What are you playing now?

[Woldan]

No matter how advanced these games become, the Assassin's Creed series has never managed to make movement more fluid, especially when it comes to running and scaling.  My character has this annoying tendency to jump when I went him to hide behind something.  It's hurky and jerky, too, when you're moving forward at a run.  The character does this drunken couple of steps before actually stopping.

 

I still remember the time when games had crisp and direct movements. I don't know why game developers insist on the PC being a drunk walking on ice. It has nothing to do with reality and if its an attempt to make the game more difficult its just..well..idiotic. 

[GhostofAnakin]

I found the Splinter Cell games more fluid when it came to sneaking up on people and slowly to a crawl after sprinting.  That's one of my beefs with the AC games.  It wants to be a stealthy type game (sneaking up, assassinations, etc.) but the character movement often makes it difficult.

[Majek]

Yeah SC games were much better in that regard. ( at least the first 3 , i didn't want to play them anymore after that). Especially on PC using the mouse wheel was a stroke of genius.

[Keyrock]

More Jagged Alliance Flashback.  I haven't pushed any further into enemy territory, I've just been fortifying my already captured locations with more militia and doing some quests in "friendly" territory.  I don't have a complete blockade separating my controlled areas from The Prince's, so enemy troops do wander into my controlled areas from time to time, but they can't take any strategic targets because I've trained too many militia in those locations.  The Prince has wised up and is sending stronger, more well trained forces, but the problem is that my militia have survived some fights and are now veteran militia, up to the task of defending against his elite troops.  The Prince did manage to take one location, the hotel, before I managed to fortify it enough, but that's not a major revenue source and my primary squad is on its way there now to retake the place, since I have a quest to complete in that sector anyway.  I've encountered some enemy squads along the way, but my main squad is so skilled and well equipped by now that I can obliterate enemy forces as long as I don't put myself in a really bad position.  Once I retake the hotel I'll send my secondary squad there to train militia while my main squad goes on the offensive and pushes into enemy territory.

 

I'll say this for the game:  It's not Jagged Alliance 2, anyone expecting that will be disappointed, it's a lot more like Jagged Alliance 1.  There are still plenty of minor bugs and glitches, like missing mini maps, and a hilarious new bug recently introduced with a patch where all female characters begin prone when entering a zone (or loading a save game).  All the bugs can be relatively easily worked around or just plain put up with, but they are a bit annoying.  That said, I keep wanting to play the game more every day and I keep enjoying the experience over all.  There's a good game there that's not quite fully finished and not nearly polished, but it's still fun.  This is a case much like with Might and Magic X: Legacy.  It's a competent first try at a classic series that's enjoyable but not quite fully there.  The framework is there and there is potential for a great follow up now that the devs have some experience with the series under their belts.  Let's hope they get the chance to make that happen.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Keyrock

[Katphood]

Fired up Destiny a few days ago to claim my legendary weapon from the post master(it was gifted to players on christmas). It's still pretty much the same experience: grind for gear! The DLC doesn't do much to change that so it's definitely not worth 20 bucks.

Back to BFBC2: Vietnam and GTA V.

[LadyCrimson]

Did anyone get caught up in the H1Z1 hype? Sounds like a mess, refunds and all. I don't know the history behind it, but Sony Entertainment/Early Access seems a bit odd. Whatever. Everyone's doing it these days I guess...

[TheChris92]

So for some reason the forum decided to make a post of me quoting myself, so I might as well use this it for something that actually adds to the thread.

 

In regards to stealth, I still think Snake Eater and Thief 2 are among the best in terms of mechanics, and how you could utilize the environment for infiltration. It was neatly put together in both those titles, followed shortly by Hitman Blood Money's sprawlyness.

Edited January 17, 2015 by TheChris92

[TheChris92]

 

 

I just finished MGS4 for the first time. I had fun, it got more of a kicking than it deserved.

Did it get so much? I don't remember this. Besides, the gameplay is actually very solid (no pun intended). It's just that it has so, so many hours of video stuff to watch. It is a very detailed game, but some things could have been cut... From the videos.

 

Complaints from what I remember far outweighed the praise. The cinematics, worst boss battles in the series, stealth being reduced to crawling everywhere, the mechs being annoying ect.. I liked the gameplay, mechanically the series hadn't been better but I do think that the level design was vastly superior in MGS and Snake Eater. The boss battles, I found most of them to be fun once I figured out what the hell I was supposed to do but several were frustrating to begin with. I didn't mind the cinematics but do have a dislike for some of the more extreme Japanese anime directing that MGS4 is full of (Drebbin, the Beasts ect.). And while the story wasn't nerely as insane as I'd been lead to believe, it did feel like a bit of a weak finish somehow. I think it would have been better to ressurect Liquid proper for the antagonist rather than try to salvage that rediculous arm story from the second game. Instead we got Big Boss appearing out of nowhere for some crazy speach and an exit stage left immediately after. But anyway, though not the best in the series I had a fun couple of days playing it and it was nice to see the story arc wrapped up and all the characters from the series getting a role or a mention. Hopefully the Keifer Sutherland ones will keep improving on the formula.

