Video Games, The Gameocolypse

[Muttering Bill]

I loved the original Metal Gear Solid, and it still stands as one of my all-time top 10. But I felt that the series went steadily downhill. MGS2 brought in Raiden (who I was mostly ok with) and the story got really convoluted at the end. For MGS3, it wasn't too bad, but I didn't find the story very interesting, and level design was kind of weak.

As for MGS4... I don't even know what happened. Too ambitious, maybe. The story continued where MGS2 left off, so... yeah. And there was way too much of it. And the gameplay was aweful. There was absolutely no emphasis on stealth - you could just run-and-gun through every level. Actually, I usually had to, because once I was spotted, no matter how well I hid, the AI would always come right for me. And WTF at Old Snake!?

I played through the first chapter, by then I had had enough.

It got great review scores, but has been pretty widely panned by fans.

[Zach H]

Just played through Shadow of the Colossus for the first time. Definitely lived up to the praise enough that I'd put it alongside my favorites.

[Weak With The Dawn]

Just played through Shadow of the Colossus for the first time. Definitely lived up to the praise enough that I'd put it alongside my favorites.

I can't ever beat that game. I feel like the worlds biggest douche every time I kill one of the Colossi.

[Howdyphillip]

This is funny... It is an 8bit rendition of what a GoT video game would be

[Tyrellius]

I've been thinking of upgrading to 3 24inch monitors and wanted to check some youtube videos of games working over 3 screens. I found

and now feel totally inadequate :*(

[TheEvilKing]

Ok so i saw this clip from Game of Thrones RPG on Gametrailers and didn't know if i should laugh or cry. I don't think this a spoiler but if you do not want to see anything from the game at all do not click the link, it is of a cameo in the game and i just......................watch and you will understand. Game of Thrones RPG Clip

What the hell did I just watch?

[Fez]

I have such a plethora (take that El Guapo!) of video games to play at this point I hardly know where to start. Besides Space Marine, The Saboteur, Stranglehold, and Minecraft (all fun to varying degrees, but none exactly classic- except Minecraft) Nier arrived in the mail and I've started a trial account for Eve to see if I want to get back into it.

Eve seems pretty much like I remember; better tutorial then there used to be though. My computer can't render people worth shit though, so despite the rest of the game running smoothly the character creation screen was a nightmare and I'm very glad I found the option to turn off the walking around the station stuff.

As for Nier, I'm only about 6 hours in but I'm liking it. I don't think very many people heard about Nier, which is a shame since its fun and quite different from most JRPGs (a good thing in my mind). For one, you're a middle-aged man; second, its Zelda-style combat; and third, its a very self-aware game (ex. one major NPC is running around in basically her underwear, a common enough JRPG trope, but here another major NPC calls her out on it; at another point when someone is criticized for drinking too early they ask how can you tell? the sun never sets). Its got a very minimalist design to just about everything that I think works surprisingly enough, has fantastic voice acting (shame that the game isn't fully voiced; and it seems almost random what parts they decided to record for), and really varies up the game mechanics from section to section. On the other hand, the graphics are really bad, there are hints of a really interesting story but it moves at an absolute snails pace, the side quests are really dull, and the controls aren't the best. But its definitely worth the $9 + shipping I paid.

[ICE CROW]

What the hell did I just watch?

I.......I............. i really don't know!. That is why i just don't know. You would think they would put more effort into at least making that cameo come off good. the writing wasn't bad and it was a jab at how long the books take, but they could have made him sound like a human being instead of one of those automated recordings you get waiting for customer service.

[Durckad]

I got DA2 for pretty cheap so I've been slowly plugging away at that. And I mean slowly.

It's too bad the game got such a shit response, because there are some great changes here. The story, for one, is less epic but it's better and it doesn't rely on the milquetoastiness of the darkspawn as the threat, they're there as window-dressing but not as the focus. The changes to leveling are appreciated. The characters are good. The dialogue wheel is a great addition. Kirkwall is an interesting location and, I think, with a little more work it could've been a great location.

But still, I understand the complaints.

Combat is weaksauce and is ridiculously boring. Fighting waves is fun, once in a while, but that's all the game seems to know how to do. Tactics are nonexistant and I've yet to meet a truly interesting quest so far. Granted, I haven't even gone to the deep roads yet, I've just been traipsing about Kirkwall doing boring quests, so maybe that changes sometime.

It's sad, there's clearly a decent game in here somewhere, but it's just buried beneath some terrible design choices. I don't know if I'll finish this, a good story can only get me so far in a game, but it only cost me $10 so it's no big loss if I don't.

[dornish prince]

<threadjack>help me to settle an argument that my sons are having. in a FPS game, one son is doing something called boosting. he is repeatedly killing an idle opponent in split screen mode in order to gain abilities of higher classes. the other son claims that this is cheating. is it?</threadjack>

on topic, i'm still plugging away at arkham city and enjoying it immensely. there is an absolute metric shit ton of things to do. a great, great game. :cheers:

[TheEvilKing]

help me to settle an argument that my sons are having. in a FPS game, one son is doing something called boosting. he is repeatedly killing an idle opponent in split screen mode in order to gain abilities of higher classes. the other son claims that this is cheating. is it?

Yes. You should banish him.

[Jon AS]

I don't know if I'll finish this, a good story can only get me so far in a game, but it only cost me $10 so it's no big loss if I don't.

At least try to get to the end of Act 2, then you've seen pretty much the best the game has to offer. Of course the results of the endgame are so big they'll change a core dynamic of the setting and will almost certainly be important in the third game, so seeing it all the way through might pay off if DA3 is any good, but some of the stuff that happens in the finale is rather inexcusably dumb, so I'm hesitant to say one has to see it if one finds the game mostly a chore.

[ICE CROW]

help me to settle an argument that my sons are having. in a FPS game, one son is doing something called boosting. he is repeatedly killing an idle opponent in split screen mode in order to gain abilities of higher classes. the other son claims that this is cheating. is it?

I fucking hate boosting and boosters, i think there is no greater crime in the video game world. So many times friends of mine on XboxLive want me to help them boost and i refuse, i feel one should earn their equipment and whatever other unlocks come from leveling the old fashioned way. On that note i also look down on people who buy DLC that will unlock all abilities or weapon sets in games, like the DLC sets you can get for Battlefield 3.

[kungtotte]

This is what boosting is:

Two friends play baseball for two different teams, whenever the two teams meet Friend A makes sure to only throw balls that he knows Friend B can hit, so that Friend B may increase his batting average and thus be in a position to advance his baseball-career.

Now you tell me if that's cheating or not.

[Morrigan]

Yes. You should banish him.

This. Also you failed as a parent.

Kidding about the last part. But yeah, it's lame behaviour and it's definitely cheating.

[Cuchulain]

I bought Castlevania: Symphony of the Night yesterday on Xbox Live Arcade. I'd never played it before and since it's so often cited as a classic I decided to try it. I played it for a couple of hours and afterwards looked up some stuff about it online. Turns out I had already missed a ton of hidden items. Some of these things are just ridiculously hard to find. Who would ever think to stand still for about 30 seconds in a dead-end corridor so an invisible elevator can take you down to a hidden weapon (jewel knuckles)? Apart from this, though, I'm having fun with the game.