What Are You Playing?

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
bandofthehawk (Salem) said:
All I remember is beating leons campaign and another. Either way the game felt a complete mess and milking the last fragments of an engine that needed redirection. I know 3 others personally who felt the same. Had this campy arcade feel.

That's all fair, but I don't think it's so different from 5 or Revelations other than it's the 4th time and 4x it at that. I thought they must have really fucked up the formula for the scorn it gets, but it's more they didn't fuck with it enough. What's funny is it feels so dated, but the controls are actually quite refined compared to 4 and 5 (except the horrible endless quick time events). I think they should go in more of an Uncharted/Tomb Raider 2013 direction with the engine that could bring the series back to its more withdrawn 3rd person roots without sacrificing any innovation in action or intensity (they're behind the curve on that now anyway). I think the game also would have benefitted from sole focus on Leon's campaign, since it got the most TLC anyway. That one still had some impressive stuff in it that makes you excited it's just the "first quarter" of the game [the final boss(es) are insane], but its really front loaded and down hill from there; the rest of the campaigns don't live up to that quality, quantity or potential for more. Though Jake was surprisingly not as unlikable as I thought he'd be. :ganishka:
 
Gotcha. I think silent hill and resident evil in general are doomed to mediocrity with spurts of great games. Most series go through that, but I wish they would switch it up more than they do. My biggest disappointment last gen was Lords of shadow 2. What was I thinking?
 
Now that I've just finished building a PC for the first time, I'm playing Far Cry 3 and a bit of Far Cry 4 (it comes as a deal when you buy certain graphics cards). Holy fuck are these games pretty.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Just finished MGS: Ground Zeroes on PC. While the "story" in it is quite lame, or at least isn't very substantial (it took me about 2h to complete), I had a blast just messing around in the zone. Controls better than any MGS I've played, and that's saying something. Even though I've finished it, I can see myself playing with it for a few more hours, just having fun with the world there.

Here's a PS4 vs PC comparison shot btw.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
Just finished MGS: Ground Zeroes on PC. While the "story" in it is quite lame, or at least isn't very substantial (it took me about 2h to complete), I had a blast just messing around in the zone. Controls better than any MGS I've played, and that's saying something. Even though I've finished it, I can see myself playing with it for a few more hours, just having fun with the world there.

Finished it as well. Spent plenty of time exploring and enjoying myself and creating some fond memories; falling to my death almost immediately, accidentally dropping my silenced rifle into the ocean, dying in haze of bullets just as I was about to board the chopper (would have been sweet if I'd made it =), but I'm left wondering what the point was? I hadn't been following this game, and last I remember it was supposed to be the "prologue" to MGS5 in an ambitious sounding two games to make one scenario, but it's little more than a gameplay demo. It's impressive, it's fun, I want more, but what's the point of releasing something like this as if it's a complete and essential game, other than extracting as much money from your fan base as possible (I feel like I bought the DLC first, but didn't they practically charge the price of a full game initially?). Oh well, I'll keep playing around with it. Also, Kiefer Sutherland as Snake is weird.

Walter said:

Wow, I'm glad I got the PC version for $14 instead of the PS4 version for $40.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
Finished it as well. Spent plenty of time exploring and enjoying myself and creating some fond memories; falling to my death almost immediately, accidentally dropping my silenced rifle into the ocean, dying in haze of bullets just as I was about to board the chopper (would have been sweet if I'd made it =),

I was ho-hum about the whole thing until I decided to stop being sneaky for a turn and try just going for it. Ended up in a massive firefight before I took out 5-10 guys in a jeep then dramatically drove off a cliff. Was faaaaantastic =)

but I'm left wondering what the point was? I hadn't been following this game, and last I remember it was supposed to be the "prologue" to MGS5 in an ambitious sounding two games to make one scenario, but it's little more than a gameplay demo. It's impressive, it's fun, I want more, but what's the point of releasing something like this as if it's a complete and essential game, other than extracting as much money from your fan base as possible (I feel like I bought the DLC first, but didn't they practically charge the price of a full game initially?). Oh well, I'll keep playing around with it.

