Looking for a particular kind of game ...

**frogbeastegg** · 08-01-2009, 17:24

I’m in the mood for a particular type of game and can’t think of any which would fit. I want to play something which is all or most of the following:

1)Short. Something about 15 hours or less. I’m working on a few big games and don’t want to get involved with another behemoth.

2)Fun! Just … fun. Something with a bit of bounce, a bit of joy, a recognition that games are meant to entertain.

3)Shiny. A combination of solid production values, nice visuals and good audio. I’m perfectly happy playing rougher titles but once in a while it’s nice to play something that oozes expensive quality. I’ve been playing titles with various combinations of sub par voice acting, forgettable or nasty music, passable or outright ugly graphics, for so long I can’t remember the last “Oooh, shiny!” game I played.

4)Classy. A game with style, an idea, and the successful combination and execution thereof.

5)Singleplayer only. I don’t do racing games, or sports games. I don’t like FPS unless they are very special indeed, and feature a strong narrative. I should probably state in advance that I don’t like the Half Life series.

Games I have played which would fit into this type include Lego Star Wars: The Complete Trilogy, Bioshock, Dead Space, Metroid Prime 3, Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, Locoroco.

Suggestions can be for any platform; I have a gaming spec PC, both current handhelds, and all consoles from this gen and last gen.

**Beskar** · 08-01-2009, 18:57

I only played the Demo, but Trine looks like an interesting game. Admittedly, I am waiting for the price to drop, as I don't really price top price for games anymore (I wait till they are discounted). It's a platformer with style.

It uses an advances physics engine, and there are many ways to go to A to B, simply using your imagination. Here is a gameplay teaser - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXILzS03HCo

At 56 seconds, see how they used the magic to conjure that platform, then use the physics of the wheel to use it to ride up? They could obviously do something like conjure a block to climb up, but its just a testament to the many different ways you can do things throughout the game, in whatever style you can think of.

**econ21** · 08-01-2009, 22:35

They are old, but two that come to mind are Max Payne 2 and Mafia (both were Throne Room recommendations to me, BTW, and not the kind of games I would normally play). I guess you may have played both, but if not...

Max Payne 2 is pretty short. 10-15 hours sounds about right. I found it fun - the "bullet type" shooter gameplay is entertaining, but it is the story-telling that makes it a joy. It is shiny, in the sense that everything seems very polished and well done. It has a lot of style - a film noir feel with interesting surreal touches ("Mirrors are more fun than TV"). It's single player only. The closest on your list to it would be Bioshock. Max Payne has no RPG elements (just a collection of weapons you accumulate) and perhaps has more modest ambitions, although I think it is a better game. I replayed it enough times to unlock the happy ending, which means finishing it about four times more than I play most games.

Mafia is longer than Max Payne 2 but still 15 hours sounds about right; it also has a "novel" like structure with a definite beginning, middle and end. I found it great fun - driving is not something I would think of doing in a game, but I enjoyed it due to the period cars; there are some shooter elements but far fewer than Max and more to my taste (more RPG like than shooter like, in that they have a role to play in the story rather than being the story). But like Max, the main fun to me is the story-telling and this is better than Max's, again because it is more RPG like - you feel you are the protagonist in Mafia, whereas in Max, you feel you are merely viewing him. Shiny ... well, that's harder to say, but yes, I think it is shiny. The voice acting is superb. The mission design is generally excellent, although in a couple of places it is awfully hard so you might have to load up a save to bypass (the car race specifically). Definitely classy - classy like a classic car, classy like the Godfather I and II movies.

Mafia is something I consider to be a great game, so I am not sure it is what you want as a filler. You might have to devote more time to mastering it, depending on your driving skills. Max is more filler material, although also a very good and memorable game.

**seireikhaan** · 08-01-2009, 22:44

Hmm. I tend to play longer games, so I guess I've only got one suggestion, and you've probably played it already, but anyways- Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

**Jolt** · 08-01-2009, 22:47

Metal Gear Solid. :D

**Chimpyang** · 08-01-2009, 23:15

I enjoyed boom blox for the Wii for a short while- why don't you get a lovefilm sub or something similar for the console games you reckon you'll play once - or to try new stuff out. I'm paying £14.68 a month for the films + games unlimited one with 2 discs out at a time - from which I reckon I've viewed/completed around £200's worth of DVD's and games in about a month.

