Duck and Cover

Border Mountie wrote:Coincidence?

Er. Wow. Shit. I'll be back with the proper papers.

This is surprisingly interesting.

Stardrive. Definite "Is that the time?" game of '13. Slooooooooooow like a very very slow thing.

http://armorgames.com/play/13662/give-up

266 deaths, bitches. Also 263 curse words. Or the same 5 over and over again.

109 deaths.

In other news, this looks like it could be really, really ducky. Or perhaps just marginally novel.

System Shock 2 is only 6.99 on Steam. Oh my. Be still, my heart.

I also bought and finished Spec Ops: The Line. All in all a fair game, certainly not worth more than one playthrough in the span of a year. Gameplay is remarkably average, though people who have high opinions of the game say that was intentional. That said the way the game's themes and messages are heavy handed at best but it presents itself well enough and has okay pacing as far as the plot is concerned. Borderline trying too hard in some aspects. Especially since one of the game's themes, choices, don't actually matter on the player's part. This isn't Alpha Protocol or anything, this is basically a corridor shooter with a little bit of depth to the plot beyond shooting at brown people.

If Apocalypse Now were in the form of a video game I'd say The Line is as close as we'll get for now, though that's not exactly a complement. The game left me wanting.

7/10 It's not bad, worth playing at least once I'd reckon.

Metro - Last Light is pretty fucking grand so far (just took in some theatre), though Artyom has yet to escape his tendency toward falling over/dropping things and generally being regarded as daft by NPCs. It's an odd dichotomy, given the feats and body count of the previous outing.

Bloody impressive that the souls at 4A were able to create such an atmospheric and engrossing experience - even in the context of re-using assets from 2033 - in light (HEH) of the lamentable state of their working environment and conditions.

No crashes (yet), and it's much better optimised than 2033. It's gorgeous at points, and wonderfully, relentlessly bleak.

Also, the morality point system is back - it's been quite a challenge to restrain myself from <strike>using almost all the weapons and tools</strike> inhuming the various fascists and such.

Two negatives, so far - the stealth system is too reliable/simplistic for my tastes. Provided you're crouching in a poorly lit area and haven't raised suspicions to the point that they remember they have torches, you're essentially invisible. Then again, while it's easy, it's marginally preferable in my mind to the likes of S.T.A.L.K.E.R and it's tendency toward psychic hive consciousness bollocks.

Checkpoints. Frigging checkpoints.

Been playing it a lot, myself. The simplified stealth system is the only thing that's bothering me too. I like the new gameplay features regardless, but Ranger Hardcore removes the HUD to the point where it doesn't make any sense, I was stuck on a part where I thought it was a death animation but it was actually a QTE where I had to mash the use key repeatedly. No indication ever came up though so I always ended up getting my face eaten.

Only gripes so far. Really enjoying it otherwise. The wide open swamp area just let you go explore and see what you could see. Felt like I was playing STALKER for a bit, trying to stay out of the shrimp's sight, keeping my head down trudging through the swamp trying to find fuel and just exploring for a bit.

I wish they would just let the game be open world for once.

Maybe if they finish the story with Artyom they can just drop the player as a random character in a side-quel where you can just wander anywhere you want in the metro system.

That, of course, is asking for too much I think.

Either way, right now I'm giving the game a solid "Would Play Again" out of 10.

Apparently, the developers have made mention of a possible release of an SDK at some point, so free-roam style mods could be on the table. Between that and the New Missions screen, I remain cautiously optimistic that their season pass will be better than the one for Saints Row the Third . . .

I initially began with Ranger Hardcore, but restarted shortly after realising the full scope of their decisions regarding the (near complete absence of) HUD. Pity they aren't toggles, as I'd love to replay with more numerous, more dangerous enemies and scarce resources - I just don't particularly want to roleplay as someone so deprived of higher brain functions that they have no way of determining even an approximation of their ammunition, how many filters they possess and their estimated duration, or whether they'll be throwing a knife or a claymore at any given moment. It's bad enough that Artyom is still mute !

