What are you playing now?

[Maria Caliban]

Undead squid babies! Ahhhhh!

 

I started the second level and soon met a blind woman who's like 'thank goodness, you've come! I knew you would!' She then promptly dies. I stood there for several moments thinking 'Is this the love of Issac's life who just died? I can't tell. It could just be a random female NPC.'

 

I'm confused about the powers. I have three stasis packs in my inventory, does that mean I can only use the power three times before I have to recharge? How many times can I use the kenetic power? I don't have anything in my inventory for that, and it's working just fine.

 

Learned more about the mysterious and horrible backstory. Gasp! Shock! It seems to be based on a large group of people being so mind-bogglingly dumb as to be insane. I could understand if just one or two people were that dumb, but I'm listening to the audio logs thinking 'That's so far from a logical corse of action, it's in a different zip code.' Then again, it's a horror game.

 

I'm taking lots of damage now. I can handle one, maybe two critters, but more than that and I end up caught in a corner, trying to stomp/whack them while they take turns chewing on me.

 

I got a new weapon! The wide beam cutter. The game helpfully reminded me that each weapon has an alt firing mode so I tested it while in the store kiosk. The 'alt' firing is an explosive and I blew myself up.

[Calax]

Undead squid babies! Ahhhhh!

 

I started the second level and soon met a blind woman who's like 'thank goodness, you've come! I knew you would!' She then promptly dies. I stood there for several moments thinking 'Is this the love of Issac's life who just died? I can't tell. It could just be a random female NPC.'

 

I'm confused about the powers. I have three stasis packs in my inventory, does that mean I can only use the power three times before I have to recharge? How many times can I use the kenetic power? I don't have anything in my inventory for that, and it's working just fine.

 

Learned more about the mysterious and horrible backstory. Gasp! Shock! It seems to be based on a large group of people being so mind-bogglingly dumb as to be insane. I could understand if just one or two people were that dumb, but I'm listening to the audio logs thinking 'That's so far from a logical corse of action, it's in a different zip code.' Then again, it's a horror game.

 

I'm taking lots of damage now. I can handle one, maybe two critters, but more than that and I end up caught in a corner, trying to stomp/whack them while they take turns chewing on me.

 

I got a new weapon! The wide beam cutter. The game helpfully reminded me that each weapon has an alt firing mode so I tested it while in the store kiosk. The 'alt' firing is an explosive and I blew myself up.

On your back you've got your line of health and next to it is a little semicircle, the semicircle is the amount of time slowing "ammo" you've got. those packs refill that meter.

 

As to gunz all I have to say is that you should probably just stick with the basic plasma cutter and upgrade the hell out of it. It's best for cutting off limbs and it gets beastly later on. Also if you use only one weapon you only get ammo for that one weapon.

[Maria Caliban]

The wide beam cutter and the regular laser cutter seem to use the same ammo though..

 

Where is the meter for the kenetic power? Or is that little semi-circle your 'mana' for all of them?

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

As to gunz all I have to say is that you should probably just stick with the basic plasma cutter and upgrade the hell out of it. It's best for cutting off limbs and it gets beastly later on. Also if you use only one weapon you only get ammo for that one weapon.

 

Funny thing, at the beginning of the game you do get only the ammo for the guns you have, but by the end it is completely random.

 

You're going to want at least another weapon than the cutter for other monters. I suggest the ripper. Best weapon in the game, since it also replaces the Wide beam with its alternate fire.

 

 

Also, Easy is really easy. You can pretty much melee the **** out of everyone.

[Deraldin]

As to gunz all I have to say is that you should probably just stick with the basic plasma cutter and upgrade the hell out of it. It's best for cutting off limbs and it gets beastly later on. Also if you use only one weapon you only get ammo for that one weapon.

 

Funny thing, at the beginning of the game you do get only the ammo for the guns you have, but by the end it is completely random.

