good RPG ~:( It's been quite a while.

[The Wizard]

Currently playing EU3 vanilla with the 1.3 patch, and enjoying it. I am missing a somewhat clearer time speed interface (even at the highest speed it seems to be just a notch slower than in CK's or Vicky's highest speed), but overall I've been enjoying getting over the learning curve (more than with Vicky, I know that), and that's a good sign.

[Motep]

Im maxing everybody on FFX...
Playing Drakenguard again...
and FFXII...
and Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 (what can I say, i like fighting with the pervy sage..)

Hoping to get Xtreme Legends: Dynasty warriors 5 soon...

[Tratorix]

Mass Effect. It's completely taking up all my time when I should be finishing Halo 3. Stupid Bioware and making good RPG's.

[TevashSzat]

My prompt dissapearnce from the forums was due to yet another Diablo II attack, my fourth one since 05 when I "officially" stopped playing. Can't say that I've beaten it, but I'm spending alot of time with the Witcher.

[Dutch_guy]

Just finished playing Bioshock, and quite enjoyed it. I'm thinking of replaying it, only this time taking the 'evil' route - apparently this game has more than one ending. Nice feature.

After that I'll check out the mod scene for the game, but I doubt I'm installing anything in the coming month.

:balloon2:

[Craterus]

I got the Hitman Triple Pack recently so I'm playing Hitman 2:Silent Assassin. :rifle:

[Marius Dynamite]

I got Mass Effect when it came out on 360 and finished it a few days later. Its a great game but a little short and the side missions aren't great.

I got Assassins Creed at christmas and done that in a few days. Its great running around the cities but the story and missions are pretty poor. All the Assassinations are pretty much the same. I get the feeling they used up tso much storage making the cities and graphics that they ran out of space to make the story any decent length. Either they ran out of space or they ran out of time. If its the former it would probably be better if the next installment to the unfinished story came as an expansion.

Right now I play CoD 4 and Halo 3 on Xbox Live with friends and the occasional race on PGR4. I also play Company of Heroes on the PC pretty much every day.

I'm looking forward to (and bracing for dissapointment) Halo Wars and Tom Clancys EndWar on 360.

[Midnight]

I'm playing The Witcher at the moment - it's a pretty good game, nice alchemy system, and apparently not immediately obvious choices\consequences (it was a surprise to find out that someone I needed to talk to had died because of something I'd done quite a while ago). I hope more CRPGs move in this direction.

[Viking]

CoD 4 and more CoD 4

Level 43 and counting.

[Marshal Murat]

Bioshock. I was thinking about getting CoD 4, but I figured I go a different and darker path with Bioshock.

I'm not regretting my choice. I just need to keep all the lights on, and avoid water from now on...

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Mount&Blade :charge:
.

[Dutch_guy]

Bioshock. I was thinking about getting CoD 4, but I figured I go a different and darker path with Bioshock.

I'm not regretting my choice. I just need to keep all the lights on, and avoid water from now on...

Have you managed to get your shotgun yet ?

:balloon2:

[Marshal Murat]

Just got it, working through the Medical Pavilion.

[Xiahou]

I got a number of Wii games for Christmas. SMG is an amazing game. MP3 also looks awesome, but I'm holding off on getting into it because I still hold out hope of finishing the prequels... from what little I played, I suspect I won't want to play the prequels if I get too used to the Wii controls for MP3. :sweatdrop:

I also got Battalion Wars 2 and Trauma Center: New Blood. Of the two, I probably like Trauma Center better, but the new control scheme for BW2 is a definite improvement over the GC version and I'm looking forward to online vs play eventually too..

Strangely, what I'm playing most now is Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. I'm planning on getting the Wii sequel, so I popped the game in to take another look at it and was immediately hooked. Great fun. :2thumbsup:

[tibilicus]

Just finished playing Bioshock, and quite enjoyed it. I'm thinking of replaying it, only this time taking the 'evil' route - apparently this game has more than one ending. Nice feature.

After that I'll check out the mod scene for the game, but I doubt I'm installing anything in the coming month.

:balloon2:


I'm afraid to disappoint but if I remember correctly no SDK (modding tools and so on) has been released or is planning to be released for bioshock. That was the last time I checked, it might of changed since then.


Any way for me lots of COD4, it's kept me away from playing both ghost reacons. As for assassins creed, it disappointed me. I played around 1 hour and something and have no desire to pick it up again.

[Fragony]

Just finished playing Bioshock, and quite enjoyed it. I'm thinking of replaying it, only this time taking the 'evil' route - apparently this game has more than one ending. Nice feature.

He tried that, but it's so horrible to kill the little sisters, saw it once, was shocked, and never did it again. Yes I am a wuss.

[Kekvit Irae]

The evil ending to Bioshock is quite exciting, in contrast to the tear-jerking good ending. However, if you are going for pure powergaming, it's more to your advantage in the long run to save the Little Sisters than it is to kill them (ADAM bonuses every third or fourth child, plus FREE tonics and plasmids you cant find anywhere else).

[Fragony]

At least evil isn't really evil in Bioshock, just byebye morals. But harvesting the little sisters is a tad too sinister for me even if it fits the game like a glove. Could never really bring myselve to being a nasty in games like KOTOR because there isn't really a good reason to be be such a meany while the light side always makes sense.

[frogbeastegg]

I've got all but 4 of the achievements in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga now, and I'm banned from playing it unless my boyfriend is there on pain of making him Very Upset. He's a bit miffed that I finished half of it in an afternoon while ill.



After weeks of saying I might, I have started Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. The first few hours are reputedly the worst part of the game and a struggle for most gamers, as it's quite a unique JRPG. I'm finding that to be quite true. The only way to heal my characters is to fork out 60 zenny for an item which heals 50 HP. Sounds reasonable until you realise you only get around 300 zenny for clearing most of the first dungeon, and that the weakest character has over 100HP and the stronger well over 300. I'm doing well enough in the battles, despite having little understanding of the combo system. Once I find a boss I'm going to be stomped, I suspect. As for the save system! Oh, the headache! It doesn't help that the manual describes the system used in the Japanese and American versions of the game, talking about a feature which was removed entirely from the PAL version. Die and chose this option and you keep X, lose Y and parts of your save game are altered, choose another option and lose everything but your save game isn't altered. Choose restore and you lose this that and the other, but retain some stuff. Choose restart and it's the same deal except you go back to the very beginning of the game instead of to your last save.

I think I understand it. So long as I don't think about it at all. :sweatdrop:

Having tried the straight approach I'm going to attempt a more sneaky one now. If I store the 5 healing items it gives you when you restore your game, then save and restore my game, that should give me 5 more healing items as well as keeping my previous 5 save. Add the 5 new healing items to my storage dump, and repeat a few times. Then I'll have enough to make it through the first areas to the part of the game where money is more plentiful. Um ... I think.



So many people talking Bioshock. I had a few games given me this Christmas, and the 360 version of Bioshock was one of them. As some may recall, I already have the PC version, which I began but had to abandon midway through. Starting a fresh game is something I've been wanting to do for a while. Looks like I'll be doing so on a console.

