What have you been playing... IN APRIL 2009?
Spalls Hurgenson
the flowers are blooming. Go outside and enjoy the nice weather? Hell
no; play video games! But what video games are we playing? That's what
this thread is all about.
Let's keep this short and sweet; we all know the drill already. It's
been a good month of gaming for me (thanks mostly to a few sick days
when I was too ill for work but not sick enough not to keep driving
the mean streets of Liberty City).
So, here's my playlist (and the usual associated ramblings):
------
* Grand Theft Auto IV (continued from last month)
So, I worked my way to the end of Grand Theft Auto 4. Well, "end" as
much as any of these sort of games end -there are still a host of
side-missions I can do if I really want to- but the main storyline was
concluded. I was fortunate enough that I did not have any major
technical issues with this game (aside from the intrusive Social Club
and DRM). The game is very good, especially for fans of the genre. My
main complaints from last month stand, though; the game-world lacks
variety and interactivity, and the attempts at humor generally fall
flat. Where the game shines is its character and storyline (thanks to
some excellent voice-acting); for all the excess and over-the-top
action, the character of Nico is surprisingly believable. I don't know
how much re-playability this game has -the multiplayer holds no
interest for me- but I got a month's enjoyable playtime out of GTA4 so
I consider it good investment - and a good game.
* The Secret of Monkey Island (replay)
I haven't played the original Monkey Island game in, oh, its probably
going on about 15 years or so. But after watching the "Pirates of the
Caribbean" flicks on DVD, there was no question that I'd have to
return to my gaming roots. In truth, I didn't fall head-over-heels in
love again with "Secrets"; the humor wasn't all that I remembered it
to be, the pacing was poor and managing the interface was often a
chore. But all these complaints are from hindsight based on 20-years
of gaming evolution. Released today, "Secret" would have made a very
tiny splash in the market, but I can still see -after all these years-
how innovative and fun must have been to a gamer of the early '90s.
Sure, later titles might have better polish but that's only because
they were standing on the shoulders of giants amongst which "The
Secret of Monkey Island" proudly stands.
* Rogue Trooper (new)
In all honesty, I've played Rogue Trooper in the past; however, due to
a number of bugs, I never got far beyond the second level, so I'm
counting this as a "new" game for me. What I saw in my first attempt,
though, was enough to tempt me to come back and try again. So, let's
get the obvious out of the way first: this is a budget title from
2006; even for three years ago, the graphics were far from top-end,
doubtlessly caused by the fact it was a cross-platform title, with all
the weakness and problems that entails. But what the developers lacked
in polygon count they more than made up for with art design; for all
that they were based on the same urban-warfare theme as so many other
games, Rogue Trooper had some of the most enjoyable and varied levels
I've played in a good while. The gameplay was a nice blend of
run-n-gun action and stealthy advance, with a few on-rail vehicle
sections to mix things up. The characters and story were as
over-the-top as one would expect from a comic-book license, but still
endearing in the own way. In no way can Rogue Trooper be considered a
classic -it doesn't push the envelope in any way- but it is a solid,
well-produced title that I found surprisingly enjoyable.
* Chronicles of Riddick - Assault on Dark Athena
I've always enjoyed the Riddick franchise (even the last movie) so
picking up this game was a no-brainer. The original "Escape From
Butchers Bay" game was a classic, and this stand-alone expansion
promised more of the same. The remake of "Butchers Bay" didn't add
much to the original; the graphics were slightly enhanced (mostly with
the addition of extra blur and bloom effects) but the core gameplay
remained, fortunately, untouched. The new "Assault on Dark Athena"
missions, though, were somewhat schizophrenic. The first half of the
game was classic sneak-n-kill Riddick, albeit somewhat more linear and
with less emphasis on non-combative interactions with characters. But
the entire second half of the game was an endless stream of run-n-gun
action which felt out of place for the character. It didn't help that
all the enemies either had night vision or extremely powerful
flashlights; even when I could find some shadows in which to lurk, it
rarely did me any good. For a self-professed "creature of the
shadows", limiting Riddick's effectiveness in this way seemed an odd
choice. Still, even if the expansion didn't feel entirely true to the
original, it was still a fun game with some great visuals and
gameplay.
* Starship Troopers (2005) (replay)
This game starts with so many strikes against it -it's based on the
Verhoeven move, its a console port, it was developed by an unknown
team, it uses savepoints, etc- that its amazing that I've played it as
often as I did. But the strength of Heinlein's original setting is
enough to keep me coming back for more. And, to give the developers
credit, they do manage to throw hundreds of bugs at you in every
level; the frantic balls-to-the-wall action has a lot going for it.
Otherwise, though, the gameplay is forgettable. Hopefully one day a
A-list developer will put together a true Starship Troopers FPS; until
then, I'll make do with what I got.
* Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. (new)
I gave a slightly longer review of H.A.W.X. earlier this month, so
I'll cut this one short: I was underwhelmed by this title. It is a
characterless game that completely lacks in that one feature every
game must have: fun. Arguably its multiplayer component might have
some appeal to some, but as a single-player gamer I found nothing of
interest in this game. I could only stomach a few levels of this game
before disgust made me quit and uninstall. How companies can spend so
many millions developing titles like this and still completely miss
the mark baffles me.
* Turok (2008) (replay)
So, every now and again I'm in the mood for just a plain ordinary
shooter. But there's only so often I can replay the classics like Call
of Duty or Half Life. Its times like these I rely on my mighty
collection of B-list games. Thus, Turok: an utterly forgettable title
released last year. Many reviews indicated that the one thing that
kept this title from being completely without redeeming qualities were
the dinosaurs; contrary as I am, it's the dinosaurs I find most
annoying. Their attacks are so, well, *cheap*. The consistently attack
from behind (an issue not helped by the reduced FOV common to console
ports), respawn, and their attacks often knock you on your back
leaving you defenseless. Perhaps the goal was to make you fear the
dinosaurs; I instead just got annoyed. A full storyline, forgettable
characters and unimpressive graphics just round out the package. The
best I can say about Turok is that it killed a few hours, but so does
waiting in the DMV, and I don't recommend either.
* Tom Clancy's End War (new)
I'm starting to come to the conclusion that I just don't care for
*any* of Ubisoft's recent "Tom Clancy" games; from HAWX to the newer
Rainbow Six to the mess they made of the Ghost Recon franchise - none
of them appeal to me anymore. Plus, EndWar is an RTS, a genre that I
only have limited interest in. So this game already has two strikes
against it before I've even installed. Add to that the atrocious
controls and camera, the useless gimmick that is voice-control
(perhaps necessary in console-land, but on the PC we've this little
invention called a mouse), sub-par production values and an extremely
limited RTS game (only twelve units max, really?) and there's very
little to recommend in EndWar. Well, there is no DRM beyond a
requirement for a multiplayer CD-key. I guess even Ubisoft knew nobody
would be interested in stealing this game. Five missions in and I'd
had enough; I uninstalled with no regrets.
* Company of Heroes - Tales of Valor (new)
While I was disappointed in almost every aspect of "EndWar", I won't
say that it didn't try to give me value for my money. Sure I couldn't
bear to play that game more than five missions, but at least the
designers tried to give me a complete product (even if it wasn't very
good). "Tales of Valor", on the other hand, barely qualifies as an
expansion pack and yet tries to pass itself off as a full game. Get
this: the game has THREE maps, each used three times. Basic math tells
you that's a mere nine missions in total, and at least half of those
are extremely short missions that use only a small percentage of those
aforementioned THREE MAPS. Top that off with a reused (albeit still
good looking) game engine and some underwhelming new game mechanics
and level design; this title is -at best- worth $9.99 (and really
should have been released to owners of the original game as free DLC).
Relic ought to be ashamed of themselves. What little enjoyment I got
from this title (all three hours of it) was because of the underlying
quality of the original "Company of Heroes" game, and not from
anything this stand-alone expansion brought to the table.
* Left 4 Dead Survival Pack (replay or new?)
I briefly toyed with the survival pack when it came out. I was
underwhelmed. The Survival mode is neat for about ten minutes, and
then very quickly becomes tedious. For multiplayer fans, I'm sure the
addition of "versus" modes for the last three campaigns is welcome,
but I by far was more a fan of the innovative campaign mode; Versus
boils down to "counterstrike with zombies" and I had my fill of that
sort of gameplay ten years ago. The primary complaint about Left4Dead
when it first came out was its dearth of maps and its extremely short
single-player/co-op mode; the Survival pack does little to remedy
this. I futzed about with the new levels for an hour or so, then
played a couple of campaigns and then decided that was enough: I was
zombied-out already. Release a real expansion, Valve, and we'll talk.
* System Shock 2 (replay)
What can I say about SS2 that hasn't already been mentioned in the
past ten years? Every now and again I dust off this old classic and
enjoy the ambience and gameplay. Bioshock may be its "spiritual
successor", but it isn't one-tenth the game SS2 is. With updates from
the Rebirth and SCHMUP mods, the game still looks impressive, proving
that making a good-looking title is more about artistry than polygon
count and texture size. And even though I'm familiar with every inch
of the Von Braun, I still get creeps walking through the Mall level
("it crawls"). I was rather surprised at how fast the game moves; I
ran through it at almost first-person-shooter speeds although I
remember it as a very paced title. I wonder if one of the mods upped
the movement speed (or maybe my over-familiarity with the setting;
either way, I had to force myself to go slow so I could enjoy every
minute).
* Wanted : Weapons of Fate (new)
Two impressions come to mind when I think of Wanted: Weapons of Fate.
