What Game Are You Playing At The Moment?

[brizzlewizzle]

[QUOTE=Junkenstein;634165]Hmmm. Seeing how much they turned the characters upside down between 1 and 2, i wouldnt be surprised if Thane had a big role in 3.

Apparently the actions you make in 2 will weigh heavily in 3, if you import the character.

SPOILER
Well, then you just get an alternate storyline which doesn't involve wrex, or rather involves discussions about killing him

I'll probably go back and redo the final mission though. I'm pretty sure the people I lost was due to poor team selection, rather than anyone missing upgrades/loyalty. Miranda was the only team member I didn't get loyal, I think because I stuck up for Jack.

[Junkenstein]

Some other thoughts about Bioshock 2 (not really spilerish, but akip this if you want to be absolutely in the dark about the game)

-The AI of the splicers is pleasantly improved. Those fuckers might be demented but they pull any diurty trick in the book to get you. One major example: when you die and get respawned at the vita chamber, there's a good chance they'll wait for you outside the door, to get you at your weakest. Bastards. BVeating the first Big Daddy wasnt so harsh, as he's way dumber.

-The Big Daddy/Little Sister relationship is chilling here. The little Rascals have been graphically improved. Their animations and look is so close to a real kid, it's scary. Also, since you're a big D. (although not a very strong one), they will treat you that way. I wont spoil one of the new features of the game, but they will litterally talk to you like you're their giant fathjer figure. It's eeriie and heartbreaking.

-Rapture looks better than ever.

-Gameplay wise, nothing as changed. the aspect of the weapons has been reworked, and the new hacking system is unnerving. But at the bottom this feels more of a re-working than an actual sequel. But probably that's a good thing.

[standardman]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

It's odd that most games are designed for consoles (xbox in particular) and it shows becau8se i had to buy a controller to play 'em without going insane... And it isnt even the type of game that changes this problem. ME actually plays perfectly with keyboard and mouse, so does Gears of War, while Red Faction or GTA IV are a mess (And GTA IV has so many bugs it makes me sick).

Pc gaming is being ignored, the excuse is always piracy (like console piracy didnt exist) and stuff like Brutal Legend, Uncharted or GOW 2 gets lost.

Sorry, got off on a tangent.

You liking Bioshock 2, S.? The atmosphere is even more cinematic this time. There are a few skewered things i gotta get used to (the whole drill fuel thing is annoying), but the mood is Terry Gilliamesque as ever (with a pinch of Kubrick).

I prefer to use the controller with third person games, but i'll play them on the PC, shoddy port aside.

The thing that really bothers me is when developers who got there start in PC gaming like Cliff B, who started in the Unreal Tournament mapping community, go console exclusive. And while piracy is used as the excuse, it's because Microsoft gave him a money hat.

But I suppose for every Epic and Infinity Ward, there's a Bethesda or a Bioware and the interesting smaller developers like Pop Cap and the Torchlight guys.

We're in a generation preoccupied by both graphics and online play yet most people play these games on a console with lower textures, lower resolutions and less power for processing effects and they pay subscriptions to play online without mods or dedicated servers. It's very odd.

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

Some other thoughts about Bioshock 2 (not really spilerish, but akip this if you want to be absolutely in the dark about the game)

-The AI of the splicers is pleasantly improved. Those fuckers might be demented but they pull any diurty trick in the book to get you. One major example: when you die and get respawned at the vita chamber, there's a good chance they'll wait for you outside the door, to get you at your weakest. Bastards. BVeating the first Big Daddy wasnt so harsh, as he's way dumber.

-The Big Daddy/Little Sister relationship is chilling here. The little Rascals have been graphically improved. Their animations and look is so close to a real kid, it's scary. Also, since you're a big D. (although not a very strong one), they will treat you that way. I wont spoil one of the new features of the game, but they will litterally talk to you like you're their giant fathjer figure. It's eeriie and heartbreaking.

-Rapture looks better than ever.

-Gameplay wise, nothing as changed. the aspect of the weapons has been reworked, and the new hacking system is unnerving. But at the bottom this feels more of a re-working than an actual sequel. But probably that's a good thing.

I've got some spoilers here for the first few hours of the game (and I play these things slowly).

I like how they've changed the Splicers while keep their feel - they're easier to kill (because you're a Big Daddy) but they coordinate and rush you less. Which is ideal, since the game mostly sends them in groups.

There's a lot of nice like touches that make his game feel more real than the last, from added animation and detail right up to things like the exteriors being less like matte paintings. I love little things like the Big Daddy repairing the window from the outside and, once I'm out there, seeing one protect a Little Sister - it all makes the world feel like it's there when you're not looking.

Rapture itself is more beautiful and tragic then ever, I loved the echo of your first sight of the city; this time from the seabed with a more wrecked Rapture.

I have a few problems with it - small things like the left mouse button controlling the right hand and vise-versa (which I had to change straight away) to bigger things like the story not feeling as strong and the developers seeming too eager to take the controls away from you. (end of spoilers)

I think the absolute strength of this game though, and the reason those unsure should pick it up, is the amazing level design. It feels like a real place, a real and very unsettling place, and there's a lot of storytelling with the environments, which also feel more open. I think Keiron Gillen said it best when he said that Bioshock 2 is to Bioshock as Thief 2 was to Thief.

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by standardman

We're in a generation preoccupied by both graphics and online play yet most people play these games on a console with lower textures, lower resolutions and less power for processing effects and they pay subscriptions to play online without mods or dedicated servers. It's very odd..

