info
Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
What have you been playing... IN JUNE 2013?
30 views
Skip to first unread message
Spalls Hurgenson
Jun 30, 2013, 8:37:24 PM6/30/13
to
Welcome to summer everybody (except you southern-hemispheroids; enjoy
your winter gloom, muahahahaha!). It's warm, bright and delightful
outside. In fact, it's /too/ warm, too bright; it's the sort of
weather that makes me want to retreat to a darkened, air-conditioned
room and play video-games. I have appearances to maintain!
So, the month is over. Again. Where does the time go? And with the end
of the month comes the start of a new "What Have You Been Playing"
thread. We all know the why and how of it, so let's jump right into
things.
--------------------
Short and Sweet
--------------------
* Aliens Colonial Marines (replay)
* Strike Suit Infinity (new)
* Mass Effect 3 w/all SP DLC (XBox360)
* Halo 4 (replay) (XBox360)
* WarZ (new)
* Deus Ex Human Revolution (new)
* Deus Ex Missing Link (new)
* Spec Ops The Line (replay)
* Alien Breed 1 - Impact (new)
* Alien Breed 2 - Assault (new)
* Alien Breed 3 - Descent (new)
TL; DR
----------
* Aliens Colonial Marines (replay)
I didn't have any real desire to replay Aliens: Colonial Marines so
soon. The last time I played the game didn't leave me with such a
memorable experience that I was dying for a rematch. But the
developers had dropped a 4GB patch and I did want to see how much (or
little) of a difference that would make. And, quite honestly, the game
was noticeably different this time around. The graphics are
discernibly improved with much better lighting effects. The game
actually looks halfway decent now, although there is over-the-top
bloom effect on most light sources that makes it difficult to see in
many levels. Many textures look much nicer, but there are still many
others that are incredibly low-resolution. The animations remain
sub-par, especially those of the aliens, who hop around like strange
extra-terrestrial rabbits.
In addition, there seem to be more physics effects (boxes and whatnot
get moved about from explosions) and the AI has been tweaked to become
significantly more dangerous (it's still possible to punch an alien to
death but it's no longer a recommended tactic ;-). More precisely, the
AI hasn't been made any smarter; rather, the damage it deals out to
the player has been so increased that two or three hits can kill
player. Regardless of the method, it actually makes the game somewhat
challenging now. Unfortunately, thanks to a lack of damage indicators,
it's often difficult to tell when and from which direction I'm being
attacked so a lot of the deaths feel cheap. And the story and
characters are still terrible. All in all though, the game has been
greatly improved over its vanilla release, becoming something sort of
a poor-man's "Modern Warfare" but in space. It's still a
disappointment but at least it's no longer laughably bad.
* Strike Suit Infinity (new)
The concept - a giant transforming flying mecha facing off against
alien hordes - should make this game an instant classic but clumsy
controls ruined the experience before it even got started. Flying is a
chore and lining up a target is far more difficult than in any other
similar game. Robot mode changes the controls again (and for the
worse!) making the very hook - giant mecha! - of this game unplayable.
I didn't even finish the tutorial before I uninstalled the game in
frustration.
* Mass Effect 3 w/all SP DLC (XBox360)
My goal was to replay Mass Effect 3 with all the single-player DLC. I
choose to play on the XBox360 not out of any preference for that
platform but because a) Origin sucks, b) my XBox is hooked up to my
42" screen and I wanted that cinematic experience, and c) I wanted to
see if the Kinect added anything to the gameplay.
The most surprising thing was that - with the addition of all that DLC
- there was a tremendous improvement to the overall game experience.
The game felt so much beefier. A major issue I had with the vanilla
game was not how it ended (although that was disappointing) but the
actual gameplay leading up to the finale. Not only was the main
campaign a redundant repetition of what had already passed in the
earlier games, but there was far less interaction with the environment
and too much focus on combat; it was more third-person shooter than
role-playing game. Furthermore, the stand-alone game had fewer
interactions with the various NPCs and it added nothing new to what we
already knew of the in-game universe. This I think was largely the
fault of the sub-par side-missions; they were little more than offline
deathmatch maps against 'bots, rather than the more explorative
side-missions of the previous games.
The addition of the DLC added some much needed depth to the game, to
the point where ME3 actually surpassed my expectations for the
climatic finale of this trilogy. The best of the DLC was "Leviathan",
which was a multi-system quest to discover an ancient and forgotten
secret weapon to be used in the war against the Reapers. With numerous
new areas to explore, including some impressive set-pieces it nicely
expanded the Mass Effect universe. "Omega" was, in essence, a sci-fi
dungeon-quest; heavily focused on fighting, but it had some visually
impressive level design and took us to both familiar and new areas.
"Citadel" was a somewhat silly bit of fan-service, with an unusual and
somewhat tongue-in-cheek quest, combined with an opportunity to
explore new parts of the massive Citadel space-station and interact
with allied NPCs from all the previous Mass Effect games. The Extended
Cut DLC, meanwhile, helped to smooth out some of the rough-edges of
the hated end-game. Combined, these four DLC raised the whole game far
above the original release; it became a whole story whereas the
vanilla game was a half-finished framework.
It's unfortunate that it took four DLC packages to make the game
actually worth playing; essentially, you have to pay twice the price
of the stand-alone game to get what should have been included in the
product as released; a more damning indictment of DLC there rarely has
been. The additional content is that necessary filler that the vanilla
title sorely lacked and I have to wonder if its exclused sorely to
milk the players for more money. Nonetheless, the combined package is
now definitely a game worth playing and we finally get a fitting
finale to the beloved trilogy.
Now if only I can get the DLC on my PC without using Origin...
* Halo 4
How anyone can make a /dull/ game about space marines and aliens is
beyond me, but the new developers of the Halo franchise somehow
managed that impossibility. It has unexciting level design - it looks
like a bad Tron knock-offs for most of the game. The new aliens lack
appeal; they're a mass of uninteresting polygons who are not even fun
to shoot. The game has tedious vehicle levels. It has annoying
characters and a boring story. I had absolutely no emotional
attachment to the characters and often was rooting for the aliens to
win, if only so the game would be over that much sooner. The gameplay
felt old; there was no run, no iron-sights; it had enemies that
magically dodge when you shoot, annoying flying monsters that were a
pain to shoot. As a rule most melees felt too drawn out and poorly
paced. It didn't help that there was a lack of ammo pickups, which
often forced me to switch to weapons I didn't like using. And it had
what I consider possibly the worst and least interesting soundtrack
I've heard in years. Combined, all these flaws made Halo 4 into a
tedious game and a pale shadow of the promising franchise that was
introduced to us way back in 2001.
* WarZ (new)
I wrote a long step-by-step description of my experience with this
game earlier this month so I won't go into too much detail about the
game here. The short of it is that WarZ has some promising gameplay
absolutely ruined by a host of otherwise niggling issues. It feels
rushed out of the door and suffers for it. Given a year or two more
developing, WarZ might have been a game worth playing; however, as it
stands it is a poor copy of DayZ, which has the added bonus of being
free-to-play.