**Reverend Joe** · 08-04-2009, 04:59

Originally Posted by econ21

Max Payne 2 is pretty short. 10-15 hours sounds about right. I found it fun - the "bullet type" shooter gameplay is entertaining, but it is the story-telling that makes it a joy. It is shiny, in the sense that everything seems very polished and well done. It has a lot of style - a film noir feel with interesting surreal touches ("Mirrors are more fun than TV"). It's single player only. The closest on your list to it would be Bioshock. Max Payne has no RPG elements (just a collection of weapons you accumulate) and perhaps has more modest ambitions, although I think it is a better game. I replayed it enough times to unlock the happy ending, which means finishing it about four times more than I play most games.

I know some will disagree with me, but I personally prefer the first Max Payne. Sure, yes, it is less advanced as a game, but the plotline is so much more enjoyable; it's got a real Film Noir feel to it. The second game just felt silly to me, more like a bad attempt at mixing Die Hard with the Film Noir genre; plus there's way too many plot elements that were unnecessarily recycled from the original, like the weird theme park in the second that is derived entirely from a random moment in the first when a bizarre, surrealistic show appears on a TV screen. I was also bothered by the lack of a distinct driving force in the plot; in the first, Max is trying to solve/avenge his wife's murder; in the second, I often found myself wondering, "What am I doing again, and why?" I guess if the first game hadn't existed, I really wouldn't have minded the plot of the second and instead just enjoyed the cool game, but the fact that the first contained such a good, coherent plot, and even if it got a bit silly at times (okay, Ragnarok, we get it already!) it was still way better than most video game plots, and it was actually entertaining to experience.

**Krusader** · 08-04-2009, 08:46

Was to suggest Serious Sam games, but might not be your cup of tea. They HAD shiny graphics and I just loved mindless shooting at strange enemies, often hordes of them and in mostly open landscapes.

And Startopia...one of the saddest gaming moments, when I lost my CD

**Jolt** · 08-05-2009, 04:19

Originally Posted by Krusader

Was to suggest Serious Sam games, but might not be your cup of tea. They HAD shiny graphics and I just loved mindless shooting at strange enemies, often hordes of them and in mostly open landscapes.

One of the best Multiplayer FPS experiences I ever had. 8 guys playing through the campaign on the hardest level, seeing dozens and dozens and dozens of enemies running straight for you. :D

**Veho Nex** · 08-01-2009, 23:34

Originally Posted by Beskar

I only played the Demo, but Trine looks like an interesting game. Admittedly, I am waiting for the price to drop, as I don't really price top price for games anymore (I wait till they are discounted). It's a platformer with style.

It uses an advances physics engine, and there are many ways to go to A to B, simply using your imagination. Here is a gameplay teaser - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXILzS03HCo

At 56 seconds, see how they used the magic to conjure that platform, then use the physics of the wheel to use it to ride up? They could obviously do something like conjure a block to climb up, but its just a testament to the many different ways you can do things throughout the game, in whatever style you can think of.

Yeah for you, Frog, I definitely suggest Trine. I was surprised when I started playing it that I hadn't seen a review about it from you. It's some great 2/3d action, while it is admittedly short, maybe 3 or 4 hours. There is a time attack mode and supposedly co-op but I haven't figured out that one yet.

**johnhughthom** · 08-02-2009, 00:18

I found Ghostbusters surprisingly enjoyable, if you weren't a fan of the movies it would be one to avoid, but it really is like an interactive Ghostbusters 3 movie. Listening to the other ghostbusters talk is the main fun of the game, but the actual gameplay is mildly diverting for a while. Definately a game you would only play once, but that one play through is fun.

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 08-02-2009, 00:40

Plants vs. Zombies

**frogbeastegg** · 08-02-2009, 19:22

Thanks

Trine looks good. I'll try a demo of that and Mafia and see what I think.

I'd already played demos of Plants Versus Zombies and the original Max Payne. Neither game worked for me. PvZ was too repetitive and simple, although I loved the art style and humour. Max Payne had a control set up I just could not get along with.

I've played Sands of Time several times. Brilliant game.

I've played Metal Gears 1 and 2. 3 and 4 are on the pile waiting until I feel like playing filled with cutscenes about gibberish. :sigh: Like the gameplay, can't stand the plot or awful 'storytelling'.

Boom blox is fun. When the first game came out EA set up a stand near where I worked where you could try it out. I picked a copy up a bit later.

Thanks to platform exclusivity nonsense Ghostbusters is on restricted release in Europe, unlike other regions where it is freely available on all platforms. I'm not rewarding Sony for paying the publisher to block the xbox and PC out for several months.

Lovefilm wouldn't help me. I've got a to-play stack that's massive. Enough to keep in me games for a year if I played for a minimum of several hours every single day, and that's if you discount all of the ones which stand up to repeatedly play, like most PC strategy titles.