The "What are you playing?" topic.

[Crandaeolon]

Playing King's Bounty: the Legend (http://www.kings-bounty.com/eng/) - demo available at link, but be aware: it installs Starforce. The full version of the game doesn't have Starforce after patching, and SF removal tool is available here: http://www.onlinesecurity-on.com/protect.phtml?c=55

KB:tL is a remake of the 1990 precursor to the Heroes of Might and Magic games. The gameplay is something like a cross between a freeform RPG and HoMM - there's a contiguous, large, pseudo-realtime gameworld but the battles are similar to HoMM series.

[frogbeastegg]

Playing King's Bounty: the Legend (http://www.kings-bounty.com/eng/) - demo available at link, but be aware: it installs Starforce. The full version of the game doesn't have Starforce after patching, and SF removal tool is available here: http://www.onlinesecurity-on.com/protect.phtml?c=55

KB:tL is a remake of the 1990 precursor to the Heroes of Might and Magic games. The gameplay is something like a cross between a freeform RPG and HoMM - there's a contiguous, large, pseudo-realtime gameworld but the battles are similar to HoMM series.
~:eek: I downloaded that demo last night with the intention of playing tonight. Lucky I came here first. I'll just buy the boxed version when it comes out next month; Gamersgate wants to charge me £32 for it, which is obscene. The boxed copy will only be £17.99.

In the meantime I'd be interested in hearing more about what you think of the game. There's lots of love for it over on one of the other forums I look at.

[Crandaeolon]

I played the demo first and later used the Starforce removal tool. Everything seems to still work fine *knocks wood*. The full version at GamersGate was 39€.

Initial impression (after a few hours) is very positive, I'll write something up tomorrow after some more playtime.

[doc_bean]

Still on Zelda: phantom hourglass, this game really is too long for its own good.

In the meantime got my PS2 hooked up again and started playing Gran Turismo 4 again after letting it lie for over a year. I'm shocked to find how good it actually is, too bad earning credits is a *****.

Started another Civ4 game too, non-expanded version. I had forgotten how hard it was to take over cities in the BC ages. But at least my Germans managed to sack Rome :medievalcheers:

[Crandaeolon]

Around six hours into King's Bounty now, it gets better and better. The world is beautiful and teeming with detail; the RPG elements (skill tree, items, spells, troop combos, Rage spirits, wife and children) are quite elegant - simple and straightforward, yet there's quite a lot of depth when combined. Battles offer interesting tactical challenges, more so than any of the HoMM games (I've played HoMM II, III and V.)

One thing that's worth mentioning is that the game doesn't hold the player's hand. There are some hugely difficult mobs even around the starting zone, and you will get trounced if you're not careful. Changing army composition and tactics to suit different areas is pretty much a requirement; a simple example would be bringing Priests and Inquisitors to the Cemetery instead of Bowmen.

The Gamespy review (4.5 stars & Editor's Choice) criticised the quality of writing in King's Bounty. I suppose that it might be a problem for native English speakers, but personally I found the various translation gaffes more charming than annoying. The text is quite lighthearted and the game doesn't take itself very seriously; again, this could be a problem for people accustomed to Dark Gothic Wrist-Slitting Fantasy of Doom (=Witcher fans ~;)), but still, the writing fits the game IMO.

Can't comment on the story yet, I've done only a couple missions on the main storyline.

Another complaint that Gamespy had was the lack of an autoresolve option for battles, or the kind of "auto-ignore" that HoMM games have (enemy troops scatter in the face of an overwhelming army etc.) Well, I haven't grown bored of the battles yet, and so far I haven't seen any respawning mobs, thank goodness. The auto-combat option combined with fast animations is a reasonable way to get past pushover battles.

Now back to the game... ~;p

[Rilder]

I used to play that then stopped when they started charging for anyone over level 35(I was level 68 when they started it) Forcing me to start over or pay, well I was kinda fond of my Jap carrier, stopped after that

They must of removed that because I'm level 39 atm and can still play.

[Veho Nex]

yeah they did, but also i cant remember my old account so i'd have to start over again :/

[Decker]

I've been attempting to play BF2 again and the mod Project Reality (http://www.realitymod.com/)

[Kekvit Irae]

Cabela's Dangerous Hunt 2009. Quite easily the best sleeper hit of the year.
Quicktime events? Bullet time? Plot? IN A HUNTING GAME? That's unpossible!

[Husar]

Are you saying it has all that or that you enjoy it without these features? :inquisitive:

[Kekvit Irae]

It has all that. It is a refreshing change from most of the junk Cabela's puts out.

[Paradox]

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Megaman 9 on the 360. I'm thinking about borrowing some Star Wars games I've missed out on, like KOTOR II and Empire at War. Does anybody recommend these for purchase?

[Boyar Son]

insurgency mod

[Martok]

I'm thinking about borrowing some Star Wars games I've missed out on, like KOTOR II and Empire at War. Does anybody recommend these for purchase?
I can put in a mild recommendation for Empire at War. I've not played it tons, but the space battles seem pretty solid, and even the planetary invasions (while not spectacular) are okay. It captures the Star Wars "feel" quite well IMO.

[TevashSzat]

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Megaman 9 on the 360. I'm thinking about borrowing some Star Wars games I've missed out on, like KOTOR II and Empire at War. Does anybody recommend these for purchase?

I would heavily recommend KOTOR II. While it certainley wasn't as great as KOTOR, some things were cut from the game, and some areas were reused, it is still IMO a great game. If you loved KOTOR, I would at least give KOTOR II a try first.

[Decker]

Soooooo................

I'm loading up World of Warcraft right now :sweatdrop:

[Gregoshi]

I just finished up The Temple of Elemental Evil (PC) and have started playing Oblivion on the Xbox 360. On the PC I'm debating between Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil or Icewind Dale.

[Marius Dynamite]

I just finished Bioshock on 360.

I thought it started really well. The characters, the theme and everything was really well done. The bit were the demo ended, where you are trapped and splicers are trying to smash there way in and Atlas opens the door was probably the most exciting part of the game.

I thought Atlas and Ryan were really interesting characters. I had a feeling Atlas was Fontaine when I realised I was never going to meet Atlas face to face. The story went downhill for me after Ryan died. There was just no good characters in the game after that.

I mean what is Fontaine anyway? Why does he want Rapture? I realise that Ryan wanted it because he was an anti-capitalist, anti-communist who was so dedicated he built a city under the sea, so whats Fontaines angle? He doesn't seem like the type who would want a city were the only inhabitants kill each other all day. Where is the profit in that for a Conman?

The way I seen it there was 3 types of people in Rapture. People like Jack and Atlas who wanted out, people who had went mad and just wanted ADAM, and Ryan, who speaks for himself.

The other thing which annoyed me was the Big Daddys. In the demo, and at the start of the game, the Big Daddys come across like the Berserkers in Gears of War, that is if they see you they will annihilate you.

Its like that scene near the start were the player is going over the stage and they see a little sister getting some ADAM and a splicer shows up and the BD annhilates it. Then Atlas is like "stay away from the BD" but then throughout the game BD's ignore the player. I thought they would strike fear into my heart everytime I saw them. Infact for the first few encounters I actually tries to sneak past them then realised they don't even care about me. :thumbsdown:

Ah well, onto Bad Company now then.

[frogbeastegg]

Lego Batman. It's ok. Same old Lego style game, just with a Batman coat of paint. I don't like Batman. My boyfriend does, however, so this one is primarily for co-op with him.



Marius, the way I understood it
When Fontaine first came to Rapture he was out to make a pile of cash and carve out a niche for himself as a powerful shadow ruler. Then the discovery which led to adam and plasmids was made, and he jumped at the opportunity to fund and develop it, knowing that success would give him far more power and wealth.

The situation continued to evolve. Plasmids went on the market and met with huge success. Fontaine steadily became more wealthy and more powerful, and saw more and better possibilities for Rapture and plasmids. Ryan sensed he was losing control of his vision and began to fight back, increasingly abandoning his ideology. Eventually it errupted into fighting, followed by open warfare and brutal measures.

If Ryan went down then there was no one left to challenge Fontaine for control of Rapture and the plasmid technology. He could rebuild the damaged city in his own vision and use it to pursue his ends: profit and power in the world above the sea.

Did you collect all of the audio logs? They flesh out most of the story. The ones on Fontaine's early days in Rapture were most enlightening.

I agree with you about the latter part of the game. As clever - and horrifiying - as some of the parts were after that big event, the game lost its heart and couldn't get it back. The final boss was dreadful.

Great game; I've been wanting to replay it since the day I completed it. There's something about a hard/no vita chamber playthrough which appeals to me, though I'm rubbish at FPS and wouldn't last longer than 5 minutes. Atmosphere, I guess. It would be a very intense experience.

[Kekvit Irae]

The thing about the Big Daddies is that they aren't berserkers or whatever. They are simply the guardians of the Little Sisters, whom are conditioned at an early age to view humans as bad and BDs as good. Proof of this exists in the Little Sister nursery later in the game when you come across two picture screens with buttons. One picture is of a human, the other is of a BD. Push the human button and you recieve a harmful electrical shock. Push the BD button and you receive snacks.
In fact, the only time in the game where a BD will physically attack you without provokation is when you get too close to a LS, causing her to scream. Even this will simply make the BD punt you out of the away instead of going on a rampage.
The main terror involving Big Daddies is the choice of whether you want to face down the hardest enemy in the game (bosses not included) just to collect a little ADAM. This choice is made even harder on the Hard difficulty when they can kill with two hits (and even more so when trying to achieve the Brass Balls achievement). This will be even harder if you play through the PS3 exclusive difficulty.

[caravel]

On the PC I'm debating between Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil or Icewind Dale.

I picked up the Doom3: RoE expansion for £2 last week, I've been playing that the last few evenings. It's "Doom" what more can I say? If you like Doom3, you'll like it, if not then I suppose you won't. For me the main attraction is that I can run it (and Quake4) under Linux flawlessly.

Do you mean the original Icewind Dale? I still have that one myself.

:bow:

[Gregoshi]

Caravel, I played Doom 3 and liked it - scared the wits out of me a few times. I got Resurrection of Evil two Xmas' ago but never loaded it. Regarding Icewind Dale, it is the Ultimate Collection version with Icewind Dale, Heart of Winter and Icewind Dale 2. I picked it up real cheap 3-4 years ago. I played it briefly but was having trouble getting used to the interface, so I put it down. I think I'll go to RoE for a change of pace.

[CountArach]

EUII: IN with Magna Mundi Platinum. I'm just not sure who to play as... probably either one of the Austrian Duchies, one of the Italian minors or England.

[TevashSzat]

I've played Doom 3 a while back and while it is pretty scarry at first especially when the monsters or whatever pop up behind you the first few times, it gets really repetetive. Everything is really predictable. I remember one time when I just finished a tough area and found a bunch of health/ammo and stuff like that and I thought once I pick everything up, something is going to jump up behind me and yep...thats exactly what happened

[caravel]

Caravel, I played Doom 3 and liked it - scared the wits out of me a few times. I got Resurrection of Evil two Xmas' ago but never loaded it.
I'm finding RoE ok so far. It's not a game I'd rush out and pay full price for on it's release date, but it passes the time. The "artifact" (RoE's version of the "Soul Cube") is quite interesting because it slows down time and allows you to take on some of the faster enemies with more ease. Also it is needed for passing through some of the traps in the excavation site.

Regarding Icewind Dale, it is the Ultimate Collection version with Icewind Dale, Heart of Winter and Icewind Dale 2. I picked it up real cheap 3-4 years ago. I played it briefly but was having trouble getting used to the interface, so I put it down. I think I'll go to RoE for a change of pace.
I've never played IWD2, only IWD and HoW. I used to love those but I haven't played it now in over 4 years. It's a great game but you need to play it turn based style. If you don't set it up to pause on various events you will lose every time.

I've played Doom 3 a while back and while it is pretty scarry at first especially when the monsters or whatever pop up behind you the first few times, it gets really repetetive. Everything is really predictable. I remember one time when I just finished a tough area and found a bunch of health/ammo and stuff like that and I thought once I pick everything up, something is going to jump up behind me and yep...thats exactly what happened
Well like any other game it's predictable and formulaic. Any FPS game is like this. Personally I find it slightly more challenging than some other FPS due to the physics model and sheer aggression of the enemy. In most FPS games you can outflank and surprise the enemy in Doom3 the enemy still seem to surprise me. I was so caught out earlier when cover from a ventilation duct jumped off the wall. I thought "typical jumpy tricks". Then the enemy came from the opposite direction a few seconds later. The game design is good, graphics are superb but what Doom3 lacks is re-playability, because once you've been to area A and zombie B has jumped out from behind instrument panel C then next time you know what to expect. Some better MP support with bots and more configuration options would have been better and extended this game's life.

[Husar]

Titan Quest: Immortal Throne

That game has so much content in a way. :sweatdrop:

[Kekvit Irae]

Titan Quest: Immortal Throne

That game has so much content in a way. :sweatdrop:

:medievalcheers:

[Fragony]

I've played Doom 3 a while back and while it is pretty scarry at first especially when the monsters or whatever pop up behind you the first few times, it gets really repetetive. Everything is really predictable. I remember one time when I just finished a tough area and found a bunch of health/ammo and stuff like that and I thought once I pick everything up, something is going to jump up behind me and yep...thats exactly what happened

Try Quake4, is what Doom3 should have been. Quake 4 is is really an exceptional 'pure' shooter with plenty of scares.

[Kekvit Irae]

After playing through Titan Quest over and over again with my Templar, I finally managed to drag myself away and try out Civilization IV: Colonization. God, what a mistake. The game sucks harder than someone trying to eat a thick milkshake through a straw. I would rather play the original Sid Meier's Colonization than this crap. Uninstalled, shelved, and forgotten about already.

[naut]

Caravel, I played Doom 3 and liked it - scared the wits out of me a few times. I got Resurrection of Evil two Xmas' ago but never loaded it. Regarding Icewind Dale, it is the Ultimate Collection version with Icewind Dale, Heart of Winter and Icewind Dale 2. I picked it up real cheap 3-4 years ago. I played it briefly but was having trouble getting used to the interface, so I put it down. I think I'll go to RoE for a change of pace.
Icewind Dale is short, but sweet. I enjoyed it immensely. Not as much as I enjoyed Baldur's Gate, but nonetheless very fun game, with a nice plot and gameplay.

[CountArach]

EUIII: IN with Magna Mundi Platinum.