* Deus Ex Human Revolution (new)
If I had to boil down my review of this game to a single word it would
be this: safe. DEHR takes no chances in its story, its setting or its
gameplay. Too often it is a carbon copy of the original game, save for
improved graphics and streamlined interface. There is very little that
feels new here; even the levels (American grunge-city, Frenchie-town,
China-city, secret-base-accessed-by-a-deep-shaft) seem duplicated from
the original. Don't get me wrong, the gameplay is solid in this
prequel (except perhaps for the boss-fights, which seem tacked on) but
while that may make it a good game, it doesn't elevate it to being a
classic like its forebear. A few gaffes - the aforementioned boss
fights, the sulfurous tinge to the graphics, an unexciting end-game
(push a button and decide the fate of the world!) and the emotionless
voice-acting - further mar the effect. Human Revolution was enjoyable,
if perhaps a bit long-winded, but its not a game I immediately want to
play again. And should that desire suddenly strike me, I might as well
just play the first game because, at least it had the benefit of being
original.
* Deus Ex Missing Link (new)
I don't actually remember buying this DLC; one day it was just there
in my Steam Library. Still, having just finished the main game, it was
therefore inevitable I'd play the DLC. It's odd that they'd set it up
as a completely separate and stand-alone adventure rather than fit it
into the main game, especially since it actually fits into the middle
of the main quest. I wasn't crazy about how they reset my character,
stripping me of all my hard-earned skills and valuable equipment in
the process; it felt lazy and did nothing more than artificially
lengthen the game as I had to quest to get back was was so
artificially taken from me.
Nor was the rest of the package of particular note; the adventure was
extremely linear, a straight-line dungeon-quest with little
opportunity to chose ones own path. Honestly, it felt like content cut
out from main game because it didn't match quality of the rest. Still,
it provided a reasonable amount of gameplay even if it was just "more
of the same" so I guess I got value for my money... even if I didn't
pay for it.
* Spec Ops The Line (replay)
So, I wanted some uncomplicated run-n-gun shooting action after all
the sneaking and role-playing that occupied me the rest of the month.
Unfortunately, Spec Ops did not satisfy this need. With its
pretentious storyline and ridiculous setting, its uninteresting and
predictable characterizations, the dull and linear levels and tedious
combat it all rolled up into one graphically unexciting package. I
quit it after four levels and didn't look back.
* Alien Breed 1 - Impact (new)
* Alien Breed 2 - Assault (new)
* Alien Breed 3 - Descent (new)
I purchased all three games as a bundle. They are, essentially,
episodic titles, each with roughly five hours of gameplay that
combined are about the same as a retail game. I started,
unsurprisingly with Alien Breed 1 and discovered it was a fun, if
uncomplicated isometric shooter in the vein of the old Crusader games
(or more recently, the "Shadowgrounds" franchise). I liked its big,
hefty guns that made a nice mess of all the big squishy bugs I got to
shoot. The game wisely did not take itself too seriously; it was Doom
from a top-down view. As I progressed, my experience was unfortunately
by marred by overly long levels that required an inordinate amount of
backtracking; I'm pretty sure that I wandered through every corridor
at least twice (more when I got lost) as I wandered back and forth
across the level. Levels also started to look very much the same and
the sub-missions assigned to my hero became equally repetitive. Nor
did the too-tight viewpoint help; enemies often attacked outside my
field of view. The end result was flawed and often tedious gameplay
with little sense of progression. Still, there was a charming sense of
play to the game that made it bearable, if only just barely. It was
enough to make me want to play the sequel, anyway.
Unfortunately, the sequels fared little better. "Alien Breed 2" opened
well, with a first level featuring less backtracking and a better
sense of progression. Unfortunately, the later levels returned to the
pattern set by the first game with the same back-and-forth questing
that was made only slightly less annoying by the improved waypoint
system. The third game was even more of the same, with a further
re-use of the exact same textures and assets that were becoming
increasingly old. Worse, an opportunity to introduce an entirely new
texture set (when the spaceship you are on crashes onto an alien
world) is squandered and the game stubbornly refused to budge from the
well worn trail blazed by its first game. Individually any one of
these titles is marginally entertaining but combined the lack of
novelty quickly dragged the series into a morass of ennui and
unnecessary reiterations.
---
And that's what I did in June (not mentioned: work, a gamenight with
friends and a trip to the beach). Which leaves me with just one thing
to ask:
What have you been playing... IN JUNE 2013?
your winter gloom, muahahahaha!). It's warm, bright and delightful
outside. In fact, it's /too/ warm, too bright; it's the sort of
weather that makes me want to retreat to a darkened, air-conditioned
room and play video-games. I have appearances to maintain!
So, the month is over. Again. Where does the time go? And with the end
of the month comes the start of a new "What Have You Been Playing"
thread. We all know the why and how of it, so let's jump right into
things.
--------------------
Short and Sweet
--------------------
* Aliens Colonial Marines (replay)
* Strike Suit Infinity (new)
* Mass Effect 3 w/all SP DLC (XBox360)
* Halo 4 (replay) (XBox360)
* WarZ (new)
* Deus Ex Human Revolution (new)
* Deus Ex Missing Link (new)
* Spec Ops The Line (replay)
* Alien Breed 1 - Impact (new)
* Alien Breed 2 - Assault (new)
* Alien Breed 3 - Descent (new)
TL; DR
----------
* Aliens Colonial Marines (replay)
I didn't have any real desire to replay Aliens: Colonial Marines so
soon. The last time I played the game didn't leave me with such a
memorable experience that I was dying for a rematch. But the
developers had dropped a 4GB patch and I did want to see how much (or
little) of a difference that would make. And, quite honestly, the game
was noticeably different this time around. The graphics are
discernibly improved with much better lighting effects. The game
actually looks halfway decent now, although there is over-the-top
bloom effect on most light sources that makes it difficult to see in
many levels. Many textures look much nicer, but there are still many
others that are incredibly low-resolution. The animations remain
sub-par, especially those of the aliens, who hop around like strange
extra-terrestrial rabbits.
In addition, there seem to be more physics effects (boxes and whatnot
get moved about from explosions) and the AI has been tweaked to become
significantly more dangerous (it's still possible to punch an alien to
death but it's no longer a recommended tactic ;-). More precisely, the
AI hasn't been made any smarter; rather, the damage it deals out to
the player has been so increased that two or three hits can kill
player. Regardless of the method, it actually makes the game somewhat
challenging now. Unfortunately, thanks to a lack of damage indicators,
it's often difficult to tell when and from which direction I'm being
attacked so a lot of the deaths feel cheap. And the story and
characters are still terrible. All in all though, the game has been
greatly improved over its vanilla release, becoming something sort of
a poor-man's "Modern Warfare" but in space. It's still a
disappointment but at least it's no longer laughably bad.
* Strike Suit Infinity (new)
The concept - a giant transforming flying mecha facing off against
alien hordes - should make this game an instant classic but clumsy
controls ruined the experience before it even got started. Flying is a
chore and lining up a target is far more difficult than in any other
similar game. Robot mode changes the controls again (and for the
worse!) making the very hook - giant mecha! - of this game unplayable.
