The "What are you playing?" topic.

[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.

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.

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?...

[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...

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.

Of course I still play Europa Barbarorum.

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

[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

[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 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.

[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.

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

[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....

[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.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

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.

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.

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 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

[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.

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.

[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.

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.

[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.