I started as Styria (Austria Minor) and decided to try to unite the Austrian lands. Unfortunately Milan inheritted my throne and as such I stopped being Emperor - I also lost the ability to delare war. So after about 12 years of Italian rule a monarch died and I was free again. I have since united more lands and in the last couple of years of playing (mid 1480s) I have become Emperor again. Things are looking up :2thumbsup:

Of course the Reformation is about to begin... :angry:

[Husar]

After playing through Titan Quest over and over again with my Templar, I finally managed to drag myself away and try out Civilization IV: Colonization. God, what a mistake. The game sucks harder than someone trying to eat a thick milkshake through a straw. I would rather play the original Sid Meier's Colonization than this crap. Uninstalled, shelved, and forgotten about already.

I tried the demo of that on the PS3 and it did indeed seem pretty bad for such a game.
And yesterday I beat Typhon for the first time with my hoplite character in TQIT, that was pretty awesome because my other pet-hoarding char had absolutely no chance against Typhon but my "hoplite"(hunting/defense) is pretty good with a bow as well and that helped a whole lot. :2thumbsup:

[Alexanderofmacedon]

I've been playing a World War II first person shooter called "Red Orchestra" that is among the most accurate game I've ever seen. With called in artillery strikes, manned tanks (multiple panzermen), etc. it's a great game, but I've taken it to a new level. I am an infantry commander in a realism unit and having 1-life matches are tactical and most exciting! Sounds like a sale pitch, but it's true. Anyone else play Red Orchestra?

[Kekvit Irae]

I tried the demo of that on the PS3 and it did indeed seem pretty bad for such a game.
And yesterday I beat Typhon for the first time with my hoplite character in TQIT, that was pretty awesome because my other pet-hoarding char had absolutely no chance against Typhon but my "hoplite"(hunting/defense) is pretty good with a bow as well and that helped a whole lot. :2thumbsup:

Pet characters have a much easier time in Epic and Legendary than they do in Normal mode. The reason for this is because monsters (including pets) get 4x health in Epic and 10x health in Legendary.
But just because you beat Typhon doesn't mean you're going to breeze through Act 4. You will die. A lot. Especially if you have very little Vitality resistance.

[Husar]

Pet characters have a much easier time in Epic and Legendary than they do in Normal mode. The reason for this is because monsters (including pets) get 4x health in Epic and 10x health in Legendary.
But just because you beat Typhon doesn't mean you're going to breeze through Act 4. You will die. A lot. Especially if you have very little Vitality resistance.

I noticed the latter, my problem with pets is beating Typhon, my character just seems stuck at that point, the little health I can detract he will literally suck out of me again, maybe my other char can find some good items to boost the pet attacks or something else that might be of help there. :shrug:
But yes, the guy who beat Typhon is dying a whole lot in Rhodes now. :sweatdrop:

[Kekvit Irae]

Even if you have two +petdamage rings, a +petdamage amulet, and a +petdamage staff, your minions are going to get creamed by bosses. Oddly enough, when I played a Summoner (Earth+Nature), I had no problems with bosses. This was mainly because I had a nearly-maxed Core Dweller (tanks for the win!) and Heart of Oak. I started with Earth, gained my Core Dweller, and completely ignored Nature until I nearly maxed him out. Once I got two or so points into each of his synergies (completely ignore Wildfire, it sucks), I pump points into Nature and Heart of Oak. Metamorphosis and Heart of Oak gives +%health to your Core Dweller (HoO also gives YOU the health boost too), making your Core Dweller an unstoppable force. Completely ignore your wolves until Epic, when they can finally be useful.

Here's another tip for Nature vs bosses: Plague. Lots and lots of Plague. If you are playing a Soothsayer (Spirit+Nature), you will also want Deathchill Aura. These two combined will completely destroy the health of bosses, but are usually not as good on normal creatures. Avoid Ravages of Time unless you have the fanpatch (http://www.titanquest.net/forums/bugfix-fanpatch/26855-rel-bugfix-patch.html); it's broken and does not work.

[frogbeastegg]

I've completed most of Lego Batman on my own; there's not been an evening where my boyfriend and I felt like playing it. All I have left to do is the secret hunting which makes up the various components of 100%, and the hero bonus mission. Truthfully, I've had enough. I'm not doing any more on my own; I don't find the game to be all that much fun. The Lego formula is worn out and in need of some work. Issues which were slightly irritating in the original lego Star Wars are maddening here - this is the fifth game in the series. The moronic partner AI, slippery platforming and frequently bothersome camera angles should have been addressed long ago.

I have been playing a lot of Civ4: beyond the sword. The game has changed a considerable amount since the last time I did much with it. It's been 2 years, 2 expansions and many patches, so that's hardly surprising.

This evening I started a game which has proven to live up to its gentle hype. A game I was dubious about getting. A game which has sat on my shelf since last March. A game which I picked up for the princely sum of £9.99 brand new solely on the basis of that reputation, and more than half doubted I would ever play. This game had medicore reviews. You won't see it being discussed very often. When you do, you'll see people saying it's one of the most enjoyable games of its type on the 360. It's a game from a genre which, with the exception of a few titles, I don't usually like.

I'm playing ... Conan. The God of War clone, not the MMORG.

Lopping heads off and watching them bounce about the screen is engaging enough that I don't quite find time to cringe at Conan's "I'm a male wish fulfillment fantasy from decades ago" world. The combat is highly enjoyable; lots of moves split across general moves, single sword, duel wield, and two-handed. Each move will be mastered when you have dispatched enough enemies with it, and that gives some small bonuses to you. The more you kill the more moves you can buy. Given that this is a 6-8 hour game I doubt there will be enough red runes to purchase every single skill on all of the trees, or enough enemies to master them on, so choosing a fighting style which fits you is important.

[Paradox]

Saints Row 2, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, and Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

I'll be getting Fable 2 and Warriors Orochi 2 next week.

[Xiahou]

I've been playing 'World of Goo (http://2dboy.com/)', an awesome little game with tons of character. The puzzles are fun, but it's the presentation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o30HZquEnuw) that really makes the game so much fun. Great music, and great artwork. :2thumbsup:

After some debate, I went with the PC version instead of the Wiiware version. The PC version costs $5 more, but its also DRM free, whereas the Wiiware version is obviously tied to whatever Wii it's downloaded on. Also, I thought Id probably have an easier time with the mouse than the Wiimote, although I hear from the reviews that both work quite well. The PC version doesn't offer co-op play like the Wii version does, but I probably won't be playing it with anyone regardless- so I thought I'd appreciate the ability to play it on any PC more.

Here's a demo (http://www.fileplanet.com/192991/190000/fileinfo/World-of-Goo-Demo) for those interested.

[TevashSzat]

I've recently dug up my old version of KOTOR again and am playing through as a Light Scoundrel/Consular again

[Kekvit Irae]

After spending 30 minutes in Victoria: Empire Under The Sun, I have concluded that those 30 minutes were the worst I have ever spent on a game. As convoluted as it was, at least Hearts of Iron II had a tutorial.
Uninstalled, deleted, shelved.

Now working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl.

[seireikhaan]

Europa Universalis III: In Nomine

Currently playing out the Ming. Colonized most of S/E Asia and pacifica, annexed Manchuria, Oirat Horde, Tibet, Mongols, most of Indonesia and Malaysia, Swahili-land and vassalized most all of East Asia, sans Japan, by 1680. On the domestic front, I've just managed to totally westernize(got some incredibly lucky stabilizing events during the process that netted me +3 stability in all just by themselves), and I'm currently ranked numero 2.

http://screenshot.xfire.com/screenshot/natural/f674c6ab9dff8be5e3cf570043976f8499eca703.png

[naut]

After spending 30 minutes in Victoria: Empire Under The Sun, I have concluded that those 30 minutes were the worst I have ever spent on a game. As convoluted as it was, at least Hearts of Iron II had a tutorial.
Uninstalled, deleted, shelved.
The learning curve in that game is ridiculously steep. I enjoy it though, but only in small doses.

[seireikhaan]

I thoroughly enjoy Victoria. Took awhile to get it down, but once I did, I found the whole thing quite enjoyable. Not quite like playing Mount and Blade where I could just keep going forever and ever, but it can occupy plenty of my time.

But yes, the curve is quite steep. I don't think 30 minutes is nearly enough to get a good feel for the game.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

The key to Victoria is to start slowly and not take on too many challenges. If you have to, cheat in your first few games as you learn to balance things, and gradually break the habit once you master things.

[frogbeastegg]

This weekend was going to be my Fable II and Dead Space weekend. I had gotten all cautiously excited, and the prospect served as the light at the end of the tunnel throughout a hellish week at work. The Royal Mail have managed to :oops: my copy of Fable II. It should have arrived yesterday and didn't. Today I got a card pushed through my door; they tried to deliver and got no answer. Now I have to wait until Monday before it can be collected. Yay. Better yet, it's a standard DVD case, and they've pushed scores of those through my letterbox without problems over the years.

So it's Dead Space. Which I'm sure will be fine and good. :sigh: Not the same though. I've still got Conan to finish; that will serve as my flavour break from deep space killer mutant freak things.

[TevashSzat]

This weekend was going to be my Fable II and Dead Space weekend. I had gotten all cautiously excited, and the prospect served as the light at the end of the tunnel throughout a hellish week at work. The Royal Mail have managed to :oops: my copy of Fable II. It should have arrived yesterday and didn't. Today I got a card pushed through my door; they tried to deliver and got no answer. Now I have to wait until Monday before it can be collected. Yay. Better yet, it's a standard DVD case, and they've pushed scores of those through my letterbox without problems over the years.

So it's Dead Space. Which I'm sure will be fine and good. :sigh: Not the same though. I've still got Conan to finish; that will serve as my flavour break from deep space killer mutant freak things.

At least you can play those games...

My computer has now deteriorated to the point that it can't either play any new games or can only do so with everything turned down and it is still pretty bad.....So, I'm stuck replaying all of my old games until I buy my new laptop. I've already got a long long list of games that I'll want to play already and are out, but I can't....

[frogbeastegg]

They're all on my Xbox 360. Not that they would trouble my PC; there's a reason I dubbed it 'froggy's beast' back when I built it. What causes me difficulty is time; it's rather irksome to think that the better I do at my job the less time I have to enjoy myself. 3 years ago I was on a quarter of the money I'm on now, and had a couple more days off each week.

I doubt I'll be able to do anything much with Fable II until next weekend now, and that's assuming I don't end up playing Fallout 3 instead. In which case it will be waiting for weeks. Or months. You don't want to see my to-play pile. It's scary.

[TevashSzat]

I doubt I'll be able to do anything much with Fable II until next weekend now, and that's assuming I don't end up playing Fallout 3 instead. In which case it will be waiting for weeks. Or months. You don't want to see my to-play pile. It's scary.

Mine is getting pretty scary already too....Off the top of my head...

Bioshock
Mass Effect
Crysis
Far Cry 2
Fallout 3 (when it comes out)
X3 Terran Conflict
Dead Space (when it comes out)
NFS: Underground (when it comes out)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Sky

Easily 400 hours of game play at least there, even if I don't replay any games, which would be doubtful

Thats it....I'm locking myself in my house for a week once I finally get my laptop.....

[Husar]

FIFA 09 and more Titan Quest.

Titan Quest is a real timewaster, I've been dying through Hades on normal for many hours now, should be close to the end but the difficulty ranges from "ah, let him hack until he dies of old age" to "wham! dead...", with a few passages where either applies for a longer time. :sweatdrop:
But in one way or another the game keeps throwing new content at you, with the annoying exception that I found the babylonian (torso) armour three times now but didn't get any of the other parts... :wall:

[Kekvit Irae]

Titan Quest is a real timewaster, I've been dying through Hades on normal for many hours now, should be close to the end but the difficulty ranges from "ah, let him hack until he dies of old age" to "wham! dead...", with a few passages where either applies for a longer time. :sweatdrop:
But in one way or another the game keeps throwing new content at you, with the annoying exception that I found the babylonian (torso) armour three times now but didn't get any of the other parts... :wall:

Hint: Viney Growths. Lots of them. Put a full Viney Growth into your helmet, bracers, torso, and leggings (all armor should have +%health regen), and you will definitely die a LOT less. My Templar gets up to around 140 health regen per second with just a few points in Trance of Convo, but you can still achieve this number easily with any other character. You can just run up to someone and let them bishslap you for as long as they want.
You can farm Viney Growth charms in the Hanging Gardens. It'll take you awhile, but it's well worth it.

[frogbeastegg]

Mine is getting pretty scary already too....
Hehe, not to be rude or anything, but that's not scary. Scary is having over 100 games on your to-play pile, not including those which will be released soon. A good number of those are huge RPGs or open-ended games too. 130+ hours for Persona 3: Fes? That will take me several months of playing.

Titan Quest: gold is on my pile. Been there for months. All the talk about it here doesn't help.

[Crandaeolon]

Finished with King's Bounty: the Legend. Quite a fun experience, though not quite instantly recommendable if you like to arrange your troops just so (always use a specific mix.) In KBtL you'll frequently need to work with what you have.

Now I've gone back to King of Dragon Pass; a friend of mine discovered a way to run it full screen. True cult classic.

[Kekvit Irae]

Titan Quest: gold is on my pile. Been there for months. All the talk about it here doesn't help.

Plaaaaaaay iiiiiiiiit....
:whip:

[Craterus]

Replaying GTA IV. Make some different choices...

[Husar]

Hint: Viney Growths. Lots of them. Put a full Viney Growth into your helmet, bracers, torso, and leggings (all armor should have +%health regen), and you will definitely die a LOT less. My Templar gets up to around 140 health regen per second with just a few points in Trance of Convo, but you can still achieve this number easily with any other character. You can just run up to someone and let them bishslap you for as long as they want.
You can farm Viney Growth charms in the Hanging Gardens. It'll take you awhile, but it's well worth it.

I actually thought about that, but yes, would have to farm them, only have one at the moment.
I'm now on epic though with that char and it has become a bit easier overall. Maybe some epic viney growths once I get there. Some day I should also try to kill typhon with that char who is stuck there and then I have a third char as well.

[Dutch_guy]

Playing Bioshock on the PS3 again, upped the difficulty - should be fun.

Also curious as to how Fallout 'll turn out to be. Never played a game of the series before, but it looks very interesting.

:balloon2:

[Kekvit Irae]

Dead Space, a very good spiritual successor to System Shock 2 (unlike Bioshock which was 100% run-and-gun and 0% scares). Oddly enough, as much as the game is touted as one of the scariest games of this year, it hasn't done a good job of scaring me yet, and I'm already to chapter 4.

