Monte Carlo

Wow, what has the world got against you Scandies? You're such a nice bunch.

Seriously? I dunno it just feels different, even at it's darkest Ferelden is about as dark as a Ren Fair in Wisconsin.

The core game is the same but everything else has subtle or huge differences. The end result is a wholly different product. You can compare them as games but you;d be hard pressed to compare them as Fallout games. FNV is a Fallout game. F3 is epic fantasy (Oblivion) in a Fallout skin. I kinda see where you're coming from but no. A fantasy game as morally ambivalent and dark would be a nice change, though. As opposed to DaRK HeROiC FanTAsy!!!

Just finished a marathon 1.5 hour game of Company of Heroes Online. Red Ball Express is one of my least favourite maps for a number of reasons, it's like a bowling alley rather than a fire-and-move map. My Blitz commander got stuck at the northernmost VP, tied down by a fairly skilfull Ami Inf commander micro-ing MGs, mortars, AT with the odd blast of ranger attacks. We fought to a stalemate at this point, but he took the VP (damn that forward operating base ability, there's a house next to the VP he set it up in using a clever tactic of making a mortar off the bat to dislodge the MG team he knew I'd put in there to cover the point early doors). An all-arms defence (not good for a blitz commander) of AT guns, nebs and MGs allowed me to hold the line before I cranked out some armour. The American teams (this map is a 3 V 3) attacked with an armour heavy force up the centre of the map (I felt like I was letting the other two guys down as they'd taken their VPs) allowing us to arty-spam them with rockets and reactive arty. In the end the whole thing got very messy and it was a win on the tick-down timer to us with 2 VPs in the bag and one white with neither side in control. What I learnt from it is that on that map you need to go much further forward, but in my humble the way it's configured allows the Allied commander an advantage in that the gaps in hedgerows and terrain favour early inf spamming (and the early US game is all about spamming infantry). Anyway, am now level 35 but still nowhere near as good as I should be! Lest we forget, this game is completely free.

[dumbquestion] how do you get out of the over-the-shoulder view to look at your character 360? [/dumbquestion]

I think you can watch it legitimately on the link in my OP.

That's for you to decide... but it's on the FX Channel (Sky / Virgin Media etc).

Aren't Bio's games interactive comics anyway?

Hey, this aired last night on UK satellite TV The Walking Dead was not only cool but had Andrew Lincoln and Lennie Bennett in it, both Brit actors doing a Wire or Band of Brothers. I mean, Andrew Lincoln? Egg from This Life? It's like he's gone to the States and turned into a completely different actor but none the worse for it, his character was great. I liked the way the first thing he did after he was patched up was take a hot shower and put his Sheriff's uniform back on. Anyhoo, it was very good. It used all the zombie tropes as if it were the zombie version of a Jane Austen adaptation on the BBC but it was still really good. The scene with the tank was great. I'm sure most of you have seen it, but those of you who haven't might want to give it a try. Lastly --- Zombie apocalypse survival CRPG, L4D with a story and an inventory system? Yes please.

:/

Can anybody explain the lockpicking minigame to me? I absolutely freaking hate it. I HATE IT. It's spoiling an otherwise incredible game.

I give you Somalia and the retreat thereof. I also give you Kosovo / The Balkans where the US army adopted their infamous Force Protection doctrine. Not that the UN covered itself in glory in the Balkans but one expects a bit more gumption from the US Army.

Sorry, I invested in a set of Global knives and they've lasted 7 years and are as good as new. I use all of them.

Dude, if the cap fits.

We are completely relaxed about who is English nowadays, pardner. Welcome to the club.

I am a reasonably accomplished cook. My advice to the newbie is (a) buy a decent set of knives (b) one decent cast iron skillet and one decent casserole dish © find a cook book you like (d) learn to marinade and slow cook, both techniques are easy and provide good easy-win results for the neophyte cook (e) taste things, not eat things when you cook (f) choose a cuisine you like and learn why you like it, for me generally this means Italian which in turn means the provenance of ingredients. Italian food is awesomely simple to make and provides a impress your friends divident far beyond the effort you invested in making the meal (g) eat actively, not passively. Why does that taste good? How was it made? What was the technique? Etc (h) buy a small herb garden, you will save a small fortune (i) learn your way around a very basic wine list --- Why make all this effort? (a) life's too short not to eat well (b) the opposite sex, and indeed probably the same one, will love the fact that they've met a cook © one of the most generous yet easy ways to engage with another human being is to make them something to eat (d) it's cheaper than going to a restaurant (e) cooking can be deeply relaxing

Clinton definitely wouldn't have. Clinton turned the US military into a risk-averse joke. Bush turned it back into an awesome war fighting machine. You can think of that what you will, personally I make it a good thing by the by.

Bioware are redefining the RPG by turning it into, as Boo says, into Tomb Raider. Maria makes an astute, well-observed point, WRPGs have lines in the sand. One by one Bio have eliminated them, hey they'll probably be making Final Fantasy type games within five years. Basically, Bio are making games uniquely tailored to make me not want to buy them, it's an interesting journey made even more odd by the fact that Dragon Age: Origins was so nearly there and a good game to boot. The pattern is familiar too - make a really good game, then five lame ones, then a good one... rinse and repeat.

If John Kerry had been President in September 2001 do you think he'd have ended up invading Iraq? Honest question from curious Brit, I suspect he would have. All I'm saying is that Democrats are just as up for foreign military commitments when the situation demands. Similarly, talking about blaming your predecessor, George W Bush inherited an anti-Jihadist problems that was fairly and squarely, 100% down to Bill Clinton and his tremulous, risk-averse White House. The Neo-Cons were in the driving seat not least because of the uselessness of the Clinton Whitehouse in the 1990's.

As long as my companions don't suddenly burst into a version of "The Lumberjack Song", then its probably OK. Face it, that would be awesome.

LOL! Try on 'it's a console game, inventories are for old farts with beards.' Which is the real reason.

I like this game because it feels sand-boxy. I might miss out on quests and conversations by killing certain factions but I'm not breaking the game. I'm assaulting the correctional facility at the moment because my chaotic neutral charmer-gunslinger doesn't like the cut of the power-gangers gib. I'm killing named NPCs but... so what? It's the antithesis of some of the stuff I had to put up with in Dragon Age.

I bought the Top Gun soundtrack in 1986 and promptly crashed my first car listening to that very song shortly afterwards.

^ I guess it would be dumb not to factor EA into that equation.