The Videogames Thread

[Werthead]

Since the old one got too long.

Some interesting articles from RPS:

The new Aliens game from Gearbox, Colonial Marines, looks pretty good. Though the premise is bollocks: remember at the end of Aliens when the Hadley Hope colony was vapourised in a nuclear explosion the size of Nebraska? Good, because, Gearbox don't. The new game takes place in the colony with marines coming in to mop up the aliens and find out what happened to Hudson, Burke and the rest of the cast (in the film they were reduced to flaming molecules). The other bits - exploring the derelict Sulaco, tracking down the original 'space jockey' ship on the far side of LV-426 etc is fine, but the bits in the colony seem a bit corncheese.

In addition, there's the upcoming Serious Sam: Double D, a side-scrolling shooter which features the ability to mount six different guns on top of one another and use them simultaneously, as well as featuring chimpanzees who have had their arms replaced with grenade launchers and chainsaws, and also have jetpacks for legs. There's also dinosaurs, which you can ride. And killer pancakes.

Finally, BioShock Infinite looks pretty impressive. They also explain what the hell the title means and also how the new game relates back to BioShock 1 and 2.

[Dragonfish]

[Re-posted from the old thread]

Quick question for the board: does anyone know why the release of Final Fantasy VI (or III, if you prefer) on the Virtual Console in North America is being held up? It was released in Japan, Europe, and Australia over three months ago, within days of each other, yet for some reason they've been holding off on releasing it in America. Are there commercial considerations that are causing the delay? Is there something about the American version that requires more than three months of preparation before it can be released? Or do we simply not know why they're waiting?

[csharpminor]

No idea why FFIII is being held up, though, I'm not surprised it is. I don't know the history of Virtual Console's release date consistency, but stuff that comes out on xbox live as as downloadable game is often subject to randomness and delays.

In an unrelated idea, is anybody else absolutely psyched that a shinobi game was newly developed for 3ds?

[Dragonfish]

No idea why FFIII is being held up, though, I'm not surprised it is. I don't know the history of Virtual Console's release date consistency, but stuff that comes out on xbox live as as downloadable game is often subject to randomness and delays.

In an unrelated idea, is anybody else absolutely psyched that a shinobi game was newly developed for 3ds?

I've looked at some other high-profile releases, and I can't find any kind of comparable gaps in release dates. Oh well, I guess it'll be out when it's out. It's not like I'm not used waiting for things...

[Sivin]

Mass Effect 3 looks strange. I can't wait for it, but at the same time the trailers have turned me off. It's not that the game looks bad, it's just...

And I'm not much of an Elder Scrolls fan (huge world, nothing to do) and I often get "lonely" without any interesting NPC's to talk to, but Skyrim looks amazing. I've already pre-ordered it.

It's only the 3rd game I'll have bought on release day, and the only one that wasn't from BioWare.

[Fez]

Just picked up Borderlands for $20. The plot seems to be completely non-existent and if I play for too long it starts to just seem repetitive, but in short doses its quite fun.

[nickg]

Mass Effect 3 looks strange. I can't wait for it, but at the same time the trailers have turned me off. It's not that the game looks bad, it's just...

And I'm not much of an Elder Scrolls fan (huge world, nothing to do) and I often get "lonely" without any interesting NPC's to talk to, but Skyrim looks amazing. I've already pre-ordered it.

It's only the 3rd game I'll have bought on release day, and the only one that wasn't from BioWare.

Pre ordered it also. I loved morrowind, liked oblivion, and can't fucking wait for skyrim. My wife is not nearly as excited though......

[Sad King Billy]

Just picked up Borderlands for $20. The plot seems to be completely non-existent and if I play for too long it starts to just seem repetitive, but in short doses its quite fun.

Same here. It does seem built for multiplayer games, tbh. Unfortunately, I don't have the equipment or videogame-interested friends to play mp. Ah well, it's a nice diversion.

[Muttering Bill]

Just picked up Borderlands for $20. The plot seems to be completely non-existent and if I play for too long it starts to just seem repetitive, but in short doses its quite fun.

I tried it a while ago. Played for a few hours, but it couldn't hold my interest. :dunno:

I started InFamous 2. Haven't had time to really get into it, but so far it seems like they made some good improvements over the first. My gaming time has been limited lately, so I've mainly been spending it with Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition and Mortal Kombat. Just got a new arcade stick, so I'm still adjsuting to that.

[SkynJay]

Advice time.

I have a six month old, so the games I really want I will never find the time to play. So I am looking at a nice turn it on, leave it, come back to it game.

My first choice was going to be finally getting around to Diablo II, but then I saw some reviews for Torchlight that made it seem pretty decent.

Of these two games, which would be preferred? I know if they were released same day, Blizzard always wins. But Torch light is several years newer, and by now the multiplayer Diablo is supposed to be completely hacked to hell.

Which game should I get???

[Cuellar]

I don't have an opinion on those 2 games, but I'll tell you the first year after my daughter was born, I managed to grind out a few heroics in WoW after she went to bed, played starcraft (about half a mission or finished one each nap).

Lately I've been playing Dragon Age 2. My daughter is 14 months now, and takes a solid 2 hour nap, so it works well (especially since you can pause it easily).

Oh and if you haven't already, make sure you have headphones, because the screaming gunfire from an FPS (or Fallout) wakes up a newborn pretty quickly...