Yup. That was starting to happen to me around level 4. By level 5 I actually had to start buying some ammo for the plasma cutter because I wasn't getting enough drops. I stopped picking up all the ammo for weapons I didn't have except the stuff for the line cutter (I think) which sold for $1000 per piece.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Though, getting only one weapon makes it so you don't need to spend much money on power nodes. So basically you can just buy an insane amount of ammo and be okay for a while.

[Deraldin]

Though, getting only one weapon makes it so you don't need to spend much money on power nodes. So basically you can just buy an insane amount of ammo and be okay for a while.

 

That's pretty much what I did. I scavenged for anything I could sell for the first three levels or so and bought enough power nodes to fully upgrade the plasma cutter by level 3. Then I didn't know what to spend all my money on and kinda lost some of that motivation to horde everything I came across.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

While we're on the subject, DO NOT buy the flamethrower. It is the most useless and weak weapon in the game, even fully upgraded. It also takes an insane amount of ammo.

[Deraldin]

I went and joined what had to be the most intense (for me) normal level finale in L4D No Mercy. I jumped into a quick match that was just restarting the finale (they all died on normal?!), but I had no idea what difficulty we were on so I just went with the flow. It did seems a little easy now that I think of it. Anyway, we get through to the roof bunker and hole up in the closet (again, on normal. Who needs the closet on normal?). It was all going well until someone decided to throw a pipe bomb, but somehow missed the door and had it land back in the closet. I ended up at 35 health. We beat back the first wave and the first tank, but somewhere along the way one of us died so for the second wave we jumped up on the roof to get some more breathing space.

 

Again, we did well until the tank arrived. I'm not totally sure what happened, but a small horde spawned right before it. I killed the horde while the other two guys held off the tank. One of them got knocked off the roof by the tank and the other was constricted by a smoker just underneath the ladder to the gatling gun, but the tank was busy climbing the roof trying to get me. I ran around the two heating/cooling things on the roof so that he wouldn't be able to send me flying before jumping down, hopping the barbed ware and shooting the smoker in the face before I landed. Again, I'm not sure what happened next because I managed to free the guy from the smoker, but one second he's just standing there and the next he's gone and dead. He said he got knocked off the roof, but I never saw him move and the tank was still above him.

 

So with just myself and the tank left I ran backwards up the ramp to the helipad while shooting the tank in the face with my assault rifle. I got really lucky in that he didn't immediately follow me up the ramp. Instead he went beside the ramp and stopped to throw a rock at me while I keep pumping him full of lead. He throws his rock them pulls himself up onto the walkway and then wastes time trying to throw two rocks at me while I shoot him. Both rocks manage to hit me and take me down to 25 health. Out of the corner of my eye I see a boomer running around and I can hear both a hunter and a smoker somewhere nearby. Finally the tank charges me so I back up over the edge of the helipad and fall into the damaged section. As I drop I manage to kill the tank just as hits the edge of the pad. With one special infected taken care of I hop back up to wait for the helicopter, while wishing I still had a molotov. The helicopter swings in overhead and I turn to jump inside only to see a boomer had snuck up right behind me. I shoot him without thinking and get covered in boomer bile and taken down to 15 health. I can still hear that smoker and the hunter somewhere close by, but now I can also hear the horde coming for my boomer bile marinated corpse as I limp towards the copter. I managed to make it inside just before the horde gets to me and get to see half of them run over the edge as the helicopter flies off. Turns out the hunter was right below the helicopter.

 

All in all, my hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush, yeah it was only on normal, but it was still probably one of my favourite getaways ever.

[Theseus]

Just bought left 4 dead on STEAM! Now if it only downloaded faster... Also Downloading The Witcher EE, giving that another shot. The constant crashing bored me. Sigh, as did the crashing in Clear sky... And so many games of late.

[Tigranes]

Began Torment on 1280x800. ITS HEAVAN

[Slowtrain]

Began Torment on 1280x800. ITS HEAVAN

 

 

Very tiny people?