It feels like a hyper abbreviated Tanker mission from MGS2. It sets up the scenario for what's to come. I can see them plotting this out initially as some intro cinematic, and then thinking...fuck it, why not?
It was quite strange to have the actual big event for the scenario not be playable. But, it's MGS afterall, right?

Also, Kiefer Sutherland as Snake is weird.

Indeed. It's jarring every time he speaks ("Holy shit, did Jack Bauer just walk on from off-camera?! Oh..."-- Every time). It also doesn't sound like the Snake we've known for the past, oh, 15 years. Keifer doesn't seem to "get" the character. The "kept you waiting, huh?" (which, btw makes utterly no sense where it's placed in the conversation. He's smashing down the fourth wall with his old man skull...) is a tongue-in-cheek reference, but he delivers it deadpan. Fucking lame. It's just all around a bad decision, I think. What the hell was Kojima thinking...? At least it doesn't really affect this game, since he has something like 2 minutes of dialogue.

Wow, I'm glad I got the PC version for $14 instead of the PS4 version for $40.

Yeah, if I'd paid full price for it, my opinion would be completely different. $13 though? Fine.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
I was ho-hum about the whole thing until I decided to stop being sneaky for a turn and try just going for it. Ended up in a massive firefight before I took out 5-10 guys in a jeep then dramatically drove off a cliff. Was faaaaantastic =)

Oh yeah, that moment for me was the first time I hopped on an anti-aircraft gun out of desperation to survive, and boy did it do the trick. =)

Walter said:
Indeed. It's jarring every time he speaks ("Holy shit, did Jack Bauer just walk on from off-camera?! Oh..."-- Every time). It also doesn't sound like the Snake we've known for the past, oh, 15 years. Keifer doesn't seem to "get" the character. The "kept you waiting, huh?" (which, btw makes utterly no sense where it's placed in the conversation. He's smashing down the fourth wall with his old man skull...) is a tongue-in-cheek reference, but he delivers it deadpan. Fucking lame. It's just all around a bad decision, I think. What the hell was Kojima thinking...? At least it doesn't really affect this game, since he has something like 2 minutes of dialogue.

I know exactly what Kojima was thinking, "HOLLYWOOD STAR! I'M A BIG TIME WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER NOW! (LOOK AT MY NAME AS ALL THE CREDITS)" Unfortunately, the result is exactly as you say; Kiefer doesn't really get the character, doesn't care, and probably thinks it's all pretty dumb, and I don't blame him. This is a classic case of the guy leaving his loving wife that's supported him from the beginning (Hayter) for some vapid trophy wife (Sutherland). I hope Kiefer drops the series like a bad habit and Kojima has to go crawling back to Hayter for MGS6.

WRITTEN SOLELY BY HIDEO KOJIMA

...

AND SOME OTHER ASSHOLES THAT DID THE ACTUAL PLOTTING AND DIALOGUE

Walter said:
Yeah, if I'd paid full price for it, my opinion would be completely different. $13 though? Fine.

Yeah, it shouldn't have cost more than that in the first place.
 
Recently finished L.A Noire, i started the game awhile back then stopped playing it for some reason, finally got around to finishing it and i loved it, fantastic game.

Finished Farcry 4 a couple of days ago, good game, could've been much better, it didn't like a new game it felt like an expansion to farcry 3. the world itself is amazing and full of life and just nice to look at compared to farcry's 3 map, the story is forgettable, most of the characters are bland excluding Pagan Min (the antagonist) who has a very similar personality to Vaas, he felt like a Vaas 2.0, the just cloned him instead of trying to come up with a new personality. as i said before the game feels like DLC to farcry 3. still enjoyed the game though, and i bought it for $20 which is a plus.

Finished dishonored, had alot of fun with this game, the special abilities that the main character has are pretty awesome and the levels were well designed in my opinion, story is average at best.

Finished MGS5 Ground Zeroes a few hours ago, super short but can't argue with $13.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Walter said:
It feels like a hyper abbreviated Tanker mission from MGS2.
The Master said:
Finished MGS5 Ground Zeroes a few hours ago, super short but can't argue with $13.