This is going to be interesting. I'm hopeless at FPS games when I have a mouse and keyboard. When I don't have a mouse and keyboard ... :skull:

[econ21]

The evil ending to Bioshock is quite exciting, in contrast to the tear-jerking good ending.

I think the final in-game stuff is the same, but the ending movies are different. You can see them on Youtube. I agree, the evil ending movie is impressive although I found the Schindler's List good ending one rewarding too.


He tried that, but it's so horrible to kill the little sisters, saw it once, was shocked, and never did it again. Yes I am a wuss.

I never tried it - I am an even bigger wuss - but I can imagine it. "Freeing" them is emotionally charged enough. Someone hear said the game makers were almost in tears when the actress did the voice work for the Little Sisters when "Mr Bubbles" dies - she put so much feeling into it.

Overall, I thought Bioshock was a good not great game, but the Little Sisters and Big Daddies were creations of genius.

[Geoffrey S]

I found it rather a cop-out that there are gameplay advantages to not killing little sisters; in my opinion the situation hinted at in previews, of clearly killing the little sisters to get an advantage in the game, would have suited the tone of the game far better and made the ending stronger. But I guess that wouldn't have made it through censors.

[Fragony]

- I am an even bigger wuss -

But your brother can beat up mine!!!

Wait, this isn't right.

[Paradox]

Currently playing Scene It! It's a fun game, the questions are very creative and the game in general is a great multiplayer challenge. Not to mention the fact that you can boost up your gamerscore easily with this game.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
EU3 with the Magna Mundi mod. Much preferred over vanilla (better balance, more events etc.). :yes:
.

[Caeser The III]

wii:the godfather:blackhand edition(so fun! im the don on two profiles quite easy though. still fun)

myths for GTA SA: the ghost:quite scary itll appear at night time!(at cjs mom's house, her ghost)
mysterious death: go into a corner of cj's mom's house and cj will fall and die!

[Ferret]

CoD 4 and more CoD 4

Level 43 and counting.

reached level 55 started prestige mode and am at level 40 again.

[TinCow]

M2TW with Stainless Steel 4.1, and enjoying it tremendously. I'm giving serious consideration to buying Kingdoms just so that I can play Stainless Steel 5.1 (and eventually 6.0).

[mrdun]

What apart from Rome?!

Fifa 08
NBA Live 08, not single player as its useless against comp. Should be getting an ethernet box thing for my ps2/ upgrading to xbox 360 with live

[Viking]

reached level 55 started prestige mode and am at level 40 again.

What is that? :inquisitive:

Level 54 now and tired of silencers, endlessly nade-dogding, shotguns, light machine guns, campers and what not. :wall:

A server with only three certain perks and a certain weapon allowed would be nice, such that the round result would reflect skill rather than weapon choice.

[Spartan198]

More games than I can name,but off the top of my head:

PS3
WWE SVR '08
Motostorm
Heavenly Sword
Assassin's Creed
Conan
Rainbow Six: Vegas

PS2
All GTAs
God of War 1 & 2
Colosseum: Road to Freedom
Spartan: Total Warrior
Resident Evil 4
"" Code Veronica
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistance

XB360
DOAX2
Rumble Roses XX
SplinterCell: DA
Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 1 & 2

XBox
Predator: Concrete Jungle

Gamecube
Prince of Persia 1,2,& 3
All Resident Evils except 4 & Code Veronica (see PS2)
Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes

PC
All Total Wars except M2 & Kingdoms

....that's pretty much a short list,but there's probably several more! :dizzy2:

[Geoffrey S]

Portal! It's pretty good, in the sense that I haven't had so much fun and laughed this much in any recent game I can remember.

Oh, and I took over Half Life 2 Episode 2 (which looks excellent BTW) briefly while a flatmate cooked a pancake. Unfortunately, it was near the end where you suddenly end up facing about three Striders and Hunters at once. Didn't last long.

[Fragony]

pretty good

I have seen 'absolute genius' spelled wrong before but this is teh uber. And the (pan)cake is a lie

[frogbeastegg]

I completed Bioshock this evening with 49/51 achievements. The two I didn't get require the game to be on hard. Overall a good game, let down by a saggy final third.

Highlights:
Shotgunning splicers in time to classical music at a certain point in the theatre.
Not dying! At all! Not even once!
Rapture itself. From rotting fisheries to plush apartments the city had style and personality.
The music and voice acting in general. I loved it when you reached those set pieces acompanied by a period song.
The narrative. Watching all the pieces come together as I discovered the audio logs gave me a feeling I haven't had since System Shock 2 and Deus Ex.

Lowlights:
Missing splicers at point blank range with a shotgun due to my ineptitude with FPS games, especially when played with a pad. :oops:
A certain bit near the end best summed up by the following quote:
I can't see a thing in this helmet!
The fact the machine gun fires pellets of play-dough until you upgrade it and get some anti-personnel rounds.
Hacking mini game. Annoying on the PC version and downright fiddly on the 360. Hurrah for the buy out and hack tool options.



I'm tempted to play through it again on hard without using vita chambers. It would consolidate my skills ... or completely destroy any illusions I have that I'm now faintly half decent in a crap kind of way at FPS. Having 49/51 achievements is somewhat irksome. Does anyone know how much harder hard mode really is?

[Kekvit Irae]

Does anyone know how much harder hard mode really is?

Without Vitachambers? It will make you cry.

[Craterus]

I'm nearing the end of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, I think. So I'll be moving on to Contracts soon. Then Blood Money.

Enjoyed the game so far, although I completely missed the trick on some missions (30+ kills including innocents :tongue: and a "Mass Murderer" rating). Definitely adds to the replay value though, I'm determined to get Silent Assassin ratings.

[Fragony]

HA Elite Beat Agents, every minute is the most fun you will ever have. Why did I keep this on the shelve :wall:

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Started my very first XL campaign (dumb! I'm even credited in the readme :wall:) today as Norway/Early. It's also my first MTW game with large unit size.
.

[Bob the Insane]

Port Royale 2, I just suddenly got the hankering for the whole pirate thing...

Got BF2 working with my widescreen resolution...

Still fire up CoD4 MP occasionally for mindless fun...

Thinking about firing up LtC Gold (I honestly never thought I would tire of the TW formula, gods, I hope Empires is good)...

On the 360 trying to force myself into finishing Ace Combat 6. Great fun, but the briefing are directly translated from Japanese and don't exactly make sense all the time.

I am also nearing the end of Stranglehold...

[frogbeastegg]

Without Vitachambers? It will make you cry.
Oh. :returns Bioshock to the shelf:

In that case, I am currently playing ... nothing at all. I haven't felt like playing Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter again since that initial dabble, and it's been weeks since I took a game to work. There's nothing about which takes my immediate fancy.

[Kekvit Irae]

In that case, I am currently playing ... nothing at all.

No Mass Effect? You make me sadf :(

[Tratorix]

Completed both Mass Effect and Halo 3 a week or so ago. No real complaints on either account. I've now been sucked into Oblivion and am having quite a lot of fun wandering around and exploring random caves for loot.

[Craterus]

Oh, I'm also playing Football Manager 2008. After slating it for such a long time, I decided to try it out. So addictive. But, for someone who knows very little about football, I'm doing really well.

