Whatcha playin? (Video games wise.)

Montana Smith

Active member
Le Saboteur said:
I ended up watching a couple of videos from Far Cry 2, and the setting was definitely interesting. I might've been interested in giving it a whirl had I known about it.

Oh, and I was completely taken by surprise when the fire started to spread to the surrounding huts I was hunkering behind! Why am I losing health? Oh, crap I'm on fire!

It's wrong, it's evil, yet it's so much fun to watch your enemies trapped by fire and screaming in pain.
FIREdevil.gif



I have the original Assassin's Creed to get back into. I'd reached the city and got lost over the rooftops, before being drawn away by other games.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Sleeping Dogs, Dishonored, Medal of Honor, Assassin's Creed III, & Far Cry 3 all came out within a few weeks of each other. Given their open world nature, they require several hours to complete.

Of those, Sleeping Dogs was unfairly shelved. Despite this, I look forward to going back and completing it. Once the story mode is complete, United Front Games has a handful of worthwhile DLC on tap to properly expand the game!

The Zodiac Tournament reaches all the way back into the '70's and channels Bruce Lee's seminal Enter the Dragon! Dig the groovy, grainy film stock!


United Front Games said:
Invited to an exclusive combat tournament on a hidden island off the coast of Hong Kong, Wei Shen faces the ultimate test of his mastery of martial arts, taking on the world's greatest warriors in a fight... to the death. Set on the remote Zodiac Island, a crumbling temple complex plays host to a series of ancient arenas, each more complex and deadly than the last. Avoiding deadly fire pits or spike-clad ceilings are merely a distraction when up against a collection of cold-blooded killers from every discipline of close-quarters combat. Wei must utilise his full move set, combined with a few new ones picked up on the way, to defeat all that stand in his way and take-out the island's big boss.

This follows on the heels of Halloween's Nightmare in North Point that drew its inspiration from Chinese mythology and its related horror films.

 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Le Saboteur said:
Sleeping Dogs, Dishonored, Medal of Honor, Assassin's Creed III, & Far Cry 3 all came out within a few weeks of each other. Given their open world nature, they require several hours to complete.
Really? Isn't MoH a run-of-the-mill military shooter with perfectly linear levels? I haven't played it (and don't think I will any time soon, given all the other things on the platter), but unless I'm completely mistaken, one can be done with its campaign in one night. Unless you were referring to multiplayer of course, but that's not exactly something you can "complete" in the first place.

It's been a particularly rich season of quality releases with tons to do, regardless. Borderlands 2 can also be added to the mix.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Finn said:
Really? Isn't MoH a run-of-the-mill military shooter with perfectly linear levels? I haven't played it (and don't think I will any time soon, given all the other things on the platter), but unless I'm completely mistaken, one can be done with its campaign in one night.

I did find Medal of Honour to be too much of a 'game on rails' following a single path', interspersed with arcade action such as being fused to a machinegun to hold off a wave of attackers.

I was thinking this morning of my journey into first person shooters. In the beginning there was Doom, then Duke Nukem blew the genre open. There were a host of games that I can't remember the names of, but things started to become really interesting with the Rainbow Six series. SWAT 3D was addictive for a while, until its limitations became apparent.

I'm still getting fun out older games. Completed the original Far Cry again last night, albeit in DevMode with the ability to quick save, since some of the gaps between checkpoints are excessively long - such as the level where you have to blow up the three comm towers.

I like to kill then save. Feels more like progress when enemies don't respawn and areas can be 'cleansed'.

Started an even older game this morning: F.E.A.R. Looks a little dated nowadays, but it gets the job done, with some added supernatural creepiness.

Borderlands looks interesting. Just had a quick look at the official website.
 

Le Saboteur

Active member
Finn said:
Really? Isn't MoH a run-of-the-mill military shooter with perfectly linear levels?

I haven't played a FPS since '02. That was Medal of Honor: Frontline after which I largely stopped gaming aside from the odd game of FIFA. Fast forward to '09 when I caught up to the current generation, I missed that glut of military shooters everybody hates.

