He can't dodge anymore either--instead he kicks.
Hey Alan Wake, I'm liking you as a game and all (just got the PC master race version on sale on Steam) but how about some fucking heads up that some of the fucking manuscript pages can only be found on the highest difficulty setting. I'm staring at the missing pages on my list going fucking insane looking for them in the God damn murder wilderness wondering where in fuck I missed 3 pages. You fucking asshole.
That highest difficulty is a ball buster too. Your not gonna have fun looking for those last few pages.
Honestly, it's the part of the game I am loathing too. I hate looking for pages. Everything else I am liking.
WoW - Three fully raid capable characters eats alot of time...
Fear2 - Loved the first one, finally got around to playing the second. Loving this one just as much. Feels a bit easier than the first one so far though...
Currently eyeballing Gotham City Impostors but honestly it looks like it'd be a huge online time sink and I already have one of those.
Fear2 - Loved the first one, finally got around to playing the second. Loving this one just as much. Feels a bit easier than the first one so far though...
Currently eyeballing Gotham City Impostors but honestly it looks like it'd be a huge online time sink and I already have one of those.
Currently Old Republic, and that's about it. I'm deciding between Kingdoms of Amalur and the Borderlands GotY pack right now, or maybe finally get Skyrim. Life is hard.
I beat Alan Wake and the two DLC episodes. I liked the game. I dug the story and all the trappings therein but man, they did their damnedest to try to ruin my experience. The slow-mo nonsense that happened every time a squad of Taken appeared got tiresome well before the 1100th time it happened. Especially when it was happening every 3 steps of progress in some areas. Since Alan has about 2 seconds of sprint and even at full tilt is slower than any Taken besides the big fat guys, running is almost never an option (unless you feel the need to blow flares like a madman).
Now, I'm not really going to talk about the collectables other than to say that they pulled me right out of the fucking game, especially in the second DLC episode where they're 360 games and they make that stupid 360 turn on tone whenever they're nearby. This isn't Banjo and fucking Kazooie, this shit does not belong in this kind of game (and making only some of the pages accessible on hard difficulty while REQUIRING a normal playthrough to unlock hard is a fucking unforgivable sin, I liked your game, but I'm not playing through it again). I lied about not really talking about collectables.
I still liked and I'm glad Remedy worked so hard to finally convince FUCKINGMICROFUCK that a PC version of the game was a good idea (it apparently paid for itself in 2 days). Fuck you Microsoft you fucking assholes.
Now, I'm not really going to talk about the collectables other than to say that they pulled me right out of the fucking game, especially in the second DLC episode where they're 360 games and they make that stupid 360 turn on tone whenever they're nearby. This isn't Banjo and fucking Kazooie, this shit does not belong in this kind of game (and making only some of the pages accessible on hard difficulty while REQUIRING a normal playthrough to unlock hard is a fucking unforgivable sin, I liked your game, but I'm not playing through it again). I lied about not really talking about collectables.
I still liked and I'm glad Remedy worked so hard to finally convince FUCKINGMICROFUCK that a PC version of the game was a good idea (it apparently paid for itself in 2 days). Fuck you Microsoft you fucking assholes.
I still need to go out and get points for Alan Wake's American Nightmare. I've heard it's actually pretty good.
I managed to get past the crashing and finish Assassin's Creed: Revelations.
Short review: Good but could have been so much better.
Slightly longer and a bit spoilery review:
Short review: Good but could have been so much better.
Slightly longer and a bit spoilery review:
Before I bought the game, I read some online reviews, and two things stuck out in my mind. The first was that the rushed development showed, and the second was that for the first time ever an Assassin's Creed game is not as good as its predecessor. I'd say both of these are true. There's less content than in Brotherhood, and in a lot of places it feels like there was meant to be more, but it got dropped or simplified.