First, it has some incredibly impressive cinematic combat. And second,
it is very short. The latter is not as much of a deal-breaker as you
might think. Yes, it only has nine levels and you can get through the
game in a few hours. But frankly, there wasn't enough of a game that I
wanted to last any longer. The combat is an amazing recreation of
John-Woo style combat; frenetic and acrobatic, it far exceed's the
previous attempt at this sort of game, Stranglehold; the combat is
more fluid and the controls react more smoothly. Any one firefight in
Weapons of Fate plays out like a truly amazing combat sequence in a
100-million dollar Hollywood action blockbuster; it's a sight to
behold. Unfortunately, there really isn't much more to this game than
that; the level's are exceedingly linear, there's only a limited
number of enemies and weapons, the story is disjointed and the levels
-while generally good looking with one standout- on the whole look
very similar. What Wanted does, it does very well. It just doesn't do
very much.
------
So, there we go. A fine month of wasted time and electrons.
So... what have YOU been playing... in April 2009?
Schrodinger
"Spalls Hurgenson" <yoi...@ebalu.com> wrote in message
news:fecgv4dbqm1mo7jg4...@4ax.com...
> Spring, as they say, has sprung; the air is clear, the grass is green,
> the flowers are blooming. Go outside and enjoy the nice weather? Hell
> no; play video games! But what video games are we playing? That's what
> this thread is all about.
>
> Let's keep this short and sweet; we all know the drill already. It's
> been a good month of gaming for me (thanks mostly to a few sick days
> when I was too ill for work but not sick enough not to keep driving
> the mean streets of Liberty City).
>
> So, here's my playlist (and the usual associated ramblings):
>
> ------
>
> * Grand Theft Auto IV (continued from last month)
>
>
>
> * Chronicles of Riddick - Assault on Dark Athena
>
>
>
>
> * Tom Clancy's End War (new)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> So, there we go. A fine month of wasted time and electrons.
>
> So... what have YOU been playing... in April 2009?
>
>
Left4Dead.
rms
Same here, since it's easy to fire up at any time and requires little
thought.
Beyond Good & Evil, also, but only a small amount. It runs and looks
great, but I've been outdoors exercising more and more as the weather warms
up. I hope to get back to it soon.
rms
PW
wrote:
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead
Burnout Paradise
Left 4 Dead
FEAR 2
Just bought Brother's in Arms Hell's Highway
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead
-fragPUP
Spalls Hurgenson
<paulremove_w...@removehotmail.com> wrote:
>On Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:00:56 GMT, Spalls Hurgenson <yoi...@ebalu.com>
>wrote:
>
>>So... what have YOU been playing... in April 2009?
>>
>
>
>Left 4 Dead
>Left 4 Dead
>Burnout Paradise
>Left 4 Dead
>FEAR 2
>Just bought Brother's in Arms Hell's Highway
>Left 4 Dead
>Left 4 Dead
>
>-fragPUP
Say, have you tried that new Left4Dead game? Judging by the other
games you pleay, I really think you might enjoy it.
KCB
>
> So... what have YOU been playing... in April 2009?
>
COD4 (LAN and online) - We change modes occasionally just to keep it
interesting. I may even have to play through the single player again
for the umpteenth time.
HL2DM (LAN mostly, some online) - This game makes me laugh so hard that
sometimes I can't play through the tears. The multitude of ways to kill
your opponent, with their ragdoll corpse flopping, or flying, or
blasting off, or getting pinned to the wall, is just too fun.
Left4Dead (online) - I agree with your take on the update, but still
love to jump into a quick campaign online.
Texas Hold'em @ partypoker.com - Real people, play money, but I've had
it up to almost 600,000. Also, the slots @ partycasino.com are fun,
Terminator is probably the best. Any gambler would understand the
attraction.
John Lewis
wrote:
>Spring, as they say, has sprung; the air is clear, the grass is green,
1. How much did you spend on this month's (April 2009) new games?
2. Approximately many hours total did you spend playing this month's
new-game list?
John Lewis
Andrew
wrote:
>So... what have YOU been playing... in April 2009?
Now that I have a decent graphics card, I am catching up on some good
PC games at knockdown prices:
Flatout Ultimate Carnage: I really like this game, got it cheap off of
Steam not expecting too much, but have had a lot of fun so far and I
am only about halfway through the SP game.
Crysis: Picked this up for about 8 pounds to test my new cheap GX260
and found my rather budget PC can play it maxxed out. As an added
bonus I am quite enjoying the game, although it shows its Far Cry
heritage of being a linear game hidden in what should have been a sand
box world.
Saints Row 2: WORST PORT EVER - AVOID! I rented the 360 version a
couple of months back and really liked it, so I thought I would buy it
on the PC instead, what a massive mistake. It is playable though not
smooth or pretty when on foot, but driving is a complete nightmare.
SR2 on the 360 had very nice car control, especially when compared to
GTA4, the PC version is undriveable with a keyboard and only remotely
possible with a gamepad. This is one time I wish I had done my
research - the retail game has to be registered on Steam, so I can't
sell this POS.
--
Andrew, contact via http://interpleb.googlepages.com
Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text.
Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question.