[Decker]

Dead Space, a very good spiritual successor to System Shock 2 (unlike Bioshock which was 100% run-and-gun and 0% scares). Oddly enough, as much as the game is touted as one of the scariest games of this year, it hasn't done a good job of scaring me yet, and I'm already to chapter 4.

Have you ever played Penumbra? I have it on my comp but haven't gotten to playing it yet. I heard it was alright... though from your descriptions it might be a cakewalk lol.

[TevashSzat]

Finished KOTOR a while ago and haven't really played anything else other some occasional Starcraft custom maps on Battle.net (sunken defense and impossible maps ftw!)

[Kekvit Irae]

LittleBigPlanet. Oh god, I haven't seen this much fun and cuteness all rolled up into a game since the Katamari series. :loveg:

[Veho Nex]

Fallout3 :D

[Husar]

LittleBigPlanet. Oh god, I haven't seen this much fun and cuteness all rolled up into a game since the Katamari series. :loveg:

I still don't really have a clue what this game is about. Solving physics puzzles with a cute toy? Would you mind explaining?

Myself, been playing some Far Cry 2, I tried not to expect too much from it but it still managed to get on my nerves by throwing enemies at me all the time after sending me on a mission across half the map. I think I died more often due to patrols and checkpoints on the way to a mission than in the mission areas themselves, and you cannot save anywhere either. :wall:
I won't give up that easily though.

[Kekvit Irae]

I still don't really have a clue what this game is about. Solving physics puzzles with a cute toy? Would you mind explaining?

That's pretty much the single player aspect in a nutshell. The real fun is being able to create your own worlds and sharing them with the public.

[Fragony]

Manhunt 2, which is actually awesome. Controls aren't that great though, it's uncomfortable to walk and turn with one analogue stick. But that's the only complaint. It looks ok, nothing special, but it's very moody and raw, as creepy as insanity should be.

[frogbeastegg]

I'm playing the xbox live arcade re-release of the N64 classic, Banjo Kazooie. I preordered the new game (nuts and bolts) and so got the free code to download this a couple of weeks before it goes on general release. :cough: Ok, so I preordered nuts and bolts primarily for this code. The fact it will work out slightly cheaper than paying for the download plus buying the new game eventually is by the by.

Banjo Kazooie was one of my favourite N64 games. When it was new I spent weeks searching out every last secret. It took the Mario 64 formula and expanded it into the best 3D platformer I have played. This game, more than any other, was responsible for me classing Rare as a developer to get excited about, even when I found games like Goldeneye to be passe.

It holds up fabulously. The graphics have been given a high res tweak so they aren't a blurry mess on a big HD TV, and there's been a few alterations to the save system to make it more forgiving. Other than that it's pure and unadulterated, and I'm loving it all over again. Makes me realise how long it has been since I last played a 3D platformer which didn't attempt to be a cross-genre hybrid. It's a genre which appears to be long dead.

It's enchanting to see details which awed me back in the day, and realise that they are still valuable today. Back then dynamic music was a Big Thing. Today ... well, I can't think of many uses as delightful as BK's. Sly humour sometimes dates badly; BK's hasn't. Kazooie is every bit as funny as I remember, full of snarky remarks and putdowns. Gruntilda's lair (the hub area) has 'teddy bears picnic' as it's theme tune, and all dialogue said in rhyme; might not sound that good but when you see it in action you can't imagine it being done otherwise.

I'd say Banjo Kazooie is being played alongside Fallout 3, however the sad truth is that this year's big blockbuster is not remotely as much fun to play as the one from a dace ago. Fallout 3 is being played alongside BK.

[naut]

EU II as Prussia.

[Kekvit Irae]

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.
Every woman is portrayed as nothing more than eye candy, Jenny McCarthy as Tanya, uninspired campaigns, Tim Curry at his worst, confusing unit mix, Jenny McCarthy as Tanya, no difference in co-commanders, David Hasselhoff, Japanese Schoolgirls as a commando unit (highly vulnerable to naughty tentacles)... oh, did I mention Jenny McCarthy plays Tanya?
Will there ever be an end to the suckage? I had MUCH more fun with RE2: Yuri's Revenge.

[Fragony]

Medal of Honor 2: Heroes. Goodbye keyboard/mouse, hello Wiimote. Fantastic multiplayer, shame about the same boring weapons we have seen soooo many time, can't wait for 'The Conduit' which seems to boast an incredible arsenal of real world and alien weapons.

[Craterus]

I'm 'becoming a legend', amongst other things, on PES2009 and also still playing FM08.

[Martok]

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.
Every woman is portrayed as nothing more than eye candy, Jenny McCarthy as Tanya, uninspired campaigns, Tim Curry at his worst, confusing unit mix, Jenny McCarthy as Tanya, no difference in co-commanders, David Hasselhoff, Japanese Schoolgirls as a commando unit (highly vulnerable to naughty tentacles)... oh, did I mention Jenny McCarthy plays Tanya?
Will there ever be an end to the suckage? I had MUCH more fun with RE2: Yuri's Revenge.
You're not the only one who didn't like it (http://www.crispygamer.com/gamereviews/2008-11-03/command-conquer-red-alert-3-pc.aspx). After reading that review, RA3 has lost much of its appeal for me, regardless SecuROM and the 5-install limit. No option to change game speeds? Count me out. :thumbsdown:


EDIT: I too agree that McCarthy as Tanya = fail. And Hasselhoff is in the game?? Yeesh. :no:

[Tratorix]

I too agree that McCarthy as Tanya = fail. And Hasselhoff is in the game?? Yeesh.

I personally think The Hoff would fit in perfectly (http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=PJQVlVHsFF8).

I'm currently playing Final Fantasy 4 on the DS. I really don't know why I keep trying to like Final Fantasy games, as they all seem to be the same. Angsty hero? Check. Evil empire? Check. Railroad plot with not much else to do? Check. Frustrating battle system that takes to worst parts of turn based and real time? Checkmate.

[Fragony]

Try The world ends with you if you want something different. Angsty teen hero, checkerthecheckcheckCHECK, as for the rest, well I mean it's set in modern japanese culture. Add matrix-like plot and a wild two screen battle system that is a blast to master, awesome set of characters (minus the initially annoying as can be emo-hero, but he does grow on you) and you got win.

[Ferret]

I'm 'becoming a legend', amongst other things, on PES2009 and also still playing FM08.

eurgh PES... playing for Merseyside Red by any chance :P

[Kekvit Irae]

Now that I have played through the Allied campaign, I must say that The Hoff's acting was better than expected (at least, when compared to the other actors).
Now on to the Japanese campaign, where I have to defend Pearl Harbor from an Allied sneak attack. Oh, the irony.

[Craterus]

eurgh PES... playing for Merseyside Red by any chance :P

Liverpool are fully licensed actually... ~:rolleyes:

And no, I'm still a promising youngster at Vitesse in the Dutch league.

[Martok]

Now that I have played through the Allied campaign, I must say that The Hoff's acting was better than expected (at least, when compared to the other actors).
Now on to the Japanese campaign, where I have to defend Pearl Harbor from an Allied sneak attack. Oh, the irony.
Speaking of irony, isn't Kelly Hu (who plays your assistant in the Japanese campaign) of Chinese descent?


EDIT: I was half right. Apparently she's of Chinese-Filipino-Hawaiian and English descent. :laugh4:

[Rilder]

Currently been playing Sword of the stars, which is by the way. AWESOME.

[Kekvit Irae]

Gone back to playing Dark Age of Camelot.

[TevashSzat]

Well, I got Need for Speed Undercover in the hopes that it would run half decently on my very bad comp. I barely meet the minimum specs, but it works to some degree. I can maintain about 20-30fps on 1024*768 with minimum settings on everything except for medium car detail.

As for the game.....its alot better than Carbon (I skipped Prostreet b/c it basically deviated from the whole NFS franchise), but not as good as most wanted. I actually really like the new highway battle races. At 200+ mph, one mistake and boom, you end up in a huge car pile and have to restart again.

[caravel]

I'm playing Le Chuck's Revenge: Monkey Island II running on the ScummVM engine under Ubuntu Linux. It's amazing how much you remember of old games...

:2thumbsup:

[CountArach]

HPS Simulations' Campaign Waterloo (http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/products/NapBat/waterloo/waterloo.html).

A Hex-based game that is incredibly realistic and has a real board game feel to it. I'm really loving this game.

[naut]

I'm playing Le Chuck's Revenge: Monkey Island II running on the ScummVM engine under Ubuntu Linux. It's amazing how much you remember of old games...

:2thumbsup:
Hehe, tell me about it. Loaded up Fallout 1 he other day, ah the memories...

[frogbeastegg]

I'm done with Banjo Kazooie. I have all but 4 jiggies, and all but 17 musical notes. Everything else is collected and completed. I got 100% back in ye day and don't feel the need to spoil my day by doing the bad bits again.

My memory wasn't being a whiny young frog when it claimed Click Clock Wood is dire. Last level of the game, and the difficulty curve goes vertical. Not only that but it starts making you repeat large sections each time you make a mistake. Climb to top of very tall tree via awkward jumps which make the camera have a fit. Miss one jump right at the end due to camera having a fit, fall right back to the bottom and lose half your health. Spend five minutes climbing back up, fall back down and die. Start entire level over again. Better and better - you have to climb that accursed tree over and over, and with conditions becoming more sweary each time. By the time they added enemies onto the tiny platforms near the top I lost the will to press on; it's iconic of everything which used to be bad about games a decade ago. You can't kill the enemy until you land on the platform. The enemy takes up the entire platform. Ranged attacks won't hit it; you have to use a close up attack. If you get hit then you are thrown off the ledge all the way to the bottom and have to spend ages climbing back up, assuming you survived, which you probably didn't. It's difficulty for the sake of making you die, not for the sake of challenging you.

I could kill the final boss. I don't want to. I remember how much froggy pain went into beating it 10 years ago. Rare had a reputation for truly evil boss fights. IMO they more than earned it.

That leaves me with Fallout 3. I don't know how many more times I will be able to persuade myself to start that game up; it's a joyless drag.

[Kekvit Irae]

Settlers of Catan for the 360 (absolutely LOVED the board game, so this was a no brainer), and Left 4 Dead on the PC.

[naut]

FM2008, as PSV. Despite a small amount of money available for transfers I picked up some major bargains. So my team owns!

[Tiberius of the Drake]

Crusader Kings-1081-normal-above normal speed-Kingdom of Naples (originally Duchy of Apulia)

Im debating whether to continue to to try to conquer Italy, and face the HRE or to try to conquer Croatia.
any suggestions?

[Veho Nex]

Mud N Blood 2, since it's the only thing I can play because my Video card took a dump.

[Martok]

Crusader Kings-1081-normal-above normal speed-Kingdom of Naples (originally Duchy of Apulia)

Im debating whether to continue to to try to conquer Italy, and face the HRE or to try to conquer Croatia.
any suggestions?

I'd go with whichever one will carry less flak/greater favor with the Pope. Given His Holiness' seemingly near-constant problems with his Imperial neighbor to the north, perhaps he'd overlook your desire to unite Italy first?

[Crazed Rabbit]

Playing GRID right now, with a keyboard :/

Also, The Witcher: EE is getting some playing time.

CR

[frogbeastegg]

I have finally finished Fallout 3 (1 month later! 54 hours! Gah!), and started the new Prince of Persia.

[Martok]

Am back playing MTW again. I'd been fooling around with Redux as the English, but at the moment I'm testing the latest version of the Pocket Mod with a Fatimid campaign. So far, so good. :2thumbsup:

[Veho Nex]

Starcraft on the school computers, and when I get caught for installing all my games onto my account I'll let you guys know.

[Kekvit Irae]

Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir.
NWN2 goes back to the days of the old Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games with customizable parties. Playing a merchant company owner has never been so fun, despite the obvious flaws with the game.

[Decker]

Just started up Combat Missions Beyond Overlord or simply known as CMBO. It's the first of the Combat Mission series that came out in 2000 (can't remember lol).

[Sigurd]

I will admit that I am not gaming too much.

But I have a PS3 and I just got the Heavy weight champion of the world belt in Fight Night Round 3 with my character.

I also recently reinstalled Rome:TW and am playing the Julii campaign again. Never finished it first time. :disappointed:
I am down to one faction outside the combined forces of the allied Roman factions. Egypt is fighting us and have lost Africa and the Middle East up to Damascus.

[Bob the Insane]

Recently i have been keeping my twitch reflexes happy with CoD5 MP... A lot...

FF on... the only way to play...

[frogbeastegg]

When I'm not playing 'Christmas in retail: ultimate death slog' I'm playing one of the following:
Prince of Perisa
Naruto: rise of a ninja
Dragon quest IV on the DS
Valkyria chronicles
Civ 4

Christmas in retail: ultimate death slog is such a demanding title I find that it's impossible to play another game if I'm not in the mood for it, hence the wide seleciton of types. If I'm not playing one of them then I'm usually to be found with a book fallen over my face, sound asleep.

Heh. Naruto is surprisingly good. I don't know a thing about the manga and anime; I picked it up because since release I have seen good report after good report about how the game plays, and it was crazy cheap. It's an adventure RPG beat-um-up platforming action game with graphics which rank amongst the best on the 360. :cough: It's also an Ubisoft title, and IMO a far sight better than their new Prince of Persia :cough: A license game which isn't rubbish? Believe it! (Though I do kind of wish Naruto would stop exclaiming that every second cutscene.)

[Boyar Son]

CoD5: WaW

Far Cry 2

[Kekvit Irae]

Still on NWN2: SoZ
Also playing CoD4 on the PS3

[Martok]

Not really playing much at the moment. Been too busy with the new job this past week. :embarassed: Am currently waiting for the next beta of the Pocket Mod, although at this point I probably won't get to actually try it out til after Christmas anyway.



Still on NWN2: SoZ
I thought you found Neverwinter 2 barf-arific. Or was that someone else? :inquisitive:

[Kekvit Irae]

I thought you found Neverwinter 2 barf-arific. Or was that someone else? :inquisitive:

Ages ago, before patches and player-made AI mods. Now with both, along with some help with some other mods, I am thoroughly enjoying NWN2.

[Magraev]

I'm playing MTW2 Kingdoms, modded with Stainless Steel 6.1 atm. Still maybe the greatest game ever.

Playing a bit of Fallout3 also and contemplating buying NWN2:SoZ. Heroes 3 only when the wife wants to play a bit (on the computer that is...).

[Marius Dynamite]

I've been playing Gears of War 2 and CoD:WaW recently..

Gears: Decent game but the lag is really bad online. Why did they set it to 5v5 when it barely worked 4v4 in the original?! Of course when you ask Cliff Bleszinski he says the extra 2 guys are irrelevent as "people will be dying and stuff" how does that reduce lag man?!?