[Csargo]

My very first EU3 campaign as Prussia

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

EU3
Battlefield 2
M2TW Long Road (not much)
WiC Online
HOI2: Doomsday with Mod33 English Translation (needs some fixing, but overall good)

[CountArach]

FEAR: Extraction Point

I'm loving the extra tension it adds to my favourite FPS ever made, but the levels are a bit blegh.

[Fragony]

Oh. :returns Bioshock to the shelf:

In that case, I am currently playing ... nothing at all. I haven't felt like playing Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter again since that initial dabble, and it's been weeks since I took a game to work. There's nothing about which takes my immediate fancy.

Warhammer 4000k squad command is excellent, got bad reviews everywhere but it's great. Turnbased tactical goodness, all the cheese all the fun.

[Adrian II]

I have just finished Crysis on Delta (=Expert). Love it.

I have written a Crysis walkthrough in Dutch. I could easily translate it and put it up here. Any takers?

[frogbeastegg]

No Mass Effect? You make me sadf :(
Mass Effect is an important game. There's a lot hanging on it - if it makes me feel the same way as Jade Empire I shall conclude I have gone off Bioware games unless and until they do something different. Jade Empire was so much deja vu I was able to accurately guess the entire plot for the game after the opening sections!

I started playing them with Baldur's Gate, and have loved every single game except Jade Empire. Out of all the developers who made the games I loved as a child, Bioware are the sole survivors. The others are dead, absorbed, or churning out rubbish. Not liking Mass Effect will mean the end of a gaming era for me.

I don't see much to inspire confidence that I won't run into Bastila Mk5 and co yet again. Rather the opposite. So I don't want to play the game. If not for Jade Empire I would have played Mass Effect over Christmas. I hadn't looked forward to a game so much since KOTOR II ~:(


Warhammer 4000k squad command is excellent, got bad reviews everywhere but it's great. Turnbased tactical goodness, all the cheese all the fun.
I'll have a look at some reviews.



Inspired by my Bioshock success I tried the lauded Half life 2. I brought the Orange Box purely for Portal; it seemed like a waste to have 4 games lying around untouched. Half Life 2 scores blergh/10, and returns to my shelf never to be touched again. Fiddly controls, boring scenery, boring fights, weedy weaponry, and level design which made me think of one of those on-rails corridor shooters even though I was outside occasionally. The plot might have been decent if followed further (I bailed midway through the bit on the water-ski) but the game was far too unenjoyable to slog on and find out.

It did make me appreciate Bioshock a deal more.

[Husar]

I have to say I played Half Life 2 mostly for the story and to *ahem* get more weapons(that's the disappointing part, you get all of them rather early except the gravity stuff), the controls thing must be the problem of playing on a console, I found the PC controls just like any other shooter. :shrug:
The being on rails I agree with you but I didn't expect much else from what I'd call a standard shooter to be honest, the story, especially in episode 1 and 2 made up for that for me, especially episode 2 I found a lot of fun, you get more outside action and nice landscapes etc unlike the concrete levels before that. If you can, try to play through it, although I wouldn't consider myself an authority in the judgement of stories. :sweatdrop:

[Fragony]

No harm in trying episode II, way better then the main game but still gets an overrated slapped on it Chez Fragony's. It's like Halo, either you apreciate what it does or you hate it for what it doesn't.

[frogbeastegg]

I tried Overlord.

My horde (just 15 :sweatdrop:) of minions are running about wearing pumpkins on their heads and wielding fearsome weapons like sticks. This is due to my crack bunch of armoured scythe wavers being killed by a single bottom bounce from a massively obese halfling. My jester is calling me names like "Silencer of the growling stomachs", and I suspect he is mocking my kindness in not turning a village's food into essence to create more minions. No matter how many times I kick him he persists in this. I need essence, lots more essence, so I can toss minions into the smelter and upgrade my gear. The sheep the village have reared for me in tribute don't go far enough. I've been asked to investigate a plague, and to do something about the elves and their weird plant-killing trees, and I've still got a castle infested with undead thingies and an unknown creature which sets fire to things to deal with. Chunks of my tower are scattered all over the landscape, and a bunch of heroes have nicked all my cool stuff. To top it all off a pushy damsel has set up camp in my tower, and is demanding I spend thousands of gold pieces renovating the place. My treasury is now empty and she's still suggesting new carpeting. And she made me fetch her luggage from an enemy infested burning cellar!

Who'd be an evil overlord, eh?

Love it.:devilish:

[drone]

For yooooouuuuuu, master!

I played it, it was fun, refreshing, and fairly mindless. The PC controls are rough though, controlling your minions at a distance is a real pain, I assume this is easier on the XBox.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Sounds like Dungeon Keeper! :jumping:
.

[Kekvit Irae]

Sadly, it's almost nothing like Dungeon Keeper except the concept of being an evil overlord. It's more closer to Evil Pikmin than Dungeon Keeper.
That doesn't stop it from being fun, however. I enjoyed it.

[Tiberius of the Drake]

Ive been recently playing Kotor II. Still one of my favorites

[Xiahou]

Sadly, it's almost nothing like Dungeon Keeper except the concept of being an evil overlord. It's more closer to Evil Pikmin than Dungeon Keeper.
That doesn't stop it from being fun, however. I enjoyed it.
You're saying that Pikmin weren't evil? :sweatdrop:

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I just finished Blood Money. What a work of art. Outstanding.

[Viking]

FEAR: Extraction Point

I'm loving the extra tension it adds to my favourite FPS ever made, but the levels are a bit blegh.

Arguably, there is a
The ending levels at the hospitale are just distgusting...all those ghosts always coming at you; no voice communication, all the dead Delta soldiers, the hallucinations. Gah!

[Bob the Insane]

Briefly putting aside my fear of MMOs to try out Pirates of the Burning Sea...

Fun so far... The real strength is commanding your boat/ship in battle... Great fun, looks fantastic, and more "realistic" than your average 1700 pirate style game...

We will see....

As for Mass Effect... First part of a trilogy... Story is not really full of twist and the gameplay away from the main plot does not really live up to the hype, but the second half of the main plot... We are talking a serious sci-fi action movie rollercoaster ride... A thrill a minute if you want to play that way...

Great ending....

And their are two more to come...

In the beginning it is difficult to shake the feeling "where are that lightsabers"?

But by the end of the story and world comes into it's own and you are no longer relating this to Star Wars... I played straighth though in long shifts while on vacation... It didn't lose my interest at any time...

[doc_bean]

Inspired by my Bioshock success I tried the lauded Half life 2. I brought the Orange Box purely for Portal; it seemed like a waste to have 4 games lying around untouched. Half Life 2 scores blergh/10, and returns to my shelf never to be touched again. Fiddly controls, boring scenery, boring fights, weedy weaponry, and level design which made me think of one of those on-rails corridor shooters even though I was outside occasionally. The plot might have been decent if followed further (I bailed midway through the bit on the water-ski) but the game was far too unenjoyable to slog on and find out.


