What are you playing now?

[Gorth]

Start of old thread

End of old thread

 

Almost finished my second play through of Mass Effect 1. Will share my thoughts later when finished with the second game. Didn't have 'Bring Down the Sky' for the first game, since the Electronic Arts help page had an 'expired' Serial No. They have since "reset" the serial no. and customers who bought ME retail or Steam can get it there.

 

Edit: "Been playing Galactic Civilization 2…I am never leaving the house again…"... is that the Stardock game?

[GhostofAnakin]

Playing some Spartan Ops in Halo 4. I'm enjoying it much, much more than the MP.

[BruceVC]

Start of old thread

End of old thread

 

Almost finished my second play through of Mass Effect 1. Will share my thoughts later when finished with the second game. Didn't have 'Bring Down the Sky' for the first game, since the Electronic Arts help page had an 'expired' Serial No. They have since "reset" the serial no. and customers who bought ME retail or Steam can get it there.

 

Edit: "Been playing Galactic Civilization 2…I am never leaving the house again…"... is that the Stardock game?

 

Gorth if there is anything you don't understand about the ME plot or universe please ask and I'll gladly explain. For many people the concepts of ME can be a little daunting

[AGX-17]

Start of old thread

End of old thread

 

Almost finished my second play through of Mass Effect 1. Will share my thoughts later when finished with the second game. Didn't have 'Bring Down the Sky' for the first game, since the Electronic Arts help page had an 'expired' Serial No. They have since "reset" the serial no. and customers who bought ME retail or Steam can get it there.

 

Edit: "Been playing Galactic Civilization 2…I am never leaving the house again…"... is that the Stardock game?

 

Gorth if there is anything you don't understand about the ME plot or universe please ask and I'll gladly explain. For many people the concepts of ME can be a little daunting

 

What's to explain? The entire codex for the ME series is so deliberately vague and full of weasel-words that it has effectively no value, frequently contradicts itself (even in the same installments,) betrays a total lack of even basic high school knowledge of biology on the part of its writers while ME2 and 3 show just how little thought they put into it all. Whereas ME's fans put way too much thought into all of it. It doesn't need explanation if there was nothing worth explaining in the first place.

 

I can't decide which is worse, the entry on Biotics ("it's space magic, not a living component of a community!") or Asari, who are repeatedly described as "CULTURAL" without any of that culture ever being defined beyond their expletives being "oh my GODDESS *wink wink nudge nudge* get it, guys?" and their culture demands they pork every animal in the universe aside from their own species.

Edited December 31, 2012 by AGX-17

[Gorth]

Ok, serious Mass Effect 1 question: Having played through that part twice, I still sit with a WTF expression on my face when it comes to the introduction of Cerberus. What I don't get is the 'Banes' part. It starts with thugs blackmailing Dr. Mitchell (sp?). You then chase the thugs away and get their boss' name. You then follow that lead and get told by Admiral Kahoku that he has been dead for years, oh btw. be a good guy and go find out what happened in the location his body was found. Ok, so who the heck was blackmailing the Dr.??? Cerberus doesn't strike me as somebody who is into racketeering and extortion of small businesses and individuals, their scope seems a lot larger than that (i.e. more like white collar crime if anything).

[AGX-17]

Ok, serious Mass Effect 1 question: Having played through that part twice, I still sit with a WTF expression on my face when it comes to the introduction of Cerberus. What I don't get is the 'Banes' part. It starts with thugs blackmailing Dr. Mitchell (sp?). You then chase the thugs away and get their boss' name. You then follow that lead and get told by Admiral Kahoku that he has been dead for years, oh btw. be a good guy and go find out what happened in the location his body was found. Ok, so who the heck was blackmailing the Dr.??? Cerberus doesn't strike me as somebody who is into racketeering and extortion of small businesses and individuals, their scope seems a lot larger than that (i.e. more like white collar crime if anything).

 

Cerberus was just a minor sub-quest enemy, (an alliance black ops group gone rogue,) in ME1, but the guy who was head writer of ME1 bailed and the guy who came up with Cerberus was made the new head writer for ME2. HENCE THE FALL. None of those plot details were explained because they were busy throwing the Reapers onto the back burner so they could make Cerberus from an appetizer into the main dish.

Edited December 31, 2012 by AGX-17

[mr insomniac]

It was a bugged quest, that's all. Incomplete. I dunno who Banes was supposed to end up being, and it bothered me too that I couldn't find out. I think Bioware just didn't clean up the quest. It happens.

[BruceVC]

Start of old thread

End of old thread

 

Almost finished my second play through of Mass Effect 1. Will share my thoughts later when finished with the second game. Didn't have 'Bring Down the Sky' for the first game, since the Electronic Arts help page had an 'expired' Serial No. They have since "reset" the serial no. and customers who bought ME retail or Steam can get it there.

 

Edit: "Been playing Galactic Civilization 2…I am never leaving the house again…"... is that the Stardock game?

 

Gorth if there is anything you don't understand about the ME plot or universe please ask and I'll gladly explain. For many people the concepts of ME can be a little daunting

 

What's to explain? The entire codex for the ME series is so deliberately vague and full of weasel-words that it has effectively no value, frequently contradicts itself (even in the same installments,) betrays a total lack of even basic high school knowledge of biology on the part of its writers while ME2 and 3 show just how little thought they put into it all. Whereas ME's fans put way too much thought into all of it. It doesn't need explanation if there was nothing worth explaining in the first place.

 

I can't decide which is worse, the entry on Biotics ("it's space magic, not a living component of a community!") or Asari, who are repeatedly described as "CULTURAL" without any of that culture ever being defined beyond their expletives being "oh my GODDESS *wink wink nudge nudge* get it, guys?" and their culture demands they pork every animal in the universe aside from their own species.

Your cynicism and, at times, your jaded outlook to games makes me laugh AGX

 

 

Ok, serious Mass Effect 1 question: Having played through that part twice, I still sit with a WTF expression on my face when it comes to the introduction of Cerberus. What I don't get is the 'Banes' part. It starts with thugs blackmailing Dr. Mitchell (sp?). You then chase the thugs away and get their boss' name. You then follow that lead and get told by Admiral Kahoku that he has been dead for years, oh btw. be a good guy and go find out what happened in the location his body was found. Ok, so who the heck was blackmailing the Dr.??? Cerberus doesn't strike me as somebody who is into racketeering and extortion of small businesses and individuals, their scope seems a lot larger than that (i.e. more like white collar crime if anything).

 

 

Cerberus was just a minor sub-quest enemy, (an alliance black ops group gone rogue,) in ME1, but the guy who was head writer of ME1 bailed and the guy who came up with Cerberus was made the new head writer for ME2. HENCE THE FALL. None of those plot details were explained because they were busy throwing the Reapers onto the back burner so they could make Cerberus from an appetizer into the main dish.

 

I am glad you answered that question. That seems like an accurate response

[Starwars]

Played through the first episode of the Walking Dead. Pretty impressed all in all. Not so much with the actual out-of-conversation gameplay, I don't much like the QTE-like events (I really have a hard time with some of the mouse targetting at times). But the conversation and choice stuff works quite well and is engaging. Looking forward to playing more.

Edited December 31, 2012 by Starwars

[Undecaf]

Had to take a break from Giana Sister because the second to last mission is just impossible... well not really impossible, but I bumbed a sort of a limit after dying about 60 or 70 times just on the first few steps.

 

Having a semi-fun time with Sleeping Dogs, now. Not as heavyhanded or difficult as GTA, but not quite as "gripping" either. Doing the missions in turns (triads, then cops, then triads, then cops...) as they are presented and following how the storyline unfolds, I can't stop wondering how the game would've felt if it was made an RPG with playerdriven storyline, choices, consequences (and with a lot better skillsystem) the whole nine yards.