Its not too bad if the host is from Britain, so why not give me the matchmaking option to only search for British or European hosts and do likewise for Americans?

CoD: Not a big fan of CoD5 and never really liked CoD4. The whole "I saw you first so I kill you!!" style of play is not for me. Not to mention the insta-explode grenades because of cooking and people just sitting in a corner and killing everything that runs past.

Well its almost Christmas anyway. I'm expecting Fifa09, Fallout 3 and Fable 2 which should keep me occupied for a while at least.

On a side not I recently went into the local LAN centre to try some games on their PCs. WOW games are so awesome on those PCs. Graphics full, no lag.. excellent. I had a massive game of Medieval 2 and a few online games of Company of Heroes.. awesome. I'll have to go in and try Crysis at some point and organise a big 4v4 of Company of Heroes. I already played a 2v2 tourny of Gears2 on its release date. Got to the Semi-finals :beam: then lost hard :no:

[Shieldmaiden]

I am playing:

Far Cry Woohoo! I'd forgotten how much I enjoy FPS. Its challenging me and its cool, only gotten to the Aircraft Carrier though :yes: It reminds me why I upgraded my PC!

I might buy Prey too and continue shooting stuff into the New Year.

Rise of Nations: Thrones & Patriots A favourite, I like the AoE and Civ series and its similiar IMHO.

Spore Well... shallow. Its fun creating stuff to meet. I wish I'd waited for it to drop in price... :wall:

Thinking of buying Prey, Sid Meier's Pirates! and Heroes of Might and Magic III & IV Double Pack for £10 (lots of 3-for-£10 offers in the UK). Plus Medieval 2 and Kingdoms next year.

[Martok]

Ages ago, before patches and player-made AI mods. Now with both, along with some help with some other mods, I am thoroughly enjoying NWN2.
Would you recommend it then? I've been kind itching for a decent single-player RPG for a while now, but the original NWN is now obviously long in the tooth, and most other recent offerings (Oblivion, The Witcher, etc.) just haven't appealed to me very much.

[Kekvit Irae]

Would you recommend it then? I've been kind itching for a decent single-player RPG for a while now, but the original NWN is now obviously long in the tooth, and most other recent offerings (Oblivion, The Witcher, etc.) just haven't appealed to me very much.

So long as you install Tony_K's Companion & Creature AI mod, then the answer is a resounding YES.

The Original Campaign is more engaging than the OC of NWN1, moreso with the fact that EmoPaladinWithCleavage isn't even mentioned. Mask of the Betrayer adds a very interesting concept to your OC character by requiring him/her to eat souls to survive, and simplifies the party influence system. Storm of Zehir brings the game back to its roots with Icewind Dale-style parties; create 4 characters of your own and have two additional NPCs join in, or just create one super character and fill out the rest of the slots with all the NPCs. SoZ also has an overworld map to travel on, rather than a painted TGA file, and you spend much of your time moving and exploring the world as you would normally (only on a much larger scale).

NWN2 is a definite buy. The NPCs alone make it worthwhile. My personal favorite is Khelgar Ironfist, a dwarven fighter who lives for only one thing: beating the crap out of people with his bare fists. You spend much of the game- should you wish, since it's merely a subplot- helping him be a monk. Grobnar Gnomehands, the gnome bard, is the closest NWN2 has to good ol' Minsc and Boo.

Oh, and if you do pick up NWN2, be sure to download LuteHero. :tongueg:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n0vmCqv5yo

[frogbeastegg]

Naruto -> Finished. The final side quests in each type are annoying, so I'm leaving them. Otherwise it was a good game and I shall play the sequel one day.

At this point I'm afraid the friendly frog stops. The biting, nasty frog takes over.

Prince of Persia -> Abandoned before I snap the disc and/or hurl the controller through the TV. I can't recall another game which has made me want to do that! Normally the worst I do when annoyed by a game is growl quietly. PoP has me screaming abuse at the prince, the controls, Elika, the level design, the development team, and any and all enemies. That's it. I'm done with this series unless they get rid of these 'easy' and 'simple' 'newbie friendly' controls and utterly rubbish combat! This is one of the most disappointing, frustrating, counter-intuitive, poorly thought out, impossible to control, and just GAH! games I have ever had the misfortune to play. And to think it ended up that way because the developers were attempting to make it simple, frustration free and accessable to people who don't play games.

I started Fable II. It's the bestest game evar!!1! It's got 2 play modes. The first is teh aw3some and it totally rocks! I get to watch a microsoft logo in amazing 3d glory! Then there's this never-ending black screen which is, like, deeply meaningful, and the most amazingly deep thing ever to been seen in a game, like, ever! Worth £29.99 for that alone! The second mode is - amazingly! - even better because it's interactive. I press A on 'install to HD'; and then this bar moves up a bit. This part of the game's really hard because I only get to 2% before it pops up a message and says I have to try again! That's hardcore 1337 oldstyle difficulty, man!

In less acidicly 'humorous' words, my launch limited edition copy of Fable II is an expensive coaster because it's one of the many which didn't burn correctly. There aren't any limited editions left for me to swap it with, so I'll have to downgrade and lose the bonus dungeons and content I paid for, or buy another copy. For reasons which defy the combined intellect of humankind, I'm oddly reluctant to do either. I do wonder why.

Despite the fact the game has worked for all of half a microsoft splash screen it's still plastered itself on my gamercard. That's the last nail in the coffin of my half-hearted caring about my gamerscore and achievements.

So much for the spell of nice, relaxing, enjoyable gaming I've been looking forward to throughout the past 6 weeks of crazy overtime and work related stress. :considers ditching gaming in favour of learning calligraphy or something:

[Martok]

Kek: Many thanks for the feedback on NWN2. :bow: Will maybe have to try and check it out, methinks (whenever I have time to play games again, that is).



I started Fable II. It's the bestest game evar!!1! It's got 2 play modes. The first is teh aw3some and it totally rocks! I get to watch a microsoft logo in amazing 3d glory! Then there's this never-ending black screen which is, like, deeply meaningful, and the most amazingly deep thing ever to been seen in a game, like, ever! Worth £29.99 for that alone! The second mode is - amazingly! - even better because it's interactive. I press A on 'install to HD'; and then this bar moves up a bit. This part of the game's really hard because I only get to 2% before it pops up a message and says I have to try again! That's hardcore 1337 oldstyle difficulty, man!
Wow. I can't decide if that was really funny, or really scary. I think both.... :laugh4: ~:eek:

[Kekvit Irae]

I decided to take a break from NWN2 and start on Fable II.
You know a game is epic when one of the buyable items are CONDOMS and you meet a pedophile during the first two minutes of the game.

I created a male character and started wooing every woman I came across. Once I got engaged to one, I started to slap her. Repeatedly. If she's going to be my wife, she'll need to learn to fear me like I was Rick James. :hairpin1:
I don't know what was more amusing... the fact that nobody in town really cared about the blatant physical abuse, or the fact that my fiancee loved it.

[Kekvit Irae]

I played a bit of Supreme Ruler 2020, and still didn't like the complex HoI-like gameplay. Although I did have more fun with it than HoI2 since I was able to actually DO something. I started a new game as Alabama and started cutting a swath into Mississippi (I didn't want to attack Georgia since I didn't want to PO Fort Benning). I managed to conquer Meridian and Topelo on my way to the capital of Jackson. Unfortunately, Mississippi managed to overwhelm my troops (no thanks to the retarded AI who wanted nothing more than to move my troops back to Fort Rucker and Montgomery) and found myself defenseless no thanks to not figuring out how the heck to build more troops. I quit the game shortly before Prattville (Woohoo! My hometown is in a game!) was overrun.
Bottom line: Bad tutorials, horrible AI, and an economic system that requires a Masters degree in Economics just to figure out.

Time to move on to Painkiller in-between Fable II sessions.

[frogbeastegg]

Like a complete mug I purchased a second copy of Fable II.

My female hero got chased through the marketplace by a flock of little old lady lesbians, all of whom were shouting propositions.

I got married, and half of the men in the neighbourhood turned up in my house on the wedding night and refused to get out. The crowd blocked the way so my new husband couldn't get near the bed.

The town crier has taken up semi-permanent residence in my marital home and propositions me every time I'm within earshot. My husband seems ok with this.

I had a baby (that husband needs to do something in exchange for the money I give him!), left town for a bit, and came home to find the town crier standing over the cot and spouting pick up lines. Some confusion ensued, and baby and town crier both got fireballed. The baby doesn't hold a grudge, and appears flame proof. Phew! The town crier ran off screaming. Sadly he soon came back, ardent as ever.

I can kick chickens 11 feet.

I survive entirely on celery. It's giving me a halo.

A scummy peasant told me I should get nicer clothes. I slapped him. He liked it. He's an employee of mine, working at a fruit and veg stall I own, and I now earn more cash from that stall.

My dog is becoming a bleach blond due to heroic rays emanating from my body. I hope they don't cause cancer ...

I'm a cross-dresser, wearing multiple items of clothes tagged as men's. Loads of people tell me how good I look. Must be the tight breeches and tailored coat.

I picked up an apple. The description said that there was a single worm living in it, and that this was a bug, not a feature.

:laugh4:

I do rather love the game. It's too unreal. Wallace and Gromit style comedy English accents, Discworld-esque humour, so many digs at gaming lore and Molyneux's own work, bright and pretty fairytale graphics coupled with subjects most games refuse to tackle.

[TevashSzat]

I have a sudden urge to replay through Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines. I'm probably gonna try being a Malkovian, but the wierd dialogue is making me hesitate.....

[Kekvit Irae]

I have a sudden urge to replay through Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines. I'm probably gonna try being a Malkovian, but the wierd dialogue is making me hesitate.....

You should play as a Malk just for the sheer hilarity of Samantha and the turtle dialogue.

[Tiberius of the Drake]

I was playing the Last Remnant for the 360 until I got the partial red ring of death yesterday ( :sweatdrop:) and the error 74. so now i have a 350$ box sitting on my shelf until I get it fixed.

...

in the meantime ive been playing a combination of FF XII and Crusader Kings

[Warluster]

Recently I have been playing CoD 5, Oblivion, Cod4, CoD3 and Lego Indiana Jones.

CoD 3 wasn't bad; I don't understand the bad reputation it receives. its not total crap like some other games out there, and its something new with the Polish and Canadians. Well, I guess it is total crap compared to CoD4, bloody hell thats a good game.

CoD 5; even better I think. Its CoD4 in WWII, couldn't ask foir anything better. If ONLY it had've come out before CoD4 this game would've smashed the series apart. Much better then 4 in my opinion, just too short. Pacific campaign was okay (Only two major battles? What about Iwo Jima, Saipan, Guam,etc?) but the Russian campaign was bloody brilliant. The ending is the second best I have seen in a FPS game, easily.

Nad of course Indiana Jones. Knew that'd be... interesting, and it certianly was.

[Kekvit Irae]

I picked up an apple. The description said that there was a single worm living in it, and that this was a bug, not a feature.

The humor in the game is a big selling point for me. I'm never short of laughs when I play the game.

[naut]

After reading the above, must purchase Fable II.

[Husar]

Mirror's Edge and GTA IV.
Some Company of Heroes now and then.

[Martok]

Like a complete mug I purchased a second copy of Fable II.

My female hero got chased through the marketplace by a flock of little old lady lesbians, all of whom were shouting propositions.

I got married, and half of the men in the neighbourhood turned up in my house on the wedding night and refused to get out. The crowd blocked the way so my new husband couldn't get near the bed.

The town crier has taken up semi-permanent residence in my marital home and propositions me every time I'm within earshot. My husband seems ok with this.

I had a baby (that husband needs to do something in exchange for the money I give him!), left town for a bit, and came home to find the town crier standing over the cot and spouting pick up lines. Some confusion ensued, and baby and town crier both got fireballed. The baby doesn't hold a grudge, and appears flame proof. Phew! The town crier ran off screaming. Sadly he soon came back, ardent as ever.

I can kick chickens 11 feet.

I survive entirely on celery. It's giving me a halo.

A scummy peasant told me I should get nicer clothes. I slapped him. He liked it. He's an employee of mine, working at a fruit and veg stall I own, and I now earn more cash from that stall.

My dog is becoming a bleach blond due to heroic rays emanating from my body. I hope they don't cause cancer ...

I'm a cross-dresser, wearing multiple items of clothes tagged as men's. Loads of people tell me how good I look. Must be the tight breeches and tailored coat.

I picked up an apple. The description said that there was a single worm living in it, and that this was a bug, not a feature.

:laugh4:

I do rather love the game. It's too unreal. Wallace and Gromit style comedy English accents, Discworld-esque humour, so many digs at gaming lore and Molyneux's own work, bright and pretty fairytale graphics coupled with subjects most games refuse to tackle.

Wow. If I didn't know better and/or this were any other thread, I'd probably have thought you were drunk when you posted that. :laugh4:

Now I suddenly want to try this game. It's not available for the PC, is it?

[Kekvit Irae]

Fable II is 360-exclusive only.

[Xiahou]

Fable II is 360-exclusive only....for now. Most of Microsoft's big hits find their way to the PC eventually. :yes:

[Husar]

Ah, well, not for me then, for now anyway. :shrug:

[Kekvit Irae]

Alien Shooter: Vengeance. The most fun I've had with a three dollar game. :loveg:

[tibilicus]

Fallout 3 was a great game but wow that ending..

That really was a smack in the face.

Don't know what to play now any xbox 360 game recommendations?

[Kekvit Irae]

Fallout 3 was a great game but wow that ending..

That really was a smack in the face.

Don't know what to play now any xbox 360 game recommendations?

Fable II.

[Warluster]

I need a opinion on what game I should get.
I am going to get either Neverwinter Nights 2 or STALKER. What one? They both seem to be really good, just can't decide. I'm also torn at what Xbox game I should get. I know everyone seems to be in love with Fable II but will that last a long time (Has it got replayabilty?) or should I get Mass Effect or Assasain's Creed?

[TevashSzat]

I need a opinion on what game I should get.
I am going to get either Neverwinter Nights 2 or STALKER. What one? They both seem to be really good, just can't decide. I'm also torn at what Xbox game I should get. I know everyone seems to be in love with Fable II but will that last a long time (Has it got replayabilty?) or should I get Mass Effect or Assasain's Creed?

Well, if you get NWN2, you should at least get the expansion Mask of the Betrayer too. I think its a great game for anyone who is into DnD. The original campaign is humongous, easily maybe 40-50 hours of play. The MoTB is much shorter, but it is extremely satisfying and quite difficult at parts.

