Azure79

Are any of the main companions from DAO returning? I wouldn't mind seeing Oghren belching and farting his way through the free marches. Ahh, toilet humor...

I liked exploration in NV much better. There were some interesting places in Fallout 3 to be sure, but there was never anything interesting going on in them. I would run across a unique site and explore hoping to find interesting tidbits on what happened in that building. Usually what I got was a bunch of raiders/crab people/ghouls/supermutants which I had to kill. No talking, no negotiation, no related quests. I agree the Capitol Wasteland was great to look at and had atmosphere but overall there wasn't enough content in each location to mix things up and keep things interesting. In NV a lot of places had their own little backstory/history that made exploring interesting. I think Obs did a great job leading you from one location to the next and giving you options on how you could complete each location. It was more varied and more interesting and I knew every time I found a vault or other settlement, I was in for a good time.

Feeling a bit tired of all the action games I've been playing, so I decided to slow it down and enjoy some adventure games instead. I haven't played many so I'm starting with Broken Sword. I also have a whole bunch of Lucas Arts adventure games to go through.

Outcast was awesome for its time. The lightsaber battles had my jaw dropping. Might be laughable all these years later though. The powered up force powers were awesome too. I found this trick where you force jumped over an enemies head and then force pulled them as you passed over them and launched them thousands of feet into the air. Kyle Katarn made the new Star Wars Force Unleashed guy look like a pansy. The force powers were easy to use and extremely effective and it only took a couple of hits to down an enemy. With a cheat code you would end up chopping the storm troopers to pieces. I immediately noticed in the Force Unleashed demo how many damn hits the troopers took. Interesting. Will pick them up next time I see them on sale. Gameplay wise, Outcast is much better than Force Unleashed. You can map individual force powers to your keyboard for quick and easy access. You can just spam force speed to win most battles, but learning how to position Kyle and time certain lightsaber swings is really rewarding and very fun once you get a good grip on it. Definitely use the realistic lightsaber codes to make lightsaber duels deadly and fun. I remember the first encounter with a lightsaber wielding enemy in Outcast. I managed to cut him in half while nearly simultaneously force pushing him off a platform. He screamed all the way down. I was hooked after that point. Academy is also good as it introduces more lightsaber moves and gives you the option of wielding a saberstaff or dual lightsabers. The story isn't much to talk about, but the gameplay is still a lot of fun. As for Dark Forces 2, it's a classic but the graphics definitely don't hold up. Still the scope of the game and levels are massive and fun to explore. I think certain force powers are better implemented such as force jump and force speed, but that's just a personal preference. The story is also much better than Outcast and Academy with some well done cutscenes. The boss battles against the various dark jedi were the highlight for me, although the lightsaber combat isn't as refined. Still the gunplay is fun and the levels are great. Definitely worth a purchase. Mysteries of the Sith is an expansion to Dark Forces 2 where you play as Mara Jade. I don't remember much about the story or the levels, but I wasn't too impressed with it. It felt a little rushed and tacked on, but for the Steam price, still worth a playthrough. I haven't played the original Dark Forces, so can't give you input on that. I think the gameplay mechanics might be too old to really enjoy.

I've always liked the main theme in Jade Empire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHYARoLPpDw

I don't mind too much actually. I just preferred the dual wield warrior in DA because the 2 hander looked ludicrously slow and sword and shield warrior by itself wasn't too interesting to play. I always thought two handers should be hitting multiple enemies with every strike and strike faster but for less damage. I thought sword and shield fighters should have the option of using their shields offensively with every strike in tandem with their weapon. Kinda of like bash with shield to daze or knockdown enemy followed by a sword strike that is automatically a critical.

What the? I just learned that warriors can't dual wield weapons in DA2. My favorite character was a warrior with a nice mix of dual wield and sword/shield talents. He was great at dealing out massive damage when surrounded and dealing with tougher enemies solo. drats

Add Uncharted 3 for me. Both Uncharted games were a blast and definitely looking forward to the further adventures Nathan, Sully and Elena.

