What was the last game you played: New Era

[doggydoo]

Originally Posted by Riddlewire

Finished Halo 3

They ruined all the weapons (except the plasma rifles). Nothing felt right, ammo depletes almost instantly, tedious picking up new weapons. Few memorable battles. Felt like an arcade light shooter. Don't have a clue what the story was. Poor audio editing resulted in lots of imperceptible speech.
I suppose the multiplayer is the reason this game has gotten such good reviews. I don't have XBL Gold, so no multiplayer for me. As for the single player campaign, I'd give it a 2/5.
A big disappointment.

The most disappointing of it all is that it's just sooo boring.
I really forced myself to finish the one game I decided to buy an xbox360 for.
As for multiplayer, it's ok, but itdoesn't has that magic touch Halo1 had.

[Damien_Azreal]

The HALO series has always been horribly overrated.
For the longest time I never saw the "awesome" that so many other people saw in them. And that's fine, I didn't have to. Everyone has their own thing... and that's what's great about gaming. There's tons of options for everyone.

But for me, Bungie are a "meh" developer. The HALO series is a pile of horrible level design, bad writing and cobbled story moments that never really mesh.
HALO 1,2 and 3 were only meh at best. They each had moments of promise... but fell flat. ODST had a great atmosphere... but killed itself with the "daytime flashback" missions and cut/paste level design.
And Reach just... bleh.

But, HALO 4 I loved. And it was there I came to the conclusion... my issues with the HALO series weren't because of the core subject matter... but the people making the games. Bungie.
Once 343 took over, they released a HALO game I thought was great. Solid level design, great gunplay, writing... actual depth and real "character" in their motivations.

[Riddlewire]

I liked the first Halo. I thought Halo 2 was dull. And you already have my thoughts on Halo 3.

I just bought ODST (on its way, $4 shipped!). It'll be a while before I get to it.

Playing through the HD port of Quake 2 for 360 right now, simultaneously with Chromehounds.

[Damien_Azreal]

Thankfully, I didn't have to pay for HALO 3, ODST or Reach. I worked with a guy that would buy them the instant they came out.
Then, I would borrow them.

I do own HALO 1 and 2 for PC, and I bought 4 after renting it because I really liked it.

[Ras]

Originally Posted by Damien_Azreal

That's not what I use.
Those instructions will give you a widescreen resolution, but will cut off certain menu options and will stretch the weapon HUD models.

This is the fix I'm currently using. http://www.mediafire.com/download/v2hhut4112nj9mv/Nolf2_WidescreenPatch_v3.rar
As it correctly adjusts all menu options, fixes the weapon stretching issues... and allows you to select your resolution from the in game menu.

Is there a link for the original NOLF?

[Damien_Azreal]

Yes.
Here's a fix for the first game.

[Ras]

Thanks. I can't wait to revisit the NOLF games!

[Damien_Azreal]

There's a glitch with the fix in the first NOLF.
He fixed the weapon models being stretched, but the way the game renders the weapon models is odd.
Any time you have an attachment like a silencer or such... it's a completely separate model from the gun itself.
And his fix "fixes" the gun models, but the attachments will stretch during animations (raising and lowering weapon, reloading... various idle animations).
It's a small annoyance, but just letting you know. Still, the fix is great and way worth it.

[Ras]

I played Commandos and its expansion with a widescreen fix and it would have a big smear any time the map was not as wide as the widescreen resolution:



It sounds like the issue with NOLF will be similarly annoying, which is not much at all considering these fixes are just made by fans trying to make it a little better on a modern computer.

I just wish I could figure out how to run Commandos 2/3 without the stuttering sound I get.

[Riddlewire]

ODST

Uh... I liked the gameplay better than Halo 3. Even though it's still nothing special. The battlefields are much more limited in size and scope. It's a little bit closer to classic FPS gameplay. The story is bad, the dialogue is worse, the cinematics are strangely awful (kinda like PS2-quality). The "Rookie" parts where you're exploring the city at night are kinda cool. Nice atmosphere. Good music.
For an extreme budget price, I'll give it 3.5/5.

[Damien_Azreal]

BioShock

Finished it. Again.
Decided to replay it as it had been a few years since I had. Took me 10 hours.