Sleepy
"Spalls Hurgenson" <yoi...@ebalu.com> wrote in message
news:fecgv4dbqm1mo7jg4...@4ax.com...
> * Rogue Trooper (new)
> In all honesty, I've played Rogue Trooper in the past; however, due to
> a number of bugs, I never got far beyond the second level, so I'm
> counting this as a "new" game for me. What I saw in my first attempt,
> though, was enough to tempt me to come back and try again. So, let's
> get the obvious out of the way first: this is a budget title from
> 2006; even for three years ago, the graphics were far from top-end,
> doubtlessly caused by the fact it was a cross-platform title, with all
> the weakness and problems that entails. But what the developers lacked
> in polygon count they more than made up for with art design; for all
> that they were based on the same urban-warfare theme as so many other
> games, Rogue Trooper had some of the most enjoyable and varied levels
> I've played in a good while. The gameplay was a nice blend of
> run-n-gun action and stealthy advance, with a few on-rail vehicle
> sections to mix things up. The characters and story were as
> over-the-top as one would expect from a comic-book license, but still
> endearing in the own way. In no way can Rogue Trooper be considered a
> classic -it doesn't push the envelope in any way- but it is a solid,
> well-produced title that I found surprisingly enjoyable.
I'll have to give this a try if I can find it in the bargain bin.
> * Chronicles of Riddick - Assault on Dark Athena
> I've always enjoyed the Riddick franchise (even the last movie) so
> picking up this game was a no-brainer. The original "Escape From
> Butchers Bay" game was a classic, and this stand-alone expansion
> promised more of the same. The remake of "Butchers Bay" didn't add
> much to the original; the graphics were slightly enhanced (mostly with
> the addition of extra blur and bloom effects) but the core gameplay
> remained, fortunately, untouched. The new "Assault on Dark Athena"
> missions, though, were somewhat schizophrenic. The first half of the
> game was classic sneak-n-kill Riddick, albeit somewhat more linear and
> with less emphasis on non-combative interactions with characters. But
> the entire second half of the game was an endless stream of run-n-gun
> action which felt out of place for the character. It didn't help that
> all the enemies either had night vision or extremely powerful
> flashlights; even when I could find some shadows in which to lurk, it
> rarely did me any good. For a self-professed "creature of the
> shadows", limiting Riddick's effectiveness in this way seemed an odd
> choice. Still, even if the expansion didn't feel entirely true to the
> original, it was still a fun game with some great visuals and
> gameplay.
Liked the first game but the reviews are fairly unimpressed with the new
content
so I'll give it a miss.
> * Tom Clancy's End War (new)
> I'm starting to come to the conclusion that I just don't care for
> *any* of Ubisoft's recent "Tom Clancy" games; from HAWX to the newer
> Rainbow Six to the mess they made of the Ghost Recon franchise - none
> of them appeal to me anymore. Plus, EndWar is an RTS, a genre that I
> only have limited interest in. So this game already has two strikes
> against it before I've even installed. Add to that the atrocious
> controls and camera, the useless gimmick that is voice-control
> (perhaps necessary in console-land, but on the PC we've this little
> invention called a mouse), sub-par production values and an extremely
> limited RTS game (only twelve units max, really?) and there's very
> little to recommend in EndWar. Well, there is no DRM beyond a
> requirement for a multiplayer CD-key. I guess even Ubisoft knew nobody
> would be interested in stealing this game. Five missions in and I'd
> had enough; I uninstalled with no regrets.
tried the demo and spent so much time fiddling with the mic to try and get
the voice system working. eventually gave up in disgust. I have a Xfi card
and mic is pretty
clear to everyone in L4D so its just this game thats the problem.
> * Left 4 Dead Survival Pack (replay or new?)
> I briefly toyed with the survival pack when it came out. I was
> underwhelmed. The Survival mode is neat for about ten minutes, and
> then very quickly becomes tedious. For multiplayer fans, I'm sure the
> addition of "versus" modes for the last three campaigns is welcome,
> but I by far was more a fan of the innovative campaign mode; Versus
> boils down to "counterstrike with zombies" and I had my fill of that
> sort of gameplay ten years ago. The primary complaint about Left4Dead
> when it first came out was its dearth of maps and its extremely short
> single-player/co-op mode; the Survival pack does little to remedy
> this. I futzed about with the new levels for an hour or so, then
> played a couple of campaigns and then decided that was enough: I was
> zombied-out already. Release a real expansion, Valve, and we'll talk.
this is what I've mostly played this month but I go only for the campaigns.
Versus doesn't really appeal and since Valve couldn't be bothered to include
a practice mode I can't be assed putting in the effort to learn against the
many
players who don't play this game in the right spirit. I've done all the
campaigns
on Expert many times and I'm starting to tire of this. Unless Valve pull
their finger
out and release more campaigns I think I'll give up on L4D.
