[Aptorian]

I played a bunch of games over the past couple of weeks.

Infamous 2 - Over all a great sandbox game with a surprisingly good story. Felt like an improvement on Infamous in general. For some reason though, I found the environment of the city sort of boring. I wish there had been more gameplay outside the city in swamps or in the country side. Like perhaps in the wake of the Beast. I am really curious if or how they would go about making a third game after that ending.

From Dust - Good idea but boring execution is about all I have to say about this game. It only has one real game mechanic and some interesting environmental physics to keep your attention and it just didn't do it for me.

Syndicate (FPS reboot) - Great gameplay, horrible, horrible story and ending. As a shooter it's very competent. It mixes the slow time game mechanics from FEAR with the overlay and hack from games like Black Light Retribution and Deus Ex HR. In terms of story I didn't think it was possible to make a story this generic any longer. They completely dropped any pretence of adapting the original games. This game is bright and colorful and feels like a future where Apple took control of the world. I am going to spoil the story for you just to show you how banal it is.

Spoiler

You are a super agent with an experimental chip in his head. You run around waging corporate warfare against other agents and kill lots of civilians in the process (if you want to). Hot scientist chick that is over seeing your development turns out to be working against the corporations. She messes with your head. You realise that the corporations have messed with and killed your parents. So you turn against the evil corporation. You rebel, fight your way to the top of HQ, have a showdown with your old buddy who is now your enemy and you have a final talk with the CEO who rants at you a bit and then commits suicide.This is such bullshit. This massmurdering super killer suddenly decides to fight the corporation because they killed his family? Who gives a shit. You're a walking weapon of mass destruction. The original games where dark and twisted and deprived of any morals or ethics. This was pure cybernetic warfare in a future where a human life means nothing. I really can't see why they'd choose to write such a shitty story and link it to the Syndicate franchise.

Play the game if you like a good FPS shooter. Avoid it if you are expecting a good story or any loyalty to the Syndicate name.

Dear Esther - Weird game. It isn't actually a game. More of a slow FPS short story. I was aware of that when I bought it so it didn't come as a surprise. Interesting idea all though really, it might as well have been a youtube video. I think they should have made it more dynamic. Made you able to interact with objects and explore more, but I guess it wasn't the point.

Puzzle Agent - Hilarious game with somewhat frustrating puzzles. I ended up using a walkthrough to get through it. I may just be wrong but I am pretty sure a bunch of the puzzles a wonky or ignore multiple solutions. Which frustrated me. But definitely interesting.

Rock of Ages - This is a great game. Truly unique gameplay idea. Funny historical bits. Great boss fights. Would play a sequel.

Super Meat Boy - Well, I've been playing this off and on for a month or two now. It's so fucking frustrating but so rewarding when you succeed. Evil game.

Driver: San Francisco - I just begun this game. It feels strange. For some reason it reminds me of 90s arcade games. It must be something about the style. The game mechanic is really interesting I have to say. I am curious to see where they take me.

[Nocturnal]

After finishing Mass Effect 3 for the 4th time I started Dragon Age: Origins for the 567th time.

[Macros]

Icewind dale.
Foolishly put both a mage and a mage/thief in my party. Should made is a cleric and a magethief.
not restarting now, just have to make it work

[Wolfy]

Psh nonsense if I can play through BG2 with a party of legitimate stat Kobolds you can survive IWD with two mages

[Aptorian]

Let me add some input then.

Stuff I've been playing:

The Unfinished Swan - Playstation exclusive. A really artsy fartsy game with a fun children's story being told by your actions. It is centered around a bunch of experimental game mechanics that never out stay their welcome or grow stale. You awake in a world that is completely white and have to throw black balls of paint everywhere to outline the contours of the world you're in. In another area you have to stretch and manipulate sleets of light to make platforms and stairs. In yet another you have to throw blobs of water around to make wines stretch out across a city scape so that you can navigate it. I would compare the experience to something like Journey, it's a very different game, but the playthrough will still leave you wondering and amused I am sure.

