What Game Are You Playing At The Moment?

[standardman]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

I'll sell a kidney then.

Wow, Standard, are you still at the citadel? Some moments in this game are so heavy on the soul, it floored me. It should be shown to anyone who says that games are mindless entertainment. The darkness of the whole story is insane. And the choices are... hard. Really hard to pull. Shit...

Just be aware of the Dragon Age DLC.

I am, unfortunately, I started it exactly when I had no time to play it and i'm easily distracted.

Speaking of which, the new issue of PC Gamer uk arrived and Bioshock 2 got a very positive (if not as good as the first) review so I decided to go back to the shelf and return to Rapture. Still one of my favourite games and still nerve shredding and atmospheric.

I was thinking about my favourite games recently (Bioshock, Half-Life 2 and the episodes, STALKER, Metroid, Rez and, well, Team Fortress 2) and it seems that atmosphere is what i'm pulled to. I just love feeling completely submerged (occasionally literally) in a created world. Which got me thinking, what is that you guys tend to gravitate to in a game?

[Junkenstein]

Atmosphere coupled with intelligent gameplay is what really gets me. Pure distraction is good, but if the story, the deatils and the mood are done in the good way a game can get my heart much faster than any movie.

My favourite games managed to scare me (bioshock), make me feel like a cool mo-fo (arkham), laugh my ass off (All the sam and max games AND obviously monkey island) or at the peak made me feel like what i was doing mattered and the destiny of the characters was important to me (Mass Effect does that).

I think that games help escape from reality, but great games create a new, believable one around you. So, yeah, atmosphere+gameplay.

ADD: A good example that got way overlooked: Indigo Prophecy. Those damn controls took mor3e out of the game than a baseball bat but when you got used to them that game was as closed as living in a david lynch universe as you can get.

And Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Simple but cool as hell.

[standardman]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

Atmosphere coupled with intelligent gameplay is what really gets me. Pure distraction is good, but if the story, the deatils and the mood are done in the good way a game can get my heart much faster than any movie.

My favourite games managed to scare me (bioshock), make me feel like a cool mo-fo (arkham), laugh my ass off (All the sam and max games AND obviously monkey island) or at the peak made me feel like what i was doing mattered and the destiny of the characters was important to me (Mass Effect does that).

I think that games help escape from reality, but great games create a new, believable one around you. So, yeah, atmosphere+gameplay.

That's a good way of putting it, and there's symbiotic relationship between the atmosphere and gameplay - if I'm frustrated, I'm not immersed and if the world is unconvincing or inconsistent, I'm less likely to carry on playing.

I think Batman, like Dead Space, was a clear post-Bioshock game. I suspect Bioshock's legacy is going to be inspiring developers to focus on the setting and, yes, the atmosphere of their games. Too many games focus on the loud bits and forget how important the quiet moments are, I loved Uncharted 2 for it's smart pacing in that regard.

ADD: A good example that got way overlooked: Indigo Prophecy. Those damn controls took mor3e out of the game than a baseball bat but when you got used to them that game was as closed as living in a david lynch universe as you can get.

And Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Simple but cool as hell.

I loved Indigo Prophecy (or 'Fahrenheit', as it's called over here) - a brave and interesting go at something different that largely succeeded, even if it when bananas at the end. Can't wait for Heavy Rain!

Never played Vampire the etc, but I heard great things.

[Kydizzle]

Originally Posted by standardman

Which got me thinking, what is that you guys tend to gravitate to in a game?

I love good characters.

Games with good characters draw me in because I end up giving a huge amount of fucks about what happens to these fictional people and the world that they populate.

Also flawlessness. A game that doesn't have stuff in that makes you go, Awwww, I wish I could do that, or is mired with bugs. Games that allow you to say, I wonder what happens if I do this, and the result is exactly what it should be within the world that is presented to you. I guess that is what atmosphere is. Immersive experiences in gaming are basically what gamers live for.

So, to add on to this, let's name some favorite game characters too:

Solid Snake would be my number one. I actually panicked when it seemed that the finale of MGS4 was leading up to Snake's death.

Also C.J. from San Andreas. That game ruled because C.J. did.

I'll think of more as time goes on. Late and drunk.

[standardman]

Originally Posted by Kydizzle

I love good characters.

Games with good characters draw me in because I end up giving a huge amount of fucks about what happens to these fictional people and the world that they populate.

Also flawlessness. A game that doesn't have stuff in that makes you go, Awwww, I wish I could do that, or is mired with bugs. Games that allow you to say, I wonder what happens if I do this, and the result is exactly what it should be within the world that is presented to you. I guess that is what atmosphere is. Immersive experiences in gaming are basically what gamers live for.

So, to add on to this, let's name some favorite game characters too:

Solid Snake would be my number one. I actually panicked when it seemed that the finale of MGS4 was leading up to Snake's death.

Also C.J. from San Andreas. That game ruled because C.J. did.

I'll think of more as time goes on. Late and drunk.

Unfortunately, that's what developers seem to struggle with most. The Uncharted games are probably the best example of well defined, believable characters and Alyx from Half-Life 2 and it's episodes springs to mind. I felt that Rockstar did an interesting job with Niko Bellec in GTA4 too, he wasn't a good person but you could see how he got there and how his choices were affectiving him.

[notedhero]

Characters and story for me. For single-player experiences, I need a fully-realized world that draws me in. I'll even forgive certain aspects of gameplay (camera, slightly loose controls) if I'm drawn in by the world.

So that's why I'm on my second play-through of Uncharted 2 (on hard). I haven't skipped any of the cut scenes, and it's just fun. That's why I look forward to Heavy Rain the most this year, and also The Last Guardian (if it does come out later on) since it's the follow up to one of my favorite PS2 games: Shadow of the Colossus. Like Kyle said, it's also the reason why I enjoy the MGS series so much. And why I like action-adventure games like God of War, Zelda, etc.

With multiplayer games, it just needs to be balanced enough where when I feel like I should win, I win.

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by standardman

Unfortunately, that's what developers seem to struggle with most. The Uncharted games are probably the best example of well defined, believable characters and Alyx from Half-Life 2 and it's episodes springs to mind. I felt that Rockstar did an interesting job with Niko Bellec in GTA4 too, he wasn't a good person but you could see how he got there and how his choices were affectiving him.

Valve are great with characters that arent the player. Just watch Portal. Fair enough, the gameplay is sickeningly addictive, but would have been the same without the genius that is GlaDos? The turrets? They managed to make people fall in love with a cube.

I think that NIko is more interesting than CJ. Fine CJ is the quintessential cool gangsta, but Niko is a complex, tragic, being.

By the way, i speak of compelling characters and i do not mention April Ryan... Shame on me.

[standardman]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

Valve are great with characters that arent the player. Just watch Portal. Fair enough, the gameplay is sickeningly addictive, but would have been the same without the genius that is GlaDos? The turrets? They managed to make people fall in love with a cube.

I think that NIko is more interesting than CJ. Fine CJ is the quintessential cool gangsta, but Niko is a complex, tragic, being.

By the way, i speak of compelling characters and i do not mention April Ryan... Shame on me.

They really are great at that, and they use the same techniques to develop their worlds around you - even in Left 4 Dead 1/2.

Yeah, I'd agree, I've never felt bad about my character doing something in a GTA game until 4.

Oh! You just reminded me - Andrew Ryan of Bioshock, especially after that scene.

[standardman]

Bionic Commando
I borrowed the 3D reboot of this from work because I'm very fond of the original and I flat out loved the 2D revamp. I like the idea the grappling hook in games but I've not seen swinging done right in 3D since Spider-man 2.

The game looks gorgeous, taking place in a fallen city just after a massive explosion - sunlight filtering through smashed skyscrapers that are broken across the horizon, it really makes you want to explore this world with your abilities.

Unfortunately, the game doesn't want you to explore. This is a game about fluid, high altitude movement, set in a city begging to explored and it has invisible walls EVERYWHERE. Worse still, these invisible walls can kill you due to radiation immediately after you swing into them thanks to 'fallout from the explosion' (read: developer couldn't be bothered making multiple routes).

In addition to this, the game is glitchy and inconsistent - often sending you tumbling to your death for reasons that have nothing to do with your skill. This is a problem compounded by the terrible checkpointing that makes you drudge through the poorly designed level all over again, even making you pick up the hard-to-reach collectable items again and - worse - sit through all the cut scenes (which seem to have been scripted by a 12 year old boy) AGAIN.

The original Bionic Commando (and the remake) was hard but if you died it was because you weren't skilled enough and if you finished a hard level, you felt like you'd achieved something. In this game finishing a level means you just navigated bugs and poor design and makes you a more patient man than I. A wasted opportunity.

[Junkenstein]

First peeks:

Dragon Age

Whoa. I normally do not like fantasy rpg's but this game feels like peeking into another universe. I actually like the voiceless, disembodied aspect given to my charcter (although i wouldnt trade it for my smooth talking, mind fucking, Sheperd).
The intro is simply breath taking. Very good

Audiosurf

I know that in this neutered sterile age, kids dont smoke pot anymore but let me say this. When me and my oldest friends were puffing out in front of a PSX while playing Wipeout... This was what we were dreaming of. You can call it an addictive game, a great idea, but this is a stoner dream projected by a stoner for stoners. That's the thing you build a giant playlist and loose yourself in the vortex. For Days, equipped with Amnesia Haze and brownies.

Finished

Mass Effect

Perfect., The greatest game i've played up in competiton with Arkham.
It's a game that doesnt only train you to face your enemies or obstacles, but it has you make tough decisions that are even harder, considering thed depth of the relationships that you find yourself into with the other characters.

And if that isnt enough,watch this spoilerific dialogue (or dont watch it if you havent played the game) delivered by the most frightening antagoinist (well almost) ever:



Jesus.