As for STALKER, which one? I've played through the first one and its pretty good, but nothing absolutely spectacular.

I suppose its just up to which type of games you prefer more: DnD RPG or a freeform FPS

[Kekvit Irae]

I need a opinion on what game I should get.
I am going to get either Neverwinter Nights 2 or STALKER. What one? They both seem to be really good, just can't decide. I'm also torn at what Xbox game I should get. I know everyone seems to be in love with Fable II but will that last a long time (Has it got replayabilty?) or should I get Mass Effect or Assasain's Creed?

STALKER: Shadows of Chernobyl is fun but riddled with bugs.
NWN2 is a definite choice, as you'll find from the posts elsewhere as well as in this thread.

Mass Effect is extremely short if you do just the main quests. However, if you try to do all the subquests, the game is easily 40+ hours. Unfortunately, it's 40+ hours of poor Gears of War/Halo-wannabe combat gameplay.
Assassin's Creed is nothing spectacular. Save peasants from guards, climb the tallest towers, eavesdrop, pickpocket, and repeat ad-nauseum until the city is cleared of subquests enough to advance to the kill. Repeat 20x until game is complete. The WOW factor dies out after the second level when you realize you're just doing the exact same thing over and over and over and over and over again.

[Fragony]

MUHA finally founf a copy. How can a game this good be so hard to find?? Of course I am talking about Trackmania, the best pc racer ever, but on the DS! And it works which is pretty damn impressive.

[frogbeastegg]

Martok, the original Fable is available on PC. It's very similar to the sequel.

[Mailman653]

I've been playing Fable II to death since I got it a few days ago, even after you finish the game there are things to do, I look forward to the dlc that comes out at the end of the month.

[Warluster]

Thnaks for the advice on the games. It defintly helped me make my choice and I went out and bought Far Cry 2 instead, and am getting NWN2 soon.

Seeing all the good comments on Fable II I am going to borrow it from somewhere (Anywhere! Argh!) today and try it out. Can anyone compare it too a game? What sort of gameplay is it like? I only just got a 360 after years of PC so I don't know these console games.

[Kekvit Irae]

Thnaks for the advice on the games. It defintly helped me make my choice and I went out and bought Far Cry 2 instead, and am getting NWN2 soon.

Seeing all the good comments on Fable II I am going to borrow it from somewhere (Anywhere! Argh!) today and try it out. Can anyone compare it too a game? What sort of gameplay is it like? I only just got a 360 after years of PC so I don't know these console games.

Reading online non-professional reviews is always a good idea before buying a game blindly. Case in point: Far Cry 2 (http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/boredshitless/the-sage/sage-review/2461-farcry-2).

Think of Fable II as a third-person Oblivion where the dog is the only developed character in the game, your first companion is an American woman who loves drinking and hitting people (who doesn't?), the only black guy in the entire game is imprisoned, and the best thing about the game is wenching and murdering while slowly becoming more and more like Scrooge McDuck in your quest to build a real-estate empire.

[Fisherking]

Well while awating the next Total War, I went way back to a couple of wargames I had in the early 1990s

Some fans have kept them mostly up to date and they play in Vista now when they were DOS or maybe early windows games.

Steel Panthers and Panzer General 2

that’s old!

[frogbeastegg]

the only black guy in the entire game is imprisoned
There are loads of black people in my game. Which leads me neatly on to my latest batch of Fable II tales.

My baby has grown up into a boy of 9. He's a healthy, serious little boy who worships the ground my heroic self walks upon. Teeny tiny hiccough in the picture of happiness: he's black. My character is white. So's the father. I'm confused.

I have reached Bloodstone. It's a rough sea-side town with whores, gambling and murderers. My wallet was bursting with cash, so I headed straight for the local pub. Pubs are one of the best places to buy when assembling your empire; few other buildings give such a high return. As I neared the pub's deed board I noticed a familiar icon. An icon which should have no place here. I sprinted over and lo and behold the unthinkable was true - my husband was in the pub. With two whores. And a pint. His cheerful "I missed you, honey!" got cut short by a slap to the face delivered with all of my heroic strength. Guess that explains why my character acquired a disease from him. Being understandably displeased, my hero commanded the husband to follow her, searched the town for a decent-looking man, posed a bit to get him to love me, then dragged him to the nearest bed so dear hubby could see what a real man is like.

The cheating husband would be (un)pleasantly dead if only it didn't mean social services taking my son into custody, removing him from the game for good. Huh. From now on that man's happiness score is going to be kept above the divorce point by sock puppet plays and nothing else.

Intentional or a glitch? The game insists that Alex isn't in Bloodstone. When I open up the family screen and set the tracker he is still in our house in the marketplace. If I travel there he's ambling around the house, same as usual. Yet each time I go to Bloodstone there he is, parked in the pub.

I found a quest called T.O.B.Y. That stands for Temple Of Benevolent Yokels. Quite the amusing little quest.

I am finding one aspect of the game increasingly disappointing. For all the fuss about shaping your own character and destiny, your hands are pretty much tied when it comes to how your character will look. Invest in any strength scores and you turn into the incredible hulk. Invest in will and you grow like a spring bean. Invest in will and you end up covered in ugly blue lines. My character is now 2 foot taller than everyone else, and looks like a burly man covered in neon face paint. Ugly, ugly, ugly! Dress her in female clothing and she looks like a particularly manly pantomine dame. Argh! The only way to look half-decent is to keep all of your skills near rock bottom. That's no fun.

[Kekvit Irae]

There are loads of black people in my game.

Allow me to correct myself...
The only sane black guy in the game who won't hover around you everywhere you go with a heart over their head... :tongueg:


The cheating husband would be (un)pleasantly dead if only it didn't mean social services taking my son into custody, removing him from the game for good. Huh. From now on that man's happiness score is going to be kept above the divorce point by sock puppet plays and nothing else.

Hey, it was nine years. You didn't think any sane man would wait around for a single woman? They have needs too! :tongueg:
But watch out. If you upgrade your physique and strength to maximum, you can kill with just a slap.

[Mailman653]

But watch out. If you upgrade your physique and strength to maximum, you can kill with just a slap.

Not entirely true, my ex wife was "aggression loving" I needed a divorce so I figured doing the slap would put me on the fast route to divorce, instead she liked it. My charater is maxed out in his skills. :inquisitive:

[frogbeastegg]

Hey, it was nine years. You didn't think any sane man would wait around for a single woman? They have needs too! :tongueg:
I'd been back for long enough to do most of the quests which open up after that story point, and I'd been giving the idiot attention. He's got no excuse.


But watch out. If you upgrade your physique and strength to maximum, you can kill with just a slap.
I've been trying it out on the pervert town crier since I saw the loading tip about it. He's still alive. ~:( Must be a very small chance, even with maxed stats.



I shall say one thing for this game: it makes being pure good painful. I remember an interview with Molyneux where he said something like, "You want to be good? Ok, are you good now? How about if we take this away? And this? Will you still be good if you know you could lose that? Will you give up this? Are you still good? Well done, now you lose some more - are you still good?" He wanted good to be something players had to work at and which has a cost, something different to the usual path of sweetness and glowing halos. At the time I dismissed it as his usual hype talk.

So far being good has cost me (minor spoilers)
Thousands and thousands of points of XP, my youth and good looks (as if I wasn't ugly enough before!), a marriage I didn't want to a character I don't particularly like, massive sums of gold, and sundry other aches and pains. I'm blocked from getting certain quests, expressions and rewards. I have to put up with the most annoying townsfolk, knowing I could kill them in a single blow if only ...
The end of the game has a particularly high cost. (large spoilers!)
You lose your dog is gone forever.

I wish starting a new character didn't wipe the save for your old one. I'd like to play through again as an evildoer.

[Kekvit Irae]

I wish starting a new character didn't wipe the save for your old one. I'd like to play through again as an evildoer.

I don't know what crazy version you're running, but my roommate has two characters. Hero 1 in Oakfield and Hero 2 in the Spire. Both of the saved games run just fine, and can switch between the two at the main menu.

[frogbeastegg]

I don't know what crazy version you're running, but my roommate has two characters. Hero 1 in Oakfield and Hero 2 in the Spire. Both of the saved games run just fine, and can switch between the two at the main menu.
:gasp!: Everywhere keeps talking about only being allowed a single save, and the game itself doesn't make it look possible.

Bwahahaha! The time for slaughter has arrived! Evil shall reign over all! Death, doom and blight! Beware, beware, for the town crier shall be the first to die at the hands of a mysterious, newly arrived male hero who has no links whatsoever to the virtuous ugly old man-like hag lady! His death shall be the first of many! Woe, woe upon Albion! Etc, etc.

[Mailman653]

Yeah, there are about five or six save slots. My first game got broken during a save when the game was saving and the cd froze so I had to start a new game, every time I go load it up, I got a menu that has five or six cards and my broken game is called Hero 1 and my current game is Hero 2.

DLC set for Jan 13th (http://community.lionhead.com/blogs/fable_2_development/archive/2009/01/08/3275132.aspx)

[frogbeastegg]

Shortest evil career ever? I lasted a little over an hour. Running around naked doing pelvic thrusts at old ladies, marrying two wives in the same area, and slaughtering the town crier made me feel wretchedly guilt-ridden. :sigh: Always the same; I'm hopeless at playing as an evil type.

In my first game I'm now officially Queen. Done nearly everything except hunting down the last few silver keys and gargoyles. Can't be bothered with that right now; that's it until the DLC.

[Mailman653]

Yeah I'm not touching the game till Tuesday, it could use a break anyway since I've played it to death since I got it.

I thought this game was kind of fun, Warfare 1917 (http://armorgames.com/play/2267/warfare-1917)
It has a bit of that Close Combat look to it. The game is quite simple but it gets tough as you get halfway through it.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I thought this game was kind of fun, Warfare 1917 (http://armorgames.com/play/2267/warfare-1917)
It has a bit of that Close Combat look to it. The game is quite simple but it gets tough as you get halfway through it.

Brilliant game, quite addictive.

[TevashSzat]

Okay, I swore to myself over a year ago that I would never play Dota outside of LAN parties again. Sadly, I seem to be addicted to the game again. I was just going to play some use map setting games on B.net this morning, but then got into 1 game of dota.

12 hours and 9 dota games later, i got the dota urge back

[Sigurd]

I am currently playing Midnight Club Los Angeles.
For £18 it was a bargain. Great fun.

Also I got NBA 2K7 as a trade in for an unwanted Christmas present. Surprisingly fun.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Play Auditorium (http://www.playauditorium.com/) has to be one of the most innovative online games I have seen in a long time.

[frogbeastegg]

The Fable II DLC is out. It took a bit over 3 hours for me to complete it, which only an hour of that time spent on the knothole island quest. The remainder was spent hunting items so I could trade them at the gift box hut. Locating certain items proved stupidly difficult in a high-level game world. There was only one place still selling puny carrots in the entire world, because everywhere was too upmarket to sell junky goods. And as for that purple dye ...!

Whether it's worth buying or not depends on how you feel about weight loss potions, lots of new clothes and weapons, 3 achievements, a dig spot every ten paces, and a quest which involves more flip switch bashing than the entire original game. I'd be more favourable if most of those 3 hours had been spent on a quest instead of tedious item hunting, and if there had been less of the flip switch massacre. It made the trio of brief dungeons very samey.

I neglected to mention that I had started Crackdown on the 360. Finished it this morning, which is a matter of some slight relief. Jumping 25 feet, scaling buildings and running around rooftops with a rocket launcher is delightfully daft fun. For a few hours. After that it begins to get old. Quite a brief game if you aren't into doing every last (highly annoying) race and finding every last one of the 800 orbs.

Next will be ... not sure. Still working on Neverwinter Nights 2. Apart from that I am torn between 'stupidly hard not my usual thing and I'm probably going to regret it' in the form of Ninja Gaiden 2 or Devil May Cry 4, or another playthrough of Mass Effect, giving my PS3 something to do with Persona 3 FES, or finally playing that copy of Kingdom Hearts 2 I picked up yonks ago. Or I might play something else. Nothing stands out from the pile of boxes.

[Mailman653]

Yeah the dlc was a bit disapointing on the quest side (it was quite short IMO and there wern't even new enemies or some evil boss fight at the end), the items were nice though.

[Wishazu]

I`m currently playing Shogun Total War. I`m running an expert campaign as the Oda, pretty tough going so far.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=111388

I havn`t played Shogun for years but got the urge again in december.

[Crandaeolon]

Me and my buddies have been craving some action RPG goodness for a while, but the options seem kind of limited. It might be time to give Titan Quest another chance; it's got all the trappings, I already have it, and my pals can purchase it for cheap since it's in bargain bins already. Problem is, I found TQ quite boring last time I tried it - too many passive abilities and too much reliance on basic attack or just a few abilities.

What would be a good class combination for dynamic gameplay? Something that uses a lot of abilities, needs to move a lot and deals good damage, preferably not horribly boring at low levels either.

[Fragony]

Silent Hill 5. No it does not suck, doesn't look too hot though, on a ps2 it would have been a goodlooking game but the ps3 can do much better, but it nails the atmosphere it bloody terrifying. Controls are better then the previous games, nice to have an invert aim option and it would have been even better if the game didn't just ignore it, wtf. But all in all it's a fun creepy game.

Frag happy.

[Meneldil]

I bought my first game in Canada a few days ago : Battle for Middle Earth special edition (with BfME I, II and the addon), and honestly, it's bad.

BfME 2 looks like a cheap Total War/Dawn of War Soulstorm. It doesn't even stick to the book or to the movie, the gameplay is crap.

Then, the addon is supposed to be a scenarized campaign revolving around the Witch King's rise to power. Thing is, the gameplay is still crap, the scenarization sucks and that's about it.

So, I decided to play Final Fantasy Tactic Advance, but well, though I can see how it was considered a great game, it gets old pretty quickly. Fighting against the same opponents over and over while trying to find cheap way to level-up our characters. Woot, but it lacks something IMO.

[rasoforos]

CIV 4 Beyond the Sword and I m gonna play Titan Quest when my wife is done with it :beam:



By the way Evil Maniac, Auditorium was indeed amazing!

[naut]

I bought my first game in Canada a few days ago : Battle for Middle Earth special edition (with BfME I, II and the addon), and honestly, it's bad.

BfME 2 looks like a cheap Total War/Dawn of War Soulstorm. It doesn't even stick to the book or to the movie, the gameplay is crap.

