What was the last game you played: New Era

[Riddlewire]

Crysis 3 (Xbox 360)

I played these back to back so the differences are apparent and fresh in my mind.

In the plus column for Crysis 3:
+Awesome graphics. Considering the 360 hardware is stuff that was developed in 2004, the game looks phenomenal. Not as good as a PC, obviously, but incredible nonetheless.
+Far less alien combat. From the beginning up until Chapter 6, you're mostly fighting human CELL troops. This was what I liked about Crysis 2.
+Good set piece battles. The indooor railyard battle from early in the game stands out as a particular highlight. But there were several such "scenes" throughout the game. These were done better than most of the ones in Crysis 2.
+Quicker loading. A minor thing, perhaps, but it makes any game more enjoyable.

Negatives:
-The ending. I have to mention this first because it nearly ruined the game for me. It wasn't a story element that was problematic. Anyone who played this game on 360 (PS3?) might have also experienced this. The VERY ending thing that you do requires a particular type of movement of the controller. But not what you would normally do. I played this part over and over for two days, convinced that my save had some kind of corruption bug that prevented me from finishing the game. I hate looking for solutions for end bosses on the internet because it's pretty much impossible to avoid spoilers. Ultimately, though, I had no choice. After I looked it up, I got the game finished, but it certainly left a bad taste. What a disastrous design decision by Crytek.
-The bow. This stupid thing was unnecessary. About all it adds is a cool box cover. The same gameplay effects could have been achieved with silenced snipers and different ammo types. Including the bow also changed up the controls that I had just gotten used to during Crysis 2. And the new ones are less intuitive. The vision/nanovision both being mapped to the same thing, for instance.
-The grenades were mostly useless. There's no real way to get them targeted to a specific throwing location, so they're mostly hit-and-miss.
-The story design. I liked Alcatraz. Playing as the silent protagonist from C2 makes the game more immersive. In a first person game, YOU'RE supposed to be the hero. That illusion is broken when I have whiny Prophet speaking for me throughout the game. This was a mistake. Alcatraz should have returned for C3.

Crysis 3 is still a good game. And for $5, it's a great game.

2.5/5

[Damien_Azreal]

Alcatraz did return in Crysis 3.
In Crysis 2, as time went on... the suit restructured Alcatraz's body and mind. Leaving less of him, and more of Prophet.

By the events of Crysis 3, Alcatraz is gone... only Prophet remains.

[Riddlewire]

That's a story-based explanation.

Gameplay-wise, though, Prophet was jabbering from the very beginning. It was Alcatraz's body, but without Alcatraz's blessed silence.

[Damien_Azreal]

Yes... a story based explanation. For a story based event.
Crytek originally had Alacatraz talking in Crysis 2, but removed it because they felt given the amount of physical damage his body had gone through, he wouldn't be talking while the nanosuit was rebuilding him.

Crysis 2 is the only entry in the series were the player character doesn't talk.
Nomad spoke in the first game, Phsyco in Warhead... and Prophet in 3.

And personally, I have nothing against a speaking protagonist. It's all about how it's handled. Shadow Warrior (2013), Wolf: TNO... BulletStorm, BioShock: Infinite and countless others.
They all do it wonderfully.

[Riddlewire]

Originally Posted by Damien_Azreal

And personally, I have nothing against a speaking protagonist. It's all about how it's handled. Shadow Warrior (2013), Wolf: TNO... BulletStorm, BioShock: Infinite and countless others.
They all do it wonderfully.

And what do those protagonists all have in common?
They have charisma.
Prophet is an angsty tool.

[Damien_Azreal]

And... it all boils down to opinion in the end.
I had no problems with how Prophet was portrayed. He's definitely not in the top of the pack, but him speaking didn't hurt the game at all IMO.
And, it's funny you say they all had charisma... specially when so many people complained about BJ talking in Wolf:TNO... or people complained because they hated the new Lo Wang.

Crysis 3 falls behind Crysis 2 for other reasons IMO. Alcatraz not speaking the second game actually bugged me, specially once Crytek said they had dialog recorded for the character.

[Riddlewire]

Halo 4

Better than Halo 3. Not as good as ODST. Again with the ammo problems.
Also, this was supposed to be a massively expensive development with an enormous team. Where did all that money go? I thought Halo 3 looked better. Halo 4 was lifeless. Mostly filled with that boring techno-gray architecture they love so much. I guess all those cinematics cost big bucks.

