Duck and Cover

Golf Surgeon wrote:shot?

No, I confess that I allowed my initial assumption of Grand Theft Equine to guide me into not bothering. Since then, it faded into the backlog. Also, no filthy consoles at hand. :pcmasterrace:

Umbrella Whimsy wrote:Saint's

Note - 'skip'.

Saints Row 2 is about as un-GTA as a GTA inspired game can be. The crux being that the player avatar is an unapologetic, nay, gleeful sociopath in both gameplay and (especially) cutscenes. No handwringing allowed. If you ever decide to rectify your grievous oversight, be sure to grab the Gentlemen of the Row mod. Also, the Powertools utility, because SR2 tends to shit itself over modern clockspeeds, amongst other whizbang futuristic things. GotR/PT fix virtually all the fuckups of easily one of the worst PC ports ever.

The Third mostly undid all the cool bits of SR2, and went full bore RANDOM WACKY HIJINKS. Though it has arguably superior graphics/gunplay/ground vehicle handling, while royally rooting the helicopters/planes/boats, writing, pacing, characterisation, cutscene direction and the sheer variety of non-core narrative shite to tinker with. The price of a new map/engine revision, I suppose.

Just Cause 2 is unabashedly shallow as hell, and is easily the most elaborate instance of massive-gameworld-with-virtually-nothing-to-do-in-it-itis. It's still highly entertaining in (trigger warning : youtube) multiplayer, and the grapple mechanic is inspired, exponentially so if you use something like (trigger warning : more youtube) BoloPatch.

And in a blatant tangent, Gunpoint is being released into the wilderness this monday. Also, a demo.

The Back Room wrote:Also, a demo

That rare case of what you get being better than what you see. Instead of worse, which is what happens 99% of the time. The controls, the music, the writing. Here's that it doesn't shit all over its jumpy pants on release.

Also, note to self:
1) get calculator with more processing power than my dinosaur pc
2) play SR2
3) be disappoint [sic]
4) shout at Blargh
5) repeat
6) ??????
7) PROFLIGATE!!
8)

Still playing Mechwarrior Online. It is suffering, but with the group of people I play with it's still fun enough.

As anticipated, Gunpoint is rather excellent. Tight level design, sharp writing, elegant, intuitive gameplay, snazzy graphics and sound. Very robust and entertaining. Now I just need to puzzle out a way to do a no witnesses/no kills/no incapacitations run . . .

A coat below the greats?

Francis, I reckon, blows his wad way too soon with both the crosslink and wirejack, possibly for a lack of confidence in his basic gameplay mechanics (runny-jumpy with that audiovisual feedback is delish. Also, bitchslapping the po-po's) but probably making what he could of his one man team. As a result, the game ends up playing like a Sonic game that starts on Starlight Zone instead of Green Hill. You're given plenty of opportunities to use your brain to tinker around with setting ever more complicated crosslink traps, but not nearly enough opportunities to work your brawn and run/jump/dodge/hide your way through levels on a more "Thief"-like approach.

Also worthy of reproach is the overall difficulty. Because there isn't any. Reloading saves from 4 seconds ago? (Admittedly, reloading a save from 0 seconds before you get shot in the face never fails to amuse. Seriously) Skipping bloody levels?? When the they're so small, though, what's the point, if not making them unremarkable to go through aside the pleasure of having your traps function properly? I often found myself re-starting the whole level partly because I wanted some sort of challenge but mostly because I *really* hadn't gotten anywhere near the basic gamer frustration level. The lightheartedness of the whole thing helps a lot, it's hard to get annoyed when you're constantly chuckling from falling flat on your face.

It's hard not to grow dismissive of sequels ever since any mildly popular game got itself turned into a franchise, not because there's anything to add but because there's more money to be made. But this does deserve one. If only to show what can be accomplished by a 2 or 3 man team working full time (AHAHAHA PROJECT ZOMBOID) rather than one working on the weekends. As a product of that, this is bloody brilliant. But it could have been so much better...

Hey, hey, guess what this is for. Go on. GO ON.

Ehuehuehue.

wrote:difficulty

. . .

