The "What are you playing?" topic.

[Xiahou]

Yes I talked to everyone after every mission, nothing satisfactory to say, especially Garrus- after his little personal mission he was pretty dull.

So you got Kaiden's story about being abused at biotic training, Ashley's stories about her sister and how her family name is tainted due to her grandfather and so on?
Wrex, I thought, was particularly blabby recounting several of his mercenary missions and how he came to be exiled from the Krogan homeworld and lost his ancestral armor. I don't think Tali was quite as chatty, but she still went on at some length about her life on the flotilla and her pilgrimmage....

[Hooahguy]

So you got Kaiden's story about being abused at biotic training, Ashley's stories about her sister and how her family name is tainted due to her grandfather and so on?
Wrex, I thought, was particularly blabby recounting several of his mercenary missions and how he came to be exiled from the Krogan homeworld and lost his ancestral armor. I don't think Tali was quite as chatty, but she still went on at some length about her life on the flotilla and her pilgrimmage....

Yes, but I just wish there was more.

[Prussian to the Iron]

I reaaaly need to check out ME if its as good as everyone says. maybe if its cheap enough I'll pick up the first one after i'm done with Far Cry 2 (96%!!!)

[Hooahguy]

If you are going to get ME1, get the PC version, which is much better than the xbox version.

[CountArach]

Spoilers in above posts?

I've been playing a lot of Dragon Age. Probably unhealthy amounts. This is the first game in a long time (Probably since Civ IV) where I have found Normal difficulty to be a real challenge. Maybe because I don't play a lot of pure RPGs, but I know for a fact I'm not the only one who seems to blunder through this at times.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Just finished Far Cry 2, amazing game I would recommend to anyone. I got it for like $10 because a Game Rental store was closign and selling off all their games, definitely worth it.


(I know I copied Hooahguy, bite me)

Pros

Amazing A.I.
The A.I. in this game is...unmatched. It seems very realistic (apart, of course, from glitches), and will behave as you would expect an inexperienced militia soldier to behave. If they spot you, and you get out of their sight and move to a different piece of cover without them seeing you, they won't instantly telepathically know you are there; they will come up and search your last known position, at least until you open fire or are spotted again. The way they spot you is pretty realistic as well, and hiding in the grass of the savanah means you are usually very difficult to spot. Add to this the silenced Dart Sniper, and you can snipe and scope out most enemy positions. They also will give up the chase after some time, and an often-used tactic by myself when being chased over bridges is to park my truck sideways on the bridge, and light it on fire. The enemy will be forced to get out of their car's to follow, but stay away from fire as they well should.

Extremely Open World
Speaks for itself, if you see a location, you can almost certainly get to it one way or another. With 50 Sq Kilometers of world that you can explore openly, you can see many different environments. Lagoons, Deserts, Savannahs, Jungles, and all fairly realistic as well. Huge amount of land and water to explore to your hearts content.

Large Weapon Variety
From silenced Sniper Rifles, Grenade Launchers, IED's, and Machine Guns, to Assault Rifles, SMG's, and Pyrotechnics *>:)*, there are many, many weapons to choose from, and even more ways to use them. For example, the AK is great for power and putting bullets into the enemy, but the accuracy isn't that great, while the AR-15 is a less powerful, very accurate gun with burst-mode, and the MP5 is a silenced, low damage weapon with medium accuracy. There is a weapon for every situation, and they usually can fit into many niches (I used an AK as a medium/close range gun for a really long time, bursting for longer range, and the Snipers can perform well at medium range as well).

Great Combat System
The Combat is great. It feels very real, as you sprint from enemy fire, slide behind cover, and unjam your gun. The only times I ever truly disliked the actual combat system was when I shoot a few magazines and my gun starts to jam repeatedly, and when the enemies spam rockets/grenades. Once had an enemy spamming grenades from a grenade launcher turret at me (one of the very few I've seen in the game), and took me 4 tries to even find him, and another to kill him. But the system still feels very realistic, but somehow fun at the same time.

Storyline
The over-arching story is pretty good, though it becomes obscured by endless, usually monotonous and repetitive missions from the warring factions. In fact, up until about 40-50% through, it seems like the game isn't going anywhere. Then all of a sudden BOOM! every few missions the plot gets thicker. It also isn't read to you from the characters, like some games do "Oh hi, so the reason we did this was....so that we could....and now you're gonna help us". It really unfolded, like a flower, rather than just all being on one big piece of paper that you read all at once.

Cons

Constant Fighting
Many times, you will just be driving, and some random jeep will follow you and shoot at you. This is fun at first, but when it happens every 5 minutes, it starts to piss you off. The fact that everybody tries to kill you as soon as they see you is ridiculous, and means that you cant drive from point A to point B without crossing at least 2 or 3 different groups of enemies.