 

The slo-mo action nonsense and implementation of bat vision doesn't speak wonders for me.. it doesn't encourage stealth as I feel the gameplay should foremost do and they feel somewhat like preposterous spectacle lights that have no place in Metal Gear. Given how much I love Sons of Liberty, how I've analysed the game to death and played it over and over again, I can safely say that I actually didn't mind the sub-plot with Liquid's arm in that game all that much, given the overall post-modern feel to the narrative; I always saw it as another figment of the S3-plan, the reason why Ocelot spoke with Liquid's voice was to confuse the player as well as Raiden, given the game's own declaration as a post-modern story and Raiden representing the player's foothold in the world, but I always saw it as something that was done at the convenience of the player, to distinguish the Liquid Ocelot persona -- making the simulation feel more authentic too.

But, I digress, Guns of the Patriots decision to handwave all of the eerieness of the second game and using Nanomachines as a convenient plot device to explain Vamp's immortality was incredibly jarring. The boss fights are essentially uninspired husks and cardboard cut-out of the Foxhound unit from the first game, which the game even goes out of its way to explain; Almost as if Kojima is deliberately trying to distracts us with comforting sounds and flashes of nostalgia, so that we may not notice all the leaking plot holes everywhere and the weak uninspired conclusion we are getting. Although, while the Cobra Unit wasn't all that well-characterized either, before Snake pretty much took them down in one fell swoop, they were at least memorable for their unique boss battles (as you mentioned) which I feel the B&B Unit sorely lacked.

 

Ultimately, the game do have its good bits, like the fight with Liquid Ocelot at the end as music from the previous games play in the background to create the perfect scenery for one final showdown between two old rivals in body and spirit can go all out on each other... But yeah, I'm still somewhat interested to see where Phantom Pain will go in regards to characters like Zero from the other games and whether the young Snakes will show up, but ultimately. If the gameplay is still fun and 'Solid' enough to be considered a Metal Gearm, dohohoho.

Edited January 18, 2015 by TheChris92

[GhostofAnakin]

AC: Black Flag seems a lot less focused than past titles.  It's always been an open world type style, but so far the main quest seems to be based on nothing more than the main character's desire to make a lot of money.  The Templar/Assassin theme seems very, very in the background compared to most games by this point (I'm somewhere in Act 4).

[Keyrock]

AC: Black Flag seems a lot less focused than past titles.  It's always been an open world type style, but so far the main quest seems to be based on nothing more than the main character's desire to make a lot of money.  The Templar/Assassin theme seems very, very in the background compared to most games by this point (I'm somewhere in Act 4).

It is, and it's much better for it, in my opinion.  In fact, I wish they had just gutted all the Assassin vs Templar nonsense and made it a straight up pirate game.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I'm trying to find a game to get lost in but can't seem to. Any recommendations?

[Orogun01]

I'm trying to find a game to get lost in but can't seem to. Any recommendations?

What have you played? What games do you like? Give us something to go on.

[GhostofAnakin]

 

AC: Black Flag seems a lot less focused than past titles.  It's always been an open world type style, but so far the main quest seems to be based on nothing more than the main character's desire to make a lot of money.  The Templar/Assassin theme seems very, very in the background compared to most games by this point (I'm somewhere in Act 4).

It is, and it's much better for it, in my opinion.  In fact, I wish they had just gutted all the Assassin vs Templar nonsense and made it a straight up pirate game.

 

 

Yeah, the pirate theme is quite interesting.  It's one of the reasons I liked the recent Risen games.

[Heijoushin]

I'm playing absolutely nothing at the moment (besides the occasional Starcraft match), which makes me a little sad. But in 10 days time, I'm going to purchase Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker for the 3DS. Because using demons like pokemon is one of my favourite pastimes(^_^) It will be close, but perhaps that will tide me over until PoE.

[Keyrock]

I'm trying to find a game to get lost in but can't seem to. Any recommendations?

If you like card games, play some Infinity Wars.  It's free, the monetization scheme is not aggressive, and it's pretty fun.

 

Steam had the free weekend of Civ: Beyond Earth, so I gave that a spin.  I was fairly underwhelmed.  It's a very "safe" title from Firaxis.  It's not a bad game, the tech web is pretty cool, but beyond that, it's Civ 5, just not as good.  Hopefully an expansion or two comes along and Firaxis actually takes some chances and makes radical changes to the Civ 5 formula with said expansions, because if they don't and they keep playing it safe (or just don't release any expansions), then there is really no reason at all for me to buy the game.  I mean, I could just play Civ 5.  