An entirely out of context excerpt featuring Artyom, Miller and Khan, see if you can guess who is who (mild spoilers) :

1 - 'TELL ME WHY I SHOULDN'T SHOOT THE PINEAPPLE BECAUSE I REALLY WANT TO SHOOT THE PINEAPPLE AND I'M GOING TO SHOOT THE PINEAPPLE UNLESS YOU TELL ME WHY I SHOULDN'T SHOOT THE PINEAPPLE'

2 - '. . .'

3 - 'you shouldn't shoot the pineapple because [A FINE SELECTION OF PERFECTLY SANE REASONS FOR WHY SHOOTING THE PINEAPPLE WOULD BE A VERY FOOLISH THING, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO : AN IMPENDING INFLUX OF IRATE MIMES WITH STOCKS OF WEAPONISED ATHLETE'S FOOT], also have I ever told you about the river of time travelling ?'

I certainly appreciated the refinements to weapon modification, i.e : not having to hunt down that one specific instance of a revolver that posseses a reflex sight, extended stock and suppressor.

<strike>I gather the RPK is the 'compact but deadly Russian assault rifle' ? Thought it was more of a not-especially-compact-yet-very-deadly-Russian-light-machine-gun. :sperg: While it was a shame there was no barrel extension for it, at least they included a drum magazine.</strike>

Whoops, that's the gun you receive in Ranger mode.

I would love one of those scorpion critters as a pet. They were a high point of sound design in a game where the sound design has been consistently impressive. Also, brilliant animation.

I confess I was mildly disappointed that it wasn't possible to intervene in the various fuckhead <strike>street</strike> tunnel thugs intimidate and extort people sequences during the visit to Venice. Hope they all caught Athlete's foot.

And, despite this technique being distressingly popular in narrative design, very disappointed by the seemingly common move-the-plot-along-by-having-Artyom-be-very-dumb-and/or-clumsy moments. Sharp contrast to the occasionally overheard snippets of :

A : 'Hey, did you hear about [mysterious and terrible massacre from 2033/earlier in LL] ?'
B : 'No . . ?'

Followed by either:

A : 'It was so terrible and mysterious that it could only be the work o -'
B : 'AN INVISIBLE MUTANT !'
A : 'Yep.'

Or:

A : 'Yeah, and now we're hunting for the guy responsible . . .'
B : ':sadblinky:'

Poor bastards.

The boss fights were unremarkable, at best. Step one, claymore, step two, shoot face repeatedly, repeat.

Inexplicably cannot cook grenades anymore, either ? And writing of pomegranates, what happened to the pipe bomb covered in nails ? They were great fun to throw onto the faces of one's foes.

Also, literal use of the term 'CHOSEN ONE'.

In conclusion - sadly very linear and occasional plot daftness, but still a hell of a ride.

A sound review.

Last time I checked they haven't backed out of saying they were releasing an SDK, but they also haven't given any more information regarding it either. I think they also said it when they were still working for THQ so things may have changed since they're working for new people.

Kind of bummed I got the bad end, I tried to do all the good things I could find, helping people, that kind of thing. I even saved the mother bear from all the watchers that were crawling over her after the boss fight.

From what I've gathered killing all the enemies in levels still give you the bad end, so I was kind of put off by that even though the game never gave me a notification that what I was doing really wasn't the best course of action. They shouldn't make me feel like the fucking Predator when it comes to fucking with blind Russians in dark tunnels. It's their fault I went in and killed everybody all the time.

Basically have to start from scratch if I wanted the good end but I beat it on Ranger Hardcore already so I think I'm done playing it for about a month. Don't need to let it overstay its welcome.

According to this, bonus points toward the 'Good' ending are awarded for clearing sections without any human kills, when applicable. Obvious exceptions being The Time Artyom Murdered a Train and the late game Ecstatic Reunion of Artyom and Pavel, Post-Apocalyptic BFFs and that part where they crash a train through the front door and try to steal the influenzas because mimes are rude pricks.

