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So I bought this last night - probably last VG purchase for a while.
It's pretty damn good. I sincerely love the Infected. Co-Op tactics are really forced on you, or you might as well give up and die.
I have one request - if you're not gonna use a mic, don't play. Thanks!
I am so sick of the OFLC in Australia. They neutered Fallout 3.
Is there anything being done to fight this classifcation crap? I would really like to know more about why the hell we're so damn well restricted.
TOM HALP.
http://marveltcgonline.com/web/home
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/magiconline
How about it?
ONE OF THEM OR YOU GET YU-GI-OH OR I PLAY WOW.
Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC4NyO1gUqU&feature=related <-- Good. I know how to play Magic now.
I think I'll pass on it, myself.
http://www.metafilter.com/70365/The-Myth-of-the-Media-Myth-Games-and-NonGamers#2063862
Just as I post my I'm-fond-of-remakes post in the last thread:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6187775.html?tag=latestnews;title;4
w00000000000000000000000000t
http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=26283604&sid=6187577&tag=latestnews;title;2
I actually think this is exciting. I think he's an extremely talented director - he was responsible for how good "The Ring" was and I think that even though the Pirates franchise is pretty light entertainment, his direction on it elevated it (I love the singing/hanging scene at the beginning of part 3).
True, getting excited about someone with no history in games dabbling is, perhaps, naive at best, I have some faith in him and his remarks sound well thought-out, and not just some Hollywood bloke saying, "I could do that...".
Time will tell. My money is on: it will be worth experiencing.
http://www.giantbomb.com/
This might be the kind of site I was missing; straight up industry news, informed opinions, and no bullshit (in terms of corporate interests).
http://www.eurogamer.net/tv_video.php?playlist_id=7338&size=large
For those uninformed, WipEout HD is a remake of the latest PSP WipEout for the playstation network, running at 1080p, 60fps.
For those further uninformed, the Wipeout (fuck the E) series is a stand-out series from the early days of the PSOne. It has ultra-tight gameplay and top-notch production values and design. I think the quality of them has varied slightly from release to release as they experimented with different gameplay elements (i.e. whether the vehicles are destructible or not), but all of them that I've played have been great. I've never experienced a racing game that drew me in like Wipeout, never cared about shaving a few hundred milliseconds off a lap like Wipeout. And...I don't know why. It never really seemed to try that hard - it just worked. Like an old-school shooter, where you get into your score, playing well was it's own reward.
I wouldn't let the fact that it's a PSP remake fool anyone into thinking this isn't a full game. I'd pay full pop for it in a retail release without hesitating. Fucking crap is this going to look gorgeous...
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/bioniccommandore/news.html?sid=6186417&tag=topslot;title;2
I loved the original. It's hard to understand from the screenshots how tight the control was and fun it was to zip around once you got confident at it. I'm hoping the new one will be good, but I'm not counting on it; this, however, is sure to be awesome.
http://kotaku.com/357987/iga-and-id-team-for-free-web+based-quake-live
Sign up for the beta, yo!
Fucking hell am I excited for the eight player co-op. Jesus the first one was good.
http://forums.gametrailers.com/showthread.php?t=284446
I must admit to some disappointment on this one.
What it does well, isn't much changed from previous Unreal games. The weapons have a lot of depth to them, and thus are my favorite from any FPS. But the line-up and functionality is minimally different than UT 2004: minigun, assualt rifle, shield gun, lightning gun are out. Stinger, Impact Hammer, Enforcers are in. Flak, bio, rockets, shock, link are as you remember them.
As IGN pointed out, Unreal has some of the best map designers around, and the engine renders them in gorgeous detail. They all have great flow.
The biggest plus is the addition of the hoverboard to Warfare and VCTF. I love it. It suits the game perfectly, and I love the quiet hum it makes while you're hauling towards the battlefield. It's also especially nerve-wracking to hop on with the flag: one shot will send you tumbling and make you drop the flag, but it's so fast it's often worth the risk, so you hop on and cross an open area thinking, "ohcrapohcrapohcrap."