Most of the time i think that consoles prevail out of laziness. The argument i always hear since the early playstation days is usually a variation of "Well if you have a console you just have to play the game and not worry about installing it, making it start and shit like that. you put it in and you play". Also magazine and software developers love to lie about the issue, saying that (i quote) "even the best PC cant give the performance of an XBOX360" (that was written on Gamespot).

Videogames are still seen as juvenile disposable garbage directed to kids, so the easiest way to market them is selling them as half baked items on a console.

Originally Posted by standardman

I like how they've changed the Splicers while keep their feel - they're easier to kill (because you're a Big Daddy) but they coordinate and rush you less. Which is ideal, since the game mostly sends them in groups..

Agreed. They're still psychos that dress like extras fro thew party in "Shining" (a reference that was re-enforced by the intro. i keep thinking of rapture like a steampunk version of the overlook hotel), but they play with my wekness this time. I might be a big and strong big daddy, but when they start playing sniper with me while aome of t hem surround me in a corner, it gets scary.

Note: Ryan's monologues are still priceless.

[standardman]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

Most of the time i think that consoles prevail out of laziness. The argument i always hear since the early playstation days is usually a variation of "Well if you have a console you just have to play the game and not worry about installing it, making it start and shit like that. you put it in and you play". Also magazine and software developers love to lie about the issue, saying that (i quote) "even the best PC cant give the performance of an XBOX360" (that was written on Gamespot).

Videogames are still seen as juvenile disposable garbage directed to kids, so the easiest way to market them is selling them as half baked items on a console.

Agreed. They're still psychos that dress like extras fro thew party in "Shining" (a reference that was re-enforced by the intro. i keep thinking of rapture like a steampunk version of the overlook hotel), but they play with my wekness this time. I might be a big and strong big daddy, but when they start playing sniper with me while aome of t hem surround me in a corner, it gets scary.

Note: Ryan's monologues are still priceless.

The ease thing makes me laugh. You don't have to install! Unless you do! And if you do, it runs better! After 5 patches download! I can't think of the last time I had problems running a game on my PC but everytime I put a PS3 game in, I want to punch Sony in the face. The lies thing is a money hat thing, sadly.

I'll be interested to see how this generation plays over the next few years, consoles are a bit less powerful than the average PC with a decent graphics card right now but in a few years, the gap will be huge.

Aha, good call with The Shining. I did love that opening sequence. The game does a good job of making me feel threatened then powerful, then threatened again. I'm not helpless but I'm not the tank I feared I would be either and that feeling of never being safe was so crucial to the first game.

Funny you should mention Ryan (spoilers) I wasn't really sold on Lamb until I heard the first debate tape; Ryan does one of his brilliant and disturbing speeches that perfectly outlines his ethos and then Lamb hits back with something just as effective that runs right over his. I'm not sure if she'll be as interesting as Ryan but I am giving her a chance now.

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by standardman

Aha, good call with The Shining. I did love that opening sequence. The game does a good job of making me feel threatened then powerful, then threatened again. I'm not helpless but I'm not the tank I feared I would be either and that feeling of never being safe was so crucial to the first game.

Funny you should mention Ryan (spoilers) I wasn't really sold on Lamb until I heard the first debate tape; Ryan does one of his brilliant and disturbing speeches that perfectly outlines his ethos and then Lamb hits back with something just as effective that runs right over his. I'm not sure if she'll be as interesting as Ryan but I am giving her a chance now.

Yeah, i was skeptical about the idea of playing one of the most powerful creature from the first game, too. For the same reasons. But they pulled the trick of making you play that sort of strong but yet subtly crippled Big Daddy. It almost feels like you're a decayed, broken version of the grunt titans of the first one. Considering how rotten Rapture looks now, that would be a nice idea.

I'm still early in the game to get where the story will go (especially thinking how the original turned upside down in the middle), but Sophia Land seems like the sarker side of the Ayn Rand inspiration that's behind the game. Where Ryan was an arrogant but genial idealist, she's a dominant spiteful and steely (and vaguely communist) antagonist.

To clarify SPOILERWHITE She doesnt seem like the type who will order you to kill her just to prove a point

[standardman]

Two very good points. I suppose she is the natural successor to Ryan in that respect and the themes SPOILERWHITE read: daddy issues of this game make sense in this world and don't feel forced either.

[standardman]

Oh and Flower is cheap on the UK PSN store, not sure if that's global.

[Junkenstein]

Noticeably enough, harvesting the sisters feels even more wrong here. I know that most BS player love to eviscerate the kiddies and have that adam boost. But if you have even a tiny shred of humanity, it'really hard this time.

SPOILERWHITE GALORE!: I mean... this tiny child, who's eerie but still extremely childlike says stuff like "I feel safe only when you're her, Daddy" "C'mon Daddy, let's go so then we'll go outside and play" and stays outside of your vita chamber crying and waiting for you to come back.... And you rip her spinal chord off? Seriously, man, i know it's a game... But no way...

[standardman]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

Noticeably enough, harvesting the sisters feels even more wrong here. I know that most BS player love to eviscerate the kiddies and have that adam boost. But if you have even a tiny shred of humanity, it'really hard this time.

I couldn't even do it in the first game, now that you're a Big Daddy looking for his Little Sister, it seems especially brutal to tear out the poor thing's spine and drink the goo.