NOW what are you playing?

[Zerker]

Gotcha. Not the first thing that would come to mind.

[lost_soul]

Seeing clips like this from the original Resident Evil makes me want to hook up the PS2 and play through it again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtTfptkUgj0&NR=1

"You were almost a Jill sandwich"... lol

I prefer the original to the remake, but the remake has MUCH better acting. Barry was always voiced pretty well though, even in the original. Also, it is amazing how nice the backgrounds still look. Sure the characters look like Legos, but the backgrounds were far ahead of anything else around at the time. I know, they're pre-rendered.

[Thirith]

Almost done with Sands of Time on the PS3. There are some minor annoyances with the port (primarily sound propagation not working as it should - sometimes Farah is right next to me but almost inaudible, while the footsteps of some sand monster on the other side of the room are really loud) but other than that I still greatly enjoy the game... and it's the third or fourth time I'm playing it.

Curious to see how well the other two games hold up. I never thought that Warrior Within was quite the atrocity some made it out to be, even though it does drop 90% of the first game's charm in favour of adolescent posturing. Still, I like the changes to the combat system (if there is to be combat, I'd rather have it relatively varied than boring and repetitive like Sand of Time's combat) and the parkour gameplay is as enjoyable as in SoT.

[Sulphur]

SoT's on my list of treasured gaming experiences and consequently, while it may not be the game I'd place on the top spot of my Games that Made Life Worthwhile/Games Everyone Must Play Before They Die list*, it's damn near the top and must not be defiled in any way.

Having said that, would you be able to say if the retouched art assets are better than the PC version's in any manner?



*I do not, in fact, have such a list.

[Thirith]

Having said that, would you be able to say if the retouched art assets are better than the PC version's in any manner?

I'm pretty sure the assets are exactly the same as on the PC. The main reason I bought this was that the last time I played SoT on the PC, it had certain issues with my current hardware and it absolutely hated my gamepad, in addition to which I wanted to check the game out on my TV and sound system. Rationally, though, the experience isn't greatly different on PC or on PS3.

[Sulphur]

That clears it up, then. I was wondering if it'd be worth plunking down for the PS3 HD collection, but apparently not. Cheers, Thirith.

[EvaUnit02]

Medal of Honour 2010 SP - Look at the floating AKs!

I started replaying MoH's campaign on Monday since it was the 10th anniversary of "NEVER FORGET" day. MoH 2010 truly is the cream of the crop of scripted, cinematic war FPSes, IMO. No CoD campaign comes close in terms of quality of writing, effectiveness of presentation and overall gameplay.

[Yakoob]

So I'm giving Planescape: Torment a second go (after the first ended in "fuck this book") and enjoying it so far. Only complaints are, as has been iterated, way too self-indulgent and overdone text (but skimming helps!) and the "interaction." By that I mean clicking on shit. You need to be goddam pixel-perfect when trying to pick up items or you end up with your whole team retardedly dancing around the loot pile, BLOCKING your movement. And then instead of clicking on the item you click on them and select them. And then Nameless cannot get to the item cause your team is standing on them. And if you use the "lock on character" camera, because your whole party is shuffling, your screen keeps shaking, making the clicking even more impossible. FUCK. I need to pause and align my mouse carefully to pick up shit, it's so goddamn annoying, especially with the the widescreen hires mod. Same is the case in complex battles with many enemies where multiple characters overlap and its virtually impossible to specify whom you want to actually attack.

Also GG on retarded placement of doors in sometimes totally unknown locations (like a building facing AWAY from the camera). If it wasnt for the map markers, I swear to god I wouldnt know about half the pathways that are there. And try to navigate stuff at night, where EVERYTHING is just a different shade of dark blue is nigh on impossible.

And I hate the fact a lot of "containers" are placed arbitrarily and inconsistently - there are some boxes I can search, some I can't, and some I wouldn't expect. I found a bed I can search (but not even a whole bed, just a tiny rectangular strip on it). Of course, there is no way of knowing what is searchable/usable and what is not, so you need to keep constantly waving your mouse around as you move so you dont miss something. This is why Diablo had the "hold TAB to see all hilights" button.

But yea - mad props for creating a world that is way more unique than generic dwarves/elves/dragons fair, and having a story that actually makes me want to figure out what happens next (too much text aside). But fuck the engine to all hell.

[Volitions Advocate]

I'm with Eva on MoH 2010.

Since finishing DX:HR I don't know what to do with myself. I'm just now at the DuClair mansion in DX1, which I will continue playing. But I've found that I want a real challenge that I haven't before. So i'm going to punish myself (at least until Rage comes out) by playing Trespasser.

... yep, you heard me right.

[Forever420]

I been rockin me some Rock Band. Playin with the pro instruments is hella fun.

[Sulphur]

Since finishing DX:HR I don't know what to do with myself. I'm just now at the DuClair mansion in DX1, which I will continue playing. But I've found that I want a real challenge that I haven't before. So i'm going to punish myself (at least until Rage comes out) by playing Trespasser.

... yep, you heard me right.

That's taking things a little too far, innit? Sticking needles in your eyes or slicing your nails off with a butter knife would be far less masochistic things to do.

[Matthew]

I been rockin me some Rock Band. Playin with the pro instruments is hella fun.

It has been weirdly difficult to find a Rock Band keyboard for the PS3 anywhere around here; maybe they really cut back on the production run or the shipping to the UK when sales started showing poor returns or something. Looks like I'll just have to get a MIDI keyboard and the adaptor tune-up of my actual piano, sod this noise

[Sulphur]

I have this idea where someday I'll begin this massive trudge through my backlog, winging long-stale contenders left and right with four-six-ten hour marathon sessions and, one by one, notching them off my trailing toilet paper list of WHY DID I BUY YOU, then summon closure with a couple of one-line reviews and turn my back on the past for a futile minute or two before GOG releases another title.