The bot AI is as good as it's always been.
The Necris vehicles are a neat addition but somehow don't feel like that substantial an element.
What is weak?
1) It feels like the last game with new graphics. Somehow the weapons tweaking and the Necris vehicles didn't amount to much.
2) The single player "campaign" is a joke. Besides 4 or 5 cinemas it involves looking at a map while Malcolm says something like, "Yeah, we've got 'em on the run now!" Then you press a button. They tried to explain the flags and nodes in Warfare and respawning and shit as part of the story, too, which is just idiotic. You know what? Those things made sense when this was a SPORT. Trying to write them into a war is a waste.
The thing is, I liked the campaign in UT 2004. You had a team you controlled (you don't in this one), you earned credits and could sign better members, and there was more variation (more gametypes and games with mutators). It worked.
Also, they often achieve challenge not by making the AI difficult (and the AI can be, so this was a weird choice) but by outnumbering you. Lazy.
And WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH MALCOM? See Penny Arcade: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/12/19
3) They stripped the gametypes. Assault and Onslaught were combined into Warfare, Bombing Run is gone, Double Domination is gone. They felt there was too much going on. Well, I loved Bombing Run for one. It was a unique game with a ton of depth that gave Unreal a unique feel it's now lacking. How does Warfare stand up? It's good...though it has some of the scripted moments of Assault, it really never gets close to the unique moments that Assault held - so, again, we have a more generic feeling game.
4) I think, but I don't know this is true, that the emphasis on vehicles comes from a large portion of their market that loves the "wow" factor. I'm more into straight-up deathmatching and shit. Whatevs, you might like it.
5) They stripped the movement system...dodge-jumping, wall-jumping, etc. They stripped the adrenaline system. Again, let's make the game more generic!
6) After the beautiful class/reward system of COD4, this just feels kind of plain. You feel a bit like, "Really? So this is it?"
Don't get me wrong. It's a good game. And Epic is the best company around for after-launch support, so there may be big things coming. And somebody has already made Q3's The Longest Yard map, so once they fix PS3 mod support, there's that...It's just that I adored UT 2004, and this feels like a prettier package, containing some questionable decisions. A lot of those decisions were to remove and/or simplify, and they went too far that way, when you compare it to COD4. You won't regret playing this game, but if you can only pick up one or two FPS, you're probably getting better value from COD4 and The Orange Box.
Edit: Upon further reflection: I felt UT 2004 was the hardcore old-school shooter, and I think they're aiming to broaden their market by going less hardcore. Hardcore gamer's loss.
So I hadn't been following this one too closely. There was a lot of hype around it, but I looked at the screenshots and it struck as pretty mediocre looking.
Well, last Friday, I went to metacritic to see what was new and noticed that it got a higher average than Assassin's Creed (which I thought was great.) So I went to check out one of the trailers for it, and the trailer was set to Massive Attack and I was sold. I picked it up that night.
It's okay. Definitely not better than Assassin's Creed. If you think a not-quite-as-good-as-either hybrid of the first Tomb Raider and Far Cry, you get a pretty good approximation.
It is gorgeous. It sounds perfect, from the weapon noises to the voice acting to the score. The gameplay is a little bit loose. I often found myself sticking to items or snapping to the wrong one with the cover system. They spoon-feed you all the puzzle answers. I died at least twice running along a hallway and falling in an instant death pit (not a trap, an open pit), because the camera auto-positioned in such a way as that the pit was invisible. Rad!
My main grievance is with the pacing. It goes: you enter an area with enemies. Fight a wave of them. When you kill the last one, a second wave will spawn. Kill them. Do a light exploration interlude. Repeat. Other games do this, certainly, but it was very clearly divided into these segments in a way that other games manage to somehow disguise.
