Games: Rate and Discuss

[kupocake]

Psychonauts - 8/10
My shelf (and now, my Steam account) is full of unplayed greats, and a few lesser titles. This has definitely been my favourite 'rediscovery' since I polished off the entire Thief series. Amazon tells me I purchased Psychonauts back in late 2007, my saved games archive tells me I abandoned play on the game back in March 2009. Going back to it, I'm wondering what on earth made me put it down. I'm thinking it was probably my dissertations, which is probably one of the few potential justifications for putting it down really.

That's a pretty positive opening, so, why only an 8 of 10? Well, firstly the fact that dissertations or no, I've had two years to be drawn back into the game and I've been completely unemployed for half of that. Fact is Psychonauts just lacks some kind of raw magnetism that even lesser games manage. That's not really a controversial point considering its 'well known obscurity' status... perhaps it's because even for all its fantastic mindscapes, a game about 'psychic cadets' isn't actually that unusual. I like the characters, but I don't quite adore them. It makes me laugh out loud, but is that really an achievement if it only happens twice a level? Psychonauts drips pure intelligence and technical ingenuity from practically every element, but it still leaves me feeling a little bit below completely fulfilled for some reason.

I've heard the platforming criticised, and my memory of it was pretty much indifferent. In the last two years, I've played a few 3D platformers and got myself a joypad and frankly, I think the game controls almost perfectly (ok, so it's not Super Mario Galaxy but it's perfectly fine). It's customary at this point to moan about the camera, but I must have fudged all of two jumps because of it. The boss battles are the real problem... I appreciate they were trying to salvage some of the puzzle solving aspects of the game, but only ever having three of your many powers on tap just makes these encounters an endless game of controller reconfiguration. There's never any sense that you can beat the boss with your first life. You use the first life for the puzzle, the rest for the boss itself. True, the game will just come out and tell you if you wait too long, but that just completely undermines the encounter.

Psychonauts is what I'd call an 'evergreen eight'. Decades from now, I'd probably thoroughly enjoy the game and slap it with the same score. It's a game with flaws (and the vaguest sense of 'meh' I can't quite define adequately) that are never going to go away, but the rest of the game is so fundamentally solid that it's never going to be worthy of any less praise (whereas games I fall head over heels in love with - the nines and tens - could be worth much less a few years down the line simply because a feature, storyline or piece of technical expertise becomes vastly devalued over time).

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Dragon Age 2: 8.5/10

It was a decent game overall. In terms of story the first one was much better. It would have been nice if dragons were of actual importance in this sequel seeing how it's part of the freaking title. I definitely thought the combat was improved (at least to my liking). More romance options would've been nice instead of just 2 girls and like every freakin guy. But at least it seems like they're preparing for something bigger come DA3 for the story, finally mentioning Cousland/Hero of Fereldan at the end. And although it appears to have been mostly for fun, it was nice to see old character cameos.

 

[morgs]

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare - Amazing/10

I bought the Undead Nightmare Collection a couple of days ago, which includes UN and Liars and Cheats as well as Legends and killers in one pack. Undead nightmare is very fun. The storyline appears to have the same polish as the original game story, with all the voice actors included. The cut scenes are often hilarious (I should note that this game has a very comical aspect, it's not all doom and gloom like the RDR story line.) as well as random dialogue heard throughout the game.

The DLC adds a few changes in the way of game play. For one, there is a new weapon, the torch. Handy for setting people and zombies on fire alike, as well as lighting up areas at night. There are also added mounts, The four horses of the apocalypse, all with different features (Though I haven't found any of these yet). The game also contains other mythical creatures, such as the Chupacapra, Bigfoot, and a Unicorn. There are also undead horses, which are very fast but a bit tricky to control.

The coolest part about the game for me is the zombies themselves. They wander around aimlessly until you get near, when they will run at you. Once you save a town from zombies, it's only a matter of time before they begin to take it over again, and you must clear them out before you can restock ammo/sleep there again. That's another thing, there are no shops so ammo needs to be used sparingly. Zombie transformations are in real time too, so if someone is killed by a zombie it wont be long before they're back on their feet and hungering for flesh.

I'm having a lot of fun with it so far, if you enjoyed RDR it's highly likely you'll enjoy this too.

Oh and LaC is also great fun, I haven't played online a hell of a lot though, jsut a few gang shootout matches, the odd coop mission and some poker.

