FF:QLD The Gamers Gaming Thread About the Games they're Playing

Just out of curiosity, Mixo, in what ways is it better? I'm very much enjoying the PC version, but it does feel like a slightly lazy console port, like the bare minimum amount of effort necessary has been made to make it run on a PC, as evidenced by the black bars on the screen fixing it at 16:9 aspect ratio, the "Press any key to start", the slightly clumsy menu layout, etc. My understanding was that the only real changes were slight graphical improvements here and there, and the slightly superfluous new investigation types.

That said, I am really digging the game. Lots and lots of fun.


Oh, and everyone? I'd like you all to Meet The Scout. Engage your Steam clients in order to acquire a higher quality version.

 

Huh, in a manner similar to the way that the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads sum up everything I hate about Macs and Mac users, the "Meet the Scout" trailer somehow sums up everything I hate about Scouts.

 

And everything I love about them

 

Touche.

Jubilation, a driver update later and I'm back into KotOR II again. Wooo~ I will finish it this time - I must finish it! *is determined*

 

GTA IV...

What can I really say? This game has taken the open-world, sandbox gameplay crime games to a whole new level. Liberty City is one truly amazing game world... it's actually alive, people are doing things that people do, they move the way people move.

When I'm not playing, all I can think about is "I can't wait to go back and play this game".

Utterly brilliant!

 

Quoted For Truth.

And the multiplayer is one of the most awesomely hilarious adventures I've ever had

 

I should be annoyed with Nintendo for their lazy Mario Kart sequel and embarrassing online service, but the two combined are just too fun.

 

Mass Effect PC - Hope You Like DRM!

ARGH. When will they learn!? Sins of a solar empire is THE best selling game of the year, and had NO copy protection. I am seriously thinking about pirating this so I don't have to faff about with Securom. SEE EA!? YOU COPY PROTECTION IS DOING THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU WANT.

 

The intial install registration I can understand, even if I don't necessarily agree with it. The check every ten days though? That's ridiculous. Depending on what kind of information they're looking for it may contravene local privacy laws, but more info on the procedure would be required.

In other news, my new computer is operational but not exactly fully armed currently. There was a hiccough with the keyboard settings (BIOS fiddling didn't work, but XP picked it up when it started up the first time), but now the onboard sound is being stubborn and refusing to work. Gonna do the usual things; check connectors, read through the literature, get online and scour forums if that doesn't work.

Once that's working, time to install games. Many games

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

Yeah, the Mass Effect thing really does suck. But... I don't know why, but I just can't work up the energy to get hot and bothered about this one.

Maybe I'm browbeaten at this point. Maybe those evil software companies have pounded the fight out of me. Normally I am pretty militant about stuff like this, DRM and all that. And lord knows it's not the done thing to just go along with it. But I'm not feeling the nerd rage this time around.

I guess there's a few reasons. Firstly, Bioshock worked for me just fine. My antivirus program did read SecureRom as malware, hilariously, but once past that hurdle I didn't have any problems.

Secondly: In the past year, my home internet connection has gone down a total of once, for about 30 minutes. Tosche Station's electricity has been less reliable than its internet, so I don't see that being an issue.

Thirdly, I use Steam. All the time. So I obviously don't have some sort of ideological objection to online activation of games.'Nuf said.

Fourthly, I have a sneaking suspicion that Assassin's Creed phones home every single time the game runs, not every ten days. So if I can live with that, I can live with this.


And lastly, the way I'm fighting the PC game piracy problem (and it IS a problem, a very serious one) is by buying games. Buying them new, at full price, and not dealing with the devil via pre-orders or trade-ins. If there's stuff like this bundled with the package, I suck it up. I build a bridge and get over it. I am buying Mass Effect. If it doesn't work, I'll obtain one of the cracked torrent copies that will spring up before the game even hits retail, but I still will have paid for the game. That might sound stupid, and you might say I shouldn't be supporting draconian, illogical and ineffective copy "protection" measures, but... I just want the game. You know? I just want to pay money, take the thing home, and play it. And since based on my previous personal experience I don't anticipate having any problems, I'd rather do it this way than frak about with torrents or BS like that just to make some ideological point that will doubtless fall on deaf ears anyway.


Maybe that's sending EA the wrong message. But I don't see the point in getting my knickers in a twist anymore over this stuff. They're going to learn, and soon, that draconian strategies like this don't stop piracy. But in the meantime, I will continue to buy my games. That is the stand I'm taking. Against the people who pirate games "just because", rather than against the developers trying to make the best out of a rapidly degenerating situation.




That's a real devil's advocate sort of post, I know. But what can I say? I just can't make myself care about this for some reason. I've tried, and I simply can't be assed. In the end, I just want to play the game, and I don't have the time or energy to get upset or indignant. I trust M_S will be picketing for me outside of EA's gates on this one. I'm delegating my disgust to him.