For example, there's less gameplay content than in previous games. Mercenaries, thieves and courtesans (called Romanies in this game) make a return, but they each only have one side quest. That's a grand total of three side quests for all three guilds combined. There are no assassination contracts either, so you can't visit a pigeon coop and get a hit to perform. Contrast this to Brotherhood, which had tons of guild quests (and each with a coherent storyline, too) as well as assassination contracts to make you feel there's more going on than just the main quest.
The main quest in Revelations, too, feels neutered. This is both a gameplay and a storytelling issue. Each chapter only involves a handful of memories, like three at most, and every time a chapter ends it feels like a surprise. "What, was that it?" The main storyline feels unfocused and almost secondary to the side quests to find the five Masyaf keys (which was the whole point of going to Constantinople in the first place). Certain characters are introduced or presented as being important or menacing, but in the end the role they play is tiny, making it feel like they were intended to play a larger role but in the end it got cut. This applies to both allies such as the bomb crafting assassin, and enemies such as the masked Shahkulu. Seriously, I thought Shahkulu was going to be an interesting character, perhaps an added twist of a character we already know behind that mask, but nope, just another mook! Additionally, the big bad is only revealed after four-fifths of the game is over, which leaves insufficient time for the game to present him as a memorable threat. Contrast this to AC2, where Rodrigo Borgia is glimpsed as early as the first memory and is a manipulative force throughout the whole game. Or Brotherhood, which has Cesare come in and emphatically declare war on the Auditores. Revelations has Ezio running around eagerly, but without any real sense of purpose or urgency.
Some gameplay additions were quite welcome though. The hookblade was an evolutionary rather than revolutionary development, but its came in handy. Bomb crafting was also interesting at first, but I quickly settled into my preferred bomb configurations, and so I didn't mess around with it as much as I could have. In fact, it felt like some of the bomb configurations would have been useful in certain specific situations, but those situations never came up - again I think this is due to cut content. I also liked the addition of stalkers, they made me more paranoid, and it was fun to have to turn around and spycheck every now and then.
The Desmond's Journey part of the game, though, was extraneous and shouldn't have been in the game. First-person platform puzzles can be fun, but they don't belong in an Assassin's Creed game. Especially when they feel half-assed, compared to other first-person platform puzzle games such as Portal. Same with the Den Defense tower defense games. If I wanted to play tower defense, I wouldn't be playing Assassin's Creed, I'd fire up Defense Grid.
Ultimately, though, I had fun playing the game. There was lots to enjoy, particularly the chance to follow Altair and Ezio to the conclusion of their story; I actually got a bit choked up at the final Altair memory in the library, watching this old man's final act of dedication to his order. And the mission where you storm a heavily guarded stronghold with an army of assassins was the biggest Crowning Moment of Awesome for me so far in the series. Perhaps the game didn't give me as much fun as I'd hoped, and not as much fun as the previous Assassin's Creed games, but I don't regret my purchase, and I'll probably be playing it some more in the future.
For example, there's less gameplay content than in previous games. Mercenaries, thieves and courtesans (called Romanies in this game) make a return, but they each only have one side quest. That's a grand total of three side quests for all three guilds combined. There are no assassination contracts either, so you can't visit a pigeon coop and get a hit to perform. Contrast this to Brotherhood, which had tons of guild quests (and each with a coherent storyline, too) as well as assassination contracts to make you feel there's more going on than just the main quest.
The main quest in Revelations, too, feels neutered. This is both a gameplay and a storytelling issue. Each chapter only involves a handful of memories, like three at most, and every time a chapter ends it feels like a surprise. "What, was that it?" The main storyline feels unfocused and almost secondary to the side quests to find the five Masyaf keys (which was the whole point of going to Constantinople in the first place). Certain characters are introduced or presented as being important or menacing, but in the end the role they play is tiny, making it feel like they were intended to play a larger role but in the end it got cut. This applies to both allies such as the bomb crafting assassin, and enemies such as the masked Shahkulu. Seriously, I thought Shahkulu was going to be an interesting character, perhaps an added twist of a character we already know behind that mask, but nope, just another mook! Additionally, the big bad is only revealed after four-fifths of the game is over, which leaves insufficient time for the game to present him as a memorable threat. Contrast this to AC2, where Rodrigo Borgia is glimpsed as early as the first memory and is a manipulative force throughout the whole game. Or Brotherhood, which has Cesare come in and emphatically declare war on the Auditores. Revelations has Ezio running around eagerly, but without any real sense of purpose or urgency.
