What Are You Playing?

Henry Spencer

Henry Spencer

So having bought a 3DS and getting Ocarina of Time, Ghost Recon: Tactics (Shadow Wars) & Shinobi, I'm having a blast. OoT is still my favourite Zelda and after all these years still manages to feel refreshing and not at all dated in terms of design to me. Shadow Wars is a very good tactical turn based game, which sort of reminds me of Metal Gear AC!D, in a way. And Shinobi is...really harsh with its checkpoint system. But it takes the most inspiration from Shinobi 3, which is my favourite in the series, so I'm loving the games I got for my 3DS.

And with Shin Megami Tensei 4 and SOul Hackers both getting released for 3DS, I feel I did right by buying one.
 
Walter

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Just finished Max Payne 3. Fantastic game with a weak ending. And wow, those credits! I saw them start rolling, decided it might be a while, so I changed out the cat litter, swept the floor, vacuumed the house, took out the trash and put in a load of laundry. 15-20 minutes later, credits were still rolling. And they aren't skippable :mozgus:

The dialogue, voice acting, music and visuals are what I'll take away from this game as the highlights--not the shooting.

The game forces you into a cautious playing style. Max dies very easily, so you can't take many chances in combat without being shot to pieces in seconds. You're always outnumbered, so stepping away from cover with more than 2 guys is usually suicide. The most efficient way to play is to just stay behind cover and take quick pop-out shots coupled with bullet time. That's a dramatic departure from Max Payne 1-2, which usually involved diving from cover down a flight of stairs into a cluster of enemies while using bullet time, nailing 8 headshots in a row before you hit the ground. Very dramatic, ridiculous and rewarding. Instead, a good firefight in Max Payne 3 involves consistent, well-timed cautious headshots without using any bullet time, which is difficult to do since the targets (faces) are generally tiny dots across a map.

So the gunplay ends up being more frustrating than rewarding. But that's okay, it can still be fun. It just requires a lot more patience than I expected.

The story also leaves a lot on the table. It doesn't quite go to the depth of Max's character that I'd hoped. While he does undergo a kind of transformation, it fell short of my expectations—particularly with where it leaves his character. I felt they could have done quite a bit more, if they were more ambitious in terms of his character arc. Instead, much of the plot revolves around almost interchangeable villains, none of whom have any personal connection to Max. The full scope of the story becomes evident at around the halfway point, with few surprises along the way.

Now, the visuals. Wow, the game's credits make it clear why it's so beautiful and detailed. It required dozens and dozens of artists to create all the assets and arrange the levels in such a way that it truly feels like a real environment. The favela levels in particular are easily the most detailed environments I've ever experienced in a game. It's insane the amount of texture and art assets that were required to bring this place to life, not to mention the windy, spindly level design. Simply breathtaking.

Finally, I don't think I can say enough about the music in this game. It will remain on my playlists for years to come, long after I've forgotten about the experience of playing the game.

4/5
 
H

hellrasinbrasin

Guest
I know huh... I loved it from start to finish and now the waiting begins. My only fear is that we're gonna end up waiting another 8 years before we get Max Payne IV. But hey if an 8 year hiatus is what's needed to get it right then fucking go for it.
 
Walter

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Tracked down a copy of Aliens: Infestation for DS finally. It has become hard to find in local Gamestops. Why not just order it on Amazon? Because I suddenly had the urge to play it and 2 days wait for shipping was too long.

So here's my GameStop experience:

-Pilfered through unorganized DS games lined up like a shooting gallery (theyve become third-class citizens in GameStop, like GameBoy carts of yore), nothing is alphabetized. It's a goddamned mess.
-Corner of store literally smells like some kid took a dump in the vicinity.
-Waited in line for 15 minutes to ask an associate to do a database search to see if it was in store.
-Woman in front of me spends 10 minutes while on phone trying to track down a warranty confirmation code for a GameCube she bought in 2002 (not kidding). Meanwhile her kid is going around the store picking up about a dozen gamecube games and piling them in front of his mom. These were games like Reign of Fire (movie adaptation game), HULK (movie adaptation game) and Zorro (movie adaptation game), priced between $9-15 still. He also traded in some racing game for $.50

Left store, found another Gamestop, found it new for $19. Sold. Game's great so far, if a little simplistic. It's got a map, and the moment-to-moment gameplay reminds me a lot of a slower-paced Metroid.
 
IncantatioN

IncantatioN

What's everyone's favorite Contra game? For me it's a toss between Contra and Super Contra but I need to play all of em. I've only played -

Contra
Super Contra
Contra Force
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Contra: Hard Corps

That reminds me, Hard Corps beats my ass every time, frakkin' hard.
 