I didn't even finish the tutorial before I uninstalled the game in
frustration.
* Mass Effect 3 w/all SP DLC (XBox360)
My goal was to replay Mass Effect 3 with all the single-player DLC. I
choose to play on the XBox360 not out of any preference for that
platform but because a) Origin sucks, b) my XBox is hooked up to my
42" screen and I wanted that cinematic experience, and c) I wanted to
see if the Kinect added anything to the gameplay.
The most surprising thing was that - with the addition of all that DLC
- there was a tremendous improvement to the overall game experience.
The game felt so much beefier. A major issue I had with the vanilla
game was not how it ended (although that was disappointing) but the
actual gameplay leading up to the finale. Not only was the main
campaign a redundant repetition of what had already passed in the
earlier games, but there was far less interaction with the environment
and too much focus on combat; it was more third-person shooter than
role-playing game. Furthermore, the stand-alone game had fewer
interactions with the various NPCs and it added nothing new to what we
already knew of the in-game universe. This I think was largely the
fault of the sub-par side-missions; they were little more than offline
deathmatch maps against 'bots, rather than the more explorative
side-missions of the previous games.
The addition of the DLC added some much needed depth to the game, to
the point where ME3 actually surpassed my expectations for the
climatic finale of this trilogy. The best of the DLC was "Leviathan",
which was a multi-system quest to discover an ancient and forgotten
secret weapon to be used in the war against the Reapers. With numerous
new areas to explore, including some impressive set-pieces it nicely
expanded the Mass Effect universe. "Omega" was, in essence, a sci-fi
dungeon-quest; heavily focused on fighting, but it had some visually
impressive level design and took us to both familiar and new areas.
"Citadel" was a somewhat silly bit of fan-service, with an unusual and
somewhat tongue-in-cheek quest, combined with an opportunity to
explore new parts of the massive Citadel space-station and interact
with allied NPCs from all the previous Mass Effect games. The Extended
Cut DLC, meanwhile, helped to smooth out some of the rough-edges of
the hated end-game. Combined, these four DLC raised the whole game far
above the original release; it became a whole story whereas the
vanilla game was a half-finished framework.
It's unfortunate that it took four DLC packages to make the game
actually worth playing; essentially, you have to pay twice the price
of the stand-alone game to get what should have been included in the
product as released; a more damning indictment of DLC there rarely has
been. The additional content is that necessary filler that the vanilla
title sorely lacked and I have to wonder if its exclused sorely to
milk the players for more money. Nonetheless, the combined package is
now definitely a game worth playing and we finally get a fitting
finale to the beloved trilogy.
Now if only I can get the DLC on my PC without using Origin...
* Halo 4
How anyone can make a /dull/ game about space marines and aliens is
beyond me, but the new developers of the Halo franchise somehow
managed that impossibility. It has unexciting level design - it looks
like a bad Tron knock-offs for most of the game. The new aliens lack
appeal; they're a mass of uninteresting polygons who are not even fun
to shoot. The game has tedious vehicle levels. It has annoying
characters and a boring story. I had absolutely no emotional
attachment to the characters and often was rooting for the aliens to
win, if only so the game would be over that much sooner. The gameplay
felt old; there was no run, no iron-sights; it had enemies that
magically dodge when you shoot, annoying flying monsters that were a
pain to shoot. As a rule most melees felt too drawn out and poorly
paced. It didn't help that there was a lack of ammo pickups, which
often forced me to switch to weapons I didn't like using. And it had
what I consider possibly the worst and least interesting soundtrack
I've heard in years. Combined, all these flaws made Halo 4 into a
tedious game and a pale shadow of the promising franchise that was
introduced to us way back in 2001.
* WarZ (new)
I wrote a long step-by-step description of my experience with this
game earlier this month so I won't go into too much detail about the
game here. The short of it is that WarZ has some promising gameplay
absolutely ruined by a host of otherwise niggling issues. It feels
rushed out of the door and suffers for it. Given a year or two more
developing, WarZ might have been a game worth playing; however, as it
stands it is a poor copy of DayZ, which has the added bonus of being
free-to-play.
* Deus Ex Human Revolution (new)
If I had to boil down my review of this game to a single word it would
be this: safe. DEHR takes no chances in its story, its setting or its
gameplay. Too often it is a carbon copy of the original game, save for
improved graphics and streamlined interface. There is very little that
feels new here; even the levels (American grunge-city, Frenchie-town,
China-city, secret-base-accessed-by-a-deep-shaft) seem duplicated from
the original. Don't get me wrong, the gameplay is solid in this
prequel (except perhaps for the boss-fights, which seem tacked on) but
while that may make it a good game, it doesn't elevate it to being a
classic like its forebear. A few gaffes - the aforementioned boss
fights, the sulfurous tinge to the graphics, an unexciting end-game
(push a button and decide the fate of the world!) and the emotionless
voice-acting - further mar the effect. Human Revolution was enjoyable,
if perhaps a bit long-winded, but its not a game I immediately want to
play again. And should that desire suddenly strike me, I might as well
just play the first game because, at least it had the benefit of being
original.
* Deus Ex Missing Link (new)
I don't actually remember buying this DLC; one day it was just there
in my Steam Library. Still, having just finished the main game, it was
therefore inevitable I'd play the DLC. It's odd that they'd set it up
as a completely separate and stand-alone adventure rather than fit it
into the main game, especially since it actually fits into the middle
of the main quest. I wasn't crazy about how they reset my character,
stripping me of all my hard-earned skills and valuable equipment in
the process; it felt lazy and did nothing more than artificially
lengthen the game as I had to quest to get back was was so
artificially taken from me.
Nor was the rest of the package of particular note; the adventure was
extremely linear, a straight-line dungeon-quest with little
opportunity to chose ones own path. Honestly, it felt like content cut
out from main game because it didn't match quality of the rest. Still,
it provided a reasonable amount of gameplay even if it was just "more
of the same" so I guess I got value for my money... even if I didn't
pay for it.
* Spec Ops The Line (replay)
So, I wanted some uncomplicated run-n-gun shooting action after all
the sneaking and role-playing that occupied me the rest of the month.
Unfortunately, Spec Ops did not satisfy this need. With its
pretentious storyline and ridiculous setting, its uninteresting and
predictable characterizations, the dull and linear levels and tedious
combat it all rolled up into one graphically unexciting package. I
quit it after four levels and didn't look back.