Assassin's Creed 3: Probably the most ambitious game since the second one. At least as much fun as Brotherhood. But it continues to have the most idiotic, contradictory and cheap story lines ever. Seriously, everything that your character is doing in this game is contradictory to what as Assassin should be doing. And yet I still can't get my self to be angry with the series or resent it. The stories are stupid but every game brings something new to the series in terms of gameplay. It's very experimental. The sea battle stuff is amazing, a bit simplistic but absolutely worth buying the game for alone. The nature areas are a thrill, I found myself just hunting around for trinkets and pelts for hours instead of playing the game. Similarly, the underground network, while underutilised gameplay wise, was still extremely interesting. And then there's that homestead building and trading side story stuff. I think it was completely unnecessary but also very interesting in its own way.

I would love to see Ubisoft tear the Assassins Creed games into chunks to test what can stand on its own feet. Create a hardcore Assassins Creed game that goes back to the original ones premise. Recieve a contract, take him out. That's it. Make another game called Pirate Creed and make it about Assassins and Templars searching around the Middle Americas for lost temples and artifacts, with all the sea battles and primitive tribes you can stuff in. Make it 50/50 naval warfare and jungle exploration. Finally make an Assassins Creed Guild Master game where your object is to found a guild and make it grow. Manage contracts, handle shipping and trade, investments in cities, train assassins, research books and artifacts that the assassins recover, etc.

I think the game Assassins Creed is too loaded down by parts that don't mix but I love each individual part.

Hitman: Absolution - I'm nearly done with this game. I really like it. I can't compare it to older hitman games since I've only ever played the original one and the newest, but I think it is absolutely a great game. It took me a while to come to terms with it but the game is not so much a kill everything game as an intricate puzzle with moving parts masquerading as a murder simulator. Oh and it's gorgeous. Absolutely amazing looking with everything cranked up to ultra. I think it may be the purtiest game I have every played.

Farcry 3 - Fantastic gameplay slightly led down by a horrendously disappointing story. The story is made more so by the fact that it started out so well, it could have gone anywhere, it could have been so much more, but in the end it stumbled into mediocrity. But the world itself and the gameplay, good god is this game fun. I liberated every stronghold, found every radio tower, took every side mission, finished every hunt, killed every pirate leader, delivered every medical package, found every lost letter and all but one relic and probably collected 75% off all the loot containers. And I still could have gone on playing but there was nothing left. This game could have done with a game+ mode that just respawned all the pirate strongholds and created new hunting and killing missions.

Sine Mora - I'm not into bullet hell games but I played it anyway because I thought it looked amazing. And it is amazing. The story is completely insane and baddies are bizarre and stunning to encounter and it looks amazing. I think it's not much more than 2 hours long if you are great at these games but I ended up quitting before the end because the checkpoint/continue system is idiotic... or should I say, a bit too unforgiving considering how cheap the deaths can be.

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - This is one amazing looking platform game which is why I bought it initially. I've only played the first world so far since it's not a priority but it's really good looking, has an interesting game mechanic and the difficulty ramps up surprisingly quickly.

Tiny and Big Grandpa's Leaftovers - A short, quirky platform game about a guy chasing another guy who stole his underpants which the thief intend to use to take over the world. Yes, brilliant plot. The game catched my eye because it has a truly amazing game mechanic, you can cut almost every bit and piece of the game world in pieces with a laser, pull it apart and attach rockets to the chunks. It's one of this games where you stop going for the objective and just start messing about. There's something really fascinating about cutting an entire cliff wall into pieces and then start pulling gigantic slices of stone out and watch them crash down to earth (probably crushing you in to process).

Halo 4 - After having played all the earlier Halo games recently. I can say this game changes little and remains fun. I will ecco what a lot of critics have remarked. It's a shame that this game could have broken from the universe we knew and made its completely own story only to find us, at the end of the game, back where everything started. I think that my opinion might be tainted by having all the games fresh in my mind but I think they played this game way too safe and didn't do enough to change the game or its narrative. Also the story remains nonsense.

Currently playing Planetside 2 a free to play FPS MMO. It feels like playing Battlefield 3 in the future with more people added to bigger maps. I really enjoy it.

[Traveller]

Busy with Farcry 3 myself at the moment. I've hardly touched the main story, which makes the whole thing a bit disjointed, as I'm going from taking over whole pirate outposts without being detected, to being given missions that are like game tutorials, covering stuff I was doing way back. So yes, i'd say main story is a bit weak, but I don't care as I'm having fun taking on an entire Island on my own.

Glad to hear Hitman Absolution is worth playing, as I got it for Christmas and I'm about to check it out.

