What are you playing?

[AshburnerX]

I think Invisible War gets a lot of unwarranted hate. On it's own, it's perfectly fine... not great, but not horrible ether. It's only when you compare it to it's predecessor that it looks truly bad.

It also suffers from the same problems as the first game, namely that some augments are completely useless and some weapons completely dominate. In Deus Ex, you could literally get the three best weapons in the game (Sniper Rifle, Crossbow, and GEP Gun) within 5 minutes of starting the game. It takes a little bit longer in Invisible War, but once you have the Dart Gun and MAG Rifle, you don't need anything else ether (Fuck, with the MAG Rifle, you don't even need to hack most things anymore. You can shot them dead THROUGH WALLS.)

 

[bhamv3]

My first playthrough of Deus Ex was without the GEP gun and the sniper rifle. I was sort of a sneaking melee specialist, in which I'd sneak up to a group of enemies and then go to town with the Dragon Tooth Sword. Spent a lot of bioelectricity on the regeneration augmentation though.

In my second playthrough I trained up my rifle skill and tried the sniper rifle, and I was all like, "Man, no wonder it was so hard the last time around."

 

[Hailey Knight]

except Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which I've never played.

:slap:[/QUOTE]

It was the one game my uncle wouldn't let me borrow from his PS1 collection.

I do intend to remedy this once I get a PSP memory stick large enough to hold it.

 

[Enresshou]

Playing Demon's Souls right now.

GodDAMN this game is pretty much an abusive relationship distilled into video-game form. "I know I should walk away, but maybe it'll change after this boss battle..."

 

[Roxxoredizorz]

Wow, I haven't updated my games in a while, but I'm still playing a bunch.

For me, I bought Toy Soldiers on Thursday, and it's FANTASTIC. It's the right amount of tower defence, without feeling like you are obligated to keep the tower defense name. I love how you can take control of tanks, planes, howitzers, etc., etc., etc.!

I also got the new map pack for MW2, and it's not bad, it keeps the game play going, but I don't feel like they (Activision) care that much about their customers if they're going to charge 1200 for only 5 maps, 2 of which are from the original MW.

My friend commandeered me a copy of FFXIII from his work (Don't ask), and it's alright. It isn't on my top games to play list, but the graphics are breath-taking. I only wish my 360 had an HDMI input/output on the back (I have an old Pro).

I finally beat the campaign for Battlefield: Bad Company, so next time I get some cash, I'm defs going to go out and pick it up.

On my Mac, I've been stalling/waiting for Valve to release Steam for OS X, by playing an emulated copy of CSS, and Plants VS. Zombies. PVZ is a lot of fun, but I only seem to have the attention for one round, and then I get bored with it (Maybe because I use the same plants all the time, and the same tactics).

 

[figmentPez]

I finished Deus Ex: Invisible War (what a lousy ending) and I'm trying Far Cry 2. I don't know why but non-Source Engine games just feel wrong to me, the controls don't seem as tight. Far Cry 2, Bioshock, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Red Faction Guerrilla and others all just feel wrong when I play them. Is that just because I've spent so many more hours playing Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead and other Source Engine games?

 

[Hailey Knight]

God of War III: Epic. Awesome. I'm sad I'm almost at the end.

Final Fantasy XIII: I think the story complaints are kind of dumb--things are explained all simply, but you can glean from the dialogue without reading the datalogs (I'm not).

As for combat... I was annoyed that you can't advance your characters in stats or anything for the first two hours or so of the game. Combat is basically hit X over and over, except the rare occasion you need a potion. Once that's cleared (Chapter 3) and battles matter, you can advance stats and abilities, and have some options, I began to enjoy the combat a lot. You really have to pay attention to what's going on, much moreso than really any other Final Fantasy game, since you don't have full control of all characters. I very much like the paradigm shifting.

