What are you playing now?

[Tale]

This sale is killing me. I got Dark Souls and Sleeping Dogs today.

 

Sleeping Dogs, AWAY. I hope the kung fu action makes up for not being able to hijack jets. Just Cause 2 and Saint's Row The Third spoiled me on that. GTA 4 bored me.

[Katphood]

Man, Just Cause 2 was loads and loads of fun!

 

Me, performing some "stunts":

 

 

[LadyCrimson]

I'm quite enjoying Far Cry 3 so far. The only thing that's slightly annoying is I can't seem to go anywhere on the island without running into enemies, and I simply can't lose them. They track me down and call in reinforcements so I end up having to kill them all.

Is it as "free roaming" as they say? I read after doing some of the main plot stuff to get skills or something etc. you could then just wander around a long time instead, if you wanted. I was half tempted because it sounded more exploratory than most shooters but I'll probably wait for a good sale before trying it.

[Lexx]

I don't think it is *that* exploratory. You can run around and stuff, but there isn't much to interact with. Other than hunting animals, killing the baddies or doing some mini-side-quests content like racing or package delivery, there isn't much to do. At least I personally would still only play it for the story and not for all the other stuff, because all the other stuff gets repitative very fast.

[GhostofAnakin]

Is it as "free roaming" as they say? I read after doing some of the main plot stuff to get skills or something etc. you could then just wander around a long time instead, if you wanted. I was half tempted because it sounded more exploratory than most shooters but I'll probably wait for a good sale before trying it.

 

So far it is. I'm early in the game (only done two "main" missions), and I'm just running around the island either doing sidequests or just exploring.

 

There's a part that's similar to those perches on high buildings in Assassin's Creed, where in Far Cry you have radio towers you have to climb and switch on, it gives you details of the surrounding area. I've done a couple of those and just been going around picking up items or doing some exploring/beast hunting.

 

I don't know if it becomes less open the farther into the story you go, however. But right now it's, as the commercial says, like Skyrim (open world) with guns.

[Katphood]

This user-review explains why Far Cry 3 is so much fun:

 

http://www.giantbomb.com/far-cry-3/61-32933/user-reviews/?review_id=24688

[LadyCrimson]

I don't think it is *that* exploratory. You can run around and stuff, but there isn't much to interact with. Other than hunting animals, killing the baddies or doing some mini-side-quests content like racing or package delivery, there isn't much to do. At least I personally would still only play it for the story and not for all the other stuff, because all the other stuff gets repitative very fast.

Don't think I'd care about a Far Cry story.

Is the explore area large, tho? I mean, sometimes I can like a game simply for wandering the whole map and seeing what's there, even if I'm not really doing very much. Depends on the scenery. But if it's not really very big so you'd be done with that in 5 hours or something...well, anyway, like I said, when it's on sale. Then I won't mind either way.

[BruceVC]

This sale is killing me. I got Dark Souls and Sleeping Dogs today.

 

Sleeping Dogs, AWAY. I hope the kung fu action makes up for not being able to hijack jets. Just Cause 2 and Saint's Row The Third spoiled me on that. GTA 4 bored me.

 

Sleeping Dogs is very entertaining, I finished it today. Its basically GTA but with an Eastern theme, how can anyone not like that

 

It has this sizable game world that is beautifully rendered from a graphics perspective, I did download the High Res Mod, and a good system that makes you explore the city when you aren't doing missions. They place these statues and shrines throughout the city that when you find them they give you health and combat skills. Its a good way to motivate people to search the city.

 

I also found that by changing the game to Windows Mode instead of Full Screen it fixes a timing bug that you may experience on PC.

Edited January 3, 2013 by BruceVC

[Undecaf]

IMO I enjoy Skyrim for 2 main things:

 

1. Mindless exploration

 

2. Sneaking into a dungeon and snipe/backstab every hostile living/unliving thing without them ever finding me.

 

I found those two to get old pretty fast. But then... the storyline and sidequests didn't provide any notable remedy either because they essentially offered pretty much the same content (with, imo, not too captivating writing, to say it nicely). Nice looking and sounding but also a boring game.