And while I still really like it, the game just really falls apart towards the end. Enemies stop being fun to fight and turn into sponges, the "Big Daddy' sequences is tedious and annoying.
And the final fight is a f***ing joke. Add in a pretty "meh" ending. Still a good game, but not the masterpiece it's made out to be.

[Rapture_Rising]

Originally Posted by Damien_Azreal

BioShock

Finished it. Again.
Decided to replay it as it had been a few years since I had. Took me 10 hours.

And while I still really like it, the game just really falls apart towards the end. Enemies stop being fun to fight and turn into sponges, the "Big Daddy' sequences is tedious and annoying.
And the final fight is a f***ing joke. Add in a pretty "meh" ending. Still a good game, but not the masterpiece it's made out to be.

Yeah, it's like Irrational put all their effort into everything before the Andrew Ryan encounter realised it's a bit too short and lazily threw everything together to pad out game time.

[Damien_Azreal]

They openly stated that some time after the game's release.
I can't remember the exact words, but they said they didn't really know where to take the game after that moment and had to figure something out.
Also saying they didn't figure most players would even bother playing the game after that plot moment. Assuming most players would stop there or shortly after.

[fofo.rider]

LEISURE SUIT LARRY 7

[Stevey Boy]

GTA V

[Rapture_Rising]

Yep... also been playing GTA V PC, it looks awesome and runs really well (after tweaking the graphics) but i hate the blueish white haze, i understand it being there on console versions as a way to mask small draw distances but in the PC version disabling it might get a slight performance boost.

[Kev_Hectic]

I have been playing a lot of Pay Day 2.

[NutWrench]

I finally got Bioshock: Infinite yesterday. I'm enjoying it a lot.

[Damien_Azreal]

I just finished replaying it... for the third time.
Still love it.

[Riddlewire]

Clive Barker's Undying




I haven't played this game in 14 years. I'm surprised how much of it I remembered. Truly awesome game. Gameplay that's better than anything that calls itself an "FPS" these days.
It was choking on my mild retro PC (P4 2.2, Geforce 6600) for some reason. Got lots of stuttering in D3D. I ended up using NGlide to play the Glide version of it. Worked great.
I guess I couldn't give a re-review without taking off a point for the atrocious double boss battles at the end. I started the second one with 19 Health and no more health packs. Poorly thought out design (not to mention a dumb final boss).

4/5

[NutWrench]

I didn't remember until today that I have a Season Pass for Borderlands 2. I still have 2 DLCs that I've never played.

[X-Vector]

Even though I bought GTA IV four and a half years ago in a Steam sale, I was always hesitant to give it a go due to reports of performance issues and the presence of the evil triumvirate of Rockstar Social Club, Games for Windows Live and SecuROM.
I finally caved in last week and after a boatload of initial frustration which almost drove me towards an immediate uninstall, this game has grown on me so much that it's pushed the idea of getting my hands on GTA V any time soon out of the way.

It's taken a lot of tinkering with the in-game settings, SweetFX, XLiveLess, commandline.txt and visualsettings.dat files, capping framerate to 60 FPS and other 'fun' stuff, but eventually that's left me with a game that looks and sounds great.
The more 'realistic' approach now feels like a fresh alternative rather than the regrettable misdirection that I'd originally judged it.

Though the world map is significantly smaller than that of GTA San Andreas, Rockstar's spent a remarkable amount of attention on fine detail which really makes the environment come alive.
There may be less to do overall, but what is there feels very right (e.g. playing pool, which is a lot of fun).
Then there are those moments that I don't want to do anything other than cruising through town on my chopper, with the radio dialed to the HHGTTG-meets-Blade Runner-meets-The X-Files soundscape of The Journey.

[Damien_Azreal]

I hate GTA4.
The characters, story... ungodly annoying cell phone/friend bullshit you have to balance.

But, GTAV is beyond awesome.
The characters are great, the writing and dialog is hilarious and wonderfully written. None of the crap from 4... Niko talking about how he doesn't want this life... then goes and kills 30 some people and robs a bank.

And, GTAV on PC... looks gorgeous, and runs amazingly great. I'm averaging around 90+ fps almost all the time.

[Rapture_Rising]

GTA V PC... Just finished all the story missions and now going on to the collectibles and stranger missions.

I cannot believe how well Rockstar have made this game run considering the disaster GTA IV's PC release was. Running it a 1440p i am getting a solid 60fps on ultra (with a few options turned down like postfx and grass quality), with even more optimisation from Rockstar and Nvidia it could run even smoother.

