What are you playing now?

[Humanoid]

Every time I think of Darklands, I can't help but wish the combat was just abstracted into text based form just like the rest of the game.

 

The 5-week training course I've been on is in its final week now, so I should finally be able to find the time to fire up some non-throwaway games. Wasteland 2 probably at the top of the list, I've missed out on the first wave of discussion about the game here, and that in itself is unfortunate enough. Contingent on being able to get past party creation though, I tend to get paralysed by the tyranny of options, which is a large part of why I prefer single character creation over whole-party planning.

 

Besides that, I kind of feel like playing a little F-117A Stealth Fighter 2.0 in the meantime. As for WoW, I've been out for about two and a half years now, but I had promised an old guildie to come back for at least a little while if they returned for WoD, so we'll see about that.

[Lexx]

Played some Metal Gear V: Ground Zero.  Was not impressed.  For a game that's supposed to be stealth-oriented, the final extraction mission is ridiculously difficult to pull off without basically putting the entire base on alert.

 

Hope the main game when it comes out won't be this unforgiving.

Isn't the base automatically on alert as soon as you hit story point x? In any case, I didn't found it hard to extract without being spotted. But if I remember correct, the base was on alert anyway.

[mkreku]

I bought Assassin's Creed: Black Flag the other day (a year after everyone else..) and I'm surprised at how good this game is. I'm one of the people who played Assassin's Creed and didn't think it was too repetitive (ok, maybe just a little..), thought Assassin's Creed 2 was brilliant, slogged through Assassin's Creed 3 despite it being less than fun sometimes and really thought I had burned out on creeding. Turns out I wasn't, it was only Assassin's Creed 3 that was a bit crap.

 

I'm amazed at the technical level of Black Flag. I go from better tomb raiding than Lara Croft ever managed seamlessly into parkouring better than.. uh.. previous Assassin's Creed games through a bigger and better city than any Elder Scrolls game has ever produced.. and then, after having gone through combat a thousand times better than my beloved Risen games, I seamlessly jump on a ship and head out on a completely open ocean where I'm free to jump from ship to ship or ship to island or ship to another equally huge city. There are countless treasures to find, puzzles to solve, areas to explore, upgrades to craft (for myself, my boat and my mansion), trade routes to populate, assassinating to be done, templars to be hunted, convoys to be sunk and legendary ships to be found. All of this without the game ever feeling overwhelming. They really nailed the technical bit and the pacing.

 

I'm at something like 37% completion and I've barely touched the main story. I haven't even unlocked half the equipment/skills my character has access to yet! I'm looking forward to unlocking the diving bell so I can start diving for treasure. Yes, there seems to be diving in there too..

 

It really is a great game.

[TheChris92]

 

Played some Metal Gear V: Ground Zero. Was not impressed. For a game that's supposed to be stealth-oriented, the final extraction mission is ridiculously difficult to pull off without basically putting the entire base on alert.

 

Hope the main game when it comes out won't be this unforgiving.

Isn't the base automatically on alert as soon as you hit story point x? In any case, I didn't found it hard to extract without being spotted. But if I remember correct, the base was on alert anyway.

It enters an alert phase when you've extracted one prisoner, but staying out of sight will make it go away, like in the old games. As long as they don't spot you you're still good. Extracting the target from inside the base first will make things easier, since there's an LZ right next to the other one. Personally I prefer how it was in the older games, and Hitman Blood Money, where you can basically be so stealthy that it is as if you were never even there.

[HoonDing]

I'm ready to finish Dreamfall Chapitre One in one setting.

[Tale]

:'(

 

I want to play it soo bad.

[TheChris92]

Haven't gotten my key yet.. I think? Gonna check.

[GhostofAnakin]

 

 

Played some Metal Gear V: Ground Zero.  Was not impressed.  For a game that's supposed to be stealth-oriented, the final extraction mission is ridiculously difficult to pull off without basically putting the entire base on alert.

 

Hope the main game when it comes out won't be this unforgiving.

I think that goes without saying for most stealth games -- In Hitman Blood Money for instance it was also about trying to memorize the movements of enemy guards and the terrain you were fumbling through. The AI have simply become smarter over the years though, which have ultimately also made it a bit more tricky. Since it's also moved away from you having to infiltrate industrial complexes or military bases to more open and litted areas, it's become.. well more tricky to approach. I did prefer how it was done in Snake Eater, with the jungle infiltration, but you still got enough mechanics at your disposal to keep out of sight and mark enemies to keep track of their movements. Like in previous games I just tend to remove most of the guards near the any points I know I might return to later by using the tranq. I'd agree, however, that stealth shouldn't feel like the exception to the rule in Metal Gear game, which is what it does with Ground Zeroes a bit.

 

Ultimately, I just don't care too much for the sluggish Rockstar-Games-inspired movement animations and things like regenerating health as opposed to using rations to heal. The games have been watered down a bit, I'll say.

 

I ended up enjoying it anyway.

 

 

Isn't the base automatically on alert as soon as you hit story point x? In any case, I didn't found it hard to extract without being spotted. But if I remember correct, the base was on alert anyway.