 

[MJ12]

Thief: Deadly Shadows Wut/10

What the **** is with the respawning in this game? Currently playing this, on the fourth level or something. Everything seems fun and good and fine, until I get to the 3rd level, and enemies respawn at absurd rates. (Literally, I took out the same NPC clone 3 times within a 20 second time spawn. Every time I would knock him out, a duplicate of him would come right around the corner, until I had a pile of bodies in a corner) It's almost unplayable because of this, respawning enemies (especially at that rate) in a stealth game is incredibly immersion breaking and stupid. I can't imagine a worse type of game to have respawns.

 

[taviow]

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - 7/10
Hmm. I just played through to the end of the game having failed to turn a character back onto my side, and I really couldn't give a shit. I'm taking that as a bad sign.

The story as a whole is kind of intriguing, the mid-game twist not necessarily pre-readable, but... the whole thing is just not delivered in an interesting way. Everyone in the game rattles on at you, which is kind of amusing considering that they attempt a 'rambling old man' character who talks as much as every other bloody character in the game. With random excursions to familiar planets and other trappings of fanservice, it's a shrine to all things Star Wars and plays a lot like an interactive encyclopaedia to the extended universe of the films. I'm sure that works for some people, and yeah, on some level I feel like I had fun with that stuff. But seriously: 'Oohho! This Tatooine place is never going to last? Is It? I mean, Is it? Ohhoho, these crazy guys!'. Ugh.

Some of the lore is actually pretty restrictive: this is easily the worst alignment system I've seen in a game. Endless one-arm bandit like interventions in the early game build your gauge up for no real reason. Making it a tug of war between dark and light just makes you choose between irritating prissiness and goatee-bearded evil wizardry, leaving you to build up a voiceless character with nothing interesting going for them. I'm not sure whether this is a consequence of good ol' Lucas' prequel series, but the Sith's motivations make even less sense than they've ever done. The blink and you'll miss it salvations and falls of characters in the game are almost set up to be something profound, as opposed to being the exercise in 'a wizard did it' banality that they are.

Frankly, the whole thing makes me appreciate the character aspect of role-playing in Mass Effect a whole lot more though, difficulty aside, KOTOR is still better in the menus and dice rolling sense of 'Role Playing'. Of course, I now know that the recycled most of this game to make the first instalment of Mass Effect, which just melts my mind, considering how lazy I thought that game already was.

So from all I've just wrote, there's a review in there of a five or six out of ten game. I don't know. I guess I just feel that any game you willingly spend 50 hours of your life on must have been fun at some point. Dear god I hope that's the case.

Edit: So uhh, yeah. Take that, game of eight years ago.

At least you can play KOTOR 2 now. Remember that a content restoration mod was released for it (because it suffered from a lot of cut content).

 

[brad92]

F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin - 7/10

F.E.A.R 2 has an interesting twist on things. I've become accustomed to some solid games having rather shit narratives over the years, but Project Origin seems to succeed in managing the opposite. It's not a particularly special FPS; the shooting is mundane, and it reeks of consolization. It's combat (which essentially constitutes 90 percent of the gameplay) is simply another CoD spawn. But it's narrative is masterfully delivered. I'd argue it's not terribly original (the first game, though quite scary in it's own right, wasn't particularly engaging), but I've come to appreciate the level of depth it manages to achieve. In terms of narrative, I think Project Origin is up there with the very best the FPS genre has produced. It's deeply thematic, and it employs a lot of symbolism really well. Overall, it's just really well told.

 

[Barnz]

hahaha

 

[jimbo118]

Thief: Deadly Shadows Wut/10

What the **** is with the respawning in this game? Currently playing this, on the fourth level or something. Everything seems fun and good and fine, until I get to the 3rd level, and enemies respawn at absurd rates. (Literally, I took out the same NPC clone 3 times within a 20 second time spawn. Every time I would knock him out, a duplicate of him would come right around the corner, until I had a pile of bodies in a corner) It's almost unplayable because of this, respawning enemies (especially at that rate) in a stealth game is incredibly immersion breaking and stupid. I can't imagine a worse type of game to have respawns.

woah wut, that never happened in my game and I've played through TDS alot. Guards never respawned at all. If you knocked some out/killed someone there bodies would remain where you left them and no-one would replace them or respawn.

Sounds like a bug tbh, what mission is it?

 

[MJ12]

woah wut, that never happened in my game and I've played through TDS alot. Guards never respawned at all. If you knocked some out/killed someone there bodies would remain where you left them and no-one would replace them or respawn.

Sounds like a bug tbh, what mission is it?

It's those early city missions, where you do a lot of wandering through the streets (When you meet Heartless Perry and Big Bertha or whatever) I wonder if there is a patch or something I should install.

 

[morgs]

Just got off a 5 hour session of Penumbra: Overture, at the frozen lake at the moment.

