What are you playing now?

[Majek]

Rogue Spear. Ah, when Rainbow Six was good. I would play Raven Shield but I lost my CDs, feh.

Now that was a great game. I lost my CD though :/

[Nepenthe]

The pre-Vegas Rainbow Six games were way too static and unforgiving. You would crawl around with the enemy standing completely still in randomized positons and they would shoot you smack in the head when the non-existant AI detected a single pixel of your hitbox. The ****ty AI killed both the action and the strategy

 

Hm, I disagree, I found them challenging and fun, not way too unforgiving or dull. Then again, I really enjoyed the planning aspect. You wouldn't get the "epic" firefights you do in Vegas, but Rainbow is supposed to "move silently, and strike like a thunderbolt" or something to that effect . The AI was bad in that it didn't really react to your presence as much as it should so ambushed were pretty easy, something the later ones are still guilty of. The whole appeal of the games was that they were unforgiving and realistic. The later ones sort of trade that for COD-esque non-stop action.

 

The AI was bad to the point that rainbow operatives were more likely to grenade themselves than the target room when breaching. Loved the game, but hated the stealth missions. And I probably occasionally do the opera mission in my sleep, God knows I spent enough time massaging the timing on that one.

[Oner]

Unreal 2 really hasn't aged well.

 

 

Thinking about it, it was old to begin with, just masked itself as a kid. Not unlike Bud Spencer.

[Calax]

I played the original Rainbow six games, and about the only thing I remember is that sometimes you'd go through the preplanned route (which was designed so that you'd hit all your objectives) and still be unable to complete. Also a specific level in the rain where you could just die from a sniper because he looked exactly like the background and was covered by the rain (that level of realism is not what you want in your games)

[Pidesco]

That just means you did the planning wrong. You are not going to waltz in a location before covering the higher ground for possible snipers.

[Matthew Rorie]

Got up to mission 12 or so in Uncharted 2 and will probably round it out this weekend. We'll see. Still need to finish up Tales of Vesperia and get through more of my roommate's copy of Arkham Asylum. Will try to knock that stuff out before Borderlands pops up on Steam on the 24th.

[Malcador]

The AI was bad to the point that rainbow operatives were more likely to grenade themselves than the target room when breaching. Loved the game, but hated the stealth missions. And I probably occasionally do the opera mission in my sleep, God knows I spent enough time massaging the timing on that one.

 

Oh that mission was great. I still remember failing because I shot a terrorist with FMJ, so it went through his head and into the hostage.

[Nepenthe]

The AI was bad to the point that rainbow operatives were more likely to grenade themselves than the target room when breaching. Loved the game, but hated the stealth missions. And I probably occasionally do the opera mission in my sleep, God knows I spent enough time massaging the timing on that one.

 

Oh that mission was great. I still remember failing because I shot a terrorist with FMJ, so it went through his head and into the hostage.

 

Of course, since the bad guys in that mission wore body armor, you were really supposed to use full metal jacket ammo, anyway

[Malcador]

Of course, since the bad guys in that mission wore body armor, you were really supposed to use full metal jacket ammo, anyway

 

Well not on their head. I knew I should have gone for a center mass shot

[alanschu]

Isn't that what you're supposed to do anyway!

 

 

The problem with games like Rainbow Six to me is usually that I find they're mostly just games of "attempt it, learn where guys are by dying to them, and then use that metagame knowledge to complete the level on another attempt."

 

Hard as **** no doubt haha.

[Calax]

Isn't that what you're supposed to do anyway!

 

 

The problem with games like Rainbow Six to me is usually that I find they're mostly just games of "attempt it, learn where guys are by dying to them, and then use that metagame knowledge to complete the level on another attempt."

 

Hard as **** no doubt haha.

Aka, the "Trial and Error" method of difficulty curve.

[Magnum Opus]

Currently playing Fallout 3 GotY.

 

Soon-to-be-playing: Risen. Found the thing in a local Future Shop this Tuesday when I went in there looking for something else entirely, so I picked it up.