The fighting engine is not too bad. Some of the fights were pretty thrilling, some others felt over-repetitive. The enemy AI needs more tricks, unfortunately. You get tired of seeing the same animations and strategies the entire way through the game.
But somehow the game nearly makes up for all the shortcomings in the story it tells. It's not exceptionally interesting, but it's just so well executed that you can't help but be charmed. I won't get into it too much, because that's most of the fun, but they fairly nailed the Indiana Jones spirit they were going for without being overly derivative.
If you want something reasonably short, it's a good renter. I don't think it justifies a purchase, but it has got me optimistic for the sequel.
Edit: Just read the gamespot review, and they pretty much nailed it...
I'd say this game is a little over-hyped. It's good, but I think the reviews boasting how great it is deserve some qualifications.
Specifically: it's a great multiplayer game. I think it's a mediocre single player game.
The single player is gorgeous. The enemies are smart. The story has some gripping moments.
It has, in my opinion, pretty shitty gameplay. There are scenarios in which there are unlimited opponents, and the only way to advance is to press forward, and scenarios with limited enemies, where the surest way to survive is to stay behind cover and pick them off. I found it very frustrating trying to figure out which type of scenario I was in.
Further, there are segments that appear wide-open, but in which you are, in fact, supposed to follow a particular path. The only way you know (eventually) that you're going the wrong way is because you've been dying. A lot.
There's a PS3 blog column about a particular level being the greatest FPS level of all time. Bullshit. It's atmospheric, and good for one run-through, but it's so completely on rails that I have no desire to replay it whatsover...
The multiplayer system is super, super fun, though. The leveling system and the create-a-class system all work as it should, and make the game more engaging without being overpowering. I do think they could use some variety in the levels (a few of them feel largely similar). Hopefully they'll offer some expansions. Lots of gametypes, good fun. They say that they'll implement player mutes so you can SHUT UP THE ASSHOLES LISTENING TO MUSIC WHILE THEY PLAY. FUCK.
I thought I'd write some casual reviews, and this one's been bugging me.
I'm basically going by gamespot, which gave it an 8.6. I can honestly say it deserves better.
The weapons, in particular, deserve some recognition. They're quite innovative, and some of them actually introduce new, unforced gameplay mechanics. The bullseye's alt-fire launches a marker that attracts the main fire's shots. Hearing the sound that means your tag connected, and ducking behind cover and emptying your clip into the air, watching your bullets stream around your cover to your target, while hell rains down around you, becomes one of the definitive experiences of the game. And that's just one weapon...The Auger, with its ability to plant force-fields, the special grenades, all class.
The AI is no slouch, either. We're getting to a point, these days, where you can divide shooters into two groups: stupid opponents and good ones. Any good shooter should have enemies that take cover, flank you, grenade you if you're dug in, etc, and Resistance definitely delivers. They're nice and unpredictable: I've watched enemies take cover and waited so long for them to peek back out that I've concluded they must have died, only to be proven wrong when I leave my position. It makes the fights fun stuff.
I think the level design for the single player is among the best I've seen in a FPS. They naturally incorporate many different gameplay types, and some of the scenarios are quite memorable (trying to hold that city square and storming the hillside to take out the mortars, for starters). There are some stretches that are a tad over-repetitive (some of the tunnel crawls, and, IMO, the jeep sequence), but no level really mimics another...
They've added to the replay value with a nice feature, as well: new weapons on your second playthrough. Adds a lot of appeal.
Graphics are perfect. Sound is perfect. Seriously. Being in a blown-out house and hearing a Chimera walking around above you, floorboards creaking, is intensely atmospheric.
Where is it short? A few minor quibbles. The foot soldiers that you fight on the first level still form the bulk of your enemies on the last level, and the first two guns you get will be your stand-bys for the entire game, so there's a certain lack of development. They do introduce new enemies, and the AI is exciting enough that this isn't really troublesome...but I did notice it.
