Any good games coming out?

[Maria Caliban]

@Hell kitty

Wasn't ep. 4 entirely speculation by the journalists?

 

@Purkake

Mute protagonist is the only way to go and I'll punch anyone who disagrees.

 

*punch*

 

I'm not saying that I want cinematic third person cutscenes, but it feel really awkward when all the awesome characters are horribly compensating for that fact that you never say anything.

 

There has to be another way.

 

In general, a silent protagonist is fine, but for emotional scenes, watching that mute head nod silently tends to hurt the drama of the moment.

 

Edit: Wait, we're not talking about an RPG, but a FPS with a predefined protagonist. In that case, yes, full VO is always better.

Edited February 7, 2009 by Maria Caliban

[Moatilliatta]

@Hell kitty

Wasn't ep. 4 entirely speculation by the journalists?

 

@Purkake

Mute protagonist is the only way to go and I'll punch anyone who disagrees.

 

*punch*

 

I'm not saying that I want cinematic third person cutscenes, but it feel really awkward when all the awesome characters are horribly compensating for that fact that you never say anything.

 

There has to be another way.

 

In general, a silent protagonist is fine, but for emotional scenes, watching that mute head nod silently tends to hurt the drama of the moment.

 

Edit: Wait, we're not talking about an RPG, but a FPS with a predefined protagonist. In that case, yes, full VO is always better.

*punch*

[Purkake]

Her boobs are too small. Otherwise she's fine.

 

Maybe it's to balance out Judith Mossman with that tight sweater. No that I have anything against boobs, but if there is one thing that games need it is more chicks with small boobs.

 

Are there actually any other first person games where you are a mute protagonist and interact with people? JC Denton in Deus Ex was pretty quiet, but he did say stuff every now and then. Did the dude in Dark Messiah talk?

 

I think that they wanted to keep the HL1 thing, but it feels like it is really holding Valve back now.

Edited February 7, 2009 by Purkake

[Moatilliatta]

Bioshock protagonist is almost or completely mute if I remember correctly. He doesn't interact with a lot of people though.

[Purkake]

Bioshock protagonist is almost or completely mute if I remember correctly. He doesn't interact with a lot of people though.

 

There was that Andrew Ryan scene, but that was all a glorious metaphor about video games so it doesn't really count. Mostly it is the FEAR style - people talk to you over the radio stuff and you don't really need 2-way communication anyway.

Edited February 7, 2009 by Purkake

[Moatilliatta]

@Purkake

So for it to "count" it has to be about how much the NPC likes chicken?

Edited February 7, 2009 by Moatilliatta

[Purkake]

@Purkake

So for it to "count" it has to be about how much the NPC likes chicken?

 

Actually from what I remember of that scene, it was pretty much Andrew Ryan monologue-ing you and then

telling you that "a man chooses, a slave obeys" while you beat him with the golf club

. You pretty much didn't have to say anything. I guess they did it right then, maybe Valve really wanted to have dialog, but couldn't so it came off as awkward.

Edited February 7, 2009 by Purkake

[Wrath of Dagon]

HL2 is a very clever game, Halo 3 is really dumb, the stupid Brute apes just mill around in the background and politely take turns attacking one by one. Nevertheless, it was quite fun most of the time, except the last two levels which ruined the game for me, not to mention shamelessly ripping off Halo 1.

 

Half Life 2 is a very boring game. The stupid combine do nothing but run straight at you and provide no challenge at all because they only take 2 shots to the foot to die. If I have to stand there and listen to someone talk for 15 minutes one more time, the whole series is going in the garbage where it rightfully belongs. The only entertaining part of Half Life 2 was baiting the CP guys in the train station by continually throwing garbage at them and laughing in their face as they try to run after you only to slink away in defeat because they don't know how to jump a two foot barrier.