[AGX-17]

Your cynicism and, at times, your jaded outlook to games makes me laugh AGX

 

Mass Effect =/= "games". Anyone who's not cynical about Bioware at this point is probably wondering about the chemical composition and flavor of Tali's urine on the Bioware Social Network forums. I shouldn't have to link this article so often. http://www.something...cial-forums.php

The screenshots of this stuff and the ensuing influx of 4chan trolls is what caused them to specifically state things like "This forum is for positive and friendly discussion on the upcoming Dragon Age III Inquisition game."... Well, it might also have been the "END OF RINE" posts.

Edited December 31, 2012 by AGX-17

[melkathi]

Had to take a break from Giana Sister because the second to last mission is just impossible... well not really impossible, but I bumbed a sort of a limit after dying about 60 or 70 times just on the first few steps.

 

Is that where you have to slime/box jump onto a platform with rotating skulls/smiley spikey faces and then jump to the next platform with those?

That gave me quite a headache.

The rest of the level is a cake walk in comparison and so is the last level.

The final boss on the other hand... completly different story. Stuck there for a week now.

[Undecaf]

Had to take a break from Giana Sister because the second to last mission is just impossible... well not really impossible, but I bumbed a sort of a limit after dying about 60 or 70 times just on the first few steps.

 

Is that where you have to slime/box jump onto a platform with rotating skulls/smiley spikey faces and then jump to the next platform with those?

That gave me quite a headache.

The rest of the level is a cake walk in comparison and so is the last level.

The final boss on the other hand... completly different story. Stuck there for a week now.

 

That exact level. It's pretty painful with a keyboard. I got the second ledge once, but the character took slide to break down and fell off... and died, died, died, died, died..... I'll take on it when my blood pressure stops rising when thinking abou it.

[melkathi]

Yeah keyboard player here as well. Did the exact same thing: Took a couple of days break. Then in frustration I watched a Let's Play and noticed with what ease other people did it. Went back to the game and suddenly passed the point in one go.

[AwesomeOcelot]

I would have never completed Giana on a keyboard, I used a 360 pad as I do with all platformers except Dustforce. I didn't have much trouble apart from the last boss, which was all kinds of unfair. I completed it, but I just ended up alt tabbing and taking a break, complaining about it in the forums, because the way random attacks stacked made it almost impossible most of the time, but they patched it later.

 

Been playing Fly'n today, it has the same mechanic as Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams but so far it's not as good. The control isn't as precise, and it's hard to see the transitions. Also there are mechanics that aren't intuitive and aren't explained to you at all. It looks absolutely fantastic though.

[Lexx]

Started playing MGS4. The beginning was quite boring, but it got better after a while. Though, I can't shake off the feeling that I am watching more videos than actually playing the game. The playable parts in the maps are really short and I am pretty much only running from checkpoint to checkpoint so far.

[Labadal]

I enjoyed the first level or two in MGS4, then it basically felt like 10 minute cutscenes, 5 minutes of gameplay, rinse and repeat.

[melkathi]

I would have never completed Giana on a keyboard, I used a 360 pad as I do with all platformers except Dustforce. I didn't have much trouble apart from the last boss, which was all kinds of unfair. I completed it, but I just ended up alt tabbing and taking a break, complaining about it in the forums, because the way random attacks stacked made it almost impossible most of the time, but they patched it later.

 

Been playing Fly'n today, it has the same mechanic as Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams but so far it's not as good. The control isn't as precise, and it's hard to see the transitions. Also there are mechanics that aren't intuitive and aren't explained to you at all. It looks absolutely fantastic though.

 

 

You didn't complain much though as I hardly remember those complaints

Edited January 1, 2013 by melkathi

[Labadal]

Played Planescape: Torment for 8 hours straight. First playthrough was many years ago as fighter with lots of STR and CON. This time, I'm doing it with INT, WIS and CHA. So much better. You also get a better understanding about some comments different characters make.