2/5

[Kalki]

Tomb Raider

Fairly intense so far. Combat is alright, QTEs are a pain. Let's see how the story goes.

[The Dukenator]

Originally Posted by Kalki

Tomb Raider

Fairly intense so far. Combat is alright, QTEs are a pain. Let's see how the story goes.

Finished it twice. Its different from the previous games in the series.

Any game that have QTEs is a pain in the ass.

[Stevey Boy]

Originally Posted by Riddlewire

Halo 4

Better than Halo 3. Not as good as ODST. Again with the ammo problems.
Also, this was supposed to be a massively expensive development with an enormous team. Where did all that money go? I thought Halo 3 looked better. Halo 4 was lifeless. Mostly filled with that boring techno-gray architecture they love so much. I guess all those cinematics cost big bucks.

2/5

ODST is the worst Halo

[Riddlewire]

Nope.

[Damien_Azreal]

While personally, HALO 2 is the worst... followed by Reach.
HALO 4 is the best entry in the series. And visually, looks great. Looks miles above and beyond HALO 3 in every single way.

Can't understand how you would think HALO 3 could ever look better.

[London_Midge]

Originally Posted by Damien_Azreal

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

This is awesome, thanks for posting the link! I just found my discs but was worried it would be too much trouble getting NOLF to run on a modern PC. I've been playing nothing but Bloodborne for the last month and could really use something a bit cheerier.

Now if I can just get a controller to work. Yeah, I'm that guy now.

[Stevey Boy]

Black Mesa

[doggydoo]

Thief. Only 2 hours in game, but so far it sucks. Boring and AI is retarded

[Jeff]

FSX Steam Edition: McCarran Intl (Las Vegas) to San Francisco Intl

Descending into the bay area:


Checking instruments before landing:


Approaching runway 28R:


I did hear some recent news that Dovetail Games, the company who bought licensing rights to FSX are planning to make a new simulator based around the concept of FSX, but using more modern technology. In the meantime, they can make small changes to FSX, but nothing drastic (part of their deal with Microsoft).

[Stevey Boy]

Black Mesa

[doggydoo]

Actually never played Black Mesa. Looks a lot darker than Half Life (which was bright)
Too bad the full game wasn't released for free.
Should give it a chance one day.

[Damien_Azreal]

The free version of the mod is still available for download.
But, the Steam version is miles above and beyond. Improved visuals, better voice acting.

Better combat and enemy AI. Tweaked level design and improved areas.

A lot of people are throwing a fit that they are charging for it now.
But, it was Valve that approached them about doing so. Offering them a chance to port the game to the newer version of Source and release it on Steam as a retail product.

And, really, after 11 years of working on it in their free time, after their normal day jobs. Funding it themselves, they fully deserve it. The quality in the game is great.
Honestly, I would've paid more then 20 bucks for it.

[doggydoo]

Hmm..! Sounds interesting. Seems they also added achievements.
You kind of convinced me, dear sir. Guess it's time for another visit to Black Mesa :-)

[HuggyBear]

I just started playing Witcher 3. The first time playing I started
to get a strange graphics artifact, a sort of whitish texture flickering.
Upgrading my nvidia drivers to 352.86 got rid of that.
I bought the game from GOG, but I didn't bother with the GOG galaxy
client because I heard there were a lot of problems installing the game
with this client. Installing the game manually was pretty easy.

[8IronBob]

Finished Episode One of Life is Strange (yes, off Steam).
Hard to believe I was able to get through that in only a few hours, though. However, it's not bad, either. Nice use of the Unreal Engine...nice that it's being used for more than just FPS games. Good interactivity, and hardly what I'd call a "chick flick" game.

[Riddlewire]

Contract J.A.C.K.

Wait, that was it?
I figured I was about one-third into the game and then it's over. Ok, whatever.
Just like NOLF2, top notch presentation. Great visuals, great production art (models, textures), good music (although the segments are short and repetitive). Flawless framerate, even though I was forcing high AA at high resolutions. Worst driving controls ever. Seriously.
Fans of NOLF who haven't played JACK may not like it. It's purely run-and-gun. Not much in the way of gameplay "features". But I was rather lukewarm on NOLF, and I liked JACK. Too short, though.