[Tale]

Its basically GTA but with an Eastern theme, how can anyone not like that

Because GTA is boring as heck.

 

But I'm liking Sleeping Dogs for the combat.

[Malcador]

A neat feature was other mooks flinching as you snap another's leg. Of course the fact he can still stand after that is a bit of a downer, someday they'll make a game where they just lay there incapacitated and shrieking.

[Keyrock]

Just started Mirror's Edge. When you get that nice clean run going and the bullets are whizzing by your head it's a helluva rush.

[Lexx]

I don't think it is *that* exploratory. You can run around and stuff, but there isn't much to interact with. Other than hunting animals, killing the baddies or doing some mini-side-quests content like racing or package delivery, there isn't much to do. At least I personally would still only play it for the story and not for all the other stuff, because all the other stuff gets repitative very fast.

Don't think I'd care about a Far Cry story.

Is the explore area large, tho? I mean, sometimes I can like a game simply for wandering the whole map and seeing what's there, even if I'm not really doing very much. Depends on the scenery. But if it's not really very big so you'd be done with that in 5 hours or something...well, anyway, like I said, when it's on sale. Then I won't mind either way.

 

The story of FarCry3 doesn't seem to be that bad to me yet. At least it is a lot better done than in the first and second game. It also has a lot more variation so far (mission types in the main story are not the same over and over again).

[mkreku]

I played the **** out of FTL the past week. It was my crack/cocaine and I actually had to skip on sleep entirely (my sleep schedule is royally pooched at this point). 60 hours, and I installed it at around 8 PM on Thursday last week...

 

I bought FTL too because everyone said it is sooo good. Tried it a few days ago. Made a few ships that crashed and burned before I understood the tactics behind the game. When I did.. it became boring. I took my ship to the mother ship, but ran out of missiles. That meant that my 3 shot laser (I only had one weapon the entire time because noone sold any, no enemies drop any and you don't have time to search for any) could only remove 3 points from the enemy shield. There are no critical hits in the game so all I could do was reduce the shield three steps, wait for my weapon to reload during which time the enemy shield reloaded and then fire three shots again. Absolutely pointless. I had no options, there was nothing that could turn the tide, no tactics that could help.

 

I honestly don't get the love for this game. It's just too simple and shallow and entirely dependant on luck. If you find someone who sells a good weapon, you're set. If you don't, stack up on missiles. That's basically all there is to it.

 

Unless I'm missing something huge

[Hurlshort]

I enjoyed FTL a good deal, but I also found the mothership fairly impossible to beat. I made it there twice, and both times my ship that had done very well against everything couldn't get the job done.

[Gorgon]

Hubby: "Borderlands has spoiled me too much."

 

eg, it's the only game series he likes anymore. He looked at/tried a few games over the past week and nope. So we went through PT1 of BL2 with our Gunzerker/Commando combo. This time we did a lot of the side quests we haven't done before. But I'm going to get sick of BL2 again before long. heh.

 

P.S. - either patches changed a few combats since we played before, or the game changes them when you're a lot higher level when you hit them. It was odd. Like in Angel's chamber, it was always 4 pillars that sent out lightning streaks. This time it was eight and impossible to avoid them initially. Crazy.

You get the option 'playthrough mode' after beating the game. Adds new enemies and substitutes various baddies with beefier ones. Also randomly spawns enemies that are a few levels higher than you which is great equipment wise, your guns are no longer constantly decaying in relative level.

 

You would really be better off starting your game from lv 35 or so with someone elses save/profile. Various builds are possible and the combat is actually challenging. All that time you spend being low level is a huge waste since both quests and gear will become obsolete very quickly and you don't get to use your skills, or at least not the ones you wanted.

