The "What are you playing?" topic.

[Krusader]

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Well the xpack Alien Crossfire to be precise.

Played The Witcher Enhanced Edition last two days, but just got annoyed with the game. It had its very nice moments, but others again just made me utterly frustrated, which I never was with the Bioware or Bethesda games.

[Motep]

Im actually not playing any games at the moment. Guess I burned myself out. Book it is!

[al Roumi]

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. Well the xpack Alien Crossfire to be precise.

Awesome game! I've tried for a few years to get hold of the alien crossfire expansion, to no avail and my disapointment. When oh when will Firaxis do a refresh (assuming they have the rights to)?

[Azathoth]

Playing Geneforge 2, a generic isometric RPG with a laughably pretentious plot and a lot of problems, including the fact that it is basically the same game as the first (think Ghostbusters 2 to Ghostbusters). Only available through the developer's site, and at $25-28 each (for Geneforge 1-5) not worth it.

[Monk]

It's been a slow couple days since I finished up Prototype, and in between working on my article for the Gahzette and other worldly duties i attend to I've decided to revisit a few games in my library. Specifically this has led to achievement hunting in Fallout 3, Assassin's Creed and Prototype (yeah i know, i caved. I do enjoy the combat so much though) with a little SF4 tossed in there too.


1vs100 completely refuses to work this week. Apparently there's some sort of random error that makes it nearly impossible for me to connect to the Live game and nothing I've done on my end resolves it (or can solve it). God bless you, Microsoft, just as I was starting to have fun you snatched the controller from my hands with a sneer. Their tech support is brilliant as well, I think I'd have better luck with some sort of shamanistic spirit guide. Maybe next week.

After selling three games last week I got the time to really sit down to decide what will replace those abominations in my library. Force Unleashed has taken its rightful place at my side and i'll get into that more once I've gotten the chance to play it.

[Paradox]

Things have been boring lately, but replaying Portal and downloading The Secret of Monkey Island is keeping me busy, at least until the release of Shadow Complex, which should be the arcade game of the year. I'm looking to get a 100% gamerscore on MI before Shadow Complex releases.

Also, both games are amazing. But Monkey Island really surprised me, and I'm having a lot of fun with it despite its short storyline, so there's still hope for the point and click genre.

[Crandaeolon]

http://progressquest.com/

I can't believe I managed to miss this one. Words fail to describe the awesomeness.

[Monk]

The last few weeks has definitely been a time for older games. Trading in 3 games (GH: Metallica, Halo 3, Call of Duty: World at War) I got 3 back; Victoria: Empire Under the Sun, Mirror's Edge and The Force Unleashed.

I won't bother with overviews but I will say a few things. Mirror's Edge was not as fun as I had hoped it would be. I went into the game hoping to get some really cool chase scenes and tons of free running but what I found instead was a game built on jumping puzzles. That's okay, i guess, but it's not what I wanted nor expected. Besides I hate jumping puzzles. I really think the game could have benefited from a bit more "open ended" approach.

Force Unleashed is a game I thoroughly have enjoyed every waking moment I've given it. I loved prototype because of how powerful the combat system made you feel while at the same time challenging you, Force Unleashed does a very similar thing. My only complaint is the boss battles which aren't that challenging. Most are daunting but have a gimmick to them, figure it out and you'll beat it easily (I call this Devil May Cry 4 Syndrome).

Lastly I picked up Victoria for a little under eight dollars soon followed by its expansion for $10. All I gotta say is wow, I think I'm in love. It's about three times as complicated as I remember the HoI series being but somehow its far more rewarding. There's numerous .orgah posts around here about Victoria so I won't go into huge detail. Just like EUIII, it is gonna stay on my hard drive for a long time.

[CountArach]

Lastly I picked up Victoria for a little under eight dollars soon followed by its expansion for $10. All I gotta say is wow, I think I'm in love. It's about three times as complicated as I remember the HoI series being but somehow its far more rewarding. There's numerous .orgah posts around here about Victoria so I won't go into huge detail. Just like EUIII, it is gonna stay on my hard drive for a long time.

Yet another person is converted

[frogbeastegg]

I've been playing Samurai Warriors 2. It's kind of annoying - I didn't precisely want to play it now but my boyfriend wanted some co-op and now the game's on my xbox's hard drive and tag I feel I should complete it. Leaving it would make me feel like I have unfinished business each time I used the console.