2.5/5

[8IronBob]

Yeah, NOLF 2 was certainly the game of the series I felt rather addicted to, I admit...especially the Siberia missions.

[Damien_Azreal]

Contract J.A.C.K. sucked.
As an addition to the NOLF series, it's horribly out of place and simply doesn't fit.
The lack of any stealth options, gadgets... and the writing/humor is a huge step below what was found in NOLF 1 or 2.

Though, Monolith trying a more "balls to the wall" style of shooting in Contract JACK (even though it wasn't that great, since the AI in the NOLF games wasn't designed for it) did lead them to FEAR.
I still dislike the game a great deal. But, it fits. Most of Monolith's expansions are subpar.

From the Plasma Pak for Blood with featured unused levels from an alpha build of the game... to Blood 2: The Nightmare Levels. Which were just... meh.
And then the Primal Hunt addon for AvP2. They can make fantastic games. But, when they try to add to them, they tend to fall short.

[8IronBob]

All righty, just started up the PC version of GTA V, and it certainly IS optimized. The rig can certainly bulldoze right through at max settings.

[Damien_Azreal]

FarCry 4

In part with my whole "killing time" until Batman: Arkham Knight releases, I've returned to some games I never finished.
Problem with last year having so many good releases so close together. I'd drop one to play the next, without ever finishing the last one.

But, on to FC4. I really love this game. The gameplay I love from 3, a more interesting location. An awesome baddie... and a player character who's not a total douche.






Doesn't hurt that it's a damn good looking game as well...

[dan2091]

It seems like yesterday when you posted some Far Cry 3 screens. Very detailed visuals.

Smash Bros. for Wii U. Great party game. Have yet to try 8 player smash. It's the first Smash I've ever bought. Having a Wii U and with not many games that I'm intersted of, decided to purchase it.

[Riddlewire]

Metro 2033 (Xbox 360)

What a crapfest...
Until Bourbon dies. Then it gets dramatically better.
I like how the game's entire purpose is to trick you into wasting your ammo. That's some top notch trolling by the designers.
The game ran well on the console, and I don't think gamepad control was a hindrance. I would've liked separate audio controls. It was frequently difficult to hear what the characters were saying due to various other noises in the game. All you can do is set the game volume and the music volume. It would be better if you could turn down "environmental sounds" and everything else that isn't speech. I don't know if the PC has that option or not.
Twice I ran into an irreversible save glitch and had to replay a level of the game.
For the entire game I never once purchased anything at a "store". I never had enough ammo. Don't know if I just stink at finding hidden caches, was playing on too hard, or if that's just how the game is.
I didn't like all the sitting and watching. It seemed like 50% of play time I just set the controller down and waited (or walked "along the rail" according to the script).
I really didn't like the ending gameplay. Nothing else to say about that.
Overall, I enjoyed the game from the bridge crossing until the start of the tower. I got it for free as a toss-in with Last Light, which I'm starting next. As always the super-low price improves my score of any game.

2.5/5

[8IronBob]

Originally Posted by Damien_Azreal

FarCry 4

In part with my whole "killing time" until Batman: Arkham Knight releases, I've returned to some games I never finished.
Problem with last year having so many good releases so close together. I'd drop one to play the next, without ever finishing the last one.

But, on to FC4. I really love this game. The gameplay I love from 3, a more interesting location. An awesome baddie... and a player character who's not a total douche.






Doesn't hurt that it's a damn good looking game as well...

Yep, that'll be next week's "to-buy" game. GTA V and LiS both kinda set me back.

[Stevey Boy]

Originally Posted by 8IronBob

Yep, that'll be next week's "to-buy" game. GTA V and LiS both kinda set me back.

Steam Summer Sale is rumored to start on the 11th, might want to wait til then

[BloodShed]

Hatred

[8IronBob]

Originally Posted by Stevey Boy

Steam Summer Sale is rumored to start on the 11th, might want to wait til then

That's probably what I was thinking of when I mentioned that... I knew about the Summer Sale, just needed to know exactly when. Thanks for that.

[Damien_Azreal]

FarCry 4

[Rapture_Rising]

Originally Posted by Damien_Azreal

FarCry 4

Pity there isn't an option to just ignore them both.