Steam crashed on me whule i was playing through HL2, I was at Ravenholm. I *really* don't want to repeat that water section. Luckily TF2 is worth the price of the OB all by itself :medievalcheers:

[Husar]

What exactly is the problem? HL2 autosaves all the time so you shouldn't have to repeat a lot anyway.

[ShadesWolf]

Spartan Total warrior
Mario and Sonic at the olympics
Viva Pinata
star wars lego

[doc_bean]

What exactly is the problem? HL2 autosaves all the time so you shouldn't have to repeat a lot anyway.

My reinstalled steam/ HL2 can't find the old save files.

[Fragony]

Just download them. Half-Life 2 isn't that good altogether but you don't want to miss out on Ravenholm.

[Husar]

My reinstalled steam/ HL2 can't find the old save files.
There's a way to reinstall Steam without deleting everything, the support team told me when I had another problem. Basically you exit Steam and then delete everything in your steam folder except the SteamApps folder and Steam.exe after that start Steam normally and it will redownload everything it needs and your games etc will still be there. Probably won't work if Steam.exe is faulty or so but it worked for me(although it didn't fix my problem back then...).

[seireikhaan]

Hmm, finally decided to try out Shadow of the Colossus for PS2. Heck of a game so far, even though I've only fought 3 enemies so far.:sweatdrop:

[Fragony]

Brilliant game but I wish I could just let them be :shame:

[seireikhaan]

WHAT? NO! SLAY THEM ALL!

:wink:
Dunno the whole story yet, so I'll figure it out.

Plus, they're trying to kill me as well.:sweatdrop:

[Fragony]

But they are so magnificant

Anyways, replaying Gears of War, having a much better time then my first playthrough, maybe I wanted to dislike it. Pretty amazing how the game actually looks somewhat dated, who would have thought I was absolutily blown away when it was released it's the top no more.

[Kekvit Irae]

Shadow of the Colossus is yet another game that could benefit from the processing power of next gen consoles.

[frogbeastegg]

I am the Overlord! You may bow now. If you do not wish to bow then my friendly minions will assist you by trimming your legs off at knee level.

Good game. The last third sagged, I felt. Once I had the ultimately imbued Arcanium armour (I went with 50% health regen, 50% damage reduction) and sword (stuffed it full of browns for maximum damage) I was unstoppable and only needed minions to carry and operate levers. The Dwarf area was a pain to navigate, the giant worms in the desert were tiresome to dispose of, and the final battle was not enjoyable. Definitely worth playing in spite of this. The plot twist was very neat, unusually I didn't see it coming.



Final Fantasy X is next. This will be attempt number 3. I've had it for five years now; it was one of the first games I got for my PS2. I believed back then it would be the second game I completed on it, following Kingdom Hearts. I liked the PC conversions of VII and VIII, enjoyed the demo, liked the principle, loved the battle system, thought the art style was nice enough, etc etc. It was the game for me. Oh dear. I'd reckoned without the dire PAL conversion. Borders covering 1/4 of my tiny TV, a squashed aspect ratio, 16% slowdown which Square made no effort to compensate for ... Squinting to make out a squashed Tidus jogging along so slowly he appears to hover at certain points in his animation routine killed the experience twice, both times before I met Yuna.

This time I have a larger TV. I'll be able to see what is going on properly. Whether that will aid the game or consign it to life on the shelf I cannot guess.



I'm playing Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, the PSP port of the original PS2 Disgaea, at work. Yup, still as sprawling and addictive as the original. I now live in hope - and terror! - that Nippon Ichi will port their other SRPGs to the PSP. I own the lot, you see, and have only played the first Disgaea. They eat up hundreds of hours and having a portable version kills the feeble excuses I have been using to protect myself against losing a year or two to them. :curses the PSP's sleep mode: If it was still a case of needing to play for an hour at a stretch I'd still be safe.

[frogbeastegg]

Woo! Between the upscaling options offered by the PS3 and the TV's own zoom and ratio settings I've managed to drag FFX kicking and screaming into the land of full screen display. It's not even pixilated; the game looks great for its age. No fix for the goofy animation caused by the 16% speed reduction but you can't have everything. Heh, I'm only pleased that I didn't have to stick with the settings it defaults to - the picture only used 1/4 of the TV screen thanks to the jumbo PAL borders and lack of widescreen.

Turns out it's a good game when you can see what's happening.

[TevashSzat]

I must say, unfortunately, I'm still stuck in my Diablo II vortex. Can't bring myself to quit again and am on my 7ish Patriarch/Matriarch.

I don't even have any other games installed on my comp due to some complicated comp issues except for Warcraft 3 atm, which I rarely even play now except for the occasional Dota game with friends through Hamachi.

[Fragony]

Woo! Between the upscaling options offered by the PS3 and the TV's own zoom and ratio settings I've managed to drag FFX kicking and screaming into the land of full screen display. It's not even pixilated; the game looks great for its age. No fix for the goofy animation caused by the 16% speed reduction but you can't have everything. Heh, I'm only pleased that I didn't have to stick with the settings it defaults to - the picture only used 1/4 of the TV screen thanks to the jumbo PAL borders and lack of widescreen.

Turns out it's a good game when you can see what's happening.

tip, use the advanced setup, otherwise that blue guy turns out to be quite useless.

[Xiahou]

I just finished "Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance"- came in at around 35hrs of game time. I was finally motivated to go back to the stack and finish this one due to the release of the Wii sequel. It was definitely a lot of fun, with some truly relentless AI. The ending was satisfying, but I would've liked more FMV and less reading. :shrug:

I'm playing various Wii games atm, but I think my next focus will be on completing Persona3. I was absolutely in love with this game when I started playing it, but about 60hrs in I got to my first pure grinding(previously the side-quests had sufficient for leveling) and got side tracked with some newer games. I'm guessing I probably have a good 20hrs left and am determined to see the story concluded. :sweatdrop:

[drone]

I'm back to MTW, started up a Danes/Early/Hard campaign. I haven't played a grand campaign in a while, before I jumped to DoW, I spent a lot of time playing VI campaigns. Maybe I'll remember to take screenies and post an empire writeup in the Main Hall this time. :medievalcheers:

[Craterus]

More Football Manager than I should.

[Viking]

Playing CoD 4 MP still, grinding for my golden AK-47. ~D

[Veho Nex]

CoD4, M2TW, and RTW. That covers PC

Dynasty Tactics, Madden NFL 2007. That covers PS2

[Hound of Ulster]

beside at least three dozen TW campaigns (lots of mods, and not all are 'active' right now), FIFA 08 and Ace Combat 6 (both XBOX360)

waiting on Soulcalibur 4

[frogbeastegg]

Put Final Fantasy X on hold when I realised I was grinding my teeth each time a random battle triggered. I'll come back to it when the fatigue has worn off.

I'm playing Oblivion, this time on the 360. Those with scarily powerful memories may recall that I have the PC version and didn't get on with it too well because it felt like nothing but a bad console port. Why am I playing it on the 360? It was a gift. "I know you like RPGs and this one is meant to be really good. I checked your xbox collection and saw you didn't have it, so ..." Well, what could a frog say to such thoughtful kindness, other than "Thank you very much, I'm sure I'll enjoy it." I thought I'd slog my way through it to collect the achievement points to prove I played it, and ignore all the non-achievement related content.