Then, the addon is supposed to be a scenarized campaign revolving around the Witch King's rise to power. Thing is, the gameplay is still crap, the scenarization sucks and that's about it.
BfME2 is fairly good once you patch it, the bare-bones is pretty buggy. I hated at first, I don't mind it now.

So Frag should I get the new Silent Hill?

[Shieldmaiden]

I bought my first game in Canada a few days ago : Battle for Middle Earth special edition (with BfME I, II and the addon), and honestly, it's bad.

BfME 2 looks like a cheap Total War/Dawn of War Soulstorm. It doesn't even stick to the book or to the movie, the gameplay is crap.

Then, the addon is supposed to be a scenarized campaign revolving around the Witch King's rise to power. Thing is, the gameplay is still crap, the scenarization sucks and that's about it.

I'm a huge BFME and LOTR fan (book first, movies second). I found BFME1 great fun as an RTS and its permanently on my HDD - I'd recommend it to people who liked the LOTR movies as I think it captures the spirit of them.

BFME2 and RotWK were an unsatisfying RTS hodge-podge of the movies and books IMHO. I sold mine due to boredom and lack of LOTR "feel".

BTW, people mentioning Fable II, I might try Fable 1 on the cheap, but is it true you can't choose your characters gender?

[Warluster]

but is it true you can't choose your characters gender?

No; you choose that at the start of the game. You can't choose your gender in Fable 1 though. (Not certian though)

I am playing a few now. Just got through Mirrior's Edge. Diffrent, certianly.

Also playing CoD4 MP on 360 and Blazing Angels MP. Just got Guild Wars for an easy $50 yesterday (GoTY edition) and have been playing it since. A very good game. has anyone played the expansions, and if so are they worth getting?

[Fragony]

So Frag should I get the new Silent Hill?

Well I am having a blast really. I also liked Silent Hill 4 mind you.

[Kekvit Irae]

College Simulator 2: Geographic Information Systems
:wall:

[frogbeastegg]

Mass Effect. Originally I completed the game with soldier/paragon/Kaiden/Garrus. Now I'm taking the same character through renegade/Wrex/Liara, and I'm nearly at the end. If I hit level 60 on this game I will start a new one as an adept with Ashley/Tali. If I don't reach level 60 I will start my third game on the soldier character, this time on hardcore. I want the game-wide 5% XP bonus you gain for reaching level 60 before I begin a brand new character.

[Mailman653]

Speaking of Mass Effect, some small new info came out about ME2 and its level design. Might be another year and a half or two before we see it, but it will be worth the wait.

I've been playing Jedi Academy on my 360 after I gave Fable 2 a much needed break (not much to do after you finish the main quest).

[Emperor of Graal]

Xbox 360: Quantum of Solace.Very addictive..especially the part when you get a shotgun...(do I need to see any more?)
PS2...erm probably Driv3r and just cause.


Pc..RTW and EB

[Passatempo]

PC: Medieval: Total War
Battle for Middle Earth
and im thinking about re-installing Diablo II (just have to find it:sweatdrop:)

Wii: Resident Evil 4
Blazing Angels

[Rilder]

Current active games:

Europa Barbarorum.
Europa Universalis 3(+ expansions)
Dwarf Fortress (of course)

[Fragony]

Fragony has 20 kill streak!

COD WOW :2thumbsup:

[naut]

Left 4 Dead. Mindless slaughter! :thumbsup:

[tibilicus]

Operation anchorage downloadable content for Fallout 3.

Opinion so far is whilst it isn't bad, I think it should be a lesson in why trying to turn a RPG into a shooter doesn't work all that great..

[Mailman653]

I bought The Elder Scrolls IV, GOTY edition for the 360. I only barely scratched the surface but it seems interesting so far, I'm hoping I'll get sucked into it as much as I did with Fable II.

[Hooahguy]

i just finished Crysis Warhead.
simply amazing game. graphics are better than the first, and AI is better. i actually died multiple times a mission on easy (im now plaing on delta, after beating it on all the rest of the modes).
also, it cost $30, which is amazing for two games (Warhead and Wars- the multiplayer part of crysis)

finished Company of Heroes a month ago. also, a good game. re-defines the RTS genre.

[frogbeastegg]

I completed my Mass Effect playthrough at level 59, so I started another on hardcore. I ran through the story in ~7 hours; it was quite easy, with the exception of one or two spots. Master immunity combined with spectre X gear meant my character was a near-invincible tank of doom. It's far more fun on hardcore difficulty, as you need to use all of your abilities and squad powers frequently to survive. Taking cover is something other than a gimmic; I didn't think the game had so many ways to die in a single shot!

I'm intending to hunt down the remaining silver keys and gargoyles in Fable II. Once I'm done with that I'll head back to Mass Effect and try insanity. Three playthroughs completed and I still want to play it again; that's practically unique for me.

[Gregoshi]

I bought The Elder Scrolls IV, GOTY edition for the 360. I only barely scratched the surface but it seems interesting so far, I'm hoping I'll get sucked into it as much as I did with Fable II.
My son got this back in September. We've both been playing it since. I've logged about 110 hours into the game so far and have barely scratched the main story. There is so much to do, I get distracted - then I get distracted from the distractions. :laugh4:

[frogbeastegg]

Mass Effect's insanity mode should have been named bullet sponge mode. All they did was add shed loads to every enemies' health and damage resistance, and make all of the organic enemies spam immunity.

That's it, 1050/1050 achievements, all difficulties completed, all paths viewed, and all three main classes used. It only took me 5 playthroughs, or 83 hours. :sweatdrop: Bring on Mass Effect 2.

I haven't chosen what to play next. No particular preference, so long as it's not Mass Effect!

[Martok]

You should try Birth of the Federation next. :creep:


Sorry, couldn't resist. ~D

[frogbeastegg]

I'm slowly chipping away at it, never you fear :gring: I do like it; it's steadily beginning to make sense.

PC games have a unique disadvantage in gaining my attention at the moment: it's pretty cold here (currently ~2 inches of snow outside and more falling) and the room where my PC resides has no heating. After a bit I can't feel my fingers properly. My consoles happen to live in a heated room.

I went with Bully: Scholarship Edition on the 360. Think 2 parts Grange Hill, 1 part Dennis the Menace, 1 part Carry on Teacher, and 1 part GTA style sandbox. The emphasis is very firmly on fun. It's an update of a PS2 game so it's no looker, and certain parts of the design are a tad archaic. The audio is quality; the voice acting remains at the high end of what's been seen in gaming.

[shlin28]

Currently installing old games onto my new laptop. Installed various games perfectly, then I when I finished installing NWN1, I got an urge to play it again.

Two hours later, I decided to install Diablo 2... and started a new character on it.

Two hours later, I am posting in this thread :wall:

[naut]

Hehe. The same happened to me when I got my new computer.

[TevashSzat]

Two hours later, I decided to install Diablo 2... and started a new character on it.

Excellent, that game is still quite fun and a classic.

I really should try to finish Hell with my Riftadin.....I remember him being stuch in Act 4 Chaos Sanctuary of Hell which basically destroyed all of my motivation for playing Diablo 2 anymore and has led me to this now about 4 month Diablo 2 break

[CountArach]

I reinstalled Morrowind (GOTY Edition) and whacked a couple of mods on there. I had forgotten just how engrosing this game is - so much better than Oblivion.

[Xiahou]

On the handheld front, I've been trying to slog through 'The World Ends With You' for quite awhile now and just can't do it. I always end up disinterested in end up not playing my DS at all because I'm trying to force myself to play through it. It has near universal acclaim, but for some reason I just can't get into it.... :shrug:

So yesterday, I finally set it aside in favor of Final Fantasy 4. I probably haven't played this game since I was about 14 and, so far, the DS version doesn't disappoint. I was worried that it couldn't live up to my fond memories, but I immediately got wrapped up in it- great stuff.

Here (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/35773.html) is a juxtaposition of the old SNES version and the new DS version, pretty cool stuff. :2thumbsup:
(Kain's voice (heard at 2:09) is great :laugh4: )

[frogbeastegg]

Xiahou, have you played the DS edition of Dragon Quest IV yet? If not you really should. I've been playing it for the last couple of months and IMO it is easily the best JRPG on the system. NB: I haven't played Chrono Trigger yet as that was released here last week.



I completed Bully. Nice game. Very silly, very fun, and a far better game than GTA4. If you like any of the following
a)sandbox games
b)fun games
c)games with a decent plot and excellent voice acting
then you should consider getting it. It's out on most platforms and is crazy cheap these days.

I am now revisiting Fallout 3. People might remember I found it to be sadly lukewarm. The replay is either an exercise in self-torture, or an effort to give the game another chance to impress me. Hard to decide which. A bit of both, I suspect. Or perhaps I felt like a western RPG and can't think of any that I'm not already playing (NWN2, the Witcher) or haven't played already (seemingly everything else).

I've made a more snipey-stealth character this time, put the difficulty up to hard, and am mainly wandering the wastes in a bid to get my new character into shape. I might try the operation anchorage DLC later. It's ok.

[Tratorix]

Playing through Persona 3 for a second time. Probably the best Jrpg i've ever played. I'm also trying to get into Baldur's Gate 2 for about the fifth time.

[Xiahou]

Xiahou, have you played the DS edition of Dragon Quest IV yet? If not you really should. I've been playing it for the last couple of months and IMO it is easily the best JRPG on the system. NB: I haven't played Chrono Trigger yet as that was released here last week. Both DQ4 and Chrono Trigger are already in my DS queue. Which may partly explain why I finally ran out of patience for TWEWY- too many other excellent RPGs waiting to be played. :yes:


Playing through Persona 3 for a second time. Probably the best Jrpg i've ever played.Do you have the FES version? I won the original, but want to replay it with the FES version for the bonus content & expansion.... Of course then there's Persona4... :sweatdrop:

[Tratorix]

Do you have the FES version? I won the original, but want to replay it with the FES version for the bonus content & expansion.... Of course then there's Persona4... :sweatdrop:

Yup, got FES. :yes:

Not really sure if i'd reccommend it if you've already played the original though. Since i've only played FES, I don't really know what bonus content they added, but the expansion is really lackluster. It has little story and completely throws the social link aspect out, meaning it's basically around 30 hours of dungeon crawling. But, you can pick it up for around 30$, so if you want to get it for the bonus content go for it.

[Spartan198]

CoD4, both on and off line (but only free-for-all death matches---I'm not a team player).

[drone]

MTW:VI - Swiss/Late/Hard. I'm a glutton for punishment (and cuckoo clocks and fine timepieces).

[CountArach]

FEAR: Extraction POint. After this I will play Perseus Mandate and then I'm gonna buy FEAR 2.

[naut]

HOI2 as Italy. I never know how to effectively use brigades though.

[frogbeastegg]

I've reached level 20 with my second Fallout character, and I've collected the handful of achievements I didn't get the first time around, so I'm calling it a day. My opinion on the game hasn't changed much.

Wandering the wastes, scrounging and killing to get by, is great. I only did 17 quests total with this character, so almost all of my XP came from wandering. Finding the little stories hidden in the landscape is wonderful. Two skeletons in a car in a quiet spot, two bottles of wine and a teddy bear lying nearby. They must have been on a date when the bombs fell. SPECIAL is good, far better than the Elder Scrolls' mess of a system.

It's the rest of the game I'm not impressed by. Poor plot, poor side quests, cardboard NPCs, disappointing vocie acting, tedious conversations, mediocre writing, plot holes, logic holes, extremely boring tunnel dungeons and caves of exactly the same type which flood Oblivion and Morrowind, and so on and so forth.

Fallout 3 is a baking tray full of water. It's big and wide - and shallow. Nice if you like that sort of thing and it's certainly better than having nothing to put water in, however I'd prefer to drink from a glass a la Mass Effect et al.

I am now going to focus my attention on finishing Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dragon Quest 4. It seems like I have been chipping away at them forever.

[Xiahou]

I finished the main part of LIT (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVghscfHi7o), a wiiware title that came out recently. I'd describe it as a horror puzzler. It took me a little less than 6hrs to get thru all the puzzles, but there's still some replay value left and even still, it was a bargain for only $8.

After making my way through the entire school and defeating the bosses, I unlocked Rachael as a playable character. I may end up playing through it as her at some point, because I'm under the impression I'll get a different ending if I do- at the very least, you get to hear the other side of all the phone calls you got from Rachael. Also unlocked, is the very sadistic "dark mode"- I'll probably take a look at it, but it just sounds too trying to bother with.

Also on the Wii, I got House of the Dead: Overkill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gZseqhNJmA). Let me just say it: best on rails shooter- evar. :2thumbsup: It's very M-rated and the cheesy grindhouse theme fits it to a tee. 3 Chapters in, and I'm in love with this game. :beam:

Lastly, I'm still trying to put in about an hour a night on FinalFantasy4 on the DS and it continues to impress. :yes:

[Vuk]

I've reached level 20 with my second Fallout character, and I've collected the handful of achievements I didn't get the first time around, so I'm calling it a day. My opinion on the game hasn't changed much.

Wandering the wastes, scrounging and killing to get by, is great. I only did 17 quests total with this character, so almost all of my XP came from wandering. Finding the little stories hidden in the landscape is wonderful. Two skeletons in a car in a quiet spot, two bottles of wine and a teddy bear lying nearby. They must have been on a date when the bombs fell. SPECIAL is good, far better than the Elder Scrolls' mess of a system.

It's the rest of the game I'm not impressed by. Poor plot, poor side quests, cardboard NPCs, disappointing vocie acting, tedious conversations, mediocre writing, plot holes, logic holes, extremely boring tunnel dungeons and caves of exactly the same type which flood Oblivion and Morrowind, and so on and so forth.

Fallout 3 is a baking tray full of water. It's big and wide - and shallow. Nice if you like that sort of thing and it's certainly better than having nothing to put water in, however I'd prefer to drink from a glass a la Mass Effect et al.

I am now going to focus my attention on finishing Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dragon Quest 4. It seems like I have been chipping away at them forever.

I liked Oblivion. :P I did not care for the storyline or the quests, but I liked the gameplay. :P

[Martok]

Galactic Civilizations 2: Ultimate Edition. Am currently trying my hand as the evil Drengin Empire in an Immense-sized galaxy. I rarely play the "naked aggressor" races in these types of games, so we'll see how long I survive. ~;p

[Don Esteban]

Warhammer: age of Reckoning mainly but, for more intelligent moments, still playing MTW:VI XL - seriously, after all these years I haven't found a game with so much replayability!

[Polemists]

F.E.A.R. 2 and MTW 2 at the moment, and some Vampire Bloodlines (Still one of funnest and funniest rpgs around).