Also, the usual suspects of shamelessly violating the personal space of NPCs and blatantly eavesdropping on their conversations, finding hidden caches, exploring all the nooks, and, when possible, leaving the local fauna in peace.

Regarding the ethics of murdering pixelmen - how is it moral to spare a station full of murderous skull measuring fascists/Athlete's foot spreading, <strike>windowsill chewing would-be despots</strike> mimes ?

Is Artyom's superficially clear conscience worth the inevitable future toll of (mostly) innocents ? Or perhaps it's that he's vacuous enough to think that after rendering them all unconscious and stealing their gubbins that they'll all be inspired to take up more socially acceptable hobbies like mushroom farming.

I've completed one run, so far, with the ^_^ ending, and I only killed the following :

Various mutant scum.
All the bandits who inconvenienced those poor refugees and who, incidentally, broke Regina.
All the mimes who were complicit in exposing an entire station to Athlete's foot and then attempted to portray themselves as heroes by covering it up with a brutal, fiery purge.
The aforementioned train, Pavel and co, and the assembly of rude pricks.

Going to go loud and disappoint a certain moralising someone by killing everything next time.

Also, I just don't understand how Lesnitsky's little visor manages to stop a 7.62 bullet to the eye. Pretty sure a case of brain is soup would probably stop most people from cutting throats or tearing off masks. And how is voluntarily removing your mask in the presence of Athlete's foot moral rather than just bloody stupid ?

It's a tiny detail, but I miss the diving watch - it meshed with the setting so elegantly.

I'll just distract myself with Reus (also a bloody good game) before I overthink LL to the point that I can't stand it anymore.

This kinda lost me at that horrible "Artyom! Stand here and be quiet during the scripted section. Artyom! Place your nose over my index finger. Artyom! ARTYOM DON'T LEAVE THE COMBAT AREA! ARTYOOOOOOOOM!!!!!". :sigh:

Making Stalker out of this would probably be stretching the original material out of the Metro's corridors... but meh. I'll just wait patiently for the next eastern european post-apocalypsia that doesn't take place in straight corridor shooter territory.

Who knows, Misery 2.0 might be out in a year or two.

. . .

Ahahahaha.

You're right about the CoDesque NPCs with their contextually exclusive powers of door opening and setpiece advancing, though.

press the button press the button press the button

And what the fuck were they thinking with Anna ?

How is babby formed, Metro edition, or, alternatively - Nepotism 2034 :

GRRR I WILL BATHE IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAST PINEAPPLE. RABBIT.

I WILL WILDLY SHOOT AT THE PINEAPPLE EVEN THOUGH IT MOVES ERRATICALLY AND RABBIT IS VERY CLOSE TO IT.

Oh, Cutscene Nazis . . . Bye !

DO YOU FORGIVE ME FOR LEAVING YOU TO DIE HORRIBLY DO YOU DO YOU OF COURSE YOU DO I HAVE BOOBS.

HEY NOW THAT WE'RE DYING HORRIBLY TOGETHER LET'S FUCK IN FRONT OF A TERMINALLY ILL CHILD.

A TERRIBLE BATTLE ? EVERY RANGER NEEDED ? I, BEST SNIPER OF THE ORDER, SHALL BRAVELY STAY BEHIND.

-fin-

Or maybe I just concorded the point of her character arc ?

Wow, the Russian V.A is 305% superior to the English, FACT. Wish the subtitles were more accurate and comprehensive, so many background conversations ignored.

Also, further examination reveals that walking and jumping are both completely silent to the AI, whereas running is much louder than its audio cues suggest. Approaching a group in shadow and stabbing one in the neck elicits a verbal shrug and a slow adjustment to face their dead colleague. No cries of alarm, no remembrance for torches. The stealth system in LL is severely broken.

Call of Juarez - Gunslinger is only related by name to the heinous Cartel, and is fucking incredible. Essentially it's the child of Outlaws and Bulletstorm, with a wonderfully unreliable narrator. Also, recycled assets that strengthen, rather than undermine, the experience. Bloody remarkable.