* Alien Breed 1 - Impact (new)
* Alien Breed 2 - Assault (new)
* Alien Breed 3 - Descent (new)
I purchased all three games as a bundle. They are, essentially,
episodic titles, each with roughly five hours of gameplay that
combined are about the same as a retail game. I started,
unsurprisingly with Alien Breed 1 and discovered it was a fun, if
uncomplicated isometric shooter in the vein of the old Crusader games
(or more recently, the "Shadowgrounds" franchise). I liked its big,
hefty guns that made a nice mess of all the big squishy bugs I got to
shoot. The game wisely did not take itself too seriously; it was Doom
from a top-down view. As I progressed, my experience was unfortunately
by marred by overly long levels that required an inordinate amount of
backtracking; I'm pretty sure that I wandered through every corridor
at least twice (more when I got lost) as I wandered back and forth
across the level. Levels also started to look very much the same and
the sub-missions assigned to my hero became equally repetitive. Nor
did the too-tight viewpoint help; enemies often attacked outside my
field of view. The end result was flawed and often tedious gameplay
with little sense of progression. Still, there was a charming sense of
play to the game that made it bearable, if only just barely. It was
enough to make me want to play the sequel, anyway.
Unfortunately, the sequels fared little better. "Alien Breed 2" opened
well, with a first level featuring less backtracking and a better
sense of progression. Unfortunately, the later levels returned to the
pattern set by the first game with the same back-and-forth questing
that was made only slightly less annoying by the improved waypoint
system. The third game was even more of the same, with a further
re-use of the exact same textures and assets that were becoming
increasingly old. Worse, an opportunity to introduce an entirely new
texture set (when the spaceship you are on crashes onto an alien
world) is squandered and the game stubbornly refused to budge from the
well worn trail blazed by its first game. Individually any one of
these titles is marginally entertaining but combined the lack of
novelty quickly dragged the series into a morass of ennui and
unnecessary reiterations.
---
And that's what I did in June (not mentioned: work, a gamenight with
friends and a trip to the beach). Which leaves me with just one thing
to ask:
What have you been playing... IN JUNE 2013?
Andrew MacPherson
Jun 30, 2013, 10:44:00 PM6/30/13
to
I hope to pick this up in a sale at some point. But it's useful to know that I
should be waiting for a 'GOTY' type package with all the DLC. Thanks.
> What have you been playing... IN JUNE 2013?
Started off playing Skyrim, but Last of us on the PS3 distracted me completely and
jawdroppingly from my PC. I'm on my second playthrough now; can't get enough of it
at the moment. Last time I did something like this was Dragonage 1, where my
improved knowledge of the game's techniques meant I wanted to revisit old
challenges again and do them 'properly'.
The only other thing I put a little time into was 'Gatling Gears' which came in a
recent Indie Royale with Sniper Elite 2 (which I haven't looked at yet).
I must buy too many games if I can't remember why I buy them any more! Anyway,
Gatling Gears is a top-down 2D shoot em up in disguise, like Sine Mora, and it's ok
for a bit of light retro-fun. But it has the sh*ttiest multiple layers of EA type
logging in. Not a fan. Glad I didn't pay much.
Oh, I've also spent a bit of time today on Plants v Zombies on the iPad. It's still
(as I type) free via the IGN website http://uk.ign.com/prime/promo/pvz-iphone ;
it's the iPhone HD version with a x2 button which looks fine on the iPad.
Andrew McP
PS If there was a 'what have you been watching in June' thread I'd be recommending
people look out for 'The Returned', a dubbed French language drama currently
showing in the UK. On paper it's not something I'd be interested in (a bit too
supernatural), but so far it's been surprisingly addictive and very cleverly put
together.
should be waiting for a 'GOTY' type package with all the DLC. Thanks.
> What have you been playing... IN JUNE 2013?
jawdroppingly from my PC. I'm on my second playthrough now; can't get enough of it
at the moment. Last time I did something like this was Dragonage 1, where my
improved knowledge of the game's techniques meant I wanted to revisit old
challenges again and do them 'properly'.
The only other thing I put a little time into was 'Gatling Gears' which came in a
recent Indie Royale with Sniper Elite 2 (which I haven't looked at yet).
I must buy too many games if I can't remember why I buy them any more! Anyway,
Gatling Gears is a top-down 2D shoot em up in disguise, like Sine Mora, and it's ok
for a bit of light retro-fun. But it has the sh*ttiest multiple layers of EA type
logging in. Not a fan. Glad I didn't pay much.
Oh, I've also spent a bit of time today on Plants v Zombies on the iPad. It's still
(as I type) free via the IGN website http://uk.ign.com/prime/promo/pvz-iphone ;
it's the iPhone HD version with a x2 button which looks fine on the iPad.
Andrew McP
PS If there was a 'what have you been watching in June' thread I'd be recommending
people look out for 'The Returned', a dubbed French language drama currently
showing in the UK. On paper it's not something I'd be interested in (a bit too
supernatural), but so far it's been surprisingly addictive and very cleverly put
together.
Tim O
Jul 1, 2013, 8:13:39 AM7/1/13
to
On Sun, 30 Jun 2013 20:37:24 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>What have you been playing... IN JUNE 2013?
Pinball FX2... Pinball simulation. I think this was a Windows 8 store
<spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>What have you been playing... IN JUNE 2013?
exclusive for a while, but is now available via STEAM. The core
download and one game are free.
I have only downloaded a couple of the games because I already have
all of them on the iPad. Convincing ball physics/feel here, but I'm
turned off by the cartoony aspects of some of the games. Not the
themes, but things like spaceships swooping in for ball saves and
animated characters jumping around the playfield.
Has a 180 degree rotate feature which is nice. If you have a monitor
that easily rotates, you can turn it and view the whole playfield in a
"real" pinball format.
WarThunder... Buddy got me to download this free-to-play WWII aircraft
sim, which is in open Beta. We've played it for a couple hours and so
far it's a mixed bag, pretty much what you'd expect from a game in
active development.
The game world is very nice. Lots of ground detail and fairly nice
aircraft models. In trying to be all things to all people, the
controls are a bit lacking. You can play it with a flight sim setup or
XBox controller, but unfortunately the main focus seems to be on
playing it with the mouse and keys in a more arcadey mode.
Hopefully this gets fixed, because the lacking joystick controls
actually put you at a disadvantage -your aiming reticle kind of
flutters around because the controls are so sensitive even with the
response and dead zones adjusted. I'm going to stick with this one
because it has huge potential.
I think it is also slated to be a PS4 launch title, so its likely to
get some hardcore tweaking and support. This might be one of the first
titles we see where the PC benefits from the shared architecture of
the new consoles. It could also suffer from that for all I know. Will
be interesting to watch either way.
gno...@gmail.com
Jul 1, 2013, 10:06:33 AM7/1/13
to
rms
Jul 1, 2013, 5:26:00 PM7/1/13
to
>What have you been playing... IN JUNE 2013?
Sniper Ghost Warrior 2, a brief review
My second sniper game, after completing the original Sniper Elite some time
ago. GW2 isn't as good as that title, despite being 8 years newer and much
prettier. Overly repetitive, far too linear, with excessive hand-holding:
Just what infuriated me about COD4, but due to the semi-stealth nature of
GW2, thankfully there's no sargeant screaming in your ear.