> * System Shock 2 (replay)
> What can I say about SS2 that hasn't already been mentioned in the
> past ten years? Every now and again I dust off this old classic and
> enjoy the ambience and gameplay. Bioshock may be its "spiritual
> successor", but it isn't one-tenth the game SS2 is. With updates from
> the Rebirth and SCHMUP mods, the game still looks impressive, proving
> that making a good-looking title is more about artistry than polygon
> count and texture size. And even though I'm familiar with every inch
> of the Von Braun, I still get creeps walking through the Mall level
> ("it crawls"). I was rather surprised at how fast the game moves; I
> ran through it at almost first-person-shooter speeds although I
> remember it as a very paced title. I wonder if one of the mods upped
> the movement speed (or maybe my over-familiarity with the setting;
> either way, I had to force myself to go slow so I could enjoy every
> minute).
superb game - largely because of its excellent use of sound.
after your review last month of BiA:HH I found it for 98p at my local store.
I like the Road to Hill 30 but didn't finish Earned in Blood. I played most
of Hells Highway before
realising it had a cover system so I have to restart it and play it
properly! I also want to find the Kilroys.
Spalls Hurgenson
wrote:
>
>
>"Spalls Hurgenson" <yoi...@ebalu.com> wrote in message
>news:fecgv4dbqm1mo7jg4...@4ax.com...
>
>
>after your review last month of BiA:HH I found it for 98p at my local store.
>I like the Road to Hill 30 but didn't finish Earned in Blood. I played most
>of Hells Highway before
>realising it had a cover system so I have to restart it and play it
>properly! I also want to find the Kilroys.
>
>
Ohmigod, somebody actually *reads* my comments on various games? And
uses that as a basis for buying games? I don't think I'm ready for
that sort of responsibility.
Didn't much care for Earned in Blood either, and was sort of luke-warm
towards the first game; I think Hells Highway is the best in the
series so far, but on the whole my opinion in this seems to be
contrary to the majority, who were apparently unimpressed by the third
game. Then again, I enjoyed Rogue Trooper, so obviously my taste in
games is somewhat skewed (but, fortunately, not so warped as Mr.
Rob's, who seeks out classics like Rathunter ;-)
Anssi Saari
> So... what have YOU been playing... in April 2009?
Not much.
- GTA4: The Lost and Damned. Yes, on the noisybox unfortunately. But I
have to admit this little DLC thing has sparked my interest in the
game. The other day, I actually cruised to the Sultan RS spawn point
and took it out for a spin. Hell, it was actually fun! I also, for the
first time, actually drove around and picked up some rocket launcher
ammo from pickups, to be prepared for the final TLAD shootout. So now
I'm thinking of playing the original game on the PC finally. I was
thinking of getting a video card update first though, but we'll see.
- FO3: really meant to start playing The Pitt, but, well, did some
other stuff here and there. Mostly the Oasis side quest and picked up
the Explosives bobblehead and visited the Satcom structures too. I
think I want to pickup some more bobbleheads and special weapons, like
Ol' Painless and Lincoln's Repeater.
I've been thinking of starting over, as I can't get any of the extra
action point giving stuff for my character now. Well, when the next
DLC comes along and raises the level cap, I suppose I can get the
perks for that, but that magic hockey mask is just gone. Oh well.
- Space Quest 1, actually the remake in Javascript at sarien.net.
Didn't get very far yet and the game seems to act weirdly sometimes.
They have some other old Sierra games too.
Sheldon England
> Ohmigod, somebody actually *reads* my comments on various games? And
> uses that as a basis for buying games? I don't think I'm ready for
> that sort of responsibility.
Sorry, Spalls ... I do that too. You are way more informative than any
official reviewer and have helped me decide on many purchases (or 'not'
purchases).
- Sheldon
Les Steel
Front Mission DS
Old fave from teh SNES days. I can't remember putting time in on any PC
game this past month, maybe couple hours on Flatout:UC after picking it
up cheap on steam.
I might return to that zombie killing game, who's name escapes me...PW
might be able to help ;)
--
Les
Shawk
Damn John... snip man, snip!
Ta
Help Desk
was different from all the other RTS games because you don't have to have
peons farming for resources for you like 99% of other RTS games have.
Well...they are right that I don't have to farm for resources but I fail to
see any real strategy to this game either. It plays like a dumbass action
game but from a different perspective. Game has high production value and
nifty graphics but it is the equivalent of a dumbass action movie made for
pre-pubescent teens and not a strategy game as it is billed as.
Spalls Hurgenson
wrote:
>On Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:00:56 GMT, Spalls Hurgenson <yoi...@ebalu.com>
>wrote:
>
>>Spring, as they say, has sprung; the air is clear, the grass is green,
>>the flowers are blooming. Go outside and enjoy the nice weather? Hell
>>no; play video games! But what video games are we playing? That's what
>>this thread is all about.
>>
>>Let's keep this short and sweet; we all know the drill already. It's
>>been a good month of gaming for me (thanks mostly to a few sick days
>>when I was too ill for work but not sick enough not to keep driving
>>the mean streets of Liberty City).