I'm not completely sure if I'm a fan of this game or not, I love the puzzles/adventure/story side of things, but running into those dogs in every area and having to dodge them is just annoying to me, maybe it's because I'm on hard but I'd rather they weren't there. When it comes to taking care of them the steam traps are hardly effective because you can't close them in in time, and it's near impossible to melee them. I think the game has enough without having to dodge these things in every predictable new area. It was the same with Amnesia for me, it's all good and well have the odd enemy to dodge, but when it's the same thing over and over it just gets tiresome.

Still having fun though, hope it doesn't have a shitty "You're never getting out and you'll never find out what happened to the protagonist" ending.

 

[Deleted member 56031]

Homefront:

OK take any average military fps from nowadays. You know what to expect right? Short, scripted set pieces and little replayability with most focus clearly put on the MP side. Nevertheless at times these one note campaigns can be fun......then there's homefront.
Take a below average, derivative and fundamentally broken military game wrap it in a cool premise to do nothing with, surround it in hype. Release to unwashed masses and...hey presto instant success. Inf act its the most successful game so far of 2011 and also my worst -_-

Its 4 hours long and the only decent level is the last one with one of those abrupt sequel tease endings (kz3's ending was still MUCH worse mind).
Everything about the gameplay just feels off:
you move too slowly
weapons lack punch
aiming feels off
AI with god-like acuracy while you have quite little health leading to easy frustration in parts
a host of technical issues most significant to me was the heli sequence protecting the tankers on the bridge.....the bridge wasn't there. Everyone just floated above the water below :dozey:

The game does have a good multiplayer...when you get a match, I hardly could. Most of the time my ps3 would just hard freeze on the lobby screen.

Absolutely avoid this game unless its cheap and if the multipalyer at some point isn't a completely broken mess.

Crysis 2:

Ok, it is consolised in terms of the scale down of the map design but tbh that's about the extent of the 'dumbing down'.
It still looks like crysis, has a terrible story like crysis and still plays like crysis. At least it doesn't have repeated waves of braindead AI rush at you past every set piece. The enemies in this game at least are smart (not as good as the original crysis but a step beyond any CoD clone)...when they don't glitch out anyway =s

The one thing I will say is i felt like cheating by using cloak. I just manage to walk past most enemies no problem with it. The last level was done almost purely with the cloak and I only killed the last 4 enemies I was forced to kill.
Still its a pretty good action game and it did surprise me given my expectations tbh

PS: MP sucks -_-

Demon's Souls:

Ok, it's hard, very hard and I just don't think I have the will to go through with it. I am aware alot of people say eventually demon's souls just clicks with them but i just can't be bothered grinding deaths for many potential hours over and over on the starting levels just for the game to eventually maybe click.

 

[Warped]

Crysis 2 9/10

I loved this game. For the first time I could play a Crysis game that didn't glitch or freeze, yes the A.I. was better but still glitched in spots but the game was really fun and in some parts really challenging if you didn't use cloak. The last level was a breeze yes, but the graphics were nice (even on the 360) and although the story was cliche the details and amount of action in the game was on par with any other good FPS. One thing I would have loved was more flanking options, since the maps felt tight compared to the original games, and less one man army shit. I liked the fact that I'm super strong but in the original Crysis I remember more support from the Army and other people. anyway great game nontheless

 

[kineaesth]

Mirror's Edge - 7/10

A lot of what I think about this game has almost certainly already been said. One of the first things I noticed with it was that I actually wanted to finish it, a bizarre occurrence which hasn't happened since Portal. Usually games take me months to finish, playing maybe an hour at a time every few weeks, and I finished ME within a week. Watching the game being played is where this game is most compelling - a completely fresh visual design, and very unique gameplay (and a pretty interesting soundtrack). However, as I'm sure this forum has discussed countless times, the plot is empty enough to be completely ignore-able, the characters mean nothing, and yeah, the cutscenes are kind of embarrassing. That said, it's a game I would certainly play more of, and a game that was actually compelling enough to keep me playing.

