What are you playing? [SPOILER TAGS PLEASE]

Started by Sabby, May 31, 2009, 12:45:35 PM

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Hemingway

#2625
Okay ... Okay, so I haven't finished Crysis yet, but ... well, I feel the need to rant anyway. So ... let's see.

The gameplay is ... weird. I'm not sure how to best explain this.

The way the suit works is quite different from Crysis. I think I already complained about everything requiring energy, which significantly slows down the gameplay. Unfortunately, it also means that you'll often end up in annoying catch-22 situations where getting to a place where you can safely recharge suit energy, requires you to use either stealth or armor ... which is why you need energy in the first place. Often, you're forced to slowly creep from one hiding place to another, stealth-killing enemies, before skulking off to the next. So much for guns. As far as shooting goes, you're usually best off hiding someplace far away and taking potshots at enemies, rather than hit-and-run tactics as the game actually encourages.

I mean, the way I imagined the suit would be used, would be using stealth to outmanoeuvre your enemies, then attack them from an unexpected angle using armor mode. Do that, though, and you're just going to end up dead when their friends come to help and your suit is recharging. The usefulness of stealth is also limited by the time it takes for it to activate, the fact enemies will occasionally get a lucky hit even when you're stealthed, and their ability to see you if you get too close.

The weapons themselves, are for the most part ... ridiculously weak. Aliens in particular are just ...

Yeah, don't get me started on the aliens. These enemies are just plain silly, not intimidating in the very least. Their appearance is stupid, like less threatening versions of the Halo Hunters, and ... you know, if there was just a few of them, but those few were incredibly dangerous, I might find them more intimidating. But, no. They just take a lot of damage, unless you can surprise them. To make it even worse, the game encourages you to kill as many of them as possible, because you need to harvest their remains for suit upgrades ... yeah, I just ... ugh.

And about the aliens and their place in the story ... how are these even the aliens from the first game? I mean, aside from the octopus-imagery, they have nothing in common. I guess that's not so weird, considering they basically rewrote the whole story of the first game. And not for the better, mind you. Seriously, this did not need to be a sequel. If not for the suits, there would be absolutely no connection to the first game. And the story as a whole is weak, predictable and filled with clichés. Unless I'm coming up on some mind-bending twist, I imagine it'll stay that way.

So, in conclusion, is it a bad game? Well, no, I'm still playing it, so it's not that bad. The only game I can think of comparing it to, is FEAR 2. In fact, they have a lot in common. Both Crysis 2 and FEAR 2 are sequels whose prequels were way better. Both are made for consoles. Both evolved the original concept in, ah, roughly the same way. The settings are similar. The main characters are similar. The stories are similar ( not the details, but the delivery ) ... yeah.

Anyway, rant over. I'm going to play some more, and ... ugh, hope it gets better.

Edit: Well, I ran into some human enemies, and ... the difference is overwhelming. I got my hands on some expensive suit upgrades, and ... this is more like how the suit should've worked right from the start, and this is how enemies should feel. So. If they'd made the aliens more terrifying ( as in, made fighting them something you wanted to avoid, not something you absolutely had to do in order to get stronger ), the game would've worked way, way better.

Sabby

Oh boy... well, first off, the reason you run out of energy is because your exiting Cloak right into Armor. Thats not how the 'hit and run' works >.> it gives you no time to recharge energy, which only needs a few seconds to fully recharge. If your hitting and running right, you won't even need the Armor until you decide to steamroll the stragglers.

As for the plot... its slow to start, and its hard to do anything revolutionary with an alien invasion story, but keep playing. I was both excited and content with how it all ended. There are a few twists, which I won't even put into spoiler tags.

As for the Ceph, I found their design to be kind of intimidating at times... especially the melee focused ones. They remind me a lot of Big Sisters, the way they leap around environments and sprint ninja style.

Tonalberry

I've recently played Dead Space 2.  Enjoyable, if short.  Beat it on Casual in about 10 or so hours, not straight through though.  Started a new game + on normal to go through and get the elite suits.  Right now I've just rented Bulletstorm and have been playing it for a little while.  Is there anything Steve Blum won't do voice acting for?

Wolfy

What am I playing, you ask? Why..MY NEW 3DS. >:D

Sabby

Okay, simple question Wolfy. It is to be answered in equally a simple fashion. This is very important.

Does it have good games?

Otherwise, its not worth nothing :P

Wolfy

Quote from: Sabby on March 27, 2011, 09:46:20 PM
Okay, simple question Wolfy. It is to be answered in equally a simple fashion. This is very important.

Does it have good games?

Otherwise, its not worth nothing :P

Street Fighter IV, Samurai Warriors, Rayman 3D, Ridge Racer 3D...all of them are getting good reviews. :p

Plus there's an entire catalog of DS games to play too, plus more coming out..including the remake of Ocarina of Time.

Also, when I got my 3DS, I was so like:


Sabby

Okay, a good start. Nothing that interests me though.

Not a fan of Ocarina of Time

"Hypernews I"

LOLOLOLOLOL

Wyrd

Ragtime Dandies!