 

Aaaaand now it looks like it doesn't matter: Bioware (read: EA) backs down. Mass Effect will now use an authentication system that sounds identical to Bioshock's.


EDIT: And just to cement that this was EA's thing, not Bioware's, word is that it's been dropped from Spore, too.

EDIT pt 2 - Electric Boogaloo: And now for something lighter: Burnout Paradise is coming to PC! I'm not normally a racing game guy, but this is a damn fun game, which I will definitely be picking up.

You know, I'm really starting to see a new upside to being a PC gamer these days. Good games come out on console, but if we wait 6 to 12 months, we get superior versions of them with more features, better graphics, and better performance. Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Burnout... Ahhhh.

Love that silver lining.

 

Oh hey - so apparently the Penny Arcade episodic game thingy will be out on May 21? Should be fun.

 

The demo is out for Lego Indiana Jones. In short: it's a whole buncha fun, obviously. The demo level is the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, so you know just what you're in for, and it's very true to the film. There's a whole mess of new game mechanics that have been thrown in on top of what was already there from Lego Star Wars, and to be perfectly honest I think it makes the game just slightly too complicated, and lessens the "anyone can pick up and play" thing the Star Wars games had going on. Also, I still don't think Indy is as perfect a fit to the Lego thing as Star Wars was, and it doesn't have that same instantaneous charm. But those are nitpicky criticisms, and there's lots of fun to be had. Definitely check it out if your Internets can handle the 500-ish meg download. I might well have to snag me this one when it comes out, just for kicks.

 

I just finished assassin's creed. It was a good game, but it needed to have ended about 4 hours earlier. I got so sick of the investigation missions and all of the damn unskippable cut scenes.

What I'm playing now -

-Mario Kart Wii- Still as addictive and unfair as ever. Once I get my router up and running, I'll definatly give the multi a try.

-WiiFit - My sister got this for her birthday today. She's really enjoying it so far. I gave it a bash, and it's actually pretty fun. Although, I can't see it being used for longer than a month or two.

 

As above, plus an import Smash Bros Brawl. Once my schedule clears up in two weeks, I'll start planning a multiplayer night.

WiiWare launched yesterday. I've already lost several hours to Dr Mario (which I've never played before now). LostWinds is a really nice little game: the most accurate word would be sweet. Quite a few people have complained about the length (it was not promoted as an episodal series, so the "to be continued" ending caught a lot of people off guard), but the content that's there is top-notch escapism.

 

[image=http://www.vgcats.com/comics/images/080526.jpg]

Oh VG Cats...

 

OK, so I picked up the Fallout Collection (Fallout 1 & 2, and Fallout Tactics) for $14.95 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. for $24.95, did I do well?

 

Wow. That's a whole lot of post-apocalyptic entertainment you scored there, Sabre. Nice one. I need to give Stalker another try one of these days. I've tried so hard to love that game, but it keeps making it hard. It's very obtuse, very European and idiosyncratic, and frankly very buggy and a little crashy. I'll give it another go one of these days.


In the meantime, I'm about 10 or so hours into the PC version of Mass Effect, and I've got to say, I'm having a great time with it. For one thing, it's gorgeous. Powered by the Unreal engine, I believe, and it shows. It's so cinematic. Film grain, depth of field, motion blur, camera shake while running, really really pretty stuff. I drift off to sleep at nights with dreams of KotOR 3 looking and running like this...

Speaking of KotOR, if you liked the feel and gameplay of that, you'll very likely enjoy this game. Outside of combat, it plays identically to its Star Wars-ian brother, even down to the general feel of the conversation options and style of the sidequests. But I guess you can say that for most RPGs of this type. The combat is where things vary a bit. It's very action-oriented. Even though it is all stats-based at the core, and you can pause and strategise and use powers and whatnot, you really do have to engage in a bit of twitch-action. It was giving me a little trouble for a while, but I'm really getting the feel for it now. The cover mechanic is pretty fun and definitely gives an action-packed sort of flow to the proceedings. So if you're looking for a very RPG type of combat you might be a bit put off, but I think it's worth sticking with.

The story and the general fiction of the universe is really quite good too. It's kind of interesting, actually, because it seems to me as though Bioware have tried to make it as... accessible, let's say, as possible. The core story is pretty run-of-the-mill stuff: ancient extinct alien race that gives technology to the galaxy, bunch of alien races who have one personality trait per species, bad guy who wants to unleash an ancient terror... You know, the usual. And if that's all you care about, it's all good. But the backstory, and the nuances, and just the sheer brain-hurting level of thought and detail poured into rationalising the technology, politics and history of the universe is staggering. As you play the game, you keep getting more info added to your "codex", which slowly adds up to what amounts to an RPG sourcebook's worth of background minutiae that I'm personally lapping up. The general portrayal of space travel is surprisingly realistic, and it's brilliant how the holy grail of the world's technology, the titular "Mass Effect" is the key component in practically every invention available. If you enjoy technical manual-type wankery about fictional universes like I do, I think you'll really get sucked into this stuff.