Bioshock - 4/10

Finishing this game left a sour taste in my mouth. It wasn't just that as the game progressed there was an awful case of power creep and all the enemies are way tougher, or that by the end of the game you're simply spamming plasmids and grenades at everything that moves because ammo and eve are so easy to come by, or how when you die at the last second in a fight with a Big Daddy you have to run around the entire map fighting respawning enemies until you find another Big Daddy/Little Sister combo, or the outrageously camp and stylistically incoherent boss battle. It was the ridiculous illusion of morality and choice the game offers you. By about the third Little Sister you rescue, you've almost entirely forgotten about the possibility of harvesting them - there's never a voice in your ear imploring you to take what you want and harvest, you just start rescuing because that's just the routine. And this same mind-numbing routine was everywhere - Big Daddy fights, hacking machines, accidentally setting off alarms, right click for plasmids, electro shock, press three for machine gun, quick spray to the face, press one for wrench, swing until they're dead. Throughout the game you're 'offered' all these choices - Fontaine tells you not to trust Tenenbaum, and yet you can't do anything about it. You're forced to kill Ryan (in a cut-scene, no less), you're forced to run around after Atlas. As a result, harvesting or rescuing the Little Sisters is the only real choice in the game, but even that just becomes endlessly frustrating, a chore and a task rather than something positive or motivating.

The game, four years old now, certainly looks nice, if somewhat murky and bloomy. The concept of Rapture itself, the warring factions, the splicers, the environments, are all fantastic. But the game is so strongly tainted by this feeling of forced linearity with the illusion of choice, and the unfocused, repetitive gameplay that towards the end, you're not really sure if you're having fun, and you're not really sure if you give a shit about where the plot is going after it's third ending. You just want it to be over.

 

[stemot]

Crysis 2 - 7/10

Playing through this I enjoyed most of it. I say most due to the couple of levels I hate such as Unsafe Haven (the battle to stop mortar fire on central station) or any of the boring and drawn out Pinger attacks. For the most part the AI was competent but I also had occasions where they would become confused and run around in a circle or be able to tell a comrade was dead by bending down and touching the floor two stories away from where the body was. On the other hand the Alien AI was much more consistent in terms of being able to actually go in a straight line. The level design is a big change from the original and it's obvious why this change occurred. What that does mean is that there is actually less time and space to actually plan a decent strategy of attack. Unlike the first game where I can stand on top of a hill far from the intended town and pick out patrol spots etc I now only have a few feet. The combat feels good but what irks me is that if you decide to go full on firefight (and at times you will have to) the game punishes you by spawning more soldiers around the corner, which happens to much to actually make a planned battle enjoyable when tagging the bad guys made no difference because the game has decided to spawn more behind you (dead man walking is extremely guilty of this).
The graphics are good on the PC, better than the console but not a patch on the original game that came out 4 years ago. While this means I can run it at a good framerate maxed out it also pisses me off a bit that they clearly omitted good textures and other effects simply to fit the game on a console. Still, it is the best looking game on PC since the original.
The story, while more substantial than the original explains absolutely **** all of the cliffhanger ending of the original. They seem to have ditched the characters without any explanation with only Prophet making a return.
The game is a well structured but very linear and after the original was a very open game and that was the main draw it seems strange to me that Crytek have gone backward in every aspect of the sequel from level design to gameplay features and graphics.

Decent game but disappointing sequel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ldorQfbCk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0wSvsL0mKw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7iZ8aIfD3Q

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood PC - 8/10

First thing, Ubi have dropped the internet connection bullshit DRM for this game. It can be played in offline mode with special bonuses if you play online. I think that is a fair DRM solution.
The game is a continuation straight from where AC2 left off with you once again going back into Desmonds past and living the memories of Ezio. This game is all about the Assassins regaining their power over the corrupt Borgia family after living in the shadows for many years. There are some new gameplay additions such as a Batman AA style takedown system in the combat that, while looking good, makes combat even easier than before. There are new ranged weapons such as the crossbow that makes dealing with rooftop guards so much easier and Ezio is now able to throw two handed weapons at enemies for instant kills. The game seems better optimised than AC2 though I have heard mouse control still suffers which is why I used a 360 pad. It was slightly dissapointing that we only get one major city to play around in, though you can jump out of the animus at any time and explore the assassins town of Monteriggioni in present time.
The story was a decent continuation of AC2 with a final outcome for Ezio in his battle against the Borgias though the game has clearly been set up for the sequel with regards to Desmonds story.
Great game and can't wait for the sequel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqCOXx64fK4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm_ROTjKCjE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjHdx7AOaDc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kV4dDwEqLL0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSPEAW2xCHQ

 

[Deleted member 56031]

But the game is so strongly tainted by this feeling of forced linearity with the illusion of choice,

I am not disagreeing with your points but that is kind of why I liked bioshock's story so much. When you see just how hopeless your choices are with the

Spoiler

would you kindly? revelation

you realise you the gamer have been played and there never was a choice for you. I always thought it was really clever

 

[morgs]

Star Wars - The Force Unleashed - 4/10

Ugh, where will I start on this. I was enjoying the game for the first few levels, but now it's just such a chore to play. I'm currently on the death star level and really can't be bothered pushing on. Each level becomes the exact same thing; masses of enemies coming from all sides in a large area, clear move on to exact same thing in the next room. It's pretty much the same experience on every level, especially the planets you have to back track to (Seriously, the number of different locales in this universe and we're backtracking?). The game boasts about how much fun you can have with force powers, but this gets old very quickly. The characters and story have some very cringe-worthy moments, and the character models and animations are a prime examples of the uncanny valley.