Some gameplay additions were quite welcome though. The hookblade was an evolutionary rather than revolutionary development, but its came in handy. Bomb crafting was also interesting at first, but I quickly settled into my preferred bomb configurations, and so I didn't mess around with it as much as I could have. In fact, it felt like some of the bomb configurations would have been useful in certain specific situations, but those situations never came up - again I think this is due to cut content. I also liked the addition of stalkers, they made me more paranoid, and it was fun to have to turn around and spycheck every now and then.
The Desmond's Journey part of the game, though, was extraneous and shouldn't have been in the game. First-person platform puzzles can be fun, but they don't belong in an Assassin's Creed game. Especially when they feel half-assed, compared to other first-person platform puzzle games such as Portal. Same with the Den Defense tower defense games. If I wanted to play tower defense, I wouldn't be playing Assassin's Creed, I'd fire up Defense Grid.
Ultimately, though, I had fun playing the game. There was lots to enjoy, particularly the chance to follow Altair and Ezio to the conclusion of their story; I actually got a bit choked up at the final Altair memory in the library, watching this old man's final act of dedication to his order. And the mission where you storm a heavily guarded stronghold with an army of assassins was the biggest Crowning Moment of Awesome for me so far in the series. Perhaps the game didn't give me as much fun as I'd hoped, and not as much fun as the previous Assassin's Creed games, but I don't regret my purchase, and I'll probably be playing it some more in the future.
Giant Bomb thought it was "ok" but was kind of letdown compared to The Writer. It focuses almost entirely on combat.
Yeah, but they made that abundantly clear in all of the advertising. It's supposed to draw it's inspiration from other genres, like b-movie horror films and slasher flicks. That's why it's not a full release.
Picked up Amalur, haven't gotten much playtime in but it's entertaining. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is 10 bucks this weekend so I snagged that too. Should get to it sometime next month at this rate.
I played through the first 3 or so zones of Amalur....and it's exactly what I thought it would be. Dreadfully mediocre with about the most uninteresting characters I think I've ever met in a video game.
I was tidying up my Mass Effect 2 saves (making sure they had done all they could) and ended up having to do the Arrival DLC on my female renegade and it hit me how much improved the shooting is in ME3. ME2's combat is fucking annoying in comparison. Every single grunt enemy starts combat off with a flashbang, which is annoying and every single power every other enemy type has staggers you back for seconds at a time while 3-5 enemies zig zag and pick you off with laser accuracy. It's really.....shitty.
But man, fuck those flashbangs. Fuck them.
I was tidying up my Mass Effect 2 saves (making sure they had done all they could) and ended up having to do the Arrival DLC on my female renegade and it hit me how much improved the shooting is in ME3. ME2's combat is fucking annoying in comparison. Every single grunt enemy starts combat off with a flashbang, which is annoying and every single power every other enemy type has staggers you back for seconds at a time while 3-5 enemies zig zag and pick you off with laser accuracy. It's really.....shitty.
But man, fuck those flashbangs. Fuck them.
Yeah I wasn't expecting more than a dungeon crawler in third-person with Amalur, and that's pretty much what I got. The problem with that one and Deus Ex is I'm still playing Old Republic so it's hard to peel away and play something else.
I think the problem with Amalur is in it's loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong boring ass speeches that make up all of the dialog and less in it's too infrequent dungeon crawling.