Anyway, yes, it was pretty run-of-the-mill. Rather than waste thirty bucks (sold it back for thirty), I should've watched Black Hawk Down again. The characters were more interesting, and the socio-political ramifications of that "failed" endeavor were far more compelling than the Quasi-bin Laden hunt.

The "car stealth" sequence was pretty spectacular, though.

Thus, Sleeping Dogs was unfairly shelved. The eight or so hours I spent on MoH's campaign would have been better spent guiding Wei Shen up the ranks of the Sun On Yee.

Watch an edited version of Medal of Honor: Warfighter on Youtube. Save your time and money for other, more engaging endeavors.

Finn said:
It's been a particularly rich season of quality releases with tons to do, regardless. Borderlands 2 can also be added to the mix.

Yes, it certainly has been. My two forays into the FPS-genre this year have been decidedly refreshing. If future releases can capture as much personality as Dishonored and Far Cry 3, then I might be inclined to pick up another title or two.

Unfortunately, Borderlands 2 doesn't interest me. Bioshock Infinite, on the other hand, shows some promise.

Aside from the aforementioned Sly Cooper, I'm contemplating Company of Heroes 2 and getting Total War: Rome II if this thing can handle it.

Heard about this recently, too. Might be worth looking into if Lost Horizon was your thing.

 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Le Saboteur said:
I haven't played a FPS since '02. That was Medal of Honor: Frontline after which I largely stopped gaming aside from the odd game of FIFA. Fast forward to '09 when I caught up to the current generation, I missed that glut of military shooters everybody hates.
I'd say it's a bit unfair to say that everybody hates 'em, given how they still seem to sell like hotcakes (otherwise they wouldn't bother making them in the first place). But a thinking man's games they're not.

Still, I didn't want to trash the game based on a handful of YouTube vids I watched, but thanks for confirming my initial impressions. One to pass, no question. Now, if somebody could give me a similar assessment on Black Ops 2... even if the academic in me is still somewhat interested in it. CoD is such a huge IP that it makes ripples all around the gaming realm, and therefore is a good case study on the evolution of video games. Plainly a huge part in making gaming a truly mainstream pastime, instead of something the geek squad used to do once the sun went down.

Le Saboteur said:
Thus, Sleeping Dogs was unfairly shelved. The eight or so hours I spent on MoH's campaign would have been better spent guiding Wei Shen up the ranks of the Sun On Yee.
This one's on my to-do list as well, actually has been for a fair few weeks now. Given my peculiar habit of attempting to finish a single game at a time from the beginning to the end, I figured I might jump into it once I'm done with ACIII. Will be back with impressions then.

Sleeping Dogs (along with Far Cry 3, for example) is a good example of another trend I noticed during the gaming year of 2012. I mean, we seemed to have quite a handful of titles that, despite being AAA in production values to begin with, were somewhat overlooked in the gears of the hype machine. But once they hit the shelves, they turned out to be excellent games, true sleeper hits.

Or maybe it's simply another indicator of what an embarrassment of riches 2012 was. On a leaner year, some of these would probably have received more hubbub than they did now.

Le Saboteur said:
My two forays into the FPS-genre this year have been decidedly refreshing. If future releases can capture as much personality as Dishonored and Far Cry 3, then I might be inclined to pick up another title or two.
It's a semantical issue, but Dishonored is hardly a FPS. Well, unless you get technical. The best term to describe it would be a First Person Sneaker, something coined up during the heyday of the original Thief games. Between those and the original Deus Ex, the work Warren Spector was doing ten years ago is simply outstanding. It's a minor wonder that no one has been able to fully replicate their gameplay aspects in the more contemporary times, despite having the technological edge.

Le Saboteur said:
Unfortunately, Borderlands 2 doesn't interest me. Bioshock Infinite, on the other hand, shows some promise.
With all the other stuff waiting its turn, it's not very high on my list at the moment either. But I'll get around to it eventually, and urge you to give it a look when everything else has been exhausted. The first one was a delightfully wacky open-world ordeal despite having some bad structuring at places. The reviews I've read indicate that Gearbox has done away with most of the teething problems the IP had, so it should be well worth one's time.