EDIT. Hah, this is a fun game. Just had one go so far, but I replayed the first mission at least three times once i realised there were a number of ways to reach the objective. Couldn't help but laugh at the guy in the window, who is just saying what a great day he was having, right before I pulled him through the window. I looked down, and he was bouncing down the cliffs into the sea.

Later, when I was trying to be all quiet, I stuffed an unconcious guard into what I though was just another garden waste box, only to discover when I tried to put someone else in it that was actually a shredder, and I'd pressed the start button.

Also, I was quite amused by the satisfying thunk as you grab a knife of a chopping board, and flick it across into the back of a guards head.

I must be a bit sick.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 28 December 2012 - 09:36 PM

[QuickTidal]

I received a boon of new games from Mrs. QT for Christmas...

ASSASSIN'S CREED 3 - which I am having a blast with, and I think I can honestly say it's my fave of the series barnone.

CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 2 - Haven't played yet, looking fwd to it.

HALO 4 - Again, haven't played yet, but I enjoyed all the other HALO's, so I wager I'm in for more of the same goodness.

[Mentalist]

finally got around to finishing Deus Ex Human Revolution DLC. it`s not bad.

also, the other day I sank my teeth into Darksiders properly..... and spent 16 hours at that game. Needless to say, I like it quite a lot.

[Aptorian]

Traveller, on 27 December 2012 - 09:08 PM, said:

Also, I was quite amused by the satisfying thunk as you grab a knife of a chopping board, and flick it across into the back of a guards head.

I must be a bit sick.

The knife is by far my favorite close quarters weapon. It can be used to take out a person silently from a far and up close the "gut stab" animation is horrendously ugly. I can almost feel that blade sinking into the guy. I think I must have knifed a hundred guards by now.

[Aptorian]

QuickTidal, on 29 December 2012 - 03:14 PM, said:

I received a boon of new games from Mrs. QT for Christmas...

ASSASSIN'S CREED 3 - which I am having a blast with, and I think I can honestly say it's my fave of the series barnone.

What do you think of the Sailing missions so far? I absolutely loved them. They made me wish I could play a game that centred around gameplay like that. Like Assassin's Creed: Pirates of the Caribbean.

I quick tip as soon as you are introduced to the underground network under Boston and New York, and when you have the time and oppertunity, try to unlock all the exits. It will make it much easier to get around the town when you are doing others side missions and collectible stuff.

This post has been edited by Aptorius: 29 December 2012 - 04:48 PM

[Jakovasaurus]

[Aptorian]

Finished Hitman absolution this morning. Something snapped after I'd taken a break and I just went fuck the highscore and the upgrade system, I'm just going to mow all these motherfuckers down. So I've shot and killed a couple of hundred guards now. My god does it feel good to just blast those guys off their feet with a shotgun or riddle them with holes using an assault riffle.

In the end the story was even dumber than I expected but it did feel good to kill them.

Both Hitman: Absolution and Assassins Creed 3 really, really annoyed me by portraying the character as this superhuman, neigh invulnerable, infallible killing machine that can see through walls, kill a hundred people without getting hurt and makes bad guys tremble in fear at the mention of their name. Then they pull one cutscene after another that shows the character acting like a complete tool, bumbling into one trap after another and generally making a fool of himself. It's sickening to witness this kind of sloppy manuscript writing.

Still loved the game though.

Anyway, afterwards I played the first episode of The Walking Dead game. It was really good. I've not read the comics or seen the TV-show but I like the game. Very, very compelling work being done with story and characters. They are multifaceted, they are flawed, they show true emotion. You feel for these people. Some you hate, some you love. Clementine has already wormed her way into my heart. That little girl better not die or I'll be pissed.

Decided to wait between playing each episode because the tension is a little too much. Watching the "preview" for the next episode made me sick to my stomach. Things can only get worse and I just know somebody I like is going to die. Hopefully that asshole old man with the heart condition.

This post has been edited by Aptorius: 30 December 2012 - 03:04 PM

[QuickTidal]

Aptorius, on 29 December 2012 - 04:47 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 29 December 2012 - 03:14 PM, said:

I received a boon of new games from Mrs. QT for Christmas...

ASSASSIN'S CREED 3 - which I am having a blast with, and I think I can honestly say it's my fave of the series barnone.