Playing the "Dead Money" DLC for Fallout: New Vegas. This add ons creepy. Friggin' Ghost people...
figmentPez
Staff member
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
I was about to say I've only played a little, but I'm at 13 hours played. I'm having a lot of fun, this really feels like Deus Ex. I haven't gotten to the first boss fight, yet, so I'm not sure how that's going to go. I haven't upgraded anything combat. Oh well, cross that bridge when I come to it.
Good:
- Takedowns are a lot of fun.
- Exploring areas feels great.
Meh:
- The hacking minigame is too random, but it's not terrible.
- Inventory space feels even more limited than the first game.
- Why does the game auto-fill my hot buttons with items that can't be used from hot buttons?
Bad:
- The tranq gun is pathetic. I had such a horrible time figuring out the arc of the darts that I just gave up. I loved my tranq darts in Deus Ex, they worked.
Best part of DE:HR? Adam Jensen spends 5,000 credits at the drop of a hat, just to upgrade his augments faster, but is still eating energy bars he found in a dumpster.
Plants Vs. Zombies
I'm really diggint Steam Cloud support for this. It's the first game I've been able to use it on, since my netbook can't handle many games, but it's really nice to be able to switch between the two and keep my progress in both locations.
As for the game itself, this is a lot of fun. It's pretty much what I expected it would be, a goofy tower defense type game.
The Blackwell Legacy
This one I haven't played much of, I don't think I've come across any significant puzzles yet, but I'm really digging the style. The voice acting is just a little off, but it still works so well I find myself listening to the dialog instead of skipping it. They sound like people, and it's pleasant, even if it comes across as imperfect.
I was about to say I've only played a little, but I'm at 13 hours played. I'm having a lot of fun, this really feels like Deus Ex. I haven't gotten to the first boss fight, yet, so I'm not sure how that's going to go. I haven't upgraded anything combat. Oh well, cross that bridge when I come to it.
Good:
- Takedowns are a lot of fun.
- Exploring areas feels great.
Meh:
- The hacking minigame is too random, but it's not terrible.
- Inventory space feels even more limited than the first game.
- Why does the game auto-fill my hot buttons with items that can't be used from hot buttons?
Bad:
- The tranq gun is pathetic. I had such a horrible time figuring out the arc of the darts that I just gave up. I loved my tranq darts in Deus Ex, they worked.
Best part of DE:HR? Adam Jensen spends 5,000 credits at the drop of a hat, just to upgrade his augments faster, but is still eating energy bars he found in a dumpster.
Plants Vs. Zombies
I'm really diggint Steam Cloud support for this. It's the first game I've been able to use it on, since my netbook can't handle many games, but it's really nice to be able to switch between the two and keep my progress in both locations.
As for the game itself, this is a lot of fun. It's pretty much what I expected it would be, a goofy tower defense type game.
The Blackwell Legacy
This one I haven't played much of, I don't think I've come across any significant puzzles yet, but I'm really digging the style. The voice acting is just a little off, but it still works so well I find myself listening to the dialog instead of skipping it. They sound like people, and it's pleasant, even if it comes across as imperfect.
The Boss fights are pretty terrible... they were farmed out to an outside studio or something, so they really don't match the tone of the game. If you want a boss fight that feels like a Deus Ex boss fight, you need to play The Missing Link DLC.
They were farmed out to another studio, but the game's director still ok'd everything that studio did so I doubt even if Montreal did them themselves that they would have ended up a lot different. Sounds like scapegoating to me.
I just grabbed Missing Link during that Steam sale, will have to give'r a whirl.
I just grabbed Missing Link during that Steam sale, will have to give'r a whirl.
It really feels right when you do it. You have multiple ways of handling the guy and the game basically lets you do it however you want. This is opposed tot he rest of them in the main game, where it basically boils down to "shot the guy a lot and try not to get shot".
figmentPez
Staff member
Something I like about DE:HR that I forgot to mention. I like that it shows detail for all the possible upgrade paths. I hate it when games hide the experience trees, especially when it makes no sense in-world.