Don't get me wrong there are things I like about the game, some of the locations are great, the soundtrack (of course) and some of the boss fights are pretty cool, but overall I'm glad I got it for $7.50 because I would've been ripped if I'd bought it at full price.

Penumbra: Black Plague - 8/10

Great game. Unlike Overture, they've removed the combat aspect altogether, meaning no frustrating run-ins with demon dogs (Which are also absent from the game). The story picks up right where it left off in overture, and it doesn't take long before the scares start. There are probably more moments that have you running for cover in this game than the prequel. The puzzles aren't 'out there' and are easy enough to solve with a bit of common sense. I'm looking forward to playing Requiem.

 

[Drackard]

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare - 8/10

Felt a little lacking towards the end and was much of the same throughout, but still ... Zombies + Cowboys ... it's almost an instant win for me. Putting aside the lack of variety etc, it was still quite fun.

Dante's Inferno - 8/10

Never has a game frustrated me so much. I would place it high up in my list of "Wow this game's ridiculously f******* hard" list. The difference in difficulty scales immensely, so much so that I actually had to turn it down a notch for the final boss fight (see; http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?176707-Dante-s-Inferno). The story could have been presented better, but I can't really say a bad word about the combat or stat system, both worked very well together.

Overall I guess this is a love/hate game. It does help if you're into this particular genre though.

 

[morgs]

Penumbra: Requiem - 5/10

Wow, what a let down. After the experience of Overture and Black Plague, this left plenty to be desired. It's basically just different puzzle rooms separated by portals, pretty much just like portal. No enemies, no scary atmosphere, very confusing plot development.

 

[Dynasty]

Crysis 2 9/10

I loved this game. For the first time I could play a Crysis game that didn't glitch or freeze, yes the A.I. was better but still glitched in spots but the game was really fun and in some parts really challenging if you didn't use cloak. The last level was a breeze yes, but the graphics were nice (even on the 360) and although the story was cliche the details and amount of action in the game was on par with any other good FPS. One thing I would have loved was more flanking options, since the maps felt tight compared to the original games, and less one man army shit. I liked the fact that I'm super strong but in the original Crysis I remember more support from the Army and other people. anyway great game nontheless

Agreed to an extent. It certainly falls somewhere between CoD and Crysis. Better than CoD, but the AI in Crysis was better, however, I felt the Aliens were retarded compared to the CELL soldiers...other than the soldiers seemed to have eagle-eye vision and could spot you if you so much as stuck your little finger out, and at the Super-Soldier difficulty might as well be shooting lasers at you they're so accurate.

And you do get to fight with squads, but like Rambo, you dont really need them anyway.

I thought the maps/rooms were adequate and never really felt like I couldnt get around the flanks etc. Any bigger and it would be a bit overwhelming. Plus, it's based entirely in New York, so it's going to be enclosed, there's only so much you can do.

However I'm convinced they used New York because it kept the scaling down so the consoles could cope. Interesting to see what they do in Crysis 3.

And the MP isnt actually that bad. They patched it recently which has made a huge difference with reduced lag, better hit-detection and finally the killcam works properly. It's a CoD clone of sorts, like any other fps these days, but the suit does change the way you play and the suit upgrades can really make a difference.
It's enjoyable, but nothing new.

Then again, it's almost impossible to make something new these days as people will complain it's not enough like CoD. And when it is like CoD we complain it's too much like CoD. We're so stupid.

 

[Warped]

Transformers: War for Cybertron 7.5/10

Game was solid, fun, vibrant, but at times frustrating as all hell and repetitive. If your a big fan of the series I say do yourself some justice and play this game whether you rent it or buy it cheap (think its like around $20 used now). controls were easy to learn, ammo and health crates were scattered about, and there was plenty to shoot at. but I had to play this game in chunks, I couldn't play it one sitting if I wanted too. The teammate A.I. was laughable, the enemies felt sometimes lifeless but other than that the locales and set pieces were amazing. best feeling was hearing all the old familiar voices and sound effects, it brought me back to a time in my life where i didn't have a care in the world!