Turns out Oblivion is much more playable on the 360, lack of mods and all. Utterly, utterly bizarre. The controls don't feel awful. The fighting system works much better with a pad. The crap lock picking mini game is bearable with console controls. The interface, which I modded the heck out of in the PC version and still didn't get on with, works smoothly here. The graphics, which looked sparse and low res on my powerful PC, look right at home on a big TV screen.

The console edition doesn't fix the annoyances and broken systems from the PC. So far I'm either avoiding them, or working very carefully to ensure they don't become too much of a problem. Ultra-planned character development FTW! If I level up infrequently and always get 3 +5s to vital stats I shouldn't end up out-matched by the levelled enemies. Playing through the whole game at level 1 is too gamey a fix IMO. Persuasion mini game? Bypassed with spells. Lock pick mini game? Same most of the time. Cheesing skills up to high levels? Resisting the temptation builds moral strength ... or something :p

Also dabbling with Sins of a Solar Empire. It's the first RTS I've brought in years, and the first I haven't been sick of after twenty minutes. That's a very happy thing indeed, as I had to buy Sins while all those other RTS games were free demos.

Disgaea continues to hold an unholy monopoly on my lunch breaks. Can't think of a more addictive game than this, it even beats Civ!

[Martok]

Been playing a lot of my old Birth of the Federation recently, except this time I've installed the Balance of Power mod. It practically feels like a whole new game now, and I'm enjoying it immensely!

Also playing some MTW/VI again with caravel's Pocket Mod (version 1.6). I'm doing something I haven't done in a long time, which is to see if I can keep the HRE together for longer than 20 years. Should be a fun challenge. :2thumbsup:

[Xiahou]

Playing 'No More Heroes', 'Metroid Prime' and a smattering of 'Sins of a Solar Empire'. This weekend, when I have more uninterrupted gaming time, I'll probably switch out NMH/MP for Persona3. When I only have the odd hour here and there, it hardly seems worth it to fire up P3.... :yes:

NMH is a riot, with only a few minor annoyances to detract from it and MP continues to impress me for a game that's more than 5yrs old.

[Geoffrey S]

Flatmate got Tony Hawk Project 8, or whatever it's called. I find the game dull, can't stand the 'characters', but am having a ton of fun just finding the most painful places and crashing my little ragdoll skater...

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

FSX

[Tribesman]

AGEods American Civil War .
And Partrician III still of course .

[The Spartan (Returns)]

Total War Kingdoms, got it last Sat. I'm surprised how much fun M2 became again; and I was just going to wait for Empire..

I stopped playing COD4 and back on RO; it's like walking back into righteous light.

Little GH3 here and there.

[Lechev]

I am currently playing The Witcher an RPG game. I can't believed they are using NWN2 Aurora engine for this game. The graphic is stunning!

Btw, some of the lines in the game are also pretty funny, e.g i have agree to perform a task for the King for 1000 orens( the currency in the game ) but the King only agrees to pay me 800 instead citing that i need to pay my income tax??:wall:

[Xiahou]

Finished 'No More Heroes' over the weekend. A bit short at around 15hrs, but a fun M-rated game with tons of style. :2thumbsup:

My main gaming focus is now on Persona3 and Metroid Prime- but I keep getting distracted by TraumaCenter: New Blood. :beam:

[Motep]

Final fantasy X (creeping up on 150 hours...)

Final Fantasy XII (Its fun...and Im way overleveled from where I am at. The henne mines just arent that much fun at level 46.)

Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends will arrive within the week. Is why I like amazon...

Oh yes! I forgot! Im also playing Drakenguard again, But I think Ill stick with FFXII. (Has anyone else noted the extreme wierdness eminating from that game?)

[Fragony]

King-Kong, which much to my surprise is an amazing game.

[Ferret]

still playing CoD4, will get that gold M60!

[Craterus]

FM08, I just got promoted to the Championship and have been touted to come 24th and go straight back down :sad:

:beam: Xfire would suggest I play the game a bit too much...

[Csargo]

I've been mostly playing Wolfenstein:ET a few hours for the past couple of days and a HoI2:DD 1936 campaign as Italy.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Ichigo, do you have a Paradox Forums account?

[Csargo]

Yes, but it's Rommel35 not Ichigo

[Motep]

Final Fantasy XII (Im now on the phon coast, at level 54.)

Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends has arrived! Its fun, but a pain in the ass...

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Yes, but it's Rommel35 not Ichigo

Mine's just EMFM, as there wasn't enough space for my full username.

[Viking]

Playing nothing, need to see through my games collection and see if I can come up with something. :sweatdrop:

[Warmaster Horus]

Europa Universalis III, with Magna Mundi IV (don't have Napoleon's Ambition).

Great game. I thank all the Orgahs of the EUIII thread for having brought it to my attention.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Will launch an XL/Danmark/Early campaign on MTW after remodding ship recruitment;
Gonna finish my M&B TLD game; :charge:
Waiting for EB 1.1 to come out;
Freshly installed Vampire Bloodlines falling for Proletariat's propaganda. ~D
Will restart Lycan rising;
Will resume EU3/MMIV France and Morocco campaigns some time. ~:handball:
.

[frogbeastegg]

:balloon: I am finished with Oblivion and the Shivering Isles expansion! :balloon:

:jumping: :cheerleader: :dancing: :birthday2:

A certain degree of happiness of my part may be detectable. Should there be a DVD in existence with more fetch quests burned onto it then I do not want to know about it. The final quest in Shivering Isles main quest line took the biscuit, and showed why playing increasingly became a chore. Go to the palace, initiate the quest, go to another location and run through a short generic dungeon to talk to another guy, go to a 3 floor generic dungeon and fetch an item, go to a different 3 floor generic dungeon and fetch a second item, return to the second guy in his mini generic dungeon, return to the palace, head into yet another generic dungeon containing 2 sub-dungeons both of which need clearing, return to palace, activate fountain, run to courtyard and fight repetitive goons.

Oblivion is done! :bounce:

[rajpoot]

Add the Battlehorn castle plugin now, mo go fetch quest there, just a nice new castle, with a sparring partner, a taxidermist, a forge-master, a wine maker (I forget what they call them) etc etc etc.
Nice one too. Was available for free download in the first week of release. :beam:

[frogbeastegg]

I've started Beautiful Katamari on the xbox 360. The freakiness quotient remains high enough that I'm in a constant cycle of :stunned: :inquisitive: :stunned: as I play.

For those who aren't familiar with the series, the idea is to roll a sticky ball (aka katamari) around and pick up objects. The more objects you pick up the larger your katamari is. A larger katamari will pick up larger objects. The game smoothly scales so that it's possible to start a level struggling to pick up pins, and end it by rolling up the great pyramid! That's weird. What pushes it over into freakiness is the character design, the visual style, and - especially - the King of All Cosmos.

I blame Kekvit Irae entirely. She got me to try the series. It's her fault.

This is a short game, by any standards. After a couple of hours I've made a katamari big enough to replace the sun. That means two levels at the most remaining before I have to wait for the downloadable extra levels to appear on the PAL marketplace. I shall amuse myself by collecting cousins and presents for a bit.