'Semi-stealth' is the operative word, as I discovered after attempting to
'ghost' a particular level without killing. Turned out the AI scripting did
not allow for this -- in my case, a couple ai enemies would not end their
conversation and break apart to patrol, thereby allowing me to slip between
them, unless I first eliminated a 3rd ai some distance away: That was
disappointing to see. And concomitantly there is no distraction mechanism,
such as throwing rocks in SE1. So with only two weapons, and no optional
goals, you run out of gameplay variety very quickly.
One bright spot is the Siberian Strike DLC. This is a full level excised
from the main campaign -- acting as a prequel to events in GW2 -- with full
voice-acting and videoclips included, and is a must-buy if you do play Ghost
Warrior 2.
So I'm giving GW2 a C+, maybe a B-. The gameplay is too limited and
simplistic to overcome the mostly attractive visuals. My next sniper game
will be Sniper Elite V2, which hopefully builds on the richer, more complex
game mechanics that SE1 at least attempted, in a newer prettier engine.
We'll see!
Aliens Colonial Marines
Still getting through the main campaign now, on the hardest difficulty, and
I'm enjoying it: I guess the post-release patches must have addressed the
early complaints, as the AI is challenging, gore effects are satisfyingly
splattery, the many guns are differentiated nicely, and the level layouts
with multiple paths make the squad combat fairly interesting (in that
although you can't order your squadmates around, you can do flanking
movements without the entire squad following on your heels or not moving at
all). Graphics are the major complaint: textures are low resolution, and
surfaces look dull and flat. Also the plot has a blaring WTF moment that
contradicts the movie canon, ahah. Besides these though, the gameplay and
gunplay is fun. Definitely get this one when it hits a good sale price!
Homefront
Finished this one early in the month, and my comments from last month still
stand: It's a decent shooter, very reminiscent to me of Half Life 2 urban
levels, also worth picking up on sale. A good summer shooter, to coin a
phrase.
rms
Anssi Saari
Jul 2, 2013, 1:57:58 PM7/2/13
to
Thanks for the reminder, I've been meaning to go through the DLCs. I
think I abandoned my second playthrough when I realized I got someone
killed I wanted to save about 8 game hours previously...
> * Deus Ex Human Revolution (new)
I think I might revisit this with the Director's Cut version. Assuming
favorable reviews and reasonable price, of course...
> * Deus Ex Missing Link (new)
I liked the small size of this. It meant I could be bothered to make a
few runs through it to try the different options provided. In fact,
first playthrough I didn't realize I had already killed the main boss
because his voice kept blaring over the PA system while I was still
fighting the heavy trooper... I think I went through as ghost (no one
saw me, ever) and did a non-lethal too where I didn't bother with
sneaking, just stunned or avoided anyone who saw me.
> What have you been playing... IN JUNE 2013?
I tried the Call of Juarez: Gunslinger demo since they had one and there
was some discussion about it here. I also thought it interesting that
two things came out about the same time with a similar feature, i.e. a
narrator changing the game on the fly... But well, the demo didn't grab
me so not going for the full game. I didn't really get into the original
COJ game either.
The other thing I played was the final Borderlands 2 DLC, "Tiny Tina's
Assault on Dragon Keep." With my newly respecced Hellborn Psycho
character which worked fine since most enemies were meat and hence
suited to cooking on an open flame :) Nice redesign of a scifi world
into a fantasy world while making a bit of fun of some RPG and other
game related clichés.
Oh, the ending kinda promises mayhem on the Hyperion space station /
moon base but I doubt they'll put that in a DLC or anything.
think I abandoned my second playthrough when I realized I got someone
killed I wanted to save about 8 game hours previously...
> * Deus Ex Human Revolution (new)
favorable reviews and reasonable price, of course...
> * Deus Ex Missing Link (new)
few runs through it to try the different options provided. In fact,
first playthrough I didn't realize I had already killed the main boss
because his voice kept blaring over the PA system while I was still
fighting the heavy trooper... I think I went through as ghost (no one
saw me, ever) and did a non-lethal too where I didn't bother with
sneaking, just stunned or avoided anyone who saw me.
> What have you been playing... IN JUNE 2013?
was some discussion about it here. I also thought it interesting that
two things came out about the same time with a similar feature, i.e. a
narrator changing the game on the fly... But well, the demo didn't grab
me so not going for the full game. I didn't really get into the original
COJ game either.
The other thing I played was the final Borderlands 2 DLC, "Tiny Tina's
Assault on Dragon Keep." With my newly respecced Hellborn Psycho
character which worked fine since most enemies were meat and hence
suited to cooking on an open flame :) Nice redesign of a scifi world
into a fantasy world while making a bit of fun of some RPG and other
game related clichés.
Oh, the ending kinda promises mayhem on the Hyperion space station /
moon base but I doubt they'll put that in a DLC or anything.
Mr Rob
Jul 2, 2013, 2:25:27 PM7/2/13
to
On Tue, 02 Jul 2013 20:57:58 +0300, Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote:
>Oh, the ending kinda promises mayhem on the Hyperion space station /
>moon base but I doubt they'll put that in a DLC or anything.
The Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC is supposedly not only the
>Oh, the ending kinda promises mayhem on the Hyperion space station /
>moon base but I doubt they'll put that in a DLC or anything.
last DLC for Borderlands 2, but also the end of the Borderlands
series.
It will be a shame if that is the case. I'd agree that this should be
the last DLC for BL2, but ending the series altogether would be very
disappointing.
--
Rob
Xocyll
Jul 2, 2013, 4:19:24 PM7/2/13
to
Mr Rob <noemail...@jsjsaiiowppw.com> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
>On Tue, 02 Jul 2013 20:57:58 +0300, Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote:
>
>
>>Oh, the ending kinda promises mayhem on the Hyperion space station /
>>moon base but I doubt they'll put that in a DLC or anything.
>
>The Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC is supposedly not only the
>last DLC for Borderlands 2, but also the end of the Borderlands
>series.
Can't say as I'm surprised considering how disappointing BL2 was.
I fully expect there will never be a Diablo4 either for the same reason,
they tossed away everything that made the previous game worth playing
and replaced it with hackneyed crap.
Come on, the script generator used for Harlequin Romances could write a
better story than the guys they used for BL2.
I bought all the DLCs for Borderlands, because the core game was so good
I wanted more. BL2's core sucked and there was no way I'd buy DLCs
hoping they _might_ make it better.
>It will be a shame if that is the case. I'd agree that this should be
>the last DLC for BL2, but ending the series altogether would be very
>disappointing.
Considering how much BL2 sucked compared to the original, BL3 likely
would have created a black hole.
When was the last time you recall a game company actually learning from
their mistakes and reversing stupid design decisions rather than boldly
charging on and exterminating every trace of what made a franchise
great?
Xocyll
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
>On Tue, 02 Jul 2013 20:57:58 +0300, Anssi Saari <a...@sci.fi> wrote:
>
>
>>Oh, the ending kinda promises mayhem on the Hyperion space station /
>>moon base but I doubt they'll put that in a DLC or anything.
>
>The Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC is supposedly not only the
>last DLC for Borderlands 2, but also the end of the Borderlands
>series.
I fully expect there will never be a Diablo4 either for the same reason,
they tossed away everything that made the previous game worth playing
and replaced it with hackneyed crap.