Since I'm also downloading Revengeance, I'll just play that next and pretend it's MGS2 2014, but hopefully less frustrating since I know what I'm getting into.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
Since I'm also downloading Revengeance, I'll just play that next and pretend it's MGS2 2014, but hopefully less frustrating since I know what I'm getting into.

I played about 2h of Revengeance and couldn't stand how it plays. But I wish you well!
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Revengeance! Yeah, it sure is stupid and plays like shit, but it'll be fun until I get tired of chopping everything I see to pieces. Also, can't help but get a kick out of the music, total cheese metal that crescendos into Linkin Park vocals, perfect for Raiden! :ganishka: :ubik:

BTW, Wally and I were discussing MGSV today and the missing emotional link going in, namely that it's a direct follow up to the game in the series maybe the fewest people had access to or otherwise played (at least stateside). Instead of that bloody spoiler FAQ why didn't they just package Peace Walker HD with Ground Zeroes as a "bonus" (that would have been far bigger than the "main game" but would actually justify the cost in content)? It's not like it would really hurt Metal Gear HD Collection or Peace Walker PSP sales at this point and I think they would have made up way more than that in Ground Zeroes sales. Annoying.
 

Johnstantine

Skibbidy Boo Bop
Griffith said:
BTW, Wally and I were discussing MGSV today and the missing emotional link going in, namely that it's a direct follow up to the game in the series maybe the fewest people had access to or otherwise played (at least stateside). Instead of that bloody spoiler FAQ why didn't they just package Peace Walker HD with Ground Zeroes as a "bonus" (that would have been far bigger than the "main game" but would actually justify the cost in content)? It's not like it would really hurt Metal Gear HD Collection or Peace Walker PSP sales at this point and I think they would have made up way more than that in Ground Zeroes sales. Annoying.

They've already released a shitty port version of Peacewalker on 360 and PS3, so I'm guessing that's why they didn't release it with this.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Johnstantine said:
They've already released a shitty port version of Peacewalker on 360 and PS3, so I'm guessing that's why they didn't release it with this.

That's why I mentioned it, but that was a while back now and here it was part of an anthology (maybe it was big in Japan, but I'd say it's relatively overlooked here as a portable side game rather than the most recent important link in the franchise). Anyway, not exactly a big release or push for the foundation of the next landmark game in the series, so while it's admittedly an odd request, Ground Zeroes is an odd release where it actually would have made sense.
 
My fiancee offered me a PS4 for my birthday and since i bought the PS3 with MGS4 at the time, i wanted to try Ground Zeroes as my first taste for the console. Luckily, the game is currently priced 6,80$ (-66%). I guess it was a nice timing, otherwise i would have never bought it at a outrageous 19.99$.

And I really enjoy it. Controls feels responsive and dynamic more than ever. The main mission and side ops are enjoyable but the level of freedom and involvement (and his good replayability) are appreciable and promising for MGSV. I was looking forward to it but now, i can't wait.

I gotta say, i never like David Hayter as Snake. It always felt kind of ridiculous to me. I'm more confortable with Kiefer Sutherland.

I'll now play Shadow of Mordor and The Evil Within, waiting for The Order 1886, Evolve and Bloodborne in a few weeks.
 
Dragon Age: Inquisition. I was really on the fence on whether to get this, as I liked Dragon Age: Origins, but only played the demo of Dragon Age 2 and thought it was dogshit. Fan reception on review sites seemed mixed, too, accentuating my fear that it would be another game I just couldn't appreciate at all. (DA2 got decent critic reviews as well, after all.)

But the game is good. There's too much MMO-style fiddling (crafting, fetch quests... I'm jumping up and down hills picking elfroot and iron, and it's so far beneath me it hurts), but it's well-written (some characters are even more amusing than in previous Bioware games, I've found myself giggling out loud on multiple occasions), and you can tell they understood the complaints regarding DA2 and addressed them.

About fan scores, I'm not sure what's going on on Metacritic, for example, averaging a 5.8 for the game instead of an 8 or 9. That score's not a difference in preference, that's a blatant lie. ME3 got the same treatment (5.2).
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
IcePuck said:
About fan scores, I'm not sure what's going on on Metacritic, for example, averaging a 5.8 for the game instead of an 8 or 9. That score's not a difference in preference, that's a blatant lie. ME3 got the same treatment (5.2).