[Ferret]

finally got golden M60 on CoD4, was definitely not worth the effort, looks like plastic, found some cool glitches though.

[Andres]

Re-installed Mafia : City of Lost Haven.

Great game :2thumbsup:

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Vampire Bloodlines :wall:
.

[Veho Nex]

CoH gold edition, loving the PIATS!!

[Rhand]

On PS2 I just finished the headboss in Final Fantasy X after 95 hours. I'm doubting to continue levelling so I can beat all the sidequest-bosses or just start FF X-2.

PC: ET, R:TW and FM 08.

[Tratorix]

Working my way backwards through Command and Conquer: The First Decade. I've also downloaded and started playing The Battle for Wesnoth.

[frogbeastegg]

I'm done with Beautiful Katamari. Big disappointment. There are only 13 levels, including the tutorial, most of which rehash the same play area. I'd completed them in under 4 hours, and that time includes a few replays. Repetition was a significant problem with this game. Gone are the varied goals from We Love Katamari. Excepting the tutorial only 2 levels required you to do something other than grab stuff to get bigger.

To drag the pitiful length out a bit I collected the remaining non-tedious single player achievements. I have no interest in re-running the repetitive and overly similar levels to find the remaining cousins and presents, and if Namco thinks I am going to leave my xbox running for 100 hours(!!) to gain time based achievements they are delusional.

The 7 extras levels which you are supposed to buy and download should have been included in the boxed package. They aren't available on the European marketplace, though the game lists a maximum of 1250 gamer score points as though the content is there.



As I have some time off work Disgaea is going on pause.

This leaves me dabbling with Imperium Romanum, a new city builder on the PC, and the odd game of Sins of a Solar Empire, also on the PC.

[Geoffrey S]

Just finished 7 Days a Skeptic. Now that's that a creepy adventure game. Love the twist at the end.

[Fragony]

Just finished 7 Days a Skeptic. Now that's that a creepy adventure game. Love the twist at the end.

Hey this sounds interesting :yes:

[Geoffrey S]

Crikey. Just finished Trilby's Notes. Excellent. Haven't played adventure games this good in ages.

Here's the link. (http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/games.htm)

[Decker]

I just bought AGEOD'S American Civil War 1861-1865 : The Blue and the Gray- Pretty good so far. No real trouble atm.
Ageod's American Civil War (http://www.a-acw.com/english/main.html)

Navyfield:Just downloaded it. Haven't had time to play it.
Navyfield (http://www.navyfield.com/)

[Kekvit Irae]

Audiosurf!
I'm getting my butt kicked by Dragonforce - Through The Fire And Flames :sadg:

[Spartan198]

Wow! This was one of the first threads I ever posted in. Glad to see it's still going.

Currently,I'm focusing on Total War over anything else.

[Fragony]

pata pata pata pon!

Another reason to own a psp, brilliant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lZ-mzh50Uc

[frogbeastegg]

pata pata pata pon!
Utter insanity! Not seen anything that weird since locoroco :wants:



I started Dead Rising, found it boring, and swapped to Warriors Orochi instead. Orochi is mindless, stupid, over the top, repetitive, stuffed to the hilt with awful voice acting and dodgy visuals, and very similar to Koei's other Warriors games. It's also fun. This is a series best brought when the price drops low.

Progress in this title has been made in an area I didn't expect - pronunciation! At last those American ultra low budget "I'm the cleaner's nephew!" voice actors have been told that Cao Cao isn't pronounced Cow Cow, and his son definitely isn't named Cow Pee. Woo hoo! Pity they still insist on reversing the Japanese names so the family name comes last Western fashion. Still, Nobunaga Oda isn't nearly as bad as Cow Pee on the cringe chart. :yes:

[Fragony]

Utter insanity! Not seen anything that weird since locoroco :wants:

Same guys, but this much more a real game then locoroco, it's a rythem rts :beam:

[Kekvit Irae]

I started Dead Rising, found it boring, and swapped to Warriors Orochi instead. Orochi is mindless, stupid, over the top, repetitive, stuffed to the hilt with awful voice acting and dodgy visuals, and very similar to Koei's other Warriors games. It's also fun. This is a series best brought when the price drops low.

Progress in this title has been made in an area I didn't expect - pronunciation! At last those American ultra low budget "I'm the cleaner's nephew!" voice actors have been told that Cao Cao isn't pronounced Cow Cow, and his son definitely isn't named Cow Pee. Woo hoo! Pity they still insist on reversing the Japanese names so the family name comes last Western fashion. Still, Nobunaga Oda isn't nearly as bad as Cow Pee on the cringe chart. :yes:

How can you find Dead Rising boring? Bah, you just have no class. :sadg:
Also, Sow Pee is just as bad as Cow Pee. But at least the pronunciation is corrent this time. I'm hoping that Dynasty Warriors 6 is just as good and better than Warriors Orochi. It already claims the fact that it utilizes the 360 processor to the fullest extent to show much more troops on the field at a time.

[Tiberius of the Drake]

i recently played Dynasty warriors 6 and I have found it much more impressive than its predecessors. I certainly hope they make an Orochi game like this as i liked the idea behind orochi but not the actual game-play.

[Fragony]

Takes a while before Dead Rising sinks in, once it does it's a blast.

[rajpoot]

Mount and Blade, I've been hooked to some games before but this is totally awesome, like a dream come true, can't wait for the final version!

[Kekvit Irae]

Dead Rising truly is an awesome casual game. I have yet to get the Snuff Film J and Strike! achievements. Obviously, Zombie Genocide still eludes me, as does 7 Day Survivor. I just don't have the patience to survive for seven days or get 50000 kills.

[Fragony]

Casual? I wouldn't consider it a casual title. Probably the game that caters hardcore gamers the most on the 360 at least.

[frogbeastegg]

It's the dodgy pronunciation in the earlier Warriors games which bugged me, not the way it sounds in English.

Dead Rising didn't appeal to me because it's a mismatch between what I want to be playing and what it is. Fragony has it in one: it takes hours to kick in. My Frank is level 9 and he's noticably better than he was at level 1; it took me a couple of hours to get him that far, and I can see a couple more hours passing before he gains enough good moves and becomes robust enough for it to be enjoyable.

That's the main reason. There are others. Escort missions with dreadful AI, ugh! It's a spoof of a film and game genre I don't like. I recognise what it is doing and why; it can't get me in the same way as it can those who like survival horror. The zombies themselves aren't terribly fun. I expected something closer to the zombies in Overlord - limbs everywhere and plenty of giggles. I can run right past without much bother, or I can stand and let my low level character plunk away until my weapons all break. The mob respawns before the bodies have faded from draw distance. Whichever I do it's dull.

If I try again another time I'll probably like it more.

For now effortlessly chewing through hundreds of hapless soldiers and watching Lu Bu get battered into oblivion by a huge mob of allied officers is perfect.

[Motep]

M2TW and expansion
RTW
FFXII
FFX
FFVII
FFVIII
DW5XL (Dynasty Warriors 5: Xtreme Legends)
Conflict: Desert Storm 1 and 2
Drakenguard
Pacman (binges here and there)
Digdug
MOH - Vanguard




After reviewing this list, I have come to the conclusion that I lack a life.