 

[CynicismKills]

So those of you playing FFXIII, what do you think so far, after getting aways in? I'm getting a decent chunk of change from taxes and am spoiling myself with a new game, but I don't know if FFXIII is going to be worth it or if I should just buy a used ps2 and play FFX and my old ps2 rpgs.

 

[AshburnerX]

I'd probably get the used PS2 and play your old games. I'm told it takes about 25 hours before FF13 gets interesting.

 

[Shegokigo]

I'd probably get the used PS2 and play your old games. I'm told it takes about 25 hours before FF13 gets interesting.

Sounds like FFXII all over again.

 

[Bowielee]

I finished Deus Ex: Invisible War (what a lousy ending) and I'm trying Far Cry 2. I don't know why but non-Source Engine games just feel wrong to me, the controls don't seem as tight. Far Cry 2, Bioshock, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Red Faction Guerrilla and others all just feel wrong when I play them. Is that just because I've spent so many more hours playing Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead and other Source Engine games?

Far Cry 2 is HORRIBLE. I bought it when it was on sale on steam and I regret even spending 10 bucks on it.

 

[CynicismKills]

I put almost 30 into FF12 and still got bored. It's the only Collector's Edition I regret buying.

 

[Shegokigo]

I'm STILL pissed off, that the biggest complaint I had about FFXII was fixed in the International Version and we'll never see it. (The Job System).

 

[figmentPez]

Far Cry 2 is HORRIBLE. I bought it when it was on sale on steam and I regret even spending 10 bucks on it.

That's why I'm playing it on Gametap. I can quit as soon as I think it sucks and not have wasted any money on it.

 

[CynicismKills]

I'm STILL pissed off, that the biggest complaint I had about FFXII was fixed in the International Version and we'll never see it. (The Job System).

There's always such neat stuff in the International Editions we never see. Hell, the extra dungeon and job in FFX-2 might have convinced me to give it another shot, as it sounded awesome.

 

[AshburnerX]

I'd probably get the used PS2 and play your old games. I'm told it takes about 25 hours before FF13 gets interesting.

Sounds like FFXII all over again.[/QUOTE]

See, I actually liked FFXII's small scale story and the Gambit system. It allowed me to focus on doing the job at hand, instead of making sure my buffs are up.

 

[Hailey Knight]

I'm not far enough to judge the 25 hours things, but honestly, FFX was pretty linear too. There's no towns to explore, but the one-way guiding system in the game is really the same (with off-shoots to search for treasure at times). I was interested for the first hour, a little irritated in the second hour, and the third and fourth hour have been interesting. For all I know, that will cease, but I'm liking the combat right now, and unlike a lot of people, I do like most of the characters (I half-like Snow and Hope is the only one I truly despise). It's a game that seems to have a lot of varied opinions. People liking it have a lot of differing reasons and people hating it for a lot of differing reasons. I will say that certain reviewers, like Spoony, are exaggerating quite a bit with certain complaints.

On another note, we finished God of War III tonight. The Zeus battle wasn't as epic as the end of God of War II, but it was very intense. They chose to go in a different direction with certain things, and even if the story stumbled a little, it came out strong in the end. They took what could've been very cliche and made it excellent. If this is to be the end of the series, it's a strong finish.

 

[CynicismKills]

Well, comic-based reviewers like Spoony I don't listen to, really. He exaggerates pretty much everything for effect, and he hates FFX because he thinks Tidus is a bitch (which is not if you get a bit into the game). This isn't to say I don't think he's hilarious and his first part of the FFX review was pretty funny.

Anyway a friend of mine says the same as you for the most part, Es. Story's nothing terribly special but the combat is fun and all in all he's enjoying it so far.

 

[Bowielee]

I'm not far enough to judge the 25 hours things, but honestly, FFX was pretty linear too. There's no towns to explore, but the one-way guiding system in the game is really the same (with off-shoots to search for treasure at times). I was interested for the first hour, a little irritated in the second hour, and the third and fourth hour have been interesting. For all I know, that will cease, but I'm liking the combat right now, and unlike a lot of people, I do like most of the characters (I half-like Snow and Hope is the only one I truly despise). It's a game that seems to have a lot of varied opinions. People liking it have a lot of differing reasons and people hating it for a lot of differing reasons. I will say that certain reviewers, like Spoony, are exaggerating quite a bit with certain complaints.