Rayne

So I am playing... Sims Medieval.
Meh, not what I expected. It's very... quest driven. You only control one person now, even when you marry and have kids, and there's some other changes that I've just not gotten used to yet. It's really not an open world thing any more, its more structured. It has some fun bits, but it could have been so much better if they'd stuck to what they were good at.



Sabby

Playing an old classic that you've likely never heard of unfortunately... Jet Force Gemini. Sadly, it came out during the N64's last days, so it went on unnoticed, but its by Rare, and uses the Perfect Dark engine for a third person shooter (my favourite kind!)

Hemingway

Quote from: Sabby on March 27, 2011, 09:22:42 PM
Oh boy... well, first off, the reason you run out of energy is because your exiting Cloak right into Armor. Thats not how the 'hit and run' works >.> it gives you no time to recharge energy, which only needs a few seconds to fully recharge. If your hitting and running right, you won't even need the Armor until you decide to steamroll the stragglers.

When you turn down the difficulty, that actually works, to a certain extent. I do think the most important reason the game works better now, is the aliens are often distracted by marines.

... Which is also something I take issue with. Seriously, I'm either missing a whole game that went in-between, or this story just makes no sense. I'll play through the whole game before posting my exact thoughts on that, to make sure I don't run into any last-minute revelations, but yeah.

Unfortunately, that may take a while, as I discovered Good Old Games, which sells Win7-compatible classics, the likes of Baldur's Gate.

Sabby

I had no problems with difficulty. I had it on Normal the whole way and only the final boss gave me problems. Not because of good, balanced challenged, just that it sucked >.>

Lirliel

Quote from: Rayne on March 28, 2011, 02:01:53 AM
So I am playing... Sims Medieval.
Meh, not what I expected. It's very... quest driven. You only control one person now, even when you marry and have kids, and there's some other changes that I've just not gotten used to yet. It's really not an open world thing any more, its more structured. It has some fun bits, but it could have been so much better if they'd stuck to what they were good at.

Agreed to all of the above and one addition. You have only one 'section' open when you start, you build your kingdom etc etc. Then suddenly BAM your done and you have to start ALL over again.
"Jealousy would be far less torturous if we understood that love is a passion entirely unrelated to our merits."

"A minute of perfection was worth the effort. A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection."

Hemingway

#2638
Quote from: Sabby on March 28, 2011, 07:17:26 AM
I had no problems with difficulty. I had it on Normal the whole way and only the final boss gave me problems. Not because of good, balanced challenged, just that it sucked >.>

I've been playing on Veteran for the most part, and it really ruins the flow of the game.

Edit: Apparently, the same people who are making the Game of Thrones strategy game, are making an RPG with the same setting. In the words of this article, inspired by Baldur's Gate 2, Planescape: Torment and Knights of the Old Republic.

Unfortunately, I don't speak French, so the original article is incomprehensible to me.

Now excuse me while I go die of excitement.

Lirliel

"Jealousy would be far less torturous if we understood that love is a passion entirely unrelated to our merits."

"A minute of perfection was worth the effort. A moment was the most you could ever expect from perfection."

Oniya

"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Inkidu

#2641
I can play nothing! I already started my 3rd Dragon Age playthrough, and there are games I need to beat so they can go on my Game Stop credit pile later, but right now... I really need a bath.

EDIT: Also watching Zero Punctuation videos on The Escapist. I don't like Crenshaw, but if you learn that everything he's going to say is basically so hyperbolic you could reach Super Sayain level 2 on it, and that none of his reviews should ever be treated as reviews or with anything indicating seriousness. He's really funny. 

EDIT 2: [really fast voice]It has come to my attention--and by my attention I mean I actually stopped to read his name in detail--that it is actually Croshaw. Which I can't be faulted for because his nickname is Yahtzee. What does he like getting five of everything at random?[/really fast voice]
If you're searching the lines for a point, well you've probably missed it; there was never anything there in the first place.

Hemingway

I know this is video game blasphemy, but ... well, RPGs really have improved since Baldur's Gate. I don't care what people say, Baldur's Gate 2 is not the best RPG ever. I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate, and ... well, it's enjoyable in its own way, sure, but ... it's not a "better" game than Dragon Age, with the possible exception of story-wise. I know enough of BG's story to know it's ... interesting, but ... yeah, I haven't actually ever finished it.

Sure, this game is more open than more recent RPGs. In my opinion, though, there is a point where "open" turns into "confusing". I can appreciate the feeling of abandoning the main plot for a while to go on an adventure, that's a lot of fun, but ... please, at least give me some hint of what I'm supposed to do, so I'm not just wandering around aimlessly. That'd be cool! ... oh, yeah. You did. In modern RPGs. I guess I can't actually complain.

The difficulty is weird, too, but that may be the fault of D&D, not the developers per se. Bottom line: my characters are way too weak, which gets really annoying when even a single hit means you have to heal, and having to heal means you have to rest to be able to cast your healing spell again. Even more annoying if you get attacked while resting. If your lucky is really bad, your character gets hit twice in a row and dies. DIES. They don't get knocked down, they DIE. THE END. You load. Who thought that was a good idea? I mean, sure, they couldn't copy a game that came out ten years later, unless they had a time machine, but ... still. Come on, you guys. Oh, and watching my band of adventurers helplessly swinging their swords at a dog or something, and missing nine times out of ten ... it's sort of ... weird. Just ... weird.