>>
>>So, here's my playlist (and the usual associated ramblings):
>>
>>------
>>
>>* Grand Theft Auto IV (continued from last month)
>>* The Secret of Monkey Island (replay)
>>* Rogue Trooper (new)
>>* Chronicles of Riddick - Assault on Dark Athena (new)
>>* Starship Troopers (2005) (replay)
>>* Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. (new)
>>* Turok (2008) (replay)
>>* Tom Clancy's End War (new)
>>* Company of Heroes - Tales of Valor (new)
>>* Left 4 Dead Survival Pack (replay or new?)
>>* System Shock 2 (replay)
>>* Wanted : Weapons of Fate (new)
>>------
>>
>>So, there we go. A fine month of wasted time and electrons.
>>
>>So... what have YOU been playing... in April 2009?
>>
>>
>
>
>1. How much did you spend on this month's (April 2009) new games?
Well, I don't know: let's do the math.
HAWX - $45
CoH Tales of Valor - $30
Wanted Weapons of Fate - $50
Chronicles of Riddick: AoDA - $50
So, $175 on new games; all the others were old titles I've had in the
collection for a while (I bought End War last month and its been
sitting around until I finished GTA4 so it doesnt' count). An
expensive hobby!
Of that, I only consider both "Assault on Dark Athena" and "Wanted"
worth the money (although I'd recommend everybody else wait until the
latter drops in price); Tales of Valor was so short it should have
been made available as free downloadable content, and HAWX was
disappointing and I wish I hadn't bought it..
>2. Approximately many hours total did you spend playing this month's
>new-game list?
I get asked this a lot, and I guess legitimately so, given my huge
playlist. While I won't argue that my game-time is probably higher
than average, I don't think it's too outrageous. On average, I only
play games once or twice during the week. I play a bit more
intensively on the weekends (at least half of Saturday -morning or
evening, depending on my plans for the other half ;-) and usually a
good number of hours on Sunday). As a rough estimate, I'd say 15-18
hours per week.
(Then again, a quick search on google revealed
http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/familyresources/a/videotv404.htm so
at least my numbers are still below those of an eighth-grade boy ;-).
And I do have a full-time job and actually manage to get outside and
hang with my friends at least once or twice a week, so I guess I'm
doing okay).
It helps that I've pretty much given up watching any TV, and get most
of my reading done during my daily commute; that frees up a lot of
time. Now if only I could give up on the Internet, I could squeeze in
another three or four games per month...
Still, one might wonder how I get through so many games. Well, for one
thing, careful readers might note that I *don't* get through all of
them; I gave up on both H.A.W.X. and EndWar long before I got anywhere
near the end. Also, three of the games on my list this month were
replays; I tend to zip through those faster than new games as I
already know where to go (this was particularly noticable in System
Shock 2; I think I finished that game in two or three sittings; that
game ended far too soon for me ).
Futhermore, I tend not to focus on one particular game; rather, I flit
from title to title like a hummingbird with ADD; I play it once and
move on. I do try to get the maximum experience from every play
through (at the very least, my goal is to play to the end of the game,
and I try to explore most of the map and do the majority of any
sidequests), but once the end-credits roll, it's not too long before I
uninstall that title.
Plus, the addition of a few sick-days let me pack in a few extra games
this month (too sick to work, but never to sick to bash in an
alien-hybrid's skull with my wrench ;-)
But enough about me (I say after writing a self-obsessed 500-word
essay)... you didn't tell us what games *you* played this month.
Spalls Hurgenson
Well, that gives me incentive to keep doing it then (I think).
Frankly, I'm not sure anyone should depend on my opinions; I often
find myself in the minority opinion regarding many games; I like to
think my taste is more eclectic than most ;-)
I mean, really, you shouldn't rely on anything I say: I played "The
Mark" too the end and didn't think it was absolutely horrible.
On the other hand, while I don't think people will agree with me, I
still do try to give them an honest opinion. Different strokes, and
all that, right?
Anyway, next month I intend to try something a bit different. My
monthly compilations are getting a bit long and unwieldy; in May, I
intend to spread the "quick reviews" into seperate posts (as I finish
each game over the course of the month) and then just do a quick recap
at the end of the month.
This will make -I hope- the monthly "What Are You Playing" post a bit
less daunting to read, and encourage myself to post more often. I've
noticed that since I started these threads, I've been posting less;
why comment in an individual thread when I knew I was just going to
express myself at the end of the month? I'm trying to reverse that
trend :-)
Spalls Hurgenson
>Spalls Hurgenson <yoi...@ebalu.com> writes:
>
>> So... what have YOU been playing... in April 2009?
>
>Not much.
>
>- GTA4: The Lost and Damned. Yes, on the noisybox unfortunately. But I
>have to admit this little DLC thing has sparked my interest in the
>game. The other day, I actually cruised to the Sultan RS spawn point
>and took it out for a spin. Hell, it was actually fun! I also, for the
>first time, actually drove around and picked up some rocket launcher
>ammo from pickups, to be prepared for the final TLAD shootout. So now
>I'm thinking of playing the original game on the PC finally. I was
>thinking of getting a video card update first though, but we'll see.