On another note, we finished God of War III tonight. The Zeus battle wasn't as epic as the end of God of War II, but it was very intense. They chose to go in a different direction with certain things, and even if the story stumbled a little, it came out strong in the end. They took what could've been very cliche and made it excellent. If this is to be the end of the series, it's a strong finish.

FFX grabbed me right from the beginning and kept hold of me all the way to the end. The only thing I didn't like about it was the blitzball minigame.

As far as GoW3 goes, how does it run? I downloaded the demo and it stuttered worse than a nervous kid at a spelling bee.

 

[Hailey Knight]

Well, comic-based reviewers like Spoony I don't listen to, really. He exaggerates pretty much everything for effect, and he hates FFX because he thinks Tidus is a bitch (which is not if you get a bit into the game). This isn't to say I don't think he's hilarious and his first part of the FFX review was pretty funny.

Anyway a friend of mine says the same as you for the most part, Es. Story's nothing terribly special but the combat is fun and all in all he's enjoying it so far.

Agreed on Spoony, although his FFXIII was a video blog and not a review. He said he was 15 hours in and just didn't feel like playing anymore. There were only a couple points he exaggerated for comedic effect--I think he's gotten so used to exaggerating for that reason that sometimes he exaggerates for no reason (like saying FFX revolves around blitzball, when you're only required to play it once). I also think he's gotten too used to ham-fisted story-telling and that's why FFXIII is bothering him. I agree with him that the datalogs are a dumb idea, and I'm not reading them, but pressing the player to connect the dots from the dialogue is not bad storytelling. I've said elsewhere, this isn't David Lynch; it just doesn't have an exposition guy to pop up and laboriously explain the plot.

But yeah, the FFX review so far is hilarious. I just have a feeling I'm gonna majorly disagree with things as it goes, especially since Faline is playing through it again right now and so everything about it is fresh.

FFX grabbed me right from the beginning and kept hold of me all the way to the end. The only thing I didn't like about it was the blitzball minigame.

As far as GoW3 goes, how does it run? I downloaded the demo and it stuttered worse than a nervous kid at a spelling bee.

In my opinion, FFX is one of the best of the series. (And I understand those who hate blitzball, even though I adore it and get sad whenever a point in the game comes up when I'm not allowed to play.)

I never played the God of War III demo since it was one of the games we bought with the PS3, but it never stuttered once. It does have a couple bugs though--not repeatable ones, but during the first centaur fight, I fell through the floor. Then at a point near the end, I was using the "lantern", jumping, and pressing start to check abilities while falling off a short ledge, and the whole PS3 crashed. This could've been the game or the PS3. But out of 12 hours of play, those two moments took about 5 minutes up. I never had any real problems from it, and there's already a patch available.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
(trying saying that five times fast)

Given that this was one of my favourite games growing up, I couldn't pass up buying it for $4.99 on PSN. It was $9.99, which was a bit too rich for a mindless button mashing side-scrolling nostalgic beat 'em up, but for $5? Sold. Anyway, I wrote a substantial review of it over at Gamespot:

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/...view.html?id=716845&tag=contributions;review1

...but to sum that up?

-I happily grew up playing the side scrolling beat 'em ups like this, Simpsons, X-Men, etc, so this was right up my alley.
-It's simple, fun, mindless and I bet it'd be fun with three other friends together in the room with you.
-Pretty much mostly for those nostalgic for the game. Newer gamers likely wouldn't care for it.

 

[Gusto]

At one point I stopped progressing through FFX to play Blitzball for like 12 hours.

