Whats games have you been playing of late? I'm Still Playing Morrowind.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

I'm replaying Half-Life 2 on a new GPU. I'm not so fond of the game anymore. When you get over the gimmicks, the game has the same problem as Doom 3 had: predictability. Oh look, a house and something is blocking the road. Oh look, massive amounts of supplies, finally I'm at 100 shield. I'm sure there won't be a slugfest battle ahead of me. A respawning munition crate, that just begs to be exploited. And if you think there is a single badly illuminated area where there aren't zombies and/or headcrabs, you're sadly mistaken.

I'm at the end of Nova Prospekt, about to face the 4-entries-3-turrets battle, but it's becoming more of a grind than fun. I don't feel like I'm playing a game, but more that I'm looking for exploits to ease my continued existance. I guess my main gripes are that the set-pieces become recognisable ahead of time when you've grown accostomed to them, and the fact that the game is completely railroaded. After open-terrain games like far cry, this feels too cramped to be fun anymore. A side reason may be because i'm growing more than tired of horror games. (I have to say, though, buzzsawing my way through ravenholm was incredibly fun. Until they started respawning zombies. Was that really necessary?)

by the way, I'm looking for a good game to play, particularly rpgs or games with good stories. I haven't played any rpgs that came out after Oblivion (2006, has it been that long???), or maybe one that I can't recall right now. I'm interested in good story and interesting characters. I'm considering the witcher, mass effect, gothic III(even though I never played II). I may play bioshock, but I've already played through system shock 2 3 times in my life, so I'm not very interested, particularly if the story and characters are so similar. Are any of these very good, or do you know other, better rpgs -story/character wise. Gameplay doesn't have to be special, just "fun".

Oh, and no fallout 3. I'm not going to return to Bethesda for a loooong time.

P.S.: wert, if you read this, thanks for the Antaeus Rising recommendation. You made me dig in the dust pile and finally finish a game from so long ago. It was more than worth it.

these are hostile waters

Have you tried HL2: Episodes 1 and 2? I thought they were solid when I played them; although, that's been a while. The first half of Episode 1 suffers from more of the same, that is, head crabs and zombies in cramped, poorly lit areas. However, it's worth playing through to properly enjoy the epic ending of Episode 2.

You also need to play Portal if you haven't already.

[Sad King Billy]

I played all 3 (1, 2 portal). Portal was damn fun. The episodes? Pitch darkness+slow elevator+ small torch+ ridiculously small batteries+endless horde of enemies=genius at work. I despised the combine zombies. That isn't to say they are without merit, the ending battle of 2 is nice, along with every sequence in all 3 HL games where you get to drive long distances. In all honesty tough, I can't remember a lot from either ep 1 or 2. I remember the train car crash in ep 1, the elevator, and that time that alex gets stabbed (good times). Oh, and the mines (meh). And combine zombies (DIE DIE DIE). Another good bit from ep 2 is the ambush, even though you could smell it was a trap a mile away, I was still impressed with the sheer amount of firepower that was brought against me.

I guess I'm just through with survival horror.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

It's true that head crab and zombies get old fast. I'll probably never replay HL2 because of Ravenholm.

I'm still going to buy HL2:E3 though. I wish Valve would get on this but they seem enamored with making LFD expansions then selling them as sequels.

[Sad King Billy]

I think part of the problem is that, like so many games (and too many movies), HL makes some scary/interesting enemies, and throws them at you in packs of 10. Because of this, they have to weaken their enemies and they either become little more than an annoyance (basic headcrab), or they have to radically skew the environment in the enemy's favour (mostly by taking away your vision). Better would be to have far fewer enemies (in numbers) but make them more threatening. A combine patrol should be a threat if it's on open ground as well as in close quarters.

All subjective, obviously, but I sometimes wonder why there are so few (combat-oriented) games where the enemy doesn't have enough soldiers to populate an entire continent. Shadow o/t Colossus is one. Tension/The Void is another (depending on the damage you do and thereby creating predators)...

[Max the Mostly Mediocre]

Better would be to have far fewer enemies (in numbers) but make them more threatening.

Black headcrabs. I hate those motherfuckers.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

Black headcrabs. I hate those motherfuckers.

QFMFT. I had forgotten about those. I remember them screeching right before they jumped. Scared the shit out of me everytime. *gets Crowbar*

[fireface]

Mostly all I play right now is cream wolf on adult swim. I feel creepy playing it, but it's so addicting. The voice in your head is amazing.

[Jon AS]

RE: Half-Life 2.

I feel like the game is actually too long for what content it offers. Valve got obsessed with "training" the player for every puzzle, enemy or specific situation, with the result that you have to do the same fucking thing three or four times in a row (with slightly increasing difficulty) which is very repetitive. But of course I still want to get to the end of that storyline.

Get Mass Effect 2. Can't speak for the first one but the second is good, despite the new addition of bullshit drm.