Took a couple of screenshots, the game is absolutely gorgeous and has some of the best weather effects i have seen in a video game.

[Riddlewire]

Soldier of Fortune II

I didn't finish the first mission.
Maybe they started off bad and it got better. But I hated everything about the game within minutes. Not going to continue.

[Damien_Azreal]

Yes, the first mission is one of the weaker ones in the game.

[doggydoo]

Finally finished The Evil Within. Aside from the buggy camera, black borders and unresponsive controls, still a decent game.

[Damien_Azreal]

Did you play it on PC or console?
On PC they added a patch that lets you turn off the letterboxing (black borders).

[doggydoo]

Originally Posted by Damien_Azreal

Did you play it on PC or console?
On PC they added a patch that lets you turn off the letterboxing (black borders).

PC. Damn, this would have been good to know BEFORE I started the game.
Could have saved myself a lot of frustration.

[Damien_Azreal]

I didn't have any issues with unresponsive controls.
The mouse in the menu feels sluggish, but in game controls felt fine to me.

[doggydoo]

Can't quite put my finger on it. It felt too slow and sluggish for some reason. For example, when sprinting, Sebastian becomes somewhat difficult to control. Especially when moving around in small spaces or corridors, he's all over the place. And when you tap the melee key, he does it, but like half a second later. Maybe it's the animations, I don't know..

[Damien_Azreal]

The melee attack, wondering aim... and "frantic" run style were all intentional.
Shinji said (in some interview) that he wanted Sebastian to feel vulnerable, even though he was a cop... he didn't have the training that characters like Leon had in RE4.

So, making his melee attacks a bit weak... and slow made them more of a last resort attack. Not something you should rely on.
And, making his run feel almost like a frantic stagger instead of a straight out sprint... was supposed to add to that as well.

I'll admit a lot of people dislike Shinji's ideas and design ways. He wasn't really for the patch that let people disable the letterbox display. As he's been trying to put that in all his games for years.
But, I love how much thought he puts behind the characters. Good idea or bad, it's nice little touches that make them feel a bit more real IMO. But, those touches definitely are not for everyone.

[doggydoo]

He certainly nailed the vulnerability. But Imo he should have paid more attention to the characters background, to back that up. They sometimes feel like empty shells (or puppets). The poor voice acting empowers this even more. I never felt connected to any of them.
And the black borders actually didn't disturb me in RE4.
All in all I enjoyed the experience, but it had more potential.

[Stevey Boy]

GTA V

[Riddlewire]

Crysis 2 (X360)

A schizophrenic game. Equal parts fun and infuriating.
Amputate the aliens and the alien storyline completely and this would be an awesome shooter. The best parts were fighting CELL troops in the streets of New York. But for every scene like that there was a tedious battle with aliens (and those terrible interactive cutscenes).
I suspect the game is much better on the PC with mouse and keyboard control. The weapons reload so slowly and do so little damage that every hit counts. That's a big problem when you're trying to keep a gamepad stick centered on a fast moving alien.
The 360 version, although it looks fantastic, has some bugs and glitches. Nothing game-breaking.

2.5/5

[Damien_Azreal]

Loved Crysis 2.
My favorite in the series. Crysis 3 is "more of the same" but the Hunter Bow adds a nice new element to the stealth aspect.
And, the levels are more open ended then they were in Crysis 2. But yes, the PC version of both is the way to go.

Played some Resident Evil: Revelations 2

Finished Episodes 1,2 and 3... and I'm currently about halfway through Episode 4. So, almost finished. Once I finish Ep 4 I can jump into the bonus episodes.
The game is great. It's the best Resident Evil game I've played since RE4, and that's roughly... four games ago.

[8IronBob]

Life is Strange: Ep 1 Demo on Xbox 360. Might consider seeing if there is a full version of this for PC at all. Seems that this might even control best on a keyboard and mouse. It'll probably be one of the games besides GTA V that I might consider pulling the trigger on when it comes to the new build.

[Stevey Boy]

The Old Blood

[doggydoo]

Killzone Mercenary on Playstation TV. Quite a fun game and really good looking too for a psvita title.

[Damien_Azreal]

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

Absolutely love it. The awesome that is Wolf: The New Order... mixed with the awesome that was Return to Castle Wolfenstein.
A whole new awesome.