Awesome~~

 

[CynicismKills]

So I decided to give FFXIII a go, as I heard some good things from a RL friend who likes all the same FF's I do. I actually am enjoying it so far. The level system is a lot like FFX, the music and graphics are astounding (wow at that frozen lake area), and now that I'm getting the hang of Paradigms I'm really enjoying the combat.

My only gripe? HOPE. Dear God, I want him to die. He's quite possibly the most annoying and worthless character I've ever had in a FF game, even more than Vaan in 12. The only reason I've used him at all is because I am forced to.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Assassin's Creed

Bought this cheap used (like $10) and giving it a try. It's...not bad. I like a lot of the ideas behind it (even how it's technically set in the future), but some of the execution just doesn't quite all gel together. The combat's decent, but not great. The exploration and building hopping is kinda fun, but it's not completely smooth. And what bothers me the most is they give you these wide areas to explore, yet you get in trouble for making your horse run faster than a trot.

 

[Frank]

Playing Borderlands with some friends and actually enjoying it this time. I have no idea why it clicked with me now and not when I first played it.

 

[Hailey Knight]

I wish they'd put The Legend of Dragoon on PSN. It's a Sony-owned game, so I don't understand why it's not there. I'd love to load that into my PSP. I never got to play it more than once because I lent it to a friend and it came back with a couple discs scratched.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

I wish they'd put The Legend of Dragoon on PSN. It's a Sony-owned game, so I don't understand why it's not there. I'd love to load that into my PSP. I never got to play it more than once because I lent it to a friend and it came back with a couple discs scratched.

I've never had the pleasure of playing it and always wanted to.

Of course, I want them to put out the Final Fantasty Anthology and Chronicles on PSN, too. And Spider-Man.

 

[figmentPez]

I'm playing Sam & Max Season 3: The Devils Playhouse: Episode 1 The Penal Zone. It's hilarious. I love the shtick where obvious villains try to sound harmless, but utterly fail and insult the heroes then break into maniacal laugher. It gets me every time someone does it well, and General Skun-ka'pe is a well voiced evil simian. I'm not very far in, so I won't comment on puzzles, but Max's psychic powers are fun.

 

[CynicismKills]

FFXIII is great. Lightning hits like a truck full of trucks, which have even more trucks inside.

 

[Bowielee]

I've actually been playing a free MMO that some guys at work suggested. Allod. It's pretty much an unabashed WoW clone, but I'm digging it so far, and hey, it's free.

 

[Hailey Knight]

I was enjoying FFXIII, and then around the latter end of the junkyard area I started feeling what other people were talking about and didn't wanna bother with it. Then I pushed myself on and got to the next section. Even though I had to control Hope, I did start enjoying the game again. In fact, controlling him and having to play healer made it interesting. It's gotten fun again.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

NHL '08

I'm not a sports guy by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought it'd be fun to have a couple of cheap sports games. After all, most sports games are just a fresh coat of paint and a few extra features every year. So, $5 well spent.

And I gotta say, it's DAMN fun, even though I neither understand the controls or half the rules. The only rule I know is "Get Puck in Other Guy's Net".

 

[@Li3n]

I'm back to trying to finish the expansions for HoMM3... i never seem to be able to finish everything at a time with it or HoMM4...

 

[bhamv3]

NHL '08

I'm not a sports guy by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought it'd be fun to have a couple of cheap sports games. After all, most sports games are just a fresh coat of paint and a few extra features every year. So, $5 well spent.

And I gotta say, it's DAMN fun, even though I neither understand the controls or half the rules. The only rule I know is "Get Puck in Other Guy's Net".

I learned everything I know about American football by playing Madden NFL. True story.

To this day I believe a goal line defense would work on the 50 yard line, because you're pretty much guaranteed a sack.

 

[Tinwhistler]

speaking of football, I'm currently playing blood bowl. I'm a big fan of turn based strategy, so I'm really liking the game. Especially when one of my dwarves kills a wood-elf on the way to touchdown.