[AwesomeOcelot]

Still playing Fly'n, this game is one of the most infuriating I have ever played. The control is so twitchy, there's no precision but it's asking you to do Meat Boy level platforming. Physics is a bit suspect as well, sometimes you fly off walls and others times you stick to them when using the black and orange powers. The visuals are great but don't help the gameplay, there's white on white platforms, and there's two different types of red clouds but only one will kill you. The game zooms in and out making it hard to judge exactly how far you can rocket yourself to. The puzzles are more solved by perseverance than thinking as you can't really see what's going on at the limited view you get. On that note, things off screen can kill you instantly, like falling debris and toxic walls, and there's no signs whether something is an infinite pit or what machinery is going to do half the time. There's also a nasty habit of things like the wave of doom flowing in sync with how you progress, like in Sonic games, where it can suddenly start to go way faster as you reach a certain point, and if you hadn't anticipated this you're dead. The gameplay contains the mechanics of Giana, switching worlds, floating, and bashing, and 2D Sonic Colors, pink wisp and orange rocket (also Sonic Generations, and sticking is also in Gish). It's a stunning, charming, challenging, varied game, and if it wasn't for the crippled movement I could forgive the other flaws, it would be among the top 2D platformers.

Edited January 3, 2013 by AwesomeOcelot

[alanschu]

I honestly don't get the love for this game. It's just too simple and shallow and entirely dependant on luck. If you find someone who sells a good weapon, you're set. If you don't, stack up on missiles. That's basically all there is to it.

 

It is dependent on luck, but it's not at all "that's all there is to it."

 

The luck element works for the game because it's not very long (so if you fail on the mothership, you don't lose very much in terms of time investment). It means, however, that you can't just pick your optimal strategy all the time and go with it. There's also the traveling salesman aspect of it in terms of how to maximize your time in each sector (since each sector gets progressively more difficult) that tickles my computing science brain.

 

Factor in that different ships have different components and crew (and achievements that unlock other ship types), and the game can begin to tell some very interesting unique stories of the ship and crew every time that you play it.

 

Some aspects of the game are surprisingly deep for your actions as well. Killing the crew of a ship (whether by boarding it or using your weapons to do so), for instance, increases your salvage. In the event of slave ships, it can increase the odds of you choosing what type of crew member to get if the slave ship has slaves on board. Although killing all the crew on a slave ship by disabling their oxygen supply and letting them all slowly suffocate (and preventing them from repairing their O2 generator) will give you a message that all crew and slaves on board have suffocated, leaving you to only the (enhanced) salvage. Though hey, you did find a cool weapon on board, so it still worked out!

 

It's also still fun to learn of the alternative ways to solve things, based solely on your current equipment and crew. Find a story mission where a ship is on fire? Well it's a good thing you have a rockman on board (they're immune to fire). Or a system repair droid.

 

Simply having the goal of "defeat the mothership" isn't really why I enjoy this game. Defeating the mothership is pretty easy and I am able to successfully do it in the overwhelming majority of my games. The journey of this game is what I find fun, and no journey is ever the same.

 

 

The combat can be very tactical depending on what types of equipment you have as well. The enemy ship has 3 shields and I have 4 shots, but it's midgame so his dodge chance will be better. I can try to get 4 shots past and cripple his weapons (hopefully giving me more time and less damage against). I could take out the pilot room to remove the dodge chance, but if I'm unlucky the room is upgraded that won't work (of course, if I have enhanced sectors, I will have this information to help fuel my decision making process). I could try taking out the engines, which even if upgraded will at least reduce his dodge chance. Or I could try the shield itself, which would make the future attack waves easier to get past the shield generator.

 

Of course, I'll also need to evaluate what weapons the hostile has. Does he just haev beam weapons and I have level 4 shields with a fully upgraded crewman running the shields? Eh, I'll be fine. does he have nothing but breach missiles that will punch holes in my ship and suffocate me of my oxygen? Maybe weapons is more important than I was thinking.

Edited January 3, 2013 by alanschu

[LadyCrimson]

Hubby: "Borderlands has spoiled me too much."

 

eg, it's the only game series he likes anymore. He looked at/tried a few games over the past week and nope. So we went through PT1 of BL2 with our Gunzerker/Commando combo. This time we did a lot of the side quests we haven't done before. But I'm going to get sick of BL2 again before long. heh.

 

P.S. - either patches changed a few combats since we played before, or the game changes them when you're a lot higher level when you hit them. It was odd. Like in Angel's chamber, it was always 4 pillars that sent out lightning streaks. This time it was eight and impossible to avoid them initially. Crazy.

You get the option 'playthrough mode' after beating the game.