[Motep]

Orochi is mindless, stupid, over the top, repetitive, stuffed to the hilt with awful voice acting and dodgy visuals, and very similar to Koei's other Warriors games. It's also fun. This is a series best brought when the price drops low.

Amen

(sorry for the double post)

[TB666]

Playing World in Conflict alot recently.
Multiplayer is always a blast.

[Viking]

I haven't played a single game for over two weeks now. This cannot be healthy. :sweatdrop:

[Xiahou]

pata pata pata pon!

Another reason to own a psp, brilliant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lZ-mzh50Uc
Wow, another cool looking PSP game... from the same people who made the only other PSP game I really liked. Guess I'll have to check this one out. :yes:

[aimlesswanderer]

Apart from MTW2 Kingdoms, I've resumed my X3 game after a year+ break. Have lots more $ now, looking at buying some big ships.

[Martok]

Just installed Samurai Warlords yesterday, and am currently muddling my way through as the Uesugi. I have much to relearn.... :sweatdrop:

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Audiosurf!


O RLY? (http://fretsonfire.sourceforge.net/)

[doc_bean]

Wesnoth, and getting my arse kicked on a novice campaign :no:

[CountArach]

President Forever 2008 + Primaries:

http://www.theoryspark.com/political_games/president_forever/info/index.htm

Great for the political junkie :2thumbsup:

[Fragony]

from the same people who made the only other PSP game I really liked.

Oh behave plenty of awesome psp-titles nowadays

[Kamakazi]

Ps2 : Dynasty Warriors 5 , DW 5 Xtreme legends , DW 5 Empires, NFSMW

Computer: MTW Tribal wars(internet) beadly state (internet)

:army:

[frogbeastegg]

Q: What, exactly, is a Patapon?
A: A Patapon is a miniature scampering eyeball, armed to the teeth with small but deadly weapons.
If the game does not live up to the promise of the manual and artwork I will cry. My PSP deserves a break from Disgaea. The Patapon will march tomorrow at lunchtime.

The xbox 360 is currently playing host to a Viking game by some lot called Creative Assembly. I'm about half way through. After a shaky start it's found its feet and is doing nicely.

[Mek Simmur al Ragaski]

PC
M2TW Kingdoms - This game keeps me interested for hours on end
RTW Vanilla - Good but the graphics are lagging compared to M2TW
Warcraft 3 The Frozen Throne - Battle.net, add me 'AnarchyKingdom'
XBOX
TES Oblivion The shivering isles - Extremely entertaining whilst roleplaying
COD4 - Just allround a very entertaining game, oh the time flies...

[Kekvit Irae]

Condemned 2
:loveg:

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Finished Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines and been utterly disappointed with its final. Seeking good RPGs my P4 machine can handle. Any suggestions? :inquisitive:
.

[Husar]

.
Finished Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines and been utterly disappointed with its final..
Same here mate, finished it a while ago but the ending was really disappointing.

[frogbeastegg]

Finished Viking. Review forthcoming as part of the org's big Viking feature. If you like this kind of game it's definitely worth a look, provided you can bear with a few niggles and oddities.

Patapon is hilarious, drop dead gorgeous, inventive, stylish, brilliant, and I'm so rubbish at it that I'm going to have to put it to one side if I don't make some progress soon. Rhythm action games. If my life ever depends on one I'm dead.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Replaying Bloodlines out of despair. This time I'm a Malkavian.
.

[Xiahou]

.
Replaying Bloodlines out of despair. This time I'm a Malkavian.
.
You may already know this, but there are about 5 different endings. :yes:

[Mouzafphaerre]

You may already know this, but there are about 5 different endings. :yes:
.
Hrmmm...

The "lone" one
Jack's jackass
Get betrayed by Meng Xiao
Bend over to La Croix
Side with the regent
Aye, five. :yes:
.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Bow Street Runner (http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/C/city-of-vice/game/bow-street-runner/game.html) thanks to Ichigo. :2thumbsup:
.

[edyzmedieval]

Microsoft Flight Simulator X - Acceleration Expansion Pack
( I recently bought some add-ons which really keep me busy)
MTW VI
Need for Speed Pro Street
M2TW
FIFA Manager 08
Counter Strike Condition Zero singleplayer

[Xiahou]

After playing off and on for about 9 months, I've finally finished Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3. Total play time was just over 95hrs. Not a momeny too soon with the bonus content/expansion, FES, coming out this month. :sweatdrop:

Definitely a different sort of JRPG with a very good story and an interesting mix of gameplay elements. I'd recommend it to any fan of the genre.

For my next RPG, I'm thinking about getting into the .Hack//GU series.... :juggle2:

[frogbeastegg]

I've been slowly working my way through Gun since completing Viking. It's a game I frequently saw mentioned as well worth picking up if it was encountered for a low price; I got it in a 2 for £15 deal with Call of Juarez, another title which attracts the same kind of comments.

Gun was surprisingly good, and I'm very glad I gave it a chance. I was expecting good but flawed and very short, and I didn't expect to like the setting and plot much as I don't like Westerns. The flaws were small and, with the exception of one, forgivable. The length felt spot on. Excellent voice acting and good cutscene direction pulled me into the world to a good degree, and though I can't say it ranks amongst the best plots ever I did find it highly satisfying to blow away certain big baddies.

Gun is a mini sandbox game. There's a plot, a bevy of side missions, and a few square miles of the West to explore. You can prospect for gold, bounty hunt, ride for the pony express, help the two town's sheriffs, play poker, ride cattle hand on the ranch, and go hunting. Horses are plentiful, and riding around on them is more enjoyable than it has any right to be. Doing side missions gains you stat bonuses, and dollars, which can be spent on upgrades for your weapons.

Gun's difficulty is what you wish it to be. Because of my control issues (below) I was forced to play on easy. Insane, the hardest difficulty, is regarded on the Gun message boards as extremely difficult. Checkpointing is generous and sensible throughout, and most missions and side quests are divided up into stages, so failure at one point does not send you right back to the beginning. Successive failures see you restarting with a little extra aid each time, until you either clear the stage or are restarting at full status.

The one unforgivable flaw? The camera controls. Thanks to some thoughtlessness in the options I was forced to pick between having the camera 'backwards' or having left/right in first person mode 'backwards'. Argh! The first left me unable to walk in a straight line because I use the camera to steer. The second, which I eventually resigned myself to as the lesser evil, turned me into a nutcase who strafed to aim and blasted away with insane abandon trying to pick off one guy. The sections where I was required to provide cover from first person were a nightmare.

Gun is available on ... just about everything, actually. PC, PS2, gamecube, xbox, xbox 360, and PSP. It's an older game now, and so cheap it is a steal.




Oh, and I had to give up on Patapon due to my utter incapability, and am now thumping my way through God of War: Chains of Olympus. It is a technically impressive game - it is so close to the PS2 titles that ithe developers should be burned for witchcraft. I find that it plays a little better and a little worse than the first PS2 game (only other in the series I have played). Better because dodge is now bound to R+L+direction, meaning it's far easier to access. Hurrah for the PSP's lack of a right analogue! Worse because certain button combinations make my hands die due to the PSP's placement of the analogue nub.