I normally don't like FPS's and have been very impressed by the action, pace, and story of FEAR 2, it's just a fun game all around. Kudos to Monolith for bringing back my joy in the genre :2thumbsup:

[Mailman653]

I've played the demo to this Rome building sim a week ago, the name of the game escapes me but visually it's pretty neat. The game reminds me of a simpler Caesar III. But unlike Caesar III, I can't get my city off the ground; I seem to be stuck in a vicious loop of failure. I need to feed my people so I need to build homes, but after the homes I need resources to build the farms, after that I need praefects to stop fires which plague my farms so I need to build a school then study the tech, once I study the tech I need a forum (mind you my farms are burnt to the ground, my people are starving and I have to wait around for them to gather resources in this condition) I get my forum then I build praefects, but now I need the middle class, I build middle class homes but with the lack of food no one moves in, then my other buildings burn down and I have to rebuild, finally my people just revolt and burn everything down. I've tried four times to build a city and all four times I meet the same fate.

[frogbeastegg]

I've played the demo to this Rome building sim a week ago, the name of the game escapes me but visually it's pretty neat. The game reminds me of a simpler Caesar III. But unlike Caesar III, I can't get my city off the ground; I seem to be stuck in a vicious loop of failure. I need to feed my people so I need to build homes, but after the homes I need resources to build the farms, after that I need praefects to stop fires which plague my farms so I need to build a school then study the tech, once I study the tech I need a forum (mind you my farms are burnt to the ground, my people are starving and I have to wait around for them to gather resources in this condition) I get my forum then I build praefects, but now I need the middle class, I build middle class homes but with the lack of food no one moves in, then my other buildings burn down and I have to rebuild, finally my people just revolt and burn everything down. I've tried four times to build a city and all four times I meet the same fate.
Is it Grand Ages: Rome, by any chance? The demo for that came out fairly recently. If so then it is supposed to have a very different resource system to the standard city builder. I have the demo downloading as I type.

[Mailman653]

Is it Grand Ages: Rome, by any chance? The demo for that came out fairly recently. If so then it is supposed to have a very different resource system to the standard city builder. I have the demo downloading as I type.

Yup, that's the one. I'm trying to like the game, but if only I could get past that first map, I could try out the second one which is supposed to have some kind of battle in it I think. :wall:

[frogbeastegg]

Yup, that's the one. I'm trying to like the game, but if only I could get past that first map, I could try out the second one which is supposed to have some kind of battle in it I think. :wall:
I'm fortunate enough to have seen some developer posts detailing how the game works before I downloaded the demo. It's very simple when you know how. Each building has a maintenance cost in bricks, wood, stone or marble. You need to be producing enough of the required resources. That's it. No need for a prefect's office. If the building requires workers then it needs to be staffed, otherwise there is no one 'there' to fetch the resources and patch the building up. You don't even need to have a 'distrubuting' building nearby to hand out the maintenance goods; they are all classed as flow resources and thus are automatically available city-wide.

To check how many of each resource you are producing and how many units are require for city maintenance click on the materials button on the bottom of the screen. Put your mouse pointer over a resource and a pop up will tell you. If you aren't making enough to meet maintenance needs just slap down another producer building.

I find the game works best if you build slowly and steadily. Only build as many houses as you need to staff your buildings, and set the city up one stage at a time. On the demo map you're talking about I put down 1 woodcutter and 1 insula, then when they were done I put down a brickworks and another insula. Once they were done I placed a wheat farm and a pig farm, and the houses to support them. Once they were done I did a farmer's market near the houses, followed by a school. IIRC the housing required to support those buildings took me up to 9 insulae total. I researched the techs which helped me produce more basic goods, like wood and what. Once all of this was nicely settled I expanded a bit more, adding in a stone works, slave market (to provide workers for the stoneworks), water mill, bakery, a second woodcutter and a second brickworks, plus the housing to match. Once that was running smoothly I built my forum and an arena. By this point I had hammered the objectives, including the optional ones.

The second mission is indeed a basic military scenario.

It's a really good demo; I like it.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I'm currently working on unlocking the new Scout stuff for Team Fortress 2. The new shotgun is awesome!

[Fragony]

Killzone 2, and you are all mere mortals.

[Monk]

Arthritis Guitar Hero: World tour. Picked it up yesterday, having never gotten in on this Guitar hero thing before now I can say with confidence i am a complete newb. Hard scares me, but I'm getting farely good at Medium. :book:

Its a fun game. The only con I can think of is OW MY WRIST.

[CountArach]

Arthritis Guitar Hero: World tour. Picked it up yesterday, having never gotten in on this Guitar hero thing before now I can say with confidence i am a complete newb. Hard scares me, but I'm getting farely good at Medium. :book:
Love that game. Play through on medium first then put it on hard and start the first few songs over again. It is like an entirely new game.

[Adrian II]

Defending Ze Fazzerland in my Messerschmitt in Battlefield Heroes (closed beta).

Hallo! My razorsharp 7,9mm board guns cut zrough ze Allied ranks like a knife zrough hot butter, jawohl!

Awww, ze flak caught me in ze flanks - why are ze Amerikaner so verdammt unsportsmanlike?...

https://img10.imageshack.us/img10/7976/knirps2.jpg (https://img10.imageshack.us/my.php?image=knirps2.jpg)

[Husar]

So...
How do I play with you, Adrian?

[Shadowwalker]

Unfortunately I have (for some years now) not that much time left for playing.
Oh how golden were the university days...:laugh4:

Anyway - spent some time (overall and with a lot of breaks: three years...) in starting several Baldurs Gate: Big World Project campaigns (never got past Suldanessalar).

Still have Jagged Alliance 1.13 at my pc. Log in sometimes and fight a few battles but somehow I lost the real spirit.:shame:

Of course I still play Europa Barbarorum. :yes:

And actually I got the chance to enter the 'Paeninsula Italica for M2TW' beta team. My tasks: testing (really?! :laugh4: ) and asking silly questions.


The exotic games:
Still have DOSBox installed to play Eye of Beholder I, Civilisation I and the old 'The Dark Eye' RPG's (I'm not exactly sure if this was the english title.)

[Adrian II]

So...
How do I play with you, Adrian?Type "Knirps" into the 'Search for a friend' field in your start-up screen. Ideally the client should connect you to the server where I am playing, provided that I am. I tried ti severla times and got only one success with a mate of mnie. But hey, it's a beta.

I will look out for you too. What is your little avatar, sweatheart? And are you a National or a Royal?

[Husar]

I'm a national of course and my avatar is called KarlKarolinger.

So you really called him Knirps then, the picture made me wonder already but somehow I didn't think about searching for it. :dizzy2:

[Adrian II]

I'm a national of course and my avatar is called KarlKarolinger.So I noticed. Nice to be playing together, though the Nationals weren't much of a team this afternoon. We should really try and improvise an National Batallion as soon as enough orgahs have keys. Which is prolly when the game goes public, but anyhoo..

It would be nice to have a Panzerjäger unit, consisting of two heavy gunners and one soldier in a jeep. The soldier can heal, the gunners can repair, together they concentrate on eliminating Royal tanks.

Besides, I really hope they will introduce the squad spawn like they had in BF2, where if you die you can span on your squad leader.

EDIT
We better pursue this in the BFH thread.

Greetings from the battlefield

https://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9359/screen003b.jpg (https://img7.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screen003b.jpg)

[seireikhaan]

Empire: Total War

Far superior to its two predecessors. I'm a happy clam thus far.

[Daimon]

GTA 4

Mostly multiplayer.

[Xiahou]

I picked up MadWorld (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG0YlZ-ghbQ) for the Wii. Yet another, fresh, original, and just plain good M-rated title for the Wii.

It was made by Platinum Games, which is basically made up from the remnants of Clover. They may be under a new game, but they still know how to make a quality game. The primarily black & white (& red) comic book style looks simply amazing on the Wii- I don't know how they did it on that hardware.

The gameplay, of course, is very violent, but is also excellent. For most enemies you come across, the challenge isn't killing them- it's killing them with style. I've used old tires, trash cans, sign posts, metal spikes, spiked bats, and a chainsaw (just to name a few) and the interactivity of the environments continues to impress me. Your exploits are monitored by your very own "sports" commentators who are always cheesy, usually off-color and often hilarious. :2thumbsup:

[CountArach]

Interesting looking game Xiahou. I might have to look into that.

What is the movement like? Is it on a 2D plane (Ala Tekken) or is it 3D?

[Xiahou]

Interesting looking game Xiahou. I might have to look into that.

What is the movement like? Is it on a 2D plane (Ala Tekken) or is it 3D?It's 3D. The analog stick on the nunchuck controls your movement and the Z button is for jumping. I've been pleased with the level design so far there have been a few neat things that involved jumping/climbing to get at. While they aren't that hard to find, you could probably get through the level without noticing them if you didn't look.

Most of the levels I've played so far have had a 30 minute time limit during which you must accumulate enough points to unlock the boss challenge. As you work up to that, you can unlock incremental things like special weapons lockers or more environmental kills and, of course, the blood bath challenges. :2thumbsup:

I don't expect this to be a particularly long game(most beatemups aren't), but it should have pretty good replay value. :yes:

[frogbeastegg]

Had a bit of a break from games; I haven't wanted to play anything for a couple of weeks.

I'm going to play gears of war co-op with my boyfriend starting tomorrow. This should be ... ah, memorable. He's not much of a gamer, and he's never played a third or first person shooter on a console. My hope is that he will manage to get the hang of the controls, and then we'll tackle hardcore and maybe insanity. Um, yeah. I should also add for the sake of fairness that I'm not very good at shooters myself. The only reason we're doing this is because we've run through the lego games co-op and now he wants to do more. Gears was one of the few I could think of which allows co-op on the same console. I shall do a runthrough on casual by myself starting today so I can familiarise myself with the game.

Dragon Quest IV and Neverwinter Nights 2 still need finishing.

At the start of the month I downloaded the xbox version of puzzle quest plus the plague lords expansion; it's as addictive as the PSP version I played last year. More polished, more features, more content - I hope the sequel, galactrix, is as good.

[gaijinalways]

I recently finished my danish campaign on vanila MTW and Theif II the metal age (all 15 missions). Also play Monopoly Tycoon when I feel like it, on the 6th mision I think. Debating whether to install another game as I ready for another busy uni semester teaching, may have to put it off (the game playing, that is).

[Martok]

Slowly making my way through Empire's Road to Independence campaign. Need to make more money for my navy.... :sweatdrop:

[frogbeastegg]

Gears of War got passed over in favour of Resident Evil 5. My boyfriend thought it sounded better than Gears. He's the one who has to struggle to learn things we gamers all take for granted like dual stick controls in order to keep up with me, so it didn't seem fair to say no.

I wasn't expecting much; this is a series which has completely failed to engage me each time I've approached it. Until now. Maybe because it's dumped most of the classic Resi game traits aside from the dodgy controls. There's still an improvement there; the controls are merely awkward this time. No more 'horror' and no more 'scary'; the games were never close to being either IMO. Comedy more like. The voice acting is merely average instead of ear-gratingly bad. The convoluted unbelievable puzzles are gone. The gameplay is close to Resi4, but where that game bored me this one is gripping.

Co-op is an absolute blast! Standing back to back and fighting off a mob is intense. I love the way it's possible - and beneficial - to use tactics.

When played in singleplayer mode Sheva is controlled by some pretty smart AI. There's still the odd dumb moment, and sometimes she uses bullets when I wish she wouldn't. Otherwise, it's all good. I do wonder how well she will manage on the two highest difficulties.

The game is totally designed for replay. You can choose to load any chapter you like whenever you like, and on any difficulty you like. Equipment is universal so your upgrades apply no matter what level or setting you are on, or whether you are currently in SP or co-op. Ditto bullets, herbs etc. This means it is possible to go back to earlier levels to stock up on ammo, and on gold to upgrade your gear with. There's loads to unlock. It's a great feeling to go back to an early level and waste enemies which were close to untouchable on your first visit, and there's usually a good reward for doing this.

[Rilder]

Currently playing an epic EB Romani campaign(AI has awesome expansion) and Battlefield heroes

[Monk]

Gears of war 2.

Wrapped in spoil tags cuz my opinion got a little long. One plot spoiler is below, in its own spoil tags.


I have to say, I knew what Iw as getting into when I bought this game and I wasn't sure if I had sufficient levels of testosterone to play it and enjoy it. The Unreal engine makes everyone about 5x more muscled than they need to be and you could practically snap a railroad spike with your main character's neck.

Characterization is weak and the story is sub-par, copy paste humanity versus inhuman threat that has them on the verge of extinction. I understand it makes for an epic story (Epic games, is that how they got their name?) but its been done so much. It makes your enemy impossible to humanize when they aren't even human, I understand I am supposed to hate them but surely there's a better way than just telling me "Yeah they are genocidal. They are bad." If I was captured by the Locust and they told me the same thing about humanity, I'd be inclined to fight for them by the game's logic.

Most of Gears 2's story comes in the form of your squad-mates (Dom) search for his missing wife. He'll remind you of her every chance he gets ("I gotta find Maria, Marcus!"). Other than that, it's status quo for any shooter. Humanity Good, Aliens bad.

(plot spoils)
When it turns out Dom's wife is (basically) dead it's no surprise, its a plot twist that everyone and their grandmother saw coming because of the severely weak characterization of the game. To be honest? I'm glad Maria is dead, there. I said it. Now maybe Dom will shut up about her and shoot the locust that are attempting to snipe me. The only time in the game that I really felt any sort of strong characterization was with one of your AI squad mates, Tai. Of course he's killed off as soon as it's convenient because emotionally sound characters are for wimps.

But... the story aside, I actually really liked the game. I'm gonna play it some more after I get done typing here and that's pretty impressive a feat, that I would go to these great lengths to bash it but then crawl faithfully back to it. The cover system is fantastic, easy to lean and once you get it down it never feels clunky. Running and gunning is a bit hit and miss, but that's not what the game is meant for. You're meant to jump behind cover and evade only when you need to. Of all the shooters i've played on the 360, though, gears 2 is by far the smoothest, thanks in part to the heavy focus on cover. You get time to think about how to tackle the enemy and line up your shots before hiding behind the walls again. It's great fun.

Online play is a frustration cess-pit, however. All people do is spam the jump roll, covering huge distances and getting close before you can do a single thing. After that, it's chainsaw heaven. Either that, or they will one shot you magically with the grenade launcher. Half the time in Multiplayer I would die but really have no idea what I did wrong, there's no indication one way or another.