Having recently "completed" the main game I do hope that the "Lost and
the Damned' missions make it over to the PC (preferably both as DLC
and as something I can pick up at retail; I understand many people
like the former but I much prefer having am actual CD). While there
may not have been much that was innovative in GTA4 -even its missions
were pretty much all of the "been there, seen that" variety - the
game was undeniably fun. All indications are that "Lost" is
more-of-the-same... but if that "same" is the rest of GTA4, I'm
certainly not going to complain.
>
>- FO3: really meant to start playing The Pitt, but, well, did some
>other stuff here and there. Mostly the Oasis side quest and picked up
>the Explosives bobblehead and visited the Satcom structures too. I
>think I want to pickup some more bobbleheads and special weapons, like
>Ol' Painless and Lincoln's Repeater.
>I've been thinking of starting over, as I can't get any of the extra
>action point giving stuff for my character now. Well, when the next
>DLC comes along and raises the level cap, I suppose I can get the
>perks for that, but that magic hockey mask is just gone. Oh well.
I'm holding off on the DLC mods for Fallout 3 until they come to
retail (which, Bethesda recently announced, should not be too long
now). At which point I will rush out to buy the CD and re-start
Fallout 3 from scratch, enjoying all the original quests and the new
content. My playstyle isn't really that compatible with these
mini-expansions coming out every month or so; I prefer to experience a
game in one go.
>- Space Quest 1, actually the remake in Javascript at sarien.net.
>Didn't get very far yet and the game seems to act weirdly sometimes.
>They have some other old Sierra games too.
In years past, I swore by Sierra titles but these days I stick to the
old LucasArts adventures, simply because I am sick of dying just
because I want to experiment a bit just to see all the fun things the
developers thought of.
I did forget to see if Guybrush really does drown after ten minutes
underwater when I played Monkey Island this month, though; I always
meant to see experience that firsthand....
Spalls Hurgenson
Frankly, I barely rate any "real-time-strategy" games as real strategy
anyway; by and large they are mostly concerned with the tactical
movement of soldiers. What little strategy they do have has to do with
base-building and resource control. So if you take that out of the
game, then so do you take out the strategy.
Not that I object to the games themselves (although I'm not a huge
fan); I just never liked the description given to the genre. I prefer
the term "real-time tactics". You want strategy, play Civilization.
(note to self: do not play Civilization. You have to go to work
tomorrow and will truly regret staying up until 5 AM, which is certain
to happen if you install this cyber-crack).
John Lewis
wrote:
Thanks for the info.
Nothing new, primarily Morrowind (the complete version)
On a thoroughly modern machine. What a difference that makes
to enjoyment of this particular title !!!
However, to avoid erratic crashes, you need to run in XP, use msconfig
to temporarily modify boot.ini to limit memory to 2Gbytes and set the
game compatibility mode to Win98/Me. Nary a crash after these 2
adjustments.
Lots of other activities, so have only had ~ 20 hours of gaming this
month..... Spring has come, so outdoor activities do take some
precedence.
John Lewis
Anssi Saari
> While there may not have been much that was innovative in GTA4 -even
> its missions were pretty much all of the "been there, seen that"
> variety - the game was undeniably fun. All indications are that
> "Lost" is more-of-the-same... but if that "same" is the rest of
> GTA4, I'm certainly not going to complain.
Oh, Lost is certainly more of the same. Of course, more of that same
thing is still quit pretty good, so I'm not complaining. The best part
is that the characters aren't so annoying as GTA4. Also the bike
handling is much better. I'm not too optimistic that this'll come out
anytime soon on other platforms though.
> In years past, I swore by Sierra titles but these days I stick to the
> old LucasArts adventures, simply because I am sick of dying just
> because I want to experiment a bit just to see all the fun things the
> developers thought of.
Well, I just got sick of it too. Had some progress in Space Quest but
now a damn random monster eats me every few steps... I also miss sound
which the javascript version doesn't seem to have. From the Wikipedia,
it looks like the best version of (original) Space Quest was made for
the Apple IIGS, so maybe I should see about an emulator. I never
actually used one of the old Apples, so something to learn there.
The Monkey Island games are definitely something I've meant to
revisit, at least the first two. I think I even have ScummVM setup and
ready to go, I played Beneath a Steel Sky some time ago. One of these
days...
Help Desk
> Not that I object to the games themselves (although I'm not a huge
> fan); I just never liked the description given to the genre. I prefer
> the term "real-time tactics". You want strategy, play Civilization.
>
> (note to self: do not play Civilization. You have to go to work
> tomorrow and will truly regret staying up until 5 AM, which is certain
> to happen if you install this cyber-crack).