[Starwars]

Picked up the Russian version of STALKER, Call of Pripyat (yes, I didn't want to wait anymore) yesterday, applied a fan translation (work in progress) and am playing it. I am very impressed with this so far, it's far better than Clear Sky and I can easily see myself liking it more than Shadow of Chernobyl if it keeps up.

I kinda regret getting the Russian version now though since most quests are a bit more involved than what we've seen before in the series, and it would've been nice to get the best experience right away.

 

But oh well, the game is fun as hell at least. Really good so far and I'd highly recommend picking it up once it gets released outside of Russia.

 

Also, still playing Tropico 3 every now and then. I'm finding it's a great game to relax with, just like Tropico 1.

[alanschu]

Is the world still overpopulated?

 

I was disappointed in the wasteland games that don't seem so wastelandy. Especially when respawns happen every 30 minutes like in the first STALKER.

[Slowtrain]

Picked up the Russian version of STALKER, Call of Pripyat (yes, I didn't want to wait anymore) yesterday, applied a fan translation (work in progress) and am playing it. I am very impressed with this so far, it's far better than Clear Sky and I can easily see myself liking it more than Shadow of Chernobyl if it keeps up.

I kinda regret getting the Russian version now though since most quests are a bit more involved than what we've seen before in the series, and it would've been nice to get the best experience right away.

 

But oh well, the game is fun as hell at least. Really good so far and I'd highly recommend picking it up once it gets released outside of Russia.

 

 

Good news. I'm hoping this will be the best of the STALKER games, combining the best elements of SOC with the best elements of Clear Sky.

 

 

How does it feel length wise? Based on the development I have followed it is only 4 main maps (is that right?), but the map areas are supposed to be more complex than the other games.

[Purkake]

How does it feel length wise? Based on the development I have followed it is only 4 main maps (is that right?), but the map areas are supposed to be more complex than the other games.

 

It's three maps from what I've read.

[Slowtrain]

How does it feel length wise? Based on the development I have followed it is only 4 main maps (is that right?), but the map areas are supposed to be more complex than the other games.

 

It's three maps from what I've read.

 

 

Your probably right. So I'm definitely curious about how it feels lengthwise. It's more of an stand alone xpack than a full new game (Have to wait for STALKER 2 for that), so I wouldn't expect something as long as the original SOC, but I am wondering if it is even shorter than Clear Sky.

[Starwars]

I haven't played for too long yet so I can't really comment on the length, but I'll say that the first area definetely feels open and large enough. I really don't feel "boxed in", and it's a lot of fun to explore. About the only flaw of the bigger maps is that I think they had to tone down some of the graphics options. For example, if you want to have textures at max plus all the fancy lighting, you have run a 64bit OS. I haven't looked into it much, but I read about it at their forums. I'm guessing it's the engine starting to show its age.

But yeah, for me (I'm running 32bit XP) it's totally worth it.

 

Is the world still overpopulated?

 

I was disappointed in the wasteland games that don't seem so wastelandy. Especially when respawns happen every 30 minutes like in the first STALKER.

 

It's honestly a bit hard to compare with the others given the changes in the maps. But as of yet, I really don't think this one feel overpopulated. But I haven't really learned the spawns yet either so we'll see. Again, given that the levels are more opened up, most of the time you can avoid conflict.

 

But yeah, keep in mind that this is all first impressions of the game. The other STALKERs really went downhill in the final segments of the game, and I seem to recall reading somewhere that CoP also had one of those lovely corridor shooting sequences, though don't quote me on that.

 

And here's a cool thing that happened to me (typed on another forum first):

 

Was out pursuing a quest, nice day and sunny weather. Quite a long way from the "homebase" so to speak. Suddenly, radio message comes through... A blow-out is coming. Damnit. Check the map on the PDA, trying to see if there's any good shelter to be had near my location.

Good news is that there is. An old, large building lies nearby. As I get closer, I notice that it doesn't look particularly inviting but I don't really have a choice.

 

As I'm about to enter, I suddenly see blurred movement in one of the doors. All of a sudden I'm rushed by a bloodsucker which I manage to take down after some initial difficulty. I scout around briefly and spot another shape running around inside but he doesn't appear to see me.