I'm aware of that - we've beaten the Truevault Hunter mode before and messed around after (also did that in the first game, multiple times).

Not all of us mind the leveling process, even if it means you need new gear now and then because of leveling. That's part of the fun of these types of games (vs. regular FPS with no leveling) for some folks. Once you're lvl 50 and have 1000000 pieces of farmed gear from farming the same bosses over and over, the game is boring. I tend to only get one or two chrs. to max level etc. and then ....it's more fun to start again, imo.

[WDeranged]

I felt like a change of pace and installed Supreme Commander : Forged Alliance, I love these games, the constant micromanagement sucks all your attention, leaving a cup of tea stone cold and a cigarette burnt away to nothing in the ashtray...great for taking your mind off things

Edited January 3, 2013 by WDeranged

[GhostofAnakin]

Reclaiming those towns/villages/outposts is pretty fun in Far Cry 3. I've got a sniper rifle now, and upgraded it to include a silencer. I just stand up on some hill, and take out the individual bad guys one at a time without them even realizing it.

[LadyCrimson]

Reclaiming those towns/villages/outposts is pretty fun in Far Cry 3. I've got a sniper rifle now, and upgraded it to include a silencer. I just stand up on some hill, and take out the individual bad guys one at a time without them even realizing it.

Oooo so the sniping game is good? I love taking out the baddies from a distance like that. So far away they don't even know you're there. Darn you, stop tempting me to get the game now. Must...wait...for...sale.

[AGX-17]

Hubby: "Borderlands has spoiled me too much."

 

eg, it's the only game series he likes anymore. He looked at/tried a few games over the past week and nope. So we went through PT1 of BL2 with our Gunzerker/Commando combo. This time we did a lot of the side quests we haven't done before. But I'm going to get sick of BL2 again before long. heh.

 

P.S. - either patches changed a few combats since we played before, or the game changes them when you're a lot higher level when you hit them. It was odd. Like in Angel's chamber, it was always 4 pillars that sent out lightning streaks. This time it was eight and impossible to avoid them initially. Crazy.

You get the option 'playthrough mode' after beating the game. Adds new enemies and substitutes various baddies with beefier ones. Also randomly spawns enemies that are a few levels higher than you which is great equipment wise, your guns are no longer constantly decaying in relative level.

 

You would really be better off starting your game from lv 35 or so with someone elses save/profile. Various builds are possible and the combat is actually challenging. All that time you spend being low level is a huge waste since both quests and gear will become obsolete very quickly and you don't get to use your skills, or at least not the ones you wanted.

 

True Vault Hunter mode. It can get excessively difficult to play without a full team armed with Orange-tier weapons once you hit the level cap of 50 and every enemy is above the cap.

 

Speaking of difficult, I started Arcanum with the intent of playing a charismatic gunslinger type of character and learned the hard way that it's basically a melee/magic combat game.

 

Also succeeding in my clean hands/ghost run in Dishonored, against all expectations.

Edited January 4, 2013 by AGX-17

[Bartimaeus]

Played Mario Party 3 on the N64 today with some friends. Was in last place when someone used the Wacky Watch, (sets the number of turns left to 5), and then somehow managed to get 4 stars in 5 turns and won. Was hilarious.

[GhostofAnakin]

Oooo so the sniping game is good? I love taking out the baddies from a distance like that. So far away they don't even know you're there. Darn you, stop tempting me to get the game now. Must...wait...for...sale.

 

I was just doing these missions where you clear out certain camps/villages of enemies. You gotta kill a handful of them without being noticed or setting off an alarm, otherwise they have reinforcements come in. You don't "fail" if that happens, it just gets more difficult with a dozen bad guys shooting at you rather than the 6 or so that you first have to take out.

 

The sniper rifle with silencer works like a charm, especially since even if they notice one of their comrades down, they sort of look around trying to figure out where you are, giving you time to take them out.

 

My last mission didn't go so well. I unlocked the bow and tried to take back a village using it, but they saw me and a bow isn't very effective when you've got multiple enemies rushing you. I was able to dispatch them after picking up one of their AK-47s, but then a giant friggin' tiger jumped on me and mauled me. I guess it was stalking me when I was sneaking through the bushes.