[rajpoot]

Ahhhhh, Gun, I loved that game, too bad it was so very short........we need more games like that for the Western Genre.......throw in a few more towns, increase the map to four times its size and treble the story length; What you've got is a game no GTA can match.

[Csargo]

Ricky 1914 Scenario as Serbia.

https://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6642/serbials7.jpg

I'm about 100000 in debt. :grin:

[Kekvit Irae]

*giggles madly* This is going to be my first time playing the Overlord expansion, and I'm already loving it! You get to equip your minions with golf clubs! And that's only just the first expansion level.

[Martok]

On a lark, I downloaded Trackmania Nations Forever a few days ago. I'm normally not a fan of racing games, but I can't stop playing it! Way too friggin' addictive.... :wall:



*giggles madly* This is going to be my first time playing the Overlord expansion, and I'm already loving it! You get to equip your minions with golf clubs! And that's only just the first expansion level.
:laugh4:

[Kekvit Irae]

I also found out that peasants respawn in the expansion levels (at least in Mellow Hills Abyss) within seconds of getting killed, allowing for awesome farming of brown lifeforce (easier than battler beetles in the arena) and the amount of kills needed for 100% corruption.
:loveg:

[Veho Nex]

I've been slowly working my way through Gun since completing Viking. It's a game I frequently saw mentioned as well worth picking up if it was encountered for a low price; I got it in a 2 for £15 deal with Call of Juarez, another title which attracts the same kind of comments.

Gun was surprisingly good, and I'm very glad I gave it a chance. I was expecting good but flawed and very short, and I didn't expect to like the setting and plot much as I don't like Westerns. The flaws were small and, with the exception of one, forgivable. The length felt spot on. Excellent voice acting and good cutscene direction pulled me into the world to a good degree, and though I can't say it ranks amongst the best plots ever I did find it highly satisfying to blow away certain big baddies.

Gun is a mini sandbox game. There's a plot, a bevy of side missions, and a few square miles of the West to explore. You can prospect for gold, bounty hunt, ride for the pony express, help the two town's sheriffs, play poker, ride cattle hand on the ranch, and go hunting. Horses are plentiful, and riding around on them is more enjoyable than it has any right to be. Doing side missions gains you stat bonuses, and dollars, which can be spent on upgrades for your weapons.

Gun's difficulty is what you wish it to be. Because of my control issues (below) I was forced to play on easy. Insane, the hardest difficulty, is regarded on the Gun message boards as extremely difficult. Checkpointing is generous and sensible throughout, and most missions and side quests are divided up into stages, so failure at one point does not send you right back to the beginning. Successive failures see you restarting with a little extra aid each time, until you either clear the stage or are restarting at full status.

The one unforgivable flaw? The camera controls. Thanks to some thoughtlessness in the options I was forced to pick between having the camera 'backwards' or having left/right in first person mode 'backwards'. Argh! The first left me unable to walk in a straight line because I use the camera to steer. The second, which I eventually resigned myself to as the lesser evil, turned me into a nutcase who strafed to aim and blasted away with insane abandon trying to pick off one guy. The sections where I was required to provide cover from first person were a nightmare.

Gun is available on ... just about everything, actually. PC, PS2, gamecube, xbox, xbox 360, and PSP. It's an older game now, and so cheap it is a steal.




Oh, and I had to give up on Patapon due to my utter incapability, and am now thumping my way through God of War: Chains of Olympus. It is a technically impressive game - it is so close to the PS2 titles that ithe developers should be burned for witchcraft. I find that it plays a little better and a little worse than the first PS2 game (only other in the series I have played). Better because dodge is now bound to R+L+direction, meaning it's far easier to access. Hurrah for the PSP's lack of a right analogue! Worse because certain button combinations make my hands die due to the PSP's placement of the analogue nub.

Have you played Call of Juarez yet?

I just beat it this morning and I got to say, pretty good. Could have been better the the dual parts are fun I wish there was more of them or I wish there was multi player version of it

[Kekvit Irae]

*chokes on her soda* Now my minions think bras are helmets. The sight of an imp trying to wear a D-cup on his head is too laughable.
:loveg:

[Husar]

Just thought I'd throw in that TrackMania Nations Forever has StarForce copy protection (that's the actually evil one which can destroy your DVD drive...), although the Steam version is apparently clean as Steam doesn't use StarForce(anymore?). Guess I'll try the Steam version, almost installed the downloadable when I learned it has StarForce. :wall:

[frogbeastegg]

Have you played Call of Juarez yet?
Not yet. I've been playing Warriors Orochi and Mario Kart Wii with my boyfriend. I shall be starting another SP game once I have decided between Condemned: Criminal Origins, The Darkness, or Call of Juarez. Bioshock reminded me that I do like FPS games with *good* story lines, and all three are said to have that.

Which reminds me: start Mario Kart Wii thread.

Kek, do let me know how the rest of the Overlord DLC plays out. I've had my eye on it since release.

[Kekvit Irae]

The Raising Hell DLC is definitely worth a buy. The expansion levels open up after you defeat each hero (you are sent to their own individual hell). You can use the paladin as a lawnmower and floor washer in his hell. Funny stuff!
The great thing is the minion weapons. By the second stage, the items you collect for your browns (brooms, pimp hats, bras, golf clubs, etc) are as good as those found in the Ruborian Desert, and I'm not even up to the dwarf kingdom yet.

The other DLC is the Challenge Pack. It adds new multiplayer maps and Legendary mode for single-player, which is only for true experts of the game.

[Craterus]

Nothing for the next month and a half. Exam time.

[Boyar Son]

I play company of heroes (I pwn) and DoW: dark crusade (i get pwned)

[Ferret]

Nothing for the next month and a half. Exam time.

same :shame:

[Kekvit Irae]

My PS2 collection. My 360 broke and is now on its way to the Microsoft repair center.
Goodnight sweet prince, and may angels sing thee to thy rest. :sadg:

[CountArach]

I'm playing Paradox's Crusader Kings. Great game, I am so glad I bought it.

[frogbeastegg]

My 360 broke and is now on its way to the Microsoft repair center.
Gah! ~:( Let me guess, red ring of death?

I can never shake the feeling that each time I turn mine on it will be the last, whatever they say about the Falcon chipset being more reliable. Half of that feeling is due to the cheap 'n tacky disc eject button (crunch ... click) and the DVD drive (the sound of a thousand jet planes taking off at once).



I'm playing Condemned. 2 levels done, about to start the third. It's ok; it's growing on me slowly. Not finding it remotely creepy, but then I seldom do find games scary. The slow pace is nice, exploring here and there for clues and optional pick ups. The combat ... I have the feeling I am doing something wrong. I keep getting hit when the enemy is reeling from a heavy blow and not attacking at all, at times when there are definitely no others present. The taser wears off the instant I hit a stunned enemy, making it less helpful than I'd expected. I end up in a block-bash type of combat, and spend half my time missing the timing on the blocks :blankg: