Hell Kitty

I think people post trailers of games that they are already anticipating, rather than a particular trailer being the reason they are interested. Personally I'm interested in Alan Wake because I'm a survival horror whore and I'm intrigued by the apparent open-worldness of the game. So far the trailers for AW haven't featured anything that has blown me away. Define "good-looking". Not all games are at the same technological level, and not all games have good art direction. I'd say if you honestly think all games look great, then you are simply easily pleased.

I'm almost at level 14 and I haven't found any other vaults, either. Of course, I haven't been doing the main quest that much. While doing the quest for to find the I got the locations of a whole bunch of vaults from the . I found Lincoln's Repeater, which I am currently wielding. I also managed to find on my own while exploring the information Three Dog would have given me as part of the main quest line. Have you found the lush green trees yet? I still only have the one.

I'm halfway to level 15 and I still haven't found any other vaults. Found all sorts of other interesting stuff though.

I think it's going to cure cancer.

FC2 & F3.

Hah, you couldn't possibly have tried SR2 if you think that. The SR series is quite happily ripping off GTA, but certainly not the latest one.

Yes, that was very funny wasn't it. Anyway, I wasn't trying to offer up some kind of perfect review system, I was trying to point out why I think the idea that "most of everything is crap" is ridiculous. It's like with people, there are those I trust, those I don't trust, and then there is everyone else. I don't trust or distrust them, I give them the benefit of the doubt. Sure, I could tell myself that I can't trust most people, that maybe I shouldn't trust most people, but it doesn't actually mean that most people are untrustworthy. Starting out at 5 really isn't cutting anything some slack, because starting in the middle of the road and taking off points to a minimum of 0 and adding them for a maximum of 10 is really no different from starting off at 0 and only adding points to a maximum of 10. People are so obsessed with the numbers, they just have to mean something in particular. For me a ranking of 5 says there is nothing good or bad about the product, it simply exists, which means uninteresting. My post does no such thing, and claiming I don't know "how the specialized press works" is pointless condescension. I'm not arguing for games journalists, claiming that there isn't a "give-and-take working relationship between journalists and companies", I'm arguing against those who dismiss any and all reviewers who give a top score and accusing them of being sellouts, based only on their own biased opinions. "I don't agree with game X getting a top score, refuse to believe the reviewer is giving an honest opinion, therefore they must be a sellout." Oh, and I didn't need to be careful not to quote your post directly because mine wasn't a direct response to yours. It's one thing to be aware of corruption in any type of business, it's another matter entirely to accuse anyone who operates a particular way of being corrupt when you have absolutely no evidence.

When people list game titles and assign them 10/10, as was done earlier in this thread, that doesn't actually tell me a damn thing about the game. When all I know is the score all I can assume is that it means "I love this game". The same is true of all reviews, professional or amateur, if all I'm going to look at is the score* all I can really tell is how much they might like or dislike that game. Ratings alone are worthless, and that's true of reviewers who only give top scores, reviewers who only give low scores, or reviewers who give a whole range of scores. It's also true of professional journalists, people who post reviews on their blogs or people that list game titles on forum threads. Reviews typically comment on similar types of games, but I don't think scores should be modified based on other games. Obviously holding off on a top score for future games is ridiculous ("This RPG is the best there has even been, but there might be a better one released in the future, so I'll only give it nine rubber chickens.") but how far back should reviewers go when comparing games to older titles? Fallout 1 & 2 will obviously be mentioned in reviews of Fallout 3, but should they also mention Wasteland? What about games that don't fit into one strict genre? Should the ratings for Far Cry 2 be modified based on straight shooters like Half-Life 2 and open world games like GTA4? As for the people who claim most everything is crap, well that's a completely useless point of view. Unless you've actually experienced most of everything you're just being pointlessly negative. For something to be crap I think absolutely everything about it has to be terrible, of the lowest quality possible, which would make for a score of 0/10, whereas it seems people use "crap" to mean "I don't like this for some reason". If I was going to review a game/book/movie/whatever and give it a score out of 10, then everything would start out at a 5. Pros would earn it points, cons would take points away. A score above 5 would mean the good outweighs the bad, a score below 5 means the bad outweighs the good. Folks like to complain about reviewers only ever giving high marks, but their own scales are just as bad, only the other way around. If something like Crysis is considered crap, then what score does trash like the latest Soldier of Fortune get? Everyone's a critic, but I don't think many have what it takes to give an honest critique. * How many people actually read the reviews they are criticizing before calling the reviewer a whore or a sellout based on a top score? Do you feel the same way about reviewers giving top scores to games you love? "Man, what a ****ing sellout, this game doesn't deserve a 10, it's merely a 9! Obviously paid off by the publisher." It's the body of the review that counts, but people seem more interested in ignoring that and focusing on the number, because a top mark means you can just tell they've been bribed. lol

It's much more of a straight shooter than STALKER. I've been running and gunning it, but now that I have a silenced MP5 I've been a lot sneakier. There are weapons stores stores all over the places, and they are all identical, just like the safehouses (heh, another similarity to Boiling Point). If the dealer is in the store, you can get a mission to unlock new weapons for sale. There is a computer in the store that allows you to buy new weapons and upgrades. When you buy a weapon it is placed in your armory which is the building next to every weapons store. They offer an unlimited supply of weapons you've bought, all in perfect condition, as well as ammo and grenades. You can also purchase storage crates, which come in primary, secondary and special varieties. You'll find them in every armory and safehouse, and they act kinda like the crates in Resident Evil, except they only hold one item at a time. Who is your number one, the one that offers alternative mission stuff? The Cuban woman, Flora, is mine. Also, what character did you pick? I'm Hakim Echebbi. I don't think it makes a difference, other what the arms holding your weapons looks like.

No you haven't, this doesn't use the CryEngine. As for modding, there is an editor, but I think it only does multiplayer maps. I'm sure someone will make an extractor for the game files but it's a bit early right now. I'd like it if enemies didn't respawn until you left that region, but so far it hasn't bothered me too much. Turning it off completely would eventually make for an empty gameworld. Anyway, after doing a bunch of missions for the weapons dealer and general exploration ( ) I took on my first mission. My bestest bud offered me an alternative plan, and the whole thing turned out to be a big pile of awesome. I'd like to know if different buddies offer different plans. Seems unlikely given the number of buddies. I've been saved a bunch of times now by my second bestest buddy. Once all the enemies in the area are dead your bud just stays in that area, and I felt kinda bad just leaving him there out in the middle of nowhere, but I didn't have any other choice. Next time you go to a safehouse they'll be there and they'll ask if you want them to stick around, which puts them back into "rescue ready" mode. I assume if I hit 0 life before that it's lights out for good.

I haven't played that yet, I figured I'd get through this and Fable 2 first.

Then I'd recommend FC2, if only because it's something different. I though S:CS started off well but was kind of a let down the further I got.

What? You mean people are posting comments condemning piracy? What on earth does that have to do with fighting piracy. Pirate downloads game, pirate downloaded DLC/patches/mods/whatever. How are people being rewarded or punished?

Oh I just realized what the special crates are for, awesome. MC: Have you played the original STALKER?

I don't get how DLC could possible fight off piracy. I pirates can get their hands on the original game, what's stopping them from getting the downloadable content?

With all the driving around I was reminded more of Boiling Point than STALKER. Except in BP at least I could pass through checkpoints unmolested thanks to alliances, but here it seem everyone wants to kill me. After the tutorial I was mostly hunting diamonds, which you find in almost exactly the same way you find artifacts in Clear Sky. I agree that it's annoying the when the map obscures your view, especially when diamond hunting, but I always have the map open when in a vehicle because it doesn't get in the way. Why can't he do that out of the vehicle? The first mission I took was from the arms dealer, involving eliminating some competition, which I did. Then I ran out of rifle ammo and didn't like my chances with just my pistol considering I was surrounded by a crapload of guys and more were coming, so I stole a jeep and got the hell out of there. I drove right past the two guard posts I had just cleaned out minutes and then they too started chasing me. Good times. Now I went back to the bar and me and Warren are going to go on a mission. I rescued Warren after stumbling across him while I was hunting for diamonds. My bestest homie is Flora and my second bestest is Ferenc? That guy who was with the IDF. How many pills do those containers have? I've used three already and I'm kinda paranoid I'm going to run out lost in the middle of the jungle and end up dying alone.

Everyone in this game falls in love with me at the drop of a hat. I gotta stop flexing the guns.

Just started Far Cry 2.

My dog led me to a treasure which turned out to be a condom, but it's too late, I've already had unprotected sex.

I was waiting a bazillion years for STALKER and that turned out pretty good, so I'm still looking forward to Alan Wake.

Currently finishing the storyline in SR2, then I've got Dead Space and Fable, and tomorrow I'll buy Far Cry 2 on PC. So many games, so little time.

People are aware that in this particular case there haven't been any threats of violence or any other craziness, right? Anyway, I mostly agree with that M. Zuhdi Jasser guy, but ultimately this is a product and Sony have made a business decision. I guess it's better to have Angry Internet Men against you than angry Muslims.

Try playing with only the Plasma Cutter, that's what I'm doing. Do you agree on the repetitiveness of the environments?

I really couldn't see them making such a big deal about a KOTOR 3 to be honest.

Dear Tigranes, I don't really know how to tell you this, but you're a pervert. I think I realised it when your dog ran amok at the mental hospital and I saw you sit on Donald Duck. I'm sure you're ashamed enough to understand how awful I've felt. I'm returning your ring to you, but I'll keep the oil stocks as a memory. You should also know that I told in my confession today about the apartment building. Go burn, Hell Kitty (What happened at the apartment building is what explains why he is such a pervert.)