I've been playing Civilization since the very first Civ. I like tactical
strategy games like Jagged Alliance series but DoW is just a sheep herding
game and the only real tactic is to move to areas with cover.
noman
>[snip]
> So, there we go. A fine month of wasted time and electrons.
>
> So... what have YOU been playing... in April 2009?
Fallout (original game) - It's amazing that I still find new things in
this game ten years after it came out. I am about 90% done and do
intend to move to Fallout 2, before giving Fallout3 a start.
TrackMania Nations - This free games continues to consume my time. The
Red levels are hard and I am trying to get the gold in order to open
additional levels. I am not sure if I'll ever be able to do that
though. My wife is getting pretty good at it as well, which makes
winning races in party play quite difficult. She even beat me in one of
the levels, where I had received a Nadeo medal.
GRID Demo - I need to buy this game. I have played the SFO-downtown and
the race-track level about a hundred times already over the last few
months.
Crysis - Finally entered the part of the game where a shift in gameplay
happens and I am really enjoying it. The last portions before reaching
that part were completely open with little focus on order of completing
missions (and having optional and secondary objectives that could
change the scenario) and while I loved those, the new levels are great
in their own way. Best of all, the performance on HD4850 is just
amazing. I am not seeing any frame-rate drops with the ice-levels. So,
between the game and driver optimizations, we have come a long way.
I'll open a separate thread on the Crysis end-game.
Bully Scholarship Edition - Tried an hour or so and it seems like a
decent title with interesting characters.
--
Noman
Spalls Hurgenson
>Well, I just got sick of it too. Had some progress in Space Quest but
>now a damn random monster eats me every few steps... I also miss sound
>which the javascript version doesn't seem to have. From the Wikipedia,
>it looks like the best version of (original) Space Quest was made for
>the Apple IIGS, so maybe I should see about an emulator. I never
>actually used one of the old Apples, so something to learn there.
Spalls Hurgenson
It must be nice to have willpower. The Civilization series is one of
those games I am afraid to let near my hard-drive because it will eat
my life; it's always "just one more turn" and before you know it, it's
next Tuesday (and I started playing on Thursday).
If I must play Civilization, I make sure it's just for one game and
off the hard-drive it goes. That way I won't lose more than a day.
Sid Meier makes some dangerous crack.
Etal
>
> So, there we go. A fine month of wasted time and electrons.
>
> So... what have YOU been playing... in April 2009?
>
After i/Lara recently killed the last Nephilim while enduring 'TR
VI', no longer wanted for murder this month i got back to some
real tomb raiding in:
(2006-03-20) *Tomb Raider VII, Legend*
Developed by: /Crystal Dynamics/ (Sales Curve Interactive)
"Isn't she beautiful. I'm falling in love all over again."
"You say that to all the ruins."
(LOL. How fun they must have had when they thought up this.)
[ ] Being able to walk backwards is missing but, with the
freedom to always[*] reposition the camera behind me or however i
wanted it, i didn't miss this as much as i had feared.
[Check] Freedom of positioning the camera so i can really study
the beauty of the archeology, the architecture and wonderful
nature that my journey takes me through. Yippee!
[Check] Being able to hang by my hands without tiring. Yippee!
[Check] Hunting for and finding hidden treasures. Yippee!
[Check] Mostly Tomb-Raiding from start to finish.
[Check] Regaining access to the always slightly rearranging Croft
Mansion again. Having a gym with an obstacle course to try out my
moves. Yippee!
[*] Except for the 2 motorcycle-ride sequences, where the
camera-position is uncontrollable, this game was a joy to play.
Trimble Bracegirdle
TOMB RAIDER UNDERWORLD ...very best TR ever .
FALLOUT 3 ...well I don't know about this...I'm in early stages ...just
wandering around
Megaton . But it had better start showing some variety ..all the interiors
look
the same.. Reminds me of Morrowind as much as Oblivion.
MASS EFFECT ...really struggling here. I don't like the combat system.
GOTHIC 3 x 2 cause I have a nearly finished (please God) game &
a new one with the 1.71 patched version.
I amazed how much this game can hold my interest in the face of my fury at
all the messing around & patches.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (he also looked at Farcry 2 ...but can't bear to talk about
it)
Antonio Huerta
> FALLOUT3...well I don't know about this...I'm in early stages ...just
> wandering around
> Megaton . But it had better start showing some variety ..all the interiors
> look the same.. Reminds me of Morrowind as much as Oblivion.
Mmm... I just installed Fallout 3 and tried it for the first time.
After couple of hours I got out of Vault, and now look around Megaton.
What can I say ? I got the same impressions like you did. To my
disliking, the characters talk too much. I entered the Moriarty's pub,
and now I have to talk to everyone spending tens of minutes sifting
through their slow talk and/or menues. It's amusing so far, but I can
go on only for so much without variety. Also, the feel of the game
reminded me Oblivion. (I still have Oblivion left maybe after 20 hours
of gameplay... I stole something without paying much attention on it,
and now they are pursuing me across the whole ap. Not interested
anymore !)