 

 

A lot of stealth games do seem a bit more run and gun now, but I just found Ground Zero really bad at it.  Compared to the latest Splinter Cell game (which also had the criticism of being too shooter oriented), it at least felt like you could do the missions completely stealth like if you took your time.  This one, it seemed no matter how careful I was, I got spotted.  Usually, it seemed due to there being a limited number of routes to take.  The prisoner inside the building, for instance, had one exit from that room and a bunch of guards already near the exit.

 

I only played it once, mind you.  So maybe it was just a bad first impression and if I actually felt like going back to play a second time, I'd find it more forgiving.  But my first impression was it went out of its way to make sure you got into gun fights rather than encourage you to try the stealth approach.

[Lexx]

Then again, MGS always had been more about story than actual stealth. I also never liked that MGS to Splinter Cell comparison that is popping up since the very first Splinter Cell game.

[Rosbjerg]

Distant Worlds with the Picard Era mod, playing as the Federation. Starting off what is basically in the Kirk era, "history" repeated itself itself. A semi war (trade war really) erupted with the Klingon Empire after they blockaded one of my worlds. The Birds of Prey are pretty hard to kill, but I'm holding my ground. Thinking about giving them the colony in question though. As I have discovered the Romulans and I'm betting they are gonna take their chances with my unprotected borders.

[Hurlshort]

I've been playing Neo Scavenger, kind of a neat survival game with some text based elements.  It was a great deal for $10.  

[HoonDing]

Started Dreamfall Chapitre One. One minute in and already got severely punched in the stomach. Ragnar, you magnificent bastard.

[ShadySands]

I've got Beyond Earth pre-loaded and Friday off

 

Let the weekend come

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 22, 2014 by ShadySands

[GhostofAnakin]

Went back to playing Destiny.  This time I'm using a Titan, the only class I'd never created a character for before.  In terms of "cool factor", IMO the Titan class actually has the best look/armor.

 

Doesn't take long to level them up.  I just started today and my Titan is already up to level 9.  I haven't even left the Cosmodrome yet, just finished the story missions and did some patrol missions.

 

Hope the expansions planned end up fleshing out a lot of the stuff mentioned briefly but never expanded on in the main campaign, including more to do with the Awoken Queen and that mysterious female that keeps following you around.

[HoonDing]

Dreamfall Chapitre One is really, really good but also really, really badly optimized.
 

Unity is worse than Gamebryo.

 

Looking forward to go through it again when it's all smoothed out.

[Malcador]

How are the puzzles?

 

Trying to resist Beyond Earth for now, not sure what Firaxis messed with this time.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Malcador

[Fighter]

Dreamfall Chapters. Good so far. And I'm satisfied with the amount of content for one episode of an episodic game. Granted they will probably be reusing Europolis quiet a bit in future episodes. Also for a Kickstarter game it is quiet an improvement visually over its predecessor, crowd-funding delivers a true sequel.

[Malcador]

Ah to hell with it, I'll get Dreamfall Chapters.

[TheChris92]

P.T. Demo -- It is actually quite unnerving.

[HoonDing]

How are the puzzles?

 

Trying to resist Beyond Earth for now, not sure what Firaxis messed with this time.

Some minor stuff, but already more than in the entire DF game where Zoë gameplay came down to playing iPhone minigames.

[Raithe]

Tsk. I just cannot get my zombie hordes to destroy the world on normal difficulty with Plage Inc, Evolved.

 

Everytime I just get within a fingerswidth of achieving it.. I stop getting dna points, and there's survivors and zombies die off.

[Guard Dog]

Rome II. It's... pretty to look at. But it's pretty disappointing too. Shogun II was better.

[TheChris92]

So the P.T. Demo is quite promising -- A good sense of dread and 4th-wall-breaking otherworldiness, something of which Kojima has done before with Psycho Mantins in MGS1 but now he's able to take that a step further in the form of actual horror. There's potential for the new Silent Hill, but obviously the demo is not going to represent how the actual game will play out. Whether the iconic fog will stay, the symbolism, like the monstrosities taking the shape of the inner damaged psyche of the people in the abandoned town remains -- as opposed to just arbitrary "dude"-like enemies in the latest western-developed games remains to be seen. Oh, and most importantly; The music of Akira Yamaoka. That's a given.

 

Admittedly, I haven't finished the demo yet since the puzzles are kinda obscure, where the solutions are drenched with the most ludicrous sense of logic. If take too long or you **** it up then you get a nice little 'surprise' and have to start over -- so I'm gonna try again tomorrow. I'm enjoying it though more than any other recent horror experience of late.

Edited October 23, 2014 by TheChris92

[Agiel]

Any ludicrous puzzles in DF so far? I had to play the TLC with my brother on his computer across from mine with a FAQ open and him confusedly reading out the solutions to the puzzles: "Put the candy in the radioactive goop, give it to the cop who then spits it out at the cinema owner who then chases away the cop with his broom so you can duck into the alley?"

Edited October 23, 2014 by Agiel

[Fighter]

The puzzles in DF are fairly logical.