The ME2 DRM is no worse than most games (a disc check) and is actually less annoying than ME1's (which allowed for a maximum number of installations, which got reset when you uninstalled the game...). If you want to play these games, you probably start with the first to get the full experience as importing your ME1 character into the second installment is an important feature.

Another RPG to play is of course Dragon Age which was mentioned earlier in the thread.

[Poobah]

Wow I was tired last night. I meant 'dlc' not drm. Amending my other post.

[Jon AS]

Wow I was tired last night. I meant 'dlc' not drm. Amending my other post.

Bah, no pussy editing! But yeah, the DLC for ME isn't great. At least all except Pinnacle Station for ME1 (by all accounts a complete waste of time) and the announced second character for 2 has been free so far.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

The ME2 DRM is no worse than most games (a disc check) and is actually less annoying than ME1's (which allowed for a maximum number of installations, which got reset when you uninstalled the game...). If you want to play these games, you probably start with the first to get the full experience as importing your ME1 character into the second installment is an important feature.[/b[

Another RPG to play is of course Dragon Age which was mentioned earlier in the thread.

Don't bother playing ME1 on the PC before you play ME2. Just go here http://www.masseffectsaves.com/index.php to download an ME1 save to use in ME2 (X360 players don't have this luxury)

I remember one puzzle in HL2 was designed to be solved by throwing a grenade beneath one end of a seesaw then jumping on the same end to get propelled to a higher level. They had a rocket launcher waiting for you. Instead of doing the obvious, I collected barrels from different parts of the level so I could stack them then climb up. I felt stupid when I discovered the correct way.

The Gravity Gun was by far the coolest game play mechanic in HL2.

[Jon AS]

Don't bother playing ME1 on the PC before you play ME2. Just go here http://www.masseffec...s.com/index.php to download an ME1 save to use in ME2 (X360 players don't have this luxury)

No, play the game. Much more fun that way. Plus at this point it should be quite cheap. The site is nice to get a different character without having to play through the entire first game again, though.

I remember one puzzle in HL2 was designed to be solved by throwing a grenade beneath one end of a seesaw then jumping on the same end to get propelled to a higher level. They had a rocket launcher waiting for you. Instead of doing the obvious, I collected barrels from different parts of the level so I could stack them then climb up. I felt stupid when I discovered the correct way.

I remember some way too many seesaw puzzles, all of which involved stacking boxes/barrels/bricks (located conveniently nearby) on one end to make the other one go up. I don't remember ever having to anything with a grenade, but it has been years. Where exactly was that?

[Inigima]

Mass Effect 1 is a really fun game, not a chore, plus you don't get to have connections to the returning characters, why would you skip it O.o

[Stone-Made-Soft]

No, play the game. Much more fun that way. Plus at this point it should be quite cheap. The site is nice to get a different character without having to play through the entire first game again, though.

I remember some way too many seesaw puzzles, all of which involved stacking boxes/barrels/bricks (located conveniently nearby) on one end to make the other one go up. I don't remember ever having to anything with a grenade, but it has been years. Where exactly was that?

I could never go back to ME1 after ME2.

It was in a shack off one of the highway areas. I don't remember any convenient weights nearby which is why it stuck out in my mind.

[Sad King Billy]

The only highway seesaw I remember is the one in the "totally not a more rediculous and annoying version of sandworms" dune reference area, just before the "summon sandworms antlions" battle. but I don't recall having to use a grenade, nor having a rocket launcher nearby (would have made that battle more pleasant too). In fact, the only rocket launchers I remember were clear clues there was going to be another gunship battle.

[Imp]

I remember some way too many seesaw puzzles, all of which involved stacking boxes/barrels/bricks (located conveniently nearby) on one end to make the other one go up. I don't remember ever having to anything with a grenade, but it has been years. Where exactly was that?

In was in the annoying follow the car radar to the weapons caches section towards the end of the game if I recall.

[Sad King Billy]

Are you talking about this section (HL episode 2). It's with a grenade, but otherwise it fits.

[Zelgrath]

I think the part he's thinking of is in episode 2 when you are following those beacon signals to find loot. There's a metal plate you slide a grenade under and then stand on. It launches you up to a catwalk above you where you can get to the items. I think there's a grenade box in the room as well but it's been a long time since I played.

[Imp]

Are you talking about this section (HL episode 2). It's with a grenade, but otherwise it fits.

That's the one I was thinking of at least, I thought that was HL2 proper. Hmm might be time for a replay soon.

[Max the Mostly Mediocre]

Mass Effect 1 is a really fun game, not a chore

Partially true. The mainline is pretty fun. The cookie cutter sidequests (seriously, they use the same fucking building, just with the boxes moved around) and planetary surveying are chores.

So, play the game, and skip any sidequest that takes you off Citadel Station (except maybe the Cerebus stuff). Problem solved.