 

[ríomhaire]

Portal 2
If you haven't played it yet, go buy it. Now.

If you have:

Spoiler

Finished the singleplayer and god that was worth the money. Fantastic. It was brilliant. I'll start off with the story I guess. This game is hilarious. Absolutely fantastically writing and delivery. They could not have gotten better actors in. Also somewhat darker than the original. I was expecting Cave to show up as an AI but hearing him becoming bitter and eventually him dying was just upsetting. I'm not sure if those parts were supposed to be dark comedy or just tragedy. I guess they're the same sometimes. GLaDOS getting ripped out of the system seemed to be done as traumatizingly as they could though Wheatly's sudden insanity wasn't too surprising afterwards.

GLaDOS being made into a potato quickly took all the seriousness out of the situation though. That was just amazing. Speaking of potatoes, I was expecting that giant potato you see with Wheatly was going to come back later in the plot, pretty surprised it didn't. Scrapped idea perhaps? Also a pretty damn novel way to end the boss fight. Also proves the portal gun is pretty damn awesome. Screw the nay-sayers who thought it was impractical and not actually useful in practice!

I really don't get the choir of turrets though. I was just sort of staring at them. It was cute I guess, but to be honest I was focusing more on the box-robot in the background. Those things are so unbelievably cute and sad. I just wanted to hug and comfort them every time I saw one. They were so scared every time you picked them up. I found myself wondering whether they liked being left on the buttons or not and whether I should take them off when I was leaving the test chambers. I wanted one of those at the end much more than I wanted the scorched companion cube (no offence to the companion cube I'm sure it was thinking about me while I was frozen and really cares about me but I just don't feel the same way about it, how do you break that to an inanimate box?).

The game is just filled with fantastic touches. Doug's drawing hidden away. The chambers becoming better and better as GLaDOS repairs the building, Wheatly complete ****ing up of the building in way completely distinguishable from the natural decay from the start and also seeing the 50s and 70s test facilities. On that note seems like the ApertureScience.com history is partially true and partially false. Cave did make his cash selling shower curtains, but he was still alive when they made the Portal technology and didn't go insane and die from mercury poisoning (unless the moon is made of poison and I just realised that they said the white paint was made from moon dust which is why you can portal straight to the moon at the end that's really clever).


As for gameplay. Well it was just great. It's Portal but with more stuff! Loved the white paint. So glad that I didn't know anything about that before I played. Can't wait to see what community mappers do with that. Thought that does lead to the big problem: There are no challenge rooms. Where are the really really hard puzzles? I know they're planning on updates including community maps straight into the game so there will be more challenges in the future, but it'd be nice to have had one or two to dive into after finishing the story. Patience I guess.

Also pretty odd that they didn't include the vents that were advertised. They were probably the least interesting thing in the previews though. It sucks things which makes for some pretty funny moments with sucking up turrets I guess but it doesn't really lead to as interesting puzzles as the excursion funnel does it? Not much of a loss.

Also something I would have liked (but I read that it was not used because it gave playtesters motion sickness) is the sticky paint from Tag. If you've not played Tag (a student project that Valve hired the makers of where the paint mechanics come from) it's paint that allows you to stick to and walk along any surface vertically or even upside-down. Hopefully it's still in the code for community mappers to use. It was my favourite part of Tag.


I must also complement the optimization. I never would have though that the game would run so well on my laptop. It has integrated graphics, is three years old and is half broken and yet I had a decent framerate 90% of the time. I only had problems in the really massive levels. Also thank you Steamcloud. Played the first twenty minutes in an internet café computer (because I didn't think it would run properly on my own PC, which it did) and later installed it on my own laptop and just opened the game up and pressed continue and I was exactly where I'd left it in the café. Brilliant.

The jazzed up loading times were kind of nice too. Not just the [loading] from older Source games nor the same four images repeated ad nausium with some hints at the bottom of the screen like most games. They were almost as nice to look at as the menu backgrounds (few games make me stare at the main menu for so long except the Half-Life universe ones) though it's probably slightly more immersion breaking than the old ones. At least in other Valve games you can see you haven't moved during the loading. Fading in and out makes the levels seem more separate and arbitrary. Especially with so many elevator rides, but not I'm just nit picking. The fact that this has been my longest complaint shows you how little is wrong with this game.


Cannot wait to play co-op with the ball-and-chain and to see what maps we get in the future from Valve and the community.

