What Video Games Are You Currently Playing

  On 11/15/2012 at 12:14 PM, Iain C said:

  On 11/15/2012 at 11:52 AM, Friendly Foil said:

  On 11/15/2012 at 11:33 AM, Iain C said:

Buying a CoD game is the gaming equivalent of buying a Nickelback album.

Waaah! Waaaaaah!

 

Get over yourself.

 

Lol, cry more

no u

  On 11/15/2012 at 12:05 PM, Friendly Foil said:

Half Life 2 (and episodes) would be some of my favorite games ever, if it wasn't for the awful pacing at certain parts. It really is a shame.

 

The Portal games doesn't have this issue, so I persobally prefer those.

The pacing was what I really loved about HL2 + Episodes. There wasn't explosions in your face every 10th second, like every other shooter. It's was nice with more quite/puzzle solving moments every once in a while.

The pacing and atmosphere was what made it so great in my opinion.

I wish games had more quiet ambiance though. I love when you can just stroll about and take things in. Silent Hill 2 was perfect for this. 15 mins at the beginning where you walk down a road... perfection.

HL2 obviously has the beginning where you mill about town. I love all that.

I think what HL2 really had going for it was atmosphere and attention to detail - and an approach to storytelling that understood the "show, don't tell" principle. I simply loved the experience of going on a journey through this frightening and fantastic world.

The mechanics felt 'right' but there was nothing really exceptional about them. I don't think it revolutionised physics puzzles in games, either. Really it was just a distillation and refinement of all the advances in FPS mechanics since HL1.

The same can be said for Bioshock. The best sequence of that game was the opening, and you didn't do anything but watching what was happening around you.

More games needs to learn from this. Especially shooters, the first person perspective is such a great way to tell a story. I'm not saying there shouldn't be any gameplay, but a lot of games have pacing issues.

  On 11/15/2012 at 12:21 PM, Npoess said:

  On 11/15/2012 at 12:05 PM, Friendly Foil said:

Half Life 2 (and episodes) would be some of my favorite games ever, if it wasn't for the awful pacing at certain parts. It really is a shame.

 

The Portal games doesn't have this issue, so I persobally prefer those.

 

The pacing was what I really loved about HL2 + Episodes. There wasn't explosions in your face every 10th second, like every other shooter. It's was nice with more quite/puzzle solving moments every once in a while.

 

The pacing and atmosphere was what made it so great in my opinion.

Oh, that's not my issue at all. I like slower games.

It's just that when you spend multiple hours on something that doesn't add a whole lot to the story, in a story based game, it becomes a tad too much for me. The watercraft and buggy segments being especially bad.

Whatever, it's still an excellent game, and miles better than most of today's bullcrap.

I think it comes down to predictability. A lot of games (CoD style especially) are all move and shoot, for fucking ages, that I tire of them.

Deus Ex Human Revolution when it started I thought it was fucking amazing. But when it dawned on me I was basically doing a system of walking around - chatting - stealthing through corridors - kill a boss - rinse repeat - pretty much in that order, I tired fast.

The vehicles were shit - they're always shit in FPS games I think. At least they weren't on the rails. But I did enjoy working up the coast towards the bridge in the car anyway - once you actually stepped out of the vehicle the level design was great. I enjoyed storming the coastal houses like a boss and fucking up the Combine in a close-quarters rural setting.

  On 11/15/2012 at 12:31 PM, Obel said:

Deus Ex Human Revolution when it started I thought it was fucking amazing. But when it dawned on me I was basically doing a system of walking around - chatting - stealthing through corridors - kill a boss - rinse repeat - pretty much in that order, I tired fast.

I liked HR at the time, but playing Dishonored made me realise just how ropey and by-the-numbers its approach to stealth was. You should check it out if you haven't already, it's a much better game imho.

Deus Ex: HR wasn't perfect, and it had a lot of issues. But I loved the shit out of it.

Closest thing we're probably ever going to have, to a high-def Blade Runner video game.

I love how humourless the main character is. Truly I do.

Adam Jensen was a shitty protagonist.

I don't know why I liked that game so much.. I just did.

Human Revolution felt like a chore. The shooting was hella lame and you were constantly low on ammo. Also, those boses... ugh.

the outrage! lol

[youtubehd]MTzyz2TgGls[/youtubehd]

  On 11/15/2012 at 12:59 AM, usagi said:

  On 11/14/2012 at 12:12 PM, Obel said:

Don't think about it! Just be excited about other things and let Half Life 3 sneak up on you.