Buddies are Retarded
The Buddy's are great for helping you out, adding spice to a mission, or simply for immersion. However, I can't tell you how many times I've thought that everything was fine, and then for no reason my buddy dies and I'm not there to save them, so they're gone forever.

Vehicle Physics Engine
Many a time have I just been cruising around in my car/jeep/truck/dune buggy, and randomly hit some rock in the exact location that the vehicle no longer moves. This often happens with unrealistically small or large objects, which should either have stopped the car from going forward before it could get stuck, or simply not have effected it in the first place.



Thats all I care to post right now, maybe more later.

[Monk]

So you got Kaiden's story about being abused at biotic training, Ashley's stories about her sister and how her family name is tainted due to her grandfather and so on?
Wrex, I thought, was particularly blabby recounting several of his mercenary missions and how he came to be exiled from the Krogan homeworld and lost his ancestral armor. I don't think Tali was quite as chatty, but she still went on at some length about her life on the flotilla and her pilgrimmage....

Believe it or not, that (ME1 has poor characterization) is something i've heard quite often from friends. Mainly from those who have played Dragon Age or ME2 before playing ME1. The first Mass Effect had a relatively straight-forward approach, aside from Wrex, Garrus and Tali (if you found hers, it was a bit off the beaten path) no one had much in the way of companion quests. Most characterization is accomplished through interactions with Shepard during events (Wrex: If I die in here, i'll kill him!) or after mission debriefs.

Companion quests on the other hand are a way for characters to really stand out in western RPGs, great examples of which are Zaeed's Revenge , Shale's quest for identity, Morrigan's search for her mother's book, ect. They open the character to new circumstances and you see development beyond simple conversation. As was once said: A little less conversation, a little more action.

[Hooahguy]

Companion quests on the other hand are a way for characters to really stand out in western RPGs, great examples of which are Zaeed's Revenge , Shale's quest for identity, Morrigan's search for her mother's book, ect. They open the character to new circumstances and you see development beyond simple conversation. As was once said: A little less conversation, a little more action.

Speaking of which, I thought a number of ME2 missions really elaborated on character: the missions for Samara, Jack, Mordin, Thane, Garrus, Miranda, Zaeed (as you mentioned), Tali and to an extent Jacob all had loyalty missions that touched on who that person was. Kasumi's and Grunt's missions were more "help me with this and I will be loyal" than it was "help me get through a situation in my life that is tearing me apart (such as Garrus, Thane, and Samara) and then I will be loyal.
And the Overlord DLC was amazing, even the 2nd playthough- not trying to spoil anything but I think it had the most emotional ending that I have ever seen, that messed me up for a few days it was so powerful.

[Meneldil]

Just finished Alien Breed : Assault on PC. I'm kind of torn about this one. It's basically a fun game, but what with all this running back and forth to open doors and activate computers?

This would have been okay in 1995, but in 2010, it's kind of boring. And games that take 5 hours to complete shouldn't exist. Even for 15€ it's a rip off.

[Xiahou]

Believe it or not, that (ME1 has poor characterization) is something i've heard quite often from friends. Mainly from those who have played Dragon Age or ME2 before playing ME1. The first Mass Effect had a relatively straight-forward approach, aside from Wrex, Garrus and Tali (if you found hers, it was a bit off the beaten path) no one had much in the way of companion quests. Most characterization is accomplished through interactions with Shepard during events (Wrex: If I die in here, i'll kill him!) or after mission debriefs.

Companion quests on the other hand are a way for characters to really stand out in western RPGs, great examples of which are Zaeed's Revenge , Shale's quest for identity, Morrigan's search for her mother's book, ect. They open the character to new circumstances and you see development beyond simple conversation. As was once said: A little less conversation, a little more action.

That's promising for ME2. But personally, I didn't really think anything special of Dragon Age's character development.... but then again I thought DA was kind of a paint-by-numbers fantasy RPG, so maybe it's just me

[Fragony]

Started a sniper character in Borderlands, currently at level 12. This game is sooooooooooo much fun, best purchase I have made in years. Or best game in years

[SillySirius]

I'm bouncing between several games just switching up when bored or frustrated.

Rome total war with the EB mod.

MTW2 with kingdoms expansion.

ME2 with some DLC.

Red dead redemption.

Galatic Civ2 ultimate edition.I just got A Drengi cultural and The Dreadlords reapper super events within short order.My galaxy is sooo borked at the moment.

I was playing Risen and even made it to the end,but i can't hurt the end boss even though i know i got everything.I'm wondering if i should have teamed up with the Inquisitor instead of fighting him.

Oh and the most awesomest game of them all..Tecmo Bowl throwback!

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Gonna play some FireRed and Starfox Command while driving up to Canada (as a passenger, of course :P). The former is great of course, but the latter is tough, mostly because of using the stylus for controls and the kind of punishing time limits for missions. Good thing I got it for like $8 used.

[Decker]

Anyone ever played Rogue Galaxy for the PS2?