Gamespot did criticize the story, a bit, and I'd say their points were half-right. The main character doesn't have much of a personality, but this is partly a function of the story. And while the story doesn't develop too much on the surface, there's tons of stuff beneath the surface that you'll miss if you're not paying attention. I won't reveal too much, but there's some corpses you find later in the game, and if you know where to look, these corpses have messages that add an entire new dimension to the story that you would otherwise be unaware of.
Honestly, I never even turned the multiplayer on...waited for Call of Duty to do that. But I know it does allow some variety in having one human team and one chimera team, and with the rest of the gameplay elements, I can't imagine it to be really lacking. No class system, though, which seems to be the order of the day.
If, at some point, any of you pick up a PS3, I consider this a must-play if you like FPS. Classic.
I know most of us have probably seen it already, but goddamn this trailer gives me goosebumps.
http://www.streetfighterworld.com/
Gamers and their avatars, a slideshow.
http://www.dungeonrunners.com/
http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/index.php for his small run down on it.
It's not out yet for public release. Check one of these traits for the ranger:
Trigger Happy - You have a nervous twitch with your trigger finger resulting from a “work-related” accident involving a branding iron, a penguin, and a large bucket of coffee beans. Your memory of the accident is hazy, but the twitch comes in handy with ranged weapons, giving you the innate ability of 25% increased speed with all ranged weapons.
Arcadey MMO - maybe like Sacred? Something we could play together at least.
I'll be posting all my arcade machine related stuff to this journal, so as not to flood ToF with stuff you may not want to read.
http://deetdeet.livejournal.com
Woop woop!
Very vague, but at least a couple of good points: here
Wii No.
7755 8822 8994 2059
Okay, I thought I'd throw in a little effort and contribute to this community with my opinion on Final Fantasy XII.
What this game seems to have done is take everything they can learn from World of Warcraft and translate it into a single player Final Fantasy game. So what you get is WoW style fighting, and even some WoW quests, where you have to return to the quest giver to hand in the quest once completed (these involve hunting their equivalent of elite mobs, which they call "marks").
To deal with the fact that you control a party by yourself, you're given the gambit system, in which you have a series of prioritized commands to give to your party members. For instance, I have a party member's gambit list that reads:
1)Ally: HP<50% = Curaga
2)Ally: HP<70% = Cure
3)Foe: party leader's target = Attack
4)Foe: targeting party leader = Attack
5)Ally: Any = Regen
This is about the full extent that I find it useful. You can have 10 gambits active per person, with tons of options for targets (Foe: Highest HP or Ally: Silence or Ally: MP<30% or Foe: Weak against Fire, for example) and assign pretty much any action to them...but I don't find that all that practical, really. If, say, an Ally is blinded, I might want to deal with that, or ignore it, depending on the circumstances, and I don't really like the idea of automating those decisions and having my party burn through their magic points haphazardly. So, I think it's handy; not having to micro-manage your healing saves a lot of headaches, but I don't personally find it as useful as it is intended to be.
Other than that, it's pretty neat how they've simulated playing a MMORPG with a pick-up group. Watch your allies perform sloppy pulls because they don't watch their position! Locate traps and watch your allies march over them and activate them!
There's also an awesomely annoying feature in that occasionally you get guests in your party, to whom you cannot give orders, but who will use your items. It's pretty annoying to watch some shit NPC burn through your Hi-Potions...I contemplated not Raising him when he was dead.
Other than those complaints, though, this game is awesome. The fighting is generally quite fun, the world is interesting, the dungeons are nicely detailed and the characters are almost universally likable. I'm about 60 hours in, taking my time, and I expect I've still got 20+ hours. The mark hunting, in particular, is a pretty fun side challenge: those creatures can be hard to find, are generally brutal, epic battles, and in return you gain rank, which gives you access to new items, not to mention the quest rewards. Good stuff.