Online play is redeemed with the "Horde" mode, where you and 4 friends team up against wave after wave of AI locust. On the right maps, and when you bring people who have an IQ higher than 70, this is AMAZING fun. The first few waves are a push over, but when the Ai starts to get Grenade launchers, suicide bombers and minigun users, this gets crazy. Its made better in that the AI is completely relentless. It will attack, attack, attack until one side is completely destroyed. It, unlike many people online, also knows when to use cover. :smash:

If anyone is on the fence about Gears of war 2, I would recommend it. Just don't expect anything other than a mainstream shooter with great gameplay. This is not a game that you're playing for the plot. :no:

Edit:

Oh yeah, and World of Goo. Amazing game. it's a physics engine where you build bridge-like constructs out of goo-y beings to get to a destination. It's basically all the fun of High School physics class (building models) with none of the messy clean up. Plus its made by an independant developer, no big bad evil doer EA here. If you wanted to play a game and give your money to some guys who really deserve it, there's no better choice. You can try the demo (http://www.worldofgoo.com/dl2.php?lk=demo) and see if its for you!

[naut]

EUII as England, all was rosy. Took Ireland, Scotland, most of France. Had Brittany, Burgundy, Savoy as vassals and an alliance with Spain. But a civil war struck and most of my good generals and armies turned rebel. Left with south-eastern France and it's garrison, my Irish and Scottish garrisons and my reserve in Northumbria and the surrounding land against my former armies in the north and west of France and my largest army in Anglia. Most of my territory was taken too.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

The lack of ETW in my home is frustrating so I have been playing battles in "Cossacks 2: Napoleonic Wars" and naval battles in "Imperial Glory".

Also, for some reason I find it relaxing making movies in "The Movies"!

[Scurvy]

ETW and just started a bit of EUIII, making steady progress as Luneburg

:2thumbsup:

[Fragony]

More Little Big Planet, or the neverending game. Brilliant little big title, it doesn't happen often that a game is so charming that you have a stupid grin on your face the whole time while playing. Have yet to touch the level editor but the stuff people come up with is brilliant, just played a Resident Evil 5 spoof for example. Especially recommended to our whacky frogmod and Xiahou, guys this is your thing.

brilliant soundtrack as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1pkKqIUyDI

[Monk]

Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment.

The expansion of Sins added some cool stuff, including Starbases. It's now quite possible to turn a planet into a fortress world. just got done playing about a 3 hour block of gaming, 10 AI factions and I'm one of the weakest in terms of my fleet, but my defenses are the envy of the entire sector. I'll post some screens if I remember to snap some after my next go. :beam:

Left 4 Dead.

Can't seem to get enough of it.

Gears 2.

Really loving Horde mode. Beat my previous best of 9 waves and went to 14 with a group a while ago.

That's all for now. :2thumbsup:

[frogbeastegg]

I started Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director's Cut on my DS yesterday. 7 hours and one battery charge later it's done. Excellent remake of a classic point and click featuring a bit of new material. It works so well on the DS - the control set up is a perfect emulation of mouse control. I'm amazed at how quickly I completed it; it used to take me months to finish the likes of Monkey Island.

If this one sells enough then Ubisoft say they will remake Broken Sword 2 and some other point and click games. :crosses fingers: Please, please, please!

There's a wii version as well. Better graphics, speech, a proper musical score, some wii-specific new puzzles, and a very literal point and click control set up.

[Husar]

More Little Big Planet, or the neverending game. Brilliant little big title, it doesn't happen often that a game is so charming that you have a stupid grin on your face the whole time while playing. Have yet to touch the level editor but the stuff people come up with is brilliant, just played a Resident Evil 5 spoof for example. Especially recommended to our whacky frogmod and Xiahou, guys this is your thing.

brilliant soundtrack as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1pkKqIUyDI

I know Xiahou has the game.

Also did you finish the campaign? IIRC I gave up somewhere in the last mission. While the game is pretty cute overall I found the campaign pretty hard in some places. :sweatdrop:

Also I'm mostly playing BF heroes at the moment.

[Fragony]

Currently playing user generated stuff, going to do the campaign bitesize. You play any shooters on the PS3 Hussy? Don't take this the wrong way but I want to shoot you.

[Husar]

I've got GTA4, if you can call that a shooter, BF Bad Company and CoD4 for the PS3.
Well, and FarCry 2 but that isn't all that great anyway.
I'd also love to have you shoot me. ~D

[Chimpyang]

Project Reality mod for Bf2. ETW and Footy Manager 09.

Little big planet is indeed awesome. I remember coming 5th for one glorious day on the scoreboard for one of the levels when we played it with 3 people. I don't think we're there anymore.....

The calculator was pretty cool. Must have taken ages to program!

[Togakure]

Heh, found a free, complete, easy to install "abandonware" version of the oldie but goodie, System Shock (the original) while googling around. I only played through it once eons ago, so I'd practically forgotten the entire story. I'm almost done, on the bridge level now.

Still fun, though the controls are a minor annoyance--I guess this game came out before WASD became a standard. It's interesting to consider how many of the newer games of this genre seem to have drawn from SS1.

[Fragony]

GTA: Chinatown Wars. Awesome, I never really cared for the 3d versions personally, to have this on my DS is a godsend. Better then GTA and GTA 2, and it completely annihilates anything from the 3d era. Why so serious? Truly amazingly sharp cell shaded graphics, no slowdown, how the hell did they pull this of? Glad they did.

[frogbeastegg]

I'm playing Enchanted Arms, the first JRPG released on the xbox 360. It's a bit of a marmite title; plenty of people loathe it with the burning of a thousand suns, others love it like the fluffiest, cutest hamster in the world. I quite like it but don't love it, which breaks my marmite analogy. Gah!

The battle system is quite similar to that of the HoMM series. They are turn based, set on a grid, your 4 characters on one side, the enemy party on the other. Position, the correct use of the correct power, and other such tactical thoughts are a must if you want to succeed. It's not another entry from the school of "hold down X to spam basic attack!" In an excellent move, you can fully automate a battle and speed the animation up; this makes passing the random battles relatively painless. The automate AI does a good job of handling the reasonably complex battle system. Battles even have opera music, just like HoMM.

If you have the right sense of humour the game's quite funny. The idiot protatgonist telling the idiot heroine that she's high-maintenace after saving her from her latest bid to win the "Stupidest character in a JRPG" award mostly made up for the urge to bang my head against a brick wall, for example. The story itself is a load of mad guff about a boy with an arm which breaks enchantments, god-like evil robots flying around the sky, and ... er, I dunno. Thankfully the plot knows it's inane and pokes fun at itself from time to time. This must be the first JRPG I have played where the idiot protagonist is called an idiot by everyone he meets, instead of being passed off as a cool, brooding loner with a heart of gold. Poor Atsuma, his best friends keep telling him he has a single brain cell.

It's a launch era game so it's not overly pretty and has parts which feel clumsy and clunky. The menu systems could have used more thought as they force the player to make more button presses than is necessary at certain points. The entire game lacks polish. The English voice acting ranges from acceptable to nasty. The music and sound is entirely forgetable, except for one area where they had the sound of a drill boring into rock playing in the background. That made me want to mute the TV. I was in that area for over an hour.

Yeah. Ok but not great.

[Jolt]

How well do you know your world? (http://www.minijuegosgratis.com/juegos/hwdykyworld/hwdykyworld.html?b415=0766)
https://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu150/Joltie/untitled-2.jpg

[frogbeastegg]

Finished Enchanted Arms with the good ending. The final 1/4 of the plot was completely :inquisitive: :stunned: :dizzy2:

Prompted by the success of co-op Resi 5, I started co-op Gears of War with my boyfriend. We're playing on hardcore. So far it's ... uh ... um. Grey, brown, more grey, more brown, grey and brown. Enemies who look irritatingly similar to the AI allies when played in split screen mode. Awful, awful characters and plot which doesn't even manage to reach the highs (lows?) of enjoyable cheese. The weapons so far don't feel very fun to use. The grenades are especially blergh - I do not want to stand there vulnerable like a big fat target with steroid muscles twirling the thing around my head until the game decides to let me throw it; I want to aim and throw quickly! The cover system feels clumsier than I'd expect from a game based around the concept. Ho hum. I shall try some more in singleplayer mode; if the opening levels are representative of the rest of the game we shouldn't waste our time with it.

I intend to replay Viking: Battle for Asgard. This time I'll try hard mode.

[Monk]

Gears of war. (the first)

I decided to pick up the original, i found a great deal on Amazon and payed under $30 for the collector's edition of Gears 1, while the normal edition is like $40!

For all my :daisy: about Gears 2, i have to actually say it is a supperior title in comparison to its predesesor. I think the biggest change between 1 and 2 is the pacing. 2 never feels like it moves too fast, yet its pace is expertly tied into the plot (even though the plot is nothing special). You never feel like a task is too much to overcome, yet each of them present an "OH :daisy:" moment that really gets your heart pumping.

In comparison, gears 1 feels like you're at a petting zoo. New enemies aren't introduced often enough to make you feel like the game is really after you. In gears 2, you're facing a new type of enemy every time you turn around. In gears 1 i went ages just fighting regular drones and grenadiers. Gears 1 feels too slow, and I have to say the moments where you have to fight Locust Berserkers is downright annoying and not fun. I am very happy they were never included in gears 2.

[frogbeastegg]

Hehe, Monk, should I accuse you of copying me? :tongueg:

Glad I'm not the only one who is finding Gears of War to be decidedly underwhelming. I am surprised you feel the same; is GoW2 really that much better?

[Monk]

Hehe, Monk, should I accuse you of copying me? :tongueg:

:sweatdrop:


Glad I'm not the only one who is finding Gears of War to be decidedly underwhelming. I am surprised you feel the same; is GoW2 really that much better?

Honestly I'm just as surprised as you are. Being a college kid in the 18-24 range who owns a 360, I'm the very target that GoW focuses on.

Gears 2 is a good game imo, but i am hesitant to suggest it to you if you are not already a fan of the series. The GoW series is about as mainstream as you can get in modern gaming and frankly, if you didn't like the first I highly doubt that the second will sell you on the series. At its heart, you have to have fun with the core mechanics before you can enjoy all the shiny bells and whistles. That being said...

I have to say I love Gears 2. Yeah I blasted it to :daisy: in my previous postings, but in retrospect I was a bit too hard on it.

There are some really sublime moments (like the levels that take place inside a giant worm and the monstrous bosses like the fish from the depths.) that really challenge you, while throwing you out of your element. You fight Brumaks and Reavers as if they were going out of style and in the first mission you end up face to face with a Grinder, something I've still not seen in the first game nearly four acts in. In GoW2, when I ended up in the main hall of a broken down hotel facing waves of Locust from all sides and it was the first mission, i knew what kind-of game i was playing.

Gears 2 is a game I will be playing for a good while, thanks in part to Horde mode multiplayer, but if you don't feel this is the kinda game you'd enjoy then don't be afraid to stay away. It's the Halo 3 argument: It's insanely popular but it's not for everyone.

[Fragony]

Isn't for me, too slow. I like to fight my way forwards instead of being pushed back. I can understand the appeal and they look and sound amazing, tried to like them.

[Craterus]

Been playing some of my old PS1 games. Final Fantasy 7, again. Driver (easy on the whole but very frustrating at points) and, inspired by Wrestlemania, the original Smackdown game.

Along with that, Pro Evo 2009 on the Become a Legend mode.

And a whole lot of FM, of course.

[CountArach]

Finally loaded up FEAR 2 and I'm loving it.

[Husar]

Did I already mention Drakensang?

Also played some ETW but Drakensang is better and more polished, even though the two aren't really comparable.

[CountArach]

Just bought Madworld today on the Wii and wow... my heart is pumping and I was laughing the entire time...

[Decker]

Walked into a store and stumbled upon The Legend of Zelda Orcarina of Time and Perfect Dark. I ended up getting Zelda. Brings back some good 'ole memories :yes:

[Monk]

Walked into a store and stumbled upon The Legend of Zelda Orcarina of Time and Perfect Dark. I ended up getting Zelda. Brings back some good 'ole memories :yes:

It's hard to go wrong with Zelda, especially with OoT. :2thumbsup:

As for me I'm still playing gears 2.

Recently picked up Guitar Hero: Metallica and am loving it. I also got recently Bioshock and have been running through that for the first time, and just.. wow. If you never played it I highly suggest it. I love the story. :yes:

[Decker]

It's hard to go wrong with Zelda, especially with OoT. :2thumbsup
Never can! And I'm keeping an eye out for Majora's Mask and Mario 64 :yes:

[Warluster]

I'm currently play E:TW, M2TW and modding R:TW. I'm in a Total War'ish mood. Also got Hearts of Iron 2 Doomsday and Armageddon plus the complete Dawn of War pack for $30! THen proceeded to buy a shiny, new laptop and am in the process of playing my 100 or so games again with new graphics. Its very satisfying pushing all the graphics sliders to Ultra High :grin3:

[frogbeastegg]

Finished Viking. Hard mode wasn't that difficult; if anything I found this playthrough slightly easier than my first. I breezed through areas I remember having trouble with last year.

Still got Gears of War to play. I haven't managed to convince myself to boot it up after the underwhelming first go.

[FactionHeir]

Did I already mention Drakensang?

Also played some ETW but Drakensang is better and more polished, even though the two aren't really comparable.

I got it back when it came out (the German version that is). I even ran the wiki for it at wikia, which was a big success personally, but eventually I lost a bit of steam on it because the game was simply too linear for replay value (I replayed it 3 times mainly to fill up all wiki entries with the team). Not getting any recognition from the devs wasn't great either.

Good concept, bad implementation.

As for my currently playing, still hanging around Witcher: Versus (because its a flash game) and Red Alert 3 + Uprising (finished both, beat everything etc. Nice thing was getting Uprising for free off the competition). Played a bit of C&C3 and Generals the last few weeks too just for nostalgia, but mainly to get all achievements and beat everything under the toughest difficulties.

I'm currently wondering if Demigod is worth getting.

[CountArach]

Getting further and further into FEAR 2 and the game is keeping me addicted. The atmosphere is tense, the AI is rather god most of the time and I find myself shooting at shadows during some of the scenes.

Thank god for Slow-mo.

I also played a bit of Guitar Hero IV last night.

[Gregoshi]

I finished Diablo Sunday night. I didn't really enjoy it much at all as it is quite dated. Way too much clicking. For some odd reason, I find myself a bit anxious to start Diablo II. It seems to be a huge leap forward in the interface & features departments. Oblivion on the Xbox has been on hold for two plus weeks as my son won't let me get near his Xbox - which has led me to start thinking about getting Morrowind on the PC.