Yeah, it's almost casual if one has a few braincells to wildly oscillate. Or if one flagrantly abuses the exceptionally lenient ('cept when it's not) save system. Between the inviolate No Torches and Do Not Look At The Ceiling, Ever policies of the security guard guild, the capacity to freely reconfigure upgrades, the full refund gadget economy, the non-existence of a notoriety system, or, indeed, any response (aside from post mission grading) to leaving witnesses, or, for instance, fatally bludgeoning all the guards in a scenario, the lack of consequence attributed to any interaction with orphaned cameras (as there are two entire plot points hinged upon them recording pretty everything, remote backups aside, shouldn't they require locate/access/purge - or at the least, disabling/destroying, if one happens to unavoidably flit past/deliberately exploit them as a trigger ?), the absence of things like guard dogs, motion sensors that can't always be avoided by jumping/climbing, roving trip lasers, biometric locks, opponents who have crosslinks, et al, the waste of money that was the pistol, for which you cannot replenish ammunition (I have used it exactly once, so far, but have yet to actually bother firing it), that it's revealed itself to be much more linear than I was expecting ; doubtlessly other things that have slipped my recollections at this time, but may return to nag later.

BUT IT HAS SO MUCH PANACHE.

And a level editor.

While I'm at it, have some more , , , , , , , , ,

,.

Manrantula wrote:

Why you dirty, no good, gfx/sfx/prose/ost whore! Frankly (apart from the cameras, for aforementioned reasons (also the dogs, fuck, even Bonanza Brothers had them 20 years ago)), I'd have sooner suggested AI routines that involve something other than flicking on the lights (but only ONCE! NO MORE! It's not in the job description...) or occasionally following you down stairs (or running from you down stairs, weirdly)... Maybe, patrol paths through multiple floors (Climbing stairs/using elevators not in the job description either?). I'm much under the same spell, all told, though. Looking forward to find out if I can keep mrs 13 y-o texter alive or at least choosing the other final mission. Also EDITOR! Mooch O'Bueno.

Final appraisal, (so far (yeah I get my cues from Final Destination 3)), MORE, PLEASE. No? OK, I'll make it myself.

Double Tap Surgeon wrote:Ehue

I have to stop writing such prophetical last paragraphs.

Amusing times though, between this and everybody going apeshit over M$ taking a page out of the Steam playbook, only a whole 10 fucking years later. Which just goes to show, you might be skinnier and richer, but the fat guy with the right PR gets the girl. Also, maybe a game people want to play? Funny you didn't think of that, M$, this being what, your 3rd console?

Got Alan Wake a week or two ago in a steam sale.

Surprisingly good.

At the time of <strike>editing</strike> writing, Indie Royale have an Arcen Games bundle going, it's pretty good value. AI War, in particular, is bloody brilliant.

Waterboarding Safari wrote:routines

How could I have forgotten more comprehensive and reactive use of the environment ? Easily !

High Colonic Birthday Voucher wrote:texter

SPOILERS : Pretty sure she always dies. I like to think of it as grammatical karma.

I must remember to determine if ratting out Rooke's SEKRIT PROTOETIP stratagem to Gessler changes anything. I suspect the answer will be : no.

NO, YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP, GIACINTA. wrote:Wake

I confess, about the only thing I enjoyed about those games was how much of an unrepentant prick Alan is.

Blargh wrote:I suspect the answer will be : no.

You would be correct. More of a disappointment was how taking the last mission from the Mrs rather than the Mr gives you the exact same level with only the one difference. :frownyfaec:


Still, 999/1000 odds it's a better Thief game than the actual rebootquel. Quo vadis, Garrett???

Apparently, Gunpoint has been rather successful :



The only rational response : Tom quits his job. 'grats !

Also, have been playing this. Really patchy voice acting aside (no, I do not regard it as homage), it's been highly entertaining.

in which a reasonably cool trailer is linked to.

-FIN-

The ghost of Atkinson haunts us still.

Crankshaft Filibuster wrote:us

HAHAHAHAHA.

On that note:

Ah, yes, ART.

ART ?

Forget it Nilsa, it's David Cage.