So yeah: I've still got a long way to go in the game, I'm sure, but it's shaping up very nicely indeed. Highly recommended, and it certainly seems from all the buzz as though the PC version is the superior one, mainly due to the controls and interface. Good stuff.

 

Obtaining Mass Effect will be the third thing I do when I get back.

Good news everyone! Beyond Good and Evil 2 is in development...for consoles.

*sigh*

Be seeing you,

Magnus Darcrider

 

Firstly, let me get this out of the way - NEW CRYSIS GAME SQUEEEEE . Even thought Crysis was a pretty simple game, in terms of story, the gameplay was bloody fantastic and it ran like butter on Washington (not so much on Skynet ) Any more Crysis is a good thing. (this, I hope, will also explain why Psycho was never around when something needed to be shot at)

Secondly, if wanting this overpriced special edition is wrong baby, I don't wanna be right. Everything I've heard about Fallout 3 sounds amazing. To have a little bit of that universe would be great.

And now, for Mass Effect. By the looks of it, i'm about 3 quarters in and I'm loving every minute of it. The story and the universe it's set in has got me hooked. Honestly, one of my favourite parts of the game is walking around the Normandy and taking it all in. This is the space ship I want when I grow up. I'm trying to do every side quest I can and learn everything that I can learn about. The combat took me a little while to get the hang of (and I had to start the game over once, and choose a new class because I hated the way the Sentinel (Tech and Bio, no combat) played) but once you do get a hang of it, it's really great. Think Gears of War meets Kotor.

As for my character, Batman Shepard. His family was slaughtered by slavers as child, so he was raised on the means streets of the Alliance planets. He joined the Alliance military at 18 and quickly rose through the ranks. He became a hero in the Alliance Navy when he lead his squad to hold wave after wave of alien attackers until reinforcements arrived. (I love how you can actually choose a backstory. In most RPGs, you have to fill in those blanks yourself. In Mass Effect, your backstory actually impacts on the game) He's mostly good, but isn't afraid to step on some toes to get the job done. Has a strong dislike of The Council and Alliance buerocracy.
So, pretty much, he's Captain Kirk . Pimping around the galaxy, kicking asses, and teaching aliens how to love.


I've got 2 favorite moments so far -

The first one would have to be cruising around Luna in the Mako. Second one happened when the Council contacted me when on the Normandy. In our previous conversation, they started sass talking me, so I hung up.

Blue Council Alien "Shepard, don't you dare disconnect on us this time. I don't appreciate being cut off mid sentence"

Me - *Disconnect*

 

Okay, so I just poopsocked through to the end of Mass Effect. Brilliant game. Easily one of the best I have played in a while.

If Bioware don't let me use my character in Mass Effect 2, I am going to be MIGHTY annoyed .

EDIT - I almost forgot to mention that I scored (in the game ) with an alien and a human. Giggity Giggity Goo!

EDIT2 - I just found out that Lucasarts, having already fired all of the talented people who made original and GOOD games like the Monkey Island series and Jedi Knight 2 they're now getting rid of everybody else. It is sad Lucasarts has to die like this. If there's no internal development, Lucasfilm can just hand out IP rights to whoever. Looks like we're never going to get Imperial Commando/JK4/Monkey Island 5 .

 

...Which would have been far more depressing in 2004, before Telltale Games, Double Fine and the like made their mark. The LucasArts we loved died a long time ago, but thank god so much of the talent is alive and well elsewhere.

I live in hope that they'll carelessly throw out the rights to Monkey Island one of these days, and in the direction of Ron Gilbert. Then Sarah Michelle Gellar would show up and says "Steven Moffat would like to collaborate with you for the next season of Doctor Who" and we'd all eat tacos.

 

A little sad, but somehow I don't find myself overly concerned. I'm actually more worried about the terminology, "poopsock." That word should not exist.

 

I'm not going to be putting it on my list of all-time favourite games, but Mass Effect sure is good old solid fun. Cruising around the galaxy in my spaceship doing odd jobs is way too fun. And now that I'm getting the hang of the combat and finally finding some cool gear I'm really getting that whole space marine feel going on... "Oh yeah, I am the ultimate badass. State of the badass art..."

 

Just added -

F.E.A.R - Platinum Edition (the trained monkey at the counter forgot to put one of the discs in )
Fallout 1,2 and Tactics (but it's marked 3 on the box) for $14 (!)
Command and Conquer 3