[Bokishi]

Dead Space.

 

Thanks to my new video card, I can actually play it.

 

Awesome! that game will scare you all the way to the very last 5 seconds

 

Interesting is that is the game I was playing when one of my old 8800s died out, and then EVGA sent me the new card, which I used to finish dead space, before selling the card to you. So your card must feel very familiar with that game lol

[Azure79]

Dead Space.

 

Thanks to my new video card, I can actually play it.

 

Awesome! that game will scare you all the way to the very last 5 seconds

 

Interesting is that is the game I was playing when one of my old 8800s died out, and then EVGA sent me the new card, which I used to finish dead space, before selling the card to you. So your card must feel very familiar with that game lol

 

I have been playing Dead Space for PS3. It was pretty scary for the first few levels then I had my fully upgraded plasma cutter, which along with the slomo ability, could pretty much handle anything. After that the scary factor mostly went away.

 

I liked the zero-G environments and that boss battle in Zero-G. A great game.

 

Also Unitology seems to be a deliberate jab at Scientology. haha.

[Deraldin]

Just bought left 4 dead on STEAM! Now if it only downloaded faster... Also Downloading The Witcher EE, giving that another shot. The constant crashing bored me. Sigh, as did the crashing in Clear sky... And so many games of late.

 

What is you SteamID?

[Enoch]

Began Torment on 1280x800. ITS HEAVAN

 

 

Very tiny people?

I posted a pic over in the screenshots thread at that resolution. The characters are a pretty good size, about equivalent to playing NWN2 zoomed out as far as it goes. And it really gives you a better appreciation for all the lovely background art.

 

Anyhow, I'm going through the worst part of the game now-- the Curst caverns/prison. It's been a long time since I've played an IE game, and I had forgotten how useful (essential, even) "pull" tactics were, especially when combined with a stealthed thief waiting to backstab the opponent when they get to your fighter wall. The tedium of re-setting the line, stealthing Annah, sending Morte out to draw another Guard or two, killing, looting, and repeating over and over again makes me wonder how I ever got through Icewind Dale. I know the IWD controls were better and all (PS:T radial menu is teh suck), but it's still rather mind-numbing.

Edited February 16, 2009 by Enoch

[Tigranes]

There are options for font size increases, but they are hardly needed IMO. I'm experiencing a few errors (like minimal flickeryness in the fog of war when I move the screen around) but it is wonderful. Things look really good, and at this resolution the character animations, like your zombie disguise in the Mortuary, are nice to look at.

 

For the last couple of years I've been playing Torment windowed, and it's I think detracted from the playing experience, by making me so distracted. I started with a 15INT/17WIS player and am going through very slowly and trying to roleplay a bit - after all these playthroughs it's the first time I've dismantled the big skeletons in the Mortuary lobby, for instance.

 

Enoch, I always just used Annah to sneak past everything. If I absolutely had to fight (or were discovered) I'd try and lure all the guards on a level to one place, then use some high level AOE magics from TNO. It's actually quite fun/challenging that way.

[Deadly_Nightshade]

I'm going to play some L4D with my dad via LAN, if he likes the game I'm going to buy him a copy (he's using one of my friend's Steam account, although she might drop into the game later if it's not going well).

[GreasyDogMeat]

Lots of RE5 demo coop. I've always loved coop modes, but this is the first time where a coop mode has been so many leagues better than the single player portion.

 

Playing just two short levels over and over for hours on end in coop mode has me nothing but excited for the full version.

 

Also been playing a lot of GTA IV. Every game should have physics like GTA IV! I might be in the minority, but I prefer the silent anti-hero of GTA 3 to any of the 'talkie' sequels. In 3 it was like you were the character, but in the sequels you have to control some jack ass whether you like them or not.

[Pidesco]

Cake - Ain't No Good

 

It's an awesome song to play in Audiosurf and I'm now its elite champion.