Then there's just how much more streamlined and user-friendly games have become. Games nowadays will usually cut you some slack. Say the wrong thing to your party member in Baldur's Gate, and you're never getting in their pants. Or they kill you. Or whatever. It's brutal all the same, and you have no way of knowing ahead of time.

So, yeah. Yeah, I'm pretty happy with games nowadays. Not everything was better way back in the day.

... now, if someone could somehow combine the things that made BG good, and the things that make modern games better ... oh, I shudder to think of the results.

Wyrd

Quote from: Hemingway on March 28, 2011, 07:25:24 PM
I know this is video game blasphemy, but ... well, RPGs really have improved since Baldur's Gate. I don't care what people say, Baldur's Gate 2 is not the best RPG ever. I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate, and ... well, it's enjoyable in its own way, sure, but ... it's not a "better" game than Dragon Age, with the possible exception of story-wise. I know enough of BG's story to know it's ... interesting, but ... yeah, I haven't actually ever finished it.

Sure, this game is more open than more recent RPGs. In my opinion, though, there is a point where "open" turns into "confusing". I can appreciate the feeling of abandoning the main plot for a while to go on an adventure, that's a lot of fun, but ... please, at least give me some hint of what I'm supposed to do, so I'm not just wandering around aimlessly. That'd be cool! ... oh, yeah. You did. In modern RPGs. I guess I can't actually complain.

The difficulty is weird, too, but that may be the fault of D&D, not the developers per se. Bottom line: my characters are way too weak, which gets really annoying when even a single hit means you have to heal, and having to heal means you have to rest to be able to cast your healing spell again. Even more annoying if you get attacked while resting. If your lucky is really bad, your character gets hit twice in a row and dies. DIES. They don't get knocked down, they DIE. THE END. You load. Who thought that was a good idea? I mean, sure, they couldn't copy a game that came out ten years later, unless they had a time machine, but ... still. Come on, you guys. Oh, and watching my band of adventurers helplessly swinging their swords at a dog or something, and missing nine times out of ten ... it's sort of ... weird. Just ... weird.

Then there's just how much more streamlined and user-friendly games have become. Games nowadays will usually cut you some slack. Say the wrong thing to your party member in Baldur's Gate, and you're never getting in their pants. Or they kill you. Or whatever. It's brutal all the same, and you have no way of knowing ahead of time.

So, yeah. Yeah, I'm pretty happy with games nowadays. Not everything was better way back in the day.

... now, if someone could somehow combine the things that made BG good, and the things that make modern games better ... oh, I shudder to think of the results.

I don't think I can agree with something more then I agree with this. Well said.
Ragtime Dandies!

Wolfy

#2644
So guys, is Crysis 2 worth getting on the 360?..I'm trying to decide if I should get it tommorow or not. :/

*flops around* Argh, I dunno what to do...do I get Street Fighter IV 3D and Crysis 2, or do I get SFIV 3D, Samurai Warriors 3D, and Radiant Historia? D:...*sighs* >_<

Sabby

Quote from: Wolfy on March 28, 2011, 07:38:17 PM
So guys, is Crysis 2 worth getting on the 360?..I'm trying to decide if I should get it tommorow or not. :/

Long and intense single player campaign, absolutely jaw dropping set pieces, fun multiplayer, the right to tell your asshole friend that yes, you can run Crysis... you do the math :P

Wolfy

#2646
Oh Sabbs.....Wait, what do you have it for, 360?..We can play together. :D

if I get it, that is. Still unsure for now.

Jadewren

Hmmm. What am I playing? I am afraid I have a bad habit of starting games and never finishing them!
Computer: The Witcher and Sims 3
XboX 360: Dragon Quest, Cursed King, Dragon Age, Blue Dragon, 99 Nights
Nintendo DSi: Summon Nights, Harvest Moon Island of Happiness, Rune Factory 1 and 2, Dragon Quest 9 and 11
Ps2: Dark Cloud 1 and 2, Mana Khemia, Legend of Mana, Kingdom Hearts 2
What makes a great story is not that the good guys should win. It is the possibility they may not.

Sabby

Quote from: Wolfy on March 28, 2011, 11:57:00 PM
Oh Sabbs.....Wait, what do you have it for, 360?..We can play together. :D

if I get it, that is. Still unsure for now.

Hell yeah! Get it.

My other multiplayer games don't work :( Reach and Black Ops, most noteably... I asked the guy who installed my mod chip, and he seems to think that Microsoft might be trying a new security system that locks out certain pirated games, even offline, but theres no way to tell :/

Ocks

Been trying out Gears of war...not fond of it, but my little brother wants me to play it. Can't say no to that kid. Mainly play it because it's something for us to do together. Me being in Okinawa Japan and him in Puerto Rico...well...I have a good arm, but catch is pretty much out of the question.
So says the prophesy!!