Come on, the script generator used for Harlequin Romances could write a
better story than the guys they used for BL2.
I bought all the DLCs for Borderlands, because the core game was so good
I wanted more. BL2's core sucked and there was no way I'd buy DLCs
hoping they _might_ make it better.
>It will be a shame if that is the case. I'd agree that this should be
>the last DLC for BL2, but ending the series altogether would be very
>disappointing.
would have created a black hole.
When was the last time you recall a game company actually learning from
their mistakes and reversing stupid design decisions rather than boldly
charging on and exterminating every trace of what made a franchise
great?
Xocyll
Mr Rob
Jul 2, 2013, 5:16:22 PM7/2/13
to
On Tue, 02 Jul 2013 16:19:24 -0400, Xocyll <Xoc...@kingston.net>
wrote:
>Considering how much BL2 sucked compared to the original, BL3 likely
>would have created a black hole.
I thought I was in the absolute minority when saying that Borderlands
1 was superior to Borderlands 2. I'm pleased that I'm not the only one
that thinks that.
It's not that I don't like BL2, I actually do quite like it. But I
much preferred BL1. I liked having areas that I cared about reaching,
such as Lucky's Watering Hole, New Haven, Old Haven, and Crimson
Fastness. The loot was so much better and far more addictive in the
original as well.
With BL2 the loot is far more bland and there are no real areas that I
look forward to reaching.
>When was the last time you recall a game company actually learning from
>their mistakes and reversing stupid design decisions rather than boldly
>charging on and exterminating every trace of what made a franchise
>great?
I agree with this too.
It's a shame really. I spent 700+ hours playing Borderlands 1 and all
the DLC's. I really enjoyed that game and it is one of the best loot
centered games that I've ever played.
With Borderlands 2, I've completed the game just once and am (very)
slowly working my way through it again with a different class.
--
Rob
wrote:
>Considering how much BL2 sucked compared to the original, BL3 likely
>would have created a black hole.
1 was superior to Borderlands 2. I'm pleased that I'm not the only one
that thinks that.
It's not that I don't like BL2, I actually do quite like it. But I
much preferred BL1. I liked having areas that I cared about reaching,
such as Lucky's Watering Hole, New Haven, Old Haven, and Crimson
Fastness. The loot was so much better and far more addictive in the
original as well.
With BL2 the loot is far more bland and there are no real areas that I
look forward to reaching.
>When was the last time you recall a game company actually learning from
>their mistakes and reversing stupid design decisions rather than boldly
>charging on and exterminating every trace of what made a franchise
>great?
It's a shame really. I spent 700+ hours playing Borderlands 1 and all
the DLC's. I really enjoyed that game and it is one of the best loot
centered games that I've ever played.
With Borderlands 2, I've completed the game just once and am (very)
slowly working my way through it again with a different class.
--
Rob
Xocyll
Jul 2, 2013, 6:08:09 PM7/2/13
to
Mr Rob <noemail...@jsjsaiiowppw.com> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:
>On Tue, 02 Jul 2013 16:19:24 -0400, Xocyll <Xoc...@kingston.net>
>wrote:
>
>
>>Considering how much BL2 sucked compared to the original, BL3 likely
>>would have created a black hole.
>
>I thought I was in the absolute minority when saying that Borderlands
>1 was superior to Borderlands 2. I'm pleased that I'm not the only one
>that thinks that.
>
>It's not that I don't like BL2, I actually do quite like it. But I
>much preferred BL1. I liked having areas that I cared about reaching,
>such as Lucky's Watering Hole, New Haven, Old Haven, and Crimson
>Fastness. The loot was so much better and far more addictive in the
>original as well.
>
>With BL2 the loot is far more bland and there are no real areas that I
>look forward to reaching.
They went for quantity over quality in BL2.
>wrote:
>
>
>>Considering how much BL2 sucked compared to the original, BL3 likely
>>would have created a black hole.
>
>I thought I was in the absolute minority when saying that Borderlands
>1 was superior to Borderlands 2. I'm pleased that I'm not the only one
>that thinks that.
>
>It's not that I don't like BL2, I actually do quite like it. But I
>much preferred BL1. I liked having areas that I cared about reaching,
>such as Lucky's Watering Hole, New Haven, Old Haven, and Crimson
>Fastness. The loot was so much better and far more addictive in the
>original as well.
>
>With BL2 the loot is far more bland and there are no real areas that I
>look forward to reaching.
BL had a few thousand items, BL2 has a Trillion or something, except
99.9% of them are bland, nearly worthless crap that's barely worth
taking to sell much less actually use.
BL had a basic storyline - You're a treasure hunter, here to find that
mythical vault and get super rich and you take jobs in order to get
assistance toward that goal.
Bl2 suddenly vault hunter is synonymous with superhero judging by the
puerile dialog throughout the game.
Then there's the antagonist who calls you up to whine at you constantly,
even when you're deep underground where signals wouldn't reach.
And frankly, with a shithead like that phoning you up constantly,
wouldn't you block his number? I would.
Worthless weapons and other loot, a cast of retards, boring areas, a
story that frankly makes the average 8 year olds "What I did on my
summer vacation" essay, look like Pulitzer prize material by comparison
and more plot holes than any 10 Hollywood blockbusters.
Almost forgot the loss of weapon skills, the retarded User interface and
the skills carefully spread out so you HAD to take bunches of skills you
had no interest in in order to reach ones you might want (and for the
soldier, they split the turret skills across all 3 skill panes to makes
sure you couldn't get them all.)
Whatever happened to actually designing a bunch of skills that are all
useful and desirable instead of a few good skills and a load of
placeholders designed to use up skill points and nothing more?
>>When was the last time you recall a game company actually learning from
>>their mistakes and reversing stupid design decisions rather than boldly
>>charging on and exterminating every trace of what made a franchise
>>great?
>
>I agree with this too.
admitting they are wrong (probably because their underlings told them so
in advance and they'd lose face admitting it) and just stay the course
even knowing they're headed for disaster.
>It's a shame really.
same instead of having all kinds of changes bolted onto it that changed
the whole feel of the game, the series almost certainly would have
continued.
Kind of reminds me of Space: 1999. They changed loads of stuff and made
it less sciencey and more actiony for the second season and changed the
entire feel of the show - there was inevitably no third season since
they'd removed pretty much everything that made people fans during the
first season.
The BL devs did exactly the same thing as that shows producers - instead
of looking at what made people like the first product and sticking with
it, they changed things arbitrarily looking for a larger audience and
alienated the one they already had.
>I spent 700+ hours playing Borderlands 1 and all
>the DLC's. I really enjoyed that game and it is one of the best loot
>centered games that I've ever played.
with multiple characters.
>With Borderlands 2, I've completed the game just once and am (very)
>slowly working my way through it again with a different class.
(including the DLC Mecromancer) but quickly got bored by the streamlined
sameness of the game and the tonnes of worthless "loot" the game tossed
at my feet like a puppy presenting 3 week old roadkill it found in the
gutter.