[Damien_Azreal]

True... but... I just finished it.

Spoiler:

show spoiler

and I first, sided with Amita... and then killed Sabal. Mostly, because I didn't like him from the beginning of the game.
Mostly his whole fixation on the little girl he was trying to turn into a "god"... just... no.

I then let Pagan live and let him escape the country.
Then, when returning to the game after the credits... I tracked down Amita, saw what she was doing with her new found "power"... and shot her in the back of the head.

Pagan was actually a better guy then the two "good guys" you follow through the game.

[Riddlewire]

Metro Last Light (Xbox 360)

A more mainstream-friendly game than its predecessor.
Not much of the "survival horror" aspect remains in Last Light. It's an easier game, with more conventional combat (compared to 2033). Some of the game mechanics have been simplified, which was very helpful for gamepad play.
Very beautiful, although less atmospheric than 2033. Seems to be free of serious bugs.
It's more of a game, whereas 2033 is more of an "experience".
I liked both. But I think I'll remember 2033 in a few years, and I won't recall anything from Last Light.

2.5/5

[dan2091]

I was replaying Yoshi's Island on Wii U VC, but decided to take a break mid playthrough to finally play and beat Super Metroid (Wii U VC too). With 8 hours total playthrough and 93% of collecting rate. What a blast! It's definitely one of the best games for the Snes.

Such detail is something I'd never see, kind of close in Fusion or Zero Mission, but Super Metroid is definitely the best game.

The ambientation was too intense, so, I'm glad I stopped playing Yoshi to continue playing it next.

[Riddlewire]

Stolen (xbox)

What a wretched pile of dung this was.
I feel sorry for anyone who bought this new. It should have been included free in every box of Bran Flakes (and then tossed in the garbage without anyone playing it). Console games aren't supposed to release this broken. I guess by 2005, Microsoft didn't care what crap was released on the original Xbox. They were totally focused on the 360.

It's all the more tragic because I really wanted to like the game. It had all the right ideas. It's a pure stealth thievery game. No mystical mythology, magic, military conspiracies, etc. The whole point was sneaking in, stealing stuff, and sneaking out. That was the design document, anyway. I'm not sure the cutscenes were made by the same company as the gameplay. It had a tacked-on mess of a story that included characters who didn't seem to play any role. I can live with a dumb story, though. The game itself was the real problem.

Innovative features are fine, but you need to make sure your innovative features actually work. Nothing in Stolen works. Here's a brief list:
*You can save anywhere... except the saves don't actually do anything.
*The game has a checkpoint system. Oh, the checkpoints also don't do anything. (you have to "save" after reaching a checkpoint for the checkpoint to actually take, and sometimes even that doesn't work)
*A main gameplay feature is picking the pockets of guards. This doesn't work. Not even once.
*Controls sometimes don't register.
*When you're climbing on platforming elements, the controls can change dynamically if you look around.
*Sometimes the game uses a fixed camera which doesn't allow you to see where you're supposed to jump to escape a room. Usually this occurs when a timer is counting down and poison gas is filling the room. Fun.
*The audio engine was coded in Malbolge. At the end of the first mission, there's an "escape" section where a chopper with a gatling gun is chasing you. The gun's audio is a short looping "rat-tat-tat" sound. After I finished the first mission and moved on to the second, that sound was still playing. Even through new loading screens and cutscenes. It continued playing for that entire mission.
*Near the very end of the second mission, an action prompt that was supposed to popup didn't. I couldn't complete the mission without getting past that section. I restored from the earlier checkpoint. It still wouldn't work. Somehow it had written its non-existence into the game's save system. I had to go back and start playing in the middle of the first mission and finish all of that and all of the second mission without dying once in order for that prompt to show up.

I could go on, but it's an old game that nobody cares about.
I only paid $4 for it, so I really shouldn't complain. However, there were people who originally paid much more for this dreck, so this score is for them.

0/5

[dan2091]

Finished that Yoshi's Island. Would have been harder if not for the Virtual Console capabilites of instant save/load. Yeah, old PC habits in an Snes games .

Completed 100%, not one single dead, 100% VC cheated. To be fair, I 100% the game on GBA back in 2009, still have the cartidrage, but (compulsive) save/load is too much of a temptation not to use when on Virtual Console.