[Myiagros]

Torchlight is a great game. I haven't played it very recently but I do remember that there are 3 classes to choose from and each has 3 skill trees. It is much more like Diablo 1 than 2, just levels that continue lower and lower with enemies getting harder as you go on. There are also scrolls you can use to visit other levels. Item drops are pretty much the same. The one thing I do like is that you have a pet that you can improve as you go along too, best feature of the pet is giving it items and sending it back to town to sell them, very handy for when you don't feel like leaving to sell things.

Torchlight 2 is in development right now which will be adding multiplayer.

[SkynJay]

I don't have an opinion on those 2 games, but I'll tell you the first year after my daughter was born, I managed to grind out a few heroics in WoW after she went to bed, played starcraft (about half a mission or finished one each nap).

Lately I've been playing Dragon Age 2. My daughter is 14 months now, and takes a solid 2 hour nap, so it works well (especially since you can pause it easily).

Oh and if you haven't already, make sure you have headphones, because the screaming gunfire from an FPS (or Fallout) wakes up a newborn pretty quickly...

When the little man was new I was still getting in a game or two of LoL in each night, usually while mom did those marathon feedings for a month or so.

Starcraft II is my dream, I would have never though I wouldnt buy it day it came out, but I love the online play so much I just knew it was a bad idea. Wife is understanding, but an hour long death match may have been bad news if baby is crying.

Ill probibly just Diablo II, wanted to for years. Seems to have held up from what people tell me.

[Greatjusticeman]

Mass Effect 3 looks strange. I can't wait for it, but at the same time the trailers have turned me off. It's not that the game looks bad, it's just...

And I'm not much of an Elder Scrolls fan (huge world, nothing to do) and I often get "lonely" without any interesting NPC's to talk to, but Skyrim looks amazing. I've already pre-ordered it.

It's only the 3rd game I'll have bought on release day, and the only one that wasn't from BioWare.

I agree with you about ME3.

I'm a big fan of the first two, and still can't wait for the third. I just feel like with the trailers, and with some of the game in general, they are putting to much emphasis on action and stuff. If you watch the trailers for the past ME games, you can tell it was more about the story. But with the trailers here it just shows big explosions/actoin/ and all that jazz.

[Jon AS]

I'm a big fan of the first two, and still can't wait for the third. I just feel like with the trailers, and with some of the game in general, they are putting to much emphasis on action and stuff. If you watch the trailers for the past ME games, you can tell it was more about the story. But with the trailers here it just shows big explosions/actoin/ and all that jazz.

Hmm, yeah no explosions there. Gameplay looks very much like ME2, some of it shockingly even features dialogue. Not saying that I'm not concerned about the game possibly not living up to expectations, but I'm not bothered by the trailers.

[Durckad]

Ill probibly just Diablo II, wanted to for years. Seems to have held up from what people tell me.

I tried playing Diablo II a year or so ago. Man, it was just not as fun as I remember it. Plus, for some reason, it didn't run very well on my newer computer. Kept lagging for some reason.

[Sad King Billy]

Mass Effect 3 looks strange. I can't wait for it, but at the same time the trailers have turned me off. It's not that the game looks bad, it's just...

And I'm not much of an Elder Scrolls fan (huge world, nothing to do) and I often get "lonely" without any interesting NPC's to talk to, but Skyrim looks amazing. I've already pre-ordered it.

It's only the 3rd game I'll have bought on release day, and the only one that wasn't from BioWare.

NPC: We need a plan to stop them!

Shephard: We fight or we die, That's the plan!

They'll never see us coming. Brilliant.

[Jon AS]

Since Crysis 2 dropped to 15 pounds at amazon.uk I picked it up a while ago. Holy crap is this a gigantic step backwards. I don't expect the story to be anything interesting in a Crytek game and obviously the graphics had to take a hit to be console compatible, but gameplay and level design in Far Cry and Crysis were awesome. While the basic controls are improved, the very confined, linear level design, complete with invisible walls (yes, I prefer to be eaten by sharks rather than encounter such abominations) and fucking checkpoints make for a throroughly unenjoyable playing experience. I am maybe halfway through and can only continue in tiny steps, basically until the next checkpoint, or I just get too frustrated.

The only positive is that the Cryengine has been ported to consoles. Maybe another design studio can license it to make a good game. A Mass Effect-style game using this engine instead of the crappy Unreal3 one could be awesome.

[Durckad]

Since Crysis 2 dropped to 15 pounds at amazon.uk I picked it up a while ago. Holy crap is this a gigantic step backwards. I don't expect the story to be anything interesting in a Crytek game and obviously the graphics had to take a hit to be console compatible, but gameplay and level design in Far Cry and Crysis were awesome. While the basic controls are improved, the very confined, linear level design, complete with invisible walls (yes, I prefer to be eaten by sharks rather than encounter such abominations) and fucking checkpoints make for a throroughly unenjoyable playing experience. I am maybe halfway through and can only continue in tiny steps, basically until the next checkpoint, or I just get too frustrated.

The only positive is that the Cryengine has been ported to consoles. Maybe another design studio can license it to make a good game. A Mass Effect-style game using this engine instead of the crappy Unreal3 one could be awesome.

Crysis, also had checkpoints, FYI.

[Jon AS]

Crysis, also had checkpoints, FYI.

Yeah, but it also had the option to save anywhere. Crysis 2 expects you to get along with nothing but autosaves. It really discourages you from trying anything but playing it completely save, i.e. advancing slowly and taking everything out at maximum range, because if you don't you run the risk of having to replay 20+ minutes of the game if it doesn't work. So you have this supersuit which offers you awesome options that you never use because the save system is shit. Good design choice, that.