It's one of the better Warriors series games. :sigh: Just not in the mood for it.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Planning to give Deux Ex a try.
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[Beskar]

Currently playing: The Last Remnant

[Xiahou]

Spent about 2 hours playing Cursed Mountain. It's a pretty good horror game for the Wii that's come out with little to no promotion or fanfare- I couldn't even find any proper reviews for it.

First off, they couldn't have picked a better setting for a survival horror- the Himalayas. Abandoned mountain towns, Buddhist temples, and of course, the mountains themselves(they're everywhere you look) all make for eerie backdrops. The story has been pretty good so far, although I don't really care for some of the freeze-frame style cut scenes. The graphics serve the game quite well considering the Wii is a non-HD console. And while its no Eternal Darkness, the game does manage to be creepy enough. At this point, if I was going to give it a knock, it'd be for difficulty. So far, battling ghosts hasn't been too much of an ordeal and I seem to have a plentiful supply of healing items (incense). I think if the encounters were more deadly, it would serve ratchet up the tension and help make the game scarier...

But, on the other hand, I'm only a couple of hours in, and I did finally die right before I decided to quit for the night. So the difficulty does seem to be ramping up a little bit... I certainly wouldn't want to pass judgment on it this soon.

[Fragony]

Spent about 2 hours playing Cursed Mountain. It's a pretty good horror game for the Wii that's come out with little to no promotion or fanfare- I couldn't even find any proper reviews for it.

First off, they couldn't have picked a better setting for a survival horror- the Himalayas. Abandoned mountain towns, Buddhist temples, and of course, the mountains themselves(they're everywhere you look) all make for eerie backdrops. The story has been pretty good so far, although I don't really care for some of the freeze-frame style cut scenes. The graphics serve the game quite well considering the Wii is a non-HD console. And while its no Eternal Darkness, the game does manage to be creepy enough. At this point, if I was going to give it a knock, it'd be for difficulty. So far, battling ghosts hasn't been too much of an ordeal and I seem to have a plentiful supply of healing items (incense). I think if the encounters were more deadly, it would serve ratchet up the tension and help make the game scarier...

But, on the other hand, I'm only a couple of hours in, and I did finally die right before I decided to quit for the night. So the difficulty does seem to be ramping up a little bit... I certainly wouldn't want to pass judgment on it this soon.

Kewl. My Wii did the die thing sadly, but there are many interesting horror-games comming up for the white midget especially the Silent Hill 'reimagining' (lol@marketing) sounds more than a little bit awesome.

[Monk]

Yet another person is converted

Gotta admit the feeling that comes from fighting your first successful war while managing everything else about your empire is an amazing one. That alone was enough to let me know the $18 USD was well spent.

[Jolt]

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Planning to give Deux Ex a try.
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One of the best RPG FPS's ever. Quite probably the very best. The beginning level is very confusing, but once you pass that mission and the next one, you'll begin to get hooked by the plotline.

[Gregoshi]

I've been working my way through Diablo II, which is a huge improvement over Diablo, though I've found both rather blah. "Clickfest" indeed. Particularly in DII, there are few encounters I even feel the slightest bit concerned for my health, and that is usually more a fear of the unknown with the major baddies. Most times I died was from not paying attention to my health while "fighting" those large "how many kindergartners can you beat up" encounters.

I got Oblivion for the PC over the weekend, so I no longer have to fight my son for time on his Xbox 360. After playing on the Xbox with a controller, getting used to the mouse/keyboard has been a little awkward - which surprises me more than a bit.

[Mailman653]

I got the new Batman game at midnight yesterday, its great so far.

[Xiahou]

I got Oblivion for the PC over the weekend, so I no longer have to fight my son for time on his Xbox 360. After playing on the Xbox with a controller, getting used to the mouse/keyboard has been a little awkward - which surprises me more than a bit.

If you haven't already, stop playing immediately and get some good mods for it. Mods make Oblivion great, you're really missing out if you're not using some of the big ones. I think we have a thread somewhere here on the subject....

[johnhughthom]

One of the best RPG FPS's ever. Quite probably the very best. The beginning level is very confusing, but once you pass that mission and the next one, you'll begin to get hooked by the plotline.

Agreed.

[CountArach]

If you haven't already, stop playing immediately and get some good mods for it. Mods make Oblivion great, you're really missing out if you're not using some of the big ones. I think we have a thread somewhere here on the subject....

What he said.

I'm playing Pokemon Platinum.

[naut]

Modern Scenario for HOI2. Very neat mod. Rather annoying bug means you can't save, but oh well.