Why are there so few Western themed games ?

Blargh wrote:Why are there so few Western themed games ? :drunk:

There's just not enough Western ANYTHING anymore. It's like the 40's to the 70's kinda blew it's load on westerns and the world has since tried to forget about them for the most part, despite the fact that the genre is still rife for awesomeness.

It's a shame, there's so much potential to be tapped in the genre. Hell, I'd even play a PC port of Red Dead Redemption, at this point, and I burnt out on GTA years ago.

Anyway, CoJ - Gunslinger reminds me greatly of Blood Dragon, in that they are both smaller in scope, much tighter in execution, and better polished experiences than the AAA (or aspiring AAA) games that preceded them in their respective franchises.

While Gunslinger only has (to my knowledge) 8 distinct weapons (three types of pistol, a rifle, a sawed-off rifle, a long barrel shotgun, sawed-off shotgun(s) and dynamite) - the gunplay is fluid, frenetic and very entertaining - however, I confess I was mildly disappointed by the realisation that the shotgun cannot sever (or outright destroy) limbs, and dynamite does not gib. The ludicrous spurts of claret did somewhat mitigate this failing, though.

Aside from the relatively short campaign (which is almost exactly the right length), there's also a series of time/score attack style arcade scenarios, which I have yet to try, and a boss rush style duel mode where you can replay the various setpiece confrontations against certain infamous historical figures.

I have learned that it is considered proper dueling ettiquete to shoot any chickens present before turning your gun against your opponent.

The writing is entertaining, and the way in which it is narrated, with elements of the scenario changing as the main character, Silas, corrects himself, or as his audience at the saloon interjects, is rather novel.

Solid repay value, too, between the skill system and the option of new game+.

Highly recommended.

Blargh wrote:It's a shame, there's so much potential to be tapped in the genre. Hell, I'd even play a PC port of Red Dead Redemption, at this point, and I burnt out on GTA years ago.

Haven't you given Red Dead Redemption a shot? I'm expecting every dead member of this forum to come back and beat me with a cudgel, but Red Dead Redemption is honestly one of my favorite games of this generation AND all time, both from a gameplay and a story telling aspect. The 2nd act is kinda weak, but it is some really great story telling and characterization, especially the last hour or so of missions, that is only rivaled by Spec Ops: The Line in recent times. Although this is for opposite reasons. Where as Captain Walker is pretty much a despicable, flawed (and yet still identifiable person as he represents something within all of us), John Marston represents some of the best elements of humanity embodied into a tragic hero. Also it has one of the best soundtracks that I can think of. If anything, go get the soundtrack. Or. You know. Mug one of your friends for their PSTriple and or 360.

I should give Red Dead another shot. I went into it expecting Grand Theft Auto: Horse and was disappointed to not find that.

Also, the bland FPS games that preceded it in the franchise did not help my expectations.

Never played it. What with skipping Saint's Rows and Just Causes and the like, I'm relatively un-fed-up with the whole sandbox thing so I'd consider it :on a pc:. So long as the missions aren't meant to be played *in the exact linear fashion as the developers intended* or the game goes into tutorial mode and doesn't quit until the last mission, I can't see how that makes you cudgel-worthy. I already like it for the absence of cellulars.*

Also, hear hear, moar westerns. CoJ (the original at least) had some good ideas but bad timing, the rest never looked much better than mediocre. The 2nd one IIRC flirted briefly with the sandbox idea but never went anywhere. Aside from that, linearity, same FPS crapola, not enough western (duels?). We'll probably see more western when this -already nauseating- fixation with everything post-apocalypse eventually dies down.

Retlaw83 wrote:Also, the bland FPS games that preceded it in the franchise did not help my expectations.

To the best of my knowledge, there were no FPS in the franchise. The previous game, Red Dead Revolver, was a third person shooter for PS2 and 360 which I thought was ok. It wasn't nearly as good as Redemption, but it was the first Western I played since Sunset Riders and certainly wasn't terrible.