The "story" and plot holes were so grating and annoying I stopped
playing altogether and have no real desire to ever fire it up again.
The only way they could have made it more annoying would be to have cast
Fran Drescher as the lead villain.
BL I will play again.
Xocyll
Anssi Saari
Jul 2, 2013, 7:35:26 PM7/2/13
to
Mr Rob <noemail...@jsjsaiiowppw.com> writes:
> The Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC is supposedly not only the
> last DLC for Borderlands 2, but also the end of the Borderlands
> series.
>
> It will be a shame if that is the case. I'd agree that this should be
> the last DLC for BL2, but ending the series altogether would be very
> disappointing.
Oh, I agree. At least wikipedia seems to indicate the sequel sold better
> The Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC is supposedly not only the
> last DLC for Borderlands 2, but also the end of the Borderlands
> series.
>
> It will be a shame if that is the case. I'd agree that this should be
> the last DLC for BL2, but ending the series altogether would be very
> disappointing.
than the original and also mentions Borderlands 3. I guess now would be
a good time to at least confirm that they're working on a
sequel... Gearbox seems to have been looking for new talent recently too
but I don't have any idea what for or even what they have in the
pipeline. They weren't in E3 this summer.
I agree on the loot thing (in your other post) although I think they
tried to fix it in the DLCs and by other means. But rare loot is rare, I
just read about a gun that has a 0.07% chance of dropping from a
specific boss. Crazy.
PW
Jul 2, 2013, 10:31:48 PM7/2/13
to
Tim O
Jul 3, 2013, 2:40:35 PM7/3/13
to
game, it didn't feel like they changed enough to me.
They were in a tough spot... Change too much and the original game
fans will be angry, don't change enough and the original game fans
will be bored.
The grinding/repetition of both is what wore me out, the main problem
with the second one is that I was already tired of that aspect when I
started. Some cool things to see, but I burned out on it really quick.
Xocyll
Jul 4, 2013, 9:17:45 AM7/4/13
to
Tim O <timo56...@hotmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of
I'm confused here, you buy a sequel expecting something _different_?
Isn't the whole point of a sequel to be more of the same with a change
of scenery and items?
>They were in a tough spot... Change too much and the original game
>fans will be angry, don't change enough and the original game fans
>will be bored.
>
>The grinding/repetition of both is what wore me out, the main problem
>with the second one is that I was already tired of that aspect when I
>started. Some cool things to see, but I burned out on it really quick.
The problem (or one of them) is that you HAD to grind in BL2, because
almost all of the items were garbage. You had to farm critters and go
after specific bosses dozens of times hoping that it might drop that
nice unique weapon that would be useful.
You didn't have to do that in the original Borderlands - you could if
you wanted, but you didn't NEED to.
Much smaller pool of weapons and thus a much higher drop rate of decent
weapons.
Hell the devs didn't even put in the most basic sanity checking in their
BL2 weapon generator so it tossed out things like a shotgun that uses 4
bullets per trigger pull and has a 3 bullet magazine.
Who would manufacture something like that? No one, ever.
Assault rifles that only fire in 3 round bursts and never, ever have a
magazine size that's a multiple of 3.
Burst fire sniper rifles.
Sniper rifles that are horribly inaccurate but get more accurate the
more bullets you fire (makes a sort of sense for an automatic weapon,
not in a low capacity sniper weapon.)
Weapons of all kinds that are physically unbalanced which would have a
horrible effect on accuracy.
What I wanted from Bl2 was the same character classes, the same
mechanics, the same pretty much everything EXCEPT a new area to play in
- new environments, new alien weapons, new enemy types.
Almost like a supersized DLC except you're starting at level 1. (After
the activities in BL1 you took a break, a long vacation so your skills
have atrophied and you're level 1 again.)
Going after the next vault - your whole purpose for being on the planet
in the first place - treasure hunting. (After all they can't all be
prisons for extradimensional beings, some of them must have loot.)
Hell they could even have added new character classes in addition to the
originals, instead they gave us "the same but slightly different"
versions of the same classes that are mostly inferior to the originals.
The only thing BL2 had over the original was 2 vehicles instead of one
(and the secret armory DLC for BL1 did it better.)
Xocyll
the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:
Isn't the whole point of a sequel to be more of the same with a change
of scenery and items?
>They were in a tough spot... Change too much and the original game
>fans will be angry, don't change enough and the original game fans
>will be bored.
>
>The grinding/repetition of both is what wore me out, the main problem
>with the second one is that I was already tired of that aspect when I
>started. Some cool things to see, but I burned out on it really quick.
almost all of the items were garbage. You had to farm critters and go
after specific bosses dozens of times hoping that it might drop that
nice unique weapon that would be useful.
You didn't have to do that in the original Borderlands - you could if
you wanted, but you didn't NEED to.
Much smaller pool of weapons and thus a much higher drop rate of decent
weapons.
Hell the devs didn't even put in the most basic sanity checking in their
BL2 weapon generator so it tossed out things like a shotgun that uses 4
bullets per trigger pull and has a 3 bullet magazine.
Who would manufacture something like that? No one, ever.
Assault rifles that only fire in 3 round bursts and never, ever have a
magazine size that's a multiple of 3.
Burst fire sniper rifles.
Sniper rifles that are horribly inaccurate but get more accurate the
more bullets you fire (makes a sort of sense for an automatic weapon,
not in a low capacity sniper weapon.)
Weapons of all kinds that are physically unbalanced which would have a
horrible effect on accuracy.
What I wanted from Bl2 was the same character classes, the same
mechanics, the same pretty much everything EXCEPT a new area to play in
- new environments, new alien weapons, new enemy types.
Almost like a supersized DLC except you're starting at level 1. (After
the activities in BL1 you took a break, a long vacation so your skills
have atrophied and you're level 1 again.)
Going after the next vault - your whole purpose for being on the planet
in the first place - treasure hunting. (After all they can't all be
prisons for extradimensional beings, some of them must have loot.)
Hell they could even have added new character classes in addition to the
originals, instead they gave us "the same but slightly different"
versions of the same classes that are mostly inferior to the originals.
The only thing BL2 had over the original was 2 vehicles instead of one
(and the secret armory DLC for BL1 did it better.)
Xocyll
rms
Jul 4, 2013, 2:21:02 PM7/4/13
to
>Burst fire sniper rifles.
>Sniper rifles that are horribly inaccurate but get more accurate the
>more bullets you fire (makes a sort of sense for an automatic weapon,
>not in a low capacity sniper weapon.)
Great point. I stopped even picking these ones up after awhile, but
>Sniper rifles that are horribly inaccurate but get more accurate the
>more bullets you fire (makes a sort of sense for an automatic weapon,
>not in a low capacity sniper weapon.)
aren't there character mods to decrease the accuracy delay or increase basic
accuracy? I don't recall.
rms
Tim O
Jul 4, 2013, 6:26:12 PM7/4/13
to
On Thu, 04 Jul 2013 09:17:45 -0400, Xocyll <Xoc...@kingston.net>
wrote:
>I'm confused here, you buy a sequel expecting something _different_?