Honestly, with the immense popularity of digital distribution (not to mention°, piracy), the ACB is at peak¹ irrelevance. Well, unless they channel Fallout 3 and stumble into a scenario where the developer implements <strike>censorship</strike> stylistic alterations that effect(s) all versions, everywhere.

Apparently, the core objection was to some form of weaponised anal probe. Also, 'alien narcotic' derived super powers. This, from a series that has previously scraped by the then MA15+ Ceiling of Australian Moral Decency with a wide variety of gems of good taste, mostly unmolested. Well, at least things haven't (yet) gone the way of Germany³.

Baffling.

Who gives a fig, though.

°WHOOPS.

¹What a shame that we've yet to determine a way to extract energy from disdain. Clean, essentially limitless, CATHARTIC !

³Not as many spoilers for Saints Row 2 as there would usually be, for obvious reasons.

Blargh wrote:David Cage

Really, old bean? Took you all of 2 words to dismantle that idiotic image? Young Blargh woulda done it with 1. I'd suggest a video instead. Yeah, mate, give her some of that artistic integrity!

Better call Roper Ebanks*, tell 'em we're postponing gaming's significance as an artistic medium for another couple <strike>years</strike> decades.

Blargh wrote:Germans

The what? I mean, sure, you never expected a country whose notion of smart-casual is bermudas and flip-flops to exhibit any sort of sense, but germans, Blargh?** Think of it this way- it's a WW2 debt that's got 0 chance of infection*** because of that über alles attitude that has them translate everything into Mars runes that no-one of any interest understands.*** Nobody really takes them seriously.***

Aussie conservatives, on the other hand, are hileeeeerious. Crikey, even writing "aussie conservative" feels like birthing a paradox. It's all very lolzy from a distance- Who are we supposed to laugh at, then, the 'murkans? That's too easy.

Why not consider a change of scenery, huh? Join the Dark Side****! Looking at my bank account, the apocalypse can't be far off! In fact, it could start right n- oh. Siesta time.



*Er, oops.

**Has to be said, that video is about the funniest thing I've seen in a while, however unintentionally. In fact, I cringed****

***Unless you're <strike>a pedophile</strike> austrian.

****Nobody can afford light bulbs anymore.

And this-holy fuck-this. Fuck. Holy. This.



Also, shit you not, this was the banner when I posted this. HAHAHA "better". I think not. And I'm not even thinking about the spiders (or the dreadnaughts).

<strike>Couldn't be bothered</strike> Too busy playing Rogue Legacy (it is quite awesome) to dredge youboob at the time.

How<strike>'d it get burned ?!</strike> about now ? Oh, wrong Cage. Now ?

OH WELL.

FAKE-FAKE-EDIT : This is what came to mind (for about three seconds) when I first heard that Starbreeze <strike>had been roped into defecating all over</strike> had picked up Syndicate . . .

ANOTHER-FUCKING-EDIT : Also, this SUMMER PREVIEW is a quite entertaining roguelike thing.

TACKED-ON-(NON)-EFFORT-POST-EDIT : 'pparently the fondleslab shovelware Deus Ex - The Fall has a jailbreak = no shooting ever feature. It is rumoured that the MANDATORY TUTORIAL features a MANDATORY TRANQUILISATION of MANDATORY MOOKS. Ergo, some people are upset. I can only salute the ingenuity of the developers in finding new and compassionate ways to minimise exposure <strike>to</strike> of their shame.

Or perhaps it's just a slapdash jailbreak = piracy correlation.

Ring Runner - Flight From the Companion Novella is pretty fucking cool. Newtonian physics, support of nuanced and varied combat styles through the inclusion of distinct hull archetypes and a rather large selection of weapons and components (I'm currently <strike>in love with</strike> using a massive fuck off SPACE MACE - it's hilarious sending it smashing through a swarm of enemy fighters), pretty good soundtrack and (thus far) not-terrible writing. Have yet to dabble with the multiplayer, though.

Right now I'm playing Just Cause 2, Medieval II: Total War, FTL, Sniper Elite Nazi Zombie Party and the XCOM remake. This is what the Steam summer sale has done to me.

XCOM is really fun, but the changes so consoles can work it make it feel like Baby's First XCOM. On the subject of XCOM, why do so many people have a raging hate boner against Apocalypse?