I've only put maybe 2 hours into DE:HR so far but it's fun. I wanted to shoot for Pacifist, but screw that Dart gun aiming. Halfway through the first mission I started filling the terrorists with lead and snapping necks and it was a lot more fun.
I haven't gone back to DE:HR since I chose to go with the tranq rifle because I like snipery gameplay and wanted to get pacifist, but the tranq RIFLE ammo is different than the tranq PISTOL ammo, and subsequently totally ran out of ammo halfway through the mission, with nothing but tranq pistol ammo everywhere.
yeah I found a shitload of Stungun ammo (the first mission has you choose between that and the Tranq rifle, assumed the rifle would be the safer choice). I'd generally only have 4-5 darts on me at a time, but a shitload of stungun ammo that I couldn't even use. Hell, I started finding Revolver and Combat Rifle ammo and I only had a pistol for 90% of the mission.
The Revolver and Combat rifle are the lethal options you can pick on the ride over. Also, it's pretty simple to beat that mission with nothing but non-lethal takedowns, as long as you observe the enemy paths.
figmentPez
Staff member
Beat the first boss. He went down without too much trouble, but I'm not playing on the highest difficulty level. EMP grenade, then an extended clip of damaged enhanced rounds from my laser sight equipped combat rifle, plus a few more shots after a reload, took him down.
N
Namesake
Trying to finish off Lost Odyssey Ng+ before Mass Effect 3 comes out. Forgot how much I loved this game but it's a race against time till next Tuesday, after that I only have ears eyes and hands for the war against the reapers.
Used my Valve coupon to pick up GMod, which I've been interested in ever since I started reading Concerned.
First time I fired it up: "Wow I'm confused... I can spawn these ragdolls and props, and toss them around... and I think that's it? Maybe this was a waste of money..."
Second time: "Oh cool, there are these tools I can mess around with. I can attach balloons to stuff, heh heh. I can also put a thruster on them and make them zoom around the room like hamsters on crack, that's pretty cool. And hey, I can pose these ragdolls, and even download new ragdolls from the Internet. Wow look, I just made a scene where Catwoman is fighting a tiger, with R2-D2 and a Dalek watching in the background!"
Cue the following cycle: Download new content, fire up GMod and see what it can do (or be disappointed when it doesn't work very well), download more content, fire up GMod, download more content, fire up GMod...
This thing is basically crack for physics-based emergent gameplay. Since a lot of its content is user-generated, it can be a bit hit-and-miss, but I've only owned it a day and I can already see its potential is unlimited.
First time I fired it up: "Wow I'm confused... I can spawn these ragdolls and props, and toss them around... and I think that's it? Maybe this was a waste of money..."
Second time: "Oh cool, there are these tools I can mess around with. I can attach balloons to stuff, heh heh. I can also put a thruster on them and make them zoom around the room like hamsters on crack, that's pretty cool. And hey, I can pose these ragdolls, and even download new ragdolls from the Internet. Wow look, I just made a scene where Catwoman is fighting a tiger, with R2-D2 and a Dalek watching in the background!"
Cue the following cycle: Download new content, fire up GMod and see what it can do (or be disappointed when it doesn't work very well), download more content, fire up GMod, download more content, fire up GMod...
This thing is basically crack for physics-based emergent gameplay. Since a lot of its content is user-generated, it can be a bit hit-and-miss, but I've only owned it a day and I can already see its potential is unlimited.
GasBandit
Staff member
I'M ENJOYING A TREAT, DER-RAAAHK kills me everytime.
So, I reinstalled Deus Ex human revolution and apparently it is an anathema to my new motheroboard and processor. I've never had a game crash my entire system since, like window 98.
From what I've been reading, it doesn't play well with my brand of processor and messes up the multithreading somehow.
From what I've been reading, it doesn't play well with my brand of processor and messes up the multithreading somehow.