This is just me, but the reason Half Life 2 is so boring is because it's actually trying to convey a story. It was also pretty advanced when it came out in terms of enemy AI and some of the things you did. Only problem is everyone improved on the Half Life formula so much Half Life 2 seems to be boring (I'd probably put Call of Duty as the successor to Half Life in terms of story and gameplay)

 

And Dagon, I hated Halo2. It pulled the Metal Gear Solid 2 twist by having you run around as the Arbiter, and it didn't really have an ending. Other than that I found it to be a very by the book shooter.

 

Half Life wrote the book that halo went by btw.

I hated Halo 2 also. Well, it was average, but I hated how it ruined the previously very cool Halo universe. HL2 is good because it constantly throws you into different situations, and you have to figure out how to deal with them. I haven't played COD4, but COD2 just keeps respawning enemies and throwing them at you, and is very annoying with the grenade spam.

 

Also the way some of you are talking, you'd think HL2 was an RPG. The story is secondary for an FPS, and HL2 story isn't that great, but does the job. And human world being subjugated by aliens has tons of atmosphere, I don't understand that complaint at all. Also the best shooters I played are Halo, HL2 and Return to Wolfenstein, so I really don't know what these much better shooters are supposed to be.

[Mamoulian War]

Aah, but it depends which Halo! And everyone loves HL2, whachu talkin' bout Willis?

 

HL 2 sucks, nuff said

[Purkake]

HL2 is a very clever game, Halo 3 is really dumb, the stupid Brute apes just mill around in the background and politely take turns attacking one by one. Nevertheless, it was quite fun most of the time, except the last two levels which ruined the game for me, not to mention shamelessly ripping off Halo 1.

 

Half Life 2 is a very boring game. The stupid combine do nothing but run straight at you and provide no challenge at all because they only take 2 shots to the foot to die. If I have to stand there and listen to someone talk for 15 minutes one more time, the whole series is going in the garbage where it rightfully belongs. The only entertaining part of Half Life 2 was baiting the CP guys in the train station by continually throwing garbage at them and laughing in their face as they try to run after you only to slink away in defeat because they don't know how to jump a two foot barrier.

This is just me, but the reason Half Life 2 is so boring is because it's actually trying to convey a story. It was also pretty advanced when it came out in terms of enemy AI and some of the things you did. Only problem is everyone improved on the Half Life formula so much Half Life 2 seems to be boring (I'd probably put Call of Duty as the successor to Half Life in terms of story and gameplay)

 

And Dagon, I hated Halo2. It pulled the Metal Gear Solid 2 twist by having you run around as the Arbiter, and it didn't really have an ending. Other than that I found it to be a very by the book shooter.

 

Half Life wrote the book that halo went by btw.

I hated Halo 2 also. Well, it was average, but I hated how it ruined the previously very cool Halo universe. HL2 is good because it constantly throws you into different situations, and you have to figure out how to deal with them. I haven't played COD4, but COD2 just keeps respawning enemies and throwing them at you, and is very annoying with the grenade spam.

 

Also the way some of you are talking, you'd think HL2 was an RPG. The story is secondary for an FPS, and HL2 story isn't that great, but does the job. And human world being subjugated by aliens has tons of atmosphere, I don't understand that complaint at all. Also the best shooters I played are Halo, HL2 and Return to Wolfenstein, so I really don't know what these much better shooters are supposed to be.

 

Now that I think about it, the thing I like most about Half-Life's story is that, like Lost, it keeps me coming back for more. We still don't know who the G-Man is or where the story is going. I really want to see how it will end and where the characters will end up. It really isn't your average b-movie sci-fi plot.

[Mamoulian War]

Bring your +7 torches of console fanboy slaying, this is going to get ugly.

 

What's with the HL2 hate? The game came out in 2004, 5 years ago, of course it doesn't have all the finesse of today's shooters. Judge the game on it's own merits, it has more to offer than just shooting ala Halo.