[AwesomeOcelot]

I've got to be close to the end, 8 hours into Tomb Raider Underworld, and it's so much better than Legend it's unreal. The story, the puzzles, the combat, and the setting are way more like the original Tomb Raider. You get to actually explore ancient tombs that are big and look cool, with massive set piece puzzles. No QTE so far, no horrendous on rails vehicle sections. None of the game breaking bugs that only effect the PC ports of Anniversary and Legend, so that's great.

 

It still has the daftest camera system I have ever encountered. Want to climb a wall? Well you can't because we're going to shove the camera so far up Lara's arse you won't be able to see daylight. Want to dogde axes and spikes coming out of the wall? Tough **** because we're going to inexplicably suddenly change the camera angle in the middle of it making you run at a 90 degree angle from where you were running. Legend and Anniversary had this camera system too, I really wonder how developers think it's completely fine. The platforming engine is just incredibly buggy like Legend and Anniversary, bad grabs, stuck in the falling animation on flat land, not doing the animation that tells you which way you're going to jump, not jumping, it's all there but they're obviously bugs (which never got fixed in the 6 years the engine has been around). The thing about the camera system is that someone actually thought it was a good idea, mentally deficient people, people who want games to be "cinematic".

 

It's a pity Tomb Raider (2013) looks so ****.

 

 

I would have never completed Giana on a keyboard, I used a 360 pad as I do with all platformers except Dustforce. I didn't have much trouble apart from the last boss, which was all kinds of unfair. I completed it, but I just ended up alt tabbing and taking a break, complaining about it in the forums, because the way random attacks stacked made it almost impossible most of the time, but they patched it later.

 

Been playing Fly'n today, it has the same mechanic as Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams but so far it's not as good. The control isn't as precise, and it's hard to see the transitions. Also there are mechanics that aren't intuitive and aren't explained to you at all. It looks absolutely fantastic though.

 

 

You didn't complain much though as I hardly remember those complaints

 

On the official Giana forums, I think some of my suggestions made it into the patch, I must have attempted the last boss close to 200 times, I imagine most people gave up.

Edited January 1, 2013 by AwesomeOcelot

[melkathi]

 

 

On the official Giana forums, I think some of my suggetions made it into the patch, I must have attempted the last boss close to 200 times, I imagine most people gave up.

 

I haven't given up as such, I am taking breaks between attempts

That's the forum I thought you were refering to. I have a stupidly high post count there...

[SupidSeep]

Replaying Fallout:New Vegas:

 

Current Level: 18

Planned Destination: Vault 34 (the one full of radiation and feral ghouls)

Nagging Question: Should I bring my brand new fully-modded Katana or raid Camp Searchlight first for a big solid Fire Axe for zombie-gibbing? Nope, I'm not a Super-Sledge fan.

[Lexx]

Still playing MGS4. The last chapter statistic screen told me that I needed 12 hours for it... But I hardly believe that I played this time. My personal guess is, that I was watching 8 hours of film and the remaining 4 hours are true playtime. Wonder if this will change again later or if it keeps showing me cutscenes every 10 meters.

 

So far I can't understand how the game could get so many positive reviews back in the days. I mean, yeah, it looks well made and stuff, but... I am not really playing, I am watching.

[Labadal]

Still playing MGS4. The last chapter statistic screen told me that I needed 12 hours for it... But I hardly believe that I played this time. My personal guess is, that I was watching 8 hours of film and the remaining 4 hours are true playtime. Wonder if this will change again later or if it keeps showing me cutscenes every 10 meters.

 

So far I can't understand how the game could get so many positive reviews back in the days. I mean, yeah, it looks well made and stuff, but... I am not really playing, I am watching.

 

The funny thing is that I liked the parts where I got to play.

[Katphood]

Dragon Age 2: I think it's a major step in the right direction because I'm a console-tard.

 

Crysis 2: Gameplay is good, the graphics and the atmosphere of the game are amazing, but the story is so badly told that I'm still scratching my head here after 7 hours of gameplay or so. Who am I? Who am I killing? Why am I doing all of this and why the hell should I care?!!!