The license system is interesting, as well, but it could use some refinement. I have a couple of improvements they could implement should they revisit this system. One is that the license board is hidden until you take certain skills, which means that, in the early stages of the game, it is difficult to plan character development strategies, since you don't know what skills are out there. Also, every character has the same license board, and, in later stages, the characters are therefore mostly differentiated by their equipment, as their boards are mostly filled in. Their equipment does make significant differences, but I think it would have been a little more fun if the characters each had their own board.
You should see the airships in this one.
It actually strongly reminds me of the original Star Wars trilogy. You've got the evil empire, your Han Solo character, your Luke character, your Princess Leia character, etc. Not just the characters, but the general tone, as well. Very Star Warsy.
Anyway, this game is a vast improvement on the series. The battle systems mean no loading screens before and after battles. The gambit system means no micro-managing healing after every fight. The license system and mark quests are both pretty engaging. The battles are tough, and money is scare, so expect to spend a little time grinding.
This is the best Final Fantasy game I've played of the main series...
One of my friends had a Wii Preorder, so I was able to test out the Wii for a little while.
First Impressions:
-Totally worth the 250
-Wii sports is a lot of fun. I actually envision getting my dad to play it when I get a system, which hasn't really played a game since Mario and Marble Madness when I got my NES many Christmases ago.
-Boxing is the most physically active of the games, and the hardest to get used to. Sometimes it's not clear how to get certain shots (body vs head).
-Zelda: Doesn't look like Gears of War on a HD set, but the graphics are really good and I have no idea what the fuck everyone was complaining about.
-Controller itself is hella small. Smaller than I expected.
-Console is about the size you'd think it should be from seeing pictures online.
Wasn't able to venture into the virtual console.
Speaking of Gears of War which I mentioned, I was able to see that on a HD tv and I have to say that game looks surreal. The graphics on that are so good that my mind actually doesn't register that it's a game, if that makes any sense.
http://www.i4u.com/article7149.html
Thanks to a promotion Amazon will be selling 1000 Core 360's for 100 dollars. If you try to get one, I wish the best of luck to you (make sure your F5 key is ready)! Little tidbit: Even if you already have a 360, core systems go on ebay for around 300 bucks it seems. This would be a slightly evil way to make 200 clams.
First - Yoshi's Island DS video review. http://gamevideos.com/video/id/7291
Yoshi's Island 1 was an instant classic in my eyes - absolute perfect game. The new one looks good, although disappointingly not without flaws according to the review. Will I still pick it up? Hell yes.
Next, if you haven't seen this, head here and watch 2 Zelda trailers: http://us.wii.com/soft_loz_tp.jsp
My brother put it best: "I got like 6 sets of goosebumps while watching that." I'm serious, you need to see it because it looks so indescribably awesome. My limited vocabulary is being stretched to really describe it. I feel a lot like Eric Cartman right now.
http://www.atari.com/nwn2/AU/index.php
It's out today at your local EB.
I think they were lying to me and its not out till the 31st..
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Well Battle lines have been drawn, and next week sets to be the beginning of one of this era's greatest wars.
Little does Tom know, that Luke has not been still these past few years - but working his way from the ground up to be one of the most decorated Commanding Officers of the Allied Nation Armies.
After enlisting in the Army at the tender age of 18, Luke made sure his superior officers know he was ready for anything.
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Luke worked his way up the ranks during the Cosmos Land invasion, proving himself over and over again. Eventually assigned with his own unit to protect HQ during the final stages in the Cosmos iniative.
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Not long after the victory in Cosmos, he was promoted again to Assistant CO at the green age of 22 and shipped off to Omega Land..
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And in no time at all, during the early stages of the Allied Nation Armies setting up, The Black Hole Army reared it's ugly head. Only because of Luke's superior field support were they able to fight off the first waves of The Black Hole Army's forces.
Luke is now one of the top CO's of the ANA at 24, and gladly awaits the challenge ahead of him.
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