Llyranor

It's an element that may have worked in DX, but that doesn't make it crucial in an exploration game. You could just as well focus the gameplay on other aspects of exploration and make it just as enticing. For example, in this game I'm making for the PS3, there are toilets hidden throughout the gameworld. The player character can only go through a certain amount of time before his/her bladder/bowels give out, which then leads to interesting gameplay situations. As such, the player is encouraged to explore the environment, and search for the toilets of the world. Some of them are even very well-concealed. Furthermore, we even added time as an incentive to explore on a deadline, given that your bladder/bowels only have finite space. Now see, in our secret PS3 game, time is also another important resource in exploration, much as health was in DX. As developers, we thought it was a novel and different approach to exploration, rather than just hiding health kits or star maps like in every game ever made.

If you're ever near Charlottesville, feel free to contact Deadly_Nightshade in any way you can.

Hey, maybe this time they'll introduce interesting, well-developed characters like Carth Onasi.

More like you're fighting an army of Hades who all have the ability of pausing the game in order to put their crosshair square on your face.

This list is made obsolete by the inclusion of Jonathan Blow

Depends on the people. If you find a good group, playing against overwhelming challenges/odds can be pretty rewarding if the other players don't have Hades'es stuck up their Hades. Fun should, obviously, always be the first priority. I'd rather a game be too hard than too easy.

Yeah, ArmA (unpatched) didn't provide particularly enticing gameplay; or maybe it was just the badly designed campaign. One early mission had you sneak into a heavily-patrolled enemy camp at night and take out a bunch of tanks, by yourself. Enemy soldiers, of course, had the ability to shoot you down with deadly accuracy. Single shots from miles away during nighttime would take you out.

As a rental, it might work as a decent co-op action tactics-lite game, but don't expect any amount of higher-level strategy/tactics.

It's only 'not awful' if you overlook how simplified they made it to support gamepad controls. Rather than making a strategy game that'd work wonders with a gamepad, they took a PC RTS, took out a bunch of details, and simplified it for consoles. Removing clickfest micro'ing for the genre isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just not done well in this game. Oh sure, it's supposed to be more action-focused, more about the units! Instead, it just plays like a very simple rock-paper-scissors game. Ensemble overlooked extremely simple interface issues. Sure, you can tab between unit types in your group selection. Use a special attack, and whoops - all your marines wasted their grenades on one enemy. The game thus forces you to micromanage individual units - much like a PC RTS, just in a slightly different way. Only, you get to do it awkwardly with a gamepad. This game is really only for Halo Xbots.

I guess Morgoth got lucky lucky.

It's co-op, but it's also a piece of crap console RTS.

Portable Xcom/JA2 on DS with stylus controls would be nice

See, there's your problem. You're playing it wrong.

Hurlshot is the worst griefer ever. He'll just shoot you in the back whenever you play L4D with him.

I'm not sure myself. The campaign's been pretty good, it had some pretty awesome parts, but also some which I was less keen on. It certainly wasn't as fresh as Gears1's when that came out, but that's not really fair. I do have to say that I've felt slightly underwhelmed by it, but that's mostly a testament of how much more awesome Horde mode is.

Pixies is already harassing us via other methods. Please make him stop.

Like actually competent game design? Hahahahahahaha

Remember, if you get depressed over this, you can still ask taks for medical advice.

Sound? You should just stick with WoW, alanschu.

I tried logging into your account, and the password isn't even Llyranor. You piece of crap.

Whatever you do, don't follow pixies' advice. He sucks at guitars.

Like in Mass Effect, right?

Man, taks, you probably should see a doctor.

lol irony i dont even know what irony really is lol