 

[Warped]

Mortal Kombat 9/10

Played a quick playthrough of the Ladder Kombat and knew instantly that this was going to be a great MK game. Now in the other thread I mentioned I suck at fighting games, that is still true. But I have yet to play the multiplayer in here. Regardless the Kombat is flawless, the moves list is impressive. Blocks, breakers and Combos are fluid and amazing. The graphics are top notch and almost jaw dropping (haven't played a fighting game since Soul Calibur 4) but this is really impressive, check it out theres so many damn modes plus the game doesn't need to be updated, they do the patching on the fly to fix little issues which is nice

edit: I was talking with a friend who got the game for his birthday, he said he was almost late for work because he played the game with his little brother on and off for about 12 hrs so that just goes to show how addicting and highly polished this game is

 

[PorkPi]

Ok many games being played right now, what with Portal 2 and the potato sack out so here goes:

Pokemon Crystal: I didn't grow up with the Pokemon games, but I'm now playing crystal (already played red and yellow) online. I like running through the gyms and I'm pretty attached to my team of monsters. Solid gameplay, but kinda slow. Exactly what I would expect from a Pokemon game and there's enough new features to make it a different experience than the other two. I'll give it 8/10

Audiosurf: One of the Potato Sack games I've installed and played. Preeeety cool. I really like riding on my music and have gotten some pretty good tracks from Maynard Fergusson and Arturo Sandoval. It's not really a game that I can waste hours on, but it's nice and casual and I can always play one or two songs when I'm bored and quit any time. 8/10

The Wonderful End of the World: I haven't played Katamari, but I kinda wish I did instead of this. Another Potato Sack game. Again, very casual but also REALLY LAME compared to Audisurf. Very little content, choppy controls, same props in every level. Big, fat 4/10

Super Meat Boy: Very cool. I was prepared for an extremely hard platformer and that's what it is. Thankfully the levels are very short and you respawn very quickly, so I usually move on before I get pissed off. Plus you can always skip a level that's a real problem and come back to it later. Haven't finished or played any "dark world" levels and I'm sure there will be much more frustration as I move on. Very fast, very satisfying, 7.5/10

Killing Floor: I haven't played very much and I really need to level up my perks. Some issues with joining a server on wave 8 with only a pistol. I think some solo play will help my perk issue, but I'd rather play with a team. Aside from that, the action is pretty good and it's nice n' challenging. Can't really say yet how much I like it but for now 6/10

Mass Effect: Not in the Potato Sack. In the middle of my second playthrough, this time as a sentinel (which is awesome). The combat's pretty decent, but what I like most is the dialogue. I especially enjoy when it gets away from the black & white good v. evil options and the lines blur a bit between which option you want to choose. Plus, I'm able to choose dialogue options that don't make my Shepard a guardian of the light or harbinger of doom. Pretty solid, but the main campaign is really short and the side quests on other planets are usually boooooring. strong 8/10 (I'm grading mostly high because I try not to play games I won't like)

Last but not least (no spoilers)
Portal 2: Wow. This was great. Great gameplay, great dialogue. Very funny, very clever. Co-op was very fun and I was thoroughly entertained. I can't think of any real criticism for this game except that I would like more of it! Some challenge chambers like the first game would be welcome, but I got plenty of difficult puzzles in co-op. I just need to wait for more stuff to come out, I guess. I don't think I've liked the ending to any game more than this one. Fantastic work, Valve. 10/10

 

[Gargantou]

PorkPi, you play too many games in too short a period of time, it can't be healthy for you! Just kidding, in reality I wish I was as effective with my gaming time as you seem to be.

Anyway.

Demon's Souls: I've only gotten past the armor spider, spent 12 hours total in the game, lots of grinding etc. Honestly, it's a good game, but I currently don't have the patience or motivation to get through it so putting this on hold for now. Perhaps it is dumb to rate it when I haven't beaten it but I'd give it 8/10.

My first rating ever in this thread I think, don't bother with it generally but I had to say something about my feeling about Demon's Souls somewhere.

 

[PorkPi]

PorkPi, you play too many games in too short a period of time, it can't be healthy for you! Just kidding, in reality I wish I was as effective with my gaming time as you seem to be.

Well Mass Effect I'm not actively playing right now and a lot of those other games are games I can easily switch on and off and between depending on mood. Also, I'm in highschool so I've got time more or less.

 

[Gargantou]

Well Mass Effect I'm not actively playing right now and a lot of those other games are games I can easily switch on and off and between depending on mood. Also, I'm in highschool so I've got time more or less.

And I'm unemployed, so I probably got more freetime than you do. But I guess that's the problem, since when you can play 24/7 it eventually starts feeling pointless.

 

[MJ12]

Playing Dark Void right now, it was five bucks at a store. Pretty much hating it.