[Starwars]

After having finished KOTOR2 I figured, what the hell... Might as well give KOTOR1 a replay as well. And yeah, it's only confirming my belief that KOTOR2 is a much more interesting game than KOTOR1... Still, I'm determined to at least play to that last planet (before the Star Forge). We'll see if I can take the boredom beyond that. I always hated that last planet and the Star Forge.

 

At least Canderous is pretty cool. And KOTOR2 is one of those experiences where it sort of gives the prior game some extra layer. I always felt that way about the Star Wars prequels -> the originals also. Yeah, there's a lot one can complain about in the prequels, no doubt about it. But all in all, I think the story presented there made the originals far stronger. Obviously, the KOTORs are a bit different since they're in order, but yeah... I feel KOTOR2s added depth really "spilled over" to KOTOR1 as well.

[Blodhemn]

Lots of RE5 demo coop. I've always loved coop modes, but this is the first time where a coop mode has been so many leagues better than the single player portion.

 

Playing just two short levels over and over for hours on end in coop mode has me nothing but excited for the full version.

 

Also been playing a lot of GTA IV. Every game should have physics like GTA IV! I might be in the minority, but I prefer the silent anti-hero of GTA 3 to any of the 'talkie' sequels. In 3 it was like you were the character, but in the sequels you have to control some jack ass whether you like them or not.

 

The coop is going to be great in RE5. If it weren't for that addition I doubt I'd care to play it but it was loads more fun.

[Blodhemn]

After having finished KOTOR2 I figured, what the hell... Might as well give KOTOR1 a replay as well. And yeah, it's only confirming my belief that KOTOR2 is a much more interesting game than KOTOR1... Still, I'm determined to at least play to that last planet (before the Star Forge). We'll see if I can take the boredom beyond that. I always hated that last planet and the Star Forge.

 

At least Canderous is pretty cool. And KOTOR2 is one of those experiences where it sort of gives the prior game some extra layer. I always felt that way about the Star Wars prequels -> the originals also. Yeah, there's a lot one can complain about in the prequels, no doubt about it. But all in all, I think the story presented there made the originals far stronger. Obviously, the KOTORs are a bit different since they're in order, but yeah... I feel KOTOR2s added depth really "spilled over" to KOTOR1 as well.

 

The story had a better approach in KOTOR 2 but to me, the worlds and quests and general gameplay were better in KOTOR 1.

 

Speaking of those games, I'm playing Mass Effect for the first time and it's almost laughable at how identical the game is to the KOTORS. I enjoy it, and the combat is better than I thought it'd be but ultimately I'm playing the same game here. I was hoping some level of interaction within the gameworld would improve or atleast the whole "run through blocky/empty corridors to achieve goal" would be lessened to a degree but nope, not at all.

[Maria Caliban]

Also, Easy is really easy. You can pretty much melee the **** out of everyone.

 

No you can't. Not unless you want to die.

 

I suppose I should clarify: if you're the type of person who can melee everyone on easy, you're the type of person who doesn't need to play easy.

 

I finished the first two parts of the medical ward and unlocked the third. I just now realized you could stomp open the boxes with the green lights on them. The third part is giving me trouble. After the two undead squid babies, I check the map and realize that after the set of double doors in front of me, there's a long corridor and then a save.

 

"Maria," I think, "I've only encountered two critters since the last save. I bet that long corridor is swarming with critters."

 

So I gird my loins, open the door, and proceed to die a few times. I manage to kill the first squid baby, then the floor crawler, then the runner rushes down the corridor to impale me. I shoot him and - oh wait! - now there are two of the regular guys, and while I try to take on one, the other begins chewing on me, I knock him off, and now a third has joined them. Trying to reload ammo and, wait, someone is chewing on me again. Knock everyone back and try to reload ammo and one stabs me and I fall into the sweet, sweet embrace of death.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Youch. I think I played this game too much. Easy is cake for me. :/