 

It did not had half the finess of Half-Life 1, which is even older

Edited February 7, 2009 by Mamoulian War

[Purkake]

Bring your +7 torches of console fanboy slaying, this is going to get ugly.

 

What's with the HL2 hate? The game came out in 2004, 5 years ago, of course it doesn't have all the finesse of today's shooters. Judge the game on it's own merits, it has more to offer than just shooting ala Halo.

 

It did not had half the finess of Half-Life 2, which is even older

 

I presume you meant Halo. And as I said in the post you quoted HL2 has more to it than shooting stuff. The fun doesn't only come from shooting different colored aliens, but also from varying gameplay, puzzles and an interesting(to me at least) story.

[Mamoulian War]

Bring your +7 torches of console fanboy slaying, this is going to get ugly.

 

What's with the HL2 hate? The game came out in 2004, 5 years ago, of course it doesn't have all the finesse of today's shooters. Judge the game on it's own merits, it has more to offer than just shooting ala Halo.

 

It did not had half the finess of Half-Life 2, which is even older

 

I presume you meant Halo. And as I said in the post you quoted HL2 has more to it than shooting stuff. The fun doesn't only come from shooting different colored aliens, but also from varying gameplay, puzzles and an interesting(to me at least) story.

 

No i meant HalfLife 1 i just pressed wrong key Fixed already :D And I never played Halo nor any sequels, so i cant judge it.

Edited February 7, 2009 by Mamoulian War

[Deadly_Nightshade]

Her boobs are too small. Otherwise she's fine.

 

Nah... Her boobies are fine...

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Am I the only one who noticed HL2 didn't have any mood/ambiance at all? Except maybe for Ravenholm, but still.

 

 

Portal makes up for it though.

Objectively wrong.

The what WAS the mood? All I saw were regular farmhouses, some everyday beaches and cliffs, and typical europe-looking city with a few fugly black walls and screens added. It was pretty much "Humanity is in peril. Save them." Everyone's strangely cheerful attitude made the invading combine look like a joke.

 

Ravenholm had a nice zombie-town atmosphere though, if it weren't broken by the line of infinitely spawned zombies (I'm serious, you could see they were spawned at the exact same interval, too). And the Citadel was your average sci-fi citadel.

 

Basically what I'm saying is there was nothing of interest in the environments or set pieces.

[Calax]

Am I the only one who noticed HL2 didn't have any mood/ambiance at all? Except maybe for Ravenholm, but still.

 

 

Portal makes up for it though.

Objectively wrong.

The what WAS the mood? All I saw were regular farmhouses, some everyday beaches and cliffs, and typical europe-looking city with a few fugly black walls and screens added. It was pretty much "Humanity is in peril. Save them." Everyone's strangely cheerful attitude made the invading combine look like a joke.

 

Ravenholm had a nice zombie-town atmosphere though, if it weren't broken by the line of infinitely spawned zombies (I'm serious, you could see they were spawned at the exact same interval, too). And the Citadel was your average sci-fi citadel.

 

Basically what I'm saying is there was nothing of interest in the environments or set pieces.

For me Valve put together one of the best feelings of you're in something big, when you're zipping through the citadel in that people capture thing. I mean you look around and it's cavernous and there are striders walking so far below you they look like toys. Also some of the visuals are well done in Half Life (the destroyed city 17 for example). They do however have the problem of trying to keep the formula the same (with the story telling etc) when the formula has been done so much it falls into the "Seinfeld isn't funny" category.

[Musopticon?]

I don't know about Will, but for me it was the first time ever playing a messiah in a East-European dystopic scifi setting. The athmosphere was strong exactly because you were traveling through those regular farmhouses, beaches and rundown canals, it hooked me in because it could practically be Estonia or Latvia in 15-20 years, should some aliens decide to invade. Playing the main game was very much like a road trip through a local countryside twisted by that extraterrestial intrusion for me. Funnily enough, Valve relied more on the roadside picnic methaphor than a certain rival dev studio ever.