[frogbeastegg]

Ran through the new Mass Effect DLC this evening. Yawn; a bunch of bland FPS MP style scenarios for a game which isn't primarily about combat. There are 3 variations each on four themes: shoot as many enemies as possible in a time limit, survive as long as possible against infinite enemies, run and capture several points on the map as quickly as possible, and kill a set number of enemies as quickly as possible. Most missions can be completed in under 2 minutes. Get first place in all 12 and you get an extra mission: survive until the clock runs down against a horde. Finish that and you have won yourself your own home base, pretty pointless this late in the day.

Back to Samurai Warriors 2 again.

[Fragony]

One of the best RPG FPS's ever. Quite probably the very best. The beginning level is very confusing, but once you pass that mission and the next one, you'll begin to get hooked by the plotline.

Didn't really get me hooked until the Lebedev sequence, after that there was no turning back. And it just kept getting better and better and ultimately leaves you breathless. I wish I could reset my memory and relive all the surprises.

[Beskar]

I've been working my way through Diablo II, which is a huge improvement over Diablo, though I've found both rather blah. "Clickfest" indeed. Particularly in DII, there are few encounters I even feel the slightest bit concerned for my health, and that is usually more a fear of the unknown with the major baddies. Most times I died was from not paying attention to my health while "fighting" those large "how many kindergartners can you beat up" encounters.

I got Oblivion for the PC over the weekend, so I no longer have to fight my son for time on his Xbox 360. After playing on the Xbox with a controller, getting used to the mouse/keyboard has been a little awkward - which surprises me more than a bit.

Plus your xbox controller up to the PC. If it is wireless, you got to get an adapter which is around $10-20 depending on where you get it. Though, you might have to use xpadder for it to work with Oblivion on the pc.

[Paradox]

Just got Batman: Arkham Asylum. This is easily the best game of the year so far. 44% complete with it.

[Jolt]

Didn't really get me hooked until the Lebedev sequence, after that there was no turning back. And it just kept getting better and better and ultimately leaves you breathless. I wish I could reset my memory and relive all the surprises.

I don't remember the Lebedev. Is it that part where you're in the plane with the terrorrist and some woman?

I recall the part where you are first contacted by...Icarus? (Not the major cyber entity) *checking wiki*, Daedalus. That's the part where I really realized (Man, I'm really hooked to this game)

[Warluster]

I'm currently playing Hearts of Iron 3, and I have to honestly say, its my second most favourite out of Paradox Interactive's games. They've made so MANY great, excellent changes to HoI 2 but at the same time added in more things, like a spectacular new map which has 10 000 provinces, and a new intelligence system, and the AI is so much better, and, and... theres a lot of new things which will heighten the experince.

HoI 3 needs some work, and it will take a year or so to get it to that perfect state, but like every other PI game its worth every single cent of money.

I'm also playing a Victoria/Revolutions save game which will then be converted to a HoI 2 Complete game. Never played such a long game before and looking forward to play over two world wars and a lot of history.

[Fragony]

I don't remember the Lebedev. Is it that part where you're in the plane with the terrorrist and some woman?

Yeah, that part, it's your first major choice it floored me at the time how it could play out. Still does really. Played the second? Underapreciated imho.

[Monk]

Ran through the new Mass Effect DLC this evening. Yawn; a bunch of bland FPS MP style scenarios for a game which isn't primarily about combat. There are 3 variations each on four themes: shoot as many enemies as possible in a time limit, survive as long as possible against infinite enemies, run and capture several points on the map as quickly as possible, and kill a set number of enemies as quickly as possible. Most missions can be completed in under 2 minutes. Get first place in all 12 and you get an extra mission: survive until the clock runs down against a horde. Finish that and you have won yourself your own home base, pretty pointless this late in the day.

Back to Samurai Warriors 2 again.

Is it really that bad? I ask simply out of morbid curiosity, it's sitting on xbox live marketplace for a measly five dollars and at that price it's sorta hard not to take a look.. Though the description doesn't inspire much enthusiasm in me. It promises 2-3 hours of more gameplay, but if all that amounts to is shallow combat then I'm not sure it's for me.

When i heard there was a new Mass Effect DLC in the works, i was thrilled. I was expecting another Bring Down the Sky which I absolutely loved. (Lots of combat, a few side quests and a good main story, yes please!) Instead, it sounds as if all they added was a combat focused mini-game. A real shame, i was looking to bring "The Jugglers" out of retirement for another go. They've not seen a run since I tested my sanity on.. well, insanity!