Le Saboteur said:
Heard about this recently, too. Might be worth looking into if Lost Horizon was your thing.
Stop adding stuff to my platter, it's already overloaded as it is. Though I have to say that while I adored the setting of Lost Horizon (which self-respecting Indyfan wouldn't?), I didn't find it to be nothing special in its genre from the design standpoint. Too many puzzles that in no way fit the flow of the story. So FoA or Broken Sword it was not. But I've already given it a piece of my mind, so no need to repeat all that here.

Reminds me, a handful of pure adventure games on the backlog as well, such as The Book of Unwritten Tales and The Testament of Sherlock Holmes. Also, it seems like The Longest Journey is finally coming back, seven years after the abrupt end of Dreamfall. The format will be episodic, in the vein of Telltale. Funny how this form of releasing seems to have blown new breath into many classic adventure IPs. (Just get around to Indy already, dammit.)

For the record, after totally falling in love with the original, I totally loathed Dreamfall. Apart from serious shortcomings in the gameplay department, some story elements also seemed direct contradictions or retoolings from the first outing. Still, this is something to look forward to, regardless.
 
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Ska

New member
Just finished Assassin's Creed II. I was going to jump straight to ACIII, but I've watched a few walkthroughs for Brotherhood (and Revelations), and I really like the locations/setting of the game (esp. Rome). So I think I'll pick up both and play them before tackling ACIII. Plus it looks like I'd miss a lot of story if I skipped those games.
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Ska said:
Just finished Assassin's Creed II. I was going to jump straight to ACIII, but I've watched a few walkthroughs for Brotherhood (and Revelations), and I really like the locations/setting of the game (esp. Rome). So I think I'll pick up both and play them before tackling ACIII. Plus it looks like I'd miss a lot of story if I skipped those games.
Brotherhood is a riot, Assassin's Creed at its best. Story critical as well, just like you predicted.

Revelations is... okay, I guess, but like Ezio himself, some of the step is simply lost here. Also, despite its name, I don't think it actually does a lot to the overall story arc, seems to have more of a function in closing a handful of loose subplots. It's no time wasted by any means, but those eager to jump to the newest part won't be losing too much.
 

Goonie

New member
For Boxing Day yesterday, bought an XBox 360 250GB - my first gaming console since SNES. Yes I typed that right, since my SNES! Not a major gamer, but have been mostly playing PC games.

Came with Forza Motorsport and a download for Skyrim. Also picked up Blazing Angels (used) and Batman Arkham City.

Found my old NES system the other day after moving to Calgary last year. Want to hook it up and play some Duck Hunt!(y)
 

IndyBuff

Well-known member
I finally completed Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on crushing difficulty. Now I have the Platinum trophy for all three games.:hat:
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Going back through my game archives I dug out No One Lives Forever and completed it again.

The graphics are pretty crusty, but the gameplay is great. Like a primitive Splinter Cell, but playing a Felicity Shagwell type in a wacky '60s spy movie. Some of the conversations you overhear, and situations you burst in on, really are funny.

I'd picked it up second hand, and the discs inside the regular box happened to the Game of the Year version - so first time around the extra mission at the end, 'Rest and Relaxation', came as a complete surprise. Even second time round I'd forgotten that bit was there, and it surprised me again!

While digging out NOLF, I also found NOLF2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'S Way. Graphics are a huge improvement over the first one, and the gameplay is better as well.
 

Ska

New member
Finn said:
Brotherhood is a riot, Assassin's Creed at its best. Story critical as well, just like you predicted.

Revelations is... okay, I guess, but like Ezio himself, some of the step is simply lost here. Also, despite its name, I don't think it actually does a lot to the overall story arc, seems to have more of a function in closing a handful of loose subplots. It's no time wasted by any means, but those eager to jump to the newest part won't be losing too much.