>Isn't the whole point of a sequel to be more of the same with a change
>of scenery and items?
Well gee, maybe they should have just sold the original Borderlands
with a 2 taped on the box, and everyone would've been happy! lol
Of course I was expecting something different. You're bitching about
it more than anyone, what were you looking for? You're talking about
the original Borderlands story like F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote it. It
was just as dumb as the second one.
wrote:
>I'm confused here, you buy a sequel expecting something _different_?
>Isn't the whole point of a sequel to be more of the same with a change
>of scenery and items?
with a 2 taped on the box, and everyone would've been happy! lol
Of course I was expecting something different. You're bitching about
it more than anyone, what were you looking for? You're talking about
the original Borderlands story like F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote it. It
was just as dumb as the second one.
Xocyll
Jul 5, 2013, 1:02:08 AM7/5/13
to
Tim O <timo56...@hotmail.com> looked up from reading the entrails of
the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:
the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:
>On Thu, 04 Jul 2013 09:17:45 -0400, Xocyll <Xoc...@kingston.net>
>wrote:
>
>>I'm confused here, you buy a sequel expecting something _different_?
>>Isn't the whole point of a sequel to be more of the same with a change
>>of scenery and items?
>
>Well gee, maybe they should have just sold the original Borderlands
>with a 2 taped on the box, and everyone would've been happy! lol
No because that would have been _exactly_ the same with no change
>wrote:
>
>>I'm confused here, you buy a sequel expecting something _different_?
>>Isn't the whole point of a sequel to be more of the same with a change
>>of scenery and items?
>
>Well gee, maybe they should have just sold the original Borderlands
>with a 2 taped on the box, and everyone would've been happy! lol
whatsoever.
>Of course I was expecting something different. You're bitching about
>it more than anyone, what were you looking for? You're talking about
>the original Borderlands story like F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote it. It
>was just as dumb as the second one.
the one in Borderlands 2.
The main baddie knows where you are at all times and has an orbital
cannon he could use to eliminate you at any moment, yet he allows you to
disrupt his plans over and over again, then calls you up to bitch and
taunt you.
He's taken over an interstellar (intergalactic) corporation and uses
it's resources for his personal amusement.
He's somehow managed to completely eliminate all kinds of technology,
including the tech from other major intergalactic corporations.
He's removed all the advanced weapons from an entire planet.
In. Five. Years.
I don't think you could get all the advanced weapons out of Dallas in 5
years, much less every one on an entire planet.
5 years after the claptraps have their revolution, slaughter humans and
use them as meat puppets, in walks the last remaining clap-trap who is
greeted and welcomed to town.
In reality he would have been blown to scrap by the townspeople, the
moment they saw him, not welcomed, but no, they have to welcome him
because the retarded storyline needs him to play a vital part later on.
And you the player, J. Random Treasure Hunter are greeted by all and
sundry as though you're the messiah, there to liberate humanity from the
yoke of oppression.
It's got every cliche in the book, and plot holes you could drive a
planet through.
Borderlands on the other hand was consistent.
You're there for treasure - to get rich - you're a modern day Indiana
Jones/Gold rush prospector doing whatever you can to find the fabled
vault and become rich beyond the dreams of avarice.
It's a simple story but it's consistent and it stays consistent
throughout whereas BL2's story has so many holes in it and
inconsistencies it's drivel by comparison.
Borderlands doesn't try to be anything but what it is, a shooter/item
hunt game with minimal storyline.
Bl2 tries to have an epic story, but fails in almost every regard,
because the person writing it couldn't factor in basic human nature or
the impossibility of removing all the tech from a planet or even basic
stuff like mag sizes or burst firing sniper rifles being moronic beyond
all belief.
In fact it mostly reads like 12 or more people wrote a chapter each (or
chunks of dialog) without any communication between them and they just
forced it all together without even trying to make the pieces fit
properly.
By comparison with Borderlands2, Pong was written by F. Scott
Fitzgerald.
Xocyll
Xocyll
Jul 5, 2013, 1:03:42 AM7/5/13
to
"rms" <rsqui...@MOOflashMOO.net> looked up from reading the entrails
Do you mean 3rd party mods or the character skills?
I looked for mods but I never really found anything worth much and
certainly not the mod I really wanted "Feed Handsome Jack into a Garbage
disposal then fire the ground up remains into the sun."
Xocyll
of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:
I looked for mods but I never really found anything worth much and
certainly not the mod I really wanted "Feed Handsome Jack into a Garbage
disposal then fire the ground up remains into the sun."
Xocyll
Anssi Saari
Jul 5, 2013, 9:59:13 AM7/5/13
to
crit with those now even with the wobble. And if you miss with the first
shot the wobbling stops and targeting gets easier... Of course, your
target may be running for cover then.
The burst firing snipers are stupid but then again I found I can often
get two crits (arm and center or both arms) in one burst on a loader
with those. Not a bad thing in my book.
Anssi Saari
Jul 6, 2013, 2:33:31 AM7/6/13
to
Tim O <timo56...@hotmail.com> writes:
> I though Borderlands 2 was OK, but after 100 hours of the original
> game, it didn't feel like they changed enough to me.
>
> They were in a tough spot... Change too much and the original game
> fans will be angry, don't change enough and the original game fans
> will be bored.
Well, sales for BL2 seem higher than the original so it looks like they
> I though Borderlands 2 was OK, but after 100 hours of the original
> game, it didn't feel like they changed enough to me.
>
> They were in a tough spot... Change too much and the original game
> fans will be angry, don't change enough and the original game fans
> will be bored.
succeeded. Still not a huge hit at 6 million sold.
> The grinding/repetition of both is what wore me out, the main problem
> with the second one is that I was already tired of that aspect when I
> started. Some cool things to see, but I burned out on it really quick.
felt I was grinding in either game. I did try chest farming for loot in
original Borderlands a few times but didn't get anything good so quit
it. Anyways, I like developing characters and exploring the skill tree
mostly so collecting XP is the interesting part for me. I do like the
more open design of BL2 for exploration.
Now that I've tried the "Ultimate Vault Huner Mode" in BL2, well, that
gets hard. I can't leave the beginner area. Every enemy is a freaking
tank now and their health regenerates too... Oh and they scale to your
level too so no help from leveling up.
Tim O
Jul 6, 2013, 7:05:21 AM7/6/13
to
many of the same area's again, everything is respawned and you just
fight through and collect money.
The spot where it got completely tedious and I bailed in the first
game was going through the base with the enemy soldiers flying in
jetpacks. They weren't killing me anymore, it just felt unnecessary to
keep going through there.
I don't want to say I didn't get a lot of value out of the game, I
played a ton of both single player and co-op. I was burned out on the
play mechanic by the time the sequel came out, but I knew I enjoyed
the first one enough that I had to give it a shot. Hope that makes
sense.
PS: Just looked at my play times in STEAM... 90 hours in the first
game, 66 in the sequel. I still played it quite a bit, but BL2 was
about 80% co-op.
0 new messages