Yeah, I was curious about your first sentence because I only saw glowing reviews for the game online. This kind of stuff is just a group of people hating on the game for some reason, rating it the lowest score en masse as a form of punishment for who knows what offense (in the case of ME3, the ending).
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
IcePuck said:
But the game is good. There's too much MMO-style fiddling (crafting, fetch quests... I'm jumping up and down hills picking elfroot and iron, and it's so far beneath me it hurts),

Sounds like you should leave the Highlands area and progress the main story. I got stuck there as well, as did many players, but there's nothing much to do there yet. Just a ton of lame one-off quests. It's mostly a second tutorial area. Check the world map for new areas to progress in.
 

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
Been having quite a bit of fun with Inquisition, even the multi-player--though not for long periods of time. I'm on a second play through in single-player where I'm trying to do as much as possible. My first go at it was kind of rushed, especially at the end, but I'm actually enjoying sitting back and getting war table missions out of the way and doing a lot of the side quests before progressing.
 

CheAkiwara

大天使 ~ ボイド
Started Grim Fandango again , it´s been quite some time since my last playthrough. I can recommend it to anyone who loves Point-and-Click adventures :)

Also started Conkers Bad Fur Day ~ Played it for like an hour and Im in love with it , Conkers drinking habit is especially amusing.

Oh and I have found a most satisfying MMORG for myself called "Blade & Soul" , though its not out in NA or Europe yet , you can play the Chinese version with an English Patch tho. Everytime I log in I get reminded of Vagabond , because of its asian medieval style. 10/10
 
Just finished Shadow of Mordor. What a fun game. I highly recommend it to any Batman Akrham series fan or people who'd like to interact with the LOTR universe in a really cool way. The combat system is top notch and the nemesis system deserve to become a normative feature for the future action adventure games to come.
 
ryOtoha said:
Just finished Shadow of Mordor. What a fun game. I highly recommend it to any Batman Akrham series fan or people who'd like to interact with the LOTR universe in a really cool way. The combat system is top notch and the nemesis system deserve to become a normative feature for the future action adventure games to come.

Told my bff that this game would suck. I was so wrong. Loved the fact that the producers made this a mature title based on LOTR. Good cross of arkham, assassins, and its own identity. The orc hierarchy was confusing at first, but it was a big surprise to me.
 
bandofthehawk (Salem) said:
Loved the fact that the producers made this a mature title based on LOTR. Good cross of arkham, assassins, and its own identity. The orc hierarchy was confusing at first, but it was a big surprise to me.

Agreed.
Until i learned that Monolith was the studio behind it (who made F.E.A.R) and the combat system was really good, i wasn't interested at all. I was surprise by how much i found myself immerse in this world, addict to the game mechanics.

Aside from the fact that Red dead redemption's main writer wrote the story, the influence of Rockstar's game is present, from characters' ingame interaction to the structure of the game.
In my opinion it's a good cross between Arkham and RDR, not so much AC.



Interesting fact, according to Giantbomb this game was supposed to be a Batman game :

Giant Bombcast. said:
Shadow of Mordor has Batman combat because it started as a Batman game in the Christopher Nolan universe, according to my close friend at WB/Monolith whose working on it. Mr. Nolan's side reportedly changed it's mind and told them to stop making the game so they salvaged as much as they could.
 
Wolfenstein : The New order is the best FPS i played in a long time.
I was expecting a feel good game when it's a pretty good game. The writing is surprisingly good and there's a sense of humanity in B.J.Blazkowicz and every characters in the game. I wasn't expecting that either. Note that at one point, you'll have to make a choice that will impact the rest of the game.

The pacing is very good, stealth feels good, the feeling of each weapons is amazing, there's a lot of different envirronement and even room for a bit of exploration, you'll have easily 15 hours run, many things to unlock (including german version of classic songs).
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
ryOtoha said:
Wolfenstein : The New order is the best FPS i played in a long time.

Awesome. I've heard some great things. I've just sort of been waiting for it to get the ol' faithful Bethesda deep price cut on Steam. :carcus:
 
Top Bottom