Griffith

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Playing Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the first time, and enjoying it quite a bit; a nice laid back experience, no "best Zelda ever?" expectations, and lots of fun (I can't help but enjoy the whimsy of drawing on your maps and shit =). Also, with this Wind Waker's Legend continues to grow in my mind.

On the other hand, I'm also still futilely, and pathetically, trying to grind my way through Inferno in Diablo III. Man, this game must be great for people that enjoy playing the Auction House, totally different experience for them (like two fun games they can advance in, instead of none that they can't). BTW, if you want a laugh:

http://www.diablo3billionaire.com/?hop=ivner
 
Johnstantine

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
Griffith said:
Playing Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the first time, and enjoying it quite a bit; a nice laid back experience, no "best Zelda ever?" expectations, and lots of fun (I can't help but enjoy the whimsy of drawing on your maps and shit =). Also, with this Wind Waker's Legend continues to grow in my mind.
Click to expand...

I actually started that a while ago, yet I never finished it. I have that on my plate, as well as Spirit Tracks.
 
Griffith

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Johnstantine said:
I actually started that a while ago, yet I never finished it. I have that on my plate, as well as Spirit Tracks.
Click to expand...

From what I've seen and heard of Spirit Tracks, I don't know that I'll be playing it (as it is Phantom Hourglass was a gift). I'm sure it's as Zelda-y as any of these games and has its own unique and cool features, but I'm not that into the concepts employed (railroads, Phantom Zelda, etc). Maybe I'll consider it if I finish Phantom Hourglass and am still as high on it.
 
Johnstantine

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
Griffith said:
From what I've seen and heard of Spirit Tracks, I don't know that I'll be playing it (as it is Phantom Hourglass was a gift). I'm sure it's as Zelda-y as any of these games and has its own unique and cool features, but I'm not that into the concepts employed (railroads, Phantom Zelda, etc). Maybe I'll consider it if I finish Phantom Hourglass and am still as high on it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's nowhere near as good as Wind Waker, but it is still a fun play. I can't say much, though, seeing as that I only beat a few temples.
 
Dar_Klink

Dar_Klink

Last Guardian when? - CyberKlink 20XX before dying
Just finished Max Payne 2 after beating Max Payne 1 a few days ago. Got them in the Steam Summer Sale of course. I can't believe it took me this long to play those games, I hope I can get Max Payne 3 for a good price sometime soon, although I'm wary of it after hearing the whole Neo-noir feel is toned down a lot. Still though, those two were great solid classics, I'm glad I ended up trying them out.
 
Aazealh

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Dar Klink said:
I hope I can get Max Payne 3 for a good price sometime soon, although I'm wary of it after hearing the whole Neo-noir feel is toned down a lot.
Click to expand...

No need to be wary, Max Payne 3 is very good. As for me, I'm going to start L.A. Noire today. I've also got Trine 2 and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light to play though. Oh, and Endless Space. :schnoz:
 
Rhombaad

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Finished replaying Mass Effect 2 last week and started playing Mass Effect 3 again (I never beat it; instead, I decided to start over and make different/better choices).
 
Draculoid

Draculoid

Dark Souls was on sale so I picked that up. Been playing it for a week now and took me quite a while to get into the groove of the game. Having a blast now :guts:.
 
Jaze1618

Jaze1618

Draculoid said:
Dark Souls was on sale so I picked that up. Been playing it for a week now and took me quite a while to get into the groove of the game. Having a blast now :guts:.
Click to expand...

Awesome, easily my favorite game of the past 365 days.
 
Oburi

Oburi

All praise Grail
My friend and I are playing Lord Of The Rings- The War in The North on co-op. It's actually a lot better than I thought. Separate story that goes along with the movies but it actually makes sense and includes stuff in the books not seen in the films. You can tell the writers did their homework. It's basically a hack & slash with rpg elements. But there's lots of upgrading and looting which is really fun. The dialog is really good too. Probably wouldn't be nearly as good if you play it by yourself though.
 
frankencowx

frankencowx

Oburi said:
My friend and I are playing Lord Of The Rings- The War in The North on co-op. It's actually a lot better than I thought. Separate story that goes along with the movies but it actually makes sense and includes stuff in the books not seen in the films. You can tell the writers did their homework. It's basically a hack & slash with rpg elements. But there's lots of upgrading and looting which is really fun. The dialog is really good too. Probably wouldn't be nearly as good if you play it by yourself though.
Click to expand...

I was going to pick that game up, but then I read a lot of amazon reviews complaining of a bug that doesn't let you progress anymore past a certain point in the campaign. At the time no patch was put out for it and wasn't planned to be patched. Any idea if that was resolved?? (I think this was for console versions).
 
Henry Spencer

Henry Spencer

Playing Growlanser IV for PSP which is a brilliant RTS style RPG with a surprisingly good (political intrigue/Machiavellian characters) storyline. Really takes me back to the 32 bit days...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom