What Game Are You Playing At The Moment?

[unrealrob]

Originally Posted by rhesusattack

I don't really know exactly. I started it ages ago and made it to Ravenholm, then stopped. Then I started it again and played a pretty significant chunk of it, I believe. (Right after I wrote that last sentence, I went and looked at the synopsis to see how close I was to finishing it. I was about a half-hour away. Huh.) I just kept playing it, trying to complete it, but feeling like I was just kind of floating through it and not feeling engaged somehow. I just remember being glued to my monitor when I played through the original Half-Life back in the day.

I totally understand where you're coming from with this.

The first game had a totally different feeling to it than the second (and episodes 1 & 2).

Thats not to say I didn't like HL2, because I loved it. But HL1 will always occupy a special little place in my heart - something that HL2 could never fill.

[unrealrob]

Originally Posted by GreenLee1

I wanted to play some Halo 3 online for the first time in a while, but when i tried it says i have to buy all of the new maps before i can! Does it bother anyone else that a game you spent almost $60 on won't let you play the best part unless you pay thirty or forty more dollars?

It does bother me... thats why I traded it to EB games. There is no way I'm going to feel good about spending another $40-50 on a game I already dropped $60 on. I figure, why not recoup some of that to put towards a new title?

If playing 360, does anyone else have "Star 69" for MW2? I need some major help if anyone's up for some spec ops.

[standardman]

Well Half-Life 1 was just as important, perhaps even more so. I like how different those two games are, we rarely get sequels that aren't the same game with extra bits on them.

Originally Posted by GreenLee1

I wanted to play some Halo 3 online for the first time in a while, but when i tried it says i have to buy all of the new maps before i can! Does it bother anyone else that a game you spent almost $60 on won't let you play the best part unless you pay thirty or forty more dollars?

Originally Posted by unrealrob

It does bother me... thats why I traded it to EB games. There is no way I'm going to feel good about spending another $40-50 on a game I already dropped $60 on. I figure, why not recoup some of that to put towards a new title?

If playing 360, does anyone else have "Star 69" for MW2? I need some major help if anyone's up for some spec ops.

You can play some games without the map packs but it's worth noting that ODST has all but one of the map packs on it's second, multiplayer disc.

[coalmine]

heavy rain, uncharted 2 or dragon age? i'm having a existential gaming crisis. or should i just wait for liberty city stories to come out on ps3?

[coalmine]

Originally Posted by coalmine

heavy rain, uncharted 2 or dragon age? i'm having a existential gaming crisis. or should i just wait for liberty city stories to come out on ps3?

and while i'm here, if anyone could recommend a good video game podcast, i'd be very interested to hear it.

[standardman]

Originally Posted by coalmine

heavy rain, uncharted 2 or dragon age? i'm having a existential gaming crisis. or should i just wait for liberty city stories to come out on ps3?

It depends what you're after really. Heavy Rain looks to be an emotionally engaging and unusual game that (should) allow to make decisions. Dragon Age is a huge RPG where your choices effect a lot of the game but I hear the console versions have graphical and interface issues that go way beyond the usual pc/console differences. Uncharted 2 is a terrific action game but very much linear thanks to the cinematic thing.

Originally Posted by coalmine

and while i'm here, if anyone could recommend a good video game podcast, i'd be very interested to hear it.

I listen to 4 Guys 1 Up, The Giant Bomb cast, Rebel FM and One Life Left (more funny than informative, that one). Co-Op is a very well produced video podcast and the Totally RAD Show covers videogames often too.

[coalmine]

Originally Posted by standardman

It depends what you're after really. Heavy Rain looks to be an emotionally engaging and unusual game that (should) allow to make decisions. Dragon Age is a huge RPG where your choices effect a lot of the game but I hear the console versions have graphical and interface issues that go way beyond the usual pc/console differences. Uncharted 2 is a terrific action game but very much linear thanks to the cinematic thing.



I listen to 4 Guys 1 Up, The Giant Bomb cast, Rebel FM and One Life Left (more funny than informative, that one). Co-Op is a very well produced video podcast and the Totally RAD Show covers videogames often too.

perfect. thanks!

[Junkenstein]

If the decision making in Heavy Rain is anyuthing like the one in Fahrenheit, a lot of the stuff is very scripted. The choices in that game were a lot like "You can do this or you can do that. But if you do that, the game ends". Not even remotely the size of the Bioware style of choice making.

Last note on HL2. I'm surprise how much i forgot on the game. The cool stuff comes later (i probably didnt even reach those levels the first time). The whole "befriending the insectoid enemies and using them as a troop to disembowel the bad guys" is dream stuff. It's not even an FPS anymore. I spend more time planning weird stuff to do. That's exactly how perfect gvames should be. As cool as Bioshock 2 was, in terms of atmosphere, i concur with Standardman on how constricted you felt later in the game. And that happens more and more in recent games. Everything is more set to make you do what the designer feels it's cool than letting YOu do it.

The simple genius of sendin flyin bugs ona heavily armed tower and watch them throw snipers off it is something that no "cinematics" will ever substitute.

[standardman]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

If the decision making in Heavy Rain is anyuthing like the one in Fahrenheit, a lot of the stuff is very scripted. The choices in that game were a lot like "You can do this or you can do that. But if you do that, the game ends". Not even remotely the size of the Bioware style of choice making.

Last note on HL2. I'm surprise how much i forgot on the game. The cool stuff comes later (i probably didnt even reach those levels the first time). The whole "befriending the insectoid enemies and using them as a troop to disembowel the bad guys" is dream stuff. It's not even an FPS anymore. I spend more time planning weird stuff to do. That's exactly how perfect gvames should be. As cool as Bioshock 2 was, in terms of atmosphere, i concur with Standardman on how constricted you felt later in the game. And that happens more and more in recent games. Everything is more set to make you do what the designer feels it's cool than letting YOu do it.

The simple genius of sendin flyin bugs ona heavily armed tower and watch them throw snipers off it is something that no "cinematics" will ever substitute.

Yeah, it's more like a choose your own adventure book than, say, Mass Effect.

Good lord, I couldn't agree more. Even though Half-Life 2 has heavy scripting, it leaves you lots of room to play and create you own experiences. I detest the Modern Warefare way of design - the games play themselves and the least important component is the player.

On Bioshock 2, the patch i've been waiting for is coming tomorrow so i'll start again and play it through.

[rhesusattack]

I completed Assassin's Creed 2 earlier today. I wasn't really into that game, but the last 10 or 15 minutes of it is pretty awesome.