Thanks for the advice, Finn. I see Ubisoft released an Ezio Trilogy with AC2, Brotherhood, and Revelations for $39.99. I'm heading to Gamestop today to trade in my copy of AC2 (I'll probably get $0.25 for it) to use towards the trilogy.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
No One Lives Forever 2 was a blast right up until the end. So many humorous incidents, conversations, letters and signs to spot.

The music throughout kept reminding me alternately of Austin Powers, and Kill Bill whenever the ninja girls were around.

The sneaking aspect got me in mind to play the Splinter Cell series again, so now I have the first one of those up and running.
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
NOLF is one of those sublime classics. A refreshingly wacky setting combined with superb gameplay - not an easy thing to pull off.

It's hard to say whether I favor part one or two. I think I prefer the second one's gameplay with most of the kinks ironed out (better graphics are also a plus), but the first has better environments and level design.

So... a wash between 'em, then.


Splinter Cell is a great series up to Chaos Theory, which still feels like the epitome of stealth gaming. From there though, they just had to... do... something to it. *frustrated sigh*

---

I'll make my closing call once I'm done with AC III, but currently it's forming up to be the 2nd best Assassin's Creed game I've played - with the top podium going to Brotherhood.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Finn said:
NOLF is one of those sublime classics. A refreshingly wacky setting combined with superb gameplay - not an easy thing to pull off.

It's hard to say whether I favor part one or two. I think I prefer the second one's gameplay with most of the kinks ironed out (better graphics are also a plus), but the first has better environments and level design.

So... a wash between 'em, then.

There were some annoying 'chapters' in NOLF 2, such as evading the Indian policemen, or where enemies constantly spawned. Siberia was perhaps the best level, and I'd have liked the whole game to be more free-form like that.


Finn said:
Splinter Cell is a great series up to Chaos Theory, which still feels like the epitome of stealth gaming. From there though, they just had to... do... something to it. *frustrated sigh*

I have the original, Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory.

What was the "something" they did?
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Montana Smith said:
What was the "something" they did?
I guess it could be called 'simplification'.

The first three games have various levels of enemy detection, what comes to both sight and sound. You could be only partially hidden, but if you're far enough, the enemies don't spot you.

From Double Agent onwards, all that sophistication is gone. The enemies either see you and/or hear you - or they don't. It doesn't matter whether you're in a completely dark spot or slightly shadowed one, if your threat indicator is green, no one will see you, nor hear you.

Also, whereas in the first three there technically is a way to 'ghost' through every situation, the devs in their great wisdom decided to add bits where a firefight is not only a fair course of action, but mandatory. Given how they've also cranked up Sam's tolerance towards hot lead to make 'em fair, direct action seems more encouraged even in parts where you could technically get by with sneaking.

In other words, they hardly even feel like Splinter Cell anymore. They're not pure stealth, but given that they still had to keep some sneaky aspects in to satisfy the fans of the old, they aren't quite recommendable as pure action games either. Simply average in every department.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Finn said:
I guess it could be called 'simplification'.

The first three games have various levels of enemy detection, what comes to both sight and sound. You could be only partially hidden, but if you're far enough, the enemies don't spot you.

From Double Agent onwards, all that sophistication is gone. The enemies either see you and/or hear you - or they don't. It doesn't matter whether you're in a completely dark spot or slightly shadowed one, if your threat indicator is green, no one will see you, nor hear you.

Also, whereas in the first three there technically is a way to 'ghost' through every situation, the devs in their great wisdom decided to add bits where a firefight is not only a fair course of action, but mandatory. Given how they've also cranked up Sam's tolerance towards hot lead to make 'em fair, direct action seems more encouraged even in parts where you could technically get by with sneaking.

In other words, they hardly even feel like Splinter Cell anymore. They're not pure stealth, but given that they still had to keep some sneaky aspects in to satisfy the fans of the old, they aren't quite recommendable as pure action games either. Simply average in every department.

I see what you mean. That ruins the whole premise of the game.
 