 

Beyond that, I'm still playing Jagged Alliance Flashback and also some Euro Truck Simulator 2.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Keyrock

[Katphood]

Bought used copies of Killzone 3 and Of Orcs and Men yesterday.  Got to play Killzone 3 for a few hours and it sure is an improvement over Killzone 2. The controls are much more flexible now and the set-piece battles are awesome. The story and the characters on the other hand aren't really good but that's hardly noticeable when the shooting is so much fun. 

 

Haven't played Of Orcs and Men yet, but the way I know Cyanide Studios, they are pretty good at storytelling(Of Orcs and men was co-developed with Spider Studios though). Looking forward to playing it soon.

Edited January 18, 2015 by Cat Food

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Finally getting into Divinity Original Sin. It's damn good and a sequel would be pretty awesome.

[Wrath of Dagon]

Bought used copies of Killzone 3 and Of Orcs and Men yesterday.  Got to play Killzone 3 for a few hours and it sure is an improvement over Killzone 2. The controls are much more flexible now and the set-piece battles are awesome. The story and the characters on the other hand aren't really good but that's hardly noticeable when the shooting is so much fun. 

 

Haven't played Of Orcs and Men yet, but the way I know Cyanide Studios, they are pretty good at storytelling(Of Orcs and men was co-developed with Spider Studios though). Looking forward to playing it soon.

I'm playing "Of Orcs and Men" now, the story, characterization, writing and voice acting are all really good. The combat is kind of like KOTOR without force powers, so not very deep, although it does have a couple of wrinkles, and the game is more combat heavy than I prefer in an RPG, but having a lot of fun nevertheless.

[Sarex]

Haven't played League of Legends since November, got back in to it a couple of days ago and found out that I'm **** now.

[GhostofAnakin]

Bought used copies of Killzone 3 and Of Orcs and Men yesterday.  Got to play Killzone 3 for a few hours and it sure is an improvement over Killzone 2. The controls are much more flexible now and the set-piece battles are awesome. The story and the characters on the other hand aren't really good but that's hardly noticeable when the shooting is so much fun. 

 

Haven't played Of Orcs and Men yet, but the way I know Cyanide Studios, they are pretty good at storytelling(Of Orcs and men was co-developed with Spider Studios though). Looking forward to playing it soon.

 

Did Of Orcs and Men ever get released for the consoles?  I remember having my eye on it, but the release date just kept being listed at December 2014.

[Orogun01]

 

Bought used copies of Killzone 3 and Of Orcs and Men yesterday.  Got to play Killzone 3 for a few hours and it sure is an improvement over Killzone 2. The controls are much more flexible now and the set-piece battles are awesome. The story and the characters on the other hand aren't really good but that's hardly noticeable when the shooting is so much fun. 

 

Haven't played Of Orcs and Men yet, but the way I know Cyanide Studios, they are pretty good at storytelling(Of Orcs and men was co-developed with Spider Studios though). Looking forward to playing it soon.

I'm playing "Of Orcs and Men" now, the story, characterization, writing and voice acting are all really good. The combat is kind of like KOTOR without force powers, so not very deep, although it does have a couple of wrinkles, and the game is more combat heavy than I prefer in an RPG, but having a lot of fun nevertheless.

 

The combat starts to shine once it really becomes do or die, I don't know how far you gotten but in my experience I coasted through a lot of encounters by spamming or without any thought. That changes drastically after you start fighting the soldiers.

[HoonDing]

It's easy if you let the Orc tank while the Goblin mows everything down. Also makes sense storywise to go against the Orc's berserker nature.

 

Pity the game was released before GamerGate became a thing. What with that island where you kill those hordes of female warriors, not to mention the 'mind rape' of a woman.

[Katphood]

Did Of Orcs and Men ever get released for the consoles?  I remember having my eye on it, but the release date just kept being listed at December 2014.

Yes. I bought the PS3 version.

[Tale]

I wish my compy hadn't died, I was trying to play of Orcs and Men back in the day. Might have to see how cheap I can get it for PS3.

 

Edit: $49.99 to buy the download for PS3 through Gamestop. $19.99 to buy it through PSN.

 

That's some bad pricing.

 

Edit2: Since I started checking the PSN store, I bought Of Orcs and Men, pre-ordered Grim Fandango, and

 

double dipped on Mass Effect 2 Ultimate Edition. I miss playing Mass Effect 2 since my computer died. I would have gotten Dragon Age: Origins too if they had the ultimate edition.

 

[marelooke]

Tried to get through Scourge: Outbreak, a third person cover shooter. Pretty awful imho, characters too similar and horribly bullet spongy enemies. Meh, uninstalled.

 

Still trudging through Wasteland 2, made it to Canyon of the Titan. Can't seem to really get invested in the game for some reason. Having fun when I fire it up but can't say I feel any urge to make it to the finish. Shame.

 

So after a bit of lugging through Canyon of the Titan I went back to my WH40K: Dawn of War 2: Chaos Rising, game is still good fun, apparently now has steam achievements too (though it appears I lost all the GFWL achievements I had).