[Prussian to the Iron]

Nope.

Downloading the Mafia 2 Demo on the PS3. Heard the first one was really good, and I might get the second one if I'm impressed enough with the demo. High rating (4.1) acccording to PSN.

[Xiahou]

Gonna play some FireRed and Starfox Command while driving up to Canada (as a passenger, of course :P). The former is great of course, but the latter is tough, mostly because of using the stylus for controls and the kind of punishing time limits for missions. Good thing I got it for like $8 used.

For your next road trip, see if you can find Infinite Space. The game is supposed to be over 70hrs long. They made a series of tutorials for it on youtube, since the game itself kinda throws you to the wolves and expects you to figure things out for yourself.

I've been playing it on and off for quite awhile now.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Just played thye Mafia II Demo:

I was awesome. good combat system, cover system, but it has its faults.

1. Driving is horrible. maybe back then the cars were bad, but not that bad, plus its post-WWII. going over 40MPH means you skid for 20 seconds every time you turn.
2. the cops will ram your car for no good reason. Like ramming my car is some nation-wide contest with a million dollar prize...
3. because of the horrible driving, crashing into people is common, and you have to pay/fight to get out of it. bull****


but overall its a good demo, probly gonna buy the game.

[Xiahou]

I just finished Mass Effect with my "Renegade" Infiltrator. I let the council eat it and put Capt. Andersen forward as a replacement. 32 hours, and maxxed out at level 50.
Character-wise, I wasn't sure if I'd let the council die or not, but when it was presented as a choice between hitting Sovereign with everything or risking ships to save the Ascension, it was a no-brainer.
Being an Infiltrator, the sniper rifle was my weapon of choice, and I used it almost exclusively. One shot, one kill.

I think I'll take a look at ME2 now, but I'm also tempted to run through with a "Paragon" Adept. Adepts seem like a lot of fun to play. And since I unlocked the Assault Rifle achievement already, I could give him a decent weapon too.

[Hooahguy]

You might want to give Veho some tips on being an Infiltrator. Last I heard he was having trouble with that class.

[Splitpersonality]

Megaman Battle Network 4: Blue Moon.

Awesome game, haven't played it in ages :D

[Prussian to the Iron]

Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Awesome game, though it gets a bit repetitive:

get on a gargoyle, string a guy up, silent kill other guys, and glide kick a few as well. repeat. continually.

but its also sprinkled with some straight-up awesome fighting, and if you dont think that the slow-mo scenes or most of the fist fighting in general is awesome, there may be something seriously wrong with you.

[frogbeastegg]

Anyone ever played Rogue Galaxy for the PS2?

Yes. Massive game. Simply massive. It's got lots of love it or hate it features and a few flaws; if you like a sprawling JRPG with real time combat and loads of optional content then it's definitely worth a look.

Dragon Quest VIII is by far my favourite Factor 5 game though. Also my favourite JRPG.

[Fragony]

Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Awesome game, though it gets a bit repetitive:

get on a gargoyle, string a guy up, silent kill other guys, and glide kick a few as well. repeat. continually.

but its also sprinkled with some straight-up awesome fighting, and if you dont think that the slow-mo scenes or most of the fist fighting in general is awesome, there may be something seriously wrong with you.

Awesome game, and a delight as a fan service. Can't wait for the sequel. They promise a much darker experience.

Rogue Galaxy looks interesting never heard of it. Hope the PS3 will one day outshine it's older brother.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Theres a SEQUEL?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? AYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[SillySirius]

Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Awesome game, though it gets a bit repetitive:

get on a gargoyle, string a guy up, silent kill other guys, and glide kick a few as well. repeat. continually..

Does Batman actually kill baddies in the game?

Dumb question i know but that would be against character.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Does Batman actually kill baddies in the game?

Dumb question i know but that would be against character.

No, he doesnt, though he has no problem giving the goons almost certain concussions, broken limbs, and probable internal bleeding.

[Meneldil]

Playing Vampire The Masquerade : Bloodlines at the moment, and having a blast. It's a shame the whole fighting part of the game doesn't really shine, but heh. Currently about to finish Santa Monica.

[SillySirius]

No, he doesnt, though he has no problem giving the goons almost certain concussions, broken limbs, and probable internal bleeding.

He should just use words then.

They can hurt worse then fists.

[A Nerd]

Pictures speak louder than words. Fists only say one thing.

I downloaded Oblivion based on a thread I read here. Fun game, I can't seem to find many torches or lock picks however! I also can't sell any stuff I have stolen! Other than that, I am having a great time with it!

[Hooahguy]

No, he doesnt, though he has no problem giving the goons almost certain concussions, broken limbs, and probable internal bleeding.

After seeing footage, I thought that he knocks them out at least? Maybe he does kill them? He uses some sort of thermal scanner and after bad guys are taken out they go off the scanner, obviously indicating that they are dead, not knocked out.