Finished Bioshock 2. Pretty good game. The freeze plasmid seems to be an instant win option though. Still an enjoyable experience. Was playing Just Cause 2 at the same time and it was crazy fun at first, with the zip line, parachute, vehicle hijacking and everything else you can do. I'm kinda bored now, since all the missions boil down to run in and kill/destroy everything in order to cause chaos. The environment and graphics are gorgeous though and the island is huge. It's good fun in short bursts. Seem to have trouble finishing open world games, with the exception of the two recent Fallout games. I guess I need a good narrative or story to push the game along or else I get lost doing a bunch of random stuff and then get bored.

Everyone pretty much mentioned what I'm getting. I'm also interested in that Hunted Demon Forge(?) game that Brian Fargo is doing. I like my generic fantasy (hey it's my guilty pleasure) and I like my 3rd person sword swinging action games (Ninja Gaiden and God of War) so if this can deliver on both while also giving me a riveting story, I'd be more than happy to purchase it.

I've listened to some of these and they're really good. I like the music one especially. Kudos for starting this thread.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

I agree, it sounds awesome. When's it out for PC?

I never played System Shock 2. There I said it.

Bioshock 2 I like the atmosphere. Gameplay is good too. I can never bring myself to harvest a little sister.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA This made me laugh uncontrollably.

Surprisingly the only game I've bought so far is Bioshock 2.

I didn't mind the camera I saw in the PC gameplay video. It could pan out enough to make me happy. Sure, I would have liked a full Iso-camera, but the one currently implemented is a nice compromise. After reading the various previews I'm starting to look forward to the game. I like the sound of the new crafting system, where you don't have to carry around odds and ends anymore. The skill system is more circular skill so it looks like there will be multiple pathways to the same point. I also like the sound of the new friend/rival system. Seems much more interesting than the approval/disapproval scheme.

Here we go again. My Steam catalog increases by leaps and bounds every holiday season.

I'm not sure if the attack animations are just choppy or they were moving too fast so it seemed like they were. Regardless, combat doesn't look too smooth. I don't like how there seems to be no physical interaction between bodies when they collide. Like when Hawke makes that jumping attack, he seems to land just on top of enemies, but they don't stumble or anything just phase out to the side. If they want to say 'action rpg' they should have the animations and physics to back up the action part. Running animations looked fine. I liked the mage combat animations. Much improved over the wavy hand gesturing and poses. No friendly fire except on nightmare? Camera pan out is good enough for me. I was afraid I'd be stuck way up close behind the shoulder, but what I see is good. I'm sure the HUD is a placeholder. Why would they make it more intrusive than the original right? Right? I don't want to see long health and magic bars across the bottom of the screen. The circle around the portraits was nice and unobtrusive. I was expecting something more like the DS3 presentation. Overall it seems lacking for a game coming out in 3 months.

I read more than post, but I've been on these boards awhile, and instantly recognized his name. Rest in Peace. My condolences to the family.

I hope the creators are space monkeys.

True, the plot was nothing to write home about, but it's not the main reason I enjoyed ME2. I think Bioware did a good job adding in various powers to standard 3rd person cover/shooter gameplay. Playing with a Vanguard, Adept, Sentinel was especially enjoyable in ME2 due to some of their unique powers. It's fun mixing the shooting and power aspects together. I have a couple save games at various points in the game and replay those missions from time to time just because I find it fun. My favorite is the Vanguard with the charge ability. Its really satisfying to fly across to battlefield and deliver a point blank shotgun blast to the enemy.

No. Their initial strategy depends on this, as their control of mass relays makes the "reaping" a walk in the park. As it fails this time around (as do their minions, the collectors), they opt for a direct assault, this time en masse as opposed to just Sovereign and his geth mooks. Clearly they believe that they can do pretty much what they want, and after getting seriously boned by humans twice in a row, lauching a strategic strike on Earth makes sense. It might not be the perfect strategy, but clearly if the Reapers picked the perfect strategy, they could just release a 5-minute CGI movie describing the destruction of the galaxy, no gameplay necessary. Of course they have to make some mistake sure. I am looking forward to the game to be sure. I hope Bioware is able to convey a real sense of urgency throughout the game. I think my mostly paragon Vanguard Shepard will be renegade this time around if every potential ally asks him to solve their problems before offering any aid, despite facing total annihilation.

I was never able to finish either Oblivion or Morrowind. I did manage complete Fallout 3, so hopefully Skyrim will be a better experience. I hope they learned a few things from Obsidian in regards to story-telling and such.