 

Anyways, it's sad that they practically cut 40% game by alpha. I really wanted to see stuff like that level with the drained seabed, zipping with the sand buggy between beached hulks of tankers and other craft and also see the original idea for Nova Prospekt(taking a train to the wasteland) and Lost Coast as a stop between Little Odessa and Lighthouse. Well, that dev time span was already horrendous anyway.

[Purkake]

I don't know about Will, but for me it was the first time ever playing a messiah in a East-European dystopic scifi setting. The athmosphere was strong exactly because you were traveling through those regular farmhouses, beaches and rundown canals, it hooked me in because it could practically be Estonia or Latvia in 15-20 years, should some aliens decide to invade. Playing the main game was very much like a road trip through a local countryside twisted by that extraterrestial intrusion for me. Funnily enough, Valve relied more on the roadside picnic methaphor than a certain rival dev studio ever.

 

Anyways, it's sad that they practically cut 40% game by alpha. I really wanted to see stuff like that level with the drained seabed, zipping with the sand buggy between beached hulks of tankers and other craft and also see the original idea for Nova Prospekt(taking a train to the wasteland) and Lost Coast as a stop between Little Odessa and Lighthouse. Well, that dev time span was already horrendous anyway.

 

Sorry to burst your bubble but the architecture is nothing like Estonia or even Latvia. It looks mostly Polish and Bulgarian with some Czech stuff thrown in. Estonia and Latvia are a bit too Eastern for that. Also the farmhouses and stuff is also different here and no canals

 

Still the architecture is good and consistent throughout the game and mixing alien with our own gives it an unique look. Much better than just generic sci-fi metal houses.

[Musopticon?]

It's a champloo of different European styles, mostly former East Bloc, but with a wealth of other stuff thrown in.

 

Trust me, I know it's not spot on Estonian. I have relatives there, I visit now and then. I'm just reminded of Eesti beaches and old villages, like say near Saaremaa, when I play the original campaign. And the starting metro station and with it's surroundings feels like Tallinn to me. But I guess you know it better, being a native.

 

And you have a pretty different notion of what's "Eastern" than me if you distance Czech from that.

 

Edit: Now that I think about it, they had a pretty wild idea of East Europe. Episode 2 feels like it's on the Alps, the end of regular game City 17 is suddenly a lot more Western than before and they can't decide whether to have their warning signs, news papers, notices etc in a random Slavic language or American English.

Edited February 8, 2009 by Musopticon?

[Purkake]

It's a champloo of different European styles, mostly former East Bloc, but with a wealth of other stuff thrown in.

 

Trust me, I know it's not spot on Estonian. I have relatives there, I visit now and then. I'm just reminded of Eesti beaches and old villages, like say near Saaremaa, when I play the original campaign. And the starting metro station and with it's surroundings feels like Tallinn to me. But I guess you know it better, being a native.

 

And you have a pretty different notion of what's "Eastern" than me if you distance Czech from that.

 

Yeah, I just never really got the "hey I can see my home from here" vibe, but some stuff looks kinda familiar, like the apartments and some of the roofs. Also, Saaremaa is awesome, I used to go there every summer.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

So you need to be European to enjoy Half-life 2?

[Humodour]

So you need to be European to enjoy Half-life 2?

 

Seems like it.

 

Don't get me wrong, HL2 was OK, but only Ravenholm and Episode 1 came close to matching HL1's motivation/adventurousness and atmosphere.

[Bos_hybrid]

So you need to be European to enjoy Half-life 2?

 

Seems like it.

 

 

Nope, this Aussie loves HL2.

[alanschu]

The funny thing about Half-Life 1 and Half-Life 2 was that I can't really put my finger on what made them fun. All I know is that they're both among the top games I have played for fun factor.

[karka]

I'm playing Painkiller and all I can say is it's much more fun than both HL games.