The Drifter

New member
As promised, I am gonna give my review for Far Cry 3. I beat it about a week ago, and done most of the side-things that one can do.

Graphics:
I played this on my PS3, and I know that the PC has better graphics, just thought I'd get that outta the way.
I loved the graphics! The jungle, mountains and beaches feel so alive. I have never seen a world feel so lived in and organic. Even hours into the game, I found myself stopping and looking in awe out across a grand vista or just admiring the beauty of the jungle at dawn.
I did notice some slight jaggies, and I have read other's mention screen-tearing, but I never came across any.

Controls:
Really no complaints here. It plays a lot like every CoD game that's out. The iron-sight, crouching, and jump buttons are mapped the same as those games. I did find the weapon-wheel to be annoying at times; while in the midst of a fire-fight I would open the wheel and the game didn't want to switch to my weapon of choice. Also, lack of going prone was a bummer as it would have helped in the stealth department.

Sound:
There's a real lack of any music during most of the game. But during a few missions some songs play that add so much to what's happening. It helps those parts stand out very much. Sound effects are alright, but nothing really stands out other than the distinct bang of each gun.

Overall
I would consider Far Cry 3 one of the better games that I have played within the past decade. It's miles above Far Cry 2 in every regard. It's so easy to get lost in. The story tapers off for a bit during the second act, but it was better than usual. I give it a 9/10

Now, I may start either Max Payne 3 or Dishonored.
 

Finn

Moderator
Staff member
Finished Assassin's Creed III today. And I guess I'll have to hold on to those impressions I gave earlier... it's a good entry to the series, but not the best one.

In a sense, it was a very jarring experience. For the most part, it was a very polished game that had plenty of style and substance. However, to counter that, there was a handful of really rough patches, as if some beta version elements meant for game testing were simply left in for added content.


It definitely is its own form of art to create a sandbox game. The two most common mistakes while crafting one, I've noticed, are the shortcomings in either gameplay, or content. In the first case, there are things to discover behind every corner, but certain control aspects just leave things to be desired. A prime example is GTA's gunplay. Good enough driving mechanics and Rockstar definitely knows how to fill a sandbox, but the shooty bits are, frankly, just mediocre for most part.

In the second type, the kinks in the gameplay are ironed out, but the world lacks things to do. Or there are technically a lots of things to do, but they get repetitive real fast, all being simple variations of a small handful of side missions.


In a sense, AC III is a mild case of type 2. I did enjoy the gameplay and the story missions offered some wildly differing scenarios and things to do. But, for a game that's supposed to be a sandbox... it actually wasn't a very good sandbox, to be honest.

In fact, I don't recall too many times when the game even encouraged me to just go and roam the world. Not without breaking the flow of the story, at least. Whenever a main mission (or memory) was finished, the game automatically played a cutscene that essentially ushered the player along to the next - even more annoying if accompanied with a lengthy time skip in the story. It almost felt deliberate, as if the devs themselves knew that there would be obvious flaws if one looked too closely and tried to draw the player's attention (or possibly that of a reviewer with a deadline to meet) to the things that did hold water.

So yeah. In the end, you can pretty much tell that this was a game which had a strict target date, given how a major plot point revolved around the whole "21st December" thing (though I guess making it for the Holiday sales may have played a part as well).

Still, a few more months in development might have made it some good, even if it would have meant missing that certain date. I wonder why they were so hell bent on making it anyway, given how the game should definitely carry an average player far beyond said date, especially if one is to look into everything it has to offer. I know I did. So I guess in this case, the creed took a hit or two... from greed. *Puts on sunglasses, waits for The Who to start playing.*

---

Up next, I think I'll be looking into Sleeping Dogs. Not sick of the sandboxes yet. Also, it should provide nice contrast to the game I just finished - fresh comparison between the bits each got right and wrong.


(As a secondary talking point, one might also ponder has gaming taken too many steps from fun to serious business, if every goddarn piece typed into this thread turns into an academic dissertation.)
 
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