The "What are you playing?" topic.

[Xiahou]

I picked up 'de Blob' for the Wii recently and finally got to sit down with it for an hour yesterday. Based on those initial impressions, I've gotta say that I love it. Great art style, great gameplay, great controls, great fun.

You can unlock the gates to proceed thru the level fairly quickly, but I found myself sticking around, completing challenges, and painting stuff for more points before wanting to move on. At one point, I think I had gotten enough points to unlock the next 3 gates before I finally had my fill of the area I was in and moved on.

[Ibn-Khaldun]

I recently installed 'Imperial Glory' all over again.
I'm trying to get the right feeling before E:TW comes out.

[TevashSzat]

Finished Starcraft and Brood War campaigns for the first time.

Now, i dug up my copy of Kotor II and am going through it as a dueling light sentinel/weapon master. I've finished Dantooine and I have just gotten on Nar Shadda

[CountArach]

I bought SWAT 4 this morning and I'm really enjoying it. A thinking-man's shooter.

Highlight so far - Tasing a 60+ year old woman... She left me no choice! I swear! *Shifty glance*

[Veho Nex]

the second level? Did you get stechkov sindakate with it?

If you want to maybe i can go get my copies outa the dust some where and we can play a co op some time

[CountArach]

Nah they didn't have the Gold Edition or the Syndicate available. And yeah it was the second level.

As for online gaming, the problem is that, being in Australia, it is hard to find servers that don't lag.

[Kekvit Irae]

Titan Quest: Immortal Throne

[Rilder]

Been playing Navy field lately, bit of grind and I can only play it during non-peak hours but its a fun distraction.

[Veho Nex]

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

[seireikhaan]

Mount and Blade; having a pretty good time, though I'm keen on when the Calradia War Chronicals mod makes its port to 1.03.

Victoria: Revolutions, using the VIP mod with the hotfixes and everything. Currently, having a grand ol' time as British India, stomping down rebellions and annexing almost at will. Currently have annexed: Burma, Siam, Nepal, Sikkim, Yemen, Oman(including their African holdings, as well as swiping their colonies), Sindh, Rajputatra, Punjab, and Awadh. Satelites include Afghanistan(from events), and Tibet, whom I decided to beat down into submission to ensure they served as a proper buffer for my northern Indian possessions, particularly Delhi and Lucknow. Only took one province, Gar, because it is physically vast and further enhanced the "buffer" area. Right now, I'm biding my time waiting for machine guns so I can start colonizing east africa(especially Kenya) from my base in Zanzibar and surrounding territories.

[Crandaeolon]

Playing King's Bounty: the Legend - 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 - 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.

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

[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...

[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

[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?

[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

[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.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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.

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

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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.