Right now, one-line reviews for games I haven't finished. Because that's all of them.

Duke Nukem 3D: For the love of god HOW did I play you without a mouse back in the day
Deus Ex: Hunan Revolution: THIS IS CHINA, WHERE ARE THE DIM SUMS
Limbo: Best crumpley death animations since N: Way of the Ninja. But more like Limb-oh!, amirite
The Witcher: Fighting glowy dogs is ridiculous. When does this game become interesting?
The Withcer 2: When there's boobs in the first minute you know this game's going to be interesting
Cogs: With the Humble Indie Bundles being blind purchases, I have suddenly discovered that I have paid money for a sliding tile game. FFFFUUUUUUUUU
Terraria: Why am I digging things up and chopping things down for no particularly compelling fucking reason and WHY DO I FUCKING LIKE IT
Lugaru: Needs more Chakats. UNF

[Thirith]

It has been weirdly difficult to find a Rock Band keyboard for the PS3 anywhere around here; maybe they really cut back on the production run or the shipping to the UK when sales started showing poor returns or something. Looks like I'll just have to get a MIDI keyboard and the adaptor tune-up of my actual piano, sod this noise

I got mine from Amazon.co.uk without any problems. Dunno whether other UK providers have significantly better prices, though.

I played the piano for years and years, but I'm finding it quite difficult to play some of the tunes on Pro Keys. "Imagine" was a doddle - "Bohemian Rhapsody" killed me.

Since I only got Rock Band 3 now, I'm also looking forward to some Pro Drums gameplay.

[henke]

Played my first hour of NFS: Hot Pursuit last night.

Early verdict: pretty much the exact same game as Burnout 3, except with power-ups. Slightly better than Burnout Paradise.

[Sulphur]

Early verdict: pretty much the exact same game as Burnout 3

And that's a GOOD thing. Burnout Paradise was gimpy balls though.

[henke]

Yeah I wasn't crazy about Paradise either. I know a lot of people loved it but it didn't really click with me, for some reason.

[Shadowcat]

I've found that I want a real challenge that I haven't before. So i'm going to punish myself [...] by playing Trespasser.

That's no punishment. Trespasser is awesome! Yes, it's got some impressive bugs (and many tragic lost opportunities), but they still produced something special and unique and memorable. People should play it.

[Matthew]

I got mine from Amazon.co.uk without any problems. Dunno whether other UK providers have significantly better prices, though.

I played the piano for years and years, but I'm finding it quite difficult to play some of the tunes on Pro Keys. "Imagine" was a doddle - "Bohemian Rhapsody" killed me.

Since I only got Rock Band 3 now, I'm also looking forward to some Pro Drums gameplay.

Ah yes, I should qualify that by saying 'any shop nearby in which I could use my gift voucher'.

What I am playing: Portal 2. As I was saying to Al_B the other night, I'm finding it a lot easier than the first game, perhaps just because I am now used to 'thinking with portals'. On Chapter 4 so far and have only had to check a walkthrough once (I had the right idea but picked the wrong place to do it). Also the little robot is HILARIOUS.

And also LotRO, but I presume we're taking that one as a given now. One of these days I must get off the first rooftop in DX:HR.

[Dresden]

The Witcher: Fighting glowy dogs is ridiculous. When does this game become interesting?

About at the third chapter. It's kind of like Baldur's Gate in that respect. It takes a while for the plot to seep out and become interesting. Witcher 2 is more fun and the story pacing is a lot better.

[Warren's Spectre]

Red Orchestra 2. It does a lot of things that I fear Battlefield 3 won't do properly with regard to proper PC optimization. However, its still very buggy and the graphics are rather shite for this day and age. Looking forward to the custom maps if the community gets going.

[Subjective Effect]

Must. resist. urge.

Too. many. games. already.

No, no RO2 for me. I've too many games! Not enough time

[Avalon]

I was playing Pharaoh a couple weeks ago, after my brother reminded me of all the good times we had back in the day playing it on our laptop on vacation. I do not remember it being that hard when I played it a million years ago, but I had to restart a few missions more than a few times after royally screwing myself into debt.

And so now between frustrating strolls through BG, I've been playing Tropico 4. Totally the opposite end of the spectrum from Pharaoh difficulty. I finished the campaign and not once was there any kind of difficulty.

It always starts the same - build a childhood museum, a church and a clinic, then max out your luxury goods farms. Go ahead and put yourself 10k in debt. Then fast forward. You'll be out of the red in a year, the year after that you'll be expanding industry, and within about 7 years, you'll be rolling in so much cash you won't even know what to do with it, and you'll never have to expand into the mining/logging that pisses off the Environmentalists unless the campaign forces you to. The campaign objectives sometimes add a "speed bump" of difficulty, but nothing that actually makes you sweat. Still, the writing makes me laugh so I've kept going through sandbox games.

If I had to suggest anything to the developers on how to make the campaign a challenge, it would be to make debt more of a problem. In Pharaoh, spending any amount of time in debt was a good way to get invaded by the pharaoh. In Tropico, you can spend half the game in debt and so long as you're still exporting goods, the foreign powers will never be any significant amounts of upset.

[The Alchemist]

Human Revolution! I feel like a kid again.

[Subjective Effect]

What I am playing: Portal 2. As I was saying to Al_B the other night, I'm finding it a lot easier than the first game, perhaps just because I am now used to 'thinking with portals'. On Chapter 4 so far and have only had to check a walkthrough once (I had the right idea but picked the wrong place to do it).

When you finish lets do the co op.