What do you think of the Sailing missions so far? I absolutely loved them. They made me wish I could play a game that centred around gameplay like that. Like Assassin's Creed: Pirates of the Caribbean.

I quick tip as soon as you are introduced to the underground network under Boston and New York, and when you have the time and oppertunity, try to unlock all the exits. It will make it much easier to get around the town when you are doing others side missions and collectible stuff.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting the sailing missions, but they were so unique that I found myself loving them! Great addition to the series for diversity of gameplay.

Thanks for the tip, I'll defo unlock the rest. Makes sense.

[Aptorian]

Yeah, I ignored the underground until I was done with 80-90% of the game and had already collected most of the collectibles. Felt pretty dumb when I realised what I had overlooked.

[Aptorian]

amphibian, on 25 December 2012 - 09:22 PM, said:

Aptorius, on 25 December 2012 - 07:35 PM, said:

True Grit - Wow. This was one hell of a great western. Probably one of my favorite films of all time. Maybe the best western I have ever seen? Nah, that's still The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but man does this movie have great characters.

Have you seen The Proposition or The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada? I would rank the latter as my personal favorite Western of all time.

You pay for a "season pass" kind of deal where you pay one time and then you get the episodes in a running release over the course of six or so months. I can't quite remember the release window for this first season.

Anyway the last episode of this season is done, so you get the first season, 5 episodes, for 18 euro's currently on Steam. I'm not sure about the length, some are longer than others. The first one took me perhaps 2,5 hours to play through. I've heard that some episodes are longer than others but I'm guessing you get around 15 hours of gameplay out of a bundle. I'd say it's definitely worth the money but if you're broke you can always wait and hope that it shows up again during the Steam sale for 50% off.

Here's a link:

http://store.steampo...1_7_suggest__13

This post has been edited by Aptorius: 30 December 2012 - 09:41 PM

[Defiance]

Just set aside my book for a few minutes to try out Bastion. I have no damn clue what's going on with the story right now, but it doesn't matter because I'm having a great time. Beautiful art direction, simplistic yet engaging combat, customization options, and a good narrator are making it a joy to play.

And of course, I have to bow down in worship of Apt for gifting the game to me.

[Satan]

Defiance, on 31 December 2012 - 04:44 AM, said:

Just set aside my book for a few minutes to try out Bastion. I have no damn clue what's going on with the story right now, but it doesn't matter because I'm having a great time. Beautiful art direction, simplistic yet engaging combat, customization options, and a good narrator are making it a joy to play.

And of course, I have to bow down in worship of Apt for gifting the game to me.

Is it just me who found that game underwhelming? People I spoke to compared it to Zelda, but let's be honest, it doesn't come close to most Zelda games.

[Lucifer's Heaven]

Satan, on 31 December 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

Is it just me who found that game underwhelming? People I spoke to compared it to Zelda, but let's be honest, it doesn't come close to most Zelda games.

That's a weird comparison...
I loved Bastion, but it was nothing like Zelda. And expecting a Zelda game then getting Bastion definitely would have made me less pleased with it to start with (I'd have come round to loving it, but I'd have sat down pumped to play a completely different kind of game). I can't eve-
Oh, I supposed you could liken it to the old Zeldas... But they're not what I think of when someone says Zelda And even then, that's a pretty superficial comparison. The only real similarity is the view is similar, and by extension the way you fight is kinda similar.
Other than that though nothing alike. It's kinda like saying because they're both first person and you shoot Farcry 3 is like Quake (not trying to say one is better just an extreme example of highlighting the difference).

[Aptorian]

I think that Bastion, at the time I played it, was probably a bit overhyped. It got a ton of "best game" type of nominations and people were gushing about its story, gameplay and voicework. Because I heard all these things about it I think I was slightly underwhelmed when I finally got to play it but I think it would be crazy to say that Bastion isn't an amazing game. The artwork and world building is stunning, the narrator and music is maybe the best voicework and music I have experienced in a game, the gameplay and story was just great, not revolutionary or mindblowing, just fun. And it's usually the story that will decide whether or not I fall in love with a game.

[Traveller]

Anyone here played 'Journey' for Ps3?

It looks pretty good, in an 'Ico' sort of way, but for some reason I've been completely unaware of it until now.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 01 January 2013 - 03:48 PM