 

pretty much. I do the same with AFX, hence my comparison.

 

  On 11/14/2012 at 6:50 PM, Joyrex said:

I have a feeling once Valve finally gets around to HL:3, it will be mostly forgotten except by the few hardcore, like Counterstrike: Global Offensive is/was. Good game, just past it's prime.

 

not sure why you'd say this, JR, since we haven't really had any sort of look at what HL3 is gonna be like. it could be incredible, and knowing Valve's commitment to quality, I think it will be.

Oh, I'm sure whatever they end up releasing (if they ever do) will be fantastic, but will it live up to the Half Life mythology among gamers? Not sure about that. Some games are great games... for their time. Make no doubt, they are (and still are) fantastic, but sometimes taking a classic game and playing it against contemporary games that have introduced new mechanics and ways to play, sometimes those perfect 'classic' games just don't work as well as we remembered them to be due to technology and progress marching along.

Half-Life isn't a very good example of that. Because HL2 is still better than almost every new shooter.

You're not going to tell me that Halo, Call Of Duty, Killzone, Resistance or <insert generic shooter> are better shooters. None of those are even mechanically 'superior'. It's only graphically.

Call of Duty plays better than Half Life 2. As much as I love the atmosphere and universe of HL2, I can't deny that.

Preferences I guess.

Half-Life single player: it's fun to kill NPC's.

Call Of Duty single player: it's not.

Sure the multiplayer is fun in Call Of Duy, and the controls are great, I'll give you that. but I don't really care that much for multiplayer... So yeah... Preferences.

Anyway, I've probably wrote too much fanboy shit about HL in this thread. I should take a break.

When was the last time you replayed HL2?

I played in on PC in beginning/middle of this year. I think.. Don't remember when the last steam sale on Valve games was.

Actually the first time I've completed it on PC. I played HL2 for the first time when The Orange Box was released for Xbox 360 in 2007.

Oh. At least it's not just nostalgia speaking then. Kewl!

  On 11/15/2012 at 1:12 PM, usagi said:

+1 for atmosphere, next to the story it's what makes or breaks a game for me. Stalker was great for that, when you got over some of the broken-ness of it.

Stalker was a great game. easily one of my favorites. i didn't remember it being that buggy actually, but it has been a while.

Deus Ex hr was fun to me because i played through with the same 9mm pistol through the whole game, modified as much as i could make it, and killing enemies with extreme precision. i'd pop around a corner and drop everyone with headshots immediately. the ending was kind of shitty though.

  On 11/15/2012 at 5:13 PM, taxman said:

  On 11/15/2012 at 1:12 PM, usagi said:

+1 for atmosphere, next to the story it's what makes or breaks a game for me. Stalker was great for that, when you got over some of the broken-ness of it.

 

Stalker was a great game. easily one of my favorites. i didn't remember it being that buggy actually, but it has been a while.

 

Deus Ex hr was fun to me because i played through with the same 9mm pistol through the whole game, modified as much as i could make it, and killing enemies with extreme precision. i'd pop around a corner and drop everyone with headshots immediately. the ending was kind of shitty though.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is one of my favorites, especially Shadow of Chernobyl. It blends survival horror and realistic combat perfectly. Then again, I like games that have unusual story elements in them, as opposed to run-of-the-mill counter terrorist operations.

As for Deus Ex: HR, the key to having plentiful ammo is to specialize in maybe one or two weapons and upgrade them as you progress. You can't take every weapon in the game with you. Of course, take-downs come in handy too, provided you have enough energy bars :P

And yes, the boss fights are lame-ass. It's possible to complete each one in less than a minute, if you know the shortcut to each one.

I like the Lets Play videos this guy makes

HR was preferable to Fallout 3 and Oblivion for me.

I really enjoy that style of play, if all games had that level of understanding of immersion it would be great. Didn't get that far though.

I was always interested in playing STALKER but I'll be fine waiting for something else when I have money.

  On 11/15/2012 at 4:53 PM, Npoess said:

Half-Life isn't a very good example of that. Because HL2 is still better than almost every new shooter.

 

You're not going to tell me that Halo, Call Of Duty, Killzone, Resistance or are better shooters. None of those are even mechanically 'superior'. It's only graphically.

I wasn't speaking about HL2 specifically in that respect... as to what constitutes a "better" shooter, that's pretty subjective. In terms of sales figures, Call of Duty is the most popular FPS, with probably Halo following that.

Funny how you mention HL2's mechanics... I've always heard it lauded over the story, and not the graphics nor the controls...