Great, my only shelter is infested with bloodsuckers it seems.

 

I head inside carefully. Unfortunately, the buildings walls and windows are partially destroyed so it won't give me proper shelter from the blowout. But, I spot a ladder which leads underground. Having no choice, I descend into the dark.

 

I sit in this little room as blowout rages outside, flashes lighting up the architecture and then going dark again, desperately hoping that any mutants will happen to wander my way.

 

As it turns out, nothing more happens and I get the hell outta there as soon as the blowout ends, but damn. That was one of the creepiest things that ever happened to me in a videogame I think. It might not sound like much but if I had been ambushed there (and there were more bloodsuckers around which I saw later) I would've screamed like a little girl.

 

Awesome!

[Slowtrain]

That sounds great.

 

From what I understand blowouts are now truly random, rather than scripted, and any shelter will do rather than the "assigned" shelter zones of Clear Sky.

 

That's a big improvement.

 

 

Are the weapon/armor repair and upgrade mechanics from Clear Sky still in use?

 

Are there new weapons, armors, enemies? Clear Sky was a bit too recycled in that sense.

[Starwars]

I'm not entirerely sure how the blowout system works, but I believe there are some "assigned" shelters as you put it. When a blowout is about to happen, you get a message and "quest" on the PDA to find shelter. If you look on your map, it will point out the nearest place you can take shelter in. I'm not really sure how numerous the shelters are or anything and the blowouts themselves are thankfully fairly rare.

Plus, it's likely that you'll sleep through some of them as well (you can sleep in the first "base" at least).

 

The weapon and armor modifications is still in use from Clear Sky. That's probably my favourite feature of CS along with the new anomaly system and I'm glad they kept it. I didn't make it too far into CS though so I don't really know what was added and what was not and I've really only seen the newbie stuff in CoP so far. One thing they added that I believe weren't in the previous games is a seperate slot for helmets.

 

I hear CoP adds in some mutants that were cut from the original STALKER. These have already been introduced in various mods for the other games but this is the first time they appear in a "vanilla" STALKER game. I haven't seen them yet though.

[Syraxis]

Has anyone played Resident Evil 5 for the PC? Does it play well with keyboard/mouse?

[Slowtrain]

I'm not entirerely sure how the blowout system works, but I believe there are some "assigned" shelters as you put it. When a blowout is about to happen, you get a message and "quest" on the PDA to find shelter. If you look on your map, it will point out the nearest place you can take shelter in. I'm not really sure how numerous the shelters are or anything and the blowouts themselves are thankfully fairly rare.

 

 

OK. That was pretty much the way it worked in CS as well. I thought they were going to make the blowout thing more dynamic.

 

In CS blowouts (non-story ones that is) only happened when you transitioned maps though. That would appear to be changed at least since you've only played on one map so far.

[I want teh kotor 3]

Risen, Shadow Comlex, ME, and the original Fable... I might get in some SSBB...

[Starwars]

In CS blowouts (non-story ones that is) only happened when you transitioned maps though. That would appear to be changed at least since you've only played on one map so far.

 

Yeah, I haven't noticed any clear pattern to when they happen at least. Guessing there's a set minimum timer between them (like one in-game day for example), and then a random percentage after that. It's pretty cool how STALKERs will scramble for shelter once it happens, and then once it's over you can walk around outside and see the dead bodies of the poor guys who didn't make it to a shelter.

[Slowtrain]

In CS blowouts (non-story ones that is) only happened when you transitioned maps though. That would appear to be changed at least since you've only played on one map so far.

 

Yeah, I haven't noticed any clear pattern to when they happen at least. Guessing there's a set minimum timer between them (like one in-game day for example), and then a random percentage after that. It's pretty cool how STALKERs will scramble for shelter once it happens, and then once it's over you can walk around outside and see the dead bodies of the poor guys who didn't make it to a shelter.

 

 

It's great news to hear you say good things about it.

 

 

Is the faction war concept completely gone from CoP?