 

[GreatEmperor]

Golden Sun Dark Dawn is what Im playing. Seriously, do Jap developers think this emoticon system with NO alteration of the story no matter what you choose is putting them on par with the branching stories of the US?

Portal 2 8/10- Not much I want to dwell on but they really need to explore a different price point, not 60 and not 20, it is not comfortable at full price, it is more of a rental then

Fallout New Vegas 7/10- The bugs are too much, the game crashes so damn frequently Im stuck hitting quicksave every time my character scratches their arm. Good plot and this game has what 3 did not, a sense of emptiness and sparsity. Not as much as I would have liked because this area has been picked over by looters for 2 hundred years so I doubt there would be food on shelves or cigarettes. Also I HATE flourishes, I dont know why developers insist on having them, me seeing a geckos head explode in slow motion while another bites at me is just stupid, its one of the primary reasons I dont use VATS, its full of them. This is also a problem in Dawn of War 2. I was always trying to get my characters to move but there would be a delay as my dumbass character would go into some stupid move where he ripped of their head or something and would get nailed by a bomb thrown with plenty of warning. Of course I couldnt see what was happening because I was at maximum zoom out, you dumb **** devs

 

[Gargantou]

Just beat Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 on the XB360.

It's a fun little hack'n'slash super-hero 'RPG', I'd give it 7/10.

 

[Yorick]

Just beat Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 on the XB360.

It's a fun little hack'n'slash super-hero 'RPG', I'd give it 7/10.

I hope you played it with friends. Figuring out the "combination" powers is the coolest thing about that game.

 

[Gargantou]

I hope you played it with friends. Figuring out the "combination" powers is the coolest thing about that game.

I have not, none of my IRL friends are really into gaming, and I've been unable to find an XBL buddy willing to play it with me.

 

[Warbie]

Shadow Wars (3DS) 8/10 - Surprisingly good turn based shooter. If you like games like Jagged Alliance, Advance Wars, Valkyria Chronicles etc the chances are you'll like this. The best 3DS launch game and my favourite use of 3D on the system.

Monkey Ball (3DS) 5/10 - Way too short and way too easy. The racing and fighting modes are decent enough but don't make up for how far the main game has fallen.

Pilot Wings (3DS) 7/10 - Too short and plays things a little too safe. What we do get is classic Pilot Wings - chilled, graceful, and oddly compulsive - it's just a shame there's not much of it.

Ridge Racer (3DS) 7/10 - A best of compilation of Ridge Racer tracks - depending on what that means to you it'll either be a decent racer or the best thing ever.

SF4 (3DS) 8/10 - It's SF4, just not quite as good as the home console versions and missing an arcade stick.

Bring on Zelda

 

[Stigmata]

Portal 2: 9.8/10

Everything I want to say has already been said better and more succinctly, except for this: The ending song was

Spoiler

completely terrible and almost makes me hate "Still Alive" by simple transference

 

[Krynn72]

Yeah, I didn't particularly like it either.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

The song by The National, Exile Verify, playing on the radio in the beginning is the goodie in P2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59oSNeRvZUI&feature=player_embedded

 

[Gargantou]

Finished Mafia 2 on the X-Box 360 yesterday.

I thoroughly enjoyed the game and would definitely give it 8/10.

 

[Barnz]

mafia 2 is a mediocre game compared to original. everything you need to see is in the demo for free.

Spoiler

tommy's death scene is cheap, and terrible.

 

[Gargantou]

mafia 2 is a mediocre game compared to original. everything you need to see is in the demo for free.

Spoiler

tommy's death scene is cheap, and terrible.

To each man his own eh, I really enjoyed both games.

Mafia 1 definitely had a superior story though and I bonded more with the Tommy than I did with Vito.

I also felt that Mafia 2 was a bit too easy, I played it through on the highest setting, only ever died once. I died a lot more than once when playing through Mafia 1.

Still, I stand by my 8/10 score. Though I probably might not have been as satisfied with it if I had bought it brand new, now I got it for 15 euro as a new copy.

 

[stemot]

mafia 2 is a mediocre game compared to original.

Hate this line of thinking. Mafia 1 was full of the tedious driving bullshit that everyone lays at Mafia 2's door yet people hail the original as the yard stick. I also got more invested in the story of the sequel than I did of the original but that's my personal preference.

 

[Warped]

Mortal Kombat (Story Mode) 8.5/10

One of the best fighting story modes I ever played. a little cheap when fighting Shao Kahn but still pretty damn funny and exciting. If you like MK, at least do yourself some justice and rent this game, its a blast to play, and I'll give online a whirl some other night coming soon. OVerall I'm very happy with my purchase